Situating the fashion show in the context of modernism, my research links the first fashion shows to the development of early cinema and new forms of popular theatre. Drawing equally on economic, cultural and intellectual history, it explores the way modernist production was 'pictured' in fashion marketing, linking fashion modelling to Taylorism and Fordist aesthetics in the early Twentieth century.

The Fashion History Reader is an innovative work that provides a broad introduction to the complex literature in the fields of fashion studies, and dress and fashion history. A comprehensive resource for those who wish to further their engagement with fashion as a contemporary phenomenon, the book connects a diverse range of approaches and incorporates non-Western literature within better-known studies from Europe and North America. It identifies the history of fashion as a meeting point between the long-standing historical investigation of 'dress' and 'costume' and the more recent development of those sociological and anthropological-inspired studies that have come to be called 'fashion theory'.

Twenty-three chapters and over forty shorter 'Snapshot' texts cover a wide range of topics and approaches within the history of fashion, ranging from object-based studies to theory-driven analyses. The book is divided into six parts, surveying some of the key themes in the history of fashion. Themes also move in and across time, providing a chronology to enable student learning:

Parts 1-3 cover the fifteenth to the eighteenth-century

Parts 4 and 5 cover the nineteenth-century to the contemporary (with particular attention given to non-European countries)

Part 6 provides a survey of the global setting and current globalised nature of fashion.

A comprehensive introduction by the editors will contextualise debates for students, synthesising past history and bringing them up-to-date through a discussion of globalisation. Each section also includes a short, accessible introduction by the editors, placing each chapter within the wider, thematic treatment of fashion and its history, and an Annotated Guide to Further Reading encourages students to enhance their learning independently.


Luck egalitarianism is the view that justice requires that we hold people accountable for the choices that they make but not the circumstances that they find themselves in. My aim in this thesis is to reject luck egalitarianism. My argument builds on the recent critique of luck egalitarianism by Elizabeth Anderson. Anderson rejects luck egalitarianism in favor of a view she calls "democratic equality." The aim of democratic equality is to create a community in which citizens relate to one another as equals. This requires, among other things, that we provide citizens with the necessary capabilities and functionings needed in order for them to function as free and equal citizens. In this thesis I argue that Anderson's critique of luck egalitarianism, although successful against the standard luck egalitarian view, does not undermine a weaker version of luck egalitarianism. This position – which I call moderate luck egalitarianism – claims that we ought to apply the choice/circumstance distinction always and only when doing so does not compromise the aims of democratic equality. This is because it is always unfair, according to luck egalitarians, when some people are worse off than others through no fault of their own. Since Anderson's view does not correct for this, according to moderate luck egalitarians, we need to combine the aims of democratic equality and luck egalitarianism in the name of fairness. I argue, however, that this is not necessary. Not all inequalities that are the result of people's unchosen circumstances are unfair or unjust; inequalities in income and wealth are unfair only to the extent that they inhibit the ability of individuals to function as free and equal citizens. Thus, luck egalitarians have given us no reason to conjoin the aims of democratic equality and luck egalitarianism: democratic equality suffices.


Work has never been as safe as it seems today. Safety has also never been as bureaucratized as it is today. Over the past two decades, the number of safety rules and statutes has exploded, and organizations themselves are creating ever more internal compliance requirements. At the same time, progress on safety has slowed to a crawl. Many incident- and injury rates have flatlined. Worse, excellent safety performance on low-consequence events tends to increase the risk of fatalities and disasters. Bureaucracy and compliance now seem less about managing the safety of the workers we are responsible for, and more about managing the liability of the people they work for. We make workers do a lot that does nothing to improve their success locally. Paradoxically, such tightening of safety bureaucracy robs us of exactly the source of human insight, creativity and resilience that can tell us how success is actually created, and where the next accident may well happen.
It is time for Safety Anarchists: people who trust people more than process, who rely on horizontally coordinating experiences and innovations, who push back against petty rules and coercive compliance, and who help recover the dignity and expertise of human work.


This study was aimed at characterizing the apoptotic response equine small intestine subjected to experimental ischemia-reperfusion injury and determining if use of an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (enalaprilat) would ameliorate the apoptotic response. It was designed to determine if mucosal epithelial cells undergo apoptosis during the ischemia phase and also examined if apoptosis is significantly exacerbated by reperfusion. It also investigated whether administration of enalaprilat decreased reperfusion injury secondary to reduced enterocyte apoptosis. Injury was induced using a low flow model of I-R. During celiotomy a single loop of jejunum was isolated and arterial flow decreased to 20% of baseline for one hour and complete occlusion for a second hour. Reperfusion was monitored for 3 hours. A control group (n=6) were not treated while the treatment group (n=6) received 0.5 mg/kg enalaprilat in 0.9% NaCl immediately following ischemia. Jejunal samples were taken prior to the induction of ischemia, immediately postischemia and at 1, 2 and 3 hours of reperfusion. Samples were evaluated for gross tissue pathology with standard hematoxylin and eosin staining, the presence of apoptotic cells via TUNEL staining, and gene expression of three apoptosis related genes (bax, bcl-2, p53) using qPCR. Serum enalaprilat and ACE concentrations were determined from blood samples drawn concurrent with jejunal sampling using HPLC/MS and standard HPLC. Plasma enalaprilat concentrations were comparable to previous reports in awake horses. Enalaprilat appeared to have no effect on serum ACE concentrations, however a significant spike in ACE concentration occurred in the treatment group at 1 hour of reperfusion (P=0.0001). Grade of mucosal damage was not significantly different between control and treatment groups at any time point. Subjectively apoptotic index appeared to be higher in the treatment group at end ischemia and during reperfusion. There were no changes in expression of p53 or bcl-2 in either group. Bax expression was significantly decreased (P= 0.02) in the control group at 2 hours of reperfusion. Based on our data administration of an ACE inhibitor during anesthesia in horses with an ischemic segment of intestine confers no protective benefit and may be associated with increased intestinal injury and apoptosis. Lack of expression of p53, bax and bcl-2 suggests another apoptotic mechanism in equine ischemic intestine.


Background: The expression of podoplanin is up regulated in a number of different human cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and its relationship with tumor invasion raises the possibility that podoplanin expression could be used as a biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis. Aim: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the expression of podoplanin in different grades of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and to correlate the expression of podoplanin with relevant clinical features such as age, sex, site and associated habits. Materials and Methods: Retrospective study was carried on formalin fixed, paraffin embedded blocks of oral SCC (OSCC) from the archives of Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Vishnu Dental College, Bhimavaram. Thirty diagnosed cases were included, of which 10 were well differentiated SCC (WDSCC) (n = 10), 10 moderately DSCC and 10 poorly DSCC. Demographics including age, sex, gender and associated habit history, were recorded. Immunohistochemical staining was done with podoplanin anti D2–40 antibody, for all the cases of OSCC and assessed qualitatively. The data obtained were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. Results: In the present study, 27 cases of SCC showed podoplanin expression and remaining three cases showed no expression. The scoring criterion suggested by Yuan et al. was followed for semi quantitative assessment. OSCC, seven cases presented weak expression (Immunoreactive score [IRS] 0–3), 15 presented moderate expression (IRS Score 4–7) and 5 presented high expression (IRS Score > 8). The assessment of podoplanin expression in the cytoplasm, the membrane and the cytoplasm and membrane (both) of tumor cells showed overall high positivity in the cytoplasmic followed by both and the membrane. Conclusion: Podoplanin could be a potent biomarker in assessing the cytoplasm/membrane staining of tumor cells. Furthermore, a high level of podoplanin expression is suggestive of high frequency of lymph node metastasis and immature status in the differentiation process of OSCC.


During the DRIVE (Diurnal and Regional Variability of Halogen Emissions) ship campaign we investigated the variability of the halogenated very short-lived substances (VSLS) bromoform (CHBr3), dibromomethane (CH2Br2) and methyl iodide (CH3I) in the marine atmospheric boundary layer in the eastern tropical and subtropical North Atlantic Ocean during May/June 2010. The highest VSLS mixing ratios were found near the Mauritanian coast and close to Lisbon (Portugal). With backward trajectories we identified predominantly air masses from the open North Atlantic with some coastal influence in the Mauritanian upwelling area, due to the prevailing NW winds. The maximum VSLS mixing ratios above the Mauritanian upwelling were 8.92 ppt for bromoform, 3.14 ppt for dibromomethane and 3.29 ppt for methyl iodide, with an observed maximum range of the daily mean up to 50% for bromoform, 26% for dibromomethane and 56% for methyl iodide. The influence of various meteorological parameters - such as wind, surface air pressure, surface air and surface water temperature, humidity and marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL) height - on VSLS concentrations and fluxes was investigated. The strongest relationship was found between the MABL height and bromoform, dibromomethane and methyl iodide abundances. Lowest MABL heights above the Mauritanian upwelling area coincide with highest VSLS mixing ratios and vice versa above the open ocean. Significant high anti-correlations confirm this relationship for the whole cruise. We conclude that especially above oceanic upwelling systems, in addition to sea-air fluxes, MABL height variations can influence atmospheric VSLS mixing ratios, occasionally leading to elevated atmospheric abundances. This may add to the postulated missing VSLS sources in the Mauritanian upwelling region (Quack et al., 2007).


