Optimal Transport (OT) distances are now routinely used as loss functions in ML tasks. Yet, computing OT distances between arbitrary (i.e. not necessarily discrete) probability distributions remains an open problem. This paper introduces a new online estimator of entropy-regularized OT distances between two such arbitrary distributions. It uses streams of samples from both distributions to iteratively enrich a non-parametric representation of the transportation plan. Compared to the classic Sinkhorn algorithm, our method leverages new samples at each iteration, which enables a consistent estimation of the true regularized OT distance. We provide a theoretical analysis of the convergence of the online Sinkhorn algorithm, showing a nearly-O(1/n) asymptotic sample complexity for the iterate sequence. We validate our method on synthetic 1D to 10D data and on real 3D shape data.


Bankers owe their clients a general duty not to disclose information about their clients' affairs. But this duty is qualified: one exception is that the banker may be compelled by law to disclose such information (see AJ Itzikowitz & SF du Toit 'Banking and Currency' in: WA Joubert (founding editor) The Law of South Africa vol 2 pt 1 2 ed (2003) in par 345; see also WG Schulze 'Big Sister Is Watching You: Banking Confidentiality and Secrecy under Siege' (2001) 13 SA Merc LJ 601).
In this analysis, I will discuss duties on bankers imposed by the requirements of the Basel II Accord ('the Accord' or 'Basel II'). These requirements may compel South African bankers to disclose information about their clients' affairs, and so they add to the set of provisions that affect the bankers' general duty not to disclose such information.


Flowers are parts of the Thai cultures as they are used in religious ceremonies, used as ornamental or consumed as food. During the rainy season, numerous plant species give flowers and Thai people have learnt to utilise them as food ingredients in seasonal meals. This research investigated the nutritive composition of 11 edible flowers consumed in northern Thailand, namely Alpinia malaccensis, Borassus flabellifer, Cassia fistula, Dipterocarpus costatus, Dolichandrone serrulata, Gardenia jasminoides, Gymnema inodorum, Hapaline benthamiana, Peliosanthes teta, Sesbania grandiflora, and Tamarindus indica. The flowers were also examined for bioactive compounds and antioxidant potential. The results suggested that flowers were consumed either fresh, boiled or steam cooked. Their nutritive properties obtained were as follows; moisture contents (79.18-96.40%), crude proteins (0.83-3.83%), crude fibres (0.13-3.08%), ash (0.24-1.68%), carbohydrates (1.52-15.37%), crude lipids (0.16-1.77%), and food energy (13.81-73.07 kcal 100 g-1). The mineral elements contents were exceptional with potassium ranging from 101-657 mg 100 g-1, calcium from 27-218 mg 100 g-1, and sodium from 0.01-0.04 mg 100 g-1. These flowers also contained vitamin C (0.03-45.00 mg 100 g-1), polyphenols (0.14-16.81 mg GAE g-1 extract), and flavonoids (6.17-44.17 mg RE g-1 extract) with antioxidant potential as high as 87.85% by DPPH radical scavenging activity and 118.45 mg TEAC g-1 extract by ABTS radical scavenging activity. The results indicate that these edible flowers can contribute substantially to the nutritional requirement for good health and well-being when consumed in adequate amounts.


To accurately assess the gymnast suffered from in complete lumbar spinal cord injury with surface electromyography and isokinetic testing. A total of 200 gymnasts suffered from incomplete lumbar spinal cord injury and treated at our hospital were enrolled. These patients were divided into control group that subjected to routine rehabilitation training and research group that underwent routine rehabilitation training and isokinetic testing. The therapeutic efficacy (manual muscle test (MMT) of the knee muscles, isokinetic testing, surface electromyography test) of both groups were observed and compared. After 12 weeks of treatment, the hamstring peak torque/body weight, quadricepspeak torque/body weight, biceps femoris in tegratedelectromyography (IEMG), rectus femoris IEMG and quadriceps endurance of both groups were significantly improved compared with those before therapy (P < 0.05). Also, the improvement of the research group was markedly better than that of the control group (P < 0.05).Moreover, there was significant decrease in the mean power frequency (MPF) of biceps femoris and rectus femoris in research group, as compared with that of the control group (P < 0.05). Application of surface electromyography and isokinetic testing in the assessment of lower extremities muscle strength and endurance in
patients with incomplete lumbar spinal cord injury could produce more accurate results.


ABSTRACT In the summer of 1880, the British explorer Benjamin Leigh Smith made the first reconnaissance of the western reaches of Zemlya Frantsa-Iosifa [Franz Josef Land] in the specially built polar research vessel Eira. This was the first expedition to go ashore in the archipelago after its acknowledged discovery by Weyprecht and Payer in 1873. Combined with his brief reconnaissance in 1881 before Eira sank near Cape Flora, Leigh Smith added a total of 41 place names, 37 of which are still in use, to its geographic nomenclature during his two expeditions, 1880 (39 place names) and 1881–1882 (2). The 1880 names were a post-expedition collaboration, between Leigh Smith and Clements Markham, Secretary of the Royal Geographic Society (RGS). Leigh Smith provided the names of colleagues and scientists who had either been with him in 1880 or on one of his earlier expeditions to Svalbard, or those of favoured relatives, while Markham, along with Sir George Nares as an RGS peer reviewer, added the names of particularly influential individuals in geographical circles as well as a variety of museum curators who identified natural history collections returned by the expedition. Additionally, two place names are connected to the Dutch Willem Barents expedition of 1879.


A proportional gas-counter of about 21. volume, within a castle of 5 tons of zinc, enclosing in turn an anticoincidence shield, has been used to make radiocarbon assays of highly purified carbon dioxide at a pressure of 2 atm. A net contemporary count-rate of 27 counts per minute has been secured with a constant background rate of 25. The chief features of this apparatus and of the combustion technique are briefly indicated. The radiocarbon assays have been employed to provide age determinations from a series of peat samples secured from a dry peat-bog at Scaleby Moss, Cumberland. The whole peat sequence has been pollen-analyzed and each radiocarbon sample is very exactly referred to a major zone boundary in a zone sequence which extends from the Late-glacial period continuously through almost the whole of the Post-glacial period. The dates obtained have been based upon an estimated half-life for radiocarbon of 5568 ± 30 years. The errors of determination are of the order (1 S. D.) of ± 150 years. The results are satisfactorily self-consistent, contiguous samples have closely similar dates, and the whole series of dates follows the stratigraphical sequence. It is shown that at Scaleby Moss the Late-glacial/Post-glacial boundary was about 8300 B. C.; The Boreal/Atlantic boundary at about 5000 B. C., and the Sub-boreal/Sub-atlantic boundary at about 3000 B. C. The other zone datings conform with this sequence. This evidence goes some way to establish the synchroneity of the major zones on both sides of the North Sea and indicates the suitability of the method for resolving this type of Quaternary historical problem.


The fields of Behavioral Contextual Psychology have produced important educational and behavioral applications, which are rarely used, in a comprehensive, integrated form. Yet these newer methods that include derived relational responding and innovative third wave approaches could produce enhanced effects if combined and applied within the behavioral analytic theoretical framework Empirical Research in this field has accelerated over the last two decades, paving the way for many seminal clinical and educational applications, including some of the most currently well-known psychological intervention approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy--FAP (Callaghan et al. 2004; Kohlenberg & Tsai, 1991; Tsai et al. 2009) Mounting evidence of adolescents' emotional problems, especially anxiety, led TICE center researchers (Tecnologie Individualizzate per le competenze dell'eta evolutiva--Individualized Tecnology for Developmental Skills), to examine new ways of helping adolescents with these ever more frequently reported issues in the learning center context. The researchers at TICE have begun to integrate recently developed FAP principles with more traditional behavioral analysis strategies to create more targeted interventions for assisting preadolescents and adolescents. FUNCTIONAL ANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY FAP is a radical behavioral psychotherapy approach based on validated principles of behavior change, though. FAP itself is still being studied with respect to its clinical efficacy. The putative mechanism of change is contingent responding of the therapist to clinical problems and improvements, and some research on the topic has been conducted (e.g., Tsai, Kohlenberg, Kanter, and Waltz, 2009). FAP examines the therapist's direct effect on individual behavior, which must then extend into the individual's daily life through a process of promoting new derived relational responding (DRR). The approach is therefore not based on conventional generalization processes requiring a long-term instructional phase to cover a significant portion of many potential daily life situations (Hayes, Strosahl & Wilson, 1999). In principle, FAP may be readily integrated into other therapeutic approaches, such as ACT, which also shares the same pragmatic perspective and overlaps with many of its theoretical foundations. FAP uses the therapeutic relationship as a context for the advanced implementation of rigorously operationalized reinforcement strategies but also possesses concurrent and ecological validity. Although based on experimental evidence, FAP is a highly individualized, idiographic approach. One of its more innovative as well as pragmatic aspect is Tsai et al.'s (Tsai, Kohlemberg, Kanter, Kohlenberg, et al., 2009) classification distinguishing between behaviors that are directly modifiable during intervention sessions--"clinically relevant behaviors" (CRBs)--and their functional equivalents enacted in the natural environment--i.e., "outside sessions" (OS) behaviors. Intervention based on FAP principles with preadolescence and adolescence allows therapists to apply rigorous scientific principles and work within the well-defined area of behavior analysis. Intervention is therefore aimed at socially significant and observable behavioral change, by giving due consideration, however, to the fundamental relationships of preadolescents with peers. Operationalizing a therapeutic relationship that is technically based on the spontaneous and deliberate use of reinforcement strategies, makes it possible for therapists to influence these individuals' behaviors, thereby helping them broaden their social repertoires. The process leads to more flexible behavior through application of multiple source of social reinforcement, multiple topographies and different situations. This type of analysis, based on the application of functional analysis (Follette & Bonow, 2009) has demonstrated marked clinical efficacy, although the account for the positive effects is not simple. …


