It seems some students learn effectively no matter what instructional innovation is applied to the modern classroom. It also seems, despite the best efforts of educators, some students struggle. In recent times, teachers have turned their focus toward instructional technology and media as a tool for providing more equitable and consistent instruction for their students. In an attempt to improve learning for some, others may ultimately be excluded.
This dissertation is purposed to (1) examine the implications of instructional technologies among students who differ in how they process information and (2) then measure differences in performance between these students as the application of technology varies.
For the purpose of this research, information processing style is based on Witkin's (1950) bipolar view of field dependence/field independence. In short, field dependent thinkers are often socially oriented; they tend to thrive in highly structured classrooms with feedback from instructors. Field independent thinkers perform better in classrooms with less intervention and structure. Integrated technologies in classrooms may isolate individuals from the information needed by field dependent learners to create meaning. As classrooms become more integrated with technology, the question of creating equitable access for field dependent learners emerges and frames the problem for this paper.
This meta-analytical study is based on an historical view of educational technology in the United States. Although most of the primary studies are from the US, this meta-analysis includes data from primary research conducted in the US, Europe, and Asia over the last 20 years. Results indicate that, even after the adjustment for statistical error, field dependent students do not perform equally when compared to field independent students in technologically enhanced formal learning environments. Results also indicate that as teachers integrate technology, field dependent student performance abates significantly. Overall implications and practical significance are discussed.


Abstract : This four volume report was prepared in order to compile, describe, and apply available nonlinear analysis and design techniques for space vehicle attitude control systems and to outline additional areas of future effort to improve present analysis and design procedures. Each of the four volumes is relatively independent of the others. Volume I is a definition and description of the problems associated with the design of the space vehicle attitude control systems. Volume II treats in detail the principal techniques for the analysis of nonlinear control systems and shows the application of these techniques to specific attitude control system problems. Volume III discusses three general problems in space vehicle attitude control systems, (1) single axis on-off gas jet system design, (2) active attitude control system design for a spin-stabilized vehicle, and (3) the design of a control system for a satellite vehicle with reaction wheels and gas jets. Volume IV is a collection of references and bibliography with annotations and comments covering the spectrum of the study effort. (Author)


For well over a quarter century, law enforcement has surreptitiously converted the personal cell phone into a tracking device, capable of compiling a comprehensive chronicle of the user's movements over an extended period of time. With the 2018 Carpenter v. United States decision the Supreme Court has confronted the constitutionality of this practice and determined that a warrant based on probable cause is required by the Fourth Amendment. In doing so, the Carpenter Court adopted a normative approach well suited for the question presented but long avoided by lower courts. It also significantly circumscribed the "third party doctrine"; this new limitation will no doubt reverberate throughout many decisions involving nonpublic databases that hold vast and ever-growing amounts of our digital data.

Scholars debate whether the legislative or the judicial branch is better equipped to adjust the balance between security and privacy as new tools become available. In the case of cell phone tracking, both branches were slow and neither was effective, permitting millions of searches that have now been declared unconstitutional. One lesson of Carpenter is that courts must not be reluctant to confront the challenges of twenty- first-century technology. Another is that Congress and state legislatures need to design a better system for ensuring that law enforcement is subject to public accountability before using these powerful new surveillance tools.

In addition to relating the history leading up to Carpenter, this article dissects the decision and, in the process, lays out the multi-factor analysis applied by the Court. It also demonstrates how the Court limited the traditionally applied third party doctrine as it relates to cell phone data. Finally, the authors project the possible impact of the Carpenter decision in an increasingly complex telecommunications arena.


In this article, on road epidemiological studies including naturalistic driving studies that have assessed the role of mobile phones in crashes and near crashes will be reviewed, for example, Redelmeier & Tibshirani (1997); McEvoy, Stevenson, McCartt, et al. (2005); Klauer, Dingus, Neale, et al. (2006); Klauer, Guo, Simons-Morton, et al. (2014). The article will summarise the types of on-road studies that have been used to assess the risks of mobile phone use while driving, explain results to date, explore what aspects of the phone task appear to be most risky, and compare this with other common forms of driver distraction including passengers. Driver distraction has been defined as the diversion of attention away from activities critical for safe driving toward a competing activity (Lee, Young, & Regan, 2009, p. 34). In recent years, driver distraction has emerged as an increasingly important contributor to motor vehicle crashes. Road safety efforts have started to focus on sources of driver distraction, including mobile phone use while driving. Today's mobile phones feature a range of functions that make them highly useful devices, however under certain settings, it is possible that these same features may cause unintended consequences. Mobile phone use may divert driver attention from the driving task in a number of ways including reaching for the phone, dialling, engaging in conversation, hanging up, sending and receiving text messages, accessing the internet and phone apps, reading maps and emails, and interacting with music functions. For some years now, researchers have been investigating the distracting effects of mobile phones while driving. These studies have included laboratory testing under simulated driving conditions, testing driving performance on off road circuits, study designs using case-control or case-crossover techniques to examine the association between mobile phone use and crashes and, most recently, naturalistic driving studies in which drivers are filmed during their day-to-day driving to assess the role of distractions in near crash and crash events. It is possible for driver distraction to affect driving performance in a number of ways: speed variability, following distance (or headway), lane keeping, reaction time and gap acceptance (Young, Regan, Lee, 2009, Ch 7). However, these measures do not tell us the degree to which road safety may be compromised due to degraded driving performance. Accordingly, epidemiological studies have sought to determine the level of risk attributable to various driver distractions.


We applied a satellite remote sensing–based evapotranspiration (ET) algorithm to assess global terrestrial ET from 1983 to 2006. The algorithm quantifies canopy transpiration and soil evaporation using a modified Penman‐Monteith approach with biome‐specific canopy conductance determined from the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and quantifies open water evaporation using a Priestley‐Taylor approach. These algorithms were applied globally using advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) GIMMS NDVI, NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis (NNR) daily surface meteorology, and NASA/GEWEX Surface Radiation Budget Release−3.0 solar radiation inputs. We used observations from 34 FLUXNET tower sites to parameterize an NDVI‐based canopy conductance model and then validated the global ET algorithm using measurements from 48 additional, independent flux towers. Two sets of monthly ET estimates at the tower level, driven by in situ meteorological measurements and meteorology interpolated from coarse resolution NNR meteorology reanalysis, agree favorably (root mean square error (RMSE) = 13.0–15.3 mm month−1; R2 = 0.80–0.84) with observed tower fluxes from globally representative land cover types. The global ET results capture observed spatial and temporal variations at the global scale and also compare favorably (RMSE = 186.3 mm yr−1; R2 = 0.80) with ET inferred from basin‐scale water balance calculations for 261 basins covering 61% of the global vegetated area. The results of this study provide a relatively long term global ET record with well‐quantified accuracy for assessing ET climatologies, terrestrial water, and energy budgets and long‐term water cycle changes.


Abstract. Records of past warm periods are essential for understanding interglacial climate system dynamics. Marine Isotope Stage 11 occurred from 425 to 394 ka, when global ice volume was the lowest, sea level was the highest, and terrestrial temperatures were the warmest of the last 500 kyr. Because of its extreme character, this interval has been considered an analog for the next century of climate change. The Bering Sea is ideally situated to record how opening or closing of the Pacific–Arctic Ocean gateway (Bering Strait) impacted primary productivity, sea ice, and sediment transport in the past; however, little is known about this region prior to 125 ka. IODP Expedition 323 to the Bering Sea offered the unparalleled opportunity to look in detail at time periods older than had been previously retrieved using gravity and piston cores. Here we present a multi-proxy record for Marine Isotope Stages 12 to 10 from Site U1345, located near the continental shelf-slope break. MIS 11 is bracketed by highly productive laminated intervals that may have been triggered by flooding of the Beringian shelf. Although sea ice is reduced during the early MIS 11 laminations, it remains present at the site throughout both glacials and MIS 11. High summer insolation is associated with higher productivity but colder sea surface temperatures, which implies that productivity was likely driven by increased upwelling. Multiple examples of Pacific–Atlantic teleconnections are presented including laminations deposited at the end of MIS 11 in synchrony with millennial-scale expansions in sea ice in the Bering Sea and stadial events seen in the North Atlantic. When global eustatic sea level was at its peak, a series of anomalous conditions are seen at U1345. We examine whether this is evidence for a reversal of Bering Strait throughflow, an advance of Beringian tidewater glaciers, or a turbidite.


Abstract.
 A new specimen of the Early Pliocene porpoise Haborophocoena toyoshimai, comprising an incomplete cranium, was discovered from the Embetsu Formation near the locality of H. minutus, Haboro Town, Hokkaido, Japan. The specimen is a juvenile skull of H. toyoshimai, comparable in size to the congeneric H. minutus. It confirms and/or adds some characters that define H. toyoshimai. It is now clear that the structure of the posterior part of the palate is unique to H. toyoshimai among phocoenids. It is markedly deep dorsoventrally at the level of the midlength of the orbit. In ventral view, the palatal face of the pterygo-palatine complex is distinct in having a sharp and sinuous lateral edge. The palatal surface of the pterygo-palatine complex is gently concave. A prenarial triangle anteromedial to the premaxillary eminence is depressed. The new specimen also reveals possible ontogenetic variation.


