Decision making based on behavioral and neural observations of living systems has been extensively studied in brain science, psychology, neuroeconomics, and other disciplines. Decision-making mechanisms have also been experimentally implemented in physical processes, such as single photons and chaotic lasers. The findings of these experiments suggest that there is a certain common basis in describing decision making, regardless of its physical realizations. In this study, we propose a local reservoir model to account for choice-based learning (CBL). CBL describes decision consistency as a phenomenon where making a certain decision increases the possibility of making that same decision again later. This phenomenon has been intensively investigated in neuroscience, psychology, and other related fields. Our proposed model is inspired by the viewpoint that a decision is affected by its local environment, which is referred to as a local reservoir. If the size of the local reservoir is large enough, consecutive decision making will not be affected by previous decisions, thus showing lower degrees of decision consistency in CBL. In contrast, if the size of the local reservoir decreases, a biased distribution occurs within it, which leads to higher degrees of decision consistency in CBL. In this study, an analytical approach for characterizing local reservoirs is presented, as well as several numerical demonstrations. Furthermore, a physical architecture for CBL based on single photons is discussed, and the effects of local reservoirs are numerically demonstrated. Decision consistency in human decision-making tasks and in recruiting empirical data is evaluated based on the local reservoir. This foundation based on a local reservoir offers further insights into the understanding and design of decision making.


The phenomenon of consumer relationships in consumer markets has been investigated by loyalty and relationship research. However, mainstream consumer loyalty research has been developed in cognitive 'attitude-behaviour' framework. Nevertheless, relationship perspective has emerged as a theoretical perspective and attracted interest in the loyalty research domain. In addition, since the 1960s, relationship principles and relationship marketing (RM) concepts have also been developed in the B-to-B sectors and service markets. Moreover, relational thoughts and RM concepts have also been extended to mass consumer markets. Different types of commercial consumer relationships have been explored. However, this is the first dedicated study to explore consumer/store relationship phenomena from the perspective of individual consumers. The main objectives of this study are to: (1) develop the understanding of nature of consumer/store relationships and (3) engage in the discourse on methodology and the role of researcher in interpretive research. An in-depth study has been undertaken based on interpretive modes of inquiry. This study has explored the lived experiences of UK women in the context of grocery shopping and consumption. As a result, a richly contextualised account of consumer/store relationships has been investigated in depth and a conceptual framework for consumer/store relationships has been developed. The significance of other aspects of relationships (such as the store constellations, and the association between value congruence and relationships) has also been highlighted. Indeed, the findings have shown that stores provide support for consumers in terms of: (1) consumers' shopping task fulfilment; (2) pleasure seeking needs; (3) self concept construction and maintenance; (4) self discovery, self extension and self expression. Moreover, various interactions and multiple level effects between consumers and their stores can result in the diverse and dynamic bonds between consumers and the stores they shop. The research has demonstrated the validity of the existence and investigation of consumer/store relationships at the level of consumers' lived experiences.


Book synopsis: This collection brings together a set of specially commissioned chapters from leading international researchers in the psychology of reasoning. Its purpose is to explore the historical, philosophical and theoretical implications of the development of this field. Taking the unusual approach of engaging not only with empirical data but also with the ideas and concepts underpinning the psychology of reasoning, this volume has important implications both for psychologists and other students of cognition, including philosophers. Sub-fields covered include mental logic, mental models, rational analysis, social judgement theory, game theory and evolutionary theory. There are also specific chapters dedicated to the history of syllogistic reasoning, the psychology of reasoning as it operates in scientific theory and practice, Brunswickian approaches to reasoning and task environments, and the implications of Popper's philosophy for models of behaviour testing. This cross-disciplinary dialogue and the range of material covered makes this an invaluable reference for students and researchers into the psychology and philosophy of reasoning.


The study assesses the effect of Boko Haram crisis on Economic activities in Yobe state. The terrorizing effect of the activities of the fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram on the socio-economic condition ofYobe states of Nigeria has become so devastating that some financial institutions and other business ventures have closed down in many areas, thereby causing relocation of non-indigenes to their own states. Itis based on the above that this paper seeks to find out the extent the Boko Haram insurgency has affected thesocioeconomic situation in Yobe state of Nigeria. During the course of the study, it was discovered that the insecurity situation in the state was so tense that even the indigenes have started to send their children and wards to the some parts of the country for their education. At the end, the paper proffered solutions to the problem.


The spectacular heat transfer enhancement revealed experimentally in nanofluids suspensions is being investigated theoretically at the macro-scale level aiming at explaining the possible mechanisms that lead to such impressive experimental results. In particular, the possibility that thermal wave effects via hyperbolic heat conduction could have been the source of the excessively improved effective thermal conductivity of the suspension is shown to provide a viable explanation although the investigation of alternative possibilities is needed prior to reaching an ultimate conclusion.


Current practices of college and career readiness (CCR) emerged from within secondary school reform efforts. During a similar timeframe, evidence-based schoolwide interventions—positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and response to interventions (RTI)—were developed, first targeting elementary initiatives and then translated to secondary schools. We provide an overview of a recently established CCR framework underscoring both academic and nonacademic factors necessary for student success. To operationalize CCR approaches within secondary schools, an effort must be made to utilize existing interventions and strategies as well as data-informed efforts included within multitiered systems of support (MTSS). Therefore, we examine how CCR can be extended within secondary MTSS approaches and extend current methods by recommending measures aligning CCR elements within essential data-based decision making and fidelity of implementation tenets of MTSS. By embedding CCR within established MTSS approaches, improved post-school outcome for all students, including those with disabilities, can be achieved.


Value decomposition multi-agent reinforcement learning methods learn the global value function as a mixing of each agent's individual utility functions. Coordination graphs (CGs) represent a higher-order decomposition by incorporating pairwise payoff functions and thus is supposed to have a more powerful representational capacity. However, CGs decompose the global value function linearly over local value functions, severely limiting the complexity of the value function class that can be represented. In this paper, we propose the first non-linear coordination graph by extending CG value decomposition beyond the linear case. One major challenge is to conduct greedy action selections in this new function class to which commonly adopted DCOP algorithms are no longer applicable. We study how to solve this problem when mixing networks with LeakyReLU activation are used. An enumeration method with a global optimality guarantee is proposed and motivates an efficient iterative optimization method with a local optimality guarantee. We find that our method can achieve superior performance on challenging multi-agent coordination tasks like MACO.


This study investigated 25 ESL test-takers' cognitive processing while completing a set of Opinion Matching tasks designed and piloted for use on the Aptis reading test and targeting the CEFR-B1level. Insights were gained through the recording of participants' eye traces during task completion, immediately followed by a stimulated recall after each task in which participants described, in their first language, how they had completed it.The study follows up on the findings of Brunfaut & McCray (2015), who investigated test-takers' task processing on the full Aptis reading test, and found support for the construct validity of the test. However, a somewhat weaker alignment between the intended and actual reading processes used by test-takers was found for the B1 banked gap-fill tasks of the Aptis reading test. The aim of this follow-up study, therefore, was to explore the cognitive processing on an alternative, newly designed set of Opinion Matching tasks to be able to evaluate the extent to which the new tasks elicited the specified processes for this level of the Aptis reading test (see O'Sullivan & Dunlea, 2015).Test-takers were found to use a wide range of cognitive processes while they were completing the B1 Opinion Matching tasks, covering both lower- and higher-level processes as defined in Khalifa & Weir's (2009) model of reading. Most often, when they successfully solved the item, the test-takers had adopted a careful and global reading approach (and sometimes they also did some expeditious reading), and they had combined lexical processing and/or meaning-making within sentences, across sentences or at textual and intertextual levels with inferencing. This global comprehension approach and the extensive engagement with higher-level processing associated with the B1 Opinion Matching items not only differs substantially from the local and lower-level processing patterns associated with the original B1 banked gap-fill items, but also suggests a suitable match with the intended processes specified by the test developers for the Aptis B1 reading tasks.


Last year, as the State of California struggled with a $42 billion budget deficit, its financial inability to correct constitutionally-deficient prison conditions led a federal court to order the release of 40,000 state prisoners. In Oregon, Michigan, Connecticut, Vermont, and Delaware, spending on corrections now exceeds spending on higher education. Across the nation, more than 1 of every 100 Americans is behind bars. When the financial crisis of 2008 dealt its blow, state correctional budgets were already nearing a breaking point. Now, in the wake of unprecedented budget shortfalls, state governments have been forced to confront a difficult reality: the ever-increasing prison population has come at too high a price. The question is no longer whether to reduce the number of prisoners, but how. Reversing years of ever-harsher sentencing policies, jurisdictions throughout the United States are trying to cut costs by expanding good time credit, increasing parole eligibility, and authorizing new forms of early release. This Article examines judicial sentence modification, an often overlooked ameliorative mechanism that has potential benefits many other forms of early release lack. For states wishing to promote early release in a manner that is both transparent and publicly accountable, judicial sentence modification is a promising, and potentially sustainable, new mechanism for sentence reduction.


