This article, innovation processes are becoming a major factor in the development of innovative processes and the sustainability of economic growth and innovation. In this regard, the article draws attention to the strategic management of innovative processes and the scheme of organizing innovative strategy strategies for the enterprise. Innovative strategy has studied the work carried out in this field in the country by studying the impact of the company's competitive development on innovations in individual enterprises and on


Recent studies on Organisational Learning (OL) drive us a re-visit to its impact on system effectiveness. With a strong OL culture, a company can face the challenges of the ever changing environments. The company may also have a better utilisation of an information system. With a survey on 500 companies using an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) in Hong Kong, our results, with 230 valid respondents, proved that the learning orientation of a company does affect the satisfaction of employees using an EDMS and has positive impact on the performance of employees after using the system.


The unexplored potential of youth as the next frontier and workforce is a recent phenomenon in agricultural transformation in Africa.This calls for innovative approaches to create connections from the available human and technical competencies.Conservation agriculture and sustainable development are emerging lucrative economic domains.But, what is youth engagement in Africa? How do we engage youth in these economic domains? What are the lessons to be learned when youths are engaged in conservation agriculture and sustainable development? This book, therefore, provides a unique way to create new ideas, images, knowledge, and facts for use by farmers, students, youths, researchers, practitioners and scientists.This book should help to stimulate critical dialogue and resolve among readers on truly engaging youth in agricultural transformation.In using Zimbabwe, as the anchorage, the book, holistically scans the nation's landscape - food and nutrition security, climate change and variability, and the post-2015 development agenda, for examples of innovative thinking, leadership, and action, in youth engagement, and thus, catapults local futuristic-thinking youths to the global stage.


Smart growth and other forms of growth-management planning create artificial housing shortages that impose significant burdens on low-income families and firsttime homebuyers. This paper examines several sources of housing data to determine the specific effects of growthmanagement planning on housing prices. Data examined include: • Median-family income and median value of owneroccupied homes by metropolitan area from the 1960 through 2000 censuses (data actually apply to the year before each census, i.e., 1959, 1969, etc.); • Median family income by metropolitan area estimated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for 2005; • Home price indices calculated for each metropolitan area by the Department of Commerce. For each census year, housing affordability in each metropolitan area is estimated by calculating the number of years a median-income family devoting 25 percent of its income would need to pay off a mortgage equal to 90 percent of the value of a median-value home at mortgage interest rates prevailing at the time of the census. The same calculation is made for 2005 by updating the 1999 median-home values using the Department of Commerce home price index. Mortgages that can be paid off in less than 20 years are judged affordable; 20 to 30 years is marginally affordable; and more than 30 is unaffordable. Comparing the results with the dates that cities or metropolitan areas begin doing growth-management planning reveals a remarkably consistent pattern. In most regions that have not done growth-management planning, long-term, inflation-adjusted housing prices grow at only about 1 percent per year. But prices almost invariably start growing much faster soon after regions begin growth-management planning. In 1959 and 1969, almost every metropolitan area outside of Hawaii had affordable housing. Cities in California and the New York metropolitan area began experimenting with growth-management planning in the early 1970s, and by 1979 these cities were unaffordable. As more cities and regions began such planning, they too became unaffordable: the Boston area in the 1980s, the Denver area in the 1990s, and Florida cities in the early 2000s. Housing prices have dramatically increased in the past six or seven years, but this increase has not been uniform across the nation. In general, regions with growth-management planning have seen prices increase by 4 to 14 percent per year. Regions without such planning have seen prices increase by only 1 to 3 percent per year. Factors other than planning, such as a genuine shortage of private land available for development, appear to be responsible for high housing prices in only a handful of areas. In more than 110 metropolitan areas, higher home prices are the penalty paid by people who live in regions that use smart-growth planning. This paper estimates this planning penalty in each metropolitan area by comparing the median-home-valueto-median-family-income ratio in each metropolitan area with a standard ratio calculated to represent what housing costs would be without restrictive planning. For the census years, the standard ratio is the median ratio for all metropolitan areas. For 2005, the standard ratio assumes that, without growth-management planning, housing prices would have increased by 2.5 percent per year since 1999. In a few areas that have recently adopted smart-growth plans, such as Jacksonville, Florida and Charleston, South Carolina, the planning penalty may still be under $10,000 per median-valued home. But for most it is much more. The penalties in Boulder, Colorado and the San Francisco Bay Area, which pioneered this type of planning in the 1970s, exceed $500,000 per home. The penalty exceeds $100,000 per home in fifty metropolitan areas and ranges from $25,000 to $100,000 in fifty more. More than 30 percent of the total value of homes in this country is attritable to prices inflated by planninginduced housing shortages. In 2005, homebuyers nationwide paid a conservatively estimated $275 billion more for homes because of restrictive regulation, though it is likely to be as much as 25 percent more ($340 billion). This does not count the added costs to renters or purchasers of commercial, industrial, or retail land.


DNA- and RNA-processing pathways are integrated and interconnected in the eukaryotic nucleus to allow efficient gene expression and to maintain genomic stability. The recruitment of DNA Topoisomerase I (Topo I), an enzyme controlling DNA supercoiling and acting as a specific kinase for the SR-protein family of splicing factors, to highly transcribed loci represents a mechanism by which transcription and processing can be coordinated and genomic instability avoided. Here we show that Drosophila Topo I associates with and phosphorylates the SR protein B52. Surprisingly, expression of a high-affinity binding site for B52 in transgenic flies restricted localization, not only of B52, but also of Topo I to this single transcription site, whereas B52 RNAi knockdown induced mis-localization of Topo I in the nucleolus. Impaired delivery of Topo I to a heat shock gene caused retention of the mRNA at its site of transcription and delayed gene deactivation after heat shock. Our data show that B52 delivers Topo I to RNA polymerase II-active chromatin loci and provide the first evidence that DNA topology and mRNA release can be coordinated to control gene expression.


The major purpose of summer Upward Bound instructional programs is to assist those high school students who have the potential for succeeding in a college or university, but who otherwise would probably not be given the opportunity to enter an institution of higher learning. The generally low academic achievement of many of these students is often due to a variety of factors including poor and ineffective teaching (1), lack of motivation (8), and an environment which is far from conducive to scholarly or academic pursuits. In sum, typical school activities tend to be less than relevant for many of these bright young men and women. The Upward Bound programs are usually designed to aid participating students in overcoming their adverse reactions to learning so that they will be better prepared to further their education. READING AND UPWARD BOUND-


BACKGROUND
assessment instruments of nail psoriasis have been published in literature as means to standardize the previous subjective assessments of authors.

OBJECTIVES
Using Nail Psoriasis Severity Index for evaluation in patients with plaque psoriasis during treatment with acitretin.

METHODS
Thirty volunteers with plaque psoriasis were selected for the study. Twenty patients (8 women and 12 men) completed the study. The initial dose of acitretin was 0.3 mg/kg/day for 30 days and was later raised to 0.5 mg/kg/day. Nail Psoriasis Severity Index was collected in the first evaluation, after 2 and 4 months. Nails of both hands were evaluated.

RESULTS
nail lesions were present in all patients at first evaluation. The initial Nail Psoriasis Severity Index median was 20 and the final score 20.5 (2.5% of worsening at the end of the study). No statistically significant difference between the three evaluations was found (X2 = 0.8084, GL = 2, p = 0.6657). Seven patients worsened in the final score. Three patients improved 50% of the initial Nail Psoriasis Severity Index and only one had an improvement of 75%. Linear correlation showed a weak association between the improvement percentage in PASI and Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (r = 0.105, F = 2.12, p = 0.162).

CONCLUSION
The method was easy and of rapid execution while potentially bringing information about changes in nail plate and matrix during treatment. The Nail Psoriasis Severity Index does not quantify the existing lesions and might not have the sensitivity to detect small changes.


By combining an unstructured protocol with a DHT-based global index, hybrid peer-to-peer (P2P) improves search efficiency in terms of query recall and response time. The key challenge in hybrid search is to estimate the number of peers that can answer a given query. Existing approaches assume that such a number can be directly obtained by computing item popularity. In this work, we show that such an assumption is not always valid, and previous designs cannot distinguish whether items related to a query are distributed in many peers or are in a few peers. To address this issue, we propose QRank, a difficulty-aware hybrid search, which ranks queries by weighting keywords based on term frequency. Using rank values, QRank selects proper search strategies for queries. We conduct comprehensive trace-driven simulations to evaluate this design. Results show that QRank significantly improves the search quality as well as reducing system traffic cost compared with existing approaches.


It is not my purpose on this occasion to deal with filariasis in itself, but mainly with its relation to other lymphatic conditions in tropical countries. There exists, in fact, a close connection, from a pathogenic viewpoint, between the various lymphopathies of warm countries, and it is my deliberate opinion that this has not been given due consideration.
In 1916, I published a work devoted to the peculiar action that the climatic factor performs upon the people living in said countries, and discussed therein other writers' views on the subject (1). I find however, that despite such contributions, certain erroneous concepts are still prevalent among physicians in and out of the tropics, and it is for that reason that I presently wish to insist upon some fundamental ideas on the matter.
It is not my desire now to treat such an important subject fully, since I have done so in the work already mentioned, but simply to confine myself exclusively to two of the different lymphopathic processes I have referred to.


