SUMMARY Restorative justice is a movement within criminal justice that draws from a conception of justice as personal rather than impersonal. This article offers a definition of restorative justice and describes its hallmark programs: victim offender mediation, conferencing, circles, restitution, and community service. It explores the differences between restorative justice and contemporary criminal justice, including their relative strengths. Whereas criminal justice derives from an impersonal conception of justice, restorative justice draws from a personal understanding. Differences between the two views of justice are described, and a brief survey of history and cultures demonstrates that personal conceptions of justice have played, and continue to play, significant roles in shaping societies' responses to crime.


Each month the editor of Newsline selects articles on diagnostic, therapeutic, research, and practice issues from a range of international publications. Most selections come from outside the standard canon of nuclear medicine and radiology journals. These briefs are offered as a monthly window on the broad arena of medical and scientific endeavor in which nuclear medicine now plays an essential role. We have added a special section on molecular imaging, including both radionuclide-based and other molecular imaging efforts, in recognition of the extraordinary activity and promise of diagnostic and therapeutic progress in this area. The lines between diagnosis and therapy are sometimes blurred, as radiolabels are increasingly used as adjuncts to therapy and/or as active agents in therapeutic regimens, and these shifting lines are reflected in the briefs presented here. We have also added a small section on noteworthy reviews of the literature.


Purpose
The purpose of this study was to explore the beliefs people with heart failure hold about their illness and its treatment and to determine any relationships between these beliefs and self-care using the Common Sense Model (CSM) of illness cognitions and behaviour as the theoretical framework (Leventhal et al, 1980).
Methods
Using a mixed methodology (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007), findings from patient interviews were used to adapt the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) (Moss-Morris et al, 2002) and the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) (Horne et al, 1999) in order to make them illness-specific. A questionnaire assessing self-care was developed based on the European Heart Failure Self-care Behaviour Scale (EHFScBS) (Jaarsma et al, 2003), the interview findings and a nominal group technique with specialist heart failure nurses. These questionnaires were used to determine beliefs and the relationship to behaviour in a cross-sectional survey of 169 patients with heart failure.
Results
A number of statistically significant correlations were found between beliefs and self-care. Most notably, perceived medication knowledge (r = 0.51, p ≤ 0.01), beliefs about the necessity of medication (r = 0.45, p ≤ 0.01) and illness coherence (r = 0.39, p ≤ 0.01). Multiple regression analysis revealed that 46% of the variance in self-care could be explained by illness representations and treatment beliefs (Adj. R2 = 0.46, F = 9.93, p = 0.00). Three factors were significant predictors of self-care - medication knowledge (β = 0.319, p = 0.003), a belief in the illness having serious consequences (β = 0.258, p = 0.008) and the impact of medication use on lifestyle (β = -0.231, p = 0.03).
Discussion
The exploration of illness representations revealed a realistic picture of heart failure with a cluster of beliefs around a chronic illness with serious consequences and a high number of symptoms. There was a strong belief in the necessity of medication but for some, medication use had a negative impact on daily life. Patients were confident in their knowledge of medication but this was reduced when family members took control of medication management. A number of beliefs were predictive of self-care, suggesting that interventions designed to maximise these beliefs and correct any misconceptions may enhance self-care and potentially improve clinical outcomes in this population.


There is a growing awareness that road networks, especially in major urban areas, are becoming more and more vulnerable to unforeseen disturbances like incidents because of the fact that the level of congestion keeps growing. Therefore, robustness measures have to be taken. In this paper the robust road network design problem is presented as well as a solution algorithm for solving the problem. The solution algorithm combines expert knowledge with advanced modeling techniques. In this way the method can be applied to large scale networks. This paper shows the quality of the algorithm for a test network.


Recent machine learning techniques have dramatically changed how we process digital images. However, the way in which we capture images is still largely driven by human intuition and experience. This restriction is in part due to the many available degrees of freedom that alter the image acquisition process (lens focus, exposure, filtering, etc). Here we focus on one such degree of freedom - illumination within a microscope - which can drastically alter information captured by the image sensor. We present a reinforcement learning system that adaptively explores optimal patterns to illuminate specimens for immediate classification. The agent uses a recurrent latent space to encode a large set of variably-illuminated samples and illumination patterns. We train our agent using a reward that balances classification confidence with image acquisition cost. By synthesizing knowledge over multiple snapshots, the agent can classify on the basis of all previous images with higher accuracy than from naively illuminated images, thus demonstrating a smarter way to physically capture task-specific information.


Abstract
 Education policy has recently focused on improving accountability and incentives of public providers for actual learning outcomes, often with school-based reward programmes for high performers. The Learning Guarantee Programme in Karnataka, India, is prominent among such efforts, providing cash transfers to government schools that achieve learning at specified high levels. This study examines whether schools that self-selected into the incentive programme are different than those that did not. The answer has important implications for how to evaluate the impact of such a programme. Although we find no significant differences in resources and characteristics, we do find significant and substantial differences in test scores prior to selection into the programme, with better performing schools more likely to opt-in. These findings also provide insight into how incentive-based programmes that focus on levels of (rather than changes in) achievement can exacerbate inequality in education. Failing schools, since they are more likely to opt-out of incentive programmes, are likely to require other targeted programmes in order to improve. In addition, our findings reinforce the value of randomised controlled trials to evaluate incentive programmes since evaluations that rely on matching schools based on resources (if, for instance, pre-programme test scores are unavailable) will be biased if resources poorly predict test scores.


This study proposes that the design of Mark's Gospel is best appreciated by recognising the particular political, social and religious situation that gave rise it, and by taking into account the concerns, experiences and emotions of both the author and the intended readers. It is argued that proposals for an Eastern provenance lack evidence and plausibility, and that the Gospel was written in Rome. The time of writing is identified as the latter months of 71, as the Gospel contains a number of indications that the Jerusalem Temple had been destroyed and that the Triumph of Vespasian and Titus in July/August 71 had recently occurred. Moreover, there are several allusions to events that had occurred within a year or two prior to that date. An investigation of the political and social situation shows that Christians had reason to be fearful, especially after the return of Titus. Through an examination of the rhetorical techniques contained within the text, it is proposed that the Gospel was a response to the protracted suffering of the Christians of Rome, addressing their doubts about God in the face of Roman power, their fear of further executions, and stresses within the community caused by apostasy and betrayal. Paying close attention to the mood of the text, an analysis of Mark's rhetoric shows how it responds to the readers' anxieties (including fear of delation), counters Flavian propaganda, and provides hope and strength. As appeals to the emotions were regarded as a key tool of ancient rhetoric, careful attention is paid to their use throughout the Gospel, showing that Mark produced a text full of pathos, matching the highly stressful atmosphere, and placing the readers' cries for help and prayers into the mouths of characters. In repeatedly stirring the readers' emotions by reminding them of their own painful experiences and by alluding to contemporary events and social attitudes, Mark explains why they are persecuted, and helps them to deal with their fear. He portrays Jesus as the one who had led the way by accepting martyrdom for the gospel in similar circumstances. He shapes many scenes to remind them of their Roman situation, especially the trials and executions of fellow Christians. Mark's rhetorical use of the disciples is also explored, showing that he aimed to elicit sympathy for those who had failed under pressure, which indicates that he was advocating their readmittance into the community. It is proposed that reading the Gospel as rhetoric addressed to this situation provides a quite different view of its nature, design and purposes, and gives a very different perspective to a number of debated issues within Markan scholarship.


Green bonds have so far been celebrated by many as one of the most promising tools to support climate change mitigation via the transition to a low-carbon economy. Green bond funds have so far not kept pace with green bonds' rapidly increasing volumes, which paradoxically also means that such funds could have a high growth potential, especially if changing investor attitudes are also taken into account. Such funds are well placed to meet millennial investors' demand for both impact investment opportunities and more information on the tangible benefits of their investments. This article argues, however, that impact reporting appears to need further refinement in terms of comparability and the underlying methodologies. Moreover, even if some green bonds individually come with measurable environmental gains, it remains doubtful whether they lead to proportionately more green projects on a macro level. The survey reported here suggests that there is little additionality in green bonds; the sheer growth of such instruments, therefore, does not mean that the same amount of capital flows to environmental sustainability efforts. TOPICS: ESG investing, portfolio management/multi-asset allocation, portfolio theory, portfolio construction Key Findings • Green bond funds so far have not kept pace with the rapid growth of the green bond segment. These funds hold great growth potential to meet increasing impact-driven investor demand. • Even though green bond fund managers can make use of fairly informative impact reports of the underlying green bonds, there is clear room for improvement in the comparability of the reporting frameworks, so as to incentivize the maximization of impact. • This survey among green bond issuers indicates little additionality in these instruments; the rise of green bonds is unlikely to come with the same amount of new net capital inflows to green investments. Most issues instead serve communication purposes.


The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for the analysis of the robustness of industrial internal and external emergency plans, established by the European Union SEVESO II Directive. This methodology is based upon a systemic, hierarchical and generic model of an internal or external industrial emergency plan. The process generally found within an internal and/or external industrial emergency plan is identified through the model, thus allowing for a modular representation of the plan. Each process integrates the functions/activities performed, the resources necessary for performing these functions/activities, the resources generated or affected by these functions, the supports required for each resource and the interactions (inputs and outputs) of each process. An explicit specification of these elements for a generic plan was provided through an ontological approach. An analysis of the plan model is performed to estimate a priori the failures that can potentially occur in the emergency response phase, when the plan is put into action. An extensive experience feedback analysis has also been performed to identify a posteriori the failures that have already occurred during the application of the plan. Some 160 accident reports have been consulted, and 31 internal and external emergency plan exercises were followed. This double analysis (a priori and a posteriori) has led to putting in place assessment checklists, structured via the systemic model for each of the plan's process. Each checklist provides an indicator of the level of accomplishment (performance indicator) for the respective function. The logical combination of the function performance indicators results in a comprehensive assessment of the robustness of the industrial emergency plan. This methodology can hence be used as a toolbox, both for the assessment of existing plans and also for the iterative development of industrial emergency plans.


