Cryogels represent a class of porous sponge-like materials possessing unique properties including high-fidelity reproduction of tissue structure and maximized permeability. Their architecture is mainly based on an interconnected network of macropores that provides sufficient stability while allowing the movement of substances through the material. In most cryogel applications, the pore size is very important, especially when the material is used as a 3D scaffold for tissue culture, applied as a filter, or utilized as a membrane. In this study, poly(dimethylacrylamide-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) cryogels have been prepared by two preparation methods to investigate the reproducibility of homogeneous pore structures and pore sizes. Automated image analysis algorithms were developed to rapidly evaluate cryogel pore sizes based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The quantification approach contained a unique combination of classical and deep learning-based algorithms. To validate the accuracy of the two models, we compared the results obtained from automated SEM image analysis with those from manual pore size determinations and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) measurements. Effect sizes were calculated to compare the results from manual and automated pore size measurements for the cryogel reproducibility series. 81% of the values obtained revealed only trivial differences, which strongly suggests that automated image analysis can reliably substitute the manual evaluation of cryogel pore sizes. The use of an adapted reactor setup yielded cryogels with heterogeneous morphologies in the absence of recognizable pore structures. With the conventional cryogel preparation using plastic syringes, the obtained cryogels represented highly reproducible morphologies and pore sizes in the range between 17 and 22 μm. Calculated effect sizes within the cryogel replicate series revealed only trivial differences between the obtained pore sizes in 83.5% or 99.4% of the data (classical approach and deep learning-based approach, respectively).


Current excessive use and abuse of antibiotics has resulted in increasing bacterial resistance to common treatment options which is threatening to deprive us of a pillar of modern medicine. In this work methods to optimize the use of existing antibiotics and to help development of new antibiotics were developed and applied.Semi-mechanistic pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PKPD) models were developed to describe the time course of the dynamic effect and interaction of combinations of antibiotics. The models were applied to illustrate that colistin combined with a high dose of meropenem may overcome meropenem-resistant P. aeruginosa infections.The results from an in vivo dose finding study of meropenem was successfully predicted by the meropenem PKPD model in combination with a murine PK model, which supports model based dosage selection. However, the traditional PK/PD index based dose selection was predicted to have poor extrapolation properties from pre-clinical to clinical settings, and across patient populations.The precision of the model parameters, and hence the model predictions, is dependent on the experimental design. A limited study design is dictated by cost and, for in vivo studies, ethical reasons. In this work optimal design (OD) was demonstrated to be able to reduce the experimental effort in time-kill curve experiments and was utilized to suggest the experimental design for identification and estimation of an interaction between antibiotics.OD methods to handle inter occasion variability (IOV) in optimization of individual PK parameter estimates were proposed. The strategy was applied in the design of a sparse sampling schedule that aim to estimate individual exposures of colistin in a multi-centre clinical study. Plasma concentration samples from the first 100 patients have been analysed and indicate that the performance of the design is close to the predicted.The methods described in this thesis holds promise to facilitate the development of new antibiotics and to improve the use of existing antibiotics.


According to Barling and Cooper (2008), productivity refers to the quantity of outputs obtained from a given level of inputs, which is influenced by the variety of skills, characteristics and attitudes, including formal training and qualifications, motivation levels, initiative, team skills, attention to detail, judgment, multi-task abilities, communication skills, general attitudes and work ethos. Several measures can be taken to increase employee productivity, among them, provision of adequate breaks for the employees to recuperate and get more focused on the job, review of employee needs on a regular basis, profit sharing, effective rewards and recognition, a good work environment and employee career development strategies. Employees joining the ministry of agriculture as extension officers go through different stages in their career progression. After employment, an officer is expected to work for a period of not less than three years, after which he is qualified to apply for in-service training in any of the recognized government training institutions (Government of Kenya, 2004). On graduation, the officer is promoted to the next job group, in which he must serve for a given period of time (typically three years), before he can, again, qualify for promotion to the next job group (Government of Kenya, 2004). Unfortunately, this is the ideal situation, which is, rarely followed. The reality of the matter is that many officers are left disillusioned by the mostly dysfunctional career development strategy within the Ministry of Agriculture and the lack of competitiveness in the whole strategy. Consequently, a poor career development strategy can be cited as one of the likely factors negatively influencing productivity among extension officers in the Ministry of Agriculture. The purpose of this study was to determine how career development strategies have influenced productivity levels among extension officers working with the ministry of Agriculture in Kilifi district in the Kenyan coast province. This was a case study which sought to identify the effects of a career development strategy on employee productivity, with a special focus on extension officers in the Ministry of Agriculture, which was carried out with an aim of opening doors for further research on the same and recommend strategies for addressing the problems to ensure that the country becomes (once again) self sufficient in food production. At the time of the study, there were a total of 45 extension officers in Kilifi District. Due to the small number of officers, a census was done, where all the officers were given questionnaires and involved in a focus group discussion for triangulation purposes. This is because it was only through a census that more comprehensive and accurate information could be gotten. The data collected was analyzed for any causal-effect relationships, correlations and variances, by use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), and the results presented in pie charts and tables to give a picture of the research findings at a glance. The findings on how career development strategies influence extension officers' productivity in the Ministry of Agriculture showed that the employees' academic attainment influenced their levels of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, with officers with Masters' degree exhibiting the highest level of dissatisfaction while those with Diplomas showing the least level of dissatisfaction.


OF DISSERTATION Merit-based financial aid has long been utilized by college and university enrollment managers to attract the most academically qualified applicants for admission. Considerable research has been done to illustrate the impact of statebased merit aid programs and other scholarly pursuits have drawn attention to the consequences of merit aid on institutional investments in need-based aid. Less is known about the efficacy of merit aid to achieve college student enrollment objectives. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between merit aid values and the likelihood of undergraduate student enrollment yield on offers of admission. The primary research question to be answered was: What is the relationship between the amount of merit aid students receive from a college or university and their enrollment decisions? The sample comprised 2,770 students at three private higher education institutions in the United States. Binary logistic regression and a forward selection process were used to test a range of possible predictors (e.g., sex, race, ethnicity, in-state residency, distance from home, academic qualifications, merit aid awards, and information from the financial aid applications of those offered admission) to determine the relative strength of merit aid in the prediction of student enrollment yield on offers of admission. The amount of merit aid offered was positively related to the likelihood of a student to enroll, even when academic qualifications and other student characteristics were controlled.


This thesis involves the area of virtualization. We have studied about improving load balancing in data center by using automated live migration techniques. The main idea is to migrate virtual machine(s) automatically from high loaded hosts to less loaded hosts with efficiency. The successful implementation can help administrator of data center maintain a load-balanced environment with less effort than before. For example, such a system can automatically identify hotspots and coldspots in a large data center and also decide which virtual machine to migrate, and which host should the machine be migrated to. We have implemented previously developed Push and Pull strategies on a real testbed for Xen and KVM. A new strategy, Hybrid, which is the combination of Push and Pull, has been created. All scripts applied in the experiments are Python-based for further integration to the orchestration framework OpenStack. By implementing the algorithms on a real testbed, we have solved a node failure problem in the algorithms, which was not detected previously through simulation. The results from simulation and those from testbed are similar. E.g. Push strategy has quick responses when the load is medium to high, while Pull strategy has quick responses when the load is low to medium. The Hybrid strategy behaves similar to Push strategy with high load and to Pull strategy with low load, but with greater number of migration attempts, and it responds quickly regardless to the load. The results also show that our strategies are able to handle different incidents such as burst, drain, or fluctuation of load over time. The comparison of results from different hypervisors, i.e., Xen and KVM, shows that both hypervisors conduct in the same way when applying same strategies in the same environment. It means the strategies are valid for both of them. Xen seems to be faster in improving the System performance. The migration attempts are similar, but KVM has much less Migrations over time than Xen with same scenario.


&NA; Prostate cancer (PCa) can negatively impact on men's sexual, urinary and emotional functioning, affecting quality of life. Most men with PCa are older (≥65 years), married and heterosexual and little is known about the impact on men who are younger, unpartnered or gay. We aimed to synthesise existing qualitative research on these three groups of men. A systematic metasynthesis was undertaken that included data on the unique impacts of PCa on younger (<65 years) (n = 7 papers), unpartnered (n = 17 papers) or gay or bisexual men (n = 11 papers) using a modified meta‐ethnographic approach. The three overarching constructs illustrated the magnified disruption to men's biographies, that included: marginalisation, isolation and stigma—relating to men's sense of being "out of sync"; the burden of emotional and embodied vulnerabilities and the assault on identity—illustrating the multiple threats to men's work, sexual and social identities; shifting into different communities of practice—such as the shift from being part of a sexually active community to celibacy. These findings suggest that PCa can have a particular impact on the quality of life of younger, unpartnered and gay men. This has implications for the provision of tailored support and information to these potentially marginalised groups.


