Under the mandate of the Federal Clean Water Act, porous landscaping detention (PLD) has been widely used to increase on-site infiltration. A PLD system consists of a surface storage basin and subsurface filtering layers. The major design parameters for a PLD system are the infiltration rate on the land surface and the seepage rate through the subsurface medium. A low infiltration rate leads to a sizable storage basin while a high infiltration rate results in standing water if the subsurface seepage does not sustain the surface loading. In this study, the design procedure of a PLD basin is revised to take both detention flow hydrology and seepage flow hydraulics into consideration. The design procedure begins with the basin sizing according to the on-site water quality control volume. The ratio of design infiltration rate to sand-mix hydraulic conductivity is the key factor to select the thickness of sand-mix layer underneath a porous bed. The total filtering thickness for both sand-mix and gravel layers is found to be related to the drain time and infiltration rate. The recommended sand-mix and granite gravel layers underneath a PLD basin are reproduced in the laboratory for infiltration tests. The empirical decay curve for sand-mix infiltration rate was derived from the laboratory data and then used to maximize the hydraulic efficiency through the subsurface filtering layers. In this study, it is recommended that a PLD system be designed with the optimal performance to consume the hydraulic head available and then evaluated using the prolonged drain time for potential standing water problems under various clogging conditions.


ABSTRACT Three‐dimensional computer‐assisted preoperative planning, combined with patient‐specific surgical guides, has become an effective technique for treating complex extra‐ and intraarticular bone malunions by corrective osteotomy. The feasibility and accuracy of such a technique has not yet been evaluated for ankle deformities. Four surgical cases of varying complexity and location were selected for evaluation. Three‐dimensional bone models of the affected and contralateral healthy lower limb were generated from computed tomography scans. The preoperative planning software permitted quantification of the deformity in 3 dimensions and subsequent simulation of reduction, yielding a precise surgical plan. Patient‐specific surgical guides were designed, manufactured, and finally applied during surgery to reproduce the preoperative plan. Evaluation of the postoperative computed tomography scans indicated adequate reduction accuracy with residual translational and rotational errors of <3 mm and <6°, respectively. Two patients required revision surgery owing to anterior osseous impingement or delayed union of the osteotomy. All patients were satisfied with the postoperative course and were pain free at a mean follow‐up period of 2.5 (range 1 to 4) years. These promising results require confirmation in a clinical study with a larger sample size.


The Neuquen Basin in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina, holds the most important record of Cretaceous dinosaurs in South America.The Neuquen Group (Upper Cretaceous) is the richest dinosaur-bearing unit of the basin. It comprises the Rio Limay, the Rio Neuquen and the Rio Colorado subgroups. In this study, dinosaur remains from the Rio Neuquen and the Rio Colorado subgroups outcropping in Mendoza are examined. In this group, isolated, disarticulated or partially articulated sauropods and theropods are abundant. However, little is known about the diagenetic history of fossil assemblages. In southern Mendoza, three fossiliferous sites were found in the areas of Paso de las Bardas (Quebrada Norte) and Cerro Guillermo (CG1, CG2). This study aims to add to the knowledge of diagenetic processes involving dinosaur remains from the Neuquen Group, as well as their relation to the depositional environment. Histologic features and diagenetic processes of dinosaur bones were analyzed through thin sections in order to interpret the degree of taphonomic alteration. The fossil-diagenetic processes inferred include substitution, fracturing, plastic deformation and different permineralization events. Combined analyses through X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and petrographic studies reveal the substitution of hydroxyapatite by francolite. The presence of fluorine -in one of the cases- suggests a link between the elemental composition and depositional environments: floodplain and fluvial channel. Permineralization stages include infilling of vascular canals, trabeculae and fractures with iron oxides and iron carbonate minerals during the burial history. This contribution represents an integral approach to the study of Cretaceous dinosaurs for assessing the diagenetic changes in the bone microstructure and the differential preservation of fossil remains in fluvial environments.


The advent of widespread, large-scale probate avoidance has added a new dimension to the project of probate law reform. When the Uniform Probate Code made its debut in 1969, its primary goal was to modernize traditional probate procedures and make them more uniform, flexible, and efficient. The Code's reforms were in part a response to the rise of will substitutes which offered a ready means of transferring property at death outside the probate system. In the intervening years, however, will substitutes have continued to proliferate, while traditional probate procedures have resisted comprehensive reform. The probate system has not become obsolete - it provides valuable safeguards in many cases and remains indispensable in dealing with residual assets and resolving disputes - but it now plays a relatively modest role in regulating deathtime wealth transfers. Today, wills operate side by side with an ever-expanding array of will substitutes, and it no longer makes sense for reformers to focus exclusively or even primarily on the probate system. Accordingly, they have taken the first tentative steps toward articulating a unified law of probate and nonprobate transfers. Ultimately, the success of the reformers' project will require a sustained and vigorous effort to maintain conceptual coherence and achieve practical implementation.


We analyzed along this work the feasibility to produce high quality alumina thin films by High Vacuum Chemical Vapor Deposition (HV-CVD). We study the influence of various parameters on the growth process and on the film quality, such as substrate temperature, gas flow or pressure. We aim to highlight the advantages and the limitations of the HV-CVD technique. A high vacuum CVD reactor has been designed, built and optimized. A novel effusing source has been designed to guarantee a molecules distribution uniformity of 95% on the substrate surface. The main technical challenges faced were to reach the maximum substrate temperature in vacuum, to control the precursor flux and to control the temperature of the gas lines to avoid condensation. For the first time, films of Al2O3 are obtained by HV-CVD from aluminum isopropoxide as precursor in a novel HV-CVD reactor. The HV-CVD approach stands out of all the other CVD methods as it allows excellent prediction of growth rates and film thickness homogeneities if the decomposition probability of the precursor is once determined. In this work, the latter was determined to increase with increasing substrate temperature to 0.2, further increase of temperature reduces the decomposition probability due to increased desorption rate. Pure alumina films are obtained in a reliable and reproducible way. The presence of oxidizing agents, as decomposition partners, reduces the activation energy of deposition process from 33.1 ± 8.2 kJ/mol to 11.4 ± 5.3 kJ/mol in presence of sufficient oxidizing agent. The Al2O3 films are growing at deposition rate from 1 to 50 nm/min. It has been found that, the lower the deposition temperature, the higher the density of the deposited films therefore the higher refractive index. The index of refraction varies from 1.65 ± 0.01 to 1.35 ± 0.01 at 632 nm wavelength from lowest to highest deposition temperature. At low deposition temperature, Al2O3 can contain residual OH-groups and Al=O entities. This content is independent of the total flow rates of the precursor in the range of 5·1015 molecules/cm2·s to 3·1016 molecules/cm2·s impinging on the substrate. Substrate effects have not been observed in the limited range of tests on natural oxidized silicon, 3 µm SiO2 on silicon, quartz, stainless steel, fused silica and 100 nm silicon nitride on top of silicon. The chemical composition of the deposited alumina films measured by EDX and XPS is nearly stoichiometric with 35 ± 5 at% Al and 65 ± 5 at% O, without carbon contamination. Remaining hydrogen in the films has not been studied in detail, but the difference of OH- absorption peaks by FTIR indicates that, a low temperature deposition, hydrogen incorporation is possible. Concerning the optical properties of the HV-CVD deposited films, absorption is very low from 250 nm to 1800 nm wavelength, but due to the porosity and granular structure of the films, light scattering can take place. But propagation loss smaller than 2 dB/cm were measured in channel waveguides fabricated from the HV-CVD alumina films. Planar and channel waveguides demonstrate good guiding properties at 670 nm and 1.55 µm, as well. This work also opens new possibilities to deposit in situ local structures of or in transparent alumina on large surface. Light induced high vacuum chemical vapor deposition of alumina microstructures by 248 nm excimer laser is presented and shows an activation energy of 5.2 ± 0.4 kJ/mol, much smaller than for thermal deposition. The influence of the fluence and the repetition rate is discussed. Electron beam assisted HV-CVD of alumina is demonstrated and proves the feasibility of in situ structuration under HV-CVD conditions.


The spatial representation of stimuli in primary sensory cortices is a convenient scaffold for elucidating the circuit mechanisms underlying sensory processing. In contrast, the anterior piriform cortex (APC) lacks topology for odor identity and appears homogenous in terms of afferent and intracortical excitatory circuitry. Here, we show that an increasing rostral-caudal (RC) gradient of inhibition onto pyramidal cells is commensurate with a decrease in active neurons along the RC axis following exploration of a novel odor environment. This inhibitory gradient is supported by somatostatin interneurons that provide an opposing, rostrally-biased, gradient of inhibition to interneurons. Optogenetic or chemogenetic modulation of somatostatin cells neutralizes the inhibitory gradient onto pyramidal cells. This suggests a novel circuit mechanism whereby opposing spatial gradients of inhibition and disinhibition regulate neural activity along the RC-axis. These findings challenge our current understanding of the spatial profiles of neural circuits and odor processing within APC.


The main aim of this study was to determine the association of various clinical, functional and pharmacological factors with the physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) summary components of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of community-dwelling older adults. Design: Cross-sectional study. Patients and setting: Sample of 573 persons aged over 65 years, recruited at 12 primary healthcare centres in Málaga, Spain. Sociodemographic, clinical, functional, and comprehensive drug therapy data were collected. The main outcome was HRQoL assessed on the basis of the SF-12 questionnaire. A multinomial logistic regression model was constructed to study the relationship between independent variables and the HRQoL variable, divided into intervals. The average self-perceived HRQoL score was 43.2 (± 11.02) for the PCS and 48.5 (± 11.04) for the MCS. The factors associated with a poorer PCS were dependence for the instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), higher body mass index (BMI), number of medications, and presence of osteoarticular pathology. Female gender and the presence of a psychopathological disorder were associated with worse scores for the MCS. The condition that was most strongly associated with a poorer HRQoL (in both components, PCS and MCS) was that of frailty (odds ratio (OR) = 37.42, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 8.96–156.22, and OR = 20.95, 95% CI = 7.55–58.17, respectively). It is important to identify the determinant factors of a diminished HRQoL, especially if they are preventable or modifiable.


