Building on the widely-used double-lognormal approach by Bahra (1997), this paper presents a multi-lognormal approach with restrictions to extract risk-neutral probability density functions (RNPs) for various asset classes. The contributions are twofold: first, on the technical side, the paper proposes useful transformation/restrictions to Bahra's original formulation for achieving economically sensible outcomes. In addition, the paper compares the statistical properties of the estimated RNPs among major asset classes, including commodities, the S&P 500, the dollar/euro exchange rate, and the US 10-year Treasury Note. Finally, a Monte Carlo study suggests that the multi-lognormal approach outperforms the double-lognormal approach.


Abstract The Laser Mégajoule (LMJ) cryogenic target is protected from ambient thermal radiation by a thermal shroud. When the cryotarget, held by the cryotarget positioner, is at the LMJ chamber center, the thermal shroud has to be removed just before the shot to allow the laser beams to reach the laser entrance hole of the cavity. The shroud remover, PET, will have to disconnect the thermal shroud from the cryogenic target base without disturbing the target base temperature regulation (˜18 K ± 2 mK), which guarantees the needed cryogenic target conditions to reach the ignition. The shroud withdrawal is divided into two successive phases: a slow withdrawal for the thermal disconnection between shroud and target base and a fast withdrawal for a quick extraction of the shroud out of the laser beamways pointing onto the cavity. The slow shroud withdrawal must be handled within 30 min to respect laser pointing stability. After the final target alignment at the chamber center, the shroud must be ejected 0.5 m away from the source point in <0.1 s before the shot. To cope with all these issues, a prototype of the shroud remover, PPET, has been first built and developed at CEA-Grenoble, at INAC/SBT, before being tested at CEA-CESTA on the DEMOCRYTE setup, a prototype of the cryogenic target charger and holder. The experimental results mainly obtained at CEA-CESTA in 2008 and 2009 on two generations of target bases and shrouds are presented in this paper.


Introduction The American federal civil service has a long history of reform. (1) From the passage of the Pendleton Act of 1883 to the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) of 1978, the American federal personnel system has steadily evolved within the context of constitutional, political, and historical limitations. (2) Architects of the CSRA relied heavily on academic theory, examination of the British civil service, and private sector practices. (3) Despite mixed reviews, the general consensus is that it has been less than successful, particularly the Senior Executive Service (SES). (4) This legacy, together with the passage of The Department of Homeland Security Act of 2002, has produced renewed calls for civil service and SES reform. This study attempts to broaden the scope of the current reform debate by examining the SES's present and future role in developing administrative statesmen, career senior executives who possess a unique capacity to define and pursue the public interest through their legitimate use of administrative discretion. (5) It first examines the defining foundational characteristics of the SES and reviews critical evaluations of its success. It then explores salient French institutions and practices that promote the development of French administrative statesmen who form an "elite corps" of trained experts that work closely with top politicians, manage the ministries, and compose the government. (6) Next, it offers a selective comparison between the American SES and French Higher Civil Service that reveals the most significant differences are structure and conceptions of the public interest. (7) This study then briefly addresses the most recent attempt to reform the American civil service, The Department of Homeland Security Act of 2002, which seeks to further privatize federal jobs and politicize the career SES, thus exacerbating the ability of career senior executives to function as administrative statesmen. It then suggests that the original design of the SES was fundamentally flawed. As a consequence, the wisdom and values of career SES executives are suppressed, obviating their unique ability to uniformly define and execute the public interest as administrative statesmen. Finally, selective adaptation and integration of those French institutional practices that seem useful to reforming the American federal civil service and the SES are discussed. (8) American Senior Executive Service As an integral feature of the CSRA, the SES represents a complete reform of merit. (9) Although previous attempts to reform the American higher public service met with significant opposition, stakeholders such as members of Congress, interest groups, administration officials, and senior executives "were encouraged to see in the SES what they wanted to see." (10) The SES strategically positions most top-level executives and experienced managers under the direct control of political executives. (11) Its design represents a presidentialist, or integrationist, bias that portrays administrative agencies and agency heads as unilaterally responsible to the chief executive within a hierarchical, pyramidal executive branch. It is thus understandable that "the professional and public administration community, with few exceptions, strongly endorsed the inclusion of political appointees and careerists in one system." (12) In principle, this support was instrumental to the Carter administration's calculated effort to increase direct political control over the federal civil service. (13) Key provisions of the CSRA and the SES provide the chief executive with prodigious flexibility to exercise political leadership by making career senior executives more accountable to presidential responsiveness through politically-appointed superiors. The act consolidated all GS 16-18 positions and Levels IV and V of the Executive Schedule into the SES. It abolished position classification for senior executive jobs and established a rank-in-person, or "generalist," system. …


With the mass-market adoption of dual-camera mobile phones, leveraging stereo information in computer vision has become increasingly important. Current state-of-the-art methods utilize learning-based algorithms, where the amount and quality of training samples heavily influence results. Existing stereo image datasets are limited either in size or subject variety. Hence, algorithms trained on such datasets do not generalize well to scenarios encountered in mobile photography. We present Holopix50k, a novel in-the-wild stereo image dataset, comprising 49,368 image pairs contributed by users of the Holopix mobile social platform. In this work, we describe our data collection process and statistically compare our dataset to other popular stereo datasets. We experimentally show that using our dataset significantly improves results for tasks such as stereo super-resolution and self-supervised monocular depth estimation. Finally, we showcase practical applications of our dataset to motivate novel works and use cases. The Holopix50k dataset is available at this http URL


When data instances are inter-related, as are nodes in a social network or hyperlink graph, algorithms for collective classification (CC) can significantly improve accuracy. Recently, an algorithm for CC named Cautious ICA (ICAC) was shown to improve accuracy compared to the popular ICA algorithm. ICAC improves performance by initially favoring its more confident predictions during collective inference. In this paper, we introduce ICAMC, a new algorithm that outperforms ICAC when the attributes that describe each node are not highly predictive. ICAMC learns a meta-classifier that identifies which node label predictions are most likely to be correct. We show that this approach significantly increases accuracy on a range of real and synthetic data sets. We also describe new features for the meta-classifier and demonstrate that a simple search can identify an effective feature set that increases accuracy.


Most countries now have national legislation that outlaws both human trafficking and organ trafficking. However, international conventions and domestic laws alone have not been enough to stop the trade in organs. As of 2007, a conservative estimate was that 5% of the approximately 100,000 organs transplanted annually were derived from exploiting the poorest and most vulnerable people in society; anti-trafficking efforts have since reduced, though not eliminated, this practice. The Declaration of Istanbul (DoI) was created in 2008 to engage medical professional societies to collaborate with governments and others in combating organ sales, transplant tourism, and trafficking in human organs. In 2010, the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group (DICG) was formed to actively promote and to monitor the implementation of the DoI principles. The removal of prohibitions on organ purchases, which is now being promoted in some wealthy nations, is unlikely to shorten transplant waitlists (because organ sales crowd out voluntary, unpaid donation) and would be based on the false view that such sales do not exploit the sellers. To combat such exploitation, the DICG advocates for ratification and enforcement of the new "Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs," as a complement the Palermo Protocol to the United Nations organized crime convention that prohibits human trafficking for organ removal. To increase ethical organ donation by living related donors, the DICG encourages countries to adopt means to cover donors' financial costs, which now discourage donation. It also works with the World Health Organization to encourage ministries of health to develop deceased donation to its maximum potential toward the goal of achieving national self-sufficiency in organ transplantation so that patients do not need to travel to foreign destinations to undergo organ transplantation using kidneys and partial livers purchased from poor and vulnerable people. Success in combating human trafficking for organ removal and organ trafficking will be greatly enhanced through organizations like the DICG forging strong relationships with human rights organizations.


This treatise is a pilot study that evaluated the implementation of the English language curriculum of the Nigeria Certificate in Education at a College of Education in Ogun State, Nigeria. The certificate is the basic qualification for teaching. The poor performance of Nigerian students in external English examinations has continued to be a source of worry to parents, educational stakeholders and the government. This problem has impeded the transition to higher education of many Nigerian students. In order to proffer solution to this problem, the effectiveness of the training of English language teachers need to be examined. The study sought to fill the gap by evaluating the implementation of the English language curriculum of the NCE in order to determine the effectiveness of the schooling of teachers. In investigating these issues, a mixed methods approach was used to utilise a case study. The sample comprised ten lecturers and twenty students drawn through convenience sampling techniques. The instruments were questionnaires, observation checklists, interviews and field notes. The methods of analysis were descriptive/inferential statistics and thematic content analysis. The findings revealed that lecturers employed mostly a combination of teaching modes in classrooms. The resources (physical and human) were found to be inadequate and the school technologically deficient. Furthermore, the negative attitudes of the students impacted on the implementation of the curriculum. The study identified the ineffective implementation of the NCE English language curriculum. The paper recommends that parents and other stakeholders should thoroughly investigate teacher training.