We propose an automatic method for measuring content-based music similarity, enhancing the current generation of music search engines and recommended systems. Many previous approaches to track similarity require brute-force, pair-wise processing between all audio features in a database and therefore are not practical for large collections. However, in an Internet-connected world, where users have access to millions of musical tracks, efficiency is crucial. Our approach uses features extracted from unlabeled audio data and near-neigbor retrieval using a distance threshold, determined by analysis, to solve a range of retrieval tasks. The tasks require temporal features-analogous to the technique of shingling used for text retrieval. To measure similarity, we count pairs of audio shingles, between a query and target track, that are below a distance threshold. The distribution of between-shingle distances is different for each database; therefore, we present an analysis of the distribution of minimum distances between shingles and a method for estimating a distance threshold for optimal retrieval performance. The method is compatible with locality-sensitive hashing (LSH)-allowing implementation with retrieval times several orders of magnitude faster than those using exhaustive distance computations. We evaluate the performance of our proposed method on three contrasting music similarity tasks: retrieval of mis-attributed recordings (fingerprint), retrieval of the same work performed by different artists (cover songs), and retrieval of edited and sampled versions of a query track by remix artists (remixes). Our method achieves near-perfect performance in the first two tasks and 75% precision at 70% recall in the third task. Each task was performed on a test database comprising 4.5 million audio shingles.


"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand." Albert Einstein


ABSTRACT Although oral hygiene is known to impact self-confidence and self-esteem, little is known about how it influences our interpersonal behavior. Using a wearable, multi-sensor device, we examined differences in consumers' individual and interpersonal confidence after they had or had not brushed their teeth. Students (N = 140) completed nine one-to-one, 3-minute "speed dating" interactions while wearing a device that records verbal, nonverbal, and mimicry behavior. Half of the participants brushed their teeth using Close-Up toothpaste (Unilever) prior to the interactions, whilst the other half abstained from brushing that morning. Compared to those who had not brushed their teeth, participants who had brushed were more verbally confident (i.e., spoke louder, over-talked more), showed less nonverbal nervousness (i.e., fidgeted less), and were more often perceived as being "someone similar to me." These effects were moderated by attractiveness but not by self-esteem or self-monitoring.


Purpose: In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to food waste. As part of Corporate Social Responsibility strategy, players in the food supply chain began to work to avoid and reduce food waste. Educational campaigns for consumer, which are implemented by government institutions and non-governmental organizations concerning the bakery sector are an initiative that meets the requirements linked to the idea of "Don't waste food". The aim of the article is to demonstrate the importance of consumer education in terms of minimizing waste in the food chain illustrated by the case of the bakery market in Poland, and thus eliminating the phenomenon of food waste. Design/Methodology/Approach: The methodology used includes analysis of primary and secondary sources as well as reports. A survey was carried out in focus groups among youth between 19 and 25 years old. 384 respondents participated in the survey. The survey was carried out between October and December 2018. Findings: Most products are wasted at the final stage of the food chain. Bread and bakery wares account for more than 50 % of total food waste. The most numerous group that admits to wasting bakery wares are young people. Among the most important reasons for wasting, respondents mentioned "Non-compliance with the use-by date" and "excessive amount of purchased bread". The respondents indicated a beneficial effect of educational campaigns on their behaviour in preventing bread waste. Practical Implications: Recognition of the importance of education among young people and its impact on the behaviour of wasting products in the bakery industry. Originality/Value: Identifying the reasons for wasting of bakery wares among young consumers and indicating the reasons for reducing the waste phenomenon.


Many researchers have over the years tried to make attempts to explain and bring convergence on the understanding of the linkage among the variables and/or constructs of strategy, structure and environment. They have generally concluded that although they are closely linked their relationship remains complex and iterative and is not as easy as theory seem to suggest. This paper tries, in light of this complexity on the linkage among the variables existing to bring to light through using an in-depth review of literature a step by step exploration and synthesis of the causal relationship existent among these constructs. Out of examination of an exponential pool of literature we identify the context of each construct, build a relationship among each pair of variable, explore the impacts of the variables on firm performance and eventually draw suggestions that will be able to direct future research hoping to offer a route towards a complete and simpler understanding of the organizations. Finally, this paper purposes to bring a familiarization to the whole concept of configuration theory in management and strategy research by developing a definition centrality on how the constructs of configuration are causally connected.


Purpose: While dose calculations are typically performed using a simplistic correspondence of HU to electron density (ED), recent developments in DECT for radiotherapy could provide significant improvements in characterizing human tissues for such purpose. We aim to compare and validate two DECT mathematical formalisms and evaluate their accuracy in terms of ED and effective atomic number (Z) for radiotherapy applications. Methods: Two cylindrical phantoms (Catphan 504 and Gammex 467) containing tissue substitutes are scanned with a Philips Gemini GXL CT at 90, 120 and 140 kV. Two mathematical formalisms are developed and implemented using MATLAB, allowing the extraction of ED and effective Z maps of various materials, given a pair of CT images taken at two distinctive energies. The first formalism is based on a parameterization of XCOM cross sections and uses generic photon spectra provided by the manufacturer. The second formalism is based on a stoichiometric calibration of HU and uses experimental data and the substitutes' composition. A novel definition of effective Z is developed for both formalisms. Results: With the 90–120 kV energy pair, the extraction of relative ED of the Catphan materials leads to a maximum relative error of 5% for the XCOM‐based formalism and 2% for the stoichiometric‐based formalism. In the instance of the Gammex materials, higher density materials, as bones, present errors up to 31% and 15% respectively. Conclusion: While the stoichiometric‐based formalism demonstrates a clear advantage over the XCOM‐based formalism in the analysis of CT data acquired clinically, both yield reasonable accuracy for low‐Z elements materials. Conversely, the results for high‐Z materials are negatively affected by discontinuities present in photoelectric effect cross sections. An advanced formalism, which would precisely parameterize this effect, is expected to yield improvements in accuracy and lead the way to a successful implantation of DECT in radiotherapy treatment planning.


The utilization of battery electric vehicle (BEV) fleets in urban logistics has a growing practical relevance. Within this context, the Electric Vehicle Routing Problem (EVRP) has been introduced as an extension to the well-known Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) where the fleet consists of BEVs instead of the internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The main difference between EVRP and VRP is that BEVs have shorter driving range because of their limited battery capacities and may need to be recharged at a charging station in order to continue servicing customers. The recharging may take place at any battery level. In this study, we provide an overview of the problem, present the mathematical programming formulations for different recharging strategies, and provide solutions for some benchmark instances from the literature. We attempt to solve the small size problems optimally using IBM ILOG CPLEX. For the large instances, we implement an Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) algorithm.


The integration of adults with mental retardation into community leisure services has become an accepted focus of community leisure service providers. Researchers and practitioners alike have discovered that participation in integrated recreation programs provides adults with mental retardation opportunities to acquire a variety of functional leisure and social skills. However, without specific efforts to promote friendship development, these newly acquired leisure and social skills alone may not result in social integration. Strategies for promoting friendship development through recreation participation will depend upon a greater understanding of the relationship between recreation and friendship as it is perceived by adults with mental retardation. Three theories are presented in this article that are grounded in qualitative and quantitative data. Firstly, adults with mental retardation living in community residential facilities often do not develop meaningful, reciprocated friend-ships with peers. Rather, they mistakenly perceive staff, family, and other externally motivated or obligated people to be their friends. Secondly, adults with mental retardation do not typically meet and make new friends during recreation participation. At best, they may use the recreation domain to further nurture a relationship that was established previously. Finally, friendship development between adults with mental retardation and their nondisabled peers may be inhibited by the absence of social skills necessary to participate cooperatively in recreation.


This paper offers an argument for the superiority of a view on sentence structure based on grammatical relations compared to one based on phrase structure (PS) representation. The argument is based on the phenomenon of wh-copying in German. Wh-copying in German poses a problem for approaches based on PS representations because the construction is governed by two generalizations which a PS approach fails to capture. As soon as a relational perspective on syntactic structures is adopted, however, the generalizations can be captured. I will present an analysis for wh-copying in German within the Arc Pair Grammar framework, which does adopt such a relational view. It will be shown that the operation Replace in interaction with other principles of that framework successfully captures the two generalizations of wh-copying in German, and that it eventually even allows one to reduce the two generalizations to a single one.


The occurrence of coronary atherosclerosis and acute myocardianl ischemia due to the hyperaggregation of platelets, caused the death of 75-80% of type 2 diabetics. In an invitro study, the aggregation of platelets was influenced by the "Platelet Aggregation Associated Protein" on the surface of dental plaque bacteria, S. sanguis. The aim of the study was to identify bacteria in the supragingival plaque and saliva of type 2 diabetics, and their relationship to the aggregation of platelets. Dental plaque and salivary gland samples from 5 type 2 diabetics were diluted serially, and inoculated in Mitis Salivarius medium. The morphologie of the Colony Forming Units (CFU) Growth were analysed, identified physiologically and biochemically with Api 20 Strep subtrates. Aggregation of platelets of the blood were analysed with Adenosin Di Phosphate. The result of the study showed 22 colonies (CFU), in 6 morphology types. Three morphologytypes were identified as A viridans , the other 3 as Str. acidominus, Lc. lactis lactis, and E. avium. One morphology type of A. viridans, Str .acidominus, Lc. lactis lactis and E. avium were found in subjects with hypoaggregation; 2 morphology types of A. viridans were found in subjects with normal aggregation. It is presumed that type 2 diabetics with Str. acidominus, Lc. lactis actis, E. avium, and certain morphology type o f A. viridans in their dental plaque and saliva, hve hyperaggregation of platelet diabetics with two morphology types of A. viridans have normal aggregation of platelets.


