In the last decade there has been significant research into joining steel alloys using the Friction Stir Welding technique due to its ability to carry out welding below the melting point of the parent material and without using fillers such as in fusion welding techniques. This coincided with the increased use of DH36 and EH46 steel grades for ship building. The main reason for joining these steel grades by the friction stir welding technique is to reduce the weight of the vessel, as well as, the high welded joint quality especially mechanical properties such as fatigue and impact resistance. Other improved physical characteristics include increased tensile strength, microhardness and surface finish.
This research project has attempted to model friction stir welding using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Three different approaches have been used when considering the interface between the tool and the workpiece; these are torque, sticking/slipping and fully sticking. The project also investigates the mechanical properties of the welded joints including tensile, fatigue and microhardness. The microstructural evolution of welded joints carried out using different welding parameters is also investigated. The phenomenon of elemental precipitation/segregation during the friction stir welding process has been investigated and the limit of tool rotational speed at which the segregation occurs has been determined by modelling and also by heat treatment to simulate FSW. The purpose of the heat treatment trials was to attempt to replicate the temperature and time that the parent materials experiences during the FSW process. Defects in the weld joints associated with unsuitable friction stir welding parameters were also investigated and two new types of defect have been identified for the first time. Finally, tool wear has been investigated in the different weld joints in order to understand the suitable welding parameters that can prolong tool life.
The results from the mathematical modelling of FSW using CFD showed that the fully sticking assumption is the most effective approach for modelling friction stir welding of steel. The model also revealed that local melting at the advancing-trailing side of the tool is likely to occur at high tool rotational speeds. The experimental findings were in agreement with the results from the CFD model as the high tool rotational speed welded joints showed elemental segregation of Mn, Si, Al and O which only occurs when the peak temperature during welding approaches the melting point of steel.
Experimental work has also shown significant improvement in the mechanical properties of the welded joints in terms of fatigue and tensile strength after friction stir welding compared to the parent metal. However, the joints welded at high tool rotational/traverse speeds have shown lower mechanical properties as a result of defects such as weld root defect and microcrackes which have been introduced. Tool wear was found to increase with the increasing tool rotational speed as a result of the tools W-Re binder softening. Tool wear was also found to increase with increasing plunge depth as a result of the high shear stress originating from the high thermo-mechanical action at the FSW tool surface. The current project has contributed to knowledge in the friction stir welding of steel by revealing the limits of tool speed that causes elemental segregation. The new technique for estimating the peak temperature and cooling rate using TiN precipitates can also be an alternative to thermocouple measurements which can significantly underestimate the tool-workpiece interface temperature.


With the proliferation and ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICTs), it is becoming imperative for individuals to constantly engage with these technologies in order to get work accomplished. Academic literature, popular press, and anecdotal evidence suggest that ICTs are responsible for increased stress levels in individuals (known as technostress). However, despite the influence of stress on health costs and productivity, it is not very clear which characteristics of ICTs create stress. We draw from IS and stress research to build and test a model of technostress. The person-environment fit model is used as a theoretical lens. The research model proposes that certain technology characteristics--like usability (usefulness, complexity, and reliability), intrusiveness (presenteeism, anonymity), and dynamism (pace of change)--are related to stressors (work overload, role ambiguity, invasion of privacy, work-home conflict, and job insecurity). Field data from 661 working professionals was obtained and analyzed. The results clearly suggest the prevalence of technostress and the hypotheses from the model are generally supported. Work overload and role ambiguity are found to be the two most dominant stressors, whereas intrusive technology characteristics are found to be the dominant predictors of stressors. The results open up new avenues for research by highlighting the incidence of technostress in organizations and possible interventions to alleviate it.


We previously showed that flavanols and their related oligomers (FLO) isolated from cocoa can have immunomodulatory effects on production of the cytokines interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-2, and IL-4. In the present study, we examined whether selected FLO fractions isolated from cocoa (monomer through decamer) modulate IL-5 protein secretion from resting and phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Although FLO fractions were unstimulatory for IL-5 secretion in resting cells, PHA-induced IL-5 release from PBMC was markedly affected by certain FLO fractions. The monomeric and small oligomeric (dimer and trimer) fractions enhanced PHA stimulation by 50%, 54%, and 43%, respectively. In contrast, the larger oligomeric fractions (hexamer through decamer) inhibited IL-5 release in the range of 18% to 39%; the tetramer and pentamer showed intermediate effects. The increment in IL-5 suggests that FLO may preferentially stimulate immunoglobulin A. We suggest that in the oral cavity this could result in reduction in the risk for dental caries and periodontal disease. This work offers additional data for consideration of the health benefits of dietary FLO from a variety of foods, including those benefits associated specifically with consumption of some cocoas and chocolates.


In their seminal works, Arrow (1965) and Pratt (1964) defined two aspects of risk aversion: absolute risk aversion and relative risk aversion. Based on their definitions, we define two aspects of risk: absolute risk and relative risk. We consider situations in which, by making an investment, an agent exchanges a certain amount of wealth w by a random distributed level of wealth W. In such situations, we define absolute risk as the riskiness of a gamble that is distributed as W-w, and relative risk as the riskiness of a security that is distributed as W/w. We measure absolute risk by the Aumann and Serrano (2008) index of riskiness and relative risk by an equivalent index that we develop in this paper. The two concepts of risk do not necessarily agree on which one of two investments is riskier, and hence they capture two different aspects of risk.


Whether we speak of pioneers in modern dance or of early modern dancers, the name of Hemsley Winfield is rarely mentioned. Within the study of dance, most people are familiar with Loie Fuller, Isadora Duncan, and Ruth St. Denis, the three who are given credit for the birth of what was to be called modern dance. And, if one was asked to name some of the early modern dancers, the names of Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Honya Holm, and Katherine Dunham would certainly come to mind. However, many people don't know that Hemsley Winfield was a contemporary of this second group, who were to become the leading dancers and choreographers of their generation. Edna Guy wrote about pioneers in Negro dance stating, "three talented Negro dancers had already, by hard work and determination, started something of importance in the Negro dance. They were the late Hemsley Winfield, who studied with Mordkin, Edna Guy, a protege [sic] of Ruth St. Denis, and Katherine Dunham of Chicago, who was studying the ballet."2 It has been by others written that Hemsley Winfield was considered "the pioneer in Negro concert dancing. In that field he attained for his race an eminence comparable to that of Paul Robeson in the musical field. He achieved amazing results in such a short time."3 Thirty years after his death he was remembered for dancing the roll of the witch doctor in the Emperor Jones at the Metropolitan Opera House.4 One can only imagine that if Hemsley Winfield had not passed at the age of 26, he may well have been one of the artistic leaders during the Harlem Rennaisance and he may have been remembered along with the other leaders of modern dance. Named after his mother's maiden name, Hemsley, he was Osborne Hemsley Winfield. He was born, lived, attended school, directed, taught and choreographed dance in Yonkers, New York. His home, where he lived with his parents, still stands at 24 Wolffe Street. including a track event during a Field Day, in which he won a dash event while he was in the seventh grade.5 The earliest acting reference, found by this author, lists Winfield as one of the actors to perform in three one act plays with The National Ethiopian Art Theater at midnight on October 15, 1924.6 Previous references placed Winfield's acting career as starting in 1925. From 1924 through 1930 there are numerous references about Winfield's acting, directing and teaching career. As part of the "Little Theater movement" Winfield started and directed the Sekondi Players of Yonkers in 1925.7 He used the name from the Ghanian city of Sekondi to reflect the connection to his African American heritage. In November of 1927 Winfield and the Sekondi Players performed the children's play, The Princess and the Cat, written by his mother, Jeroline Hemsley Winfield. This inaugural opening of children's plays was under his direction of The New Negro Art Theater. This is the first reference to the New Negro Art Theater group that Winfield directed during the rest of his acting and dance career. The company's name was most likely influenced by the title of Alain Locke's book, The New Negro that was published in 1925 and reflected the popular sentiments of racial pride evident in the United States at the time. The New Negro Art Theater group continued producing children's plays including Cinderella, Snow White, Re 'd Riding Hood, Water Babies, and Alladin. Winfield was already being touted as "making a name for himself in the dramatic world" when interviewed on radio station W.H.N, in 1926.8 Winfield was given credit for writing Oh, a play that was performed in 1927 by the Sekondi Players. He was a notable enough personality that he was written about in the local paper, even when it was for finding time to be with his family when they would entertain guests at their home.9 As part of the New Negro Art Theater, the Sekondi Players performed Salome on radio station WCGU on Sunday, February 1 1, 1928. …


