The goal of function approximation is to construct a model which learns an input-output mapping from given data and performs good predictions on future inputs. Radial basis function (RBF) models, a particular class of neural networks, have recently become popular for function approximation because of their fast learning ability and good mathematical properties. The current algorithms for determining RBF model, however, tend to produce inconsistent designs due to their ad-hoc nature.
The main objective of this research is to develop a mathematical framework for the design and evaluation of RBF models for function approximation. In particular, we use singular value decomposition to investigate some key properties of the interpolation and design matrices which form the foundation of the SC algorithm proposed in this dissertation. This algorithm leads to a consistent approach for determining the RBF parameters, viz. number of basis functions, their widths, centers and weights.
It is shown that the number of basis functions can be determined by evaluating the interpolation matrix rank associated with a specified width. For this purpose, a new representational capability measure is introduced and its relationship to singular values is derived. The basis function centers for constructing the design matrix are determined by QR factorization with column pivoting of right singular vectors of the interpolation matrix. It is shown that the selected centers reflect the best compromise between structural stability and minimum residual. The weights are computed by the usual pseudo inverse method. The model which gives the minimum prediction error with respect to validation data is selected. A simulation study is also undertaken to investigate the bias-variance characteristics of the constructed RBF models. Some remarks about the SG algorithm from the perspective of best approximation are presented.
The SG algorithm proposed in this dissertation provides an objective and systematic design methodology due to its origins in the mathematical properties of the interpolation and design matrices associated with the RBF model. It also provides a rich analytical framework for performance and sensitivity analyses.


The strategic requirement for naval submarines to operate in near surface and littoral
environments continues to increase as they are more frequently employed to support
joint force missions. The operational workload for helmsmen and the risk to mission
safety and success are significantly increased due to the interaction between the
submarine and the free-surface. This thesis reports on an experimental investigation
into the effects of submergence depth, speed of advance and length-to-diameter ratio
on the interaction between a streamlined axisymmetric body and the free-surface when
travelling in a near-surface condition.
A broad review of the existing literature indicates that little work has been published
to date on the effects of length-to-diameter on the near-surface performance of
streamlined axisymmetric bodies. Furthermore, there is little or no experimental data
available describing the vertical force and moment that act on a shallowly submerged
body moving beneath the free-surface. Nonetheless, there is evidence to confirm that
the requirement for submarine near-surface operation is significant and that a wellfounded
understanding of submarine near-surface performance is needed.
A model scale experimental program was conducted to measure and observe the
resistance, lift force, trimming moment and wave field generated by a series of
submerged bodies of revolution moving at constant forward speed. The Joubert
conventional submarine geometry was tested in its bare hull configuration in three
length-to-diameter ratio formats: 7.30, 8.50 and 9.50. The three geometries possess
the same maximum diameter. The models were tested at velocities that correspond to
a Froude number range of 0.10 to 0.50 inclusive and at centreline submergence depths
of between 1 and 3.5 hull diameters.
The results of the experiment indicate that the wave resistance, lift force and trimming
moment all vary periodically with speed and are directly influenced by the wavelength
of the free-surface wave field generated by the submerged body. The steady-state
wave field itself is a direct function of the submerged body's length-to-diameter ratio
and speed of advance (Froude number). The magnitude of the forces and trimming
moment were found to diminish exponentially with an increase in submergence depth.
Considering the submergence depths and speeds experienced by naval submarines
when conducting near-surface operations, it is concluded that the effect of wave
resistance is a secondary issue and that the vertical lift force is of the greatest
operational significance. Based on the test results of the three Joubert hull geometries,
it was observed that for near-surface operation a larger length-to-diameter ratio is
preferable for achieving minimum resistance and vertical plane motion (lower relative
lift force and trimming moment).
An evaluation of the SHIPFLOW 4.7 potential flow software program was completed
using the experimentally measured data in conjunction with additional published
experimental and numerical wave resistance data. Good correlation was observed for
the predictions of lift force and trimming moment. Mixed results were achieved when
comparing the numerically predicted and experimentally measured wave resistance.
Nonetheless, it is concluded that the potential flow method offers an inexpensive and
suitable approach to evaluating the near-surface performance of submarine type
geometries.


Summary Tourism development is one of the main contemporary drivers of habitat loss and fragmentation within the Caribbean Islands biodiversity hotspot. In Saint Lucia, construction of a hotel and golf course within coastal dry forest is directly threatening the largest known subpopulation of the Endangered White-breasted Thrasher Ramphocinclus brachyurus. Understanding how the species is responding to ongoing landscape change and identifying priority sites for conservation are imperative for planning its long-term conservation. In this study, a four year White-breasted Thrasher monitoring dataset (2006–2009) and landscape-scale environmental variables were used to: a) identify, characterise and map spatio-temporal patterns of White-breasted Thrasher encounter rate (an abundance proxy) within and outside the tourist development site; b) determine landscape-scale environmental variables that influence such patterns, and c) produce an island-wide predictive map of potentially suitable habitat. Observed patterns in encounter rates within and outside the development site were consistent with thrashers being displaced from cleared areas of forest and crowding into intact forest patches to the north and west of the golf course. A year after the period of the most extensive habitat clearance, White-breasted Thrasher numbers declined markedly leading to a 55% reduction in encounter rate within the development site over the four years of the study. The habitat suitability model predicted that a range of sites outside of the known geographic range of the thrasher are potentially suitable, some of which merit further surveys for potentially undetected populations. Given these findings, it is vital that patches of suitable dry forest adjacent to the tourist development are protected and contiguous natural habitat inside the tourist development is preserved.


Echolalia, the immediate or delayed repetition of the speech of another, is associated with autism. Echolalia is usually described as a non-functional self-stimulatory or stereotypical behaviour, despite research and theory suggesting echolalia has several functions for people with autism and may also be important in language development. Reduction or elimination of echolalia is often cited as a therapeutic goal and is generally considered to be a positive intervention outcome. In this chapter, the relationship between echolalia and imitation in typical and disordered language development is discussed. The relationship between developing receptive language competence (Reynell Developmental Language Scales) and the amount of echolalia (language sample) in speech is examined in a group (n=26) of children with Autistic Disorder compared to a group of children (n=23) of children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). The receptive language and the amount of echolalia in speech were assessed in both groups annually for three years. An inverse association between the amount of echolalia in speech and receptive language ability in children with autism was noted. Like imitation in typical development, echolalia may be exact or modified in some way (mitigated). These modifications can be classified into several types. The amount and type of mitigated echolalia in speech and its relationship to the receptive language ability of children with autism is described. The findings of this study are consistent with the view that echolalia plays an important role in the language development of children with autism. Implications for assessment and management of echolalia in children with autism are discussed.


ABSTRACTRecent field experiments have demonstrated that marine air-gun arrays create acoustic energy greater than 1 kHz. We have suggested to use the high-frequency signal as a source to look for gas leakage at, for instance, a producing hydrocarbon field, or a CO2 storage site in which the field is covered by permanent acoustic sensors at the seabed, often referred to as a permanent reservoir monitoring field. The only needed modification is that the temporal sampling interval for the receivers is decreased to 0.1 ms (in contrast to the normal sampling interval of 1 or 2 ms), to ensure that the system is capable of recording signals up to 5 kHz. We suggest using numerous fixed receivers at the seabed to detect a gas chimney by simple high-pass filtering and subsequent transmission type analysis of the recorded signals. We think this method might serve as an elegant, precise, and very cost-effective way to detect gas leakage into the water layer.


Scientists from all over the world will be descending on Preston, when the University of
Central Lancashire plays host to Electrochem, the 91
h Annual Electrochemi try
Conference, from Sunday 181 to Wednesday 41
h September 2002.
This prestigious event will bring together electrochemists of all disciplines to discuss a
wide range of academic and industrial aspects of electrochemistry. Two medals will
also be presented at the conference: the Faraday Medal of the Royal Society of
Chemistry and, for the first time at an 'Electrochem' event, the celebrated Volta medal
which is awarded by the Electrochemical Society (ECS), an international body based in
the United States.
In addition to the lectures and poster presentations, the University will be displaying an
exhibition of equipment and instrumentation to complement the event.
29 August 2002
nr176pc
-ends-
Note: For further information, please contact Dr Colin Boxall, Centre for Materials
Science, University of Central Lancashire, tel: 01772 893530, or call Pam Culley,
University Media Office, tel: 01772 892486


This analysis explores blog fiction as a distributed narrative form, and the relational nature of the reading and writing processes that shape its poetics. It does this primarily through the analysis of Bad Influences1, the blog fiction that forms the creative part of this thesis.
Bad Influences tells a disaster story distributed over four separate fictional blogs, exploring online identities, friendships, and how our relations to the world and our communities are shaped by the stories we tell about ourselves. Jill Walker Rettberg's ideas on distributed narrative are used to investigate blog fiction's distributions in time, space and authorship, and how these affect its narrative time, linearity, interactivity and poetics. The processes of writing and posting Bad Influences, and engaging with its readers, show how the use of the blog as a medium determines the characteristics of blog fiction as a form, and how the relations that emerge between readers, writers and the text produce, in Aukje van Rooden's term, a relational poetics.
This analysis concludes with an application of relational poetics to blog fiction and digital interactive fiction in general, touching upon emerging forms of fiction on social media platforms (e.g. Twitter fiction and interactive multiplayer narrative apps), in which relational processes are an essential component of the text, rather than simply a means to its access.