1 Introduction to Investment Risk. Dream versus rude awakening. Book structure. 2 The Beginning of Risk. Risk and business. Case study: The shark and its risk. Case study: The ruin of Credit Lyonnais (CL). Case study: ABB engineering. Investment scams. Banking risk and sharks. Risk management as a discipline. Humans and risk. Case study: High-street retail store losses. Case study: Allied Irish Bank (AIB). The state of the investment game. Risk types. Reputation risk. Case study: Equitable Life. Credit risk. Market risk. Operational risk. Risk and damage. Viable alternatives. 3 Investing under Risk. Human behaviour and investment choice. Portfolio management. Value-at-Risk (VaR). Monte Carlo simulation. Collective use of mathematical tools. Position keeping. Investment managerial control. The treasurer's role. Trading and risk management. Investment risk experts. Case study: A large UK PLC defined benefits pension fund. Who controls whom. 4 Investing under Attack. Investor disenchantment. Risk-bearers and risk-takers. Professional investor/shareholder. Investment companies/fund managers. Investment banks. Auditors. A look in the risk mirror. Risk-averse. Risk-neutral. Risk-takers. Investor analysis. Types of CEO - birds of a feather. The CEO eagle - The M&A addict. The CEO dodo - Risk-phobic. The CEO ostrich - Risk-ignorant. The CEO owl - Risk-acceptable. The CEO magpie - Risk-seeking. Company structure and risks. Case study: The executive background check. Risk vanities. Pensions mis-selling. Case study: Boo.com. Corporate misgovernance. Accuracy of corporate losses. Classes of instruments and their risk components. Derivatives. Bonds. Equities. Investment as a project. 5 Investing under Investigation. Instinct versus ability. Checking corporate fundamentals. Formulate a business plan. Due diligence. Risk support and methodology. Investor cynicism. Case study: LTCM. 6 Risk Warning Signs. Prevailing risk attitudes. Reputational risk. Case study: Enron. Airborne early warning (AEW). International accounting standards (IAS). Credit ratings. The ratings procedure. Business lines. Law and risk management. Case study: the UK Football League. What the law covers. Completeness of contract. Case study: Merrill Lynch versus Unilever pension fund. Sarbanes-Oxley Act for audit control. Insurance. Risk retention: self-insurance. Case study: Insuring big oil projects. Case study: the Names and Lloyds, London. Sharing, transferring or mitigating risk. Search for risk management. Alternative theories. Causality and managing investment risk. Value-added chain. Risk management to pick up the pieces. Scenario analysis. Case study: Business Continuity, lessons from September 11th. Case study: Guaranteed annuity payments. Stress testing. Bayesian probability. Artificial intelligence (AI) and expert systems. Case study: Anti-money laundering. Risk maps. 7 The Promise of Risk Management Systems. Current state of systems. Risk management methodology - RAMP. Activity A: Analysis and project launch. Activity B: Risk review. Activity C: Risk management. Activity D: Project close down. Financial IT system support. The Basel II Loss Database project. Case study: Algorithmics systems in a bank. Integration and straight-through processing (STP). IT systems project failure. Case study: IT overload. Tying financial system functionality to promise. Risk Prioritisation. Giving the go-ahead. Building risk management systems. Finding the "best" risk management system. The invitation to tender (ITT) process. Business functionality requirements. User's functional priorities. Business flirting - the user's system specification. Business flirting - the supplier's reply. Judging the ITT beauty show. System priorities. Project life cycle. Risk management project plan. A - Our risk strategy. B - Risk review. C - Risk management. D - Project close down. 8 Realistic Risk Management. Intentional damage. Fraud, theft and loss. Fraud perceived as the main criminal threat. 419 - not a number, but a way of life. Operational risk in emerging markets. Parachuting in the experts. Case study: Chase Manhattan in Russia. Unintentional damage. Case study: Split capital investment funds. Rogue staff. Exposure to fraud at the top. Exposure to fraud lower down the rung. Case Study: Deutsche Morgan-Grenfell, 1996. An operational risk perspective. Operational risk protection: the "roof". Investment project growth. Phase 1: High skill. Phase 2: High performance. Phase 3: Client growth. Phase 4: Asset growth. Case Study: Soros Quantum Fund and Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Phase 5: Skill decline. Investor risk skills. Investment management skills in the market. Hiring star managers and CEOs. Investment managers and governance. Creating a winning fund management team. Building for investment resilience. Moving ahead from the investment herd. Recap on operational risk. 9 The Basel II Banking Regulations. Current banking problems. Basel II - a brief overview. 1 Pillar one: Capital requirements. 2 Pillar two: Supervisory review. 3 Pillar three: Market discipline. Cost-benefits under Basel II. Risk for financial institutions and insurance. The Basel II OpRisk principles. Loss database. Loss database drawbacks. Scenarios for Basel II OpRisk. Next steps: After Basel. 10 Future-proofing against Risk. Moral hazard. Risk detection. Case study: Marconi. Risk countermeasures. Case study: The Yakuza and shareholder meetings. Risk firepower. Case study: Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS). Insurance: the buck used to stop here. Risk monitoring. Case study: WorldCom. Forensic accounting. Appropriate risk management structure. Case study: BCCI bank. Facts, not figures. New risk focus. 11 Integrated Risk Management. Developments in the finance sector. Organic risk management. Separating reputation from risk management. Case study: Enron. Future for risk management. The case for organic risk management. Case study: Hunting for staff deceit. Unintentional (ostensibly) and legal. Intentional and illegal. The reigning investment ideology. 12 Summary and Conclusions. Summary of risk management. Identify stakeholders and interests. Match risk appetites. Match risk time horizons. Organic due diligence. Value for money. Reputation risk. The corporate governance model. Hitting back. Keep your eyes on the prize. Conclusions. Index.


The fabrication of crossbar memories with sublithographic features is expected to be feasible within several emerging technologies; in all of them, the nanowire (NW) decoder is a critical part since it bridges the sublithographic wires to the outer circuitry that is defined on the lithography scale. In this paper, we evaluate the addressing scheme of the decoder circuit for NW crossbar arrays, based on the existing technological solutions for threshold voltage differentiation of NW devices. This is equivalent to using a multivalued logic addressing scheme. With this approach, it is possible to reduce the decoder size and keep it defect tolerant. We formally define two types of multivalued codes (i.e., hot and reflexive codes), and we estimate their yield under high variability conditions. Multivalued hot decoders yield better area saving than n-ary reflexive codes, and under severe conditions, reflexive codes enable a nonvanishing part of the code space to randomly recover. The choice of the optimal combination of decoder type and logic level saves area up to 24%. We also show that the precision of the addressing voltages when a high variability affects the threshold voltages is a crucial parameter for the decoder design and permits large savings in memory area. Moreover, a precise knowledge about the variability level improves the design of memory decoders by giving the right optimal code.


The objective of this work was to quantify the potassium forms in four Latosols (Oxisols) from Campos das Vertentes, MG, Brazil, physiographical zone, influenced by different parent materials, and to evaluate their capacity to furnish potassium to two native forest species ( Peltophorum dubium and Senna multijuga ) and to corn ( Zea mays ). The experiment was conducted in greenhouse conditions at Soil Science Department of Universidade Federal de Lavras, in Lavras, MG, Brazil, in a completely randomized design, with six replications. For the characterization of potassium forms (total, non-exchangeable, available, exchangeable and in solution) and determination of the quantity/intensity ratio, soil composite samples from superficial (0-20 cm) and subsuperficial (20-60 cm) layers were utilized. The results showed that, among the evaluated K forms, only the total K was related to the parent material, being the highest values observed for the soils influenced by pellitic rocks. The exchangeable and the available K were the forms which more contributed to the total K. The in solution K presented elevated concentration in the four soils. For the Peltophorum dubium and Senna multijuga , the Dark-Red and Una Latosol revealed adequate amounts of K for the initial growth of these species, while for the corn there was response to this nutrient application.


This paper demonstrates the effects of ethnic diversity on social relationships and the quality of public spaces at a very finite neighborhood level. We use detailed block level data on diversity and housing quality from a representative survey on housing in France. We show how and to what extent diversity among adjacent neighborhoods can affect household well-being and the quality of local public goods, whereas the previous literature looks at aggregate indicators and outcomes. Our identification strategy relies on the exogeneity of public housing allocations with respect to ethnic characteristics in France, and thereby eliminates bias due to endogenous residential sorting. Diversity is shown to have a negative effect on local public goods, either due to vandalism and to the lack of social policing, or due to collective action failure for maintenance. However, we find that diversity has no robust effect on civil conflict at a local level and, if anything, is more related to social anomie. We test the exogeneity of residential allocation across public housing blocks with respect to ethnic characteristics. We also show that our results are not driven by potential biases from self-reported well-being and that they hold even with objective measures of housing quality. JEL Codes: H10, H41


The primary aim of this study is to test a process model of cultural conflict styles. Specifically, we propose a theoretical framework for illuminating the relationship between individual-level equivalents of cultural variability dimensions and the face-maintenance dimensions, which, in turn, serve as guiding motives or criteria for selecting conflict strategies. In the model, it was predicted that the greater the individual's construal of self as independent, the higher the concern for self-face maintenance, which, in turn, leads to the higher preference for forcing (dominating) conflict styles. In a separate path, it was also predicted that the greater the individual's construal of self as interdependent, the higher the concern for other-face maintenance, which, in turn, leads to the higher preference for nonforcing (obliging, avoiding, integrating, and compromising) conflict styles. Data to test the proposed model were drawn from undergraduates of diverse cultural backgrounds, studying in Hawai'i. After being presented at random with one of the three conflict situations, participants rated the scales measuring conflict styles, face maintenance dimensions, as well as scales to measure the independent and interdependent dimensions of their self-construals. The theoretical path model was supported by the data except for one path. The implications of the model for theory and practice are discussed.