The aim of this study was to determine the seasonal population dynamics of spider mites [ Panonychus ulmi (Koch), Amphitetranychus viennensis (Zacher), Bryobia rubrioculus (Scheuten)] and their natural enemies [ Kampimodromus aberrans (Oudemans),Acari, Phytoseiidae; Zetzellia mali (Ewing),Acari, Stigmaeidae; and Stethorus punctillum Weise, Coleoptera, Coccinellidae] on Golden Delicious and Starking Delicious apple cultivars in three apple orchards of Van, Turkey, during 2002–2003. Surveys were carried out weekly from May to November in sprayed and unsprayed apple orchards. The results of study indicated that the population densities of spider mites began to increase generally in early May, reached the maximum level from mid June to lateAugust and persisted until late September in both years. During 2002 the dominant species on both apple cultivars was P. ulmi , whereas in 2003 it was A. viennensis . In this two-year period, the population densities of P. ulmi and A. viennensis reached the maximum level of 318.1 and 427.2 mites per leaf, respectively, in sprayed orchards. In unsprayed orchard, spider mites remained at very low levels because of the presence of K. a berrans which was the only predator of spider mites. On the other hand, in sprayed orchards, although S . punctillum and Z . mali were the most abundant predatory species on spider mites, they could not control them in either apple cultivar and years.


It is almost impossible at this point to make an estimate of the possible delayed adverse effects of the hormonal contraceptives presently marketed. The consequences of the administration of DES were revealed years later as it affected the children of the women who had been taking it. The author discusses the word "catastrophy" in connection with this kind of consequences. He asks the question whether the mortality due to illegal abortion and even to legal abortion in the 1st years following its legalization should not also be considered as a catastrophy. The author refers in his argument to a paper published in the journal Orvosi Hetilap by Professor Csaba in 1977. Another question doctors ask themselves concerns the relativity of a side-effect's seriousness. Should one consider the damage done to the individual, or the number of subjects affected? There is no doubt that the presently used hormonal contraceptives contain a number of possible side effects, which however may be kept under control to a certain extent by doctors who carefully respect their indications and contraindications before prescribing them. But it is at this point extremely difficult to predict which delayed effects they might have. The medical schools in Hungary are doing a lot of research on the subject, but what can be done about the women who have been taking oral contraceptives for 10 years already? The possible delayed effects have not even started to show in these patients. The author underlines the fact that medical schools should insist more than they do on the ethical aspects of medicine.


Excerpt] The European Semester is a key component of economic governance in the European Union, aimed at coordinating the fiscal and economic policies of Member States. Although the role of social partners in the process is not defined in the European economic governance provisions, European institutions consider them to be key actors and have called for them to be more closely involved. The participation of the social partners is crucial for enhancing the ownership of European policies and ensuring meaningful implementation, as acknowledged in the Employment Guidelines.


Ring re-encounter data, in particular ring recoveries, have made a large contribution to our understanding of bird movements. However, almost every study based on ring re-encounter data has struggled with the bias caused by unequal observer distribution. Re-encounter probabilities are strongly heterogeneous in space and over time. If this heterogeneity can be measured or at least controlled for, the enormous number of ring re-encounter data collected can be used effectively to answer many questions. Here, we review four different approaches to account for heterogeneity in observer distribution in spatial analyses of ring re-encounter data. The first approach is to measure re-encounter probability directly. We suggest that variation in ring re-encounter probability could be estimated by combining data whose re-encounter probabilities are close to one (radio or satellite telemetry) with data whose re-encounter probabilities are low (ring re-encounter data). The second approach is to measure the spatial variation in re-encounter probabilities using environmental covariates. It should be possible to identify powerful predictors for ring re-encounter probabilities. A third approach consists of the comparison of the actual observations with all possible observations using randomization techniques. We encourage combining such randomisations with ring re-encounter models that we discuss as a fourth approach. Ring re-encounter models are based on the comparison of groups with equal re-encounter probabilities. Together these four approaches could improve our understanding of bird movements considerably. We discuss their advantages and limitations and give directions for future research.


Covering the fundamental theory together with the state-of-the-art in research and development, this practical guide provides the techniques needed to design, analyze, and optimize device-to-device (D2D) communications in wireless networking. With an ever-increasing demand for higher data rate wireless access, D2D communication is set to become a key feature supported by next generation cellular networks. This book introduces D2D-based wireless communications from the physical, MAC, network, and application layer perspectives, providing all the key background information before moving on to discuss real-world applications as well as potential future developments. Key topics are discussed in detail, such as dynamic resource sharing (for example of spectrum and power) between cellular and ad hoc D2D communications to accommodate larger volumes of traffic and provide better service to users. Readers will understand the practical challenges of resource management, optimization, security, standardization, and network topology, and learn how the design principles are applied in practice.


Housing starts and building permits data are commonly used as leading indicators of economic activity. In British Columbia, all new homes must be registered with the Homeowner Protection Office, a branch of BC Housing, before the issuance of building permits and the start of construction. Data on new housing registrations (NHR) could thus potentially be used as an even earlier leading indicator of economic activity. This study assesses whether NHR data have significant predictive power for economic activity in British Columbia. The authors find that quarterly increases in new registrations for single detached homes have statistically significant predictive content for growth in real GDP over the next one to three quarters, and provide stronger signals compared to housing starts and building permits over this forecast horizon. These signals remain significant for growth in real GDP over the next two quarters even in the presence of other leading indicators in the equations. However, forecasts using quarterly NHR data with other leading indicators are not able to outperform simple benchmark forecasts in an out-of-sample forecasting exercise. Nonetheless, adding the NHR variable to an AR(1) equation does produce forecasts that are superior to a simple AR(1) and that at one quarter ahead also outperform an AR(1) augmented with building permits.


Runtime attacks that exploit software vulnerabilities are still an important concern nowadays. Even smartphone operating systems such as Apple's iOS are affected by such attacks since the system is implemented in Objective-C, a programming language that enables attacks such as buffer overflows. As a generic protection technique against a whole class of attacks, control-flow integrity (CFI) offers some interesting properties. Recent work demonstrated that CFI can be implemented on iOS by patching the binary during the loading process and adding an instrumentation layer that enforces CFI during runtime. However, this approach is of little practical value since it requires a jailbroken device, which hinders wide employment. Furthermore, binary patching has a certain performance impact. In this paper, we show how CFI can be implemented directly within a compiler, making the approach widely deployable on all kinds of iOS devices. We extend the LLVM compiler and add our CFI enforcement approach during the compilation phase of a given app. An empirical evaluation shows that the size and performance overhead is reasonable.


Major structural features of the Yakutat segment, the segment of the continental margin between Cross Sound and Icy Bay, northern Gulf of Alaska, are delineated by multichannel seismic reflection data. A large structural high is centered on Fairweather Ground and lies generally at the edge of the shelf from Cross Sound to west of the Alsek Valley. A basement uplift, the Dangerous River zone, along which the seismic acoustic basement shallows by up to two kilometers, extends north from the western edge of Fairweather Ground towards the mouth of the Dangerous River. The Dangerous River zone separates the Yakutat segment into two distinct subbasins. The eastern subbasin has a maximum sediment thickness of about 4 km, and the axis of the basin is near and parallel to the coast. Strata in this basin are largely of late Cenozoic age (Neogene and Quaternary) and approximately correlate with the onshore Yakataga Formation. The western subbasin has a maximum of at least 9 km of sediment, comprised of a thick (greater than 4.5 km) Paleogene section overlain by late Cenozoic strata. The Paleogene section is truncated along the Dangerous River zone by a combination of erosion, faulting, and onlap onto the acoustic basement. Within the western subbasin, the late Cenozoic basin axis is near and parallel to the coast, but the Paleogene basin axis appears to trend in a northwest direction diagonally across the shelf. Sedimentary strata throughout the Yakutat shelf show regional subsidence and only minor deformation except in the vicinity of the Fairweather Ground structural high, near and along the Dangerous River zone, and at the shoreline near Lituya Bay. Seismic data across the continental slope and adjacent deep ocean show truncation at the continental slope of Paleogene strata, the presence of a thick (to 6 km) undeformed or mildly deformed abyssal sedimentary section at the base of the slope that in part onlaps the slope, and a relatively narrow zone along the slope or at the base of the slope where faulting may have occurred. Observed deformation at the base of the slope is primarily related to the late Cenozoic uplift of Fairweather Ground, and to Quarternary folding perpendicular to the Pacific-North America relative convergence vector. No accretionary section or major deformation is observed along the continental slope. The absence of these features suggests that no major subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Yakutat margin has occurred during the late Cenozoic. However, transform faulting along the base of the slope has occurred, because probable Oligocene oceanic basement is juxtaposed against Mesozoic and Paleogene sedimentary strata of the Yakutat slope. This juxtaposition most likely occurred during late Oligocene and Miocene time. During much of the late Cenozoic, and especially during Pliocene-Pleistocene time, the Yakut at segment has apparently been moving north ward with the Pacific plate. Dredge samples from the continental slope recovered potential hydrocarbon source and reservoir rocks from the Paleogene sedimentary sequence. Most of the organic matter from these samples is immature to marginally mature. Lopatin calculations suggest that rocks beneath the shelf are likely t,o be thermally mature at a depth of 4 to 5 km and deeper. In general, the strata at these depths are largely of Paleogene age. Thus, the Paleogene strata may have significant resource potential if source and reservoir rocks similar to those dredged at the slope are present below the shelf. The Paleogene strata are contained primarily within the western subbasin; strata in the east subbasin appear to have little resource potential. Structural traps are apparently present in parts of the basin near and along the Dangerous River zone. These traps are in an updip position from potentially mature strata of the western subbasin, and may hold commercial accumulations of hydrocarbons, if sufficient hydrocarbon generation and migration has occurred to fill such traps and if sufficient reservoir rock is present.


