In recent years both equity and bond markets have been afflicted by high volatility. In order to build up a portfolio on a quantitative basis, several models may be used, such as minimum variance portfolio or equally weighted portfolio. In 2008/09 another way to deal with diversification came up, the equally-weighted risk contribution portfolio. We give an introduction of some quantitative models in which expected returns are not an input. Expected returns estimation is a challenging procedure and we want to figure out how models that discard it can perform. We, also, provide a way to achieve maximum diversification using Expected Shortfall as risk measure and Filtered Historical Simulation as a way to estimate it. We take as a benchmark procedure the evergreen 1/n portfolio, while other methods are minimum variance, minimum Expected Shortfall, Equally Risk Contribution, Maximum Diversification and risk parity portfolio as in Maillard-Roncalli-Teiletche in order to study their characteristics, properties and implementation problems. We use an evaluation methodology that consider risk adjusted return, Ulcer index, thickness of the tail and portfolio turnover. We test modelsperformances against the 1/n by using robust Sharpe Ratio proposed by Ledoit and Wolf. We notice that the benchmark model has a poor risk adjusted performance while the Minimum Variance and Minimum Expected Shortfall models have good results, although in equity markets none of models can produce a statistically different Sharpe ratio.


Animal temperament and individual animal personalities in combination with an animal's ability to cope with stressful situations have been studied in the past. There are clear differences between cattle breeds in urinary catecholamine concentration. Individual differences in behaviour exist in a large number of species and breeds within species. This review gives an overview of the involvement of catecholamines in the expression of stress in animals. Domestication, the heritability of stress and terms currently used in animal personality research are discussed. This includes animals used for production. The aim of this review is to consolidate and present current knowledge on the function of an activated catecholamine system and to question whether behavioural changes of animals are tending towards increased aggressiveness or towards improved coping mechanisms. Keywords: Animal welfare, domestication, fear, personality, stress


Based on NOAA-AVHRR satellite data and runoff records from one of the major drainage basins in Western Greenland methods for monitoring snow cover, snowpack water equivalent and runoff have been elaborated and evaluated by use of field observations and hydrological simulation. Data from six years and more than 40 satellite scenes have been used in the analysis. A procedure for snow cover mapping in areas with alpine relief is presented, and it is shown that the snowpack water equivalent can be derived by applying either a hydrological simulation or a degree-day approach. Finally, the applicability of the results with respect to hydro-power production in Greenland is discussed.


Scale of calcium carbonate deposited on the pipe wall was investigatedin the present study. In the experimental work, the scale-forming solution was prepared by mixing equimolar solutions of CaCl2 and Na2CO3. The alumina was selected to inhibit the crystal growth. The scale growth was continuously observed by measuring the conductivity of the solution coming out of the pipe. Scale formed was then evaluated using SEM/EDX analysis. The result showed that the scale has a plate like morphology and the crystalline phase of the scale was found to be mostly calcite. The presence of alumina seems to change the morphology of the crystals from calcite into vaterite and aragonite amorphous.


The breathtakingly rapid pace of change in computing makes it easy to overlook the pioneers who began it all. Written by Martin Davis, respected logician and researcher in the theory of computation, The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing explores the fascinating lives, ideas, and discoveries of seven remarkable mathematicians. It tells the stories of the unsung heroes of the computer age the logicians. The story begins with Leibniz in the 17th century and then focuses on Boole, Frege, Cantor, Hilbert, and Gdel, before turning to Turing. Turings analysis of algorithmic processes led to a single, all-purpose machine that could be programmed to carry out such processesthe computer. Davis describes how this incredible group, with lives as extraordinary as their accomplishments, grappled with logical reasoning and its mechanization. By investigating their achievements and failures, he shows how these pioneers paved the way for modern computing. Bringing the material up to date, in this revised edition Davis discusses the success of the IBM Watson on Jeopardy, reorganizes the information on incompleteness, and adds information on Konrad Zuse. A distinguished prize-winning logician, Martin Davis has had a career of more than six decades devoted to the important interface between logic and computer science. His expertise, combined with his genuine love of the subject and excellent storytelling, make him the perfect person to tell this story.


It is observed that the prepositional direct object phenomena are related to past participle agreement and auxiliary selection in compound tenses. The purpose of this paper is to show that verb properties and object referent properties co-occur in prepositional direct object selection. Data from Spanish, Sardinian, Sicilian, Calabrian, Maltese and Roumanian are examined. The triggering parameters are the same in all the languages that are considered: 1) object affectedness (and, consequently, verb telicity), 2) object agentivity, 3) object individuation. Each parameter represents a scale according to which verb phrases (or clauses) can be ranked and, then, objects are more or less likely to be prepositional (= non-canonically marked) or non-prepositional (canonically marked).


Survivin is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family. The expression of survivin has not been reported in differentiated normal tissues, but it has been observed in many cancerous tissues. Recent studies have revealed that survivin may correlate with the chemo-radio resistance of certain malignant cells. In the present study, the correlation between the occurrence of apoptosis and the level of expression of survivin messenger RNA (mRNA) was investigated in a gastric cancer cell line (MKN-45) and in patients with advanced gastric cancer during cisplatin (CDDP) treatment. In the gastric cancer cell line, the percentage of apoptotic cells (apoptotic index: AI) did not change after 48 h incubation with low-dose CDDP (1 microg/ml), whereas the AI explosively increased between 12 and 24 h treatment with high-dose CDDP (10 microg/ml). Relative levels of expression of survivin mRNA and survivin protein increased after low- and high-dose CDDP treatment. Survivin mRNA was not detected in normal gastric mucosas. Also, in 13 patients with advanced gastric cancer who underwent CDDP-based preoperative chemotherapy, survivin mRNA was detected in only 2 cases (15.4%). Survivin mRNA was observed in the resected tumor specimens of two cases. No significant correlation between survivin mRNA expression and the occurrence of apoptosis in resected tumors or between survivin mRNA expression and patient survival was observed. These findings indicate that survivin may play an important role for the chemoresistance of this cancer cell line. However, the clinical importance of survivin expression remains unclear in patients with gastric cancer.


A knees-up at a country fair, a pair of dancing ogres, children round a maypole, ballroom champions, decadent masquerade, and celebrations at Piccadilly Circus on VE day all feature in this enchanting survey of dance illustration through the centuries. What do these vibrant, often elegant and sometimes irreverent images reveal to us about the history of social dancing and changing attitudes towards the dance floor? In his richly illustrated book, Jeremy Barlow surveys over 600 years of imagery, drawing out major themes in the representation of dance. He shows how over the centuries, artists and illustrators have represented dance in a stylized and often humorous manner, with curved, flowing lines for the gracious dancer and angular postures for the uncouth, rustic, or exhibitionistic performer. He also reveals how artists have responded in imaginative ways to the challenge of how to convey a sense of the dancer's movement through a frozen moment in print, and what techniques illustrators have used to demonstrate specific poses and steps, from the galliard, mazurka, and minuet to the waltz, tango, and cha cha cha. Finally he examines the age-old tension between decorum and licence on the dance floor and how this changed with the advent of jive and the untutored vitality of rock'n' roll. The book draws on a wide range of materials in the Bodleian Library, including fourteenth-century manuscripts, satirical prints, dance cards, and invitations to balls. Each image is carefully analysed for what it can reveal to us about behavioural codes and satirical intent, providing an unusual insight into the social history and imagery of dance.


Ungrounded haptic devices for virtual reality (VR) applications lack the ability to convincingly render the sensations of a grasped virtual object's rigidity and weight. We present Grabity, a wearable haptic device designed to simulate kinesthetic pad opposition grip forces and weight for grasping virtual objects in VR. The device is mounted on the index finger and thumb and enables precision grasps with a wide range of motion. A unidirectional brake creates rigid grasping force feedback. Two voice coil actuators create virtual force tangential to each finger pad through asymmetric skin deformation. These forces can be perceived as gravitational and inertial forces of virtual objects. The rotational orientation of the voice coil actuators is passively aligned with the real direction of gravity through a revolute joint, causing the virtual forces to always point downward. This paper evaluates the performance of Grabity through two user studies, finding promising ability to simulate different levels of weight with convincing object rigidity. The first user study shows that Grabity can convey various magnitudes of weight and force sensations to users by manipulating the amplitude of the asymmetric vibration. The second user study shows that users can differentiate different weights in a virtual environment using Grabity.


Abstract The scope, methodology, and preliminary results are presented of a series of neutron transport and activation analyses aimed at updating the ITER radioactive inventory assessment and assisting the waste management planning. Calculations are performed using state-of-the-art three-dimensional models, codes, and data libraries and thereby overcoming earlier conservative one-dimensional evaluations. The latest information on component design, maintenance, materials, and French regulatory framework is used. Results include categorization snapshots at different decay times, time histories of activation, IRAS index and other radiological quantities throughout the machine, and guidelines on interim decay times for different components. The aim is to provide information for the design and development of ITER systems, maintenance operations, and waste management processes and services.