Background: Online instruction has become a vital element in higher education. Most published research finds no significant difference between online (OL) and traditional (TD) instruction. Purpose: Compare student satisfaction and learning outcomes of an undergraduate OL pharmacology course to a TD lecture course taught by the same instructor. Methods: The OL and TD courses for Fall 05 and Spring 06 Clinical Pharmacology used the same notes, text, learning objectives, and exams. Three validated surveys measured aptitude for OL instruction, preferred learning styles, and student satisfaction with the course and self-perceived progress on relevant objectives. Learning outcomes were also objectively evaluated using exam scores and withdrawal rates. Results: Mean satisfaction scores for both courses were high, generally > 4.0/5. Mean scores in the TD courses were significantly higher than OL courses regarding overall course satisfaction, instructor's displayed level of interest in students, students' perceived ability to share ideas, and self-perceived gains in factual knowledge, fundamental principles and application of material. Mean scores related to difficulty of subject matter were similar between courses. There were no significant differences in objective exam scores or withdrawal rates. Conclusion: Overall, the OL and TD pharmacology courses had similar withdrawal rates and course grades, indicating similar learning gains. Although the OL students were highly satisfied with the course and their self-perceived knowledge gains, the OL satisfaction ratings were generally lower than those found in the TD courses.


THIS issue of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTERS continues a series of Special Issues on fault-tolerant computing that began in 1971. Since that time, concern for high reliability and fault tolerance has moved from such specialized application areas as telephone switching and spacecraft control into the general commercial computer market. Developments in VLSI technology, especially the microprocessor and microcomputer, have provided new and less costly ways to construct reliable and fault-tolerant computers and computer-based systems. At the same time, VLSI has introduced new problems in the design, evaluation, and maintenance of such systems.


Salivary gland extract (SGE) of four horsefly species (Hybomitra bimaculata Macquart, Hybomitra ciureai Seguy, Tabanus bromius L., Tabanus glaucopis Meigen) and one deerfly species (Chrysops relictus Meigen) (Diptera: Tabanidae) were shown to contain vasodilatory activity. Aliquots equivalent to 1, 5 and 10 pairs of salivary glands (SG) relaxed rat femoral artery (with intact endothelium) pre-constricted with phenylephrine. Vasodilatory activity was dose-dependent. SGE of one horsefly species (Haematopota pluvialis L.) did not induce relaxation. The kinetics of vasodilation induced by SGE of four horsefly species differed from the deerfly. These results indicate that tabanid species may produce more than one type of vasodilator to aid blood feeding.


Insurance fraud has been a problem for insurance companies for centuries. According to different estimates, insurance companies are losing between 3% and 18% of claims expenditures to fraud, which exceeds 100 billion euros annually. Computer technology has been identified to have a crucial role in insurance fraud management. Fraud management system is a solution that supports all fraud management process activities: detection, prioritization, investigation, mitigation, redress, sanction, prevention, deterrence, continuous improvement and process monitoring.
Fraud appear in different industries, e.g. telecommunications, healthcare and health insurance, banks, credit cards, e-business, identity theft, tax fraud and tax evasion and last but not least motor insurance. There is a plethora of insurance fraud, and what is more, fraudsters are always inventing new types of fraud, forcing insurance companies to face the problem in a proactive manner.
In literature we can find numerous researches on components to support various fraud management activities, yet, only a few researchers demonstrated how such a component affects the business level performance. Thus proposed components, supporting the same fraud management activities, are incomparable. Moreover, it is not clear, whether certain proposed components even affect the business performance.
There is a clear need to establish a clear connection between fraud management system components and key performance indicators on the business level. In the dissertation, we propose a method for fraud management systems design based on business performance metrics. Method can be used to identify the most suitable fraud management system components, provided the set of KPIs that the insurance company wants to improve.
The research was conducted in three phases: method construction, correlation setup based on the information from Slovene insurance companies, and method evaluation on three concrete case studies. In different phases we employed different research methods, such as literature review, expert interviews and case studies.
Method bases on the business process metamodel and is comprised of five artifacts, namely (1) set of key performance indicators, (2) correlation matrix between KPIs and activities, (3) set of fraud management process activities, (4) correlation matrix between activities and FMS components, and (5) set of fraud management system components. Using these five artifacts, one can, based on a set of KPIs an insurance company would like to improve, select the most appropriate fraud management system components to do it. By using inverse method, one can predict the impact of the implementation of FMS components on business level performance.
Method was evaluated on three case studies. In each case study we first identified key performance indicators, a insurance company should improve. Based on these KPIs, we identified the fraud management system components. Then we predicted the impact of the implementation of these FMS components on business performance. Last, one year after the implementation, we again measured the KPIs and compared the new performance to the goals and prediction before the implementation.
In all three case studies we observed a positive outcome and a proof that the method works on the Slovene market. All three case studies resulted in a positive change of the KPIs, targeted to improve. Moreover in all case studies an improvement of general performance was observed. There was a increase in total savings (increase between 18.74% and 42.67%) and profitability (increase between 34.81% and 83.94%).
We wish to test the method outside of Slovenia and set up an international benchmark based on enhanced data set. The benchmark will enable insurance companies to easily compare business performance. Furthermore, we hope to extend the method to enable the identification of the most suitable fraud management process changes in order to improve fraud management performance.


"The second edition is clearer and adds more examples on how to use STL in a practical environment. Moreover, it is more concerned with performance and tools for its measurement. Both changes are very welcome."--Lawrence Rauchwerger, Texas A&M University "So many algorithms, so little time! The generic algorithms chapter with so many more examples than in the previous edition is delightful! The examples work cumulatively to give a sense of comfortable competence with the algorithms, containers, and iterators used."--Max A. Lebow, Software Engineer, Unisys Corporation The STL Tutorial and Reference Guide is highly acclaimed as the most accessible, comprehensive, and practical introduction to the Standard Template Library (STL). Encompassing a set of C++ generic data structures and algorithms, STL provides reusable, interchangeable components adaptable to many different uses without sacrificing efficiency. Written by authors who have been instrumental in the creation and practical application of STL, STL Tutorial and Reference Guide, Second Edition includes a tutorial, a thorough description of each element of the library, numerous sample applications, and a comprehensive reference. You will find in-depth explanations of iterators, generic algorithms, containers, function objects, and much more. Several larger, non-trivial applications demonstrate how to put STL's power and flexibility to work. This book will also show you how to integrate STL with object-oriented programming techniques. In addition, the comprehensive and detailed STL reference guide will be a constant and convenient companion as you learn to work with the library. This second edition is fully updated to reflect all of the changes made to STL for the final ANSI/ISO C++ language standard. It has been expanded with new chapters and appendices. Many new code examples throughout the book illustrate individual concepts and techniques, while larger sample programs demonstrate the use of the STL in real-world C++ software development. An accompanying Web site, including source code and examples referenced in the text, can be found at http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~musser/stl-book/index.html.


Recent focus has been placed on exploring the possibility to switch from parallel to serial data links between NoC routers in order to improve signal integrity in the communication channel. However, moving streams of data between the parallel path of the internal router and external serial-channel links between them consumes additional power. One challenge is encoding the data and minimise the switching activity of data in the serial links in order to reduce the additional power dissipation; while under real-time and minimal hardware constraints. Consequently, proposed is a novel low area/power decision circuit for NoC channel encoding which identifies in real-time packets for encoding and extends the existing SILENT encoders/decoders to further minimise power consumption and demonstrates the power performance savings of the decision circuit and modified (en)decoders using example test traffic with the EMBRACE NoC router, a mixed signal spiking neural network (SNNs) embedded platform.


INTRODUCTION
Autism Spectrum Disorder is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication, social interaction, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. Some studies have shown that substances derived from Cannabis sativa improve the quality of life of autistic children without causing serious adverse effects, thus providing a therapeutic alternative.

METHOD
This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a cannabis extract rich in cannabidiol (CBD) in autistic children. Sixty children, aged between 5 and 11 years, were selected and divided into two groups: the treatment group, which received the CBD-rich cannabis extract, and the control group, which received the placebo, both used the product for a period of 12 weeks. Statistical analysis was done by two-factor mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA two way).

RESULTS
Significant results were found for social interaction [F(1,116)=14.13, p=0.0002)], anxiety [F(1,116)=5.99, p=0.016], psychomotor agitation [F(1,116)=9.22, p=0.003)], number of meals a day [F(1,116)=4.11, p=0.04)] and concentration [F (1,48)=6.75, p=0.01], the latter being significant only in mild autism spectrum disorder. Regarding safety, it was found that only three children in the treatment group (9.7%) had adverse effects, namely dizziness, insomnia, colic and weight gain.

CONCLUSION
CBD-rich cannabis extract was found to improve one of the diagnostic criteria for ASD (social interaction), as well as often co-existing features, and to have few serious adverse effects.


