The Cenozoic sedimentary formation of South China Sea can be classified into three types, namely the stable, substable and unstable types, and two cycles, the Lower (E1-E2) and Upper (Q-E3) cycles by the unconformity of Late Mid-Eocene. In the North and South Continental Margins two sedimentation cycles developed but only the upper one developed in the Central Ocean Basin. By analyses of the sedimentary formation, it is suggested that Lower Cycle was fill sediment, and mainly fluvial-lacustrine facies; the Upper Cycle was onlap sediment, and was mainly shallow marine or deep ocean. It indicates that the Central Ocean Basin formed after Mid-Oligocene, and the nappe and obduction of Philippines Island-Arc and the counter-clockwise rotation of Kalimantan resulted in the gradual closing of Paleo-South China Sea.


The effects of alloying elements on thermal properties of the HSLA (High Strength Low Alloy) cast steels have been investigated by thermal fatigue, thermal shock, and tensile tests. The thermal fatigue resistances of the HSLA cast steels were superior to those of SC42 cast steels. Excellent thermal resistances of the HSLA cast steels were mainly caused by high thermal conductivity, elastic modulus and tensile strength. In case of the HSLA cast steels, the steels with both Nb and V had more excellent thermal fatigue life than those with Nb or V individually. Increment of C contents gave a harmful effect on thermal fatigue resistance. In case of Mn contents, HSLA cast steels with 1.2 % Mn content had the highest thermal fatigue life among them and that with 1.5 % Mn had lower thermal fatigue life than that with 1.2 % Mn content. This result was attributed to rapidly increased bainitic acicular structure obtained by high Mn contents. Therefore, the optimum composition of HSLA cast steels to obtain tie highest thermal fatigue resistance was 0.1 % C-1.2%Mn-0.05%Nb-0.05%V, resulting in polygonal ferrite plus small amounts of bainitic microstructure. Thermal shock resistance of HSLA cast steels was also superior to that of SC42 cast steels. However, the difference between the HSLA cast steels with both Nb and V, and those with Nb or V individually has not been found.


Previous studies have shown that caffeine has beneficial effects on cognitive impairment in sleep deprived male rats. Therefore in the present study, we examined the effects of chronic caffeine administration on learning and memory impairments induced by sleep deprivation (SD) in the intact and ovarectomized (OVX) female rats. Two sets of animals including intact and OVX were randomly recruited into the following subgroups: control, SD, wide platform (Sham platform), caffeine, and caffeine plus SD. Multiple platform method was used for SD induction. Spatial learning and memory were determined using Morris water maze (MWM) task. Throughout behavioral investigation, significant learning impairment was observed in sleep-deprived OVX rats compared to the intact and the other OVX groups (P<0.05). Short term memory impairment was observed in both sleep-deprived OVX and intact groups (P<0.05). 4weeks caffeine administration improved these impairments. Based on these findings we propose that sleep deprivation impaired cognitive function whereas caffeine treatment reversed these impairments.


This paper is focused on the emergent field of strategic international human resource management (SIHRM). We suggest that SIHRM is becoming an integrated intellectual map in terms of: (1) the typologies created; (2) the language used; and (3) its pedagogy. Does the way in which we articulate SIHRM assist theory development or enact intellectual imperialism? Or both? It is argued that, by exploring the implications of SIHRM for theory, research, practice and teaching, we may raise awareness of current deficiencies and unanswered questions. Do we need to set a new course, or at least make explicit our navigational assumptions?


Uremia is a chemical, toxic, potentially fatal condition. In a variable pattern, uremia ultimately kills almost every cell in the body. Uremia is produced by hundreds of diseases, both kidney and systemic (e.g., diabetes). These kinds of uremic conditions range from the acute and catastrophic to the slowly and moderately progressive. Humans and medicine have struggled at least since Hippocrates to understand, prevent and treat uremia and thereby prolong the useful lives of the young and the aging. Accelerated by the spectacle of premature uremic deaths from crush syndrome, shock, and forms of nephritis during major wars and disasters, medicine fused clinical and basic science with industrial technology and came up with two effective treatments. Dialysis in several modes and kidney transplantation became feasible but proved complex and expensive. How people, struggling to survive, were able to use a representative form of government to treat all kidney patients, forms a human story: A "people" story. Since it culminated within a single medical generation, it is possible to tell the story as a participant and eye-witness. This is how the medical, social and national organization of substitution therapy for uremia evolved. Since it is legislatively called end-stage renal disease, we titled the entitlement, "How ESRD-Medicare Developed."


A U.S. default is unlikely: As a demographically young nation, the United States will watch other nations face demographic crises years before it faces the full brunt of the same. The spectacle will furnish salient examples of the short-run shame and suffering caused by default. Further, the soft default of inflation demands the element of surprise, always difficult for politicians to engineer. But default is still possible, and the GOP offers a uniquely American path to default: An unwillingness to raise taxes. Bondholders the world over will be watching to see if "starve the beast" is a pathway to "default on the beast."


Ligand binding sites on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) comprise an active center, at the base of a deep and narrow gorge lined by aromatic residues, and a peripheral site at the gorge entry. These features launched AChE as a reaction vessel for in situ click-chemistry synthesis of high-affinity TZ2PA6 and TZ2PA5 inhibitors, forming a syn-triazole upon cycloaddition within the gorge from alkyne and azide reactants bound at the two sites, respectively. Subsequent crystallographic analyses of AChE complexes with the TZ2PA6 regioisomers demonstrated that syn product association is accompanied by side chain reorganization within the gorge, freezing-in-frame a conformation distinct from an unbound state or anti complex. To correlate inhibitor dimensions with reactivity and explore whether in situ cycloaddition could be accelerated in a concentrated, crystalline template, we developed crystal-soaking procedures and solved structures of AChE complexes with the TZ2PA5 regioisomers and their TZ2/PA5 precursors (2.1-2.7 Å resolution). The structures reveal motions of residue His447 in the active site and, unprecedentedly, residue Tyr341 at the gorge mouth, associated with TZ2 binding and coordinated with other side chain motions in the gorge that may guide AChE toward a transient state favoring syn-triazole formation. Despite precursor binding to crystalline AChE, coupling of rapid electric field fluctuations in the gorge with proper alignments of the azide and alkyne reactants to form the triazole remains a likely limiting step. These observations point to a prime requirement for AChE to interconvert dynamically between sequential conformations to promote favorable electrostatic factors enabling a productive apposition of the reactants for reactivity.


This paper describes a simple 3D display that can be built from a tablet computer and a plastic sheet folded into a cone. This display allows naturally viewing a three-dimensional object from any direction over a 360-degree path of travel without the use of a head mount or special glasses. Inspired by the classic Pepper's Ghost illusion, our approach uses a curved transparent surface to reflect the image displayed on a 2D display. By properly pre-distorting the displayed image our system can produce a perspective-correct image to the viewer that appears to be suspended inside the reflector. We use the gyroscope integrated into modern tablet computers to adjust the rendered image based on the relative orientation of the viewer. The end result is a natural and intuitive interface for inspecting a 3D object. Our choice of a cone reflector is obtained by analyzing optical performance and stereo-compatibility over rotationally-symmetric conic reflector shapes. We also present the prototypes we built and measure the performance of our display through side-by-side comparisons with reference images.


Unsightly hair and scalp conditions can cause adult patients great concern, as does premature thinning of the hair and unusual hair loss. Young children may sporadically suffer from head lice infestations, and require prompt and effective treatment, while babies may develop cradle cap in the first few weeks of life.
It is important for nursing practitioners to have a good knowledge of the products that are available to treat minor hair and scalp conditions, and to be able to advise patients on how these products should be used.


Journal impact indicators are widely accepted as possible measurements of academic journal quality. However, much debate has recently surrounded their use, and alternative journal impact evaluation techniques are desirable. Aggregation of multiple indicators offers a promising method to produce a more robust ranking result, avoiding the possible bias caused by the use of a single impact indicator. In this paper, fuzzy aggregation and fuzzy clustering, especially the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operators are exploited to aggregate the quality scores of academic journals that are obtained from different impact indicators. Also, a novel method for linguistic term-based fuzzy cluster grouping is proposed to rank academic journals. The paper allows for the construction of distinctive fuzzy clusters of academic journals on the basis of their performance with respect to different journal impact indicators, which may be subsequently combined via the use of the OWA operators. Journals are ranked in relation to their memberships in the resulting combined fuzzy clusters. In particular, the nearest-neighbor guided aggregation operators are adopted to characterize the reliability of the indicators, and the fuzzy clustering mechanism is utilized to enhance the interpretability of the underlying ranking procedure. The ranking results of academic journals from six subjects are systematically compared with the outlet ranking used by the Excellence in Research for Australia, demonstrating the significant potential of the proposed approach.


Effective image segmentation cannot be achieved for a fuzzy clustering algorithm based on using only pixel intensity, pixel locations or a combination of the two. Often if both pixel intensity and pixel location are combined, one feature tends to minimize the effect of other, thus degrading the resulting segmentation. This paper directly addresses this problem by introducing a new algorithm called image segmentation using fuzzy clustering incorporating spatial information (FCSI), which merges the segmented results independently generated by fuzzy clustering-based on pixel intensity and the location of pixels. Qualitative results show the superiority of the FCSI algorithm compared with the fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm for all three alternatives, clustering using only pixel intensity, pixel locations and a combination of the two.


