INTRODUCTION The first scientific description of the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), given by P. A. Ouwens, appeared only as late as 1912. During some time following this event, but little information on the species became available and no specimens were captured. Only in 1926, an American expedition to the island of Komodo, led by W. D. Burden, for the first time succeeded in capturing alive two Komodo Dragons and in transporting these to the U.S.A. Both animals were received at the New York zoological garden on 11 September 1926. One of the specimens, a male, died on 24 November 1926; the other, of unknown sex, died on 19 October 1926 (Jones, 1965: 92). On 14 October 1926, a male Komodo Dragon was received at the Amsterdam zoological garden. It was donated by W. Groeneveldt, at the time assistant-resident of Bima, Sumbawa. After its capture on western Flores, it was transported to Amsterdam on the SS. "Karimata", "lodged in a specially built steam-heated cabin" (Anonymous, 1926: 979). The animal died on 4 December 1926 (Jones, 1965: 92, and Fr. de Graaf, in litt., 28 November 1973); the skin was stuffed and is preserved in the Zoologisch Museum at Amsterdam (D. Hillenius, in litt., 31 October 1973). In June 1927 five Komodo Dragons were received in European zoological gardens, viz., one in the Amsterdam Zoo, one in the Rotterdam Zoo, one in the Berlin Aquarium, and two in the London Zoo. These, with two specimens sent to the Surabaja zoological garden and five which died before reaching their destination, were captured by my late grandfather, H. R. Rookmaaker, in 1927. The history of these specimens is the main subject of


Background: Social marketing emphasizes the use of commercial marketing concepts and their application for social purposes and also the change of voluntary behavior in a nonprofit manner. This study mainly aimed to examine the effectiveness of social marketing in changing the physical activity of the elderly. Besides, this study sought to determine the extent to which the Andreason social marketing criteria have been targeted in social marketing interventions. Methods: This was a narrative review study that investigated social marketing interventions to promote elderly physical activity, during 2000-2019. The scientific databases (Elmnet, SID, Irandoc, Civilica, Medline, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Web of Science, ProQuest, and Emerald) were searched between February and March 2019. The searched keywords included physical activity, social marketing, the elderly, social marketing mix, improving physical activity level, social marketing intervention, social marketing campaigns, and the Andreasen criteria. Finally, nine articles entered the study. Then, the mixed marketing components were extracted from the interventions, and six benchmarks of the Andrasen social marketing interventions were analyzed. Results: Most articles employed four components of the marketing mix. No intervention had applied the six measures of the Andrasen social marketing criteria. Also, five studies reported positive behavioral changes. However, other studies have reported no change in negative behavior. According to the evidence gathered in our study, social marketing offers an effective behavioral change approach to increase physical activity in the elderly. Conclusion: The present findings provide the basis for comprehensive and effective social marketing interventions.


Inflammation is critical to inward vascular remodeling after hemodynamic changes. Sustained changes in blood flow elicit adaptive changes in blood vessel size, wall thickness, or both (vascular remodeling) through a signaling pathway that involves the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), including superoxide. ROS have also been implicated in vascular inflammation and the recruitment and activation of leukocytes at the arterial wall (processes central to development of atherosclerotic changes), leading Tang et al. to investigate the role of inflammation in blood flow–dependent vascular remodeling. Unlike wild-type mice, mice lacking myeloid differentiation protein-88 (MyD88, an adaptor protein involved in signaling pathways leading to production of inflammatory cytokines) failed to respond to a sustained decrease in blood flow through the common carotid artery with a decrease in vessel diameter (inward remodeling). Indeed, they showed maladaptive arterial wall thickening. Decreased blood flow led to a MyD88-dependent increase in superoxide production, as well as the production of various cytokines and chemokines and the transient recruitment of leukocytes (predominantly macrophages). Cytokine production was MyD88-dependent; moreover, a combination of pharmacological and genetic approaches indicated that both production of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β, and inward remodeling depended on superoxide. Flow-mediated inward remodeling was also blocked by macrophage depletion; however, whereas macrophage activation required MyD88, their initial recruitment did not. Bone marrow reconstitution experiments indicated that cytokine production depended on MyD88 in intrinsic vascular cells, whereas inward remodeling required its presence in bone marrow–derived cells as well. The authors thus conclude that inflammation is critical to flow-mediated inward vascular remodeling, with MyD88-mediated signaling playing distinct roles in both intrinsic vascular cells and infiltrating leukocytes. P. C. Y. Tang, L. Qin, J. Zielonka, J. Zhou, C. Matte-Martone, S. Bergaya, N. van Rooijen, W. D. Shlomchik, W. Min, W. C. Sessa, J. S. Pober, G. Tellides, MyD88-dependent, superoxide-initiated inflammation is necessary for flow-mediated inward remodeling of conduit arteries. J. Exp. Med. 205, 3159–3171 (2008). [Abstract] [Full Text]


By studying mice with skin cancer, researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah discovered a way to inhibit a mutant gene found in up to 30 percent of human tumors. Called Ras, normal copies of this gene are important in cell signaling, or communication among cells. When mutated, however, Ras is an "oncogene" or cancer-causing gene that has been shown to promote the growth of cancers in the pancreas, colon, and lung, as well as thyroid cancer and leukemia. Attempts to inhibit activated Ras have had limited success until now, but the Huntsman Cancer Institute researchers explain that they have discovered an enzyme that, when inhibited, appears to reduce the incidence of Ras-induced tumors in mice. They reported their findings in the May 9 - 13, 2005, issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition. Matthew K. Topham, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine and lead investigator on the study, explains that the research team had originally been testing a group of enzymes that regulate the function of the Ras gene. These enzymes, called diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs), are implicated in tumor growth. "When we began our investigation using a type of DGK, called DGK iota, we thought that its absence would cause more tumors to develop, as has happened with other DGKs we have tested. This time, though, when we tested mice with an activated Ras gene, but an absent DGK iota gene, the number of tumors was significantly reduced," Topham says. "This result is interesting because it happened when the Ras gene was activated. The implication is that a drug therapy could be developed to reduce tumors caused by Ras without significant side effects." The research team also included Huntsman Cancer Institute scientists Debra Regier, PhD; Jared Higbee; Katrina Lund; Fumio Sakane, PhD; and Stephen M. Prescott, MD, professor of internal medicine at the U and executive director of Huntsman Cancer Institute. The researchers used mice that were bred to have a highly "expressed" - meaning highly active - mutant of the Ras oncogene. Such mice were first developed years ago. Prior studies had demonstrated that these mice were very prone to tumors. For the new study, the Huntsman Cancer Institute team deleted the DGK iota gene in these mice and found that they developed few tumors, while mice with an intact DGK iota gene and an activated Ras exhibited significantly more tumors. Topham says his team will now examine more closely the mechanism behind how DGK iota works to inhibit tumor formation. Funding for the study was provided by the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, the R. Harold Burton Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Cancer Institute. Huntsman Cancer Institute is located in Salt Lake City. Its mission is to understand cancer from its beginnings, to use that knowledge in the creation and improvement of cancer treatments, to relieve the suffering of cancer patients, and to provide education about cancer risk, prevention, and care. For more informatin contact: Linda Aagard, (801) 587-7639


Abstract. When we talk about landscape and in particular landscape architecture, we refer to a living structure in continuous evolution and in clear contrast to the aesthetic and geometric immobility of the single architectural building. By landscape we mean a complex set of transformations of a historical and biological nature; the times of these components are very different, but they work in a single cycle and in symbiosis between them. This set is inseparable from what happens in the present, we must always think about who lives the reality and know how to interpret the different subjective perceptions of a space. The theme of landscape representation is a subject of difficult development, not only for the multiplicity of elements involved in a single system, but for the dynamism and continuous transformation of the element that one wants to study. The intrinsic multidisciplinarity in this field imposes different visions on the methodology to be used to understand and in the end represent. We must ask ourselves which is the problem in understanding how nowadays it is possible to develop a system capable of grouping the different needs that arise from the study of the landscape and which tools must be used in surveying and representation. To date, in the Italian context, the landscape project and its graphic representation is steady to the production of static images, realized with two-dimensional or three-dimensional digital drawing software, representing only the frames of reality, within the territory survey, or of future developments regarding projects. This methodology of representation imposes strong limits in the understanding of which systems and elements come into play when one enters into relationship with a living architecture.


Biological visual systems are highly adept at combining cues to improve the sensitivity and selectivity of target detection. For example, depth, motion, intensity, color, and texture cues can together increase the reliability of boundary detection in natural scenes where camouflage abounds. But given a set of single-cue boundary detectors, how should their outputs be combined to arrive at overall boundary probability? Previous work has often assumed that cues are gaussian and class-conditionally (CC) independent; this leads to a linear cue combination rule with weights depending on individual cue reliabilities (Jacobs 1995, Yuille and Bulthoff 1996). However, the physical processes underlying edge formation in natural images may lead to exponential rather than gaussian distributions (Balboa and Grzywacz, 2003), and higher-order dependencies between edge detectors abound (Schwartz & Simoncelli, 2001). We studied cue combination using co-localized oriented edge detectors operating on red-green and blue-yellow opponent channels. Using the Martin-Fowlkes-Malik (2004) human-segmented database as ground truth, we found that the CC joint distributions of co-localized color edge detectors showed strong statistical dependencies, as expected. The dependencies were well explained by a generative model in which two independent, exponentially distributed raw edge values were multiplied by a third exponentially distributed common factor due to local lighting conditions. The modulated edge values were then passed through a saturating nonlinearity reflecting the range compression seen at all levels of the visual system. We derived a softmax-like divisive normalization scheme from the generative model, leading to a cue-combination rule that ranged from linear to MAX-like depending on joint cue values. We discuss the extensibility of the "mixture of specialists" framework to high-dimensional cue-combination problems, and the possible neural substrate for the scheme's underlying computations. This work was supported by ONR, NSF, ARO, and NIH.


