The article contributes to the long-standing debate about Lolita's final nine chapters by arguing for a much tighter connection than previously acknowledged between Nabokov's most famous novel and Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu. Turning on the claim that Dolly's alleged letter from Coalmont has a precedent in the Recherche, the essay proposes that Humbert fabricates the letter from Dolly for similar reasons that Proust's Narrator makes himself believe that a telegram he receives from Gilberte is a missive from Albertine. The phantom letter in Lolita and the garbled telegram in the Recherche are psychologically therapeutic exercises in misreading and gestures toward paths not taken. But in Nabokov's case, it is also an experiment in writing the kind of literary freedom he theorized in his 1941 lecture on drama titled "The Tragedy of Tragedy." The article argues that Dolly's potential vanishing act pays homage to the mercurial personalities that Nabokov encountered in Proust's novel and the unconventional literary structures he admired in the works of Pushkin and Chekhov.


As Nam June Paik intuits in his 1976 article "input-time and output-time" [11] our experience and expression of time and events are not connected to each other in a linear fashion (fig. 1). As a result the incidents that create what we decide to express can have little or no relationship to each other, illustrated in the example of Proust, where a momentary incident of childhood takes a lifetime to express [12]. In this sense input-time vs. output-time in our expressions and our creative acts is necessarily unequal.
 If we take these experiential aspects of time and lay them side by side against the abstracted tempo of technology and time-based media, we see a deepening contrast. The sensations of input in a given experience are balanced against the expression of the effects of the engagement into the interaction itself. The rules of temporality at the fundament of digital media cross changes in contemporary language when considering and comparing representations of time.
 This presents new challenges to researchers and artists seeking to create digital experiences while allowing for representations and expression of personalised time. From Lifelogging to notions of the Quantified Self [13] we see these contradictions and collisions becoming increasingly apparent and we ask with Martin and Holtzman: "If everyone says time is relative, why is it still so rigidly defined?" [10]


Macroscopic data aggregated from microscopic events are pervasive in machine learning, such as country-level COVID-19 infection statistics based on city-level data. Yet, many existing approaches for predicting macroscopic behavior only use aggregated data, leaving a large amount of fine-grained microscopic information unused. In this paper, we propose a principled optimization framework for macroscopic prediction by fitting microscopic models based on conditional stochastic optimization. The framework leverages both macroscopic and microscopic information, and adapts to individual microscopic models involved in the aggregation. In addition, we propose efficient learning algorithms with convergence guarantees. In our experiments, we show that the proposed learning framework clearly outperforms other plug-in supervised learning approaches in real-world applications, including the prediction of daily infections of COVID-19 and medicare claims. © 2020 Neural information processing systems foundation. All rights reserved.


Although touchscreen mobile phones are widely used for recording informal text notes (e.g., grocery lists, reminders and directions), the lack of efficient mechanisms for combining informal graphical content with text is a persistent challenge. In the first part of the thesis, we present InkAnchor, a digital ink editor that allows users to easily create ink-based notes by finger sketching on a mobile phone touchscreen. InkAnchor incorporates flexible anchoring, focus-plus-context input, content chunking, and lightweight editing mechanisms to support the capture of informal notes and annotations. We describe the design and evaluation of InkAnchor through a series of user studies, which revealed that the integrated support enabled by InkAnchor is a significant improvement over current mobile note taking applications on a range of mobile note-taking tasks. The thesis also introduces FingerTip, a shift-targeting solution to facilitate detailed drawings. Occlusion caused by users' finger on the screen and users' uncertainty of the pixel they interact with are resolved in FingerTip via shifting the actual point where inking occurs beyond the end of the user's finger. However, despite a positive first impression on the part of prospective end users, fingertip turned out only passable on the drawing experience for non-text content. Combining the results of InkAnchor and FigerTip, this thesis does demonstrate that a significant subset of mobile note taking tasks can be supported using focus+context input, and that tuning for hand drawn text input has significant value in the mobile smartphone note taking and sketch input domain.


The success of cancer gene therapy is likely to require the targeting of multiple antitumor mechanisms. One strategy involves the use of attenuated, replication-competent virus vectors, such as herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) mutant G207, which is able to replicate in human tumor cells with resultant cell death and tumor growth inhibition, yet is nonpathogenic in normal tissue. In this study, we demonstrate that infection of established tumors with G207 also induces a highly specific systemic anti-tumor immune response. In a syngeneic, bilateral established subcutaneous tumor model, with mouse CT26 colorectal carcinoma cells in BALB/c mice or M3 melanoma cells in DBA/2 mice, unilateral intratumoral inoculation with G207 caused a significant reduction in the growth of both the inoculated and contralateral noninoculated tumors. This elicited anti-tumor response is dependent on viral infection of the tumor, as intradermal inoculation of G207 in BALB/c mice had no effect on CT26 tumor growth. Treatment of subcutaneous CT26 tumors by intratumoral inoculation of G207 induced a tumor-specific T cell response. CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity was generated that recognized a dominant "tumor-specific" major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted epitope (AH1) from CT26 cells. In immune-competent animals, G207 is acting as an in situ tumor vaccine. Therefore, intratumoral G207 inoculation is able to inhibit tumor growth both by local cytotoxic viral replication in tumor cells and induction of a systemic anti-tumor immune response.


The aim of this work is to analyze the resonant frequencies of the enclosure of a multichannel RF front-end intended for receiving the GPS signals. The obtained results show that the resonant modes of the designed enclosure can degrade the performance of the receiver. In order to overcome this problem, we propose to use an absorber material for damping the cavity resonances. Measurements carried out demonstrate the effectiveness of the implemented solution.


It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the third FairUMAP workshop at UMAP 2020. This online workshop brings together researchers working at the intersection of user modeling, adaptation, and personalization on one hand, and bias, fairness and transparency in algorithmic systems on the other hand. The workshop was motivated by the observation that these two fields increasingly impact on each other. Personalization has become a ubiquitous and essential part of systems that help users find relevant information in today's highly complex information-rich online environments. Machine learning techniques applied to big data, as done by recommender systems, and user modeling in general, are key enabling technologies that allow intelligent systems to learn from users and adapt their output to users' needs and preferences. However, there has been a growing recognition that these underlying technologies raise novel ethical, legal, and policy challenges. It has become apparent that a single-minded focus on the user preferences has obscured other important and beneficial outcomes such systems must be able to deliver. System properties such as fairness, transparency, balance, and other social welfare considerations are not captured by typical metrics based on which data-driven personalized models are optimized. Indeed, widely-used personalization systems in popular sites such as Facebook, Google News and YouTube have been heavily criticized for personalizing information delivery too heavily at the cost of these other objectives.


Training and education (T&Ed) is an important aspect that sustains the organizations towards continuous quality
improvement. People are an organization's most valuable resource; they want to do a good job, but they do not
know how, therefore management must take responsibility for helping them and organizations that are committed
to quality improvement will invest heavily in training and education of their employees. T&Ed therefore becomes
an important aspect in the human resource practices in the organization. The aim of the paper is to examine the
unique comtribution or the influence of training & education on quality improvement in 255 Electrical and Electronics (E&E) firms in Malaysia. The finding reveals that quality improvement in these organizations was significantly influenced by training & education. Thus, this study has empirically shown that qnality improvement will increase when the firms implement more training and educational activities.


This study is based on an analysis of more than 2,300 court cases concerning acts of bestiality and same-sex sexuality in rural and urban Sweden 1880–1950. Other written sources are forensic psychi- atric statements, mental hospital records, material from the Swedish Sex Reform movement, news- papers and scientific journals, and minutes of the Swedish Parliament and its subcommittees. In cooperation with the Nordiska Museet - The National Museum of Cultural History, a questionnaire was sent out to 286 informers born before 1945, asking about attitudes to bestiality and same-sex sexuality in their childhood. Finally, a limited number of interviews has been used. The material is analysed on two levels: the level of social control and the level of sexual practice. This allows the author to use the sources partly as remnants of the regulatory practice of the judicial system, and partly as a second hand source of the personal lives of those who were prosecuted for these crimes. The method is a mixture of quantitative analysis of all the court cases and close reading and analysis of the contents of each case. Parameters as class, age and gender are especially investig- ated, in order to place the development of the understanding of sexuality in a social context. The dissertation argues that Sweden underwent a paradigm shift during the twentieth century – with the 1930s as the most important breaking point – from a rural penetrative sodomy paradigm, to an urban masturbatory homosexual paradigm. The paradigm shift was the result of deep-going social and demographic change in Sweden, but more specifically, it had to do with the production of new sexological knowledge. In the dichotomy homosexuality/heterosexuality, bestiality had no place and was never seen as a sexual deviance in its own right. In rural areas, however, the older paradigm lingered on. On the level of social control, medical science gave new incentives and new methods for control of sexual deviance. Commitment to mental hospitals, hormonal treatment and castrations were used to neutralise unwanted manifestations of same-sex sexual behaviour. Sweden, unlike most other European countries, included women in the ban on bestiality and "unnatural fornication." However, women were only rarely prosecuted. Of the 2,333 court cases under study, only 12 concern same-sex sexuality between women, and no women were prosecuted for sexual acts with animals. Lesbian identity was discussed and redefined in the 1930s, and most court cases concerning sex between women are from the 1940s, when the legislators actively sought knowledge about female homosexuality. The new urban masturbatory paradigm of homosexuality facilitated the inclusion of same-sex sexuality between women in the legal and medical discourses. (Less)


