Predicting the potential impacts of new urban public transport on people's travel
behaviour is very complex. A key aspect of travel behaviour is the choice of
mode. It is particularly difficult to estimate the number of people who will use
new urban public transport systems. Understanding modal choices related to
these systems is especially important in view of concerns about the impact of the
car on the environment, on quality of life and on congestion levels in towns and
cities. In this thesis, the modal choices of potential users of two new light rail
systems, Luas in Dublin and Tramlink in Croydon, are examined. The decision-making
processes behind these people's modal choices are explored using a
theory that has been borrowed from social psychology called the Theory of
Planned Behaviour.
In order to apply the Theory of Planned Behaviour it is necessary to identify the
attitudes, beliefs and perceptions of behavioural control of potential users.
Hence, interviews have been carried out with potential users of Croydon
Tramlink in the six months immediately prior to its opening. This thesis will
describe those interviews, the analysis of them and the findings. In addition,
follow-up studies were conducted six months after the opening of the system in
order to examine how many of the interviewees had used the system. In Dublin,
questionnaires were distributed to potential users of the new light rail system
planned for the city. The questionnaires were distributed 2 years before the
planned opening of the system.
The thesis concludes that the Theory of Planned Behaviour is an appropriate tool
for understanding and explaining modal choices, particularly those modal
choices that relate to new urban public transport. It is also concluded that both
Luas and Tramlink are likely to be successful systems and will generate new
trips.


Different IP rights are available for the protection of fictional characters. As far as copyright is concerned, doubts may however subsist regarding the classification of characters as self-standing works which enjoy copyright protection separate from the works in which they are contained. In addition, copyright protection is limited in time and encompasses the external appearance of such characters. Trade mark protection might thus present a certain attractiveness, due to the fact that it could be virtually perpetual and relate to elements that are not necessarily connected with the external appearance of the character. This contribution discusses why trade mark protection could and/or should be pursued, and details advantages and shortcomings of such regime under EU law. As regards the latter, it is doubtful whether trade mark registration could be effectively pursued in each and every instance, particularly on consideration of the applicability of the absolute grounds for refusal or invalidity concerning distinctiveness, public policy and morality and aesthetic functionality. In addition, the scope of protection – where available – would go only as far as allowing the trade mark owner to repress third-party uses of identical or similar signs, insofar as such uses are uses in a trade mark sense and affect the functions of the registered trade mark. All this suggests that the most effective way to protect a fictional character through IP is a comprehensive strategy that relies on different rights allowing the pursuit of different objectives of exclusivity, but is also conscious of the limitations that are inherent to each and every right.


A neutron scattering study of the structure of $^{4}\mathrm{He}$ films adsorbed on graphite is reported. Diffraction from helium monolayers at a temperature of 1.2 K shows the formation of an incommensurate, triangular-lattice solid of high density. As the coverage is increased above two layers, the diffraction pattern changes indicating solidification of a second layer. The observed two-layer patterns can be indexed with either a pair of incommensurate, triangular-lattice solid layers of different densities or a close-packed bilayer; the experimental information available is not sufficient to make a more precise identification. A measurement of the height of the first helium layer above the graphite basal plane was also made. This was done by determining the coverage-dependent shift in the position of the graphite (002) diffraction peak (assumed to arise from interference between film and substrate scattering) and fitting it to a simple structural model. Values for the monolayer height above the graphite plane and for the lattice constants of the possible bilayer structures are given.


Abstract. The kinetic equation for a gravity wave spectrum is solved numerically to study the high frequencies asymptotes for the one-dimensional nonlinear energy transfer and the variability of spectrum parameters that accompany the long-term evolution of nonlinear waves. The cases of initial two-dimensional spectra S(ω,θ) of modified JONSWAP type with the frequency decay-law S(ω) ~ ω−n (for n = 6, 5, 4 and 3.5) and various initial functions of the angular distribution are considered. It is shown that at the first step of the kinetic equation solution, the nonlinear energy transfer asymptote has the power-like decay-law, Nl(ω) ~ ω−p, with values p ≤ n − 1, valid in cases when n ≥ 5, and the difference, n-p, changes significantly when n approaches 4. On time scales of evolution greater than several thousands of initial wave periods, in every case, a self-similar spectrum Ssf(ω,θ) is established with the frequency decay-law of form S(ω) ~ ω−4. Herein, the asymptote of nonlinear energy transfer becomes negative in value and decreases according to the same law (i.e., Nl(ω) ~ −ω−4). The peak frequency of the spectrum, ωp(t), migrates in time t to the low-frequency region such that the angular and frequency characteristics of the two-dimensional spectrum Ssf(ω,θ) remain constant. However, these characteristics depend on the degree of angular anisotropy of the initial spectrum. The solutions obtained are interpreted, and their connection with the analytical solutions of the kinetic equation by Zakharov and co-authors for gravity waves in water is discussed.


Objective Elevated levels of calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH), characteristics of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), may be associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the general population. We evaluated the possible vascular effects of these risk factors in patients with mild PHPT by using standard methods and new imaging techniques. Design A prospective case-control study. Subjects and Methods Forty-eight patients with mild PHPT without any known cardiovascular risk factors were studied at baseline and at one year after parathyroidectomy (PTX) in comparison with 48 healthy age- and gender-matched controls. We measured biochemical variables, augmentation index (AIx), aortic pulse wave velocity (PWVao), radial (IMTrad) and common carotid artery (IMTcca) intima media thicknesses, and the grayscale median (IM-GSM) of the latter. Results No significant differences were observed between PHPT patients and controls at baseline for AIx (28.6±12.2 vs. 27.7±12.8%), IMTrad (0.271±0.060 vs. 0.255±0.053 mm), IMTcca (0.688±0.113 vs. 0.680±0.135 mm), or IM-GSM (82.3±17.2 vs. 86.5±15.3), while PWVao was slightly higher in patients (8.68±1.50 vs. 8.13±1.55, p<0.05). Systolic blood pressure (SBP), calcium, and PTH were higher in patients compared with controls, and decreased after PTX, while vitamin D was lower in patients and increased after PTX. While AIx, PWVao, IMTrad, and IMTcca were related to SBP, neither correlated to vitamin D levels. Only PWVao correlated weakly to plasma PTH (r = 0.29, p<0.01) and ionized calcium (r = 0.22, p<0.05) but showed no relation when age and SBP were adjusted for. Conclusion We found normal arterial function despite high calcium, PTH, and low vitamin D levels, in patients with mild PHPT without cardiovascular risk factors. The cardiovascular risk associated with low vitamin D and/or high PTH and calcium levels may be explained by their coupling to blood pressure and other risk factors rather than direct effects on arterial structure.


This note is motivated by the contradictory conclusions reached concerning the amount of trade generated by trade agreements of varying comprehensiveness and depth when agreements are examined through different prisms: analysis of the text of agreements with a view to identifying liberalizing content; analysis of the text of agreements to establish breadth; and quantitative modelling analyses of trade creation. "Deep integration" or "deep and comprehensive" agreements have more chapters touching on more subjects. At the same time, critically examined from the perspective of imposition of requirements to change laws or practice, they often do very little. From a legal perspective, the addition of chapters brimming with non-binding commitments seems to add little to trade creation. Econometrically, additional chapters are, however, associated with a gain in trade. I argue that these observations can be squared if more comprehensive agreements are associated with deeper commitments in the core chapters. The additional chapters add little if anything to trade growth directly; however, the commitment to deeper liberalization on core matters leads the parties to embellish the agreements, resulting in chapter inflation. This is a form of commitment bias, resulting in econometric findings that agreements with longer texts induce more trade.


We evaluate the last missing piece of the two-loop QED corrections to the high-energy electron-positron scattering cross section originating from the vacuum polarization by heavy fermions. The calculation is performed within a new approach applicable to a wide class of perturbative problems with mass hierarchy. The result is crucial for the high-precision physics program at existing and future e(+) e(-) colliders.


Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement and evaluate the impact of Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) program with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. The goals were to improve glycosylated hemoglobin (A1C) and improve patient satisfaction. Methods: A quality improvement project using the Iowa model was implemented in a primary care setting in Southern California to provide DSME program for adults with type 2 diabetes. A nurse practitioner conducted three DSME group sessions, which were done for 90 minutes per session in a 4-month period. The American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) 7 self-care behavior guidelines were used to develop the DSME program. Five patients with type 2 DM participated in the program. Patient satisfaction and A1C levels were collected at baseline and after the completion of the program. Results: The average AIC for patients at the initiation of DSME was 9%. After the completion of DSME program, the mean change in A1C was 1.44%, and the range change was 1% to 1.8%. Twenty percent of total participants met the objective of decreased A1C level below 7%. Five patients, (100%), had 10% decrease in their A1C levels after completing the program and scored highly satisfied" with the DSME program. Conclusion: As the prevalence and incidence of diabetes increase, a coordinated model of care can meet the growing demand for access and utilization of DSME programs. Health care providers in primary care settings can replicate DSME programs focusing on chronic conditions to improve outcomes.


