Hydropower, and especially Francis turbines, for electricity production has a history of more than 100 years and has proved to be one of the most efficient ways of utilizing renewable energy for electricity production. Yet, there are several problems to be solved regarding producing and running cost effective, high efficient and durable turbines. Secondary flow fields are all unwanted flow patterns present in the turbine. The major fluctuating flow fields in Francis turbines are caused by rotor‐stator interaction when the runner vane passes the guide vane wake and the swirling flow in the draft tube at off‐design operation. Such flow fields have a negative effect in terms of causing losses, vibrations, noise or damage to the turbine structure. The flow through a Francis turbine, especially at off‐design operation is not optimal, and is characterized by a dynamic and fluctuating flow pattern. It is difficult, but important to understand the behavior of the dynamics to better predict the negative effects of the fluctuating flows, and also in order to minimize or remove the unwanted effects by e.g. geometry modifying or flow control.This work aims to introduce new methods helping to obtain a deeper understanding on the dynamics present in wake flow and in rotor‐stator interaction. It is investigated whether vortex generators, VGs, can have a positive effect on the wake with respect to rotor‐stator interaction. Experimental TRPIV (Transient Particle Image Velocimetry) wake data recorded at 10 000 Samples/sec from a cylinder in a stream at 1‐6 m/s and hydrofoils in a stream at 9 m/s are studied. Both plain hydrofoils, and hydrofoils where Vortex Generators – VGs are mounted are used in the study. The Reynolds number is in the range of 1.2∙104 – 7.3∙105. The velocity fields from both the cylinder and the hydrofoils are used as inlet boundary condition in a 2D CFD‐case simulating rotor‐stator interaction. The characteristic frequencies of the system are the vortex shedding frequency and the rotor passing frequency. The cylinder case shows that leading edge stagnation point moves with the vortex shedding frequency. The shedding frequency is also found in leading edge pressure and lift fluctuations, but the rotor passing frequency is found more dominant. Only the rotor passing frequency and its multiples is observed when looking into the same fluctuations for the hydrofoil case. Vortex shedding is only observed at Angle of Attack ‐ AoA=8 degrees for the hydrofoil. In terms of rotor leading edge pressure reduction, only AoA=0 and AoA=2 showed equal or slightly improvements with VGs. A time averaged wake is also used as input in the CFD for AoA=4 and it shows large amplitude reduction when looking at the leading edge pressure and lift oscillations.Proportional Orthogonal Decomposition – POD is introduced to reveal flow structures and their corresponding energy in the wake flow. POD shows that up to 65 % of the total energy is located in the two first POD modes for the cylinder wake. Up to 18 % of the total energy is located in the two first modes for the hydrofoil at AoA=8 degrees where vortex shedding is present. The vortex generators prove to break the characteristic shedding pattern and move the early mode energy to later modes and reduce the energy content in the two first modes from 18 % to 8 % at AoA=8. At other AoAs only slight change in the energy distribution was observed due to the vortex generators.The second part of the thesis is focusing on measurements and investigation of draft tube flow dynamics. Pairwise radial dynamic measurements of the swirling draft tube flow is done at the 25 MW Svorka power plant in Surnadal operating at 48 % load, at 6 radial and 7 angular positions. The data is analyzed with traditional methods as well as with POD. The pressure fluctuations were found to peak at R5, at 83 % of the radius. The Rheingans frequency is found to be the only distinctive peak, and is very dominant in the pressure signal. The POD addressed 52 % of the total pressure variance to the azimuthal mode 1. As the POD will pin point structures of high energy it is desired to be able to use this information in active flow control applications. This is difficult as the measurements in the draft tube are performed manually and are time consuming. The resulting eigenfunctions from the POD measured at one operating point can later be coupled with a single wall pressure transmitter through Linear Stochastic Estimation – LSE in order to give POD results for other operating points. This work presents the first step of required measurements in one operational point in order to verify the use of POD in draft tube flow. Further development of POD for use in active flow control through LSE will be a continuation of this work.


At present, bioferrofluids are employed as powerful multifunctional tools for biomedical applications such as drug delivery, among others. The present study explores the cellular response evoked when bile-acid platinum derivatives are conjugated with bioferrofluids by testing the biological activity in osteosarcoma (MG-63) and T-cell leukemia (Jurkat) cells. The aim of this work is to evaluate the biocompatibility of a bile-acid platinum derivative conjugated with multi-functional polymer coated bioferrofluids by observing the effects on the protein expression profiles and in intracellular pathways of nanoparticle-stimulated cells. To this end, a mass spectrometry-based approach termed SILAC has been applied to determine in a high-throughput manner the key proteins involved in the cellular response process (including specific quantitatively identified proteins related to the vesicular transport, cellular structure, cell cycle, biosynthetic process, apoptosis and regulation of the cell cycle). Finally, biocompatibility was evaluated and validated by conventional strategies also (such as flow cytometry, MTT, etc.).


Humans have been trying to understand the physical universe since antiquity. Aristotle had one vision (the realm of the celestial spheres is perfect), and Einstein another (all motion is relativistic). More often than not, these different understandings begin with a simple drawing, a pre-mathematical picture of reality. Such drawings are a humble but effective tool of the physicist's craft, part of the tradition of thinking, teaching, and learning passed down through the centuries. This book uses drawings to help explain fifty-one key ideas of physics accessibly and engagingly. Don Lemons, a professor of physics and author of several physics books, pairs short, elegantly written essays with simple drawings that together convey important concepts from the history of physical science. Lemons proceeds chronologically, beginning with Thales' discovery of triangulation, the Pythagorean monocord, and Archimedes' explanation of balance. He continues through Leonardo's description of "earthshine" (the ghostly glow between the horns of a crescent moon), Kepler's laws of planetary motion, and Newton's cradle (suspended steel balls demonstrating by their collisions that for every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction). Reaching the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Lemons explains the photoelectric effect, the hydrogen atom, general relativity, the global greenhouse effect, Higgs boson, and more. The essays place the science of the drawings in historical context -- describing, for example, Galileo's conflict with the Roman Catholic Church over his teaching that the sun is the center of the universe, the link between the discovery of electrical phenomena and the romanticism of William Wordsworth, and the shadow cast by the Great War over Einstein's discovery of relativity. Readers of Drawing Physics with little background in mathematics or physics will say, "Now I see, and now I understand."


Writing in Urban History in the spring of 1991, Peter Borsay considered how the gap between the 'popular presentations of the urban past' produced by the growing heritage industry and 'the booming academic study of urban history' might be bridged. Heritage, he argued, was 'deeply bound up with the meanings and functions of towns' and urban historians should play a crucial role within communities 'engaged in a complex discourse with the past . . . that for many was fundamental to their livelihood and identity'. Borsay's concerns 27 years later continue to be mirrored in academic discussions surrounding heritage and materiality, echoing wider questions that surround the relevance of urban history beyond the academy. Recent conferences have also demonstrated the continued salience of Borsay's argument, considering the potential of the study of cities to shape approaches to their management through work with local communities, heritage partners, cultural institutions and professional groups. This emphasis on knowledge exchange and partnership has also attracted the support of funding bodies through collaborative doctoral awards that have sought to 'increase opportunities for all researchers to develop their work in collaboration with public, private and third sector partners that increase the flow, value and impact of world-class arts and humanities research from academia to the UK's wider creative economy and beyond'. This has included the author's own work on the heritage of Middlesbrough's iron and steel industries, which has involved working collaboratively with local archives and heritage partners.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are associated with mood disorders, such as anxiety or depression, but it is not clear whether one contributes to development of the other, or if the interaction is bi-directional (anxiety or depression contributes to the progression of IBD, and IBD affects psychological health). We performed a 2-year longitudinal prospective study of patients in secondary to care investigate the bi-directionality of IBD and mood disorders.

METHODS
We collected data from 405 adult patients with a diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) from November 2012 through June 2017. Demographic features, subtypes of IBD, treatments, symptoms, somatization, and fecal level of calprotectin were recorded at baseline. IBD activity was determined at baseline and after the follow-up period (2 years or more) using the Harvey-Bradshaw Index for CD and the Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index for UC (scores ≥5 used to define disease activity). Anxiety and depression data were collected using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), at baseline and after the follow-up period. Objective markers of disease activity, including glucocorticosteroid prescription or flare of disease activity, escalation of therapy, hospitalization secondary to IBD activity, and intestinal resection during follow-up were assessed via case note review. A brain-gut direction of disease activity was defined as development of new IBD activity in patients with quiescent IBD and abnormal HADS scores at baseline. A gut-brain direction of disease activity was defined by subsequent development of abnormal HADS scores in patients with active IBD and normal HADS scores at baseline. We performed multivariate Cox regression controlling for patient characteristics and follow-up duration.

RESULTS
Baseline CD or UC disease activity were associated with an almost 6-fold increase in risk for a later abnormal anxiety score (hazard ratio [HR], 5.77; 95% CI, 1.89-17.7). In patients with quiescent IBD at baseline, baseline abnormal anxiety scores were associated with later need for glucocorticosteroid prescription or flare of IBD activity (HR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.31-3.30) and escalation of therapy (HR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.19-2.80). These associations persisted when normal IBD activity index scores and fecal level of calprotectin <250 μg/g were used to define quiescent disease at baseline.

CONCLUSIONS
In a 2-year study of patients with CD or UC, we found evidence for bi-directional effects of IBD activity and psychological disorders. Patients with IBD should be monitored for psychological well-being.


