In the wake of the Industrial Revolution the social arrangements through which people do productive work have changed. Sometimes changes in the technology or organization of work sufficiently alter work practices so that they themselves are revolutionary. Most recently, microelectronic technological innovations, the globalization of work, and the development of multinational capital markets have had revolutionary consequences by permitting capital to achieve and hence to pursue unlimited profits. In the last decades of the twentieth century, this pursuit has ushered in such startling changes in employment practices that reimagining work has become a minor industry. Social scientists and management scholars predict the externalization of work and the erosion of the employer-employee relationship,' and with them the elimination of jobs as we know them. 2 The celebrants of these changes envision workers with the same goal as their employers-attaining enormous wealth-and the same chance to realize their goal. They imagine workers in the new economy as free agents who voluntarily string together a series of contractual exchanges of work for compensation into a career. In the process, and through investment markets and e-commerce, workers will supposedly achieve economic security, independent of a particular employer. Observers also emphasize debureaucratization and the disappearance of hierarchy in work organizations.3 The prototypical work organization in this


Besides the qualitative analysis of a bio-molecule or even a whole proteome, their quantitative determination is also a topic of growing interest, since only the quantity of proteins or changes in their abundance really reflects the status and changes of a biological system. Various approaches have recently been suggested for the comparative investigation of different sample states resulting in different proteomes (comparative proteomics) on the basis of either relative or absolute protein quantification. These use molecule specific mass spectrometry and stable isotope labels with different chemical properties, which are covalently bound to, or incorporated in vivo into the various protein species within the sample entities compared. Various groups in the field of analytical atomic spectrochemistry have recently been developing new strategies and analytical tools for the complementary implementation of elemental mass spectrometry (e.g. inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)), which is still generally known as only a "metal" detector, in new, "non-traditional" application areas targeting bio-molecular chemistry or even the fast growing field of proteomics related research, which is currently dominated by ESI or MALDI based MS techniques. At this time, three main strategies are emerging for the complementary application of ICP-MS to bio-molecule quantification in life-sciences orientated research. These include (i) the utilisation of natural (hetero) element tags (covalently bound elements e.g. sulfur and phosphorus), which are present in nearly all protein bio-molecules, (ii) the controlled labelling of bio-molecules such as proteins, peptides or antibodys with ICP-MS detectable elements using bi-functional chelating agents (by means of a chemical reaction, which forms a covalent bond between the chelating agent and a specific functional site of the bio-molecule) and (iii) the chemical labelling of bio-molecules with nano-particles which contain elements detectable by ICP-MS. The idea behind all three strategies is to make bio-molecules detectable by ICP-MS and thus benefit from its high sensitivity, linearity and matrix robustness. This would allow the qualitative detection and quantitative determination of nearly all bio-molecules provided the stoichiometry of either the natural tag or the chemical label is known. This article will give a critical review of the latest developments in the field of quantitative proteomics and will highlight key applications of ICP-MS as a complementary tool to ESI or MALDI MS techniques for selected proteomics or biochemistry related applications. Special emphasis is placed on the quantification of bio-molecules using elements that are covalently bound to proteins or peptides and which show wide distributions in these bio-molecules as tags.


This thesis explores Plato's critique of Athenian civics education as contained in his Socratic dialogues. Through a close reading of three dialogues – Euthyphro, Ion and Protagoras – I show how Socrates' interlocutors represent specific forms and stages of paideia, and how each dialogue as a whole illustrates Plato's cure for this pedagogical form. In Part A I establish the interlocutor-based approach to Plato's Socratic dialogues, contrasting this with three "Socrates-based" approaches: those of Terence Irwin, Martha Nussbaum and Richard Kraut. These commentators begin with the question of how Socrates' actions imply his (and Plato's) positive beliefs and debate questions of continuity with the historical Socrates and Plato's "later" dialogues. These debates rely on attributing sincerity, irony or protreptic intent using the limited evidence base of Socrates' elenchtic questioning (which draws out his interlocutors' beliefs and not necessarily his own). By contrast, I begin with the ample evidence Plato provides us about his interlocutors through setting, characterisation and the lens of the Socratic elenchus, which portray an aetiology of civic types. This broader evidence base then supports inferences about Plato's intent and Socrates' beliefs. In Part B I apply this approach to three dialogues. The Euthyphro's eponymous character represents limitations in cultic paideia, specifically, how cults employ methods for creating powerful shared emotions that each of us can feel, but fail to develop the skills required for political and legal deliberation. Socrates' cure involves coaching Euthyphro on how to demonstrate and test claims to expertise. The Ion is read as a critique of poetic inculcation of virtue, which perpetuates a closed world of imitation, confirmation bias and argument from authority. This is exacerbated by the professionalisation and democratisation of rhapsody, which puts more emphasis on the rhapsode's performance than on the poetic message. In response to Ion's claim that he possesses the dianoia of the poet as proven by his ability to move the crowd, Socrates teaches Ion about the actual conditions for demonstrating expertise and the ways in which he fails to meet these criteria. The Protagoras is read as Socrates inoculating Hippocrates to the potentially deleterious effects of sophistic teaching. For each form of sophistic pedagogy, Socrates emphasises the importance of being able to answer on one's own behalf, without the need for rhetorical flourish or other voices. Concerning the content of sophistic pedagogy, Socrates creates a bulwark against the slide from unthinking dogmatism to unthinking egoism that may follow from discovering that god-sanctioned norms are actually human constructs for human benefit. In Part C I conclude by considering how Plato's adoption of the dialogue form is a response to these critiques of Athenian pedagogical practice.


In 1531 Spanish explorers embarked from Peru and landed in what is now modem day Ecuador. Peru was "the richest of the New World prizes won for the Spanish crown" (Ecuador, 1991), but the Spanish wanted to find more colonies to plunder. Drunk with tales ofgreat riches in Ecuador, King Charles I of Spain decided to send an explorer by the name of Francisco Pizzaro to investigate. Pizzaro and his men killed thousands of Inca tribesmen; they also looted and. pillaged everything that they could find. By the early 154Os, the whole ofwhat is now Ecuador was under Spanish control. This article is available in The Park Place Economist: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/parkplace/vol5/iss1/17 Ecuador: Potential Policies for the Future


OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to validate the Global Alignment and Proportion (GAP) score in a cohort of patients undergoing adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery. The GAP score is a novel measure that uses sagittal parameters relative to each patient's lumbosacral anatomy to predict mechanical complications after ASD surgery. External validation is required.

METHODS
Adult ASD patients undergoing > 4 levels of posterior fusion with a minimum 2-year follow-up were included. Six-week postoperative standing radiographs were used to calculate the GAP score, classified into a spinopelvic state as proportioned (P), moderately disproportioned (MD), or severely disproportioned (SD). A chi-square analysis, receiver operating characteristic curve, and Cochran-Armitage analysis were performed to assess the relationship between the GAP score and mechanical complications.

RESULTS
Sixty-seven patients with a mean age of 52.5 years (range 18-75 years) and a mean follow-up of 2.04 years were included. Patients with < 2 years of follow-up were included only if they had an early mechanical complication. Twenty of 67 patients (29.8%) had a mechanical complication. The spinopelvic state breakdown was as follows: P group, 21/67 (31.3%); MD group, 23/67 (34.3%); and SD group, 23/67 (34.3%). Mechanical complication rates were not significantly different among all groups: P group, 19.0%; MD group, 30.3%; and SD group, 39.1% (χ2 = 1.70, p = 0.19). The rates of mechanical complications between the MD and SD groups (30.4% and 39.1%) were less than those observed in the original GAP study (MD group 36.4%-57.1% and SD group 72.7%-100%). Within the P group, the rates in this study were higher than in the original study (19.0% vs 4.0%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
The authors found no statistically significant difference in the rate of mechanical complications between the P, MD, and SD groups. The current validation study revealed poor generalizability toward the authors' patient population.


NOD1 and NOD2 have been found to play a significant regulatory role in autoimmune disease. To analyze the role of NOD1 and NOD2 in the pathogenesis of Vogt- Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome and Behcet's disease (BD). We analyzed the expression of NOD1 and NOD2 from PBMCs by RT-PCR and Western Blot. PBMCs and DCs were cultured with NOD receptor ligands iE-DAP (NOD1) or MDP (NOD2) and cells and supernatants were analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). DCs and CD4+T cells were co-cultured with or without stimulation and cells and supernatants were analyzed by FCM and ELISA. A higher expression of NOD1 and NOD2 was observed in patients with active VKH syndrome as compared with controls. However, no significant differences were found between BD patients and controls. Activation of NOD1 and NOD2 with iE-DAP or MDP markedly increased the level of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β in PBMCs and DCs and induced the expression of CD40, CD80, CD83, CD86 and HLA-DR on DCs. Activation of NOD1 and NOD2 in DCs promoted the differentiation and proliferation of CD4(+)T cells. In conclusion, activation of NOD1 or NOD2 increased the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in PBMCs and promoted the maturation and activation of human DCs in association with stimulation of Th1 and Th17 cells. Our results suggest that over-expression of NOD1 and NOD2 may be involved in the pathogenesis of VKH syndrome.