G.W. Leibniz s "Monadology," one of the most important pieces of the Leibniz corpus, is at once one of the great classics of modern philosophy and one of its most puzzling productions. Because the essay is written in so condensed and compact a fashion, for almost three centuries it has baffled and beguiled those who read it for the first time.Nicholas Rescher accompanies the text of the "Monadology" section-by-section with relevant excerpts from some of Leibniz s widely scattered discussions of the matters at issue. The result serves a dual purpose of providing a commentary of the "Monadology" by Leibniz himself, while at the same time supplying an exposition of his philosophy using the "Monadology" as an outline.The book contains all of the materials that even the most careful study of this could text could require: a detailed overview of the philosophical background of the work and of its bibliographic ramifications; a presentation of the original French text together with a new, closely faithful English translation; a selection of other relevant Leibniz texts; and a detailed commentary. Rescher also provides a survey of Leibniz s use of analogies and three separate indices of key terms and expressions, Leibniz s French terminology, and citations.Rescher s edition of the "Monadology" presents Leibniz s ideas faithfully, accurately, and accessibly, making it especially valuable to scholars and students alike."


ASP3026(N-{2-Methoxy-4-[4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)piperidin-1-yl]phenyl}-N′-[2-(propane-2-sulfonyl)phenyl]-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) was developed as a novel and selective inhibitor of the fusion protein EML4-ALK. Five polymorphs of ASP3026 (A01, A02, A03, A04, and A05) as well as a hydrate have been identified to date, and the most stable polymorph (A04) was selected for designing solid formulations. The influence of crystallization process parameters on nucleation of A03 and A04 was clarified for process development. A04 was obtained at relatively high temperatures and A03 at relatively low temperatures, regardless of the superaturation ratio. A03 and A04 were therefore able to be selectively obtained via temperature control, possibly due to temperature-dependent variations in the concentrations of conformers in solution. The relationship between polymorphs and solution structures before nucleation was investigated using in situ Raman spectroscopy. The relationship with the intensity ratios of nine Ra...


The Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard defines Radiology medical device interoperability and image data exchange between modalities, image databases - Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) - and image review end-points. However the scope of DICOM and PACS technology is currently limited to the trusted and static environment of the hospital. In order to meet the demand for ad-hoc tele-radiology and image guided medical procedures within the global healthcare enterprise, a new technology must provide mobility, security, flexible scale of operations, and rapid responsiveness for DICOM medical devices and subsequently medical image data. Grid technology, an informatics approach to securely federate independently operated computing, storage, and data management resources at the global scale over public networks, meets these core requirements. Here we present an approach to federate DICOM and PACS devices for large-scale medical image workflows within a global healthcare enterprise. The Globus MEDICUS (Medical Imaging and Computing for Unified Information Sharing) project uses the standards-based Globus Toolkit Grid infrastructure to vertically integrate a new service for DICOM devices - the DICOM Grid Interface Service (DGIS). This new service translates between DICOM and Grid operations and thus transparently extends DICOM to Globus based Grid infrastructure. This Grid image workflow paradigm has been designed to provide not only solutions for global image communication, but fault-tolerance and disaster recovery using Grid data replication technology. Actual use-case of 40 MEDICUS Grid connected international hospitals of the Childerns Oncology Group and the Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation and further clinical applications are discussed. The open-source Globus MEDICU http://dev.globus.org/wiki/Incubator/MEDICUS.


Abstract. 3D building modeling is one of the most important applications in photogrammetry and remote sensing. Airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) is one of the primary information sources for building modeling. In this paper, a new data-driven method is proposed for 3D building modeling of flat roofs. First, roof segmentation is implemented using region growing method. The distance between roof points and the height difference of the points are utilized in this step. Next, the building edge points are detected using a new method that employs grid data, and then roof lines are regularized using the straight line approximation. The centroid point and direction for each line are estimated in this step. Finally, 3D model is reconstructed by integrating the roof and wall models. In the end, a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the proposed method is implemented. The results show that the proposed method could successfully model the flat roof buildings using LiDAR point cloud automatically.


The radiation characteristics of an abruptly terminated five-layer symmetric monomode slab waveguide are treated analytically by means of an integral equation, which has been appropriately chosen for the corresponding boundary-value problem of the even TE modes. To obtain the solutions of this equation, representing the electric-field distribution on the terminal plane, a Neumann-series iterative procedure is applied. Then the reflection coefficient of the surface wave, the power of the reflected radiation modes, and the far-field radiation pattern are computed. Numerical results are presented for several cases of abruptly terminated waveguides.


Abstract This paper is a detailed version of the note with the same title ([Piriou and Schwartz, Note to CRAS: 2002]). It treats a result related to what is commonly referred to as the artinian conjecture (or finiteness conjecture). This conjecture can be stated in the following way. Consider the category ℱ of functors from the category of finite dimensional vector spaces over the two element field to that of all vector spaces. Consider its full subcategory of functors whose injective envelopes are finite direct sums of indecomposable injectives. The conjecture is that this subcategory is abelian. In our circumstances the only point to prove is that it is stable under quotients (that this formulation is equivalent to the usual one is easy but not formal). The result proved in this paper shows that the subobject lattices of standard injectives of the category are "as simple as possible" in what concerns the weight filtrations of unstable modules. It is shown that the filtrations by weights and socles are compatible in an appropriate sense. In addition to the recalled notions and facts, the appendix contains a result showing that certain unstable modules are cyclic.


Photometric studies were made of 10 peculiar-A-type (Ap) stars looking for long period oscillations typical of rapidly-oscillating Ap stars (roAp stars) using the 0.75-rn telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory. Although a
promising candidate pulsator was found in HD 156869, no such oscillations were seen in these stars. Further spectroscopic observations did discover a 21 mm pulsation in HD 116114 and as a result further investigations were confined to spectroscopy.
In addition a theoretical model of the atmosphere of an roAp star was developed involving a standing wave with a running wave component. This model appears to be more consistent with previous results from roAp stars and also with the results presented in this thesis, in terms of pulsation phase and amplitude behaviour.
Using high resolution VLT/UVES spectroscopic data, an abundance analysis has been performed for the rapidly oscillating Ap star HD 134214, the shortest period roAp star known. An atmosphere with Te ff = 7800K and logg = 4.2 and calculated with the package ATLA99 was found to fit the data best, with a microturbulence of 0.5kmr'. It was possible to identify 139 good quality Fei lines and 38 Fell lines of similar quality, so that the above atmospheric parameters could be calculated with a good level of confidence. The problems in determining these parameters are discussed in detail, along with the limitations of previous work.
The abundance analysis was performed using the programs WIIDTH9 to calculate abundances from measured equivalent widths and SYNTH in order to fit calculated profiles, There were 610 lines identified which had abundances calculated,
covering 46 different ion species. The abundance pattern found is similar to that seen in other Ap stars, with the Fe peak elements being in general either of solar abundance or slightly overabundant. The rare earth elements are very overabundant compared with the solar values and an abundance anomaly of 1.2 and 1.4dex is seen between the first and second ions of Pr and Nd. This is similar to that seen in other Ap stars and is suggestive that these elements may be stratified in the atmosphere of HD 134214 and other Ap stars.
The lines used in the abundance analysis were then investigated for evidence of pulsations. As is typical for the Ap stars, the rare earth elements showed the strongest pulsations. Most of the lines show phases that are concentrated within
the range —0.5 to 0.5, but Priii, Tbiii and Thin show significant deviations from this value. The lines of La ii and Nd iii show evidence of a running wave in the atmosphere and it is postulated that these lines are probing regions close to nodes of the pulsation, where the amplitude becomes low and the running component of the wave begins to dominate, causing the phase to run away. It is tentatively suggested that Nd ii may be situated at an antinode, with Lali and Nd iii probing the nodes on either side.
Despite the analyses that have been performed it is not clear what marks HD 134214 as different from other roAp stars and causes it to show such a small pulsation period. Both the abundance patterns and pulsational behaviour of the star in every other way seem to be typical of many other roAp stars.


The daily work plan of the human has changed dramatically due to the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic The viral infection was first detected in Wuhan, China, and was first transmitted via the bat as a zoonotic disease that was confirmed in December 2019 On 30th January 2020, this viral outbreak was declared a public health emergency or epidemic Subsequently, on 11th February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic The potentially lethal virus has become a threat to the global population The WHO provides special precautions and instructions to people all around the world, among which the importance of wearing a face mask, gloves, and a head protector are discussed Many healthcare workers (especially doctors and nurses) and common people suffer from skin infections with the use of a continuous face mask, gloves, or other protective items In order to alleviate skin dermatitis, it is important to use well-known natural herbals in the search for new drug sources It is advisable to use useful herbal extracts in sole or in combination as cosmetic products for the treatment of skin diseases India is a focal point of medicinal plants Many Indian herbal plants are essentially used as cosmetics to cure skin infections Natural herbs are safe, non-toxic, and cost-efficient for treating skin dermatitis during the COVID-19 situation © 2020 Iranian Society of Dermatology


Microflow reaction is important for the miniaturization of chemical devices and systems. From an engineering perspective, excellent characteristics, including narrow residence time distribution, rapid reactant mixing, fast mass and heat transfer, and effective droplet morphology control, of segmented liquid–liquid flow in microspace are summarized in this review based on recent research progress in the areas of microfluidics, flow chemistry, micro total analysis, and microreaction engineering. Via engineering, important roles of segmented liquid–liquid flow, such as improvements in production yield, inline purification of intermediates and products, creative droplet reactors, and preparation of particle materials with various structures, are introduced. The scale-up of micro devices and large-scale production of chemicals through microflow technology are also discussed, showing good prospects in research and industrial application.


How can we guarantee a right to life or a right to health without also guaranteeing a decent environment in which to exercise these rights? It is becoming increasingly obvious that a high quality environment is key to the fundamental human rights of life and health, and associated rights such as the right to clean water, adequate housing, and food. This book canvasses a range of law and policy issues concerning human rights and the environment. Each chapter examines an aspect of the links between environmental law and human rights in substantive and/or procedural terms, loosely falling into four themes: human rights and the environment in the context of the private sector; analysis of decisions of the European and Inter-American courts in respect of substantive and procedural aspects; human rights and the environment in the Asian region, including the issue of human displacement; and the future direction of human rights and environment law.