Background and Aim: Low weight at birth is one of the main health indexes in evaluating pregnancy period care, and recognizing its related factors is very important. The aim of this study was a comparison of pregnancy age, height, the distance between two pregnancies, gaining weight during pregnancy, economical condition, nutrition, general health of the mothers with low and normal birth weight. Materials and Methods: The research method was casual-comparative conducted as field-work. From all newborns born since (Jan 2008 to Nov 2009) 168 low birth weight babies with their mother and 157 newborns with normal weight from 20 maternity center at Guilan province were randomly selected. Mothers filled general health questionnaire with the reliability of 0.82. The data were analyzed using SPSS Software. Results: There was a significant difference among mothers (case and control ) in terms of pregnancy age, height ,distance between two pregnancies, increasing weight during pregnancy, economical condition, nutrition condition and general health (mental), (p<0.01). Conclusion: Various factors affected newborns' weight at birth. Therefore, decreasing the rate of low weight will be one of the main social health indexes requiring cooperation of countergroups and different organizations such as the Ministry of Health and treatment, psychotherapy, counseling centers and radio/television.


A phosphodiesterase 2A isoform acts in concert with soluble adenylyl cyclase to create a cyclic AMP signaling domain in the mitochondrial matrix. Acin-Perez et al. have identified a phosphodiesterase (PDE) associated with the mitochondrial matrix, thereby completing a mitochondrial cAMP (cyclic adenosine monophosphate) signaling cascade. A soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) and cAMP effectors such as protein kinase A (PKA) have been identified in mitochondria, which suggests the existence of a local cAMP signaling network. However, a complete cAMP-signaling system requires a mechanism for terminating the cAMP signal. Acin-Perez et al. showed that a membrane-permeant form of cAMP increased ATP production and cytochrome c oxidase activity in mitochondria isolated from mouse brain, whereas a PKA inhibitor decreased them. Thus, as with liver mitochondria, signaling mediated by cAMP (which does not cross the inner mitochondrial membrane) stimulates the electron transport chain in brain mitochondria. Pharmacological analysis indicated that brain and liver mitochondria contained PDE activity consistent with PDE2A. Western analysis revealed PDE2A in purified mitochondria, and mitochondrial fractionation, combined with proteinase K treatment, indicated that it was localized to the mitochondrial matrix. Many matrix proteins contain an N-terminal sorting signal, and analyses of PDE2A isoforms led to the prediction that the N-terminal 19 residues of the PDE2A2 isoform targeted this isoform to the matrix. Indeed, the PDE2A N terminus [PDE2A2(1-120)] bound to isolated mitochondria, whereas a truncated form [PDE2A2(18-120)] did not, and the N-terminal 17 residues of PDE2A2 targeted a fusion protein to mitochondria. Moreover, confocal analysis revealed that a protein in which PDE2A2 residues 1 to 216 were fused to green fluorescent protein colocalized with mitochondria in HEK (human embryonic kidney) cells. Pharmacological analysis of isolated mitochondria indicated that PDE2A acted on the same pool of cAMP as sAC to regulate mitochondrial cAMP abundance, ATP synthesis, and oxygen consumption. Thus, the authors conclude that PDE2A2 acts in concert with sAC to create a cAMP signaling domain in the mitochondrial matrix that regulates activity of the respiratory chain. R. Acin-Perez, M. Russwurm, K. Günnewig, M. Gertz, G. Zoidl, L. Ramos, J. Buck, L. R. Levin, J. Rassow, G. Manfredi, C. Steegborn, A phosphodiesterase 2A isoform localized to mitochondria regulates respiration. J. Biol. Chem. 286, 30423–30432 (2011). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The original Struts project revolutionized Java web development and its rapid adoption resulted in the thousands of Struts-based applications deployed worldwide. Keeping pace with new ideas and trends, Apache Struts 2 has emerged as the product of a merger between the Apache Struts and OpenSymphony WebWork projects, united in their goal to develop an easy-to-use yet feature-rich framework. Struts 2 represents a revolution in design and ease of use when compared to classic Struts. It adds exciting and powerful features such as a plugin framework, JavaServer Faces integration, and XML-free configuration. Struts 2 In Action introduces the Apache Struts 2 web application framework and shows you how to quickly develop professional, production-ready modern web applications. Written by Don Brown, one of the leading developers of Struts 2, Chad Davis, a passionate Struts 2 developer, along with Scott Stanlick, this book gently walks you through the key features of Struts 2 in example-driven, easy-to-digest se ctions. Struts 2 in Action delivers accurate, seasoned information that can immediately be put to work. This book is designed for working Java web developers-especially those with some background in Struts 1 or WebWork. The core content, covering key framework components such as Actions, Results, and Interceptors, includes new features like the annotation-based configuration options. You'll find chapters on Struts 2 plugins, FreeMarker, and migration from Struts 1 and WebWork 2. Finally, new topics such as the Ajax tags, Spring Framework integration, and configuration by convention give familiar subjects new depth.


A City Lights / Italian Voices Book "Elaborately imagined...mini-catalog of great artists' dreams and the author's interpretation of the last three days in the life of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. Tabucchi's rich language and his magical-realist charm tinge the volume with a visionary glow."-Publishers Weekly " A lovely little book that keeps ringing in your head long after you've finished it."-Kirkus Chapter One DREAM OF DAEDALUS, ARCHITECT AND AVIATOR One night, thousands of years ago, at a time impossible to calculate exactly, Daedalus, architect and aviator, had a dream. He dreamed that he was deep inside an immense palace and he was going through a corridor. The corridor opened into another corridor and Daedalus, tired and confused, walked along it, leaning on the walls. When he had come to the end, the corridor opened into a small octagonal room, from which eight corridors branched out. Daedalus began to feel short of breath and a need for fresh air. He entered one corridor, but it ended against a wall. He went into another, but it too ended against a wall. Seven times Daedalus made an attempt until, on the eighth attempt, he entered a very long corridor that, after a series of curves and corners, led out into another corridor. Daedalus then sat down on a marble step and began to reflect. On the corridor walls were flaming torches that illuminated frescoes blue with birds and flowers. I'm the only one who could know how to get out of here, Daedalus said to himself, and I don't remember. He took off his sandals and began to walk barefoot on the green marble floor. To console himself, he began to sing an ancient dirge he had learned from an old servant who had rocked his infant cradle. The arcades of the long corridor carried his voice back to him ten times over. I'm the only one who could know how to get out of here, said Daedalus, and I don't remember. At that moment, he came out into a wide, circular room frescoed with absurd landscapes. He remembered that room but he couldn't remember why he remembered it. There were seats covered with luxurious fabrics and, in the middle of the room, a large bed. On the edge of the bed was seated


The authors report on a strongly filtered direct detected non-return-to-zero differential quadrature phase shift keying (NRZ-DQPSK) system, based on a multicarrier transmitter with a tunable free spectral range. Transmission of a 7×21.4 Gb/s multichannel NRZ-DQPSK signal over a dispersion compensated optical link (legacy optical infrastructure) on a 15 GHz grid is investigated experimentally and by simulations. Further improvement of the spectral efficiency is demonstrated by simulating the same 7 × 21.4 Gb/s system on a 12.5 GHz grid. Finally, the scalability of the proposed system is investigated by simulating the transmission of a Tb superchannel, composed of a 10-carrier polarization division multiplexed NRZ-DQPSK operating at 28 GBaud on 33 GHz channel spacing, over 320 km standard single-mode fiber.


We consider the challenging practical problem of optimizing the power production of a complex of hydroelectric power plants, which involves control over three continuous action variables, uncertainty in the amount of water inflows and a variety of constraints that need to be satisfied. We propose a policy-search-based approach coupled with predictive modelling to address this problem. This approach has some key advantages compared to other alternatives, such as dynamic programming: the policy representation and search algorithm can conveniently incorporate domain knowledge; the resulting policies are easy to interpret, and the algorithm is naturally parallelizable. Our algorithm obtains a policy which outperforms the solution found by dynamic programming both quantitatively and qualitatively.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the effectiveness of mass vaccination in Cuba of children under 2 years of age against Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), the most common causative pathogen of bacterial meningitis.

METHODS
The availability of effective Hib conjugate vaccines led to a nationwide vaccination program in 1999 targeting all children under 2 years of age, with a 97% coverage rate achieved. To assess the program's impact, data from 1998 and 1999 from the National Bacterial Meningitis Reporting System were used.

RESULTS
Vaccination efficacy was estimated at 99%. The overall incidence of Hib meningitis declined 46.1%, from 1.3 to 0.6 cases per 100,000 population. The greatest overall reduction, of 56.1%, occurred among children under 5 years of age. Among children under 1 year of age, the reduction was 70.5%, and among the rest of the age groups of children under 5, incidence decreased between 25.9% and 49.6%. In the group targeted for vaccination, incidence decreased 61.1%. Among children in the target group who contracted Hib meningitis, only 8 cases (24.2%) had been vaccinated, most with a single dose applied 1 month before becoming ill.