Summary Introduction Central aortic systolic pressure (CASP) strongly predicts cardiovascular outcomes. We undertook to measure ambulatory CASP in 74 prevalent dialysis patients using the BPro (HealthStats, Singapore) device. We also determined whether coronary or abdominal aortic calcification was associated with changes in CASP and whether interdialytic CASP predicted ambulatory measurement. Methods All patients underwent computed tomography for coronary calcium score, lateral abdominal radiography for aortic calcium score, echocardiography for left ventricular mass index and ambulatory blood pressure measurement using BPro calibrated to brachial blood pressure. HealthStats was able to convert standard BPro SOFT® data into ambulatory CASP. Results Ambulatory CASP was not different in those without and with coronary (137.6 vs 141.8 mmHg, respectively, p = 0.6) or aortic (136.6 vs 145.6 mmHg, respectively, p = 0.2) calcification. Furthermore, when expressed as a percentage of brachial systolic blood pressure to control for peripheral blood pressure, any difference in CASP was abolished: CASP: brachial systolic blood pressure ratio = 0.9 across all categories regardless of the presence of coronary or aortic calcification (p = 0.2 and 0.4, respectively). Supporting this finding, left ventricular mass index was also not different in those with or without vascular calcification (p = 0.7 and 0.8 for coronary and aortic calcification). Inter-dialytic office blood pressure and CASP correlated excellently with ambulatory measurements (r = 0.9 for both). Conclusion Vascular calcification was not associated with changes in ambulatory central aortic systolic pressure in this cohort of prevalent dialysis patients. Inter-dialytic blood pressure and CASP correlated very well with ambulatory measurement.


Pro WCF 4.0: Practical Microsoft SOA Implementation is a complete guide to Windows Communication Foundation from the SOA perspective, showing you why WCF is important to service-oriented architecture and development. This book provides deep insight into the functionality of WCF, which shipped with .NET 4.0-like service discovery, routing service, simplified configuration, and other advanced features. Included in this title are informative examples that will aide the reader in understanding and implementing these important additions. This book also covers the unified programming model, reliable messaging, security, and the peer-to-peer programming model. You'll also learn how to move your current .NET remoting and web service applications to WCF and how to integrate those applications with WCF 4.0. This book offers genuine insight into solving real enterprise problems using WCF and .NET 4.0. What youll learn New features of WCF with.NET 4.0. A comprehensive WCF programming model. How queue management and reliable messaging work in WCF. Implementing transaction support in WCF Making WCF services interoperable with other SOA offerings Best practicies in using WCF effectively. Developing WCF applications with Visual Studio 2010. Who this book is for The release of .NET 4.0 brought a wide range of new functionality to WCF. Developers and architects with experience using WCF 3.5 or earlier who want to apply this new functionality to their application will benefit greatly from the discussions and code samples in this book. This book is also a great resource for application developers and architects new to SOA or the core concepts of WCF. Table of Contents Introducing WCF and SOA Basics What's New in WCF 4 Exploring the WCF Programming Model Installing and Creating WCF Services Hosting and Consuming WCF Services Managing WCF Services Implementing WCF Security Implementing Reliable Messaging and Queue-Based Communications Using Transactions in WCF Integrating with COM+ Working with Data Developing Peer-to-Peer Applications with WCF Implementing SOA Interoperability Appendix: QuickReturns Ltd


Shakespeare was not known to the Chinese until Lin Zexu's (1785-1850) translation of Hugh Murray's (1789-1845) Cyclopedia of Geography (1836). Since then, the Chinese perception of Shakespeare has changed several times, from his being regarded as a story-teller to being fully received as a seasoned playwright and poet, through to his plays being rendered into the Chinese language and performed on the Chinese stage. First and foremost is the question of how to adequately translate Shakespeare. The quality of the translation is important, particularly for those readers who have no knowledge at all of the English language or of the historical and cultural backdrop to his plays. But this is no easy task – not least because there are many significant cultural and linguistic divergences between China and England and their respective languages. Through detailed analysis of previous Chinese renditions of Shakespearian plays, this article will point out some general problems frequently facing the translator of the playwright.


Low-power and lossy networks (LLNs) enable diverse applications integrating many resource-constrained embedded devices, often requiring interconnectivity with existing TCP/IP networks as part of the Internet of Things. But TCP has received little attention in LLNs due to concerns about its overhead and performance, leading to LLN-specific protocols that require specialized gateways for interoperability. We present a systematic study of a well-designed TCP stack in IEEE 802.15.4-based LLNs, based on the TCP protocol logic in FreeBSD. Through careful implementation and extensive experiments, we show that modern low-power sensor platforms are capable of running full-scale TCP and that TCP, counter to common belief, performs well despite the lossy nature of LLNs. By carefully studying the interaction between the transport and link layers, we identify subtle but important modifications to both, achieving TCP goodput within 25% of an upper bound (5-40x higher than prior results) and low-power operation commensurate to CoAP in a practical LLN application scenario. This suggests that a TCP-based transport layer, seamlessly interoperable with existing TCP/IP networks, is viable and performant in LLNs.


There is an armchair taxonomist I know that wrote that the taxonomy of the Oncidium alliance was a mess . I'd been thinking that the remark was based on lack of knowledge. In my opinion, he is way off base. Know that I am not a taxonomist... only a grower and an artist. But I do believe that the Oncidium alliance is a reasonably well organized taxonomy.


Article considers whether income tax exemption for charities is consistent with normal income tax. .It finds that exemption for contributions is not special treatment and that exemption for income from sale of goods or performance of services related to the purpose of the charity is special treatment only if profits are used for expansion. It concludes that a subsidy for expansion can be justified. Most importantly the article finds that exemption for investment income is a subsidy. It concludes that exemption for such income depends on a value judgment as to whether public policy should favor less accumulation and more current spending by charites. It suggests that the exemption for investment income and the charitable deduction should be limited in certain circumstances.


There are many factors that need to be addressed before e-business is seen as a truly usable service to the ordinary customer. The most well known factors are: · The speed of access to the Internet and service providers · The cost of access to the Internet infrastructure. The poor quality of a large number of e-business/e-commerce web sites – in particular aspects such as the interface, design … A less well-known, but perhaps equally important factor is user authentication. User authentication is the process whereby the Service Provider (SP) is able to identify the person using the web site. This is normally done by a username/password combination. User Authentication is important for the SPs because if a product is ordered or a service is requested, then the supplier needs to be reasonably confident that the order/request is valid, and not a hoax. Unfortunately, the situation has arisen where a user who is a frequent web user may have accounts with many different SPs, e.g. Their bank, telephone company, ISP, superannuation/pension fund, insurance company, government (often with different departments within the Government) and so on. In these cases the SPs use a registration process where the user has a username and password. It is unfortunately usually the case that the username and password combinations are different between sites. This is a deterrent to the whole registration process as you have people with multiple registrations. There are many e-Gateway systems that offer a single-point-of-logon, for example the e-Government within the UK e-Government Project which aims to solve the problem at least within their infrastructure. The very large private sector has no such mechanism. This paper investigates current e-Gateway systems (including those where the primary purpose is not necessarily user authentication) and proposes a model for a more universal e-Gateway.


Copyright owners routinely obtain prompt removal of allegedly infringing materials from the Internet using takedown notices. The Copyright Act's takedown procedures are an attractive and powerful tool to combat infringement because they do not require filing a federal copyright infringement complaint, nor do they involve any neutral assessment of the copyright owner's infringement assertion. Because the takedown regime is embedded in safe harbor protections that immunize online service providers from monetary liability for copyright infringement engaged in by Internet users, the statute creates an important incentive for Internet Service Providers ('ISPs') to comply automatically with takedown requests sent by copyright owners. Unfortunately, this prompt method for obtaining removal of material from the Internet lends itself to abuse by copyright owners seeking to silence critics or to obtain a far broader protection for their works than copyright law actually affords. Congress attempted to provide a shield for lawful, noninfringing activity in the takedown regime itself: the statute permits individuals to send a counter-notice that can result in the allegedly infringing material being reposted. The practices of most online service providers, however, make the counter-notice problematic and difficult to use, reducing its effectiveness as a true shield for lawful, noninfringing activity. Congress also created a mechanism to deter abuse of the takedown regime: A federal cause of action for misrepresenting that posted material is infringing. If taken seriously, the misrepresentation claim has the potential to shape the behavior of copyright owners who wield the powerful sword of the takedown notice. To date, however, few misrepresentation claims have been brought, and the early interpretations of the provisions have limited its effectiveness in curbing abuse. Because a complete understanding of the role of the misrepresentation claim within the statutory scheme should inform any judicial interpretation of its requirements, this Article first places the misrepresentation claim in the context of the takedown regime. It then examines litigation dynamics as well as the statutory elements of a misrepresentation claim, offering suggestions on how these elements should be interpreted in light of the purpose and context of the statute. If appropriately interpreted, the misrepresentation claim holds great promise for protecting both copyright owners and lawful users of copyrighted works.