Prof. Jose Carlos Franco Santos Silva has been awarded the ISSIS recognition for his scientific achievements and significant contributions in the science of scale insects on July, 2016 in the city of Catania, Sicily. Jose was recognized for his important studies on mealybug and their natural enemies. Jose was born in 1960 in Sacavem, Loures (northeast of Lisbon), Portugal. His entire career has been at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia. This famous institute, located in Tapada da Ajuda, in the heart of Lisbon, has roots since 1852, when the Instituto Agricola e Escola Regional de Lisboa was established. Jose began his studies in the Instituto Superior de Agronomia in 1982and received his undergraduate degree in 1985. In 1988 he completed his MSc in Plant Production. Jose spent his PhD years as an assistant in the Department of Plant Protection and later in Plant Ecology. His PhD research was devoted to study of mealybug ecology in citrus groves under the supervision Prof. Pedro Amaro. Since 1999 Jose is Professor of Entomology and Plant Protection at the High Institute of Agronomy of the University of Lisbon, and serves also as researcher at Centro de Estudos Florestais. Jose 's scope of interest is wide, covering several lines of studies, however, the center of his scientific activity is empirical research focusing on biology and behavior of scale insects, their natural enemies and associates. He is an expert and leader in both IPM and habitat management. Indeed, his research is the state of the art in these disciplines. Jose is involved in extensive international activity as well as being, the chief editor of the journal Phytoparasitica. Jose's favorite models are citrus orchards and vineyards. Jose is also a pioneer in the integration of semiochemicals and biological control tactics in scale insect management. Jose explores new sampling methods of insect populations, and performs basic research in reproductive biology of mealybugs, host- parasitoid interactions, and in the searching behavior of natural enemies of mealybugs. Jose has published some 40 reviewed papers, most of them contribute to the science of scale insects. Jose collaborates with scientist in many countries. This is reflected in his numerous research partners and by his vigorous activities as an organizer of scientific workshops and congresses. Jose's research interests includevarious pests of fruit trees and vineyards. His great passion for mealybugs always leads him to discover something new about scale insects. Among his major achievements is the understanding of the role of mealybug sex pheromone in the sexual behavior of the male, the various kairomonal responses of their parasitoids, and the function of mealybug defense system against parasitoids. Jose is a gifted teacher. He has supervised over 40 MSc and PhD students. He loves learning, teaching, and is beloved by his students, earning their appreciation as well as their affection. At the same time Jose continueshis collaboration with growers who feel the same about him and his contribution to pest management in general and scale insect in particular. Jose is among the active members of ISSIS who are the lifeblood of these symposia.


Intelligent Chatbot is a project that explores what can be accomplished with AI agents in the world we live in today. Alan Turing (1912-1954), known as the father of modern computing, developed the idea of artificial intelligence. Perhaps most famously known for breaking the Enigma code used by the Germans in WWII, which was widely regarded as unbreakable, he lay the foundations for the development of computer science explored what is possible using electronic computers and artificial intelligence. In his 1950 paper on Computing Machinery and Intelligence, he asks the question; "Can machines think?". He created a test, with the fitting name of the Turing test, whereby a machine is tested on its ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. Throughout the paper he delves deeper into this idea and I came across an interesting quote. To quote directly from Turing, "I believe that in about fifty years' time it will be possible to programme computers, with a storage capacity of about 109 , to make them play the imitation game so well that an average interrogator will not have more than 70 per cent chance of making the right identification after five minutes of questioning."[Turing, 1950].

He wasn't too far off. In June 2014, a computer program called Eugene, which simulated a 13 year old Ukrainian boy was said to have successfully passed the Turing test at an event held at Reading University's School of Systems Engineering. Some artificial intelligence experts refuse to recognize this as a legitimate victory but it is interesting to note how close Turing's prediction was.[BBC tech, 2014]

Messaging applications are the #1 most used applications in the world at the moment and some businesses are already taking advantage of this and developing chatbots of their own to complement their social media presence. With messaging applications taking up the majority of a users time, it makes sense for businesses to capitalise on this. Bots are becoming smarter and faster and will soon become easier to use than a website or app. A recent inquiry into the area of chatbots indicated that 180 bot-related companies have attracted $24 billion in funding towards the development of AI driven bot applications. [Gatti, Venturebeat, 2017]

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was quoted saying "Bots are the new apps".[Cava, USA Today, 2016] With Microsoft set on exploring deeper into the world of chatbots and accelerating the innovation and sophistication of chatbots, I've found this project both interesting and exciting as I dived into Microsofts newest platform; Microsoft Bot Framework. With many companies already creating their own bots using the Bot Framework such as Ebay, Skyscanner, StubHub and Foursquare, I believe that in the next few years every major business will have a chatbot to deal with customers' basic queries and maybe even go as far as processing full orders. Chatbots have the potential to replace call centres, customers can get their queries answered simply by opening their favourite messaging platform and chatting with a bot.


While postmodern texts often challenge the expected conventions of illness narrative, BRCA memoirs offer a particular kind of intervention, especially through their representation of time. Recent memoirs by Masha Gessen (Blood Matters) and Sarah Gabriel (Eating Pomegranates) resist in complex ways the linearity of what Arthur W. Frank has called the "restitution narrative." Informed by repetition and the cyclical pattern of unfolding trauma, these memoirs present the lines between past and present, subject and kin as hauntingly blurred and indistinct.


By replacing common buffers with anisotropic liquids in microfluidics, an enhanced range of optofluidic functionalities is enabled. Such an anisotropic liquid is nematic liquid crystals (NLC), which exhibits optical properties that can be tuned by optical, electrical or mechanical fields, such as flow. We demonstrate an optofluidic modulator based on direct flow of nematic liquid crystals in microfluidic channels. We discuss this optofluidic paradigm both under steady state conditions, and under flow. Rapid pulsatile flows are detrimental towards more compact and ultra-fast devices. These were enabled via peristaltic pumps, demonstrating liquid crystal modulators operating above the limit of 3 kHz. We discuss the latter results, but also assess the feasibility of performing ultra-fast optics and additional functionalities for on- and off-chip imaging.


As of today, programming has never been so accessible. Yet, it remains a challenge for end-users: students, non-technical employees, experts in their domains outside of computer science, and so on. With its forecast potential for solving problems by only observing inputs and outputs, programming-by-example was supposed to alleviate complex tasks requiring programming for end-users. The initial ideas of macro-based editors paved the way to subsequent practical solutions, such as spreadsheet transformations from examples. Finding the right program is the core of the programming-by-example systems. However, users find it difficult to trust such generated programs. In this thesis, we contribute to proving that some forms of interaction alleviate, by having users provide examples, the problem of finding correct and reliable programs. We first report on two experiments that enable us to conjecture what kind of interaction brings benefits to programming-by-example. First, we present a new kind of game engine, Pong Designer. In this game engine, by using their finger, users program rules on the fly, by modifying the game state. We analyze its potential, and its eventual downsides that have probably prevented its wide adoption. Second, we present StriSynth, an interactive command-line tool that uses programming-by-example to transform string and collections. The resulting programs can also rename or otherwise manage files. We obtained the result that confirms that many users preferred StriSynth over usual programming languages, but would appreciate to have both. We then report on two new exciting experiments with verified results, using two forms of interaction truly benefiting programming-by-example. Third, on top of a programmingby- example-based engine for extracting structured data out of text files, in this thesis we study two interaction models implemented in a tool named FlashProg: a view of the program with notification about ambiguities, and the asking of clarification questions. In this thesis, we prove that these two interaction models enable users to perform tasks with less errors and to be more confident with the results. Last, for learning recursive tree-to-string functions (e.g., pretty-printers), in this thesis we prove that questioning breaks down the learning complexity from a cubic to a linear number of questions, in practice making programming-by-example even more accessible than regular programming. The implementation, named Prosy, could be easily added to integrated development environments.


A subset of natural killer cells suppresses the mother's immune system to protect the fetus. Mediating maternal-fetal tolerance Many cases of recurrent miscarriage are due to a breakdown in immune tolerance between the mother and the fetus. Determining the underlying mechanism may aid in the identification of biomarkers for recurrent miscarriage and suggest possible therapies. Li et al. found that the abundance of the type I membrane receptor Tim-3 was increased on the surface of peripheral natural killer (pNK) cells in the first trimester of pregnancy. These cells produced anti-inflammatory cytokines and induced the generation of immunosuppressive cells. In contrast to pNK cells from donors with normal pregnancies, those from recurrent miscarriage patients had decreased Tim-3 abundance and were defective in immunosuppression. Experiments with abortion-prone mice showed that Tim-3+ pNK cells, but not Tim-3− pNK cells, protected against fetal loss, suggesting that Tim-3+ pNK cells promote maternal-fetal immune tolerance. Pregnancy loss occurs in about 15% of clinically recognized pregnancies, and defective maternal-fetal immune tolerance contributes to more than 50% of these events. We found that signaling by the type I membrane protein T cell immunoglobulin and mucin-containing protein 3 (Tim-3) in natural killer (NK) cells had an essential protective role during early pregnancy. Tim-3 on peripheral NK (pNK) cells was transiently increased in abundance during the first trimester of pregnancy, which depended on interleukin-4 (IL-4)–signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) and progesterone signaling. Tim-3+ pNK cells displayed immunosuppressive activities, including the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines and the induction of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in a transforming growth factor–β1 (TGF-β1)–dependent manner. Tim-3 on pNK cells was stimulated by its ligand galectin-9 (Gal-9), leading to signaling by the kinases c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and AKT. In recurrent miscarriage (RM) patients, Tim-3 abundance on pNK cells was reduced and the immunosuppressive activity of Tim-3+ pNK cells was impaired. Compared to Tim-3+ pNK cells from donors with normal pregnancies, RM patient Tim-3+ pNK cells exhibited changes in DNA accessibility in certain genetic loci, which were reversed by inhibiting accessible chromatin reader proteins. Furthermore, Tim-3+ pNK cells, but not Tim-3− pNK cells, reduced fetal loss in abortion-prone and NK cell–deficient mice. Together, our findings reveal a critical role for Tim-3–Gal-9 signaling–mediated immunoregulation by pNK cells in maternal-fetal immune tolerance and suggest that Tim-3 abundance on pNK cells is a potential biomarker for RM diagnosis.


