There is evolving evidence that individuals categorized with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) are potentially at higher risk for developing objective and progressive cognitive impairment compared to cognitively healthy individuals without apparent subjective complaints. Interestingly, SCD, during advancing preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD), may denote very early, subtle cognitive decline that cannot be identified using established standardized tests of cognitive performance. The substantial heterogeneity of existing SCD-related research data has led the Subjective Cognitive Decline Initiative (SCD-I) to accomplish an international consensus on the definition of a conceptual research framework on SCD in preclinical AD. In the area of biological markers, the cerebrospinal fluid signature of AD has been reported to be more prevalent in subjects with SCD compared to healthy controls; moreover, there is a pronounced atrophy, as demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging, and an increased hypometabolism, as revealed by positron emission tomography, in characteristic brain regions affected by AD. In addition, SCD individuals carrying an apolipoprotein ɛ4 allele are more likely to display AD-phenotypic alterations. The urgent requirement to detect and diagnose AD as early as possible has led to the critical examination of the diagnostic power of biological markers, neurophysiology, and neuroimaging methods for AD-related risk and clinical progression in individuals defined with SCD. Observational studies on the predictive value of SCD for developing AD may potentially be of practical value, and an evidence-based, validated, qualified, and fully operationalized concept may inform clinical diagnostic practice and guide earlier designs in future therapy trials.


DC current measurement using magnetic flux balancing with an automatic controller is presented. A ferromagnetic, toroidal core is used both as a flux detector and magneto motive force summer element. A symmetrical, AC triangular current sent through an excitation coil builds up flux in the core. The DC current to be measured is sent through a another coil, which sets up a bias magneto motive force or mmf. The bias mmf causes the core to reach saturation earlier on one side of the flux build up than on the other side. As core saturation is reached, a voltage pulse transition is detected in a separate winding by a Schmitt trigger. Its duty cycle varies with the amount of flux imbalance affecting an automatic control feedback which strives for zero flux, by sending an opposing current, through a fourth coil, producing a canceling flux. An electronic null balancing circuit was wired to verify the technique. Keywords: Coercion point, flux, magneto motive force, Opamp, proportional-integral, residual flux, remanence, saturation, Schmitt trigger


We present an on-chip filter that is based on the grating-assisted contra-directional coupler (GACDC) implemented on a silicon nitride rib waveguide platform. This filter enjoys the benefit of an unlimited free spectral range (FSR) on the red side of the stop/passband. Unlike a Bragg reflector, the GACDC filter has the advantage of coupling the rejected light contra-directionally into a bus waveguide, instead of reflecting it back to the input. This property makes it an add/drop filter suitable for pump rejection and allows effective cascading to provide an even higher extinction ratio compared to the single-stage version. In this Letter, we experimentally demonstrate that a 16-stage cascaded GACDC filter can provide a stop band with a bandwidth smaller than 3 nm and an extinction ratio as high as 68.5 dB.


U–Pb dating of magmatic zircons from the Permian basaltic metaandesites/metabasalts of the Tribeč Mts. yielded the Concordia ages of 263.1±2.6 Ma, which correspond to the Guadalupian Epoch in the time span of the uppermost Wordian/Capitanian Stages. These magmatic zircon ages clearly document the timing of the Mid-Permian lithospheric extension in the internal zone of the Variscan fragments in the Western Carpathians. The studied volcanic rocks with the associated metasediments belong to the Veporic Unit that overthrusts the Tatric Unit. The considered sequence was correlated with the Northern Veporic Permian rocks from the Čierťaž Mts. From the geochemical point of view, the studied volcanic rocks have a calc-alkaline magmatic trend with an affinity to continental within-plate tectonic setting, linked to the post-orogenic lithospheric extension. The detrital zircon population, obtained from the associated arkosic metagreywackes, displays mainly Tournaisian and Ediacaran zircon ages in the range of 342–367 and 546–631 Ma, respectively. Only a small number of Cambrian/Ordovician (499–466 Ma), Tonian (720–1000 Ma) and Paleoproterozoic/ Neoarchean (~1.9 Ga and ~2.5 Ga) zircon ages were determined. The similar association of zircon ages was found within the xenocrystic cores in the studied volcanic rocks. The presented detrital and xenocrystic zircon ages specify the provenance of the Tribeč Permian deposits from the Western Carpathian Crystalline Basement crust, characteristic of derivation from the Variscan magmatic rocks and reworked fragments of Cadomian crust.


T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a complex disease, resulting from proliferation of differentially arrested immature T cells. The molecular mechanisms and the genes involved in the generation of T-ALL remain largely undefined. In this study, we propose a set of genes to differentiate individuals with T-ALL from the nonleukemia/healthy ones and genes that are not differential themselves but interconnected with highly differentially expressed ones. We provide new suggestions for pathways involved in the cause of T-ALL and show that network-based classification techniques produce fewer genes with more meaningful and successful results than expression-based approaches. We have identified 19 significant subnetworks, containing 102 genes. The classification/prediction accuracies of subnetworks are considerably high, as high as 98%. Subnetworks contain 6 nondifferentially expressed genes, which could potentially participate in pathogenesis of T-ALL. Although these genes are not differential, they may serve as biomarkers if their loss/gain of function contributes to generation of T-ALL via SNPs. We conclude that transcription factors, zinc-ion-binding proteins, and tyrosine kinases are the important protein families to trigger T-ALL. These potential disease-causing genes in our subnetworks may serve as biomarkers, alternative to the traditional ones used for the diagnosis of T-ALL, and help understand the pathogenesis of the disease.


The paper presents the results of building a model for diagnosing and forecasting the economic activities in the city of Ufa. This study was performed as the analytical support for creating an economic development strategy in a metropolitan city. The novelty of the approach is in the detailed analysis of the city-level indicators of the development of economic activity. This allows to identify the problems in the development of the social and economic spheres. A vector autoregression model which takes into account the correlations between the main macroeconomic indicators was chosen as a tool for diagnosing the economy. . A preliminary statistical data analysis was done and cause-effect relations were determined in the article. Vector autoregression models were made for the following branches of the city economy: industrial production, construction, wholesale and retail trade, transport and communication. The represented types of economic activities hold the main economic potential of the metropolitan city. The modeling period covers the period from the 1st quarter of 2009 till the 3rd quarter of 2014. As a result of this study we managed to determine the competitive advantages and specific problems of the economic system in the metropolitan city, analyze the basic factors and actions for overcoming adverse trends in the future. The obtained information could be useful for public authorities to solve problems connected with enhancing the welfare of the population, improving the living standards of citizens, developing the infrastructure, contributing to the effective prosperity of the social and economic spheres of the city, developing a competitive economy, expanding the external economic relations. ECONOMETRIC MODELING; TIME SERIES ANALYSIS; VECTOR AUTOREGRESSION MODEL; FORECASTING; ECONOMIC SECTORS.


The evaluation of development processes and of public policies often involves comparisons of social states in which populations differ in size and longevity. This requires social evaluation principles to be sensitive to both the number and the length of lives. This paper explores the use of axiomatic and welfarist principles to assess social welfare in that framework. It attempts to overcome some of the limits of existing methods in the literature, in particular by avoiding a temporal repugnant conclusion, by neither penalizing nor favoring life fragmentation, and by satisfying critical-level temporal consistency. It does this by characterizing a critical-level lifetime utility function that values life periodically. To address some of the controversies on discounting utilities across time, two alternative versions of the function are developed, one with discounting and one without.


On the basis of the concept of citizenship and the personalized concept of law, the article formulates a legal (not legalistic) approach to double citizenship. The right to citizenship itself is addressed as an aspect of legal capacity and as a subjective right. This enables to make a distinction between the right to citizenship as a formal permission and citizenship as an implementation of such a permission through the performance of one's obligations. As far as legal capacity is concerned, every Lithuanian, irrespective of the location of his/her residence, is entitled to become a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania. However, if he/she wishes to transform his/her right to citizenship from a capacity-level to a subjective right, he/she must become linked to the Republic of Lithuania by mutual rights and obligations, i.e., to recognize that, along with the right to create and improve the Lithuanian state, as well as to make use of the protection it provides, one also acquires an obligation to support and defend the state (valid only for legally capable persons and those receiving revenue). Such is the legal logic of citizenship.


