Abstract. Arctic Ocean surface sea-ice conditions are linked with the deep sea benthic oxygen fluxes via a cascade of interdependencies across ecosystem components such as primary production, food supply, activity of the benthic community, and their functions. Additionally, each ecosystem component is influenced by abiotic factors such as light availability, temperature, water depth, and grain size structure. In this study, we investigated the coupling between surface sea-ice conditions and deep-sea benthic remineralization processes through a cascade of interdependencies in the Fram Strait. We measured sea-ice concentrations, a variety of different sediment characteristics, benthic community parameters, and oxygen fluxes at 12 stations of the LTER HAUSGARTEN observatory, Fram Strait, at water depths of 275–2500 m. Our investigations reveal that the Fram Strait is bisected into two long-lasting and stable regions: (i) a permanently and highly sea-ice-covered area and (ii) a seasonally and low sea-ice-covered area. Within the Fram Strait ecosystem, sea-ice concentration and water depth are two independent abiotic factors, controlling the deep-sea benthos. Sea-ice concentration correlated with the available food and water depth with the oxygen flux. In addition, both abiotic factors sea-ice concentration and water depth correlate with the macrofauna biomass. However, at water depths > 1500 m the influence of the surface sea-ice cover is minimal with water depth becoming more dominant. Benthic remineralization across the Fram Strait on average is  ∼ 1 mmol C m−2 d−1. Our data indicate that the portion of newly produced carbon that is remineralized by the benthos is 5 % in the seasonally low sea-ice-covered eastern part of Fram Strait but can be 14 % in the permanently high sea-ice-covered western part of Fram Strait. Here, by comparing a permanently sea-ice-covered area with a seasonally sea-ice-covered area, we discuss a potential scenario for the deep-sea benthic ecosystem in the future Arctic Ocean, in which an increased surface primary production may lead to increasing benthic remineralization at water depths < 1500 m.


Background: It is well known that tertiary education is highly stressful for students, particularly in the medical and health science fields. Studies have indicated that occupational therapy students are no exception, experiencing stressors in many areas of their life. Objective: This study explored the sources of stress & coping mechanisms employed by all levels of undergraduate occupational therapy students within a four-year degree programme at a tertiary institution in South Africa, more specifically to determine the types and frequency of stressors and coping styles employed. Method: A descriptive survey design was utilised using a demographic and stress survey and a standardised coping questionnaire. 101 undergraduate students enrolled for the year under review were selected via saturation sampling of which 99 formed the sample. Participants ranged between 17-28 years of age, the majority of which were English speaking females. Results and Conclusions : Amongst first year students, personal stressors were the most significant overall stressor whereas; academic stressors were the most highly ranked stressors in the second to fourth year students. Both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping was utilised by students. The results of this study provide a snapshot of a cohort of student's experience of stress and the coping mechanisms employed. This may be a starting point for student support services in identifying the presence of stressors and types of coping in order to explore more deeply the consequences of this on students' overall well-being and performance. Key words : stress, coping, students, occupational therapy, health science students


As wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) evolves towards practical applications in optical transport networks, waveband switching (WBS) has been introduced to cut down the operational costs and to reduce the complexities and sizes of network components, e.g., optical cross-connects (OXCs). This paper considers the routing, wavelength assignment and waveband assignment (RWWBA) problem in a WDM network supporting mixed waveband and wavelength switching. First, the techniques supporting waveband switching are studied, where a node architecture enabling mixed waveband and wavelength switching is proposed. Second, to solve the RWWBA problem with reduced switching costs and improved network throughput, the cost savings and call blocking probabilities along intermedi- ate waveband-routes are analyzed. Our analysis reveals some important insights about the cost savings and call blocking probability in relation to the fiber capacity, the candidate path, and the traffic load. Third, based on our analysis, an online integrated intermediate WBS algorithm (IIWBS) is proposed. IIWBS determines the waveband switching route for a call along its candidate path according to the node connectivity, the link utilization, and the path length information. In addition, the IIWBS algorithm is adaptive to real network applications under dynamic traffic requests. Finally, our simulation results show that IIWBS outperforms a previous intermediate WBS algorithm and RWA algorithms in terms of network throughput and cost efficiency.


This paper provides a review of the need, challenges and recent research aimed at quantifying anthropogenic CO2 emissions for urban areas at spatial scales below the whole city, and sub-annual temporal scales. With whole-city CO2 emissions budget research as a starting point, suburban efforts must first clearly identify the accounting framework, sectoral boundaries, chemical form, spatial domain and the space/time resolution desired. The only efforts, to date, have performed analysis in a few North American cities utilizing a combination of true "bottom-up" and space/time downscaling techniques. Numerous challenges are faced when estimating CO2 emissions at these scales, including data availability, data idiosyncrasy and uncertainty quantification. Though cities in high-income countries are in possession of the needed data, data availability may pose far greater difficulties in other parts of the world. Because much of the data that is available does not possess uncertainty estimates, quantification of CO2 emissions uncertainty similarly remains a large challenge. Suggested solutions include sensitivity testing of key inputs and parameters, fully propagated through estimation systems. To overcome data availability challenges, the exploration of high-resolution remote-sensing data offers insight into urban activity.


Traditional decision tree classifiers work with data whose values are known and precise. We extend such classifiers to handle data with uncertain information. Value uncertainty arises in many applications during the data collection process. Example sources of uncertainty include measurement/quantization errors, data staleness, and multiple repeated measurements. With uncertainty, the value of a data item is often represented not by one single value, but by multiple values forming a probability distribution. Rather than abstracting uncertain data by statistical derivatives (such as mean and median), we discover that the accuracy of a decision tree classifier can be much improved if the "complete information" of a data item (taking into account the probability density function (pdf)) is utilized. We extend classical decision tree building algorithms to handle data tuples with uncertain values. Extensive experiments have been conducted that show that the resulting classifiers are more accurate than those using value averages. Since processing pdf's is computationally more costly than processing single values (e.g., averages), decision tree construction on uncertain data is more CPU demanding than that for certain data. To tackle this problem, we propose a series of pruning techniques that can greatly improve construction efficiency.
Keywords – Uncertain Data; Decision Tree; Classification; Data Mining


Painting Labour in Scotland and Europe, 1850-1900 explores hitherto unrecognized European variations in the phenomena of rural labour imagery, particularly in Scotland. In exploring these distinctions relative to Scotland and Europe it looks to develop a new understanding of the commonalities and idiosyncrasies of rural labour imagery which have often been treated as homogenous. Lacking the detailed analysis that has been accorded other images, writing about Scottish painting has often been appended to analyses of English or French imagery. It has generally been understood as intellectually divorced from the sometimes brutal realities of evolving Scottish nineteenth-century urbanism, or simply ignored. Painting Labour in Scotland and Europe, 1850-1900 sets out systematically to discuss the Scottish rural painting in relation to its particular Scottish historical context, both sociological and aesthetic and its English and European counterparts. Alongside canonical Scottish images by major figures such as James Guthrie, the book explores many hitherto under researched and unconsidered paintings by nineteenth-century Scottish artists, and considers them in relation to major English and Continental Realist and Romantic painters. The juxtaposition of J.F. Millet with W.D. McKay, and Edwin Landseer with George Reid makes for a volume that will appeal both to an academic audience and to one interested in European art history more generally.


Abstract This article explores the concept of individuation in the early Schelling and Simondon by bringing them into dialogue, thereby highlighting affinities and differences in their philosophical projects in light of their epistemological and historical backgrounds. Individuation stands out as a major component of both Schelling's Naturphilosophie and Simondon's theory of genesis. But its role within both authors' thinking is quite different: while for Schelling individuation constitutes a major problem that the philosophy of nature ventures to solve, namely the constitution of finite products from the absolute productivity of nature, individuation as a process is the fulcrum of Simondon's philosophy as a whole, both a driving force and a name for being as such. These divergent approaches are related by a common quest for an immanent genesis of being and the necessity of the third, elaborated in close dialogue with the scientific discoveries of their respective times and the re-appropriation of metaphysics. This article approaches Schelling's and Simondon's theories of individuation respectively from the concept of force and the concept of information, and suggests how these two seemingly parallel enquiries can be read as complementing each other in parallax, in order to contribute to the contemporary understanding of nature and individuation.


O6-substituted guanine derivs. are described for use as substrates for O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferases (AGT) that can be used to label the enzyme or fusion proteins contg. it. Proteins of interest are incorporated into an AGT fusion protein, the AGT fusion protein is contacted with particular AGT substrates carrying a label, and the AGT fusion protein is detected and optionally further manipulated using the label in a system designed for recognizing and/or handling the label. The particular AGT substrates used in the method of the invention are O6-substituted guanine derivs. or related nitrogen contg. hydroxy-heterocycles and their sulfur analogs wherein the O6-substituent is an activated Me deriv. suitable for transfer from guanine or the corresponding heterocycle to AGT, and further carrying a label or a plurality of same or different labels. The invention relates also to the novel AGT substrates as such, to methods of manuf. of such novel substrates, and to intermediates useful in the synthesis of such novel AGT substrates. [on SciFinder (R)]


Evidence is presented for low-dimensional strange attractors in Couette-Taylor flow data. Computations of the largest Lyapunov exponent and metric entropy show that the system displays sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Although the phase space is very high dimensional, analysis of experimental data shows that motion is restricted to an attractor of dimension less than 5 for Reynolds numbers up to 30% above the onset of chaos. The Lyapunov exponent, entropy, and dimension all generally increase with Reynolds number.