In this paper postcards from the EU funded Horizon 2020 Trash-2-Cash (2015-2018) project - completed by workshop participants – are presented in three tables with a focus on how they contributed to the building of communication channels, shared understanding and methods in this inter-disciplinary consortium work. The Trash-2-Cash project aims to support better waste utilisation, improve material efficiency, contribute to reduction of landfill area needs, whilst also producing high-value commercial products. Novel materials will drive the generation of new textile fibres that will utilize paper and textile fibre waste, originating from continuously increasing textile consumption. The inter-disciplanarity of the participants is key to achieving the project aims – but communication between sectors is challenging due to diverse expertise and levels of experience; language and cultural differences can also be barriers to collaboration as well. Designing easy and accessible, even fun, communication tools are one of the ways to help build relationships. The cards reviewed were used in Prato (November 2015), Helsinki (February 2016) and London (November 2016). This paper concludes with insights for the ongoing development of the project communications work towards the Design Driven Material Innovation (DDMI) methodology, due to be presented at the end of the project in 2018.


Objective To investigate the therapeutic efficacy of endoscopic optic nerve decompression (EOND) on patients with traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) and their related prognostic factors. Methods The clinical data of 103 eyes with TON,admitted to our hospital from January 1995 to February 2001 (n=53) and from March 2001 to December 2009 (n=50),were retrospectively analyzed; the clinical outcomes of these patients after being performed EOND were observed. Univariate analysis (Chi-square test) and logistic regression were performed to analyze the prognostic factors of TON underwent EOND therapy. Results The total effective rate of 103 eyes was 37.86% (39/103); the effective rate of eyes with residual vision was 83.3% (20/24),which was significantly higher than that of those without residual vision (24.05%,19/79,P<0.05).Univariate analysis and multiple factor logistic regression,respectively,showed that 3 variables significantly increased the risk of the visual acuity:no residual vision, interval from injury to surgery for more than 3 d and ethmoid and/or sphenoid sinus hematocele after injury.Other factors such as age,disturbance of consciousness,optic canal fracture,performing of sheathotomy,hormone level and interval from injury to surgery for more than 7 d were not correlated with the efficacy (P>0.05).Comparing fractures at different sites and with different severities,the efficacy of surgery was also different. The logistic regression equation is P (1)=1/ [1+e-(-2139+2.839X3+1.372X5+2.263X9)]. Conclusion The total therapeutic efficacy of EOND on patients with TON is not satisfactory, especially for those without light perception. The prognostic factors of TON were very complex and interactive; no light perception, interval from injury to surgery for more than 3 d,hemorrhage within the ethmoid and/or sphenoid sinus and lateral or multiple fracture of optic canal are factors affecting the prognosis of EOND for patients with TON. The indication for EOND must be individualized.

Key words:
Traumatic optic neuropathy; Endoscopy; Optic nerve decompression; Prognostic factor


Research e-infrastructures, digital archives, and data services have become important pillars of scientific enterprise that in recent decades have become ever more collaborative, distributed, and data intensive. The archaeological research community has been an early adopter of digital tools for data acquisition, organization, analysis, and presentation of research results of individual projects. However, the provision of e-infrastructure and services for data sharing, discovery, access, and (re)use have lagged behind. This situation is being addressed by ARIADNE, the Advanced Research Infrastructure for Archaeological Dataset Networking in Europe. This EU-funded network has developed an e-infrastructure that enables data providers to register and provide access to their resources (datasets, collections) through the ARIADNE data portal, facilitating discovery, access, and other services across the integrated resources. This article describes the current landscape of data repositories and services for archaeologists in Europe, and the issues that make interoperability between them difficult to realize. The results of the ARIADNE surveys on users' expectations and requirements are also presented. The main section of the article describes the architecture of the e-infrastructure, core services (data registration, discovery, and access), and various other extant or experimental services. The ongoing evaluation of the data integration and services is also discussed. Finally, the article summarizes lessons learned and outlines the prospects for the wider engagement of the archaeological research community in the sharing of data through ARIADNE.


Political debates provide voters with a unique opportunity to learn about which candidates best represent their interests. They are complex campaign events that are followed by intensive media analysis and commentary. Despite growing evidence about their impact on voter behavior, little is known about their interrelated role with subsequent news coverage. This paper investigates the impact of an episode of manipulated TV coverage of a major presidential debate on the 1989 Brazilian presidential election. First, we present evidence from an online experiment that the coverage affects the audience's evaluation of candidates differently then the actual debate. We then take advantage of a unique natural experiment regarding the geographical distribution of broadcaster-specific TV signal and the timing of election events in order to disentangle the effect of the coverage from the debate itself. By exploring both survey and actual election data, we find that the left-wing candidate lost 1.9−8.6 p.p. in vote share due to unfavorable coverage by the dominant TV network in Brazil. We also provide direct evidence that the mechanism works through a change in voters' perception of who won the debate. Together, our set of results show how dominant media groups can distort the information generated by presidential debates through its subsequent news coverage, thus hindering the role of debates in informing voters.


The field of comparative genomics is concerned with the study of similarities and differences between the information encoded in the genomes of organisms. A common approach is to define gene families by clustering protein sequences based on sequence similarity, and analyze protein cluster presence and absence in different species groups as a guide to biology. Due to the high dimensionality of these data, downstream analysis of protein clusters inferred from large numbers of species, or species with many genes, is nontrivial, and few solutions exist for transparent, reproducible, and customizable analyses. We present KinFin, a streamlined software solution capable of integrating data from common file formats and delivering aggregative annotation of protein clusters. KinFin delivers analyses based on systematic taxonomy of the species analyzed, or on user-defined, groupings of taxa, for example, sets based on attributes such as life history traits, organismal phenotypes, or competing phylogenetic hypotheses. Results are reported through graphical and detailed text output files. We illustrate the utility of the KinFin pipeline by addressing questions regarding the biology of filarial nematodes, which include parasites of veterinary and medical importance. We resolve the phylogenetic relationships between the species and explore functional annotation of proteins in clusters in key lineages and between custom taxon sets, identifying gene families of interest. KinFin can easily be integrated into existing comparative genomic workflows, and promotes transparent and reproducible analysis of clustered protein data.


Characteristic points have been a primary tool in the study of a generating function defined by a single recursive equation. We investigate the proper way to adapt this tool when working with multi-equation recursive systems. Given an irreducible non-negative power series system with $m$ equations, let $\rho$ be the radius of convergence of the solution power series and let $\pmb{\tau}$ be the values of the solution series evaluated at $\rho$. The main results of the paper include: (a) the set of characteristic points form an antichain in ${\mathbb R}^{m+1}$, (b) given a characteristic point $(a,\mathbf{b})$, (i) the spectral radius of the Jacobian of $\pmb \gamma$ at $(a, \mathbf{b})$ is $\ge 1$, and (ii) it is $=1$ iff $(a,\mathbf{b}) = (\rho,\pmb{\tau})$, (c) if $(\rho,\pmb{\tau})$ is a characteristic point, then (i) $\rho$ is the largest $a$ for $(a,\mathbf{b})$ a characteristic point, and (ii) a characteristic point $(a,\mathbf{b})$ with $a=\rho$ is the extreme point $(\rho,\pmb{\tau})$.


Six naturally occurring minerals were employed to catalyze the hydrolysis of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) in water. After preliminary screening experiments, siderite stood out among these minerals due to its higher activity and selectivity. In comparison with kaolinite, which is known to act as a Lewis acid catalyst, siderite was found to act primarily as a Brönsted acid catalyst in the hydrolysis of MC-LR. More interestingly, we found that the presence of humic acid significantly inhibited catalytic efficiency of kaolinite, while the efficiency of siderite remained high (∼98%). Reaction intermediates detected by LC-ESI/MS were used to indicate cleavage points in the macrocyclic ring of MC-LR, and XPS was used to characterize siderite interaction with MC-LR. Detailed analysis of the in situ ATR-FTIR absorption spectra of MC-LR indicated hydrogen bonding at the siderite-water-MC-LR interface. A metastable ring, involving hydrogen bonding, between surface bicarbonate of siderite and an amide of MC-LR was proposed to explain the higher activity and selectivity toward MC-LR. Furthermore, siderite was found to reduce the toxicity of MC-LR to mice by hydrolyzing MC-LR peptide bonds. The study demonstrates the potential of siderite, an earth-abundant and biocompatible mineral, for removing MC-LR from water.


Since 1990, nearly every state has enacted new laws to expand the transfer adolescent offenders from juvenile to criminal courts for sentencing and punishment. What happens to adolescents once placed in the criminal justice system, the returns to crime control from these policies, and the potential violations of human rights that ensue, are the focus of this essay. The quick pace of change, the broad reach of the new laws, the potential for unintended negative outcomes, and the harsh conditions of adult punishment for juvenile offenders add new urgency to these questions. The first section discusses the tension between new laws and both jurisprudential theory and social science evidence on the culpability of adolescent offenders. Although waiver of juveniles to criminal court legally may signal the "end of childhood" for that offender, theory and research on adolescent development suggest that the developmental process is far from complete with respect to further antisocial behavior, the jurisprudential indicia of adult competencies and culpability, and the natural history of more generalized transitions from adolescence to adult social roles and behaviors. Next, I assess the returns to crime control from current policies that punish adolescent offenders as adults to reduce crime and increase public safety. Recent controlled studies suggest that while punishment in criminal court for adolescent offenders in more certain and severe, utilitarian goals of lowering juvenile crime rates have not been achieved. Increasing substantive punishment for adolescents may in fact elevate crime rates and heighten the same public safety risks that the legislation is intended to reduce. Next, these empirical results are contextualized in theories of adolescent development and criminology to locate the sources of iatrogenic effects within prevailing policies of retribution and deterrence. Punishment of adolescents as adults exposes them to high levels of violence, attenuates their socialization to prosocial norms by constraining critical developmental transitions to a prison setting, and mortgaging their work prospects through the stigma of felony conviction. Punishment as an adult is analogized to toxic exposure that sharply elevates disease risk. The fourth section discusses the implications of this theoretical tension for the jurisprudence of adolescent criminality, and the theory and future of the juvenile court. This conclusion revisits the human rights dimensions of these developments in law and policy.