Restoring degraded lands is high on the international agenda and the number of restoration projects in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has increased considerably over the past decades. However, the variety of approaches used have not been systematically documented and analyzed. We aimed to develop a restoration typology as a function of the geographical and socio-economical setting, planning, timeframe, finances, implementation, monitoring and potential impact, which will help to discern broad patterns and identify gaps in project implementation in LAC. We categorized 97 restoration projects using Multiple Correspondence Analysis and a Hierarchical Clustering on Principal Components. Three main restoration types emerged from the clustering, with the main defining variables being: (1) project area under restoration, (2) amount of funding received, (3) source of funding and (4) monitoring efforts. The first type are large-scale projects, which receive high amounts of funding provided by international donors, and with a well-established monitoring plan; the second type are projects financed with private money, typically lacking a sound monitoring program; and the third type represents small projects with low amounts of funding, financed with public funds from national governments, often with a rudimentary monitoring plan. The typology enables a comparative analysis of the status and trends of restoration activities across Latin America. We conclude that, despite growing awareness and recognition that integrated approaches are needed to revert complex and interconnected socio-economic and environmental issues like land degradation, the socio-economic dimension remains underexposed in the majority of restoration projects, whereas monitoring is still regarded as an extra cost instead of a necessary investment.


Accumulating evidence has reported that the gut microbiota could play important roles in the occurrence and progression of colorectal cancer. The nondigestible plant polysaccharides have always been fermented by the intestinal microbiota. Polysaccharides, the predominant functional composition found in jujube fruit, has been shown to inhibit carcinogenesis in animal models. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in polysaccharides preventing carcinogenesis are still uncharacterized. The aim of this study was to investigate the modulatory effects of jujube polysaccharides (JP) on intestinal microbiota, and the influence of JP on the gut flora structure was then analyzed using an AOM/DSS-induced colitis cancer mouse model, using high-throughput sequencing. Contrasted with control group, the addition of JP could ward off colon cancer by ameliorating colitis cancer-induced gut dysbiosis. In addition, there was a significant decrease in Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes post JP treatment. What's more, KEGG pathways of metabolic pathways, ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and two-component system enriched the most differentially expressed genes after JP intervention for 13 weeks. These results suggested that JP showed prebiotic-like activities by positively modulating intestinal microbiota and affecting certain metabolic pathways contributing to host health. In conclusion, our results demonstrated an appreciable capability of JP to restore the gut microbiota profile altered by AOM/DSS, indicating the potential of jujube polysaccharides as promising prebiotic candidates for the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer.


There is often a logical relationship between what something does and how it is shaped. In biology this is known as morphology-the study of structure or form.1 The morphology of an organism is a product of environmental conditions and its interaction with that environment. The morphology of space, then, is the study of the relationship between the measurable forces acting on a space and its shape. It is an exploration of the poetic and pragmatic link between environment and design— a search for how a building can be cast by its shadow. The research, observations and images contained in these pages form the foundation for the design of a Wind Technology Center for Montana. Inspired in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Wind Technology Center near Boulder, Colorado, this facility will provide research services to private companies involved in Montana's current wind energy boom. Additionally, it will conduct grant-funded research into alternative uses of energy generated by wind—an especially relevant topic in Montana, considering our signifi cant wind resources and our limited transmission infrastructure. The site for this project is in the Yellowstone River Valley northeast of Livingston, Montana, one of the windiest places in the state and possibly the nation.2 The project's program and design will express the forces present on the site (considered to include both the immediate site and Montana as a whole) through the development of system of analysis inspired by studies of morphology and facilitated by digital design techniques. Importantly, the building will also be an icon for wind energy in Montana and a fl agship building for sustainability as our culture transitions to a more carbon neutral fuel economy. Located on a highly visible site along Interstate 90, it is positioned to become an architectural icon as well, a facility for exporting both technology and awareness.


Abstract. Although now over 100 years old, the classification of climate originally formulated by Wladimir Koppen and modified by his collaborators and successors, is still in widespread use. It is widely used in teaching school and undergraduate courses on climate. It is also still in regular use by researchers across a range of disciplines as a basis for climatic regionalisation of variables and for assessing the output of global climate models. Here we have produced a new global map of climate using the Koppen-Geiger system based on a large global data set of long-term monthly precipitation and temperature station time series. Climatic variables used in the Koppen-Geiger system were calculated at each station and interpolated between stations using a two-dimensional (latitude and longitude) thin-plate spline with tension onto a 0.1°×0.1° grid for each continent. We discuss some problems in dealing with sites that are not uniquely classified into one climate type by the Koppen-Geiger system and assess the outcomes on a continent by continent basis. Globally the most common climate type by land area is BWh (14.2%, Hot desert) followed by Aw (11.5%, Tropical savannah). The updated world Koppen-Geiger climate map is freely available electronically in the Supplementary Material Section.


Can we leverage learning techniques to build a fast nearest-neighbor (ANN) retrieval data structure? We present a general learning framework for the NN problem in which sample queries are used to learn the parameters of a data structure that minimize the retrieval time and/or the miss rate. We explore the potential of this novel framework through two popular NN data structures: KD-trees and the rectilinear structures employed by locality sensitive hashing. We derive a generalization theory for these data structure classes and present simple learning algorithms for both. Experimental results reveal that learning often improves on the already strong performance of these data structures.


Abstract Alexander duality is made into a functor which extends the notion for monomial ideals to any finitely generated N n-graded module. The functors associated with Alexander duality provide a duality on the level of free and injective resolutions, and numerous Bass and Betti number relations result as corollaries. A minimal injective resolution of a module M is equivalent to the injective resolution of its Alexander dual and contains all of the maps in the minimal free resolution of M over every Z n-graded localization. Results are obtained on the interaction of duality for resolutions with cellular resolutions and lcm-lattices. Using injective resolutions, theorems of Eagon, Reiner, and Terai are generalized to all N n-graded modules: the projective dimension of M equals the support-regularity of its Alexander dual, and M is Cohen–Macaulay if and only if its Alexander dual has a support-linear free resolution. Alexander duality is applied in the context of the Z n-graded local cohomology functors HiI(−) for squarefree monomial ideals I in the polynomial ring S, proving a duality directly generalizing local duality, which is the case when I =  m is maximal. In the process, a new flat complex for calculating local cohomology at monomial ideals is introduced, showing, as a consequence, that Terai's formula for the Hilbert series of HiI(S) is equivalent to Hochster's for Hn − i m (S/I).


Abstract
Recently, there has been increasing interest in investigating the interrelationships among
the component stochastic processes of a dynamical system. The applications of these studies are to be found in various fields such as Economics, Neuroscience, Engineering and Neurobiology. Also the determination of the direction of the information flow is one of the important subjects studied widely. These investigations have usually been implemented in the time and frequency domains. Consequently, several mathematical and statistical
procedures have been developed to facilitate these analyses.
The aim of this thesis is to discuss the relationships between stochastic processes of a relatively short time duration. Specifically, the research concerns the analysis of the electrical activity of the dysfunctional brain, where the available data belong to a right-handed focal epileptic patient. EEG signals are recorded directly from the scalp using numbered electrodes according to the International 10/20 system introduced by Jasper [1958]. The analysis is only performed for processes of the left hemisphere as they represent the dominant hemisphere. Moreover, since each region of the brain is responsible
for a special function, we have chosen five processes to represent the five main lobes of the brain; the frontal lobe, the central region, the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe and the temporal lobe.
The analyses of these signals are carried out using four spectral density estimation procedures, namely the multivariate autoregressive model of order 2; the average of periodograms of adjacent segments of the single record; the smoothed periodogram approach for the entire record; and the multi-taper method. Thereafter comparisons among the
results of these methods are made. The strength of the correlation between signals is measured by coherence and partial coherence functions. Also, the Granger causality concept is implemented for these data in the form of determining the direction of the information flow between these signals using the partial directed coherence (PDC) proposed by Baccala and Sameshima [2001] using the statistical level of significance suggested by Schelter et
al.[2005]. The structure of the causal influences produced by the PDC shows that there are statistically significant reciprocal causal effects between processes representing the
brain's region, the frontal lobe, the central area, the parietal lobe and the temporal lobe. However, there are two uni-directed causal influence relations, one is between the central area and the occipital lobe and the second one is between the occipital and temporal lobes. The indirect causal influences are detected between these processes throughout the process representing the temporal lobe. Generally, the values of the PDC in the anterior-posterior
direction are larger than the values of the PDC in the opposite direction. Also, the causal influences of each process on the temporal lobe process is larger than the causal influences in the opposite direction.
The spectral analyses show that the estimated power spectra and coherences of these signals are approximately peak in the delta wave band of frequency [1, 4) Hz. The significant non-zero estimated coherences are captured between the brain's lobes except for the occipital lobe which is uncorrelated with any of the other lobes. The depth of non-zero significant estimated coherences is given by partial coherence, which measures the strength of
the estimated coherence between any two processes after removing the linear influence of one or more other processes. For the current data, we found that the depth of correlations depends on the spectral estimation method adopted. For example, the depth of correlation
is of order 2 for the method of averaging across periodograms of adjacent segments of the
single record and the method of smoothed periodogram of the entire single record and is of order one for the multi-taper method. However, the depth of correlations is unknown for the multivariate autoregressive model of order 2. The comparisons made between the results
of the four spectral estimation methods mentioned previously, indicated that MVAR is not sensitive to rapid changes occurring in the signal such as the effect of the notch filter at 60Hz and a calibration signal at 47Hz, while the other three methods exhibited
good sensitivity to these changes with different strengths of responses. Furthermore, the smoothed periodogram and the multi-taper methods persistently detect the notch filter
effect at 60Hz in the ordinary estimated coherence curves, while the method of averaging across periodograms of adjacent segments of the single record does not.