There is great interest to use from Jatropha curcas L. ( J. curcas ) Las feedstock for biodiesel. In order to increase energy and economic efficiency, it is necessary to identify areas with optimal agroecological conditions for its cultivation and to determine its productivity in marginal areas to avoid competition with food production. The aim of this study was to determine the variation of the productive potential of J. curcas in response to different soil and climatic conditions of the state of Veracruz. The model used to simulate the seed yield of J. curcas was the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The units of calculation were the Hydrologic Response Units (HRU); the weather was extracted from 95 weather stations; Crop physiological parameters were taken from the literature. The simulated seed yield of J. curcas ranged from 0.16 to 5.74 t ha-1 and was mapped by grouping in 5 intervals. Superficies was quantified for each interval and related to the current land use. There were Identified 872 thousand hectares with seed yield higher than 3.63 t ha-1 in grasslands. The seed yield showed the most sensitivity to soil depth, followed by the mean annual temperature and annual total rainfall.


The chlorophyll is well known as natural antioxidant which is commonly high level in some geen leafy and has potential biological effect for a good health and has been proved has antioxidant and antimutagenic activity. In fact, a high content of chlorophyll is available in nature but in contrast its found commercially in Indonesia as imported product with a high price. The objectives of this study were to determine of chlorophyll level of various leaves (Premna oblongifolia Merr., Saurpus androgynus Merr. Centella asiatica, and Morus alba L), to produce copper-chlorophyll derivative powder, and to observe its physico-chemical properties. The research showed that cincau leaf had higher level of chlorophyll than other leaves, meanwhile cincau leaf used as material of copperchlorophyll derivative. Cincau leaves chlorophyll extract solution with Cu 100 mg/l level produce the cincau copper-chlorophyll derivative powder with highest pH, solubility, and geenness compare to other copper levels. The cincau copper-derivate chlorophyll powder contained chlorophyll 3986 mg/kg, -carotene 33.8 mg/kg, and contained alkaloid, saponin, tanin, steroid, and glycoside.


The aim of this study is to evaluate the strategic outsourcing of the laboratory at Blendcor. The organization and the relevant theory have been introduced in the introductory chapter. This also,formulated the problem statement and the objectives of the study. The structure of the study is summarized in this section. The second chapter builds the theory and the model to analyse the strategic problem at hand. This chapter start by defining the key success factors in the hope of identifying the organizational resources that excel on these, thus become core competences. In the light of this, a discrepancy is identified as a shortfall of company resources. This calls for the need of outsourcing the activity; the theory of contracting is thus discussed. The theoretical review closes off with the organizational culture, which is mostly affected by changes brought to the company by outsourcing. The strategy evaluation model is then developed. The third chapter takes advantage of the secondary data available, and a case study is formulated on these. The major portion is made from the company magazines and data from a consultant's study. However, observations were included to some extent. Chapter four evaluates the laboratory outsourcing strategy using the model developed in chapter two. The case study serves as a source of data. The theory from chapter two provides most of the tools used. The last chapter concludes by giving the possible solutions to the objectives of the study. The outsourcing of the laboratory is disapproved. The poor performance can be attributed to the inefficiencies in the value chain activities and poor organizational culture that does not support strategy implementation. It is thus suggested that turnaround-oriented strategies are implemented and cultural transformation is effected.


Volume rendering is a well known technique for visualizing volumetric data, and is commonly used in many areas of science. In four dimensional cardiac ultrasound (3D + time), volume rendering is used to present the user with a view of the three dimensional structures of the human heart in real-time. However, ultrasound suffers from imaging artifacts including high gray-level variance and dropouts. This makes it challenging to generate high quality volume renderings. This thesis has focused on how to auto-optimize volume renderings by locally applying adaptive opacity transfer functions and dynamical anatomical cropping, based on segmentation results. In addition, stereoscopic visualization through newly available technology for the gaming marked has been investigated and evaluated. Locally applied adaptive opacity transfer functions (LOTF) has for the first time been tested out. The method is based on estimating the opacity function parameters, like the slope position and steepness locally from the volume data. Both a method using per ray edge detection, based on a transition criterion, and a method estimating the per ray mean and standard deviation (statistical thresholding surface) has been proposed and investigated. To regularize the LOTF calculations, methods incorporating segmentation results has also been designed and tested. Auto-optimized methods for dynamical cropping defined by model based segmentation has been proposed. This gives a new way of cropping ultrasound volume renderings. Two approaches has been investigated, one that applies volume depth peeling (hard segmentation crop), and one that applies a novel local opacity weighting scheme for creation of a soft border between included and excluded data (soft segmentation crop). Stereoscopic renderings of ultrasound based on liquid shutter glasses technology has been tested out and evaluated. Standard tests for fine depth perception and tailored test for depth encoding has been applied. A stereoscopic setup gives the opportunity for different ways of rendering ultrasound data. The method proposed here applies a high transparency rendering scheme in combination with stereoscopic visualization. The setup also makes depth encoding in stereo available. Among the proposed auto-optimization methods the LOTF based on the statistical thresholding surface shows the most potential. The method removes low level echoes from the rendering, making it bright and sharp. At the same time it also preserves structures of interest. The method also shows good results when we restrict the estimation to segmentation results. In fact, the expert users reported this method to perform better than the global OTF in some cases. There has been found no statistical difference between the anaglyph and liquid shutter glasses stereoscopic techniques when it comes to fine depth perception. Also the introduction of depth encoding in stereo showed no statistically significant improvement compared to a grayscale rendering. However, experts on image quality favored the liquid shutter glasses technique with depth encoding included, compared to an anaglyph grayscale rendering. The reason for this, may be the result of other parameters than the tested depth perception. Among these we have pure aesthetics, less ghosting and eye strain.


Bronchiolitis is a lower respiratory tract infection commonly seen in children less than 1 year of age.1 ,2 Predominantly occurring in winter months, bronchiolitis is in the majority managed in the primary care setting, but it contributes to a significant proportion of the admissions to paediatric wards with a small number requiring intensive care. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline 'Bronchiolitis in Children' was published in June 2015.1 It aims to direct management of bronchiolitis in both primary and secondary care. The guideline was developed by the National Collaborating Centre for Women's and Children's Health.

This is the first NICE guideline that covers bronchiolitis. The Scottish Intercollegiate College Network published a guideline in 2006 detailing diagnosis, management and prevention of bronchiolitis.3 The American Association of Paediatrics published a guideline with a similar scope in October 2014.2 Traditionally, there is discrepancy in terminology between the UK and the USA, with clinical conditions described in the UK as virus-induced wheeze or infantile asthma termed bronchiolitis in USA. This makes it difficult to compare studies and guidelines (see table 1 and box 1). Box 1
### Resources

▸ http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng9 ( link to NICE guideline and full guideline )

▸ http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng9/ifp/chapter/About-this-information ( link to public information on bronchiolitis in children in English )

▸ http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng9/resources ( link …


The aim of this paper is to convey the ideas and concept of the Sandwich Generation in Malaysia in order to educate the readers about this terminologically which is still an
unfamiliar term in the society. It focuses on the new trend of family responsibilities, specifically for women, which is care-giving to the elderly. Sandwich Generation refers to
a family member that simultaneously has commitments in raising their children, and provides a care-giving support for the elderly parents. Most of the studies which focus on
women discuss the issues of work-family conflict, referring to balancing role of women as mothers and employees. However, this paper will discuss about women of the Sandwich
Generation that is women who has additional role of caring for their elderly. The first part describes the facts and some characterization of the Sandwich Generation. The second part will discuss the prevalence of aging population, worldwide. Next, this paper will discuss
about the multiple roles amongst women in Malaysia. The roles that Malaysian women currently are dealing with are as a primary caregiver, as a wife, mother and as an employee. The final part of this paper is about the well-being of Sandwich Generation women in Malaysia. This paper hopes to provide information on the unique characteristics derived from a new term in a family relationship. The key point of this publication is women as family members who have to provide care to both their aging parents and their children; which are referred to as the Sandwich Generation.


The Fourier shape analysis of fifty unconsolidated sand sized quartz grains in their maximum projection plane were compared to the shape of these same grains in orientations that depart radically from the maximum projection plane. The results indicated that the shape information carried by quartz grains while in their plane of maximum projection does not differ significantly from the shape information carried by such grains while in other planes of orientation.


This article describes the design and evaluation of a CMOS-based control system for use in cryogenic vacuum environments. A control system, with accompanying software, was designed to interface superconductive digital and sensor circuits in a cryocooler to portable computers at room temperature. It is designed to operate as close as possible to the superconductors to reduce thermal noise. The controller connects via a fibre optical RS-232 interface to any USB connector on a computer at a data rate of 1 Megabaud. The interface to the superconductor electronics consists of 16-bit ultra low-noise ADCs and DACs. Extensive research and testing was done on all components - both active and passive - to validate operation at 60 K. An integrated temperature control system was designed to ensure a stable temperature environment. Results are shown and discussed.