The continuous growth of the demand of cereals and diversification of agricultural production is reason to seek new and high-yielding plant species. Remote hybridization and artificial polyploidisation are methods creating new species which combine the valuable properties of their parental forms and in some cases outmatch them. A large number of hybrids and amphidiploid forms in the genus Triticum are created and characterized with resistance to diseases, high yield potential and high adaptability under different growing conditions. Some of them are genetically stable in subsequent generations without sharp variation to the specific characteristics. Similar plant accessions exhibiting significant differences from their parental components as well as from other plant species in the same genus, furthermore in combination with their high genetic stability, should be separated as a new species within the genus Triticum. In studies on the morphology and physiology of three amphidiploid accessions (Triticum polonicum × Triticum boeoticum, Triticum durum × Triticum boeoticum, Triticum turanicum × Triticum timopheevii), for a period of three years (2011-2013) their stability, lack of sharp variations, high adaptability to growing conditions, high yield performance, resistance to diseases and tolerance to pests are established. As a result of their complex evaluation, the accessions are differentiated and described as a new species in the genus Triticum as follows: Triticum ×savovii H.P. Stoyanov nothosp. nov. (Triticum polonicum × Triticum boeoticum); Triticum ×spetsovii H.P. Stoyanov nothosp. nov. (Triticum durum × Triticum boeoticum); Triticum ×toschevii H.P. Stoyanov nothosp. nov. (Triticum turanicum × Triticum timopheevii). The described new species could be successfully introduced as grain cereals and used as initial material in winter wheat breeding programs.


Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diodes with GaInNAs-GaAs quantum-well (QW) active layers are demonstrated for the first time. GaInNAs permits the realization of a long-wavelength vertical-cavity laser grown directly on a GaAs substrate. Room-temperature (RT) pulsed operation is achieved, with an active wavelength near 1.18 /spl mu/m, threshold current density of 3.1 kA/cm/sup 2/, slope efficiency of /spl sim/0.04 W/A, and output power above 5 mW for 45-/spl mu/m-diameter devices. Laser oscillation is observed for temperatures at high as 95/spl deg/C.


Introduction: Health problems emanating from sexual behaviour include HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections among adolescents are considered high in South Africa. Also, the burden of unplanned pregnancies has wider implications in society. These problems occur in spite of a number of different sexual health promotion programmes. The aim of the study was to view the perception of high school teenagers to sexual health promotions programmes as well as their response to these programmes.

 Objectives:
1. To explore the perceptions of local teenagers regarding the content and materials used in local health promotion programmes
2. To explore the perceptions of local teenagers regarding the communication strategies and style used in local health promotion programmes
3. To explore the perceptions of local teenagers regarding the impact of local health promotion programmes on their behaviour

 Method: This was a qualitative study. The study population was high school teenagers from the Whittlesea townships in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Fourteen purposefully selected teenagers from the seven high schools were individually interviewed. Analysis was done using the framework method.

 Results: The study showed that the content of sexual health promotion programmes to which high school teenagers in Whittlesea were exposed to composed of sexual health education and the building of life skills. Perception of the messages in these contents was influenced by lack of communication on sexual matters within individual families and religious beliefs of participants. The programmes were considered to be practical and helpful. Methods that involved teenagers' participation or interaction were generally preferred and the communication style was perceived as facilitating behavioural/attitudinal change. Conclusion: In order for adolescent sexual health promotion programmes to be effective, they should employ methods that involve participation and human interaction. The involvement of parents, role models, religious groups and community services in sexual health promotion could be helpful in promoting sexual health education and lifestyle change amongst teenagers.


Abstract A sample of 162 trees was harvested from a 36-year-old Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) progeny trial to evaluate correlations between early measurements of branch diameter, and other stem and branch traits, with sawn timber traits, and hence their potential utility for predicting wood quality. The sample trees were assigned to three genetic groups of small, medium and large branch diameter, based on parental breeding values. Bottom logs were cut and sawn, and several important traits for the visual quality of the boards were assessed. Phenotypic correlations were then estimated between these traits and measurements of the height, diameter, branch diameter, branch angle, stem crookedness, number of branches and grain angle under bark of the corresponding trees when they were 16 and 36 years old. The diameter of the coarsest knot in the board was correlated with the branch diameter at the age of 16 years (0.50), and there were significant differences in this trait among the genetic branch diameter groups. In addition, the board twist was correlated with the grain angle under bark at the age of 36 years (0.54). Thus, the field assessments of branch diameter and grain angle under bark show relevance for the visual quality of centrally sawn small timber.


Monitoring ambient concentrations of ultrafine particles (UFPs) is important due to their negative impact on human health. This paper provides measurements of UFP concentrations near roadways because emissions from light duty vehicles (LDVs) and heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) have been shown to be a major source of UFPs. The concentration of UFPs was measured near two different roadways in Chicago IL for 2 to 4 hours on 52 days between 2014 and 2016. One of the sites was restricted to LDVs (Lake Shore Drive, LSD) and had a near roadway concentration from vehicles (background subtracted) that averaged nearly 8,000 particles cm–3. The other site had a mix of LDVs and HDVs (Dan Ryan Expressway, DRE) and the near roadway concentration from the vehicle fleet (background subtracted) averaged nearly 11,000 particles cm–3. The contribution of UFPs from HDVs was almost 80% of the total emissions on the DRE demonstrating that HDVs emit many more UFPs than LDVs. Background concentrations of UFP were measured upwind of the near roadway sampling sites and were subtracted from the near roadway measurements in order to determine the vehicle contribution to the total UFP concentration. The background concentrations varied with wind direction and therefore were divided into ambient background categories based on wind direction. The four different background categories are defined as remote, lake, industrial and urban. Each category has a distinct different average ambient background concentration (particles cm–3) as follows: remote, 2,700; lake, 6,000; industrial 12,000 and urban 11,000. The large background concentrations in urban areas indicate that total near roadway measurements are generally near 20,000 particles cm–3 with 50 to 60% from vehicles and reach to 60,000 particles cm–3 depending on the background and traffic emission. The results indicate high UFP readings near roadway and one possible solution is mitigation of traffic congestion.


This paper considers the ways in which Neil Gaiman's The Sandman appropriates and transforms the works of William Shakespeare. Shakespeare features in three comics from the award-winning Sandman series: 'Men of Good Fortune' (The Sandman #13), 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (The Sandman #19), and 'The Tempest' (The Sandman #75). The series rewrites the Shakespearean legend into a Faustian bargain and provides readings of these two plays that not only sustain their traditional interpretations and performance legacies, but also subsumes them within a wider treatise on the nature of literary creation. In this sense The Sandman transforms Shakespeare's works into metafictional diatribes that comment both on his life and on the nature of literary creation and storytelling.

The Sandman #19 (Neil Gaiman/Charles Vess) tells of Dream's first performance by Lord Strange's Men to a faerie audience that includes many of the play's characters, allowing Gaiman to situate 'real' versions of the play's characters and events alongside their actor counterparts. In this way Sandman #19 both performs and comments upon Dream. Drawing on previously published criticism, this article briefly discusses the ways in which the comic sustains many semantic and structural themes of the Shakespearean text. These include the play's reality/illusion dichotomy, the play-within-play motif, the entertainment of the faerie cast by the mechanicals, and the doubling of many characters and events. However, Gaiman's treatment of many of these elements may also be said to simultaneously subvert the original text, as his faerie characters are often opposed to their Shakespearean counterparts.

The article then moves to consider The Sandman #75 (Neil Gaiman/Charles Vess). This comic surrounds the text of The Tempest with a metafiction that replicates the play's motifs, themes and specific scenes. In so doing it comments on the small amount we know about Shakespeare's life, and draws parallels between the author, its titular character, Morpheus, and even Gaiman as the comic's creator.

The main body of this article proceeds to discuss the effects of this transformation of Shakespeare's life and work. As metafiction that deals not only with the creative process and the telling of stories, but also with the nature of fact and fiction/reality and illusion, The Sandman provides an informative example of the uses and effects of metafiction that is of interest not only to students of literature, but also accessible to general readers. This article closely examines The Sandman #13 (Neil Gaiman/Michael Zulli and others), which details the pact made between Morpheus and Shakespeare. It concludes that while this scenario initially appears to attack Shakespeare and reference the history of doubt surrounding his works, the mystical nature of this pact means it can also be read as sustaining 'bardolatry'.

The article concludes that subversive and supportive elements coexist in both the Shakespearean content of The Sandman and its medium (which challenges elitist notions of Shakespearean drama while retaining an emphasis on spectacle and performance). In many respects comics align with dramatic texts: both are subject to constant reinterpretation and re-creation with each new reading/production and, while having a textual basis, therefore exist in no original form. As such, Gaiman and Vess offer a reinterpretation of the plays and playwright that renews and relocates Shakespeare by aligning the man's life with his fictions, and in this regard sheds light on academic discourse that habitually sets literature against popular culture.


This chapter offers a critical exploration of the work of beginning teachers of secondary English at the University of Nottingham, who have been involved, alongside their own pupils, in a series of film-making projects which have taken place annually since 2010. During these projects, beginning teachers are mentored by creative practitioners to support their pupils in the creation of short films about their schools and communities. Pupils are supported to develop films from original screenplay through to final production, and beginning teachers learn about what is involved in managing such projects, from practical media skills through to the potential of creative collaboration with community. Pupils' teachers and families attend a screening of their completed films at a local arts cinema. These projects engage beginning teachers of English with the creative potential of their subject at a time when it has been increasingly framed according to prescriptive models of literacy as a measurable skill set and when changes to the curriculum have further marginalised non-dominant voices. Through examination of the processes and products of these projects as collaborative constructions of place and identity, we show the significant potential of community-based educational partnership. We also argue for the importance of ITE which remains committed to close engagement with the resources of young people and their communities. We explore the power of this for critical literacy learning in current classrooms and as a means of developing beginning teachers' critical capacity to respond to challenges in the classrooms of the future.