The study was conducted to investigate whether or not there was effective management of ECC's in government primary schools of Chavuma district in North Western Province. In order to successfully conduct this study three independent variable were tested and these were the provision of teaching and learning aids, support of teacher group meetings and teacher monitoring by educational managers charged with the responsibility. These independent variables were supported by the study objectives which mainly hinged on the role of educational managers in supporting, providing and implementing the study variables to achieve effective management of ECE in primary schools of Chavuma district. Others included teachers' views on school manager's support on effective management of ECC in the primary schools of Chavuma District. The other study objectives hinged on parental involvement on effective management of ECE and the various challenges school management faced when enforcing their roles on effective management of E C E in government primary schools. The research design that was employed was a descriptive survey which was supported by a qualitative method. The targeted population was forty eight (48) which was both purposefully and randomly chosen. Data collection instruments used were questionnaires, interview guides and checklists. Data collected was later analysed using Microsoft Excel thematically, by document analysis and in verbatim form. The study using the three independent variables showed that, for a teacher to be effective in his or her duty depends on the roles played by educational managers thereby proving the conceptual and theoretical frameworks employed in this study. The findings showed that there was adequate implementation of teacher monitoring and teacher group meeting support by educational managers at both DEBS and school management levels. On the other hand, the study indicates that there was inadequate provision of teaching and learning aids in the ECC as indicated in the findings. Some of the most pertinent teaching and learning materials which schools under this study lacked were infrastructure (classroom blocks) appropriate for learners at this level. Other findings also show that seventy-five (75) per cent of the parents interviewed prepared food for their children when going to school and at the same time provided some of the teaching and learning materials. On the challenges that school managers faced in enforcing their roles are; poor sanitations such as water points, lack of appropriate toilets for learners at this level and transfers of teachers from their schools to towns leaving behind pupils without anyone to attend to them. The study recommended that government through the Ministry of General Education provide appropriate infrastructure such as classroom blocks for learners at this level. The study further recommended that government through the Ministry of General Education should procure appropriate teaching and learning materials such as crayons, balls, books and furniture, sink boreholes that provide running water for learners to use at this level. It was recommended that DEBS employ teachers willing to serve in rural area and that head teachers apply for funds from Constituency Development Fund and other Non Governmental organisations to put up infrastructure that can support the teaching and learning of pupils in ECEC's . In addition, it was recommended that head teachers make use of government grant and other sources of income to procure appropriate teaching and learning materials for learners at EC level and at the same time encourage teachers as much as possible to improvise teaching and learning aids for learners at this level.


We consider the problem of estimating the distribution of carcass weights in a flock of animals from estimates made on a truncated sample. This arises when a farmer chooses the heaviest lambs for slaughter and then measurements are made by the meat processor. This enables a farmer to answer two questions: what proportion of the animals remaining exceed a nominated carcass weight, and/or what carcass weight is exceeded by a nominated proportion of the population? Estimates of these statistics and their uncertainties are derived and are exact if the animal weights are normally distributed. These calculations can be the basis of decisions about future feeding and drafting strategies, important for farmers producing animals on contracts for future delivery. An example is given based on 1000 lambs using a cut-off weight of 15.5 kg with mean of this upper group of 16 kg. Using a realistic estimate of a standard deviation (of the weighing scales) of 0.3 kg, this gives an estimated mean of 14.6± 0.04 kg, with a standard deviation of 0.94±0.044 kg, and that 75% of the lambs in the population exceed 13.9±0.07 kg. The proportion of lambs that exceed 14.5 kg is then between 51.3% and 55.7%.


We show that through facilitating maturity transformation, the lender of last resort gives banks an incentive to lever, diversify, and lower their lending standards. Bank leverage increases shareholder value because maturity transformation effectively allows banks to borrow against lower interest rates than their shareholders. Bank diversification increases shareholder value by enabling banks to lever more. When the gains from maturity transformation are passed on to bank customers, lending standards deteriorate. This risk-taking intensifies when the term spread is steeper, and is thus procyclically related to the stance of the macro-economy. Regulatory liquidity requirements can reduce all forms of risk-taking examined.


The speed of shear wave propagation in tissue is directly related to the tissue's shear modulus. Shear waves can be generated in tissue using focused, impulsive, acoustic radiation force excitations. Shear modulus reconstruction has typically been performed by monitoring shear wave propagation in regions that are spatially offset from the region of excitation (ROE), but such methods require greater radiation forces than methods that work within the ROE. Previously validated 3D FEM models of soft tissue response to impulsive radiation force excitations, coupled with Field II simulations of ultrasonic displacement tracking, were utilized for this work. Simulations were performed for a given focal geometry (Siemens CH41 transducer) for a range of tissue stiffnesses (mu = 1-15 kPa). Linear, elastic, isotropic material properties were assumed, making the time-to-peak (TTP) displacements along the axis of symmetry in the ROE proportional to the tissue's shear wave speed and the excitation beam geometry. Lookup tables specific to an excitation/tracking focal configuration were generated from simulated data, and stiffness estimates as a function of depth were possible using experimental data in calibrated phantoms and soft tissues in vivo. These stiffness estimates were compared with estimates using our previously validated Lateral TTP method. Simulation data indicate that the reconstructed shear moduli are independent of variations in tissue attenuation that impact the spatial distribution of radiation force in the ROE. Phantom reconstructions yielded ROE TTP shear modulus estimates within 0.15 kPa to those using the Lateral TTP method. The axial ROI for each method is similar, but the lateral ROI is ~30times smaller for the ROE TTP method (0.2 vs. 6 mm). The ROE TTP algorithm applied to in vivo data yielded similar mean shear stiffness estimates (mu = 1.7 kPa), but with increased variance (0.9 vs. 0.2 kPa) compared to the Lateral TTP algorithm. Greater displacement magnitudes are present within the ROE compared with spatially-offset locations, producing greater displacement SNR and reducing the acoustic energy needed to generate accurate displacement estimates. Reduced acoustic output leads to decreased transducer and tissue heating. Measuring TTP values within the ROE, instead of at multiple offset locations, also reduces data acquisition times, limiting displacement motion artifacts. The ROE TTP precision is jitter dependent; material shear moduli can be reconstructed within <0.5 kPa.


Pepper wilting and root rot disease have been observed in Tunisia for many years. This disease causes severe losses for pepper production both in fields and greenhouses in the main crop cultivated areas of pepper production. The causative agent of the syndrome belongs to the genus Phytophthora and has been identified as Phytophthora nicotianae. Being a soil-borne pathogen, effective disease control methods are limited apart from soil disinfestations by fumigation with methyl bromide and disinfection of internal space of greenhouses with a formaldehyde solution. With the general banning of methylbromide from Europe and countries exporting legumes to the European market, alternative measures for disease management are urgently required. In this study the efficacy of grafting commercial pepper cultivars (Starter and Torero) onto a new rootstock (Brutus) was examined in growth chamber and greenhouse experiments. Hole insertion grafting is shown in this study to be the grafting technique of choice for pepper and validates the general trend that grafting could be used as an alternative control method of soil-borne pathogens such as Phytophthora nicotianae.


This book covers not only the political situation in Zimbabwe, but its international context and those areas of privation, exclusion and silence within the country that are beneath the everyday face of politics. Written by either a Zimbabwean or an internationally acknowledged expert on aspects of Zimbabwe, all the authors agree that the silences in and surrounding the African state cannot continue. This volume utilizes the perspectives of diplomacy, health, law and literature written in both English and Shona, and of those deeply concerned with democratization in Zimbabwe and its surrounding region. Zimbabwe and the Space of Silence will be of interest to students and scholars of African studies, African and Third World politics and international law. This book was previously published as a special issue of The Round Table.


In this paper, we discuss the productive and economic implications of several options for the future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) focusing on French dairy farms (as France includes 16% of the EU milk quota). The options studied follow the proposals made by the European Commission in May 2008 for the "Health Check" of the CAP. We examine the cross effects, on the productive strategy of French dairy farms, of the phasing out of milk quotas and a simplification of the single payment scheme (adoption of a full decoupling and implementation of a regionalization according to Articles No. 58-59 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003). To do this, a model based on mathematical programming has been developed. This model, which can be qualified as "bio-economic", enables us to measure the impact of a change in the CAP on supply behaviour. While respecting the principle of agent rationality (maximization of profit), the model incorporates the economic risk related to the volatility of input and output prices. This is done through the "Utility efficient programming" method which enables us to represent the utility of the farmer in a negative exponential form. Thus, the model maximises the expected utility of income while taking into account a set of constraints: regulatory, structural, zootechnical, agronomic and environmental. The model is applied to four types of dairy farms to reflect the diversity of production systems in France. The model is used to produce quantitative estimations and to evaluate policy changes through the simulation of the CAP Health Check implementation. The results show that with the end of milk quota system, dairy farmers have a high productive potential. The adoption of a full decoupling of the single payment encourages farmers to substitute a part of corn silage by grass. However, rising prices of agricultural production encourage, on the contrary, farmers to intensify their system in order to free up land for growing cereals.


Synopsis The compressive strength of rock (σc) has an important effect on design of structures in rock engineering. Compressive strength can be determined in the laboratory using the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) test. Some other index tests, such as the point load test, are also used, particularly when suitable samples for UCS are not available. The quantification of rock texture has introduced a new method in rock engineering for estimating the mechanical and physical properties of rock materials from microscopic investigations. The aim of this study is to quantify rock texture to estimate rock strength from the texture coefficient (TC), which is determined from a statistical assessment of thin section images. Rock texture is quantified by twelve different images from a single thin section to increase the reliability of texture analysis. A data-set is prepared to investigate correlations between TC and σc. The statistical correlations are computed after classifying of the rock samples based on their lithology as well as grain features. Equations derived based on the results of this study are used to predict the approximate value of compressive strength from the texture coefficient. This method is particularly useful for preliminary studies in rock engineering projects prior to detailed site investigation.


This book examine how the brisk pace of change in the countryside is affecting the places, spaces and people that they originally studied, sometimes as long as four decades ago. Each of 14 core chapters in organizedaround a change that the author did non anticipate, based on broader trends. A new longhouse in Sarawak, the urban forests of Java, the assertion of an ethnic minority indentity in Northern Thailand, the reshaping of class relations and identities in Philipines, and the uncontested sell-off of farmland to cacao entrepreners in Sulawesi challenge conventional understandings of how the countryside is being reshaped, and to what effect.


