It is a generally accepted truth that without a proper educational system no country will prosper, nor will its inhabitants. With the arrival of the post-industrial society, in Europe and elsewhere, it has become increasingly clear that people should continue learning over their entire lifespans lest they or their society suffer the dire consequences. But what does this future lifelong learning society exactly look like? And how then should education prepare for it? What should people learn and how should they do so? How can we afford to pay for all this, what are the socio-economic constraints of the move towards a lifelong-learning society? And, of course, what role can and should the educational establishment of schools and universities play? This are questions that demand serious research efforts, which is what this paper argues for.


BACKGROUND: Isokinetic eccentric cycling is increasingly being utilised to examine the effect of chronic eccentric muscle training however little is known about how individuals familiarise to such a unique training modality.

OBJECTIVE: To examine longitudinal variation in power output and lower limb muscle activation during familiarisation to maximal recumbent isokinetic eccentric cycling.

METHODS: Twelve male volunteers, unfamiliar with eccentric cycling, completed four trials, separated by 7-10 days, each comprising 6 × 10 s maximal isokinetic eccentric efforts between 20-120 rpm. Peak power and average power output (PO), and surface electromyography (sEMG) of the rectus femoris (RF), vastus lateralis (VL), biceps femoris (BF), and medial gastrocnemius (MG) were recorded throughout. Systematic error across repeated trials was assessed using one-way ANOVA, and random error quantified using coefficient of variation (CV, %).

RESULTS: Average PO at 60 rpm and RF activation at 20 rpm increased from trial 1-2 (p < 0.05), with no other systematic error between trials at any cadence. Across all cadences, the CV for peak PO (∼ 13%), average PO (∼ 10%), VL activation (∼ 13%) and RF activation (∼ 19%) was moderate and plateaued after one familiarisation (i.e. T2-T3). However, for BF (∼ 24%) and MG (∼ 22%) activation reliability was generally poor. For the majority of variables the reliability was best at 60 rpm.

CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, with one familiarisation, 60 rpm is recommended to achieve moderate between-session reliability in the measurement of power output and lower limb muscle activation during recumbent, eccentric cycling.


The proteostasis stress-response protein ATF6 directs the mesodermal lineage during vertebrate embryogenesis and early development. A primitive role for ATF6 The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) mediates and monitors the folding, packaging, and transport of proteins in cells. The unfolded protein response (UPR) preserves ER homeostasis in the adult organism; however, inactivating mutations in the UPR-associated transcription factor ATF6 cause congenital vision defects, suggesting an embryonic role as well. Kroeger et al. found that ATF6 was critical to the differentiation of stem cells to the mesodermal lineage, at least in part, by promoting the growth and maturation of the ER, which presumably enables cells to stably produce the abundance of proteins necessary for development. Thus, the ER homeostasis protein in adult cells first directs ER development in embryonic cells. Activating ATF6 promoted the development of functional vascular endothelial cells from stem cells in culture dishes, suggesting that manipulating ATF6 may facilitate the production of mesodermal tissues for research or therapy. ATF6 encodes a transcription factor that is anchored in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and activated during the unfolded protein response (UPR) to protect cells from ER stress. Deletion of the isoform activating transcription factor 6α (ATF6α) and its paralog ATF6β results in embryonic lethality and notochord dysgenesis in nonhuman vertebrates, and loss-of-function mutations in ATF6α are associated with malformed neuroretina and congenital vision loss in humans. These phenotypes implicate an essential role for ATF6 during vertebrate development. We investigated this hypothesis using human stem cells undergoing differentiation into multipotent germ layers, nascent tissues, and organs. We artificially activated ATF6 in stem cells with a small-molecule ATF6 agonist and, conversely, inhibited ATF6 using induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with ATF6 mutations. We found that ATF6 suppressed pluripotency, enhanced differentiation, and unexpectedly directed mesodermal cell fate. Our findings reveal a role for ATF6 during differentiation and identify a new strategy to generate mesodermal tissues through the modulation of the ATF6 arm of the UPR.