Central to this special issue is the notion that the methods and conceptual tools of comparative politics can improve our understanding of global climate change politics. Building on recent advancements in the field of comparative environmental politics, the special issues offers a more comprehensive treatment of climate change politics in developed countries, emerging economies and least developed countries. In this introduction, I distil the key features of comparative politics, advocate for the more rigorous application of comparative methods in climate politics scholarship and highlight three groups of political factors—institutions, interests and ideas—that hold considerable promise in explaining climate change politics at the domestic level. The introduction concludes with an appeal to (re)think how international and domestic politics interact. Examples drawn from the articles assembled for this special issue are used to substantiate the claims made.


The recently adopted General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a technology-neutral law, endorses self-regulatory instruments, such as certification and technical standards. Even before the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation, standardisation activity in the field of privacy management and data security had emerged. In 2015, the European Commission issued the first standardisation request to the European Standardisation Organisations to develop privacy management standards based on art. 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. There is a rising shift from command-and-control regulation to the inclusion of co-regulation tools in the EU data protection legislation. The aim of this article is to provide insights on the role of standardisation as a form of co-regulation in the data protection context.  Keywords: technical standards; Internet of Things; personal data protection; co-regulation; self-regulation; privacy by design; technology neutrality


Profiled side-channel analysis based on deep learning, and more precisely Convolutional Neural Networks, is a paradigm showing significant potential. The results, although scarce for now, suggest that such techniques are even able to break cryptographic implementations protected with countermeasures. In this paper, we start by proposing a new Convolutional Neural Network instance able to reach high performance for a number of considered datasets. We compare our neural network with the one designed for a particular dataset with masking countermeasure and we show that both are good designs but also that neither can be considered as a superior to the other one.Next, we address how the addition of artificial noise to the input signal can be actually beneficial to the performance of the neural network. Such noise addition is equivalent to the regularization term in the objective function. By using this technique, we are able to reduce the number of measurements needed to reveal the secret key by orders of magnitude for both neural networks. Our new convolutional neural network instance with added noise is able to break the implementation protected with the random delay countermeasure by using only 3 traces in the attack phase. To further strengthen our experimental results, we investigate the performance with a varying number of training samples, noise levels, and epochs. Our findings show that adding noise is beneficial throughout all training set sizes and epochs.


Combining field and laboratory results, we present biomass smoke physical properties. We report sub‐0.56 µm diameter (Dp) particle sizing (fast mobility particle sizer, FMPS) plus light absorption and scattering at 870 nm (photoacoustic extinctiometer). For Dp < 200 nm, the FMPS characterized sizing within ±20% compared to standards. As compared to the traditional scanning mobility particle sizer, the FMPS responded most accurately to single‐mode polydispersions with mean Dp < 200 nm, which characterized the smoke sampled here. Smoke was measured from laboratory fresh emissions (seconds to hours old), the High Park Fire (hours to < 1 day), and from regional biomass burning (several days). During a High Park Fire episode, light extinction rapidly reached a maximum of σep = 569 ± 21 Mm−1 (10 min) with aerosol single scattering albedo peaking at ω = 0.955 ± 0.004. Concurrently, number concentration and size peaked with maximum Dp = 126 nm and a unimodal distribution with σg = 1.5. Long‐range transported smoke was substantially diluted (Ntot factor of 7 lower) and shifted larger (maximum Dp = 143) and wider (σg = 2.2). We compared ambient data to laboratory burns with representative western U.S. forest fuels (coniferous species Ponderosa pine and Alaska black spruce). Smoldering pine produced an aerosol dominated by larger, more strongly light scattering particles (Dp > 100 nm), while flaming combustion produced very high number concentrations of smaller (Dp ~ 50 nm) absorbing particles. Due to smoldering and particle growth processes, Dp approached 100 nm within 3 h after emission. Increased particle cross‐sectional area and Mie scattering efficiency shifted the relative importance of light absorption (flaming maximum) and light scattering (smoldering maximum), increasing ω over time. Measurements showed a consistent picture of smoke properties from emission to aging.


The construction of agreements about the nature of the problem confronted by a group can be seen as the aim of problem structuring methods. Visualizing issues to facilitate the discussions plays a protagonist role in the process. However, we lack methods to study this kind of interaction and therefore we know little about how these visual artefacts catalyse the structuration of the problem. This paper builds towards these two interrelated issues by analysing the interactions using Boundary Games, a theoretical synthesis based on philosophy, language pragmatics, and boundary critique. The Boundary Games framework shows how actors' communications affect the boundary of what is considered relevant in a situation. Boundary Games have been applied to study oral segments of interaction; in this case, its application is extended to visual supported interactions, specifically whiteboard supported facilitation. The preliminary analysis shows that visual artefacts allow people to keep track of distant and varied ideas and that the visual is helping to connect and reinforce those ideas. This work can be seen as a stepping stone for understanding models, a more complex visual artefact of common use in structuring problems.


The influence of emotional context on cognitive operations is of fundamental importance for the evolution of higher cognitive functions and their disturbance in neuropsychiatric disorders. The dopamine pathways projecting to prefrontal cortex and the basal ganglia are assumed to play a major role in such emotion‐cognition interactions. Here we provide evidence for such a role by studying working memory for emotional faces in patients with Parkinson's Disease. We studied 25 patients with Parkinson's disease during their on and off medication states. Faces with emotional expressions (happy, angry, sad, neutral or fearful) were shown and the participants had to remember and later recall the identity of the faces ignoring the expressions. We found that dopaminergic medication enhances working memory for angry faces and suppresses it for sad faces. The results elucidate neurochemical mechanisms for the saliency of threatening information and support cognitive explanations of the antidepressant effects of dopamine. They also suggest a role for dopamine in changing emotional‐cognitive biases rather than as a generic cognitive enhancer. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society.


This paper will explore feminist contestations around questions of feminine representation and the putative link to contemporary feminine subjects. Specifically the paper will draw on these long standing debates to explore the complexities of producing and accounting for feminist readings of contemporary popular television drama and its significance in the reproduction of ideas of female agency and, conversely, coercion as it is currently imagined and produced in two fictional television dramas. Generational differences have been cited as a feature of postfeminist debates and this paper, in part, will interrogate these questions by looking at representation across the generational spectrum. Within the broad terrain of postfeminist media culture an emphasis on an emphatically heterosexuality has been widely and ambivalently noted, this paper argues for a textual engagement with fictional elaborations of contemporary female sexuality arguing for an acknowledgment of their complexity in relation to newly inflected discourses of class and race. One such site is E4's 2009 'teen' drama Misfits which explicitly engages in this terrain in its quasi comic portrayal of urban, socially marginalised and defiantly unproductive 'Asbo's' and 'chavs' who acquire 'special powers' after a freak storm. This paper asks what feminist readings are plausible in relation to the series' representation of female sexuality as simultaneously agentic and coerced and how this representation (mis)fits with a wider cultural and critical preoccupation with young women's sexual subjectivity. The second part of the paper takes the final chapter of the iconic Prime Suspect series (Granada Television, 1991-2006) as an opportunity to reflect both on the narrative arc of DCI Tennyson's two decades of championing victims of gender based violence and institutional struggle only to succumb to a decline into alcohol and familial regret and the concurrent debates within feminism and gender studies over the 'problem' of representation. The paper suggests that both series provide valuable opportunities for reflecting on the possibilities for feminist critique of the 'subject' of postfeminist fictions.


With breakthroughs in synthetic biology, improved cell culture techniques and advanced genetic engineering, it has now become possible to generate bi-specific primary human T cells with desired specificities. One mode of redirecting specificity is the modification of T cells to express chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). Recent studies indicate that natural T cells have distinct biochemical and metabolic features that endow them with short lived effector or long lived memory fates. The central objective of this thesis was to investigate whether the signaling endodomain of CARs could reprogram T cells with pre-specified effector and memory fates. This thesis describes a novel technique that allows for detailed investigation of the impact of CAR design on the fate of T cells. Specifically, it compares the short-term and long-term signaling effects of CD28 and 4-1BB costimulatory domains in the CAR architecture. These two signaling domains have been most extensively employed in CAR therapy trials against a wide variety of malignancies. Incorporation of 4-1BB signaling domain imparts superior proliferative and survival benefits as compared to the CD28-containing CAR T cells. This increased persistence correlates with clinical observations. 4-1BB CARs T cells show an enrichment of central memory phenotype along with relative increase in fatty acid based metabolism. This is accompanied by a relative increase in mitochondrial mass, upregulation of key metabolic enzymes and increased spare respiratory capacity. Furthermore, stimulation of CD28-containing CARs promotes rapid induction of biochemical signaling events that are associated with T cell activation. Specifically, the phosphorylation of key proximal and distal signaling proteins between the two CAR models have been compared. Inclusion of CD28 domain in the CAR structure dramatically reduces activation threshold and leads to increased and sustained calcium flux. Taken together, this thesis work uncovers some key differences triggered by the different costimulatory domains. This thesis establishes that the choice of CAR signaling domain can be used to dictate the fate of engineered T cells. Moving forward, the ability of CARs to reprogram T cell metabolism and induce differential activation patterns will need to be considered when designing future CAR trials. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Cell & Molecular Biology First Advisor Carl H. June