Background: SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in cancer patients is crucial to prevent severe COVID-19 disease course. Methods: This study assessed immunogenicity of cancer patients on active treatment receiving mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine by detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 IgG antibodies in serum, before, after the first and second doses and 3 months after a complete primary course of vaccination. Results were compared with healthy controls. Results: Of 112 patients, the seroconversion rate was 96%. A significant reduction in antibody levels was observed 3 months after vaccination in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors versus control participants (p < 0.001). Adverse events were mostly mild. Conclusion: Immunogenicity after mRNA-based vaccine in cancer patients is adequate but influenced by the type of anticancer therapy. Antibody levels decline after 3 months, and thus a third vaccination is warranted.


The long-distance migrant red knot (Calidris canutus ssp. rufa Scolopacidae) alternates between the northern and southern ends of the New World, one of the longest yearly migrations of any bird and paradoxically overflying apparently suitable habitat at lower latitudes. This subspecies is sharply declining, with a major mortality event following 2000, attributed to commercial overharvesting of food resources at its Delaware Bay (USA) stop-over site. A full understanding of this peculiar migrant requires an assessment of the foraging conditions at its southern hemisphere wintering sites. Here, for a major wintering site in Argentinean Tierra del Fuego (Rio Grande), we describe and compare food abundance, diet and intake rates during JanuaryFebruary in 1995, 2000 and 2008. The two main prey types were the burrowing clam Darina solenoides and three species of epibenthic mussels Mytilidae. In the year 2000, food availability and intake rate were higher than those recorded at other sites used by knots anywhere else in the world, contributing to the explanation of why red knots carry out this impressive migration. Intake rate in 2008 on the two main prey types was dramatically reduced as a result of birds eating smaller prey and strongly increased human disturbance; the same year we also found a high prevalence of a digenean parasite in Darina. We suggest that during the strongly enhanced winter mortality in 2000, knots did not yet face ecological problems in their southernmost wintering area, consistent with the previous evidence that problems at northern stop-overs negatively affected their numbers. However, in 2008 the ecological conditions at Rio Grande were such that they would have facilitated a further decline, emphasizing the importance of a hemispheric approach to research and management.


The northern Red Sea is an amagmatic continental rift in which an oceanic spreading center is beginning to develop. A new compilation of marine geophysical data permits delineation of the structure of the northern Red Sea and of the manner in which the transition from continental to oceanic extension is occurring in this rift. The margins of the northern Red Sea are formed by large, apparently active faults on the seaward edge of the narrow continental shelves. The morphology of the main trough is a series of terraces stepping down to an axial depression. The terraces are a subdued expression of the basement structure, which consists of a series of large rotated fault blocks. The axial depression is an often fault‐bounded axis of deep water that extends south from the Suez triple junction. The rift is segmented along‐strike by throughgoing accommodation zones spaced at 40–60 km intervals along the rift. In the main trough, accommodation zones truncate or offset rift‐parallel bathymetric and gravity features. The axial depression consists of a series of discrete depressions offset from each other and separated by slightly shallower areas corresponding to accommodation zones. Within each segment, the axial depression deepens away from the accommodation zones toward a small deep, a few kilometers across and a few hundred meters deeper than the surrounding seafloor. A pair of small volcanoes is perched on top of the scarps bounding the axial depression on either side of the deep within each segment. The volcanoes are all normally magnetized and interpreted as very young. The crust is uniformly thin (5–8.5 km) throughout the main trough, implying extension evenly spread across the rift through much of its development. As extension recently became concentrated at the axis, melt began to be generated and is focused to a location within the segment where it ascends along faults bounding the axial depression to form the pair of volcanoes flanking the axis. A volcano is also found on the floor of the axial depression in one segment. This isolated volcano appears to be the first step in the development of the seafloor spreading cells that are observed in the central Red Sea. The individual cells then grow and coalesce to become a continuous spreading axis.


Building a Healthy Black Harlem: Health Politics in Harlem, New York, from the Jazz Age to the Great Depression. By Jamie I Wilson. Amherst, New York: Cambria Press, 2009. xii + .206 pp. $104.99 hardcover; $26.99 Kindle. In Building a Healthy Black Harlem, Jamie J. Wilson shows that residents of Harlem, New York City in the 1920s faced severe overcrowding that caused numerous health problems. Residents met these challenges by frequenting magico-religious workers and conventional doctors alike. Campaigns to improve care and desegregate the medical staff of Harlem Hospital ultimately resulted in the hiring of Black nurses and doctors by the early 1930s, but Harlem remained one of the unhealthiest neighborhoods in New York. Wilson's argument is that poor housing conditions, lack of access to health care, and racial discrimination in the 1920s and 1930s "encouraged not only personal and organizational pursuits for health services, but also political organization with the community in order to demand health options from medical and political leaders..."(2). Wilson views the struggle for health and wellness in Harlem as not just one of many struggles waged in those tumultuous decades, but as the principal struggle waged by Black residents of Harlem in those years. Wilson uses the census to paint a meticulous social history portrait of life in one Harlem tenement, while drawing from The New York Amsterdam News, and from the poetry and fiction of Claude McKay, Rudolph Fisher, Langston Hughes. He also relies on reports from New York governmental agencies as well as prior scholarship, especially the work of Cheryl Greenberg, Or Does It Explode? Black Harlem in the Great Depression (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991). For Wilson as for Greenberg and other scholars of Harlem, the neighborhood's health woes began with the racial discrimination that burdened Harlem residents with high rents and low wages, forcing overcrowding and breeding the highest rates of disease in New York City. Wilson's account is especially innovative in depicting magico-religious workers, whose advertisements are ubiquitous in Harlem newspapers of this era, as frontline healthcare workers practicing forms of root work and conjure with roots in hoodoo and African modes of healing. Taking for granted that these spiritualists, "professors," and healers provided a valuable service, Wilson argues that their arrests and criminalization "reduced the quality of wellness care by limiting overall healing options in the community," (58). …


This research is inspired from the existing challenges of compulsory acquisition of land by public authorities in Scotland. The exercise of the power of compulsory acquisition is a common instrument of land procurement for public projects and is often resisted, by the affected landowners, for various reasons. There is continuous effort at policy level to harmonise the procedure and derive fairer compensation mechanism for the loss of land and property rights. The first step towards achieving this bigger objective will be to understand the role of land and property in the overall well-being of an individual landowner. In this context, this research identifies and creates a list of valuable 'functionings' of individual landowners who have suffered losses due to compulsory acquisition, servitude and severance under various public projects in Scotland.The method of Qualitative Content Analysis is applied to analyse case reports prepared by the Lands Tribunal for Scotland. In depth analysis of nineteen relevant cases is performed with the use of NVIVO software and a list of eighteen functionings is obtained towards the end. Results state that financial functionings are most frequently discussed at the Lands Tribunals. The debate on the loss of financial benefits from expected and planned development on land, in the near future, is most debated topic by the landowners.Findings from this research can be advanced, in future research, to create a universal list of functionings offered by land and ownership rights that shall help in understanding the role of landownership in well-being of the landowners.


In preparing for the 20-year review of the Beijing Platform for Action on women's economic empowerment, both formal policy documents and media coverage in developed countries such as the Netherlands resonate with the rhetoric of choice between work and care. In this article, my central argument is that framing the combination of work and care as a matter of personal choice stands in the way of economically empowering women. To promote sustainability in combining career and care, we need to expose, challenge and bend underlying norms about gender roles. For policymakers to take responsibility in the economic empowerment of women, both policy documents and media coverage should promote win–win instead of zero sum solutions in combining work and care, for both men and women.


Recent work on Natural Language Interfaces to Databases (NLIDB) has attracted considerable attention. NLIDB allow users to search databases using natural language instead of SQL-like query languages. While saving the users from having to learn query languages, multi-turn interaction with NLIDB usually involves multiple queries where contextual information is vital to understand the users' query intents. In this paper, we address a typical contextual understanding problem, termed as follow-up query analysis. In spite of its ubiquity, follow-up query analysis has not been well studied due to two primary obstacles: the multifarious nature of follow-up query scenarios and the lack of high-quality datasets. Our work summarizes typical follow-up query scenarios and provides a new FollowUp dataset with 1000 query triples on 120 tables. Moreover, we propose a novel approach FANDA, which takes into account the structures of queries and employs a ranking model with weakly supervised max-margin learning. The experimental results on FollowUp demonstrate the superiority of FANDA over multiple baselines across multiple metrics.


The macrophage cell line, RAW264.10, synthesizes and secretes plasminogen activator. Production of this enzyme is inhibited by low concentrations of glucocorticoids and increased by phorbol myristate acetate. It is proposed that this line could be a suitable model for the regulation of enzyme synthesis by mouse peritoneal macrophages.