Summary Externally bonded fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite plates can enhance the flexural strength, as well as stiffness to a limited degree, of reinforced concrete (RC) flexural members. Understanding the behaviour of these strengthened members at the serviceability and ultimate load ranges of response is of particular importance to engineers. The description of such behaviour is best described via plotting of the complete moment-curvature, as well as load-deflection responses from initial load to member failure. Based on the assumption of a tri-linear moment-curvature relationship, closed-form analytical solutions are presented in this paper for calculating the complete load-deflection response of FRP flexurally-strengthened one-way RC slabs and beams, which are simply-supported (three- and four-point bending), as well as cantilevered (free-end point load). The analytical predictions compare well with test results and the basis of a new "quad-linear" moment-curvature relationship is proposed that may better capture a so-called "pseudo-ductile" response occasionally observed in experiments. The influence of anchorage of the FRP strengthening for the prevention or delaying of debonding and a procedure for its inclusion in the analytical model is also discussed. Finally, the results of parametric studies are presented.


Communication is the transfer of information and ideas during the interaction between people. It is of two types: verbal and non- verbal, body or gestural. Gestural, body or non-verbal communication is as rich and complex as any language and organizes elementary and meaningless units into meaningful units. The gesture theory states that vocal human language developed from a gestural language. On the other hand, it is visual and exploits the unique features of the visual and performing media. This is considered as universal language. Cultural assimilation leads to multiculturalism. Multiculturalism is the appreciation, accepting, promotion of multiple ethics applied at the organization level in multicultural society. The need for effective multicultural communication is more prevalent in today's world as countries do more business globally and borders are disappearing. Here gestural language plays a vital role in establishing relationship where people have no language in common. As this language is universally accepted and understood, serves as the main channel of communication in multicultural society. Body language is broad term for gestural language, which includes gestures, facial expression, eye movements, posture, body movements and the use of time and space. This Para language including body or gestural language serves as main factors in multicultural communication. Recognizing the importance of body or gestural language in communication, our ancient preceptors evolved, codified and propagated each body movements for effective communication. Natyashasthra 2 , which is the earliest text in this direction authored by Sage Bharathamuni, discusses the gestural language in detail. Analyzing the importance of traditional gestural language, Identifying its relevance in changing human values and creating modified version of the same for adopting in multicultural communication - are the main aims of this paper.


There is a dramatic difference between reading Japanese that is tailored to students, and reading real Japanese that has been written for native speakers. The concocted variety tends to be insipid, flat, stiff, standardized, completely lacking in exciting and imaginative use of language. Read Real Japanese Essays, and its companion volume Read Real Japanese Fiction, allows readers to experience the work of several of todays foremost writers as if they were lifelong Japanese speakers. The pieces in Read Real Japanese Essays are informed by the personalities of the writers: Haruki Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, Mitsuyo Kakuta, Junko Sakai, Yoko Ogawa, Kou Machida, Keiichiro Hirano and Hideo Levy. By turns humorous, serious, beautiful and biting, they have been selected on the basis of their appeal. All are stimulating works that will motivate readers to want more. Just like real Japanese books, the text in this collection runs from top bottom and from right to left. For those needing backup, the essays have been supplemented with facing-page translations of the phrases used therein, often with notes on nuance, usage, grammar or culture. In the back of the book, moreover, is a built-in Japanese-English learner's dictionary and a notes section covering issues of nuance, usage, grammar and culture that come up in each essay. Best of all, the book comes with a free audio CD containing narrations of the essays, performed by a professional voice actress. This will help users to become familiar with the sounds and rhythms of Japanese, as well as the speed at which the language is normally spoken.