Translation revision (TR) is an important step in the translation workflow. However, translation revision competence (TRC) remains an ill-defined concept. This article addresses that gap by operationalizing the TR concept and by presenting a theoretical TRC model. Subsequently, the article analyses and interprets the results of an empirical pilot study designed to test the presence of two TR subcompetences hypothesised by the TRC model, in an experimental group and a control group of 21 MA language students. The experimental group was given TR training halfway through the experiment whereas the control group was not. The two subcompetences that were tested by means of a pretest–posttest experimental design were declarative-procedural knowledge about TR and the procedural strategic revision subcompetence. Both groups of participants replied to questionnaires and performed controlled revision tasks, which were subjected to quantitative statistical analyses. The results show that the participants' TR knowledge was limited in the pretest and that this knowledge improved marginally only in the experimental group in the posttest (i.e., after TR training). This article provides a detailed analysis of the results and the causes of the limited progress. In addition, it discusses the lessons learnt for both TR training and further research.


Justice Harry A. Blackmun, author of the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade, was the pivotal figure in one of the most contentious decisions in Supreme Court history and indeed the most divisive issue facing the Court today. Harry A. Blackmun: The Outsider Justice is Tinsley E. Yarbrough's penetrating account of one of the most outspoken and complicated figures on the modern Supreme Court. As a justice, Blackmun stood at the pinnacle of the American judiciary. Yet when he took his seat on the Court, Justice Blackmun felt "almost desperate," overwhelmed with feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy over the immense responsibilities before him. Blackmun had overcome humble roots to achieve a Harvard education, success as a Minneapolis lawyer and resident counsel to the prestigious Mayo Clinic. But growing up in a financially unstable home with a frequently unemployed father and an emotionally fragile mother left a permanent mark on the future justice. All his life, Harry Blackmun considered himself one of society's outsiders, someone who did not "belong." Remarkably, though, that very self-image instilled in the justice, throughout his career, a deep empathy for society's most vulnerable outsiders-women faced with unwanted pregnancies, homosexuals subjected to archaic laws, and ultimately, death-row inmates. To those who saw his career as the constitutional "odyssey" of a conservative jurist gradually transformed into a champion of the underdog, Blackmun had a ready answer: he had not changed; the Court and the issues before them changed. Drawing on considerable archival research and a wealth of knowledge of Supreme Court history, Yarbrough has written a nuanced and deeply insightful account of the life and career of one of the court's most intriguing justices.


The synthesis of well-defined polymers with pendant perylene bisimide (PBI) groups by a combination of nitroxide-mediated radical polymerization (NMRP) of trimethylsilyl propargyl acrylate followed by copper-catalyzed azide−alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC, "click" chemistry) is described. The kinetics of NMRP of trimethylsilyl propargyl acrylate polymerization was monitored by 1H NMR and size exclusion chromatography (SEC). Almost quantitative conversion in the "click" reaction with an azide functionalized PBI derivative was proven by FTIR and 1H NMR analysis. Thus, semiconductor polymers carrying PBI pendant groups with Mn up to 15800 g·mol−1 and polydispersity indices as good as 1.16 were obtained by this route. These polymers were compared with poly(perylene bisimide acrylate)s, PPerAcr(CH2)11, and PPerAcr(CH2)6, which were synthesized by direct NMRP of PBI acrylates. These samples do not carry any triazol unit and they differ in their spacer length connecting the PBI unit to the main chain. All polymers w...


FUNDAMENTALS FORTRAN Essentials Introduction What Is FORTRAN? FORTRAN Basics Data Types The IMPLICIT Statement Initialization and Assignment Order of Operations Column Position Rules A Typical Chemistry Problem Solved with FORTRAN Free Format I/O The FORTRAN Code for the Tertiary Mixtures Problem Conditional Execution Loops Intrinsic Functions User-Defined Functions Subroutines Numerical Derivatives The Extended Trapezoid Rule to Evaluate Integrals Basics of Classical Dynamics Introduction Some Important Variables of Classical Physics The Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian in Euclidean Spaces The Least Action Principle and the Equations of Motion The Two-Body Problem with Central Potential Isotropic Potentials and the Two-Body Problem The Rigid Rotor Numerical Integration Methods Hamilton's Equations and Symplectic Integrators The Potential Energy Surface Dissipative Systems The Fourier Transform and the Position Autocorrelation Function Basics of Stochastic Computations Introduction Continuous Random Variables and Their Distributions The Classical Statistical Mechanics of a Single Particle The Monoatomic Ideal Gas The Equipartition Theorem Basics of Stochastic Computation Probability Distributions Minimizing V by Trial and Error The Metropolis Algorithm Parallel Tempering A Random Number Generator Vector Spaces, Groups, and Algebras Introduction A Few Useful Definitions Groups Number Fields Vector Spaces Algebras The Exponential Mapping of Lie Algebras The Determinant of a n x n Matrix and the Levi-Civita Symbol Scalar Product, Outer Product, and Vector Space Mapping Rotations in Euclidean Space Complex Field Extensions Dirac Bra-Ket Notation Eigensystems The Connection between Diagonalization and Lie Algebras Symplectic Lie Algebras and Groups Lie Groups as Solutions of Differential Equations Split Symplectic Integrators Supermatrices and Superalgebras Matrix Quantum Mechanics Introduction The Failures of Classical Physics Spectroscopy The Heat Capacity of Solids at Low Temperature The Photoelectric Effect Black Body Radiator The Beginning of the Quantum Revolution Modern Quantum Theory and Schrodinger's Equation Matrix Quantum Mechanics The Monodimensional Hamiltonian in a Simple Hilbert Space Numerical Solution Issues in Vector Spaces The Harmonic Oscillator in Hilbert Space A Simple Discrete Variable Representation (DVR) Accelerating the Convergence of the Simple DVR Elements of Sparse Matrix Technology The Gram-Schmidt Process The Krylov Space The Row Representation of a Sparse Matrix The Lanczos Algorithm Orbital Angular Momentum and the Spherical Harmonics Complete Sets of Commuting Observables The Addition of Angular Momentum Vectors Computation of the Vector Coupling Coefficients Matrix Elements of Anisotropic Potentials in the Angular Momentum Basis The Physical Rigid Dipole in a Constant Electric Field Time Evolution in Quantum Mechanics Introduction The Time-Dependent Schrodinger Equation Wavepackets, Measurements, and Time Propagation of Wavepackets The Time Evolution Operator The Dyson Series and the Time-Ordered Exponential Representation The Magnus Expansion The Trotter Factorization The time_evolution_operator Program Feynman's Path Integral Quantum Monte Carlo A Variational Monte Carlo Method for Importance Sampling Diffusion Monte Carlo (IS-DMC) IS-DMC with Drift Green's Function Diffusion Monte Carlo The Path Integral in Euclidean Spaces Introduction The Harmonic Oscillator Classical Canonical Average Energy and Heat Capacity Quantum Canonical Average Energy and Heat Capacity The Path Integral in Rd The Canonical Fourier Path Integral The Reweighted Fourier-Wiener Path Integral ATOMIC CLUSTERS Characterization of the Potential of Ar7 Introduction Cartesian Coordinates of Atomic Clusters Rotations and Translations The Center of Mass The Inertia Tensor The Structural Comparison Algorithm Gradients and Hessians of Multidimensional Potentials The Lennard-Jones Potential V(LJ) The Gradient of V(LJ) Brownian Dynamics at 0 K Basin Hopping The Genetic Algorithm The Hessian Matrix Normal Mode Analysis Transition States with the Cerjan-Miller Algorithm Optical Activity Classical and Quantum Simulations of Ar7 Introduction Simulation Techniques: Parallel Tempering Revisited Thermodynamic Properties of a Cluster with n Atoms The Program parallel_tempering_r3n.f The Variational Ground State Energy Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) of Atomic Clusters Path Integral Simulations of Ar7 Characterization Techniques: The Lindemann Index Characterization Techniques: Bond Orientational Parameters Characterization Techniques: Structural Comparison Appendices METHODS IN CURVED SPACES Introduction to Differential Geometry Introduction Coordinate Changes: Einstein's Sum Convention and the Metric Tensor Contravariant Tensors Gradients as 1-Forms Tensors of Higher Ranks The Metric Tensor of a Space Integration on Manifolds Stereographic Projections Dynamics in Manifolds The Hessian Metric The Christofell Connections and the Geodesic Equations The Laplace-Beltrami Operator The Riemann-Cartan Curvature Scalar The Two-Body Problem Revisited Stereographic Projections for the Two-Body Problem The Rigid Rotor and the Infinitely Stiff Spring Constant Limit Relative Coordinates for the Three-Body Problem The Rigid-Body Problem and the Body Fixed Frame Stereographic Projections for the Ellipsoid of Inertia The Spherical Top The Riemann Curvature Scalar for a Spherical Top Coefficients and the Curvature for Spherical Tops with Stereographic Projection Coordinates (SPCs) The Riemann Curvature Scalar for a Symmetric Nonspherical Top A Split Operator for Symplectic Integrators in Curved Manifolds The Verlet Algorithm for Manifolds Simulations in Curved Manifolds Introduction The Invariance of the Phase Space Volume Variational Ground States DMC in Manifolds The Path Integral in Space-Like Curved Manifolds The Virial Estimator for the Total Energy Angular Momentum Theory Solution for a Particle in S2 Variational Ground State for S2 DMC in S2 Stereographic Projection Path Integral in S2 Higher Dimensional Tops The Free Particle in a Ring The Particle in a Ring Subject to Smooth Potentials APPLICATIONS TO MOLECULAR SYSTEMS Clusters of Rigid Tops Introduction The Stockmayer Model The Map for R3n (S2)n The Gradient of the Lennard-Jones Dipole-Dipole (LJDD) Potential Beyond the Stockmayer Model for Rigid Linear Tops The Hessian Metric Tensor on R3n (S2)n Reweighted Random Series Action for Clusters of Linear Rigid Tops The Local Energy Estimator for Clusters of Linear Rigid Tops Clusters of Rigid Nonlinear Tops Coordinate Transformations for R3n n The Hessian Metric Tensor for R3n n Local Energy and Action for R3n n Concluding Remarks Bibliography Index


