As universities face up to new economic conditions and technological developments, digital technologies and video in particular are seen as a means by which mass higher and pre-professional education can be delivered at comparatively low cost. The introduction of video is often accompanied by powerful rhetorics of excellence, openness and student-centred learning but these often simultaneously diminish the importance of pedagogy, reducing teachers to technicians and students to consumers of online content. In this paper I will draw on a series of recent research and development projects in UK higher education and discuss how Deleuzo-Guattarian perspectives on learning and design make it possible to use web technologies and digital video within novel and emancipatory pedagogies.


Two Mastogloia Thwaites ex W.Sm. taxa were found during a survey of the diatom flora of Lac de Guiers, Senegal. Based on all currently available literature, one taxon could be identified as M. belaensis M.Voigt, a species formerly described from Pakistan. The second species showed some resemblance to M. braunii Grunow. Analysis of the type of M. braunii revealed, however, important morphologic differences, leading to the description of a new species from the Senegal population: M. senegalensis Van de Vijver, Fofana, Sow & Ector sp. nov. The present paper describes this new species and discusses and illustrates the morphology of M. belaensis and the type of M. braunii . All taxa are discussed with morphologically similar taxa.


Both medicine and the law devote considerable concern to drawing lines, that is, to classifying and making distinctions. In medicine, such line-drawing occurs when a person is designated healthy or ill, normal or disordered. In the law, such line-drawing determines who does and does not bear legal responsibility for a given situation. This Article reviews the demarcation drawn by psychiatry and the courts between disfavored personality and mental illness, a dichotomy not based upon empirical science and therefore, wholly susceptible to social construction and implementation. While society may pathologize noxious personalities, thus making them disabilities, it is loath to extend disability-based legal protections to people with such personalities. Specifically, the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) to persons with impaired personalities is regarded by some as improperly removing or excusing their responsibility for their own behavior, while improperly assigning responsibility to the people who must interact with them, notably employers. Thus the invocation of personality in disability discrimination claims implicates a collision between societal and psychiatric attitudes towards certain psychological conditions and the law. In the case law developed under the ADA, courts have erred on the side of a restrictive view of the meaning of mental illness by employing approaches that ensure that personality issues are eliminated from ADA analyses. This trend has swept so broadly, the Article argues, as to render the ADA a limited tool both for remedying past discrimination and for compelling society to examine the place of people of with mental illness in the workplace.


The negotiation and conclusion of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (hereafter, ACTA) has generated fierce controversy and political protest around the globe. Its main aim is the improvement of the domestic enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights. This paper analyzes in detail the secretive negotiation process and controversial substantive features of ACTA that have led to global political resistance. It considers the legal issues that the treaty brings to the key signatories, both substantively and procedurally: the EU and the US, thereby considering international, supranational and domestic negotiation and ratification legal questions. This includes an examination of the changes that ACTA brings to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), whether ACTA complies with the existing EU legislation on copyright appropriately (Union acquis) and questions surrounding the constitutionality of ACTA under US Constitutional law. We argue that the danger of ACTA lies less in the actual substantive changes that it may bring to the enforcement of IP rights than in the precedent that it sets for the adoption of controversial and restrictive regulation in secretive and exclusive international procedures.


This is the second edition of a path-breaking text which successfully maps the complex regulatory environment in which the legal profession in England and Wales operates in the twenty-first century. In it the authors offer a critical overview of how the professional ethic of lawyers has been constructed and where its sources of ideals, organisation, power and culture are located. It also examines the professional governance structures which operate today, in particular how regulation, discipline and education interact, and with what success. Detailed chapters examine the duties owed to clients (conflicts of interest, confidentiality, fees and costs, diligence) and to others (for instance the profession and society) and the notion of public service is critically examined. A final part of the book looks at dispute settlement (litigation, negotiation, advocacy and alternative dispute settlement). The second edition both revises and updates the first edition in the light of the very considerable number of changes in the law, the codes and the policies of the government and the professions that have occurred since the first edition. Once again the authors illuminate the book with their quest for guiding principles against which the suitability and efficacy of structures and codes which have existed for decades, even centuries, can be judged, and ask whether the professions are suitably regulated in an era of sustained and continuous change.


A bug is a vulnerability if it has security impacts when triggered. Determining the security impacts of a bug is important to both defenders and attackers. Maintainers of large software systems are bombarded with numerous bug reports and proposed patches, with missing or unreliable information about their impact. Determining which few bugs are vulnerabilities is difficult, and bugs that a maintainer believes do not have security impact will be de-prioritized or even ignored. On the other hand, a public report of a bug with a security impact is a powerful first step towards exploitation. Adversaries may exploit such bugs to launch devastating attacks if defenders do not fix them promptly. Common practice is for maintainers to assess the security impacts of bugs manually, but the scaling and reliability challenges of manual analysis lead to missed vulnerabilities. We propose an automated approach, SID, to determine the security impacts for a bug given its patch, so that maintainers can effectively prioritize applying the patch to the affected programs. The insight behind SID is that both the effect of a patch (either submitted or applied) and security-rule violations (e.g., out-of-bound access) can be modeled as constraints that can be automatically solved. SID incorporates rule comparison, using under-constrained symbolic execution of a patch to determine the security impacts of an un-applied patch. SID can further automatically classify vulnerabilities based on their security impacts. We have implemented SID and applied it to bug patches of the Linux kernel and matching CVE-assigned vulnerabilities to evaluate its precision and recall. We optimized SID to reduce false positives, and our evaluation shows that, from 54K recent valid commit patches, SID detected 227 security bugs with at least 243 security impacts at a 97% precision rate. Critically, 197 of them were not reported as vulnerabilities before, leading to delayed or ignored patching in derivative programs. Even worse, 21 of them are still unpatched in the latest Android kernel. Once exploited, they can cause critical security impacts on Android devices. The evaluation results confirm that SID's approach is effective and precise in automatically determining security impacts for a massive stream of bug patches.


The Main Donegal Granite is shown to lie in a major, late stage, NE-SW trending transcurrent sinistral shear zone in the Caledonides of NW Ireland. The zone, which is bent both laterally and upwards around the pluton, has displacements which diminish SW along its length from a maximum of approximately 20 km at the NE end of the pluton. The granite has also been deformed by this sinistral shear but it has a strain component of its own, the nature and development of which indicate that the pluton was accommodated rather than forcefully emplaced in the shear zone. Strain variations between granite and wall rock, and an early plagioclase fabric associated with the petrographic banding of the granite, suggest that intrusion and deformation were more or less synchronous (at around 400 Ma). It is suggested that unconsolidated granite in the shear zone locally created high strain rates and instability which caused the zone to bend, split lengthwise, and progressively create an internal low pressure zone into which the Main Granite was emplaced. The wide variety of emplacement styles of the other, radiometrically synchronous, plutons of the batholith can be attributed to the progressive development of the shear zone: Thorr and Fanad in tension between the zone and a complimentary structure to the N; Ardara and Toories in local compression at the shear zone termination; Rosses in tension on the outer arc of the bending zone; and Trawenagh Bay, as displaced Main Granite magma, in a similar tensional setting during the final stages of deformation.


A land retirement policy whereby land is taken out of agriculture and converted to natural vegetation or forestry has the potential to reduce environmental damage related to dryland salinity in Western Australia. This paper uses some recent results in the theory of directional distance functions (Chambers and Fare, 2004) to analyse alternative policy designs for a land retirement scheme. The results indicate that a fixed price scheme is inefficient compared with a first-best solution, but performs adequately. A scheme requiring a fixed proportion of area retired by all producers is inefficient. A separating solution, based on mechanism design, gives a small but significant increase in welfare compared to a fixed price scheme.


The second generation nickel-based superalloy MAR-M247 offers a satisfying combination of fatigue and creep properties and oxidation and corrosion resistance that are required for application at elevated temperatures in hostile environments. The microstructure consists mainly of the face centred cubic γ matrix and ordered γ´ strengthening precipitates (L1 2 crystal structure). The present work focuses on low cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviour of polycrystalline nickel-based superalloy MAR-M247 at high temperature. LCF tests were conducted on cylindrical specimens in symmetrical push-pull cycle under strain control with constant total strain amplitude and strain rate at 700 °C in ambient air. Cyclic stress-strain curves and fatigue life curves in the representation of plastic strain amplitude vs. stress amplitude and stress amplitude vs. the number of cycles to failure, respective, were plotted and compared with data obtained on Inconel 713LC. Special attention is paid to the investigation of crack initiation in MAR-M247 during low cycle fatigue. Crack initiation sites were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in dual beam microscope TESCAN LYRA 3 XMU FESEM equipped with focus ion beam (FIB). Specimens' surface observations revealed the formation of pronounced surface relief indicating localisation of plastic deformation. Observations in transmission electron microscope (TEM) confirmed localisation of cyclic plastic deformation in persistent slip bands along {111} slip planes. Fractographic analysis revealed fatigue crack initiation sites. Fatigue crack propagation in stage I was typical of smooth facets up to 500 μm long.