PROGRAMS OFFERED Yale University School of Medicine and Yale-New Haven Hospital provide training for residents seeking Board certification in Anatomic Pathology (AP), Clinical Pathology (CP), and both Anatomic and Clinical Pathology (AP/CP). The Residency Program's mission is to provide comprehensive post-graduate training in anatomical and clinical pathology, and to prepare physicians for leadership in clinical practice, research, and academia. We produce world-class physicians and physician-scientists capable of fulfilling the role of the pathologist as a diagnostic consultant and of advancing the field of pathology. The physician-scientist training and research are supported by NIH-funded departmental training grants. Training in Pathology is provided by both the Department of Pathology and the Department of Laboratory Medicine, coordinated into a single Residency Program. Working together, the two departments assure strong training in both Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. The Smilow Cancer hospital at Yale-New Haven, Southern New England's only national cancer institute designated comprehensive cancer center, further enhances the volume of material available for training. Rotations at the West Haven campus of the Veterans Administration Healthcare System (VA) and at Bridgeport Hospital in Bridgeport, CT, and the Office of the Medical Examiner in Farmington, CT broaden the training experience by exposing residents to different practice environments. Yale-New Haven Hospital is the fourth largest hospital in the U.S. Residents acquire a fundamental knowledge and understanding of the various subspecialties of anatomic and clinical pathology. The core AP training is 24 months. Core CP training is 18 months. Combined training provides several options for the sequence of the core training, which is then supplemented with six months of flexible training opportunities, including transitional \fellowship-level\ training and basic research (experimental pathology). In anatomic pathology, approximately 50,000 surgical specimens, 99,000 cytology specimens, and 243 autopsies are studied yearly. The laboratory medicine program provides training in clinical chemistry, hematology, immunology, transfusion medicine, and microbiology/virology and cell therapy. The Laboratory Medicine department is responsible for more than 13,000,000 annual lab tests, including reference testing for many other institutions. Molecular diagnostics experience and informatics exposure, both formal and informal, is integrated into both anatomic and clinical pathology training. Opportunities for in-depth experience with research are available for those interested, and may be pursued not only within the two Departments, but also with mentors in other basic science or clinical departments in the School of Medicine, School of Public Health, and Yale University. Pathology residents are responsible for the presentation of cases at interdepartmental conferences, and participate in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine course laboratories for second-year medical students. Follow-on fellowship opportunities are available in a wide range of subspecialty areas in both anatomic and clinical pathology.


A large amount of filter cake wastes are produced from the gas cleaning systems of blast furnace (BF) ironmaking and basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking processes. The filter cake wastes cannot be directly recycled through the ironmaking process due to the high zinc contents and are therefore, predominantly, stockpiled. The storage of filter cake wastes presents a long-term environmental issue but also an opportunity to extract or recover the iron content, motivating a search for processes or technologies to allow their cost-effective recycling. In this study, two filter cake wastes from BlueScope Ltd. were sintered at 1 100–1 300°C in argon and air to evaluate the effects of temperature, gas atmosphere and carbon content on the mineral phase formation and zinc removal of sintered filter cake specimens. The fine particles in filter cake can be well aggregated by bonding phases (calcium ferrites and silicates) during sintering due to the presence of flux materials, CaO and SiO2, in the filter cake. Carbon and metallic iron in the filter cake reduced ZnO to zinc vapour during sintering, which enhanced the zinc removal of the filter cake in a reducing gas atmosphere.


We are interested in inferring the set of waypoints (or intermediate destinations) of a mobility trajectory in the absence of timing information. We find that, by mining a dataset of real mobility traces, computing the entropy of conditional Markov trajectory enables us to uncover waypoints, even though no timing information nor absolute geographic location is provided. We build on this observation and design an efficient algorithm for trajectory segmentation. Our empirical evaluation demonstrates that the entropy-based heuristic used by our segmentation algorithm outperforms alternative approaches as it is 43% more accurate than a geometric approach and 20% more accurate than path-stretch based approach. We further explore the link between trajectory entropy, mobility predictability and the nature of intermediate locations using a route choice model on real city maps.


This paper reports progress with OdonataMAP, the Atlas of Dragonflies and Damselflies of Africa, for the two-year period 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2018. During the two-year review period, the database for the project grew by 30,423 records to 52,257, starting from 22,809 records collected between 2010 and June 2016. Submissions were made from 25 African countries. In six of the nine provinces of South Africa, the number of OdonataMAP records for the province more than doubled. The provinces in which the number of records were not doubled were Gauteng (44% of records made during reporting period), Free State and North West (both 46%). Five observers contributed more than 1000 records over the two-year period, and a further 10 between 500 and 999 records. The total number of observers for the two-year period was 529, compared with 295 in the 2010–16 period. One of the important success of OdonataMAP during the review period was to increase the number of observers, and to reduce the project's dependence on a small number of citizen scientists.


Calls for increased transparency and reduced information asymmetry between service firms and their customers are getting louder in the marketplace. Yet, it remains unclear what exactly constitutes transparency in the eyes of customers and how, if at all, service firms benefit from it. This research contributes to extant knowledge by articulating the key properties of service firms' performance transparency and by developing and validating a parsimonious scale to measure it. We show that through a reduction in customer uncertainty, the provision of accessible and objective information about a firm's service offering is positively associated with customers' intention to purchase and willingness to pay a price premium for its service. Furthermore, we find that the positive effect of performance transparency is influenced by customers' perceptions of a firm's ability to deliver on its service promise. An important managerial implication of the current research is that performance transparency benefits customers by lowering uncertainty, and hence service firms should proactively consider it as a critical measure that helps differentiate their services from competitive offerings, even when customer perceptions of a service firm's ability are low.


SIR,-The editorial by Drs Gandy and Rennie on antibiotic treatment of suspected neonatal meningitis has provided a timely review of an important neonatal problem.' We were surprised to see the use of intraventricular aminoglycosides being advocated for the treatment of Gram negative meningitis, as there is now considerable evidence to suggest that intraventricular treatment is not only ineffective, but may, in addition, be hazardous. We were further disappointed to read the authors' rebuttal of the important arguments made by Drs Short2 and Tarlow3 in their subsequent letters to the editor. The argument put forward by Gandy and Rennie rests on the observation that the aminoglycosides do not penetrate well into the cerebrospinal fluid, and adequate cerebrospinal fluid concentrations to treat Gram negative bacillary meningitis are not achieved when aminoglycosides are administered intravenously. In the past, intrathecal aminoglycosides seemed a logical form of treatment. Since the introduction of the third generation cephalosporins, however, the position has changed. These agents are highly active against Escherichia coli and other coliforms, and when administered intravenously, achieved cerebrospinal fluid concentrations several times the minimal inhibitory concentration for these organisms.4 It is therefore difficult to justify the use of intraventricular treatment. The authors seem unconvinced by two multicentre trials of intrathecal aminoglycosides in neonatal meningitis.' Not only was no benefit derived from aminoglycosides given by either the lumbar or the intraventricular route, but the mortality was higher in the patients receiving intraventricular treatment. The authors also avoid the worrying evidence that suggests that the administration of intraventricular aminoglycosides results in higher cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of endotoxin and cytokines than seen after systemic treatment alone.6 In view of the increasing evidence that bacterial toxins and host inflammatory mediators are responsible for the damage to the central nervous system associated with bacterial meningitis,3 treatment that increases cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of these substances should be avoided. The arguments that have developed subsequent to the annotation on the antibiotic treatment of suspected neonatal meningitis highlight the different philosophical approaches to what makes good paediatric practice. We believe that practice should be guided by the results of published therapeutic trials rather than personal belief. As the only trials to date have demonstrated a poorer outcome in patients receiving intraventricular aminoglycosides, this form of treatment should not be advocated.


— Significant legislative changes are set to revolutionise the commercial shipping industry. Upcoming emissions restrictions will force operators to look at technologies that can improve the efficiency of their vessels -reducing fuel consumption and emissions. A device which may help in this challenge is the Ship Wind-Assisted Propulsion system (SWAP), an actively controlled aerofoil mounted vertically on the deck of a ship. The device functions in a similar manner to a sail on a yacht, whereby the aerodynamic forces generated by the sail reach an equilibrium with the hydrodynamic forces on the hull and a forward velocity results. Numerical and experimental testing of the SWAP device is presented in this study. Circulation control takes the form of a co-flow jet aerofoil, utilising both blowing from the leading edge and suction from the trailing edge. A jet at the leading edge uses the Coanda effect to energise the boundary layer in order to delay flow separation and create high lift with low drag. The SWAP concept has been originated by the research and development team at SMAR Azure Ltd. The device will be retrofitted to existing ships so that a component of the aerodynamic forces acts forward and partially reduces the reliance on existing propulsion systems. Wind tunnel tests have been carried out at the de Havilland wind tunnel at the University of Glasgow on a 1:20 scale model of this system. The tests aim to understand the airflow characteristics around the aerofoil and investigate the approximate lift and drag coefficients that an early iteration of the SWAP device may produce. The data exhibits clear trends of increasing lift as injection momentum increases, with critical flow attachment points being identified at specific combinations of jet momentum coefficient, Cµ, and angle of attack, AOA. Various combinations of flow conditions were tested, with the jet momentum coefficient ranging from 0 to 0.7 and the AOA ranging from 0 ° to 35 ° . The Reynolds number across the tested conditions ranged from 80,000 to 240,000. Comparisons between 2D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and the experimental data are presented for multiple Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models in the form of normalised surface pressure comparisons. These show good agreement for most of the tested cases. However, certain simulation conditions exhibited a well-documented shortcoming of RANS-based turbulence models for circulation control flows and over-predicted surface pressures and lift coefficient for fully attached flow cases. Work must be continued in finding an all-encompassing modelling approach which predicts surface pressures well for all combinations of jet injection momentum and AOA.