Abstract : From the earliest days of the Republic, the outlines of an evolving American grand strategy have been evident in our foreign and domestic policy.1 Much of that history continues to inform our strategic conduct, and therefore American grand strategy rests today on traditional foundations. Despite a welter of theory and debate, grand strategy as a practical matter is remarkably consistent from decade to decade, with its means altering as technology advances and institutions evolve but its ends and ways showing marked continuity. Grand strategy can be understood simply as the use of power to secure the state.2 Thus, it exists at a level above particular strategies intended to secure particular ends and above the use of military power alone to achieve political objectives. One way to comprehend grand strategy is to look for long-term state behavior as defined by enduring, core security interests and how the state secures and advances them over time. In a way, this means that what the state does matters more than what the state says. Grand strategy is therefore related to, but not synonymous with, National Security Strategies, National Military Strategies, Quadrennial Defense Reviews, or Defense Strategic Guidance. Grand strategy transcends the security pronouncements of political parties or individual administrations. Viewed in this light, American grand strategy shows great persistence over time, orienting on those things deemed most important those interests for which virtually any administration will spend, legislate, threaten, or fight to defend.


This thesis explores and evaluates MAXCCLUS, a bioinformatics clustering algorithm, which was designed to be used to cluster genes from microarray experimental data. MAXCCLUS does the clustering of genes depending on the textual data that describe the genes. MAXCCLUS attempts to create clusters of which it selects only the statistically significant clusters by running a significance test. It then attempts to generalise these clusters by using a simple greedy generalisation algorithm. We explore the behaviour of MAXCCLUS by running several clustering experiments that investigate various modifications to MAXCCLUS and its data. The thesis shows (a) that using the simple generalisation algorithm of MAXCCLUS gives better result than using an exhaustive search algorithm for generalisation, (b) the significance test that MAXCCLUS uses needs to be modified to take into consideration the dependency of some genes on other genes functionally, (c) it is advantageous to delete the non domain-relevant textual data that describe the genes but disadvantageous to add more textual data to describe the genes, and (d) that MAXCCLUS behaves poorly when it attempts to cluster genes that have adjacent categories instead of having two distinct categories only.


This paper examines attitudes of Russian MBA students toward international careers and finds that gender is not an issue but that respondents with family constraints were less favorable toward an international career. Respondents who are male, are single, or do not have children were slightly favorable toward international careers. Women and respondents with spouses without a career were neutral toward international careers. Respondents who are married, respondents with children, and respondents with a spouse with a career, were slightly unfavorable toward an international career. The results of this survey indicate that Russian MBA students are, on average, only slightly favorable toward international careers. These results contrast with an earlier study that found a stronger preference for international careers among Russian MBA students. Current MBA students in Moscow have more career opportunities than before. The results are based on the responses of twenty-nine Russian students in an AACSB accredited MBA program in Moscow who speak both Russian and English and work for an international company or agency.


Many pain patients present with a complex set of symptoms and comorbidities that defy the acumen of any one specific medical specialty; thus the knowledge and skills of the pain physician must, out of necessity cross specialty borders. The competency that comes from mastering essential skills is accomplished during the pain medicine training. The goal of pain medicine training in the United States is to provide the postgraduate trainee with the exposure to multiple disciplines of medicine, as well as multiple interventions, so that upon completion of training, the pain physician will have the necessary skill set to provide competent, appropriate, comprehensive care for the often medically complicated pain patient. In the United States, many training programs are governed by guidelines that have been established by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).


The year 2000 Seminar of the LIBER architecture group in Warsaw provided an opportunity to discuss new frontiers in the development of library buildings. New ways of financing are needed in an economically fast changing world. It was impressive to hear from Robert Rzesos about the successful financing activities for the University library of Warsaw. Alan MacDougall gave an outstanding paper concerning successful fundraising activities for new library buildings, based on experiences he has made in Dublin. Graham Bulpitt gave an overview on income generation through library buildings.


India is popularly viewed as having initiated the process of liberal reforms and the embrace of outward-oriented trade policies starting with the adoption of a major reforms package in July 1991. Subsequently, from 1992 to 2002, India's gross domestic product grew at the impressive annual rate of 6.1 percent. That rate contrasted with the so-called Hindu rate of growth of approximately 3.5 percent during the first three decades of India's economic development. There was also a substantial reduction in poverty during the 1990s. As such, observers have generally seen the Indian experience during the 1990s and beyond as strong evidence that outward-oriented trade polices and pro-market reforms generated large benefits for the people of that country. A skeptical view has emerged recently, however, which argues that the growth rate in India had shifted in the 1980s, making it impossible to credit reforms with the improved performance of India. If those skeptics were right, it would be a major blow to liberal trade and market-friendly policies, not only with respect to India but to developing countries around the world. But a closer look reveals that the story is more complex than the skeptics would have us believe. Three specific points emerge from a detailed analysis. First, growth during the 1980s was patchy, with the last three years contributing 7.6 percent annual growth. Without those three years, growth in the 1980s would look, at best, marginally better than that of the previous three decades. Second, the high growth in the last three years of the 1980s was, in fact, preceded or accompanied by significant liberalization under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who had vowed to take India into the 21st century when he first took office in 1984. Finally, growth was stimulated partially by expansionary policies that involved accumulation of a large external debt and that ended in an economic crisis. In the end, it was the 1991 market reforms and subsequent liberalizing policy changes that helped sustain growth. India can still do much to improve its economic performance. For example, India lags behind China largely because India's relatively small industrial sector is hobbled, a problem that must be fixed through a further reduction in tariffs, privatizations, and other liberal measures. The Triumph of India's Market Reforms The Record of the 1980s and 1990s


This article discusses the Modelica.Fluid library that has been included in the Modelica Standard Library 3.1. Modelica.Fluid provides interfaces and basic components for the device-oriented modeling of onedimensional thermo-fluid flow in networks containing vessels, pipes, fluid machines, valves and fittings. A unique feature of Modelica.Fluid is that the component equations and the media models as well as pressure loss and heat transfer correlations are decoupled from each other. All components are implemented such that they can be used for media from the Modelica.Media library. This means that an incompressible or compressible medium, a single or a multiple substance medium with one or more phases might be used with one and the same model as long as the modeling assumptions made hold. Furthermore, trace substances are supported. Modeling assumptions can be configured globally in an outer System object. This covers in particular the initialization, uni- or bi-directional flow, and dynamic or steady-state formulation of mass, energy, and momentum balance. All assumptions can be locally refined for every component. While Modelica.Fluid contains a reasonable set of component models, the goal of the library is not to provide a comprehensive set of models, but rather to provide interfaces and best practices for the treatment of issues such as connector design and implementation of energy, mass and momentum balances. Applications from various domains are presented.


Abstract Introduction and aims: Illicit methamphetamine (MA) use is an important public health concern. There is a dearth of knowledge about effective and cost-effective treatments for methamphetamine (MA) dependence in Australia. This article evaluates the cost-effectiveness of counselling as a treatment option for illicit MA use compared with no treatment option. Design and methods: Data are from 501 individuals recruited into Methamphetamine Treatment Evaluation Study (MATES). The population of MA users from MATES is extrapolated to a total number of 1000 MA users in the intervention group (counselling treatment) and control group (non-treatment group). A decision analytic model is developed that examines the costs and health outcomes [measures as quality adjusted life years (QALYs) gained] for the treatment and comparison group over a 3-year period. A societal perspective is adopted and model inputs are subject to sensitivity and uncertainty analysis to test the robustness of results to parameter variability. Results are discounted by using 3% discount rate and expressed in 2011 Australian dollars. Results: The incremental cost-effectiveness analysis suggests that counselling is a dominant health care intervention, i.e. saves money and is more effective than a do nothing intervention. The incremental difference in costs is −AU$18.36 million (95% CI −AU$22.80 million to −AU$14.31 million) and the incremental difference in QALY is 107 (95% CI −640 to 820) with a probability of 78.64% of counselling being a dominant and cost-effective treatment within the acceptable incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $63 832 per QALY in the Australian society. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that the ICER is most sensitive to change in five major inputs: baseline utility, utility at 3 months, dealing crime costs, property crime costs and fraud crime costs. Discussion and Conclusions: The economic evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of counselling for MA dependence, as a first cost-effectiveness study to assess psychosocial treatment options for MA dependence, shows that greater investment in this cost-effective strategy will produce significant cost-savings and improve health outcomes as well as improve a lot of externality issues associated with drug use.


During archaeological field work a huge amount of data is collected, processed and elaborated for further studies and scientific publications. However, access and communication of linked data; associated tools for interrogation, analysis and sharing are often limited at the first stage of the archaeological research, mainly due to issues related to IPR. Information is often released months if not years after the fieldwork. Nowadays great deal of archaeological data is 'born digital' in the field or lab. This means databases, pictures and 3D models of finds and excavation contexts could be available for public communication and sharing. Researchers usually restrict access to their data to a small group of people. It follows that data sharing is not so widespread among archaeologists, and dissemination of research is still mostly based on traditional pre-digital means like scientific papers, journal articles and books. This project has implemented a web approach for sharing and communication purposes, exploiting mainly open source technologies which allow a high level of interactivity. The case study presented is the newly Mithraeum excavated in Ostia Antica archaeological site in the framework of the Ostia Marina Project.


