Revolutionize your iPhone and iPad game development with Unity iOS, a fully integrated professional application and powerful game engine, which is quickly becoming the best solution for creating visually stunning games for Apple's iDevices easier, and more fun for artists. From concept to completion you'll learn to create and animate using modo and Blender as well as creating a full level utilizing the powerful toolset in Unity iOS as it specifically relates to iPhone and iPad game development. Follow the creation of "Tater," a character from the author's personal game project "Dead Bang," as he's used to explain vital aspects of game development and content creation for the iOS platform. Creating 3D Game Art for the iPhone focuses on the key principles of game design and development by covering in-depth, the iDevice hardware in conjunction with Unity iOS and how it relates to creating optimized game assets for the iDevices. Featuring Luxology's artist-friendly modo, and Blender, the free open-source 3D app, along side Unity iOS, optimize your game assets for the latest iDevices including iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad and the iPod Touch. Learn to model characters and environment assets, texture, animate skinned characters and apply advanced lightmapping techniques using Beast in Unity iOS. In a clear, motivating, and entertaining style, Wes McDermott offers captivating 3D imagery, real-world observation, and valuable tips and tricks all in one place - this book is an invaluable resource for any digital artist working to create games for the iPhone and iPad using Unity iOS. * Circumvent the potential pitfalls of game development with professional techniques like "Static and Dynamic batching", "building models on the grid", "lightmapping with Beast", and "animation blending" to improve your game's performance and content creation workflow. * Visit www.wesmcdermott.com, to gain access to the book's official website where users can login to the resource portal to download extensive video walkthroughs and get information on the FREE iPhone/iPad app, "Tater's Training Trash Yard." The app showcases the core concepts and techniques covered in the book by demonstrating the content's performance on your iPhone or iPad.


Electronic resources, particularly journal literature, have become a major element of library collections around the world. One of them is a collection of articles that are indexed in the indexing portal. There have been several publications related to the research results on the Citarum River. The Citarum River is one of the rivers that has an important role for the people in West Java Province, Indonesia. The published articles have been indexed on the Garuda portal, which is the national index for scientific articles. However, the research results in the form of scientific publications have not been mapped integratively. So this study aims to study several research results on the Citarum River. The method used is a quantitative method with a bibliometric analysis. The results of this study are already an increasing number of articles significantly. The increase in frequency is related to the initiation of the government to undertake CRB revitalization program, which involves academics and researchers to contribute knowledge in the form of research results. However, research on the Citarum River is still dominated by researchers from higher education institutions, as well as researchers from the natural sciences. Efforts are needed to improve research results in terms of quantity as well as quality, distribution of research affiliations, and subject areas of study, to enrich research results on the Citarum River. This is intended to add new knowledge that can be used by stakeholders in the decision-making process for the effectiveness and efficiency of revitalizing the Citarum River.


The overall goal of vehicle design is to make a robust and reliable product that meets the demands of the customers and this book treats the topic of analysing and describing customer loads with respect to durability. Guide to Load Analysis for Vehicle and Durability Engineering supplies a variety of methods for load analysis and also explains their proper use in view of the vehicle design process. In Part I, Overview, there are two chapters presenting the scope of the book as well as providing an introduction to the subject. Part II, Methods for Load Analysis, describes useful methods and indicates how and when they should be used. Part III, Load Analysis in view of the Vehicle Design Process, offers strategies for the evaluation of customer loads, in particular characterization of customer populations, which leads to the derivation of design loads, and finally to the verification of systems and components.


Course review and evaluation which, to have any meaning, must focus on teaching evaluation, are becoming a regular annual feature of academic life. At the same time, courses are becoming more modular, with a larger number of relatively isolated topics being slotted together to form a more or less coherent whole. How can a teacher of one of these topics evaluate her teaching, or her students' learning? How can a newcomer to university humanities lecturing start to assess her effectiveness and her contribution to the course (or even the degree scheme) as a whole? The author is an experienced evaluator of teaching resources with a career in computer-assisted teaching and learning support. She has recently completed her first lecture course on a non-technical, purely humanities topic. To add to the excitement, her topic was in a field not previously taught at her institution, and was part of a 'case-study' course comprising four, potentially unrelated, topics assessed only by examination. This paper describes the author's attempts to place her contribution to the course in a coherent framework, and presents details of her self-evaluation using both student feedback and examination evidence, cross-related with equivalent material from other topics in the course. The author considers the nature of prior experience which might be helpful to such a teaching-evaluation process, asks questions about the balance between inspiring students and imparting information, and draws conclusions on the benefits of informal as well as planned mentoring.


This paper provides a technical description of GEM-PIA, a recursive-dynamic computable General Equilibrium Model for Poverty Impact Analysis in individual countries. The model combines the optimizing behavior of CGE models with the asset portfolio behavior of macromodels, thereby addressing the role of financial markets. Moreover, the model is linked to household survey information, thereby capturing the socio-economic characteristics of individual households. GEM-PIA can be used for counterfactual analysis of external shocks as well as various policies at the macro and meso level, and to assess their allocational and distributional consequences. The model is calibrated to Bolivian data and its working is illustrated in two scenarios: A permanent rise of gas exports and a temporary devaluation.


OBJECTIVEC1-2 is a highly mobile complex that presents unique surgical challenges to achieving biomechanical rigidity and fusion. Posterior wiring methods have been largely replaced with segmental constructs using the C1 lateral mass, C1 pedicle, C2 pars, and C2 pedicle. Modifications to reduce surgical morbidity led to the development of C2 laminar screws. The C1 posterior arch has been utilized mostly as a salvage technique, but recent data indicate that this method provides significant rigidity in flexion-extension and axial rotation. The authors performed biomechanical testing of a C1 posterior arch screw (PAS)/C2 pars screw construct, collected morphometric data from a population of 150 CT scans, and performed a feasibility study of a freehand C1 PAS technique in 45 cadaveric specimens.METHODSCervical spine CT scans from 150 patients were analyzed to determine the average C1 posterior tubercle thickness and size of C1 posterior arches. Eight cadavers were used to compare biomechanical stability of intact specimens, C1 lateral mass/C2 pars screw, and C1 PAS/C2 pars screw constructs. Paired comparisons were made using repeated-measures ANOVA and Holm-Sidak tests. Forty-five cadaveric specimens were used to demonstrate the feasibility and safety of the C1 PAS freehand technique.RESULTSMorphometric data showed the average craniocaudal thickness of the C1 posterior tubercle was 12.3 ± 1.94 mm. Eight percent (12/150) of cases showed thin posterior tubercles or midline defects. Average posterior arch thickness was 6.1 ± 1.1 mm and right and left average posterior arch length was 28.7 mm ± 2.53 mm and 28.9 ± 2.29 mm, respectively. Biomechanical testing demonstrated C1 lateral mass/C2 pars and C1 PAS/C2 pars constructs significantly reduced motion in flexion-extension and axial rotation compared with intact specimens (p < 0.05). The C1 lateral mass/C2 pars screw construct provided significant rigidity in lateral bending (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the two constructs in flexion-extension, lateral bending, or axial rotation. Of the C1 posterior arches, 91.3% were successfully cannulated using a freehand technique with a low incidence of cortical breach (4.4%).CONCLUSIONSThis biomechanical analysis indicates equivalent stability of the C1 PAS/C2 pars screw construct compared with a traditional C1 lateral mass/C2 pars screw construct. Both provide significant rigidity in flexion-extension and axial rotation. Feasibility testing in 45 cadaveric specimens indicates a high degree of accuracy with low incidence of cortical breach. These findings are supported by a separate radiographic morphometric analysis.


In this dissertation, I propose that, post-action, people tend to be more optimistic about outcomes when their actions were based on malleable (vague) information compared to when their actions were based on unmalleable (precise) information. However, pre-action, no such difference occurs. I term this inconsistency in optimism in the pre and post-action stage, the Information Malleability Effect (IME). These actions could include the choice of a product, drawing a ball from an urn, or consumption of a food item. Prior research on ambiguity aversion has reliably documented that people are generally averse to making decisions based on malleable information. On the other hand, research on situated optimism has demonstrated that people exhibit a high level of optimism for events they consider more desirable and they distort the available information to make the desirable events seem more likely to occur. I review these two streams of literature and show that although both literatures make predictions in either the pre or the post-action stage, neither of them alone can explain the IME. I propose a theoretical framework to explain the underlying cause of the IME that combines these two streams of literature and utilizes the motivated reasoning account. Based on this framework, I posit hypotheses that are tested across a series of experiments. Experiment 1a and 1b demonstrate the IME in a between and within participant design. Experiment 2 demonstrates that interpretational flexibility of malleable information results in positive outcomes appearing more plausible and negative outcomes less plausible compared to


Most clustering algorithms produce a single clustering solution. This is inadequate for many data sets that are multi-faceted and can be grouped and interpreted in many different ways. Moreover, for high-dimensional data, dierent features may be relevant or irrelevant to each clustering solution, suggesting the need for feature selection in clustering. Features relevant to one clustering interpretation may be dierent from the ones relevant for an alternative interpretation or view of the data. In this paper, we introduce a probabilistic nonparametric Bayesian model that can discover multiple clustering solutions from data and the feature subsets that are relevant for the clusters in each view. In our model, the features in dierent views may be shared and therefore the sets of relevant features are allowed to overlap. We model feature relevance to each view using an Indian Buet Process and the cluster membership in each view using a Chinese Restaurant Process. We provide an inference approach to learn the latent parameters corresponding to this multiple partitioning problem. Our model not only learns the features and clusters in each view but also automatically learns the number of clusters, number of views and number of features in each view.