: The present essay through a close investigation of Salman Rushdie's The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999) and Fury (2002) looks into the challenges posed by global capitalism at the turn of the 21 st century. The resilience of civilizations, in particular their cultural vo- cabulary and ethnic compositions, is explored in the face of the homogenizing drive of capitalist enterprise. The encounters between various ethnicities and cultures create liminal spaces of exchange where social innovation plays a critical role in shaping cross-cultural di-alogues. Exchange takes place in terms of cultural values. Using the cultural dialectics of desire as a navigational compass the essay seeks to understand civilization(s) as a set of complex encounters. The multiplicity of civilizing processes at play on the global plane are scanned through the critical lens of "desire", which is given a psycho-social orientation. The endless possibilities of neural networking opened up by globalization is born out of a legacy of conflict and interdependence. Two contrary trends emerge simultaneously; on the one hand there is an increasing tendency towards economic monopolization and Americaniza- tion and on the other hand there are decentralized and de-spatialized flows conducive to the growth of a hybrid cultural economy. Globalization at the turn of the century thus emerges as an economic and a cultural enterprise embracing plurality. The essay through the trope of desire explores the plural dynamics of globalization in the interaction, interdependence and contact between civilizations and cultures. It seeks to retrieve desire from the domain of market logistics and activate its ontological potential in terms of subjective empowerment and a critical


In 51 Imperfect Solutions, Judge Jeffrey Sutton depicts some of the virtues and flaws of our dual system of American constitutionalism across four chapters illustrating different models of interaction among the state and federal constitutions and their interpreters. In this symposium contribution, I submit a fifth chapter about property law that varies in some important respects from Judge Sutton's chapters involving education rights, the Fourth Amendment's exclusionary rule, forced sterilization, and the First Amendment.

Several of Judge Sutton's chapters are told through parallel federal and state stories. Borrowing this approach, this contribution tells a federal story—from an odd period during the nineteenth century when the federal courts routinely expounded and disseminated state takings law—and a state story—from a fifty-year period in the twentieth century when the states were left to decide whether to follow the federal courts in recognizing regulatory takings but without a specific test to follow. Across these stories, takings law has often been marked by uniformity, rather than state-level variation and innovation—uniformity driven, in part, by the force of other states' rules. This domino effect is the consequence of both specific features of takings doctrine and organic borrowing. In closing, I offer some tentative thoughts on why property and takings law have tended to yield homogeneity and eliminate ingenuity in this way, even in the absence of definitive federal pronouncements about some of the thorniest puzzles within takings doctrine.


Electronic Health Records enhance patient care across medicine enabling providers to view historical information from the patients chart, viewing results from participating agencies, sharing notes with providers outside their institution and utilizing integrated support systems which protect against medication errors and redundancies. The field of transport medicine revolves around emergent patient transports by ambulance, helicopter and plane. These are resource poor environments and, coincidentally, occur during the most critical times of the patient's condition. The need to support transport clinicians with the most valid pertinent information about each patient is the main focus to our research. We proposed an ontological approach around transport medicine protocols which associated multiple diseases and their associated symptoms. We have developed semantic queries using the patient's current symptoms as input and the query result is analyzed by an algorithm that we created to derive probable diseases. The algorithm uses types of associated symptoms based on the ontology to quantify a confidence level for each possible disease. If the disease ruled in, we presented this information to the clinician as part of a decision support system. We used this output to query the patient's existing EHR for relevant medical history regarding the current disease process. We provide both the probable diagnoses along with the patient's relevant history in a single XML resource document.


The present study investigates the rhythmic properties of the non-native speech produced by multilingual learners with Mandarin Chinese as a heritage language who acquire French and English as foreign languages in the German school context. Data collected from monolingual German and monolingual Chinese learners serve as control materials. For the production of the syllable-timed speech rhythm of French, it is shown that monolingual learners with (syllable-timed) Mandarin Chinese as L1 perform more target-like than learners with (stress-timed) German as L1, while the latter produce the stress-timed rhythm of the foreign language English in a more target-like way. The multilingual learners with Mandarin Chinese as a heritage language obtain intermediate values for both French and English, as a function of their personal attitudes towards the languages of the sample and depending on the degree of multilingual and phonological awareness. We conclude that, in addition to linguistic factors such as the syllable- or stress-timedness of the languages involved, cross-linguistic influence in prosody is also constrained by certain extra-linguistic factors. Depending on the interplay of these factors, the multilingual learners can have an advantage over the German monolinguals in learning French and over the Chinese monolinguals in learning English in that the speech rhythm of their background languages may be positively transferred to the foreign languages. Our findings suggest that a multilingual linguistic background constitutes no disadvantage for the learning of foreign languages and that multilingual and phonological awareness should be promoted in contexts of foreign language learning in both learners and teachers.


Teenagers are starting to use the Internet to circumvent the ordinarily stringent restrictions on the sale of alcohol to underage individuals. Since states have always punished vendors for furnishing alcohol to minors, companies that choose to sell alcohol online must recognize that they could be criminally and civilly liable if they do not take reasonable precautions to ensure that minors do not obtain their product. This Article examines the steps online alcohol vendors might take in order to protect themselves from liability so that they can continue to run their ventures in a profitable manner.


In this experimental study, six pearlitic grey cast irons with different Cu and Cr content, different section thicknesses and different eutectoid cooling rates have been examined. The eutectoid cooling rate was approximated by casting simulation analysis. The purpose of the experiments was to study the effect of the matrix structure on the overall mechanical properties. An emphasis is put on the pearlite interlamellar spacing because this controls the resulting mechanical properties to a large extent. By keeping the graphite structure constant, the effect of the matrix structure was able to be studied. This was achieved by shake-out at temperatures above the eutectoid transformation range followed by subsequent cooling in air, mould or in a furnace. The pearlite interlamellar spacing ranged from 90 to 330 nm for the matrices studied. Comparing the strength of the fine structured and coarse structured materials, the tensile and yield strength was reduced by almost 50%. Regarding the elastic deformation, a weak increase in the tangent modulus with increasing alloying content was observed. It was also observed that lower cooling rate decreased the tangent modulus. The tangent modulus ranged between 70 and 110 GPa. Analysing the plastic deformation of the materials, in terms of strain hardening exponent, n, and strength coefficient, K, a strong dependence on the pearlite coarseness was observed. It was concluded that the effect of graphite particle length on tensile strength was negligible and the major improvement on the strength was due to refinement of the pearlite.


INTRODUCTION The development of the information superhighway(1) is transforming traditional business practices and creating new competitive industries for the global economy. A major component of the information superhighway, the Internet, has vast potential for conducting electronic commerce and is currently generating significant tax policy implications at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Current tax principles, however, are not easily applied to the attributes of electronic commerce. Accordingly, taxing authorities must implement new and innovative taxing structures for electronic commerce so as not to hinder the progress of the Internet and the information superhighway. This article analyzes the current development of state and local cyberspace tax policy, as electronic commerce is on the brink of becoming one of the most significant economic stimulants of the century. The discussion will begin by tracing the development of the Internet from its inception as a military project to its current use as a tool to facilitate electronic commerce. This article will then discuss how the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of the federal government have reacted to the state and local tax implications of electronic commerce. The federal judiciary may craft initial tax policy by applying existing tax law to cases involving electronic commerce.(2) The executive branch, particularly the Department of the Treasury, can generate tax policy initiatives.(3) Only Congress, however, may introduce and pass tax legislation combining both tax law and tax policy.(4) Finally, this article discusses the possible future of cyberspace tax law and policy and examines the Internet Tax Freedom Act which is currently pending in Congress.(5) I. THE RISE OF THE INTERNET The Internet, short for interconnected networks, is an international aggregation of computer and communication networks that includes the users of the network and the resources available on the network.(6) Though not an entity in and of itself, the Internet is a dynamic group of networks that is constantly changing as users enter and exit.(7) Instead of a central computer or central control location, the Internet has a standard method of transmitting data among different networks.(8) Information is able to travel over the multibillion dollar telephone networks thereby creating a virtual network running on top of the existing physical network of the telecommunications companies(9) The Internet was originally a networking concept developed by the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 1969 designed "to allow computer scientists and engineers working on military contracts all over America to share expensive computers and other resources."(10) Initially, its intent was to connect a small number of large national networks, such as universities and high-tech Department of Defense contractors.(11) By 1978, however, the network had adopted a standard protocol thereby becoming more adept at connecting a larger number of smaller networks and had expanded its access capabilities to include a much broader class of networks.(12) Built on an existing foundation of standard interoperable protocols and technologies, the entire infrastructure of the Internet now constitutes a level playing field on which all companies, small and large, seek innovative applications and new technologies that add value to the existing framework.(13) Expanded use and popularity of the network in the 1980s came about when the Department of Defense began to relax its hold on the existing network and the National Science Foundation ("NSF") began to develop a high-speed network of its own.(14) The National Science Foundation's network ("NSFnet"), which later evolved into the Internet, created supercomputer centers to link regional networks of research and academic sites.(15) Quickly, use of the NSFnet expanded beyond its research origins to include universities, government agencies, corporations, and the public at large. …