The application of Quantum Teleportation for control of classical dynamic systems and autonomy is proposed in this paper. Quantum teleportation is an intrinsically quantum phenomenon, and was first introduced by teleporting an unknown quantum state via dual classical and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen channels in 1993. In this paper, we consider the possibility of applying this quantum technique to autonomous mobile classical platforms for control and autonomy purposes for the first time in this research. First, a review of how Quantum Entanglement and Quantum Cryptography can be integrated into macroscopic mechanical systems for controls and autonomy applications is presented, as well as how quantum teleportation concepts may be applied to the classical domain. In quantum teleportation, an entangled pair of photons which are correlated in their polarizations are generated and sent to two autonomous platforms, which we call the Alice Robot and the Bob Robot. Alice has been given a quantum system, i.e. a photon, prepared in an unknown state, in addition to receiving an entangled photon. Alice measures the state of her entangled photon and her unknown state jointly and sends the information through a classical channel to Bob. Although Alice original unknown state is collapsed in the process of measuring the state of the entangled photon (due to the quantum non-cloning phenomenon), Bob can construct an accurate replica of Alice state by applying a unitary operator. This paper, and the previous investigations of the applications of hybrid classical-quantum capabilities in control of dynamical systems, are aimed to promote the adoption of quantum capabilities and its advantages to the classical domain particularly for autonomy and control of autonomous classical systems.


Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are effective in cancer prevention and have been shown to suppress the formation of colorectal tumors in both humans and rodents. The chemopreventive action of NSAIDs is believed to be mediated through induction of apoptosis in preneoplastic cells. However, the precise molecular mechanisms of NSAID-induced apoptosis remain unclear. Previous studies demonstrated that second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase (SMAC) plays an important role in executing NSAID-induced apoptosis in colon cancer cells. SMAC-knockout HCT116 colon cancer cells are resistant to NSAID-induced apoptosis, and are deficient in caspase activation and cytosolic release of cytochrome c and apoptosis inducing factor (AIF). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that SMAC regulates the release of cytochrome c and activation of caspase cascade through a feed-back amplification loop. We found that the N-terminal AVPI domain of SMAC is required for the proapoptotic activity of SMAC. Following NSAID treatment, SMAC promotes dissociation of caspase-3 from inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs), which in turn leads to mitochondrial dysfunction. We also studied the effects of pharmacological manipulation on NSAID-induced apoptosis by employing small-molecule compounds that functionally mimic the AVPI domain of SMAC. A synergistic action of NSAIDs and SMAC mimetics was observed in inducing a robust apoptotic response in several colon cancer cell lines, as well as in NSAID-resistant BAX-KO and SMAC-KO cell lines. SMAC mimetics appear to potentiate NSAID-induced apoptosis by stimulating the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and activation of caspases. Together, these results suggest that SMAC may be useful as a target for the development of more effective chemopreventive agents.


Robert Venturi exploded onto the architectural scene in 1966 with a radical call to arms in Complexity and Contradiction. Further accolades and outrage ensued in 1972 when Venturi and Denise Scott Brown (along with Steven Izenour) analyzed the Las Vegas strip as an archetype in Learning from Las Vegas. Now, for the first time, these two observer-designer-theorists turn their iconoclastic vision onto their own remarkable partnership and the rule-breaking architecture it has informed. The views of Venturi and Scott Brown have influenced architects worldwide for nearly half a century. Pluralism and multiculturalism; symbolism and iconography; popular culture and the everyday landscape; generic building and electronic communication are among the many ideas they have championed. Here, they present both a fascinating retrospective of their life work and a definitive statement of its theoretical underpinnings. Architecture as Signs and Systems is aimed at students of architecture and urban planning, as well as anyone intrigued by these seminal cultural figures. Venturi and Scott Brown have devoted their professional lives to broadening our view of the built world and enlarging the purview of practitioners within it. By looking backward over their own life work, they discover signs and systems that point forward, toward a humane Mannerist architecture for a complex, multicultural society.


Now readers can get all the accuracy and authority of the best-selling intermediate accounting book in the new second edition of this brief, streamlined version! "Fundamentals of Intermediate Accounting" presents a balanced discussion of concepts and applications, explaining the rationale behind business transactions before addressing the accounting and reporting for those activities. Readers will gain a solid foundation in such areas as the standard-setting process, the three major financial statements, revenue recognition, income taxes, reporting disclosure issues, and much more.


This guide to the policy-making functions of community colleges' boards of trustees is based on a 3-year operational review conducted by Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ontario (Canada). The guide begins by outlining the purposes and processes of Cambrian's governance self-study. Next, differences among Canadian colleges that affect the role of their boards in policy making are noted, including age, size, and governance structure. The characteristics of five types of boards (i.e., working, administrative, administrative/management, management/policy, and policy boards) are outlined next. A list of the characteristics of effective policy boards is followed by lists of the responsibilities of a policy board for a mediumto large-sized college, and of the processes required'for board effectiveness. Quote:. that illustrate how academics view policy are followed by statements defining and establishing the purpose of governing policies; e.g., governing policies must be future-oriented and above day-to-day operations and the pressures and crises of the moment. Comments on levels of policy (i.e., mission and values; and governing, executive, and operating . policy) are followed by charts illustrating areas of policy making and approaches to policy making on the issues of staff development, expense reimbursement, copyright, and graduation requirements by policy level. Guidelines for the governance of policy development cover the steps of identification of need, formulation, adoption, implementation, and review and evaluation of the policy. Next, a checklist provides a framework for individual trustees to use in analyzing the development, establishment, and review of their Board's governing policies and for staff to use in carrying out their related functions. Concluding comments discuss the related issues of policy making and leadership. Contains 10 references. (KP)


Higher dimensional differential equations may express several real world simulation processes which depend upon their pre-history and subject to short-time disturbances. Such processes occur in the theory of optimal control, population dynamics, biotechnologies, economics, mathematical physics etc. So, the study of this class of dynamical systems is gradually gaining momentum. In the present work Avery-Peterson theorem has been envisaged for getting the positive periodic solutions of the corresponding differential equations for cones with impulses on time scales. By using the multiple fixed-point theorems we have shown through different lemmas and manipulation of several functions how the necessary criteria can be mathematically arrived at so that the results come to be feasible as well as effective. Keywords: Real world simulation processes; Theory of optimal control; Population dynamics; Biotechnologies; Economics The Himalayan Physics Vol.2, No.2, May, 2011 Page: 50-53 Uploaded Date : 1 August, 2011


Static signature verication has a signicant use in establishing the authenticity of bank checks, insurance and legal documents based on the signatures they carry. As an individual signs only a few times on the forms for opening an account with any bank or for insurance related purposes, the number of genuine signature templates available in banking and insurance applications is limited, a new approach of static handwritten signature verication based on Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) by using only ve genuine signatures for training is proposed in this paper. Initially the genuine and test signatures belonging to an individual are normalized after calculating the aspect ratios of the genuine signatures. The horizontal and vertical projection features of a signature are extracted using discrete Radon transform and the two vectors are combined to form a combined projection feature vector. The feature vectors of two signatures are matched using DTW algorithm. The closed area formed by the matching path around the diagonal of the DTW-grid is computed and is multiplied with the dierence cost between the feature vectors. A threshold is calculated for each genuine sample during the training. The test signature is compared with each genuine sample and a matching score is calculated. A decision to accept or reject is made on the average of such scores. The entire experimentations were performed on a global signature database (GPDS-Signature Database) of 2106 signatures with 936 genuine signatures and 1170 skilled forgeries. To evaluate the performance, experiments were carried out with 4 to 5 genuine samples for training and with dierent 'scores'. The proposed as well as the existing DTW-method were implemented and compared. It is observed that the proposed method is superior in terms of Equal Error Rate (EER) and Total Error Rate (TER) when 4 or 5 genuine signatures were used for training. Also it is observed that the False Acceptance Rate (FAR) of the proposed system decreases as the number of genuine training samples increases.


We study the potential of weak-lensing surveys to detect clusters of galaxies, using a fast particle-mesh cosmological N-body simulation algorithm specifically tailored to investigate the statistics of these shear-selected clusters. In particular, we explore the degree to which the radial positions of galaxy clusters can be determined tomographically, by using photometric redshifts of background source galaxies. We quantify the errors in the tomographic redshifts, Δz ≡ ztomography - zreal, and study their dependence on mass, redshift, detection significance, and filtering scheme. For clusters detected with signal-to-noise ratio S/N ≳ 4.5, the fraction of clusters with tomographic redshift errors |Δz| ≤ 0.2 is 45% and the rms deviation from the real redshifts is ⟨(Δz)2⟩1/2 = 0.41, with smaller errors for higher S/N. A tomographic matched filtering (TMF) scheme, which combines tomography and matched filtering, is introduced that optimally detects clusters of galaxies in weak-lensing surveys. The TMF exploits the extra information provided by photometric redshifts of background source galaxies, neglected in previous studies, to optimally weight the sources. The efficacy and reliability of the TMF are investigated using a large ensemble of mock observations from our simulations, and detailed comparisons are made to other filters. Using photometric redshift information with the TMF enhances the number of clusters detected with S/N ≳ 4.5 by as much as 76%, and it increases the dynamic range of weak-lensing searches for clusters, detecting more high-redshift clusters and extending the mass sensitivity down to the scale of large groups. Furthermore, we find that coarse redshift binning of source galaxies with as few as three bins is sufficient to realize the gains of the TMF. Thus, the tomographic filtering techniques presented here can be applied to current ground-based weak-lensing data in as few as three bands, since two colors and magnitude prior are sufficient to bin source galaxies this coarsely. Cosmological applications of shear-selected cluster samples are also discussed.