Great interest exists in adding long fibers into polymeric fluids due to the increase in properties associated with the composite, as compared to the neat resin. These properties, however, are dependent on the fiber orientations generated during processing, such as injection molding. In an effort to optimize industrial processing, optimize mold design, and maximize desired properties of the final part, it is highly desirable to predict long fiber orientation as a function of processing conditions. The purpose of this research is to use rheology as a fundamental means of understanding the transient orientation behavior of concentrated long glass (> 1mm) fiber suspensions. Specifically, this research explores the method of using rheology as a means of obtaining stress tensor and orientation model parameters needed to accurately predict the transient fiber orientation of long glass fiber reinforced polypropylene, in a well-defined simple shear flow, with the hopes of extending the knowledge gained from these fundamental experiments for the use of simulating processing flows, such as injection molding. Two fiber orientation models were investigated to predict the transient orientation of the long glass fiber systems explored. One model, the FolgarTucker model, has been particularly useful for predicting fiber orientation in short glass fiber systems and was used in this paper to assess its performance with long glass fibers. A second orientation model, one that accounts for the semi-flexibility of fibers, was extended to describe non-dilute suspension and coupled with an augmented stress tensor that accounts for fiber bending. Stress tensor and orientation model parameters were determined (in all cases) by best fitting these coupled equations to measured stress data obtained using a sliding plate rheometer. Results showed the semi-flexible orientation model and stress tensor combination, overall, provided improved rheological results as compared to the Folgar-Tucker model when coupled with the stress tensor of Lipscomb (1988). Furthermore, it was found that both stress tensors required empirical modification to accurately fit the measured data. Both orientation models provided encouraging results when predicting the transient fiber orientation in a sliding plate rheometer, for all initial fiber orientations explored. Additionally, both orientation models provided encouraging results when the model parameters, determined from the rheological study, were used for the purpose of predicting fiber orientation in an injection molded center-gated disk.


Developments relating to the control of application equipment can deliver improvements in pesticide use by better matching applications to target requirements. This may have components relating to the spatial distribution of a weed, pest or disease or methods by which the target, particularly a crop canopy, can be described with respect to a given application. Changes in application can relate to the dose and/or volume applied, but may also concern the way in which a treatment is delivered in terms of parameters such as spray trajectory angle and droplet size distribution. For many weed species there is evidence of patchy distributions in field situations. Studies have shown that savings of typically up to 40% in herbicide use can be achieved by adopting patch spraying approaches in such situations. Weed patch detection is key to the performance of such patch spraying systems. In widely spaced rowcrops such as vegetables, there is considerable scope for developing fully automated detection systems based on image analysis, and for the development of accurate guidance systems that apply pesticides only to the crop row. In crops with a relatively high plant density, weed detection in the medium/short term is likely to be based on manual discrimination. The costs of labour for manual weed patch mapping have been estimated at less than 1.50 ha(-1) pounds sterling. Potential savings in pesticide use can also be made if applications are matched to crop canopy structure. This is most important in bush and tree crops where savings of up to 75% in pesticide use could be achieved. In crops such as cereals, studies have shown that savings in fungicide use may be possible, particularly at earlier stages of growth by adjusting spray delivery to measured canopy characteristics. Key components of the performance of application systems concern the ability to deliver over a dose rate range of more than 3:1 while maintaining control of variables such as delivery trajectory angle and spray quality. Traceability and the effective monitoring of applications is likely to be a major driver influencing the uptake of more sophisticated control systems. Methods of labelling pesticides with systems that can be read by the application unit will be an important step in the development of recording and data handling systems that will operate safely with the minimum of operator input and enable the environmental advantages of targeted pesticide application to be monitored.


Abstract Background Long-term care facilities are high-risk settings for severe outcomes from outbreaks of Covid-19, owing to both the advanced age and frequent chronic underlying health conditions of the residents and the movement of health care personnel among facilities in a region. Methods After identification on February 28, 2020, of a confirmed case of Covid-19 in a skilled nursing facility in King County, Washington, Public Health–Seattle and King County, aided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, launched a case investigation, contact tracing, quarantine of exposed persons, isolation of confirmed and suspected cases, and on-site enhancement of infection prevention and control. Results As of March 18, a total of 167 confirmed cases of Covid-19 affecting 101 residents, 50 health care personnel, and 16 visitors were found to be epidemiologically linked to the facility. Most cases among residents included respiratory illness consistent with Covid-19; however, in 7 residents no symptoms were documented. Hospitalization rates for facility residents, visitors, and staff were 54.5%, 50.0%, and 6.0%, respectively. The case fatality rate for residents was 33.7% (34 of 101). As of March 18, a total of 30 long-term care facilities with at least one confirmed case of Covid-19 had been identified in King County. Conclusions In the context of rapidly escalating Covid-19 outbreaks, proactive steps by long-term care facilities to identify and exclude potentially infected staff and visitors, actively monitor for potentially infected patients, and implement appropriate infection prevention and control measures are needed to prevent the introduction of Covid-19.


This study examined the relationship between interpersonal problem solving and suicidal behavior among psychiatric patients. Subjects were 123 psychiatric inpatients, admitted for current parasuicide, serious suicide ideation, or non-suicide-related complaints. A group o f 16 orthopedic surgery patients was included to control for hospitalization trauma and current stress. All subjects completed a revised version o f the Means-End Problem Solving Procedure, the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, and a suicide expectancy measure. Psychiatric patients scored lower than the medical control group on the assertive schedule, but no differences were noted as a function o f suicidal behavior status. Psychiatric patients expected suicide to solve problems more than did controls. Suicidal patients had higher expectancies than did nonsuicidal patients. Active interpersonal problem solving did not distinguish suicidal and nonsuicidal psychiatric patients but did separate parasuicides from suicide ideators. Among patients without a parasuicide history, less active and greater passive problem solving discriminated firsttime parasuicides from suicide ideators and nonsuicidals. Results suggest that assertion deficits may character&e the psychiatric population in general, but suicidal behavior within psychiatric patients may be related to lower active problem solving.


ABSTRACT Volto, N. and Duvat, V.K.E., 2020. Applying directional filters to satellite imagery for the assessment of tropical cyclone impacts on Atoll Islands. Journal of Coastal Research, 36(4), 732–740. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. This paper highlights the major insights provided by directional filters using ENVI® software for detecting and mapping cyclone-generated accretional features and analyzing postcyclone sediment reworking. It relies on the study of the impacts of category 5 tropical cyclone Fantala (April 2016) on Farquhar Atoll, Seychelles Islands. Using directional filters first allowed the detecting and mapping of terrestrial (sediment sheets, sediment lobes) and intertidal (shingle and rubble tongues, sediment sheets, sandbars) depositional features. It also helped with highlighting spatial-temporal variations in the postcyclone reorganization of reef flat deposits. One year after the cyclone, along the rectilinear shoreline of elongate islands (i.e. North Island and South Island), massive reef-to-island sediment transfer had already caused the dismantling of cyclone-generated features and beach readjustment; however, in places, newly formed cyclone features exhibited limited dismantling. In contrast, at the island tips, the reworking of postcyclone sediment deposits was still ongoing, explaining still rather limited beach readjustment. The results advocate for the use of remote sensing techniques that complement fieldwork and multidate shoreline change assessment to promote more comprehensive analyses of tropical cyclones' impacts.


This paper considers intervals of real matrices with respect to partial orders and the problem to infer from some exposed matrices lying on the boundary of such an interval that all real matrices taken from the interval possess a certain property. In many cases such a property requires that the chosen matrices have an identically signed inverse. We also briefly survey related problems, e.g., the invariance of matrix properties under entry-wise perturbations.


This paper describes how pure travelling waves in cascaded, lumped, uniform, mass-spring systems can be defined, established, and maintained, by controlling two boundary actuators, one at each end. In most cases the control system for each actuator requires identifying and measuring notional component waves, propagating in opposite directions, through the actuator-system interfaces. These measured component waves are then used to form the control inputs to the actuators. The paper also shows how the boundaries can be actively controlled to establish and maintain standing waves of arbitrary standing wave ratio, including those corresponding to classical modes of vibration with textbook boundary conditions. The proposed control systems are also robust to system disturbances: they react quickly to overcome external transient disturbances to re-establish the desired steady motion.


We present a system for accurate real-time mapping of complex and arbitrary indoor scenes in variable lighting conditions, using only a moving low-cost depth camera and commodity graphics hardware. We fuse all of the depth data streamed from a Kinect sensor into a single global implicit surface model of the observed scene in real-time. The current sensor pose is simultaneously obtained by tracking the live depth frame relative to the global model using a coarse-to-fine iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm, which uses all of the observed depth data available. We demonstrate the advantages of tracking against the growing full surface model compared with frame-to-frame tracking, obtaining tracking and mapping results in constant time within room sized scenes with limited drift and high accuracy. We also show both qualitative and quantitative results relating to various aspects of our tracking and mapping system. Modelling of natural scenes, in real-time with only commodity sensor and GPU hardware, promises an exciting step forward in augmented reality (AR), in particular, it allows dense surfaces to be reconstructed in real-time, with a level of detail and robustness beyond any solution yet presented using passive computer vision.