This article develops a simple model that captures a concern for relative standing, or status. This concern is instrumental, in the sense that individuals do not get utility directly from their relative standing, but, rather, the concern is induced because their relative standing affects their consumption of standard commodities. The article investigates the consequences of a concern for relative wealth in models in which individuals are making labor/leisure decisions. The analysis shows how individuals' decisions are affected by the aggregate income distribution and how the concern for relative wealth can generate behavior that can be interpreted as conspicuous consumption when wealth is not directly observable.


Statistics are the lifeblood of baseball. Managers pore over batting averages to determine game day lineups and batting orders; high number of runs batted in and low earned run averages receive praise from the press, higher salaries from the front office, and love from fans; and the fate of fantasy baseball players rises and falls with each statistical change. The prominence of the RC/27 and other more complex, formula-driven stats has made numbers even more important to understanding and appreciating the game. For all these baseball buffs and more, Frederick E. Taylor provides a new measure of hitting prowess that just might be a game changer. Taylor's potential runs per game (PRG) measure accounts for batters getting on base, advancing runners, and driving in runs, and it separates leadoff and second batters from those in the middle of the order. Taylor introduces the measure, explains how it works, and applies it to players past and present. He breaks the history of major league baseball into eight eras based on differences in runs scored per game. He systematically-player-by-player and position-by-position-compares the results of the PRG measure to those drawn from other statistics, such as on-base percentage and slugging average. Taylor shows that PRG is more accurate and that career clutch hitting is a myth. Sabermetricians, baseball fans of all stripes, and anyone who earns a living from the sport will find a wealth of information and a whole new set of stats to obsess over in The Runmakers. Measuring baseball will never be the same.


This paper is the first of a series which will describe the development of a synthetic plant volatile-based attracticide for noctuid moths. It discusses potential sources of volatiles attractive to the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner), and an approach to the combination of these volatiles in synthetic blends. We screened a number of known host and non-host (for larval development) plants for attractiveness to unmated male and female moths of this species, using a two-choice olfactometer system. Out of 38 plants tested, 33 were significantly attractive to both sexes. There was a strong correlation between attractiveness of plants to males and females. The Australian natives, Angophora floribunda and several Eucalyptus species were the most attractive plants. These plants have not been recorded either as larval or oviposition hosts of Helicoverpa spp., suggesting that attraction in the olfactometer might have been as nectar foraging rather than as oviposition sources. To identify potential compounds that might be useful in developing moth attractants, especially for females, collections of volatiles were made from plants that were attractive to moths in the olfactometer. Green leaf volatiles, floral volatiles, aromatic compounds, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes were found. We propose an approach to developing synthetic attractants, here termed 'super-blending', in which compounds from all these classes, which are in common between attractive plants, might be combined in blends which do not mimic any particular attractive plant.


To protect the "noble ideal" that "every defendant stands equal before the law," Gideon v. Wainwright guaranteed the right to defense counsel for those who cannot afford it. Gideon's concept is elegantly simple: if you are too poor to pay for counsel, the government will provide. The much more complicated reality, however, is that since Gideon, courts have assigned counsel to millions of American defendants too poor to pay for an attorney, have required those defendants to pay for their counsels' services, and have punished those unable to do so. This essay examines how we moved from Gideon's guarantee to this reality. I assert that Gideon's protection against recoupment for those with no ability to pay has remained hidden in plain sight due to misinterpretations in two lines of cases. The first line involves a series of cases in which the Court held that the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment required the waiver of financial barriers to accessing the courts. The second line involves the misapplication of the Fifth Amendment's collateral consequences doctrine to the Sixth Amendment's effective assistance of counsel jurisprudence, leading to a misunderstanding that to be constitutionally effective, counsel need not advise a client about collateral consequences. I posit that the intersection of these two lines of cases has obscured the unconstitutional nature of today's recoupment schemes, pushing Gideon out of the picture. The more or less successful attempts by advocates, academics, and the courts to squeeze recoupment into a due process/equal protection/effective assistance of counsel frame misses the fact that today's version of recoupment is itself a Gideon problem.


The tropical impact on the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) is examined in an ensemble of atmospheric general circulation model runs that use relaxation towards the ERA‐40 reanalysis in the tropics for winters between 1960/61 and 2001/02 and performed with a recent version of the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts model. 25% of the interannual variance of the EAWM can be reproduced in the ensemble mean by the model experiments with relaxation, even though the influence from ENSO appears to be weak. The implication is that there is the possibility of enhanced predictability for the EAWM resulting from improved forecast skill in the tropics as a whole. Prescribing observed sea surface temperature and sea ice without using relaxation cannot reproduce the interannual variability of the EAWM in our experiments, questioning the usefulness of uncoupled atmosphere models in this region, consistent with previous studies.


This thesis describes an investigation which was carried out under the Interdisciplinary Higher Degres (IHD) Scheme of The University of Aston in Birmingham. The investigation, which involved joint collaboration between the IHD scheme, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and G.E.C. Turbine Generators Limited, was concerned with hydrostatic bearing characteristics and of how hydrostatic bearings could be used to enable turbine generator rotor support impedances to be controlled to give an improved rotor dynamic response. Turbine generator rotor critical speeds are determined not only by the mass and flexibility of the rotor itself, which are relatively easily predicted, but also by the dynamic characteristics of the bearing oil film, pedestal, and foundations. It is because of the difficulty in accurately predicting the rotor support characteristics that the designer has a problem in ensuring that a rotor's normal running speed is not close to one of its critical speeds. The consequence of this situation is that some rotors do have critical speeds close to their normal running speed and the resulting high levels of vibration cause noise, high rotor stresses, and a shortening of bearing life. A combined theoretical and experimental investigation of the effects of mounting the normal rotor journal bearing in a hydrostatic bearing was carried out. The purpose of the work was to show that by changing the oil flow resistance offered by capillaries connecting accumulators to the hydrostatic bearing, the overall rotor support characteristics could be tuned to enable rotor critical speeds to be moved at will. Testing of a combined journal and hydrostatic bearing has confirmed the theory of its operation and a theoretical study of a full size machine showed that its critical speed could be moved by over 350 rpm and that its rotor vibration at running speed could be reduced by 80%.


The late Cenozoic radiation of the Pacific salmon and trout (Oncorhynchus spp.) resulted in five species that are widely distributed in western North America and occupy distinct parts of river networks. The dramatic radiation of the Pacific salmon contrasts with the history of the Atlantic salmon, which have evolved little since the divergence of Oncorhynchus. Conventional hypotheses for the radiation of the Pacific salmon stress geographic isolation due to Pleistocene glaciations, but paleontological evidence dates their speciation to the middle Miocene to early Pliocene. Tertiary marine cooling may have spurred the development of anadromy in salmon and other fish, but does not readily explain the different evolutionary trajectories for the Pacific and Atlantic salmon. The timing of Pacific salmon speciation corresponds to significant physiographic changes around the Pacific Rim, suggesting that increased topographic diversity due to an active tectonic regime contributed to the evolution of the Pacific salmon.


Taking a multisector and multimarket approach, Digital Media Worlds provides an in-depth analysis of the major economic developments of the book publishing, broadcasting, film, music, newspaper and video game industries. The contributors offer a detailed overview of the industries and their dynamics within global telecommunications, media and IT, combining vertical views and a synthetic horizontal approach to marshal facts and document their economic relevance. The collection focuses on core economic and management issues (cost structures, value network chain, business models) and analyses new ecosystems and value chains in global markets such as Asia.


Background: The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of injection dexmedetomidine 5 μg and injection fentanyl when given intrathecally as adjuvant to injection bupivacaine in patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy in terms of the following parameters: (1) Characteristics of onset of sensory and motor block. (2) Characteristics of regression of sensory and motor block. (3) Level of sedation (4) Hemodynamic stability as assessed by pulse rate, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure (BP) and requirements of vasopressors. (5) Quality of postoperative analgesia as assessed by visual analog scale. (6) Evaluation of complications associated with injection dexmedetomidine and injection fentanyl when used as an adjuvant to injection bupivacaine. Materials and Methods: Ninety patients of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Class I and II posted for lower abdominal surgeries were allocated randomly into three groups of thirty patients each. C group: (n = 30) received 0.5 mL normal saline with hyperbaric bupivacaine 17.5 mg in 3.5 mL to make 4 mL. D group: (n = 30) received dexmedetomidine 5 μg with hyperbaric bupivacaine 17.5 mg in 3.5 mL diluted with 0.4 mL normal saline to make it 4 mL. F group: (n = 30) received fentanyl 25 μg with hyperbaric bupivacaine 17.5 mg in 3.5 mL to make 4 mL. Results and Conclusion: We observed that the groups were comparable with respect to demographic data (age, weight, height and duration of surgery) and onset time of sensory and motor blockade. The onset of sensory and motor block was slightly delayed in both groups. Two segment regression time of sensory blockade and time to reach Bromage scale 0 was greatly significant in dexmedetomidine and fentanyl. However, in comparison of the two, dexmedetomidine was clearly superior. The groups were comparable in terms of hemodynamic parameters, oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate, though there had been a statistically significant fall in BP and heart rate when compared to baseline. Sedation scores were found to be statistically significantly higher in group dexmedetomidine as compared to Fentanyl. The results showed statistically significant increase in the duration of postoperative analgesia in group using dexmedetomidine as compared to group fentanyl. The requirement of first rescue analgesic was greatly significant. The group using fentanyl had an postoperative pain free period of unto 4 h and dexmedetomidine had analgesia period unto 7 h. We found some adverse effects such as hypotension, bradycardia, nausea and vomiting with dexmedetomidine and fentanyl; however, the results were statistically insignificant. To conclude, the addition of dexmedetomidine prolonged the sensory and motor block significantly when used with hyperbaric bupivacaine intrathecally, to a much greater extent to the addition of fentanyl without increasing the incidence of significant adverse effects.