Multiple description coding (MDC) is a source coding technique that involves coding the source information into multiple descriptions, and then transmitting them over different channels in packet network or error-prone wireless environment to achieve graceful degradation if parts of descriptions are lost at the receiver. In this paper, we proposed a multiple description distributed wavelet zero tree image coding system for mobile wireless transmission. We provide two innovations to achieve an excellent error resilient capability. First, when MDC is applied to wavelet subband based image coding, it is possible to introduce correlation between the descriptions in each subband. We consider using such a correlation as well as potentially error corrupted description as side information in the decoding to formulate the MDC decoding as a Wyner Ziv decoding problem. If only part of descriptions is lost, however, their correlation information is still available, the proposed Wyner Ziv decoder can recover the description by using the correlation information and the error corrupted description as side information. Secondly, in each description, single bitstream wavelet zero tree coding is very vulnerable to the channel errors. The first bit error may cause the decoder to discard all subsequent bits whether or not the subsequent bits are correctly received. Therefore, we integrate the multiple description scalar quantization (MDSQ) with the multiple wavelet tree image coding method to reduce error propagation. We first group wavelet coefficients into multiple trees according to parent-child relationship and then code them separately by SPIHT algorithm to form multiple bitstreams. Such decomposition is able to reduce error propagation and therefore improve the error correcting capability of Wyner Ziv decoder. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme not only exhibits an excellent error resilient performance but also demonstrates graceful degradation over the packet loss rate.


Security in the Internet of Things (IoT) requires ways to regularly update firmware in the field. These demands ever increase with new, agile concepts such as security as code and should be considered a regular operation. Hosting massive firmware roll-outs present a crucial challenge for the constrained wireless environment. In this paper, we explore how information-centric networking can ease reliable firmware updates. We start from the recent standards developed by the IETF SUIT working group and contribute a system that allows for a timely discovery of new firmware versions by using cryptographically protected manifest files. Our design enables a cascading firmware roll-out from a gateway towards leaf nodes in a low-power multi-hop network. While a chunking mechanism prepares firmware images for typically low-sized maximum transmission units (MTUs), an early Denial-of-Service (DoS) detection prevents the distribution of tampered or malformed chunks. In experimental evaluations on a real-world IoT testbed, we demonstrate feasible strategies with adaptive bandwidth consumption and a high resilience to connectivity loss when replicating firmware images into the IoT edge.


Geodesic measurements of mining area deformations indicate that their description fails to be regular, as opposed to what the predictions based on the relationships of the geometric-integral theory suggest. The Knothe theory, most commonly applied in that case, considers such parameters as the exploitation coefficient a and the angle of the main influences range tgβ, describing the geomechanical properties of the medium, as well as the mining conditions. The study shows that the values of the parameters a = 0.8 and tgβ = 2.0, most commonly adopted for the prediction of surface deformation, are not entirely adequate in describing each and every mining situation in the analysed rock mass. Therefore, the paper aims to propose methodology for determining the value of exploitation coefficient a, which allows to predict the values of surface subsidence caused by underground coal mining with roof caving, depending on geological and mining conditions. The characteristics of the analysed areas show that the following factors affect surface subsidence: thickness of overburden, type of overburden strata, type of Carboniferous strata, rock mass disturbance and depth of exploitation. These factors may allow to determine the exploitation coefficient a, used in the Knothe theory for surface deformation prediction.


Abstract. A detailed α-pinene oxidation mechanism was reduced systematically through the successive application of five mechanism reduction techniques. The resulting reduced mechanism preserves the ozone- and organic aerosol-forming properties of the original mechanism, while using less species. The methodologies employed included a directed relation graph method with error propagation (DRGEP, which removed a large number of redundant species and reactions), principal component analysis of the rate sensitivity matrix (PCA, used to remove unnecessary reactions), the quasi-steady-state approximation (QSSA, used to remove some QSS species), an iterative screening method (ISSA, which removes redundant species and reactions simultaneously), and a new lumping approach dependent on the hydrocarbon to NOx ratio (which reduced the number of species in mechanism subsets for specific hydrocarbon to NOx ranges). This multistage methodology results in a reduction ratio of 2.5 for the number of both species and reactions compared with the full mechanism. The simplified mechanism reproduces the important gas and aerosol phase species (the latter are examined in detail by individual condensing species as well as in classes according to four functional groups: PANs, nitrates, organic peroxides, and organic acids). The total SOA mass is also well represented in the condensed mechanism, to within 16% of the detailed mechanism under a wide range of conditions. The methodology described here is general, and may be used in general mechanism reduction problems.


A comparative study is made of the Knox–Thompson and triple-correlation techniques as applied to image restoration. Both photon-noise-degraded imaging and atmospheric-turbulence-degraded imaging are considered. The signal-to-noise ratios of the methods are studied analytically and with the aid of computer simulations. The ability to retain diffraction-limited information on imaging through turbulence is considered in terms of phase-closure relationships. On the basis of this work it is found that the two image-restoration techniques are effectively equivalent.


While environmental performance of cage-based aquaculture is most often monitored through benthic conditions, there may also be requirements that necessitate discrete, pelagic sampling. In the pelagic realm, adequately capturing the spatial and temporal dynamics of interest and attributing causality to aquaculture processes can be extremely challenging. Conditions are seldom ideal, and data adequacy concerns of discrete samples collected at open-water aquaculture sites are not uncommon. Further exploration of these challenges is needed. Herein, we aim to explore considerations for study design, analysis, and data interpretation of discrete pelagic sampling. As examples, we present 2 case studies where limited sampling occurred under conditions of complex pelagic dynamics. A Norwegian case study quantified particle abundance around salmon farms, and aimed to highlight the effects of spatial−temporal variation on sampling design, the need for inclusion of companion parameters, and the benefits of a priori and a posteriori data interpretation strategies. A Canadian case study collected discrete samples to measure ammonium concentrations with continuous current measurements at an Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) farm, to explore issues of complex hydrodynamics, reference site suitability, sampling resolution, data pooling, and post hoc power tests. We further discuss lessons learned and the implications of study design, ambient conditions, physical processes, farm management, statistical analysis, companion parameters, and the potential for confounding effects. Pragmatic consideration of these aspects will ultimately serve to better frame the costs and benefits of discrete pelagic sampling at open-water aquaculture sites.


The autonomy of mobile systems increases constantly. That means that the flexibility of their task execution, their capabilities to handle local conflicts and the usage of their local knowledge increase. The paper shows that because of this autonomy coordination in a factory must be reconsidered and that global coordination is still able to improve the efficiency and the safety of autonomous mobile systems. It suggests a knowledge structure for coordination containing global information which is called section knowledge. This section knowledge helps the mobile systems to coordinate themselves. Furthermore, some agents, using the section knowledge, are introduced which can advise the mobile systems. The section knowledge is stored in the distributed knowledge base, whose features of preventing the section knowledge of becoming a bottleneck are explained.


Dopamine (DA) is an important neuromodulator of the central nervous system; an accurate control of DA levels and the resulting interaction with DA receptors is important for a correct brain functioning. Several human neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and psychiatry disorders are characterized by DArgic dysfunctions. DA D2 receptor (D2R) occupies a privileged position in the dopaminergic transmission. D2Rs are widely expressed in the brain; importantly, they are expressed presynaptically on dopaminergic neurons as well as postsynaptically on neurons targeted by dopaminergic neurons. To date it has been impossible to discern pre- from post-synaptic D2R-mediated functions. Genetically engineered mice, thus, represent important tools to address this question and identify D2R functions in vivo. Presynaptically, D2Rs (also named autoreceptors) regulate DA synthesis and release from dopaminergic neurons; thereby, their activation (i.e. by agonists/antagonists) affects mice motor behavior and can be used as readout of autoreceptor functions. Importantly, we have recently generated mutants lacking D2Rs either from dopaminergic neurons or from striatal medium spiny neurons (MSNs). D2 autoreceptor mutants present hyperactivity in a novel environment and an increased motor response to cocaine. Unexpectedly, we observed that in the absence of these receptors, the postsynaptic D2Rs (heteroreceptors) exert an inhibitory control on dopaminergic neurons thus affecting the release and the synthesis of DA, a function previously thought to be controlled only by D2 autoreceptors. Conversely, mice lacking D2Rs on the MSNs present a strong impairment of movements and an altered response to drugs such as cocaine, showing their importance in the regulation of the initiation of movement.