CONCLUSIONS
Hib vaccination of all children under 2 years of age in Cuba greatly reduced the incidence of Hib meningitis, as measured by the National Bacterial Meningitis Reporting System.


Exotic plant species may facilitate their invasion into native communities through the modification of ecosystem disturbances such as fire regimes. Where frequent fires are common, invasive plants that suppress fire may induce a positive feedback which further suppresses fire and promotes their continued invasion. In the pine rockland savanna ecosystem of south Florida, the frequent understory fire regime may be altered by the fire-resistant invasive shrub Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius). In this thesis, I document the interaction of Brazilian pepper and fire in these savannas. I show that fire causes significant (30%-50%) mortality among low-density populations of Brazilian pepper. However, Brazilian pepper exhibits rapid growth and reproduces quickly following fire, and in the absence of fire it has a low mortality rate. Furthermore, Brazilian pepper can cause a reduction in fire temperature from 47° C at low densities, to almost 200° C at high densities, where it can completely impede fire spread. This creates the potential for Brazilian pepper to initiate a fire-suppressing feedback if it can reach a density threshold during extended fire-free intervals. At a landscape scale, I analyzed digital aerial photographs to show that fire frequency correlates with the extent of Brazilian pepper invasion into pine savanna fragments in southern Florida. In savannas where fire is frequent, Brazilian pepper does not heavily invade, but savannas that are heavily invaded tend to be unburned for more than 20 years. This supports both the regulation of low-density Brazilian pepper populations by fire, and the potential for high-density Brazilian pepper populations to suppress fire and facilitate further invasion.


Significant variability in the pharmacokinetics of drugs such as cyclosporine, tacrolimus, sirolimus and mycophenolic acid, is seen in liver transplant patients. These agents are primarily metabolized by CYP3A4 or UGT1A1, and are also substrates for drug transporters such as P-glycoprotein, multidrug resistance protein 2 (MRP2) and bile salt export pump (BSEP). Factors modulating the expression and activity of these enzymes and transporters will lead to changes in the clearance of immunosuppressive agents. Inflammation associated with infection or organ rejection after transplantation can modulate the expression and activity of CYP3A4, UGT1A1 and various drug transporters. HIV-protease inhibitors (HIV-PIs) used for the treatment of HIV infection are shown to modulate the blood levels of immunosuppressive agents. The primary goal of this dissertation research was to evaluate the effect of endogenous chemicals such as cytokines and exogenous compounds such as HIV-protease inhibitors on human hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters using primary cultures of human hepatocytes. The results from this research indicate that HIV-protease inhibitors generally decrease CYP3A4 activity inspite of increasing CYP3A4 mRNA and protein. The effect of PIs on CYP3A4 recovers over time. PIs also increased UGT1A1 mediated metabolism as well as mRNA expression of transporters. These effects are dependent on the HIV-protease inhibitor used and its concentration. Additionally, HIV-PIs increased the expression and activity of hepatic efflux transporters. These effects of HIV-PIs are found to be potentially mediated through alteration in PXR and CAR expression. Cytokines, released during infection or inflammation process, were observed to downregulate the expression and activity of UGTs and transporters through modulation of PXR and CAR.


Perhaps more than ever before, libraries face the challenge of excelling during uncertain times. As library leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure our libraries are reputed as relevant, visible, valued and contemporary. It is imperative that we seek out new methods for maximizing the data that we are invested in and make it more readily accessible and comprehensible to key stakeholders: the senior leadership teams of the library and those of the institution. Yet where does the persuasive evidence lay to demonstrate outcomes aligned to the institution's aims? It is unlikely that library data on its own will be sufficient for future assessment, evaluation and reporting requirements. It is necessary and vital that we rethink the indicators that are markers of a healthy, thriving library as well as extend our competency and capacity to leverage enterprise and third party data platforms for both library and institutional impact.


Birefringence in diamond is an anomalous optical property for a nominally isotropic
material. The occurrence of birefringence in diamond is a result of the photoelastic
effect; the change of refractive index caused by stress (Nye, 1957). With the
development of the MetriPol system (Glazer et al., 1996), a new technique is now
available that allows rapid and accurate measurement of birefringence. Detailed
knowledge of the photoelastic effect in diamond is vital to be able to use this new
quantitative birefringence analysis with confidence.
Initial investigation of the current literature on the photoelastic constants of diamond
showed some confusion between the results of different groups. So to confirm the
values believed to be the most accurate, a new technique was developed during the
course of this study that allows a quantifiable stress to be applied to a crystal sample
while it is being viewed under a microscope. This has allowed for an investigation of
the photoelastic constants of diamond with the MetriPol system. The data produced is
within ± 15% of the results of Grimsditch et al. (1979) and has confirmed the signs of
the photoelastic constants, as well as the fact that the refractive index of diamond
decreases with increasing hydrostatic pressure. Lang (1967) postulated five causes of stress and strain within natural diamond. These
being lattice parameter variations, dislocations, fractures, inclusions and plastic
deformation. Preliminary investigation of each of these five causes in this study
highlighted the importance of understanding the geometry of the stress field when
using quantitative birefringence analysis. This lead to further investigation of the
birefringence halos that form around mineral inclusions that remain under remnant
pressure. Application of the MetriPol analysis to measuring the remnant pressure
required a theoretical model to be produced to understand the relationship between the
measured value of retardation and the peak level of anisotropy. The birefringence
analysis and theoretical model were initially applied to garnet inclusions in diamonds
from Udachnaya, Siberia. While this gave a suitable result for the remnant pressure
and calculated source pressure and temperature conditions, it could not be verified by
another other analytical technique. Verification of the model was obtained by
measurements on a coesite inclusion in a diamond plate from Finsch, South Africa,
using various Raman techniques (including 2D mapping and point analysis).
However, when the source pressure and temperature conditions were calculated from
the remnant pressure, the results were well below the diamond and coesite stability
fields. This calls into question the suitability of the coesite-in-diamond geobarometer,
first proposed by Sobolev et al. (2000).
A series of high pressure high temperature (HPHT) deformation experiments were
performed on a set of diamonds, to investigate the association of brown colour with
plastic deformation. With the use of a deformation DIA type press, a uniaxial stress
was applied to diamonds that were already under HPHT conditions. In two tests
where the uniaxial stress was not introduced there was no colour change in the
sample. In four tests where the uniaxial stress was introduced, the colour of the
samples changed from either colourless or yellow, to brown.


Abstract Objective. To assess whether the high prevalence of stunting and overweight accompanied by serum deficiencies of iron, folate and vitamin B12 in children at ages 1 and 3 years, can be explained by their diet. Design. A prospective cohort study. Setting. Villages in the central region of Limpopo province, which are serviced by Mankweng Hospital. Subjects. A cohort of children (N = 219) followed from birth were included in the study. Of the original cohort, 156 and 162 could be traced and assessed at ages 1 and 3 years, respectively. Dietary intake of the children was assessed using a quantitative food frequency questionnaire and at 3 years a 24-hour recall questionnaire was also administered. Results. The children in this cohort consumed an energy-dense diet of poor quality as evidenced by insufficient intakes of iron, zinc, calcium and phosphates as well as folate, riboflavin, vitamin B6, niacin and vitamin A. Overall, nearly 70% of the energy intake of the diet came from carbohydrates while the contribution from fat was less than 20%. Average protein intake was adequate but comprised mainly protein from vegetable sources which are poor sources of iron and certain essential amino acids. Furthermore, the diet was judged to be high in phytates because of the high intake of cereals and this would have contributed to making iron and zinc less available for absorption. Low fruit and vegetable intake was the cause of the low intake of folate, vitamin A and vitamin C. The prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies was confirmed by the high prevalence of children with iron and folate biochemical deficiencies. Conclusion. The children's diet was poor in several micronutrients which included iron, calcium, folate and vitamin A. Chronic energy deficiency, especially from animal sources, seems to be the factor contributing to the high levels of stunting observed.


Extracted from text ... SA Fam Pract 2004;46(2) 36
Evidence-based Practice
Introduction
This article focuses on the process of
change in becoming an evidence-based
practitioner.
Reasons for change
One of the main reasons for a change
in practice may be due to financial constraints.
Healthcare systems have undergone
major transformations in the
past decade. It is in this context that
evidence-based health care has flourished
as a means of establishing 'the
best evidence for healthcare practice'.1
Change occurs at different levels. In
the case of health services, change
occurs when they respond to the demands
made upon them from the government,
public or employers. ..


