The Caribbean receives some of the highest levels of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the world, with many economies having FDI to GDP ratios above 10 per cent in 2012. In the recent past, FDI flows have been particularly volatile, with the financial crisis in 2008 greatly reducing FDI flows to the Caribbean, although they have recovered somewhat recently. One of the distinctive features of Caribbean FDI flows is that they appear to be relatively unprofitable, with FDI income significantly lower than in Latin America. This is possibly due to the sectoral pattern of FDI, which in most Caribbean economies is heavily slanted towards services, particularly tourism. In a small number of economies, natural resources play an important role, which requires relatively large capital outlays and is thus responsible for a large share of investment. While the United States used to be the most important investor in the region, nowadays other players, such as Canada and China, are also taking a keen interest. Finally, the report studies the use of FDI promotion policies. These are more extensive and prevalent in the Caribbean than elsewhere, but the evidence of their effectiveness to improve either FDI flows or the impact of such FDI flows on the local economy, is limited.


In vertebrates, sex determination occurs along a continuum from strictly genotypic (GSD), where sex is entirely guided by genes, to strictly environmental (ESD), where rearing conditions, like temperature, determine phenotypic sex. Along this continuum are taxa which have combined genetic and environmental contributions to sex determination (GSD + EE), where some individuals experience environmental effects which cause them to sex reverse and develop their phenotypic sex opposite their genotypic sex. Amphibians are often assumed to be strictly GSD with sex reversal typically considered abnormal. Despite calls to understand the relative natural and anthropogenic causes of amphibian sex reversal, sex reversal has not been closely studied across populations of any wild amphibian, particularly in contrasting environmental conditions. Here, we use sex-linked molecular markers to discover sex reversal in wild populations of green frogs (Rana clamitans) inhabiting ponds in either undeveloped, forested landscapes or in suburban neighborhoods. Our work here begins to suggest that sex reversal may be common within and across green frog populations, occurring in 12 of 16 populations and with frequencies of 2–16% of individuals sampled within populations. Additionally, our results also suggest that intersex phenotypic males and sex reversal are not correlated with each other and are also not correlated with suburban land use. While sex reversal and intersex are often considered aberrant responses to human activities and associated pollution, we found no such associations here. Our data perhaps begin to suggest that, relative to what is often suggested, sex reversal may be a relatively natural process in amphibians. Future research should focus on assessing interactions between genes and the environment to understand the molecular and exogenous basis of sex determination in green frogs and in other amphibians.


Substitution of a CH group in benzene with nitrogen has a little effect on its aromaticity (Wang et al., Org. Lett. 2010, 12, 4824). How does the same type of substitution affect aromatic character of the three isomeric azaborines? Does further protonation change aromaticity of diazaborines? This work is aimed at answering these questions. Such a knowledge should be of interest for further exploration and application of BN/CC isosterism. Aromaticity of diazaborines and their protonated forms is studied with the aid of four aromaticity indices, HOMA, NICS(0)πzz, PDI and ECRE. Generally, NICS(0)πzz and PDI point to similar aromaticity of diazaborines and their parent azaborines, while HOMA and ECRE indicate some changes. Thus, aromaticity of 1,2-azaborine slightly decreases/increases when CH meta/ortho,para to B is substituted with nitrogen. Aromaticity of the most aromatic 1,3-azaborine remains almost unchanged when CH meta to B and N is replaced with nitrogen, and becomes slightly weaker when any other CH group is substituted with nitrogen. Replacement of the CH ortho to N in 1,4-azaborine does not change much its cyclic delocalization, while replacement of the CH ortho to B leads to smaller cyclic delocalization. Protonated forms are either of similar or decreased aromaticity compared with neutral molecules.


Title of Document: A COMPLEXITY-BASED APPROACH TO INTRAORGANIZATIONAL TEAM SELECTION Shu-Chien Hsu, 2013 Directed By: Qingbin Cui, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Miroslaw Skibniewski, Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Early studies recognized the significance of team's work capacity and suggested the selection of team members based on individual skills and performance in alignment with task characteristics. The equitable team selection method, for example, assigns people to different tasks with even skill distributions for the best overall performance. Recent advancement in organization science also identifies the importance of contextual skills. However, work teams are complex adaptive systems with interdependence between workers and social environment, and exhibit surprising, nonlinear behavior. Optimizing individual stages without taking organizational complexity into account is unlikely to yield a high performing new combination of teams. The objectives of this study can be stated as: a) Utilizing complex system theory to better understand the processes of team selection including forming teams with considering worker's interdependence and replacing the unsuitable members through a time frame; b) Comparing different team selection methods, including random selection, equity method, using knowledge of interdependence in different economic conditions through simulation; c) Comparing different policies of replacing members of teams. This study utilizes a computational model to understand the complexity of project team selection and to examine how diversity of capability and interdependence between workers to effect team performance in different economic conditions. The NK model, a widely used theory for complex systems is utilized here to illustrate the worker's interdependence and fed into an Agent-Based Model. This study uses a small design firm as a case implementation to examine the performance of a variety of team selection approaches and replacement policies. Project data, task assignment, and individual and team performance information were collected for the period of 20092011. The simulation results show that while the equity selection method can increase the diversity of capabilities of teams, the net performance is often worse than optimizing worker interdependencies. This study suggests that managers should protect their higher-performing workers with minimal interdependence disruption when they considered team selection. Thus taking the advantages and disadvantages of all three policies into account, transferring low contributors or least supported members are recommended to be enacted before hiring new workers to avoid this last policy's especially large additional costs. Keyword: Team Selection, Complexity Theory, Agent-Based Modeling, Team Performance A COMPLEXITY-BASED APPROACH TO INTRA-ORGANIZATIONAL TEAM SELECTION


Objective To characterize the relationship between potentially preventable hospitalizations (PPHs) for diabetes and behavioral health conditions in commercially insured working-age persons with diabetes in the United States. Research design and methods We retrospectively analyzed medical and pharmacy claims from services rendered between 2011 and 2013 for 229,039 adults with diabetes. Diabetes PPHs were identified using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Prevention Quality Indicators v6.0 logic. We used negative binomial-logit hurdle regression models to explore the adjusted relationships between diabetes PPHs and schizophrenia, bipolar, depression, anxiety, adjustment disorder, alcohol use disorder, and drug use disorder. Results A total of 4,521 diabetes PPHs were experienced by 3,246 of the persons in the sample. The 20.83% of persons with one or more behavioral health conditions experienced 43.62% (1,972/4,521; 95% CI 42.18%-45.07%) of all diabetes PPHs, and the 7.14% of persons with more than one diagnosed behavioral health condition experienced 24.77% (1,120/4,521; 95% CI 23.54%-26.05%) of all diabetes PPHs. After adjusting for sociodemographic and physical health covariates, patients with depression, schizophrenia, drug or alcohol use disorders, or multiple behavioral health conditions were at significantly increased risk of experiencing at least one diabetes PPH, while patients with depression, drug use disorder, or multiple behavioral health conditions were at significantly increased risk of experiencing recurring diabetes PPHs over time. Conclusions A number of behavioral health conditions are associated with diabetes PPHs, which are often preventable with timely, high-quality outpatient care. The results of this study will enable clinicians, payers, and policy-makers to better focus outpatient care interventions and resources within the population of persons with diabetes.


A general construction of alternative algebras with three anticommuting elements and a unit is given. As an exhaustive result over the real and complex fields, we obtain the Clifford algebras H (quaternions), N1 (dihedral Clifford algebra which is related to real 2‐spinors), and S1 (algebra of Pauli matrices which is related to complex 2‐spinors). What is important is that the algebras N1 and S1 possess inverses everywhere except on a region akin to the light cone of the Minkowski space, while the quaternion algebra H has inverses everywhere except at the zero element. We discuss the reasons why the three algebras N1, H, and S1 are so difficult to distinguish in the representation space of 2×2 complex matrices.


In this editorial, an analysis of articles published in the Mathematics Teacher Educator journal (MTE) from 2012 to 2020, which describes the knowledge base for mathematics teacher educators addressed by MTE authors, is presented. This analysis builds on similar work conducted four years ago (Bieda, 2016). These more recent findings demonstrate that articles focusing on teacher knowledge; mathematical content; student thinking and reasoning; and models of teacher preparation or in-service professional development (PD) have been the most frequently published in MTE. In contrast, a limited number of articles have focused on discourse; diversity, equity, and language; technology; and methods of research. This examination allows us to assess as a community where we were, where we are, and where we might go in the future.


Two indigenous Siberian groups—the Yukaghirs and the Telengits—share rather similar ideas about success in hunting as an elusive and highly precarious tension between too little and too much luck. In the catalogue of semiotics, it corresponds to the homonym whereby one sound/spelling is the manifestation of two words with different meanings. The result, as we shall show, is that any lucky hunter always inhabits the alternative possibility of his own failure. In this sense, good luck in hunting might at any point be exposed as bad fortune.


