In this article a methodology is presented to extract indicators that appropriately measure the information society and the digital divide between countries and the relevant statistics that the majority of countries can collect. With the help of content analysis, the entropy method, and consideration of the diffusion aspects of digitalization, 37 reputable information society and digital divide models are analyzed to indentify "core information and communication technology (ICT) indicators." To overcome the limitation of the nonexistence of data, the information and the knowledge embedded in information society and digital divide models are employed as proxies for experts' opinions for extracting the core ICT indicators. Comparison of the prior indicators and the proposed ones reveals that the former ignore three important dimensions: e-learning, e-government, and networked world enablers.


We examined 11 Eagle Owl Bubo bubo nests in Mongolia during 2004–06. Five nests were located in cliffs, three in rock columns, two in sandy precipices and one on a rock ledge. Mean height (above ground) of the nest site structure was 7.6 (SD 5.9) m and height of nest entrance was 3.1 (SD 2.5) m. Mean clutch size was 1.7 (SD 0.9) and the number of fledglings was 1.5 (SD 0.5). Nest structure or entrance height did not correlate with the number of eggs laid (r = 0.1, r = 0.4) or young fledged (r = 0.001, r = 0.1). We identified 276 prey from pellets and remains from nests or nearby perches. Pellets averaged 63.5 (SD 14.2) by 22.2 (SD 4.1) mm and weighed 10.6 (SD 4.6) g when collected. Seventeen species of birds were taken as prey, and represented 32.2% of prey biomass (26.1% by frequency), while 13 mammal species constituted 67.8% of the biomass (72.2% by frequency). The most frequent avian prey was the Eurasian Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus; the most frequent mammalian prey was the Mongolian Five-toed Jerboa Allactaga sibirica. Amphibians and beetles together represented a very small percentage (0.23%) of the diet biomass.


It is known that learning deep neural-networks is computationally hard in the worst-case. In fact, the proofs of such hardness results show that even weakly learning deep networks is hard. In other words, no efficient algorithm can find a predictor that is slightly better than a random guess. However, we observe that on natural distributions of images, small patches of the input image are correlated to the target label, which implies that on such natural data, efficient weak learning is trivial. While in the distribution-free setting, the celebrated boosting results show that weak learning implies strong learning, in the distribution-specific setting this is not necessarily the case. We introduce a property of distributions, denoted "local correlation", which requires that small patches of the input image and of intermediate layers of the target function are correlated to the target label. We empirically demonstrate that this property holds for the CIFAR and ImageNet data sets. The main technical results of the paper is proving that, for some classes of deep functions, weak learning implies efficient strong learning under the "local correlation" assumption.


Aim Evaluation of the use of tacrolimus in the treatment of birdshot retinochoroiditis (BRC) at a tertiary referral centre with the aim to describe its safety and efficacy. Methods The medical records of 25 patients diagnosed with BRC at uveitis service, Moorfields Eye Hospital, and who had received tacrolimus treatment were retrospectively reviewed. The main outcome measures of the study were (1) safety of tacrolimus in terms of side effects and (2) efficacy, as measured both by control of inflammation and visual function assessed by Humphrey visual fields and electrophysiological testing over at least 6 months and then 1 year. Results Tacrolimus was commenced in 25 patients (mean age 50.4±10.8 years) and was well tolerated in 21 patients (84%). It was necessary to stop the tacrolimus in four patients. No patient showed major changes in renal function: 3/21 patients (14.28%) showed slightly abnormal (less than 30%) function at the end of the first month of treatment; 1/21 (4.76%) patients at 3 months, but at the end of a 6-month treatment period only 1/21 patients (4.76%) showed minor abnormality in renal function. The mean daily prednisolone dose was 19.7 mg at the beginning of the study, which had fallen to 6.9 mg at the end (t=5.071, p=0.001). Visual acuity mostly remained stable. Visual fields improved over time (mean improvement in Humphrey mean deviation, right eye=1.8±2.4 dB, t=3.821, p=0.004; left eye=1.9±2.7, dB, t=3.06, p=0.007). Electrophysiological function showed improvement in 10 patients, and in four patients an initial deterioration in function improved following tacrolimus dose adjustment. Conclusion Tacrolimus has a good safety profile for long-term use in patients with BRC as a second-line agent enabling steroid sparing and visual function stabilisation or improvement.


Smartphones are becoming comparable to desktop computers in terms of computational power, and offer diverse applications ranging from social media and gaming, to multimedia and banking. A particular class of mobile applications, mobile/cloud applications, are tightly coupled with the cloud. While executing on the mobile device, they communicate frequently with the cloud for crucial functionality. Use of cloud-provided services is integral to the operation of mobile/cloud applications. And while the computational power of the cloud is seldom a performance concern, the network latency incurred when connecting a mobile device to the cloud can cause perceptible delays in the application. Users have a low tolerance for delays, so avoiding user-perceived delays is imperative to stop users from switching application providers. This dissertation presents the Jovaku system, which aims to reduce communication latency between mobile devices and cloud services in a generic way, and by reusing existing infrastructure. Jovaku consists of a middle tier component designed to optimize mobile/cloud interactions and a Software Development Kit (sdk) that allows developers to leverage its capabilities. The viability of the Jovaku system is substantiated through implementation of several modern mobile/cloud applications. Picster and Dapper both make use of Jovaku to reduce communication latency with their respective cloud services. We also perform an extensive experimental evaluation of Jovaku, revealing latency reduction by as much as 72% for certain mobile/cloud applications.


The Cluster Hypothesis is the fundamental assumption of using clustering in Information Retrieval. It states that similar documents tend to be relevant to the same query. Past research works extensively test this hypothesis using agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) methods. However, their conclusions are not consistent concerning retrieval effectiveness for a given clustering method. The main limit of these works is the scalability issue of AHC. In this paper, we extend our previous work to a new test of the cluster hypothesis by applying a scalable similarity-based AHC framework. Principally, the input pairwise cosine similarity matrix is sparsified by given threshold values to reduce memory usage and running time. Our experiments show that even when the similarity matrix is largely sparsified, retrieval effectiveness is retained for all tested methods. Moreover, for two clustering methods, complete link and average link, they do not always dominate the other methods as reported in past works.


Abstract The error budget analysis is presented which quantifies the effects of different error sources in the Earth-based orbit determination process when the orbit estimation filter is used to reduce radio metric data. The estimator strategy differs from more traditional filtering methods in the nearly all of the principal ground system calibration errors affecting the data are represented as filter parameters. Error budget computations were performed for a Venus mission interplanetary cruise scenario for cases in which only X-band Doppler data were used to determine the spacecraft's orbit, X-band ranging data were used exclusively, and combined set in which the ranging data were used in addition to the Doppler data. Random nongravitational accelerations were found to the largest source of error contributing to the individual error budgets.


This briefing from Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage (SCCS)1 sets out reasons for Scottish Government continuing to provide positive support for technologies and infrastructure that capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from emissions and permanently store it in geological formations. Such technologies, collectively known as carbon capture and storage (CCS), are complementary to several options being pursued for decarbonisation of the energy system. Including CCS in Scotland's whole energy-system strategy can make other options more effective and will be needed to extend the 2032 targets to an ambition of a net zero carbon Scotland in 2050.


Microdissection studies were done on 30 human adult hands and serial sectional investigation and neuromuscular spindle counts done on 132 intrinsic hand muscles. Neuromuscular spindle distribution charts were drawn for all the intrinsic muscles except the adductor pollicis; a corres-ponding extrafusal fibre relative length chart is also presented. A discussion of the methodology employed for spindle count and distribution charting is presented. The limitations of the spindle density values obtained by different methods is also discussed and an alternative numerical index or ratio is suggested. From the results several following conclusions have been drawn and emphasised: (a) There is a close correlation between zones of high neuromuscular spindle concentrations and the longer extra-fusal fibres within each individual muscle, and this association appears to be of functional significance. (b) There appear to be special qualitative features, within the biomechanical arrangement of the muscles of the thumb, index and middle fingers (the "precision tripod",) not seen on the ulnar side of the hand. (c) The lumbrical muscles have uniquely higher neuromuscular spindle densities than the other intrinsic muscles. The lumbrical attachments, bridging the flexors and extensors of the hand, and the simultaneous mobility of their origins and insertions on the tendons of these other muscles in theory renders them additionally sensitive to finger movements. Their motor role, on the other hand, appears of somewhat secondary and incidental nature, although so far attention seems to have been focussed upon the latter more than on the sensory role. Other results have been presented which indicate that there may be variations in the functional predominance of the wing or phalangeal tendons over the other. A scheme of the operative forces has been proposed with respect to this. Finally two convenient sites for muscle biopsy for human neuromuscular spindle studies and some topics for future work have been suggested.


Several recent studies link rising income inequality in the United States to the global financial crisis, arguing that US politicians did not respond to growing inequality with fiscal redistribution. Instead, Americans saved less and borrowed more to maintain relative consumption in the face of widening economic disparities. This article proposes a theory in which fiscal redistribution dampens the willingness of citizens to borrow to fund current consumption. A key implication is that pretax inequality will be more tightly linked with credit in less redistributive countries. The long-run partisan composition of government is, in turn, a key determinant of redistributive effort. Examining a panel of eighteen OECD democracies, the authors find that countries with limited histories of left-wing participation in government are significantly more likely see credit expansion as prefisc inequality grows compared to those in which the political left has been more influential.