Earth observation is entering a new era where the increasing availability of free and open global satellite data sets combined with the computing power offered by modern information technologies opens up the possibility to process high-resolution data sets at global scale and short repeat intervals in a fully automatic fashion. This will not only boost the availability of higher level earth observation data in purely quantitative terms, but can also be expected to trigger a step change in the quality and usability of earth observation data. However, the technical, scientific, and organisational challenges that need to be overcome to arrive at this point are significant. First of all, Petabyte-scale data centres are needed for storing and processing complete satellite data records. Second, innovative processing chains that allow fully automatic processing of the satellite data from the raw sensor records to higher-level geophysical products need to be developed. Last but not least, new models of cooperation between public and private actors need to be found in order to live up to the first two challenges. This paper offers a discussion of how the Earth Observation Data Centre for Water Resources Monitoring (EODC) – a catalyser for an open and international cooperation of public and private organisations – will address these three grand challenges with the aim to foster the use of earth observation for monitoring of global water resources.


Tires are a very important component of a vehicle, a variety of charges are imposed on the tires when the vehicle is stationary or moving. The various loading styles directly rest on the air trapped in the tire, and cause the rise of pressure to flow in accordance with the magnitude of the various forces it receives. The rise in tire pressure mainly occurs when the vehicle is in motion, where the tire gets a compressive force from the constant load of the vehicle and the shock load due to the road contour. High pressure and rising and falling causes heat on the tire which then heat is moved to the rubber tire layer. Besides also because of the heat when the surface of the tire tread rub against the road during acceleration and braking.
            Assuming that heat is the main cause of tire damage then this study will try to analyze the influence of tire rubber temperature on the ability of work to withstand the air pressure in the tire. The loading received by the tire rubber coating is assumed to be the same as the tensile test that will be applied to the tire when used. This tensile test will be carried out on the rubber tire layer by heat treatment before it is tested. Temperature treatment starts from a temperature of 30 until 110 with a range of 20 degrees, with the expected stress value and the best strain obtained at that temperature range. The tire samples used in this study are two of the most used tire brands on ankle truck trucks which are the most widely used truck types.
                With tensile test the tire performance is generally very good at low temperature up to 70 degree temperature, above 70 degree temperature tire performance began to decrease due to the increased strain on the tire material so that the ability to resist high pressure by the pneumatic force of the wind inside the tire decreased relative Against the increase in tire temperature.


The reliability of automatically estimating human ages, by processing input facial images, has generally been found to be poor. On other hand, various real world applications, often relating to safety and security, depend on an accurate estimate of a person's age. In such situations, Face Image based Automatic Age Estimation (FI-AAE) systems which are more reliable and may ideally surpass human ability, are of importance as and represent a critical pre-requisite technology. Unfortunately, in terms of estimation accuracy and thus performance, contemporary FI-AAE systems are impeded by challenges which exist in both of the two major FI-AAE processing phases i.e. i) Age based feature extraction and representation and ii) Age group classification. Challenges in the former phase arise because facial shape and texture change independently and the magnitude of these changes vary during the different stages of a person's life. Additionally, contemporary schemes struggle to exploit age group specific characteristics of these features, which in turn has a detrimental effect on overall system performance. Furthermore misclassification errors which occur in the second processing phase and are caused by the smooth inter-class variations often observed between adjacent age groups, pose another major challenge and are responsible for low overall FI-AAE performance. In this thesis a novel Multi-Level Age Estimation (ML-AE) framework is proposed that addresses the aforementioned challenges and improves upon state-of-the-art FI-AAE system performance. The proposed ML-AE is a hierarchical classification scheme that maximizes and then exploits inter-class variation among different age groups at each level of the hierarchy. Furthermore, the proposed scheme exploits age based discriminating information taken from two different cues (i.e. facial shape and texture) at the decision level which improves age estimation results. During the process of achieving our main objective of age estimation, this research work also contributes to two associated image processing/analysis areas: i) Face image modeling and synthesis; a process of representing face image data with a low dimensionality set of parameters. This is considered as precursor to every face image based age estimation system and has been studied in this thesis within the context of image face recognition ii) measuring face image data variability that can help in representing/ranking different face image datasets according to their classification difficulty level. Thus a variability measure is proposed that can also be used to predict the classification performance of a given face recognition system operating upon a particular input face dataset. Experimental results based on well-known face image datasets revealed the superior performance of our proposed face analysis, synthesis and face image based age classification methodologies, as compared to that obtained from conventional schemes.


The central question of this research is how the access to and quality of health care and youth care for asylum-seeking children is organized and functions in the Netherlands. The report is based on desk research and qualitative semi-structured interviews with persons involved in the provision of health care to asylum-seeking children at the policy and practical level. The report highlights central aspects of the legal framework, the responsibilities of different organizations and the financing of health care, relevant supervision and monitoring mechanisms as well as the implementation of health policies and the collaboration of health care providers and other organizations concerned with asylum-seeking children in the Netherlands. The research points to the crucial importance of timely information provision, clear standards and a systematic process of transferal and relocation as well as to the role of schools in the prevention of health issues, to the necessity of preventive health care for the mental health of asylum-seeking children and to the importance of a constructive relationship between the parents of asylum-seeking children and health care providers. It ends with recommendations for improving the current situation and questions for future research on this issue.


To support self-management, health professionals need to adopt a client-centred approach and learn to deliver evidence-based behaviour change interventions. This paper reports on the evaluation of 1- and 2-day training programs developed to improve health professionals' capacity to support chronic disease self-management (CDSM). The 321 participants attended one of eighteen supporting CDSM courses held in urban and rural settings. Participants included nurses, allied health professionals, Aboriginal health workers and general practitioners. Data were collected at three time points: before participation; immediately after the training; and, for a sub-sample of 37 participants, 2 months after the training. Results revealed a significant and sustained increase in CDSM self-efficacy following training regardless of participants' gender, age or qualifications. A thematic analysis of the responses concerning intended practice revealed four main areas of intended practice change, namely: use behavioural strategies; improve communication with clients; adopt a client-centred approach; and improve goal setting. The number of practice changes at 2 months reported by a sub-sample of participants ranged from 1 to 20 with a mean of 14 (s.d.=4). The three most common areas of practice change point to the adoption by health professionals of a collaborative approach with chronic disease patients. Lack of staff trained in CDSM was seen as a major barrier to practice change, with lack of support and finance also named as barriers to practice change. Participants identified that increased training, support and awareness of the principles of supporting CDSM would help to overcome barriers to practice change. These results indicate a readiness among health professionals to adopt a more collaborative approach given the skills and the tools to put this approach into practice.


ABSTRACT Research Findings: This meta-analysis examined 29 (quasi-)experimental studies that involved low-income children ages 3 to 5 who might be subject to risks of academic failure and other negative outcomes. Compared to the controls, children who learned with social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula demonstrated significantly improved social-emotional competence, with an effect size or standardized mean difference of 0.241 (95% confidence interval [0.194, 0.287]). However, the use of other curricula that lacked an intensive focus on SEL yielded nonsignificant effects on the social-emotional competence of low-income children. Type of curriculum, fidelity of curriculum implementation, and duration of intervention were found to moderate the educational effects. Practice or Policy: The findings of this meta-analysis contribute to the growing body of empirical evidence on the positive effects of early SEL curricula and explain how curricula can produce social-emotional benefits for low-income children in their early years.


