In the context of exoplanet direct detection and characterization, where high-contrast imaging is mandatory, we present fully optimized two-dimensional pupil apodizations for which no specific geometric constraints are put on the pupil plane apodization, apart from the shape of the aperture itself. Masks for circular and segmented apertures are displayed, with and without a central obstruction and spiders. We can now optimize apodizers for any aperture shape, and examples of optimal masks are shown for the Subaru telescope, the Space Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Several high-contrast regions are considered with different sizes, positions, shapes and contrasts. It is interesting to note that all the masks that result from these optimizations tend to have a binary transmission profile.


Tuscan black glosses on ancient pottery have been characterized using high resolution techniques. Ancient (4 th -1 st century B.C.) pottery from southern and northern Tuscany is coated with black glosses which show different visual appearance. Misfired red-black, matt, shining, metallic, and bluish black glosses have been studied with X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopes to establish their mineralogical, textural and chemical characteristics. The glosses are chemically homogeneous and they are all comprised of a Si-Al rich, amorphous matrix where nanometer-sized crystals of different nature are embedded. Crystals occur both as euhedral grains and as grains with a high aspect ratio. The misfired gloss contains hematite as the only mineral phase, both in the red and black portion of the coating. The matt black gloss contains mainly homogeneous hercynite crystals. In a small portion of the gloss, few magnetite crystals have been detected. However, no gradual variations either along or perpendicular to the gloss layer have been observed. Magnetite is the only mineral phase occurring in the shining metallic black gloss. The bluish-black gloss shows spinel grains with variable characteristics. Most grains are comprised of homogeneous hercynite with magnetite in solid solution. Other crystals are zoned: the core has hercynitic composition with relatively high content in magnetite, ulvospinel, and spinel s.s. in solid solution; Al and Mg increases towards the rim. These results clearly indicate that microanalytical techniques provide accurate mineralogical and microtextural characterizations at the nanometer scale. It has been shown that visually different glosses have different mineralogy which are mainly caused by different oxygen fugacities (f O2 ) during firing.


(Book). Already known as the bible of tubes and tube amps, The Tube Amp Book is now even better! This deluxe revised edition contains 40% new material, with a comprehensive A-Z section covering all the great tube amp manufacturers, with histories, photos and information. Brands include Ampeg, Dr. Z, Fender, Gibson, Hiwatt, Marshall, Matchless, Mesa/Boogie, Orange, Vox, Watkins and many others. Features a CD-ROM with 800 available schematic and layout diagrams, from Ampeg to Western Electric, plus dramatically improved design and page layout. The book's technical tips, in-depth electronic specs and explanations, over 350 schematic diagrams, and full-color plates make it a must-have for the legions of tube-tone fanatics. Hardcover with convenient enclosed spiral binding.


Gully erosion is one of the most severe environmental problems in large areas of Iran. Land degradation and accelerated desertification are the consequence in susceptible areas. Gully erosion normally takes place when surface runoff is concentrated and thus, detach and transfer soil particles down the slopes into the drainage network. In traditional soil erosion studies these processes often have been neglected. In this study we investigate the spatial distribution of gully erosion processes with a quantitative method since in many national assessment approaches just qualitative models were applied. For this study we utilized a detailed terrain analysis and a stochastic modeling approach using mechanical statistics. Moreover we predict the potential spatial distribution of gullies in the Mazayejan plain of Fars province in southwestern Iran where gully erosion is the main environmental threat. Our methodological approach consists in the following steps: i) mapping of gully erosion phenomena in a test area based on Google Earth images; ii) development of a digital elevation model (DEM) with 10 meter resolution, iii) detailed terrain analysis deriving more than 20 terrain indices, iv) application of the Maxent model for the test area using the gully erosion forms as dependent variable and topographic indices as predictor variable and finally v) prediction of the spatial distribution of gully erosion potential for the entire study area. Model performance was evaluated by the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC). The results obtained show that the Maxent model perform very well and thus, it is suitable for the prediction of the gully erosion potential in the area. Among the terrain indices utilized in the prediction the most important ones are: convergence index, plan curvature, and slope. The proposed methodology allows conducting a proper gully erosion assessment in order to identify the priority areas for soil conservation and land use management.


This is a new volume of the works of the Gawain poet, destined to become the definitive edition for students and scholars. This volume brings together four works of the unknown fourteenth-century poet famous for the Arthurian romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in their original Middle English. In one of the great tales of medieval literature, Gawain, the noblest knight of King Arthur's court, must keep a deadly bargain with a monstrous knight and resist the advances of his host's beautiful wife. The dream vision of Pearl depicts a bereaved father whose lost child leads him to glimpse heaven. And in moral poems based on stories from the Bible, Cleanness warns against sins of the flesh and of desecration, while Patience encourages readers to endure suffering as God's will. Little is known about the so-called 'Gawain poet', who wrote during the late fourteenth century. It is believed that he came from south-east Cheshire, an important cultural and economic centre at the time, and he was clearly well-read in Latin, French and English. Although he is not named as the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Patience, Cleanness, the four works have been attributed to him based on a careful comparison of their language, date and themes. Myra Stokes was formerly Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at Bristol University. Her books include Justice and Mercy in Piers Plowman and The Language of Jane Austen. Ad Putter teaches at the English Department and the Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Bristol, where is Professor of Medieval English Literature. His monographs include Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and French Arthurian Romance and An Introduction to the Gawain Poet, and he is also co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend.


To combat the issues of food shortage due to increasing human population, camels can serve as the best useful addition to the nutrient supply chain in terms of milk, meat and other production.  With a camel population of 1.2 million heads, Pakistan offers a big market for both a live-export trade and a milk and meat industry based on feral camels. The main objective of this article is to review the role of camels in pastoral mode of life related to them. It also aims at identifying the possible role of rcGH as a therapeutic agent in increasing camel productivity and its value chain addition in the marketing of camel as a whole in Pakistan. Administration of recombinant ontogeny endocrine (rCGH) in animals is a useful approach to manipulate endocrine system and metabolic pathways towards faster growth rate, muscle deposition, milk yield and better feed efficiency.


Abstract The effect of high temperature (700-1200°C) implantation of deuterium and helium in candidate fusion first wall materials was studied in the University of Wisconsin Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) device. Tungsten coated TaC and HfC ''foam'', single crystal tungsten, and high-emissivity tungsten coated ''foam'' were compared to previous tungsten powder metallurgy samples studied in the IEC device for the High Average Power Laser (HAPL) program. Scanning electron microscopy was performed to evaluate changes in surface morphology for various ion fluences at temperatures comparable to first wall temperatures. Single crystal tungsten was shown to exhibit less damage than polycrystalline samples at a fluence of 4×1016 He+/cm2. It was found that no significant deformations occur with deuterium implantation up to ~1018 D+/cm2 at 800°C on W-coated TaC and HfC foam samples. However, helium fluences in excess of 6×1017 He+/cm2 show extensive pore formation at 800°C and higher. These changes may have an impact on the lifetime of tungsten coatings on the first walls of inertial and magnetic confinement fusion reactors.


Tajikistan, with 93% of its surface area taken up by mountains and 65% of its labor force employed in agriculture, is judged to be highly vulnerable to risks, including climate change risks and food insecurity risks. The article examines a set of land use policies and practices that can be used to mitigate the vulnerability of Tajikistan's large rural population, primarily by increasing family incomes. Empirical evidence from Tajikistan and other CIS countries suggests that families with more land and higher commercialization earn higher incomes and achieve higher well-being. The recommended policy measures that are likely to increase rural family incomes accordingly advocate expansion of smallholder farms, improvement of livestock productivity, increase of farm commercialization through improvement of farm services, and greater diversification of both income sources and the product mix. The analysis relies for supporting evidence on official statistics and recent farm surveys. Examples from local initiatives promoting sustainable land management practices and demonstrating the implementation of the proposed policy measures are presented


A paper presented at the international conference of the African Sport Management Association held on 2nd - 4th December 2011 at Sports View Hotel, Kampala, Uganda


In this paper, the authors evaluate the flexibility and richness of two well-established text analysis plagiarism tools, through a consideration of the use of plagiarism detection software as a mechanism for the automated assessment of student-created narrative in a virtual learning environment (VLE). The authors are currently engaged in a project creating a prototype VLE, using technologies for multilevel and multiplayer games, based on the inherent support such an environment would provide for constructivist learning, engagement, and contextual socialization. Progress between levels in the VLE will be based on the creation, by the student, of a narrative linking together a number of conceptual elements obtained through game-play at that level. Support for the narrative creation process will help the student to contextualize the conceptual elements, providing the necessary linking elements or themes to enable the student to produce a coherent description of their understanding of the concepts. A particular challenge in such environments is the need for fast, real-time feedback to students to maintain the level of engagement and to support the game-play metaphor. Additionally, the student must be able to make as many attempts to progress as they need and it will be their decision when and how often to submit for assessment. Since the student narrative will be in a textual form and can therefore be related to a sample solution narrative, generated by the author of the level within the learning environment, the idea of using plagiarism detection software as the mechanism for automated comparison and assessment was considered appropriate for investigation. While the limitation of such tools would appear to be that they are seeking direct copies of text elements, the authors wanted to investigate whether they offered sufficient richness and fuzziness to detect common conceptually-linked texts. The initial decision was to experiment with text-analytic tools, since they are both widely used and readily available. The tools chosen were TurnItIn, a commercial tool provided to the U.K. higher education community by the U.K. Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), and VALT/VAST, a set of tools created at the Centre for Interactive Systems Engineering at London South Bank University, London, U.K., the workings of which are based on recognized and well-published research. An experiment using a small group of students in a traditional assessment situation was carried out, and is described in detail. The rationale for this approach was that there is not yet a fully working prototype of the VLE in which to carry out such an experiment, but that the conditions necessary to test the hypothesis that plagiarism tools could be utilized for such a purpose could be replicated sufficiently to make such an experiment viable. The results of the experiment demonstrated neither a correlation between the sample solution and student solutions, nor any correlation between the individual student solutions, proving the null hypothesis. This result demonstrates that these tools are not useful for the development of automated assessment within the VLE, and the authors are now giving consideration to the use of lexical analysis/tokenizer and other tools. However, it also suggests that these text-analytic plagiarism tools are too firmly focused on direct copy, which does raise the question of whether or not they offer enough richness and fuzziness to detect a sophisticated plagiarism attempt using, for example, text replacement tools. An ongoing close relationship between research in automated assessment and plagiarism detection is also proposed, to achieve mutual benefit.


