The early transitional justice scholarship was premised on the notion that a window of opportunity was created by the transition itself, allowing nascent democracies to devise justice tools in order to remedy victims and to consolidate the new democratic order. Grounded in a merger of human rights advocacy and the 'transition to democracy' literature of the 1980s and 1990s, transitional justice scholars focused on how newly established democratic governments could use the 'transitional moment' to respond to the abuses committed by their repressive predecessors. In so doing, it was assumed that the transition presented both opportunities and limitations to the kind of justice that could be rendered. Since then, however, transitional justice scholarship has developed enormously. Notably, contemporary studies of transitional justice interrogate justice processes aimed at addressing human rights abuses and more broadly the roots of conflict in a myriad of situations not characterized by a liberalizing political transition and the State has come to be seen as only one among several relevant actors relevant for promoting and implementing transitional justice tools. This chapter argues that the move away from viewing transitional justice primarily as the responses of a new democratic regime to abuses committed by a past undemocratic and repressive regime raises profound questions for the understanding of what transitional justice is and what it can achieve, which have not been sufficiently explored in the scholarship. First, the chapter discusses the implications of transitional justice no longer necessarily being confined to a limited 'window of opportunity' in time. Second, the chapter discusses the ramifications of transitional justice no longer being reserved for periods of liberalizing political transition. Finally, the chapter examines the consequences of transitional justice occurring at other levels than the State level.


Autonomous agents must often deal with conflicting requirements, such as completing tasks using the least amount of time/energy, learning multiple tasks, or dealing with multiple opponents. In the context of reinforcement learning~(RL), these problems are addressed by (i)~designing a reward function that simultaneously describes all requirements or (ii)~combining modular value functions that encode them individually. Though effective, these methods have critical downsides. Designing good reward functions that balance different objectives is challenging, especially as the number of objectives grows. Moreover, implicit interference between goals may lead to performance plateaus as they compete for resources, particularly when training on-policy. Similarly, selecting parameters to combine value functions is at least as hard as designing an all-encompassing reward, given that the effect of their values on the overall policy is not straightforward. The later is generally addressed by formulating the conflicting requirements as a constrained RL problem and solved using Primal-Dual methods. These algorithms are in general not guaranteed to converge to the optimal solution since the problem is not convex. This work provides theoretical support to these approaches by establishing that despite its non-convexity, this problem has zero duality gap, i.e., it can be solved exactly in the dual domain, where it becomes convex. Finally, we show this result basically holds if the policy is described by a good parametrization~(e.g., neural networks) and we connect this result with primal-dual algorithms present in the literature and we establish the convergence to the optimal solution.


Abstract The evolutionary history of shell geometry of Early Jurassic ammonoids during the Pliensbachian–Toarcian second-order mass extinction is explored at both adult and ontogenetic levels. The ontogenetic approach builds on the concept of allometric space to get insights into the developmental aspects of morphological evolution. Investigation of the deployment of taxa in adult morphospace and allometric space allows the appraisal of the temporal evolution of morphological and allometric disparities. Curves of taxonomic diversity, adult morphological disparity, allometric disparity, and average adult size are contrasted. Results show that during the Pliensbachian–Toarcian interval, ammonoids underwent two successive and drastic declines in taxonomic diversity. Patterns of morphospace and allometric space occupancy suggest nonselective extinction at both morphological and developmental levels. Another measure of allometric disparity suggests the occurrence of two heterochronic trends, a peramorphocline followed by a paedomorphocline, during the Toarcian. These trends are concomitant with changes in average adult size that compensate for the heterochronic effects and explain the striking stability of morphological disparity despite changes in diversity. The results also emphasize the existence of two contrasted evolutionary dynamics in Pliensbachian and Toarcian ammonoids. Methodologically, the allometric disparity approach appears to be a fruitful tool to analyze the rather understudied clade-wide ontogenetic aspects of morphological evolution. Combining multiple approaches to describe clade morphological dynamics leads to a better characterization and understanding of the diversity-disparities relationships and a better distinction of the potential processes driving these macroevolutionary patterns.


We present two examples of how human-like behavior can be implemented in a model of computer player to improve its characteristics and decision-making patterns in video game. At first, we describe a reinforcement learning model, which helps to choose the best weapon depending on reward values obtained from shooting combat situations.Secondly, we consider an obstacle avoiding path planning adapted to the tactical visibility measure. We describe an implementation of a smoothing path model, which allows the use of penalties (negative rewards) for walking through \bad" tactical positions. We also study algorithms of path nding such as improved I-ARA* search algorithm for dynamic graph by copying human discrete decision-making model of reconsidering goals similar to Page-Rank algorithm. All the approaches demonstrate how human behavior can be modeled in applications with significant perception of intellectual agent actions.


The result of study of student of class VII B in MTs Negeri 1 Kota Surabaya on the subject of wake up flat in academic year 2017/2018 after analyzed have low result, this is allegedly because approach of learning at that time not yet right, hence in this class research used approach of learning Contex Teaching and Learning (CTL), which emphasizes the concept of learning that helps teachers connect between the material they teach and the students' real-world situations and encourages students to make connections between their knowledge and application in daily life. The problem to be discussed is whether the learning of mathematics with CTL approach on the subject of wake up flat can improve student learning outcomes of class VII B in MTs Negeri 1 Kota Surabaya? While the purpose of this research is to find out the improvement of student learning outcomes on the subject of flat wake with CTL approach. The location of the research was conducted at MTs Negeri 1 Kota Surabaya, Medokan Semampir Sub-district, East Java. The subjects of this research are the students of class VII B MTs Negeri 1 Kota Surabaya, teacher of grade VII B SD and observer. The study is divided into 2 cycles, each cycle consisting of planning, implementation, observation and reflection. While the indicator of the success of this class action research is achieved if the students have a grade average of at least 75 and mastery learning classes above 75%. In the first cycle students achieve a grade point average of at least 69.87, while the learning mastery is 47.37%. Cycle II reaches the average grade value of 78.16 and the learning completeness is 60.53%. Based on the results of student learning above can be concluded that learning with CTL approach can improve student learning outcomes of class VII B in MTs Negeri 1 Kota Suarabaya on the subject of algebra, so it is recommended that in teaching on the subject of algebra teachers using CTL approach Keywords: Contex Teaching and Learning (CTL), learning outcomes, operation of algebraic forms


A series of experiments on the instability resulting from mechanical disturbance at the coil surface of a small racetrack coil is described, along with a preventive measure against its instability. Epoxy-impregnated racetrack coils sometimes experience premature quenches due to frictional heat produced by coil slides at fixtures. The first experiment confirmed coil slides during coil charging. These slides were about 10 mu m, an equivalent of 20 mJ in fractional heat generation. One effective preventive measure against this mechanical disturbance is the utilization of a thermal barrier method. The thermal barrier is an insulation layer at the interface between the coil and the fixtures. The second experiment examined the thermal barrier effect on the stability margin on the racetrack coil. A thicker insulation layer substantially increased the coil stability margin. The margin increased from 105 mJ to 200 mJ by thickening the insulation layer from 0.36 mm to 1.00 mm. The two experiments showed that the racetrack coil was stabilized if the thickness of the insulation layer exceeded 0.20 mm. Charging a racetrack coil with a 0.36 mm-thick insulation layer confirmed this criterion.<<ETX>>


News content analysis is usually preceded by a labour-intensive coding phase, where experts extract key information from news items. The cost of this phase imposes limitations on the sample sizes that can be processed, and therefore to the kind of questions that can be addressed. In this paper we describe an approach that incorporates text-analysis technologies for the automation of some of these tasks, enabling us to analyse data sets that are many orders of magnitude larger than those normally used. The patterns detected by our method include: (1) similarities in writing style among several outlets, which reflect reader demographics; (2) gender imbalance in media content and its relation with topic; (3) the relationship between topic and popularity of articles.


Volatility is a metric widely used to estimate financial risk. The VIX is an index derived from S&P 500 options prices designed to estimate the market's expected 30-day volatility. Robert Whaley, the creator of the VIX, argued that it provided a cost-effective way to hedge risk but we question Whaley's underlying assumption in this paper. We examine the VIX and implied volatility as a proxy for risk. Our studies show that the VIX consistently over-estimates actual volatility in normal times but it underestimates volatility in times of market crashes and crises making it unsuitable for many risk-management applications.


We deduced the Hubble law
and the age of the Universe, through the introduction of the Inverse Yukawa
Field (IYF), as a non-local additive complement of the Newtonian gravitation
(Modified Newtonian Dynamics). As a result, we connected the dynamics of
astronomical objects at great scale with the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker ΛFRW)
model. From the corresponding formalism, the Hubble law can be expressed as v = (4π[G]/c)r, which was derived by evaluating the
IYF force at distances much
greater than 50 Mpc, giving a maximum value for the expansion rate of the
universe of H0(max) ≈ 86.31 km·s-1Mpc-1, consistent with the
observational data of 392 astronomical objects from NASA/IPAC Extragalactic
Database (NED). This additional field (IYF) provides a simple interpretation of
dark energy as the action of baryonic matter at large scales. Additionally, we
calculated the age of the universe as 11 Gyr, in agreement with recent
measurements of the age of the white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood.