This work presents the assessment of the methods for the quantification of aircraft loads within the second work package, "Methods for the Quantification of Aircraft Loads", in the German Aerospace Center (DLR) project, iLOADS. This paper assesses and compares different aircraft loads analysis methods with different levels of complexity. Three topics relevant for aircraft loads analysis are addressed in this paper: aerodynamic methods for aircraft loads analysis, dynamic loads analysis methods and effects of the aircraft controls on the aircraft loads. These disciplines are analyzed both for the whole aircraft design level and for an aircraft component design level. Results from these analyses are compared with reference data. An important result of the work is information on the precision and conservativeness of the loads result from each of these approaches.


Malaria is a major global health threat. The standard way of diagnosing malaria is by visually examining blood smears for parasite-infected red blood cells under the microscope by qualified technicians. This method is inefficient and the diagnosis depends on the experience and the knowledge of the person doing the examination. Automatic image recognition technologies based on machine learning have been applied to malaria blood smears for diagnosis before. However, the practical performance has not been sufficient so far. This study proposes a new and robust machine learning model based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) to automatically classify single cells in thin blood smears on standard microscope slides as either infected or uninfected. In a ten-fold cross-validation based on 27,578 single cell images, the average accuracy of our new 16-layer CNN model is 97.37%. A transfer learning model only achieves 91.99% on the same images. The CNN model shows superiority over the transfer learning model in all performance indicators such as sensitivity (96.99% vs 89.00%), specificity (97.75% vs 94.98%), precision (97.73% vs 95.12%), F1 score (97.36% vs 90.24%), and Matthews correlation coefficient (94.75% vs 85.25%).


In our previous study, we reported on the development and preliminary testing of a prototype resonance electrical impedance spectroscopy (REIS) system with a pair of probes. Although our pilot study on 150 young women ranging from 30 to 50 years old indicated the feasibility of using REIS output sweep signals to classify between the women who had negative examinations and those who would ultimately be recommended for biopsy, the detection sensitivity was relatively low. To improve performance when using REIS technology, we recently developed a new multi-probe based REIS system. The system consists of a sensor module box that can be easily lifted along a vertical support device to fit women of different height. Two user selectable breast placement "cups" with different curvatures are included in the system. Seven probes are mounted on each of the cups on opposing sides of the sensor box. By rotating the sensor box, the technologist can select the detection sensor cup that better fits the breast size of the woman being examined. One probe is mounted in the cup center for direct contact with the nipple and the other six probes are uniformly distributed along an outside circle to enable contact with six points on the outer and inner breast skin surfaces. The outer probes are located at a distance of 60mm away from the center (nipple) probe. The system automatically monitors the quality of the contact between the breast surface and each of the seven probes and data acquisition can only be initiated when adequate contact is confirmed. The measurement time for each breast is approximately 15 seconds during which time the system records 121 REIS signal sweep outputs generated from 200 KHz to 800 KHz at 5 KHz increments for all preselected probe pairs. Currently we are measuring 6 pairs between the center probe and each of six probes located on the outer circle as well as two pairs between probe pairs on the outer circle. This new REIS system has been installed in our clinical breast imaging facility. We are conducting a prospective study to assess performance when using this REIS system under an approved IRB protocol. Over 200 examinations have been conducted to date. Our experience showed that this new REIS system was easy to operate and the REIS examination was fast and considered "comfortable" by examinees since the women presses her breast into the cup herself without any need for forced breast compression, and all but a few highly sensitive women have any sensation of an electrical current during the measurement.


Although there is alarm over the global land rush, many plans for the large-scale transformation of land acquired by investors remain on the drawing board. Based on a study of two land deals in Kenya's Tana Delta, this paper considers the processes by which blueprint designs are amended or delayed through the involvement of local actors. It demonstrates that even top-down acquisition of land by powerful state-linked actors with the support of policy discourse can be stalled by the rural poor, particularly if the latter have strong customary claims and links to wider opposition. At the same time, large-scale land acquisition is not automatically opposed by local people, who may see land deals as an opportunity to safeguard access to resources and to support their development expectations. The paper also suggests that although consultation and the existence of recognised property rights appear to result in fairer project designs, land deals are likely to reflect the decision-making power of an elite that is not fully informed. The conclusion affirms the need for more nuanced, place-based analyses of large-scale land deals, taking into account tenure arrangements, resource access mechanisms, land management discourses and the role of cross-scale agency and alliances in building support for, or opposition to, such deals.


Inspired with a vision of reforming suburban housing, David Yrencken and John Ridge founded the company Merchant Builders in 1965. Unitl 1981 the company's built work made a significant contribution to the design of project and cluster housing. This was followed by a few years marked by loss of direction, then a decline into receivership. Before working on this thesis I had admired Merchant Builders' work from the sidelines as an interested observer. I especially remember a 1970 visit to Elliston, which demonstrated that suburban design could differ substantially from the sterotyped image of monotonous rows of tract housing. Later in a professional capacity as part of a Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) Victoria housing jury I was involved in assessing some of the company's innovative cluster housing. This thesis has provided me with an opportunity to review the development of Merchant Builders' work more formally, and unexpectly to help rescue the fragmented records of their operation, During my research on Merchant Builders the company moved from spacious headquarters in Bayswater, into recievership and out of receivership to new owner. It was finally sold to A. V. Jennings in 1991. This turbulent period saw the company's systematic record keeping disintegrate. The Bayswater office had housed a comprehensive, well organised central records room. Plans, documents, company minutes, brochures, and photographc material were hastily packed, and in some cases damaged, by the removalists during the provisional liquidation. [...]


This work involved a comparative analysis of randomly selected Data Science Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and master's degree programs in investigating how effectively interdisciplinary curricula approaches were being utilized in the course design. It also involved a second study, in the form of a qualitative survey, that asked students to share their perspective, satisfaction, and sentiment from MOOC experiences. These findings were combined, analyzed and utilized to support the foundation of the proposed case-based learning methodology. This approach provides a more real-world and project simulated approach that challenges students to solve problems analytically which is seen as a more effective framework for delivering data science offerings.


We show that study of the atmospheric neutrinos in the 10--100 GeV energy range by DeepCore sub-array of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory can substantially constrain the mixing of sterile neutrinos of mass $\sim 1$ eV with active neutrinos. In the scheme with one sterile neutrino we calculate $\nu_\mu-$ and $\bar{\nu}_\mu-$ oscillation probabilities as well as zenith angle distributions of $\nu_\mu^{CC}$ events in different energy intervals in DeepCore. The distributions depend on the mass hierarchy of active neutrinos. Therefore, in principle, the hierarchy can be identified, if $\nu_s$ exists. After a few years of exposure the DeepCore data will allow to exclude the mixing $|U_{\mu 4}|^2 \geq 0.02$ indicated by the LSND/MiniBooNE results. Combination of the DeepCore and high energy IceCube data will further improve sensitivity to $\nu_s$ mixing parameters.


Title of Document: AN INTEGRATED ISOTOPIC AND BIOMARKER ANALYSIS OF THE GLACIOGENIC VAZANTE GROUP, BRAZIL Kristen E. Miller, Ph.D, 2012 Directed By: Professor, Alan J. Kaufman, Department of Geology The Vazante Group, a meta-sedimentary succession located in south-central Brazil, contains several intervals of diamictite, interpreted as glacial in origin, bracketed by well-preserved carbonate and shale. This glacial succession was previously associated with the global occurrence of Neoproterozoic low latitude glacial deposits (aka Snowball Earth), and biomarkers (molecular fossils) identified from an organic-rich interval within this succession were used to infer active photosynthesis during the ice age (Olcott et al., 2005). However, new Re-Os and detrital zircon U-Pb ages suggest that the upper Vazante Group is ca. 1.3 to 1.0 billion-years old (Geboy, 2006; Azmy et al., 2008; Rodrigues et al., 2008) and thus may preserve evidence for hitherto unknown Mesoproterozoic ice ages. Within this context, I present biomarker and time-series stable isotope data from a basin-wide distribution of preand post-glacial sedimentary units in order to i) evaluate the Mesoproterozoic interpretation of this succession, ii) assess the biologic and environmental conditions present when these sediments were deposited, and iii) to understand the co-evolution of life and ocean chemistry in response to rapidly changing environmental conditions. Biomarker distributions and abundances from the Serra do Garrote Formation, a pre-glacial shale, and the Serra do Poço Verde and Lapa formations, both post-glacial shales, show evidence of a diverse microbial community that would have only existed in a redox stratified water column. Additionally, the presence of aryl isoprenoids, biomarkers indicative of green sulfur bacteria, in the Serra do Garrote and Serra do Poço Verde formations suggest that reducing, sulfide-rich water was present in the photic zone. These biomarkers however, are absent from the Lapa Formation suggesting that sulfidic conditions either receded to deeper water or collapsed entirely. Carbon and sulfur isotopic signatures support the conclusions drawn from this biomarker study. Carbon and sulfur trends from the Serra do Garrote and Serra do Poço Verde formations show evidence of a large, anoxic, isotopically stable, dissolved organic carbon pool (relative to inorganic carbon) and extensive bacterial sulfate reduction of a small, oceanic sulfate reservoir. The Lapa Formation, on the other hand, displays evidence for a smaller, isotopically responsive, dissolved organic carbon pool. The carbon isotopic compositions of carbonates from these three units are consistent with other Mesoproterozic successions supporting the geochronological age constraints. Taken together, biomarker and time-series stable isotope data from the upper Vazante Group map a transition from a sulfide-rich, stratified, water column to one that, while still stratified, was no longer sulfidic. This environmental transition occurred in response to consecutive Mesoproterozoic ice ages. AN INTEGRATED ISOTOPIC AND BIOMARKER ANALYSIS OF THE GLACIOGENIC VAZANTE GROUP, BRAZIL


A compost mixture consisting of 50% 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT)-contaminated soil, 30% chopped sugar beet, and 20% straw was anaerobically percolated for 19 days with tap water. Thereafter, the water was drained off, and the mixture was aerated for 58 days. The anoxic conditions led to the transformation of 90% of the TNT to monoaminodinitrotoluenes and diaminomononitrotoluenes. In addition to well-known reduction products, three substances with identical UV spectra were generated during this phase. They were identified as 4-acetylamino-2-hydroxylamino-6-nitrotoluene (4-N-AcOHANT), 4-formamido-2-amino-6-nitrotoluene (4-N-FAmANT), and 4-acetylamino-2-amino-6-nitrotoluene (4-N-AcANT). The first two metabolites were degraded under aerobic conditions by 100% and 99.6%, respectively, whereas the concentration of 4-N-AcANT increased during the first 15 days of the aeration. Thereafter, the compound was also degraded by 99.6%. In conclusion, an efficient TNT remediation system is presented that led to the identi...


