There is growing evidence supporting the coeval growth of galaxies and their resident super-massive black hole (SMBH). Most studies also claim a correlation between the activity of the SMBH and the star formation of the host galaxy. It is unclear, however, whether this correlation extends to all redshifts and X-ray luminosities. Some studies find a weaker dependence at lower luminosities and/or a suppression of the star formation at high luminosities. We here use data from the X-ATLAS and XMM-XXL North fields and compile the largest X-ray sample up to date to investigate how X-ray selected AGN affect the star formation of their host galaxies in a wide redshift and luminosity baseline of 0.03 < z < 3 and log LX(2−10 keV) = (41−45.5) erg s−1. Our sample consists of 3336 AGN. 1872 of our sources have spectroscopic redshifts. For the remaining sources we calculate photometric redshifts using TPZ, a machine-learning algorithm. We estimate stellar masses (M⋆) and star formation rates (SFRs) by applying spectral energy distribution fitting through the CIGALE code, using optical, near-IR, and mid-IR photometry (SDSS, VISTA, and WISE). Of our sources, 608 also have far-IR photometry (Herschel). We use these sources to calibrate the SFR calculations of our remaining X-ray sample. Our results show a correlation between the X-ray luminosity (LX) and the SFR of the host galaxy at all redshifts and luminosities spanned by our sample. We also find a dependence of the specific SFR (sSFR) on redshift, while there are indications that the X-ray luminosity enhances the sSFR even at low redshifts. We then disentangle the effects of stellar mass and redshift on the SFR and again study its dependence on the X-ray luminosity. Towards this end, we estimate the SFR of main-sequence galaxies that have the same stellar mass and redshift as our X-ray AGN and compare them with the SFR of our X-ray AGN. Our analysis reveals that the AGN enhances the star formation of its host galaxy when the galaxy lies below the main sequence and quenches the star formation of the galaxy it lives in when the host lies above the main sequence. Therefore, the effect of AGN on the SFR of the host galaxy depends on the location of the galaxy relative to the main sequence.


Is management a profession? Should it be? Can it be? This major work of social and intellectual history reveals how such questions have driven business education and shaped American management and society for more than a century. The book is also a call for reform. Rakesh Khurana shows that university-based business schools were founded to train a professional class of managers in the mold of doctors and lawyers but have effectively retreated from that goal, leaving a gaping moral hole at the center of business education and perhaps in management itself. Khurana begins in the late nineteenth century, when members of an emerging managerial elite, seeking social status to match the wealth and power they had accrued, began working with major universities to establish graduate business education programs paralleling those for medicine and law. Constituting business as a profession, however, required codifying the knowledge relevant for practitioners and developing enforceable standards of conduct. Khurana, drawing on a rich set of archival material from business schools, foundations, and academic associations, traces how business educators confronted these challenges with varying strategies during the Progressive era and the Depression, the postwar boom years, and recent decades of freewheeling capitalism. Today, Khurana argues, business schools have largely capitulated in the battle for professionalism and have become merely purveyors of a product, the MBA, with students treated as consumers. Professional and moral ideals that once animated and inspired business schools have been conquered by a perspective that managers are merely agents of shareholders, beholden only to the cause of share profits. According to Khurana, we should not thus be surprised at the rise of corporate malfeasance. The time has come, he concludes, to rejuvenate intellectually and morally the training of our future business leaders.


Muscle wasting in experimental cancer cachexia has been associated with increased ubiquitin proteasome proteolytic system activity and increased uncoupling protein (UCP) expression. Increased ubiquitin proteasome pathway activity has also been found in gastric, but not lung, cancer patients. It therefore remains unclear in which patients modulation of this proteolytic system could be a therapeutic target. We investigated markers of systemic inflammation, hypermetabolism and expression of ubiquitin and uncoupling proteins 2 and 3 in muscle of pancreatic cancer patients. Rectus abdominis muscle was sampled from 15 weight-losing pancreatic cancer patients and 11 controls. UCP2 and 3, and ubiquitin mRNA expression were measured by Northern blots and UCP3 protein by Western blotting. Resting energy expenditure and plasma IL-6, sTNF-R and C-reactive protein (CRP) were also measured. Cancer patients had lost 18% of pre-illness stable weight, but were not significantly hypermetabolic compared with controls. IL-6, sTNF-R and CRP levels and ubiquitin 2.4 kb, but not 1.2 kb, mRNA expression were increased in cancer patients. UCP-2 and 3 mRNA and UCP-3 protein were similar in both groups. Weight loss correlated with systemic inflammation and ubiquitin 1.2 and 2.4 kb mRNA expression. Weight loss in pancreatic cancer is associated with systemic inflammation and increased mRNA expression for ubiquitin but not uncoupling proteins in skeletal muscle. The pro-inflammatory network and ubiquitin proteasome pathway may be targets for intervention in pancreatic cancer cachexia.


This paper extends the concept of trust modeling within a multi-agent environment.  Trust modeling often focuses on identifying the appropriate trust level for the other agents in the environment and then using these levels to determine how to interact with each agent.  However, this type of modeling does not account for sneaky agents who are willing to cooperate when the stakes are low and take selfish, greedy actions when the rewards rise.  Adding trust to an interactive partially observable Markov decision process (I-POMDP) allows trust levels to be continuously monitored and corrected enabling agents to make better decisions.  The addition of trust modeling increases the decision process calculations, but solves more complex trust problems that are representative of the human world.  The modified I-POMDP reward function and belief models can be used to accurately track the trust levels of agents with hidden agendas.  Testing demonstrates that agents quickly identify the hidden trust levels to mitigate the impact of a deceitful agent.


Referential communication is a complex form of social interaction whereby agents manage to coordinate behavior with respect to features that are not immediately present during the interaction. A famous example from nature is the bee waggle dance. We used an minimal cognitive approach to create a model of referential communication that is sufficiently minimal to permit a full dynamical analysis, and yet still complex enough so that the results provide a useful perspective onto the processes that could be involved in natural referential communication. The task is for two embodied agents to interact in a "hive" area such that one of the agents (the receiver) is able to move to a specific "target", the location of which is only available to the other agent (the sender). The task implicitly requires adopting the right role (sender vs. receiver), disambiguating between translational and communicative motion, and switching from communicative to target seeking behavior. Similar to the waggle dance, the best solution involved a correlation between duration of contact and distance to be traveled. Dynamical analysis revealed that this behavior cannot be attributed to the sender in isolation.


Abstract Various cross sections of the (p + 206,207,208Pb), (p + natPb), (p + 209Bi), and (p + 197Au) reactions have been calculated at energies between 20 and 1600 MeV, using the Cascade-Exciton model, Geometry-Dependent Hybrid model, and Hybrid model. The neutron multiplicity has been predicted. The calculated results have been compared with the experimental data taken from the literature. The accordance of the calculated results with the experimental data has been examined.


Micro-blogging sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ present a nice opportunity for targeting advertisements that are contextually related to the microblog content. By virtue of the sparse and noisy text makes identifying the microblogs suitable for advertising a very hard problem. In this work, we approach the problem of identifying the microblogs that could be targeted for advertisements as a two-step classification approach. In the first pass, microblogs suitable for advertising are identified. Next, in the second pass, we build a model to find the sentiment of the advertisable microblog. The systems use features derived from the Part-of-speech tags, the tweet content and uses external resources such as query logs and n-gram dictionaries from previously labeled data.This work aims at providing a thorough insight into the problem and analyzing various features to assess which features contribute the most towards identifying the tweets that can be targeted for advertisements.


Students studying English communication skills in Arab universities constitute a significant proportion of the university population. This population is rapidly growing and making teaching of English in Arab universities significant, rewarding yet challenging. Challenging in a way that teachers of English communication skills to Arab students continue to experience unique challenges. This study investigated these challenges and the possible solutions. Quantitative data was collected from 30 English teachers teaching Arab students in Arab countries within the Levantine and the Gulf using survey questionnaire and analyzed descriptively using Microsoft Excel Data Analysis tool. Results revealed that common challenges experienced by English teachers teaching Arab students in Arab countries include; large classes, which makes it difficult for teachers to implement communication skills in the university; inadequate resources needed to teach communication skills; communicative incompetence of students; learning being teacher-centered rather than learner-centered; the rare use of English by students in their conversations. Others included rote learning and unauthentic exam system; difficulty in motivating and encouraging students to orally participate in class discussions; difficulty in assessing students' ability to communicate in English; and low communicative abilities. Results also revealed challenges unique to specific universities included insufficient knowledge of English among students; the tendency of students to switch to Arabic; vocabulary insufficiency; lack of seriousness by students; students not finding English to be useful; lack of motivation for students; insufficient student interaction; poor oral skills; and shyness. Participants identified the following as possible solutions: offering more English classes and extracurricular activities; making passing exam more difficult; giving more vocabulary; demonstrating the value and importance of English; motivating students; teaching real-life situation while they communicate using proper English orally and in written form; and exposing them to different situations by sending them on trips to English speaking countries.


The effect of wind distribution on the architectural domain of the Bahrain Trade Centre was numerically analysed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Using the numerical data, the power generation potential of the building integrated wind turbines was determined in response to the prevailing wind direction. Simulating a reference wind speed of 6 m/s, the findings from the study quantified an estimate power generation of 6.4 kW indicating a capacity factor of 2.9% for the computational model. At the windward side of the building, it was observed that the layers of turbulence intensified in inverse proportion to the height of the building with an average value of 0.45 J/kg. The air velocity was found to gradually increase in direct proportion to the elevation with the turbine located at higher altitude receiving maximum exposure to incoming wind. This study highlighted the potential of using advanced computational fluid dynamics in order to factor wind into the design of any architectural environment.