Selecting Surrogate Folds for Use in Origami-Based Mechanisms and Products Jason Tyler Allen Department of Mechanical Engineering, BYU Master of Science Origami-based design is increasing in popularity as its benefits and advantages become better understood and explored. However, many opportunities still exist for the application of origami principles to engineered designs, especially in the use of non-paper, thick sheet materials. One specific area utilizing thick sheet materials that is especially promising is origami-based mechanisms that require electrical power transfer applications. Many of these opportunities can be met by the use of surrogate folds. This thesis provides methods and frameworks that can be used by engineers to efficiently select and design surrogate folds for use in origami-based mechanisms and products. Surrogate folds are a means of achieving fold-like behavior, offering a simple method for achieving folding motions in thicker materials. A surrogate fold is a localized reduction in stiffness in a given direction allowing the material to function like a fold. A family of surrogate folds is reviewed, and the respective behaviors of the folds discussed. For a specified fold configuration, the material thickness is varied to yield different sizes of surrogate folds. Constraint assumptions drive the design, and the resultant configurations are compared for bending motions. Finite element and analytical models for the folds are also compared. Prototypes are made from different materials. This work creates a base for creating design guidelines for using surrogate folds in thick sheet materials. As mechanisms with origami-like movement increase in popularity, there is a need for conducting electrical power across folds. Surrogate folds can be used to address this need. Current methods and opportunities for conducting across folds are reviewed. A framework for designing conductive surrogate folds that can be adapted to fit specific applications is presented. Equations for calculating the electrical resistance in single surrogate folds as well as arrays are given. Prototypes of several conductive joints are presented and discussed. The framework is then followed in the design and manufacture of a conductive origami-inspired mechanism.


An Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) data assimilation system was developed for a regional dust transport model. This paper applied the EnKF method to investigate modeling of severe dust storm episodes occurring in March 2002 over China based on surface observations of dust concentrations to explore the impact of the EnKF data assimilation systems on forecast improvement. A series of sensitivity experiments using our system demonstrates the ability of the advanced EnKF assimilation method using surface observed PM 10 in North China to correct initial conditions, which leads to improved forecasts of dust storms. However, large errors in the forecast may arise from model errors (uncertainties in meteorological fields, dust emissions, dry deposition velocity, etc.). This result illustrates that the EnKF requires identification and correction model errors during the assimilation procedure in order to significantly improve forecasts. Results also show that the EnKF should use a large inflation parameter to obtain better model performance and forecast potential. Furthermore, the ensemble perturbations generated at the initial time should include enough ensemble spreads to represent the background error after several assimilation cycles.


Learning distance functions with side information plays a key role in many data mining applications. Conventional distance metric learning approaches often assume that the target distance function is represented in some form of Mahalanobis distance. These approaches usually work well when data are in low dimensionality, but often become computationally expensive or even infeasible when handling high-dimensional data. In this paper, we propose a novel scheme of learning nonlinear distance functions with side information. It aims to learn a Bregman distance function using a nonparametric approach that is similar to Support Vector Machines. We emphasize that the proposed scheme is more general than the conventional approach for distance metric learning, and is able to handle high-dimensional data efficiently. We verify the efficacy of the proposed distance learning method with extensive experiments on semi-supervised clustering. The comparison with state-of-the-art approaches for learning distance functions with side information reveals clear advantages of the proposed technique.


My study centers on the novel Katakiuchi Kidan Jiraiya
Monogatari (1806-1807) by Kanwatei Onitake (1760-1818). Jiraiya
Monogatari was the first literary reading book to be adapted for
the kabuki stage. It was also the prototype on which Mizugaki Egao,
Kawatake Mokuami, Makino Shouzou; and others based their bound
picture books, kabuki, and films. The tale is composed of two
revenge incidents, both of which have the same structural framework
and are didactic in tone. In my study, I analyze the two revenge
incidents by examining their narrative structures. Each incident
has the same three-act structure: setup, confrontation, and
resolution. The setup of each revenge incident introduces the main
characters and their relationships and establishes the dramatic
vehicle, which is an unexpected incident that sets the revenge in
motion. The confrontation contains myriad non-linear inserts, plot
twists, and reversals of fortune, all of which have the effect of a
narrative delay. This prolongation of the outcome of a simple
revenge plot allows readers the necessary space in which they can
form their own judgments regarding good and evil and consider
karmic cause and effect. The resolution, including the climax as
well as the ending of the revenge, demonstrates the didactic notion
of punishing evil and karmic effect. The two revenge incidents
embody two rules, kanzen chouaku and inga, which together highlight
the didacticism of Jiraiya monogatari.


Background and Aim: Studies have shown that probably there are compounds with protective effects on delivery channels and chorionic membranes which prevent the uterus and the embryo from bacterial contamination. The present study aimed to assess anti-bacterial properties of chorionic membranes in comparison with the effects of some common antibiotics. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted using chorionic membranes from 24 healthy pregnant women. After spreading plates by individual microbial suspensions of seven species, amniotic membranes and chorioamniotic membranes fragments were put on the plates. Besides, antibiogram disks-as positive control, and the cord tissue-as negative control were used. After 18-24 h incubation, the halo of growth around the membranes and antibiotic disks were studied. Results: Significant antibacterial effects were found as halo of lack of bacterial growth around amniotic and chorioamniotic membranes while antibacterial resistance was observed for the same strains in several cases. Most anti-bacterial effects were observed in Streptococcus pyogenes , Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus . However, mean of halo of growth inhibition was observed for streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus which was much more around chorioamniotic membranes than the same bacteria around amniotic membranes. Statistical analysis using T-test revealed a significant difference (p ≤ 0.005). Chorioamniotic membranes were significantly more than that found for amniotic membranes against Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus . Conclusion: The present study confirms antibacterial effects of chorionic membranes. Therefore,, the idea of using these membranes as a valuable supplement to antibiotics in order to expedite the treatment of clinical infections and infected wounds is strongly suggestive.


Optimal management strategies for a group of bridges that may incur damage from flooding during a 15-year period were determined using three approaches, and then the strategies were compared. The three approaches are the supply and demand system approach and two approaches used in existing bridge management systems: the supply bridge approach and the supply and demand bridge approach. The comparison investigates the approaches' abilities to determine optimal management strategies when multiple bridges are likely to be affected simultaneously. With probabilistic concepts, the likelihood of inadequate service resulting from the damage was determined. The comparison shows that when bridges may be adversely affected simultaneously, the use of the supply and demand system approach can result in increased savings as compared with both the supply bridge approach and the supply and demand bridge approach.


We design and implement a correspondence study where we sent fictitious resumes with Chinese names and White names in response to both high-skilled and low-skilled job advertisements. Consistent with similar research elsewhere, we find that there is a large gap in getting interview offers when resumes with first and last Chinese names are used compared to resumes with White first and last names. To tease apart whether the gaps can be better explained by statistical or taste-based discrimination, we also sent out resumes of 'Adopters' with a Chinese last name but White first name. The benefit of having an adopter name was economically meaningful, reducing the gap by about the same amount as would occur if the applicant with a Chinese first and last name had instead received an additional year of honours education. To examine the extent and nature of discrimination, we collected two data sets with administrative population statistics. The administrative information shows that Adopter names signal different characteristics, including educational outcomes and parent background which is consistent with statistical discrimination. In addition, the pool of Chinese applicants is a mixture of international and domestic applicants with the domestic pool being higher achievers whereas the international applicants are much lower achievers. This mixture might be disadvantaging the domestic pool and providing an economic motive for becoming an Adopter. We discuss how our results may help formulate policies for parental investments and employers' education to reduce employment and wage gaps observed between minorities and majorities in labour markets.