This article describes a technical approach to movement-based interactions between a human interactor and an intelligent agent based on the theatrical Viewpoints movement framework. The Viewpoints AI system features procedural gesture interpretation using shallow semantics and deep aesthetics analysis from the Viewpoints framework. The installation creates a liminal virtual / real space for the human and AI to interact by the use of digital projection for the AI visualization and shadow play to represent the human. Observations from a recent public demonstration of the system and future directions of work are also discussed.


Formation of microtubules in volcanic glass from subsurface environments has been widely attributed to in situ activity of micro-organisms, but evidence directly linking those structures to biological processes remains lacking. Investigations into the alternative possibility of abiotic tubule formation have been limited. A laboratory experiment was conducted to examine whether moderate-temperature hydrothermal alteration of basaltic glass by seawater would produce structures similar to those ascribed to biological processes. Shards of glass were reacted with artificial seawater at 150°C for 48 days. Following reaction, the shards were uniformly covered with a brick-red alteration rind 10-30 μm thick composed primarily of phyllosilicates. Inspection of the margins of reacted shards with light microscopy did not reveal any tubule structures. However, the alteration products did include features containing micron-sized spheroidal structures that resemble granular alteration textures, which some investigators have attributed to biological activity. This result suggests that the granular textures may be at least partially abiotic, and that biological activity may make a smaller contribution to alteration of the oceanic crust than has been previously proposed. Also, while the experimental results do not exclude the possibility that tubules form abiotically, they do place limitations on the conditions under which this may occur.


There are about 500,000 new cases of cancer of the esophagus and 400,000 esophageal cancer-related deaths recorded annually around the world. The disease is three to four times more frequent in men than in women, being the sixth most common cancer and the fifth most frequent cancer-related death among men. The prognosis of esophageal cancer is quite poor, despite advances in surgical procedures (two-field and three-field lymph node dissection) and perioperative management, which is still controversial. The use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in combination with surgery might be a new approach for future treatment. Progress in optical technology has led to the development of a new minimally invasive surgical approach for the treatment of esophageal cancer, namely esophagectomy.


As opposed to Melchionne and Naukkarinen, I defend an expansive definition of everyday aesthetics, one that includes festivals, tourism, and many daily activities of artists and other professionals, along with most ordinary and common experiences. I argue for continuities between aesthetics of everyday life and the aesthetics of art and nature. Looking through a window, for example, may involve aspects of all three. Although I agree with Melchionne that everyday aesthetics is closely related to questions of subjective well-being, I take a more expansive approach to this, drawing from recent psychological studies of the experience of "awe" to stress the importance of such experiences in subjective well-being, thus tying the high points of everyday aesthetics more closely with the high points in the aesthetics of art and nature.


Approximately 1 in 9 Canadian women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime (CCS, 2013). Over the past 30 years, population-based screening programs have contributed to decreased mortality rates (CCS, 2013), however the psychosocial sequelae associated with screening for breast cancer cannot be ignored (Holland et al., 2010). Although the majority of women screened will receive a benign diagnosis, the threat of malignancy can induce elevated levels of distress (Andrykowski et al., 2002). We conducted a mixed methods pilot study to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a 6-week self-managed exercise behaviour change intervention to attenuate distress in women with suspected breast cancer during the peri-diagnostic phase (N = 7). Patients were recruited through the Breast Care Program of St. Joseph's Hospital in London, Ontario. Facility-based exercise sessions and assessments were completed at the Exercise and Health Psychology Laboratory at the University of Western Ontario. Using concurrent mixed methods, we explored illness representations and coping responses among the women who participated in the program at one week and 12 weeks post-biopsy. Qualitative interviews were conducted with all participants at the one month follow-up study visit, and with clinic personnel at the recruitment site (N = 5). Although the small sample size precludes computation of meaningful inferential statistics, self-reported exercise behaviour increased and subjective distress decreased from preto postintervention. A deductive qualitative analysis revealed that exercising during the peri-diagnostic phase was an effective coping resource for these women. The inductive analysis revealed emergent themes that illuminated unique characteristics of this sample, e.g., resilience. The findings from this pilot study offer comprehensive insight into the challenges and future considerations associated with implementation of a


This paper analyzes electric utility stock price reactions to events preceding the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, a development that precipitated the onset of competition in the wholesale sector of the electric utility industry and accelerated the pace toward state‐level deregulation of the retail sector. For the industry as a whole, we find that, at worst, investors had neutral reactions to events preceding wholesale deregulation. However, stock price reactions vary systematically with differences in incumbent utilities' marginal costs, though not with differences in fixed costs or purchased power costs. These results are consistent with the notion that new technologies have substantially reduced barriers to entry into the electric power generation industry, rendering capital cost advantages of incumbent utilities vulnerable to being neutralized by new entrants. However, marginal cost advantages are more likely to be sustainable because they are likely to be driven by inimitable locational advantages.


The DSM-III criteria for melancholia are intended to define an endogenomorphic subcategory of major depressive episode for which somatic treatment is usually required. One hundred twenty-three inpatients having a major depressive episode were examined retrospectively to determine the ability of the melancholia criteria to identify patients observed to have an autonomous syndrome during the first week of hospitalization and to distinguish them from patients observed to be responsive to psychosocial intervention without drug treatment. The melancholia criteria correctly classified 77% of the sample. In comparison with the primary affective disorder criteria, the melancholia criteria appeared to be selective; fewer responsive patients were falsely identified. The predictive values of individual symptom criteria were examined. Of the current symptom criteria, two observed signs, lack of reactivity and psychomotor change, were most useful for making the autonomous-responsive distinction.


Magnification variations due to changes in focus setting pose problems for vision techniques, such as, depth from focus and defocus. The magnification of a conventional lens can be made invariant to defocus by simply adding an aperture at an analytically derived location. The resulting optical configuration is called "telecentric". It is shown that most commercially available lenses can be turned into telecentric ones. The procedure for calculating the position of the additional aperture and a detailed analysis of the photometric and geometric properties of telecentric lenses are presented. Experiments are reported that use a phase-based shift detection algorithm to demonstrate the magnification invariance of telecentric lenses.


Purpose: The aim of this study was to estimate the mechanical properties (elasticity) of normal and cancer prostate tissues and to develop a tissue elasticity map for the diagnosis and localization of prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 735 sites from 35 radical prostatectomy specimens were used in the experiments using a robotic palpation system, and the elasticities of the specimens were estimated by a tissue characterization algorithm. The estimated elasticities from 21 regions were separated into normal and cancer tissues using the pathological information, and a tissue elasticity map was developed using numerical functions and a nonlinear surface-fitting method. Results: The mean elastic moduli of the normal and cancer tissues were 15.25 5.88 and 28.80 11.20 kPa, respectively. The base region had the highest elasticity, followed by the medial and apex regions. These results demonstrated the ability to separate the cancer tissue from the normal tissue based on its elastic modulus. The tissue elasticity mapping was carried out using the estimated elasticity and nonlinear surface fitting. The proposed map showed the elasticity and was used to estimate the elastic modulus of the prostate at any given region. Conclusion: Tissue elasticity may be an important indicator of prostate cancer because the pathologic changes alter the tissue properties, including cell integrity and intercellular matrix. This work provides quantitative and objective information for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. In addition, these results may have implications for the localization of prostate cancers.


In many companies, numbers equal authority. Quantitative data is often viewed as more definitive than qualitative data, while its shortcomings are overlooked. Many of us have worked to marry quantitative with qualitative methods inside organizations to present a fuller view of the people for whom we develop. One area of research that increasingly needs to blend quantitative and qualitative methods is user segmentations. Our software technology product team has been using a segmentation based on quantitative data since 2005. One outcome of this effort has been the development of an algorithm-based "typing" tool intended to be used as a standard tool in recruiting for all segmentation-focused research. We learned that the algorithm was an indecipherable black box, its inner workings opaque even to those who owned it internally. This case study looks at how qualitative research came up against the impenetrable authority of a quantitative segmentation and its associated typing tool, and subsequently contributed to the redesign of future segmentation methodologies and the integration of qualitative research as a key component of segmentation creation.


