MIND is a hybrid model incorporating several energy related sectors in an endogenous growth model of the world economy. This model structure allows a better understanding of the linkages between the energy sectors and the macro-economic environment. We perform a sensitivity analysis and parameter studies to improve the understanding of the economic mechanisms underlying opportunity costs and the optimal mix of mitigation options. Parameters representing technological change that permeates the entire economy have a strong impact on both the opportunity costs of climate protection and on the optimal mitigation strategies, e.g. parameters in the macro-economic environment and in the extraction sector. Sector-specific energy technology parameters change the portfolio of mitigation options but have only modest effects on opportunity costs, e.g. learning rate of the renewable energy technologies. We conclude that feedback loops between the macro-economy and the energy sectors are crucial for the determination of opportunity costs and mitigation strategies.


— Organization has the innovate technology to compete in business. ERP system is one of technological innovations to help the managerial making decision making to improve the performance of companies. Thus, ERP is the important thing for organization's survival. Based on previous research that the organizations have complexity in ERP implementation. According to survey global study (2017) the most companies still use traditional methods to implement ERP, and they have ensured that agile methods are one solution and become the challenges in replacing traditional methods in stages. It considers that agile methods will improve efficiency, the speed of response, relatively achieve the simplicity in managing business processes. Therefore, it is better to understanding comprehensively about an implementation method in order to manage ERP implementation success. Thus, we intend to propose a method approaching the solution to improve the ERP implementation success. This paper, the authors are analyze using Systematic Literature Review to recognize the critical factors for development an agile ERP model that was selected 54 papers for further research. The research findings reveal for identifying the factors of the agile principles in order to improve the ERP implementation. The purpose of this paper is to mapping the critical factors for practices to development of the agile ERP model.


Rich with the voices and stories of participants, these touching, firsthand accounts examine how women of diverse racial, ethnic, class and religious backgrounds perceive prenatal testing, the most prevalent and routinized of the new reproducing technologies. Based on the author's decade of research and her own personal experiences with amniocentesis, Testing Women, Testing the Fetus explores the "geneticization" of family life in all its complexity and diversity.


Two mussel species (Mytilus edulis and Mytilus trossulus) form a hybrid zone in the northwest Atlantic that is complex in its structure and dynamics. The study of Mytilus hybrid zones can reveal important aspects of marine evolution and speciation. A patchy distribution of M. edulis and M trossulus around Newfoundland suggests that differential adaptation to environmental conditions may be important in determining the species relative frequency and fitness. The observation that M. trossulus is less tolerant to warm temperatures than M. edulis implies that physiological differentiation may contribute to reproductive isolation since discrete biogeographic distributions help to maintain the genetic identity of the species. Differences in the microgeographic distribution of the species indicate that habitat specialization may also contribute to reproductive isolation. The presence of pure M. trossulus populations in five sites sampled in Labrador likely result in a great larval input from this species into the hybrid zone through the Labrador Current. Poorer adaptation to the environmental conditions of Newfoundland would then result in a higher mortality of M trossulus in the area. Evidence for differential survival was suggested by the observed decrease in the relative frequency of M. trossulus in the larger size classes at most sites in Newfoundland and by the greater mortality observed in field grow-out and temperature experiments. Differences in life-history strategies may also influence the observed frequency pattern since M. trossulus reproduces earlier, spawns smaller eggs and possibly has a shorter generation time than M. edulis. Gamete recognition and incompatibility are probably important isolating mechanisms between M. edulis and M. trossulus. Intrinsic postzygotic mortality likely represents an additional isolating mechanism. Reduced hybrid viability was observed mainly in the early stages of development, but higher mortality of hybrids also occurred at later stages. F1 hybrids and advanced backcrosses were the groups that showed greatest variance in fitness, suggesting that although most hybrids have reduced fitness, some hybrid combinations may be as fit or even fitter than the parent species. The use of several DNA markers revealed that the distribution of Mytilus genotypes in the northwest Atlantic hybrid zone is strongly bimodal, showing that very few F I hybrids are present and that most hybrids are advanced backcrosses. Although low levels of introgression were observed, the presence of few backcross individuals that were homozygous for alleles from the opposite species suggests that introgression can be a potential mechanism for adaptive evolution in Mytilus. Despite the overall lower fitness of hybrids, some hybrid individuals can express hybrid vigour and may be important for the introgression of genes between the species. Other intrinsic differences were observed between the species such as settlement behaviour, growth, survival, shell morphology and shell breakage resistance. Such differences likely play a role in maintaining the coexistence of both species. Information on species differences together with the increased performance of some hybrids can be used to help improve aquaculture production. As in other hybrid zones, the Mytilus hybrid zone in the northwest Atlantic is probably maintained by a combination of several factors. Pre-zygotic mechanisms (habitat specialization, gamete recognition and incompatibility) as well as post- zygotic mechanisms (reduced hybrid fitness) are critical factors responsible for reproductive isolation that were identified in the present study.


The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact that individual raters have on maturity assessments of organizations in the particular context of business process management (BPM). The hypotheses tested relate to the extent of the impact of individuals on maturity score variances and with the enforcing effect of organizational size on the disagreement among employees within organizations. Eight multilevel random-effects analyses for eight separate maturity dimensions clarify the intra-class correlation (agreement) within organizations. The analyses are based on a data set with a strictly hierarchical two-level data structure of employees (1755) nested within organizations (61). Results show that variance within organizations is significantly larger than zero and is even more important than variance between organizations. We conclude that a large individual background effect exists when rating an organization's business process maturity. In addition, we find that the larger the organizations are, the more disagreement within organizations is visible. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The CENTER FOR COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS, among the earliest federated charities in the United States, organized in Cleveland on January 7, 1913 as the Federation for Charity & Philanthropy. The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce (see GREATER CLEVELAND GROWTH ASSN.) created the nonprofit, citizen-led federation to coordinate PHILANTHROPY in the city, to make charity more efficient, and to incorporate more citizens (not only the wealthy) into the donor pool. The charity's founders included business and civic leaders: NEWTON DIEHL BAKER, Elizabeth Leopold Baker, CHESTER C. BOLTON, STARR CADWALLADER, SERENO PECK FENN, Francis Southworth Goff, ALEXANDER HADDEN, SR., SAMUEL MATHER, Cornelia Blakemore Warner (Mrs. WORCESTER REED WARNER), and MARTIN A. MARKS, the organization's first president (1913-1915). In March 1913 the group employed WHITING WILLIAMS as executive secretary (1913-1917). BELLE SHERWIN was among the earliest WOMEN to hold an office with the organization (Ann G. Ford, who served from 1984-1986, was its first woman president). The city's first coordinated fund drive, "Good Will Week," which took place from June 2-9, 1913, reached 2,000 givers by mail and raised $126,735. The charity distributed the monies to fifty-five approved agencies, with the stipulation that the agencies not solicit additional funds from contributors and allow the federation to oversee their finances. In 1917 the Federation for Charity and Philanthropy merged with the Cleveland Welfare Council, organized by Mayor Newton Diehl Baker in April 1914 to advise the city's welfare department. The new Welfare Federation of Cleveland, made up of eighty-eight Protestant, Catholic and non-sectarian agencies, hired Sherman C. Kingsley as its first director. The Welfare Federation relied primarily upon mail solicitations until May 1918, when, inspired by successful local campaigns held by the AMERICAN RED CROSS, CLEVELAND CHAPTER and the YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSN., it conducted the Victory Chest (also called Victory Fund or War Chest) campaign. This campaign surpassed its six million dollar goal and set the pattern for future appeals, conducted under the auspices of the new Community Chest (or Community Fund), established in 1919. The Welfare Federation handled the distribution of Community Fund proceeds and required that participating agencies agree to raise no monies outside the central campaign. By 1957, the Community Chest evolved into the United Appeal (see UNITED WAY SERVICES). In 1971, the Welfare Federation transferred appeal and allocation functions to United Wayand became the Federation for Community Planning (FCP). As the Federation for Community Planning, the organization pursued numerous program and research efforts in areas as diverse as FAMILY PLANNING, HOUSING, and HOSPITALS AND HEALTH PLANNING. It studied the needs of crippled persons (1913), illegitimate children and unwed mothers (1914), improved the TREMONT and Central neighborhoods (1930s), and later focused on wartime CHILD CARE. It worked toward the prevention of juvenile CRIME (1943) and the abuse of CHILDREN AND YOUTH (1966). The FCP's leadership also helped establish such agencies as the Negro Welfare Association (see the URBAN LEAGUE OF CLEVELAND), BLUE CROSS OF NORTHEAST OHIO, the Cuyahoga County Receiving Home for Children (later the Metzenbaum Center), and the Neighborhood Settlement Association (see GREATER CLEVELAND NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS ASSN.). The FCP cooperated with many other entities, particularly Cuyahoga County, in the creation of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Project (1987) and the establishment of the CUYAHOGA METROPOLITAN HOUSING AUTHORITY's first primary health services clinic (at the Outhwaite Estates in 1992). Begun in 1913, the FCP's newsletters and its Social Year Book kept the public apprised of attempts to resolve health and social problems. Since 1943, its annual Health and Human Services Institute one-day conference educated laypersons as well as professionals. The Federation consistently encouraged public assistance for vulnerable populations. It supported a city ordinance outlawing substandard day nurseries in 1913. In the 1950s, the FCP pioneered the principle of government purchase of social services from voluntary agencies, when it arranged for the Cuyahoga County Commissioners to purchase care for emotionally disturbed children. Thirty years later, the Federation helped secure legislation to create the Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board and the Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. In 1996, the FCP altered its organizational structure and began to focus more strongly on specific issues of concern requiring long-term solutions, such as public health planning, housing, and youth development. Eight years later, this change in emphasis, as well as the organization's decision to no longer have member agencies, led the group to change its name to the Center for Community Solutions.In 2006, the Center, located at 1226 Huron Road, concentrated on assisting community leaders, service providers, and policymaking organizations improve health and social conditions in the Greater Cleveland area through research, policy analysis, program development, andservice coordination. The current executive director and president is Gregory L. Brown. Federation for Community Planning Records, WRHS.