The Arctic is facing rapid and significant social, cultural, economic and environmental changes. In recent years, due to ongoing and forecasted climate change impacts, policy-makers' and the research community's interest in the region has increased dramatically within and outside of Arctic countries. This is reflected in increasing public visibility and in the amount of attention the Arctic region has gained in the media. In parallel, tourism in the Arctic has undergone considerable growth and the Arctic is emerging as a popular destination, although tourism in the Arctic has existed for over two centuries. Nevertheless, Arctic tourism is a concept that has been substantially used in academic literature, policy documents, and tourism promotion materials, although there is no current consensus on its definition. The term, often taken for granted, generally refers to tourism in and about the Arctic, wherein the Arctic is characterized by static and external views, overlooking its rich diversity in terms of cultures, landscapes, climates and environments. In this study, my interest is in the (re)conceptualization of Arctic tourism, based on studies about tourist experiences at the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland.
This thesis contributes to literature on tourist experiences in the Arctic, a topic that has not received a lot of attention in the past, but one that has significant relevance in terms of tourists' decision-making in response to Arctic communities' efforts to attract visitors and stimulate regional tourism development. By addressing tourist experiences and border literature, this study also contributes to conceptual discussions on Arctic tourism. This dissertation focuses on the Arctic Circle both as a tourist attraction and as a border for the Arctic region. It aims to shed light on tourists' practices and experiences of the Arctic in Rovaniemi and to understand 'how Arctic' this important destination is. The chosen case study did not consist of a simple location, but of a specific ritual performed and reproduced by tourists: the crossing of the Arctic Circle. In the tourism industry, Arctic Circle landmarks are commonly represented as gateways to the Arctic, and crossing the line signifies entering the region. As such, this particular performance crystallizes tourists' representations of the Arctic. This study aims to investigate these crystalized representations and is based on empirical materials consisting of qualitative data gathered from multiple ethnographies and secondary materials comprising academic literature, policy documents and promotional tourism materials. Traditional on-site ethnography was conducted through methods inspired by participant observation at different Arctic Circle landmarks located in Rovaniemi. Netnography was aimed at investigating post-trip experiences of crossing the Arctic Circle as reported on Instagram, and autoethnography was used for the purpose of self-reflection related to my Arctic experiences as a tourist. Qualitative data were analyzed from an interpretative approach, and especially using hermeneutics, in order to understand the meanings behind Instagram posts and specific postures when crossing the Arctic Circle.
The results indicate that in Rovaniemi, from the tourist perspective, the Arctic is experienced as a nebulous region with no proper boundaries. Tourists do not perceive the Arctic Circle as an absolute border for the Arctic, despite heavy promotion and the performance of border-crossing postures. Rather, the magical line is considered as one of the many items encompassed by the vague representation of what the Arctic is. Other elements like the presence of snow, reindeer and northern lights are also all part of what a full Arctic experience is supposed to be. This suggests that, from the tourist perspective, proper Arctic experiences should be winter-based, which is the foundation for the 'cryospheric gaze' developed in this thesis as the definition for current Arctic tourism. The cryospheric gaze, grounded in Urry's tourist gaze, is also supported by how the Santa Claus tourism industry, highly present in Rovaniemi, extracts and exploits winter-based elements of the Arctic for its own promotion and development. In order to acknowledge the diversity of the Arctic, I argue for a fluidity in space and time of the tourism segment called Arctic tourism. Toward the end of the thesis, the future of Arctic tourism is discussed in relation to climate change and the development of 'post-Arctic regions'. It explores challenges in terms of equal access to snow, of stereotypical images of the Arctic becoming burdensome for local communities and how current forms of Arctic tourism can still be offered to tourists in 'cryosphericless' regions that have built themselves into Arctic tourism destinations.


Distribution of polymer deposition in an inductively coupled rf discharge system is studied as a function of level of discharge power with acetylene and styrene as monomers. When a fixed flow rate is used, the discharge power has a relatively small effect on the pattern of distribution of polymer deposition as long as values of W/FM, where W is discharge wattage, F is flow rate, and M is molecular weight of monomer, are maintained above a critical level to maintain full glow in the reaction tube. It has been shown that plasma polymerization of two monomers which have different molecular weights can be compared in a fair manner by selecting conditions to yield similar value of W/FM.


The critically important at‐a‐station hydraulic geometry (AHG) relationships relate hydraulic variables (depth, width, or velocity) to discharge in power law form. The recently discovered at‐many‐stations hydraulic geometry (AMHG) states that AHG exponents and coefficients are strongly correlated, removing one parameter and lending AMHGs to remote sensing discharge estimation. Despite the excitement, there is an urgent need to clarify AMHG's geomorphological significance for different hydraulic variables. Using data from 57 rivers in the U.S. and perturbation experiments, we show that the width‐AMHG is weak, arising mainly from the mathematical construct involving the exponent in both the regressor and the regressand. In contrast, the depth‐AMHGs result from geomorphological coevolution. The similar‐time‐mean condition, as argued for in the literature, is sufficient but not necessary for rating curve convergence and in turn AMHG, for depth and velocity. The predictive accuracy of AMHGs, whose coefficient of determination is unit dependent, is similar to the flow percentile‐based downstream hydraulic geometry.


In this paper, we examine a particular form of social network which we call a friendship-event network. A friendship-event network captures both the friendship relationship among a set of actors, and also the organizer and participation relationships of actors in a series of events. Within these networks, we formulate the notion of social capital based on the actor-organizer friendship relationship and the notion of benefit, based on event participation. We investigate appropriate definitions for the social capital of both a single actor and a collection of actors. We ground these definitions in a real-world example of academic collaboration networks, where the actors are researchers, the friendships are collaborations, the events are conferences, the organizers are program committee members and the participants are conference authors. We show that our definitions of capital and benefit capture interesting qualitative properties of event series. In addition, we show that social capital is a better publication predictor than publication history.


Based on weak lensing data from the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS), in this paper we study the mass–concentration (M–c) relation for ∼200 redMaPPer clusters in the fields. We extract the M–c relation by measuring the density profiles of individual clusters instead of using stacked weak lensing signals. By performing Monte Carlo simulations, we demonstrate that although the signal-to-noise ratio for each individual cluster is low, the unbiased M–c relation can still be reliably derived from a large sample of clusters by carefully taking into account the impacts of shape noise, cluster center offset, dilution effect from member or foreground galaxies, and the projection effect. Our results show that within error bars the derived M–c relation for redMaPPer clusters is in agreement with simulation predictions. There is a weak deviation in that the halo concentrations calibrated by Monte Carlo simulations are somewhat higher than that predicted from Planck cosmology.


We consider a broad-area vertical microresonator with an active layer constituted by bulk GaAs driven by an external coherent homogeneous electromagnetic field, and we adopt a microscopic model that describes the field and carrier dynamics in the quasi-equilibrium regime. The theory is developed within the free-carrier approximation, with some relevant effects, such as the Urbach tail and the bandgap renormalization, which are taken into account in a phenomenological way. We include in the model the description of paraxial diffraction and carrier diffusion. A detailed study of the instabilities, both modulational and plane wave, affecting the homogeneous stationary state of the output field is performed. In this way we address the numerical research of cavity solitons, which appear as self-organized light peaks embedded in a homogeneous background, as discussed in a companion paper [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B16, 2095 (1999)]. Optimal conditions for cavity solitons' existence are found in extended regions of the parameter space.


Active Share is a popular measure of active management. However, it is not clear what drives Active Share. To improve our understanding, we decompose Active Share into Active Stock Selection (ASE) and Active Stock Weights (ASW). ASE captures portfolio weights in stocks outside the portfolio benchmark and correlates positively (88%) with Active Share. ASW captures portfolio weight deviations from market capitalization weights and correlates negatively (-55%). Furthermore, we find some evidence that ASE positively predicts performance, while ASW negatively predicts performance. Our results suggest that the benefits of Active Share stem from the selection decision rather than the weighting decision.


As a result of a historically anchored relationship between the Swedish state and the sports movement, gender equality has been a prioritized area of interest in Swedish sports since the 1970s. Despite long-term work in this field, research indicates a notable gap between what is said and done at the central level and locally. Research also indicates attitude problems; gender equality is often seen as an insignificant or unnecessary issue. This thesis seeks to relate to and analyze this development. Answers are sought via male sport coaches and leaders. This approach is motivated by the fact that gender equality-related sport research in Sweden seldom focuses on men and masculinities. At the same time men have been overrepresented as power holders and decision makers, and gender equality has consequently been constructed as a women's issue. By means of a post-structural discourse analysis, the aim is to investigate constructions of gender equality in interviews with 47 leaders selected from seven sports. How is gender equality constructed in terms of meanings of and standpoints in relation to the concept, and which discourses set the frames for these constructions? Which subject positions are articulated? Results show that gender equality is given many different meanings in the interviews and that these meanings are produced in line with three discourses: a women's rights discourse (semi-essentialism, structural feminism, a quantitative and qualitative support for women's sport), a gender critical discourse (constructionism, structural feminism, "women can", deconstructions of femininities) and a liberal discourse ("sport for all", individualism, gender neutrality). Furthermore, four subject positions are distinguished: the skeptic, the cynic, the women rightist and the norm critic position. When the results are related to the production of gender equality policies four aspects are discussed, 1) relations between discourses (the discourses generate contradictory interpretations of sport, subjectivity, gender and equality), 2) men and gender equality, 3) the relatively substantial lack of interest in gender equality in the interviews and 4) sport and pluralism. One conclusion in the thesis is that the women's rights discourse dominates and that the liberal discourse is marginalized in the interviews. Further, it is suggested that an elaboration and a more frequent practice of the gender critical discourse could be useful in the development of the gender equality project in Swedish sport.