This application note focuses on current sensing amplifier used in power management of portable devices. It describes how to solve the problems of estimating remaining battery life and implementing protection for battery charging circuit with simple and high precision, space-saving and ultra-low-power devices such as a current-sense amplifier and ideal diode. Introduction Smartphones, tablets, and other kinds of portable devices are requiring increasingly smaller form factors and lower rates of power consumption. They are also becoming much more complex and the number of features they incorporate continues to grow. A huge challenge with this trend, however, is that the space and power available to accommodate each function is diminishing at an amazing rate. This application note presents simple, space-saving methods for addressing some common features that portable applications require. First, the document describes a highly accurate, ultra-low-power solution for estimating remaining battery life. Then, it details a compact, power-saving solution for protecting the circuitry and Li+ battery from overcurrent conditions. Li+ Battery-Current Sensing The remaining Li+ battery life can be estimated by accurately measuring load current. A typical application involves inserting a small sense resistor between the Li+ battery and the load, which produces a voltage proportional to load current. A current-sense amplifier can then be used to sense this small voltage (typically several tens of mV) and to amplify it to produce an output voltage that fits within the dynamic range of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Such a converter is typically inside the RF chipset or power-management integrated circuit (PMIC). Two main requirements for portable devices are low power consumption and small size. For small current ranges, a fixed precision sense resistor can be used for the entire range. However, some portable devices require large dynamic current ranges. For a current sense system with an external sense resistor, considering input-offset voltage, the sense resistor must be big enough to increase the power dissipation of the sense resistor. Figure 1 represents the MAX40016 current-sense amplifier integrated with an internal sense element. The entire current-measuring path is trimmed in the factory, which saves space and is less expensive than incorporating a high-power precision current sense resistor. The MAX40016 is packaged in an ultra-small, 1.98mm x 1.31mm, 15-bump wafer-lever package (WLP). An internal sense element ensures a maximum voltage drop of 60mV at 3A from voltage input to load output. When the current-sense amplifier is not in use, the device has a low-power mode function, reducing total supply current to below 10μA. The MAX40016 can sense current in a range from less than 300μA to greater than 3A, with a gain error of only 1%. Measured current goes through a current mirror control circuit inside the device. This mirrored sense current is connected to one of three paths controlled by the digital input pins SEL0 and SEL1. One of three paths—ISH, ISM, or ISL—is selected based on the current sense range. Figure 1 shows a typical application. A typical current from the MAX40016's ISH, ISM, and ISL is 2mA/A, with a 3A sensed current and the ISH high current sense range enabled; the ISH current is 6mA. With a 160Ω RISH, input voltage of the internal amplifier is 960mV. The internal amplifier has a gain of 1.5V/V. Output voltage is 1.44V, which is within the full-scale range of the ADC. For a lower current range, with ADC's high resolution and internal PGA function, a small current can be sensed and measured on the ADC side. Figure 1. MAX40016 current-sense amplifier with high-resolution ADC to convert output voltage for currentmonitoring. Three scaling resistors can be implemented if a lower resolution ADC is used. As shown in Figure 2, a 12bit ADC is connected to V through an RC filter. The scaling resistors are R = 160Ω, R = 5.36kΩ, and R = 160kΩ, and their values split the sense current ranges in the region of 30:1. For a sense current in the range of 300μA to 3mA, a mirrored current is in the range of 0.6μA to 0.006mA. When ISL is selected, the output voltage at R is from 96mV to 1V. For a sense current in the range of 3mA to 93mA, the output OUT ISH ISM ISL


Many invasive and non-invasive methods have been proposed to excite a neuron in the nerves system. For non-invasive methods like Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) there is few investigation on the shape and property of the induced electrical field and its interaction with a neuron to directionally fire or block an action potential. In this article, E-fields are generated by two capacitive plates as a source. E-fields are modified in MATLAB and induced on a pyramidal neuron to study the effect of E-field on a neuron. A method is proposed to block action potential (AP) or fire and direct it into the desired direction by a non-invasive method. Blocking AP can be useful for pain reduction or anesthesia in a desired region of the body. A full modeling investigation on required form of E-field, Hyper-polarization and depolarization values in membrane potential and induction time to directionally fire or block AP have been discussed for various dendrite diameters and channel densities in one-dimensional and two-dimensional pyramidal neurons.


Exploring large-scale networks is a time consuming and expensive task which is usually operated in a complex and uncertain environment. A crucial aspect of network exploration is the development of suitable strategies that decide which nodes and edges to probe at each stage of the process. To model this process, we introduce the stochastic graph exploration problem. The input is an undirected graph G = (V, E) with a source vertex s, stochastic edge costs drawn from a distribution πe, e ∈ E, and rewards on vertices of maximum value R. The goal is to find a set F of edges of total cost at most B such that the subgraph of G induced by F is connected, contains s, and maximizes the total reward. This problem generalizes the stochastic knapsack problem and other stochastic probing problems recently studied. Our focus is on the development of efficient nonadaptive strategies that are competitive against the optimal adaptive strategy. A major challenge is the fact that the problem has an Ω(n) adaptivity gap even on a tree of n vertices. This is in sharp contrast with O(1) adaptivity gap of the stochastic knapsack problem, which is a special case of our problem. We circumvent this negative result by showing that O(log nR) resource augmentation suffices to obtain O(1) approximation on trees and O(log nR) approximation on general graphs. To achieve this result, we reduce stochastic graph exploration to a memoryless process - the minesweeper problem - which assigns to every edge a probability that the process terminates when the edge is probed. For this problem, interesting in its own, we present an optimal polynomial time algorithm on trees and an O(log nR) approximation for general graphs. We study also the problem in which the maximum cost of an edge is a logarithmic fraction of the budget. We show that under this condition, there exist polynomial-time oblivious strategies that use 1 + budget, whose adaptivity gaps on trees and general graphs are 1 + and 8 + , respectively. Finally, we provide additional results on the structure and the complexity of nonadaptive and adaptive strategies.


We often think of DNA binding sites as dictating the particular transcription factor that will bind and in that way determining how transcription is regulated. However, evidence is accumulating that the interaction provides additional information and may actually allosterically modify the bound transcription factor. Leung et al. noted unusual conservation of binding sites for the transcription factor NF-κB in human and mouse genes and therefore tested the effects of single nucleotide changes on gene regulation at such a site. In mouse 3T3 cells infected with lentivirus that permitted modification of the endogenous gene promoter, a single nucleotide change was found to have no effect on binding of the transcription factor, but rather to alter the requirement for a particular coactivator, IRF3. The authors suggest that conformational changes in the bound NF-κB molecule likely account for altered preference for cofactors when bound to different promoters. T. H. Leung, A. Hoffmann, D. Baltimore, One nucleotide in a κB site can determine cofactor specificity for NF-κB dimers. Cell 118, 453-464 (2004). [Online Journal]


Students are highly dependent on the emergency planning and evacuation decisions made by policymakers and school personnel when disasters occur. The purpose of this study was to examine selected cases of school-related disasters, highlighting how factors of the school context intersected with natural hazards and subsequently affected schoolchildren. Purposeful maximal sampling was used to select school-related disaster cases for their geographical diversity, different instructional contexts, and types of initiating hazards. Among these, seven cases with broad considerations pertaining to educational policy and safe school environments were selected. A within-case analysis was conducted of each case, followed by a cross-case thematic analysis. Six overarching factors were found in the thematic synthesis of the findings. First, school safety practices apply anytime children are under the supervision of school personnel, making knowledge of emergency procedures across multiple types of school settings essential. Second, elements that place schoolchildren at risk also place school personnel at risk. Third, teachers and school administrators need to be well-trained and knowledgeable enough to make independent decisions in emergency situations. Fourth, children must know emergency procedures so they may take independent action, given teachers are also at-risk during disasters. Fifth, most school disasters can be prevented through safe school construction. Finally, it is the responsibility of policymakers to ensure schools are safe learning environments for children. By participating in and advocating for a culture of preparedness, educational policymakers can better protect schoolchildren, as well as school personnel, in disaster situations.


Conditions are given under which a quasi-linear differential equation has at least one solution in a given compact interval that satisfies a given system of homogeneous or nonhomogeneous linear constraints. These conditions are not formulated in the space in which the solutions take their values, as is usually done; instead they involve the set of continuous mappings subject to the constraints and the set of forcing terms for which the associated nonhomogeneous linear differential equation has solutions satisfying the constraints. The latter set is, under mild conditions, a topological direct summand of the space of continuous mappings. This occurs in the problem of the existence of periodic solutions which is discussed in detail as illustration.


Few of the dominant benthic taxa of the northern Gulf of Mexico feed directly on phytoplankton. Rather, most of them feed on near-bottom seston and detritus. This is in contrast to models for Chesapeake Bay and San Francisco Bay. We found that detritivores represented over 80% of the macrobenthic organisms and over 90% of the biomass in Gulf of Mexico estuaries. The paucity of benthos that consumed phytoplankton led us to hypothesize that macrobenthos in Gulf of Mexico estuaries had less effect on plankton communities than was documented in U.S. east coast and west coast estuaries, where benthic communities consumed much of the watercolumn production. We provided as evidence gutcontents analyses of dominant taxa, the feeding morphology of suspension feeders (especially clams), and the lack o f vertical mixing or strong turbulent flow that is necessary for benthos to remove substantial portions of the phytoplankton.