Beyond specific applications, such as the relative or absolute quantification of peptides in targeted proteomic experiments, synthetic spike‐in peptides are not yet systematically used as internal standards in bottom‐up proteomics. A number of retention time standards have been reported that enable chromatographic aligning of multiple LC–MS/MS experiments. However, only few peptides are typically included in such sets limiting the analytical parameters that can be monitored. Here, we describe PROCAL (ProteomeTools Calibration Standard), a set of 40 synthetic peptides that span the entire hydrophobicity range of tryptic digests, enabling not only accurate determination of retention time indices but also monitoring of chromatographic separation performance over time. The fragmentation characteristics of the peptides can also be used to calibrate and compare collision energies between mass spectrometers. The sequences of all selected peptides do not occur in any natural protein, thus eliminating the need for stable isotope labeling. We anticipate that this set of peptides will be useful for multiple purposes in individual laboratories but also aiding the transfer of data acquisition and analysis methods between laboratories, notably the use of spectral libraries.


Climate induced natural disasters and extreme events are escalating with the increased variability of climatic parameters due to climate change. This study assesses the flood adaptation strategies that are applicable at the community level in two Terai districts of Nepal. The data were collected through three focus group discussions and 210 household surveys. The study revealed that flood forecasting practices at community level included monitoring the extent of rainfall in upper catchments and identifying the position of clouds. 'Initiate communication', 'take care the affected people', and 'select the appropriate location to stay' were most preferred strategies during the flood. Similarly, 'exchanging helps with each other', 'preparing temporary settlement plan' and 'co-ordinating with government and other agencies' are most preferred post-flood adaptation strategies. Identification and assessment of locally-relevant flood adaptation strategies will help governments to choose adaptation strategies that are both effective and preferred by local people in vulnerable communities.


A nine year–old wolf bitch was admitted to the surgical section of veterinary clinic teaching hospital in Mosul with abnormal mass occupying relatively the vulvar opening. According to the case history of owner, the bitch was suffered from varying degree of difficulty during parturition due to presence of this mass that showed during and after parturition. Appetite and all body health condition were normal. Clinical examination revealed presence of mass like tumor attached to the vaginal wall with numerous nodules or small growths originated also from wall of vulva near to large mass. The large growth was protruded completely through the vagina without any vaginal prolapse. After general anesthesia with ketamine and xylazine, the mass was surgically removed. Histopathological sections were revealed presence of fibrosarcoma which represented by arrangement of cells that have features of malignancy like darkly staining nuclei (hyperchromasia). The mass was diagnosed as a well-differentiated fibrosarcoma.


Social Security has long been called the third rail of American politics - an unassailable institution for which we can thank Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Or can we? Abraham Epstein was a major figure in American social reform during the first half of the twentieth century. His name and his theories appear in almost every book written on Social Security and the New Deal, but a full account of his own life has never been made. Epstein's son, Pierre, now secures his legacy in this book that tells for the first time the story of his father's role in the conception and enactment of Social Security and sheds new light on the inner workings of the Roosevelt administration. Combining memoir and intellectual history, Pierre Epstein takes readers behind the scenes of New Deal legislation to tell how his father's fast-moving career led him to become the real architect of Social Security - he even came up with those two words to explain his theories. A prolific journalist, founder of the American Association for Social Security, and author of numerous books, including "Insecurity: A Challenge to America", Abe Epstein fought desperately with FDR to improve the failings of the original Social Security Act - only to be cast aside by political machinations. Nonetheless, the exclusion did not stop him from making significant contributions to the 1939 amendments that solidified Social Security for coming generations of Americans. In this book, readers will meet a colorful and tenacious player in the history of this critical piece of social insurance legislation - an obsessed reformer who mobilized support from the bottom up for his vision of Social Security. They will also meet his family and learn of the struggles and frustrations Abe Epstein faced in making his way in America as an immigrant Russian Jew. This engaging book fills a major gap in the historical record, showing that Social Security is more than a technical subject about finance and actuarial statistics, that it is primarily a human idea with deep philosophical roots. In the face of today's privatization controversy, Abraham Epstein's theories have much to tell us about the current debate while Pierre Epstein's insightful narrative shows us the underlying importance of one man's indelible legacy.


At Qianliyan Island, about 80 km East of Qingdao in the northern part of the South Yellow Sea of China, lenses and layers of eclogite and two-mica epidote–plagioclase gneiss occur within granitic gneiss. From the eclogite, peak metamorphic conditions of 775°C, 2.6 GPa were defined using compositions of garnet mantle zones, omphacite inclusions, and homogeneous phengite cores with high Si contents. During exhumation, the eclogite underwent different stages of retrogression, i.e . at amphibolite-facies (740–790°C, 1.60–1.75 GPa,), epidote-amphibolite-facies (640–690°C, 0.8–1.0 GPa), and, finally, at greenschist-facies conditions. Relics of omphacite and garnet in pyrite of the two-mica epidote–plagioclase gneiss, although obliterated in the rock matrix, prove this rock also to have experienced high-pressure (HP) metamorphic conditions. Similar HP metamorphic rocks occur at Sulu and Dabie in the west and at the Hongseong complex of South Korea in the east, enhancing the probability of a coherent HP/(UHP) belt ranging from Qinlin in the west towards the Korean peninsula in the east.


Text components of digital lessons and problems are often static: they are written once and too often not improved over time. This is true for both large text components like webpages and documents as well as the small components that form the building blocks of courses: explanations, hints, examples, discussion questions/answers, emails, study tips, motivational messages. This represents a missed opportunity, since it should be technologically straightforward to enhance learning by improving text, as instructors get new ideas and data is collected about what helps learning. We describe how instructors can use recent work (Williams, Kim, Rafferty, Maldonado, Gajos, Lasecki, & Heffernan, 2016a) to make text components into adaptive resources that semi-automatically improve over time, by combining crowdsourcing methods from human computer interaction (HCI) with algorithms from statistical machine learning that use data for optimization.


OF DISSERTATION THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF CHROMATIN Eukaryotic organisms contain their entire genome in the nucleus of their cells. In order to fit within the nucleus, genomic DNA wraps into nucleosomes, the basic, repeating unit of chromatin. Nucleosomes wrap around each other to form higher order chromatin structures. Here we study many factors that affect, or are effected by, chromatin structure including: (1) how low-dose inorganic arsenic (iAs) changes chromatin structures and their relation to global transcription and splicing patterns, and (2) how chromatin architectural proteins (CAPs) bind to and change nucleosome dynamics and DNA target site accessibility. Despite iAs' non-mutagenic nature, chronic exposure to low doses of iAs is associated with a higher risk of skin, lung, and bladder cancers. We sought to identify the genomewide changes to chromatin structure and splicing profiles behind the cell's adaptive response to iAs and its removal. Furthermore, we extended our investigation into cells that had the iAs insult removed. Our results show that the iAs-induced epithelial to mesenchymal transition and changes to the transcriptome are coupled with changes to the higher order chromatin structure and CAP binding patterns. We hypothesize that CAPs, which bind the entry/exit and linker DNA of nucleosomes, regulate DNA target site accessibility by altering of the rate of spontaneous dissociation of DNA from nucleosome. Therefore, we investigated the effects of the repressive CAP histone H1, the activating CAP high mobility group D1 (HMGD1), and the neural CAP methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) on the dynamics of short chromatin arrays and mononucleosomes and their effect on nucleosomal DNA accessibility. Using biochemical and biophysical analyses we show that all CAP-chromatin structures tested were susceptible to chromatin remodeling by ISWI and created more stable higher order structures than if CAPs were absent. Additionally, histone H1 and MeCP2 hinder model transcription factor Gal4 1147 from binding its cognate DNA site within nucleosomal DNA. Overall, we show that chromatin structure is dynamic and changes in response to environmental signals and that CAPs change nucleosome dynamics that help to regulate chromatin structures and impact transcriptional profiles.