Prior research has shown that magnocellular (M) pathways are less mature than parvocellular (P) pathways during adolescence, which might explain why adolescents have difficulties recognizing facial expressions. M pathways (associated with holistic face processing) should drive the face inversion effect more than the P pathways (which play an important role in analyzing finer facial features). Therefore, adolescents should show greater immaturities in the face inversion effect for faces filtered with low pass (LP) than with high pass (HP) spatial frequency filters. In this study, adults and adolescents viewed upright and inverted faces and objects (chairs) that were either unfiltered, LP or HP filtered. Consistent with prior research, we found that P1 and N170 were sensitive to inversion for face stimuli, but not for other stimuli. For adults, the face inversion effect on N170 amplitude was larger for fearful faces than for happy faces, but the opposite was true for adolescents. This finding is consistent with other reports that show face processing develops more quickly for happy than for fearful faces. We also found that the P1 and N170 face inversion effect was differentially modulated by LP and HP spatial frequency filtration. The face inversion effect for N170 amplitude was attenuated in the HP condition compared to the LP and unfiltered conditions. Notably, adults and adolescents showed topographical differences in their P1 inversion effect for LP faces. For adults, we found the P1 amplitude inversion effect to be larger over the right hemisphere (as is commonly reported), whereas for adolescents, it was larger over the left hemisphere. Our data suggest that the neural correlates of face processing are still maturing during adolescence. Furthermore, these immaturities were more apparent for stimuli that accentuated the contributions of the M pathways. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


Predicated on the increasing abundance of electronic health records, we investi- gate the problem of inferring individualized treatment effects using observational data. Stemming from the potential outcomes model, we propose a novel multi- task learning framework in which factual and counterfactual outcomes are mod- eled as the outputs of a function in a vector-valued reproducing kernel Hilbert space (vvRKHS). We develop a nonparametric Bayesian method for learning the treatment effects using a multi-task Gaussian process (GP) with a linear coregion- alization kernel as a prior over the vvRKHS. The Bayesian approach allows us to compute individualized measures of confidence in our estimates via pointwise credible intervals, which are crucial for realizing the full potential of precision medicine. The impact of selection bias is alleviated via a risk-based empirical Bayes method for adapting the multi-task GP prior, which jointly minimizes the empirical error in factual outcomes and the uncertainty in (unobserved) counter- factual outcomes. We conduct experiments on observational datasets for an inter- ventional social program applied to premature infants, and a left ventricular assist device applied to cardiac patients wait-listed for a heart transplant. In both experi- ments, we show that our method significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art.


You cannot reconstruct a language phylum unless you have good arguments about which language families it includes. The most striking case is Altaic, where one group of scholars produces thousands of reconstructed forms, and another denies that the major branches are even related. The most extreme case for Niger-Congo is Gerrit Dimmendaal's 2011 book, which rejects numerous established branches and treats them as "independent". (Blench 2012: 1)It is generally assumed that Proto-Niger-Congo (PNC) had a well-developed paradigm of verb-to-verb derivational suffixes known as verb extensions (Voeltz 1977; Hyman 2007). Specific language studies identify three types of extensions: valence increasing (e.g. causative, applicative, associative, instrumental), valence decreasing (e.g. reciprocal, reflexive, decausative, passive, stative) and valence neutral (e.g. intensive, attenuative, pluractional). Sometimes also implicated in the suffix system are inflectional suffixes marking aspect (e.g. (im)perfectivity)). Despite the assumption of such verb extensions at the PNC level, languages within the vast Niger-Congo family of ca. 1200 languages differ considerably: Some have very full paradigms of verb extensions, e.g. many Atlantic languages (Becher 2000) in the West and nearly all Bantu in the East (Meeussen 1967). Others have a limited subset of the above, only a few traces, or perhaps no verb extensions at all (e.g. much of Mande). This paper is concerned with strategies for determining whether the various reflexes of the causative, applicative etc are cognate, i.e. inherited from PNC, are copied directly or indirectly through external contact, or result from renewal via morphological cycles (Heath 1998). One problem is that head-marking and such verb extensions are found in all four of Greenberg's (1963) original African macro-groups (Dimmendaal 2000: 187–188). Starting with Bantu and then moving out to other parts of Niger-Congo and bordering non-Niger-Congo, I address both the substantive and methodological issues involved in comparing phonetically and semantically similar verb suffixes and their linear ordering properties.


Based on a 19th century scientific report, a recent geological survey has highlighted the presence of a complex, mostly Aeolian deposit along the coast of Liguria (Laigueglia, Savona Province, NW Italy). This finding was recognized to be a relevant palaeoclimatic marker, being the northernmost aeolianite outcrop ever reported from the Mediterranean Basin. The investigated deposit is spread along a steep sea-facing slope from 2-3 m up to almost 60 m a.s.l.; it is strongly reworked due to recent urbanization of the area. Its stratigraphic features were recognized thanks to its exposure in different sections and analysed in order to obtain reliable indications on the sedimentary environments. Facies analysis suggests that the sedimentary body is a relict cliff-top dune evolved on top of a foreshore deposit in temperate-cold and moist climate conditions. Two samples from the upper, strictly aeolian part of the sequence were subjected to OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) dating and yielded an age consistent with its deposition during the Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 5.2 and 5.1 substages (88-83 and 83-71 ka). This paper contributes to the increase of the number of Upper Pleistocene coastal aeolianites accounted for in literature. Being located at the northern border of the occurrence of aeolianites in the northern Mediterranean, it helps to outline climatic and environmental boundary conditions for the formation of this type of deposit.


It is shown that in certain modes of vibration of plane rings the potential energy for small dis placements is proportional to the fourth power of the displacement, provided that there is free rotation about the bonds of the ring. This type of vibration is termed a 'fourth-power vibration'. It is likely to occur in cyclobutane and its derivatives, in a number of halides having the formula X 2Y 6, and in the hydrides of group III elements. The energies and wave functions of the first four levels of a one-dimensional oscillator with V(x) — ax 4 have been derived by a method of successive approximations, and asymptotic formulae are given for the higher levels. The wave functions are qualitatively similar to those of a harmonic oscillator, but the energy levels differ considerably. A comparison is made between energy levels for oscillators with V(x) = aQ \xP\ and different values of q. The selection rule for dipole radiation from a fourth-power vibration is discussed. Over tones will be more numerous than in the spectrum of a harmonic oscillator. Estimates are made of the spectrum frequencies of fourth-power vibrations in actual molecules, with special reference to cyclobutane and diborane. For these two molecules there are observed infra-red frequencies of approximately the expected value. The isotope effect should provide a means of discriminating experimentally between harmonic and fourth-power vibrations. The contribution of a fourth-power vibration to any thermodynamic function will differ from that of a harmonic vibration with the same fundamental spectrum frequency. Figures are given for the specific heat, where the difference should be detectable experimentally. In the general case V ( x ) = aQ | xq | the energy levels derived from the quantum theory lead to expressions for the thermodynamic functions which agree with the predictions of classical theory at high temperatures.


This study presents a new reading of the Perlesvaus, an anonymous thirteenth-century Old French Grail romance bizarrely structured around an Arthurian restaging of the battle between the Old and the New Law. I construe this hyper-violent, phantasmagorical text as a profoundly significant work of "trauma fiction" encoding a hitherto-unrecognized crisis of religious ethics and identity in Western Europe in the first half of the thirteenth century. Combining literary and historical analysis and drawing on current trends in trauma studies, I tie what I term the "deranged discourse" of the Perlesvaus to the brutal onset of internal crusading in southern France (the papal-sponsored Albigensian Crusade, 1209-29), making the case that the collective trauma staged in its narrative perturbations was a contributing factor in the well-documented worsening of Western European antisemitism during this period. One key analytical construct I develop is the "doppelganger Jew"—personified in the Perlesvaus by its schizoid authority figure, Josephus, a conflation of first Christian priest and first-century Romano-Jewish historian—who functions as an uncanny embodiment of powerful, unacknowledged fears that Christians were losing their spiritual moorings and reverting into reviled, scapegoated Jews. Traces of this collective trauma are explored in other contemporary texts, and one chapter examines how the fourteenth-century Book of John Mandeville revives similar fears of collapsing Judeo-Christian identity and unfolds under the sign of the doppelganger Jew.


The efficiency of biogeochemical mapping for identifying acid sulphate soils (AS soils) was studied by sampling and analysing water, transplanted aquatic moss (Fontinalis antipyretica) and leaves of the vascular plant Calamagrostis purpurea at two sites in a stream in northern Sweden with AS soils in its drainage area. One upstream sampling station (Mårtsmarken) was situated in an area dominated by till, and a downstream station (Persraningen) was situated in an area where AS soils are common. Metal contents in F. antipyretica and C. purpurea at these sites were compared to those in water (both unfiltered samples, and samples subjected to 0.22 µm membrane filtration and 1 kDa ultrafiltration to obtain data on metal speciation and its effects on uptake). Oxidation of sulphides with associated increases in acidity and release of metals were clearly reflected by differences in the water samples. At Persraningen the pH was lower than at Mårtsmarken, and the unfiltered concentrations of Al, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, S, Sr, Y and Zn were higher. At the upstream station, Mårtsmarken, the suspended fraction was an important carrier of Fe and P, and the colloidal concentrations were higher than or similar to the dissolved concentrations for all determined elements except Na and K. At Persraningen the low pH resulted in changes of speciation, so that the dissolved concentrations were higher than the colloidal concentrations for most elements. For Al, As, Cr, Cu, Pb and Y, the dissolved and colloidal concentrations were similar. For Fe, the colloidal concentration was usually higher than the dissolved concentration, and suspended Fe was detected. Aluminium, Cr, Cu, Fe and Y concentrations were significantly higher in Fontinalis antipyretica at Persraningen than at Mårtsmarken. In addition, concentrations of Al and Fe in C. purpurea were significantly higher at Persraningen. Our results highlight the potential of biogeochemical mapping for predicting the occurrence of AS soils. A limitation is the strong pH dependence of the uptake of metals in the aquatic mosses resulting in that only a few of the elements typically occurring at high concentrations in waters draining AS soils are enriched in the macrophytes. A combination of maps showing both absolute concentrations and elemental ratios would be useful for this, including not only ratios of previously suggested utility (e.g. Y:Pb and Ni:Pb), but also others, such as Y:Ca, Al:Ca, Cu:Ca, Y:Mg, Al:Mg and Cu:Mg.