The complexity of biological systems is enormous, even when considering a single cell where a multitude of highly parallel and intertwined processes take place on the molecular level. This paper focuses on the parallel simulation of signal transduction processes within a cell carried out solely on the graphics processing unit (GPU). Each signaling molecule is represented by an agent performing a discretetime continuous-space random walk to model its diffusion through the cell. Since the interactions and reactions between the agents can be competitive and are interdependent, we propose spatial partitioning for the reaction detection to overcome the data dependencies in the parallel execution of reactions. In addition, we present a simple way to simulate the Michaelis-Menten kinetics in our particle-based method using a per-particle delay. We apply this agent-based simulation to model signal transduction in the MAPK (Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase) cascade both with and without cytoskeletal filaments. Finally, we compare the speed-up of our GPU simulation with a parallelized CPU version resulting in a twelvefold speedup.


Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM)-based FPGA architectures employ RRAMs not only as memories to store the configuration but embed them in the datapaths of programmable routing resources to propagate signals with improved performances. Sources of power consumption have been intensively studied for conventional Static Random Access Memories (SRAM)-based FPGAs. However, very limited works focused so far on studying the power characteristics of RRAM-based FPGAs. In this paper, we first analyze the power characteristics of RRAM-based multiplexer at circuit level and then use electrical simulations to study power consumption of RRAM-based FPGA architectures. Experimental results show that RRAM-based FPGAs achieve a Power-Delay Product reduced by 50% compared to SRAM-based FPGA at nominal voltage and 20% compared to near-Vt SRAM-based FPGA, respectively.


A survey of organic grain and oilseed producers in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin was conducted to collect information about their demographic characteristics, production and price risk management strategies, yields and losses, and crop insurance decisions. The data are analyzed using a discrete choice model to establish which variables influence organic producers' decision of whether to purchase crop insurance and also which ones affect the insurance product choice when applicable. The study describes the risk profiles of organic producers, and analyzes whether significant variations exist between organic and conventional methods of production so as to quantitatively determine the differential production risk associated with organic production. This research may contribute to the design of an organic crop insurance policy in which organic producers would be charged according to their idiosyncratic production risks, rather than the arbitrary 5% blanket premium surcharge currently in use.


Microarray expression analysis has become one of the most widely used functional genomics tools. Efficient application of this technique requires the development of robust and reproducible protocols. We have optimized all aspects of the process, including PCR amplification of target cDNA clones, microarray printing, probe labeling and hybridization, and have developed strategies for data normalization and analysis.


The swinging Atwood's machine, whose motion was initially explored by Tufillaro et al. [Am. J. Phys. 52, 895 (1984)], is a twist on Atwood's machine where one mass is able to move freely across the plane and swing about its pulley as long as the string is always taut. In this paper, we add a twist to this same system by replacing the swinging mass with a pendulum-in-pendulum system and explore its resulting motion. The system's equation of motion was first obtained, then through numerical integration, simulated to observe its motion.


What parent doesn't want their child to achieve and get a head start on the path to success? But, life today for young children has become a dress rehearsal for type-A adulthood-- a competition to be the best. Parents have been led to believe that enrolling their kids full time in special classes, extracurricular academics, competitive sports, and other structured, high-commitment activities will give them an edge-- leading to a pressure cooker environment that can interfere with kids' natural development. Young kids can spend their free time finger painting, playing in the sandbox, inventing games, and still turn out to be smart, talented, successful adults. In A Running Start, renowned educational expert Rae Pica looks at the many misconceptions under which today's parents are laboring. Among them are beliefs that "earlier is better" when it comes to athletics and academics; achievement is more important than play. This book shows how learning through play is vital to a child's development and fostering their unique personality. A creative childhood is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children, and Pica offers techniques on how to raise a child with the right balance of play and structured activity.


File systems and I/O subsystems should be smart; they can analyze how they are being used and tune themselves dynamically to improve their performance. File systems should select caching and disk placement strategies on a per-file basis, and they should use system-wide disk reorganization strategies. For example, systems should be able to reorganize the data on disk automatically during idle periods so that system performance is improved during future periods of peak load.
This dissertation presents the design and analysis of iPcress, a prototype of a next-generation file system. iPcress is a smart, high-performance, reliable file system. It uses statistical information collected on a per-file basis to tune itself. iPcress has a framework in which various optimizations can be performed by the file system automatically. It is extensible; other optimization techniques can be incorporated easily, so that the system may evolve. In addition, iPcress can incorporate a variety of file access and placement techniques and choose the best combination of techniques for each file dynamically.
A sample smart optimization--clustering active disk data in the center of the disk--is described; it increases disk throughput up to 30%.


TALEVSKA, M. and T. TALEVSKI, 2015. Qualitative composition of macrophyte vegetation and cyprinid fauna from Lake Ohrid. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., Supplement 1, 21: 68–75 In this paper are presented the researches of the macrophyte vegetation and the cyprinid fi sh from Lake Ohrid. The researches were performed on 9 localities which cover the whole Lake's coastline in the territory of R. Macedonia (Radozda, Kalishta, Sateska, Andon Dukov, Mazija, St. Stephan, Metropol, Velidab and Ljubanishta). The macrophyte vegetation from Lake Ohrid provides habitat, shelter and food for many organisms (algae, invertebrates, fi sh, aquatic birds, etc.). Also, it represents the spawning ground for cyprinid fi shes, and has a large role in protecting from theirs predators. In Lake Ohrid, where the bottom of the littoral region gradually decreases in depth, the macrophyte vegetation is distributed in belts: belt of Cladophora, belt of Phragmites, belt of Potamogeton, and belt of Chara. In researched localities were evidenced total of 32 macrophyte species which belong to 14 families: Cladophoraceae, Poaceae, Typhaceae, Cyperaceae, Polygonaceae, Nympheaceae, Potamogetonaceae, Haloragaceae, Ceratophyllaceae, Hydrocharitaceae, Ranunculaceae, Najadaceae, Characeae and Nitellaceae. Also in particular localities was present water moss Fontinalis antipyretica. From cyprinid fi sh in researched localities were evidenced Alburnoides ohridanus, Alburnus scoranza, Chondrostoma ohridanus, Cyprinis carpio, Gobio ohridanus, Pachychilon pictum, Rutilus ohridanus and Scardinius knezevici. Based on the obtained results it can be concluded that qualitative composition of macrophyte vegetation and cyprinid fi sh is different and depend from slope of littoral region, type of substrate, quantity of nutrients and other ecological conditions present in researched localities. These researches represent a signifi cant contribution to the knowledge of the role of the macrophyte vegetation in the maintenance of the population of cyprinid fi sh from Lake Ohrid.


Master Your Knowledge of the CISSP Exam! Features more than 500 questions, organized to reflect the current CISSP exam objectives, so you can easily assess your knowledge of every topic. Each question includes a detailed answer explanation. Provides complete coverage of the Common Body of Knowledge (CBK). Use our innovative Quick Check Answer Key to quickly find answers as you work your way through the questions.WRITTEN BY A LEADING CISSP EXPERT Michael Gregg is president of Superior Solutions, Inc., a leading IT security consultancy that specializes in security assessments and penetration testing for Fortune 1000 firms. He holds CISSP certification, as well as these additional certifications: SSCP, CISA, MCSE, MCT, CTT+, A+, N+, Security+, CNA, CCNA, CIW Security Analyst, CCE, CEH, CHFI, CEI, DCNP, ES Dragon IDS, and ES Advanced Dragon IDS. Gregg speaks at many major security conferences, including ISC2s Security Conferences and ChicagoCon. He has developed training courses ranging from CISSP, Security+ to Ethical Hacking. Greggs books include Que CISSP Exam Cram 2, Que CEH Exam Prep, Que CISA Exam Prep, Syngress Hack the Stack, and Sams Inside Network Security Assessment.CD Features Test Engine Powered by MeasureUp!500+ questions from this book are included on the CD, giving you yet another effective tool to assess your readiness for the CISSP exam. MeasureUps innovative product features multiple test modes, questions that simulate an actual CISSP exam, and detailed answer explanations, among other features. CD also includes a free electronic copy of the book.informit.com/examcram ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-3807-3 ISBN-10: 0-7897-3807-4U.S. $39.99 CAN. $43.99 Net U.K. 25.99


In this paper, we consider Stackelberg games in a multiperiod vertical contracting model with uncertain demand. Demand has a distribution with a mean and variance that depend on the current retail price, and this dependence may vary from period to period. We focus on a class of problems in which the market has a memory-based scaling of demand, and the mean scaling is a function of previous retail prices. This leads to a strategic game in which the parties must balance high immediate profits with reduced future earnings. We propose a complete solution to this multiperiod Stackelberg game, covering cases with finite and infinite horizons. The theory is illustrated by using a Cobb-Douglas demand function with an additive, normally distributed random term, but the theory applies to more general settings.