This paper critically assesses several dimensions of a sovereign debt restructuring mechanism (SDRM) for the euro area. The novelty of our analysis is that we abstain from recommending one ideal model for a restructuring mechanism. Instead, we apply a menu-type approach. For five key institutional SDRM dimensions, we discuss the underlying fundamental trade-offs and discuss the pros and cons of different design choices. Specifically, we investigate the following SDRM dimensions: (i) the institutional assignments of responsibilities, (ii) the condition or decision rule that triggers a debt restructuring, (iii) the design and size of debt restructuring, (iv) the role and details of collective action clauses (CACs), and (v) the safeguards for financial stability in support for a SDRM. We conclude that there is no such thing as the single optimal SDRM. Design decisions require judgements on the underlying trade-offs and related assumptions on relative costs. Also, the search for an appropriate euro area SDRM design can benefit from complementarities. Ambition in one dimension can offer more degrees of freedom in another dimension. Our analysis implies that there is no convincing reason to further taboo the search for a euro area SDRM, as there are ways to combine the opportunities of a credible SDRM with financial stability.


Corruption is important because it undermines bureaucratic predictability and is a potential threat to support for a political regime. The perception of corruption is the most commonly used measure of the actual incidence of corruption. This article marshals the New Russia Barometer survey data to challenge this assumption. Even though most Russians perceive a variety of everyday public services as corrupt, this assessment is not based on first-hand experience. Only a minority pays bribes. We test four hypotheses about differences in individual perception and experience of paying bribes: the ability to pay, contact with public services, normative acceptability and political awareness. Contact is most important for paying bribes whereas political awareness is most important for the perception of corruption. We also test how much the perception and experience of corruption, as against other forms of political and economic performance, affect support for the regime. Support is driven by the substantive performance of government, especially its management of the economy, rather than by the perception or experience of corruption.


Abstract. We use the GLOMAP global aerosol model evaluated against observations of surface particulate matter (PM2.5) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) to better understand the impacts of biomass burning on tropical aerosol over the period 2003 to 2011. Previous studies report a large underestimation of AOD over regions impacted by tropical biomass burning, scaling particulate emissions from fire by up to a factor of 6 to enable the models to simulate observed AOD. To explore the uncertainty in emissions we use three satellite-derived fire emission datasets (GFED3, GFAS1 and FINN1). In these datasets the tropics account for 66–84 % of global particulate emissions from fire. With all emission datasets GLOMAP underestimates dry season PM2.5 concentrations in regions of high fire activity in South America and underestimates AOD over South America, Africa and Southeast Asia. When we assume an upper estimate of aerosol hygroscopicity, underestimation of AOD over tropical regions impacted by biomass burning is reduced relative to previous studies. Where coincident observations of surface PM2.5 and AOD are available we find a greater model underestimation of AOD than PM2.5, even when we assume an upper estimate of aerosol hygroscopicity. Increasing particulate emissions to improve simulation of AOD can therefore lead to overestimation of surface PM2.5 concentrations. We find that scaling FINN1 emissions by a factor of 1.5 prevents underestimation of AOD and surface PM2.5 in most tropical locations except Africa. GFAS1 requires emission scaling factor of 3.4 in most locations with the exception of equatorial Asia where a scaling factor of 1.5 is adequate. Scaling GFED3 emissions by a factor of 1.5 is sufficient in active deforestation regions of South America and equatorial Asia, but a larger scaling factor is required elsewhere. The model with GFED3 emissions poorly simulates observed seasonal variability in surface PM2.5 and AOD in regions where small fires dominate, providing independent evidence that GFED3 underestimates particulate emissions from small fires. Seasonal variability in both PM2.5 and AOD is better simulated by the model using FINN1 emissions. Detailed observations of aerosol properties over biomass burning regions are required to better constrain particulate emissions from fires.


Ribonucleases belonging to the RNase T2 family are enzymes associated with the secretory pathway that are almost absolutely conserved in all eukaryotes. Studies in plants and vertebrates suggest they have an important housekeeping function in rRNA recycling. However, little is known about this family of enzymes in protostomes. We characterized RNase X25, the only RNase T2 enzyme in Drosophila melanogaster. We found that RNase X25 is the major contributor of ribonuclease activity in flies as detected by in gel assays, and has an acidic pH preference. Gene expression analyses showed that the RNase X25 transcript is present in all adult tissues and developmental stages. RNase X25 expression is elevated in response to nutritional stresses; consistent with the hypothesis that this enzyme has a housekeeping role in recycling RNA. A correlation between induction of RNase X25 expression and autophagy was observed. Moreover, induction of gene expression was triggered by oxidative stress suggesting that RNase X25 may have additional roles in stress responses. Phylogenetic analyses of this family in protostomes showed that RNase T2 genes have undergone duplication events followed by divergence in several phyla, including the loss of catalytic residues, and suggest that RNase T2 proteins have acquired novel functions. Among those, it is likely that a role in host immunosuppression evolved independently in several groups, including parasitic Platyhelminthes and parasitoid wasps. The presence of only one RNase T2 gene in the D. melanogaster genome, without any other evident secretory RNase activity detected, makes this organism an ideal system to study the cellular functions of RNase T2 proteins associated with RNA recycling and maintenance of cellular homeostasis. On the other hand, the discovery of gene duplications in several protostome genomes also presents interesting new avenues to study additional biological functions of this ancient family of proteins. Name (University & Position) Diane Delgado Wartburg College, Undergraduate Student, Dr. Samantha Larimer-Bousquet


Abstract Ionic liquids were investigated with both stable radicals on the basis of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-yloxyl (TEMPO) and photogenerated lophyl radicals. The ionic liquids are composed either of bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (NTf 2 ) as anion and various cations or they contain an imidazolium ion in combination with various anions. The cations include imidazolium, pyrrolidinium, piperidinium, polymethine or ammonium ions. Furthermore, BF 4 − , PF 6 − , triflate, camphorsulfonate, lactate, tosylate or tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate (FAP) are the counter ions in the imidazolium salts. The structural variation of the ionic liquids results in differences in glass formation, semicrystallinity, or crystallinity, as well as in viscosity differences. Furthermore, a vinyl substituent at the imidazolium ion and a methacryloyloxyethyl substituent at the ammonium ion result in polymerizable ionic liquids that were converted via a radical mechanism in amorphous polymerized ionic liquids with a glass transition temperature, which is significantly higher compared to the ionic liquids. An additional substituent at TEMPO causes additional hydrogen bond formation or additional Coulomb interactions with the individual ions of the ionic liquids compared to TEMPO. This influences the mobility of these radicals in the ionic liquid expressed by differences in the average rotational correlation time (τ rot ). The mobility of the radicals in the ionic liquids as function of the temperature describes ionic liquids either as continuum in analogy to molecular solvents using the Stokes–Einstein model, that is the case for 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium NTf 2 , or as medium where free volume effects are important for the mobility of a solute in the ionic liquid using the model of Spernol, Gierer, and Wirtz. The 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium BF 4 − fits well into the latter. Furthermore, the isotropic hyperfine coupling constant (A iso ( 14 N)) of the stable radicals gives information about micropolarity of the ionic liquids only if the mobility of the radical is high enough in the ionic liquid. In addition to the rotational mobility of the stable radicals, the photogenerated lophyl radicals give information about translational diffusion of radicals and solvent cage effects in the ionic liquids. The application of the Eyring equation results mostly in the expected negative values of the activation entropy for the transition state that is typical for bimolecular reactions. Only few examples show a less negative or positive activation entropy for the bimolecular reaction, which may be attributed to radical recombination within the solvent cage to a high extent. The results obtained during investigation of radicals in ionic liquids are important to understand the radical processes in ionic liquids that may occur for example in dye sensitized solar cells, photo or thermally induced reactions or radical polymerizations in ionic liquids.


Spectral induced polarisation (SIP) is applied to the detection and localization of fractures located in the roof of an abandoned quarry at Saint-Germain-la-Rivie`re (Gironde, southwest France). Two types of fracture are observed in the roof of the galleries: open (mostly clay-free) and clay-filled.
The phase between current and voltage is used to detect the presence of these fractures and can differentiate those with or without clays. The amplitude and phase of complex conductivity can be analysed using a Cole-Cole model of relaxation times. Open fractures are characterized by very low chargeability and a high relaxation time in the order of 3 ms. Clay-filled fractures are characterized by high chargeability and a low relaxation time.