Copyright law has a rather well-developed theory of the author, but it has no similarly well-developed conception of the consumer. This exploratory Article is an attempt to begin piecing together a coherent image of the copyright consumer. The author argues that copyright law currently conceives of consumers in one of two ways, either as passive consumers of copyrighted works or as active authors in their own right. This binary conception of the consumer, however, is incomplete, as it neglects important and complex consumer interests in autonomy, communication, and creative self-expression. By examining these additional interests, it is possible to begin constructing a richer and more complex image of the copyright consumer. This image, in turn, can help shed light on some of the current debates over the proper shape and scope of copyright law.


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 1 5-year strategic plan for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention seeks to reduce the proportion of persons who are unaware of their HIV infection from the currently estimated level of 25% to 5%. Achieving this goal will require testing of increased numbers of persons, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that providers in all settings . . . should ideally recommend [HIV counseling, testing, and referral (CTR)] to all clients on a routine basis to ensure that all clients who could benefit from CTR receive these services. 2(p7) Even with tests as accurate (>99% sensitive and >99% specific)3 as the current third-generation HIV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) coupled with Western blot or other confirmatory tests, an increasing number of false-positive results may be anticipated when large numbers of persons at low risk are tested. Cases of false-positive HIV test results have been reported. 4 Public Health-Seattle & King County recently encountered 2 patients with false-positive HIV serologic test results, each of whom experienced serious psychological consequences. We describe 2 recent false-positive cases.


Every state now collects DNA from people convicted of certain offenses. Law enforcement authorities promote offender DNA databanking on the theory that it will identify offenders who commit additional crimes while or probation or parole, or after they have finished serving their sentences. Even relatively small databases have yielded such dividends. As these database searches uncover the perpetrators of rapes, murders, and other offenses, the pressure builds to expand the coverage of the databases.Recent proposals call for extending not merely the scope of crimes for which DNA databanking would be used, but also the point at which the samples would be collected. The United Kingdom and most European countries already collect and store DNA from all persons arrested for a wide range of offenses. More than one state in this country has enacted legislation enabling DNA sampling on arrest. In other states, legislators have introduced bills that would authorize or require DNA databanking for arrestees. Although the backlog of existing DNA samples from convicted offenders awaiting analysis makes these proposals unappealing, the situation will change as more resources are applied to reduce the backlog and the technology for analyzing the samples advances. At that point, the constitutional questions will spill out of the editorial pages and into legislative chambers and courthouses throughout the country.This article examines the constitutionality of taking, analyzing, and storing DNA samples and data from individuals who are arrested. The most salient constitutional protections are the Reasonableness and Warrant Clauses of the Fourth Amendment, the Self-incrimination Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The analysis here shows that these protections do not foreclose a carefully constructed system for compelling individuals subject to custodial arrest to supply samples of their DNA.


Title of Document: FORENSIC GEOLOGY IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT: AN ASSESSMENT OF MATERIAL TRANSFER BEHAVIOR Katherine Elizabeth Watter Master of Science, 2013 Directed By: Dr. Philip A. Candela, Professor Dr. Philip M. Piccoli, Senior Research Scientist Department of Geology Soils and related anthropogenic materials are encountered as evidence in criminal investigations. The aim of this study was to better our understanding of soil transfer behavior in an urban environment, and to evaluate the effects of sampling and material transfer on the outcomes of forensic analyses. The underlying question was whether there is a preferential transfer of urban soil material to shoes according to the tread gap distribution. During the course of this work, control soil samples from the District of Columbia were characterized and compared with soil material that had been transferred to shoes with different tread gap distributions. Soil color, particle size distribution, and mineralogy were all discriminatory among the locations in this study. Results suggest that soil color and particle size distribution are significantly influenced by the transfer process, and further study is needed to analyze the effect of single influencing factors on the resultant material.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the medical management costs of estrogen plus progestogen hormone therapy (HT) among postmenopausal women taking HT primarily as a preventive treatment for osteoporosis.

DESIGN
Retrospective longitudinal comparative analysis of HT users and demographically matched nonusers using administrative databases on physician services, hospital stays and prescription medications.

SETTING
Saskatchewan, Canada.

PATIENTS
a total of 5762 women aged 55 years or more who took HT sometime between 1990 and 1997 and 5762 demographically matched controls who did not take HT from 1990 to 1997.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
total medical care expenditures and apparent costs of managing adverse events associated with HT.

RESULTS
Excluding drug acquisition costs for HT and costs of care for osteoporosis, women in their first year of postmenopausal HT had total medical care costs about $400 greater than women who had never used HT (1997 Canadian dollars). This total medical care cost differential falls to about $90 to $120 per annum after the first year of therapy. If osteoporosis-related medical care costs are not excluded, the cost differential is about $390 during the first year of therapy and $80 to $110 per annum after the first year of therapy. These excess costs primarily are the result of excess rates of resource utilization for uterine- and breast-related diagnostic and treatment procedures.

CONCLUSION
Medical management costs for HT may be substantial during the first year of therapy, and some medical management costs may persist over several years. These short-term management costs, combined with recent data about the long-term safety of HT as a preventive therapy, reinforce the importance of considering therapeutic alternatives to HT.


The principle behind Fractal Robots is very simple. You take some cubic bricks made of metals and plastics, motorize them, put some electronics inside them and control them with a computer and you get machines that can change shape from one object to another. Almost immediately, you can now build a home in a matter of minutes if you had enough bricks and instruct the bricks to shuffle around and make a house! It is exactly like kids playing with Lego bricks and making a toy hose or a toy bridge by snapping together Lego bricks-except now we are using computer and all the work is done under total computer control. No manual intervention is required. Fractal Robots are the hardware equivalent of computer software.


RATIONALE
An increased tricuspid regurgitation jet velocity (TRV > 2.5 m/s) and pulmonary hypertension defined by right heart catheterization both independently confer increased mortality in sickle cell disease (SCD).

OBJECTIVES
We explored the usefulness of peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived gene signatures as biomarkers for an elevated TRV in SCD.

METHODS
Twenty-seven patients with SCD underwent echocardiography and peripheral blood mononuclear cell isolation for expression profiling and 112 patients with SCD were genotyped for single-nucleotide polymorphisms.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Genome-wide gene and miRNA expression profiles were correlated against TRV, yielding 631 transcripts and 12 miRNAs. Support vector machine analysis identified a 10-gene signature including GALNT13 (encoding polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 13) that discriminates patients with and without increased TRV with 100% accuracy. This finding was then validated in a cohort of patients with SCD without (n = 10) and with pulmonary hypertension (n = 10, 90% accuracy). Increased TRV-related miRNAs revealed strong in silico binding predictions of miR-301a to GALNT13 corroborated by microarray analyses demonstrating an inverse correlation between their expression. A genetic association study comparing patients with an elevated (n = 49) versus normal (n = 63) TRV revealed five significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms within GALNT13 (P < 0.005), four trans-acting (P < 2.1 × 10(-7)) and one cis-acting (P = 0.6 × 10(-4)) expression quantitative trait locus upstream of the adenosine-A2B receptor gene (ADORA2B).

CONCLUSIONS
These studies validate the clinical usefulness of genomic signatures as potential biomarkers and highlight ADORA2B and GALNT13 as potential candidate genes in SCD-associated elevated TRV.