The Killingworth dome of south-central Connecticut occurs at the southern end of the Bronson Hill belt. It is composed of tonalitic and trondhjemitic orthogneisses (Killingworth complex) and bimodal metavolcanic rocks (Middletown complex) that display calc-alkaline affinities. Orthogneisses of the Killingworth complex (Boulder Lake gneiss, 456 ± 6 Ma; Pond Meadow gneiss, ∼460 Ma) were emplaced at about the same time as eruption and deposition of volcanic-sedimentary rocks of the Middletown complex (Middletown Formation, 449 ± 4 Ma; Higganum gneiss, 459 ± 4 Ma). Hidden Lake gneiss (339 ± 3 Ma) occurs as a pluton in the core of the Killingworth dome, and, on the basis of geochemical and isotopic data, is included in the Killingworth complex. Pb and Nd isotopic data suggest that the Pond Meadow, Boulder Lake, and Hidden Lake gneisses (Killingworth complex) resulted from mixing of Neoproterozoic Gander terrane sources (high 207Pb/204Pb and intermediate εNd) and less radiogenic (low 207Pb/204Pb and low εNd) components, whereas Middletown Formation and Higganum gneiss (Middletown complex) were derived from mixtures of Gander basement and primitive (low 207Pb/204Pb and high εNd) sources. The less radiogenic component for the Killingworth complex is similar in isotopic composition to material from Laurentian (Grenville) crust. However, because published paleomagnetic and paleontologic data indicate that the Gander terrane is peri-Gondwanan in origin, the isotopic signature of Killingworth complex rocks probably was derived from Gander basement that contained detritus from non-Laurentian sources such as Amazonia, Baltica, or Oaxaquia. We suggest that the Killingworth complex formed above an east-dipping subduction zone on the west margin of the Gander terrane, whereas the Middletown complex formed to the east in a back-arc rift environment. Subsequent shortening, associated with the assembly of Pangea in the Carboniferous, resulted in Gander cover terranes over the Avalon terrane in the west; and in the Middletown complex over the Killingworth complex in the east. Despite similarities of emplacement age, structural setting, and geographic continuity of the Killingworth dome with Oliverian domes in central and northern New England, new and published isotopic data suggest that the Killingworth and Middletown complexes were derived from Gander crust, and are not part of the Bronson Hill arc that was derived from Laurentian crust. The trace of the Ordovician Iapetan suture (the Red Indian line) between rocks of Laurentian and Ganderian origin probably extends from Southwestern New Hampshire west of the Pelham dome of northcentral Massachusetts and is coverd by Mesozoic rocks of the Hartford basin.


Internet of Things (IoT) is about augmenting the existing power of the Internet beyond computers and smartphones to a whole range of other things, processes, and environments involving living or non-living species. It can bring life to the objects and enable them to communicate. This study presents the bibliometric analysis and science-mapping analysis on IoT. The data were extracted from the Web of Science (WoS) database from 1989–2019. In total 14,469 documents (articles, review, editorial material, proceedings, etc) were retrieved, which were further processed by VOSviewer software to perform advanced bibliometric analysis and science-mapping analysis. This research identifies the most productive or leading authors, countries, journals, institutions, keywords and to know their coauthorship pattern, co-citation pattern, bibliographic coupling pattern, the co-occurrence of keywords pattern in the research area of IoT. Results showed that Joel J.P.C Rodrigues was the most productive author, the People's Republic of China was the most productive country, the Journal of EEE Access was the leading journal, Luigi Atzori was the most cited author. The main keywords more frequently occurred were Internet of things, and Internet, and Security. The analysis showed a collaboration relation between authors, countries and institutions. The visualizations conducted on this topic offer exploratory information on current status and trends on the scientific literature of IoT and provides insights for established and novice researchers in the understanding of this research topic.


This paper presents an alternative technique for the adaptive control of power electronic converter circuits. Specific attention is given to the adaptive control of a dc-dc converter. The proposed technique is based on a simple adaptive filter method and uses a one-tap finite impulse response (FIR) prediction error filter (PEF). The method is computationally efficient and based around a dichotomous coordinate descent (DCD) algorithm. The DCD-recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm has been employed as the adaptive PEF to reduce the computational complexity of existing RLS algorithms for efficient hardware implementation. Results show that the DCD-RLS is able to improve the dynamic performance and convergence rate of the adaptive gains (filter taps) within the controller. In turn, this yields a significant improvement in the overall dynamic performance of the closed-loop control system, particularly in the event of abrupt parameter changes. The proposed controller uses an adaptive proportional-derivative+integral (PD +I) structure which, alongside the DCD algorithm, offers an effective substitute to a conventional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller. The nonadaptive integral controller (+I), introduced in the feedback loop, increases the excitation of the filter tap weight and ensures good regulation. The approach results in a fast adaptive controller with self-loop compensation. This is required to minimize the prediction error signal and, in turn, minimize the voltage error signal in the loop by automatically calculating the optimal pole locations. The prediction error signal is further minimized through a second-stage FIR filter (adaptation gain stage). This ensures that the adaptive gains converge to their optimal value. This paper presents detailed simulation analysis and experimental validation on a prototype synchronous dc-dc buck converter. The experimental results clearly demonstrate the superior dynamic performance and voltage regulation compared to conventional PID and adaptive LMS control schemes, with only a modest increase in the computational burden to the microprocessor.


Upward social comparison can give rise to the emotion of envy: the pain caused by the good fortune of others. This chapter explains what envy is and what the possible function of envy is to an organism experiencing it. The authors provide an overview of past work on envy, the distinction between two subtypes (benign and malicious envy), possible antecedents of envy, possible consequences of envy, and the responses to being envied by others. In each of these areas, there are clear links to research on social comparison and research on envy has greatly benefited from insights from the social comparison literature. Given the surge in research on envy in the last decade, the authors hope that the findings on envy inspires those investigating social comparisons.


Temporal bone trauma is frequently encountered in the emergency department. Technologic advances have enabled timely acquisition of thin-section images and multiplanar reconstructions such that temporal bone anatomy can be evaluated in great detail, with excellent delineation of fractures. The temporal bone is composed of a myriad of tiny structures, including many fissures and canals, that must be distinguished from true fractures. In addition, injury to important structures may result in serious complications such as hearing loss, dizziness, imbalance, perilymphatic fistula, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, facial nerve paralysis, and vascular injury. Structures that should be examined include the tympanic cavity and tegmen, the ossicular chain, the bony labyrinth, the facial canal, the internal carotid artery, the jugular foramen and venous sinuses, and the intracranial contents. Radiologists should be familiar with the anatomy of the temporal bone and be able to describe any pathologic findings and make suggestions to referring clinicians to guide management and determine the prognosis. The authors describe the typical CT and MRI appearances of temporal bone trauma, entities that mimic this injury and thus must be differentiated, and compulsory points for evaluating clinically relevant associated complications. Instruction is provided for acquiring the diagnostic skills necessary to report suggested injury status, complications, and likely sequelae to clinicians.©RSNA, 2020.


Due to the growing environmental concern and the increasing demand for more ecological methods of transportation, composite materials that combine low weight and high resistance have raised the interest of several industrial sectors. Among these materials, the metal-plastic composites (MPCs) can be highlighted, who combine a low weight and a relatively high mechanical resistance. Such materials are used in advertising signs, building panels, motor shielding, etc. Mechanical joining of MPC materials is to be avoided when protrusions are not allowed or because of aesthetical reasons. Welding is therefore considered as an interesting alternative. However, qualitative joining using welding of the MPC materials to other MPC materials or to metallic plates is a real challenge. Due to their special features (layer structure, material mix, etc.), conventional manufacturing processes are therefore only of limited or no use at all. In particular, the polymer core layer is a barrier for the use of conventional joining methods. This contribution presents a novel joining approach for MPCs. The basic approach is the local melting of the polymer layer by ultrasonic waves and displacement of the molten plastic material by pressure on the cover sheets. This work proposes the investigation of the use of non-conventional solid-state welding processes, such as ultrasonic welding (USW) and refill friction stir spot welding (RFSSW), for joining MPCs with aluminum sheets. Prior to the application of the joining processes, the intermediate plastic core of the MPC materials is displaced using ultrasonic vibrations, so that the materials can be joined as monolithical materials. These joining concepts are validated experimentally. The obtained weld quality is assessed based on destructive and non-destructive testing methods.


OBJECTIVES
To estimate prevalence and assess factors associated with doctor shopping among caregivers of children acutely admitted to a hospital in Hong Kong, and examine the reasons for such behaviour and caregivers' awareness of its possible dangers.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study with face-to-face surveys.

SETTING
A paediatric unit in a teaching hospital in Hong Kong.

PARTICIPANTS
Caregivers of children admitted to acute paediatric wards between April and July 2011. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES; Socio-demographic characteristics of the interviewee, personal history and clinical data of the patient, presence of doctor shopping (consulting more than one doctor for medical advice without referral) for each episode, the reasons behind such behaviour, and awareness of potential dangers. Data retrieved were analysed to estimate the prevalence and logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with doctor shopping.

RESULTS
In all, 649 such patients were admitted into hospital during the study period, of which 336 were recruited, with about a half being absent or given home leave. Thirty-four patients were excluded due to absent caregivers or refusal, and 302 were included in the study. More than half (79.5%) were female and the caregivers' monthly household incomes were between HK$10 001 and HK$15 000 (21.2%), similar to the median household income in Hong Kong. The prevalence of doctor shopping was 53%. The only significant clinical parameter associated with doctor shopping was presence of fever (odds ratio=2.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-3.9). Persistence of symptoms was the commonest reason given by interviewees for doctor shopping, and the majority (75.5%) were unaware of the possible dangers of this behaviour.

CONCLUSION
Doctor shopping is highly prevalent among caregivers of children with acute paediatric conditions. Most caregivers do not know the potential complications of this behaviour. Further measures should be taken to educate subjects on the associated dangers of this behaviour and the natural course of acute illnesses with fever.


