Video content analysis is an active research domain due to the availability and the increment of audiovisual data in the digital format. There is a need to automatically extracting video content for efficient access, understanding,browsing and retrieval of videos. To obtain the information that is of interest and to provide better entertainment, tools are needed to help users extract relevant content and to effectively navigate through the large amount of available video information. Existing methods do not seem to attempt to model and estimate the semantic content of the video. Detecting and interpreting human presence,actions and activities is one of the most valuable functions in this proposed framework. The general objectives of this research are to analyze and process the audio-video streams to a robust audiovisual action recognition system by integrating, structuring and accessing multimodal information via multidimensional retrieval and extraction model. The proposed technique characterizes the action scenes by integrating cues obtained from both the audio and video tracks. Information is combined based on visual features (motion,edge, and visual characteristics of objects), audio features and video for recognizing action. This model uses HMM and GMM to provide a framework for fusing these features and to represent the multidimensional structure of the framework. The action-related visual cues are obtained by computing the spatio temporal dynamic activity from the video shots and by abstracting specific visual events. Simultaneously, the audio features are analyzed by locating and compute several sound effects of action events that embedded in the video. Finally, these audio and visual cues are combined to identify the action scenes. Compared with using single source of either visual or audio track alone, such combined audio visual information provides more reliable performance and allows us to understand the story content of movies in more detail. To compare the usefulness of the proposed framework, several experiments were conducted and the results were obtained by using visual features only (77.89% for precision;72.10% for recall), audio features only (62.52% for precision; 48.93% for recall)and combined audiovisual (90.35% for precision; 90.65% for recall).


Mobile phones and other handheld devices incorporating cellular capabilities, such as Personal Digital Assistants, are ubiquitous.  Besides placing calls, these devices allow users to perform other useful tasks, including text messaging and phonebook entry management.  When cell phones and cellular devices are involved in a crime or other incident, forensic specialists require tools that allow the proper retrieval and speedy examination of data present on the device.  For devices conforming to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standards, certain data such as dialed numbers, text messages, and phonebook entries are maintained on a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM).  This paper gives a snapshot of the state of the art of forensic software tools for SIMs and an explanation of the types of digital evidence they can recover.


Objectives To quantify the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and type 2 diabetes in India. Design Nationally representative cross-sectional household survey. Setting Urban and rural areas across 29 states in India. Participants 168 135 survey respondents aged 18–49 years (women) and 18–54 years (men). Primary outcome measure Self-reported diabetes status. Results Markers of SES were social caste, household wealth and education. The overall prevalence of self-reported diabetes was 1.5%; this increased to 1.9% and 2.5% for those with the highest levels of education and household wealth, respectively. In multilevel logistic regression models (adjusted for age, gender, religion, marital status and place of residence), education (OR 1.87 for higher education vs no education) and household wealth (OR 4.04 for richest quintile vs poorest) were positively related to self-reported diabetes (p<0.0001). In a fully adjusted model including all socioeconomic variables and body mass index, household wealth emerged as positive and statistically significant with an OR for self-reported diabetes of 2.58 (95% credible interval (CrI): 1.99 to 3.40) for the richest quintile of household wealth versus the poorest. Nationally in India, a one-quintile increase in household wealth was associated with an OR of 1.31 (95% CrI 1.20 to 1.42) for self-reported diabetes. This association was consistent across states with the relationship found to be positive in 97% of states (28 of 29) and statistically significant in 69% (20 of 29 states). Conclusions The authors found that the highest SES groups in India appear to be at greatest risk for type 2 diabetes. This raises important policy implications for addressing the disease burdens among the poor versus those among the non-poor in the context of India, where >40% of the population is living in poverty.


The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat. Bob Woodward. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. 249 pp. $23.00 hbk. $14.00 pbk. One of the most intriguing and important relationships between a reporter and a source in U.S. history was that between the Washington Post's Bob Woodward and "Deep Throat," now revealed as W. Mark Felt, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's number-two man during much of the Watergate cover-up scandal of the early 1970s. Deep Throat, made famous by Woodward and Carl Bernstein's book All the President's Men and, even more, by Hal Holbrook in the movie, was the man Woodward says helped him understand the broader nature of the political dirty tricks implemented by President Nixon and his gang. This short book, admirable for its brevity and simple style, is worth reading by anyone interested in the relationship between reporter and source, in how diligent journalism is done, in Watergate, or in the reporting of Bob Woodward. Woodward, with his incredible access to high-level Washington sources and relentless work, has become a journalistic phenomenon. His writing of serious books certainly has been an overwhelming publishing success. The secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat is his thirteenth consecutive book to make the New York Times best sellers list, which, the Times said, "is just about unparalleled on the nonfiction side of the list." The legacy of the Deep Throat story-that Woodward will keep promises of confidentiality forever-has played an important role in opening up key sources throughout the years, Woodward writes. But while Woodward has used the Deep Throat legacy and his prodigious organization to amass great journalistic power, some have questioned his journalistic ethics and candor. Woodward has substantial streaks of candor in this book. In his writing of The secret Man, Woodward admits, "The portrait of me is not all that admirable. I was pushy, secretive. I used Mark Felt, and I lied to a colleague, Richard Cohen." Several years ago, columnist Cohen told Woodward that he knew Deep Throat was Mark Felt and was going to write about it. "It's not him (Felt), I said adopting the well-tested Watergate strategy that when all else fails, lie. I lied and insisted to Cohen that he had it wrong," Woodward writes. Keeping the man's identity secret for three decades helped preserve the mystery and romance of Woodward and Bernstein's Watergate reporting of the 1970s. It was also the right thing for journalists to do. Woodward kept the secret until 2005 when Felt, his family, and his lawyer placed an article in Vanity Fair announcing that Felt had been Deep Throat. The ever-ready Woodward was apparently prepared with most of this book manuscript to capitalize again on his youthful reporting under Deep Throat's tutelage. …


Two leading authorities on thalamocortical connections consider how the neural circuits of the brain relate to our actions and perceptions. In this book, two leading authorities on the thalamus and its relationship to cortex build on their earlier findings to arrive at new ways of thinking about how the brain relates to the world, to cognition, and behavior. Based on foundations established earlier in their book Exploring the Thalamus and Its Role in Cortical Function, the authors consider the implications of these ground rules for thalamic inputs, thalamocortical connections, and cortical outputs. The authors argue that functional and structural analyses of pathways connecting thalamus and cortex point beyond these to lower centers and through them to the body and the world. Each cortical area depends on the messages linking it to body and world. These messages relate to the way we act and think; each cortical area receives thalamic inputs and has outputs to motor centers. Sherman and Guillery go on to discuss such topics as the role of branching axons that carry motor instructions as well as copies of these motor instructions for relay to cortex under the control of the thalamic gate. This gate allows the thalamus to control the passage of information on the basis of which cortex relates to the rest of the nervous system.


The dynamics of quasi-geostrophic flow with uniform potential vorticity reduces to the evolution of buoyancy, or potential temperature, on horizontal boundaries. There is a formal resemblance to two-dimensional flow, with surface temperature playing the role of vorticity, but a different relationship between the flow and the advected scalar creates several distinctive features. A series of examples are described which highlight some of these features: the evolution of an elliptical vortex; the start-up vortex shed by flow over a mountain; the instability of temperature filaments; the 'edge wave' critical layer; and mixing in an overturning edge wave. Characteristics of the direct cascade of the tracer variance to small scales in homogeneous turbulence, as well as the inverse energy cascade, are also described. In addition to its geophysical relevance, the ubiquitous generation of secondary instabilities and the possibility of finite-time collapse make this system a potentially important, numerically tractable, testbed for turbulence theories.


The determination of methanogenic and non-methanogenic activity requires careful analysis because don't exist a standardized method to find this bioindicator. Therefore, we wanted to evaluate and optimize this analytical method for the characterization of anaerobic sludge. We did five experiments, where we changed variables such as agitation, nutrients supply, measurement time and substrate concentration. We have used 150 ml vials in which they were filled inoculum from anaerobic digester sludge. These vials were introduced in an incubator at 37 ° C, twice in a day we measure the pressure of biogas and the methane production. At the beginning and the end of the experiment, we measure OCD, volatile suspended solids (VSS), pH, and (VFA/AT) ratio. Finally, it was observed that experiment 5 without agitation, with nutrient supply and with seven days of measurement, was the best to obtain a better behavior in all specific activities. The calculation of these activities and the chemical analysis corroborate the previous result that we find in literature.


This research explores the extent to which Internet technology firms' competitive actions shape the diffusion of their respective products in competition with rivals. Combining competitive dynamics perspective with technology diffusion, we extend macro innovation diffusion model by incorporating four micro-level firm actions, including firms' competitive intensity, action timing, action simplicity and action dissimilarity. We validate the model with longitudinal field data from two pairs of competing Internet technology products in search engine and consumer-to-consumer electronic markets. The results reveal how firms' competition efforts at action level influence technology products diffusion rate. Specifically, action timing has a negative effect on the diffusion of Internet technology products while action dissimilarity has a positive effect, which indicates that quick response and differentiation of strategies can help Internet technology firms obtain competitive advantages. This study has filled out prior research gaps of both competitive innovation diffusion and competition dynamics, by combining them together. Furthermore, this study conveys important practical implications to Internet businesses.