In this study, four margarine hardstocks were produced, two from enzymatically interesterified fats at 80 and 100% conversion, one from chemically randomized fat and one from physically mixed fat. These four hardstocks, blended with 50% sunflower oil, were mainly used for the production of table margarines in a pilot plant. Storage stability studies were carried out at storage temperatures of 5 and 25 °C for 12 wk. Margarines from the enzymatically interesterified fats were compared to the margarines produced by the conventional methods (chemical interesterification and physical blending) and to selected commercial margarines. The changes in the chemical properties of the products, including peroxide values (PV), tocopherols, free fatty acids, volatile oxidation products, and sensory evaluation, were examined during storage. It was observed that the margarine produced from the chemically interesterified fat had higher PV in weeks 4, 8 and 10 than the margarines produced from the enzymatically interesterified fats and the physically blended fat. These differences were not caused by different contents of tocopherols in the hardstocks. The differences between the processes for chemical and enzymatic interesterification, including further treatment stages, might be responsible for the development of a high PV in the margarine produced from the chemically interesterified fat. However, the contents of volatiles did not show the same tendency as observed for PV for the margarines stored at 25 °C during 12 wk. Storage at 25 °C accelerated oxidation compared to storage at 5 °C. The content of δ- and γ-tocopherols decreased faster than the content of α- and β-tocopherols during storage. This phenomenon was only affected by storage time, not by storage temperature. Sensory analysis did not show consistent differences between the produced margarines and commercial margarines, and no hydrolysis occurred for these four margarines during storage. The margarines produced from the enzymatically interesterified fats had low PV and a similar taste and smell compared to the margarine produced from the chemically interesterified fat.


Paperboard is typically made up of a core of cellulose fibers [C6H10O5] and a coating layer of [CaCO3]. The uniformity of these layers is a critical parameter for the printing quality. Current quality control methods include chemistry based visual inspection methods as well as X-ray based methods to measure the coating thickness. In this work we combine the X-ray fluorescence signals from the Ca atoms (3.7 keV) in the coating and from a Cu target (8.0 keV) placed behind the paper to simultaneously measure both the coating and the fibers. Cu was selected as the target material since its fluorescence signal is well separated from the Ca signal while its fluorescence's still are absorbed sufficiently in the paper. A laboratory scale setup is built using stepper motors, a silicon drift detector based spectrometer and a collimated X-ray beam. The spectroscopic image is retrieved by scanning the paperboard surface and registering the fluorescence signals from Ca and Cu. The exposure time for this type of setups can be significantly improved by implementing spectroscopic imaging sensors. The material contents in the layers can then be retrieved from the absolute and relative intensities of these two signals.


Patients diagnosed with high-grade gliomas have a poor prognosis and limited life expectancy, and often experience rapid decline in function. Caring for a patient with high-grade glioma is particularly stressful because caregivers are faced not only with cancer-related caregiving issues, but also issues relating to caring for someone with cognitive impairment. This study aimed to articulate the experiences of family caregivers of people diagnosed with high-grade glioma and to describe their information and support needs. A grounded theory method was adopted. Twenty-one family caregivers of people with high-grade glioma were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. A constant comparison method of data analysis was employed. A central theme, A Time of Rapid Change and two sub-themes, Renegotiating Relationships and Learning to be a Caregiver, emerged to describe the experiences of participants. Caregiving was characterised by numerous role and life changes from the moment of diagnosis. Caregivers in this study reported experiences similar to those described by caregivers of people with other cancers. What differed for this group was the rapidity of change and the need for immediate information and support to assist with caring for a person with high-grade glioma.


Keeping compatibility between steady state gas puffing and stable radio frequency (RF) discharge, helium recombining plasma production was achieved in an RF plasma device. In this experiment, axial position of orifice, which suppresses backflow of secondary gas, was modified to increase electron density at a test region. Changing neutral pressure at the test region from 11 Pa to 21 Pa, the electron temperature, the electron density and the wavelength spectrum were measured. The electron temperature decreased with increasing neutral pressure and finally becomes about 3 eV. The electron density shows similar pressure dependence as the electron temperature. When the neutral pressure increases to 15 Pa, the line spectra from highly excited helium atoms were clearly observed. The electron temperature estimated from these line spectral intensities is about 0.05 eV, which indicates that the electron density reduction is caused by volumetric recombination occurring at the periphery of the plasma column.


Conventional wisdom contends that fiscal policy was of secondary importance to the economic recovery in the 1930s. The recovery is then connected to monetary policy that allowed non-sterilized gold inflows to increase the money supply. Often, this is shown by measuring the fiscal multipliers, and demonstrating that they were relatively small. This paper shows that problems with the conventional measures of fiscal multipliers in the 1930s may have created an incorrect consensus on the irrelevance of fiscal policy. The rehabilitation of fiscal policy is seen as a necessary step in the reinterpretation of the positive role of New Deal policies for the recovery.


Part of a series of 6 x 30 minute comedy drama episodes directed by Vito Rocco for BBC (UK) and ABC (Australia) as part of the BAFTA award winning children's series. Rocco's episodes were broadcast between September and December 2019 in the UK on the BBC's CBBC channel and are available for catch up viewing on BBC iPlayer and was broadcast in Australia on ABC. So Awkward is CBBC's most popular series viewed by iPlayer views. Rocco worked on each episode as lead director on the series which examines issues faced by a group of smart seventeen year olds in a UK school. Episodes focus on issues within a work/life balance; teen relationships; borders between virtual reality and real life. The end user is able to add continuing commentary within social media interfaces linked to the series which helps to develop a sense of kinship with the characters. The episodes connect with and continue Rocco's on-going research into the impact of user-generated content as an initiator and source of cross-platform content. This work follows on from Rocco's investigation within Faintheart (the world's first user-generated feature film) into the creative relationship between end user and filmmaker, fictitious and real-life characters and reflects on the successes and failures of working within this mode.


In distributed, open systems like cyberspace, where the behavior of autonomous agents is uncertain and can affect other agents' welfare, trust management is used to allow agents to determine what to expect about the behavior of other agents. The role of trust management is to maximize trust between the parties and thereby provide a basis for cooperation to develop. Bringing together expertise from technology-oriented sciences, law, philosophy, and social sciences, Managing Trust in Cyberspace addresses fundamental issues underpinning computational trust models and covers trust management processes for dynamic open systems and applications in a tutorial style that aids in understanding. Topics include trust in autonomic and self-organized networks, cloud computing, embedded computing, multi-agent systems, digital rights management, security and quality issues in trusting e-government service delivery, and context-aware e-commerce applications. The book also presents a walk-through of online identity management and examines using trust and argumentation in recommender systems. It concludes with a comprehensive survey of anti-forensics for network security and a review of password security and protection. Researchers and practitioners in fields such as distributed computing, Internet technologies, networked systems, information systems, human computer interaction, human behavior modeling, and intelligent informatics especially benefit from a discussion of future trust management research directions including pervasive and ubiquitous computing, wireless ad-hoc and sensor networks, cloud computing, social networks, e-services, P2P networks, near-field communications (NFC), electronic knowledge management, and nano-communication networks.


Immunization: Childhood and Travel Health provides an all-encompassing reference for all those working in primary care, secondary care paediatric wards, immunization centres and travel clinics, as well as medical students and candidates working for higher examinations. The Fourth Edition has been comprehensively updated and the travel section completely revised. The book gives a thorough introduction to the history of immunization, vaccine technology and immunology, and compares international schedules of routine immunizations. Each vaccine is then presented separately, including contraindications, local and general side and adverse effects, administration advice, special precautions and notes, vaccine availability, storage, and well-referenced comments on issues surrounding each vaccine, including controversies. A description of the infection caused by the relevant microorganisms follows, together with data on disease notifications and immunization coverage. A considerable number of maps illustrate endemicity of diseases. One section is dedicated to issues relevant to primary care such as immunization fees and targets, audit, electronic recall systems, patient group directions and issues surrounding the immunization work of the practice nurse. The Fourth Edition includes an extensive section on travel health, which includes the latest travel statistics, travel clinics, detailed advice to travellers and legal issues that may arise. A considerable amount of information is included on air travel, contraindications to travel, and high altitude sickness. Specific information is given on advising travellers at risk because of pre-existing conditions, and how to best deal with the returned traveller. Advice is provided for each disease, including malaria, which is covered in detail. The last section contains information on notifiable diseases, reciprocal healthcare agreements, contact numbers for Embassies and High Commissions in London, a world travel advice checklist, and an extensive list of sources of travel information with contact address.