Background: Patient-ready packs (PRPs) are convenient medicine package sizes to be dispensed to patients. In South Africa, some manufacturer-prepared PRPs are available for procurement by provincial medicine depots on National Contracts. However, when PRPs are not available, bulk medicines must be repackaged into PRPs at the repackaging units of provincial pharmaceutical depots. This research was aimed at determining the less costly method of obtaining PRPs for primary healthcare (PHC) facilities in South Africa. Method: Site visits to the repackaging units of four depots were conducted to evaluate the repackaging processes and determine all associated costs. These costs were then reduced to represent cost per unit PRP for each medicine line being repackaged. These were then compared with the cost of purchasing manufacturer-prepared equivalent PRPs available on National Contracts.

 Results: Overall, four depots were repackaging 96 PRP lines meant for primary healthcare (PHC) facilities. Of these, only 61 (63.5%; n= 96) were available on National Contracts in equivalent pack sizes. The cost of packaging 35 (57.4%; n= 61) of the PRPs by the depots was less than the cost of equivalent pack sizes available on National Contracts. Only 35 (36.5%; n= 96) lines were targeted at the required PRP lines not available on National Contracts.

 Conclusion: There is no statistically significant difference between the cost of Manufacturer-prepared PRPs available on National Contracts and equivalent pack sizes made through repackaging at provincial pharmaceutical depots in South Africa.


Abstract : The threat of degradation or disruption from cyber infiltration, espionage, and theft to militarily and nationally critical information and network systems poses a significant challenge to DoD and DON. To mitigate this challenge, network administrators must be trained to properly recognize and defend against malicious activity. The Malicious Activity Simulation Tool (MAST), a software program under development at NPS, mimics the behavior and impact of network-based malware in an effort to train the administrators of operational DoD networks both to respond to the threats such materials present to their networks and to assess their competence in recognizing and responding to such threats. In order for MAST to achieve its potential as an acceptable assessment and training tool, it must first be shown to present no new threat to the environment for which it was designed. This thesis develops a step-by-step testing procedure, the execution of which will demonstrate that MAST can perform at a level commensurate with current criteria for operating securely on DoD networks. Additionally, this thesis discusses the quantitative testing environment and current testing and implementation methods and criteria for new cyber hardware and software programs of record in the DoD.


We study the influence of the choice of color space for local tone mapping methods. Many local tone mapping methods do not perform well when applied independently to the three color channels of an RGB image. A common solution is to only treat the luminance channel. However, the question of which color space provides the most suitable luminance definition has not been addressed. The correlation between luminance and chrominance is known to have an influence on the rendered image but the relation between a measure of correlation and the appearance of the image has not yet been found. We consider four color transforms and introduce a measure to evaluate how well they decorrelate luminance and chrominance information. We apply two local tone mapping algorithms to the luminance channel given by the four transforms and visually compare the results. As each transform leads to another luminance definition, the resulting color images will be different as well. Our results confirm that less correlation between luminance and chrominance results in better performance of the local tone mapping algorithms. Namely, they provide a better increase in local contrast in the luminance channel and less hue shifts. However, we show that a perfect decorrelation is not always necessary.


Building energy simulation software (e.g. EnergyPlus) is a powerful tool used widely by designers and researchers. However, current software is limited in modeling distributed generation (DG), including DG with heat recovery applied to building end-use, i.e. combined heat and power (CHP). Concurrently, DG investment and dispatch optimization software has been developed, yet has not been linked to a building energy simulation program for accurate assessment of DG designs, particularly under uncertainty in future end-use loads and equipment availability. CHP is a proven approach to cost effective reductions in primary fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Integrating DG system design and controls into building energy simulation is an important step towards popular DG acceptance. We propose to extend the existing building energy simulation program, EnergyPlus (E+), to enable the simulation of various DG modules and associated control strategies in order to achieve more accurate and holistic analysis of DG technologies. Extension of EnergyPlus is conveniently facilitated by SPARK, a program capable of modeling building equipment and controls as individual modules. These modules can be automatically integrated with EnergyPlus building models. Candidate DG systems can be selected from the DG investment optimization program, Distributed Energy Resources Customer Adoption Model (DER-CAM). The dispatch of the modeled DG system can be determined by a novel dispatch optimization algorithm, the Energy Manager, that accounts for uncertainty in future load and DG availability, as well as curtailment options. DG equipment and controls can modeled in SPARK and integrated into EnergyPlus building models. The way to this holistic approach will be described in this paper.


Abstract Studies of melt inclusions trapped in magmatic phenocrysts can provide a new perspective on several key outstanding problems in the understanding of the genesis of orthomagmatic ore deposits, particularly with respect to the concentration of metals in parental magmas. The published data shows a mismatch between low and high abundances of Cu (and Ag) in unheated and remelted melt inclusions, respectively. This experimental study investigates the possibility that quartz-hosted rhyolitic melt inclusions may change their composition during laboratory heating under different conditions. Exceptional volatility of Cu and Ag and inert behavior of other metals (Zn, Pb, Mo, Sn, W) and lithophile trace elements at high temperature (850 °C) is demonstrated. Heating experiments with melt inclusions require specific conditions that should take the high volatility of Cu and Ag into account. The open system behavior of Cu and Ag can also affect the composition of melt inclusions within the time frame between trapping and eruption


Rapid climate fluctuations associated with ice-sheet oscillations have resulted in pulses of iceberg discharge that are recorded by iceberg scour marks along continental shelves and ice-rafted debris deposits across the North Atlantic. Iceberg transport is largely controlled by ocean surface currents; therefore, iceberg trajectories can serve as a proxy for paleo-circulation studies. Records of iceberg transport from ice-rafted debris (i.e., Heinrich layers) in the North Atlantic suggest that most icebergs released during Quaternary glaciations were entrained in a cyclonic subpolar gyre restricted to polar and mid-latitudes; however, new data suggest that there may have been an additional southerly component of transport along the western Atlantic margin. Here, we present evidence of extensive iceberg scouring across the upper slope offshore of South Carolina, ~1000 km south of the proximal ice margin during Quaternary glacial maximums. The location and orientation of the keel marks suggest that icebergs were entrained in a southwestward-flowing coastal current. At present, warm waters of the rapid, northeastward-flowing Gulf Stream bathe the upper slope off the southeastern United States. An offshore shift in the Gulf Stream axis during sea-level lowstand may have allowed glacially fed coastal currents to penetrate farther south. This may be the first evidence of iceberg rafting to subtropical latitudes in the North Atlantic.


This paper used the SEADE database on 1,200 manufacturing companies, located in São Paulo state, active in 14 different industries, to test the relationship between certain operational practices, such as quality, just in time, ISO certifications and level of outsourcing with organizations' performance. The study used a multiple regression technique and performance was measured in terms of Profitability and Revenue Growth Rate. Generally, no relationship between these practices and performance could be found. The findings were unable to support the large body of literature in operations management that establishes this link based on anecdotal evidence. Level of outsourcing was the only consistently related variable, negatively related with both profitability and growth.


ABSTRACT Albacore (Thunnus alalunga), harvested mainly by longline, has been productive in the Indian Ocean, The population dynamics of Indian alba core has been analyzed by various assessing models. However, the abun dance index used previously showed variety within some extents to result in uncertain measures for the stock status. With respect to the importance of environmental factors in estimating an abundance index, the objectives of the present paper are to standardize catch per unit effort for Taiwanese longline fishery by involving a sea surface temperature in general linear model, and to assess the albacore stock using the estimated abundance in dex by surplus production models. The results obtained reveal that the stan dardized catch per unit effort follows closely the fishery and the maximum sustainable yield estimated ranges from 32,168 to 34,910 metric tons and effective fishing effort at maximum sustainable yield ranges from 296 to 313 million standardized hooks for different surplus production models. Therefore, the stock status is evaluated to be in healthy and fully exploited condition; and a close monitoring, still, an intensive analysis using age-struc tured models is recommended for subsequent studies.


Rho family small GTPases are important regulators of neuronal development. Defective Rho regulation causes nervous system dysfunctions including mental retardation and Alzheimer's disease. Rac1, a member of the Rho family, regulates dendritic spines and excitatory synapses, but relatively little is known about how synaptic Rac1 is negatively regulated. Breakpoint cluster region (BCR) is a Rac GTPase-activating protein known to form a fusion protein with the c-Abl tyrosine kinase in Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia. Despite the fact that BCR mRNAs are abundantly expressed in the brain, the neural functions of BCR protein have remained obscure. We report here that BCR and its close relative active BCR-related (ABR) localize at excitatory synapses and directly interact with PSD-95, an abundant postsynaptic scaffolding protein. Mice deficient for BCR or ABR show enhanced basal Rac1 activity but only a small increase in spine density. Importantly, mice lacking BCR or ABR exhibit a marked decrease in the maintenance, but not induction, of long-term potentiation, and show impaired spatial and object recognition memory. These results suggest that BCR and ABR have novel roles in the regulation of synaptic Rac1 signaling, synaptic plasticity, and learning and memory, and that excessive Rac1 activity negatively affects synaptic and cognitive functions.