Rewards are distributed more unevenly within the legal profession than in virtually any other occupation. Most of those who study the careers of lawyers would agree that law school eliteness, law school grades, and social status each play a role in determining which lawyers capture the greatest rewards. But remarkably little effort has been made to directly compare these inputs in explaining career outcomes, to see which of the three matters most, and how they interact.In this paper, we first examine general beliefs about the importance each of these three factors has upon lawyer careers – beliefs among academics as well as beliefs among the actual participants in the sorting process. We next present some specific findings about each of the three factors. Finally, we directly compare the three factors in regression models of career outcomes. The consistent theme we find throughout this analysis is that performance in law school – as measured by law school grades – is the most important predictor of career success. It is decisively more important than law school "eliteness." Socioeconomic factors play a critical role in shaping the pool from which law students are drawn, but little or no discernible role in shaping post-graduate careers. Since the dominant conventional wisdom says that law school prestige is all-important, and since students who "trade-up" in school prestige generally take a hit to their school performance, we think prospective students are getting the wrong message.


Global governance problems generate demand for international multilateral institutions actions (demand for global governance), which can or can not be met by international institutions' supply. Priorities of the international institutions' member-states also shape demand for the collective actions. The institutions' capacity for forging consensus and making collective decisions can be transformed into "global governance supply". The country chairing an institution should align both types of demand (global risks and members positions on key global governance issues) with the capacity of the institution it chairs and its national priorities, interests and capabilities. It should also be guided by a comparative assessment of institutions' effectiveness for dealing with specific global governance problems.For Russia, which will be chairing G20 in 2013, G8 in 2014 and BRICS in2015, a sequence of three presidencies presents a unique opportunity to influence global processes balancing external conditions and national priorities. The sequence of presidencies provides an opportunity to elaborate an innovative agenda for the three institutions on the basis of comparative analysis of forecasted global governance challenges and G20, G8, BRICS capabilities.The paper presents a comparative assessment of G20, G8, BRICS capabilities and their missions' relevance to surmounting key global governance challenges of the forthcoming decade. To identify these challenges the authors used the data of two World Economic Forum reports "Global Risks2011"and "Global Risks2012". The analysis was carried out on 5 risk categories (economic, societal, geopolitical, technological and environmental) and 25 risks with the biggest sum of impact and likelihood indicators. The assessment of the G20, G8 and BRICS capabilities draws on the analysis of the official documents content and decisions made in the summits and in other institutional formats. The comparative analysis has allowed identify the risk categories most relevant to each institution's mission and capability. The findings were used to make recommendations for G20, G8, BRICS agendas using the supply-demand model matching global governance problems (demand) and international multilateral institutions capacity (supply).The report "Global Risks2012"prepared by Risk Response Network has been used by courtesy of the World Economic Forum.The publication is prepared within the framework of a joint project "Enhancing Effectiveness of Russia's Participation in G8, G20 and BRICS in Compliance with the Russian Federation National Priorities in Global Governance and Developing Recommendations for the Russian Presidency of G20 in 2013" implementing by Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and International Organisations Research Institute (IORI) of the National Research University "Higher School of Economics" in 2012.


A large body of literature has examined the effect of parental employment--primarily maternal employment--on the amount of time spent with children and in childcare activities, and it is well documented that employed parents spend less time with their children than nonemployed parents. But not all time is equal. Research on circadian rhythms suggests that children's ability to benefit from parents' enriching childcare activities, such as reading to and playing with their children, varies by time of day. Thus, we would expect parents to engage in these enriching activities at times of day when it is the most valuable to their children. If employment causes parents to shift their childcare activities away from times when it is the most valuable, then differences in the amount of time that employed and nonemployed parents spend in childcare underestimate the effect of employment on parents' quality-adjusted time with their children. In this study, we examine whether employment results in parents shifting the time spent engaging in childcare activities to times that may be less productive. We develop a simple model of timing that predicts that parents will spend more time with their children when it is most productive. We then use data from the American Time Use Survey to compare workdays to nonwork days, and find that employment significantly affects the timing of enriching childcare activities for both mothers and fathers who are employed full time. In particular, these parents shift enriching childcare activities into the evening hours. In contrast, part-time employment has a much smaller effect on when mothers spent time with their children. Thus, part-time employment not only allows mothers to spend more time with their children compared to fulltime employment, it also allows them to spend that time when it may be the most beneficial and enjoyable.


Species across many taxa display site fidelity, the tendency to return to previous used areas, particularly during important periods of life, such as at mating and reproduction. In general, it is expected that familiarity to an area is beneficial, and the ability to return to the same area for specific life history events should therefore have a fitness benefit. Efficient wildlife management relies on good knowledge about the tendency of the target species to display site fidelity. Here, I investigated to what extent moose show seasonal variation in site fidelity and to what extent site fidelity was related to sex, reproductive status and the tendency to conduct seasonal migration. I expected site fidelity to vary according to the costs and benefits of sex and reproductive status, and that site fidelity in spring and autumn was low due to large annual variation in important environmental conditions (green-up and snow fall). Absolute site fidelity was measured as the distance between the location on a given date and the location on the same date the following year, where a short distance indicates high site fidelity. I also calculated a relative measure of site fidelity as the absolute site fidelity after accounting for individual space use. The results revealed that site fidelity was highest in summer and lowest in autumn. Resident moose displayed higher site fidelity than migratory and females more than males, whereas no differences were found between reproductive statuses of females. During the rutting/hunting period, males showed considerably lower site fidelity than females, while there was no difference between females of different reproductive status. These results suggest that the accuracy of predicting an individual's location from one year to the next varies with sex and movement strategy and is particularly low for migratory male moose in autumn. The results may have several implications for management. For instance a more precise population estimates can be obtained by performing censuses during the period of the year with high site fidelity, i.e. late summer or mid-winter. Furthermore, as the migratory part of the population may show large annual variations in local densities it is essential that knowledge exists about the general movement patterns in the population. Combined, these aspects call for a large-scale management of Norwegian moose populations.


Cataract surgery is arguably the most commonly performed operation in ophthalmology. Surgical skills transfer from experienced surgeons to resident surgeons is complicated by the fact that the teaching surgeon primarily acts as an observer rather than directly performing the procedure. Therefore, wet lab and simulator training are utilized to reduce the learning curve of the novice surgeons, which establishes tissue awareness, dexterity and muscle memory required to perform each step of the procedure, safely. Access to a wet lab and simulator environment is accomplished by establishing a surgical training curriculum in residency programs. In the operating room, topical anesthesia is a safe alternative for teaching cataract surgery. There are three well-described approaches to teaching individual steps of cataract surgery: forward, "backwards", and deconstructed step-by-step instruction. Simulator training can be incorporated prior to live patient experience or integrated concurrently with learner presence in the operating room. The trend towards a competency-based instruction model has necessitated appropriate evaluation tools that include Objective Assessment of Skills in Intraocular Surgery (OASIS), Global Rating Assessment of Skills in Intraocular Surgery (GRASIS), and the International Council of Ophthalmology's Ophthalmology Surgical Competency Assessment Rubrics (ICO-OSCAR). We review the literature on trends in surgical teaching in ophthalmology, with the focus on cataract surgery instruction to the novice surgeon.


A short discussion of the properties of far-infrared (FIR) lasers shows that these are suitable systems to observe instabilities and chaos. Experiments on 15NH3 FIR waveguide lasers show a single-mode self-pulsing instability and period doubling. A CH2F2 Fabry–Perot resonator laser shows the same single-mode self-pulsing, period-doubling, and chaotic emission. The experiments are done at relatively high pressure, at which inhomogeneous broadening can occur only through the ac-Stark effect. Qualitatively, the observations agree with theoretical model calculations.


ABSTRACT. Fire has been a critical influence on forest dynamics over much of western North America, and knowledge of historical fire regimes provides a valuable reference point for guiding ecosystem management. Spatial and temporal variations in historical (1550–1997) fire frequency were quantified for a 145-km2 area straddling the McKenzie River in the central western Cascades of Oregon. Fire-scar and tree-origin years estimated from cut stumps in 63 clear-cut sites were used to approximately date fires. The estimated natural fire rotation was 162 years for the presettlement period (1550–1849). Natural fire rotation varied considerably over the period of record, ranging from 40 years for the Euro-American settlement period (1850–1924) to 504 years for the recent (1925–1997) fire-suppression period. Such temporal variation in fire regime may be attributed to a combination of climatic and anthropogenic influences. The study area also experienced 2 periods of widespread fire recorded at a majority of sample sites: one in the mid-1500s and the other from 1850 to 1925. Historical fire frequency has also varied spatially over at least 2 distinct scales. At the slope-facet scale, fire frequency was greatest on the generally south-facing slope to the north of the McKenzie River. At the finer scale of individual 4-ha sites, local topographic influences varied according to a site's broad geographical context north or south of the river. Results suggest that meaningful fire-regime characterization may require information derived from multiple spatial scales.