This paper provides a qualitative historical (socio)pragmatic analysis of records of three eighteenth-century Hungarian witchcraft trials using a socio-cognitive model of discursive community and identity construction. I aim to describe how the general social and legal context of witchcraft became situated and interpreted in the actual witchcraft trial records from the delegated officials' perspective. I argue that in the analysed records, the officials did not simply apply a codified definition of "witchcraft", but they discursively (re)constructed "witchcraft" as a community and "witch" as the defendants' identity. Thus, from the officials' perspective, discursive community and identity construction established a relationship between the general context of witchcraft and the actual witchcraft trials. In order to reconstruct this process, I investigate the linguistic constructs by which the delegated officials actively created "witchcraft" and the defendants' "witch" identity as mental constructs.


This dissertation investigates the evangelical ethics of Prof. Oliver O'Donovan in order to explore the implications of his "evangelical realism" for theological anthropology, moral knowledge and the concept of moral order. The Barth-Brunner debate regarding natural theology provides a lens onto these issues. Theological case studies are used to test our findings. Chapter 1 provides an overture to these issues, paying attention to current ideas about human nature and morality, and the growing influence of neuroscience and evolutionary psychology. Chapter 2 focuses on Resurrection and Moral Order, and elucidates the salient factors in its outline for evangelical ethics. Chapter 3 diagnoses the challenges which a dialectical epistemology presents to the development of a doctrine of evangelical ethics. Chapter 4 delves into O'Donovan's treatment of the Barth-Brunner debate over natural theology, and discovers therein an illuminating correspondence between O'Donovan's ethics and the concept of a human "capacity for revelation" (Offenbarungsmachtigkeit), which became a hinge issue in the debate. This provides a helpful lens onto O'Donovan's concept of moral order. Chapter 5 examines the intrinsic connection between the concept of moral order and the epistemic role of faith. Kierkegaard's treatment of the paradoxical aspects of faith as an event of epistemic access figures prominently in this analysis. Chapter 6 brings together the results of our analysis and applies them to the thesis that: the transformation of persons lies at the heart of evangelical ethics. The cosmology of faith emerges as a critical hermeneutical factor in the development of a doctrine of evangelical ethics. We explore here the doctrinal implications for Trinitarian theology. Chapter 7 draws out practical implications of our thesis. We see the central place of prayer and worship in evangelical ethics, and point out implications for teaching. Lastly, we show practical applications of our thesis by examining the bio-ethical issues of human reproductive technologies, with special attention to O'Donovan's work, Begotten or Made?


One of the distinct features of powder metallurgy (PM) material is porosity. Depending on the application, this can be advantageous or a disadvantage. While density levels may be kept low in bearing applications, structural parts requiring high strength will maximize density in order to meet mechanical properties. The geometry of the component being compacted will influence not only the overall density level, but also the consistency of the density throughout the component. PM materials are considered more difficult to machine due to the porosity. While it is generally accepted that porosity negatively impacts machinability of PM steels, detailed works generally lack on the relationship between porosity and machinability, especially when a machinability enhancer is utilized. In this study, machinability of the popular iron-copper-carbon steel was evaluated at different density levels. Commercial machining enhancing additives were examined in the study to determine the effect of density (or porosity) level on their overall effectiveness.


Delivery of API molecules to the brain is a challenging task. The main aim of this review is to present ocular route as a powerful region and focus on the various Nano-formulations. Various efforts in ocular drug delivery have been made to improve the bioavailability and to prolong the residence time of drugs applied topically onto the eye. Poor bioavailability of drugs from ocular dosage form is mainly due to the tear production, non-productive absorption, transient residence time, and impermeability of corneal epithelium. Though the topical and localized application are still an acceptable and preferred way to achieve therapeutic level of drugs used to treat ocular disorders but the primitive ophthalmic solution, suspension, and ointment dosage form are no longer sufficient to combat various ocular diseases. This article reviews the constraints with conventional ocular therapy and explores various novel approaches, in general, to improve ocular bioavailability of the drugs, advantages of vesicular approach over these and the future challenges to render the vesicular system more effective.


Fifty years after it was handed down, the Supreme Court's decision in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer is among the most important of the Court's separation of powers cases. This Article explores two quite different legacies of the Youngstown case. First, Youngstown has a symbolic or rhetorical power, in that it stands as an example of a court invalidating the actions of a coordinate branch of government in a politically delicate context. When a court wields this weapon, it can take some cover in Youngstown's shadows, and the possibility of a court exercising this power disciplines the executive branch. Second, the Youngstown case, and particularly Justice Jackson's concurrence, is of special importance to "congressional primacy" scholars, who believe that the Constitution is best read to lodge most foreign affairs powers with Congress. The Article argues that Youngstown offers fewer lessons for analyzing problems of presidential power in foreign affairs than congressional primacy scholars suggest. In particular, the case offers no general theory of the scope of the President's constitutional powers with respect to foreign affairs. Moreover, contrary to scholars' assertions, the case provides no basis for courts to construe statutory delegations of authority to the executive in the foreign affairs area any more narrowly than statutory delegations of authority in purely domestic contexts. In fact, Justice Jackson's opinion in Youngstown contains the seeds of a misplaced political question doctrine, in that it allows courts to skirt questions about the President's constitutional authority in foreign affairs.


Strategic collaboration with Africa has become a priority in the global North, East, and West. Powers that once saw the African continent primarily as a source of raw materials now focus on "partnership" and "development," following the lead of the U.S. African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) in highlighting mutual benefits of investment and trade. . China, in particular, has rapidly increased its ties to the continent in recent years, with the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), formed in 2000, as the primary institutional vehicle for its strategic engagement with sub-Saharan Africa (Pigato & Tang, 2015). China's trade with Africa has increased from about $10 billion in 2000 to $220 billion in 2014 and was approaching $300 billion in 2015 (China Daily, 2015). Steven Kuo (2015) reports that because of Africa's price-sensitive market, the continent's telecommunications and infrastructure development has become reliant on Chinese technology, which is competitively priced and enjoys strong back-up service compared to its Western competitors. Africa has also seen huge growth in smaller Chinese investors in food outlets, retail shops, and textiles. China, on the other hand, mainly imports minerals from Africa, along with smaller amounts of oil and agriculture products. It is also estimated that more than 1 million Chinese, most of them labourers and traders, have moved to Africa in the past decade (Lu, 2013).


This project examines French realism during Haussmannization, with a particular focus on Jameson's ideas of Utopia and the Reality Principle. Jameson describes those two ideas in the context of a quasi-Freudian subconscious (The Political Unconscious), which is an appropriate description for Balzac, whom he takes as his prime example. But Zola, whose project was so closely related to Balzac's, is difficult to characterize in the same way. Zola, unlike Balzac, has no narrator; he distances himself from his novel as much as possible; he resists the kind of allegorizing that makes coherent political fantasies possible. The result of these differences is a huge difficulty in identifying Zola's utopia or the source of his reality principle. I argue that this difference between Balzac and Zola is in fact a consequence of the changes in the fabric of the city effected by Baron Haussmann. It is an inescapable though oft overlooked facet of the city that as we modify it, it modifies us, its residents. This has been argued by critics like Lefebvre, Harvey, and even Hegel. External space is not just something we occupy; it is also part of our interaction with the world and as such is part of a dialectical exchange between our environment and our selves. Among the many effects of the Haussmannian city, one of the most important is its role in developing what Michel Foucault calls Disciplinary Power. Prior to Haussmann, power demonstrated itself through physical interactions between authority and groups of citizens; Discipline replaced such relations by breaking collective rage into individual resentment and replacing the body of the king or of his policeman with abstractions and machines. The Second Empire produced such abstractions in abundance and worked to make citizens internalize power relations. This thesis attempts to show how the movement away from the human narrator and his utopia/reality subconscious (Balzac) towards an invisible, abstract narrative voice whose agency has been replaced with a fatalistic and inexorable historical imperative (Zola) demonstrates the internalization of Disciplinary Power that had been encoded by Haussmann into the very streets that made up the fabric of Paris.


Abstract Microfacies analysis of five patch reefs from the Martin Bridge Formation (Upper Triassic/Norian, Summit Point, Oregon, United States) reveals that microbialite fabrics dominate reef construction versus corals or other large metazoans. Other reef bioconstructors include characteristic Late Triassic branching corals and diminutive calcifiers (solenoporacean red algae, foraminifera, and sponges). The patch reefs exhibit dense growth fabrics and had elevation above the seafloor, making them ecological reefs or true reefs. Robust binding and encrusting organisms inhabited higher-energy areas, whereas red algae, followed by phaceloid coral colonies, inhabited zones of decreasing water energy, defining a subtle zonation consistent with wave energy in the paleoenvironment. The dominance of microbial fabrics and diminutive bioconstructors make the Summit Point reefs distinct among Upper Triassic reefs from northeastern Panthalassa. Summit Point was originally identified as a Dachstein-type reef (e.g., high diversity, dominated by corals and sponges, massive bedding, large reef cavities). However, the dominance of microbial fabrics over larger metazoans, the (comparatively) modest faunal diversity, and lack of abundant, multigenerational epibionts or cements clearly differentiates the Summit Point reefs from the Dachstein reefs of northern Europe. The Summit Point reefs do, however, bear a striking resemblance to some Middle Triassic (Anisian) reefs from the Tethys, particularly with the abundance of microbialite fabrics and diminutive, binding or encrusting bioconstructors.


Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) has been widely applied in patients with high-risk extubation failure, including heart failure. High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) has been demonstrated to benefit patients with heart failure by reducing cardiac preload. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of HFNC to NPPV for preventing extubation failure in patients with heart failure. This 3-year retrospective and single-center cohort study included patients with heart failure with left ventricular ejection fraction <50% who received prophylactic HFNC or NPPV after scheduled extubation from January 2015 to January 2018 from a medical center with four adult intensive care units. Demographics, comorbidities, diagnosis, and weaning status were collected. The primary outcome was treatment failure within 72 hours after extubation, which was defined as escalation to NPPV or reintubation in the HFNC group and was defined as requiring reintubation in the NPPV group. Secondary outcomes were reintubation within 72 hours, reintubation, duration of stay, and mortality during the intensive care unit and hospital stay. Of the 104 patients analyzed, characteristics of 58 patients in the HFNC group and 46 patients in the NPPV group were compared. The treatment failure within 72 hours in the two groups was not significantly different (25.9% vs 13%, p=0.106). Hypoxemic respiratory failure related treatment failure was significantly higher in the HFNC group. Prophylactic HFNC as first-line therapy had a comparable rate of reintubation within 72 hours to the prophylactic NPPV alone (17.2% vs 13%, p=0.556). Other secondary outcomes were similar between the two groups. Among patients with heart failure, HFNC was not inferior to NPPV for preventing extubation failure and reintubation. However, in case of an impending respiratory failure, selective patients may benefit from rescue NPPV.


Currently, there is a major interest in education and training because of the knowledge society development. New ways to equip teachers and learners with the competences and skills they need for the knowledge society and economy should therefore be found. E-learning could play a key role in supporting the development of education strategies. This paper analyses the e-learning services development since its early days in terms of conceptual framework, factors of influence and development trends. The aim of this paper is also to analyse the e-learning policy in European Union, evaluating current situation and proposing new opportunities for the teaching-learning process improvement. Furthermore, the paper includes a case study of Romanian IT Based Educational System that could be considered as an example of good practice in Web-based education. We propose some measures that should be taken in order to develop the e-learning services and to promote the knowledge society. The findings presumptions of this study could represent a starting point for further researches on management of e-learning services and development of Web-based education.


Title of Document: SURFACE STUDIES OF GRAPHENE AND GRAPHENE SUBSTRATES Kristen Marie Burson, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Directed By: Professor Michael S. Fuhrer, Department of Physics, Center for Nanophysics and Advanced Materials (Director) and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. Graphene has attracted a great deal of attention for its exceptional electronic and mechanical properties. As graphene, a two-dimensional lattice of carbon atoms, is an 'all surface' material, its interactions with the underlying substrate play a crucial role in determining graphene device behavior. In order to tailor graphene device properties, the interaction between graphene and the underlying substrate must be clearly understood. This thesis addresses the question of the relationship between graphene and graphene substrates by considering both the substrate topography and the impact of charged impurities in the substrate. Utilizing scanning tunneling microscopy and high-resolution atomic force microscopy, we measure the topography of silicon dioxide (SiO2) supported graphene and the underlying SiO2(300nm)/Si substrates. We conclude that the graphene adheres conformally to the substrate with 99% fidelity and resolve finer substrate features by atomic force microscopy than previously reported. To quantify the density of charged impurities, simultaneous atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Kelvin probe microscopy are used to measure the potential and topographic landscape of graphene substrates, SiO2 and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). We find that the surface potential of SiO2 is well described by a random two-dimensional surface charge distribution with charge densities of ~10 11 cm -2 , while BN exhibits charge fluctuations that are an order of magnitude lower than this. Charged impurities in the substrate present a scattering source for transport through graphene transistors, and the difference in magnitude in measured substrate charged impurities densities for SiO2 and BN is consistent with the observed improvement in charged carrier mobility in graphene devices on h-BN over graphene devices on SiO2. Finally, this thesis presents a theoretical model elucidating the challenges of imaging corrugated substrates by non-contact AFM and an experimental work using Kelvin probe microscopy to characterize the electrostatic potential steps at interfaces of small-molecule organic heterojunctions. SURFACE STUDIES OF GRAPHENE AND GRAPHENE SUBSTRATES


In this paper, we describe and analyze how design research methodology has been implemented in one research project in engineering education. In a first part, we describe the research project in engineering education, we explain why we decided to apply the design-based methodology and how we did it. In a second part, we consider the methodology itself, and in the particular context of the study. First, we analyze the interactions between the instructors, the teachers, the students, the researcher, the designer and the object of design. We argue that a theoretical framework is necessary to inform the logic of the study. Second, we discuss how design research can be used to generate instructional design methods that are sensitive to the context. Third, whereas design methodology is dealing with purposive and small scale sampling, we consider phenomenography research to be an appropriate continuation of the design research, rather than statistical generalization.


Western Christians often despair of finding meaning in the paradoxical statement that God is both "One" and "Three". The problem, says Jung Young Lee, is not with the doctrine of the Trinity itself; rather, it is with the Western conceptual tendency to view reality in exclusive, "either/or" terms. The Trinity is at its heart an inclusive doctrine of one God who is nonetheless three distinct persons. In order to grasp this fact, we need different conceptual categories, not only with which to view God, but all of reality. The Asian philosophical construct of yin and yang can offer a way out of this problem, with its inherently "both/and" way of thinking. Drawing on a variety of East Asian religious traditions, Lee offers a creative reinterpretation of this central Christian doctrine. He shows how a global perspective can illuminate Western theological constructs as he establishes the necessity of a contextual approach to the doctrine of the Trinity.


The federal government claims that the Fourth Amendment permits it to search digital information on cell phones, laptops, and other electronic devices at the international border without suspicion of criminal activity, much less a warrant. Until recently, federal courts have generally permitted these digital border searches, treating them no differently from searches of luggage. Courts that have limited digital border searches have required only that the government establish reasonable suspicion for the most exhaustive kind of digital search. The Supreme Court has not yet weighed in, but last year it held in Riley v. California that the search incident to arrest exception to the warrant requirement does not apply to cell phones. This Comment analyzes how Riley affects the border search doctrine and concludes that it should change the debate in significant ways. First, Riley establishes that digital searches are categorically different from physical searches. This undermines the first wave of border search decisions and suggests that courts will have to analyze digital searches differently. Second, the Court recognized that digital searches could be even more intrusive than the search of one's home. This finding weighs in favor of requiring at least reasonable suspicion, if not probable cause, for digital border searches. Third, the Court provides a test for determining when to deviate from the warrant requirement in light of new technology. The Court's analysis on this question supports reconsidering whether the border search exception — traditionally applied to searches of persons and physical property — should apply to searches of digital information.


The ecosystem services approach is gaining wide acceptance at the policy‐making level as a framework for integrating science and policy regarding the natural environment. It is important that soil science clearly articulates how knowledge and understanding of the vadose zone soils can be transmitted through this framework into the decision‐making process. Competition between food production, living space, and maintaining habitat for all of earth's life‐forms has never been so intense, so the need for soil security and vadose zone protection is paramount. Soil management can no longer be thought of in terms of single function management but instead needs to be considered and managed in the context of the multiple functions it offers. In this 10th anniversary issue of the journal, we assess progress in the development of a coherent soil ecosystem services framework using the natural resource management stock‐flow and fund‐service resource approach. We go on to examine some of the areas where the application of an ecosystems approach is gaining traction, which include national and local decision making as well as support for legal arguments in court.


Information dissemination (flooding) forms an integral part of routing protocols, network management, service discovery and information collection (sensing). Given the broadcast nature of ad hoc network communications, information dissemination provides a challenging problem. Blind flooding in ad hoc networks results in the broadcast storm problem. To limit the broadcast storm problem, mechanisms for optimised flooding have been proposed. However, this optimisation reduces the inherent level of redundancy. the minimum spanning tree (MST) algorithm using local one hop topology in a distributed manner as the basis of a more reliable optimised flooding mechanism called, reliable minimum spanning tree (RMST) flood is proposed. RMST utilises unique properties of MST graphs that allow for broadcast transmissions to be replaced by unicast transmissions. Unicast transmission is inherently more reliable than broadcast transmission as it utilises link layer acknowledgement and retransmission, thereby improving the reliability of a flood and reducing the broadcast storm problem. Simulation is used to show that RMST is able to achieve equivalent reliability in terms of packet delivery compared to blind flooding. Importantly, RMST is able to achieve significantly better performance than MPR and equivalent performance to LMSTFlood in terms of reducing the broadcast storm problem.