Agenda 21 is an important international achievement on how the precious resources of our planet should be equitably shared and protected. It is a means of aiming towards the harmonisation of the three main pillars of sustainable development and trying to meet the needs and aspirations of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. After the Rio Summit in 1992, the two pillars within sustainable development, environment and development, made a noteworthy progress to meet the objectives of Agenda 21. Such progress, particularly on regulation settings and law making, created an active environment for the interaction of international environmental and developmental instruments on the wide range of issues raised in more than 40 chapters of Agenda 21. Thereafter, the international community has been dealing with such issues including biodiversity, agriculture, energy, transport, human settlement, freshwater, natural resources, forest, oceans andseas, together with many other issues such as sustainable tourism. Nature Based Tourism as a more sustainable form of tourism is an interesting issue to be studied in order to evaluate how the international community reacts to the interaction of developmental and environmental pillars of sustainable development on this form of tourism. Nature Based Tourism has its roots, on the one hand in the tourism industry with more than 11% contribution to the world's GDP and proves to be one of the most appropriate means of generating income and creating jobs for many developing countries while providing nearly 8% of the total global workforce. On the other hand its roots are in the conservation and sustainable use of environment features including its biodiversity and aesthetic values. Therefore, Nature Based Tourism is a major issue on the interaction of developmental and environmental issues. It should be properly governed to maximise its benefit to local communities and minimise its adverse effects on nature. At the international level several organisations, instruments, agreements and codes of conducthave made significant efforts to address Nature Based Tourism in different forms and anifestations. As a result, the international community has gained many successful achievements and valuable experience while facing various gaps and overlaps. There is a need of an internationally accepted instrument to address the existing gaps and overlaps appropriately. Such an instrument could deal with the current vacuum in the international environmental and developmental law and practice. The proposed draft covenant is a result of careful study in major international environmental and developmental achievements related to Nature Based Tourism, particularly after the Rio Summit. This provides the international community with a legal framework that can be considered as an appropriate approach towards such an environmentally fragile, economically viable, and a culturally sensitive issue.


The idea that regional economic performance affects bank health is intuitive and broadly consistent with the aggregate banking data. That said, micro-level research on this relationship provides a mixed picture of the importance, size, and timing of regional variables for bank performance. This paper helps reconcile the heterogeneous findings of previous research by: (1) employing a unique "composite measure" of regional economic performance that combines several regional indicators into a single index; (2) constructing bank-specific measures of regional economic conditions, based on bank deposit shares, that account for banks' presence in several states; and (3) estimating models for all banks and intra- and inter-state banks separately. Empirical results based on this bank-specific composite regional measure point to a tractable link between regional economic performance and bank health. The importance of regional variables holds for both intra- and inter-state banks. Out-of-sample forecasts indicate that the composite index also helps tie down the relative riskiness of bank portfolios across states. Finally, although interstate banks do seem to diversify away some of their portfolio risk, our analysis suggests it is too soon to conclude that interstate banks are immune from regional influences.


The study focussed on the effect of monetary policy on the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in three West African countries, Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia over the period of 1981 to 2016. Variables like credit to the private sector, interest rate, inflation rate and exchange rate were employed as explanatory variables, while SMEs output was employed as dependent variable. It was observed that credit to the private sector and inflation rate have negative effect on SMEs output, while exchange rate and interest rate have negative effect on SMEs output over the period. Among all the monetary policy indicators, only interest rate had direct impact on the performance of SMEs in Ghana while exchange rate reported positive impact on SMEs output in Gambia. Consequently, it is concluded that monetary policy in the three countries had not been favourable to the performance of the SMEs sector in West African countries.


SUMMARY This article is a discussion of and reaction to two collections of papers on research on Reasoning about Variation: Five papers appeared in November 2004 in a Special Issue 3(2) of the Statistics Education Research Journal (by Hammerman and Rubin, Ben-Zvi, Bakker, Reading, and Gould), and three papers appear in a Special Section on the same topic in the present issue (by Makar and Confrey, delMas and Liu, and Pfannkuch). These papers show that understanding of variability is much more complex and difficult to achieve than prior literature has led us to believe. Based on these papers and other pertinent literature, the present paper, written by the Guest Editors, outlines seven components that are part of a comprehensive epistemological model of the ideas that comprise a deep understanding of variability: Developing intuitive ideas of variability, describing and representing variability, using variability to make comparisons, recognizing variability in special types of distributions, identifying patterns of variability in fitting models, using variability to predict random samples or outcomes, and considering variability as part of statistical thinking. With regard to each component, possible instructional goals as well as types of assessment tasks that can be used in research and teaching contexts are illustrated. The conceptual model presented can inform the design and alignment of teaching and assessment, as well as help in planning research and in organizing results from prior and future research on reasoning about variability.


Influenza A viruses (IAVs) cause acute respiratory infections of humans, which are repeated yearly. Human IAV infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality and therefore they represent a serious health problem. All human IAV strains are originally derived from avian IAVs, which, after their adaptation to humans, can spread in the human population and cause pandemics with more or less severe course of the disease. Presently, however, the potential of avian IAV to infect humans and to cause the disease cannot be predicted. Many studies are therefore focused on factors influencing the virulence and pathogenicity of IAV viruses in a given host. The virus-host interaction starts by virus attachment via the envelope glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA) to the receptors on the cell surface. In addition to receptor binding, HA mediates also the fusion of viral and endosomal membranes, which follows the virus endocytosis. The fusion potential of HA trimer, primed by proteolytic cleavage, is activated by low pH in endosomes, resulting in HA refolding into the fusion-active form. The HA conformation change is predetermined by its 3-D structure, is pH-dependent, irreversible and strain-specific. The process of fusion activation of IAV hemagglutinin is crucial for virus entry into the cell and for the ability of the virus to replicate in the host. Here we discuss the known data about the characteristics of fusion activation of HA in relation to IAV virulence and pathogenicity.


Self-assembling structures and their dynamical processes in polymeric systems have been investigated using three-dimensional transmission electron microscopy (3D-TEM). Block copolymers (BCPs) self-assemble into nanoscale periodic structures called microphase-separated structures, a deep understanding of which is important for creating nanomaterials with superior physical properties, such as high-performance membranes with well-defined pore size and high-density data storage media. Because microphase-separated structures have become increasingly complicated with advances in precision polymerization, characterizing these complex morphologies is becoming increasingly difficult. Thus, microscopes capable of obtaining 3D images are required. In this article, we demonstrate that 3D-TEM is an essential tool for studying BCP nanostructures, especially those self-assembled during dynamical processes and under confined conditions. The first example is a dynamical process called order-order transitions (OOTs). Upon changing temperature or pressure or applying an external field, such as a shear flow or electric field, BCP nanostructures transform from one type of structure to another. The OOTs are examined by freezing the specimens in the middle of the OOT and then observing the boundary structures between the preexisting and newly formed nanostructures in three-dimensions. In an OOT between the bicontinuous double gyroid and hexagonally packed cylindrical structures, two different types of epitaxial phase transition paths are found. Interestingly, the paths depend on the direction of the OOT. The second example is BCP self-assemblies under confinement that have been examined by 3D-TEM. A variety of intriguing and very complicated 3D morphologies can be formed even from the BCPs that self-assemble into simple nanostructures, such as lamellar and cylindrical structures in the bulk (in free space). Although 3D-TEM is becoming more frequently used for detailed morphological investigations, it is generally used to study static nanostructures. Although OOTs are dynamical processes, the actual experiment is done in the static state, through a detailed morphological study of a snapshot taken during the OOT. Developing time-dependent nanoscale 3D imaging has become a hot topic. Here, the two main problems preventing the development of in situ electron tomography for polymer materials are addressed. First, the staining protocol often used to enhance contrast for electrons is replaced by a new contrast enhancement based on chemical differences between polymers. In this case, no staining is necessary. Second, a new 3D reconstruction algorithm allows us to obtain a high-contrast, quantitative 3D image from fewer projections than is required for the conventional algorithm to achieve similar contrast, reducing the number of projections and thus the electron beam dose. Combining these two new developments is expected to open new doors to 3D in situ real-time structural observation of polymer materials.


Harvesting the Sea provides the first systematic treatment of the exploitation of various marine resources, such as large-scale fishing, fish salting, salt and purple-dye production, and oyster and fish-farming, in the Roman world and its role within the ancient economy. Bringing together literary, epigraphic, and legal sources, with a wealth of archaeological data collected in recent years, Marzano shows that these marine resources were an important feature of the Roman economy and, in scope and market-oriented production, paralleled phenomena taking place in the Roman agricultural economy on land. The book also examines the importance of technological innovations, the organization of labour, and the use of the existing legal framework in defence of economic interests against competitors for the same natural resource.


A method for obtaining low order sampled-data H/sub /spl infin// controllers is presented. The method is mainly based on a parametric static feedback controller for a plant that is augmented with the controller dynamics. The design of a full-order controller is a convex problem, while the optimisation problem for lower order controllers is non convex. The proposed method starts with design of a full-order sampled-data controller using Riccati equations. Then this controller is reduced by an ordinary model reduction technique, and the reduced controller is used as an initial value for an iterative procedure using linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) in the search for an optimal controller. The matrix inequalities are in fact linear in either the Lyapunov matrix or the static controller matrix, why the solution to the non convex problem fundamentally is given by a bilinear matrix inequality (BMI). The order of the controller is reduced until the closed loop performance degrades too much. Simulations are shown for the control of a time delayed SISO-plant where the controller order can be reduced from 8th to 3rd order. Results are also shown from control of a MIMO-model of a jet engine where the reduction is successful from 15th to 4th order. It is argued that the non convexity is handled efficiently since the procedure uses a model reduction of the full-order controller as initial value.