Design and construction of synthetic microbial consortia is a promising strategy to enhance the performance of bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) and to facilitate practical applications in bioenergy production. According to the design principle of "division-of-labor", we synthesized a three-species microbial consortium for power generation, consisting of engineered Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Shewanella oneidensis. In this consortium, E. coli digested glucose to produce lactate as a carbon source and an electron donor; B. subtilis produced riboflavin as an electron shuttle; and S. oneidensis served as the exoelectrogen to generate electricity. In return, S. oneidensis oxidized lactate to acetate, which fed E. coli and B. subtilis as the carbon source. Thus, the three species formed a cross-feeding microbial consortium, which performed "better together" for power generation. As a result, glucose (11 mM, total 0.28 g) was converted to electricity for more than 15 days with high energy conversion efficiency (up to 55.7%). The microbial composition and electricity output were stable throughout the operation cycle. Furthermore, the consortium exhibited highly functional robustness to fluctuations in the initial inoculation ratio of the three strains. This system provided new insight into the rational design of more efficient, stable, and robust synthetic microbial consortia applicable in bioenergy and environmental bioremediation.


In many settings, we have multiple data sets (also called views) that capture different and overlapping aspects of the same phenomenon. We are often interested in finding patterns that are unique to one or to a subset of the views. For example, we might have one set of molecular observations and one set of physiological observations on the same group of individuals, and we want to quantify molecular patterns that are uncorrelated with physiology. Despite being a common problem, this is highly challenging when the correlations come from complex distributions. In this paper, we develop the general framework of Rich Component Analysis (RCA) to model settings where the observations from different views are driven by different sets of latent components, and each component can be a complex, high-dimensional distribution. We introduce algorithms based on cumulant extraction that provably learn each of the components without having to model the other components. We show how to integrate RCA with stochastic gradient descent into a meta-algorithm for learning general models, and demonstrate substantial improvement in accuracy on several synthetic and real datasets in both supervised and unsupervised tasks. Our method makes it possible to learn latent variable models when we don't have samples from the true model but only samples after complex perturbations.


Two years ago Jane Howard and colleagues published their quasi-experimental study "A comparison of intensive behavior analytic and eclectic treatments for young children with autism" (Howard, Sparkman, Cohen, Green, & Stanislaw, 2005). A year later my paper (Schoneberger, 2006)-which, in part, raised some serious questions about the methodology of their study--appeared in this journal. Since it publication, my paper has received a number of positive appraisals--some from local public school employees, some from members of local agencies serving special needs children (e.g., Valley Mountain Regional Center, an agency which played a role in Howard et al.'s research), and some from other professionals across the nation. As an example of the latter, consider the comments of Andy Bondy, a prominent behavior analyst and co-founder of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). With regard to the issue of "how to best describe" Howard et al.'s methodology and results, Bondy found my paper (2006) "astute and helpful" (personal communication, September 27, 2006). However, others have attempted to counter my criticisms. Specifically, this journal recently published two letters to the editor offering spirited defenses of Howard et al. (2005): one by the researchers themselves (Howard, Sparkman, Cohen, Green, & Stanislaw, 2007) and the other by Tristram Smith (2007). Further, this current issue contains a third letter (Wright, 2007) which also offers a defense of Howard et al. In what follows I respond to all three letters, beginning with the more substantive of the three (Smith, 2007), and then concluding with Howard et al. (2007) and Wright (2007). Response to Smith (2007) Drawing largely on a paper by Tristram Smith and colleagues (Smith, Groen, & Wynn, 2000), my paper (2007) identified three guidelines to be followed by studies assessing the treatment efficacy of behavior analytic approaches to young children with autism. These guidelines are: "(1) random assignment of participants to treatment conditions; (2) use of uniform assessment protocols across all participants; and (3) documentation of sufficient methodological detail to allow for independent replication" (Schoneberger, 2006, p. 208). Further, in my paper I reported Tristram Smith's (personal communication, July 25, 2005) critical commentary on Howard et al.'s (2005) study; namely, that the study's "limitations" included (a) its use of nonrandom assignment and (b) its providing "limited information about the interventions." The logical implications of Smith's criticisms are that Howard et al. (2005) failed to adhere to the first and third guidelines. In his letter to the editor defending Howard et al.'s (2005) study, Smith (2007) does not dispute the accuracy of my citations of his personal communication to me. However, Smith (2007) does assert that "this characterization of our correspondence is quite one-sided and misleading" (p.146), apparently because I did not include his favorable comments about Howard et al.'s study that were contained in his personal correspondence to me. Indeed, in my paper I did not report Smith's statement to me that Howard et al.'s study "is a very useful contribution to the literature." Further, I did not include his comments that "the groups appear fairly comparable prior to treatment, and the comprehensive assessments and use of independent examiners are strengths. Also, the results are impressive" (T. Smith, personal communication, July 25, 2005). Thus, to the charge that my characterization of his correspondence was "one-sided" I plead guilty with an explanation. However, I disagree that I was thereby misleading. Consider the following explanations of my "guilty" plea. In selectively quoting Smith's correspondence with me, I was arguing for a particular point of view. So, of course it was one-sided. Smith's criticizing me for being one-sided is like criticizing a participant in a formal debate for being one-sided. …


Two proteins, which are co-transcribed in Escherichia coli (MobA and MobB), are involved in the attachment of a nucleotide moiety to the molybdenum cofactor to form active molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide. Although not essential for this process, the dimeric MobB increases the activation of molybdoenzymes, incorporating this cofactor by a mechanism that is not understood. The structure of MobB has been elucidated in two crystal forms, one of which has provided a model at 1.9-Å resolution with Rwork and Rfree values of 21.5 and 28.7%, respectively. The MobB subunit displays an α/β-fold arranged into a major and minor domain, the latter of which is inserted between the major and minor domains of the partner subunit, creating an elongated dimer constructed around a 16-stranded β-sheet. Structural homologues have been identified, and they include a number of nucleotide-binding proteins. Comparisons indicate that although the phosphate-binding regions are highly conserved, MobB lacks the elements of structure required to interact with and efficiently bind a nucleotide base. In the present structure, a sulfate is bound to the Walker A phosphate-binding motif of MobB. The possibility that MobB forms a complex with the nucleotide-binding MobA, the protein with which it is co-transcribed, is explored, and modeling suggests that such a MobA:MobB complex is feasible. This hypothesis is supported by recent biochemical evidence indicating that MobB interacts with several proteins involved in various stages of molybdenum cofactor biosynthesis including MobA. We propose therefore that MobB is an adapter protein that acts in concert with MobA to achieve the efficient biosynthesis and utilization of molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide.


Climate change, particularly at South Asia region is having a huge impact on precipitation patterns, its intensity and extremeness. Mountainous area is much sensitive to these extreme events, hence having adverse effect on environment as well as people in term of fluctuation in water supply as well as frequent extreme weather events such as flood, landslide etc. So, prediction of extreme precipitation is imperative for proper management. The objective of this study was to assess the spatial distribution and temporal change of extreme precipitation events on Koshi basin of Nepal during 1980-2010. Five indicators (R1day, R5 day, R > 25.4 mm, SDII and CDD) were chosen for 41 meteorological stations to test the extreme events. Inverse distance weighting and kriging interpolation technique was used to interpolate the spatial patterns. Result showed that most extreme precipitation events increased up to mountain regions from low river valley; and then it decreased subsequently up to Himalayan regions (south to north direction). However, there is high value of indices for lowland Terai valley also. Most of the indices have hotspot with higher value at north western and southern part of the study area. For temporal change, most of the extreme precipitation indices showed increasing trend within 30 years' period. The spatial distribution of temporal change in indices suggests that there is increasing trend in lowland area and decreasing trend in mountainous and Himalayan area. So, adaptive measure should be adopted through proper land use planning, especially at those hotspot areas and their tributaries; to reduce adverse effect of extreme precipitation events.


Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae have adopted unique feeding strategies to take advantage of behavioral changes in their prey. However, logistical constraints have largely lim- ited ecological analyses of these interactions. Our objectives were to (1) link humpback whale feed- ing behaviors to concurrent measurements of prey using scientific echo-sounders, and (2) quantify how sand lance behavior influences the feeding behaviors and foraging ecology of humpback whales. To measure, in fine detail, the 3-dimensional orientation and movement patterns of hump- back whales underwater, we used a multi-sensor tag attached via suction cups (DTAG). We tested the specific hypothesis that the diel movement patterns of sand lance between bottom substrate and the water column correlates to changes between surface and bottom feeding strategies of humpback whales on Stellwagen Bank, MA. We collected over 96 h of both day- and nighttime data from 15 whales in 2006, and recorded 393 surface and 230 bottom feeding events. Individual whales exhibit both surface and bottom feeding behaviors, switching from one to the other in relation to changing light and prey conditions. Surface feeding behaviors were individually variable in their constitution but ubiquitously biased towards daylight hours, when prey was most abundant in the upper portion of the water column. Bottom feeding behavior occurred largely at night, coincident with when sand lance descend to seek refuge in the substrate. Our data provide novel insights into the behavioral ecology of humpback whales and their prey, indicating significant diel patterns in for- aging behaviors concurrent with changes in prey behavior.