In 2009, only a few months after the game's release, the popular trade magazine Advertising Age declared Beatles Rock Band one of America's hottest brands ("America's hottest brands", 2009). This is quite a feat for a lowly video game, and begs that we consider the reasons for the game's success as well a the potential social consequences for similar popular games.
There are two major elements at work in the creation of Beatles Rock Band as a successful brand, and this paper conducts an analysis of the game in order to identify both of them. First of all, it explores the Beatles as a brand that continues to provide emotional and spiritual value for consumers, and how the feelings associated with this brand have developed intertextually since the band first gained international popularity in 1962. Secondly, this paper will show how Beatles Rock Band works almost like a documentary game, and in doing so rewrites history in order to capitalize on a white-washed and romanticized ideal of 1960s culture. As such, it will show the ways that the Beatles Rock Band draws on previous commercial texts associated with the Beatles brand to create an hyperreal fiction based on historic people and events.
This paper is divided up into four sections. The first section will provide a theoretical overview of convergence, remediation, and the business of culture, and then will conduct a brief review of the methodology of digital game studies. The second section will look at the specifics of the game, and some of ways that the game has been marketed to the public at large. The third section will provide a description and overview of the Beatles as a brand, and the ways the brand continues to adapt and change over time in order to appeal to a broad and changing audience. Finally, the fourth section will discuss the commoditfication of nostalgia generally, and the specific ways that this game rewrites history to reproduce it as a commodity.


Courts have struggled with articulating the standard for "originality" in copyright law. Some judges have leaned towards a "sweat of the brow" theory, that rewards authors for their investment of labour in creating a work. Others, most notably, the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark decision of Feist Publications Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co. Inc., have held out for a standard which requires some "spark" or modicum of creativity. In this article, the author examines the concept of "originality" in light of the shifting purposes of copyright law in Canada, and the historical relationship of utilitarian works to copyright law. Works such as directories and factual compilations owe their value not to their contents, which are often in the public domain, but to the effort that has gone into collecting those contents. The scope of protection of such "utilitarian works" to be offered under copyright law has generated controversy in case law and commentary. By examining the treatment of the concept of "originality" in recent Canadian cases dealing with utilitarian works, the author explores the uneasy relationship between unfair competition law and copyright law in Canada. She argues that the proliferation of utilitarian works protected by copyright, and in particular, information products, has rendered a threshold for originality extremely problematic. She argues that the problem lies in the tension between copyright and unfair competition, primarily in relation to utilitarian works. Copyright, she concludes, is an inapt vehicle for resolving issues of competition in the information economy.


The nature of chain aggregation in solution always results in variable spin-coated film mesoscale morphology and uncontrollable device performance. The abundant variety and increasing chemical complexity of conjugated polymers induced additional diverse electrostatic and dispersion interactions (non-covalent interactions), although it is not fully understood how the interplay of these forces results in the observed conformational order, chain aggregates and film morphologies. Herein, we present a precise study on the role of non-covalent interaction in the self-organization behavior, conformational order and optoelectrical properties of polyfluorene (PPFOH) toward tuning its electroluminescence (EL). The supramolecular PPFOH system consisted of an intrinsically doped hydrogen-bond-assisted microstructure as a "guest" and a blue light-emitting backbone chain as a "host", which show a special binary emissive property of solution-induced self-dopant formation in the amorphous films. As a result of a strong non-covalent interaction between polymer chains and solvent molecules (type II solvent), a likely distorted or fold chain in rod-coil or branch cluster shows a narrow and strong aggregation emission at 525–540 nm. Low-polar solvents (called type I) can also induce a shoulder low-energy emission at 550–580 nm in the films, attributed to the extended and stretched chain complex for the tendency of interchain hydrogen-bonding interaction. Further evidence from nanoscale infrared (AFM-IR) analysis confirmed the stronger hydrogen-bonding interaction in the type II films than those in the type I films. Finally, supramolecular PPFOH electroluminescence colours can be tuned from blue to sky blue, green, white, yellow and orange.


Spatial and temporal patterns of tropical leaf renewal are poorly understood and poorly parameterized in modern Earth System Models due to lack of data. Remote sensing has great potential for sampling leaf phenology across tropical landscapes but until now has been impeded by lack of ground-truthing, cloudiness, poor spatial resolution, and the cryptic nature of incremental leaf turnover in many tropical plants. To our knowledge, satellite data have never been used to monitor individual crown leaf phenology in the tropics, an innovation that would be a major breakthrough for individual and species-level ecology and improve climate change predictions for the tropics. In this paper, we assessed whether satellite data can detect leaf turnover for individual trees using ground observations of a candidate tropical tree species, Moabi (Baillonella toxisperma), which has a mega-crown visible from space. We identified and delineated Moabi crowns at Lopé NP, Gabon from satellite imagery using ground coordinates and extracted high spatial and temporal resolution, optical, and synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) timeseries data for each tree. We normalized these data relative to the surrounding forest canopy and combined them with concurrent monthly crown observations of new, mature, and senescent leaves recorded from the ground. We analyzed the relationship between satellite and ground observations using generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs). Ground observations of leaf turnover were significantly correlated with optical indices derived from Sentinel-2 optical data (the normalized difference vegetation index and the green leaf index), but not with SAR data derived from Sentinel-1. We demonstrate, perhaps for the first time, how the leaf phenology of individual large-canopied tropical trees can directly influence the spectral signature of satellite pixels through time. Additionally, while the level of uncertainty in our model predictions is still very high, we believe this study shows that we are near the threshold for orbital monitoring of individual crowns within tropical forests, even in challenging locations, such as cloudy Gabon. Further technical advances in remote sensing instruments into the spatial and temporal scales relevant to organismal biological processes will unlock great potential to improve our understanding of the Earth system.


The remanence inclination, I, of magnetite-bearing sediment can be shallower than the inclination of the Earth's magnetic field, IH, at the time of deposition due to burial compaction. Compaction also induces a magnetic anisotropy which can be used to correct for inclination shallowing. Theory predicts an approximately linear relation between tanI/tanIH and the sediment's remanence anisotropy parameter ARMmin/ARMmax (the ratio of intensities of anhysteretic remanence given identically perpendicular and parallel to the bedding plane of the sediment). The slope of this line depends on the average remanence anisotropy parameter of the sediment's magnetite particles, ARM⊥/ARM∥, (the ratio of intensities of anhysteretic remanence applied identically perpendicular and parallel to the long axes of the magnetite grains). For a suite of clay-rich magnetite-bearing sediments, we estimate ARM⊥/ARM∥ by making a composite sample, giving it an inclined anhysteretic remanence and then applying a uniaxial compression and observing the change in remanence inclination and ARMmin/ARMmax. This estimated ARM⊥/ARM∥ is used with the ARMmin/ARMmax and I from the natural specimens to estimate IH, corrected for inclination shallowing. This method was shown to succeed for our three suites of clay-rich soft sediments bearing pseudo-single-domain magnetite: two from the continental rise off
Nova Scotia, Canada and one from the Shatsky Rise east of Japan. For compacted sediments with minimum (Kmin) and maximum (Kmax) magnetic susceptibility axes perpendicular and parallel to bedding respectively, theory also predicts (provided the magnetite grains are not single-domain) an approximately linear relation between tanI/tanIH and the susceptibility anisotropy parameter, Kmin/Kmax (which is easier to measure than ARMmin/ARMmax). This relation was observed to hold for our composite samples during uniaxial compression experiments and was used to successfully estimate IH, corrected for inclination shallowing. -- Burial compaction can also reduce remanence intensity which can affect the sediment's record of paleointensity changes in the Earth's magnetic field. We observed an approximately linear relation between remanence intensity and the remanence anisotropy parameter ARMmin/ARMmax during the uniaxial compression experiments on our composite samples. This is used to suggest a novel method of correcting for compaction-induced intensity decrease in magnetite-bearing soft sediments.


The proliferation of 3D sensors, due to the increased demand for 3D data, induced the 3D computer vision research in the last decade, and 3D data processing has gained a lot of interest. As in many other applications in computer vision, deep learning-based methods were quickly applied to 3D data classification and have become the state-of-the-art in this area. More recently, capsule networks, which are novel neural structures, have been introduced to enhance the ability of neural networks to better capture the parts-relationship, which yields more accurate classification with less training data. Moreover, deploying deep machine learning models on mobile platforms requires the models to be optimized due to limited memory and computational constraints. In this work, we propose methods to boost the accuracies of a standard 3D CNN-based and a Capsule Network-based classifier, help the training to better generalize the data distribution with limited data, and optimize the models for resource-constrained environments, such as mobile platforms. We also show that the introduction of capsules to 3D object classification pipeline improves the classification performance with limited training data, while a specifically optimized weight pruning method keeps the model compact enough for mobile deployment. Our broad spectrum of experiments show that proposed methods improve the performance of the base model while significantly reducing the memory and computation requirements.


This book argues that the assumption that grammatical relations are both necessary and universal is an unwarranted generalization. The grammatical relations of subject and object are required in the case of the Indian language of Kannada. Furthermore, the notion of transitivity or transference which forms the basis for postulating grammatical relations does not play the expected central role in all languages: in the case of another Indian language, Manipuri, it is volitionality and transitivity which plays the central role in clause structure. Dr. Bhat argues against the universality and necessity of grammatical relations; his provocative hypothesis will be a challenge to all those concerned with the nature of language.


The modern automobile is an artificial intelligence computer requiring constant contact with data networks to upload vehicle data and maintain the processing platform with software and firmware updates. 5G roll-out must include non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) to augment terrestrial cellular networks and achieve constant contact. We have commercialized a satellite vehicle terminal based on a novel, flat-panel, electronically scanned, meta materials antenna technology (MSAT) that makes high-throughput satellite connectivity to the consumer automobile a practical reality.