ABSTRACT The unfolded protein response (UPR) is an important regulatory network that responds to perturbations in protein homeostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In mammalian cells, the UPR features translational and transcriptional mechanisms of gene expression aimed at restoring proteostatic control. A central feature of the UPR is phosphorylation of the α subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor-2 (eIF2) by PERK (EIF2AK3/PEK), which reduces the influx of nascent proteins into the ER by lowering global protein synthesis, coincident with preferential translation of key transcription activators of genes that function to expand the processing capacity of this secretory organelle. Upon ER stress, the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is known to induce phosphorylation of Toxoplasma eIF2α and lower translation initiation. To characterize the nature of the ensuing UPR in this parasite, we carried out microarray analyses to measure the changes in the transcriptome and in translational control during ER stress. We determined that a collection of transcripts linked with the secretory process are induced in response to ER stress, supporting the idea that a transcriptional induction phase of the UPR occurs in Toxoplasma. Furthermore, we determined that about 500 gene transcripts showed enhanced association with translating ribosomes during ER stress. Many of these target genes are suggested to be involved in gene expression, including JmjC5, which continues to be actively translated during ER stress. This study indicates that Toxoplasma triggers a UPR during ER stress that features both translational and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms, which is likely to be important for parasite invasion and development.


Deep Neural Networks (DNN) achieve human level performance in many image analytics tasks but DNNs are mostly deployed to GPU platforms that consume a considerable amount of power. New hardware platforms using lower precision arithmetic achieve drastic reductions in power consumption. More recently, brain-inspired spiking neuromorphic chips have achieved even lower power consumption, on the order of milliwatts, while still offering real-time processing.
However, for deploying DNNs to energy efficient neuromorphic chips the incompatibility between continuous neurons and synaptic weights of traditional DNNs, discrete spiking neurons and synapses of neuromorphic chips need to be overcome. Previous work has achieved this by training a network to learn continuous probabilities, before it is deployed to a neuromorphic architecture, such as IBM TrueNorth Neurosynaptic System, by random sampling these probabilities.
The main contribution of this paper is a new learning algorithm that learns a TrueNorth configuration ready for deployment. We achieve this by training directly a binary hardware crossbar that accommodates the TrueNorth axon configuration constrains and we propose a different neuron model.
Results of our approach trained on electroencephalogram (EEG) data show a significant improvement with previous work (76% vs 86% accuracy) while maintaining state of the art performance on the MNIST handwritten data set.


A novel spring-assisted modular and reconfigurable robot (SA-MRR) has been recently developed at our laboratory to reinforce its performance, and to enable safe and dexterous operations in human environments. A power spring is inserted between the brake rotor and the motor shaft through a decoupling bearing. With the spring engaged, the working range of the joint is mechanically limited for safe operations, and such a limited working range can be established at any joint position. The safety aspect of the SA-MRR is investigated by operating the robot in a
limited workspace created by activating the spring. The trajectory tracking capability of the SA-MRR is explored by comparing trajectories followed by a conventional MRR and SA-MRR in a restricted workspace, while lifting a heavy payload. Trajectory tracking is performed with various payloads to demonstrate the SA-MRR's superior payload handling capacity performance due to addition of the spring-generated moment. These algorithms have been implemented on a 3-DOF SA-MRR and numerical simulations have been carried out to investigate the improved tracking accuracy and safety features due to addition of the spring-brake system.


A critical component of an active optical-compensation system is the formable mirror or other phase corrector. Because the corrector will have a finite number of controllable elements, it cannot perfectly correct a distorted wave front and the resulting error must be evaluated to model and design the system properly. This paper presents the full theory of the phase corrector in two common situations: one, where a particular known type of distortion such as focus or coma is to be corrected, and two, where the distortion is a random function of position, such as might arise from atmospheric turbulence. Results for a typical corrector are presented for both situations.


Psychological research has found that women score higher on most measures of the traits, motivations, and values that predict helping others, and women are more likely to help family and friends. However, sex differences in the institutional helping behaviors of volunteering and charitable giving are small. This article seeks to explain this apparent contradiction with the hypotheses that men have more resources and more social capital than women, which compensates for their lower level of motivation. The article tests these hypotheses using data from the 1995 Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) survey. The data show partial support for these hypotheses, as men score higher on measures of income, education, trust, and secular social networks. However, women have broader social networks through religious participation.


Through the precautionary principle, governments acknowledge the limits of science as a basis for policy, while seeking to clarify scientific uncertainty. This tension is exemplified by the European risk regulation of genetically modified (GM) crops. The risk debate has been translated into various precautionary approaches, each with its own cognitive framing of the relevant uncertainties. Early safety claims took for granted intensive agricultural models; normative judgements served to downplay uncertainties which were not readily reducible, thus justifying commercial approval of products. In the late 1990s public protest strengthened broader accounts of uncertainty, for example through more stringent environmental norms and more complex causal pathways of potential harm. Fact-finding methods were debated as a value-laden choice for how best to generate more relevant knowledge. As risk-assessment research challenged assumptions in safety claims, critics cited the results as evidence of greater uncertainty. Invoking the precautionary principle, regulatory procedures delayed or restricted commercial use of GM crops. They not only increased the burden of evidence for safety, but also stimulated and requested knowledge about more complex uncertainties. Criteria for relevant evidence were implicitly linked with different framing visions for agriculture. Such value conflicts made scientific uncertainty more important rather than vice versa. When risk research methods were challenged, fact/value boundaries were blurred, thus increasing `uncertainty' rather than vice versa. In these ways, the risk controversy was constituted by divergent accounts of the relevant scientific uncertainty. Uncertainty was constitutive, not merely contextual. In general, then, precaution offers a means to justify uncertainty not simply vice versa.


Ecological restoration, when implemented effectively and sustainably, contributes to protecting biodiversity; improving human health and wellbeing; increasing food and water security; delivering goods, services, and economic prosperity; and supporting climate change mitigation, resilience, and adaptation. It is a solutions-based approach that engages communities, scientists, policymakers, and land managers to repair ecological damage and rebuild a healthier relationship between people and the rest of nature. When combined with conservation and sustainable use, ecological restoration is the link needed to move local, regional, and global environmental conditions from a state of continued degradation, to one of net positive improvement. The second edition of the International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration (the Standards) presents a robust framework for restoration projects to achieve intended goals, while addressing challenges including effective design and implementation, accounting for complex ecosystem dynamics (especially in the context of climate change), and navigating trade-offs associated with land management priorities and decisions.


Biomedical dilemmas are becoming more complex as modern medical technologies continue to advance. In my capacity as a clinical bioethicist, I deal with patients and families confronted by ethical issues and questions that arise during medical treatment. Muslim patients often turn to their faith to help them make medical decisions. In their efforts to avoid what is religiously impermissible, they often ask local imams, community leaders, or Muslim physicians for advice. But these groups typically lack sufficient training when it comes to applying Islamic concepts to the medical dilemmas we face in American hospitals today. In fact, Muslim religious advisors who lack the appropriate medical and religious training should not be giving medical advice. Instead, they should refer their questions to the appropriate scholars, professionals, or referral centers. I have noticed that recommendations received from higher-level Islamic scholars with clinical backgrounds are usually more thoughtful, nuanced, and flexible. Clinicians, patients, and families must be able to access thoughtful Islamic scholarship that supports medical decision making in an accessible, timely, and clinically useful way. By intensifying efforts to combine religious scholarship, clinical understanding, and the effective dissemination of information, those in the field of Islamic bioethics scholarship can better help and support patients and families in determining the most appropriate religiously sanctioned options for their particular circumstances. The American Muslim community must prioritize this field of study.


Measurements concerning various flow parameters of jets impinging on a smooth lucite plate and a heated metal plate have been carried out. In particular, it is shown that the potential core length of a jet is a function of the Reynolds number and of the jet diameter. It has also been demonstrated that impinging jets behave in many important respects like free jets, except in the immediate vicinity of the target , plate. The flow behavior in the wall jet zone was investigated experimentally, and a satisfactory agreement with the results of the previous investigators was found. The maximum velocity decay parameters for a radial wall jet were also investigated analytically, and appear in a good agreement with the experimental results. APPROVAL OF THESIS EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF SUBMERGED, INCOMPRESSIBLE, TURBULENT, IMPINGING JETS BY DAVID TZEH-HSIAN LEE FOR DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING NEWARK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING


In this study, ground magnetic survey of Sumaje Village, Ogo Oluwa  area of Oyo State, Nigeria  using high resolution proton-precession geometric magnetometer model G-856AX measures total components of the ground magnetic. The field data was qualitatively and quantitatively interpreted. Profile 1 has the highest amplitude of 18.2 nT and profile 2 has the highest width of 32 m. The depth to the basement rocks ranges between 6.25 to 13.75 m. The highly mineralized region of the study area is between traverse 1 to 5. Magnetic anomaly obtained varied between a minimum negative peak value of about -14.3 nT and a maximum positive value of about +3.8 nT. The maximum depth to basement rock is about 13.75 m. Ground magnetic contour map, 3-D map, and vector map showed that magnetic anomalies are as a result of rocks present in the region. The major rocks and minerals suspected to be found in this studied area and its environs are slate, gneiss, serpentenite, rhyolite, pegmatite, gabbro, basalts, oceanic basalts and hematite.

 Key words: Magnetic field, magnetic anomaly, magnetometer and Sumaje village.