Searching over large code corpora can be a powerful productivity tool for both beginner and experienced developers because it helps them quickly find examples of code related to their intent. Code search becomes even more attractive if developers could express their intent in natural language, similar to the interaction that Stack Overflow supports. In this paper, we investigate the use of natural language processing and information retrieval techniques to carry out natural language search directly over source code, i.e. without having a curated Q&A forum such as Stack Overflow at hand. Our experiments using a benchmark suite derived from Stack Overflow and GitHub repositories show promising results. We find that while a basic word–embedding based search procedure works acceptably, better results can be obtained by adding a layer of supervision, as well as by a customized ranking strategy.


Cellular wireless networks are expected to provide high-quality audio and video services while enabling fast and low-cost Internet access to mobile users. The need for green cost-efficient networks is twofold: reduce the service price and preserve the environment. In this work, we discuss the various strategies that help reduce infrastructure costs, power costs, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with no impairments on the quality of network services. These strategies range over a wide area from enhancing the electronics, to developing new energy-aware radio access protocols, to deploying enhanced base stations with tunable capacity. To reduce both capital and operational expenditures, and the GHG footprint, manufacturers propose new compact installation with lightweight antenna systems, very efficient power amplifiers, and efficient hardware and software. The resulting economy can be up to 50 percent or more by reducing the electricity bill, sparing the use of air conditioning, and deploying compact sites that would seldom require maintenance. Recent scientific publications confirm that a very high gain could be achieved by optimizing the use of base stations proactively, and huge additional improvements could be obtained by optimizing power saving mechanisms by leveraging traffic statistics.


We present an analysis of X-ray data, taken with ROSAT, for a well defined sample of low-power radio galaxies from the Bologna B2 catalogue. Where possible, the HRI has been used in order to take advantage of the higher spatial resolution provided by this instrument. A variety of models are fitted to radial profiles in order to separate the resolved and unresolved X-ray emission from the galaxies. We demonstrate a strong, approximately linear, correlation between the luminosities of the unresolved X-ray components and the 5-GHz luminosities of the radio cores in this sample. This suggests a physical relationship between the soft X-ray emission of radio galaxies and the jetgenerated radio core emission. We infer a nuclear jet-related origin for at least some of the X-ray emission.


Optical testing in adverse environments, ophthalmology and applications where characterization by curvature is leveraged all have a common goal: accurately estimate wavefront shape. This dissertation investigates wavefront sensing techniques as applied to optical testing based on gradient and curvature measurements. Wavefront sensing involves the ability to accurately estimate shape over any aperture geometry, which requires establishing a sampling grid and estimation scheme, quantifying estimation errors caused by measurement noise propagation, and designing an instrument with sufficient accuracy and sensitivity for the application. Starting with gradient-based wavefront sensing, a zonal least-squares wavefront estimation algorithm for any irregular pupil shape and size is presented, for which the normal matrix equation sets share a pre-defined matrix. A Gerchberg–Saxton iterative method is employed to reduce the deviation errors in the estimated wavefront caused by the pre-defined matrix across discontinuous boundary. The results show that the RMS deviation error of the estimated wavefront from the original wavefront can be less than λ/130~ λ/150 (for λ equals 632.8nm) after about twelve iterations and less than λ/100 after as few as four iterations. The presented approach to handling irregular pupil shapes applies equally well to wavefront estimation from curvature data. A defining characteristic for a wavefront estimation algorithm is its error propagation behavior. The error propagation coefficient can be formulated as a function of the eigenvalues of the wavefront estimation-related matrices, and such functions are established for each of the basic estimation geometries (i.e. Fried, Hudgin and Southwell) with a serial numbering scheme, ii where a square sampling grid array is sequentially indexed row by row. The results show that with the wavefront piston-value fixed, the odd-number grid sizes yield lower error propagation than the even-number grid sizes for all geometries. The Fried geometry either allows sub-sized wavefront estimations within the testing domain or yields a two-rank deficient estimation matrix over the full aperture; but the latter usually suffers from high error propagation and the waffle mode problem. Hudgin geometry offers an error propagator between those of the Southwell and the Fried geometries. For both wavefront gradient-based and wavefront difference-based estimations, the Southwell geometry is shown to offer the lowest error propagation with the minimum-norm least-squares solution. Noll's theoretical result, which was extensively used as a reference in the previous literature for error propagation estimate, corresponds to the Southwell geometry with an odd-number grid size. For curvature-based wavefront sensing, a concept for a differential Shack-Hartmann (DSH) curvature sensor is proposed. This curvature sensor is derived from the basic Shack-Hartmann sensor with the collimated beam split into three output channels, along each of which a lenslet array is located. Three Hartmann grid arrays are generated by three lenslet arrays. Two of the lenslets shear in two perpendicular directions relative to the third one. By quantitatively comparing the Shack-Hartmann grid coordinates of the three channels, the differentials of the wavefront slope at each Shack-Hartmann grid point can be obtained, so the Laplacian curvatures and twist terms will be available. The acquisition of the twist terms using a Hartmann-based sensor allows us to uniquely determine the principal curvatures and directions more accurately than prior methods. Measurement of local curvatures as opposed to slopes is unique because curvature is intrinsic to the wavefront under test, and it is an absolute as opposed to a relative measurement. A zonal least-squares-based wavefront estimation algorithm was developed to iii estimate the wavefront shape from the Laplacian curvature data, and validated. An implementation of the DSH curvature sensor is proposed and an experimental system for this implementation was initiated. The DSH curvature sensor shares the important features of both the Shack-Hartmann slope sensor and Roddier's curvature sensor. It is a two-dimensional parallel curvature sensor. Because it is a curvature sensor, it provides absolute measurements which are thus insensitive to vibrations, tip/tilts, and whole body movements. Because it is a two-dimensional sensor, it does not suffer from other sources of errors, such as scanning noise. Combined with sufficient sampling and a zonal wavefront estimation algorithm, both low and mid frequencies of the wavefront may be recovered. Notice that the DSH curvature sensor operates at the pupil of the system under test, therefore the difficulty associated with operation close to the caustic zone is avoided. Finally, the DSH-curvature-sensor-based wavefront estimation does not suffer from the 2π-ambiguity problem, so potentially both small and large aberrations may be measured.


This article is about conflicts of laws questions relating to domestic partnerships. The article points out that since there will be states that recognize domestic partnerships because the American Law Institute has expressed approval of domestic partnerships, there will be conflict of laws problems if not all states recognize it. The purpose of this article is to describe some of the conflicts issues that arise when parties to domestic partnerships have, or develop, contacts with more than one state. The article does so by explaining the two broad areas in which these conflicts will arise and by showing that there is even more uncertainty when the issue involves both opposite sex and same sex domestic partnerships.


Russia's expansion into a large multinational empire was accompanied by a drive towards centralism and administrative uniformity. Yet, particularly in the Western borderlands, Russia did accommodate itself to the reality of privileged self-governing areas. The Ukrainian Hetmanate, which came under the tsar's suzerainty in 1654, preserved for over a century its own military, administrative, fiscal, and judicial system. A basic but not well-researched theme of Russian history has been the tension between the centripetal forces favoring uniformity in administration, social structure, and even culture and centrifugal forces demanding the adherence to the rights of such special privileged territories as the Ukrainian Hetmanate, the Baltic areas, the Congress Kingdom, and the Grand Duchy of Finland. Zenon E. Kohut examines the struggle between Russian centralism and Ukrainian autonomy. He concentrates on the period from the reign of Catherine II, during which Ukrainian institutions were abolished, to the 1830s, when Ukrainian society had been integrated into the imperial system. The study focuses on three principal problems. First, it shows how cameralist thought, Enlightenment ideas, and theories of a well-ordered police state reinforced Russia's drive towards centralism and uniformity and how these theoretical considerations were applied in the formulation of policy. Second, the work determines the extent to which Ukrainian society both resisted and accommodated itself to imperial integration. Social integration proved to be particularly difficult because of the dissimilarities in social structure between Russia and the Ukraine and because of the autonomist outlook of the Ukrainian gentry. Third, the study concludes that the very success of the integration process resulted in the Russification of the Ukrainian towns and in reducing Ukrainians to a peasant nation. Imperial absorption of the Hetmanate also strengthened the concept of Russia as a unitary state even as the empire was again challenged by the autonomous institutions of its more recent Western acquisitions. Meticulously researched, lucidly written, and well argued, Kohut's book not only is a major contribution to Ukrainian studies, but also enlarges on such wide-ranging topics as the formation of the Russian Empire, the origins of Russia's nationalities problems, and the general conflict between royal absolutism and regional privilege.