More on digraphs To the Editor: Yeomans et al. (MJA, June 9, 1986)certainly are correct in assuming that their advocacy of spelling "reform" would "survive" after heroic and horrendously expensive interventions, only to languish thereafter, makes no sense at all. The imposition of regulation requires a bureaucracy for its implementation. Inevitably entrepreneurs will find ways of exploiting the system. Both these processes rob the taxpayer, and worsen the very problem they are supposed to address. Medical care should be delivered only to those who realistically can be expected to benefit from it. We must not investigate and treat patients unless we know there is a reasonable probability that the patient will benefit thereby. This can only be achieved by clinical epidemiological research, good clinical teaching and finding some means of rewarding those who use resources carefully. Unfortunately our existing bureaucratic system appears all too often to do the very opposite. It is reasonable to expect therefore that extending and expanding that system will further worsen the situation rather than improve it. Anthony Morton, MD Director of Intensive Therapy Repatriation General Hospital, Greenslopes Newdegate Street Greenslopes, QLD 4120 I. Wood TJ, Thomas SE. Severity of illness and Diagnosis Related Groups. Med J Aust 1986; 145: 79-81.


BACKGROUND
Malaria infection increases low birthweight especially in primigravidae. Malaria epidemics occur when weather conditions favour this vector borne disease. Forecasting using the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) may assist in anticipating epidemics and reducing the impact of a disease which is an important cause of low birthweight. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of the malaria epidemic in East Africa during 1997-1998 on birthweights in two different areas of Tanzania and to explore ESNO's potential for forecasting low birthweight risk in pregnant women.

METHOD
A retrospective analysis of birthweight differences between primigravidae and multigravidae in relation to malaria cases and rainfall for two different areas of Tanzania: Kagera, which experiences severe outbreaks of malaria, and Morogoro which is holoendemic. Birthweight and parity data and malaria admissions were collected over a 10-year period from two district hospitals in these locations.

RESULTS
The risk of delivering a low birthweight baby in the first pregnancy increases approximately 5 months following a malaria epidemic. An epidemic of marked reduced birthweight in primigravidae compared with multigravidae occurred, related to the ENSO of 1997-1998. In Kagera this birthweight difference and the risk of low birthweight were significantly lower compared with Morogoro, except after the ENSO when the two areas had similar differences. No significant interaction was noted between secundigravidae and any of the risk periods. The results indicate that the pressure of malaria is much greater on pregnant women, especially primigravidae, living in the Morogoro location.

CONCLUSIONS
Surveillance of birthweight differences between primigravidae and multigravidae is a useful indicator of malaria exposure.


This paper describes gate work function and oxide thickness tuning to realize novel circuits using dual-Vth independent-gate FinFETs. Dual-Vth FinFETs with independent gates enable series and parallel merge transformations in logic gates, realizing compact low power alternatives. Furthermore, they also enable the design of a new class of compact logic gates with higher expressive power and flexibility than conventional forms, e.g., implementing 12 unique Boolean functions using only four transistors. The gates are designed and calibrated using the University of Florida double-gate model into a technology library. Synthesis results for 14 benchmark circuits from the ISCAS and OpenSPARC suites indicate that on average, the enhanced library reduces delay, power, and area by 9%, 21%, and 27%, respectively, over a conventional library designed using FinFETs in 32nm technology.


The weir is a fundamental structure in hydraulic engineering, serving to retain a water body, to control a water level, facilitate flow diversion, or to measure discharge. Under particular site conditions, the cross-sectional width at the weir location is limited so that either higher overflow depths or a compressed weir expansion are set. A form of the latter arrangement is the so-called labyrinth weir, which is composed of rectangular, trapezoidal or triangular plan shaped weirs, so that the geometrical crest length is increased. Along with the recently developed Piano Key Weir, labyrinth weirs represent economically and hydraulically sound alternative for increasing spillway discharge capacity. The present paper describes their historical development, reviews the main advances until the 1980s, summarizes current design guidelines, and presents the main individuals having participating in their development.


Over 1,800 agricultural economics graduate students at 41 Ph.D. and master's degree granting institutions in the United States were surveyed to determine their demographic characteristics, academic motivations, financial assistance, scholastic output, and professional activities. Responses were received from 306 Ph.D. degree-seeking students and 244 students pursuing masters degrees. They indicated career advancement potential was their most important reason for pursuing a graduate degree. Students choose among graduate programs largely based on departmental reputation and financial assistance. Scholastic output and professional activities differ between top ranked and lower ranked graduate programs, with graduate students at top ranked schools focusing on teaching activities whereas students m lower ranked graduate programs emphasized research and extension output.


I. INTRODUCTION The abortion issue has increasingly charged and burdened the confirmation hearings of federal judges over the past twenty years since the Senate hearings on Judge Robert Bork's nomination in 1987. Abortion was at the center of the confirmation hearings of Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005 and Justice Samuel Alito in 2006. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter asserted that Roe v. Wade was a "super precedent.'"1 Some senators sought to get public commitments that then-Judges Roberts and Alito would support Roe; many voted against them for the sole reason that they would not publicly make such commitments.1 With only five supporters of Roe v. Wade left on the Court, should one of those retire and give President Bush another opportunity to nominate a successor, abortion is certain to be an even more contentious issue at future confirmation hearings. In the preceding issue of this journal,4 we offered three major reasons why the Supreme Court has tragically failed in its self-appointed role as the national abortion control board. First was the doctrinal incoherence of the Court's abortion decisions. For example, in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the Court shifted its rationale for the abortion liberty from substantive due process to sociology-the "reliance interests" in abortion as a backup to failed contraception.' The Court, in so doing, ignored the mounting sociological and medical data of the negative impact of abortion on women physically and psychologically. The Court is less competent than the American people and their elected representatives to assess this medical evidence. Second, and related to the First, the Court has been oblivious to the confusion in which it has thrown federal judges and state legislatures over the past thirty-three years because of its vague and contradictory decisions and standards of review. Third, what appears to be the Court's implicit policy of facilitating abortion on demand, far from settling the issue, increasingly conflicts with public opinion and has increasingly roiled not only judicial confirmation hearings, but American politics generally. Curiously, even though it is the Democrats (especially in the Senate) who have demonstrated strong support for Roe v. Wade, since the 2004 elections a growing number of liberal and Democratic political commentators have publicly stated that Democratic candidates and office-holders would be better off without Roe v. Wade.6 Based on decisions in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey and Stenberg v. Carhart? it can still be said that there are at least five votes on the Court that support Roe. Only two Justices have expressly supported overturning Roe.8 Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito have taken no public position; while they might be reasonably expected to uphold regulations of abortion, their position on Roe itself is unknown. It is safe to say that they will be under enormous pressure to maintain the status quo.9 Despite the changing Court membership, there are enormous institutional and political obstacles to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton,'10 and their progeny. These obstacles are often ignored, misunderstood, or downplayed by optimistic opponents of Roe. Sadly, the Court has repeatedly shown itself incapable of thoroughly and objectively reconsidering its handiwork in Roe and Casey. As we indicated in our earlier piece, some legal and institutional reasons for this failure were described by Judge Edith Jones of the Fifth Circuit in 2005 in McCorvey v. Hill.11 The Court has also demonstrated that it is incapable of reconsidering the negative impact of its contradictory and constantly changing standards of review. The changed standard of review in casey immediately injected confusion into the lower courts, and several federal judges expressed frustration with this situation between 1992 and 2005.12 The Court has rejected numerous opportunities to address and attempt to resolve the confusion since Casey. …


Muhammad Ali Khan Abstract August 31, 2012 Machine integration into human life: Mankind & Cyborgization Embracing technology and its utilization has always been a certain goal for human beings so it would provide benefits in long run through different ways. However access to such knowledge not only helps mankind to prosper but also reveals its dark side in form of a dilemma. My paper explores the same subject of scientific knowledge as a dilemma to human life while providing its advantages at the same time. In order to explain my claim in detail, my paper is actually based on a comparison between the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin and the film Gamer by Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor. This comparison is divided in two parts where the first part enlightens extension of human body with help of science and its physical & psychological effects, in reference to the novel. The second part focuses more on the rising issues due to adaptation of technology into human life by following the movie. The explanation in both parts contains events from the novel and film and connects them with each claim. Extending the claim, my digital artifact is a visual demonstration and performance at the same time. Providing a fictional example, the artifact demonstrates an advance from of virtual identity of mine and my dependence on it which explores the rising issue of lost human identity in cyberspace. Key terms: Ideology, identity, Cyborgization, Authenticity, Science fiction.


This paper presents various types of subordinate clauses in Cofan, an isolate language spoken on both sides of the Ecuadorian-Colombian border. These constructions are evaluated in light of parameters used in typological studies on subordination. We show that Cofan has two types of subordinate clauses: (i) Those that are marked with special forms of the dependent verb, and (ii) those that are marked with cliticized conjunctions, which appear attached to the dependent verb for reasons of word order, but do not affect the internal structure of the subordinate clause. In addition, our case study illustrates some more general problems involved in the application of cross-linguistic formal criteria to an individual language, with specific reference to finiteness and argument coding.