The fastest, easiest, most comprehensive way to learn Adobe InDesign CS4 Adobe InDesign CS4 Classroom in a Book contains 14 lessons. The book covers the basics of learning page layout with Adobe InDesign and provides countless tips and techniques to help you become more productive with the program. Explore typography and color, and learn more about creating tables and using styles. You can follow the book from start to finish or choose only those lessons that interest you. Create layouts for magazines, newsletters, and brochures. Learn how to make Adobe PDF files and rich interactive documents. Prepare files for high-resolution printing and the Web. Adobe InDesign Classroom in a Book is the best way to learn hands-on with real-world examples. You'll gain exposure to good print design as well as efficient workflow techniques. Michael Witherell, Adobe Certified Expert, Publishing, Training, and ConsultingClassroom in a Book, the best-selling series of hands-on software training workbooks, helps you learn the features of Adobe software quickly and easily. Classroom in a Book offers what no other book or training program doesan official training Incorporated, developed with the support of Adobe product experts.


This article has two aims. First, it seeks to raise awareness about three competing frameworks that are currently dominating the debate about consumption and globalization: 18th-century global exchanges; Americanization; and consumerism. These have tended to operate in virtual isolation and ignorance from each other. Second, through a critical discussion of recent research, the article sets out to complicate conventional chronologies of tradition/modernity/late modernity that continue to underpin much research on consumer cultures. Instead of a linear progression from diversity to standardization, from gift-exchange to commodity-exchange, and from public engagement to privatized materialism, the article points to the dynamic interaction between these forms across time. An appreciation of these longer, deeper, and more variegated histories means that it is problematic to equate consumer culture with the `age of affluence' after the Second World War. In turn, it calls on critics of consumerism to adopt a more realistic and historically sensitive approach that engages with the longer evolution of consumer culture and avoids idealized images of a recent pre-consumerist past.

http://www.uk.sagepub.com/dicken6/Sociology Online readings/CH 3 - TRENTMANN.pdf


This dissertation studies discrete optimization methods for several computer vision problems. In the first part, a new objective function for superpixel segmentation is proposed. This objective function consists of two components: entropy rate of a random walk on a graph and a balancing term. The entropy rate favors formation of compact and homogeneous clusters, while the balancing function encourages clusters with similar sizes. I present a new graph construction for images and show that this construction induces a matroid. The segmentation is then given by the graph topology which maximizes the objective function under the matroid constraint. By exploiting submodular and monotonic properties of the objective function, I develop an efficient algorithm with a worst-case performance bound of h for the superpixel segmentation problem. Extensive experiments on the Berkeley segmentation benchmark show the proposed algorithm outperforms the state of the art in all the standard evaluation metrics.
Next, I propose a video segmentation algorithm by maximizing a submodular objective function subject to a matroid constraint. This function is similar to the standard energy function in computer vision with unary terms, pairwise terms from the Potts model, and a novel higher-order term based on appearance histograms. I show that the standard Potts model prior, which becomes non-submodular for multi-label problems, still induces a submodular function in a maximization framework. A new higher-order prior further enforces consistency in the appearance histograms both spatially and temporally across the video. The matroid constraint leads to a simple algorithm with a performance bound of h. A branch and bound procedure is also presented to improve the solution computed by the algorithm.
The last part of the dissertation studies the object localization problem in images given a single hand-drawn example or a gallery of shapes as the object model. Although many shape matching algorithms have been proposed for the problem, chamfer matching remains to be the preferred method when speed and robustness are considered. In this dissertation, I significantly improve the accuracy of chamfer matching while reducing the computational time from linear to sublinear (shown empirically). It is achieved by incorporating edge orientation information in the matching algorithm so the resulting cost function is piecewise smooth and the cost variation is tightly bounded. Moreover, I present a sublinear time algorithm for exact computation of the directional chamfer matching score using techniques from 3D distance transforms and directional integral images. In addition, the smooth cost function allows one to bound the cost distribution of large neighborhoods and skip the bad hypotheses. Experiments show that the proposed approach improves the speed of the original chamfer matching up to an order of 45 times, and it is much faster than many state of art techniques while the accuracy is comparable. I further demonstrate the application of the proposed algorithm in providing seamless operation for a robotic bin picking system.


The paper starts with some preparatory work on three types of transformations often used in information processing: a convolution, a matrix-vector multiplication, and a general linear integral transformation. In particular we represent these transformations in a diagonalized form. We then focus on cyclic transformations, and consider as examples the Hilbert transfromation, and the ordinary Fourier transformation and its direct relatives: the cosine, sine, and Hartley transformations. Ways to fractionalize transformations that can be diagonalized, are described in the main part of the paper. As an example of a convolution operator, we consider the fractional Hilbert transformation. The canonical fractional Fourier transformer, as it is usually applied in optics, is the main example of the fractionalization procedure of a matrix-vector multiplication with - in this case - the ray transformation matrix of such a transformer. With the fractional Fourier transformation properly defined, we can then immediately consider its relatives: the canonical fractional cosine, sine, Hartley, and Hankel transformations. More general ray transformation matrices will then be introduced, in particular ortho-symplectic matrices. It is shown that all first-order optical systems whose ray transformation matrices can be diagonalized, are similar (in the sense of matrix similarity) to the separable fractional Fourier transformer. This, once again, stresses the important role of the fractional Fourier transformation. A relatively short treatment of general integral transformations, in particular transformations with a complete set of eigenfunctions, concludes this main part. The last part of the paper deals with fractionalization without the necessity of diagonalization, by expressing the fractionalized operator in the form of a Fourier series. The procedure is applied again to the Fourier transformation, leading in a different way to the same results that were derived before.


While most existing online learning environments cater for needs identified during the 1990s, a new generation of digital students has emerged in the developed world. Digital students are young adults who have grown up with digital technologies integrated as an everyday feature of their lives. Digital students use technology differently, fluidly (and often simultaneously) using instant messengers, mobile phones, the web, MP3 players, online games and more. If their use of technology is different, the kind of learning environment they will require is likely to be equally different. To identify these differences we ran an online survey in universities from the UK, Romania, Finland and Hungary, followed by focus groups, interviews and observations of students in traditional and online learning environments. As a result we have refined our initial definition of digital students, we identified the digitally-minded students, most notably to include recognition of such students' need for control over their digital environment. From this analysis we have more clearly identified how a learning environment for these students should be constructed and used; an environment that contains a blend of Internet and mobile technologies which enhance student-tutor and student-student communication through multiple media channels, providing responsiveness, customizability and flexibility to adapt and be adapted to the students' needs.


Undergraduate students are vulnerable to mental health problems throughout their academic studies (Bewick et al., 2010).

Research suggests that the manner in which individuals respond to and modulate emotion (emotion regulation; ER) plays an important role in the development and maintenance of emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression (Chambers et al., 2009).

Shapiro (2009) proposes that mindfulness meditation (MM) is one method of teaching students how to adaptively regulate their emotions, However, research has yet to elucidate the mechanisms of action through which MM exerts its beneficial effects.

This study randomised forty undergraduate students aged 18-24 to three weekly sessions of MM or an active control condition. Concomitant changes in self-reported everyday mindfulness, ER difficulties, and positive and negative affect were assessed.

Despite no condition effects on self-reported negative affect, meditators reported significant increases in everyday mindfulness and positive affect and significantly reduced ER difficulties. Research exploring the short-term effects of MM on ER and affective states is new but promising. This research demonstrates that MM can enhance the emotional well-being of students and thus supports theoretical stances claiming that MM may initially exerts its effects by increasing positive affect and reducing difficulties in ER (Garland et al., 2010).


A new method for calculating the heterodyne efficiency of an optical receiver is applied to specific optical systems looking through a turbulent atmosphere. The optical and atmospheric parameters which characterize the system efficiency are considered, and optimization of the performance of an heterodyne receiver is discussed.


Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the global health emergencies that characterized by high blood glucose levels (hyperglycemia). Type 2 DM is the most common type in diabetic populations. Inhibition of alphaglucosidase can ameliorate postprandial hyperglycemia that occurs in patients with type 2 DM. Adding antioxidants to the therapy of DM is intended to reduce complications caused by oxidative stress. Some species of Garcinia have been proven to inhibit alpha-glucosidase and have antioxidant activity, but there is no research on Garcinia fruticosa Lauterb. Therefore, the aims of this research were to determine the activity of Garcinia fruticosa Lauterb. stem bark in inhibiting alpha-glucosidase and as an antioxidant. Methods: In this research, the Garcinia fruticosa Lauterb. stem bark was dried, grinded, and extracted by multistage maceration using n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol. Inhibition of alpha-glucosidase test has been done in vitro on concentrated extracts and measured by microplate reader at 400 nm. The antioxidant test has been done using DPPH scavenging method and was measured by microplate reader at 519 nm. Results: Ethyl acetate extract is the most active extract for both test. IC50 values for inhibition of alpha-glucosidase test are 20.18 μg/mL that is more active than standard (acarbose) which has IC50 value 141.55 μg/mL. Meanwhile, IC50 value from an antioxidant test is 8.93 μg/mL that is not more active than standard (quercetin) which has IC50 value 2.51 μg/mL. Conclusion: Phytochemical screening shows that the ethyl acetate extract contains alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, and tannins.