Nanoparticle research and development have brought significant breakthroughs in many areas of basic and applied sciences. However, efficiently collecting nanoparticles in large quantities in pure and natural systems is a major challenge in nanoscience. This review article has focused on experimental investigation and implications of nanoparticles in soil, clay, geological and environmental sciences. An automated ultrafiltration device (AUD) apparatus was used to demonstrate efficient collection and separation of nanoparticles in highly weathering red soils, black soils, and gouge of earthquake fault, as well as zeolite. The kaolinite, illite, goethite, and hematite were identified in highly weathering red soils. Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) images showed the presence of hematite nanoparticles on the surface coating of kaolinite nanoparticles and aggregated hematite nanoparticles overlapping the edge of a kaolinite flake in a size range from 4 to 7 nm. The maximum crystal violet (CV) and methylene blue (MB) adsorption amount of smectite nanoparticles (<100 nm) separated by black soils were about two to three times higher than those of bulk sample (<2000 nm). The smectite nanoparticles adsorb both CV and MB dyes efficiently and could be employed as a low-cost alternative to remove cationic dyes in wastewater treatment. Quartz grain of <50 nm was found in the gouge of fault by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and TEM observation. Separated quartz could be used as the index mineral associated with earthquake fracture and the finest grain size was around 25 nm. Comparing the various particle-size fractions of zeolite showed significant differences in surface area, Si to Al molar ratio, morphology, crystallinity, framework structure, and surface atomic structure of nanoparticles from those of the bulk sample prior to particle-size fractionations. The AUD apparatus has the characteristics of automation, easy operation, and high efficiency in the separation of nanoparticles and would, thus, facilitate future nanoparticle research and developments in basic and applied sciences.


The objective of this paper is to describe, in the context of multicore architectures, three different scheduler implementations for the two-sided linear algebra transformations, in particular the Hessenberg and Bidiagonal reductions which are the first steps for the standard eigenvalue problems and the singular value decompositions respectively. State-of-the-art dense linear algebra softwares, such as the LAPACK and ScaLAPACK libraries, suffer performance losses on multicore processors due to their inability to fully exploit thread-level parallelism. At the same time the fine-grain dataflow model gains popularity as a paradigm for programming multicore architectures. Buttari et al. (Parellel Comput. Syst. Appl. 35 (2009), 38-53) introduced the concept of tile algorithms in which parallelism is no longer hidden inside Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms but is brought to the fore to yield much better performance. Along with efficient scheduling mechanisms for data-driven execution, these tile two-sided reductions achieve high performance computing by reaching up to 75% of the DGEMM peak on a 12000×12000 matrix with 16 Intel Tigerton 2.4 GHz processors. The main drawback of the tile algorithms approach for two-sided transformations is that the full reduction cannot be obtained in one stage. Other methods have to be considered to further reduce the band matrices to the required forms.


Objectives: The current study aimed at investigating the relationship between identity status and career maturity among adolescents with visual disorders, as compared to normal adolescents. Method: The study had two populations: all normal high school students in Tehran city (including boys and girls) and all visually- disabled high school students in Tehran (including boys and girls). The sample consisted of 275 students, of whom 65 were students with visual disabilities and 210 were normal students. For the students with visual disabilities the sample included all the population and normal students were selected using a multi-stage sampling. To collect data, participants completed Dellas Identity Status Inventory (DISI-O) and Career Development Inventory- Australian- Short Form (CDI-A-SF). Data were analyzed using kolmogrov-Smirnov test, one way analysis of variance, T-test for independent groups and covariance. Results: Results indicated career maturity differed significantly by different identity status of the participants (p<0.0001). The statistical differences obtained indicated there were relationships between identity status and career maturity. It was also found career maturity differed significantly among normal and visually-disabled students (p=0.04). However, no significant difference was found among male and female students in terms of career maturity (p= 0.14). Discussion: The results of the current study suggested career maturity differed by the four identity statuses. And there is differences between career maturity in normal and visual disabilities group's results indicated mean score of normal student in career maturity was significantly higher than the other group.


Natural composite materials continue to gain momentum as alternatives to synthetic composite materials for lower-load applications. Mycology materials, in addition to being more carbon neutral, show good potential as a natural composite option due to their benefits of non-toxicity and ease of disposal by composting, reducing environmental impact. The cellular structure of mycology materials make them an attractive option for insulation applications, and as they can be faced with either natural or synthetic laminate materials, they have potential for use in composite insulation panels. Characterization of mycology materials' thermal insulation properties is needed to provide information for their development into such applications. The following thermal insulation properties of mycology materials will be characterized using several experimental methods carried out according to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. The ability of the material to be used for internal and external applications will be investigated by considering the effect of environmental degradation on the material, using ASTM C488−05 Standard Test Method for Conducting Exterior Exposure Tests of Finishes for Thermal Insulation. Current commercialized applications of mycology materials include packaging and furniture, where the product comes in close contact with users, and potential insulation applications need information on the material's odor-release behavior at elevated temperatures. This will be determined using ASTM C1304−08 Standard Test Method for Assessing the Odor Emission of Thermal Insulation Materials. Determining the maximum use temperature is key when selecting the material for suitable applications, and will be determined using ASTM C447–03 Standard Practice for Estimating the Maximum Use Temperature of Thermal Insulations. Finally, the thermal resistance R value of the material, commonly used to describe the efficiency of insulating materials, will be determined using ASTM C1044–12 Standard Practice for Using a Guarded-Hot-Plate Apparatus.


Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a state-of-the-art technique for administering radiation to cancer patients. The goal of a treatment is to deliver a prescribed amount of radiation to the tumor, while limiting the amount absorbed by the surrounding healthy and critical organs. Planning an IMRT treatment requires determining fluence maps, each consisting of hundreds or more beamlet intensities. Since it is difficult or impossible to deliver a sufficient dose to a tumor without irradiating nearby critical organs, radiation oncologists have developed guidelines to allow tradeoffs by introducing so-called dose-volume constraints (DVCs), which specify a given percentage of volume for each critical organ that can be sacrificed if necessary. Such constraints, however, are of combinatorial nature and pose significant challenges to the fluence map optimization problem. In this paper, we describe a new geometric approach to the fluence map optimization problem. Contrary to the traditional view, we regard dose distributions as our primary independent variables, while treating beamlet intensities as secondary ones. We consider two sets in the dose space: (i) the physical set consisting of physically realizable dose distributions, and (ii) the prescription set consisting of dose distributions meeting the prescribed tumor doses and satisfying the given dose-volume constraints. We seek a suitable dose distribution by successively projecting between these two sets. A crucial observation is that the projection onto the prescription set, which is non-convex, can be properly defined and easily computed. The projection onto the physical set, on the other hand, requires solving a nonnegative least squares problem. We show that this alternating projection algorithm is actually equivalent to a greedy algorithm driven by local sensitivity information readily available in our formulation. Moreover, the availability of such local sensitivity information will enable us to devise greedy algorithms to search for a desirable plan even when a "good and achievable" prescription is unknown.


Many recent studies observe the increasing importance, influence, and analysis of resilience as a concept to understand the capacity of a system or individual to respond to change. The term has achieved prominence in diverse scientific fields, as well as public discourse and policy arenas. As a result, resilience has been referred to as a boundary object or a bridging concept that is able to facilitate communication and understanding across disciplines, coordinate groups of actors or stakeholders, and build consensus around particular policy issues. We present a network analysis of bibliometric data to understand the extent to which resilience can be considered as a boundary object or a bridging concept in terms of its links across disciplines and scientific fields. We analyzed 994 papers and 35,952 citations between them to reveal the connectedness and links between and within fields. We analyzed the network according to different fields, modules, and sub-fields, showing a highly clustered citation network. Analyzing betweenness allowed us to identify how particular papers bridge across fields and how different fields are linked. With the exception of a few specific papers, most papers cite exclusively within their own field. We conclude that resilience is to an extent a boundary object because there are shared understandings across diverse disciplines and fields. However, it is more limited as a bridging concept because the citations across fields are concentrated among particular disciplines and papers, so the distinct fields do not widely or routinely refer to each other. There are some signs of resilience being used as an interdisciplinary concept to bridge scientific fields, particularly in social- ecological systems, which may itself constitute an emerging sub-field.


This paper presents a novel clustering technique known as adaptive double self-organizing map (ADSOM). ADSOM has a flexible topology and performs clustering and cluster visualization simultaneously, thereby requiring no a priori knowledge about the number of clusters. ADSOM is developed based on a recently introduced technique known as double self-organizing map (DSOM). DSOM combines features of the popular self-organizing map (SOM) with two-dimensional position vectors, which serve as a visualization tool to decide how many clusters are needed. Although DSOM addresses the problem of identifying unknown number of clusters, its free parameters are difficult to control to guarantee correct results and convergence. ADSOM updates its free parameters during training, and it allows convergence of its position vectors to a fairly consistent number of clusters provided that its initial number of nodes is greater than the expected number of clusters. The number of clusters can be identified by visually counting the clusters formed by the position vectors after training. A novel index is introduced based on hierarchical clustering of the final locations of position vectors. The index allows automated detection of the number of clusters, thereby reducing human error that could be incurred from counting clusters visually. The reliance of ADSOM in identifying the number of clusters is proven by applying it to publicly available gene expression data from multiple biological systems such as yeast, human, and mouse. ADSOM's performance in detecting number of clusters is compared with a model-based clustering method.