Consumer bankruptcy insures individuals against misfortune. Like other forms of insurance, bankruptcy reduces an individual's incentive to guard against misfortune and provides her with an incentive to overstate her need for relief. The "first-best," or optimal, bankruptcy system, like the first-best tax or public assistance system, solves these moral hazards without any loss of efficiency. In bankruptcy, this first-best approach would deny relief to debtors responsible for their own distress and reduce the deserving debtors' obligations to an amount commensurate with their ability to pay. While the Bankruptcy Code tries (in part) to follow this first-best approach, such a utopian system requires omniscient judges who can perfectly determine which debtors deserve relief and how much a deserving debtor can pay. Real bankruptcy judges have interpreted the Bankruptcy Code to implement a second-best, or feasible, bankruptcy system that accounts for the limited information that they possess.


From "NiaOnline.com," the web's leading community site for black women: a frank and personal guide to handling the complexities, conflicts, and challenges of being a successful black working woman today, from balancing work and personal lives, dealing with race- and gender-related issues in the office, seeking out the most fulfilling work, and finding the composure, peace, and strength necessary to fight (and win!) the corporate wars. Full of insightful perspectives on the realities of black women's working lives, helpful tips and suggestions, and personal stories from other successful black women. Developed with the editors and contributors to "NiaOnline.com."Sheryl Huggins is the editor-in-chief of "NiaOnline.com," the web's leading community site for African American women since 2000. Cheryl Mayberry McKissack is the CEO of Nia Enterprises.


The Computational Modeling in Biology Network (COMBINE) is a consortium of groups involved in the development of open community standards and formats used in computational modeling in biology. COMBINE's aim is to act as a coordinator, facilitator, and resource for different standardization efforts whose domains of use cover related areas of the computational biology space. In this perspective article, we summarize COMBINE, its general organization, and the community standards and other efforts involved in it. Our goals are to help guide readers toward standards that may be suitable for their research activities, as well as to direct interested readers to relevant communities where they can best expect to receive assistance in how to develop interoperable computational models.


The ecological effects of stream restoration were evaluated by comparing riparian vegetation, flooding, and habitat properties between channelized and two types of restored streams in northern Sweden. Channelized streams were straightened and cleared of in‐stream boulders and wood >50 years ago to facilitate timber floating. Basic restoration (performed 8–10 years ago) returned cleared material back to the channels, and enhanced restoration (3 years ago) added large structural elements (boulders and downed trees) to previously basic‐restored streams. Riparian inundation duration increased only after enhanced restoration. Similarly, enhanced‐restored reaches had the highest amount of substrate available for plant establishment compared to channelized and basic‐restored streams. In contrast, soil biochemical properties (pH and C:N ratio) did not improve following either restoration effort. Riparian plant cover was higher at both restored types than channelized reaches. Plant species richness was higher at plot‐scale level (0.25 m2) at both restored types in the most species‐rich elevation levels compared to channelized reaches, whereas at the reach‐scale (>700 m2 of riparian area), species richness did not differ among stream types. Similarly, species composition segregated between channelized and restored reaches only at the plot scale. We found no significant differences in riparian vegetation between the two restored types. The lack of positive responses of vegetation to enhanced restoration and to variables that changed immediately after restoration (inundation, habitat area) implies that responses were either slower than expected or the changes in hydrology and substrate availability were not as important for riparian flora as believed.


This paper contributes to the growing body of literature on crimes of globalization. Following a broader conceptualization of crime which goes beyond the proscriptions of the criminal law, it argues that the dynamics of market economics has criminogenic (social harm) effects, especially in economically-challenged regions like the sub-Saharan Africa. The paper challenges the hegemony of law in the criminalization process by locating social harm at the epicentre of criminological inquiry.


Two experiments examined the general claim that animations can help students learn algorithms more effectively. Animations and instructions that explicitly required learners to predict the behavior of an algorithm were used during training. Post-test problems were designed to measure how well learners could predict algorithm behavior in new situations as well as measure learners' conceptual understanding of the algorithms. In Experiment 1, we found that when learners both viewed an animation and made predictions their performance on novel problems improved compared to a control group's, but the effects of the two manipulations were not distinguishable. In Experiment 2, no effect was found for conceptual measures of learning, but a marginally reliable effect similar to the one seen in Experiment 1 was found for procedural problems. The results from the two experiments suggest that the benefits of animations are not obvious and that in order to determine whether animations can truly aid understanding, teachers and researchers should consider a careful task analysis ahead of time to determine the specific pieces of knowledge that an animation can help a learner acquire and/or practice.


Price volatility of stocks is an important issue in stock markets. It should also be taken into account that the stochastic nature of volatility affects decision-makers' minds to a great extent. Therefore, predicting price volatility could help them make proper decisions. In this paper, a new multivariate fractionally integrated generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (MFIGARCH) model is proposed to handle the price volatility in stocks. In this model, a long-term parameter is considered and estimated along with other parameters. In estimating the parameters of this nonlinear model, the maximum likelihood estimation method, which could be solved by standard econometric packages, is applied. However, these packages are no longer efficient when the size of the model increases. Thus meta-heuristic approaches, which stochastically seek optimal or near-optimal solutions, were used. In this paper, the well-known Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) meta-heuristic method is used for solving the suggested multivariate FIGARCH model. Hence the main objective of this paper is to introduce a new model for addressing the stock price volatility (i.e., the development of FIGARCH to create the MFIGARCH model) and to apply an efficient estimation method (i.e. PSO) for finding the parameters of the problem.


The appropriateness of using SERVQUAL for measuring service quality for a wide range of services has been debated since the model was first presented by Parasuraman. Zeithaml. and Berry in 1985. While the protagonists of SERVQUAL have argued in favor of the original model and have modified it to make it more consistent, other researchers have questioned its usefulness and validity, particularly across a wide and diverse range of services. Notwithstanding the debate, however, over the years SERVQUAL has been used to measure service quality in many different services. This article presents an application of SERVQUAL to measure levels or dimensions of service provided by computer labs at a southwest state university. Consistent with the literature, factor analysis identified three dimensions: staff, services, and professionalism. More important, a longitudinal application of the SERVQUAL survey in 1999 and 2001 showed remarkable consistency.


Spatial and temporal variation in wet canopy conditions following precipitation events can influence processes such as transpiration and photosynthesis, which can be further enhanced as upper canopy leaves dry more rapidly than the understory following each event. As part of a larger study aimed at improving land surface modelling of evapotranspiration processes in wet tropical forests, we compared transpiration among trees with exposed and shaded crowns under both wet and dry canopy conditions in central Costa Rica, which has an average 4200 mm annual rainfall. Transpiration was estimated for 5 months using 43 sap flux sensors in eight dominant, ten midstory and eight suppressed trees in a mature forest stand surrounding a 40‐m tower equipped with micrometeorological sensors. Dominant trees were 13% of the plot's trees and contributed around 76% to total transpiration at this site, whereas midstory and suppressed trees contributed 18 and 5%, respectively. After accounting for vapour pressure deficit and solar radiation, leaf wetness was a significant driver of sap flux, reducing it by as much as 28%. Under dry conditions, sap flux rates (Js) of dominant trees were similar to midstory trees and were almost double that of suppressed trees. On wet days, all trees had similarly low Js. As expected, semi‐dry conditions (dry upper canopy) led to higher Js in dominant trees than midstory, which had wetter leaves, but semi‐dry conditions only reduced total stand transpiration slightly and did not change the relative proportion of transpiration from dominant and midstory. Therefore, models that better capture forest stand wet–dry canopy dynamics and individual tree water use strategies are needed to improve accuracy of predictions of water recycling over tropical forests. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Endowed with 80 million hectares of arable land (of which only 10 percent are used), diverse climatic conditions, and abundant water resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the potential to become the breadbasket of the entire African continent. Instead, the country is one of the most affected by malnutrition. The DRC has the highest number of undernourished persons in Africa and the highest prevalence of malnutrition in the world. As a result, child stunting and infant mortality rates in the DRC are also among the highest in the world. Overall, at least 50 percent of the population is deficient in vitamin B12, calories, riboflavin, iron, vitamin E, folate, and zinc; vitamins A, C, and B6, for which palm oil and cassava are the main sources, are generally consumed in sufficient quantities. Across provinces, there is significant heterogeneity. All nutrients exhibit positive expenditure elasticities in both rural and urban areas; however, as expected, the expenditure elasticities of all nutrients are higher in urban areas than in rural areas. In rural areas, strategies to improve nutrition will need to use instruments that attack malnutrition directly rather than relying simply on rising incomes. With respect to prices, an increase in own price is expected to have a nonpositive effect on all nutrients. Our results also suggest significant substitution effects. Overall, our results highlight the paradox of the DRC, a country with huge potential for agricultural development but incapable of feeding itself in terms of both quantity and quality of nutrients.


In this paper, we consider quotient structure and quotient difunctions in the context of interior and closure operators on textures in the sense of Dikranjan-Giuli. The generalizations of several results concerning separation and quotient mapping are presented. It is shown that the category of interior-closure spaces and bicontinuous difunctions has a T0 reflection. Finally, we introduce some classes of quotient difunctions such as bi-initial and bi-final difunctions between interior-closure texture spaces.