This paper is about the regulation of private sector participation (PSP) in public water utilities. Using case studies from Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom, it identifies and discusses the regulatory mechanisms that have been introduced and the issues surrounding information access, price and service quality regulation. The paper also analyses what measures have been implemented in these three cases in order to achieve regulatory accountability, independence and an adequate level of financial and human resources.

The method adopted was case survey including the analysis of official regulatory documents and other relevant material and validation by an expert panel. It investigates the conditions that are necessary for regulatory mechanisms to be implemented and operated effectively in each context, and draws out some general conclusions for areas of improvement.


Goose management in Europe is faced by multiple challenges, as some species are declining and in need of conservation actions, while other populations have become very abundant, resulting in calls for increased harvest. Sweden has long-term series of harvest data and counts of breeding and autumn-staging geese. We used national data (indices) for greylag goose, bean goose and Canada goose to study shifts in temporal trends and correlative patterns, and to infer possible causal links between harvest and population trends. Our study provides an opportunity to guide management given the data collected within the present monitoring, as well as to suggest improvements for future data collection. The populations of greylag and Canada geese increased in Sweden 1979–2018, but this long-term trend included a recent decrease in the latter species. Bean goose breeding index decreased, whilst staging numbers and harvest varied with no clear long-term trend. For Canada goose, our analysis suggests that harvest may affect population growth negatively. For bean goose and greylag goose we could not detect any effect of harvest on autumn counts the following year. We find that the present data and analysis of coherence may suffice as basis for decisions for the current management situation in Sweden with its rather unspecific goals for greylag (very abundant) and Canada goose (invasive species) populations. However, for management of bean geese, with international concerns of over harvest, data lack crucial information. For future management challenges, with more explicit goals, for all goose species we advocate information that is more precise. Data such as hunting effort, age-structure of goose populations and mark–recapture data to estimate survival and population size, is needed to feed predictive population models guiding future Swedish and European goose management.


My thesis analyses Marx's writings from the time he became a convert to Hegelianism (1837) to his expulsion from Paris in 1845. I have focused on three major issues in his political and social theory:

1. His definition of the contemporary situation.
2. His conception of the end of history (towards which the contemporary world was thought to be moving).
3. His conception of the process by which such an end would emerge (the dialectical process).

It is argued in the thesis that an 'Hegelian' approach to history, together with a 'Young Hegelian problematic' are the foundations of his early works. My thesis is that there are definite 'stages' in the development of his political and social theory. In terms of the three issues outlined above, these are:

1. From defining the contemporary situation chiefly, but not wholly, in philosophical and political terms (1837 to 1842), he moved on to stress that the study of history must begin with a study of social relations. Following Hegel, Marx defined contemporary society as 'civil society' (1843). From this he developed a class definition of the contemporary world, focusing on the social relationships that exist within the sphere of labour.

2. From arguing that history will end with a radically functioning liberal and social democracy (1842) Marx moved on to take up the cause of communism in 1843 - defined as a community of equals co-operating to plan their social and economic life in a stateless and private property-less society. On reducing his study of the human condition to the study of the labour process, he defined the truly human society as a community of producers, each producing under conditions of freedom (1844).

3. The movement towards the rational state is first conceived of as involving an alliance between the liberal wing of the bourgeoisie and the Young Hegelian philosophers. Marx argued it would be a step-by-step process of reform. In 1843 he took up the cause of revolution, firstly, in terms of an alliance between philosophy and the 'people' and, secondly, in terms of an alliance between philosophy and the proletariat. In 1844 he developed more fully his conception of the revolutionary process, outlining a much more historical account of the formation of proletarian consciousness and the process of proletarian se1femancipation.

My general thesis is that Marx's political and social theory must be viewed in terms of what has been called his 'primitive ethic', this being built from his critique of religion and developed from his study of contemporary history and the ideas of those who reflect upon its meaning those who reflected upon its meaning.


Problem The Seventh-day Adventist Church in the United States maintains a racially segregated organization in a society that has intentionally dismantled segregation in most of its organizations. The church needs to evaluate its current conference organization in light of this reality. The purpose of this study was to describe the perceptions of Seventh-day Adventist clergy and members in two conferences in the Southern Union concerning race-based organizational segregation in the church. Method This study used a mixed method and was descriptive in design. Four focus groups were conducted to explore the dimensions of the research problem. This step was followed by the development of a quantitative survey, which was administered to clergy and members of a White ("state") conference and the other a Black ("regional") Conference of the Southern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Conclusions The study found that members of various ethnic backgrounds and ages in the church are open to the idea of changing the race-based organizational structure in the Adventist Church. Whether they are employed by the church or not, respondents are not comfortable with the current system. They strongly see God calling the church to integration, and they believe that the success of the church's outreach to the culture demands such a change. They are concerned about how leadership positions would be equitably distributed in an integrated church, but those surveyed see the benefits outweighing these concerns. Respondents indicated minimal support for the idea that separate conferences are necessary for the effective prosecution of the church's mission. They also seemed to feel that segregation does affect the church's witness but are unsure of the level of strength of that influence. The respondents indicated that leadership issues rather than worship style may be the primary cause of Caucasians leaving churches where they have become the minority. Respondents perceived a real economic benefit in merging state and regional conferences, though they were uncertain about the impact a merger of conferences would have on job opportunities for clergy. There was no indication that respondents felt a need to hold strongly to the current system. Demographics had less of an impact on responses than was expected. In particular, age was expected to have far more influence than it did. It was expected that the responses of younger members would vary significantly from those of older members, but generally this was not the case. On the other hand, non-employees consistently responded more favorably toward integration than did conference employees. Ethnic groups, particularly African-Americans and Caucasians, were much more in harmony than was expected. Though there were small degrees of difference, there was no sharp disagreement as might be expected for such a sensitive subject.


The spectacular preservation of middle Eocene (ca. 45 Ma) wood allows for intra season sampling of stable carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen in order to reconstruct the paleoseasonal environment of this Arctic forest (paleolatitude 78.6° ± 1.6° N; present latitude 80° N). Carbon isotopes in bulk organics and cellulose reveal striking annual patterns interpreted as the seasonal switchover from stored to actively acquired carbon associated with deciduous growth in these unusual conifers. Oxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes of cellulose and cellulose nitrate allow for the calculation of changes in relative humidity and in the isotopic value of plant-available water. Clear annual patterns of increasing relative humidity resulting from tissue growth and concomitant transpiration are apparent, as is the systematic increase in the reconstructed oxygen isotope value of environmental water, refl ecting progressively increasing temperatures during the growing season.


In the post-Gilligan debate about the differences, if any, between the ways in which people of different genders see the moral world in which they live, I detect two assumptions. These can be found in Gilligan's early work, and have infected the thought of others. The first, perhaps surprisingly, is Kohlberg's Kantian account of one moral perspective, the one more easily or more naturally operated by men and which has come to be called the justice perspective. (What I mean by calling this Kantian will emerge shortly.) This is the perspective whose claims Gilligan initially found suspect, not because she thought it a distorted account of the way in which male subjects operated, but because she disputed its claims to be the only account or the best or dominant one. Throughout the ensuing debate Kohlberg's account has been left in place, and challenged not for correctness but only for uniqueness.


Dialogue has become a powerful term and form of action in many academic, linguistic, and cultural communities. Over the past few years, several conferences have been convened to examine dialogue, intercultural dialogue, dialogic communication, or dialogic approaches to inquiry. Examples of these groupings are many including the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and the Dialogue Society, as are the conferences convened in the past decade by the European Union, the International Communication Association, and so on. All invite us to reflect upon and develop our notions of 'Dialogue' or 'Intercultural Dialogue.' As a key term 'dialogue' has assumed a prevalence, prominence, and potency in its meanings, and in its frequent declaration as a preferred form for human action. Who, indeed, would be against 'dialogue'?


There is a consensus in the psychotherapy research field to consider the therapeutic alliance, broadly defined as the mutual collaboration between the therapist and the patient,as a robust and consistent predictor of therapy outcome.There is little agreement, however, on the best way to operationalise and measure it. Several instruments are available, each of them displaying some unique features so that investigators have problems to choose among them on the basis of considerations other than ease of administration, continuity with previous research or availability. One of the early self-report measures and widely used instruments was the Helping Alliance questionnaire (HAq-I) (Alexander and Luborsky, 1986). In recent years, we have become aware that it was limited by the presence of items that were explicitly assessing early symptomatic improvement and by the fact that all the items were worded positively.A revised version (HAq-II) was developed (Luborsky et al., 1996), guided by two main goals: (1) to reduce the inclination of the scale toward measuring early symptomatic improvement and thus confusing these two dimensions, and (2) to better incorporate the various aspects of the alliance related to the collaborative effort of patient and therapist. The new instrument includes 5 from the 11 items of the HAq-I and 14 new items – 5 of them worded negatively. The aim of the study is twofold: to validate the French version of the new HAq-II and to investigate empirically to what extent the HAq-II has improved over the HAq-I. The sample included 60 self-referred outpatients assigned to a Brief Psychodynamic Investigation (BPI), a manual-based investigation procedure in four sessions guided by psychodynamic principles. We looked at the correlation between the two HAq (I and II) and the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI), patient pretreatment characteristics (SCL-90, HDRS, HAMA, IIP) and outcome (SCL-90, SAS and patient satisfaction). Results showed that the French version of the HAq-II has good psychometric properties. Estimates of internal consistency and test-retest reliability were fairly similar to the original English version. Indication of its validity included high correlation with other alliance measures and independence from patient pretreatment characteristics. Surprisingly, HAq-II score predicted patient's satisfaction with the treatment but not symptomatic improvement. Taken together, these first results are promising and indicate that the translated version of the HAq-II is a valid instrument for measuring the helping alliance. Concerning the comparison between the two versions of the HAq, HAq-II has proved to be an improvement compared to the original HAq-I scale: it better relates to the alliance construct and it is less influenced by the symptoms of the patient. Considering also its better construct validity (Luborsky et al., 1996), we definitely recommend the use of the revised HAq-II instead of the initial version of the scale.