'Tympaniser', Alan Bass tells us, is an 'archaic verb meaning to ridicule publicly' or to decry. In the essay fronting Margins of Philosophy called 'Tympan' (translated by Bass) Derrida decries the philosophy that would own its limits, absorbing 'the margin of its own volume'. While it is Derrida's late work on the 'animal question' that has brought his insistence on the nourishment of the limits between species as limitrophy to wider attention, it is also named as the general condition of the interface of the limits in the much earlier text, 'Tympan.' There, in dislocating the tympanum, the margins of philosophy are eaten. Equally, given the rhythmic address of the tympanum, we might say that the margins of philosophy are beaten.

Struggling within the strictures of a small town amateur dramatic rehearsal, Selma, the lead protagonist in Dancer in the Dark (dir. Lars von Trier, 2000), makes a plea for more rhythm. But there is no license for tap-dancing in The Sound of Music. This chapter considers Dancer's persistent play on rhythmic sounds as that which trip Selma's fantasy song and dance numbers as a 'tympanising' of the limits, notably of the limits of the law in both juridical and symbolic senses, as they also work the edges of the film's two styles (broadly, realism and musical). In a provocative analysis of this film, Cary Wolfe suggests that we might understand Selma's vocal style (given singular expression by Bjork) as a refusal of the phallic imposition of language, and that her virtually suicidal submission to the death sentence construed as a Lacanian 'feminine' act, allow for a notion of a 'posthuman feminine' (What is Posthumanism?). 'Tympan Alley' redirects Wolfe's tantalising term 'posthuman feminine' through a more consistently Derridean line of thought. It draws on Derrida's late work on the animal, in which it is polemically clear that deconstruction has never been confined to the signifier nor to the human, and sounds out the implications of his early work on b/eating the limits through Selma's percussive ear.


Employee performance is the outcome of the influence of various factors including human resource management (HRM) practices. Globalisation and information technology resulted in emergence and modern practices of HRM that are different in approach of the erstwhile HRM practices which are termed as traditional HRM Practices. Modern HRM practices are expected to produce higher employee performance scores compared to that of traditional HRM practices. Review of the existing literature on the theme of the study indicates that there are no studies covering the effects of traditional and modern HRM practices on employee performance. Therefore, the present study is expected to contribute towards plugging this gap. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the impact of modern human resource management practices on employee performance compared to that of traditional human resource management practices. Data used for this study were collected from primary sources using a questionnaire. This paper analyses the impact of traditional HRM and modern HRM practices in employee performance in business organisations in Papua New Guinea employing statistical tools like descriptive data analysis, correlation and regression analysis. SOEs mostly followed traditional HRM practices and PEs followed modern HRM practice mostly due to their organisational structures, and history of their origins. Results of the study indicate that many of the traditional HRM practices resulted in the low employee performance in SOEs whilst modern HRM practices resulted in high employee performance in PEs. It is therefore suggested that SOEs may take the advantage of high employee performance by restructuring their organisations that allow them to follow modern HRM practices.


Complete river flow time series are indispensable to the sustainable management of water resources and even very short gaps can severely compromise data utility. Suitably-flagged flow estimates, derived via judicious infilling, are thus highly beneficial. The UK National River Flow Archive provides stewardship of and access to daily river flow records from over 1500 gauging stations and, whilst the majority are sensibly complete, historical validation reveals a significant quantity of gaps. A full assessment of the suitability of existing techniques for infilling such gaps is lacking. This paper therefore presents an appraisal of various simple infilling techniques, including
regression, scaling and equipercentile analysis, according to their ability to generate daily flow estimates for 25 representative UK gauging stations. All of the techniques rely upon data transfer from donor stations and results reveal that the equipercentile and multiple regression approaches perform best. Case studies offer further insight and an example of infilling is presented, along with areas of future study. The results demonstrate the potential for developing generic infilling methodologies to ensure a consistent and auditable approach towards infilling, which could find wider application both within the UK and internationally.


In this article we study in detail the interaction of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) with the Ag(111) surface by means of density functional theory calculations (DFT). We discuss the electronic and geometric differences of the adsorbed CoPc as it interacts with the different binding sites of the surface, yielding deeper insight into the adsorption mechanism of organometallic molecules with noble metal surfaces. We interpret the experimentally observed 4-fold to 2-fold symmetry reduction upon interaction of phthalocyanine molecules with metal surfaces as caused by electronic effects originating from nonsymmetric interactions between the molecule and the surface. To asses the role of dispersion forces in bonding of CoPc to the surface we employ a semiempirical dispersion correction to standard DFT and compare the obtained molecule–surface separation with experimental measurements. We show that, in the case of CoPc, the molecule bonds to the surface mostly due to covalent bonding between Co and Ag, but with a ...


The Late Ordovician mass extinction was an interval of high extinction with inferred low ecological selectivity, resulting in little change in community structure after the event. In contrast, the mass extinction may have fundamentally changed evolutionary dynamics in the surviving groups. We investigated the phylogenetic relationships among strophomenoid brachiopods, a diverse brachiopod superfamily that was a primary component of Ordovician ecosystems. Four Ordovician families/subfamilies sampled in the analysis (Rafinesquinidae, Strophomeninae, Glyptomenidae and Furcitellinae) were reconstructed as monophyletic groups, and the base of the strophomenoid clade that dominated the Silurian recovery was reconstructed as diversifying alongside these families during the Middle Ordovician. We time‐calibrated the phylogeny and used geographical occurrences to investigate biogeographical changes in the strophomenoids through time with the R package BiogeoBEARS. Our results indicate that extinction was higher in taxa whose ranges were constrained to tropical or subtropical regions. Furthermore, our results suggest important shifts in the diversification patterns of these brachiopods after the mass extinction. While most of the strophomenoid families survived the Late Ordovician event, ecologically abundant taxonomic groups during the Ordovician were either driven to extinction, reduced in diversity, or slowly died off during the Silurian. The new abundant strophomenoid taxa derived from one clade (consisting of Silurian–Devonian groups such as Douvillinidae, Strophodontidae and Amphistrophiidae) that diversified during the post‐extinction radiation. Our results suggest the selective diversification during the Silurian radiation, rather than selective extinction in the Late Ordovician, had a greater impact on the evolutionary history of strophomenoid brachiopods.


Author: Gogte, Mugdha. MS Institution: Purdue University Degree Received: May 2017 Title: Data Clustering Techniques to Identify User Groups and Resource Grouping in nanoHUB Major Professor: John Springer With a massive increase in the number of online resources for education and research, it is important to study their usage by target audience comprised mainly of students, educators and researchers. This study explores the application of data clustering techniques on user access data of online science platforms in order to detect user groups and categorize resources with the aim of finding evidence that nanoHUB, the largest science gateway in the field of nanotechnology, aids educational advancement and research. Several algorithms are examined to find the best-suited algorithm for the data set in question. The study uses a two-stage methodology to find classroom like user groups with the help of clustering and further evaluates categorization of the set of resources used by such groups based on a limited set of available features. The techniques used in the methodology are Spatio-Temporal Density Based Scan to detect groups of similar users and Jaccard index to find resource categories by monitoring continued usage of nanoHUB by these groups of users. The resulting user groups and resource sets are evaluated to understand the utility of nanoHUB in a classroom-like group. From the resulting grouping, we can say that spatiotemporal clustering based on a limited number of features reveals group usage patterns of nanoHUB across the globe.


This study examines the strategies companies have adopted in their CSR or non-financial reporting when responding to media criticism related to poor CSR performance.  Seven companies operation internationally and which have been criticized for irresponsible behavior (like environmental spills, child labor, poor working conditions, corruption, etc.) are identified. The Wilson response model, "Philosophy of Social Responsiveness," which suggests four distinct corporate responses to criticism (Reaction, Defense, Accommodation and Proaction), is applied. These four responses occupy a continuum with 'low response' on one end and 'encompassing response' on the other end. The findings reveal that, in contrast to the Wilson model, which proposes various degrees of response engagement, companies adopted an either/or response strategy (0-1). They either ignore the criticism (0) or, if they recognize the criticism (1), they respond in all four of the categories suggested by Wilson. Six of the companies chose the 1 approach. The remaining company chose the 0 response; ignoring the criticism. The 0 response strategy is not presented as an option in the Wilson model, but it is clearly an alternative that companies can take into consideration when evaluating and choosing strategies for non-financial reporting.


While backpacks are commonly used to transfer extra load, they are sometimes associated with negative effects on the body. The broad aim of this thesis was to study the effect of backpack loading configurations on postural stability, physiological variables, perceived exertion, and interface pressure and compare them to an unloaded condition. The specific aims of this thesis were to: 1) systematically review the literature and identify relevant deficits in knowledge; 2) assess the test-retest reliability and criterion validity of a force plate which has unknown psychometric properties; 3) examine the effect of carrying a 20% of body weight loaded backpack and load placement in a backpack (high vs. low load placement) on postural stability, physiological variables and backpack-shoulder interface pressure; 4) assess the effect of hip belt use on postural stability; and 5) investigate the effect of shoulder strap width on backpack-shoulder interface pressure. These aims were investigated using force plates, a metabolic cart, pressure sensors, and questionnaires. Our results indicated that carrying loaded backpacks decreased postural stability, increased physiological variables and perceived exertion as compared to an unloaded condition. While a hip belt did not enhance postural stability, participants reported a perception of increased stability and less exertion. Load placement did not influence postural stability, physiological variables, perceived stability or exertion; however, participants reported lower levels of local perceived exertion at the shoulders and the upper back regions when the load was placed low in the backpack. Conversely, low load placement resulted in higher shoulder interface pressure as compared to high load placement. Shoulder strap width also affected shoulder interface pressure with wide shoulder straps associated with lower shoulder interface pressure. While we identified several aspects of backpack configuration and loading characteristics and their effects on postural stability, energy cost, interface pressure and perceived exertion, additional study of backpack configuration and the resulting impact on biomechanical and physiologic characteristics is required.