"Students used to ask, 'Why don't you just give us something to analyze?' What we really want to hear is, 'Show us someone who needs help.' [In order for that to occur] culture shift is required." Dr. Woodie C. Flowers MIT Pappalardo Professor of Mechanical Engineering (2005) Introduction Real-world problem solving, addressing societal needs, and improving the quality of life are all synonymous with technology education and its standards. In Pennsylvania, standard 3.8.12 encourages students to, "Apply the use of ingenuity and technological resources to solve specific societal needs and improve the quality of life" (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2002). At the national level, Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology (STL) Standards 4, 5, 6, and 13 all relate to the effects and impacts that development and use of technology have on the environment and society in general (ITEA, 2000/2002/2007). However, the problem for the classroom teacher lies within the creation of those engaging, current, and relevant STEM-related problem-solving activities that will have the most impact on students. In our program, we have recently developed an activity that addresses the above stated standards but also has strong interdisciplinary connections. The following classroom challenge was created to incorporate a humanitarian project with the use of the Vex Robotics Design System to remove simulated IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) to a detonation zone within a specified amount of time. The relevance of this activity to students is obvious given the deluge of war coverage in the news media. Some of this media coverage may actually be used as an anticipatory set and as part of the research phase of the design process. Wired Magazine's article titled, "The Baghdad Bomb Squad" (Shachtman, 2005) documents a true humanitarian need for smart machines that can save the lives of soldiers and civilians in a combat zone. Throughout this activity, named "IED Cleanup," students work in pairs to design and build robots to perform appropriate tasks. However, the entire class works together to develop a strategy, a set of complimentary designs, and a collective plan for implementation to safely dispose of the IEDs. There within lies one of the unique aspects of this activity. Rather than competing against one another, teams of students are cooperating together to solve a problem. They quickly learn that the success of the team/class is dependent upon efforts and communication skills of each individual, which are real-world life skills that apply to college, work, and life within our global society. Most importantly, students are learning the overarching goal of STEM and technology education, which is to use one's skills and knowledge to improve the world in which we live. Robots in the classroom are not a new idea, and it's true that projects involving the creation of these multisystem creatures can consume entire semesters in a heartbeat. However, our experiences have revealed to us that robotics projects and challenges in the classroom just might be one of the best ways to deliver meaningful STEM instruction and address standards while purposefully helping to develop a more socially conscious student. We're not building toys; we're designing and building complex systems that serve an intended purpose, a humanitarian purpose! And best of all, a diverse range of students is "getting it." They see the interdisciplinary connections of math, science, engineering, and the value of effective communication and strategy. They see the need and "role of society in the development and use of the technology," and the "effects of technology on the environment" as stated in STL 6 and STL 5, respectively. In addition, students quickly come to realize that personal biases and differences are of no use in solving the problem at hand; they must work together. In order to invite the culture shift that Dr. …


The background noise inherent to tunable lasers, which emit broad band spontaneous fluorescence from the laser-active medium, is detrimental for sensitive Raman measurement. Using the diffraction effect in an acousto-optic device, we have developed a fluorescence backgroundless Ti: sapphire laser suited for near-infrared Raman spectroscopy. A Raman excitation profile consisting of series of Raman spectra of deoxygenated hemoglobin aqueous solutions was measured by changing excitation wavelengths, revealing the high potential of this laser as a spectroscopic light source.


This paper draws on critical political economic theory to discuss the implications of the dominant mode of production and circulation of "Triple-A" or blockbuster console games. It is argued that the seventh generation Triple-A game is a highly standardized cultural commodity giving way to two distinctive "formatting strategies", which taken together, draw attention to the console game's hybrid nature; being a physical, disc-based artefact that is digitally extended via DLC (downloadable content). This hybridity invites questions as to the commodity form's techno-economic particularities vis-à-vis publishing strategies of non-software based cultural commodities, such as movies and TV series.   The popular Call of Duty series of first person shooters serves as case study to demonstrate how game publisher Activision Blizzard not only formalized and institutionalized the annualization of the serialization strategy, the publisher also upped the ante in terms of post-launch content, theorized as "branched serialization". The Call of Duty series demonstrates that the rules of play for Triple-A games are as much governed by a game's internal ludic properties as they are structured and alternated by a distinctive and very explicit market logic. In this sense, the Triple-A game never seems truly finished; it is marketed by game publishers and positioned by critics as an unfinished commodity.