Cloud radio access network (C-RAN) is becoming more than ever timely in 5G for dense network deployments, but its design has to be adapted to 5G requirements. To ensure high-uplink throughput in cell-edge regions affected by inter-cell interference, C-RAN enables the multi-user reception techniques among cells. In this paper, we propose an efficient end-to-end uplink transmission scheme dealing with implementation and deployment constraints on both communication interfaces in C-RAN, i.e., the wireless one between the users and the remote radio heads (RRHs), and the fronthaul links between the RRHs and the central processing unit. Multi-cell non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) can improve spectral efficiency and cell-edge throughput, but its design needs to fit requirements regarding receiver complexity and delay. Optimizing the fronthaul rate allocation to maximize the benefit of the transmissions allows to exploit the fronthaul links effectively. Our model considers the throughput of NOMA transmissions in C-RAN and the expense related to fronthaul usage in various deployment scenarios. When the available fronthaul rate allows accurate transmission, optimizing fronthaul rate allocation results in 10% higher transmission benefit than uniform allocation. It also makes possible to involve less users in NOMA while keeping the benefit. The proposed strategy enables uplink multi-cell multi-user processing in a cost-effective manner in 5G C-RAN deployments.


background, aim, method, result) max 200 words: The main goal of the distraction and drowsiness field study was to evaluate a system for detecting driver distraction and drowsiness. This report focuses on the system implementation and the algorithms detecting distraction and drowsiness. A vehicle was instrumented with video cameras, an automatic eye tracker and GPS receivers. Further data were read from the CAN bus of the car. The data were logged continuously with high frequency. The log system operated autonomously. Seven participants drove the vehicle during one month each. During the first ten days a behavioural baseline was collected. Afterwards the warnings were activated, such that the drivers received distraction warnings in form of a vibration in the seat when the algorithm determined that they had looked away from the forward roadway too much. A separate algorithm judged whether the drivers were drowsy or not. Questionnaires were administered on three occasions during the course of the study. No major problems were encountered during the field operational test (FOT), but a number of smaller problems had to be solved. However, in the end of the data collection period the computer installed in the car became more and more unstable, which led to increased data loss.


The problem of creating a narrow-band filter that operates with wide-aperture (about 30°) light beams is solved in this paper. It describes the search for and the experimental certification of methods of creating a single-mode lightguide with a Bragg grating in it. An optical narrow-band filter is obtained by forming a Bragg grating in the microchannels of a fiber filled with a photopolymer. The proposed technology for filling the fiber ensures homogeneous filling of microchannels longer than 20 mm. The photopolymer composite thus developed makes it possible to obtain the photoinduced refractive-index modulation needed to record a grating in a solid composite. Such recording ensures that it is stable. The resulting temperature-stable filter can be used for spectral filtering of wide-aperture (about 30°) light beams.


This article uses U.S. corporate tax return data to assess how government revenue would have changed if, over the period 1957–2013, corporations had been subject to a hypothetical corporate cash flow tax—that is, a tax allowing for the immediate deduction of investments in long‐lived assets like equipment and structures—rather than the corporate tax regime actually in effect. Holding taxpayer behavior fixed, the data indicate actual corporate tax revenue over the most recent period (1995–2013) differed little from that under the hypothetical cash flow tax. This result has three important implications. First, capital owners appear to bear a large fraction of the corporate tax today. This is because economic theory holds that corporate cash flow taxes are largely borne by capital owners and my result implies that the actual tax behaves in practice much like a cash flow tax. This theory is embodied in the Treasury's most recent model of corporate tax incidence. Applying the model to my results implies that only a small portion (2–10 percent) of the U.S. corporate tax was borne by labor in the years before the 2017 Act and thus capital providers are the primary beneficiaries of the Act's large corporate rate cut. Second, the results suggest that the United States could switch fully over to a cash flow tax, which is likely to be administratively simpler for both the government and corporations, at relatively low revenue cost. Third, the impact of fully switching to a cash flow tax on the operations of the real economy and its efficiency are likely to be fairly small. This is precisely because the corporate tax has already evolved to largely mimic a cash flow tax, and the article explores the reasons underlying this evolution using a novel dataset.


The downward trend in replacement rate is going to affect the material wellbeing of Polish future retirees. The aim of this paper is to identify the pension strategies working Poles undertake to counteract future deterioration in material conditions, with particular interest in saving practices and labour market activity. We make use of the Pension awareness of Poles survey data (N=1006) and apply quantitative methods: binary logistic regressions and principal component analysis (PCA). We distinguish between first-best and second-best strategies. The former relates to accumulating pension wealth, while the latter to the range of actions aimed at making ends meet, provided insufficient benefit. The results show that there is a poor relationship between knowledge, plans and behaviour. Moreover, knowledge itself is limited. Even though the awareness of the worsening conditions of retirees-to-be is increasing, little is being done to counteract it. Among various demographic and socio-economic descriptors income and education play an important role in distinguishing patterns, as well as status of self-employed. Three second-best strategies have been distinguished: own responsibility, external support, rebellion. We conclude that information policy on the pension system should be improved, and the incentives for older workers to continue their careers should be strengthened.


Glassy cell carcinoma (GCC) has been believed to have originated from reserve or uncommitted cells as a poorly differentiated adenosquamous carcinoma. This study includes immunoprofiles of p63, cytokeratin 17 (CK17), and CD44 to clarify which lineage of GCC is committed to human papillomavirus (HPV) detection, and to verify whether or not HPV plays a role in GCC. Nine uterine GCCs showing overwhelmingly glassy features were evaluated by an HPV genotyping chip and by immunohistochemistry for E-cadherin, CD44, p63, CEA, erb-B2, cytokeratin 17, and p16. An HPV genotyping DNA chip array with multiple oligonucleotide probes of L1 sequences from 26 types of HPV was introduced. GCCs were variably stained, except for CD44 which was stained unanimously. A lack of E-cadherin was found in 4 cases, frequent expression of p63 in 6/9 (66.7%), mucin stain or CEA in 5/9 (55.6%), and coexpression of p63 in 4. HPV prevalence in GCC was found in 6/9 cases (66.7%). HPV-18 and HPV-32 were the most common types detected. The remaining cancers were infected by HPV-31, HPV-35, HPV-39, and HPV-68. Multiple infections were found in 2 out of 6 cases. GCC could not be precisely categorized, but was committed to squamous lineages and was strongly associated with high-risk type HPV infection.


ABSTRACT Aziz 'Zyzz' Shavershian was an Australian bodybuilder and internet micro-celebrity who died tragically at the age of 22. Shavershian was famous for his body and his internet-based practices of self-representation. This article will examine Shavershian's practices of representation in terms of his online persona, 'Zyzz', as a celebrity bodywork project. We argue that 'Zyzz' is the aspirational 'image' that Shavershian himself embodied and expressed. Followers and fans of 'Zyzz' do not simply want his 'body', they want to live his aspirational bodywork project. We engage with and critically analyse the bodywork project as a unique discursive object characterised by the circulation of affect and enacted through embodied activity. Of interest to us is thinking beyond the individual Aziz Shavershian to appreciating 'Zyzz' as a shared homosocial project that we map in terms of an 'aspirational' trajectory out of the conditions of 'protest masculinity'. The resonant singularities of the 'Zyzz' project circulate in this homosocial cultural context as thresholds of qualitative transformation: there is a transformation of the 'worked' body, a mobilisation of the 'enthusiastic' body, and a valorisation of the 'respected' body.


Use of solar energy as one of environmentally friendly innovations has been adopted in rural Chinese society to save the environment and money. This study aims to explore the processes and drivers of, and the barriers to, rural people's adoption of solar water heater (SWH), including to analyze and synthesize the diffusion and adoption of practical solar energy innovations. Based on the integration of diffusion of innovations theory, the theory of reasoned action, and the theory of acceptance model, the factors of SWH adoption were established. Binary logistics regression was used to analyze the factors influencing rural people's decision to adopt SWH. The key drivers are social influence, physical need and innovation attributes, respectively. To achieve widespread effective innovations from policy level to rural communities, a two-step flow of diffusion from the government to salespersons and then to rural communities, especially earlier adopters, to motivate rural people's behavioral intention to innovation adoption is strongly recommended. The practical implications for other agricultural rural communities are that the adoption processes and drivers to behavioral change need high collaboration and commitment by related ministries along with the private and academic sectors.


Objective: To evaluate a quick, safe, and minimally invasive method to screen for diabetes using gingival blood with the help of self-monitoring glucometer during periodontal examination. Materials and Methods: A hospital–based, cross-sectional comparative study was conducted among 40–59-year-old diabetic and nondiabetic population who had come for their master health examination to a private tertiary care hospital (Global Hospital and Health City) in Chennai. Among them, those who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected for the study. Thirty diabetic and thirty nondiabetic patients with moderate to severe gingivitis were enrolled and subjected to routine clinical periodontal examination. Blood samples of two sites were analyzed using a glucose self-monitoring device (Accu-Check). Patients were tested for venous fasting blood sugar (VFBS), venous postprandial blood sugar (VPPS), gingival fasting blood sugar (GFBS) level, gingival postprandial blood sugar (GPPS) level, peripheral fingerstick fasting blood sugar (PFBS) level, and peripheral fingerstick postprandial sugar (PPPS) level. Data obtained were statistically analyzed using Student's t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation test. Results: A significant positive correlation was found between GFBS and VFBS, GFBS and PFBS, GPPS and VPPS, and GPPS and PPPS (P < 0.01) in both diabetic and nondiabetic patients correlation. Using venous blood glucose level as a gold standard, the sensitivity and specificity of GFBS was 93% and 100%, respectively, whereas in GPPS, the sensitivity and specificity was 80% and 96%, respectively. Conclusion: Gingival blood glucometry can be used as a minimally invasive screening tool for diabetes mellitus in dental clinics.