The today universal recognition of 'inalienable' human rights implies that the legitimacy and legality of all government measures, including rules and decisions of intergovernmental organizations, depend also on their respect for human rights as defined in national constitutions and international law. This contribution argues that the universal human rights obligations of every Member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) pursue objectives (like protection of personal autonomy, freedom of choice, legal security) that complement those of liberal trade and may be legally relevant context for the interpretation of WTO rules (chapters I-II). The human rights approach to international trade advocated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (chapter III) could, like the 1996 WTO and 1998 ILO Declarations on core labor standards (chapter IV), promote synergies between human rights law and GATT/WTO law. The 'basic rights approach' to trade liberalization in European integration (chapter V), as well as the GATT-, WTO- and EC dispute settlement jurisprudence (chapter VI) confirm that, on the level of principles, human rights and liberal trade rules do not conflict with each other. The emerging 'human right to democratic governance' requires, however, more effective parliamentary involvement, citizen participation, and 'deliberative democracy' in WTO matters (chapter VII). A WTO Declaration (1) confirming the commitment of WTO Members to respect their existing human rights obligations in all policy areas; (2) supporting the progressive development of human rights through the competent UN and other human rights bodies; and (3) welcoming the UN initiatives for harnessing the complementarity of WTO rules and human rights for welfare-increasing cooperation among free citizens, could enhance the 'input-legitimacy' as well as the 'output-legitimacy'of WTO negotiations -- without creating new WTO obligations or new WTO competencies. The limited mandate of the WTO, however, and the divergent human rights concepts and diverse constitutional traditions in WTO member countries, make a consensus among WTO Members on such a Declaration unlikely. Even though the WTO should leave the interpretation, monitoring, and progressive development of human rights to specialized human rights bodies outside the WTO, WTO dispute settlement bodies may be legally required to address arguments that human rights may be relevant legal context for interpreting WTO rules (chapter VIII). Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved, Oxford University Press.


Speleothems are considered a reliable proxy for paleoclimatic reconstructions and analysis of stable carbon isotopes in speleothems is used for paleoclimatic reconstructions. However, in temperate areas that lacks C4 vegetation there are uncertainties in how to interpret changes in the δ13C signal. The aim of this study is toincrease the understanding of how the δ13C signal in speleothems from temperateareas can be interpreted. The study was divided in two parts, first a literature studythat focused on interpretations of the δ13C signal in speleothems from temperate areasand a case study in which a comparison of seven 13C records from similarenvironments in the Scandes Mountains and the Alps are made. The results from the literature study were used in the case study to draw conclusions on tree line and vegetation changes during Holocene in central northern Scandinavia. The study showed that trends in interpretation of the δ13C signal in speleothems from temperateareas are that low δ13C values are interpreted as wetter, warmer conditions with higherbio productivity, and high δ13C values are interpreted as colder, drier conditions withlower bio productivity. Further it was found in the study that vegetation changes seen in Holocene pollen data are also seen in δ13C records from Scandinavia. The δ13Csignal in temperate speleothems therefore appears to be related to changes invegetation density and to tree-line changes.


A framework for the optimum development and transfer of conflict‐handling skills via outdoor management development (OMD) programmes has already been presented (Part I, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 23 No. 7). A qualitative study with ten OMD providers confirmed the framework to be tenable insofar as the concepts represented within it were reportedly utilised as aspects of provision but, crucially, there was little evidence of an underlying rationale or set of principles to optimise effect. Hence, a questionnaire survey was conducted to ascertain perceived provision from the client's perspective and to provide a foundation for assessment of the framework to a wider managerial population. The results suggested that aspects of the framework were identifiable to participants as features of course design but, once again, there was an apparent lack of awareness about how these approaches were best utilised to optimise skills transfer. Results from both studies indicate a common lack of understanding on behalf of both providers and clients as to the pedagogical or philosophical principles underlying the application of particular methodologies to maximise efficacy.


The World Health Organization defines emergency contraception (EC) as a means to prevent unwanted pregnancy. In countries where EC is dispensed behind the counter, emergency departments are a preferred point of care for its prescription and dispensing. In light of this situation and as no studies on emergency contraception in emergency departments in Italy have been conducted to date, this study was designed with a view to analyze the responses of emergency room physicians in relation to their prescribing habits and knowledge about the drug and in relation to frequency and profile of women arriving for care at hospital emergency departments in Piedmont and requesting prescription for the morning-after pill. This cross-sectional survey involved 29 hospital emergency departments in Piedmont where no gynecologists are on active duty. The survey instrument was a 24-item questionnaire. Analysis of responses revealed that in the physicians' opinion the vast majority of requests came from Italian nationals (97%) ranging in age from 18 to 30 years (76%), single and not cohabiting with a partner (60%), and nulliparous (64.0%). Women mostly request EC for first-time and the most common reasons were condom breakage or slippage. Just over half the physicians (52%) stated that emergency contraception prescription was not an appropriate part of care provided at an emergency department and 72% stated they felt uneasy about prescribing emergency contraception. The survey also revealed gaps in physician knowledge about the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of emergency contraception pills.


Nearly 800 000 people in the European Region of WHO are killed annually by injuries, whether these are intentional or unintentional. Preventing and controlling unintentional injuries and violence comprises a priority for public health action requiring strong leadership from the health sector. To understand the extent of the response to date and to identify areas where more action may be needed, a European survey of national responses to the prevention of violence and unintentional injuries has been conducted. The focal persons on violence and unintentional injury prevention appointed by health ministries participated in the survey. Thirty-one of the 42 countries to which it was sent, returned the questionnaires, a response rate of 74%. The survey shows that few countries have developed an adequate structural response or devoted adequate resources to the problem. This especially applies to lowto middle-income countries in the Region, which have the highest burden of injuries. These results demonstrate that more concerted action is needed. This includes the need for advocacy, surveillance, building capacity, developing policy and mobilizing resources. The results form a useful baseline for assessing future activities and identifying country-specific areas that could be targeted for further development.


Waste heat recovery systems (WHRS), uses exhaust gas in the boiler, are very important in terms of increasing energy efficiency and reducing green gas emissions. Due to this reason, WHRS get more importance. Although dual pressure WHR boiler is more efficient than single pressure boiler, dual pressure boiler needs more heat transfer surface are. When the stage of boiler increases, the size of boiler also increases so it makes dual pressure more expensive. Engine load, exhaust gas temperature and fuel types, effect exhaust gas energy level, are the efficiency parameters for WHRS. In this study two-stroke Diesel engine performance is analyzed in terms of thermal efficiency, engine load, specific fuel oil consumption (SFOC), exergy efficiency and exegetic performance coefficient (EPC). It is shown that which boiler type is suitable due to the working condition in term of technical size and economic parameters. KeywordsWaste Heat Recovery System (WHRS); Single Pressure Boiler; Dual Pressure Boiler; Two-Stroke Diesel Engine; Energetic Efficiency; Exegetic Performance Coefficient.


Rules of customary international law provide basic legal protections to foreign investors doing business abroad. These rules remain of fundamental importance today despite the growing number of investment treaties containing substantive investment protection. In this book, Patrick Dumberry provides a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of custom in the field of international investment law. He analyses two fundamental questions: how customary rules are created in this field and how they can be identified. The book examines the types of manifestation of state practice which should be considered as relevant evidence for the formation of customary rules, and to what extent they are different from those existing under general international law. The book also analyses the concept of states' opinio juris in investment arbitration. Offering guidance to actors called upon to apply customary rules in concrete cases, this book will be of significant importance to those involved in investment arbitration.


We here propose an android crime reporter which tracks the investigation status of criminal cases with logs as well as it also track complaints logged by the user. The system is proposed to help agencies like CBI, CID and other such bureau's to speed up their investigation process and track status of multiple cases at a time. In this system, society itself helps the authority to get the crime details quickly and to proceed with investigation. They will help the authorities to find out the crime ratio in the society. The system keeps logs of a case which includes case summary, people involved, disputes, past criminal history of those involved, Items recovered on scene and other details. The system realizes the type of case, allows admin to update the status of investigation, upload more images of crime and items found on scene etc. User can post their missing person's details with a photograph. User may also check for the status updated by the admin. The system is designed to aid investigation teams to work collectively on cases, coordinate and also speed up the process by suggesting logical suspects based on data provided.