Mosquito surveillance is an integral part of understanding mosquito-borne disease, including and not limited to the La Crosse virus. The primary container-inhabiting Aedeni vectors include Aedes triseritatus, Aedes albopictus, and Aedes japonicus. To better understand the efficacy of gravid traps and oviposition traps as surveillance methods for these mosquitoes, field studies were conducted in three different habitat types. Ae. triseriatus, Ae. albopictus, Ae. japonicus, and Aedes aegypti eggs were described with the aid of color images and SEM. All eggs were broadly cigar shaped with Ae. triseriatus and Ae. japonicus eggs being dull or matte black while Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti eggs were shiny jet black. Ae. triseriatus eggs were larger, lighter in color, and have a rougher appearance when compared to Ae. japonicus. Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti can be differentiated by the distinct presence of a micropylar collars in Ae. aegypti. Ovitrap and gravid trap efficacy for the surveillance of Ae. triseriatus, Ae. albopictus, and Ae. japonicus were measured in three different habitats on two different sites. Both sites contained the same 2ha habitats with varying degrees of forest canopy disturbance. Ae. triseriatus was the most abundant mosquito on all sites. Ovitraps and gravid traps were efficient in collecting Ae. triseriatus, while ovitraps were not efficient in collecting Ae. japonicus and Ae. albopictus.


PURPOSE
We conducted a randomized phase III trial to determine whether adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in women with uterine leiomyosarcoma.

METHODS
Women with uterus-confined, high-grade leiomyosarcoma who were confirmed disease free by imaging were randomly assigned to four cycles of gemcitabine plus docetaxel, followed by four cycles of doxorubicin, or to observation. All were followed for evidence of recurrence. The primary end point was overall survival (OS).

RESULTS
With international collaboration, 38 of the targeted accrual of 216 patients were enrolled, after which the study was closed by the National Cancer Institute for accrual futility. Twenty patients were assigned to chemotherapy, 18 to observation. Among the 17 patients treated with at least one cycle of chemotherapy, grade 3 or 4 toxicities were observed in 47%; among the 18 patients assigned to observation, one had grade 3 hypertension. There were six deaths (chemotherapy, n = 5; observation, n = 1), all due to disease. The restricted mean survival time for OS was estimated as 34.3 months (95% CI, 25.3 to 43.3 months) in the chemotherapy arm and as 46.4 months (95% CI, 43.6 to 49.1 months) in the observation arm. There were eight recurrences in each arm. The restricted mean survival time for recurrence-free survival was estimated as 18.1 (95% CI, 14.2 to 22.0) months in the chemotherapy arm and as 14.6 months (95% CI, 10.3 to 19.0 months) in the observation arm. Neither survival outcome comparison was considered statistically robust, due to the small sample size.

CONCLUSION
Despite international collaboration to test the role of adjuvant chemotherapy in uterine-confined leiomyosarcoma, this study was closed for accrual futility. Although the sample size precludes robust statistical comparison, observed OS and recurrence-free survival data do not show superior outcomes with adjuvant chemotherapy.


This newly-emerging field uses tissue-specific cells in a three-dimensional organization, provided by a scaffolding material, to return functionality of the organ. For these applications, the choice of scaffolding material is crucial to the success of the technique. In addition to the chemical properties of the material, physical properties such as surface area for cell attachment are essential. Various methods of creating pores in these materials to increase surface area are reviewed here. Scaffolds formed using the different techniques, which include fiber bonding, solvent casting/particulate leaching, gas foaming and phase separation, are compared on the basis of porosity, pore size, and promotion of tissue growth.


Presenting a complete guide for the planning, design and implementation of solar PV systems for off-grid applications, this book features analysis based on the authors' own laboratory testing as well as their in the field experiences. Incorporating the latest developments in smart-digital and control technologies into the design criteria of the PV system, this book will also focus on how to integrate newer smart design approaches and techniques for improving the efficiency, reliability and flexibility of the entire system. The design and implementation of India's first-of its-kind Smart Mini-Grid system (SMG) at TERI premises, which involves the integration of multiple renewable energy resources (including solar PV) through smart controllers for managing the load intelligently and effectively is presented as a key case study. Maximizing reader insights into the performance of different components of solar PV systems under different operating conditions, the book will be of interest to graduate students, researchers, PV designers, planners, and practitioners working in the area of solar PV design, implementation and assessment.


Mindfulness meditation interventions—which train skills in monitoring present-moment experiences with a lens of acceptance—have shown promise for increasing positive emotions. Using a theory-based approach, we hypothesized that learning acceptance skills in mindfulness interventions helps people notice more positive experiences in daily life, and tested whether removing acceptance training from mindfulness interventions would eliminate intervention-related boosts in positive affect. In 2 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of stressed community adults, mindfulness skills were dismantled into 2 structurally equivalent interventions: (a) training in both monitoring and acceptance (Monitor + Accept) and (b) training in monitoring only (Monitor Only) without acceptance training. Study 1 tested 8-week group-based Monitor + Accept and Monitor Only interventions compared with a no treatment control group. Study 2 tested 2-week smartphone-based Monitor + Accept and Monitor Only interventions compared with an active control training. In both studies, end-of-day and momentary positive affect and negative affect were measured in daily life for 3 days pre- and post-intervention using ambulatory assessments. As predicted, across 2 RCTs, Monitor + Accept training increased positive affect compared with both Monitor Only and control groups. In Study 1, this effect was observed in end-of-day positive affect. In Study 2, this effect was found in both end-of-day and momentary positive affect outcomes. In contrast, all active interventions in Studies 1 and 2 decreased negative affect. These studies provide the first experimental evidence that developing an orientation of acceptance toward present-moment experiences is a central mechanism of mindfulness interventions for boosting positive emotions in daily life.


The nature and scope of the current thesis is to cross-culturally explore whether non-eating disordered females with a restrained eating style exhibit deficits in executive functioning. A mediating role of potential mechanisms has been further investigated within this thesis. In contrast to the previous studies, this research is the first investigation which employs a well-established self-report measure of executive functions grounded in the everyday environment, rather than laboratory measures based on Baddeley's model of working memory. The findings have clearly provided evidence for cultural- and dietary restraint-related differences on the domain of executive functions (EF). Overall, English females have reported poorer performance on components of a self-reported EFs, except on Emotional Control than Greeks. Restrained eaters have found to perform worst on all components of EFs than unrestrained eaters. More specifically, this research has revealed that nationality has an overall impact on EFs; and in particular on i) emotional control, namely on the way people modulate their emotional responses in everyday life, ii) self-monitor, specifically the extent to which people observe their own attitudes and behaviours and the negative effects of these on others, iii) working memory, specifically adults ability to hold information in mind for the purpose of completing a task, and iv) task-monitor, namely the degree to which people keep track of their own problem-solving success or failure. With the exception of emotional control, these nationality-related differences on self- and task-monitor, as well as WM are at least partially mediated by or co-vary with BMI, preoccupying thoughts about food, diet, and body shape, depressive symptoms, and fluid intelligence. Regarding restrained eating, the current research has provided evidence for its negative role on i) shift, ii) initiate and ii) working memory. These findings suggest that females with a restrained eating style face difficulties in their flexibility related to shifting problem-solving set, to begin a task or activity, and to independently generate ideas, responses, or problem-solving strategies, as well as difficulties on their working memory performance. When the variance attributable to BMI, preoccupying cognitions, depression, and fluid intelligence, the observed differences within the restrained eating group on shift, initiate, and working memory have been reduced. To conclude, the findings presented in this thesis point to potentially fruitful directions which future research in the domain of eating psychopathology and cognitive functioning within non-clinical populations cross-culturally might follow.


Although the finite element method is often applied to analyze the dynamics of structures, its application to large, complex structures can be time-consuming and errors in the modeling process may negatively affect the accuracy of analyses based on the model. System identification techniques attempt to circumvent these problems by using experimental response data to characterize or identify a system. However, identification of structures that are time-varying or nonlinear is problematic because the available methods generally require prior understanding about the equations of motion for the system. Nonlinear system identification techniques are generally only applicable to nonlinearities where the functional form of the nonlinearity is known and a general nonlinear system identification theory is not available as is the case with linear theory. Linear time-varying identification methods have been proposed for application to nonlinear systems, but methods for general time-varying systems where the form of the time variance is unknown have only been available for single-input single-output models. This dissertation presents several general linear time-varying methods for multiple-input multiple-output systems where the form of the time variance is entirely unknown. The methods use the proper orthogonal decomposition of measured response data combined with linear system theory to construct a model for predicting the response of an arbitrary linear or nonlinear system without any knowledge of the equations of motion. Separate methods are derived for predicting responses to initial displacements, initial velocities, and forcing functions. Some methods require only one data set but only promise accurate solutions for linear, time-invariant systems that are lightly damped and have a mass matrix proportional to the identity matrix. Other methods use multiple data sets and are valid for general time-varying systems. The proposed methods are applied to linear timeinvariant, time-varying, and nonlinear systems via numerical examples and experiments and the factors affecting the accuracy of the methods are discussed.