In the struggles for political and cultural hegemony that Taiwan has witnessed since the 1980s, the focal point in contesting narratives and the key battlefield in the political debates are primarily spatial and place-based. The major fault line appears to be a split between an imposed identity emphasizing cultural origin (China) and an emphasis on the recovery of place identity of 'the local' (Taiwan). Place, Identity and National Imagination in Postwar Taiwan explores the ever-present issue of identity in Taiwan from a spatial perspective, and focuses on the importance of, and the relationship between, state spatiality and identity formation. Taking postwar Taiwan as a case study, the book examines the ways in which the Kuomintang regime naturalized its political control, territorialized the island and created a nationalist geography. In so doing, it examines how, why and to what extent power is exercised through the place-making process and considers the relationship between official versions of 'ROC geography' and the islanders' shifting perceptions of the 'nation'. In turn, by addressing the relationship between the state and the imagined community, Bi-yu Chang establishes a dialogue between place and cultural identity to analyse the constant changing and shaping of Chinese and Taiwanese identity.
With a diverse selection of case studies including cartographical development, geography education, territorial declaration and urban planning, this interdisciplinary book will have a broad appeal across Taiwan studies, geography, cultural studies, history and politics.


In mobile robotics, there are often features that, while potentially powerful for improving navigation, prove difficult to profit from as they generalize poorly to novel situations. Overhead imagery data, for instance, has the potential to greatly enhance autonomous robot navigation in complex outdoor environments. In practice, reliable and effective automated interpretation of imagery from diverse terrain, environmental conditions, and sensor varieties proves challenging. We introduce an online, probabilistic model to effectively learn to use these scope-limited features by leveraging other features that, while perhaps otherwise more limited, generalize reliably. We apply our approach to provide an efficient, self-supervised learning method that accurately predicts traversal costs over large areas from overhead data. We present results from field testing on-board a robot operating over large distances in off-road environments. Additionally, we show how our algorithm can be used offline to produce a priori traversal cost maps and detect misalignments between overhead data and estimated vehicle positions. This approach can significantly improve the versatility of many unmanned ground vehicles by allowing them to traverse highly varied terrains with increased performance.


We provide an in-depth study of the knowledge-theoretic aspects of communication in so-called gossip protocols. Pairs of agents communicate by means of calls in order to spread information—so-called secrets—within the group. Depending on the nature of such calls knowledge spreads in different ways within the group. Systematizing existing literature, we identify 18 different types of communication, and model their epistemic effects through corresponding indistinguishability relations. We then provide a classification of these relations and show its usefulness for an epistemic analysis in presence of different communication types. Finally, we explain how to formalise the assumption that the agents have common knowledge of a distributed epistemic gossip protocol.


This article analyzes the opinions about the system of higher education in Argentina of presidents of private and public universities. The sample consisted of sixteen in-depth interviews with presidents of public and private universities. In the 1990s Argentina, similarly to other Latin American and European countries, initiated profound reforms of its university system The analysis of the interviews shows, that although Argentina's higher education system was traditionally organized around the ethos of public universities and only recently a new but increasingly influential private sector was developed, the opinions of the presidents of both types of universities is rather similar..  We concluded that the type of governance, public or private, is not the most influential dynamic in the opinions of the presidents of these universities, but the particular history and institutional traditions are better explanatory variables.


The literary career of Uchida Hyakken (1889-1971) encompassed a wide variety of styles and genres, including fiction, zuihitsu (essays), war diaries, poetry, travelogues, and children's stories. In discussing his oeuvre, critics have circumscribed Hyakken to a private literary realm detached from the era in which he wrote.Rachel DiNitto provides a critical corrective by locating in Hyakken's simple yet powerful literary language a new way to appreciate the various literary reactions to the modernization of the early decades of the twentieth century and a means to open up a literary space of protest, an alternate intellectual response to the era of militarism.This book takes up Hyakken's fiction and essays written during Japan's prewar years to investigate the intersection of his literature with the material and discursive surroundings of the time: a consumer-oriented print culture; the popular entertainment of film; the capitalist and cultural force of an emergent middle class; a planned, yet sprawling metropolis; and the war machine of an expanding Japanese empire. Emerging from this analysis is a writer who relied on the quotidian language of the everyday and the symbols of cultural modernism to counter the harsh realities of modernization and imperialism and to express sentiments contrary to the mainstream ideological rhetoric of the time.


People with intellectual disabilities often have little influence over their choice of living arrangements. Little is known about what they value and their views on the range of options that are available. In this study, 180 people attended 20 focus groups across Northern Ireland. Just over half were living with family carers and the others were in a range of other accommodations. They described what they liked and did not like about their present arrangements and video clips were used to elicit their views of four different living options.Four themes were common to all participants irrespective of where they lived: having their own bedroom, participating in household activities; having access to community activities and contact with family and friends. Those living independently or in supported housing valued their independence and having access to support staff whereas those in residential homes spoke of the importance of their relationships with co-residents and staff. Those living in ordinary housing were more likely to report harassment and to stress the importance of living in a pleasant neighbourhood than did those in residential homes.Most people were content with their present locations although small group homes and supported living arrangements were the most popular alternatives to living with their families. The study confirmed the value of consulting directing with service users and proved an exemplar as to how it can be done. The discussion centres on how their preferences can be incorporated into policy and suggestions for further research are noted.


Underlying wage growth has fallen short of what would be consistent with an economy operating with little or no slack. While many factors could explain this weakness, the availability of additional labour resources from informal ("gig") work—not fully captured in standard measures of employment and hours worked—may play a role. We investigate this possibility through the Bank of Canada's Canadian Survey of Consumer Expectations (CSCE) by documenting the characteristics and size of such working arrangements. We find that just under one-third of Canadians participate in this type of work, and this participation is often consistent with labour market slack. Just over one-third of respondents who take part in informal work do so as a result of weak economic conditions, and over half would switch their hours worked for hours in formal employment with no increase in pay. Part-time workers, youth and people in provinces with historically high unemployment rates were most likely to participate in informal employment. A portion of these workers would not be considered part of the labour force by standard labour market measures due in part to the irregularity of their work schedules. Accounting for these workers could boost participation rates by 2–3 percentage points. Moreover, the magnitude of labour supply from such work that could become available to the formal sector is sizable. It amounts to roughly 700,000 full-time equivalent jobs or 3.5 per cent of the labour force on average over the third and fourth quarters of 2018. This additional margin of labour market supply may be contributing to reducing wage pressures.


It is sometimes argued that ideal theories in political philosophy are a form of ideology. This article examines arguments building on the work of Charles Mills and Raymond Geuss for the claim that ideal theories are cognitively distorting belief systems that have the effect of stabilizing unjust social arrangements. I argue that Mills and Geuss neither succeed in establishing that the content of ideal theories is necessarily cognitively defective in the way characteristic for ideologies, nor can they make plausible which mechanisms ensure the alleged negative effects of the widespread acceptance of ideal theorizing. This does not mean that all hope is lost for the ideology objection, however. By turning to a second Marxian model of ideology, I argue that the ideological character of ideal theories is not so much a matter of their content, but rather of their form. Ideal theories falsely present the normative concepts that they use as semantically practice-independent and thereby block potential challenges from subordinate groups to dominant ideologies. It is therefore not the normative content of ideal theories which proves to be objectionable, but the particular role their concepts play in wider political discourse.


This study isolates the controls on the alluvial architecture of two interfingering late Lutetian fluvial systems preserved at the northern margin of the Tremp-Graus Basin, in the south central Pyrenees. One of these, a northerly, mountain-belt-derived, high-gradient, bedload-dominated gravelly system, displays marked variations in its alluvial architecture, with systematic changes in the width, depth, internal facies arrangement and stacking pattern of its channel bodies. The other, an easterly, basin-axis-derived, lower gradient, poorly drained alluvial system, displays no discernible systematic variations in alluvial architecture. A common control that would similarly affect both of the interfingering fluvial systems cannot be responsible for their contrasting architectural patterns. Variations in base level, despite the contemporaneous shoreline being only 18 km downstream, climate, or the tectonic rotation of the study area are therefore discounted. Fluctuations in sediment supply to the northerly derived system resulting from the episodic uplift of its drainage basin are instead proposed, although intrinsic controls cannot be totally discounted. Similar sediment flux variations in the headwaters of the easterly derived system are envisaged, but its longer, lower-gradient transport path was effective in dampening out these fluctuations upstream of the study area.