The interaction between biopolymers and plastic surfaces defines an area of much interest. In this study, the oxidative activation, surface engineering and protein binding ability of polypropylene derivatives were examined. Figure 1 shows the superimposed carbonyl regions of an ATR-FTIR spectrum of polypropylene, whose surface was subjected to a timecourse oxidation. Oxidation yields increased gradually, affording a maximum signal after 18h. Three distinct carbonyl types were noted. On the basis of spectral data & established reaction chemistries, the oxidation products appeared to be limited to alcohol, ketone, carboxylic acid and potentially ester groups (Pavia et al., 1979). The SEM micrographs of figure 2 showed no significant changes of topology over the first 8h of reaction. In comparison, minor changes had developed by 10h, in the form of sparsely distributed mesoscale bulges. A brief period of dramatic change occurred thereafter, as evidenced by the sponge-like mesoscale topology at 12h. The transformation was noteworthy in that it reflected the release of material stresses, which had accumulated during reaction. When the brevity of this dramatic change was assessed against the continual accumulation of oxidation products, the underlying mechanism pointed to an oxidative phase separation (Hellan, 1984). Further oxidation (14h) did not alter the appearance. Several oxidized surfaces were treated with hydrolyzed aminopropyltriethoxysilane, yielding an aminated surface. Of these, some surfaces were reacted further with ninhydrin, yielding the corresponding aldehyde surface. Interactions between protein and each surface were assessed by the extent to which a trace-labeled fluorescent albumin derivative could be loaded and retained following several washings. A negative control surface, i.e., native polypropylene, did not retain fluorescence after the washings. In contrast, the oxidized, aminated and aldehyde-bearing surfaces retained substantial fluorescence. A related experiment was conducted using mesoscopically flat surfaces to ascertain if the sponge-like topology alone had promoted protein retention. This time, the protein-loaded aminated surfaces lost all fluorescence after the washings. In contrast, oxidized and aldehyde-pendant surfaces still retained fluorescence, presumably by forming imine bonds with protein. Thus, the contribution of a sponge-like topology proved sufficient, yet vital, to achieve retention in the absence of any covalent bonding. Zeolite-related work by Takahashi et al. (2001) gave a physical basis to rationalize protein retention along a sponge-like topology. In this model (Figure 3), surface structures are depicted to be on the order of protein size. Direct entry of protein to the base of a crevice (A) is portrayed as difficult. Instead, protein is envisaged to adsorb at the tips, where wettability is highest (B) and to migrate to the base (C). The better shape complementarity of the base is presumed to stabilize protein-surface interactions, imparting irreversibility to the process in comparison to a flat surface (i.e., scenarios D vs. E). The findings implied that the routine use of reaction-induced phase transformations could aid in the development of alternative mesoscale topologies with refined binding traits. Such chemical approaches should therefore complement established methods based on lithography, self-organization and solvent casting.


In the period 1996-2014, the average investor in the variance swap market was indifferent to news about future variance at horizons ranging from 1 month to 14 years. It is only purely transitory and unexpected realized variance that were priced. These results present a challenge to most structural models of the variance risk premium, such as the intertemporal CAPM, recent models with Epstein-Zin preferences and long-run risks, and models where institutional investors have value-at-risk constraints. The results also have strong implications for macro models where volatility affects investment decisions, suggesting that investors are not willing to pay to hedge shocks in expected economic uncertainty.


The water molecule, rotationally state selected in the third and fourth streching overtone (|04>- and |05>-) and stretch-bend combination (|04>|2>-) levels, has been photodissociated at 𝜆 ≈ 282 nm via the A state. The OH photofragment rotational distributions, determined by OH(A-X) laser-induced fluoresence (LIF), are found to differ from those reported previously by Andresen and coworkers (H 2 O|01>- + 193 nm), Grim and coworkers (H 2 O|04>- + 239.5 nm) and Rosenwaks and coworkers (H 2 O|01> + + 193 nm). These variations become more apparent with increasing angular momentum in the parent water molecule and with an increasing number of OH stretching quanta in the intermediate vibrational overtone. The Franck-Condon model of Balint-Kurti is able to qualitatively reproduce the observed trends, provided that dissociation at lower photolysis photon energies and via higher intermediate overtone states is assumed to occur preferentially from extended R H-OH configurations. The calculations suggest that the variation in the photofragment rotational distributions lies in a gradual change in the inertial properties of the bound state water molecule as the H-OH bond is stretched. In a second study, the partially deuterated water molecule, rotationally state selected in the third and fourth OH stretching vibrational overtone levels have been photodissociated via the A state at 𝜆 ≈ 288 nm. A branching ratio betweem the H + OD and D + OH dissociation channels is estimated from OD and OH (A-X) LIF measurements to be 𝜱(OD)/𝜱(OH) > 20; this compares well with the previous measurements of Grim and coworkers, and the theoretical work of Imre and coworkers. The small shift in the centre of mass in the water molecule arising from the substitution of of a deuterium atom for one of the hydrogen atoms is shown to have a marked effect on the rotational distributions of the OD photofragment. Calculations using a modified Franck-Condon model, which includes an approximate exit-torque, are able to reproduce qualitatively the experimental OD rotational distributions at sensible values of R R-OD (~ 1.4 A). In addition to being sensitive to the dynamics of the parent molecule on the ground state potential, the product OD state distributions are shown to be very sensitive to even the smallest exit channel torque on the excited potential surface.


This paper explores the extent and reach of 'audit culture' in a rural government hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. I describe the institution's efforts at instilling a new public sector ethos that involves intensifying mechanisms of audit and self-assessment in the workplace. In a context in which 'accountability' has become a key trope of institutional bureaucracy, I explore how employees attempt to conform to the normative moral yardstick imposed by ideas of accountability, whilst also expressing a sense of moral uncertainty and discomfort with these. Drawing on anthropological arguments about the role of documents in mediating social relations, I show that the knowledge collated in document form, rather than corresponding to clinical work carried out in the wards, increasingly is viewed as an end in itself. Global features of audit culture combine with existing workplace hierarchies and nursing practices to produce a locally mediated and meaningful version of accountability.


Three-stage optical interconnection networks for use in massively parallel processors are proposed. Wavelength-division- and space-division-multiplexing switches used in these networks are described, and free-space optics to assist in the construction of networks that are small and provide high throughput are discussed.


Loading a ground-bearing slab at a location distant from the slab edge will inevitably incur membrane action. This membrane action can result in considerable enhancement of maximum load-carrying capacities. Although the enhancement may not be as great as for suspended slabs laterally restrained by their supports, it is nevertheless still substantial. Now that slabs are often continuously cast over large areas there may be considerable benefit from taking advantage of this load-carrying enhancement. The present paper presents a theoretical study of the effects of membrane action in these circumstances. It suggests that the inability of previous theoretical models to reproduce the failure loads from tests on slabs or to account for the considerable scatter in results may be the result of ignoring membrane action. An upper-bound plastic analysis is used to shed new light on the evolution of mechanisms and shows that, depending on stiffness, slabs on grade reach collapse loads with one of two modes. Either collapse takes place in flexure at a peak of the non-linear load-deflection behaviour or by punching through provoked by a through-depth crack at the perimeter of the loaded area. With pure flexure plastic methods, past analyses have failed to provide a non-trivial estimate of the size of the failing mechanism. Inclusion of membrane action is shown to predict the radius of the probable preferred collapse mechanism. A parametric study is provided, but further research work providing experimental scrutiny and convenient design routines is needed before this is of immediate benefit to the practitioner.


During this study, the public debate about the most appropriate way to manage an overabundant population of introduced but highly charismatic animals on Kangaroo Island (South Australia) was examined. In the 1920s, 18 koalas were introduced to the island in response to concerns about their survival on the mainland, subsequently increasing greatly in numbers. By the 1990s, large concentrated populations of Koalas had caused extensive tree deaths and resulting environmental damage, with associated economic and animal welfare issues. This study aimed to discover why and how the management of this population of animals had become problematic. Using an Actor-Network approach, different understandings of the koalas on Kangaroo Island were analysed. Several distinct groups, with different views of the koalas and ideas of how the animals should be managed, were active in the discussion as to how the situation should be managed and why. There were few points of agreement between most of these groups, whose contributions to the discussion were to a large extent reflecting fundamentally different world views. One consequence of these differing world views was that the groups had profoundly different views of the koalas themselves. Four different ways of viewing koalas were in evidence. Conservation-minded people and groups described the koalas as respected, wild animals with intrinsic value, but recognised that conservation included wider ecological assemblages than the koalas alone. Farmers described the koalas as no different from any other of the animals on their land, whether stock, feral or native; if causing problems then their numbers should be checked and, as in the case of other overabundant species, farmers should be permitted to do this. Activists described a more anthropomorphic koala that was cute, harmless and loveable and which was vulnerable to harm as a result of actions proposed by other groups and which therefore needed to be protected. Scientists tended to define the koala as introduced, inbred and overabundant, advocating significant reductions in numbers although there were alternative suggestions as to how this would be best achieved. These accounts of different understandings of the koalas, the environment and of other people's motivations, demonstrate how a perverse outcome – no effective measures to address the problem – eventuated. The prevailing image of this iconic species as a unique Australian species under threat and deserving of conservation measures has extended its protection to the koalas on Kangaroo Island although the koalas on the island are neither rare nor vulnerable and are of equivocal conservation value. Despite a great deal of attention from politicians, research and discussion amongst scientists, effort from farmers, and both unfocused activism and the efforts of an activist organisation dedicated solely to serving the interests of all koalas everywhere, the koalas on Kangaroo Island remain overabundant. Thus, besides the damage underway to the environment of the island, the koalas remain vulnerable to adverse welfare consequences not only via the effects of their own overpopulation (starvation, etc.) but also via possible informal attempts to limit their numbers by the deliberate introduction of disease or by shooting.


The search for alternative sources of oil has renewed U.S. interest in the Caspian Sea. Bordered by Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, the Caspian Sea contains up to thirty-three billion barrels of proven oil reserYes. The legal status of the Caspian has remained unresolved since the collapse of the Soviet Union, however. In the early 1990s Russia joined with Iran to argue for common ownership of the sea by all five states, aiming for Yeto power over Western involvement in the region. Now, Russia argues for diYiding the seabed (and the oil and gas underneath it) into national sectors, while leaving most of the surface waters for common management and use. The Russian solution offers political and economic benefits to both Russia and the United States in the short run, but may be an unsound basis for long-term stability in the Caspian region.