Abstract. In recent years, much attention has been devoted to digital elevation models (DEMs) produced using Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR). This has been triggered by the relative novelty of the InSAR method and its world-famous product—the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM. However, much less attention, if at all, has been paid to sources of artefacts in SRTM. In this work, we focus not on the missing pixels (null pixels) due to shadows or the layover effect, but rather on outliers that were undetected by the SRTM validation process. The aim of this study is to identify some of the causes of the elevation outliers in SRTM. Such knowledge may be helpful to mitigate similar problems in future InSAR DEMs, notably the ones currently being developed from data acquired by the TanDEM-X mission. We analysed many cross-sections derived from SRTM. These cross-sections were extracted over the elevation test areas, which are available from the Global Elevation Data Testing Facility (GEDTF) whose database contains about 8,500 runways with known vertical profiles. Whenever a significant discrepancy between the known runway profile and the SRTM cross-section was detected, a visual interpretation of the high-resolution satellite image was carried out to identify the objects causing the irregularities. A distance and a bearing from the outlier to the object were recorded. Moreover, we considered the SRTM look direction parameter. A comprehensive analysis of the acquired data allows us to establish that large metallic structures, such as hangars or car parking lots, are causing the outliers. Water areas or plain wet terrains may also cause an InSAR outlier. The look direction and the depression angle of the InSAR system in relation to the suspected objects influence the magnitude of the outliers. We hope that these findings will be helpful in designing the error detection routines of future InSAR or, in fact, any microwave aerial- or space-based survey. The presence of outliers in SRTM was first reported in Becek, K. (2008). Investigating error structure of shuttle radar topography mission elevation data product, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L15403.


At present, the GDT facility is being upgraded. The first stage of the upgrade is the Synthesised Hot Ion Plasmoid (SHIP) experiment. It aims, on the one hand, at the investigation of plasmas which are expected to appear in the region of high neutron production in a GDT based fusion neutron source proposed by the Budker Institute and, on the other hand, at the investigation of plasmas the parameters of which have never been achieved before in axisymmetric magnetic mirrors. The experiment is performed in a small mirror section which is installed at the end of one side of GDT. The magnetic field on axis is in the range of 0.5-2.0 Tesla and the mirror ratio is 1.2-1.4. The mirror is filled with background plasma streaming in from the central cell. This plasma component is maxwellised and has an electron temperature of about 100 eV. Two neutral beam injectors perpendicularly inject a total current of about 50 Atom Amperes of deuterium neutrals with an energy of 20 keV as a pulse with a duration of about 1 ms. Ionisation of the beams generates the high-energy ion component. The device has been equipped with several diagnostic methods which are successfully used in GDT experiments. The paper presents first results of plasma parameter measurements in SHIP experiment.


Moisture removal rates have been used for many years to estimate root distribution in the soil. Repeated observations have indicated that in the field, water is removed more rapidly from shallow depths when the soil is uniformly moist throughout the profile, but that as the surface soil dries out, the largest amount of water is removed each day from successively lower depths. After an irrigation, water is again removed more rapidly from the surface and a similar cycle repeated. It does not seem probable that root distributions would change in this manner. A laboratory experiment was conducted in which a constant vacuum was used to simulate the suction created by the leaves of a plant. Absorbers made of Coors No. 762, porosity 5, filters were placed in the soil in a way to represent the root distribution in a soil. The water removed was measured in burettes. With uniform suction on all absorbers (representing roots), the amount of water extracted per unit time was roughly proportional to the area of the absorbing surface when tensions were uniform. The tension increased more rapidly in the soil with greatest concentration of absorbers after which more water per unit area of absorbers was extracted from the wetter soil with fewer absorbers. The amount of water extracted per day from a soil decreased continually with time when the suction was constant. If total water extracted per day were to be maintained anywhere near constant, the applied suction would have to increase with time. It appears that a soil moisture tension gradient, characteristic of the amount of absorbing surface, would be established in the soil at the point where water would be extracted at the same rate from each volume of soil regardless of the surface areas of absorber.


Cellular reprogramming, the conversion of one cell type to another, has fundamentally transformed our conception of cell types. Cellular reprogramming induces global changes in gene expression involving hundreds of transcription factors and thousands of genes and understanding how cells globally alter their gene expression profile during reprogramming is an open problem. Here we reanalyze time-series data on cellular reprogramming from differentiated cell types to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and show that gene expression dynamics during reprogramming follow a simple one-dimensional reaction coordinate. This reaction coordinate is independent of both the time it takes to reach the iPSC state as well as the details of experimental protocol used. Using Monte-Carlo simulations, we show that such a reaction coordinate emerges naturally from epigenetic landscape models of cell identity where cellular reprogramming is viewed as a "barrier-crossing" between the starting and ending cell fates. The model also provides gene-level insight into reprogramming dynamics and resolves a debate in the stem cell field about the different phases of reprogramming dynamics. Overall, our analysis and model suggest that gene expression dynamics during reprogramming follow a canonical trajectory consistent with the idea of an " optimal path" in gene expression space for reprogramming.


When explaining the failure of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) projects, researchers often turn to differences between how designers perceive and users experience the context of technology use. According to these explanations, ICT4D projects fail because designers take an uninformed stance toward context. The ICT4D literature offers four approaches for how designers might better design technology for the context of use. In all four approaches, the target of action is typically the technology itself, not the context. Despite increasing use of these four approaches, projects still fail because of persistent differences between designers' perceptions and users' experience. These differences appear inevitable because ICT4D projects address problems nested in complex systems whose interaction is difficult for designers to understand and predict. Yet, some projects do succeed. We show that success occurred in a Brazilian banking project because users took context-oriented, not technology-oriented, actions to better fit the technology with the context. Based on our case study, we develop propositions that integrate and expand existing theories of ICT4D project success.


In this paper, we propose a technique to enable efficient and rigorous modeling of light emission in planar organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) composed of an arbitrary number of layers with different permittivity (including metals of a complex permittivity). The effects of the change of exciton radiative decay rate are explicitly included in the simulation. The numerical implementation of the technique is comprehensively discussed through an illustrative example. By using the proposed method, a bottom emitting OLED with a thick glass substrate is rigorously analyzed. The calculated results show a good agreement with the experimental results. The proposed method is efficient and well suited for optimizing OLEDs with complicated device structures. As a demonstration, we optimize the two-unit tandem top-emitting OLEDs with three types of charge generating layer. The results and design guidelines are given and discussed in detail


OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of asthma and the association between sociodemographic characteristics, spirometry, respiratory symptoms, quality of life and sleep in adults > 40 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This report is part of our study (Latin American Research Project Obstructive Pulmonary), held in Mexico City and the metropolitan area in 2003. We used logistic regression models adjusted for study design, where asthma was the dependent and independent variable respiratory symptoms, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics among others. RESULTS: The prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma was: 3.3% in men and 6.2% in women. Decreased lung function in asthmatics was observed. In multivariate analysis, after adjusting for potential confounders, asthmatics had a higher risk of excessive daytime sleepiness more snoring [OR = 3.2 (95% CI 1.4-7.4), p= 0.008], and more frequent work absences due to respiratory problems [OR = 5.1 (95% CI 2.5-10.4), p<0.0001]. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of asthma was 5%. Asthmatics showed lower quality of life and lung function.


Friction stir processing (FSP) is a surface treatment technology that can eliminate casting defects locally by refining microstructures, thereby improving the mechanical properties of material. The present work investigates the effect of FSP process parameters, typically, the tool rotational and transverse speeds on the microstructure, hardness and tribological behavior of A356 cast aluminum alloy. Three different transverse speeds, typically, 37.5, 60 and 75 mm/min and three different tool rotational speeds, typically, 750, 950 and 1180 rpm were used for FSP. The results revealed that FSP improved significantly the wear resistance of the surfaces of A356 alloy. It has been found that friction stir (FS) processed regions showed finer grain size, better hardness and wear resistance than the as-cast A356 alloy. Increasing the tool rotational and/or the transverse speeds reduces the size α-Al primary grains and increases the hardness and wear resistance of the A356 alloy surfaces.


EVOLUTION OF TURBINE BLADE DEPOSITS IN AN ACCELERATED DEPOSITION FACILITY: ROUGHNESS AND THERMAL ANALYSIS James E. Wammack Department of Mechanical Engineering Master of Science During the operation of a gas turbine, ingested contaminants present in the air form deposits on the surfaces of the turbine blades. These deposits grow over time, resulting in an increasingly rough surface. This gradual increase in roughness results in several negative consequences, among which is an increase in the rate of heat transfer to the blade which shortens blade life. This thesis presents research in which deposits were evolved on three different turbine blade coupons and their evolution was studied. A trend in roughness change over time was discovered. Also, an attempt was made to find the effect of the deposits on the heat transfer characteristics of a coupon surface. The deposits were formed using the BYU Turbine Accelerated Deposition Facility (TADF), which was used to simulate three months of deposition within a two hour test time. All three coupons underwent four cycles in the TADF: eight total hours of combustor testing—or one simulated year of deposition—with topological measurements being made on the coupon surface after every two hours (three simulated months) of testing. The data produced by the topological measurements were used with a CNC mill to machine scaled-up plastic models of the rough surfaces: four surfaces per model representing three, six, nine, and twelve simulated months of deposition. The models were placed in a wind tunnel where, following a period of thermal soaking at room temperature, they were suddenly exposed to a heated air stream. The thermal histories of the model were recorded with an infrared camera and were used to derive the heat transfer coefficient of each surface using the method developed by Shultz and Jones. The heat transfer coefficients are reported in the form of Stanton numbers to allow for the difference in thermal properties between the conditions and properties of the wind tunnel and its components and those of a real gas turbine. The Stanton numbers for the various surfaces were plotted versus the simulated gas turbine operational time. Additionally, several roughness correlations were used to predict the Stanton number for each surface, producing a probable Stanton number history for the coupon. The measured nondimensional heat transfer coefficients did not reach the magnitudes predicted by the correlations. This is most likely due to unexpected flow conditions inside the wind tunnel. Recommendations for future research are presented.