This paper tackles RGBD based gaze estimation with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). Specifically, we propose to decompose gaze point estimation into eyeball pose, head pose, and 3D eye position estimation. Compared with RGB image-based gaze tracking, having depth modality helps to facilitate head pose estimation and 3D eye position estimation. The captured depth image, however, usually contains noise and black holes which noticeably hamper gaze tracking. Thus we propose a CNN-based multi-task learning framework to simultaneously refine depth images and predict gaze points. We utilize a generator network for depth image generation with a Generative Neural Network (GAN), where the generator network is partially shared by both the gaze tracking network and GAN-based depth synthesizing. By optimizing the whole network simultaneously, depth image synthesis improves gaze point estimation and vice versa. Since the only existing RGBD dataset (EYEDIAP) is too small, we build a large-scale RGBD gaze tracking dataset for performance evaluation. As far as we know, it is the largest RGBD gaze dataset in terms of the number of participants. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that our method outperforms existing methods by a large margin on both our dataset and the EYEDIAP dataset.


We used 48 Holstein-Friesian cows to investigate the effects of altering energy and protein supply to dry cows. Cows were fed one of three diets for 6 wk prior to parturition: (a) a 60:40 (DM basis) mixture of grass silage with barley straw ad libitum; (b) grass silage ad libitum; or (c) 0.5 kg/d of prairie meal with grass silage ad libitum. The standard lactation diet was a flat-rate allocation of concentrates and grass silage ad libitum. We evaluated dry-period diets using four dry fistulated cows; rumen pH remained high (mean = 6.6) and ammonia concentrations followed N intake. The inclusion of straw reduced apparent ruminal digestion of OM, N, and NDF as well as microbial protein yield, though microbial yield per unit of OM apparently digested in the rumen remained unchanged. Voluntary intake of forage was reduced by the inclusion of straw, while the inclusion of prairie meal had little effect. The decline in intake as calving approached was lower with the silage and straw mix diet. There were large differences in the BW change over the final 5 wk of the dry period, although the opposite effect was seen in early lactation, and differences in BW and body condition score were small by lactation wk 22. Despite the substantial differences in nutrient supply and effects on body reserves, there was little effect of dry-period diet on subsequent performance. Lower forage intakes and yields of protein and lactose were confined to the first month of lactation for cows previously offered straw.


In a changing society, with the uncertainties that the future holds for the education of new generations, teacher training faces considerable challenges. On the one hand, it must ensure training so that future teachers are highly prepared to teach, but also, it must emphasize the metacognitive thinking processes that allow them to develop the ability to learn to learn throughout their lives. The purpose of this document is to present the current status of a doctoral thesis research plan, referring to the initial training of teachers based on practice, which promotes metacognitive processes and lifelong learning. A mixed study of concurrent design is proposed, which allows us to jointly analyze the quantitative and qualitative results, considering the learning and evaluation activities that are carried out with future teachers in schools of education. The expected results will allow proposing an evaluation model of core practices aimed at enhancing metacognition and lifelong learning in future teachers. The document is organized in eight sections: context and motivation that drives the dissertation research, state of the art, hypothesis, research objectives, research approach, and methods, results to date and their validity, dissertation status, and expected contributions. Currently, the theoretical framework and instruments of the first phase of the research process have already been developed.


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The rational expectations hypothesis (REH) is the standard approach to expectations formation in macroeconomics. We discuss its compatibility with two strands of Karl Popper's philosophy: his theory of knowledge and learning, and his "rationality principle" (RP). First, we show that the REH is utterly incompatible with the former. Second, we argue that the REH can nevertheless be interpreted as a heuristic device that facilitates economic modeling and, consequently, it may be justified along the same lines as Popper's RP. We then argue that, our position as to the resolution of this paradox notwithstanding, Popper's philosophy provides a metatheoretical framework with which we can evaluate the REH. Within this framework, the REH can be viewed as a heuristic device or strategy that fulfils the same function as, for instance, the optimizing assumption. However, we believe that the REH imparts a serious methodological bias, since, by implying that macroeconomic instability is caused exclusively by "exogenous" shocks that randomly hit the economy, it precludes the analysis of any sources of inherent instability caused by the making of (nonrandom) errors by individuals, and hence it favors the creation of an institutional configuration that may be ill suited to address this type of instability.


It is well-known that with a parameter on the boundary of the parameter space, such as in the classic cases of testing for a zero location parameter or no ARCH e¤ects, the classic nonparametric bootstrap . based on unrestricted parameter estimates .leads to inconsistent testing. In contrast, we show here that for the two aforementioned cases a nonparametric bootstrap test based on parameter estimates obtained under the null .referred to as .restricted bootstrap. .is indeed consistent. While the restricted bootstrap is simple to implement in practice, novel theoretical arguments are required in order to establish consistency. In particular, since the bootstrap is analyzed both under the null hypothesis and under the alternative, non-standard asymptotic expansions are required to deal with parameters on the boundary. Detailed proofs of the asymptotic validity of the restricted bootstrap are given and, for the leading case of testing for no ARCH, a Monte Carlo study demonstrates that the bootstrap quasi-likelihood ratio statistic performs extremely well in terms of empirical size and power for even remarkably small samples, outperforming both the standard Lagrange multiplier test and the asymptotic quasi-likelihood ratio test.


In Queensland, sugarcane has been cropped as a monoculture for 80 years or more in most districts. In the last 30 years, plough-out and replant (no fallow) has increased,
as has reliance upon inorganic fertilisers, and intensive tillage to remove soil compaction. An associated decline in the productive capacity of the soil to grow sugarcane has been identified, and has been termed 'yield decline' (YD). Root health and sugarcane yields are increased after fallowing, crop rotation, and soil fumigants
(Magarey and Croft 1995; Garside et al. 2001; Meyer and Van Antwerpen 2001), implicating root pathogens in YD. However, in the past, nematode studies have been confined to testing the economics of using nematicides.
It was the objective of this work to explore the association between plant-parasitic nematodes and sugarcane in Queensland. Firstly, this thesis examines the incidence
of nematodes on field crops. The regional distribution of nematodes is reported, together with nematode populations and dynamics relating to (a) root habit, (b) root
distribution across the row to inter-row profile, and (c) temporal changes during the crop cycle.
Secondly, this thesis explores the parasitism of Queensland sugarcane by nematodes, and role in YD. The importance of sett roots, nematodes, and general YD biota on
early plant establishment from 0-100 days after planting is examined in field miniplots. Crop losses due to nematodes are assessed at 16 field sites using nonvolatile
nematicides, and the pathogenicity of Pratylenchus zeae is examined in glasshouse pots and field miniplots.
The lesion nematode (P. zeae) was found to be ubiquitous in sugarcane fields, and usually at higher densities than other species. The density of root-knot nematode
(Meloidogyne spp.) was also high in sandy soils (<20% clay), but a high proportion of other soils also contained this nematode, albeit at lower densities. The
ectoparasites, spiral nematode (Helicotylenchus dihystera), stubby-root nematode (Paratrichodorus minor) and stunt nematode (Tylenchorhynchus annulatus) were
also detected in a high number of fields (>66%). Historically, the sugar industry has perceived nematode problems to be confined to very sandy soils in south Queensland. However, plant-parasitic nematodes occur in all soils, suggesting a more widespread role in YD.
Within sugarcane fields, nematodes were distributed in aggregated patterns. Thus, densities of lesion nematode varied up to five-fold across short distances (1.4 m)
even at a constant distance (20 cm) from the sugarcane stool. Ring and spiral nematode were more aggregated than lesion nematode, perhaps due to more
sedentary feeding habits and greater sensitivity to edaphic gradients (eg. soil texture and moisture) across the field at the macro-distributional level. The 'negative
binomial model' was used to predict the sampling effort required to estimate mean nematode densities with degrees of precision. Mean nematode densities across the row, near row (20-30 cm from the stool), and inter-row were very similar during the crop cycle. Because high densities of
nematodes were regularly recovered from 'near the row' this zone was recommended for standard sampling. During the crop cycle, nematode densities were related to the
volume of the root system and its growth rate, as influenced by season. Because sugarcane develops a new root system annually, nematode densities increased and then declined each year. At planting, up to 400 lesion nematodes and up to 100 spiral nematodes/200 mL of soil were present, which was usually more than other pest species (<50 nematodes/200 mL of soil). Lesion nematode generally persisted at
higher densities than other pest species during the crop cycle.
Lesion nematode was pathogenic to sugarcane in 1.5 L pots, reducing root weight and sometimes reducing shoot biomass. In 50 L pots, this nematode caused a general blackening of roots and reduced fine root length by over 50%. Shoot biomass was generally not reduced, suggesting that YD is induced by a combination of root pathogens.
At planting, prior studies have related poor primary tiller emergence to poor sett root growth in field soil (Cadet and Spaull 1985; Garside et al. 2002 a; Pankhurst et al.
2002). However, this study showed that buds can rely entirely upon the stem cutting to shoot and become established primary tillers. It was concluded that damaged buds, dormant buds, a poorly nurtured seed source, and poor sett root growth, all contribute to poor primary tiller establishment. Deleterious soil biota and nematodes also
reduced the health and volume of shoot roots, which reduced the number of secondary tillers emerging at early establishment. While the experimental sites had a
history of consistent fumigation responses (>80%), nematicide responses were quite variable (0-50%). Experiments in glasshouse pots confirmed that nematodes
contribute in part to fumigation responses in YD soils.
To assess crop losses, nematodes were controlled for the entire crop cycle using nonvolatile nematicides at 16 field sites. Fertile sandy loam to clay soils were chosen
where losses from nematodes have only been speculated on previously. While poor tillering due to serious nematodes problems is well documented in sandy soils (<10%
clay) in Queensland and around the world (Bull 1981; Spaull and Cadet 1990), stalk numbers were increased with nematicides only at some of the sites reported in this
thesis. This contrast was attributed to the relatively low populations of root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) at planting, and higher soil fertility. However, stalk
length was significantly increased in nematicide-treated plots at most sites. Thus, responses in harvest yield of 0-20 T/ha were usually observed in both plant and
ratoon crops. Untreated crop yields were average for the surrounding districts, as were nematode densities, suggesting the responses were robust across regions. Upon
extrapolation, lost productivity from nematodes is estimated at over A$ 100 million annually. These results indicate that nematodes are a subtle but important pest, and
contribute to YD on the sandy loam to clay soils on which 95% of Australia's sugarcane is grown.
The environment and/or level of crop management influenced yield losses from nematodes, and nematicides responses were related to the control of a number of species, especially in ratoons. However, lesion nematode was correlated most
consistently with reduced sugarcane yield. It was concluded that lesion nematode is the most important nematode pest of sugarcane in Queensland, and contributes to YD
by reducing the health of primary and secondary roots, and by decreasing the length and number of fine roots.


