What is needed for an analysis of the existing approaches to qualitative spatial reasoning and for a deeper understanding of the domain of space is a unifying theory that explains all of the concepts used for the representation of the different aspects of space by some primitive but well understood relations. In order to provide such primitive relations it will be shown that the concepts used in the existing approaches can be explained by simple order relations between points on some low-dimensional structures. One of the properties of an order relation is transitivity. It will be shown that this property alone is sufficient to explain all the inferences described in the various approaches to qualitative spatial reasoning.


Foreign clasts (xenoliths) in meteoritic breccias are a serendipitous source of information about the impact environment in which their hosts formed, including impactor flux and cosmochemical types. These parameters may be related to timing and/or heliocentric distance of xenolith origin and implantation, and thus can be used to test or inform models of early solar system dynamics. We use xenoliths in ordinary chondrites (OCs) and ureilites to do this. We first conducted a petrologic and oxygen isotope study of a new, cm‐sized igneous‐textured clast in L3.7 Northwest Africa (NWA) 092, which highlighted some of the difficulties of identifying xenoliths in meteorites. Results indicate that this clast is not a xenolith but an impact melt of non‐local OC material. We add this result to a literature survey of more than 3000 OCs and find that the fraction of OCs that contain xenoliths is <<1%, and, even in these, the abundance and the diversity of xenoliths are very low. This contrasts markedly with the ureilites, ˜5% of which contain ˜1–10 vol% xenoliths from every major meteorite class, including multiple groups and petrologic types. To investigate reasons for this difference, we compare the histories of OC and ureilite parent bodies. The OC and ureilitic parent bodies accreted in the inner solar system within ˜1 AU of one another. The OC bodies accreted ˜2–3 Myr after calcium‐aluminum‐rich inclusion (CAI) formation and were heated slowly, experiencing thermal metamorphism over ˜50–60 Myr. The ureilite parent body (UPB) accreted <1 Myr after CAIs and was heated rapidly, experiencing partial melting over ˜4 Myr. Both OC parent bodies and the UPB were catastrophically disrupted and reassembled into rubble piles. For ureilites, this occurred ˜5.0–5.4 Ma after CAIs, while for OCs, it did not occur until 50–60 Myr after CAIs. Xenoliths in OC and ureilitic breccias were acquired as fragments of impactors on the rubble piles. The presence in polymict ureilites of xenoliths of all OC groups (H, L, LL) and petrologic types (3–6), and the intimate scale on which these and myriad other xenolith types are mixed, indicate that most xenoliths were acquired within a short time period around ˜50–60 Myr after CAIs when OC (likely also Rumuruti chondrite and enstatite chondrite) parent bodies were disrupted. This timing is consistent with the early instability dynamical model for a period of excitation in the asteroid belt. Outer solar system (CC) xenoliths were also acquired during this period, but were derived indirectly from C‐type bodies that had already been emplaced in orbits in the asteroid belt. The large discrepancy in xenolith abundance between ureilites and OC may be due to different physical properties of their regoliths at 50–60 Myr after CAIs. CC‐like xenoliths in OC may represent a different, more recently acquired, population than those in polymict ureilites.


The thesis contains six chapters, with this Introduction being the first.
The second describes the existing arrangements for transport funding which
apply to the State government in South Australia. All modes and both urban
and rural expenditure are included in the description. The accounts of
authorities and departments are such that it is difficult to dissect
expenditures and revenues for the parts considered in this thesis.
An estimate is made indicating that urban arterial roads and urban public
transport services account for approximately 50% of State government
transport expenditure.
The third chapter is a review of relevant literature. The pricing and
investment models are taken from the literature (with same modification)
and applied in Adelaide. The application of the models and the pricing
and service level results are described in Chapter 4. The input data to
the models are described in the four Appendices. The model results are
then translated into annual funding levels for roads and public transport
services. These funding levels are presented and compared with existing
expenditures and revenues in Chapter 5.
Finally, weaknesses in and qualifications to the data and model formulation
are discussed in Chapter 6.


The author was sponsored by EnTegra Ltd, a company who develop hardware and software products and services for the real time implementation of DSP and RF systems.

The field programmable gate array (FPGA) is being used increasingly in the field of DSP. This is due to the fact that the parallel computing power of such devices is ideal for today's truly demanding DSP algorithms. Algorithms such as the QR-RLS update are computationally intensive and must be carried out at extremely high speeds (MHz). This means that the DSP processor is simply not an option. ASICs can be used but the expense of developing custom logic is prohibitive.

The increased use of the FPGA in DSP means that there is a significant requirement for efficient arithmetic cores that utilises the resources on such devices. This thesis presents the research and development effort that was carried out to produce fixed point division and square root cores for use in a new Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tool for EnTegra, which is targeted at FPGA implementation of DSP systems. Further to this, a new technique for predicting the accuracy of CORDIC systems computing vector magnitudes and cosines/sines is presented. This work allows the most efficient CORDIC design for a specified level of accuracy to be found quickly and easily without the need to run lengthy simulations, as was the case before. The CORDIC algorithm is a technique using mainly shifts and additions to compute many arithmetic functions and is thus ideal for FPGA implementation.


School is an environment where children and adolescents spend most of their time during the day. The environment is characterized by a sedentary culture necessary for academic learning. In this article, I present research evidence showing the effects of four physical activity opportunities in this environment: school athletics, recess, classroom physical activity breaks, and physical education. Based on an analysis of research evidence on the four opportunities, I propose that the efforts to promote the opportunities should be coordinated into a concerted action to integrate a physical activity-friendly culture in the sedentary environment. Using an example of China's whole-school physical activity promotion strategy, I identify four areas for us to continue to work on: legislature-based policies, physical education as core content, creation and maintenance of physical activity traditions in schools, and integration of physical activity-friendly culture into the sedentary school environment.


Strict environmental regulations have led to the rapid development of membrane separation technologies for the production of potable water, for industrial water supply, and for the reuse and discharge of treated wastewater. Promotion of water recycling and the provision of potable water from brackish water prevent significant negative effects on the environment and drinking water supplies. This study is intended to describe and compare a sustainable technology for brackish water treatment. Among the four configurations of the membrane distillation process, vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) produces higher flux and results in a low fouling rate. It comprises evaporation and condensation that mimics what occurs in nature. Mathematical models proposed for the VMD transport mechanisms are incorporated to predict the actual experimental flux. The response of the flux rate to various process operating parameters is demonstrated. Variation of effective parameters is investigated in terms of energy consumption. The data indicate that the permeate flux is highly responsive to the variation of pressure and temperature. VMD enables the removal of 99.9% of total dissolved solids from natural and contaminated water sources. The findings are that the quality of the permeate water from all sources was at acceptable standards for potable use.


This research first indicates the melt front delay of wedge-shaped lightguiding plate of backlight module on micro injection molding. This research fabricated the patterns of mold insert of lightguiding plate by photo etching process. The micro-facture of lightguiding plate was manufactured by micro injection molding. The lightguiding plate of backlight module was used for the PMMA material. The single parameter method was used to discuss the flatness and replication properties for different processing parameters (mold temperature, melt temperature, packing pressure, packing time and injection pressure). The results show that there are melt front delays due to the slow injection velocity, the low temperature induced by the little effect of shear heating, the high viscosity, the large flow resistance and the slow flow velocity. The mold temperature is the most important factor for the flatness and the replication of micro-feature of liughtguiding plate. Lower mold temperature induces better flatness properties. The surface roughness of micro-facture of lightguiding plate is 8.8 nm on micro injection molding for this work.


Since the beginning of Iran's contacts with the Western, and particularly European societies, nearly a century and a half ago, Iranian intellectuals, politicians and leaders have reacted to western norms and institutions in a variety of ways. Some have admired the West, praised its achievements and values and have tried to emulate and adopt many of its modern characteristics. Others have belittled and denigrated western culture and denied the validity of modern western experience for Iran. In the extreme, the reaction has moved from idealization to vilification of all things Western. From 1920's onward, these reactions have been expressed with a view to the various projects aimed at modernization of Iran. The goal of modernization, including industrialization, adoption of Western techniques and scientific methodology and some, if not all, of its cultural and artistic norms, became the essential component of government programs in Iran from 1925 to 1979. Even the Islamic regime, despite its patently anti-western attitude and its protestations against the onslaught of Western culture, has more or less continued the program of modernization at least in some areas.
In the last two decades, however, the whole discourse on modernization has undergone a fundamental transformation. In the West, the process of economic and cultural globalization coupled with the emergence of new trends of thought on issues such as cultural relativity and diversity and post-modern developments, have contributed to the formation and spread of a new discourse on modernity. Likewise, in Iran both secular and religious thinkers and writers have launched serious discussions on the nature and properties of civil society, democracy, freedom and women's rights with unparalleled urgency. Furthermore, it seems that the question most frequently discussed is not the relationship between Iran and the West; it is rather the way Iran must face, and interact with, the outside world as a whole and as an increasingly interconnected and unavoidable entity.


The story of how Beth Chatto created her gravel garden on 'possibly the driest, and the most windswept, piece of soil in England' has a message of hope for gardeners everywhere. At the outset she promised herself: 'This garden was not to be irrigated in times of drought. Once established the plants must fend for themselves or die.' The results, eloquently described by the author and beautifully portrayed in Steven Wooster's specially commissioned photographs taken through the seasons, testify to the triumphant outcome of the adventure. Showing how her principles can be applied on any scale, this book is an essential read for any gardener facing water shortages and poor soil. Rich with hard-won tips and expressed in Beth Chatto's matchless style, this is a gardening classic.