Topic models, such as latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), can be useful tools for the statistical analysis of document collections and other discrete data. The LDA model assumes that the words of each document arise from a mixture of topics, each of which is a distribution over the vocabulary. A limitation of LDA is the inability to model topic correlation even though, for example, a document about genetics is more likely to also be about disease than X-ray astronomy. This limitation stems from the use of the Dirichlet distribution to model the variability among the topic proportions. In this paper we develop the correlated topic model (CTM), where the topic proportions exhibit correlation via the logistic normal distribution [J. Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B 44 (1982) 139--177]. We derive a fast variational inference algorithm for approximate posterior inference in this model, which is complicated by the fact that the logistic normal is not conjugate to the multinomial. We apply the CTM to the articles from Science published from 1990--1999, a data set that comprises 57M words. The CTM gives a better fit of the data than LDA, and we demonstrate its use as an exploratory tool of large document collections.


The E glycoprotein of dengue virus is responsible for the viral binding to the receptor. The crystal structure of envelope glycoprotein has already been determined. However, where the well-defined Bcell and T-cell epitopes are located is still a question. Because of the large variations among the four dengue genotypes, it is very hard to design conserved epitopes for all of them. Therefore, we selected only one genotype (DENV3). The conserved regions were found in more than 600 DENV E glycoprotein sequences. Both the B-cell and T-cell epitopes were predicted and the hydrophobicity, antigenicity, accessibility and flexibility of the highly conserved E glycoprotein were further predicted by using different bioinformatics algorithms. The secondary structure was obtained and the predicted epitopes were pointed out in it. Binding sites on glycoprotein of DENV-3 for attachment of virus to the receptor was identified, while keeping those attachments in which new drugs for dengue related infections could not be designed.


Background This study was conducted to identify epidemiological characteristics of the first documented CHIK fever outbreak in China and evaluate the effect of the preventive measures taken. Methodology/Principal Findings From September 1 to October 29, 2010, China's first documented outbreak of CHIK fever occurred in the Xincun community of Wanjiang District of Dongguan city, Guangdong province; 253 case-patients were recorded, of which 129 were laboratory confirmed, with an attack rate of 1%. Before September 18th the number of CHIK fever cases remained relatively low in the Xincun community; from September 19th onwards, the number of cases increased drastically, with an outbreak peak on October 4th. Cases were distributed across nine small village groups in the Xincun community, with an attack rate of 0–12% at the village level. The household attack rates ranged between 20% and 100%. No significant difference was found in the attack rate between males and females. There was a significant difference in the attack rate in different age groups (chi-square = 18.35, p = 0.005); highest in patients aged 60 years or older and the lowest in patients aged under 10. The major clinical characteristics of patients are fever (100%), joint pain (79%) and rash (54%). Phylogenetic analysis of the E1 gene on the five earliest confirmed cases showed that the strains of CHIKV isolated from their sera were highly homologous (up to 99%) with isogeneic strains isolated in Thailand in 2009. After control measures were taken, including killing adult mosquitoes and cleaning breeding habitats of Aedes mosquitoes, the Breteau index and Mosq-ovitrap index decreased rapidly, and the outbreak ended on October 29. Conclusion/Significance The infection source of the outbreak was imported. Cases showed obvious temporal, spatial, and population aggregation during the outbreak. Comprehensive control measures based on reducing the density of Aedes mosquitoes were effective in controlling the epidemic.


Metachronal waves of ciliary activity on Opalina ranarum were instantaneously fixed, dehydrated by critical point drying, and examined with the scanning electron microscope. Photographs of waves on living Opalina were taken with Nomarski interference-contrast optics for comparison. Waves were also sectioned in three different planes for examination of ciliary cross-sections with the transmission electron microscope. This was done for metachronal waves travelling from anterior to posterior in some specimens and from right to left in others. Our object was to test the theory that the axis of the central pair of ciliary fibrils controls the direction of ciliary beating. The form of the wave and component parts of the beat are constant, no matter what is the direction of the wave across the animal, and comparison of the living with fixed material shows that the form is faithfully preserved. Moreover, in any region of a cilium, a line drawn through the central pair of fibrils is always at right angles to the direction of bending during both recovery and effective strokes, whatever the direction of the wave, but this observation alone does not show whether the plane of the central fibrils determines the direction of bending, or vice versa. Other considerations lead to the conclusion that the orientation of the central fibrils influences the direction of the effective stroke, but we cannot rule out the possibility that the direction of bending causes a passive twist of the central pair, especially during the recovery stroke.


In this paper a semiempirical capacitance
model of GaAs FET, very useful for CAD of MMIC, is
proposed. The model fits the results of two dimensional
(2-D) simulations of device behaviour, accounting for the
most important microwave effects, by means of the
determination of an effective shape of the depletion
region in the active channel.
Simple physical equations and a few effective empirical
parameters, with a precise physical meaning, are
employed. So the initial estimation of parameters and
their extraction procedure result to be very easy.
In spite of its semiempirical nature the model does not
leave the control over physical and technological device
parameters to circuit designer, necessary to achieve a
reliable design.
The model usefulness and accuracy are experimentally
confirmed to be very satisfactory for different kinds of
MESFETs.


This paper considers the consolidation of a layer of clay in which partially penetrating prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) are used in conjunction with a combined surcharge and vacuum preloading. Analytical solutions for partially penetrating PVDs are derived by considering vacuum pressure (suction), time-dependent embankment surcharge, well resistance, and smear zone. Three-dimensional seepage with a virtual vertical drain is assumed to reflect real seepage into the soil beneath the tip of a PVD. Analytical solutions were then used to examine the length of the vertical drain and vacuum pressure on soft clay to determine the consolidation time and degree of consolidation, associated settlement, and distribution of suction along the drain. The proposed solutions are then employed to analyse a case history. Finally, an appropriate PVD length in relation to clay thickness and drain spacing is recommended for various loading patterns.


Previous studies already have shown high internet involvement by the Millennials, this study confirms that since the results show that the average person spend over 20% of their time awake being online. Theories also say that the attention of the Millennials is hard to get and when this study gave the results of the Millennials not showing any general interest towards online marketing they were confirmed. However, according to the quantitative survey made together with the qualitative interviews in addition to previous scientific studies, this study can prove that Guerrilla marketing is an effective way to get attention online. The elements behind the success are contents that are humoristic, unusual or have a special connection to their own or their friends' interests.


This paper addresses the problem of routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) in multifiber WDM networks assuming neither a special topology nor wavelength converters. Given a set of connection requests, the number of fibers deployed on each link, and the number of wavelengths a fiber can support, we seek to maximize the number of lightpaths that can be established. We formulate the problem as an integer linear program (ILP), whose validity is proven by showing that the selected lightpaths can indeed be realized by properly configuring the optical switches. Furthermore, using a Lagrangean decomposition approach, the problem formulation is significantly simplified. The main advantage of our approach is that, independent of the number of wavelengths, provably optimal solutions to the problem can be obtained by considering only one wavelength in the formulation, leading to highly efficient and scalable algorithms. Although our formulation is path-flow based rather than link-flow based, we prove that, even if all, possibly exponentially many, paths are considered, its linear programming (LP) relaxation can always be solved in polynomial time. We use the branch-and-bound algorithm in the CPLEX optimization package to solve the resulting ILP formulation. Computational results confirm the high efficiency of the Lagrangean decomposition approach.


A Thesis Submitted to the postgraduate School, Ahmadu
Bello University, in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science
(M.Sc) in Agronomy
DEPARTMENT OF AGRONOMY
FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY
ZARIA - NIGERIA
MAY, 1999


Global climate is supposed to get warmer the next decades. In Western Norway the average temperatures are suggested to increase about 1.0°C until 2050 and about 2.6°C until 2100, compared to 1980-2000. Data on strawberry yield were obtained from commercial strawberry growing in open field in the valley of Valldal in the fjord district of Norway for the years 1970-2000. These long time series were used for developing regression models to explain the effect of changing climate on harvest time for the strawberry cultivar 'Senga Sengana'. The mean temperatures per month for May, June, and July were crucial for the time of ripening. If the start of the harvest season was defined as the day of 5% accumulated yield, the average date for the start of the season was about July 18 in this district for the last 40 years. According to the predicted climate change and the regression models the strawberry season will start on average 6 days earlier in 2050 and 22 days earlier in 2100 compared to the average of 1970-2000, provided that the cultivars are similar to 'Senga Sengana' and that the cultural techniques are about the same as now. The harvest season was predicted to be on average about 4 days shorter in 2100 than in 1970-2000.