Polyhedral operations play a central role in constrained control. One of the most fundamental operations is that of projection, required both by addition and multiplication. This thesis investigates projection and its relation to multi-parametric linear optimisation for the types of problems that are of particular interest to the control community. The first part of the thesis introduces an algorithm for the projection of polytopes in halfspace form, called Equality Set Projection (ESP). ESP has the desirable property of output sensitivity for non-degenerate polytopes. That is, a linear number of linear programs are needed per output facet of the projection. It is demonstrated that ESP is particularly well suited to control problems and comparative simulations are given, which greatly favour ESP. Part two is an investigation into the multi-parametric linear program (mpLP). The mpLP has received a lot of attention in the control literature as certain model predictive control problems can be posed as mpLPs and thereby pre-solved, eliminating the need for online optimisation. The structure of the solution to the mpLP is studied and an approach is pre- sented that eliminates degeneracy. This approach causes the control input to be continuous, preventing chattering, which is a significant problem in control with a linear cost. Four new enumeration methods are presented that have benefits for various control problems and comparative simulations demonstrate that they outperform existing codes. The third part studies the relationship between projection and multi-parametric linear programs. It is shown that projections can be posed as mpLPs and mpLPs as projections, demonstrating the fundamental nature of both of these problems. The output of a multi-parametric linear program that has been solved for the MPC control inputs offline is a piecewise linear controller defined over a union of polyhedra. The online work is then to determine which region the current measured state is in and apply the appropriate linear control law. This final part introduces a new method of searching for the appropriate region by posing the problem as a nearest neighbour search. This search can be done in logarithmic time and we demonstrate speed increases from 20Hz to 20kHz for a large example system.


The literature on the union wage gap in South Africa is extensive, spanning a range of datasets and methodologies. There is however little consensus on the appropriate method to correct for the endogeneity of union membership or the size of the union wage gap. Furthermore, there are very few studies on the bargaining council wage premium in South Africa due to lack of data on coverage of employees under these agreements. Our study, using 2005 Labour Force Survey data, firstly reconsiders the union wage gap controlling for both firm-level and job characteristics. When correcting for endogeniety of union status through a two-stage selection model and including firm size, type of employment, and non-wage benefits, we find a much lower union wage premium for African workers in the formal sector than premia reported in some previous studies. Secondly, our study estimates bargaining council wage premia for the private and public sectors. We find that extension procedures are present in both private and public bargaining council systems, but that unions negotiate for additional gains for their members at the plant-level. Furthermore, there is some evidence that unions negotiate for awards for their members in the private sector, irrespective of bargaining council coverage.


Current sensors for monitoring environmental signals, such as pH, are often made from rigid materials that are incompatible with soft biological tissues. The high stiffness of such materials sets practical limitations on the in situ utilization of sensors under biological conditions. This article describes a soft yet robust hydrogel‐based pH sensor that can be 3D printed. The pH‐sensitive poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) is combined with hydrophilic polyurethane to create novel printable inks with favorable biomechanical properties. These inks are employed to fabricate highly flexible pH sensors that linearly respond to pH in wet environments. The pH sensitive hydrogels can undergo extreme deformations including twisting, bending, and up to 400 extension cycles without any deterioration in their electrical properties. Such printable inks that can produce biosensors using a one‐step fabrication method eliminate the cumbersome and inconvenient processing of rigid materials that are used in the manufacturing of conventional pH sensors.


Today's Internet is composed of approximately 20,000 competing autonomous systems (ASes) which have to cooperate with each other to provide global reachability. Each AS is controlled by different administrative entities, and therefore encodes various economic, business, and performance decisions in its routing policy. Unfortunately, the complex interactions arising from such a distributed system are still poorly understood. In this thesis, we present a methodology to reproduce the BGP inter-domain routing decisions as realistically as possible by means of simulation. We start with a simple simulation model, relying solely on an AS graph which is derived from BGP table dumps. Due to missing policies, the routes chosen in the simulation will be different from those observed in reality. In an iterative process, we try to refine our simulation to accommodate the simulated routing decisions with those observed in reality. Such an Internet-wide simulation technique can be very valuable for ISPs to diagnose problems, optimize network performance, identify peering partners and provide better connectivity to the rest of the Internet. In addition, researchers can benefit from such a model. The design of more sophisticated traffic engineering techniques, as well as a better understanding of the interplay between the routing layer and overlay networks are only two applications.


A texture refers to the characteristics of a surface and the appearance of an object. A texture is generally described as being smooth or rough, soft or hard, or, matt or glossy. The lacking of in-class tools has been a challenge for design students in learning to choose the suitable texture with the right lighting condition for a specific space. The learning experience of architecture and interior design students in this subject matter can be enhanced through the use of interactive Virtual Environment. Using an interactive virtual environment can enhance the present teaching methods that conventionally use static rendered images and photographs in conjunction with lecture sessions. In this paper, we present our findings from a pilot study that was conducted on architecture and interior design students. Specifically for this study, we developed an interactive Virtual Environment utilizing a next-generation 3D Game Engine. Computer graphics technology, especially the ones employed in many next generation video games (such as developed for the Xbox360 and Playstation 3), allows for realistic game environment to be displayed on the TV screen. The Virtual Environment in this study utilizes an image-texturing technique known as bump-mapping that allows for more realistic material representation. Real-time dynamic lighting was also used in the Virtual Environment. This paper also describes the development process of the interactive Virtual Environment to support photorealistic 3D textures in combination with different lighting conditions.


Most current object-oriented languages consider inheritance as subtyping. However, a type system which views inheritance as subtyping allows neither multiple representations of a type nor method exclusion without violating typing constraints. These problems and the difference between inheritance and subtyping have been well recognized recently. Another approach to subtyping found in the literature is to separate inheritance from subtyping. In this approach, subtyping is solely determined by inheritance conformance. While subtyping based on interface conformance can support multiple representations, it cannot distinguish intended conformance from accidental conformance. This paper describes a new model of type and inheritance, called HANA, in which subtyping and inheritance are not separated, although differentiated. The notion of subtyping in HANA is based on both inheritance and interface conformance. HANA integrates multiple inheritance multiple representations, method exclusion, and method name overloading with static typing. HANA extends other existing methods of inheritance and subtyping with enhanced expressive power, increased reusability, and program efficiency. We show that the differentiation made by HANA between inheritance and subtyping allows name collision to be resolved without compromising the integrity of the type system. The capability of excluding an inherited method without violating static typing offers a sound solution for resolving name collision in multiple inheritance when used together with other mechanisms. We show that the mechanisms of method exclusion, addition, and renaming are othogonal with respect to the power of resolving name collision in multiple inheritance.


Almost half a century before Henry More, the Padua-based natural philosopher Fortunio Liceti (1577–1657) formulated a distinction between material extension and immaterial extension. While More's version of the distinction is seen as one of the most characteristic features of his metaphysics—underlying both his theory of individual spirits and of absolute divine space—Liceti's metaphysics of immaterial extension has not received much attention by commentators. Liceti ascribes immaterial extension to light and the human mind and, like More, he uses the analogy between light and mind to explicate the structural differences between material and immaterial extension. In this article, I explore how Liceti—following some aspects of Albert the Great's eclectic Aristotelianism—tries to combine broadly Aristotelian accounts of light and mind with the Platonic concept of emanative causation. I argue that, in Liceti, the notion of existential independence from matter lies at the heart of his conception of extended, but actually indivisible, immaterial beings: Such beings cannot be divided through the division of matter because their existence, due to the role of emanative causation, does not depend on the potencies of matter.


A specification and top-level refinement of a simple mine pump control system, as well as a proof of correctness of the refinement, are presented as an example of the application of a formal method for the development of time-based systems. The overall approach makes use of a refinement calculus for timed systems, similar to the refinement calculi for sequential programs. The specification makes use of topologically continuous functions of time to describe both analog and discrete properties of both the system and its refinements. The basic building block of specifications is a specification statement that gives a clear separation between the specification of the assumptions that the system may make about the environment in which it is to be placed, and the effect the system is guaranteed to achieve if placed in such an environment. The top-level refinement of the system is developed by application of refinement laws that allow design decisions to be made, local state to be introduced, and the decomposition of systems into pipelined and/or parallel processes. >


The twentieth amendment receives virtually no attention in modern American constitutional law. Adopted in 1933, the primary purpose of the amendment was to eliminate lame-duck Congresses. The proponents of the amendment argued that lame-ducks were subject to nefarious influences and that allowing lame-duck legislation contradicted the voice of the people in the most recent election. But the text of the twentieth amendment simply moved the date on which the newly elected President and Congress took office from March to January, and does not expressly prohibit lame-duck legislation. The framers of the amendment could not conceive of Congress meeting during the holiday months between November and January, so they thought that moving the dates would eliminate future lame-duck Congresses. Since 1933, though, Congress has met during the lame-duck period with increasing frequency to enact significant legislation. Such a result would not occur if the courts interpreted the twentieth amendment according to its purpose instead of its text. That is the approach that the Supreme Court has taken with respect to the eleventh amendment, which now provides a broad basis for state sovereign immunity. I argue, though, that constitutional provisions should be interpreted consisted with their texts, and that more ambitious purposes such as that supporting the twentieth amendment should not be enforced by the courts in the face of the Constitution's more narrow express language.