In the technology universe, change has emerged with development. The reason for this change can be shown as applications and software that force technology, but it can also be caused by other games that offer more dynamic and realistic environments. The game industry has a great place in the technology world. They come together from various regions of the world and play games together. The innovations in the developing game industry cause various innovations in the computer hardware world. High bandwidth internet, main card, and processors with high data paths, self-controlling, and high surveillance cards are examples. While the latest models, new models in the technology market, new versions in the technology market, while transferring to new systems in the state-of-the-art market. With its different performance and prices, it also includes optimization differences. As in any other benchmarking comparison that is faced with benchmarking in terms of the differences it lives in. With the application opening, the process is started by selecting the game word to be the visual settings level. They are produced by testing on different systems, they are the average FPS values obtained during the test. The benchmarks aim to ensure that the systems make the right decision by indicating the good and the bad sides of each other. Although the user chooses according to these comparisons, they test them on their systems. A vital value for the game world, the "FPS" (Frames Per Second) value represents the biggest cutthroat for writing. In this test, the "FPS" comparison is made by trying different technologies on the same game. The test results are ranked by determining the scores. The characteristic of the scores is that they are based on the test average FPS value.


In the middle of 20th century the attractiveness of the coast of Alicante favoured the development of touristic activity along the province. Initially, back when the tourists lived with sailors and fisherman, the area wouldn't qualify as holiday destination, but afterwards Alicante coastline has become an important tourist attraction which has led to a significant urban growth.
Many different kind of tourism-related buildings for both Residential and Seasonal use, were developed without taking into account the major impact they would produce in many ways. This paper serves two purposes: first to examine the influences tourism has had on today's landscape of the Alicante coastline, and second, to review the level of quality that different consolidated tourist areas have achieved over the last decades.
In order to carry out the assessment, three different tourist cities: Denia, Benidorm and Torrevieja will be analyzed based on their urban quality, landscape and territorial transformation.


This project describes the development of an online Creative Thinking course designed specifically for community college students. This interdisciplinary college course will be one component of an entrepreneurial certificate program aimed at business students, but will be open to all students seeking to improve their creative thinking abilities. While developing the course the author engaged in the process described in Cameron's The Artists Way as a structured reflective practice. In this writing, selected theories of creativity are described in their connection to course content and approach. The course was informed by traditional western ideas on creativity as well as an eastern holistic view. Western theories of creativity draw from the works of Gardner, Csikszentmihalyi, and Sternberg, while Eastern concepts of creativity are addressed through the Taoist notion of ching or quiescence. In addition, the course has been informed by the emerging field of Positive Psychology due to the observed effects of positive attitudes on increasing creativity in individuals and Positive Psychology's compatibility with eastern viewpoints. Approaches to pedagogy were influenced by the particular needs of community college students. The unique learning needs of community college students include a desire for connection to practical applications, as well as high levels of interaction and personal meaning. The course was also designed to address critical viewpoints on the limiting nature of our educational system on creativity as described by Robinson in Out of Our Minds. Major assignments and learning activities are described in detail including the Sci-Fi SCAMPER—an adaptation of the well-known SCAMPER activity, and the Problem of Personal Interest Project—a long term project in the domain of the student's choosing, identifying a problem, and developing and testing a solution. The course outline and syllabus are also provided. The first decade of the 21 century has presented us with complex problems at both local and global levels. The economic crisis and social changes emerging from the clash of cultures in an increasingly shrinking world has created the requirement for all Americans to work smarter and innovate in order to remain competitive and find new ways to create positive interactions. It is for these reasons that creative thinking has become a crucial tool for everyone in our society. Table of


The growing deployment of mobile video applications is calling for new methods to measure quality as perceived by humans. The suitable quality metrics may explore spatial and temporal video features that quantify the presence of related artifacts in an examined mobile video service. Considering a video as a sequence of images, computation of spatial features for each involved image would pose significant strain on system resources such as battery power and potentially induce large computational load in the mobile terminal. In this paper, we therefore examine the progression of spatial features in mobile videos over time using an autocorrelation approach. This enables us to reveal the duration over which spatial feature values of a mobile video may be considered as constant. In analogy to the characterization of mobile radio channels, we refer to this duration as the coherence time of an examined spatial feature for a given video. The provided numerical results illustrate that large reductions in the frequency of computing spatial features in mobile videos may be obtained. This in turn reduces the consumption of resources in the mobile terminal.


Background and Objectives: Functional recovery is one of the major causes of concern in stroke subjects with performing activities of daily living. Upper limb impairment affects the performance of many activities of daily living. Our major objective of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of the individual and combined effect of motor relearning programme and Thermal stimulation to improve upper limb motor function. Methods: A random sampling method is used to select subjects with right MCA stroke. Thirty subjects were included and randomly divided into three groups by using lottery method, with ten in each group A, B and C. Group A, B and C had underwent a MRP,Thermal Stimulation and combination of these two techniques respectively. The outcomes are measured by the MMAS, and STREAM scale. Results: Analysis of variance has been used to find the significance of study parameters between different groups. Paired t' test has been used to find the significance of the study within each group. According to Results Group A shows better improvement than group B and It shows that upper limb motor function improved significantly higher in Group C (P<0.001**) when compared to Group A and Group B in MMAS and STREAM scale evaluation. Conclusion: The present study indicates that physiotherapy treatment showed that the use of individual effect of motor relearning programme is more effective than Thermal Stimulation technique but the combined effect of these two techniques is more effective than the individual effect can bring out significant changes in the upper limb motor function of MCA Stroke subjects.


End-to-end automatic speech recognition (ASR) can achieve promising performance with large-scale training data. However, it is known that domain mismatch between training and testing data often leads to a degradation of recognition accuracy. In this work, we focus on the unsupervised domain adaptation for ASR and propose CMatch, a Character-level distribution matching method to perform fine-grained adaptation between each character in two domains. First, to obtain labels for the features belonging to each character, we achieve frame-level label assignment using the Connectionist Temporal Classification (CTC) pseudo labels. Then, we match the character-level distributions using Maximum Mean Discrepancy. We train our algorithm using the self-training technique. Experiments on the Libri-Adapt dataset show that our proposed approach achieves 14.39% and 16.50% relative Word Error Rate (WER) reduction on both cross-device and cross-environment ASR. We also comprehensively analyze the different strategies for frame-level label assignment and Transformer adaptations.


Abstract We lured White Ibises (Eudocimus albus) to trap sites with decoy plastic flamingos and captured them with a rocket net or mist nets. Our ability to attract ibises to a site (and consequently our capture success) was affected by vegetation height and water depth but not by decoy numbers or their arrangement. Both the rocket net (37 ibises) and mist nets (97 ibises) caught birds. The number of birds captured per day was the same for both methods, but the rocket net trap captured more birds per set than did mist nets. Because mist nets were easy to reset we captured 1–2 birds per set multiple times in one day with mist nets. We preferred mist nets over rocket net traps because mist nets allowed for shorter bird processing times, greater ease of set up, and fewer safety considerations for transport and operation of the trap. Also, rocket nets required more equipment and expense. Although we discouraged other species from landing at a trap site, there was evidence that these techniques may also be useful for capturing other wading birds.


OF THESIS FATTY ACID PROFILE IN RUMINAL CONTENT AND BLOOD PLASMA OF FINISHING BEEF CATTLE, SUPPLEMENTED WITH DIFFERENT SOURCES OF FAT Eight steers were used in a replicated 4 x 4 Latin square design experiment to study the rumen metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The animals were fed a concentrate diet based on cracked corn grain, corn silage and hay fescue (K31). The dietary fat treatments were a negative control, tallow added at 60g/day, fish oil at 60g/day and heterotrophically grown microalgae high in DHA at 100g/day. Treatments were incorporated immediately prior to feeding each day and dosed through a ruminal fistula mixed with 0.45kg of the diet. Animals were fed at 1.75 x NEm once daily during adaptation then switched to twice daily during sample collection. Samples rumen, reticulum and omasal contents were used to determine ruminal digestion and metabolism of fatty acids while urine and feces were collected to determine diet digestibility and N balance. The experiment was analyzed as a Latin Square design with a 2 x 2 factorial using mixed models in SAS. There was no difference among treatments for DMI, urine or fecal excretion, N balance, total VFA concentrations, omasal or reticular flow, and apparent digestibility. Fat treatments had lower blood plasma C18:0 than control. Algae increased flow of C18:1 isomers and increased DHA in plasma.