Economic inequality has deep roots. A new study concludes that its ancient hotbed was the Old World: Societies there tended to be less equal than those in the New World, likely because of the use of draft animals. Researchers collected data on house size distribution from 62 archaeological sites in North America and Eurasia dating from before 8000 B.C.E. to about 1750 C.E. From there, they calculated each site's Gini coefficient, a standard measure of inequality ranging from zero (perfect equality) to one (a single person has all the wealth). Inequality tended to gradually increase as societies transitioned from hunting and gathering to farming, supporting long-held hypotheses about how agriculture intensified social hierarchies. About 2500 years after the first appearance of domesticated plants in each region, average inequality in both the Old World and the New World hovered around a Gini coefficient of about 0.35. This figure stayed more or less steady in North America and Mesoamerica. But in the Middle East, China, Europe, and Egypt, where people had oxen to plow more land and horses to travel long distances, inequality kept climbing, topping out at an average Gini coefficient of about 0.6 about 6000 years after the start of agriculture. Still, those numbers are far below the wealth inequality seen today in the United States, which has a Gini coefficient of 0.8.


The 4 kyr BP impact event has been identified from deep-sea, soil and archaeological records as the worldwide pulverisation of a volatile-rich debris jet(1). High resolution sequences show two stages of ejecta fallout linked to the impact-triggered doublet gaseous regime(2): scattered solid debris at the ground surface and spray of the vaporized hot fireball with thermal blast and local ignition. Ejecta debris consist of flow-textured impact glass, impact breccia and incompletely melted marine clasts: volcano-clastic sandy mudstone, calcareous mud, granite-gneiss, schists, volcanic breccia, kerogen and algal mud. Marine microfossils, organo-mineral markers, and the debris-fallout spatial pattern indicate two potential impact craters: an Antarctic source with an admixture of volcanic glass and ice rafted debris, from the vicinity of Heard Island and the Kerguelen plateau; a low latitude, shallow water one with hydrocarbons possibly from the Gulf of Mexico. Fine mixing of target materials from far distant source craters emphasizes a unique impact-ejecta. This matches the theoretical view of a debris jet channelled along the corridor cut through the atmosphere by the incoming projectile, raised upward, and dispersed widely(3). The isotopic anomaly of the sulphur phase in the kerogen volatile-component, indicating mass independent fractionation due to photolytic transformation, suggests launching at great heights, beyond the O2-O3 UV shield, responsible for climate disturbances. The incomplete melting of target rocks and global dispersion of impact breccia out of the craters would result from splash of small-sized projectile at rather great water depth and a low angle impact (10-15 degrees) into porous, highly compressible marine sediments. The spatially variable distribution of the organo-mineral and melt components, and the wide range of phase transformation reflect non-equilibrium shock-melting and micro-scale thermal processes in the heterogeneous vapor plume ejected from the impact sites. The 4 kyr BP event provides the first opportunity to compare on a variety of scales the environmental effects of globally dispersed ejecta from a multiple-site oceanic impact and the complex responses of human societies to frightening manifestations.


Informed parents know there is an abundance of information about children and child development available on the Internet, but can they trust that the content they find is authoritative? Professionals who work with children know where to find research relevant to their specialty, but where can they go to find reliable information on other related disciplines? "The Child" offers both parents and professionals access to the best scholarship from all areas of child studies - and from all regions of the world - in a remarkable one-volume reference. This encyclopedic companion brings together contemporary research on children and childhood from pediatrics, child psychology, childhood studies, education, sociology, history, law, anthropology, and other related areas - in sum, more than five hundred articles, all written by experts in their fields and overseen by noted anthropologist Richard A. Shweder. Each entry begins with a concise and accessible synopsis of the topic at hand. For example, the entry on 'adoption' begins with a general definition, followed by a detailed look at adoption in different cultures and at different times, a summary of the associated mental and developmental issues that can arise, and an overview of applicable legal and public policy both within the United States and elsewhere. Within the scope of a few pages, readers encounter a wide range of information and perspectives on this complex and fascinating topic. Entries also include multiple cross-references to guide readers toward related topics within the volume and suggestions for further reading. While many of the entries address universal, biological facts about children - most fetuses suck their thumbs, for example, and most babies develop musical rhythm by seven months - they also consider the many worlds of childhood within the United States and around the globe. Alongside the topical articles, "The Child" includes more than forty 'Imagining Each Other' essays, which focus on the experiences of particular children in different cultures. In 'Work before Play for Yucatec Mayan Children', for example, readers learn of the work responsibilities of some modern-day Mexican children, while in 'A Hindu Brahman Boy Is Born Again', they witness a coming-of-age ritual in contemporary India. This is the best scholarship from a wide range of disciplines, including: anthropology; child development; childhood studies; education; History; Law; Literature; Pediatrics; Psychology; public policy; religion; and, Sociology. Compiled by some of the most distinguished child development researchers in the world, "The Child" will broaden the current scope of knowledge on children and childhood. It is an unparalleled resource for parents, social workers, researchers, educators, and others who work with children, and will spark a necessary discussion about children and childhood around the world. Offering a unique global perspective - selections from the 'Imagining Each Other' essays include: Growing Up Hearing in a Deaf Family; Formality and Fun in Kinship Relations among the Gusii; Educated at Home in the United States; Children as Family Caregivers in Mexico; On Infants Sleeping Alone; The Luminous Books of Childhood; Trial by Fire: Emotional Socialization among Canadian Inuit; The Parenting Style of a Turkish Reformer; Memories of Childhood on an Israeli Kibbutz; Summer Camp for Diabetic Children: A Stigma-Free Zone; An African American Grandmother Combats Racial Hatred; Early Childhood Education in Japan; and, A Refugee's Childhood in the West Bank.


Segmental resections of the liver for cancer are made possible by the knowledge of individual anatomy available from preoperative angiography. Twelve male and six female patients ranging in age from 3 to 80 years have had resections involving the right lobe of the liver. There were six surgical deaths in the group, but five patients are living with no evidence of disease and two more patients are alive with extrahepatic metastasis. Mean survival time for the patients who recovered but later died was 27 months. If the operation is carefully chosen and the remaining liver tissue of good quality, significant palliation and some cures may be expected after liver resections for cancer. The operative mortality should not be greater than that expected for other abdominal operations of similar magnitude.


Background Evidence about the association between Bisphenol A (BPA) and the risk of recurrent miscarriage (RM) in human being is still limited. Objective We evaluated the association of urinary BPA concentrations with RM in human being. Methods A hospital-based 1:2 matched case-control study on RM was carried out in Suzhou and Kunshan in Jiangsu Province in China between August 2008 and November 2011. Total urinary BPA concentrations in 264 eligible urine samples (102 RM patients and 162 controls) were measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The Wilcoxon test and conditional logistic regression were used to estimate the differences between the groups and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), respectively. Results The median ± IQR (interquartile range) (P 75-P 25) values of non-creatinine-adjusted total urinary BPA levels in the RM patients and the controls were 1.66±3.69ng/ml and 0.58±1.07ng/ml, respectively (0.98±2.67μg/g Cr (creatinine) and 0.40±0.77μg/g Cr. The adjusted BPA level was significantly higher in the RM patients than in the controls (Wilcoxon test, Z = 4.476, P<0.001). Higher level of urinary BPA was significantly associated with an increased risk of RM (P-trend <0.001). Compared to the groups with urinary BPA levels less than 0.16μg/g Cr, the women with levels of 0.40–0.93μg/g Cr and 0.93μg/g Cr or above had a significantly higher risk of RM (OR = 3.91, 95%CI: 1.23–12.45 and OR = 9.34, 95%CI: 3.06–28.44) that persisted after adjusting for confounding factors. The time from recently RM date to recruitment does not significantly influence the urinary BPA level (P = 0.090). Conclusion Exposure to BPA may be associated with RM risk.


Abstract The implementation of a technique for locating programming errors in shallow-water codes, establishing the correctness of the code, and assessing the performance of the numerical model under various flow conditions is described. The right-hand side of the differential equations is modified in such a way that the exact solution of the nonlinear initial-value problem is known, so that the truncation error of the numerical scheme can be studied in detail. The exact solution is prescribed to be any linear combination of Hough harmonies which propagate in time according to their natural frequencies.


From the Latin warriors on the Palatine Hill in the age of Romulus, to the last defenders of Constantinople in 1453 AD, the weaponry of the Roman Army was constantly evolving. Through glory and defeat, the Roman warrior adapted to the changing face of warfare. Due to the immense size of the Roman Empire, which reached fromthe British Isles to the Arabian Gulf, the equipment of the Roman soldier varied greatly from region to region.Through the use of materials such as leather, linen and felt, the army was able to adjust its equipment to these varied climates. Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier sheds new light on the many different types of armour used by the Roman soldier, and combines written and artistic sources with the analysis of old and new archaeological finds. With a huge wealth of plates and illustrations, which include ancient paintings, mosaics, sculptures and coin depictions, this book gives the reader an unparalleled visual record of this fascinating period of military history.This book, the first of three volumes, examines the period from Marius to Commodus. Volume II covers the period from Commodus to Justinian, and Volume III will look at the period from Romulus to Marius.


UDP-glucose is the primary substrate for cellulose synthase, the enzyme that produces the main chemical constituent of cotton fiber. Two enzymes, UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UDPGp, EC 18.104.22.168) and sucrose synthase (SuSy, EC 184.108.40.206) catalyze the synthesis of UDP-glucose. SuSy plays an important role in cellulose metabolism during rapid secondary cell wall biogenesis by providing UDP-glucose directly to cellulose synthase. The exact role of UDPGp is unclear, but UDPGp enzyme activity increases during the period of development when cotton fiber is synthesizing massive amounts of cellulose. The objective of this study was to begin elucidating the role of UDPGp by determining the temporal expression of UDPGp genes during fiber development and in other cotton tissues. The results demonstrate that cotton fibers, seeds, and leaves express the same UDPGp gene at various stages of development, and there is an increase in the steady state level of UDPGp mRNA concomitant with secondary cell wall biosynthesis. The UDPGp steady state mRNA level is reduced in leaves upon wounding, so it is unlikely this UDPGp gene plays a role in callose biosynthesis. The deduced open reading frame of this sequence is 48% identical to an UDPGp from Dictyostelium discoideum Raper. The 5′ end of an UDPGp gene expressed in fiber was isolated and the organization of two introns determined. Motifs potentially important in controlling gene expression were also identified.


Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a major pathogen for diarrheal diseases among children. Antibiotics, when used appropriately, are effective; however, their overuse and misuse have led to the rise of antibiotic resistance worldwide. Thus, there are renewed efforts into the development of phage therapy as an alternative antibacterial therapy. Because EPEC in vivo models have shortcomings, a surrogate is used to study the mouse pathogen Citrobacter rodentium in animal models. In this study, two new phages CrRp3 and CrRp10, which infect C. rodentium, were isolated and characterized. CrRp3 was found to be a new species within the genus Vectrevirus, and CrRp10 is a new strain within the species Escherichia virus Ime09, in the genus Tequatrovirus. Both phages appear to have independently evolved from E. coli phages, rather than other Citrobacter spp. phages. Neither phage strain carries known genes associated with bacterial virulence, antibiotic resistance, or lysogeny. CrRp3 is more potent, having a 24-fold faster adsorption rate and shorter lytic cycle when compared to the same properties of CrRp10. However, a lysis curve analysis revealed that CrRp10 prevented growth of C. rodentium for 18 h, whereas resistance developed against CrRp3 within 9 h. We also show that hypoxic (5% oxygen) conditions decreased CrRp3 ability to control bacterial densities in culture. In contrast, low oxygen conditions did not affect CrRp10 ability to replicate on C. rodentium. Together, CrRp10 is likely to be the better candidate for future phage therapy investigations.


Background We previously documented significant decreases in chlorpyrifos concentrations in maternal personal and indoor air samples among pregnant African-American and Dominican women from New York City after the 2000–2001 restrictions on its residential use. Objective We undertook a biomarker validation study within the same cohort to evaluate trends over time in multiple biomarkers of prenatal chlorpyrifos exposure. Methods Subjects were enrolled between February 2001 and May 2004 (n = 102). We measured 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy) in postpartum meconium (n = 83), repeat prenatal maternal spot urine samples (n = 253), and postnatal urine from the mothers (n = 73) and newborns (n = 59). We measured chlorpyrifos in postnatal maternal (n = 92) and umbilical cord (n = 65) blood. Results We did not detect TCPy in infant urine, but all other biomarkers showed a highly significant decrease in detection frequencies (χ2 = 7.8–34.0, p ≤ 0.005) and mean ranks (p ≤ 0.006, Kruskal–Wallis) among subjects enrolled in 2003–2004 compared with those enrolled in 2001–2002. Chlorpyrifos in maternal personal and indoor air declined 2- to 3-fold over the same period (p < 0.05). In 2001–2002 samples, TCPy levels in repeat prenatal urine were positively correlated (r = 0.23–0.56), but within-subject variability exceeded between-subject variability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.43); indoor air levels explained 19% of the variance in prenatal urine TCPy (p = 0.001). Meconium TCPy concentrations were positively correlated with chlorpyrifos in maternal and cord blood (r = 0.25–0.33, p < 0.05) and with TCPy in maternal urine (r = 0.31, p < 0.01). Conclusions Results suggest the biomarkers are reliable dosimeters to differentiate between groups with prenatal chlorpyrifos exposures varying by a factor of 2 or more and vividly illustrate the efficacy of residential restriction on chlorpyrifos to reduce the internal dose during pregnancy.


SeghatoleSlaMi, M., 2013. effect of water stress, bio-fertilizer and manure on seed and essential oil yield and some morphological traits of cumin. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 19: 1268-1274 Cumin is a drought resistant medicinal plant adapted to arid and semi arid regions. Primary productivity in these regions is generally low. in order to study the effect of water stress, manure and bio-fertilizer on cumin a split plot design based on randomized complete block with 3 replications was conducted in two successive growth seasons (2009-2010 and 2010-2011) in Birjand, iran. two irrigation treatments (rainfall+3 irrigations as water stress and rainfall+6 irrigations as control) were in main plots and 7 fertilization methods (control- no fertilizer, 10 t/ha manure- 10M, 5t/ha manure- 5M, 50 kg/ha nitrogen as urea- 50N, 5M+25N and seed inoculation with Pseudomonas putida and P. fluorescence ) were in sub plots. Results demon strated that seed and essential oil yield, plant height and umbel number per plant significantly declined in water stress condi tions, but branch number per plant and essential oil and seed germination percentage were not significantly affected by water stress. in water stress conditions, the highest seed yield related to 5M+25N treatment. the effect of fertilizer treatments on plant height, branch number per plant and seed essential oil and germination percentage were not significant. In conclusion, results showed that manure could be used effectively to modify the impact of water shortage and to stimulate an increase in cumin seed and essential oil yields probably through improving the water holding capacity of the soil. Nitrogen application with manure improved the effect of manure application. Seed inoculation with Pseudomonas sp. demonstrated no positive ef


This paper explores a new theoretical and empirical approach to the assessment of human well-being, relevant to current challenges of social fragmentation in the presence of globalization and technological advance. We present two indexes of well-being—solidarity (S) and agency (A)—to be considered alongside the standard indexes of material gain (G) and environmental sustainability (E). The four indexes—SAGE—form a balanced dashboard for evaluating well-being. The solidarity index covers the needs of humans as social creatures, living in societies that generate a sense of social belonging. The agency index involves people's need to influence their fate through their own efforts. While "economic prosperity" (material gain) is conventionally measured through GDP per capita, "social prosperity" can be measured through our solidarity and agency indexes, alongside environmental sustainability that is measured through the Environmental Performance Index. The SAGE dashboard is meant to provide a "sage" approach to assessing well-being, since it aims to denote sagacity in the pursuit and satisfaction of fundamental human needs and purposes. Many of the prominent challenges of the 21st century, including the dissatisfaction of population groups who feel left behind by globalization and technological advance, may be viewed in terms of a "decoupling" of economic prosperity from social prosperity. We present a theoretical model that provides a new perspective on the welfare effects of globalization and automation. The dashboard is meant to provide an empirical basis for mobilizing action in government, business, and civil society to promote a recoupling of economic and social prosperity.


BACKGROUND--A study was carried out to determine whether subjects with respiratory symptoms are more likely to have impaired lung function or increased airway lability, and to quantify these relationships in a population of adults. METHODS--Data were collected from 511 participants (aged 20-70 years) from the Dutch part of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS). The symptoms analysed were: wheeze, dyspnoea > or = grade 3, nocturnal dyspnoea, cough and phlegm, and history of allergy. Lung function was measured by peak expiratory flow (PEF) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). PEF variability was used as an index for bronchial lability. RESULTS--Both FEV1 and PEF were decreased with increasing numbers of symptoms. Subjects with one symptom had an increased risk of having an FEV1 value of < 70% (OR = 4.2) and this risk increased with an increasing number of symptoms. Subjects with three or more symptoms had an increased risk of having a PEF value of < 70%, a diurnal variation in PEF of > 10% (both OR = 4.4), and an increased risk of high between day variation (OR = 6.6). CONCLUSIONS--Subject-reported symptoms are related to impaired lung function and to increased variability of peak flow.


Background: In 2016 the Veterans Health Administration implemented the first nationwide Telestroke program; 800 consults were completed in the first 18 months. Preliminary analysis showed Veterans reported high satisfaction and acceptance of the program. This study sought to understand patient, provider, and hospital-level factors associated with patient satisfaction.
Methods: Patients who received a Telestroke consultation were eligible for a phone interview two weeks later, including standard questions about technology quality, telepresence (how much the encounter felt like face-to-face), Telestroke provider communication, and overall satisfaction. Satisfaction scores ranged from 1-7, (higher = more satisfied), and for analyses were dichotomized as 6-7 indicating high satisfaction vs. < 6. Patient variables including stroke severity (NIH Stroke Scale) were obtained from study records. We used Student's t-tests and Chi-square tests to compare variables related to patient-reported satisfaction, and used a logistic regression model to determine factors independently associated with high satisfaction.
Results: Over 18 months, 208 interviews were completed and 156 (75%) reported high satisfaction with Telestroke. Patients with more severe stroke were less likely to recall the consultation (p = 0.01). Factors significantly associated with patient satisfaction were higher ratings of the technology (p < 0.0001), telepresence (p < 0.0001), provider communication ratings (p < 0.0001) and overall VA satisfaction (p = 0.01). Among 13 providers with at least 10 consultations, there was no difference in mean patient satisfaction scores. In the multivariate model, telepresence (OR 3.10, 95% CI 1.81-5.31) and provider communication scores (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.20-4.68) were independently associated with satisfaction.
Conclusion and Potential Impact: Provider qualities, including telepresence and provider ratings, were associated with overall Veteran satisfaction with Telestroke. Technology quality may be necessary but not sufficient to impact patient experience. Training providers to improve telepresence and communication skills could improve patient experience with Telestroke consultation.


Mathematical models for impacts of agriculture on the environment are useful tools for understanding the phenomena, forecasting them or elaborating recommendations to control them. One of the objectives of REN Task 3 "Environmental Problems of Agriculture" is to collect and assess existing models describing water-related and soil-related environmental impacts of agriculture. The Task members expect to complete this undertaking by the end of 1980. Some work on the collection of models and their application to a number of case studies in the National Member Organizations has been done in-house. As part of this ongoing work, a Task Force Meeting organized by I. Shvytov was convened to discuss our progress, to study the least understood issues, to refine cooperative studies with colleagues outside IIASA, and to help them improve their collaborative efforts with one another. This paper presents a rather brief overview of the meeting before the proceedings are published.