This work, commissioned by the ICA as part of its 60 year celebrations, was a re-enactment of 'Oh What a Lovely Whore' a work created in 1965 by the Boyle family. It was commissioned by the ICA London and was made possible through funding from The Elephant Trust.

"In the mid sixties the English artists Mark Boyle and Joan Hills organised a number of important events and performances in London, including several at the ICA. These performances exemplified the emergent psychedelic liberalism of the period, most notably the infamous Son et Lumiere for Bodily Fluids and Functions (1967), wherein a couple who had not met before made love on stage whilst wired up to ECG and EEG monitors, their heart beats and brain patterns projected onto the screen above them. In 1965 the Boyles arranged Oh What a Lovely Whore, an event not carried out by the artists themselves, but orchestrated by guests invited to the ICA, who were presented with a series of props and invited to make their own happening happen. A DIY affair, it signified a paradigm shift that characterised the art of the sixties: the transferral of responsibility from the artist to the viewer.
The Boyle's happenings are scores that can be replayed and reinterpreted. The audience and its participation is paramount; it makes up each event anew. The happenings are, potentially at least, as much a part of the ICA's present as they are of its past, and this raises questions worth considering in relation to the re-staging being conducted by Coleman and Hogarth. What happens when a happening happens amidst an audience armed with the hindsight and cynicism of today? Knowledge or experience of the origins of performance might now prevent openness to invitation, and the invitation to play certainly has different connotations. In the current climate - one dominated by the ideology of the artist as facilitator or cultural services provider - the scripting and directing process is more managerial than it once promised. Given this, will today's audience respond with the same degree of enthusiasm and autonomy as their mid sixties equivalent? If it's possible that the free-play and anarchistic spirit of the inaugural happening might be inhibited in these more self-conscious times, then it's just as likely that it might prove to be a powder keg for a frustrated fraternity. What's certain, either way, is that it will be as effective an acid test of the current cultural climate as it was in the mid sixties"

Neil Mulholland.


In this paper, measurements of the heat capacities and thermal diffusivities of commercial CMSX-4 nickel-based superalloy are described, and the results are presented. Since the as-received commercial alloy sample is not at the thermodynamic equilibrium state, the phases present in the alloy undergo transformations toward equilibrium state as the measurements are made at temperatures above which the rate of transformation can be significant. The microstructures of the as-received sample as well as heat treated samples were observed, and the relation with the properties was discussed. The results are discussed considering the phase changes occurring with the thermodynamic equilibrium state as the reference. The results are of great relevance in the performance of these alloys in industrial applications.


The ideas presented by Nicholas Humphrey in his book Soul Dust and elsewhere are an excellent example of the kind of ridiculous and logically incoherent accounts of the mindless evolution of matter into 'illusory' mind which are penned by materialist advocates of primordial mindlessness.  Humphrey's approach relies on often clearly incoherent, and sometimes almost childish, speculations, with little attention to evidence and scant regard for logical rigor. According to Humphrey consciousness is just so remarkable that an unwary brain might be tempted to think consciousness is really real. According to Humphrey, however, consciousness is an illusion generated by matter mattering to itself, and is ultimately ontologically non-existent. Both direct phenomenological investigation and modern science show that, contrary to Humphrey's materialist desires, consciousness "has its own intrinsic degrees of freedom" and is a fundamental dimension of reality. Ultimately we are not the result of the evolution of an "original dollop of physical matter".


Presented are two methods for the determination of the parameters of motion of a sensor, given the vector flow field induced by an imaging system governed by a perspective transformation of a rigid scene. Both algorithms integrate global data to determine motion parameters. The first (the flow circulation algorithm) determines the rotational parameters. The second (the FOE search algorithm) determines the translational parameters of the motion independently of the first algorithm. Several methods for determining when the function has the appropriate form are suggested. One method involves filtering the function by a collection of circular-surround zero-mean receptive fields. The other methods project the function onto a linear space of quadratic polynomials and measures the distance between the two functions. The error function for the first two methods is a quadratic polynomial of the candidate position, yielding a very rapid search strategy. >


The total survey error (TSE) paradigm provides a theoretical framework for optimizing surveys by maximizing data quality within budgetary constraints. In this article, the TSE paradigm is viewed as part of a much larger design strategy that seeks to optimize surveys by maximizing total survey quality; i.e., quality more broadly defined to include user-specified dimensions of quality. Survey methodology, viewed within this larger framework, alters our perspectives on the survey design, implementation, and evaluation. As an example, although a major objective of survey design is to maximize accuracy subject to costs and timeliness constraints, the survey budget must also accommodate additional objectives related to relevance, accessibility, interpretability, comparability, coherence, and completeness that are critical to a survey's "fitness for use." The article considers how the total survey quality approach can be extended beyond survey design to include survey implementation and evaluation. In doing so, the "fitness for use" perspective is shown to influence decisions regarding how to reduce survey error during design implementation and what sources of error should be evaluated in order to assess the survey quality today and to prepare for the surveys of the future.


Autoimmune diseases depend on the pathologic activation of cellular clones, potentially harmful, against soft tissues. They can be classified into systemic and organ-specific diseases. In the systemic subtype, in which the abnormal hyperactivity is not as specific, the most remarkable component of the clinical syndrome is frequently the presence of neurological and/or cutaneous manifestations. This article reviews the major pathogenic mechanisms involved in the principal systemic autoimmune conditions including connective tissue diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, polimyositis, dermatomyositis, scleroderma, mixed connective tissue disease, Sjögren's syndrome, overlap syndromes) and vasculitic syndromes (nodous polyarteritis, giant cell arteritis. Wegener's granulomatosis. Behçet disease, microscopic polyarteritis, cryoglobulinemia) as well as their clinical manifestations, focused mainly on neurocutaneous characteristics.


The rapid development of wireless technology, the extensive use of mobile phones and the availability of location information are facilitating personalized location-based applications. Easy to carry, easy to use and easy to buy, smart phones with certain software are of great advantage. Consequently, mobile social networking (MSN) systems have emerged rapidly, being a revolution for our everyday life. Based on the analysis of general requirements of MSN and location-based services (LBS), this paper presents the design of iZone, a mobile social networking system, as well as a prototype implementation. This platform exploits mobile GIS (Geographic Information Systems), LBS and J2ME technologies, combining geographical data to display map on mobile phones. It can provide a number of social networking services via smart phones.


Abstract Background: Healthcare students should be aware of the specific skills, knowledge and management options of other disciplines in order to achieve an effective and cohesive working relationship. Aim: The aim of this study was to expose healthcare students at the University of the Free State to one another's domains, as related to hypertension management, during a formal didactic lecture attended by medical, physiotherapy and dietetic students, and to determine whether they could apply in practice the theoretical knowledge regarding blood pressure measurement and exercise, obtained during a multidisciplinary session. The perceptions of students regarding multidisciplinary sessions were also to be obtained. Method: Students received a formal lecture on hypertension from a medical doctor, a dietitian, a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist and they then worked in multidisciplinary groups to demonstrate the physiological effect of exercise on blood pressure and pulse rate. Students had to report their findings and perceptions of the session by completing data forms. Results: A total of 125 medical, physiotherapy and human nutrition students participated in the session. The students were able to demonstrate the influence of exercise on blood pressure and pulse measurements. They reported that they enjoyed the multidisciplinary session and gained information on the scope of practice of the domains of the other disciplines. Negative feedback was received on the size of the groups and lack of equipment. Conclusion: The students could apply theoretical knowledge in practice and all gave positive feedback. The sessions will continue in the current format but attention will be given to smaller groups and the availability of more equipment.


Soil is one of the most complex ecosystems in the environment and changes to microbial diversity are thought to affect the physical structure (and vice versa). A fundamental question addressed in this research, is how microbial communities influence the functioning of soil, particularly with respect to the development and maintenance of a soil's physical structure. Using micro- and macrocosms of sieved (and therefore structureless) soil, the effects of time, soil texture, manipulated background microbial diversity, and Plantago lanceolata (± mycorrhizal fungi) on the development of soil structure were determined. Background microbial diversity was manipulated using the dilution technique to give a low (101) dilution or a high (106) dilution of the original soil. This resulted in greater bacterial diversity in the lower (101) dilution than in the higher (106) dilution when in the presence of mycorrhizal plants. However, background diversity was the same irrespective of dilution in soils with non-mycorrhizal plants (and reversed within the bare soil). Micro- and macrocosms were continually assessed during controlled incubation periods ranging from 7 weeks to 15 months. Of the soil textures analysed (clay loam, loamy sand and sandy loam), loamy sand displayed the highest overall porosity as well as a noteworthy development in porosity throughout the incubation period. Mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants increased the speed of soil structural development by 5 months relative to unplanted soils. Although mycorrhizal fungi stunted root growth initially, aggregates within mycorrhizal planted treatments were smaller but nonetheless more stable than those in bare soil. Increasing mycorrhizal fungal species richness enhanced root and shoot biomass and reduced aggregate size and total porosity. There was a positive relationship between total porosity and numbers of culturable bacteria and fungi. In soils containing a lower microbial diversity, an increase in porosity, mean pore size, aggregate size and pore perimeter was observed. Results obtained were dependent on incubation conditions, planting regime and mycorrhizal status. Therefore, the effects of reducing microbial species diversity on soil structure parameters are idiosyncratic, with the presence of plant roots acting as a key factor.