New U-Pb geochronologic data indicate that the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, California, was assembled over a period of at least 10 m.y. between 95 and 85 Ma, and that the Half Dome Granodiorite intruded over a period approaching 4 m.y. Simple thermal considerations preclude the possibility that a magma chamber the size of the Half Dome pluton could have existed as a liquid at shallow crustal depths for that long. Rather, field evidence for sheeting along the margins of the suite, the range of ages, and the regular decrease of ages toward the center of the suite and within individual plutons suggest incremental assembly. Geochronologic evidence for incremental assembly is consistent with the failure of geophysical methods to detect large magma chambers with more than ∼20% melt, even in active volcanic areas. Because it is unlikely that the individual plutons composing the Tuolumne ever coexisted as liquid-rich magmas, the chemical evolution of the suite cannot be the result of simple fractionation and/or mixing between exposed units, but instead must reflect processes occurring during magma generation.


We focus on the design of distributed Luby transform (DLT) codes for erasure networks with multiple sources and multiple relays, communicating to a single destination. The erasure floor performance of DLT codes improves with the maximum degree of the relay-degree distribution. However, for conventional DLT codes, the maximum degree is upper bounded by the number of sources. An additional constraint is that the sources are required to have the same information block length. We introduce a D-bit buffer for each source-relay link, which allows the relay to select multiple encoded bits from the same source for the relay-encoding process; thus, the number of sources no longer limits the maximum degree at the relay. Furthermore, the introduction of buffers facilitates the use of different information block sizes across sources. Based on density evolution, we develop an asymptotic analytical framework for optimization of the relay-degree distribution. We further integrate techniques for unequal erasure protection into the optimization framework. The proposed codes are considered for both lossless and lossy source-relay links. Numerical examples show that there is no loss in erasure rate performance for transmission over lossy source-relay links, as compared with lossless links. Additional delays, however, may occur. The design framework and our contributions are demonstrated by a number of illustrative examples, showing the improvements obtained by the proposed buffer-based DLT codes.


Your quick-and-easy reference to 802.11 WLAN components and protocolsi? Access wireless Cisco product information, including coverage on wireless client adapters and IP phones Learn the ideal configuration of access points, bridges, antennas, and routers for your specific situation Integrate a Cisco solution with various wireless networking gear Configure and troubleshoot access points and client devices promptly Optimize, secure, and tune your WLAN by following helpful tips and hints Refer to charts and tables that both network beginners and professionals can easily scan Make the right decision about your organization's wireless network with quick leverageWhether you are a network engineer, network administrator, business decision maker, or student, you know that wireless networking capabilities are an increasingly essential part of your purchasing and implementing decisions. You want the most out of your wireless gear, but memorizing every product and protocol is daunting when faced with a myriad of solutions and options. Now, you can turn to Cisco 802.11 Wireless Networking Quick Reference, a time-saving tool for the office, field, or classroom lab, when you need a memory-refresher or a quick-tip guide on maximizing your wireless network.If you work on a wireless network using Cisco® technologies, keep this book within reach. Compact and convenient, this concise reference can be browsed occasionally or consulted regularly for a glance at a technical specification or that elusive command argument. Divided into three easy-to-follow sections, Part I describes and provides ways for Cisco wireless LAN (WLAN) equipment offerings to be integrated into an existing network. Part II covers how to configure access points and clients and how to set up and manage a secure wireless network. Lastly, Part III shows you how to maintain a wireless network and troubleshoot common wireless issues. Meant to be used in a hands-on capacity, this transportable guide is a practical tool when performing a variety of tasks on your wireless network.This book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press®, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.


Zika virus infection is a new problem that is being seen worldwide [ 1-3 ]. This disease can be seen in travelers returning from visits to tropical countries. In Thailand, a tropical country in Southeast Asia, the disease has already been reported in some local Thai patients as well as among foreign travelers returning from Thailand [ 4 ]. There are at least 2 confirmed cases of Zika virus infection in travelers returning from Thailand [ 5 , 6 ]. This number is comparable to the 7 confirmed cases of infection in local Thais [ 4 ]. The two cases are Western travelers who visited sea resort areas in Thailand and fell ill during their flight back. Their infection was confirmed as an imported case of Zika virus in their hometowns in Europe and Canada [ 5 , 6 ]. However, there is no confirmed case of Zika virus infection in any local Thai people living in the visited sea resort areas. This situation can confirm the importance of travel medicine. Travelers to any locations should be aware of the risks of infection despite the lack of reports or documented risk notification on that travel destination. It is recommended that any travelers be informed of the situation at the port of entry by the local public health agency and be warned of the risks of Zika virus infection in each specific area.


An essential part of the well dressed woman is her handbag. Here over 300 exquisite color photographs of handbags from the world's top fashion designers are brought together to vie for the attention of collectors, designers, and fashion gurus. See details of construction, designer logos, impeccable stitching, luxurious leathers and fabricated materials as components of high quality and high value luxury handbags in today's marketplace. Louis Vuitton, Judith Lieber, Fendi, Gucci, Chanel, Hermes, Roberta Di Camerino, Farragamo, Celine, Bottega Veneta, and more are all represented by many examples. Many designs are classics today, having survived competitive runway battles for a generation. Other designs are original, fresh, and challenging the classics for shelf space in boutiques and closets around the world. Read about some of the designers and savor the special handbags they carefully created. The designs are fun, elegant, and inspiring.


OBJECTIVE Diabetes is common in cystic fibrosis and increases the risk of death, yet the role of hyperglycemia remains unproven. An association between glycemia and mortality would provide compelling evidence to support glucose lowering in cystic fibrosis–related diabetes (CFRD). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Using the U.K. Cystic Fibrosis Registry, we analyzed longitudinal data from 2006 to 2009 in 520 individuals with diabetes. We tested the association between HbA1c and mortality. RESULTS During a median follow-up of 2 years, 36 patients died. The median value of HbA1c was higher in those who died (7.3%) than in those who did not (6.7%). An HbA1c value of ≥6.5% was associated with a threefold increased risk of death (hazard ratio 3.2 [95% CI 1.4–7.3]; P = 0.005) independent of potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS Hyperglycemia trebles the risk of death in patients with CFRD. These findings provide epidemiologic support for continued efforts to improve glycemic control.


The MiniFluo-UV is a new glider-compatible optical sensor for measurements of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in natural waters. The working principle, sensor design and challenges faced during the validation phase are reported. The first in situ application of the sensor during three glider deployments in the NW Mediterranean sea (spring, summer, and fall) are also presented. For these campaigns, the two channels of the sensor were adjusted to target Tryptophan-like (excitation/emission wavelengths λEx/λEm: 275/340 nm) and Phenanthrene-like (λEx/λEm: 255/360 nm) fluorescence. These were chosen because they represent fluorophores of interest commonly found in seawater. While Tryptophan (an amino-acid believed to be a by-product of biological activity) is naturally found in the ocean, Phenanthrene (a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) is mainly introduced in the environment by human activities. The addition of these variables to more common physical and biogeochemical glider measurements reveals new features of DOM dynamics in the Mediterranean Sea. For example, the temporal and spatial decoupling between Tryptophan-like and Chl-a fluorescence suggests that the former is not only a marker of phytoplankton activity, but could also give more subtle information on the microbial processes occurring. The identification of a Phenanthrene-like layer just below the pycnocline at all seasons also raises questions on the mechanisms driving its presence in the Mediterranean. Knowing that the role of ocean DOM on atmospheric carbon sequestration is becoming clearer, the high spatio-temporal resolution possible with this new sampling strategy may represents a key step toward our deep understanding of DOM dynamics and its role on the biological pump.


ABSTRACT T-cell responses directed against the circumsporozoite protein (CS) of Plasmodium falciparum can mediate protection against malaria. We determined the frequency of T cells reactive to different regions of the CS in the blood of donors naturally exposed to P. falciparum by examining T1 (gamma interferon [IFN-γ] ELISPOT assay), T2 (interleukin 4 [IL-4] ELISPOT assay), and proliferative T-cell responses. The proliferative responses were weak, which confirmed previous observations. The responses to the CS in the IL-4 and IFN-γ ELISPOT assays were also weak (<40 responding cells per 106 cells), much weaker than the response to the purified protein derivative of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the same donors. Moreover, a response in one assay could not be used to predict a response in either of the other assays, suggesting that although these assays may measure different responding cells, all of the responses are weakly induced by natural exposure. Interestingly, the two different study populations used had significantly different T1 and T2 biases in their responses in the C terminus of the protein, suggesting that the extent of P. falciparum exposure can affect regulation of the immune system.


We report on an integrated photonic transmitter of up to 100 MHz repetition rate, which emits pulses centered at 850 nm with arbitrary amplitude and polarization. The source is suitable for free space quantum key distribution applications. The whole transmitter, with the optical and electronic components integrated, has reduced size and power consumption. In addition, the optoelectronic components forming the transmitter can be space-qualified, making it suitable for satellite and future space missions.


