In a remarkable paper published in 1976, Burnashev determined the reliability function of variable-length block codes over discrete memoryless channels (DMCs) with feedback. Subsequently, an alternative achievability proof was obtained by Yamamoto and Itoh via a particularly simple and instructive scheme. Their idea is to alternate between a communication and a confirmation phase until the receiver detects the codeword used by the sender to acknowledge that the message is correct. We provide a converse that parallels the Yamamoto-Itoh achievability construction. Besides being simpler than the original, the proposed converse suggests that a communication and a confirmation phase are implicit in any scheme for which the probability of error decreases with the largest possible exponent. The proposed converse also makes it intuitively clear why the terms that appear in Burnashev's exponent are necessary.


This paper presents the design and implementation of a rail-to-rail 460-kS/s 10-bit successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for the power-efficient capacitance measurement. The specifications of ADC are optimized at system level, emphasizing the ADC following a switched-capacitor capacitance-to-voltage (C2V) converter. To be compatible to the output of C2V, a bootstrap switch with body effect reduction is adopted to provide the rail-to-rail processing ability. The charge redistribution converter is implemented by a single-ended cascaded binary-weighted capacitive digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The total area of the DAC array is not only limited by the matching behavior but also by the noise performance of C2V. To relax the settling requirement and improve the power efficiency, self-timing technique is employed which borrows extra half clock period for open-loop settling of preamps. The balance between noise and power consumption of dynamic comparator with preamps is also considered. The ADC circuit was implemented in 0.18-μm CMOS technology and occupies an active area of 0.18 mm2. The tested prototype achieves a signal-tonoise-plus-distortion ratio of 54 dB and a spurious-free dynamic range of 68 dB. The integral nonlinearity and differential nonlinearity are 0.5 and 0.34 least-significant-bit, respectively. The total power consumption is 21 μW corresponding to 110 fJ/conversion-step figure of merit.


Western South America provides an outstanding laboratory for studies of magmatism and crustal evolution because it contains Archean–Paleoproterozoic cratons that amalgamated during Neoproterozoic supercontinent assembly, as well as a long history of Andean magmatism that records crustal growth and reworking in an accretionary orogen. We have attempted to reconstruct the growth and evolution of western South America through U-Pb geochronologic and Hf isotopic analyses of detrital zircons from 59 samples of sand mainly from modern rivers. Results from 5524 new U-Pb ages and 1199 new Hf isotope determinations are reported. Our data are integrated with previously published geochronologic and Hf isotopic information, yielding a combined record that includes >42,000 ages and >1900 Hf isotope analyses. These large data sets yield five main conclusions: (1) South America has an age distribution that is similar to most other continents, presumably reflecting processes of crustal generation and/or preservation related to the supercontinent cycle, with age maxima at 2.2–1.8 Ga, 1.6–0.9 Ga, 700–400 Ma, and 360–200 Ma; (2) <200 Ma magmatism in western South America has age maxima at ca. 183, 166, 149, 125, 110, 88, 65, 35, 21, and 4 Ma (with significant north-south and east-west variations), yielding an average cyclicity of ∼33 m.y.; (3) for the past 200 m.y., no correlation exists between magmatism and the velocity of convergence between central South America and Pacific oceanic plates, the age of the downgoing plate, or the absolute motion of South America; (4) Hf isotopes record reworking of older crustal materials during most time periods, with incorporation of juvenile crust at ca. 1.6–1.0 Ga, 500–300 Ma, and ca. 175–35 Ma; and (5) the Hf isotopic signature of <200 Ma magmatism is apparently controlled by the generation of evolved crust during crustal thickening and eastward arc migration, versus juvenile magmas during extensional tectonism and westward and/or outboard migration of arc magmatism.


How a predator uses its landscape to move through its territory and acquire prey is a fundamental question for scientific research. The influence of abiotic and biotic factors on space use of large carnivores has profound implications for their future management and conservation. In the Pantanal, Brazil, jaguars (Panthera onca) are the apex predator, but conflicts with cattle depredations pose a risk to their future conservation. We examined whether behavioral state, sex, and season influenced how jaguars used the landscape in the Pantanal. To accomplish this, we radio‐collared four females and six males; radio‐collared jaguars were monitored for 76 radio‐months with 11,787 GPS locations acquired. We developed resource selection functions (RSFs) examining how female and male jaguars used their landscape during three behavioral states (moving, killing native prey, killing cattle) during two seasons (dry, wet). From the RSF models, we found similar variables and relationships of landscape characteristics that jaguars selected for when moving and when depredating native prey and cattle. While moving, jaguars selected for locations that were either in dense cover or very near dense cover, with higher plant diversity and closer to water than available across the landscape. While null models suggested jaguars opportunistically depredated native prey in the dry season and cattle in the wet season, there was some indication they selected for specific landscape characteristics, mainly dense cover when killing cattle in the dry season and native prey in the wet season. Both sexes killed native prey and cattle within dense cover or close to dense cover as expected of an ambush predator. Particular habitat types were not important as long as there was dense cover for concealment. Additionally, jaguars killed prey closer to water than was available on the landscape. The similar variables across the models showed the importance of dense cover and distance to dense cover during all three behavioral states indicating jaguars in the Pantanal were "always on the prowl." Understanding the spatial requirements for jaguars during the acquisition of native prey and cattle may lead to improved management strategies to allow for continued coexistence of jaguars in an area of traditional cattle production.


This article explores the constitutional ideology of the social revolution in the context of liberal economic reforms in India. While India's new economic policies emphasize the benefits of competition and free markets her constitutional preferences remain embedded in legal provisions and traditions that favor social engineering in the name of economic, political and social equality. As liberalization as well as the global marketplace have become firmly established in the rhetoric and practice of elite politics, the political momentum towards economic change falls short of the numerical majorities to amend the Constitution. Consequently, India's Supreme Court judges are taking centre-stage in the field of economic liberalization, having the power to either stall or accelerate the reform process by means of judicial review. Unrestrained by the political obstacles of democratic politics the court has sketched a dialectical reform of the constitutional political economy exercising judicial restraint as the means and modes of production are freed from state control and exposing judicial activism as the judges advocate the interweaving of the distribution and consumption of wealth with the goals of the social revolution. Based on an analysis of judicial policies as well as constitutional reform debates the article maintains that the constitutional ideology of the social revolution acts as an important, if not constructive, constraint and guideline as India's policies are shifting from "empirical gradualist" socialism to empirical gradualist liberalization and globalization.


In Pathways into the Jungian World contributors from the disciplines of medicine, psychology and philosophy look at the central issues of commonality and difference between phenomenology and analytical psychology. The major theme of the book is how existential phenomenology and analytical psychology have been involved in the same fundamental cultural and therapeutic project - both legitimize the subtlety, complexity and depth of experience in an age when the meaning of experience has been abandoned to the dictates of pharmaceutical technology, economics and medical psychiatry. The contributors reveal how Jung's relationship to the phenomenological tradition can be, and is being, developed, and rigorously show that the psychological resonance of the world is immediately available for phenomenological description.


In this paper, a circular microstrip patch antenna with Defected Ground Structure (DGS) has been analyzed and simulated for the WLAN applications. The proposed antennas have been simulated at 2.45 GHz frequency using co-axial feeding technique. Actually, we design two circular microstrip antennas i.e. conventional CMSA and CMSA with L-shape DGS. These antennas are simulated by the High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS). For study purpose we analyze the proposed antennas and simulated results compared on bandwidth, return loss, VSWR and radiation pattern. The resultant antenna with Lshape DGS has improved in parameter performance mostly in enhancement in Bandwidth (B.W.).


Principal-agent theory alerts principals to their problematic relationship with agents. The former are encouraged to take deliberate action to counter asymmetries in knowledge, moral hazard etc. To avoid this, principals should determine outcomes and contracts and incentives should be designed to achieve them. This approach has influenced the form of purchaser-provider arrangements, including the Job Network. This article reviews impacts, which include incentives for gaming and increased transaction costs. Another survey highlighted the extent to which innovation in the disability employment sector had depended on collaboration, which competition would end. The article then sketches an alternative pragmatic or experimental approach, which assumes that the centre can never establish outcomes that are other than provisional and corrigible. Program design needs to be built around this fundamental fact. Learning not 'carrots and sticks' is the appropriate form of relationship. The article explores the feasibility of this approach in a Job Network context.


Innovation can enhance the usefulness of products and services, but technological innovation may be hindered by many potential barriers. One important potential barrier is patent infringement, whose risk must be evaluated and quantified when a firm works on innovation. Previous studies have focused on patent quality, patent value, and the use of patents as indicators of company competitiveness, but to our knowledge there have been no previous studies discussing the evaluation or forecasting of patent infringement risk. To address this issue, we conduct a knowledge management study to reexamine the relationship between patent quality/value and patent litigation, identify patent risk factors, and build a regression model for evaluating patent infringement risk. We make two important discoveries during the course of this study. First, we found that certain factors do not hold significant amounts of impact in all technological fields. Second, we discover that the same factor may not have the same impact in differing technological fields.