Gaia is an ambitious mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Its main objective is to obtain a three-dimensional map of the Milky Way. Gaia will reveal the composition of the Galaxy and the way in which it was formed and has evolved. In order to do this, Gaia needs to measure with unprecedented accuracy the position, proper motions and radial velocities of a huge number of sources. These accuracies are needed to produce a stereoscopic and kinematic census of about one billion stars in our Galaxy and throughout the Local Group. This amounts to about 1 per cent of the Galactic stellar population. In order to achieve these impressive accuracies, the most challenging technical developments have to be implemented, and controlling the orbit of Gaia is, perhaps, one of the most important issues. Gaia will orbit around the Lagrangian point L2 of the Sun-Earth system following a Lissajous orbit. This orbit allows a quite stable environment for the payload in terms of mechanical and thermal stability. Additionally a continuous scanning law has been adopted for Gaia as the optimal observation mode. The present master thesis is devoted to the study the scanning law of Gaia to characterize which will be the effects that a source of disturbances will cause. First of all we will reproduce the nominal scanning law for Gaia and, thereafter, a noise source modeled using a standard power spectral density law will be added. The effects of these disturbances will be studied in detail for the orbiting, precessional and scanning movements of Gaia. Finally we will evaluate the impact on the final astrometric performances and in the targeting process.


Optical fibers have several advantages over conventional transmission systems based on coaxial cables, radio and microwave links etc. These benefits mainly include extremely large bandwidth, high data transmission rates, electrical isolation,immunity to cross talk, signal security, low loss, system reliability etc. In spite of these benefits, fiber optic transmission systems are not perfect and have many limitations and challenges to overcome in long-haul communications. Optical pulse
degradation is one such limitation. An optical pulse propagating through fiber experiences degradation that may cause communication errors limiting the overall system performance. Fiber loss, dispersion and nonlinearity are the main factors that lead to such degradation even in single mode fibers (SMFs). For single channel communications, group velocity dispersion (GVD) and self-phase modulation (SPM) are the most significant dispersion and nonlinear effects respectively. GVD arises due to wavelength dependence of refractive index; it
causes pulse broadening and thus limits the reach because of inter-symbol interference (ISI). SPM arises due to intensity dependence of refractive index; it introduces chirp that causes pulse spectrum broadening. These phenomena impose limits on the transmission rate and overall performance of the optical communications; therefore it is highly desired to mitigate these effects in fiber optic communications.Dispersion compensating fibers (DCFs) are used to compensate the GVD effect in long-haul communication systems. Dispersion compensation
(DC) can completely eliminate GVD effects if SPM can be ignored. However, this is not possible for cases when SPM is significant as the pulse shape also depends upon SPM through pulse power. Hence, the pulse degradation is sensitive to the net amount of dispersion compensation, dispersion-map and the values of launch power. As a result, exact pulse recovery may not be possible by dispersion compensation only. In view of these facts, a system designer faces issues about (i) the net amount of dispersion compensation (ii) the distribution of the compensating elements and (iii) the value of launch power, for the best system performance. As will be discussed in this thesis, these are tough questions that
have not been addressed yet because the answers are not intuitive; analytical treatment is not feasible; and the optimization using exhaustive search is prohibitive due to the extremely large number of possibilities. Minimization of pulse degradation requires multidimensional simultaneous optimization of net residual dispersion, dispersion-map and launch power.This thesis provides a thorough background about the importance of optimization of dispersion compensation and values of launch power to minimize pulse degradation. As a next step, it reports an approach that can be used to co-optimize the net amount of residual dispersion, dispersion-map and launch power, in a reasonable time,
to mitigate the effects of both GVD and SPM.For investigations in these directions, first of all, a single fiber span was considered to explore the effects of pre- and post-compensations along with the launch power on pulse degradation.These investigations clearly showed that optimum dispersion-map and optimum launch power play a key role in minimizing optical pulse degradation due to GVD and SPM in fiber optic communications. As a next step, a 2-spans fiber link was considered as the simplest case that employed pre-, in-line, and post-DCFs. For launch power optimization, two approaches were considered. In the first approach,
launch power was optimized under the conventional assumption that same value of power is launched into each fiber span. This approach is referred as launchpower optimization. In addition, the effects of launching different values of power in each span were proposed
and investigated. We named this as power-map
optimization. This link was optimized for two cases: (i) under the constraint of 100% dispersion compensation using brute force, and (ii) without any apriori assumption ofthe net compensating value. For case (ii), genetic algorithm was used due to its various advantages over conventional optimization techniques. The results obtained for 2-spans system clearly indicate that (i) power-map optimization yields better results than launch-power optimization, while (ii) dispersion-map optimization without any apriori assumption of the net amount of DC produces superior results than pre-fixed 100% compensated system. It is also pointed out that SPM and GVD effects are rather small in the 2-spans system and therefore the optimization has limited scope; however
exhaustive investigations of the 2-spans system provided a basis to verify the GA-based optimum outcomes for the same system.The above mentioned results established the need and justification of such an optimization approach for a larger system, for which as an example, 1600 km long fiber link consisting of 20-spans along with 21 DCFs was considered; and optimal solutions for the net
amount of dispersion compensation, dispersion-map, lunch power and power-map were explored. It is important to note that exhaustive search for this intractable problem was impossible and therefore GA was used to obtain the near optimal solution in a reasonable time. A comparison of the results obtained through the method proposed in
this thesis versus the results obtained through already proposed methods in the literature is also provided. The method proposed in this thesis showed a significant improvement over the traditional approaches as it recovered the input Gaussian pulse almost in its original form at the output of a 20- spans×80km/span link. Finally a discussion of these results in terms of improvement in Q-factor and the resulting bit error rate (BER) is also provided.


OF DISSERTATION EARLY EVENTS OF HUMAN METAPNEUMOVIRUS INFECTION Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a worldwide respiratory pathogen that belongs to the paramyxovirus family of enveloped viruses and affects primarily the pediatric, geriatric, and immunocompromised populations. Despite its prevalence and importance to human health, no therapies are available against this pathogen. For paramyxoviruses, it is believed that infection starts by attachment of the virus to the surface of the cell through the viral attachment protein followed by fusion between the viral and cellular membranes, a process mediated by the fusion (F) protein at the plasma membrane and at neutral pH. Previous work showed that HMPV infection can occur in the absence of the attachment protein and membrane fusion triggered by the F protein can be promoted by low pH. The work presented here are significant advances in our understanding of the entry process of HMPV. We confirmed that the F protein has receptorbinding functions and identified the cellular binding partner to be heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs). Additionally, we provide evidence that electrostatic interactions at two different regions play important roles for the proper folding, stability, and low pH triggering of the HMPV F protein. We confirmed the hypothesis that protonation of H435 is important for HMPV F triggering and provide additional evidence that the entry of HMPV may be occurring through endocytosis. Therefore, we hypothesize that HMPV entry occurs through endocytosis after viral binding to HSPGs through the F protein and membrane fusion occurs in an acidified compartment.


Conflict management consists of social behaviours that reduce the costs of conflict among group members. Redirected aggression—that is, when a recently attacked individual attacks a third party immediately after the original aggression—is considered a conflict management tactic, as it may reduce the victim's probability of being the object of further aggression. Redirected aggression has been reported in many vertebrates, but few quantitative studies have been conducted on this behaviour in fish. We examined the function of redirected aggression in Julidochromis regani, a social cichlid fish. Behavioural experiments showed that redirected aggression functioned to divert the original aggressor's attention toward a third party and to pre-empt an attack towards the victim by the third-party individual, specifically among females. We found, however, that redirected aggression did not delay the recurrence of aggression by the original aggressor. These results suggest that a primary function of redirected aggression is to maintain the dominance of its actor against a subordinate occupying an adjacent rank. This study provides the first evidence that redirected aggression functions to manage conflict in social fish.


Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyze the existence of a relationship between the presence of nearby substitute products, mainly Airbnb flats or rooms, and the effect on the revenue and profitability of hotels. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical study is based on the analysis of financial information provided in the annual reports of a sample consisting of 43 hotels (11.78% of the population). As an explanatory variable for profitability, we have considered the presence of apartments listed in Airbnb that are no farther than one kilometer from each hotel. Considering that most of the variables used do not follow a normal distribution, the existence of a relationship between profitability and the explanatory variables has been tested using non-parametric tests, namely, the Spearman correlation coefficient and Kruskall-Wallis test. Findings: We found a positive correlation between presence of Airbnb apartments and return on equity. This fact can be explained by considering the presence of Airbnb apartments as a variable that measures the attractiveness of the location from a tourist's point of view. Hotels located near the city center or main tourist areas of the city have a higher level of profitability. We also found no evidence of any relationship between profitability and star category; 4- and 3-star hotels have experienced, on average, a lower drop in revenues between 2008 and 2013 and they also obtained a higher average level of profitability in 2013 as compared to the upper segment of 5-star hotels. Research limitations/implications: This research has been conducted in the city of Barcelona. Future research using the same methodology should be applied to other cities with an important hospitality sector to reinforce our findings. The main implications of this research refer to the importance of location as a key strategic variable in hospitality, and to the change in the system customers use to evaluate the quality of a hotel, according to which the traditional star category system has been partially replaced by new sources of information available through the new communication technologies. Originality/value: This paper is one of the first contributions that scholars have made to obtain a deeper understanding of the effects of the new forms of the sharing economy, focusing on the hospitality industry.