The Journal of Micropalaeontology is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year and The Micropalaeontology Society (TMS) is marking this special occasion. TMS started life as a specialist group (British Micropalaeontology Group) of the Geological Society of London in 1970. After some discussion, the Society set up in its own right in 1975 as the British Micropalaeontology Society, with a name change made in 2002 to reflect the society's truly international membership. A milestone in Society history occurred in 1982 with the publication of our own international Journal with Lesley Sheppard as the first editor. The Journal was initially produced once a year, but since 1984 has become a twice yearly publication of growing international repute. There have been 5 editors of the Journal to date and I would like to take this opportunity to thank my predecessors for all their sterling efforts: Lesley Sheppard 1980–1987 Michael Keen 1987–1994 John Murray 1994–1997 Malcolm Hart 1997–2003 John Gregory 2003– The Society comprises six specialist groups which study Foraminifera, Microvertebrates, Nannofossils, Ostracods, Palynology and Silicofossils and the Journal welcomes contributions on all aspects of micropalaeontology. The Journal has seen the publication in excess of 500 articles over the last 25 volumes and its scope has always been broad, especially to show the application of microfossils to solving geological problems, with an emphasis on taxonomy. The principal fields of interest are: biostratigraphy; evolution; palaeobiology; palaeoenvironments; reviews and taxonomic studies. The emphasis has been on applications, and our aim is to …


Abstract The draft of the American Law Institute's Restatement of Consumer Contracts reflects the jurisdiction of the US courts on the 'adoption' (as the draft calls it) of standard contract terms into consumer contracts. This draft is of great value to European lawyers in understanding US developments, but it may also stimulate a reflection on the state and possible evolution of European legal systems. It turns out that in the United States, as in Europe, the law on the adoption of standard contract terms is still heavily influenced by cases from the pre-digital and paleo-digital era. This article explains the rules of the Restatement for the adoption of standard contract terms, tests their functionality, in particular using the example of websites, makes some drafting suggestions and puts forward a proposal for the further development of the law on the adoption of standard contract terms of websites. The adoption of standard contract terms governing the use of a website should not require that consumers receive a notice of the standard contract terms prior to entering that website. The requirements for the adoption of standard contract terms should be seen as mainly, if not only, having the purpose of pinpointing the wording of a contract for later reference if necessary.


Does ethnography in some way enact and perform what it names? If one foregrounds this performative dimension, what exactly does ethnography in the aftermath of insurgency do? The article explores these questions as they emerge in the context of ethnography in the aftermath of insurgency (insurgencia) in Guatemala, and in relation to debates in social and cultural theory. It is argued that ethnography activates—and is responsive to—performative modes of subjectification and desubjectification discussed, inter alia, with reference to notions of 'the archive' and 'testimony'. The article shows that ethnography in the aftermath of insurgency conjures up insurrectionary modalities of action. It establishes realignments and relations, enacts substitutions, and arouses modes of cross-identification between subjects, directly referencing how the insurgency was sustained during the Guatemalan conflict. However, rather than crystallizing or stabilizing an account of the insurgency, ethnography deals specifically with incommensurability and the slips— or gaps—that result from oscillations between representation—as in the multiply populated archive that holds the voices of many speaking subjects—and non-representation—as in the indexical domain of the subjectless archive that is all that there is that can speak.


Big Data is colloquially described in terms of the three Vs: Volume, Velocity, and Variety. Volume and velocity receive a disproportionate amount of research attention, however, variety is frequently cited by practitioners as the Big Data problem that "keeps them up at night" - the problem that resists direct attacks in terms of new algorithms, systems, and approaches. We find that the cloud-based data management platform attracts higher variety workloads, therefore motivating a new classes of High Variety Database Management Systems (HVDBMS). This work provides an operational model of variety emphasizing the complexity of user intent as well as the complexity of the data itself. The proposed model captures intuitive notions of variety that are distinct from, and broader than, conventional data integration challenges, establishes criteria for a "High Variety benchmark" that can be used to evaluate competing systems, and motivates new research directions in the design of HVDBMS.


Increasingly, systems are composed from independently developed parts, and mechanisms that allow those parts to interact (connectors). In many situations, specialized forms of interaction are needed to bridge component mismatches or to achieve extra-functional properties (e.g., security, performance, reliability), making the design and implementation of these interaction mechanisms a critical issue. Unfortunately, system developers have few options: they must live with available, but often inadequate, generic support for interaction (such as RPC), or they must handcraft specialized mechanisms at great cost. The authors describe a partial solution to this problem, whereby interaction mechanisms are constructed compositionally. Specifically, we describe a set of operators that can transform generic communication mechanisms (such as RPC and publish-subscribe) to incrementally add new capabilities. We show how these transformations can be used to realize complex interactions (such as Kerberized RPC) and to generate implementations of the new connector types at relatively low cost.


A reliable and resilient communication infrastructure that can cope with variable application traffic types and delay objectives is one of the prerequisites that differentiates a Smart Grid from the conventional electrical grid. However, the legacy communication infrastructure in the existing electrical grid is insufficient, if not incapable of satisfying the diverse communication requirements of the Smart Grid. The IEEE 802.11 ad hoc Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) is re-emerging as one of the communication networks that can significantly extend the reach of Smart Grid to backend devices through the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). However, the unique characteristics of AMI application traffic in the Smart Grid poses some interesting challenges to conventional communication networks including the ad hoc WMN. Hence, there is a need to modify the conventional ad hoc WMN, to address the uncertainties that may exist in its applicability in a Smart Grid environment. This research carries out an in-depth study of the communication of Smart Grid application traffic types over ad hoc WMN deployed in the Neighbour Area Network (NAN). It begins by conducting a critical review of the application characteristics and traffic requirements of several Smart Grid applications and highlighting some key challenges. Based on the reviews, and assuming that the application traffic types use the internet protocol (IP) as a transport protocol, a number of Smart Grid application traffic profiles were developed. Through experimental and simulation studies, a performance evaluation of an ad hoc WMN using the Optimised Link State Routing (OLSR) routing protocol was carried out. This highlighted some capacity and reliability issues that routing AMI application traffic may face within a conventional ad hoc WMN in a Smart Grid NAN. Given the fact that conventional routing solutions do not consider the traffic requirements when making routing decisions, another key observation is the inability of link metrics in routing protocols to select good quality links across multiple hops to a destination and also provide Quality of Service (QoS) support for target application traffic. As with most routing protocols, OLSR protocol uses a single routing metric acquired at the network layer, which may not be able to accommodate different QoS requirements for application traffic in Smart Grid. To address these problems, a novel multiple link metrics approach to improve the reliability performance of routing in ad hoc WMN when deployed for Smart Grid is presented. It is based on the OLSR protocol and explores the possibility of applying QoS routing for application traffic types in NAN based ad hoc WMN. Though routing in multiple metrics has been identified as a complex problem, Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques such as the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and pruning have been used to perform such routing on wired and wireless multimedia applications. The proposed multiple metrics OLSR with AHP is used to offer the best available route, based on a number of considered metric parameters. To accommodate the variable application traffic requirements, a study that allows application traffic to use the most appropriate routing metric is presented. The multiple metrics development is then evaluated in Network Simulator 2.34; the simulation results demonstrate that it outperforms existing routing methods that are based on single metrics in OLSR. It also shows that it can be used to improve the reliability of application traffic types, thereby overcoming some weaknesses of existing single metric routing across multiple hops in NAN. The IEEE 802.11g was used to compare and analyse the performance of OLSR and the IEEE 802.11b was used to implement the multiple metrics framework which demonstrate a better performance than the single metric. However, the multiple metrics can also be applied for routing on different IEEE wireless standards, as well as other communication technologies such as Power Line Communication (PLC) when deployed in Smart Grid NAN.