In the wind industry, a power curve refers to the functional relationship between the power output generated by a wind turbine and the wind speed at the time of power generation. Power curves are used in practice for a number of important tasks including predicting wind power production and assessing a turbine's energy production efficiency. Nevertheless, actual wind power data indicate that the power output is affected by more than just wind speed. Several other environmental factors, such as wind direction, air density, humidity, turbulence intensity, and wind shears, have potential impact. Yet, in industry practice, as well as in the literature, current power curve models primarily consider wind speed and, sometimes, wind speed and direction. We propose an additive multivariate kernel method that can include the aforementioned environmental factors as a new power curve model. Our model provides, conditional on a given environmental condition, both the point estimation and density estimation of power output. It is able to capture the nonlinear relationships between environmental factors and the wind power output, as well as the high-order interaction effects among some of the environmental factors. Using operational data associated with four turbines in an inland wind farm and two turbines in an offshore wind farm, we demonstrate the improvement achieved by our kernel method.


We recently showed that the mammalian genome encodes >1,000 large intergenic noncoding (linc)RNAs that are clearly conserved across mammals and, thus, functional. Gene expression patterns have implicated these lincRNAs in diverse biological processes, including cell-cycle regulation, immune surveillance, and embryonic stem cell pluripotency. However, the mechanism by which these lincRNAs function is unknown. Here, we expand the catalog of human lincRNAs to ≈3,300 by analyzing chromatin-state maps of various human cell types. Inspired by the observation that the well-characterized lincRNA HOTAIR binds the polycomb repressive complex (PRC)2, we tested whether many lincRNAs are physically associated with PRC2. Remarkably, we observe that ≈20% of lincRNAs expressed in various cell types are bound by PRC2, and that additional lincRNAs are bound by other chromatin-modifying complexes. Also, we show that siRNA-mediated depletion of certain lincRNAs associated with PRC2 leads to changes in gene expression, and that the up-regulated genes are enriched for those normally silenced by PRC2. We propose a model in which some lincRNAs guide chromatin-modifying complexes to specific genomic loci to regulate gene expression.


ABSTRACT Celebrity athletes are a mainstay of popular culture and an increasingly important part of the marketing ecosystem. As product endorsers, they can influence brand attitudes and sales but also have broader societal implications for the firm. The recent string of bad behavior by celebrity athletes raises important ethical questions about firms that use the famous and infamous to endorse branded products. The conceptual framework presented in the current study provides a theoretical approach—based on virtue ethics—for evaluating the retention of tainted celebrity affiliates. This framework is applied to three well-known situations to examine the ethical implications of what initially were good choices for firms, their brands, and their consumers. The overarching goal of this article is to stimulate managers to think more deeply about the interconnections between their core company values, the athlete endorsers they select, and the ultimate effect of those decisions on their brands in the marketplace if things go wrong.


Proliferations of the benthic anatoxin-producing cyanobacterium Phormidium are increasing in prevalence in cobble-bed rivers worldwide. This proliferation is of particular concern when rivers are used as sources of drinking water or for recreation. Little is known about the physicochemical variables promoting proliferations, and our existing knowledge is based on data from only a few rivers. We assessed Phormidium cover, physicochemical variables, and anatoxin concentrations at 10 sites in 7 New Zealand rivers every week for 2 y. Generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) identified dissolved inorganic N (DIN) over the accrual period <0.8 mg/L, dissolved reactive P accrual <0.005 mg/L, water temperatures >15°C, and conductivity as having positive and statistically significant effects on % Phormidium cover. Flow intensity, expressed relative to the long-term median, had a positive effect up to 0.4× the median flow and a negative effect when >0.5× the median flow. Quantile regression models showed marked variability among sites in relation to the flow intensity required to reduce % Phormidium cover (90th percentile ranged 0.65–249× the long-term median flow). Anatoxins were detected in variable concentrations in samples from 7 of the 10 sites. GAMMs identified strong relationships between elevated toxin concentrations and low conductivity and increasing % Phormidium cover, and significantly lower toxin concentrations when DIN was <0.2 mg/L. These data demonstrate that multiple physicochemical variables influence Phormidium proliferations and toxin concentrations and indicate that the relative importance of these variables differs among rivers and sites.


Background Few studies have examined the relationship between sociodemographic factors and a population-based measure of developmental delay in US children. We identify sociodemographic factors associated with unlikely, probable and possible developmental delay in preschool US children using nationally representative data. Methods All children aged 18 months to 5 years in the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health were categorised into three groups based on the likelihood of developmental delay (unlikely delay, possible delay and probable delay) using a modified survey version of the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate multinomial logistic regressions were used to assess relations between sociodemographic variables and risk of developmental delay. Results Children had increased odds of probable delay (compared with unlikely delay) if they were older (adjusted OR (aOR)=1.41/additional year above the youngest age group (18 months–2 years), p<0.001), male (aOR=1.55, p<0.001), low birth weight (aOR=2.08, p<0.001), non-Hispanic black (aOR=1.50, p<0.01) or Hispanic in a non-English-speaking household (aOR=2.53, p<0.001) versus non-Hispanic white, had lower household income (aOR=1.33 for each decreasing category of poverty level, p<0.001), or received >10 h/week of care at another family's home (aOR=1.71, p<0.05). Only four characteristics (being older, male, low birth weight and Hispanic living in a non-English-speaking household) were associated with increased odds of possible delay compared with unlikely delay. Conclusions Multiple factors, including demographic characteristics and indicators of social disadvantage, distinguish children with probable developmental delay from those unlikely to have developmental delay. Fewer factors identify children with possible delay.


Query embedding (QE)—which aims to embed entities and first-order logical (FOL) queries in a vector space, has shown great power in answering FOL queries on knowledge graphs (KGs). Existing QE methods divide a complex query into a sequence of mini-queries according to its computation graph and perform logical operations on the answer sets of mini-queries to get answers. However, most of them assume that answer sets satisfy an individual distribution (e.g., Uniform, Beta, or Gaussian), which is often violated in real applications and limit their performance. In this paper, we propose a Neural-based Mixture Probabilistic Query Embedding Model (NMP-QEM) that encodes the answer set of each mini-query as a mixed Gaussian distribution with multiple means and covariance parameters, which can approximate any random distribution arbitrarily well in real KGs. Additionally, to overcome the difficulty in defining the closed solution of negation operation, we introduce neural-based logical operators of projection, intersection and negation for a mixed Gaussian distribution to answer all the FOL queries. Extensive experiments demonstrate that NMP-QEM significantly outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods on benchmark datasets. In NELL995, NMP-QEM achieves a 31% relative improvement over the state-of-the-art.


Often forgotten among the many aspects of World War II is the alliance between Germany and Japan. Because of the vast geographical separation between these two Axis nations, and because of some of very real philosophical and operational differences, the alliance was fraught with difficulty. But in the vast middle-ground of the Indian Ocean, these "reluctant allies" did come together to conduct naval operations that might well have had disastrous consequences for the Allies but for the intervention of fate and the inevitable friction of war.Captain Krug served in U-boats in that theatre and in the Far East and, with the assistance of scholars of both nations, he has produced a very readable and meticulously researched account of German and Japanese naval interaction. Besides thoroughly covering - for the first time - this neglected topic, the authors provide valuable insight into the faulty mechanism of an alliance between totalitarian powers, characterised by suspicion and a reluctance to freely share information and assets. They also bring to light the difficulties - and ultimate consequences - of dealing with the megalomania and criminal intellect of Adolf Hitler, which resulted in war-crime trials for some of the participants. Proving that not every aspect of the world's greatest war has been covered, this book is a valuable contribution to the ever-expanding lore of the war and will be required reading for those with an interest in naval operations, global strategy, and international diplomacy during the period.


SiC nanofibers were prepared by using polymer blend and melt-spinning techniques. Polycarbosilane (PCS) as a SiC precursor polymer was dispersed finely in novolac-phenolic resin (PF) as a carbon precursor polymer with a ratio of PCS/PF=3/7. The polymer blend was melt-spun continuously. The fibers were then soaked in an acid solution in order to stabilize them (to convert into an infusible state) and finally heat-treated at 1000°C. The resulting fibers consisted of PF-derived carbon matrix including elongated nanofibers derived from PCS. Finally, the fibers were oxidized with nitric acid to remove the carbon matrix, and the released nanofibers were collected with a membrane filter. The resulting nanofibers were several 100 nm in diameter and 100 μm or more in length. They were amorphous and contained a large amount of oxygen. A part of the nanofibers was further heated to 1500°C in a graphite tube resistance furnace, resulting in crystallization into β-SiC. The behaviors were quite similar to those of a commercially available SiC fibers derived from PCS. In order to obtain optimum conditions, the processes were examined.