Studying growth and development of plants is of central importance in botany. Current quantitative are either limited to tedious and sparse manual measurements, or coarse image-based 2D measurements. Availability of cheap and portable 3D acquisition devices has the potential to automate this process and easily provide scientists with volumes of accurate data, at a scale much beyond the realms of existing methods. However, during their development, plants grow new parts (e.g., vegetative buds) and bifurcate to different components --- violating the central incompressibility assumption made by existing acquisition algorithms, which makes these algorithms unsuited for analyzing growth. We introduce a framework to study plant growth, particularly focusing on accurate localization and tracking topological events like budding and bifurcation. This is achieved by a novel forward-backward analysis, wherein we track robustly detected plant components back in time to ensure correct spatio-temporal event detection using a locally adapting threshold. We evaluate our approach on several groups of time lapse scans, often ranging from days to weeks, on a diverse set of plant species and use the results to animate static virtual plants or directly attach them to physical simulators.


The Italian civil war and the Nazi occupation of Italy occurred at a critical juncture, just before the birth of a new democracy and when, for the first time in a generation, Italians were choosing political affiliations and forming political identities. In this paper we study how these traumatic events shaped the new political system. We exploit geographic heterogeneity in the intensity and duration of the civil war, and the persistence of the battlefront along the "Gothic line" cutting through Northern-Central Italy. We find that the Communist Party gained votes in the post-war elections where the Nazi occupation and the civil war lasted longer, mainly at the expense of the centrist and catholic parties. This effect persists until the early 1990s. Evidence also suggests that this is due to an effect on political attitudes. Thus, the foreign occupation and the civil war left a lasting legacy of political extremism and polarization on the newborn Italian democracy.


The DARPA Grand Challenge was a landmark in the field of robotics: a race by autonomous vehicles through 132 miles of rough, cross-country Nevada terrain that showcased exciting and unprecedented capabilities in robotic perception, navigation, and control. The event took place in October 2005, and drew teams of competitors from academia and industry, and many garage hobbyists. This book presents fifteen technical papers that are written at a level that makes them easily accessible to a broad technical audience, describing the technology behind most of the robotic vehicles that participated in this famous race. The papers describe each team's driverless vehicle, race strategy, and insights. As a whole, they present the state of the art in autonomous vehicle technology, and offer a glimpse of future technology for tomorrows driverless cars. This book will serve as an authoritative, archival source for the DARPA Grand Challenge and a must have for robotics students and researchers, since it describes the state of the art in perception, planning and control.


Drawing upon examples of street vendors in Hanoi, this study explores gendered strategies to adapt to rapid urbanization, and how street vendors' responses, in turn, shape the current informal food systems. The findings show that Hanoi's informal food system is organized based on social, as well as economic, interactions and therefore the system's power hierarchy and gender relations are different from those of formal systems, while providing livelihood opportunities for poor people in both urban and rural spaces. Women operate based on social relations rather than economic interactions, while men's activities tend to be more capital-based and similar to the formal systems. As a result, men and women encounter different challenges in sustaining their activities in the face of policy and/or economic changes. The study concludes by highlighting adaptation capacity built upon social relations and describing the implications of integrating gender aspects for urban planning toward building more inclusive cities.


Increased attention and focus has been laid on the strategic importance of intellectual capital for modern management. However, intangible resources appear difficult to measure. Today, there are several methods, both financial and nonfinancial ones that allow managing them, to provide benchmarking and analyze its value added function (Sveiby, 2007). The rare investigations of intellectual capital in Russian enterprises show that 'Almost in all industries it is still more profitable to invest in tangible assets rather than in intangible ones' (Volkov, Garanina, 2007). Still, some investigations on the micro level show that there are enterprises with high level of technological capital and innovative activity. The researchers called them 'innovative leaders' and empirically proved that they have high labor productivity and are awarded by market through extra profit (Gonchar et al., 2010). Using the research sample and Pulic's Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™) the authors investigate empirically the dynamics and structure of VAIC, and study the relation between the intellectual capital and indicators of organizational performance, such as labor productivity, sales growth and profitability. Additionally, the VAIC™ model allows analyzing the role of human, structural and physical capital. This paper outlines the study based on 350 Russian industrial enterprises' annual statistical and account reports from 2005 through 2007. Besides, the authors adopt the VAIC calculation according to the Russian accounting system's specifications and limitations. The findings support the hypothesis that a company's intellectual capital influences favorably the organizational performance, and may indicate future competitiveness. A proof showing that the explanatory power of models is higher when considering the additional variables such as investment in fixed capital, R&D expenditures and a company's size is represented. The results extend the understanding of the intellectual capital role in creation of sustainable advantages for companies in developing economies where different technological advancements may bring different implications for organizational value creation efficiency.


DIGESTIBILITY, NITROGEN BALANCE, AND BLOOD METABOLITES IN LLAMA (Lama glama) AND ALPACA (Lama pacos) FED BARLEY AND BARLEY ALFALFA FORAGES. Heather L. Davies Department of Integrative Biology Masters of Science These projects were conducted to determine the digestibility of forage diets with differing CP levels in llamas and alpacas. The Utah study was designed to compare llama and alpaca nutritional parameters to determine if nutritional recommendations for llamas can be directly extrapolated to alpacas. The first study evaluated the effects of forage quality on blood metabolites and nitrogen balance in mature, intact male llamas (n = 4, 36 ± 4.4 months, 87 ± 17 kg) at high altitude in Letanias, Bolivia (4,267 m = aprox.14,000 ft above sea level). A second experiment was conducted with eight adult gelded camelids (n = 8; 4 llamas, 24-36 months, 90 ± 10.7 kg; 4 alpacas, 24-36 months, 50 ± 4 kg) at Brigham Young University, Provo, UT (altitude 1370 m). Animals were randomly fed barley hay (B) and 80% barley/20% alfalfa hay (BA). A fresh cut grass pasture (P) was included as the third forage for Bolivian llamas. Animals were housed in metabolism crates and diets were fed for a 7 d adjustment period followed by a 5 d collection period. Feed, feed refusal, feces and urine were collected, dried and N content determined by combustion analysis. Venous blood samples were collected on d 12 at 30 min intervals over a 6 h period. Plasma was harvested and analyzed for electrolytes (Na, K, Cl, Ca, Ca, P, Mg) and metabolites (glucose, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs), urea N, creatinine, albumin, total protein (TPP), osmolality (Osm)). Llamas and alpacas demonstrated differences with respect to nitrogen metabolism when consuming forage diets with differing protein concentration. Llamas showed a N maintenance requirement of 0.75 g crude N/ W. Using the standard CP to digestible protein (DP) conversion factor of 0.8, llamas required 0.60 digestible N/W. When consuming the same high protein barley alfalfa diet, llamas had a much greater increase in N retention than alpacas. These species differences indicate that alpacas have a higher N requirement to meet metabolic needs, and extrapolations with respect to nitrogen requirements and balance are not valid between llamas and alpacas. In the Bolivian llama trial, locally grown and harvested hycrested and Siberian wheat grass pasture (P), barley (B), and barley80%/alfalfa20% (BA) hays were fed. The Bolivian llamas were in negative N balance when fed the B and P diets. Dry matter digestibility was greater with the B and BA than P forage, and N digestibility was significantly higher with BA than either the B or P forages. Nitrogen maintenance requirement for Bolivian llamas at 4,267 m was 0.58 compared to 0.75 g crude N/W for Utah llamas, an increased digestive efficiency and a lower N maintenance requirement at higher altitude.