The demand for indoor navigational systems is increasing daily. The use of navigational systems is ranging from smart cities and robots to visually impaired people support to navigate safely. The GuideMe Project aims to provide guidance and security for people suffering from blindness, and in the time being, it is in the final development stage. This paper presents GuideMe Project goals GuideMe Project architecture and GuideMe final prototype. GuideMe Project architecture consists of the wearable device curried the user has, the anchors with which the wearable device works to determine the position of the user, the smartphone that is informed by the system for the route the user must follow and converts the message into audio information through the user's headset. The headset in order to guide the user in indoor places and the local server who controls the protocols and the information, are the last parts of the architecture. It is clear that the system is quite complex, it consists of several entities and requires them to work together harmoniously to provide the prescribed functionality, in real-time. All the technologies developed to this final system, each of which has multiple subentities as mentioned, handle the required functionality that is the provision orientation of users who are located and moving


Many solid-state lasers of current interest exhibit reabsorption loss. Previous modeling calculations of laser performance with longitudinal pumping either have neglected reabsorption loss or have been valid only for certain special cases of the ratio of the pump- and laser-beam waists. Rigorous numerical modeling calculations have been carried out to provide a comprehensive understanding of the behavior of longitudinally pumped solid-state lasers, including reabsorption loss and for arbitrary sizes of the pump- and laser-beam waists. In addition, certain aspects of laser behavior that have traditionally not been discussed in papers on laser modeling, such as clamping, saturation, and spatial distribution of the population-inversion density, are investigated to provide a general understanding of laser performance. The results are applied to a particular solid-state laser of current practical interest, the 946-nm Nd:YAG laser.


In the first half of the nineteenth century, British North America was trying to find its way within the Empire and in North America. The American democratic and republican experiment offered the Canadian colonies an alternative that seemed both appealing and threatening. The Nova Scotian politician, historian, and satirist T. C. Haliburton articulated the fears of his time in a series of humorous sketches targeting a general audience and designed to spur a collective debate on the advantages and disadvantages of democracy. This article explores Haliburton's political satire in parallel with the classic interpretation of democracy in America offered by Alexis de Tocqueville. Both authors wrote about American democracy at about the same time and related to the American model from without, being aware of the profound effect the new form of government could have on their own communities.


Background: A major component of quality of health care is patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction is multifaceted and a very challenging outcome to define. Patient expectations of care and attitudes greatly contribute to the satisfaction; other psychosocial factors, including facilities and treatments services are also known to contribute to the various patient satisfaction levels. Aim: To measure patient satisfaction about facilities, services and treatments offered by a dental hospital in India. Materials and Methods: Self administrated questionnaire was distributed to outpatients reporting to the dental hospital for treatment. The questionnaire consisted of 4 questions that included information about their satisfaction with the facilities, services and treatment received in the hospital. Results: About 75% of patients felt that the cost of dental hygiene services were reasonable, 85% of the patients were satisfied with the cleanliness of the clinic area, 80% of the patients said that it was easy to make an appointment, 85% of patients felt that the dentist was professional, courteous and polite. Conclusion: The majority of the patients were satisfied with the facilities, services and treatment received at hospital except for facilities such as water supply and scheduling appointments with patient convenience.


Free trade promotes economic growth and offers American consumers more choices through cheaper imports. While global trade agreements were supposed to be 'win-win' propositions, free trade creates losers as well as winners. Disruptions were expected to be transitory, with the losers – less-productive workers in industries exposed to greater competition – shifting to more-productive sectors or accessing robust 'safety nets' and effective retraining.
However, some assumptions underlying free trade theory in 2000 were unrealistic. The 'safety net' for displaced workers was threadbare. Workers could not readily gravitate to the export-oriented sectors. And the effects of the U.S. dollar exchange rate were largely ignored. More importantly, the rapid pace and magnitude of China's import penetration – partly enabled by accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001 and abetted by engaging in several unfair and likely illegal practices – caused more lasting damage than expected. U.S. workers displaced by a swelling wave of imports were concentrated in distressed enclaves, especially the 'rust belt' and the South, where similar jobs were not readily available. About one million manufacturing jobs were lost directly attributable to China's trade incursion during 2000-10. Displaced workers, mainly blue-collar men, and their communities incurred severe and long-term damage by depressed wages and elevated unemployment rates.
Unfair Chinese practices included: adopting a beggar-thy-neighbor policy of initially lowering the renminbi exchange rate to boost exports; stealth transfers of technology; demanding foreign-based companies divulge proprietary intellectual property and technology to gain access to Chinese markets; and restricting access to lucrative sectors, while subsidizing domestic companies with cheap state-backed debt.
In addition to generating economic insecurity, 'China shock' and technological progress contributed to cultural anxiety, including social disintegration and "deaths of despair" in the 'rust belt'. Mortality rates for ages 50-54 in advanced economies declined after 1990, except for America, where the rates for non-Hispanic whites increased beginning in the late 1990s.
A multilateral, rules-based trade system has been vulnerable to persistent and growing trade deficits; widening global inequality; developing countries maintaining high tariffs, export subsidies and currency controls favoring exporters; China's economic model that often appeared to deviate from global trade rules; and costly non-transparent subsidy-like policies. Retraining programs have largely been ineffective in addressing the hardships faced by trade's losers. Education to acquire new skills and provide opportunities for advancement has not been readily accessible to all those in need. Broader issues underlying the growing gap – between trade's losers and winners and between the alienated and the 'elite' – need to be addressed.
Angry displaced workers maintain that – while globalization has been very beneficial to China, as well as to American corporations and shareholders – American workers have not reaped the benefits associated with globalization and expanded global trading. Two potential agents of change are education and taxes, which, as in much of Europe, pay for retraining and for the displacement costs of those who cannot be retrained.


A Post Office wants to improve its efficiency by delivering the lost letters and lost articles (which are sent in parcels) in a short period of time. Currently it takes about 3 months for a lost letter or a lost article to reach the correct destination. A machine reads addresses on letters. The ones, which could not be read by machine, are sorted by human intervention. Even after this, the address is not readable, it becomes a lost letter. Articles that fall out of the parcel become lost articles. When the sender/receiver calls up or contacts the post office for their letter/article, a manual note is made and then this note is sent to the warehouse where lost articles and lost letters are kept. The reconciliation process of finding the lost letter/article is manual and sometimes wrong letter/article(s) is sent.


We report on the detection of high-energy γ-ray emission from the Moon during the first 24 months of observations by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). This emission comes from particle cascades produced by cosmic-ray (CR) nuclei and electrons interacting with the lunar surface. The differential spectrum of the Moon is soft and can be described as a log-parabolic function with an effective cutoff at 2–3 GeV, while the average integral flux measured with the LAT from the beginning of observations in 2008 August to the end of 2010 August is F(> cm−2 s−1. This flux is about a factor 2–3 higher than that observed between 1991 and 1994 by the EGRET experiment on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, F(>100 MeV) ≈ 5 × 10−7 cm−2 s−1, when solar activity was relatively high. The higher γ-ray flux measured by Fermi is consistent with the deep solar minimum conditions during the first 24 months of the mission, which reduced effects of heliospheric modulation, and thus increased the heliospheric flux of Galactic CRs. A detailed comparison of the light curve with McMurdo Neutron Monitor rates suggests a correlation of the trends. The Moon and the Sun are so far the only known bright emitters of γ-rays with fast celestial motion. Their paths across the sky are projected onto the Galactic center and high Galactic latitudes as well as onto other areas crowded with high-energy γ-ray sources. Analysis of the lunar and solar emission may thus be important for studies of weak and transient sources near the ecliptic.


Urban green space, such as parks, forests, green roofs, streams, and community gardens, provides critical ecosystem services. Green space also promotes physical activity, psychological well-being, and the general public health of urban residents. This paper reviews the Anglo-American literature on urban green space, especially parks, and compares efforts to green US and Chinese cities. Most studies reveal that the distribution of such space often disproportionately benefits predominantly White and more affluent communities. Access to green space is therefore increasingly recognized as an environmental justice issue. Many US cities have implemented strategies to increase the supply of urban green space, especially in park-poor neighborhoods. Strategies include greening of remnant urban land and reuse of obsolete or underutilized transportation infrastructure. Similar strategies are being employed in Chinese cities where there is more state control of land supply but similar market incentives for urban greening. In both contexts, however, urban green space strategies may be paradoxical: while the creation of new green space to address environmental justice problems can make neighborhoods healthier and more esthetically attractive, it also can increase housing costs and property values. Ultimately, this can lead to gentrification and a displacement of the very residents the green space strategies were designed to benefit. Urban planners, designers, and ecologists, therefore, need to focus on urban green space strategies that are 'just green enough' and that explicitly protect social as well as ecological sustainability. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