The recent events in the Middle East and North Africa have demonstrated the potential of online social media as a tool of political activism, as well as the counter-measures this has provoked from repressive regimes. This potential, and State responses so far, raise significant human rights issues. In this Issue Paper for the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, we undertake a legal analysis of the activities and measures in question. In particular we examine Internet blocking and take-down procedures, and Internet surveillance. There are a number of difficulties in applying emerging principles relating to online freedoms of communication, expression and association in European law. We have identified three issues that cause particular problems in this regard: the "margin of appreciation" doctrine of the Strasbourg Court; the need to enshrine the rights and duties of private-sector entities in relation to the Internet in law; and the problem of guaranteeing compliance with basic principles of the Rule of Law and due process on the Internet. We recommend that States should no longer be given the excessive protection accorded to them by the overgenerous application of the "margin of appreciation" doctrine. Emerging Internet governance principles which specifically extend to private-sector entities should become legally enforceable. To ensure the rule of law online, all restrictions should be based on clear, specific and accessible rules, in statute law, with limits on delegated authority and on measures that could lead to arbitrariness. Finally, there should be transparency over Internet blocking, with due process and ex post facto judicial procedures in respect of blocking. We believe that the adoption of these recommendations would greatly strengthen the legal protection of online political activism, and ensure that the potential of the Internet to support human rights in Europe is fully developed.


Africa grew faster than any other region in the first half of the decade: what prospects for the second half given the decline of emerging markets (Overbeek & Apeldoorn 2012, Utting, Razavi & Varghese 2012) & continuing conflicts, now compounded by climate change? Can the continent contribute to novel formulations of 'regional development' & 'global IR' (Bergamaschi, Moore & Tickner 2016) by 2020/2025? 'Development' is in flux post-2015 as new technologies & new donors disrupt established North-South relations. African regions now connect with China (Forum on China Africa Cooperation - FOCAC), Japan (Tokyo International Conference of Africa's Development - TICAD), the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa), Korea & Turkey as well as the EU (Fioramonti 2012, Modi 2011). But the continent faces a growing range of Non-Traditional Security (NTS) issues including Transnational Organized Crime (TOC), to which the West African Commission on Drugs (WACD) responds (Shaw 2012), as well as global warming. And current 'disruptive' leaders in the US & UK make prevailing assumptions about multilateralism more problematic, reinforced by growing inequalities & nationalist forces in many regions from Europe to South America. The article concludes that there are several 'Africas' – developmental to fragile states plus myriad diasporas – some with more 'agency' than others (Shaw 2018), with which to advance 'global governance' beyond 2020/2025 (Bevir 2011, Brown 2012, Hale & Held 2011, Levi-Faur 2012)?


We propose that in strategic interactions a player is influenced by self-similarity. Self-similarity means that a player who chooses some action X tends to believe, to a greater extent than a player who chooses a different action, that other players will also choose action X. To demonstrate this phenomenon, we analyze the actions and the reported beliefs of players in a two-player two-action symmetric game. The game has the feature that for "materialistic" players, who wish to maximize their own payoff, there should be negative correlation between players' actions and the beliefs that they assign to their opponent choosing the same action. We first elicit participants' preferences over the outcomes of the game, and identify a large group of materialistic players. We then ask participants to choose an action in the game and report their beliefs. The reported beliefs of materialistic players are positively correlated with their actions, i.e., they are more likely to choose an action the stronger is their belief that their opponent will also choose the same action. We view this pattern as evidence for the presence of self-similarity.


This book provides an accessible and yet thorough analysis of the work of Michele Roberts, a prolific half-English and half-French writer who can claim both literary and popular appeal. Roberts's work is examined alongside contemporary feminist theory, particularly the work of Luce Irigaray and feminist philosophers of religion. The book traces the development of Roberts's work from its origins in the feminist movement of the seventies, through its engagement with the philosophy of religion and its interest in historiography, to the postmodern playfulness of her latest work. At the same time, the book does acknowledge enduring concerns in her oeuvre, particularly the fascination with the mother-daughter relationship and the desire to engage with and rewrite both history and myth. The book offers detailed readings of Roberts's novels together with a selection of her short stories and poetry.


This study was motivated by the need to reduce the effects of various types of noise observed in geophysical field data. We focused on assessing the impact of noise and data gaps on electrical resistivity data and on evaluating whether geostatistical methods (in this case kriging) can be successfully used for restoring missing data before inversion. We used electrical resistivity forward and inverse modeling with a simple fault earth model to produce and invert synthetic datasets. We examined the effects of random background noise, data density deletion, and data gap and noise structure scenarios to study the influence of these factors on the inversion of resistivity data and the subsequent interpretability of the geologic structure. Our results suggest that geostatistical methods are potentially very useful for restoring data points deleted from noisy resistivity field data. Clearly, the efficacy of kriging depends on the level of noise and the amount of data deleted. The inversion RMSE of the kriged files is less than that of the original random background noise files containing all data. The magnitude of the improvement increases as random background noise increases. Even for cases where 80% of the original data were randomly eliminated and there was 10% random background noise, the kriging procedure resulted in significant improvement in the ability to resolve the basement and overburden structure, correctly place the orientation and location of the fault, and identify the downthrown block. At random background noise levels of 20 and 30%, kriging was effective at recovering the major geological features but to a lesser degree. The efficacy of the kriging procedure performed on the noisiest data appears to be a function of the location and magnitude of data gaps induced by editing or missing strings. Finally, the effect that coherent noise has on the efficacy of our approach was studied and contrasted to random deletion. Our study suggested that the geostatistical restoration approach improved the interpretability of electrical resistivity data that had been degraded by noise or data loss problems.


Pedagogy year started 2008/2009 a project in the kindergartens of Republic of Croatia called "Children's Entrepreneurship Week". In the last period we covered eleven kindergartens with this project. Project team that participated in a realization and evaluation of the undergoing project consists of: Vitomir Tafra, head of the Executive Board of the Education Group "Zrinski", Zdravko Tkalec, dean of the University College of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Management "Nikola Šubić Zrinski", Jasna Peklic, principal of the kindergarten "Markuševec" and Dinka Vujatovic, pedagogue of the kindergaten "Markuševec". The goal of the project was to make society aware of the need for the entrepreneurship education from the earliest age of the child, and through the paly and surroundings in entrepreneur spirit that will allow the children to acquire entrepreneur knowldge, skills and attitude. This project has evolved during the last period. We came to the conclusion that it is necessary to educate the kindergarten staff, with this conclusion our team has already started to work on the second faze of a pilot project with more determination. We did this through interactive workshops . Fully educated staff with all the support and cooperation with the project team, will gradually as a part of regular activities introduce the basics of the entrepreneurship with committing themselves of giving regular reports about how the project is progressing. Also, we have put an emphasis on a cooperation of the parents with the local community, because we depend on the support of the same and on the promotion. The need for projects like these came out of the new National Curriculum framework for preschool education and general compulsory and secondary education in which one of the main goals are to balance with the needs and development goals of Croatian society and an individual. One of the eight basic scopes for a long term education are initiative and entrepreneur which was provided by EU, and the educational politics of the Republic of Croatia has accepted them and is instigating them in National Curriculum framework. That scope is referring to the ability that an individual can produce ideas into actions and it is including creativity, innovation, initiative, team work, resolving conflicts without violence, project planning towards the realization and the abilities and the skills necessary for the activation of social and market services. The emphasis is on the expected achievements of the educational system and development of the entrepreneur scope.


R32 was selected as the alternative for R410A for mini-split air conditioners/heat pumps in Japan and have already phased out R410A in residential market. Recently several new alternatives for R410A have been proposed in order to achieve more close capacity to R410A and mitigate high discharge temperature issue of R32 as well as to reduce energy consumption. We selected R32 from among the candidates a few years ago; however it is important to continue comparing it to new candidates in search for an even better choice. We carried out the drop-in tests of the new refrigerant R32/R125/R1234yf (67/7/26) by comparing its COP and especially pressure loss to those of R410A, R32/R1234ze(E)(70/30), and R32, using residential mini-split type air conditioner. We conducted the drop-in tests by two types of method, actual measuring and especially simulated calculation. Adjusting compressor suction superheat and the amount of refrigerant charged into the system. Moreover, we measured the performance of the system with changing compressor speed in the wide range by variable frequency drive. Furthermore, we compared electricity consumption at the constant capacities, and analyzed the results precisely by loss analysis. As a result, we found that the COP of R32/R125/R1234yf (67/7/26) is better than R410A in many conditions and it achieves very close capacity to R410A, but COP at the same capacity is not as high as R32. The reason is that pressure losses are increased by adding R125 and R1234yf to R32. It was clarified, comparing losses with R410A, R32/1234ze(E) (70/30), and R32. From the above, we confirmed that R32 is still the best choice at present. However, we will continue searching for a better alternative.