In this thesis I examine the content of and the sources underlying an unedited Latin commentary on the Psalms, composed c.1190 in Northern France by the AngloNorman
Hebraist Herbert of Bosham (c.1120-94). In this commentary Herbert takes Jerome's translation of the Psalms from the Masoretic Bible (the Hebraica) as ground text for his exegesis, revising this version and expounding it according to the literal sense of scripture.

My first chapter presents an overview of Herbert's life, works and intellectual background, and sets out his influence from three interconnected traditions: that of
Christian Hebraism founded by Jerome, that of textual criticism of the Bible and that of literal exegesis developed by Rashi and by the Parisian School of Saint Victor.

In the second chapter I analyse the extent of Herbert's proficiency in Hebrew grammar and lexicology, and his use of learning tools. I demonstrate that his linguistic skills surpass those of any other known Christian Hebraist, and that he relies on at least one Hebrew-Latin Psalter, on Rashi's la'azim and on one or more Hebrew-French glossaries.

In the third chapter I establish that Herbert frequently cites Rashi verbally and that he accesses a wide range of rabbinic literature, partly covered by the term Gamaliel, with the help of a contemporary teacher, referred to as litterator meus.

In the fourth chapter I investigate Herbert's debt to Jerome's methodology and text-critical skills and his reliance on Paul for theological criteria for the incorporation of readings from the Hebrew text.

My final section, building upon the results of the previous chapters, discusses Herbert's evaluation of Jewish sources and of Jews in general. It also explores how he
defines and applies the difference between littera and spiritus in his commentary. I have found in this chapter that his definition of the literal sense of scripture is strongly influenced by Hugh of Saint Victor and by Rashi's exposition of the peshat, and includes to some extent figures of speech and prophecy. I also suggest that his
relationship to Paul as religious authority is inherently linked with his use of Jewish sources in general and of Gamaliel in particular.


Ovid verbally portrays three different modes of 'seeing'. In the Metamorphoses readers mentally 'watch' his various protagonists seeing or being seen. In the elegiac poetry readers are often induced to share the field of vision of his protagonists. In Amores 3.2 and Ars Amatoria 1.135ff., readers 'look' with the lover and his mistress during 'a day at the races', virtually becoming both protagonists. In the exilic poems Ovid is sole viewer. 'Something he saw that ruined him' looms large in his imagination. The exile begins to rely solely on mental vision, 'seeing' the sights of Rome, conjuring up distant friends into his presence. Readers 'see' the lonely exile being comforted by his own inner vision.


One-dimensional propagation of a normally incident, pulsed electromagnetic plane wave upon an isotropic, spatially homogeneous, Lorentz half-space is investigated analytically. Fourier integral representations of the time-dependent reflected and transmitted fields are obtained for an arbitrary incident pulse, and detailed examinations of these fields are made when the incident field is a finite-cycle-sine function. The inversion integral for the time-dependent reflected field is expressed in terms of the pole contribution and branch-cut integrals, whereas the uniform asymptotic methodology of Oughstun
 Sherman
 [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A6, 1394 (1989)] is applied to the transmitted field. Only the contribution from the distant saddle points to the transmitted field is studied in detail. An example is provided that shows that the effects of including the reflection and transmission coefficients may not be ignored when microwave or optical pulses are launched across the interface. Specifically, for Brillouin's choice of the medium's physical parameters, the reflected field has a peak value that is 21% of the incident field's amplitude and that corresponds to a 21% decrease in the main signal (pole contribution) of the transmitted field when the transmission coefficient is unity. This study extends past analytical formulations of the one-dimensional problem by conducting an in-depth analysis of the reflected field for a normally incident finite-cycle-sine wave and by addressing how inclusion of frequency-dependent transmission and reflection coefficients affects the fields. In particular, situations for which the effect of the frequency-dependent transmission and reflection coefficients is significant are discussed. Finally, the analysis of the reflected field should be useful for diagnostic purposes.


Rivers transport land-based plastic waste into the ocean. Current efforts to quantify riverine plastic emission come with uncertainty as field observations are scarce. One of the challenging aspects is the lack of consistent measurement methods that allow for comparing rivers over space and time. Recent studies have shown that simple visual observations provide a robust first-order characterization of floating and superficially suspended plastic transport, both in quantity, spatiotemporal distribution and composition. For this study, we applied this method to the river Seine, France, to provide new insights in the spatiotemporal variation in riverine plastic transport. First, we studied the response of plastic flow to increased river discharge by comparing measurements taken during low flow and high flow periods. Second, we investigated the variation of riverine plastic transport over the river length to improve our understanding of the origin and fate of riverine plastics. We demonstrate that during a period with higher river discharge, plastic transport increased up to a factor ten at the observation point closest to the river mouth. Upstream of Paris plastic transport increased only with a factor 1.5, suggesting that most plastics originate from Paris or areas further downstream. With this paper we aim to shed additional light on the seasonal variation in riverine plastic transport and its distribution along the river length, which may benefit future long-term monitoring efforts and plastic pollution mitigation strategies.


Title of dissertation: Electron Distribution and Electrostatic Oscillations of an Ultracold Plasma Kevin Allen Twedt, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Dissertation directed by: Professor Steven Rolston Department of Physics Ultracold neutral plasmas (UCPs) are transient laboratory plasmas with many unique properties owing to their creation from the near-threshold photoionization of laser-cooled neutral atoms in an ultra-high vacuum environment. UCPs have equilibrium electron and ion temperatures as low as 1 K, orders of magnitude colder than other neutral plasmas. They are untrapped and expand into vacuum with an inhomogeneous density and changing neutrality. The plasmas are also created in a non-equilibrium state and the establishment of equilibrium results in a neutral plasma on the border of strong coupling. All of these features have made UCPs ideal systems for the study of basic plasma phenomena. This thesis focuses on the long-time expansion of UCPs created from lasercooled xenon atoms. We investigate the importance of external electric fields and the changing plasma neutrality which have been largely ignored in previous work. We present a detailed analysis of the electron distribution and the rate of electron loss during expansion. We show the effect of electron loss on plasma oscillations, and have developed a new technique to directly observe electrostatic plasma oscillations by measuring the induced current on a nearby electrode. We also expand on previous measurements of plasma expansion in a uniform magnetic field and consider the prospects for magnetic trapping. ELECTRON DISTRIBUTION AND ELECTROSTATIC OSCILLATIONS OF AN ULTRACOLD PLASMA


Global emission estimates based on new at- mospheric observations are presented for the acylic high molecular weight perfluorocarbons (PFCs): decafluorobu- tane (C4F10), dodecafluoropentane (C 5F12), tetradecafluo- rohexane (C6F14), hexadecafluoroheptane (C 7F16) and oc- tadecafluorooctane (C 8F18). Emissions are estimated using a 3-dimensional chemical transport model and an inverse method that includes a growth constraint on emissions. The observations used in the inversion are based on newly mea- sured archived air samples that cover a 39-yr period, from 1973 to 2011, and include 36 Northern Hemispheric and 46 Southern Hemispheric samples. The derived emission esti- mates show that global emission rates were largest in the 1980s and 1990s for C4F10 and C5F12, and in the 1990s for C6F14, C7F16 and C8F18. After a subsequent decline, emis- sions have remained relatively stable, within 20 %, for the last 5 yr. Bottom-up emission estimates are available from the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research version 4.2 (EDGARv4.2) for C4F10, C5F12, C6F14 and C7F16, and inventories of C4F10, C5F12 and C6F14 are reported to the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by Annex 1 countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The atmospheric measurement-based emission es- timates are 20 times larger than EDGARv4.2 for C4F10 and over three orders of magnitude larger for C5F12 (with 2008 EDGARv4.2 estimates for C5F12 at 9.6 kg yr 1 , as compared to 67±53 t yr 1 as derived in this study). The derived emis- sion estimates for C6F14 largely agree with the bottom-up es- timates from EDGARv4.2. Moreover, the C7F16 emission es- timates are comparable to those of EDGARv4.2 at their peak in the 1990s, albeit significant underestimation for the other time periods. There are no bottom-up emission estimates for C8F18, thus the emission rates reported here are the first for C8F18. The reported inventories for C4F10, C5F12 and C6F14 to UNFCCC are five to ten times lower than those estimated in this study. In addition, we present measured infrared absorption spec- tra for C7F16 and C8F18, and estimate their radiative effi- ciencies and global warming potentials (GWPs). We find that C8F18's radiative efficiency is similar to trifluoromethyl sul- fur pentafluoride's (SF 5F3) at 0.57 W m 2 ppb 1 , which is the highest radiative efficiency of any measured atmospheric species. Using the 100-yr time horizon GWPs, the total ra- diative impact of the high molecular weight perfluorocar- bons emissions are also estimated; we find the high molecu- lar weight PFCs peak contribution was in 1997 at 24 000 Gg of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents and has decreased by a factor of three to 7300 Gg of CO2 equivalents in 2010. This 2010 cumulative emission rate for the high molecular weight PFCs is comparable to: 0.02 % of the total CO2 emissions, 0.81 % of the total hydrofluorocarbon emissions, or 1.07 % of the total chlorofluorocarbon emissions projected for 2010 (Velders et al., 2009). In terms of the total PFC emission bud- get, including the lower molecular weight PFCs, the high molecular weight PFCs peak contribution was also in 1997 at 15.4 % and was 6 % of the total PFC emissions in CO2 equivalents in 2009.