Contamination of soil / water resources by petroleum products poses severe threats to underground water and soil quality. In the present study biosurfactant producing bacterial cultures were used to degrade petrol engine oil under in situ conditions in the plant rhizosphere system. Two bacterial isolates used in this study were recovered from Haldia oil refinery sites and identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (JX100389) and P. moraviensis (JX149542). Application of consortium C2, ( Pseudomonas aeruginosa and P. moraviensis ) degraded 79.02 % petrol engine oil @ 2% in the soil planted with mustard ( Brassica juncea var. Kranti ) crop after 120 days. GC-MS of biodegraded fuel showed the presence of new product like hexadecanoic acid 2, oxo-methyl ester. Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 3(2): 261-266 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v3i2.12475


The objective was to convert a paper-based seeking and evaluating evidence assignment to an interactive electronic format. In addition, the aim was to increase medical student engagement with the assignment by simulating a continuing medical education environment that many students will encounter in their future medical careers. The College of Family Physicians of Canada's ePearls™ continuing medical education environment was adapted for use as a student assignment and embedded in the medical school's learning management system. The assignment was delivered during the transitional course that bridges students' pre-clinical and clinical experiences. All of the students had completed a similar paper based assignment within the previous two years. Students completed the interactive electronic assignment during class time. At the end of the session, students were asked to complete an electronic survey which was designed to measure their preference for the paper or electronic delivery of the assignment and whether or not the delivery in the context of a continuing medical education environment was engaging for them. 42 of the 155 students who completed the assignment also completed part or all of the online survey. Most respondents perceived the introduction to the continuing medical education environment as being helpful (86%, n=40) and expressed a preference for doing the assignment in the online format (86%, n=42). Comments indicated that students valued its clinical relevance and the opportunity to immediately practice what they had learned while still having guidance at hand. Based on these results, the Library and CHE will collaborate together to deliver subsequent information literacy instruction in this format.


It is widely agreed that efficient visual search requires the integration of target-driven top-down information and image-driven bottom-up information. Yet the problem of gaze planning - that is, selecting the next best gaze location given the current observations - remains largely unsolved. We propose a probabilistic system that models the gaze sequence as a finite-horizon Bayesian sequential decision process. Direct policy search is used to reason about the next best gaze locations. The system integrates bottom-up saliency information, top-down target knowledge and additional context information through principled Bayesian priors. This results in proposal gaze locations that depend not only the featural visual saliency, but also on prior knowledge and the spatial likelihood of locating the target. The system has been implemented using state-of- the-art object detectors and evaluated on a real-world dataset by comparing it to gaze sequences proposed by a pure bottom-up saliency-based process and to an object detection approach that analyzes the full image. The target-directed attention system is shown to result in higher object detection precision than both competitors, to attend to more relevant targets than the bottom-up attention system, and to require significantly less computation time than the exhaustive approach.


Combining playful forms and experiments with advanced technologies, Ron Arad (1951) has emerged as one of the most influential designers of our time. Born in Tel Aviv, he moved to London in 1973 to study architecture and made his name in the early 1980s as a self-taught designer-maker of sculptural furniture. Although Arad has been better known as a designer than an architect in the years since he graduated the Architectural Association, architectural projects have been continuous. Commissions for retail and restaurant interiors followed the opening of his Covent Garden and Chalk Farm studios, notably the Belgo restaurants in London 1994 and 1995, the 2001 technology floor of the Selfridges department store in London and the 2003 Ys Store for the Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto in Tokyo. Arads largest built project is the 1994 Tel Aviv Opera House, for which he and his then architectural partner Alison Brooks designed a series of autonomous curvilinear structures within the foyer of a building which was the work of another architect. This book is the first to survey Arads architecture from 1991 to the present day.


This study described the morphological features of the Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) tongue using light and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The keratinized filiform papillae were distributed all over the entire dorsal surface of the tongue and contained small processes. They were changed into a cylindrical shape in the body and conical shape in the root. The fungiform papillae were found on the apex and margin of the tongue. Few taste pores were observed on the dorsal surface of each papilla. The foliate papillae on the margins of the tongue were composed of several laminae and epithelial fissures. Taste buds were not seen within the non‐keratinized epithelium. The vallate papillae were six in total and arranged in a "V" shape just rostral to the root. Each papilla was surrounded by a groove and pad. Taste buds were seen within their lateral walls. Lyssa was visible on the ventral surface of the tongue tip and was found as cartilaginous tissue surrounded by thin connective tissue fibres. The core of the tongue was composed of lingual glands, skeletal muscle and connective tissue. These glands were confined to the posterior portion of the tongue and were composed of many serous cells and a few mucous cells. The results of this study contributed to the knowledge of the morphological characteristics of the tongue of wild mammals and provided data for the comparison with other mammals.


Credit assignment in the brain To discover relevant clues for survival, an organism must bridge the gap between the short time periods when a clue occurs and the potentially long waiting times after which feedback arrives. This so-called temporal credit-assignment problem is also a major challenge in machine learning. Gütig developed a representation of the responses of spiking neurons, whose derivative defines the direction along which a neuron's response changes most rapidly. By using a learning rule that follows this development, the temporal credit-assignment problem can be solved by training a neuron to match its number of output spikes to the number of clues. The same learning rule endows unsupervised neural networks with powerful learning capabilities. Science, this issue p. 10.1126/science.aab4113 Neurons learn to associate related sensory stimuli even when they are dispersed across time and in space. INTRODUCTION Opportunities and dangers can often be predicted on the basis of sensory clues. The attack of a predator, for example, may be preceded by the sounds of breaking twigs or whiffs of odor. Life is easier if one learns these clues. However, this is difficult when clues are hidden within distracting streams of unrelated sensory activity. Even worse, they can be separated from the events that they predict by long and variable delays. To discover those clues, a learning procedure must bridge the gap between the short epochs within which clues occur and the time when feedback arrives. This "temporal credit-assignment problem" is a core challenge in biological and machine learning. RATIONALE A neural detector of a sensory clue should fire whenever the clue occurs but remain silent otherwise. Hence, the number of output spikes of this neuron should be proportional to the number of times that the clue occurred. The reversal of this observation is the core hypothesis of this study: A neuron can identify an unknown clue when it is trained to fire in proportion to the clue's number of occurrences. This "aggregate-label" hypothesis entails that when a neuron is trained to match its number of output spikes to the magnitude of a feedback signal, it will identify a set of clues within its input activity whose occurrences predict the feedback. This learning requires neither knowledge of the time nor of the absolute number of individual clues. RESULTS To implement aggregate-label learning, I calculated how neurons should modify their synaptic efficacies in order to most effectively adjust their number of output spikes. Because a neuron's discrete number of spikes does not provide a direction of gradual improvement, I derived the multi-spike tempotron learning rule in an abstract space of continuous spike threshold variables. In this space, changes in synaptic efficacies are directed along the steepest path, reducing the discrepancy between a neuron's fixed biological spike threshold and the closest hypothetical threshold at which the neuron would fire a desired number of spikes. With the resulting synaptic learning rule, aggregate-label learning enabled simple neuron models to solve the temporal credit assignment problem. Neurons reliably identified all clues whose occurrences contributed to a delayed feedback signal. For instance, a neuron could learn to respond with different numbers of spikes to individual clues without being told how many different clues existed, when they occurred, or how much each one of them contributed to the feedback. This learning was robust to high levels of feedback and input noise and performed well on a connected speech-recognition task. Aggregate-label learning enabled populations of neurons to solve unsupervised learning tasks by relying on internally generated feedback signals that amplified correlations between the neurons' output spike counts. These self-supervised networks discovered reoccurring constellations of input patterns even if they were rare and distributed over spatial and temporal scales that exceeded the receptive fields of individual neurons. Because learning in self-supervised networks is driven by aggregate numbers of feature occurrences, it does not require temporal alignment of the input activities of individual neurons. When competitive interactions between individual neurons were mediated through the internal feedback circuit, the formation of feature maps was possible even when the features' asynchrony incapacitated lateral inhibition. CONCLUSION Aggregate-label learning solves the long-standing question of how neural systems can identify features within their input activity that predict a delayed feedback. This solution strongly enhances the known learning capabilities of simple neural circuit models. Because the feedback can be external or internal, these enhancements apply to supervised and unsupervised learning. In this framework, both forms of learning converge onto the same rule of synaptic plasticity, inviting future research on how they cooperate when brains learn. Membrane potential traces of a model neuron before and after learning to detect reward predictive sensory clues. Before learning, top trace; after learning, second through fifth traces from top; clues, colored squares. Each clue occurrence is represented as a spike pattern within the neuron's input activity (raster plot). After learning, the number of output spikes (vertical deflections) elicited by each clue encodes the clue's contribution to a delayed reward. The brain routinely discovers sensory clues that predict opportunities or dangers. However, it is unclear how neural learning processes can bridge the typically long delays between sensory clues and behavioral outcomes. Here, I introduce a learning concept, aggregate-label learning, that enables biologically plausible model neurons to solve this temporal credit assignment problem. Aggregate-label learning matches a neuron's number of output spikes to a feedback signal that is proportional to the number of clues but carries no information about their timing. Aggregate-label learning outperforms stochastic reinforcement learning at identifying predictive clues and is able to solve unsegmented speech-recognition tasks. Furthermore, it allows unsupervised neural networks to discover reoccurring constellations of sensory features even when they are widely dispersed across space and time.