Host factors are crucial in determining the outcome of viral infection. As obligate intracellular pathogens, viruses are highly dependent on numerous cellular proteins and processes, and also must evade multiple antiviral defense mechanisms. Since viral pathogens represent a significant threat both to human health and agriculture, a better understanding of these interactions could facilitate the treatment of viral infections and provide novel targets for therapeutics. In particular, Poxviruses include medically important human pathogens yet little is known about the specific cellular factors essential for their replication. To identify genes essential for vaccinia infection, I used high-throughput RNA interference to screen Drosophila kinases and phosphatases. I identified seven genes including the three subunits of AMPK as promoting vaccinia infection. AMPK facilitated infection both in insect and mammalian cells. I found that AMPK is required for macropinocytosis, a major endocytic entry pathway for vaccinia. Furthermore, AMPK contributes to other actin-dependent cellular processes including lamellipodia formation and wound healing, independent of the known AMPK activators LKB1 and CaMKK. Therefore, AMPK plays a highly conserved role in poxvirus infection and actin dynamics independent of its role as an energy regulator. This led me to investigate the role of AMPK in other viral infections, including human arthropod-borne viral pathogens. Surprisingly I found that AMPK expression and activation restricts infection of the Bunyavirus Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV) in an LKB1-dependent manner. RVFV like other RNA viruses manipulates cellular membranes to form vesicle-like structures that support the viral replication complex in a process dependent on de novo fatty acid synthesis. I found that AMPK activation potently inhibits acetyl Co A carboxylase, crucial in fatty acid synthesis, leading to decreased levels of cellular lipids. Bypassing fatty acid synthesis by treating cells with palmitate, the first product of fatty acid synthesis rescued infection, demonstrating that AMPK restricts RVFV by inhibiting fatty acid synthesis. Additional RNA viruses that require membrane proliferations including the Togavirus Sindbis and the Alphavirus Vesicular Stomatitis Virus were also restricted by AMPK. AMPK is likely a component of the intrinsic innate immune response against RNA viruses, and may provide a target for broadly anti-viral therapeutics. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Cell & Molecular Biology First Advisor Sara Cherry Second Advisor Stuart N. Isaacs This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/975


OBJECTIVE—We sought to evaluate the entire picture of all monocyte chemotactic factors that potentially contribute to adipose tissue macrophage accumulation in obesity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Expression and regulation of members in the entire chemokine superfamily were evaluated in adipose tissue and isolated adipocytes of obese versus lean mice. Kinetics of adipose tissue macrophage infiltration was characterized by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. The effects of fatty acids on stimulation of chemokine expression in adipocytes and underlying mechanisms were investigated. RESULTS—Six monocyte chemotactic factors were found to be predominantly upregulated in isolated adipocytes versus stromal vascular cells in obese mice for the first time, although most of them were previously reported to be upregulated in whole adipose tissue. In diet-induced obese mice, adipose tissue enlargement, increase of adipocyte number, and elevation of multiple chemokine expression precede the initiation of macrophage infiltration. Free fatty acids (FFAs) are found to be inducers for upregulating these chemokines in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and this effect can be partially blunted by reducing Toll-like receptor 4 expression. FFAs induce expression of monocyte chemotactic factors in adipocytes via both transcription-dependent and -independent mechanisms. In contrast to the reported role of JNK as the exclusive mediator of FFA-induced monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) expression in macrophages, we show a novel role of inhibitor of κB kinase-β (IKKβ) in mediating FFA-induced upregulation of all six chemokines and a role of JNK in FFA-induced upregulation of MCP-1 and MCP-3. CONCLUSIONS—Multiple chemokines derived from adipocytes might contribute to obesity-related WAT macrophage infiltration with FFAs as potential triggers and involvement of both IKKβ and JNK pathways.


Large Transformer models routinely achieve state-of-the-art results on a number of tasks but training these models can be prohibitively costly, especially on long sequences. We introduce two techniques to improve the efficiency of Transformers. For one, we replace dot-product attention by one that uses locality-sensitive hashing, changing its complexity from O($L^2$) to O($L\log L$), where $L$ is the length of the sequence. Furthermore, we use reversible residual layers instead of the standard residuals, which allows storing activations only once in the training process instead of $N$ times, where $N$ is the number of layers. The resulting model, the Reformer, performs on par with Transformer models while being much more memory-efficient and much faster on long sequences.


Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, in their widely read and politically impactful book The Second Machine Age, highlight the costs and benefits of digital technologies for the volume and quality of work and identify reforms designed to ensure that digital technologies deliver net advantages to workers and society more generally. This article offers a critique of their thesis. Specifically, it criticizes the authors for their neglect of the nexus between the politics of production and digital technologies. They fail, in short, to grasp the importance of power relations for the form, direction and outcomes of digital technologies. The article argues for an alternative view of the progress of digital technologies that is rooted in an understanding of the political economy of capitalism. In this respect, it draws on and applies ideas and concepts from Marxian political economy.


Human face recognition (Computer science). Abstract: Increasingly, the Internet of Things is promoting all types of embedded devices and operating systems for these devices. The aim of this project is to develop library capable of running applications developed for .NET Micro Framework (virtual machine for embedded devices) on devices that can run any version of Linux. The idea is that using this library a developer can execute any application developed for .NET Micro Framework in any desktop computer or embedded device running Linux, for example Raspberry Pi. This thesis presents the approach and the development of IOSharp which is an implementation in C# of the system discussed above. Once this implementation has been done, a test phase has been done with existing applications. In this case, it has been proved that the performance of this library is not optimal compared with the original one. At this point is where started another of the main contributions to the project, participating in the development of a tool called AlterNative which is able to translate applications written in .NET to C++, In this way it has been possible to analyse the improvement of this library after translating it with AlterNative.


A new robust way for ground surface extraction from mobile laser scanning 3D point cloud data is proposed in this paper. Fitting polynomials along 2D/3D points is one of the well-known methods for filtering ground points, but it is evident that unorganized point clouds consist of multiple complex structures by nature so it is not suitable for fitting a parametric global model. The aim of this research is to develop and implement an algorithm to classify ground and non-ground points based on statistically robust locally weighted regression which fits a regression surface (line in 2D) by fitting without any predefined global functional relation among the variables of interest. Afterwards, the z (elevation)-values are robustly down weighted based on the residuals for the fitted points. The new set of down weighted z-values along with x (or y) values are used to get a new fit of the (lower) surface (line). The process of fitting and down-weighting continues until the difference between two consecutive fits is insignificant. Then the final fit represents the ground level of the given point cloud and the ground surface points can be extracted. The performance of the new method has been demonstrated through vehicle based mobile laser scanning 3D point cloud data from urban areas which include different problematic objects such as short walls, large buildings, electric poles, sign posts and cars. The method has potential in areas like building/construction footprint determination, 3D city modelling, corridor mapping and asset management.


In component-based and model-driven development it is common to model embedded applications in a platform-independent manner. As an example, some approaches allow development of distributed applications while abstracting away from details of communication between platform nodes. Using such an approach requires to implement this communication before an executable system is deployed. Currently it is common to automatically implement this communication on the level of code, while providing it on the model level is mostly a task that needs to be done manually. In this paper we present a framework for automatic generation of inter-node communication by adding communication components to software models. The framework provides flexibility in the level of automation of generation decisions, and is defined in a way which allows adding support for new communication media or protocols. We have implemented the generation framework for the IEC 61499 standard and provide a prototype generation tool, which we use for examining the applicability of the approach.


Keywords are subset of words or phrases from a document that can describe the meaning of the document. Many text mining applications can take advantage from it. Unfortunately, a large portion of documents still do not have keywords assigned. On the other hand, manual assignment of high quality keywords is expensive, time-consuming, and error prone. Therefore, most algorithms and systems aimed to help people perform automatic keywords extraction have been proposed. Conditional Random Fields (CRF) model is a state-of-the-art sequence labeling method, which can use the features of documents more sufficiently and effectively. At the same time, keywords extraction can be considered as the string labeling. In this paper, keywords extraction based on CRF is proposed and implemented. As far as we know, using CRF model in keyword extraction has not been investigated previously. Experimental results show that the CRF model outperforms other machine learning methods such as support vector machine, multiple linear regression model etc. in the task of keywords extraction.