Our understanding of the input-output function of single cells has been substantially advanced by biophysically accurate multi-compartmental models. The large number of parameters needing hand tuning in these models has, however, somewhat hampered their applicability and interpretability. Here we propose a simple and well-founded method for automatic estimation of many of these key parameters: 1) the spatial distribution of channel densities on the cell's membrane; 2) the spatiotemporal pattern of synaptic input; 3) the channels' reversal potentials; 4) the intercompartmental conductances; and 5) the noise level in each compartment. We assume experimental access to: a) the spatiotemporal voltage signal in the dendrite (or some contiguous subpart thereof, e.g. via voltage sensitive imaging techniques), b) an approximate kinetic description of the channels and synapses present in each compartment, and c) the morphology of the part of the neuron under investigation. The key observation is that, given data a)-c), all of the parameters 1)-4) may be simultaneously inferred by a version of constrained linear regression; this regression, in turn, is efficiently solved using standard algorithms, without any "local minima" problems despite the large number of parameters and complex dynamics. The noise level 5) may also be estimated by standard techniques. We demonstrate the method's accuracy on several model datasets, and describe techniques for quantifying the uncertainty in our estimates.


Since the appearance of the first edition of 'Energy Simulation in Building Design', the use of computer-based appraisal tools to solve energy design problems within buildings has grown rapidly. A leading figure in this field, Professor Joseph Clarke has updated his book throughout to reflect these latest developments. The book now includes material on combined thermal/lighting and CFD simulation, advanced glazings, indoor air quality and photovoltaic components. This thorough revision means that the book remains the key text on simulation for architects, building engineering consultants and students of building engineering and environmental design of buildings. The book's purpose is to help architects, mechanical & environmental engineers and energy & facility managers to understand and apply the emerging computer methods for options appraisal at the individual building, estate, city, region and national levels. This is achieved by interspersing theoretical derivations relating to simulation within an evolving description of the built environment as a complex system. The premise is that the effective application of any simulation tool requires a thorough understanding of the domain it addresses.


The Soviets are often viewed as insatiable industrialists who saw nature as a force to be tamed and exploited. "Song of the Forest" counters this assumption, uncovering significant evidence of Soviet conservation efforts in forestry, particularly under Josef Stalin. In his compelling study, Stephen Brain profiles the leading Soviet-era conservationists, agencies, and administrators, and their efforts to formulate forest policy despite powerful ideological differences. By the time of the revolution of 1905, modern Russian forestry science had developed an influential romantic strand, especially prevalent in the work of Georgii Morozov, whose theory of stand types asked forest managers to consider native species and local conditions when devising plans for regenerating forests. After their rise to power, the Bolsheviks turned their backs on this tradition and adopted German methods, then considered the most advanced in the world, for clear-cutting and replanting of marketable tree types in artificial forests. Later, when Stalin s Five Year Plan required vast amounts of timber for industrialization, forest radicals proposed flying management, an exaggerated version of German forestry where large tracts of virgin forest would be clear-cut. Opponents who still upheld Morozov s vision favored a conservative regenerating approach, and ultimately triumphed by establishing the world s largest forest preserve. Another radical turn came with the Great Stalin Plan for the Transformation of Nature, implemented in 1948. Narrow belts of new forest planted on the vast Russian steppe would block drying winds, provide cool temperatures, trap moisture, and increase crop production. Unfortunately, planters were ordered to follow the misguided methods of the notorious Trofim Lysenko, and the resulting yields were abysmal. But despite Lysenko, agency infighting, and an indifferent peasant workforce, Stalin s forestry bureaus eventually succeeded in winning many environmental concessions from industrial interests. In addition, the visionary teachings of Morozov found new life, ensuring that the forest s song did not fall upon deaf ears."


Technology to support system comprehension tends to reflect either a "bottom-up" or "top-down" approach. Bottom-up approaches attempt to derive system models from source code, while top-down approaches attempt to map abstract "domain" concepts to concrete system artifacts. While both approaches have merit in theory, in practice the top-down approach has not yielded scalable, cost-effective technology. One problem with the top-down approach is that it is very expensive to develop domain models, and it is difficult to develop models that are sufficiently general to be applied to multiple systems (and hence amortize the development cost). This paper describes the Gadfly, an approach for developing narrowly-focused, reusable domain models that can be integrated and (re)used to aid in the process of top-down system comprehension.


OBJECTIVE
To provide a tool for public health planners to estimate the potential improvement in dental caries in children that might be expected in a region if its water supply were to be fluoridated.

BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN
Recent BASCD (British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry) dental epidemiological data for caries in 5- and 11-year-old children in English primary care trusts in fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas were analysed to estimate absolute and relative improvement in dmft/DMFT and caries-free measures observed in England. Where data were sufficient for testing significance this analysis included the effect of different levels of deprivation.

RESULTS
A table of observed improvements was produced, together with an example of how that table can be used as a tool for estimating the expected improvement in caries in any specific region of England. Observed absolute improvements and 95% confidence intervals were: for 5-year-olds reduction in mean dmft 0.56 (0.38, 0.74) for IMD 12, 0.73 (0.60, 0.85) for IMD 20, and 0.94 (0.76, 1.12) for IMD 30, with 12% (9%, 14%) more children free of caries; for 11-year-olds reduction in mean DMFT 0.12 (0.04, 0.20) for IMD 12, 0.19 (0.13, 0.26) for IMD 20, 0.29 (0.18, 0.40) and for IMD 30, with 8% (5%, 11%) more children free from caries.

CONCLUSIONS
The BASCD data taken together with a deprivation measure are capable of yielding an age-specific, 'intention to treat' model of water fluoridation that can be used to estimate the potential effect on caries levels of a notional new fluoridation scheme in an English region.


Speaker recognition systems achieve acceptable performance in controlled laboratory conditions. However, in real-life environments, the performance of a speaker recognition system degrades drastically, the principal cause being the mismatch that exists between the testing and the training recording conditions. Indeed, the degradations introduced by the background noise as well as the distortions produced by the transmission channel are the two main factors for creating this mismatch between testing and training recordings. In spite of the major advances in the speaker recognition field, no optimal solution has been found yet for coping with this problem. This thesis proposes new methods for speaker recognition systems that make use of auxiliary information in order to reduce the influence of background noise and transmission channel distortions. For this purpose, statistical models capable of taking into account several sources of information in a unified framework are provided. While most state-of-the-art speaker recognition systems use spectral envelope features alone, the use of other features can complete the information about the speaker's individuality, but also give information about the conditions under which the testing process takes place. Both informations can help to improve the performance of the speaker recognition system. In this thesis, we focus on three auxiliary sources of information: the pitch, the voicing status and the reliability status of the spectral envelope features. These auxiliary features are used together with the spectral envelope features. The algorithms to efficiently extract the pitch and the voicing status from noisy telephone quality speech are developed. The algorithm for extracting the reliability status of spectral envelope features is also provided. Two new statistical modeling approaches for handling auxiliary sources of informations are proposed: the state-dependent transitions (SDT) model and the state-dependent states (SDS) model. Both models take into account the temporal dependencies between features of a given source of information, and also the dependencies between features that belong to different sources of information. Speaker identification experiments were conducted for evaluating the SDT modeling approach. Experiments were also performed for evaluating the novel pitch-dependent GMMs system, which is based on the SDS modeling approach. The results of all these experiments show that the modeling techniques proposed in this thesis are capable of capturing the key characteristics of the speech features and their dependencies. The concept of conditional independence and the use of conditional models are important in SDT and SDS models. One of the major drawbacks of these models is that the dependencies between features are fixed. To eliminate this drawback, a more flexible approach using Bayesian networks is introduced. Bayesian networks, have the ability to manage the dependencies between features via conditional models and to handle the relationships of conditional independence between features. We show in this thesis how Bayesian networks can complete and substitute SDS and SDT models. Two Bayesian network based systems are presented for handling auxiliary information in speaker recognition. The first one uses the pitch, the voicing status and the spectral envelope features, the second completes the first one by adding the reliability status to the set of features. Both proposed systems were compared to a GMM-UBM (Gaussian mixture model - universal background model) baseline system. Experiments were performed for evaluating the proposed approaches in noisy conditions as well as when using different transmission channels for testing and training the speaker models. The results obtained show that the Bayesian network based systems using auxiliary information outperform the classical GMM-UBM system which uses only spectral envelope features. The Bayesian network based systems proposed in this thesis, effectively reduce the influence of noise and transmission channel mismatch.


This paper presents an investigation report of effect of various parameters which affect the performance of an automobile engine. Almost all internal combustion engines have at least one connecting rod to transmit the thrust of the piston to the crankshaft, and as the result the reciprocating motion of the piston is translated into rotational motion of the crankshaft. From the viewpoint of functionality, connecting rods must have the highest possible rigidity at the lowest weight capable to withstand varying loads. It has been found that structural failure of various components results in engine missing and starts producing noise and vibration during racing, mileage gets affected and black or white smoke arise also pickup gets reduced. In automobile industry damaged or broken parts are generally too expensive to replace or repair especially in case of engine. In this concern we presented detailed analysis of causes along with preventive maintenance suggestion schedule for better engine life.