: The German manufacturing industry has to withstand an increasing global competition on product quality and production costs. As labor costs are high, several industries have suffered severely under the relocation of production facilities towards aspiring countries, which have managed to close the productivity and quality gap substantially. Established manufacturing companies have recognized that customers are not willing to pay large price premiums for incremental quality improvements. As a consequence, many companies from the German manufacturing industry adjust their production focusing on customized products and fast time to market. Leveraging the advantages of novel production strategies such as Agile Manufacturing and Mass Customization, manufacturing companies transform into integrated networks, in which companies unite their core competencies. Hereby, virtualization of the process- and supply-chain ensures smooth inter-company operations providing real-time access to relevant product and production information for all participating entities. Boundaries of companies deteriorate, as autonomous systems exchange data, gained by embedded systems throughout the entire value chain. By including Cyber-Physical-Systems, advanced communication between machines is tantamount to their dialogue with humans. The increasing utilization of information and communication technology allows digital engineering of products and production processes alike. Modular simulation and modeling techniques allow decentralized units to flexibly alter products and thereby enable rapid product innovation. The present article describes the developments of Industry 4.0 within the literature and reviews the associated research streams. Hereby, we analyze eight scientific journals with regards to the following research fields: Individualized production, end-to-end engineering in a virtual process chain and production networks. We employ cluster analysis to assign sub-topics into the respective research field. To assess the practical implications, we conducted face-to-face interviews with managers from the industry as well as from the consulting business using a structured interview guideline. The results reveal reasons for the adaption and refusal of Industry 4.0 practices from a managerial point of view. Our findings contribute to the upcoming research stream of Industry 4.0 and support decision-makers to assess their need for transformation towards Industry 4.0 practices.


Thermographic phosphors
are useful compounds to determine temperature, due to their luminescence
characteristics being a function of temperature. In this research, Zinc Oxide: Gallium
was evaluated for its ability to measure the temperature of an impact event in
a drop weight apparatus. Different solids loadings of the phosphor were placed
in a sylgard binder and these samples were then excited by a 355 nm laser as
they were impacted. Images of the event were captured through two separate
filters with a high-speed camera, from which intensity ratios were formed.
These intensity ratios correlated to a temperature, revealing the change in
temperature of the sample throughout the impact. Initial testing at a
repetition rate of 500 kHz provided insignificant data, due to difficulties
with timing. The whole impact event was not able to be captured, and the
imprecise timing of the drop did not allow for imaging of a specific area of
the impact. Moving to a slower repetition rate of 50 kHz, the entire impact was
captured on the high-speed camera, showing three separate areas of interest.
The first section of this area was where the impact was first initiated,
resulting in a temperature increase. Next, there was a temperature decrease,
where the energy from the drop weight transitioned to deforming, rather than
heating the sample. Lastly, there was a final temperature rise when the sample
was fully compressed, but the impact was still occurring. This trend presented
itself in all of the samples, supporting the idea that when combined with the
intensity ratio method, ZnO:Ga embedded in a sylgard binder is an appropriate
method to determine the temperature changes in a high-speed impact event.


This thesis is concerned with an experimental investigation of the behaviour of lapped joints in reinforced concrete. A review of existing literature highlights the need to establish the longitudinal strain distribution along lap joints. This has been achieved experimentally, with detailed strain measurements being taken using a technique of internally gauging the reinforcing rods. In some specimens, strain concentration gauges were installed at the tip of the lap to permit the acquisition of particularly localised information. Computer programs were developed to process the substantial amounts of data generated during the course of each test. Two series of tests were undertaken, both using axially loaded specimens, and dealing with tension and compression lap joints respectively. The laps ranged in length from 125 to 750 mm, and comprised bars of either 12 or 20 mm diameter. Transverse reinforcement was provided in two of the tension specimens. Greater emphasis was placed on the first series, with fifteen tension specimens being tested. Thirteen of these tests were each completed within a single day but, additionally, two long-term tests were undertaken. In the latter, a constant load was sustained for up to 81 days. The measurements clearly showed the changing behaviour of the specimens, first as transverse cracks developed and subsequently as failure of the lap joint was approached. The comprehensive analysis of the test results includes a comparison of the ultimate behaviour of these joints with existing design proposals and regulations. The detailed information provided by the strain measurements enables the justification of design assumptions regarding lap joint behaviour, and thus lends greater confidence to existing design regulations. The results from five compression specimens were analysed and compared with the tension tests. The significant contribution to force transfer made by the bearing of the free end of the steel against the concrete was evident. The specimens were loaded to the rig capacity without failing. Additional strain measurements were taken in one tension and one compression specimen by casting embedment gauges within the concrete. These gauges were arranged to measure the circumferential strains in the specimen, and were complemented by strain gauges mounted on the surface of the concrete. The data thus obtained permitted a comparison of the bursting forces set up inside and outside the lap joints. The work showed that some aspects of lap joint behaviour require clarification. Suggestions for further work are included.


The aim of this study was to perform a pilot histological and quantitative analysis of the blood vessels accompanying the epicardial nerves (vasa nervorum) in the porcine hearts. Twenty healthy porcine hearts were used in this study. The blood vessels were analyzed by light microscopy using four different staining techniques in transverse sections taken from the upper, middle, and lower segments of the anterior part of the interventricular region and the adjacent parts of the right and left ventricles containing epicardial nerves and the endocardial peripheral parts of the Purkinje fibers. In total, 317 epicardial nerves were detected. The vasa nervorum were present in 75.7% of these nerves. The vasa nervorum resembled arterioles and postcapillary and collecting venules. One hundred and forty nine epicardial nerves were perivascular, located in the adventitia of the anterior interventricular artery and vein. The remaining 168 nerves ran freely through the epicardial interstitium. The presence of the vasa nervorum was not related to topographical location or nerve diameter. Additionally, from a total of 33 analyzed ventricular complexes of Purkinje fibers small blood vessels located in their proximity were identified in only two cases. It can be concluded that the majority of the anterior epicardial nerves of porcine heart possess well‐developed vasa nervorum. In contrast, similar blood vessels are rarely present in the vicinity of the Purkinje fibers. The data obtained contribute to a better understanding of the nutrition of the cardiac nerves.


Abstract The aim of the Phébus Fission Product (FP) experimental program is to study the degradation phenomena and the behavior of the FPs released in the reactor coolant system and the containment building. The program consists of four in-pile bundle tests (FPT0, FPT1, FPT2, and FPT3), performed under different conditions concerning the thermal hydraulics and the environment of fuel rods, in particular, the amount of steam (strongly or weakly oxidizing atmosphere). The last test of this program, FPT3, was performed in November 2004 in Cadarache. During the FPT3 experiment, for the first time, boron carbide (B4C) was used as the absorber material instead of Ag-In-Cd, which was used in all the previous tests. Boron carbide is used in western-type pressurized water reactors, the EPR, boiling water reactors, and the VVER; consequently, assessing the effects of B4C on the main degradation phenomena and on gas release, as well as its impact on FP behavior is very important. This paper describes results from the Phébus FPT3 experiment, summarizes the test code modeling used in the different code applications, and reports the code results comparing some important experimental parameters, in particular regarding B4C control rod behavior. The severe accident codes used in these studies are Analysis of Thermal-Hydraulics of LEaks and Transients with Core Degradation (ATHLET-CD), ICARE/CATHARE, and MELCOR. The first part is an overview of the experimental results (boundary conditions, temperature evolutions, hydrogen and carbon compound releases coming from the oxidation of the Zircaloy claddings and the B4C absorber, and bundle degradation). The second part summarizes the code modeling used in the different code applications, in particular, those regarding absorber rod degradation and the oxidation process. The third part summarizes the code results comparing some important experimental parameters [thermal behavior, gas releases (H2, CO, CO2), and bundle degradation]. The conclusion focuses on the capabilities of the severe accident codes to simulate control rod behavior in a fuel rod assembly during the course of a severe accident transient.


We show that for every family of arithmetic circuits of polynomial size and degree over the algebra (Z*, max, concat ), there is an equivalent family of arithmetic circuits of depth log2 n. (The depth can be reduced to log n if unbounded fan-in is allowed.) This is the first depth-reduction result for arithmetic circuits Olrer a nonco~utative semiring, and it complements the lower bounds of [Ni91, K090] showing that depth reduction cannot be done in the general noncommutative setting. The (max,concat) semiring is of interest, because it characterizes certain classes of optimization problems [AJ92, Vi91]. In particular, our results show that OptSACi is contained in AC1. We also prove other results relating Boolean and arithmetic circuit complexity. We show that ACl has no more power than arithmetic circuits of polynomial size and degree n"(log log') (improving the trivial bound of nOIIOg')). Connections are drawn between TCl and arithmetic circuits of polynomial size and degree.