This paper advocates for the role and importance of Entrepreneurship Education (EE) as part of the core curriculum in higher education institutions in order to stimulate XXI Century entrepreneurial mindsets among students. It is focused on how Entrepreneurship should be taught and not why it should be taught. Based on empirical research, the paper offers an in-depth analysis of the main issues raised by EE, and provides valuable insights on European and American approaches in the field. Using the successful experiences of The University of North Carolina Greensboro (U.S.A.) as an example, it also highlights the main challenges that the Romanian higher education system needs to achieve to meet the new National Education Law's requirements (L1/2011). The economy needs Entrepreneurship as a major core curriculum to transform graduates into "job creators" rather than "job seekers" in order to revive and strengthen its market-based economy. This study provides entrepreneurship educators, decision makers, and administrators valuable insights on how to improve the effectiveness of the new required Entrepreneurship Education curriculum.


ABSTRACT "When Work Disappears" has shaped research agendas on poverty, racial hierarchy, and urban social and economic dynamics. That is a lot for one article, yet two issues warrant more analysis. They are the ways in which socially defined "race" – rather than or in combination with class – explains the impact of sustained joblessness, and the political behaviours that may emerge in response to work's disappearance. I point to evidence showing that both race and class have independent associations with the loss of work in poor African-American communities, as well as interactive effects. In the political arena – too often neglected by sociologists studying poverty – sustained, community-wide joblessness or underemployment are associated both with withdrawal from political engagement and with the recent resurgence of right-wing populism. Even after several decades of intensive research, we have more to learn about the interactions of race, class, politics, and the disappearance of work.


We present two studies of online ephemerality and anonymity based on the popular discussion board /b/ at 4chan.org: a website with over 7 million users that plays an influential role in Internet culture. Although researchers and practitioners often assume that user identity and data permanence are central tools in the design of online communities, we explore how /b/ succeeds despite being almost entirely anonymous and extremely ephemeral. We begin by describing /b/ and performing a content analysis that suggests the community is dominated by playful exchanges of images and links. Our first study uses a large dataset of more than five million posts to quantify ephemerality in /b/. We find that most threads spend just five seconds on the first page and less than five minutes on the site before expiring. Our second study is an analysis of identity signals on 4chan, finding that over 90% of posts are made by fully anonymous users, with other identity signals adopted and discarded at will. We describe alternative mechanisms that /b/ participants use to establish status and frame their interactions.


Abstract This article examines a series of internet artworks by the artist Miao Ying (b. 1985). Contextualizing her digital collages in relation to China's online culture and media spheres, it situates the contemporary art world's engagement with internet art in relation to anti-aesthetics and the rise of what has been termed Internet ugly. Interrogating the assumption that internet art emerging from China can only belatedly repeat works of Euro-American precedent, it argues that Miao's work presents a dramatic reframing of online censorship, consumerism and the unique aspects of vernacular culture that have emerged within China's online realm. Demonstrating a distinctly self-conscious celebration of what has often disparagingly been labeled The Chinternet, Meanwhile in China can be seen to emerge out of the broader contradictions of internet art practices that parody the relationships between The Chinternet and the World Wide Web, global capitalism and Shanzhai [fake or pirated] aesthetics, online propaganda and media democracy, and the art market's relationship to the virtual economies of an art world online.


This final year honours thesis project was undertaken with Eco-FX; it involved consulting, designing and developing their new Smart City Street Lighting System.

Smart Street Lighting utilises wireless control and monitoring to produce a more energy efficient and sustainable street light system. Previously, the technology and the wider community were obstacles in its development; presently with advancement in wireless low data rate protocols and support from the Western Australian Local Government Association, the development of the system is approaching its completion.

To consult on the design and development for this project required vast amounts of research about the existing lighting technologies, public utilities and low data rate wireless protocols. The methodology was to research and evaluate all protocol and hardware technologies available. These technology options were presented to the relevant stakeholders for discussion; and then the final design specification was approved.

The ZigBee protocol met final design specifications and requirements for Eco-FX; therefore the ZigBee Alliance was contacted to find the best approach in designing to their standard. After the guidance from the ZigBee Alliance, more research was conducted on the hardware and the services required for implementing the Smart City Street Light System.

The final stage in the project was finding manufacturers and designers for the required hardware and software to develop the system in China. The previous research and evaluation provided guidance in specifying to the manufacturer and designer all the critical features required by Eco-FX in the system; and ensured all Australian and international standards were met in the manufacturing and designing process.


The modern dynamic world requires that basic science courses for engineering, including linear algebra, emphasize the development of mathematical abilities primarily associated with modelling and interpreting, which aren´t limited only to calculus abilities. Considering this, an instructional design was elaborated based on mathematic modelling and emerging heuristic models for the construction of specific linear algebra concepts:  span and spanning set. This was applied to first year engineering students. Results suggest that this type of instructional design contributes to the construction of these mathematical concepts and can also favour first year engineering students understanding of key linear algebra concepts and potentiate the development of higher order skills.


Recent R-matrix calculations of electron impact excitation rates in Ni XII are used to derive the emission line ratios R1 = I(154.17 A)/I(152.15 A), R2 = I(152.95 A)/I(152.15 A) and R3 = I(160.55 A)/I(152.15 A). This is the first time (to our knowledge) that theoretical emission line ratios have been calculated for this ion. The ratios are found to be insensitive to changes in the adopted electron density (Ne) when Ne≥5×1011 cm-3, typical of laboratory plasmas. However, they do vary with electron temperature (Te), with for example R1 and R3 changing by factors of 1.3 and 1.8, respectively, between Te = 105 and 106 K. A comparison of the theoretical line ratios with measurements from the Joint European Torus (JET) tokamak reveals very good agreement between theory and observation for R1, with an average discrepancy of only 7%. Agreement between the calculated and experimental ratios for R2 and R3 is less satisfactory, with average differences of 30 and 33%, respectively. These probably arise from errors in the JET instrument calibration curve. However, the discrepancies are smaller than the uncertainties in the R2 and R3 measurements. Our results, in particular for R1, provide experimental support for the accuracy of the Ni XII line ratio calculations, and hence for the atomic data adopted in their derivation.


Professional development opportunities are too limited for faculty who are learning to teach online. Preparation is typically provided in the form of technology training, with little focus on the pedagogy of teaching over the web. In addition, most professional development programs offer their workshops on campus instead of providing an opportunity for faculty to be learners online. The Program for Online Teaching Certificate Class created a possible model for better preparation with a free, open, year-long online class focused on pedagogy and tool choice, with participants engaged in active reflection as part of a community. Participants in the 2011-12 class were surveyed regarding several objectives, including whether their learning goals were achieved within the framework of the class. Participants, including 16 who earned a certificate through full participation, overwhelmingly indicated the achievement of their personal learning goals, satisfaction with the community developed within the class, and increased confidence in their ability to build online classes around their pedagogy rather than being led by the technology tools. The results of the study indicate that an open, online class may be an effective model for faculty development in online teaching.


Log yard runoff can be harmful to receiving watercourses, mainly because of the high concentration of organic substances and phosphorus that can cause eutrophication and oxygen depletion. This thesis assesses the effectiveness of soil infiltration and constructed wetlands to purify runoff from two log yards in Sweden storing mainly Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst). The treatment efficiency of infiltration in a couch grass (Elytrigia repens (L.) Desv. ex Nevski) field was examined by comparing pollutant concentrations in the log yard runoff with resulting concentrations in groundwater pipes. The content of total organic carbon (TOC), total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), suspended solids (SS) and distillable phenols was investigated during seven summer seasons. The results showed good purification capacity for TOC, TP and distillable phenols, but the infiltration had no effect on TN and SS. Intense irrigation led to increasing levels of TP in the groundwater after a few years. Reduced irrigation did not increase the purification efficiency for TOC but halted the increase of TP in the groundwater. Infiltration in soil systems planted with four different species (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gartner (common alder), Salix schwerinii x viminalis (willow variety 'Gudrun'), Lolium perenne (L.) (rye grass) and Phalaris arundinacea (L.) (reed canary grass)) was assessed at a field-scale experimental site. No significant difference in treatment efficiency could be seen when comparing the different plants with each other. The infiltration was effective in reducing TOC and TP in the log yard runoff, but could not reduce SS. The self-organizing map (SOM) model was applied to the results to assess the relationships between different water quality variables, and the SOM model performed very well in predicting TN and TP concentrations. A small constructed treatment wetland showed no significant effect when treating log yard runoff, possibly because the hydraulic load on the wetland was too high and the oxygen content too low for the biochemical processes in the wetland to reduce the concentrations of TP, TOC and SS, or because the particles in the runoff do not settle easily. A constructed wetland should either be made larger or supplemented by further treatment solutions. The results in this thesis support the use of soil infiltration rather than wetlands to treat log yard runoff. Storage of aged windthrown logs on both log yards led to significantly higher content of TP in the runoff. Countries with a lot of forest should prepare for storing windthrown logs in a way that reduces the impact on receiving watercourses.


There is an emerging trend of offering combined products and services to customers as integrated solutions. These are implemented by contracts such as availability contracts. Uncertainties may arise due to the novelty of the process of designing and managing such offerings, prediction of equipment failure and multiple stakeholders involvement in addition to the long-term nature of the contract. Understanding through-life uncertainties and their impact on cost is critical to ensure sustainability and profitability of the companies offering such solutions. The focus of this paper is to (i) evaluate existing uncertainty classifications and (ii) propose essential considerations for characterising the uncertainties in availability contracts. Appropriate classification of uncertainties should improve the quality of cost estimation by stimulating an understanding and awareness of uncertainties and their characteristics.