Background: There is a lack of reliable hepatoprotective drugs in modern medicine to prevent and treat drug-induced liver damage. Leaves of Sacred/Holy Basil, i.e. Green Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), belonging to family Lamiaceae are used traditionally for their hepatoprotective effect. We wanted to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of Ocimum sanctum and observe whether synergistic hepatoprotection exists with silymarin. Materials and Methods: Albino rats (150–200 g) were divided into five groups. Groups A and B were normal and experimental controls, respectively. Groups C, D and E received the alcoholic extract of Ocimum Sanctum leaves (OSE) 200 mg/kg BW/day, silymarin 100 mg/kg BW/day and OSE 100 mg/kg BW/day + silymarin 50 mg/kg BW/day p.o., respectively, for 10 days. Hepatotoxicity was induced in Groups B, C, D and E on the eighth day with paracetamol 2 g/kg BW/day. The hepatoprotective effect was evaluated by performing an assay of the serum proteins, albumin globulin ratio, alkaline phosphatase, transaminases and liver histopathology. The assay results were presented as mean and standard error of mean (SEM) for each group. The study group was compared with the control group by one-way ANOVA, followed by Bonferoni's test. A P-value of <0.01 was considered significant. Results: In groups C, D and E, liver enzymes and albumin globulin ratio were significantly (P < 0.01) closer to normal than in group B. Reduction in sinusoidal congestion, cloudy swelling and fatty changes and regenerative areas of the liver were observed on histopathological examination in groups C, D and E, whereas group B showed only hepatic necrosis. Conclusion: The Ocimum sanctum alcoholic leaf extract shows significant hepatoprotective activity and synergism with silymarin.


This paper discusses the applicability of a simple model to predict pore water pressure generation in non-plastic silty soil during cyclic loading. Several Stress-controlled cyclic hollow torsional tests were conducted to directly measure excess pore water pressure generation at different levels of cyclic stress ratios (CSR) for the specimens prepared with different silt contents (SC=0% to 100%). The soil specimens were tested under three different confining pressures (σ'3= 60, 120, 240 kPa) at a constant relative density (Dr=60%), with different silt contents. Results of these tests were used to investigate the behavior of silty sands under undrained cyclic hollow torsional loading conditions. In general, beneficial effects of the silt were observed in the form of a decrease in excess pore water pressure and an increase in the volumetric strain. Modified model for pore water pressure generation model based on the test results are also presented in this paper. Comparison of the proposed pore pressure build up model with seed's model indicates the advantage of proposed model for soil with large amount of silt.


Ethnicity, according to one British commentator, is to the French what sex was to the Victorians. It is Yazid Sabeg's job to change all that. President Nicolas Sarkozy appointed the Algerian-born business leader as France's diversity czar last December, charging him with combatting discrimination in the country that harbors Europe's largest Muslim population. With unemployment among the country's minority youth at around four times the national average, all agree that something must be done in order to combat racial inequality; however, there is little consensus on how the state should proceed. Unlike the United States and Britain, both of which espouse policies of multiculturalism, France maintains a strong universalist tradition that denies the distinction of citizens by ethnic origin. Indeed, French law currently forbids the classification of French citizens by race, ethnicity', or religion. But Sabeg plans to do away with that. He hopes not only to implement policies which allow the counting of ethnic minorities but also to institute US-style affirmative action programs. This announcement has elicited strong reactions across the political spectrum, even dividing human rights and minority defense groups. The ongoing debate indicates that Mr. Sabeg's greatest challenge will be developing a culture and a vocabulary of race relations that remain faithful to French republican principles. Repealing the ban on ethnic and religious statistics will be indispensable to developing such a constructive dialogue. However, emphasizing an approach of affirmative action risks poisoning the debate. While previous governments have defended the ban on ethnic statistics on the grounds of the foundational republican principle of equality, the law originates in the atrocities committed against Jews under the Vichy Regime. Such abuses are unlikely to occur today, but the inclusion of ethnicity or religion in official records still poses an important threat. Some have asserted that President Sarkozy's activism in favor of diversity may serve in part to mask his controversial immigration policy. The Ministry for Immigration and National Identity, which he created upon his ascension to the presidency, has furiously pursued targets for the expulsion of undocumented immigrants and has instituted strict immigration controls. Many immigrant defense groups fear that Sabeg's policies will only further toughen Sarkozy's already stringent immigration laws. Their core concern is that the government will use its statistics to include ethnicity in the records of individuals. There exists a serious danger that the police would use such data to conduct immigration raids. For opponents to the law, this is just one example of how collection of data on ethnicity could exacerbate racial discrimination rather than decrease it. Indeed, including references to ethnicity and religion in official records would be entirely contradictory to the French social model. More importantly, affirmative action policies developed from such a system fail to resolve the fundamental issues at hand. While the country's assimilationist system has revealed many shortcomings, France's large population of immigrants remains better integrated than those in the Netherlands and arguably even Britain. Meanwhile, Sabeg and his supporters argue that by continuing to turn a blind eye to race, France cannot appropriately address growing social inequalities. …


With the explosion of mobile devices with cameras, online search has moved beyond text to other modalities like images, voice, and writing. For many applications like Fashion, image-based search offers a compelling interface as compared to text forms by better capturing the visual attributes. In this paper we present a simple and fast search algorithm that uses color as the main feature for building visual search. We show that low level cues such as color can be used to quantify image similarity and also to discriminate among products with different visual appearances. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach through a mobile shopping application\footnote{eBay Fashion App available at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ebay-fashion/id378358380?mt=8 and eBay image swatch is the feature indexing millions of real world fashion images}. Our approach outperforms several other state-of-the-art image retrieval algorithms for large scale image data.


Abstract 'Legitimacy' is commonly cited as one of three fundamental mechanisms of social control within both domestic politics and international society. However, despite growing attention to the legitimacy of global governance, little consideration has been given to the identity of the political communities that must grant legitimacy to an international organisation or to the conditions under which legitimacy is valuable for the functioning of that organisation. In raising and responding to these questions, this article rejects the argument that actors must gain legitimacy among all subject social constituencies within their political realm of action. Instead, the importance of legitimacy within a particular constituency is a variable. The article labels this variable a 'legitimacy nexus' and outlines five factors that are hypothesised to contribute to calibrating a legitimacy nexus. The plausibility of the proposed schema is explored through discussion of the role of legitimacy in the trade regime and analysis of the origins of the International Labour Organization's anomalous tripartite representative structure.


Although predictable in its areas of occurrence, many aspects of humpback whale migration are still poorly understood. Nuclear DNA analysis has revealed a low level of relatedness among whales using the same migratory corridor, and has shown that closely related individuals tend not to travel in spatial association. Yet it still remains uncertain whether whales from different matrilineally discrete feeding stocks travel along the same migratory corridor for later mixing in common breeding waters. The western and central South Pacific Ocean is the only ocean basin where thousands of islands and reefs occur as suitable wintering habitat for humpback whales, so here their migratory behaviour may not be constrained by habitat. We analysed sex-specific and temporal distributions of 42 mitochondrial haplotypes detected in 135 humpback whales sampled off eastern Australia throughout 1 annual migration. A noticeable difference was found in haplotypic composition between northbound males and females, suggesting that the 2 sexes of any single matrilineal stock might select different and only partially overlapping migratory routes. We hypothesise that males most closely related to the N–S migrating females off eastern Australia migrate north elsewhere, perhaps past New Zealand. These findings suggest that longitudinal movements by male humpback whales are probably more extensive than currently thought, and indicate the need for reexamination of genetic data from humpback whales in the South Pacific, disaggregated by gender.


This paper demonstrates that memristors can be used to implement programmable analog circuits, leveraging memristor's fine-resolution programmable resistance without causing perturbations due to parasitic components. Fine-resolution programmable resistance is achieved by varying the amount of flux across memristors. The resistance programming can be achieved by controlling the input pulsewidth and its frequency. For demonstration, a memristor is designed for a pulse-programmable midband differential gain amplifier with fine resolution.


One key focus of the on-going debate on the integration of international financial markets have been measures to lengthen the maturity of foreign debt. Short-term debt is typically considered to be volatile and thus a potential trigger of currency crises. In contrast to the vivid policy debate on these issues, there is relatively little theoretical and empirical evidence on the determinants of short-term debt. This paper summarizes the theoretical literature on the issue and presents a stylized theoretical model, which focuses on the risks and benefits of short-term debt under conditions of uncertainty. Empirical evidence shows that the level of economic development, the presence of financial centres, and the share of loans to banks have a positive impact on the share of short-term loans. OECD membership, in contrast, has a negative influence.