Exogenous thyroid hormone (TH) induces premature differentiation of the zebrafish pectoral fins, which are analogous to the forelimbs of tetrapods. It accelerates the growth of the pelvic fins but not precociously. Goitrogens, which are chemical inhibitors of TH synthesis by the thyroid gland, inhibit the transition from larva to juvenile fish including the formation of scales, and pigment pattern; they stunt the growth of both pectoral and pelvic paired fins. Inhibition by goitrogens is rescued by the simultaneous addition of thyroxine. The effect of adding TH to the rearing water of the postembryonic Mexican axolotl was reinvestigated under conditions that permit continued growth and development. In addition to morphological changes that have been described, TH greatly stimulates axolotl limb growth causing the resulting larva to be proportioned as an adult in about two months. This study extends the known evolutionary relatedness of tetrapod limbs and fish fins to include the TH stimulation of salamander limb and zebrafish fin growth, and suggests that TH is required to complete the life cycle of a typical bony fish and a salamander at the same developmental stage that it controls anuran and flounder metamorphosis.


This paper analyses both the stability and the curriculum changing mechanisms produced in the Colegio Pedro II, which have influenced the course of Science as a school subject in upper elementary school during the 1960-1970'. Based on written and oral sources, the researcher states that institutional aspects had contributed to the fact that the influences from the Science Education innovation movement could be processed in the school subject. The institutional aspects were related to the school subject low status due to the fact that it had a general characteristic, it was less preferred by the head of department and it had not a specific physical space for the lessons. Those characteristics allowed room for changes in a long-term traditional institution in which curriculum decisions used to be centralized on the heads of departments themselves. Such curriculum changes had articulated innovations to teaching contents and practices from the past, and have invented a new tradition that could join the traditional/old to the modern/new. Through this process it was possible to maintain the school subject prestige both internally and in a broader external level.


The present contribution supports the contention that general principles of EU law do not operate as an unstoppable centripetal force at the service of an activist judiciary. Quite the contrary, when having recourse to general principles, the ECJ strives to preserve the vertical and horizontal allocation of powers sought by the authors of the Treaties. Horizontally, the ECJ distinguishes between matters pertaining to the province of constitutional law and those which are subject to legislative discretion. Stated differently, general principles of EU law are applied without encroaching upon the competence of the EU legislature. Vertically, the ECJ is respectful of the constitutional traditions of the Member States but not to the extent of foregoing the basic constitutional tenets of the Union. General principles seek to create a "common constitutional space" where EU and national law engage in a dynamic dialogue which gives rise to a mutual influence between the two levels of governance. Hence, as instruments of constitutional dialogue, general principles facilitate the constant renewal of the EU legal order, epitomising the 'EU's living constitution'.
 The article examines the horizontal direct effect of general principles, paying attention to the gap-filling function of general principles, and their role in consistent interpretation and as grounds for review, in a situation of constitutional pluralism.


By imitating the way that heat flows in a medium with a geometric structure, we propose two novel classification algorithms, Non-propagating Heat Diffusion Classifier (NHDC) and Propagating Heat Diffusion Classifier (PHDC). In NHDC, an unlabelled data is classified into the class that diffuses the most heat to the unlabelled data after one local diffusion from time 0 to a small time period, while in PHDC, an unlabelled data is classified into the class that diffuses the most heat to the unlabelled data in the propagating effect of the heat flow from time 0 to time t, which means that in PHDC, the heat diffuses infinitely many times from time 0 and each time period is infinitely small. In other words, we measure the similarity between an unlabelled data and a class by the heat amount that the unlabelled data receives from the set of labelled data in the class, and then classify the unlabelled data into the class with the most similarity. Unlike the traditional method, in which the heat kernel is applied to a kernel-based classifier we employ the heat kernel to construct the classifier directly; moreover, instead of imitating the way that the heat flows along a linear or nonlinear manifold, we let the heat flow along a graph formed by the k-nearest neighbors. An important and special feature in both NHDC and PHDC is that the kernel is not symmetric. We show theoretically that PWA (Parzen Window Approach when the window function is a multivariate normal kernel) and KNN are actually special cases of NHDC model, and that PHDC has the ability to approximate NHDC. Experiments show that NHDC performs better than PWA and KNN in prediction accuracy, and that PHDC performs better than NHDC.


This research examines spillover effects of tax avoidance on peers' firm value using the setting of the European Commission's state aid investigations of private letter rulings. We assume that news about a firm's tax avoidance strategies also reveals information about peers' tax avoidance because investors expect similar firms to use similar strategies. Based on an event study design, we show that news about potential costs of tax avoidance of targeted U.S. multinational firms leads to negative stock price reactions among their peers. Moreover, peers' investors adjust their evaluations upwards for news in favor of the targeted firms. Consistent with the level of tax avoidance being indicative of having similar strategies, spillover effects are stronger for firms with the highest levels of tax avoidance when examining a broad set of peers. Our findings suggest the need for a more comprehensive understanding of the costs and benefits of tax avoidance.


The formation free energy of clusters in a supersaturated vapor is obtained by a constrained Monte Carlo technique. A key feature of this approach is to set an upper limit to the size of cluster. This maximum cluster size serves essentially as an extra thermodynamic variable that constrains the system. As a result, clusters larger than the critical cluster of nucleation in the supersaturated vapor can no longer grow beyond the limiting size. Like changing the overall density of the system, changing the maximum cluster size also results in a different supersaturation and thereby a different formation free energy. However, at the same supersaturation and temperature it is found that the formation free energy has a unique value, independent of the upper limit of cluster size. The predicted size of critical cluster of nucleation is found to be consistent with the nucleation theorem as well as previous results using different simulation approaches.


In recent articles by this author, [ S. Karp , Statistical properties of ensembles of classical wave packets, J. Opt. Soc. Am.65, 421 ( 1975); S. Karp , Test for the nonexistence of photons, J. Opt. Soc. Am.66, 1421 ( 1976)], a radiation model was proposed that could lead to the identification of certain classical properties of the field, based upon photoelectric counting experiments. Mandel [ L. Mandel , Photoelectric counting measurements as a test for the existence of photons, J. Opt. Soc. Am.67, 1101 ( 1977)] responded by asserting that "It follows that for any field for which a classical wave description exists, in the sense that the phase-space density ϕ({ν}), and therefore P(u), are non-negative it is impossible to distinguish between photons and light waves in photoelectric counting experiments." This statement is based upon the derivation of similar photoelectron counting equations using quantum and classical techniques. It is the mathematically loose associations and subsequent rigid physical interpretation implied in relating the two equations that is under contention. It seems to us that the model-computation-effect approach to physics is still solvent. In particular, if we can model an effect as small as the radiation from an individual electron and produce a predictable effect, then the physics underlying the model must be seriously considered.


Service failure happens, but as studies have shown, the recovery efforts performed by the frontline employees can turn these negative experiences to satisfying ones. This empirical study investigated how these recovery efforts affect customer satisfaction. The primary objective of the study was to determine how justice theory affects recovery satisfaction. Using confirmatory factor analysis, results showed that distributive and interactional justices have significant effects on recovery satisfaction, while results provided weak support for procedural justice. The effect of distributive justice on recovery satisfaction was stronger than interactional justice. Results also showed that satisfaction with the recovery efforts positively and significantly affect the customer's behavioral intentions of repurchase and word-of-mouth communications.


Previously, we measured perceptuo-motor learning rates across the lifespan and found a sudden drop in learning rates between ages 50 and 60, called the "50s cliff." The task was a unimanual visual rhythmic coordination task in which participants used a joystick to oscillate one dot in a display in coordination with another dot oscillated by a computer. Participants learned to produce a coordination with a 90° relative phase relation between the dots. Learning rates for participants over 60 were half those of younger participants. Given existing evidence for visual motion perception deficits in people over 60 and the role of visual motion perception in the coordination task, it remained unclear whether the 50s cliff reflected onset of this deficit or a genuine decline in perceptuo-motor learning. The current work addressed this question. Two groups of 12 participants in each of four age ranges (20s, 50s, 60s, 70s) learned to perform a bimanual coordination of 90° relative phase. One group trained with only haptic information and the other group with both haptic and visual information about relative phase. Both groups were tested in both information conditions at baseline and post-test. If the 50s cliff was caused by an age dependent deficit in visual motion perception, then older participants in the visual group should have exhibited less learning than those in the haptic group, which should not exhibit the 50s cliff, and older participants in both groups should have performed less well when tested with visual information. Neither of these expectations was confirmed by the results, so we concluded that the 50s cliff reflects a genuine decline in perceptuo-motor learning with aging, not the onset of a deficit in visual motion perception.


For injury screening to effectively identify individuals with at-risk behaviours, risk factors should be identified and validated carefully through appropriate prospective study designs. In the context of injury prevention in sport, the main aim of screening is to draw a line between those who are at risk of getting injured and those who are not. In order to effectively screen for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk, injury screening should not be based on a singular observation in a single task as it is unlikely to effectively identify those who are at risk with acceptable sensitivity and specificity. Observations of ACL injury could be evaluated through a more mechanism-informed risk factors as this may provide a better justification of an individual's movement pattern. If an individual who is at risk would demonstrate a particular behaviour across different tasks, this collection of variables characterising an individuals' at-risk behaviours across tasks could form an individual's "movement signature". This thesis therefore aimed to critically evaluate the biomechanical risk factors for non-contact ACL injury during dynamic sporting activities and to explore some novel approaches to characterising movement characteristics for screening. Through a systematic review, the first study in this thesis critically evaluated the current research trends on the in vivo biomechanical risk factors of the ACL injury in dynamic activities and identified a lack of high quality (level 1), prospective evidence. Only one prospective cohort study was identified; therefore, more prospective cohort studies are required as research since the time of this systematic review did not provide further prospective evidence. Study two sought to develop more prospective evidence but unfortunately no ACL injuries were observed therefore, no new biomechanical risk factors for ACL injury could be identified. Utilizing the data collected from the prospective cohort, study three led to the development of a novel approach of injury screening by verifying the existence of individual movement signatures. The task-invariant movement signatures were also able to identify at-risk movement behaviour. Further exploration of mechanism informed multi-planar variables in study four showed that task-invariant movement signatures also exist in multi-planar variables, and may better inform at-risk behaviours. This thesis has furthered the understanding of biomechanical risk factors and moved towards the development of more effective injury screening tools.