Isolation of Cr (VI) resistant alkaliphilic bacteria from sediment and water samples collected from Wadi Natrun hypersaline Soda lakes (located in northern Egypt), resulted in isolation of several alkaliphilic bacterial strains that can tolerate up to 2.94 g/l of Cr (VI) in alkaline medium. However, with increasing Cr (VI) concentration up to 29.4 g/l, only one strain, KSUCr5, was able to tolerate up to 22 g/l (75 mM) and with MIC value of 23.5 g/l (80 mM) in alkaline medium (pH 10.5) containing 10% NaCl. Based on the 16S rRNA gene analysis, strain KSUCr5 was identified as Bacillus sp. with 99% similarity and was referred to as Bacillus sp. KSUCr5. In addition, Bacillus sp. strain KSUCr5 showed high tolerance to several other heavy metals including Cd 2+ (50 mM), Mo 2+ (75 mM), Mn 2+ (100 mM), Cu 2+ (2 mM), Ni 2+ (100 mM), Pb (75 mM), Co 2+ (5 mM) and Zn 2+ (2 mM). Strain KSUCr5 was shown to be of a high efficiency in detoxifying chromate, as it could rapidly reduce up to 40 mg/l of Cr(VI) to a non detectable level over 24 h. In addition, at initial Cr(VI) concentration of 60 to 80 and 100 mg/l, 100% of the chromate reduction was achieved within 48 and 72 h, respectively. Strain KSUCr5 could reduce Cr(VI) efficiently  over a wide range of initial Cr(VI) concentrations (10 to 300 mg/l) in alkaline medium under aerobic conditions without significant effect on the bacterial growth. It was able to reduce Cr(VI) in a wide range of NaCl (0 to 20%) with a maximum reduction yield at concentration of 0 to 1.5%, indicating the halo tolerance nature of the bacterium. It was found that addition of glucose and Na 2 CO 3 to the culture medium caused a dramatic increase in Cr(VI)-reduction by Bacillus sp. strain KSUCr5. The maximum chromate removal was exhibited in alkaline medium (pH 10) containing 1.2% Na 2 CO 3 , 1.5% glucose and 1% NaCl and at incubation temperature of 35°C and culture shaking of 150 rpm. Under optimum Cr (VI) reduction conditions, Cr(VI) concentration of 80 mg/l was completely reduced within 24 h, with reduction rate of 3.3 mg h -1 which is one of the highest Cr(VI) reduction rate under high alkaline conditions, compared with other microorganisms that has been reported so far. Furthermore, the presence of other metals such as Ni 2+ , Mo 2+ , Cu 2+ and Mn 2+ at concentration of 100 mg/l together with Cr(VI) in the culture medium slightly increased Cr(VI)-reduction by the strain KSUCr5. Moreover, the isolate, Bacillus sp.  strain KSUCr5, exhibited an ability to repeatedly reduce hexavalent chromium without any amendment of nutrients, suggesting its potential application in continuous bioremediation of Cr(VI). The results reveal the possible isolation of potent heavy metals resistant bacteria from extreme environment such as hypersaline Soda lakes and their application in bioremediation of heavy metals. Key words: Chromate reduction, bioremediation, heavy metals, Bacillus sp., Soda lakes.


High-speed Internet connectivity makes browsing a convenient task. However, there are many situations in which surfing the web is still slow due to limited bandwidth, slow servers, or complex queries. As a result, loading web pages can take several seconds, making (mobile) browsing cumbersome. We present an approach which makes use of the time spent on waiting for the next page, by bridging the wait with extra cached or preloaded content. We show how the content (e.g., news, Twitter) can be adapted to the user's interests and to the context of use, hence making mobile surfing more comfortable. We compare two approaches: in time-multiplex mode, the entire screen displays bridging content until the loading is finished. In space-multiplex mode, content is displayed alongside the requested content while it loads. We use an HTTP proxy to intercept requests and add JavaScript code, which allows the bridging content from websites of our choice to be inserted. The approach was evaluated with 15 participants, assessing suitable content and usability.


To recognize pathogens, B and T lymphocytes are endowed with a wide repertoire of receptors generated stochastically by V(D)J recombination. Measuring and estimating the diversity of these receptors is of great importance for understanding adaptive immunity. In this chapter we review recent modeling approaches for analyzing receptor diversity from high-throughput sequencing data. We first clarify the various existing notions of diversity, with its many competing mathematical indices, and the different biological levels at which it can be evaluated. We then describe inference methods for characterizing the statistical diversity of receptors at different stages of their history: generation, selection and somatic evolution. We discuss the intrinsic difficulty of estimating the diversity of receptors realized in a given individual from incomplete samples. Finally, we emphasize the limitations of diversity defined at the level of receptor sequences, and advocate the more relevant notion of functional diversity relative to the set of recognized antigens.


In previous research, Gupta et al. (2015) analyzed gray matter density as well as volume reductions related to schizophrenia in the region of the insula and medial prefrontal cortex. Sprooten et al. (2015) then identified a set of quantitative trait loci (QTLs), which is a region of DNA associated with variability in these gray matter concentration patterns. The aim of this study is to examine the QTL they found in a region of chromosome 5. We hypothesized that there will be a set of genes in the QTL on chromosome 5 that is related to abnormal brain patterns in potential disorders such as schizophrenia. We identified genes present in the region of the QTL to analyze their function and relatedness to other genes using various software like Ingenuity Pathways Analysis, and Gene Cards. We evaluated their biological functions as well as any related disorders. For the imaging and genetic analyses, the genotypic data contained 9,228 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from shared aggregated datasets. The datasets contained clinical information for 616 subjects (364 controls, 252 cases). Each subject had a corresponding brain image. We identified a set of genes, including SLC1A3, GDNF, C6, C7, and C9, that are possibly related to neurodegeneration as well as brain injury processes. Lastly, we employed the parallel independent component analysis technique (pICA) to incorporate the genetic data with brain imaging to possibly identify an area related to schizophrenia. Some of the genetic variations found corresponded to the genes C7, RPL37, and PTGER4 with a correlation of 0.1012. C7, RPL37, and PTGER4 are involved in the immune system, multiple sclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases. These genes were correlated with the imaging pattern from the pICA in the regions of the cerebellum, vermis, and mid-temporal lobe. Further analyses are needed to evaluate the correlation obtained from the pICA. INDEX WORDS: schizophrenia, bioinformatics, genome-wide association studies


This thesis investigates women consumer's lifestyle through the meanings they give to their everyday consumption experience from an interpretivist researcher point of view. Nine women life stories are presented which were collected through in-depth phenomenological interviews. The emic cultural approach taken in conducting this research has uncovered rich and contextualised account of women's consumption experienced which elucidates the nuanced differences in women's lifestyle, they are Hands on Lifestyle, , Idealistic Lifestyle, Pragmatic Lifestyle, Prudent Lifestyle, Climber Lifestyle, Entrepreneur Lifestyle, Survivor Lifestyle, Easygoing Lifestyle and Devoted Lifestyle. These various genres of lifestyle reflect each woman's self-identity in relation to their existential concerns and social contexts. This is in stark contrast with many studies on (married) women lifestyle in consumer research which portrays women's lifestyle as only concentrating on the problematic concern of 'juggling' between their work and family (Casey & Martens, 2007; Thompson, 1996). This study has been able to empirically illustrate lifestyle as a concept and space for consumer's to construct their self-identity as was very much suggested conceptually in the consumer research literature (Featherstone, 2007 [1991]; Giddens, 1991; Slater, 1997). The study saw women consumer's creatively construct their identity by negotiating their way in the consumer culture, for example consumption and non-consumption was important to the sense of being, life themes were significantly driving these women's construction of lifestyle and women were reflexively using lifestyle as a dynamic space in an effort to realize their personal goal for and also in relations to their significant others. Three snapshots of lifestyle emerged from this study which further categorises these women's different genres of lifestyle into three pattern, they are Adapting Family into Lifestyle, Changing Lifestyle to fit Family's and Settled Lifestyle. These lifestyle snapshot demonstrates women's different dimension's of 'caring self (Gilligan, 1982; Meyers-Levy, 1989; Stem, 1990) which differs from the unilateral information that currently informs the consumer literature (Casey & Martens, 2007; Thompson, 1996) with regard to this feminine identity. In addition the cultural framework established through this women's account which are the Caring Framework, Cultivating Piety Framework and Bilateralism Framework, further shed light on the contextual differences that may inform and influence consumer's consumption practice. This reinforces the need for consumer researchers to move away from the straitjacket of conducting lifestyle research using the 'behaviourist' or the 'universalist' model that is unable to capture the nuance differences underlying consumer's action. It also goes to show that by taking an emic approach; looking from the inside rather than relying on using universalise models to establish lifestyle framework in investigating consumer's lifestyle, contributes to much more thicker insights on the knowledge about consumer's consumption practices. Equally important is that this lifestyle studies have illuminated that being women and practicing the same religion doesn't mean applying the same monolithic consumption practices, instead these women consumers carry out creolised consumption practices - they carefully appropriate and select suitable consumption by juxtaposing from the traditional and modem, local and foreign sources in their daily lives to articulate their self-identities.