The paper takes in stock of research results from a project on integrated
 water and forest management in a micro-basin of Gandaki River System in Nepal. The paper
 demonstrates that while the results on the ground has been laudable, much more efforts are
 needed to consolidate the gains and to seize the window of opportunity provided by the strongly
 and rapidly evolving community-based natural resource management institutions in the country
 that can contribute to positive policy reform, build synergy and enhance the capacities of local
 institutions communities to pursue integrated resource management for unleashing the country's
 potentials to fulfill and exceed MDG targets and reduce poverty. From the information obtained
 through participatory action research, the paper explains that while abject poverty and chronic
 deprivations are visible, community-resource management equation has been rather favorable.
 Despite the positives of community-based institutions, their strong emergence has neither
 resulted in consistent poverty reduction nor has created the fundamentals for the equity-based
 institutional development. Nepal was also under armed-conflict for more than a decade until
 recently which seriously undermined community based institutions' efforts on poverty reduction,
 economic and social progress. Furthermore, the tradition of isolated community driven
 initiatives or institutional arrangement continues to override the overall essence carried by
 integrated community-led natural resource management. This clearly demands a re-think on
 long-held tradition of isolated community-based management actions for natural resources such as
 water and forest resources. It is also a pointer to the urgency of strengthening local
 government institutions and local community institutions to identify, plan and implement local
 level management actions for reducing inter-institutional disparities for achievement of poverty
 reduction targets and achievement of MDG outcomes.


Thames Water treats approximately 2800 Ml/d of water originating mainly from the lowland rivers Thames and Lee for supply to over 7.3 million customers, principally in the cities of London and Oxford. Most of the river water sources are stored in bank-side, pumped, storage reservoirs prior to treatment for potable use. Storage reservoir sizes vary and typical theoretical retention times lie between a few days to several weeks or months. During storage the riverine biota is largely replaced by lacustrine taxa which can cause problems for subsequent water treatment, particularly filtration. Recent concerns about cyanobacterial toxins has heightened interest in reservoir management. This paper reviews aspects of Thames Water's research, design and operating experiences of managing eutrophic, algal rich, reservoir stored, lowland water. Areas covered include experiences of optimising reservoir water quality to both control algal productivity and to aid subsequent potable water treatment. Traditional reservoir management techniques are reviewed as is research into biomanipulation. Whilst changes in reservoir water quality using these techniques have been marked, actual retention time and quality changes have traditionally been difficult to predict. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modelling has been used successfully to substantially increase retention and subsequent changes to water quality. Information from CFD modelling may also be used to reduce risks from protozoan parasites such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia.


The stress configuration and tectonic analysis of the Pan – African orogeny is drawn from the Igarra schist belt, southwestern Nigeria. The analysis of conjugate shear fractures of the schist belt indicates that two distinct compressive events (NE – SW and E – W) occurred in this Pan – African mobile zone. The palaeostress systems reveal a clockwise rotation of compressional axis from D1 (NE – SW) to D2 (E – W) during the propagation of the schist belt. The dominance of E – W compression related structures and the identification of E – W compressive stress in other Pan – African regions suggest that only the E – W compression probably had a strong regional effect during the Pan – African orogeny, other episodes of deformation most likely had a partially regional or local effect. The occurrence of structures related to the E – W compression in the younger rocks (granite and syenite) and the absence of structures related to the NE – SW compression in these rocks indicates that the E – W σ1 is a younger episode of deformation (D2) than the NE – SW σ1 deformation (D1) and probably lasted for a longer period. The dihedral angles (2ϴ) of the conjugate shear fractures range from 350 to excess of 800 and this situation shows that the orogeny produced a combination of both brittle and ductile deformation.


Vac8p is a vacuolar membrane protein that is required for efficient vacuole inheritance and fusion, cytosol-to-vacuole targeting, and sporulation. By analogy to other armadillo domain proteins, including beta-catenin and importin alpha, we hypothesize that Vac8p docks various factors at the vacuole membrane. Two-hybrid and copurfication assays demonstrated that Vac8p does form complexes with multiple binding partners, including Apg13p, Vab2p, and Nvj1p. Here we describe the surprising role of Vac8p-Nvj1p complexes in the formation of nucleus-vacuole (NV) junctions. Nvj1p is an integral membrane protein of the nuclear envelope and interacts with Vac8p in the cytosol through its C-terminal 40-60 amino acids (aa). Nvj1p green fluorescent protein (GFP) concentrated in small patches or rafts at sites of close contact between the nucleus and one or more vacuoles. Previously, we showed that Vac8p-GFP concentrated in intervacuole rafts, where is it likely to facilitate vacuole-vacuole fusion, and in "orphan" rafts at the edges of vacuole clusters. Orphan rafts of Vac8p red-sifted GFP (YFP) colocalize at sites of NV junctions with Nvj1p blue-sifted GFP (CFP). GFP-tagged nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) were excluded from NV junctions. In vac8-Delta cells, Nvj1p-GFP generally failed to concentrate into rafts and, instead, encircled the nucleus. NV junctions were absent in both nvj1-Delta and vac8-Delta cells. Overexpression of Nvj1p caused the profound proliferation of NV junctions. We conclude that Vac8p and Nvj1p are necessary components of a novel interorganelle junction apparatus.


ABSTRACT Purpose: Cell-free DNA (CFDNA) is elevated in sepsis and correlates with mortality. This DNA may come from nuclear, mitochondrial, or bacterial sources. Cell-free DNA from all three sources may play a pathogenic role in sepsis via activation of coagulation through the contact pathway, whereas CpG motifs on bacterial and mitochondrial DNA may additionally stimulate inflammatory responses via Toll-like receptor 9. This study elucidates the relative effects of nuclear, mitochondrial, and bacterial DNA on inflammatory and procoagulant pathways with relevance to sepsis. Methods: DNA was extracted from plasma of septic patients and control subjects, and nuclear and mitochondrial CFDNA concentrations were measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Viability of primary cultured human neutrophils was measured by flow cytometry for phosphatidyl serine exposure and cell permeability to propidium iodide. Continuous thrombin generation was measured with a fluorogenic substrate (Technothrombin, Vienna, Austria). Interleukin 6 secretion was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Platelet activation was measured by flow cytometry for P-selectin and activated &agr;IIb&bgr;3. Results: Mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA were elevated in plasma from septic patients compared with control subjects. Both mitochondrial and bacterial DNA prolonged neutrophil viability. Bacterial DNA increased neutrophil interleukin 6 secretion, but mitochondrial and nuclear DNA did not. Nuclear, mitochondrial, and bacterial DNA increased thrombin generation in platelet-poor plasma to a similar degree in a FXI- and FXII-dependent manner, indicating dependence on the intrinsic pathway of coagulation. Independently of coagulation, DNA from all three sources was capable of causing activation of platelet integrin &agr;IIb&bgr;3. Conclusions: Cell-free DNA from nuclear, mitochondrial, and bacterial sources have varying proinflammatory effects, although all three have similar procoagulant and platelet-stimulating potential. The pathophysiological effects of CFDNA in sepsis may vary with the source of DNA.


In Canada, studies show there are changing demographics increasing the population, the
disability rate, and the aging population. This significantly impacts people and their interactions
within the built environment. Currently, there are many buildings meeting minimum accessibility
standards, though they continuously create poorly designed and inaccessible buildings to all.
Thus, integrating Inclusive Design (ID) allows for full participation within society. This prevents
discrimination and stigmatization. ID is an intervention respecting differences, associated with
gender, race, religion, as well as age and ability, by accommodating diverse needs of various
groups of people. This approach incorporates three design strategies, including visual, nonvisual,
and social aspects enhancing the concept of ID. They are accessible experience while
traversing in architecture as communication, responsive and adaptable environment through
multi-sensory experience, and secure architecture for social interaction. As a result, an inclusive
environment is created addressing equity and equality, which benefit everyone enhancing self-dignity, independence, and well-being.


Spatial variability of soil chemical and physical properties, and its influence on leaf
nutrient content, and yield components were studied in a 0.95 ha rice field in Kuala
Selangor. A total of 120 soil samples at 15 cm depth and 120 samples of rice plant
were taken at harvesting stage based on grid point sampling of 10m x 10m.
The studies revealed that coefficients of variation for soil physical properties were in
the order of bulk density > soil moisture > clay content. Soil chemical properties
showed coefficients of variation in the order of K > Mg >total-N > CN ratio> P> Ca
> total-S > total-C and Cu > Zn > Na > Mn > pH. The coefficients of variation for
leaf nutrient content were found to be in the sequence of Cu > Zn> P > K> Mg > N >
Na > Mn > Ca. The range for soil physical properties was found to be in the order of
bulk density (134 m) > soil moisture (100 m) > clay content (17 m), while the range
for soil chemical properties was in the sequence of Mg (21 8 m) > total-C (161m) >
pH (134 m) 2: total-S (134 m) 2:P (134 m) > Ca (120 m) > total-N (54 m) > CN ratio
(46 m) > Na (41 m) > Mn (35 m) > Cu (20 m) > Zn (15 m).