Background Inappropriate prescribing is a well-documented problem in older people. The screening tools STOPP (Screening Tool of Older Peoples' Prescriptions) and START (Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment) have been formulated to identify potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and potential errors of omission (PEO) in older patients. Literature has shown that pharmacists can use STOPP and START reliably during their everyday practice to identify PIMs and PEOs in older patients. Purpose To ensure high quality of the prescriptions for patients admitted to geriatric wards. Materials and methods A clinical pharmacist used the STOPP and START criteria for each patient record of patients admitted to the geriatric ward. The screening tools were also presented to the physicians on the ward by the senior physician and all were given a pocket card with the criteria. The PIMs and PEOs were recorded as if identified by the pharmacist or by the physician. PIMs and PEOs identified by the pharmacist were presented to the physician for further action. The action taken on the PIMs and PEOs identified by the physician were also recorded. Results In the period May to August 2011 151 patients were reviewed. PIMs were identified in 19% of the patients and most were due to overuse of proton pump inhibitors and long-term use of benzodiazepines. Seventeen percent had PEOs that were mostly related to the cardiovascular system; four identified by the pharmacist and accepted by the physician were due to lack of aspirin in the presence of chronic atrial fibrillation, where warfarin was contraindicated or due to lack of aspirin or clopidogrel in patients with coronary or cerebral disease. Conclusions Using STOPP and START criteria as supplements to the medicines review the clinical pharmacist ensures high quality in the medicines prescribed for geriatric patients, a population for whom it is important to take precautions when prescribing.


In medical image analysis most state-of-the-art methods rely on deep neural networks with learned convolutional filters. For pixel-level tasks, e.g. multi-class segmentation, approaches build upon UNet-like encoder-decoder architectures show impressive results. However, at the same time, gridbased models often process images unnecessarily dense introducing large time and memory requirements. Therefore it is still a challenging problem to deploy recent methods in the clinical setting. Evaluating images on only a limited number of locations has the potential to overcome those limitations and may also enable the acquisition of medical images using adaptive sparse sampling, which could substantially reduce scan times and radiation doses. In this work we investigate the problem of semantic edge detection in CT and X-ray images from sparse sampling locations. We propose a deep learning architecture that comprises of two parts: 1) a lightweight fully convolutional CNN to extract informative sampling points and 2) our novel sparse structured prediction network (SSPNet). The SSPNet processes image patches on a graph generated from the sampled locations and outputs semantic edge activations for each patch which are accumulated in an array via a weighted voting scheme to recover a dense prediction. We conduct several ablation experiments for our network on a dataset consisting of 10 abdominal CT slices from VISCERAL and evaluate its performance against strong baseline UNets on the JSRT database of chest X-rays.


Aim: Brunet-Lezine-Revised is a kind of developmental test which measures motor and mental development of children aged between 2-30 months. Brunet Lezine is composed of posture, coordination, language, socialization subscales each of which screen development in one dimension. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of Brunet-Lezine-Revised.

Material and Method: 761 children aged between 2-30 months were included in the standardization evaluation. The sample consisted of 355 girls and 406 boys. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was used to determine total internal consistency of the test. The relation between subtests was determined by Pearson correlation coefficient. Paired t-test was used to compare the subtest and total points of consecutive months.

Results: In the reliability analysis, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated as 0.98; 0.98; 0.95; and 0.95 for posture, coordination, language and socialization respectively. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total scale was calculated as 0.99. To determine the predictive level of subtest points and total point for the developmental age intervals of infants, five lineer regression models were constructed regarding the developmental age interval as the dependent variable for each subtest. Analysis revealed that all of the models had high explanatory level (R-2> 0.94) and high level of significance (p< 0.001).

Conclusions: This study shows that the Turkish version of the Brunet Lezine has appropriate reliability and validity for assessing motor and mental development in Turkish children aged between 2-30 months. (Turk Arch Ped 2010; 45: 86-95)


Food systems worldwide have experienced a significant level of integration in recent decades, creating a global and dynamic food supply. In the US, imports amount to 15% of the American diet and nearly doubled in value during the last decade, reaching $90 billion in 2008. If food imports satisfy a growing domestic demand, they also pose formidable regulatory challenges when it comes to safety. A global food supply may introduce in domestic systems new, non-endemic risks, re-introduce risks that were controlled and rapidly spread contamination across borders. Recent food scares caused by imported foods have highlighted the vulnerabilities of the US food safety system in addressing the risks posed by a global food supply and increased public and private demands for food safety. In January 2011, President Obama signed into law the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, a comprehensive reform bill promising to significantly improve the US food safety system and introduce new instruments to minimise risks at home and abroad. The objective of this article is to understand how a major world economy is responding to the import safety challenge and what institutions and regulations are emerging to ensure the safety of a global food chain. We do so by analysing the new legislation to identify the policy approaches chosen and evaluate their promise and pitfalls. In the absence of a general theoretical model defining an optimal regulatory mix to promote food import safety, our analysis was informed by recent studies on the challenges of import safety as well as research on specific aspects of food safety regulatory policy that we encountered in the reform bill. The results of our analysis highlight a four-pronged approach in the reform bill based on (1) risk-based interventions and prevention; (2) information management and record keeping; (3) third-party certification; and (4) international activities. Several provisions extend the US authority to carry out enforcement and other activities in exporting countries, raising concerns about extraterritorial jurisdiction. Additionally, the reform institutionalises a growing trend where food safety governance derives from public and private regulations. Although reliance on private regulation may be desirable given the advances in safety controls in the private sector, regulators should exercise caution and set up adequate incentives and checks to avoid problems of conflicts of interest and capture.


We consider a two-sample hypothesis testing problem, where the distributions are defined on the space of undirected graphs, and one has access to only one observation from each model. A motivating example for this problem is comparing the friendship networks on Facebook and LinkedIn. The practical approach to such problems is to compare the networks based on certain network statistics. In this paper, we present a general principle for two-sample hypothesis testing in such scenarios without making any assumption about the network generation process. The main contribution of the paper is a general formulation of the problem based on concentration of network statistics, and consequently, a consistent two-sample test that arises as the natural solution for this problem. We also show that the proposed test is minimax optimal for certain network statistics.


Educators and researchers cannot afford to ignore the achievement gap between at-risk students and their counterparts. The review examines educational practices for this targeted population. Historically, educational experts have supported the belief that teaching in isolated settings is one of the most effective practices for improving student achievement. Smaller class sizes are proposed as reform methods to substantially impact student performance (Odden, 1990). However, class size reduction must be coupled with research-based instructional strategies proven to further academic development. Traditionally, at-risk students receive instruction through pull-out interventions. A pullout program in this study shall be defined as the removal of a student at risk of academic failure from the regular classroom to a small self-contained group setting to receive specialized instruction (Haas, l 993). The purpose of this study was to examine the academic and behavioral outcomes for middle school students who were pulled out of the general education setting and taught in a self-contained classroom. An examination of a pull-out program developed in an urban middle school for students who did not meet state proficiency on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills was conducted in the areas of reading and math. These pull-out classes were created to provide intensive instruction in the content areas of reading, math and language arts. The curriculum focused on basic comprehension, computation, written language and a social skills component to address behavioral concerns. Descriptive data show the percentage of students in each of three cohorts who attained changes in reading and math proficiency levels on the ITBS achieved between grade-level administrations. Some students improved in their proficiency category while others declined. Absence and suspension data suggest students in the at-risk program showed little change in behavior between seventh grade and the first semester of eighth grade. Absences and suspensions increased when students reentered general education classrooms. Educational decision makers should evaluate the effectiveness of self-contained programming for at-risk students. Educators should align individualized needs with instructional practices that benefit all students. Researchers are challenged to conduct indepth assessment of pull-out programs based on long-term outcomes rather than shortterm results. DO PULL-OUT PROGRAMS CREATE A MIRAGE OF LONG-TERM RESULTS FOR AT-RISK YOUTH? A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Educational Specialist Varotta Mi'Chele Johnson University of Northern Iowa July 2010 This Study by: Varotta Mi 'Chele Johnson Entitled: Do Pull-out Programs Create a Mirage of Long-term Results for At-Risk Youth? Has been approved as meeting the thesis requirement for the Degree of Educational Specialist tlo/;JJ Date Ct [11 j,o Date Dr. Radhi Al-Mabuk, Thesis Committee Member /p I/-/?) Date 1 l t~{ (V Date II


Colliding Au, CD, and Ti-CR plasmas have been generated by illuminating two opposing foils each with an approximately 100J, 0.5 nsec, 2(omega) Nd-glass laser beam from the Trident laser facility at Los Alamos. The plasmas are being used to study plasma interactions which span the parameter regime from interpenetrating to collisional stagnation. X-ray emission during the laser target interaction and the subsequent collision is used to diagnose the initial plasma conditions and the colliding plasma properties. X-ray instrumentation consists of a 100 ps gated x-ray pinhole imager, a time-integrated bremsstrahlung x-ray spectrograph and a gated x-ray spectrograph used to record isoelectronic spectra from the Ti-Cr plasmas. The imager has obtained multiframe images of the collision and therefore, a measure of the stagnation length which is a function of the ion charge state and density and a strong function of the electon temperature. Other isntrumentation includes a Thomson scattering spectrometer with probe beam, neutron detectors used to monitor the CE coated foil collisions, and an ion spectrometer. We will describe the current status of the experiments and current results with emphasis on the x-ray emission diagnostics. We will also briefly describe the modeling using Lasnex and ISIS, a particle-in-cell code with massless fluid electronics and inter-particle (classical) collisions.