IN COMPUTE R SCIENCE, when we say "time is money," we typically refer to two types of time that determine the costs and benefits of a given computer program: the time it takes the program to run, and the time it takes to write and maintain it. There is a delicate trade-off between these two types of time: the faster we want a program to run, the more time we need to spend when writing and maintaining it, and vice versa. Until very recently, it seemed this trade-off could be mostly ignored. The job of making programs run faster fell into the lap of the hardware architects, who continued to deliver advances in single CPU clock speed at a reliable pace. These reliable speed increases allowed software engineers and programming language designers to focus on adding software constructs that offered substantial reductions in the time it takes to write and maintain code. How was this done? The terms that come to mind are abstraction, modularity, and compositionality. Unfortunately, as we have all heard, things are about to change dramatically. Moore's Law has not been repealed—each year more and more transistors are being fit into the same space—but CPU clock speeds can no longer be effectively increased. Instead, hardware designers have turned to multicore architectures, in which multiple computing cores are included on each processor chip. The switch to multicore architectures promises increased parallelism, but not increased single-thread performance. Even if this increased parallelism is delivered at a reliable pace, the hardware designers cannot by themselves deliver reliable increases in the speed at which programs run. This job will fall into the laps of software engineers. The main tool for handling concurrency in today's programming languages are locks—software constructs that allow sequences of loads and stores to access data in a mutually exclusive manner. Indeed, lock-based programs have been known to deliver amazing performance on multicore architectures. However, it is becoming clear that, while using locks will allow us to continue to reduce the time it takes programs to run, they will cause the time it takes us to write and maintain our programs to shoot back up. The heart of the problem is, perhaps, that no one really knows how to organize and maintain large systems that rely on locking. Locks are not modular and do not compose, and the association between locks and data is established mostly by convention. Ultimately, the association exists only in the mind of the programmer, and may be documented only in comments. A promising solution to this problem is the introduction of atomic memory transactions as a multicore programming abstraction. While transactions have been used for years in the database community, they are now being proposed as an equal partner to, and perhaps even a replacement for, the loads and stores we typically use in our programs. The idea is simple: encapsulate sequences of loads and stores within a transaction, with the guarantee that if any operation takes place, they all do, and that if they do, they appear to other threads to do so atomically, as one indivisible operation. Work on the design of efficient transactional memory implementations has been proceeding in earnest. However, there is a missing element: a framework of transactional memory-based concurrency that would provide the modularity and compositionality necessary when designing and maintaining large-scale concurrent systems. This is where the breakthrough work on composable memory transactions by Tim Harris, Simon Marlow, Simon Peyton Jones, and Maurice Herlihy takes center stage. They have provided, for the first time, a concurrent language model and a set of constructs that allow true simplicity in transactional programming. One source of difficulty they had to overcome was that transactions are optimistic: they are tried but may fail and have to be rolled back, so one cannot allow events with side effects, for example I/O, to take place within transactions. The authors' solution was to use transactions within a purely declarative language, which, as it turns out, is a perfect match for transactions since the type system explicitly separates computations that may have side effects from effect-free ones. Another big problem was that concurrent programming requires that threads await events by other threads. Waiting on a condition outside a transaction greatly limits what it can do, and waiting inside a transaction can get it stuck. The authors solved the problem by introducing new transactional constructs, among them an elegant retry command that allows a transaction to effectively abort, then restart only after a potentially good event has increased the likelihood of the condition being met. Quite surprisingly, retry is a key factor in allowing sequences of transactional actions to be composed so they all take effect together. The language structure together with the added transactional composition constructs provide a clean framework that allows transactions to compose without giving up their natural advantages over locks: concurrent programmers can program using atomic operations that span multiple objects in memory, without having to break abstraction barriers. If multicore architectures are the way to continue improving the time it takes programs to run, then perhaps composable memory transactions are the way to improve the time its takes us to write and maintain them.


Stable isotope labelling experiments provide many opportunities for probing metabolic pathways. One goal of such experiments is to define the metabolic phenotype of an organism in terms of the fluxes supported by the entire metabolic network. Metabolic flux analysis (MFA) is used routinely in prokaryotes, but its application to plants is more challenging. Here we examine the status of MFA in plants, highlighting difficulties that hinder wider exploitation of the technique. We conclude that simulation of network fluxes using constraints-based modelling offers a more versatile approach for exploring the capabilities of a network, and that MFA might be best used to probe the interesting features that simulation reveals.


The LNE has recently developed a 1 V programmable Josephson voltage standard specially dedicated to its transfer activities such as calibration of DC voltage references (Zener diode reference and Weston saturated standard cells) and digital voltmeters of high precision. This new programmable Josephson voltage standard allows the LNE to propose new calibration capabilities with reduced uncertainties while taking advantage of the simplicity to operate programmable Josephson array. The 1.018 V output voltage of the Zener diode reference can then be calibrated with a typical relative uncertainty of 80 nV (k = 2) in the framework of routine calibration services (an improvement by a factor 7). This paper describes the design of the new system and its metrological performances.


Introduction Computationally-enhanced tabletops featuring tangible objects for participant interaction hold promise for the creation of new forms of media, including documentaries and stories constructed by individuals or small groups in distributed or face-to-face settings. Many computer-aided storytelling systems feature either algorithms to arrange story elements automatically or story structures to guide authors in presenting their tales. In contrast, the KinoPuzzle system affords a high degree of freedom for authors in constructing tabletop experiences and for participants in exploring multi-viewpoint narratives. This format for story-telling combines the representational depth and flexibility of the digital database with the expressive power of the collage surface, offering advantages in terms of openended dialogic juxtapositions and the collaborative exploration of reality-based material. The inspiration for the KinoPuzzle system comes from the fields of social and ethnographic documentary-making and conceptual lenses from ethnography and ethnomethodology. The values embedded in these approaches to recording life are reflected in the code, data structures (or lack therefore), and visual strategies of the system. The primary goal of the system is to enable authors and readers flexibility to explore, interpret, and reinterpret multiple viewpoints within differing contexts. Our adoption of the collage tradition for organizing the display and interaction of visual and tangible content provides an open-ended framework for the composition and manipulation of viewpoints and stories. Collage as a spatial representational form may be better-suited to the presenting the conflicting "actualities" that are the subject of contemporary documentaries than narratives presented in sequence based on traditional story structures in the Aristotelian tradition.


The coordination of emergency responders and robots to undertake a number of tasks in disaster scenarios is a grand challenge for multi-agent systems. Central to this endeavour is the problem of forming the best teams (coalitions) of responders to perform the various tasks in the area where the disaster has struck. Moreover, these teams may have to form, disband, and reform in different areas of the disaster region. This is because in most cases there will be more tasks than agents. Hence, agents need to schedule themselves to attempt each task in turn. Second, the tasks themselves can be very complex: requiring the agents to work on them for different lengths of time and having deadlines by when they need to be completed. The problem is complicated still further when different coalitions perform tasks with different levels of efficiency. Given all these facets, we define this as The Coalition Formation with Spatial and Temporal constraints problem (CFSTP). We show that this problem is NP-hard---in particular, it contains the well-known complex combinatorial problem of Team Orienteering as a special case. Based on this, we design a Mixed Integer Program to optimally solve small-scale instances of the CFSTP and develop new anytime heuristics that can, on average, complete 97% of the tasks for large problems (20 agents and 300 tasks). In so doing, our solutions represent the first results for CFSTP.


A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.7/VOC202012/01, was identified in the UK in December-2020. Direct estimates of its potential to enhance transmission are limited.Nose and throat swabs from 28-September-2020 to 2-January-2021 in the UK's nationally representative surveillance study were tested by RT-PCR for three genes (N, S and ORF1ab). Those positive only on ORF1ab+N, S-gene target failures (SGTF), are compatible with B.1.1.7/VOC202012/01. We investigated cycle threshold (Ct) values (a proxy for viral load), percentage of positives, population positivity and growth rates in SGTF vs non-SGTF positives.15,166(0.98%) of 1,553,687 swabs were PCR-positive, 8,545(56%) with three genes detected and 3,531(23%) SGTF. SGTF comprised an increasing, and triple-gene positives a decreasing, percentage of infections from late-November in most UK regions/countries, e.g. from 15% to 38% to 81% over 1.5 months in London. SGTF Ct values correspondingly declined substantially to similar levels to triple-gene positives. Population-level SGTF positivity remained low (<0.25%) in all regions/countries until late-November, when marked increases with and without self-reported symptoms occurred in southern England (to 1.5-3%), despite stable rates of non-SGTF cases. SGTF positivity rates increased on average 6% more rapidly than rates of non-SGTF positives (95% CI 4-9%) supporting addition rather than replacement with B.1.1.7/VOC202012/01. Excess growth rates for SGTF vs non-SGTF positives were similar in those up to high school age (5% (1-8%)) and older individuals (6% (4-9%)).Direct population-representative estimates show that the B.1.1.7/VOC202012/01 SARS-CoV-2 variant leads to higher infection rates, but does not seem particularly adapted to any age group.


As a fourth-year music composition major at MacEwan University, Mari Alice Conrad was interested in exploring the concept of vulnerability.  She was particularly inspired by her recent vulnerable experiences returning to school as a mature student and sought to understand these existential experiences in more depth.  This curiosity led Conrad to design a research-creation project in her Ethnomusicology course that utilized her skills in composing a musical work that explored vulnerability on three distinct levels: personal vulnerability, societal vulnerability, and global vulnerability.
The first level, personal vulnerability, plunged into Conrad's personal experiences as a mature student who, by age and life experience, had been socially segregated to a minority group, and how she was processing those experiences. The second level, sociological vulnerability, specifically focused on addressing societal traditions of classical music and notational conventions for the piano. Conrad sought to displace the customary approach she had developed with the instrument since childhood and considered ways to make the piano (an inanimate object) and its notated music vulnerable. The third level was a more global, ecological, or environmental vulnerability of the weather systems found in the troposphere, the first layer of the atmosphere.  Conrad wanted to understand why this layer was extremely volatile and susceptible to multiple variables and how humans interacted with the vulnerability of this force. This third level was also an area that she could universally connect with her audience (hence the title of the composition) and acted as a bridge to explore the other two levels of vulnerability in her work.
Throughout the research-creation process, Conrad was able to explore the three levels of vulnerability in tremendous depth, express her interactions and discoveries of these three levels, and further disseminate her findings through notating a graphic score, recording the composition, and crafting an audiovisual representation. The final result of the research-creation composition project (music score and video) brilliantly weaves together concepts of vulnerability in a compelling and meaningful way and shares insight into how these ideas influence and encapsulate Conrad's budding artistic practice.