V.S. Naipaul's A House for Mr. Biswas and The Mimic Men expose conflicting and contradictory performances of masculinities in a colonized, creolized culture. Focusing on Naipaul's male protagonists, we argue that the complex interconnections between gender performance, nationalism, race, class, and ethnicity destabilize Indo-Caribbean masculinities and exacerbate power imbalances at a personal and cultural level. V.S. Naipaul once stated, "The politics of a country can only be an extension of its ideas of human relationships" (Hemenway 193). Through an investigation of Naipaul's treatment of masculinity as illustrated by his male protagonists in A House for Mr. Biswas and The Mimic Men, we argue that this citation should be qualified to read, "The politics of a country can only be an extension of its ideas of gender relations as they intersect with race, class, ethnicity, and nation." While an unqualified usage of gender is frequently interpreted as referencing women, Naipaul's attention to the contradictions and negotiations of masculinity undertaken by his male protagonists--coupled with his overly simplified portrayals of female characters--allows us to understand that, for Naipaul, gender refers to men. Focusing on the subtleties of masculine performances between differently positioned men within a single, yet multitudinous, culture, we read Naipaul's careful consideration of the pitfalls of masculinity to directly comment on the emasculating effects of colonial rule and postcolonial consciousness between more and less hegemonic men. (1) A House for Mr. Biswas and The Mimic Men dramatize the socio-historical effects of colonialism in Trinidad and focus on the plight of Indo-Caribbean men, albeit in different historical moments and class positionings. Through their personal trials and tribulations, the protagonists demonstrate how East Indian men in the British Caribbean performed their gender in reaction to a larger culture of domination, in ways that continued to undermine, as well as strengthen, their individual agency. By engaging with Naipaul's depiction of the performative aspects of masculinity, this essay explores the ways in which these novels illustrate how gender, specifically masculinity, is intimately connected to questions of cultural survival and of identity formation as interwoven with issues of race, class, ethnicity, and nation. Set in colonial Trinidad, A House for Mr. Biswas is a painfully humorous account of an ordinary man's epic struggle for independence. After marrying into the large and overbearing Tulsi family, Mohun Biswas becomes increasingly dependent on his financially stable in-laws. His efforts to break free from Tulsi rule, which result in a constant shifting of vocations and unsuitable residences, almost always end in disappointment. Despite being tied down by his family duties, Mohun refuses to give up his dream of becoming a self-made man and owning a house of his own. In The Mimic Men, protagonist Ralph Singh is a middle-aged man of Indian heritage who is brought up in Isabella (a fictional British-dependent Caribbean island) (2) and completes his education in England. At the start of the novel, Ralph is in exile writing his memoirs at a quiet hotel on the outskirts of London. He documents his memories in an attempt to give his life meaning and order. As he recalls his paradoxical childhood, unsuccessful marriage, and unsatisfying career as a government minister, he becomes overwhelmed with a feeling of cultural displacement. Ralph's moving and disturbing memoirs expose his uncertainty and disillusionment. His life is the story of a post-colonial man who desperately wants to understand his own cultural identity. It is not just the protagonists' unique performances of masculinity that highlight their importance for understanding the relationship between colonial and gender relations. The relationship between the two characters--and the two novels, more broadly--is significant. …


This study was aimed to determine the prescribing pattern and drug interaction of an antibiotic at a private hospital using WHO recommended indicators. A cross-sectional study was conducted for six months to evaluate drug utilization pattern and drug interaction of an antibiotic prescribed at an orthopedic unit at a private hospital. The drug utilization and drug interactions were studied on a total of 200 prescriptions. The average number of prescribed drugs was found 5.15 per prescription. The maximum number of patients were treated with a single antibiotic. In this study, we observed that most of the patients were at the age range of 61-70 years. In our study, 22% of drugs were prescribed by generic names and 78% were the drugs prescribed by their brand names. The most frequently prescribed antibiotic group was beta-lactam drug. The most common situation was accident in which antibiotics were prescribed in a higher ratio. No serious drug interaction was found. Mostly all the possible drug interactions occur through the pharmacokinetic mechanism. The number of medicines per prescription should be kept in minimum with an eye on therapeutic effect. In other words, rational drug must be strictly followed. Polypharmacy and combination of drugs have to be discouraged to minimize drug interactions.


This report is the third in our monographic series on mammalian diversity and Matses ethnomammalogy in the Yavari-Ucayali interfluvial region of northeastern Peru. Based on taxonomic analysis of specimens collected in the region, we document the occurrence of 19 species of marsupials in the genera Caluromys, Glironia, Hyladelphys, Marmosa, Monodelphis, Metachirus, Chironectes, Didelphis, Philander, Gracilinanus, and Marmosops. Our principal taxonomic results include the following: (1) we provide a phylogenetic analysis of previously unpublished mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data for Caluromys that supports the reciprocal monophyly of all currently recognized species in the genus but reveals substantial heterogeneity in one extralimital taxon; (2) we explain why Marmosa constantiae is the correct name for the southwestern Amazonian taxon previously known as Mar. demerarae, and we diagnose Mar. constantiae from Mar. rapposa, a superficially similar species from southern Peru, eastern Bolivia, and central Brazil; (3) we explain why Mar. rutteri is the correct name for one of the Amazonian species currently known as Mar. regina, and we restrict the latter name to the transAndean holotype; (4) we recognize Metachirus myosuros as a species distinct from Met. nudicaudatus based on morphological comparisons and a phylogenetic analysis of new mtDNA sequence data; and (5) we name a new species of Marmosops to honor the late Finnish-Peruvian naturalist Pekka Soini.Of the 19 marsupial species known to occur in the Yavari-Ucayali interfluve, 16 have been recorded in sympatry at Nuevo San Juan, the Matses village where we based most of our fieldwork from 1995 to 1999. We explain why we believe the marsupial species list from Nuevo San Juan to be complete (or nearly so), and we compare it with a species list obtained by similarly intensive fieldwork at Paracou (French Guiana). Although Nuevo San Juan and Paracou are 2500 km apart on opposite sides of Amazonia, the same opossum genera are present at both sites, the lists differing only in the species represented in each fauna. We briefly discuss current explanations for spatial turnover in species of terrestrial vertebrates across Amazonian landscapes and provide evidence that the upper Amazon is a significant dispersal barrier for marsupials.Marsupials are not important to the Matses in any way. In keeping with their cultural inattention to mammals that are inconspicuous, harmless, and too small to be of dietary significance, the Matses lexically distinguish only a few kinds of opossums, and they are not close observers of opossum morphology or behavior.


Analysis of several mutations in the mouse is providing useful insights into the nature of the genes required for the establishment of the left-right axis during early development. Here we describe a new targeted allele of the mouse Tg737 gene, Tg737(Delta)2-3(beta)Gal), which causes defects in left-right asymmetry and other abnormalities during embryogenesis. The Tg737 gene was originally identified based on its association with the mouse Oak Ridge Polycystic Kidney (orpk) insertional mutation, which causes polycystic kidney disease and other defects. Complementation tests between the original orpk mutation and the new targeted knock-out mutation demonstrate that Tg737(Delta)2-3(beta)Gal) behaves as an allele of Tg737. The differences in the phenotype between the two mutations suggest that the orpk mutation is a hypomorphic allele of the Tg737 gene. Unlike the orpk allele, where all homozygotes survive to birth, embryos homozygous for the Tg737(Delta)2-3(beta)Gal) mutation arrest in development at mid-gestation and exhibit neural tube defects, enlargement of the pericardial sac and, most notably, left-right asymmetry defects. At mid-gestation the direction of heart looping is randomized, and at earlier stages in development lefty-2 and nodal, which are normally expressed asymmetrically, exhibit symmetrical expression in the mutant embryos. Additionally, we determined that the ventral node cells in mutant embryos fail to express the central cilium, which is a characteristic and potentially functional feature of these cells. The expression of both Shh and Hnf3(beta) is downregulated in the midline at E8.0, indicating that there are significant alterations in midline development in the Tg737(Delta)2-3(beta)Gal) homozygous embryos. We propose that the failure of ventral node cells to fully mature alters their ability to undergo differentiation as they migrate out of the node to contribute to the developing midline structures. Analysis of this new knockout allele allows us to define a critical role for the Tg737 gene during early embryogenesis. We have named the product of the Tg737 gene Polaris, which is based on the various polarity related defects associated with the different alleles of the Tg737 gene.


OF DISSERTATION REDEFINING DEVELOPMENT: EXPLORING ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC PRACTICES IN APPALACHIA This dissertation examines alternative economic practices and regional economic development strategies in the Appalachian region. First, I deconstruct regional economic development policies and practices. I argue that policy documents produced by the Appalachian Regional Commission and the State of Kentucky have often limited economic imaginings through the perpetuation of regional stereotypes and short-term, decontextualized strategies. Then, I explore the existence of alternative economic practices as well as the contradictory role of the state within the context of Eastern Kentucky's craft industry. Using a mixed methods approach, I investigate how the state simultaneously supports cooperative craft production by perpetuating a geographical lore pertaining to crafts produced in the State of Kentucky, and yet fosters a discourse of selfsufficiency via entrepreneurial workshops that often alienate cooperative craft producers. Finally, I highlight alternatives that have emerged in this industry in an effort to document economic diversity and redefine development.


The rise in popularity of machine learning (ML), and deep learning in particular, has both led to optimism about achievements of artificial intelligence, as well as concerns about possible weaknesses and vulnerabilities of ML pipelines. Within the software engineering community, this has led to a considerable body of work on ML testing techniques, including white- and black-box testing for ML models. This means the oracle problem needs to be addressed. For supervised ML applications, oracle information is indeed available in the form of dataset 'ground truth', that encodes input data with corresponding desired output labels. However, while ground truth forms a gold standard, there still is no guarantee it is truly correct. Indeed, syntactic, semantic, and conceptual framing issues in the oracle may negatively affect the ML system's integrity. While syntactic issues may automatically be verified and corrected, the higher-level issues traditionally need human judgment and manual analysis. In this paper, we employ two heuristics based on information entropy and semantic analysis on well-known computer vision models and benchmark data from ImageNet. The heuristics are used to semi-automatically uncover potential higher-level issues in (i) the label taxonomy used to define the ground truth oracle (labels), and (ii) data encoding and representation. In doing this, beyond existing ML testing efforts, we illustrate the need for software engineering strategies that especially target and assess the oracle.


