In pre-treatment dose verification, low resolution detector systems are unable to identify shifts of individual leafs of high resolution multi leaf collimator (MLC) systems from detected changes in the dose deposition. The goal of this study was to introduce an alternative approach (the shutter technique) combined with a previous described iterative reconstruction method to accurately reconstruct high resolution MLC leaf positions based on low resolution measurements. For the shutter technique, two additional radiotherapy treatment plans (RT-plans) were generated in addition to the original RT-plan; one with even MLC leafs closed for reconstructing uneven leaf positions and one with uneven MLC leafs closed for reconstructing even leaf positions. Reconstructed leaf positions were then implemented in the original RT-plan for 3D dose reconstruction. The shutter technique was evaluated for a 6 MV Elekta SLi linac with 5 mm MLC leafs (Agility™) in combination with the MatriXX Evolution detector with detector spacing of 7.62 mm. Dose reconstruction was performed with the COMPASS system (v2.0). The measurement setup allowed one row of ionization chambers to be affected by two adjacent leaf pairs. Measurements were obtained for various field sizes with MLC leaf position errors ranging from 1.0 mm to 10.0 mm. Furthermore, one clinical head and neck IMRT treatment beam with MLC introduced leaf position errors of 5.0 mm was evaluated to illustrate the impact of the shutter technique on 3D dose reconstruction. Without the shutter technique, MLC leaf position reconstruction showed reconstruction errors up to 6.0 mm. Introduction of the shutter technique allowed MLC leaf position reconstruction for the majority of leafs with sub-millimeter accuracy resulting in a reduction of dose reconstruction errors. The shutter technique in combination with the iterative reconstruction method allows high resolution MLC leaf position reconstruction using low resolution measurements with sub-millimeter accuracy.


The Problem: In developing countries, the most accessible source of treatment for common conditions is often an informal drug shop, where drug sellers are untrained and operations are unmonitored.Purpose: We sought to describe a public–private initiative in Tanzania that created a new class of provider in government-accredited drug outlets, which improved the quality of medicines and pharmaceutical services in previously underserved areas.Key Points: The accredited drug-dispensing outlet program combines changing behavior and expectations of community members who use, own, regulate, and work in drug shops. Success resulted from including community stakeholders from the beginning of the process.Conclusions: Addressing shortages in qualified health care providers by training and accrediting private sector drug dispensers to recognize common conditions and provide quality pharmaceutical products and services is feasible in a developing country, when supported by an appropriate policy and regulatory environment. Scaling up and sustaining the program will be a challenge.


Bubbles are well known to induce variations of acoustic characteristics in water. The bubble size distribution gives significant information for understanding underwater sound propagation and acoustic roles of bubbles in the ocean. Since the conventional acoustic bubble sizing method only considered sound attenuation due to bubbles around resonance frequencies in a bubbly mixture, a bubble size distribution was incoherently estimated. In the present coherent acoustic bubble sizing method, sound speed as well as sound attenuation are considered to have a coherent estimation of bubble size distribution in the bubbly mixture. The present coherent method is proved to describe a bubble size distribution more accurately than the conventional incoherent one. [Work supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation.]


While the maturity of process mining algorithms increases and more process mining tools enter the market, process mining projects still face the problem of different levels of abstraction when comparing events with modeled business activities. Current approaches for event log abstraction try to abstract from the events in an automated way that does not capture the required domain knowledge to fit business activities. This can lead to misinterpretation of discovered process models. We developed an approach that aims to abstract an event log to the same abstraction level that is needed by the business. We use domain knowledge extracted from existing process documentation to semi-automatically match events and activities. Our abstraction approach is able to deal with n:m relations between events and activities and also supports concurrency. We evaluated our approach in two case studies with a German IT outsourcing company.


We investigate whether the occupational productivity and employment status of individuals living in a household with migrants differ from those living in non-migrant households using the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS6) and the Africa Sector Database (ASD). We find that rural households and households with a head in more productive occupations are more likely to have migrant members, and that rural households and households with a head who are waged-employed are more likely to have a migrant than households with members who are self-employed. While these findings are not suprising, we find some more unexpected results. For instance, migrants do not always migrate to more productive occupations; migration can result in downward occupational mobility. Migrants in our sample do not send back much remittances. Migrant-sending households in Ghana are in fact more likely to send remittances to their relatives currently away, than to receive remittances. In an attempt to explain these somewhat puzzling findings, we argue that a motivation for rural households or households with a head in a more productive occupation to send out relatives is to support younger household members to pursue their education elsewhere. Migration is therefore a long(er)-run income-and-occupational diversification strategy of the more productively employed rural households in Ghana.


Recent corporate scandals, together with the effects of globalization, have led to an increasing interest in corporate governance issues. Little attention has been paid, however, to international laws and recommendations dealing with corporate governance in banking from a global perspective. This impressive international set of expert contributors – academics, practitioners and regulators – remedies the lack of attention by examining the various issues and concerns of this important topic.


Introduction Simultaneous recording of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides high spatial and temporal resolution. In this study we combined EEG and fMRI to investigate the structures involved in the processing of different sound pressure levels (SPLs). Methods EEG data were recorded simultaneously with fMRI from 16 healthy volunteers using MR compatible devices at 3 T. Tones with different SPLs were delivered to the volunteers and the N1/P2 amplitudes were included as covariates in the fMRI data analysis in order to compare the structures activated with high and low SPLs. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and ROI analysis were also performed. Additionally, source localisation analysis was performed on the EEG data. Results The integration of averaged ERP parameters into the fMRI analysis showed an extended map of areas exhibiting covariation with the BOLD signal related to the auditory stimuli. The ANOVA and ROI analyses also revealed additional brain areas other than the primary auditory cortex (PAC) which were active with the auditory stimulation at different SPLs. The source localisation analyses showed additional sources apart from the PAC which were active with the high SPLs. Discussion The PAC and the insula play an important role in the processing of different SPLs. In the fMRI analysis, additional activation was found in the anterior cingulate cortex, opercular and orbito-frontal cortices with high SPLs. A strong response of the visual cortex was also found with the high SPLs, suggesting the presence of cross-modal effects.


Wastewater reclamation for municipal irrigation is an increasingly attractive option for extending water supplies. However, public health concerns include the potential for development of antibiotic resistance (AR) in environmental bacteria after exposure to residual pharmaceuticals in reclaimed water. Though scientific studies have reported high levels of AR in soils irrigated with wastewater, these works often fail to address the soil resistome, or the natural occurrence of AR. This study compared AR patterns in sediment Enterococcus isolated from water storage basins containing either reclaimed water or groundwater in central Arizona. Resistance to 16 antibiotics was quantified in isolates to a depth of 30 cm. Results reveal high levels of resistance to certain antibiotics, including lincomycin, ciprofloxacin, and erythromycin, exists in sediments regardless of the water source (groundwater, reclaimed water), and higher AR was not detectable in reclaimed water sediments. Furthermore, multiple-antibiotic-resistance (MAR) was substantially reduced in isolates from reclaimed water sediments, compared to freshwater sediment isolates. Comparing the development of AR in sediment bacteria at these two sites will increase awareness of the environmental and public health impacts of using reclaimed water for irrigation of municipal areas, and illustrates the necessity for control sites in studies examining AR development in environmental microbiota.


The regulation of innovation and the optimal design of legal institutions in an environment of uncertainty are two of the most important policy challenges of the twenty-first century. Innovation is critical to economic growth. Regulatory design decisions and, in particular, competition policy and intellectual property regimes can have profound consequences for economic growth. However, remarkably little is known about the relationship between innovation, competition and regulatory policy. Any legal regime must attempt to assess the trade-offs associated with rules that will affect incentives to innovate, allocative efficiency, competition, and freedom of economic actors to commercialize the fruits of their innovative labors. The essays in this book approach this critical set of problems from an economic perspective, relying on the tools of microeconomics, quantitative analysis and comparative institutional analysis to explore and begin to provide answers to the myriad challenges facing policymakers.


Alderson P, Gadkary C, Signorini DF. Therapeutic hypothermia for head injury. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2004;(4):CD001048.

 Q Does mild induced hypothermia reduce mortality and improve long term function in patients with moderate to severe head injury?

### ![Graphic][1] Data sources:

Medline, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Cochrane Injuries Group Specialised Register, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (all to 2001); hand searches of conference proceedings and reference lists of relevant trials and review articles; and investigators in the field.

### ![Graphic][2] Study selection and assessment:

randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared mild therapeutic hypothermia (local or systemic therapeutic cooling [using a fluid filled cooling blanket, a "Bear Hugger" air cooling device, ice water lavage, or combination, or other method] to a target temperature ⩽34–35°C for ⩾12 hours beginning on admission to the intensive care unit or when intracranial pressure [ICP] became uncontrollable by conventional management) with control (open or normothermia) in patients with any closed head injury requiring hospital admission. Individual study quality was assessed based on allocation concealment and blinding …

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ABSTRACT The hypoxia-inducible factors 1α (HIF-1α) and 2α (HIF-2α) have extensive structural homology and have been identified as key transcription factors responsible for gene expression in response to hypoxia. They play critical roles not only in normal development, but also in tumor progression. Here we report on the differential regulation of protein expression and transcriptional activity of HIF-1α and -2α by hypoxia in immortalized mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs). We show that oxygen-dependent protein degradation is restricted to HIF-1α, as HIF-2α protein is detected in MEFs regardless of oxygenation and is localized primarily to the cytoplasm. Endogenous HIF-2α remained transcriptionally inactive under hypoxic conditions; however, ectopically overexpressed HIF-2α translocated into the nucleus and could stimulate expression of hypoxia-inducible genes. We show that the factor inhibiting HIF-1 can selectively inhibit the transcriptional activity of HIF-1α but has no effect on HIF-2α-mediated transcription in MEFs. We propose that HIF-2α is not a redundant transcription factor of HIF-1α for hypoxia-induced gene expression and show evidence that there is a cell type-specific modulator(s) that enables selective activation of HIF-1α but not HIF-2α in response to low-oxygen stress.