Abstract Two soil profile sequences on paragneiss debris in the Val di Rabbi (Northern Italy) along an altitude gradient ranging from 1200 to 2400 m a.s.l. were studied to evaluate the effect of aspect on the weathering of clay minerals. All the soils had a coarse structure, a sandy texture and a low pH. Greater weathering intensities of clay-sized phyllosilicates (greater content of smectites) were observed in soils on the north-facing slope. On the south-facing slope, smectite was found only in the surface horizon of the soil profile at the highest altitude. Hot citrate treatment of north-facing soils revealed the presence of low-charged 2:1 clay minerals, the expansion of which was hindered in the untreated state by interlayered polymers. However, the hot citrate treatment encountered some problems with the samples of the south-facing soils: as confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the hot citrate treatment was unable to remove all interlayer Al polymers. The 2:1 phyllosilicates were not expanded by ethylene glycol solvation in several samples, although thermogravimetric analyses indicated the presence of clay minerals with interlayer H2O. At the same time, the collapse of clay minerals to 1.0 nm following K-saturation was evident. Theoretically, this should indicate that 2:1 phyllosilicates had no evident substitution of trioctahedral cations (Mg2+, Fe2+) by dioctahedral cations (Al3+ and Fe3+). X-ray diffraction analysis of the J060 region and determination of the layer charge of clay minerals by the long-chain (C18) alkylammonium ion, however, did not confirm this. A transformation from trioctahedral to dioctahedral species was observed and low-charge clay minerals (ξ ~ 0.30) were identified in the surface horizons of the southfacing sites. In the south-facing soils, the podzolization process was less pronounced because of a lower water flux through the soil and probably less complexing organic molecules that would remove the interlayer polymers. Besides the eluviation process, clay minerals underwent a process of ionic substitutions in the octahedral sheet that led to the reduction of the layer charge. This process was more obvious in the north-facing sites.


The selection of an hybrid MSF/RO desalination plant depends on many factors, such as capital costs, electricity consumption, water conversion rate and local requirements. In order to provide the necessary information for the decision process, stand-alone reverse osmosis or multi-stage °ash designs and alternative hybrid con¯gurations must be characterized, optimized and compared on a sound basis. The aim of this paper is to present a computer- aided method, for the design and optimization of hybrid desalination systems. The optimization is carried out on technical, economical and environmental performance indicators in a multi-objective optimization framework. The approach is based on the conceptual decomposition of the MINLP design problem into two sub-problems. The network design problem is solved using conventional MILP solvers. The master problem, which consists in generating the list of available equipments, is solved using a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. The results of this strategy are illustrated in an industrial case study.


For this paper I propose an experimental application of Helene Cixous's theory of ecriture feminine to the erotic works of Anais Nin, particularly the erotic short stories written in the 1940s that are now found in her books Little Birds and Delta of Venus . I also refer to statements Nin made in her diaries concerning her conflicting emotions about creating her own style of writing that encompasses feminine writing. I believe Anais Nin illustrates Cixous's expression of a form of feminine writing and began the notion of ecriture feminine before Cixous coined the term. My thesis counters the various critics who criticize Nin for supposedly copying the masculine pornographic descriptions of sexual encounters. In rebuttal, I argue that through her poetic portrayal of intimacy and sexual experience, through her diction, imagery, characterization, sentence structure, and plot sequences, Anais Nin uses a feminine form of writing in order to subvert the male depiction of the erotic experience that has reinforced the objectification, domination, and oppression of women's sexuality. Paper no. 2, Gen(d)re Bending: Ambiguity and Sexual Androgyny in Virginia Woolf's Orlando. The purpose of this paper is to argue that Virginia Woolf's main concern in Orlando is to show the problematic 'nature' of socially constructed norms. Woolf problematizes cultural norms by playing with established forms of sexual identity, genre, and the Romantic notion of the 'self' in order to highlight a kind of necessary multiplicity or "androgyny" to blur the boundaries of socially constructed roles. Ambiguity offers Woolf the means to express her doubts of the common acknowledgment of a fixed universal and essential state of being, therefore showing how Woolf's works may be viewed as feminist. Though it has been not been taken seriously by most Woolf scholars nor feminist theorists and has been described as mere escapism by Woolf herself, I use Orlando to show how Woolf expresses her philosophy of ambiguity, including both ambiguity of sex as "androgyny" and ambiguity of genre in order to show her reader the complicatedness of what is generally taken for granted as natural or normal. I also reference Woolf's pivotal essay A Room of One's Own, as well as many of her journal entries and letters to show how Woolf's view of Orlando and its importance to her as a writer changes during the process of its creation.


Information-flow analysis is a powerful technique for reasoning about the sensitive information exposed by a program during its execution. We present the first automatic method for information-flow analysis that discovers what information is leaked and computes its comprehensive quantitative interpretation. The leaked information is characterized by an equivalence relation on secret artifacts, and is represented by a logical assertion over the corresponding program variables. Our measurement procedure computes the number of discovered equivalence classes and their sizes. This provides a basis for computing a set of quantitative properties, which includes all established information-theoretic measures in quantitative information-flow. Our method exploits an inherent connection between formal models of qualitative information-flow and program verification techniques. We provide an implementation of our method that builds upon existing tools for program verification and information-theoretic analysis. Our experimental evaluation indicates the practical applicability of the presented method.


Link quality estimation of reliability-crucial wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is often limited by the observability and testability of single-chip radio transceivers. The estimation is often based on collection of packer-level statistics, including packet reception rate, or vendor-specific registers, such as CC2420's Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) and Link Quality Indicator (LQI). The speed or accuracy of such metrics limits the performance of reliability mechanisms built in wireless sensor networks. To improve link quality estimation in WSNs, we designed a powerful wireless communication monitor based on Software Defined Radio (SDR). We studied the relations between three implemented link quality metrics and packet reception rate under different channel conditions. Based on a comparison of the metrics' relative advantages, we proposed using a combination of them for fast and accurate estimation of a sensor network link.


Land degradation occurs in all continents and affects the livelihoods of millions of people, including a large proportion of the poor in the drylands. Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. is a xerophytic cactus species, widely cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. As most of species of the Cactacee family, O. ficus-indica exhibits Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM), with nocturnal stomata opening and CO2 uptake occurring, typically, from dusk to dawn. Many reasons may account for the great interest devoted to cacti. The multipurpose use of this plant species and their ability to grow in harsh environments are the main reasons. Their root characteristics ameliorate wind and rain eroded soils so their growth in degraded areas should be encouraged. The establishment of sustainable production systems based on cactus may contribute to the food security of populations in agriculturally marginalized areas and to soil improvement. Cacti are some of the best plants for the revegetation of arid and semi-arid areas because they are tolerant of scarce and erratic rainfall and high temperatures. The reasons behind the inclusion of cacti include (i) simple cultivation practices required to grow the crop, (ii) its quick establishment soon after the introduction in a new area, (iii) ability to grow in harsh conditions characterized by high temperature, lack of water and poor soil, (iv) generation of income from the selling of much valued and appreciated fruits, (v) use of its stems in the human diet and as fodder for livestock and (vi) many industrial derivatives are produced from the fruits.


The constitution, as the lex jundamentalis of the South African legal order, contains the norms by which all other legislation must be measured. Parliament is no longer supreme; it can no longer pass any legislation without having its authority called into question. Thus it is not only the constitution that must be purposively interpreted; when other legislation is being interpreted, the first enquiry must be what the purpose or objective of the legislation is, so that it can be established whether such purpose is in keeping with the constitution. Whatever the real or imagined intention of the legislature was when the legislation was adopted, it now becomes irrelevant; the only criterion is consistency with the constitution. It is clear that the courts' task will not be an easy one. Friedman descriptionbed it in Nyamakazi as 'awesome and onerous'. The politicisation of the judiciary is a real danger, and the courts must guard against the temptation to become super-legislatures.


Persistent low- to moderate-level eruptive activity of andesitic volcanoes is difficult to monitor because small changes in magma supply rates may cause abrupt transitions in eruptive style. As direct measurement of magma supply is not possible, robust techniques for indirect measurements must be developed. Here we demonstrate that crystal textures of ash particles from 1999 to 2006 Vulcanian and Strombolian eruptions of Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador, provide quantitative information about the dynamics of magma ascent and eruption that is difficult to obtain from other monitoring approaches. We show that the crystallinity of erupted ash particles is controlled by the magma supply rate (MSR); ash erupted during periods of high magma supply is substantially less crystalline than during periods of low magma supply. This correlation is most easily explained by efficient degassing at very low pressures (<<50 MPa) and degassing-driven crystallization controlled by the time available prior to eruption. Our data also suggest that the observed transition from intermittent Vulcanian explosions at low MSR to more continuous periods of Strombolian eruptions and lava fountains at high MSR can be explained by the rise of bubbles through (Strombolian) or trapping of bubbles beneath (Vulcanian) vent-capping, variably viscous (and crystalline) magma.


In support of conservation
of its fragile land resource, the government of Rwanda has proposed the
management of all forests in the country under a specific management plan. This
assignment sought to develop a management plan for the public productive
forests of Gatsibo District in Eastern province of Rwanda. Data was collected
from 1468 plots, proportionally allocated by size to the 375 forest stands.
Information about the forest (qualitative data) was recorded and then forest
measurements (inventory) done in a concentric cycle of 9.77 m and 3.99 m radius and all data
recorded in a digital format using the survey CTO platform. The data was summarized and analyzed
in a harmonized forest management tool for Rwanda comprising of six interlinked
excel files based on Rwanda's silvicultural regimes and treatments. This
analysis resulted to planning for silvicultural activities in each forest up to
the year 2070. Results show that the public plantation forests of Gatsibo are
poorly stocked mainly due to poor management and the best stocked forest had a
basal area of only 13.3 m2/ha. This implied low forest volumes
for each of the wood requirements; timber wood, service wood and energy wood. Eucalyptus forests are the most common
but are poorly stocked compared to the Pinus
patula forests which are even aged by plantation. A projection of stocks
shows that the forests can be sustained with an average wood volume of 73 m3/ha, to
provide harvests yearly and reduce the wood supply and demand gap in the
district. A viability analysis indicates that some forests are viable for
leasing with good profits in the short term (10 years) and full term planning
(40 years). However, some forests may not be commercially viable due to their
current stocks and agro bioclimatic conditions, and these would be
rehabilitated for ecosystem services. This plan supports the restoration of the
forests of Gatsibo district through provision of specific guidelines for the
management of the forests.