David Foster Wallace's magnum opus ,  Infinite Jest , celebrated its 20th anniversary of publication in 2016. Yet in spite of two decades of critical analysis little attention is given to the female characters within. Delfino (2008) cites 'one or two strong [female] characters that cannot help but influence the male protagonists in the novel', without expanding upon this, whilst Freudenthal (2010) speaks of Wallace's female characters as having a 'political clout [that] goes no further than their domestic spheres'. Such failure on the part of critics leads to an incomplete consideration of Wallace's text. This paper sets about redressing the balance through a reading of Joelle van Dyne's character and Wallace's use of the veil, and the link that this has with an historical figure known for her donning of the veil: St. Teresa of Avila. Clare Hayes-Brady's recent work (2016) on 'failures' in Wallace's work will be used as a tool with which to analyse Joelle's/St. Teresa's inclusion in the text, and it will be argued that the issue of veiling, a practice that Hirschmann (1998) views as 'Other to most Westerners', helps to reveal the extent to which Wallace's female characters have indeed been overlooked by critics. In doing so, a new consideration of Wallace's texts may emerge.


Background: Recovery from severe mental illness, namely schizophrenia, is a contemporary issue. Globally, twenty-four million people live with schizophrenia, men and women being equally affected. Of those diagnosed with schizophrenia, 90% are said to be living in developing countries. However, while Western culture has recognised the centrality of service user expertise within the process of recovery, little attention has been given to those living with such illness in developing countries, such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa, Swaziland being one of them. Schizophrenia is of great concern in Swaziland, as it is most prevalent amongst the 25 to 45 year olds, compromising productivity and adversely affecting the country's economy. While both men and women contribute to the Swazi economy, and can be equally affected by the illness, there appears to be stigma and discrimination of women in the provision of mental health care. This study explored the perceptions, experiences and meaning of recovery for Swazi women living with schizophrenia with a view to improving the mental health care offered to them in Swaziland.
Method: Qualitative phenomenology was used to guide the research process. A convenient purposive sample of fifteen Swazi women, diagnosed with schizophrenia, was recruited from the Swaziland National Psychiatric Hospital (SNPH) out patients' department. One to one, face to face interviews were conducted, audio recorded, translated and transcribed by the researcher. Interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the data.
Findings: More than half of the women defined recovery in terms of remission of symptoms, and acknowledged the importance of taking prescribed medication in promoting their recovery. The majority of participants identified helping others, involvement in community activities and spirituality as important enhancers of their recovery. Health professionals working at SNPH both promoted and hindered their recovery.
Conclusion: The findings of this study add to a developing body of knowledge regarding women's recovery from schizophrenia in Sub-Saharan Africa, having implications for future African/Swazi consumer focused mental health services.


The partitioning of Fe in sediments and soils has
traditionally been studied by applying sequential leaching
methods. These are based on reductive dissolution and exploit
differences in dissolution rates between different reactive Fe
(oxyhydr)oxide minerals. We used lab-made ferrihydrite,
goethite, hematite and magnetite spiked with 58Fe and leached
two-mineral mixtures with both phases abundant in excess of
the methods dissolution capacity. Leaching was performed
with 1) hydroxylamine-HCl and 2) Na-dithionite as the
reactive agent. Following Poulton & Canfield (2005) [1], the
first dissolution is designed to selectively leach the most
reactive Fe-phases, ferrihydrite and lepidocrocite, whereas the
second dissolution is designed to leach goethite and hematite.
Magnetite would then be dissolved in a third dissolution step
with oxalic acid.
First results show that the hydroxylamine-HCl method for
ferrihydrite dissolves only insignificant amounts of goethite
and hematite. However, magnetite-Fe constitutes about 10%
of the total dissolved Fe. The Na-dithionite dissolved Fe from
goethite-magnetite and hematite-magnetite mixtures contain
about 30% of magnetite-Fe.
We applied selective sequential leaching and Fe isotope
analysis to fine-grained marine sediments from a depocenter
in the North Sea, which contain abundant reactive Fe
(oxyhydr)oxides and show evidence for Fe sulfide formation
within the upper 10 cm. Fe isotopes of the hydroxylamine-HCl
leach targeting ferrihydrite shows a downcore increase of
!56Fe typical for sediments undergoing microbial reductive Fe
dissolution, whereas Fe isotopes of the Na-dithionite leach
(goethite and hematite) and oxalic acid leach (magnetite) are
identical and show no downcore variation in !56Fe. This
means, that only the most reactive Fe phases participate in the
Fe redox cycle in this location. The similar isotopic
composition of goethite + hematite and magnetite suggests a
detrital source, which is not utilized possibly due to the
abundant ferrihydrite and lepidocrocite present.
[1] Poulton & Canfield (2005), Chemical Geology 214, 209–
221


The debate on whether climate change will impact on peoples'
livelihoods and, hence, the need to act is essentially over and has
instead shifted to the development of strategies needed by different
regions and countries to adapt to climate change effects. However,
there is still scanty information necessary to ably address climate
change related issues. There is a considerable knowledge gap with
respect to climate change impact, vulnerability and adaptation to
increased climate variability and change. In this paper, using the
trade off analysis model, the impact of climate change on
peoples' livelihoods and possible adaptation strategies to
increase the resilience and sustainability of agricultural systems in
three regions of Uganda (central, Masaka and southwest) are analysed.
The results show that 70-97% of households will be adversely affected
by climate change in Uganda. The southwest will be most affected due to
smaller farm sizes and limited livelihood alternatives. There will be
no positive gains from encroaching on swamps, which is one of the
reported adaptation strategies to climate related stresses. Improving
productivity of important crops (bananas for southwest, and sweet
potatoes and bananas for central region), in addition to adoption of
grade cattle will likely be a better adaptation strategy for climate
change.


Thousands die each year in the United States alone due to a severe shortage of organs available for transplantation. In this article, I propose that we encourage people to register to donate organs upon death by offering them some priority to receive an organ should they need one during life. Such an incentive would save lives by encouraging many more people to donate, yet would not violate federal laws that prohibit organ donors from receiving financial compensation. In addition, I describe how priority incentives could, in theory, be structured to guarantee a distribution of organs that is pareto superior to our current one. I respond to critics who say that priority incentives would weaken the altruistic nature of our current donation scheme and would unacceptably commodify the human body. A fuller conception of our property interests in cadaver organs, I argue, reveals the error of elevating such organs to a special place of honor reserved for property that should be inalienable through market-style exchange.


More user control in computer-based learning can motivate users and potentially improve learning effectiveness. However, it may also put more cognitive load on users, cause disorientation and even hinder learning. It is therefore advocated in this paper that providing sufficient navigation aids and online learning help can alleviate the cognitive burden a user has to carry, and improve learning effectiveness. First, based on many research literatures, a conceptual model is built, which consists of four elements, namely user control, program control, navigation aids and online learning help. Thereafter, the implementation methods of each element in the model, their respective impacts on user control and implications to learning effectiveness are discussed. Finally, the constructs representing these elements and their internal factors as well as associated measurement schemes are proposed. Results of this study provide invaluable insight in understanding user control and its impact on learning, and also can be used to empirically examine the relationships among the four elements in further studies.


OBJECTIVE—In participants of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) randomized to intensive lifestyle modification (ILS), meeting ILS goals strongly correlated with prevention of diabetes in the group as a whole. Men met significantly more ILS goals than women but had a similar incidence of diabetes. Therefore, we explored sex differences in risk factors for diabetes and the effect of ILS on risk factors. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Baseline risk factors for diabetes and percent change in risk factors over the first year in men versus women were compared using Wilcoxon's rank-sum tests. RESULTS—At baseline, men were older and had a larger waist circumference; higher fasting plasma glucose concentration, caloric intake, and blood pressure; and lower HDL cholesterol and corrected insulin response than women, who were less physically active and had a higher BMI (P < 0.01 for all comparisons). Over the first year of the DPP, no sex difference in risk factors for diabetes was observed for those who lost <3% body weight. Weight loss of 3–7% body weight yielded greater decreases in 2-h glucose (P < 0.01), insulin concentration (P < 0.04), and insulin resistance (P < 0.03) in men than in women. Weight loss of >7% body weight resulted in greater decreases in 2-h glucose (P < 0.01), triglyceride level (P < 0.01), and A1C (P < 0.03) in men than in women. CONCLUSIONS—Weight loss >3% body weight yielded greater reduction in risk factors for diabetes in men than in women. Despite the more favorable effects of ILS in men, baseline risk factors were more numerous in men and likely obscured any sex difference in incident diabetes.


Nonrigid image registration is an important, but time-consuming task in medical image analysis. In typical neuroimaging studies, multiple image registrations are performed, i.e., for atlas-based segmentation or template construction. Faster image registration routines would therefore be beneficial. In this paper we explore acceleration of the image registration package elastix by a combination of several techniques: (i) parallelization on the CPU, to speed up the cost function derivative calculation; (ii) parallelization on the GPU building on and extending the OpenCL framework from ITKv4, to speed up the Gaussian pyramid computation and the image resampling step; (iii) exploitation of certain properties of the B-spline transformation model; (iv) further software optimizations. The accelerated registration tool is employed in a study on diagnostic classification of Alzheimer's disease and cognitively normal controls based on T1-weighted MRI. We selected 299 participants from the publicly available Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database. Classification is performed with a support vector machine based on gray matter volumes as a marker for atrophy. We evaluated two types of strategies (voxel-wise and region-wise) that heavily rely on nonrigid image registration. Parallelization and optimization resulted in an acceleration factor of 4–5x on an 8-core machine. Using OpenCL a speedup factor of 2 was realized for computation of the Gaussian pyramids, and 15–60 for the resampling step, for larger images. The voxel-wise and the region-wise classification methods had an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 88 and 90%, respectively, both for standard and accelerated registration. We conclude that the image registration package elastix was substantially accelerated, with nearly identical results to the non-optimized version. The new functionality will become available in the next release of elastix as open source under the BSD license.