Background: Three Point Dixon technique is a methodology able to separate water and fat components within magnetic resonance images, exploiting the phase of the complex data. It works exploiting the phase differences between three MRI images acquired with different Echo Times. Within the procedure, the most problematic step is the so called phase unwrapping operation.
Methods: We propose a new approach for unwrapping the acquired image phases. The presented technique works directly on each single complex image instead of phase differences, allowing reconstructions with high accuracy. The methodology jointly exploits the amplitude and the phase information. For assuring high computational efficiency and fast convergence to the global optimal solution, a graph cuts based optimization approach has been implemented.
Results: The proposed technique has been first applied to a phantom simulating a magnetic resonance image of the human head. Subsequently, the algorithm has been tested on a real data set consisting of three head images acquired in axial position. In both cases, results have been compared with the ones obtained using classical unregularized version of three point Dixon technique.
Conclusions: A novel, computationally fast and effective algorithm for phase unwrapping in three point Dixon water and fat separation is presented. The methodology provides regularized fat and water component estimation with a higher accuracy compared to the classical approach.


We investigate the expression of non-Kolmogorov turbulence in terms of Zernike polynomials. Increasing the power-law exponent of the three-dimensional phase power spectrum from 2 to 4 results in a higher proportion of wavefront energy being contained in the tilt components. Closed-form expressions are given for the variances of the Zernike coefficients in this range. For exponents greater than 4, a von Karman spectrum is used to numerically compute the variances as a function of exponent for different outer-scale lengths. We find in this range that the Zernike-coefficient variances depend more strongly on outer scale than on exponent, and that longer outer-scale lengths lead to more energy in the tilt terms. The scaling of Zernike- coefficient variances with pupil diameter is an explicit function of the exponent.


This article demonstrates the benefit of taking an explanation-based approach in the development of features for computationally supported systems used for linguistic analysis in forensic contexts. As a focal point it considers Other Language Infuence Detection (OLID) as well as its related field of Native Language Identifcation (NLI). An explanation-based approach allows the forensic linguist to understand the implications of the presence or absence of features as they vary across the contex ts and situations s/he might encounter. The authors present a qualitative framework for types of explanation and show how different types of explanations are needed to develop a full and rich language-influence feature set. The authors are not advocating a strict or inflexible typology of feature explanation but are seeking a richness of explanation at a variety of levels of analysis instead. This in turn can be developed into computational approaches, which the authors contend will therefore be stronger and more applicable to forensic casework contexts.


Heat and pain illusions can be generated by simultaneous cold and warm stimulation on the skin, at temperatures that would normally be perceived as innocuous in isolation (e.g., 'synthetic heat' and the 'thermal grill illusion'). Historically, two key questions have dominated the literature: Which specific pathway conveys the illusory perception of heat and pain? Where specifically does the illusory pain originate in the central nervous system? Two major theories – the addition and the disinhibition theories – have suggested distinct pathways, as well as specific spinal or supraspinal mechanisms. However, both theories fail to fully explain experimental findings on illusory heat and pain phenomena. We suggest that the disagreement between previous theories and experimental evidence can be solved by abandoning the assumption of one-to-one relations between pathways and perceived qualities. We argue that a population coding framework, based on distributed activity across non-nociceptive and nociceptive pathways, offers a more powerful explanation of illusory heat and pain. This framework offers new hypotheses regarding the neural mechanisms underlying temperature and pain perception.


How do you get people to see things your way? Whether you're trying to secure a promotion, make a sale, or rally support for a new idea, the ability to persuade those around you is absolutely essential to success.
 Merging research and real-world application, this insightful guide reveals what really drives decisions and introduces readers to the persuasion equation—a powerful combination of factors proven to speed agreement. Readers will discover the surprising reasons people say "yes" and learn how to:
 Radiate an aura of expertise • Win trust and leverage credibility • Build a business case that appeals to both heart and mind • Adapt for personality, gender, and generational differences • Use language strategically • Perfect the five-step persuasion process • Generate group buy-in • Master organizational politics • And more
 From crafting compelling emails to convincing a colleague to nailing the big presentation, Persuasion Equation is your personal recipe for success.


Treatment of patients with recurrent pregnancy losses and recurrent implantation failure can be instituted only when the underlying etiology is determined. Embryo-secreted preimplantation factor (PIF) is essential for implantation and adequate trophoblastic invasion. Deficiency of PIF affects the outcome of the pregnancy leading to recurrent pregnancy losses. Synthetic PIF modulates the outcome of the pregnancy decreasing the incidence of recurrent implantation failure and recurrent pregnancy losses. In this article a thorough search is done regarding the data published for diagnoses of reproductive failure and its treatment. The effect of immunoglobulin (Ig), intralipid, heparin, aspirin, progesterone, estrogen, and granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is taken into consideration. Heparin, aspirin, and progesterone have successfully shown to decrease the incidence of recurrent pregnancy loses; whereas G-CSF, intralipids, estrogen, and Igs have shown success in the treatment of the recurrent implantation failure and recurrent pregnancy failure. The pregnancies treated with Igs and intralipids showed equal outcome when evaluated and compared. The place of intralipid in reducing natural killer (NK) cells has been discussed.


This essay - the introductory chapter to a book that examines the powerful intellectual legacy of Richard Abel - frames a central question posed by Abel's scholarship: Is the professional project of lawyers a political one - defined by the protection and extension of fundamental rights and equality under law - or is it instead a commercial one - determined by lawyers' material interest in maximizing the return on their services? Do lawyers stand for justice? Or are they an impediment to its full realization?The essay offers two perspectives - one empirical and the other theoretical - on this fundamental "paradox of professionalism." The first charts the development of the U.S. system of institutionalized pro bono as an example of the increasing interdependence of lawyers' professional and commercial aims. One lesson to be drawn from this examination is that to the extent lawyers assimilate their political project (doing good) to their commercial one (doing well), commercial ends define the limits of what professional means can achieve - with profound consequences for the quantity and quality of justice served. Building off this case study of pro bono, the essay then suggests an approach to understanding legal professionalism that attends to its multiple meanings in practice, but also seeks to determine how the competing ideologies of professionalism ultimately shape the overall distribution of power. Toward this end, it rejects the standard binary formulation of the professional project - are lawyers a force for good or ill writ large? - and instead asks: Under what conditions do which lawyers advance which projects - and what are the consequences for social justice?This question constitutes the central inquiry of the book, which seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between lawyers' commercial aims and public aspirations. Drawing upon interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives, the book explores whether lawyers can transcend self-interest to meaningfully contribute to systems of political accountability, ethical advocacy, and distributional fairness. Its contributors, some of the world's leading scholars of the legal profession, offer evidence that while justice is possible, it is never complete. Ultimately, how much - and what type of - justice prevails depends on how lawyers respond to, and reshape, the political and economic conditions in which they practice. As the book demonstrates, the possibility of justice is diminished as lawyers pursue self-regulation in the service of power; it is enhanced when lawyers mobilize - in the political arena, workplace, and law school - to contest it.


Observers of the formerly communist transitional economies urge firms there to obtain funds from a relatively few sources. They note the institutional problems the firms face: courts not working, markets not developed, statutes not written. Because these firms cannot rely on the courts to discipline managers, they predict that firms will do best if they raise their capital only from a few concentrated sources. Firms in Japan at the close of the 19th century faced a similar "transitional" institutional environment. They too faced disfunctional courts, nascent markets, and non-existent statutes. Yet the firms that succeeded in Japan were not the ones that took the tack proposed by modern observers of transitional economies. They were the ones that used little debt and raised their equity from a large number of investors. In this article, we outline how concentrated finance can introduce problems potentially as severe as the ones it supposedly mitigates, and discuss why dispersed equity did not reduce firm efficiency in late-19th century Japan. Although investors with relatively large stakes can indeed provide a firm value, they do so only under limited conditions -- and we explore what some of those conditions might be.


The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the effect of the implementation of RYR, ESR and FUT1 genes in marker assisted selection on the currently performed selection for own productivity. A total of 205 female and 32 male Danube White pigs were tested for polymorphism of RYR, ESR and FUT1 loci Blood samples were obtained from the orbital sinus. Genotypes were determined in the Laboratory of Applied Molecular Genetics according of loci (LAMGen) at the Department of Genetics, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic using PCR- RFLP. Data from the phenotype test of pigs were analyzed including backfat thickness (CKL2) and age at 90 kg live weight depending on the genotypes of studied loci. The marker assisted selection for RYR, ESR and FUT1 genes, have no negative effect on phenotype test traits (backfat thickness and growth performance). For the FUT1 gene however, the relationship of the favourable A allele to the deposition of more backfat should be evaluated in a larger number of pigs, as in our study, we have observed such a tendency.


A series of short-term greenhouse experiments and laboratory incubations were conducted to evaluate the effect of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia Maiden & Betche) nut shell (MNS) charcoal with varying volatile matter (VM) content on soil properties and plant growth in two tropical soils. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and corn (Zea mays L.) were planted in an Andisol amended with four rates of MNS charcoal (0, 5,10, and 20% w/w) containing relatively high VM content (225 g kg -1 ) with andwithout N fertilizer. Increasing rates ofcharcoalwithout N caused a significant decline in both lettuce and corn growth. Corn growth declined significantly with or without N at the two highest charcoal rates. In a third experiment, corn growth also declined significantly in an Ultisol amended with the MNS charcoal (5% w/w) with and without fertilizers. In a fourth experiment, charcoals with high VM (225 g kg -1 ) showed negative effects on plant growth while the low-VM (63.0 g kg -1 ) charcoal supplemented with fertilizer showed a significant positive effect on corn growth. Results from the 2-wk incubation experiments showed that high-VM charcoal caused a significant decline in soil NH 4 + -N and a significant increase in soil respiration compared with the soil amended with low-VM charcoal and the soil alone. We propose that phenolic compounds and other products in the high-VM charcoal stimulated microbial growth and immobilization of plant-available N. Our results demonstrate that VM content appears to be an important property of charcoal that has short-term effects on soil N transformations and plant growth. Longer incubation experiments and field trials are needed to further elucidate the role of charcoal VM content on soil processes and plant growth.