Driver mutations alter cells from normal to cancer through several evolutionary epochs: premalignancy, early malignancy, subclonal diversification, metastasis and resistance to therapy. Later stages of disease can be explored through analyzing multiple samples collected longitudinally, on or between successive treatments, and finally at time of autopsy. It is also possible to study earlier stages of cancer development through probabilistic reconstruction of developmental trajectories based on mutational information preserved in the genome. Here we present a suite of tools, called Phylogic N-Dimensional with Timing (PhylogicNDT), that statistically model phylogenetic and evolutionary trajectories based on mutation and copy-number data representing samples taken at single or multiple time points. PhylogicNDT can be used to infer: (i) the order of clonal driver events (including in pre-cancerous stages); (ii) subclonal populations of cells and their phylogenetic relationships; and (iii) cell population dynamics. We demonstrate the use of PhylogicNDT by applying it to whole-exome and whole-genome data of 498 lung adenocarcinoma samples (434 previously available and 64 of newly generated data). We identify significantly different progression trajectories across subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma (EGFR mutant, KRAS mutant, fusion-driven and EGFR/KRAS wild type cancers). In addition, we study the progression of fusion-driven lung cancer in 21 patients by analyzing samples from multiple timepoints during treatment with 1st and next generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors. We characterize their subclonal diversification, dynamics, selection, and changes in mutational signatures and neoantigen load. This methodology will enable a systematic study of tumour initiation, progression and resistance across cancer types and therapies.


This work investigated the protection of mechanism of organic coatings on steel exposed to 3p sodium chloride solution at 50°C, coupled with the use of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to monitor progress of corrosion and degradation of coating. Unlike Walter, EIS measurement was conducted at 50°C as well as after cooling, and measurements at intermediate temperatures have been used to characterize the dependence of the process involved. The proposition that corrosion rate is controlled by the ionic resistance of an organic coating has been tested. EIS results were fitted to a model circuit and changes in the film resistance and charge-transfer resistance with temperature were analyzed to deduce activation energies for the processes involved. Surprisingly, the calculated activation energy for coating resistance is significantly lower than the activation energy for the charge transfer resistance. This suggests that ion conduction in the coating, as apparent in an AC measurement, cannot be controlling the corrosion rate. Potentiostatic pulse tests on coated metal enable iR-corrected polarization curves to be plotted at different temperatures. From this, the activation energy determined from the corrosion currents also higher matches the higher activation energy value calculated from the charge transfer resistance. However, measurements of coating resistance on free films of the same coating also generate higher activation energy values, leaving two possible models that can account for the results.


Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) has been located in the main memory of computer architecture for the last several decades. Here new memory technologies such as Phase Change RAM (PRAM), Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), and Magnetic RAM (MRAM) have been suggested; these can provide more memory capacity and less energy consumption than DRAM. In the proposed work, efficient task selection in DRAM and PRAM by means of Optimal Page Allocation in Main Memory architecture is considered.


Unscented Kalman filter (UKF) has its origin in transforming the Gaussian random variables for nonlinear estimation and has received little attention in the context of state estimation of conceptual hydrological models. This paper introduces UKF to estimate state variables of a conceptual hydrologic model. A symmetric point approach and a scaling framework are used for performing the sample generation process of UKF. This paper investigates the application of UKF for state estimation with a synthetic case study in which both the simulated state, the true state, and the corrected state are precisely known. The results show that the use of UKF can improve the performance of both the model outputs and the state variables as the difference between the corrected trajectories and the true trajectories decreases rapidly and tends to vanish after only a few iterations. Our results and comparisons also demonstrated the capability and usefulness of UKF for state estimation in two real basins.


The total economic cost of neurological disorders exceeds £100 billion per annum in the United Kingdom alone, yet pharmaceutical companies continue to cut investments due to failed clinical studies and risk [1]. These challenges motivate an alternative to solely pharmacological treatments. The emerging field of bioelectronics suggests a novel alternative to pharmaceutical intervention that uses electronic hardware to directly stimulate the nervous system with physiologically inspired electrical signals [2]. Given the processing capability of electronics and precise targeting of electrodes, the potential advantages of bioelectronics include specificity in the time, method, and location of treatment, with the ability to iteratively refine and update therapy algorithms in software [3]. A primary disadvantage of the current systems is invasiveness due to surgical implantation of the device.


Reticulate Nummulites are a widespread and distinctive group of Nummulites, frequently used in biostratigraphy, but their evolution is poorly understood. Studies from the Western Tethys suggest they form a single lineage, the Nummulites fabianii lineage, with an increasing proloculus size over time. This has led to their use as one of the diagnostic taxa for larger benthic foraminiferal biostratigraphy. However, outside of this region, additional taxa have been recorded. The most widely discussed example is Nummulites ptukhiani, which was described from Armenia, whose morphology does not fit with the N. fabianii lineage. This raises the question whether reticulate Nummulites are monophyletic, or the result of multiple independent convergent evolutionary lineages. Here we present data from three newly identified populations of Lutetian to Bartonian reticulate Nummulites from the stratigraphically well-constrained Tanzania Drilling Project records, which shed new light on the ancestry of these aberrant forms. These populations are characterized by extremely large proloculi and unusual morphology. We demonstrate that the populations are consistent with an evolutionary lineage that is morphologically distinct but contemporaneous with the N. fabianii lineage of the Tethys. These forms are remarkably similar in external and internal morphology to the Armenian Nummulites ptukhiani. We therefore refer to them as the N. ptukhiani lineage. The existence of a second lineage of reticulate Nummulites indicates that their evolution is more complex than previously thought and raises questions as to whether they evolved from a common ancestor, or independently. It also underlines the importance of carrying out thorough studies of larger benthic foraminifera with independent stratigraphical control from outside of the Tethyan region to more fully understand their evolution and to enable accurate biostratigraphy.


Deep Neural Networks are actively being used in the design of autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs). The advantage of these models is their ability to handle high-dimensional state-space and learn compact surrogate representations of the operational state spaces. However, the problem is that the sampled observations used for training the model may never cover the entire state space of the physical environment, and as a result, the system will likely operate in conditions that do not belong to the training distribution. These conditions that do not belong to training distribution are referred to as Out-of-Distribution (OOD). Detecting OOD conditions at runtime is critical for the safety of CPS. In addition, it is also desirable to identify the context or the feature(s) that are the source of OOD to select an appropriate control action to mitigate the consequences that may arise because of the OOD condition. In this article, we study this problem as a multi-labeled time series OOD detection problem over images, where the OOD is defined both sequentially across short time windows (change points) as well as across the training data distribution. A common approach to solving this problem is the use of multi-chained one-class classifiers. However, this approach is expensive for CPSs that have limited computational resources and require short inference times. Our contribution is an approach to design and train a single β-Variational Autoencoder detector with a partially disentangled latent space sensitive to variations in image features. We use the feature sensitive latent variables in the latent space to detect OOD images and identify the most likely feature(s) responsible for the OOD. We demonstrate our approach using an Autonomous Vehicle in the CARLA simulator and a real-world automotive dataset called nuImages.


In this paper, we present a simple, compact, and efficient Yb:CALGO laser system that can produce sub-100 fs pulses easily tunable over a 38 nm wide wavelength range between 1034 and 1072 nm. The laser is passively mode locked with a semiconductor saturable absorber and generates up to 90 mW output power (for 230 mW absorbed pump), using a single prism for both tuning and dispersion compensation.


Steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1) is expressed in a time- and cell-specific manner in the endocrine system. In this study we present evidence to support that methylation of CpG sites located in the proximal promoter of the gene encoding SF1 contributes to the restricted expression pattern of this nuclear receptor. DNA methylation analyses revealed a nearly perfect correlation between the methylation status of the proximal promoter and protein expression, such that it was hypomethylated in cells that express SF1 but hypermethylated in nonexpressing cells. Moreover, in vitro methylation of this region completely repressed reporter gene activity in transfected steroidogenic cells. Bisulfite sequencing of DNA from embryonic tissue demonstrated that the proximal promoter was unmethylated in the developing testis and ovary, whereas it was hypermethylated in tissues that do not express SF1. Together these results indicate that the DNA methylation pattern is established early in the embryo and stably inherited thereafter throughout development to confine SF1 expression to the appropriate tissues. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses revealed that the transcriptional activator upstream stimulatory factor 2 and RNA polymerase II were specifically recruited to this DNA region in cells in which the proximal promoter is hypomethylated, providing functional support for the fact that lack of methylation corresponds to a transcriptionally active gene. In conclusion, we identified a region within the SF1/Sf1 gene that epigenetically directs cell-specific expression of SF1.


To pass freely through open doors, it is necessary to respect the fact that they have solid frames. This principle, by which the old professor had always lived, is simply a requisite of the sense of reality. But if there is a sense of reality, and no one will doubt that it has its justification for existing, then there must also be something we can call a sense of possibility. Whoever has it does not say, for instance: Here this or that has happened, will happen, must happen; but he invents: Here this or that might, could, or ought to happen. If he is told that something is the way it is, he will think: Well, it could probably just as well be otherwise. So the sense of possibility could be defined outright as the ability to conceive of everything there might be just as well, and to attach no more importance to what is than to what is not.