Abstract. Monsoon inversion (MI) over the Arabian Sea (AS) is one of the important characteristics associated with the monsoon activity over Indian region during summer monsoon season. In the present study, we have used 5 years (2009–2013) of temperature and water vapour measurement data obtained from satellite sounder instrument, an Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) onboard MetOp satellite, in addition to ERA-Interim data, to study their characteristics. The lower atmospheric data over the AS have been examined first to identify the areas where MIs are predominant and occur with higher strength. Based on this information, a detailed study has been made to investigate their characteristics separately in the eastern AS (EAS) and western AS (WAS) to examine their contrasting features. The initiation and dissipation times of MIs, their percentage occurrence, strength, etc., has been examined using the huge database. The relation with monsoon activity (rainfall) over Indian region during normal and poor monsoon years is also studied. WAS ΔT values are  ∼  2 K less than those over the EAS, ΔT being the temperature difference between 950 and 850 hPa. A much larger contrast between the WAS and EAS in ΔT is noticed in ERA-Interim data set vis-a-vis those observed by satellites. The possibility of detecting MI from another parameter, refractivity N, obtained directly from another satellite constellation of GPS Radio Occultation (RO) (COSMIC), has also been examined. MI detected from IASI and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard the NOAA satellite have been compared to see how far the two data sets can be combined to study the MI characteristics. We suggest MI could also be included as one of the semipermanent features of southwest monsoon along with the presently accepted six parameters.


We present a new approach to matching graphs embedded in ℝ2 or ℝ3. Unlike earlier methods, our approach does not rely on the similarity of local appearance features, does not require an initial alignment, can handle partial matches, and can cope with non-linear deformations and topological differences. To handle arbitrary non-linear deformations, we represent them as Gaussian Processes. In the absence of appearance information, we iteratively establish correspondences between graph nodes, update the structure accordingly, and use the current mapping estimate to find the most likely correspondences that will be used in the next iteration. This makes the computation tractable. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach first on synthetic cases and then on angiography data, retinal fundus images, and microscopy image stacks acquired at very different resolutions.


The aims of this research is to experimentally investigate the post-wrinkling behavior in GFRP cell-core sandwiches with orthotropic webs as well as the applicability of existing theories, e.g. the rotated stress field theory, to orthotropic FRP material systems. Through biaxial compression-tension experiments on web-core panels, the redistribution of the strain field during post-wrinkling was examined for two different fiber architectures, [90/0] and [±45] stacking sequences. The results prove that the fiber architecture greatly influences the wrinkling loads, the wrinkling mode as well as the post-wrinkling behavior. Furthermore, the results show that taking into account the post-wrinkling behavior can increase the ultimate strength of the whole sandwich structure and/or add redundancy to the system which enhances the safety, functionality and reliability level of the structure.


Surface reconstruction for point clouds is an important task in 3D computer vision. Most of the latest methods resolve this problem by learning signed distance functions (SDF) from point clouds, which are limited to reconstructing shapes or scenes with closed surfaces. Some other methods tried to represent shapes or scenes with open surfaces using unsigned distance functions (UDF) which are learned from large scale ground truth unsigned distances. However, the learned UDF is hard to provide smooth distance fields near the surface due to the noncontinuous character of point clouds. In this paper, we propose a novel method to learn consistency-aware unsigned distance functions directly from raw point clouds. We achieve this by learning to move 3D queries to reach the surface with a field consistency constraint, where we also enable to progressively estimate a more accurate surface. Specifically, we train a neural network to gradually infer the relationship between 3D queries and the approximated surface by searching for the moving target of queries in a dynamic way, which results in a consistent field around the surface. Meanwhile, we introduce a polygonization algorithm to extract surfaces directly from the gradient field of the learned UDF. The experimental results in surface reconstruction for synthetic and real scan data show significant improvements over the state-of-the-art under the widely used benchmarks.


This study was conducted primarily to assess the change
agent roles of the Fishermen Development Area (FDA) staff of the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM). Data for this study were gathered from 59 FDA frontline officers from five selected FDAs through group self-administered questionnaires and drop-and-collect data collection method. The study revealed that majority of the respondents were 30 years old and below; majority of them completed the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate/Malaysian School Certificate; nine were Diploma and Bachelor's Degree holders and majority of them joined LKIM without any working experience. With regard to role performance of the FDA staff contacted, the study revealed that almost all of the respondents did not consider work planning as part of their responsibility; more than three-fourths consulted their state supervisors as need arises; more respondents were dissatisfied than satisfied with
their job; and slightly more than three-fourths of the
respondents had linkage with staff from other agencies
(mainly through meetings/conferences/workshops attended).
Both the assistant development officers and the development
assistants found it either very difficult or not difficult at all working with the fishermen. The managers were very certain of their felt difficulties both in working with the fishermen and with colleagues/supervisors and staff from other agencies. Generally, there seemed to be lack of clear understanding of change agent's role among the respondents.
Based on selected personal characteristics, the mental and
experiential preparation of the staff seemed to be inadequate for the officers to carry rut their expected change agent roles. Further preparation is needed for IKIM to help its staff to be more process-oriented.


A defined contribution pension plan allows consumption to be redistributed from the plan member's working life to retirement in a manner that is consistent with the member's personal preferences. The plan's optimal funding and investment strategies therefore depend on the desired pattern of consumption over the lifetime of the member.

We investigate these strategies under the assumption that the member has an Epstein-Zin utility function, which allows a separation between risk aversion and the elasticity of intertemporal substitution, and we also take into account the member's human capital.

We show that a stochastic lifestyling approach, with an initial high weight in equity-type investments and a gradual switch into bond-type investments as the retirement date approaches is an optimal investment strategy. In addition, the optimal contribution rate each year is not constant over the life of the plan but reflects trade-offs between the desire for current consumption, bequest and retirement savings motives at different stages in the life cycle, changes in human capital over the life cycle, and attitude to risk.


New to Photoshop? Looking to unlock the impressive power of Photoshop CC? Want to master image editing techniques and achieve professional-level results? Then Photoshop CC: Essential Skills is the resource you need. This book and companion websites proven combination of real world image editing examples, step-by-step projects, and professional advice from two internationally recognized authors and Adobe Photoshop Ambassadors delivers an essential learning experience for beginner to intermediate Photoshop users. This self-study guide to Photoshop CC covers the foundational skills for photographers and image editors to get started before moving onto more advanced image editing and photomontage techniques. A complete section of step-by-step imaging projects and 10+ hours of video tutorials on the companion website hone image editing skills to yield expert-quality results.


Intensively managed pine forests provide habitat for a diversity of wildlife species, including bats and rodents. In Kemper Co., MS, USA, Weyerhaeuser Company and Catchlight Energy LLC, on land owned and managed by Weyerhaeuser, intercrops `Alamo' switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) between rows of pines in managed loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations. I considered whether switchgrass intercropping in pine plantations results in differences in understory vegetation density, affects propagation of ultrasound, and affects acoustic signals of bats and rodents when compared to non-intercropped pine plantations. Treatments included traditionally managed pine plantations (P), pine plantations intercropped with switchgrass (PxS), and a no vegetation control (C). I measured understory vegetation density to determine if switchgrass intercropping increased understory vegetation density. I used broadcasting experiments to determine if treatment influences the absorption of sound energy and the distance ultrasound travels. I recorded bat and rodent ultrasound to determine if they are altering the spectral and temporal characteristics of their vocalizations in response to treatment. Understory vegetation density was higher in the PxS treatment, but both treatments had dense vegetation in the understory. The absorption coefficient was largest and sounds travelled the shortest distance in the PxS treatment plots, where vegetation density was highest. In P treatment plots, the absorption coefficient and the distance sound travelled were both intermediate. The absorption coefficient was smallest and sounds travelled the longest distance in the C treatment, where there was no vegetation present. I found no evidence to suggest that either bats or rodents are altering the spectral and temporal characteristics of vocalizations. Increased vegetation density could affect rodents living in the understory, because sound produced in habitat with dense vegetation are attenuated quickly. Rodents may respond to increased vegetation density by altering the spectral and temporal characteristics to improve sound transmission. Rodents may also respond to increased vegetation density by reducing the amount of ultrasonic vocalizations they produce and/or stop producing ultrasonic vocalizations, due to reduced signal effectiveness. Failure to detect signals in my system may or may not lead to decreased reproductive success of individuals, but more research needs to be done to fully understand the implications of reduced signal transmission on rodents.


Generative adversarial training can be generally understood as minimizing certain moment matching loss defined by a set of discriminator functions, typically neural networks. The discriminator set should be large enough to be able to uniquely identify the true distribution (discriminative), and also be small enough to go beyond memorizing samples (generalizable). In this paper, we show that a discriminator set is guaranteed to be discriminative whenever its linear span is dense in the set of bounded continuous functions. This is a very mild condition satisfied even by neural networks with a single neuron. Further, we develop generalization bounds between the learned distribution and true distribution under different evaluation metrics. When evaluated with neural distance, our bounds show that generalization is guaranteed as long as the discriminator set is small enough, regardless of the size of the generator or hypothesis set. When evaluated with KL divergence, our bound provides an explanation on the counter-intuitive behaviors of testing likelihood in GAN training. Our analysis sheds lights on understanding the practical performance of GANs.