Since 1870 the lobocentrus Stal was descriptionbed and classifies differently by various researchers. The significant feature of the genus is the well developed, downwardly produced lobe of the posterior process, which almost or quite touches the apex of the scutellum. It seems desirable to review each species of the genus before descriptionbing the new species from South Africa. It differs in very important particulars from L. suffulta Dist., but more material is needed for further study.


Accurate estimation of the solar gain of a fenestration system is important in analyzing the energy performance of buildings. Recently, models were developed for complex fenestration systems – glazing systems with attachments such as venetian blinds and insect screens. These models use a three-node network for modeling heat transfer at the indoor-side of a glazing system. Empirical expressions based on observation and known limits were originally proposed for the corresponding convection coefficients. To address any ambiguity or error associated with these expressions, a research project is underway to develop techniques for evaluating these convection coefficients more accurately. The purpose of the current paper is to quantify the sensitivity of the U-value and solar heat gain coefficient of complex fenestration systems to the indoor-side convection coefficients. Configurations comprised of low-e glazings, roller blinds, venetian blinds, drapes and insect screens are examined in design summer and winter conditions using the window analysis software VISION5. Results show that the presence of an indoor-mounted attachment can significantly change the solar heat gain coefficient of a fenestration system. Nevertheless, the solar heat gain coefficient and the overall heat transfer coefficient are not sensitive to the indoor convection coefficient.


This paper seeks to establish a framework for the study of luxury based and to explore the contemporary luxury scene with the purpose of providing ideas and directions for more in-depth, focused investigations of the production and consumption of luxury goods. Drawing on sociological, anthropological and historical inquiry, it first addresses some of the key definitional, conceptual and moral issues arising in the analysis of luxury. Pointing to the challenges of even defining luxury, the paper adopts and extends a flexible scheme for conceptualizing luxury. This provides a framework for investigation the consumption and management of luxury today. We then examine contemporary luxury through different perspectives on "new luxury" and the related issue of Asia's rise as the world's primary market for luxury. While the paper does aim to give a sense of the characteristics of the present-day luxury scene, the central focus of the study is on discourses on luxury. We consider to what extent and in which ways luxury is being redefined – by "new luxury" and Asia's ascent. Finally the paper suggests themes and pointers for further research.


Adulthood in the Navajo world is marked by the onset of menstruation in females and by the deepening of the voice in males. Accordingly, young adults must accept responsibility over the powers manifest in blood and voice: for women, the forces that control reproduction and growth; for men, the powers of protection and restoration of order that come through maintaining Navajo oral tradition. The maintenance of the latter tradition has long been held to be the function of the Navajo singer, a role usually viewed as male. But despite this longstanding assumption, women can and do fill this role. Drawing on interviews with seventeen Navajo women practitioners and five apprentices, Maureen Trudelle Schwarz explicates women's role as ceremonial practitioners and shows that it is more complex than has previously been thought. She examines gender differences dictated by the Navajo origin story, details how women came to be practitioners, and reveals their experiences and the strategies they use to negotiate being both woman and singer. Women who choose careers as singers face complex challenges, since some rules prohibit menstruating women from conducting ceremonies and others regarding sexual continence can strain marital relationships. Additionally, oral history places men in charge of all ceremonial matters. Schwarz focuses on how the reproductive life courses of Navajo women influence their apprenticeships and practices to demonstrate how they navigate these issues to preserve time-honored traditions. Through the words of actual practitioners, she shows how each woman brings her own unique life experience to the role. While differing among individuals, these experiences represent a commitment to shared cultural symbols and result in a consensus that sustains social cohesion. By showing the differences and similarities between the apprenticeship, initiation, and practice of men and women singers, Blood and Voice offers a better understanding of the role of Navajo women in a profession usually viewed as a male activity and of the symbolic construction of the self in Navajo culture. It also addresses classic questions concerning the sexual division of labor, menstrual taboos, gender stereotypes, and the tension between tradition and change that will enlighten students of other cultures.


Seeking the redress of their "practical grievances", a militant minority demanding an immediate assault on the alliance of Church and State, Dissenters anticipated widespread changes after the Reform Act's passage In 1834 the moderate United Committee took the lead, but as initial optimism turned sour the extremists became increasingly vocal and concessions; were made to preserve unity. This provincial revolt was silenced until 1838, for the Whigs seemed willing to satisfy basic dissenting demand so Ministerial incapacity, and increasing ecclesiastical aggressiveness, revived provincial militancy, this phase- culminating in the appearance of the Nonconformist, edited by Edward Miall, in 1841. Denouncing the old policies, he advocated an immediate attack on the Established Church and the repudiation of the Whig alliance. Disappointed by the response, he turned to radical politics and the complete suffrage movement. In 1843 Dissenters were united in opposition to Sir James Graham's education proposals. Miall seized this opportunity to launch the Anti-State-Church Association in 1844. Maynooth and education kept dissenting agitation alive during 1843 and 1847, the election of that year being fought on a distinctive programme. The next few years were confused, but electoral successes in 1852 saved the Anti-State-Church Association from collapse, and gave Dissent a parliamentary foothold. Organised by the Liberation Society, Nonconformity became an influential and successful pressure group, a chapter which was ended by serious election losses in 1857. Dissent was politically isolated, and therefore, weak. Its peculiar dogmas, educational voluntaryism and disestablishment, made it distrustful of radical and liberal politicians, whilst the Whigs, after much heart-searching, had been discarded in 1847. Thus, Dissent contributed to the political confusion of the mid-nineteenth century. Within Dissent the traditional Unitarian leadership was rejected, new and more militant leaders, like Miall, emerging from the confusion.


Donor reactions to recent settlements of internal conflicts have been highly diverse, in terms of both overall aid and its sectoral composition. The allocation of post-conflict aid tends to be needs-based by favoring particularly poor countries. There is no conclusive evidence, however, that the allocation was shaped by the severity and type of conflicts prior to settlement. Furthermore, the sustainability of conflict resolution appears to be unrelated to the amount and composition of post-conflict aid. These findings, though based on a limited number of post-conflict episodes, underscore concerns voiced by the OECD and non-governmental organizations that traditional approaches to post-conflict aid are not effective.


An enrichment culture procedure for isolating members of the genus Acinetobacter from soil and water is described. It involves the use of vigorously aerated mineral media at relative low pH, supplemented with acetate or other suitable carbon source and nitrate as nitrogen source. With this method, virtually all samples of soil and water yielded representatives of this genus. Semiquantitative comparisons of the numbers of Acinetobacter and of all bacteria capable of aerobic growth in a complex medium revealed that Acinetobacter constituted no less than 0.001% of the total heterotrophic aerobic population in soil and water and was one of the predominant organisms in some water samples.


Individual plant care in agriculture will lead to new opportunities in crop management. Not only the weeding operation is in focus here but it will be more in general for individual chemical or physical treatments of individual weed or crop plants. For the application of fertilizers and chemicals in small dose rates and accurately targeted advanced sensor information e.g. based on spectral responses can be used to consider the individual plant needs ('the speaking plant'). This will have a significant effect on the reduction of inputs and increase the general efficiency rates of agricultural means.
The objective of this project was to provide high accuracy seed position mapping of a field of sugar beet to allow subsequent physical weeding as inter- and within-row treatments. By knowing where the seeds were placed the assumption was that the plants will show up close by. This information about where the individual plants are can be used to show where the crop rows are. Therefore, this can be used as an appropriate information for guiding tractors and/or implements. At least for steering operations for inter-row weeding this procedure can be sufficient.
A high accurate, cm-level, RTK GPS, optical seed detectors and a data logging system were retrofitted on to a conventional sugar beet precision seeder to map the seeds as they were planted (Norremark et al., 2003). The average error between the seed map and the actual plant map was between 16 mm and 43 mm depending on vehicle speed and seed spacing (Griepentrog et al., 2003). Both parameters influenced the plant position estimates significantly. The seed spacing was particularly important because of its influence on the potential of seed displacements in the furrow after passing the seed detecting sensors.
The results showed that the overall accuracy of the estimated plant positions were acceptable for the guidance of vehicles and implements for weeding purposes as well as for individual plant treatments. This research is contributing to the ongoing Danish research project Robotic Weeding as a cooperative research project of The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (KVL), Frederiksberg and the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences (DIAS), Horsens.


O 1s, C 1s, and S 2p core-valence double ionization electron spectra of the OCS molecule have been obtained experimentally by a time-of-flight photoelectron-photoelectron coincidence spectroscopy technique. In order to analyze and assign the spectral features observed, we present a protocol for computing core-valence ionization energies of such systems. The protocol is based on a restricted active space multiconfigurational self-consistent field (MCSCF) methodology with a freeze-relax procedure to guarantee a correct core-valence state root index without variational collapse. Corrections for extended dynamical correlation and core-core correlation, respectively, are made by multiconfigurational perturbation theory and by uncontracted basis set Moller-Plesset theory. Envisioning applications to larger molecules, a spin-restricted open-shell density functional method is also applied for the lowest core-valence energies. Furthermore, cross sections through a scheme for computing multiatom Auger transitions generating core-valence holes are presented. We find that the procedure outlined is capable of deriving the energy onset of core-valence ionization within a fraction of an eV and that assignments can be made of the most salient spectral features.