Contemporary virtual worlds provide unique environments in which users may collaborate in the development of shared digital artifacts. However, the ways in which such collaboration takes place is to date under researched. This paper uses an activity theory perspective to analyze the development activities of two communities within the virtual world of Second Life, based on data gathered using ethnographic methods. The study reveals (1) the complimentary and diverging practices utilized by these two different communities of practice, (2) the mediating function of various tools, rules, and work roles in collaborative development activities, (3) the tensions created in such activities and the manner in which users overcome these tensions.


""One of the principal attractions of prehistory is the opportunity it affords for studying the interplay of social aspirations and environing nature over long periods of time ... The relationship between Man and external nature is... a dynamic one"" So wrote Grahame Clark in his study of Prehistoric Europe. This descriptionption could well fit historical geography. Prehistory, like historical geography, is a synthetic study and must not be confused with archaeology which is one of its tools. It is from the stand point of prehistory that I approach historical geography, a branch of geography that has been insufficiently. exploited in Africa. In Europe it is possible to map data from historical documents and maps. In Africa accurate maps and mappable statistics were non-existent or rare before the nineteenth century. This deterrent is not insurmountable however and a start is being made to prepare an African atlas of prehistory1, but we must be prepared to travel further and to construct maps from which valid interpretations can be deduced rather than to place locations on a map as an aid to the historian or archaeologist. It is the task of the geographer to indicate the significance of spatial relationships in both the present and the past.


BACKGROUND
Raynaud's phenomenon (RP) and anticardiolipin antibodies (ACL) are two common clinical manifestations in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). RP may lead to digital or limb loss. ACL are associated to thrombotic episodes. It is not yet clear if there is an association between RP and the presence of ACL in patients with SLE.

OBJECTIVES
To study if the presence of both RP and ACL in patients with SLE may be associated with certain clinical manifestations or thrombotic events compared to SLE patients without RP or ACL.

METHODS
SLE patients from two lupus clinics were recruited. The patients were divided into 4 groups. Patients with RP and positive ACL (RP+ ACL+), patients with RP but negative ACL (RP+ ACL-), patients with negative RP and positive ACL (RP- ACL+), and patients that were negative for RP and ACL (RP- ACL-) used as the control group. Demographic data, diagnostic criteria, clinical manifestations, history of arterial thrombosis, venous thrombosis and abortions were recorded. A physical examination was done. Anticardiolipin antibodies IgG and IgM were done in the rheumatology laboratory at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. Descriptive statistics as well as analysis of variances (ANOVA), and polytomous logistic regression were used.

RESULTS
236 patients with SLE were studied. There was a tendency toward an increase in arterial thrombosis (p-value = 0.094) and venous thrombosis (p-value = 0.067) in the group that were positive for RP and ACL (RP+ ACL+). Although it was not statistical significant, when polytomous logistic regression was used, both arterial and venous thrombosis had an increase in relative risk 3.21 for arterial and 3.11 for venous thrombosis. Abortions were not increased in any of the four groups. Clinical manifestations from SLE did not differ among the four groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Patients with both RP and ACL seem to be at an increase risk for both arterial and venous thrombotic events; these patients may benefit from an antiplatelet medication to prevent these events to occur.


The Millennium Development Goals have highlighted the importance of ensuring environmental sustainability to mitigate and prevent climate change and to prevent any further deterioration of the health of the people of the world.
Progress to achieving these goals, however, has been limited and climate change may threaten gains in environmental protection and in health improvement. Climate change induced drought, land degradation and increasing food prices are resulting in food insecurity for millions of poor South Africans and increasing malnutrition among children and may lead to increased internal and external migration.
Although South Africa has policies that have embraced sustainable development, the natural environment is continually threatened. There is fierce competition for resources due to a declining economy and competing health threats such as the HIV, AIDS and tuberculosis epidemics.
Water is a threatened resource in South Africa. Poor people who are often subsistence farmers or urban slum dwellers are particularly vulnerable to drought and extremes of weather. Although access to potable water and appropriate sanitation has improved substantially, climate change can threaten these gains resulting in water- and food-borne disease.
Greenhouse gases can lead to global warming and locally to pollution-related respiratory disease. South Africa has a much larger carbon footprint relative to other African countries and needs to lead in addressing climate change.
Action needs to be taken at an individual, community and national level to increase awareness of the importance of environmental sustainability to health and well-being and to establish intersectoral collaboration necessary to address the health impacts of climate change.


So far little attention has been paid to the orientation of flocs in paper sheets . It can be measured by means of an image analyser and the two-dimensional Fourier transform. The principal direction in the power spectrum of a paper in transmitted light is a measure ofthe floc orientation . It can be shown that the coefficient of correlation between fibre orientation (Lippke Tester) and floc orientation amounts on average to 0.7, when profiles across the web are taken into account. Papers, particularly those which are made on hybrid formers, show a two-sidedness concerning floc orientation and anisotropy . The orientation has no significant effect on the uniformity of formation but determines the orientation of cockles . The power spectrum of the local orientation of a paper seems to be very useful in the detection of deterministic variations in orientation, which are invisible in light transmission images . Preferred citation: H. Praast and L. Göttsching. Local orientation of fl ocs in paper. In The Fundametals of Papermaking Materials, Trans. of the XIth Fund. Res. Symp. Cambridge, 1997, (C.F. Baker, ed.), pp 1293–1324, FRC, Manchester, 2018. DOI: 10.15376/frc.1997.2.1293.


We introduce an all-optical, format transparent hash code generator and a hash comparator for data packets verification with low latency at high baudrate. The device is reconfigurable and able to generate hash codes based on arbitrary functions and perform the comparison directly in the optical domain. Hash codes are calculated with custom interferometric circuits implemented with a Fourier domain optical processor. A novel nonlinear scheme featuring multiple four-wave mixing processes in a single waveguide is implemented for simultaneous phase and amplitude comparison of the hash codes before and after transmission. We demonstrate the technique with single polarisation BPSK and QPSK signals up to a data rate of 80 Gb/s.


In computer forensic analysis, hundreds of thousands of files are usually examined. Much of the data in those files consists of unstructured text, whose analysis by computer examiners is difficult to be performed. In this context, automated methods of analysis are of great interest. In particular, algorithms for clustering documents can facilitate the discovery of new and useful knowledge from the documents under analysis. We present an approach that applies document clustering algorithms to forensic analysis of computers seized in police investigations. We illustrate the proposed approach by carrying out extensive experimentation with six well-known clustering algorithms (K-means, K-medoids, Single Link, Complete Link, Average Link, and CSPA) applied to five real-world datasets obtained from computers seized in real-world investigations. Experiments have been performed with different combinations of parameters, resulting in 16 different instantiations of algorithms. In addition, two relative validity indexes were used to automatically estimate the number of clusters. Related studies in the literature are significantly more limited than our study. Our experiments show that the Average Link and Complete Link algorithms provide the best results for our application domain. If suitably initialized, partitional algorithms (K-means and K-medoids) can also yield to very good results. Finally, we also present and discuss several practical results that can be useful for researchers and practitioners of forensic computing.


We use the concept of the product space to analyze the key features of the transformation process in Africa with a focus on the agricultural sector. Between 1962 and 2008, we find that both specialization and diversification occur for the overall economy and across sectors. Our findings also confirm that the transformation of the African economy is driven primarily by the increasing specialization of nonagricultural exports. However, the transformation process is still moving more slowly than that of an emerging economy such as Brazil. The index of specialization of agricultural exports grew at a modest annual rate of 2.1 percent between 1962 and 2008, compared to 5.0 percent for nonagricultural exports and 4.1 percent for the overall economy. Although substantive achievements are observed in terms of product specialization or sophistication, the diversification of agricultural exports is rather insignificant. Compared to Africa, Brazil appears to have experienced a more balanced process in terms of both specialization and diversification of its agriculture. African countries' specific transformation dynamics are heterogeneous, suggesting that a one-size-fits-all strategy to boost the agricultural sector in Africa is probably not the best option. Therefore, we advocate that the goals and principles of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) be adapted and customized to individual countries and incorporated into their strategies to enhance the transformation process of the African agricultural sector.


Political conservatives have long believed that the best government is a small government. But if this were true, noted economist Jeff Madrick argues, the nation would not be experiencing stagnant wages, rising health care costs, increasing unemployment, and concentrations of wealth for a narrow elite. In this perceptive and eye-opening book, Madrick proves that an engaged government--a big government of high taxes and wise regulations--is necessary for the social and economic answers that Americans desperately need in changing times. He shows that the big governments of past eras fostered greatness and prosperity, while weak, laissez-faire governments marked periods of corruption and exploitation. The Case for Big Government considers whether the government can adjust its current policies and set the country right.

 Madrick explains why politics and economics should go hand in hand; why America benefits when the government actively nourishes economic growth; and why America must reject free market orthodoxy and adopt ambitious government-centered programs. He looks critically at today's politicians--at Republicans seeking to revive nineteenth-century principles, and at Democrats who are abandoning the pioneering efforts of the Great Society. Madrick paints a devastating portrait of the nation's declining social opportunities and how the economy has failed its workers. He looks critically at today's politicians and demonstrates that the government must correct itself to address these serious issues.

 A practical call to arms, The Case for Big Government asks for innovation, experimentation, and a willingness to fail. The book sets aside ideology and proposes bold steps to ensure the nation's vitality.


Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a major public health problem and a clinical challenge worldwide. Several epidemiological studies have confirmed the increased risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in individuals with MetS. Total osteocalcin (TOC) is a bone-derived, noncollagenous protein that was recently recognized as a hormone-regulating energy metabolism factor. Importantly, osteocalcin expression has been described as having a role in calcifying vascular smooth muscle cells. We aimed in the present study to analyze the correlation between serum levels of TOC and vascular calcification in elderly persons with MetS. Seventy-four elderly men aged 65 years or older were included in the present study and divided into two groups. Group I comprised 40 patients who satisfied at least three criteria for MetS according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) definition, and group II comprised 34 age-matched healthy men who served as the control group. BMI was calculated, blood samples were taken for lipid profile analysis, and total osteocalcin (OCN) levels were evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Carotid Doppler B mode ultrasonography was performed for all participants. Patients with MetS exhibited significantly higher BMIs, waist circumference, fasting blood sugar, triglycerides, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and lower high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol compared with controls. Patients with MetS had significantly lower levels of TOC compared with controls. Also, patients with MetS had significantly higher intima-media thickness and a higher number of carotid plaques compared with controls. TOC was significantly negatively correlated with parameters of carotid atherosclerosis. It is also negatively correlated with dyslipidemic parameters. Its correlation with components of MetS did not reach statistical significance. We concluded that serum osteocalcin levels were negatively correlated with carotid atherosclerosis in patients with MetS. This may reflect the role of osteocalcin as a circulating endocrine factor that regulates glucose metabolism and thereby cardiovascular risk in patients with MetS. Prospective studies are needed to assess the time course and relevance of serum osteocalcin in the development of atherosclerosis in patients with MetS.


This report describes a rare clinical entity, thoracic myelopathy due to ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL), and its management. A 40-year-old woman presented with thoracic myelopathy due to OPLL, extending from T2-T9. We performed a posterior laminectomy and instrumented fusion. However, postoperative paraplegia occurred within 36 h post-surgery. Emergent anterior decompression and interbody fusion was performed via the trans-thoracic approach. Neurological deterioration was reversed following this anterior procedure. Posterior decompression and instrumented fusion for thoracic OPLL is less technically demanding and presents a lower risk of neurological complications. However, some controversies remain regarding the prevalence and management of postoperative neurological deterioration associated with this technique. Our patient showed recovery with subsequent anterior decompression when paraplegia occurred after posterior decompression and fusion to treat thoracic OPLL. Additional anterior decompression should be considered when posterior decompression and fusion lead to neurological deterioration.


Burrowing, an ethologically relevant rodent behaviour, has been proposed as a novel outcome measure to assess the global impact of pain in rats. In a prospective multicentre study using male rats (Wistar, Sprague-Dawley), replication of suppressed burrowing behaviour in the complete Freund adjuvant (CFA)-induced model of inflammatory pain (unilateral, 1 mg/mL in 100 µL) was evaluated in 11 studies across 8 centres. Following a standard protocol, data from participating centres were collected centrally and analysed with a restricted maximum likelihood-based mixed model for repeated measures. The total population (TP-all animals allocated to treatment; n = 249) and a selected population (SP-TP animals burrowing over 500 g at baseline; n = 200) were analysed separately, assessing the effect of excluding "poor" burrowers. Mean baseline burrowing across studies was 1113 g (95% confidence interval: 1041-1185 g) for TP and 1329 g (1271-1387 g) for SP. Burrowing was significantly suppressed in the majority of studies 24 hours (7 studies/population) and 48 hours (7 TP, 6 SP) after CFA injections. Across all centres, significantly suppressed burrowing peaked 24 hours after CFA injections, with a burrowing deficit of -374 g (-479 to -269 g) for TP and -498 g (-609 to -386 g) for SP. This unique multicentre approach first provided high-quality evidence evaluating suppressed burrowing as robust and reproducible, supporting its use as tool to infer the global effect of pain on rodents. Second, our approach provided important informative value for the use of multicentre studies in the future.


We introduce a hierarchical model for efficient placement of computational graphs onto hardware devices, especially in heterogeneous environments with a mixture of CPUs, GPUs, and other computational devices. Our method learns to assign graph operations to groups and to allocate those groups to available devices. The grouping and device allocations are learned jointly. The proposed method is trained with policy gradient and requires no human intervention. Experiments with widely-used computer vision and natural language models show that our algorithm can find optimized, non-trivial placements for TensorFlow computational graphs with over 80,000 operations. In addition, our approach outperforms placements by human experts as well as a previous state-of-the-art placement method based on deep reinforcement learning. Our method achieves runtime reductions of up to 60.6% per training step when applied to models such as Neural Machine Translation.


In the 1930s, a privately owned smelting plant in Trail, Canada was the focus of the most famous case in international environmental law: the Trail Smelter Arbitration. But the subject of that landmark case has not gone away. Over the last seventy years, the Trail smelter dumped millions of tons of mercury, arsenic, and toxic waste into the Columbia River. The dumping's effects have been felt in neighboring Washington State, where the toxic discharges have caused environmental harm. In 2003, the EPA began investigating the Washington border area for designation as a Superfund (CERCLA) site, and controversially demanded that the Trail smelter, which operates solely in Canada, submit to EPA jurisdiction and pay for cleanup costs. In July 2004, a Native American tribe filed a citizen's suit: the first time ever Americans have sued a Canadian company under the U.S. Superfund laws. This article explores the United States's unprecedented attempt to apply its Superfund laws extraterritorially and to use domestic courts to resolve U.S.-Canadian transboundary water pollution disputes. In recent years, traditional barriers to relief in domestic courts have vanished. But using U.S. courts to solve international disputes is problematic for a variety of reasons. If transboundary disputes can not be solved diplomatically, the U.S. and Canada would be wise to resolve their transboundary pollution problems through international arbitration. This article analyzes the limitation of domestic law, and argues that the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty and the landmark Trail Smelter Arbitration provides an appropriate framework to do so successfully.


In this work, we model latent discourse indicators to classify constructive and collaborative conversations online. Such conversations are considered good as they are rich in content and have a sense of direction to resolve an issue, solve a problem or gain new insights and knowledge. These unique discourse indicators are able to characterize flow of information, sentiment and community structure within discussions. We build a deep relational model that captures these complex discourse behaviors as latent variables and make a global prediction about overall conversation based on these higher level discourse behaviors. DRaiL, a Declarative Deep Relational Learning platform built on PyTorch, is used for our task in which relevant discourse behaviors are formulated as discrete latent variables and scored using a deep model. These variables capture the nuances involved in online conversations and provide the information needed for predicting the presence or absence of collaborative and constructive characterization in the entire conversational thread. We show that the joint modeling of such competing latent behaviors results in a performance improvement over the traditional direct classification methods in which all the raw features are just combined together to predict the final decision. The Yahoo News Annotated Comments Corpus is used as a dataset containing discussions on Yahoo news forums and final labels are annotated based on our precise and restricted definitions of positively labeled conversations. We formulated our annotation guidelines based on a sample set of conversations and resolved any conflict in specific annotation by revisiting those examples again.


Gas crises in 2006 and 2009 significantly highlighted the
question of the security of natural gas supplies, mainly from
the Russian Federation. This topic is especially important and
relevant for Central European countries be it due to their
significant dependence on this supplier, due to substantial
changes related to newly constructed gas infrastructure in the
region, or in relation to the development of the energy sector
at the EU level. Nord Stream, South Stream, Nabucco, the
projects of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies or the North
South Gas Corridor – all these planned or under construction
infrastructure projects are significantly transforming the
existing logic of natural gas supplies to V4 countries, i.e. to
the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. At the same
time, swift changes are taking place at the European Union
level as well.


BACKGROUND
Clarithromycin and erythromycin, but not azithromycin, inhibit cytochrome P450 isoenzyme 3A4 (CYP3A4), and inhibition increases blood concentrations of statins that are metabolized by CYP3A4.

OBJECTIVE
To measure the frequency of statin toxicity after coprescription of a statin with clarithromycin or erythromycin.

DESIGN
Population-based cohort study.

SETTING
Ontario, Canada, from 2003 to 2010.

PATIENTS
Continuous statin users older than 65 years who were prescribed clarithromycin (n = 72,591) or erythromycin (n = 3267) compared with those prescribed azithromycin (n = 68,478).

MEASUREMENTS
The primary outcome was hospitalization with rhabdomyolysis within 30 days of the antibiotic prescription.

RESULTS
Atorvastatin was the most commonly prescribed statin (73%) followed by simvastatin and lovastatin. Compared with azithromycin, coprescription of a statin with clarithromycin or erythromycin was associated with a higher risk for hospitalization with rhabdomyolysis (absolute risk increase, 0.02% [95% CI, 0.01% to 0.03%]; relative risk [RR], 2.17 [CI, 1.04 to 4.53]) or with acute kidney injury (absolute risk increase, 1.26% [CI, 0.58% to 1.95%]; RR, 1.78 [CI, 1.49 to 2.14]) and for all-cause mortality (absolute risk increase, 0.25% [CI, 0.17% to 0.33%]; RR, 1.56 [CI, 1.36 to 1.80]).

LIMITATIONS
Only older adults were included in the study. The absolute risk increase for rhabdomyolysis may be underestimated because the codes used to identify it were insensitive.

CONCLUSION
In older adults, coprescription of clarithromycin or erythromycin with a statin that is metabolized by CYP3A4 increases the risk for statin toxicity.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE
Academic Medical Organization of Southwestern Ontario.


Rural areas are gradually losing their agricultural specificity. They now need to support the coexistence of two logical approaches to occupation of their space: one based on the supply of agricultural and forestry products, the other on the various demands from local residents and seasonal tourists. The focus is shifting from only supplying market goods to meeting the multiple expectations of the society. The paper analyses the policy outcomes of the rural development policy in Bulgaria and their impact on multifunctional agriculture.


