Switzerland offers Education in Clinical Psychology in the German and French language and training in Psychotherapy in German, French and Italian. Both education and training are structured along centralized guidelines and recognized at a federal level. After finishing one's studies, becoming a Psychological Psychotherapist requires between two and six years of postgraduate training and a financial investment of tens of thousands of Swiss Francs. Historically, it is quite common for Swiss psychotherapy trainings to incorporate a mix or combination of several psychotherapy schools such as cognitive behavioral, psychodynamic, systemic and humanistic. Foreign degrees obtained in EU countries are generally recognized, and the fulfillment of criteria is evaluated on an individual basis. Graduates find a diverse job market with opportunities to work in clinics and psychotherapeutical practices, but the absence of direct reimbursement via mandatory health insurance plans for psychological psychotherapists (not psychiatrists) lead many to work on patients' private payments or as a psychiatrist's employee. The ordering model, a potential new regulation allowing for the direct reimbursement of psychological psychotherapists' work, is planned to be decided upon throughout 2020.


We will discuss in this survey article a new framework for analysing computations on time series and in particular on spike trains, introduced in (Maass et. al. 2002). In contrast to common computational models this new framework does not require that information can be stored in some stable states of a computational system. It has recently been shown that such models where all events are transient can be successfully applied to analyse computations in neural systems and (independently) that the basic ideas can also be used to solve engineering tasks such as the design of nonlinear controllers. Using an illustrative example we will develop the main ideas of the proposed model. This illustrative example is generalized and cast into a rigorous mathematical model: the Liquid State Machine. A mathematical analysis shows that there are in principle no computational limitations of liquid state machines in the domain of time series computing. Finally we discuss several successful applications of the framework in the area of computational neuroscience and in the field of artificial neural networks.


This work presents a concept of interactive machine learning in a human design process. An urban design problem is viewed as a multiple-criteria optimization problem. The outlined feature of an urban design problem is the dependence of a design goal on a context of the problem. We model the design goal as a randomized fitness measure that depends on the context. In terms of multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), the defined measure corresponds to a subjective expected utility of a user. In the first stage of the proposed approach we let the algorithm explore a design space using clustering techniques. The second stage is an interactive design loop; the user makes a proposal, then the program optimizes it, gets the user's feedback and returns back the control over the application interface.


Kyrgyz agriculture experienced substantial reform during the 1990s and early 2000s. Subsequently, the pace of reform slowed and at present the government does not appear to have any clear strategy for further development in the sector. Summarizing the outcomes of these reforms, a certain freedom granted to farmers stands out as one of the main achievements and an important reason for the sector's efficiency. Peasant farms are effectively protected from attempts to administratively regulate crop structure or introduce any other types of market distortions. However, an insufficient level of investments is undermining long-term prospects for development in the sector. Supporting large professional players in the sector is one of the key policy priorities of the government. It is however necessary to provide space for these enterprises to emerge on their own. It is additionally important to ensure that any support policies in favor of such players also provide positive spillovers to the small farmers around them, and do not aim at replacing them mechanically. The list of incomplete policy reforms is very long, especially in the area of natural resource management and provision of other essential public goods. The state of pastures and irrigation systems is alarming and requires government support well above its current level. Understanding the key areas for government intervention and focusing interventions on public goods provision should be the key components of a future agricultural development strategy.


Almost every space mission uses vertical power metal-semiconductor-oxide field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) in its power-supply circuitry. These devices can fail catastrophically due to single-event gate rupture (SEGR) when exposed to energetic heavy ions. To reduce SEGR failure risk, the off-state operating voltages of the devices are derated based upon radiation tests at heavy-ion accelerator facilities. Testing is very expensive. Even so, data from these tests provide only a limited guide to on-orbit performance. In this work, a device simulation-based method is developed to measure the response to strikes from heavy ions unavailable at accelerator facilities but posing potential risk on orbit. This work is the first to show that the present derating factor, which was established from non-radiation reliability concerns, is appropriate to reduce on-orbit SEGR failure risk when applied to data acquired from ions with appropriate penetration range. A second important outcome of this study is the demonstration of the capability and usefulness of this simulation technique for augmenting SEGR data from accelerator beam facilities. The mechanisms of SEGR are two-fold: the gate oxide is weakened by the passage of the ion through it, and the charge ionized along the ion track in the silicon transiently increases the oxide electric field. Most hardness assurance methodologies consider the latter mechanism only. This work demonstrates through experiment and simulation that the gate oxide response should not be neglected. In addition, the premise that the temporary weakening of the oxide due to the ion interaction with it, as opposed to due to the transient oxide field generated from within the silicon, is validated. Based upon these findings, a new approach to radiation hardness assurance for SEGR in power MOSFETs is defined to reduce SEGR risk in space flight projects. Finally, the potential impact of accumulated dose over the course of a space mission on SEGR susceptibility is explored. SEGR evaluation of gamma-irradiated power MOSFETs suggests a non-significant SEGR susceptibility enhancement due to accumulated dose from gamma rays. During SEGR testing, an unexpected enhanced dose effect from heavy-ion irradiation was detected. We demonstrate that this effect could be due to direct ionization by two or more ions at the same channel location. The probability on-orbit for such an occurrence is near-zero given the low heavy-ion fluence over a typical mission lifetime, and did not affect SEGR susceptibility. The results of this work can be used to bound the risk of SEGR in power MOSFETs considered for insertion into spacecraft and instruments.


Late Paleozoic and modern feldspathic clastic sediments of the Colorado Rockies were derived from dominantly igneous and meta-igneous Precambrian basement rocks. Average composition, expressed as Gazzi-Dickinson QFL (quartz-feldspar-lithicfragments) is 36:64:0 in modern stream sands, for the Cutler Formation is 54:46:0, for the Minturn Formation is 57:43:0, and for the Fountain Formation is 51:49:0. No major mafic components are present in the provenance as indicated by low Co, Cr, and Ni abundances, although higher Fe and Mg abundances in Cutler Formation rocks indicate derivation from somewhat more mafic provenance than the Fountain and Minturn Formation rocks. Fountain Formation rocks are more altered by predepositional weathering, diagenesis, and Holocene weathering than their equivalents in the Minturn and Cutler Formations. Thus plagioclase is albitized and clay altered or absent in the Fountain Formation, whereas it is abundant and much less altered in the Minturn and Cutler rocks. Fountain Formation sandstone in the Steamboat Mountain section lacks remaining detrital plagioclase but contains authigenic albite as overgrowths on, and replacement of, detrital K-feldspar and as pore-filling crystals. In the Eldorado Springs section there is extensive epithermal potassic alteration in the Fountain Formation from the detrital assemblage quartz + plagioclase + K-feldspar + biotite + muscovite to the assemblage quartz + K-feldspar + authigenic adularia + illite/muscovite + kaolinite. K and Rb have been metasomatically added to these rocks with concomitant removal of Ca, Na, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Ga, Th, U, Zn, Ba, Ce, La, and Y during passage of hydrothermal fluids, apparently in the Tertiary. These fluids were probably heated by deep-seated magma adjacent to the Colorado Lineament and/or range front faults that served as geothermal water conduits toward the surface.


AIM
This paper reports an investigation into the effects of increased information for patients treated for intracranial aneurysm rupture.

BACKGROUND
Intracranial aneurysm rupture is a grave condition that requires immediate care. It can be treated in two different ways, by surgery or by endovascular procedure. Intracranial aneurysm rupture can mean great changes in life, both for the patient and their spouse or relatives.

METHODS
An intervention study was conducted using a quasi-experimental design. Participants were recruited consecutively over a period of 12 months and consisted of 62 patients treated for intracranial aneurysm rupture at a Swedish neurosurgical clinic. They were divided into two groups: an intervention group, who received written and oral information, and a comparison group, who received only oral information.

INSTRUMENTS
Self-report questionnaires were sent to patients' homes 1-3 months after the aneurysm rupture. The questionnaires consisted of one study-specific instrument with questions about understanding of the information given and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, which measures worry or anxiety.

FINDINGS
The intervention group considered that the information that they received was somewhat easier to understand and that it corresponded more closely to their needs, compared with the comparison group. The majority of patients in both groups expressed a need for more and improved information. Levels of anxiety were high for the majority of patients, but no significant difference was evident between groups. Furthermore, the results showed that the majority of patients were given information without their spouse or relatives being present.

CONCLUSION
Increased information seems to be needed for these patients. There is a need to continue the work to improve information-giving to them and their relatives.


Although the human visual system can recognize many concepts under challenging conditions, it still has some biases. In this paper, we investigate whether we can extract these biases and transfer them into a machine recognition system. We introduce a novel method that, inspired by well-known tools in human psychophysics, estimates the biases that the human visual system might use for recognition, but in computer vision feature spaces. Our experiments are surprising, and suggest that classifiers from the human visual system can be transferred into a machine with some success. Since these classifiers seem to capture favorable biases in the human visual system, we further present an SVM formulation that constrains the orientation of the SVM hyperplane to agree with the bias from human visual system. Our results suggest that transferring this human bias into machines may help object recognition systems generalize across datasets and perform better when very little training data is available.


Oxidants are constantly generated in a biological system as a result of physiological processes. However, an imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants can lead to a pathophysiological condition known as oxidative stress. Natural compounds as inducers of oxidative stress are able to modulate physiological functions of cancer cells leading to cell death or survival. This chapter aims at providing an overview of pro- and antioxidant activities of natural compounds related to cancer and related therapies.