As allied healthcare professionals, medical laboratory technologists are an integral part of the healthcare team, tasked with carrying out essential technical and scientific services in the laboratory. These key technical and scientific resources aid the pathologist and/or clinician in attaining an accurate diagnosis and hence providing the appropriate treatment. In South Africa, pathology services represent an integral part of the clinical consultation and most healthcare diagnosis and treatment involves these services, which are thus fundamental to current healthcare practices. Medical laboratory technologists practice their profession guided by ethical codes and high ethical standards are expected of them. This manuscript explains the four principles of bioethics as they apply to the profession of medical laboratory technology and describes the principles of professionalism for medical laboratory technologists in regard to the social responsibility and the importance of the professional and also the moral contract between society and the profession.


The focus of this thesis is the use of Operations Research for pplications in the forest industry. Optimization models and methods have been developed for problems in the forest supply chain and they have been integrated in decision support systems. The problems considered in this thesis are operative with a planning horizon of less than a month. Short solution times for the methods and the feasibility of the models used are important aspects. The body of this thesis consists of eight research papers where six of them consider operative problems and follows the forest supply chain. The industrial applications include routing of forwarders, routing of logging trucks, a process control problem, and roll cutting problems. The other two papers consider an operative planning problem in the home care sector. They are spin offs from one of the other projects in this thesis. In these applications both linear and nonlinear problems occur.The forwarding problem is to decide routes for forwarders to pick up the small piles of logs the harvesters have left in the harvest areas. The forwarders then put the logs adjacent to forest roads. The logging truck problem is to decide routes for logging trucks to pick up the piles created by the forwarders and transport them to demand points, for example pulp or paper mills. The process control problem appear in the bleaching stage of a pulp mill where the control variables are the bleaching chemical charges. The cost of bleaching chemicals is minimized while a finishing brightness within target values is ensured. Mainly two roll cutting problems are studied. One is to minimize the number of cutting patterns and one is to minimize the number of reels when defects in the papper reels are considered. The solution methods developed for the forwarding problem have also been applied to a routing problem which appears in staff planning for home care operations.The different DSS developed and implemented have been tested and several are in daily industrial use. In each of the papers, we have developed robust OR models and quick and effective OR methods. The savings from using the systems vary but are typically in the range 5-20%.


Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) among health care workers have increased with little information on ergonomic stressors' exposure. Therefore, the exposure of health care workers to ergonomic stressors and the consequent WRMDs were investigated. Materials and Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study involved 279 stratified participants from various departments of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital. Standardized Nordic and adapted European Foundation questionnaires were used to obtain data on musculoskeletal pain and ergonomic stressors. The data were analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: About 48% of the participants reported WRMDs in at least one part of the body during the 12 months preceding the study while 22.2% reported WRMDs in the last 7days. During the preceding 12 months and the last 7 days, the lower back was the most common site of disorders (29.4% and 9.7%, respectively) while the elbow joint was the least affected site. About 49.7% and 42.7% of the clinical staff and nonclinical staff, respectively, reported WRMDs in the last 12 months while 22.3% versus 22.0% reported WRMDs in the last 7 days. Female participants had a higher prevalence of WRMDs but significant gender difference existed for point prevalence only. A majority of the participants (65.8%) were exposed to 11 or more risk factors. There was a significant association between both 12-month and point prevalences of WRMDs on the one hand and exposure to painful tiring positions on the other. Conclusions: The prevalence of WRMDs was high among health care workers with the lower back being the most frequently affected body region. Work involving painful/tiring positions was the most common ergonomic risk factor associated with WRMDs.


Professional Development: The International Journal of Continuing Social Work Education is a refereed journal concerned with publishing scholarly and relevant articles on continuing education, professional development, and training in the field of social welfare. The aims of the journal are to advance the science of professional development and continuing social work education, to foster understanding among educators, practitioners, and researchers, and to promote discussion that represents a broad spectrum of interests in the field. The opinions expressed in this journal are solely those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the policy positions of The University of Texas at Austin's School of Social Work or its Center for Social Work Research. Professional Development: The International Journal of Continuing Social Work Education is published three times a year (Spring, Summer, and Winter) by the Center for Social Work Research at 1 University Station, D3500 Austin, TX 78712. Journal subscriptions are $110. Our website at www.profdevjournal.org contains additional information regarding submission of publications and subscriptions. Copyright © by The University of Texas at Austin's School of Social Work's Center for Social Work Research. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.


With the emerging applications of the Internet of Things (IoT), a congestion control mechanism becomes a critical phenomenon for efficient communication in networks of constrained devices. The Internet Engineering Task Force developed the constrained application protocol (CoAP) as a standard communication protocol that favors lightweight interoperability for accommodating resource‐constrained devices. However, the base CoAP specification congestion control is insensitive to various network conditions. Thus, differentiating the scenario of packet loss due to bit error rate and congestion, and identifying correct round trip time (RTT) of retransmitted message‐acknowledgement is quite essential to adapt the CoAP behavior based on the network status. In this paper, we present a context‐aware congestion control (CACC) approach for lightweight CoAP/user datagram protocol–based IoT traffic. The CACC proposes mechanisms that include retransmission timeout (RTO) estimator, retransmission count–based smoothed round‐trip‐time observation, lower bound RTO restriction approach, and aging concept. The proposed RTO estimators utilize the strong, weak, and failed RTT to identify exact network status and provide adaptive congestion control. The CACC incorporates the variable of retransmission count in request‐response interaction model to mitigate the negative variation in RTT due to the fluctuation in the IoT environment. Moreover, with lower bound RTO restriction approach, the unnecessary spurious retransmissions are avoided, and the aging mechanism limits the validity of the RTO value to improve the efficiency of the proposed scheme. The proposed model is validated against baseline CoAP and CoCoA+ using Contiki OS and the Cooja simulator. The results are impressive under different network topologies.


In 1830 the French Bourbon monarchy fell in the midst of a.political crisis that had developed rapidly between 1827 and 1830 after the Restoration settlement had operated, apparently harmoniously, for fifteen years. The two general elections of 1827 and 1830 resulted in the very swift growth of a liberal majority in parliament, and Charles X, unwilling to defer entirely to the majority in the choice of his ministers and unable, because of custom established since 1814, to defy that majority, attempted to alter the constitution by decree in 1830. The 'three glorious revolutionary days' led to the replacement of Charles by his cousin Louis-Philippe. In the last election of Louis XVIII's reign in 1824 only 40 liberals were elected in the whole of France. In 1827 about 180 were successful, making their representation roughly equal to that of the supporters of the Villèle government, with between 60 and 80 ultra-royalists to their right. In by-elections in 1828 and 1829 the liberals won 50 of the 75 seats fought. The election of 1830 confirmed the growth of support for the liberals with 202 of the 221 who voted the motion of no-confidence in the government being re-elected, and a total of 270 opponents, whereas the Polignac government had a mere 145 adherents. This dramatic swing in the elections of Charles X's reign was national in scale but was most complete in northern and eastern France. In 1829 four of the five most liberal departments in terms of parliamentary representation were in the east.


Abstract. Bridges are one of the most critical traffic infrastructure objects, therefore it is necessary to monitor them at regular intervals. Nowadays, this monitoring is made manually by visual inspection. In recent projects, the authors are developing automated crack detection systems to support the inspector. In this pre-study, different sensors, like different camera systems for photogrammetry, a laser scanner, and a laser triangulation system are evaluated for crack detection based on a defined required minimum crack width of 0.2 mm. The used test object is a blasted concrete plate, sized 70 cm × 70 cm × 5 cm and placed in an outdoor environment. The results of the data acquisition with the different sensors are point clouds, which make the results comparable. The point cloud from the chosen laser scanner is not sufficient for the required crack width even at a low speed of 1 m/s. The RGB or intensity information of the photogrammetric point clouds, even based on a low-cost smartphone camera, contain the targeted cracks. The authors advise against using only the 3D information of the photogrammetric point clouds for crack detection due to noise. The laser triangulation system delivers the best results in both intensity and 3D information. The low weight of camera systems makes photogrammetry to the preferred method for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In the future, the authors aim for crack detection based on the 2D images, automated by using machine learning, and crack localisation by using structure from motion (SfM) or a positioning system.


We introduce a novel statistical approach that quantifies, for the first time, the amount of colocalization of two fluorescent-labeled proteins in an image automatically, removing the bias of visual interpretation. This is done by estimating simultaneously the maximum threshold of intensity for each color below which pixels do not show any statistical correlation. The sensitivity of the method was illustrated on simulated data by statistically confirming the existence of true colocalization in images with as little as 3% colocalization. This method was then tested on a large three-dimensional set of fixed cells cotransfected with CFP/YFP pairs of proteins that either co-compartmentalized, interacted, or were just randomly localized in the nucleolus. In this test, the algorithm successfully distinguished random color overlap from colocalization due to either co-compartmentalization or interaction, and results were verified by fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The accuracy and consistency of our algorithm was further illustrated by measuring, for the first time in live cells, the dissociation rate (k(d)) of the HIV-1 Rev/CRM1 export complex induced by the cytotoxin leptomycin B. Rev/CRM1 colocalization in nucleoli dropped exponentially after addition of leptomycin B at a rate of 1.25 x 10(-3) s(-1). More generally, this algorithm can be used to answer a variety of biological questions involving protein-protein interactions or co-compartmentalization and can be generalized to colocalization of more than two colors.