Description: Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) has become the technique of choice for many areas of radiation dosimetry. The technique is finding widespread application in a variety of radiation dosimetry fields, including personal monitoring, environmental monitoring, retrospective dosimetry (including geological dating and accident dosimetry), space dosimetry, and many more. In this book we have attempted to synthesize the major advances in the field, covering both fundamental understanding and the many applications. The latter serve to demonstrate the success and popularity of OSL as a dosimetry method. The book is designed for researchers and radiation dosimetry practitioners alike. It delves into the detailed theory of the process from the point of view of stimulated relaxation phenomena, describing the energy storage and release processes phenomenologically and developing detailed mathematical descriptions to enable a quantitative understanding of the observed phenomena. The various stimulation modes (continuous wave, pulsed, or linear modulation) are introduced and compared. The properties of the most important synthetic OSL materials beginning with the dominant carbon-doped Al2O3, and moving through discussions of other, less-well studied but nevertheless important, or potentially important, materials. The OSL properties of the two most important natural OSL dosimetry material types, namely quartz and feldspars are discussed in depth. The applications chapters deal with the use of OSL in personal, environmental, medical and UV dosimetry, geological dating and retrospective dosimetry (accident dosimetry and dating). Finally the developments in instrumentation that have occurred over the past decade or more are described. The book will find use in those laboratories within academia, national institutes and the private sector where research and applications in radiation dosimetry using luminescence are being conducted. Potential readers include personnel involved in radiation protection practice and research, hospitals, nuclear power stations, radiation clean-up and remediation, food irradiation and materials processing, security monitoring, geological and archaeological dating, luminescence studies of minerals, etc.


Accurate detection of diabetic macular edema (DME) is an important task in optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of the eye. A relatively simple and practical approach is proposed in this paper. A pre-trained convolutional neural network (CNN) is fine tuned for a classification of DME versus normal cases. The fine-tuned Inception-Resnet-v2 CNN model can effectively identify pathologies in comparison to classical learning. Experiments were carried out on the publicly available data set of the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI). The developed model was also compared to other fine tuned models, such as Resnet-50 and Inception-v3. The proposed method achieved 100% classification accuracy with the Inception-Resnet-v2 model using a leave-one-out cross-validation strategy. For robustness, the model trained on the SERI dataset was tested on another dataset provided by the Chinese University HongKong (CUHK), also with 100% accuracy. The proposed method is a potentially impactful tool for accurately detecting DME vs. normal cases.


Micropropagation protocols of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, an important medicinal plant of Asteraceae family have been developed using nodal segments in half strength MS media. Stevia is an anti-diabetic plant used as sweetening agent in industrial sector and is commercially important. Stevioside, the bio-active compound in its leaves, tastes about 300 times sweeter than sucrose. Its other medicinal uses include regulating blood sugar, preventing hypertension and tooth decay as well as treatment of skin disorders. Due to poor seed viability and low germination rate, the common method of propagation is restricted. Keeping in view its utmost medicinal values in account, in vitro culture study was attempted to raise the stevia plants through effective protocol. Shoot multiplication enhanced significantly in half strength MS medium at various hormonal concentrations of Benzyl amino purine (BAP), Kinetin (Kn), Indole acetic acid (IAA), Indole butyric acid (IBA), both alone and in combination. Lower concentrations of growth regulators, in general, are more effective. Single use of Kn (0.5 mg/l) as compared to BAP produced best shooting response, whereas, when various combinations of cytokinins and auxins were considered BAP and IBA (0.2 mg/l each) produced maximum shoots (2.75) with moderate shoot length (1.70 cm) and good number of leaves (28). In vitro rooting of microshoots was effective in ¼ MS medium supplemented with IBA (1.0 mg/l) and activated charcoal (50 mg/l). The survival of the hardened in vitro raised plants, under controlled condition was 90%. The field transplantation of these plants showed 70% survival after 2 months.


Development of many wells is envisaged in the UK in coming decades to exploit the abundant shale gas resource as fuel and petrochemical feedstock. Forward planning is therefore warranted regarding reuse of the resulting subsurface infrastructure after gas production has ceased. It is shown that this infrastructure might be repurposed for borehole thermal energy storage (BTES). Preliminary calculations, assuming an idealized cycle of summer heat storage and winter heat extraction, indeed demonstrate annual storage of c. 6 TJ or c. 2 GWh of energy per BTES well. Summed over the anticipated well inventory, a significant proportion of the UK's future heat demand might thus be supplied. This form of BTES technology has particular relevance to the UK, where the shale resource is located in relatively densely populated areas; it is especially significant for Scotland, where the resource coincides with a particularly high proportion of the population and heat demand.


Correctly characterizing credit risk is the most important step in structured finance. In particular, detecting fraud in granular portfolio assets leads to market outperformance for portfolio managers who eliminate more fraud than their competitors. Fraud results in varying degrees of permanent value destruction for both fixed income and equity portfolios. Even if no fraud is discovered, the due diligence process eliminates weaker "peer" credits and eliminates overpaying for assets. Fraud discovered in discrete assets is often a leading indicator of gaming in other aspects of securitizations. Despite the contribution of massive securitization fraud to the September 2008 financial crisis, quantitative modeling is still favored at the expense of thorough portfolio due diligence. The financial industry should shift the bulk of time and money to ongoing credit analysis instead of spending most of its resources on quantitative analysis. This is the opposite of current market practice. TOPICS:CLOs, CDOs, and other structured credit; credit risk management; portfolio management/multi-asset allocation; quantitative methods; financial crises and financial market history


This article explores how to do queer intersectional feminist teaching through the two authors' autoethnographic reflections on our own teaching experience in UK higher education alongside queer and feminist pedagogy literature. We argue that central to queer intersectional feminist teaching is the negotiation of various discomforts in the classroom, whether discomfort is deliberately used as a pedagogical tool or it arises spontaneously and must be dealt with. However, it is a delicate and imperfect balancing act to negotiate competing aims and emotions in the classroom, whether they be ours as teachers or those of our students. The paper will focus on two key negotiations: 'coming out' and negotiating authority and privilege in the university classroom. Firstly, we will explore how to negotiate vulnerability in the classroom, particularly through using personal stories and 'coming out' as queer and as traumatised as a pedagogical tool. Secondly, we will explore how to acknowledge students' own expertise and experiential knowledge, challenging the idea of the teachers as the only experts in the classroom, alongside the seemingly contradictory use of our position of power to challenge privilege in the classroom. These contribution to our overall argument that such queer feminist negotiations take time, something we are short of in the neoliberal university. Through these complex negotiations, we explore the challenges of prefiguring transformed feminist futures while navigating the less-feminist neoliberal present.


This paper analyzes the supply and demand for alpha by institutional investors and the money managers who serve them. A large database of products offered by such managers is used to estimate how the demand for such products increases as a function of achieved excess returns and how the ability to produce such excess returns declines with increased AUM (Assets Under Management). Static and dynamic (simulation) analyses are used to explore some implications of these estimates.


Urban road networks show the main role in urban spatial structures. The study was attempted to investigate the expected utilization of network analysis to determine the shortest road to Diyala provincial council in Baqubah. The distance is taken as a base so as to pursue out the most effective route and therefore the period is taken a base so as to search out the shorter road from the eight interning to reaching the Central business district (C.B.D) social, and economic activities. Spatial analysis has been most preferable to assess road networks with geographic data system (GIS) spatial analysis technology. The model was tested using the urban road network data (distance, intersection, actual travel time, and direction). It was concluded that GIS is a crucial tool for the success of the new urban informed decision-making in its planning process. The simplest solution was found for traffic problems and congestion within the city center. Drivers and road users would benefit from knowing the shortest route since it would allow them to save money on transportation, save time, and prevent traffic congestion on commuter routes by diverting excess traffic to less utilized alternative routes. The best route from the five north entering to reaching the C.B.D was founded road No.1.


In an effort to place type specimens lacking molecular data into a phylogenetic framework ahead of a taxonomic revision, we used morphometric data, both alone and in combination with a molecular dataset, to generate phylogenetic hypotheses under the parsimony criterion for 107 members of the South-east Asian mite harvestman family Stylocellidae (Arachnida: Opiliones: Cyphophthalmi). For the morphometric analyses, we used undiscretised characters, analysed for independence and collapsed by principal components analysis (PCA) when dependent. Two challenges not previously encountered in the use of this method were (a) handling terminals with missing data, necessitated by the inclusion of old and damaged type specimens, and (b) controlling for extreme variation in size. Custom scripts for independence analysis were modified to accommodate missing data whereby placeholder numbers were used during PCA for missing measurements. Size was controlled in four ways: choosing characters that avoided misleading size information and were easily scaled; using only locally scaled measurements; adjusting ratios by y-intercepts; and collapsing dependent characters into one. These steps removed enough size information that miniaturised and large species, suspected from molecular and discrete morphological studies to be closely related, were closely placed using morphometric data alone. Both morphometric and combined analyses generated relationships that positioned type specimens in agreement with taxonomic expectations and our knowledge of the family from prior studies. The hypotheses generated here provide new direction in linking molecular analyses with established taxonomy in this large group of South-east Asian arachnids.


Both relational databases and wikis have strengths that make them attractive for use in collaborative applications. In the last decade, database-backed Web applications have been used extensively to develop valuable shared biological references called curated databases. Databases offer many advantages such as scalability, query optimization and concurrency control, but are not easy to use and lack other features needed for collaboration. Wikis have become very popular for early-stage biocuration projects because they are easy to use, encourage sharing and collaboration, and provide built-in support for archiving, history-tracking and annotation. However, curation projects often outgrow the limited capabilities of wikis for structuring and efficiently querying data at scale, necessitating a painful phase transition to a database-backed Web application. We perceive a need for a new class of general-purpose system, which we call a Database Wiki, that combines flexible wiki-like support for collaboration with robust database-like capabilities for structuring and querying data. This paper presents DBWiki, a design prototype for such a system written in the Web programming language Links. We present the architecture, typical use, and wiki markup language design for DBWiki and discuss features of Links that provided unique advantages for rapid Web/database application prototyping.