We present the design specifications and in-depth analysis of a terahertz (THz) broadband cross-polarization converter composed of a single-layer metasurface. This device can convert linearly polarized light into its cross-polarization in transmission mode. Different from other polarization conversion devices, this effect results from the suppression and enhancement for different electric components. The broadband characteristic is also achieved by specific partial symmetries designed in the structure. The proposed polarization converter can aid in the development of novel plasmonic polarization devices, and can help to overcome certain limitations of the customary designs that have been proposed thus far.


This book introduces the topics most relevant to autonomously flying flapping wing robots: flapping-wing design, aerodynamics, and artificial intelligence. Readers can explore these topics in the context of the "Delfly", a flapping wing robot designed at Delft University in The Netherlands. How are tiny fruit flies able to lift their weight, avoid obstacles and predators, and find food or shelter? The first step in emulating this is the creation of a micro flapping wing robot that flies by itself. The challenges are considerable: the design and aerodynamics of flapping wings are still active areas of scientific research, whilst artificial intelligence is subject to extreme limitations deriving from the few sensors and minimal processing onboard. This book conveys the essential insights that lie behind success such as the DelFly Micro and the DelFly Explorer. The DelFly Micro, with its 3.07 grams and 10 cm wing span, is still the smallest flapping wing MAV in the world carrying a camera, whilst the DelFly Explorer is the world's first flapping wing MAV that is able to fly completely autonomously in unknown environments. The DelFly project started in 2005 and ever since has served as inspiration, not only to many scientific flapping wing studies, but also the design of flapping wing toys. The combination of introductions to relevant fields, practical insights and scientific experiments from the DelFly project make this book a must-read for all flapping wing enthusiasts, be they students, researchers, or engineers.


Software agents represent an interesting paradigm to approach complex and distributed systems. Their sociality enables to build multiagent systems, where different agents interact to pursue their goals. Multiagent systems can involve both cooperative and competitive agents. In both cases, the composition of different agents is an issue that must be faced by developers. In this paper, we propose to build infrastructures based on roles, which are abstractions that enable the composition of different agents in an open scenario. Some concrete examples are provided to support our proposal.


An important aspect for the acceptance of Service-Oriented Architectures is having convenient ways to help designers build secure applications. Numerous standards define ways to apply security in web services. However, these standards are rather complex and sometimes overlap, which makes them hard to use and may produce inconsistencies. Representing them as patterns makes them easier to understand, to compare to other patterns, to discover inconsistencies, and to use them to build secure web services applications. Security patterns abstract the key aspects of a security mechanism and can thus be applied by non-experts. We survey here our work on security patterns for web services and their standards and we put them in perspective with respect to each other and to more fundamental patterns. We also consider other patterns for web services security. All the patterns described here have been previously published, we only show here one of them in detail as an illustration of our style for writing patterns. Our main purpose here is to enumerate them, show their use, and show how they relate to each other.


Purpose: The article examines the potential of touristic and recreational resources of the mountain of Ajara (Georgia) and the territorial organization of tourism development dynamics on the basis of a sustainable system in the region. Design/methodology/approach: In order to achieve the study outcomes, the priorities of tourism development in study region under the rational nature management conditions were defined by means of quantitative and qualitative indicators of traditional methods, sociological studies, balanced theory and the coordination failure theory. Findings: The paper covers the resource potential existing in the region, which might be involved in tourism business development and is confirmed in businesses' structural adjustment in an attempt to increase the efficiency of social-economic development. Practical implications: On the background of worsened the ecological and social-economic condition in the region, the ways solving the existing issues are grounded by rational nature management methodology. Originality/Value: On the basis of lack of land, the existence of ecological problems and seasonal unemployment of labor on the basis of assessment of natural and resource potential of the region the efficiency of businesses' structural adjustment and tourism perspectives are shaped and proposed.


The thesis presents a research that focuses on how children's learning processes occur
when algebra is introduced as a language-in-use. The research incorporates graphic
calculators as a means for providing children with a computing environment where
communication is held by using a symbolic language similar in syntax and notation to
the algebraic code. The use of calculators is shaped by a set of tasks specifically
designed for this study. The tasks are arranged in order to simulate the social processes
through which children learn the mother tongue.
The design of the learning environment is based on Bruner's research on children's
language acquisition. According to this, the major aim of the study is to investigate the
ways in which the calculator's symbolic code shapes children's expressions of general
relationships, and more specifically the kinds of notions and strategies that children
develop through using calculator language. The study seeks for an explanatory
framework that might provide a better understanding of the potential of technological
resources in the teaching of algebra.
The study drew promising results that provide evidence for an alternative approach to
teaching algebra. The thesis offers a discussion of the theoretical background and its
relationship with the teachina method. It also provides an analysis of children's
achievements and difficulties.


Fluid User Interfaces (Fl.UIs) are liquid-based touch surfaces that use computer vision to detect and interpret a range of tactile user inputs. While Fl.UIs have less input resolution than digital touch screens, they provide an excellent low-cost solution for rapidly prototyping non-rectilinear screen designs as well as exploring novel surface interaction techniques. Fabricated on a laser cutter using low-cost materials, Fl.UIs use unique shape outlines to displace an internal colored liquid to regions-of-interest for a camera. This paper presents a set of software tools that help users rapidly design, fabricate and author interactions with Fl.UIs. The robust construction and an unpowered surface makes Fl.UIs well-suited for outdoor and public installations. Our Fl.UIs prototyping tool encourages these uncommon "screens" to emerge in complex environments (i.e. urban spaces, benches, tables, fountains, sidewalks).


The present paper aims to analyse whether the presence of women in leading positions can affect the risk profile of a firm. We provide new and more robust empirical evidence that there is a negative relationship between female participation in the top management and credit risk. We focus on a large and representative sample of Italian manufacturing firms, and we extract data on directors and top managers as well as rating classes and credit score indicators. We provide evidence of a significant credit risk reduction associated with the inclusion of women among the top managers of the firm, using a fixed effects model. Our results are robust to different model specifications and estimation strategies. We also find different magnitudes for the impact, with a greater impact associated with smaller firms.


Constitutional argument runs on the rails of "modalities." These are the accepted categories of reasoning used to make claims about the content of supreme law. Some of the modalities, such as ethical and prudential arguments, seem strikingly open ended at first sight. Their contours come into clearer view, however, when we attend to the kinds of claims that are not made by constitutional interpreters—the analytical and rhetorical moves that are familiar in debates over public policy and political morality but are considered out of bounds in debates over constitutional meaning. In this Article, we seek to identify the "anti-modalities" of constitutional law and to investigate their implications.

The anti-modalities both stabilize and undermine the modalities. On the one hand, they work in tandem to ensure that constitutional interpretation remains a distinctive legal enterprise. The two argument bundles are in this sense mutually reinforcing, even co-constitutive. On the other hand, by ruling out various important categories of reasoning—from general moral theory to emotional judgment to many cost-benefit calculations—the anti-modalities put continuous pressure on the modalities to accommodate such reasoning in adulterated forms, or else insist on a long distance between the inputs into supreme law and the concerns that most people care about. We call this distance constitutional law's "resonance gap." Such a gap arises in all areas of law, but it is especially pronounced in the constitutional realm.

Although the anti-modalities play a critical role in preserving the law/politics distinction, they have deleterious consequences for each side of that line. The best response, this Article suggests, is not necessarily to narrow the resonance gap but rather to narrow the domain of constitutional law. If constitutional argument must exclude (or purport to exclude) vital modes of reasoning, we might worry less about refining its grammar and more about restricting its reach.


The work presented in this thesis is an investigation into vehicle
bodyshell structural joints, with the aim of improving their stiffness.
The bodyshell joint is defined to be an area or sub-structure containing
the intersection of beam-type members, the behaviour of which may be
defined by a matrix determined experimentally or analytically by using
the finite element method. An actual bodyshell was tested on a suitably designed rig and the
primary displacement modes affecting the steady state and vibration
response of a bodyshell were identified and the relevant stiffness
measured by using a special transducer. The joint rotational displacements
were measured in these modes and the relative importance of the
joints obtained. The joints were then modified by the addition of
stiffening plates and the effect on the various stiffnesses noted. To assist the analyst, a similar study was performed on the
effectiveness of the panels, such as roof, floor and rear quarter. A
finite element beam model was established for the bodyshell and
modified until a good approximation was achieved with respect to
the experiments.
Some practical modification of three selected joints cut from
the bodyshell was done in order to improve their stiffness. A theoretical
study of the influence of spot welding size and spacing on the stiffness
of two plates was made. A finite element model of an actual body joint
was established and the effect on stiffness of various modifications
was observed.


Diurnal Immunology Like most organ systems in the body, several components of the immune system appear to be regulated in a diurnal manner. However, the cell populations affected, the underlying molecular mechanisms controlling these processes, and the functional consequences of such regulation are poorly understood. Now, Nguyen et al. (p. 1483, published online 22 August; see the Perspective by Druzd and Scheiermann) have found that trafficking of monocytes to sites of inflammation is regulated in a diurnal manner in mice. Mice harboring a myeloid cell-specific deletion in the clock protein, BMAL1, showed reduced fitness in response to both acute and chronic inflammation. The clock protein Bmal1 regulates daily changes in white blood cell trafficking and susceptibility to inflammation in mice. [Also see Perspective by Druzd and Scheiermann] Circadian clocks have evolved to regulate physiologic and behavioral rhythms in anticipation of changes in the environment. Although the molecular clock is present in innate immune cells, its role in monocyte homeostasis remains unknown. Here, we report that Ly6Chi inflammatory monocytes exhibit diurnal variation, which controls their trafficking to sites of inflammation. This cyclic pattern of trafficking confers protection against Listeria monocytogenes and is regulated by the repressive activity of the circadian gene Bmal1. Accordingly, myeloid cell-specific deletion of Bmal1 induces expression of monocyte-attracting chemokines and disrupts rhythmic cycling of Ly6Chi monocytes, predisposing mice to development of pathologies associated with acute and chronic inflammation. These findings have unveiled a critical role for BMAL1 in controlling the diurnal rhythms in Ly6Chi monocyte numbers.