The Dinarides are an integral part of the Alpine orogenic belt and stretch over large parts of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Monte Negro and Serbia. A great number of intra-montane basins formed in the interior of this Late Eocene to Early Oligocene orogen during the Miocene. These basins harbored a suite of long-lived lakes, collectively called the Dinaride Lake System (DLS). Lake Livno, with its 600km of preserved surface, was the second largest of these Dinaride Lakes. At present, its deposits are divided between the Livno and Tomislavgrad basins, which were part of a single basin when Lake Livno first formed. High resolution age constraints for the over 2km basin infill have been lacking up to now, partly due to the endemic nature of its lacustrine fauna. This severely hampered geodynamic as well as paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Here, we present a chronostratigraphy based on radioisotopic and magnetostratigraphic data. Ar/Ar measurements reveal that the Tušnica volcanic ash, found in between the Gomphoteriumbearing coal seams at the base of the basin infill, is 17.00±0.17 Ma old. Ar/Ar dating of the Mandek ash, correlative to the uppermost sedimentary unit, provides an age of 14.68±0.16 Ma. Correlation of the composite magnetostratigraphy for the main lacustrine depositional phase to the Astronomically Tuned Neogene Time Scale is straightforward and reveals that the majority of the deposits of Lake Livno accumulated between 17 Ma and approximately 13 Ma. The disappearance of Lake Livno is most likely attributable to a change in tectonic regime. Calcarenites and breccias, derived from the basin margins, first entered the lake around 14.8 Ma and subsequently coarsened and thickened upwards. The basin margins were apparently gradually uplifted before subsidence stalled. Comparison with chronostratigraphic data for other constituents of the DLS leads to the conclusion that their lifetimes largely coincide. Finally, we calibrate the most important marker fossils of the various Dinaride basins to the geological time scale and we present a new biochronological scheme for the DLS.


In this paper, we present a solution to the constrained l1-norm minimization problem for sparse SAR imaging. The technique we present relies on recent advances in the solution of optimization problems, based on Augmented Lagrangian Methods (ALMs), namely the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers. Here, we present an application of C-SALSA (an ALM for constrained optimization problems) to SAR imaging, and introduce a new weighting scheme to improve the sparsity of the reconstructions. We then compare the performances of several techniques to understand the effectiveness of ALMs in the context of SAR imaging.


In June 2015, the marriage equality movement in the United States succeeded at the federal level. This study documents individuals' perceptions of how the fight for marriage equality affected their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors within their own marriages to same-sex spouses. I conducted interviews with eight married individuals (five men and three women) who were married prior to the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. Areas of inquiry included (a) motivation to get married, (b) factors affecting commitment, (c) willingness to utilize couple therapy, and (d) factors affecting thoughts about divorce. I hypothesized that, for some individuals or couples, the fight to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide may have imposed pressure to promote the cause of marriage equality or fight antigay stigma and prejudice, thereby affecting commitment in their marriage. The primary interest in this study was to better understand the way individuals think about their marriages and how they were affected by the marriage equality movement. I used interpretive phenomenological analysis to analyze the data. Most participants endorsed some degree of political or social justice themes in their reasons for getting married or among the factors impacting their thoughts and feelings about marriage. Fewer participants thought political and social justice concerns would impact their commitment or thoughts about divorce, though this was a factor for two individuals. Participants did not see their willingness to use couple therapy as impacted by the marriage equality movement or by political and social justice concerns. Participants also described the impact of the marriage equality movement and the associated sociocultural/political turmoil on their lives in general. This study has implications for therapists working with same-sex couples or individuals struggling with relationship concerns. Political factors can be present among the motivations of a couple to get married. For some individuals, it is possible these factors impact commitment, though in this study, this was only true for two interviewees. If therapists are aware of the impact MINORITY STRESS SAME-SEX COUPLES MARRIAGE EQUALITY 2 of their clients' political and social justice concerns on their values and their relationships, they will be more likely to form accurate case conceptualizations and targeted interventions to help clients work through their problems.


This thesis provides an integrated theoretical account of gentrification in a context which evokes significant socio-cultural meanings of rurality. With this purpose in mind, three key conceptual standpoints are established to frame the research. First, gentrification is viewed as a
dynamic process of change involving distinct and differing phases of transformation. Second, representations of rurality are seen as socio-cultural constructions, which are specific to particular social groups and individuals. Finally, the creation of both rural geographies and
geographies of gentrification are the product of interactions between structural conditions and
the agency of consumers and producers; a reciprocal relationship of maintenance and/or reproduction in a constant flux in time and space.

Following this conceptual framework, the thesis documents the processes of change which both the rural and urban environs of the Hebden Bridge district, West Yorkshire, have undergone since the late 1960s. These processes are termed g[re]entrification (rural gentrification) and
involve social, cultural, physical and economic parallels with inner city gentrification. More specifically, two stages of g[re]entrification have predominated. The first stage (DIY greentrification) was initiated by in-migrant households, drawn to the moor tops, moor edges
and urban location by idyllic representations of Pennine rurality. Undertaking self-renovation activities, redefined landscapes were produced and consumed by the in-migrant households. As the scale of DIY greentrification gained momentum during the early 1970s, commercial actors
gained control of the production activities, renovating and developing ready-made "rural" and "rurban" commodities. As these were consumed by "client greentrifiers", property prices in the Hebden Bridge district escalated in the mid to late 1980s. Subsequently, the local indigenous
population have been increasingly marginalised, excluded and displaced from the local housing market. The outcome of the greentrification process has been the production and maintenance of a number of territories associated with a distinct range of greentrifier types, culminating in an
internal geography of greentrification within the Hebden Bridge district. Without doubt, the diversity of the Hebden Bridge district offers different qualities to a range of
households searching for differing types of location to fulfil specific cultural and economic criteria. It is
the capacity of the Hebden Bridge district (i.e. the geography of geentrification) to meet these cultural
and economic needs that is central to the dramatic physical, social, economic and culturaltransformations which it has experienced since the late 1960s. The uniqueness of the Hebden Bridge district is tied up with the make-up of its internal geography and its many faces of greentrification.


Research in which children undergo genetic testing for predisposition to adult-onset diseases or disorders can lead to a better understanding of these conditions. It can possibly also help encourage early detection and the development of clinical and preventive interventions for those found to be at increased hereditary risk. Increasingly, predisposition testing is becoming part of pediatric genetic research. However, the paucity of normative texts about the conduct of pediatric research using predisposition genetic testing generates complex legal and ethical issues. Drawing on the current texts that govern predisposition genetic testing in research and the norms of pediatric research, we outline points of consensus and divergence as well as recommendations regarding predisposition genetic testing in pediatric research.


Children's understanding of others as mental beings with feelings and beliefs develops radically during early childhood, and studies in the ontogeny of complement-clause constructions (e.g. Brandt et al. 2010) and evidential affixes (Choi 2006) show that children also begin to acquire linguistic tools for communicating about these perspectives early in their development. However, it is less well known how children acquire viewpoint constructions that are less salient in their input than complement-clause constructions and evidential affixes, i.e. how motivated children are to look for interpersonal meanings without strong linguistic cues. Danish dialogic particles are optional, stressless, utterance-medial monosyllables specifying how interlocutors' understandings converge and differ (Davidsen-Nielsen 1996). Through a spontaneous-speech analysis of a kindergarten corpus (94 hours, 16 children: 1;10-3;8 to 4;6-6;3 years), I here show that Danish preschoolers begin to use these inconspicuous particles in group interactions during their fourth year of life, and that they develop a nuanced repertoire during the following two years. This is a strong indicator of children's stable monitoring of perspectives and their motivation to generalize over situations with common perspectival traits – even in the absence of salient linguistic cues.


This is an example of an original article in the layout expected by The Photogrammetric Record. The abstract is a concise summary of the essential elements of the paper and should not contain detailed results. It should be no longer than 150 words. This template indicates how a paper submitted to the journal should be structured and formatted, including figures, tables, mathematics and references.


In the past few years, publicized privacy violations have regularly spawned class action lawsuits in the United States, even when the company made a good faith mistake and no victim suffered any quantifiable harm. Privacy advocates often cheer these lawsuits because they generally favor vigorous enforcement of privacy violations, but this essay encourages privacy advocates to reconsider their support for privacy class action litigation. By its nature, class action litigation uses tactics that privacy advocates disavow. Thus, using class action litigation to remediate privacy violations proves to be unintentionally ironic.


With the sedentary life style, eating habits, daily irregular routine with less or no physical exercise has led to the development of various diseases either it be genetic or environmental. A lot of genetic diseases or disorders are reported everyday which is completely governed by the genetic makeup of an individual. The following article describes one such genetic disease known as autism spectrum disorder and also discusses the various ways that would help in making a difference in the thinking of the people bringing awareness about the disorder. The article describes the possible causes, signs and symptoms, statistical data, awareness programmes such as conferences, open access, journals, campaigning etc.