The NASA Kepler mission has observed more than 190,000 stars in the constellations of Cygnus and Lyra. Around 4 years of almost continuous ultra high-precision photometry have been obtained reaching a duty cycle higher than 90% for many of these stars. However, almost regular gaps due to nominal operations are present in the light curves at different time scales. In this paper we want to highlight the impact of those regular gaps in asteroseismic analyses and we try to find a method that minimizes their effect in the frequency domain. To do so, we isolate the two main time scales of quasi regular gaps in the data. We then interpolate the gaps and we compare the power density spectra of four different stars: two red giants at different stages of their evolution, a young F-type star, and a classical pulsator in the instability strip. The spectra obtained after filling the gaps in the selected solar-like stars show a net reduction in the overall background level, as well as a change in the background parameters. The inferred convective properties could change as much as 200% in the selected example, introducing a bias in the p-mode frequency of maximum power. When global asteroseismic scaling relations are used, this bias can lead up to a variation in the surface gravity of 0.05 dex. Finally, the oscillation spectrum in the classical pulsator is cleaner compared to the original one.


The statistical enhancement of administrative data sources has played a pivotal role in the analysis of the labor market in the last decades. They permit us to obtain a clearer picture of the reality than the common surveys. In so doing, they represent a cognitive instrument capable to support the decision-making strategies adequately and timely. This PhD thesis provides two case studies in this direction. Using unique administrative datasets for Italy, we deal with two important labor market issues.
In the first part, we investigate the impact of employment protection on the composition of the workforce and worker turnover. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the main existing literature about the effect of EP on labor market.
In Chapter 2, using a novel matched employer-employee administrative dataset, we adopt a regression discontinuity design (RDD) that exploits the variation in employment protection provisions in Italy between firms below 15 employees and those above 15 employees. Our newly dataset allows us to better identify the size of firms and most importantly the different typologies of labor contracts.
In order to justify the use of the RDD approach we conduct three different tests. First, we show that firm-size density is actually continuous around the threshold, as proposed in McCrary (2008). Second, we follow Schivardi and Torrini (2008) and assess whether firms just below and above the threshold differ in their propensity to grow. Finally, we conduct a series of balancing tests to investigate to what extent firms just above and below the threshold differ in terms of the observable characteristics.
Our RDD estimates suggest that EP increases worker reallocation, suggesting that EP tends to reduce rather to increase worker security. This can be explained by the fact that firms facing more stringent EP make a greater use of workers on fixed-term contracts. Indeed, the incidence of temporary work is 2-2.5 percentage points higher in larger firms. There is also evidence that EP reduces labor productivity. This effect is to an important extent due to the impact of EP on worker reallocation and the incidence of temporary work.
In the second part, we investigate the effect of the final graduation mark on the graduates" probability to be hired by firms (Chapter 3). The analysis is based on a worker-level administrative dataset. By evaluating employment contracts on the basis of their expected duration, we estimate multilevel logit and multilevel ordered logit models to take into account the clustered structure of the data and the nature of the response variables. Using a random intercept and a random slope specifications, we find the existence of a non-trivial effect of the graduation mark on the probability to be hired, even after controlling for the problem of selection. Specifically, the effect is non-monotonic: it is positive below a certain threshold, and it becomes negative afterwards. In case of permanent contracts, the effect of the graduation mark is not significant, while the major chosen by the student plays a key role.


Phthalate ester plasticizers were found to be extracted by blood from plastic tubing and from plastic bags used for blood storage. One such plasticizer was metabolized by the isolated perfused rat liver while another was found to be accumulated in the liver unchanged. In addition, this latter plasticizer was identified in samples of human tissue taken from patients who had received transfusions of blood stored in plastic bags. The biological implications of these observations are considered.


Most traditional Distributed Shared Memory (DSM) systems support data sharing in multi-process applications. This paper proposed a Multi-threaded Multi-home DSM system (MM-DSM) to support both data sharing and computation synchronization in multi-threaded applications whose threads are grouped into bundles and distributed across multiple computers for parallel execution. Globally shared data are rearranged and assigned to different thread bundles based on their access patterns. As thread bundles move around, their hosting nodes will act as the homes of the associated data blocks to reduce communication cost. Programmers can still stick to the shared memory programming paradigm whereas data consistency, distributed lock, false sharing and multiple writes are taken care of by MM-DSM. Experimental results demonstrate its effectiveness and correctness.


This paper studies costs and benefits of institutional harmonisation in the context of EU relations with its neighbors. The purpose of this paper is to outline the likely forms of institutional harmonisation between the EU and its Eastern neighbors and provide an overview of the methodologies that can be used in measuring its effects (costs and benefits). This paper serves as a background for two measurement exercises – one on benefits and another on costs – that are to be undertaken during the second stage of research.


Abstract: Logged forests form an increasingly large proportion of tropical landscapes but disproportionately few studies have studied the impact of forest disturbance, e.g. lightly vs. heavily logged, on tree and seedling communities simultaneously. We sampled all trees (on 1 ha) and all recently germinated seedlings (on 90 m2) in three lightly and three heavily logged sites in each of the following three East African tropical forests: Budongo Forest and Mabira Forest in Uganda and Kakamega Forest in Kenya. We analysed species richness, diversity, abundance and community composition of late- and early-successional trees and seedlings. We recorded no difference in species richness or diversity of late-successional or early-successional trees between lightly and heavily logged sites. However, the abundance of late-successional species was lower in heavily than lightly logged sites. Moreover, there was no difference in species richness or diversity of trees among the three forests. Yet, abundances of late-successional trees were higher in Budongo Forest than in Mabira Forest and Kakamega Forest. Species richness, diversity and abundance of seedlings did not differ between lightly and heavily logged sites. Only the abundance of seedlings of late-successional species differed among the forests with more individuals in Budongo Forest than in Mabira Forest. This was corroborated by non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) showing clear differences in composition of tree and seedling communities among the three forests. Thus, both, the tree and seedling communities differed significantly among the three forests but not between lightly and heavily logged sites.


Really, the general public has no idea what a radiologist is. Then again, a lot of physicians don't know much about radiologists either. However, as the wife of a radiologist, I can assure you that they are much more than the voice at the other end of the phone. Here are two big reasons holding people back from discovering these great doctors in person.


Spectrum sensing constitutes a key ingredient in many cognitive radio paradigms in order to detect and protect primary transmissions. Most sensing schemes in the literature assume a time-invariant channel. However, when operating in low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) conditions, observation times are necessarily long and may become larger than the coherence time of the channel. In this paper the problem of detecting an unknown constant-magnitude waveform in frequency-flat time-varying channels with noise background of unknown variance is considered. The channel is modeled using a basis expansion model (BEM) with random coefficients. Adopting a generalized likelihood ratio (GLR) approach in order to deal with nuisance parameters, a non-convex optimization problem results. We discuss different possibilities to circumvent this problem, including several low complexity approximations to the GLR test as well as an efficient fixed-point iterative method to obtain the true GLR statistic. The approximations exhibit a performance ceiling in terms of probability of detection as the SNR increases, whereas the true GLR test does not. Thus, the proposed fixed-point iteration constitutes the preferred choice in applications requiring a high probability of detection.


Managing Network Function (NF) service chains requires careful system resource management. We propose NFVnice, a user space NF scheduling and service chain management framework to provide fair, efficient and dynamic resource scheduling capabilities on Network Function Virtualization (NFV) platforms. The NFVnice framework monitors load on a service chain at high frequency (1000Hz) and employs backpressure to shed load early in the service chain, thereby preventing wasted work. Borrowing concepts such as rate proportional scheduling from hardware packet schedulers, CPU shares are computed by accounting for heterogeneous packet processing costs of NFs, I/O, and traffic arrival characteristics. By leveraging cgroups, a user space process scheduling abstraction exposed by the operating system, NFVnice is capable of controlling when network functions should be scheduled. NFVnice improves NF performance by complementing the capabilities of the OS scheduler but without requiring changes to the OS's scheduling mechanisms. Our controlled experiments show that NFVnice provides the appropriate rate-cost proportional fair share of CPU to NFs and significantly improves NF performance (throughput and latency) by reducing wasted work across an NF chain, compared to using the default OS scheduler. NFVnice achieves this even for heterogeneous NFs with vastly different computational costs and for heterogeneous workloads.


There is currently significant interest in particle-stabilized emulsions for a variety of applications and as precursors to other materials such as microcapsules or colloidosomes. A prerequisite for many applications is the ability to produce stable droplets with a well-controlled size. The preparation of oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions stabilized by silica colloids has been demonstrated here using membrane emulsification techniques. Emulsions were produced using both a cross-flow membrane device and a rotating membrane reactor. Under the correct conditions, highly stable emulsions with very narrow droplet size distributions can be produced. Investigations into the effects of changing the cross-flow shear rate at a fixed droplet production rate illustrate the fine control over mean droplet size that is possible with these emulsification techniques. Evidence for the importance of particle adsorption kinetics onto growing droplets prior to detachment from the membrane surface was obtained by varying the droplet production rate under fixed shear conditions. The presence of a critical surface coverage by the stabilizing particles to prevent droplet coalescence was clearly seen. Comparison with samples produced using conventional high-shear homogenization highlights the improved control over size distribution available from these membrane techniques.


We present an approach to simulate flows driven by surface tension based on triangle meshes. Our method consists of two simulation layers: the first layer is an Eulerian method for simulating surface tension forces that is free from typical strict time step constraints. The second simulation layer is a Lagrangian finite element method that simulates sub-grid scale wave details on the fluid surface. The surface wave simulation employs an unconditionally stable, symplectic time integration method that allows for a high propagation speed due to strong surface tension. Our approach can naturally separate the grid- and sub-grid scales based on a volume-preserving mean curvature flow. As our model for the sub-grid dynamics enforces a local conservation of mass, it leads to realistic pinch off and merging effects. In addition to this method for simulating dynamic surface tension effects, we also present an efficient non-oscillatory approximation for capturing damped surface tension behavior. These approaches allow us to efficiently simulate complex phenomena associated with strong surface tension, such as Rayleigh-Plateau instabilities and crown splashes, in a short amount of time.