In an effort to destroy ISIS, beginning in August 2014, the United States, assisted by a handful of other Western and Arab countries, carried out thousands of bombing sorties and cruise missile attacks against ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria. Iraq had consented to the airstrikes in its territory, but Syria had not, and Russia blocked the UN Security Council from authorizing force against ISIS in Syria. The United States invoked several different legal arguments to justify its airstrikes, including the right of humanitarian intervention, the right to use force in a failed state, and the right of hot pursuit, before finally settling on self-defense. Use of force in self-defense has traditionally not been viewed as lawful against non-state actors in a third state unless they are under the effective control of that state but the United States argued that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks by al Qaeda, such force can be justified where a government is unable or unwilling to suppress the threat posed by non-state actors operating within its borders. This view was not, however, initially accepted by Russia, China, or even the United Kingdom. But that changed in the aftermath of ISIS attacks against a Russian jetliner and a Paris stadium and concert hall in 2015, leading to the unanimous adoption of a UN Security Council resolution calling on States to use all necessary measures to fight ISIS in Syria without offering a legal basis for military action. This article examines the evolution of the right to use force in self-defense against non-state actors and makes the case that events in 2015 triggered a "Grotian Moment": a fundamental paradigm shift that will have broad implications for international law.


Review of Christian Hogsbjerg, ed., C.L.R. James, Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History
Until recently, one little-known fact about C.L.R. James's famous Haitian revolution-based The Black Jacobins project was that it both began and ended life as a play, bookending the first and last editions of his classic history. It would be hard to overstate the importance of Christian Hogsbjerg's new critical edition of C.L.R. James's Toussaint Louverture because it makes widely available in published form for the first time the script of the elusive first play. For want of this playtext util 2013, James's completely different 1967 second play The Black Jacobins had been read as the 1936 play, and even billed as such when published. Inspired by the critical edition of Toussaint Louverture, I comment on a set of fascinating variants made in James's own distinctive hand to one script of the first play.


We present results for the "Impact Project Focus Area" on the topic of symbolic execution as used in software testing. Symbolic execution is a program analysis technique introduced in the 70s that has received renewed interest in recent years, due to algorithmic advances and increased availability of computational power and constraint solving technology. We review classical symbolic execution and some modern extensions such as generalized symbolic execution and dynamic test generation. We also give a preliminary assessment of the use in academia, research labs, and industry.


Between 2011 and 2016, California enacted a set of 51 policy measures addressing workers' rights, environmental issues, safety net programs, taxation, and infrastructure and housing. This paper labels these policies as the California Policy Model (CPM), and assesses some of the claims of critics and supporters regarding their impact on the state's economy. It analyzes arguments made by critics that contend the CPM would reduce employment and slow economic growth. The paper also evaluates supporters' arguments that the CPM would raise wages for low-wage workers, increase access to health insurance, and lower wage inequality. It finds results that suggest the CPM did in fact lead to increased wage growth and health insurance access and decreased wage inequality without reducing employment or economic growth.


Although atopic dermatitis is known to be closely associated with food antigens, the actual changes in the gastrointestinal tract have not been clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the macroscopic and histological features of the large intestine in patients with atopic dermatitis. We studied 15 outpatients who had generalized atopic dermatitis. Eight non-dermatitis subjects of a similar age without inflammatory bowel disease were also enrolled as controls. Total colonoscopy, pathological evaluation of biopsy specimens, and detection of Candida albicans were performed in all subjects. Four patients were re-examined after 6 months of treatment with an antifungal drug. Among the 15 patients with atopic dermatitis, 4 patients had melanosis coli. On pathological examinations, prominent infiltration of eosinophils and fragmentation of granulocyte nuclei were observed. There were no changes after an antifungal therapy. In the patients with melanosis coli, lipofuscin deposits were observed in the lamina propria. Candida albicans was not detected in any of the subjects. In conclusion, patients with atopic dermatitis may have a predisposition to develop chronic inflammation of the large intestine.


With the expansion of the mobile phone market in recent years, global annual shipments of mobile phone products will exceed 1.8 billion units in fiscal 2017. Smartphones have become an indispensable part of daily life due to their advanced functionality that cannot be realized with conventional feature phones. To enhance the functionality of mobile devices typified by smartphones, Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation is promoting the development of discrete semiconductor products, including low-dropout (LDO) regulator integrated circuits (ICs), featuring superior power supply ripple rejection characteristics and load transient response as well as low power consumption.


Feature Issue on Optical Code Division Multiple AccessWe propose, to the best of our knowledge, a novel in-service live fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) passive optical networks (PONs) management solution. Our solution uses a modified direct-sequence (DS) optical code-division multiplexing (OCDM) system and overcomes the optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) point-to-multipoint shortcomings. Our solution addresses various service provisioning and network maintenance challenges in PONs, alleviates their complexity, and reduces their operational cost. In addition, our system exploits passive devices (or encoders) to demark service provider ownership and responsibility from that of customers. Our OCDM-based management solution easily scales up from FTTH time-division multiplexing (TDM)-PON to WDM-PON and TDM/WDM-PON to support as many as a thousand customers, all using only one monitoring wavelength. We address the coding system and develop capacity curves for different PON scenarios.


Divisions of Labor positions the ideological and organizational evolution of the Japanese labor movement within the larger historical currents that shaped and organized labor globally in the twentieth century. Interspersing detailed narratives of Japanese labor history with analyses of parallel developments in Western European and international labor movements, Lonny Carlile shows how world views and labor movement strategies were shared across national boundaries and shaped in similar ways in the industrialized West and East. Beyond this, he highlights how in both Western Europe and Japan issues that had divided labor since the 1920s were central to the Cold War, which kept labor movements at odds with themselves internally in systematically similar ways. His book suggests that, to the extent that the historical courses of labor movements diverged, this was as much a product of differences in geopolitical location as any inherent cultural or nationally specific ideological tendency. The volume's approach brings to the fore an important new dimension to our existing understanding of post-World War II Japanese labor and political history by outlining the connection between the politics of Japanese labor and the structure and dynamics of global politics. In addition, by drawing out these parallels and similarities, it provides thought-provoking insights into twentieth-century labor movements in general. Divisions of Labor will be of interest not only to students and specialists of Japan and East Asia, but also to readers with a more general interest in labor history and politics, diplomatic history, Cold War history, comparative politics, and sociology.


Southeast Asia is highly diversified in terms of socio-ecosystems and biodiversity, but is undergoing dramatic environmental and social changes. These changes characterize the recent period and can be illustrated by the effects of the Green Revolution in the late 1960s and 1970s, to the globalization of trade and increasing agronomic intensification over the past decade.
Biodiversity Conservation in Southeast Asia provides theoretical overviews and challenges for applied research in living resource management, conservation ecology, health ecology and conservation planning in Southeast Asia. Five key themes are addressed: origin and evolution of Southeast Asian biodiversity; challenges in conservation biology; ecosystem services and biodiversity; managing biodiversity and living resources; policy, economics and governance of biodiversity. Detailed case studies are included from Thailand and the Lower Mekong Basin, while other chapters address cross-cutting themes applicable to the whole Southeast Asia region.
This is a valuable resource for academics and students in the areas of ecology, conservation, environmental policy and management, Southeast Asian studies and sustainable development.


We can hardly underestimate the importance of privacy in our data-driven world. Privacy breaches are not just about disclosing information. Personal data is used to profile and manipulate us – sometimes on such a large scale that it affects society as a whole. What can governments do to protect our privacy?
In The Governance of Privacy Hans de Bruijn first analyses the complexity of the governance challenge, using the metaphor of a journey. At the start, users have strong incentives to share data. Harvested data continue the journey that might lead to a privacy breach, but not necessarily – it can also lead to highly valued services. That is why both preparedness at the start of the journey and resilience during the journey are crucial to privacy protection.
The book then explores three strategies to deal with governments, the market, and society. Governments can use the power of the law; they can exploit the power of the market by stimulating companies to compete on privacy; and they can empower society, strengthening its resilience in a data-driven world.


Curbing poverty can surely be deemed to be one of the most eminent objectives on socio-political agendas. Progress in reducing worldwide poverty achieved in to date, however, makes rather sobering reading. China has considerably reduced the number of poor since commencement of economic reforms in the late 1970s. Still, there are ca. 170 million people affected by poverty. This paper investigates the issue whether poverty in China's rural areas is rather of a chronic or temporary nature and what the opportunities are of escaping poverty. Simultaneously, there are discussions whether certain factors rather favour or counteract chronic poverty.


Optical frequency comb direct generation on silicon by mode locked lasers (MLLs) is promising as it offers high wavelength channel counts and ultrashort pulses that will benefit future large-scale high capacity silicon photonic integrated circuits. Here, we demonstrate two-section quantum dot (QD) MLLs that are directly grown on a complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor compatible on-axis (001) silicon substrate by employing molecular beam epitaxy. The lasers, incorporating five layers of InAs QDs, operate in the O-band wavelength range with a pulse repetition rate around 9 GHz. A pulsewidth reduction of 48% of the narrowest achievable pulse from each QD MLL is obtained when the saturable absorber (SA) section length ratio is increased from 8% to 23%. The device with the longest SA section exhibits a more than 50 dB fundamental RF peak signal to noise floor ratio with 1.3 ps pulses.Optical frequency comb direct generation on silicon by mode locked lasers (MLLs) is promising as it offers high wavelength channel counts and ultrashort pulses that will benefit future large-scale high capacity silicon photonic integrated circuits. Here, we demonstrate two-section quantum dot (QD) MLLs that are directly grown on a complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor compatible on-axis (001) silicon substrate by employing molecular beam epitaxy. The lasers, incorporating five layers of InAs QDs, operate in the O-band wavelength range with a pulse repetition rate around 9 GHz. A pulsewidth reduction of 48% of the narrowest achievable pulse from each QD MLL is obtained when the saturable absorber (SA) section length ratio is increased from 8% to 23%. The device with the longest SA section exhibits a more than 50 dB fundamental RF peak signal to noise floor ratio with 1.3 ps pulses.