This article presents two novel protocols for interactive access to video-on-demand systems. They are both based on the well-known BitTorrent paradigm. As main innovative aspects, the video chunks are categorized in different priority sets and there is the deployment of a user-behavior predicting model. The analysis and the validation are carried out through simulations using workloads from a real server. Furthermore, the novel protocols are compared with others of the literature. The final results outline optimizations of up to one order of magnitude over the various competitive metrics considered herein.


Breast cancer is the leading death threat for female apart from heart diseases. In Malaysia, the number of individuals experiencing breast cancer is expected to rise. An ethnobotanical study of plants used by the herbalists, local healers, and inhabitants for the treatment of breast cancer was carried out among the indigenous people of Jakun community in Kampung Peta, Johor, Malaysia. Six key informants were selected based on recognition by the Johor National Park staff and information on therapeutic plants were gathered by semi structured questionnaire. There were only five species of plants belonging to 5 genera and 5 families that have been recorded.  Most of the plants are set up as juice from fresh plant. 98% of the cures are set up from single plant and taken orally. The utilization of extracts from plant leaves and fruits were usually for the treatment. In all cases, the treatment involved drinking the concentrates for a certain period of time. This study is important to preserve the knowledge of medicinal plants for breast cancer treatment used by Jakun people. The outcome obtained in the study are worth being further investigated for conservation and are also worthy of verifying their ethnomedical claims scientifically.


Abstract. In this paper, numerical and analytical studies were performed to uncover the mechanisms controlling the changes in ensemble spread of a low-order coupled model with multiple atmospheric realizations. An interactive ensemble approach was applied to a coupled dynamical system based on two versions of the Lorenz 63 model designed in order to imitate the behavior of a coupled system with different time scales. In the dynamic system used in this work the spread of ensemble members is highly dependent on the mean state corresponding to asymmetries in predictability. The slowness of the slow model and the intensity of the boundary forcing anomalies both contribute to the asymmetry and phase locking of both subsystems. The mechanisms controlling the fast model spread were uncovered revealing uncertainty dynamics depending on the location of ensemble members in the fast model phase space and implicitly on the slowness and magnitude of the slow model anomalies.


Symptom validity testing (SVT), also known as forced-choice testing, is a means of assessing the validity of sensory and memory deficits, including tactile anesthesias, paresthesias, blindness, color blindness, tunnel vision, blurry vision, and deafness. The common feature among these symptoms is a claimed inability to perceive or remember a sensory signal. SVT comprises two elements: a specific ability is assessed by presenting a large number of items in a multiple-choice format, and then the examinee's performance is compared to the statistical likelihood of success based on chance alone. These tests usually present two alternatives; thus the probability of simply guessing the correct response (equivalent to having no ability at all) is 50%. Thus, scores significantly below chance performance indicate that the sensory cues must have been perceived, but the examinee chose not to report the correct answer—alternative explanations are not apparent. SVT also has the capacity to demonstrate that the examinee performed below the probabilities of chance. Scoring below a norm can be explained by fatigue, evaluation anxiety, inattention, or limited intelligence. Scoring below the probabilities of chance alone most likely indicates deliberate deceptions and is evidence of malingering because it provides strong evidence that the examinee received the sensory cues and denied the perception. Even so, malingering must be evaluated from the total clinical context.


A technique for calculating exponentially small terms beyond all orders in singularly perturbed difference equations is presented. The approach is based on the application of a WKBJ-type ansatz to the late terms in the naive asymptotic expansion and the identification of Stokes lines, and is closely related to the well-known Stokes line smoothing phenomenon in linear ordinary differential equations. The method is illustrated by application to examples and the results extended to time-dependent differential-difference problems.


In the last three decades, light emitting diodes (LEDs) had a huge improvement in technical implication due to its excellent advantages such as long lifetime, compactness, high luminous efficiency, environment factor, and low cost. In this paper, the improvement of optical properties (color rending index and color quality scale) of the white LEDs by adding scattering enhancement particles CaCO3, CaF2, SiO2, and TiO2 to the yellow-emitting YAG:Ce phosphor compounding was investigated. In the beginning, we built the physical model of multi-chip W-LEDs (MCW-LEDs) by using commercial LightTools 8.1.0 program. After that, we investigated, calculated and analyzed the influence of scattering enhancement particles on the color rending index (CRI) and color quality scale (CQS) of MCW-LEDs. Finally, the results were demonstrated the Mie-scattering theory with using the Mat lab software. The results indicated that all CaCO3, CaF2, SiO2 and TiO2 particles are influenced by the optical properties of MCW-LEDs. The highest CRI and CQS of W-LEDs can be obtained by adding CaCO3 particles. This results and discussion provided important technical implication for materials development of MCW-LED applications.


Bottom of the mountainous rivers is generally composed of natural gravels. Flow depth in such rivers is generally shallow, with the ratio of water depth to size of bed materials (known as relative submergence) rarely higher than 20. In this type of flow, gravels intrusion induces significant spatial variation of the flow characteristics near bed region, which is known as roughness layer. The simultaneous effects of natural gravels and water surface cause formation of complicated flow structure which is to some extent different from the flow with high relative submergence (flow with relative submergence higher than 40). Despite abundance of studies in shallow flows, there are only a limited number of studies concerning spatial organization of near bed flow field for such type of flow, with also contradictory results. The spatial organization of near bed turbulent flow characteristics is also important for transport of fine sediment. Transport of fine sediments is generally correlated to the asymmetry of vertical velocity. Asymmetry of vertical velocity also arises from a quasi-cyclic process of upward motion of low-velocity fluid parcels (ejection) and downward motion of high-velocity parcels (sweep), together known as bursting process. Spatial organization of bursting process and asymmetry of vertical velocity in near bed and respect to bed topography has not been inscribed properly.
In heterogeneous flows, the use of spatially averaged turbulent transport equations, known as Double Averaged Navier-Stikes equations (DANS), is common. In DANS equations viscous drag, form drag and correlation of spatial fluctuation of time averaged velocities (known as form induced stresses) are explicitly expressed. Despite prevailing usage of DANS equations in study of gravel bed flow, examination of vertical velocity has not been performed appropriately by applying double averaging method. Also, the role of form induced stresses in vertical momentum flux has not been highlighted. In present thesis, Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocimetry at near bed horizontal layer and Digital Particle Image Velocimetry in vertical planes are employed together with laser scanning of bed elevations to study flow field and turbulence structure over a coarse immobile gravel bed in submergence conditions ranges from 5 to 10. Spatial organization of flow characteristics at the near bed region is analyzed respect to bed topography. This analysis is also composed of spatial distribution of bursting process and vertical momentum flux. Moreover, vertical profiles of double averaged turbulent flow characteristics and form induced stresses with different relative submergences are compared.
Results show that near bed flow field is characterized by a strip structure induced by secondary currents. Such structure tends to be disrupted by the effect of gravel protrusions. To better analyze the interaction between the flow field and gravel bed protrusions, cross-correlations of different velocity components and bed elevations in a horizontal layer just above gravel crests are computed. These results show that upward and downward flows occur not randomly on the bed, but in correspondence to upstream and downstream side of gravels. Also, turbulent momentum flux is directed downward in the downstream side of gravel crests and it is directed upward in upstream side of gravel crests. This is due to prevalence of ejection and sweep events respectively in upstream and downstream sides of gravel crests. These results are in agreement with formation of separation and reattachment zones around gravel crests. Moreover, spatial distribution of sweep and ejection events are organized in streamwise elongated strips with high and low values which are consistent with presence of secondary currents cells. Results obtained by double averaging method show that relative submergence affects the normalwise double averaged turbulence intensity profiles all along the flow depth, while only a weak effect, limited to the near bed region, is noticed on streamwise double averaged turbulence intensity profiles. Logarithmic law parameterization of double averaged velocity profiles shows that parameters change considerably with relative submergence and, in some cases, no clear log-law region was found. These results challenge application of log-law in such type of flow. Analysis of the vertical velocity shows that far from the bed, vertical turbulence momentum flux is upward, while below gravel crests it is downward. This behavior is resulted by prevalence of ejection events far from the bed and sweep events below gravel crests. Results show that vertical momentum flux resulted by form induced component is not significant, except below gravel crests which are upward in to the water column. A limited number of qualitative observations in the real case of fine sediments presence in the matrix of rough bed is in agreement with the results of turbulent flow characteristics. Sand ribbons are clearly formed due to secondary currents. Also, fine materials are mostly deposited and eroded respectively in downstream and upstream sides of gravel crests. The results of present study show that in general some regions actively participate in transport, while the other regions do not participate in the transport. From this basis, Rouse criterion has been developed by considering spatial variation of vertical momentum flux.


We examined the hospital files of five patients who were followed in Erzurum Region Training Hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU) due to synthetic cannabinoid (SC) use between November 24th 2014 and February 28th 2015. Age range was between 18-67. Despite all treatment two of the patients died. Three of them were discharged from the ICU with full recovery. Three of the patients were intubated and admitted after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Coronary Angiography (CAG) was performed for these intubated patients and two of them were in normal ranges. One of the patients had diabetes mellitus (DM) and one of them had Familial Mediterranean Fever. Only the patient with diabetes mellitus history had an abnormal coronary angiography and a coronary artery stent was implanted. In this report we aimed to draw attention to synthetic cannabinoid use in patients who are admitted to emergency services with altered consciousness and describe the possible relation between acute coronary syndrome and synthetic cannabinoid use.
Key words: Bonzai, acute coronary syndrome, intensive care unit, synthetic cannabinoid.