The work described in the following pages was carried out at various sites in the Rod Division of the Delta Metal Company. Extensive variation in the level of activity in the industry during the years 1974 to I975 had led to certain inadequacies being observed 1n the traditional cost control procedure. In an attempt to remedy this situation it was suggested that a method be found of constructing a system to improve the flexibility of cost control procedures. The work involved an assimilation of the industrial and financial environment via pilot studies which would later prove invaluable to home in on the really interesting and important areas. Weaknesses in the current systems which came to light made the methodology of data collection and the improvement of cost control and profit planning procedures easier to adopt. Because of the requirements of the project to investigate the implications of Cost behaviour for profit planning and control, the next stage of the research work was to utilise the on-site experience to examine at a detailed level the nature of cost behaviour. The analysis of factory costs then showed that certain costs, which were the most significant exhibited a stable relationship with respect to some known variable, usually a specific measure of Output. These costs were then formulated in a cost model, to establish accurate standards in a complex industrial setting in order to provide a meaningful comparison against which to judge actual performance. The necessity of a cost model was •reinforced by the fact that the cost behaviour found to exist was, in the main, a step function, and this complex cost behaviour, the traditional cost and profit planning procedures could not possibly incorporate. Already implemented from this work is the establishment of the post of information officer to co-ordinate data collection and information provision.


Objectives To determine how 'overdiagnosis' is currently conceptualised among adults in the UK in light of previous research, which has found that the term is difficult for the public to understand and awareness is low. This study aimed to add to current debates on healthcare in which overdiagnosis is a prominent issue. Design An observational, web-based survey was administered by a survey company. Setting Participants completed the survey at a time and location of their choosing. Participants 390 consenting UK adults aged 50–70 years. Quota sampling was used to achieve approximately equal numbers in three categories of education and equal numbers of men and women. Primary outcome measures Participants were asked whether they had seen or heard the term 'overdiagnosis'. If they had, they were then invited to explain in a free-text field what they understood it to mean. If they had not previously encountered it, they were invited to say what they thought it meant. Responses were coded and interpreted using content analysis and descriptive statistics. Results Data from 390 participants were analysed. Almost a third (30.0%) of participants reported having previously encountered the term. However, their responses often indicated that they had no knowledge of its meaning. The most prevalent theme consisted of responses related to the diagnosis itself. Subthemes indicated common misconceptions, including an 'overly negative or complicated diagnosis', 'false-positive diagnosis' or 'misdiagnosis'. Other recurring themes consisted of responses related to testing (ie, 'too many tests'), treatment (eg, 'overtreatment') and patient psychology (eg, 'overthinking'). Responses categorised as consistent with 'overdiagnosis' (defined as detection of a disease that would not cause symptoms or death) were notably rare (n=10; 2.6%). Conclusions Consistent with previous research, public awareness of 'overdiagnosis' in the UK is low and its meaning is often misunderstood or misinterpreted.


If you're looking for a guide to strength training that addresses your needs--not your boyfriend's or husband's--then look no further! "A Woman's Guide to Muscle and Strength" is created for women, by a woman. Designed to target the unique ways your body works and reacts to exercises, this resource will produce the lean and well-toned physique that you seek. Nationally recognized and sought-after personal trainer Irene Lewis-McCormick has packed over 100 of the top exercises for women into this single resource. As a featured writer for popular publications such as "Shape and More" magazines, Lewis-McCormick makes it easy for women of all ages and abilities to transform their bodies, and she does so by providing progressive training programs while putting common training myths to rest. From free weights and TRX suspension training to foam rollers and exercise balls, this book has the workouts to fit your plan. Whether you're looking for a complete body transformation or simply looking for an easy way to gain strength and definition, "A Woman's Guide to Muscle and Strength" is your guide to the strong, sexy, and toned body you want.


1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Constitutional Jurisdiction over the Environment 1.2 Fragmentation on environmental enforcement reporting 2. COMMUNITY RIGHT TO KNOW IN CANADA 2.1 Democratic Participation, Government Accountability and Transparency 2.2 Current State of Access to Information: the Need to Move towards Proactive Disclosure 3. THE AMERICAN APPROACH 3.1 Enforcement and Compliance History Online [ECHO] 4. THE CANADIAN APPROACH 4.1 National Pollution Release Inventory 4.2 Three Sources of Environmental Enforcement Information 4.2.1 Annual Reports on Inspections, Investigations and Prosecutions 4.2.2 Enforcement Notifications of Prosecutions 4.2.3 News Releases and Statements 4.3 NEMISIS: Environment Canada's Internal Enforcement Database 4.4 Improving NEMISIS 5. CONCLUSION As the government of Canada candidly admits, "legislation and regulation are only as good as their enforcement". (1) This report addresses the federal government's enforcement obligations and reporting practices as required under several federal environmental and wildlife statutes. These statutes not only require the Canadian government to enforce its laws but also to publish its enforcement practices by producing annual reports on inspections, investigations, prosecutions, and other enforcement measures. (2) Publicizing the laying of charges and the results of prosecutions is an effective means of deterring potential offenders. (3) Availability of enforcement data also allows the public to make meaningful informed choices about the environmental risks to which they expose themselves, and participate in enforcement activities by reporting or requesting action on environmental offenders. Environment Canada has performed poorly with respect to reporting obligations required by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act" (4) (hereafter "CEPA"), as outlined in the 2009 report by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. (5) In addition, the Commissioner indicated that the quality of publicly available enforcement data is inadequate, based on accuracy, completeness and accessibility. (6) Moreover, many other federal environmental statutes do not include a general reporting obligation. In such cases, most of the information on enforcement activities is not publicly available and is instead held in a database called the National Enforcement Management Information System and Intelligence System (hereafter "NEMISIS"), access to which is restricted to government officials. (7) Non-sensitive data is only available upon request, (8) yet processing requests is evidently a costly and time-consuming use of resources for the government, as it is for the requester. This paper provides new contributions to the discussion of environmental enforcement in Canada by critically assessing the federal government's efforts to provide public access to environmental enforcement information through the Internet. It is our contention that while the federal-provincial divide is often identified in order to explain fragmentation of environmental law in Canada, the exercise of political will by successive federal governments can circumvent the jurisdictional constraints to create a holistic approach to enforcement of environmental law. An analysis of the enforcement reporting practices in the United States (hereafter "US"), also a federal state with no clear constitutional jurisdiction over the environment, illustrates the possibility and benefits of a centralized database on environmental enforcement data. By comparing Canada's online enforcement information to what is available in the US, we make recommendations as to how Canada can make improvements to its domestic system drawing on the experience of its southern neighbour. The paper begins with a discussion of jurisdictional differences with regards to environmental law in the United States and Canada which stem from their respective Constitutions. …


The world's most exciting, fastest-growing new market? It's where you least expect it: at the bottom of the pyramid. Collectively, the world's billions of poor people have immense entrepreneurial capabilities and buying power. You can learn how to serve them and help millions of the world's poorest people escape poverty.It is being done-profitably. Whether you're a business leader or an anti-poverty activist, business guru Prahalad shows why you can't afford to ignore "Bottom of the Pyramid" (BOP) markets.In the book and accompanying CD videos, Prahalad presents...Why what you know about BOP markets is wrong A world of surprises-from spending patterns to distribution and marketingUnlocking the "poverty penalty"The most enduring contributions your company can make Delivering dignity, empowerment, and choice-not just productsCorporations and BOP entrepreneurs Profiting together from an inclusive new capitalism "C. K. Prahalad argues that companies must revolutionize how they dobusiness in developing countries if both sides of that economic equation areto prosper. Drawing on a wealth of case studies, his compelling new bookoffers an intriguing blueprint for how to fight poverty with profitability." Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect,Microsoft "The Bottom of the Pyramid belongs at the top of the reading list forbusiness people, academics, and experts pursuing the elusive goal ofsustainable growth in the developing world. C. K. Prahalad writes withuncommon insight about consumer needs in poor societies andopportunities for the private sector to serve important public purposes whileenhancing its own bottom line. If you are looking for fresh thinking aboutemerging markets, your search is ended. This is the book for you." Madeleine K. Albright, Former U.S. Secretary of State "Prahalad challenges readers to re-evaluate their pre-conceived notionsabout the commercial opportunities in serving the relatively poor nations ofthe world. The Bottom of the Pyramid highlights the way to commercialsuccess and societal improvement--but only if the developed worldreconceives the way it delivers products and services to the developingworld." Christopher Rodrigues, CEO, Visa International "An important and insightful work showing persuasively how the privatesector can be put at the center of development, not just as a rhetoricalflourish but as a real engine of jobs and services for the poor." Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme


The use of bender elements to determine shear wave velocity, and hence shear modulus, is becoming increasingly popular, with commercial systems now available. The most common method of interpretation is to make use of first arrival; however, automation of this procedure has been impossible for the wide range of velocities, sample sizes, stress levels, etc. encountered in soil and weak rock testing. A method for automating the velocity measurement was proposed by Mohsin and Airey in 2003 and relied on the use of cross-correlation. Since that time, many papers have been published on the method of interpretation, and these have often dismissed cross-correlation out of hand or have suggested that it does not work. These criticisms are based on either the fallacy that the input and output waves must look similar in order for the method to work or the selection of the wrong peak in the cross-correlation. We have been using the technique in the laboratory routinely for several years and have found that it can provide results that are at least as good as those obtained via other methods for soils varying from soft clay to silty gravel and well-cemented sand and at stress levels from 10 kPa to 2000 kPa. The greatest advantage of the technique is that it removes much of the subjectivity from the analysis, and in our opinion it is the only viable currently proposed method that is suitable for automation, and thus for standardization. This paper provides details of the procedure, pulse type and frequency, and calibration and discusses issues that affect the development of a standard. Results for a range of soil types, stress levels, and shear wave velocities are presented to demonstrate the reliability of the technique.