Little is known about mammalian preRC stoichiometry, the number of preRCs on chromosomes, and how this relates to replicon size and usage. We show here that, on average, each 100-kb of the mammalian genome contains a preRC composed of approximately one ORC hexamer, 4–5 MCM hexamers, and 2 Cdc6. Relative to these subunits, ∼0.35 total molecules of the pre-Initiation Complex factor Cdc45 are present. Thus, based on ORC availability, somatic cells contain ∼70,000 preRCs of this average total stoichiometry, although subunits may not be juxtaposed with each other. Except for ORC, the chromatin-bound complement of preRC subunits is even lower. Cdc45 is present at very low levels relative to the preRC subunits, but is highly stable, and the same limited number of stable Cdc45 molecules are present from the beginning of S-phase to its completion. Efforts to artificially increase Cdc45 levels through ectopic expression block cell growth. However, microinjection of excess purified Cdc45 into S-phase nuclei activates additional replication foci by three-fold, indicating that Cdc45 functions to activate dormant preRCs and is rate-limiting for somatic replicon usage. Paradoxically, although Cdc45 colocalizes in vivo with some MCM sites and is rate-limiting for DNA replication to occur, neither Cdc45 nor MCMs colocalize with active replication sites. Embryonic metazoan chromatin consists of small replicons that are used efficiently via an excess of preRC subunits. In contrast, somatic mammalian cells contain a low density of preRCs, each containing only a few MCMs that compete for limiting amounts of Cdc45. This provides a molecular explanation why, relative to embryonic replicon dynamics, somatic replicons are, on average, larger and origin efficiency tends to be lower. The stable, continuous, and rate-limiting nature of Cdc45 suggests that Cdc45 contributes to the staggering of replicon usage throughout S-phase, and that replicon activation requires reutilization of existing Cdc45 during S-phase.


The dimeric, peroxisomal 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase catalyses the conversion of 3-ketoacyl-CoA into acyl-CoA, which is shorter by two carbon atoms. This reaction is the last step of the beta-oxidation pathway. The crystal structure of unliganded peroxisomal thiolase of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been refined at 1.8 A resolution. An unusual feature of this structure is the presence of two helices, completely buried in the dimer and sandwiched between two beta-sheets. The analysis of the structure shows that the sequences of these helices are not hydrophobic, but generate two amphipathic helices. The helix in the N-terminal domain exposes the polar side-chains to a cavity at the dimer interface, filled with structured water molecules. The central helix in the C-terminal domain exposes its polar residues to an interior polar pocket. The refined structure has also been used to predict the mode of binding of the substrate molecule acetoacetyl-CoA, as well as the reaction mechanism. From previous studies it is known that Cys125, His375 and Cys403 are important catalytic residues. In the proposed model the acetoacetyl group fits near the two catalytic cysteine residues, such that the oxygen atoms point towards the protein interior. The distance between SG(Cys125) and C3(acetoacetyl-CoA) is 3.7 A. The O2 atom of the docked acetoacetyl group makes a hydrogen bond to N(Gly405), which would favour the formation of the covalent bond between SG(Cys125) and C3(acetoacetyl-CoA) of the intermediate complex of the two-step reaction. The CoA moiety is proposed to bind in a groove on the surface of the protein molecule. Most of the interactions of the CoA molecule are with atoms of the loop domain. The three phosphate groups of the CoA moiety are predicted to interact with side-chains of lysine and arginine residues, which are conserved in the dimeric thiolases.


Production of a global sedimentological seabed map has been initiated in 1995 to provide the necessary tool for searches of aircraft and boats lost at sea, to give sedimentary information for nautical charts, and to provide input data for acoustic propagation modelling. This original approach had already been initiated one century ago when the French hydrographic service and the University of Nancy had produced maps of the distribution of marine sediments of the French coasts and then sediment maps of the continental shelves of Europe and North America. The current map of the sediment of oceans presented was initiated with a UNESCO's general map of the deep ocean floor. This map was adapted using a unique sediment classification to present all types of sediments: from beaches to the deep seabed and from glacial deposits to tropical sediments. In order to allow good visualization and to be adapted to the different applications, only the granularity of sediments is represented. The published seabed maps are studied, if they present an interest, the nature of the seabed is extracted from them, the sediment classification is transcribed and the resulted map is integrated in the world map. Data come also from interpretations of Multibeam Echo Sounder (MES) imagery of large hydrographic surveys of deep-ocean. These allow a very high-quality mapping of areas that until then were represented as homogeneous. The third and principal source of data comes from the integration of regional maps produced specifically for this project. These regional maps are carried out using all the bathymetric and sedimentary data of a region. This step makes it possible to produce a regional synthesis map, with the realization of generalizations in the case of over-precise data. 86 regional maps of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean have been produced and integrated into the world sedimentary map. This work is permanent and permits a digital version every two years, with the integration of some new maps. This article describes the choices made in terms of sediment classification, the scale of source data and the zonation of the variability of the quality. This map is the final step in a system comprising the Shom Sedimentary Database, enriched by more than one million punctual and surface items of data, and four series of coastal seabed maps at 1:10,000, 1:50,000, 1:200,000 and 1:1,000,000. This step by step approach makes it possible to take into account the progresses in knowledge made in the field of seabed characterization during the last decades. Thus, the arrival of new classification systems for seafloor has improved the recent seabed maps, and the compilation of these new maps with those previously published allows a gradual enrichment of the world sedimentary map. But there is still a lot of work to enhance some regions, which are still based on data acquired more than half a century ago. Keywords—Marine sedimentology, seabed map, sediment classification, World Ocean. T. Garlan is with Shom, HOM/Marine Geology, CS 92803 29228 BREST Cedex 2, France (corresponding author, phone: 332 56 31 23 83; email: email@example.com). I. Gabelotaud, S. Lucas, and E. Marchès are with Shom, HOM/Marine Geology, CS 92803 29228 BREST Cedex 2, France (e-mail: email@example.com, email@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com).


This paper had as objective the isolation of different bacteria, which causes mastitis, and simultaneously, to make an emphasis on the differentiation of Mycoplasma species, taken from stored milk samples and from every cow individually. These cows and the milk were provided by farms from the Toca in Boyaca. This process was carried out through a convenience probabilistic sampling and also a descriptive, longitudinal and retrospective research during 2013. The research took into account 130 technicalizated milking farms, where every one has approximately 20 milking cows. These farms are located between 2300 and 2800 meters above sea level and have temperatures among 55 °F and a rain range of 800 and 1200 mm Hg per year. During the study it was found a 3.14% positive to CMT in udder quarters with grades greater than 2 +. For this purpose the Streptococcus agalactiae was isolated at 9.73% and it turned to be the most isoleted pathogen. (Staphylococcus aureus was isolated about 6% average Corynebacterium bovis was isolated in the 0,30 % of the cases. E. coli was not isolated. Also the sampling didn't find any Mycoplasma bovis in three years. M californicum was recovered in the 0.50%. Leavens in the 20% and Acholeplasma spp. was isoleted in the 0.40%.


In this chapter, firstly, we briefly review aspects of the approximation of quantum chemistry, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), and chemometrics techniques, which are accredited as important tools in the development of chemical science and are frequently used in the study and design of bioactive compounds. Ultimately, we use MEP and pattern recognition (PR) techniques as tools to design nitrofuran compounds with biological activity against Trypanosoma cruzi ( T. cruzi ). PR models (PCA, HCA, KNN, SDA, and SIMCA) were constructed and demonstrated that 23 nitrofurans can be classified into two classes or groups: more active and less active according to their degrees of activity against T. cruzi . Properties such as charge on the N atom of the nitro group (QN1); the difference between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy (GAP energy); molecular representation of structure based on electron diffraction code of signal 5, unweighted (Mor05u); and Moriguchi water–octanol partition coefficient (MlogP) are responsible for the classification into more active and less active studied nitrofurans. It is interesting to notice that these properties represent three distinct classes of interactions between the nitrofurans and the biological receptor: electronic (QN1 and GAP energy), steric (Mor05u), and hydrophobic (MlogP). The results of the application of PR models on the validation set evidenced two nitrofuran compounds (compounds 25 and 30 ) as more promising for synthesis and biological assays, which in the future can be used to validate our PR models.


This paper considers the ways in which information of relevance to the learning and research communities is organised and used. It contends that there is considerable overlap between the different types of online resources and information currently available within education. It describes some of the structured environments and data stores that have emerged in recent years, along with standards which are attempting to define the properties of discrete learning objects, through the specification of Learning Object Metadata (LOM). The paper contends that current developments of structured learning environments such as Managed and Virtual Learning Environments (MLEs and VLEs) are occurring on the whole in parallel to resource data stores, such as information gateways and portals. This discrepancy has arisen in part because these developments have occurred independently of one another and in part because there has to date been no rigorous definition of the underlying theoretical models. Furthermore, it argues that these predefined structured environments are unlikely to be sufficient to meet the information needs of users in different contexts. The paper goes on to describe an information toolkit, which provides a way of systematising information handling in learning and research, which helps users articulate information plans within specific contexts. The paper concludes with a description of two case studies which illustrate how this toolkit can be used.