Summary ObjectiveTo provide an overview of Web 2.0 and Health 2.0, and so facilitate a widespread discussion of the nature of these concepts and their possible application within the health domain, and implications for health and biomedical informatics and for IMIA. MethodsIMIA, the International Medical Informatics Association, has established a Web 2.0 Exploratory Taskforce to bring together interested individuals from within and outside IMIA to explore the nature and potential of Web 2.0 applications. The Taskforce aims to develop background materials and sample uses of Web 2.0 applications, so as to propose specific lines of action for the IMIA Board and General Assembly. This paper provides a brief overview of Web 2.0 and related concepts, and examples of general and health-specific Web 2.0 applications. Some examples of the issues, challenges and opportunities are introduced, to set the scene for a wider dialogue on if, how, and how best, IMIA, and the wider health and informatics communities, should use these new applications and approaches. Results and conclusionsThis brief paper provides an introduction to, and overview of, the many issues involved in considering the application of Web 2.0 to health and informatics. All interested individuals and organisations are invited to use this as a starting point for engaging in wider discussion and contributing to the Taskforce and to IMIA's future.


Axial signs and cognitive disorders are the major source of disability in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN), a structure involved in locomotion and posture control, has showed to improve freezing and falls in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).1 In this pilot trial, we investigated the effectiveness and safety of unilateral PPN DBS on gait and balance in patients with Richardson's syndrome (RS) phenotype of PSP.

Between April 2006 and December 2010, eight patients with RS-PSP were enrolled at the Movement Disorders Center of the Toronto Western Hospital. The study was approved by the University Health Network, and the Toronto Rehab Research Ethics Boards. All patients gave their written consent to the study.

Both the surgical procedure and the PPN DBS programming were similar to those already used in patients with PD.2 Patients were assessed at baseline, and at 6 and 12 months after surgery, when they were randomly assigned to be evaluated both in the OFF and in the ON stimulation condition, after being 1 week in each stimulation condition. Patients and raters were blinded to the stimulation conditions. All assessments were videotaped, and adverse events were recorded. Main outcome was the difference between the ON and OFF stimulation conditions at 6 and 12-month follow-up in gait, postural stability and fall subitems of the PSP Rating Scale (PSPRS). Secondary outcomes were differences in the total scores of the motor Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and PSPRS; the PSP Staging System (PSPSS) score; rigidity, bradykinesia, arising from a chair and posture UPDRS items; history, mental, bulbar examination, supranuclear ocular motor examination, limb examination and gait/midline examination subscores of the PSPRS; withdrawal, sleep difficulty, disorientation, bradyphrenia and emotional incontinence items of the PSPRS. …


Primate inferotemporal cortex is divided up into domains specialized for processing specific object categories, such as faces, text, places, and body parts. These domains are in stereotyped locations in most humans and monkeys. What are the contributions of visual experience and innate programs in generating this organization? The reproducible location of different category-selective domains in humans and macaques suggests that some aspects of IT category organization must be innate. However, the existence of a visual word form area, the effects of expertise and our recent finding that novel specializations appear in IT as a consequence of intensive early training indicate that experience must also be important in the formation or refinement of category-selective domains in IT. To ask what determines the locations of such domains, we intensively trained juvenile monkeys to recognize three distinct sets of shapes: alphanumeric symbols, rectilinear shapes and cartoon faces. After training, the monkeys developed regions that were selectively responsive to each trained set. The location of each specialization was similar across monkeys, despite differences in training order. The fact that these domains consistently mapped to characteristic locations suggests that a pre-existing shape organization determines where experience will exert its effects.


To determine the mechanisms by which human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) crosses the placenta into the fetal blood, 12 matched samples of serial maternal blood, term placentas, and infant blood obtained from a cohort of pregnant women in Cameroon identified as predominantly infected by subtype A viruses were studied. HIV-1 env sequences were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in both chorionic villi and enriched trophoblastic cells of all 12 placentas but at variable rates of detection. Heteroduplex mobility assay analysis showed the presence of multiple HIV-1 env quasispecies in sequential maternal peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples, but only a small number of env variants were found in chorionic villi and enriched trophoblastic cells. These data indicate that HIV-1 env sequences are always present in term placentas of seropositive women, contrasting with the low frequency at which infection is diagnosed by PCR in neonates with tat, gag, and env primers. Maternal HIV-1 variants appear to undergo a strong negative selection by different cell populations within the placental villi.


The essential findings of this study are that, from a known radium source, radon variability in the environment of the buildings studied is an inevitable consequence of the variability of the prevailing surface boundary layer atmospheric conditions. These influences will be modified by the structural characteristics of the building and will vary directly, relative to the mechanically created variation of the atmospheric conditions inside the building.
From the findings, a general hypothesis is postulated. It is probable, that the diurnal variation of radon results from the diurnal variation in ambient water vapour pressure. And that the seasonal variation in radon, arises from the changes in the range of this diurnal variation during the course of a year brought about by changing levels of temperature and barometric pressure. This will be varied to the extent, that wind pressure affects directly both the radon path from source to the building and the level of water vapour pressure. Where mechanically induced air-movement in the building creates overriding pressure and air exchange, then this is likely to determine the pattern of variability; and as a result can be used under some circumstances as a mitigation agent; with levels of concentration anticipated in a predictable way.
The current practice of reliance on average radon values derived from time-average radon values of a living room and a bedroom, as being representative of the alpha particle dose delivered to an individual, may well significantly overstate the dose actually delivered to that individual at a particular radon level measured. This would follow potentially from a preponderance of radon transported overnight requiring a lower weighting factor for the amount delivered to above-ground-floor sleepers, and the much reduced level of intake to the respiratory system from reduced breathing rate during the sleep mode. Potentially also, from the mechanism postulated which implies the limitation of the impact of alpha particles, related to an association between water vapour pressure, radon and particulates in the atmosphere. Linkage between elevated radon levels and surface geological was identified; but no positive connection was apparent linking respiratory system cancers relative to radon/geology


A check of databases such as the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Index and the Academic Index uncovers thousands of recent studies related to professors, their students, and the programs and departments in which educators work. The relatively few studies that focus on journalism and mass communication educators generally chronicle job responsibilities and attitudes about the profession.An examination of media trade publications also reveals articles about journalism education, but neither these articles nor any scholarly studies have focused on the evolution of journalism and mass communication teaching as experienced by seasoned faculty members during a period of profound changes in academe.This study examines how these faculty members have coped with changes over time. Senior professors, defined as any college or university teachers (regardless of rank) who have taught full time for at least 10 of the past 15 years, have had more exposure to such change than have less experienced faculty members because of this, they were asked to assess its effects on their lives.Literature reviewLeatherman (1992) suggested that the over-arching change in higher education within the last decade may well have been recession-inspired cutbacks in funding. He noted that this has caused generalized problems such as difficulty in maintaining quality in academic programs, inability to retain the most qualified scholars, and inability to hire replacements for professors who retire, thereby shifting the work load to remaining faculty. He also identified a reduction in institutional support for trips to professional conventions and for memberships in professional organizations, despite the relationships between professional activity and universities' tenure and promotion decisions. Additionally, he said recession has forced some faculty to drop all professional memberships, causing them to forego professional development and service activities related to job security and advancement.Despite funding cutbacks and their effects on professional activity, Leigh & Anderson(1992) concluded that traditional research was still highly valued by administrators making tenure and promotion decisions, Their research, however, also showed that many institutions balanced research requirements with good teaching and creative activities.Faculty also find themselves inundated by scholarly journals and other publications related to their rapidly changing fields. This is happening at a time when budget cutbacks have caused libraries to cancel subscriptions to serial publications, which has limited access to such publications (Watkins, 1992). This is potentially damaging to journalism educators, whom Weaver & Wilhoit (1988) found to have diverse reading interests.An additional change is an increasing emphasis on computers and computer literacy in the university (Adams, 1987; Davenport, 1990). DeLoughry (1992) reported that more faculty members own computers than ever before, and that their educational institutions continue to recommend that both software and hardware be updated.Like professors in other disciplines, in the past 20 years journalism and mass communication faculty also have incorporated computer-aided instruction into their classrooms, and some computer programs have been used to make grading more efficient. Smith (1993) found that faculty could reduce grading workloads, if they would use computers for certain kinds of assignments. Other studies have encouraged professors to develop new software or have identified useful computer conference services or databases (Parker, 1991; Smith, 1991).Another problem professors face is overcoming poor preparation and poor scholarship in some of the students they teach, and their challenge isn't limited to the worst students. A 1992 newspaper headline read, "Even the top students lag, colleges say," while the accompanying article, syndicated by The Boston GIobe, noted that the level of student work had fallen significantly in the last 15 years and that current students "are not as rigorously trained, particularly in the communicative skills--the ability to write [and] the ability to speak" (Ribadeneira, 1992, p. …


Background Studying where people die across countries can serve as an evidence base for health policy on end-of-life care. This study describes the place of death of people who died from diseases indicative of palliative care need in 14 countries, the association of place of death with cause of death, sociodemographic and healthcare availability characteristics in each country and the extent to which these characteristics explain country differences in the place of death. Methods Death certificate data for all deaths in 2008 (age ≥1 year) in Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, England, France, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain (Andalusia), the USA and Wales caused by cancer, heart/renal/liver failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diseases of the nervous system or HIV/AIDS were linked with national or regional healthcare statistics (N=2 220 997). Results 13% (Canada) to 53% (Mexico) of people died at home and 25% (the Netherlands) to 85% (South Korea) died in hospital. The strength and direction of associations between home death and cause of death, sociodemographic and healthcare availability factors differed between countries. Differences between countries in home versus hospital death were only partly explained by differences in these factors. Conclusions The large differences between countries in and beyond Europe in the place of death of people in potential need of palliative care are not entirely attributable to sociodemographic characteristics, cause of death or availability of healthcare resources, which suggests that countries' palliative and end-of-life care policies may influence where people die.