Economic analysis of technological innovation, diffusion, and decline often proceeds according to sigmoid (S-shaped) models, either directly or as a component in more elaborate mathematical representations of the creative process. Three distinct aspects of American innovation policy — Aereo's failed attempt to retransmit television broadcasts, agricultural biotechnology, and network neutrality — invite analysis according to one variant or another of the logistic function. Innovation and legal policies designed to foster it follow the leaps, metes, and bounds of sigmoid functions.Part I introduces the logistic function as the simplest analytical expression of a sigmoid function. Its parameters provide very clear interpretations grounded in physical principles. Part II evaluates the Aereo controversy and agricultural biotechnology as instances of logistic substitution between competing products. The deployment of plant-incorporated pesticides and herbicide-resistant crops arguably follows the Hubbert curve, a related function that describes peak production of depletable resources and their eventual exhaustion. Part III proposes multiple ways of understanding network neutrality as a problem of multilayered innovation. The presence of two different types of nonlinear growth, in network operating costs and in expressive diversity online, suggests that the law should prescribe independent rather than bundled solutions to these conceptually distinct subjects.


Robert Casati and Achille C. Varzi, argue that time machines would be useless or have no practical applications on the grounds that travelling to the past would involve doing what has already been done. I argue that the sense in which travelling to the past involves doing what has already been done fails to support the claim that time machines would have no practical applications.


Formyl peptides are potent neutrophil chemoattractants. In humans and rabbits, the formyl peptide receptor (FPR) binds N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLF) with high affinity (Kd ≈ 1 nM). The mouse FPR (mFPR) is a low-affinity receptor for fMLF (Kd ≈ 100 nM); therefore, other agonists for this receptor may exist. Using mFPR-transfected rat basophilic leukemia cells, we found that a recently identified synthetic peptide Trp-Lys-Tyr-Met-Val-d-Met (WKYMVm) is a potent agonist for mFPR. WKYMVm induced calcium mobilization with an EC50 of 1.2–1.5 nM. Optimal chemotaxis was achieved with 1 nM of WKYMVm, but it required 100 nM of fMLF. WKYMVm stimulated rapid and potent phosphorylation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases extracellular signal-related kinases 1 and 2 when used at 50 nM. Pertussis toxin only partially blocked calcium mobilization and production of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate in the stimulated mFPR cells, suggesting the possibility that this receptor couples to Gα proteins other than Gi and Go. Competitive binding and desensitization data suggest that both peptides interact with the same receptor but may use nonoverlapping binding sites because WKYMVm was unable to effectively displace [3H]fMLF bound to mFPR. These results provide evidence for the presence of an alternative potent agonist for mFPR, and suggest a potential usage of WKYMVm for probing the ligand-receptor interactions with the murine formyl peptide receptor homologs.


Although antidepressants are effective, no more than one third of the depressed patients who begin treatment achieve full remission within 8 weeks of therapy. Remission, defined as virtually complete relief of symptoms and return to full functioning in all areas of life, should be thought of as the optimal goal for the initial phase of treatment of depression. This goal is recommended because residual symptoms (i.e., response without remission) are associated with a myriad of risks, including a higher rate of relapse. When compared with monotherapy, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (i.e., the current first-line standard of care) strategies may improve remission rates. These strategies include using maximally tolerated (i.e., higher than usual) doses of medication, switching to an antidepressant thought to have more than one mechanism of action, combining dissimilar medications (to presumably treat a broader range of symptoms), and using a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Ensuring that patients are indeed adherent with treatment is also worthwhile before assuming that a treatment has failed.


We estimate how US state courts impact firm value by exploiting a US Supreme Court ruling that exogenously changed firms' exposure to different courts. We find that increased exposure to more business-friendly courts is associated with positive announcement returns. We find no such association for objective court quality. Consistent with the ruling impacting firm value through the legal environment channel, we find that effects are stronger for firms with high litigation exposure. We find that the ruling led to a shift in both the geographic distribution of lawsuits and operations of firms.


Clouds are very attractive environments for deploying different types of applications due to their pay-as-you-go cost model and their highly available and scalable infrastructure. Data management is an integral part of the applications deployed in the Cloud. Thus, it is of outmost importance to provide highly available and scalable data management solutions tailored to the needs of the Cloud. Data availability can be increased by using well-known replication techniques. Data replication also increases scalability in case of read-only transactions, but generates a considerable overhead for keeping the replicas consistent in case of update transactions. In order to meet the scalability demands of their customers, current Cloud providers use DBMSs that only support weak data consistency. While weak consistency is considered to be sufficient for many of the currently deployed applications in the Cloud, more and more applications with strong consistency guarantees, like traditional online stores, are moved to the Cloud. In the presence of replicated data, these applications require one-copy serializability (1SR). Hence, in order to exploit the advantages of the Cloud also for these applications, it is essential to provide scalable, available, low-cost, and strongly consistent data management, which is able to adapt dynamically based on application and system conditions. In this paper, we present SO-1SR (self-optimizing 1SR), a novel customizable load balancing approach to transaction execution on top of replicated data in the Cloud which is able to efficiently use existing resources and to optimize transaction execution in an adaptive and dynamic manner without a dedicated load balancing component. The evaluation of SO-1SR on the basis of the TPC-C benchmark in the AWS Cloud environment has shown that the SO-1SR load balancer is much more efficient compared to existing load balancing techniques.


Given a document repository, search engine is very helpful to retrieve information. Currently, vertical search is a hot topic, and Google Scholar [4] is an example for academic search. However, most vertical search engines only return the flat ranked list without an efficient result exhibition for given users. We study this problem and designed a vertical search engine prototype Dolphin, where the flexible user-oriented templates can be defined and the survey-like results are presented according to the template.


The NASA Study of Cataract in Astronauts (NASCA) was designed to measure the impact of exposure to space radiation on progression rates of cortical, nuclear, and posterior subcapsular cataract in U.S. astronauts who have flown in space and comparison groups of astronauts who had not flown in space, and subjects with a history of military aviation. We present our analyses of 5 years of data with an average of 3.8 exams per subject. All subjects had digital lens images with the Nidek EAS 1000 Lens Imaging System. Because of high variability and skewness of opacity measures, nonparametric methods were used to test for association between rates of opacification and space radiation exposure. First, median regression was used to collapse longitudinal data into robust estimates of progression rates (opacity severity compare to time for each eye of each subject). To quantify and test for a radiation effect, median regression with the dependent variable being the maximum of the two slopes (OD and OS) per subject was then used, adjusting for the confounding variables of age, nutritional, and sun-exposure histories. Median regression showed evidence of an association between the rate of cortical progression in the worse eye with radiation dose and age. The estimated median progression rate from space radiation being 0.25 ± 0.13% lens area/Sv/year (P = 0.062). We found no relationship between radiation exposure and progression of aggregate area of posterior subcapsular cataract or nuclear progression rates. However, longer follow-up may be needed to further understand any impact of space radiation on progression rates for posterior subcapsular cataracts and nuclear cataracts, and to characterize changes to visual acuity.


PURPOSE
Despite a lack of active angiogenesis, VEGF is expressed in nearly every adult tissue, and recent evidence suggests that VEGF may serve as a survival factor for both vascular and nonvascular tissues. VEGF blockade is a widely used treatment for neovascular diseases such as wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Therefore, it was sought in this study to evaluate the expression and role of endogenous VEGF in RPE.

METHODS
VEGF and VEGFR2 expression in the murine retina were assessed during development. Bevacizumab was used to neutralize VEGF in ARPE-19 cells, and the effects on cell survival and apical microvill were assessed by TUNEL and SEM, respectively. VEGF was systemically neutralized in vivo by adenoviral-mediated overexpression of soluble VEGFR1 (sFlt). RPE and choriocapillaris were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Changes in gene expression were evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR.

RESULTS
VEGF expression was detected in the developing RPE as early as embryonic day (E) 9.5, whereas VEGFR2 expression by RPE began nonuniformly between postnatal (P) day 6.5 and P8.5. VEGF neutralization in vitro led to increased apoptosis and reduced microvilli density and length. Systemic VEGF neutralization led to transient degenerative changes; RPE were vacuolated and separated from photoreceptor outer segments, and choriocapillaris fenestrations were decreased. VEGF levels were elevated in RPE of Ad-sFlt1 mice at day 4 postinfection, and there was increased expression of the neurotrophic factor CD59a at day 14.

CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that VEGF plays a critical role in survival and maintenance of RPE integrity. Potential undesired off-target effects should be considered with chronic use of anti-VEGF agents.