In the mid 1990s, at a vast hotel complex on a private Florida beach, dozens of bankers from JP Morgan gathered for what was to become a legendary off-site meeting. It was a wild weekend. But among the drinking, nightclubbing and fist-fights lay a more serious purpose - to assess the possibility of building a business around the new-fangled concepts of credit derivatives. The group at the heart of this revolution was an intense team, made up of individuals with a supreme sense of loyalty to each other and to the bank - for years, nothing could break them apart. But when, finally, the team dispersed, the innovations spread far beyond their original intentions, producing perversions in the mortgage market that ultimately culminated in disaster. Part real-life thriller, part investigation and expose, this searing narrative takes us deep inside the shadowy world of complex finance - A PERFECT STORM for the credit crunch


Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that can cause lifethreatening disease in immunocompromised individuals. Host cell invasion is therefore central to the pathology of the disease and parasite survival. Unlike many intracellular pathogens, T. gondii does not enter cells by manipulating the host's phagocytic machinery; instead, the parasite enters the cell by a process of active penetration. Gliding motility and active penetration are driven by a complex of proteins termed the glideosome. The glideosome consists of four major proteins: TgMyoA, an unconventional myosin XIV, myosin light chain (TgMLC1) and glideosome-associated proteins 45 and 50 (TgGAP45, TgGAP50). TgMyoA has been shown to be essential for parasite motility, but the role of TgMLC1 in regulating myosin function remains unknown. Our lab has identified an inhibitor of T. gondii motility and invasion that results in a post-translational modification (PTM) to TgMLC1. Using molecular genetic and mass spectrometry methods we have shown cysteine 53 and cysteine 58 of TgMLC1 are essential for the modification to occur. To determine if the TgMLC1 PTM alters TgMyoA activity, glideosomes were isolated from DMSOand 115556-treated parasites. Using an in vitro motility assay we have shown that the TgMyoA actin filament displacement velocities are decreased after 115556 treatment. This is the first evidence that TgMLC1 plays a role in regulating TgMyoA activity. The TgMLC1 PTM is responsible, at least in part, for the invasion and motility defects seen in the parasite after compound treatment. During the course of our investigations we have shown that TgMLC1 is dimethylated on lysine 95. This is an unusual modification for cytosolic proteins and has not been previously described for MLCs. Experiments using parasites expressing a non-methylatable form of TgMLC1 (TgMLC1-K95A) show that dimethylation is not necessary for TgMLC1 peripheral localization, TgMLC1 protein-protein interactions and is not required for TgMyoA activity in vitro. However, TgMLC1-K95A does not appear to be phosphoryalted indicating that TgMLC1 dimethylation is necessary for efficient phosphorylation of TgMLC1. These experiments will provide new insight into the ways in which TgMLC1 regulates this unconventional myosin motor complex.


| Safety can be considered as one of the main social-human needs in today's society. The safety of women is considered as one of the most important qualitative components of urban planning. Social safety of urban open spaces is considered as an important factor in the tourism industry. Since the mental image of a place plays an important role in its success or failure to attract tourists, it can affect the economy of a country in the long term. This study hypothesized that touristic sites could boom and attract more people by increasing the sense of safety in women. Responding women's demands from the space would increase the quality of place for everyone. The aim of this study is introducing the physical components of space, which increases women's sense of safety in touristic open spaces. Data for this study was collected through a qualitative survey. Thus, after conducting the data analysis and reviewing previous related researches, research's factors have been evaluated in a case study. presenting effective physical components on women's sense of safety and testing them in the open spaces of the 30Tir street, one of the touristic destinations of this city. The results of this study supports this hypothesis that the third part of the 30tir st (between Sakhai and Imam Khomeini) which responds the demand of women is the successful part of the street and creates the sense of safety among women the most.


A general to specific methodology is used to construct UK demand for outbound tourism models to twelve destinations. A tourism destination preference index is introduced to take into account social, cultural and psychological influences on tourists' decisions concerning their overseas holiday destinations. The tests support the existence of a cointegration relationship for each of 11 UK overseas holiday destinations. The corresponding error correction models are estimated. The empirical results show that the long-run income elasticities for all destinations range from 1.70 to 3.90 with an average of 2.367. The lowest and highest short-run income elasticities are 1.05 and 3.78 respectively, with an average of 2.216. The estimates of the income elasticities imply that overseas holidays are highly income elastic while the own-price elasticities suggest that the demand for UK outbound tourism is relatively own-price inelastic. In terms of the significance of substitution prices in the regression equations, Ireland is the favourite substitute destination for UK outbound tourists. Ex post forecasts over a period of six years are generated from the ECM models and the results compared with those of a naive model, an AR(1) model, an ARMA(p,q) model, and a VAR model. The forecasting performance criteria show that the ECM model has the best overall forecasting performance for UK outbound tourism.


We consider a retailer's problem of optimal pricing and inventory stocking decisions for a product. We assume that the price-demand curve is unknown, but data is available that loosely specifies the price-demand relationship. We propose a conceptually new framework that simultaneously considers pricing and inventory decisions without a priori fitting a function to the price-demand data. The framework introduces a novel concept of functional robustness. We consider two situations: (i) where the price-demand function is decreasing convex, and (ii) where the price-demand function is decreasing concave. Under these assumptions the decision problem is to simultaneously specify the demand function, the optimal selling price and the order quantity. The solution of the proposed maxmin optimization model returns the demand function and the desired pricing and order quantity decisions. A cutting surface algorithm is developed for the convex case; and a monolithic reformulation is given for the concave case. The features of the model and the algorithm are illustrated using public data on porterhouse beef price and demand.


Load Balancing is a method to distribute workload across one or more servers, network interfaces, hard drives, or other computing resources. Typical datacenter implementations rely on large, powerful (and expensive) computing hardware and network infrastructure, which are subject to the usual risks associated with any physical device, including hardware failure, power and/or network interruptions, and resource limitations in times of high demand. Load balancing in the cloud differs from classical thinking on loadbalancing architecture and implementation by using commodity servers to perform the load balancing. This provides for new opportunities and economies-of-scale, as well as presenting its own unique set of challenges.


The Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF) of the European Food Safety Authority was requested to consider evaluations of flavouring substances assessed since 2000 by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), and to decide whether further evaluation is necessary, as laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1565/2000. The substances were evaluated through a stepwise approach (the Procedure) that integrates information on structure-activity relationships, intake from current uses, toxicological threshold of concern, and available data on metabolism and toxicity. The present consideration concerns a group of 28 furan-substituted compounds evaluated by the JECFA. This revision of FGE.67 is due to new data on toxicity for 3-(-methyl-2-furyl) butanal [FL-no: 13.058] providing an appropriate NOAEL for the evaluation of candidate substance [FL-no: 13.058]. The Panel concluded that 11 substances [FL-nos: 13.006, 13.021, 13.022, 13.023, 13.024, 13.031, 13.047, 13.058, 13.074, 13.116 and 13.190] do not give rise to safety concerns at the levels of dietary intake, estimated on the basis of the MSDI approach. However, based on mTAMDI calculations, for these eleven candidate substances, except [FL-no: 13.058], more reliable intake data are required for a re-evaluation. Besides the safety assessment of these flavouring substances, the specifications for the materials of commerce have also been considered, which for all candidate substances are adequate.  For 17 substances [FL-nos: 13.045, 13.052, 13.054, 13.059, 13.061, 13.066, 13.069, 13.070, 13.083, 13.101, 13.103, 13.105, 13.106, 13.123, 13.138, 13.148 and 13.163] a concern for genotoxicity was raised and therefore these were not evaluated using the Procedure. The Panel noted further that for 7 of these 17 substances [FL-nos: 13.045, 13.052, 13.054, 13.059, 13.061, 13.069 and 13.083], use levels have not yet been submitted.


A sheet of paper is laid out flat. It is a sheet of a particular size. Most likely, it was much larger before. Sometimes the size is smaller, or longer and narrower.
100kg of clay is used to cover the surface of the paper. Sometimes the 100kg of clay is made up of packs of 12.5kg each. Sometimes it is four packs of 25kg. It depends on the supplier of the clay. It is important only for a short period and not beyond.

The clay is spread from the centre of the paper outwards: lengthwise along the middle first, forming a kind of spine, and then sideways, similar to the arrangement of bones. The spreading is done quickly. All of the clay should be used. The consideration hovers somewhere between the amount of clay already spread out and the amount of clay still to be used, and the changing proportion between those two amounts.

Over several days, the paper covered in clay rests. If left exposed, in an environment that is considerably dry and warm, the liquid (water) starts to be separate from the solid (clay particles) through a process of mass transfer also called evaporation. The gradual separation of liquid from
solid has visual, material, spatial, and sometimes even topological consequences.

A shape is cut out of brown cardboard. The shape is a long piece of triple-layered cardboard with two corrugated layers in between. Cutting through these layers poses some difficulty, and makes for cuts that are not so even or neat. Evenness is of no concern. Nor neatness. The mind is set on the shape and its future.

The cut-out shape is placed on a table. It looks like the letter U, but very elongated. The brown cardboard shape is covered with brown packaging tape and any excess is trimmed off. Additional strips of long, brown, corrugated cardboard are cut. These strips are also covered with brown packaging tape and any excess is trimmed off. These strips are curved like a wall around the edges of the cut out shape and fastened with brown packaging tape. This work is done quickly and methodically, in an attempt to complete the wall on both the outside and the inside of the shape as quickly, but also as sturdily, as possible. The brown packaging tape sometimes sticks to itself. Sometimes it doesn't stick down so well, sometimes the wrong ends stick together, and sometimes it doesn't hold the walls to the shape so well. This is of no concern. This doesn't appear as error or imperfection. This activity is repeated in varying sizes.