Water supply alternatives to alleviate water shortage damages in urbanized watersheds are itemized and evaluated in terms of cost, life cycle energy (LCE), and damages. A newly developed stochastic model of precipitation and constructed GIS databases are applied to estimation of potential water resources in the Hakata bay watershed in Japan. Based on these results, water supply alternatives in the watershed are selected at several return periods on less annual precipitation in the order of minimizing cost, LCE, and damages. The water supply alternatives selected are cascade reuse in house, groundwater, two kinds of recycled water, and desalinated water. The storage water volume in the reservoirs at initial time, annual precipitation, and annual precipitation patterns are considered as three factors on water shortage from the water supply side. The unit values of cost, LCE, and damages are obtained to estimate damages of water shortage and to consider measures for water supply by applying the above three factors. Finally, based on statistical distribution of damages on water shortage, a new planning method to avoid water shortage is developed and how to decide a design precipitation level is proposed in terms of the return period of damages instead of that of precipitation.


This report represents UNFPA's contribution to a global stocktaking exercise to mark the 15th anniversary of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) which was adopted at the Second World Assembly on Ageing in April 2002. This report is one of six that are are being prepared by UNFPA and which complement the regional review reports prepared by respective UN Regional Commissions. It contributes to the cooperation programme on ageing that exists between the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UNFPA Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECARO). It is a technical, analytical report that reflects demographic analysis, direct experiences, literature review and policy and programme assessments. In addition, it focuses on a specific subset of countries: in this case the UNFPA programme countries in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region.

It is hoped that this analytical UNFPA report will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the implementation and challenges ahead of the Madrid International Plan of Action and inspire governments and non-governmental actors to share good practices and learn from successful examples.


We propose improved multilevel filters (IMLFs) involving the absolute value operation into the algorithmic framework of traditional multilevel filters (MLFs) to improve the robustness of infrared small target enhancement techniques under a complex infrared cluttered background. Compared with the widely used small target enhancement methods which only deal with bright targets, the proposed technique can enhance the infrared small target, whether it is bright or dark. Experimental results verify that the proposed technique is efficient and practical.


One of the prevalent topics in the economic growth literature is the debate between neoclassical, semi-endogenous and endogenous growth theory for the model that best describes the data. An important part of this discussion can be summarized in three mutually exclusive hypotheses: the \constant trend", \level shift" and \slope shift" hypothesis. The objective of this paper is to classify countries according to each of these hypotheses and to analyze which of the growth theories seems to be favored. We approach this problem in two-steps: rst, the number and the timing of trend breaks are determined using the approach in Nunes and Sobreira (2010); and second, conditional on the estimated number of breaks, break dates and coecients identied, a statistical framework is introduced to test for general linear restrictions on the coecients of the linear disjoint broken trend model. Here, we prove a general result that, under certain conditions, a standard F-statistic to test for additional parameter restrictions, given the rst step estimated partition, converges asymptotically in distribution to the usual chi-square distribution. We further show how the aforementioned hypotheses can be formulated as linear restrictions on the parameters of the breaking trend model and apply the methodology to per capita output of an extensive list of countries. All of our tests are robust as to whether the data are I(0) or I(1) surpassing technical and methodological concerns on previous empirical evidence.


This article explores the relationship between neoliberalism, corporate education reform in the United States, and the news source Education Week. In order to understand the present context of the US school reform debate and the expansion of Teach for America (TFA), this first part of this paper begins with an analysis of the global education reform movement as part of neoliberalism, the globally dominant economic and political ideology since the 1980's. Within the context of neoliberalism, I focus on the impact of the report A Nation at Risk, the standards movement, and the founding of TFA. I then discuss the media's role in the corporate education reform context and in particular Education Week 's historical connection to the neoliberal education agenda in the US. In the second part of this article, I employ Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine Education Week's coverage of TFA between 2009-2014, to illustrate how power, ideology, marginalization, and social domination are manifest and reinforced in the language and discursive strategies of the paper's columnists. By focusing on "teacher quality" and test score improvements based on problematic studies, Education Week uncritically proclaims the success of TFA teachers and marginalizes the voices of veteran teachers and teachers' unions, ultimately serving as a mouthpiece for corporate education reform in the US. Readers are free to copy, display, and distribute this article, as long as the work is attributed to the author(s) and Critical


It has been proved that acquired training is important to the development of stereopsis experience. Month-old babies already have the initial experience of invariance recognition of 3D objects. There is a slight lack of precision in the interpretation of biological vision. However, the small cost and the fast speed in calculation meet the requirements of invariance recognition, the rich visual experience in which play an important role. But what is the experience, how to acquire and how to use, these problems have never been satisfactorily resolved. In this paper we simulate the learning of visual experience in children, and solve a view angle estimated problem by using self-organizing network, which make the hidden experience clarified. Compared to the Classic camera calibration, which a large number of parameters need to be estimated, this method needs only one image and does not aim to 3D reconstruction. By avoiding the complex calibration and registration process, an amount of computation has been reduced. Visual experiences are all obtained from the most ordinary examples, and the characterization based on the geometric feature. Therefore, this method has strong expansibility and good generalization ability.


In most people with alopecia areata, hair falls out in small, round patches, leaving coinsized areas of bare skin. This patchy hair loss occurs most often on the scalp but can affect other parts of the body as well. Uncommonly, the hair loss involves the entire scalp (in which case the condition is known as alopecia totalis) or the whole body (alopecia universalis). Other rare forms of alopecia areata, which have different patterns of hair loss, have also been reported.


Reinforcement learning (RL) is a powerful framework for learning to take actions to solve tasks. However, in many settings, an agent must winnow down the inconceivably large space of all possible tasks to the single task that it is currently being asked to solve. Can we instead constrain the space of tasks to those that are semantically meaningful? In this work, we introduce a framework for using weak supervision to automatically disentangle this semantically meaningful subspace of tasks from the enormous space of nonsensical "chaff" tasks. We show that this learned subspace enables efficient exploration and provides a representation that captures distance between states. On a variety of challenging, vision-based continuous control problems, our approach leads to substantial performance gains, particularly as the complexity of the environment grows.


Vulnerabilities in ActiveX controls are frequently used by attackers to compromise systems using the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser. A programming or design flaw in an ActiveX control can allow arbitrary code execution as the result of viewing a specially-crafted web page. In this paper, we examine effective techniques for fuzz testing ActiveX controls, using the Dranzer tool developed at CERT. By testing a large number of ActiveX controls, we are able to provide some insight into the current state of ActiveX security.


John Brown's War Against Slavery. By Robert E. McGlone. (New York and other cities: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Pp. x, 451. $35.00, ISBN 978-0-521-51443-9.) This landmark biography argues that the famous abolitionist John Brown was not "sui generis," as admirers and critics later claimed, but was "a man shaped by his time" (p. 23). By hewing closely to contemporary sources and challenging "aphoristic stories" used uncritically by previous biographers, Robert E. McGlone brilliantly moves beyond older portraits of Brown as a saintly martyr or delusional fanatic while also raising questions of broader interest about what historians can learn from psychologists (p. 16). Three of the book's conclusions will likely spark the most debate. First, while emphasizing Brown's religiosity, it argues that "secular concerns largely shaped his day-to-day life," especially his concerns as a firstborn son in an extensive family whose collective concern for their clan's reputation and welfare were crucial to Brown (p. 8). Second, McGlone stresses Brown's experiences in Bleeding Kansas and his direction of five murders along Pottawatomie Creek as turning points in his abolitionist career, rightly emphasizing the unexpectedness of the killings. Through close readings of Brown family correspondence, McGlone also argues that the Pottawatomie murders were provoked partly by Brown's "growing sense of peril to his family" and ongoing desire to please his aging father (p. 112). In Brown's continuous identification with family, McGlone discovers an explanation for the changes wrought in him by Kansas. Third, McGlone persuasively argues that Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, "is better understood as a political than as a military act" and that Brown "was a strikingly successful propagandist" who was concerned with gathering dangers to republican "governance" as well as with "rescuing slaves" (pp. 221, 203,248). McGlone understands the raid's denouement as a result of its mixed goals as liberation mission and political assault on the Slave Power, thereby offering a striking new explanation of Brown's capture: to attract national attention to his purposes, Brown had to stay in Harpers Ferry long enough for word to spread, but he misjudged this delicate timing in the fog of combat and was surprised by rapidly organized resistance from town inhabitants. McGlone also considers at length the possibility that Brown suffered from mental illness, eliminating several diagnoses before concluding that if Brown had an "illness or personality disorder, it eludes classification" (p. 200). Some readers may feel the book pays undue attention to questions about Brown's mental health. But since mental health is partly a function of "brain chemistry," McGlone believes biographers should take seriously the possibility of mental disease, especially since empirical diagnostic criteria used by modern psychologists enable historians to offer partial assessments of mental health without having to "psychoanalyze" their subjects (pp. …


In this paper we present an approach to extending the capabilities of telemanipulation systems by intelligently augmenting a human operator's motion commands based on quantitative three-dimensional scene perception at the remote telemanipulation site. This framework is the first prototype of the Augmented Shared-Control for Efficient, Natural Telemanipulation (ASCENT) System. ASCENT aims to enable new robotic applications in environments where task complexity precludes autonomous execution or where low-bandwidth and/or high-latency communication channels exist between the nearest human operator and the application site. These constraints can constrain the domain of telemanipulation to simple or static environments, reduce the effectiveness of telemanipulation, and even preclude remote intervention entirely. ASCENT is a semi-autonomous framework that increases the speed and accuracy of a human operator's actions via seamless transitions between one-to-one teleoperation and autonomous interventions. We report the promising results of a pilot study validating ASCENT in a transatlantic telemanipulation experiment between The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, USA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In these experiments, we observed average telemetry delays of 200ms, and average video delays of 2s with peaks of up to 6s for all data. We also observed 75% frame loss for video streams due to bandwidth limits, giving 4fps video.