Digital acquisition and analysis of sleep data has become more common over the past 20 years. Many investigators have developed strategies to record and analyze sleep in a quantitative way. Initially, digital recording and analysis were restricted by technical limitations. With current technology, the technical limitations of computer acquisition, data storage, and analysis are less constraining, and the development of recommendations for the specifications and scoring of sleep can be more clearly guided by the goal of characterizing physiologic phenomena. In order to develop recommendations and specifications regarding digital acquisition and analysis, a literature search, evidence review, and standardized consensus process focused on 5 questions regarding computer-assisted sleep recording and analysis. These questions included: (1) the reliability of computerized scoring of sleep stages, (2) the analysis of elemental events and waveforms, (3) the physiological and/or clinical significance of digitally-analyzed signals, (4) the importance of proposed changes in standardized scoring that could incorporate digital analysis, and (5) the potential advantages and disadvantages of computerized sleep recordings. Of 154 studies identified by the search, 119 were found to be suitable for evidence review. The evidence review suggested that computer scoring and quantitative analysis of sleep is still in the formative stage of development. For many technical specification decisions, little or no direct evidence was found, although basic engineering principles or standard practices provided some rationale which was utilized to develop the recommendations formulated during the subsequent UCLA/Rand standardized consensus process.


This study measures the extent of restrictions on trade in logistics services in the ASEAN+6 economies by constructing a logistics regulatory restrictiveness index for each economy that quantifies the extent of government regulations faced by logistics service providers. This is the first study of its kind to construct a regulatory index of the entire logistics sector, which includes the main modes of international transport and customs restrictions. The indices show that large differences exist in the logistics regulatory environment of ASEAN+6 economies. Many of these economies are open to trade in logistics services, while others are relatively restrictive. Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, the Philippines and Vietnam are the most restrictive economies of logistics services in this region. Relatively, Singapore and Australia are the most open economies for trade in logistics services, along with Japan and New Zealand. Preliminary investigations find evidence of negative relationships between logistics regulatory restrictiveness and logistics sector performance, as measured by the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index and its sub-components. These findings support that notion that a less restricted trade environment results in better performance for the logistics sector.


Effects of exogenous acetylcholine on single-unit aortic baroreceptors were studied using a rabbit in vitro aortic arch/aortic nerve preparation. The arch was perfused with Krebs-Henseleit solution at constant pressure while simultaneously recording arch diameter and baroreceptor discharge frequency. Administration of acetylcholine over a wide range of concentrations (10` to 10` mol/L) evoked multiple dosedependent changes in baroreceptor activity. "Low" concentrations (<10-6 mol/L) consistently dilated arch and increased baroreceptor discharge (n=11). These responses were prevented by prerelaxing smooth muscle with sodium nitroprusside (10` mol/L, n=6) and were augmented by precontracting smooth muscle with norepinephrine (0.5 x 10` mol/L, n=11). Thus, the baroreceptor responses were dependent quantitatively on the level of preexisting vasoactive tone. The responses also were antagonized by atropine (10` mol/L, n=6), which inhibits release of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), and byN-monomethyl-L-arginine (10-5 mol/L, n=6), a specific blocker of nitric oxide formation (primary relaxing factor responsible for acetylcholine vasorelaxation). Hexamethonium was ineffective (n=6). These results indicate that "low-dose" responses to acetylcholine were mediated solely by release of EDRF. In contrast, "high" concentrations of acetylcholine (> 10-1 mol/L) constricted arch and reduced baroreceptor discharge in most units (66%). These responses were blocked by atropine, but not by hexamethonium, and were attributed to direct contraction of the smooth muscle. In the remaining baroreceptors (33%), discharge increased irrespective of changes in diameter or preexisting vasoactive tone, but not in the presence of hexamethonium. Therefore, some baroreceptors were stimulated chemically by acetylcholine (or an intermediary substance), probably through activation of nicotinic receptors on the sensory endings. The effects of acetylcholine on the baroreceptor pressure-frequency curve also were examined by injecting slow pressure ramps before and during acetylcholine treatment. Low concentrations that relaxed smooth muscle shifted the curve to lower pressures; high concentrations that contracted smooth muscle shifted the curve to higher pressures. Last, when acetylcholine was given with the diameter rather than the pressure held constant, the baroreceptor reciprocal responses to smooth muscle relaxation and contraction were directionally reversed but remained consistent with the changes in wall tension. In summary, acetylcholine altered baroreceptor discharge through three mechanisms: (1) endothelium-mediated vasorelaxation, which either increased or decreased discharge depending on the directional change in wall tension, (2) direct smooth muscle contraction, which had the opposite effect as relaxation, but only at high concentrations, and (3) chemical activation, which occurred in a minority of baroreceptors and also only at high concentrations. (Circ Res. 1994;74:422-433.)


A variety of special-purpose tools like https://github.com/tzutalin/labelImg are available for annotating/tagging/labeling data for machine-learning pipelines. If those work well for your project, great! But what if you need something more customized to your particular workflow? Do you have to build a new tool from scratch? Not if you use Python, where you can now easily build custom apps based on Bokeh.org's drawing tools to collect user input. This talk goes through example Python code in a Jupyter notebook available from https://examples.pyviz.org/ml_annotators/ml_annotators.html . These examples show how to build custom labeling apps using the high-level holoviews.org/geoviews.org interfaces that can make full-featured custom tools in just a few lines of Python code, fitting naturally into your Python-based data-processing pipelines.This presentation was given at the Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) Winter Meeting held in Bethesda, MD in January 2020.


An initial aim of this project was to evaluate the conventional techniques used in the analysis of newly prepared environmentally friendly water-borne automotive coatings and compare them with solvent-borne coatings having comparable formulations. The investigation was carried out on microtuned layers as well as on complete automotive multi-layer paint systems. Methods used included the very traditional methods of gloss and hardness and the commonly used photo-oxidation index (from FTIR spectral analysis). All methods enabled the durability to weathering of the automotive coatings to be initially investigated. However, a primary aim of this work was to develop methods for analysing the early stages of chemical and property changes in both the solvent-borne and water-borne coating systems that take place during outdoor natural weathering exposures and under accelerated artificial exposures. This was achieved by using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), in both tension mode on the microtomed films (on all depths of the coating systems from the uppermost clear-coat right down to the electron-coat) and bending mode of the full (unmicrotomed) systems, as well as MALDI-Tof analysis on the movement of the stabilisers in the full systems. Changes in glass transition temperature and relative cross-link density were determined after weathering and these were related to changes in the chemistries of the binder systems of the coatings after weathering. Concentration profiles of the UV-stabilisers (UVA and HALS) in the coating systems were analysed as a consequence of migration in the coating systems in separate microtomed layers of the paint samples (depth profiling) after weathering and diffusion co-efficient and solubility parameters were determined for the UV stabilisers in the coating systems. The methods developed were used to determine the various physical and chemical changes that take place during weathering of the different (water-borne and solvent-borne) systems (photoxidation). The solvent-borne formulations showed less changes after weathering (both natural and accelerated) than the corresponding water-borne formulations due to the lower level of cross-links in the binders of the water-borne systems. The silver systems examined were more durable than the blue systems due to the reflecting power of the aluminium and the lower temperature of the silver coatings.


Crypsis, or resemblance with the background, is known to be important for many aquatic organisms, but its role in lotic predator-prey systems is poorly known. In a combination of laboratory experiments and field observations, we studied whether two species of lotic mayfly larvae (Baetis rhodani, Heptagenia dalecarlica) show cryptic behavior (i.e., prefer dark substrates), and how this is affected by predation risk and food availability. Both species were able to distinguish between differently colored substrate patches, as well as between patches of variable food reward. A majority of larvae (56-78 %) chose dark substrates over light-colored ones, both in the laboratory and in natural streams. This behavior, however, was differently modified in the two species by variation in predation risk and food reward. For Baetis larvae, predation risk and food reward had no effect on the preference for dark substrate patches. Similarly, the proportion of larvae on dark substrates did not differ between streams with and without fish. In fishless controls, Heptagenia used dark patches with low food reward less than predicted, whereas in the presence of fish, light-colored patches were under-selected, especially those with high food reward. We suggest that differences in patterns of substrate choice between Baetis and Heptagenia are related to their different life-styles, although other antipredator behaviors are probably more important in most field situations.


We analyze M-theory compactified on K3 x K3 with fluxes preserving half the supersymmetry and its F-theory limit, which is dual to an orientifold of the type IIB string on K3 x (T{sup 2}/Z{sub 2}). The geometry of attractive K3 surfaces plays a significant role in the analysis. We prove that the number of choices for the K3 surfaces is finite and we show how they can be completely classified. We list the possibilities in one case. We then study the instanton effects and see that they will generically fix all of the moduli. We also discuss situations where the instanton effects might not fix all the moduli.


This article focuses on free fare public transport policy (FFPT) as an example of the sustainable mobility paradigm FFPT is one of a number of instruments through which a balance between the economic costs and efficiency in the public transport system can be reached. Even though the strategic approach of FFPT systems is used worldwide, their implementation is somewhat sporadic. By investigating examples of currently or formerly existing free fare public transport schemes, this study analyses the overall ability of FFPT to reach the strategic targets required. The study identifies four key areas that the municipalities are trying to target (reducing car use externalities, social justice/benefits provision, increasing the efficiency of public transport, and promoting sustainable means of transportation). As the specific conditions of each locality generate particular issues, the strategy of each transport system authority differs from one to another. It is, therefore, necessary for the transport planning authorities to implement various tools (both supportive and repressive) whose synergies will target the main objectives. A systematic and conceptual approach is what underpins the successful development of the urban transport system in the long-term.