The Godless Constitution is an urgent and timely reexamination of the roots of church-state separation in American politics - and a ringing refutation of the misguided claims of the religious right. In this important polemic two distinguished scholars of American political ideas and religion refute this dangerous attempt to introduce what they term "religious correctness" into our politics, by reminding us that the absence of any mention of God in the Constitution was a conscious action on the framers' part, intended to prevent the bloody religious controversies that so marked European history. They also emphasize that church-state separation was seen as a guarantee of - not a hindrance to - religions liberty. Fully respecting the importance of religion in the public sphere, yet forthright in defining proper limits, The Godless Constitution offers a bracing return to the first principles of American democracy - and a guide to keeping them intact in the forthcoming presidential campaign.


Do our customary notions of shame, blame and guilt require us to adopt a particular view of the self's singularity and invariance through time? Consider the intriguing case of John Demjanjuk, tried in Israel during 1987 and 1988 for the crimes of "Ivan the Terrible," a concentration camp guard at Treblinka in Poland, during 1942–43. John Demjanjuk, a retired factory worker living in Cleveland, Ohio, appeared banal at his trial—old, quiet, ordinary and helpless; descriptions from survivors of Treblinka cast Ivan as monstrous in his vigorous brutality. Should John be found guilty and punished for Ivan's crimes? This question takes us beyond any answers sought at the trial. Even if the spatio-temporal identity of the later John and earlier Ivan had been established conclusively, still the justice of punishing the later man for the earlier one's crimes may be questioned. For a philosophical puzzle of personal identity lingers: is the later John the same person as the earlier Ivan? In cases such as this the passage of time and radical changes of character and personality seem to invite the notion that one self or person has succeeded another in the same body. If this were so, would—or should—culpability transfer undiminished from one self to another?


The primary objective of this paper is to examine the major determinants of GDP growth in South Korea, emphasizing the importance of investment, trade and human capital using quarterly time series data covering the period 1980Q1 to 2005Q3. The time series properties of the data are, first, analyzed using the Zivot-Andrews (1992) model. The empirical results derived indicate that there is insufficient evidence against the null hypothesis of unit roots for all of the variables under investigation. Second, the Gregory-Hansen (1996) co integration technique, allowing for the presence of potential structural breaks in the data, is applied, and is found to reject the null hypothesis of no co integration relationship in favour of the existence of at least one cointegration relation in the presence of single structural breaks in the system. By applying these methodologies we find that most of the endogenously determined structural breaks coincide with the gradual effects of the Asian crisis on the Korean economy. Taking into account the resulting endogenously determined structural breaks the error correction version of the ARDL procedure is then employed, to specify the short- and long-term determinants of economic growth in the presence of structural breaks. Based on the preliminary empirical findings obtained we conclude that, in the long-term, policies aimed at promoting various types of physical and human capital, and trade openness, have improved Korea's economic growth. More specifically, the empirical results show that while the effects of physical and human capital as well as exports are highly significant, as expected, total imports were found to be non significant, and this could be due to compositional changes away from the importation of capital goods to consumer goods as Korean standards of living have improved. It was also found that the speed of adjustment in the estimated models is relatively high and had the expected significant and negative sign.


In dairy processing, dairy ingredients need to be thermally treated to ensure product quality and safety for an extended shelf life. During thermal processes, milk protein denatures and interacts with other dairy ingredients to form a layer of deposit on heated surfaces, known as fouling which can deteriorate process efficiency and product safety. Milk is a complex mixture of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. The heat-sensitive B-lactoglobulin (B-lg) is known to be a key component in fouling formation (constituting 50% of type A fouling deposits) during milk pasteurization, as B-lg unfolds when heated and exposes the reactive sulfhydryl groups that can interact with other proteins and ingredients to form deposits. Although casein (80% of milk proteins) is known to interact with denatured B-lg, no fouling studies have been performed with particular focus on the effect of casein on whey protein fouling.Carbohydrates are an ingredient widely added in various dairy products as sweetener, stabilizer, texturizer, and fat replacer. Simple sugars have a protective effect on whey protein denaturation, but their effect on dairy fouling is not known. Polysaccharides can interact with milk proteins through electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, as well as hydrogen bonding. The addition of polysaccharide (carrageenan) has been reported to cause opposite effects on protein deposition, however, no conclusive mechanism has been proposed to elucidate how protein-polysaccharide interaction at pasteurization temperatures affects the fouling behavior of dairy products.In this dissertation, different model dairy solutions and real dairy products were used to study the effect of composition, including protein distribution and additions of simple sugars and polysaccharides, on dairy fouling. Fouling deposits were formed and analyzed using a bench-top spinning disc apparatus operating under well-controlled temperatures and shear stresses characterized by computational fluid dynamics simulations. By studying the fouling behavior of camel milk and comparing with bovine milk, milk without B-lg was found to still foul and form deposits containing casein, α-lactalbumin, serum albumin with a reduced thermal resistance due to a more porous structure. Results also showed that the addition of 10 wt% sugar reduced whey protein fouling by more than 30% and affected the structure and adhesion strength of deposits. Furthermore, the presence of carrageenan in dairy solutions can promote the denaturation of B-lg when heated and form a more compact deposit, resulting in more severe fouling. Overall, this dissertation provides a fundamental understanding of the fouling characteristics of complex dairy products. The knowledge gained is expected to help the dairy industry select suitable ingredients to mitigate or prevent the fouling problem.


Abstract Although numerous field studies have evaluated flow and transport processes in salt marsh channels, the overall role of channels in delivering and removing material from salt marsh platforms is still poorly characterised. In this paper, we consider this issue based on a numerical hydrodynamic model for a prototype marsh system and on a field survey of the cross-sectional geometry of a marsh channel network. Results of the numerical simulations indicate that the channel transfers approximately three times the volume of water that would be estimated from mass balance considerations alone. Marsh platform roughness exerts a significant influence on the partitioning of discharge between the channel and the marsh platform edge, alters flow patterns on the marsh platform due to its effects on channel-to-platform transfer and also controls the timing of peak discharge relative to marsh-edge overtopping. Although peak channel discharges and velocities are associated with the flood tide and marsh inundation, a larger volume of water is transferred by the channel during ebb flows, a portion of which transfer takes place after the tidal height is below the marsh platform. Detailed surveys of the marsh channels crossing a series of transects at Upper Stiffkey Marsh, north Norfolk, England, show that the total channel cross-sectional area increases linearly with catchment area in the inner part of the marsh, which is consistent with the increase in shoreward tidal prism removed by the channels. Toward the marsh edge, however, a deficit in the total cross-sectional area develops, suggesting that discharge partitioning between the marsh channels and the marsh platform edge may also be expressed in the morphology of marsh channel systems.


Adult education is expected to address the socio-economic, cultural, political and environmental problems besieging humanity in their various societies. This is so because adults are the major occupants of the production sectors of the economy. Unfortunately, the goals of adult education as stated by the federal government in the National Policy on Education, have not been properly achieved. Changes and developments in the 21 st century call for a total review and overhaul of adult education. This paper makes a case that changes brought in by globalization and exposition in knowledge brought about through information and communication technology and the need for global peace and harmony in the 21 st century, make a review and overhaul of adult education inevitable. The paper recommends that innovations in adult education should among other things improve and retain adult education profession as well as make adult learners become conscious of changes around him. Key words: Adult, Adult education and challenges.


With the rapid proliferation of online learning, students are increasingly demanding easy and flexible access to learning content at a time and location of their choosing. In these environments, remote users connecting via the public Internet or other unsecure networks must be authenticated prior to being granted access to sensitive content such as tests or personal/private records. Today, the overwhelming majority of online learning systems rely on weak authentication mechanisms to verify the identity of remote users only at the start of each session. One-time authentication using password, personal identification number (PIN), or even hardware tokens is clearly inadequate in that it cannot defend against insider attacks including remote user impersonation or illegal sharing or disclosure of these authentication secrets. As such, these methods are entirely unsuitable for circumstances where the outcome of an online assessment or a course of study is the granting of a formal degree, professional certification, or qualification or requalification for a particular skill or function. This paper examines the problem of remote authentication in online learning environments and explores the challenges and options of using biometric technology to defend against user impersonation attacks by certifying the presence of the user in front of the computer, at all times. It also leverages a 5-step process as the basis for a systems approach to ensuring that the proposed solution will meet the critical remote authentication assurance requirements. The process and systems approach employed here are generic, and can be exploited when introducing biometric-enabled authentication solutions to other applications and business domains. The paper concludes by presenting a biometrics-based client-server architecture for continuous user authentication in e-learning environments.


13C NMR relaxation spectroscopy as applied to polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) provides a method for measuring the molecular motions of the liquid crystal molecules within droplets dispersed throughout the material's polymer matrix. Because liquid crystal molecular motion may play a major role in the switching phenomenon of PDLC materials from an opaque film to a clear film, both T1 and T1ρ relaxation experiments are used to measure molecular mobility of the liquid crystal as a function of droplet size for PDLC materials made of E7 and epoxy. The segmental molecular motions measured by T1ρ relaxation show a significant dependence on liquid crystal droplet size. Three models are provided which explain the observed restriction in segmental mobility of the liquid crystal molecules as the droplet size decreases and the polymer/liquid crystal interaction increases.