The present Thesis studies three alternative solvent groups as sustainable replacement of traditional organic solvents. Some aspects of fluorinated solvents, supercritical fluids and ionic liquids, have been analysed with a critical approach and their effective "greenness" has been evaluated from the points of view of the synthesis, the properties and the applications. In particular, the attention has been put on the environmental and human health issues, evaluating the eco-toxicity, the toxicity and the persistence, to underline that applicability and sustainability are subjects with equal importance.

The "green" features of fluorous solvents and supercritical fluids are almost well-established; in particular supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is probably the "greenest" solvent among the alternative solvent systems developed in the last years, enabling to combine numerous advantages both from the point of view of industrial/technological applications and eco-compatibility.
In the Thesis the analysis of these two classes of alternative solvents has been mainly focused on their applicability, rather than the evaluation of their environmental impact. Specifically they have been evaluated as alternative media for non-aqueous biocatalysis. For this purpose, the hydrophobic ion pairing (HIP), which allows solubilising enzymes in apolar solvents by an ion pairing between the protein and a surfactant, has been investigated as effective enzymatic derivatisation technique to improve the catalytic activity under homogeneous conditions in non conventional media. The results showed that the complex enzyme-surfactant was much more active both in fluorous solvents and in supercritical carbon dioxide than the native form of the enzyme.

Ionic liquids, especially imidazolium salts, have been proposed some years ago as "fully green" alternative solvents; however this epithet does not take into account several "brown" aspects such as their synthesis from petro-chemical starting materials, their considerable eco-toxicity, toxicity and resistance to biodegradation, and the difficulty of clearly outline applications in which ionic liquids are really more advantageous than traditional solvents. For all of these reasons in this Thesis a critical analysis of ionic liquids has been focused on three main topics: i) alternative synthesis by introducing structural moieties which could reduce the toxicity of the most known liquid salts, and by using starting materials from renewable resources; ii) on the evaluation of their environmental impact through eco-toxicological tests (Daphnia magna and Vibrio fischeri acute toxicity tests, and algal growth inhibition), toxicity tests (MTT test, AChE inhibition and LDH release tests) and fate and rate of aerobic biodegradation in soil and water; iii) and on the demonstration of their effectiveness as reaction media in organo-catalysis and as extractive solvents in the recovery of vegetable oil from terrestrial and aquatic biomass.
The results about eco-toxicity tests with Daphnia magna, Vibrio fischeri and algae, and toxicity assay using cultured cell lines, clearly indicate that the difference in toxicity between alkyl and oxygenated cations relies in differences of polarity, according to the general trend of decreasing toxicity by decreasing the lipophilicity. Independently by the biological approach in fact, all the results are in agreement, showing a lower toxicity for compounds with oxygenated lateral chains than for those having purely alkyl lateral chains. These findings indicate that an appropriate choice of cation and anion structures is important not only to design the IL with improved and suitable chemico-physical properties but also to obtain safer and eco-friendly ILs. Moreover there is a clear indication that the composition of the abiotic environment has to be taken into account when the toxicity of ILs in various biological test systems is analysed, because, for example, the data reported in the Thesis indicate a significant influence of salinity variations on algal toxicity.
Aerobic biodegradation of four imidazolium ionic liquids, two alkylated and two oxygenated, in soil was evaluated for the first time. Alkyl ionic liquids were shown to be biodegradable over the 6 months test period, and in contrast no significant mineralisation was observed with oxygenated derivatives. A different result was observed in the aerobic biodegradation of alkylated and oxygenated pyridinium ionic liquids in water because all the ionic liquids were almost completely degraded after 10 days, independently by the number of oxygen in the lateral chain of the cation.

The synthesis of new ionic liquids by using renewable feedstock as starting materials, has been developed through the synthesis of furan-based ion pairs from furfural. The new ammonium salts were synthesised in very good yields, good purity of the products and wide versatility, combining low melting points with high decomposition temperatures and reduced viscosities. Regarding the possible applications as surfactants and biocides, furan-based salts could be a valuable alternative to benzyltributylammonium salts and benzalkonium chloride that are produced from non-renewable resources.