Steady-state dark (or bright) spatial solitons are predicted for biased photovoltaic–photorefractive materials when the diffraction of an optical beam is exactly compensated for by nonlinear self-defocusing (or self-focusing) that is due both to the photovoltaic effect and to spatially nonuniform screening of the applied field. These solitons differ from previously observed steady-state photorefractive or photovoltaic spatial solitons in their properties and experimental condition. These biased photovoltaic solitons are known as the screening-photovoltaic solitons. If the bias field is much stronger than the photovoltaic field, then the screening-photovoltaic solitons are just like the screening solitons. If the applied field is absent, they degenerate into photovoltaic solitons in the closed-circuit condition. We investigate the self-deflection process of bright screening-photovoltaic solitons by taking diffusion effects into account. By use of perturbation techniques it is found that the center of the optical beam moves on a parabolic trajectory and, moreover, that the central spatial-frequency component shifts linearly with the propagation distance. Both the spatial deflection and the angular deviation are proportional to the sum of two dimensionless quantities that are associated with the bias field and the photovoltaic field, respectively. The drift process and the photovoltaic process play an equivalent role in the self-bending process.


Extra classes are increasingly observed in both developed and developing countries. In Vietnam, a country where education reforms are at their height, extra classes are proliferating and have become a concern to society and the government. Although the government has banned extra classes that are independent of school administration, teachers often run home-based classes to supplement their income. This paper examines the extent and characteristics of extra classes among eight-year-old children, and examines the association between taking extra classes and learning outcomes (numeracy, reading, and writing skills).


Most research papers dealing with systemic footprint in the banking system either investigate the definition and the measure of systemic risk, or try to identify systemic banks and to calibrate the systemic risk buffers. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is among the first to provide empirical evidence on how the recent international regulation designed for global systemically important banks (GSIBs) drove changes on these institutions' activity. Our data consists of cross-section observations for 97 large international banks from 22 countries from 2005 to 2016 (12 years). Our econometric approach quantifies the impact of the FSB designation on GSIBs' activity, controlling for both structural differences between GSIBs and non-GSIBs and structural evolutions of the banking system over time (industry trends). We find that GSIBs have curbed downward the expansion of their total balance sheet after the FSB designation, which resulted in an additional improvement of their leverage ratio. In turn, a sizeable downward pressure is noticed on their return on equity (ROE). However, no adverse consequences can be observed on risk-taking and issuance of loans to the economy. Finally, while the relative deleveraging experienced by GSIBs illustrates a mean-reverting process, tending to close the structural gap between GSIBs and non-GSIBs, this is not the case for the cost of their deposits, which remains lower than the one of other banks, tending to prove that the GSIB framework has not so far put an end to the "too-big-to-fail" distortions.


Background Severe asthma occurs more often in older adult patients. We hypothesized that the greater risk for severe asthma in older individuals is due to aging, and is independent of asthma duration. Methods This is a cross-sectional study of prospectively collected data from adult participants (N=1130; 454 with severe asthma) enrolled from 2002 – 2011 in the Severe Asthma Research Program. Results The association between age and the probability of severe asthma, which was performed by applying a Locally Weighted Scatterplot Smoother, revealed an inflection point at age 45 for risk of severe asthma. The probability of severe asthma increased with each year of life until 45 years and thereafter increased at a much slower rate. Asthma duration also increased the probability of severe asthma but had less effect than aging. After adjustment for most comorbidities of aging and for asthma duration using logistic regression, asthmatics older than 45 maintained the greater probability of severe asthma [OR: 2.73 (95 CI: 1.96; 3.81)]. After 45, the age-related risk of severe asthma continued to increase in men, but not in women. Conclusions Overall, the impact of age and asthma duration on risk for asthma severity in men and women is greatest over times of 18-45 years of age; age has a greater effect than asthma duration on risk of severe asthma.


In the period of 1998 - 2010 the Lithuanian health program was implemented. Evaluation of effectiveness of the preventive programs showed that the mass screening process for preventive measures is undoubtedly one of the most important tools in the current public health policies and strategies. This article aims to present the evaluation of the the cervical cancer preventive program paid by the compulsory health insurance budget. The program was evaluated by direct effectiveness measuring mortality and morbidity and costeffectiveness in national level and also in the local level showing inequalities in it's effectiveness. Effectiveness of the programs is demonstrated also in the analysis of the facts relating to the implementation and management of the program (indirect measurement). Analyzing the results of the program it was found that in 2005-2009 period more than 2.8 thousand cases of early stagies and deaths associated with cervical cancer were prevented due to the program. Prevention measures had an undeniable impact on hospital cost savings associated with cervical cancer. It is recommended to continue the cervical cancer screening program with improved management, assigned national-level body to take care of its monitoring, and addressing the administrative costs for this issue and also devide responsibilities of the stakeholders.


We address the problem of transferring causal knowledge learned in one environment to another, potentially different environment, when only limited experiments may be conducted at the source. This generalizes the treatment of transportability introduced in [Pearl and Bareinboim, 2011; Bareinboim and Pearl, 2012b], which deals with transferring causal information when any experiment can be conducted at the source. Given that it is not always feasible to conduct certain controlled experiments, we consider the decision problem whether experiments on a selected subset Z of variables together with qualitative assumptions encoded in a diagram may render causal effects in the target environment computable from the available data. This problem, which we call z-transportability, reduces to ordinary transportability when Z is all-inclusive, and, like the latter, can be given syntactic characterization using the do-calculus [Pearl, 1995; 2000]. This paper establishes a necessary and sufficient condition for causal effects in the target domain to be estimable from both the non-experimental information available and the limited experimental information transferred from the source. We further provides a complete algorithm for computing the transport formula, that is, a way of fusing experimental and observational information to synthesize an unbiased estimate of the desired causal relation.


The structural response to high frequency ground excitations resulting from blast loading differs significantly from that of low frequency excitations such as earthquakes. Due to local mode vibrations in the structure the response is more complex with the maximum response generally occurring after the excitation has ceased. As a result, most of the motion takes place in the free vibration phase, which is dominated by low frequency modes with large displacements and small accelerations. However, the response in the forced vibration phase involves localised high frequency modes with small displacement and large accelerations, thus inducing a large shear force. Therefore, even if a structure is strong enough to survive the initial ground excitation, it may still be damaged in the significantly long free vibration phase. Non-linear structural analyses were carried out on a two storey reinforced concrete frame subjected to high frequency ground excitations. Several semi-active devices and device architectures were modelled, including passive tendon based solutions. The use of semi-active devices significantly reduces the free vibration response of the structure, thus reducing the extent of the structural damage generated and the likelihood of structural failure. In particular, the combination of these semi-active devices in a specialised 2-4 implementation with a yielding tendon fuse-bar provides protection against the initial pulse and the resulting free vibration without increasing shear forces. Thus it creates a solution suitable for both new and retrofit applications. id13549078 pdfMachine by Broadgun Software a great PDF writer! a great PDF creator! http://www.pdfmachine.com http://www.broadgun.com


"The Shakespeare Almanac" is a day by day calendar of Shakespeare's year. It follows the rural farming cycle of lambing to sheep-shearing to harvest home, as they are referred to in Shakespeare's plays and poetry. It lists all the high days and holidays, from Christmas to Easter, Candelmas to Hocktide. Every passing month is supplied with quotations from the plays about changeable weather patterns, or the flowers and plants as they appear, as well as the animals and birds he saw around him. And each day, significant events during Shakespeare's lifetime are recorded. These might be family occasions: the christening of his twins, the marriage of one of his daughters, or the date when he bought his house in Stratford. There are eye-witness accounts of duels and executions, an accident at a bear baiting, a tilt in Westminster, a masque at Whitehall. Some days are accompanied by extracts from influential books of the period. For example on 24 January, reputedly the gloomiest day of the year, there is a piece from Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholia", which is surprisingly funny. There are also accounts of discoveries round the globe, portraits of the Shogun of Japan and the murderous Czar of Russia, of elephant fights with the great Moghul Emperor Akbar. "The Shakespeare Almanac" is a cornucopia of intriguing and wonderful details about the life and times of England's greatest playwright, complete with integrated illustrations. The book has been lovingly compiled by Gregory Doran, Chief Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, described by the 'Sunday Times" as 'one of the great Shakespearians of his generation'.


Neural Network Learning and Expert Systems is the first book to present a unified and in-depth development of neural network learning algorithms and neural network expert systems. Especially suitable for students and researchers in computer science, engineering, and psychology, this text and reference provides a systematic development of neural network learning algorithms from a computational perspective, coupled with an extensive exploration of neural network expert systems which shows how the power of neural network learning can be harnessed to generate expert systems automatically. Features include a comprehensive treatment of the standard learning algorithms (with many proofs), along with much original research on algorithms and expert systems. Additional chapters explore constructive algorithms, introduce computational learning theory, and focus on expert system applications to noisy and redundant problems. For students there is a large collection of exercises, as well as a series of programming projects that lead to an extensive neural network software package. All of the neural network models examined can be implemented using standard programming languages on a microcomputer.