We estimate the causal effect of early retirement on mortality for blue-collar workers. To overcome the problem of endogenous selection, we exploit an exogenous change in unemployment insurance rules in Austria that allowed workers in eligible regions to withdraw from the workforce up to 3.5 years earlier than those in non-eligible regions. For males, instrumental-variable estimates show a significant 2.4 percentage points (about 13%) increase in the probability of dying before age 67. We do not find any adverse effect of early retirement on mortality for females. Death causes indicate a significantly higher incidence of cardiovascular disorders among eligible workers, suggesting that changes in health-related behavior explain increased mortality among male early retirees.


Quality pedagogical tradition of Central European countries, in which the Croatian school system existed and evolved, helped in the establishment of the Department of Methodology of Teaching (in several disciplines) at the University of Zagreb and other Croatian universities (Split, Rijeka and Osijek). Unfortunately, it was not too long ago that Croatian physicists were still deeming teaching physics to be a profession that offers nothing for research. However, over the past twenty years or so, significant changes have been made in this field thanks to the hard work and the engagement of some researchers and groups. Here we will present the historical roots of Physics Education Research (PER), the results of PER trends and raising need of educating physics teachers in Croatia today.


Many of real-world data, e.g., the VGGFace2 dataset, which is a collection of multiple portraits of individuals, come with nested structures due to grouped observation. The Ornstein autoencoder (OAE) is an emerging framework for representation learning from nested data, based on an optimal transport distance between random processes. An attractive feature of OAE is its ability to generate new variations nested within an observational unit, whether or not the unit is known to the model. A previously proposed algorithm for OAE, termed the random-intercept OAE (RIOAE), showed an impressive performance in learning nested representations, yet lacks theoretical justification. In this work, we show that RIOAE minimizes a loose upper bound of the employed optimal transport distance. After identifying several issues with RIOAE, we present the product-space OAE (PSOAE) that minimizes a tighter upper bound of the distance and achieves orthogonality in the representation space. PSOAE alleviates the instability of RIOAE and provides more flexible representation of nested data. We demonstrate the high performance of PSOAE in the three key tasks of generative models: exemplar generation, style transfer, and new concept generation.


In this paper, we report on the growth of GaN films and AlGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) on Si(111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy using ammonia as nitrogen source. A smooth layer-by-layer two-dimensional growth mode allows to obtain reflection high-energy electron diffraction intensity oscillations during GaN, AlN and AlGaN growth. Low temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra of thick nearly relaxed GaN films are dominated by an intense excitonic emission at 3.471 eV having a full width at half maximum of 5 meV. On the other hand, the PL spectra of thick strained GaN films exhibit a broad band edge emission at 3.455 eV having a full width at half maximum of 15 meV. As revealed by transmission electron microscopy, AlGaN/GaN MQW structures with sharp interfaces are achieved on Si(lll) substrates and each QW exhibits a clearly resolved PL emission peak.


The objective of the project is to explore an architecture of a horse farm on a rural site in Vollane/Norway. It is searching for a place and an inspiring building type that would incorporate a broad range of human and equine activities in a new hind of togetherness. While animals are usually relegated a secondary role in the farm, the project is trying to challenge this usual dynamic, by approaching architecture from an an imalperspective. The set geometries, the architectonic elements and outside spaces used in the project that go with horse activities are thoroughly investigated. By equally emphasizing the outside spaces as much as the built, I have proposed a place like a big garden where the relation between horse and rider, with the local life and landscape as a back drop, can be fully physically experienced.


Clusters of galaxies are expected to gravitationally lens the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and thereby generate a distinct signal in the CMB on arcminute scales. Measurements of this effect can be used to constrain the masses of galaxy clusters with CMB data alone. Here we present a measurement of lensing of the CMB by galaxy clusters using data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT). We develop a maximum likelihood approach to extract the CMB cluster lensing signal and validate the method on mock data. We quantify the effects on our analysis of several potential sources of systematic error and find that they generally act to reduce the best-fit cluster mass. It is estimated that this bias to lower cluster mass is roughly 0.85σ in units of the statistical error bar, although this estimate should be viewed as an upper limit. We apply our maximum likelihood technique to 513 clusters selected via their Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) signatures in SPT data, and rule out the null hypothesis of no lensing at 3.1σ. The lensing-derived mass estimate for the full cluster sample is consistent with that inferred from the SZ flux: M 200 , lens = 0.83 − 0.37 + 0.38 M 200 , SZ ?> (68% C.L., statistical error only).


Natural genetic transformation in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis provides a model system to explore the evolutionary function of sexual recombination. In the present work, we study the response of transformation to UV irradiation using donor DNAs that differ in sequence homology to the recipient's chromosome and in the mechanism of transformation. The four donor DNAs used include homologous‐chromosomal‐DNA, two plasmids containing a fragment of B. subtilis trp+ operon DNA and a plasmid with no sequence homology to the recipient cell's DNA. Transformation frequencies for these DNA molecules increase with increasing levels of DNA damage (UV radiation) to recipient cells, only if their transformation requires homologous recombination (i.e. is recA+‐dependent). Transformation with non‐homologous DNA is independent of the recipient's recombination system and transformation frequencies for it do not respond to increases in UV radiation. The transformation frequency for a selectable marker increases in response to DNA damage more dramatically when the locus is present on small, plasmid‐borne, homologous fragments than if it is carried on high molecular weight chromosomal fragments. We also study the kinetics of transformation for the different donor DNAs. Different kinetics are observed for homologous transformation depending on whether the homologous locus is carried on a plasmid or on chromosomal fragments. Chromosomal DNA‐ and non‐homologous‐plasmid‐DNA‐mediated transformation is complete (maximal) within several minutes, while transformation with a plasmid containing homologous DNA is still occurring after an hour. The results indicate that DNA damage directly increases rates of homologous recombination and transformation in B. subtilis. The relevance of these results and recent results of other labs to the evolution of transformation are discussed.


Affordances are potentiations for bodily action that are routinely evaluated in the course of perception. For example, the physical features of bricks, lamps, and pillows provide salient cues about the actions a perceiver could likely perform with those objects. In visually situated contexts, affordances can provide a potentially useful source of information for aspects of language comprehension. This chapter begins by reviewing various perspectives on affordances as well as issues regarding their computation. Of particular relevance is how the information provided by affordances differs from linguistically- or conceptually-encoded links between objects and actions, such as selectional restrictions or semantic associations. The chapter then describes various ways in which affordances influence visually situated language comprehension, using examples from different levels of linguistic processing. The remainder of the chapter considers whether language comprehension reflects the influence of "genuine" affordances or instead a system in which information about the idiosyncratic features of perceptible objects is combined with (and often controlled by) linguistic and cognitive constraints.


Economic theory has identified a number of channels through which openness to international financial flows could raise productivity growth. However, while there is a vast empirical literature analyzing the impact of financial openness on output growth, far less attention has been paid to its effects on productivity growth. We provide a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between financial openness and total factor productivity (TFP) growth using an extensive dataset that includes various measures of productivity and financial openness for a large sample of countries. We find that de jure capital account openness has a robust positive effect on TFP growth. The effect of de facto financial integration on TFP growth is less clear, but this masks an important and novel result. We find strong evidence that FDI and portfolio equity liabilities boost TFP growth while external debt is actually negatively correlated with TFP growth. The negative relationship between external debt liabilities and TFP growth is attenuated in economies with higher levels of financial development and better institutions.


Wireless mesh networks (WMNs) have emerged as one of the major technologies for 4G high-speed mobile networks. In a WMN, a mesh backhaul connects the WMN with the Internet, and mesh access points (MAPs) provide wireless network access service to mobile stations (MSs). The MAPs are stationary and connected through the wireless mesh links. Due to MS mobility in WMNs, mobility management (MM) is required to efficiently and correctly route the packets to MSs. We propose an MM mechanism named Wireless mesh Mobility Management (WMM). The WMM adopts the location cache approach, where mesh backhaul and MAPs (referred to as mesh nodes (MNs)) cache the MS's location information while routing the data for the MS. The MM is exercised when MNs route the packets. We implement the WMM and conduct an analytical model and simulation experiments to investigate the performance of WMM. We compare the signaling and routing cost between WMM and other existing MM protocols. Our study shows that WMM has light signaling overhead and low implementation cost.


In 1995, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts severely limited the power of courts to review Department of Social Services (DSS) decisions regarding children in its care, in companion cases Care and Protection of Isaac and Care and Protection of Jeremy. All Massachusetts children in DSS' care are affected by these cases. Isaac and Jeremy may conflict with the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act, which mandates regular review of out-of-home placements for children. In addition, these decisions disproportionately affect children of color. To protect the interests of children in DSS care, the negative impact of Isaac and Jeremy must be addressed by judicially or legislatively overruling them. Other states provide useful statutory examples of addressing this problem.


Abstract Introduction Most women who give birth for the first time experience some form of perineal trauma. Second‐degree tears contribute to long‐term consequences for women and are a risk factor for occult anal sphincter injuries. The objective of this study was to evaluate a multifaceted midwifery intervention designed to reduce second‐degree tears among primiparous women. Methods An experimental cohort study where a multifaceted intervention consisting of 1) spontaneous pushing, 2) all birth positions with flexibility in the sacro‐iliac joints, and 3) a two‐step head‐to‐body delivery was compared with standard care. Crude and Adjusted OR (95% CI) were calculated between the intervention and the standard care group, for the various explanatory variables. Results A total of 597 primiparous women participated in the study, 296 in the intervention group and 301 in the standard care group. The prevalence of second‐degree tears was lower in the intervention group: [Adj. OR 0.53 (95% CI 0.33–0.84)]. A low prevalence of episiotomy was found in both groups (1.7 and 3.0%). The prevalence of epidural analgesia was 61.1 percent. Despite the high use of epidural analgesia, the midwives in the intervention group managed to use the intervention. Conclusion It is possible to reduce second‐degree tears among primiparous women with the use of a multifaceted midwifery intervention without increasing the prevalence of episiotomy. Furthermore, the intervention is possible to employ in larger maternity wards with midwives caring for women with both low‐ and high‐risk pregnancies.