CONTEXT
Although both overt hyper- and hypothyroidism are known to lead to cognitive impairment, data on the association between subclinical thyroid dysfunction and cognitive function are conflicting.

OBJECTIVE
This study sought to determine the risk of dementia and cognitive decline associated with subclinical thyroid dysfunction among prospective cohorts.

DATA SOURCES
We searched in MEDLINE and EMBASE from inception until November 2014.

STUDY SELECTION
Two physicians identified prospective cohorts that assessed thyroid function and cognitive outcomes (dementia; Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]).

DATA EXTRACTION
Data were extracted by one reviewer following standardized protocols and verified by a second reviewer. The primary outcome was dementia and decline in cognitive function was the secondary outcome.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Eleven prospective cohorts followed 16,805 participants during a median followup of 44.4 months. Five studies analyzed the risk of dementia in subclinical hyperthyroidism (SHyper) (n = 6410), six in subclinical hypothyroidism (SHypo) (n = 7401). Five studies analyzed MMSE decline in SHyper (n = 7895), seven in SHypo (n = 8960). In random-effects models, the pooled adjusted risk ratio for dementia in SHyper was 1.67 (95% confidence interval, 1.04; 2.69) and 1.14 (95% confidence interval, 0.84; 1.55) in SHypo vs euthyroidism, both without evidence of significant heterogeneity (I2 = 0.0%). The pooled mean MMSE decline from baseline to followup (mean 32 mo) did not significantly differ between SHyper or SHypo vs euthyroidism.

CONCLUSIONS
SHyper might be associated with an elevated risk for dementia, whereas SHypo is not, and both conditions are not associated with faster decline in MMSE over time. Available data are limited, and additional large, high-quality studies are needed.


The scattering of acoustic plane waves at a sudden area expansion in a duct without flow is simulated using a linearized Navier-Stokes equations solver in frequency domain. The aim is to validate the numerical methodology for three-dimensional simulations, and to investigate the acoustic properties of the area expansion. A comparison of results from numerical simulations, measurements and analytical solutions is presented. It is shown that results for the acoustic scattering obtained by different wave decomposition methods are in excellent agreement.


The goal of this paper is to examine the acquisition of vowels in European Portuguese by monolingual Portuguese children. The vowel inventory in this language is affected by reduction in unstressed position, which entails allophonic (and allomorphic) variation. This study focuses on the acquisition of the unstressed [ɨ] and [ɐ] resulting from the reduction of the segments /a/, /e/ and /ɛ/. Regarding the analysis of the target system, the process that reduces /a/ to [ɐ] involves the Height node (degree of openness) while the process that reduces /ɛ, e/ to [ɨ] affects both the Height node and the V-Place node (place of articulation). Given the facts attested in the adult system, data obtained from seven children in the process of acquiring Portuguese as their native language is examined in the light of the following research questions: is the order of acquisition related to the featural architecture of segments? Are children sensitive to phonological processes in the early stages of phonological development?


This study takes an electronic company as example to enhance its supply chain management by applying concepts and guidelines from Supply Chain Council (SCC) as well as business intelligence tools. The company's Supplier Performance Management System (SPMS) was first examined by in-depth interviews with its users under the framework of Information Systems Success Model. Data collected through the interviews was under principles of case study research methods, and then was analyzed by Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) to get systematic, organized and insightful results. Based on these results, the SPMS was modified. The appropriateness of the Information System Success Model as well as system improvement was well validated.


It is widely believed that the Information Society and its economic counterpart, the New Economy, require more flexibility especially in the labour market (i.e. less long term contracts) to allow faster reactions to the increased speed of change. The paper argues that increased complexity rather than faster change is the real problem. Dealing with complexity requires adaptability and organisational learning. Short term flexi-bility, however, is detrimental to adaptability and learning as it hinders the accumulation of firm-specific capabilities - and country-specific ones on the macro level. The ability of the firm to absorb and act upon knowledge depends to a large extent on staff continuity.


The change of chromatic adaptation between observations made with a fluorescent lamp with correlated color temperature 6500 K and CIE standard source A was assessed by use of a subjective-estimation method. Thirteen observers were used. Individual variations and the average effects of chromatic adaptation were derived. The results were found to fall approximately in the middle of the range of results of previously reported studies. Lightness constancy was found, irrespective of the change of chromatic adaptation. The degree of color constancy of hue and of saturation is different for different Munsell hues, and discrimination of saturation becomes worse under source A than under the fluorescent lamp, approximately along the ν axis of the CIE 1960 (u, ν) diagram. The results are discussed with relation to several models for chromatic adaptation and color spacing.


Humans have been altering the natural landscape for millennia (e.g. Pyne, 2001; Fagan, 2004), but increasing population growth and technological innovations are out-pacing management of this landscape (e.g. Hooke, 1994; Haff, 2003). Today's human-ecosystem interactions are overwhelmingly complex, reducing management agencies and policy solutions to ineffective, short-term interventions. The urban- "wildland" interface (UWI) of the Los Angeles basin is the focal research problem of this paper. A system of inquiry is proposed that focuses management efforts on strongly coupled human-landscape interactions and the emergent behaviors that result. This system of inquiry serves as the conceptual framework for a computer model used to examine the dynamic behavior of the urban-wildland boundary.
Current management strategy calls for the suppression of regular fires to minimize the loss of lives and property. However, this management strategy disrupts the natural dissipative processes that stabilize the urban-wildland boundary and creates delayed feedbacks. Management must recognize coupling between system components that may not be apparent in the short term but dominate system behavior on longer time scales. The accumulation of energy (fuel, development, suppression force, etc.) may lead to catastrophic events in the form of large fires and/or landslides. The perceived system behavior is a filtering-out of small, frequent fires on short time scales, and the emergence of catastrophic fire events on longer time scales.
The proposed system of inquiry can be used to focus management solutions on the emergent, synergistic interactions that are driving human-landscape problems. It is a tool that can enable stakeholders to properly manage the coupled interactions between society and the surrounding landscape on multiple time scales.


Background

Does newborn screening for cystic fibrosis (CF) improve clinical outcomes, quality of life and survival?

Objectives

To examine whether newborn screening for CF prevents or reduces irreversible organ damage and improves clinical outcomes, quality of life and survival in people with CF without unacceptable adverse effects.

Search strategy

We searched the Cochrane Cystic Fibrosis and Genetic Disorders Group Trials Register comprising references identified from electronic database searches, handsearches of relevant journals and abstract books of conference proceedings.

The Group's Trials Register last searched: June 2008.

Selection criteria

Randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials, published and unpublished, comparing screening to clinical diagnosis in people with CF.

Data collection and analysis

Two authors independently assessed trial eligibility and quality and independently extracted data. Allocation concealment was unclear in both studies and sequence generation adequate in one.

Main results

Searches identified six trials. Two trials involving 1,124,483 neonates (210 with CF) with a maximum follow up of 17 years were eligible for inclusion. Varying study designs, outcomes reported and summary measures precluded calculation of pooled estimates and only data from one study were analysed. Severe malnutrition was less common among screened participants. Compared with screened participants, the odds ratio of weight below the tenth percentile was 4.12 (95% CI 1.64 to 10.38) and for height was 4.62 (95% CI 1.69 to 12.61) in the control group.

At age seven, 88% of screened participants and 75% of controls had lung function parameters within normal limits of at least 89% predicted. At diagnosis chest radiograph scores were significantly better among screened participants; 33% of screened versus 50% of control participants had Wisconsin chest X-ray (WCXR) scores over five (P = 0.097) and 24% of screened versus 45% of control participants had Brasfield chest X-ray (BCXR) scores under 21 (P = 0.042)). Over time, chest radiograph scores were worse in the screened group (WCXR P = 0.017 and BCXR P = 0.041). Results were no longer significant after adjustment for genotype, pancreatic status, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa-culture results. In screened participants colonisation with Pseudomonas aeruginosa occurred earlier. Estimates suggest diagnosis through screening is less expensive.

Authors' conclusions

Two randomised controlled trials assessing neonatal screening in CF were identified; data from one study were included. Nutritional benefits are apparent. Screening provides potential for better pulmonary outcomes, but confounding factors influenced long-term pulmonary prognosis of people with CF. Screening seems less expensive than traditional diagnosis.

Plain Language Summary

Screening newborn babies for cystic fibrosis

In people with cystic fibrosis lung disease and malnutrition occur very early in life. These complications are suited to early treatment. Newborn screening may therefore improve outcomes for people with cystic fibrosis. We aimed to find out whether newborn screening prevents or reduces organ damage and improves clinical outcomes in people with CF without unacceptable adverse effects. This review includes two trials with 1,124,483 babies (210 with cystic fibrosis). The trials compared newborn screening to clinical diagnosis. We were only able to analyse data from one of the trials. This trial showed that severe malnutrition was less common among screened babies. Screened babies had better chest radiograph scores at diagnosis, but these scores became worse over time. The screened babies become colonised with Pseudomonas aeruginosa earlier. Costs for screening were less than costs for traditional diagnosis.