New fabrication technologies have significantly decreased the cost of fabrication of shapes with highly complex geometric structure. One important application of complex fine-scale geometric structures is to create variable effective elastic material properties in shapes manufactured from a single material. Modification of material properties has a variety of uses, from aerospace applications to soft robotics and prosthetic devices. Due to its scalability and effectiveness, an increasingly common approach to creating spatially varying materials is to partition a shape into cells and use a parametric family of small-scale geometric structures with known effective properties to fill the cells. We propose a new approach to solving this problem for extruded, planar microstructures. Differently from existing methods for two-scale optimization based on regular grids with square periodic cells, which cannot conform to an arbitrary boundary, we introduce cell decompositions consisting of (nearly) rhombic cells. These meshes have far greater flexibility than those with square cells in terms of approximating arbitrary shapes, and, at the same time, have a number of properties simplifying small-scale structure construction. Our main contributions include a new family of 2D cell geometry structures, explicitly parameterized by their effective Young's moduli E, Poisson's ratios v, and rhombic angle α with the geometry parameters expressed directly as smooth spline functions of E, v, and α. This family leads to smooth transitions between the tiles and can handle a broad range of rhombic cell shapes. We introduce a complete material design pipeline based on this microstructure family, composed of an algorithm to generate rhombic tessellation from quadrilateral meshes and an algorithm to synthesize the microstructure geometry. We fabricated a number of models and experimentally demonstrated how our method, in combination with material optimization, can be used to achieve the desired deformation behavior.


Feral hogs (Sus scrofa) are a widespread exotic species that currently occur in most states within the United States and are common throughout the southeastern United States. We radio-collared and tracked feral hogs from April 2005 to November 2006 in Congaree National Park (CNP), South Carolina, USA. The CNP is one of the largest and most intact tracts of old-growth, bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the United States. We measured home range size and determined habitat use for male and female hogs. The mean (± SE) home range sizes for male hogs (n = 7) and female hogs (n = 9) were 218 ± 43 ha and 191 ± 31 ha, respectively. These home range estimates are relatively small compared to estimates from other studies of feral hogs. Habitat use models indicated that high use areas for hogs included habitat types best characterized as bottomland hardwoods and that hog locations were distributed in a relatively uniform manner throughout the study area within CNP. The small home ranges and habitat use patterns we observed suggest that habitat quality in CNP is good for feral hogs. Radio-collared hogs also moved readily between park and private lands. Thirteen of 23 collared hogs were found on private lands adjacent to CNP at least once. At least eight of the 23 collared hogs were shot and killed by hunters and one of these was taken on CNP land. If control of hogs in CNP were a goal of resource managers, then it would likely succeed or fail based in large part on the incorporation of adjacent private lands into the program.


The increasing interest in Constraint Programming
 (CP) we now witness gives rise to a demand for new
 and improved debugging techniques. Graphical tools, such as constraint- and search-tree visualizers, seem to be appropriate to get a general understanding of the complex process of constraint solving. However, many such tools have been built in an ad hoc way, forcing the developer to, for each new tool, provide relevant information from the constraint solver. In this thesis, we present a solution to the problem, limiting ourselves to Constraint Logic Programming over Finite Domains (clpfd). In order to do this, we come up with a
 trace structure for describing the execution of clpfd programs in detail. The trace structure
 consists of various trace events, each trace event containing different information depending on when in the solving process it is created. Among other things, the trace structure contains information about constraint posting, constraint awakening and domain narrowing. We also incorporate explanations in the trace structure, i.e. reasons for why
 certain solver actions occur. Furthermore, we come up with a format for describing the execution of the filtering algorithms of global constraints. An implementation of the trace structure in sicstus
 Prolog is also presented, as well as a tool using the trace; an extension to the ordinary Prolog debugger.


If competition could extend without hindrance through the entire extent of an electrically connected power grid, the US would have just two electricity markets, each with a uniform price. These markets would be competitive indeed. Unfortunately, losses and congestion present barriers to competition and thereby provide the likelihood of significantly increased market power. This paper begins the analysis of congestion as it affects the physical extent of markets and thereby affects the degree of market power. This is new territory; very little has previously been written in this area. Although the theoretical developments reported here rely on complex economic analysis, and although the market behaviors described are extremely subtle, several broad generalizations relevant to policy analysis can be made. From these generalizations one major policy conclusion can be drawn: In an unregulated market it will be socially beneficial to build a grid that is more robust than what is optimal in a regulated environment. Unused capacity may be needed. For a line to support full competition it may need to have a capacity that is much greater than the flow that will take place on it under full competition. Markets do not have sharp boundaries. Even with only one line the two busses may be in different regions, the same region, or partially in each other`s region. Increasing capacity is more effective on a small line. If connecting two busses with a very strong line will reduce market power, then the first MW of connecting capacity will have the most impact and each additional MW will have less. A congested line will cut a market into two non-competing regions. In each region the generators will markup according to the elasticity of the demand in only their region. A generator may reduce output in order to congest a line and increase its market power.


S U M M A R Y The scattering of seismic waves travelling in the Earth is not only caused by random velocity heterogeneity but also by surface topography. Both factors are known to strongly affect groundmotion complexity even at relatively short distance from the source. In this study, we simulate ground motion with a 3-D finite-difference wave propagation solver in the 0–5 Hz frequency band using three topography models representative of the Swiss alpine region and realistic heterogeneous media characterized by the Von Karman correlation functions. Subsequently, we analyse and quantify the characteristics of the scattered wavefield in the near-source region. Our study shows that both topography and velocity heterogeneity scattering may excite large coda waves of comparable relative amplitude, especially at around 1 Hz, although large variability in space may occur. Using the single scattering model, we estimate average QC values in the range 20–30 at 1 Hz, 36–54 at 1.5 Hz and 62–109 at 3 Hz for constant background velocity models with no intrinsic attenuation. In principle, envelopes of topography-scattered seismic waves can be qualitatively predicted by theoretical back-scattering models, while forwardor hybrid-scattering models better reproduce the effects of random velocity heterogeneity on the wavefield. This is because continuous multiple scattering caused by small-scale velocity perturbations leads to more gentle coda decay and envelope broadening, while topography abruptly scatters the wavefield once it impinges the free surface. The large impedance contrast also results in more efficient mode mixing. However, the introduction of realistic low-velocity layers near the free surface increases the complexity of ground motion dramatically and indicates that the role of topography in elastic waves scattering can be relevant especially in proximity of the source. Long-period surface waves can form most of the late coda, especially when intrinsic attenuation is taken into account. Our simulations indicate that both topography and velocity heterogeneity scattering may result in large ground-motion variability, characterized by standard deviation values in the range 0.2–0.5 also at short distance from the source. We conclude that both topography and velocity heterogeneity should be considered to correctly assess the ground-motion variability in earthquake scenario studies even at intermediate frequency.


Describes the structure of the Forest Inventory and Analysis Database (FIADB) 4.0 for phase 3 indicators. The FIADB structure provides a consistent framework for storing forest health monitoring data across all ownerships for the entire United States. These data are available to the public.


"Gilbert & George: The Complete Pictures" is set to be the art publishing sensation of 2007. Entirely designed by the artists themselves, the lavishly produced, two-volume book contains every picture they have created over the last 35 years and comes complete with a unique carrying case that is a work of art in itself. Widely regarded as the pre-eminent artists of their generation, Gilbert & George have attracted both enormous acclaim and fierce controversy. At last, on the Eve of a massive retrospective exhibition that opens at Tate Modern in London in February 2007 and will tour to five further venues across the globe, a book is published that does justice to the scale, depth and ambition of their artistic achievement. With nearly 1,500 colour illustrations, including 203 close-up details and 256 exhibition views, as well as an introductory essay by leading art historian Rudi Fuchs, "The Complete Pictures" is the most thorough exploration of the art of Gilbert & George to date.


SUMMARY Canine distemper virus (CDV) infection is the main infectious cause of mortality in canines and exotic animals worldwide, and also threatens several endangered species such as the giant panda and big felids. The CDV blocks interferon and cytokines signaling pathways through massive infection of peripheral mononuclear cells and lymphocytes, which decreases B and T cell proliferation and causes CD4+ Th1 depletion. These events explain the severe and long lasting immunosuppression that characterizes CDV infection, which leads to a multisystemic disease with subsequent deleterious opportunistic infections. Complex events such as cell dysfunction caused directly by virus replication or exaggerated immune response triggered by infected cells, contribute to the establishment of diverse and complex neurologic diseases throughout the course of the disease. Considering that several species are affected and that CDV infection has a high morbidity and mortality, the present review highlights the relevance of designing safer vaccines, capable of both inducing strategic immunity and preventing CNS pathology. Additionally, in order to better understand the diverse and dynamic mechanisms involved in the disruption of the adaptive immune response, as well as immunity induction during viral infection and vaccination, this review addresses the role of dendritic cells (DC) during CDV infection. Furthermore, we will discuss how DC-based therapies could improve the outcome of these patients in terms of survival and prevention of associated sequels.


The Global Water Partnership (GWP) represents a new kind of institution that raises various interesting questions in terms of international institutional law. Established in 1996 as a "virtual organization", it progressively evolved to become in 2002 a twofold institution structured around, on the one hand, a network without legal personality and, on the other hand, an international organization with full legal personality under international law. This article aims to analyze this unique structure and its consequences on membership and organic issues. The reasons underpinning this evolution will also be studied. If institutional flexibility prevailed in the early life of the institution, practical problems and concerns about legal legitimacy have led to a more formal structure in its later life. Principles such as those developed by the Global Administrative Law (GAL) project, namely legitimacy, transparency and accountability, have been also widely used to shape and organize this structure.