Despite China's legislative attempts to conserve its natural resources and, in turn, protect biodiversity, Chinese law remains ineffective in pursuit of these goals due to struggles with implementation and enforcement, engendering legislation with economic values rather than ecological ones, and a lack of public participation. This Article provides an overview of Chinese biodiversity and conservation legislation and suggests that China can improve biodiversity legislation through increasing the public role in conservation efforts, increased liability and enforcement, and improved administration coordination.


We study glass formation in hard spheres with short-range attraction. The system consists of nearly-hard-sphere polymethylmethacrylate particles and non-adsorbing random-coil polystyrene which induced a depletion attraction between the particles. The experiments reveal a re-entrant glass transition and two qualitatively distinct glassy states. Dynamic light scattering, covering eleven orders of magnitude in time, gives insight into the kinds of particle motion responsible for these observations. The possible relevance of our results to generic issues, such as the distinction between fragile and strong glass formers, the nature of the underlying 'free energy landscape', and the relative importance of temperature and pressure, is discussed.


The movie theater has always been a place where people come together to share powerful emotional experiences, from the fear generated by horror films and the anxiety induced by thrillers to the laughter elicited by screwball comedies and the tears precipitated by melodramas. Indeed, the dependability of movies to provide such experiences lies at the center of the medium's appeal and power. Yet cinema's ability to influence, even manipulate, the emotions of the spectator is one of the least-explored topics in film theory today. In Passionate Views, thirteen internationally recognized scholars of film studies, philosophy, and psychology explore the emotional appeal of the cinema. Employing a novel cognitive perspective, the volume investigates the relationship between genre and emotion; explores how film narrative, music, and cinematic techniques such as the close-up are used to elicit emotion; and examines the spectator's identification with and response to film characters. An impressive range of films and topics is brought together by Carl Plantinga and Greg M. Smith, including: the success of Stella Dallas and An Affair to Remember as tearjerkers; the power of Night of the Living Dead to inspire fear and disgust; the sublime evoked in The Passion of Joan of Arc, Aguirre, the Wrath of God, and The Children of Paradise; the emotional basis of film comedy as seen in When Harry Met Sally; the use of cinematic cues in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Local Hero to arouse emotions; the relationship between narrative flow and emotion in Once Upon a Time in the West and E.T.; the emotive use of music in The Elephant Man and A Clockwork Orange; Stranger than Paradise's sense of timing; desire and resolution in Casablanca; audience identification with the main characters in Groundhog Day and The Crying Game; portrayal of perversity in The Silence of the Lambs, Flaming Creatures, and Shivers; and empathy elicited through closeups of actors' faces in Yankee Doodle Dandy and Blade Runner. Passionate Views offers a new approach to our understanding of film and will be of interest to anyone fascinated by the emotional power of motion pictures and their relationship to the central concerns of our lives, as well as by the techniques filmmakers use to move an audience.


Aims. Shared decision making has been advocated as a means to improve patient-orientation and quality of health care. There is a lack of knowledge on clinical decision making and its relation to outcome in the routine treatment of people with severe mental illness. This study examined preferred and experienced clinical decision making from the perspectives of patients and staff, and how these affect treatment outcome. Methods. "Clinical Decision Making and Outcome in Routine Care for People with Severe Mental Illness" (CEDAR; ISRCTN75841675) is a naturalistic prospective observational study with bimonthly assessments during a 12-month observation period. Between November 2009 and December 2010, adults with severe mental illness were consecutively recruited from caseloads of community mental health services at the six study sites (Ulm, Germany; London, UK; Naples, Italy; Debrecen, Hungary; Aalborg, Denmark; and Zurich, Switzerland). Clinical decision making was assessed using two instruments which both have parallel patient and staff versions: (a) The Clinical Decision Making Style Scale (CDMS) measured preferences for decision making at baseline; and (b) the Clinical Decision Making Involvement and Satisfaction Scale (CDIS) measured involvement and satisfaction with a specific decision at all time points. Primary outcome was patient-rated unmet needs measured with the Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Appraisal Schedule (CANSAS). Mixed-effects multinomial regression was used to examine differences and course over time in involvement in and satisfaction with actual decision making. The effect of clinical decision making on the primary outcome was examined using hierarchical linear modelling controlling for covariates (study centre, patient age, duration of illness, and diagnosis). Analysis were also controlled for nesting of patients within staff. Results. Of 708 individuals approached, 588 adults with severe mental illness (52% female, mean age = 41.7) gave informed consent. Paired staff participants (N = 213) were 61.8% female and 46.0 years old on average. Shared decision making was preferred by patients (χ 2 = 135.08; p < 0.001) and staff (χ 2 = 368.17; p < 0.001). Decision making style of staff significantly affected unmet needs over time, with unmet needs decreasing more in patients whose clinicians preferred active to passive (−0.406 unmet needs per two months, p = 0.007) or shared (−0.303 unmet needs per two months, p = 0.015) decision making. Conclusions. Decision making style of staff is a prime candidate for the development of targeted intervention. If proven effective in future trials, this would pave the ground for a shift from shared to active involvement of patients including changes to professional socialization through training in principles of active decision making.


Labor market regulation is a controversial area of public policy in both developed and developing countries. Mainstream economic analysis traditionally portrays legal interventions providing for minimum wages, unemployment insurance and (often only a modicum of) employment protection as 'luxuries' developing countries cannot afford. After decades of de-regulatory advice, international financial institutions have recently come to a less extreme position. But any such concessions to labor regulation are based on concerns for social stability or for short-term support to aggregate demand, while regulation continues to be viewed as harmful to economic efficiency in the long run. In this paper we take a deeper look at the impact of labor institutions on economic development in two ways. First, we propose a macroeconomic model of a balance-of-payments constrained "small�? developing country open to trade and foreign capital. This helps us clarify the importance of a dynamic view of economic efficiency, as opposed to the static view embedded in mainstream policy advice. Secondly, we discuss the political economy of labor regulation. We argue that labor institutions promote economic development through positive effects on aggregate demand, labor productivity and technology.


The p53 tumor suppressor gene is mutated in varying fractions of almost all tumor types studied. The rate of mutations and the mutational spectrum in some tumors are specific for environmental mutagens assumed to be involved in the carcinogenic process. Thus, hepatocellular carcinomas supposedly induced by aflatoxin exposure often contain a specific point mutation in codon 249, and in lung cancers of miners with heavy radon exposure, another specific point mutation in codon 249 suggestive of an alpha-particle-specific mutation has been shown. The interpretation of studies linking the mutational spectrum with specific environmental exposures is complicated by the multifactorial or unknown genesis of most tumors. However, people given injections of the X-ray contrast medium Thorotrast (Th) in the past have experienced an enormous risk of liver tumors, and virtually all of these are supposedly induced by alpha-particles from the decay of 232Th. The examination of these tumors may provide evidence as to whether specific p53 point mutations are relevant in alpha-particle carcinogenesis. Therefore, we collected paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed archival tissues from 18 hepatocellular carcinomas, 9 cholangiocarcinomas, and 9 hepatic angiosarcomas from Thorotrast-exposed patients. The tissues were analyzed for p53 protein expression by immunohistochemical staining by using the mAb DO-7 and for mutations of exons 5-8 by PCR and constant denaturant gel electrophoresis. G --> T transversions of the third base of codon 249 of the p53 gene were specifically screened for by restriction enzymes. No high score for p53 protein expression (i.e., positive staining of >20% of examined cells) was observed; lower scores were seen in 5 of 18 (28%) hepatocellular carcinomas, 1 of 9 (11%) cholangiocarcinomas, and 0 of 8 (0%) hepatic angiosarcomas. Only one p53 mutation, a heterozygous T --> G transversion of the first base codon 176, occurred in a hepatocellular carcinoma. The rate of p53 point mutations in alpha-particle-induced liver tumors seems to be lower than in European hepatocellular carcinomas in general. The study does not exclude the possibility that alpha-particle carcinogenesis may involve inactivation of p53 by gross deletions of the gene, but it speaks against the proposed specificity of point mutations of codon 249 in cancer supposedly induced by alpha-particles from radon progeny.


The British Empire, the largest empire in history, was fundamentally a maritime one. Britain s imperial power was inextricably tied to the strength of the Royal Navy the ability to protect and extend Britain s political and economic interests overseas, and to provide the vital bonds that connected the metropole with the colonies. This book will examine the intrinsic relationship between the Royal Navy and the empire, by examining not only the navy s expansionist role on land and sea, but also the ideological and cultural influence it exerted for both the coloniser and colonised. The navy s voyages of discovery created new scientific knowledge and inspired art, literature and film. Using the model of the Royal Navy, colonies began to develop their own navies, many of which supported the Royal Navy in the major conflicts of the twentieth century. Daniel Owen Spence here provides a history of the navy s role in empire from the earliest days of colonisation to the present-day Commonwealth. In doing so, he shows how the relationship between the navy and the empire played a part in shaping the globalised society we inhabit today."