What will your 100-year life look like? Does the thought of working for 60 or 70 years fill you with dread? Or can you see the potential for a more stimulating future as a result of having so much extra time? Many of us have been raised on the traditional notion of a three-stage approach to our working lives: education, followed by work and then retirement. But this well-established pathway is already beginning to collapse - life expectancy is rising, final-salary pensions are vanishing, and increasing numbers of people are juggling multiple careers. Whether you are 18, 45 or 60, you will need to do things very differently from previous generations and learn to structure your life in completely new ways. The 100-Year Life is here to help. Drawing on the unique pairing of their experience in psychology and economics, Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott offer a broad-ranging analysis as well as a raft of solutions, showing how to rethink your finances, your education, your career and your relationships and create a fulfilling 100-year life. * How can you fashion a career and life path that defines you and your values and creates a shifting balance between work and leisure? * What are the most effective ways of boosting your physical and mental health over a longer and more dynamic lifespan? * How can you make the most of your intangible assets - such as family and friends - as you build a productive, longer life? * In a multiple-stage life how can you learn to make the transitions that will be so crucial and experiment with new ways of living, working and learning? The 100-Year Life is a wake-up call that describes what to expect and considers the choices and options that you will face. It is also fundamentally a call to action for individuals, politicians, firms and governments and offers the clearest demonstration that a 100-year life can be a wonderful and inspiring one.


Aim: To study the effect of 5-R-thio-tetrazolo[1,5-с]quinazoline derivatives on the physical performance in different types of physical exercise. Materials and Methods: The experiments were performed on Wistar white male rats weighing 190-210 g. The investigated substances and a comparator, 2-ethylthiobenzymidazol hydrobromide, were injected intraperitoneally to animals OD during 5 days in ED50 doses. Physical performance of rats was assessed by treadmill running tests at a speed of 42 m/min with a 10° slope angle and holding rats at a 15 rpm rotarod test. The study was performed on the day 5 of the experiment, 40 min after the past injection. Results and Discussion: We revealed that a 5-day course administration of 5-R-thio-tetrazolo[1,5-c]quinazoline derivatives at an ED50 dose contributed to growing the length of a rat treadmill running. The results of the test presented that physical endurance of animals grew with compounds KB-10, KB-28, KB-51, and KB-55 by 47.1, 60.7, 32.3, and 46.0 %, respectively. The duration of holding rats on rotarods with a pharmacological correction was 41.2-71.4 % higher than in the control group. The dynamics of physical endurance against treadmill running and rotarod tests results in the group of animals administered the reference medicine, 2-ethylthiobenzymidazol hydrobromide, made up 50.7 and 59.4% compared to the control, respectively. Conclusion: KB-28 (sodium 2-(tetrazolo[1,5-c]quinazoline-5-iltio)acetate) demonstrated the greatest effect on physical endurance of study participants among all 5-R-thio-tetrazolo[1,5-c]quinazoline derivatives. This substance was not only similar with the reference medicine in efficacy but also had ED50 19 times lower than reference actoprotector.


Low bandgap polymers with dithienylquinoxaline moieties based on 6H-phenanthro[1,10,9,8-cdefg]carbazole were synthesized via the Suzuki coupling reaction. Alkoxy groups were substituted at two different positions on the phenyl groups of the quinoxaline units of these polymers: in the para-position (PPQP) and in the meta-position (PPQM). The two polymers showed similar physical properties: broad absorption in the range of 400–700 nm, optical bandgaps of ∼1.8 eV, and the appropriate frontier orbital energy levels for efficient charge transfer/separation at polymer/PC71BM interfaces. However, the PPQM solar cell achieved a higher PCE due to its higher Jsc. Our investigation of the morphologies of the polymer:PC71BM blend films and theoretical calculations of the molecular conformations of the polymer chains showed that the polymer with the meta-positioned alkoxy group has better miscibility with PC71BM than the polymer with the para-positioned alkoxy group because the dihedral angle of its phenyl group with respect to the quinoxaline unit is higher. This higher miscibility resulted in a polymer:PC71BM blend film with a better morphology and thus in a higher PCE. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014, 52, 796–803


Traditionally, durational models of speech units have been developed without paying much heed to morphology and part-of-speech information while predicting speech temporal structure. The aim of the present study was to find out whether the rich morphology of the Estonian language could possibly provide some additional (beside the syntactic and part-of-speech) information that could be used in predicting durations. The project is a continuation of prosody studies for Estonian text-to-speech synthesis. Sound durations in the speech of radio newsreaders were modelled by means of different statistical methods (linear regression and neural networks). Model input consisted not only of descriptors of sound context and position, but also of information on part of speech, part of sentence and morphological features. The results indicated a decrease of error in the prediction of segmental durations. Such results were in good harmony with our expectations concerning a morphologically rich language.


Purpose Magnetic resonance venography (MRV) has not been validated in pre-operative planning of the dural venous sinus stenting (VSS) among idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) patients. We aim to prospectively evaluate dural venous sinus measurement in IIH patient population on two-dimensional time-of-flight (2D-TOF) MRV and Three-dimensional contrast-enhanced (3D-CE) MRV acquisitions and compare them against real-time endoluminal measurements with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), served as the reference. Materials and methods The study has been approved by the Weill Cornell Medicine institutional review board. All patients signed written informed consent approved by IRB. Prospective evaluation of forty-five consecutive IIH patients treated with VSS at our institution were evaluated. Patients with pre-stent magnetic resonance venography (MRV) ≤ 6-months of VSS and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) during VSS constituted the study population. Maximum diameter (in mm), Area (in cm2) and Perimeter (in cm) were measured at posterior 1/3rd of superior sagittal sinus (SSS), proximal transverse sinus (PTS), proximal sigmoid sinus (PSS) and mid sigmoid sinus (MSS) on 2D-TOF-MRV, 3D-CE-MRV and IVUS. Statistical analysis performed using box and whisker plots, Bland-Altman analysis and paired sample t-test. Results Twenty (n = 20) patients constituted our study population. The mean age was 30±11 years (7–59 years) and 18 out of 20 were female patients. Mean weight and BMI (range) were 86.3±18.3 kilograms (30.8–107.5 kgs) and 32.9±6.8 kg/M2 (16.4–48.3kg/M2) respectively. The CE-MRV significantly oversized the cerebral venous sinuses compared to TOF-MRV (Dmax: +2.0±1.35 mm, p<0.001; Area: +13.31±10.92 mm2, p<0.001 and Perimeter: +4.79±3.4 mm, p<0.001) and IVUS (Dmax: +1.52±2.16 mm, p<0.001; Area: +10.03±21.5 mm2, p<0.001 and Perimeter: +4.15±3.27 mm, p<0.001). The TOF-MRV sinus measurements were in good agreement with the IVUS measurements with no significant variation (Dmax: +.21±2.23 mm, p = 0.49; Area: +2.51±20.41mm2, p = 0.347 and Perimeter: +.001±1.11 mm, p = 0.991). Conclusion We report baseline cerebral venous sinus measurements (maximum diameter, area and perimeter) in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension. In our experience, TOF-MRV is a reliable representation of endoluminal cerebral venous sinus dimensions, and CE-MRV measurements reflected an overestimation of the endoluminal sinus dimensions when compared against the real time IVUS measurements.


Last year we described the development and deployment of novel ice drifters in the marginal ice zone of the Weddell Sea. Since then, further deployments have been made in the Odden region of the Greenland Sea. The buoys carried vertical accelerometers for in-situ wave spectral analysis, as well as meteorological and SST sensors. Both deployments have relied on Orbcomm as their primary satellite communications system. In addition to detailing our practical experience in the use of Orbcomm at high latitudes, we will present some of the scientific results regarding ice deformation which are emerging from the our studies of the buoy tracks and sensor data.


Primates use social grooming to service coalitions and it has been suggested that these directly affect the fitness of their members by allowing them to reduce the intrinsic costs associated with living in large groups. We tested two hypotheses about the size of grooming cliques that derive from this suggestion: (1) that grooming clique size should correlate with relative neocortex size and (2) that the size of grooming cliques should be proportional to the size of the groups they have to support. Both predictions were confirmed, although we show that, in respect of neocortex size, there are as many as four statistically distinct grades within the primates (including humans). Analysis of the patterns of grooming among males and females suggested that large primate social groups often consist of a set of smaller female subgroups (in some cases, matrilinearly based coalitions) that are linked by individual males. This may be because males insert themselves into the interstices between weakly bonded female subgroups rather than because they actually hold these subunits together.


One of the functions of Louis XIV's Versailles was to provide a setting for the receptions of ambassadors, heads of state, and other visiting dignitaries who conducted diplomatic and political business with France. These activities became particularly important after Versailles was proclaimed the new seat of the monarchy and government in 1682. Diplomatic Tours in the Gardens of Versailles Under Louis XIV is the first book to examine how the vast gardens of Versailles were used for these diplomatic receptions during the reign of the Sun King (1661-1715). The gardens were the final mise en scene of an elaborate ritual, which included the housing of the foreigners in Paris, their journey to Versailles, and their official audience with the king in the palace. A showcase for the achievements of royal artists, landscape architects, and hydraulic engineers, the gardens were soon regarded as one of the wonders of the modern world, proclaiming the wealth, power, and artistic taste of France and the French monarchy. The diplomatic tours were programmed every step of the way, with trained guides leading their guests on prescribed itineraries. Beginning in 1689, the king himself drafted a series of comprehensive itineraries, collectively called the Maniere de montrer les jardins de Versailles, for the use of his guides (a newly discovered version of the Maniere appears for the first time in this book). These itineraries changed over the years in concert with modifications and additions to the gardens, attesting to a constant search for an ideal itinerary-a subtheme of Diplomatic Tours.


Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effect of external supply chain (SC) flexibility on the product innovation performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the contingent role of informal control mechanisms in moderating such an effect.

Design/methodology/approach
This study conducts a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of 236 UK-based SME manufacturers.

Findings
Inbound supplier flexibility (ISF) has a stronger positive effect on SMEs' product innovation performance than outbound logistics flexibility (OLF), and that the strength and direction of both effects depend on informal control mechanisms. Lead supplier influence negatively moderates the relationship between ISF and product innovation performance but positively moderates the relationship between OLF and product innovation performance. Normative integration positively moderates the relationship between ISF and product innovation performance.

Research limitations/implications
This study enriches SC flexibility studies by focusing on understanding the differential effects of ISF and OLF on product innovation performance, as well as the role that contingency factors play in these relationships in the SME context.

Practical implications
To promote product innovation performance, SME managers should focus on building good relationships with their suppliers rather than their logistics service providers. SME managers should be particularly aware of the different types of informal control mechanisms that govern their SC relationships and adjust their managerial approaches accordingly.

Originality/value
This study distinguishes between ISF and OLF and examines their impacts on SMEs' product innovation performance. This study investigates the differential effects of lead supplier influence and normative integration on the relationship between external SC flexibility and SMEs' product innovation performance.


A Ferns, which are usually colonizing different environments and their roots frequently present mycorrhization, have two adult stages in their life cycle, the sporophytic and the gametophytic phase. This paper describes the experimental mycorrhizal association between Pteris vittata leptosporangiate fern and a strain of Glomus intraradices during the life cycle of the fern, from spore germination to the development of a mature sporophyte. The aim of this study was to compare the colonization pattern of in vitro cultures of G. intraradices along the fern life cycle with those found in nature. For this, mature spores were obtained from fertile P. vittata fronds growing in walls of Buenos Aires city, Argentina. Roots were stained and observed under the light microscope for arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization. Approximately, 75 fern spores were cultured in each pot filled with a sterile substrate and G. intraradices (BAFC No 51.331) as inoculum on the surface. After germination took place, samples were taken every 15 days until the fern cycle was completed. In order to determine colonization dynamics each sample was observed under optical and confocal microscope after staining. Gametophyte was classified as Adiantum type. Male and female gametangia were limited to the lower face, mycorrhizal colonization started when they were differentiated and took place through the rhizoids. Spores and vesicles were not found in this cycle stage. Paris-type mycorrhizal colonization was established in the midrib and in the embrionary foot. It was colonized by external mycelium. When the first root was developed soil inoculum colonized de novo this structure and Arum-type colonization was observed. This study proves that the type of colonization is determined by the structure of the host, not by the fungus. Both the gametophyte and embryo foot have determined growth and Paris-type colonization, while, sporophyte roots have undetermined growth and Arum-type colonization. The structures found in vitro cultures were highly similar to those found under natural conditions.


Respiration rate is one of the main indicators of an individual's health and therefore it requires accurate quantification. Its value can be used to predict life threatening conditions such as the child death syndrome and heart attacks. The current respiration rate monitoring methods are contact based, i.e. a sensing device needs to be attached to the person's body. Physically constraining infants and young children by a sensing device can be stressful to the individuals which in turn affects their respiration rate. Therefore, measuring respiration rate in a non-contact manner (i.e. without attaching the sensing device to the subject) has distinct benefits. Currently there is not any non-contact respiration rate monitoring available for use in medical field.The aim of this study was to investigate thermal imaging as a means for non-contact respiration rate monitoring. Thermal imaging is safe and easy to deploy. Twenty children were enrolled for the study at Sheffield Children Hospital; the children were from 6 month to 17 years old. They slept comfortably in a bed during the recordings. A high resolution high sensitivity (0.08 degree Kelvin) thermal camera (Flir A40) was used for the recordings. The image capture rate was 50 frames per second and its recording duration per subject was two minutes (i.e. 6000 image frames)A median digital lowpass filter was used to remove unwanted frequency spectrum of the images. An important issue was to localize and track the area centered on the tip of the nose (i.e. respiration region of interest, ROI). A number of approaches were developed for this purpose. The most effective approach was to identify use the warmest facial point (i.e. the point where the bridge of the nose meets the corner of one of the eyes). A novel method to analyse the selected ROI was devised. This involved segmenting the ROI into eight equal segments centred on the tip of nose. A respiration signal was produced for each segment across the 6000 recorded images from each subject. The study demonstrated that the process of dividing the ROI into eight segments improves determination of respiration rate. The respiration signals were processed both in the time and frequency domains to determine respiration rates for the 20 subjects included in the study. The respiration values obtained from the two domains were close. During each recording respiration rate was monitored using conventional contact methods (e.g. nostril thermistor, abdomen and chest movement sensor etc). There was a close correlation (correlation value 0.99) between respiration values obtained by thermal imaging and those obtained using conventional contact method.The novel aspects of the study relate to the development of techniques that facilitated thermal imaging as an effective non-contact respiration rate monitoring in both normal and patient subject groups.


Purpose – Strategic consensus between operators and managers is an important means to
accomplish a successful manufacturing strategy (MS) process. Previous studies largely left
out individual operators from this concept. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to
empirically examine the level of strategic consensus on the MS within the operations
function, that is, the operators' and managers' perceptions of MS.
Design/methodology/approach – Interviews were conducted with both operators and
managers at three small and medium-sized enterprises in Sweden. The MS dimensions were
selected based on previous research; the data was analysed by using thematic coding.
Findings – The study shows that the levels of strategic consensus on the MS vary among
companies. Even when strategic consensus exists between operators and managers, their
underlying reasons often differ. Furthermore, the levels of strategic consensus vary among
MS dimensions. The companies' usage of information-sharing channels, along with their size
and position in the supply chain, can be important for the level of strategic consensus.
Originality/value – This paper contributes to the body of knowledge in three ways. First, it
expands the scope of the MS dimensions under study, thus offering a stronger, resource-based
perspective on MS and strategic consensus than what earlier studies showed. Second, it goes
beyond the management level by including both managers and operators as the unit of
analysis. Third, compared to previous research, it focuses on a new context and is based on indepth
case studies.


Efficacy of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) in encephalopathic infants with co-existent sepsis is unknown; we assessed the brain tissue injury using magnetic resonance (MR) biomarkers in a south Indian public sector neonatal unit. Methods We randomly allocated 33 infants (≥36 weeks, ≥1800 g) with neonatal encephalopathy (NE) to TH (reduction of rectal temperature to 33.5°C for 72 h) or standard care within 6 h of birth. MR images were acquired between day 7 and 11 using a 1.5 Tesla Siemens Avanto MR scanner and scored by a single reader using a previously validated proforma.1 Results Baseline characteristics were similar in the cooled (n=17) and standard care (n=16) groups; six infants died before MR imaging. A trend towards increased sepsis (19% vs 53%), higher background EEG abnormality on day 4 (29% vs 47%) was seen in cooled infants. The brain tissue injury scores in the basal ganglia (odds ratio (95%CI) 3.4 (0.5, 22)), white matter (WM) (0.5 (0.08, 2.6) and cortex (4.7 (0.7,30) were similar in the control and cooled infants. No difference was seen on tract based spatial statistics with cooling; fractional anisotropy values were similar over the anterior and posterior limbs of internal capsule. Conclusions TH did not reduce the brain injury after NE in this population; this may be due to different population co-morbidities and/or higher incidence of perinatal sepsis than in high-income settings. Carefully controlled clinical trials are required before TH is routinely used in these settings.