Salt sequences form an integral part of many sedimentary basins worldwide. Many of these basins have experienced igneous activity either syn- or post-deposition of the salt sequences. Despite this, little work has so far been undertaken to understand magma-salt interactions within the subsurface, and how aspects such as salt halokinesis may be influenced by igneous activity. Within this paper, we detail the first direct description of relationships and textures that are developed during intrusive igneous-salt interaction. We show that salt composition appears to play a dominant role in controlling where igneous intrusions invade laterally through salt sequences in a sedimentary basin. In particular, we illustrate that hydrous salts, such as carnallite, act as preferential horizons for lateral magma intrusion. This lithological control appears primarily related to the heating and subsequent dehydration reaction of carnallite, which causes the carnallite to behave as viscous fluidal horizons, resulting in the non-brittle emplacement of magma, and spectacular peperitic salt-magma mingling textures. We suggest that heating and transformation of carnallite and other hydrous salts into viscous fluidal horizons during igneous intrusion within a regional salt sequence may act as a possible trigger for contemporaneous halokinesis, by creating fluid-like viscous detachment layers. Over longer time scales, however, a solidified rigid boxwork of dikes and sills may create zones of increased mechanical strength that will locally inhibit further salt flow.


As environmental and commercial requirements for new fungicides are increasingly demanding, antifungal compounds of microbial origin attract tremendous interest as a starting point in the development of environmentally sound agricultural fungicides. As seen in fenpiclonil, fludioxonil and synthetic derivatives of the strobilurins such as azoxystrobin and krexosim-methyl, this approach for the development of microbial fungicides has proven to be a promising and effective strategy for developing new fungicides. As a result, microbial metabolites face a revival as lead compounds. Recently, numerous antifungal compounds were discovered from diverse microbial sources using traditional activity-based screening techniques. These microbial compounds showed potent control efficacy against various plant diseases, including chronic diseases which are difficult to control with conventional synthetic fungicides. Advances in screening systems directed to specific targets of fungal metabolism have increased the opportunities to discover novel antifungal agents with selectivity over non-target organisms. Microbial metabolites have also been exploited as a source for non-fungicidal disease control agents that do not inhibit vegetative hyphal growth, but rather interfere specifically with the infection process of pathogenic fungi. The specificity of microbial fungicides is a highly preferred characteristic in terms of impacting the environment, where it is closely related to the occurrence of fungicide resistance. The most recently developed fungicides from microbial metabolites, the strobilurins, provide a cue for the high risk of resistance development of site-specific fungicides.


Over the last two decades a new approach to consulting has been established that is referred to as "systemic consulting". This approach to consulting seems to exist almost exclusively within the German-speaking consulting. Systemic consulting is a clearly differentiated approach that has long occupied a rather insignificant niche in the consulting market. In contrast to traditional approaches, systemic consultants emphasize the self-referential logic of the client, acknowledging the limits of any attempts at direct intervention. In line with this position, consultants believe that their role is not to support clients to find solutions to their problems, but rather to cause perturbations in the clients' internal processes in order to break up their pathological structures. While this approach has received a lot of attention in the German-speaking countries, particularly among academics, it is almost unknown elsewhere. The chapter examines this systemic approach, drawing out its strengths and limitations. For this purpose, its two central theoretical roots are highlighted: the family therapy of the so-called "Milan school" and the theory of social systems developed by the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. The chapter is structured in four sections. The first two sections present the two central pillars of the systemic approach. The third section examines the systemic consulting approach and the last section of the chapter discusses its strengths and limitations.


Abstract. In spite of the quite abundant literature focusing on fine debris deposition over glacier accumulation areas, less attention has been paid to the glacier melting surface. Accordingly, we proposed a novel method based on semi-automatic image analysis to estimate ice albedo from fine debris coverage (d). Our procedure was tested on the surface of a wide Alpine valley glacier (the Forni Glacier, Italy), in summer 2011, 2012 and 2013, acquiring parallel data sets of in situ measurements of ice albedo and high-resolution surface images. Analysis of 51 images yielded d values ranging from 0.01 to 0.63 and albedo was found to vary from 0.06 to 0.32. The estimated d values are in a linear relation with the natural logarithm of measured ice albedo (R  =  −0.84). The robustness of our approach in evaluating d was analyzed through five sensitivity tests, and we found that it is largely replicable. On the Forni Glacier, we also quantified a mean debris coverage rate (Cr) equal to 6 g m−2 per day during the ablation season of 2013, thus supporting previous studies that describe ongoing darkening phenomena at Alpine debris-free glaciers surface. In addition to debris coverage, we also considered the impact of water (both from melt and rainfall) as a factor that tunes albedo: meltwater occurs during the central hours of the day, decreasing the albedo due to its lower reflectivity; instead, rainfall causes a subsequent mean daily albedo increase slightly higher than 20 %, although it is short-lasting (from 1 to 4 days).


This report is a mid-term evaluation of a UN Environment-GEF project which
began in 2013 and had an intended completion plan for 2017. The project's overall
development goal was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote energy efficient
technologies and practices in appliances and buildings in five Caribbean countries
(Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines). In
light of substantial delays in project implementation, reflected in low project expenditure,
the evaluation sought to assess the reasons behind the project's slow implementation
and to assess its performance to-date. The evaluation has two primary purposes: (i) to
provide evidence of results to meet accountability requirements, and (ii) to promote
learning, feedback, and knowledge sharing that could be applied as the project moves
forward and used by UN Environment, the Executing Agency - Caribbean Community
Climate Change Centre, national ministry representatives from the project participating
countries and the GEF.


Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a common condition with high mortality when ruptured. Most clinicians agree that small AAAs are best managed by ultrasonographic surveillance. However, it has been stated in recent reviews that a serum/plasma biomarker that predicts AAA rupture risk would be a powerful tool in stratifying patients with small AAAs. Identification of such circulating biomarkers with traditional hypothesis driven studies has been unsuccessful. In this review we summarize six studies using different proteomic approaches to find new, potential plasma AAA biomarker candidates. In conclusion, by using proteomic approaches novel potential plasma biomarkers for AAA have been identified.


This article presents a study on a commission competition with a list of imperative requirements and its implementation. The competition opened in January 2012, but had to be interrupted prematurely and prior to a jury assessment process. The aim has been to develop knowledge about an alternative type of architecture competition oriented towards building construction companies in close collaboration with architects. The overall research question has been to understand the motives for this choice of competition organization and its applicability to the issue of innovating housing for the senior group of citizens. The study has used case study methodology that has included document review (close reading) and an interview guide with questions on the background of the competition, development of the invitation to participate, the assessment process of the applicants to participate, the selection of companies, and the reasons for the interruption of the competition. Given the alternative form of the competition, the process was subject to confidentiality. Despite access was given to secret information that arouse from the process, the extent of the study has restricted. Therefore, the five participating teams for architects and building contractors have not been possible to interview, nor an access to the submitted entries in the competition. The sample of informants consists of three persons who were involved in the decision-making process of this competition. The invitation to a commission competition was developed during a negotiation process within the organizing body, a principal local municipal real estate company and four other similar partners from other municipalities in close collaboration with a local association for senior housing. This consortium initiated discussions with the Swedish Institute of Assistive Technology (SIAT) and the Swedish Association of Public Housing Companies (SABO). In addition, a team consisting of an architect, a legal expertise and representatives from the building sector acted as advisors to the consortium. The ambition with the competition was to promote cost efficiency with new thinking in design. In this case, the commission competition and its assessment procedure developed in a technical orientation. The selection process of candidates for participating in the competition was based on a numeric value system that was attributed different imperative requirements. However, the invitation only attracted a sparse interest from six teams of architects and building contractors. All of these candidates were approved and were invited. In this aspect, the organizer had to simplify the selection process since the estimate on interested partners reached 10. However, none of the candidates were assessed as fully competent in relation to the imperative requirements, and, therefore, the competition was interrupted prematurely, and prior to the jury assessment process. The main conclusion from this study is that, in this case, the commission competition has been planned and managed from a rational perspective that has amputated both the force of competing in architecture. The selection committee represents an expert model. The respond from the building sector can be seen a disappointment.


The report has analysed the status of rural electrification using renewable energy technologies (RETs) and the current subsidy delivery modality of RETs in Nepal. As the Government of Nepal is subsidizing small scale renewable energy projects, it is important to evaluate and analyse the programme to make sure that a programme is running in an effective and efficient way while reaching the target group.

During the course of the research, primary information collected from the field has been compiled using appropriate tools/software (such as MS Office) and analyzed. Different sets of questionnaires were prepared, targeting different personnel ranging from the users' level to the government policy level. The field survey methods include field observations of RETs installations and operations along with interviews with selected users on a random sampling basis to identify barriers to subsidy delivery and possible measures to overcome these barriers; to determine user satisfaction level and time period for subsidy delivery mechanisms.

The report started with the country background information and the rationale behind the study. This is followed by the literature review and information on the current status of small scale RETs in the country. Next it deals with the organizational structure and current subsidy delivery modality of RETs in the country. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the subsidy with the current subsidy delivery modality has been analyzed based on six parameters; Targets and Achievements, Impact of RETs, Subsidy Delivery System Efficiency, Transparency, Sustainability and Effectiveness.