Songwriters often use lyrics to describe the current events and social attitudes of a particular period or people. An examination of America's popular songs-and the stories behind their creation-can help us better understand our history and culture. This chronologically organized volume provides the stories of 150 songs in 20th-century American history. Each chapter begins with an historical overview of how songs from the period reflected the political, social, and economic culture of the decade. A discussion of 15 influential songs from each decade provides the songs' histories, what inspired the writers to create them, and why they have resonated over time. Included are patriotic songs, such as The Yankee Doodle Boy and God Bless America, protest songs of the civil rights and women's rights movements, such as We Shall Overcome and I Am Woman, songs that defined musical genres, such as Heartbreak Hotel and Stayin' Alive, and contemporary, often controversial music like Eminem's Stan. Each song's entry includes the song title, songwriter(s), publication information, and current availability. A selected bibliography includes Web sites and books helpful for researching songs, songwriters, and events of the 20th century. Indexes are arranged alphabetically, by song title, by songwriter name, and by subject, making this an excellent research tool for students and general readers alike.


This article is concerned with the analysis of correlated count data. A class of models is proposed in which the correlation among the counts is represented by correlated latent effects. Special cases of the model are discussed and a tuned and efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm is developed to estimate the model under both multivariate normal and multivariate-t assumptions on the latent effects. The methods are illustrated with two real data examples of six and sixteen variate correlated counts.


The influence of intermittent pre-exposure upon subsequent dark adaptation was investigated for two intermittent conditions. In one condition the intensity was increased in the same proportion as the amount of light-time in the light-dark ratio was decreased, keeping duration constant. In the other, intensity was constant but the duration was extended to compensate for variations in light-time. Both conditions were compared with equivalent control pre-exposures to continuous light. The control intensities and durations were 140, 281, and 562 mL and 1 and 3 minutes. The rate of intermittence was 1 cycle/second, and four light-to-dark ratios were used. The curves of dark adaptation obtained after intermittent pre-exposures of constant duration but different intensities were almost identical with those after the equivalent control pre-exposure. This was not so for the intermittent pre-exposures of constant intensity but different durations; after the longer durations, dark adaptation was much slower than after the equivalent control condition.


We study the contribution of money to business cycle fluctuations in the US, the UK, Japan, and the Euro area using a small scale structural monetary business cycle model. Constrained likelihood-based estimates of the parameters are provided and time instabilities analyzed. Real balances are statistically important for output and inflation fluctuations. Their contribution changes over time. Models giving money no role provide a distorted representation of the sources of cyclical fluctuations, of the transmission of shocks and of the events of the last 40 years.


Average values are given of the night sky brightness observed with visual photometers in Brazil, Bikini, Maryland, and New York State, which covered latitudes from 17° south to 45° north. The measurements revealed no important variations with latitude. For clear air, no moon, and no aurorae the brightness decreased on the average from about 225 millimicrolamberts at 15° above the horizon to 130 at the zenith. Previous determinations of the height of the night sky luminosity by means of the observed curves of brightness against zenith angle have lead to conflicting results, values from 60 to more than 500 km being reported. When the determination was repeated with recent data and with the improved corrections of Piotrowski for atmospheric attenuation and scattering such discrepancies between theory and experiment appeared that no certain values of the height were obtained.


Humans possess an unusual combination of traits, including our cognition, life history, demographics and geographical distribution. Many theories propose that these traits have coevolved. Such hypotheses have been explored both theoretically and empirically, with experiments examining whether human behaviour meets theoretical expectations. However, theory must make assumptions about the human mind, creating a potentially problematic gap between models and reality. Here, we employ a series of 'experimental evolutionary simulations' to reduce this gap and to explore the coevolution of learning, memory and childhood. The approach combines aspects of theory and experiment by inserting human participants as agents within an evolutionary simulation. Across experiments, we find that human behaviour supports the coevolution of learning, memory and childhood, but that this is dampened by rapid environmental change. We conclude by discussing both the implications of these findings for theories of human evolution and the utility of experimental evolutionary simulations more generally. This article is part of the theme issue 'Life history and learning: how childhood, caregiving and old age shape cognition and culture in humans and other animals'.


America is known to be a place where there are opportunities to move in and out of social and economic classes. What about people that live in an area of concentrated poverty? Typically, residents of a neighborhood where 20 to 40 percent of the population lives at or below poverty face extreme barriers to these opportunities for a better life. Historically, government at the local, state and federal level have attempted to solve or at least assist these issues of distressed neighborhoods, particularly through what is known as community development. By having more local knowledge, municipal governments have first hand access to address concentrated poverty but since every situation unique, it is difficult to prescribe a one-fits-all solution to each individual area of concentrated poverty. Through a case study analysis of three areas of concentrated poverty in the Upstate of South Carolina including Greenville, Anderson and Spartanburg, this study investigates city government community development efforts and how it functions to address concentrated poverty. This research finds that there are similarities and differences in the dimensions and elements of the community development processes in the three cities resulting in three different outcomes.


We examine the cavity resonance tuning of high-Q silicon photonic crystal heterostructures by localized laser-assisted thermal oxidation using a 532 nm continuous wave laser focused to a 2.5 μm radius spot-size. The total shift is consistent with the parabolic rate law. A tuning range of up to 8.7 nm is achieved with ∼ 30 mW laser powers. Over this tuning range, the cavity Qs decreases from 3.2×10(5) to 1.2×10(5). Numerical simulations model the temperature distributions in the silicon photonic crystal membrane and the cavity resonance shift from oxidation.


Physiological, ecological and evolutionary studies of Scaptodrosophila hibisci have led to recognition of a second species in the Northern Territory (Australia) which is described here as Scaptodrosophila aclinata n.sp. The new species is readily distinguishable by reference to the first orbital: it is large and proclinate in S. hibisci and small and reclinate in S. aclinata. Scaptodrosophila hibisci has been collected from the flowers of five Hibiscus species in eastern Australia and S. aclinata uses eleven Hibiscus species in the Northern Territory. Only H. meraukensis is a host for both, and there is no evidence of narrow host-specialization. The distributions are apparently disjunct. The two species can be reared in the laboratory on cultured plants. Hybridization studies showed the two species to be partially interfertile; S. aclinata has delayed sexual maturation and extended copulation latency when compared to S. hibisci. This species pair is already the subject of various eco-physiological and reproductive-biological studies because of so many useful experimental attributes: they are interfertile and can be laboratory-cultured, their hosts and reproductive biology are known, they are abundant and easy to find, and research is underpinned by extensive genetic information already available for Drosophila.


In First Things Mary Jacobus combines close readings with theoretical concerns in an examination of the many forms taken by the mythic or phantasmic mother in literary, psychoanalytic and artistic representations. She carefully explores the ways in which the maternal imaginary informs both unconscious processes and signifying practices at all levels. Her fierce analysis of specific texts and paintings raises questions about the the symbolic and biological maternal body and how they relate to each other in literary and psychoanalytic terms. The invocation of writings by Kleist, Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley, Malthus and de Sade, along with analysis of French revolutionary iconography and Realist and Impressionist paintings by Eakins and Morisot, make this wide-ranging text a truly interdisciplinary study. First Things sees literary theory and psychoanalysis as mutually illuminating practices. The work of Freud, Klein, Kristeva and Bion shape an inquiry into such topics as population discourse, surrogate motherhood, AIDS, mastectomy and psychoanalysis itself. In addition, Jacobus elaborates on Freud's oedipal preconceptions, Klein's missing theory of signs, memory, melancholia, narcissism and maternal reverie.


In the present research, efforts were made to enhance protein content of muffins using non-conventional protein sources. In this context, wheat flour was enriched with varying levels (5, 10, 15, 20 and 25%) of sesame protein isolates (SPI). Flour blends were used to prepare protein enriched muffins that were further evaluated for chemical composition, gross energy, color & textural analysis, and sensorial appraisal. The results were quite conclusive that nutritional quality of the muffins was improved with addition of SPI. Moreover, color analysis showed decreasing trend for L* & b* value, chroma and hue angle, while increasing trend was noticed for a* value. Likewise, the texture profile of muffins showed that firmness increased while elasticity decreased with gradual increase in protein contents. Sensory evaluation showed that muffins containing 15% SPI were rated better by the trained panelists. Conclusively, owing to high nutritive value and balanced nutritional profile, the use of sesame protein isolates can be handy tool to improve the nutritional quality of wheat based bakery products. These protein enriched products i.e. muffins can also help to fulfill the nutritional requirements of masses especially in developing countries.