Abstract Sleep is an essential component for athlete recovery due to its physiological and psychological restorative effects, yet few studies have explored the habitual sleep/wake behaviour of elite athletes. The aims of the present study were to investigate the habitual sleep/wake behaviour of elite athletes, and to compare the differences in sleep between athletes from individual and team sports. A total of 124 (104 male, 20 female) elite athletes (mean ± s: age 22.2 ± 3.0 years) from five individual sports and four team sports participated in this study. Participants' sleep/wake behaviour was assessed using self-report sleep diaries and wrist activity monitors for a minimum of seven nights (range 7–28 nights) during a typical training phase. Mixed-effects analyses of variances were conducted to compare the differences in the sleep/wake behaviour of athletes from two sport types (i.e. individual and team). Overall, this sample of athletes went to bed at 22:59 ± 1.3, woke up at 07:15 ± 1.2 and obtained 6.8 ± 1.1 h of sleep per night. Athletes from individual sports went to bed earlier, woke up earlier and obtained less sleep (individual vs team; 6.5 vs 7.0 h) than athletes from team sports. These data indicate that athletes obtain well below the recommended 8 h of sleep per night, with shorter sleep durations existing among athletes from individual sports.


Nowadays, most service providers offer their services and support their applications through federated sets of data centers that need to be interconnected using high-capacity telecom transport networks. To provide such high-capacity network channels, data center interconnection is typically based on IP and optical transport networks that ensure certain end-to-end connectivity performance guarantees. However, in the current mode of operation, the control of IP networks, optical networks, and data centers is separately deployed. Enabling even a limited interworking among these separated control systems requires the adoption of complex and inelastic interfaces among the various networks, and this solution is not efficient enough to provide the required quality of service. In this paper, we propose a multi-stratum resource integration (MSRI) architecture for OpenFlow-based data center interconnection using IP and optical transport networks. The control of the architecture is implemented through multiple OpenFlow controllers' cooperation. By exchanging information among multiple controllers, the MSRI can effectively overcome the interworking limitations of a multi-stratum architecture, enable joint optimization of data center and network resources, and enhance the data center responsiveness to end-to-end service demands. Additionally, a service-aware flow estimation strategy for MSRI is introduced based on the proposed architecture. The overall feasibility and efficiency of the proposed architecture are experimentally demonstrated on our optical as a service testbed in terms of blocking probability, resource occupation rate, and path provisioning latency.


A number of students experience difficulty with the spelling, retention, and recognition of basic spelling words. These students, who are often Dyslexic and/or Three Dimensional Visual Thinkers (3DVT), are usually taught spelling through mainstream pedagogic practices such as phonics and rote learning; practices which are generally unsuccessful with this group. Symbol Mastery is a process where students work with clay to create visual interpretations of a word's meaning and then they connect it to the word's spelling and pronunciation, resulting in a multisensory approach to learning to spell. Davis developed Symbol Mastery based on his belief that creativity is an important component of learning. This study aimed to trial Symbol Mastery in order to add to the body of evidence of its impact on Dyslexic students' spelling abilities. The research was framed as a qualitative case study, with its participants being four Dyslexic students who had completed an individualized program and eight one-on-one tutorial sessions. Data was gathered from pre- and post-program interviews with students and parents, researcher observations, and artifact collection. Along with this, pre- and post-tutorial spelling tests were administered. The results showed that through engaging with the word visually and creatively, spelling was retained and student participants were more engaged in the learning process.


Addressing violence against women and girls (VAWG) through the medium of male team sport may be a promising strategy for addressing interpersonal violence and gender norms transformation in urban communities. Parivartan is a violence prevention programme in a large slum community in Mumbai, India, which works with men and boys to reduce violence and promote gender-equitable attitudes and beliefs via membership of a cricket team and mentoring from coaches. This article discusses findings from a recent evaluation of the programme.


We present a 250‐year (1766–2015) inventory of European meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural droughts derived from ensemble simulations of the mesoscale Hydrological Model (mHM). The inventory of droughts takes into account an ensemble of 100 simulations from the hydrological model, allowing for assessment of how different meteorological forcing and model parameterizations affect a drought ranking. For the most extreme droughts, the variability in the ranking of drought events is low, while for the years with moderate precipitation deficits, the variability increases. Despite the underlying uncertainties, our drought inventory shows increased recurrence of soil moisture droughts in the Mediterranean and declining spatial extent of hydrological drought in Central Europe over the last three decades.


In the past 100 years since the birth of fisheries oceanography, research on the early life history of fishes, particularly the larval stage, has been extensive, and much progress has been made in identifying the mechanisms by which factors such as feeding success, predation, or dispersal can influence larval survival. However, in recent years, the study of fish early life history has undergone a major and, arguably, necessary shift, resulting in a growing body of research aimed at understanding the consequences of climate change and other anthropogenically induced stressors. Here, we review these efforts, focusing on the ways in which fish early life stages are directly and indirectly affected by increasing temperature; increasing CO(2) concentrations, and ocean acidification; spatial, temporal, and magnitude changes in secondary production and spawning; and the synergistic effects of fishing and climate change. We highlight how these and other factors affect not only larval survivorship, but also the dispersal of planktonic eggs and larvae, and thus the connectivity and replenishment of fish subpopulations. While much of this work is in its infancy and many consequences are speculative or entirely unknown, new modeling approaches are proving to be insightful by predicting how early life stage survival may change in the future and how such changes will impact economically and ecologically important fish populations.


According to common wisdom, the great depression of 2008/2009 is rooted in a financial crisis that spread from the US to most other parts of the world. This interpretation is challenged. Using theoretical concepts of David Harvey and Giovanni Arrighi, the current crisis is analyzed as a switching crisis from one global spatial fix of capital accumulation to another. First, the economic power shifts from the West to semi-peripheral states in East Asia as well as other world regions are identified as one major reason for the development of structural imbalances in world economy. It is analyzed how the structural imbalances – especially between China and the US – tended to deepen the US housing bubble. After the bubble had bursted, the crisis hit different world regions in a different manner. China and other emerging nations in East Asia as well as in South America were able to withstand the crisis due to large stimulus packages, whereas the EU, US and Japan have been deeply affected. The transition in global political economy will be even speeded up by the crisis. Finally, different scenarios of a new map of global power are discussed.


Rats raised by mothers that engage extensively in licking, grooming, and arched-back nursing (LG-ABN) grow up to be less fearful and less responsive to stress than do those raised by mothers that do not engage as frequently in these behaviors. These traits are accompanied by increased expression of glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) in the adult rat's hippocampus. LG-ABN elicits serotonergic activity and thereby activation of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-protein kinase A signaling pathway and expression of the transcription factor NGFI-A (nerve growth factor-inducible protein A). However, the mechanisms whereby enhanced signaling in the pup lead to molecular and behavioral changes in the adult remain unclear (see Sapolsky). Weaver et al. found reduced methylation of the region around the NGFI-A binding site of the GR promoter in DNA from hippocampal tissue of adult rats raised by highly LG-ABN mothers compared with that from rats raised by mothers that showed low levels of LG-ABN. Changes in methylation status were independent of biological relationship and appeared during the critical period for LG-ABN-induced behavioral changes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed increased histone H3-K9 acetylation and NGFI-A binding in hippocampal chromatin of adult offspring of highly LG-ABN mothers. Intracerebroventricular infusion of the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) enhanced acetylation in offspring of mothers that showed low levels of LG-ABN and reduced methylation in both low and high LG-ABN offspring. Moreover, TSA enhanced GR expression and reduced adrenocortical responses to stress, so that low LG-ABN offspring were indistinguishable in these respects from high LG-ABN offspring. Thus, these enduring effects of maternal behavior appear to be mediated through changes in DNA methylation status and can be pharmacologically reversed. I. C. G. Weaver, N. Cervoni, F. A. Champagne, A. C. D'Alessio, S. Sharma, J. R. Seckl, S. Dymov, M. Szyf, M. J. Meany, Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior. Nat. Neurosci. 7, 847-854 (2004). [Online Journal] R. M. Sapolsky, Mothering style and methylation. Nat. Neurosci. 7, 791-792 (2004). [Online Journal]


While literature on sexual minority issues is limited, there is evidence supporting poor retention rate among lesbian, gay, and bisexual students (LGB) studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). STEM fields often have heterosexist environments that present unique barriers to LGB individuals, though, more must be done to understand factors that deter sexual minorities from entering and remaining in the field. I aim to contribute to the scarce LGB scholarship by examining the STEM climate and exploring factors related to persistence. This dissertation is composed of two independent articles that each investigate the issue of underrepresentation of LGB individuals in STEM fields. The first article analyzes existing literature and calls on counseling psychologists to address the problem through using queer theory. I identify various factors that make sexual minorities a difficult population to research, note the additional challenges heterosexism creates for LGB individuals, and recommend counseling psychologists use queer theory to research the systems within STEM. I conclude with recommendations for clinicians and universities. The second article includes an empirical study examining factors related to poor persistence in STEM among LGB undergraduates. Using a mediation model, I hypothesized burnout and the imposter phenomenon would mediate the relationships between stereotype threat and STEM identity, as well as the relationship between STEM identity and persistence. Results indicated stereotype threat was a significant positive predictor of burnout and imposter phenomenon, while STEM identity was a significant predictor of persistence. Results also suggested the effect of stereotype threat on STEM identity is explained better using burnout and imposter phenomenon.