In 1915, Armenian Christians in Turkey were forced to convert to Islam, barred from speaking their language, and often driven out of their homes as the Turkish army embarked on a widespread campaign of intimidation and murder. In this riveting book, Margaret Ajemian Ahnert relates her mother Ester's terrifying experiences as a young woman during this period of hatred and brutality. At age 15, Ester was separated from her foster family during a forced march away from her birth town of Amasia. Though she faced unspeakable horrors at the hands of many she met on the road, and was forced into an abusive marriage against her will, she never lost her faith, quick wit, or ability to see the good in people. Eventually she escaped and made her way to America. Ahnert's compelling account of her mother's suffering is framed by an intimate portrait of her relationship with her 98-year-old mother. Ester's inspiring stories, told lovingly by her daughter, will give you a window into the harrowing struggle of Armenians during a terrible period in human history.


Abstract Standard economic models assume that the demand for expert predictions arises only under the conditions in which individuals are uncertain about the underlying process generating the data and there is a strong belief that past performances predict future performances. We set up the strongest possible test of these assumptions. In contrast to the theoretical suggestions made in the literature, people are willing to pay for predictions of truly random outcomes after witnessing only a short streak of accurate predictions live in the lab. We discuss potential explanations and implications of such irrational learning in the contexts of economics and finance.


An integration of multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) exploit spatial diversity for high data rate transmission of signals over wireless channel. In this paper, analytical models have been developed to suppress signal to noise plus interference ratio incorporating inter carrier interference and average probability of error with the concept of space frequency block code (SFBC) and data conjugate (DC) over Nakagami-m fading channel. Results show that average probability of error performance of MIMO-OFDM system in Nakagami fading channel decreases if fading parameter m is increased. The performance of SFBC has improved about 3 dB at average probability of error of 10-4 than MIMO-OFDM with DC system.


Background: Anxiety Sensitivity (AS), the tendency to fear the thoughts, symptoms, and social consequences associated with the experience of anxiety, is associated with increased risk for developing anxiety disorders. Some evidence suggests that higher scores on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), a measure of the AS construct, are associated with activation of the anterior insular cortex during overt emotion perception. Although the ASI provides subscale scores measuring Physical, Mental Incapacitation, and Social Concerns of AS, no study has examined the relationship between these factors and regional brain activation during affect processing. We hypothesized that insular responses to fear‐related stimuli would be primarily related to the Physical Concerns subscale of the ASI, particularly for a sample of subjects with specific phobias. Methods: Adult healthy controls (HC; n = 22) and individuals with specific phobia, small animal subtype (SAP; n = 17), completed the ASI and underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while engaged in a backward‐masked affect perception task that presents emotional facial stimuli below the threshold of conscious perception. Results: Groups did not differ in ASI, state or trait anxiety scores, or insula activation. Total ASI scores were positively correlated with activation in the right middle/anterior insula for the combined sample and for the HC and SAP groups separately. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the relationship between AS and insular activation was primarily accounted for by Physical Concerns only. Conclusions: Findings support the hypothesized role of the right anterior insula in the visceral/interoceptive aspects of AS, even in response to masked affective stimuli. Depression and Anxiety 28:243–249, 2011.   © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Abstract: Both big (BKCa) and small (SKCa) conductance Ca2+-sensitive K+ channels are present in mammalian cardiac cell mitochondria (m). We used pharmacological agonists and antagonists of BKCa and SKCa channels to examine the importance of endogenous opening of these channels and the relative contribution of either or both of these channels to protect against contractile dysfunction and reduce infarct size after ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury through a mitochondrial protective mechanism. After global cardiac IR injury of ex vivo perfused Guinea pig hearts, we found the following: both agonists NS1619 (for BKCa) and DCEB (for SKCa) improved contractility; BKCa antagonist paxilline (PAX) alone or with SKCa antagonist NS8593 worsened contractility and enhanced infarct size; both antagonists PAX and NS8593 obliterated protection by their respective agonists; BKCa and SKCa antagonists did not block protection afforded by SKCa and BKCa agonists, respectively; and all protective effects by the agonists were blocked by scavenging superoxide anions (O2·−) with Mn(III) tetrakis (4-benzoic acid) porphyrin (TBAP). Contractile function was inversely associated with global infarct size. In in vivo rats, infusion of NS8593, PAX, or both antagonists enhanced regional infarct size while infusion of either NS1619 or DCEB reduced infarct size. In cardiac mitochondria isolated from ex vivo hearts after IR, combined SKCa and BKCa agonists improved respiratory control index and Ca2+ retention capacity compared with IR alone, whereas the combined antagonists did not alter respiratory control index but worsened Ca2+ retention capacity. Although the differential protective bioenergetics effects of endogenous or exogenous BKCa and SKCa channel opening remain unclear, each channel likely responds to different sensing Ca2+ concentrations and voltage gradients over time during oxidative stress-induced injury to individually or together protect cardiac mitochondria and myocytes.


Crisis after crisis has beset the European Union in recent years - Greek sovereign debt, Russian annexation of Crimea, unprecedented levels of migration, and the turmoil created by Brexit. An organization originally designed to regulate and enforce rules about fishing rights, wheat quotas and product standards has found itself on the global stage forced to grapple with problems of identity, sovereignty and solidarity without a script or prompt. From Paris to Berlin, London to Athens, European leaders have had to improvise on issues that the Union was never set up to handle and which threaten to engulf this unique political entity. And they have had to do so in full view of an increasingly disenchanted and dissonant public audience. In this candid and revealing portrayal of a Europe improvising its way through a politics of events and not rules, Luuk van Middelaar makes sense of the EU's political metamorphosis over its past ten years of crisis management. Forced into action by a tidal wave of emergencies, Van Middelaar shows how Europe has had to reinvent itself by casting off its legal straitjacket and confronting hard issues of power, territorial borders and public authority. Alarums and Excursions showcases the fascinating relationship between the Union and the European heads of government, and the stresses it must withstand in dealing with real world events. For anyone seeking to understand the inner power play and constitutional dynamics of this controversial, but no less remarkable, political institution, this book provides compelling reading.


With the increased emphasis on traffic safety in recent years, vehicle performance, in terms of speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering capabilities, has been improved through extensive research.As a result, driver behaviour has evolved greatly, and drivers expect better roads and higher design speeds. However, highway geometric design criteria in most design guides have not kept pace with these vehicle improvements. It is important to study the effect of geometric features of highways especially horizontal curves on driver behaviour. This will allow better design of highways and hence would improve traffic safety. The concept of highway design, with driver behaviour as one of its main parameters, has been gaining wider acceptance among highway professionals as an effective proactive tool to improve traffic safety. However, despite the importance of driver behaviour in vehicle and road design and despite the work expended on this issue, a comprehensive understanding of driver behaviour is still lacking.The research in hand attemptsto highlight points of deficiency in geometric design of highways that, through revision, could result in increased safety on roads. In doing so, data collected from a driving experiment are used to analyze driving behaviour, and an attempt will be made to incorporate the effect of driving behaviour to the geometric design of highways. This paper will mainly focus on driving behaviour data in terms of vehicle trajectory, steering angle , and rate of change of steering angle.The results are shown for different curves on two-lane two-way highways and freeways in Ottawa.The analysis shows that the results are promising and further analysis will result in improvements in highway design. (A)


The accuracy and stability are two fundamental concerns of the visual servoing control system. This chapter presents a sliding mode controller for image-based visual servoing (IBVS) which can increase the accuracy of 6DOF robotic system with guaranteed stabil- ity. The proposed controller combines proportional derivative (PD) control with sliding mode control (SMC) for a 6DOF manipulator. Compared with conventional propor- tional or SMC controller, this approach owns faster convergence and better disturbance rejection ability. Both simulation and experimental results show that the proposed controller can increase the accuracy and robustness of a 6DOF robotic system.


Closed loop product lifecycle requires product ease of disassembly. Active disassembly, which uses external triggers that remotely disassemble active joints purposefully impeded in a product, shows great potential. The objectives of this dissertation are: first, to fulfill the need for comprehensive sustainability assessment that justifies incorporating active disassembly in product design; and second, to provide a methodology that enables systematic design and innovation of active joints that provide active disassembly. These two objectives are accomplished by developing a framework equipped with methods and tools that guide the process of incorporating active disassembly in product design. At the first level of the framework, two assessment models are developed: The first model assesses the opportunity to reuse an end-of-life (EOL) product as a whole, while the second model assesses the opportunity to recover only portions of the EOF product as modules and parts. The proposed models are novel in terms of the logic they apply, comprehensiveness of factor they use, and their balanced consideration of the three bottom lines of sustainability. There is no known literature that encompasses an assessment model combining all of the above features. The second level of the proposed framework addresses the need for Active Disassembly, where active joint design methodology is developed. The methodology, equipped with several tools, helps product designers create and innovate active joints for products. The method is novel in its structure and its targeted design domain (the first dedicated method for active joints). The applicability of the developed assessment models is validated through two case studies. Results show that EOL decision is significantly improved over what is known in literature (46% - 86%); the first model shows a complete match with industrial practice, while the second model shows a near complete match (i.e.: out of 10 assessed items, 9 are correctly assessed). Two other case studies validate the design methodology. The implementation demonstrates the effectiveness of the method: A new active joint is invented while the other two improved variants of an existing joint are obtained using the method. The results of this research also demonstrated that active disassembly helps close the loop in product life cycle and ultimately contribute to sustainable development.