Experimental correlation analysis and first-principles theory are used to probe the structure and evolution of Ag–CO–Ag single-molecule junctions both before the formation and after the rupture of the junctions. Two dimensional correlation histograms and conditional histograms demonstrate that prior to the single-molecule bridge configuration the CO molecule is already bound parallel to the Ag singleatom contact. This molecular precursor configuration is accompanied by the opening of additional conductance channels compared to the single-channel transport in pure Ag monoatomic junctions. To investigate the post-rupture evolution of the junction we introduce a cross-correlation analysis between the opening and the subsequent closing conductance traces. This analysis implies that the molecule is bound rigidly to the apex of one electrode, and so the same single-molecule configuration is re-established as the junction is closed. The experimental results are confirmed by ab initio simulations of the evolution of contact geometries, transmission eigenvalues and scattering wavefunctions.


The seasonal cycles of Eriosoma lanigerum (Homoptera : Aphidiae) and its natural enemy, Aphelinus mali (Hymenoptera: Apelinidae), were studied in the Western Cape Province region of South Africa. Crawlers of E. lanigerum migrated from the roots into the apple trees during spring to initiate above-ground colonies. Population numbers peaked at the end of summer. Aphelinus mali became active from February until June. Eriosoma lanigerum numbers declined with the onset of winter but a few colonies remained on apple trees during winter.


Iron overload has recently been associated with the changes in the bone microstructure that occur in osteoporosis. However, the effect of iron overload on osteoblasts is unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore the function of divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) in the pathological processes of osteoporosis. Osteoblast hFOB1.19 cells were cultured in medium supplemented with different concentrations (0, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 μmol/L) of ferric ammonium citrate (FAC) as a donor of ferric ions. We used western blotting and immunofluorescence to determine the levels of DMT1 after treatment with FAC. Apoptosis was evaluated by detecting the levels of cleaved caspase 3, BCL2, and BAX with western blotting. Autophagy was evaluated by detecting the levels of LC3 with western blotting and immunofluorescence. Beclin-1 expression was also assessed with western blotting. The autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine was used to determine whether autophagy affects the apoptosis induced by FAC. Our results show that FAC increased the levels of DMT1, upregulated the expression of BCL2, and downregulated the apoptosis-related proteins cleaved caspase 3 and BAX. Both LC3I/LC3II levels and beclin-1 were also increased, indicating that FAC increases the accumulation of autophagosomes in hFOB1.19 cells. FAC-induced autophagy was increased by the apoptosis inhibitor 3-MA but was reduced in DMT1 shRNA hFOB1.19 cells. These results suggest that the increased expression of DMT1 induces iron overload and iron overload induces osteoblast autophagy and apoptosis, thus affecting the pathological processes of osteoporosis. Clarifying the mechanisms underlying the effects of DMT1 will allow the identification of novel targets for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.


Changes in vegetation and snow cover may lead to feedbacks to climate through changes in surface albedo and energy fluxes between the land and atmosphere. In addition to these biogeophysical feedbacks, biogeochemical feedbacks associated with changes in carbon (C) storage in the vegetation and soils may also influence climate. Here, using a transient biogeographic model (ALFRESCO) and an ecosystem model (DOS-TEM), we quantified the biogeophysical feedbacks due to changes in vegetation and snow cover across continuous permafrost to non-permafrost ecosystems in Alaska and northwest Canada. We also computed the changes in carbon storage in this region to provide a general assessment of the direction of the biogeochemical feedback. We considered four ecoregions, or Landscape Conservations Cooperatives (LCCs; including the Arctic, North Pacific, Western Alaska, and Northwest Boreal). We examined the 90 year period from 2010 to 2099 using one future emission scenario (A1B), under outputs from two general circulation models (MPI-ECHAM5 and CCCMA-CGCM3.1). We found that changes in snow cover duration, including both the timing of snowmelt in the spring and snow return in the fall, provided the dominant positive biogeophysical feedback to climate across all LCCs, and was greater for the ECHAM (+3.1 W m−2 decade−1 regionally) compared to the CCCMA (+1.3 W m−2 decade−1 regionally) scenario due to an increase in loss of snow cover in the ECHAM scenario. The greatest overall negative feedback to climate from changes in vegetation cover was due to fire in spruce forests in the Northwest Boreal LCC and fire in shrub tundra in the Western LCC (−0.2 to −0.3 W m−2 decade−1). With the larger positive feedbacks associated with reductions in snow cover compared to the smaller negative feedbacks associated with shifts in vegetation, the feedback to climate warming was positive (total feedback of +2.7 W m−2 decade regionally in the ECHAM scenario compared to +0.76 W m−2 decade regionally in the CCCMA scenario). Overall, increases in C storage in the vegetation and soils across the study region would act as a negative feedback to climate. By exploring these feedbacks to climate, we can reach a more integrated understanding of the manner in which climate change may impact interactions between high-latitude ecosystems and the global climate system.


The MELVYL information system is an important component of the University of California's (UC) strategy to transfer from print to networked information. This paper traces the development of UC's library automation strategy over the past five years and the role of the MELVYL system within this strategy. This paper will highlight the need for systems, such as the MELVYL catalog, to function within an overall institutional strategy and the issues raised by such coordination efforts. (1) The evolution of the MELVYL system into a manageable production operation, and the development of an institutional library automation policy framework within which the MELVYL system could succeed, may be of interest to other information technology planners and managers in educational institutions charged with developing institutional initiatives in this vital area of information technology. ORIGINS OF THE MELVYL SYSTEM: A POLICY PERSPECTIVE The MELVYL catalog had its origins in the 1977 Plan for Development for the University of California library system. (2) Although the plan called for the development of a specific automated system to provide a unified view of the library collections maintained by University of California's nine campuses, which became the MELVYL catalog, the 1977 plan did not articulate an institutional library automation strategy. At this time, there was little coordination between the planning for a UC information technology infrastructure (both networking and computing) and library automation initiatives. In the late 1970s, library automation was still viewed as an in-library activity largely unrelated to broader universitywide information technology planning. This perspective preceded the age of ubiquitous networking. The lack of coordination between the MELVYL system and other universitywide computing and networking activities was acute by the mid-1980s. The MELVYL system operated from a computer center separate from other universitywide computing applications. As the first large-scale networked universitywide computing application, a universitywide computer network to support the MELVYL catalog had been developed in the early 1980s. By mid-decade, other multicampus applications were being deployed that also required computer networking support. Between the years 1980 and 1986 there was extensive planning for and subsequent implementation of an information technology infrastructure within UC. These networking efforts were not merged with those of the MELVYL system into an overall universitywide telecommunications system, however. In 1980, the work on the MELVYL system could proceed in isolation, as there were few projects under way on that scale. By 1986, however, a great deal of progress had been made on other fronts, and the lack of connection between MELVYL work and other universitywide efforts had become a major liability. Because the 1977 Plan for Development did not include a comprehensive plan that contemplated library automation requirements at the campus level, and because there was no subsequent funding strategy to address campus library automation needs, there was a natural tendency to assume the MELVYL system was the unarticulated strategy for universitywide library automation. The MELVYL system was not a strategy to meet campus needs, however, and was never intended to serve this role. Not surprisingly, the campuses were extremely unhappy with what they viewed as a failure to support local campus library automation requirements. Their needs had not been addressed due to a failure in the definition of roles and responsibilities, and there was no specific, programmatic funding for campus-based automation, By the mid-1980s, the MELVYL system itself faced terrific problems. It had outgrown the computer center that had been designed to house it, both in terms of physical space and computing resources. The resulting resource management approach of minimizing hardware and software investments was inconsistent with the needs of a production system destined to be the cornerstone for public-access information retrieval services within the university. …


In this paper we statistically analyze, and interpret anthropoid Phoenician sarcophagi found on the Syrian coast (archaeological s ite of Amrīt), from an archaeological perspective. All sarcophagi (11 complete and 8 damaged) under the study are dated between the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. We must highlight how previous scholars established periods of use as well as the influence of these funeral artifacts, viewing them purely as works of art. The main goal of this research is to study the sarcophagi from an archaeological perspective with reference to the quantitative data taken from each piece. The data set which we analyze is composed of the dimensional components of twenty-two sarcophagi. The challenge to be overcome in the analysis of this data set is the state of the sarcophagi themselves; half of them are damaged to an extent that direct measurements are impossible. Thus, a statistical analysis is necessarily based on estimates of original measurements of undamaged parts of those sarcophagi. Accordingly, we carried out an analysis of the dependence between the dimensional components of the complete, relatively undamaged sarcophagi. Given the anthropomorphic morphology of sarcophagi, the length and width present a significant linear relationship, whereas there is no relationship between length and height.


We present a novel nonlinear imaging method that utilizes femtosecond laser-induced plasma emission to probe microscopic structures embedded inside transparent materials. This nonlinear diagnostic tool can resolve either elemental or structural variations of the sample of interest and provide significant improvements over the ordinary linear microscopes by having much higher contrast ratios for the observed areas of different refractive indices. Examples of using this technique to examine the microstructures fabricated by ultrashort laser pulses inside optical glass are presented.


We derive upper and lower bounds on the isoperimetric numbers and bisection widths of a large class of regular graphs of high degree. Our methods are combinatorial and do not require a knowledge of the eigenvalue spectrum. We apply these bounds to random regular graphs of high degree and the Platonic graphs over the rings $\mathbb{Z}_n$. In the latter case we show that these graphs are generally non-Ramanujan for composite $n$ and we also give sharp asymptotic bounds for the isoperimetric numbers. We conclude by giving bounds on the Cheeger constants of arithmetic Riemann surfaces. For a large class of these surfaces these bounds are an improvement over the known asymptotic bounds.