Kevin Sites is a man on a mission. Venturing alone into the dark heart of war, armed with just a video camera, a digital camera, a laptop, and a satellite modem, the award-winning journalist covered virtually every major global hot spot as the first Internet correspondent for Yahoo! News. Beginning his journey with the anarchic chaos of Somalia in September 2005 and ending with the Israeli-Hezbollah war in the summer of 2006, Sites talks with rebels and government troops, child soldiers and child brides, and features the people on every side, including those caught in the cross fire. His honest reporting helps destroy the myths of war by putting a human face on war's inhumanity. Personally, Sites will come to discover that the greatest danger he faces may not be from bombs and bullets, but from the unsettling power of the truth.


Article: People age 65 and older comprise 11% of the U.S. population, yet at any given time, they occupy 40% of acute care hospital beds (National Center for Health Statistics, 1985). The majority of this elderly population has Medicare coverage. Anderson and Steinberg (1984) reported that between 1974 and 1977, 22% of Medicare hospitalizations were followed by readmissions within 60 days of discharge. More than 5% of these readmissions occurred within 5 days of discharge.


In December 1499 the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili appeared in Venice under the imprint of Aldus Manutius, in an edition whose woodcuts and typography make it one of the masterpieces of Italian printing. The enigmatic dream recounted in the book describes Poliphilo9s struggle to win his love and his final happy union with his beloved Polia. The study focuses on the group of architectural representations in the book. Free from a slavish attempt to illustrate, they follow the course of the love story within the framework of an inner visual logic. A second part analyzes the section of the Temple of Venus Physizoa, an architectural representation that was omitted in Lotz9s famous study of 1956. Issues of the history of technology, such as the modern cartographic method introduced by Alberti in the 1450s, are addressed in relation to this section. From a comparison with representations of space from the 1490s, however, one may conclude that, contrary to the thesis proposed by L. Lefaivre, there can have been no direct connection between the author or the artist of the Hypnerotomachia and the architectural theorist. At the same time, the Master of Polifilo appears to belong to the group of painter-architects, along with Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Leonardo, and Raphael.


Abstract:Using the 2011 Cambodia Rural Urban Migration Project, we re-examine the effect of parental migration on the long-term educational progress of children who have accompanied their parents to urban areas by comparing such children with those left behind in rural areas. We use a measurement that captures schooling disruption effect and allows for the possibility that being a migrant child also depends on school quality in the neighbourhood. The fixed-effect estimator is applied to eliminate family characteristics shared among siblings such as parental resources and perceptions towards education. Regression shows that migrant children are in a more disadvantageous situation, relative to children left behind, as a result of the migration of their parents.


Particularly after 1994 higher education in South Africa has been called to renew its commitment towards socio-economic realities. In moving away from an elitist system to a more accessible and representative system, the reconfigured system will increasingly have to respond to the challenges that confront South African communities. Service-learning, if applied correctly, could be a powerful means through which higher education institutions can meet the expected goals for student learning and societal development while making contributions to addressing unmet community, national and global needs.
(South African Journal of Higher Education: 2003 17 (3): 184-191)


Flipped classroom is a student centered approach, in which students are responsible for their own learning and actively participate in class activities. Basically, in a flipped classroom what is traditionally done in class is done at home, and what is traditionally done as homework is accomplished in the class. In particular, in a traditional mathematics classroom, the pattern of teaching takes the form of explaining the topics to students, introducing formulas, and solving a number of questions. Then, students are given worksheets to do at home for practicing similar questions that were solved in the classroom. However, in a flipped classroom this pattern is turned upside down. Primarily, students study the topic on their own before going to the classroom, by watching online videos and revising other course materials. Then, in the classroom, the time is devoted to interactive activities with which students have the chance to practice the information and solve problems. The results of research studies clearly show that flipped classroom approach transforms the classroom environment into a dynamic and interactive place, where students have the chance to internalize the knowledge instead of merely acquiring it. While using this approach, teachers act as a guide rather than knowledge transmitter, being responsible for preparing appropriate course materials, helping students, addressing their questions, and providing feedback. Here, it is important to note that flipped learning is not a synonym for watching online videos. The power of flipped learning comes from the interaction that occurs during the face to face time in the class, which is actually the most important part of learning. For an effective learning, teachers should begin the lesson with discussing the online videos first, and if students ask similar questions on a particular topic then the teacher should cover the topic in the classroom before doing the assignment of the day. Until now, flipped classroom approach has been used mostly at university level. However, it is currently being practiced at primary and secondary school levels too. It is a powerful approach to teaching because first of all it helps students to become learners who can learn for themselves and by themselves. Next, it helps students who struggle to learn during class time and students who go through the motions of learning but do not get the deeper objectives of the class. With flipped learning approach, teachers can cover more contents and address students' misconceptions immediately as they arise. Moreover, students in flipped classroom feel more motivated to learn as they have more space to try out things themselves and more chance for student involvement, task orientation, and innovation. This study gives details about flipped classroom approach, and share experiences of a mathematics instructor implementing flipped learning for over two years in three of her undergraduate mathematics courses. The flipped courses were prepared for students enrolled in engineering and science programs at an international university, located at the State of Qatar. A structured interview was conducted during the spring semester of 2014/2015 academic year. The interview questions mainly focused on the pros and cons of using flipped classroom, how the instructor prepared the online course materials, the kind of difficulties faced in the classroom, how students reacted to this new way of learning, and the change in her students' level of learning after using flipped classroom. Briefly, the interview results revealed that the instructor liked using flipped classroom because in the beginning of the lesson she could get an immediate sense of students' understanding or lack of understanding, so she could tailor the instruction according to their needs and clear up the common misconceptions. She stated the length of videos to be the most challenging aspect in flipped learning, because nowadays students favor tasks that are fast, easy and not demanding. However, she claimed that once students get used to flipped learning, they enjoy learning, retain information for longer time, and become more motivated to solve problems that are new to them. The interview questions and the instructor's responses are given in detail, and recommendations are made for educational practice.


The so-called effective exchange parameter J0 of the classical Heisenberg Hamiltonian for magnetic interactions is investigated as a function of volume and occupation of the valence band across 3d-transition-metal series in face-centered-cubic (fcc) metals, from Mn to Ni. We show that there exists a particular area in the volume-electron concentration phase space, where the effective exchange parameter behaves anomalously. The peculiarity, in combination with deviations of the electronic structure in real alloys from the rigid-band behavior, should lead to highly frustrated magnetic configurations that were predicted theoretically for the fcc Invar alloys.


Corruption in the forest sector of Swat, Pakistan is impairing the sustainable management of forest. We analyze corruption in a case study setting against the backdrop of the reform options that are most often cited as possible solutions. As we highlight in this study, the 'crime and punishment' approach is not feasibly implemented if the overall institutional environment is weak. Since countrywide overhaul of corruption through sweeping reform programs, the other reform approach, is a difficult and lengthy task, there is a need for an alternative kind of reform. In the case of a corruption-ridden centralised forest management regime, institutional reform should move away from enforcement of existing institutions and promote communal management of natural resources by locals.


A book about Texas Rangers and the events they took part in. Some of the contents detail the battles that the Rangers fought in, the different criminals they dealt with, and some of the events in their own personal lives.


Abstract The contents of major nutrient components, and the composition and contents of medicinal substances were examined in Houttuynia cordata cultivated under field conditions and treated with natural light at full intensity, 40% intensity, and 20% intensity from sprouting to harvesting. The results indicated that the yield of the aboveground portion per unit area was highest at a 40% intensity and lowest at 20% intensity. The yield of the underground portion per unit area was highest under full intensity and lowest at a 20% intensity. As light intensity was reduced, protein and water content increased, while the contents of soluble sugar and fat, the contents of volatile oils both the aboveground and underground portion decreased. The total flavonoid content in both the aboveground and underground portions decreased with diminishing light intensity, but the composition of these flavonoids was hardly affected. In summary, although proper shading can increase the yield and the contents of some nutrients in H. cordata, this treatment reduces the net contents of medicinal components such as volatile oils and flavonoids, as well as the contents of active components. Therefore, it is necessary to provide sufficient light when growing H. cordata for medicinal and functional food purposes, but the crop may be treated with appropriate shading or intercropped when grown as food.


We typically think of constitutional law as the product of text, structure, constitutional history, ethical and moral philosophy, or common law doctrine. At times, though, constitutional law comes directly from societal institutions; those institutions in turn are often rooted in legislative, not judicial, choices. In this article, I tell an intriguing story of constitutional lawmaking in which policy choices about an institution developed into constitutional law. I look at two important areas of First Amendment doctrine: First Amendment constraints on government spending, i.e., unconstitutional conditions; and what is known in First Amendment jurisprudence as the right to receive. I argue that the genesis of both doctrines can be found in legislative choices made during the formation of one of the nation's first administrative agencies, a communications network that was viewed as the internet of its day: the United States Post Office. When the twentieth century Supreme Court held that the First Amendment can constrain government spending and then later, in a separate line of cases, established the right to receive, the Court initially relied on specific attributes of the post office. Those attributes in turn had been established by choices made by policymakers during the late eighteenth century. In short, the Court incorporated aspects of the early postal statutes into First Amendment doctrine. Legislative choices in effect became constitutional law.