The research shows that the subsidized government program has been successful in achieving its goal to provide basic energy services in rural areas through RETs in terms of its quantitative target. Although the subsidized program is successful in electrifying the rural communities via RETs, the poorest of the poor families are still excluded from the subsidy. The program seems to benefit more the rich and upper middle class families rather than the poor families for which the subsidy was intended. The high capital cost and long subsidy delivery process are the main important reasons for this failure. The author has proposed a new modality which might overcome the time barriers and bureaucratic process in the subsidy delivery mechanism and will decrease the lead time. This will in turn help to reduce the operational cost of the private companies and will encourage more players to enter the market, increase competition and result in lower system costs.

After identifying gaps in the current subsidy delivery modality, the project report ends with the recommendation of a new modality improving the current modality and filling the gaps identified. As this study has some limitations, as described in chapter one, the scope of further works has been listed at the end.


Automatic analysis of fetal echocardiography screening images could aid in the identification of congenital heart diseases. The first step towards automatic fetal echocardiography analysis is locating the fetal heart in an image and identifying the viewing (imaging) plane. This is highly challenging since the fetal heart is small with relatively indistinct anatomical structural appearance. This is further compounded by the presence of artefacts in ultrasound images. Herein we provide a state-of-art solution for detecting the fetal heart and classifying each individual frame as belonging to one of the standard viewing planes using fully convolutional neural networks (FCNs). Our FCN model achieves a classification error rate of 23.48% on real-world clinical ultrasound data. We also present comparative performance for analysis of different FCN architectures.


A 14×16 km diameter collapse caldera has been recognized 10 km south of Guatemala City, Guatemala. The caldera is north of the presently active volcano Pacaya and west of Agua, a large stratovolcano. The caldera was not previously recognized because its eastern and western margins coincide with faults that outline the Guatemala City graben and because the northern margin of the caldera is buried by pyroclastic rocks. The existence of the northern caldera margin is now established by gravity data and a variety of geological observations including circumferential faults, hot springs, well-log data, and lithological changes in sedimentary rocks. A sequence of nine silicic pyroclastic deposits, totaling a volume of more than 70 km 3 dense rock were erupted from the caldera. The ages of these eruptions are mainly between about 300,000 years B.P. to less than 23,000 years B.P. The rocks erupted at the caldera and its associated vents consist of domes and nonwelded pyroclastic flow, surge, and fall deposits, mainly of rhyolitic to dacitic composition. Successive pyroclastic eruptions have generally become smaller in volume and more silicic with time. Major and minor element chemistry distinguish Amatitlan pyroclastics from those of other nearby calderas. The caldera lies at the intersection of an offset of the volcanic chain (the Palin Shear) and the faults along the volcanic front (Jalpatagua fault zone). The caldera has a heavily faulted resurgent dome crosscut by an impressive longitudinal graben. The graben's alignment with the Jalpatagua fault zone suggests a genetic relationship. The longitudinal graben and resurgent dome are morphologically youthful and are the sites of many young silicic vents. Available seismic data show a heavy concentration of epicenters over the northern part of the resurgent dome, near a young silicic intrusion. The caldera is active and will probably erupt again. Over 1 million people live within 20 km and would be threatened in the event of a moderate eruption. Suggestions for future research focus on hazard assessment and forecasting


Background:
Limbic encephalitis associated with leucine-rich glioma inactivated 1 (LGI1) antibodies can initially have either neurological or psychiatric manifestation.
Subject and methods:
The paper describes a case of a 14-year old girl with LGI1 antibodiesassociated limbic encephalitis with initial symptoms suggesting psychotic disturbances.
Results:
The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head was normal and the electroencephalography (EEG) presented low voltage with inter-hemispheric asymmetry and paroxysmal series of delta and theta waves. Blood antibody tests detected the presence of the LGI1 antibodies. Apart from psychotic symptoms, the patient also presented epileptic seizures, instability of the autonomous nervous system, dysphagia and catatonia. Initial treatment with antipsychotics resulted in the neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). Significant improvement of the patient's condition appeared upon the administration of immunoglobulins and methylprednisolone.
Conclusions:
Diagnosis and treatment of the limbic encephalitis in the young patient may be difficult due to a variety of reasons. A determination of anti-LGI1 antibodies also in adolescents presenting psychotic symptoms may be considered.


BACKGROUND
The loss of one or more teeth has always been a reason for bone resorption and it can lead to a condition of "alveolar atrophy" that could make implant rehabilitation difficult.

PURPOSE
The aim of this prospective study was to observe crestal bone loss and implant success of short implants with oxidized surfaces in patients with partially edentulous jaws after a 3- to 5-year follow-up.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty-six patients with single or partial edentulism were treated consecutively from 2006 to 2008 using 107 short implants with oxidized surfaces, which were restored with a single crown or a partial fixed denture. Clinical and radiographic examinations were scheduled after functional loading of implants according to a well-established protocol generally applied to determine implant success rates and crestal bone levels. Statistical analysis was used to determine significant differences or correlations between variables (p = .05).

RESULTS
After a 3- to 5-year follow-up, 44 patients with 102 implants were still followed up according to previously established study protocol, because two patients with five implants dropped out. Ninety-eight out of 102 implants are still functioning: four implants have been lost, with a survival rate of 96.1%. Moreover, a total of seven implants failed to meet the success criteria, resulting in a success rate of 93.1%. The mean bone loss was 0.9 ± 0.6 mm.

CONCLUSIONS
Many authors had recently demonstrated the predictability of short implants in different clinical conditions after a short-term follow-up. After 3 to 5 years of functional loading, short implants used to restore posterior teeth seems to be a viable solution in order to simplify and shorten the treatment of patients with partial edentulous jaws. Long-term follow-up is recommended to definitively establish the predictability and efficiency of this kind of implant-supported rehabilitation.


1. Washed buffy-coat preparations of human blood suspended in different media were exposed to the Nitroblue Tetrazolium (NBT) and the mechanism of entry of the dye into neutrophil polymorphonuclear leucocytes was investigated. 2. Stimulation of neutrophils with endotoxin and the presence of heparin and/or fibrinogen in the suspending medium were necessary for dye reduction. 3. NBT complexed with and precipitated heparin and/or fibrinogen from solution. The percentage of cells reducing the dye and the degree of precipitation of fibrinogen and heparin depended on the concentration of dye; the critical concentration of NBT necessary for each effect was the same. 4. Electron microscopy of stimulated neutrophils revealed the presence of amorphous material, which was probably complexed NBT, outside the cell, in the process of endocytosis and within membrane-bound vacuoles within the cytoplasm. 5. Neither complement nor immunoglobulins were obligatory for dye reduction in this system. 6. It is suggested that NBT only enters neutrophils in quantities visible by light microscopy, after stimulation which produces phagocytosis of a macromolecular complex of the dye and heparin and/or fibrinogen.


Schulze voting is a recently introduced voting system enjoying unusual popularity and a high degree of real-world use, with users including the Wikimedia foundation, several branches of the Pirate Party, and MTV. It is a Condorcet voting system that determines the winners of an election using information about paths in a graph representation of the election. We resolve the complexity of many electoral control cases for Schulze voting. We find that it falls short of the best known voting systems in terms of control resistance, demonstrating vulnerabilities of concern to some prospective users of the system.


In this revised and expanded second edition of Durham County , Jean Bradley Anderson extends her sweeping history of Durham from the seventeenth century to the end of the twentieth. Moving beyond traditional local histories, which tend to focus on powerful families, Anderson integrates the stories of well-known figures with those of ordinary men and women, blacks and whites, to create a complex and fascinating portrait of Durham's economic, political, social, and labor history. Drawing on extensive primary research, she examines the origins of the town of Durham and recounts the growth of communities around mills, stores, taverns, and churches in the century before the rise of tobacco manufacturing. A historical narrative encompassing the coming of the railroad; the connection between the Civil War and the rise of the tobacco industry; the Confederate surrender at Bennett Place; the relocation of Trinity College to Durham and, later, its renaming as Duke University; and the growth of health-service and high-technology industries in the decades after the development of Research Triangle Park, this second edition of Durham County is a remarkably comprehensive work.


Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is one of the key data series used by the Reserve Bank to inform monetary policy decisions. The measures of GDP, published by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ), are estimates rather than exact figures and may be revised in subsequent releases. Analysis of the most recent measures of GDP should incorporate the extent of uncertainty that surrounds these estimates. To enable a more detailed examination of revision patterns, the Reserve Bank has constructed a real-time database containing each quarterly release of Expenditure GDP (GDP(E)) and its components. The database is available to users on the Reserve Bank's website and will be regularly updated. This article provides an introduction to the database and, by way of example, presents a basic analysis of the revisions made to GDP(E) and its components.