Natural killer cells are large granular lymphocytes of the innate immune system, which play an important role in the recognition and elimination of malignantly transformed and infected cells. The major activating NK cell receptor NKG2D, which is also expressed as co-stimulatory receptor on T cell subsets, is thereby a key modulator for tumor recognition and immune cell cytotoxicity. NKG2D recognizes several structurally related cellular ligands (MICA, MICB and ULBP1-6) commonly overexpressed on tumor cells. However, soluble NKG2D (sNKG2D) ligands released from malignant cells by proteolytical shedding, or on exosomes, can inhibit NKG2D-dependent NK and T cell cytotoxicity. Consequently, previous studies showed a correlation of elevated individual sNKG2D ligand plasma levels with impaired NK cell cytotoxicity in cancer patients. Moreover, in a phase I/II trial with high-risk neuroblastoma patients, sMICA was shown to inhibit not only autologous NK cells, but also adoptively transferred allogeneic NK cells after haploidentical stem cell transplantation.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a highly heterogeneous and aggressive tumor of the upper aero-digestive tract accounting for 300,000 annual deaths worldwide due to failure of current therapies. In a previous study, sMICA in HNSCC patients' plasma was correlated with impaired NK cell function, indicating that NKG2D-dependent tumor immune escape might play a role for evasion of HNSCC from immunosurveillance. However, little is known about the cumulative role of all sNKG2D ligands and their impact during course of disease. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was the characterization of the NKG2D-dependent tumor immune escape in HNSCC to identify a patient cohort, which might benefit from restoration of NKG2D-dependent tumor immunosurveillance. In this respect, a proof of concept for the depletion of sNKG2D ligands from patients' plasma as future therapeutic intervention strategy to restore NKG2D-dependent antitumor immune cell function was established.
In this thesis, profiling of the plasma from 44 HNSCC patients in comparison to age-matched healthy donors revealed significantly elevated levels of sMICA, sMICB and sULBP1-3. The cumulative levels of sNKG2D ligands were patient specific and correlated with disease progression and tumor load. Moreover, these data suggested a prominent role of sULBP1 and sULBP3 in NKG2D-dependent tumor immune escape in HNSCC. In addition, the immunosuppressive state of HNSCC patients augments NKG2D-dependent escape especially through high plasma levels of TGF-β1.
In in vitro cytotoxicity assays, high levels of sNKG2D ligands and TGF-β1 in patients' plasma correlated with NK cell inhibition by blocking the NKG2D receptor. Importantly, the specific depletion of sNKG2D ligands by antibody-coupled magnetic beads successfully restored NK cell cytotoxicity of primary human NK cells against single tumor cell suspensions and in a 3D tumor spheroid model. Consequently, all sNKG2D ligands are indicative for NKG2D-dependent tumor immune escape in HNSCC and determine a time point at which malignant cells critically benefit from bypassing immunosurveillance. Based on tumor spheroids, it could be shown that inhibition of NKG2D-dependent cytotoxicity correlated with drastically reduced NK cell infiltration. These data were in accordance with low infiltration frequencies found in primary tumors of HNSCC patients. Therefore, interference with NKG2D-dependent tumor immune escape might boost both, NK cell cytotoxicity and redirect NK cells to infiltrate tumors.
As proof of concept, a biofunctionalized matrix for adsorption apheresis based on a monoclonal antibody for the representative ligand MICA was generated and showed high depletion capacity of soluble MICA allelic variants from human plasma in vitro. The data from HNSCC patients indicate that the simultaneous depletion of all sNKG2D ligands might be crucial for a clinical intervention strategy. Therefore, a pan-specific bioreactive surface using recombinant human IgG1-Fc fusion proteins of the NKG2D ectodomain was generated. In vitro depletion experiments demonstrated quantitative depletion of sMICA/B and sULBPs from human plasma. To validate adsorption apheresis of sNKG2D ligands, the anti-MICA antibody adsorber was used in a proof of concept study in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). The pre-clinical study in rhesus monkeys infused with soluble human MICA demonstrated that adsorption apheresis of sNKG2D ligands is technically feasible and that quantitative removal of sMICA can be achieved after three plasma volume exchanges.
In conclusion, the cumulative level of sNKG2D ligands and TGF-β1 might provide a novel diagnostic and/or prognostic marker combination to decipher a patient cohort, which benefits from restoration of NKG2D-dependent tumor immunosurveillance. Adsorption apheresis of sNKG2D ligands is proposed as therapeutic intervention strategy to improve the efficacy of autologous immune cells by restoration of tumor infiltration and cytotoxicity. Furthermore, ad-sorption apheresis as preconditioning strategy combined with cellular immunotherapies might help to improve the efficacy of therapeutically administered wildtype or engineered cytotoxic lymphocytes.


Many healthy volunteers choose to take part in Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevention studies because they want to know whether they will develop dementia—and what they can do to reduce their risk—and are therefore interested in learning the results of AD biomarker tests. Proponents of AD biomarker disclosure often refer to the personal utility of AD biomarkers, claiming that research participants will be able to use AD biomarker information for personal purposes, such as planning ahead or making important life decisions. In this paper, the claim that AD biomarkers have personal utility for asymptomatic individuals is critically assessed. It demonstrates that in the absence of clinical validity, AD biomarkers cannot have personal utility and do not serve research participants' autonomy. Over the next few years, many research groups will be confronted with participants' preferences to learn the results of AD biomarker tests. When researchers choose to make results available upon explicit request, they should ensure adequate information provision and education, notably on the uncertain clinical significance of AD biomarker information. Routine disclosure of AD biomarkers to cognitively unimpaired individuals in research settings cannot be justified with an appeal to the personal utility of AD biomarker information.


Richard Dawkins recently claimed that 'no theologian has ever produced a satisfactory response to his arguments'. Well-known broadcaster and author Keith Ward is one of Britain's foremost philosopher-theologians. This is his response. Ward welcomes all comers into philosophy's world of clear definitions, sharp arguments, and diverse conclusions. But when Dawkins enters this world, his passion tends to get the better of him, and he descends into stereotyping, pastiche, and mockery. In this stimulating and thought-provoking philosophical challenge, Ward demonstrates not only how Dawkins' arguments are flawed, but that a perfectly rational case can be made that there, almost certainly, is a God.


For highly dynamic Grid scenarios, scalable solutions for resource, service and access management are essential. However, in today's real world Grid projects, organizations still struggle with system and account management tools that have been designed for intra-organizational use and fail to handle cross-organizational requirements as imposed by Dynamic Virtual Organizations (DVOs). A critical issue in managing the lifecycle of DVOs is the adequate handling of user information when creating and maintaining accounts. Based on a comprehensive Grid scenario, we derive criteria for DVO life cycle management, analyze the shortcomings of existing approaches and present a policy-based approach, which allows for the integration of DVO-management schemes with existing Identity & Access Management (I&AM) systems.


The classic question in international law concerns its effectiveness. Today, this old debate concerns the usefulness of treaties. Yet those engaging in this debate share a common problem. They evaluate treaty success by focusing on the effects of treaties on one type of actor: states. This narrow lens is misguided; it leads to a skeptical view of the effectiveness of treaties because of the number of countries declining to negotiate, adopt, ratify, or enforce treaties. This article challenges this skeptical view by introducing the concept of "treaty penumbras" to explain how even treaties rejected by state actors exert considerable effects on the actions of an important non-state actor: transnational businesses. This article identifies three types of penumbral effects: pre-emption, coordination, and noise. Pre-emption effects encourage businesses to upgrade their self-regulation when a treaty is imminent. Coordination effects galvanize business actors to support (or oppose) treaty norms, and noise effects increase external pressure for corporate reform. Each of these effects magnifies the reach of treaties over businesses but these effects are unnoticed in the traditional legal framework that prioritizes state behavior. Penumbral effects have important policy and academic implications. National policymakers, individually and collectively, increasingly target corporate transgressions globally, such as human rights abuses, environmental contamination, and financial misconduct. Treaties are designed to address these very problems but are increasingly limited in doing so under the traditional "statist" framework. In contrast, this article offers strategies for operationalizing penumbral effects to reach corporate conduct through treaty regulation. For academics, penumbral effects necessitate reevaluation of both the criteria used for evaluating the effectiveness of treaties and the conclusions reached under that evaluation.


'Mental Toughness' is recognised as an important component in academic success (Robinson 2013) represented by the psychological qualities that determine how challenges are effectively addressed in pressurised situations (Dewhurst et al. 2012). Valiente et al. (2012) highlighted that negative emotions can have a detrimental impact on academic success. However little is known about the impact of positive affect on academic success (Valiente et al. 2012) although Qualter et al. (2009) found well-developed emotional intelligence to be important in successful retention of students in higher education (HE). The aim of this study was to investigate whether HE students who report greater mental toughness and positive affect are more likely to be academically successful. An opportunity sample of 175 University of West London Psychology students took part; 95 consented to have their modular results accessed by the researchers. Mental Toughness was measured using the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ48; Clough et al. 2002). Positive and negative affect were measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS; Watson et al. 1988). Mean module assessment scores for the preceding semester were also recorded as an indicator of academic success. Correlational analysis indicated that Mental Toughness and Affect may differentially impact on males and females. Partial correlation analysis (controlling for participant age) revealed that module assessment scores in males positively correlated with the MTQ48 subscale 'commitment' and the Positive Affect scale. Module assessment scores in females positively correlated with the overall MTQ48 score and subscales of 'commitment' and 'control of life'. Female participants showed no significant relationships between module assessment scores and the PANAS. This may suggest that a sense of commitment is an important factor in academic success and may relate to enhanced engagement with learning. In females, these findings may also indicate superior organisational skills have a positive influence on academic activities. These initial findings are part of an ongoing longitudinal study. Additional demographic variables will be examined to assess their potential impact on modular and overall academic performance in addition to student retention.


It is a widely accepted fact that porphyry Cu-Au deposits form from highly oxidized ore fluids. Despite this assertion, several otherwise typical porphyry Cu-Au deposits exhibit clear evidence of having formed from relatively reduced ore fluids. These "reduced" porphyry Cu-Au deposits lack primary hematite, magnetite, and sulfate minerals (i.e., anhydrite), but contain abundant hypogene pyrrhotite, commonly have carbonic-rich ore fluids with substantial CH 4 , and are associated with ilmenite-bearing, reduced I-type granitoids. Based on a synthesis of theoretical, experimental, and field data, a variation on the classic porphyry Cu model is proposed to explain the formation of reduced porphyry Cu-Au deposits and their relatively Cu-poor but Au-rich nature. The proposed reduced porphyry Cu-Au model does not contradict the current understanding of porphyry Cu-Au formation. Rather, it adds yet another variation on the theme of porphyry Cu-Au genesis.