Collective signaling for a quorum is found in a wide range of organisms that face collective action problems whose successful solution requires the participation of some quorum of the individuals present. These range from humans, to social insects, to bacteria. The mechanisms involved, the quorum required, and the size of the group may vary. Here we address the general question of the evolution of collective signaling at a high level of abstraction. We investigate the evolutionary dynamics of a population engaging in a signaling N-person game theoretic model. Parameter settings allow for loners and cheaters, and for costly or costless signals. We find a rich dynamics, showing how natural selection, operating on a population of individuals endowed with the simplest strategies, is able to evolve a costly signaling system that allows individuals to respond appropriately to different states of Nature. Signaling robustly promotes cooperative collective action, in particular when coordinated action is most needed and difficult to achieve. Two different signaling systems may emerge depending on Nature's most prevalent states.


Archaeologists have long thought that Chinese civilization was born along the central plains of the Yellow River. But dramatic discoveries across China in the past 2 decades are challenging long-held views. From Manchuria in the north, to the Chengdu plain to the west, and to the coastal cities of the south, excavations are revealing a host of complex and distinct ancient cultures, each with its own artifacts and traditions. Striking carved faces found in Liangzhu are one example; other cultures developed enormous bronze statues, large stone ceremonial complexes, and a golden, whirling sun motif. Yellow River sites like Erlitou, believed since its discovery in 1959 to have been the long-lost first capital of China (see sidebar), remain key to understanding the first true urban centers in China. But other, far-flung cultures also contain the seeds of Chinese traditions.


Background: In St. John's, Newfoundland there are three tertiary care institutions that provide acute inpatient psychiatry services. To date, the factors associated with increased length of stay, in these institutions, has not been systematically studied. -- Some of the psychiatrists who admit patients to these facilities have speculated that the length of stay and the distribution of the factors associated with length of stay varies across the inpatient psychiatric facilities in the city. The accuracy of their opinions has not been examined previously. -- Objectives: Length of stay on acute care hospital units is influenced by many factors such as patient demographics, diagnosis, treatment regime and attitudes of the attending physician. This study has three objectives: 1) to identify the factors associated with length of stay on the acute admission wards in St. John's, Newfoundland, 2) to assess the accuracy of the psychiatrists' opinions that length of stay differs significantly among the three psychiatric institutions in St. John's and 3) to assess the accuracy of the psychiatrist's opinions with respect to the factors that impact on length of stay in St. John's, Newfoundland. -- Method: A chart review was conducted to measure length of stay by institution and to determine which factors were associated with length of stay for inpatient psychiatry units in St. John's. The data represents patients discharged from hospital between April and June 1997 inclusive. The patients were above 19 years of age, were discharged from an acute care inpatient unit during the study period, and had no other admissions during the thirty days prior to the admission or within 30 days of the discharge. Fourteen variables were examined for a potential association with length of stay. Regression analysis was used to identify significant associations between patient, illness and treatment related factors and length of stay. -- Data from the chart review was also used to assess the accuracy of the psychiatrists' opinion that length of stay varies significantly among the acute care admissions of the city. The length of stay was calculated for each admission site and then compared for significant differences. -- Psychiatrists' perceptions of the factors associated with length of stay were gathered by an opinion questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered to all psychiatrists with admitting privileges for the acute psychiatry inpatient sites in St. John's. Descriptive analysis was used to quantify the psychiatrists' opinions. These opinions were then compared to the results of the chart review for factors associated with length of stay. -- Results: Results of the chart review revealed that length of stay did not vary significantly among the three institutions, or between the two types of admission sites. Of the fourteen factors examined for an association with length of stay, patient age, primary diagnosis, presence of a discharge plan, and duration of the discharge plan were significant. The involvement of pastoral care workers in the patient care almost reached the level of significance. -- Results of the survey revealed that the majority of psychiatrists were of the opinion that patient age, gender and race had little impact on length of stay. The age and gender of the treating psychiatrist were also believed to have little impact on length of stay. Level of education, marital status, employment status, income level, and place of residence were believed to have moderate impact on length of stay. The level of patient stress, primary diagnosis, the presence of co-morbid illness, treatment issues, the expertise of the attending psychiatrist and the practice composition of the attending psychiatrist were believed to impact substantially on length of stay. This was not entirely consistent with the results of the chart review. -- Discussion: Four of the fourteen variables were significantly associated with length of stay on the inpatient psychiatry units in St. John's, Newfoundland. Several of these findings are consistent with earlier studies. Of the ten remaining factors that were not significantly related to length of stay, seven had been previously studied and shown to be associated with length of stay in other clinical settings. This suggests that the factors associated with length of stay in St. John's, Newfoundland may be unique to that region and that length of stay literature is not universally applicable. -- The psychiatrists' perception that lengths of stay varied significantly among sites was inaccurate. As well, the psychiatrists' perceptions of factors that are associated with length of stay were not consistent with the findings of the chart review. This discrepancy between opinion and reality warrants further examination if physicians are to be expected to actively reduce length of stay in the future.


We integrate insights from organizational capabilities, organizational economics, and industry evolution to examine industry entrants' boundary choices about value chain activities and test hypotheses in 1978–2009 data from a sample of U.S. bioethanol producers. We find support for our predictions that transaction hazards, decomposed as either enduring or transient over the stages of industry evolution, are positively associated with the choice to internalize value chain activities. Pre-entry experience in an activity increases the likelihood of its internalization and reduces the effect of enduring transaction hazards on the internalization choice. Importantly, we also distinguish between firm-and founder-level pre-entry capabilities (that is, the capabilities of firms versus those of founders). Diversifying entrants with firm-level integrative capabilities are more likely to internalize value chain activities than start-ups, and this effect persists over the industry's life cycle. The relationship between pre-entry experience with an activity and the likelihood of internalizing it is also stronger for diversifying entrants. Findings improve understanding of the relationships among capability development, boundary choice, and industry evolution.


Epidemic-style (gossip-based) techniques have recently emerged as a class of scalable and reliable protocols for peer-to-peer multicast dissemination in large process groups. However, popular implementations of epidemic-style dissemination suffer from two major drawbacks: 1) Network overhead: when deployed on a WAN-wide or VPN-wide scale, they generate a large number of packets that transit across the boundaries of multiple network domains (e.g., LANs, subnets, ASs), causing an overload on core network elements such as bridges, routers, and associated links. 2) Lack of adaptivity: they impose the same load on process group members and the network even under reduced failure rates (viz., packet losses, process failures). In this paper, we describe two protocols to address these problems: 1) a hierarchical gossiping protocol and 2) an adaptive dissemination framework (for multicasts) that allows use of any gossiping primitive within it. These protocols work within a virtual peer-to-peer hierarchy called the leaf box hierarchy. Processes can be allocated in a topologically aware manner to the leaf boxes of this structure, so that protocols 1 and 2 produce low traffic across domain boundaries in the network and induce minimal overhead when there are no failures


This study examines the effects of medium-range influencer Instagram postings compared to traditional print ads. Using cosmetic products as an example, the study examines how these alternative forms of advertising influence attitude components and consumers' propensity to buy.
As a result, the advertising impact of the Instagram posting is lower than that of the classic print ad. The Instagram posting has its greatest effect where consumers already follow influencers (follower status).
The situational variable (type of advertising) proves to be more powerful in explaining consumers' attitudes as personal variables. Among the latter, product involvement has more explanatory power than the general personality traits of the Big Five. To explain the propensity to buy, product involvement is even more meaningful than the type of advertising. Overall, this shows that the effect of situational and personal factors on dependent variables of consumer behaviour cannot be generalised, but that it is generally recommended to include both situational and personal determinants in the analysis.


Prior research has found connections between youth participation in recreational activities and academic achievement, civic involvement, and improved health. To investigate California youth outdoor recreation attitudes, behaviors, and constraints, eight focus groups were conducted with community recreation center youth participants. Youth answered 10 questions about their experiences, attitudes, and perceptions of outdoor recreation. Data were analyzed using grounded theory. Three to seven axial codes were identified for each question. Results showed that youth want to have more access to outdoor recreational activities. However, there are frequently considerable constraints for the youth to overcome including draws of technology, family obligations, and laziness. Safety was a recurring concern among participants. Understanding youth attitudes and perceptions allows managers to meet youth needs, program for youth interests, and provides a strong foundation for marketing and as a rational for funding grants.


Corals and humans represent two extremely disparate metazoan lineages and are therefore useful for comparative evolutionary studies. Two lipid-based molecules that are central to human immunity, platelet-activating factor (PAF) and Lyso-PAF were recently identified in scleractinian corals. To identify processes in corals that involve these molecules, PAF and Lyso-PAF biosynthesis was quantified in conditions known to stimulate PAF production in mammals (tissue growth and exposure to elevated levels of ultraviolet light) and in conditions unique to corals (competing with neighbouring colonies over benthic space). Similar to observations in mammals, PAF production was higher in regions of active tissue growth and increased when corals were exposed to elevated levels of ultraviolet light. PAF production also increased when corals were attacked by the stinging cells of a neighbouring colony, though only the attacked coral exhibited an increase in PAF. This reaction was observed in adjacent areas of the colony, indicating that this response is coordinated across multiple polyps including those not directly subject to the stress. PAF and Lyso-PAF are involved in coral stress responses that are both shared with mammals and unique to the ecology of cnidarians.