The recent proliferation of multi-detector row computed tomography (CT) has led to an increase in the creation and interpretation of images in planes other than the traditional axial plane. Powerful three-dimensional (3D) applications improve the utility of detailed CT data but also create confusion among radiologists, technologists, and referring clinicians when trying to describe a particular method or type of image. Designing examination protocols that optimize data quality and radiation dose to the patient requires familiarity with the concepts of beam collimation and section collimation as they apply to multi-detector row CT. A basic understanding of the time-limited nature of projection data and the need for thin-section axial reconstruction for 3D applications is necessary to use the available data effectively in clinical practice. The axial reconstruction data can be used to create nonaxial two-dimensional images by means of multiplanar reformation. Multiplanar images can be thickened into slabs with projectional techniques such as average, maximum, and minimum intensity projection; ray sum; and volume rendering. By assigning a full spectrum of opacity values and applying color to the tissue classification system, volume rendering provides a robust and versatile data set for advanced imaging applications.


We observe experimentally that ensembles of quantum dots in three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals reveal strongly nonexponential time-resolved emission. These complex emission decay curves are analyzed with a continuous distribution of decay rates. The log-normal distribution describes the decays well for all studied lattice parameters. The distribution width is identified with variations of the radiative emission rates of quantum dots with various positions and dipole orientations in the unit cell. We find a striking sixfold change of the width of the distribution by varying the lattice parameter. This interpretation qualitatively agrees with the calculations of the 3D projected local density of states. We therefore conclude that fluorescence decay of ensembles of quantum dots is highly nonexponential to an extent that is controlled by photonic crystals.


Extracted from text ... Management Today October 2005 61
Coaching: an internal
leadership evaluation
Bill Price is CEO of the VIP Leadership
and Strategic Coaching Institute, a life
coach and strategist. He may be reached
at firstname.lastname@example.com or on telephone
(011) 918 2464.
O
Leaders tend to focus on
measuring the individual,
organisational
development as well as
the strategic and tactical
changes that are taking
place. The sense of purpose
together with the
values and mission of the
company are aligned to
this evaluation process.
It is almost like transformational
learning taking
place.
Over the years while coaching and mentoring
leaders the one ..


Abstract. With the rapid development of 3D technology currently, in particular, on the context of building smart cities, a number of novel 3D geo-visualizations have been advanced, such as immersive maps, panoramic location-based service, and augmented reality systems. These visualizations refer to not only the technological aspects but also the user's abilities to cognize and make used of presented information(Herman et al., 2018, Šašinka et al., 2018, Kubíček et al., 2019). Note the existing researches usually concentrate on the presentation parameters and the usability of consequential visualizations in actual tasks(Lokka and Coltekin, 2016, Roth et al., 2017, Lokka and Coltekin, 2019). The influence of user factors on 3D spatial perception which is essential for 3D geo-visualization applications still remains unclear.In our study, we explored the user differences of spatial perception in 3D geo-visualization in contrast to that in real scene. The research questions were specified as follows: (1) How does the user factors, i.e. gender, age, academic background, mental rotation ability, and abstract reasoning ability, influence the user performance in spatial tasks related to distance perception, height perception, and environmental perception(Siegel and White, 1975)? (2) Is the user perception ability in 3D geo-visualization consistent with that in real scene?This study is an exploratory research. Series of experiments were designed based on questionnaire survey, mental mapping and eye-tracking techniques. On the one hand, a questionnaire, a Mental Rotation Test (MRT) and an Abstract Reasoning Test (ART) were conducted to figure out the user profiles, namely the personal information of the participants. On the other hand, a list of spatial tasks were instructed both in a 3D geo-visualization and in a real scene. During the procedure, participants were requested to answer several questions, in addition, their eye movements were recorded using an eye tracker. The participants were also asked to draw a mental map with hands to recall the layout of scene and their travelling path. After all these experiments, the participants' spatial perception ability were assessed by calculating the accuracy and efficiency of their performance. Consequentially, the significance of participant differences were investigated through a set of quantitative analysis.The experimental process refers to three stages: Firstly the questionnaire including MRT and ART, secondly spatial performance in a virtual 3D scene, and thirdly comparative spatial performance in the real scene. For the stage of virtual 3D scene, an interactive 3D geo-visualization platform was developed, so that the users can freely switch the Line of Sight (LOS) and Angle of Field (AOF). For the stage of real scene, a real-world area which is isomorphic to the virtual 3D scene was designated as the test filed. Forty participants were recruited from three universities in Wuhan, China. According to our study, a few interesting results can be obtained:(1) In general, there are significant user differences in spatial perception with respect to the visual style, i.e. 3D geo-visualization and real scene. The participants expressed higher level of environmental perception in real scene thanin 3D geo-visualization (r_3d=4.333, r_real=4.001, Sig.=0.044). The participants provided mental maps of real scenein more details than that of the 3D geo-visualization. Meanwhile, they perform better way-finding behaviour with shorter distance moving and less corner turning in real scene.(2) By measuring the single influence of user characters, it is indicated that orientation idiom has significant effect onuser's mental rotation ability. The participants who use front-back-left-right as their orientation idioms trend tohave higher correct accuracy in MRT, while those using north-south-east-west as their orientation idiom seem tohave lower correct accuracy (r_fblr=19.64, r_nsew=12.46, Sig.=0.030, Independent-samples Mann-Whitney U Test).When we group participants with the spatial reference frameworks of self-centred reference, fixed reference andcoordinative reference(Byrne et al., 2007), it is easy to find that the type of spatial reference frameworks hasrelative significant effect on distance perception in 3D geo-visualization. Those participants using self-centredreference show the highest accuracy rate, while the ones using coordinative reference show relative lowestaccuracy rate(r_selfCent=22.42, r_fixed=15.47, r_coord=13.43, Sig.=0.056, Independent-samples Kruskal-Wallis Test). Nevertheless, other user factors, including academic background (students of cartography or non-cartography), age (from 21–24) and activity scope, show no significant influence on spatial perception in 3D geo-visualization as well as in real scene.(3) Looking into the combined influence of multiple factors, there is a significant interaction between gender andorientation idioms on the environmental perception in 3D geo-visualization environment, but neither of themshows a significant main effect (Sig._gender=0.817, Sig._oriIdio=0.423, Sig._combined=0.037). The female participantsusing north-south-east-west orientation idiom have higher level of environmental perception than those using front-back-left-right (Sig.=0.064), however, the male participants show no significant difference no matter whichorientation idiom they use.Spatial reference framework and orientation idiom have similar significant interaction on distance perception inreal scene, furthermore, the orientation idiom presents a relative significant main effect (Sig._spatialRef=0.882,Sig._oriIdio=0.071, Sig._combined=0.038). The participants who use self-centred reference and orientation idiom ofnorth-south-east-west have higher accuracy rate than the ones using self-centred reference and orientation idiom offront-back-left-right (Sig.=0.007).In addition, gender and spatial reference framework seem have relative significant interaction on distanceperception in 3D geo-visualization, and the spatial reference framework provides a main effect significantly(Sig._gender=0.223, Sig._spatialRef=0.019, Sig._combined=0.077).These experimental results provide a bright prospect to improve the 3D geo-visualizations to fit users' personalized charactoristics for certain spatial tasks. They will also be beneficial to the design of mixed 3D geo-visualization, e.g. immersive maps and augmented reality systems, that combines the advantages of visual 3D scene and real scene.


The successful development of visualization techniques for live cell imaging leads to the development of suitable software for the acquisition and processing of multidimensional image data. This report compares several possible approaches to image acquisition and processing in confocal in vivo microscopy and suggests new alternatives to the published methods. Special attention is paid to spinning disk systems based either on a classical Nipkow disk or on the microlens principle. This study shows how to optimize image acquisition process in live cell studies using camera binning feature and how to perform object tracking using a new fast image registration method based on the graph theory. Microsc. Res. Tech. 64:164–175, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Reading reference documentation is an important part of programming with application programming interfaces (APIs). Reference documentation complements the API by providing information not obvious from the API syntax. To improve the quality of reference documentation and the efficiency with which the relevant information it contains can be accessed, we must first understand its content. We report on a study of the nature and organization of knowledge contained in the reference documentation of the hundreds of APIs provided as a part of two major technology platforms: Java SDK 6 and .NET 4.0. Our study involved the development of a taxonomy of knowledge types based on grounded methods and independent empirical validation. Seventeen trained coders used the taxonomy to rate a total of 5,574 randomly sampled documentation units to assess the knowledge they contain. Our results provide a comprehensive perspective on the patterns of knowledge in API documentation: observations about the types of knowledge it contains and how this knowledge is distributed throughout the documentation. The taxonomy and patterns of knowledge we present in this paper can be used to help practitioners evaluate the content of their API documentation, better organize their documentation, and limit the amount of low-value content. They also provide a vocabulary that can help structure and facilitate discussions about the content of APIs.


Rapid growth in the field of management science in recent decades has resulted in a plethora of resources for leadership and management in the Church. How should ecclesiologists respond to this trend? This essay highlights the importance of a theologically-grounded approach to managing church organisations. In particular, it examines a foundational document in the Catholic tradition from the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, to draw implications for evaluating church organisations. Most studies on Lumen Gentium have focused on one or other aspect of its multiply-rich content. This analysis, however, on the recent 50th anniversary of the document's promulgation in November 1964, recaps its overall message through a triple hermeneutics of author, text and receiver and brings this message into dialogue with the modern-day challenge of managing church organisations. It will be proposed that the real fruitfulness of these organisations depends on the extent to which they manifest the Church's nature and mission as a sacrament of salvation for the world. The implications of this are then translated into a framework for evaluating church organisations.