Abstract This paper explores the relationship between music, time, and movement in those Western art music rituals within which orchestral performance occurs. It begins by reviewing some of the literature on the symphonic performance event itself, particularly the work of Christopher Small, who has written about this at length. It goes on to consider the nature of the conductor's gestures within these events, and argues that these can be construed as a form of dancing, and that the functional ambiguity of these gestures serves only to enhance their symbolic significance; their greater importance, in fact, is in connection with the creation of another world of time. Finally, the paper compares the work and gestures of conductors with shamanistic practice in other cultures, both in terms of the conductor's role within the concert hall and as a result of the images of them presented to us in various media.


One of the newest theories to gain widespread interest is authentic leadership. Part of the rationale for developing a model and subsequent instrument to measure authentic leadership was a concern that the more popular theory, the full range model of leadership and its instrument, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Bass & Avolio, 1985), did not sufficiently emphasize aspects of leader emotional intelligence (EI), such as self-awareness (Avolio & Gardner, 2005).

In its current configuration, the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) (Walumba, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing & Peterson, 2008) measures four dimensions of leadership: relational transparency, internal moral perspective, balanced processing, and self-awareness. In a recent meta-analysis of authentic leadership, Banks, McCauley, Davis, Gardner, and Guler (2016) found that, overall, authentic leadership is highly correlated with transformational leadership (k = 23, N = 5,414, rho = .72). The Banks et al. study, however, reported no meta-analytic analyses between emotional intelligence and authentic leadership. In a meta-analysis performed in 2010 by Harms and Crede, self-ratings of emotional intelligence and transformational leadership were highly correlated (k = 47, N = 4,994, rho = .56). Given that a) EI is strongly related to transformational leadership, b) authentic leadership is very strongly related to transformational leadership, and c) part of the original rationale for creating a model and instrument to measure authentic leadership included a need to include more self-awareness in a leadership model, exploring the degree to which emotional intelligence is related to authentic leadership is important.

In this study, 1,028 working adults completed the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) (Schutte, 2009) and the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (Walumba et al., 2008). The sample was 61% female, 30% held a college degree or higher, and the mean age was 29.6 years. An exploratory factor analysis using the principal components method with varimax rotation resulted in a 2-factor solution. While exploratory in nature, this study indicates that the components of the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire seem to be measuring something different than emotional intelligence measured by the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test.


United States Pharmacopeia Chapter 797 Pharmaceutical Compounding-Sterile Preparations pertains to all preadministration manipulations and procedures involved in preparation of sterile compounds for application, implantation, infusion, inhalation, injection, insertion, instillation, or irrigation, including preparation, storage, and transportation. The chapter does not pertain to actual clinical administration of compounded sterile preparations to patients. The intent of Chapter 797 is simply to prevent patient harm and fatalities that may result from nonsterility, excessive endotoxin load, large content errors in strength of correct ingredients, or the presence of incorrect ingredients. Because the achievement of sterility requires that facilities meet minimum cleanliness standards, that personnel be trained adequately and undergo periodic testing and training in sterilization techniques, and that appropriate principles and practices be applied to sustain solution stability, compliance to Chapter 797 should be the goal of any facility where sterile preparations are compounded. Many pharmacies have already become compliant with Chapter 797, and those that have already met the new standards seem to support them strongly.


Rapid Prototyping technologies have been developed to transform three-dimensional
computer models into physical prototypes within a compressed period of time. The
problem of many existing laser and metal powder based techniques is the insufficient
strength of parts to meet the practical requirements due to incomplete sintering or
melting of powders.
One of the research objectives was to melt tool steel powder completely and form fully
dense fused structures with a 550 W Nd: YAG pulsed laser. The other objective was to
produce material structures with graded composition, so-called Functionally Graded
Materials (FGM). It is believed that this process could eventually produce preforms with
complex material structures. Tungsten carbide was selected to be mixed with tool steel
powder for possible wear resistance applications.
The investigation on laser fusing tool steel was first carried out. The optimal process
settings were concluded by measuring the contact angle, the surface roughness, bead
height and variance of bead width of each single bead produced under various conditions.
Fusing overlapped beads and multiple layers was then followed by studying the effects of
scan spacings, scanning patterns and layer thickness. A scanning pattern was developed
to effectively reduce porosity. Dense cubes of tool steel were then successfully produced
with porosity of less than 1 %. Based on the findings from processing tool steel powder,
different ratios of WC and tool steel were mixed and processed under the same
processing conditions to produce FGMs.
Various analysis techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, energy and
wavelength dispersive X-ray were applied to examine the microstructures. WC was
found partially dissolved in the matrix and evidence of liquid phase sintering was found
in powder densification. Hardness, microhardness and nano-indentation testing were
performed to show the hardness values in accordance with compositional changes in
macro, micro, and nano-scales. The FGM of 80wt% H 10 and 20wt%WC showed an
increase in hardness of at least 5-10% from the samples of H10.


In exploring the multi-dimensional and incremental nature of grammatical change that emerges from the recurrent interaction between a form and its environment, this study demonstrates that a systematic examination of morphological irregularity can enrich our understanding of the anatomy of grammatical change. The empirical focus is the functional crystallization of a particular type of participial adjective (PA) in Old Czech, as manifested in morphologically irregular tokens of this category. The analysis of their behavior vis-a-vis the regular PAs in comparable environments (clausal vs. adnominal constructions) shows that the two formation types are both sensitive to roughly the same set of features in developing a different functional status (secondary predicate vs. adnominal modifier), but each 'compensates' for the mismatch between its morphology and each syntactic function in a characteristically different way. At the theoretical level, the analysis leads toward clarifying the content of the notion 'constructionalization' as a hypothetically distinct type of change, and offers some thoughts on spelling out the role of constructions in grammatical reorganization.


Aceh province has Qanun (legislation similar to local laws) regulating the conduct of government to social life of Aceh people. Then, it is the task of Wilayatul hisbah or shari'a police to monitor the implementation of Islamic law in Aceh. Sharia-based rules cover the field of Aqeedah, shar'iah, and morals that have lasted for a few years now also affect people's behavior when interacting and being in public space. The research aimed to find out how the teenagers who love  Korean dramas read the messages conveyed through the media that was so popular some time ago, the Korean drama. In addition, this research also sought the information on how the local wisdoms shape the pattern of how adolescents read the media. The preliminary research has found that the local wisdom values that refer to religion become filter for the adolescents in receiving the information presented. Entanglement created by sharia rules that is ingrained in adolescents as well as control from the environment make the late adolescents not fully adopt the attitude and behaviour from Korean Dramas eventhough they love what are offered by the media. Keywords: adolescents; Korean dramas; local wisdom values


The Riemann zeta-function embodies both additive and multiplicative structures in a single function, making it our most important tool in the study of prime numbers. This volume studies all aspects of the theory, starting from first principles and probing the function's own challenging theory, with the famous and still unsolved "Riemann hypothesis" at its heart. The second edition has been revised to include descriptions of work done in the last forty years and is updated with many additional references; it will provide stimulating reading for postgraduates and workers in analytic number theory and classical analysis.


The reversed-field pinch (RFP) is a magnetic confinement fusion (MCF) device. It exhibits a variety of unstable modes that can be explained by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory. A particular unstable mode that is treated in this work is the resistive wall mode (RWM), which occurs when the shell of the device has finite conductivity. Application of control engineering tools appears to be important for the operation of the RFP. A model-based control approach is pursued to stabilize the RWM. The approach consists of experimental modeling of RWM using a class of system identification techniques. The obtained model is then used as a basis for Mode Predictive Control (MPC) design. The MPC employs the model to build predictions of the system and find a control input that optimizes the predicted behavior of the system. It is shown that the formulation of the MPC allows the user to incorporate several physics relevant phenomena aside from RWMs. The results are encouraging for MPC to be a useful tool for future MCF operation.


Abstract. The assessment of road infrastructure exposure to extreme weather events is of major importance for scientists and practitioners alike. In this study, we compare the different extreme value approaches and fitting methods with respect to their value for assessing the exposure of transport networks to extreme precipitation and temperature impacts. Based on an Austrian data set from 25 meteorological stations representing diverse meteorological conditions, we assess the added value of partial duration series (PDS) over the standardly used annual maxima series (AMS) in order to give recommendations for performing extreme value statistics of meteorological hazards. Results show the merits of the robust L-moment estimation, which yielded better results than maximum likelihood estimation in 62 % of all cases. At the same time, results question the general assumption of the threshold excess approach (employing PDS) being superior to the block maxima approach (employing AMS) due to information gain. For low return periods (non-extreme events) the PDS approach tends to overestimate return levels as compared to the AMS approach, whereas an opposite behavior was found for high return levels (extreme events). In extreme cases, an inappropriate threshold was shown to lead to considerable biases that may outperform the possible gain of information from including additional extreme events by far. This effect was visible from neither the square-root criterion nor standardly used graphical diagnosis (mean residual life plot) but rather from a direct comparison of AMS and PDS in combined quantile plots. We therefore recommend performing AMS and PDS approaches simultaneously in order to select the best-suited approach. This will make the analyses more robust, not only in cases where threshold selection and dependency introduces biases to the PDS approach but also in cases where the AMS contains non-extreme events that may introduce similar biases. For assessing the performance of extreme events we recommend the use of conditional performance measures that focus on rare events only in addition to standardly used unconditional indicators. The findings of the study directly address road and traffic management but can be transferred to a range of other environmental variables including meteorological and hydrological quantities.