We study the allocation of capital across regions, sectors and firms. In particular, we assess to what extent growth in agricultural productivity can lead to an increase in the supply of credit in industry and services. For this purpose, we identify an exogenous increase in agricultural profits due to the adoption of genetically engineered soy in Brazil. We find that regions with larger increases in agricultural productivity experienced larger increases in local bank deposits. However, there was no increase in local bank lending. Instead, capital was reallocated towards other regions through bank branch networks. This increase in credit supply affected firms' credit access through the extensive and intensive margin. First, regions with more bank branches receiving funds from soy areas experienced an increase in credit market participation of small and medium sized firms. In addition, banks experiencing faster deposit growth in soy areas increased their lending to firms with whom they had preexisting relationships. In turn, these firms grew faster in terms of employment and wage bill. Our estimates imply that the elasticity of firm growth to credit is largest in the manufacturing sector. These findings suggest that agricultural productivity growth can lead to structural transformation through a financial channel.


Theory predicts that parents adjust the sex ratio of their brood to the sexually selected traits of their mate because the reproductive success of sons may be more dependent on inherited paternal attractiveness than that of daughters. Empirical studies vary in terms of whether they support the theory, and this variation has often been regarded as evidence against sex ratio adjustment or has been ascribed to methodological differences. Applying phylogenetic meta-analyses, we aimed to find biological explanations for the variation observed in songbirds. In particular, we tested the role extra-pair paternity, because infidelity occurs in the majority of these species and may reduce the adaptive value of adjusting brood sex ratio to the phenotype of the social mate. However, we found that the variation in effect sizes was unrelated to the proportion of extra-pair paternity. Thus future studies should consider that mate quality dependent sex ratio adjustment may be driven by direct (material) rather than indirect (genetic) benefits. We also tested if the effect sizes are influenced by whether the focal male trait is indeed under sexual selection as it is assumed by the sex allocation theory. We found that for male traits with proven role in sexual selection, effect sizes significantly differed from the null expectation of random production of sons and daughters. For male traits with only presumed sexual role in sexual selection, the deviation from the null expectation was less convincing, and the effect sizes were significantly smaller. This result indicates that studies that neglect the assumptions of the hypotheses concerned, may lead to the underestimation of the mean effect size and, eventually, false conclusions.


From early May through late September, 2012, we captured, tagged, and collected body masses from multiple, free-ranging thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) in southwestern Michigan, with 14 individuals recaptured 1 or more times through the season. Beginning in mid-June, we captured and euthanized 12 or these individuals (on average, about 1 per week) to allow study of their lower incisors. We serially micro-sampled enamel along squirrel incisors using laser ablation and determined stable isotope ratios (d13 and d18 O) with gas chromatography-isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS). The resulting values fell into two spatial groups. Specimens collected within 25 m of a cornfield displayed more positive d13 C values consisted with a C4 plant-rich diet (corn is a C4 plant) and appeared to show a seasonal peak in C4 use (higher d13 C values) late in the season. In contrast, specimens collected in isolated fields separated by buildings and pavement from the cornfiled exhibited more negative values of d13 C consistent with a C3-plants diet. d18 O values did not show distinct spatial grouping and were difficult to interpret. Although a cornfield is an artificial ecosystem, the difference in fractionation between C3 and C4 diet displayed in the stable carbon isotope profiles demonstrate the sensitivity of isotopic analyses of small teeth for elucidating small-scale geographic variation in food availability. Further use of this technique may provide additional evidence for fine-scale spatial and seasonal variation of modern diet and provide a model for further investigation of paleoseasonality using fossil rodent incisors.


Traditional forms of acequia irrigation can be combined with ground based and remote sensing snow measurements and snowmelt runoff modeling to better estimate runoff volumes now and in the future under conditions of climate change. The experience gained over 400 years of irrigating small fields strongly binds communities and strengthens the resolve of acequia associations to contest challenges presented by climate change. Increased density of snow measurements in high elevations of the Rio Grande along with input of real-time data to snowmelt models has led to an improved potential for acequia decision making under the increased temperatures projected for the future by climate models. Acequia communities and similar Native American settlements have shown the willingness to share water during times of severe water shortages in the southwestern U.S. Acequia associations have shown the desire to adopt new forms of hydrologic data and modeling techniques and incorporate them into acequia association approaches.


This fascinating look at combinatorial games, that is, games not involving chance or hidden information, offers updates on standard games such as Go and Hex, on impartial games such as Chomp and Wythoff's Nim, and on aspects of games with infinitesimal values, plus analyses of the complexity of some games and puzzles and surveys on algorithmic game theory, on playing to lose, and on coping with cycles. The volume is rounded out with an up-to-date bibliography by Fraenkel and, for readers eager to get their hands dirty, a list of unsolved problems by Guy and Nowakowski. Highlights include some of Siegel's groundbreaking work on loopy games, the unveiling by Friedman and Landsberg of the use of renormalization to give very intriguing results about Chomp, and Nakamura's "Counting Liberties in Capturing Races of Go." Like its predecessors, this book should be on the shelf of all serious games enthusiasts.


ABSTRACT Since 2015 jihadist groups have taken control of the Mopti region in central Mali. We ask how such a radical development has been possible in a country previously praised as a bulwark against radical Islam in Africa. While the dominant literature on the crisis in Mali has focused on how global political economic developments and international jihadist thinking and organisation relate to national dynamics, we take a materialist political ecology approach to explain the current situation. By focusing on the micro-politics of two land-use conflicts and how these conflicts are affected by the jihadist expansion, we seek to explain peasant (or pastoral) logics behind joining these armed groups. In particular, pastoralists seem to support the jihadist takeover, because of an anti-state, anti-elite and pro-pastoral jihadist discourse, because they have become increasingly fatigued by and disgruntled with a predatory and corrupt state, and because the development model imposed by the state and international donors has not responded to pastoral priorities. Rent-seeking by government officials has been especially intense in relation to conflicts over pastoral land, environmental management and the fight against desertification. This happened while the international community continued to praise Mali as a model of African democracy.


Commonly, improvement to smart-phone technology focuses at advancing the connectivity of human users. This results to better and richer information access but, undeniably, it also increases the accessibility of the users themselves, something that could arguably have negative side-effects. This position paper discusses the potential of context awareness in modern smart-phones by presenting the challenges and opportunities in modern smartphone use. In particular, we examine the implications of the advanced network capabilities—and accompanying services—of modern smart-phones and list what we argue to be their main drawbacks. We then present our position which summarizes what we expect the role of context-awareness to be in modern smart-phone applications.


Tea is the second most consumed beverage. Polyphenolic catechins of green tea have a number of beneficial effects in oral cavity. This study aims to evaluate the clinical effects of green tea on halitosis through a systematic review of available literature. All available randomized, clinical trials – with a relevant subject that met the inclusion criteria – were included by searching PubMed, Cochrane, ProQuest, and Google Scholar, and Scopus databases. To score the selected articles, 27 items of CONSORT 2010 checklist were considered. Each article was reviewed by all the authors. Searching the PubMed database yielded 42 articles, 2 of which met the inclusion criteria. None of the 12 articles were obtained through Cochrane library, and 85 articles retrieved from ProQuest database met the inclusion criteria. Three hundred and five articles were obtained from Google Scholar, three of which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Two articles were omitted because they were duplicated, and the rest were excluded. Searching the Scopus database yielded 270 articles, 2 of which met the inclusion criteria, but they were also duplicated. Finally, two studies were selected according to the inclusion criteria of the study. In both of the included articles, the early effect of green tea use was statistically significant in comparison with baseline. One of the studies showed the long-term effect of green tea mouthwash. Green tea can reduce halitosis through rinsing and antimicrobial effect.


The need for a simple standard means of measuring and descriptionbing soil colours in the field is discussed. Previous work on the problem of soil colour measurement is descriptionbed and the essential features of a simplified colour chart are then listed. A colour disc 21 in. in diameter is presented. This chart covers the whole range of colours likely to be encountered by the foundation engineer. The terms used to descriptionbe the colours are simple and the engineer should have little difficulty in mastering them. Though primarily intended for use as a rough colour indicator the chart is arranged so that intermediate colours may be named and identified. An important feature of the chart is that the colour nomenclature is consistent with widely accepted standards.


Methane (CH4) exchange between trees and the atmosphere has recently emerged as an important, but poorly quantified process regulating global climate. The sources (soil and/or tree) and mechanisms driving the increase of CH4 in trees and degassing to the atmosphere are inadequately understood, particularly for coastal forests facing increased exposure to seawater. We investigated the eco‐physiological relationship between tree stem wood density, soil and stem oxygen saturation (an indicator of redox state), soil and stem CH4 concentrations, soil and stem carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, and soil salinity in five forests along the United States coastline. We aim to evaluate the mechanisms underlying greenhouse gas increase in trees and the influence of seawater exposure on stem CH4 accumulation. Seawater exposure corresponded with decreased tree survival and increased tree stem methane. Tree stem wood density was significantly correlated with increased stem CH4 in seawater exposed gymnosperms, indicating that dying gymnosperm trees may accumulate higher levels of CH4 in association with seawater flooding. Further, we found that significant differences in seawater exposed and unexposed gymnosperm tree populations are associated with increased soil and stem CH4 and CO2, indicating that seawater exposure significantly impacts soil and stem greenhouse gas abundance. Our results provide new insight into the potential mechanisms driving tree CH4 accumulation within gymnosperm coastal forests.