COVID-19 is a major, urgent, and ongoing threat to global health. Globally more than 24 million have been infected and the disease has claimed more than a million lives as of October 2020. Predicting which patients will need respiratory support is important to guiding individual patient treatment and also to ensuring sufficient resources are available. We evaluated the ability of six common Early Warning Scores (EWS) to identify respiratory deterioration defined as the need for advanced respiratory support (high-flow nasal oxygen, continuous positive airways pressure, non-invasive ventilation, intubation) within a prediction window of 24 hours. We show these scores perform sub-optimally at this specific task. Therefore, we develop an alternative Early Warning Score based on a Gradient Boosting Trees (GBT) algorithm that is able to predict deterioration within the next 24 hours with high AUROC 94% and an accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of 70%, 96%, 70%, respectively. Our GBT model outperformed the best EWS (LDTEWS:NEWS), increasing the AUROC by 14%. Our GBT model makes the prediction based on the current and baseline measures of routinely available vital signs and blood tests.


In this thesis regimes of quantum degeneracy of electrons and holes in semiconductor quantum wells in a strong magnetic field are studied theoretically. The coherent pairing of electrons and holes results in the formation of Bose-Einstein condensate of magnetic excitons in a single-particle state with wave vector K. We show that correlation effects due to coherent excitations drastically change the properties of excitonic gas, making possible the formation of a novel metastable state of dielectric liquid phase with positive compressibility consisting of condensed magnetoexcitons with finite momentum. On the other hand, virtual transitions to excited Landau levels cause a repulsive interaction between excitons with zero momentum, and the ground state of the system in this case is a Bose condensed gas of weakly repulsive excitons. We introduce explicitly the damping rate of the exciton level and show that three different phases can be realized in a single quantum well depending on the exciton density: excitonic dielectric liquid surrounded by weakly interacting gas of condensed excitons versus metallic electron-hole liquid. In the double quantum well system the phase transition from the excitonic dielectric liquid phase to the crystalline state of electrons and holes is predicted with the increase of the interwell separation and damping rate.We used a framework of Green's function to investigate the collective elementary excitations of the system in the presence of Bose-Einstein condensate, introducing "anomalous" two-particle Green's functions and symmetry breaking terms into the Hamiltonian. The analytical solution of secular equation was obtained in the Hartree-Fock approximation and energy spectra were calculated. The Coulomb interactions in the system results in a multiple-branch structure of the collective excitations energy spectrum. Systematic classification of the branches is proposed, and the condition of the stability of the condensed excitonic phase is discussed.


Abstract. One of the key requirements to obtaining high performance from chip multiprocessors (CMPs) is to effectively manage the limited on-chip cache resources shared among co-scheduled threads/processes. This thesis proposes new hardware-oriented solutions for distributed CMP caches.
Computer architects are faced with growing challenges when designing cache systems for CMPs. These challenges result from non-uniform access latencies, interference misses, the bandwidth wall problem, and diverse workload characteristics. Our exploration of the CMP cache management problem suggests a CMP caching framework (CC-FR) that defines three main approaches to solve the problem: (1) data placement, (2) data retention, and (3) data relocation. We effectively implement CC-FR's components by proposing and evaluating multiple cache management mechanisms.
Pressure and Distance Aware Placement (PDA) decouples the physical locations of cache blocks from their addresses for the sake of reducing misses caused by destructive interferences. Flexible Set Balancing (FSB), on the other hand, reduces interference misses via extending the life time of cache lines through retaining some fraction of the working set at underutilized local sets to satisfy far-flung reuses. PDA implements CC-FR's data placement and relocation components and FSB applies CC-FR's retention approach.
To alleviate non-uniform access latencies and adapt to phase changes in programs, Adaptive Controlled Migration (ACM) dynamically and periodically promotes cache blocks towards L2 banks close to requesting cores. ACM lies under CC-FR's data relocation category. Dynamic Cache Clustering (DCC), on the other hand, addresses diverse workload characteristics and growing non-uniform access latencies challenges via constructing a cache cluster for each core and expands/contracts all clusters synergistically to match each core's cache demand. DCC implements CC-FR's data placement and relocation approaches.
Lastly, Dynamic Pressure and Distance Aware Placement (DPDA) combines PDA and ACM to cooperatively mitigate interference misses and non-uniform access latencies. Dynamic Cache Clustering and Balancing (DCCB), on the other hand, combines DCC and FSB to employ all CC-FR's categories and achieve higher system performance. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mechanisms and show that they compare favorably with related cache designs.


Designing educational innovation in a doctoral program on Leadership and Systemic Innovation is a matter of matching form with content. The challenge to create new experiences for curriculum design becomes one of experiential integrity for learners. This requires matching curriculum content with an appropriate real-world opportunity for positive change. Classical case study methods fall short as vehicles for exploring VUCA situations — those characterized as Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. However, it is hard to find appropriate alternative methods that provide experiential learning environments for generating useful and systemically well-balanced responses to VUCA situations. This paper presents the experience of an international team of five doctoral faculty members, aided by two second year doctoral students and a social innovation expert, to design, introduce, facilitate and model a programmatic curriculum that spanned the first year (five course modules) of the ITBA (Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires) Leadership and Systemic Innovation doctoral program with 22 students. Each course module focused on a distinct aspect of systemic innovation. This required the faculty to create a cross-cutting, field-based experience that interwove the learnings from one module to the next. In addition, the focus of the field-based experience was designed so as to expose students to a "wicked problem" (a VUCA situation that could not be addressed on the basis of one disciplinary perspective or approach alone) without requiring them to fix, resolve, or otherwise provide a solution to it. Instead, students were invited to explore various aspects of the situation from an empathic and holistic evolutionary perspective. As detailed in the paper, a significant challenge to what we called "the Interweave Model" was communicating exploratory methods to the students, and distinguishing this experience from what would be expected in classical case study research. The greatest challenge for students appeared to be holding a whole-systems perspective of the entire VUCA situation across five distinctly different subjects of the curriculum while generating opportunities for design responses within each subject that could be coherently combined.


The US patent system is a foundation of our nation's economy, encouraging innovation and growth. The exclusive right to use and license an invention provides numerous benefits to its inventor and to the broader economy. The patent system is not costless, however, and significant costs stem from the proliferation of low-qualify patents, including increased patent holdup and patent thickets. Industries relying on cumulative technology that computes and communicates are especially vulnerable to these problems. Bipartisan efforts to tackle the problems associated with the patent system have included reforms addressing the proliferation of dubious patents and an increased reliance on economic analysis. Significant progress has been made, first by the Federal Trade Commission and the National Academy of Sciences and later by the Supreme Court and the Congress, to improve the patent system, in part by recognizing that the patent system's costs and benefits differ by industry. Contemporaneously, private standard setting bodies have developed policies to avoid the problems associated with patent holdup. Moreover, the antitrust agencies under both the Bush and Obama administrations have scrutinized conduct involving patent holdup. This scrutiny should continue under the rigorous standards of traditional antitrust laws to continue the bipartisan focus on this important issue.


Abstract This article discusses the transition from annotated data to a gold standard, that is, a subset that is sufficiently noise-free with high confidence. Unless appropriately reinterpreted, agreement coefficients do not indicate the quality of the data set as a benchmarking resource: High overall agreement is neither sufficient nor necessary to distill some amount of highly reliable data from the annotated material. A mathematical framework is developed that allows estimation of the noise level of the agreed subset of annotated data, which helps promote cautious benchmarking.


We develop a physical model to study the pressure of the source proton plasma in the inner heliosheath based on the IBEX Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) spectra. A multiple linear regression technique is used to parameterize the proton distribution function, by connecting the observed ENA flux spectrum from IBEX-Hi with the power-law of the model proton distribution. We calculate the partial pressure over the measured energy range, using (1) a non-parametric method by integrating the observed ENA flux, and (2) a parametric method by integrating the modeled distribution of protons in the inner heliosheath. The two sky maps of the parametric and non-parametric partial pressures are nearly identical, owing to their power-law distributions at high energies; the kappa distribution is such a function that can be reduced to a power-law in the IBEX-Hi energy range. The slight differences between the two partial pressures may indicate protons that are not described by the kappa distribution, and instead, involve newer or "immature" (spherical shell) pick-up proton distributions. Ultimately, however, these become incorporated with the solar wind into one single proton population described by a kappa distribution. Moreover, we derive analytically (1) the ENA flux spectra, which suggests that this flux maximizes at ∼30 eV, and (2) the differential pressure, which provides estimates of the partial pressures outside of those measured by IBEX-Hi. Under the assumptions of the modeled ENA spectra, the Ribbon emissions appear to be primarily limited to the energy ranges of IBEX-Lo and IBEX-Hi.


Kronecker products are used to define the underlying Markov chain (MC) in various modeling formalisms, including compositional Markovian models, hierarchical Markovian models, and stochastic process algebras. The motivation behind using a Kronecker structured representation rather than a flat one is to alleviate the storage requirements associated with the MC. With this approach, systems that are an order of magnitude larger can be analyzed on the same platform. The developments in the solution of such MCs are reviewed from an algebraic point of view and possible areas for further research are indicated with an emphasis on preprocessing using reordering, grouping, and lumping and numerical analysis using block iterative, preconditioned projection, multilevel, decompositional, and matrix analytic methods. Case studies from closed queueing networks and stochastic chemical kinetics are provided to motivate decompositional and matrix analytic methods, respectively.