Sind Sie NUTS? Produktionsfaktoren und ihre langfristige Entwick lung in Europa aus regionaler Perspektive«. Standard economic growth models generally consider different factors of production such as land, capital, labour, technology and human capital. These are common in theoretical models and empirical applications but more evidence is still needed for their long-term re gional evolution. Therefore, this paper traces the evolution of specific aspects of these factors in the European regions and cities by means of different prox ies. The data have been collected and calculated from a wide range of diverse historical and spatial data bases. A particular feature is the definition of the European regions according to the NUTS classification by the European Union. Thus, the paper gives a rough outline of some of the most important long-term regional tendencies that should be taken into account in research directed to


This paper addresses the question of whether the oil price spike of 2003-2008 was a bubble. We document and discuss what is known about the level of speculation in the paper oil market. We then analyze the dynamics of the term structure of futures prices, both during the earlier period of 1985-2002 and during the spike. The dynamics of the term structure changed in important ways during this latter period, and we explain how this may have contributed to generating a bubble. We also explain how this answers the puzzle of the lack of accumulating above-ground inventories. Finally, we discuss the implications for regulatory reform of the paper oil markets.


On February 27th of 2010, Chile experienced one of the strongest earthquakes in recorded history, causing serious consequences on people's mental health. The goal of the present study was to provide a preliminary assessment of the impact of this phenomenon in adolescent's mental health. A total of 304 adolescents were assessed on depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The results indicate an increase in the incidence of all the assessed disorders, confirming that females are a risk population who reached significantly higher scores than males on all scales. The study further demonstrated a close relationship of co-morbidity among the symptoms of the assessed disorders.


We explore the role of crystallinity and inter- or intramolecular forces in chitosan for its solubility in water and demonstrate the expansion of its solubility to a wider pH range. Due to its semicrystalline nature, derived mainly from inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonds, chitosan is water-soluble only at pH < 6. In acidic conditions, its amino groups can be partially protonated resulting in repulsion between positively charged macrochains, thereby allowing diffusion of water molecules and subsequent solvation of macromolecules. We show that chemical disruption of chitosan crystallinity by partial re-acetylation or physical disruption caused by the addition of urea and guanidine hydrochloride broadens the pH-solubility range for this biopolymer.


Introduction: Children have been known to spend most of their time at school. They learn their sitting habits in this period of time. Incorrect sitting postures and inappropriate school furniture can result in abnormalities in the vertebral column, back pain, neck pain, Fatigue and discomfort. Hence, this study was aimed to examine the match between students' body dimensions and existing benches and desks dimensions in Hamadan female primary schools. Material and Method: In this study, 624 students of Hamadan female primary schools were investigated and some of their anthropometric dimensions including shoulder height, elbow height, knee height, popliteal height, popliteal-buttock length and hip breadth were measured. In this sense, a chair (with adjustable height, depth and elbow support) and a caliper with movable jaw were used for measurement of anthropometric dimensions. The measurements were performed in a way that thighs were in full contact with the seat, there was a right angle between the thighs and legs, the feet were in full contact with the movable pedal, the trunk was straight and the back and hips were in full contact with the backrest. Following, the match of the dimensions of existing benches and desks with the appropriate dimensions (based on the students' anthropometric dimensions) were examined. Result: The results showed that the seat height, seat depth, seat width, back rest height, desk height, underneath desk height were in acceptable rangefor 10.1%, 17.3%, 5.6%, 53.5%, 1.9% and 31.1% of students, respectively. Conclusion: Despite differences in the body dimensions of primary school students, there is no regularity in using of school furniture. Overall, the dimensions of existing benches and desks are not matched with the anthropometric dimensions of students.


A detailed summary of the published clinical trials of chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T) and TCR-transduced T cells (TCR-T) was constructed to understand the development trend of adoptive T cell therapy (ACT). In contrast to TCR-T, the number of CAR-T clinical trials has increased dramatically in China in the last three years. The ACT seems to be very prosperous. But, the multidimensional interaction of tumor, tumor associated antigen (TAA) and normal tissue exacerbates the uncontrolled outcome of T cells gene therapy. It reminds us the importance that optimizing treatment security to prevent the fatal serious adverse events. How to balance the safety and effectiveness of the ACT? At least six measures can potentially optimize the safety of ACT. At the same time, with the application of gene editing techniques, more endogenous receptors are disrupted while more exogenous receptors are expressed on T cells. As a multi-purpose tool of tumor immunotherapy, gene-engineered T cells (GE-T) have been given different functional weapons. A network which is likely to link radiation therapy, tumor vaccines, CAR-T and TCR-T is being built. Moreover, more and more evidences indicated that the combination of the ACT and other therapies would further enhance the anti-tumor capacity of the GE-T.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the generational category that managers in India belong to on their job satisfaction and on their satisfaction with organizational communication; the authors defined organizational communication as the communication that occurs in interactions between employees. The authors wanted to see whether there would be differences between the generations in the attitudes to and expectations of organizational communication, and whether this, in turn, would influence their job satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach
A total of 400 managers working in public and private listed companies in India were surveyed using a questionnaire over the period of a year, from August 2016 to July 2017. This resulted in 334 responses. The questionnaire measured the respondents' choice and comfort with communication media, their satisfaction with the communication at their workplace and the type of interactions that took place. It also measured the respondents' job satisfaction. The study was inter-disciplinary in nature, in that it drew on several theories of communication, e.g. accommodation theory and media richness theory, alongside the findings from empirical studies that have looked specifically at intergenerational differences.

Findings
The authors found that organizational communication was positively related to job satisfaction, and also that generational category moderated the relationship between these two factors. In addition, the results show that Gen Y managers in particular were the least satisfied generation at work, and that they frequently used avoidance while communicating with older adults. The conclusion is that job satisfaction may be enhanced, by focusing on the development of a positive communication environment; in addition, employees who belong to different generations may define what constitutes a positive communication environment in very different ways.

Originality/value
Despite receiving some attention in other contexts, such as in the family, the impact of intergenerational differences in the workplace has not been widely investigated. A few studies do exist on the influence of generational differences on work outcomes and on attitudes and behaviors, but much still remains to be done. In addition, while there have been many studies on job satisfaction, as well as on levels of attrition in workplace settings, very few have looked specifically at non-Western contexts such as India. The present study attempts to contribute to this debate, by providing a comparison of the workplace communication preferences and experiences within multi-generational organizations in India.


A year ago, when Professor Dan Boudah asked me to address the annual meeting of the Council for Learning Disabilities, I accepted eagerly, believing I might share my perspectives about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its meaning for students with specific learning disabilities. I had planned to focus on the provisions that relate to (a) the nondiscriminatory evaluation of students suspected of having a specific learning disability and (b) the responsibilities of teachers, students, and parents. I had planned to link evaluation and responsibility to civil rights, education reform, and welfare reform. However, a year ago, we as a nation were facing different prospects than we are now. A year ago, it seemed we might focus on IDEA, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) rather narrowly and that it was less urgent to contextualize special education, to put it into the context of the world around it. Today, it is essential to do so. So that's what I will seek to do--give you some knowledge, from my perspective as a lawyer/policy analyst, about special education and the factors that mightily influence it. A USEFUL METAPHOR: THE RUSSIAN DOLL--NESTED DOLLS: MATYROSHKA To contextualize special education--its challenges and opportunities--allow me to use a metaphor, one I borrow (in these days of globalization and the "flat" world) from an unlikely source, Russia. Undoubtedly, most of us are familiar with the "Russian doll"--the Matyroshka. It has a small doll inside a larger one; the larger one inside an even larger one; the yet-larger one inside the largest. As we open the doll, starting with the largest doll, we find yet another, and then another, until we finally arrive at the smallest doll. The English author John LeCarre (1975) used the doll to symbolize the inner workings of the British intelligence service, in his book Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The farther LeCarre carried his readers into the innards of the spy service, the more he uncovered the littlest, but most dangerous, doll. I suggest that we start opening the doll from the inside out, rather than the outside in. Let's start with the smallest doll--specific learning disabilities and special education--and then think about special education and the context and the factors influencing it today. TWO ISSUES INVOLVING STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES The littlest doll represents the issues related directly to students with learning disabilities. Two aspects of this tiny doll fascinate me. One relates to the discrepancy model, costs, classification, and the criticism of the "dependency model." The other relates to the process for law reform and the practice called response to intervention. Both are significant because they have the potential to shape rather significantly the population called "students with specific learning disabilities" and the services they receive. Discrepancy Model, Escalating Costs, Alleged Overclassification, and Dependency Theory First, there is the discrepancy model for determining whether a student has a specific learning disability. That model allows educators a great deal of discretion in whether to classify a student as having SLD and thereby offer the benefits of individualized education. Encountering many students whose ability and performance were not congruent, educators began to classify them as having SLD. The number of students with learning disabilities consequently increased annually (U.S. Department of Education, 2007). The growth in the population concerned policymakers and others. For one thing, it escalated education costs; special education is more expensive than general education. For another, it placed some students into special education who would not need those services if they had been effectively educated in the general curriculum. …


This research aims to use data mining to predict health care outcomes. We will investigate patterns of multiple chronic conditions (MCCs), or multimorbidity, among the US elderly population. The multimorbidity prediction model, as a general aspect, was not found in the literature, although some researchers have been exploring the risk of developing further chronic conditions after reporting an index disease. Data mining can provide richer results compared to those produced using a statistical approach and greater depth and breadth. It can also help professionals to identify the best time to intervene. In this research, the primary focus was on building disease knowledge using data mining algorithms for MCCs in the elderly. We identified potential morbidity groups using clustering and tested several prediction models on HCUP real data with high accuracy, where the highest accuracy of 99.05% was achieved by Logistic Regression. KeywordsMultimorbidity; Data mining; Classification; Clustering; Prediction; Chronic Diseases.