This paper presents a first step towards a new theory of housing market fluctuations. We develop a life-cycle model where agents face credit constraints and their housing consumption is restricted to a discrete set of possibilities. The market interaction of young credit constrained agents climbing the property ladder with old agents trading down, generates co-movements of aggregate house prices, volume of transactions and income, consistent with the patterns observed in the U.S. and the U.K. Under plausible assumptions, the model reproduces the slight lead of transaction volume over the other two series as documented in the data. Our theory asserts that the fluctuations in housing prices depend crucially on fluctuations in the current income of young households (the first-time buyers). Thus, it sheds light on why housing prices are more volatile than GDP, and why they exhibit some degree of predictability in a market where households optimize over the timing of their transactions.


In this paper we report on content analysis of the websites and social media feeds of 50 Australian aid NGOs. Overall, on average, NGOs devote more of their internet media space to seeking donations than they do to raising public awareness, or encouraging the public to take action on issues. However, there is variation across media types (on Twitter more space is devoted to awareness raising than donations). There is also variation between NGOs; some NGOs are considerably more awareness and action oriented than others. In the second half of the paper we examine the correlates of how NGOs use the internet. Here, the clearest finding is that NGOs that receive a greater share of their revenue from the Australian Government Aid Program devote more of their internet presence to awareness raising and encouraging the public to take action on development issues. This finding runs counter to expectations of the literature on the state and aid NGOs, in which most authors contend that state funding tends to silence NGOs.


This work describes a design optimization framework for a rolling-flying vehicle consisting of a conventional quadrotor configuration with passive wheels. For a baseline comparison, the optimization approach is also applied for a conventional (flight-only) quadrotor. The vehicle range is maximized using a hybrid multi-objective genetic algorithm in conjunction with multi-physics system models. A low Reynolds-number blade element momentum theory aerodynamic model is used with a brushless DC motor model, a terramechanics model, and a vehicle dynamics model to simulate the vehicle range under any operating angle-of-attack and forward velocity. To understand the tradeoff between vehicle size and operating range, variations in Pareto-optimal designs are presented as functions of vehicle size. A sensitivity analysis is used to better understand the impact of deviating from the optimal vehicle design variables. This work builds on current approaches in quadrotor optimization by leveraging a variety of models and formulations from literature and demonstrating the implementation of various design constraints. It also improves upon current ad-hoc rolling-flying vehicle designs created in previous studies. Results show the importance of accounting for oft-neglected component constraints in the design of high range quadrotor vehicles. The optimal vehicle mechanical configuration is shown to be independent of operating point, stressing the importance of a well-matched, optimized propulsion system. By emphasizing key constraints that affect the maximum and nominal vehicle operating points, an optimization framework is constructed that can be used for RFVs and conventional multi-rotors.


Title of thesis: UNDERSTANDING BROWNOUT USING DUAL-PHASE PARTICLE IMAGE VELOCIMETRY MEASUREMENTS Anish Joshua Sydney, Master of Science, 2011 Thesis directed by: Professor J. Gordon Leishman Department of Aerospace Engineering To better understand the development of brownout dust clouds generated by rotorcraft, the dual-phase flow environment produced by oneand two-bladed laboratory-scale rotors operating over a mobile sediment bed were studied. Three size ranges of characterized glass microspheres were used to represent the sediment particles. Time-resolved flow visualization, particle image velocimetry, and particle tracking velocimetry were used to make the flow measurements. The high imaging rate of these systems allowed the timehistory of the rotor wake interactions with the sediment bed to be documented, providing a better understanding of the transient processes and mechanisms that lead to the uplift of sediment and the formation of dust clouds near a rotor in ground effect operation. In particular, the fluid dynamics of the blade tip vortices near the bed were examined in detail, which were shown to have a primary influence on the mobilization of sediment. In general, the near-wall measurements documented at least five fundamental uplift and sediment transport mechanisms below the rotor: 1. Creep, 2. Modified saltation and saltation bombardment, 3. Vortex induced trapping, 4. Reingestion bombardment (local and global), and 5. Secondary suspension. In addition, a further mechanism related to the local unsteady pressure field induced by the convecting wake vortices was hypothesized to contribute to the uplift of sediment. The highest sediment entrainment levels occurred within the wake impingement zone, mainly from the erosion aspects of the tip vortices on the bed. Once entrained, significant quantities of sediment were intermittently trapped in the vortex-induced upwash field. Secondary sediment suspension was found to be more prevalent with the two-bladed rotor because of the propensity for merging of adjacent blade tip vortices and the resulting higher upwash velocities. The trapping of suspended sediment particles into the vortex flow was shown to cause recirculation of the particles back onto the sediment bed, thereby ejecting more sediment through bombardment mechanisms. UNDERSTANDING BROWNOUT USING DUAL-PHASE PARTICLE IMAGE VELOCIMETRY MEASUREMENTS


Objectives: To explore the relationship between three feeding practice constructs (role modeling, encouragement, and pressure to eat) of family child care home (FCCH) providers, and fruit and vegetable intake of the preschool-aged children in their care. Participants: Subjects were family child care home providers and the children in their care. Participants were recruited from Providence, Rhode Island and surrounding areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Methods: Baseline data, collected during a two-day home visit from an ongoing clusterrandomized trial, Healthy Start/Comienzos Sanos, were used (n=61 FCCH). Feeding practice data was collected using the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) tool. Child dietary intake was collected using the Dietary Observation in Child Care (DOCC) protocol. A score for each construct was created by summing the relevant feeding practice items (averaged across two days) for each and averaging across the number of items. Child whole fruit, total fruit (whole fruit plus fruit juice), and vegetable intake were averaged across both observation days and across all children observed within a home. Multiple linear regressions were used to examine the relationship between FCCH provider feeding practice constructs and diet variables. Results: The majority of providers identified as Hispanic/Latina (83%), all were female, and the mean age of providers was 50.8±8.3 years. The majority of children were Hispanic/Latino (69%), and about half were female (48%). The mean age of children was 3.4±1.0 years. Mean whole fruit intake was 1.02±1.03 cups/day, mean total fruit intake was 1.35±1.07 cups/day, and mean vegetable intake was 0.54±0.41 cups/day. In adjusted multivariate models, encouragement was significantly positively associated with child vegetable intake (β =0.51, p=0.007), total fruit intake (β =0.45, p=0.02), and whole fruit intake (β =0.55, p=0.002), and fruit and vegetable intake combined (β =0.64, p=0.0004). In the adjusted model, pressure to eat was also significantly negatively associated with whole fruit intake (β =-0.27, p=0.05). No other provider practices were significantly associated with child whole fruit, total fruit, or vegetable intake. Conclusions: FCCH provider encouragement was associated with a significant increase in child fruit and vegetable intake, and although the frequency of pressure to eat was low, it was associated with a significant decrease in child whole fruit intake. Future studies should further explore the relationship between provider feeding practices and child diet. With this information, interventions and training for FCCH providers can be better tailored to improve the diets of young children.


Functional logic programming and probabilistic programming have demonstrated the broad benefits of combining laziness (non-strict evaluation with sharing of the results) with non-determinism. Yet these benefits are seldom enjoyed in functional programming, because the existing features for non-strictness, sharing, and non-determinism in functional languages are tricky to combine.
 We present a practical way to write purely functional lazy non-deterministic programs that are efficient and perspicuous. We achieve this goal by embedding the programs into existing languages (such as Haskell, SML, and OCaml) with high-quality implementations, by making choices lazily and representing data with non-deterministic components, by working with custom monadic data types and search strategies, and by providing equational laws for the programmer to reason about their code.


Astrophysical sources are now observed by many different instruments at different wavelengths, from radio to high-energy gamma-rays, with an unprecedented quality. Putting all these data together to form a coherent view, however, is a very difficult task. Each instrument has its own data format, software and analysis procedure, which are difficult to combine. It is for example very challenging to perform a broadband fit of the energy spectrum of the source. The Multi-Mission Maximum Likelihood framework (3ML) aims to solve this issue, providing a common framework which allows for a coherent modeling of sources using all the available data, independent of their origin. At the same time, thanks to its architecture based on plug-ins, 3ML uses the existing official software of each instrument for the corresponding data in a way which is transparent to the user. 3ML is based on the likelihood formalism, in which a model summarizing our knowledge about a particular region of the sky is convolved with the instrument response and compared to the corresponding data. The user can choose between a frequentist analysis, and a Bayesian analysis. In the former, parameters of the model are optimized in order to obtain the best match to the data (i.e., the maximum of the likelihood). In the latter, the priors specified by the user are used to build the posterior distribution, which is then sampled with Markov Chain Monte Carlo or Multinest. Our implementation of this idea is very flexible, allowing the study of point sources as well as extended sources with arbitrary spectra. We will review the problem we aim to solve, the 3ML concepts and its innovative potential.