Ultra wideband (UWB) is an emerging communications technology that offers high data rates over short distances with a low probability of intercept. UWB is defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in terms of the amount of bandwidth used, not the way it is used, and three different technological approaches have emerged: short-pulse UWB; OFDM-UWB and DS-UWB. OFDM and DS are being developed commercially for use in the home networking market. Short-pulse UWB remains a developmental technology with some potential benefits to the military in addition to the low probability of intercept, such as good resistance to multipath fading and the ability to locate an emitter precisely. With the move towards to a Network-Equipped Capability (NEC) and the associated need to pass increasing amounts of data between battlefield entities, there is a requirement for a short-range data bearer. This paper looks at UWB as a whole and considers a number of potential military applications where UWB may be suitable for this short-range data-handling role. Other roles such as wireless links on and around a soldier, remote sensors, and logistic tracking by the use of transmitting 'tags' are also suggested.


While there have been hundreds of psychological studies using virtual reality (VR) over the past few decades, those studies have almost exclusively been conducted in laboratory settings using small samples of college students with little demographic variance. Hence, the generalizability of the results is limited, as not all findings will apply outside the college demographic. In this paper, we present our mobile VR project (Immersion at Scale) where we conduct VR experiment sessions in naturalistic settings (e.g., local events, museums, etc.). On average, we were able to collect data from 20-25 people for each 4-hour data collection session of Immersion at Scale. We discovered a number of obstacles and opportunities based on bringing VR out into the field. Thus, we do not focus on experimental stimuli and results, but methodological guidelines based on our iterative design improvements from pilot testing.


Aims To determine the effect of diabetes on inner and outer retinal function in persons with diabetes and no clinically detectable retinopathy or with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). Methods Visual function was assessed in 18 adults with normal retinal health, 23 adults with diabetes and 35 adults with NPDR and normal visual acuity. Contrast sensitivity and frequency doubling technology (FDT) sensitivity were used to assess ganglion cell function. Acuity, dark adaptation, light-adapted visual sensitivity and dark-adapted visual sensitivity were measured to evaluate cone and rod photoreceptor visual function. The presence and severity of diabetic retinopathy was determined by grading of 7-field stereoscopic fundus photographs using the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study grading system. Results Participants with NPDR exhibited impairment of all measured visual functions in comparison with the normal participants. Inner retinal function measured by FDT perimetry was the most impaired visual function for patients with NPDR, with 83% of patients exhibiting clinically significant impairment. Rod photoreceptor function was grossly impaired, with almost half of the patients with NPDR exhibiting significantly impaired dark-adapted visual sensitivity. Conclusion Both inner retinal and outer retinal functions exhibited impairment related to NPDR. FDT perimetry and other visual function tests reveal an expanded range of diabetes induced retinal damage even in patients with good visual acuity.


Here we theoretically derive the Terzaghi stress principle for saturated and partially saturated isotropic, porous media with compressible phases. We use previously derived thermodynamic definitions of the drained and unjacketed compressibilities and total differentials to theoretically determine how the total pressure relates to isotropic strain and changes in fluid pressures. We show that under simplifying assumptions we recover the varying forms of the Biot coefficient for saturated porous media and the Bishop parameter for partially saturated porous media. We compare this approach with four modern constructions: the mixture theoretic approaches of Coussy and Borja, Wang's differential approach, and the thermodynamically constrained averaging theory approach of Gray and Schrefler. In doing so we theoretically clarify the often confused definitions of the solid compressibility coefficient, the unjacketed and drained compressibilities, and the generalized Terzaghi stress principle in differential form.


This book is the first publication that combines the principles of business process management with strategic IT planning; the result being a groundbreaking work on strategic IT and process planning. While Breakthrough Strategic IT and Process Planning focuses on the real world of organizations, extensive treatment is also devoted to the politics of strategic planning. As such, a project management approach that combines process improvement, IT, and change management is employed. Other important aspects of process planning are discussed in detail: the strategic allocation of resources, short and long term implementation of the strategic plan, marketing of the plan to gain support for implementation, and development of strategic IT and process plans for business units and departments.


A general analytic solution for Brillouin distributed fibre sensors with sub-meter spatial resolution has been obtained by solving the coupled wave equation by a perturbation method. The effect of the interaction of a square pump pulse with a continuous signal is described in full generality for all possible pumping schemes and for any detuning with the resonance condition of the Brillouin interaction. The model predicts how the acoustic wave, the signal amplitude and the gain spectral profile depend upon the pumping scheme. The analytical solution is an unprecedented tool to optimize the sensor configuration by determining the optimum pumping scheme.


Knowledge discovery in databases, also known as data mining, is the eecient discovery of previously unknown, valid, novel, potentially useful, and understandable patterns in large databases. It encompasses many diierent techniques and algorithms which diier in the kinds of data that can be analyzed and the form of knowledge representation used to convey the discovered knowledge. An important problem in the area of data mining is the development of eeective measures of interestingness for ranking the discovered knowledge. In this report, we provide a general overview of the more successful and widely known data mining techniques and algorithms, and survey seventeen interestingness measures from the literature that have been successfully employed in data mining applications.


Knowledge dissemination interventions (KDIs) are integral to knowledge brokerage activities in research as part of the ethics of practice, but are seldom evaluated. In this case study, we critically reflect on an annual KDI as part of knowledge brokerage activities in the MRC/Wits-Agincourt Unit health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) in rural South Africa from 2001 to 2015. The HDSS findings on births, deaths and migrations, as well as nested research project results, were shared with villagers, village leaders and service providers. The data used for this case study comprised secondary analysis of 13 reports and 762 evaluation forms of annual village-based meetings; records of requests for data from stakeholders; and qualitative analysis of 15 individual and five focus group interviews with local leaders and service providers involving 60 people. Over time, the KDI evolved from taking place over one week a year to being extended over six months, and to include briefings with service providers and local leaders. Attendance at village-level meetings remained low at an average of 3 per cent of the total adult population. Since 2011, the KDI village-based meetings have developed into an embedded community forum for discussion of topical village issues. There has been a decrease in requests for health-care and other services from the research unit, with a concurrent increase in research-related questions and requests for data from service providers, village leaders and political representatives. We conclude that, in this setting, the dissemination of research findings is not a linear exchange of information from the researchers to village residents and their leadership, but is increasingly multi-directional. KDIs are a key component of knowledge brokerage activities and involve, influence and are influenced by other aspects of knowledge brokerage, such as identifying, engaging and connecting with stakeholders and supporting sustainability.


The auralization schemes in the domain of automotive audio have primarily utilized dummy head recordings in the past. Recently, spatial reproduction allowed the auralization of cabin acoustics over large loudspeaker arrays. Yet no direct comparisons between those methods exist. In this study, the efficacy of headphone presentation is explored in this context. Six acoustical conditions were presented over headphones to experienced assessors (n=23), who were asked to compare them over six elicited perceptual attributes. In 24 out of 36 cases, the results indicate an agreement between headphone- and loudspeaker-based auralisation of identical stimuli sets. It is concluded that, when compared to loudspeakers-based rendering, headphones-based rendering reveals similar judgment on timbral attributes, while certain spatial attributes should be assessed with caution.


The emergence of current and historic cases of child abuse across the globe has, in recent years, dominated the news, political agendas and popular discourse surrounding children. From serious case reviews to exploitation in post ‐ conflict zones, from sexual abuse of children by groups to trafficking of drugs across countries, the importance of protecting children is an increasing concern in many countries. Key to, and inherent in, all of these processes and phenomena are child protection systems, working in varying degrees of effectiveness. While geographic interest has touched upon many of these areas, the role of child protection systems, and the practitioners that work within these, do not explicitly feature within this work. In this article, we seek to develop an introduction to geographies of child protection, producing an initial critical review which points to future research avenues in this field. We adopt a Foucauldian approach and review four themes to illustrate the ways in which geographical approaches might yield important insights. Drawing primarily on England as a context, we consider the historical geographies and origins of child protection, relational practices in contemporary child protection, the impact of austerity and finally we consider what future directions might require a geographical approach.


Abstract Increased consumer demand for yogurt and Italian cheeses, particularly Mozzarella, over the past decade has intensified production demands on thermophilic starter cultures. Dramatically elevated production rates within existing facilities have created problems analogous to those experienced years ago by the dairy industry for mesophilic lactococci when Cheddar cheese production increased dramatically. In contrast to mesophilic lactococci, however, diversity among lactic genera that contain thermophilic species has impeded the progress of microbiological research required to meet these challenges. For example, the bacteriophages that attack these cultures are becoming an important commercial problem, yet little is known about them. Another unique characteristic of thermophilic lactic cultures is the microbial interaction between lactobacilli and streptococci cultured together. Further characterization of this interaction, particularly its effects on physical characteristics of the product, would benefit the cheese industry. Diversity of proteolytic and peptidolytic enzymes exists within lactobacilli. These enzymes are important in cheese flavor and texture development, therefore, further characterization of these systems would facilitate manipulation of organoleptic and physical properties of products. Finally, utilization of other, less studied thermophilic species would facilitate manufacture of new products and improved quality or manufacturing processes.