Choosing either formalism or cultural models in the institutionalization of Islamic Law in the context of the United State of Republic of Indonesia has not been too easy, and this has even frequently been harsh discourses between both proponents. Therefore, the proponents should first of all seek their common view on the concept, process, and legal and political consequence of such institutionalization. The institutionalization of Islamic Law should not only seek legal-its values for the development, order, security and welfare of the people and state. Keywords: Cultural, formal, institutionalization, Islamic Law, model.


Abstract A series of 8 tests was administered to university students over 4 weeks for program assessment purposes. The stakes of these tests were low for students; they received course points based on test completion, not test performance. Tests were administered in a counterbalanced order across 2 administrations. Response time effort, a measure of the proportion of items on which solution behavior rather than rapid-guessing behavior was used, was higher when a test was administered in the 1st week. Test scores were also higher. Differences between Week 1 and Week 4 test scores decreased when the test was scored with an effort-moderated model that took into account whether the student used solution or rapid-guessing behavior. Differences further decreased when students who used rapid-guessing on 5 or more of the 30 items were filtered from the data set.


What induced the British to adopt foreign coffee-drinking customs in the seventeenth century? Why did an entirely new social institution, the coffeehouse, emerge as the primary place for consumption of this new drink? In this lively book, Brian Cowan locates the answers to these questions in the particularly British combination of curiosity, commerce, and civil society. Cowan provides the definitive account of the origins of coffee drinking and coffeehouse society, and in so doing he reshapes our understanding of the commercial and consumer revolutions in Britain during the long Stuart century. Britain's virtuosi, gentlemanly patrons of the arts and sciences, were profoundly interested in things strange and exotic. Cowan explores how such virtuosi spurred initial consumer interest in coffee and invented the social template for the first coffeehouses. As the coffeehouse evolved, rising to take a central role in British commercial and civil society, the virtuosi were also transformed by their own invention.


We report two macrocyclic ligands containing a 1,10-diaza-18-crown-6 fragment functionalized with either two picolinamide pendant arms (bpa18c6) or one picolinamide and one picolinate arm (ppa18c6(-)). The X-ray structure of [La(ppa18c6)(H2O)](2+) shows that the ligand binds to the metal ion using the six donor atoms of the crown moiety and the four donor atoms of the pendant arms, 11-coordination being completed by the presence of a coordinated water molecule. The X-ray structure of the [Sr(bpa18c6)(H2O)](2+) was also investigated due to the very similar ionic radii of Sr(2+) and Eu(2+). The structure of this complex is very similar to that of [La(ppa18c6)(H2O)](2+), with the metal ion being 11-coordinated. Potentiometric measurements were used to determine the stability constants of the complexes formed with La(3+) and Eu(3+). Both ligands present a very high selectivity for the large La(3+) ion over the smaller Eu(3+), with a size-discrimination ability that exceeds that of the analogous ligand containing two picolinate pendant arms reported previously (bp18c6(2-)). DFT calculations using the TPSSh functional and the large-core pseudopotential approximation provided stability trends in good agreement with the experimental values, indicating that charge neutral ligands derived from 1,10-diaza-18-crown-6 enhance the selectivity of the ligand for the large Ln(3+) ions. Cyclic voltammetry measurements show that the stabilization of Eu(2+) by these ligands follows the sequence bp18c6(2-) < ppa18c6(-) < bpa18c6 with half-wave potentials of -753 mV (bp18c6(2-)), -610 mV (ppa18c6(-)), and -453 mV (bpa18c6) versus Ag/AgCl. These values reveal that the complex of bpa18c6 possesses higher stability against oxidation than the aquated ion, for which an E1/2 value of -585 mV has been measured.


We studied stimulated Raman scattering in pressurized methane in the highly transient regime pumped by 140-fs 0.7-mJ pulses from a Ti:sapphire (Ti:S) laser tuned at 750 nm. Energy-conversion efficiency of the first Stokes of more than 15% was achieved, with no strong sign of saturation with as much as 40 atm (1atm=760Torr) of Raman gas pressure. To our knowledge, this is the highest conversion efficiency of transient stimulated Raman scattering generated directly from the fundamental of a Ti:S laser.


Construction of high rise buildings as supporting infrastructures for economic growth has increased significantly in numbers in many big cities around the world. In Indonesia, most of the high-rise buildings constructed are made of reinforced concrete structures. In principles, the use of high-strength concrete, coupled with high strength rebars for high rise r/c buildings will result in more efficient and more constructible r/c constructions. However, in Indonesia, the use of high strength rebars for seismic-resistant r/c buildings is still prohibited. SNI 2847:2013 Section 21 specifies that the yield strength for reinforcing bars used in structural elements of special moment resisting frames is limited to 420 MPa. This provision is meant to limit higher shear and higher bond demand in the structural elements assigned to dissipate seismic energy. This paper presents a study on the use of high strength rebars in seismic resistant r/c buildings. In the study, 20 story buildings located in a region with high seismicity are designed. Two types of rebars are used, i.e., those with the yield strength of 550 MPa and of 690 MPa. The building structures are designed as the special moment resisting frame. The seismic performances of the buildings are then investigated by performing non-linear time history analysis. Seven pairs of scaled ground motions are used for the analysis. From this analysis, the failure mechanism of r/c buildings reinforced with 550 MPa yield strength is governed by beam mechanism, while the buildings reinforced with 690MPa yield strength rebars shows failure mechanism dominated by story mechanism. Globally, the performance levels of the buildings are within the zone of Damage Control (i.e., between immediate occupancy and life safety). Based on the findings, some recommendations are proposed for the use of high strength rebars in the design of seismic resistant high rise r/c buildings.


Signcryption (SC) achieves the goal with lower computational costs than simply combining public-key encryption (PKE) and digital signatures (DS). Meanwhile, at SCN 2014, Dodis and Fiore formalized interactive PKE and DS. In particular, in the interactive setting, they showed a CCA-secure PKE scheme can be constructed assuming only CPA-secure PKE schemes in a black-box manner.In this paper, we focus on SC schemes in the interactive setting (ISC for short). Specifically, we newly define a model and security notions for ISC schemes. We then propose generic constructions of ISC schemes by using CPA-secure PKE schemes rather than CCA-secure ones, whereas such a realization is unknown in the context of non-interactive SC schemes. We show that two rounds are sufficient to construct an ISC scheme from only CPA-secure PKE schemes. Furthermore, we also show the first SC scheme that can be efficiently instantiated from simple assumptions in the standard model without pairings or lattices by allowing interaction.


Abstract. Subglacial roughness can be determined at a variety of length scales from radio-echo sounding (RES) data either via statistical analysis of topography or inferred from basal radar scattering. Past studies have demonstrated that subglacial terrain exhibits self-affine (power law) roughness scaling behaviour, but existing radar scattering models do not take this into account. Here, using RES data from northern Greenland, we introduce a self-affine statistical framework that enables a consistent integration of topographic-scale roughness with the electromagnetic theory of radar scattering. We demonstrate that the degree of radar scattering, quantified using the waveform abruptness (pulse peakiness), is topographically controlled by the Hurst (roughness power law) exponent. Notably, specular bed reflections are associated with a lower Hurst exponent, with diffuse scattering associated with a higher Hurst exponent. Abrupt waveforms (specular reflections) have previously been used as a RES diagnostic for basal water, and to test this assumption we compare our radar scattering map with a recent prediction for the basal thermal state. We demonstrate that the majority of thawed regions (above pressure melting point) exhibit a diffuse scattering signature, which is in contradiction to the prior approach. Self-affine statistics provide a generalised model for subglacial terrain and can improve our understanding of the relationship between basal properties and ice-sheet dynamics.


This book is devoted to the description of agenesis of the corpus callosum, a congenital malformation of midline structures in the brain that may be regarded as a natural model of the "split-brain. " First reported by Rei! in 1812, this anomaly has since been described by several investigators. Interest in this malformation was revived in the 1970s by studies of interhemispheric transfer in Bogen and Vogel's commissurotomized patients and the subsequent findings by Sperry that acallosal patients were devoid of the typical disconnection deficits found in patients with surgical transection of the corpus callosum. Since this seminal work, the bulk of neuropsychological research on callosal agenesis has focused on the particulars of interhemispheric transfer and integration. An ever-growing literature has emerged on the subject, attempting to specify the extent and limits of neural plasticity in a nervous system that has evolved in the absence of the most important interhemispheric pathway. Whilst callosal agenesis proves to be an excellent model of cerebral plasticity, it has to be pointed out that this anomaly is often associated with other malformations and neurological diseases that may result in different degrees of mental retardation or other cognitive and sensorimotor deficits. In this context, neurological research on callosal agenesis has concentrated on the description of various syndromes associated with this pathology as well as on the attempt to specify its neurobehavioral manifestations.