Two convincing paradigms have emerged for achieving scalability in widely distributed systems: publish/subscribe communication and role-based, policy-driven control of access to the system by applications. A strength of publish/subscribe is its many-to-many communication paradigm and loose coupling of components, so that publishers need not know the recipients of their data and subscribers need not know the number and location of publishers. But some data is sensitive, and its visibility must be controlled carefully for personal and legal reasons. We describe the requirements of several application domains where the event-based paradigm is appropriate yet where security is an issue. Typical are the large-scale systems required by government and public bodies for domains such as healthcare, police, transport and environmental monitoring.
 We discuss how a publish/subscribe service can be secured; firstly by specifying and enforcing access control policy at the service API, and secondly by enforcing the security and privacy aspects of these policies within the service network itself. Finally, we describe an alternative to whole-message encryption, appropriate for highly sensitive and long-lived data destined for specific domains with varied requirements. We outline our investigations and findings from several research projects in these areas.


In this design, a coplanar slim antenna had been proposed and designed for UHF RFID (860-960)MHz metallic objects. The slim antenna was presented with proximity coupled feeding, two symmetrical coplanar ground layers, and a transmission line fed by a U-shaped inductively coupled feed. Furthermore, the U-shaped inductive feeder consisted of two opposing symmetrical U-shaped structures to feed the top radiator of the antenna. The size of the antenna was 97.5 × 50 × 1.5 mm̂3 at 915 MHz. As a result, the peak gain for the antenna reached up to 5 dBi at 915 MHz. Furthermore, the bandwidth of the antenna was 24.875 MHz (900.125-925) MHz (the power reflection coefficient was lower than -3 dB), while the reading range reached up to 11 meters. Besides, the results obtained from the measurement displayed very good impedance matching due to the flexibility generated by the U-shaped inductive feeder. Moreover, the results retrieved exhibited very good agreement with the results obtained from the simulations.


BackgroundPatients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and congestive heart failure (CHF) are at high-risk of readmission after hospital discharge. There is conflicting evidence however on whether timely follow-up with a primary care provider reduces that risk. The objective of this study is to understand the perspectives of patients with COPD and CHF, and their caregivers, on the role of primary care provider follow-up after hospital discharge.MethodsA qualitative study design with semi-structured interviews was conducted among patients or their family caregivers admitted with COPD or CHF who were enrolled in a multicenter mixed-methods study at three acute care hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Participants were interviewed between December 2017 to January 2019, the majority discharged from hospital at least 30 days prior to their interview. Interviews were analyzed independently by three authors using a deductive directed content analysis, with the fourth author cross-comparing themes.ResultsInterviews with 16 participants (eight patients and eight caregivers) revealed four main themes. First, participants valued visiting their primary care provider after discharge to build upon their longitudinal relationship. Second, primary care providers played a key role in coordinating care. Third, there were mixed views on the ideal time for follow-up, with many participants expressing a desire to delay follow-up to stabilize following their acute hospitalization. Fourth, the link between the post-discharge visit and preventing hospital readmissions was unclear to participants, who often self-triaged based on their symptoms when deciding on the need for emergency care.ConclusionsPatients and caregivers valued in-person follow-up with their primary care provider following discharge from hospital because of the trust established through pre-existing longitudinal relationships. Our results suggest policy makers should focus on improving rates of primary care provider attachment and systems supporting informational continuity.


The UK National Health Service (NHS) is faced with problems of
managing patient discharge and preventing the problems that result
from it such as frequent readmissions, delayed discharge, long waiting lists,
bed blocking and other such consequences. The problem is exacerbated by the
growth in size, complexity and the number of chronic diseases in the NHS. In addition,
there is an increase in demand for high quality care, processes and planning. Effective Discharge Planning (DP) requires
practitioners to have appropriate, patient personalised and updated knowledge
in order to be able to make informed and holistic decisions about a patients'
discharge. This paper examines
the role of Knowledge Management (KM) in both sharing knowledge and using tacit
knowledge to create appropriate patient discharge pathways. The paper
details the factors resulting in inadequate DP, and demonstrates the use of
Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine2Machine (M2M) as candidate technologies
and possible solutions which can help reduce the problem. The use of devices
that a patient can take home and devices which are perused in the hospital
generate information, which can serve useful when presented to the right person
at the right time, thus harvesting knowledge. The knowledge when fed back can
support practitioners in making holistic decisions with regards to a patients'
discharge.


Aim/Purpose: The main aim of this study was to investigate the impact of knowledge-based Human Resources Management (HRM) practices on inbound and outbound open innovation in Jordanian small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Background: SMEs in Jordan lack tangible resources. This insufficiency can be remedied by using knowledge as a resource. According to the Knowledge-Based View (KBV) theory, which posits knowledge as the most valuable resource, SMEs can achieve open innovation by implementing knowledge-based HRM practices that enhance the utilization of knowledge and yield competitiveness.

Methodology: This study adopted the quantitative method employing descriptive and exploratory approaches. A total of 500 Jordanian manufacturing SMEs were selected from 2,310 manufacturing SMEs registered lists, according to the Jordan Social Security, by using random sampling. The study's instrument was a questionnaire that was applied to these SMEs. There were 335 responses that were deemed useful for analysis after filtering out the replies with missing values; this corresponded to a response rate of 67%. The paper utilized structural equation modeling and cross-sectional design to test hypotheses in the proposed research model.

Contribution: This study advocates the assumption of the role of KBV in improving innovation practices. This study contributes to the existing strategic HRM research by extending the understanding of knowledge-based HRM practices in the context of SMEs. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of innovation management by demonstrating the role of knowledge-based HRM practices in boosting inbound and outbound OI practices, thereby enhancing innovation as an essential component of firm competitiveness.

Findings: The findings revealed the positive impact of four knowledge-based HRM practices on inbound and outbound open innovation in Jordanian manufacturing SMEs. These practices were knowledge-based recruitment and selection, knowledge-based training and development, knowledge-based compensation and reward, as well as knowledge-based performance assessment.

Recommendations for Practitioners: This study is expected to help the stakeholders of SMEs to re-shape the traditional HRM practices into knowledge-based practices which improve managerial skills, innovation practices, and the level of the firm's competitiveness.

Recommendation for Researchers: This study serves as a significant contribution to the research field of innovation practices by building a new association between knowledge-based HRM practices and inbound and outbound open innovation.

Impact on Society: The study emphasizes the vital role of knowledge-based HRM practices in enhancing the knowledge and social skills of the human capital in SMEs in Jordan, thus improving the country's social and economic development.

Future Research: Future research could build on this study to include service SMEs. It could also employ a longitudinal study over the long run which would allow for a deeper analysis of the relationships of causality, offering a more comprehensive view of the effect of knowledge-based HRM on open innovation. Furthermore, future research could examine the sample of investigation before and after implementing the knowledge-based HRM practices to provide stronger evidence of their influence on inbound and outbound innovation.


INTRODUCTION The state of New York is generally acknowledged to have the most rigorous insurance regulatory scheme of any jurisdiction in the United States (Meier 1988; Cummins and Sommer 1996). Besides general stringency, a unique feature of New York insurance law is its extraterritoriality; an insurer licensed to do business in New York must substantially comply with any requirement applicable to similar domestic insurers in every state in which the insurer does business. For example, New York investment laws and agent compensation rules must be followed nationwide by insurers licensed in New York. The extraterritorial application of New York insurance law originated with an administrative ruling in 1900 known as the "Appleton Rule," which was made part of the New York insurance code in 1939 (Vaughan and Vaughan 1995). The impact of New York regulation on the life insurance industry is potentially far reaching considering that over fifty-eight percent of life insurer assets in 1995 were held by New York licensed life insurers. Further, many industry authorities believe that being licensed to operate in New York is a positive indicator of financial quality (Black and Skipper 1994, 307). However, many insurers appear to intentionally avoid becoming licensed in New York. In 1995, 138 life insurers were licensed in forty-nine states of the United States. In 134 (97.1 percent) of these cases, the single state in which the insurer did not have a license was New York. As a consequence of the apparent unique importance of New York regulation, many empirical researchers have attempted to control for the impact of such regulation in studies of various insurance issues, typically by including a binary variable signifying whether an insurer is licensed in New York (for example, Brewer, Mondschean, and Strahan 1997; Pottier and Sommer 1997a; Cummins and Sommer 1996; Wells, Cox and Gaver 1995; and Boose 1990). Despite this widespread recognition of the importance of New York regulation, no previous study has focused specifically on the characteristics of New York licensed life insurers. The purpose of this study is to identify these characteristics. Previous research on New York regulation is very limited. Weisbart (1975) used New York licensure as an independent variable in seven separate regressions to explain observed commissions, expenses, growth, and rates of return. His regression analysis included a total of sixty-five life insurers. A survey of companies not licensed in New York revealed that eighty-five percent stated they did not seek admission to New York to avoid the Appleton Rule (Weisbart 1975, 43). Harrington (1982) examined New York Regulation 49, which limits general agency expense allowances. He conducted a survey of fifty-one insurers to determine the potential costs and benefits of Regulation 49. We use a much larger data set than these two earlier studies. In addition, this is the first study to simultaneously examine the relation between a broad array of firm-specific characteristics and the probability of being licensed in New York. Given the widespread assertion that New York regulated insurers are somehow different, it is important to know the extent to which this is true, and to know in exactly what ways they tend to differ from other insurers. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. The next section describes the two primary ways of entering the New York insurance market. The following section discusses hypotheses regarding the expected relationship between specific firm characteristics and the probability of being licensed in New York. Next, the sample, data and methodology are described, and the empirical results are presented. The final section contains a summary and conclusions. ENTRY INTO THE NEW YORK INSURANCE MARKET Insurers can enter New York as a domiciled or foreign insurer. An existing insurer domiciled outside New York can either establish a subsidiary domiciled in New York or obtain a license to operate in New York as a foreign insurer. …