Power transmission (PT) projects are vital for the power sector. However, worldwide PT projects experience delay. There is an urgent need to understand the unique causes of delays in PT projects. This paper presents the first empirical study on causes of delays in PT projects via a comprehensive literature review. Based on this literature review, 63 potential delay factors are identified and divided into ten major groups. These include two new groups of delay attributes, comprising sector-specific factors (SSF) and general factors (GF), where SSF pertains solely to PT projects and GF contributes to minimizing the bias of project participants. A questionnaire survey of 311 PT stakeholders is conducted to determine the overall ranking of the delay factors using the relative importance index. The results indicate that SSF, GF, and external/unavoidable factors are the most critical groups of delay factors, with the top-ranked factors being right of way problems of transmission line (TL), frequent changes in TL routes, and accessibility to the TL tower locations. Finally, recommendations are made to help minimize time overruns in PT projects, as well as in other linear power and non-power construction projects in general.


The educational attainment of young women now exceeds that of young men in most of the developed world, and women account for about 60% of new four-year college graduates in the United States. Several studies have suggested that the increase in single-parent households may be contributing to the growing gender gap in education, as boys are more vulnerable to the negative effects of father absence and economic disadvantage than girls. Using data on recent cohorts of young men and women from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), I find evidence consistent with other studies that boys are relatively more likely to experience problems in school, including school suspensions, when their father is absent, but also that girls are relatively more likely to experience depression in adolescence, particularly in step-father families. By the time Add Health subjects are young adults, there is no evidence that father absence early in life is more strongly associated with lower rates of college graduation for men, compared to women, in either cross-sectional or family fixed-effect models.


Background: Early diagnosis of hypertension (HT) is an important strategy in its control. Previous studies have documented that hypertension may begin in adolescence, perhaps even in childhood. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of hypertension and risk factors among school going children in Surat city, south Gujarat, India. Materials and Methods: School going children aged between 6 to 18 years, of two schools were selected by purposive sampling method and blood pressure measurements were taken by mercury sphygmomanometer as per recommendation of American heart association. Hypertension is considered when blood pressure is more than 95th percentile according to update on task force report (2004) and children having hypertension in first and second recording repeat measurement was done to confirm hypertension after a week. Results: Total prevalence of hypertension in our study was 6.48%. Hypertension in males was 6.74% (<10 yrs 5.88%, 10-13yrs 6.04%, >13yrs 9.19%) and in females was 6.13% (<10yrs 0.62%, 10-13yrs 8.67%,.13yrs 8.48%). Prevalence of obesity in hypertension was 8.7% against normotensive 1.1% (P <0.05). Prevalence of hypertension in family members of hypertensive was 18.6% and in normotensive 13.1% (P =0.1). Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in family members of hypertensive was 23.4% and 13.7% in normotensive (P<0.05); while prevalence of ischemic heart disease in family members was 12.34% in hypertensive and 8.3% in normotensive (P <0.05). Conclusion: Prevalence of hypertension was 6.48% in the study subjects. We identified obesity, family history of diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease was found to be significant association for childhood hypertension.


Background & Aims: Sympathetic nervous system thorough α-2 adrenoceptors and insulin have principal roles in blood glucose regulation. On the other hand, vitamin B12 participates in sympathetic system and insulin functions. In this study, the effect of vitamin B12 on acute hyperglycemia induced by ketamine-xylazine was investigated. In order to clarify the possible mechanism of the effect of vitamin B12, we used yohimbine (an α2-adrenergic receptor antagonist) and insulin.
Materials & Methods: Sixty-six rats were divided into 11 experimental groups and were injected intraperitoneally with normal saline, vitamin B12, yohimbine and insulin 15 min. after acute hyperglycemia induction. Acute hyperglycemia was induced with intraperitoneal injection of a mixture of ketamine (100 mg/kg) and xylazine (10 mg/kg). The tail blood glucose levels were measured at 30, 60, and 120 min. after hyperglycemia induction. Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's test.
Results: Blood glucose levels were significantly (P<0.05) increased at 30, 60, and 120 minutes after ketamine-xylazine injection. Vitamin B12 (0.5 and 2 mg/kg), yohimbine (1 mg/kg) and insulin (2 IU/kg) decreased the acute hyperglycemia induced by ketamine-xylazine. Furthermore, co-administration of ineffective doses of vitamin B12 (0.125 mg/kg), yohimbine (0.5 mg/kg), and insulin (0.5 IU/kg) significantly reduced the hyperglycemia.
Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that vitamin B12, yohimbine and insulin decreased acute hyperglycemia. Synergistic effects were observed between vitamin B12 with yohimbine and insulin in reducing the hyperglycemia.
Keywords: Vitamin B12, Acute hyperglycemia, Ketamin-Xylazine, Yohimbine, Insulin, Rats


Deposit insurance is a key issue in bank regulation. A mismatch exists, especially in the European Economic Area, between the freedom of banks to operate across borders and the fact that deposit insurance operates on a national basis. EFTA Surveillance Authority v. Iceland examines the protection of overseas depositors in the event of a cross-border bank failure. In EFTA Surveillance Authority, the court examined a state's responsibility to ensure compensation to depositors and possible discrimination against foreign depositors. This Article reviews the paradoxical holding by the court in light of the facts and circumstances of the case. Further, the Article discusses the concerns raised in EFTA Surveillance Authority regarding the degree to which EFTA states can adopt national economic policy arguments to differentiate between domestic and foreign depositors.


Now you can overcome the vexing, real-life issues you confront when creating apps for the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. By making use of more than 100 new recipes in this updated cookbook, youll quickly learn the steps necessary for writing complete iOS apps, whether theyre as simple as a music player or feature a complex mix of animations, graphics, multimedia, a database, and iCloud storage. If youre comfortable with iOS SDK, this cookbook will teach you how to use hundreds of iOS techniques. Each recipe provides a clear solution with sample code that you can use right away.Use different approaches to construct a user interface Develop location-aware apps Get working examples for implementing gesture recognizers Play audio and video files and access the iPod library Retrieve contacts and groups from the Address Book Determine camera availability and access the Photo Library Create multitasking-aware apps Maintain persistent storage in your apps Use Event Kit to manage calendars and events Learn capabilities of the Core Graphics framework Access the accelerometer and gyroscope Take advantage of the iCloud service


Title of Document: THE DELIVERY OF IGF-1 FOR SKELETAL MUSCLE REGENERATION WITHIN ABDOMINAL WALL HERNIAS Erin Elizabeth Falco, Doctor of Philosophy, 2009 Directed By: Associate Professor, Dr. John P. Fisher, Fischell Department of Bioengineering At an ever increasing pace, synthetic biomaterials are being developed with specific functionalities for tissue engineering applications. These biomaterials possess properties including biocompatibility, mechanical strength, and degradation as well as functionalities such as specific cell adhesion and directed cell migration. However, synthetic polymers are often not completely biologically inert and may non-specifically react with the surrounding in vivo environment. An example of this reactivity is the release of acidic degradation products from hydrolytically degradable polymers based upon an ester moiety. These degradation products can lower the local pH and incite an inflammatory response as well as increase scaffold degradation rate. Therefore there has been a concerted effort in the research community to develop alternatives. In order to address this concern, a novel class of biomaterials based upon a cyclic acetal unit has been developed and investigated for both soft and hard tissue repair. This work specifically looks at a cyclic acetal biomaterial based on a 5-ethyl5-(hydroxymethyl)-β,β-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-2-ethanol diacrylate (EHD) monomer as a scaffold for abdominal wall hernia repair. Abdominal wall hernias are a growing concern for clinicians today as they occur in approximately 10% of all patients that undergo an abdominal procedure. Despite many advances in repair techniques, both wound healing and skeletal muscle regeneration is limited in many cases. This results in both a decrease in abdominal wall tissue function as well as a hernia recurrence rate of up to 50%. To address this high recurrence rate this project aims to create a functional gene delivery scaffold from the EH monomer. Scaffolds with different architectures were fabricated and skeletal muscle myoblast cell compatibility, material properties and protein and gene delivery rates were all investigated. THE DELIVERY OF IGF-1 FOR SKELETAL MUSCLE REGENERATION WITHIN ABDOMINAL WALL HERNIAS


The production and implementation of clinical practice guidelines is currently a high political priority and a rapidly developing field within healthcare in the United Kingdom (UK). Their purpose is to provide clinicians with a synthesis of the best available external evidence and operationalize the implementation of evidence-based practice. Despite indications that clinical guidelines can make a difference to the quality of patient care, there is some evidence that practitioners struggle with their application. The aim of this paper is to report one element of a trial undertaken by three collaborating universities in the Northern and Yorkshire Region of the UK health service during 1997-1998. The objective was to understand what makes guidelines acceptable and usable, or otherwise, to health professionals. The findings reported in this paper describe the process of care in those general practices that elected to implement guidelines for the management of patients with venous leg ulcers. We conclude that planning for training, resource and quality improvement processes must be built into a team's guidelines implementation procedures. A preliminary needs analysis of the contextual 'hurdles and levers' within each primary healthcare team is also necessary to identify individual issues that must be addressed if the process is to succeed. These findings provide some lessons for successful implementation of clinical guidelines in general. Recommendations for nursing policy makers, managers, practitioners and researchers are included.