The low levels of unemployment recorded in the UK in recent years are widely cited as
evidence of the country's improved economic performance, and the apparent convergence of unemployment rates across the country's regions used to suggest that the longstanding divide in living standards between the relatively prosperous 'south' and the more depressed 'north' has been substantially narrowed. Dissenters from these
conclusions have drawn attention to the greatly increased extent of non-employment
(around a quarter of the UK's working age population are not in employment) and the
marked regional dimension in its distribution across the country. Amongst these dissenters it is generally agreed that non-employment is concentrated amongst older
males previously employed in the now very much smaller 'heavy' industries (e.g. coal,
steel, shipbuilding).
This paper uses the tools of compositiona l data analysis to provide a much richer picture of non-employment and one which challenges the conventional analysis wisdom about UK labour market performance as well as the dissenters view of the nature of the
problem. It is shown that, associated with the striking 'north/south' divide in nonemployment rates, there is a statistically significant relationship between the size of the non-employment rate and the composition of non-employment. Specifically, it is shown that the share of unemployment in non-employment is negatively correlated with the overall non-employment rate: in regions where the non-employment rate is high the share of unemployment is relatively low. So the unemployment rate is not a very reliable indicator of regional disparities in labour market performance. Even more importantly from a policy viewpoint, a significant positive relationship is found between the size of
the non-employment rate and the share of those not employed through reason of sickness
or disability and it seems (contrary to the dissenters) that this connection is just as strong for women as it is for men


Context Endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (E-selectin) is expressed on endothelial cells in psoriasis vulgaris (PV). Alteration in E-selectin is one of the influential proinflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Aims This study aimed to assess the serum level of E-selectin and to determine the effect of narrow-band ultraviolet-B (UVB) therapy on serum E-selectin levels in patients with psoriasis and to assess the relationship between serum E-selectin levels and disease activity after this treatment. Settings and design This was a case–control study. Patients and methods Thirty-five patients with chronic plaque psoriasis and 35 age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls were included. The concentration of soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin), determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was studied in the sera of patients before and after narrow-band UVB treatment sessions (three times per week for 3 months) and compared with normal nonpsoriatic controls. The disease severity was established using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index scoring system. Results Levels of sE-selectin were significantly increased in the sera of patients with atopic dermatitis and psoriasis (compared with the controls). Clinical improvement, after treatment, in patients with PV was associated with a significant decrease in the serum levels of sE-selectin. There was a significant correlation of sE-selectin and disease activity in PV patients. Conclusion E-selectin might be an indicator of treatment response and acts as a marker of psoriatic disease activity; it is also suggested to be a useful tool for evaluating the efficacy of treatment by narrow-band UVB in patients with psoriasis.


Abstract This article generates a theoretical framework for analysing the politics of climate change on the basis of Michel Foucault's concept of governmentality. Foucault does not limit the exercise of power to sovereignty, but introduces discipline, biopower, liberal and advanced liberal government as alternative configurations of state and power. The article argues that the ways in which climate change is rendered a governable entity are best understood before the background of a shift from biopower to advanced liberal government. It will be argued that climate change was first rendered governable by biopower, which justified global management of spaceship Earth in the name of the survival of life on Earth. Since the mid-1990s, climate change has been captured by advanced liberal government, which articulates climate change as an economic issue that requires market-based solutions to facilitate cost-effective technological solutions. A governmentality analysis asks which visibilities, fields of knowledge, practices and identities this 'global climate regime' is actually producing, rather than assuming that what it does or is supposed to do is known. In that way, the ways in which programme failure has already been built into the very formation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol can be identified.


Abstract. Noise pollution is an important problem. Places around the road or railway corridor can get serious noise hazards in the outdoor environment. The problem of noise is dynamic and varies from one location to another. It becomes more challenging due to the varying nature of noise sources (e.g., bus, truck, tempo, etc.) that differ in frequency spectra of audible noises. It is required to characterize the noise environment for an area, which requires noise measurement and use it for noise prediction. An attempt has been made to predict the noise levels in the form of noise maps. Noise prediction requires information on terrain data, noise data (of sources) and a model to predict noise levels around the noise sources. With the variation in terrain data, noise data, and use of prediction model the performance of prediction can vary. Thus, the study is conducted at three different locations i.e., (i) Ratapur Road crossing, Rae Bareli (ii) Bahadurpur Road crossing, at Jais, and (iii) RGIPT Academic Block close to the railway track. The three studies indicated how the performance of prediction can vary with changes in the quality of terrain data, noise sampling, and schemes of noise modeling. Generally, with a better quality of terrain data (comprehensive and precise), better prediction can be possible. Similarly, more focused and event-specific noise recording, modeling can provide more detailed time-specific noise mapping, which is not possible otherwise with customary average noise recording technique. However, detailed and comprehensive modeling warrants complex and bigger data handling.


The distribution of information is one of the key elements in maintaining an international community such as the Esperanto movement. This includes information about the language itself, appropriate to newcomers to the language and its community, as well as information regarding developments within the Esperanto community, and fiction, specialized literature and entertainment. This paper outlines some of the historical problems associated with the production, distribution and sales of both printed and electronic Esperanto-language materials. The large number of unknown and former students of Esperanto outside of the community's (or movement's) active core constitutes an element that may very well determine the profitability of publishing in Esperanto and, hence, its growth and degree of professionalism. Fortunately, recent trends in publishing, e.g. electronic publishing and online sales through established distribution channels, have the potential to include more of this diaspora in the exchange of information.


Abstract The Suchedniów water reservoir is located in the central section of the River Kamionka in the northern part of the Holy Cross Mountains of central Poland. This area once belonged to the Old Polish Industrial District that, during the Middle Ages, was very intensively developed by iron metallurgy. Many forges and mills along the rivers used water power, which led to the construction of an anthropogenic, small-scale water retention system. At the beginning of the twentieth century many of these reservoirs were drained after the collapse of metallurgical activities. The present-day reservoir was built in 1974 and drained in 2017. Research into the drained basin has documented various forms and sediments, some of which record present-day depositional processes (fire proof clay layer, inland fan delta), while others represent the historical period (lacustrine sediments of older reservoirs). Traces of catastrophic events have been preserved as well; an assemblage of megaripples marks the sudden drainage caused by a dam break in 1974.


Norwegian work on microdata started out with the full count 1801 census and census and vital records from around the capital. Today, most census and ministerial records from 1801 until the mid-20th century have been scanned, transcriptions are being completed, much is encoded and made available via the websites of the Digital National Archives and UiT The Arctic University of Norway. This article complements a previous publication on empirical results from historical microdata. It is primarily organized by technical issues: digitization of source materials, encoding and standardization, building of the Historical Population Register for the period since 1800, record linkage and source criticism as well as GIS. Presently, partner institutions are building the Historical Population Register with prolonged support from the Norwegian Research Council. This will contain longitudinal records of the nine million persons who lived in Norway since 1800. The register increasingly makes it possible to follow the entire population. Unique personal IDs with corresponding URLs to the person page providing links to many sources introduce a new level of historical documentation. Cross-sectional and vital records are being interlinked with automatic and manual record linkage software. Longitudinal data is available for searching as timelines and in Intermediate Data Structure format from UiT The Arctic University and for searching at Histreg.no, which also caters for manual editing. We are well on the way to creating a database that can fill the void in the two centuries before the Central Population Register starts in 1964.


Warren, Debra D. 1989. Production, prices, employment, and trade in Northwest forest industries, fourth quarter 1988. Resour. Bull. PNW-RB-167. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 90 p. Provides current information on lumber and plywood production and prices; employment in the forest industries; international trade in logs, lumber, and plywood; volume and average prices of stumpage sold by public agencies; and other related items.


Reductions in rates of cell and tissue growth are a commonly observed response to water deficits resulting from drought or soil salinity. These can lead to reductions in plant size and yields. More severe stress can lead to accelerated death and complete loss of yields. This review deals with the final biophysical links in the chain of events underlying inhibition of growth in crop plants exposed to water deficits. It first examines and rejects the notion that a stress-induced reduction in cellular turgor pressure is necessarily a primary cause of growth inhibition. Data supporting the involvement of an additional and often overlooked biophysical response to water deficits are then reviewed: This response involves changes in tissue extension capacity, as a result of hardening (or softening) of expanding cell walls, and is termed cell wall adjustment. Wall hardening should increase the capacity of expanding cells to maintain turgor pressure but also acts to inhibit rates of cell expansion growth. The inhibition of cell expansion can lead to reductions in leaf area that limit rates of transpirational loss of soil water reserves; in nonirrigated crops exposed to terminal drought environments, this adaptation may prolong survival and allow time for completion of reproductive development. Conversely, wall hardening responses to intermittent water deficit episodes, e.g., in irrigated crops, could be undesirable. The survival of irrigated crops is largely assured and induction of wall hardening in the intervals between irrigation could unnecessarily reduce growth and yields. Appropriate manipulation of cell wall adjustments, via selection, breeding, or genetic engineering, could prove useful for the development of more stress-resistant crop plants suited to irrigated or nonirrigated environments.