Details are presented of an implementation of second-harmonic generation frequency-resolved optical gating (SHG FROG), which allows real-time acquisition of the FROG trace from a femtosecond oscillator. A spinning mirror phase-locked to an autocorrelator is used to scan line-spectra of the correlation function across a CCD camera. The FROG trace is updated at around 20 Hz and displayed on a video monitor.


Objective: To examine patterns, predictors and unmet needs of service utilisation and access to mental health and/or drug and alcohol services among community-dwelling adults with severe traumatic brain injury, and compare those who displayed challenging behaviours with those not displaying challenging behaviour. Design: Retrospective multicentre study. Subjects: All active clients (n = 507) of the New South Wales (NSW) Brain Injury Rehabilitation Program (BIRP) community rehabilitation teams. Methods: Clinician-rated data were collected on client challenging behaviours, mental health and functional status, service utilisation and unmet needs. Between-groups analyses (challenging behaviour versus no challenging behaviours) were conducted to examine patterns of service utilisation and unmet needs. Predictors for service utilisation were tested by multiple linear regression. Results: Challenging behaviours were associated with higher use of BIRP and non-BIRP services and greater levels of unmet needs. Challenging behaviour was an independent predictor of higher levels of service utilisation, in conjunction with pre- and post-injury mental health and drug and alcohol co-morbidities and geographic location. Only 15.3% of the 111 clients with challenging behaviours and co-morbid drug and alcohol problems accessed a drug and alcohol service, while another 32.4% had unmet needs for such services. Conclusion: Challenging behaviours make an independent contribution to increased levels of service utilisation after severe traumatic brain injury.


With the beginning of the Space Age at the end of the 1950s, the ―conquest‖ of space began. At the beginning, the units sent to space were quite simple, whereas later they emerged to complex spacecraft that orbit the Earth or explore our solar system nowadays. Thousands of spacecraft have been launched so far. In this day and age, it is hard to imagine our everyday life without the use of astronautics. Its benefits are very common to us, like weather forecasts, the vast programme variety of television or the use of GPS for navigation to name only a few. We use these goods as a matter of course and do not necessarily think about the fact that they are provided by a space borne source.
Within the last 60 years, the technology in astronautics steadily advanced. In STELLMANN [1], the general historical evolution of technology is examined and developments in space technology are as well pointed out. Furthermore, this precedent work provides a statistical analysis of mass evolution concentrated on exploration probes' subsystems. In doing so, it turned out that the mass of the attitude determination and control system (ADCS) in relation to the bus mass of the examined exploration probes showed only a slight reduction over the years. During the last 20 years, this mass proportion even remained approximately constant. On the basis of this result, an examination of the ADCS in detail appears suitable. Thus, the scope of this work is the analysis of the historical evolution of the ADCS components.
An examination on the historical evolution of technology might seem to be irrelevant, as people are mostly only interested in the newest available technologies. But George Sarton (1884-1956), the father of the history of science, said in a lecture at Harvard: ―We shall not be able to understand our own science of to-day (I do not say to use it, but to understand it) if we do not succeed in penetrating its genesis and evolution‖ [2]. Sarton relates his statement to science, but it is as well applicable in the context of technology. Hence, it is reasonable to examine the process of development for the attitude determination and control system of spacecraft, especially because astronautics has such a huge, but unconscious standing in mankind's life. Furthermore, the results of the examination might be useful for engineers as a help for the development of future attitude determination and control techniques, when they can rely on the knowledge and understanding of former components.
For the basic understanding of the spacecraft's attitude determination and control system, this work starts with a system analysis. Therein, spacecraft are classified according their function and the different subsystems of the spacecraft bus are explained. Furthermore, the general functions and the composition of the ADCS are worked out. The different components of the ADCS and their principle of operation as well as different stabilization methods are presented.
With the understanding of the functional principle of the ADCS, the investigation on its technology evolution since the beginning of the Space Age can be performed. This investigation is divided in two sections. First, a qualitative research is carried out. For this purpose, the historical development of each ADCS component is pursued. This part of the investigation is focused on the different used techniques and physical principles of the ADCS hardware, whose development is presented in the temporal context. In addition, the general development of space technology is roughly presented.
The second part of the investigation is concerned with the quantitative research on the development of the attitude determination and control system. For each component of the ADCS, typical performance parameters are collected and summarized in a database. This database enables that the performance evolution of the ADCS components can be visualized as a function of time. The theory of the used statistical means is described and the results are evaluated according to these. Furthermore, the origin of the dataset, the layout as well as the assumptions are described.


At several localities around the world, thrust belts have developed on both sides of oceanic island arcs (e.g., Java-Timor, Panama, Vanuatu, and the northeastern Caribbean). In these localities, the overall vergence of the backarc thrust belt is opposite to that of the forearc thrust belt. For example, in the northeastern Caribbean, a north-verging accretionary prism lies to the north of the Eastern Greater Antilles arc (Hispaniola and Puerto Rico), whereas a south-verging thrust belt called the Muertos thrust belt lies to the south. Researchers have attributed such bivergent geometry to several processes, including: reversal of subduction polarity; subduction-driven mantle fl ow; stress transmission across the arc; gravitational spreading of the arc; and magmatic infl ation within the arc. New observations of deformational features in the Muertos thrust belt and of fault geometries produced in sandbox kinematic models, along with examination of published studies of island arcs, lead to the conclusion that the bivergence of thrusting in island arcs can develop without reversal of subduction polarity, without subarc mantle fl ow, and without magmatic infl ation. We suggest that the Eastern Greater Antilles arc and comparable arcs are simply crustalscale bivergent (or "doubly vergent") thrust wedges formed during unidirectional subduction. Sandbox kinematic modeling suggests, in addition, that a broad retrowedge containing an imbricate fan of thrusts develops only where the arc behaves relatively rigidly. In such cases, the arc acts as a backstop that transmits compressive stress into the backarc region. Further, modeling shows that when arcs behave as rigid blocks, the strike-slip component of oblique convergence is accommodated entirely within the prowedge and the arc—the retrowedge hosts only dip-slip faulting ("frontal thrusting"). The existence of large retrowedges and the distribution of faulting in an island arc may, therefore, be evidence that the arc is relatively rigid. The rigidity of an island arc may arise from its mafi c composition and has implications for seismic-hazard analysis.


Granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) promotes the survival, proliferation, and differentiation of myeloid lineage cells and regulates chemotaxis and adhesion. However, mice in which the genes encoding GM-CSF (Gmcsf) or the β common subunit of the GM-CSF receptor (βc) are inactivated display normal steady-state hematopoiesis. Here, we show that host GM-CSF signaling strongly modulates the ability of donor hematopoietic cells to radioprotect lethally irradiated mice. Although bone marrow mononuclear cells efficiently rescue Gmcsf mutant recipients, fetal liver cells and Sca1+ lin−/dim marrow cells are markedly impaired. This defect is partially attributable to accessory cells that are more prevalent in bone marrow. In contrast, Gmcsf-deficient hematopoietic stem cells demonstrate normal proliferative potentials. Short-term survival is also impaired in irradiated βc mutant recipients transplanted with fetal liver or bone marrow. These data demonstrate a nonredundant function of GM-CSF in radioprotection by donor hematopoietic cells that may prove relevant in clinical transplantation.


[1] We examine the major outflow pathways for North American pollution to the Atlantic in summer by conducting a 4-year simulation with the GEOS-CHEM global chemical transport model, including a coupled ozone-aerosol simulation with 1° × 1° horizontal resolution for summer 2000. The outflow is driven principally by cyclones tracking eastward across North America at 45–55°N, every 5 days on average. Anthropogenic and fire effluents from western North America are mostly transported north and east, eventually merging with the eastern U.S. pollution outflow to the Atlantic. A semipermanent upper-level anticyclone traps the convective outflow and allows it to age in the upper troposphere over the United States for several days. Rapid ozone production takes place in this outflow, driven in part by anthropogenic and lightning NOx and in part by HOx radicals produced from convectively lifted CH2O that originates from biogenic isoprene. This mechanism could explain ozonesonde observations of elevated ozone in the upper troposphere over the southeastern United States. Asian and European pollution influences in the North American outflow to the Atlantic are found to be dispersed into the background and do not generate distinct plumes. Satellite observations of CO columns from MOPITT and of aerosol optical depths (AODs) from MODIS provide useful mapping of outflow events, despite their restriction to clear-sky scenes.