Wage inequality has been significantly higher in the United States than in continental European countries (CEU) since the 1970s. Moreover, this inequality gap has further widened during this period as the US has experienced a large increase in wage inequality, whereas the CEU has seen only modest changes. This paper studies the role of labor income tax policies for understanding these facts. We begin by documenting two new empirical facts that link these inequality differences to tax policies. First, we show that countries with more progressive labor income tax schedules have significantly lower before-tax wage inequality at different points in time. Second, progressivity is also negatively correlated with the rise in wage inequality during this period. We then construct a life cycle model in which individuals decide each period whether to go to school, work, or be unemployed. Individuals can accumulate skills either in school or while working. Wage inequality arises from differences across individuals in their ability to learn new skills as well as from idiosyncratic shocks. Progressive taxation compresses the (after-tax) wage structure, thereby distorting the incentives to accumulate human capital, in turn reducing the cross-sectional dispersion of (before-tax) wages. We find that these policies can account for half of the difference between the US and the CEU in overall wage inequality and 76% of the difference in inequality at the upper end (log 90-50 differential). When this economy experiences skill-biased technological change, progressivity also dampens the rise in wage dispersion over time. The model explains 41% of the difference in the total rise in inequality and 58% of the difference at the upper end.


The major tracer activity of the last four years was the completion in 1983 of a survey of the North and Tropical Atlantic begun in 1981 as part of the Transient Tracers in the Ocean (TTO) project (Brewer, et al., 1985). An early set of papers (Brewer et al., 1983, and Swift, 1984) discussed evidence from these observations for the freshening of the North Atlantic due to cessation of overflow across the Iceland-Scotland ridge in the period between Geosecs and TTO. Broecker et al. (1985a) examined observations further south within the deep Northeastern Atlantic and showed that there was no change of nutrient contents in this region during the same time span, consistent with their conclusion that there is no ventilation of this region from the north. Kawase and Sarmiento (1985 and 1986) used the TTO data to produce a series of nutrient and salinity maps and property-property plots on density surfaces in the thermocline and middepth waters. Of particular interest in these studies is the evidence from silica-salinity observations of strong cross-isopycnal mixing and advection in the equatorial region.


Recent research has changed our understanding of how people learn. These findings are based on well-established learning theories that can potentially help faculty teach more effectively. Unfortunately, most science faculty, including ecologists, have little or no exposure to research on learning or its application to teaching. In this paper, four areas of research on knowledge and learning are given as the basis for an approach designed to help students overcome the common misconception that plants do not consume oxygen. To help improve college ecology instruction, ecology faculty and researchers who study learning should collaborate to design research about ecology teaching and ecological thinking.


Shortlisted for the 2013 Orwell Prize. THE STORY CONTINUES: TWO NEW CHAPTERS FOR THE PAPERBACK EDITION In 1986, Kris Maharaj, a British businessman living in Miami, was arrested for the brutal murder of two ex-business associates. His lawyer did not present a strong alibi; Kris was found guilty and sentenced to death in the electric chair. It wasn't until a young lawyer working for nothing, Clive Stafford Smith, took on his case that strong evidence began to emerge that the state of Florida had got the wrong man on Death Row. So far, so good except that, as Stafford Smith argues here so compellingly, the American justice system is actually designed to ignore innocence. Twenty-six years later, Maharaj is still in jail. Step by step, Stafford Smith untangles the Maharaj case and the system that makes disasters like this inevitable. His conclusions will act as a wake-up call for those who condone legislation which threatens basic human rights and, at the same time, the personal story he tells demonstrates that determination can challenge the institutions that surreptitiously threaten our freedom.


HSOC 0100 Emergence of Modern Science During the last 500 years, science has emerged as a central and transformative force that continues to reshape everyday life in countless ways. This introductory course will survey the emergence of the scientific world view from the Renaissance through the end of the 20th century. By focusing on the life, work, and cultural contexts of those who created modern science, we will explore their core ideas and techniques, where they came from, what problems they solved, what made them controversial and exciting and how they relate to contemporary religious beliefs, politics, art, literature, and music. The course is organized chronologically and thematically. In short, this is a "Western Civ" course with a difference, open to students at all levels. Fall Also Offered As: STSC 0100 1 Course Unit


A diverse assemblage of large mammals is spatially and stratigraphically associated with Ardipithecus ramidus at Aramis. The most common species are tragelaphine antelope and colobine monkeys. Analyses of their postcranial remains situate them in a closed habitat. Assessment of dental mesowear, microwear, and stable isotopes from these and a wider range of abundant associated larger mammals indicates that the local habitat at Aramis was predominantly woodland. The Ar. ramidus enamel isotope values indicate a minimal C4 vegetation component in its diet (plants using the C4 photosynthetic pathway), which is consistent with predominantly forest/woodland feeding. Although the Early Pliocene Afar included a range of environments, and the local environment at Aramis and its vicinity ranged from forests to wooded grasslands, the integration of available physical and biological evidence establishes Ar. ramidus as a denizen of the closed habitats along this continuum.


Purpose: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) α is frequently overexpressed in human tumors and is associated with angiogenesis and metastasis. Topotecan, a topoisomerase I inhibitor, has been shown to inhibit HIF-1α expression in preclinical models. We designed a pilot trial to measure HIF-1α inhibition in tumor biopsies from patients with advanced solid tumors overexpressing HIF-1α, after treatment with oral topotecan. Experimental Design: Topotecan was administered orally at 1.6 mg/m2 once daily for 5 days/week for 2 weeks, in 28-day cycles. Objectives were to determine inhibition of expression of HIF-1α and HIF-1 target genes in tumor; to assess tumor blood flow by dynamic contrast–enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI); and to measure pharmacokinetics. Tumor biopsies were collected at baseline and during the second cycle of treatment. Results: Sixteen patients were enrolled. The dose of topotecan was reduced to 1.2 mg/m2/day due to myelosuppression. Seven patients had paired tumor biopsies. In 4 patients, HIF-1α nuclear staining became undetectable after treatment (7.5%–50% staining at baseline). Decreased levels of VEGF and GLUT-1 mRNA were measured in 4 patients; the changes were concordant with reduction in HIF-1α in 3 patients. Decreased tumor blood flow and permeability were observed by DCE-MRI in 7 of 10 patients after 1 cycle. One patient had a partial response accompanied by inhibition of HIF-1α in tumor and reduction in tumor blood flow on DCE-MRI. Conclusions: This multihistology, target assessment trial of a small molecule inhibitor of HIF-1α showed that topotecan could decrease HIF-1α expression in advanced solid tumors. Clin Cancer Res; 17(15); 5123–31. ©2011 AACR.


Abstract. Accurate representation of aerosol optical properties is essential for the modeling and remote sensing of atmospheric aerosols. Although aerosol optical properties are strongly dependent upon the aerosol size distribution, the use of detailed aerosol microphysics schemes in global atmospheric models is inhibited by associated computational demands. Computationally efficient parameterizations for aerosol size are needed. In
this study, airborne measurements over the United States (DISCOVER-AQ) and
South Korea (KORUS-AQ) are interpreted with a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to investigate the variation in aerosol size when organic
matter (OM) and sulfate–nitrate–ammonium (SNA) are the dominant aerosol components. The airborne measurements exhibit a strong correlation (r=0.83) between dry aerosol size and the sum of OM and SNA mass concentration (MSNAOM). A global microphysical simulation
(GEOS-Chem-TOMAS) indicates that MSNAOM and the
ratio between the two components (OM/SNA) are the major indicators for SNA and OM dry aerosol size. A parameterization of the dry effective radius (Reff) for SNA and OM aerosol is designed to represent the airborne measurements (R2=0.74; slope = 1.00) and the GEOS-Chem-TOMAS simulation (R2=0.72; slope = 0.81). When applied in the GEOS-Chem high-performance model, this parameterization improves the agreement between the simulated aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the ground-measured AOD from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET; R2 from 0.68 to 0.73 and slope from 0.75 to 0.96). Thus, this parameterization offers a computationally efficient method to represent aerosol size dynamically.


BACKGROUND
 Previous data have validated the benefit of digital health interventions (DHIs) on weight loss in patients following acute coronary syndrome entering cardiac rehabilitation (CR).

 OBJECTIVE
 The primary purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that increased DHI use, as measured by individual log-ins, is associated with improved weight loss. Secondary analyses evaluated the association between log-ins and activity within the platform and exercise, dietary, and medication adherence.

 METHODS
 We obtained DHI data including active days, total log-ins, tasks completed, educational modules reviewed, medication adherence, and nonmonetary incentive points earned in patients undergoing standard CR following acute coronary syndrome. Linear regression followed by multivariable models were used to evaluate associations between DHI log-ins and weight loss or dietary adherence.

 RESULTS
 Participants (n=61) were 79% male (48/61) with mean age of 61.0 (SD 9.7) years. We found a significant positive association of total log-ins during CR with weight loss (r2=.10, P=.03). Educational modules viewed (r2=.11, P=.009) and tasks completed (r2=.10, P=.01) were positively significantly associated with weight loss, yet total log-ins were not significantly associated with differences in dietary adherence (r2=.05, P=.12) or improvements in minutes of exercise per week (r2=.03, P=.36).

 CONCLUSIONS
 These data extend our previous findings and demonstrate increased DHI log-ins portend improved weight loss in patients undergoing CR after acute coronary syndrome. DHI adherence can potentially be monitored and used as a tool to selectively encourage patients to adhere to secondary prevention lifestyle modifications.