This thesis explores the national identity dilemma arising within ethnocratic states when individuals belonging to the 'privileged majority' seek to rectify the privations of their ethnic Other. Ethnocratic states have been set up by activists seeking to protect those they see as belonging to the ethnic nation with which they identify. In the process, the activists marginalise those depicted as Others within the state 19s borders, institutionalising a demonising discourse which justifies those Others 19 lack of privilege. Dissidents from the privileged majority may seek to remodel the ethnocratic state or challenge its dominant discourse without necessarily opposing the underpinning view of the nation therein, generating dilemmas about how justice for the Other ought to look and how the Us might be reconstituted to attain it. A study of the narratives of dissident Israeli Jews employs the theoretical concepts of ethnocracy and ressentiment to understand these dilemmas.

Existing literature on ethnocratic states is riddled with 18groupism 19 13 the tendency to treat ethnic groups or nations as objectively real entities. This thesis emphasises the processes of reification occurring when nationalist activists institutionalise their particular discourse. The concept of ressentiment is used to describe how demonisation of the Other becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy through mistreatment, enabling me to examine how ethnocracy is both discursively constructed and resisted.

The thesis engages qualitatively with interview transcripts and previously published works by eleven Israeli Jewish dissidents. Using narrative analysis, I pay attention to discontinuities, such as omissions and inconsistencies, to explore how the dissidents do not say certain things, or profess contradictory opinions about the place of the Other, 18national 19 history and what the future should hold. I argue that the dissidents largely move between six variants of nationalist discourse because no single discourse allows them to construct a vision of equality and justice for the Other alongside a thick national identity. Those who do employ a single discourse end up well outside the 18national 19 consensus, suggesting that for many dissidents, there is no way out of the current malaise. However, the dissidents 19 efforts can be read as a challenge to the simplicity of ressentiment 19s moral certainty, and hence as a contributor to political change.


This document describes a new remote module implemented for the Insight Toolkit (ITK), itkBoneMorphometry. This module contains bone analysis filters that compute features from N-dimensional images that represent the internal architecture of bone. The computation of the bone morphometry features in this module is based on well known methods. The two filters contained in this module are itkBoneMorphometryFeaturesFilter. which computes a set of features that describe the whole input image in the form of a feature vector, and itkBoneMorphometryFeaturesImageFilter, which computes an N-D feature map that locally describes the input image (i.e. for every voxel). itkBoneMorphometryFeaturesImageFilter can be configured based in the locality of the desired morphometry features by specifying the neighborhood size. This paper is accompanied by the source code, the input data, the choice of parameters and the output data that we have used for validating the algorithms described. This adheres to the fundamental principle that scientific publications must facilitate reproducibility of the reported results.


Abstract. A data product of 17 653 discrete samples from 3343 oceanographic stations
combining measurements of pH, alkalinity and other biogeochemical parameters
off the northwestern Iberian Peninsula from June 1976 to September 2018 is
presented in this study. The oceanography cruises funded by 24 projects were
primarily carried out in the Ria de Vigo coastal inlet but also in an area ranging
from the Bay of Biscay to the Portuguese coast. The robust seasonal cycles
and long-term trends were only calculated along a longitudinal section,
gathering data from the coastal and oceanic zone of the Iberian upwelling
system. The pH in the surface waters of these separated regions, which were
highly variable due to intense photosynthesis and the remineralization of
organic matter, showed an interannual acidification ranging from −0.0012
to −0.0039  yr −1 that grew towards the coastline. This result
is obtained despite the buffering capacity increasing in the coastal waters
further inland as shown by the increase in alkalinity by 1.1±0.7 and 2.6±1.0 µ mol kg −1  yr −1 in
the inner and outer Ria de Vigo respectively, driven by interannual changes in the
surface salinity of 0.0193±0.0056 and 0.0426±0.016  psu yr −1 respectively. The loss of the vertical salinity
gradient in the long-term trend in the inner ria was consistent with other
significant biogeochemical changes such as a lower oxygen concentration and
fertilization of the surface waters. These findings seem to be related to a
growing footprint of sediment remineralization of organic matter in the
surface layer of a more homogeneous water column. Data are available at https://doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/12498
(Perez et al., 2020).


Architectural firms often have difficulty generating profit from their services as they pursue not only commercial but also professional goals. These goals frequently conflict and have to be balanced during the process of value creation and value capture. So far, literature has focused on the interaction between the perceived use value for the customer and the fee that is paid to the firm. To better understand how professional service firms realize their organizational targets, professional value needs to be included. In this study, in-depth interviews with the architects and clients of nine housing projects provide insight into the content and process of value capture by architectural firms. The data reveal strategies by which architects tried to maximize the capture of professional value at the expense of profit or sometimes even their clients' perceived use value. These trade-offs in value capture confirm the importance of professional value when studying value creation and capture in a professional service context. This paper provides an understanding of how architectural firms struggle to balance competing goals and highlights the importance of well-managed value capture.


ATP-binding cassette (ABC) adenosine triphosphatases actively transport a wide variety of compounds across biological membranes. Here, the ABC protein Mdl1 was identified as an intracellular peptide transporter localized in the inner membrane of yeast mitochondria. Mdl1 was required for mitochondrial export of peptides with molecular masses of ∼2100 to 600 daltons generated by proteolysis of inner-membrane proteins by the m-AAA protease in the mitochondrial matrix. Proteolysis by the i-AAA protease in the intermembrane space led to the release of similar-sized peptides independent of Mdl1. Thus, two pathways of peptide efflux from mitochondria exist that may allow communication between mitochondria and their cellular environment.


Concerned with the relations between two or more organizations, be they firms, government agencies, NGOs, community or voluntary sector organizations Such relations include partnerships, collaborations, agreements, virtual project groups, outsourcing, or franchising Examines many empirical settings of inter-organizational relations, as well as a range of disciplinary and theoretical bases, and specific topic areas Features contributions from leading international experts on their particular areas of expertise, it is an authoritative introduction to research findings on IORs Inter-organizational relations (IOR), the study of Strategic Alliances, Joint Ventures, Partnerships, Networks and other forms of relationship between organizations, is a field of study that has burgeoned over the last four decades, but is fragmented, drawing contributions from a wide variety of disciplines, theoretical bases, and sectoral interests. The Oxford Handbook of Inter-Organizational Relations provides a structured overview of the field. With contributions from leading international experts on their particular areas of expertise, it is an authoritative introduction to its research findings. The material is organized in three main sections. The first relates to research that focuses on particular manifestations of IORs such as industry, supply, policy and project networks, public and voluntary sector partnerships, strategic alliances, and so on. The second section relates to research that stems from distinct disciplinary or theoretical bases, including social networks, evolutionary theory, transaction cost economics, management process, psychology, critical theory political theory, economic geography, and the legal perspective. The third section focuses on key topics in contemporary IOR topics - or those that will become so in the future. These include, trust, power, development interventions, social capital, learning and knowledge, dynamics and change, and evaluation.


Nowadays, high-technology-new-ventures have a significant effect on economic growth of developed countries and are considered to have a high rate of return on investment (ROI). For instance, in Sweden, policy makers, venture capitalists (VCs) and academia have paid a special attention to biotechnology and information technology (IT). These high-tech industries are considered to increase the national competitiveness and create opportunities for employment. Despite the fact that many empirical studies investigated the business aspects of these industries in Sweden, still a few number of firm-level studies focused specifically on biotech industry to investigate the critical success factors for biotech firms in Sweden. In fact, this study was carried out in order to better understand the economic, dynamic and managerial characteristics of an industry which is recognized as being highly risky and uncertain. The study departed from understanding the definitions regarding to what is meant by biotechnology industry and exploring the current state of this industry both globally and nationwide in Sweden. On the next step, a thorough analysis of literature carried out to figure out dynamics of this industry. Based on in-depth literature review, we identified five main factors which are critical for success of biotech firms including a number of criteria under each factor. To achieve the objectives of the study, a questionnaire survey was designed and sent to a number of active biotech firms. We asked top managers in these firms to participate in a web-based survey and express their attitudes towards the significance of each criterion based on a five-point Likert scale. Later, by means of mathematical model and statistical analysis tool, we prioritized and ranked each factor and belonging criteria. The results of this study revealed five main categories for critical success factors consisting of competencies that are distinct and different with the following priority: 1) Managerial and Human Capital; 2) Knowledge Assets; 3) Funding and Financial; 4) Alliances and Networking; and 5) Location and Market factor. Under each of these categories a number of criteria have been perceived and prioritized based on the significance for success. Besides, a comparative study was conducted between start-ups and established firms in our study, to investigate the differences in perceived significance of each factor for these two firm types.