Grow a Greener Data Center A guide to building and operating energy-efficient, ecologically sensitive IT and Facilities infrastructure Conventional Data Centers can have a huge impact upon the environment, using massive amounts of energy and water, emitting pollutants, and discarding huge quantities of machine waste. Their insatiable demand for energy and often inefficient designs make Data Centers expensive to operate and prime targets for future environmental regulation. Fortunately, its now possible to design a Data Center that consumes fewer resources, costs less money to run, has a longer usable lifespan, and can even highlight a companys social responsibility. Grow a Greener Data Center shows how. Douglas Alger makes the business case for greening Data Centers and presents technologies, design strategies, and operational approaches to help any company improve the energy efficiency and eco-friendliness of their IT hosting environments. He provides multiple strategies for greening each phase of a new Data Center projectselecting a site, designing and building the facility, and choosing hardwareas well as tips for retrofitting an existing server environment. Alger explores IT and facilities technology areas as well as broader green building practices, including building material selection, electrical system design, use of alternative energy, cooling system design, cabling media choices, fire suppression options, water conservation practices, landscaping strategies, recycling programs, e-waste management, and more. Explores how to green each phase of your Data Center project including site selection, physical design, construction, and hardware selection Offers green strategies for all Data Center technologies including power, cooling, cabling, fire suppression, and virtualization Presents IT and facilities design (and retrofitting) strategies that can save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in energy costs Reveals financial incentive programs to help pay for green Data Center initiatives Outlines Data Center efficiency metrics and environmental building assessment systems used worldwide to rate how green a facility is Highlights the lessons of dozens of case studies and real-world installations pertaining to energy efficiency, green building projects, and Data Center technologies Addresses broader green business practices including proper e-waste disposal, water conservation, and fostering alternative transportation Related Title: Build the Best Data Center Facility for Your Business ISBN-10: 1-58705-182-6ISBN-13: 978-1-58705-182-1 Category: Data Center Covers: Green IT


At the local government level, where a significant number of citizen-to-government transactions occur, eGovernment can be as much a barrier as it can be an enabler for citizen access to information and services. Municipal councils need to ensure that they are effective in delivering the services that are transferred to the electronic domain. As local governments increasingly turn to ESD, it is essential that they put in place performance measurement processes that ensure that they are effectively in achieving their desired aim. Public accountability particularly for more efficient and effective service delivery requires performance measures incorporating both financial and non-financial elements. The substantial reforms to the local government sector, however, brings with it a risk that councils will turn to eGovernment with the primary aim of reducing internal costs. This research examines the progress local governments in Victoria, Australia have made towards utilising the Internet to enhance the delivery of services and the methods they use to measure performance. Using a case study of two councils, the research found that councils concentrate more on the cost benefits of ESD rather than on the quality or effectiveness of the service. It also found that council staff do not incorporate on-going evaluative processes in changes to ESD. Moreover, it found that staff are often reluctant to undertake internally initiated reviews, and often rely on easily quantifiable measures such as hits or visits as justification for ESD.


The theory of three Cosmic Origin Spectrograph holographic gratings recorded with a deformable plane mirror is presented. Their working conditions are severe, since they have to correct the strong spherical aberration and the field astigmatism of the Hubble Space Telescope. Recorded on aspherized substrates, the gratings produce images that are diffraction limited with regard to spectral resolution.


Technology commercialization is described as the most dreadful challenge for technology-based entrepreneurs. The scarcity of resources and limited managerial experience make it a daunting task, putting in danger the whole firm emergence. Prior research has often build upon the resource-based view to propose that the new firms' performance is dependent on their initial resource endowments and configurations. Nevertheless, little is known on how the early-stage decisions of the entrepreneur might influence on the growth of the firm. Scholars have suggested that both technology and market orientation actions could influence the performance and growth of firms in this context; nevertheless, there is limited empirical evidence of the influence of these different orientations in the context of new technology-based firms (NTBFs). In this study we propose to explore the influence of technology and demand creation actions adopting a demand-side view. We use a longitudinal study on a panel dataset (2004-2007) with 249 U.S. new high-technology firms to test our hypothesis. The results point towards a rather limited influence of initial resource configurations, as well as an unexpected influence of market and technology orientation in the growth dimensions of an NTBF. The research holds implications for the management of new technology-based firms and for those interested in supporting the development of technology entrepreneurship.


Abstract Cheddar-cheese-type whey protein concentrates were studied for their compositional and thermal attributes. The samples were prepared from three milk systems, namely, skim milk, whole milk, and skim milk enriched with buttermilk. The concentrates from skim milk were lower in all fat components and higher in proteins, except for the membrane-associated protein. The buttermilk-enriched samples had the most membrane-associated components. The concentrates from whole milk and buttermilk-enriched, skim milk were similar in protein composition, except for membrane-associated protein. The whole milk samples had the highest concentrations of total and free fat components. Lactose content and mineral composition were similar for the three types of concentrates. Thermal properties and denaturation kinetics were examined by differential scanning calorimetry. The samples exhibited a single broad endothermic peak with the denaturation temperature near 76°C and the enthalpy ranging from 1.86 to 2.16 cal/g. The concentrates from skim milk had higher denaturation enthalpy, whereas the concentrates from buttermilk-enriched, skim milk had slightly higher thermal stability. The overall denaturation process for whey proteins followed the reaction order n = 1.5 with an activation energy ranging from 217 to 251 kJ/mol. The thermal properties were observed to be related to a number of compositional factors. The denaturation enthalpy was positively correlated with β-lactoglobulin and protein content, and negatively correlated with bound fat, membrane protein, and membrane-associated lipid components. The denaturation temperature correlated positively with phospholipid content, and the onset denaturation temperature correlated positively with iron content.


This paper aims to describe pre-aspirated and post-aspirated stops in an endangered language, Scottish Gaelic. Our small-scale study investigates several acoustic parameters of Scottish Gaelic stop consonants designed to measure the duration and noisiness of aspiration of the stop in its immediate phonetic context. Our study expands on previous phonetic descriptions of phonemic (pre-)aspiration in three ways: firstly, we provide a more complete durational description of Scottish Gaelic than previous work in the literature; secondly, we apply a new measure, band-pass filtered zero crossing rate (Gordeeva & Scobbie 2010), in order to examine the noisiness of aspiration in addition to durational characteristics. The results from this measure are presented in tandem with durational results in order to assess its usefulness for future research. Thirdly, we consider the possibility of change in the Scottish Gaelic stop system by examining data from older and younger speakers. Results suggest that band-pass filtered zero crossing rate is a useful tool and should be considered in future research on aspiration. Also, durational and zero crossing results indicate that younger speakers have shorter and less noisy pre-aspiration than older speakers. We discuss these results as a possible sound change in progress.


Cornea functions as an outermost lens and plays an important role in vision. For cornea diagnosis and treatment, a microscopic imaging system with cellular resolution and high eye safety is strongly desired. Recently, the cell morphology of corneal epithelium and endothelium can be revealed by confocal or two-photon fluorescence microscopy, while the collagen fibers in the corneal stroma can be shown by second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy. However, in most of the developed imaging tools, visible to near-infrared light sources were used. To increase the eye safety, a light source with longer wavelength would be needed. In this presentation, a study using an infrared laser based nonlinear microscopy to investigate the ocular tissues of a mouse eye will be demonstrated. Since most of autofluorescence was suppressed under infrared excitation, third harmonic generation (THG) microscopy was used to reveal the cellular morphology and ~700μm penetrability could be achieved. Combining SHG with THG, in an intact mouse eye, not only the cornea but also the upper half of the lens could be observed with cellular resolution. Our study indicated that infrared-based SHG and THG microscopy could provide a useful in vivo investigating tool for ophthalmology.


dUTPase is an important enzyme in DNA metabolism. It can be thought of as a gate keeper for apoptosis and is therefore an attractive target when trying to kill malign cells which cause disease in the human body. dUTPase has been found to be an important drug target in diseases such as cancer and malaria, to mention two. Due to problems with drug resistance in existing treatments, the search for new and more efficient inhibitors against dUTPase is very relevant in present-day drug design. Computational methods play an important role in the development of novel inhibitors and can reduce the time and cost of the drug design process. These methods are applied to sample the binding modes of ligands to the receptor. To make the search base for ligands smaller, one must be able to rank the ligands with respect to the binding affinities. However, in order to integrate computational methods into the drug design process, suitable computational tools are needed, that can efficiently carry out and conduct ligand binding free energy calculations. As a part of this work, a graphical user interface for the simulation tools was developed. Molecular dynamics simulations and docking have been combined with the free energy calculations to predict the binding affinity for inhibitors against the human dUTPase using Qgui. A LIE model was first constructed to reproduce the experimental binding free energies for a training set of ligands. Judged by the coefficient of determination (R), good agreement between the experimental and theoretical binding affinities was obtained. The model was tested for selectivity with a set of ligands targeted at Plasmodium falsiparum dUTPase showing the pivotal importance of good starting structure. The binding free energies of two novel ligands were measured with the LIE model and the calculations resulted in moderate binding affinities.