Memantine is an uncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist with moderate affinity. Its mechanism of action is neuroprotective and potentially therapeutic in several neuropsychiatric diseases. It has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease (AD) either as a monotherapy or in combination with cholinesterase inhibitors. This review covers key studies of memantine's safety and efficacy in treating moderate to severe AD. It also covers current research into other dementias including but not exclusively mild AD and vascular dementia. Other studies on the efficacy of memantine for other neuropsychiatric diseases are discussed. Memantine is a safe and effective drug that merits further research on several topics. Clinicians should be aware of new studies and potential uses of memantine because of its safety and efficacy.


The Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems - JSDEWES is an international journal dedicated to the improvement and dissemination of knowledge on methods, policies and technologies for increasing the sustainability of development by de-coupling growth from natural resources and replacing them with knowledge based economy, taking into account its economic, environmental and social pillars, as well as methods for assessing and measuring sustainability of development, regarding energy, transport, water, environment and food production systems and their many combinations. In total 32 manuscripts were published in Volume III, all of them reviewed by at least two reviewers. The Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems would like to thank reviewers for their contribution to the quality of the published manuscripts.


"This study involved three teachers in various stages of implementation of inquiry-based science method. The cases were chosen because one participant was a novice in using inquiry-based science method, one participant was in her second year of implementation, and the third participant was experienced with inquiry-based science method. The cases were set in a rural high school in three different science classrooms. One of the classrooms was a regular biology class. One of the classrooms was an honors oceanography class and another was an advanced placement environmental science classroom. Data sources included interviews, observations, and document collection. Interviews, observations, and document collection were used to triangulate data. Each classroom was observed five times. Interviews were conducted at the beginning of the semester with each participant and at the end of the semester. Follow-up interviews were conducted after each observation. Documents were collected such as each teacher's lesson plans, student work, and assignments. Data was initially organized according to the research areas of teacher's definition, teacher's beliefs, teacher's barriers to implementation, and teacher's enablers to implementation. Then, patterns emerging from each of these cases were organized. Lastly, patterns emerging across cases were compared in a cross-case analysis. Patterns shared between cases were: Participants related inquiry-based science method with hands-on learning activities. Participants saw students as the center of the learning process. Participants had positive beliefs about constructivist learning practices that were strengthened after implementation of inquiry-based teaching. Facilitators of successful implementation of inquiry-based science method were positive student motivation, students' retention of knowledge, and a positive experience for lower level students. Barriers to successful implementation were teachers not having complete control of the classroom, upper level students having difficulty with inquiry, time and curriculum being a factor, and teachers feeling unprepared to teach this methodology. The researcher culminated the study with practice and policy implications and reasons for further research. Overall, the findings were that these teachers in various stages of implementation with little training in this methodology were able to successfully implement inquiry-based science method based on the reform movement's definition despite barriers to implementation."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.


The business rescue provisions contained in Chapter 6 of the new Companies Act, 2008 have turned out to be by far the most featured and litigated provisions under this statute since it came into force in May 2011. Whether this is a positive or negative sign probably depends on how one looks at it. On the one hand it appears that business rescue is being resorted to as a real and practical alternative to liquidation for financially distressed companies but, on the other one questions the extent to which the frequent use of business rescue is a symptom of economic factors of the times.


There are substantial differences in the working lives of women and men and this affects their occupational safety and health (OSH). 'The Community strategy on health and safety at work' () has 'mainstreaming', or integrating, gender into occupational safety and health activities as an objective. To support this, the Agency has produced a report examining gender differences in workplace injury and illness, gaps in knowledge and the implications for improving risk prevention.


This paper reports the findings from a case study research about in-depth analysis of 'decoupling point' as a reference model to address a particular management dilemma. Managers from a health service organisation contacted the researchers to investigate possible causes of a managerial dilemma where managers and clinical professionals were not able to agree on a satisfactory decision. Researchers designed a decoupling point reference model where decision-making was taking place to decide which particular process would be chosen for treatment. Clinical professionals were favouring a particular process because of health benefits to patients, whereas managers were more inclined to support a different process, which seemed to bring better outcomes for the organisation. The decoupling point implied applying a hybrid strategy where lean and agile paradigms coexisted so that particular operational views of these different groups of professionals could be taken into account simultaneously. The current performance management system indicated some limitations in the sense that it did not include relevant knowledge of the processes that the reference model suggested. The paper concluded that reference models have potential to offer benefits if considered as tools of process-driven analysis for service organisations. They could serve to find out about potential conflict between different professional groups, as well as indicating the limitations or weaknesses of other critical aspects of management such as measuring of performance and allocations of resources so that better integration across all facets of the service could be achieved.


In an increasingly competitive steel industry, with ever-stricter grade requirements for sulphur, the requirement
for improved control and efficiency is increasingly important to reduce process costs. This paper describes an online system
that has been developed and implemented at Tata Steel Port Talbot Works, to monitor and report on the desulphurisation
process. The aim of the system is to generate an objective report on the process, to highlight all process deviations and
issues, and facilitate diagnosis. This diagnosis will improve process control and process efficiency. The desulphurisation
process typically uses lime and magnesium to facilitate the removal of sulphur from the hot metal and into the slag where
this is removed by a rabble. The process, with a start Hot Metal Sulphur of 0.045 (wt.%) and Aim Sulphur of 0.008 (wt.%)
typically uses approximately 100kg magnesium and 300kg lime for a 300T ladle. The main focus of this system has been the
development of linguistic outputs. The outputs have been optimised to provide concise and interoperable information to
assist the operators to quickly understand the current state of the process. The system has been designed to monitor three
areas regarding the desulphurisation process; model setup, process deviation and sample availability. A report is generated
every morning, for use by shift and plant managers, highlighting every deviation in the process over the past 24 hours and
diagnosis of the exact cause where possible. The report is compiled on an exception basis, only highlighting treatments
providing there has been an issue or deviation from expected material usage.


As blogs have become one of the fastest growing types of Web-based media, bloggers can express their opinions and emotions more freely and easily than before. In the blogspace, many communities have emerged, which include racists and hate groups that are trying to share their ideology, express their views, or recruit new group members. It is important to analyze these cyber communities, defined based on group membership and subscription linkages, in order to monitor for activities that are potentially harmful to society. While Web mining and network analysis techniques have been widely used to analyze the content and structure of the Web sites of hate groups on the Internet, these techniques have not been applied to the study of hate groups in blogs. In this research, we propose a framework to address this problem. The framework consists of four modules, namely blog spider, information extraction, network analysis, and visualization. We applied this framework to identify and analyze a selected set of 28 anti-Blacks hate groups (820 bloggers) on Xanga, one of the most popular blog hosting sites. Our analysis results revealed some interesting demographical and topological characteristics in these groups, and identified at least two large communities on top of the smaller ones. We suggest that the proposed framework can be generalized and applied to blog analysis in other domains.


Protein N-glycosylation in eukaryotes and peptidoglycan biosynthesis in bacteria are both initiated by the transfer of a D-N-acetylhexosamine 1-phosphate to a membrane-bound polyprenol phosphate. These reactions are catalyzed by a family of transmembrane proteins known as the UDP-D-N-acetylhexosamine: polyprenol phosphate D-N-acetylhexosamine 1-phosphate transferases. The sole eukaryotic member of this family, the d-N-acetylglucosamine 1-phosphate transferase (GPT), is specific for UDP-GlcNAc as the donor substrate and uses dolichol phosphate as the membrane-bound acceptor. The bacterial translocases, MraY, WecA, and WbpL, utilize undecaprenol phosphate as the acceptor substrate, but differ in their specificity for the UDP-sugar donor substrate. The structural basis of this sugar nucleotide specificity is uncertain. However, potential carbohydrate recognition (CR) domains have been identified within the C-terminal cytoplasmic loops of MraY, WecA, and WbpL that are highly conserved in family members with the same UDP-N-acetylhexosamine specificity. This review focuses on the catalytic mechanism and substrate specificity of these bacterial UDP-D-N-acetylhexosamine: polyprenol phosphate D-N-acetylhexosamine 1-P transferases and may provide insights for the development of selective inhibitors of cell wall biosynthesis.


Background: An increased incidence of acute group A s-hemolytic Streptococcal (GABHS) pharyngitis has been reported anecdotally at the Welcare Hospital in Dubai.

Aim: To describe the outcomes of patients with acute GABHS pharyngitis who received standard therapy at the Welcare hospital emergency unit in Dubai. Objectives: To determine the time elapsed before patients experience a clinically significant reduction in pain.
To describe the side-effect profile of standard treatment received for acute GABHS pharyngitis. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study design. Consecutive sampling of 123 patients was done from December, 2013 to March, 2014. A questionnaire was used to record demographic data and severity of GABHS before patients received standard treatment. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to measure pain severity at baseline and during follow-up. Adults diagnosed with GABHS pharyngitis who received dexamethasone as part of standard treatment offered were included. Results: Clinical pain relief, which was suggested as a VAS score of 4, was achieved by 5.7% of the patients at 12 hours. At 24 hours, 55.3% of the patients reported a VAS score of 4. The mean VAS score of the patients at this time was 4.12. A total of 99.2% of the patients reported a VAS score of 4 or lower at 36 and 48 hours. Paired t-test revealed statistically significant difference between the VAS scores at 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours and baseline (p=0.000). This suggests that clinical pain relief was achieved by 55.3% of the patients at 24 hours. At 48 hours, 21.1% of the patients reported a VAS score of 0. None of the patients reported any side effects associated with the one dose use of dexamethasone. Conclusion: The findings suggest that dexamethasone is safe and effective to use as adjuvant for management of pain associated with acute GABHS pharyngitis. Almost all patients experienced significant pain relief by 36 and 48 hours and no side-effects related to dexamethasone use were recorded. Further definitive randomised controlled trials are needed to establish these findings as evidence for practice.