All administrative processes contain points of entry for politics, and the U.S. president's use of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review government regulations is no exception. Specifically, OMB review can open up a pathway for interest groups to lobby for policy change. We theorize that interest group lobbying can be influential during OMB review, especially when there is consensus across groups. We use a selection model to test our argument with more than 1,500 regulations written by federal agencies that were subjected to OMB review. We find that lobbying is associated with change during OMB review. We also demonstrate that, when only business groups lobby, we are more likely to see rule change; however, the same is not true for public interest groups. We supplement these results with illustrative examples suggesting that interest groups can, at times, use OMB review to influence the content of legally binding government regulations.


We present an ensemble method for concept drift that dynamically creates and removes weighted experts in response to changes in performance. The method, dynamic weighted majority (*DWM*), uses four mechanisms to cope with concept drift: It trains online learners of the ensemble, it weights those learners based on their performance, it removes them, also based on their performance, and it adds new experts based on the global performance of the ensemble. After an extensive evaluation---consisting of five experiments, eight learners, and thirty data sets that varied in type of target concept, size, presence of noise, and the like---we concluded that *DWM* outperformed other learners that only incrementally learn concept descriptions, that maintain and use previously encountered examples, and that employ an unweighted, fixed-size ensemble of experts.


Planets orbiting post-common envelope binaries provide fundamental information on planet formation and evolution, especially for the yet nearly unexplored class of circumbinary planets. We searched for such planets in DP Leo, an eclipsing short-period binary, which shows long-term eclipse-time variations. Using published, reanalysed, and new mid-eclipse times of the white dwarf in DP Leo, obtained between 1979 and 2010, we find agreement with the light-travel-time effect produced by a third body in an elliptical orbit. In particular, the measured binary period in 2009/2010 and the implied radial velocity coincide with the values predicted for the motion of the binary and the third body around the common center of mass. The orbital period, semi-major axis, and eccentricity of the third body are Pc = 28.0 ± 2. 0y rs,ac = 8.2 ± 0. 4A U, andec = 0.39 ± 0. 13. Its mass of sini c Mc = 6.1 ± 0.5 MJup qualifies it as a giant planet. It formed either as a first generation object in a protoplanetary disk around the original binary or as a second generation object in a disk formed in the common envelope shed by the progenitor of the white dwarf. Even a third generation origin in matter lost from the present accreting binary can not be entirely excluded. We searched for, but found no evidence for a fourth body.


Abstract. Prediction of heavy rains associated with orography is still a challenge, even for the most advanced state-of-art high-resolution Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) modeling systems. The aim of this study is to evaluate the performance of UK Met Office Unified Model (UM) in predicting heavy and very heavy rainfall exceeding 80th and 90th percentiles which occurs mainly due to the forced ascent of air parcels over the mountainous regions of the Western Ghats (WGs) and North East (NE) – states of India during the monsoon seasons of 2007 to 2018. Apart from the major upgrades in the dynamical core of UM from New Dynamics (ND) to Even Newer Dynamics for General Atmospheric Modeling of the environment (ENDGame), the horizontal resolution of the model has been increased from 40 km and 50 vertical levels in 2007 to 10 km and 70 vertical levels in 2018. In general, it is expected that the prediction of heavy rainfall events improves with increased horizontal resolution of the model. The evaluation based on verification metrics, including Probability of Detection (POD), False Alarm Ratio (FAR), Frequency Bias (Bias) and Critical Success Index (CSI), indicate that model rainfall forecasts from 2007 to 2018 have improved from 0.29 to 0.38 (CSI), 0.45 to 0.55 (POD) and 0.55 to 0.45 in the case of FAR over WGs for rainfall exceeding the 80th percentile (CAT-1) in the Day-1 forecast. Additionally, the Symmetric Extremal Dependence Index (SEDI) is also used with special emphasis on verification of extreme and rare events. SEDI also shows an improvement from 0.47 to 0.62 and 0.16 to 0.41 over WGs and NE-states during the period of study, suggesting an improved skill of predicting heavy rains over the mountains. It has also been found that the improvement is consistent and comparatively higher over WGs than NE-states.


Abstract:This paper considers a case study of Survival International's campaign in support of the Dongria Kondh adivasi community of Odisha, India, and that community's ultimately successful struggle to prevent mining company Vedanta from acquiring their sacred mountain, Niyamgiri. I argue this case presents an ethical conundrum for those of us interested in decolonizing solidarity: politically effective work rewards relationships and representations that shore up the making of radical Otherness, its valorization, and desires to know and help the radical Other. Rather than simply condemn or applaud Survival's problematic work, I explore the role of scale and temporalities to better understand the ethical terrain in which they operated.


This time it looks like it9s for real: Researchers have made personalized human embryonic stem cells with a method similar to how Dolly the sheep was cloned—though with an added jolt of caffeine. The success, which produced stem cells carrying DNA belonging to a baby with an inherited disorder, comes after years of work in monkey cells. A group is now reporting a recipe that works for human cells using somatic cell nuclear transfer.


We introduce the Piecewise-Constant Conditional Intensity Model, a model for learning temporal dependencies in event streams. We describe a closed-form Bayesian approach to learning these models, and describe an importance sampling algorithm for forecasting future events using these models, using a proposal distribution based on Poisson superposition. We then use synthetic data, supercomputer event logs, and web search query logs to illustrate that our learning algorithm can efficiently learn nonlinear temporal dependencies, and that our importance sampling algorithm can effectively forecast future events.


In 1957 Ernst Kantorowicz published a book that would be the guide for generations of scholars through the arcane mysteries of medieval political theology. In "The King's Two Bodies," Kantorowicz traces the historical problem posed by the "King's two bodies"--the body politic and the body natural--back to the Middle Ages and demonstrates, by placing the concept in its proper setting of medieval thought and political theory, how the early-modern Western monarchies gradually began to develop a "political theology." The king's natural body has physical attributes, suffers, and dies, naturally, as do all humans; but the king's other body, the spiritual body, transcends the earthly and serves as a symbol of his office as majesty with the divine right to rule. The notion of the two bodies allowed for the continuity of monarchy even when the monarch died, as summed up in the formulation "The king is dead. Long live the king." Bringing together liturgical works, images, and polemical material, "The King's Two Bodies" explores the long Christian past behind this "political theology." It provides a subtle history of how commonwealths developed symbolic means for establishing their sovereignty and, with such means, began to establish early forms of the nation-state. Kantorowicz fled Nazi Germany in 1938, after refusing to sign a Nazi loyalty oath, and settled in the United States. While teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, he once again refused to sign an oath of allegiance, this one designed to identify Communist Party sympathizers. He resigned as a result of the controversy and moved to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he remained for the rest of his life, and where he wrote "The King's Two Bodies."


The general area of management of marine resources is one that has gained worldwide prominence since the beginning of the negotiations on the new Law of the Sea at the United Nations in 19 68. The paper takes the premise that part of the reason for that concern has been to find a framework for general conservation and rational use of marine resources as natural resources. However, the central reason is that individual states want what they consider an access to equitable share of the resources for use by their nationals. Kenyan delegates have been particularly active at the international negotiations. This paper takes the fisheries sector alone, and examines the range of activities in which Kenya nationals and companies are involved. A primary focus is on the amount of fishing done; where, along the coast, the fishing activities are done; and the contribution of that sector to employment especially to the coastal population. The role of relevant government departments in promoting the activities is appraised and the degree of intrusion of foreign long-distance fleets in Kenyan waters is examined.


A Tanner's Worth of Tune is the first book to be written on the post-war British musical, and the first major assessment of the British musical for a quarter of a century, reviving interest in a vast archive of musicals that have been dismissed to the footnotes of theatrical history. This timely reappraisal of the genre and its social background, before the 'international' British musicals began appearing in the 1970s, argues for a radical understanding of the shows and their writers, and a rethinking of our attitude towards them. The musical plays of Ivor Novello and Noel Coward - both pre- and post-war - are discussed in detail, as are the two composers who came to dominate the 1950s, Sandy Wilson and Julian Slade, and the little school of plein air musicals that threaded through that decade. The book brings together 'adopted' British musicals, discusses the rise and fall of the British 'verismo' and the biomusical, whether of Dr Crippen or the Rector of Stiffkey, finally charting the collapse of the British musical's nationalism in the 1960s as witnessed by John Osborne and Lionel Bart. The book draws on Adrian Wright's lifelong passion for British theatre music, its writers, composers, performers and craftsmen. Provocative, idiosyncratic and unfailingly entertaining, A Tanner's Worth of Tune makes a compelling plea for a rediscovery of an era of pleasures which have too long been forgotten. ADRIAN WRIGHT is the author of l>Foreign Country: The Life of L.P. Hartley/l> (1996), l>John Lehmann: A Pagan Adventure/l> (1998), The Innumerable Dance: The Life and Work of William Alwyn (2008) and the novel Maroon (2010). He lives in Norfolk, where he also runs Must Close Saturday Records, a company dedicated to British musical theatre.