The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is an immunologically important group of genes that appears to be under natural as well as sexual selection. Several hypotheses suggest that certain MHC–allele combinations (usually heterozygous ones) are superior under selective pressure by pathogens. This could influence mate choice in a way that preferences function to create MHC–heterozygous offspring, or that they function to create specific allele combinations that are beneficial under the current environmental conditions through their complementary or epistatic effects. To test these hypotheses, we asked 121 men and women to score the odours of six T–shirts, worn by two women and four men. Their scorings of pleasantness correlated negatively with the degree of MHC similarity between smeller and T–shirt–wearer in men and women not using the contraceptive pill (but not in Pill–users). Depending on the T–shirt–wearer, the amount of variance in the scorings of odour pleasantness that was explained by the degree of MHC similarity (r2) varied between nearly 0 and 23 per cent. There was no apparent effect of gender in the correlation: the highest r2 was actually reached with one of the male odours sniffed by male smellers. Men and women who were reminded of their own mate/ex–mate when sniffing a T–shirt had significantly fewer MHC–alleles in common with this T–shirt–wearer than expected by chance. This suggests that the MHC or linked genes influence human mate choice. We found no significant effect when we tested for an influence of the MHC on odour preferences after the degree of similarity between T–shirt–wearer and smeller was statistically controlled for. This suggests that in our study populations the MHC influences body odour preferences mainly, if not exclusively, by the degree of similarity or dissimilarity. The observed preferences would increase heterozygosity in the progeny. They do not seem to aim for more specific MHC combinations.


Corporate scandals are reflected in excessive top management compensation and fraudulent accounts. These scandals cause an enormous amount of damage, not only to the companies affected, but also to the market economy as a whole. As a solution, conventional wisdom suggests more monitoring and sanctioning of management. We argue that these efforts will create a governance structure for crooks. Instead of solving the problem, they make it worse. Selfish extrinsic motivation is reinforced. We suggest measures which clash with conventional wisdom: selecting employees with pro-social intrinsic preferences, de-emphasizing variable pay for performance and strengthening the participation and self-governance of employees. These measures help to increase intrinsically motivated corporate virtue and honesty.


Macroeconomic Theory is the most up-to-date graduate-level macroeconomics textbook available today. This book truly offers something new by emphasizing the general equilibrium character of macroeconomics to explain effects across the whole economy, not just part. It is also the perfect resource for economists who need to brush up on the latest developments. Michael Wickens lays out the core ideas of modern macroeconomics and its links with finance. He presents the simplest general equilibrium macroeconomic model for a closed economy, and then gradually develops a comprehensive model of the open economy. Every important topic is covered, including growth, business cycles, fiscal policy, taxation and debt finance, current account sustainability, exchange-rate determination, and an up-to-date account of monetary policy through inflation targeting. Wickens addresses the interrelationships between macroeconomics and modern finance and shows how they affect stock, bond, and foreign-exchange markets. While the mathematics needed for this book is rigorous, the author describes fundamental concepts in a way that helps make the book self-contained and easy to use. Accessible, comprehensive, and wide-ranging, Macroeconomic Theory will become the standard text for students and is ideal for economists, particularly those in government, central and commercial banking, and financial investment.


The study evaluated the National Livestock Small Holder Loans Scheme (NLSHLS) among farmers in Enugu North Agricultural Zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. Data for the study were collected from 80 respondents (which comprise 40 project participant farmers and 40 project non-participant farmers) through the use of structured interview schedule. Frequency distribution, percentage, mean and t-test statistics are used in the analysis of the data. The findings revealed that bureaucratic processes within the agency (95.0%) and inability of the loan beneficiaries to meet all the requirements within a stipulated time (82.5%) were the perceived primary factors by the project participant farmers to have militated against effective loan disbursement by the agency. There was significant difference (t = 15.2, P  ≤0.05) between the mean amount of loan applied for and the actual amount of loan disbursed. Effective loan repayment by the beneficiaries was greatly affected by factors such as death of livestock ( X = 3.0), untimely disbursement of loans ( X = 3.0) and the small volume of the loans ( X = 3.0). There was a significant difference (t = 17.02, P ≤0.05) between the mean annual income generated from farming activities before and after participating in the scheme by the participant farmers. It was recommended that the federal government should make enough money available to the banks to enable them meet up with their targets in terms of granting adequate loans to the rural farmers. This will surely improve agricultural production as well as enhancing rural development in the state.


From its humble beginning in the 1970's, the video games industry has flourished and become a world-wide phenomenon. Although most games are developed in Japanese and English, the globalisation of popular culture and the desire to expand to new markets have led most producers to localise their games into many target language versions. This has brought about the emergence of a new field in translation, game localisation, which combines elements of audiovisual translation and software localisation. This paper looks at the specific features of game localisation which give it its unique nature. It examines the priorities and constraints associated with translation of this particular genre, which relies heavily on imagination and creativity to deliver a satisfactory game experience. Using as a case study the best-selling PlayStation series, Final Fantasy, examples are presented to illustrate the challenges game localisers face, focusing particularly on linguistic and cultural issues.


Neither women's studies nor lesbian and gay studies offers an adequate theoretical or political base for lesbian scholarship. Lesbian Studies: Setting and Agenda aim to promote lesbian studies as an academic and political approach to both gender and the erotic, and to clarify the damaging influence of heterosexism across a range of disciplines. Drawing on feminism and queer theory, Tamsin Wilton argues that 'lesbian' is a theoretical position which must be widely available in order to challenge the dominance of the heterosexual perspective. Engaging with theoretical and political debates, the book moves beyond its role of setting an agenda for lesbian studies into a wider role as resource and catalysts for anyone interested in gender and the erotic.


Corner polyhedra were introduced by Eppstein and Mumford (2014) as the set of simply connected 3D polyhedra such that all vertices have non negative integer coordinates, edges are parallel to the coordinate axes and all vertices but one can be seen from infinity in the direction (1, 1, 1). These authors gave a remarkable characterization of the set of corner polyhedra graphs, that is graphs that can be skeleton of a corner polyhedron: as planar maps, they are the duals of some particular bipartite triangulations, which we call hereafter corner triangulations.

In this paper we count corner polyhedral graphs by determining the generating function of the corner triangulations with respect to the number of vertices: we obtain an explicit rational expression for it in terms of the Catalan gen- erating function. We first show that this result can be derived using Tutte's classical compositional approach. Then, in order to explain the occurrence of the Catalan series we give a direct algebraic decomposition of corner triangu- lations: in particular we exhibit a family of almond triangulations that admit a recursive decomposition structurally equivalent to the decomposition of binary trees. Finally we sketch a direct bijection between binary trees and almond triangulations. Our combinatorial analysis yields a simpler alternative to the algorithm of Eppstein and Mumford for endowing a corner polyhedral graph with the cycle cover structure needed to realize it as a polyhedral graph.


We discuss measurements of the properties of ∼13,000 asteroids detected in 500 deg2 of sky in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) commissioning data. The moving objects are detected in the magnitude range 14 < r* < 21.5, with a baseline of ∼5 minutes, resulting in typical velocity errors of ∼3%. Extensive tests show that the sample is at least 98% complete, with a contamination rate of less than 3%. We find that the size distribution of asteroids resembles a broken power law, independent of the heliocentric distance: D-2.3 for 0.4 km ≲ D ≲ 5 km, and D-4 for 5 km ≲ D ≲ 40 km. As a consequence of this break, the number of asteroids with r* < 21.5 is 10 times smaller than predicted by extrapolating the power-law relation observed for brighter asteroids (r* ≲ 18). The observed counts imply that there are about 670,000 objects with D > 1 km in the asteroid belt, or up to 3 times less than previous estimates. The revised best estimate for the impact rate of the so-called "killer" asteroids (D > 1 km) is about 1 every 500,000 yr, uncertain to within a factor of 2. We predict that by its completion SDSS will obtain about 100,000 near simultaneous five-band measurements for a subset drawn from 340,000 asteroids brighter than r* < 21.5 at opposition. Only about a third of these asteroids have been previously observed, and usually in just one band. The distribution of main-belt asteroids in the four-dimensional SDSS color space is bimodal, and the two groups can be associated with S- (rocky) and C- (carbonaceous) type asteroids. A strong bimodality is also seen in the heliocentric distribution of asteroids: the inner belt is dominated by S-type asteroids centered at R ∼ 2.8 AU, while C-type asteroids, centered at R ∼ 3.2 AU, dominate the outer belt. The median color of each class becomes bluer by about 0.03 mag AU-1 as the heliocentric distance increases. The observed number ratio of S and C asteroids in a sample with r* < 21.5 is 1.5 : 1, while in a sample limited by absolute magnitude it changes from 4 : 1 at 2 AU, to 1 : 3 at 3.5 AU. In a size-limited sample with D > 1 km, the number ratio of S and C asteroids in the entire main belt is 1 : 2.3. The colors of Hungarias, Mars crossers, and near-Earth objects, selected by their velocity vectors, are more similar to the C-type than to S-type asteroids. In about 100 deg2 of sky along the celestial equator observed twice 2 days apart, we find one plausible Kuiper belt object (KBO) candidate, in agreement with the expected KBO surface density. The colors of the KBO candidate are significantly redder than the asteroid colors, in agreement with colors of known KBOs. We explore the possibility that SDSS data can be used to search for very red, previously uncataloged asteroids observed by 2MASS, by extracting objects without SDSS counterparts. We do not find evidence for a significant population of such objects; their contribution is no more than 10% of the asteroid population.