 CLINICALTRIAL
 ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01883050); https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01883050


M work engages with Native stories, in which the animals are seen as beings, not as a commodity. These characters have a presence, they have intent; they speak, they can make decisions. In my paintings and prints, animals are a vehicle to investigate what it means to be from two cultures, biracial. I am exploring an idea of inadequacy, an idea of not-Indian-enough. I have often portrayed animals in opposition to one another as a means of expressing the internal conflict that exists within someone like myself, navigating cultures. My tribe, the Ponca, were originally from northern Nebraska, and in 1876 were forcibly removed at gunpoint to Oklahoma. Throughout my work, themes of conflict and injury are evident. In some cases animals are missing horns, reflecting the feeling of missing a part of oneself, and the ambiguities that exist for a biracial person living today in the United States. To many Native peoples, coyotes are trickster figures, supernatural beings that encompass a range of contradictory traits—foolish, irresponsible, gluttonous, but also sympathetic, creative, cultural heroes. The coyote character has played a central role in my work since the beginning. I am drawn to it because it embraces these contradictions, and offers a reminder that all creatures are infallible. A Little Medicine and Magic and Six Pack Colonialism, the first two paintings shown below, were made specifically for an exhibition at the Denver Art Museum. For this project, I set out to find a means of representing the nature of each of the Ponca tribe's seven clans. Each clan has its own specific privileges, taboos, and tribal boundaries. I belong to the Deer clan, represented in SixPack Colonialism. Traditionally, members of the clan held the special honor of being guardians of, or responsible for, the deer for all of the people, so they treated deer skin, antlers, and any part of the deer as taboo to touch. A Little Medicine and Magic is for the Medicine clan, whose animal representative is the skunk. In it, I depict a stack of skunks being disciplined by a trickster coyote / mother figure in a garish flared dress. The skunks have taken her lipstick and adorned themselves with a mark of honor. A Little Medicine and Magic


Conservation laws of the charge and of the energy are proved for nonlinear Schrödinger equations with nonlinearities of gauge invariance in a way independent of approximate solutions.


Expert Database System for Environmental Impact Assessment (EDEIA) was developed using FoxPro and CLIPS. It consists of a database and an expert system prototype. The EDEIA system developed a database system that allows an EIA expert to manage EIA report information and produced a set of rules that enable the ES to be aware of the existing environment component classes. The rules were developed according to the environmental component classification characteristics. The system is based on three assumptions: the environmental components and prescribed activities should be classified, the description of environmental component classes as well as the prescribed activities information must be collected; and finally, the potential impact, mitigation measures and residual impact have to be clearly specified. The main role for EDEIA is to assist EIA experts and companies in producing complete and efficient EIA reports. The system is very useful in supporting EIA expert prediction of expected potential environment impact and best method for mitigation measures. The EDEIA system has friendly graphical user interface, as well as satisfying EIA report requirement.


The paper presents the conceptual framework that guided the development of the Lesson Plan Evaluation Rubric (LPER) instrument derived from the Four Stages of Lesson Planning (FSLP) strategy and the empirical results that provide the insight into the elements of lesson planning. Teachers from urban low-performing middle schools in one of the New England states received training and ongoing coaching in the FSLP strategy. Two hundred sixty one lesson plans from 3 9 teachers were collected during one school year of the two-year study to conduct factor analysis of the Rubric's 17 items. The resulting four factors are discussed in this paper. The research shows that the lessons plans developed with the reference to the FSLP strategy revealed a higher degree of lesson coherence. ********** The research study conducted during the Middle School Mathematics Initiative (MSMI) project provided the opportunity for in-depth investigation of mathematics lesson planning. The Four Stages of Lesson Planning (FSLP) strategy (Panasuk, 1999, see Figure 1) was one of the interventions that aimed to assist middle school teachers in the designing of their lesson plans. During the project, we developed and validated Lesson Plan Evaluation Rubric (LPER) instrument (see Figure 2) derived from the lesson planning and delivery evaluation models (Panasuk & Sullivan, 1998). The rubric's seventeen items, with scores ranging from zero to 37, provided further details about and helped to make explicit the underlying principles of the FSLP strategy. The LPER instrument was used to analyze written lesson plans of the teachers who received training in the FSLP strategy. Figure 1. Four stages of lesson planning. OBJECTIVES formulated in terms of students' observable behavior HOMEWORK matches the objectives DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES reflect the objectives advance development and learning MENTAL MATHEMATICS activates prior knowledge, prepares students for the acquisition of new concepts ELEMENTS OF INSTRUCTION Instructional Environment * Inquiry-Based Instruction * Expository/Direct Teaching * Labs and Projects Instructional Approaches based on * Problem Solving * Multiple Representations * Critical Thinking * Communication * Connections Class Arrangements * Individual * Group Work * Pair Work The paper presents the conceptual framework for the rubric as it relates to the FSLP strategy, and empirical results that provide insight into the elements of lesson planning. The Background According to Clark & Dunn (1991), planning is a psychological process of envisioning the future, and considering goals and ways of achieving them. Lesson planning can be defined as a systematic development of instructional requirements, arrangement, conditions, and materials and activities, as well as testing and evaluation of teaching and learning. It involves analysis of the learning needs and the development of a delivery structure to meet those needs. Schon (1983) described lesson planning as pre-active decision-making that takes place before instruction. Clark and Dunn (1991) stated that, consciously and unconsciously, teachers make decisions that affect their behavior and that of their students. Planning a lesson involves teachers' purposeful efforts in developing a coherent system of activities that facilitates the evolution of students' cognitive structures. The quality of those decisions and efforts depends on the creativity of teachers and on their ability to apply learning and instructional theories. Stigler and Hiebert (1999) indicated that, "many teachers in the United States do not even prepare lesson plans, at least not around student learning goals" (p.151). Kennedy (1994) and Reiser (1994) suggested that experienced teachers do not use Instructional Design features (Briggs, 1977; Merrill, 1971 ; Wong & Raulerson, 1974) in a written form of lesson planning. …


Abstract Question: Can patterns of species frequency in an old-field be explained within the context of a metapopulation model? Are the patterns observed related to time, spatial scale, disturbance, and nutrient availability? Location: Upland and lowland old-fields in Illinois, USA. Method: Species richness was recorded annually for seven years following plowing of an upland and lowland old-field subject to crossed fertilizer and disturbance treatments (mowing and rototilling). Species occupancy distributions were assessed with respect to the numbers of core and satellite species. Results: In both fields, species richness became higher in disturbed plots than in undisturbed plots over time, and decreased in fertilized plots irrespective of time. A bimodal pattern of species richness consistent with the Core-satellite species (CSS) hypothesis occurred in the initial seed bank and through the course of early succession. The identity of native and exotic core species (those present in > 90% of blocks) changed with time. Some core species from the seed bank became core species in the vegetation, albeit after several years. At the scale of individual plots, a bimodal fit consistent with the CSS hypothesis applied only in year 1 and rarely thereafter. Conclusions: The CSS hypothesis provides a metapopulation perspective for understanding patterns of species richness but requires the assessment of spatial and temporal scaling effects. Regional processes (e.g. propagule availability) at the largest scale have the greatest impact influencing community structure during early secondary succession. Local processes (e.g., disturbance and soil nutrients) are more important at smaller scales and place constraints on species establishment and community structure of both native and exotic species. Under the highest intensity of disturbance, exotic species may be able to use resources unavailable to, or unused by, native species. Nomenclature: Mohlenbrock (2002).


The mission of a job affects the type of worker attracted to an organization but may also provide incentives to an existing workforce. We conducted a natural field experiment with 246 short-term workers. We randomly allocated some of these workers to either a prosocial or a commercial job. Our data suggest that the mission of a job has a performance-enhancing motivational impact on particular individuals only, those with a prosocial attitude. However, the mission is very important if it has been actively selected. Those workers who have chosen to contribute to a social cause outperform the ones randomly assigned to the same job by about half a standard deviation. This effect seems to be a universal phenomenon that is not driven by information about the alternative job, the choice itself, or a particular subgroup.


Pure Type Systems, PTSs, were introduced as a generalization of the type systems of Barendregt's lambda cube and were designed to provide a foundation for actual proof assistants which will verify proofs. Systems of illative combinatory logic or lambda calculus, ICLs, were introduced by Curry and Church as a foundation for logic and mathematics. In an earlier paper we considered two changes to the rules of the PTSs which made these rules more like ICL rules. This led to four kinds of PTSs. Most importantly PTSs are about statements of the form M : A, where M is a term and A a type. In ICLs there are no explicit types and the statements are terms. In this paper we show that for each of the four forms of PTS there is an equivalent form of ICL, sometimes if certain conditions hold.


Herbivores can facilitate macrophyte growth through stimulation of overcompensation pathways, removal of neighbouring or fouling competitors or increasing nutrient availability via nitrogenous waste inputs. We examined the facilitative relationship between the mud snail Ilyanassa obsoleta and two morphologically similar bloom‐forming Ulva species, Ulva compressa and Ulva rigida. Through mesocosm experiments, we determined the occurrence and underlying mechanisms responsible for facilitating Ulva growth. In situ snail enclosure experiments determined the occurrence of this facilitative pathway under natural conditions. We found that both U. compressa and U. rigida are facilitated by I. obsoleta, but despite their morphological similarity, the primary facilitative mechanism differed for each species. Ulva compressa experienced increased growth via snail nitrogenous waste inputs, while U. rigida was facilitated by the removal of fouling microalgae. These results suggest that physiological differences exist between these two species, potentially sustaining their coexistence within blooms. Ground tissue assays showed I. obsoleta preference for microalgal foulers in whole‐tissue assays was driven by Ulva blade morphology rather than chemical or nutritive properties. This indicates that the underlying mechanism for I. obsoleta's facilitation via grazing is an inability of the snail's radula to effectively puncture Ulva blades, confining their grazing activities to fouling organisms on the blade surface. In contrast to our mesocosm results, in situ experiments failed to find a positive impact of mud snail presence on Ulva blade growth. However, Ulva blades within these experiments were located at a highly eutrophic site and isolated from potential competitors. Consequently, this may have created an environment where I. obsoleta facilitation was not required for maximum Ulva growth. Synthesis. We demonstrated two mechanisms by which top‐down forces can facilitate macroalgal growth: herbivore nitrogenous waste inputs and removal of microalgal fouling organisms. This facilitation may occur within the large mats of macroalgae that form during bloom events, exacerbating bloom conditions.