I. INTRODUCTION As society's recognition and understanding of sexual harassment and its impact have evolved in recent years, the law has struggled to reflect and respond to these developments.(1) One area that has seen recent alteration is the standard of employer accountability for the illegal conduct of its agents.(2) The Supreme Court offered guidance first in Meritor Savings Bank, F.S.B. v. Vinson,(3) by recognizing two types of sexual harassment.(4) Most recently, the Court's decisions in Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth(5) and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton(6) signaled change by clarifying their intentions as expressed in the Meritor opinion.(7) All of these decisions address the specific concern of employer liability for sexual harassment; none directly confront employer liability regarding another Title VII violation, namely, retaliation.(8) Title 42 [sections] 2000e-3(a) makes it unlawful for an employer "to discriminate against any of his employees ... because [s]he has opposed any practice, made an unlawful employment practice ... or because [s]he has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this subchapter."(9) This provision "permit[s] employees to pursue, without fear of retaliation, the statutory procedural mechanisms designed for the vindication of their rights,"(10) and creates a separate cause of action against an employer for retaliatory acts against employees who file Title VII complaints or support the complaints of others.(11) Thus, a claimant who successfully proves her retaliation case can recover against her employer, even if her sexual harassment claim fails.(12) Courts have determined the allegations required to establish a prima facie case for retaliation. Although each circuit has developed its own standard, the elements are fairly consistent. A claimant must show that (1) she has participated in an action protected by the statute; (2) she has suffered an adverse employment action, and; (3) there is a causal connection between the protected behavior and the adverse employment action.(13) Some circuits explicitly require the claimant to show that the employer had knowledge that the employee participated in a protected activity.(14) Unresolved in the area of retaliation law is the standard for employer liability.(15) In the sexual harassment context, the few courts to address this issue have struggled to discern the appropriate standard of employer liability for the retaliatory acts of supervisory personnel.(16) Despite the paucity of judicial authority, all of the existing decisions rely on paradigms from the sexual harassment arena.(17) This Comment seeks to address the impact of the Supreme Court's new guidance for employer liability in sexual harassment claims in the retaliation context. Part II of this Comment will explore the development of the standard for employer liability in sexual harassment cases, including the refinement of the standard through recent Supreme Court decisions in Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton.(18) Part III will examine the application, in decisions prior to Burlington Industries and Faragher, of the sexual harassment paradigm for employer liability to the retaliation context and will make predictions regarding its continued application.(19) Part IV will address the split in authority over the proper meaning of the "adverse employment action" requirement for a prima facie case of retaliation and will conclude by advancing several reasons for the uniform adoption of one meaning, particularly in light of the new Supreme Court guidance.(20) II. EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT A. The Development of Dual Standards In 1980, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Sex (Guidelines), which defined sexual harassment under Title VII and outlined the EEOC's position on employer liability should harassment be proven. …


Gender and Economics: A European Perspective provides an introduction to gender studies in economics. This is a rapidly expanding field in which textbooks are urgently necessary. The contributors give comprehensive coverage of the economic situation of women throughout Europe. The authors approach the subject at three different levels. * The economic theory of gender and economics * The different positions of men and women in the economy, their earning power and the division of labour within the family * European policy and law, and how this is evolving. Giving a unique balance of theoretical and empirical data this book will be of great use to students of Labour Economics. It will also provide a wider view for all students of micro and macro economics.


These articles give us a fine glimpse at how grand theories behave in daily life because they observe the dictum of good science and good art—they show us instead of just telling us. Together and singly, they illuminate two theoretical strands in current studies of whiteness (Allen 1994; Brodkin 1998; Crenshaw and Morrison 1992; Frankenberg 1993; Ignatiev 1995; Jacobson 1998; Morrison 1990; Roediger 1991). The first is the notion that whiteness is less a freestanding category than the powerful pole of a social relationship created by invidious contrast. Consequently the meaning of whiteness, its variability, and its fluidity all derive from its position of power and privilege vis-a-vis particular nonwhite others. And the second strand, somewhat less developed in the literature, is the notion that whiteness as a performed or lived role in a relationship has its internal contradictions. That is, the relationship of white folks to their whiteness, defined by the putative nonwhiteness of particular others, is often a relationship of ambivalence about the costs and benefits of what they embrace and what they devalue in order to be white.


Call centres are a rapidly growing, IT-based channel for service and sales delivery, particularly in the financial services and telecom industries. Although little research has been undertaken on the human resource aspects of call centres, two contrasting images are emerging. The first emphasizes the bureaucratic, constraining nature of these work settings, while the second image points towards worker empowerment characteristic of knowledge-intensive settings. Which of these two images more faithfully portrays the nature of work organization in call centres is the subject of our paper. Drawing on qualitative research undertaken in six call centres and a survey of front-line workers, we show that elements of both models coexist and that a hybrid model predominates. The theoretical basis for this contention, and its institutionalization as mass customized bureaucracy, lies in management's on-going attempts to reconcile two conflicting principles: standardization of processes and customization of products. The paper also explores, as key consequences of mass customized bureaucracy, front-line workers' satisfaction with various facets of their job and their overall job satisfaction, in addition to discretionary work effort. Only in relation to job security and co-worker relations could front-line workers be considered satisfied. Overall, these employees were ambivalent in their responses. They were however more likely to give more discretionary work effort than indicated by their extent of satisfaction. We conclude that, although the existing pattern of work organization may be superior to more bureaucratic forms, it is by no means ideal from the standpoint of either front-line workers or management.


This Article examines the targetability of individuals and organizations performing intelligence functions for a non-State group involved in an armed conflict. Specifically, it considers the circumstances under which they lose the international humanitarian law (IHL) protections from, and during, attacks that they would otherwise enjoy as civilians. To do so, the piece deconstructs IHL's "organized armed group" construct to determine when an intelligence organization can be characterized as a component thereof. Noting that some non-State groups consist of both entities involved in the hostilities and organizations having no relationship to them, the Article introduces the concept of a non-State group's "overall OAG," a notion that parallel's the characterization of a State's various military units as its "armed forces." Additionally, the Article assesses the circumstances under which individuals engaged in activities intelligence who are not members of an OAG may be targeted on the basis of their "direct participation in the hostilities."


Employee turnover causes huge cost burden for any organization. It may be direct or indirect. Training cost, hiring cost, selection cost is considered as direct cost and indirect cost include loss of reputation, low employee morale. Since employees are a critical component of any organization, effort must put to increase perception of organization support and organizational justice, to make them more engaged and satisfied, which signals healthier organization and reduces employee turnover intentions, which is essential in determining organization effectiveness. In today's competitive business environment, retaining key talented employees is a major challenge before any organization in order to compete in the real market. It is observed that managerial support having direct impact on the turnover intentions and intrinsic rewards determines the above relationship. It was suggested that, it is the responsibility of the organization to create good environment to maintain good relationship. Therefore this paper attempts to review the perceived organizational support and organizational justice as antecedents of employee turnover intentions with mediating effect of Employee Engagement.


Biodiesel, derived from plant oils and animal fats is an attractive alternative fuel to fossil-based diesel as it is biodegradable, non-toxic, renewable, and has a low emission profile. Industrial production of biodiesel faces major challenges including limited supply of raw material and high cost of feedstock, which accounts for 60-80% of total production cost. Economic feasibility for biodiesel can be improved by using inexpensive raw materials such as waste frying oils and nonedible oils. However, these low quality feedstocks contain significant amounts of free fatty acids (FFA) which reacts with a base to produce soap hindering product separation and reduce product yield. The problem of soap formation can be avoided by adding a pretreatment step to convert FFA in oily feed to alkyl esters by esterification reaction. This study investigates esterification of FFA using both homogeneous and heterogeneous acid catalysts under mild temperature and pressure conditions in a batch and semi-batch reactor. While homogeneous acid catalyst shows high activity leading to high conversion in less time, there is need for neutralization and water wash to remove residual acid from product. To overcome these problems solid acid catalysts were selected and tested for activity, selectivity and durability. It is demonstrated that a nonporous polymer gel type catalyst from Dow Chemical (BD 20) provides good activity and low deactivation rate compared to other catalysts. This catalyst is recommended for further testing for commercial application. Fitting kinetic models have been proposed for reactor development and modeling endeavors.


Data on employee benefits is one of the key products produced by the National Compensation Survey (NCS). The NCS uses a stratified three-stage sample: areas (PSUs), establishments, and occupations. The weighting procedure includes adjusting sample weights for establishment non-response, occupation non-response, any unusual data collection situations, and post-stratifying to known employment control totals. This paper illustrates how Fay's method of balanced repeated replication (BRR) was applied to estimates generated from this complex sample design to obtain variance estimates for the NCS benefits products. The following topics will be presented: an introduction to the NCS stratified three-stage sample; a description of our utilization of Fay's method, including formation of variance strata, variance PSUs, and replicates; a detailed analysis of the magnitude of estimated variances (BLS 2008).