This book commences with an analysis of the current state of child soldiering internationally. Thereafter the proscriptive content of contemporary norms on the prohibition of the use and recruitment of child soldiers is evaluated, so as to determine whether these norms are capable of better enforcement. An 'issues-based' approach is adopted, in terms of which no specific regime of law, such as international humanitarian law (IHL), is deemed dominant. Instead, universal and regional human rights law, international criminal law and IHL are assessed cumulatively, so as to create a mutually reinforcing web of protection. Ultimately, it is argued that the effective implementation of child soldier prohibitive norms does not require major changes to any entity or functionary engaged in such prevention; rather, it requires the constant reassessment and refinement of all such entities and functionaries, and here, some changes are suggested. International judicial, quasi-judicial and non-judicial entities and functionaries most relevant to child soldier prevention are critically assessed. Ultimately the conclusions reached are assessed in light of a case study on the use and recruitment of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


Let $G$ be a graph with $n$ vertices. We denote the largest signless Laplacian eigenvalue of $G$ by $q_1(G)$ and Laplacian eigenvalues of $G$ by $\mu_1(G)\ge\cdots\ge\mu_{n-1}(G)\ge\mu_n(G)=0$. It is a conjecture on Laplacian spread of graphs that $\mu_1(G)-\mu_{n-1}(G)\le n-1$ or equivalently $\mu_1(G)+\mu_1(\overline G)\le2n-1$. We prove the conjecture for bipartite graphs. Also we show that for any bipartite graph $G$, $\mu_1(G)\mu_1(\overline G)\le n(n-1)$. Aouchiche and Hansen [ Discrete Appl. Math. 2013] conjectured that $q_1(G)+q_1(\overline G)\le3n-4$ and $q_1(G)q_1(\overline G)\le2n(n-2)$. We prove the former and disprove the latter by constructing a family of graphs $H_n$ where $q_1(H_n)q_1(\overline{H_n})$ is about $2.15n^2+O(n)$.


It has been shown earlier (D. Mansson et al., 2007) that ultra wide band (UWB) transients can travel in differential mode (DM) along low voltage power installation cables, and deliver large amounts of power to connected equipments. However, branches in the network were not included at that time. In this paper, the ability of UWB transients to propagate through different types of junctions of low voltage power cables is investigated. The received voltage could with very good accuracy be estimated from transmission line theory, either using theoretical calculations or numerical simulations. This was verified experimentally. The decrease in voltage received at the loads of the branches is mainly due to the reflection caused by impedance mismatch at the junction. It is concluded that large voltages can be delivered to unprotected loads, if a UWB transient is injected in DM at another part of the same network.


Using the UK Labour Force Survey, we study wage gaps for disabled men after the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act. We estimate wage gaps at the mean and at different quantiles of the wage distribution and decompose them into a part explained by differences in workers' and job characteristics, a part that can be ascribed to health-related reduced productivity, and a residual part. The large original wage gaps reduce substantially when we control for differences in education and occupation, although significant residuals remain. However, when we isolate productivity differences between disabled and nondisabled workers, the residual wage gap becomes insignificant in most cases.


n 2009, Don Berwick, former president of the US-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement, gave an impassioned speech at the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare about why he was afraid of becoming a patient (http://patientsassociation.ca/video/ don-berwick-what-patient-centred-care-really-means). It wasn't, as one might expect from a prominent researcher of medical error, the danger of adverse events. When it came to safety, he said, he would have his caregivers well on side. What "chilled" Berwick was the expectation of indignity, and of the inability to exert influence over what would happen to him. He went on to make a plea for patient-centred care, the core of which, he said, is "that property of care that welcomes me to assert my humanity and my individuality and my uniqueness". Patient-centred care is not a new idea, but it has proved elusive to define and even more difficult to consistently implement. An Australian psychiatrist's reflection on becoming a patient (page 522) confirms that Berwick's fears are well founded. When Hall boarded the "breast cancer train", she yearned to experience humanity somewhere in the course of her journey; but she found it in her fellow patients rather than in health care workers. Ideally, patient-centred care should start well before the clinical encounter. In some spheres, patients are emerging as not only participants in their health care but also as collaborators, contributing to the design of both research and practice. At a recent meeting of minds described by Dear and colleagues (page 507), consumers — people affected by colorectal cancer — joined health professionals, researchers and others in prioritising the "gaps" to be filled in colorectal cancer clinical trials research in Australia. The study participants identified that a high proportion of current and recent trials concern drug management of advanced disease, and called for more focus on secondary prevention, individualised treatments and follow-up care. Consumer priorities also included research questions related to quality of life and palliative care, including the experience of dying at home compared with dying in a hospice, and the burden of home death on family members. There is no more important time for patient-centred care than at the end of life — whether or not the death is cancer related. Sarode and colleagues (page 524) sought to fulfil the "clear and unambiguous" wish of a patient with end-stage progressive motor neurone disease to die in her own home. They describe the patient's transfer and planned withdrawal of supported ventilation once she had indicated her readiness to say goodbye to life. Their honest appraisal of the costs and benefits, including perspectives from family members, proves that even the published record can and should be patient centred. Intuitively, treating patients in their own homes — "hospital in the home" (HITH) — should make patientcentred care more achievable. Caplan and colleagues (page 512) put patient and carer satisfaction, as well as the effect on other clinical outcomes, to the test in their metaanalysis of HITH studies, grappling with the diverse range of randomised controlled trials that have attempted to compare HITH with inhospital treatment. Of the more than 1500 trials identified, about 60 met their inclusion criteria. Overall, they found that HITH improved patient outcomes, including mortality and patient and carer satisfaction. In a linked editorial, Montalto and Leff (page 479) highlight the difficulty of conducting such a meta-analysis when the term HITH has been used to describe so many things — from the provision of intensive care technology and expertise to post-discharge community care and outpatient treatment. They assert that an internationally agreed definition is needed to advance HITH research. Who knows, maybe the expert group that is set up to tackle this issue will boast a consumer or two in its ranks! In the meantime, we hope that every episode of care, wherever it is delivered, can eventually be described using Berwick's proposed, expanded definition (http:// content.healthaffairs.org/content/28/4/w555.full): The experience (to the extent the informed, individual patient desires it) of transparency, individualization, recognition, respect, dignity, and choice in all matters, without exception, related to one's person, circumstances, and relationships in health care. I


In this paper, we study from a bibliographic point of view seven chapbooks, one in prose and the rest in verse, which are bound in one volume preserved in the Biblioteca Comunale Augusta, Perugia, catalogued under the shelfmark [I L 1402]. Some of these editions include the place (Cuenca) and the date of printing (1557 or 1558). From this information and from the formal analysis of the seven editions, it is possible to ascribe all of them to the press of Juan de Canova. Two of the seven chapbooks transmit poems that we have not located in any other handwritten or printed source, as far as it has been achieved in our research. Furthermore, the fact that one of these poems is in Catalan and has a Valencian author (Onofre Almudever) makes us suspect that those chapbooks, at least in part, were printed at the request of a bookseller established in Valencia.


Melt blowing being a simple one-step process for converting polymer directly into a nonwoven fabric, is ideally suited for processing of several recycled plastics. The process uses hot air to draw the fibers and does not require precise, individual control of each filament as in the conventional fiber sprnning processes. It was demonstrated that recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) can be melt blown into nonwoven webs, but with poorer performance properties, due to the larger diameter of the fibers. Three methods of improving the melt blown processing of post-consumer recycled PET and the performance properties of the melt blown nonwoven webs produced from them were explored. They were, (1) using undried PET instead of dried PET, (2) blending recycled PET with other polymers, and (3) processing recycled PET at a higher temperature. The webs produced with undried PET had smaller fiber diameter, higher tenacity in the machine direction and lower air permeability. The greater drop in intrinsic viscosity indicated that more hydrolytic degradation occurred during processing of the undried PET. The webs produced from blends of recycled-PET/PBT as well as recycled-PET/low IV-PET had smaller fiber diameter, lower air permeability and higher tenacity in machine direction than those of 100% recycled PET webs. There were no * Currently with Techmer PM, #1 Quality Circle, Clinton, TN 37716. notable property changes caused by increasing the die temperature alone. The webs produced by increasing the barrel temperature as well as the die temperature had lower fiber diameter, lower thickness, lower air permeability and higher tenacity in machine direction. Intrinsic viscosities of webs which had improved performance properties were also considerably lower, indicating a significant drop in molecular weight of the recycled PET. Recycled PP form several sources were investigated as candidates for meltblowing and spunbonding. Pelletized waste form spunbond line was used in both spunbonding and melt blowing studies. SMS fabrics were also pelletized and meltblown at our facility. To explore the feasibility of using the J & M meltblowing line with the EG unit to remelt the waste web and feed it with the molten virgin polymer stream coming from the extruder, a 1000MFR virgin PP resin and fabrics produced from that polymer were used. Fabrics were characterized in all the cases for their performance properties. Some of the relevant data is reported here. It was observed that in most of the cases, fabrics with good properties can be produced at high throughputs, thus reusing all of the plant waste. POLYMERS USED IN THIS STUDY