Arrays of optically trapped atoms excited to Rydberg states have recently emerged as a competitive physical platform for quantum simulation and computing, where high-fidelity state preparation and readout, quantum logic gates and controlled quantum dynamics of more than 100 qubits have all been demonstrated. These systems are now approaching the point where reliable quantum computations with hundreds of qubits and realistically thousands of multiqubit gates with low error rates should be within reach for the first time. In this article we give an overview of the Rydberg quantum toolbox, emphasizing the high degree of flexibility for encoding qubits, performing quantum operations and engineering quantum many-body Hamiltonians. We then review the state-of-the-art concerning high-fidelity quantum operations and logic gates as well as quantum simulations in many-body regimes. Finally, we discuss computing schemes that are particularly suited to the Rydberg platform and some of the remaining challenges on the road to general purpose quantum simulators and quantum computers.


Allegories contain specific forms and techniques which define a text as an allegory, including an intention written into the text. The reader is required to make an effort to determine that intention if they are to uncover the allegory. Also, allegories function didactically to educate the reader in a certain way, and, through that education, transform the reader. This is the traditional function of allegory.In this paper, I read Bruce Pascoe's 2001 novel, Earth, as an example of what I term an 'Indigenous ecological allegory'. The novel encodes in allegorical form an Indigenous worldview of the natural world. Many theorists agree that such a worldview can broadly be termed ecological. The didactic principle is to educate the reader about this Indigenous worldview of Country. As the reader comes to an understanding of Country, the narrative events, which describe a colonial (1880s) war between non-indigenous and indigenous people, as well as the language that encodes those events, become re-interpreted through this alternative metaphysics. What emerges is a possibility for the overturning of incipient dualism. The growth in the reader's knowledge of Country opens the way to mutual acceptance. Country makes welcome all people to its land on the provision of respect and a commitment to its care.Pascoe's novel utilises medieval allegorical forms, techniques and strategies in order to expose the narratives and language of the Australian Tradition to the language of the 'other' of Indigenous Country, that is (more specifically) the Wathaurong language and worldview that it encodes. The allegorical techniques include a cyclic narrative structure involving a Threshold scene followed by related scenes and commentary, direct address to the reader, narrative digression, debate, allegorical names and puns. Using these techniques, Pascoe uncovers a polysemy that has developed within the English language in its encounter with the Indigenous people. Finally, while allegory has yet to be studied in ecocrticisim as a form for writing nature, I argue that it is an ideal literary form in which Nature and an ecological worldview may be portrayed in a written text.


Imazapyr-based herbicides are important in removing deciduous hardwood species from conifer plantations. Imazapyr can be applied as a site preparation (pre-establishment) application or as a postestablishment herbaceous or release application. Herbicide efficacy is dependent, in part, on how much herbicide is absorbed and translocated throughout the target weed species. Herbicide absorption can be strongly influenced by herbicide formulation or tank-mix adjuvants. Little data are available on imazapyr absorption and translocation by woody species. The objective of this research was to compare the absorption and translocation of six experimental formulations of imazapyr to a commercial formulation, Chopper®, with and without methylated seed oil (MSO), in northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and red maple (Acer rubrum L.). Saplings of both species were grown in the greenhouse until they reached a height of approximately 1 m. Trees were blocked according to size, and treatments were randomly assigned within blocks. For the absorption study, five leaves were selected per plant and received two 1-μL drops of 14C-imazapyr-labeled solution. Leaves were rinsed at 2, 8, 24, 72, and 144 h after treatment (HAT). Absorption was quantified as 14C imazapyr that was not collected in the rinse solution. All experimental formulations that were tank-mixed with MSO increased absorption on oak compared to Chopper+MSO. Not all experimental formulations increased absorption in maple, and absorption data were highly variable. Absorption continued for at least 72 HAT in both species for most formulations. For the translocation study, one leaf was treated with two 1-μL drops of 14C-imazapyr-labeled solution. The leaf was rinsed at 144 HAT, and the plant was harvested and divided into sections: above treated leaf, treated leaf, below treated leaf, and roots. The majority (52–91 %) of the applied imazapyr remained in the treated leaf. More imazapyr was translocated from the leaf of red oak than red maple. Translocated 14C accumulated in the tissue above the treated leaf (3–13 % of absorbed) and in the roots (3–34 %). Including the adjuvant MSO and optimizing the herbicide formulation increased the absorption of imazapyr in red maple and northern red oak.


Information technology applications that support decision-making processes and problem-solving activities have proliferated and evolved. Distributing used cars to various automobile auctions is a complicated problem with multiple variables. We developed a software system to address these complexities and implemented it on a real distribution problem for a large car manufacturer. The system detects data trends in a dynamic environment, incorporates optimization modules to recommend a near-optimum decision, and includes self-learning modules to improve future recommendations. A software system that combines prediction, optimization, and adaptation techniques has generated impressive profits for a large auto manufacturer.


The main objective of this paper is to study the effect of design and operating parameters, mainly as bed temperature (T), pressure (P), equivalence ration (R), feed rate (F) and particle size (S) on the performance of the gasification process of coconut shell as biomass in a continuous fixed bed updraft reactor. In the present investigation, an empirical relationship was developed to predict the process of generating fuel gas with better quality through gasification of biomass in a fluidized bed reactor using response surface methodology (RSM). Six major components of the producer gas such as O2, H2, CO, CO2, CH4, and N2 were analyzed in the laboratory along with the evaluation of tar yield and cold gas efficiency. It was observed that the concentrations of hydrogen, oxygen nitrogen and carbon monoxide were increased with rise in gasification temperature, pressure and equivalent ratio (0.2-0.35). On the other hand, higher equivalence ratios (0.4-0.5) caused to decrease the concentrations of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and carbon monoxide. Higher equivalence ratio also resulted in more gas yields and cold gas efficiency due to increase in the exothermic reactions. Furthermore, it was observed that the CH4 and CO2 decreased with the increase of temperature and pressure. The developed model was made a good prediction for the experimental data as observed for the gas species concentrations.


EVOLVING A THEATRE OF TRUTH By Susan Hayes, B.A. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2006 Major Director: Dr. Noreen C. Barnes Director of Graduate Studies, Dept. of Theatre This thesis explores the challenges of evolving a Theatre of Truth in the context of the immediate zeitgeist. The questions I address are the role of feminist theatre in a world dominated by global media and corporate omnipotence; the conflation of theatre and Realpolitick; the limitations of postmodern thought and critical theory, and the struggle not only of the marginalized, but of all of us to create an activist theatre in perilous times. After examining my response to directing a production of by Maria Irene Fornes, this project will also suggest that a theatre of specialized singular interests, such as feminism, racism, or gender-based concerns, is no longer sufficient to impact the audience of today. Instead, the work suggests that a fresh, revised look at theory, feminism, and "reality," as well as an attempt to unravel the psyche of the hegemonic political and social forces are vii necessary to reconceive a theatre that serves the new world. Building on the artistry of several contemporary playwrights, this thesis explores a theatre of Truth in action and looks at possibilities to open new avenues to empathy, transformation and liberation.


A mutation in Arabidopsis may help reveal a role for double-stranded RNA binding proteins in mediating signals from multiple plant hormones. Lack of function of the HYPONASTIC (meaning movement bending the leaves inward and upward) LEAVES protein (HYL1) leads to a pleiotropic phenotype including decreased response to gravistimulation and reduced apical dominance that appears to reflect altered response to internal and external stimuli. Indeed, Lu and Federoff show that in hyl1 mutants, responses to the hormones auxin and cytokinin is blunted, whereas plants are hypersensitive to abscisic acid. The HYL1 gene was cloned and encodes a protein with two double-stranded RNA-binding motifs similar to those in human interferon-induced RNA-dependent protein kinse P68. The protein contains a nuclear localization sequence and is concentrated in nuclei. Although the mechanism by which HYL1 contributes to hormonal signaling is not yet clear, the authors propose several interesting possibilities including function as a transcriptional coactivator or corepressor, or control of transcript stability. C. Lu, N. Fedoroff, A mutation in the Arabidopsis HYL1 gene encoding a dsRNA binding protein affects responses to abscisic acid, auxin, and cytokinin. Plant Cell 12, 2351-2365 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text]


In this research uniaxial tension behaviour of PES knitted materials with bonded seams is analysed. The objects of the investigation were two types of knitted materials, having the same fibre composition (93 % PES, 7 % EL), but different in knitting pattern, i. e. plain single jersey and rib 1 × 1. Bonded overlap seams were formed by changing the orientation of knitted materials strips, i. e. parallel/parallel, parallel/bias, parallel/perpendicular, bias/bias and bias/perpendicular. The strips of each knitted material were joined by two types of thermoplastic polyurethane (PU) films different in thickness (75 mm and 150 mm). Mechanical characteristics of bonded seams were defined in longitudinal direction. During uniaxial tension such parameters as maximal force F max (N) and maximal elongation ɛ max (%) were recorded from typical tension diagrams. The changes of tested specimens strength and deformation were compared before and after cyclical fatigue tension the conditions of which were 50 cycles up to tension force F equal 24.5 N. The results have shown that changes before and after cyclical fatigue tension are mostly determined by the structure of knitted materials, the orientation of knitted materials strips in bonded seam, but not effected by thermoplastic polyurethane film. These results are opposite compared to the results of biaxial tension of the same type of specimens, which have shown that changes before and after cyclical fatigue punching are mostly determined by the type of thermoplastic film, but not effected by the orientation of knitted materials strips in bonded seams. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.23.2.16065