Architectures depict design principles, paradigms that can be understood by all, allow thinking on a higher plane and avoiding low-level mistakes. They provide means for ensuring correctness by construction by enforcing global properties characterizing the coordination between components. An architecture can be considered as an operator A that, applied to a set of components B, builds a composite component A(B) meeting a characteristic property P. A theory of architectures must address several fundamental questions: 1. How does one model the architectures? In many existing approaches, architecture description is limited to drawing the structure of the system by connecting boxes with lines. A rigorous theory requires a formal definition of their operational semantics. 2. How does one specify the architectures? Characteristic properties of architectures must be clearly stated, understandable and verifiable by engineers. Specifications must be sufficiently versatile for the architectures to be applicable to a variety of components. 3. How does one combine architectures? Composition of architectures must preserve their respective characteristic properties. 4. How does one efficiently implement architectures? The cost of raising the abstraction level is the coordination overhead entailed by any centralised framework imposing the operational semantics. This can be reduced by applying transformation techniques to internalise and distribute the coordination constraints. We propose a formal and general framework for studying architectures. In particular, composability is based on an associative, commutative and idempotent architecture composition operator. The main result is that if two architectures A1 and A2 enforce respectively state invariants P1 and P2 , the composed architecture enforces the state invariant P1 & P2, that is both invariants are preserved by architecture composition. We also discuss preservation of liveness properties and internalisation of architectures.


This book examines questions of medical accountability and ethics. It analyses how the criminal justice system regulates health care practice, and to what extent it can and should be used as a tool to resolve ethical conflict in health care. For most of the twentieth century, criminal courts were engaged in matters relating to medicine principally as a forum to resolve ethical controversies over the sanctity of life. However, the judiciary approached this function with reluctance and a marked tendency to defer to the medical profession to define what constituted ethical, and thus lawful, conduct. However, over the past 25 years, criminal courts have increasingly been drawn into these types of question, and the criminal law has become a major actor in the resolution of ethical conflict. The trend to prosecute for aberrant professional conduct or medical malpractice and the role of the criminal process in medicine has been analytically neglected in the UK. There is scant literature addressing the appropriate boundaries of the criminal process in resolving ethical conflict, the theoretical legal analysis of the law's relationship with health care, or the practical impact of the criminal justice system on professionals and the delivery of health care in the UK. This volume addresses these issues via a combination of theoretical analyses and key case studies, drawing on the experiences of other carefully selected jurisdictions. It places a particular emphasis on the appropriateness of the involvement of the criminal justice system in health care, the limitations of this developing trend, and solutions to the problems it throws up. The book takes euthanasia as a primary example of the issues raised by the intersection of health care and the criminal law, and questions whether health care issues appropriately fall within the remit of the criminal justice system.


In this article, Smith explains why a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit was incorrect in holding that the Anti-Injunction Act (AIA) bars a challenge to the IRS regulations at issue in Florida Bankers. He argues that the majority's decision is at odds with the Supreme Court's narrow interpretation of the analogous Tax Injunction Act in Direct Marketing. The most significant consequence of applying the reading of the AIA that is suggested by the Direct Marketing decision is that taxpayers would be able to bring direct challenges to the validity of tax regulations in federal district court under the judicial review provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act without having to engage in transactions that would be subject to those regulations.


Increasing concern over the implications of climate change for biodiversity has led to the use of species–climate envelope models to project species extinction risk under climate‐change scenarios. However, recent studies have demonstrated significant variability in model predictions and there remains a pressing need to validate models and to reduce uncertainties. Model validation is problematic as predictions are made for events that have not yet occurred. Resubstituition and data partitioning of present‐day data sets are, therefore, commonly used to test the predictive performance of models. However, these approaches suffer from the problems of spatial and temporal autocorrelation in the calibration and validation sets. Using observed distribution shifts among 116 British breeding‐bird species over the past ∼20 years, we are able to provide a first independent validation of four envelope modelling techniques under climate change. Results showed good to fair predictive performance on independent validation, although rules used to assess model performance are difficult to interpret in a decision‐planning context. We also showed that measures of performance on nonindependent data provided optimistic estimates of models' predictive ability on independent data. Artificial neural networks and generalized additive models provided generally more accurate predictions of species range shifts than generalized linear models or classification tree analysis. Data for independent model validation and replication of this study are rare and we argue that perfect validation may not in fact be conceptually possible. We also note that usefulness of models is contingent on both the questions being asked and the techniques used. Implementations of species–climate envelope models for testing hypotheses and predicting future events may prove wrong, while being potentially useful if put into appropriate context.


Introduction Health and social care services are undergoing integration worldwide. The reform has changed home care work considerably. According to previous studies, home care work has become more versatile and home care workers' responsibility for home-dwelling elderly who are more fragile has increased. Organisational interventions can strengthen home care work, staff resources and staff well-being. Only a few studies have studied the restructuring from a home care staff point of view. Aim The aim was to examine the impacts of a work reorganisation intervention on home care personnel's job, job satisfaction and the quality of services. This work forms part of a larger Finnish project entitled PALKO (Integrated Services in the Practice of Discharge and Home Care). Method The design involved 11 municipalities randomised to the intervention municipalities and the other half to the controls. The data from home care personnel were gathered via a questionnaire in spring 2001 (n=1183) and in autumn 2003 after the intervention (n=1291). The response rate was 63 per cent in both cases. Results Nearly all respondents were women and two-thirds were home aids and home help workers. The mean age was 46 years in the intervention group and 44 years in the control group (p<0.001). Otherwise the groups did not differ statistically in background variables. The information flow between home care and hospitals improved in the intervention group compared to the controls. The work load was not reduced. Skill discretion scores did not change in the intervention group between baseline and follow-up. Interestingly, decision authority scores had reduced in the intervention group compared to the control group. There were no statistically significant changes in the job satisfaction scores in either group. The quality of services was rated as better in the intervention group at the follow-up compared to the baseline. Conclusions There were favourable changes in the home care personnel's job control and the quality of services in the intervention group compared to the control group. However, outcome measures and possible effects of socially complex interventions need to be discussed more.


The purpose of the research was to obtain the mass wasting hazard map for the state of Vargas, central coast of Venezuela, using GIS technology. The work was developed through the heuristic method with the generation of thematic digital maps, univariate statistical treatment, weighting of each variable and quantifying the relationship of each parameter unit regarding mass wasting processes. The algorithm designed to perform map algebra was designed using the variables: surface geology, slope, slope orientation, terrain curvature, moisture topographic index, power index surface flow rate and capacity sediment transport and the rate normalized difference vegetation. The results show a distribution of landslide hazard with the highest values in the west central part of Vargas state, where the dominant lithology is incompetent, and combined with topographic elements, determining high instability, meanwhile the lower hazard areas were found in specific areas such as the middle watershed areas east of the state. The calibration of this model shows a reliability of 80%, so it is highly advisable to use the information generated in this work by governmental and non-governmental organizations in the planning, management and use of land.


In this article, the author examines how a martial artist can apply the theoretical aspects of the Yijing to his or her training, and tries to determine why baguazhang practitioners chose this particular text as the core of their system. Through this, we can study some of the ways that baguazhang was linked to the culture in which it was developed.


Due to globalisation, stock markets have strived to enhance its securities markets
performance to increase its investors' confidence and hence widen their pools of
investment portfolios. Recent years have seen considerable attention devoted to the
analysis of factors influencing investment decisions in different countries. Much of the
research was prompted by the nearly simultaneous worldwide collapse of equity markets,
which apparently provided evidence of strong linkages in factor capital movement, the
advent of globalisation of financial markets and the increasing importance of cross-border
equity flows.
The project explains the important role Nairobi Stock Exchange play in providing
opportunities for mobilisation of savings, improved efficiency in resource allocation and
provision of relevant information for investment appraisal. It also generates lower cost
equity capital for firms. Investors need to be appraised of the opportunities and pitfalls of
stock market investment to enable them make informed decisions .
• This paper sets out to assess the factors influencing investment decisions in securities
markets, at Nairobi Stock Exchange. With realization of the importance of capital markets
and the impediments they face, this study sets to identify and assess these factors and to
make necessary recommendations for policy framework The population of the study
comprised of all quoted companies in the NSE, and all registered stockbrokerage firms
and the capital investment advisers The primary data was collected by use of structured
and semi structured questionnaires.