The advent of modern technology has inadvertently created newer avenues for intimate partner victimization (IPV) to transpire. This study investigated (a) whether psychological, sexual, and stalking intimate partner cybervictimization (cyber IPV) types were uniquely associated with depression and whether there were (b) additive and (c) interactive effects of cyber IPV types on depression, after controlling for face-to-face IPV among Hispanic emerging adults. Participants were 903 Hispanic emerging adults in the age range of 18 to 29 years (M = 20.68, SD = 2.42; 74% female) attending a public university in South Texas. Participants completed an online questionnaire assessing cyber IPV types (psychological, sexual, and stalking), face-to-face IPV types (physical, psychological, and sexual), and depression. Results indicated that nearly three-fourths (73%) of the sample endorsed at least one type of cyber IPV. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that psychological and sexual cyber IPV was uniquely associated with depression. An accumulating effect (additive effect model) of the three types of cyber IPV on depression was also found. Interaction effect model analysis yielded no significant effects. Findings reveal the detrimental effect of cyber IPV on mental health and calls for institutions and clinicians to develop preventive and treatment programs to aid victim-survivors.


This unprecedented book, by one of Britain's leading intellectual historians, describes the intellectual impact that the study and consideration of the past has had in the western world over the past 2500 years, treating the practise of history not as an isolated pursuit but as an aspect of human society and an essential part of the cultural history of Europe and America. It magnificently brings to life the work of historians from the Greeks to the present, explaining their distinctive qualities and allowing the modern reader to appreciate and enjoy them. But is also examines subjects as diverse as the new perspectives brought about by the rise of Rome, the interests of medieval chroniclers, the effects of Romanticism and the emergence towards the end of the nineteenth century of an historical profession.It sets out to be not the history of an academic discipline, but a history of choice: the choice of pasts, and the ways they have been demarcated, investigated, presented and even sometimes learned from as they have changed according to political, religious, cultural and (often most importantly) patriotic circumstances.


Australian agricultural producers' profits are dependent on the decisions they make about farm productivity systems. They may use recommendations and information provided by government agencies and private consultants. For cereal growers, success is dependent on decisions made about selection of crop varieties suitable for their agronomic and climatic conditions. This paper reports on research which aimed to evaluate some current eAgriculture methodologies for their application in the Western Australian agricultural industry. In particular the paper illustrates the findings from a project which aimed to explain the variability seen in crop varieties grown in Western Australia. The problems associated with crop variability have been recognised by crop researchers for many years. However it is only through recent advances in computer technology, and the application of large-scale data mining techniques and tools, that it has been possible to address the complexity of these environments. Western Australia environments are unique in that agricultural practices are greatly influenced by water/rainfall, soil and its land use. By applying data mining techniques and tools to information which is publicly available to growers, researchers can identify the major sources of variability which in turn can be used by growers as part of their risk management strategies.


Point-sampling of water is often referred to as an inaccurate and crude method for use in estuaries; however, budgetary, spatial and time constraints often leave it as the only feasible option. The present paper investigates the relationship between spring water quality and diatom sampling of 52 eastern Australian subtropical estuaries and the OzCoasts determined classification of estuarine condition. In general, estuarine health decreases along the total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN) and the centric to pennate diatom ratio gradients. However, although there is a general trend, results are varied within each class, with some estuaries classed as extensively modified, recording low nutrient conditions. Principal components analysis (PCA) indicated that 55% of the variance among sites is explained by the first and second axes, with TN, TP, TN : TP, latitude and pH having high correlation with PCA Axis 1, and temperature, conductivity and the centric to pennate diatom ratio being correlated with Axis 2. Two diatom species that may have bioindicator value for estuary conditions were identified. We concluded that even though natural variability and accurate characterisation of estuaries is not possible with point-sampling, it can still identify important information on the status of estuarine condition, particularly in relation to total nutrient concentrations where budget and/or time constraints limit environmental monitoring.


To reduce the effort developers have to make for crash debugging, researchers have proposed several solutions for automatic failure reproduction. Recent advances proposed the use of symbolic execution, mutation analysis, and directed model checking as underling techniques for post-failure analysis of crash stack traces. However, existing approaches still cannot reproduce many real-world crashes due to such limitations as environment dependencies, path explosion, and time complexity. To address these challenges, we present EvoCrash, a post-failure approach which uses a novel Guided Genetic Algorithm (GGA) to cope with the large search space characterizing real-world software programs. Our empirical study on three open-source systems shows that EvoCrash can replicate 41 (82%) of real-world crashes, 34 (89%) of which are useful reproductions for debugging purposes, outperforming the state-of-the-art in crash replication.


Automatically verifying the identity of a person by means of biometrics (e.g., face and fingerprint) is an important application in our day-to-day activities such as accessing banking services and security control in airports. To increase the system reliability, several biometric devices are often used. Such a combined system is known as a multimodal biometric system. This paper reports a benchmarking study carried out within the framework of the BioSecure DS2 (Access Control) evaluation campaign organized by the University of Surrey, involving face, fingerprint, and iris biometrics for person authentication, targeting the application of physical access control in a medium-size establishment with some 500 persons. While multimodal biometrics is a well-investigated subject in the literature, there exists no benchmark for a fusion algorithm comparison. Working towards this goal, we designed two sets of experiments: quality-dependent and cost-sensitive evaluation. The quality-dependent evaluation aims at assessing how well fusion algorithms can perform under changing quality of raw biometric images principally due to change of devices. The cost-sensitive evaluation, on the other hand, investigates how well a fusion algorithm can perform given restricted computation and in the presence of software and hardware failures, resulting in errors such as failure-to-acquire and failure-to-match. Since multiple capturing devices are available, a fusion algorithm should be able to handle this nonideal but nevertheless realistic scenario. In both evaluations, each fusion algorithm is provided with scores from each biometric comparison subsystem as well as the quality measures of both the template and the query data. The response to the call of the evaluation campaign proved very encouraging, with the submission of 22 fusion systems. To the best of our knowledge, this campaign is the first attempt to benchmark quality-based multimodal fusion algorithms. In the presence of changing image quality which may be due to a change of acquisition devices and/or device capturing configurations, we observe that the top performing fusion algorithms are those that exploit automatically derived quality measurements. Our evaluation also suggests that while using all the available biometric sensors can definitely increase the fusion performance, this comes at the expense of increased cost in terms of acquisition time, computation time, the physical cost of hardware, and its maintenance cost. As demonstrated in our experiments, a promising solution which minimizes the composite cost is sequential fusion, where a fusion algorithm sequentially uses match scores until a desired confidence is reached, or until all the match scores are exhausted, before outputting the final combined score.


World War One-era "small box respirator" gas mask, consisting of a canvas or cloth face piece, with inset glass or resin eye lenses, and straps that wrap around the back of the head. The front of the mask has a valve located behind a cloth-covered tube that goes over the mouth and attaches to a small yellow metal box containing activated charcoal (made of peach pits or the pits from other stone fruits). The wearer would have breathed only through the mouth, inhaling air scrubbed clean by the charcoal in the box, and had their nose squeezed shut by a clip inside the mask.


"The purpose of this study was to examine preservice science teachers' experiences with repeated scientific inquiry (SI) activities. The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) stress students should understand and possess the abilities to do SI. For students to meet these standards, science teachers must understand and be able to perform SI; however, previous research demonstrated that many teachers have naive understandings in this area. Teacher preparation programs provide an opportunity to facilitate the development of inquiry
understandings and abilities.
In this study, preservice science teachers had experiences with two inquiry activities that were repeated three times each. The research questions for this study were
(a) How do preservice science teachers' describe their experiences with repeated, guided inquiry activities?
(b) What are preservice science teachers' understandings and abilities of SI?
This study was conducted at a large, urban university in the southeastern United States. The 5 participants had bachelor's degrees in science and were enrolled in a graduate science education methods course. The researcher was one of the course
instructors but did not lead the activities. Case study methodology was used. Data was PREVIEW collected from a demographic survey, an open-ended questionnaire with follow-up interviews, the researcher's observations, participants' lab notes, personal interviews, and participants' journals. Data were coded and analyzed through chronological data matrices to identify patterns in participants' experiences.
The five domains identified in this study were understandings of SI, abilities to conduct SI, personal feelings about the experience, science content knowledge, and classroom implications. Through analysis of themes identified within each domain, the four conclusions made about these preservice teachers' experiences with SI were that the experience increased their abilities to conduct inquiry, increased their understanding of how they might use SI in their classroom, increased their understanding of why variables are used in experiments, and did not increase their physics content knowledge. These conclusions suggest that preservice science teachers having repeated, guided experiences with inquiry increase their abilities to conduct SI and consider how inquiry could be used
in their future science classrooms.


This study analyzes the durational patterns of native Japanese speakers learning English, with a focus on the two major prosodic effects: phrase‐final lengthening and stress‐timed shortening. To investigate the significance of these effects, a production experiment was conducted, adapting the method of Beckman and Edwards [Papers in Laboratory Phonology I, 152–178 (1990)]. Native speakers, beginning Japanese learners, and advanced Japanese learners of English were compared. Results are as follows: (1) The phrase‐final lengthening effect is large and the stress‐timed shortening effect is small in the speech of the native English speakers and the advanced Japanese learners; (2) all Japanese speakers are more successful in applying phrase‐final lengthening before larger prosodic boundaries than before smaller ones. Further analysis shows that the native English speakers make more durational contrast between lexically stressed and unstressed syllables (this is called local contrast) and also differentiate the three degrees of boundary strength hierarchically (this is called hierarchical contrast). These two types of durational contrasts are considered to be effective benchmarks to assess the acquisition of English stress‐timing by Japanese learners, due to their considerable correlation with learner proficiency levels.