This paper presents an examination of the applicability of catastrophe theory to crowd flow modeling. The approach taken is based on video MV analysis. The collected results indicate that catastrophe theory could be applicable to the development of a crowd flow model but further validation, using a non-video based approach, is required.


Introduction. 1 Concept of the Book. 2 Measuring in Psychology. 2.1 Types of psychological measurements. 2.2 Measurement techniques in psychological assessment. 2.3 Quality criteria in psychometrics. 2.4 Additional psychological measurement techniques. 2.5 Statistical models of measurement with psychological roots. 3 Psychology: An Empirical Science. 3.1 Gain of insight in psychology. 3.2 Steps of empirical research. 4 Definition: Character, Chance, Experiment, and Survey. 4.1 Nominal scale. 4.2 Ordinal scale. 4.3 Interval scale. 4.4 Ratio scale. 4.5 Characters and factors. II Descriptive Statistics. 5 Numerical and graphical Data Analysis. 5.1 Introduction to data analysis. 5.2 Frequencies and empirical distributions. 5.3 Statistics. 5.4 Frequency distribution for several characters. III Inferential Statistics for one Character. 6 Probability and distribution. 6.1 Relative frequencies and probabilities. 6.2 Random variable and theoretical distributions. 6.3 Quantiles of theoretical distribution functions. 6.4 Mean and variance of theoretical distributions. 6.5 Estimation of unknown parameters. 7 Assumptions: Random Sampling and Randomization. 7.1 Simple random sampling in surveys. 7.2 Principles of random sampling and randomization. 8 One Sample from one Population. 8.1 Introduction. 8.2 The Parameter mof acharacter modeled by a normally distributed random variable. 8.3 Planning a study for hypothesis testing with respect to m. 8.4 Sequential tests for the unknown parameter m. 8.5 Estimation, hypothesis testing, planning the study, and sequential testing concerning other parameters. 9 Two Samples from two Populations. 9.1 Hypothesis testing, study planning and sequential testing regarding the unknown parameters m1 and m2. 9.2 Hypothesis testing, study planning and sequential testing for other parameters. 9.3 Equivalence testing. 10 Samples from more than two Populations. 10.1 The various problem situations. 10.2. Selection procedures. 10.3 Multiple comparisons of means. 10.4 Analysis of variance. IV Descriptive and Inferential Statistics for two Characters. 11 Regression and Correlation. 11.1 Introduction. 11.2 Regression model. 11.3 Correlation coefficients and measures of association. 11.4 Hypothesis testing and planning the study concerning correlation coefficients. 11.5 Correlation analysis in two samples. V Inferential Statistics for more than two Characters. 12 One Sample from one Population. 12.1 Association between three or more characters. 12.2 Hypothesis testing concerning a vector of means m. 12.3 Comparisons of means and "homological" methods for matched observations. 13 Samples from more than one Population. 13.1 General linear model. 13.2 Analysis of covariance. 13.3. Multivariate analysis of variance. 13.4 Discriminant analysis. VI Model Generation and Theory-Generating Procedures. 14 Model Generation. 14.1 Theoretical basics of model generation. 14.2 Methods for determining the quality and excellence of a model. 14.2.1 Goodness of fit tests. 14.2.2 Coefficients of the goodness of fit. 14.2.3 Cross-validation. 14.4 Simulation: Non-analytical solutions to statistical problems. 15 Theory-Generating Procedures. 15.1 Descriptive statistics' methods. 15.2 Methods of inferential statistics.


The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between hydration status as measured by salivary osmolality and personal hydration habits, selected demographic characteristics, and performance on a walking and balance test in older community-dwelling adults. This study used a descriptive observational design in a convenience sample of multiethnic, community-dwelling older adults (N = 53). We collected saliva for analysis on 3 days both in the morning and early afternoon, along with a hydration habit questionnaire, get up and go test and demographic information. An exploratory factor analysis of the hydration habit questionnaire revealed a two-factor solution including physical barriers and psychological barriers to drinking fluids. A linear mixed-model approach revealed that time of day (p < .01), race (p = .015), mobility (p < .01), and cognitive barriers (p = .023) are all significant predictors of salivary osmolality among noninstitutionalized seniors. There is also a significant interaction between psychological barriers to drinking fluids and time of day (p < .01). Average salivary osmolality was higher in this group of older adults than has been reported in younger adults. Controlling for all other variables, salivary osmolality is higher in the morning than in the afternoon, lower among Black or African American seniors than among White or Caucasian seniors, and higher among seniors with decreased mobility. An interaction between psychological barriers and salivary osmolality showed that those participants with more psychological barriers to drinking had higher salivary osmolality in the morning and an inverse relationship in the afternoon.


We report a new point-by-point stylus profilometer for efficient form assessment for large and curved optical surfaces. The system consists of a laser reference system and a low contact force type stylus system. For laser datum referencing, the freely propagated laser beam is monitored by a nulling quadrant photodiode mounted on a flexure system with hybrid actuators, which also carries interferometer reference optics for vertical displacement measurement. The compensation accuracy of the reference system is within 10 nm for the external disturbance of 0.7 μm. The stylus system adapts a hybrid type of plunger and pivot for the long travel length of approximately 30 mm and a low contact force of 70 mg. This probe system shows a repeatability of less than 10 nm for 1 for up to 8.1 degrees of slope. The performance of the reference and probe systems was measured. The results demonstrate its applicability for the form measurement of large and curved optical surfaces both ground and polished during the fabrication process.


Congress has expressly directed the United States Sentencing Commission to ensure that the federal sentencing guidelines make allowances for sentences other than imprisonment for certain first-time offenders. The aim of this Article is to demystify the criminal history categories used in that process, to create a working definition of the "first-time federal offender," and to establish whether, as an empirical matter, such individuals are commonly imprisoned in federal correctional facilities. The data shows that a substantial number of offenders who have no prior convictions are lumped together with offenders who may be recidivists or who may have prior violent felonies. This Article proposes modifications to the criminal history categories, recommending the establishment of a guided downward departure for true first-time offenders, or, in the alternative, creating a new criminal history category for those same offenders.


The focus of this article are lump sum and regular investments on selected world stock markets in the period from 1990 to 2010 for different investment horizons.
The aim of this Paper is to compare and evaluate lump sum and regular investments on world stock markets according to the return-risk profile in the period from 1990 to 2010 for different investment horizons. The following world stock markets were chosen: US stock market (S&P 500 Total Return index), European stock market (S&P Europe 350 Total Return index) and Japan stock market (S&P TOPIX 150 Total Return index).
The Methodology used in this Paper is based on the quantification of return and risk indicators for different investment horizons. As these horizonts were chosen: 1 year, 3 years, 5 years and 10 years. All Indices are used in total return form, i.e. dividends and their reinvesting on the same market are included. Standard deviation is used as the risk indicator and internal rate of return is used as the return indicator.
Lump sum investments brought better (higher) values of the return-risk profile than regular investment through the value averaging method made during the same period on the same market, mostly over long term investment horizons. Over shorter investment horizons, lump sum was still bringing better results, but risk was always higher than the return.
As this Paper has shown, even when the results of the return-risk profile of regular investment with value averaging method were not better than for lump sum investment strategy, investments with this method can be still clearly recommended as a method reducing the timing risk for long-term growing stock markets.


Accurate time estimation is crucial for many human activities and necessitates the use of working memory, in which the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays a critical role. We tested the hypothesis that the DLPFC is activated in participants attempting time estimations that require working memory. Specifically, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate prefrontal cortical activity in the brains of individuals performing a prospective time production task. We measured cerebral hemodynamic responses in 26 healthy right-handed university students while they marked the passage of specified time intervals (3, 6, 9, 12, or 15 s) or performed a button-pressing (control) task. The behavioral results indicated that participants' time estimations were accurate with minimal variability. The fNIRS data showed that activity was significantly higher in the right DLPFC during the time estimation task compared to the control task. Theoretical considerations and the results of this study suggest that DLPFC activation resulting from time estimation indicates that the working memory system is in use.


High occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, also known as carpool lanes and diamond lanes, are designated for use by carpoolers, transit riders, ridesharers, and motorcyclists that meet the occupancy requirement. By restricting access, the HOV lanes benefit users by allowing them to travel the freeway system at a faster speed, thus saving time and experiencing greater travel time reliability in comparison to motorists on general purpose (GP) lanes. To accurately evaluate the system's effectiveness, a state policy requires an annual HOV system report to document system performance, examining the HOV lanes' person-carrying capability, travel time savings, and trip reliability benefits in comparison to adjacent GP lanes, as well as the lanes' violation rates. This report describes the results of an extensive monitoring effort of HOV lane use and performance in the Puget Sound area in 2000. It presents an analysis of data collected to describe the number of people and vehicles that use those lanes, the reliability of the HOV lanes, travel time savings in comparison to GP lanes, violation rates, and public perceptions. This information is intended to serve as reliable input for transportation decision makers and planners in evaluating the impact and adequacy of the existing HOV lane system in the Puget Sound area and in planning of other HOV facilities. Descriptions of the tool set and methodology for analyzing HOV facility usage and performance in terms of vehicle and person throughput, travel time, and speed reliability measures are provided in a separate report, "Evaluation Tools for HOV Lanes Performance Monitoring."