In this article we describe the QoS concept of the evolved packet system, which was standardized in 3GPP Release 8. The concept provides access network operators and service operators with a set of tools to enable service and subscriber differentiation. Such tools are becoming increasingly important as operators are moving from a single to a multi-service offering at the same time as both the number of mobile broadband subscribers and the traffic volume per subscriber is rapidly increasing. The "bearer" is a central element of the EPS QoS concept and is the level of granularity for bearer-level QoS control. The network-initiated QoS control paradigm specified in EPS is a set of signaling procedures for managing bearers and controlling their QoS assigned by the network. The EPS QoS concept is class-based, where each bearer is assigned one and only one QoS class identifier by the network. The QCI is a scalar that is used within the access network as a reference to node-specific parameters that control packet forwarding treatment. This class-based approach, together with the network-initiated QoS control paradigm, gives network operators full control over the QoS provided for its offered services for each of its subscriber groups.


David Herbert Lawrence was born in Eastwood, England, in 1885. In 1914, he married Frieda Von Richtofen, a German national and distant cousin of the German war ace, 'The Red Baron' von Richthofen. While living on the Coast of Cornwall in 1917, they were harassed and accused of being spies for Germany. By 1921, the Lawrences were living in Italy and D. H. had won international acclaim for his writings. Mabel Dodge Sterne invited the pair to her home in Taos, New Mexico. Travelling by way of Ceylon, Australia, Tahiti, and, finally, San Francisco, the Lawrences set foot in New Mexico for the first time in 1922. Although he travelled all over the world, Lawrence was never as happy anywhere as he was in Taos. Arthur Bachrach has lived in Taos for over twenty years, and he has come to know people who freely recalled the Lawrences. They shared information about the circle of artists and friends who surrounded the Lawrences and their lifestyles. Bachrach provides information on Lawrence's writings and the influence living in the mountains of New Mexico had upon him. D. H. Lawrence died of tuberculosis while visiting France in 1930, and five years later, his ashes were placed in a memorial on his beloved Kiowa Ranch near Taos. Given to the University of New Mexico in the 1950s by D. H's widow, the ranch is known today as the D. H. Lawrence Ranch.


For many years Enterococcus faecium was considered a commensal of the digestive tract, which only sporadically caused opportunistic infections in severely ill patients. Over the last two decades, vancomycin resistant E. faecium (VREF) has emerged worldwide as an important cause of nosocomial infections, especially in immunocompromised patients. The global VRE epidemic was preceded by the emergence of ampicillin resistant E. faecium (AREfm) in the United States in the early 1980s. Molecular epidemiological studies of both human- and animal-derived E. faecium isolates using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) revealed the existence of host specific genogroups, including a specific genetic lineage associated with hospital related isolates. These strains were characterized by ampicillin and quinolone resistance. In addition, the presence of the variant esp gene was strongly associated with these outbreak strains. In E. faecalis, esp is contained on a so-called pathogenicity island (PAI) and is considered a putative virulence factor. This thesis describes the development of a rapid and cheap identification scheme for enterococci, which is a prerequisite to take appropriate infection control measures. Furthermore, a rapid molecular typing scheme designated multiple locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) has been developed to determine genetic relatedness of E. faecium isolates. Clustering of MLVA profiles confirmed the host-specific genogroups found by MLST, including the hospital specific genetic lineage. Comparison of MLVA with Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), considered the "gold standard" typing method for infection control programs in hospitals, revealed that both methods were highly concordant in assigning genotypes and comparable in costs. PFGE revealed a higher discriminatory power, but MLVA was faster. Analysis of the up- and downstream regions of the esp gene among several isolates demonstrated that, like in E. faecalis, esp of E. faecium is contained on a putative pathogenicity island (PAI) with remarkable sequence heterogeneity including insertions, deletions and mutations. The E. faecium PAI has, so far, only been detected in outbreak related and clinical isolates, suggesting a role in nosocomial epidemicity. The population structure of E. faecium was elucidated with MLST and the existence of a distinct clonal complex, designated clonal complex-17 (CC17), associated with the majority of hospital outbreaks and clinical infections in five continents, was documented. This complex is correlated with ampicillin and quinolone resistance and the presence of the PAI. A retrospective study in the UMCU revealed ecological replacement of E. faecalis by CC17 E. faecium, illustrated by a decrease in total numbers of invasive enterococcal infections but an increase in proportions of invasive AREfm. Furthermore, the ratio E. faecium/E. faecalis among bloodstream isolates changed in favor of E. faecium. A similar increase of invasive AREfm was observed in hospitals dispersed over the Netherlands, although this increase was more pronounced in university hospitals than in non-university hospitals. MLVA typing of bloodstream isolates revealed clonal spread of 4 MLVA types, which seems associated with acquisition of the esp gene in two genotypes.


Rigging is the process of creating a skeletal system for an animated 3D character or object, allowing animators to manipulate the character with the use of NURBS controls. These controls often make it difficult for animators to see the silhouette of the character since the controls clutter the body. Direct selection controls offer a solution to this issue by eliminating the need for visible controls. This thesis covers the creation, use, and the process of direct selection controls. Explaining the issues of traditional rigging and how it can be solved with direct selection controls.


In this paper we carry over the concept of reverse probabilistic representations developed in Milstein, Schoenmakers, Spokoiny (2004) for diffusion processes, to discrete time Markov chains. We outline the construction of reverse chains in several situations and apply this to processes which are connected with jump-diffusion models and finite state Markov chains. By combining forward and reverse representations we then construct transition density estimators for chains which have root-N accuracy in any dimension and consider some applications.


Wavelengths of hummocky cross-stratified (HCS) beds (a common sedimentary feature of storm-dominated shorefaces) are documented for the first time using measurements in three-dimensional (3-D) ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data for a well-developed Upper Cretaceous lower-shoreface succession at Dry Wash in the Ferron Sandstone Member, Utah. The shallow-marine sequence consists of upward-thickening HCS sand beds alternating with interstorm deposits. The thickness variation of the storm beds indicates locally steadily growing storm intensity with at least four cycles. Weakly coarsening-upward (mud to very fine-grained sand) fair-weather background deposits suggest a slow progradation of deposition with no significant change in environment. The GPR interpretation mapped three conformable, high-continuity, high-amplitude reflections throughout the 3-D GPR data volume. The interpreted radar surfaces (RSs) are well correlated with tops of HCS sand beds (and thus paleotopographic surfaces); the associated radar units (RUs) have a uniform thickness (on average 0.8 m [2.6 ft]). The RUs and the adjacent outcrop observations suggest that the shoreface sandstone at the Dry Wash site has a simple layered internal architecture. The hummocky-swaley surfaces generally dip westerly, as a product of postdepositional structural alterations that are mostly in the shoreline direction, and contain variable-size, structurally undulating rounded features. A 2-D continuous wavelet transform analysis is applied to the detrended RSs, producing a multiresolution image decomposition of the GPR surfaces. Surface features with a wavelength range of 1–7 m (3–23 ft) are in good agreement with the observations on modern hummocky shallow-marine seabeds. Quantitative measurements indicate that the hummocky surfaces at the Dry Wash site are dominated by uniformly distributed circular to elongate bed forms with maximum correlation at 1.5–3.5-m (4.9–11.4 ft) wavelength and that the deltaic sedimentary layers were simultaneously deformed by the middle Campanian compressional stress of the Sevier orogeny transmitted from the northwest. Quantitative information on the subseismic-scale surface geometry of the HCS beds is expected to result in more refined reservoir models. In addition, the connectivity of units indicated by the scale of the morphology can be an indirect indicator of unit correlation and permeability paths.


Abstract Electron and ion microprobe data on two samples of welshite from the type locality of Långban, Sweden, gave analytical totals of 99.38-99.57 wt.% and BeO contents of 4.82-5.11 wt.%, corresponding to 1.692-1.773 Be/20 O. Mössbauer and optical spectra of one of these samples gave [iv]Fe3+/∑Fe = 0.91, [vi]Fe2+/∑Fe = 0.09, and no evidence of Mn3+. The resulting formula for this sample is Ca2Mg3.8Mn0.62+Fe0.12+Sb1.55+O2[Si2.8Be1.7Fe0.653+Al0.7As0.17O18], and that for the second sample, Ca2Mg3.8Mn0.12+Fe0.12+Fe0.83+Sb1.25+O2[Si2.8Be1.8Fe0.653+Al0.5As0.25O18], is related by the substitution involving tetrahedral and octahedral sites: 0.59[vi,iv](Fe,Al)3+ ≈ 0.42[vi](Mg,Mn,Fe)2+ + 0.21([vi]Sb,[iv]As)5+, i.e. 3[vi,iv]M3+ = 2[vi]M2+ + [vi,iv]M5+. Welshite is distinctive among aenigmatite-group minerals in the high proportion of Fe3+ in tetrahedral coordination and is unique in its Be content, substantially exceeding 1Be per formula unit. Given the cation distributions in other minerals related to aenigmatite, we think it is reasonable to assume that at least one tetrahedral site is >50% occupied by Be and that one octahedral site is >50% occupied by Sb, so that welshite should be retained as a distinct species with its own name in the aenigmatite group.