Background : Physical therapy treatment is one of the treatment used for the management of lumbar disc herniation and become more popular during resent years. Loss of function of lumbar spine is an essential problem for the back pain patient. Manual therapists sometimes select the technique of postero-anterior pressure (PA) to gain range in lumbar movements. Objectives : To measure the effect of postero-anterior pressure technique on lumbar spine movement in lumbar disc herniation Design : An experimental study Setting : Srinagarind Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University Subjects and Methods : Forty patients who were diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation by Orthopaedics and Radiologists. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to a gold standard for diagnoses. Subjects were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. The treatment group received both the lumbar traction and the postero-anterior pressures technique. The control group received only the lumbar traction. Measurements : The measurements consists of pain scale using the visual analogue, trunk movement and straight leg raising (SLR) using the inclinometer. Results : A Mann-Whitney U-test and Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) revealed no significant difference between groups in the pain level. A repeated measure ANOVA no showed no significant difference between groups both trunk movements and SLR degrees. Even though, the results of the pain scale, the trunk movements and the SLR in the treatment group were not found to be significant difference from the control group but there were a tendency. Conclusion : This study is the first study providing support for the use of postero-anterior


This week's articles feature an antibody for treating drug-resistant colon cancer and insights into circadian rhythms in aging. Cancer The more the merrier An oligoclonal antibody overcomes drug resistance in colorectal cancers with EGFR mutations. S. Arena, G. Siravegna, B. Mussolin, J. D. Kearns, B. B. Wolf, S. Misale, L. Lazzari, A. Bertotti, L. Trusolino, A. A. Adjei, C. Montagut, F. Di Nicolantonio, R. Nering, A. Bardelli, MM-151 overcomes acquired resistance to cetuximab and panitumumab in colorectal cancers harboring EGFR extracellular domain mutations. Sci. Transl. Med. 8, 324ra14 (2016). [Abstract] Circadian Rhythm For clock ticking, timing matters Postnatal knockout of a core clock gene in mice prompts reevaluation of the systemic role of the molecular clock in the biology of aging. G. Yang, L. Chen, G. R. Grant, G. Paschos, W.-L. Song, E. S. Musiek, V. Lee, S. C. McLoughlin, T. Grosser, G. Cotsarelis, G. A. FitzGerald, Timing of expression of the core clock gene Bmal1 influences its effects on aging and survival. Sci. Transl. Med. 8, 324ra16 (2016). [Abstract]


Online Social Network (OSN) is an online social platform that enables people to exchange information, get in touch with family members or friends, and also helps as a marketing tool. However, OSN suffers from various security and privacy issues. Trust, fundamentally, is made up of security with hard trust (cryptographic mechanism) and soft trust (recommender system); user's trustworthiness for this platform has decrement signed. In this paper, the authors leverage the multi-faceted model trust concept from user-centric and personalized trust model and present weightage and ranking for its important features by employing statistical means. Next, the multi-faceted model trust is combined with an existing Action-based model and Context recommender. The contributions of this research are an enhanced trust algorithm and an enhanced context-based, recommender-based trust, which has been tested based on user-acceptance. Overall, the result demonstrates OSN as fairly better by employing a multi-faceted model which embeds both actions incomparable to recommender type


A key goal of geroscience research is to discover effective interventions to extend human healthspan, the years of healthy life. Currently, majority of the geroprotectors are found by testing compounds in model organisms; whether these compounds will be effective in humans is largely unknown. Here we present a novel strategy called ANDRU (aging network based drug discovery) to help the discovery of human geroprotectors. Instead of relying on model organisms, this approach is driven by human genomic and pharmacogenomic data. It first identifies human aging subnetworks that putatively function at the interface between aging and age-related diseases; it then screens for pharmacological or genetic interventions that may "reverse" the age-associated transcriptional changes seen in these subnetworks. We applied ANDRU to human adipose and artery tissues. In adipose tissue, PTPN1, a target for diabetes treatment and APOE, a known genetic factor for human longevity and diseases like Alzheimer's disease, were ranked at the top. For small molecules, conjugated linoleic acid and metformin, a drug commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes, were ranked among the top compounds. In artery tissue, N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists and curcumin were ranked at the top. In summary, ANDRU represents a promising human data-driven strategy that may speed up the discovery of interventions to extend human healthspan.


Photonic crystals are periodic dielectric structures having periodicity of the order of the wavelength. Consequently, they o er the ability to control the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a similar way as the periodic potential a ects the electron motion in a semiconductor crystal. By choosing the parameters of the photonic crystal, desired dispersion characteristics such as band gaps for light can be implemented, providing the possibility of creating miniaturized photonic components for integrated optical circuits. In this thesis, two-dimensional photonic crystal components with passive and active functionalities are designed, realized and investigated. The passive components, including photonic crystal cavities, waveguides and tight waveguide bends, are studied by means of fareld and neareld (heterodyne SNOM) measurement techniques addressing loss, quality factors and transmission e ciencies. The ability to tune or modulate the optical properties of photonic crystal devices increases their functionality and opens up new possibilities for applications. We present two ways of perturbing the optical environment near a photonic crystal cavity, enabling tuning and modulation of the in-plane transmission. Optical switching and wavelength tuning is obtained by means of induced thermal and plasma dispersion e ects when focusing a laser onto a photonic crystal cavity structure, demonstrating the feasibility of high-speed optical integrated circuits based on silicon structures. On the other hand, tuning of the resonant wavelength and on-o switching of the transmission signal is achieved by probing the optical eld con ned within the resonant cavity by means of an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip, suggesting an integrated on-o switch or tunable lter. This thesis combines design, fabrication and measurement, thus bringing a better understanding of the fundamental properties of these types of photonic crystals, and helping to pave the way to practical integrated optical circuits.


The urgency of the problem of future primary school teacher training for dialogic learning of students taking into account modern challenges of globalization and digitalization of education is substantiated. The contradictions taking place in the practice of professional training in pedagogical universities are emphasized. The theoretical aspect of the outlined problem is highlighted. The characteristics of the content of the following concepts are given: dialogic learning, educational dialogue, dialogic communication, pedagogical communication, the teacher's communication culture, communication etiquette, etc. The components of teachers' pedagogical skills as personal and professional factors of successful organization of dialogic learning in school are presented. It is proved that the organization of dialogic learning at school requires the formation of a teacher's system of skills, namely: to organize and manage the dialogic process in learning; create a positive communicative atmosphere for the exchange of thoughts and ideas; pedagogically expedient to stimulate communication between students; apply advanced dialogic learning technologies; motivate students to create or solve educational tasks using productive dialogue; effectively use means of verbal and nonverbal communication; make emotional contact and listen to the interlocutor, etc. The strategy of communicative approach in the educational process of the pedagogical university is widespread, first of all as for humanities. The author notes that the readiness of future primary school teachers to organize a productive educational dialogue is determined not only by the level of development of communicative abilities and skills, but also other personal traits: intellectual qualities, motivation for teaching, love for children, emotional balance, empathy, tolerance, professional responsibility, high level of moral culture, readiness for innovative activity, desire for self-improvement and self-education, etc. The author's material from the dissertation "Training of primary school teachers to organize dialogic learning" for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (2020) is partially used in the article.


BACKGROUND
Sleep disturbance (SD) is common among people living with dementia (PLwD) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). It has a significant impact on the wellbeing of PLwD and caregivers, and makes care at home more difficult. Within primary care, assessment and management of SD for this population is complex and challenging.

AIM
To identify what works, how, and for whom, in the assessment and management of SD for PLwD or MCI in primary care.

METHOD
We conducted a realist review to develop explanations of causal relationships, using context-mechanism-outcome configurations (CMOCs). An initial programme theory was iteratively tested and refined, using data from relevant literature and stakeholder feedback. The study followed RAMESES reporting quality.

RESULTS
In total, 71 papers from OECD countries were included for analysis, generating 19 CMOCs. Low awareness of SD and assessment methods resulted in underdiagnosis in primary care. Assessment and treatment of PLwD/MCI were, respectively, more challenging when people were unable to accurately report concerns or implement interventions independently. Sedative medication was commonly used to manage SD, often driven by low confidence in nonpharmacological strategies. Long-term medication use was common despite guidelines indicating limited efficacy, which was driven by perceived pressures to prescribe or concerns of relapse. In nursing homes, environments and routines could exacerbate SD.

CONCLUSION
Increasing awareness, knowledge, and confidence in diagnosis and assessment of SD is needed. Primary care-specific assessment tools may help. Long-term medication use is the default option in absence of pragmatic and effective non-pharmacological interventions that can be easily incorporated into routine general practice.


Model-based intersection optimization strategies that produce signal timings over a specified optimization horizon have been widely investigated for urban traffic signal control, and recent work in this area produced a scalable approach to real-time traffic control based on a decentralized schedule-driven optimization model. In this approach, a scheduling agent is associated with each intersection. Each agent senses the traffic approaching its intersection through local sensors and in real-time constructs a schedule that minimizes the cumulative wait time of vehicles approaching the intersection over the current look-ahead horizon. Intersections then exchange schedule information with their neighbors to achieve network level coordination. Although the approach is general and has demonstrated substantial success, its effectiveness in a given road network depends on the extent to which various parameters of the model, e.g, maximum green time, are adjusted to match that network's actual flow conditions over time. To address this problem, we propose a two-stage hierarchical structure that combines online planning and reinforcement learning. Reinforcement learning is applied to adjust the parameters of the model over a longer time-scale. On the other hand, online planning is used to compute the schedule for managing the traffic signals in the shorter term. We demonstrate how this hybrid approach outperforms the original approach in real-time traffic signal control problems.