One way to excite a dark envelope soliton is to use a dark input pulse - a narrow dip in the amplitude of a continuous wave background. This approach has been used previously to excite dark solitons for surface spin waves in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) thin film strips and for lasers in photorefractive crystals. Theoretically, however, an initial dark signal should not evolve into a single dark soliton, but a pair of dark solitons that have opposite phase jumps and an overall phase change of zero. Experimentally, such dark soliton pairs have been observed for solitons in various systems, but their phase signature has never been demonstrated so far.


Introduction In response to growing demands on health and social care services there is an emphasis on communities addressing the needs of local populations to improve lives and reduce inequalities. Occupational therapists are responding to these demands by expanding their scope of practice into innovative settings, such as working with refugees, the homeless and residents of nursing homes, and within sport and leisure environments. The benefits of sport are widely acknowledged, and this paper argues that occupational therapists could play a pivotal role in enabling people to participate. Method This qualitative study drew on a phenomenological approach and used interviews and thematic analysis to explore five occupational therapists' experiences of enabling people to participate in sport. Findings Findings revealed that participants demonstrated the uniqueness of occupational therapy when enabling people to participate in sport and practised according to their professional philosophy. There were opportunities to reach wider communities and promote the value of occupational therapy by collaborating with organisations, but there were also challenges when working outside of traditional settings. Conclusion The study emphasises the unique skills occupational therapists can bring to this setting. It highlights opportunities to expand their practice, to forge new partnerships in sports and leisure environments, and to address the national inactivity crisis.


Visual search and other attentionally demanding processes are often guided from the top down when a specific task is given (e.g. Wolfe et al. Vision Research 44, 2004). In the simplified stimuli commonly used in visual search experiments, e.g. red and horizontal bars, the selection of potential features that might be biased for is obvious (by design). In a natural setting with real-world objects, the selection of these features is not obvious, and there is some debate which features can be used for top-down guidance, and how a specific task maps to them (Wolfe and Horowitz, Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 2004).

Learning to detect objects provides the visual system with an effective set of features suitable for the detection task, and with a mapping from these features to an abstract representation of the object.

We suggest a model, in which V4-type features are shared between object detection and top-down attention. As the model familiarizes itself with objects, i.e. it learns to detect them, it acquires a representation for features to solve the detection task. We propose that by cortical feedback connections, top-down processes can re-use these same features to bias attention to locations with higher probability of containing the target object. We propose a model architecture that allows for such processing, and we present a computational implementation of the model that performs visual search in natural scenes for a given object category, e.g. for faces. We compare the performance of our model to pure bottom-up selection as well as to top-down attention using simple features such as hue.


South Asia is one of the fastest growing regions economically and energy-wise in the world. However, there are significant uncertainties in how the energy demand would grow given the rapidly rising incomes, urbanization, industrialization, access to energy, warming climate and technological change. The transition to clean energy in the region is a priority and is critical to limiting emissions in the region and increasing regional energy security. The power sector will play an important role in decarbonization of energy systems, lowering emissions in other sectors through electrification. However, as existing end uses are scaled up more and new end uses are electrified, the temporal and spatial patterns of electricity consumption could change. These changes have implications for the magnitude, shape, and timing of peak demand, which in turn affects the power sector's investments and operations, and ability to provide reliable power. In this report, we outline key uncertainties in demand growth that South Asian countries would face in the near to medium term, along with summarizing insights from stakeholder consultations we held over the past 6 months.


Genetic engineering (GE) has the potential to revolutionize fruit tree breeding. It is an approach that can specifically target genetic improvements and allow for the development of novel, useful traits. While GE does not provide a panacea for all of the difficulties associated with fruit tree breeding, it can be a useful approach to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of breeding programs. In spite of the potential utility of GE for fruit tree improvement, the technology has not, to date, been widely exploited in these species. Of over 11,000 field tests of transgenic plants in the United States between 1987 and 2004, less than 1% have involved fruit tree species. Transgenic plum trees that are highly resistant to Plum pox virus (PPV) are one example of GE that can be of significant benefit to growers and consumers while providing unique genetic material for use in conventional breeding programs. The development and testing of this plum has spanned 15 years and included researchers in five countries. Currently this plum, 'HoneySweet', is being evaluated for deregulation by U.S. regulatory agencies so that it may possibly be released in the future to breeders and growers who are concerned about the threat of PPV to U.S. stone fruit production.


Probability as an Alternative to Boolean LogicWhile logic is the mathematical foundation of rational reasoning and the fundamental principle of computing, it is restricted to problems where information is both complete and certain. However, many real-world problems, from financial investments to email filtering, are incomplete or uncertain in nature. Probability theory and Bayesian computing together provide an alternative framework to deal with incomplete and uncertain data. Decision-Making Tools and Methods for Incomplete and Uncertain DataEmphasizing probability as an alternative to Boolean logic, Bayesian Programming covers new methods to build probabilistic programs for real-world applications. Written by the team who designed and implemented an efficient probabilistic inference engine to interpret Bayesian programs, the book offers many Python examples that are also available on a supplementary website together with an interpreter that allows readers to experiment with this new approach to programming. Principles and Modeling Only requiring a basic foundation in mathematics, the first two parts of the book present a new methodology for building subjective probabilistic models. The authors introduce the principles of Bayesian programming and discuss good practices for probabilistic modeling. Numerous simple examples highlight the application of Bayesian modeling in different fields. Formalism and Algorithms. The third part synthesizes existing work on Bayesian inference algorithms since an efficient Bayesian inference engine is needed to automate the probabilistic calculus in Bayesian programs. Many bibliographic references are included for readers who would like more details on the formalism of Bayesian programming, the main probabilistic models, general purpose algorithms for Bayesian inference, and learning problems. FAQsAlong with a glossary, the fourth part contains answers to frequently asked questions. The authors compare Bayesian programming and possibility theories, discuss the computational complexity of Bayesian inference, cover the irreducibility of incompleteness, and address the subjectivist versus objectivist epistemology of probability. The First Steps toward a Bayesian ComputerA new modeling methodology, new inference algorithms, new programming languages, and new hardware are all needed to create a complete Bayesian computing framework. Focusing on the methodology and algorithms, this book describes the first steps toward reaching that goal. It encourages readers to explore emerging areas, such as bio-inspired computing, and develop new programming languages and hardware architectures.


Knowledge-intensive work plays an increasingly important role in organisations of all types. This work is characterized by a defined input and a defined output but not the way how to transform the input to an output. Within this context, the research project DYONIPOS aims at encouragingthetwo crucialrolesin aknowledge-intensive organization - the process executer and the process engineer. Ad-hoc support will be provided for the knowledge worker by synergizing the development of context sensitive, intelligent, and agile semantic technologies with contextual retrieval. DYONIPOS provides process executers with guidance through business processes and just-in-time resource support based on the current user context, that are the focus of this paper.


Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases comprise an evolutionarily conserved family of proteins that includes at least three vertebrate protein kinases (p42, p44, and p55 MAPK) and five yeast protein kinases (SPK1, MPK1, HOG1, FUS3, and KSS1). Members of this family are activated by a variety of extracellular agents that influence cellular proliferation and differentiation. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, there are multiple physiologically distinct MAP kinase activation pathways composed of structurally related kinases. The recently cloned vertebrate MAP kinase activators are structurally related to MAP kinase activators in these yeast pathways. These similarities suggest that homologous kinase cascades are utilized for signal transduction in many, if not all, eukaryotes. We have identified additional members of the MAP kinase activator family in Xenopus laevis by a polymerase chain reaction-based analysis of embryonic cDNAs. One of the clones identified (XMEK2) encodes a unique predicted protein kinase that is similar to the previously reported activator (MAPKK) in X. laevis. XMEK2, a highly expressed maternal mRNA, is developmentally regulated during embryogenesis and expressed in brain and muscle. Expression of XMEK2 in yeast cells suppressed the growth defect associated with loss of the yeast MAP kinase activator homologs, MKK1 and MKK2. Partial sequence of a second cDNA clone (XMEK3) identified yet another potential MAP kinase activator. The pattern of expression of XMEK3 is distinct from that of p42 MAPK and XMEK2. The high degree of amino acid sequence similarity of XMEK2, XMEK3, and MAPKK suggests that these three are related members of an amphibian family of protein kinases involved in the activation of MAP kinase. Discovery of this family suggests that multiple MAP kinase activation pathways similar to those in yeast cells exist in vertebrates.


Quantitative determination of dopamine in urine and plasma is very important for curing of diseases like ganglioneuroma, schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, stress, burn-out syndrome. The measurements are made mainly with radioimmunoassay and chromatographically. These procedures are time consuming (over 4 hours) and need expensive laboratory technique. Electrochemical biosensors are very simple, easy to use and cheap devices for measuring of substrates. Dopamine is one of them. In this paper a biosensor with active membrane from banana tissue is used for experiments. As far to an enzyme reaction is used for determination of dopamine, temperature has strong influence on the output signal from biosensor. The paper treats CMAC-based modelling the influences of temperature and substrate concentration on the output current of biosensor. The high accuracy of the CMAC-based approximation (at the expense of more experimental data) is confirmed by simulations in MATLAB environment. The relative errors calculated over the new experimental data are used for validation of the proposed method. Additionally, the results are compared with those obtained by backpropagation-based feed-forward neural network.