In Poland the position of a leader of political party Law and Justice has become the most important position in the country. His will has the power of law. The boundary between his will and the will of a state has blurred. The leader holds unlimited power, although he does not hold any public position. He is beyond legislative, executive and judiciary. The constitutional rule of control, complementing and hindering was replaced by charismatic power of the leader of Law and Justice. The power in Poland is held by one man. The "new law order" (Constitutional Court, National Council of the Judiciary of Poland, common courts, Supreme Court, prosecutors office) serves political purposes of the leader of Law and Justice. That is the reason for judges exchange in Poland. Lawlessness has become law. Law has been turned into a political instrument and it was done in the most vulgar way. Law serves Law and Justice's political purpose, with disregard and disrespect to constitutional values. The system of constitutional values is not relevant for Law and Justice in the process of establishing law. A system based on autocracy is created. The main legislative competence is held by the leader of Law and Justice. Systematically, with absolute consistency, a totalitarian regime is built, where legislative and executive is under control of one man, who himself remains out of constitutional control and has no constitutional responsibility.


In an effort to understand some of the ways that accountability-based reform efforts have influenced teacher education, this article details the politics of accountability in Pennsylvania that motivated sweeping changes in the policies governing teacher preparation in 2006. This case study provides a poignant example of the kind of complex accountability systems now being constructed across the United States in an effort to change teacher preparation. By analyzing primary documents including the legal statutes governing teacher preparation in Pennsylvania, correspondence from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, related newsletters, memos, reports, transcripts of meetings, and testimony before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the complex nature of the conflicts underlying the development and implementation of teacher education reform is brought into focus. The study's findings suggest that a deep and uncritical acceptance of accountability-based teacher education reform on the part of educational policy makers is likely to do more harm than good. The article concludes by outlining a framework for developing more intelligent measures of accountability that might preserve professional autonomy and judgment.


PURPOSE: Ammonia inhalants (AI) are anecdotally referred to as ergogenic aids in the realm of aggressive team/lifting sports. However, the efficacy of AI usage has yet to be established or reported to our knowledge. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish the effects of AI's on anaerobic performance following a simulated American football game (SAFG) in a climate controlled setting (35.8 °C, 27.5% RH). METHODS: Ten apparently healthy anaerobically trained college-aged males participated dressed in American football apparel, excluding the helmet. Each subject participated in two trials, 136 minutes each, separated by a minimum of 48 hours (AI or control). Each SAFG consisted of a randomized counter-balanced series of sprints. The sprint protocol was made up of a total 12, 9, or 6 sprints, which were experienced each half of the SAFG in a randomized order. The individual sprints consisted of 5 second maximal effort sprints which were followed by 40 seconds of rest, simulating what one would expect in an American football game. The Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT) was performed before and after each SAFG in a neutral temperature (21.3°C, 30.8% RH). Resistance for the 30-second WAnT was calculated at 10% of each respective subject's weight in kilograms (kg). The AI condition was administered by capsule immediately before the final WAnT. Paired t-tests were used to examine differences in peak power change (∆PP) and mean power change (∆MP) from WAnTs performed pre-post-SAFG. α=0.05. RESULTS: The majority of our subjects elicited an increase in PP (9/10 subjects) and MP (8/10 subjects) during the AI condition. The ∆PP in the AI (134±85 W) trial was significantly greater that the control trial (59±108 W) (p≤.05). Likewise, ∆MP in the AI (35±53 W) was significantly greater than the control (-21±65 W) trial (p≤.01). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the intervention of AI following a bout of fatiguing work is successful in the in the generation of maximal power outputs as well as attenuating fatigue within the WAnT. Thereby, suggesting that when performing a WAnT, utilizing AI as an intervention can increase power output. Further research should be conducted in order to support the findings from the present investigation and possible applications.


Mainstream economic wisdom favoring cooperative free trade is challenged by a wave of disruptive trade policies. In this paper, we provide quantitative evidence concerning the economic impacts of tariffs implemented by the United States in 2018 and the subsequent retaliations by partner countries. Our analysis builds on a multi-region multi-sector general-equilibrium simulation model of the global economy that includes an innovative monopolistic-competition structure of bilateral representative firms.


"During his career, composer Sherwood Shaffer has written thirteen concert works for the saxophone. These compositions represent a wide range of instrumentation from solo saxophone with piano, saxophone quartets and other chamber works, to solo saxophone with full orchestral accompaniment. Despite their quality, these works occupy a relatively unknown niche of the saxophone repertoire. The purpose of this study is to provide a brief biography of Sherwood Shaffer and an overview of his works for saxophone, to analyze sections from several representative pieces from the standpoint of performance preparation, and to provide an overview of stylistic and technical challenges found in common among his works. Three works, Summer Nocturne for alto saxophone and piano, Charades for violin, tenor saxophone, and piano, and Sinfonia for saxophone quartet, were chosen from the set of thirteen to serve as the primary examples for this research. In order to obtain information about the origins and influences behind these works, the composer and several of the musicians who commissioned them were interviewed. Insights into the difficulties found in these works as well as historical data regarding their composition and premiere performances were gathered. Technical and textural challenges found in these works were identified through performance analysis. Shaffer uses complex textures, and the active nature of his individual parts creates difficulty during rehearsal and preparation. When learning these pieces, performers must identify melodic themes as they are passed from instrument to instrument. Only through proper ensemble balance and stylistic interpretation do the important melodic themes prevail. Other factors including interpretation of accent marks, proper use of written dynamics, and awareness of common melodic structures are examined. "--Abstract from author supplied metadata.


Introduction The clinical benefits of 24-hour postural management are widely recognised by occupational therapists, but little is known about its impact on service users and carers or whether clinical practice is consistent across regions. The aim of this research was to investigate the use of 24-hour postural management by occupational therapists and to explore its impact on service users with neurodisability and their carers. Methods Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in two phases: (a) online survey with 96 occupational therapists across one UK region, with data analysed by descriptive statistics and correlations; (b) focus groups with service users and/or carers (n = 9), with data analysed by thematic analysis. Results Findings showed moderate positive correlation between frequency of use and (a) all key intervention skills and (b) knowledge of night-time positioning (p < 0.001). Moderate positive correlations were found between level of training and (a) assessment skills and (b) knowledge of night-time positioning (p < 0.001). The overarching theme from focus groups was 'reliance on individualised equipment', with overwhelming frustration from lack of support, loss of identity, equipment cost, insufficient focus on preventative strategies and accessibility issues. Conclusion A clinical practice guideline, including training, is crucial to direct practice. Providers must engage with service users and carers to address their frustrations.


Most lawsuits settle, but some settle later than they should. Too many compromises occur only after protracted discovery and expensive motion practice. Sometimes the delay precludes settlement altogether. Why does this happen? Several possibilities — such as the alleged greed of lawyers paid on an hourly basis — have been suggested, but they are insufficient to explain why so many cases do not settle until the eve of trial. We offer a novel account of the phenomenon of settling on the courthouse steps that is based upon empirical research concerning judgment and choice. Several cognitive illusions — the framing effect, the confirmation bias, nonconsequentialist reasoning, and the sunk-cost fallacy — produce intuitions in lawyers that can induce them to postpone serious settlement negotiations or to reject settlement proposals that should be accepted. Lawyers' tendencies to rely excessively on intuition exacerbate the impact of those cognitive illusions. The experiments presented in this Article indicate that the vulnerability of experienced lawyers to these cognitive errors can prolong litigation.


Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim big - as one of its target is to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 for all people everywhere. This paper offers a critical review and outlines some potential challenges in achieving this noble target. In doing so, it offers a critical review of poverty scholarship to assess the notion of extreme poverty adopted in the SDGs. This also takes stock of past global anti-poverty programmes to set an appropriate context for forecasting potential challenges to eradicate poverty everywhere. It is highlighted that i) a number of poor countries will have to perform a magic against their track records, ii) the world needs to be consistently peaceful, iii) significant and equitable reform should take place within world economic structure, iv) quality and international comparability of poverty data in poor countries need to be improved significantly, and v) uncertainty about required investment in poor countries should be addressed rigorously in order for achieving poverty eradication target of the SDGs. These lead to the argument that without strong political commitments by all related stakeholders and an approach to look beyond existing models poverty eradication target may turn out to be another statement of good intentions by the international aid architecture with little meaningful practical relevance. Key words: Poverty, poverty eradication, extreme poverty, sustainable development goals (SDGs), millennium development goals (MDGs), dollarisation of poverty, developing countries