Screening and Brief Intervention (SBI) is an evidence based technique for reducing heavy and harmful consumption of alcohol and other drugs. There is significant evidence for both the efficacy and the effectiveness of SBI. SBI has been shown to be effective in emergency departments (EDs) in a variety of different countries. The feasibility of SBI in the ED, however, remains contentious and no studies have been done on this area in a New Zealand ED. For this feasibility study, eight experienced ED nurses attempted to provide SBI to as many of their patients as possible over a one month period, using the ASSIST-Lite screening tool (Ali, Meena, Eastwood, Richards, & Marsden, 2013). The patient's charts were audited to see how many actually received the SBI. Of 390 eligible patients only 46 (41 screened plus five who declined) were given the opportunity to participate, equating to 11.79% of the patients who were in the care of the participating nurses. Thirteen of these patients screened positive and received a formal Brief Intervention, and another patient received information about Community Alcohol and Drug Services. There was an inverse correlation between the number of patients presenting to the ED and the average number of screenings undertaken by each nurse participant per day. Following the data collection period the nurse participants were interviewed about their experience. Semi-structured interviews with the nurse participants revealed three main themes: 1) the nurses attitudes towards SBI, 2) Working conditions, and 3) the ED environment. It was concluded that high patient numbers compared to the number of nursing staff in the ED currently precludes nurses from providing consistent SBI to all eligible patients in the ED, however, the benefits of SBI are recognised by them. With higher staffing levels, ED SBI may be feasible and of benefit to individuals, to the ED and to society. FEASIBILITY OF SBI IN THE ED iv


Introduction: There is a well-established relationship between adverse or stressful life events and psychopathology amongst the
general population (e.g., Goodyer, Wright & Altham, 1990). This association has also begun to be explored among the child IDD
population. and Emerson (2004) found associations between several life events and mental health and well-being in children
with IDD: parental separation, parents having negative involvement with the police, death of a child's close friend, parental
financial crisis, and the child experiencing hospitalisation due to illness were associated with high rates of emotional disorders. A
less well researched relationship is whether maternal well-being is predictive of child behavioural problems in children with IDD
(Zeedyk & Blacher, 2015). The influence of maternal depression on child outcomes is cause for concern in children with IDD as
behavioural problems are more common than among their typically developing peers (e.g., Abbeduto et al., 2004). In this study
we conceptualised family life events and maternal depression as two risk factors likely to lead to higher levels of child
behavioural and emotional problems. Child resilience may act as a protective factor in this relationship and thus we would
expect child behavioural and emotional problems to be less affected when exposed to high levels of adverse life events or
maternal depression.
Method: Mothers provided data through completing a cross-sectional online survey about 312 children with IDD aged between
four and 15 years old (M = 10.02, SD = 3.08). The mothers' ages ranged from 23 to 67 years (M = 42.50, SD = 7.13) and 252 were
currently living with a spouse or partner. Most mothers (308) were the primary carer for their child.
Measures included: Demographic questionnaire; Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ: Goodman et al., 1997, 1998); The
Wagnald and Young Resilience Scale (1993); Child and family life events were measured using life event questions from the
Millennium Cohort Study (2012); Maternal depression symptoms over the past seven days were measured by the Hospital
Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS: Zigmond & Snaith, 1983).
Results: The moderated multiple regression analyses showed that child resilience was a significant independent predictor of
child behavioural and emotional problems in all six of the models SDQ subscale and total scale models (all ps < .001 or = .001),
and maternal depression was a significant independent predictor of child behavioural and emotional problems in three of the six
models (all ps < .05) (total difficulties score, emotional symptoms subscale and conduct problems subscale). Contrary to
predictions, exposure to more negative life events was not significantly associated with child behavioural and emotional
problems. There were no significant interaction terms in any of the six models run, either in interaction one (resilience x life
events) or two (resilience x maternal depression).
Discussion: This study has shown firstly that maternal depression and child resilience are both associated with child behavioural
and emotional problems. Secondly, maternal depression was found to act as a risk factor for child behaviour and emotional
problems (specifically emotional symptoms and conduct problems). Thirdly, levels of child resilience consistently had a significant
independent effect of child behavioural and emotional problems when maternal depression was present; therefore, we found
the strongest support for a compensatory model of resilience. The compensatory model explores whether risk factors have a
direct main effect, reducing negative outcomes directly, thus overall the presence of resilience in a child with IDD has a positive
impact on their behavioural and emotional problems. Fourthly, child adverse life events were not found to be a significant risk
factor in any of the models.


Interactions among conspecifics influence social evolution through two distinct but intimately related paths. First, they provide the opportunity for indirect genetic effects (IGEs), where genes expressed in one individual influence the expression of traits in others. Second, interactions can generate social selection when traits expressed in one individual influence the fitness of others. Here, we present a quantitative genetic model of multivariate trait evolution that integrates the effects of both IGEs and social selection, which have previously been modeled independently. We show that social selection affects evolutionary change whenever the breeding value of one individual covaries with the phenotype of its social partners. This covariance can be created by both relatedness and IGEs, which are shown to have parallel roles in determining evolutionary response. We show that social selection is central to the estimation of inclusive fitness and derive a version of Hamilton's rule showing the symmetrical effects of relatedness and IGEs on the evolution of altruism. We illustrate the utility of our approach using altruism, greenbeards, aggression, and weapons as examples. Our model provides a general predictive equation for the evolution of social phenotypes that encompasses specific cases such as kin selection and reciprocity. The parameters can be measured empirically, and we emphasize the importance of considering both IGEs and social selection, in addition to relatedness, when testing hypotheses about social evolution.


A Monetary History of the United States 1867 to 1960 published in 1963 was written as part of an extensive NBER research project on Money and Business Cycles started in the 1950s. The project resulted in three more books and many important articles. A Monetary History was designed to provide historical evidence for the modern quantity theory of money. The principal lessons of the modern quantity theory of the long-run neutrality of money, the transitory effects of monetary policy on real economic activity, and the importance of stable money and of monetary rules have all been absorbed in modern macro models. A Monetary History , unlike the other books, has endured the test of time and has become a classic whose reputation has grown with age. It succeeded because it was based on narrative and not an explicit model. The narrative methodology pioneered by Friedman and Schwartz and the beautifully written story still captures the imaginations of new generations of economists.


Robust predictions of ecosystem responses to climate change are challenging. To achieve such predictions, ecology has extensively relied on the assumption that community states and dynamics are at equilibrium with climate. However, empirical evidence from Quaternary and contemporary data suggest that species communities rarely follow equilibrium dynamics with climate change. This discrepancy between the conceptual foundation of many predictive models and observed community dynamics casts doubts on our ability to successfully predict future community states. Here we used community response diagrams to empirically investigate the occurrence of different classes of disequilibrium responses in plant communities during the Late Quaternary, and bird communities during modern climate warming in North America. We documented a large variability in types of responses, suggesting that equilibrium dynamics are not the most common type of response to climate change. Bird responses appeared less predictable to modern climate warming than plant responses to Late Quaternary climate warming. Furthermore, we showed that baseline climate gradients were a strong predictor of disequilibrium states, while ecological factors such as species' traits had a substantial, but inconsistent effect on the deviation from equilibrium. We conclude that (1) complex temporal community dynamics including stochastic responses, lags, and alternate states are common; (2) assuming equilibrium dynamics to predict biodiversity responses to future climate changes may lead to unsuccessful predictions


There are sound reasons why investors should require a second credit rating when screening CDO investments. A rating from one agency may reflect the likelihood that the issue will default while a rating from another may provide a measure of expected loss. It seems that most prudent investors would be interested in both risk measures, or perhaps even better, other measures of risk and reward that are easily incorporated into their risk monitoring systems. While it is often possible to "back out" these risk measures from two or more agency ratings, a better solution would be for each rating agency to publish a second rating (risk measure) to provide a more complete characterization of the risk of a given security.


Purpose
A number of studies with large sample sizes have reported lower prevalence of stuttering in children with significant hearing loss compared to children without hearing loss. This study used a parent questionnaire to investigate the characteristics of stuttering (e.g., incidence, prevalence, and age of onset) in children who are hard of hearing (CHH).

Method
Three hundred three parents of CHH who participated in the Outcomes of Children With Hearing Loss study (Moeller & Tomblin, 2015) were sent questionnaires asking about their child's history of stuttering.

Results
One hundred ninety-four parents of CHH responded to the survey. Thirty-three CHH were reported to have stuttered at one point in time (an incidence of 17.01%), and 10 children were still stuttering at the time of survey submission (a prevalence of 5.15%). Compared to estimates in the general population, this sample displayed a significantly higher incidence and prevalence. The age of onset, recovery rate, and other characteristics were similar to hearing children.

Conclusions
Based on this sample, mild to moderately severe hearing loss does not appear to be a protective factor for stuttering in the preschool years. In fact, the incidence and prevalence of stuttering may be higher in this population compared to the general population. Despite the significant speech and language needs that children with mild to moderately severe hearing loss may have, speech-language pathologists should appropriately prioritize stuttering treatment as they would in the hearing population.

Supplemental Material
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5397154.


BACKGROUND
The literature on sleep disturbance in adults with intellectual disability (ID) is sparse. Although prevalence rates for sleep disorders appear similar to those of non-disabled populations, previous treatment studies have largely been comprised of uncontrolled cases. Therefore, the present study adopted a single-case experimental methodology to evaluate behavioural sleep intervention.

METHODS
A screening questionnaire was posted to 384 adults with ID and the sleep pattern of respondents with possible sleep disorders was further assessed using a structured diagnostic schedule. From the sleep-disordered subgroup, 12 participants were selected for a 4-week behavioural sleep intervention that was evaluated using randomly allocated, multiple-baseline, across-subjects designs and within-subject interrupted time series analyses (ITSAs).