The present study attempted to quantitatively summarize the psychological, physiological, and ergogenic effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS)s in healthy humans. Using the format of a meta-analysis, data from 127 studies and 35 outcomes was converted into 894 effect sizes and summarized across studies. In order to account for any significant variability within effect sizes, each finding was coded for 15 moderator variables. Unfortunately, due to a lack of adequate findings, no psychological outcome was included in the analysis. As indicated by the magnitude of the average effect size, large negative treatment effects of AASs were observed for sperm concentration, testicle size, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone. Moderate positive treatment effects were observed for lean body mass, thigh circumference, bench press, and squat; while moderate negative effects were found for Apo-AI, high-density lipoprotein, sex hormone binding-globulin, and albumin. Small positive treatment effects were observed for hemoglobin, hematocrit, body weight, biceps circumference, low-density lipoprotein, serum estrogen, and serum testosterone. Significant heterogeneity among effect sizes for high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), estrogen (E2), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and testosterone (T) indicated that these findings were not reliable and that further analysis of moderator variables was required. In general, type of drug and route of administration were identified as being the two most important moderators of variability in the six heterogeneous outcomes. Specifically, testosterone and its esters produced higher serum levels of HDL, E2, and T and lower levels of LDL and LH than other synthetic steroids. Also, when compared with oral compounds, the use of parenterally-administered steroids resulted in higher serum levels of T and lower levels of FSH and LH. Models incorporating indicators of study quality and subjects' experience with AASs along with treatment variables (i.e., drug, form, dose, and cycle length) sufficiently accounted for the heterogeneity in HDL, LDL, and FSH. However, excess heterogeneity in effect sizes prevents conclusions of any certainty being made about the relationship between AASs and E2, LH, or T


This thesis investigates the issue of abstraction and spirituality in the development of my Master of Visual Arts Project. I aim to acknowledge and integrate the various influences on the development of this body of work. Over the last twelve months I have worked intermittently at Numbulwar School in the Gulf of Carpentaria. These trips have provided inspiration for the development of Occean as has my residency at Darwin High School where my studio overlooks the sea. I begin by exploring the development of Modernism and abstraction as deriving from nature. The abstraction of Occean maintains close links to the natural environment of the Top End, retaining a classical basis for the work. I acknowledge the influence of Romanticism and notions of the sublime and examine their contemporary value in painting. These canons provide the basis for Occean, however the impact of place plays a pivotal role upon my work. The cultural and physical landscape of the Top End provides a rich and fertile environment that challenges traditional European concepts of both abstraction and spirituality.


Effective leadership is still a subject of much research, but it seems that the questions of
what is an effective leadership and how to be an effective leader, still remain. In order to
address this issue, the transformation of leaders in terms of self-development, attitude, their
perception and behaviour is necessary in order to help leaders cope with the uncertainties
and continuous change in business environments. This research investigates the role of
meditation for enhancing emotional intelligence and self-perception of leadership skills of
executives.
An experimental research involving 80 executives in Bangkok and 64 executives in London
has been conducted for 12 weeks in each city. Study participants have been divided into
two groups: an experimental group and a control group. Experimental groups in Bangkok
and London had 40 and 32 participants respectively from different organisations. Through
testing the two groups of executives, this research explored the differences between
executives in an experimental group who practised an one-hour meditation for every week
for 12 weeks, and executives from the control group who were merely monitored. All
research participants in both groups completed 125 items EQ-i Bar-On Emotional Quotient
Inventory (Bar-On EQ-i) as well as 25 items of Self-perception of Leadership Skills
Inventory before the start of the first session, and after the last session.
Results of the overall test for analysis using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA)
showed that the Wilks Lambda multivariate tests of overall differences obtained for
experimental groups in both Bangkok and London were statistically significant (p<.05).
This implies that there are statistically proven significant differences in emotional
intelligence and self-perception of leadership skills simultaneously due to meditation
practice within experimental groups. Furthermore, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
showed a particular impact was made on the management of stress, intrapersonal awareness
and motivating people. Meditation helps to gradually cultivate mindful awareness and
concentration, resulting in a direct effect of enhancing emotional intelligence and selfperception
of leadership skills. Insight competence resulting from meditation, if utilised in
an appropriate way, can be a potential tool for enhancing the skills of business leaders.


The search for the optimal size of political systems is one of the most enduring in political thought. Given the validity of arguments for and against small units, one might expect variation in rearrangements of unit sizes. However, the reform trend is uniform: units, often at the local level, are amalgamated to harvest scale effects. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the argument on economies of scale in the economic costs of running political systems. Our testing ground is a recent Danish reform. It allows us to avoid endogeneity problems often facing researchers of size reforms. The reform was directed by the central government and constitutes an exogenous shock to 239 municipalities, whereas 32 municipalities were left untouched. We thus have a quasi-experiment with pre- and posttreatment observations for both an experiment and a control group. Our findings show that scale effects, measured as administrative costs per inhabitant, are considerable.


Purpose. The aim of this study was to evaluate different approaches to scoring the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25) in patients with low vision including scoring by the standard method, by Rasch analysis, and by use of an algorithm created by Massof to approximate Rasch person measure. Subscale validity and use of a 7-item short form instrument proposed by Ryan et al. were also investigated. Methods. NEI VFQ-25 data from 50 patients with low vision were analyzed using the standard method of summing Likert-type scores and calculating an overall average, Rasch analysis using Winsteps software, and the Massof algorithm in Excel. Correlations between scores were calculated. Rasch person separation reliability and other indicators were calculated to determine the validity of the subscales and of the 7-item instrument. Results. Scores calculated using all three methods were highly correlated, but evidence of floor and ceiling effects was found with the standard scoring method. None of the subscales investigated proved valid. The 7-item instrument showed acceptable person separation reliability and good targeting and item performance. Conclusions. Although standard scores and Rasch scores are highly correlated, Rasch analysis has the advantages of eliminating floor and ceiling effects and producing interval-scaled data. The Massof algorithm for approximation of the Rasch person measure performed well in this group of low-vision patients. The validity of the subscales VFQ-25 should be reconsidered.


In this article, we summarize the methodology and the results of our 2-year-long efforts to construct a comprehensive WordNet for Turkish. In our approach, we mine a dictionary for synonym candidate pairs and manually mark the senses in which the candidates are synonymous. We marked every pair twice by different human annotators. We derive the synsets by finding the connected components of the graph whose edges are synonym senses. We also mined Turkish Wikipedia for hypernym relations among the senses. We analyzed the resulting WordNet to highlight the difficulties brought about by the dictionary construction methods of lexicographers. After splitting the unusually large synsets, we used random walk–based clustering that resulted in a Zipfian distribution of synset sizes. We compared our results to BalkaNet and automatic thesaurus construction methods using variation of information metric. Our Turkish WordNet is available online.


The paper is about the automatic structuring of multiparty meetings using audio information. We have used a corpus of 53 meetings, recorded using a microphone array and lapel microphones for each participant. The task was to segment meetings into a sequence of meeting actions, or phases. We have adopted a statistical approach using dynamic Bayesian networks (DBNs). Two DBN architectures were investigated: a two-level hidden Markov model (HMM) in which the acoustic observations were concatenated; and a multistream DBN in which two separate observation sequences were modelled. We have also explored the use of counter variables to constrain the number of action transitions. Experimental results indicate that the DBN architectures are an improvement over a simple baseline HMM, with the multistream DBN with counter constraints producing an action error rate of 6%.


About 50 million of the U.S. adult population suffer from chronic pain. It is a complex disease in its own right for which currently available analgesics have been deemed woefully inadequate since ~20% of the sufferers derive no benefit. Vitamin D, known for its role in calcium homeostasis and bone metabolism, is thought to be of clinical benefit in treating chronic pain without the side-effects of currently available analgesics. A strong correlation between hypovitaminosis D and incidence of bone pain is known. However, the potential underlying mechanisms by which vitamin D might exert its analgesic effects are poorly understood. In this review, we discuss pathways involved in pain sensing and processing primarily at the level of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and the potential interplay between vitamin D, its receptor (VDR) and known specific pain signaling pathways including nerve growth factor (NGF), glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and opioid receptors. We also discuss how vitamin D/VDR might influence immune cells and pain sensitization as well as review the increasingly important topic of vitamin D toxicity. Further in vitro and in vivo experimental studies will be required to study these potential interactions specifically in pain models. Such studies could highlight the potential usefulness of vitamin D either alone or in combination with existing analgesics to better treat chronic pain.


The principal complex refractive indices for gypsum have been derived in the infrared region of the spectrum. These values were obtained by dispersion analysis of the reflection spectra for E ‖ b and the a-c (monoclinic) plane. Two sets of complex indices are obtained for the latter plane, taking account of axis wander. The oscillator parameters are presented here, together with formulas for calculating the optical constants at any desired infrared frequency. In addition the usefulness of such optical constants for modeling the infrared properties of powders is demonstrated for gypsum and spodumene.