Urban design, like any other branch of the social sciences and built-environment studies, has developed in relation with the contexts in which it has emerged. Built environments in Iran have been constructed in a different way compared to their European and American counterparts. Western urban environments and cultures are the main sources of urban design knowledge. In turn, the knowledge replicates such environments and advocates such values. Nevertheless, the differences between Iranian context and the Western one is the main reason necessitating the attempt to create vernacular knowledge for Iran. At this point after urban design being introduced, taught and researched in Iran for decades, it is significant to analyze the success or failure of vernacular theories. In this respect, this article first critically reviews the literature in order to make a framework to evaluate various urban design texts. Second it assesses the influential urban design texts that have attempted to adapt the Western knowledge to the context of Iranian cities. The assumption of this article is that vernacular theories are more capable of creating successful places and fulfilling needs and demands of the society. In this respect, criticizing and analyzing texts that aimed at making vernacular knowledge paves the way for further attempts in both theory and practice. The main references of this article are from two seemingly discrete domains. First the texts which discuss and introduce the characteristics of successful urban design theory. We assume that vernacular urban design theory is a kind of theory belonging to the broader domain of urban design thinking, it must meet the criteria of successful urban design theory. The second set of references are from texts that are particularly studying the characteristics of successful vernacular theory. Many studies, from countries that imported the knowledge, have attempt to clarify such characteristics under various titles. However, there is not any study on this topic in Iran. Therefore, this article offers contributions to the literature. The urban design texts that have vernacular aspects are being analyzed on the basis of three main criteria of analyzing theory and two specific criteria of analyzing vernacular theory. The main criteria of a good theory are: 1. The way of building a theory should be justifiable. Clarifying such processes would enable further revisions when required and justify the theory; 2. The theory should have practical applications; since the goal of urban design is making better places the theory within this field should ultimately have practical influences 3. A theory should learn from the past urban design experiences; Ignoring the existing body of knowledge is certainly a disadvantage for any research or theory. Two specific criteria of analyzing vernacular theory discussed in this article are that 1. The theory should respond to the specific problems of Iranian cities; meaning a so-called vernacular theory should aimed at solving vernacular problems. Inevitably such a theory, first of all, needs to have a good understanding of urban problems in Iran. The second requirement for its criterion is to have a realistic assessment of the potentials and abilities in Iran (including academic potentials) 2. The theory should consider the cultural and vernacular values and norms. This means that solutions suggested by the vernacular theories should be defined in a way to lessen the gap between culturally accepted values and the existing condition. This criterion develops the fact that urban design is always and necessarily value-laden and a good vernacular theory must represent local values. Therefore, three key urban design texts that are basically written for Iran and have been successfully received by the professionals are being examined against the mentioned criteria. These titles are achieved through a systematic review of the literature while it can be seen as representatives of successful urban design texts written by Iranian urban design scholars for the Iranian cities. The results of this article display that the Iranian theorists have paid attention to the necessity of vernacular theories as all the three writers touched upon this issue.. The vague process of making vernacular theory, fails to take the local values into account, and the weak linkage between the available knowledge and case studies have deteriorated the effectiveness of the attempts of making vernacular urban design in Iran. This article adds that vernacularizing urban design must also be aware of similar attempts in different fields. This article makes the contribution to the literature by highlighting the importance of the topic for future research as well as offering the set of criteria for good vernacular urban design theory that can be used in order to systematically develop the knowledge. Moreover, the evaluation of the three influential texts in the final part of this article aims to find strengths and weaknesses of the existing literature. Keywords: City, Accessibility, Commute Mode, Babolsar City.


Subtyping relations embody a notion of substitutability, and are an important tool in formal methods. The downward simulation relation is well-known and widely used as a subtyping and refinement relation for state-based approaches, but there is no single relation which is widely accepted to be the subtyping relation for the behavioural setting; however, there are several candidate relations. Developments such as the multi-viewpoint specification method of RM-ODP encourage the use of several different formal methods in a single project. Thus, it becomes important to obtain implementations of a single notion of subtyping in several different paradigms. In this thesis, we attempt to find a process algebraic relation which corresponds to the state-based subtyping relation, downward simulation. While trying to achieve this, we define a translation between a state-based notation and a process algebra, and we uncover some of the similarities and differences between these two specification paradigms. In particular, we investigate the meaning of undefined behaviour in each setting. When a state-based specification does not define an operation, the intent is that the system's behaviour is unspecified (not well-defined) if that operation is invoked. In a process algebra with refusals semantics, however, a process is implicitly specified to refuse any action it is not specified to accept, and such a refusal constitutes well-defined behaviour. As part of our translation, we devise a method of representing the unspecified behaviour of the state-based world in a process definition. Finally, we use our translation to prove that the presence of subtyping between a pair of state-based specifications implies reduction between their LOTOS translations, but that the presence of reduction does not imply subtyping. We conclude that reduction itself does not correspond to state-based subtyping, but that any relation which does must be based on a stronger semantics than reduction, such as bisimulation semantics.


A trend that has materialized, and has given rise to much attention, is of the increasingly heterogeneous computing platforms. Recently, it has become very common for a desktop or a notebook computer to be equipped with both a multi-core CPU and a GPU. Application development for exploiting the aggregate computing power of such an environment is a major challenge today. Particularly, we need dynamic work distribution schemes that are adaptable to different computation and communication patterns in applications, and to various heterogeneous configurations. This paper describes a general dynamic scheduling framework for mapping applications with different communication patterns to heterogeneous architectures. We first make key observations about the architectural tradeoffs among heterogeneous resources and the communication pattern of an application, and then infer constraints for the dynamic scheduler. We then present a novel cost model for choosing the optimal chunk size in a heterogeneous configuration. Finally, based on general framework and cost model we provide optimized work distribution schemes to further improve the performance.


ABSTRACT: A group of 20 healthy older adults (females = 17, males = 3), who ranged in age from 66 to 84 years, participated in a movement program designed to enhance functional outcomes. The program, Motivating Moves®, was designed by a Laban movement analyst. It consisted of 14 movement sequences set to music especially composed to reflect the dynamics, rhythm, timing, and phrasing of the movements. After 5 weeks, individuals showed statistically significant increases in Reuben's Physical Performance Test (Reuben & Siu, 1990) in areas of gait speed and putting on and removing a jacket. For those persons (n = 5) who extended their involvement beyond 5 weeks, additional changes were not statistically significant. All participants indicated through anonymous comments that they experienced positive physical outcomes, that they enjoyed the program, and that they would recommend it to others. Individuals 85 years and older comprise the fastest growing segment of the world's population, and projections have indicated there will be 70 million people age 65 years or older in the United States by the year 2030 (Mazzeo et al., 1998). With this increase in older individuals, it is essential to identify ways to maintain good physical functioning that serve to improve overall life quality while they promote independence (Mazzeo et al., 1998; Seeman et al., 1995). Research has shown that active lifestyle habits into late years reduce disability or compress it into a shorter period toward the end of life, which decreases overall lifetime disability and decreases health care costs (Garrett, Brasure, Schmitz, Schultz, & Huber, 2004; Hubert, Bloch, Oehlert, & Fries, 2002; Leveille, Guralnik, Ferrucci, & Langlois, 1999). While evidence shows that physically active lifestyles reduce the risks for mortality and lead to longer, healthy lives (Sundquist, Qvist, Sundquist, & Johansson, 2004), the most sedentary segment of the adult population is over the age of 50 with the greatest number of sedentary persons older than 75 years (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996). Researchers have found that this group accounts for the largest proportion of chronic disease and disability in the United States and requires the largest proportion of health care dollars (Berg & Casells, 1990.; Hoffman, Rice, & Sung, 1996; LaPlant, 1989). Research has also shown that some chronic health conditions begin as early as age 50 (Huang et al., 1998), yet these conditions have a potential for prevention (Berg & Casells, 1990; Hoffman et al., 1996; LaPlant, 1989; Lonegran & Krevans, 1992). Researchers have found that functional decline tends to increase as people age. Yet, physical activity can build physical function that facilitates persons' abilities to perform activities of daily living, adding to life quality (Pollock, Graves, Swart, & Lowenthal, 1994). Research has also shown that deteriorated physical strength and flexibility can lead to falls, which may result in the most serious injuries experienced by older adults (Province et al., 1995) and even death (Sattin, 1992). Those who survive falls have experienced decline in activities of daily living, physical activities, and social interactions (Dunn, Rudberg, Furner, & Cassel, 1992; Kiel, O'Sullivan, Teno, & Mor, 1991) and have greater incidences of institutionalization (Tinetti, Liu, & Claus, 1993). Participation in moderate or strenuous activity is associated with improved physical performance in older adults even when they have compromised baseline health (seeman et al., 1995). Most falls in older adults are caused by physical deficits in strength, reaction time, and flexibility (Province et al., 1995) and by disturbances in balance (Cho & Kamen, 1998; Hornbrook et al., 1994; Province et al., 1995; Tinetti et al., 1994; Tinetti, Speechley, & Cinter, 1988; Tinetti, Williams, & Mayewski, 1986) and gait (Cho & Kamen, 1998; Hornbrook et al. …