A transformation is proposed which, given a specification of the required external behaviour of a server consisting of two synchronously communicating components and a partitioning of the specified service actions among the server components, derives behaviour of individual components, i.e. a protocol implementing the service. The adopted specification language is an abstraction of E-LOTOS. The transformation accepts service specifications written in its Basic-LOTOS-like sublanguage. The stress is on demonstrating that distributed decision-making can be implemented without preventing the derived protocol specifications from reflecting the structure of the service specifications.


A high-dimensional model for chaotic vibration of a cantilever conveying fluid having an end-mass is investigated. The nonlinear partial differential equation describing the oscillations of the pipe is converted into a finite set of coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equation (ODEs) using a Galerkin projection with the uniform cantilever-beam modes as basis. Depending on the parameter range of interest, it turns out that the order of the coupled set of ODEs is much larger (up to 18 degree-of-freedom) in order to obtain a convergent solution. In order to construct a bifurcation diagram with the non-dimensional flow velocity as unfolding parameter, a prohibitive amount of computational effort is necessary in a single-processor (serial) personal computer. To alleviate this computational limitation, such bifurcation diagrams for high-order chaotic system are constructed in parallel computer simulation using multi-threading (i.e. auto-parallelism). A significant computational gain is achieved in terms of time-saving through parallel-processing. The computational gain permits a reliable construction of bifurcation diagrams in the chaotic regime within a reasonable time frame. Subsequently, the efficacy of a reduced-order model based on proper orthogonal mode (POD) is contrasted with the high-dimensional model (with uniform cantilever-beam mode as basis). Numerical results demonstrate the merits and drawbacks of the POD-based bifurcation diagram, depending on the non-dimensional flow-velocity chosen to construct the POD.Copyright © 2006 by ASME


Different languages, knowledge systems and ways of knowing impact upon shared understandings of place across and within landscapes. In this article we illustrate ways in which Noongar and English language-based understandings of groundwater and wetland interactions can inform a third space. Noongar knowledges recognise deep interdependences across social, linguistic, ecological, physical and spiritual domains, while English ways of knowing highlight separations and abstractions such as those between people and nature, and spirit and matter. The English language assumes a linear sense of time in which the past is always behind the present, where going forward is associated with progress. Noongar language acknowledges cycles of time, enabling the heroic characters and ancestors of the past to participate in a 'long now', and continue to impress upon people the need to care through the maintenance of storied and sacred places, an example of a living mythos. Using Latour's social theory (2017), we show the instability of separations, particularly between people and nature, due to their multiple interrelationships. Aboriginal ways of addressing wetlands as places in a cosmology can be used by all visitors and residents, to nurture a sense of respect, care and familiarity. We recommend learning local Aboriginal languages and place-based knowledges in environmental sciences at all levels, and in all schools to facilitate this process.PAN: Philosophy Activism Nature, No. 14, Dec 2018: 5-23


The study tests for changes in default prediction accuracy following the country-level switch to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in 20 European Union (EU) and nonEU jurisdictions. Using a default prediction model that combines both accounting and market inputs, we find that compared to a control group of non-adopters, IFRS adopters do not benefit from the international standards in terms of default prediction accuracy. Further cross-sectional analyses of companies from adopting jurisdictions in the post-adoption period show that voluntary adopters and companies domiciled in jurisdictions with large distances between their local GAAP and IFRS have higher default prediction accuracy. Higher enforcement is associated with higher default prediction accuracy in the EU and with lower default prediction accuracy in non-EU jurisdictions. The results add to the literature on the consequences of IFRS adoption and speak to the performance of default prediction models across jurisdictions, given a change in accounting regulation.


Monoclinic zirconia results from cubic→tetragonal→monoclinic phase transformations occurring at high temperature. Electron backscatter diffraction maps of monoclinic zirconia in fused-cast refractories have been treated with new crystallographic computer programs. The correct orientation relationships between the three phases have been identified among those proposed in the literature, the tetragonal and cubic parent grains have been automatically reconstructed, and the variants have been indexed. This example illustrates the possibilities of automatic crystallographic reconstruction software to study complex phase transition materials. © 2010 The American Ceramic Society.


Akira Miyoshi (b. 1933) is a well-known composer and respected educator in Japan. His compositional output includes music for piano as well as numerous instrumental and vocal compositions. He has been commissioned to write music for important international events including the Tokyo Olympics, World's Fair, and International Music Competition. He performs and conducts his own music in one-composer recitals in addition to giving lectures, master classes, and serving as a judge in competitions. Miyoshi has taught piano and composition for many years at two prestigious music schools in Japan--Tohogakuen University and Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Through his involvement with Tohogakuen (a leader in Japanese musical education since its early existence), Miyoshi has exerted an active influence on young pianists. Miyoshi's concern regarding the limited availability of pedagogical materials in Japan led him to compose and publish his pedagogical collections. Since their publication, they remain popular and in demand throughout Japan; however, at present, they are relatively unknown outside of Japan. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This study examines Miyoshi's didactic works for solo piano, focusing on the Etudes en forme Sonate (1967), Suite In Such Time (1967), Forest Echos [sic.] (1978), and A Diary of the Sea (1982). Chapter 1 provides a brief discussion concerning the development of pedagogical works for piano in Japan, followed by a biographical sketch of the composer. An examination of Miyoshi's style characteristics and compositional techniques is included in Chapter 2, and technical and musical characteristics in his pedagogical works are discussed in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 is a summary of the information contained in the previous chapters, and an Appendix provides a brief description of Miyoshi's advanced-level solo piano works.


III Decoupling revenues from sales is an important regulatory option under consideration by regulators seeking to transform utilities from sellers of a least-cost energy commodity to providers of least-cost energy services. This report examines decoupling from three perspectives. First, we consider threshold issues for decoupling, including characterization of the ratemaking practices addressed by decoupling which make incremental sales profitable to utilities, the role of rate case frequency in limiting the consequences of this incentive, and finally the existence of other incentives to sell electricity, which are not addressed by decoupling. Second, we examine the operation and performance of decoupling, including the mechanics of decoupling as a between-ratecase modification to the traditional ratemaking, process, the ability of revenue-percustomer decoupling versus traditional rztemaking to recover nonfuel costs accurately, and a comparison of the profit implications of various decoupling approaches. Third, we review the rate impacts of decoupling for California's electric utilities, which have had the longest experience with decoupling.


This collection of essays seeks to intervene in the lively discussions about logistical capitalism within and beyond academia, by unearthing the multiple ways in which gender underwrites global circulation. The essays gathered here build on a wide array of feminist and post-colonial works from a range of disciplines, adding to the already existing wealth of analyses that discuss the complex imbrications of processes of gendering and racialization within projects of accumulation on a global scale and across different temporalities. Crucially, we contend that addressing these issues through an explicitly logistical gaze does not amount merely to a reformulation of the insights of these important bodies of work, but rather it is the result of the political urgency to name and counteract the specific mechanisms through which contemporary capitalism shapes our lives and extracts from them.

This e-book thus provides a range of interventions which, however diverse, all place gender at the core of a critical analysis of global flows and mechanisms of extraction. Across these chapters readers will find interrogations of the role of pre-existing taxonomies of gender, often in their articulations to those of race, in sustaining and compounding logistical circulation, as well as examples of the ways in which these are reworked – or even created anew – by the imperative of connectivity. We contend that it is by observing these complex and at times awkward intersections that we can start sketching an opposition to the violence enshrined in the pursuit of seamless flows.


As one of the viral proteins expressed in the immediate-early phase of HSVI infection, ICP22 functions in the regulation of viral replication. However, it is difficult to produce specific antibody against ICP22 protein with homology of antigenicity in this protein. Based upon prediction of antigenicity of ICP22, a peptide of 1-36 amino acids was thought to possess a specific antigenic epitope, which was expressed as a fusion protein with GST. The antibody, raised in mice immunized with a purified fusion protein, was able to recognize ICP22 expressed in eukaryotic cells. Analysis with this antibody suggested a nuclear locatization of ICP22 and specific punctuative structure in cells.


The nature of the ground optical transition in an (In,Ga)As/GaP quantum dot is thoroughly investigated through a million atoms supercell tight-binding simulation. Precise quantum dot morphology is deduced from previously reported scanning-tunneling-microscopy images. The strain field is calculated with the valence force field method and has a strong influence on the confinement potentials, principally, for the conduction band states. Indeed, the wavefunction of the ground electron state is spatially confined in the GaP matrix, close to the dot apex, in a large tensile strain region, having mainly Xz character. Photoluminescence experiments under hydrostatic pressure strongly support the theoretical conclusions.


Penetration of model solid particles (polymer, teflon, nylon, alumina) into transparent model liquids (distilled water and aqueous solutions of KI) were recorded by a high speed (500 frames per second) camera, while the particles were dropped from different heights vertically on the still surface of the liquids. In all cases a cavity has been found to form behind the solid particle, penetrating into the liquid. For each particle/liquid combination the critical dropping height has been measured, above which the particle was able to penetrate into the bulk liquid. Based on this, the critical impact particle velocity, and also the critical Weber number of penetration have been established. The critical Weber number of penetration was modelled as a function of the contact angle, particle size and the ratio of the density of solid particles to the density of the liquid.