In this paper we advance the state-of-the-art for crowd counting in high density scenes by further exploring the idea of a fully convolutional crowd counting model introduced by (Zhang et al., 2016). Producing an accurate and robust crowd count estimator using computer vision techniques has attracted significant research interest in recent years. Applications for crowd counting systems exist in many diverse areas including city planning, retail, and of course general public safety. Developing a highly generalised counting model that can be deployed in any surveillance scenario with any camera perspective is the key objective for research in this area. Techniques developed in the past have generally performed poorly in highly congested scenes with several thousands of people in frame (Rodriguez et al., 2011). Our approach, influenced by the work of (Zhang et al., 2016), consists of the following contributions: (1) A training set augmentation scheme that minimises redundancy among training samples to improve model generalisation and overall counting performance; (2) a deep, single column, fully convolutional network (FCN) architecture; (3) a multi-scale averaging step during inference. The developed technique can analyse images of any resolution or aspect ratio and achieves state-of-the-art counting performance on the Shanghaitech Part B and UCF CC 50 datasets as well as competitive performance on Shanghaitech Part A.


In this leading text, Walter LaFeber offers a comprehensive history of American foreign relations from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. His narrative account features several major themes: the connections between U.S. foreign policy and domestic politics; the impact of American economic development on foreign policy interests; popular culture, particularly film, as a filter for public opinion on American commitments abroad; the roles of public opinion, leadership, and bureaucracy in the formation of policy.


Palm oil processing waste which is palm oil kernel shell (POKS) was converted to activated carbon (POKS AC) through 7 min microwave pyrolysis at temperature 270 °C followed by chemical activation using NaOH and HCl. The adsorption study on Ni(II), Cu(II) and Cr(IV) was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the prepared activated carbon to remove heavy metal. The adsorption capacity was determined as a function of adsorbate initial concentration and adsorbent dosage. Based on Langmuir isotherm, Ni(II) showed highest adsorption capacity of 40.98 mg/g, followed by Cr(IV) and Cu(II) with adsorption capacity of 40.60 mg/g and 13.69 mg/g, respectively. Cr(IV) and Cu(II) showed better fitting to Freundlich isotherm model with high correlation regression indicating the applicability of heterogeneous adsorption. Ni(II) show better fitting with Langmuir isotherm that indicate monolayer coverage. The use of POKS AC is not only effective for adsorption of Cr(IV), Ni(II) and Cu(II) in aqueous solution but also helps to overcome the over abundance of POKS waste problem.


A new eigenfilter-based novelty detection approach to find abnormalities in random textures is presented. The proposed algorithm reconstructs a given texture twice using a subset of its own eigenfilter bank and a subset of a reference (template) eigenfilter bank, and measures the reconstruction error as the level of novelty. We then present an improved reconstruction generated by structurally matched eigenfilters through rotation, negation, and mirroring. We apply the method to the detection of defects in textured ceramic tiles. The method is over 90% accurate, and is fast and amenable to implementation on a production line.


A field experiment was carried out in one of the fields located in Al Muthanna Governorate / Samawa district / Mohamed Ali region in sedimentary soil with Silt Clay in the autumn season of 2018 To study the effect of Azotobacter chroococcum, Azospirillum brasilense, poultry residue in ammonium concentration and growth of white maize(Plant height, dry matter weight, available soil content of ammonium) The experiment was designed using a three-replicated (R.C.B.D) experiment. Experimental factors included two levels of Azospirillum brasilense (infection and without infection) and two levels of Azotobacter chroococcum (infection and no infection) and three levels of poultry waste (0.3, 5)T.ha-1   Respectively, and sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench was cultured on 23/7/2018. The results of the field experiment can be summarized as follows:

A baselines injection was given a significant increase in plant length, dry matter content and the soil content of ammonium  concentration at the time of flowering  Reaching 204.08 cm,  784 T.h-1 , 77.48 mg NH-4 kg-1 soil respectively compared to the control treatment.

A single bacterial infection with A. chroococcum gave a significant increase in all the above traits, reaching 204.59 cm, 1.785 T.ha-1,77.73 (mg NH4-kg-1 soil), respectively, compared with control treatment.

The level of 5 t .h - 1 of the poultry residues increased significantly in all the above qualities, reaching 206.93 cm and 1.88 T.ha-1 , 78.78 mg NH4-kg-1 soil, respectively, compared to control treatment.

Interval treatment (A.brasilense + 5 T.h -1 poultry waste) significantly increased dry matter content and the soil content of ammonium during the period of flowering amounted to 2.00 t.h-1,  38 mg NH4 - kg-1 soil, respectively compared with the control treatment.

Treatment of interaction (A.chroococcum + 5 T. h-1 Poultry residues) significant increase in the soil content of ammonium during the period of flowering amounted to 81.66 (mg NH4- Kg -1 soil) compared to control treatment.

The treatment was of  interaction duple  (A.brasilense + A.chroococcum) gave a significant increase in the dry matter yield of 1.89 t.ha-1 .

the treatment of the tripal interaction was given significant increase ( Abrasilense + A.chroococcum + 5 t. h-1 Poultry residues )significant increase in all of the above characteristics Reaching 216.60 cm and 2.14 tons., 83.68 (mg NH4 kg-1 soil), respectively, compared to the control treatment, Which gave a lower set.


Marie Prisland came to the United States in 1906 as a fifteen year old girl. In 1926 she founded Slovenian Women s Union of America and was its national president for twenty years. In 1929 she created a magazine Zarja - The Dawn, which became the official publication of the Women's Union and to which she contributed regularly. She was active in different Slovenian-American organizations and wrote for many newspapers and magazines in Slovenia and America throughout her life. She strived for the preservation of Slovenian culture and tradition but also for the progress and development of Slovenian communities. The text shows how strong was her determination to help Slovenian migrant women in the United States to obtain the position of authority and respect. As much as she wished to preserve the traditional gender roles, she believed that only a changed, respected Slovenian woman with authority could become a part of the history of Slovenians in the States and in the homeland.


We consider the problem of survivable minimum power bidirectional topology optimization in wireless networks with sectored antennas. In this paper, we take an algebraic view of graph connectivity, which is defined as the second smallest eigenvalue of the laplacian matrix of a graph. We propose a (sub-optimal) centralized heuristic procedure for constructing power efficient K-node connected topologies. The procedure comprises a construction phase and an improvement phase. The construction phase is based on Kruskal's algorithm for the minimum spanning tree (MST) problem. However, unlike Kruskal's MST algorithm which chooses minimum cost edges from a set of edge weights, our algorithm uses an incremental cost mechanism to select edges. This incremental cost mechanism is motivated by the inherently broadcast nature of the wireless medium. The topology improvement phase is used to remove non-essential edges from the construction phase, without affecting the desired connectivity.


Our societies are undergoing a process of transformation entailing new challenges. One of these challenges includes the urgency to address certain needs that arise from the rate of change affecting the multilingual and multicultural societies in which we live. In turn, new technologies, which involve the inevitable creation of new terms, are evolving rapidly as we try to incorporate them into our daily business. We live, therefore, with terminology, whether we are experts or not. In fact, there are a number of institutions with which we have an almost daily relationship and which have their own specialised languages. The question is how to handle these situations, what problems arise therein, and what the most immediate solutions are when this kind of event occurs in environments where terminology, specialised languages, and less widely used languages come into play. Throughout this chapter, and using all of the available information relevant to this matter, I will attempt to answer the following questions: Is specialised language used as part of the interaction between service providers and external users in the public services sector? How do participants handle such specific terminology? What types of documentation do mediators/translators and interpreters have access to? What strategies do they use when translating concepts or expressions into the target language? How reliable is their work? Is special training required? Are there specialised resources in less widely spoken languages that meet those needs?


The coniferous tree species Athrotaxis cupressoides
and Athrotaxis selaginoides and a probable hybrid, A.
laxifolia, form the genus Athrotaxis, which is endemic to
Tasmania. These species are found in a wide range of
cool temperate rainforest, subalpine scrub, and alpine
heath communities in central, western, and southern
Tasmania. Athrotaxis species are slow growing, extremely
long lived, and very fire sensitive.
The floristic composition, site characteristics, and
demographic structure of Athrotaxis populations were
investigated at 57 rainforest and subalpine scrub stands
dominated by either A. cupressoides or A. selaginoides.
The distribution of A. cupressoides largely coincides
with those areas occupied by trees where extreme frosts
are most common. In areas where both species occur, A.
cupressoides is more likely to be found at higher
altitudes or in cold valley bottoms. Subsequent trials
demonstrated that A. cupressoides seedlings are more
frost resistant than A. selaginoides seedlings. Field
observations and preliminary experimental investigations
indicated that neither differences in drought resistance
nor tolerance to waterlogging are important in
determining the relative distributions of these two
species.
For both species seed dispersal is restricted to
areas within a few tens of metres of parent trees, except
when seeds fall into flowing water. The demographic
structure of Athrotaxis populations is strongly related
to the floristic composition of the communities in which
they are found. A. selaginoides relies on gap formation
or catastrophic disturbance for regeneration
opportunities in forests dominated by evergreen species
(thamnic and callidendrous rainforests). However, in

forests containing a high proportion of the deciduous
tree, Nothofagus.gunnii, (implicate rainforests) and in
subalpine scrub communities A. selaginoides regenerates
continuously. A. cupressoides regenerates continuously
in open montane rainforests, often by producing root
suckers. This species is also capable of regeneration
following catastrophic disturbance. However, stands of
A. cupressoides on the Central Plateau of Tasmania have
no, or low, numbers of seedling sized individuals.
Trials suggest that this regeneration failure is due to
grazing by both introduced and native mammals. In
undisturbed thamnic and implicate rainforests the species
cannot regenerate successfully. Demographic structure
and floristic composition of these communities indicates
that they are seral stages in a succession from open
montane to thamnic and implicate communites without A.
cupressoides.
It is probable that the colder conditions and a
higher incidence of catastrophic disturbance during full
glacial and interstadial climates would have been
advantageous to Athrotaxis species. However, the loss of
Athrotaxis populations and lack of regeneration in many
cases must be attributed to the activites of Europeans in
Tasmania and not to an inability to survive under the
present climate.