Throughout the world, many urban designers and architects have been working toward the protection, preservation and enhancement of urban heritage in order to increase its usefulness as well as preserve the cities' cultural identities. Indeed, heritage conservation has become the central activity of planning and urban design. Urban heritage is under growing pressure in many areas of the world including Doha. In fact, Doha hosts a rich vernacular architecture, including a number of major historic sites and monuments. The architectural richness of urban heritage in Doha is clearly displayed in the defensive towers, mosques, palaces, houses and Souk Waqif. In many areas of the world, including Doha, heritage areas and monuments with their physical, aesthetical, cultural, and socio-economic aspects, have started to be preserved, revitalized, maintained but rarely integrated within a strategic planning and design process. Heritage resources in Doha should be protected and enhanced so that people will be encouraged to visit and use them for promoting national and international heritage tourism. This paper summarizes the outcomes of UREP project related to the Doha cultural heritage. The project attempted to examine and evaluate the Doha urban heritage with respect to aesthetical, cultural, social, economic and environmental considerations. This research provided a detailed research work, by identifying and providing better appreciation of urban heritage. The basic purpose of this UREP project was to study in detail the planning and management process of urban heritage in Doha. This study had three major objectives to achieve: *To develop feasible means for conservation, planning and management of historic areas in Doha. *To identify and describe the significance as well as the constraints facing urban heritage in Doha. *To promote appreciation and better understanding among the general public toward special consideration of heritage resources and values within a modern development process. An empirical approach was needed and revealed vital to this project in order to collect the necessary information so that objective observations and evaluation could be established. Therefore it was necessary to identify the significance of old Doha and identify constraints and stresses which hindered its appropriate rehabilitation. The research was strategic in the sense that it intended to comprehensively evaluate and compare the current situation of heritage sites in Doha. The study was also important in promoting development of a network system and understanding among many researchers and professionals dealing with heritage conservation. The network system tool of this proposal would also support the work of relevant government and private organizations such as heritage and conservation departments, regional and municipal planning authorities and many heritage interests and research centers.


A variety of natural language tasks require processing of textual data which contains a mix of natural language and formal languages such as mathematical expressions. In this paper, we take unit conversions as an example and propose a data augmentation technique which lead to models learning both translation and conversion tasks as well as how to adequately switch between them for end-to-end localization.


This qualitative study attempted to capture the experiences of parents of children with high-functioning autistic spectrum disorders participating in child-parent relationship therapy (CPRT). Parents of children with high-functioning autistic spectrum disorders (HFASD) are prone to experiencing stress in the parent-child relationship due to difficulty in social understanding and rigid behavioral patterns often found among children with HFASD. Moreover, parents of children with HFASD may feel challenged to find suitable interventions that are time-limited, affordable, and appropriate for parents and children with HFASD. Because no research currently investigates the perceived acceptability of CPRT for parents of children with HFASD, it was decided that a qualitative study would best capture the experiences of parents of children with HFASD participating in CPRT to understand more fully whether CPRT is an appropriate intervention for these parents. Four parents and one grandparent were interviewed prior to and following their participation in 10 sessions of CPRT. Thematic analysis of the pre- and post-intervention interviews as well as the 10 CPRT sessions revealed eight themes related to the parents overall experience of CPRT and change in the parent, child, and parent-child relationship: understanding of CPRT concepts, reactions to CPRT, group dynamic, child characteristics, parent characteristics, knowledge and experiences with HFASD, family context, and parent-child relationship. The emerging themes indicated that the five participants found CPRT to be a useful intervention for developing skills to deal with child-behavior concerns related to HFASD. The participants also reported developing a better understanding of their children with HFASD and four parents reported increased closeness in the parent-child relationship. The implications for this research are that CPRT may offer parents of children with HFASD a time-limited intervention that meets their needs as parents, as well as possibly helping parents and children with HFASD develop increased closeness in the parent-child relationship.


The aim of the study is to foster attitudes to preserving biodiversity and improve learning outcomes for prospective educators through outside classroom learning. The subjects of this study are students of Elementary School Teacher Education Study Program-participants in science lesson elementary school (Biology aspect) in academic year 2017 as many as 33 students, 6 male students, 27 female students. The type of this research is Classroom Action Research conducted for 2 cycles, the research approach is descriptive qualitative. Data analysis is done by data triangulation and percentage. Attitude observation used a Likert scale, observation sheets, and field notes results of a pre-cycle, cycle I and cycle II survey showed an increase in student learning outcomes in the first cycle as much as 77.30% to 100% in cycle II, with an increase in learning outcomes natural science of Elementary School (Biological aspect) Biodiversity material based on presentation of values in the initial condition is only 30.39%, in cycle I it increases to 77.30% and in cycle II it increases to 100%.


In this present experiment the toxicity of fish Cyprinus carpio were exposed in both lethal and sublethal concentration of Cadmium Chloride for (24h, 48h, 72h & 96 hours) were exposed. The acute toxicity (LC50) of Cadmium Chloride was found to be 14 mg/L. One fifth (1/5th, i.e. 2.8 mg/L) of the acute toxicity value was selected as the sub lethal concentration for sub acute test. The present investigation was carried out to study the impact of toxic Cadmium Chloride on the haematological parameters in fresh water fish Cyprinus carpio in both lethal (1, 2, 3, and 4 days) and sub lethal (1, 5, 10, and 15 days) concentration. The blood parameters like Red blood corpuscle (RBC), white blood corpuscle (WBC), Haemoglobin (Hb), Packed cell volume (PCV), Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), Mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) are commonly studied in fishes to assess the impact of Cadmium Chloride in aquatic biota. In Red blood corpuscle at lethal concentration maximum reduction of -65.397% was observed on day 4 and in White blood corpuscle the Maximum count 10.610 x 103 was observed on day 1 under lethal concentration, which later regressed on 2nd, 3rd and 4th day. The anaemia produced due to Cadmium Chloride treatment might be the reasons for the decrease in the RBC count, haemoglobin percentage and haematocrit value at lethal concentration, which therefore clearly suggests the species response to Cadmium Chloride.


The geographical and hydrological characteristics and industrial activities of the Arabian/Persian Gulf contribute to its classification as a stressed marine environment. The persistency of some contaminants released by human activity is putting additional pressure on this already fragile system. Several studies have assessed the chemical contamination levels in Qatari coastal sediments but this is one of a few studies that assessed their eco-genotoxicological impacts, by using cytogenetic endpoints in a local model bivalve species. Bivalves were specifically selected for this study due to their role as filter feeders, high tolerance for harsh environmental conditions, and availability around Qatar. In this project, determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs) and trace metals in surface sediments and pearl oyster -Pinctada radiata- was conducted in samples collected from 3 coastal locations in Qatar: Umm Bab, Dukhan and Al-Wakra. The selected sites were expected to be dissimilar in regard to the chemical pollutant level and contaminants distribution due to the different anthropogenic activities. Initial aneuploidy levels –numerical abnormality in chromosomes- in oysters were examined between December 2015 to February 2016 through randomly selecting 140 well spread metaphases. Metaphases with 26 chromosomes were recorded as diploid or normal and the ones with less or more number of chromosomes considered aneuploidy (Ebied, 1999). The ability of the oysters to adapt in terms of chemical contaminants accumulation and aneuploidy level when moved between sites with different levels of chemical pollution was assessed in the second sampling in April 2016, and using experimental approach with three treatments (control, transplanted, and translocated). The control treatments were collected from the original site and kept there, the transplanted treatments consisted of individuals composed from the other two sites and moved to Al-Wakra and the opposite, while the translocated treatment were the ones moved from Dukhan to Umm Bab and versa vise. Statistical analysis showed significant difference between sediment in the three sites; TPHs concentrated in Umm Bab, higher concentrations of metals found in Dukhan, while PAHs concentrated the most in AL-Wakra. Hydrocarbons and metals were detected in higher doses in oyster tissues collected in first sampling comparing to those analyzed in the second sampling with consistency of accumulating same contaminants. Predation by gastropod whelks caused high mortality of oyster during the second stage of the study especially in Dukhan control while transplanted animals from Al-Wakra were the least selected by gastropods. Mortality rates in Dukhan were generally higher than in other sites, except for oysters transplanted from Al-Wakra to Dukhan. Positive correlation was found between the high levels of contaminants and aneuploidy during the first phase. Unexpectedly, to the usually observed in bivalves, there was a bigger percentage of abnormal cells with chromosomal gain (hyperdiploids) than with chromosomal loss (hypodiploids) in all treatments. Among all the treatments, transplanted oysters showed the lowest level of aneuploidy followed by translocated, then control. In other words: oysters moved from site to another, regardless of the contamination levels at origin and destination, showed some recovery from initial aneuploidy levels. Further research is needed to determine the underlying mechanisms for this pattern.