Purpose Expression of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) by a subset of Müller glia cells has recently been implicated in an endogenous survival response to photoreceptor injury in a model of inherited retinal degeneration. To investigate whether such a LIF-controlled survival pathway might be commonly induced upon photoreceptor injury independently of the nature of the toxic stimulus, we analyzed the role of LIF during light-induced retinal degeneration. Methods Lif+/– and Lif–/– mice were exposed to 15,000 lx of white light for 2 h. Retinal morphology and rhodopsin content were analyzed nine days after light exposure. Gene expression studies were done using real-time PCR. Protein levels were determined by western blotting using specific antibodies. Results A lack of LIF reduced survival of photoreceptor cells after light exposure. In the absence of LIF several genes encoding molecules involved in the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (Jak/STAT) signaling pathway were not activated after light exposure. Presence or absence of LIF did not affect AKT (also known as protein kinase B, PKB) signaling and had only a mild effect on extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation. Stress-induced glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) induction was minimal in the absence of LIF. Conclusions Our results suggest that increased retinal expression of LIF is a general response to photoreceptor injury. Independent of the nature of the toxic insult (gene mutation, light), LIF may activate an endogenous rescue pathway that protects viable photoreceptor cells, leading to an increased photoreceptor survival in the stressed retina. This defense system may depend on the Jak/STAT pathway and may involve endothelin 2 (EDN2) but not (or only minimally) AKT and ERK1,2 signaling.


This article addresses heterogeneity in determinants of economic growth in a data-driven way. Instead of defining groups of countries with different growth characteristics a priori, based on, for example, geographical location, we use a finite mixture panel model and endogenous clustering to examine cross-country differences and similarities in the effects of growth determinants. Applying this approach to an annual unbalanced panel of 59 countries in Asia, Latin and Middle America and Africa for the period 1971–2000, we can identify two groups of countries in terms of distinct growth structures. The structural differences between the country groups mainly stem from different effects of investment, openness measures and government share in the economy. Furthermore, the detected segmentation of countries does not match with conventional classifications in the literature.


The quantification of risk and dependence are major components of financial risk modelling. Financial risk modelling frequenty uses the assumption of a normal distribution when considereing the return series which makes modelling easy but is inefficient if the data is not normally distributed or if it exhibits extreme tails. When dealing with extreme financial events to quantify extreme market risk, Extreme Value Theory (EVT) proves to be a natural statistical modelling technique of interest. Estimation of tail dependence between financial assets plays a vital role in various aspects of financial risk modelling including portfolio theory and hedging amongst applications. Extreme Value Theory (EVT) provides well established methods for considering univariate and multivariate tail distributions which are useful for forecasting financial risk or modelling the tail dependence of risky assets. In this paper we focus on the extreme risk and dependence analysis of the ASX-All Ordinaries (Australian) stock market using using univariate and multivariate EVT based methods. The empirical evidence shows that EVT can be successfully applied to financial market return series for predicting daily VaR using a GARCH(1,1) and EVT based dynamic approach. We also use nonparametric measures based on bivariate EVT to investigate asymptotic dependence and estimate the degree of tail dependence of the ASX-All Ordinaries daily returns with four other international markets, viz., the S&P-500, Nikkei-225, DAX-30 and Heng-Seng for both right and left tails of the return distribution in extreme quantiles. It is investigated whether the asymptotic dependence between these markets is related to the heteroskedasticity present in the logarithmic return series using GARCH filters. The empirical evidence from bivariate EVT methods show that the asymptotic dependence between the extreme tails of the stock markets does not necessarily exist and rather can be associated with the heteroskedasticity present in the financial time series of the various stock markets.


A computational model is developed for depth-averaged cross-shore and longshore currents which includes the effects of the surface roller generated by wave breaking. The creation and evolution of the roller itself is modeled explicitly (Dally and Brown, 1995), and convective acceleration terms are included in both the crossshore and longshore momentum equations. Lateral mixing is parameterized in terms of the local cross-shore current and a turbulent eddy viscosity, as proposed by Svendsen and Putrevu (1994); however, a new model for eddy viscosity is proposed which contains contributions from both the roller-induced and bed-induced turbulence. The laboratory measurements of quasi-uniform longshore currents reported by Visser (1991) are used to calibrate and verify the model. For driving the model, it is shown that using stream function wave theory produces significantly better results than linear wave theory. Also, comparisons of longshore current distributions with and without the roller terms included show that the roller plays an essential role in faithfully modeling the longshore current. The calibrated model also produces accurate results for the set-up/set-down using stream function theory, for the limited data available from Visser (1991).


IRAN Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic, by Ray Takeyh. New York: Times Books/Henry Holt and Company, 2006. 226 pages. Notes to p. 244. Acknowledgments to p. 246. Index to p. 259. $25. Reviewed by Charles G. MacDonald As the situation in Iraq continues to challenge US policy makers and as the various reactions to the report of the Iraq Study Group emerge, Iran is at the heart of fears and opportunities. Bravo for Ray Takeyh, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who has provided a dispassionate, insightful, and timely study of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His work comes at a time when policy makers and scholars alike need an objective and thoughtful study that can clarify issues and establish a much-needed realistic perspective on Iran. Ray Takeyh's expertise on Iran, Islamist movements, Middle East politics, and US foreign policy has earned him positions in Middle East studies extending from University of California, Berkeley and Yale University to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, National Defense University, and the Council on Foreign Relations. His credentials are indicative of the quality of his scholarship and his ability to deal with a complex and controversial topic - Islamic Iran. In this book, Takeyh develops a number of themes. The first is evident in the introduction, titled "Getting Iran Wrong." He suggests that the "real root of the estrangement" is the "profound and frequently mutual misunderstanding of the enemy." He argues that the misperception of Iran has been a common thread that has linked all US administrations from the inception of the Islamic Republic to the present confrontation over Iran's nuclear program. In order to achieve an appropriate appreciation of Iran's complexity and to avoid simplistic wrongheaded solutions, Takeyh contends, it is necessary to examine honestly and openly Iran's current internal political dynamics while respecting Iran's traditions and values. He maintains that it is "only through deciphering the hidden Iran that we can address the true challenge that the Islamic Republic poses" (p. 7). Another theme that Takeyh places in context is the impact of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's legacy. As Iran's revolution continues to pursue its goals in a domestic setting marked by reform and reaction, the election of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in 2005 signaled Iran's continued attraction to the "roots of the revolution." Khomeini's struggle continues to have its impact on the three central political forces that emerged domestically in Iran: the hardline, conservative clerical politicians; the more moderate clerical pragmatists; and the intellectual and clerical reformers. …


The Criminology of Criminal Law considers the relation between criminal law and theories of crime, criminality and justice. This book discusses a wide range of topics, including: the way in which white-collar crime is defined; new perspectives on stranger violence; the reasons why criminologists have neglected the study of genocide; the idea of boundary crossing in the control of deviance; the relation between punishment and social solidarity; the connection between the notion of justice and modern sentencing theory; the social reaction to treason; and the association between politics and punitiveness. Contributors include Bonnie Berry, Don Gottfredson, David F. Greenberg, Marc Riedel, Jason Rourke, Kip Schlegel, Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi, Leslie T. Wilkins, Marvin E. Wolfgang, and Richard A. Wright. "The Criminology of Criminal Law" concludes with an analysis of the results of a study on the most cited scholars in the Advances in Criminological Theory series. This work will be beneficial to criminologists, sociologists, and scholars of legal studies. Advances in Criminological Theory" "is the first series exclusively dedicated to the dissemination of original work on criminological theory. It was created to overcome the neglect of theory construction and validation in existing criminological publications.


Opportunities for poverty alleviation in Cambodian agriculture are emerging in diversification from traditional wet season lowland rice (Oryza sativa) production to double-cropped, rice-based production systems and to upland cropping. The potential for double-cropping rice-based production will depend on understanding land capability for a range of non-rice crops in the lowlands of Cambodia. In addition, there are relatively large areas of land available for the expansion of upland cropping especially since the establishment of improved security and roads in rural Cambodia. The process of crop diversification in Cambodia could be facilitated by assessment ofland suitability for field crops in lowlands and in uplands.

Land capability needs to be assessed for a range of field crops with realistic prospects for specific agro-ecosystems in Cambodia. Maize, soybean, mung bean, sesame and peanut appear to be the food crops of most interest initially, together with cassava and sugar cane. Usually soil constraints are assessed for land capability classification from published land resource studies. Such information is generally unavailable for uplands in Cambodia at an appropriate scale. Hence further land resource assessment in the upland areas is needed to undertake a more comprehensive land suitability assessment. Whilst a soil map for lowland rice has been published, soil constraints for non-rice crops have not been assessed for these soils.

Land suitability is currently being determined for selected field crops that are relevant to landscapes in the study areas in Takeo, Kampong Cham and Battambang provinces. Toposequences in these provinces will be surveyed to characterise soils based on a variety of parent materials. In the lowlands, the focus will be on the identification of land suitability for double cropping (e.g. legume-rice, rice-legume) in rice-based systems. In the uplands, the focus will be on rainfed field crops that can be introduced into or expanded in Cambodia. The highest priority will be assigned to those crops that are already well established in Cambodia, including maize, soybean, and mung bean. Socio-economic input to land suitability assessment will be in the form of a GIS approach that will adjust land capability values spatially according to three key drivers of crop diversification: market access factors, population pressure, and poverty indicators.