In environments characterized by steep slopes or arranged in terraces, among the shallow tillage systems, rototilling is extensively used. However, the effect of the repeated use of rototilling has a considerable influence on soil characteristics; it appears finely powdered, soft and without structure. In order to limit these inconveniences, an innovative self-propelled machine equipped with working tools as a spade, to be used in steep slopes or arranged in terraces areas, was designed by the Mechanics Section of the SAF (Scienze Agrarie e Forestali) Department of the University of Palermo in cooperation with Agrotec company, Padua, Italy. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of three machines for shallow tillage: a chisel plough (CP), a rototilling (RT) and a spading machine (SM) on penetration resistance in semi-arid environments of the Mediterranean basin. No tillage was also included. Penetration resistance (PR) was surveyed for all the treatments to a depth of 300 mm with an electronic dynamometer. The treatments consisted in the execution of a shallow tillage to a depth of 150 mm. SP treatment allowed us to obtain PR lower values throughout the tillage profile than RT, CP and NT. It follows that the type of machine used influences soil PR, and then the soil water storage capacity, key factor for the agricultural productions in semi-arid environments as in Sicily.


This article observes the apparent determination of some educational researchers to distance themselves from any claim to the truth of their published work and poses the question: is educational research concerned in some sense with the truth in relation to the matter which is the focus of its enquiry or is it not? It argues that either it is so concerned or it probably collapses into incoherence. It explores, first the relationship between propositions (of the kind found abundantly in educational research reports) and truth claims, before exploring five classical theories of truth. Truth, it is pointed out is itself not a monolithic concept and it is possible to deny some notions of truth without necessarily denying all. It goes on to illustrate the way in which different theories of truth are associated with different paradigms of educational research and finally explores in more detail the senses in which truth claims persist in two influential pieces of writing (Guba & Lincoln's Fourth Generation Evaluation and Stronach & MacLure's expressly postmodernist approach to educational research in Educational Research Undone) even as their authors wrestle to deny it.


Despite the link between greenhouse gases and climate change, drivers in the United States continue to operate vehicles that consume more fuel per mile and emit higher levels of greenhouse gases than the vehicles driven in other developed nations. Intervention packages that include feedback and goal setting are common in behavior analytic research, specifically in the Organizational Behavior Management literature, but are also used to establish and maintain sustainable human behaviors such as recycling and energy reduction. The current study examined the effects of a treatment package utilizing feedback and goal setting to increase fuel economy in three participants who drove a minimum of 15 consecutive miles at least once per day. Feedback regarding average miles per gallon (MPG), moment-to-moment MPG, and MPG in relation to the participants' goal were provided by the Scangauge-eTM, a small onboard diagnostic-2 device that connects to the vehicles' electronic control unit and mounted within the car. Results indicated that treatment effects were noticeable in 2 of the 3 participants for increasing overall MPG.


This article tests for cross-country convergence in income inequality and
estimates its impact on growth with a heterogeneous Panel Structural Vector
AutoRegression model, which addresses some empirical challenges plaguing
the literature. We find that income inequality is converging across countries,
and that its impact on growth is heterogeneous. While the median response of
real per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to income inequality
shocks is negative and significant, at least one fourth of the sample presents a
positive effect. Also, we find evidence that improved institutional frameworks
can reduce the negative effect of income inequality on growth.


This paper presents an overview of the different approaches for Wi-Fi device security with particular focus on public hotspots. This mainly involves solving the authentication problem. Common, as well as alternative solutions are presented and critically discussed with respect to the user's security and the usability. Today, public hotspots are not as secure as they could be if they implemented current standards and protocols for secure wireless networking. The issues with these new standards in public network environments are discussed and possible solutions presented. In order to facilitate this discussion, several concepts, protocols and standards in the context of wireless LAN security are presented. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the different approaches for hotspot authentication.


Decent housing available to the working class in America is in very short supply. Manufactured housing could help to meet this basic need. But community groups and politicians often reject manufactured housing because they fear it will have a negative impact upon property values and the aesthetic character of their community. This thesis examines the reasons behind these fears, how the history of manufactured housing has fed into these fears and what design elements can allay these fears. Three site planning typologies are developed using the factors found in the research, that create a good neighborhood for both the residents and outside observers. The typologies inform three designs that illustrate how manufactured housing developments can be designed to fit compatibly into existing communities. Janet L. Bean


Wasserstein GANs (WGANs), built upon the Kantorovich-Rubinstein (KR) duality of Wasserstein distance, is one of the most theoretically sound GAN models. However, in practice it does not always outperform other variants of GANs. This is mostly due to the imperfect implementation of the Lipschitz condition required by the KR duality. Extensive work has been done in the community with different implementations of the Lipschitz constraint, which, however, is still hard to satisfy the restriction perfectly in practice. In this paper, we argue that the strong Lipschitz constraint might be unnecessary for optimization. Instead, we take a step back and try to relax the Lipschitz constraint. Theoretically, we first demonstrate a more general dual form of the Wasserstein distance called the Sobolev duality, which relaxes the Lipschitz constraint but still maintains the favorable gradient property of the Wasserstein distance. Moreover, we show that the KR duality is actually a special case of the Sobolev duality. Based on the relaxed duality, we further propose a generalized WGAN training scheme named Sobolev Wasserstein GAN, and empirically demonstrate the improvement over existing methods with extensive experiments.


The African American Family Album is a collection of the memories and experiences of a people who were first Africans, then slaves, and finally African Americans. Unlike most other immigrants to this country, the majority of Africans were brought to America against their will. The first slaves from Africa arrived in the Americas in the 16th century. Over the next 450 years, it is estimated that more than 11 million Africans (some think as many as 40 million) were taken from their homeland in the largest forcible movement of people in history. Torn from Africa, chained and forced to endure the "middle passage" to their new country, destined for a lifetime of slavery--this was the historical beginning of the American experience for most of today's African Americans. But there are cases of Africans who avoided or escaped that fate to becomes explorers and pioneers in the New World. Those fortunate few are also part of The African American Family Album, as are the 4 million African Americans who found themselves newly freed at the end of the Civil War. Their struggles to gain financial independence were thwarted by prejudice and hatred, and the enforced separation of the races. With little political or economic power, many found freedom to be but one step above slavery. The Great Migration between 1910 and 1950 brought millions from the tenant farms and towns of the South to settle in northern cities, one of the greatest population shifts the United States has ever experienced. This migration was one African Americans chose to make themselves. They moved for the same reasons that have brought other immigrant groups to the United States--to escape persecution and injustice and to find a better life. In the process, African Americans brought with them the blues, jazz, and gospel music that were to transform the culture of America. In cities and in the rural areas, in both the North and South, family loyalty, religion, and finally a movement for civil rights that brought purpose and hope to millions became key elements that held the African American family together. In their own words--from interviews, letters, diaries, newspaper articles, and published writings--the story of the African American unfolds in this moving and significant Family Album. Photographs culled from archives, news sources, and family collections make the history that is told here real and immediate. Profiles of Sojourner Turth, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Toni Morrison, and other notable African Americans are included, as are the words of such famous figures as Jackie Robinson, Spike Lee, Langston Hughes, Hank Aaron, Ralph Abernathy, and many others less famous who also proudly call themselves African Americans. They bring the story up to date, and reinforce the importance of their African roots to today's African American. Their history is part of our country's story now, and an important component in the great American Family Album. The titles in the American Family Albums series tell the multicolored and often heroic stories of American immigrant groups, largely through their own words and pictures. Like any family album or scrapbook, the pages contain many period photographs and other memorabilia. These join with original documents--including selections from diaries, letters, memoirs, and newspapers--to bring the immigrant experience vividly to life.


Ternary organic solar cells (OSCs) are fabricated with indene-C60 bisadduct (ICBA) as an electron acceptor and the low-band-gap polymer PBDTTT-C-T and the highly crystalline small molecule n-BDT-3T-CNCOO as electron donors. A high open-circuit voltage of 0.98 V is achieved, which is 0.2 V higher than that of ternary OSCs based on phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) as the acceptor. Incorporation of n-BDT-3T-CNCOO promotes the power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 5.01% for polymer binary devices to 5.51% for ternary devices. The improved PCE is attributed to the nanofibrous morphology with enhanced crystallinity of the donors and improved aggregation of the ICBA acceptor, which facilitate charge separation and charge transport. This work reveals that the ternary strategy of blending highly crystalline small molecules enhances PCEs of OSCs based on ICBA and other non-fullerene acceptors.