The diplomat thought that he had won the first prize in his foreign ministry's lottery. Having spent the past few years in his country's capital in Central Europe he received an attractive offer. For the next three years he could work at the embassy in London, a vibrant city in a country that had seen more than one and a half decades of uninterrupted economic growth. The prospect was so good that he did not hesitate to pack his suitcases and move. But unfortunately, his original excitement soon started to wear off when it came to house hunting. After a long search, he found a small house in Chiswick for his family. Altogether about 120 square metres - but disappointingly no cellar - it was quite a bit smaller than his home back on the continent. The building standard was also much lower, and, much to his surprise, the monthly rent was higher than his net income: £4600. Luckily for him, the foreign ministry has a policy in place by which he only has to pay what a comparable home in his country's capital would have cost, so he pays only £800 a month - the rest is covered by the embassy. When I met this diplomat a few weeks ago, he was still trying to work out why housing in London was so expensive and yet often so substandard. But above all, he could not understand how it was that after the longest period of economic growth in recent history many Britons find it harder than ever to afford decent accommodation. Shouldn't a rich country be able to offer its inhabitants a much better quality of life? What sounds like a paradoxical experience may not be so much of a paradox after all. House prices, quality of life and economic growth are very much interlinked in Britain's recent history, and it is not always easy to disentangle the three. However, if we want to understand why they are connected, it is necessary to subject them to an economic analysis, and that means analysing the way Britain's built environment has been planned. The acknowledgement that planning and the economy are closely linked is relatively new. For many decades, economists have preferred to deal with other factors when analysing the British economy. They examined interest rates, money supply, regulation or labour markets - and with very good reasons, too - but the economics of planning simply did not appear on the radar of many economists (and they probably did not know much about the subject either). So when it came to identifying the factors that were determining economic growth, it was frequently overlooked as an issue. It was a bit like the joke of the drunkard who had lost his keys in a dark street and then started looking for them under a remote lamp-post where the light was better. On the other side of the fence were planners, and they were not that much interested in economics either. It was for them to plan and for the market to follow, so many thought. The response of a planner, asked whether land price data could be useful, was unequivocal: 'We would not see the point of looking at price data Planning should lead, not prices. Land price should reflect planning, not the other way round' (Evans and Hartwich, 2005a, 18). The history of planners and economists was for a long time one of mutual lack of interest and probably even a degree of prejudice. Things have changed in the past decade or so. The Department of the Environment first commissioned research into land prices and land supply in 1992 (Eve, 1992). The McKinsey Global Institute named planning as one of the obstacles to productivity growth in 1998 (McKinsey Global Institute, 1998). Furthermore, there have been two HM Treasury/ODPM/DCLG enquiries into housing supply and land use planning undertaken by Bank of England economist Kate Barker (2003; 2004; 2006a, b). Undoubtedly, all these voluminous reports have altered the tone of the debate towards an open recognition that economics can tell us something about planning and its effects. Since the introduction of the modern planning system in 1947, the main effect - at least from an economics perspective - has been the restriction of land supply. …


This is the third in our vignettes that are centred on everyday clinical presentations. Each emphasises practical aspects of team-based care that are applicable to general practitioners, specialists and paramedical professionals alike. Iron-overload syndromes, whether genetically or environmentally determined, increase morbidity and mortality. Familial haemochromatosis, as the prototype, may have a prolonged subclinical phase before presenting with dermatological, hepatic, pancreatic, cardiac, musculoskeletal or endocrine symptoms and signs. Improved understanding of iron metabolism, coupled with genetic testing, underlines current approaches to screening, diagnosis and proactive multidisciplinary  management encompassing appropriate family studies. These changed circumstances strongly emphasise the need for much wider appreciation of hazards associated with accumulation of this trace metal above physiological limits and benefits of early, or pre-emptive, correction.


A primary goal of Juvenile Treatment Courts is participant abstention from the use of alcohol and drugs. The present paper seeks to understand the role of social networks in participant abstention by examining the accounts of peer interactions of 37 current and former youth participants in New York State. This qualitative study found that while severing deviant network ties were involved in abstention in some cases, the dominant theme was the perceived protective role of emotionally close, albeit drug using, peers in supporting abstention. Although most cognitively based adolescent chemical abuse treatment programs explore the role of social networks in youth chemical use and abuse, the findings that youth in Juvenile Treatment Court programs have continued exposure to drugs and alcohol through interaction with their social networks suggest that social network interactions also enter into the discourse taking place within Juvenile Treatment Court settings.


This survey study examined the relationship between six key executive coaching dimensions (emotional support [ES], tactical support [TS], challenge the status quo [CSQ], challenge to stretch [CS], active learning [AL], and learning orientation [LO]) and transformational leadership as measured by the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). Participants included 64 international executive coaches and 109 direct reports, peers and supervisors (raters). Coaches completed the Coaching Dimensions Scales (measuring the six coaching dimensions) and the MLQ while raters assessed the coach on the MLQ. When controlling for the rater, the six coaching dimensions created a significant regression model that could predict transformational leadership and leadership outcomes. Significant predictor variables for transformational Leadership included ES and AL while ES and LO were significant predictors for leadership outcomes. The LO and AL scales were combined into one variable and the combined AL-LO variable was found to be a significant predictor of both transformational leadership and leadership outcomes. None of the above results were found when raters were assessing the coach on transformational leadership and leadership outcomes. Recommendations for future research include utilizing a larger sample size and a higher response rate, using a single-tiered data collection process, gathering additional demographic information, utilizing a different raters, adding additional coaching dimensions, providing clearer, more concise instructions on the guidelines for raters, comparing the Coaching Dimensions Scales to a different leadership theory, and comparing the Coaching Dimensions Scales to different outcome or performance measures. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Education (EdD) Department Executive Leadership First Supervisor Guillermo Montes Second Supervisor John Mavromatis Third Supervisor Jim Ramerman This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_etd/43 Subject Categories Education This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/education_etd/43 The Relationship between Executive Coaching Dimensions and Transformational Leadership Behaviors: A Validation of Key Coaching Dimensions


This article, part of a larger project analyzing how far public and private contracting arrangements can go in constraining democratic decision-making, examines whether the United States should be liable under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment when its actions have the effect of destroying or impairing private contract rights. In the Omnia Commercial case, decided 90 years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that private contract interests represent "property" within the meaning of the Takings Clause, and that the issue of whether such property has been "taken" should be resolved by assessing whether the government has "appropriated" the contract interest (resulting in a taking), or merely "frustrated" it (not resulting in a taking). While Omnia Commercial reflects a sound intuition that private contract interests deserve special treatment under the Takings Clause, the appropriation versus frustration standard has no principled foundation and is irreconcilable with modern takings standards. In place of the Omnia Commercial standard, this article suggests that the Court should adopt a two-part analysis. First, rather than treating all private contract interests as a form of "property," the Court should only treat the direct contractual commitments between the parties as property; as a result, only when the government inserts itself into the parties' contractual relations, by taking over the contract benefits of one of the parties, or by transferring the benefits to some new party, has the government impinged on "property" in a fashion that can potentially support a taking claim. Second, the Court should rule that a government action impinging on contract-based property does not result in a taking when the action imposes no net economic loss on the contracting parties, considered together as a single unit; this approach would require the parties to allocate between themselves the burden, if any, a government action has imposed on either one of them. On the other hand, the Court should rule that, when government interference with contract-based property does produce a net loss to the contracting parties, considered as a unit, a finding of a taking generally will be warranted under a traditional appropriation analysis.


INTRODUCTION There are very few professionals with less job security than major college football coaches. Entering the 2010 season, there were 24 new coaches in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). That turnover represented 20% of all FBS programs. Two of the 24 coaches who lost their jobs following the 2009 season generated national attention from their relatively regional programs. Both Mike Leach of Texas Tech and Jim Leavitt from South Florida lost their jobs amid controversy and intensive media coverage centering on their off-field actions with some of their players. Prior to the firings, both coaches were hailed as successful leaders. Issues surrounding their departures cast doubt upon the official reasons stated by the universities. When perceived reality contradicts public discourse, there is a tremendous opportunity for public relations scholarship. This paper uses thematic analysis of news coverage to demonstrate how the meanings the universities tried to construct for these firings were essentially refuted in the sports press. Relevance of Research The rationale behind the firings of these coaches, beyond what was publicly stated by their employers, is an important topic for researchers to analyze for multiple reasons. First, as it relates to the growing field of sport communication, it provides content that focuses on the expansive growth of the college football industry, the salaries provided to coaches, and the overall investment schools are willing to make to be successful on the football field. Additionally, this research is an important topic as it relates to the fields of mass media, public relations, and journalism. College football is at such a prominent level in terms of revenue, advertising, and marketing that it shares an escalating symbiotic relationship with the mass media. This media coverage helps raise the financial stakes of those schools participating at the highest level of college football. The sport has always had this relationship but since the inception of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in 1998, the monetary rewards have risen exponentially. The BCS is the system that selects 12 schools that participate in the top six post-season bowl games. Those 12 slots are highly coveted since they bring the most money and media attention to the participating schools (Dunnavant, 2004). The power of the BCS has escalated to a point where politicians are now questioning its possible violation of anti-trust laws (Staples, 2010). This past bowl season, the six conferences that received an automatic bid to a BCS game garnered $145.2 million in revenue from the BCS. That sum is compared to the $24.7 million awarded to the five conferences that didn't receive an automatic BCS bid (Murphy, 2011). The manner in which college football has become such an integral part of the mass media landscape makes any controversy that occurs in the industry worthy of address by academic researchers (Oriard, 2009). College Football and Higher Education The rise in college sports, in terms of revenue and media prominence, creates a public relations conundrum. Under the traditional educational perspective, still touted in their marketing materials, colleges and universities have the primary mission of educating young people and preparing them for adult life. For the select few student-athletes competing in the high-visibility sports at the Division I level, athletics is still presented as just another outlet that prepares them physically and mentally for adulthood. However, the financial investments schools are making in their sports programs put this traditional model in jeopardy. Now, athletes are more than students; they are necessary participants in the school's profit motives (Sperber, 2000). The role of the coach is also different in the evolving collegiate sports model. With the amount of money major colleges invest in football and the turnover rate for head coaches, it is difficult to argue that winning isn't the coach's first priority (Stein, 2004). …