Commonly used organic solvents for spectrophotometric analysis of water insoluble drugs include methanol, ethanol, chloroform, benzene, dichloromethane, dimethyl formamide, acetonitrile, ethyl acetate, toluene, carbon tetrachloride, acetone, hexane etc. The main drawbacks of organic solvents include high cost, toxicity and pollution. Organic solvents have numerous adverse effects caused by single exposure like dermatitis, headache, drowsiness, nausea, eye irritation and long term exposure causes serious effects such as neurological disorders, chronic renal failure, liver damage, necrosis, mutagenesis disorder. They should be replaced by other eco-friendly alternative sources. The present investigation is an attempt to show that solids can also be wisely used to act as solvent precluding the use of organic solvents. In a separate study, author has attempted soxhelation using phenol as solvent. The vapours of boiling phenol got condensed in extraction chamber to effect the extraction of active constituents from powder of crude drugs. The main objective of the present study is to demonstrate the solvent action of solids. Solid excipients can nicely be employed as solubilizers in the development of pharmaceutical dosage forms in solution form of poorly soluble drugs (mixed solvency concept). Present study describes the application of solvent character of melted phenol (at 50-60°C) for spectrophotometric estimation of ornidazole tablets. Solubility of ornidazole in distilled water is 8.03 mg/ml. More than 700 mg of ornidazole dissolves in one gram of melted phenol (at 50-60°C). In the present investigation, melted phenol (at 50-60°C) was utilized to extract out (dissolve) the drug from powder of ornidazole tablets. Distilled water was used for dilution purpose. Absorbances of standard solutions containing 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 μg/ml were noted at 319 nm against reagent blanks to obtain calibration curve. Proposed method is novel, economic, eco-friendly, rapid, free from toxicity of organic solvent, accurate and reproducible. Recovery studies and statistical data proved the accuracy, reproducibility and precision of the proposed method. The presence of tablet excipients and phenol did not interfere in the spectrophotometric estimation at 319 nm. Phenol does not interfere in spectrophotometric estimation above 300 nm.


BACKGROUND
Inflammation and oedema of the facial nerve are implicated in causing Bell's palsy. Corticosteroids have a potent anti-inflammatory action which should minimise nerve damage and thereby improve the outcome of patients suffering from this condition.

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this review was to assess the effect of steroid therapy in the recovery of patients with Bell's palsy.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group register for randomised trials, as well as MEDLINE, EMBASE and LILACS (to December 2000). We contacted known experts in the field to identify additional published or unpublished trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised trials comparing different routes of administration and dosage schemes of corticosteroid or adrenocorticotrophic hormone therapy versus a control group where no therapy considered effective for this condition was administered, unless it was also given in a similar way to the experimental group.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility, trial quality, and extracted the data.

MAIN RESULTS
Three trials with a total of 117 patients were included. One trial compared cortisone acetate with placebo; one compared prednisone plus vitamins, with vitamins alone; and one, not-placebo controlled, tested the efficacy of methylprednisolone. Allocation concealment was appropriate in two trials, and the data reported allowed an intention-to-treat analysis. Overall 13/59 (22%) of the patients allocated to steroid therapy had incomplete recovery of facial motor function six months after randomisation, compared with 15/58 (26%) in the control group. This reduction was not significant (relative risk 0.86, 95% confidence interval 0.47 to 1.59). The reduction in the proportion of patients with cosmetically disabling sequelae six months after randomisation was also not significant (relative risk 0.86, 95% confidence interval 0.38 to 1.98).

REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS
The available evidence from randomised controlled trials does not show significant benefit from treating Bell's palsy with corticosteroids. More randomised controlled trials with a greater number of patients are needed to determine reliably whether there is real benefit (or harm) from the use of steroid therapy in patients with Bell's palsy.


Light use efficiency (LUE) is a key biophysical parameter characterizing the ability of plants to convert absorbed light to carbohydrate. However, the environmental regulations on LUE, especially moisture stress, are poorly understood, leading to large uncertainties in primary productivity estimated by LUE models. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of moisture stress on LUE for a wide range of ecosystems on daily, 8 day, and monthly scales. Using the FLUXNET and Moderate Resolution Imagine Spectroradiometer data, we evaluated moisture stress along the soil‐plant‐atmosphere continuum, including soil water content (SWC) and soil water saturation (SWS), land surface wetness index (LSWI) and plant evaporative fraction (EF), and precipitation and daytime atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD). We found that LUE was most responsive to plant moisture indicators (EF and LSWI), least responsive to soil moisture (SWC and SWS) variations with the atmospheric indicator (VPD) falling in between. LUE showed higher sensitivity to SWC than VPD only for grassland ecosystems. For evergreen forest, LUE had better association with VPD than LSWI. All moisture indicators (except soil indicators) were generally less effective in affecting LUE on the daily and 8 day scales than on the monthly scale. Our study highlights the complexity of moisture stress on LUE and suggests that a single moisture indicator or function in LUE models is not sufficient to capture the diverse responses of vegetation to moisture stress. LUE models should consider the variability identified in this study to more realistically reflect the environmental controls on ecosystem functions.


Covering more than five hundred years of history, culture, and politics, The Lima Reader captures the multiple viewpoints of the diverse peoples of Peru's capital city. The volume traces Lima's transformation from a pre-Columbian religious center, to the colonial "City of Kings," to today's vibrant and deeply divided metropolis of almost ten million people. A rich array of primary sources—including traveler accounts, essays, photographs, maps, poems, short stories, lyrics, and memoir excerpts, many appearing in English for the first time—address how Lima's multiethnic population, class inequalities, and debates of who is a "true" limeno/a have evolved throughout the city's history. The book also includes selections that explore Lima's identity through its food, sports culture, festivals, and sense of humor. Intended for travelers, students, and scholars alike, The Lima Reader is an invaluable introduction to the complex social tensions and cultural history of Lima and its people.


Fracking for shale gas is not touching off the earthquakes that have been shaking previously calm regions of the central United States. But other energy-related fluid injection—including deep disposal of fracking9s wastewater, extraction of methane from coal beds, and creation of geothermal energy reservoirs—is setting off earthquakes of magnitude 4 and 5 that are rattling the local populace, shutting down clean energy projects, and prompting new regulations. Researchers have known for decades that deep, high-pressure fluid injection can trigger sizable earthquakes. But after a lull in triggered quake studies, researchers are playing catch-up with the latest round of temblors. As researchers link cause and effect in recent cases of triggered seismicity, they are beginning to see a way ahead: learn as you go. Thorough preinjection studies followed by close monitoring of cautiously increasing injection offer to lower, although never eliminate, the risk of triggering intolerable earthquakes.


[1] A global Rayleigh-type H218O circulation model was forced by two reanalysis products, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 15-year reanalysis (ERA15) data sets, and the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation database was used to validate for 1979–1993 on monthly to interannual scales. Over Europe, ERA15 better matched observations at both timescales, owing mainly to better precipitation fields in ERA15, while in the tropics both produced similarly accurate isotopic fields. The isotope analyses diagnose accuracy of two-dimensional water circulation fields in data sets with a particular focus on precipitation processes but in a slightly different manner over middle and high latitudes than over low latitudes: Analyses were more severe over the former regions.


The paper proposes a self-learning evolutionary multi-agent system for distribution network reconfiguration. The network reconfiguration is modeled as a multi-objective combinational optimization. An autonomous agent-entity cognizes the physical aspects as operational states of the local substation, the agent-entities establish relationship network based on the interactions to provide service. Multiple objectives are considered for load balancing among the feeders, minimum deviation of the nodes voltage, minimize the power loss and branch current constraint violation. These objectives are modeled with fuzzy sets to evaluate their imprecise nature and one can provide the anticipated value of each objective. The method completes the network reconfiguration based on the negotiation of autonomous agent-entities. Simulation results demonstrated that the proposed method is effective in improving performance. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/telkomnika.v11i2.1997