Human Protein Reference Database (HPRD—http:// www.hprd.org/), initially described in 2003, is a database of curated proteomic information pertaining to human proteins. We have recently added a number of new features in HPRD. These include PhosphoMotif Finder, which allows users to find the presence of over 320 experimentally verified phosphorylation motifs in proteins of interest. Another new feature is a protein distributed annotation system—Human Proteinpedia (http://www. humanproteinpedia.org/)—through which laboratories can submit their data, which is mapped onto protein entries in HPRD. Over 75 laboratories involved in proteomics research have already participated in this effort by submitting data for over 15 000 human proteins. The submitted data includes mass spectrometry and protein microarray-derived data, among other data types. Finally, HPRD is also linked to a compendium of human signal-ing pathways developed by our group, NetPath (http://www.netpath.org/), which currently contains annotations for several cancer and immune signal-ing pathways. Since the last update, more than 5500 new protein sequences have been added, making HPRD a comprehensive resource for studying the human proteome.


Existing random number generation studies demonstrate the presence of an embodied attentional bias in spontaneous number production corresponding to the horizontal Mental Number Line: Larger numbers are produced on right-hand turns and smaller numbers on left-hand turns (Loetscher et al.,, Curr. Biol., 18, R60). Furthermore, other concepts were also shown to rely on horizontal attentional displacement (Di Bono and Zorzi, 2013, Quart. J. Exp. Psychol., 66, 2348). In two experiments, we used a novel random word generation paradigm combined with two different ways to orient attention in horizontal space: Participants randomly generated words on left and right head turns (Experiment 1) or following left and right key presses (Experiment 2). In both studies, syllabically longer words were generated on right-hand head turns and following right key strokes. Importantly, variables related to semantic magnitude or cardinality (whether the generated words were plural-marked, referred to uncountable concepts, or were associated with largeness) were not affected by lateral manipulations. We discuss our data in terms of the ATOM (Walsh, 2015, The Oxford handbook of numerical cognition, 552) which suggests a general magnitude mechanism shared by different conceptual domains.


Emotion pervades human life in general, and human communication in particular, and this sets information technology a challenge. Traditionally, IT has focused on allowing people to accomplish practical tasks efficiently, setting emotion to one side. That was acceptable when technology was a small part of life, but as technology and life become increasingly interwoven we can no longer ask people to suspend their emotional nature and habits when they interact with technology. The European Commission funded a series of related research projects on emotion and computing, culminating in the HUMAINE project which brought together leading academic researchers from the many related disciplines. This book grew out of that project, and its chapters are arranged according to its working areas: theories and models; signals to signs; data and databases; emotion in interaction; emotion in cognition and action; persuasion and communication; usability; and ethics and good practice. The fundamental aim of the book is to offer researchers an overview of the related areas, sufficient for them to do credible work on affective or emotion-oriented computing. The book serves as an academically sound introduction to the range of disciplines involved technical, empirical and conceptual and will be of value to researchers in the areas of artificial intelligence, psychology, cognition and usermachine interaction.


Coincidence summing of technetium-99m (99mTc) pulses may disturb iodine-131 (131I) thyroid uptake measurements if these are obtained after 99mTc thyroid scintigraphy performed on the same day. The magnitude of the error was assessed in 26 patients. It was found that when pre-dose measurements were subtracted, the 6-hour and 24-hour 131I uptakes could be falsely decreased by up to 137 percentage points using a lower discriminator level of 250 keV and by up to 35 percentage points with a discriminator level of 300 keV. When pre-dose measurements from 99mTc were ignored, there was a general increase in 131I uptake values at 6 hours. Increases of up to 22 and 9 percentage points occurred when 250 keV and 300 keV lower discriminator levels respectively were used. These errors may be eliminated by performing 131I uptake measurements through a 1 mm lead filter.


The Raft of Odysseus looks at the fascinating intersection of traditional myth with an enthnographically-viewed Homeric world. Carol Dougherty argues that the resourcefulness of Odysseus as an adventurer on perilous seas served as an example to Homer's society which also had to adjust in inventive ways to turbulent conditions. The fantastic adventures of Odysseus act as a prism for the experiences of Homer's own listeners-traders, seafarers, storytellers, soldiers-and give us a glimpse into their own world of hopes and fears, 500 years after the Iliadic events were supposed to have happened. In the course of her argument, Dougherty makes liberal use of what we know about Mycenean and archaic artifacts, comparing the realities of historical shipbuilding or weaving, for example, with the often magnificently inflated account of the epics.


Reading, using vision or touch, translates abstact marks on a page into an understanding of ideas. The perceptual, linguistic and cognitive processes involved in sighted reading have been widely studied, but the use of touch raises new issues. Drawing on her research with novice and fluent braille readers, Susanna Millar examines how people initially process braille and how skill with sounds, words, meaning and spelling patterns influence processing. The main focus is on braille but findings on the 'Moon' script, vibrotactile devices, maps and 'icons' are also considered in the context of their practical implications and access to computer technology. Reading by Touch will be of enormous interest to all teachers and students of tactual reading systems, and makes a significant contribution to theories in cognitive and developmental psychology.


The majority of the genome is shared between the sexes, and it is expected that the genetic architecture of most traits is shared as well. This common architecture has been viewed as a major source of constraint on the evolution of sexual dimorphism (SD). SD is nonetheless common in nature, leading to assumptions that it results from differential regulation of shared genetic architecture. Here, we study the effect of thousands of gene knock-out mutations on 202 mouse phenotypes to explore how regulatory variation affects SD. We show that many traits are dimorphic to some extent, and that a surprising proportion of knock-outs have sex-specific phenotypic effects. Many traits, regardless whether they are monomorphic or dimorphic, harbor cryptic differences in genetic architecture between the sexes, resulting in sexually discordant phenotypic effects from sexually concordant regulatory changes. This provides an alternative route to dimorphism through sex-specific genetic architecture, rather than differential regulation of shared architecture.


Displacement is clearly gendered; age also has a strong influence on outcomes and experiences for the displaced, including a significant impact on how they are understood by the public and policy makers. It is important to keep this in mind when considering how children and youth are understood within contexts of conflict and insecurity, how they are affected by these forces, and how they navigate their lives in these contexts, especially in seeking peaceful outcomes. Here we engage with the current so-called European migration crisis as a potential watershed moment in understandings of children and youth as refugees. In particular, we suggest that the public representations of young people in this context can be deeply influenced by stereotypes and assumptions around gender and age that may—intentionally or inadvertently—lead to greater insecurity for people of diverse genders and ages. Likewise, we argue that when considering scholarship, policy, and practice in relation to migration, it is critical to develop and apply a lens that accounts for both gender and age.


Customers often receive expert advice related to their health, finances, taxes or legal procedures, to name just a few. A noble stance taken by some is that experts should empower customers to make their own decisions. In this article, we distinguish informational from decisional empowerment and study whether empowerment leads customers to adhere more or less to expert advice. We empirically test our model using a unique dataset involving 11,735 respondents in 17 countries on four continents. In the context of consumer adherence to doctors' therapy advice (patient non-adherence to doctor advice may cost about $564 billion globally to the pharmaceutical industry every year), we find that decisional empowerment lowers adherence to expert advice. The effect of informational empowerment varies predictably across cultures and is only universally beneficial when initiated by the customer. These findings have important implications for professional service providers.


The AGILE satellite detected several episodes of transient gamma-ray emission from Cygnus X-3. Cross-correlating the AGILE light curve with both X-ray and radio monitoring data, we found that the main events of gamma-ray activity were detected while the system was in soft spectral X-ray states, that coincide with local and often sharp minima of the hard X-ray flux, a few days before intense radio outbursts. This repetitive temporal coincidence between the gamma-ray transient emission and spectral state changes of the source turns out to be the spectral signature of high-energy activity from this microquasar. The gamma-ray differential spectrum of Cygnus X-3 (100 MeV - 3 GeV), which was obtained by averaging the data collected by AGILE during the gamma-ray events, is consistent with a power law of photon index {\alpha} = 2.0 +/- 0.2. Finally, we examined leptonic and hadronic emission models for the gamma-ray activity and found that both scenarios are valid. In particular, in the leptonic model - based on inverse Compton scatterings of mildly relativistic electrons on soft photons from both the Wolf-Rayet companion star and the accretion disk - the emitting particles may also contribute to the overall hard X-ray spectrum, possibly explaining the hard non-thermal power-law tail seen during special soft X-ray states in Cygnus X-3.


In Taiwan, 3 viral isolates were inade from a disease outbreak in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus rnykiss cultured in ponds during the penod from November 1994 to February 1995 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for identification of the isolates The results revealed that a specific 252 bp viral nucleotide was amplified by using infectious hematopoletic neci-osis virus (IHNV) specific primers. At the same time, several IHNV monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), and an IHNV specific rabbit polyclonal antibody were used to confirm the results of the PCR assay The results of the above assays indicated that all isolates were IHNV.


Anybody who goes to work in a different part of the world should expect a culture shock. Faced with unfamiliar attitudes and customs you are constantly uncertain about how to behave and, therefore, ill at ease. Before we left for the Middle East we read a lot about Arab culture and customs and tried to fit in some language study as well. We now feel most stress not in the shops or with the language but where we did not expect it, in our medical work in the culture of the hospital.