In this paper, we present an optimization based method for path planning of a mobile robot subject to time bounded temporal constraints, in a dynamic environment. Temporal logic (TL) can address very complex task specification such as safety, coverage, motion sequencing etc. We use metric temporal logic (MTL) to encode the task specifications with timing constraints. We then translate the MTL formulae into mixed integer linear constraints and solve the associated optimization problem using a mixed integer linear program solver. This approach is different from the automata based methods which generate a finite abstraction of the environment and dynamics, and use an automata theoretic approach to formally generate a path that satisfies the TL specifications. We have applied our approach on several case studies in complex dynamical environments subjected to timed temporal specifications.


In this paper, we propose the coarse-to-fine optimization for the task of speech enhancement. Cosine similarity loss [1] has proven to be an effective metric to measure similarity of speech signals. However, due to the large variance of the enhanced speech with even the same cosine similarity loss in high dimensional space, a deep neural network learnt with this loss might not be able to predict enhanced speech with good quality. Our coarse-to-fine strategy optimizes the cosine similarity loss for different granularities so that more constraints are added to the prediction from high dimension to relatively low dimension. In this way, the enhanced speech will better resemble the clean speech. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our proposed coarse-to-fine optimization in both discriminative models and generative models. Moreover, we apply the coarse-to-fine strategy to the adversarial loss in generative adversarial network (GAN) and propose dynamic perceptual loss, which dynamically computes the adversarial loss from coarse resolution to fine resolution. Dynamic perceptual loss further improves the accuracy and achieves state-of-the-art results compared with other generative models.


This dissertation covers three empirical essays on the housing market. Although we limit ourselves to the housing market, the findings might be relevant for other sectors of the real estate market or any other market that is characterized by illiquidity, indivisibility of goods and a high level of heterogeneity between goods. Chapter two tests whether the empirical predictions from housing market models with asymmetric information are true. Specifically, we test whether the probability that a house will sell will decline with the time the house has already spent on the market, and the probability that a house will be withdrawn from the market will increase with the time the house has already spent on the market. Chapter three considers the role of the list price in the housing market. List prices would have no role in a housing market with symmetric information between sellers and buyers and the probability of a sale would not be affected by reductions in the list price. Based on this observation we test for the presence of asymmetric information between sellers and buyers in the housing market by testing whether reductions in the list price affect the probability of a sale. Chapter four investigates the well know price-volume correlation in the housing market. We estimate a Vector Error Correction Model on a rich set of variables. We compare our empirical results against the empirical predictions from a number of housing market theories. Taken together, this dissertation contributes to our understanding of the selling process in the housing market and the factors affecting the liquidity of the housing market.


Objective: To investigate the association of a 6-month Zumba intervention with cognition and quality of life among older cognitively unimpaired apolipoprotein ∊4 (APOE4) carrier and noncarrier women. Methods: Fifty-three women were randomly assigned to either twice-weekly Zumba group classes or maintenance of habitual exercise (control group) for 6 months. At baseline, 3, and 6 months, all participants underwent neuropsychological, physical activity, and quality-of-life assessments. Results: Overall, neuropsychological test scores and level of physical activity did not differ between intervention and control groups at any time. However, compared to the control group, quality of life was higher at 3 months, and visuospatial working memory and response inhibition improved more in the intervention group by 6 months. Apolipoprotein ∊4 status did not affect the results. Discussion: Zumba may strengthen performance on visuospatial working memory among cognitively unimpaired older women but this needs to be tested in a larger clinical trial.


The US Army Research Laboratory has a newly developed experimental setup consisting of a sensor array that allows for expedient and accurate measurement of projectile flight noise. This study examines the effects of projectile flight diameter on the peak sound pressure level (SPL) of the bullet in flight. Additionally an empirical model has been derived from the results of the experiments to aid in the prediction of flight noise given the diameter and Mach number of a projectile. The in-flight signature of projectiles is of particular importance when considering the impact of a weapons signature on the surrounding environment. Included in this research are 4 diameters of small caliber bullets of the same approximate non-dimensional shape. The projectile flight noise was characterized across multiple free stream Mach numbers between Mach 0.5 and Mach 3.0.


A fuzzy logic controller has been developed and simulated on an indirect vector
control of an induction motor (IVCIM) drive system. The objective of the indirect
vector control is to convert the three-phase induction motor into a linear device
where the torque and the flux in the motor can be controlled independently. The
induction motor is fed by a current-controlled PWM inverter. The proposed fuzzy
speed controller block in a vector controlled drive system observes the pattern of the
speed loop error signal and correspondingly updates its output, so that the actual
speed matches the command speed.
The design of the fuzzy controller starts with identifying the inputs, performing the
membership functions for the two inputs of the FLC and ends at manipulating the
final command signal to the current regulator which triggers the inverter.The fuzzy logic toolbox has been used to build the fuzzy inference system (FIS)
which is the dynamo of the fuzzy logic controller. The proposed FLC controller has
been designed to meet the speed tracking requirements under a step change in speed
and load changes.
The proposed FLC drive dynamic performance has been investigated and tested
under different operating conditions by simulation in the SimulinMMatlab software
environment. In order to prove the superiority of the FLC, a conventional PI
controller based IM drive system has also been simulated.
The simulation results obtained have proved the very good performance and
robustness of the proposed FLC. It is concluded that the proposed fuzzy logic
controller has shown superior performances over the conventional PI controller.


Search has been vital to artificial intelligence from the very beginning as a core technique in problem solving. The authors present a thorough overview of heuristic search with a balance of discussion between theoretical analysis and efficient implementation and application to real-world problems. Current developments in search such as pattern databases and search with efficient use of external memory and parallel processing units on main boards and graphics cards are detailed. Heuristic search as a problem solving tool is demonstrated in applications for puzzle solving, game playing, constraint satisfaction and machine learning. While no previous familiarity with heuristic search is necessary the reader should have a basic knowledge of algorithms, data structures, and calculus. Real-world case studies and chapter ending exercises help to create a full and realized picture of how search fits into the world of artificial intelligence and the one around us. This title provides real-world success stories and case studies for heuristic search algorithms. It includes many AI developments not yet covered in textbooks such as pattern databases, symbolic search, and parallel processing units.


RATIONALE: Long-acting slow effective release antiretroviral therapy (LASER ART) was developed to improve patient regimen adherence, prevent new infections, and facilitate drug delivery to human immunodeficiency virus cell and tissue reservoirs. In an effort to facilitate LASER ART development, "multimodal imaging theranostic nanoprobes" were created. These allow combined bioimaging, drug pharmacokinetics and tissue biodistribution tests in animal models. METHODS: Europium (Eu3+)- doped cobalt ferrite (CF) dolutegravir (DTG)- loaded (EuCF-DTG) nanoparticles were synthesized then fully characterized based on their size, shape and stability. These were then used as platforms for nanoformulated drug biodistribution. RESULTS: Folic acid (FA) decoration of EuCF-DTG (FA-EuCF-DTG) nanoparticles facilitated macrophage targeting and sped drug entry across cell barriers. Macrophage uptake was higher for FA-EuCF-DTG than EuCF-DTG nanoparticles with relaxivities of r2 = 546 mM-1s-1 and r2 = 564 mM-1s-1 in saline, and r2 = 850 mM-1s-1 and r2 = 876 mM-1s-1 in cells, respectively. The values were ten or more times higher than what was observed for ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (r2 = 31.15 mM-1s-1 in saline) using identical iron concentrations. Drug particles were detected in macrophage Rab compartments by dual fluorescence labeling. Replicate particles elicited sustained antiretroviral responses. After parenteral injection of FA-EuCF-DTG and EuCF-DTG into rats and rhesus macaques, drug, iron and cobalt levels, measured by LC-MS/MS, magnetic resonance imaging, and ICP-MS were coordinate. CONCLUSION: We posit that these theranostic nanoprobes can assess LASER ART drug delivery and be used as part of a precision nanomedicine therapeutic strategy.


The sella turcica is an important anatomic and radiologic entity. The shape of the sella turcica varies among normal individuals and can be influenced by local factors. The normal shape of sella turcica has been categorized as circular, oval, and flat, and several variants have been described. The sella turcica increases in size with age, but there is no agreement upon significance of gender-related differences. The main objective of this study is to build up a normative database of the shape of the sella turcica in the Jordanian population with reference to age and gender. For this purpose 509 computed cephalograms: 252 males and 257 females, aged 10 to 40 years old healthy Jordanians were collected and divided into adolescent and adult age groups in both genders. Viewbox 3 software was used to determine width and height, and shape of the sella turcica was accordingly assessed. Variants of shape were also documented. Our results showed that females exhibit higher percentage of overall normal shape but lower relative percentages of oval and flat shapes, as compared with males. In contrast to males, females also show decreasing trend of normal shape as age advances. Females and males change obviously in favor of oval shape. In terms of variants, as individuals advance in age, bridging and irregular dorsum clearly predominate. In terms of width and height, significant differences were evident between adult male group on one hand and adolescent female group and adult female group on the other hand. Between age categories and within male and female groups, sella linear dimensions were significantly different between adolescent and adult age groups. The significant increase of linear parameters of sella turcica across age groups indicates that there is significant degree of growth in sella turcica across the studied age groups. However, this growth does not affect the shape of sella turcica as the shape seems to be preserved across the studied age groups. The obtained data are discussed in terms of age- and gender-related growth and degenerative bone changes.