Abstract Background Substance use disorder is highly prevalent in people with psychiatric disorders, and known to impede the psychiatric treatment. Some studies show increased rates of service use, while others show a decrease. These conflicting results are further hampered by a lack of large-scale studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between substance use disorder and psychiatric service use in psychiatric patients. Methods The study was a prospective registry-based cohort study including patients with severe mental illness. The primary outcome was the number of hospitalisations, bed days and the number of psychiatric emergency department contacts. The association was calculated with incidence rate ratio with 95% confidence intervals. Results The study included all psychiatric patients born since 1955. In total, 21 558 patients with schizophrenia (47.54% with substance use disorder), 80 778 patients with depression (28.78% with substance use disorder), 10 560 patients with bipolar affective disorder (40.08% with substance use disorder) and 69 252 patients with a personality disorder (39.18% with substance use disorder) were included. Patients with comorbid substance use disorder had significantly increased rates of hospitalisations, bed days and psychiatric emergency department contacts (p < 0.001) for the majority of the included substances, compared with patients without such disorders. Conclusion Substance use disorder was associated with an increased number of hospitalisations, bed days and increased number of psychiatric emergency department contacts for the majority of the included substances.


In this paper I examine three textual mythologies regarding China's evolving present. These are an Orwellian world of covert and overt state control; a Brave New World dystopia where the spirit of the people is subsumed in hedonistic distractions; and finally I assess the progress towards the official vision of the current Beijing authorities: the "harmonious society". These three "pulls" of the future are juxtaposed with certain key "pushes" and "weights", and I explore their interplay within a "futures triangle". Finally, I suggest whether any of these mythologies is likely play a significant role in the possible futures of China.


Abstract Although hydrogen is the most abundant element in the solar system, the mechanisms of exchange of this element between the deep interior and surface of Earth are still uncertain. Hydrogen has profound effects on properties and processes on microscopic-to-global scales. Here we report the discovery of the first hydride (VH2) ever reported in nature. This phase has been found in the ejecta of Cretaceous pyroclastic volcanoes on Mt Carmel, N. Israel, which include abundant xenoliths containing highly reduced mineral assemblages. These xenoliths were sampled by their host magmas at different stages of their evolution but are not genetically related to them. The xenoliths are interpreted as the products of extended interaction between originally mafic magmas and CH4+H2 fluids, derived from a deeper, metal-saturated mantle. The last stages of melt evolution are recorded by coarse-grained aggregates of hibonite (CaAl12O19) + grossite (CaAl4O7) + V-rich spinels ± spheroidal to dendritic inclusions of metallic vanadium (V0), apparently trapped as immiscible metallic melts. The presence of V0 implies low oxygen fugacities and suggests crystallization of the aggregates in a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. The presence of such reducing conditions in the upper mantle has major implications for the transport of carbon, hydrogen and other volatile species from the deep mantle to the surface.


This study assessed the importance of spatial and temporal variation in plant quality and quantity for determining sustainable stocking rates in game, commercial and communal ranches in semi-arid savanna of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, in wet and dry seasons over a two-year period. We focussed on variation in plant biomass, phosphorus (P), crude protein (CP) concentrations and dry matter digestibility as parameters most likely to affect sustainable stocking rates. Habitat type had greater effects on plant quality, plant biomass and species composition than management type. The commercially-managed area had the highest tree density in the rocky habitat and lower plant quality than other management types. All of these features indicate that land degradation is occurring on commercial ranches in spite of rotational grazing and lower stocking density than on communal ranches. We recommend that commercial ranchers should introduce a greater variety of stock and/or game to reduce selective grazing of certain plant species. Quality measures (CP and P) gave more conservative predictions of stocking density than biomass. In this region of the Northern Cape, seasonally-inundated pan habitats are particularly valuable in spite of low-standing crop because they have the highest year-round quality. Contrastingly, ranchers should only lightly stock open savanna habitats, in spite of high standing biomass, because they have low vegetation quality and may be particularly susceptible to degradation and invasion by poisonous and unpalatable plants.


Primary objective : To investigate whether computer decision support software used in the management of patients with asthma improves clinical outcomes. Research design : Randomized controlled trial with practices each reporting on 30 patients with asthma over a 6 month period. Methods and procedures : 447 patients were randomly selected from practice asthma registers managed by 17 general practices from throughout the UK. Intervention practices used the software during consultations with these patients throughout the study while control practices did not. Main outcomes and results : Practice consultations, acute exacerbations of asthma, hospital contacts, symptoms on assessment and medication use. A smaller proportion of patients within the intervention group initiated practice consultations for their asthma: 34 (22%) vs 111 (34%), odds ratio (OR)= 0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.37-0.95); and suffered acute asthma exacerbations: 12 (8%) vs 57 (17%) , OR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.21- 0.85 six months after the introduction of the computer decision support software. There were no discernable differences in reported symptoms, maintenance prescribing or use of hospital services between the two groups. Conclusion : The use of computer decision support software that implements guidelines during patient consultations may improve clinical outcomes for patients with asthma.


Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. T cells play a central role in HCV clearance; however, there is currently little understanding of whether the disease outcome in HCV infection is influenced by the choice of TCR repertoire. TCR repertoires used against two immunodominant HCV determinants—the highly polymorphic, HLA-B*0801 restricted 1395HSKKKCDEL1403 (HSK) and the comparatively conserved, HLA-A*0101–restricted, 1435ATDALMTGY1443 (ATD)—were analyzed in clearly defined cohorts of HLA-matched, HCV-infected individuals with persistent infection and HCV clearance. In comparison with ATD, TCR repertoire selected against HSK was more narrowly focused, supporting reports of mutational escape in this epitope, in persistent HCV infection. Notwithstanding the Ag-driven divergence, T cell repertoire selection against either Ag was comparable in subjects with diverse disease outcomes. Biased T cell repertoires were observed early in infection and were evident not only in persistently infected individuals but also in subjects with HCV clearance, suggesting that these are not exclusively characteristic of viral persistence. Comprehensive clonal analysis of Ag-specific T cells revealed widespread use of public TCRs displaying a high degree of predictability in TRBV/TRBJ gene usage, CDR3 length, and amino acid composition. These public TCRs were observed against both ATD and HSK and were shared across diverse disease outcomes. Collectively, these observations indicate that repertoire diversity rather than particular Vβ segments are better associated with HCV persistence/clearance in humans. Notably, many of the anti-HCV TCRs switched TRBV and TRBJ genes around a conserved, N nucleotide-encoded CDR3 core, revealing TCR sequence mosaicism as a potential host mechanism to combat this highly variant virus.


The last step in the intracellular activation of antiviral nucleoside analogs is the addition of the third phosphate by nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) kinase resulting in the synthesis of the viral reverse transcriptase substrates. We have previously shown that dideoxynucleotide analogs and 3'-deoxy-3'-azidothymidine (AZT) as di- or triphosphate are poor substrates for NDP kinase. By use of protein fluorescence, we monitor the phosphotransfer between the enzyme and the nucleotide analog. Here, we have studied the reactivity of D4T (2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydrothymidine; stavudine) as di- (DP) or triphosphate (TP) at the pre-steady state. The catalytic efficiency of D4T-DP or -TP is increased by a factor of 10 compared with AZT-DP or -TP, respectively. We use an inactive mutant of NDP kinase to monitor the binding of a TP derivative, and show that the affinity for D4T-TP is in the same range as for the natural substrate deoxythymidine triphosphate, but is 30 times higher than for AZT-TP. Our results indicate that D4T should be efficiently phosphorylated after intracellular maturation of a prodrug into D4T-monophosphate.


This beautiful book features masterpieces of sculpture in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum dating from the Renaissance through the nineteenth century. Celebrated works by the great European sculptors-including Luca and Andrea della Robbia, Juan Martinez Montanes, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Bertel Thorvaldsen, Antoine-Louis Barye, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Edgar Degas, and Auguste Rodin-are joined by striking new additions to the collection, notably Franz Xaver Messerschmidt's remarkable bust of a troubled and introspective man. The ninety-two selected examples are diverse in media (marble, bronze, wood, terracotta, and ivory) and size-ranging from a tiny oil lamp fantastically conceived and decorated by the Renaissance bronze sculptor Riccio to Antonio Canova's eight-foot-high Perseus with the Head of Medusa, executed in the heroic Neoclassical style. Incorporating information from the latest scholarly research and recent conservation studies, sculpture specialist Ian Wardropper discusses the history and significance of the highlighted works, each of which is reproduced with glorious new photography.


What measures can law schools take to improve student performance and bar passage? The answer is not what you think.