RESULTS
A total of 155 adults with ID (83 females and 72 males; mean age = 32 years, SD = 16.5 years), or their carers, completed the questionnaire (return rate = 40%). The application of sleep diagnostic criteria revealed that 17% had clinically significant difficulty getting to sleep and 11% had difficulty remaining asleep. Nine out of the 12 participants recruited for the intervention completed all the experimental phases, thus providing three sets of three multiple-baseline designs. Visual inspection of within- and between-subject effects suggested beneficial treatment-specific effects across a range of target variables. The ITSA confirmed significant effects (P < 0.05) or trends (P < 0.10) for six out of the nine participants.

CONCLUSIONS
Behavioural sleep management may improve sleep pattern or sleep-related functioning in the majority of adults with ID who have significant sleep problems. The single-case methodology is helpful in addressing the heterogeneity of individual presentation, although clinical trial methodology is required to confirm these findings on a larger scale.


This paper provides an analysis of South Africa's statutory provisions aimed at preventing reckless and predatory lending to consumers. The focus of the paper is on the statutory mechanisms for combatting such lending, including a critique of the success or otherwise of the legislation's implementation. The paper aims to provide a comparative analysis of an innovative approach aimed at protecting vulnerable consumers. As such, it is hoped, that the paper will provide useful techniques for the protection of borrowers in other common law jurisdictions, or indeed wherever vulnerable consumers of finance are liable to be exploited.


In political, popular, and scholarly debates, the Arctic – and most importantly within it the Barents region – is portrayed as being on the brink of becoming the "world's new energy province". Growth in global energy demand, dwindling reserves, political instabilities at existing production sites, warming climate, as well as advancements in extraction and transportation technologies are pushing energy activities further towards the previously inaccessible north. In these framings, energy in the Arctic is mostly understood as synonymous with oil and gas production for international exports and as a concern of markets and politics, and of technology, science, and economics. Exploring media representations of the regional energyscape through the "theorymethods package" (Clarke 2015, 87) of situational analysis, this article highlights the diversity of regional energy beyond oil and gas production; the simplistic manners in which the societal dimensions of energy are understood; the absence of everyday life, ordinary people, and the female gender from the depictions of the regional energyscape; and the lack of attention to climate impacts of northern energy production.


This paper shows that the structural breaks are an important characteristic of the monthly labor force participation rate (LFPR) series of Australia, Canada and the USA. Therefore we allow for endogenously determined multiple structural breaks in the empirical specifications of fractionally integrated ARMA model. The findings indicate that contrary to the previous research the LFPRs of Australia, Canada and the USA are stationary implying that the informational value of the unemployment rates about the behavior of labor markets and the causes of joblessness are useful.


1. Introduction TOTAL OR TRADITIONAL HISTORY TENDS' TO PRESENT EVENTS AND PHENOMENA IN a linear and cumulative scheme that is often underpinned by a sense of development or progress. Power is often seen to be imposed upon dominated and subordinated subjects from above by a sovereign or a centralized state. This descent is captured in histories that celebrate the achievements, lives, and strategie's of the "powerful." "Celebrity history" tends to exclude, marginalize, or disqualify the experiences of so-called subordinate or dominated people. Within this hegemony of total history, which seeks to explain all in terms of the few, the acquisition of voting rights has frequently been portrayed as a "liberating phenomenon." Suffrage amendments are typically points of culmination in a progressive series of developments. With the vote in hand, newly emancipated groups are free to embark on a course of legitimate activism in order to undo past discrimination, disadvantage, and misfortune. The vote therefore liberates the oppressed group by enabling it to participate in the political affairs of the state. In this article I will argue that celebrity history and its overemphasis on political rights obscures the fact that social and economic rights are in many ways more meaningful and significant in the lives of the majority of people. I shall adopt an ascending analysis of power, which prioritizes the experiences of hitherto disqualified subjects. Such an approach follows in the tradition of those historians who have attempted to write history from the "bottom-up" (see Rude, 1964; Hobsbawm, 1972). The feminists have also actively pursued this approach. Joan Kelly (1984) has written of women's experiences in Italy during the Renaissance. Joan Scott (1986) has warned that writing women into history means more than simply adding women to established historical discourse course. Rather, it means resurrecting subjective experiences over the traditional "names," "dates," and "places" approaches that tend to celebrate the actions of famous men. My focus is female suffrage and the possible impact of women's voting rights on the incidence of domestic violence in Lane County, Oregon. I ask the question: Did women's acquisition of the vote in Oregon somehow translate into any discernible shifts in the incidence of male violence within families? This question raises the more general issue of the significance of formal political rights vis-a-vis the deployment of what Michel Foucault has called "micropowers." Since the history of domestic violence remains largely unwritten (for notable inroads, see Pleck [1987]), the questions raised by my research are intended to suggest new lines of inquiry. If I reach a tentative conclusion, it is that suffrage rights appear to have made little difference to women's experience of battering in Lane County. It must be stated from the outset that this is a speculative conclusion that I offer in order to generate more research in this much-neglected area. It could easily be objected that suffrage did make a difference, but that this difference was offset and therefore hidden by a multitude of other influences. For example, the continued entry of voting women into the wage labor market may have somehow acted to encourage husbands to exert more physical control over their wives (I will return to these objections later). It is not my intention to argue that the laws regarding domestic violence worked exclusively for men and against women. During the latter half of the 19th century, a number of reforms were introduced that broke with the English common-law tradition, which allowed a husband to beat his wife. Under English law, this beating was legal provided the circumference of the rod or switch he used was less than the girth of the base of his right thumb. The "finger-switch rule" was confirmed by a Mississippi court in 1824 (Okun, 1986: 5). In North Carolina v. Black [60 N. …


With the rapid development of deep learning, there have been an unprecedentedly large number of trained deep network models available online. Reusing such trained models can significantly reduce the cost of training the new models from scratch, if not infeasible at all as the annotations used for the training original networks are often unavailable to public. We propose in this paper to study a new model-reusing task, which we term as knowledge amalgamation. Given multiple trained teacher networks, each of which specializes in a different classification problem, the goal of knowledge amalgamation is to learn a lightweight student model capable of handling the comprehensive classification. We assume no other annotations except the outputs from the teacher models are available, and thus focus on extracting and amalgamating knowledge from the multiple teachers. To this end, we propose a pilot two-step strategy to tackle the knowledge amalgamation task, by learning first the compact feature representations from teachers and then the network parameters in a layer-wise manner so as to build the student model. We apply this approach to four public datasets and obtain very encouraging results: even without any human annotation, the obtained student model is competent to handle the comprehensive classification task and in most cases outperforms the teachers in individual sub-tasks.


In contrast to the much-studied central and southern Sierra Nevada, relatively little is known about the growth and petrogenesis of the batholith in its northern reaches, making it difficult to evaluate range-wide, spatiotemporal trends in batholithic development and the regional extent of eclogite root production and/or loss. New U-Pb ages from northern Sierra plutons reveal a shift between the age of Cretaceous magmatism recorded in the northern Sierra and the timing of an apparent flare-up in the main batholith, indicating that: (1) the northern batholith was more spatially dispersed and emplaced into regions beyond the modern topographic range, and (2) the Cretaceous high-flux event may have occurred over a longer period of time than previously suggested. Relative to the southern Sierra, Nd and Sr isotopic signatures in northern plutons are more primitive, mimicking the predominantly juvenile nature of the terranes into which the plutons are built. Despite differences in isotopic character, however, major and trace element trends are remarkably similar between northern plutons and the rest of the batholith, suggesting that emplacement into juvenile and/or oceanic lithosphere does not inhibit the generation of evolved, arc-type magmatic products. Northern plutons have relatively high La/Yb and Sr/Y and steep rare-earth element patterns, with small to no Eu anomalies. Taken together, these trends are interpreted to indicate deep processing of magmas in equilibrium with a feldspar-poor, amphibolite-rich residue, containing modest amounts of garnet. It is therefore likely that the northern Sierra Nevada batholith was emplaced into relatively thick crust and developed a dense mafic to ultramafic root. Because it is not seismically imaged today, we posit that the root was subsequently lost, perhaps in response to encroachment of proto-Cascade arc volcanism.


Middle-Class Pentecostalism in Argentina: Inappropriate Spirits offers an intriguing account of how the middle class relates to Latin America´s most vibrant religious movement. The study posits that middle class Pentecostalism forges a milder, more socially acceptable form of the movement.


This paper designs one mobile physiological information monitor system based on the ZigBee protocol. The hardware structure is presented. The network communication characteristic of this system was analyzed. The paper points out the disadvantage of the connection method in the ZigBee protocol. One improved connection method is proposed. Through carries on the comparison and the simulation to the routing mechanism of the ZigBee protocol, we choose the Z-AODV routing mechanism. The experimental and simulation results show that the communicational efficiency and stability have been enhanced.


A new hybrid flow shop scheduling problem is studied, which is abstracted from the physical examination centre. The problem is characterized by multi-stage unrelated parallel rooms and continuous examination. Firstly, the math model of this hybrid scheduling problem is constructed. And then the computation method of examination period is given. In order to keep examining continuously, the examination period is obtained through reversely pushing from the examination scheduling problem with multistage unrelated parallel rooms and examining interruption. Then the scheduling results are obtained based on genetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm. Function objective of the proposed method was to minimize the examination period. Finally scheduling results based on two cases show that the method proposed in this paper is effective and feasible