In America alone there are 46 million non-traditional students that have some college hours but that have not completed their degree. There are over 1,700 non-traditional students at the University of Arkansas. Colleges and universities provide resources to students to support their academic, social and other needs. Do non-traditional students avail themselves of the University of Arkansas' resources? Does this impact their GPA? A quantitative and qualitative research study was conducted to explore the connectivity of non-traditional students with their college campus. A survey with a follow up email interview was gathered to examine and research non-traditional students' interests, problems, and needs. Consequently the results suggest that the majority of non-traditional students do not participate or utilize the University of Arkansas' support facilities. Additional research should be conducted to strive to meet the needs of non-traditional students at the University of Arkansas. Running head: Non-Traditional Students/UA Resources 3 Chapter


Introduction: Fosfomycin trometamol is a phosphonic acid derivative, which acts primarily by interfering with bacterial peptidoglycan synthesis with broad spectrum of activity against agents causing urinary tract infections (UTIs) with good antibiofilm activity and limited reports of resistance. There are limited studies from India regarding the efficacy of the drug, so the study was conducted to determine the in vitro efficacy of fosfomycin. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and thirty nonrepetitive urinary isolates over a period of 4 months were included in the study. Antibiotic susceptibility and extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) detection following the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines were performed. Results: One hundred and seventy (73.91%) out of the 230 urinary isolates were sensitive to fosfomycin in our study with equivalent efficacy among outdoor and indoor patients. Among the Gram-positive isolates, 34 (60.71%) out of 56 isolates were sensitive to fosfomycin. Among the Gram-negative isolates, 136 (78.16%) out of 174 were sensitive to fosfomycin which was higher than other commonly used drugs for UTI. ESBL production did not affect the overall susceptibility to the drug. Conclusion: The convenience of a single-dose regimen, broad range of activity proven in vitro and in vivo, and minimal propensity for promoting resistant pathogens make fosfomycin an attractive regimen for the treatment of complicated and uncomplicated community- and hospital-acquired UTIs. This study also reveals an alarming finding of high level of resistance among Klebsiella spp., which could well turn out to be a limiting factor in the clinical usefulness of this drug, which warrants further clinical studies regarding the drug in India.


Action recognition has seen a dramatic performance improvement in the last few years. Most of the current state-of-the-art literature either aims at improving performance through changes to the backbone CNN network, or exploring different trade-offs between computational efficiency and performance, again through altering the backbone network. However, almost all of these works maintain the same last layers of the network, which simply consist of a global average pooling followed by a fully connected layer. In this work we focus on how to improve the representation capacity of the network, but rather than altering the backbone, we focus on improving the last layers of the network, where changes have low impact in terms of computational cost. In particular, we hypothesize that current architectures have poor sensitivity to finer details and we exploit recent advances in the fine-grained recognition literature to improve our model in this aspect. With the proposed approach, we obtain state-of-the-art performance on Kinetics-400 and Something-Something-V1, the two major large-scale action recognition benchmarks.


Fluid distribution in convergent margins is by most accounts closely related to tectonics. This association has been widely studied at accretionary prisms, but at half of the Earth's convergent margins, tectonic erosion grinds down overriding plates, and here fluid distribution and its relation to tectonics remain speculative. Here we present a new conceptual model for the hydrological system of erosional convergent margins. The model is based largely on new data and recently published observations from along the Middle America Trench offshore Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and it is consistent with observations from other erosional margins. The observations indicate that erosional margins possess previously unrecognized distinct hydrogeological systems: Most fluid contained in the sediment pores and liberated by early dehydration reactions drains from the plate boundary through a fractured upper plate to seep at the seafloor across the slope, rather than migrating along the décollement toward the deformation front as described for accretionary prisms. The observations indicate that the relative fluid abundance across the plate‐boundary fault zone and fluid migration influence long‐term tectonics and the transition from aseismic to seismogenic behavior. The segment of the plate boundary where fluid appears to be more abundant corresponds to the locus of long‐term tectonic erosion, where tectonic thinning of the overriding plate causes subsidence and the formation of the continental slope. This correspondence between observations indicates that tectonic erosion is possibly linked to the migration of overpressured fluids into the overriding plate. The presence of overpressured fluids at the plate boundary is compatible with the highest flow rates estimated at slope seeps. The change from aseismic to seismogenic behavior along the plate boundary of the erosional margin begins where the amount of fluid at the fault declines with depth, indicating a control on interplate earthquakes. A previously described similar observation along accreting plate boundaries strongly indicates that fluid abundance exerts a first‐order control on interplate seismogenesis at all types of subduction zones. We hypothesize that fluid depletion with depth increases grain‐to‐grain contact, increasing effective stress on the fault, and modifies fault zone architecture from a thick fault zone to a narrower zone of localized slip.


Lynne Baker was born in Potchefstroom on the 28th June 1928. His high school education was at Jeppe Boys' High School in Johannesburg and he then went to the University of the Witwatersrand, where he qualified with an MB, ChB in 1951. Following this he returned to Potchefstroom and worked as a General Practitioner. He decided to do surgery and began his surgical training at Aberdeen University under Prof Hugh Dudley and Prof George Mavor, one of the pioneers in the management of venous disease and arterial surgery which became major interests of Lynne's. He completed his Royal College Fellowship in Edinburgh in 1958 and proceeded to McGill University in Montreal, Canada where he completed a Master of Science degree.


Load management and self-consumption is becoming common for distributed photovoltaic (PV) generation. The objective of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of load management and battery storage in residential grid connected PV systems without net metering. The power consumption of the home loads was divided into time manageable, storage capable and non-manageable. Load management to displace the time manageable and storage capable loads from evening hours to PV generation hours increased self-consumption by up to 50%. The addition of batteries to a grid tied PV system can increase self consumption to 100%, but there was no net cost savings due to the cost of the batteries and power conditioning unit. Grid tied PV systems with no net metering should be designed for daytime loads only to maximize cost effectiveness.


The purpose of this project is to address the volunteer needs of the Heartside Gleaning Initiative, a nonprofit organization founded by Grand Valley State University professor Lisa Sisson. The mission of the Heartside Gleaning Initiative is to "empower the Heartside community to become healthier through nutrition education and improving accessibility of healthy foods" (Heartside, 2014). Members of the Heartside Gleaning Initiative are currently working to give people living in the Heartside community of Grand Rapids access to fresh produce. Volunteers glean the produce from local farmers at the Fulton Street Farmers Market and then deliver it to shelters in the Heartside neighborhood. This work is also a part of a larger goal to fight the national issue of food insecurity, which affects millions of people living in the United States. For this project, our group chose to focus on volunteer recruitment. Volunteers are the backbone of the Heartside Gleaning Initiative and a necessary component for the work being done. We have begun to work with several Grand Rapids schools and local churches in the Heartside neighborhood to generate awareness about the initiative and to try and fill this need for volunteers. The organization specifically needs a core group of four to five volunteers who can consistently work with the initiative. Though we have generated interest among community members to volunteer for a weekend, we struggled to establish this core group of leaders. This proved to be our biggest challenge with the project, and finding a group of leaders will continue to be a task for the initiative in the future, though we have several suggestions that may help their efforts. The final goal for this project was to provide the Heartside Gleaning Initiative with recruitment materials. We recreated a pamphlet for the organization to give to potential volunteers. It includes information about the goals and the mission of the organization and contact information. It can be used to generate awareness and knowledge about the Heartside Gleaning Initiative. We also provided the organization with a list of the local churches and schools with interested members. We hope the initiative will be able to use these materials to continue to recruit a stable group of volunteers.


This report describes work that was carried out as part of the 3D Soils project of the former Sustainable Soils Programme. The work involved the acquisition of geophysical field data alongside traditional site investigation techniques to aid in 3D geological modelling of the shallow sub-surface. The first part of the report introduces the various geophysical techniques applied during site investigations, followed by a best practice guide to georeferencing geophysical data. It then goes on to describe how this data can be used in support of model development in GSI3D (Geological Surveying and Investigation in 3D).
This report can be consulted as a guide to how near-surface geophysics can be used as an aid to building site-scale soil-geology models using GSI3D, and suggests that work of this kind should be carried out using an integrated approach utilising appropriate geophysical techniques alongside standard geotechnical practices.
Geophysical techniques have demonstrated that Sand and Gravel (SAGR) deposits at Shelford are laterally variable in terms of their distribution and morphology, and a 3 m drop in-filled with SAGR has been mapped in 3D along with siltstone beds along the valley slopes.
Depth to the base of peat was identified using ground-truthed geophysical data at Talla Linnfoots, and demonstrates that the distribution and thickness of peat vary across the site. Information regarding the location of in-filled channels in the underlying glacial deposits has been used to add resolution to the 3D model and to suggest targets for further investigation.
Using a combination of geophysical and geotechnical data in GSI3D enabled the construction of 3D models showing the distribution of soil horizons, superficial deposits and bedrock geology. Various soil series/horizons were related to their parent materials by analysing their distribution in relation to the superficial and bedrock geology.


This book describes the design of resilient VLSI circuits. VLSI design has become more challenging recently, due to the detrimental effects of radiation particle strikes and processing variations. This book presents algorithms to analyze the effects of these issues on the electrical behavior of VLSI circuits and circuit design techniques to mitigate the impact of these problems.


Almost all social interations between people, but also within and between social groups rely on trust. Thus trust is one of the most relevant social phenomena, influencing our thinking, our feelings, our decisions and the way we act. The decision to trust typically requires the willingness of one party to rely on the actions of another party. Examples of trust relationships within organizations start at the individual level, e.g. people working together in a team, and develop into intra-organizational constellations, like teams sharing ideas or differnet departments working together on joint projects. But also the organizations itself is judged according to its trustworthiness by its internal and external stakeholders. Therefore, managing trust relationships is of key importance to organizational live. Challenges of managing these trust relationships are manifold and become the worst if negative experiences lead to a breakdown of trust. Organizations are therefore dependent on guidance on how to build, maintain, and rebuild trust across all organzational levels. The present book benchmarks to what extent a neuroeconomic view of trust can advance existing theoretical conceptualizations and can be of managerial help for organizational practice. It thus illustrates the practical help for organizational practice. It thus illustrates the practical relevance of trust an pictures the existing theoretival relevance of trust and pictures the existing theoretical landscape of already existing approaches to trust. Unlike other theoretical concepts, neuroeconomics starts to explain trust at the level of an individual's brain. This is possible due to its interdisciplinary access using neuroscientific methods, psychological theories, and economic models. As a result, new insights of understanding trust are at hand and worth to be discussed for its theoretical and practical insights.