Abstract The article presents the possible role of consciousness in quantum-mechanical description of physical reality. The widely spread interpretations of quantum phenomena are considered as indicating the apparent connection between conscious processes (such as observation) and the properties of the microcosm. The reasons for discrepancies between the results of observations of the microcosm and macrocosm and the potential association of consciousness with these reasons are closely investigated. The mentioned connection is meant to be interpreted in the sense that the probable requirement for a complete understanding of quantum theory is the adequate description of consciousness within it and that the correct theory of consciousness should include quantum-mechanical theoretical apparatus. In this context, the question about the methods of scientific cognition is discussed, in particular, the problem of the place and the importance of intellectual intuition in science and philosophy of science. The author draws the conclusions about the current state of the "measuring" consciousness. problem in its relationship with


This article contributes to comparative environmental politics by integrating comparative analysis with debates about ontological politics as well as science and technology studies. Comparative environmental analysis makes two tacit assumptions: that the subject of comparison (e.g., an environmental policy framework) is mobile and can be detached from its contexts; and that studying this subject in more than one location can identify its diffusion and implementation anywhere. These assumptions are sites of ontological politics by predetermining (or restricting) environmental outcomes. Environmental analysis needs to consider how its own comparative acts might reify supposedly global frameworks rather than acknowledging how different localities appropriate and give meaning to them in diverse ways. The concept of civic epistemologies illustrates how domestic politics are organized around supposedly global concepts, rather than how global concepts diffuse around the world, as illustrated here by a comparative analysis of the United Nations' Green Economy Initiative.


Abstract. Recently, great progress has been made in formulating dense disparity estimation as a pixel-wise learning task to be solved by deep convolutional neural networks. However, most resulting pixel-wise disparity maps only show little detail for small structures. In this paper, we propose a two-stage architecture: we first learn initial disparities using an initial network, and then employ a disparity refinement network, guided by the initial results, which directly learns disparity corrections. Based on the initial disparities, we construct a residual cost volume between shared left and right feature maps in a potential disparity residual interval, which can capture more detailed context information. Then, the right feature map is warped with the initial disparity and a reconstruction error volume is constructed between the warped right feature map and the original left feature map, which provides a measure of correctness of the initial disparities. The main contribution of this paper is to combine the residual cost volume and the reconstruction error volume to guide training of the refinement network. We use a shallow encoder-decoder module in the refinement network and do learning from coarse to fine, which simplifies the learning problem. We evaluate our method on several challenging stereo datasets. Experimental results demonstrate that our refinement network can significantly improve the overall accuracy by reducing the estimation error by 30% compared with our initial network. Moreover, our network also achieves competitive performance compared with other CNN-based methods.


The objective of this study is to inventory the current genetic diversity of the bison quarantine feasibility study (BQFS) herd originating from Yellowstone National Park (YNP) using previously described microsatellite, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers with the aim to determine the degree, if any, of cattle DNA introgression in this herd. This work can provide an important tool in monitoring and managing bison genetic diversity as brucellosis-free reintroduced herds are re-established throughout the US for conservation purposes. The BQFS composed of 89 Bison bison from YNP that were quarantined and tested to qualify as free of brucellosis in 2006–2007. Understanding genetic diversity of the herd is important to determine if any genetic characteristics such as cattle DNA introgression or low genetic diversity may threaten the herd's protected status. We evaluated genetic diversity at 42 microsatellite loci representing each of the nuclear chromosomes in the bison genome. We found no detectable evidence of cattle DNA introgression in this herd through nuclear markers and mitochondrial DNA analysis. Parentage analysis of the BQFS herd indicated that the majority of mature adults were actively breeding and contributing offspring. Genetic diversity levels in the quarantined herd were high and comparable to the YNP parent herd, suggesting a low risk of genetic loss in the near future. Based on these findings, the genetic diversity currently available within the BQFS herd will provide a strong foundation for bison reintroduced herds and for the preservation of the species.


This thesis uses Manuel DeLanda's realist emergentist ontology to indicate a foundation for an ethics of open possibility and experimentation. DeLanda's emergentist ontology will be used as a bridge that links nature as a creative system to human life as self-consciously creative. As an emergent goal of human life as such, personal experimentation has an irreducibly ethical dimension. I will argue that John Russon's concept of mutual equal recognition or universality-as-sharedness best explicates the ethical implications implied by but not explored in the work of DeLanda. Chapter 1 is a general introduction and lays out the three competing views to which this thesis is opposed and to which it offers an alternative. Chapter 2 explains the meaning and implications of DeLanda's conception of natural processes as creative, suggesting that there are ethical implications for how we ought to live life if reality is as DeLanda claims. These ethical implications are emergent properties of natural and social organisation. Thus, Chapter 3 will look at a selection of material from other contemporary thinkers on emergence, aiming to bring DeLanda's conception into further relief and explain its unique appropriateness for the ethical implications this thesis is explicating. In Chapter 4, the ethical implications of DeLanda's ontology will be made fully explicit. I will demonstrate how Russon's principle of mutual equal recognition is an emergent property of human history and, as such, the social foundation for the ethics of personal experimentation and open possibility implied by but not explicated in DeLanda's ontology.


We present the design procedure and experimental results of thermally tunable double ring resonators for integrated wavelength division multiplexing applications. A detailed analytical model specific for double rings is described, and a modified racetrack geometry using Bezier bends is used to reduce bending loss. We demonstrate devices with a free-spectral-range up to 2.4 THz (19 nm) around 1550 nm and nonadjacent channel rejection higher than 35 dB. The experimental results of thermally tunable double ring resonators is also presented with doped silicon integrated heaters, allowing the device to be used as a tunable filter or a switch.


The interest in density forecasts (as opposed to solely modeling the conditional mean) arises from the possibility of dynamics in higher moments of a time series as well as, in some applications, the interest in forecasting the probability of future events. By combining the idea of Markov bootstrapping with kernel density estimation, this paper presents a simple nonparametric method for estimating out-of-sample multi-step density forecasts. The paper also considers a host of evaluation tests to examine dynamical misspecification of estimated density forecasts by targeting autocorrelation, heteroskedasticity and neglected nonlinearity. These tests are useful as rejections of the tests give insights into ways to improve a particular forecasting model. In an extensive Monte Carlo analysis involving a range of commonly used linear and nonlinear time series processes, the nonparametric method is shown to work reasonably well across the simulated models for a suitable choice of bandwidth (smoothing parameter). Furthermore, the application of the method to the US Industrial Production series provides multi-step density forecasts that show no sign of dynamic misspecification.


Software development organizations are currently under tremendous pressure to refine and streamline the process of developing software. Process maturity models have been created to define a organization-wide process for all software development efforts [Paulk et al. 93]. But these methods advocate a one-size-fits-all approach that can have detrimental effects on organizations that develop diverse products with equally diverse development needs. In conjunction with a large information technology organization, we have undertaken an effort to help software development organizations make informed decisions on development strategies based on knowledge of techniques previously used in the organization. We have designed a framework that facilitates finding projects with similar characteristics. This provides information on previous projects experiences that can serve as the basis for streaming the development process by tailoring methods to the specific needs of a project.


"Social Change in Contemporary China" offers a wide-ranging examination of Chinese institutional change in areas of education, religion, health care, economics, labor, family, and local communities in the post-Mao era. Based on the pioneering work of sociologist C. K. Yang (1911-1999) and his institutional diffusion theory, the essays analyze and develop the theory as it applies to both public and private institutions. The inter-relationship of these institutions composes what Yang termed the Chinese "system" and affects nearly every aspect of life. Yang examined the influence of external factors on each institution, such as the influence of Westernization and Communism on family and the impact of industrialization on rural markets. He also analyzed the impact of public opinion and past culture on institutions, therein revealing the circular nature of diffusion. Perhaps most significant are Yang's insights on the role of religion in Chinese society. Despite the common perception that China had no religion, he uncovers the influence of classical Confucianism as the basis for many ethical value systems and follows its diffusion into state and kinship systems, as well as Taoism and Buddhism. Writing in the early years of Communism, Yang had little hard data with which to test his theories. The contributors to this volume expand upon Yang's groundbreaking approach and apply the model of diffusion to a rapidly evolving contemporary China, providing a window into an increasingly modern Chinese society and its institutions.


This thesis details the approaches which aim to automatically optimize power system security schemes. In this research, power system security scheme includes two main plans. The first plan, which is called the defence plan scheme, is about preventing cascading blackouts while the second plan, which is called the restoration plan, is about rebuilding the power system in case of failure of the first plan. Practically, the defence plan includes under-frequency load shedding and under-frequency islanding schemes. These two schemes are always considered the last stage of the defensive actions against any severe incident. It is recognized that it is not easy for any power system's operational planner to obtain the minimum amount of load shedding or the best power system islanding formation. In the case of defence plan failure, which is always possible, a full or partial system collapse may occur. In this situation, the power system operator is urgently required to promptly restore the system. This is not an easy task, since the operator must not violate many power system security constraints. In this research, genetic algorithms and expert systems are employed, as optimization methods, to identify the best amount of load shedding and island formation for the defence plan and the shortest path to rebuild the power system for the restoration plan. In the process of designing the power system security scheme, the majority of the electromechanical power system security constraints are considered. It is well known that power system optimization problems often have a huge solution space. In this regard, many successful techniques have been used to reduce the size of the solution spaces associated with the optimization of the power system security schemes in this work. The Libyan power system is used as an industrial case study to validate the practicality of the research approaches. The results clearly show that the new methods that have been researched in this PhD work have shown great success. Using the Libyan power system, the optimized defence plan has been compared to the current defence plan. The results of this comparison have shown that the optimized defence plan outperforms the current one. Regarding the optimized restoration plan, the results present the fact that the Libyan power system can be restored in reasonable time.