On 7 April 1944 a Slovakian Jew, Rudolf Vrba (born Walter Rosenberg), and a fellow prisoner, Alfred Wetzler, succeeded in escaping from Auschwitz-Birkenau. As block registrars both men had been allowed relative (though always risky) freedom of movement in the camp and thus had been able to observe the massive preparations underway at Birkenau of the entire killing machine for the eradication of Europe's last remaining Jewish community, the 800,000 Jews of Hungary. The two men somehow made their way back to Slovakia where they sought out the Jewish Council (Judenrat) to warn them of the impending disaster. The Vrba-Wetzler report was the first document about the Auschwitz death camp to reach the free world and to be accepted as credible. Its authenticity broke the barrier of skepticism and apathy that had existed up to that point. However, though their critical and alarming assessment was in the hands of Hungarian Jewish leaders by April 28 or early May 1944, it is doubtful that the information it contained reached more than just a small part of the prospective victims-during May and June 1944, about 437,000 Hungarian Jews boarded, in good faith, the "resettlement" trains that were to carry them off to Auschwitz, where most of them were gassed on arrival. Vrba, who emigrated to Canada at war's end, published his autobiography in England nearly forty years ago. Yet his and Wetzler's story has been carefully kept from Israel's Hebrew-reading public and appears nowhere in any of the history texts that are part of the official curriculum. As Ruth Linn writes, "Israeli Holocaust historiography was to follow the spirit of the court's policy at the Eichmann trial: silencing and removing challenging survivors from the gallery, and muting questions about the role of the Jewish Council in the deportations." In 1998 Linn arranged for publication of the first Hebrew edition of Vrba's memoirs. In Escaping Auschwitz she establishes the chronology of Vrba's disappearance not only from Auschwitz but also from the Israeli Holocaust narrative, skillfully exposing how the official Israeli historiography of the Holocaust has sought to suppress the story.


This article provides an analysis of R (Morris) v Westminster City Council, (Morris) recently upheld by the Court of Appeal. Keith J issued a declaration of incompatibility under section 4 of the Human Rights Act 1998 in respect of section 185(4) of the Housing Act 1996. This provision was found to be incompatible with Article 14 read with Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (the European Convention). The incompatibility arises from the fact that the provision requires the dependent child of a British citizen, where that child is subject to immigration control, to be disregarded when determining whether the British citizen has a priority need for accommodation. The impossibility of a local council considering a British citizen in this position as a priority for housing means that she is discriminated against in her enjoyment of the right to respect for family life, as guaranteed by Article 8. This decision follows the approach of the UK courts to Article 14, as introduced in Wandsworth London Borough Council v Michalak, and developed in later cases, in applying a four-question test for discrimination. However, Morris may well be the last case to use the Michalak questions, as they were disapproved in the House of Lords' decision in R (Carson) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; R (Reynolds) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, decided after Morris. Morris is the one of a series of decisions under the Human Rights Act 1998, and by the European Court of Human Rights, making arguments on economic or social rights by means of Article 14 read with Article 8. The scope of the European Convention is arguably being extended to cover discrimination in the enjoyment of rights which are otherwise not protected by the European Convention, but rather by the European Social Charter. This article evaluates the merits of using discrimination arguments to achieve the implementation of economic and social rights.


The mechanisms of mitosis in higher eukaryotic organisms are very well studied; however, regarding protozoa, there are still many questions in need of an answer. Because of the complexity with which it carries out this process, many forms of mitosis exist, such as open orthomitosis, semi-open orthomitosis, semi-open pleuromitosis, closed intranuclear pleuromitosis, closed intranuclear orthomitosis, and closed extranuclear pleuromitosis. The fascinating aspect about the mitosis of Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites is that it falls out of the context of this classifica-tion, but not entirely. The Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites first carry out karyokinesis and then cytokinesis. The mitosis of this parasite is comprised of the following phases: prophase, metaphase, early and late anaphase, early and late telophase, and karyokinesis. The difference lies in the mechanism by which it carries out the distribution of the genetic material because it forms three mitotic spindles: two radial spindles that practically surround every group of chromosomes and one that we call inter microtubule-organizing centers (IMTOCs). The latter transports each group of chromosomes at each of the nucleus poles. Based on these observations, we propose that Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites carry out a type of mitosis we have called modified intranuclear pleuromitosis open.


INTRODUCTION Marriage seems like an uncomplicated institution at first blush. Many people, beginning in childhood, think that marriage is something for which they should strive as a routine part of adult life. It seems that much of a person's life, particularly in the younger years, is devoted to finding that "special someone." A problem often arises, however, when that special someone is not who society expects, such as when that person is of the same-sex, is transsexual, or the individual is intersex. (1) The topic of marriage then seems to become extremely complicated. Opponents of same-sex marriage argue that marriage should remain limited to a union between one man and one woman. (2) This definition categorically excludes homosexuals, transsexuals, and, presumably, intersex individuals. The most common rationale for limiting marriage in this manner, however, is circular: marriage should be limited to between one man and one woman because that is the way it has always been. (3) Nevertheless, many other long-standing practices have changed to reflect changing social values. (4) The legal limitation on the definition of marriage to the union of a man and a woman has drawn courts into the difficult business of adjudicating sexual identity, raising concerns of fairness and individual freedom. (5) For example, courts have had to determine whether a transsexual is defined by pre or post-operative sexual identity. (6) Even more problematic are situations involving intersex individuals. If a person's genitalia or chromosomes are ambiguous, binary classification into "male" or "female" is virtually impossible. (7) Indeed, an intersex individual may be precluded from legally marrying anyone because she meets the definition of neither man nor woman. (8) Marriage is a fundamental right, (9) therefore, it is questionable that an intersex person could be constitutionally precluded from exercising that right altogether. (10) This entire group of people should not be deprived of their fundamental right to marry merely because they do not fit the definition of "male" or "female." Nevertheless, because they do not fit these definitions, there are considerable problems in determining whom they are legally able to marry. (11) The question then is, who is the "opposite sex" of an intersex person for the purposes of marriage? Part I of this Comment discusses the constitutional protection of the right to marry, intersex conditions, and case law regarding intersex, transsexual, and same-sex marriage. Part II discusses the consequences for marriage when it is narrowly defined, not only for intersex people, homosexuals, and transsexuals, but also for heterosexuals. Part III presents the resolution reached by most courts and proposes an alternative solution. Part III also asserts that because an intersex person is a combination of both male and female characteristics, she should be able to self-designate her gender and, even if she has physical characteristics that are mostly female, (12) be able to marry either a man or a woman. Further, this Comment argues that if an intersex person can marry either a man or a woman, then a male-to-female transsexual and a genetic woman (13) must also be able to marry either a man or a woman because all are similarly situated and must be treated alike under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. I. BACKGROUND A. Constitutional Protection of Marriage 1. The Fundamental Right of Marriage For over sixty years, beginning with Skinner v. Oklahoma, the United States Supreme Court has recognized that the right to marry is a "basic civil right." (14) Generally, classifying a right as a basic civil right means that the exercise of that right cannot be unreasonably burdened by the government. (15) Further, both Loving v. Virginia (16) and Zablocki v. Redhail (17) reaffirmed the Court's holding in Skinner, stating that "marriage is a fundamental right" and giving the right to marry constitutional protection. …


GRID Alternatives,
a non-profit solar contractor, installs solar electric systems for low-income
families. Part of GRID Alternatives' program is to provide solar electric
systems that are designed to replace 75% of the homeowners' electricity usage
with solar power. This leaves 25% of their bill still to be paid. In order to
save our resources, one must first use conservation practices, then energy
efficiency, and then follow-up with renewable energy to cover the rest. GRID
Alternatives Inland Empire (GRID IE) educates our participating homeowners and
community members on this philosophy. However, measuring whether or not our
families have been following this philosophy is hard to prove. It may seem
obvious that if we want to know whether our homeowners are saving energy, we
should look at their energy usage before and after solar. However, this is not
the case with our low-income families that could be using electricity to make
their lives more comfortable. GRID IE developed a survey to be given before
homeowners received their solar systems and started their participation with
GRID Alternatives and the same survey to be given after they have received
their solar systems. This before and after survey (pre-test/post-test) asked
our homeowners to rate their responses to 7 questions on a scale of 1 - 10. The
before and after responses for each person were compared, and as a group, their
differences were calculated to find out if the differences were statistically
significance (within subjects, dependent Z test). 6 out of 7 questions showed
statistical significance. The big picture is that change is happening among our
low-income homeowners and has happened for many of the varied energy saving
methods discussed. It is important to transform energy usage, because the
solution is not just solved with solar.


In the early 2000s, the Catholic Church was revealed to have been involved in a pattern of sexual abuse of children. The Church's internal policies allowed members to cover up the abuse by swearing victims to secrecy and refusing to report the abuse to authorities. This routine arguably enabled further abuse by providing abusers with continued access to children. Due, in part, to the hierarchical structure of the Church, commentators argued for the prosecution of Church leadership. Commentators focused on Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, who was, from 1971 to his elevation to the Holy See in 2005, the individual in the Catholic Church directly responsible for handling accusations of sexual abuse. In April 2010, United Nations Judge Geoffrey Robinson suggested that the Pope be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court for "crimes against humanity" for his role in the scandal. This Comment analyzes the viability of a potential prosecution, considering not only the substantive legal grounds of such a prosecution, but defenses, jurisdictional obstacles, and meaningful outcomes for victims as well. While this Comment concludes that, legally, a prosecutor could make a compelling and potenialy successful case, there are political and practical obstacles to obtaining jurisdiction over the Pope that will likely preclude a case from ever moving forward.