This book examines, for the first time, the history of the social, cultural, political and economic presence of the French in London, and explores the multiple ways in which this presence has contributed to the life of the city. The capital has often provided a place of refuge, from the Huguenots in the 17th century, through the period of the French Revolution, to various exile communities during the 19th century, and on to the Free French in the Second World War. It also considers the generation of French citizens who settled in post-war London, and goes on to provide insights into the contemporary French presence by assessing the motives and lives of French people seeking new opportunities in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. It analyses the impact that the French have had historically, and continue to have, on London life in the arts, gastronomy, business, industry and education, manifest in diverse places and institutions from the religious to the political via the educational, to the commercial and creative industries.


Introduction.  Following the suicide of a 4th-year medical student, questions were raised as to whether medical students are more vulnerable to depression and suicide than their counterparts studying other courses at the University of Pretoria. A literature search revealed that medical students and doctors run a higher risk for suicide than other students and professions. Method.  A questionnaire was devised and distributed to medical students and a control group of other students, asking about feelings of despair/hopelessness, suicide ideation and previous attempts, knowledge regarding support structures provided by the university, and willingness to use these structures. Results.  Both groups of students responded similarly to all questions. Frequency of diagnosed psychiatric illness, use of medication, and suicidal thoughts and attempts did not differ significantly. Both groups of students were unaware of support services offered by the university, and both were unwilling to utilise such services. The students seemed to have high rates of depression in comparison with prevalence data from other countries. Conclusion.  Attempts to improve support for medical students should address students' awareness of available support structures and their willingness to utilise them.


Antimicrobial treatment is the cornerstone of infection treatment, and the selection of appropriate antibiotic treatment for critically ill patients is challenging. Clinicians working with critically ill patients usually feel a greater obligation towards their patient than towards maintenance of the delicate ecological balance of prevalent microbiological threats and their resistance patterns. Although antibiotic overtreatment is a frequent phenomenon, patient outcomes need not be compromised when antibiotic treatment is driven by informed decision-making.At the 2016 Euro Anaesthesia Conference (London, UK), the European Society of Anaesthesia Intensive Care Scientific Subcommittee convened an expert panel on antibiotic therapy. This article summarises the main conclusions of the panel, namely the principles of antibiotic therapy that all physicians working with critically ill patients must know.


Tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever encountered. The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence of nicotine dependence among university students in Jordan and assess factors associated with this dependence.
A cross-sectional study using simple random sampling was conducted among university students from 3 public and 3 private universities selected for their convenience from central, middle, and east Jordan via administering a questionnaire between October 2016 and January 2017. The total number of participants was 892.
The overall nicotine dependence was 51.2%. Correlates to nicotine dependence were studying at an undergraduate level (OR=3.6; 95% CI: 1.4-8.1); studying humanities (OR=1.73; 95% CI: 1.2-2.1); existing of a smoking family member (OR=1.63; 95% CI: 1.5-1.9); starting smoking before age of 15 years (OR=1.60; 95% CI: 1.2-2.1); water pipe smoking (OR=1.48; 95% CI: 1.1-2.0); and studying at governmental universities (OR=1.36; 95% CI: 1.0-1.8).
Several socio-demographic characteristics had an impact on nicotine dependence. Future research is necessary to further improve our understanding of motives for smoking and dependence.


Based on data commissioned by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and gathered and analysed by JPR's academic team, this is the first in a series of reports looking at the perceptions and experiences of antisemitism among Jews in different EU Member States.

This report, focusing on Jews in the UK, demonstrates that Jews feel more secure in the UK than elsewhere, but that Orthodox Jews are measurably more anxious about, and susceptible to antisemitic incidents, than non-Orthodox Jews.

It shows that over half of all Orthodox Jews in Britain are worried about becoming a victim of an antisemitic act, and that they are more than twice as likely as non-Orthodox Jews to have experienced antisemitic harassment or discrimination.

Close to two-thirds of Orthodox Jews believe antisemitism to be a problem in the UK, compared with under half of non-Orthodox Jews, and four in ten of the Orthodox avoid certain places out of fear for their safety as Jews, compared to a quarter of the non-Orthodox.

However, in general, the report shows that levels of antisemitism in the UK are significantly lower than in other Western European countries, and that Jews in Britain feel noticeably less anxious about it than elsewhere on the continent.

Further issues explored in the report include data on how Jews define antisemitism, levels of reporting of different types of antisemitic incidents, and attitudes towards legislation on brit milah (circumcision) and shechita (the methods used under Jewish law to kill animals to produce kosher meat).


In automation plants, technical processes must be conducted in a way that products, substances, or services are produced reliably, with sufficient qual- ity and with minimal strain on resources. A key driver in conducting these pro- cesses is the automation plant's control software, which controls the technical plant components and thereby affects the physical, chemical, and mechanical processes that take place in automation plants. To this end, the control software of an automation plant must adhere to strict process requirements arising from the technical processes, and from the physical plant design. Currently, the vali- dation of the control software often starts late in the engineering process in many cases - once the automation plant is almost completely constructed. However, as widely acknowledged, the later the control software of the automa- tion plant is validated, the higher the effort for correcting revealed defects is, which can lead to serious budget overruns and project delays. In this article we propose an approach that allows the early validation of automation control software against the technical plant processes and assumptions about the physi- cal plant design by means of simulation. We demonstrate the application of our approach on the example of an actual plant project from the automation industry


As national parliaments gain power in relation to the Union legislative process, we must ask what legal obligations might attach to this increased influence. For Union institutions, obligations apply based on a model of internal immunity and external responsibility; their internal deliberations benefit from a "political exception" to duties of sincere cooperation and it is their external actions for which they are held accountable. This model works for national parliamentary influence on a Council representative; such influence is part of the internal action of the Council and thus ought to benefit from the "political exception". However, for aggregative power, such as the "early warning system" and the "red card", this model is problematic, because such power is not accompanied by an externally-facing institutional architecture which can be held accountable. However, this potential for imbalance between rights and obligations ought not be remedied by imposing duties on individual national parliaments: they are actors within a legislative power and thus ought to benefit from the "political exception".


Bilingual children separate their two languages from the beginning of development, yet there are signs of grammatical influence between their languages in highly constrained contexts until age 5 or later. While much syntactic 'interlinguistic influence' is marked by word order interference, this study considers novel data from Spanish-English bilinguals that show that their acquisition of English wh-questions is accelerated relative to that of their monolingual peers. I explain these data as resulting from a sharing of structure between Spanish, in which the CP is independently acquired early, and English, which requires that projection for its target form; the operations required to derive this utterance type in each language inform the disparity in their acquisition by monolinguals, and similarly the absence of this disparity in bilinguals. In light of this account, I reevaluate a guiding supposition of bilingual acquisition research that bilinguals possess two separate grammars, proposing a closer relationship between a child's two languages.


In order to achieve data delivery in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTN), researchers have proposed the use of store-carry-and-forward protocols: a node there may store a message in its buffer and carry it along for long periods of time, until an appropriate forwarding opportunity arises. This way, messages can traverse disconnected parts of the network. Multiple message replicas are often propagated to further increase delivery probability. This combination of long-term storage and message replication imposes a high storage and bandwidth overhead. Thus, efficient scheduling and drop policies are necessary to 1) decide on the order by which messages should be replicated when contact durations are limited, and 2) which messages should be discarded when nodes' buffers operate close to their capacity. In this paper, we propose a practical and efficient joint scheduling and drop policy that can optimize different performance metrics, such as average delay and delivery probability. We first use the theory of encounter-based message dissemination to derive the optimal policy based on global knowledge about the network. Then, we introduce a method that estimates all necessary parameters using locally collected statistics. Based on this, we derive a distributed scheduling and drop policy that can approximate the performance of the optimal policy in practice. Using simulations based on synthetic and real mobility traces, we show that our optimal policy and its distributed variant outperform existing resource allocation schemes for DTNs. Finally, we study how sampled statistics can reduce the signaling overhead of our algorithm and examine its behavior under different congestion regimes. Our results suggest that close to optimal performance can be achieved even when nodes sample a small percentage of the available statistics.