In light of the expansive interpretation of the public use requirement, the payment of just compensation remains the only meaningful limit on the government's eminent domain power and, correspondingly, the only safeguard of private property owners' rights against abusive takings. Yet, the current compensation regime is suboptimal. While both efficiency and fairness require paying full compensation for seizures by eminent domain, current law limits the compensation to market value. Despite the virtual consensus about the inadequacy of market compensation, courts adhere to it for a purely practical reason: there is no way to measure the true subjective value of property to its owner. Subjective value is neither observable nor verifiable to third parties and courts cannot rely upon owners' reports of the value they attach to their properties. To date, the challenge of screening truthful from exaggerated evaluation has proven insurmountable.This Article solves the undercompensation conundrum. It offers a novel self-assessment mechanism that enables the payment of full compensation at subjective value when private property is taken by eminent domain. Under the proposed mechanism, property owners would get to set the price of the property designated for condemnation. The government could then either take the property at the designated price, or abstain, leaving the property subject to two new proposed restrictions. First, for the life of the owner, the property could not be sold for less than the self-assessed price, adjusted on the basis of the local housing price index. Second, the self-assessed price - discounted to take account of the peculiarities of property tax assessments - would become the new benchmark for the owner's property tax liability. The Article shows that under most conditions, these restrictions will induce honest reporting by owners, while reducing the transaction costs created by the compensation process. The result is a dramatically more efficient law of eminent domain that is also far more respectful of private property rights.


Eosinophilic granule cells (EGCs) are considered to be analogous to mammalian mast cells. In this study we investigated the short term ultrastructural responses of EGGs to extracellular products (ECPs) of Aeromonas salmonicida or Vibrio anguillarum. Bacterial ECP was prepared from a broth culture of bacteria and injected intraperitoneally at a dose of 0·07 and 0·08 μg g-1 body weight into 0 + rainbow trout. Controls consisted of injection of saline alone. Fish were killed at 30 min, 1, 2 and 4 h post-injection and the intestine removed, fixed and embedded in resin for light and electron microscopy. Cell counts were made of the number of observable EGCs mm-1 of the stratum granulosum of the intestine. A rapid decrease in the number of observable EGCs in the gut of ECP-injected fish occurred but there was no apparent change in the number of EGCs in the control fish. This decrease was coincident with an explosive, anaphylactic-like degranulation and a complex multivesiculated substructuring of the EGC granules. In addition there were many ultrastructural changes in the multivesiculated EGCs, including the presence of numerous smooth walled cytoplasmic tubules, spherical electron-lucent vesicles in the peripheral cytoplasm, and a planar subfractionation of the granules which occasionally appeared crystalline. This is the first time that this multivesiculated type of degranulation has been reported in response to A. salmonicida and V. anguillarum extracellular products and is reminiscent of a previously described EGC response to capsaicin and substance P. The significance of this degranulation morphology with respect to the pathogenesis of disease is discussed.


A wet heat shock (WHS) treatment in a water bath at 50°C for 1 hr is a powerful stimulus for grapevine budbreak. However, this treatment is not feasible as a horticultural practice in commercial vineyards. The development of an effective horticultural dormancy release practice favors a short, intense heat shock that combines convenient application and effective stimulation of budbreak. Thus, the influence of heat shock temperature and duration on dormancy release of grapevine buds was studied. Results suggested that in both WHS and dry heat shock (DHS) treatments, increased temperature can compensate for shortened shock duration. In addition, it appeared that buds better tolerate DHS than WHS. Based on these results, we analyzed the effect of short and intense heat shock on budbreak. A DHS of 10 to 30 sec at the sublethal temperature of 150°C served as a powerful stimulus of dormancy release. This short shock induced production of acetaldehyde and ethylene from the buds, as follows application of hydrogen cyanamide. This similarity suggests that analogous mechanisms are activated by the short, sublethal temperature pulse and the commercially used chemical stimulus. The efficiency of short and intense heat shock, which has not been previously documented, will aid the development of a feasible and practical treatment in commercial vineyards.


Vaccination elicits immune responses capable of potently neutralizing SARS-CoV-2. However, ongoing surveillance has revealed the emergence of variants harboring mutations in spike, the main target of neutralizing antibodies. To understand the impact of these variants, we evaluated the neutralization potency of 99 individuals that received one or two doses of either BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccines against pseudoviruses representing 10 globally circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2. Five of the 10 pseudoviruses, harboring receptor-binding domain mutations, including K417N/T, E484K, and N501Y, were highly resistant to neutralization. Cross-neutralization of B.1.351 variants was comparable to SARS-CoV and bat-derived WIV1-CoV, suggesting that a relatively small number of mutations can mediate potent escape from vaccine responses. While the clinical impact of neutralization resistance remains uncertain, these results highlight the potential for variants to escape from neutralizing humoral immunity and emphasize the need to develop broadly protective interventions against the evolving pandemic.


A model for describing mass fransfer in three-phase fluidized beds has been developed and tested using experimental data. The presence of two distinguishable mass transfer zones in three-phase fluidized beds led to the idea of interfacing a plug flow model (PFM) with an axial dispersion model (ADM) at the separation boundary between these zones to yield the proposed model. The model reported here has been valildated at a wide range of operating conditions and proved to perform better than other existing models.


Most current models of the internet rely on knowledge of the degree distribution of its core routers, which plays a key role for simulation purposes. In practice, this distribution is usually observed directly on maps known to be partial, biased and erroneous. This raises serious concerns on the true knowledge one may have of this key property. Here, we design an original measurement approach targeting reliable estimation of the degree distribution of core routers, without resorting to any map. It consists in sampling random core routers and precisely estimate their degree thanks to probes sent from many distributed monitors. We run and assess a large-scale measurement following this approach, carefully controlling and correcting bias and errors encountered in practice. The estimate we obtain is much more reliable than previous knowledge, and it shows that the true degree distribution is very different from all current assumptions.


The Decision It was August 1993, and for a second time the name Donald Marshall Jr. would be associated with a court decision in Canada. History was set to repeat itself. Once a symbol of justice miscarried, Donald Marshall Jr. was setting in motion the most important Aboriginal treaty rights case in Eastern Canada, for on that day in August he was arrested for catching 210 kilograms of eels in Pomquet Harbour and selling them for $787.10. Charged with fishing without a license during a closed season, he argued that as a Mi'kmaq he was exercising his treaty rights under the eighteenth-century Peace and Friendship treaties. The case was finally heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, and the decision of that court was released on 17 September 1999, with a further clarification on 17 November of that year. Citing primarily the treaties of 1760-61, the court ruled that Mi'kmaq and Maliseet peoples had the right to hunt, fish, and gather, and to sell their products to make a "moderate livelihood." Although the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet people would not now own all the resources, they could access them subject only to limitations justified by conservation needs or other pressing public objectives (Coates 2000, 3-7; INAC 2001; R. v. Marshall #1 1999, § 7) The Supreme Court decision was hailed as a historic breakthrough by Aboriginal peoples. The right to provide a reasonable living for oneself and one's family by directly accessing resources seemed to many to be a significant step in reversing centuries of dispossession and impoverishment. The decision had come shortly after the New Brunswick case of Thomas Peter Paul, who was tried in 1997 for harvesting wood for commercial purposes. The first decision in favour of Thomas Peter Paul was upheld a year later at the Court of Queen's Bench, only in the end to be overturned in 1999 by the New Brunswick Court of Appeal (R. v. Thomas Peter Paul 1996, 1997, 1998). The result, though, despite the eventual defeat, was the expectation that a treaty right to commercial resource gathering existed and would soon be a reality. Both cases prompted Mi'kmaq and Maliseet fishers to purchase the necessary gear and begin to make a living for themselves. Ken Coates wrote in The Marshall Decision and Native Rights of the new optimism that "provincial governments appear to be genuinely committed to new resourcesharing arrangements that have real potential to add to the economic sustainability of First Nations communities" (2000, 164). Although he tempered this judgment in his conclusion by drawing attention to the legacy of "bitter words and nasty actions," especially around Burnt Church, where the worst violence against Aboriginal fishers occurred, Coates nonetheless saw evidence in the bureaucratization of the process of negotiating agreements with reserves that progress was being made (205-206). Now that ten years have passed, the effects of the Marshall decision can be seen. By exploring the aftermath of the Marshall decision, this essay inquires into the effects that the subsequent agreements between Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the various reserve communities have had both on the attempts to preserve traditional forms of life and on the ongoing governance of reserves. Specifically, I will argue that the fishing agreements have created economic opportunities and jobs at the cost of further eroding traditional political and economic practices, by replacing the direct access to resources provided for by Marshall (and consistent with traditional economic practices) with a system of limited and regulated access. Under these agreements, the management of access will rest with the chief and council. The federal policy of self-government over the past three decades has been to increase the power of the chief and council by devolving areas of authority. The Marshall agreements are structured in terms consistent with this nowestablished policy of self-government. A number of critics have expressed concern that the political structure of chief and council, which exist under the Indian Act, are incommensurate with tradition. …


This paper presents the development of a wireless low power reconfigurable self-calibrated multi-sensing platform for gas sensing applications. The proposed electronic nose (EN) system monitors gas temperatures, concentrations, and mixtures wirelessly using the radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. The EN takes the form of a set of gas and temperature sensors and multiple pattern recognition algorithms implemented on the Zynq system on chip (SoC) platform. The gas and temperature sensors are integrated on a semi-passive RFID tag to reduce the consumed power. Various gas sensors are tested, including an in-house fabricated <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4\times 4$ </tex-math></inline-formula> <italic>SnO</italic>2based sensor and seven commercial Figaro sensors. The data is transmitted to the Zynq based processing unit using a RFID reader, where it is processed using multiple pattern recognition algorithms for dimensionality reduction and classification. Multiple algorithms are explored for optimum performance, including principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) for dimensionality reduction while decision tree (DT) and k-nearest neighbors (KNN) are assessed for classification purpose. Different gases are targeted at diverse concentration, including carbon monoxide (<italic>CO</italic>), ethanol (<italic>C</italic>2<italic>H</italic>6<italic>O</italic>), carbon dioxide (<italic>CO</italic>2), propane (<italic>C</italic>3<italic>H</italic>8), ammonia (<italic>NH</italic>3), and hydrogen (<italic>H</italic>2). An accuracy of 100% is achieved in many cases with an overall accuracy above 90% in most scenarios. Finally, the hardware/software heterogeneous solution to implementation PCA, LDA, DT, and KNN on the Zynq SoC shows promising results in terms of resources usage, power consumption, and processing time.