The global banana industry relies on tissue culture for uniform plants for better farm management, improved production and for prevention of pests and diseases otherwise transferred in soil or plant material. Banana tissue culture is also required by quarantine authorities to import/export banana plants and used in banana cultivar collections to safely maintain plantlets free of disease in the long term and protected against impacts of weather events or disease incursion. Production needs to be efficient to minimise costs and to deliver large quantities of plants on schedule. Both commercial tissue culture production and research applications involving long-term storage of banana tissue culture and cryopreservation are negatively impacted by bacterial contamination. Endophytic bacteria in tissue cultured plantlets that build up over time and adapt to culture conditions are a problem in banana tissue culture. While fungal contamination is relatively easy to identify and remove from the system, bacteria in tissue culture plants is not always apparent and can rapidly spread during plant micropropagation. Commonly bacteria may only become obvious after an extended culture time such as towards the end of a mass production cycle or in long term storage in a cultivar collection. The widespread bacteria contamination towards the end of a production cycle causes significant loss of plants and unreliable supply. Use of antibiotics rarely eliminates bacteria and can disadvantage plant growth and does not provide a contamination solution. This paper describes an effective assay allowing identification of explants used in banana tissue culture that contain culturable bacteria. Banana cultures initiated via meristem culture were indexed using a combination of four methods using modified nutrient agar that includes: streaking explant, plating macerated tissue taken adjacent explant into agar and broth, and observation of initiated cultures. Cultures initiated and indexed using this multi-culture assay have remained completely free from culturable bacteria for more than 12 years. This paper describes the bacterial screening assay and demonstrates its effectiveness by producing long-term bacterial free banana tissue cultures within the Australian banana germplasm collection.


SiGe/Si - MODFETs have obtained encouraging results with maximum oscillation frequencies for p-and n-channel devices around 100 GHz. The SiGe/Si system is the only one with nearly symmetrical transport properties of holes and electrons. Future development of silicon based ultra high frequency devices will be strongly influenced by integration demands, quality of MOS gates on heterostructures, strained layer engineering and band ordering. Devices which exploit tunnelling, coherent transport and transit time effects will gain importance. Room temperature tunnelling via SiGe quantum wells and quantum dots is proposed and partly tested. Resonance phase operation may allow oscillators with defimed frequencies above the conventional frequency limits.


In March 2012, the Society of Light and Lighting published a new edition of the Code for Lighting. This revision includes a number of changes, which are discussed in detail. Amongst these changes are a recommendation for mean cylindrical illuminance within enclosed spaces and increased room surface reflectances. A method has been proposed by others to perform in-field measurement of cylindrical illuminance without a dedicated meter. Research in a small test space is undertaken to validate this proposed methodology and comment on its accuracy and practicality. Using the same test space, room surface reflectances are altered to demonstrate their impact on the visual environment. The proposed method for recording cylindrical illuminance is found to be accurate, but tedious and time consuming to implement. Room surface reflectances were increased and the effect on illuminance on surfaces, luminance, horizontal illuminance, cylindrical illuminance and modelling index was significant.


The Japanese Army committed numerous atrocities during its pitiless campaigns in China from 1931 to 1945. When the Chinese emerged victorious with the Allies at the end of World War II, many seemed ready to exact retribution for these crimes. Rather than resort to violence, however, they chose to deal with their former enemy through legal and diplomatic means. Focusing on the trials of, and policies toward, Japanese war criminals in the postwar period, Men to Devils, Devils to Men "analyzes the complex political maneuvering between China and Japan that shaped East Asian realpolitik during the Cold War.Barak Kushner examines how factions of Nationalists and Communists within China structured the war crimes trials in ways meant to strengthen their competing claims to political rule. On the international stage, both China and Japan propagandized the tribunals, promoting or blocking them for their own advantage. Both nations vied to prove their justness to the world: competing groups in China by emphasizing their magnanimous policy toward the Japanese; Japan by openly cooperating with postwar democratization initiatives. At home, however, Japan allowed the legitimacy of the war crimes trials to be questioned in intense debates that became a formidable force in postwar Japanese politics.In uncovering the different ways the pursuit of justice for Japanese war crimes influenced Sino-Japanese relations in the postwar years, Men to Devils, Devils to Men "reveals a Cold War dynamic that still roils East Asian relations today.


Voxel-based soft robots (VSRs) are aggregations of elastic, cubic blocks that have sparkled the interest of Robotics and Artificial Life researchers. VSRs can move by varying the volume of individual blocks, according to control signals dictated by a controller, possibly based on inputs coming from sensors embedded in the blocks. Neural networks (NNs) have been used as centralized processing units for those sensing controllers, with weights optimized using evolutionary computation. This structuring breaks the intrinsic modularity of VSRs: decomposing a VSR into modules to be assembled in a different way is very hard. In this work we propose an alternative approach that enables full modularity and is based on a distributed neural controller. Each block contains a small NN that outputs signals to adjacent blocks and controls the local volume, based on signals from adjacent blocks and on local sensor readings. We show experimentally for the locomotion task that our controller is as effective as the centralized one. Our experiments also suggest that the proposed framework indeed allows exploiting modularity: VSRs composed of pre-trained parts (body and controller) can be evolved more efficiently than starting from scratch.


Recent studies have revealed surprising levels of genetic structuring within populations of marine species that were previously thought to be widely dispersed. Such subdivision may reflect unexpected physical or biological barriers to dispersal, including philopatric behaviour. Here we investigate the genetic structure of the eastern Australian yellowfin bream Acanthopagrus australis—a widely distributed species that is thought to be highly dispersive but is also known to spawn in close association with estuaries. Our data from surveys of allele frequencies at 6 microsatel- lite DNA loci for 350 fish revealed high levels of genetic diversity within all sites but no genetic dif- ferentiation of groups of recruits collected from sites separated by a distance of up to 50 km (allele fre- quency differentiation: FST = 0.002, p > 0.05). Moreover, there was no differentiation of adults spread across the distributional range of the species (several 100s of kilometers, FST = 0.002). We conclude that A. australis spawning is opportunistically associated with estuaries in general, and that the spe- cies essentially forms a panmictic population with a genetic homogeneity reflecting the predicted active northwards dispersal of adults and the southwards dispersal of larvae as affected by the East- ern Australian Current.


The present study on sea snake Microcephalophis gracilis gracilis (Serpentes, Reptilia) and Rose-ringed parakeet Psittacula krameri (Psittaciformes, Aves) hemoglobins were undertaken to characterize the primary structure of globin chains. Both animals contain a single hemoglobin component HbA.

Native globins were separated on CM-cellulose 52 in the presence of dissociating agent 8M urea, as well as on reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography. The carboxymethylated sub-units were further degraded by enzymatic and chemical cleavages into small peptides. The complete primary structure of the polypeprides were established by sequence determination of the intact globins chains, the CNBr fragments, peptides obtained by Glu-specific protease and tryptic digestion before and after citraconylation, manually by DABTIC method as well as automatic Edman degradation using the liquid and gas phase sequencers.

The first complete sequence determination of a-and B-chains of Sea snake hemoglobin allows comparison of different characterized species of reptiles. Comparison of a-and B-chains with the corresponding chain of human hemoglobin shows 58 exchanges in the a and 51 in the B-chain involving 17 a1B1, and 4 heme contact residues. Many positions (20 in a and 13 in B-chain) of the Sea snake hemoglobin contain residues unique to this form. Comparison of the Sea snake hemoglobin with other reptilian species shows 52-65 exchanges in the and 37-62 exchanges in the B chain. The corresponding Sea snake versus avian differences being 56-65 in the a and 31-39 in the B-chain.

Primary structures of 29 avian species are known, permitting comparison of the protein structure function relationships. The primary structure of Rose ringed parakeet hemoglobin defines variations within an additional avian order Psittaciformes, (II exchanges in a and 11 in B-chain). Homologous comparison of Rose-ringed parakeet with human hemoglobin revealed 48 difference in a and 2 in the B-chain are unique to Rose ringed parakeet. Comparison of Rose-ringed parakeet with other avian species shows 11-33 in the a and 9-15 in the B-chain, whereas with reptilian species the corresponding differences were 37-67 in the a and 26-58 in the B-chain. B-chain is more conserved than a-chain in both species. The various exchanges are discussed with reference to evolution of hemoglobin molecule. Phylogenetic trees have been constructed using the sequence data of all characterized a and B-chains of avian and reptilian species with respect to Sea snake and Rose-ringed parakeet globin chains. The evolutionary relationship between avain and reptilian species is discussed.


The FAS BeST was developed by parents and educators of children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome rating behaviors characteristic of FASD including; easily influenced by others, difficulty learning from experience, appearing and declaring innocence even when confronted with evidence to the contrary, and experiencing difficulties in other domains. The FAS BeST differentiates between children with PEA, dysgenesis of the corpus callosum (DCC), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Porter & Andrews, 2004). The sample included 294 participants. Using the cutoff score suggested by Porter and Andrews (2004) the accuracy rates were 78% for FAS/E, 100% for controls, 85% for DCC, and 100% for ADHD. Reliability for the FASD BeST was established for all groups using split-half analysis. Criterion validity was verified using the Achenbach behavioral checklists (2002). A factor analysis indicated the FAS BeST denotes a general factor. The FAS BeST is a reliable and valid measure that is easily administered and scored. Children with PEA can be screened to determine whether further evaluation is warranted and differentiate between disorders with similar behaviors, enabling professionals to better serve the child and assist the care providers.