Some African Christians continue to rely on traditional African powers to address their spiritual insecurity since they perceive Christ as foreign to their culture and see the Gospel as primarily a Western phenomenon. Such perceptions raise questions about their understanding of Christ's incarnation. This study critically examines the relevance of Bediako's and Torrance's positive concepts of Christ's incarnation in contributing to a resolution of the problem of the perceived foreignness of Christ in African Christianity. In dialogue with the incarnational Christological models of Bediako and Torrance, this research study formulates and proposes an Adamic incarnational Christological framework which eradicates the perceived foreignness of Christ in African Christianity. It is my contention that Bediako's ancestral incarnational Christological model reveals a tendency to diminish the actuality of Christ as God incarnate and encourages syncretism in African Christianity. Conversely, once the biblical-theological foundational status of Adamic Christology has been proven using Scripture, an Adamic incarnational Christological framework demonstrates Christ's complete identification with African Christians as the New Adam. Torrance's theology utilises the anhypostatic principle (which affirms negatively that the human nature of Christ is without an independent personal centre) and the enhypostatic principle (which affirms positively that the human nature of Christ finds its centre and expression in the person of the eternal Son of God), t o demonstrate that Jesus Christ is not foreign to African Christians, since the human nature He assumed in the incarnation embraces all humankind. From this perspective an Adamic incarnational Christological model proposes that in the incarnation, God in Christ fully identified with all humankind as the New Adam, acting from the ontological depth of his divine-human existence to save African Christians from sin and all its consequences, including death and opposing spiritual forces. Thus, this model addresses African Christians' spiritual insecurity and emphasises their complete solidarity with Christ as a source of


Remote sensing by satellite-borne sensors presents a significant opportunity to enhance the spatio-temporal coverage of environmental monitoring programmes for lakes, but the estimation of classic water quality attributes from inland water bodies has not reached operational status due to the difficulty of discerning the spectral signatures of optically active water constituents. Determination of water colour, as perceived by the human eye, does not require knowledge of inherent optical properties and therefore represents a generally applicable remotely-sensed water quality attribute. In this paper, we implemented a recent algorithm for the retrieval of colour parameters (hue angle, dominant wavelength) and derived a new correction for colour purity to account for the spectral bandpass of the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI). We used this algorithm to calculate water colour on almost 45,000 observations over four years from 1486 lakes from a diverse range of optical water types in New Zealand. We show that the most prevalent lake colours are yellow-orange and blue, respectively, while green observations are comparatively rare. About 40% of the study lakes show transitions between colours at a range of time scales, including seasonal. A preliminary exploratory analysis suggests that both geo-physical and anthropogenic factors, such as catchment land use, provide environmental control of lake colour and are promising avenues for future analysis.


Abstract. Among odontocetes, members of the family Kogiidae (pygmy and dwarf sperm whales) are known as small-sized and in many respects enigmatic relatives of the great sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus. Most of the still scanty fossil record of Kogiidae is represented by isolated skulls and ear bones from Neogene deposits of the Northern Hemisphere, with the significant exception of Scaphokogia, a highly autapomorphic genus from late Miocene deposits of the Pisco Formation exposed along the southern coast of Peru. Here we report on a new fossil kogiid from Aguada de Lomas, a site where the late Miocene beds of the Pisco Formation are exposed. This specimen consists of an almost complete cranium representing a new taxon of Kogiidae: Koristocetus pescei gen. et sp. nov. Koristocetus mainly differs from extant Kogia spp. by displaying a larger temporal fossa and well-individualized dental alveoli on the upper jaws. Coupled with a relatively elongated rostrum, these characters suggest that Koristocetus retained some degree of raptorial feeding abilities, contrasting with the strong suction feeding specialization seen in Recent kogiids. Our phylogenetic analysis recognizes Koristocetus as the earliest branching member of the subfamily Kogiinae. Interestingly, Koristocetus shared the southern coast of present-day Peru with members of the genus Scaphokogia, whose unique convex rostrum and unusual neurocranial morphology seemingly indicate a peculiar foraging specialization that has still to be understood. In conclusion, Koristocetus evokes a long history of high diversity, morphological disparity, and sympatric habits in fossil kogiids, thus suggesting that our comprehension of the evolutionary history of pygmy and dwarf sperm whales is still far from being exhaustive.


SPARTA, the ESO Standard Platform for Adaptive optics Real Time Applications, is the high-performance, real-time computing platform serving three major 2nd generation instruments at the VLT (SPHERE, GALACSI and GRAAL) and possibly a fourth one (ERIS). SPARTA offers a very modular and fine-grained architecture, which is generic enough to serve a variety of AO systems. It includes the definitions of all the interfaces between those modules and provides libraries and tools for their implementation and testing, as well as a mapping to technologies capable of delivering the required performance. These comprise, amongst others, VXS communication, FPGA-aided wavefront processing, command time filtering and I/O, DSP-based wavefront reconstruction, DDS data distribution and multi-CPU number crunching, most of them innovative with respect to ESO standards in use. A scaled-down version of the platform, namely SPARTA-Light, will employ a subset of the SPARTA technologies to implement the AO modules for the VLT auxiliary telescopes (NAOMI) and is the baseline for a new VLTI instrument (GRAVITY). For the above instrument portfolio, SPARTA provides also a complete implementation of the AO application, with features customised to each instrument's needs and specific algorithms. In this paper we describe the architecture of SPARTA, its technology choices, functional units and test tools. End-to-end as well as individual module performance data is provided for the XAO system delivered to SPHERE. Initial performance results are presented for the GALACSI and GRAAL systems under development.


This research aims to support sustainability practitioners at the beginning of a change initiative towards sustainability to increase the success of the change. Moving towards sustainability is a complex journey and requires radical and structural transformational change in companies. Mutual understanding of the company and the practitioner is required to design a suitable change process. Existing tools related to sustainability, change management, corporate analysis and assessment were analyzed. In addition, practitioners in organizational change and sustainability were interviewed. Identified were eight Areas of Inquiry for the practitioner to focus on at the initial stage of an engagement: Vision; Purpose and Commitment; Urgency, Importance and Business Case; Level of Integration of Sustainability; Business Goals and Strategy; Culture and Capacities; Communication and Stakeholder Engagement; Measurement and Reporting. These areas form a platform for dialogue to guide sustainability practitioners in gaining understanding of the organizational change capacities and sustainability within the company and, in doing so, contributes to addressing the sustainability challenge at large.


I am particularly interested in a discursive aesthetic based on the possibility of a dialogical relationship that breaks down the conventional distinction between artist, art work and audience-a relationship that allows the viewer to "speakback" to the artist in certain ways, and in which this reply becomes in effect a part of the "work" itself. (Kester) BLW's "Re-Speaking" Project and Invitation The artists collective BLW- Rozalinda Borcila, Sarah Lewison, and Julie Wyman-describes in a provocative 2007 "re-speaking kit," published in the Journal of Aesthetics & Protest (BLW, "I am going"), its contemporary embodied response to 1973 video documentation of a speech delivered by activist and educator "Queen Mother" Audley Moore at Green Haven Federal Prison.1 The speech testified to first-person witnessing of tragic incidents of racism in the South and brave and sustained resistance and offered a radical political analysis invoking the importance of education. Queen Mother Moore spoke at the invitation of a prisoners' group, Think Tank, and was recorded on video by the production collective People's Communication Network for the newly established medium of public access cable television in New York City. The tape by the People's Communication Network was deposited in the Free Video Library at Antioch College in the early 1970s, and two decades later, it was selected for inclusion in Surveying the First Decade, an extensive collection of documentary and artists' video projects from 1968 to 1980, distributed by the Video Data Bank (Hill, "Surveying"). As the curator of Surveying the First Decade, I am responding to the invitation offered through BLW's re-speaking project: "Our interest is in the text and the conditions and implications of the recording, speech and the conditions and implications of utterance. We are looking for resonance-not theater . . . We invite you to respeak Queen Mother Moore . . . with resources from your own . . . histories" (BLW, "I am going"). BLW's 2004 re-speaking performance at a Pilot TV event in Chicago2 set the stage for its sustained project of re-performing transcripts of spoken exchanges (a speech, an interview, a press conference), recorded on video by political activists from the late 1960s and early 70s. "Our re-speaking is a re-making and a playback of the recording, a performative method of interrogating video as a repository for memory and a technology of forgetting" (BLW, "I am going"). In their 2007 "evaluation" of the Queen Mother Moore re-speaking project, they ask, "[W]hat stories can we find that, by being told and retold, will produce collective recall, a gathering memory of what we need to do, and how we might learn to act together?" (BLW, "I am going"). This article seeks to participate in BLW's call for an invigorated inquiry into the conditions of the speech and its recording, as well as its history of preservation and reamplification. The political and cultural acts of remembering and forgetting that have resulted in this remarkable tape's perhaps unlikely survival provide resonance for BLW's re-speaking practice. The tape's revival also repositions Queen Mother Moore's powerful embrace of an audience of mostly African American men, incarcerated in a federal prison, for reconsideration by a contemporary citizenry who might share BLW's desire to address "the transfer and redistribution of power among the heretofore powerless" (BLW, "I am going"), including attention to the contemporary US incarceration crisis, the warehousing of a disproportionate number of people of color and nonviolent offenders in a criminal justice system that has all but abandoned responsibilities for rehabilitation. BLW's re-speaking projects (2004-09), which also include the re-performances of a 1969 interview by the seminal Videofreex collective with Black Panther Fred Hampton and a press conference challenging the delivery of higher education during the 1968 San Francisco State College (now University) student strike,3 dialogue across three decades with not only the People's Communications Network but also a number of other late 1960s and early 70s video collectives, together with their recorded subjects and audiences. …


The focus of modern applications of economic reasoning to antitrust concerns has been on the more subtle efficiency or procompetitive dimensions of the scrutinized conduct. When any of these characteristics are discovered, the courts tend to find no antitrust violation.Two major difficulties arise with this approach. First, efficiency or procompetitive aspects can almost always be uncovered in any corporate enterprise, creating the potential for legitimizing almost all business behavior. Second, the legal conclusions courts reach are typically couched in terms of the business practice itself; therefore, once upheld, that practice is implicitly validated for other unrelated marketplace scenarios. Indiscriminate validations of a wide variety of business practices coupled with an excessively broad range of contexts could prove to have serious anticompetitive ramifications when assessed by more refined economic standards. In this Article, I propose a new analytic framework, one that emphasizes context rather than conduct, thereby avoiding the danger of upholding business practices in dubious circumstances. I demonstrate the efficacy of this model through an antitrust theory of countervailing power, a theory that can be gleaned from five Supreme Court cases that span the history of antitrust law since the passage of the Sherman Act. Countervailing power analysis focuses on an economic phenomenon in which parties combine in response to a legal concentration of market power that adversely affects them. The antitrust question raised is whether the countervailing combination should be considered an illegal restraint of trade. The Court typically evaluates the restraint on its own terms, looking only to whether there are competitive dimensions to it, assessing it by the extent to which the defendant's conduct emulates the atomistic model. Regardless of its philosophical approach, the Court does not frame its ruling in terms of how the market interacts with the restraint and whether the legal concentration or other market forces can keep in check any anticompetitive dimensions held by the countervailing combination.Countervailing power analysis offers one way to assess the restraint's interaction with the marketplace so as to determine whether there are dynamics that will keep the restraint competitive. If those dynamics are discovered, then countervailing power analysis suggests that the practice should be upheld, independent of whether the practice mirrors atomistic behavior. If those dynamics are not found, and the practice is sufficiently anticompetitive by traditional standards, then countervailing power analysis supports its condemnation.