We work in the Arabian Gulf alongside mostly Indian doctors. Our hospital began life a century ago as a charitable institution. When the increasing standard of living made it possible to charge a fee our hospital started doing so. We now function as a small, private, open access hospital with a total workforce of about 220 people. The general health of the people is excellent and most speak English well enough for …


As part of the Panchromatic Exoplanet Treasury program, we have conducted a spectroscopic study of WASP-79b, an inflated hot Jupiter orbiting an F-type star in Eridanus with a period of 3.66 days. Building on the original WASP and TRAPPIST photometry of Smalley et al., we examine Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) (1.125–1.650 μm), Magellan/Low Dispersion Survey Spectrograph (LDSS)-3C (0.6–1 μm) data, and Spitzer data (3.6 and 4.5 μm). Using data from all three instruments, we constrain the water abundance to be −2.20 ≤ log(H2O) ≤ −1.55. We present these results along with the results of an atmospheric retrieval analysis, which favor inclusion of FeH and H− in the atmospheric model. We also provide an updated ephemeris based on the Smalley, HST/WFC3, LDSS-3C, Spitzer, and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) transit times. With the detectable water feature and its occupation of the clear/cloudy transition region of the temperature/gravity phase space, WASP-79b is a target of interest for the approved James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Director's Discretionary Early Release Science (ERS) program, with ERS observations planned to be the first to execute in Cycle 1. Transiting exoplanets have been approved for 78.1 hr of data collection, and with the delay in the JWST launch, WASP-79b is now a target for the Panchromatic Transmission program. This program will observe WASP-79b for 42 hr in four different instrument modes, providing substantially more data by which to investigate this hot Jupiter.


The Twitter hashtag #MeToo has provided an accessible medium for users to share their personal experiences and make public the prevalence of sexual harassment, assault, and violence against women. This online phenomenon, which has largely involved posting on Twitter and "retweeting" to share other's posts has revealed crucial information about the scope and nature of sexual harassment and misconduct. More specifically, social media has served as a central forum for this unprecedented global conversation, where previously silenced voices have been amplified, supporters around the world have been united, and resistance has gained steam.

This Essay discusses the #MeToo movement within the broader context of social media activism, explaining how this unique form of collective action is rapidly evolving. We offer empirical insights into the types of conversations taking place under the hashtag and the extent to which the movement is leading to broader social change. While it is unclear which changes are sustainable over time, it is clear that the hashtag #MeToo has converted an online phenomenon into tangible change, sparking legal, political, and social changes in the short run. This Essay provides data to illustrate some of these changes, which demonstrate how posting online can serve as an impetus, momentum, and legitimacy for broader movement activity and changes offline more characteristic of traditional movement strategies.


The Zheng family of merchants and militarists emerged from the tumultuous seventeenth century amid a severe economic depression, a harrowing dynastic transition from the ethnic Chinese Ming to the Manchu Qing, and the first wave of European expansion into East Asia. Under four generations of leaders over six decades, the Zheng had come to dominate trade across the China Seas. Their average annual earnings matched, and at times exceeded, those of their fiercest rivals: the Dutch East India Company. Although nominally loyal to the Ming in its doomed struggle against the Manchus, the Zheng eventually forged an autonomous territorial state based on Taiwan with the potential to encompass the family's entire economic sphere of influence. Through the story of the Zheng, Xing Hang provides a fresh perspective on the economic divergence of early modern China from western Europe, its twenty-first-century resurgence, and the meaning of a Chinese identity outside China.


This reports highlights parents' experiences with accessing and retaining subsidies as they move through and off the welfare system. It is based on focus groups that were conducted in 4 sites with parents receiving TANF and child care subsidies, as well as parents who had recently left TANF and were still receiving child care subsidies. It provides information on parents' experiences with key aspects of the TANF/child care subsidy process -- including applying for subsidies, finding a provider, ongoing subsidy requirements, and the transition off welfare -- and discusses the implications for policy and practice.


For decades, archaeologists thought democratic republics such as classical Athens and medieval Venice were a purely European phenomenon. Conventional wisdom held that in premodern, non-Western societies, despots simply extracted labor and wealth from their subjects. But archaeologists have identified several societies in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica that upend that model. They argue that societies such as Tlaxcallan in the central Mexican highlands and Tres Zapotes along the Mexican gulf coast were organized collectively, meaning that rulers shared power and commoners had a say in the government that presided over their lives. These societies were not necessarily full democracies in which citizens cast votes, but they were radically different from the autocratic, inherited rule found—or assumed—in most ancient societies. Archaeologists now say that these collective societies left telltale traces in their material culture and urban planning, such as repetitive architecture, an emphasis on public space over palaces, reliance on local production over exotic trade goods, and a narrowing of wealth gaps between elites and commoners.


As an endoscopic procedure, hysteroscopy is still neglected when compared to the widely practiced laparoscopic procedures. Despite having all the advantages of laparoscopy, namely direct optical judgement of body cavities, the possibility of surgical treatment during the same procedure, less trauma, reduced post-op pain and shorter hospital stay, hysteroscopy developed with greater difficulty. Reasons for this are the fragile endometrium, the virtual cavity and problems with the distention media, which all require special instrumentation and techniques. In addition, operative procedures require a complicated instrumentation set-up, special surgical training and knowledge of complications and their appropriate management.
Modern women are increasingly demanding conservation of their uterus and hysteroscopy as a procedure has documented success in correcting problems with abnormal bleeding, infertility and pregnancy wastage.


Study Design. Retrospective review of prospective multicenter database. Objective. Quantify the incidence of new onset cervical deformity (CD) after adult spinal deformity surgery of the thoracolumbar spine, identify predictors of development, and determine the impact on outcomes. Summary of Background Data. High prevalence of residual CD has been identified after surgical treatment of adult spinal deformity. Development of new onset CD is less understood and its clinical impact unclear. Methods. A total of 215 patients with complete 2-year follow-up and full-length radiographs met inclusion criteria. CD was defined by T1 slope minus Cervical Lordosis (CL) more than 20°, C2–C7 sagittal vertical axis more than 40 mm, or C2–C7 kyphosis more than 10°. Univariate analysis was performed using t tests or tests of proportion. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine independent predictors of new onset CD. The impact of CD on health-related quality of life and satisfaction was measured using repeated measures mixed models or logistic regression as appropriate, accounting for potential confounders. Results. The overall rate of CD at 2 years after surgery was 63%. Univariate analysis revealed that patients who developed new onset CD postoperatively had higher incidence of diabetes (7.35% vs. 1.28%, P = 0.05), increased preoperative C2–C7 sagittal vertical axis (P = 0.04) and C2 slope (P = 0.038), and smaller diameter rods used at surgery (P = 0.032). Independent predictors of new onset CD at 2 years included: diabetes (odds ratio, 10.49; P = 0.046) and increased preoperative T1 slope minus cervical lordosis (odds ratio, 1.08/º; P = 0.022). Ending instrumentation below T4 was a negative predictor (odds ratio, 0.31; P = 0.019). Patients with and without CD experienced improvements in 2-year 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (P = 0.0001), Oswestry Disability Index (P = 0.0001), and Scoliosis Research Society (P = 0.0001). Rates and overall improvement were similar. CD was not associated with decreased satisfaction (P = 0.28). Conclusion. A total of 47.7% of patients without preoperative CD developed new onset postoperative CD after thoracolumbar surgery. Independent predictors of new onset CD at 2 years included diabetes, higher preoperative T1 slope minus cervical lordosis, and ending instrumentation above T4. Significant improvements in health-related quality of life scores occurred despite the development of postoperative CD. Level of Evidence: 2


We investigate contextual online learning with nonparametric (Lipschitz) comparison classes under different assumptions on losses and feedback information. For full information feedback and Lipschitz losses, we design the first explicit algorithm achieving the minimax regret rate (up to log factors). In a partial feedback model motivated by second-price auctions, we obtain algorithms for Lipschitz and semi-Lipschitz losses with regret bounds improving on the known bounds for standard bandit feedback. Our analysis combines novel results for contextual second-price auctions with a novel algorithmic approach based on chaining. When the context space is Euclidean, our chaining approach is efficient and delivers an even better regret bound.


R is the amazing, free, open-access software package for scientific graphs and calculations used by scientists worldwide. The R Student Companion is a student-oriented manual describing how to use R in high school and college science and mathematics courses. Written for beginners in scientific computation, the book assumes the reader has just some high school algebra and has no computer programming background. The author presents applications drawn from all sciences and social sciences and includes the most often used features of R in an appendix. In addition, each chapter provides a set of computational challenges: exercises in R calculations that are designed to be performed alone or in groups. Several of the chapters explore algebra concepts that are highly useful in scientific applications, such as quadratic equations, systems of linear equations, trigonometric functions, and exponential functions. Each chapter provides an instructional review of the algebra concept, followed by a hands-on guide to performing calculations and graphing in R. R is intuitive, even fun. Fantastic, publication-quality graphs of data, equations, or both can be produced with little effort. By integrating mathematical computation and scientific illustration early in a students development, R use can enhance one's understanding of even the most difficult scientific concepts. While R has gained a strong reputation as a package for statistical analysis, The R Student Companion approaches R more completely as a comprehensive tool for scientific computing and graphing.


This book sheds light on the life of the intellectual refugee Laura Polanyi Stricker, whose contributions to the progressive counterculture and women's movement of turn-of-the-century Austria-Hungary have remained unexplored. Stricker, the elder sister of Karl and Michael Polanyi, was a pioneering feminist and educator as well as a historian whose work on Captain John Smith earned her the epithet of the title. The book explores the family's history during a little-known period of Central European history in light of narratives of women's emancipation and Jewish assimilation. Szapor discusses patterns and networks of immigration and the experience of women refugees. By incorporating previously unexplored public and family archives, along with extensive interviews, Szapor brings to the forefront the volatility of early-twentieth-century Hungary, the political and artistic ferment of Vienna and Weimar Berlin, and the Polanyis' flight from Hitler.