Invention -that single leap of a human mind that gives us all we create. Yet we make a mistake when we call a telephone or a light bulb an invention, says John Lienhard. In truth, light bulbs, airplanes, steam engines-these objects are the end results, the fruits, of vast aggregates of invention. They are not invention itself. In How Invention Begins, Lienhard reconciles the ends of invention with the individual leaps upon which they are built, illuminating the vast web of individual inspirations that lie behind whole technologies. He traces, for instance, the way in which thousands of people applied their combined inventive genius to airplanes, railroad engines, and automobiles. As he does so, it becomes clear that a collective desire, an upwelling of fascination, a spirit of the times-a Zeitgeist -laid its hold upon inventors. The thing they all sought to create was speed itself. Likewise, Lienhard shows that when we trace the astonishingly complex technology of printing books, we come at last to that which we desire from books-the knowledge, the learning, that they provide. Can we speak of speed or education as inventions? To do so, he concludes, is certainly no greater a stretch than it is to call radio or the telephone an "invention." Throughout this marvelous volume, Lienhard illuminates these processes, these webs of insight or inspiration, by weaving a fabric of anecdote, history, and technical detail-all of which come together to provide a full and satisfying portrait of the true nature of invention.


Populations of large carnivores are often suppressed in human-dominated landscapes because they can kill or injure people and domestic animals. However, carnivores can also provide beneficial services to human societies, even in urban environments. We examined the services provided by leopards (Panthera pardus) to the residents of Mumbai, India, one of the world's largest cities. We suggest that by preying on stray dogs, leopards reduce the number of people bitten by dogs, the risk of rabies transmission, and the costs associated with dog sterilization and management. Under one set of assumptions, the presence of leopards in this highly urbanized area could save up to 90 human lives per year. A further indirect benefit of leopard presence may be an increase in local abundance of other wildlife species that would otherwise be predated by dogs. The effective conservation of carnivores in human-dominated landscapes involves difficult trade-offs between human safety and conservation concerns. Quantitative assessments of how large carnivores negatively and positively affect urban ecosystems are critical, along with improved education of local communities about large carnivores and their impacts.


The attire of women, in particular the style of donning of the headscarf to cover the head, neck and the shoulders of women (turban) by pious Sunni women has once again become the center of controversy in Turkish higher education and politics. The amended versions of articles 10 and 42 of the 1982 Constitution of Turkey, which enhance equality before the law of the Turkish citizens, were referred to the oversight of the Constitutional Court as a potential breach of the secularist principles of the Republic. Almost simultaneously, the AKP, which won the most votes and seats in the National Assembly after the July 22, 2007 elections and formed the government alone, has also been indicted on the grounds of becoming the focal point of activities against secularism, due in part for promoting the turban as a political symbol. The Constitutional Court will decide whether the AKP needs to be sanctioned for such acts and be even closed down or not. Therefore, the turban has become a political issue that not only divides secular and religious Sunnis, but also makes and breaks parties and governments in Turkey. Attitudes and orientations to the turban and religious dress codes for women have become critical to the performance of the political parties, governments and democracy in Turkey. In fact, turban has now become the symbol of Islam in democratic politics in Turkey, and represents the role that religion plays in democratic politics of a Muslim society.

 In this paper, I will use the data collected right before the general election of July 22, 2007 in a nationally representative survey of voter attitudes, beliefs, values and reported behavior, and determine to what extent the adult population in Turkey perceived the turban as an issue of religious freedom of the pious women versus a political symbol of organized political Islamic movement at the time of the election. Secondly, the paper also scrutinizes the extent to which the voters perceive the turban as a pressing issue of the country that needed the attention of the political elite. Thirdly, a few studies have so far been conducted by Carkoglu, Gole, Kalaycioglu, Ozdalga, and Toprak to examine the role of turban and religious women in Turkish politics and society, yet no study has yet been conducted on the role that attitudes toward the turban play in the decisions of the voters at the polls. The paper will examine the role that the turban played in determining the orientations of the voters toward the political parties, and to what extent it played a role in determining the voters' choice at the polls on July 22, 2007 general elections, and thus contributed to the election victory of the AKP, a party all of the leaders of which have wives who don the turban. Finally, the paper concludes with an assessment of how far as a potent symbol of Sunni religiosity the turban influences the performance of democracy in Turkish society, where a huge majority of the people consists of Sunni Muslims.


School choice is becoming increasingly popular around the globe. Broadly the term 'school choice' is used to describe the options available for families to send children to school(s) other than the one they are residentially assigned to. Private school choice interventions known as 'school vouchers,' offer public or private funding to enable families to send their children to private school. Research in 1970s and 80s by James Coleman and his colleagues showed a private school advantage in student achievement and graduation rates, in comparison to traditional public schools. Competing evidence was presented by Christopher Lubienski and Sarah Lubienski in 2013, claiming a public school advantage in student achievement. The debates surrounding a particular school sector advantage can be better addressed using causal evidence and using large datasets to understand possible mechanisms that differentiate the school sectors. This dissertation reports on four analyses of the possibility of a private school advantage, using a variety of data. The first study looks at overall evidence on student achievement in math and reading scores from causal studies on private school vouchers around the globe. The second study offers a supplemental cost-effectiveness evaluation of the same set of voucher programs. In the third study, nationally representative data on public and private school principals is analyzed to study principal autonomy over seven school-level activities across school sectors. Using the same dataset, the fourth study examines the determinants of principal attrition across school sectors. Principals' stated responses to stay in the profession in the baseline year are compared to their revealed status a year later. Some contributions of this dissertation are evidence of vouchers increasing reading test scores more in comparison to math test scores and a larger test score impact in developing countries than in the U.S. The dissertation finds more autonomy over school-level activities and more likelihood to remain in the profession for the private school principal in comparison to the traditional public school principal. Hence, future studies may test the role of principal autonomy and principals' remaining in the profession as a mediator of school choice outcomes.


ABSTRACT Climate and energy transformation has become one of the core issues municipalities must address, and there is a recognition that the local scale is essential if we are to address the fundamental changes needed to face global climate change. However, the nature of climate change as a wicked problem is not compatible with the specialised and sectorised nature of policy-making institutions. Urban and municipal responses to societal problems often involve making a plan. In this article, the potential of climate action plans to break institutional silos is examined. Overcoming institutional obstacles can bring forth new opportunities to shrink the gap between targets and results through knowledge transfer, identification of co-benefits and anchoring of the plan beyond the municipal department in charge. Two cases demonstrating two different approaches to ambitious local climate planning are discussed. Mainstreaming of the planning process can be observed in Trondheim, whilst in Bergen, the process has been highly politically driven. Three factors appear to be important to overcome institutional barriers at the local level: broad processes, political will and institutional entrepreneurs.


This study explored the ways in which race, gender, and age moderated the effects of several determinants of labor force participation among people ages 60 to 80. The role of race, gender, and age in moderating the effect of various factors on labor force participation was examined using the 1998 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data. Binomial logistic regression models were used to evaluate the interaction between race, gender, age and other determinants of labor force participation. The effects of various factors on labor force participation differed by gender, race, and age. The negative effects of low education and poor health, respectively, were stronger for women and blacks. Also, the positive effect of low non-wage income was weaker for older workers, probably due partly to poorer health. Our findings suggest that different types of policies would help to encourage labor force participation among different groups. Because lack of access to employment may deter continued work among subgroups such as blacks and women with low education, job training or job search programs might provide incentives for employment in these groups. Additionally, employer flexibility regarding part-time work and work demands might make continued work attractive for more older workers.


For the duration of the currently stalled round of trade negotiations (the Doha Development Round) attention focused on the plight of developing countries under the current trade rules. One of the aspects under discussion is market access, and in particular the (ab)use of anti-dumping measures to limit market access so that the progress made towards trade liberalisation is eroded. A popular assertion is that developed countries use anti-dumping measures to protect their own industries against competition from developing countries. Part I of this short research note briefly takes stock of developments in this regard since the inception of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995. How has the use of anti-dumping (AD) measures evolved? Who are the most active initiators of AD investigations and who are the victims? What is the spread between initiations of AD investigations and the actual imposition of AD measures? In Part II we consider selected AD issues, such as the determination of dumping margins and injury, administrative discretion, and the longevity of AD decrees. Copyright (c) 2006 The Author. Journal compilation (c) 2006 Economic Society of South Africa.


The integrity of the genome in higher eukaryotes, as well as the modulation of its complex structure and functions, is exquisitely regulated. This genomic regulation occurs as a function of time in a very sophisticated and elaborate biological process called cell cycle progression, resulting in cell division, and is also controlled by a highly coordinated and intricate network of molecular signaling pathways, which in turn orchestrate very specific macromolecular interactions among nuclear proteins and DNA at the biochemical level. Among the latter, a prominent enzymatic cycle that is involved in maintaining the integrity of mammalian chromosomes is covalent protein-poly[adenosine diphosphate (ADP)–ribosyl]ation. The importance of this posttranslational modification is illustrated by the close cooperation between two "guardian angels" of the genome, one constitutive and one inducible protein, namely poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase–1 (PARP-1) and p53, and the integration of these pivotal signaling processes with genomic maintenance.