Background: Skeletal muscle injury (SMI) can cause physical disability due to insufficient recovery of the muscle. The development of muscle fibrosis after SMI has been widely regarded as a principal cause of this failure to recover. Periostin (Postn) exacerbates tissue fibrosis in various organs. We investigated whether Postn is involved in the pathophysiology after SMI. Methods: Partial laceration injuries of the gastrocnemius were created in wild-type (WT) and Postn knockout (Postn−/−) mice. We examined the expression of the Postn gene before and after SMI. Regeneration and fibrosis of skeletal muscle were evaluated by histological analyses, and recovery of muscle strength was measured by physiological testing. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the number and proliferative potential of infiltrating fibroblasts in injured muscle. A trans-well migration assay was used to assess the migration capability of fibroblasts. Control immunoglobulin G (IgG) or Postn-neutralizing antibody (Postn-nAb) was injected into injured muscle at 7 and 14 days after injury (dpi). We evaluated the effects of Postn-nAb on muscle repair after SMI. Results: The expression of Postn was dramatically upregulated after SMI. Compared with WT mice, Postn−/− mice had improved muscle recovery and attenuated fibrosis as well as a significantly reduced number of infiltrating fibroblasts. The proliferative potential of these fibroblasts in WT and Postn−/− mice was comparable at 14 dpi; however, the migration capability of fibroblasts was significantly enhanced in the presence of Postn (mean, 258%; 95% confidence interval, 183% to 334%). Moreover, the administration of Postn-nAb inhibited fibroblast infiltration and promoted muscle repair after SMI. Conclusions: Postn exacerbates fibrotic scar formation through the promotion of fibroblast migration into injured muscle after SMI. Treatment with Postn-nAb is effective for attenuating fibrosis and improving muscle recovery after SMI. Clinical Relevance: Our findings may provide a potential therapeutic strategy to enhance muscle repair and functional recovery after SMI.


Introduction. Part I: Becoming a Google Advertiser. Chapter 1: Profiting from the Pay-Per-Click Revolution. Chapter 2: Setting Up Your Starter Edition Account. Chapter 3: Setting Up Your Standard Edition Account. Part II: Launching Your AdWords Campaign. Chapter 4: Discovering Your Online Market. Chapter 5: Choosing the Right Keywords. Chapter 6: Writing Magnetic Ads. Part III: Managing Your AdWords Campaigns. Chapter 7: Deciding Where and When to Show Your Ads. Chapter 8: Improving Your Campaigns through Keyword Management. Chapter 9: Getting It Done with AdWords Tools. Part IV: Converting Clicks to Clink. Chapter 10: Giving Your Customer a Soft Landing on Your Web Site. Chapter 11: Following Up with Your Prospects . Chapter 12: Building a "Climb the Ladder" Web Site. Part V: Testing Your Strategies and Tracking Your Results. Chapter 13: How You Can't Help Becoming an Advertising Genius. Chapter 14: Slashing Your Costs with Conversion Tracking. Chapter 15: Making More Sales with Google Analytics. Part VI: The Part of Tens. Chapter 16: The Ten Most Serious AdWords Beginner's Mistakes. Chapter 17: Ten AdWords Case Studies. Index.


The surface energy balance determines the functioning of any ecosystem on the Earth but is still poorly understood in Arctic and subarctic biomes. In a dynamic system, such as the Earth's climate, any change in its characteristics modifies the exchange of energy, water, and greenhouse gases between the surface and the atmosphere. Therefore, this thesis aims to draw a conclusive picture of the surface energy exchange and land-atmosphere interactions of Arctic and subarctic regions under climate change. The aims are achieved by combining in-situ field measurements of surface energy balance components, snow manipulation experiments, active layer monitoring, vegetation mapping, and chamber-based carbon dioxide flux measurements from Arctic and subarctic tundra biomes in Greenland, Svalbard and northern Sweden.
Local variability in climate, surface structure, soil moisture and soil thermal regime are the main drivers of variation in the surface energy exchange and ecosystem productivity of Arctic and subarctic tundra ecosystems. At all studied locations, the magnitude of the energy fluxes of sensible heat (H), latent heat (LE) and ground heat (G) were well-correlated with net radiation (Rnet). However, evapotranspiration (ET) and LE showed a relatively strong coupling to atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD), with more pronounced such control at the dry tundra sites compared to the wet-growing ecosystems. Snow and permafrost determined surface energy balance, energy partitioning and ecosystem productivity. Manipulated increase in snow accumulation at a subarctic tundra peatland complex in northern Sweden resulted in permafrost thaw, soil wetting and increased carbon sequestration. Concurrently, climate-driven increase in both snow accumulation and air temperature triggered dramatic and rapid permafrost degradation in peatland complexes and transition from dry habitats into wet-growing ecosystems, with consequent change in surface energy exchange towards both increased LE and ET at the cost of H. Interannual variability in winter snow accumulation at the high-Arctic tundra environment in Zackenberg (Northeast Greenland) prolonged the growing season during a year with low snow cover and increased the total accumulated energy balance components of the local heath and fen ecosystems. Further, energy flux partitioning at the heath was strongly determined by the reduction of soil moisture as snow is by far the main supplier of water in this region. The energy exchange of the fen, however, showed attenuated behavior due to groundwater table remaining close to the surface.
The results presented in this thesis suggest that in a future climate, accelerated permafrost thaw and increased interannual variability in snow cover may further modify the energy balance of Arctic and subarctic ecosystems, with profound impact on ecosystem adaptation capacities and the overall climate system.


New archaeological evidences of the so-called "Bactrian-Margiana Archaeological Complex" (= BMAC) has invited a change in our knowledge of the cultural relations between Oxus civilization and south-eastern Iran during the III-II millennium B.C. transition period. The new archaeological projects in southern and western Turkmenistan, as well as attested at Gonur Depe, have showed a wider and more articulated  relation in Asia Media, not only constrained to the movement of the Central Asian Bronze Age onto the Iranian plateau, Baluchistan, and western coast of the Persian Gulf. At the same time new research and excavations in the Jiroft valley has demonstrated a new cultural horizon in the eastern Iran. In this perspective the new information from the Oxus (Bactria and Margiana) and Jiroft civilizations invite new interpretations on III-II millennium historical relations among eastern areas. In particular it is possible to recognize south-eastern Iranian objects or influenced materials by Jiroft civilization in the Bactrian-Margiana archaeological complex. For these reasons the characteristic finds of BMAC recovered in Iran from Susa, Shahdad, Shahr-i Sokhta, Tepe Hissar, Khurab and Tepe Yahya have to be analyzed as part of a wider network and not simply explained with the movement of people from Central Asia towards southern Iran. An unpublished bifacial seal, now placed in the Bastan Museum, is an important line of evidence for a reassessment of the historical relations between two civilizations, representing a conceptual and ideological creation originated by the union of southern Iran and Central Asian cultural developments. This evidence is a new and decisive contribution for the understanding of the intercultural processes between the Oxus and Jiroft cultures; its presence confirms a homogeneous and related-artistic knowledge in a wide territory from Margiana and Bactria to the Lut, Jiroft, and Elam regions in a joint cultural source, but with different indigenous developments.


Following the attacks of September 11.2001 in the United States, concerns over terrorist attacks have sharpened The attacks highlighted that public water distribution systems are inherently vulnerable to accidental or intentional water contamination because of their geographical distribution, relative isolation and possible impact to public health. There is an ongoing and fertile research environment aiming to prevent such threats in water distribution systems. One of the key problems arising in The field is To identify sensor locations That minimize the impacts (e.g. detection time, population exposure, contaminated volume consumed) of a terrorist attack aiming the water distribution systems. In this thesis, we present a model of the sensor placement problem in municipal water networks. In our formulation, we focus To The sensor configuration that minimizes the expected time To detection and the expected population exposed. The first objective ensures that all such attacks should be detected in a very short time. We formulate these problems as binary nonlinear objectives. and propose a solution methodology framework based on meta-heuristics. namely, simulated annealing and tabu search. Two different neighborhoods generation mechanisms are utilized in the heuristics. We simulated the contaminant transport in EPANET in order to derive flow and velocity information. A novel approach is introduced in order to handle different flow patterns occurring during the day. In order To ensure the full detection probability, a new concept of restricted sensors that is located at the isolated node in the network is commenced. In the proposed framework, the close relation between clustering and location problems is exploited in The sense that The initial solutions of the meta-heuristics are generated with a k-medoids clustering algorithm.


There is much literature citing contributions that urban green spaces make towards human physical, social and mental well-being. However, quantitative evaluation is challenging. This research investigates Urban Environmental Quality (UEQ), which provides a quantitative measure of quality based on assessment of physical landscape characteristics in Salford, Greater Manchester using an integrated Geographic Information System and remote sensing approach. Five variables have been chosen representing urban landscape characteristics (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, Normalised Difference Built-up Index, building height, surface temperature, and proximity to water). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to enhance dimensions of variability between the variables. The index was created by combining the first four PCA components, weighted using eigenvalues. This index was positively related to a previous Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) based index. Pixel value ranges were larger in lower quality LSOAs, reducing as UEQ increased. This highlights land use fragmentation in urban centres


The quality of the bitumen–aggregate interface formed in an asphalt mixture is dictated by the physicochemical properties of both materials, such as surface polarity. In order to better understand the role of polarity on interfacial adhesion between bitumen and aggregate, a systematic study was conducted by designing bitumens with different polarities. These bitumens were produced by the addition of diatoms and hydrophobic diatoms in varying concentrations. It was found that by manipulating the polarity of bitumen it is possible to design materials that result in bitumen–aggregate pairs that are more compatible with each other and resistant to debonding. On the other hand, basicity of aggregates is also highly related to obtaining asphalt mixtures with improved durability. The findings from this paper help advance the fundamental understanding of the adhesive behaviour between bitumens and aggregates. More importantly, these findings can be used to design optimal anti-strip agents for using in different asphalt mixtures.