OBJECTIVES
To identify potentially low-value services for inclusion in value-based insurance design (VBID) programs and to discuss challenges involved in incorporating such information.

METHODS
We searched the Tufts Medical Center Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry (www.cearegistry.org) to identify examples of low-value services, defined as interventions that make health worse without saving money or those that cost at least $100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained. We restricted our attention to papers published since 2000. We supplemented this literature review with a list of services recently rejected by the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence for coverage by the UK's National Health Service.

RESULTS
The list of potentially low-value services includes several drugs to treat cancer, as well as other therapies such as left ventricular assist devices and lung volume reduction surgery. Building negative incentives into VBID programs to discourage use of low-value care will involve a number of challenges, including identification of appropriate candidates; the scope of services to be covered (ie, whether VBID should be expanded beyond drugs to address medical devices, procedures, and diagnostics); and whether VBID programs should target specific subgroups.

CONCLUSION
Identifying noncontroversial low-value services and designing VBID programs to discourage their use will not be easy. However, to fulfill their promise of improving value and moderating cost growth, VBID programs should target low-value as well as high-value care.


Conventional nebulisation ICPMS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry), was used to determine the concentration of a broad range of elements in the salmon louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis. Lice samples were collected from Atlantic salmon in seven localities (4 fish farms and 3 wild salmon fisheries) on two separate sampling occasions and prepared for analysis. Sixty six elements were measured, 35 of these were found to be variable and were subjected to univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. The results of the single element comparisons showed that not all individual sites could be discriminated from each other. Sea lice collected from cultured salmonids could be discriminated from those on wild salmonids at the same site using the elements magnesium (<0.05%), vanadium (<0.01 %) and uranium (<0.05%). Using discriminant analysis based on 28 elements, the separation of all sampled sea lice localities from each other was clear (100% correct classification) giving each an individual signature. Further analysis examined the effects of sequentially removing elements from the discrimination model in order to determine the minimum number of elements required to obtain satisfactory discrimination of populations. It was found that 16 elements could still provide 100% correct classification, whilst 12 elements still provided 97.30% correct classification. This pilot study has shown elemental analysis to be a potentially successful method for the discrimination of populations of L. salmonis, although the biological basis of the elemental signatures derived remains to be established.


Initial public offering (IPO) is one of the ways for companies to obtain funds from investors in market. In that process, investors may obtain abnormal returns in a very short time or big loses in long term based on the pricing of IPO. This empirical study investigates the performances of all IPOs in Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) offered between January 2010 and June 2011. Event study methodology was used to measure the short term performance of 32 IPOs and daily, end of week, month, 3 months and 6 months basis time windows were employed. Emprical findings are not in line with previous studies. The results bring out that IPOs provide positive abnormal return only at the end of third day of trading. In addition, no significance relation found among IPOs short term performance and IPO firms' age, sector operated in, size, and shares sold to foreign investors.


Oceanic islands can be divided, according to their origin, in volcanic and tectonic. Volcanic islands are due to excess volcanism. Tectonic islands are mainly formed due to vertical tectonic motions of blocks of oceanic lithosphere along transverse ridges flanking transform faults at slow and ultraslow mid-ocean ridges. Vertical tectonic motions are due to a reorganization of the geometry of the transform plate boundary, with the transition from a transcurrent tectonics to a transtensive and/or transpressive tectonics, with the formation of the transverse ridges. Tectonic islands can be located also at the ridge–transform intersection: in this case the uplift is due by the movement of the long-lived detachment faults located along the flanks of the mid-ocean ridges.
The "Vema" paleoisland (equatorial Atlantic) is at the summit of the southern transverse ridge of the Vema transform. It is now 450 m bsl and it is capped by a carbonate platform 500 m-thick, dated by 87Sr/86Sr at 10 Ma. Three tectonic paleoislands are on the summit of the transverse ridge flanking the Romanche megatrasform (equatorial Atlantic). They are now about 1,000 m bsl and they are formed by 300 m-thick carbonate platforms dated by 87Sr/86Sr, between 11 and 6 Ma. The tectonic paleoisland "Atlantis Bank" is located in the South-Western Indian Ridge, along the Atlantis II transform, and it is today 700 m bsl. The only modern example of oceanic tectonics island is the St. Paul Rocks (equatorial Atlantic), located along the St. Paul transform. This archipelago is the top of a peridotitic massif that it is now a left overstep undergoing transpression.
Oceanic volcanic islands are characterized by rapid growth and subsequent thermal subsidence and drowning; in contrast, oceanic tectonic islands may have one or more stages of emersion related to vertical tectonic events along the large oceanic fracture zones.


AIM
A discussion of how nurses can contribute to and lead improvement science activities in health care.

BACKGROUND
Quality failures in health care have led to the urgent need for healthcare quality improvement. However, commonly quality improvement interventions proceed to practice implementation without rigorous methods or sufficient empirical evidence. This lack of evidence for quality improvement has led to the development of improvement science, which embodies quality improvement research and quality improvement practice. This paper discusses how the discipline of nursing and the nursing profession possesses many strengths that enable nurses to lead and to play an integral role in improvement science activities. However, we also discuss that there are insufficiencies in nursing education that require attention for nurses to truly contribute to and lead improvement science in health care.

DESIGN
Discussion paper.

DATA SOURCES
This paper builds on a collection of our previous work, a 12-month scoping review (March 2013-March 2014), baseline study on a quality improvement management system (Lean), interviews with nurses on quality improvement implementation and supporting literature.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
This paper highlights how nurses have the philosophical, theoretical, political and ethical positioning to contribute to and lead improvement science activities. However up to now, the potential for nurses to lead improvement science activities has not been fully used.

CONCLUSION
We suggest that one starting point is to include improvement science in nursing education curricula. Specifically, there needs to be increased focus on the nursing roles and skills needed to contribute to and lead healthcare improvement science activities.


Personalized games should provide a better player experience than one-size-fits-all games. As a method for personalization, player type models have been discussed recently. Player type models would be useful tools in the personalization of games, if they have a relationship to the players' experience of specific game mechanics. However, this relationship has never been empirically investigated. To close this gap, we examine whether player types—as a specific appearance of personality traits—can significantly and reliably predict player experience. We investigate the predictive power of two player types (Mastermind, Seeker) of the BrainHex player type model. Results of a field study (n = 51) with a mobile game prototype tailored to the two player types Mastermind and Seeker suggest that player type models still need improvement: Player type scores do not significantly predict player experience of according game mechanics. We discuss possible explanations and a way to design personalized games that adapt to users gaming preferences with player type models.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) and gingival health status and to determine if volatile sulfur compounds can detect early dental plaque-induced gingival disease.

METHODS
A split-mouth design with randomly selected quadrants of the mandibular arch enabled 39 participants to serve as their own controls. At baseline and at three subsequent appointments (days 7, 14, and 21) gingival inflammation (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), and sulfide levels (SUL) were measured using the Gingival Index and the Diamond Probe/Perio 2000 System. For three weeks, participants refrained from brushing and flossing one randomly selected quadrant of the mandibular arch. The Pearson correlation test was used to determine the relationship between sulfide concentrations and gingival health. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the differences in mean GI, BOP, and SUL scores between the hygiene side (H) and the non-hygiene side (NH).

RESULTS
Data suggest that SUL correlate positively to GI and BOP on both sides; however, the strength of the correlation was stronger for the NH side. A comparison of mean GI, BOP, and SUL scores revealed a statistically significant difference between sides for all three parameters from baseline to day 21, except for SUL on day 14.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on study outcomes, the Diamond Probe/Perio 2000 System demonstrated the ability to detect sites with elevated SUL; therefore, SUL may be a useful adjunctive indicator of early plaque-induced gingivitis. In addition, data revealed a moderate correlation between SUL levels and gingival inflammation on the NH sides. Whether sulfur by-product is a contributor to the disease process, or merely a correlate, is inconclusive.


This work consists of a theoretical part and an experimental one. The first part provides a simple treatment of the celebrated von Neumann minimax theorem as formulated by Nikaido and Sion. It also discusses its relationships with fundamental theorems of convex analysis. The second part is about externality in sponsored search auctions. It shows that in these auctions, advertisers have externality effects on each other which influence their bidding behavior. It proposes Hal RVarian model and shows howadding externality to this model will affect its properties. In order to have a better understanding of the interaction among advertisers in on-line auctions, it studies the structure of the Google advertisements network and shows that it is a small-world scale-free network.


A polynomial covering space is the zero set for a parametrized family of complex polynomials. Such covering spaces arise naturally in several contexts in the study of holomorphic mappings. There are fruitful connections between polynomial covering spaces and certain homomorphisms into the Artin braid groups. We shall establish these connections and use them to obtain an algebraic classification of the polynomial covering spaces.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate differences in the stage at diagnosis and survival for melanoma between the 2 most common types of Medicare health care delivery systems, fee-for-service (FFS) and managed care (health maintenance organizations [HMOs]), in the United States during the period from January 1, 1985, through December 31, 1994.

DESIGN
We used a linkage of 2 national databases, ie, the Medicare database from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (formerly the Health Care Financing Administration) and the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program database, to evaluate differences in demographic data, stage at diagnosis, and survival for melanoma between the HMO and FFS groups. Patients A population of 4608 patients (62% men; 92% white).