Abstract. One of the strategies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the energy sector is to increase the use of renewable energy sources such as bioenergy crops. Bioenergy is not necessarily carbon neutral because of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during biomass production, field management and transportation. The present study focuses on the cultivation of reed canary grass (RCG, Phalaris arundinacea L.), a perennial bioenergy crop, on a mineral soil. To quantify the CO2 exchange of this RCG cultivation system, and to understand the key factors controlling its CO2 exchange, the net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) was measured from July 2009 until the end of 2011 using the eddy covariance (EC) method. The RCG cultivation thrived well producing yields of 6200 and 6700 kg DW ha−1 in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Gross photosynthesis (GPP) was controlled mainly by radiation from June to September. Vapour pressure deficit (VPD), air temperature or soil moisture did not limit photosynthesis during the growing season. Total ecosystem respiration (TER) increased with soil temperature, green area index and GPP. Annual NEE was −262 and −256 g C m−2 in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Throughout the study period from July 2009 until the end of 2011, cumulative NEE was −575 g C m−2. Carbon balance and its regulatory factors were compared to the published results of a comparison site on drained organic soil cultivated with RCG in the same climate. On this mineral soil site, the RCG had higher capacity to take up CO2 from the atmosphere than on the comparison site.


ABSTRACT During his nearly 50-year long career Louis de Bonis has positively and markedly influenced many generations of paleontologists. In this introduction to the volume celebrating the 75th birthday of this French outstanding scientist, we present and discuss the significance of his many contributions to the study of mammalian evolution, focusing especially on his works on primate and carnivoran systematics and evolution, and on his involvement in field excavations in northern Greece Ouranopithecus-bearing sites.


Introduction: Geriatric assessment (GA) is recommended for evaluating an older cancer patient's fitness for treatment; however, it is underutilized in the community. We sought to define the gaps that exist in community oncology practices in the assessment and management of older MBC patients through implementation and training on the use of GA for the care of older MBC patients. Methods: The first phase evaluated community oncology providers using questionnaires regarding their assessment and management of older MBC patients. The second phase included training through implementation of a patient self-administered GA among patients ≥65-years-old with MBC. The providers were blinded to the results of the GA and provided their assessment. Comparison of the 2 evaluations was conducted. The GA was ultimately shared with the providers, who were questioned about the effect of the results on care recommendations. Results: 43 providers from 10 practices were enrolled. Phase I revealed the majority (77%) of providers recognized the utility of GA, yet only 42% routinely conducted a GA pretreatment. Most providers (77%) reported evaluating various GA domains through patient interview rather than validated assessments. Validated scales were used in low rates to evaluate cognition (23%), psychosocial status (12%), and toxicity risk (9%). The limited use of validated assessment tools was not influenced by the provider's demographics or their views of GA utility. Eighty patients took part in the training phase of the study to date, with average age 74 (range, 65–90) and 84% Caucasian. The majority of patients had subtype ER/PR+, HER2- (75%) and 46% were on first-line therapy. 277 recommended interventions were identified: 174 immediate interventions and 103 suggested interventions. Following review of these results, providers reported being surprised in 40% of the cases, mainly with lower than expected cognitive or social support scores. The providers reported plans for change in management in 44% of the patients as a result of the GA findings. Conclusion: Despite acknowledgement of the value associated with pretreatment GA, it is rarely used in the community. Furthermore, interview rather than validated assessment tools are used to identify age-related concerns. In our preliminary results, the GA identified a large number of deficient areas that had not been identified through the provider's assessment, and resulted in management change. Additional updated results will be presented at the conference.


Predictive solution techniques have been developed recently to solve the massive access problem of the Internet of Things (IoT). These techniques forecast the traffic generation patterns of individual IoT devices in the coverage area of an IoT gateway and schedule the Medium Access Control (MAC)-layer resources at the gateway in advance based on these forecasts. Although predictive solutions have achieved high network performance, a key problem is that their performance depends highly on the performance of forecasters. In this article, to minimize the effects of forecasting errors on the performance of predictive networks, we develop a subspace-based forecasting algorithm called "Motion On a Subspace under Adaptive Learning rate (MOSAL)." First, our algorithm trains a forecaster by minimizing the performance loss of an IoT network based on the emulation of an Application-Specific Error Function (ASEF) by an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Second, the algorithm moves close to a subspace of the forecasting errors while aiming to maximize network throughput. Our results show that MOSAL achieves a throughput performance that surpasses the performance of commonly used standard gradient descent training algorithms at a reasonable execution time. These results open the way to the deployment of predictive solutions at IoT gateways in practice in the near future.


Background. The objective of this paper is to describe and conceptualize an unusual and probably rare condition: the intense longstanding desire to have an amputation. Method. Structured interviews were conducted by telephone of 52 subjects (mean age: 48·6, range 23–77 years; 47 male, 4 female, 1 intersexed) self-identified as having had a desire to have an amputation. Results. Seventeen per cent (n=9) had an arm or leg amputated with two-thirds using methods that put the subject at risk of death and one-third enlisting a surgeon to amputate their healthy limb. The most common reported reason for wanting an amputation was the subject's feeling that it would correct a mismatch between the person's anatomy and sense of his or her 'true' self (identity). None were delusional. For all but one subject age at onset was during childhood or early adolescence. For those who had psychotherapy or medication there was no change in the intensity of the desire for amputation. The six subjects who had an amputation at their desired site reported that following the amputation they felt better than they ever had and no longer had a desire for an amputation. Conclusions. These preliminary results suggest the existence of an extremely unusual clinically distinct condition characterized by a lifelong desire to have an amputation of a particular limb. The condition is associated with serious negative consequences: amputation attempts, impairment and marked distress. Reflecting similarities between Gender Identity Disorder and this condition, the author suggests that it may be conceptualized as an unusual dysfunction in the development one's fundamental sense of anatomical (body) identity.


Background Stroke rates in Australia and New Zealand have been declining since 1990 but all studies have been completed in large urban centers. Aim We report the first Australasian stroke incidence study in a rural population. Methods The authors applied the principle of complete ascertainment, used the WHO standard definition of stroke and classified ischemic stroke by the TOAST criteria. Data were collected from five rural centers defined by postcode of residence, over a 2-year period with 12 months of follow up of all cases. Results There were 217 strokes in 215 individuals in a population of 96,036 people, over 2 years, giving a crude attack rate of 113 per 100,000 per year. The 181 first-ever strokes (83% of total), standardized to the WHO world population, occurred at a rate of 50/100,000 (95% CI: 43–58). The 28-day fatality for first-ever strokes was 24% (95% CI: 18–31) and 77% (95% CI: 71–83) were classified as ischemic (140/181), 15% (95% CI: 10–21) intracerebral hemorrhage, 3% (95% CI: 1–6) due to subarachnoid hemorrhage and 5% (95% CI: 2–9) were unknown. A high proportion of first-ever ischemic strokes (44%) were cardioembolic, mostly (77%) due to atrial arrhythmias. Of the 38 with known atrial arrhythmias prior to stroke, only six (16%) were therapeutically anticoagulated. Conclusions This rural companion study of a recent Australian urban stroke incidence study confirms the downward trend of stroke incidence in Australia, and reiterates that inadequate anticoagulation of atrial arrhythmia remains a preventable cause of ischemic stroke.


The growing body of empirical evidence has highlighted the significance of the first five years of a child's life in establishing their future life trajectories (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2006). Governments around the world have implemented policies in response to this evidence. The aspirations behind these policies are to improve the quality of early learning programs and child outcomes in this critical learning period (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2006). Australia joined this movement with the implementation of the National Quality Framework (NQF) and the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) in 2012 (Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2009). Inherent in the EYLF are the expectations that educators will have the requisite capacity to deliver against these aspired child outcomes. Within this context, effective pedagogy and capacity to deliver these objectives remains a focus. This qualitative study has sought to understand the perspectives of 18 participants about their capacity to support the development of social competence in young children and about the influences affecting their daily practice in this area. Participants for this multi-case study were drawn from Family Day Care, Long Day Care, and Sessional Preschool settings in Queensland and New South Wales, in Australia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group sessions. The study was guided by a constructivist theoretical framework, and informed by symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969). Data were thematically analysed to distil the key findings drawn from the lived experiences and personal perspectives of participants as educators of young children. This exploratory study of the personal perspectives of the 18 participants proposes that a gap exists in current thinking about social competence and the perspectives of actual practicing educators. It endeavours to present a holistic and integrated view of the influences, professional practices, and transactional relationships between educator and child as a contribution to the understanding social competence and the necessary supporting pedagogy.


This article originates from a PhD research project that investigates the elimination of fabric waste from the production of clothing. Most efforts to reduce the amount of fabric waste have centred on various types of marker-making software that place the garment pieces on a length of fabric as tightly as possible. Despite these efforts, in adult outerwear on average 15 percent of the total fabric used is wasted at the cutting out stage, according to Cooklin (1997: 9). Feyerabend's estimate is 10 to 20 percent (2004: 4), while Abernathy, Dunlop et al. (1999: 136) put the figure at 10 percent for pants and jeans, but higher for blouses. The primary obstacle for fabric waste elimination is that the software, regardless of its level of sophistication, is always limited by what has already been designed and patternmade. This project proposes that to eliminate fabric waste, the garment must be designed, and a pattern made for it, with fabric waste elimination as a design consideration, alongside aesthetics, price, target market, etc. To avoid wasting any fabric, the pattern pieces of a garment must interlock on a given length of fabric prior to cutting; therefore fabric waste elimination is also a patternmaking consideration. One of the aims of the project is to provide practical, accessible information for fashion designers and patternmakers about how they may modify their practices so that fabric waste is eliminated or drastically reduced. The research is motivated primarily by environmental/ ecological sustainability.