Software testing is about risk management. Typically, engineers use test adequacy criteria to balance the cost and efficacy of the testing activity. Test adequacy criteria are rules that provide an objective stopping condition on test input creation by defining a finite set of test requirements that must be satisfied. While adequacy criteria have been a focus of research activity for many years, existing testing criteria do not address the unique features of distributed applications. The contributions of this dissertation are: (1) a study of reported failure scenarios of seven distributed applications; (2) a novel testing technique based on discrete-event simulations that serves as a basis for adequacy criteria for distributed systems; (3) a fault-based analysis technique that allows testers to addresses the fundamental risks associated with using adequacy criteria; and (4) a case-study evaluation of the simulation-based and fault-based techniques.
The failure study involves the categorization of test inputs and observations needed to replicate failures reported by users. The results show that failure-producing scenarios are amenable to categorization, that simple system topologies are likely to be quite effective, and that a significant proportion of failure-producing scenarios involve distributed inputs. Thus, the results confirm our intuition that distributed systems need their own class of adequacy criteria.
Rather than inventing a new specification formalism, we instead adapt the common practice of using discrete-event simulations for the design and understanding of distributed systems to testing. Our key observation is that these simulations can be viewed as specifications of the expected behavior of the system. Using simulations to test the implementation of a system is therefore a matter of selecting inputs to cover the simulation according to some criterion, and then mapping the inputs into the implementation domain. As simulations are sequential programs themselves, virtually all black- and white-box criteria can be used with a simulation-based technique.
When using any adequacy criterion for testing, there is generally no way for engineers to know a priori how effective a test suite or the criterion itself is going to be on their system. To mitigate this risk within the context of simulation-based testing, we propose a fault-based analysis technique that uses code mutation operators to create a set of incorrect simulations. Candidate test cases are executed against each of these specification mutants and the number killed is used as a surrogate measure of effectiveness.
We evaluate the simulation-based technique and the companion fault-based analysis method on 28 implementations of three distributed systems. The results of these experiments are striking. First, we confirm that discrete-event simulations can indeed be used in testing, and that white-box techniques based on the simulation are both effective, and cost-effective when compared to randomly selected test suites of the same size. Second, in a significant advancement of the state of the art, we demonstrate the power of the fault-based analyses by improving the effectiveness of adequate suites within each criterion, and by predicting exactly the overall relationships between different criteria.


This Article, written for the Washington Law Review's 2013 Symposium, The Disclosure Crisis, argues that hidden sponsorship creates a form of non-actionable influence rather than causing legally cognizable deception that mandatory disclosure can and should cure. The Article identifies and calls into question three widely held assumptions underpinning much of the regulation of embedded advertising, or hidden sponsorship, in artistic communications. The first assumption is that advertising can be meaningfully discerned and separated from communicative content for the purposes of mandating disclosure, even when such advertising occurs in "hybrid speech." The second assumption is that the hidden promotional aspects of hybrid speech create a form of legally cognizable deception. The final assumption holds that disclosure is normatively desirable, to inform audiences of hybrid speech of its hybridity, and in so doing, to remedy the perceived harms that flow from hidden sponsorship. The Article challenges these three assumptions by using as an example the little-remarked phenomenon of sponsored literature, literary texts in and around which advertising is inserted, as well as literary texts that owe their existence to commissioning advertisers. The standard disclosure literature does not consider contexts such as these, in which the decision-making process does not involve crucial questions of life or death, shelter or homelessness, solvency or bankruptcy. Thus the entertainment context of hybrid speech demands different regulatory treatment. The Article concludes that mandatory disclosure is the wrong regulatory response to hidden sponsorship because the harms that it ostensibly creates are rooted in influence, rather than deception.


The use of renewable power sources, like wind power, has been increased recently due to climatic changes caused by fossil fuels and fast depletion of fossil fuels. This has lead to the tremendous increase in the interconnection of wind turbines to power system grid. This interconnection on a large number in to grid causes problems such as power quality, maintaining system voltage, reactive power compensation, control of grid frequency and aspects of power system grid stability. In this proposed scheme, a fuzzy logic based controller is employed for a STATCOM to improve the power quality. The proposed control scheme supplies the required reactive power to the system and thus relieves the source, leading to Unity Power Factor (UPF) at the source and also it injects currents to reduce total harmonic distortion (THD) to satisfy IEC standard. For extracting the reference currents, a power balance theory based control algorithm is employed. To determine the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy logic controller, a comparative analysis is also performed with a PI controller and the results have been presented.


THE LANDMINE IS ONE OF THE MOST insidious threats to civilians in former combat zones. Acting as cheap, disposable soldiers, landmines can defend a stronghold or a transit route by slowing the advance of an attacking force. Small, cheap landmines are easy to deploy in the thousands, but, unlike human soldiers, they cannot differentiate among their targets. So, long after the war is over, thousands of mines remain in the field, hidden and deadly. Landmines prevent civilians from returning battlefields to productive peacetime use as well as causing thousands of injuries and deaths. The large number of civil and guerrilla conflicts since the end of the Cold War have only exacerbated the problem. As a cheap way to increase tactical strength, landmines are weapons of choice for guerrilla armies. These groups often disregard the international protocols governing the wartime deployment of landmines, protocols designed to reduce civilian casualties. For example, factions in the civil wars of Angola and Cambodia did not mark their minefields, so now civilians in those nations do not know which areas are dangerous and should be avoided. Some analysts claim that this sort of action is an intended part of rebel strategies. Insurgent armies may intentionally deploy landmines against civilian populations in an attempt to destabilize the society under attack. Whether or not this is true, estimates indicate that 100 million mines have been planted in over 60 nations, killing more than a thousand civilians per month and disrupting the lives of millions more. Governments and organizations throughout the world have acknowledged the gravity of the global landmine problem and have launched a series of demining efforts in response. However, traditional methods of demining are unlikely to solve the problem. For example, if current means of demining were continued in Cambodia, it would take hundreds of years to clear the country of mines, assuming that no new explosives were planted. Although national and international demining programs have been well funded, their approach to new technology is too conservative. Research and development is almost exclusively directed toward military--as opposed to civilian or humanitarian--demining. This distinction between military and humanitarian demining is at the heart of the problem with the current search for technological solutions to the world's landmine problem. Armies create devices which can blast a path through a minefield during battle, allowing troops and equipment to pass through. Civilians, on the other hand, need to clear the entire field at a much lower cost, because land cannot be returned to productive use until every mine is removed. New humanitarian removal technology cannot promise an easy solution to this problem, but if demining programs are to succeed they must recognize the key role technological processes will have to play. Without faster means to clear minefields, civilians have no hope of keeping up with the armies planting landmines all over the world. Organizations and Options Both public and private organizations are currently involved in landmine removal, and this diversity has the advantage of allowing a variety of approaches to the problem. Governments and international bodies can have tremendous fiscal and human resources, while private companies may offer a more flexible approaches for small-scale demining. Although these private companies often cannot afford to be motivated by purely humanitarian concerns, many are drawn to lucrative sectors of global demining efforts. In some cases, contracts for demining can involve extraordinary sums of money. In March, 1995, for example, EOD Technology of Knoxville negotiated a US$9 billion deal with Kuwait for clearing landmines and other remaining ordinance. Defense companies often compete for such contracts, as was the case in early 1996 when Taiwan sought a contractor to removed mines from the island of Quemoy. …


We use the simulation model Envision to analyze long-term wildfire dynamics and the effects of different fuel management scenarios in central Oregon, USA. We simulated a 50-year future where fuel management activities were increased by doubling and tripling the current area treated while retaining existing treatment strategies in terms of spatial distribution and treatment type. We modeled forest succession using a state-and-transition approach and simulated wildfires based on the contemporary fire regime of the region. We tested for the presence of temporal trends and overall differences in burned area among four fuel management scenarios. Results showed that when the forest was managed to reduce fuels it burned less: over the course of 50 years there was up to a 40% reduction in area burned. However, simulation outputs did not reveal the expected temporal trend, i.e., area burned did not decrease progressively with time, nor did the absence of management lead to its increase. These results can be explained as the consequence of an existing wildfire deficit and vegetation succession paths that led to closed canopy, and heavy fuels forest types that are unlikely to burn under average fire weather. Fire (and management) remained relatively rare disturbances and, given our assumptions, were unable to alter long-term vegetation patterns and consequently unable to alter long-term wildfire dynamics. Doubling and tripling current management targets were effective in the near term but not sustainable through time because of a scarcity of stands eligible to treat according to the modeled management constraints. These results provide new insights into the long-term dynamics between fuel management programs and wildfire and demonstrate that treatment prioritization strategies have limited effect on fire activity if they are too narrowly focused on particular forest conditions.