Oxygen octahedra tilting is a common structural phenomenon in perovskites and has been subject of intensive studies, particularly in rhombohedral Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT). Early reports suggest that the tilted octahedra may strongly affect the domain switching behavior as well as the dielectric and piezoelectric properties of PZT ceramics. In a way similar to that proposed for tilts, however, charged defects, associated with oxygen vacancies, may also inhibit the motion of the domain walls, resulting macroscopically in pinched hysteresis loops and reduced piezoelectric response. Here, we revisit the early studies on rhombohedral PZT ceramics with tilted octahedra by considering a possible role of both tilts and charged defects on domain-wall motion. We show that the observed pinched hysteresis loops are likely associated with the presence of defect complexes containing charged oxygen vacancies, and not tilts, as suggested in some cases. Regardless of the presence or absence of long-range ordered tilts in rhombohedral PZT, the effect of charged defects is also prominent in weak-field permittivity and piezoelectric properties, particularly at sub-Hertz driving conditions where the conductivity, related to the motion of oxygen vacancies, gives rise to strong frequency dispersion.


Polybromide monoanions of the series [NAlk4][Br9] (Alk = methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl) have been investigated. The corresponding salts were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and state-of-the-art quantum-chemical calculations. Comparisons between their crystal structures and the gas-phase calculations have been made whereas the latter shows regular tetrahedral arrangement. Usually the nonabromides contain one central Br– anion at which all other four Br2 molecules are coordinated. The only exception is [NBu4][Br9] where also a [Br3]– unit is found.Quantum-chemical calculations show that dispersion as well as spin-orbit corrections alter the results only marginally and can be neglected. Conductivity measurements show a surprisingly high conductivity of these polybromide monoanions. It is found that the tetraalkylammonium nonabromide salts (alkyl = methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl) show decreasing conductivity as the size of the cation increases. Making thesepolybromide monoanions possible electrolytes in batteries or dye-sensitized solar cells.


PURPOSE
To compare mammographic screening results for women aged 65 years and older (elderly group) with those for women aged 50-64 years (younger group).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Mammography was performed in 32,140 women aged 50 years and older (10,914 elderly, 21,226 younger). Parameters studied included demographic data, screening interpretations, disposition of abnormal interpretations, results of biopsies, and characteristics of breast cancers.

RESULTS
The cancer detection rate is substantially higher in elderly women (9.2 per 1,000 women) than in younger women (5.7 per 1,000 women). The median size of cancers in elderly women is 11 mm (vs 12 mm in younger women). Axillary nodal status is 93% node negative in elderly women (vs 88% node negative in younger women). Cancer stage is earlier in elderly women than it is in younger women (84% stage 0 or 1 vs 75% stage 0 or 1).

CONCLUSION
Mammographic screening is at least as effective in detecting cancers for which there is a favorable prognosis in women aged 65 years and older as it is in women aged 50-64 years. Because the efficacy of screening in younger-group women has already been proved, it may be inferred that screening also benefits elderly-group women.


This article describes an exemplary robot exercise which was conducted in a class for mechatronics students. The goal of this exercise was to engage students in scientific thinking and reasoning, activities which do not always play an important role in their curriculum. The robotic platform presented here is simple in its construction and is customizable to the needs of the teacher. Therefore, it can be used for exercises in many different fields of science, not necessarily related to robotics. Here we present a situation where the robot is used like an alien creature from which we want to understand its behavior, resembling an ethological research activity. This robot exercise is suited for a wide range of courses, from general introduction to science, to hardware oriented lectures.


Intravenous (IV) magnesium is used as an adjunct therapy in management of status asthmaticus with a goal of reducing intubation rate. A recent review suggests that IV magnesium use in status asthmaticus reduces admission rates. This is contrary to the observation of practicing emergency room physicians. The goal of this study was to assess trends in IV magnesium use for status asthmaticus in US children's hospitals over 8 years through a retrospective analysis of children younger than 18 years using the Pediatric Health Information System database. Outcomes were IV magnesium use, inpatient and intensive care unit admission rate, geometric mean length of stay, and 7-day all-cause readmission rate. IV magnesium use for asthma hospitalization more than doubled over 8 years (17% vs. 36%; P < .001). Yearly trends were not significantly associated with hospital or intensive care unit admission rate or 7-day all-cause readmissions, although length of stay was reduced (P < .001).


In many countries, one of the barriers to acceptance and encouragement of cycling by politicians, policymakers, and the public is the perceived danger of the mode. This is not helped by "official" comparisons of different travel modes that typically show cycling as having a far greater injury crash rate (e.g. deaths/injuries per kilometre travelled) than other modes such as driving and walking. For example, in New Zealand, cycling is assessed as having a crash rate per km travelled nine times greater than driving. On this basis, some research and policy reports have warned against people shifting from "lower risk" modes (like driving) to "higher risk" modes (like cycling). Such assessments may be quite unfair, from the point of view of not "comparing apples with apples". Simple comparisons of overall data ignore a number of factors, including different crash reporting rates, the relative amount of time taken by each mode to travel the same distance, the age distributions and "road experience" of travellers, and the types of road environments or facilities where people are travelling. It also ignores the cumulative "safety in numbers" effect, whereby more people cycling actually helps to reduce the individual risk of each person, and also fails to consider relative health costs other than road crashes, e.g. due to physical inactivity and motor vehicle emissions. This paper explains how these factors affect the relative safety of different travel modes. Road crash data from 2003-09 and corresponding data from the New Zealand Household Travel Survey was used to compare the relative crash rates for travel modes in New Zealand. This results in quite different (and in many cases much more favourable) conclusions about the relative safety of cycling. For example, per hour travelled, cycling had a similar crash rate for 15-19 year olds and over 75's when compared to driving a light motor vehicle, even before health considerations were accounted for. There were notable differences in the relative risk of modes when comparing urban vs rural roads and major vs minor roads. In similar-speed environments, a "safety in numbers" effect was also observed for cycling. The results have implications for how crash risk data should be presented and used by public agencies. It also helps to identify the road environments where protection from traffic for people cycling would be most beneficial.


A subset of plant nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing (NLR) proteins carry extraneous integrated domains that have been proposed to mediate pathogen effector recognition. The current view is that these unconventional domains function by directly binding or serving as substrates for pathogen effectors, yet only a few domains have been functionally characterized to date. Here we report that the integrated NOI domain of the rice NLR protein Pii-2, together with its partner Pii-1, mediates immunity to the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae by indirect recognition of the AVR-Pii effector. We discovered that the Pii-2 NOI domain does not physically interact with the effector itself but instead binds the host protein OsExo70-F3, which is a target of AVR-Pii. We further identified mutations within the NOI core motif (PxFGxW) of Pii-2 that abolish both OsExo70-F3 binding and Pii-mediated resistance to M. oryzae expressing AVR-Pii. This led us to propose a novel conceptual model in which an NLR-integrated domain functions to detect host proteins targeted by pathogen effectors, in a framework that extends classical indirect recognition models.


Corporate governance has become a global phenomenon. This book highlights, through various case studies, how corporate governance has evolved in a number of countries around the world. The international cast of contributors, from varying professional backgrounds including academics, lawyers and company directors, focus on different regions around the globe, reflecting various ownership structures, legal systems, and political and cultural aspirations. Some of the case studies used include: Standard Life; Telecom Italia; and Eskom.


textabstractCommon wisdom has it that 'apes ape' and what 'monkey see, monkey do'. Human beings, though, by far and beyond outperform apes in their capacity for imitation. Copying the behavior of others is such a central capacity in mankind that imitation of the creative products and/or ideas of others also should be an essential ingredient in creative task performance. Much biographical evidence on creative professionals in conjunction with research on imitation in management literature highlights the role of imitation in the creative process. However, previous studies hardly concentrated on behavioral determinants and/or motivational underpinnings of imitation in creative performance settings. To fill this void, the present dissertation reports a series of four laboratory experiments to show that imitation is a component of creative task performance, which differs from creativity in its reliance upon exemplars of other's creative performance. It was found that imitation is an element of creative task performance, which is sometimes negatively, but other times positively related to creativity. Moreover, it was shown that contextual factors such as the quality of exemplars of other's performance and presentation of such exemplars in abstract or specific terms play a powerful role in the creative process, while it was acknowledged that one's tendencies to rely upon creative exemplars and one's subsequent imitative or creative actions also depend on one's dispositions to engage in social comparison, and on one's self-regulatory focus. Imitation thus is an important factor in the creative process and worthwhile to further investigate in greater detail.


This thesis is written to identify the cost reduction approaches of two different companies which are trying to reduce their operational costs in a financial crisis. The approach of the first company is through a salary deductions whilst the second company uses employees' dismissal. In addition, the thesis is investigating which of the two approaches has the greatest impact on employees' performance. Literature review explores the six main organizational variables that affect employee performance, namely, job satisfaction, commitment, turnover intentions, the internal stressors and motivation. A survey was employed (e.g. a questionnaire) to test whether the relationships between the variables under consideration. Almost all hypotheses being set for examining the subject of this survey have been proved, apart from the correlation between task performance and motivation for the Company X. Though, both company models have to make improvements in order to reduce the excess stress caused to employees and increase their performance.