Artificial Life is an interdisciplinary effort to investigate the fundamental properties of living systems through the simulation and synthesis of life-like processes. The young field brings a powerful set of tools to the study of how high-level behavior can arise in systems governed by simple rules of interaction. Some of the fundamental questions include: What are the principles of evolution, learning, and growth that can be understood well enough to simulate as an information process? Can robots be built faster and more cheaply by mimicking biology than by the product design process used for automobiles and airplanes? How can we unify theories from dynamical systems, game theory, evolution, computing, geophysics, and cognition? The field has contributed fundamentally to our understanding of life itself through computer models, and has led to novel solutions to complex real-world problems across high technology and human society. This elite biennial meeting has grown from a small workshop in Santa Fe to a major international conference. This ninth volume of the proceedings of the international A-life conference reflects the growing quality and impact of this interdisciplinary scientific community.


Extracts of the extrusible secretion-disseminating organs ("hairpencils") of the male of the danaid butterfly, Lycorea ceres ceres, from Trinidad, contain a pyrrolizidine and two aliphatic esters. An odorous component, present in trace amounts, remains unidentified. Judging from the function of "hairpencils" in a related species, the secretion may play a mediating role in courtship.


The issues of gun control and gun rights are volatile. Exploration of them tends to one-sided and filled with fallacies. (Coauthor previously wrote and published "The Rhetoric of Gun Control, exposing many of the fallacies on both sides of the debate.) "Gun Control and Gun Rights" is the only balanced presentation of gun issues ever to be published. Showcasing viewpoints from all sides of the debate, this comprehensive book includes selections from judicial opinions and a variety of scholarly books and journals, as well as extensive commentary and questions from the authors. Balance was achievable because of the mix of authors, which include one pro-gun control scholar (McClurg) and two pro-gun rights scholars (Kopel and Denning). Each worked hard at keeping the others balanced and honest throughout the writing and editing process. This SSRN excerpt includes the Preface, Table of Contents and first two chapters of the book: "The Benefits of Gun Ownership" and "The Costs of Firearms." Together, these chapters offer an in-depth societal cost-benefit analysis of the roughly one-quarter billion firearms owned by private citizens in the United States.


This paper investigates the demise of unionisation in British private sector workplaces over the last quarter century. We show that dramatic union decline has occurred across all types of workplace. Although the union wage premium persists it is quite small in 2004. Negative union effects on employment growth and financial performance are largely confined to the 1980s. Managerial perceptions of the climate of relations between managers and workers have deteriorated since the early 1980s across the whole private sector, whether the workplace is unionised or not.


The essay presents the thesis that despite their activist tradition, Czech theatres abandoned any social criticism during the COVID-19 pandemic because they were unable to speak publicly about the structural conditions of the crisis (overtourism, mobility, etc ) and possibilities for change The author argues that it is because the language of theatre professionals is nowadays shallow and cliched and serves rather as a strategy to secure the positions in the artistic field than the true speech capable of addressing the public This situation is interpreted in terms of neoliberalism/capitalist realism (Mark Fisher) producing the pragmatic language incapable of imagination and transformation The intellectuals' speech of transcendentals (detached from the reality) is contrasted with true speech (Martin Buber, Francois Laruelle) originating in immanence The artists are depicted as the keepers of personal, archetypal language capable of producing universal ("terrestrial" - Bruno Latour) images of utopia This is discussed especially in the context of the environmental crisis © 2020 Slovenske Divadlo All rights reserved


We investigate characteristics and generation process of surface waves excited on a structured perfect conductor surface in order to clarify the mechanism of resonant transmission in metal hole arrays made of the perfect conductor. By using a metal hole array of kagome lattice, we can separate two modes excited on the perfect conductor surface; a surface wave and an edge mode. Our calculation based on finite-difference time-domain method provides a generation process of the edge mode and the surface wave that is responsible for the resonant transmission in metal hole arrays.


Despite the advances in user interfaces and the new gaming genres, not all people can play all games – disabled people are frequently excluded from game play experiences. On the one hand this adds to the list of discriminations disabled people face in our society, while on the other hand actively including them potentially results in games that are better for everyone. The largest hurdle to involvement is the user interface, or how a player interacts with the game. Analyzing usability and adhering to accessibility design principles makes it both possible and practical to develop fun and engaging game user interfaces that a broader range of the population can play. To demonstrate these principles we created AudiOdyssey, a PC rhythm game that is accessible to both sighted and non-sighted audiences. By following accessibility guidelines we incorporated a novel combination of features resulting in a similar play experience for both groups. Testing AudiOdyssey yielded useful insights into which interface elements work and which don't work for all users. Finally a case is made for considering accessibility when designing future versions of gaming user interfaces, and speculative scenarios are presented for what such interfaces might look like. Thesis Supervisor: Eric Klopfer Title: Associate Professor and Director of the Scheller Teacher Education Program


The first private practice conducted, owned by and advertised as an authorised nurse practitioner practice in Australia was established in February 2004. A mental health nurse practitioner established the practice in a medical centre to provide counselling and mental health services for individuals, couples and families. This paper discusses the first 18 months of operation and considers the experience in the context of the small amount of published data, internationally, related to nurse owned and run private practices in general, and nurse practitioner practices. The practical steps of setting up, reimbursement and meeting challenges, in particular, are discussed. Diary entries and copies of emails were used as data through which the experience was tracked. The conclusion was reached that private practice as a nurse practitioner is possible. Scope of practice and financial remuneration are limited by the current third party reimbursement arrangements under Medicare and the lack of provision of PBS provider numbers to nurse practitioners.


In today's world, most of us have the luxury of not having to face the daily realities of all the damage humans do to the planet. It is difficult to understand the devastation created by human beings unless you travel to a developing nation or actively try to find it in our own country -- pictures or words will never do it justice. E-Waste (Electronic Waste) is the rapidly growing stream of waste from discarded electronics and appliances. These items include anything from computers, TVs and phones to washing machines and refrigerators to everything else in between. Most of these electronics appliances are often not trash, but simply outdated and traded up for the latest version on the market. To manufacture one computer and its monitor it takes 530lbs of fossil fuels, 48 pounds of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water. Toxic substances when burnt at low temperature create additional toxins such as halogenated dioxins and furans- harmful to mankind. According to the most recent report released by the United Nations University (UNU) on the matter, findings show that globally we produced 41.8 million tons of e-waste in 2014. Even more startling -- it is believed that less than one-sixth is properly recycled or reused. While the negative impact of e-waste is vast and growing, most people are probably unaware of its reach. The lack of proper recycling leads to harmful toxins like lead and mercury leaching into the environment. Harmful materials like these and many others found in e-waste, cause all sorts of health issues like neurological damage, kidney damage and some cancers, to name a few. And let's not forget about the ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons left behind. Maybe the worst part of this issue is that most e-waste from developed countries is exported to developing countries like India, Africa and China. Often the pits of discarded computers and other electronics are picked over by locals who attempt to mine profitable materials like copper and gold from them. The improperly performed recovery methods like acid baths and burning of electronics are extremely harmful and are often performed by local women and children. These issues are environmental as well as social and related to mankind. So, it is for us to choose, whether we want to choose life of doomsday by the invasion of machines and radiations over us completely so as we loose humanity and mankind from this planet completely and forever.


GREATER demand for complex functionality, particularly in the aerospace industry, necessitates greater degreesof autonomy in our computer software and systems. Autonomic computing [1] and related initiatives aimed atachieving self-properties, self-healing, and ultimately self-governance are becoming more important and relevant asa result.However, there is still much to be done to achieve the vision of self-managing systems [2]. This is particularly true inembedded systems, as highlighted by Nordstrom et al. in their article "Autonomic Healing of Model-Based Systems".The authors highlight the need for resilience and availability of systems in complex environments, where models maynot necessarily provide all the information needed for informed decision-making regarding future behavior, leavingit to be a relatively human-intensive process. The authors describe their work on facilitating self-healing, one of theoriginal self-CHOP properties and a vital component of autonomic systems, in model-based development.We must also have assurance regarding the decisions made in self-managing systems. The potential implicationsof incorrect decisions are great, but decisions must often be made by autonomous components of ground-controlledsystems simply because of time constraints. In their paper "Game-Based Model Checking for Reliable Autonomyin Space", Bakera et al. describe the game-based model checker GEAR, a useful tool for automatically provingproperties of autonomic systems for increased levels of assurance. They illustrate its usage with respect to a casestudy involving the ExoMars Rover.Finally, the longer-term vision of creating Autonomic Software Systems is discussed with a return to biologyfor further inspiration in creating a holistic self-managing environment in Next Generation Autonomic SystemEnvironment.