While many books describe the theory behind Voice over IP, only Practical VoIP Using VOCAL describes how such a phone system was actually built, and how you too can acquire the source code, install it onto a system, connect phones, and make calls.VOCAL (the Vovida Open Communication Application Library) is an open source software project that provides call control, routing, media, policy, billing information and provisioning on a system that can range from a single box in a lab with a few test phones to a large, multi-host carrier grade network supporting hundreds of thousands of users. VOCAL is freely available from the Cisco Systems-sponsored Vovida.org community web site (www.vovida.org).A Silicon Valley start-up called Vovida Networks, Inc (think of VOice, VIdeo, DAta) created VOCAL and invested over one hundred man years into its development. Since Cisco acquired Vovida in 2000, individuals representing every significant telecom company and service provider in the world have downloaded the source code. Today, more and more people are successfully building VOCAL into professional solutions, while contributing fixes and new functionality back to Vovida.org.Because VOCAL is open source, you can look "under the hood" to the base code and protocol stack levels and discover not only how the system works, but also how common problems are being worked out in the development environment. We're hoping that you will be inspired to take this system to another level by implementing a feature or functionality that no one has thought of before.Written by a team from Vovida Networks, Practical VoIP Using VOCAL includes the following topicsInstalling and configuring VOCAL 1.4.0 onto a single host and onto a multi-host network with phones and gatewaysC++, C and Java architecture found within VOCALProvisioning a VoIP systemSIP (Session Initiation Protocol), SDP (Session Description Protocol) and RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) for call control and mediaTRIP (Telephony Routing over IP), DNS SRV and ENUM for routingMGCP (Media Gateway Control Protocol) and H.323 for call control and translation into SIPCOPS (Common Open Policy Service), OSP (Open Settlement Protocol) and RSVP (Reservation Protocol) for policy and Quality of ServiceRADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service) for interfacing with billing serversSNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)If you're interested in VoIP, this is the only book available that focuses on the real issues facing programmers and administrators who need to work with these technologies. :


TBIs are a leading cause of death and disability worldwide.
The incidence of TBI is highest in children and young adults.
TBI can result in significant impairment of an individual's physical, cognitive and psychosocial functioning.
The leading causes of TBI are motor vehicle accidents, violence, falls, being hit by falling debris and pedestrian vehicle accidents .
Fast, effective medical care is required after a TBI in order to prevent secondary brain injuries and long-term complications.
Signs and symptoms of TBI may only appear days or even weeks after the initial injury.
Accurate and objective assessment of a patient's functioning after a TBI is essential in predicting outcome and justifying the need for rehabilitation after injury.


Portfolio Theory has during many decades been considered as the holy grail of investment despite the fact that very few empirical studies in the public domain have shown that portfolio theory outperforms a random equal weighted portfolio. We will in this paper empirically investigate how successful portfolio theory is when it comes to generating large positive returns with low return volatility. The dataset that is used consists of approximately 4000 US stocks. We find weak support that portfolio theory by itself would have generated any returns different than a random portfolio allocation. In general optimized historical cumulative returns are not the same as forward cumulative returns.


Background: In the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) study, atorvastatin 80 mg/day reduced the risk of stroke in patients with recent stroke or TIA. Post hoc analysis found this overall benefit included an increase in the numbers of treated patients having hemorrhagic stroke (n = 55 for active treatment vs n = 33 for placebo). Methods: We explored the relationships between hemorrhage risk and treatment, baseline patient characteristics, most recent blood pressure, and most recent low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels prior to the hemorrhage. Results: Of 4,731 patients, 67% had ischemic strokes, 31% TIAs, and 2% hemorrhagic strokes as entry events. In addition to atorvastatin treatment (HR 1.68, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.59, p = 0.02), Cox multivariable regression including baseline variables significant in univariable analyses showed that hemorrhagic stroke risk was higher in those having a hemorrhagic stroke as the entry event (HR 5.65, 95% CI 2.82 to 11.30, p < 0.001), in men (HR 1.79, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.84, p = 0.01), and with age (10y increments, HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.74, p = 0.001). There were no statistical interactions between these factors and treatment. Multivariable analyses also found that having Stage 2 (JNC-7) hypertension at the last study visit before a hemorrhagic stroke increased risk (HR 6.19, 95% CI 1.47 to 26.11, p = 0.01), but there was no effect of most recent LDL-cholesterol level in those treated with atorvastatin. Conclusions: Hemorrhagic stroke was more frequent in those treated with atorvastatin, in those with a hemorrhagic stroke as an entry event, in men, and increased with age. Those with Stage 2 hypertension at the last visit prior to the hemorrhagic stroke were also at increased risk. Treatment did not disproportionately affect the hemorrhagic stroke risk associated with these other factors. There were no relationships between hemorrhage risk and baseline low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol level or recent LDL cholesterol level in treated patients.


CONTEXT
Computerized neuropsychological testing is commonly used in the assessment and management of sport-related concussion. Even though computerized testing is widespread, psychometric evidence for test-retest reliability is somewhat limited. Additional evidence for test-retest reliability is needed to optimize clinical decision making after concussion.

OBJECTIVE
To document test-retest reliability for a commercially available computerized neuropsychological test battery (ImPACT) using 2 different clinically relevant time intervals.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.

SETTING
Two research laboratories.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS
Group 1 (n = 46) consisted of 25 men and 21 women (age = 22.4 ± 1.89 years). Group 2 (n = 45) consisted of 17 men and 28 women (age = 20.9 ± 1.72 years).

INTERVENTION(S)
Both groups completed ImPACT forms 1, 2, and 3, which were delivered sequentially either at 1-week intervals (group 1) or at baseline, day 45, and day 50 (group 2). Group 2 also completed the Green Word Memory Test (WMT) as a measure of effort.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated for the composite scores of ImPACT between time points. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate changes in ImPACT and WMT results over time.

RESULTS
The ICC values for group 1 ranged from 0.26 to 0.88 for the 4 ImPACT composite scores. The ICC values for group 2 ranged from 0.37 to 0.76. In group 1, ImPACT classified 37.0% and 46.0% of healthy participants as impaired at time points 2 and 3, respectively. In group 2, ImPACT classified 22.2% and 28.9% of healthy participants as impaired at time points 2 and 3, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
We found variable test-retest reliability for ImPACT metrics. Visual motor speed and reaction time demonstrated greater reliability than verbal and visual memory. Our current data support a multifaceted approach to concussion assessment using clinical examinations, symptom reports, cognitive testing, and balance assessment.


Abstract Magnetite is a particularly favourable site for heterogeneous bubble nucleation in magma and yet only very rarely is evidence for this preserved due to the myriad of processes that act to overprint such an association. The possibility of bubble-magnetite aggregates in magmas carries with it interesting implications for the fluid mechanics of magma bodies and for the magma mixing process responsible for the formation of andesites. We use image analysis and statistical methods to illustrate a spatial association between magnetite and bubbles in mafic enclaves. There is a large range in magnetite contents in the enclaves (up to 7.5%) which is related to the porosity of the enclaves, indicating a mechanism of enrichment of the mafic magma in magnetite. In the andesite there is no spatial association between bubbles and magnetite and the magnetite content of the andesite is small. We suggest a mechanism for enclave formation whereby in vapour-saturated magma, bubbles nucleate on magnetite. Upon intrusion into the base of an andesite magma body, these bubble-magnetite aggregates rise and 'sweep up' other magnetites, resulting in the accumulation of aggregates at the magma interface. Instabilities lead to the flotation of enclaves, characterized by enrichment in magnetite and bubbles.


Abstract. The seasonal variability of the water masses and transport in the Malta Channel and proximity of the Maltese Islands have been simulated by a high resolution (1.6 km horizontal grid on average, 15 vertical sigma layers) eddy resolving primitive equation shelf model (ROSARIO-I). The numerical simulation was run with climatological forcing and includes thermohaline dynamics with a turbulence scheme for the vertical mixing coefficients on the basis of the Princeton Ocean Model (POM). The model has been coupled by one-way nesting along three lateral boundaries (east, south and west) to an intermediate coarser resolution model (5 km) implemented over the Sicilian Channel area. The fields at the open boundaries and the atmospheric forcing at the air-sea interface were applied on a repeating "perpetual" year climatological cycle. The ability of the model to reproduce a realistic circulation of the Sicilian-Maltese shelf area has been demonstrated. The skill of the nesting procedure was tested by model-modelc omparisons showing that the major features of the coarse model flow field can be reproduced by the fine model with additional eddy space scale components. The numerical results included upwelling, mainly in summer and early autumn, along the southern coasts of Sicily and Malta; a strong eastward shelf surface flow along shore to Sicily, forming part of the Atlantic Ionian Stream, with a presence throughout the year and with significant seasonal modulation, and a westward winter intensified flow of LIW centered at a depth of around 280 m under the shelf break to the south of Malta. The seasonal variability in the thermohaline structure of the domain and the associated large-scale flow structures can be related to the current knowledge on the observed hydrography of the area. The level of mesoscale resolution achieved by the model allowed the spatial and temporal evolution of the changing flow patterns, triggered by internal dynamics, to be followed in detail. This modelling effort has initiated the treatment of the open boundary conditions problem in view of the future implementation of shelf-scale real-time ocean forecasting through the sequential nesting of a hierarchy of successively embedded model domains for the downscaling of the hydrodynamics from the coarse grid Ocean General Circulation Model of the whole Mediterranean Sea to finer grids in coastal areas. Key words. Oceanography: general (continental shelf processes; numerical modelling) Oceanography: physical (general circulation)


The project uses results of temperature measurements in shallow boreholes to determine the geothermal gradients for a selected set of wells in Georgia. The hydrothermal flow in the Caucasus region driven by ongoing tectonic activities causes a varying temperature field that impedes determination of stable temperature gradients. Conventional temperature logging provides only a snapshot of the temperature distribution in a well. Therefore, the methodology adopted in this study is based on continuous stationary measurements with up to eight temperature sensors fixed at different depths in the wells. Temperature measurements have been performed in 14 wells using thermometers with resolving power of 0.01 K. The temperature field was recorded during periods ranging from 16 hours to 4 days. This practice of measurements enabled detection of thermal effects of fluid flows within the selected set of boreholes. Considering the 14 wells that were selected for this study, eight showed signs of stability in temperature increase versus depth and the remaining seven wells revealed signs of instability due subsurface fluid flows.


Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction: A Conversation on Nineteenth-Century American Women's Writing: Karen Kilcup. "Not in the Least American": Nineteenth-Century Literary Regionalism as UnAmerican Literature: Judith Fetterley (University at Albany, SUNY). Living With Difference: Nineteenth-Century Southern Women Writers: Nancy A. Walker (Vanderbilt University). Western Biodiversity: Rereading Nineteenth-Century American Women's Writing: Melody Graulich (University of New Hampshire). "A Tolerance For Contradictions": The Short Stories of Maria Cristina Mena: Tiffany Ana L pez (University of California, Riverside). Early Native American Women Authors: Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, Sarah Winnemucca, S. Alice Callahan, E. Pauline Johnson, and Zitkala-a: A. LaVonne Brown Ruoff (University of Illinois, Chicago). Nature, Nurture, and Nationalism: "A Faded Leaf of History": Jean Pfaelzer (University of Delaware). Crippled Girls and Lame Old Women: Sentimental Spectacles of Sympathy in Nineteenth-Century American Women's Writing: Rosemarie Garland Thomson (Howard University). Fracturing Gender: Women's Economic Independence: Joyce Warren (Queens College, CUNY). "To Labor... And Fight on the Side of God": Spirit, Class, and Nineteenth-Century African-American Women's Literature: Barbara McCaskill (University of Georgia). "Essays of Invention": Transformations of Advice in Nineteenth-Century American Women's Writing: Karen L. Kilcup (University of North Carolina, Greensboro). Inventing a Feminist Discourse: Rhetoric and Resistance in Margaret Fuller's Women In The Nineteenth Century: Annette Kolodny (University of Arizonia). Nineteenth-Century American Women Poets Revisited: Cheryl Walker (Scripps College). Contributors. Index.


Author(s): Borgman, Christine L. | Abstract: Everybody talks about the weather but noone does anything about it. Similarly, everybody talks about open data, but few can do anything about it. "Open," "data," and "open data" each incorporate a plethora of concepts that vary by domain, context, and stakeholder. Scientists, software developers, librarians, data scientists, policy makers, and prospective data users often bring different conceptions to the discussion. The lack of agreement on meanings of "open data," much less on the associated value, processes, and mechanisms, has stymied progress in practice and in policy. Rather than assuming that a single definition is possible or desirable, this panel session will compare approaches to open data across domains and across stakeholder perspectives. We bring together empirical studies of data practices in earth and geo-sciences, microbiology, biomedicine, astronomy, and climate modeling to explore questions about the value, risks, costs, benefits, behaviors, and processes associated with open data. Speakers are drawn from the Center for Knowledge Infrastructures at UCLA, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in Boulder, Colorado, and the Research Data Alliance (RDA). Each speaker will address a common set of questions, drawing upon research conducted at a distributed, multi-disciplinary site. These questions include: · What perspective do you bring to open data in this domain? Creator, user, manager, observer, re-user, steward, policy maker, or other role?· What are these data and how are they used in science?· Who are the stakeholders in these data?· What is the scale of these data, in terms of volume, complexity, temporality, rates of change, and other factors?· What are the characteristics of data release in this community?· What are the characteristics of data reuse in this community?· What data are considered "open," and how do notions of openness vary among the stakeholders in this community? Christine Borgman, who directs the Center for Knowledge Infrastructures at UCLA, will present framing remarks and moderate the panel. Irene Pasquetto, UCLA, will report findings from FaceBase, an NIH-funded collaboration to share data in craniofacial research. She will discuss how perspectives on open data in this community vary between scientists, computer scientists developing a sharing hub, and potential users. Also from UCLA, Ashley Sands will report on SDSS and LSST, two major astronomy sky surveys, with respect to how openness has evolved over the course of several decades. From NCAR, Matthew Mayernik presents a data professional's perspective on how openness is manifested in different meteorological and atmospheric data repositories. Mark Parsons, RDA, will discuss how arctic data services evolved over multiple decades within the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) as the array of stakeholders with interest in arctic data has expanded and uses of the data have become politically, as well as scientifically, contentious. After a 5-minute overview by Prof. Borgman, these five speakers will make 8 to 10-minute presentations, leaving 45 minutes for discussion with the audience.PapersThis session has 4 papers.Open Data and Accountability - Matthew MayernikExpanding access and use of Arctic data in response to changing needs and events - Parsons MarkOpen Data in Astronomy Sky Surveys - Ashley E. Sands, Christine L. BorgmanMaking "Open Data" Work: Challenges for Data Integration in Genomics Research - Irene V. PasquettoPostersThis session has 1 posters.ALOS-PALSAR Access From Restricted to Open: A Demonstration of the Impact on Data Use of a Data Policy Change - Vicky G Wolf


Traditional extensions of the binary support vector machine (SVM) to multiclass problems are either heuristics or require solving a large dual optimization problem. Here, a generalized multiclass SVM is proposed called GenSVM. In this method classification boundaries for a K-class problem are constructed in a (K - 1)-dimensional space using a simplex encoding. Additionally, several different weightings of the misclassification errors are incorporated in the loss function, such that it generalizes three existing multiclass SVMs through a single optimization problem. An iterative majorization algorithm is derived that solves the optimization problem without the need of a dual formulation. This algorithm has the advantage that it can use warm starts during cross validation and during a grid search, which significantly speeds up the training phase. Rigorous numerical experiments compare linear GenSVM with seven existing multiclass SVMs on both small and large data sets. These comparisons show that the proposed method is competitive with existing methods in both predictive accuracy and training time, and that it significantly outperforms several existing methods on these criteria.


In response to numerous suggestions with the research community that boreal forests should be targeted for analyses of potential ecosystem response to impending major changes in climate and atmospheric composition, a task-force meeting for research-planning purposes was held at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in August 1987. Participants discussed objectives for an international collaborative research program on this subject, what the current state of knowledge is, what the relevant research questions are, and what research approaches should be developed to address these questions. This report summarizes the workshop discussions, and presents synopses of working-group discussions on the following types of investigations: (a) historical responses of boreal-forest stands to changing climate and atmosphere using correlational data analyses; (b) response of boreal ecosystems to warm and enhanced-CO2 environments using physical field experiments; (c) response of boreal ecosystems to raised or lowered levels of soil moisture using physical field experiments; (d) long-term behavior of boreal-forest stands in the face of changing atmosphere and climate using measurements from permanent plots; (e) development of comprehensive databases on ecological characteristics of boreal forests and silvical characteristics of boreal-forest tree species based on literature reviews and data syntheses; (f) response and sensitivity of boreal-forest stands and landscapes to changing atmospheric and climatic conditions using simulation models; and (g) response of regional boreal forests to changing climate and atmosphere in the context of forest management using simulation models and policy exercises.

The research themes outlined above cover a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. As well, they cover a wide range of organization, from the organism through populations and communities to ecosystems (indeed, ecosystems including socio-economic subsystems). It is concluded that the various studies can benefit immensely from careful coordination that helps each study anchor its process mechanisms in lower hierarchical levels, and find its significance at higher levels. The coordination would also prevent wasteful duplication of effort in different countries where boreal forests exist, and would assist groups of researchers to benefit from (a) regular contact for exchange of data and information that would not normally be available through regular channels of dissemination, and (b) collaborative research arrangements for expensive, long-term, broad-scale projects that otherwise would probably not be possible.


The contribution in this paper is to consider distributed quasi orthogonal space-time block coding (D-QO-STBC) for two-way (TW) wireless relay networks. In particular we exploit a two time slot protocol and both open-loop and closed-loop D-QO-STBC with full cooperative diversity. In the open-loop approach constellation rotation is exploited to improve performance, whereas two feedback terms are used in the closed-loop schemes. Our end-to-end bit error rate simulations show that TW closed-loop D-QO-STBC and rotated open-loop D-QO-STBC are approximately 8 dB and 7.5 dB better than the distributed Alamouti TW approach at 10−4 bit error rate (BER), which confirms the advantage of four relay schemes in relay networks.


It is a commonplace that the modern world cannot be experienced as enchanted--that the very concept of enchantment belongs to past ages of superstition. Jane Bennett challenges that view. She seeks to rehabilitate enchantment, showing not only how it is still possible to experience genuine wonder, but how such experience is crucial to motivating ethical behavior. A creative blend of political theory, philosophy, and literary studies, this book is a powerful and innovative contribution to an emerging interdisciplinary conversation about the deep connections between ethics, aesthetics, and politics. As Bennett describes it, enchantment is a sense of openness to the unusual, the captivating, and the disturbing in everyday life. She guides us through a wide and often surprising range of sources of enchantment, showing that we can still find enchantment in nature, for example, but also in such unexpected places as modern technology, advertising, and even bureaucracy. She then explains how everyday moments of enchantment can be cultivated to build an ethics of generosity, stimulating the emotional energy and honing the perceptual refinement necessary to follow moral codes. Throughout, Bennett draws on thinkers and writers as diverse as Kant, Schiller, Thoreau, Kafka, Marx, Weber, Adorno, and Deleuze. With its range and daring, The Enchantment of Modern Life is a provocative challenge to the centuries-old "narrative of disenchantment," one that presents a new "alter-tale" that discloses our profound attachment to the human and nonhuman world.