RESULTS
We found an earlier stage of diagnosis for the HMO group compared with the FFS group for melanoma as the first cancer diagnosis, but this did not persist when melanoma was the second or a later cancer diagnosis. For patients with melanoma as the first cancer diagnosis, improved survival was related to earlier stage at diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS
Differences exist in stage at diagnosis between patients in HMOs compared with those in FFS health care plans. This is likely due in part to utilization of services or access to care for patients in HMOs, and may be similar to that of patients in FFS plans with a previous cancer diagnosis before their diagnosis of melanoma. We did not find an increased risk of diagnosis with a late-stage cancer among patients with vs those without a previous cancer diagnosis. Improved survival appears to be related to earlier stage at diagnosis.


Realising the paucity of data in the standardisation of the optimal position for lumbar puncture (LP) in hospitalised neonates, we have designed an observational study to measure the interspinous distance in infants in a university hospital setting. The infants were placed in two lateral recumbent and two upright positions (lateral recumbent without flexing the hips, lateral recumbent with maximal hip flexion, sitting without flexing the hips and sitting with maximal hip flexion) with concomitant heart rate (HR), transcutaneous oxygen saturation (OS) and interspinous distance (with ultrasonography) measurements. Having the patient sit with maximal hip flexion provided the largest interspinous space for the grand majority of the infants. Sitting positions with/without flexion have resulted in significant increases in HR with respect to lateral recumbent position without flexion. Although statistically significant drops in OSs have been observed between lateral recumbent and sittting with flexion, lateral recumbent with flexion and sitting without flexion, and lateral recumbent with flexion and sitting with flexion positions; no adverse hypoxic events occurred during positioning. Sitting flexed position, which seems to be sufficiently safe and serve to enhance the success rate of a LP, should be favoured for sick neonates whenever the infant's condition permit a spinal tap.


The design and the operation of a frequency-tunable continuous-wave (CW) 330-GHz gyrotron oscillator operating at the second harmonic of the electron cyclotron frequency are reported. The gyrotron has generated 18 W of power from a 10.1-kV 190-mA electron beam working in a TE-4,3 cylindrical mode, corresponding to an efficiency of 0.9%. The measured start oscillation current over a range of magnetic field values is in good agreement with theoretical start currents obtained from linear theory for successive high-order axial modes TE-4,3,q, where q = 1-6. Moreover, the observed frequency range in the start current measurement is in reasonable agreement with the frequency range obtained from numerical simulations. The minimum start current was measured to be 33 mA. A continuous tuning range of 1.2 GHz was experimentally observed via a combination of magnetic, voltage, and thermal tuning. The gyrotron output power and frequency stabilities were assessed to be ±0.4% and ±3 ppm, respectively, during a 110-h uninterrupted CW run. Evaluation of the gyrotron output microwave beam pattern using a pyroelectric camera indicated a Gaussian-like mode content of 92% with an ellipticity of 28%. The gyrotron will be used for 500-MHz nuclear magnetic resonance experiments with sensitivity enhanced by dynamic nuclear polarization.


Distance education (learning and teaching by distance modes of information exchange) is often characterised by having higher attrition rates (often labelled as "drop-out" or "withdrawal") compared to traditional face-to-face (or "on-campus") education. It has been claimed that no area of research in distance education has received more attention; such is the concern surrounding attrition. This chapter suggests that a holistic understanding of the numerous, complex, and interlinked factors that may contribute to a learner choosing to discontinue their studies continues to elude researchers. Furthermore, attrition may not always be a negative outcome; for example, a learner may have achieved the desired skill set from their studies. In the current higher education climate it is imperative for universities to maintain student enrolments. Attrition directly impacts upon wasted expenditure and loss of revenue for an institution. Additionally, withdrawing from tertiary studies can have consequences for the distance learner. This chapter explores underlying concerns and identify key questions and gaps regarding attrition in distance education for the digital age.


The main measure for improving the durability of reinforced concrete structure is to increase the thickness of concrete protective cover, but the excessive thickness will influence the performance of the mechanical properties of structure seriously. Based on concrete structure damage deteriorating law, considering that it is a dynamic process during the cumulative damage deterioration of concrete structure performance, a reliability analysis of concrete members under small eccentric loads with consideration of structure resistance change is introduced in this paper. Furthermore, the relevances of concrete protective cover, reliability index and corrosive crack width are discussed.


Learned stimulus-reward associations influence how visuospatial attention is allocated, such that stimuli previously paired with reward are favored in situations involving limited resources and competition. At the same time, task-irrelevant emotional stimuli grab attention and divert resources away from tasks resulting in poor behavioral performance. However, investigations of how reward learning and negative stimuli affect visual perception and attention have been conducted in a largely independent fashion. We have recently reported that performance-based monetary rewards reduce negative stimuli interference during visual perception. Here, we investigated how stimuli associated with past monetary rewards compete with negative emotional stimuli during a subsequent visual attention task when, critically, no performance-based rewards were at stake. We conducted two experiments to address this question. In Experiment 1, during the initial learning phase, participants selected between two stimulus categories that were paired with high- and low-reward probabilities. In the test phase, we conducted an RSVP task where a target stimulus was preceded by a task-irrelevant neutral or negative image. We found that target stimuli that were previously associated with high reward reduced the interference effect of potent, negative images. In Experiment 2, with a related design, this response pattern persisted despite the fact that the reward manipulation was irrelevant to the task at hand. Similar to our recent findings with performance-based rewards, across two experiments, our results demonstrate that reward-associated stimuli reduce the deleterious impact of negative stimuli on behavior. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


Abstract The breakthrough in static structural, buckling and modal computer-simulated results can be used for new military purpose applications. The development of hardware resources leads to better simulation in mechanical analysis. Based on the Ansys software, the values presented for the pylon result from a complex analysis. The present paper aims at defining the working parameters for a specific load of 100 tf, as well as presenting the actual software capabilities for military applications. The information provided is valuable for the emerging technologies and the military techniques, being based on the ANSYS simulation.


Objective Aberrantly activated FOXM1 (forkhead box protein M1) leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation and dysregulation of FOXM1 transcription network occurs in 84% of ovarian cancer cases. It was demonstrated that thiostrepton, a thiazole antibiotic, decreases FOXM1 expression. We aimed to determine if targeting the FOXM1 pathway with thiostrepton could improve the efficacy of paclitaxel and cisplatin in human ovarian cancer ascites cells ex vivo. Methods Human ovarian cancer cell lines and patients' ascites cells were treated with paclitaxel, cisplatin, and thiostrepton or a combination for 48 hours, and cytotoxicity was assessed. Drug combination effects were determined by calculating the combination index values using the Chou and Talalay method. Quantitative reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction was performed to determine changes in FOXM1 expression and its downstream targets. Results Ovarian cancer cell lines and the patients' ascites cancer cells had an overexpression of FOXM1 expression levels. Targeting FOXM1 with thiostrepton decreased FOXM1 mRNA expression and its downstream targets such as CCNB1 and CDC25B, leading to cell death in both cell lines and patients' ascites cancer cells. Furthermore, addition of thiostrepton to paclitaxel and cisplatin showed synergistic effects in chemoresistant ovarian cancer patients' ascites cells ex vivo. Conclusion Targeting FOXM1 may lead to novel therapeutics for chemoresistant epithelial ovarian cancer.


Artificial Life is developing into a new type of discipline, based on computational construction as its main tool for exploring and producing a science of life as it could be. In this area of research, the generation of complex virtual systems, in place of the traditional empirical domain, has become the actual object of theory. This entails a profound change in the tradi-tional relationship between ontological, epistemological and methodological levels of analy-sis, which forces us to recon-sider the differences apparently firmly established between science and philosophy. Even if the frontiers between these two kinds of knowledge do not completely disappear, new, dynamic, complex, technologi-cally mediated interactions are being developed between them.


Objectives: To compare the response rates of patients treated with the MACI implant with those treated with MFX for the repair of symptomatic articular cartilage defects of the knee, based on lesion characteristics, in the phase 3 SUMMIT (Superiority of Matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implant versus Microfracture for Treatment of symptomatic articular cartilage defects) trial (sponsored by Sanofi/Genzyme Biosurgery). Methods:: Patients with ≥1 symptomatic focal articular cartilage defect of the femoral condyles (MFC/LFC) and/or trochlea and baseline Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) pain score ≤55 participated in this prospective, randomized, controlled trial (NCT00719576). The co-primary endpoint was improvement in KOOS pain and function (sports/recreational activities) at 2-year follow up. A patient was considered a responder if they had at least a 10-point improvement over baseline in KOOS pain and function scores. The Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel χ2 (α=0.05) was used to analyze differences in response rates between groups by lesion size (>4 cm2, >5 cm2), lesion location (MFC/LFC/trochlea), and osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) etiology (yes/no). Results:: Patients (N=144) had a mean age of 33.8 years and 51% were male. The mean lesion size was 4.8 cm2, and most lesions were on the MFC (74%). The KOOS pain and function (sports/recreational activities) co-primary endpoint improvement was clinically and statistically significantly better in patients treated with the MACI implant versus MFX (P=0.001) at 2-year follow up. Significantly better improvements were also observed for KOOS activities of daily living (P<0.001), quality of life (P=0.029) and symptoms (P<0.001) with the MACI implant compared with MFX. Response rates for the overall and subgroup analyses are shown in the Table. The incidence of adverse events was similar between the treatment groups and no unexpected safety findings were reported. Based on the small patient numbers in the subgroups, further research on response predictors is warranted. Conclusion:: Clinically and statistically significantly better results in KOOS pain and function co-primary scores were observed with the MACI implant versus MFX for treating cartilage defects of the knee 2 years following surgery. More patients responded with the MACI implant compared with MFX when their lesions were >4 cm2, on the MFC, and not of OCD origin.