Professor Visits Harlem. AB Fable ABCD1-018. Blows N' Rhythm. AB Fable ABCD2-019/20. Eddie South: Dark Angel Album Sets. AB Fable ABCD1-021. (All available through North Country Audio, Cadence Building, Redwood, NY 13679-3194, www. cadencebuilding.com). Anthony Barnett has come up with three more marvelous violin-themed CDs to add to his AB Fable library. Each CD has informative liner notes including discographical information and rare photos. The printing is rather small, but that probably won't bother younger eyes. The sound on all three CDs is very good to excellent. Professor Visits Harlem, sub-titled "Swingin' Till the Girls Come Home," is an anthology of swing string ensembles beginning in the 1930s and ending in the 1950s. Some of the string players' names are quite recognizable including Eddie South, Stephane Grappelli, and Stuff Smith, but there are some obscure artists as well like Eric Siday, Vladimir Selinski (who may be better known to the classical crowd), Harriett Wilson and others. Things don't really start cooking until "Goofus" by Eddie South and his International Orchestra. South also reappears on "Oh, Lady Be Good" with the manic Michel Warlop and Stephane Grappelli for the classic 1937 Trio De Violons Swing label recording that also features the guitar of Django Reinhardt. A nice surprise is "Swinging the Fiddles" by The Ramblers Quintet (a unit from the famous Ramblers dance orchestra). The bulk of these twenty-eight tracks have a distinct "swing" flavor but the transition from "swing" to "bop" is represented by "Swingin' 'Till The Girls Come Home" by the Harry Lookofsky Strings. Violinist Lookofsky was an early proponent of multitrack recording and applies the technique (for himself and bassist/cellist Oscar Pettiford) to this title, which also marks the U.S. arranging debut of Quincy Jones. Other examples of string ensemble bop include "Scherzo-Phrenia" by Russian-born Paul Nero and his Hi-Fiddles and "Blues In the Closet" by bassist Vinnie Burke's String Jazz Quartet, which had as members the modernists Dick Wetmore (violin) and cellist Calo Scott. The CD closes with violinist Stuff Smith introducing a 1950s party riff jam with fellow string players Jimmy Bryant (better known as a guitarist) and Harold Hensley (a country session violinist). It's a fitting closer to a great CD of string ensembles. Blows N'Rhythm (the title is described in the liner notes as a pun on "Rhythm and Blues") is a fascinating two disc collection of violin players in all kinds of settings from jazz to calypso to early rock as well as other kinds of music. The first disc opens pretty dismally with four titles by a group called the Toppers featuring violinist Joe Giordano. This is lightweight stuff (we would dub it "smooth jazz" today) with an annoying, unswinging accordion player (Joe Spata) and rather corny ensemble vocals. Thank heavens for Stuff Smith, who makes his first appearance with his group that includes trumpeter Jonah Jones and tenor saxophonist George Clarke. The four cuts are all unreleased takes from the Varsity label of material issued by Barnett on an earlier AB Fable CD called Stuff Smith 1937-1942: Complete Tenor Sax Septets (ABCD1-015). I guess that set isn't so complete after all! "Crescendo in Drums" alone blows all of the previous group's bad vibes completely away. Smith couldn't help but swing. This reviewer had never heard of violinist Clarence Henry Black, or The Variety Boys, but their four sides are models of small group swing. There is no violin on "Tack Annie," which was included by the producer for the sake of completion. It's an excellent performance (the tune is not the one recorded by King Oliver in 1926), and the fiddle isn't missed at all. Guitarist Kenneth Henderson is very impressive with his unamplified single-note solos. The violinist Ray Perry is in drummer J.C. Heard's Orchestra, which backs vocalist Ethel Waters on two blues numbers recorded in 1946 ("You Took My Man" and "Honey In a Hurry"). …


This study compares the symbolic meanings of gelatin in two eras-the early modern period and the twentieth century. Rather than offering a detailed history of changes in the process of gelatin-making and use over the centuries, I focus on the shifting cultural meanings of this foodstuff at its most dramatic historical divide, the moment when it became a mass produced product and was widely reinterpreted for the public through advertising. In Shakespeare's day, gelatin took meaning from two primary contexts: household labor practices (namely, the violent and highly visible process by which it was made in the kitchen) and contemporary Galenic medical theory, which dictated that extreme emotions could make the body transform into "jelly." As such, gelatin symbolized the frightening alterability of the flesh made visible in daily practice. In the twentieth century, however, Jell-O's plasticity was transformed into a positive virtue, one signaling childhood pleasures, creative potentiality, even patriotism. Its alterability became a hallmark feature linking this edible to dominant myths about the modern American subject.


We propose a domain decomposition method for advection-diffusion-reaction equations based on Nitsche's transmission conditions. The advection-dominated case is stabilized using a continuous interior penalty approach based on the jumps in the gradient over element boundaries. We prove the convergence of the finite element solutions of the discrete problem to the exact solution and propose a parallelizable iterative method. The convergence of the resulting domain decomposition method is proved, and this result holds true uniformly with respect to the diffusion parameter. The numerical scheme that we propose here can thus be applied straightforwardly to diffusion-dominated, advection-dominated, and hyperbolic problems. Some numerical examples are presented in different flow regimes showing the influence of the stabilization parameter on the performance of the iterative method, and we compare our method with some other domain decomposition techniques for advection-diffusion equations.


Nanotechnology promises an array of inventions and technological developments in the realm of medical science. Together with new bio-technologies, nanotechnology offers a formidable science of medical discovery. Atkinson ascribes nanotechnology to a nanocosm; a foreign world unlike anything the human mind can imagine, a finely structured cosmos or organised universe; a subworld with its own principles of organisation, ambiguous and wondrous. This paper provides some understanding of the future medical possibilities of nanotechnology.


Get new customers at a time of economic downturn is a challenge. For organizations whose goal is not only be succeed but also to ensure the survival, a CRM is a solution which provides a quick view of the market and brings value to the business in the longer term. Not all businesses know about the CRM opportunities and new trends in this area.
The aim of this article is charting of new trends in CRM (as Mobile CRM, Social CRM, Customer Data Management...) and how to use them during the economic crisis. Analysis of scientific literature, comparative analysis and inductive method were main methods of the research. The analysis of scientific literature allowed revealing new trends in CRM area. From March 2007 to February 2009 we carried out the research specialized in diagnostics of the level of Slovak companies in the CRM area.
The purpose of the research was also to find and analyse the current level of Slovak businesses in CRM area. Data gathering was running by two main ways – by personal questioning and by electronic questioning. 230 top managers of Slovak medium and large businesses participated in the research.
The results of the survey show the status of using the CRM at relatively high level. Almost half respondents said that CRM is in full operation in the company. But understanding of the term CRM is relatively poor. Respondents have considered the most important preconditions for successful implementation of CRM into the enterprise strategy and planning, effective work with information and high-quality customer base.


Addresses the question of whether the information needs of those engaged in marketing management are being delivered satisfactorily by information providers. It is plainly evident that the use of the Internet and the intranet as global communication tools has risen exponentially over the past two years. However, a question remains as to whether this information is collected and presented in a form – at a level of specificity and depth – that makes for better decision taking. Today there is talk of the analyst – in this case the market researcher – requiring the skills of the "bricoleur". This refers to the need in today's world of multi‐source imperfect data of being able to piece together different weights and hues of evidence. While we acknowledge evidence exists of good practice, we believe that more needs to be done to provide practical training on how to operate in this bricolage mode, if we are to keep on top of twenty‐first century marketing information. Argues that there are seven issues that need addressing in order to ensure that the information needs of management are being satisfied by the market researcher.


This paper is devoted to the design of a predictive controller for constrained linear systems to track periodic references. The only assumption on the dynamics of the reference is that it is periodic and its period is known. It is also assumed that the reference signal is a priori known by the controller. Inspired in the hierarchical control scheme based on the trajectory planification, the ideas of the MPC for tracking [Limon et al., 2008] are extended to this case. The proposed predictive controller has the future sequence of inputs and an artificial reference as decision variables. The cost function is divided into two terms: one penalizes the tracking error with the artificial reference and other penalizes the deviation of the artificial reference to the reference to be tracked. Stability is ensured thanks to the addition of two constraints: a terminal constraint on the predicted trajectory and a constraint that enforces the artificial reference to be periodic. It is proved that the proposed controller is recursively feasible and the controlled system satisfies the hard constraints, is asymptotically stable and converges to the best possible reachable trajectory. The properties of the proposed controller are illustrated in an example.