A new species of phocoenid cetacean Haborophocoena, collected from the Early Pliocene Embetsu Formation, in the close vicinity to the site where the holotype of the type species of the genus Haborophocoena was retrieved, improves our knowledge of the anatomy of this cetacean. The new species, represented by a skull, lacking distal half of the rostrum, ear bones, and teeth, is significantly smaller than, but morphologically similar to, the type speciesHaborophocoena toyoshimai Ichishima and Kimura 2005. This new record of Haborophocoena confirms the veracity of the genus Haborophocoena as a biological entity, contributes to understanding the interspecific variation, and suggests that the genus diversified in the northwestern Pacific of early Pliocene time. The adult-like degree of ossification in this small skull precludes it from being a juvenile ofHaborophocoenatoyoshimai. Autapomorphies ofHaborophocoena minutus include narrow premaxilla on the dorsal surface of the rostrum, the anterior position of the premaxillary foramen, and a distinct ridge dividing a fossa on the lateral face of the base of the zygomatic process into the dorsal and the ventral halves, the zygomatic process rectangular in lateral profile, and its small size, which is the most compelling feature, making it a distinct species.


This dissertation investigates pro-poor urban adaptation to climate change in Bangladesh. Dhaka city, a capital of Bangladesh, is widely recognised to be one of the most climate vulnerable mega cities in the world. Climate change impacts are likely to affect the poorest urban residents disproportionately as having the least capacity to adapt to a changing climate. However, the assertion that the poorest are the most vulnerable to climate change is commonly made as a generalisation, with limited examination of the dynamic and differentiated nature of poverty. This research therefore aims to examine pro-poor urban adaptation in the context of climate variability and change. In analysing climate change vulnerability and asset adaptation from urban extreme poverty, this research identifies a differentiated view of poverty and vulnerability and also provides an analysis of how extreme poor households get access to assets and build asset adaptation strategies. This research found that extreme poor households do their best to adapt to perceived climate changes, but in absence of savings, access to credit and insurance, they are forced to adopt adverse coping strategies. Social policy and social protection could therefore become more of a priority sector for adaptation than it has been so far. This can create opportunities for the poorest to accumulate assets which help them to build asset adaptation or resilience strategies. By reviewing key theories and practices, this research first addresses the question of whether there is any interrelation between poverty dynamics and vulnerability. The research then explores drivers of climate change vulnerability for the urban extreme poor. This research critically analyses autonomous adaptation and planned asset based adaptation in order to build a conceptual framework of pro-poor asset adaptation for the urban extreme poor households and groups. Following this framework, this research aims to identify the individual adaptation practices and role of institutions and policies in supporting or constraining these adaptation practices. This research also examines the role of social policy and social protection for pro-poor adaptation. The research then applies the concepts drawn from a critical literature review to analyse the context of Bangladesh. Thus, the research has conducted household life-history interviews to explore the vulnerabilities and asset adaptation strategies of the extreme poor households. To understand household asset endowments (and their returns) descriptive statistics are derived from secondary sources. In addition to household interviews, key informant surveys, focus group discussions, grey materials and analysis of secondary academic materials were analysed to acquire qualitative information on the role of formal and informal institutions and policies for adaptation practices. The household life-history findings support the idea that poverty traps are likely to be linked to vulnerability. The empirical evidence also shows that there is a clear relationship between vulnerability to the market (exclusion from market opportunities), low asset holdings (and their returns) and ill-health. The slums and squatter settlements in Dhaka city are marked by high levels of physical vulnerabilities in the context of climate change, mainly as a consequence of their high politico-legal and socioeconomic vulnerabilities. The individual adaptation practices are impact-minimising, short lived, ad hoc and even harmful measures because the urban poorest are excluded from formal policies and institutions and in the absence of formal rights and entitlements, the process of facilitating and maintaining patron–client relationships is a central coping strategy for the poorest. The social policy and social protection are found to be effective in facilitating asset adaptation for the urban extreme poor and contribute to greater resilience to climate change. Analysing the empirical evidence through the lens of the pro-poor asset adaptation framework, this research reveals that the asset transfer approach was an effective programmatic intervention for building household adaptation strategies. Social funds and supports to community driven development can enhance the capacity of community organisations to develop small infrastructures that actually stops or greatly reduces flooding. However, challenging the adverse structural context is not a matter of building at a household and collective level assets but also capacity to participate in and influence the institutions from which they have previously been excluded. Attention must be paid to building a strong collective organisation in order to break the existing social order and inequalities. The city and municipal government can create an enabling environment for this grassroots mobilisation by providing services and information, and ensuring their access to the decision making process. A combination of micro (household), meso (community) and macro (city and municipal) level asset-based actions can ensure the long term resilience of extreme poor households and groups.


We have evaluated the performance of strain-chirped fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based tunable dispersion compensator in a 40 Gb/s transmission link. In our proposed compensator, the value of dispersion could be changed from -353 ps/nm to -962 ps/nm by adjusting the rotation angle of the metal beam on which the FBG was mounted. In order to evaluate the effect of ripples in reflectivity and variations in passband of the FBG based dispersion compensator, transmission performance has been measured with our tunable dispersion compensator. Error-free transmission of a 40 Gb/s non-return-to-zero (NRZ) signal over conventional single-mode fiber (SMF) was achieved.


Balancing the realisation of a spectacular gallery with the need to clearly communicate scientific principles, the Science Museum's new gallery, Wonderlab, provides an immersive and playground-like experience of scientific discovery.

Wonderlab challenges the the generic bright, wipe clean, panelled architecture of many schools and public spaces, instead muf has created a robust, hardworking space which also delivers a sense of grandeur and delight. muf's design draws on well known spaces of scientific discovery and learning – Faraday's lecture hall can be seen in the show space, the orrery recalls George Wright of Derby's famous painting, and a visit to the still-in-use chemistry labs in Oxford inspired the Chemistry Bar.

muf has designed the gallery and much of its contents in collaboration with the Science Museum, crafts people, artists, contractors, engineers, lighting designers, graphic designers, cost consultants and project managers, including: Siobhan Liddell, Felix de Pass, Luke Jones, Michael Grubb, Arnout Visser, Will Yates Johnson, Swedish design practice Front, graphic design practice Objectif, furniture makers Benchmark, interior designers Paragon, engineers Arup, and Ramboll.


This paper outlines the research design, methodology and methods employed in research conducted in the context of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and focuses on the Heads of e‑Learning (HeLs) perspective about Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) by campus‑based UK institutions. This paper aims to expand on the research design and the research methodology that was followed as part of this research, making a justified argument for mixed methods approaches in e‑learning contexts. The background of this research and its research questions is outlined first to provide the context of this research. Following a review of the literature on TEL that informed this research, this paper provides an explanation of the researcher's worldview before discussing the chosen research design. The status of the findings and their generalisability based on the chosen methodology are then discussed. The research findings show that most universities represented in the survey offered various staff development opportunities to their academic staff in the effective use of TEL and that examples of innovative use of technology are evident in some areas in all participating institutions. Staff's digital skills and competencies coupled with a pedagogical underpinning as well as a supportive institutional culture were found to be the enablers for the effective implementation of TEL, according to the HeLs' expert informed responses. The paper is summarised and concluded making a case for the adoption of Mixed Methods Research (MMR) in e‑learning settings.


Good quality guidance services that will be provided abused and neglected children, who come from poor socio-economic status in their early childhood years, will increase both the children's and their families' life quality and indirectly contribute to social structure. Without investigating the contributions of counseling services to the education and development of children in preschool education, the abolishment of counseling services in preschool constitutions has been on the agenda. Thus, in this research preschool institutions' administrators and teachers' perceptions of preschool counselors have been examined. The survey model has been used for the research. The research sample consists of 43 preschool institutions managers and 211 preschool education teachers. To reveal preschool administrators' and teachers' perceptions about school counselors, "School Counselor Perception Scale" has been used, which was developed by Mamett (2008). The results of the study have revealed that preschool teachers and administrators, who meet with school counselors more frequently, have a better perception about school counselors. Preschool teachers and administrators think that the most important tasks of school counselors are individual guidance, group guidance, orientation programs and participating in classroom activities. Administrators and teachers have low expectations regarding administrative duties, discipline and keeping student records from school counselors.