CD4+ T cells directly participate in bacterial clearance through secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. Although viral clearance relies heavily on CD8+ T cell functions, we sought to determine whether human CD4+ T cells could also directly influence viral clearance through cytokine secretion. We found that IFN-γ and TNF-α, secreted by IL-12-polarized Th1 cells, displayed potent antiviral effects against a variety of viruses. IFN-γ and TNF-α acted directly to inhibit hepatitis C virus replication in an in vitro replicon system, and neutralization of both cytokines was required to block the antiviral activity that was secreted by Th1 cells. IFN-γ and TNF-α also exerted antiviral effects against vesicular stomatitis virus infection, but in this case, functional type I IFN receptor activity was required. Thus, in cases of vesicular stomatitis virus infection, the combination of IFN-γ and TNF-α secreted by human Th1 cells acted indirectly through the IFN-α/β receptor. These results highlight the importance of CD4+ T cells in directly regulating antiviral responses through proinflammatory cytokines acting in both a direct and indirect manner.


An ad hoc wireless network has a dynamic nature that leads to constant changes in its network topology. As a consequence, the routing problem becomes more complex and challengeable, and it probably is the most addressed and studied problem in ad hoc networks. Based on the routing information update mechanism Ad hoc wireless networks routing protocols are classified into Proactive, Reactive and Hybrid Routing Protocols. Out of these, Hybrid Routing Protocol combines the best futures of the first two
categories. The Zone Routing Protocol (ZRP) is one of the hybrid routing protocols in which every network node proactively maintaining routing information about its routing zone, while reactively acquiring routes to destinations beyond the routing zone. In this paper, we proposed the Independent Zone Routing Protocol (IZRP) an enhancement of the Zone Routing Protocol which allows adaptive and distributed configuration for the optimal size of each node's routing zone, on per-node basis. We demonstrate the performance of IZRP with various performance metrics. Furthermore, we compared the
performance of IZRP and ZRP by considering performance metrics Packet Delivery Fraction, Normalized Routing Overhead and End-to-End Delay.


A substantial number of minority youth in the juvenile justice system have mental health issues, and many do not have access to necessary mental health services and support. This paper is an extended review of literature that examines present racial disparities in the juvenile justice system and further, explores the disproportionate racial and ethnic differences in mental health service utilization prior to, during, and after involvement in the corrections system. Additionally, this paper will discuss contributing factors that influence minority youth interaction with mental health services, including federal policy, community resources, and socioeconomic status. Based on the findings of this research, recommendations for future research regarding young offenders from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds and their needs for mental health resources and support will be offered.


The process of porous calcium carbonate (CaCO3 ) covering on electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibers is described in this study. Uniform CaCO3 coatings, composed of vaterite microparticles and its aggregates, were formed on PCL fibers by mineral precipitation from solution under ultrasonic treatment. The porous structure of CaCO3 in vaterite polymorphic form is useful for loading of various substances (drugs and nanoparticles), and this property makes vaterite an appropriate material for design of drug delivery systems. Such mineralization was implemented to attain therapeutic and/or biological activity of tissue engineering scaffolds based on electrospun PCL, by means of CaCO3 coatings. Various structures and polymorphs of CaCO3 coatings were obtained by variation of growth conditions (time of fiber incubation in work solution, ultrasonic treatment of this system). Coating homogeneity, CaCO3 polymorphic form, morphology, and CaCO3 mass can be controlled by number of successive stages of fibrous material treatment. Cytotoxicity tests showed that PCL fibers mineralized with CaCO3 did not release substances toxic for cells. SEM images of PCL/CaCO3 scaffolds cultured with cells demonstrate that scaffolds supported cell adhesion and spreading. The presented results show the new technique of controlled PCL scaffold mineralization with vaterite, and an opportunity of using PCL/CaCO3 as scaffolds for tissue engineering. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 94-103, 2017.


Purpose

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of goal setting in organizations, especially regarding the mitigation of conflicting productivity and security goals.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper describes the results of a survey with 200 German employees regarding the effects of goal setting on employees' security compliance. Based on the survey results, a concept for setting information security goals in organizations building on actionable behavioral recommendations from information security awareness materials is developed. This concept was evaluated in three small- to medium-sized organizations (SMEs) with overall 90 employees.

Findings

The survey results revealed that the presence of rewards for productivity goal achievement is strongly associated with a decrease in security compliance. The evaluation of the goal setting concept indicates that setting their own information security goals is welcomed by employees.

Research limitations/implications

Both studies rely on self-reported data and are, therefore, likely to contain some kind of bias.

Practical implications

Goal setting in organizations has to accommodate for situations, where productivity goals constrain security policy compliance. Introducing the proposed goal setting concept based on relevant actionable behavioral recommendations can help mitigate issues in such situations.

Originality/value

This work furthers the understanding of the factors affecting employee security compliance. Furthermore, the proposed concept can help maximizing the positive effects of goal setting in organizations by mitigating the negative effects through the introduction of meaningful and actionable information security goals.


These study it is necessary to can be used as a theoretical foundation upon which to base decision-making and strategic thinking about e-learning system. This paper proposes a new framework for assessing readiness of an organization to implement the e-learning system project on the basis of McKinsey 7S model using fuzzy logic analysis. The study considers 7 dimensions as approach to assessing the current situation of the organization prior to system implementation to identify weakness areas which may encounter the project with failure. Adopted was focus on Questionnaires and group interviews to specific data collection from three colleges in Mosul University in Iraq. This can be achieved success in building an e-learning system at the University of Mosul by readiness assessment according to the model of multidimensional based on the framework of 7S is selected by 23 factors, and thus can avoid failures or weaknesses facing the implementation process before the start of the project and a step towards enabling the administration to make decisions that achieve success in this area, as well as to avoid the high cost associated with the implementation process.


Inherited thrombophilias are associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism and have been linked to adverse outcomes in pregnancy. However, there is limited evidence to guide screening for and management of these conditions in pregnancy. The purpose of this document is to review common thrombophilias and their association with maternal venous thromboembolism risk and adverse pregnancy outcomes, indications for screening to detect these conditions, and management options in pregnancy. This Practice Bulletin has been revised to provide additional information on recommendations for candidates for thrombophilia evaluation, updated consensus guidelines regarding the need for prophylaxis in women with an inherited thrombophilia during pregnancy and the postpartum period, and discussion of new published consensus guidelines from the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology addressing thromboprophylaxis and neuraxial anesthetic considerations in the obstetric population.


A theoretical analysis of the pump-induced temperature change and associated thermal phase shift occurring in a fiber laser is presented. The temperature rise and thermal phase shift from the moment when pump is turned on to steady-state in fiber lasers, such as Yb-doped fiber laser, are numerical calculated. With the same parameters, the numerical solution is in good agreement with the finite-element (ANSYS software) simulation.


We have confirmed that a mathematical expression in our previous Letter [Chen and Quan, Opt. Lett.30, 2101 (2005)] should be modified. The modification, however, does not affect the validity of the method reported, the results obtained and the subsequent conclusions made.


Introducing the approach by Masanao Aoki (1981) to time series econometrics, we show that the dynamics of symmetric linear possibly cointegrated two-country VAR models can be separated into two autonomous subsystems: the country averages and country differences, where the latter includes the exchange rate. The symmetric two-country cointegrated VAR model is synchronized, ie the two countries are driven by the same common trends, if and only if the country-differences subsystem is stable. It is shown that separability carries over even under mild asymmetries such as difference in the size of the countries' economies. The possibilities of a recursive structural VECM representation under symmetry is evaluated. The derived conditions for symmetry and separability are easily testable and applied to nine-dimensional quarterly cointegrated VAR models for five different country pairs in the post-Bretton-Woods era. We find evidence for the symmetry of the cointegration space, which is of practical importance as it allows for the identification of the cointegration vectors in much smaller systems, and for the exchange rate equation in general.


We present a novel, robust, integrated approach to segmentation shape and motion estimation of articulated objects. Initially, we assume the object consists of a single part, and we fit a deformable model to the given data using our physics-based framework. As the object attains new postures, we decide based on certain criteria if and when to replace the initial model with two new models. These criteria are based on the model's state and the given data. We then fit the models to the data using a novel algorithm for assigning forces from the data to the two models, which allows partial overlap between them and determination of joint location. This approach is applied iteratively until all the object's moving parts are identified. Furthermore, we define new global deformations and we demonstrate our technique in a series of experiments, where Kalman filtering is employed to account for noise and occlusion.<<ETX>>


Accurate and robust tracking of objects is of growing interest amongst the computer vision scientific community. The ability of a multi-sensor system to detect and track objects, and accurately predict their future trajectory is critical in the context of mission- and safety-critical applications. Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) are currently not equipped to routinely access all classes of airspace since certified Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) systems are yet to be developed. Such capabilities can be achieved by incorporating both cooperative and non-cooperative DAA functions, as well as providing enhanced communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) services. DAA is highly dependent on the performance of CNS systems for Detection, Tacking and avoiding (DTA) tasks and maneuvers. In order to perform an effective detection of objects, a number of high performance, reliable and accurate avionics sensors and systems are adopted including non-cooperative sensors (visual and thermal cameras, Laser radar (LIDAR) and acoustic sensors) and cooperative systems (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)). In this paper the sensors and system information candidates are fully exploited in a Multi-Sensor Data Fusion (MSDF) architecture. An Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) and a more advanced Particle Filter (PF) are adopted to estimate the state vector of the objects based for maneuvering and non-maneuvering DTA tasks. Furthermore, an artificial neural network is conceptualised/adopted to exploit the use of statistical learning methods, which acts to combined information obtained from the UKF and PF. After describing the MSDF architecture, the key mathematical models for data fusion are presented. Conceptual studies are carried out on visual and thermal image fusion architectures.