Purpose: Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is a common condition in all age groups, with a multifactorial etiology. This study aimed to investigate the association between the Quadriceps femoris muscle group, Hamstring muscle group and Adductor muscle group, and to establish the relationship between myofascial trigger points (MFTP's) in these muscle groups and patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). Methods: A cross-sectional, observational, quantitative non-intervention clinical assessment study was conducted at the Chiropractic Day Clinic at Durban University of Technology (DUT), to determine the extent of the PFPS, the MFTPs and thus the relationship between the two. The study included eighty patients with PFPS, who were recruited by convenience sampling. The results were captured using Microsoft excel and SPSS version 15.0 was used to analyze the data. Results: Quadriceps femoris muscle group MFTPs were noted in 92.5% of the patients (most prevalent being Vastus medialis TP1 (63.8%), Vastus lateralis TP1 (33.8%) and Vastus intermedius at 27,5%). Least common was Vastus lateralis TP2 only presenting in 2,5% of the patients. Hamstring muscle group MFTPs were found overall in 86.3% of patients (most prevalent being in Biceps femoris muscle (66%), and least prevalent being in Semitendinosus muscle (11,3%)). MFTPs were present in 64% overall of the Adductor muscle group (Adductor magnus muscle being the most common). Significant associations were made between the presence of MFTPs in the Vastus lateralis TP2 (p=0.00), Vastus medialis TP1 (p=0.046; 0.005; 0.004), the NRS and the PPSS. Also significant was the relationship between the NRS, PPSS and the Semimembranosus and Adductor magnus muscles indicated that these muscles were the most likely causes of pain even though they had fewer MFTPs than other comparable muscles. Conclusion: The outcomes of this study supports previous research indicating that an extensor dysfunction of the Quadriceps femoris muscle group may be of MFTP origin and indicates that other muscles in the thigh require further research indicating their role in the development of PFPS.


The FREIA Facility for Research Instrumentation and Accelerator Development at Uppsala University, Sweden, has reached the stage where the testing of superconducting cavities for the European Spallation Source (ESS) is starting. The new helium liquefaction plant has been commissioned and now supplies a custom-made, versatile horizontal cryostat, HNOSS, with liquid helium at up to 140 l/h. The cryostat has been designed and built to house up to two accelerating cavities, or, later on, other superconducting equipment such as magnets or crab cavities. A prototype cavity for the spoke section of the ESS linac will arrive mid 2015 for high-power testing in the horizontal cryostat. Two tetrode-based commercial RF power stations will deliver 400 kW peak power each, at 352 MHz, to the cavity through an RF distribution line developed at FREIA. In addition, significant progress has been made with in-house development of solid state amplifier modules and powercombiners for future use in particle accelerators. We report here on these and other ongoing activities at the FREIA laboratory.


With the advent of next-generation mobile devices, wireless networks must be upgraded to fill the gap between huge user data demands and scarce channel capacity. Mm-waves technologies appear as the key-enabler for the future 5G networks design, exhibiting large bandwidth availability and high data rate. As counterpart, the small wave-length incurs in a harsh signal propagation that limits the transmission range. To overcome this limitation, array of antennas with a relatively high number of small elements are used to exploit beamforming techniques that greatly increase antenna directionality both at base station and user terminal. These very narrow beams are used during data transfer and tracking techniques dynamically adapt the direction according to terminal mobility. During cell discovery when initial synchronization must be acquired, however, directionality can delay the process since the best direction to point the beam is unknown. All space must be scanned using the tradeoff between beam width and transmission range. Some support to speed up the cell search process can come from the new architectures for 5G currently being investigated, where conventional wireless network and mm-waves technologies coexist. In these architecture a functional split between C-plane and U-plane allows to guarantee the continuous availability of a signaling channel through conventional wireless technologies with the opportunity to convey context information from users to network. In this paper, we investigate the use of position information provided by user terminals in order to improve the performance of the cell search process. We analyze mm-wave propagation environment and show how it is possible to take into account of position inaccuracy and reflected rays in presence of obstacles.


Abstract. The objective of the presented work was to develop a method to acquire Manning's n by creating very high-resolution surface models with structure-from-motion methods. As hydraulic roughness is an essential parameter for physically based erosion models, a practical measuring technique is valuable during field work. Data acquisition took place during several field experiments in the Lainbach valley, southern Germany, and on agricultural sites in Saxony, eastern Germany, and in central Brazil. Rill and interrill conditions were simulated by flow experiments. In order to validate our findings stream velocity was measured with colour tracers. Grain sizes were derived by measuring distances from a best fit line to the reconstructed soil surface. Several diameters from D50 to D90 were tested with D90 showing best correlation between tracer experiments and photogrammetrically acquired data. Several roughness parameters were tested (standard deviation, random roughness, Garbrecht's n and D90). Best agreement in between the grain size and the hydraulic roughness was achieved with a non-linear sigmoid function and D90 rather than with the Garbrecht equation or statistical parameters.


: Aim: Purpose of our research was to conduct a demographic analysis of palatal fistula in patients arriving in a tertiary care centre. Methodology: Retrospectively all the data was taken before repair of palatal fistula from the year January 2000 to June 2020 in JMMCH & RI, Thrissur were enrolled in the study. Subsequent variables: sex, cleft side, presence of Simonart's band, initial cleft width, intraoperative problems, and postoperative problems were measured. A chi-square test was used as statistical measure to analyse the variables. Results: In age group 0-6 months; the fistula was mostly present in anterior region of hard palatal region (54%), whereas size of the fistula was mostly <0.4mm in 63% cases which was statistically significant (p=0.04). The results were statistically significant in case of patients belonging to 13-24 months (p=0.012) as well as in case of >24 months of age (p=0.045). Conclusion: We recommend a future prospective controlled study to study the factors that lower the incidence of fistula in bigger sample size population.


The phenomenon of young people withdrawing into their homes (hikikomori) shows us a new and particular way for adolescents from different backgrounds to express their malaise. The way they speak of their journey and their reclusion will be the subject of an analysis that reveals three types of withdrawal: alternative withdrawal, reactional withdrawal, and chrysalis withdrawal. Each is a way of responding to social expectations and family dynamics during the passage into adulthood.


Sudan is one of the few countries where famine still persists. Why? What are the determinants of famine in Sudan? What is the role of drought, especially in the context of economic policy failure and war? Who is affected by famine? What needs to be done to mitigate and prevent famine? These are some of the questions addressed in Drought and Famine Relationships in Sudan: Policy Implications, Research Report 88, by Tesfaye Teklu, Joachim von Braun, and Elsayed Zaki. The research is particularly concerned with quantitatively tracing the drought-production-consumption-nutrition linkages under famine conditions at the household level in order to identify effective means of alleviating and preventing famine.... while famine is often strongly linked to drought, this research finds that even under the severe economic constraints of Sudan, suitable government planning and action can forestall that linkage.


The genomes of birds are much smaller than mammalian genomes, and transposable elements (TEs) make up only 10% of the chicken genome, compared with the 45% of the human genome. To study the mechanisms that constrain the copy numbers of TEs, and as a consequence the genome size of birds, we analyzed the distributions of LINEs (CR1's) and SINEs (MIRs) on the chicken autosomes and Z chromosome. We show that (1) CR1 repeats are longest on the Z chromosome and their length is negatively correlated with the local GC content; (2) the decay of CR1 elements is highly biased, and the 5′-ends of the insertions are lost much faster than their 3′-ends; (3) the GC distribution of CR1 repeats shows a bimodal pattern with repeats enriched in both AT-rich and GC-rich regions of the genome, but the CR1 families show large differences in their GC distribution; and (4) the few MIRs in the chicken are most abundant in regions with intermediate GC content. Our results indicate that the primary mechanism that removes repeats from the chicken genome is ectopic exchange and that the low abundance of repeats in avian genomes is likely to be the consequence of their high recombination rates.


A reasonable approach for fact checking a claim involves retrieving potentially relevant documents from different sources (e.g., news websites, social media, etc.), determining the stance of each document with respect to the claim, and finally making a prediction about the claim's factuality by aggregating the strength of the stances, while taking the reliability of the source into account. Moreover, a fact checking system should be able to explain its decision by providing relevant extracts (rationales) from the documents. Yet, this setup is not directly supported by existing datasets, which treat fact checking, document retrieval, source credibility, stance detection and rationale extraction as independent tasks. In this paper, we support the interdependencies between these tasks as annotations in the same corpus. We implement this setup on an Arabic fact checking corpus, the first of its kind.


The disintegration of the British National Party (BNP) has removed the threat of the party securing a place in the political mainstream in the UK. But, in coming close to this objective it has succeeded in renewing and legitimising both its own claims to speak on behalf of the indigenous people of Britain, as well as the similar claims of other groups such as the English Defence League (EDL), the English Democrats and the Freedom Party. Rather than assessing the impact of the BNP in terms of the number of votes and councillors, this article contends that the renewal of racist discourse may enable far right views and ideologies to penetrate and gain acceptance in mainstream British society over the next decade. This article examines the re-shaping of the rhetoric of indigeneity by the BNP to legitimise racism. Using articles originally written for the BNP magazine Identity between 2006 and 2008 and extracted from the BNP website in advance of the 2010 elections, this article discursively analyses the way in which the BNP deploys the concept of indigeneity in its constructions of social groups in Britain. It is suggested that the potential (mis)use of indigeneity as a legitimising vehicle for racist and illiberal views and policies is exacerbated by the lack of clear definitional boundaries around the concept of indigeneity itself.