This chapter, to appear in the 2nd edition of Beth Van Schaack & Ron Slye's International Criminal Law & Its Enforcement (Foundation Press 2010), covers the crime of torture under international criminal law. It begins with a doctrinal discussion of the elements of torture as elucidated in the international criminal law jurisprudence with a focus on cases concerning gender-based violence and sex crimes. It then enables a comparison of this established doctrine with the "torture memos" produced during the administration of President Bush. Using a rich set of Notes, Questions and Problems, the chapter offers a compelling tool for teaching about torture.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the short-term outcome of neuropsychiatric (NP) events upon enrollment into an international inception cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

METHODS
The study was performed by the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics. Patients were enrolled within 15 months of SLE diagnosis and NP events were characterized using the American College of Rheumatology case definitions. Decision rules were derived to identify NP events attributable to SLE. Physician outcome scores of NP events and patient-derived mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS) scores of the Short Form 36 were recorded.

RESULTS
There were 890 patients (88.7% female) with a mean +/- SD age of 33.8 +/- 13.4 years and mean disease duration of 5.3 +/- 4.2 months. Within the enrollment window, 271 (33.5%) of 890 patients had at least 1 NP event encompassing 15 NP syndromes. NP events attributed to SLE varied from 16.5% to 33.9% using alternate attribution models and occurred in 6.0-11.5% of patients. Outcome scores for NP events attributed to SLE were significantly better than for NP events due to non-SLE causes. Higher global disease activity was associated with worse outcomes. MCS scores were lower in patients with NP events, regardless of attribution, and were also lower in patients with diffuse and central NP events. There was a significant association between physician outcome scores and patient MCS scores only for NP events attributed to SLE.

CONCLUSION
In SLE patients, the short-term outcome of NP events is determined by both the characteristics and attribution of the events.


The legitimacy of transitional justice currently derives from the contribution it makes to the recognition of victims. Adding the aspect of authoritative power to ongoing debates on transitional justice, however, could significantly alter our views on recognition. Recognition is widely believed to be key to overcoming traumatic experiences. At the same time, however, it strengthens authoritative power. Seeking a more nuanced understanding of the recognition-power nexus, the paper provides a rough and critical account of various understandings of recognition and power on the part of authors such as Honneth, Fraser, Bertram and Celikates, Ikaheimo, Arendt, Foucault, Popitz, and Bourdieu. It then examines how these theoretical approaches intersect and speak to each other. To see recognition as a reciprocal interaction sensitive to power relations is to pave the way for a power-sensitive turn in current debates on victim-centred transitional justice. Multidirectional relationships of power exist, with varying forms of coercion, resistance, and struggle. This insight corresponds with the observation, seen from the other perspective, that truth and recognition are inside power. Placing theoretical approaches to power and recognition side by side has strong implications for politics. The paper therefore applies these theoretical insights to the Colombian peace process, showing the potential and pitfalls of putting recognition into practice.


Background: Burkitt lymphoma (BL) of the bone is a rare entity. Very few reports about the entity are there in the literature until date. Here, we sought to describe the clinical characteristics of the patients with BL of the bone. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was performed involving patients with BL of the bone. Data regarding patient demographics, clinical presentation, treatment, and outcome were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Six patients were identified with a mean age being 24 years (range: 19-64 years). Four patients had localized disease. Five out of six patients received dose intense chemotherapy. All of them developed febrile neutropenic episodes during treatment. One progressed during chemotherapy. Conclusions: Burkitt lymphoma of the bone is an aggressive disease. Successful Treatment includes combination of dose intense chemotherapy along with supportive care.


We demonstrate a simple approach to generating optical wideband chaos and verify that it can be used to locate simultaneously and precisely the faults among all branches in a wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) passive optical network (PON). The chaotic light source consists of a semiconductor optical amplifier ring structure with an output optical 3 dB bandwidth of above 60 nm covering the whole C-band. This kind of optical wideband chaos can be naturally filtered by the WDM devices in the PON. Each filtering light signal along the corresponding branch retains good chaotic characteristics We demonstrate a proof-of-concept experiment for the detection of three International Telecommunication Union channels. The experimental measurements show that a much higher spatial resolution of 1.66 cm and a dynamic range of about 10.1 dB are achieved.


Objective To explore the 'real world' effectiveness of tacrolimus therapy for refractory ulcerative proctocolitis (UC). Design Retrospective cohort study using prospectively collated clinical data. Setting A single district general hospital in Kent, UK. Clinical decisions and regular monitoring were undertaken by a single expert in inflammatory bowel disease. Patients All patients started on tacrolimus between January 2010 and August 2016 at Tunbridge Wells Hospital. Interventions Following failure of conventional medication, tacrolimus was commenced at 0.5 mg/kg twice daily. Drug trough levels of 5–20 ng/mL were targeted. Other immunomodulation was stopped and steroids were weaned over 4–6 weeks. Main outcome measures Treatment duration was measured for each patient. If the drug was stopped, the rationale, including specific side effects, was recorded. The patient's subsequent management plan was noted. Results Thirty-five patients were started on tacrolimus (range: 18–85, median: 36 years). Disease extent included proctitis to pancolitis. Twenty-five patients derived no benefit. Four patients responded, but drug side effects necessitated withdrawal. Eighteen of these 29 patients (62%) underwent surgery. One patient, who had previously responded, stopped the drug after becoming pregnant (healthy subsequent birth). Therefore, 5 of 35 patients (14%) remain on tacrolimus with sustained clinical response, ranging from 6 to 76 (median: 32) months of treatment. Treatment was most effective for proctosigmoiditis. There were no other demographic or biological markers for success. Conclusions In line with UK and European guidelines, tacrolimus can be beneficial for refractory UC. With appropriate monitoring, it appears treatment can be continued safely long term.


The paracrystallinity of cellulose samples was studied with a complex of investigation methods including X-ray, NMR, sorption, calorimetry, and some others. It was found that the paracrystalline fraction of cellulose is located on the surface of crystallites as thin monomolecular layers having an average thickness of 0.4 nm. The paracrystalline surface layers have distorted and loose packing that is characterized by a high distortion parameter δp = 0.18, increased specific volume Vp=0.664 cm3/g, and decreased specific gravity ρp= 1.51 g/cm3. The paracrystalline fraction of the crystallite can be quantified by the parameter ( α ), which has an expressed influence on some properties of cellulose. Increasing of the α-value causes expansion of inter-plane distances in the C1 unit cell, as well as promotes mercerization and dissolution of cellulose.


Over the past decade there has been a growing public fascination with the complex connectedness of modern society. This connectedness is found in many incarnations: in the rapid growth of the Internet, in the ease with which global communication takes place, and in the ability of news and information as well as epidemics and financial crises to spread with surprising speed and intensity. These are phenomena that involve networks, incentives, and the aggregate behavior of groups of people; they are based on the links that connect us and the ways in which our decisions can have subtle consequences for others. This introductory undergraduate textbook takes an interdisciplinary look at economics, sociology, computing and information science, and applied mathematics to understand networks and behavior. It describes the emerging field of study that is growing at the interface of these areas, addressing fundamental questions about how the social, economic, and technological worlds are connected.


It is generally believed that susceptibility to both organ-specific and systemic autoimmune diseases is under polygenic control. Although multiple genes have been implicated in each type of autoimmune disease, few are known to have a significant impact on both. Here, we investigated the significance of polymorphisms in the human gene CD24 and the susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We used cases/control studies to determine the association between CD24 polymorphism and the risk of MS and SLE. In addition, we also considered transmission disequilibrium tests using family data from two cohorts consisting of a total of 150 pedigrees of MS families and 187 pedigrees of SLE families. Our analyses revealed that a dinucleotide deletion at position 1527∼1528 (P1527del) from the CD24 mRNA translation start site is associated with a significantly reduced risk (odds ratio = 0.54 with 95% confidence interval = 0.34–0.82) and delayed progression (p = 0.0188) of MS. Among the SLE cohort, we found a similar reduction of risk with the same polymorphism (odds ratio = 0.38, confidence interval = 0.22–0.62). More importantly, using 150 pedigrees of MS families from two independent cohorts and the TRANSMIT software, we found that the P1527del allele was preferentially transmitted to unaffected individuals (p = 0.002). Likewise, an analysis of 187 SLE families revealed the dinucleotide-deleted allele was preferentially transmitted to unaffected individuals (p = 0.002). The mRNA levels for the dinucleotide-deletion allele were 2.5-fold less than that of the wild-type allele. The dinucleotide deletion significantly reduced the stability of CD24 mRNA. Our results demonstrate that a destabilizing dinucleotide deletion in the 3′ UTR of CD24 mRNA conveys significant protection against both MS and SLE.


Juice squeezed from cereal grasses harvested at the jointing stage, i.e., wheatgrass (Triticum aestivum), exhibits high antioxidant activity. Rice (Oryza sativa) may also exhibit antioxidant activity. We therefore examined the antioxidant activity of juices squeezed from grasses harvested at the jointing stage for seven coloured and seven white Thai rice cultivars. The antioxidant activity was determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, ferric reducing antioxidant power, β-carotene bleaching, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assays. The total phenolic content (TPC) and total monomeric anthocyanin content (TMAC) were also determined. Coloured (purple) rice grass juices exhibited greater antioxidant potential than the grass juices from white rice and wheat. The coloured rice cultivar Kum Doisaket exhibited the highest antioxidant activity in all assays. Correlation analysis indicated that the TPC and TMAC could be responsible for the antioxidant activity. The DNA protective properties of the coloured rice cultivars Kum Doisaket and Kum Noi and wheat were also examined. Only the Kum Doisaket cultivar exhibited a dose-dependent DNA protective effect. The notable antioxidant efficacy for the Kum Doisaket cultivar may be influenced by the high level of anthocyanins present in its grass juice. This finding suggests the possibility of developing functional foods from coloured rice grass.