Product classification systems play a major role in searching and comparing offered products on electronic markets. Especially in case of large multi-vendor product catalogs classified data becomes an important asset and success factor. The most known systems are UNSPSC and eCl@ss, however they are still developing, and new systems are emerging as well. Classification systems differ not only in content but also in structure from each other. The management and exchange of the systems between market partners must be able to get along with these differences. A common structure model describing classification systems is missing so far. This paper discusses the design of classification systems and argues to develop standardized messages using XML Schema for the transmission of classification systems.


Local gender ideologies vary considerably in fishing communities along the coast of Ghana. This article compares the extent to which women convert capital from the female market sphere into ownership of fishing equipment in the male fishing sphere in three ethnically diverse communities - Moree (Fante), Kpone (Ga-Adangbe) and Dzelukope (Anlo-Ewe). Kinship ideologies, post-marital residence patterns, and gender division of labour and roles in the local fishing economies shape women's place-specific manoeuvring spaces. It is argued that a loyal and trustworthy male cooperation partner is a prerequisite for the success of female entrepreneurs in a male arena like the fisheries.


K-Ras, a small guanosine triphosphatase whose constitutive activation through mutation is associated with cancer, is targeted to the plasma membrane through a farnesylated C-terminal and a nearby polybasic region (see Feig). Noting that the polybasic region is phosphorylated by protein kinase C (PKC), a modification that could neutralize its charge and destabilize electrostatic interactions with membrane phospholipids, Bivona et al. investigated the effects of K-Ras phosphorylation on its localization. Pharmacological activation of PKC promoted the reversible translocation of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labeled K-Ras from the plasma membrane to the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, and mitochondrial outer membranes. Translocation was also promoted by a construct containing the PKCθ catalytic domain fused with a Ras binding domain. Substitution of alanine for serine at position 181 in the K-Ras C-terminal region, which reduced K-Ras phosphorylation in response to PKC, blocked K-Ras translocation, whereas substitution with glutamic acid (creating a phosphomimetic residue) led to constitutive internalization. Stimulating PKC in cells expressing a constitutively active oncogenic K-Ras mutant (K-Ras12V), or expressing K-Ras12V with glutamic acid at position 181 (K-Ras12V181E), promoted apoptosis. K-Ras associated with Bcl-XL; this association was promoted by K-Ras activation, PKC activation, or glutamic acid substitution of S181 and took place on mitochondria. Moreover, the ability of K-Ras12V181E to stimulate apoptosis depended on Bcl-XL. Intriguingly, pharmacological stimulation of PKC inhibited K-Ras12V-dependent tumorigenesis in a manner that depended on S181. Thus, the authors conclude that PKC regulates K-Ras localization and function and that manipulation of K-Ras phosphorylation could represent a novel approach to antineoplastic therapy. T. G. Bivona, S. E. Quatela, B. O. Bodemann, I. M. Ahearn, M. J. Soskis, A. Mor, J. Miura, H. H. Wiener, L. Wright, S. G. Saba, D. Yim, A. Fein, I. Pérez de Castro, C. Li, C. B. Thompson, A. D. Cox, M. R. Philips, PKC regulates a farnesyl-electrostatic switch on K-Ras that promotes its association with Bcl-XL on mitochondria and induces apoptosis. Mol. Cell 21, 481-493 (2006). [PubMed] L. A. Feig, The odyssey of K-Ras. Mol. Cell 21, 447-449 (2006). [PubMed]


Like its bestselling predecessor, Elliptic Curves: Number Theory and Cryptography, Second Edition develops the theory of elliptic curves to provide a basis for both number theoretic and cryptographic applications. With additional exercises, this edition offers more comprehensive coverage of the fundamental theory, techniques, and applications of elliptic curves. New to the Second Edition Chapters on isogenies and hyperelliptic curves A discussion of alternative coordinate systems, such as projective, Jacobian, and Edwards coordinates, along with related computational issues A more complete treatment of the Weil and TateLichtenbaum pairings Douds analytic method for computing torsion on elliptic curves over Q An explanation of how to perform calculations with elliptic curves in several popular computer algebra systems Taking a basic approach to elliptic curves, this accessible book prepares readers to tackle more advanced problems in the field. It introd uces elliptic curves over finite fields early in the text, before moving on to interesting applications, such as cryptography, factoring, and primality testing. The book also discusses the use of elliptic curves in Fermats Last Theorem. Relevant abstract algebra material on group theory and fields can be found in the appendices.


Security is a paramount concern in mobile ad hoc network (MANET) because of its intrinsic vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are nature of MANET structure that cannot be removed. As a result, attacks with malicious intent have been and will be devised to exploit these vulnerabilities and to cripple MANET operations. In this paper, we analyze the security problems in MANET and present a few promising research directions. On the prevention side, various key and trust management schemes have been developed to prevent external attacks from outsiders, and various secure MANET routing protocols have been proposed to prevent internal attacks originated from within the MANET system. On the intrusion detection side, a new intrusion detection framework has been studied especially for MANET. Both prevention and detection methods will work together to address the security concerns in MANET.


Development of a novel system for generation of gradients in flow injection analysis by pulse modulation is described. These user-selectable gradients are created by computer-controlled mixing of two solutions with a total volume as low as 75 μl and can be delivered under incremental or continuous flow conditions. Applications such as automated, single-standard instrument calibration are expected to benefit from high-precision linear gradients ( r 2 = 0.99989, n = 55). Gradient methods in biochemisty and immunology such as kinetic measurement of biomolecular interactions will benefit from the small volume of these gradients, especially for analytes with limited availability.


We argue for a new type of judge-dependence encoding based on Telugu adjectival data (with crosslinguistic parallels in Spanish ser/estar, Finnish Essive case, and, Russian Instrumental case). Uniquely, this kind of predicate gives rise to a transient reading in certain contexts without an overt PP. With other experiencer and tense combinations, it gives rise to subjective, dispositional and evaluative interpretations, similar to PPTs. The general theoretical import comes down to the difference between an experiencer argument in an event mediated predication vs. a non-event-mediated predication. We analyse the transient reading as event mediatedpredication, brought about by the eventive predicator -gaa, with a first-person based generic quantification over the experiencer variable (introduced by -gaa) and judge index. When the experiencer is overt or pro, the interpretation is subjective, and when there is generic quantification over the event variable (interaction of tense) the meaning is evaluative or dispositional. In nonevent-mediated predication, without -gaa, the transient reading is absent, and subjectivity is based on the kind of gradable adjective–dimensional, and evaluative adjectives; PPTs. This working paper is available in University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol24/iss1/5 A New Kind of Perspective Sensitivity Cross-linguistically: Primary Predication with -gaa


Chinese medical question-answer matching is more challenging than the open-domain questionanswer matching in English. Even though the deep learning method has performed well in improving the performance of question-answer matching, these methods only focus on the semantic information inside sentences, while ignoring the semantic association between questions and answers, thus resulting in performance deficits. In this paper, we design a series of interactive sentence representation learning models to tackle this problem. To better adapt to Chinese medical question-answer matching and take the advantages of different neural network structures, we propose the Crossed BERT network to extract the deep semantic information inside the sentence and the semantic association between question and answer, and then combine with the multi-scale CNNs network or BiGRU network to take the advantage of different structure of neural networks to learn more semantic features into the sentence representation. The experiments on the cMedQA V2.0 and cMedQA V1.0 dataset show that our model significantly outperforms all the existing state-of-the-art models of Chinese medical question answer matching.


This paper questions the concept of feminisation which has been invoked by some commentators to explain the widely reported difficulties with boys. Its focus is upon primary schooling, and the point is made that a literature dominated by the consider ations of adolescence and secondary schooling has underestimated the degree to which younger boys are socialised into the norms of hegemonic masculinity. Attachment behaviour theory is used as the framework for analysis, and a detailed study of a primary school provides evidence for the central contention that peers, rather than teachers, are the main role models for boys. The discussion is therefore critical of the notion that an increased number of male teachers who will act as role models has any serious purchase in tackling the problems of boys' identity formation. The paper identifies a number of weaknesses in the conceptualisation of 'the problem with boys' and points out the degree to which homophobic and sexualised bullying is a largely unrecognised issue in primary schools. The conclusion is that such issues need to be tackled in the light of an understanding of the significance of peer attachments.


The microstructure of steel is responsible for the macro-behavior of steel or in other words steel's material properties. Surface microcracks and internal flaws can be introduced to steel microstructure during solidification. The soundness of the steel is altered by formation of flaws and microcracks in casting production line. Additive elements to molten steel and chemical element and alloys in the iron slag may produce indigenous and exogenous inclusions in the microstructure. The presence of the inclusions in the microstructure changes the cleanliness of the steel and affects the material properties of the steel products. This paper is a review of literatures on the sources of formation of inclusions and flaws in the as-cast steel and the effect of these defects on the microstructure properties.