The globally increasing prevalence and incident rates of mental diseases is one of the most serious public health challenges according to the World Health Organization. Today, treatment is based on professional therapies which require a high amount of financial resources and personnel effort, however IT-supported interventions in ubiquitous devices promise help and a new leverage beyond traditional therapies. We identify the car as a space for new treatments since drivers often have time and the environment in the automobile is highly controlled. In-vehicle information systems can reach people in their daily routine and could introduce innovative prevention measures. In this research in progress paper, we address the open question how the car can improve a driver's affective state while driving. First, we thoroughly describe the design of a study we conducted to motivate other researchers for this topic. Second, we analyse 631 completed interventions collected in a 2-month field study with 10 drivers. First analyses indicate that we can positively influence the short-term affective state of drivers with at least one of ourintervention types. We provide first practical examples of how to reach the masses of everyday drivers.


In this paper, a hybrid Tabu Search and Simulated Annealing (TS/SA) approach is proposed to find the optimal placement of multi-type FACTS devices to simultaneously minimise the total generator fuel cost and violation function. The problem is decomposed into the Multi-Objective Optimal Placement (MOOP) of multi-type FACTS devices subproblem that is searched by the hybrid TS/SA approach and the Multi-Objective Optimal Power Flow (MOOPF) with multi-type FACTS devices subproblem that is also solved by the earlier hybrid TS/SA approach and Quadratic Programming (QP). Four types of FACTS devices are used: Thyristor-Controlled Series Capacitor (TCSC), Thyristor-Controlled Phase Shifter (TCPS), Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC), and Static Var Compensator (SVC). The solution includes optimal locations of multi-type of FACTS devices. Test results on the modified IEEE 30 bus indicate that the proposed hybrid TS/SA approach obtains less combined total generator fuel cost and violation function and requires less computing time than Genetic Algorithm (GA), SA, or TS alone. Furthermore, the maximum load factor of the MOOPF with multi-type FACTS devices placed by hybrid TS/SA on the modified IEEE 30-, 57-, and 118-bus systems is higher than those placed by the sensitivity method.


In the Netherlands we aim at the internal cohesion of schooling, education and training of adults in one policyplan and in one scientific discipline. At the moment three departments i.e. the Ministery of Education and Science, Culture, Recreation and Social Welfare and Social Affairs cover most of this field.Structural changes in subsidized education for adults are brought by the implementation of the "Mammoth-Act" (1968). The past ten years the number of pupils trebled by:a. expansion of the establishment of new schools;b. evening schools also open for day-courses (1975);c. possibility to take an examination in only one or a few subjects (1978).Especially women make use of these possibilities. In 1980 about 2/3 were women. The introduction of a preparatory year creates the possibility to start without much education.Important for the development of government policy in the '70's were the official advisory committees: Commission Open School and Commission to Promote Local Educational Networks, both commissions worked till 1-1-'80, and the still existing Commission Paid Educational Leave. This finds its expression among other things in the adult education projects (existing tul 1983), but especially in the starting up of integral legislation for adult education. Problems in adult education in the Netherlands:participants: curriculum and didactics have to be adjusted to adults. Paying more attention to the process of intake may diminish the number of people who drop out.institutions: more co-operation of "Volkshogescholen" and day-/eveningschools as regards to intake and didactics, establishing curriculum commissions.government: more efficiency by promoting one overall governmental policy for adult education.Future: The community colleges in existence in the U.S. could serve as a model for educational communities in the Netherlands. The drop in number of pupils (from 1983 on) will cause an extra capacity in secondary education for youngsters. This capacity could be used for adult education and the developing of educational communities. In these communities horizontal and vertical differentiation could exist and general and vocational subjects could be offered.A conprehensive school for adults?


To be competitive in a globalized world, countries have started to deregulate and liberalize their economies, states have given up their responsibilities for economic policies, and individual citizens have become entirely responsible for their survival. To what extent is today's growing xenophobia, nourished by widespread politics of fear, linked to this age of economic uncertainty? On the occasion of the Istanbul Seminars, ResetDoc has interviewed Albena Azmanova on these issues.


Pride and property are mutually reinforcing, symbiotic concepts through which individuals express their identity in a biologically, economically, and psychologically driven manner that generates evolutionarily advantageous conditions. This Article is the first to extensively examine the correlative components of pride and property ownership. It is an interdisciplinary treatment of pride and property — engaging with law, economics, psychology, evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, and philosophy. The grossly under-studied "authentic", achievement-oriented, and motivational variety of pride (as contrasted with the much-vilified "hubristic" kind) has recently been heralded as perhaps the most important human emotion for evolutionary purposes. The Article explains that authentic pride is adaptive, functional, and manifests itself in evolutionarily beneficial ways — including through its interaction with property. The Article also outlines the mechanics of a pride based-utility function.Property has acquisitional and expressive functions, allowing ownership to be both the repository of pride-based utility and also useful as a vehicle through which evolutionarily-beneficial authentic pride can be expressed. Property can act as a "pride display" that signals status-deservedness to the greater community, enhancing the prospects of group acceptance critical to evolutionary fitness. Although literature has discussed property as integrated with one's self-identity and personhood, and while recent research on pride has recognized its fundamental relationship to the self, very little if any existing analysis ties those two strands together to analyze pride in property as identity development and to evaluate the motivational role pride plays in the acquisition, maintenance, and improvement of property. This Article seeks to fill that void. It explores ways we might maximize the influence of the utility-enhancing aspects of the pride emotion and examines how we can find new appreciation for the role that identity and our emotions play in how we experience, manage, govern, and protect property.


This study describes the power conversion and control solution used in the electrical power take-off of a 35 kW test rig developed to investigate a linear, direct drive, air-cored, tubular, permanent magnet generator for an offshore wave energy device. The solution proposed is to collect the power extracted directly from individual coils of the generator, which have different induced voltages and cannot easily be connected into a small number of phases. Local energy storage is integrated into the system to smooth the electrical output power and reduce the rating of the downstream inverter for grid interfacing. The solution is demonstrated by analysis, backed up by simulation and test results. This shows the potential and limitations of the proposed conversion technology solution.


Neuroimaging and genetics studies have advanced our understanding of the neurobiology of sleep and its disorders. However, individual studies usually have limitations to identifying consistent and reproducible effects, including modest sample sizes, heterogeneous clinical characteristics and varied methodologies. These issues call for a large‐scale multi‐centre effort in sleep research, in order to increase the number of samples, and harmonize the methods of data collection, preprocessing and analysis using pre‐registered well‐established protocols. The Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta‐Analysis (ENIGMA) consortium provides a powerful collaborative framework for combining datasets across individual sites. Recently, we have launched the ENIGMA‐Sleep working group with the collaboration of several institutes from 15 countries to perform large‐scale worldwide neuroimaging and genetics studies for better understanding the neurobiology of impaired sleep quality in population‐based healthy individuals, the neural consequences of sleep deprivation, pathophysiology of sleep disorders, as well as neural correlates of sleep disturbances across various neuropsychiatric disorders. In this introductory review, we describe the details of our currently available datasets and our ongoing projects in the ENIGMA‐Sleep group, and discuss both the potential challenges and opportunities of a collaborative initiative in sleep medicine.


ABSTRACT The history of settlements in Catalonia during medieval times bears a strong resemblance to that of other Mediterranean European countries. The origins of these medieval settlements can be traced to when Roman villae were abandoned during the Visigothic times. The work done so far proves that, up to the eleventh century, one could find, apart from cities, the presence of a large number of hamlets scattered throughout the territory and an equally large number of churches. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a network of settlements was consolidated around churches and castles in relation to new villages. Additionally, many areas saw an increase in scattered farmsteads. In those areas conquered by the Muslims, there was continuity in the types of settlement. As in Europe, the crisis of the fourteenth century brought about the abandonment of some villages and many farmsteads.


ABSTRACT Matrix-assisted laser desorption–ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a rapid and accurate method of identifying microorganisms. Throughout Europe, it is already in routine use but has not yet been widely implemented in the United States, pending FDA approval. Here, we describe two medically complex patients at a large tertiary-care academic medical center with recurring bacteremias caused by distinct but related species. Bacterial identifications were initially obtained using the Vitek-2 system with the GPI card for Enterococcus and the API system for staphylococci. Initial results misled clinicians as to the source and proper management of these patients. Retrospective investigation with MALDI-TOF MS clarified the diagnosis by identifying a single microorganism as the pathogen in each case. To our knowledge, this is one of the first reports in the United States demonstrating the use of MALDI-TOF MS to facilitate the clinical diagnosis in patients with recurrent bacteremias of unclear source.


We address the problem of online detection of unanticipated modes of mechanical failure given a small set of time series under normal conditions, with the requirement that the anomaly detection model be manually verifiable and modifiable. We specify a set of time series features, which are linear combinations of the current and past values, and model the allowed feature values by a sequence of minimal bounding boxes containing all of the training trajectories. The model can be constructed in O(n log n) time. If there are at most three features, the model can be displayed graphically for verification, otherwise a table is used. Test time is O(n) with a guaranteed upper bound on computation time for each test point. The model compares favorably with anomaly detection algorithms based on Euclidean distance and dynamic time warping on the Space Shuttle Marrotta fuel control valve data set.