A growing body of research supports the notion that human well-being is inextricably connected to the welfare of other animals. Social scientists are exploring these connections in research in social work and various subfields of sociology, including those focusing on the environment, deviance, the family, health, social inequality, and religion, as well as the emerging field of animals and society. This special issue taps researchers and theorists from several countries in a wide range of subfields in order to capture the breadth of the connections among species that affect all aspects of human well-being. This is a double issue, as we received such a large number of submissions that covered a variety of issues. The Humane Society University graciously helped subsidize the expansion of the issue to include the additional content. In addition, I need to thank the wide range of people all over the world who helped review manuscripts, despite their busy schedules. The articles in this special issue cover a wide range of areas of interest, including:


Theological knowledge, whose main subject is the God who reveals Himself, also speculates about the nature of the language needed to adequately articulate such a subject. Therefore it undertakes an attempt to ponder about the conditions, the modes, the functions, as well as about the finalities of its own language. Such a theme follows in the wake of the study about religious language published in the last issue; nonetheless, it also shows some discontinuity as it is mostly aimed at making explicit the peculiarities exclusively pertaining to the language used by theology.


in view of the development opportunities, the rural areas have a lower potential when compared to cities and towns. this disadvantage is caused mainly by smaller population densities, greater distances from urban markets as well as information, work, education, and most other resources. Seen from the perspective of the rural areas the internet means a possibility of equal development chances between the rural and city inhabitants. access to the internet means availability of work (telework), administration, education, services offered on-line that are impossible to obtain elsewhere, of different kinds of databases, entertainment as well as contact with other users. thus, both social and economic aspects can be distinguished. these aspects can be studied in the digital divide context, which the authors try to investigate in this paper.


Multichannel sound field reproduction techniques, such as Wave Field Synthesis (WFS) and Sound Field Reconstruction (SFR), define loudspeaker filters in the frequency domain. However, in order to use these techniques in practical systems, one needs to convert these frequency-domain characteristics to practical and efficient time-domain digital filters. Additional limitation of SFR comes from the fact that it uses a numerical matrix pseudoinversion procedure, where the obtained filters are sensitive to numerical errors when the system matrix has a high condition number. This paper describes physically-motivated modifications of the SFR approach that allow for mitigating conditioning problems and frequency-domain loudspeaker filter smoothing that allows for designing short time-domain filters while maintaining high sound field reproduction accuracy. It also provides comparisons of sound field reproduction accuracy of WFS and SFR using the obtained discrete-time filters.


For better or worse, President Obama's health care reform bill is now law. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act represents the most significant transformation of the American health care system since Medicare and Medicaid. It will fundamentally change nearly every aspect of health care, from insurance to the final delivery of care.The length and complexity of the legislation, combined with a debate that often generated more heat than light, has led to massive confusion about the law's likely impact. But, it is now possible to analyze what is and is not in it, what it likely will and will not do. In particular, we now know that:*While the new law will increase the number of Americans with insurance coverage, it falls significantly short of universal coverage. By 2019, roughly 21 million Americans will still be uninsured.*The legislation will cost far more than advertised, more than $2.7 trillion over 10 years of full implementation, and will add $352 billion to the national debt over that period.*Most American workers and businesses will see little or no change in their skyrocketing insurance costs, while millions of others, including younger and healthier workers and those who buy insurance on their own through the non-group market will actually see their premiums go up faster as a result of this legislation.*The new law will increase taxes by more than $669 billion between now and 2019, and the burdens it places on business will significantly reduce economic growth and employment.*While the law contains few direct provisions for rationing care, it nonetheless sets the stage for government rationing and interference with how doctors practice medicine.*Millions of Americans who are happy with their current health insurance will not be able to keep it.In short, the more we learn about what is in this new law, the more it looks like bad news for American taxpayers, businesses, health-care providers, and patients.


The literature on interpersonal conflict management is already extensive and theories have been forwarded since the 1960s. However, these theories were created with proximal couples in mind. They do not address the situation of partners in long-distance relationships (LDRs). Thus, a grounded theory study was done among 10 Filipinos in LDRs. They were individually interviewed for about an hour per session and the interviews were transcribed. The transcriptions were then subjected to open coding, which yielded 18 open codes. During the selective coding, these were pared down to five categories. Their relationships were identified during the theoretical coding, which resulted in a grounded theory on conflict management in LDRs. This theory posits that the reason for the LDR; long-term relationship plans; communication practices; and the values, behaviors, and other attributes of the couple all shape long-distance conflicts. The computer-mediated communication technologies used by the long-distance couples were factors in relational maintenance.


Interactive systems are developed according to requirements, which may be, for instance, documentation, prototypes, diagrams, etc. The informal nature of system requirements may be a source of problems: it may be the case that a system does not implement the requirements as expected, thus, a way to validate whether an implementation follows the requirements is needed. We propose a novel approach to validating a system using formal models of the system. In this approach, a set of traces generated from the execution of the real interactive system is searched over the state space of the formal model. The scalability of the approach is demonstrated by an application to an industrial system in the nuclear plant domain. The combination of trace analysis and formal methods provides feedback that can bring improvements to both the real interactive system and the formal model.


Molybdenum, vanadium and iron are important micro and macro nutrients, respectively, for all living organisms. Their cycles and budgets in the natural environment is affected by - and affects many different processes.

Poorly ordered ferrihydrite nanoparticles characterised for their particle size (3-5nm), crystallinity, surface area (~200m2g-1) and surface charge (point of zero charge =
7.96) helped to understand better their adsorption and co-precipitation interactions mechanisms with molybdenum and vanadium.

Comparative studies of molybdenum and vanadium adsorbed onto or coprecipitated with ferrihydrite as well as the influence of different conditions such us pH, metal concentration, particles concentration and matrix composition were carried out. The obtained kinetic parameters were modelled with various geochemical software packages to evaluate their behavior.

Metastability of ferrihydrite under hydrothermal conditions was the second big theme of this thesis. The crystallisation kinetic (transformation rates) and thermodynamics (activation energies) of the hematite formation were assessd with in situ synchrotronbased
difraction tehnique in the presence and the absence of molybdenum and vanadium under conditions mimicing the geochemistry of deep sea hydrothermal systems (ionic
strength = 0.7, pH = 8). The data showed that hematite crystallization (from ferrihydrite) followed a temperature dependent trends and that the transformation requires an apparent activation energy of 26 kJmol-1 . The presence of molybdenum and vanadium delayed the transformation reaction by 32% and 38% respectively.

The transformation also leads to the sequestration of more than 90% of the initial ferrihydrite associated molybdenum and vanadium in the hematite structure, making it thus
non-bioavailable for further reaction.

Finally, synchrotron-based X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy revealed that the initial molybdate speciation in the starting ferrihydrite changes bonding and coordination in the end-product hematite and molybdenum replaced iron in the hematite structure further supporting the fact that molybdenum is immobilized in the hematite structure.


The importance of the problems of contingent planning with actions that have non-deterministic effects and of planning with goal preferences has been widely recognized, and several works address these two problems separately. However, combining conditional planning with goal preferences adds some new difficulties to the problem. Indeed, even the notion of optimal plan is far from trivial, since plans in nondeterministic domains can result in several different behaviors satisfying conditions with different preferences. Planning for optimal conditional plans must therefore take into account the different behaviors, and conditionally search for the highest preference that can be achieved. In this paper, we address this problem. We formalize the notion of optimal conditional plan, and we describe a correct and complete planning algorithm that is guaranteed to find optimal solutions. We implement the algorithm using BDD-based techniques, and show the practical potentialities of our approach through a preliminary experimental evaluation.


The definition of the generic limits of Xerocomus s. l. and particularly the delimitation of this genus from Boletus is very unclear and controversial. During his study of European species of the Boletaceae, the author has come to the conclusion that Xerocomus in a wide concept is a heterogeneous mixture of several groups of species. These groups are separated from each other by different anatomical and some other characters. Also recent molecular studies show that Xerocomus s. l. is not a monophyletic group. In agreement with these facts, the European species of Xerocomus s. l. whose anatomy was studied by the present author are here classified into the following, more distinctly delimited genera: Xerocomus s. str., Phylloporus, Xerocomellus gen. nov., Hemileccinum gen. nov. and Pseudoboletus. Boletus badius and Boletus moravicus, also often treated as species of Xerocomus, are retained for the present in the genus Boletus. The differences between Xerocomus s. str., Phylloporus, Xerocomellus, Hemileccinum, Pseudoboletus and Boletus (which is related to this group of genera) are discussed in detail. Two new genera, Xerocomellus and Hemileccinum, and necessary new combinations of species names are proposed.


We propose a method for extractive summarization of audiovisual recordings focusing on topic-level segments. We first build a content similarity graph between all segments across the collection, using word vectors from the transcripts, and then select the most central segments for the summaries. We evaluate the method quantitatively on the AMI Meeting Corpus using gold standard reference summaries and the Rouge metric, and qualitatively on lecture recordings using a novel two-tiered approach with human judges. The results show that our method compares favorably with others in terms of Rouge, and outperforms the baselines for human scores, thus also validating our evaluation protocol.


Medical writers often help train researchers to compose and publish scholarly articles. Although this represents only a small portion of what medical writers do, it is important for those who train academic researchers to be knowledgeable and competent. Here, I describe 16 modules, each consisting of specific writing and editing activities, which need to be taught to publication writers. I also suggest a simple evaluation system for assessing 14 competencies in medical writing and editing needed by publication writers to perform their role successfully.