Carl Jung was one of the world's most influential psychoanalysts. With the exception of Freud, who chose him as the first president of the International Psychoanalytic Association, no psychologist has achieved more. Previous biographers have either made Jung an idol or condemned him for his failings. Ronald Hayman neither ignores Jung's faults nor exaggerates them in investigating the most crucial paradoxes surrounding this enigmatic figure. Hailed by Anthony Storr as "the best biography of Jung," Hayman's work is "all the more effective for its detached tone that perfectly puts in proportion Jung's cruel, brilliant and crazy schemes" (The Times [London]). Impeccably researched and written with notable objectivity, A Life of Jung offers a rare insight into how Jung's revolutionary ideas grew out of his own extraordinary experiences. "Compelling...Hayman captures...the extraordinary charisma of his subject."-Newsday "Likely to become the standard biography of the revolutionary psychoanalyst."-Kirkus Reviews, starred review


On-line surveys can automate conditional branching in self-administered questionnaires and make the task easier for the respondent. This paper discusses the types of branching that can be automated and different techniques for designing the interface. Design factors take into consideration the level of automation pre-programmed into the survey versus the amount of control afforded to the respondent, the cognitive complexity of the interface versus ease of use, and the degree of context provided by showing surrounding items on the questionnaire versus a focus on single questions.


SUMMARY

The seismicity of the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge was recorded by two hydrophone networks moored in the sound fixing and ranging (SOFAR) channel, on the flanks of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, north and south of the Azores. During its period of operation (05/2002–09/2003), the northern 'SIRENA' network, deployed between latitudes 40° 20′N and 50° 30′N, recorded acoustic signals generated by 809 earthquakes on the hotspot-influenced Reykjanes Ridge. This activity was distributed between five spatio-temporal event clusters, each initiated by a moderate-to-large magnitude (4.0–5.6 M) earthquake. The rate of earthquake occurrence within the initial portion of the largest sequence (which began on 2002 October 6) is described adequately by a modified Omori law aftershock model. Although this is consistent with triggering by tectonic processes, none of the Reykjanes Ridge sequences are dominated by a single large-magnitude earthquake, and they appear to be of relatively short duration (0.35–4.5 d) when compared to previously described mid-ocean ridge aftershock sequences. The occurrence of several near-equal magnitude events distributed throughout each sequence is inconsistent with the simple relaxation of mainshock-induced stresses and may reflect the involvement of magmatic or fluid processes along this deep (>2000 m) section of the Reykjanes Ridge.


Climate change is projected to alter river flows and the magnitude/frequency characteristics of floods and droughts. Ecosystem-based adaptation highlights the interdependence of human and natural systems, and the potential to buffer the impacts of climate change by maintaining functioning ecosystems that continue to provide multiple societal benefits. Natural flood management (NFM), emphasising the restoration of innate hydrological pathways, provides important regulating services in relation to both runoff rates and water quality and is heralded as a potentially important climate change adaptation strategy. This paper draws together 25 NFM schemes, providing a meta-analysis of hydrological performance along with a wider consideration of their net (dis) benefits. Increasing woodland coverage, whilst positively linked to peak flow reduction (more pronounced for low magnitude events), biodiversity and carbon storage, can adversely impact other provisioning service – especially food production. Similarly, reversing historical land drainage operations appears to have mixed impacts on flood alleviation, carbon sequestration and water quality depending on landscape setting and local catchment characteristics. Wetlands and floodplain restoration strategies typically have fewer disbenefits and provide improvements for regulating and supporting services. It is concluded that future NFM proposals should be framed as ecosystem-based assessments, with trade-offs considered on a case-by-case basis.


This paper calculates an implied cost of equity for 19 developed countries from 1991 to 2006. During this period, there has been a decline in the cost of equity of about 10-15 bps per year, which can be partially attributed to declining government yields and declining inflation. Analyst forecast inaccuracy, a proxy for firm-level earnings opacity, is positively related to the cost of equity. If this variable captures differences in disclosure across firms, then improvements in disclosure regulation may benefit firms by lowering their cost of equity. I also include countrylevel variables that measure disclosure requirements, director liability, and the ability for shareholders to sue directors. Higher levels of these measures are associated with a lower cost of equity. Previous studies [e.g., Hail and Leuz (2006a)] have found a similar relation, but my study is unique in that it uses a different measure of investor protection, which may better reflect regulatory differences across countries, and it shows this relation holds for developed countries. After controlling for the characteristics of firms that analysts choose to cover in each country, differences in the properties of analyst forecasts across countries, and differences in accounting standards across countries, Canada's cost of equity is statistically different from a handful of countries and is about 20 to 40 bps higher than that of the United States. Lowering Canadian firms' cost of equity by this amount would have large economic benefits given the size of Canada's capital markets.


Estimating the heights of objects in the field of view has applications in many tasks such as robotics, autonomous platforms and video surveillance. Object height is a concrete and indispensable characteristic people or machine could learn and capture. Many actions such as vehicle avoiding obstacles will be taken based on it. Traditionally, object height can be estimated using laser ranging, radar or stereo camera. Depending on the application, cost of these techniques may inhibit their use, especially in autonomous platforms. Use of available sensors with lower cost would make the adoption of such techniques at higher rates. Our approach to height estimation requires only a single 2D image. To solve this problem we introduce the Monocular Object Height Estimation Network (MOHE-Net) that includes a cascade of two networks. The first network performs the object detection task. This network detects the bounding box of objects of interest. This information is then input to a second network to estimate the object height and is a linear Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP). The linear MLP model models the camera-scene geometry and does not require training or contain activation function as normal MLP did. The developed approach works for static camera set up as well as moving platform. The proposed approach performs state-of-the-art and can be deployed for obstacle avoidance on autonomous platforms. Our code is available at https://github.com/OSUPCVLab/Ford2019/tree/master/Moving%20Object%20Height% 20Estimation%20Network


This paper proposes a new advanced Call Admission Control (CAC) strategy involving for the first time, a bandwidth reservation scheme that is influenced by the direction attribute of a mobile terminal (MT). Aside from the Quality-of-Service (QoS) parameters, the direction attribute plays a key role in efficiently reserving resources for MTs supporting multimedia communications for different QoS classes. The framework for a direction-based CAC system is entirely distributed and may be viewed as a message passing system, where MTs inform their neighbouring base stations (BS) not only of their QoS requirements, but also of their mobility parameters. The base stations then predict future demand and reserve resources accordingly, only admitting those terminals that can be adequately supported. The bandwidth reservation scheme proposed in this paper, integrates the direction attribute into the conventional Guard Channel (GC) scheme. Simulation results prove that this new scheme offers significant improvements in both Call Blocking Probability (CBP) and bandwidth utilization, under a variety of differing traffic conditions. Keywords– QoS, Mobile Multimedia Communication, Call Admission Control, Handoff, Guard Channel, SimuLink.


Reliable characterization of the properties of amphibole end-members is a prerequisite for many important things in mineralogy and petrology, especially for the calculation of phase equilibria that involve amphiboles. Laboratory measurements of the thermochemical and thermophysical properties of amphibole end-members, as well as the experimental reversal of critical reactions, require the availability of adequate amounts of appropriately pure samples. More often than not, nature fails to provide material that fulfills the chemical and physical requirements of phase purity. Synthesis of chosen compositions at high pressure and temperature might seem to be the obvious answer to the problem, but it is now well known that amphiboles are difficult customers in this respect (Hawthorne 1983a, 1995; Graham et al. 1989; Raudsepp et al. 1991; Maresch et al. 1994).

In the early days of experimental petrology, in the 1960s and 1970s, phase characterization of products involved optical microscopic measurements and powder XRD, a minimal combination that we now realize was inadequate. Experience has shown that the synthesis of an end-member amphibole commonly yields distinctly less than 100% amphibole, with the result that its composition likely departs significantly from the desired one, often in a reproducible way. In addition, the amphibole may contain unacceptably high concentrations of defects of one sort or another, and, whether or not these drive it off composition, their presence can be energetically detrimental. These deficiencies can be minimized, but not necessarily eliminated, by increasing the pressure, temperature, or duration of synthesis. Heroic efforts have been rewarded in a few cases. For example, by repeated grinding of experimental products, and the use of high pressure and judicious amounts of H2O, Jenkins and Corona (2006) were able to obtain glaucophane very close to its end-member composition, something that numerous previous workers had failed to …


This paper uses nowcasting to forecast real GDP growth in South Africa from 2010Q1 to 2014Q3 in real time. Such an approach exploits the ‡ow of highfrequency information underlying the state of the economy. It overcomes one of the major challenges faced by forecasters, policymakers, and economic agents having a clear view of the state of the economy in real time. This is often not the case as many economic variables are only available at low frequency and with considerable lags, making it di¢ cult to have information on the state of the economy even after the end of the quarter. The pseudo out-of-sample forecasts show that the nowcasting model's performance is comparable to those of professional forecasters even though the latter enhance their forecasting accuracy with judgement. The nowcast model also outperforms all other benchmark models by a signi…cant margin. JEL Classi…cation Numbers: E52; C53; C33.