Judicial independence is fundamental to democracy. It is in that context that this paper considers whether the existing constitutional and legislative mechanisms provide sufficient judicial independence to South African judges. In so doing, the paper focuses on impartiality, judicial appointments and security of tenure. It also discusses the sensitive matter of complaints and disciplinary proceedings against judges and their removal from office. The issue of the remuneration of judges is also explored. In discussing the challenges facing judicial independence some incidents that have appeared to compromise such independence are highlighted. These include the controversial appointments of Advocate Mpshe as an acting judge in the North West Province in 2010 and Judge Heath as the Head of the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) in 2011. The never-ending controversy surrounding the Cape Judge President John Hlophe and his alleged attempts to improperly influence two Constitutional Court judges in a case involving President Jacob Zuma is also highlighted. Another issue that has brought judicial independence into sharp focus is the June 2015 visit to South Africa of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who was on a warrant of arrest from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide and war crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan. A decision by the North Gauteng High Court on his presence in South Africa and the attacks on the judiciary made by various government officials as a result are discussed. Several conclusions are drawn but in the main, it is generally concluded that the constitutional and legislative framework adopted by South Africa sufficiently insulates judges from improper influence. However, there have been several notable challenges that particularly relate to judicial appointments and how the JSC has handled certain matters. Irresponsible and uninformed political statements by politicians and unwarranted political attacks on the judiciary by government are also a source of great concern. These challenges could and should be construed as threats to judicial independence, and need to be comprehensively and properly addressed.


AIMS
To review the current literature and critically examine theories used to explain the link between athletic status and hazardous alcohol consumption, and highlight emergent perspectives.

METHODS
A search of online databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, PsychINFO) and a systematic methodology were used to identify relevant studies for inclusion. Sixty-six articles were included for review (publishing dates ranging from 1989 to 2013).

RESULTS
The majority of the studies were from the USA (n = 52), with cross-sectional surveys the most utilized method of data collection. The literature outlines a number of important sport-specific factors that may be motivating drinking behaviour among student athletes. Moreover, social processes appear particularly important for sport-associated drinking. However there is still paucity in the theoretical underpinnings for this relationship, and the processes through which membership of a sports group may shape its members drinking. The role of identity emerged as an important variable to consider when exploring engagement of health behaviours, such as alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSIONS
With the aim of reducing alcohol-related harm, the impact of sports group membership on psychosocial variables such as social identity and well-being warrants further exploration. Future research should explore the role of identity and group-level processes when examining the engagement of drinking behaviours of student sportspeople.


The narrow scope of engineering seismology includes its application to geotechnical site investigations for buildings and engineering infrastructures, such as dams, levees, bridges, and tunnels, and landslide and active-fault investigations. It also includes seismic microzonation to determine soil amplification and liquefaction susceptibility within a municipal area to estimate the earthquake risk. The broad scope of engineering seismology also includes its application to groundwater exploration, coal and mineral exploration, geothermal exploration, and investigations of historic buildings and archaeological sites. This book primarily is devoted to application of the seismic method to geotechnical engineering. Nevertheless, the book also includes chapters on case studies for the broader scope of engineering seismology.


This paper addresses theoretical and experimental work on thickness-mode electromechanical (E/M) impedance spectroscopy (EMIS) of proof-mass piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PMPWAS). The proof-mass (PM) concept was used to develop a new method for tuning the ultrasonic wave modes and for relatively high frequency local modal sensing by the PM affixed on PWAS. In order to develop the theoretical basis of the PMPWAS tuning concept, analytical analyses were conducted by applying the resonator theory to derive the EMIS of a PWAS constrained on one and both surfaces by isotropic elastic materials. The normalized thickness-mode shapes were obtained for the normal mode expansion (NME) method to eventually predict the thickness-mode EMIS using the correlation between PMPWAS and the structural dynamic properties of the substrate. Proof-masses of different sizes and materials were used to tune the system resonance towards an optimal frequency point. The results were verified by coupled-field finite element analyses (CF-FEA) and experimental results. An application of the tuning effect of PM on the standing wave modes was discussed as the increase in PM thickness shifts the excitation frequency of the wave mode toward the surface acoustic wave (SAW) mode.


We propose a cooking system that operates in an open environment. The system cooks a meal by pouring various ingredients into a boiling pot on an induction heating cooker and adjusts the heating strength according to the user's instructions. We then describe how the system incorporates robotic- and human-specific elements in a shared workspace so as to achieve a cooperative rudimentary cooking capability. First, we use small mobile robots instead of built-in arms to save space, improve flexibility and increase safety. Second, we use detachable visual markers to allow the user to easily configure the real-world environment. Third, we provide a graphical user interface to display detailed cooking instructions to the user. We hope insights obtained in this experiment will be useful for the design of other household systems in the future.


Detection of cysteine sulfenic acid in live cells is critical in advancing our understanding of cysteine redox chemistry and its biological function. Accordingly, there is a need to develop sulfenic acid-specific chemical probes with distinct reaction mechanisms to facilitate proteome-wide detection of this important posttranslational modification. Herein, we report the first whole-cell proteomics analysis using a norbornene probe to detect cysteine sulfenic acid in live HeLa cells. Comparison of the enriched proteins to those identified using dimedone and other C-nucleophilic probes revealed a complementary reactivity profile. Remarkably, 148 new members of the sulfenome were identified. These discoveries highlight how subtle differences in chemical reactivity of both the probes and cysteine residues influence detection. Overall, this study expands our understanding of protein oxidation at cysteine and reveals new proteins to consider for future studies of cysteine oxidation, redox regulation and signaling, and the biochemistry of oxidative stress.


Background A growing number of investigations have explored the contribution of cause of death to socioeconomic inequalities in mortality in Europe and North America, but few such studies have been performed on Asian populations. Objectives To analyse the socioeconomic inequality of cause-specific death rates from both an absolute and relative perspective, and to evaluate the contribution of cause of death to total mortality inequality in South Korea. Methods Data were obtained from public servant health insurance beneficiary records. 1 403 297 subjects aged 35–64 years were followed for 9 years. Health insurance premium levels were used as a socioeconomic position indicator. The outcome variables were all-cause, 11 broad causes and 41 specific causes of death. Mortality differentials were examined using cause-specific age-adjusted mortality, relative indices of inequality, and slope inequality indices. Results Graded inverse associations between income and mortality were found for most, but not all, specific causes of death. The major contributors to income differentials in total mortality in men were liver disease (15.4%), stroke (12.8%), land transport accidents (10.0%), lung cancer (7.1%) and liver cancer (7.0%). In women, stroke (30.7%), diabetes (9.1%), land transport accidents (6.6%), liver cancer (6.0%) and liver disease (5.1%) were important. Conclusions The contribution of the cause of death to socioeconomic inequality in mortality in South Korea differed from Western countries. To develop a policy to reduce the magnitude of socioeconomic inequality, an understanding of the major causes of death that contribute to mortality inequality is required.


The recent refugee crisis has put many OECD countries under considerable pressure to accommodate and integrate large numbers of refugees. Refugee students are a particularly vulnerable group due to their forced displacement, but their needs are not always met by education systems, which can hinder the integration potential of these students. This poses considerable challenges as the integration of refugee students in education systems is important for their academic outcomes as well as their social and emotional well-being. The success (or lack of) integration in schools can also affect the future labour market and social integration potential of these children and youth. While there is a growing body of research on the integration of immigrants, policy-relevant research on refugee children and youth from an educational perspective is rather limited, fragmented and case specific. Detailed surveys and research projects focusing on the current wave of refugees that allow for cross-country comparisons are not yet available. Drawing on research from previous refugee waves, the paper examines key needs of refugee students and factors that promote their integration. It proposes a holistic model of integration in education that responds to the learning, social and emotional needs of refugee students. Furthermore, the paper examines what type of policies and practices are in place in OECD countries that support the integration of refugee students. Nonetheless, evaluations of practices and policies are often missing, which makes it difficult to assess whether they are successful. The paper finishes with some policy pointers on how to promote the integration of refugee students.


We report gas-phase production of metal oxide nanowires (NWs) and nanoparticles (NPs) using direct oxidation of micron-size metal particles in a high-throughput, atmospheric pressure microwave plasma jet reactor. We demonstrate the concept with production of SnO2, ZnO, TiO2, and Al2O3 NWs. The results suggest that the NW production primarily depends upon the starting metal particle size, microwave power, and the gas-phase composition. The resulting NW powders could be separated from the unreacted metal and metal oxide NPs by sonication in 1-methoxy 2-propanol followed by gravity sedimentation. The experiments conducted using higher microwave powers resulted in spherical, unagglomerated, metal oxide NPs. The results obtained using various metal oxides suggest that the mechanism of NW nucleation and growth in the gas phase is similar to that observed in experiments with metal particles supported on substrates. A simplified analysis suggests that the metal powders melt in the plasma primarily with the heat g...