A picture is worth a thousand words, we often say, yet many areas are in demand of sophisticated visualization techniques, and the Semantic Web is not an exception. The size and complexity of ontologies and Linked Data in the Semantic Web constantly grow and the diverse backgrounds of the users and application areas multiply at the same time. Providing users with visual representations and intuitive user interfaces can significantly aid the understanding of the domains and knowledge represented by ontologies and Linked Data. There is noone size fits all solution but different use cases demand different visualization and interaction techniques. Ultimately, providing better user interfaces and visual representations will foster user engagement and likely lead to higher quality results in different applications employing ontologies and to the proliferation of Linked Data usage.User interfaces are essential to easily provide access to the increasing diversity of knowledge modeled in ontologies. As ontologies grow in size and complexity, the demand for comprehensive visualization and sophisticated interaction also rises. In particular, user interfaces are an integral part of ontology engineering, to help bridge the gap between domain experts and ontology engineers. Ontology visualization is not a new topic and a number of approaches have become available in recent years, with some being already well-established, particularly in the field of ontology modeling. In other areas of ontology engineering, such as ontology alignment and debugging, although several tools have recently been developed, few provide a graphical user interface, not to mention navigational aids or comprehensive visualization techniques.While ontology users usually possess domain and/or knowledge representation expertise, this is not necessarily the case with potential Linked Data consumers who can come from very different backgrounds and have varying levels of expertise. Currently, the main Linked Data consumers are technology experienced users, one of the reasons being the lack of appropriate user interfaces and visualizations to support other user groups. Visual approaches are needed to assist various kinds of users, who pursue diverse goals and pose individual requirements.In the presence of a huge network of interconnected resources, one of the challenges faced by the Linked Data community is the visualization of the multidimensional datasets to provide for efficient overview, exploration and querying tasks, to mention just a few. With the focus shifting from a Web of Documents to a Web of Data, changes in the interaction paradigms are in demand as well. Novel approaches also need to take into consideration the technological challenges and opportunities given by new interaction contexts, ranging from mobile and touch interaction to visualizations on large displays, and encompassing highly responsive web applications.The VOILA! workshop addressed these and related issues in its call for papers and attracted 18 submissions in different paper categories. Three reviewers were assigned to each submission. Based on their reviews we selected 12 contributions for presentation at the workshop in the following categories: full research papers (5), position papers (2) and short papers (5).The first edition of VOILA! is co-located with the 14th International Semantic Web Conference (ISWC 2015) and will take place as a full day event on October 11, 2015 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. It will be organized around paper presentations and discussions and will be accompanied by interactive software demonstrations, giving developers a chance to gather feedback from the community.We thank all authors for their submissions and all members of the VOILA! program committee for their useful reviews and comments. We are grateful to Miriam Fernandez and Krzysztof Janowicz, the ISWC workshop chairs, for their continuous support during theworkshop organization. The workshop would not be possible without all of you!September 2015Valentina Ivanova, Patrick Lambrix, Steffen Lohmann, Catia Pesquita


In today's digital environment, text databases are rapidly increases due to use of internet and communication mediums. Different text mining techniques are used for knowledge discovery and Information retrieval. Text data contains the side information along with the text data. Side information may be the metadata associated with text data like author, co-author or citation network, document provenance information, web links or other kind of data which provide more insights about the text documents. Such side information contains tremendous amount of information for the clustering purpose. Using such side information in the categorization process provides more refine clustered data. But sometimes side information may be noisy and results in wrong categorization which decreases the quality of clustering process. Therefore, a new approach for mining of text data using side information is suggested, which combines partitioning approach with probabilistic estimation model for the mining of text data along with the side information.


Operator overloading is a powerful feature of modern object-oriented programming languages; it can be used to customize the default algebraic operators to a point where the programming syntax can accommodate new algebras acting on complex objects. The present work introduces a custom T (T, ) algebra which can be used to express kinematic transformations in chains of frames that move in threedimensional space; relevant algebraic properties of T are discussed; finally the algebra is translated into a set of algorithms that can fit into the operator-overloading capabilities of the C++ language. Topics such as templates, serialization, optimizations and examples in the field mechanical simulation are discussed; moreover a novel method for run-time and compile-time validation of the syntax is exposed, so that the order of the products is checked for kinematic consistency hence showing the advantage of this approach also for educational purposes.


This paper investigates under which conditions we can find a policy that can be made time-consistent in an economy with both private and public capital, and how far in terms of growth and welfare this policy would be with respect to the full-commitment policy. A benevolent government chooses both public spending and taxation plans in order to maximise the welfare of the representative individual. When a full-commitment technology is assumed, the optimal policy is implementable. Nevertheless, in the absence of full-commitment, it is well known that the debt restructuring method suggested by Lucas and Stokey (1983) cannot make the optimal fiscal policy time-consistent in economies with private capital. Our results show that debt restructuring can solve the time-inconsistency problem of fiscal policy when this policy is restricted by a zero-tax rate on capital income. On the one hand, this restriction allows us to find a policy plan that is implementable and extends Lucas and Stokey's (1983) result. But on the other hand, when it is compared with the full-commitment policy, it implies a welfare loss. Studies on tax reform may give rise to the idea that this welfare loss could be large. Chari, Christiano and Kehoe (1994) showed that about 80% of welfare gains in a Ramsey system comes from high taxation on capital income. This argument raises the need for measuring the welfare differential. Then, in order to compare this policy with the one under full-commitment, we use a numerical solution method for non-linear rational expectations models, in particular the eigenvalue-eigenvector decomposition method suggested by Novales et al. (1999), which in turn is based on Sims (1998). Both models are solved and surprisingly we find that the policy under debt-commitment is quite close to the full-commitment policy both in growth and in welfare terms.


Testing and debugging networks /in situ/ is notoriously difficult. Many vital correctness properties involve histories over multiple packets (e.g., prior established connections). Checking such properties requires /cross-packet state/, which cannot be fully captured on stateless switch hardware. Recent SDN work is enabling limited switch operations on persistent state. We present runtime checking of cross-packet correctness properties as a unique and instructive use case for developing stateful switch primitives. In this paper, we examine a set of cross-packet properties and distill from them switch features needed to monitor their correctness. We then contrast these against features provided by current approaches to switch state in SDNs and identify semantic gaps with an eye toward informing future switch instruction sets.


[Extract] The Dugongidae is one of four families within the Sirenia, a mammalian order with a long evolutionary history extending back more than 50 million years. The sirenians are ancestrally related to a superficially dissimilar grouping of other mammals known as the Afrotheria. The afrotherians contain some modern families such as Proboscidea (elephants), Afrosoricida (golden moles and tenrecs), Tubulidentata (aardvarks), Hyracoidea (hyraxes), and Macroscelidea (elephant shrews). The closest contemporary relatives of sirenians are the elephants and hyraxes, and the three groups have been linked together as the clade Paenungulata. At least 35 named species of sirenians have existed through time, ranging in mass from small sea cows weighing an estimated 150 kg to the extinct Steller's Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) estimated to have weighed more than 10,000 kg. Some early sirenians walked on land with sturdy hindlimbs but fed on aquatic vegetation. Later forms evolved a variety of foraging strategies, adapting to changing climatic, geologic, oceanographic, a n d biological conditions within the bounds of aquatic megaherbivory.

Today only two sirenian families remain: the Trichechidae, containing the three species of manatees that occur on both sides of the Atlantic, and the Dugongidae, with one species, tl1e Dugong, which occurs in the Indo-West Pacific. The ancestors of these families diverged 25-40 million years ago.

The dugongids were by far the most diverse group of sirenians. The family Dugongidae is divided into three subfamilies: the Halitheriinae, the Dugonginae, and the Hydrodamalinae. The extinct Halitheriinae was the basal group of the dugongids. The Dugonginae arose from them and diversified in the Caribbean and western Atlantic in the Oligocene. They dispersed to other tropical waters of the world in the late Oligocene and early Miocene. A partial postcranial skeleton (vertebrae and ribs) of an indeterminate sirenian has recently been described from a cave in the Hindenburg Range, Western Province of Papua New Guinea. These fossils represent the earliest evidence (c.11·8 million years ago) of Sirenia in Australasian coastal marine ecosystems.


In this study suitable, smooth, spherical, cross-linked egg albumin microspheres in the size range of 15-40 um loaded with norethisterone were prepared by multiple emulsion (o/w/o) method by the glutarldehyde cross-linking and thermal denaturation technique. Microspheres were prepared by using different drug/polymer ratios. Egg albumin was used as a mucoadhesive polymer in the formulation to increase the residence time of the microspheres on the nasal mucosa. The albumin microspheres were characterized and evaluated with respect to the particle size, production yield, encapsulation efficiency, shape and surface properties, drug polymer interaction, mucoadhesive property and suitability for nasal drug delivery. The in vitro diffusion of NE from the prepared microspheres exhibited the extent of drug release decreased from 95 –60%. The release of the drug has been controlled by swelling control release mechanism. No initial burst release has been recorded except for NE microspheres stabilized using 25% w/v glutarldehyde as cross-linking agent. The drug release from NE microspheres obeys Higuchi diffusion controlled model.