Whether it's in Java, .NET, or Ruby on Rails, getting your application ready to ship is only half the battle. Did you design your system to survive a sudden rush of visitors from Digg or Slashdot? Or an influx of real world customers from 100 different countries? Are you ready for a world filled with flakey networks, tangled databases, and impatient users? If you're a developer and don't want to be on call at 3AM for the rest of your life, this book will help. In "Release It!", Michael T. Nygard shows you how to design and architect your application for the harsh realities it will face. You'll learn how to design your application for maximum uptime, performance, and return on investment. Mike explains that many problems with systems today start with the design: "It's disconnected from the real world. It's the same as cars designed solely in the cool comfort of the lab - they look great in models and CAD systems, but don't work well in the real world. You want a car designed by somebody who knows that oil changes are always 3,000 miles late; that the tires must work just as well on the last sixteenth of an inch of tread as on the first; and that you will certainly, at some point, stomp on the brakes while you're holding an Egg McMuffin in one hand and a cell phone in the other." With a combination of case studies and practical advice, Patterns to follow and Anti-Patterns to avoid, "Release It!" will help you manage the pitfalls that cost companies huge amounts of time and money each year.


The jet energy scale (JES) and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector using proton-proton collision data with a centre-of-mass energy of [Formula: see text] TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]. Jets are reconstructed from energy deposits forming topological clusters of calorimeter cells using the anti-[Formula: see text] algorithm with distance parameters [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text], and are calibrated using MC simulations. A residual JES correction is applied to account for differences between data and MC simulations. This correction and its systematic uncertainty are estimated using a combination of in situ techniques exploiting the transverse momentum balance between a jet and a reference object such as a photon or a [Formula: see text] boson, for [Formula: see text] and pseudorapidities [Formula: see text]. The effect of multiple proton-proton interactions is corrected for, and an uncertainty is evaluated using in situ techniques. The smallest JES uncertainty of less than 1 % is found in the central calorimeter region ([Formula: see text]) for jets with [Formula: see text]. For central jets at lower [Formula: see text], the uncertainty is about 3 %. A consistent JES estimate is found using measurements of the calorimeter response of single hadrons in proton-proton collisions and test-beam data, which also provide the estimate for [Formula: see text] TeV. The calibration of forward jets is derived from dijet [Formula: see text] balance measurements. The resulting uncertainty reaches its largest value of 6 % for low-[Formula: see text] jets at [Formula: see text]. Additional JES uncertainties due to specific event topologies, such as close-by jets or selections of event samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks or gluons, are also discussed. The magnitude of these uncertainties depends on the event sample used in a given physics analysis, but typically amounts to 0.5-3 %.


A rational approach to the formation of pure heteropolymetallic lanthanide complexes that uses a two-step assembly strategy and exploits the different size requirements of the two metals included in the final structure is described. The investigation of the assembly of [LnL2](Otf) (L = 2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine-6-carboxylate) complexes into hexametallic rings hosting an additional hexacoordinated lanthanide cation was crucial for the development of this strategy. The formation and size of the cyclic assembly are controlled by the ionic radius and by the coordination number of the lanthanides. The rather high luminescence quantum yield of the heptaeuropium complex (25%) indicates that the ring structure is well adapted to include highly luminescent lanthanide complexes in nanosized architecture. The use of a stepwise synthetic strategy leads to the selective assembly of large heteropolymetallic rings. The addition of a smaller lanthanide ion to the [EuL2](Otf) complex in anhydrous acetonitrile leads selectively to heterometallic species with the Eu ions located on the peripheral sites and the smaller ion occupying only the central site. The high selectivity is the result of the different size requirements of the two metal sites present in the cyclic structure. The heterometallic structure of the isolated [Lu subset (EuL2)6](Otf)9 complex was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and by high resolution solid-state photophysical studies. The described synthetic approach allowed us to obtain the first example of selective assembly of two different lanthanide ions in a large polymetallic structure characterized in solution and in the solid state and will make the isolation of planned dimetallic combinations presenting different lanthanide emitters in the peripheral sites possible.


ABSTRACT Foucault extolled the Iranian revolution and, anticipating the havoc that his public intervention in favour of the revolution would create, he wrote: "I can already hear the French laughing, but I know that they are wrong". Examining Foucault's (so unlikely) valorisation of certainty and the partisan affectivity it bestows upon knowledge and truth, I read his unusual engagement with the Iranian revolution against the grain. A major tendency is to approach Foucault's Iranian writings as aberration; against this tendency, I read them as an effect of Foucault's specific epistemic and utopian optics. Through a critical reading of neglected aspects of Foucault's comments on Iran, I argue that much nuance is missing when damning critiques fail to see why and how Foucault's interest in an active rather than folklore non-European political identity unveils deeper tensions of his own worldview and outlook on international politics and interrogates mainstream appraisals of Foucault's political philosophy.


Myanmar, the largest country in Southeast Asia, has the least developed economy in the region(UNDP 2013) despite having some abundant natural resources and a relatively low populationdensity. The current level of development is illustrated by Myanmar's substantial shortfall in energy supply, with only 33 percent of households connected to grid electricity supply.Recognising that access to electricity is an important pillar in raising livelihoods (particularly in rural areas where 70 percent of Myanmar's poor live) and achieving broad economic development, the Government of Myanmar (GoM) aims to rapidly increase power generation and electrification across the country over the next 10-20 years to provide affordable and reliable energy. Key sector targets include increasing national generation capacity by 500-1,000 MW per year over the next 10 years to reach 16,665 MW of installed capacity, and increasing the electrification rate to 75 percent by 2021/2022, then to 100 percent by 2030, and increasing increase energy exports to increase foreign exchange earnings. In response to the increasing challenges of hydropower planning in Myanmar, and recognising the opportunity to develop a sustainable hydropower sector, GoM, through a partnership between the Ministry of Electricity and Energy (MOEE) and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC), with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Australian Government, conducted this Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the national hydropower sector as the first stage in basin-wide planning.Myanmar is in a unique position of being able to develop hydropower in an integrated and sustainable manner before significant impacts occur to river systems, balancing the generation of substantial renewable energy to drive the economy and improve livelihoods with the retention of important biophysical processes and values and socio-economic benefits for current and future generations.


Complex control tasks may be solved by dividing them into a more specific and more easily handled subtasks hierarchy. Several authors have demonstrated that the incremental layered evolution paradigm allows obtaining controllers capable of solving this type of tasks. In this direction, different solutions combining Incremental Evolution with Evolving Neural Networks have been developed in order to provide an adaptive mechanism minimizing the previous knowledge necessary to obtain a good performance giving place to controllers made up of several networks. This paper is focused on the presentation of a new mechanism, called Cyclic Evolution, which allows improving controllers based on neural networks obtained through layered evolution. Its performance is based on continuing the cyclic improvement of each of the networks making up the controller within the whole domain of the problem. The proposed method of this paper has been used to solve the Keepaway game with successful results compared to other solutions recently proposed. Finally, some conclusions are included together with some future lines of work.


"La Strada" captures the life and drama of Italy's streets from World War II through the 1970s. Its exquisite photographs, made by some of the most deeply skilled artists of the mid-twentieth century, are imbued with the essence of Neo-Realism, the aesthetic that produced some of the most influential Italian film and literature of the same era. The American gallerist and curator Keith de Lellis's selection of more than 200 pictures, some previously unpublished, by more than 60 masters--including Mario Giacomelli, Nino Migliori, and Mario De Biasi--reveals the touching, the humorous, and the tragic in the day-to-day lives of the Italian people, liberated from the grips of Fascism. A treasure trove, and a case for the continuing recognition of this inspired group of picture-makers.


There is little doubt that consumers today are more interested in the geographical origins of their food, and how and by whom it was produced. Marketers capitalise on this interest through 'provenance branding'. Provenance branding is a form of 'credence marketing' which suggests certain qualities to consumers that are not really testable in an objective or empirical fashion. Provenance branding suggests that the product concerned has certain qualities that result from its particular geographical origin. Closely connected is the concept encapsulated in the French term 'terroir'; unique geographical conditions that determine the particular taste and other characteristics of locally produced food or beverages. We are very familiar with talk of terroir in the wine industry, but it is an emerging concept in relation to other foodstuffs.


Working in groups and managing projects are important professional skills for engineers, and there is a growing demand to teach and assess such skills. But what should be taught and when? Tuckman's famous "stages of development of performing groups" provides a framework for understanding the types of challenges which groups face. Yet, as with any abstract model, it will not be transferred into students' practice if they do not see it as relevant to their lived experiences. In 2014, a new course exploring the nexus of social and engineering issues in relation to the global challenges facing humanity was added to the obligatory program for all first year engineering students. Among the many noble goals of this course, in addition to gaining a more nuanced view of the global challenges from both an engineering and social science perspective, are the development of transversal skills such as team work, communication, presentation, library research and ethical engagement. The taught material about team work was presented online, allowing for the use learning analytics on students' online responses to assess how well the "stages of group formation" literature matched students' experiences. It also allowed us to consider how students' perceptions of the challenges they will face differed from challenges they actually did face, as well as the implications of this for how they should be taught about group processes.