Objective. Our goal was to create a synthetic dataset and curricular materials to assist in teaching fundamentals of translational data science. Materials and Methods. A literature review was conducted to extract current cardiovascular risk score logic, data elements, and population characteristics. Then, clinical data elements in the models were pulled from clinical data and transformed to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) common data model; genetic data elements were added based on population rates. A hybrid Bayesian network was used to create synthetic data from the logical elements of the risk scores and the underlying population frequencies of the clinical data. Results A synthetic dataset of 446,000 patients was created. A two-day curriculum was created based on this synthetic data with exploratory data analysis and machine learning components. The curriculum was offered on two separate occasions; the two groups of learners were given the curriculum and data, and results were tallied, summarized, and compared. Students' ability to complete the challenge was mixed; more experienced students achieved a range of 70%-85% in balanced accuracy, but many others did not perform better than the baseline model. Discussion Overall, students enjoyed the course and dataset, but some struggled to consistently apply machine learning techniques. The curriculum, data set, techniques for generation, and results are available for others to use for their own training. Conclusion A realistic synthetic data with clinical and genetic components helps students learn issues in cardiovascular risk scoring, practice data science skills, and compete in a challenge to improve identification of risk.


A novel practice called advanced citrus production systems (ACPS) using high tree density, dwarfing rootstocks, and a modified intensively managed open hydroponics system (OHS) were developed to accelerate tree growth and bring young trees into production so growers can break even economically as soon as possible after establishing a grove. Several experiments were conducted to compare the performance of the intensively managed drip and microsprinkler irrigation and fertigation systems with conventional grower practices on the Florida Flatwoods and central Ridge soils. The field studies revealed non-significantly different water uptake of ACPS/OHS compared with current grower practices. However, nutrient accumulation, particularly N, was greater for ACPS/OHS than the grower practices. Overall, the results underscore the importance of using innovative and carefully managed intensive fertigation practices for increasing nutrient and water uptake efficiency while conserving environmental quality and sustaining high citrus yields on Florida's sandy soils.


Vitamin D plays a critical role in bone metabolism and many cellular and immunological processes. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] is produced in the skin in response to exposure to ultraviolet radiation, and is a good indicator of vitamin D status. The aim of this study was to determine summer/ winter differences in serum 25(OH)D3 and Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) in Saudi pre and postmenopausal women and in adult males. We focused on the interaction of Vitamin D with other biochemical markers of bone metabolism like PTH, ALP and Calcium and how it varies on seasonal changes. The subjects were 115 Saudi adults divided into three groups; 31 males, 42 premenopausal and 42 postmenopausal women. They were medically examined twice, in summer (April-July 2014) and winter (December 2014-February 2015) months. 25(OH)D3, PTH, TSH, ALP, calcium and inorganic phosphorus were estimated and found that status of vitamin D varies significantly with seasonal changes (highest being in summer), age and also with sex. Seasonal differences in the 25(OH)D3 concentrations in these subjects appeared to reflect ability to produce 25(OH)D3 photochemically in the skin. In addition to vitamin D, levels of biochemical markers exhibited summer/winter differences and also varied among the pre and postmenopausal women and were statistically different from males.


The children's book award is an ideological vehicle that communicates both implicit and explicit values to the wider world. For half a century, the Sydney Taylor Book Award has invoked criteria of literary excellence and authentic portrayals of Jewish experiences and the implicit cultural values that underpin them in its mission to recognize, celebrate, and perpetuate quality Jewish children's literature. The award upholds and subverts cultural ideas of childhood, literary excellence, and Jewish authenticity in order to resist systems of power and dominant cultural narratives that seek to erase or flatten Jewish representation.


The SPIRAL2 facility will extend the possibilities offered at GANIL to heavier radioactive beams, with much higher intensities : it will provide intense beams of neutronrich exotic nuclei created by the ISOL production method. The extracted exotic beam will be used either in a new low energy experimental area called DESIR, or accelerated by the existing SPIRAL 1 cyclotron (CIME. The intense primary stable beams (deuterons, protons, light and heavy ions) will also be used at various energies for nuclear physics, as well as for neutron-based research and multidisciplinary research, in dedicated caves called S3 and NFS. During year 2008, the decision has been taken to build the SPIRAL2 machine in two phases: - first phase including the driver accelerator and its associated new experimental areas (S3 and NFS caves), - second phase including the RIB production part, with the low energy RIB experimental hall called DESIR, and the connection to the GANIL existing facility for post-acceleration by the existing CIME cyclotron. The SPIRAL2 facility is now in its construction phase, with the objective of obtaining the first beams for physics during year 2014 with the first phase.


The effect of different austenite grain size and different cooling rates on the austenite to ferrite transformation temperature and different ferrite morphologies in one Nb-microalloyed (HSLA) steel has been investigated. Three different austenite grain sizes were selected and cooled at two different cooling rates for obtaining austenite to ferrite transformation temperature. Moreover, samples with specific austenite grain size have been quenched, partially, for investigation on the microstructural evolution. In order to assess the influence of austenite grain size on the ferrite transformation temperature, a temperature differences method (TDM) is established and found to be a good way for detection of austenite to ferrite, pearlite and sometimes other ferrite morphologies transformation temperatures. The results obtained in this way show that increasing of austenite grain size and cooling rate has a significant influence on decreasing of the ferrite transformation temperature. Micrographs of different ferrite morphologies show that at high temperatures, where diffusion rates are higher, grain boundary ferrite nucleates. As the temperature is lowered and the driving force for ferrite formation increases, intragranular sites inside the austenite grains become operative as nucleation sites and suppress the grain boundary ferrite growth. The results indicate that increasing the austenite grain size increases the rate and volume fraction of intragranular ferrite in two different cooling rates. Moreover, by increasing of cooling rate, the austenite to ferrite transformation temperature decreases and volume fraction of intragranular ferrite increases.


Based on the 'European Mires Book' of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG), this article provides a composite map of national datasets as the first comprehensive peatland map for the whole of Europe. We also present estimates of the extent of peatlands and mires in each European country individually and for the entire continent. A minimum peat thickness criterion has not been strictly applied, to allow for (often historically determined) country-specific definitions. Our 'peatland' concept includes all 'mires', which are peatlands where peat is being formed. The map was constructed by merging national datasets in GIS while maintaining the mapping scales of the original input data. This 'bottom-up' approach indicates that the overall area of peatland in Europe is 593,727 km². Mires were found to cover more than 320,000 km² (around 54 % of the total peatland area). If shallow-peat lands (< 30 cm peat) in European Russia are also taken into account, the total peatland area in Europe is more than 1,000,000 km2, which is almost 10 % of the total surface area. Composite inventories of national peatland information, as presented here for Europe, may serve to identify gaps and priority areas for field survey, and help to cross-check and calibrate remote sensing based mapping approaches.


While the intuitive idea is easy to grasp, the concept of continuity so far has widely evaded formal treatment; in particular, it was not possible to automatically reason about continuity in the presence of loops. This is where the work of Swarat Chaudhuri, Sumit PrOVInG a PrOGraM'S correctness is usually an all-or-nothing game. Either a program is correct with respect to its specification or it is not. If our proof succeeds, we have 100% correctness; if our proof does not succeed, we have nothing. Formal correctness proofs are difficult, because one must symbolically cover the entire range of possible inputs—and the slightest gap in the input leaves us with a gap in the proof. But what if it turned out the risk posed by leaving a gap is actually small? This, of course, is the assumption of testing: If I tested some function with a sample of values, and it works correctly for this sample, I have reasons to assume it will also work for similar values. This is something I can assume if the behavior of my function is continuous—if it computes the correct square root for 10, 100, and 1,000, it should also do the right thing for any value in between. One may think this is a dangerous assumption: Simply because my program has worked well for these three values, why should it work for any other? A program is free to do anything; since it need not obey mathematical or physical laws, it can behave in an entirely different way for any new value. This logical view is true in principle. In real life, however, programmers prefer abstractions that are easy to understand and to reason about. The reason testing works in practice is that programmers naturally strive toward continuity. Gulwani, and Roberto Lublinerman comes into play. Their framework can formally verify programs for continuity, proving that small changes to the input only cause small changes to the output. They show that several programs such as sorting or shortest path are continuous—or even Lipschitz continuous, implying that perturbations to a function's input cause only proportional changes to its output. Such a function would also be declared robust, meaning it will behave predictably even when inputs are uncertain or erroneous. Being able to formally reason about continuity and robustness lets us see programs as driven not only by logic, but also analytical calculus; and this view can be very helpful for understanding why programs generally tend to work well even if only coarsely tested. This work also bridges the gap between programs and control theory, allowing for ample cross-fertilization between the fields; indeed, one can think of mathematical optimizations of program code just as the adoption of programming concepts by control theory. So, should we treat programs as driven by logic, by calculus, or both? I encourage you to read the following paper to see the manifold connections between logic and calculus in computer programs.


Clovers (Trifolium spp.) are vulnerable to a large number of invertebrate pests so pest resilience amongst 19 leading commercial or near release New Zealand-bred clover cultivars was compared. Laboratory feeding choice tests comparing foliage from the test clovers against Grasslands Kopu II as the standard confirmed that red clovers (T. pratense) were less preferred than white clovers (T. repens) by adult clover root weevil and clover flea. Grey field slug showed no preference between red and white clovers, with the white clover Grassland Prestige performing the best. Porina larvae had lowest weight gains on strawberry clover (T. fragiferum). Subsequent tests using neonate greenheaded leafroller larvae and an artificial diet made with freeze-dried foliage from cultivars in the most and least preferred subgroups indicated antifeedant compounds, rather than leaf morphology, are likely responsible for differences in feeding preferences between red and white clovers.