Race and class segregation have long governed patterns of residential sorting in the American metropolis. However, as urban neighborhoods across the country experience an influx of white and middle-class residents, they could alleviate the stark economic and racial segregation that is ubiquitous to urban neighborhoods and school systems. This paper argues that gentrification is a growing phenomenon with great potential to influence neighborhoods as well as cities and the schools within them. Key steps are discussed that policymakers can take to foster neighborhood and school change that is both inclusive and equitable.


Gene expression plays a central role in the orchestration of cellular processes. We recently developed an experimental platform for real-time, closed-loop control of gene expression that integrates microscopy for monitoring gene expression in live cells, microfluidics to manipulate the cells environment, and dedicated software for automated imaging, quantification and model predictive control strategy. This method implements a dynamic interaction between cells and a computer, making it possible to control precisely the level of expression of a gene for both time-constant and time-varying target profiles, at the population level, and even at the single-cell level. I will discuss recent developments of this method and its relevance for systems and synthetic biology.


ABSTRACT The Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev has frequently been hailed as an emblem of 20th-century modernism, its productions created by a ""committee"" of directors, composers, and designers viewed as a realization of an elusive dream of art synthesis. Present research based on diverse unpublished sources traces the beginning of the transition toward modernism on stage to the earlier activities of the Moscow Private Opera directed by Savva Mamontov. An artist and a millionaire, Mamontov succeeded in realizing his ideal of opera as a synthesized art form by instigating major reforms in acting, directing, and design, all later adopted by Diaghilev. However, parallels between their two enterprises have always been dismissed as coincidental. New evidence reveals the existence of a mentor-student relationship between Mamontov and Diaghilev based on shared aesthetic views that earned both men a derogatory label of ""decadents."" Intrigued by Mamontov9s philosophy and collaborative methodology employed in creating productions such as Gluck9s Orfeo and Rimsky-Korsakov9s Sadko , Diaghilev studied organizational principles of his enterprise and modeled the Ballets Russes after them, while himself assuming the role of an artistic director similar to Mamontov9s. Thus, Savva Mamontov paved the way for the modernist vision of theater presented to the world by Diaghilev9s Ballets Russes .


Abstract. Soil compaction is a common problem of mineral soils under conventional tillage practices. Organic matter addition is an efficient way of reducing the effects of field traffic in soil compaction. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of number of tractor passes (one, three, and five) on depth-dependent (0–10 and 10–20 cm) penetration resistance, bulk density, and porosity of clay-textured soil (Typic Xerofluvent) under organic vegetable cultivation practices in the 2010–2013 growing seasons. Fields were treated with farmyard manure (FYM, 35 t ha−1), green manure (GM; common vetch, Vicia sativa L.), and conventional tillage (CT). The number of tractor passes resulted in increases in bulk density and penetration resistance (CT > GM > FYM), whereas the volume of total and macropores decreased. The maximum penetration resistance (3.60 MPa) was recorded in the CT treatment with five passes at 0–10 cm depth, whereas the minimum (1.64 MPa) was observed for the FYM treatment with one pass at 10–20 cm depth. The highest bulk density was determined as 1.61 g cm−3 for the CT treatment with five passes at 10–20 cm depth; the smallest value was 1.25 g cm−3 in the FYM treatment with only one pass at 0–10 cm depth. The highest total and macropore volumes were determined as 0.53 and 0.16 cm3 cm−3 respectively at 0–10 cm depth for the FYM treatment with one pass. The volume of micropores (0.38 cm3 cm−3) was higher at 0–10 cm depth for the FYM treatment with three passes. It can be concluded that organic pre-composted organic amendment rather than green manure is likely to be more efficient in mitigating compaction problems in soil.


A target that moves smoothly and continuously in the visual periphery triggers interceptive saccades that bring its image within the central field. Thus, the saccades increase the population of neurons (e.g., in the cerebral cortex) whose activity correlates with the visual presence of the object, facilitating its foveal pursuit. This foveation is maintained more or less efficiently by two types of tracking eye movements: low-velocity movements and catch-up saccades. We studied in four head-restrained monkeys the evolution of the oculomotor tracking in response to a small target that moved for less than one second (800 ms) along a horizontal or vertical path, after its sudden appearance at an eccentric position (16°) along the vertical or horizontal meridian, respectively. We tested target motions of different velocity profiles (accelerating or decelerating). During the first trials, the tracking consisted of saccades separated by periods during which gaze moved smoothly in the same direction as the target, but lagging behind its current position. The eye velocity mimicked the target velocity profile, i.e., it accelerated or decelerated. This slow tracking evolved: with the number of trials and training days, the animal developed the ability to match the kinematics of its eye movements with that of the target. This evolution in pursuit was obviously associated with a reduction in the amplitude of catch-up saccades and gaze moved as if it were locked onto the target. Our work shows that the oculomotor tracking is driven by sluggish dynamic signals that evolve to encode the "here-and-now" position of the target. Mostly saltatory at the beginning, the tracking transitions to a continuous mode that mimics the target kinematics, enabling the animal to foveally "grasp" the target where it is and when it is there. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


ABSTRACT Purpose: To determine the prevalence of trachoma in all suspected endemic districts in Malawi. Methods: A population-based survey conducted in 16 evaluation units from 12 suspected endemic districts in Malawi (population 6,390,517), using the standardized Global Trachoma Mapping Project (GTMP) protocol. A 2-stage cluster-random sampling design selected 30 households from each of 30 clusters per evaluation unit; all residents aged 1 year and older in selected households were examined for evidence of follicular trachoma (TF), intense trachomatous inflammation (TI), and trachomatous trichiasis (TT). Results: Four of the 16 evaluation units were found to be endemic for trachoma, with a prevalence range of 10.0–13.5% for TF and 0.2–0.6% for TT. Nine evaluation units had a TF prevalence between 5.0% and 9.9% while three evaluation units had a TF prevalence <5.0%. Conclusion: The prevalence rates of active trachoma in Malawi were not uniform among suspected endemic evaluation units, with rates higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) threshold for implementation of community-based control measures (TF ≥ 10.0%) in only 4 of the 16 evaluation units. Trachoma remains a disease of public health importance in some parts of Malawi and adjoining (unmapped) districts should be prioritized for mapping. According to the survey, an additional 3,169,362 people require intervention to reduce active disease and 1557 trichiasis surgeries are needed to reduce the prevalence of TT below WHO recommended thresholds.


The spectral behavior of 15.3-μm-diameter Rhodamine 6G in water solution droplets was studied. Microdroplet lasing is known to occur simultaneously at many discrete wavelengths, each corresponding to one of many possible spherical cavity resonances. We show that lasing takes place on several mode orders at once. Modes of a given order were found to form a bell-shaped spectral cluster of typically 4–6 resonance lines having consecutive principal mode numbers. Clusters of different mode orders appear somewhat displaced spectrally from one another, with lowest-order clusters shifted to the red. This multiplicity of lasing modes is accounted for by spatial hole-burning effects. The relative lasing intensities of the differing mode orders are explained by an output coupling theory that considers the gain enhancement that is due to cavity quantum electrodynamic effects. An upper limit of 108 for the Q of a nondegenerate cavity mode was estimated from the data.


Grant Stevens is ambivalent. The young Brisbane artist made his name with a series of computer-generated animated-text videos that explore cliches but seem undecided as to whether they are trivial and vacuous, profound and authentic or somehow both at once. Stevens plunders mass-media sources (the familiar image repertoire dished up by Hollywood, television, pop music and the Internet) as readymade content. He explores this everyday language, sometimes for its ambiguity, but more often for its almost uncanny lucidity. Resembling meditation and relaxation guides, his recent videos beg the question: what made us so anxious?

This book examines Stevens' artistic output over the first ten years of his practice. It includes essays by Mark Pennings and Chris Kraus.


Focused electron- and ion-beam induced processing are well established techniques for local deposition and etching that rely on decomposition of precursor molecules by irradiation. These high-resolution nanostructuring techniques have various applications in nanoscience including attach-and-release procedures in nanomanipulation and fabrication of sensors (magnetic, optical and thermal) for scanning probe microscopy. However, a complete physical and chemical understanding of the process is hampered by the lack of suitable means to monitor and to access the numerous interrelated and time-varying process parameters (deposition and etch rate, yield, molecule flux and adsorption/desorption). This thesis is a first attempt to fill this gap. It is based on experimental and simulative approaches for the determination of process conditions and mechanical properties of deposited materials: Mass and force sensors: The use of tools merging micromechanical cantilever sensors and scanning electron microscopy was demonstrated for in situ monitoring and analysis. A cantilever-based resonant mass sensing setup was developed and used for real-time mass measurements. A noise level at the femtogram-scale was achieved by tracking the resonance frequency of a temperature stabilized piezoresistive cantilever using phase-locking. With this technique the surface coverage and residence time of (CH3)3PtCpCH3 molecules, the mass deposition rate, the yield, and the material density of corresponding deposits were measured. In situ cantilever-based static force sensing and mechanical modal vibration analysis were employed to investigate the Young's modulus and density of individual high aspect ratio deposits from the precursor Cu(hfac)2. Precursor supply simulations and experiments: A prerequisite to understand and quantify irradiative precursor chemistry is the knowledge of the local flux of molecules impinging on the substrate. Therefore, Monte Carlo simulations of flux distributions were developed and gas flows injected into a vacuum chamber were analyzed experimentally for the precursors Co2(CO)8, (hfac)CuVTMS, and [(PF3)2RhCl]2. The process parameters extracted from the mentioned approaches are valuable input for numerical focused electron- and ion-beam induced process models (Monte Carlo, continuum). We evaluated the precursor surface diffusion coefficient and the electron impact dissociation cross-section by relating deposit shapes to a continuum model.