Surface modification of colloidal lignin particles (CLPs), which are obtained from renewable resources, is a plausible route towards novel biomaterials. Here we show that adsorption of cationic lignin onto spherical CLPs produces positively charged particles with tailored properties for the stabilization of Pickering emulsions. The threshold dosing of cationic lignin needed to achieve colloidally stable cationic dispersions was 4% relative to the dry weight of CLPs. Compared to irregular kraft lignin particles or regular CLPs, cationic CLPs stabilized a broader array of durable Pickering emulsions. This all-lignin adsorption process to prepare cationic CLPs is advantageous because it minimizes the consumption of synthetic polymers, and opens new application opportunities for structurally defined nano- and microscale lignin particles.


Mutations in presenilin genes PS1 and PS2 account for ∼50% of early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD). The PS1 and PS2 genes encode highly homologous transmembrane proteins related to theCaenorhabditis elegans sel-12 and spe-4 gene products. A hydrophilic loop region facing the cytoplasmic compartment is likely to be functionally important because at least 14 mutations in FAD patients have been identified in this region. We report here that the loop regions of PS1 and PS2 interact with nonmuscle filamin (actin-binding protein 280, ABP280) and a structurally related protein (filamin homolog 1, Fh1). Overexpression of PS1 appears to modify the distribution of ABP280 and Fh1 proteins in cultured cells. A monoclonal antibody recognizing ABP280 and Fh1 binds to blood vessels, astrocytes, neurofibrillary tangles, neuropil threads, and dystrophic neurites in the AD brain. Detection of ABP280/Fh1 proteins in these structures suggests that these presenilin-interacting proteins may be involved in the development of AD and that interactions between presenilins and ABP280/Fh1 may be functionally significant. The ABP280 gene is located on the human X chromosome, whereas the newly identified Fh1 gene maps to human chromosome 3. These results provide a new basis for understanding the function of presenilin proteins and further implicate cytoskeletal elements in AD pathogenesis.


Approximately 70% of the Australian adult population participates in some form of gambling activity every year and approximately 2.1% of the population may develop gambling problems (Productivity Commission, 2010). However, people from CALD communities may be particularly vulnerable to problem gambling due to pre-existing vulnerabilities, factors related to migration, as well as cultural beliefs. They are often excluded from research for various reasons (e.g. high cost, difficulty recruiting participants; Feldman et al., 2008), resulting in limited and fragmented evidence-based research relating to the experiences and role of gambling in the lives of Australia's CALD communities.This paper will present the findings from the first stage of a qualitative research study to investigate the experiences, attitudes and beliefs about gambling of people from CALD communities, and examine how these cultural perspectives influence their gambling proclivity and their help-seeking behaviour and access to support services. The preliminary findings from a series of key informant interviews with community leaders and service providers to CALD, Chinese- and Tamil-speaking communities be presented, including the examination of challenges in recruitment and gaining trust and overcoming secrecy. These findings will then be used to inform the next stage of the project, which will be to interview members from the Chinese and Tamil speaking communities. It is anticipated that a more comprehensive understanding of the issues will be able to inform strategies and assist organisations within the sector to provide more culturally appropriate support in the future.


Human rights is one of three issues addressed by the Helsinki Accord, alongside security and trade matters. In the mid-seventies the accord was greeted with enthusiasm by the Soviet Union, which saw it as a means to reduce the U.S. presence in Europe. The United States, which played a limited role in drafting the accord, feared it might result in a betrayal of the various nationalities of Eastern Europe by its tacit acceptance of Soviet territorial arrangements. Over the next ten years the human rights section of the accord would become a central point of contention between the superpowers. Korey traces the evolution of the dispute and discusses Gorbachev's uneven attempts to improve the Soviet Union's recognition of human rights.


Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) is one of the most widely used recurrent structures in sequence modeling. It aims to use gates to control information flow (e.g., whether to skip some information or not) in the recurrent computations, although its practical implementation based on soft gates only partially achieves this goal. In this paper, we propose a new way for LSTM training, which pushes the output values of the gates towards 0 or 1. By doing so, we can better control the information flow: the gates are mostly open or closed, instead of in a middle state, which makes the results more interpretable. Empirical studies show that (1) Although it seems that we restrict the model capacity, there is no performance drop: we achieve better or comparable performances due to its better generalization ability; (2) The outputs of gates are not sensitive to their inputs: we can easily compress the LSTM unit in multiple ways, e.g., low-rank approximation and low-precision approximation. The compressed models are even better than the baseline models without compression.


Abstract:
Purpose of the article: The level of unemployment and employee mobility can be considered as one of the
persisting economical problems. Current knowledge economy is based on the quality and productivity of
labour (employees). Employees and their productivity are thus key factor of success of economy. This study
examines causes and consequences of employee mobility and how does it affect economy of state and organisations.
Paper describes based on the content analysis and primary research employee mobility and suggests
practices how to minimize its negative impact.
Methodology/methods: The outputs are listed based upon primary and secondary research. Secondary data
sources were processed from Czech statistical office and content analysis of scientific papers which focus on
remuneration of employee mobility costs. Primary data has been collected in two successive quantitative surveys
by means of questionnaire investigation. The surveys were focus on random sample of employees (who
had already left their jobs).
Scientific aim: The aim of the paper is to reveal costs and consequences of employee mobility and to suggest
recommendations to keep employees in organisations in order to minimize loses, costs and production losings.
Findings: The results show calculation of employee mobility costs. Costs per unemployed employee are
listed. The outputs reflect whether it is just loss of production (employee just exchange job positions) or additional
loss of state caused by receiving unemployment support, lowering of VAT and other related items.
The revealed outputs allow us to assume that employee mobility is quite expensive phenomenon, not just
because of employee turnover cost, but also because of high loss of production in organisations and also in
state economy. All results are counted per employee per year. Finally, recommendations to lower employee
mobility and its costs and losses are listed. Suggestions are based on the results of surveys of employees, who
listed their reasons to leave job positions.
Conclusions: The outcomes provide a specification and consequences of employees' mobility. Further monitoring
of causes and consequences of employee mobility together with greater emphasis into all related practices
is necessary to obtain results for future prognosis.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an acute bout of aerobic exercise on executive functions of cognition, using the Interactive Stroop Effect Test. Men (N=) and women (N=), with a mean age of 22.33±, completed both a congruent and incongruent series on the Interactive Stroop Test before and after exercise. All participants were recreationally trained, exercising on an average of 1.24 hours a day and 4.5 days a week. The exercise bout consisted of running on a treadmill for 20 minutes at a moderate intensity, which was determined by using the Rate of Perceived Exertion scale. To evaluate the effects of exercise on Stroop performance, two paired t-tests were used to compare the means of the pre-exercise and post-exercise tests. Two separate t-tests were run for the congruent and then the incongruent Stroop Tests, which stand independent of each other; therefore the scores of each test were not affected from the participation in the other. The congruent t-test depicted a t-stat of 3.58, which was greater than the tcritical of 1.74. This indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the time taken to complete the test after the exercise bout. The incongruent t-test depicted a t-stat of 5.05, which was greater than the t-critical of 1.73, signifying that there was a statistically significant difference in the time taken to complete the test after the exercise bout. Significance was set a P< 0.05. The congruent test resulted in a P= 0.001 and the incongruent test resulted in a P= 0.00005, suggesting that the results most likely did not occur by chance. Therefore, the results concluded that exercise leads to significant improvement on executive functioning in regards to goal directed behavior and basic cognitive processes.


Amphetamine-dependent patients seeking treatment are diagnosed with ADHD at a significantly higher rate than members of the general population. To study this relationship as it is constructed in everyday life, we draw on membership categorization analysis to examine how individuals account for their candidate memberships in two social categories — `illicit amphetamine user' and `ADHD patient'. We analyse interviews with four drug-dependent individuals, diagnosed with adult ADHD, undergoing detoxification treatment in Perth, Western Australia. Participants formulated their problematic behaviour via membership in the morally neutral category `ADHD patient' and methodically constructed symptoms as predicates of this category, despite the availability of the equally valid alternative category `illicit amphetamine user'. The category `ADHD patient' is shown to be functional: it absolves drug users from responsibility for troublesome conduct, and provides continued access to amphetamines as `medication'. In such cases, the diagnosis of ADHD arguably affords the conditions of possibility for an iatrogenic disorder in that the prescription of ATS medication provides for a morally and legally sanctioned form of drug dependence.


Diverse hypotheses have been proposed to explain artificial cranial modification (ACM) in South America. In the Atacama area (Northern Chile), some studies have concluded that it was used to create a communal identity that could serve to resist, or to form alliances with, different external groups (Inter Site Distinction hypothesis, this work). On the other hand, other studies have suggested that there was a relationship between ACM and the social status and gender of the individuals within the community (Intra Site Distinction hypothesis, this work). These studies, however, have relied mainly on typological methods and the archaeological contexts to which these modification categories are associated have been simplified as well. In this work we use a quantitative multivariate approach to assess the relationship between cranial morphology and funerary context. The modification patterns of populations inhabiting Northern Chile during the Formative (3500-1600 B.P) and Late Intermediate (950-500 B.P.) periods were studied. We analyzed the X-rays of 203 individuals belonging to 7 archaeological sites and, when possible, they were correlated with the corresponding funerary context. The results indicate that cranial morphology correlates with the interaction networks among sites, therefore these results support the Inter Site hypothesis.