A common interest in languages that describe logic hardware has arisen when some universities and industries faced the problem of logic circuit design. The approaches they have taken to the problem, however, have been very different. The interest on the part of universities, as well as that of the research institutes, was stimulated when many aspects of logic design problems remained unexplored and offered ample opportunity for original research. During this phase industries were generally absent; their interest was aroused only when the problem became a question of development and production — that is, when it became evident that it was convenient to utilize automatic procedures for the development phase of a given logic design. This happened for two reasons: the quantity of logic circuits to be produced became large, and the cost and lack of flexibility of manpower increased — especially during the most repetitive and boring phases of the process such as testing of boards, documentation, etc.


Although unique properties such as creation of nondiffracting beams and as a result the large focal depth have been exhibited from axicon lenses, and numerous important applications in optical signal processing and imaging have been demonstrated, axicons of dimensions smaller than a hundred of micrometers have not yet been reported. It is technically quite challenging for the currently available technologies including lithography and mechanical shaping to define complicated three-dimensional surface profiles depicted by lens functions in the small scale. Here, we report the solution of the issue by use of femtosecond laser nanofabrication via two-photon polymerization of resins. Not only well-defined monolithic micro axicons are attained, they demonstrate excellent optical characteristics: the cross-sectional Besselian beam intensity distribution was found almost unchanged for at least 200 ¿m within the focal range; imaging remains unblurred and in high contrast in a much wider range than that for a common lens. The direct laser nanowriting strategy would allow the lens integrated with other optical components produced the same way, or incorporated to an existing micro-optical system.


Based on the definition of the European Commission, small enterprises can be defined as companies with less than 50 employees. Medium size companies are companies with less than 250 employees. For small and medium enterprises some research in regards to ERP selection criteria has been done. But this research did not distinguish further in the different behaviors that can be found during the ERP selection process within different types of companies. Different characteristics which appear from an IT operational point of view on how small and medium size businesses organize their IT have not been taken into consideration. This paper gives the definition of a specific group of companies named "orchestra companies" within the SME band. This is done by limiting the quite broad definition of the European commission and applying an IT operational viewpoint. Further the different requirements of orchestra companies in regards to the ERP selection process are formulated. To correlate the ERP selection criteria and the different behaviors from an IT operational point of view, a segmentation of orchestra companies is developed. For each segment the focus on specific ERP selection criteria is discussed.


Background: To evaluate the association between opioid use and treatment outcome (symptom severity, quality of life [QOL]) after a brief interdisciplinary fibromyalgia treatment program (FTP). Method: Subjects (n = 971) with fibromyalgia participated in the FTP. They filled out the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and the Short Form-36 Health Status Questionnaire (SF-36) at baseline and 6 to 12 months after the FTP. Post-treatment changes in FIQ and SF-36 scores were compared after stratifying the participants into opioid user and non-opioid user groups. Results: A total of 236 patients (24.3%) were opioid users. Compared with non-opioid users, the opioid users had worse symptom severity measured using FIQ total score (p < .001) and all subscales at baseline and post treatment, as well as worse QOL measured using all SF-36 subscales and physical and mental components. Comparison of least-square means of mean change of QOL between opioid users and non-opioid users after analysis of covariance adjusted patient characteristics and baseline scores showed that the FIQ subscale scores of physical impairment (p < .05), job ability (p < .05), and fatigue (p < .05) were significantly less improved in the opioid users compared with the non-opioid users. Moreover, the SF-36 subscale score of general health perception (p < .05) was significantly less improved in the opioid users compared with non-opioid users. However, post-treatment changes in mean scores for QOL subscale generally did not significantly differ in both groups. Conclusions: Opioid use did not affect response to the FTP, as measured using the FIQ total score or SF-36 physical and mental component summary scores. Furthermore, the opioid user group showed less improvement in the FIQ subscale scores of physical impairment, job ability, and fatigue and in the SF-36 subscale scores of general health perception.


The role of Afrikaner cultural organisations as a particular phenomena in the history of the Afrikaner is discussed. The origins and development of these organisations are categorised into five chronological periods and the meaning and implications of each period identified. On the basis of this historical analysis six factors that played a major role in moulding the Afrikaner's cultural movement are identified. In the final two sections the role and significance of these organisations, especially for the urbanisation of the Afrikaner, are evaluated.


The concept of sustainability is traditionally viewed in exclusively environmental terms. Sustainability: Life Chances and Livelihoods links peoples livelihoods and life chances to the concept of sustainability by examining the way in which social and economic processes complement and compound environmental change. Looking at the main ingredients of sustainable development - health, economic policy, land use, ethics and education, in both the north and south, this book demonstrates the way in which the life chances of individuals both effect and are affected by, their environments. Sustainability: Life Chances and Livelihoods shows that the scope of sustainability thinking needs to be widened to embrace public policies and experiences in both developed and developing countries.By providing a comparative focus, both spatially and temporally, the contributors demonstrate how the environmental concerns of the northern developed world are culturally translated into the south, often into immediate survival questions.


In LBA93], a suite of randomized broadcast protocols was presented for the problem of broadcasting a message in arbitrary multi-hop radio networks. These protocols improved upon that of Bar-Yehuda et al. in most of the typical cases. Unfortunately, in those protocols it is assumed that only a single broadcast by a single node is in progress at any point in time. Hence, those protocols are of limited use in practice. In this paper, we present a suite of randomized multi-source broadcast protocols in multi-hop radio networks, in which more than one broadcast can be in progress at any point in time. The protocols are compared with each other in several typical cases.


West Africa is facing the challenge of its population's food insecurity in a context of accelerated degradation of natural resources. In order to efficiently face this double bottleneck, agroecological interventions were implemented as a way to promote best agricultural practices. Agroecology is a mode of production that nowadays questions our food system which, despite technological progress, still struggles to feed the world's population. This systematic review is part of the vision of a deep agroecology and aims at analyzing the institutional, political, organizational, and social obstacles and levers for an agroecological transition and its amplification in Burkina Faso and Benin. For this purpose, a structured literature review was conducted using grey and published literature. It appears that despite the mitigated results of the implementation of the Green Revolution model of agricultural production in West Africa, African public authorities seem to have placed once again their faith in conventional production practices to respond to the challenges facing agriculture in the region. This situation goes beyond the regional framework to take root at the national level, (e.g., Burkina Faso, Benin), with the corollary of an apparent lack of institutional interest in sustainable modes of production. However, there is a network of stakeholders who are developing promising initiatives for scaling up agroecological practices.


BackgroundAcute Kidney Injury (AKI) is a serious condition occurring in approximately 20% of emergency hospital admissions. A Welsh AKI e-Alert (electronic alerts) system was introduced from 2013 with the aim of improving patient outcomes through early recognition of AKI.
ObjectivesOur objective is to replicate the AKI e-Alert system which has been implemented throughout Wales and create a retrospective AKI cohort to facilitate data linkage.
MethodsThe e-alert algorithm was re-produced in SQL (Structured Query Language) and applied to serum creatinine (SCr) values 2011-2014 held in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. The algorithm utilises ratios between current SCr value (C1) to lowest SCr value within the previous 7 days (RV1), SCr median values from the previous 8-365 days (RV2), and lowest SCr within 48hrs (D). >50% increase in RV1 or RV2 or >26µmol/L above D triggers an alert. We created a temporal AKI cohort by using a renal dataset to exclude patients undergoing chronic dialysis.
Findings2,407,590 SCr tests were performed on adult patients with 2,077,493 of these coming from people in Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board who were not on dialysis at the time of the test. The average population for 2011-2014 was 520,293. 85,272 (4.1%) of these tests triggered alerts for AKI. The average incidence of AKI per 100,000 population per year for 2011-2014 was 1,717. The average first AKI episodes per year for 2011-2014 respectively were stage 1 (least severe): 79.2%; stage 2: 13.5%; stage 3 (most severe): 7.3%.
ConclusionsThe e-alert can be effectively reproduced using SQL to identify AKI in this large dataset, enabling subsequent validation of these alerts and evaluation of their impact through multisource data linkage.


With increasing core counts in Chip Multi-Processor (CMP) designs, the size of the on-chip communication fabric and shared Last-Level Caches (LLC), which we term uncore here, is also growing, consuming as much as 30% of die area and a significant portion of chip power budget. In this work, we focus on improving the uncore energy-efficiency using dynamic voltage and frequency scaling. Previous approaches are mostly restricted to reactive techniques, which may respond poorly to abrupt workload and uncore utility changes. We find, however, there are predictable patterns in uncore utility which point towards the potential of a proactive approach to uncore power management. In this work, we utilize artificial intelligence principles to proactively leverage uncore utility pattern prediction via an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). ANNs, however, require training to produce accurate predictions. Architecting an efficient training mechanism without a priori knowledge of the workload is a major challenge. We propose a novel technique in which a simple Proportional Integral (PI) controller is used as a secondary classifier during ANN training, dynamically pulling the ANN up by its bootstraps to achieve accurate predictions. Both the ANN and the PI controller, then, work in tandem once the ANN training phase is complete. The advantage of using a PI controller to initially train the ANN is a dramatic acceleration of the ANN's initial learning phase. Thus, in a real system, this scenario allows quick power-control adaptation to rapid application phase changes and context switches during execution. We show that the proposed technique produces results comparable to those of pure offline training without a need for prerecorded training sets. Full system simulations using the PARSEC benchmark suite show that the bootstrapped ANN improves the energy-delay product of the uncore system by 27% versus existing state-of-the-art methodologies.