The most popular method used in traditional power system state estimation is the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE). It assumes the state of the system is a set of deterministic variables and determines the most likely state via error included interval measurements. In the distribution system, the measurements are often too sparse to fulfill the system observability. Instead of introducing pseudo-measurements, we propose a Belief Propagation (BP) based distribution system state estimator. This new approach assumes that the system state is a set of stochastic variables. With a set of prior distributions, it calculates the posterior distributions of the state variables via real-time sparse measurements from both traditional measurements and the high resolution smart metering data. In this paper we discuss the step-by-step method of applying the BP algorithm on the distribution system state estimation problem. Our approach provides a seamless connection from the monitoring of transmission system to the feeder circuit, thus filling in the gap between the traditional energy management system (EMS) and the micro-grid customer level optimization. Furthermore, the proposed state estimator can not only be applied to the multi-level electrical coupled grid, but also accommodate the spatial-temporal model for the correlated distributed renewable energy resources. It provides a way of integrating the distributed renew able energy management system into the Smart-Grid Distribution Management System (DMS) and automated substations.


During Egg Safety Action Plan hearings in Washington, DC, many questions were raised concerning the egg temperature (T) used in the risk assessment model. Therefore, a national study was initiated to determine the T of eggs from oviposition through distribution. In part 1; researchers gathered data on internal and surface egg T from commercial egg production facilities. An infrared thermometer was used to rapidly measure surface T, and internal T was determined by probing individual eggs. The main effects were geographic region (state) and season evaluated in a factorial design. Egg T data were recorded in the production facilities in standardized comparisons. Regression analysis (P < 0.0001) showed that the R(2) (0.952) between infrared egg surface T and internal T was very high, and validated further use of the infrared thermometer. Hen house egg surface and internal T were significantly influenced by state, season, and the state x season interaction. Mean hen house egg surface T was 27.3 and 23.8 degrees C for summer and winter, respectively, with 29.2 and 26.2 degrees C for egg internal T (P < 0.0001). Hen house eggs from California had the lowest surface and internal T in winter among all the states (P < 0.0001), whereas the highest egg surface T were recorded during summer in North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas, and the highest internal T were recorded from Texas and Georgia. Cooling of warm eggs following oviposition was significantly influenced by season, state, and their interaction. Egg internal T when 3/4 cool was higher in summer vs. winter and higher in North Carolina and Pennsylvania compared with Iowa. The time required to 3/4 cool eggs was greater in winter than summer and greater in Iowa than in other states. These findings showed seasonal and state impacts on ambient T in the hen house that ultimately influenced egg surface and internal T. More important, they showed opportunities to influence cooling rate to improve internal and microbial egg quality.


A significant number of –mostly Western European– countries have recently newly introduced citizenship tests or have added stricter requirements of civic knowledge to previously existing language tests. This working paper collects the contributions to a EUDO-CITIZENSHIP forum debate on whether such tests can be defended from a liberal perspective. The question: 'How liberal are citizenship tests?' can be interpreted in two ways: as a question whether applicants for naturalisation should be tested at all, or as a question about specific modes, contents and consequences of such tests that may make them either liberal or illiberal. In his kickoff contribution, Christian Joppke suggests an answer in line with the second interpretation by focusing on modes and contents. In his view, citizenship tests are defensible if applicants have reasonable opportunities to prepare for them and if questions are not inquisitive about individuals values and beliefs. Other authors claim instead that the most problematic feature of citizenship tests is the intention or effect of raising hurdles for naturalisation among long-term resident immigrants. Joseph Carens defends the view that 'the most liberal citizenship test is none at all'. Ten authors have contributed to this lively and controversial debate, which concludes with a rejoinder by Christian Joppke.


Background Case reports suggest a potential association between coeliac disease (CD) and uveitis, but larger well-controlled studies are lacking. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the risk of uveitis in patients with biopsy-verified CD. Methods Small intestinal biopsy reports performed between July 1969 and February 2008 were collected from all (n=28) pathology departments in Sweden. From these reports, 29 044 patients with CD (equals villous atrophy, Marsh 3) were identified. Uveitis was defined according to relevant International Classification of Disease codes in the Swedish National Patient Register. Cox regression was used to estimate HR for uveitis in individuals with CD compared with those in reference individuals matched for age, sex, county and calendar year. Results During follow-up, 148 patients with CD developed uveitis (expected count 112), corresponding to a HR of 1.32 (95% CI 1.10 to 1.58). The absolute risk of uveitis was 50/100 000 person-years in CD. The risk estimate did not change more than marginally when adjusted for type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune thyroid disease (HR 1.30; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.56). The risk of uveitis remained significantly increased even 5 years after CD diagnosis (HR 1.31; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.64). Conclusion A moderately increased risk of uveitis was found in patients with biopsy-verified CD. CD might be considered in patients with uveitis of unknown aetiology.


Folding screens are luxuriously beautiful and uniquely designed pictorial compositions that present the social and cultural ideals of their time. Golden Fantasies assembles superb examples of folding screens, many from private New York collections and previously unseen by the public. The works in this exhibition fall into three broad categories: works drawn from well-known narratives, both classical courtly romances and medieval warrior epics; idealized scenes of entertainment, relaxation, pilgrimage, or labor; and pastoral images that require the viewer's knowledge of cultural characteristics to recognize the underlying theme. Although the screens vary in their subject matter and use, their portrayal of human activities and diversions provides a common thread. In some screens, scenes of people are depicted in a literal fashion; in others, more oblique suggestions are made through poetic and literary allusions.

The screens range in date from the mid-sixteenth century through the late seventeenth century, a period of increasing trade, commerce, and urbanization in Japan. Screens, which had formerly been the exclusive purview of the aristocracy and the military elite, became desirable objects for the homes of the rising merchant class at this time. The early seventeenth century also saw an end to a long period of civil war, after which the warrior class settled down in the cities. Fueled by this changing social climate, new themes became popular for screen paintings, reflecting an interest in other city-dwellers and their lives, a fantasy of escape from the urban world, and a desire to demonstrate cultural achievement.


Irrigation scheduling programs were developed for cabbage and zucchini squash that produced high yield and water-use efficiency with a minimum number of irrigations. The irrigation programs are based on a soil water balance model developed by the USDA. The procedure involved selecting irrigation programs developed for similar crops and using them as standards for cabbage and zucchini for three growing seasons. The treatments involved irrigation levels higher and lower than the standard. After the third year, the best treatment for each year was selected. Coefficients for the standard model then were adjusted by trial and error to produce a program that called for the same number of irrigations and the same amount of water as the best-performing treatment when using the same weather data. These revised programs for cabbage and zucchini squash are available on computer disks and may be used on any IBM compatible PC provided wind, temperature, solar radiation, humidity, and precipitation data are available,


Microplate reader assays offer several advantages over conventional spectrophotometric assays. We adapted the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) enzyme inhibition assay for use in a 96-well microplate reader to measure plasma methotrexate (MTX) concentrations. The assay is linear from 0.01 to 0.1 micromol/L. The within-run CVs at 0.03 micromol/L and 0.08 micromol/L MTX were 4.0% and 2.7%, respectively, and the interday (total) CVs were 7.6% and 1.8%. Cross-reactivity with the inactive MTX metabolite 2, 4-diamino-N10-methylpteroic acid (DAMPA) was 3.9%, significantly less than that described with commercial immunoassays; with 7-hydroxymethotrexate cross-reactivity was 1.7%. In addition to sensitivity and specificity, the advantages of this assay are small sample volumes, simultaneous analysis of multiple samples, and rapid turnaround. Because of its greater specificity, the DHFR enzyme inhibition assay may be useful when DAMPA is present in plasma samples and HPLC is not available.


The full knowledge of the state of stress in the earth' s crust is indispensable for earthquake prediction research. Today, the crustal stress is measured only intermittently at limited sites by several methods, but not continuously. There are some difficulties in measuring the crustal stress (and not strain) continuously and monitoring its variation with time. The main reason is the fundamental lack of any effective method, because we have to know quantitatively the anisotropic deformation of the measuring device due to anisotropic crustal stress. A comment is presented on a proposed method for continuous stress measurement by a stress meter composed of a disk-shaped pressure vessel filled with liquid.


The role of the bystander is one which has received only a small portion of the research attention that has been paid to workplace bullying. This paper will argue that bystanders are not just incidental but are an integral part of the context of bullying. Drawing on qualitative data from two separate studies, a typology is presented which outlines thirteen potential roles bystanders can take. This typology can be employed as an awareness-raising tool to encourage individuals to examine their own behaviour in a range of situations, and to acknowledge that their actions, either deliberate or inadvertent, can contribute to outcomes of events which may be classified as bullying. It also provides a foundation for further research into bystanders in workplace bullying.


Purpose: The aim of the article was to examine the impact of Integrated Territorial Investments on the development of cooperation between municipalities belonging to the Bialystok Functional Area. Design/Approach: The study was conducted by quantitative methods. As part of the research procedure, documentation of the Bialystok Functional Area was included. The process of creating the area and allocating European funds was presented. The impact of funds on the functioning of the area was examined. Analytical data are presented using tables and maps by the local government units. Findings: The results of the study confirmed that changes in the policy and tools for financing functional areas in the form of integrated territorial investments have enabled the development of cooperation between neighboring territorial units. The level of integration of municipalities and residents has increased. Further cooperation is needed. Practical Implications: The analysis and its results confirm the need to finance the cooperation of neighbouring local government units. The results can be used to improve financial tools. Continued research, including extension to other functional areas, may allow to see the correctness and improvement of urban policy. Originality/Value: Due to the importance of these issues for the effective functioning of functional areas, including the Bialystok functional area, it is necessary to promote this approach. The article presents funding for integrated projects in both scientific and practical terms.