ABSTRACT Background: Quality of patients' medical records is important in patient management, safety, decision making and continuation of care. Patients' medical record data are also used in clinical research, health system services and management, medical forensic management, quality improvement, health care financial management, and risk management. Objective: The aims of the study were to determine the quality of the components of hospital patients' medical records. Methods: The criteria selected for systematic searching were published articles in English from 1995 to 2014 for patient medical record quality components. The search terms were hospital patient medical record, reliability, accuracy, completeness, availability and accessibility. The study was carried out from 2013 to 2014 using public domain databases which include PubMed, Cochrane and CINHAL. Results: Over 2600 citations from the databases were extracted. Based on the criteria of the study 344 articles were selected for review. Subsequently, 7 articles were selected for reliability, 11 for accuracy, 18 for completeness and 9 for availability and accessibility. These articles were subjected to an in-depth review. Reliability of data in patients' medical record is a requisite for accuracy and completeness of clinical data. The reliability scores of the studies reviewed ranged from 49% to 99%, while accuracy of patients' medical record ranged from 73% to 95%. The reviewed studies also showed completeness of patients' medical record ranging from 41.5% to 93%, while availability and accessibility scores ranged from 58% to 94.3%. Conclusion: This review had contributed to a better understanding of the quality of patients' medical record. Reliability, accuracy, completeness and accessibility of patient medical record showed a wide range of quality of patients' medical record. Good quality of patients' medical record is essential for patient care and through preventing medical error. This review also revealed the importance of intervention to improve quality of patient medical record. Keywords : Patients' medical record, quality, reliability, accuracy, completeness, accessibility


The k-truss of a graph is a subgraph such that each edge is tightly connected to the remaining elements in the k-truss. The k-truss of a graph can also represent an important community in the graph. Finding the k-truss of a graph can be done in a polynomial amount of time, in contrast finding other subgraphs such as cliques. While there are numerous formulations and algorithms for finding the maximal k-truss of a graph, many of these tend to be computationally expensive and do not scale well. Many algorithms are iterative and use static graph triangle counting in each iteration of the graph. In this work we present a novel algorithm for finding both the k-truss of the graph (for a given k), as well as the maximal k-truss using a dynamic graph formulation. Our algorithm has two main benefits. 1) Unlike many algorithms that rerun the static graph triangle counting after the removal of non-conforming edges, we use a new dynamic graph formulation that only requires updating the edges affected by the removal. As our updates are local, we only do a fraction of the work compared to the other algorithms. 2) Our algorithm is extremely scalable and is able to concurrently detect deleted triangles in contrast to past sequential approaches. While our algorithm is architecture independent, we show a CUDA based implementation for NVIDIA GPUs. In numerous instances, our new algorithm is anywhere from 100X-10000X faster than the Graph Challenge benchmark. Furthermore, our algorithm shows significant speedups, in some cases over 70X, over a recently developed sequential and highly optimized algorithm.


This article considers patterns of modal verb usage, based on data collected from twenty informants from Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north-east of England, which show differences from material taken from the Survey of English Usage, used as data in Coates (1983, 1995). The paper therefore attempts to describe and explain differences in the use of the modals between authoritative accounts of Standard English on the one hand and the informal spoken English of a sample of speakers from Tyneside on the other. I argue that the reason for these differences may be in part due to increased markedness (systemic, sociolinguistic and stylistic) of certain forms, which induces simplification (the (re)creation of regularity within the system, through focussing) and redistribution (where modalities previously expressed by certain modal verbs come to be expressed by other modals within the system). Throughout, I try to suggest an approach to variation which considers language-internal and language-external factors.


A virtual substrate consisting of a Ge layer grown directly on Si without an intervening SiGe graded layer is characterized. The nominally 100% Ge overlayer is fully relaxed and contains a small amount (3%) of unintentional Si. A dislocation density of 108 cm−2 is estimated for the virtual substrate prior to GaAs epitaxial growth, which is reduced by a factor of 100 after the growth of GaAs. On this novel virtual substrate 1 cm2 single-junction GaAs photovoltaic cells were realized with an efficiency of 11.7% under AM0 compared with 20.2% for cells grown on a crystalline Ge substrate. Due to the high dislocation density a 50-fold higher dark current is measured in the virtual substrate cells compared to the crystalline Ge cells, leading to a lower short circuit current and open-circuit voltage of the cells fabricated on the virtual substrates. The post-GaAs growth dislocation density is estimated as 1 × 107 cm−2 in the base region and 4 × 105 cm−2 in the emitter region based on modelling and measurements.


Prior to June 2001, all companies in the NSE traded under one market segment. Classification was done and they were re-classified into Main, Alternative Investment Segments and Fixed Income Securities. The period between 2001 to 2008 brought about phenomenal changes at the bourse. In addition to market segmentation, the increased number of newcomers in the stock market and other major changes that took place in the Kenyan economy affected the stock market significantly and thus the amount of risk exposure. These changes in the market made it totally different in terms of systematic risk. This study sheds light on the post-classification period after the companies have traded for a couple of years and it aimed at illuminating areas of systematic risk and how they relate to shareholders returns and whether the classification of the market into various segments trading under different requirements had effect on the investment returns of the shareholders. A study performed at the Warsaw stock exchange which is an emerging market with similar segments as the NSE revealed that the main market segment earnings results were slightly stronger than the whole market while being definitely stronger than the parallel (Altemative) market segments (Jarmathowicz & Gornit 1998). In light of market segmentation concept, this shows that the performance of the three market segments namely, Main, Alternative and Fixed Income Securities investment segments, ought to be significantly different. It is therefore important to understand whether the re-classification of companies at NSE three market segments reflects significant differences in performance levels of those companies. This study sought to establish whether the companies that are classified under MIMs are actually different in terms of risk and return with those that are classified under AIMs at NSE. Descriptive design approach'was used to provide further insight into the research problem by describing the variables of interest and examining associative relationships. It involved taking repeated measures over time that was useful for conducting trend analysis and tracking changes in relationship over time. Systematic risk was found to have minimal effect on dividends and stronger positive effect on bonuses to investors. Main investment market segment had the highest systematic risk and posted the highest returns to investors compared to Alternative investment segment. Systematic risk and return relationship was found to be stronger in companies under MIMS compared to companies under AIMS. Future researchers may investigate the unsystematic risk return relationship at the NSE and establish the effect of different economic situations on the risk and return relationship.


MapReduce, originally developed by Google for search applications, has recently become a popular programming framework for parallel and distributed environments. This paper presents an energy-efficient architecture design for MapReduce on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The major goal is to enable users to program FPGAs with simple MapReduce interfaces, and meanwhile to embrace automatic performance optimizations within the MapReduce framework. Compared to other processors like CPUs and GPUs, FPGAs are (re-)programmable hardware and have very low energy consumption. However, the design and implementation of MapReduce on FPGAs can be challenging: firstly, FPGAs are usually programmed with hardware description languages, which hurts the programmability of the MapReduce design to its users; secondly, since MapReduce has irregular access patterns (especially in the reduce phase) and needs to support user-defined functions, careful designs and optimizations are required for efficiency. In this paper, we design, implement and evaluate Melia, a MapReduce framework on FPGAs. Melia takes advantage of the recent OpenCL programming framework developed for Altera FPGAs, and abstracts FPGAs behind the simple and familiar MapReduce interfaces in C. We further develop a series of FPGA-centric optimization techniques to improve the efficiency of Melia, and a costand resource-based approach to automate the parameter settings for those optimizations. We evaluate Melia on a recent Altera Stratix V GX FPGA with a number of commonly used MapReduce benchmarks. Our results demonstrate that 1) the efficiency and effectiveness of our optimizations and automated parameter setting approach, 2) Melia can achieve promising energy efficiency in comparison with its counterparts on CPUs/GPUs on both single-FPGA and cluster settings.


SummaryMandibles of Scaptotrigona postica, stingless bees with a highly evolved social organization and a system of communication based on mandibular gland secretions, were studied by SEM. In the frontal region, which exhibits both smooth and reticulated chitin, there are two fine grooves which delimit a region located in a lower plane. Ventral examination of the mandible showed the presence of a concave region containing a cutting blade, and of hairs of different sizes, some cavity-like structures, and a large number of campaniform sensilla. The mandibular gland opens on the internal part of the articulation of the mandible with the head outward through an orifice which is approximately elliptical in shape and which has reinforced margins and an elevated part close to one end. Throughout the ventral region of the mandibles are pores which may be grouped or isolated and which may represent sites of external elimination of the secretions of the intramandibular glands.


Polymerase chain reaction primers based on the ureC gene are described for use in detecting diverse groundwater urea-hydrolyzing bacteria. Six degenerate primers were designed and evaluated for their ability to detect the gene encoding the large catalytic subunit of urease, ureC. Five combinations of these primers were tested pair-wise and displayed an overlapping detection range for bacterial isolates. Pair L2F/L2R exhibited the greatest detection range for described bacterial species and for bacterial isolates from groundwater samples belonging to the bacterial divisions Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and the α , β , and γ subdivisions of Proteobacteria. Primers L2F/L2R exhibited a greater detection range than previously described ureC-specific primers, and amplified novel ureC sequences from groundwater isolates in the genera Hydrogenophaga, Acidovorax, Janthinobacterium, and Arthrobacter. A comparative phylogenetic analysis of ureC and 16S rRNA genes was performed to determine the utility of groundwater ureC sequence information as a phylogenetic marker for ureolytic species. Our results were consistent with previous analyses of urease genes which demonstrated that the ureC gene has undergone lateral transfer and is not a robust phylogenetic marker. However, the ureC-specific primers, L2F/L2R, demonstrate a broad detection range for ureolytic species, and can serve to enhance functional diversity analyses of ureolytic bacteria.


Introduction: To develop a new sensitive, precise, simple, and economic stability indicating reverse phaseultrafast liquid chromatographic (RP-UFLC) method for the estimation of Sofosbuvir (SFB) in bulk and its tablet dosage forms. Materials and Methods: Chromatographic separation was achieved through C8 Phenomenex column (250 mm × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm particle size) using acetonitrile: 0.1% Formic acid mixture as the mobile phase. The Shimadzu model CBM-20A/20 Elite high-performance liquid chromatography system was monitored at detection wavelength 259 nm in isocratic mode with flow rate 0.8mL/min and the total run time is 10 min. The method was validated, and forced degradation studies were conducted. Results and Discussion: SFB has obeyed Beer-Lambert's law over a concentration range 1–200 μg/ mL with correlation coefficient 0.9998. The limit of detection and limit of quantification are found to be 0.2541 μg/ mL and 0.7642 μg/mL, respectively. The percentage relative standard deviation in precision and accuracy studies was found to be <2% and the percentage recovery is 98.11–98.78%. SFB was found to be highly sensitive toward alkaline conditions. Conclusions: It is observed that this RP-UFLC method is accurate, precise, sensitive, and reproducible for the estimation of SFB in tablets. The method was validated as per the ICH guidelines and very much specific as the degradants were well separated without interfering the drug peak.