The aim of the current study is to explore the conceptual development of trolling behavior and creative culture on new media in the North Cyprus especially on the 2015 Presidential Election. Cyprus presents a unique opportunity for the investigation of creative language and related issues due to its vibrant and unevolved media systems. Currently, there is no comprehensive study that incorporates the conceptual development of trolling culture in North Cyprus political communication in general. This study is also significant for application of the trolling culture in North Cyprus political communication as an election campaign strategy during the horse-race periods. In total, 23 videos were coded according to codebook with regard to creative language and the characteristics of trolling behavior. In order to provide a conceptual definition of the meaning of troll culture for Turkish Cypriots small survey was conducted by 100 Cypriots. The present data suggests that What Will Be Happen News Bulletin 2015 Presidential Election videos in YouTube channel demonstrated higher creative culture examples, which represent classical trolling behavior. The analysis of small survey and content-analysis suggest that the Mehmet Ekin Vaiz was unique due to being the first application of Turkish Cypriot political communication is adopting a classical trolling behavior in 2015 Presidential Election.


Despite extensive documentation of and attention to direct state pressure on journalists and the almost continual reissuing of "red lines" as a pretense for these media-repressive tactics, little systematic research has been done about the field of journalism in Iran. Beyond direct state repression—harassment, arrests, imprisonment—Iranian journalists face a myriad of regulatory and bureaucratic controls that restrict editorial freedom and the flow of information between journalists and citizens. Yet we know little about how reporters in Iran contend with these challenges on an everyday basis, and in particular outside the context of tightened state controls and crackdowns on journalists during political elections. Hence, there is a need to look "beyond the prison cell" and to examine more closely the everyday operating conditions in which Iranian journalists work, as well as their professional ethics and standards, in order to illustrate a fuller picture of the dynamics of Iran's media culture. With this report, the Annenberg School for Communication's Iran Media Program offers—to our knowledge—the first systematic evidence of the working environment of Iranian journalists. It addresses a critical information and research gap regarding the reporting practices of Iranian journalists, their perceptions of editorial freedoms, their ideas of what the media's role is in society, and the ways in which reporters and editors contend with Internet filtering and censorship. The fundamental aim of this study is to generate a deeper understanding of how Iranian journalists operate both within and despite an environment of heavy state oversight and restrictions, as well as to broaden our perspective of the complexities of media censorship in Iran.


The company where this thesis was formulated constructs VR applications for the medical environment. The hardware used is ordinary dektops with consumer level graphics cards and haptic devices. In medicin some operations require microscopes or cameras. In order to simulate these in a virtual reality environment for educational purposes, the effect of depth of field or focus have to be considered. A working algorithm that generates this optical occurence in realtime, stereo rendered computer graphics is presented in this thesis. The algorithm is implemented in OpenGL and C++ to later be combined with a VR application simulating eye-surgery which is built with OpenGL Optimizer. Several different approaches are described in this report. The call for realtime stereo rendering (~60 fps) means taking advantage of the graphics hardware to a great extent. In OpenGL this means using the extensions to a specific graphic chip for better performance, in this case the algorithm is implemented for a GeForce3 card. To increase the speed of the algorithm much of the workload is moved from the CPU to the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). By re-defining parts of the ordinary OpenGL pipeline via vertex programs, a distance-from-focus map can be stored in the alpha channel of the final image with little time loss. This can effectively be used to blend a previously blurred version of the scene with a normal render. Different techniques to quickly blur a renderedimage is discussed, to keep the speed up solutions that require moving data from the graphics card is not an option.


Life without parole is "an especially harsh punishment for a juvenile," and as the U.S. Supreme Court noted in Graham v. Florida. The United States is the only country in the world that imposes juvenile life without parole sentences. Many of these individuals were sentenced during a surge in LWOP sentences in the 1990s. In the past decade, following several Supreme Court rulings eliminating mandatory sentences of LWOP for juvenile offenders, juvenile LWOP sentencing has declined. This Article aims to empirically assess the rise and then the fall in juvenile LWOP sentencing in a leading sentencing state, North Carolina, to better understand these trends and their implications. We examine the cases of 94 people in North Carolina who were sentenced to LWOP as juveniles. Their ages at the time of the offense ranged from 13 to 17. Of those, 51 are currently serving LWOP sentences (one more is currently pending a new trial). These cases are detailed in the Appendix. In North Carolina, JLWOP sentencing has markedly declined. Since 2011, there have been only five such sentences. Of the group of 94 juvenile offenders, 42 have so far been resentenced to non-LWOP sentences, largely pursuant to the post-Miller legislation in North Carolina. Over one third of the juveniles sentenced to LWOP, or 32 individuals, were not the killers, but were convicted under a felony murder theory. These sentences are concentrated in a small group of counties. A total of 61% or 57 of the 94 juvenile LWOP sentences in North Carolina were entered in the eleven counties that have imposed more than three such sentences. We find an inertia effect: once a county has used a JLWOP sentence they have a higher probability of using a JLWOP sentence again in the future. In contrast, homicide rates are not predictive of JLWOP sentences. We ask whether it makes practical sense to retain juvenile LWOP going forward, given what an unusual, geographically limited, and costly sentence it has become. In conclusion, we describe alternatives to juvenile LWOP as presently regulated in states like North Carolina, including a scheme following the model adopted in states like California and Wyoming, in which there is period review of lengthy sentences imposed on juvenile offenders.


We investigate the Quaternary slip rate for the Blackwater fault, Eastern California shear zone, through mapping and geochronology of offset volcanic rocks. Basalt flows of the Black Mountains support the presence of faulting at 3.77 ± 0.11 Ma, 1.8 ± 0.1 km of subsequent slip, and a well-constrained long-term slip rate of 0.49 ± 0.04 mm/yr. Total slip diminishes northward, evidenced by a 0.3–1.8 km offset of a 7.23 ± 1.07 Ma dacite flow in the Black Hills and fault termination in the Lava Mountains, 5 km short of the Garlock fault. Slow long-term slip rate together with sparse evidence for Holocene rupture contradict predictions of rapid slip rate from tectonic geodesy. These results support the conclusion that as much as 95% of geodetic strain accumulation across the Blackwater fault, and thus from 1 to 6 mm/yr of geodetic strain measured across the Eastern California shear zone, is a transitory phenomenon. Discrepant geologic and geodetic results may indicate an increased near-term seismic hazard, but merit caution for interpretation of fault slip rates from geodesy alone.


Cognitive Radio networks demand a fast and accurate wideband spectrum sensing in order to operate successfully and achieve efficient spectrum utilization. The wavelet transform, being a multiresolution analysis tool, has been proposed to process the target spectrum to achieve both speed and accuracy. In this paper, we propose an improved algorithm, based on the characterization of spectrum singularities from their wavelet transform multiscale information for wideband spectrum sensing. The proposed algorithm performs better than the existing ones at medium-to-high noise power. In addition, modifications are introduced to the wavelet transform multiscale sum algorithm to improve its performance. We also show that the Gaussian wavelet is the best wavelet basis function for this spectrum sensing approach. Finally, new performance measures are introduced and evaluated to provide accurate assessment of wideband spectrum sensing techniques.


Compaction depth trends are important in drilling, basin modeling, and seismic exploration for several purposes: (1) to de-tect overpressure and hydrocarbon zones and distinguish them from seismic velocity anomalies; (2) to calculate interval velocities and depth conversion involving seismic data and Earth models; (3) to predict seismic signatures of sand-shale interfaces as a function of depth; and (4) to recognize over-compacted zones due to uplift. Several authors have studied the effects of compaction on the porosity of sands and shales (e.g., Magara, 1980; Ramm and Bjorlykke, 1994). The effects of compaction on velocity-depth trends have been provided by different authors (e.g., Al-Chalabi, 1997; Faust, 1951; Japsen, 2000). However, porosity and velocity depth trends in the shallow section are not well established. The main challenge in computing such trends is the paucity of well-log data in the shallow subsurface. Figure 1, a typical well log from the Gulf of Mexico, lacks measurements in the shall...


The molecular cobalt fluorides CoF 2 , CoF 3 and CoF 4 are studied and compared by employing different basis sets as well as Quantum Information Theory (QIT) to inves-tigate their correlation effects. These prototypical monomers may be systematically extended in size yielding a novel quasi 1-dimensional, strongly correlated model system consisting of cobalt atoms bridged by oxygen atoms and fluorine termination on both ends. Accurate correlation energies are obtained using Full Configuration Interaction (FCI) and Full Configuration Interaction Quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) calculations and the results are compared to Coupled Cluster and Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG) energies. The analysis indicates the cobalt atom requires a larger number of one-electron basis functions than fluorine and the use of localized molecular orbitals may facilitate calculations for the extended systems.