The mammalian cell nucleus contains numerous discrete suborganelles named nuclear bodies. While recruitment of specific genomic regions into these large ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes critically contributes to higher-order functional chromatin organization, such regions remain ill-defined. We have developed the high-salt–recovered sequences-sequencing (HRS-seq) method, a straightforward genome-wide approach whereby we isolated and sequenced genomic regions associated with large high-salt insoluble RNP complexes. By using mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), we showed that these regions essentially correspond to the most highly expressed genes, and to cis-regulatory sequences like super-enhancers, that belong to the active A chromosomal compartment. They include both cell-type–specific genes, such as pluripotency genes in ESCs, and housekeeping genes associated with nuclear bodies, such as histone and snRNA genes that are central components of Histone Locus Bodies and Cajal bodies. We conclude that HRSs are associated with the active chromosomal compartment and with large RNP complexes including nuclear bodies. Association of such chromosomal regions with nuclear bodies is in agreement with the recently proposed phase separation model for transcription control and might thus play a central role in organizing the active chromosomal compartment in mammals.


Background Currently, there is no consensus regarding the optimal management for patients following an Achilles tendon rupture. To allow comparisons between different treatments, a universally accepted outcome measure is required. However, there are currently a range of these reported within the literature. Objective To recommend the most suitable patient-reported outcome measure for the assessment of patients following an Achilles tendon rupture, based on a systematic review of first what is currently used and second evidence of validity. Methods The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE and AMED were searched up to September 2010. Predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to identify what outcome measures are reported in the literature. Aspects of validity were defined and a checklist used to determine which aspects have been evaluated. Results Twenty-one outcome measures in 50 research papers were identified. The most commonly used was the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society hind-foot score. Of the 21 outcome measures, only 4 cited independent validation data. Of these four, only the 'Achilles tendon Total Rupture Score' reported evidence to support multiple facets of validity, as defined by a predetermined criteria checklist. Conclusions The Achilles tendon Total Rupture Score was identified as the only outcome measure which has demonstrated multiple facets of validity for use in this patient group. However, even this tool has limitations. Researchers should be aware of the limitations of the available outcome measurement tools and check on their validity before use in clinical research.


This study examined individual differences in sensitivity to human-like features of a robot's behavior. The paradigm comprised a non-verbal Turing test with a humanoid robot. A "programmed" condition differed from a "human-controlled" condition by onset times of the robot's eye movements, which were either fixed across trials or modeled after prerecorded human reaction times, respectively. Participants judged whether the robot behavior was programmed or human-controlled, with no information regarding the differences between respective conditions. Autistic traits were measured with the autism-spectrum quotient (AQ) questionnaire in healthy adults. We found that the fewer autistic traits participants had, the more sensitive they were to the difference between the conditions, without explicit awareness of the nature of the difference. We conclude that although sensitivity to fine behavioral characteristics of others varies with social aptitude, humans are in general capable of detecting human-like behavior based on very subtle cues.


High-resolution lidar data reveal a prominent latest Pleistocene–Holocene scarp on the Sawtooth fault (central Idaho, United States). The fault scarp marks 55–65 km of the range front, and may comprise two segments. The scarp is 4–9 m high in latest Pleistocene glacial landforms (11–14 ka) and 2–3 m high in Holocene alluvial landforms, implying 2–3 postglacial rupture events. Patterns of fault scarp continuity, coupled with existing gravity data, suggest that active faulting may have migrated northward during Pleistocene time. Detailed comparisons of raw lidar digital elevation models (DEMs), bare-earth lidar DEMs, and field surveys indicate that the bare-earth lidar data document the fault scarp morphology accurately and allow for detailed fault analysis where field evaluation is difficult. The documentation of Holocene motion on the Sawtooth fault demonstrates that ENE-directed extension extends across central Idaho, and that the fault contributes to seismic hazards.


This paper outlines the sociodemographic, developmental, antecedent attack, attack preparation, and commission properties of 115 mass murderers between 1990 and 2014. The results indicate that mass murderer attacks are usually the culmination of a complex mix of personal, political, and social drivers that crystalize at the same time to drive the individual down the path of violent action. We specifically focus upon areas related to prior criminal engagement, leakage, and attack location familiarity. Whether the violence comes to fruition is usually a combination of the availability and vulnerability of suitable targets that suit the heady mix of personal and political grievances and the individual's capability to engage in an attack from both a psychological and technical capability standpoint. Many individual cases share a mixture of unfortunate personal life circumstances coupled with an intensification of beliefs/grievances that later developed into the idea to engage in violence.


Abstract Micellar liquid chromatography is a popular method used in the determination of a compound's lipophilicity. This study describes the use of the obtained micelle–water partition coefficient (log P mw) by such a method in the prediction of human intestinal absorption (HIA). As a result of the close resemblance of the novel composition of the micellar mobile phase to that of physiological intestinal fluid, prediction was deemed to be highly successful. The unique micellar mobile phase consisted of a mixed micellar mixture of lecithin and six bile salts, i.e. a composition matching that found in the human intestinal environment, prepared in ratios resembling those in the intestine. This is considered to be the first method to use a physiological mixture of biosurfactants in the prediction of HIA. As a result, a mathematical model with high predictive ability (R 2 PRED = 81%) was obtained using multiple linear regression. The micelle–water partition coefficient (log P mw) obtained from micellar liquid chromatography was found to be a successful tool for prediction where the final optimum model included log P mw and polar surface area as key descriptors with high statistical significance for the prediction of HIA. This can be attributed to the nature of the mobile phase used in this study which contains the lecithin–bile salt complex, thus forming a bilayer system and therefore mimicking absorption across the intestinal membrane.


Type II collagen is a prospective chondro-inductive matrix for bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), a key component of the extracellular matrix of cartilage; however, its application is limited by deficient fibrillogenesis and gelation. Herein, type II collagen methacrylamide (Col-II-MA) was synthesized by an amidation reaction between the ε-amino groups on collagen lysine and methacrylic anhydride to enable photo-crosslinking of the collagen, thus accomplishing a one-step preparation of mono-component type II collagen hydrogel for the first time. BMSCs encapsulated within the Col-II-MA hydrogel exhibited accelerated proliferation and morphological changes that are similar to chondrogenesis, as well as up-regulated expression of chondrogenic genes and remarkable secretion of the cartilaginous matrix. These results demonstrated that this effective synthetic approach facilitated the formation of photo-active type II collagen hydrogel with a well-preserved triple helical conformation, which provides BMSCs with a favorable microenvironment for growth and the essential chondro-inductive matrix for differentiation. Furthermore, the hydrogel is applicable to microfabrication techniques and displays promise for future applications in microscale tissue engineering.


The objective of this study was to build on a previously published molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for Cyrtandra to identify major clades of the genus in the Solomon Islands. Species of Cyrtandra in the Pacific are represented by locally uncommon, poorly known and rarely collected taxa, a large number of which are at particular risk of extinction due to high rates of deforestation. We propose that research in Cyrtandra has progressed to the point that regional taxonomic revisions can be conducted effectively following procedures developed for Cyrtandra in Malesia and Hawaii. We identify four distinct clades in the Solomon Islands, each characterized by suites of morphological characters that can be used to circumscribe taxa for revision. Both genetically sampled taxa for the phylogenetic analysis and unsampled taxa are evaluated based on morphological traits that differentiate these four clades. A hypothesis of relationship is proposed as a model for future taxonomic revision of the genus in this region that includes 24 species and two additional taxa possibly new to science. A diagnostic key to the clades currently recognized in the Solomons and an annotated checklist of recognized species are also included as a foundation for future work in the archipelago.


Two small, ground and litter-dwelling pholcid species from northern Borneo are described as representatives of a new genus, Hantu gen. nov.: H. kapit gen. et sp. nov. and H. niah gen. et sp. nov. Previous cladistic analyses suggested a closer relationship with the genera Savarna Huber, 2005 and Khorata Huber, 2005 (mainland Southeast Asia) than with the geographically closer genus Aetana Huber, 2005 (Borneo and Philippines to Fiji). Since the two species do not share any of the synapomorphies of Khorata and Savarna while having several synapomorphies on their own (ventral apophysis on male palpal coxa; male palpal trochanter apophysis with small teeth or scales; spines on male femora 1; high density of vertical hairs on male femora; presence of scape on epigynum), they are here proposed as representing a new genus.


Humans are social animals, spinning intricate webs of relationships with friends, colleagues, neighbours and enemies. These networks have always been with us, but the advance of networking technologies, changes to our interconnected economy and an altering job market have super-charged the power of networking, catapulting it to the heart of organisational thinking. Social networks are providing tremendous opportunities for people to collaborate. But until now, thinking has focused only on how organisations can respond to and capitalise on networks. This report argues that we have to look equally at how networks use organisations for their own ends. That is where the new contours of inequality and power lie that will shape the network world. We have to face networks? dark side, as well as their very real potential. Bringing together in-depth case studies of six organisations, Network Citizens maps the key fault-lines that people and organisations will have to address in the future world of work. Not doing so puts at risk the very qualities we had invested in them: openness, innovation, collaboration and meritocracy. Since networks can act for good or ill, incubating the talents and ideas of the many, or promoting the interests of the few, the need for a new set of responsibilities is growing. If we are network members, we must be network citizens, too.