The paleobiogeography of Early−Middle Devonian (Pragian−Eifelian) brachiopods from West Gondwana was assessed to determine any potential controls (regional climatic differences or global eustasy) that may have driven bioregionalization. The Pragian−Eifelian interval of West Gondwana was examined because work by previous authors suggested that this was a period when regionally extensive areas of provincialism among marine invertebrates were present and most pronounced. Factors of particular interest in this study were the controls over brachiopod bioregionalization at high (60°−90°) southern latitudes, which the Malvinokaffric Realm is thought to have entirely occupied. A large presence-absence data matrix was compiled consisting of the occurrences of 206 genera from 17 localities across West Gondwana, and an array of multivariate methods (cluster analysis, nonmetric multidimensional scaling, and network analysis) was employed to assess regional bioregionalization trends. The results of our study suggest that regional climatic differences brought on by latitudinal effects were the determining driver for bioregionalism of brachiopods during the Pragian−Eifelian, and these trends were coincident with a global cooling period during the Early−Middle Devonian. Our study further suggests that of the three regional paleobiogeographic realms thought to be present in West Gondwana during the Early−Middle Devonian (Eastern Americas, Old World, and Malvinokaffric), only the Malvinokaffric Realm is valid as a single biogeographic area. Its area, however, is reduced; it is interpreted to have been a second-order biogeographic area and not a first-order area as suggested by previous authors. Given these factors, we suggest a new demonym for this area, the "Malvinoxhosan," given the racially charged connotations of "Malvinokaffric." We present a new biogeographic framework for West Gondwana that is free of preconceived biogeographic area and rank biases, with the understanding that a more globally expansive study should be undertaken to elucidate these areas and their rank within the correct hierarchy. Two first-order paleobiogeographic areas are recognized in West Gondwana and are named according to their latitudinal extent, namely, the high-latitude (60°S−90°S) and temperate-latitude (30°S−60°S) bioregions. The temperate-latitude bioregion consists of a single second-order paleobiogeographic area, the "Colombian−West African" bioregion. Two second-order bioregions are present in the high-latitude bioregion, namely, the Amazonian and Malvinoxhosan bioregions. Here, the Amazonian (∼50°S−70°S), compositionally, was an intermediate region between the Colombian−West African (∼30°S−50°S) and Malvinoxhosan (70°S−90°S) end members. Latitudinal effects may also have been responsible for dividing the Malvinoxhosan bioregion into two tentative third-order paleobiogeographic areas, namely, the Andeo−South African (∼70°S−80°S) and the Paraná (∼80°S−90°S) bioregions.


Old Europe is always good for surprises. The region's actual economic performance is much better than expected, with growth rates above potential for this year and the next. Employment prospects are encouraging, with the creation of millions of new jobs and unemployment rates falling to below 7 percent. The public finances of European Union member states are also improving, bringing the fiscal deficit well below the critical deficit criterion of the Maastricht Treaty. Europe is thus gaining new strength in terms of growth. However, was this development homegrown because of successful implementation of the Lisbon Strategy, or foreign-made due to the competitiveness of Europe's exports? Economic research institutes give no clear picture, but Heino Fassbender's Europe as an Economic Powerhouse invites necessary reflection on Europe's weaknesses, failures, and perspectives in coping with growth, employment, and sustainable development. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sluggish economic adjustment remains a particular challenge for the Euro zone with its divergent development paths. But is this worry sufficient to deny the validity of the European social model and its role for the state? In contrast to other world regions, the European social model has persisted in the face of challenges from globalization. This model not only looks upon its costs, but also upon its productive contributions to growth and employment of social services, for example. This European social model characterizes countries by common features such as universal affordable access to education, training, social protection and health care, social dialogue, active labor market policies, predominantly public welfare systems, regulation of labor contracts, and anti-discrimination policies. Through and through a European, Fassbender argues partly as Jeremy Rifkin does in The European Dream that Europe should not copy the US model. While Rifkin argues for less profit and more distributive justice, Fassbender pursues successful economic integration by using the customs union, single market, and single currency to underline the advantages of deregulation, smart regulation, and the concept of category definition. This is more like the US approach than the European approach. He wants less state control, despite the fact that most of the 10 most competitive economies listed by the 2006-7 Global Competitiveness Report are European. In the report, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark all performed better than the United States. The report clearly demonstrates that there can be economic success stories with a strong interventionist state, high taxation for public spending, and comparable distributive justice. Those countries have macroeconomic stability, sound public institutions, independent judiciaries, market efficiency, and especially high investment in human resources that includes research and development, lifelong learning, and high output in tertiary education. Fassbender also favors investment in human resources so that Europe can become more competitive; it is clear that for him, the state must be at the service of the active market, and only market forces should be able to make the economy move. Europe will only become competitive with the excellence of its human resources, which is addressed by the European Strategy for Growth and Jobs. For Fassbender, the single market demonstrates the power of unity to exploit the larger global market. Therefore he calls for the creation of more "champions," or big corporate players, in Europe. But Europe is far from reaching that goal, having only 20 percent of the largest companies worldwide, contrasting with the US share of 75 percent. For Fassbender, this explains Europe's lack of productivity as well as its failure to complete the single market. However, with the EU Services Directive and tens of extant directives for financial services in place, the European Union already has a more integrated market than the book leads the reader to believe. …


Abstract This article has a double scope. First, we consider the dynamics inherent in the emergence of genres. Our view is that genres emerge relative to two sets of constraints, which we aim to capture in our double feedback loop model for the dynamics of genres. On the one hand, (text) genres, or text types, as we will interchangeably call them, emerge as a variation of already existing text types. On the other hand, genres develop as a response to the negative constraints or positive affordances of given situations: that is, either the "exigencies" of the situation or the new resources available in a situation. Accordingly, Section 1 is mainly devoted to a characterization of situations and of the dynamic relation between situational constraints/affordances and genres. Our main claim is that situations and genres stand in a relation of mutual scaffolding to each other so that the existence of a text type is not simply caused by the exigencies present in a given situation, but, once emerged, also feeds back into the situation, further stabilizing or consolidating it: hence, the use of the term "feedback loop." Section 2 is a more detailed discussion of the dynamics of genres with a particular focus on the first feedback loop: the way genres develop as deviations from existing text types and then stabilize as text types proper with a normative import. The second scope of this article consists in developing a typological apparatus consistent with the dynamic approach to the emergence of genres. This is our parameter theory of genres presented in Section 3. Here we consider genres as governed by parameters external to them and intrinsic to the situations they are dynamically related to. Genres should thus be understood not simply in terms of inherent textual or formal traits, but also relative to a certain set of situational parameters and relative to the degree to which they are governed by them.


The automotive industry requires realistic virtual reality applications more than other domains to increase the efficiency of product development. Currently, the visual quality of virtual invironments resembles reality, but interaction within these environments is usually far from what is known in everyday life. Several realistic research approaches exist, however they are still not all-encompassing enough to be usable in industrial processes. This thesis realizes lifelike direct multi-hand and multi-finger interaction with arbitrary objects, and proposes algorithmic and technical improvements that also approach lifelike usability. In addition, the thesis proposes methods to measure the effectiveness and usability of such interaction techniques as well as discusses different types of grasping feedback that support the user during interaction. Realistic and reliable interaction is reached through the combination of robust grasping heuristics and plausible pseudophysical object reactions. The easy-to-compute grasping rules use the objects' surface normals, and mimic human grasping behavior. The novel concept of Normal Proxies increases grasping stability and diminishes challenges induced by adverse normals. The intricate act of picking-up thin and tiny objects remains challenging for some users. These cases are further supported by the consideration of finger pinches, which are measured with a specialized finger tracking device. With regard to typical object constraints, realistic object motion is geometrically calculated as a plausible reaction on user input. The resulting direct finger-based
interaction technique enables realistic and intuitive manipulation of arbitrary objects. The thesis proposes two methods that prove and compare effectiveness and usability. An expert review indicates that experienced users quickly familiarize themselves with the technique. A quantitative and qualitative user study shows that direct finger-based interaction is preferred over indirect interaction in the context of functional car assessments. While controller-based interaction is more robust, the direct finger-based interaction provides greater realism, and becomes nearly as reliable when the pinch-sensitive mechanism is used. At present, the haptic channel is not used in industrial virtual reality applications. That is why it can be used for grasping feedback which improves the users' understanding of the grasping situation. This thesis realizes a novel pressure-based tactile feedback at the fingertips. As an alternative, vibro-tactile feedback at the same location is realized as well as visual feedback by the coloring of grasp-involved finger segments. The feedback approaches are also compared within the user study, which reveals that grasping feedback is a requirement to judge grasp status and that tactile feedback improves interaction independent of the used display system. The considerably stronger vibrational tactile feedback can quickly become annoying during interaction. The interaction improvements and hardware enhancements make it possible to interact with virtual objects in a realistic and reliable manner. By addressing realism and reliability, this thesis paves the way for the virtual evaluation of human-object interaction, which is necessary for a broader application of virtual environments in the automotive industry and other domains.