It is believed that a model-based approach for reinforcement learning (RL) is the key to reduce sample complexity. However, the understanding of the sample optimality of model-based RL is still largely missing, even for the linear case. This work considers sample complexity of finding an $\epsilon$-optimal policy in a Markov decision process (MDP) that admits a linear additive feature representation, given only access to a generative model. We solve this problem via a plug-in solver approach, which builds an empirical model and plans in this empirical model via an arbitrary plug-in solver. We prove that under the anchor-state assumption, which implies implicit non-negativity in the feature space, the minimax sample complexity of finding an $\epsilon$-optimal policy in a $\gamma$-discounted MDP is $O(K/(1-\gamma)^3\epsilon^2)$, which only depends on the dimensionality $K$ of the feature space and has no dependence on the state or action space. We further extend our results to a relaxed setting where anchor-states may not exist and show that a plug-in approach can be sample efficient as well, providing a flexible approach to design model-based algorithms for RL.


The ideal on-the-job reference guide for SQL Server 2008 database administrators If you manage and administer SQL Server 2008 in the real world, you need this detailed guide at your desk. From planning to disaster recovery, this practical book explores tasks and scenarios that a working SQL Server DBA faces regularly and shows you step by step how to handle them. Topics include installation and configuration, creating databases and tables, optimizing the database server, planning for high availability, and more. And, if you're preparing for MCTS or MCITP certification in SQL Server 2008 administration, this book is the perfect supplement to your preparation, featuring a CD with practice exams, flashcards, and video walkthroughs of the more difficult administrative tasks Delves into Microsoft's SQL Server 2008, a rich set of enterprise-level database services for business-critical applications Explores the skills you'll need on the job as a SQL Server 2008 administrator Shows you how to implement, maintain, and repair the SQL Server database, including bonus videos on the CD where the authors walks you through the more difficult tasks Covers database design, installation and configuration, creating databases and tables, security, backup and high availability, and more Supplements your preparation for MCTS and MCITP SQL Server 2008 certification with in-depth coverage of the skill sets required for certification, as defined by Microsoft Uses hands-on exercises and real-world scenarios to keep what you're learning grounded in the reality of the workplace Make sure you're not only prepared for certification, but also for your job as a SQL Server 2008 administrator, with this practical reference! Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.


Despite the widespread use of social media by students and its increased use by instructors, very little empirical evidence is available concerning the impact of social media use on student learning and engagement. This paper describes our semester-long experimental study to determine if using Twitter – the microblogging and social networking platform most amenable to ongoing, public dialogue – for educationally relevant purposes can impact college student engagement and grades. A total of 125 students taking a first year seminar course for pre-health professional majors participated in this study (70 in the experimental group and 55 in the control group). With the experimental group, Twitter was used for various types of academic and co-curricular discussions. Engagement was quantified by using a 19-item scale based on the National Survey of Student Engagement. To assess differences in engagement and grades, we used mixed effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) models, with class sections nested within treatment groups. We also conducted content analyses of samples of Twitter exchanges. The ANOVA results showed that the experimental group had a significantly greater increase in engagement than the control group, as well as higher semester grade point averages. Analyses of Twitter communications showed that students and faculty were both highly engaged in the learning process in ways that transcended traditional classroom activities. This study provides experimental evidence that Twitter can be used as an educational tool to help engage students and to mobilize faculty into a more active and participatory role.


In this article we use energy conversion arguments to investigate the possible braking of flow bursts as they propagate toward the Earth. By using E·J data (E and J are the electric field and the current density) observed by Cluster in the magnetotail plasma sheet, we find indications of a plasma deceleration in the region −20 RE < X < − 15 RE. Our results suggest a braking mechanism where compressed magnetic flux tubes in so‐called dipolarization fronts (DFs) can decelerate incoming flow bursts. Our results also show that energy conversion arguments can be used for studying flow braking and that the position of the flow velocity peak with respect to the DF can be used as a single‐spacecraft proxy when determining energy conversion properties. Such a single‐spacecraft proxy is invaluable whenever multispacecraft data are not available. In a superposed epoch study, we find that a flow burst with the velocity peak behind the DF is likely to decelerate and transfer energy from the particles to the fields. For flow bursts with the peak flow at or ahead of the DF we see no indications of braking, but instead we find an energy transfer from the fields to the particles. From our results we obtain an estimate of the magnitude of the deceleration of the flow bursts, and we find that it is consistent with previous investigations.


Introduction: Autologous osteoblast implantation is a newer technique employed in osteogenesis and has turned out to be a great boon in bone augmentation. It is a unique option available in bone augmentation when donor site has a limitation to offer the required volume. This article throws light on the fact that somatic cells can be harvested from a person, multiplied outside his body using bioengineering principles and technologies and later introduced into a tissue defect. Thus tissue engineering is poised to have a major impact on cranio-maxillofacial surgery in near future. Materials and Methods: We are reporting a case in which cyst was enucleated and the cavity was filled with autogenous osteoblast derived from anterior iliac crest bone marrow using Jamshidi needle – 11 Gz & 10 cm (care fusion) which was collected in a bottle with Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) and was harvested for 4 weeks after which it was implanted in the bony cavity. Results: As per the serial radiographs taken the result was excellent and the bony cavity was adequately filled with woven bone. Conclusion: Thus, Autologous osteoblast implantation, although a bit expensive, is a reliable technique for reconstruction of bony defects.


Scholars have long noted the role Greek tragedy plays in the articulation of Arendt's claims about what she calls the "anti-political" tradition in Western thought, but no one has explored the ways Shakespeare bears on her political philosophy. This is especially noticeable, given that Arendt recurs to Shakespeare in numerous books and essays, and in her personal correspondence. Nevertheless, political scientists have overlooked Shakespeare in Arendt studies and equally absent from Shakespeare criticism have been Arendtian theories of the political that have much to tell us about Shakespeare's work. This dissertation makes visible the palimpsest-like quality of those Shakespearean texts whose anachronisms are conceptual rather than material. Their "rich and strange" pearls invite us to consider the history and transformation of some of the most fundamental concepts in Western political thought. By layering Christian and classical notions of freedom in The Rape of Lucrece, a poem whose subject concerns the foundation of Roman political freedom, or by constellating in Coriolanus classical and early modern notions of what it means to be a citizen, Shakespeare allows us to see, as if for the first time, the fate of the modern political world and the anti-political impulses that often drive its metamorphoses. My twin goals are to discover why Shakespeare and performance play such an important role in Arendt's political philosophy, and to explore the saving power that the Shakespearean corpus might still have for our capacity to think politically today.


. Epidemiology had an important development these last years allowing the resolution of a large number of problems and had good prediction on disease evolution. However, the transmission of several vector-borne diseases is closely connected to environmental protagonists, specially in the parasite-host interaction. Moreover, understanding the disease transmission is related to studying the ecology of all protagonists. These two levels of complexity(epidemiology and ecology) cannot be separated and have to be studied as a whole in a systematic way. Our goal is to understand the interaction of climate change on the evolution of a disease when the vector has ecological niche that depends on physiological state of development. We are particularly interested in tick vector diseases which are serious health problem affecting humans as well as domestic animals in many parts of the world. These infections are transmitted through a bite of an infected tick, and it appears that most of these infections are widely present in some wildlife species. RÉSUMÉ


This bulletin presents a typology of sexting episodes based on a review of over 550 cases obtained from a national sur ‐ vey of law enforcement agencies. The cases all involved "youth ‐ produced sexual images," defined as images of minors created by minors that could qualify as child pornography under applicable criminal statutes. The episodes could be broadly divided into two categories, which we termed 'Aggravated' and 'Experimental'. Aggravated incidents involved criminal or abusive elements beyond the creation, sending or possession of youth ‐ produced sexual images. These addi ‐ tional elements included 1) adult involvement; or 2) criminal or abusive behavior by minors such as sexual abuse, ex ‐ tortion, threats; malicious conduct arising from interpersonal conflicts; or creation or sending or showing of images without the knowledge or against the will of a minor who was pictured. In Experimental incidents, by contrast, youth took pictures of themselves to send to established boy ‐ or girlfriends, to create romantic interest in other youth, or for reasons such as attention ‐ seeking, but there was no criminal behavior beyond the creation or sending of images, no apparent malice and no lack of willing participation by youth who were pictured.


Nowadays, cyber criminals often build web infrastructures rather than a single server to conduct their malicious activities. In order to continue their malevolent activities without being detected, cyber criminals make efforts to conceal the core servers (e.g., C&C servers, exploit servers, and drop-zone servers) in the malicious web infrastructure. Such deliberate invisibility of those concealed malicious servers, however, makes them particularly distinguishable from benign web servers that are usually promoted to be public. In this paper, we conduct the first large-scale measurement study to investigate the visibility of both malicious and benign servers. From our intensive analysis of over 100,000 benign servers, 45,000 malicious servers and 40,000 redirections, we identify a set of distinct features of malicious web infrastructures from their locations, structures, roles, and relationships perspectives, and propose a lightweight yet effective detection system called VisHunter. VisHunter identifies malicious redirections from visible servers to invisible servers at the entryway of malicious web infrastructures. We evaluate VisHunter on both online public data and large-scale enterprise network traffic, and demonstrate that VisHunter can achieve an average 96.2% detection rate with only 0.9% false positive rate on the real enterprise network traffic.