This thesis explores the impact of one particular change in industrial conflict legislation in the 1980s: that is, the requirement for trade unions to hold ballots before industrial action. It does so by analysing the results of an extensive postal questionnaire survey, covering 846 negotiators in 25 unions. This was part of a wider research project on the impact of changes in the law, incorporating interviews with employers and senior National Officers of trade unions. The conclusions in the thesis also draw on these findings. The fieldwork was carried out in 1991 and 1992. It took into account a number of modifications - notably in 1988 and 1990 - to the original balloting provisions in the 1984 Trade Union Act. The thesis provides an analysis of the impact of the industrial action balloting requirement on trade union practices and the role of balloting in negotiations, looking beyond injunctions and high profile court cases. The thesis is primarily concerned to examine the impact of ballots on the processes of collective bargaining. It concludes that the effects of the 1984 balloting laws, including their amendments, were far more complex than anticipated or claimed by the Government. Internally industrial action ballots were accommodated by trade unions into existing consultation processes. The potential for ballots to modify substantive decisions within trade unions, by centralising and formalising decision making, was thereby limited. Amendments to the balloting laws increased the difficulties for trade union negotiators in accommodating ballots in the collective bargaining process. Trade union negotiators, however, sought by and large to conduct industrial action in accordance with the balloting laws and, despite an increasingly restrictive legal framework, there was a widespread perception among trade union negotiators in the early 1990s that this could bring negotiating advantage. Generally, it is apparent that industrial action ballots were one aspect of a complex process of sometimes radical change in industrial relations throughout the 1980s.


In 1537 Francesco Guicciardini, adviser and confidant to three popes, governor of several central Italian states, ambassador, administrator, military captain--and persona non grata with the ruling Medici after the siege of Florence--retired to his villa to write a history of his times. His Storia d'Italia became the classic history of Italy--both a brilliant portrayal of the Renaissance and a penetrating vision into the tragedy and comedy of human history in general. Sidney Alexander's readable translation and abridgment of Guicciardini's four-volume work earned the prestigious 1970 P.E.N. Club translation award. His perceptive introduction and notes add much to the understanding of Guicciardini's masterpiece.


Crystallization is one of important purification process especially in pharmaceutical industries. However, the presence of impurities in the solution is known to cause a profound effect on the final crystal product. Increasing the level of understanding on the effect of additives to the solution crystallization is important. It is the objective of this thesis to investigate the effect of additives on the solution chemistry and the produced crystals. The ability of incorporation of additive on the surface morphology was also assessed through computational technique. The solubility experiment of L-alanine, with L-leucine and glycine as additives to the L-alanine solution were carried out by using isothermal method. Prediction of L-alanine crystal morphology and the likelihood of additives incorporation on selective site of the crystal surface via molecular modelling are also presented. The binary system and ternary systems were found to deviate from the ideal system by negative deviations representing a high solute-solvent interaction. Meanwhile, the results from PXRD and DSC analyses indicate that there is an interaction between additives molecules and host crystal surface through adsorption mechanism and thus promotes the formation of a solid solution. The simulated morphology and the calculated lattice energy reveal small deviation from the experimental data. Thus, Dreiding potential function and Mulliken atomic change are the most suitable set to be used to predict the morphology of L-alanine. Modelling studies of additives incorporation on the L-alanine crystal reveal that both additives have different propensity to incorporate on the selective facet of L-alanine.


A critical issue in inertial confinement fusion driven by heavy ions is the transport of the ion beams through a reactor chamber. In all plant scenarios the reactor has radii of about 3-5 m and in some it is envisaged to incorporate a background gas fill to reduce the x-ray damage to the first wall. An ion beam propagating in such environment will not meet the geometrical and temporal parameters required at the target position because of scattering and stripping in the background gas. Therefore gas density reduction and neutralization of the ion beam space charge and electrical current are necessary to successfully achieve ignition of the fuel pellet. A promising technique uses high current discharge channels to transport the heavy ion beam to the target. The aims of the experiments presented in this work are related to the study of initiation and generation of long and stable discharge channels and the examination of their ion optical properties. To fulfill the above issues a cylindrical metallic chamber has been integrated into the Z4 ion beam line of the GSI-UNILAC accelerator. With the help of a tunable CO2 laser a 0.5 m long path in low-pressure ammonia gas is heated by resonant absorption. Because of the subsequent gas expansion a rarefaction channel with preferential breakdown conditions is created along the discharge chamber axis. Dumping of the energy stored in a capacitor bank into the gas produces a straight plasma channel along the laser path. An additional, independent low current discharge before the ignition of the main discharge has proven to be beneficial for the stability of the plasma column, especially at high pressures and currents. Streak, framing and fast shutter cameras were used to study the hydrodynamics of the discharge channel. These experiments proved that stable and reproducible discharge channels could be produced up to times longer than the first half period of the current waveform. A special dB/dt probe containing 8 collinear coils has been designed and constructed for measuring the induced azimuthal magnetic field. Magnetic field values at the channel edge of 1 T and field gradients inside the channels of more then 300 T/m corresponding to a uniform radial current distribution could be measured. During several beamtimes, different ion beam species have been used to probe the ion optical properties of the channel. Within the limits set by the experimental conditions (channel length and diameter, and discharge current) one full betatron oscillation could be observed. This result agrees with simulations based on magnetic probe measurements. For the first time an alternative technique that uses an ion beam to initiate and guide a long discharge was tested. Straight and stable discharge channels could be generated in noble or molecular gases. The advantages of this technique are the reduced channel axial jitter compared to laser initiation and the free choice of the discharge gas.


Early planting of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] hybrids in temperate agriculture confers numerous advantages but requires genetic variation, both in lines and in parental effects for germination and seedling tolerance to low soil temperatures. The objectives of this study were to examine genetic variation among 12 diverse sorghum lines and their hybrids with two testers for their relative ability to germinate and emerge at low soil temperatures. Rate of germination, final germination level, and rate of shoot growth were measured under normal and constant cold temperature conditions (20-30°C in a greenhouse and 15°C in a growth chamber, respectively) as well as in an early planted field. Two early maturing lines, PI550666 and PI550597 (from Russia), appear to be better sources of germplasm than Shan Qui Red (from China) for germination and early seedling cold tolerance because of fewer undesirable characteristics. There were significant differences among genotypes under normal temperature conditions for both total germination percentage and rate of early shoot growth, whereas no significant differences were found in cold conditions. Of the two testers (female parents), N123A generally showed a negative combining ability for rate of germination in cold conditions, whereas crosses with tester N250A tended to be substantially better than the male parent. Selection for germination cold tolerance in seed parents will be more effective than in male parents. Though only inferred by this research, it is likely that differences in combining ability exist between seed parents for germination cold tolerance.


Large-scale language models have recently demonstrated impressive empirical performance. Nevertheless, the improved results are attained at the price of bigger models, more power consumption, and slower inference, which hinder their applicability to low-resource (memory and computation) platforms. Knowledge distillation (KD) has been demonstrated as an effective framework for compressing such big models. However, large-scale neural network systems are prone to memorize training instances, and thus tend to make inconsistent predictions when the data distribution is altered slightly. Moreover, the student model has few opportunities to request useful information from the teacher model when there is limited task-specific data available. To address these issues, we propose MixKD, a data-agnostic distillation framework that leverages mixup, a simple yet efficient data augmentation approach, to endow the resulting model with stronger generalization ability. Concretely, in addition to the original training examples, the student model is encouraged to mimic the teacher's behavior on the linear interpolation of example pairs as well. We prove, from a theoretical perspective, that under reasonable conditions MixKD gives rise to a smaller gap between the generalization error and the empirical error. To verify its effectiveness, we conduct experiments on the GLUE benchmark, where MixKD consistently leads to significant gains over the standard KD training, and outperforms several competitive baselines. Experiments under a limited-data setting and ablation studies further demonstrate the advantages of the proposed approach.