Policymakers often urge microfinance institutions to increase interest rates to eliminate reliance on subsidies. However, existing research provides little evidence on interest rate sensitivities in MFI target markets as well as little guidance on how to derive rates. MFI policymakers generally presume that the poor are largely insensitive to interest rates and recommend that MFIs increase interest rates without fear of diminishing access. In this working paper, CGD non-resident fellow and his co-author test the elasticity of demand for microcredit using field data from South Africa. A for-profit South African lender worked with the authors to randomize 50,000 individual interest rate direct mail offers and tracked gross revenue and repayment, allowing the authors to access the effects on the targeted access margin that interests policymakers. They also worked with the lender to explore a margin of loan contracting that has been largely ignored by academics, policy makers and practitioners: loan maturity. They found that price sensitivity increased sharply when individuals were offered a rate above their prior loan's rate. They also found that loan size is far more responsive to changes in loan maturity than to changes in interest rates. This paper is one in a series of six CGD working papers by Dean Karlan on various aspects of microfinance (Working Paper Nos. 106-111).


Germany's official aid to Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries has more than doubled since 2011, ostensibly to support their responses to development challenges and humanitarian crises following the Arab uprisings. But the dramatic increases in aid have not been accompanied by a public strategy that sets out Germany's objectives in the region, and the role of aid in conjunction with other policy tools in achieving them. Furthermore, a closer look at the figures reveals that most of the increased aid has been spent in just two areas: humanitarian aid in response to the Syrian crisis; and soft loans to Morocco for investing in renewable energy production. This raises some interesting questions for observers of German development cooperation. First, what strategic objectives does the German government have for its MENA aid, and have these objectives changed in response to the Arab uprisings? Second, does the practice of Germany's aid spending actually address development and humanitarian challenges in the MENA region? And third, why has the German government not produced a clear strategy for its aid, given the political salience of the Arab uprisings and their aftermath? In order to address these questions, this paper develops some key insights from the historical institutionalist and aid effectiveness literature that explain strategic policymaking in complex decision-making systems. Two propositions are discussed: first, that Germany's aid and foreign policy system has not been able to produce a clear strategy due to political differences and bureaucratic inertia; and second that the priorities that have been defined tend to favour German and European security interests rather than the development and humanitarian priorities of the region. An examination of the policy and practice dimensions reveals that, while efforts have been made to set priorities for development and humanitarian cooperation in response to the Arab uprisings, Germany's MENA aid programme shows signs of policy incoherence and fragmentation. This is unlikely to change in the absence of a "whole-of-government" strategy for Germany's engagement in the MENA. Furthermore, while there is little evidence of purposeful securitisation of aid, short-term stability has been privileged over support for unpredictable political change. A whole-of-government strategy based on the Sustainable Development Goals would balance German interests with the MENA region's development priorities, and thus iron out the most problematic incoherencies.


Many data sets in the sciences (broadly defined) deal with multiple sets of multivariate time series. The case of a single univariate time series is very well developed in the literature; and single multivariate series though less well studied have also been developed (under the rubric of vector time series). A class of matrix time series models is introduced for dealing with the situation where there are multiple sets of multivariate time series data. Explicit expressions for a matrix autoregressive model of order one and of order p along with its cross-autocorrelation functions are derived. This includes obtaining the infinite order moving average analogues of these matrix time series. Stationarity conditions are also provided. Parameters of the proposed matrix time series model are estimated by ordinary and generalized least squares method, and maximum likelihood estimation method.


This paper describes a new pressure measurement technique for measuring the pressure over rotating blades of an industrial axial flow fan. The new technique is called the pressure sensitive foil (PS-Foil) technique. In this technique, a very thin aluminum foil is coated with pressure sensitive paint using anodization. The resulting PS-Foil can be stuck on any blade using a very thin layer of silicon. The PS-Foil technique shows a very fast time response like conventional porous anodized aluminum and can be applied to any rotor blade without fabricating the blade from aluminum. The total thickness of the aluminum foil and silicon layer is as small as 200 μm. An intensity based method and prior calibration procedures are used to obtain the calibrated PSP image. The unsteady experimental setup presented here shows that the PS-Foil time response is on the order 30 μs which is close to the conventional porous anodized aluminum method. Two applications are considered here to assess the applicability of this technique. Subsonic jet-plate impingement, and rotating blade of industrial fan. The pressure distribution over the impingement plate at different plate angles, and over the rotating blade at various speeds could be obtained with sufficient spatial resolution.


Procedural generation in virtual reality (VR) has been used to adapt the virtual world to various indoor environments, fitting different geometries and interiors with virtual environments. However, such applications require that the physical environment be known or pre-scanned prior to use to then generate the corresponding virtual scene, thus restricting the virtual experience to a controlled space. In this paper, we present VRoamer, which enables users to walk unseen physical spaces for which VRoamer procedurally generates a virtual scene on-the-fly. Scaling to the size of office buildings, VRoamer extracts walkable areas and detects physical obstacles in real time, instantiates pre-authored virtual rooms if their sizes fit physically walkable areas or otherwise generates virtual corridors and doors that lead to undiscovered physical areas. The use of these virtual structures allows VRoamer to (1) temporarily block users' passage, thus slowing them down while increasing VRoamer's insight into newly discovered physical areas, (2) prevent users from seeing changes beyond the current virtual scene, and (3) obfuscate the appearance of physical environments. VRoamer animates virtual objects to reflect dynamically discovered changes of the physical environment, such as people walking by or obstacles that become apparent. In our proof-of-concept study, participants were able to walk long distances through a procedurally generated dungeon experience and reported high levels of immersion.


Russell style indexes exhibit significant momentum, particularly after medium term out- and underperformance. The existence of this momentum produces a diversified, index-based low-cost means to exploit momentum by incorporating relative style index performance into tactical allocation strategies. Such style index momentum trading strategies have outperformed on both a raw and risk-adjusted return basis, with the long minus short portfolio generating an average 9.25% annual return over the 34-year period analyzed. Although the excess returns vary, they are robust through time and after controlling for potentially confounding effects. Additionally, the returns are not driven by any single style index and portfolio reconstruction is, on average, required every six months.


This article analyzes women's integration into the Armed Forces of Ukraine from a liberal feminist point of view, incorporating sociological and gender perspectives. The phenomenon of vertical and horizontal gender segregation and gender discrimination in the Armed Forces is described as a problem of the labor market, based on both the Soviet legacy and global trends of women's participation in the military. However, the growing number of military women in the contract service is primarily associated with the reluctance of men to hold low-paid positions. Women in the Armed Forces of Ukraine participate mostly in the so-called feminized professions: nursing, finance, logistics, and communications. Women in the military also face gender discrimination and prejudice. The infrastructure of the Ukrainian military is designed for the needs of men and thus excludes women with their specific needs from the army.In this article we consider the opportunities and challenges around the implementation of the gender policy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Formally, the Ukrainian army had developed a gender policy that meets the national gender policy and attempts to guarantee equal rights for all persons, regardless of sex, in military life. However, there is resistance to the realistic implementation of the declared policy of equal rights and opportunities for women and men. The article is based on the findings of the "Invisible Battalion" project (conducted in 2015–2016), which ooked at the roles women played in the Antiterrorist Operation (ATO ) in the Donbas region and their fight for equal rights and opportunities in Ukraine.
DOI: 10.25285/2078-1938-2018-10-2-13-33


The concept of Demand Response (DR) generally concerns methodologies, technologies and commercial arrangements that could allow active participation of consumers in the power system operation. The primary aim of DR is thus to overcome the ?traditional? inflexibility of electrical demand and, amongst others, create a new powerful tool to maximize deployment of renewable energy sources as well as provide active network management solutions to help reducing the impact of limited grid capabilities.DR allows consumers to actively participate in power system operation, thus bringing new opportunities in emerging energy markets as well as tangible system benefits. In this sense, DR is considered one of the key enablers of the Smart Grid concept. However, DR also poses a number of challenges, particularly when ?active demand? is connected to the Low Voltage network, thus affecting all the actors involved in the electricity chain.This book presents for the first time a comprehensive view on technical methodologies and architectures, commercial arrangements, and socio-economic and regulatory factors that could facilitate the uptake of DR. The work is developed in a systematic way so as to create a comprehensive picture of challenges, benefits and opportunities involved with DR. The reader will thus be provided with a clear understanding of the complexity deriving from a demand becoming active, as well as with a quantitative assessment of the techno-economic value of the proposed solutions in a Smart Grid context.Many research contributions have appeared in recent years in the field of DR, both in journals and conference proceedings. However, most publications focus on individual aspects of the problem. A systematic treatment of the issues to be tackled to introduce DR in existing electricity grids, involving the extended value chain in terms of technical and commercial aspects, is still missing. Also, several books have recently been published about Smart Grid, in which there is some mention to DR. However, again while DR is seen as a key pillar for the Smart Grid, there is no dedicated, comprehensive and systematic contribution in this respect.