PURPOSE
Model-based dose calculation algorithms for brachytherapy sources are designed to compute dose per particle or dose per unit energy leaving the encapsulation of a brachytherapy source. As such, the power leaving the encapsulation of a source, called emitted power (EP), would be a natural source strength metric for these new algorithms. However, no instrument is currently capable of an absolute measurement of EP. A calorimeter operating with a liquid helium thermal sink was designed and constructed to measure the EP of low-dose rate (LDR) I-125 and Pd-103 brachytherapy sources.

METHODS
Calorimeter design was optimized through thermal and Monte Carlo (MC) modeling. Thermal modeling showed that specific thermal conditions would be necessary for accurate calorimeter measurements. These conditions were experimentally verified. The EP of two LDR I-125 source models was measured. An air-kermastrength (AKS)-to-EP conversion coefficient was determined through MC simulations and applied to well-type ionization chamber measurements of AKS to enable comparison with EP measurements.

RESULTS
MCdetermined EP per unit AKS conversion coefficients were source model dependent and are on the order of 0.1 μW/U. The signal-to-noise ratio was a function of source strength, and was 294 for a 0.5 μW source. Measurements were repeatable to within 3.6% for a 0.5 μW source. Initial EP measurements were made with two I-125 source models, a 5.7 U Oncura 6711 and a 2.9 U Best Medical 2301. Model 2301 results agreed with the MC-converted AKS value to within the measurement uncertainty of 4.3% at k=1. The Model 6711 results were systematically high and are under investigation.

CONCLUSION
A calorimeter was designed to provide an absolute measurement of the EP for LDR brachytherapy sources and preliminary EP measurements have been made. This new calorimeter design shows promise of providing a more fundamentally useful source strength standard.


The Internet of Things (IoT) is a growing field which is expected to generate and collect data everywhere at any time. Highly scalable cloud analytics systems are frequently being used to handle this data explosion. However, the ubiquitous nature of the IoT data imposes new technical and non-technical requirements which are difficult to address with a cloud deployment. To solve these problems, we need a new set of development technologies such as Distributed Data Mining and Ubiquitous Data Mining targeted and optimized towards IoT applications. In this paper, we present the Complex Event Machine Learning framework which proposes a set of tools for automatic distributed machine learning in (near-) real-time, automatic continuous evaluation tools, and automatic rules management for deployment of rules. These features are implemented for a deployment at the edge of the network instead of the cloud. We evaluate and validate our approach with a well-known classification problem.


Large and diverse datasets have been the cornerstones of many impressive advancements in artificial intelligence. Intelligent creatures, however, learn by interacting with the environment, which changes the input sensory signals and the state of the environment. In this work, we aim to bring the best of both worlds and propose an algorithm that exhibits an exploratory behavior whilst it utilizes large diverse datasets. Our key idea is to leverage deep generative models that are pretrained on static datasets and introduce a dynamic model in the latent space. The transition dynamics simply mixes an action and a random sampled latent. It then applies an exponential moving average for temporal persistency, the resulting latent is decoded to image using pretrained generator. We then employ an unsupervised reinforcement learning algorithm to explore in this environment and perform unsupervised representation learning on the collected data. We further leverage the temporal information of this data to pair data points as a natural supervision for representation learning. Our experiments suggest that the learned representations can be successfully transferred to downstream tasks in both vision and reinforcement learning domains.


Intertidal ecosystems have primarily been studied using field-based sampling; remote sensing offers the ability to collect data over large areas in a snapshot of time which could compliment field-based sampling methods by extrapolating them into the wider spatial and temporal context. Conventional remote sensing tools (such as satellite and aircraft imaging) provide data at relatively course, sub-meter resolutions or with limited temporal resolutions and relatively high costs for small-scale environmental science and ecology studies. In this paper, we describe a low-cost, kite-based imaging system and photogrammetric pipeline that was developed for constructing highresolution, 3D, photo-realistic terrain models of intertidal rocky shores. The processing pipeline uses automatic image feature detection and matching, structure-from-motion and photo-textured terrain surface reconstruction algorithms that require minimal human input and only a small number of ground control points and allow the use of cheap, consumer-grade digital cameras. The resulting maps combine colour and topographic information at sub-centimeter resolutions over an area of approximately 100m, thus enabling spatial properties of the intertidal environment to be determined across a hierarchy of spatial scales. Results of the system are presented for an intertidal rock platform at Cape Banks, Sydney, Australia. Potential uses of this technique include mapping of plant (micro- and macro-algae) and animal (e.g. gastropods) assemblages at multiple spatial and temporal scales.


It seems to be a part of the oral and written tradition of contemporary philosophy that Saul Kripke and Hilary Putnam have resurrected a kind of Aristotelianism about natural kinds by reference to purely semantic ideas. Thus in a recent issue of the Journal of Philosophy, M. R. Ayers writes that according to Kripke and Putnam: "The names 'gold', 'tiger' etc. have their meaning … by being the name of, or, more technically, by 'rigidly designating', a natural kind." And in the immediately following pages he suggests that the view Kripke and Putnam arrive at is "not at all unlike Aristotelian doctrine", but arrived at from "the rather special point of view of a concern with modal logic, and against the background of Russell's theory of descriptions, the modern obsession with proper names, and so forth". Presumably what Ayers is alleging here is that something like the Aristotelian position on substance, species, essential properties and so forth is or is intended to be the outcome of the Kripke-Putnam investigations.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the transmission curve of
multiple reflections, which is known as Fabry Perot interferometer based on
spherical and plane mirror separation. This multiple reflections of light should
occur between two high reflectance coefficients of parallel mirrors that are
named as cavity before they get to be transmitted. The transmitted rays along
the edge of secondary mirror were observed. The highest interference peak
occurs when they experienced same phase. These transmitted rays then were
scanned by periodic linear change in the Piezo voltage that had been set at 128
V and its frequency was tuned up to 100 Hz. Proper alignment on setup
arrangement and some modification of the system had been done and the
captured data effectively clarified by theoretical approach. The cavity was
fixed set as the radius of curvature for confocal measurement; there were 75
mm and 100 mm whereas for plane parallel distance was set from 250 mm of
separation until 400 mm improved by 50 mm every increment. Free spectral
range parameters for confocal separations were 166.551 MHz per division for
75 mm and 124.914 MHz per division for 100 mm separation. Based on the
waist of the Gaussian beam, the slimmer of full wave half maximum was
owned by the separation of 75 mm. Based on high reflectance coefficient, the
calculated value of finesse was 76.953. More difficult adjustment had been
encountered while testing the plane parallel mirror. The more sensitive,
probably in micro meter changed, opto-mechanical system on the piezo
electric scanning should be required.


Plant epidemiologists have long been concerned with the patchy nature of plant disease epidemics. This paper presents a new analytical model for patchy plant epidemics (and patchy dynamics in general), using a second-order approximation to capture the spatial dynamics in terms of the densities and spatial covariances of healthy and infected hosts. Using these spatial moment equations helps us to explain the dynamic growth of patchiness during the early phase of the epidemic, and how the patchiness feeds back on the growth rate of the epidemic. Both underlying heterogeneity in the host spatial arrangement and dynamically generated heterogeneity in the spatial arrangement of infected plants initially accelerate but later decelerate the epidemic.


Modeling of turbulence-chemistry interaction is still a challenge. Turbulence modeling with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) has been matured enough for industrial problems. In LES eddies up to the filter width are resolved on the grid scales, but the fine structures where combustion takes place are still not resolved, which calls for combustion modeling in LES. Combustion closure in LES is achieved througha TurbulenceChemistry InteractionModel (TCIM). Most of the developed TCIM are based on the already existing RANS model. In the present study, a TCIM based on the Eddy Dissipation Concept (EDC) is proposed for large eddy simulation. The model is formulated from subgrid viscosity and filtered strain rate tensor. EDC model constants are modified to account for the partial energy cascading in LES. The other model used in this study is the steady state Flamelet model. Another issue with reacting flows is the solution of the pressure correction Poisson's equation with density time derivative term, which causes severe time constraint per iteration. Density time derivative is the most destabilizing part of the calculation when the density from equation of state is used. In the present study density is formulated from species mass fraction, which is numerically stable and computationally less expensive. LES of the H2/N2 "FlameH3" non-premixedunconfined turbulent jet flame is performed using LESEDC and Flamelet model. The Reynolds number based on nozzle diameter and jet bulk velocity is 10,000. The chemistry used for LES-EDC model is a fastchemistry. Results of the simulations in the form of means and variances of


In today's competitive world, manufacturers have realized that they need to embrace automation as their mantra to success. However, the impact of automation primarily concerns with the effectiveness of process monitoring and control systems. There is a need for a closed loop supervisory system, which integrates and coordinates individual process modules for real-time adjustment, conflict resolution and priority assignment. Monitoring and control of multiple process modules will result in higher productivity, better quality and prognostics for near-zero breakdown performance. In this paper, we define the supervisory system as open architecture system that integrates and coordinates individual process monitoring and control modules such that a real-time globally optimal machining solution is delivered for maximum productivity. The Smart Machine Platform Initiative (SMPI) is currently being managed by TechSolve in support with Coalition on Manufacturing Technology Infrastructure. SMPI efforts at TechSolve concentrate on six thrust areas including the supervisory system. We then proceed to explain the technical and functional requirements, benefits and architectural details with emphasis on the knowledge system. A prototype supervisory system application is explained with objectives, setup, technologies identified and results. We conclude with further insights into issues and implications for successful realization of a smart machine supervisory system.