Abstract This paper explores associations between disturbances and cooperative responses in a selection of irrigation associations from Spain. Transaction costs and collective action theories are used to characterize disturbances and responses. Disturbances are characterized by looking at the uncertainty they generate, their frequency, the distance of the transacting partners they affect, and their impact on asset-specific transactions. Responses are assessed based on the collective action tasks they involve and classified into coordination and cooperation responses. A qualitative comparative analysis confirms two pathways that are sufficient for the emergence of cooperation responses. The first path is congruent with transaction costs theory, and points to disturbances that are frequent and asset specific; the second path supports relational theory, and points to disturbances that emerge progressively from within the system. Other patterns include the tendency of irrigation associations to delegate to external entities when disturbances are external and occur frequently; and the adaptation of existing institutions when the disturbances are internal and progressive.


Tourism is today the world's largest industry and an important economic development tool in many developing countries. However tourism sometimes causes social complications, often due to socialand economic gaps that lead to tensions between tourists and local residents. At small island destinations spatial confinement and isolation contribute to the risk of these tensions to occur, which may then ruin the destination's image. This study examines the relationship between tourists and local residents at the small island Koh Tao, which is a popular tourist destination in Thailand. The aim is to identify possible tensions and to examine why these tensions may occur. The research material is collected through an ethnographic study, including participant observations and informal interviews. The result of the study shows an overall positive relationship between the tourists and local residents, where the tourism industry's economic contribution to the host community is an important factor for their positive attitude towards tourism. A few socialand economic gaps are identified, however these do not seem to be the cause of any notable tensions. Yet, sometimes tensions do occur and are then most often related to culturaland linguistic misunderstandings. The essay discusses how these misunderstandings could be prevented through increased knowledge and also proposes an illustrating model. Finally, suggestions for future research regarding the usage of tourism as a development tool are proposed.


Lithium-rich transition metal oxides are candidates for the next-generation lithium-ion battery positive electrode materials. They have a much higher first charge and low-rate cycling capacity compared to non-lithium rich transition metal oxides. In this thesis, the preparation of spherical and dense transition metal oxide was studied. The morphology and tap-density of the hydroxide precursor was found to be dependent on the coprecipitation reaction pH. The coprecipitation reaction in the presence of aqueous ammonia was studied by analyzing the relevant chemical equilibria. The electrochemistry of lithium-rich oxides was studied as a function of particle size. The apparent oxygen diffusion coefficients were estimated using the Atlung graph method and were determined to be several orders of magnitude lower than normal lithium deintercalation. Isothermal mass calorimetry measurements showed evidence of a local Jahn-Teller distortion in the MnO6 units during discharge. Other studies of the lithium-rich oxides were also carried out.


Abstract We present a detailed overview of the cosmological surveys that we aim to carry out with Phase 1 of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA1) and the science that they will enable. We highlight three main surveys: a medium-deep continuum weak lensing and low-redshift spectroscopic HI galaxy survey over 5 000 deg2; a wide and deep continuum galaxy and HI intensity mapping (IM) survey over 20 000 deg2 from
$z = 0.35$
 to 3; and a deep, high-redshift HI IM survey over 100 deg2 from
$z = 3$
 to 6. Taken together, these surveys will achieve an array of important scientific goals: measuring the equation of state of dark energy out to
$z \sim 3$
 with percent-level precision measurements of the cosmic expansion rate; constraining possible deviations from General Relativity on cosmological scales by measuring the growth rate of structure through multiple independent methods; mapping the structure of the Universe on the largest accessible scales, thus constraining fundamental properties such as isotropy, homogeneity, and non-Gaussianity; and measuring the HI density and bias out to
$z = 6$
. These surveys will also provide highly complementary clustering and weak lensing measurements that have independent systematic uncertainties to those of optical and near-infrared (NIR) surveys like Euclid, LSST, and WFIRST leading to a multitude of synergies that can improve constraints significantly beyond what optical or radio surveys can achieve on their own. This document, the 2018 Red Book, provides reference technical specifications, cosmological parameter forecasts, and an overview of relevant systematic effects for the three key surveys and will be regularly updated by the Cosmology Science Working Group in the run up to start of operations and the Key Science Programme of SKA1.


The structuralist André-Weil–Claude-Lévi-Strauss transformation formula (CF), initially applied to kinship systems, mythology, ritual, artistic design and architecture, was rightfully criticized for its rationalism and tendency to reduce complex transformations to analogical structures. I present a revised non-mathematical revision of the CF, a general transformation formula (rCF) applicable to networks of complementary semantic binaries in conceptual value-fields of culture, including comparative religion and mythology, ritual, art, literature and philosophy. The rCF is a rule-guided formula for combinatorial conceptualizing in non-representational, presentational mythopoetics and other cultural symbolizations. I consider poststructuralist category-theoretic and algebraic mathematical interpretations of the CF as themselves only mathematical analogies, which serve to stimulate further revision of the logic model of the rCF. The rCF can be used in hypothesis-making to advance understanding of the evolution and prehistory of human symbolic behaviour in cultural space, philosophical ontologies and categories, definitions and concepts in art, religion, psychotherapy, and other cultural-value forms.


During the last decade, touchless gestural interfaces have been widely studied as one of the most promising interaction paradigms in the context of pervasive displays. In particular, avatars and silhouettes have been proved to be effective in communicating the touchless gestural interactivity supported by displays. In the paper, we take a child-display interaction perspective by exploring avatar-based touchless gestural interfaces. We believe that large displays offer an opportunity to stimulate child experience and engagement, for instance when learning about art, as well as bringing a number of challenges. The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) identifying the relevant aspects of children's interactions with a large display based on a touchless avatar-based interface, and 2) understanding the impact on recalling the content that arises from the interaction. We engaged 107 children over a period of five days during a public event at the university premises. Collected data were analyzed, and the outcomes transformed into three lessons learnt for informing the future design.


A document discusses the CCD97 from e2v technologies as it is being evaluated at Goddard Space Flight Center's Detector Characterization Laboratory (DCL) for possible use in ultra-low background noise space astronomy applications, such as Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C). The CCD97 includes a photoncounting mode where the equivalent output noise is less than one electron. Use of this mode requires a clock signal at a voltage level greater than the level achievable by the existing CCD (charge-coupled-device) electronics. A high-voltage waveform generator has been developed in code 660/601 to support the CCD97 evaluation. The unit generates required clock waveforms at voltage levels from -20 to +50 V. It deals with standard and arbitrary waveforms and supports pixel rates from 50 to 500 kHz. The system is designed to interface with existing Leach CCD electronics.


Planetary nebulae (PNe), the ionized, ejected envelopes of lowto inter-mediate-mass stars, are thought to be shaped by a nascent fast wind from the spent core (a future white dwarf) that collides with and sweeps up previously ejected material (red and asymptotic branch giant winds). This collision can generate an X-ray emitting "hot bubble" that fills the swept-up cavity. Circumstellar material in a dense torus or disk, likely due to an interacting binary in the PN nucleus, is widely believed to collimate the winds that shape non-spherical PNe. Hence, PNe offer excellent opportunities to study astrophysical shocks and binary interactions. In my thesis, I address these topics via a comprehensive analysis of new and archival (pointed and serendipitous) X-ray observations performed by Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray satellite observatories. This analysis yields new information on the X-ray characteristics (detections and non-detections) of over 50 PNe (∼40% of which were detected). Based on spatial/spectral analysis of a dozen diffuse X-ray emitting PNe, I confirm that hot bubble temperatures are generally much lower than predicted by simple shock models given measured central star fast wind velocities. Comparison of the X-ray emission and central star properties of the sample PNe with the predictions of heat conduction models indicates that some hot bubbles are regulated by heat conduction, while others appear to require alternative temperature-regulating mechanisms. From new detections of point-like hard X-ray emission from the binary star nuclei of LoTr5, DS1, and HFG1, I demonstrate that the X-ray emission most likely arises from rejuvenated coronae around the spun-up companions in these systems. These results place constraints on putative spun-up binary companions within other PNe in which point-like central sources have gone undetected by XMM and/or Chandra. I conclude with suggestions as to the most promising directions for future X-ray observations of PNe.


In central Louisiana, we conducted a prescribed-fire study in a 5-year-old longleaf pine (Pinus palustris P. Mill.) stand to evaluate the effects of fire on fine-root (2- to 5-mm diameter) carbohydrates, dormant season foliar nutrients, and sapling growth. Control, burn, and nonburned vegetation control treatments were studied using a randomized complete block design with five blocks. Prescribe fire was applied in May 2003. Root starch concentration was significantly lower and root glucose concentration significantly greater in the burned plots than in control and nonburned plots 1 month after treatment. Foliar potassium concentration was significantly greater after treatment in the burned plots compared to control and nonburned plots. Annual groundline diameter growth was also significantly greater in the burned plots than in the control plots. Our data suggest that fire shifts root carbohydrate and foliar potassium concentrations of longleaf pine saplings to restore leaf area and/or strengthen the tree stem.