Secondary forests (SF) are important carbon sinks, removing CO2 from the atmosphere through the photosynthesis process and storing photosynthates in their aboveground live biomass (AGB). This process occurring at large-scales partially counteracts C emissions from land-use change, playing, hence, an important role in the global carbon cycle. The absorption rates of carbon in these forests depend on forest physiology, controlled by environmental and climatic conditions, as well as on the past land use, which is rarely considered for retrieving AGB from remotely sensed data. In this context, the main goal of this study is to evaluate the potential of polarimetric (quad-pol) ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data for estimating AGB in a SF area. Land-use was assessed through Landsat time-series to extract the SF age, period of active land-use (PALU), and frequency of clear cuts (FC) to randomly select the SF plots. A chronosequence of 42 SF plots ranging 3–28 years (20 ha) near the Tapajós National Forest in Pará state was surveyed to quantifying AGB growth. The quad-pol data was explored by testing two regression methods, including non-linear (NL) and multiple linear regression models (MLR). We also evaluated the influence of the past land-use in the retrieving AGB through correlation analysis. The results showed that the biophysical variables were positively correlated with the volumetric scattering, meaning that SF areas presented greater volumetric scattering contribution with increasing forest age. Mean diameter, mean tree height, basal area, species density, and AGB were significant and had the highest Pearson coefficients with the Cloude decomposition (λ3), which in turn, refers to the volumetric contribution backscattering from cross-polarization (HV) (ρ = 0.57–0.66, p-value < 0.001). On the other hand, the historical use (PALU and FC) showed the highest correlation with angular decompositions, being the Touzi target phase angle the highest correlation (Φs) (ρ = 0.37 and ρ = 0.38, respectively). The combination of multiple prediction variables with MLR improved the AGB estimation by 70% comparing to the NL model (R2 adj. = 0.51; RMSE = 38.7 Mg ha−1) bias = 2.1 ± 37.9 Mg ha−1 by incorporate the angular decompositions, related to historical use, and the contribution volumetric scattering, related to forest structure, in the model. The MLR uses six variables, whose selected polarimetric attributes were strongly related with different structural parameters such as the mean forest diameter, basal area, and the mean forest tree height, and not with the AGB as was expected. The uncertainty was estimated to be 18.6% considered all methodological steps of the MLR model. This approach helped us to better understand the relationship between parameters derived from SAR data and the forest structure and its relation to the growth of the secondary forest after deforestation events.


: Total activity levels, isozyme patterns, and kinetic properties of beta-hexosaminidase were studied in crude supernatants of malignant and adjacent, uninvolved normal colon tissues and in sera from 28 Dukes-classified colorectal cancer patients. A significant increase (P less than .001) in both beta-hexosaminidase activity and beta-hexosaminidase specific activity and a significant increase (P less than .01) in the relative percentage of activity comprised by the basic thermostable form of beta-hexosaminidase (Hex B) isozyme were found in malignant tissue compared to the activities seen in uninvolved normal colon tissue. No apparent correlations were found between either beta-hexosaminidase activity levels or relative percentage of Hex B and Dukes category. Kinetic analysis indicated that the thermolabile form of beta-hexosaminidase and Hex B from malignant colon were comparable to the corresponding isozymes from normal colon with regard to thermostability after preincubation at 50 degrees C and pH activity curves (optimum between pH 4.0 and 5.0). Significantly decreased (P less than .05) beta-hexosaminidase activity was found in sera of the 28 colorectal cancer patients (17.3 +/- 5.2 U/ml, mean +/- SD) when compared to the activity in 19 controls with nonmalignant diseases (21.4 +/- 8.2 U/ml) and 17 normal controls (21.3 +/- 6.4 U/ml). Isoelectric focusing indicated that a peak of beta-hexosaminidase activity with an isoelectric point value (9.5) comparable to that of the peak found in increased amounts in malignant colon was detectable in the sera of 36% of the colorectal cancer patients and 11% of the controls.


Visually-impaired people have difficulty reading handwritten or printed documents that are not written in Braille. Totally blind people cannot read handwritten or printed documents that are not in Braille. A large fraction of written language encountered in daily life or travel still does not appear in Braille, thereby denying visually impaired and completely blind people access to such information. The present disclosure describes techniques to scan one's surroundings using a low-profile camera, to identify objects and/or written language using an object or character recognition system, and to convey scanned information aurally to a user. Machine learning and inference models are used to automatically perform the tasks of object identification, character recognition, etc. Such a system can be used by visually impaired and totally blind people, and also by individuals without visual impairment — such as travelers who want to translate written text found in their surroundings, e.g., signboards, menu items, etc.


This article assesses the constitutional foundation by which Parliament lends its lawmaking powers to the executive, which rests upon a century-old precedent established by the Supreme Court of Canada in a constitutional challenge to wartime legislation. While the case law demonstrates that courts have continued to follow this early precedent to allow the parliamentary delegation of sweeping lawmaking powers to the executive, it is time for courts to reassess the constitutionality of delegation in light of Canada's status as a liberal democracy embedded within a system of constitutional supremacy. Under the Constitution of Canada, Parliament is placed firmly at the centre of public policymaking by being vested with exclusive legislative authority in certain subject matters. Parliament must therefore play the principal federal lawmaking role. The Supreme Court's 1918 judgment should no longer be followed to the extent that it allows courts to accept near unlimited delegation of Parliament's lawmaking powers to the executive. Instead, and to that extent, the judgment should be seen as an historical anachronism, a holding that was suitable for a young country in the context of the First World War but now out of step with the constitutional role of Parliament as seen through the contemporary approach to constitutional interpretation. Courts and Parliament must take delegation more seriously, and constitutional safeguards should be established to better protect the role of Parliament as lawmaker in chief and restore the proper constitutional balance. Achieving this goal would be a major advance toward the democratic, representative and accountable federal lawmaking process contemplated by the Constitution. It is possible through reforms to strengthen the judicial scrutiny of the vires of regulations and creating effective parliamentary mechanisms to scrutinize and supervise the exercise of delegated lawmaking powers.


For students who are actively engaged in social justice efforts on their college/university campuses, the transition from a relatively easy platform for engagement to the "real world" can pose significant challenges and create new realities for negotiation. Little is known, however, about the nature of these transitions into post-graduate social justice experiences. Drawing on an open-ended survey of recent graduates (92 respondents, 50% response rate) from a social justice minor in a school of social work, we explore the ways in which respondents described their transitions into social justice work, focusing on a set of key challenges that emerged from our analysis and reflecting on the implications of these challenges for social work practice and future research. Understanding some of the challenges in making this transition will help social work and non-profit administrators to better support this population's future volunteer, service, and employment needs.


Background/aims:  This research aimed to investigate the relationship between eating attitudes and body satisfaction among adolescents attending high school in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. Methods: The participants were 718 males and 761 females, in total 1479 adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years. The Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26) and Body Cathexis Scale (BCS) were used to assess eating attitudes and body satisfaction respectively. Data from the study were evaluated statistically by chi-square test. Results: Our results showed that 2.93 % of males and 40.07 of females faced a high risk of having an eating disorder. Our findings confirm that females are more at risk of eating disorders. The BCS of males (90.8 ± 20.8) was found significantly higher than females (81.3 ± 16.8) ( p<0.001), which indicates that females are less content than about their appearance. We also found that 6.3 % of males and 18.2 % of females thought that they were overweight, and 22.9% of females and 4.3 % of males perceived themselves as obese. While 58.6 % of males perceived their body image as correct, 65.8 % of females did not (p<0.05). Conclusion: Together these results confirm that female adolescents tend to be less satisfied with their weight and more likely to display disordered eating attitudes.

Keywords: Adolescents, Eating Attitude Test-26, Body Cathexis Scale, Body Satisfaction


Neurobiologically-plausible learning algorithms for recurrent neural networks that can perform supervised learning are a neglected area of study. Equilibrium propagation is a recent synthesis of several ideas in biological and artificial neural network research that uses a continuous-time, energy-based neural model with a local learning rule. However, despite dealing with recurrent networks, equilibrium propagation has only been applied to discriminative categorization tasks. This thesis generalizes equilibrium propagation to bidirectional learning with asymmetric weights. Simultaneously learning the discriminative as well as generative transformations for a set of data points and their corresponding category labels, bidirectional equilibrium propagation utilizes recurrence and weight asymmetry to share related but non-identical representations within the network. Experiments on an artificial dataset demonstrate the ability to learn both transformations, as well as the ability for asymmetric-weight networks to generalize their discriminative training to the untrained generative task.


In 1996 Robert Goodin and Hans-Dieter Klingemann published an edited collection of essays, A New Handbook of Political Science, that provides probably the best overview of the discipline of political science, at least as seen through the eyes of the mainstream of the profession. Goodin is an American working at the Australian National University, while Klingemann is a German working in Berlin. Nevertheless, their overview represents an American view of political science, which is hardly surprising as more than 75 per cent of living political scientists are American. Overall, they present a picture of the discipline as professional, pluralistic and improving rapidly. Here, we take issue with that view, not as an ambition, but as a reality. In contrast, we argue that political science, particularly US political science, is still dominated by a positivist epistemology and, particularly, by behaviouralist and rational choice approaches that are underpinned by that positivism. We begin by outlining Goodin and Klingemann's argument and critiquing it. Subsequently, we take issue with them empirically, using evidence drawn both from their own edited collection and an analysis of the contents of the two foremost US and UK journals; in the US the American Political Science Review, the American Political Science Association's main journal, and the American Journal of Political Science, and in the UK the British Journal of Political Science and Political Studies, the Political Studies Association's main journal. The methodology adopted is discussed below. In the last section, we consider the consequence of our findings for the future of political science in Britain.