The sudden appearance of a visual distractor can briefly, but powerfully, inhibits saccades (Reingold and Stampe, 2002). However, this inhibitory influence of distractors may by habituation with repeated distractor presentation at a single retinotopic location, or by a more spatially general dampening of inhibition, occurring when distractors appear at a high frequency at any location in the visual field. Indeed, such a spatially generalized mechanism could be useful during behavior in highly dynamic visual environments. We examined these possibilities by recording the eye movements of 2 subjects in tasks that required the execution of saccades in the face of visual distractors. Eye movements were recorded at 500 Hz (Eyelink II, SR Research). Trials began with central fixation. A 1° square was flashed (250 ms) 10° to the left or right. 700-1000 ms later, fixation point disappearance ("go" signal) cued saccade initiation. Subjects were instructed to make a saccade to the target's remembered location. There were 4 experimental tasks: 1) no distractor; 2) single distractor appearing soon after go signal, opposite the remembered target; 3) 3 distractors at 200 ms intervals at a single location opposite the remembered target; 4) three distractors at 200 ms intervals at three separate locations distant from the remembered target, with the final distractor appearing opposite the remembered target. As in previous experiments (Edelman and Xu, 2009) we found strong inhibition in Task 2. Saccade inhibition was virtually eliminated in Task 3. In Task 4, saccade inhibition was intermediate to that of Tasks 2 and 3. These results suggest that stimulus repetition at a single location strongly ameliorates saccade inhibition, but that a more spatially generalized amelioration mechanism for repeated distractor presentation also exists. Supported by NCRR 2G12RR03060-26A1, NIMHHD 8G12MD007603-27 Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


Objective: Early exposure to formula can interfere with successful long-term breastfeeding. The objective of this study was to determine whether limiting the volume of formula used in the first month attenuates formula's detrimental impact on long-term breastfeeding success. Materials and Methods: Using detailed data on dietary intake from a randomized clinical trial, we conducted a secondary analysis of the association between volume of formula received in the first month and breastfeeding cessation before 6 and 12 months of age. We used descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression, respectively, to explore this association without and with adjustment for demographic and clinical predictors of infant feeding. Results: Among 199 breastfeeding infants, 80 (40%) received formula daily at 1 month of age, and breastfeeding cessation before 6 and 12 months of age was higher for these infants (46% and 67%) than for those breastfed exclusively (6% and 27%) (p < 0.0005 for each). The risk of cessation did not differ between those who received ≤4 fl oz daily in the first month (11%) and those who did not receive formula in the first month (6%) (p = 0.42). Adjusting for gestational age, race/ethnicity, income, and intention to breastfeed exclusively, the odds ratio for the outcome of cessation before 6 months was 1.15 (95% confidence interval = 0.20-6.67) for infants who received ≤4 fl oz daily compared with those who breastfed exclusively. Conclusion: Limiting formula volumes to ≤4 fl oz daily may attenuate the deleterious association between early formula use and subsequent successful breastfeeding.


A survey of settlement and caves in the Sibun Valley of Belize, Central America, investigated past interactions between people and their landscape and demonstrates how the ancient Maya manipulated, and were influenced by, the world in which they lived. The karst topography of the area makes it rich in caverns, and so a key component of the Xibun Archaeological Research Project is a cave site study.
Between 1997 and 2001, the cave study resulted in the documentation of fifteen caves and two rockshelters and revealed patterns of ritual utilization spanning the period from the Middle Formative to the Spanish Colonial period (1000 BC--AD 1798). Large caves were appropriated by elite members of the society while small caves and rockshelters appear to have been used by the general populace.
Artifacts surface-collected from Xibun caves share similarities with ceremonial assemblages from caves throughout the Maya region, and may be compared with offerings for agricultural and hunting success as described in ethnographic and ethnohistoric documents and depicted in the Postclassic Maya codices. Cave deposits contribute to the redefinition of ritual assemblages, and identifying characteristics are proposed by this study. Furthermore, materials analyses have shed light on the possible functions of artifacts---including grinding stones, ceramic jar sherds, and stone tools---in the cave context and challenge previously held assumptions. The regional nature of the project allows cave use to be evaluated within the larger context of settlement patterns. Just as people and objects moved from surface sites to caves, cave materials were brought back to settlements and incorporated into ritual architecture.
This study presents the most extensive evidence compiled to date for the reciprocal nature of cave/settlement interaction.
Finally, the unique topography of the central Sibun Valley, with settlements generally restricted to a narrow alluvial terrace on the west and karst hills with caves located on the eastern side of the river, presents an ideal case-study to explore models of the dichotomy between nature and culture.


Abstract This study describes the wood chemistry and ash mineralogy of the desert tree Parkinsonia microphylla (Torr.) and follows the mineralogical effects of natural and laboratory aging and weathering. Ash was collected in the field (field ash) following a wildfire east of Phoenix, Arizona, May 8th, 2011, and its mineralogy compared with ash produced under laboratory conditions (laboratory ash): 25 minerals were identified by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) in the fresh and weathered ash. To guide the interpretation of the XRD patterns, the major ash-forming elements (for elements of Na and heavier) in the wood were determined by particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) spectroscopy. Mg (816 to 3677 ppm), K (3965 to 17 581 ppm), and Ca (935 to 61 772 ppm) were the dominant metals, and P (to 1528 ppm), S (to 1024 ppm), and Cl (318 to 2648 ppm) were the dominant non-metals. In general, smaller branches and bark showed higher concentrations of ash-forming cations than mature wood. Powder XRD patterns from fresh field ash were dominated by various proportions of fairchildite [K2Ca(CO3)2], calcite (CaCO3), lime (CaO), bütschliite (dimorph of fairchildite), and periclase (MgO), with traces of other K-bearing salts. Following gentle rains (total 0.7 cm) at the end of May, a brittle ash crust formed that was dominated by calcite, with variable amounts of fairchildite, sylvite (KCl), kalicinite (KHCO3), magnesian calcite [(Ca, Mg)CO3], magnesite (MgCO3), K2CO3∙1.5H2O, and arcanite (K2SO4). Further exposure to rain (total of 7 cm) in July and August left an ash dominated by calcite, magnesian calcite, and periclase. Ash collected two years after forming was dominated by calcite, magnesian calcite, and minor nesquihonite (MgCO3∙3H2O). The mineralogy of ash produced in the laboratory from wood collected in the fire zone was dependent on the diameter and hence age of the wood. Ash from thin branches was dominated by calcite and fairchildite, consistent with the high Ca revealed by PIXE. Ash from large logs was dominated by fairchildite, with reflections from nine additional minerals including KOH, K2CO3, and periclase: this mineralogy is consistent with high K as determined by PIXE. KOH and K2CO3 disappeared within a few hours exposure to air and peaks for baylissite [K2Mg(CO3)2∙4H2O], K4H2(CO3)3·1.5H2O, and K2CO3∙1.5H2O appeared. Further washing with water left periclase and magnesian calcite. The mineralogical changes observed through natural and laboratory weathering show that fairchildite rapidly weathers to calcite and magnesian calcite, with solubilization and removal of K. Despite the initial mineralogical complexity, the weathered ash is consistent with that found in anthropogenic ash deposits, which is dominated by calcite. Periclase is unaffected by the relatively short-term laboratory weathering, however it was largely absent in field ash collected two years after the fire. Periclase is commonly reported from wood ash, and this study suggests an important role for biomass burning in Mg cycling.


Question Answering is a type of information retrieval. Then, Speech Question Answering is a kind of information retrieval which requires complex natural language processing techniques together with the speech recognition techniques. Most probably, QA system is used at web site by giving certain questions as the input and the web server will try to retrieve the answer from the database. Besides, there is another type of informational retrieve system called telephony IVR (Interactive Voice Recognition) system which is very commonly used. Most of the question answering system which is probably used is somehow a unidirectional communication with the user, that is, the system is not able enough to have interaction with the users, however, there is a trend of developing a bidirectional question answering system with some interactive dialogues as the importance of artificial intelligence is running up. Here, our research is following this trend by using speech. Here, our focus will be on researching this field and let the East Asian Games (EAG) be the domain of our research. That is, the spoken question will be recognized by our speech engine and our system will extract a correct answer, or gives some other communicative dialogues if the question is out of our domain, in response to the questions spoken by the user. There are two main parts in our research: one is QA system and the other one is the speech recognition development.


We review the time domain, frequency domain, and Fourier series Karhunen-Loeve series expansion (KLSE) methods for exact BER evaluation in intensity- and phase-modulated direct-detection optically amplified systems. We compare their complexity and computational efficiency, and discuss the most relevant implementation issues. We show that the method based on a Fourier series expansion has the simplest implementation and requires the minimum number of eigenvalues to converge to the exact BER value for various kind of optical filters. For this method, we also introduce an equivalent form of the moment generating function, that avoids the singularity for eigenvalues equal to zero, and derive an alternative expansion where signal and noise are expanded on the same orthonormal basis.