This research presents methods for simulation and visualization of human factors. This allows for a performance based analysis of buildings from the local human scale to the larger building scale. Technical issues such as computational time and mathematically describing a buildings geometry are discussed. The algorithms presented are integrated in a 3D modeling software commonly used in design and architecture through a plugin.


Satellite remote sensing, with its unique synoptic coverage capabilities, can provide accurate and immediately valuable information on fire analysis and post-fire assessment, including estimation of burnt areas. In this study the potential for burnt area mapping of the combined use of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) classifiers with Landsat TM satellite imagery was evaluated in a Mediterranean setting. As a case study one of the most catastrophic forest fires, which occurred near the capital of Greece during the summer of 2007, was used. The accuracy of the two algorithms in delineating the burnt area from the Landsat TM imagery, acquired shortly after the fire suppression, was determined by the classification accuracy results of the produced thematic maps. In addition, the derived burnt area estimates from the two classifiers were compared with independent estimates available for the study region, obtained from the analysis of higher spatial resolution satellite data. In terms of the overall classification accuracy, ANN outperformed (overall accuracy 90.29%, Kappa coefficient 0.878) the SAM classifier (overall accuracy 83.82%, Kappa coefficient 0.795). Total burnt area estimates from the two classifiers were found also to be in close agreement with the other available estimates for the study region, with a mean absolute percentage difference of ∼1% for ANN and ∼6.5% for SAM. The study demonstrates the potential of the examined here algorithms in detecting burnt areas in a typical Mediterranean setting.


This text uses a conversational tone to the writing designed to convey complex technical issues as understandable concepts. Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism, 3e, is written in a user-friendly fashion, designed to be understandable by even the most technologically challenged reader. Issues addressed in the book include descriptions of the types of crimes and terrorist acts committed using computer technology, theories addressing hackers and other types of digital criminals, an overview of the legal strategies and tactics targeting this type of crime, and in-depth coverage of investigating and researching digital crime, digital terrorism, and information warfare. Additionally, upon completion of the text, readers should find themselves better prepared for further study into the growing problems of crime, terrorism and information warfare being committed using computer technology. Teaching and Learning This easy-to-read text offers an overview of both the technological and behavioral aspects of digital crime and terrorism. It provides: Up-to-date coverage of the digital crime, digital terrorism and the information warfare problem: Introducesstudents to the types of crimes, acts of terrorism, and information warfare that are committed using computers, networks, and the Internet Outstanding pedagogical features: Encourages students to develop critical thinking skills with numerous examples and exercises Exceptional instructor resources: Makes class preparation quick and easy with innovative features


It is essential to develop energy-efficient communication techniques for nanoscale wireless communications. In this Proposal, a new modulation and a novel minimum energy coding scheme (MEC) are proposed to achieve energy efficiency in wireless nanosensor networks (WNSNs). Unlike existing studies, MEC maintains the desired code distance to provide reliability, while minimizing energy. It is analytically shown that, with MEC, codewords can be decoded perfectly for large code distances, if the source set cardinality is less than the inverse of the symbol error probability. Performance evaluations show that MEC outperforms popular codes such as Hamming, Reed- Solomon and Golay in the average codeword energy sense.


Summary: Efficient workflows to shepherd clinically generated genomic data through the multiple stages of a next-generation sequencing pipeline are of critical importance in translational biomedical science. Here we present COSMOS, a Python library for workflow management that allows formal description of pipelines and partitioning of jobs. In addition, it includes a user interface for tracking the progress of jobs, abstraction of the queuing system and fine-grained control over the workflow. Workflows can be created on traditional computing clusters as well as cloud-based services. Availability and implementation: Source code is available for academic non-commercial research purposes. Links to code and documentation are provided at http://lpm.hms.harvard.edu and http://wall-lab.stanford.edu. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.com or firstname.lastname@example.com. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


Here, in a single, concise volume, is all that every art lover and student will ever want to know about the most popular and significant event in the history of painting. Some 300 entries cover not only the lives and careers of the main participants (painters, critics, patrons, dealers and collectors, as well as writers and musicians) but also techniques, prices and localities, and a wealth of information on the cultural, social and political background that helps to set Impressionism in context. Bernard Denvir's immensely useful book incorporates this new thinking and brings the story of Impressionism up to date. It also includes a chronology of events, a gazetteer of the major collections and a wealth of documentary illustrations and maps. 265 illus., 15 in color.


A brief history of the tradition of birds as motifs on textiles is followed by a catalogue of the birds in the Bayeux Tapestry and a discussion of their function. The possible significance of identifiable birds (cocks, doves, peacocks, storks), the birds of Aesop's fables and the creatures in the border 'bird scaring scene' is analysed. The individuality, in colouring and position, of all the border birds is demonstrated and the apparent interest which many of them take in the action of the main register is highlighted to suggest that the border birds present a commentary on, and audience-participation in, the narrative.


OBJECTIVES
To analyze the predictive value of new cardiovascular (CV) risk factors for CV risk assessment in the adult Romanian hypertensive (HT) population.

METHODS
Hypertensive adults aged between 40-65 years of age, identified in national representative SEPHAR II survey were evaluated by anthropometric, BP and arterial stiffness measurements: aortic pulse wave velocity (PWVao), aortic augmentation index (AIXao), revers time (RT) and central systolic blood pressure (SBPao), 12 lead ECGs and laboratory workup. Values above the 4th quartile of mean SBP' standard deviation (s.d.) defined increased BP variability. Log(TG/HDL-cholesterol) defined atherogenic index of plasma (AIP). Serum uric acid levels above 5.70 mg/dl for women and 7.0 mg/dl for males defined hyperuricemia (HUA). CV risk was assessed based on SCORE chart for high CV risk countries. Binary logistic regression using a stepwise likelihood ratio method (adjustments for major confounders and colliniarity analysis) was used in order to validate predictors of high and very high CV risk class.

RESULTS
The mean SBP value of the study group was 148.46±19.61 mmHg. Over forty percent of hypertensives had a high and very high CV risk. Predictors of high/very high CV risk category validated by regression analysis were: increased visit-to-visit BP variability (OR: 2.49; 95%CI: 1.67-3.73), PWVao (OR: 1.12; 95%CI: 1.02-1.22), RT (OR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.93-0.98), SBPao (OR: 1.01; 95%CI: 1.01-1.03) and AIP (OR: 7.08; 95%CI: 3.91-12.82).

CONCLUSION
The results of our study suggests that the new CV risk factors such as increased BP variability, arterial stiffness indices and AIP are useful tools for a more accurate identification of hypertensives patients at high and very high CV risk.


Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether miR-495 is a factor influencing survival in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) patients.
Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRTPCR) was performed to evaluate the expression level of miR-495 in 186 participants. Then the association between tissue miR-495 expression level and clinical outcome was investigated. Overall survival was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analysis of the prognostic factors was performed with Cox proportional hazards model.
Results: The expression level of miR-495 was significantly decreased in renal cancer tissues compared with that in normal matched tissues, and a high expression of miR-495 was found to be significantly associated with Histologic grade (p=0.000), Lymph nodemetastasis (p=0.000), and Distant metastasis (p<0.001). In addition, the results of Log-rank test indicated that ccRCC patients with low miR-495 expression experienced shorter overall survival. Multivariate analysis suggested that miR-495 expression was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival of patients with ccRCC.
Conclusions: Our results indicate that miR-495 relates to the prognosis of patients with ccRCC and may act as a promising predictor of ccRCC recurrence.


In this paper the effect of the extension of two coherent light sources on interference fringes is examined. The change in the aspect of the fringes when the coherent sources are widened in the same direction is discussed. A relation between the width of the coherent sources, the distance of the screen, and the wavelength for which the interference fringes may be seen, is established. This relation is discussed in connection with some special cases.


The Estonian film The Last Relic offers an interesting case of ideological intersemiotic translation. At the same time, it is an innovative film from the point of view of text composition as well as combination of traditional montage with intersemiotic montage in which the speech of the heroes, the messages of the songs and repetition of visual and musical motifs are juxtaposed to create historical and ideological ambiguity. The specificity of this film is very close to later tendencies in using montage: the movement from a temporal understanding of montage to spatial montage in contemporary new media and 3D-movies. A new understanding of montage is also fruitful for the new interpretation of the chronotopical structure of narrative texts. The traditional theory of montage is rooted in classical literature, while new media experience opens up new possibilities for understanding mechanisms of montage. On a very general level, contemporary tendencies of montage can be analysed as chronotopical montage.


Speech is a complex naturally acquired human motor ability. It is characterized in adults with the production of about 14 different sounds per second via the harmonized actions of roughly 100 muscles. Speaker recognition is the capability of a software or hardware to receive speech signal, identify the speaker present in the speech signal and recognize the speaker afterwards. Feature extraction is accomplished by changing the speech waveform to a form of parametric representation at a relatively minimized data rate for subsequent processing and analysis. Therefore, acceptable classification is derived from excellent and quality features. Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), Linear Prediction Coefficients (LPC), Linear Prediction Cepstral Coefficients (LPCC), Line Spectral Frequencies (LSF), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Perceptual Linear Prediction (PLP) are the speech feature extraction techniques that were discussed in these chapter. These methods have been tested in a wide variety of applications, giving them high level of reliability and acceptability. Researchers have made several modifications to the above discussed techniques to make them less susceptible to noise, more robust and consume less time. In conclusion, none of the methods is superior to the other, the area of application would determine which method to select.