The ICARUS research group activities at Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) are aimed at the automation and development of on-board avionics and ground systems, supporting both manned and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Accordingly, they have developed a modular and reconfigurable architecture called USAL, which provides flexibility and reduces development costs of UAS missions. At this moment, they are planning to go from their simulated environments (ISIS+) to real UAS scenarios, being this the starting point of this Master Thesis. Within the abovementioned context, the composition of this document is targeted to provide a reliable and safe test bed platform for the ICARUS USAL architecture, in such a way that they could perform extensive testing of all their systems in a regular basis. Because of its strong similarities with Unmanned Aircrafts (UAs), the approach of developing an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) has been proposed, being an intermediate step between the simulated scenario and an eventual UA. To be started, the alternatives for the test bed platform have been analysed, taking into account factors like safety, time, costs, and simplicity. By using low-cost components we have been able to set up a simple UGV platform, thus fulfilling the initial requirements of a UA simplification. Once we had the UGV, we performed its integration into the USAL architecture, managing the autopilot through the ICARUS ground stations. To do so, extensive testing has been carried out with an intermediate solution, ensuring robustness of the final development. As the final step for the test bed platform, the creation of a completely autonomous vehicle was also necessary. Therefore, we designed a real, flexible, and exchangeable "Air Segment" for our UGV, providing reusability and portability to any type of vehicle. Additionally, apart from the development of the UGV, we addressed the implementation of a reliable communications system, which will operate between the ground station and the vehicle. In this sense, we have developed a new protocol for the USAL architecture, endowing it with enhanced Quality of Service (QoS). As well as in all stages of this thesis, real tests have helped us to ensure the correct behaviour of our solution, analysing in this case the different radio devices. And finally, as the primary objective was to build a test bed platform, we performed as much tests as we could of the USAL architecture. By doing so we not only proved our solution fulfilled the USAL testing requirements, but also allowed us to extract different diagnostics and conclusions of the ICARUS USAL architecture.


BOTH studies in the "Controversies* show that models play an important role in attempts to understand the physics of the coronary circulation. A model is a representation of and is supposed to be analogous to a different, more complex system. If the physics of the system is well understood and the boundary conditions are well defined, a model can be used as an analogous computer. Thus can the sailing characteristics of a mammoth tanker be designed by studies on a model no longer than a few meters. Unfortunately, in coronary physiology, there is as yet a dramatic lack in knowledge of anatomy and mechanical behavior of the microcirculation. Hence, models are used to test whether hypothetized mechanisms may indeed be operative at locations where observations are not yet possible. The chance that mechanisms are as hypothetized is greater, as more measured phenomena are being correctly described. Hence, an appraisal of these phenomena is important. In this respect, the two reviews are complementary. To many researchers, but especially to clinicians, this discussion about models may seem very theoretical. However, the discussion has practical implications. This is dear from the different recommendations resulting from the two different papers in these 'Controversies." According to the model based on intramyocardial compliance alone, the ratio between mean pressure and mean flow in the beating heart is an adequate index of vasomotor tone. If a waterfall element is thought to be essential, both the slope of the diastolic pressure-flow line and Pf_0 should be measured. In addition, a number of experimental requirements must be met.


The northwest-trending Silver Creek Fault is a 40-km-long strike-slip fault in the eastern Santa Clara Valley, California, that has exhibited different behaviors within a changing San Andreas Fault system over the past 10-15 Ma. Quaternary alluvium several hundred meters thick that buries the northern half of the Silver Creek Fault, and that has been sampled by drilling and imaged in a detailed seismic reflection profile, provides a record of the Quaternary history of the fault. We assemble evidence from areal geology, stratigraphy, paleomagnetics, ground-water hydrology, potential-field geophysics, and reflection and earthquake seismology to determine the long history of the fault in order to evaluate its current behavior. The fault formed in the Miocene more than 100 km to the southeast, as the southwestern fault in a 5-km-wide right step to the Hayward Fault, within which the 40-km-long Evergreen pull-apart basin formed. Later, this basin was obliquely cut by the newly recognized Mt. Misery Fault to form a more direct connection to the Hayward Fault, although continued growth of the basin was sufficient to accommodate at least some late Pliocene alluvium. Large offset along the San Andreas-Calaveras-Mt Misery-Hayward Faults carried the basin northwestward almost to its present position when, about 2 Ma, the fault system was reorganized. This led to near abandonment of the faults bounding the pull-apart basin in favor of right slip extending the Calaveras Fault farther north before stepping west to the Hayward Fault, as it does today. Despite these changes, the Silver Creek Fault experienced a further 200 m of dip slip in the early Quaternary, from which we infer an associated 1.6 km or so of right slip, based on the ratio of the 40-km length of the strike-slip fault to a 5-km depth of the Evergreen Basin. This dip slip ends at a midQuaternary unconformity, above which the upper 300 m of alluvial cover exhibits a structural sag at the fault that we interpret as a negative flower structure. This structure implies some continuing strike slip on the Silver Creek Fault in the late Quaternary as well, with a transtensional component but no dip slip. Our only basis for estimating the rate of this later Quaternary strike slip on the Silver Creek Fault is to assume continuation of the inferred early Quaternary rate of less than 2 mm/yr. Faulting evident in a detailed seismic reflection profile across the Silver Creek Fault extends up to the limit of data at a depth of 50 m and age of about 140 ka, and the course of Coyote Creek suggests Holocene capture in a structural


As a result of interest in imaging strongly scattering targets, the Air Force Research Laboratory is making available to the community sets of data from various targets. We describe a nonlinear filtering technique, namely, homomorphic filtering, which we have applied to recover an image of the target from the backpropagated field calculated from the scattering data. We show new results for targets that other methods, especially linearized methods, are unable to image. While we obtain good images with real data, convolutional effects arising from limited data can sometimes degrade performance.


Abstract Hydrogen has captured the imagination of the technical community recently, with visions of improved energy security, reduced global warming, improved energy efficiency and reduced air pollution as potential benefits. A significant "Hydrogen Economy" is predicted that will reduce dependence on petroleum imports, and reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions1. Such a hydrogen economy will need significant new sources of hydrogen. Virtually all our current hydrogen is produced from natural gas and is equivalent to 48 GW(t). Replacing this growing demand with a non-fossil, non-greenhouse gas emitting source represents a huge potential market for fusion. Hydrogen could potentially be produced from water using fusion energy by direct interaction of fusion products (charged particles, neutrons and gammas), and by electrolytic or thermochemical means. Significant effort was devoted to study of these possibilities in the 1970-80s. It is instructive to review these earlier studies today as interest in production of hydrogen is revived. Investigations into direct use of fusion products for radiolysis and "hot spot" chemistry found it was difficult to get much of the fusion energy into the reaction channels of interest. Use of fusion energy in heat-driven processes was more promising. Fusion blankets could give much higher temperatures than are possible from fission heat sources. Studies of high temperature electrolysis and thermochemical water splitting using this high temperature heat were promising. The requirement that fusion blankets breed tritium raises challenges, as the tolerance for tritium in the product hydrogen is extraordinarily low. Use of multiple coolant streams, multiple containment barriers and separate breeding and high temperature zones were proposed that appear to successfully address these concerns, but add complication. Fusion does have the potential to support the Hydrogen Economy as well as electricity production as long as care is given to maximizing the benefits and minimizing the liabilities inherent to fusion energy.


In this paper, we investigate a distributed optimal control problem for a convective viscous Cahn-Hilliard system with dynamic boundary conditions. Such systems govern phase separation processes between two phases taking place in an incompressible fluid in a container and, at the same time, on the container boundary. The cost functional is of standard tracking type, while the control is exerted by the velocity of the fluid in the bulk. In this way, the coupling between the state (given by the associated order parameter and chemical potential) and control variables in the governing system of nonlinear partial differential equations is bilinear, which presents an additional difficulty for the analysis. The nonlinearities in the bulk and surface free energies are of logarithmic type, which entails that the thermodynamic forces driving the phase separation process may become singular. We show existence for the optimal control problem under investigation, prove the Fr\'echet differentiability of the associated control-to-state mapping in suitable Banach spaces and derive the first-order necessary optimality conditions in terms of a variational inequality and the associated adjoint system. Due to the strong nonlinear couplings between state variables and control, the corresponding proofs require a considerable analytical effort.


The purpose of the thesis is to determine an "activation gradient" able to develop the generative
energy of a process of participated planning in conditions of indeterminateness.
The research is based on a critical re-reading of four personal experiences and an intuition: the
margin of energy, i.e. the funding element of participated processes, may express itself at its best
along specific trajectories.
The ex post analysis of those experiences evidences that the "institutionalisation" of the process
drained off their generative energy.
Involvement and sharing produced compromises that alienated the project from its authors,
whilst its institutionalisation made participation red tape. Which the reasons of this
ineffectiveness? This is a Khunian "anomaly", unexplainable through existing theories: it requires
a new paradigm.
This anomaly brings in indeterminateness as the "planning engine" that stimulates innovation
and involvement, favouring the activation of self-regenerating free spaces and processes. The
"activation gradient" was then introduced to measure the paths of creative energy within an
interactive process.
The indeterminateness of the project, preventing an excess of compromises, avoids civic
alienation whilst keeping alive participation through a longer dialectic process.
Keeping margins means the continuity of involvement even when facing red tape paths, through
the use of self-organisational practises giving life to structural subjects as "embryos of civitas ".