SOUTH BROOKLYN, centering around the intersection of Pearl and Broadview roads, is a part of Cleveland's west side that was once the village of Brighton. Along with OHIO CITY, W. Cleveland, Old Brooklyn, LINNDALE, BROADVIEW HTS., and BROOKLYN, Brighton was created from Brooklyn Twp. Originally part of Warren Young's farm, Brighton was organized as a village in 1836 to capitalize on an expected land boom. When the expected growth did not occur, the residents lost interest in the village organization and let the general assembly revoke its charter in 1839. Brighton reverted to the township, although the name stuck. In 1889 the community was organized under the name S. Brooklyn, amid protest by area businesses who feared new regulations. The village, which had 800 people at its inception, was viewed as a haven from the soot of Cleveland. In an election held in 1905, however, S. Brooklyn citizens voted 411-198 to become part of the city, despite a desperate fight for independence staged by a vocal minority.


In this paper, we propose some new degenerate tensor discriminants to determine the position of fiber crossing points in a given human brain white matter. This method utilizes the tensor elements obtained from DT-MRI acquisition for calculating these discriminants. We employed the relationship between the solutions and coefficients of the twice differentiated characteristic equation. We verified our proposal by using a synthetic tensor generated from DT-MRI data. Our proposal has shown effective on reducing the computation time for obtaining the degenerate points.


The field of distance education has changed dramatically in the past ten years. Distance education, structured learning in which the student and instructor are separated by place, and sometimes by time is currently the fastest growing form of domestic and international education. What was once considered a special form of education using nontraditional delivery systems, is now becoming an important concept in mainstream education. Concepts such as networked learning, connected learning spaces, flexible learning and hybrid learning systems have enlarged the scope and changed the nature of earlier distance education models. Web-based and web-enhanced courses are appearing in traditional programs that are now racing to join the "anytime, anyplace" educational feeding frenzy. In a 2002 survey of 75 randomly chosen college distance learning programs, results revealed an astounding rate of growth in the higher education distance learning market (Primary Research Group, 2002). In a time of shrinking budgets, distance learning programs are reporting 41 percent average annual enrollment growth. Thirty percent of the programs are being developed to meet the needs of professional continuing education for adults. Twenty-four percent of distance students have high speed bandwidth at home. These developments signal a drastic redirection of traditional distance education. With the rise and proliferation of distance learning systems has come the need to critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of various programs. A majority of new programs have been developed to meet the growing needs of higher education in responding to demands for flexible learning environments, continuing education and lifelong learning. David Noble, the Ralph Nader of Distance Education, has written a series of papers examining what he calls the private, commercial hijacking of higher education. He makes the case that the banner touting cheap online education waved in front of administrators has resulted in much higher costs than expected. The promotion of online courses, according to Noble, has resulted in a huge, expensive infrastructure that he describes as a technological tapeworm in the guts of higher education (Noble 1999, November). In a later piece, Noble describes the controversy in 1998 that developed at UCLA over its partnership with a private company, the Home Education Network (THEN). The controversy, over public and private partnerships and great expectation of financial returns, he says, is fueled by extravagant technological fantasies which underly much of today's enthusiasm for distance education. Noble describes this expectation as a pursuit of what appears increasingly to be little more than fool's gold (Noble 2001, March). Noble is one of a growing group of scholars becoming increasingly disillusioned with the commercialization of distance learning, particularly in the United States. They call for educators to pause and examine the enthusiastic claims of distance educators from a critical perspective. With the recent developments in hybrid combinations of distance learning, flexible learning, distributed learning, web-based and web-enhanced instruction, the questions facing educators are how to examine new learning technologies from a wider perspective than we have in the past, and to examine how distance education fits into the changing educational environment. Scholars are exploring information technologies from the critical perspectives of politics, hidden curriculum, pedagogy, cost effectiveness, and the global impact of information technologies on collective intelligence (Vrasidas, & Glass, 2002).


Some nonavian theropod dinosaurs were at least partially covered in feathers or filamentous protofeathers. However, a complete understanding of feather distribution among theropod dinosaurs is limited because feathers are typically preserved only in lagerst�tten like that of Solnhofen, Germany or Liaoning, China. Such deposits possess clear taphonomic biases toward small-bodied animals, limiting our knowledge regarding feather presence in larger members of feathered clades. We present direct evidence of feathers in Velociraptor mongoliensis based on the presence of quill knobs on the posterior forearm. This report of secondaries in a larger-bodied, derived, and clearly flightless member of a nonavian theropod clade represented by feathered relatives is a substantial contribution to our knowledge of the evolution of feathers.


Floods are common natural occurring disaster in most parts of the world. It results into damage of human life and environment but not seldom are the side effects of flooding causing more damages than the flood itself. To investigate such Cascade or Domino effects we have tested the possibility to merge and analyze such effects on built up areas, on land fills and polluted soils and on transports, roads and other infrastructure The article analyze impact of flood along the demarcated risk areas of Lakes Roxen and Glan when they are flooded and how to use this information during flood emergency in GIS, thus providing spatial information for assessment of flood vulnerability. Thus to show GIS is an effective tool for developing flood emergency response as a part of disaster preparedness for decision makers and analyze the risk for Cascade or Domino effects.


Metropolitan agriculture is economically important, especially in the Northeast. While faced with substantial economic and regulatory obstacles, commercial farming in urban areas is surviving and even prospering. In terms of standard models of agriculture in economic development, this is a puzzle. But more detailed, spatial economic models indicate how labor-intensive production of perishable commodities in urbanized areas can make economic sense, especially when coupled with environmental amenities that farming generates for nonfarm people. At the same time, environmental disamenities of agriculture are larger in densely populated areas. The political economy outcomes have tended to be favorable to continued farming, albeit with increased regulation. Nonetheless, many questions remain about the dynamics of agricultural adjustment to urbanization, and the possible steady-state mix of farm and nonfarm activities.


Muscle simulation is an important component of human modeling, but there have been few attempts to demonstrate, in 3D and in an anatomically correct way, the structures of muscles and the way in which these change during motion. This paper proposes an anatomically-based approach to muscle modeling that attempts to provide models for human musculature based on the real morphological structures. These models provide a good visual description of muscle form and action and represent a sound base from which to produce further progress toward medically accurate simulation of human bodies. Three major problems have been addressed: geometric modeling, deformation and texture. To allow for the wide variety of deformable muscle shapes encountered in the body, while retaining as many of their common properties as possible, the geometric models are classified into several categories according to the characteristics of their structures and actions. Within each category, the model for each muscle has an efficient structural form, created using anatomical data. Deformation is also performed on the basis of the categories, with all models within each category sharing the same deformation scheme. The categories cover both general and special cases. The result is an efficient, anatomically accurate muscle representation that is specifically designed to accommodate the particular form of deformation exhibited by each individual muscle. Interactions between muscles; are also taken into account to avoid penetration occurring between adjacent muscles in our model. To provide a suitable visual effect, the muscle texture is generated directly on the model surface. The textures and colors are obtained from anatomical data via image analysis. Some results are presented on the geometric modeling, the deformation and the texture of muscles related to the lower limb.


Data extraction which is important for many applications extracts the record from HTML files. The existing Machine learning method requires human labeling of web sites for extracting data from web pages. So, this process is very time consuming. Automatic pattern discovery method enables inaccurate alignment of multiple data records in web pages. Taken into consideration the limitations of data extraction methods. Many applications necessitate the automatic extraction of data from the query result pages. The proposed method of data extraction using Web extraction tool automatically extracts data from query result pages. The data extracted using web extraction tool is aligned in a structured format using Cosine-Similarity. Keywords—Data Extraction, automatic wrapper generation, information integration, Web Crawler.


This research describes some of the salient features of Indigenous ways of working with multimodal literacies in digital contexts of use that emerged within an Indigenous school community with the oversight of Aboriginal Elders. This is significant because the use of multimodal literacy practices among a growing number of Indigenous school community groups has not been an emphasis of multimodal literacy research to date. Furthermore, authentic examples of Indigenous multimodal texts are often difficult to locate within Euro-centric educational systems of postcolonial countries. The research was conducted over a full year with students from middle and upper primary (aged 8.5–12.5 years) in an Indigenous Independent school in South-East Queensland, Australia. The project applied participatory research methods in which the research agenda was negotiated with the cultural community. Indigenous ways of multimodal literacy practices emerged as transgenerational, multimodal, placed, and collective. The findings have implications for teachers and researchers to re-envisage Indigenous ways of multimodal literacy practices in the digital age.


Abstract A combined structural and quantitative biophysical profile of the DNA binding affinity, kinetics and sequence‐selectivity of hairpin polyamide analogues is described. DNA duplexes containing either target polyamide binding sites or mismatch sequences are immobilized on a microelectrode surface. Quantitation of the DNA binding profile of polyamides containing N‐terminal 1‐alkylimidazole (Im) units exhibit picomolar binding affinities for their target sequences, whereas 5‐alkylthiazole (Nt) units are an order of magnitude lower (low nanomolar). Comparative NMR structural analyses of the polyamide series shows that the steric bulk distal to the DNA‐binding face of the hairpin iPr‐Nt polyamide plays an influential role in the allosteric modulation of the overall DNA duplex structure. This combined kinetic and structural study provides a foundation to develop next‐generation hairpin designs where the DNA‐binding profile of polyamides is reconciled with their physicochemical properties.