Future handling of patients with localized prostate cancer will undoubtedly depend upon a more sophisticated prognostication than that available today. The basis will continue to be the histopathological evaluation of tumor size, grade, localization and distribution within the gland. The aim of this section is to summarize current concepts of the morphological characteristics of localized prostate cancer and their prognostic implications as well as to give guidelines for standardization of the methods involved in morphological evaluation. First, baseline recommendations for the tissue processing procedures are given: Needle core biopsies, taken in a systematic way, potentially contain the information necessary for estimation of grade, size, distribution and extension to seminal vesicles, and could yield material for DNA-measurements, cytogenetic and genetic information. For TUR specimens it is suggested that at least 10 grams should be embedded or 8 to 10 cassettes employed minimally. The prostatectomy specimens should be carefully examined. Material should be frozen both from tumor tissue and from other areas eg by taking 'mapping' biopsies in a standardized way. After fixation (in 10% buffered formalin for at least 24 hours) and appropriate inking of surgical margins, whole mount sections at 2.5-5 mm intervals should be cut. The extension of the tumor should be outlined and at least the two largest tumors should be graded. Capsule penetration and extension to surgical margins and seminal vesicles should be indicated. Grading of malignancy should always include the Gleason grade and where possible Gleason score (ie the sum of the dominant and the secondary grade or pattern). The WHO and the Boecking systems combine a grading of glandular architecture with a grading of the nuclear atypia. It is stressed that in core biopsies the amount of cancer is sometimes scanty, which limits the possibility to find dominant and secondary patterns. In such cases, a grading of glandular differentiation and of nuclear grade seems rational. Also, for comparison with cytological grading, the WHO system is suitable, since in both cases both tissue differentiation and nuclear atypia are judged. The future need for objective techniques is recognized. Prostatectomy pathology includes important features with high correlation to postoperative prognosis: eg capsular penetration. The extent of capsular penetration and the extent of involvement of the surgical margins is of importance. Only focal penetration or focal involvement of the margin carry a relatively low risk of of progression.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


Scholars, judges, and lawyers have long believed that evidence rules apply equally to all persons regardless of race. This Article challenges this assumption and reveals how evidence law structurally disadvantages people of color. A critical race analysis of stand-your-ground defenses, cross-racial eyewitness misidentifications, and minority flight from racially-targeted police profiling and violence uncovers the existence of a dual-race evidentiary system. This system is reminiscent of nineteenth century race-based witness competency rules that barred people of color from testifying against white people. I deconstruct this problem and introduce the original concept of "racialized reality evidence." This construct demonstrates how evidence of people of color's lived experiences of systemic racism are regularly excluded at trial, while evidence of white norms and beliefs receives "implicit judicial notice." Finally, I advocate for a new critical race theory of evidence law and offer solutions — including a reinterpretation of Federal Rule of Evidence 403 — to increase equality in the courtroom.


We at Science have once again had the challenge of choosing 10 scientific accomplishments to highlight in this final issue of the year. Our 10 choices reveal that 2012 has been a remarkable one for the physics of particles (the Higgs boson, neutrinos, and Majorana "quasiparticles"), as well as for biological discovery (the production of eggs from stem cells, the derivation of some modern human genes from Denisovan ancestors, and the greatly enhanced cataloging of human genetic regulation). Three technological breakthroughs also appear on our list: functional brain/machine interfaces, TALENS as a tool for genetic engineering, and the x-ray laser determination of a protein structure. And finally, there is one feat of physics and engineering virtuosity: the Curiosity rover's remarkably precise, gentle, "sky crane" landing on Mars.


This paper presents an embedded vision system based on reconfigurable hardware (FPGA) and two CMOS cameras to perform stereo image processing and 3D mapping for autonomous navigation. We propose an EKF based visual SLAM and sparse feature detectors to achieve 6D localization of the vehicle in non flat scenarios. The system can operate regardless of the odometry information from the vehicle since visual odometry is used. As a result, the final system is compact and easy to install and configure.


It is quite often to utilize the transformer leakage inductance in the resonant tank of the LLC resonant converter to allow for a drastic reduction in the converter cost, weight, size, and volume. The effects of the secondary leakage inductance on the operation of the LLC resonant converter are not well discussed in the relevant literature, and it is the purpose of this paper to give an insight into these effects. The contribution of this paper lies in the following: first, highlighting that it is not always an accurate assumption to consider that the values of the primary and secondary leakage inductance are identical, specifically in asymmetric magnetic core structures. Second, it has been disclosed that the well-known coupling factor (k12) cannot properly express the unequalized leakage inductance distribution in the proposed asymmetric transformer. Therefore, the authors bring the primary coupling factor (k1) and secondary coupling factor (k2) into practice to appropriately express the unequalized leakage distribution on the primary and secondary windings, which can be controlled by the allocation of the relevant winding with respect to the air gap, utilizing the noise absorber, and changing the distance between the winding. Several transformer prototypes had been built and experimentally tested to validate these hypotheses. Third, it has been observed that the transformer voltage gain and efficiency can be improved when the transformer leakage inductance is concentrated on the secondary side to avoid the voltage drop inflicted by the relatively large value of the magnetizing current $(i_{m})$, especially at the light load condition. Fourth, it has been reported that in a transformer structure with a concentrated value of leakage on the secondary side would decrease the resonant tank input impedance, vertically widen the voltage–gain curve of the converter, and eventually increase the frequency control bandwidth with respect to the load variation. Transformer prototypes had been constructed and tested in a 390 V/12 V–220 W LLC resonant converter to evaluate the proposed analysis.


This study is a preliminary investigation into relations between aspects of psychological flexibility and the symptoms and functioning of people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The feasibility of a treatment for RA based on related processes is also examined. Sixty-seven patients with RA recruited from an outpatient rheumatology clinic in the South West of England participated in a cross-sectional survey study. Participants completed questionnaires measuring psychological acceptance, pain acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based action. They also provided their views on a description of a treatment for RA based on these treatment processes. In general, components of psychological flexibility were related to measures of symptoms and functioning. Regression analyses showed that pain acceptance was a significant predictor of General Practitioner visits for pain in the last six months, and measures of physical functioning and RA symptoms. Psychological acceptance was a significant predictor of emotional functioning. Patients predominantly reported positive ratings in response to a description of treatment including processes of psychological flexibility, considering it logical and potentially beneficial, although they were uncertain about the time commitment. These findings provide preliminary support of the role of psychological flexibility in relation to the impact of RA. Patients appeared somewhat positive toward the suggested treatment, although practical requirements of attending may be a barrier to some.


This paper investigates the potential to harness trade finance to foster the development of a green economy in developing countries.The world is facing multiple crises of sustainability: global financial crisis, climate change, and the overuse of natural resources. Many developing countries are additionally destabilized by poverty, disease, corruption, and failures in democratic governance and education.The transition to a green economy is recognized by a variety of organizations and experts as a ground-breaking way forward, combining economic development, social welfare and environmental protection. In order to shift to a green economy, changes in production and consumption practices, and therefore also in trade patterns, are crucial. This makes the leverage power of leading export credit agencies, which totaled an exposure of USD 1.7 trillion in 2011, colossal.


Structural color is produced when nanostructures called schemochromes alter light reflected from a surface through different optic principles, in contrast with other types of colors that are produced when pigments selectively absorb certain wavelengths of light. Research on biogenic photonic nanostructures has focused primarily on bird feathers, butterfly wings and beetle elytra, ignoring other diverse groups such as spiders. We argue that spiders are a good model system to study the functions and evolution of colors in nature for the following reasons. First, these colors clearly function in spiders such as the tarantulas outside of sexual selection, which is likely the dominant driver of the evolution of structural colors in birds and butterflies. Second, within more than 44,000 currently known spider species, colors are used in every possible way based on the same sets of relatively simple materials. Using spiders, we can study how colors evolve to serve different functions under a variety of combinations of driving forces, and how those colors are produced within a relatively simple system. Here, we first review the different color-producing materials and mechanisms (i.e., light absorbing, reflecting and emitting) in birds, butterflies and beetles, the interactions between these different elements, and the functions of colors in different organisms. We then summarize the current state of knowledge of spider colors and compare it with that of birds and insects. We then raise questions including: 1. Could spiders use fluorescence as a mechanism to protect themselves from UV radiation, if they do not have the biosynthetic pathways to produce melanins? 2. What functions could color serve for nearly blind tarantulas? 3. Why are only multilayer nanostructures (thus far) found in spiders, while birds and butterflies use many diverse nanostructures? And, does this limit the diversity of structural colors found in spiders? Answering any of these questions in the future will bring spiders to the forefront of the study of structural colors in nature.