The evaluation of weather forecast accuracy has always been a difficult subject to address for many reasons. In this study, a simple semiobjective method is used to examine the accuracy of zone forecasts issued by the Weldon Spring (Saint Louis) National Weather Service (NWS) Office for mid-Missouri over a period of 416 days with the goal of demonstrating the utility of this method. Zone forecasts were chosen because these forecasts are typically what the public will receive either directly or indirectly from various media outlets. Not surprising, the evaluation method used here demonstrates that forecasts issued by the NWS and the Nested Grid Model (NGM) model output statistics (MOS) represent a considerable improvement over persistence or climatological baseline forecasts. NWS forecasts were slightly better than NGM MOS forecasts, especially when considering temperature and precipitation only. All forecasts showed distinct seasonal variability. The NWS winter-season forecasts were superior to those issued in the summer season, and this superiority was found to be a function of the precipitation forecast parameter. This technique might represent an easily understandable and concise method for providing weather forecast performance information to the general public in such a way that it would instill or reinforce public confidence in the accuracy of weather forecasts.


The term diabetes mellitus comprises a group of metabolic diseases all distinguished by their main characteristic hyperglycaemia. With a steadily increasing prevalence diabetes displays an enormous burden for patients and health systems and is therefore of special interest for research. The development of the two main types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2, is closely linked to the formation of reactive species, especially hydrogen peroxide, inside different compartments of pancreatic beta cells. However, these cells are especially vulnerable towards oxidative stress mediated by hydrogen peroxide due to a low expression of antioxidative enzymes.
The main aims of the present thesis were to analyse the intracellular generation and to enable the site-specific detection of hydrogen peroxide to evaluate its role in the delicate equilibrium between redox signalling and oxidative stress under certain pathophysiological conditions, and moreover to monitor its movement through compartments and subcellular membranes of insulin-producing cells. Additionally, a new methodology for an artificial site-specific generation of hydrogen peroxide inside living cells was developed.


An estimated 1 billion persons in low-income countries do not have access to improved drinking water. Chlorine, a useful water treatment agent, is less effective in turbid water, and lacks a visible effect, limiting its acceptability. A product incorporating precipitation, coagulation, flocculation, and chlorination technology (combined product) to reduce microbial, organic and heavy metal contaminants in water was evaluated. The combined product's microbiological efficacy in Guatemalan villagers' households was evaluated. One hundred randomly selected households from four neighboring Guatemalan villages were enrolled. Three groups received the combined product and either the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) water storage vessel, a covered bucket with spigot, or no vessel. One group received chlorine bleach and the CDC water storage vessel, and one group no intervention. Household water samples were collected for 4 weeks and Escherichia coli, chlorine, and turbidity levels were measured. Potable water was defined as having less than one E. coli per 100 ml. Eight (8%) baseline water samples were potable. Follow-up water samples were more likely to be potable than control samples (combined product and traditional vessel 83%; combined product and CDC vessel 92%; combined product and covered bucket with spigot 93%; chlorine and CDC vessel 92%; versus control 5%). Among combined product users, 98% reported improved water clarity compared with 45% of chlorine bleach users (p < 0.0001). The combined product technology improved water potability as effectively as chlorine bleach; improved water clarity could motivate more persons to effectively treat their water.


[Bis(diisopropylamino)phosphino](trimethylsilyl)carbene (I) adds one equiv of dimesitylfluoroborane to give [(Me2CH)2N]2PR:C(SiMe3)BR12 (II; R = mesityl, R1 = F) (III) as an air-stable solid which was characterized by an x-ray crystal diffraction study. In III the B-C1 bond length is 152.5 pm, while the P-C1 distance is 169.6 pm. The bonding planes of the boron and the C1 atom are twisted by only .apprx.31.5 Deg. Further evidence for partial boron-carbon double bond character is provided by NMR spectroscopy. In soln., rotation about the B-C(1) bond is restricted, leading to chem. different environments for the two mesityl groups. The rotation barrier can be estd. to be DG.thermod. > 90 KJ mol-1, as predicted by theor. calcns. I also reacts with trimethoxyborane giving C-borylated phosphorus ylide II (R = R1 = OMe) (IV). However, according to NMR spectroscopy, B-C p-interactions with the ylidic carbon atom in IV are negligible.


We propose an original method for analytically solving the propagation equation in a resonant dense medium, and we give explicit solutions, using a parametric formulation under the thin-sample approximation. We then use the knowledge of the field transformation in a single-pass process to study the transmission of a resonant dense medium inserted into a ring cavity. Implicit analytical results are given, together with an explicit formula under the thin-film approximation. The nonlinear phase shift that is associated with propagation through the medium is shown to have a great influence on the cavity transmission. Optical bistability is obtained in the most general case. We can easily adjust the switching intensities and the intensity shift by modifying the initial cavity detuning ϕ0. For positive cavity detunings, perfect optical limiting can be obtained: Induced absorptive and dispersive losses limit the output intensity. This device can lead to the stabilization of a noisy incident continuous wave or to the realization of optical limiters.


Cities are in a state in which two opposing forces are acting on them: on the one hand the unabated urbanization process, on the other the evergrowing demand for real sustainability. The book proposes an urban planning response focused on the transformations of urban sectors to be achieved using innovative operative tools; for this aim the book defines the main features of this operative tools. The goal is to include in the cities innovative actions that can provoke a domino effect with repercussions on the entire urban structure.
The book is devided in 5 sections. The first one addresses the issue of urbanization and the development of the urban systems, with the related implications in terms of resource consumption and concentration of people and functions. The second part discusses some models that explain the mechanisms of urban sprawl and the derived scenarios. The third part deals with one of the key nodes of the relationship between urban systems and environmental resources, namely the energy. The fourth part analyzes some international case studies to extrapolate recurring characteristics that can affect the operative planning. The fifth section focuses on the features of this new type of plan.


While deep learning has achieved great success in computer vision and many other fields, currently it does not work very well on patient genomic data with the "big p, small N" problem (i.e., a relatively small number of samples with highdimensional features). In order to make deep learning work with a small amount of training data, we have to design new models that facilitate few-shot learning. Here we present the Affinity Network Model (AffinityNet), a data efficient deep learning model that can learn from a limited number of training examples and generalize well. The backbone of the AffinityNet model consists of stacked k-Nearest-Neighbor (kNN) attention pooling layers. The kNN attention pooling layer is a generalization of the Graph Attention Model (GAM), and can be applied to not only graphs but also any set of objects regardless of whether a graph is given or not. As a new deep learning module, kNN attention pooling layers can be plugged into any neural network model just like convolutional layers. As a simple special case of kNN attention pooling layer, feature attention layer can directly select important features that are useful for classification tasks. Experiments on both synthetic data and cancer genomic data from TCGA projects show that our AffinityNet model has better generalization power than conventional neural network models with little training data.


Gas adsorption on porous solids is a topic that is often discussed in an undergraduate chemistry or chemical engineering course. The idea of porosity and gas adsorption on a porous solid is usually discussed with adsorption isotherms recorded using commercially available equipment. This discussion can be rather abstract and can be difficult for students to visualize. Here, four demonstrations highlight the adsorption of CO2 gas on adsorbents. These simple demonstrations show gas adsorption in a dynamic way that can help students understand the properties of porous solids.


Modal frequencies are one of the most easily quantifiable damage features for damage detection. However, the fact that changes in modal parameters caused by temperature variations usually mask those induced by structural damage is one the main challenges for the reliability of modal parameter-based damage identification methods. Hence, removing the adverse temperature effects from the damage detection process is a crucial need to prevent false positives or negatives. Although autoassociative neural network (AANN) has been extensively used in this context, the fact that temperature values can be measured precisely and easily due to maturing sensing technologies has hardly been exploited in the AANN-based damage identification methods. To fill this void, a modified AANN-based method, which add the representational temperature values to the inputs, is explored in this paper. Numerical models based on an experimental grid structure, with varying temperature conditions and different extents of simulated damage, are used to test the performance of the proposed technique. After training the modified AANN model using the frequency and temperature data sets from models in intact states, corresponding data sets from models in unseen states are used to verify the detectability and robustness of this method by taking the Euclidean Norm as a damage index. Results show that this unsupervised learning method can discern the presence and severity of damage reliably in all of the cases investigated. Various temperature effects and increasing levels of noises introduced into the models hardly influence the damage identification, revealing the high robustness of this method. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/103


While conventional academic finance emphasizes theories such as Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) and the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), the emerging field of behavioral finance investigates the cognitive factors and emotional issues that impact the decision-making process of individuals, groups, and organizations. This paper presents some general principles of behavioral finance including: overconfidence, cognitive dissonance, regret theory, and prospect theory. The paper seeks to identify such behaviors from individual investors as they set out to make their investment decisions. The paper uses both a questionnaire survey and secondary data from the NSE and CMA to identify the individual investor behaviors and determine their financial performance respectively. In conclusion, it was found out that there were varied behaviours and financial performance of individual investors in trading shares of companies listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange, Kenya. Some investors exhibited rational behaviour in making their investment decisions. On the contrary, there were investors who were poised to realize negative results due to irrationality and herding behaviour. The paper will contribute to literature which will form the basis of future more advanced research work on the field of behavioral finance.