In the 2001 case, Nguyen v. INS, the United States Supreme Court purported to exercise intermediate scrutiny while upholding a sex-based citizenship classification. Yet, as many commentators — including the dissenting Justices — have pointed out, the scrutiny exercised in that case bore few of the hallmarks of heightened review. Rather than hold the government to a tight fit between statutory ends and means, the majority accepted stereotypes and post hoc rationalizations to uphold distinctions between mothers and fathers for purposes of transmitting derivative citizenship to their out-of-wedlock, foreign-born children.
In the 2016 Term, in Lynch v. Morales-Santana, the Supreme Court again considers sex-based classifications in the context of U.S. citizenship law. At issue are the different physical presence requirements for mothers and fathers imposed as a prerequisite to sharing derivative citizenship. Again, those seeking relief from the statute's discriminatory requirements will argue for intermediate scrutiny. Yet intermediate scrutiny is not the only standard for evaluating sex-based citizenship laws. "Rational basis with bite" has attracted increasing attention in recent years, being utilized in a series of decisions striking down classifications based on sexual orientation.
This article will examine sex-based citizenship challenges, including Nguyen and Morales-Santana, through the lens of this new rational basis review. Arguments of irrationality have been successful in expanding individual rights based on sexual orientation and disability, among others. Other high courts and international governing bodies around the world have rejected sex-based citizenship laws as irrational. Perhaps this new rationality standard should be seriously developed as an approach to challenging the sex-based classifications that remain embedded in U.S. citizenship law.


Challenges such as globalization and novel technologies are changes-drivers that require transformation within enterprises and their environments. To handle that, enterprises are progressively collaborating with others and becoming part of a Networked Enterprises (NE). In this collaborative and transdisciplinary context, one of the difficulties faced by companies willing to work together, are the interoperability problems between their systems. In order to avoid these problems and consequently, take corrective actions on time, enterprises need to predict and solve potential problems before they occur. To deal with that, evaluations can be performed to assess interoperability and therefore identify strengths and weaknesses of the considered enterprise systems. Despite, numerous interoperability assessment methods existing in the literature, many of them address only one interoperability aspect. In addition, they can also use different approaches and metrics to perform the interoperability evaluation. Thus, it can be difficult when enterprises have to deal with multiple interoperability aspects within a NE. Hence, the objective of this paper is to propose an analysis of the main relevant evaluation methods regarding interoperability. The proposed analysis is essential and will serve as a first step towards proposing a new approach for assessing enterprise systems interoperability within a NE.


In this model, medication management is just one hurdle crossed to a successful transition home. The Enhanced Discharge Planning Program (EDPP) at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, is an evidence-based transitions model that was developed to improve health outcomes for older adults. The program serves approximately 1,200 people annually. In 2007, two groups, Older Adult Programs and the Case Management Department, created the EDPP program as a joint project. Social workers with master's degrees coordinate care services and use a holistic approach to assess the post-discharge care plan. Particular attention is paid to assessing medication management, caregiver burden and ability to cope with care demands, and follow-up appointments. Interventions are by phone and are initiated within forty-eight hours after patient discharge. Each day, a Risk Report from the patient's electronic medical record (which includes notes on items such as re-admission within six months; insurance barriers; primary diagnosis and problem list; history of heart failure; number of medications; high-risk medications; learning barriers; falls risk; pain score; diagnosis of depression; psychosocial needs; and disposition of home with home health) and interdisciplinary rounds that include EDPP social workers generate referrals to the EDPP. The assessment of risk factors is the crucial starting point for the definition of risk; this is used as a tool, in conjunction with the interdisciplinary team discussion, to decide who should be followed by EDPP after discharge. Fostering collaborative relationships between healthcare and community providers encourages problem solving and self-management. Typically, both medical and communitybased services providers involved in the post discharge situation operate in silos (minimal communication and connection to one another), which hinders the ability to provide continuity of care and effective problem solving that lead to better outcomes. EDPP interventions are able to connect providers with each other around the patient and caregiver as the focus of care. The culture of care becomes more collaborative (and efficient) as providers work together to solve problems and promote patient self-management. The EDPP model has four phases: referral, pre-assessment, assessment, and intervention. The average duration of an intervention is five days. The transition from hospital to home is considered stable once all providers are connected and any new service referrals are com- plete. The following case is an example of the model in action, and how it was used to address medication issues. Referral: A Patient May Need Enhanced Services Anita, age 67, was admitted to the hospital with shortness of breath, and reported being less able to take care of herself over the previous several months. During interdisciplinary rounds, the team discussed her history of alcohol abuse (Anita acknowledged using alcohol for a long period of time, but denied that it was a problem), heart disease, and liver problems. The nurses reported she was slightly unsteady when walking and needed some assistance with personal care. The discharge planner met with Anita, who reported that she lived with her husband and had a supportive family. However, she expressed concern that her husband had health problems, making it hard for him to help her. Physical and occupational therapists saw Anita at the hospital and recommended she go home with follow-up therapy. The interdisciplinary team agreed home health visits would be beneficial and Anita should be referred to the EDPP program for post-discharge intervention. A referral was made to a home health agency for nursing, and physical and occupational therapies. The discharge planner also referred her to the local department of aging for homemaker services. Anita reported getting her medications filled at a local pharmacy, and there were no medication needs identified by the team before discharge. …


People all over the globe are experiencing unprecedented and often hazardous situations as environments change at speeds never before experienced. This edited collection proposes that anthropological perspectives on landscape have great potential to address the resulting conundrums. The contributions build on broadly phenomenological, structuralist and multi-species approaches to environmental perception and experience, but they also argue for incorporating political power into analysis alongside dwelling, cosmology and everyday practice. The book's 13 ethnographically rich chapters explore how the material and the conceptual are entangled in and as landscapes, but it also looks at how these processes unfold at many scales in time and space, involving different actors with different powers. Thus it reaches towards new methodologies and new ways of using anthropology to engage with the sense of crisis concerning environment, movements of people, climate change and other planetary transformations. Dwelling in political landscapes: contemporary anthropological perspectives builds substantially upon anthropological work by Tim Ingold, Anna Tsing and Philippe Descola and on related work beyond, which emphasises the ongoing and open-ended, yet historically conditioned ways in which humans and nonhumans produce the environments they inhabit. In such work, landscapes are understood as the medium and outcome of meaningful life activities, where humans, like other animals, dwell. This means that landscapes are neither social/cultural nor natural, but socio-natural. Protesting against and moving on from the proverbial dualisms of modern, Western and maybe capitalist thought, is only the first step in renewing anthropology's methodology for the current epoch, however. The contributions ask how seemingly disconnected temporal, representational, economic and other systemic dynamics fold back on lived experience that are materialised in landscapes. Foremost through studying how socially valued landscapes become irreversibly disturbed, commodified or subjected to wilful markings or erasures, the book explores a number of approaches to how landscapes are entangled in the ways people gather and organise themselves. Mindful of troubling changes in Earth Systems, all the authors argue from empirics. They show that processes of landscape change are always both habitual and laden with choices. That is, landscape change is political. Undoubtedly, landscape politics is bound up not just in how nature has been imagined, but in long histories of consumption. Today, an alarming quest for raw materials and energy continues to change both political and geological formations. Meanwhile dominant socio-political aspirations mean the exploitation of staggering volumes of cheap resources like fossil fuels in order to sustain economic processes that are as taken-for-granted as they are unsustainable. Like anthropology generally, this book attends to the contextual details buried in such planet-scale pictures. Building on traditional anthropological strengths, many authors consider the details of how the past is brought into the present – or erased from it – in material flows and sensory awareness, as well as in narratives that are explicitly linked to particular landscapes. Colonial identity formation and the different ways that it links with how landscape is viewed and managed (for instance for resource development for a global market), whether in Southern Africa, Israel/Palestine, the Canadian arctic or Indonesia, is a particularly striking example of how to talk about landscape is also to talk about past, present and future. And as the idea that we inhabit the Anthropocene becomes commonplace, the discipline can meaningfully discuss the current era as one of disavowed ruins as well as of poorly understood multispecies relations. To think of landscape as historically produced across multiple scales, does not mean ignoring its sensuous qualities let alone its role in cosmological systems. On the contrary, the analyses in the collection attend to the ways people's movements through the landscape produce it as a material and conceptual resource. Taken together, the book's ethnographic analyses take on board the unprecedented conditions under which people everywhere are having to make sense and forge relationships to the worlds they inhabit. Since landscapes are not what they used to be, neither can anthropology be.


Computing the first derivatives of a discretized nonlinear partial differential equation (PDE) can be made more efficient given colorings of the lattice points of the plane, cylinder, or torus that assign different colors to all vertices within some specified stencil. Goldfarb and Toint showed how to efficiently color the lattice points of the plane, but their results do not extend to the cases of cylinders or toruses, as arise in the case of discretizing PDEs with periodic boundary conditions on a Cartesian grid. We give colorings for the (4l − 3)-point star and the l × l square stencils (for all l) in the plane, on the cylinder, and on the torus. We also give colorings for the (6l−5)-point star in Z3 and for the l× l× l cube in Z3 with periodic boundary conditions in 0 and 1 dimensions. We show that all colorings are optimal or near-optimal.