Deep Convolutional Neural Networks (DCNNs) have recently shown state of the art performance in high level vision tasks, such as image classification and object detection. This work brings together methods from DCNNs and probabilistic graphical m dels for addressing the task of pixel-level classification (also called "semantic image segmentation"). We show that responses at the final layer of DCNNs are not sufficiently localized for accurate object segmentation. This is due to the very invariance properties that make DCNNs good for high level tasks. We overcome this poor localization property of deep networks by combining the responses at the final DCNN layer with a fully connected Conditional Random Field (CRF). Qualitatively, our "DeepLab" system is able to localize segment boundaries at a level of accuracy which is beyond previous methods. Quantitatively, our method sets the new state-of-art at the PASCAL VOC-2012 semantic image segmentation task, reaching 71.6% IOU accuracy in the test set. We show how these results can be obtained efficiently: Careful network re-purposing and a novel application of the 'hole' algorithm from the wavelet community allow dense computation of neural net responses at 8 frames per second on a modern GPU.


Born-digital news content is increasingly becoming the format of the first draft of history. Archiving and preserving this history is of paramount importance to the future of scholarly research, but many technical, legal, financial, and logistical challenges stand in the way of these efforts. This is especially true for news applications, or custom-built websites that comprise some of the most sophisticated journalism stories today, such as the "Dollars for Docs" project by ProPublica. Many news applications are standalone pieces of software that query a database, and this significant subset of apps cannot be archived in the same way as text-based news stories, or fully captured by web archiving tools such as Archive-It. As such, they are currently disappearing. This paper will outline the various challenges facing the archiving and preservation of born-digital news applications, as well as outline suggestions for how to approach this important work.


The objectives of the present study were to use scale-activity and scale-exit scores to (1) determine the extent to which selection for improved residual feed intake (RFI) correlates with individual gilt temperament, (2) determine whether the timing of assessment affects the scores, and (3) determine whether gilts habituate to the process of weighing. To achieve these objectives, 192 grow–finish purebred Yorkshire gilts (39.7 ± 5.7 kg; 98 ± 6 days old) were utilised. Ninety-six gilts were from the 5th generation of a line selected for low residual feed intake (LRFI), and 96 gilts were from the 5th generation of a randomly selected control line (CRFI). Gilt activity and exit behaviour were scored on the weigh scale. The activity score was taken at two time points, namely, t = 0 (immediately on the back gate closing on the weight scale) and t = 15 (15 s later). Activity was assessed using a 5-point scoring system (1 = calm, minimal movement; 5 = continuous rapid movement and an escape attempt), and exit score was assessed using a 3-point scoring system (1 = no encouragement needed, full exit; 3 = encouragement needed). Gilts were weighed once every 2 weeks (each weighing considered a testing round) for a maximum of eight scores per gilt. Statistical differences were identified in all rounds for activity between genetic lines, except Rounds 2, 4 and 5. For both lines, gilt-activity scores decreased over rounds. The LRFI line began with a lower activity score (2.31 vs 2.65 ± 0.13), but did not experience as great of a drop in average score over rounds as did the CRFI gilts (0.62 vs 1.21). By the end of the trial, the CRFI gilts scored lower than the LRFI gilts. Activity was greater at t = 15 than at t = 0. Although timing affected the score, the pattern was similar, and so consistency will be more important than timing procedure. For exit scores, in Rounds 5 and 7, the LRFI line scored lower than the CRFI line, and there was a trend for the LRFI line to score lower in Round 6. Across all gilts, the mean exit score increased slowly throughout the trial. In conclusion, selection for lower RFI in purebred Yorkshires has an effect on activity score but this relationship is complex and warrants further research. The observation that gilts become habituated to the process of weighing supports the conclusion that the process is not aversive.


To view medieval brotherhoods or confraternities as associations of laymen or clerics with predominantly religious functions2 almost automatically leads to the conclusion that fraternity and memoria have much in common. This, at least, can be assumed if we focus on the religious or socio-religious dimension of the notion, marked in the following article by the Latin term memoria.3 Such an understanding of memoria, emphasizing its religious dimension, could be further elaborated. It is indeed possible to interpret all the efforts of Christians (or of adherents of other religions) to assure the salvation of their souls as care of memoria in a wider sense. In this case, not only prayer and liturgy, but also charitable works, as offered for example by brotherhoods, hospitals, or individual benefactors, could be included because all these pious activities point to the effect that the believer and god 'commemorate' each other. This article, however, concentrates on a narrower idea of memoria, defi ned as performative commemoration that is realised liturgically and collectively. The focus lies especially on commemoration of the dead and prayers for the living. What this meant for confraternities in late medieval Italy is discussed in the fi rst part of this article (I). Next, legal documents and juridical texts will be used to illustrate the role of memoria for the perception of confraternities in medieval society (II). The article concludes with some refl ections concerning the concept of 'confraternity' in modern historical research (III).


Mitigation of global warming and transitioning to a green and sustainable world are counteracted by a number of barriers and dilemmas. The paper analyses a number of these barriers and dilemmas in order to highlight efficient strategies and solutions for a sustainable development. Most governments in industrial countries do not pay enough attention to concepts as limits to growth in a finite globe and the importance of economic and social equity. They also overlook in practice the need for keeping at least 50% of known fossil reserves under ground in order to avoid a critical increase in global temperature. On the contrary, a number of industrial countries are now promoting exploitation of new fossil sources like shale gas and oil from tar sand. Reversing population growth facilitates sustainable development, but most governments of industrial nations appear to be more concerned about decreases in their population. The central problem is that limits to growth are not taken seriously by finance ministers in most industrial countries. This paper will focus on the consequences of limits to growth and the need for an alternative concept of employment and work.


Measured attenuation correction in PET, is routinely performed using transmission scans. Acquisition time and noise considerations necessitate low pass filtering of the transmission data, before generating the attenuation correction matrix. This smoothing operation reduces noise propagation from transmission into emission data, but also introduces image artifacts which are mostly pronounced around areas of strongly varying attenuation coefficients. The source of these artifacts, which lies in the mismatch of the spatial resolutions of emission and transmission data, was investigated in this study. The effects of different transmission and emission sinogram smoothing protocols on the emission images were also investigated. A method is proposed that addresses the problem, in coordination with the filtering step during reconstruction. Instead of the standard low pass filtering of the emission data during reconstruction, emission and transmission sinograms can be filtered to the desired reconstructed image resolution prior to reconstruction. This operation reduces or eliminates resolution mismatch and consequent image artifacts, which can be significant, especially in cardiac studies. The proposed method improves the accuracy of the activity distribution in the emission images, with minimal computational and SNR cost.<<ETX>>


This report describes how the European Commission engaged in developing a serious game in order to engage stakeholders with foresight scenarios created to support the EU policy-making process. Four scenarios were created through a classic scenario building methodology (2X2 matrix), describing possible transitions towards a more sustainable future for the EU in 2035. These scenarios were used as a basis to design a serious game to help players engage in systemic thinking, discover and create alternative futures, and create novel engagements between stakeholders. The game was developed over a four month period and entailed running 10 prototyping sessions involving players from various services of the European Commission and other organizations (industry, civil society, academia, etc.). A system was developed to be able to harvest the stories created during the gaming sessions as a basis for de-briefing, further discussions and strategic analyses after the game. Ultimately, the game has demonstrated its usefulness and value for both players and organizers, and our reflections on the development process offer insights as to game design strategies and how educational outcomes and principles can be effectively mapped onto game mechanics.


Parasitism rate of Anagrus sp. and Oligosita sp. parasitoids to brown planthopper eggs after insecticides application in the rice field. The research wascarried out in Subang District, West Java in the wet season of 2013. The experiment used arandomized block design with 7 insecticide treatments and four replications. The treatmentswere rynaxypyr, fipronil, imidakhloprid, dinotifuran, pimetrozin, and BPMC compared withcontrol. The objective of the research was measuring parasitism rate of parasitoids to brownplant hopper (BPH) eggs after insecticides application. The results showed that rynaxypyr,dinotefuran, and imidacloprid quickly reduced the BPH population only in one day afterapplication (DAA), while fipronil, pimetrozin, and BPMC were rather slow because the BPHdeclined in 10 DAA. All insecticides were give a negative effect to Anagrus sp. and Oligositasp parasitoids, but the performance of those parasitoids back to normal in 10 DAA forAnagrus sp. and in 21 DAA for Oligosita sp. The parasitism rate of all parasitoids were give anegative value in 1-10 DAA. In 21 DAA the parasitism rate of Anagrus sp. increased infipronil, BPMC and dinotefuran treatment, but the parasitism rate of Oligosita sp. were still innegative value under the control treatment.


In this study, antioxidant, oxidant, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative activities of Asparagus acutifolius L. and Asparagus officinalis L., known for their nutritional properties, were determined. In this context, methanol (MeOH) and dichloromethane (DCM) extracts of plants were obtained. Total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), and oxidative stress index (OSI) were determined using Rel Assay kits. Antimicrobial activities of plant extracts were determined against the test microorganisms using the agar dilution method. Antiproliferative activity was tested on the lung cancer cell line A549. As a result of the studies, it has been determined that the plant species have high antioxidant potential. In addition, it was observed that the antifungal potentials of plant extracts are high. Antiproliferative activity was determined to be at high level in both plant species. As a result, it has been determined that A. acutifolius and A. officinalis have medical potential and can be used as natural agents in pharmacological designs.