We present a new method, called hyperplane folding, that increases the margin in Support Vector Machines (SVMs). Based on the location of the support vectors, the method splits the dataset into two parts, rotates one part of the dataset and then merges the two parts again. This procedure increases the margin as long as the margin is smaller than half of the shortest distance between any pair of data points from the two different classes. We provide an algorithm for the general case with n-dimensional data points. A small experiment with three folding iterations on 3-dimensional data points with non-linear relations shows that the margin does indeed increase and that the accuracy improves with a larger margin. The method can use any standard SVM implementation plus some basic manipulation of the data points, i.e., splitting, rotating and merging. Hyperplane folding also increases the interpretability of the data.


the key of distributed computing is to fully utilize computing resources. However, the efficiency of distributed computing can always be affected by volatility of available nodes and uncertainty of network environment. In order to enhance resource allocation efficiency in distributed computing, this paper presents an inframarginal analysis based resource allocation method, which distributes computing task to the node with more comparative advantage carrying on the task. Simulation results proved that it is effective on resource allocation in the distributed computing environment.


We present an empirically based comparison of the effectiveness of spatial and angular diversity systems in outdoor-to-indoor fixed wireless links. We concentrate on the simple to implement, single RF-chain selection diversity systems. We find that for such systems, angular diversity very significantly outperforms spatial diversity using comparatively sized arrays. This occurs despite the fact that our test environment is characterized by the presence of strong multipath propagation. Our results show that for a diversity order 20, the advantage of angular- over spatial-selection diversity is about 4 dB at the median level for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) links and close to 8 dB for the line-of-sight (LOS) case. When compared to the optimum maximum ratio combiner, the performance loss of angular selection diversity is 2 dB and 4 dB for LOS and NLOS, respectively. To provide a reference that explains the observed results we use a Ricean fading model that includes correlation, which is analyzed theoretically and via simulation. This model is found to match our measurement data very well and can, thus, be used to predict the performance of diversity systems for the type of settings we considered.


The mechanism that links membrane potential changes to the release of calcium from internal stores to cause contraction of cardiac cells is unclear. By using the calcium indicator fura-2 under voltage-clamp conditions, changes in intracellular calcium could be monitored in single rat ventricular cells while controlling membrane potential. The voltage dependence of the depolarization-induced increase in intracellular calcium was not the same as that of the calcium current (Isi), which suggests that only a small fraction of Isi is required to trigger calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. In addition, sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium release may be partly regulated by membrane potential, since repolarization could terminate the rise in intracellular calcium. Thus, changes in the action potential will have immediate effects on the time course of the calcium transient beyond those associated with its effects on Isi.


Many high school students in Monterey County are not pursuing secondary education. Through the Department of Community Services within Community Housing Improvement Systems and Planning Association (CHISPA) a workshop to educate students and parents on the importance of education and the A-G high school requirements was implemented. The workshop's purpose was to educate and empower parents to become familiar with high school A-G requirements and a support system towards their children's education. By educating parents and students on the A-G high school requirements, more high school students will be on the right path to achieve a secondary education. The expected outcomes of the workshop where to reach a maximum of thirty parents and children. After the workshop parents and children were able to recognize the high school courses that will help them to be college bound. Another outcome from the workshop was to obtain a $10,000 grant for Salinas High School to provide more academic guidance for high school Hispanic and Latino students. This workshop was a one-time workshop delivered in Spanish with a migrant high school counselor as a guest speaker. As a result of the workshop, ten parents walked out with an idea of what courses their children should be taking to pursue a secondary education. Recommendations to the agency are to keep doing the workshop annually around August, when students start the school year, and to have the workshop delivered to parents while children are occupied in other activities.


Simulator-based training platforms have become increasingly popular on the grounds of their potential to facilitate skill acquisition within safe and controlled environments. However, current technology is limited in its ability to adapt to individual trainees. Tailoring is in fact typically based on recorded simulation inputs and outputs, or relies on costly and time-consuming trainer-driven interventions, as opposed to direct monitoring of trainee state. This research explores whether automated detection of trainee emotional state can be used to drive real-time changes to the simulator control. The present paper reports on preliminary work to establish the technical viability of such an intervention using current emotion detection technology within a state-of-the-art fixed-base driving simulator environment. Data on the accuracy of the emotion detection software supports the feasibility of the approach, thereby suggesting the possibility of implementing emotion-driven training trajectories bespoke to the needs of individual trainees.


Background: Nasikagra Drishti (ND), literally called as nose tip gazing, is one among the several practices in yoga. It comes under the Dharana division. Selective attention (SA) is an important function governed by the right frontoparietal cortex. The cancelation task requires visual selectivity as well as repetitive and coordinated motor responses. Six-letter cancelation task (SLCT) is effective in assessing functions, such as SA, visual scanning, inhibition and activation of rapid responses, and focused attention. Assessing SA among the young adults is highly helpful in evaluating their academic performance. Objective: The objective of the study is to assess the immediate and later effects of ND on SA in young adults using SLCT. Subjects and Methods: Thirty young adults of both sexes with 18.9 ± 1 years of mean age volunteered for the study. The SLCT data were collected before (pre), immediately after first session of the intervention (1st post), and after the 3rd-day intervention (2nd post) of ND. Results: The Student's t-test using STATA 12.0 (College station, Texas, USA) showed a significant increase in SA scores after the ND practice. The pre and immediate post values within the group were statistically significant at P < 0.001. The pre and later post (follow-up results) values within the group are also statistically significant at P < 0.001. However, the magnitude of change was more in the later postassessment than the preassessment and the immediate postassessment. Thus, it was revealed that ND practice can increase SA and thereby improves the academic performance. Conclusion: The present study suggests that the practice of ND may enhance SA among young adults and thus may prove beneficial for their academic performance. Additional well-designed studies are needed before a strong recommendation can be made on the efficacy of ND for enhancing SA, thereby improving academic performance.


What if Darth Vader took an active role in raising his son? What if 'Luke, I am your father' was just a stern admonishment from an annoyed dad? In this hilarious and sweet comic reimagining, Darth Vader is a dad like any other- except with all the baggage of being the Dark Lord of the Sith. Celebrated comic artist Jeffrey Brown's delightful comics give a fresh twist to classic Star Wars TM moments, presenting the trials and joys of parenting through the lens of a galaxy far, far away, including lightsaber baseball practice, using the Force to raid the cookie jar, and Take Your Child to Work Day on the Death Star ('Er, he looks just like you, Lord Vadern, and the special bond shared between any father and son.


Abstract Customary religious legal systems have been historically utilized in various areas, from fighting against crime to such mundane affairs as setting the price of goods and services in the market place or regulating personal and familial relations. Against this background, the present study focuses its lenses exclusively on so-called personal status systems as quintessential examples of customary religious legal systems in the contemporary world. In this context the article first addresses the question of why modern nation-states such as Israel, Egypt, and India still continue to employ pluralistic personal status systems and differentiate among their citizens despite the fact that they were originally founded on premises of non-discrimination and equal treatment. Secondly, the study explains how pluralistic organizations of law and justice affect the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals living under such systems; how they cope with limitations imposed upon their rights by communal/religious institutions; and what tactics and strategies they use to navigate through the maze of personal law. Lastly, after demonstrating what approaches have been successfully used to bring about changes in the context of Israeli, Egyptian, and Indian personal status laws, the paper identifies key lessons and recommendations for the purpose of helping human rights activists, donors and members of programmatic communities who design intervention mechanisms and tools to incorporate universal human rights standards into customary and religious systems around the world.


Inflammatory hypoxia stimulates the translocation of bacteria across intestinal epithelia. The epithelia of the intestine serve as a barrier to pathogen entry, and this function is disrupted by inflammation. Inflammation of the mucosa is frequently associated with inflammatory hypoxia. Keely et al. found that the translocation of specific Gram-positive bacteria, such as Enterococcus faecalis, across the colon epithelial cell line CaCo-2 was increased when the cells were exposed to hypoxic conditions, despite no change in paracellular permeability (transepithelial resistance). The hypoxia-induced increase in E. faecalis translocation was specifically inhibited by an antagonist to the platelet-activating factor receptor (PTAFR, also known as PAFr). Hypoxia increased PTAFR mRNA and protein abundance in Caco-2 cells, and Ptafr transcript abundance was also increased in colon epithelial cells from a mouse model of inflammatory colitis. Knockdown of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) prevented the hypoxia-induced increase in PTAFR abundance, and knockdown of either HIF-1α or PTAFR prevented the hypoxia-mediated increase in bacterial translocation. Whether this increase in the translocation of the bacteria is pathological or a host mechanism for clearing the bacteria remains to be determined. S. Keely, L. E. Glover, T. Weissmueller, C. F. MacManus, S. Fillon, B. Fennimore, S. P. Colgan, Hypoxia-inducible factor-dependent regulation of platelet-activating factor receptor as a route for Gram-positive bacterial translocation across epithelia. Mol. Biol. Cell 21, 538–546 (2010). [Abstract] [Full Text]


We investigate the issue of designing a kernel programming language for mobile computing and describe KLAIM, a language that supports a programming paradigm where processes, like data, can be moved from one computing environment to another. The language consists of a core Linda with multiple tuple spaces and of a set of operators for building processes. KLAIM naturally supports programming with explicit localities. Localities are first-class data (they can be manipulated like any other data), but the language provides coordination mechanisms to control the interaction protocols among located processes. The formal operational semantics is useful for discussing the design of the language and provides guidelines for implementations. KLAIM is equipped with a type system that statically checks access right violations of mobile agents. Types are used to describe the intentions (read, write, execute, etc.) of processes in relation to the various localities. The type system is used to determine the operations that processes want to perform at each locality, and to check whether they comply with the declared intentions and whether they have the necessary rights to perform the intended operations at the specific localities. Via a series of examples, we show that many mobile code programming paradigms can be naturally implemented in our kernel language. We also present a prototype implementation of KLAIM in Java.