The Health Utilities Index Mark 2 (HUI:2) is a generic multiattribute, preference-based system for assessing health-related quality of life. Health Utilities Index Mark 2 consists of two components: a seven-attribute health status classification system and a scoring formula. The seven attributes are sensation, mobility, emotion, cognition, self-care, pain, and fertility. A random sample of general population parents were interviewed to determine cardinal preferences for the health states in the system. The health states were defined as lasting for a 60-year lifetime, starting at age 10. Values were measured using visual analogue scaling. Utilities were measured using a standard gamble technique. A scoring formula is provided, based on a multiplicative multiattribute utility function from the responses of 194 subjects. The utility scores are death-anchored (death = 0.0) and form an interval scale. Health Utilities Index Mark 2 and its utility scores can be useful to other researchers in a wide variety of settings who wish to document health status and assign preference scores.


The cRNA promoter of Thogoto virus, a tick-borne orthomyxovirus, was investigated using an in vitro polymerase assay based on purified viral cores and synthetic oligoribonucleotides corresponding to the 3' and 5' ends of cRNA. In vitro polymerase activity relied on an interaction between the 3' and 5' ends of cRNA and was ApG primer-dependent. Mutational analysis of the promoter showed that interstrand base-pairing of residues 11 and 12 of the 3' promoter arm with residues 10 and 11 of the 5' promoter arm, respectively, was essential for polymerase activity. These data provide the first clear evidence for a cRNA panhandle in an orthomyxovirus. No evidence was obtained for the presence of a 5' or 3' hook structure in the cRNA promoter, and transcription could not be primed with rabbit globin mRNA or synthetic cap analogues. This demonstrates that cap snatching activity relies on the presence of the vRNA terminal sequences.


After the EU accession of the Visegrad countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) in 2004 one of the most remarkable developments was a sudden upturn in mutual trade of this region's countries. In 2007 the value of aggregate intra-Visegrad trade was two and a half times higher than in 2003. The rate of growth in these countries' trade with the 'old' EU member states was only half as much as that. As part of a research project in search of explanation for the upturn of mutual trade, this paper addresses the questions how the structure of mutual trade of the Visegrad countries developed in the post-accession period compared to the immediate pre-accession period and the early years of transition and what directions of specialization are discernible. It is looking for explanatory factors for the differences in dynamism and commodity structure of mutual trade across periods and regions respectively, and investigates the role foreign-owned enterprises may have played in the upturn of mutual trade. The methodology applied includes traditional descriptive analysis based on SITC commodity groups; a comparison of pre-accession and post-accession developments in the composition of trade by factor inputs and skills respectively; an investigation focused on trade increments analysed by the marginal industry trade method (MIIT). Finally indicators of revealed comparative advantage (RCA) are calculated. The various trade structure indicators presented in the paper show that the EU accession has not brought about any abrupt changes in commodity patterns and revealed comparative advantages. In bilateral trade relations, apart from some exceptions, the changes observed were typically continuous and gradual, overarching the whole period 2000-2007. This is, however, no reason to claim that the EU accession played a minor role in the upturn of mutual trade in the region concerned – but the effect is not focused on the year of accession. With the date of accession approaching, the firms involved in intra-Visegrad trade may have gradually elaborated their new, geographically more diversified sales/procurement strategy. In the new strategic concepts of the main exporting firms (mostly multinationals) the Visegrad region itself is thought to have been upgraded both as a target for sales and as a host of potential cooperation partners for production.


Chinese historical romance blossomed and matured in the sixteenth century when the Ming empire was increasingly vulnerable at its borders and its people increasingly curious about exotic cultures. The project analyzes three types of historical romances, i.e., military romances Romance of Northern Song and Romance of the Yang Family Generals on northern Song's campaigns with the Khitans, magic-travel romance Journey to the West about Tang monk Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India, and a hybrid romance Eunuch Sanbao's Voyages on the Indian Ocean relating to Zheng He's maritime journeys and Japanese piracy. The project focuses on the trope of exogamous desire of foreign princesses and undomestic women to marry Chinese and social elite men, and the trope of cannibalism to discuss how the expansionist and fluid imagined community created by the fiction shared between the narrator and the reader convey sentiments of proto-nationalism, imperialism, and pleasure. Contextualizing the fiction in its contemporary political discourses and its literary evolution in history, the dissertation concentrates on fictional images, i.e., religious practitioners, women, demons, and categories of barbarians. It argues that the historical romances have self-healing and self-assuring characteristics. They sublimate history into tales of triumphs, jokes, games, references, and historical reversions, and thus allow readers to imagine an invincible imperial history. This study brings into light the importance literature plays as a cultural response to China's long history of cross-border military and cultural encounters with her Eurasian neighbors. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group East Asian Languages & Civilizations First Advisor Victor H. Mair


Many time series are generated by a set of entities that interact with one another over time. This paper introduces a broad, flexible framework to learn from multiple inter-dependent time series generated by such entities. Our framework explicitly models the entities and their interactions through time. It achieves this by building on the capabilities of Recurrent Neural Networks, while also offering several ways to incorporate domain knowledge/constraints into the model architecture. The capabilities of our approach are showcased through an application to weather prediction, which shows gains over strong baselines.


This book seeks to provide readers with a cross-national perspective concerning the art of political communication in a field increasingly affected by globalization, fragmentation of political audiences, and the rise of professional communications experts - a field concerned not only with how leaders are chosen, but also with how they govern. Structured in two sections, Political Communication in a New Era examines both methods of gathering and disseminating information in a time of technological transformation, and developments in the uses of political communication across the globe. Contributors offer perspectives from Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy and the United States.


Bayesian optimization is an effective methodology for the global optimization of functions with expensive evaluations. It relies on querying a distribution over functions defined by a relatively cheap surrogate model. An accurate model for this distribution over functions is critical to the effectiveness of the approach, and is typically fit using Gaussian processes (GPs). However, since GPs scale cubically with the number of observations, it has been challenging to handle objectives whose optimization requires many evaluations, and as such, massively parallelizing the optimization.

In this work, we explore the use of neural networks as an alternative to GPs to model distributions over functions. We show that performing adaptive basis function regression with a neural network as the parametric form performs competitively with state-of-the-art GP-based approaches, but scales linearly with the number of data rather than cubically. This allows us to achieve a previously intractable degree of parallelism, which we apply to large scale hyperparameter optimization, rapidly finding competitive models on benchmark object recognition tasks using convolutional networks, and image caption generation using neural language models.


A continuing challenge in tropical ecology is to explain the coexistence of large numbers of rain forest tree species. One possible coexistence mechanism is partitioning of the highly variable and dynamic forest light environment, in which species that grow better in one light treatment grow worse in another. To test whether species respond differently to the light environment, we estimated growth rates of 21 Dipterocarpaceae species from Malaysian Borneo grown in shade houses for 2 yr in three light treatments (0.3%, 3%, and 18% full sunlight). We made regular measurements of height, diameter, and aboveground biomass, enabling us to calculate growth rates for each response. We estimated size‐specific growth rates using nonlinear mixed‐effects models, as average relative growth rate was strongly size dependent. For all species, the greatest diameter growth rate was achieved in 18 percent full sunlight, whereas for five of the twenty‐one species, the greatest height growth rate was achieved in three percent full sunlight. We investigated correlations among growth rates in different light treatments, but no negative correlations were found, indicating that species growing well in one light treatment did not grow poorly in the others. There were substantial crossovers, however, in species ranks among the three light treatments, indicating that there was no single growth rate hierarchy common to all light treatments. The lack of a single consistent growth hierarchy across light treatments indicates that heterogeneity in the forest light environment could contribute to the maintenance of the diversity of Dipterocarpaceae found in lowland Bornean rain forests via light‐based regeneration niches.


Abstract The earthworm calciferous gland produces a concentrated suspension of calcium carbonate and in certain species precipitates as concretions of CaCO3, which then enter the soil. Here we investigated the initial stages of CaCO3 formation in the earthworm Lumbricus friendi by means of Fourier transform infrared and electron microscopy techniques (field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high resolution electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction). In addition, comparisons between the IR spectra of the water-dissolved carbonic anhydrase (CA) and the glandular secretion ('milky fluid') were performed in order to investigate the mechanisms involved in CaCO3 precipitation. Our results strongly suggest that carbonation starts with the dissolved CO2, which is transformed via deprotonation to HCO3−, then to CO32−and finally to amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC). While ACC stabilization takes place under the biological control, further transformation stages leading to calcite concretions seem to be inorganically driven by an Ostwald ripening process.


Selection of the optimum support system for underground openings such as tunnels is a complex process. In this paper, a new approach, based on a combination of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and the Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) is introduced. For this purpose, the selection process is assumed to be a multi criteria decision-making problem. First, different support systems by using FLAC numerical code, based on technical, safety and stability parameters of the tunnel are specified. Then, taking economic and performance parameters as the decision criteria, by using the combination of AHP, TOPSIS, and PROMETHEE, the optimum support system is selected. As a real mine case study, this approach is used in the main access entry to C1 coal seam of Tabas collieries. Results clearly demonstrate that the proposed support system selection method is advantageous to other alternatives.