Abstract A new mayfly species, Heptagenia whitingi Webb & McCafferty n.sp. is described from larvae, a male subimago, a female adult, and eggs collected from large rivers in the west-central portion of North America. Larvae are differentiated from other North American Heptagenia Walsh by a pair of large, rectangular pale markings on abdominal tergum 4, and the combination of having the posterior margin of the abdominal terga with bluntly pointed spines less than half the length of the fine setae, small blunt spines on the posterior margin of the caudal filaments, and numerous rows of setae laterally on the ventral surface of the labrum. A 630 bp partial sequence of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) from three specimens of H. whitingi n.sp. was compared with those of 12 specimens representing eight other North American species of Heptagenia. Intraspecific sequence divergences based on Kimura-2-parameter (K2P) distance ranged from 0–1.1%. Interspecific sequence divergence based on K2P distance ranged from 8.9–20.0%. Heptagenia whitingi n.sp. differed from its sister taxon H. flavescens (Walsh) by 11.7%. Heptagenia diabasia Burks and H. elegantula (Eaton) differed from each other by only 1.1%; these two alleged species show a clinal pattern in larval abdominal coloration and there are no structural differences between the semaphorants. On this basis, H. diabasia is placed as a junior subjective synonym of H. elegantula, n.syn.


The combination of the FY 2010 budget request for the Department of Energy (DOE) and the portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funds likely to be available in 2010 would (assuming that they would be split evenly between FY 2010 and FY 2011) result in a doubling in funding available for energy research, development, and deployment (ERD and D) from $3.6 billion in FY 2009 to $7.2 billion in FY 2010. Without the stimulus funds, DOE ERD and D investments in FY 2010 would decrease very slightly when compared to FY 2009. Excluding the $7.5 billion for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loans in FY 2009, the FY 2010 budget request for deployment represents a 33 percent decrease from the FY 2009 levels from $520 million to $350 million. This decrease is largely due to the large amounts of funds appropriated in ARRA for DOE deployment programs, or $23.6 billion, which are three times greater than those appropriated in the FY 2009 budget. These very substantial funding amounts, coupled with the broad range of institutional innovations the administration is putting in place and movement toward putting a price on carbon emissions, will help accelerate innovation for a broad range of energy technologies. DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and the Energy Innovation Hubs are important initiatives that could contribute to two weak points of the government's energy innovation effort, namely funding high-risk projects in transformational technologies and in companies that have not traditionally worked with the government and strengthening the integration of basic and applied research in priority areas. Increasing the funding for different types of energy storage research, providing some support for exploring opportunities in coal-to-liquids with carbon capture and storage (CCS) and coal-and-biomass-to-liquids with CCS, and reducing funding for fission RD and D are other actions that Congress could take in the short-term. Energy storage may play a crucial role in the future of the power and transportation systems, which together consume two thirds of primary energy in the United States. A recent National Academy of Science report recommended carrying out detailed scenario assessments of the penetration of unconventional fuels from coal and coal and biomass with CCS. And the research plan provided for nuclear fission does not justify spending as many funds as were requested. The proposed funding for FY 2010 and the resources from ARRA, however, do not guarantee that the United States will finally enjoy the predictable and consistent publicly-funded energy technology innovation effort that it needs. The Obama administration must put in place a comprehensive energy technology innovation strategy that will ensure that an expanded ERD3 effort is both sustainable and efficient. This commission would be charged with, inter alia, developing a strategy that optimizes the integration of the various stages of innovation (research, development, demonstration, early deployment), as well as integrates efforts across technology areas. The database upon which this analysis is based may be downloaded in Excel format at: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/19119/ .


Taking Sides volumes present current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with "Learning Outcomes, " an "Issue Summary, " an "Introduction, " and an "Exploring the Issue" section featuring "Critical Thinking and Reflection, Is There Common Ground?, " and "Additional Resources." Taking Sides readers also offer a "Topic Guide" and an annotated listing of "Internet References" for further consideration of the issues. An online Instructor s Resource Guide with testing material is available for each volume. "Using Taking Sides in the Classroom" is also an excellent instructor resource. Visit www.mhhe.com/takingsides for more details."


In accounting and finance, equity is the residual claim or interest of the most junior class of investors in assets, after all liabilities are paid. If valuations placed on assets do not exceed liabilities, negative equity exists. In an accounting context, Shareholders' equity (or stockholders' equity, shareholders' funds, shareholders' capital or similar terms) represents the remaining interest in assets of a company, spread among individual shareholders of common or preferred stock.


This study presents an assessment of the current state of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) adoption in fluid flow handling equipment industry and demonstrates its utility in the New Product Development (NPD) process through the development of a novel sustainable CFD-assisted NPD methodology. In the flow handling equipment industry, the need for a CFD-optimised methodology in the management of NPD activities is prioritized by the modern global inclination towards increased sustainability practices coupled with the emerging digital industrial revolution. Most fossil-fuelled and green energy sources rely on the control of fluid flow for various purposes such as in valve and piping networks, heat exchangers and wind turbines among others. While fluid flow in either of these systems can be analysed using conventional numerical calculations and experimental methods, CFD as a nascent technology in the digital era, provides a virtual digital environment for simulating, analysing and predicting flow behaviour thereby inspiring sustainable rapid design and development of new flow handling solutions.

Despite these recent advancements, some firms in the flow handling equipment industry experience varied challenges in adopting CFD technology and optimizing its integration to the overall NPD process. In the body of literature, mentions of CFD-optimized NPD methodologies are grossly limited. Where feats achieved using CFD are presented, they are mostly recorded as isolated cases during design but seldom as part of a systemic methodology with capacity to influence the entire NPD process itself. The question as to whether the flow handling equipment industry is ready for such a systemic integration of CFD technology is one that this research develops to assess the current practice with a view to developing a systemic methodology in its place.

Following a pragmatic inquiry, a mixed methods approach was adopted for the research beginning with a qualitative investigation of six flow handling equipment industry firms in West Yorkshire. Six key respondents from Small, Medium and Large Enterprises in the Valve and Fan industry were each interviewed following preliminary questionnaire sessions. The key findings from the study revealed that 'cultural perception', and 'accessibility' were key factors that influenced the adoption of CFD technology alongside the original constructs of 'perceived ease of use' and 'perceived usefulness' highlighted in the standard Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). As a response to the perceived difficulty in adoption of CFD technology, most of the firms outsourced CFD related work or decided not to use the technology at all. Methodically, most of the firms did not appear to be very structured in their approach to NPD but mostly applied modified adaptations of traditional staged NPD processes that were not originally designed specifically for flow handling equipment product development processes.

Consequently, a novel CFD-assisted NPD methodology was developed utilizing Systems Engineering principles to provide the industry with a structure for accelerating CFD integration for NPD process in order to stimulate organisational growth and improve sustainable product quality practice within dynamic product lifecycles. Following the development of the new methodology, a pilot test was initiated as the second part of the mixed methods approach, to test the efficacy of the newly developed methodology. A novel hybrid valve design was realised from the pilot test, featuring both linear and equal percentage valve flow characteristics. Other notable novelties from this study include; a new CFD-optimised Technology Acceptance Model to aid in future assessments of CFD-specific technology adoption in flow handling equipment industry, a novel systems engineering process engine for procedural and lifecycle navigation during new product development, and a novel prescriptive product development plan for the novel hybrid valve design.

In recommending future work, the author believes more attempts to integrate CFD technology into the NPD process would improve the prospects for faster, cost effective and high quality new product development in the flow handling equipment industry. The new CFD-optimised technology acceptance model can also provide a guide for assessing future trends in CFD technology adoption specifically when used in line with periodic advancements in computing technology or as global sustainability requirements influence organisational practice within the flow handling equipment industry. Technologically, the author recommends development of user-friendly CFD software as well as cost effective commercial CFD codes to accelerate widespread CFD adoption.


Keigo is variety honorific in J apanese language because there are aspects in which show patterns of respect shown to the listener . Keigo particular use can be seen on the verb form, consisting sonkeigo and kenjougo . The use of particular kinds of Keigo verbs consist of a principled kenjougo sonkeigo and civility . Keigo i s important for Japanese learners, especially when they want to communicate attention to issues related between speaker and listener whom we said , what conditions , how the relationship with opponent , and more importantly, how to face protection of the partners . So that communication is established running properly and smoothly between speaker and listener.


We demonstrate an extended reach 60 km coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM)-time division multiple access (TDMA) passive optical network (PON) with 40 Gb/s capacity for both down and upstream directions. The system leverages existing 10 Gb/s TDMA PON technologies and incorporates various subsystems such as volume manufacturable optical transmitters, a prototype 10 Gb/s burst-mode receiver, hybrid semiconductor optical amplifier-Raman amplifiers, and a cyclic CWDM multiplexer. We confirm that this 32-user system has sufficient power margin to accommodate 128 users.


The quantitative anatomical differences between the stem and branch wood of Ficus carica L. subsp. carica (Moraceae) were investigated. In spite of the similarity in the qualitative traits, according to statistical analysis, tangential vessel diameter, radial vessel diameter, vessel frequency, vessel wall thickness, multiseriate ray width, fibre length, fibre diameter, and fibre wall thickness showed statistically significant differences in the stem and branch wood of taxon examined. Fibre length and vessel element length in branch wood is about 16% and 3% shorter respectively. In addition, vessel frequency in the branch wood is about 52% higher. Whilst the number of rays per mm is not different in branch wood and stem wood, ray width is about 18% narrower in branch wood.