Group communication services exist in a large variety of flavors and
technical implementations at different protocol layers. Multicast data
distribution is most efficiently performed on the lowest available
layer, but a heterogeneous deployment status of multicast technologies
throughout the Internet requires an adaptive service binding at
runtime. Today, it is difficult to write an application that runs
everywhere and at the same time makes use of the most efficient
multicast service available in the network. Facing robustness
requirements, developers are frequently forced to use a stable upper-
layer protocol provided by the application itself. This document
describes a common multicast API that is suitable for transparent
communication in underlay and overlay and that grants access to the
different flavors of multicast. It proposes an abstract naming scheme
that uses multicast URIs, and it discusses mapping mechanisms between
different namespaces and distribution technologies. Additionally, this
document describes the application of this API for building gateways
that interconnect current Multicast Domains throughout the Internet.
It reports on an implementation of the programming Interface,
including service middleware. This document is a product of the
Scalable Adaptive Multicast (SAM) Research Group.


The issue of rural economic diversification as a critical component of rural transformation in less developed economies, has assumed considerable importance in the development dialogue since the seventies. Given the failure of the industrialisation led development strategies to "trickle down" to the rural poor, a need was felt for restructuring the development strategy of the fifties. The agricultural-rural sector was to be regarded as having greater flexibility in absorbing labour and generating extenstive growth, rather than as a sector passively supplying labour to an urban based industrial sector. While the labour absorption capacity of agriculture in the aggregate appeared to be limited, it was the creation of non-agricultural activities, in particular rural small-scale manufacturing enterprises, that was more crucial in the restructured strategy. An issue which came to be much debated in this context was: Is the process of rural diversification primarily agricultural-rural induced or did the impulses lie outside the rural economy? Our study also addresses this question in an attempt to examine structural transformation of employment, spatially, over the period 1971-91 in Kerala. This state is unique in many respects among the states of India, one of which is its settlement pattern, characterised by a rural-urban continuum. Applying the "continuous method" to study spatial change in the occupational structure across rural, small towns and large urban units (comprising of cities/big/medium towns and agglomerations), we find that economic diversification in general and manufacturing in particular, has been fairly rapid in rural areas. Within the latter, some rural settlements, numbering about 128 villages, were transformed into urban areas during 1971-91. An examination of certain socio-economic characteristics of these villages, which can be used as proxies for "agricultural-rural" and "urban" linkages reveals that, in fact, both types of linkages play a dominant role in economic diversification depending on the location of the village vis-a-vis large urban units. In other words higher agriculture linked indicators are associated with highly diversified "isolated" villages while urban linkages determine the growth of non-agricultural activities in extensions/outgrowths of urban agglomerations.


Formal logic provides us with a powerful set of techniques for criticizing some arguments and showing others to be valid. These techniques are relevant to all of us with an interest in being skilful and accurate reasoners. In this highly accessible book, Peter Smith presents a guide to the fundamental aims and basic elements of formal logic. He introduces the reader to the languages of propositional and predicate logic, and then develops formal systems for evaluating arguments translated into these languages, concentrating on the easily comprehensible 'tree' method. His discussion is richly illustrated with worked examples and exercises. A distinctive feature is that, alongside the formal work, there is illuminating philosophical commentary. This book will make an ideal text for a first logic course, and will provide a firm basis for further work in formal and philosophical logic.


Solar energy is a clean energy, renewable, and available for the long term. The tool used to convert the energy generated from the intensity of sunlight into electricity is photovoltaic panels. However, due to the high cost and low efficiency, the use of the energy is still kind small compared to other types of energy sources. Thus, the need for an effective and flexible models, which resemble the characteristics of the actual photovoltaic (PV), so that we can perform simple manipulation of some data to figure out how to get the maximum performance possible. The characteristic of the solar panel output is specific and non-linear, it depend on the solar irradiation and the temperature of the solar panel. Because of it, it makes us difficult to get the Maximum Power Point (or abbreviated MPP) of the solar panels. Approach: Therefore, to solve these problems required the modeling of the solar panel for design and simulate the algorithms of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) to maintain the working point of solar panels fixed on the MPP. Overall, the designed system results carried are running well. The increase in the average value of the output voltage by 17%, from an average of 11.6 V before installation into 13.94 V after installation MPPT system. It also occurs in output power with an increase of 28%, from an average of 35.13 W before installing system MPPT into 48.9 W after installation MPPT system. The temperature effect on module voltage and output power before and after installation of the MPPT system that after the installation of the MPPT system, the voltage output of photovoltaic modules can be maintained around the desired maximum value that's equal to 12 V. But there was a drop in output power value compared to the prior installation MPPT system. This is caused by the output current value that cannot accommodate the value of the output voltage. So that the value of the output current is enough to produce the maximum output power is needed quantities corresponding load.


Driven by rapid technological change and the lower cost of cell phones versus fixed landlines, global demand for telecommunications continues to grow. While the rate of telecommunications growth in high income countries has tapered off, reflecting higher penetration rates and a maturing market base, growth in middle- and lower-income countries remains strong. Foreign and regional investors are increasingly drawn into developing economies in search of new market opportunities, but these countries often carry what investors perceive to be political risks. Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) investment guarantees mitigate the noncommercial risks associated with investment in telecommunications projects, enhancing the deals and protecting the bottom-line potential.


The Black–Litterman model provides a more reasonable platform for portfolio optimization and asset allocation, as compared to the traditional CAPM approach, by presenting an equilibrium state of the markets and only deviating from that equilibrium state with forward-looking strategic views. The Index of Economic Freedom (IEF) can be used as a handy tool for forming such strategic views on global markets. Ex-post performance analysis of portfolios covering both developed and developing equity markets constructed with CAPM, Black–Litterman equilibrium implied return, and Black–Litterman absolute view approaches shows that by smoothing expected return with changes in the IEF, significantly superior portfolio performance can be achieved at a lower risk. The Index of Economic Freedom contains superior information in terms of idiosyncratic country-specific risks, which the market seems to ignore or under price. This study has particular relevance to asset allocation strategy, portfolio optimization, and risk minimization in the context of global equity markets.


This paper presents the first hierarchical Byzantine fault-tolerant replication architecture suitable to systems that span multiple wide area sites. The architecture confines the effects of any malicious replica to its local site, reduces message complexity of wide area communication, and allows read-only queries to be performed locally within a site for the price of additional hardware. A prototype implementation is evaluated over several network topologies and is compared with a flat Byzantine fault-tolerant approach


The informal sector in South Africa is a significant, but not well understood phenomenon. One important question relates to the nature of the relationship between the formal and informal sector. This article uses Porter's five forces model to interrogate the linkages between informal fruit and vegetable traders in the Natalspruit Market (Ekurhuleni) and their formal suppliers, primarily the Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market. While the threat of new products is low, the street traders' position is weakened by the threat of new entrants, consumer bargaining power and lack of cooperation among street traders. In relation to supplier power, we conclude that while this varies according to a number of factors, the formal sector is dominant over informal fruit and vegetable sellers in this market. This finding rests primarily on the observation that, because of their fragmentation, the informal traders' collective buying power is not being used in the same way as large formal retailers of fruit and vegetables to obtain better terms of trade with the formal economy supplier.


While in vitro work has revealed that dehydration and hyperthermia can elicit increased cellular and oxidative stress, in vivo research linking dehydration, hyperthermia, and oxidative stress is limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise-induced dehydration with and without hyperthermia on oxidative stress. Seven healthy male, trained cyclists (power output (W) at lactate threshold (LT): 199 ± 19 W) completed 90 min of cycling exercise at 95% LT followed by a 5-km time trial (TT) in 4 trials: (i) euhydration in a warm environment (EU-W, control), (ii) dehydration in a warm environment (DE-W), (iii) euhydration in a thermoneutral environment (EU-T), and (iv) dehydration in a thermoneutral environment (DE-T) (W: 33.9 ± 0.9 °C; T: 23.0 ± 1.0 °C). Oxidized glutathione (GSSG) increased significantly postexercise in dehydration trials only (DE-W: p < 0.01, DE-T: p = 0.03), and while not significant, total glutathione (TGSH) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) tended to increase postexercise in dehydration trials (p = 0.08 for both). Monocyte heat shock protein 72 (HSP72) concentration was increased (p = 0.01) while lymphocyte HSP32 concentration was decreased for all trials (p = 0.02). Exercise-induced dehydration led to an increase in GSSG concentration while maintenance of euhydration attenuated these increases regardless of environmental condition. Additionally, we found evidence of increased cellular stress (measured via HSP) during all trials independent of hydration status and environment. Finally, both 90-min and 5-km TT performances were reduced during only the DE-W trial, likely a result of combined cellular stress, hyperthermia, and dehydration. These findings highlight the importance of fluid consumption during exercise to attenuate thermal and oxidative stress during prolonged exercise in the heat.