Usability engineering is situated in a much larger social and institutional context than is usually acknowledged by usability professionals in the way that they define their field. The definitions and processes used in the improvement of user interfaces are subordinate to interests that often have narrow goals, having adverse effects on user awareness and autonomy that have further adverse effects on society as a whole. These effects are brought about by the way that knowledge about systems is limited by the design of the interface that limits the user to tasks and goals defined by organizations, often commercial ones. It is the point at which the structures of the user interface are defined by usability professionals that sources of the limitation of knowledge can be identified. These sources are defined by their reliance on a construction of the user's wants and needs that cyclically reinforce, through the actual use of the interface, the user's own construction of her wants and needs. To alleviate this, it is necessary to come up with new processes of user interface design that do not make assumptions about the user that tend to subordinate the user, and it is also necessary to reconstruct the user as a participant in the interface.
NOTE: This article was written in 2003 as a final project for a Master's course in human-computer interaction at the University of Ottawa. The author attempted to publish it at the time, but did not really understand the process. The ideas stand up fairly well, however, and he would like to contribute it as a comment on the current state of affairs. It is only lightly edited for format.


The objective in this work is to develop downscaling methodologies to obtain a long time record of inundation extent at high spatial resolution based on the existing low spatial resolution results of the Global Inundation Extent from Multi-Satellites (GIEMS) dataset. In semiarid regions, high-spatial-resolution a priori information can be provided by visible and infrared observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The study concentrates on the Inner Niger Delta where MODIS-derived inundation extent has been estimated at a 500-m resolution. The space-time variability is first analyzed using a principal component analysis (PCA). This is particularly effective to understand the inundation variability, interpolate in time, or fill in missing values. Two innovative methods are developed (linear regression and matrix inversion) both based on the PCA representation. These GIEMS downscaling techniques have been calibrated using the 500-m MODIS data. The downscaled fields show the expected space-time behaviors from MODIS. A 20-yr dataset of the inundation extent at 500 m is derived from this analysis for the Inner Niger Delta. The methods are very general and may be applied to many basins and to other variables than inundation, provided enough a priori high-spatial-resolution information is available. The derived high-spatial-resolution dataset will be used in the framework of the Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission to develop and test the instrument simulator as well as to select the calibration validation sites (with high space-time inundation variability). In addition, once SWOT observations are available, the downscaled methodology will be calibrated on them in order to downscale the GIEMS datasets and to extend the SWOT benefits back in time to 1993.


The authors discuss the complexities and responsibilities of teaching about Daoism in contempo- rary North American colleges and universities. Expand- ing and revising the findings of Kirkland (1998), they argue that enough has changed in educational and cul- tural contexts to warrant new strategies for teaching about Daoism. Textbooks are now available that offer more accurate and responsible presentations of Daoist history, and this enables a richer appreciation of Daoist culture and religion, and its significance within broader areas of Chinese culture such as art, politics, and science. On the other hand, students have a far greater possibility of interacting outside the classroom with North Americans of Chinese and European background who claim affiliation to the Daoist tradition especially through techniques of moving meditation such as Qigong and internal alchemy. This situation poses chal- lenges in the classroom concerning claims of authentic- ity, tradition, and representation. Rather than shying away from these contemporary North American cul- tural forms, the authors argue that the skilled teacher can use these interactions to facilitate a deeper inquiry into questions of authenticity and tradition. Moreover, the authors discuss the use of an interactive website designed specifically to assist in reflecting on these issues in the classroom.


This Article is prompted by the discovery of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) from pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP) chemicals generated by myriad unregulated sources in drinking water supplies and aquatic ecosystems throughout the United States. Exposure to EDCs and other chemicals from PPCPs can cause observable adverse impacts to aquatic flora and fauna, and while not yet conclusively established at current levels, a potentially wide range of adverse human health impacts, from birth defects to obesity. While proverbial canaries in the coal mine show worrying symptoms, PPCP contaminants remain largely unregulated as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) carries out risk assessment processes. This Article summarizes the nature of this newly prioritized water contamination problem, current actions of the U.S. EPA, and the applicability of certain federal laws — the National Environmental Policy Act; Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act; Safe Drinking Water Act; Clean Water Act; Resources Conservation and Recovery Act; Toxic Substance Control Act, and Pollution Prevention Act. The Article then surveys risk management theory for guidance on whether, and if so how much, the PPCP problem should be addressed. These theories include market regulation, no-risk, precautionary principle, technology-based standards, risk-risk tradeoff, risk-benefit assessment, cost-effectiveness, regulatory budget, cost-benefit analysis, and sustainability. Surveying these laws and risk management theories (1) provides practical foresight for how the PPCP problem would be addressed under federal law, and (2) uses a factually vexing public health and environmental problem as a case study for the appraisal of the laws and risk management theories themselves. The Article concludes that cost-benefit analysis, the precautionary principle, and sustainability should be applied to guide policy-makers in an appropriately comprehensive fashion, yet the U.S. EPA and U.S. FDA currently apply risk assessment and risk-benefit approaches to the PPCP problem. The main operational requirements of these federal laws would probably not successfully protect against low-level, chronic, synergistic, and cumulative exposure to PPCPs without changes in regulatory initiative, breakthroughs in risk assessment, and new risk management approaches.


Online teaching in higher education is growing at an exponential rate and it will continue to escalate. Powerful tools of technology have been delivering instruction in unprecedented ways, yet these are only as effective as the masters of this craft. Those using technology to teach online in increasing numbers are educational leadership adjunct professors in particular. Adjunct faculty members can comprise most of or even all of a university department's faculty and they often carry heavier responsibilities than regular faculty for distance education and hybrid instruction. Clearly, the time has come for colleges and universities with online programs to provide mentoring that assures the success of their greatest teaching force, its adjunct faculty. Herein the authors describe four primary needs, articulated as cornerstones, comprising effective mentoring programs for educational leadership adjuncts. Four cornerstones or vitally important elements for the successful online teaching experience of adjuncts faculty members are professional development, effective communication, fostering balance and forming relationships.


The music mainstreaminess of a listener reflects how strong a person's listening preferences correspond to those of the larger population. Considering that music mainstream may be defined from different perspectives, we show country-specific differences and study how taking into account music mainstreaminess influences the quality of music recommendations. In this paper, we first propose 11 novel mainstreaminess measures characterizing music listeners, considering both a global and a countryspecific basis for mainstreaminess. To this end, we model preference profiles (as a vector over artists) for users, countries, and globally, incorporating artist frequency, listener frequency, and a newly proposed TF-IDF-inspired weighting function, which we call artist frequency–inverse listener frequency (AF-ILF). The resulting preference profile for each user u is then related to the respective country-specific and global preference profile using fraction-based approaches, symmetrized Kullback-Leibler divergence, and Kendall's τ rank correlation, in order to quantify u's mainstreaminess. Second, we detail country-specific peculiarities concerning what defines the countries' mainstream and discuss the proposed mainstreaminess definitions. Third, we show that incorporating the proposed global and country-specific Journal of Mobile Multimedia, Vol. 14 1, 95–122. doi: 10.13052/jmm1550-4646.1415 c © 2018 River Publishers 96 M. Schedl and C. Bauer mainstreaminess measures into the music recommendation process can notably improve accuracy of rating prediction.


Dynamically downscaled precipitation fields from regional climate models (RCMs) often cannot be used directly for regional climate studies. Due to their inherent biases, i.e., systematic over- or underestimations compared to observations, several correction approaches have been developed. Most of the bias correction procedures such as the quantile mapping approach employ a transfer function that is based on the statistical differences between RCM output and observations. Apart from such transfer function-based statistical correction algorithms, a stochastic bias correction technique, based on the concept of Copula theory, is developed here and applied to correct precipitation fields from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. For dynamically downscaled precipitation fields we used high-resolution (7 km, daily) WRF simulations for Germany driven by ERA40 reanalysis data for 1971–2000. The REGNIE (REGionalisierung der NIEderschlagshohen) data set from the German Weather Service (DWD) is used as gridded observation data (1 km, daily) and aggregated to 7 km for this application. The 30-year time series are split into a calibration (1971–1985) and validation (1986–2000) period of equal length. Based on the estimated dependence structure (described by the Copula function) between WRF and REGNIE data and the identified respective marginal distributions in the calibration period, separately analyzed for the different seasons, conditional distribution functions are derived for each time step in the validation period. This finally allows to get additional information about the range of the statistically possible bias-corrected values. The results show that the Copula-based approach efficiently corrects most of the errors in WRF derived precipitation for all seasons. It is also found that the Copula-based correction performs better for wet bias correction than for dry bias correction. In autumn and winter, the correction introduced a small dry bias in the northwest of Germany. The average relative bias of daily mean precipitation from WRF for the validation period is reduced from 10% (wet bias) to −1% (slight dry bias) after the application of the Copula-based correction. The bias in different seasons is corrected from 32% March–April–May (MAM), −15% June–July–August (JJA), 4% September–October–November (SON) and 28% December–January–February (DJF) to 16% (MAM), −11% (JJA), −1% (SON) and −3% (DJF), respectively. Finally, the Copula-based approach is compared to the quantile mapping correction method. The root mean square error (RMSE) and the percentage of the corrected time steps that are closer to the observations are analyzed. The Copula-based correction derived from the mean of the sampled distribution reduces the RMSE significantly, while, e.g., the quantile mapping method results in an increased RMSE for some regions.


Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) nonfullerene organic solar cells prepared from sequentially deposited donor and acceptor layers (sq‐BHJ) have recently been shown to be highly efficient, environmentally friendly, and compatible with large area and roll‐to‐roll fabrication. However, the related photophysics at donor‐acceptor interface and the vertical heterogeneity of donor‐acceptor distribution, critical for exciton dissociation and device performance, have been largely unexplored. Herein, steady‐state and time‐resolved optical and electrical techniques are employed to characterize the interfacial trap states. Correlating with the luminescent efficiency of interfacial states and its nonradiative recombination, interfacial trap states are characterized to be about 40% more populated in the sq‐BHJ devices than the as‐cast BHJ (c‐BHJ), which probably limits the device voltage output. Cross‐sectional energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy depth profiling directly visualize the donor–acceptor vertical stratification with a precision of 1–2 nm. From the proposed "needle" model, the high exciton dissociation efficiency is rationalized. This study highlights the promise of sequential deposition to fabricate efficient solar cells, and points toward improving the voltage output and overall device performance via eliminating interfacial trap states.


From the Publisher:
A goldmine of valuable tools for data modelers

Data modelers render raw data-names, addresses, and sales totals, for instance-into information such as customer profiles and seasonal buying patterns that can be used for making critical business decisions. This book brings together thirty of the most effective tools for solving common modeling problems. The author provides an example of each tool and describes what it is, why it is needed, and how it is generally used to model data for both databases and data warehouses, along with tips and warnings. Blank sample copies of all worksheets and checklists described are provided in an appendix.

Companion Web site features updates on the latest tools and techniques, plus links to related sites offering automated tools.


This study's objective was to describe: (1) patterns of cancer prevalence and type, (2) patient demographics, and (3) the sources, and cost, of medical care in the military beneficiary population using the Military Health System administrative databases. Calendar year 2002 patient enrollment, inpatient and outpatient encounter, and cost data from the 50 United States were analyzed to determine beneficiary cancer prevalence, demographics, source of care, cost of care, and cancer type. A total of 355,442 military beneficiaries were identified to have a cancer diagnosis (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancers) in 2002. More than two-thirds of these beneficiaries were over the age of 65, 55% were male, and 44% lived in three geographic areas of the country. Cancer of the prostate, breast, lung, and colon were most common. Almost 90% received their care outside of military medical treatment facilities and the overall cost of their care for 2002 was over $1 billion.


This paper describes how to realize effective knowledge construction from the web, focusing on multi-perspective thinking and a copy-and-paste problem in a writing assignment. Our fundamental idea is to provide students with an e-notebook tool. This tool enables a student to construct knowledge by thinking about and externalizing (visualizing) the content of his/her visited web pages and creating his/her e-notebook. In order to prevent non-effective knowledge construction by copy-and-paste, this tool forbids to copy and paste the content and always stores the e-notebook file on not his/her client computer but his/her personal space in the LMS.


Intentionally removing carbon from the atmosphere with negative emission technologies (NETs) will be important to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century and to limit global warming to 2 °C or even 1.5 °C (IPCC ). Model scenarios that consider NETs as part of mitigation pathways are still largely restricted to afforestation and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), while the '[f]easibility and sustainability of [NETs] use could be enhanced by a portfolio of options deployed at substantial, but lesser scales, rather than a single option at very large scale' (IPCC , p 19). Here, we show the results from an anonymous expert survey, including 32 Earth-System-Model (ESM) experts and 18 Integrated-Assessment-Model (IAM) experts, about the role of NETs in future climate policies and about how well the various technologies are represented in current models. We find that they strongly support the view that technology portfolios are required to achieve negative emissions, however, the responses show that the number and range of NETs that can be assessed in IAMs is small and that IAMs and ESMs are rather applied to analyze technologies separately than in combination. IAM experts in particular consider BECCS as part of a future NETs portfolio; but at the same time, all experts judge the constraints BECCS would face regarding future overall feasibility and more particularly regarding resource competition to be the highest. Regarding the assessment of constraints the ESM experts are much more skeptical than the IAM experts; they also think that the BECCS carbon removal pathways are less sufficiently represented in ESMs compared to what the IAM experts thinks about the representation in their models. Despite the perceived need for NETs portfolios, the range of NETs which can be assessed in IAMs is rather small and ocean NETs have, so far, mostly been overlooked by the IAM experts.


Economic return and volatility spillovers of derivatives markets on a number of assets have been extensively examined in the general economics literature. However, there are only a limited number of studies that investigate such interactions between freight rates and the freight futures, and no studies that also consider potential linkages with freight options. This study fills this gap by investigating the economic spillovers between time-charter rates, freight futures and freight options prices in the dry-bulk sector of the international shipping industry. Empirical results indicate the existence of significant information transmission in both returns and volatilities between the three related markets, which we attribute to varying trading activity and market liquidity. The results also point out that, consistent with theory, the freight futures market informationally leads the freight rate market, though surprisingly, freight options lag behind both futures and physical freight rates, thus not fulfilling their price discovery function. The documented three-way economic interactions between the related markets can be used to enhance budget planning and risk management strategies, potentially attract more investors, and thus, improve the liquidity of the freight derivatives market.


The economics of "happiness" shares a feature with behavioral economics that raises questions about its usefulness in public policy analysis. What happiness economists call "habituation" refers to the fact that people's reported well-being reverts to a base level, even after major life events such as a disabling injury or winning the lottery. What behavioral economists call "projection bias" refers to the fact that people systematically mistake current circumstances for permanence, buying too much food if shopping while hungry for example. Habituation means happiness does not react to long-term changes, and projection bias means happiness over-reacts to temporary changes. I demonstrate this outcome by combining responses to happiness questions with information about air quality and weather on the day and in the place where those questions were asked. The current day's air quality affects happiness while the local annual average does not. Interpreted literally, either the value of air quality is not measurable using the happiness approach or air quality has no value. Interpreted more generously, projection bias saves happiness economics from habituation, enabling its use in public policy.


The paper first discusses the current trends in Islamic finance, which has become mainstream with currently more than US$800 billion of assets worldwide and a buoyant market for sukuk bonds. However, this exorbitant growth raises many challenges, particularly in the areas of banking, capital markets and regulation. Thus, the paper then considers these challenges, notably the economic and legal bottlenecks of sukuk, banking-specific issues, such as liquidity risk management and business models, as well as disharmonized financial regulation. Despite the challenges, the paper concludes that the Islamic finance industry has a bright future.


Studies into the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc) skin fibrosis to date have
concentrated on dermal changes in the disease. Little attention has been paid to the
epidermis in SSc. Epithelial-fibroblast interactions are believed to regulate wound
healing and contribute to a number of fibrotic diseases. Recent proteomic data from
our laboratory reveals altered keratinocyte (KC) specific proteins in SSc skin
consistent with a wound healing phenotype of the disease epidermis. I therefore
studied SSc KCs focusing on differentiation and KC-fibroblast interaction.
I found that KC maturation is altered in SSc with abnormal persistence of
cytokeratins 1, 10 and 14 into suprabasal layers. Cytokeratins 6 and 16, induced in
wound healing KCs, were shown to be expressed in SSc epidermis. In addition, IL-1, a pivotal cytokine involved in KC and fibroblast events post epidermal injury, and
its downstream signalling phosphoproteins p38 and JNK were elevated in SSc
epidermis.
I went on to study the effect of SSc epidermis on normal human fibroblasts. I found
that SSc epidermis promoted fibroblast activation in an ET-1, TGF-β, and IL-1
dependent fashion. I suggest a double paracrine loop initiated by KC-derived IL-1 as
a mechanism for epidermal-dermal co-activation in the disease, similar to that
previously demonstrated for wound healing. There is a need for developing
antifibrotic agents targeting epithelium-derived factors and their signalling
pathways.
I went on to study normal epidermal wound healing. A paradox during epithelial
repair is that KCs proliferate despite a TGF-β dominated environment, which is
known to be anti-proliferative. Our laboratory previously showed that prostanoids antagonise TGF-β-dependent events in human cells. The induction of prostanoids
following injury could transiently free KCs from the anti-proliferative effects of
TGF-β. I test this hypothesis by confirming transient induction of epidermal COX II
and PGE2 following injury. I also show that PGE2 antagonises the anti-proliferative
and pro-migratory effects of TGF-β on KCs. My work supports a model where
induction of epidermal wound edge COX II leads to antagonism of TGF-β and
allows KCs to proliferate prior to migration over the wound.


Myocardial ischemia is a leading cause of death worldwide, and it corresponds to the imbalance between blood supply and myocardial demand. Epicardial coronary artery disease (CAD) is detected on the basis of coronary angiogram, whereas invasive detection of myocardial ischemia induced by coronary stenosis is commonly based on fractional flow reserve (FFR). The use of FFR for revascularization decision-making demonstrated clinical benefit and cost-effectiveness compared with that of angiographic indices. Discrepancies between anatomical metrics and physiological assessment of CAD are frequent, which lead to change in revascularization decision from angiography compared to functional evaluation of CAD. Despite several clinical studies and guidelines recommending with high level of evidence demonstrating that FFR should be adopted in stable CAD, revascularization decision-making is still based on coronary angiogram in current practice. Because of the unique coronary anatomy, coronary stenosis characteristics, risk factors profile, and microcirculation quality, the unique evaluation based on epicardial coronary stenosis threshold failed to be a landmark of ischemia compared with FFR. Furthermore, coronary angiogram can detect only epicardial vessels, which represent only 10% of the entire coronary vasculature; therefore, microcirculation is not seen and is poorly assessed in clinical practice. Thus, the role of microcirculation is of importance in myocardial ischemia and might impact these discrepancies between angiography and FFR evaluation of CAD. In this review, we aimed to describe the poor correlation between anatomical evaluation compared with physiological evaluation to detect myocardial ischemia induced by coronary stenosis as well as the clinical implications of this visual–functional mismatch.