Recent developments in the science of learning show that most law students learn wrong. In fact, ineffective methods of learning pervade all levels of education. We now know that widely accepted learning and study strategies that were once considered gospel are actually deeply flawed. Yet we still embrace and propagate those myths.

Meanwhile, bar passage rates and law student performance are plummeting. Everyone in legal education is asking "what can we do?" But, "what can we do?" is the wrong question. The right question is to ask how students can capitalize on the science of learning to be more effective learners.

In this essay, I discuss principles from the science of learning that law schools and students should embrace. In the context of the methods we have implemented at Florida International University College of Law, which had the highest bar passage rate in Florida for three consecutive exams, I detail the project of transforming the learning of law away from the ineffective methods of yore and towards effective strategies that can make a difference on student performance and bar passage.

And it all has to do with science, not lore.


Nutrition labeling is the provision of information about nutrition content of individual food products at the point of purchase. Decades of marketing and nutrition research have been devoted to analyze how consumers perceive, process and respond to different nutrition label types and formats. In general, the available literature suggests that nutrition labeling is a helpful tool to promote healthier food consumption. While governmental stakeholders repeatedly ask for improvement of mandatory labeling, retailers have discovered voluntary front-of-pack labeling as a marketing strategy. Little research has analyzed how consumers react and how retailers benefit from implementing such labeling schemes. While experimental studies have revealed healthier purchase behavior and improvement in attitudes towards retailers, research with real purchase data is still short of evidence about the effectiveness of voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labels, particularly with regard to retailer benefits. Even less research exists on how food manufacturers and retailers can influence perceived healthiness by self-created voluntary front-of-pack labeling schemes, in contrast to government-induced mandatory nutrition labels.
This thesis sheds new light on the impact of voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labeling on consumer response and retailer performance. It investigates how retailers can use such labels as tools to influence perceived healthiness of food products and how such strategies can influence real-world purchase behavior. Three studies using supermarket scanner data from a major retailer located in the UK compare purchase behavior before and after a voluntary nutrition label introduction. The implemented label is the front-of-pack Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) nutrition facts label. It displays the amount of calories (in kcal) as well as sugar, fat, saturated fat, and salt (in g) per serving together with the percentage of recommended daily amount per serving. This percentage is calculated for adults consuming 2,000 calories per day. Results from study 1 suggest that the GDA label introduction does not induce substantial healthier purchase behavior for yogurt and ready meals in terms of market share and product choice. By contrast, price, promotional activity, and habitual purchase behavior have a larger impact on purchase behavior and product choice. In study 2, results show that the GDA label introduction leads to slightly healthier purchase behavior by the customers in the soft drinks category, but does not increase customer's loyalty intentions towards the retailer. If healthier purchase behavior is observed, it is accompanied by reduced volume, implying reduced retailer revenue. This finding shows that potential health benefits for customers can come at a cost for retailers. The results from study 3 reveal a dual role of voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labels. On the one hand, results suggest that the GDA label can correct for misleading nutrition claims in the yogurt category. This means that sales volume decreases for yogurt with low fat claims but high sugar content after GDA label introduction. On the other hand, GDA labels that report too small serving sizes as basis for recommended daily amount can unjustifiably increase perceived healthiness. Results from study 3 show that a smaller serving size as basis increases sales volume for yogurt products after GDA label introduction. In particular, results from study 3 emphasize that future research should distinguish between nutrition labels as public policy instrument or as part of food marketing. In summary, the results from the three studies provide important implications for food marketers, public policy and consumer research.


Collaborative tools are developed to support work being undertaken by dispersed teams. As well as allowing voice and audio, several initiatives have supported collaborative information-rich tasks by enabling dispersed participants to share their visualization insights and to exercise some distributed control. In previous work, tools for collaborative visualization have been based on dataflow visualization systems, allowing visual programs to be rapidly prototyped and allowing not only the sharing of final results but also the process of obtaining them. However there are a number of issues: (1) the need for software policy changes, according to different meeting styles; (2) the presence of competing continuous flows, including voice and video of the participants and visualization movie sequences, in addition to bulk data flows; and (3) the dynamics of available resources which vary between participants or between mobile and office situations or within a single meeting. This need for adaptation is being studied in the Visual Beans project in the UK. The technologies under study include component technology, based on Java and CORBA, the use of continuous media in CORBA components, quality of service (QoS) monitoring and the use of open bindings.


Introduction Autoimmune chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) causes hypochlorhydria and hypergastrinaemia, which can lead to enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cell hyperplasia and gastric neuroendocrine tumours (type 1 gastric NETs). Most behave indolently, but some larger tumours metastasise. Antrectomy, which removes the source of the hypergastrinaemia, usually causes tumour regression. Non-clinical and healthy-subject studies have shown that netazepide (YF476) is a potent, highly selective and orally-active gastrin/CCK-2 receptor antagonist. Also, it is effective in animal models of ECL-cell tumours induced by hypergastrinaemia. Aim To assess the effect of netazepide on tumour biomarkers, number and size in patients with type I gastric NETs. Methods We studied 8 patients with multiple tumours and raised circulating gastrin and chromogranin A (CgA) concentrations in an open trial of oral netazepide for 12 weeks, with follow-up 12 weeks later. At 0, 6, 12 and 24 weeks, we carried out gastroscopy, counted and measured tumours, and took biopsies to assess abundances of several ECL-cell constituents. At 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 weeks, we measured circulating gastrin and CgA and assessed safety and tolerability. Results Netazepide was safe and well tolerated. Abundances of CgA (p<0.05), histidine decarboxylase (p<0.05) and matrix metalloproteinase-7(p<0.10) were reduced at 6 and 12 weeks, but were raised again at follow-up. Likewise, plasma CgA was reduced at 3 weeks (p<0.01), remained so until 12 weeks, but was raised again at follow-up. Tumours were fewer and the size of the largest one was smaller (p<0.05) at 12 weeks, and remained so at follow-up. Serum gastrin was unaffected. Conclusion The reduction in abundances, plasma CgA, and tumour number and size by netazepide show that type 1 NETs are gastrin-dependent tumours. Failure of netazepide to increase serum gastrin further is consistent with achlorhydria. Netazepide is a potential new treatment for type 1 NETs. Longer, controlled trials are justified. Trial Registration European Union EudraCT database 2007-002916-24 https://www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu/ctr-search/search?query=2007-002916-24 ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01339169 http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01339169?term=yf476&rank=5


Abstract As an extended independent component analysis (ICA) method for blind signal separation (BSS), independent subspace analysis (ISA) has more applications than ICA method. In this paper, we briefly present a new perspective of ISA for BSS. The general and detailed definition of the ISA model is given, the relationships between ICA and ISA methods is also discussed. Moreover, due to the fundamental difficulty in the ISA problem that it (specify it here) is not unique without extra constraints, we also review and discuss the separateness and uniqueness of the ISA model. At last, the state-of-art ISA algorithms are overviewed from different theoretical foundations. Some ISA algorithms based on the original relative gradient (natural gradient) ICA, FastICA, and JADE ICA are constructed for the BSS problem in detail and simulations of these algorithms are also exhibited.


The effect of a plate of anisotropic material, such as a crystal, on a collimated beam of polarized light may always be represented mathematically as a linear transformation of the components of the electric vector of the light. The effect of a retardation plate, of an anisotropic absorber (plate of tourmaline; Polaroid sheeting), or of a crystal or solution possessing optical activity, may therefore be represented as a matrix which operates on the electric vector of the incident light. Since a plane wave of light is characterized by the phases and amplitudes of the two transverse components of the electric vector, the matrices involved are two-by-two matrices, with matrix elements which are in general complex. A general theory of optical systems containing plates of the type mentioned is developed from this point of view.


IntroductionStudies have repeatedly found that a small number of offenders account for a disproportionate amount of crime. High-rate, persistent offenders (so-called 'prolific' offenders) have a major impact on local crime rates and public perceptions of safety, and place a substantial financial and social burden on communities.
Objectives and ApproachUsing population-level administrative data, our study identifies 'prolific' offenders in WA and describes their demographic and crime profiles. The official criminal records of all offenders born in WA between 1980 and 1995 were linked to administrative records from health, education and child protection databases (followed to 2005). Linked data on families (parents and siblings) were also included. Using this information, the study identified factors that distinguish between prolific and non-prolific offenders. The study also examined whether correlates of prolific offending were similar between a) male and female offenders, and b) Indigenous and non-Indigenous offenders.
ResultsClusters of offenders exhibiting a high-rate and persistent pattern of offending over the life-course were identified. These 'prolific' offenders accounted for a disproportionate amount of crime and criminal justice contacts:

8\% of female offenders accounted for 41% of female contacts;
3\% of male offenders made up 21% of male contacts;
9\% of Indigenous offenders made up 37% of Indigenous contacts;
7\% of non-Indigenous offenders made up 36% of non-Indigenous contacts.

Being the subject of a maltreatment allegation, being placed in out-of-home care, and having a serious mental health condition before the age of 18 increased the odds of being a prolific offender. Two criminogenic factors - early onset of offending (contact before age 12) and early violence - emerged as the most significant predictors.
Conclusion/ImplicationsChild protection and mental health services have much of the information needed to target early prevention, while criminal justice agencies are well-placed to apply crime reduction strategies through the targeting of early-onset/early-violent offenders. A combined approach is likely to have the greatest effect on reducing impact of prolific offending.