Many machine learning methods making use of Monte Carlo sampling in vector spaces have been shown to be improved by conditioning samples to be mutually orthogonal. Exact orthogonal coupling of samples is computationally intensive, hence approximate methods have been of great interest. In this paper, we present a unifying perspective of many approximate methods by considering Givens transformations, propose new approximate methods based on this framework, and demonstrate the first statistical guarantees for families of approximate methods in kernel approximation. We provide extensive empirical evaluations with guidance for practitioners.


This paper discusses an Athenian calyx krater whose style, shape, and inscription allow attribution to the Pantoxena Painter, a member of the Polygnotan workshop. I argue that the unusual scene on the obverse—with a wreathed, draped youth mounting a bema before Nikai and judges—provides the only known image of a rhapsode from the second half of the fifth century BC and joins the very small group of scenes that depict this contest at all. Given the similarity to images of kitharodes and victors in other mousikoi agones , the krater testifies to the continued prestige given rhapsodia in this period. Unfortunately, because the krater was looted from the tomb in Tarquinia where it was placed after export from Athens, its meaning for an Etruscan viewer is more difficult to evaluate. The lack of documentation and physical context means that only part of this vase9s biography can be recovered.


Acute diarrhea with severe dehydration has been a major worldwide cause of death in children younger than 5 years of age. Etiological studies of gastroenteritis have shown that rotavirus causes 40–50% of acute diarrhea among infants and children in both developing and developed nations. Numerous epidemiologic studies in the US and the World Health Organization have documented the clinical importance and high prevalence of severe rotavirus disease. The main aim of this review is to provide readers a snapshot of epidemiologic and clinical features of rotavirus diarrhea and identify epidemiologic patterns that would specifically define rotavirus disease based on studies done primarily by the CDC and Rotavirus Surveillance Network. Every year, rotavirus causes 111million episodes of gastroenteritis in three clinical settings (mild cases requiring home care, clinic visit in moderate cases, and hospitalization for severe cases). Regarding high frequency of rotavirus infection among children aged <5 years old, development of rotavirus vaccines and prevention programs will reduce the morbidity of Rotavirus diseases that will require betterquality surveillance of rotavirus disease burden among children worldwide.


Sally has a list of 10 items she needs to buy. Open the flaps to see inside the shops, where unusual things are going on. Should those wild animals be upstairs in the pet shop? Will the plates fall off the wall in Mr Cooper's China Shop? And can Sally find everything on her list? Each shop is depicted through this charming story in Alice Melvin's trademark, highly detailed illustrations, that both hark back to a previous age and remain strongly contemporary.


This article presents the results of a corpus investigation into the phenomenon of non-iconic chronology, which is understood here as the reversal of natural order of events at the textual micro-level, e.g. 'I conquered after I came and saw' as opposed to the well-known example of iconic order 'I came, I saw, I conquered'. Although the general implications of chronological, or temporal, iconicity were widely discussed as early as the 1980s, little is known so far about how frequently non-iconic chronology occurs in real (rather than constructed) narrative texts, what sorts of text tend to be more temporally iconic or less temporally iconic, and what syntactic structures (coordinate or subordinate with particular temporal conjunctions) are most typically used to depict sequential events in a reversed textual order. An answer to these questions is attempted here on the basis of some 150 English literary texts.


Enchenopa binotata is a complex of six treehopper species that have diverged along host plant lines. When females were forced to oviposit on "adopted" host plants, few eggs were deposited. Fewer eggs hatched on "adopted" hosts and those that did hatch did so in response to the phenology of the "adopted" host. Mortality of nymphs on "adopted" hosts was substantially higher than on native hosts. These and other data support a sympatric model of speciation through shifts in host plants.


As marching into the digital era, many people in different sectors are quite keen to understand why this has happened. They hope to obtain basic principles about digital signals and associated digital systems. Instead of targeting advanced or expert level, they often hope to grasp the subject as efficient and effective as possible without undertaking impossible task under usually limited time and effort available. This book is written for those beginners who want to gain an overview of the topic, understand the basic methods and know how to deal with basic digital signals and systems


(2003) Cochrane Database Syst Rev 1, CD004026. Marshall M, Crowther R, Almaraz-Serrano A, et al. . Day hospital versus admission for acute psychiatric disorders. . ; . ( . ) . : . (latest version 19 Nov 2002) .

 QUESTION: Is day hospital more effective and less costly than inpatient care for patients with acute psychiatric disorders?

Studies were identified by searching the Cochrane Library (Issue 4, 2000), Medline (1966–2000), CINAHL (1982–2000), EMBASE/Excerpta Medica (1980–2000), PsycLIT (1967–2000), and bibliographies of relevant articles. Researchers were contacted to identify unpublished studies.

Randomised controlled trials that compared acute psychiatric day hospital with standard inpatient care for patients with acute psychiatric disorders (all diagnoses) were selected. Studies were excluded if most participants were 65 years of age, or if participants had substance abuse or organic brain disorder.

Data were extracted on study quality, patients, feasibility of day hospital treatment, extent of hospital care, clinical and social outcomes, and costs of care.

9 trials (n=1568) met the selection criteria. Follow up duration ranged from …


The wavelet representation of a signal offers greater flexibility in de-noising astronomical spectra than classical Fourier smoothing due to the additional wavelength resolution of the decomposed signal. We present here a new wavelet-based approach to noise reduction. It is similar to an application of the splitting algorithm of a wavelet packets analysis using non-orthogonal wavelets. It clearly separates the signal from the noise, in particular also at the noise-dominated highest frequencies. This allows a better suppression of the noise, so that the spectrum de-noised in this manner provides a closer approximation of the uncorrupted signal than in the case of a single wavelet transformation or a Fourier transform. We test this method on intensity and circularly polarized spectra of the sun and compare with Fourier and other wavelet-based de-noising algorithms. Our technique is found to give better results than any other tested de-noising algorithm. It is shown to be particularly successful in recovering weak signals that are practically drowned by the noise.


Integrated Circuits (ICs) are widely used in all applications and industries like smart cards, cell phones, set-top boxes, automobiles, avionics, space exploration and bio-instrumentation, to name a few. Traditional IC design flows and architectural synthesis techniques have been developed primarily for area, power and performance optimization. In recent years, as we move into the nanometer semiconductor process era, the ability to integrate large and complex applications on a single semiconductor die coupled with the all pervasive nature of the technology and its impact on our daily lives, have brought into prominence two important IC optimization constraints: Security and Correctness.
In this thesis, we have developed novel architectural synthesis techniques at cell-level, circuit-level and algorithmic-level, in a hierarchical standard-cell-based IC design framework, to design correct and secure ICs. Formulation as a hierarchical framework allows efficient partitioning of the design problem into several clearly-defined design steps at various levels of abstractions, with a clear understanding of each design step and ability to incorporate the requirements of subsequent design steps. Furthermore, unlike naive security-centric IC design flows where security and IC implementation constraints (area, power and performance) are typically considered as orthogonal and often conflicting optimization goals, in this thesis, we developed a novel paradigm that could be used to simultaneously optimize security as well as IC implementation constraints (area and power), at various hierarchical levels of IC design. Together, these architectural synthesis techniques fit well in today's highly productive modular IC design flows, and thus efficiently design correct and secure ICs.


The couplings between supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) and their environments within galactic nuclei have been well studied as part of the search for solutions to the final parsec problem. The scattering of stars by the binary or the interaction with a circumbinary disk may efficiently drive the system to sub-parsec separations, allowing the binary to enter a regime where the emission of gravitational waves can drive it to merger within a Hubble time. However, these interactions can also affect the orbital parameters of the binary. In particular, they may drive an increase in binary eccentricity which survives until the system's gravitational-wave (GW) signal enters the pulsar-timing array (PTA) band. Therefore, if we can measure the eccentricity from observed signals, we can potentially deduce some of the properties of the binary environment. To this end, we build on previous techniques to present a general Bayesian pipeline with which we can detect and estimate the parameters of an eccentric SMBHB system with PTAs. Additionally, we generalize the PTA  e ?> -statistic to eccentric systems, and show that both this statistic and the Bayesian pipeline are robust when studying circular or arbitrarily eccentric systems. We explore how eccentricity influences the detection prospects of single GW sources, as well as the detection penalty incurred by employing a circular waveform template to search for eccentric signals, and conclude by identifying important avenues for future study.


Holographic optical coherence imaging is a full-frame variant of coherence-domain imaging. An optoelectronic semiconductor holographic film functions as a coherence filter placed before a conventional digital video camera that passes coherent (structure-bearing) light to the camera during holographic readout while preferentially rejecting scattered light. The data are acquired as a succession of en face images at increasing depth inside the sample in a fly-through acquisition. The samples of living tissue were rat osteogenic sarcoma multicellular tumor spheroids that were grown from a single osteoblast cell line in a bioreactor. Tumor spheroids are nearly spherical and have radial symmetry, presenting a simple geometry for analysis. The tumors investigated ranged in diameter from several hundred micrometers to over 1 mm. Holographic features from the tumors were observed in reflection to depths of 500-600 microm with a total tissue path length of approximately 14 mean free paths. The volumetric data from the tumor spheroids reveal heterogeneous structure, presumably caused by necrosis and microcalcifications characteristic of some human avascular tumors.