The Infrastructure of modern society is controlled by software systems. These systems are vulnerable to attacks; several such attacks, launched by "recreation hackers" have already led to severe disruption. However, a concerted and planned attack whose goal is to reap harm could lead to catastrophic results (for example, by disabling the computers that control the electrical power grid for a sustained period of time). The survivability of such information systems in the face of attacks is therefore an area of extreme importance to society.This paper is set in the context of self-adaptive survivable systems: software that judges the trustworthiness of the computational resources in its environment and which chooses how to achieve its goals in light of this trust model. Each self-adaptive survivable system detects and diagnoses compromises of its resources, taking whatever actions are necessary to recover from attack. In addition, a long-term monitoring system collects evidence from intrusion detectors, firewalls and all the self-adaptive components, building a composite trust-model used by each component. Self-adaptive surviable systems contain models of their intended behavior, models of the required computational resources, models of the ways in which these resources may be compromised and finally, models of the ways in which a system may be attacked and how such attacks can lead to compromises of the computational resources.In this paper we focus on Computational Vulnerability Analysis: a system that, given a description of a computational environment, deduces all of the attacks that are possible. In particular its goal is to develop multi-stage attack models in which the compromise of one resource is used to facilitate the compromise of other, more valuable resources. Although our ultimate aim is to use these models online as part of a self-adaptive system, there are other offline uses as well which we are deploying first to help system administrators assess the vulnerabilitities of their computing environment.


Microbicides are being actively researched and developed as woman-initiated means to prevent HIV transmission during unprotected coitus. Along with safety and efficacy, assessing and improving compliance is a major area of research in microbicide development. We have developed carrageenan-based semisoft vaginal suppositories and have previously evaluated how physical properties such as firmness, size and shape influence women's willingness to try them. Firmness has previously been quantified in terms of small-strain storage modulus, G', however large-strain properties of the gels may also play a role in the firmness perception. In the current study we prepared two sets of suppositories with the same G' but different elongation properties at four different G' values (250, 2500, 12,500, 25,000 Pa): For convenience we refer to these as "brittle" and "elastic", although these terms were never provided to study participants. In the first of two tests conducted to assess preference, women compared pairs of brittle and elastic suppositories and indicated their preference. We observed an interaction, as women preferred brittle suppositories at lower G' (250, 2500 Pa) and elastic ones at a higher G' (25,000 Pa). In the second test, women evaluated samples across different G', rated the ease-of-insertion and willingness-to-try and ranked the samples in order of preference. Brittle suppositories at G' of 12,500 Pa were most preferred. In vitro studies were also conducted to measure the softening of the suppositories in contact with vaginal simulant fluid (VSF). Release of antiretroviral drug tenofovir in VSF was quantified for the brittle and elastic suppositories at G' of 12,500 Pa to determine the effect of suppository type on release. The initial rate of release was 20% slower with elastic suppositories as compared to brittle suppositories. Understanding how different physical properties simultaneously affect women's preferences and pharmacological efficacy in terms of drug release is required for the optimization of highly acceptable and efficacious microbicides.


STUDY QUESTION
What is the effectiveness and safety of IVM compared with IVF for the treatment of women with high antral follicle count (AFC)?

SUMMARY ANSWER
In women with high AFC undergoing assisted reproductive technique (ART), IVM is an effective alternative compared with IVF, while it eliminates the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS).

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
IVM is postulated to be an alternative to conventional IVF to avoid OHSS. It has particular potential in women with high AFC who are known to be at increased risk of OHSS. To date, IVM and IVF have only been compared in small cohort studies.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE AND DURATION
We performed a retrospective cohort study including 919 women, of whom 608 underwent IVM and 311 IVF. The treatments were conducted at IVFMD, My Duc Hospital, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, from July 2015 to December 2017.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
We studied infertile women aged 18-38 years with an indication for ART and with an AFC ≥24. Women received either IVM or IVF treatment depending on patient's or physician's preference. In IVM cycles, women received 3 days of FSH 100 IU/day followed by hCG 10 000 IU. In IVF cycles, women underwent a gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist protocol and were triggered with hCG 6500 IU. Outcome measures were live birth rate (LBR) after first embryo transfer and cumulative LBR after one complete cycle, defined as the chance of having live birth after all fresh and frozen transfers of embryos derived from one IVM/IVF cycle. We also report on clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, multiple pregnancy and OHSS.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Baseline characteristics including age and BMI were comparable between groups. In the IVM group (608 started cycles), there were 511 fresh and 167 frozen transfers. In the IVF group (311 started cycles), there were 209 fresh and 185 frozen transfers. The number of mature oocytes, embryos, good embryos and frozen embryos was significantly lower in the IVM compared with the IVF group. LBRs after the first transfer were 222/608 (36.5%) versus 127/311 (40.8%) (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42-1.30). Cumulative LBRs after one completed cycle were 239/608 (39.3%) versus 155/311 (49.8%) (adjusted OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.30-0.89). OHSS did not occur in the IVM group versus 11/311 (3.5%) in the IVF group.

LIMITATIONS AND REASONS FOR CAUTION
Our study is limited by its non-randomized design. Randomized clinical trials are required to precisely compare the outcomes after IVM versus IVF.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
In infertile women with a high AFC, IVM is a feasible alternative to standard IVF that markedly reduces OHSS and is potentially more patient friendly and cost effective.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
No external funding was sought to support this work. B.W.M. is supported by a National Health Medical Research Council Practitioner Fellowship (GNT1082548). B.W.M. reports consultancy for ObsEva, Merck and Guerbet. All other authors have no conflicts of interest.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
NA.


We have developed a compact X-ray source via inverse Compton scattering between an electron beam and a laser pulse stacked in an optical super-cavity at Laser Undulator Compact X-ray (LUCX) accelerator in KEK. The accelerator consists of a photo-cathode RF-gun and an S-band accelerating tube and now produces the multibunch electron beam with 100 bunches, 0.5nC bunch charge and 40MeV beam energy. It is planned to upgrade the RF-gun and the RF system of the accelerator and the super-cavity in order to increase the X-ray yield. The new RF-gun with high mode separation and high Q value and a new klystron for the gun will be installed to provide good compensation with a high-intensity multi-bunch electron beam. A new optical super-cavity consisting of 4 mirrors is also being developed to enhance the stacking power in the cavity and to reduce the laser size at the focal point. The first targets are to produce a multi-bunch electron beam with 3000 bunches, 0.5nC bunch charge and 5MeV beam energy in low energy mode and with 100 bunches, 2nC and 40 MeV in high energy mode to generate X-rays by inverse Compton scattering. In this paper, the status and future plan of the accelerator will be reported.


Recent social cognition research - a mixture of social psychology, cognitive psychology, and cognitive neuroscience - has provided stunning results that measure our implicit bias against various social categories. In particular, they reveal that most of us have implicit biases in the form of negative beliefs (stereotypes) and attitudes (prejudice) against racial minorities. This is notwithstanding sincere self-reports to the contrary. These implicit biases have been demonstrated to have real-world consequence - in how we interpret actions, perform on exams, interact with others, and even shoot a gun. The first half of this Article imports this remarkable science into the law reviews and sets out a broad intellectual agenda to explore its implications. The second half explores where implicit bias comes from, and focuses on vicarious experiences with racial others mediated through electronic communications. This, in turn, raises a timely question of communications policy concerning how the public interest standard was recently reshaped in the FCC's controversial June 2003 Media Ownership Order. There, the FCC repeatedly justified relaxing ownership rules by explaining how it would increase, of all things, local news. Since local news was viewed as advancing diversity and localism, two of the three core elements of the public interest, any structural deregulation that increased local news was lauded.Troubling is what's on the local news. Sensationalistic crime stories are disproportionately shown: If it bleeds, it leads. Racial minorities are repeatedly featured as violent criminals. Consumption of these images, the social cognition research suggests, exacerbates our implicit biases against racial minorities. Since implicit bias is fueled in part by what we see, the FCC has recently redefined the public interest so as to encourage the production of programming that make us more biased. We seek local news for valuable information necessary to plan our lives, but embedded in that information transfer is a sort of Trojan Horse that increases our implicit bias. Unwittingly, the FCC linked the public interest to racism. Potential responses, such as recoding the public interest, and examining potential firewalls and disinfectants for these viruses are discussed. These solutions are explored in light of both psychological and constitutional constraints.


Recent approaches to independent component analysis have used kernel independence measures to obtain very good performance in ICA, particularly in areas where classical methods experience difficulty (for instance, sources with near-zero kurtosis). In this chapter, we compare two efficient extensions of these methods for large-scale problems: random subsampling of entries in the Gram matrices used in defining the independence measures, and incomplete Cholesky decomposition of these matrices. We derive closed-form, efficiently computable approximations for the gradients of these measures, and compare their performance on ICA using both artificial and music data. We show that kernel ICA can scale up to larger problems than yet attempted, and that incomplete Cholesky decomposition performs better than random sampling.


Solar Sails have been studied in the past as an alternative means of propulsion for spacecraft. Recent advances in Solar Sail technology and the miniaturisation of technology can drive these systems much smaller (< 5 kg mass, < 10m sail diameter) than existing sails, while still having a high delta-V and acceleration capability. With these unique capabilities of miniature Solar Sails, called Solar Kites, some very unique space science missions can be achieved which are difficult to be implemented using conventional propulsion techniques. One such unique candidate mission is to study the Earth's magnetotail. The paper lays out the main design features and technologies of a Solar Kite mission/platform and demonstrates that a cluster of Solar Kites with science payloads can provide multiple, in-situ measurements of the dynamic evolution of energetic particle distributions of the rotating geomagnetic tail of Earth. With a unique design, a Solar Kite proves to be an efficient, affordable and versatile solution for the mission analysed with a significant science return.