This paper discusses questions of the design of structured optical systems with a periodically repeated group of elements in the form of rhomb–prisms for transmitting an image from a microdisplay to the observer's eyes. Recommendations are given for selecting the parameters of the prism elements that make up the waveguide screen.


Sudden depletions of tropospheric ozone during spring were reported from the Arctic and also from Antarctic coastal sites. Field studies showed that those depletion events are caused by reactive halogen species, especially bromine compounds. However the source and seasonal variation of reactive halogen species is still not completely understood. There are several indications that the halogen mobilisation from the sea ice surface of the polar oceans may be the most important source for the necessary halogens. Here we present a one dimensional model study aimed at determining the primary source of reactive halogens. The model includes gas phase and heterogeneous bromine and chlorine chemistry as well as vertical transport between the surface and the top of the boundary layer. The autocatalytic Br release by photochemical processes (bromine explosion) and subsequent rapid bromine catalysed ozone depletion is well reproduced in the model and the major source of reactive bromine appears to be the sea ice surface. The sea salt aerosol alone is not sufficient to yield the high levels of reactive bromine in the gas phase necessary for fast ozone depletion. However, the aerosol efficiently "recycles" less reactive bromine species (e.g. HBr) and feeds them back into the ozone destruction cycle. Isolation of the boundary layer air from the free troposphere by a strong temperature inversion was found to be critical for boundary layer ozone depletion to happen. The combination of strong surface inversions and presence of sunlight occurs only during polar spring.


Objective: Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) is a controversial approach for endodontic disinfection. The objective of this study was to test the photosensitiser (PS) concentration and assess the optical shielding phenomenon, the use of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and minimal energy irradiation to optimise endodontic aPDT for suggesting a protocol for clinical use. Methods: Different parameters for aPDT were tested. Aqueous solutions of methylene blue (MB) at 50, 100, 150 and 300 μM were tested in vitro for optical shield and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production by the reduction of N,N-dimethyl-4-notrosoaniline (RNO) at 440 nm absorbance when irradiated using a diode laser (660 nm). Ten single-rooted teeth were inoculated with bioluminescent bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa for 72 hours to form biofilms. Bioluminescence imaging was used to serially evaluate the minimum energy necessary during endodontic aPDT using MB and a diode laser coupled to an optical fibre for intracanal microbial reduction. In addition, teeth (n=21) infected with Enterococcus faecalis were treated with sequential combinations of endodontic aPDT and H2O2 and the colony-forming unit (CFU) was determined. Results: ROS production was inversely proportional to the MB concentration in the solution due to quenching of MB. Optical shielding limited light penetration at high MB concentrations. The use of H2O2 before aPDT achieved higher disinfection compared to conventional aPDT or when MB was irradiated in an H2O2 solution. Energy irradiation of 9.6 J achieved a significant reduction and further light delivery did not produce further reduction. Conclusion: PS concentration of about 50 μM, biofilm pre-treatment with H2O2 for 1 min and energy irradiation around 10 J appear to be an effective protocol for endodontic aPDT.


Growing income disparity, a shrinking social welfare system, expanding financial markets, and diversifying financial products have pushed economically vulnerable groups in China into greater disadvantage in recent decades. The government has acknowledged the urgency of this situation, which underscores the microand macro-level importance of financial literacy and of its study. In general, there are two priorities in efforts to study financial literacy in China. One is theoretical, and the other is empirical. The theoretical priority, which comes from Western research, is to develop conceptual precision; the financial-literacy framework is not well defined, fails to differentiate among related concepts, and impedes the process of measuring and exploring interactions. This paper presents results from a review of the Chinese literature and proposes adoption of a financial capability framework whose intended end is financial well-being. The empirical priority, which has emerged from China's social and economic context, is to develop evidence-based, contextually informed research and practice to improve financial literacy.


Abstract The presence of water (hydrogen) in nominally anhydrous mantle minerals may have profound effects on their physical properties (e.g., electrical conductivity, diffusivity, rheology), and these effects are expected to depend on how water is incorporated in the crystal structure. For olivine, the most abundant upper mantle mineral, despite extensive studies, mostly using vibrational spectroscopy, the interpretations are still not well constrained. To provide better understanding on this issue, we carried out a comprehensive 1H and 29Si NMR study on an Mg2SiO4 forsterite sample containing about 0.5 wt% H2O synthesized at 12 GPa and 1200 °C, complemented by Raman measurement and first-principles calculation of the geometry, stability, and NMR parameters of model structures. The Raman spectra contain relatively sharp O-H stretching bands near 3612, 3579, and 3567 cm−1 and a broader band near 3547 cm−1, similar to previous reports. The 1H static and MAS NMR data revealed that there are two main populations of protons in the hydrous forsterite structure, one experiencing strong 1H-1H homonuclear dipolar couplings and contributing to a broad peak near 2.4 ppm, and another with weaker dipolar couplings and contributing to a narrower peak near 1.2 ppm in the MAS NMR spectrum at 30 kHz. Two-dimensional 1H CRAMPS-MAS NMR measurements confirmed that the two proton components belong to the same phase and the contrast in MAS NMR peak width is largely due to difference in the strength of 1H-1H homonuclear dipolar couplings. In addition, there is also a very weak, narrow 1H MAS NMR peak near 7.3 ppm (contributing to < 0.1% of the total intensity) due to protons that are more remote from the two main components. First-principles calculation confirmed that the two main proton components can be attributed to the hydrogarnet-like substitution mechanism of four H ions for one Si [(4H)Si] in a tetrahedral site of olivine, but unlike hydrogarnet with one of the protons pointing away from the tetrahedral center and located in an adjacent interstitial site, thus experiencing weaker dipolar couplings than those in the vicinity of the vacant tetrahedron; the very weak narrow peak near 7.3 ppm can be attributed to the substitution mechanism of two H ions for one Mg in an M1 site [(2H)M1] of forsterite. The 1H-29Si CP-MAS NMR spectra revealed both a broad peak encompassing the position for OH defect-free forsterite (−61.7 ppm) and a narrower peak at higher frequency (−60.9 ppm). First-principles calculation indicates that these peaks are accountable by the same models as for the 1H NMR data. Thus, this study has provided unambiguous evidence supporting that hydrogen is incorporated in forsterite at relatively high-pressure dominantly as (4H)Si defects, with (2H)M1 defects playing only a very minor role. The much larger 1H chemical shift for protons associated with the latter (than the former) is correlated with stronger hydrogen bonding for the latter, which in turn reflects difference in bonding environments of the OH groups (with the latter bonded to a Si, and the former only bonded to Mg). Similar correlation applies to the O-H stretching frequency. The (4H)Si defects are responsible for the observed high-frequency O-H stretching bands (>3450 cm−1), and the (2H)M1 defects give lower frequencies (undetected here due to low abundance, but most likely near 3160–3220 cm−1 as previously reported) in vibrational spectra. These results can serve as a guide for (re-)interpretation of infrared and Raman spectroscopic data on hydrous olivine produced under different pressure and silica activity conditions, and require reconsideration of any models for the effects of water on physical properties of olivine based on different interpretations of such data. This study also demonstrated the usefulness of the combined solid-state NMR and first-principles calculation approach in unraveling the hydrogen incorporation mechanisms in nominally anhydrous minerals.


This study assessed the factors influencing the acquisition and deployment of technical facilities for maternal healthcare delivery in Osun State. A two-stage probability sampling procedure was employed to select two Local Government Areas (LGAs) from each of the three Senatorial districts of the study area. The state hospitals in each of the selected LGAs and all the tertiary hospitals in the study site were selected for the study. A total of 112 respondents (14.3%, 28.6% and 57.1% from Ede, Osun East and Ife/Ijesa senatorial districts respectively) from seven health facilities were surveyed. Data were obtained through primary and secondary sources in both secondary and tertiary health facilities. The study revealed that the factors influencing acquisition include the need and demand for a particular technical facility, increase in the number of equipment, damages to existing ones, availability of funds as well as the disposition of management authority towards the demands. Also, the deployment of these technical facilities in the various maternal healthcare units of the health facility depends on the areas of needs. Therefore, the study concluded that acquisition of technical facilities should be quickly attended to in order to shorten the purchase and installation process. Also a system of preventive maintenance, where maintenance of equipment will be done at a fixed and predetermined interval usually fixed by hours-of-operation was preferable.


The way information is displayed in control rooms in the process industry has developed a long way from the original gauges, chart recorders and lamps to the sophisticated windows based Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) of today. But does the increased ability to acquire and to display more data mean that better information is conveyed than before? This paper describes how the technology available recently has not been used to its full potential in control rooms. A methodology is then developed to make use of the available technology in order to assist in the delivery of information to control room operators. In particular the paper addresses the problems in the presentation of plant data in the context of batch processes.