Space-time block coded (STBC) in-phase quadrature-phase (IQ)-interleaved coded modulation (CM) schemes are proposed for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). Trellis coded modulation (TCM), turbo TCM (TTCM), bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) and iteratively decoded BICM (BICM-ID) schemes having a similar decoding complexity are employed in conjunction with 16-level quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) for yielding an effective throughput of 3 information bits per symbol. The IQ-diversity attained by the proposed schemes provides a significant additional coding gain. It was found that TTCM and BICM-ID assisted STBC-IQ-OFDM were the best schemes in terms of the achievable bit error ratio and frame error ratio, respectively.


The general solutions of the Schrodinger equation for a non-central potential are obtained by using the Nikiforov–Uvarov method. The Schrodinger equation with general non-central potential is separated into radial and angular parts, and energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are derived analytically. By making special selections, the non-central potential is reduced to Coulomb and Hartmann ring-shaped potentials, and the obtained results are compared with the solutions of Coulomb and Hartmann potentials given in the literature.


Self-paced learning and hard example mining re-weight training instances to improve learning accuracy. This paper presents two improved alternatives based on lightweight estimates of sample uncertainty in stochastic gradient descent (SGD): the variance in predicted probability of the correct class across iterations of mini-batch SGD, and the proximity of the correct class probability to the decision threshold. Extensive experimental results on six datasets show that our methods reliably improve accuracy in various network architectures, including additional gains on top of other popular training techniques, such as residual learning, momentum, ADAM, batch normalization, dropout, and distillation.


In this paper a new Quality of Development Index (QDI) is introduced and applied. The QDI provides a national-level measure of progress that reflects changes related to well-being, community, and the environment. The paper argues generally for a more explicit linkage between indicators of progress and values, and for a larger role for such indicators in quantitative scenario-based visioning exercises. Use of the QDI is suggested in place of the Gross Domestic Product, the current defacto headline indicator of progress.


We show that the reduced cofinality of the nonstationary ideal NS_kappa on a regular uncountable cardinal kappa may be less than its cofinality, where the reduced cofinality of NS_kappa is the least cardinality of any family F of nonstationary subsets of kappa such that every nonstationary subset of kappa can be covered by less than $\kappa$ many members of F.


We present a novel 3D scanning system with the potential for interactive acquisition and visualization of dynamic scenes. Our system uses a spatiotemporally adaptive sampling strategy, and can take advantage of multiple simultaneous scanning devices operating at different resolutions. We also employ a level set framework for reconstructing potentially dynamic scenes from multiple concurrent streams of range data. In our framework, implicit surfaces are reconstructed periodically from new samples on a coarse grid, creating a sequence of reconstructions from disjoint sample sets that is used to estimate motion in the scene. A high-resolution reconstruction proceeds alongside, where the surface is evolved by a convective flow that guides it towards the sample set. We employ a spatially-varying distance metric based on our motion estimate that adaptively controls the contribution of older samples to the final reconstruction.


Optofluidic sensor for water solutions has been fabricated using a transfer adhesive film and simple all-room-temperature procedures. Performance of a Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity subjected to the high water throughput of ∼ 2 ml per 1 min (at a 0.8 m/s flow velocity) was spectrally characterized. The 25-μm-wide cavity can be repeatedly subjected to pressures causing up to a 1.5% its width's increase upon pressure cycling. Potential of the new optofluidic platform for applications where (i) large water volumes should be filtered as well as (ii) for measurements of turbulence onset in two-dimensional flows at high 1 m/s velocity are discussed. We show possibility to use FP cavity for the pressure sensing at sensitivity of Δλ/ΔP ≃ 0.075 nm/Pa and for the refractive index sensing at Δλ/Δn ≃ 390 nm per the refractive index unit.


Significant sex and gender differences in both physiology and psychology are readily acknowledged between men and women; however, data are lacking regarding differences in their responses to injury and treatment and in their ultimate recovery and survival. These variations remain particularly poorly defined within the field of cardiovascular resuscitation. A better understanding of the interaction between these important factors may soon allow us to dramatically improve outcomes in disease processes that currently carry a dismal prognosis, such as sudden cardiac arrest. As part of the 2014 Academic Emergency Medicine consensus conference "Gender-Specific Research in Emergency Medicine: Investigate, Understand, and Translate How Gender Affects Patient Outcomes," our group sought to identify key research questions and knowledge gaps pertaining to both sex and gender in cardiac resuscitation that could be answered in the near future to inform our understanding of these important issues. We combined a monthly teleconference meeting of interdisciplinary stakeholders from largely academic institutions with a focused interest in cardiovascular outcomes research, an extensive review of the existing literature, and an open breakout session discussion on the recommendations at the consensus conference to establish a prioritization of the knowledge gaps and relevant research questions in this area. We identified six priority research areas: 1) out-of-hospital cardiac arrest epidemiology and outcome, 2) customized resuscitation drugs, 3) treatment role for sex steroids, 4) targeted temperature management and hypothermia, 5) withdrawal of care after cardiac arrest, and 6) cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and implementation. We believe that exploring these key topics and identifying relevant questions may directly lead to improved understanding of sex- and gender-specific issues seen in cardiac resuscitation and ultimately improved patient outcomes.


Mobile Internet has been widely adopted and it is expected to rise to almost 4 billion users by 2020. Despite the research effort dedicated to the enhancement of its performance, there still exists a gap in the understanding of how TCP and its many variants work over LTE. To this end, this paper evaluates the extent to which five common TCP variants, CUBIC, NewReno, Westwood+, Illinois, and CAIA Delay Gradient (CDG), are able to utilise available radio resources under hard conditions, such as during start-up and in mobile scenarios at different speeds. The paper suggests that CUBIC, due to its Hybrid Slow-Start mechanism, enters congestion avoidance prematurely, and thus experiences a prolonged start-up phase. As a result, it is unable to efficiently utilise radio resources during shorter transmission sessions. Besides, CUBIC, Illinois and NewReno, i.e., the loss-based TCP implementations, offer better throughput, and are able to better utilise available resources during mobility than Westwood+ and CDG - the delay-based variants do.


This book provides a comprehensive overview of the entire landscape of both outdoor and indoor wireless positioning, and guides the reader step by step in the implementation of wireless positioning applications on the iPhone. Explanations of fundamental positioning techniques are given throughout the text, along with many programming examples, providing the reader with an independent, practical, and enjoyable learning of the material while gaining a real feel for the subject.Provides an accessible introduction to positioning technologies such as Global Positioning System and Wi-Fi positioningPresents hands-on skills to iOS 5.0 programming for location-aware applicationsGives a thorough grounding in signal propagation, line-of-sight and interference effects for accurate positioningCovers the location-aware video streaming and conferencing with practical iPhone application examplesAccompanied by a website containing programming code described in the text and lecture presentation slides for instructorsThis book is primarily intended for anyone who wants to study wireless localization. It is an ideal textbook for graduate students who are first learning localization techniques, as well as advanced undergraduates in computer science interested in translating localization concepts into real code. Professionals, engineers and researchers working in location-aware services and related techniques using mobile positioning and AI technologies will find this book to be a helpful reference.Companion website for the book:www.wiley.com/go/chan/wireless


Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has been collecting labour market data since 1993 with the October Household Survey (OHS), which was conducted annually between 1993 and 1999, as well as the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which was a biannual survey introduced in 2000 to replace the OHS. In March 2005, consultants from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were appointed to revise all aspects of the LFS. All documents, processes and procedures relating to the LFS were reviewed, before a report on the findings was presented to Stats SA in June 2005. At the end, it was decided to re-engineer the LFS, and this took place in October 2005. Moreover, consultants were appointed in 2006 to help improve the survey questionnaire, sampling and weighting, data capture and processing systems. Eventually, Stats SA came up with a decision that the LFS would take place on a quarterly basis from 2008, i.e., the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) was introduced to replace the LFS. The comparability issues between the OHSs and LFSs have been discussed thoroughly by Burger and Yu (2006), Casale, Muller and Posel (2005), Wittenberg (2004) and Yu (2007), focusing on changes in the sampling frame, inconsistencies in the questionnaire design, changes in the methodology to derive labour market status, trends in numerous variables (e.g., demographics, educational attainment, labour force participation rates, unemployment rates, earnings, etc.), oversampling of informal sector workers in 2000, overestimation of the earnings of self-employed in the OHSs, and the continuous improvement of the questionnaire by Stats SA. Therefore, this paper rather focuses on the comparability between LFS and QLFS, so as to assist researchers and policy makers when they try to analyze or compare both the LFS and QLFS data. As only four QLFSs have taken place at the time of writing, trends in variables will not be the focus of this paper. Instead, this paper will mainly look at the changes in questionnaire design, sampling method, derivation of new variables (i.e., underemployment status and unemployment status), a new methodology to capture the formal/informal status of the employed, as well as the drastic changes in methodology to capture labour market status. With regard to the latter, it is found that there is no longer a clear distinction between strict and broad labour market status in the QLFS, and this makes it difficult to derive long-term trends in the labour force participation rates (LFPRs) and unemployment rates under both strict and broad definitions.