A new procedure for the allylation of ketones and aldehydes with tetraallyltin in ionic liquids was developed. The reaction afforded high yields both in sulfonate-containing ILs and in ILs without sulfonate upon addition of a small amount of sulfonic acid. The checked reaction resulted in peculiar chemoselectivity favouring aliphatic substrates towards aromatic ketones and good stereoselectivity in the allylation of levoglucosenone. Finally ILs-based systems could be easily and successfully recycled, making the described procedure environmentally benign.
The potential role of switchable polarity solvents as a green technology for the extraction of vegetable oil from terrestrial and aquatic biomass has been investigated. The extraction efficiency of terrestrial biomass rich in triacylglycerols, as soy bean flakes and sunflower seeds, was comparable to those of traditional organic solvents, being the yield of vegetable oils recovery very similar. Switchable polarity solvents as been also exploited for the first time in the extraction of hydrocarbons from the microalga Botryococcus braunii, demonstrating the efficiency of the process for the extraction of both dried microalgal biomass and directly of the aqueous growth medium. The switchable polarity solvents exhibited better extraction efficiency than conventional solvents, both with dried and liquid samples. This is an important issue considering that the harvest and the dewatering of algal biomass have a large impact on overall costs and energy balance.


This paper explores the impacts of primary carbonaceous aerosol on cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations in a global climate model with size-resolved aerosol microphysics. Organic matter (OM) and elemental carbon (EC) from two emissions inventories were incorporated into a preexisting model with sulfate and sea-salt aerosol. The addition of primary carbonaceous aerosol increased CCN(0.2%) concentrations by 65–90% in the globally averaged surface layer depending on the carbonaceous emissions inventory used. Sensitivity studies were performed to determine the relative importance of organic solubility/hygroscopicity in predicting CCN. In a sensitivity study where carbonaceous aerosol was assumed to be completely insoluble, concentrations of CCN(0.2%) still increased by 40–50% globally over the no carbonaceous simulation because primary carbonaceous emissions were able to become CCN via condensation of sulfuric acid. This shows that approximately half of the contribution of primary carbonaceous particles to CCN in our model comes from the addition of new particles (seeding effect) and half from the contribution of organic solute (solute effect). The solute effect tends to dominate more in areas where there is less inorganic aerosol than organic aerosol and the seeding effect tends to dominate in areas where there is more inorganic aerosol than organic aerosol. It was found that an accurate simulation of the number size distribution is necessary to predict the CCN concentration but assuming an average chemical composition will generally give a CCN concentration within a factor of 2. If a "typical" size distribution is assumed for each species when calculating CCN, such as is done in bulk aerosol models, the mean error relative to a simulation with size resolved microphysics is on the order of 35%. Predicted values of carbonaceous aerosol mass and aerosol number were compared to observations and the model showed average errors of a factor of 3 for carbonaceous mass and a factor of 4 for total aerosol number; however, errors in the accumulation mode concentrations were found to be lower in comparisons with European and marine observations.. The errors in CN and carbonaceous mass may be reduced by improving the emission size distributions of both primary sulfate and primary carbonaceous aerosol.


This study is the first to analyse the soluble factors secreted by the bronchial epithelium after exposure to isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) that are responsible for increasing migration and proliferation of primary normal human bronchial smooth muscle cells (BSMCs). We treated immortalised, nontumorigenic human bronchial epithelial cells (cell line BEAS-2B) and primary normal human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) with IPDI, and then collected the conditioned culture media (IPDI-BEAS-2B-CM and IPDI-HBEC-CM, respectively), which was added to BSMCs. Exposure of BEAS-2B cells and HBECs to IPDI increased interleukin (IL)-8 production. Culture of BSMCs with IPDI-BEAS-2B-CM and IPDI-HBEC-CM increased BSMC proliferation and migration, which are major features in asthma-related airway remodelling. Induction of BSMC proliferation and migration by IPDI-BEAS-2B-CM and IPDI-HBEC-CM was associated with increased focal adhesion kinase (FAK), Src, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 and AKT activation. Blocking FAK with a specific inhibitor significantly decreased BSMC migration and proliferation by inhibiting ERK1/2 activation. FAK and ERK1/2 inhibitor also decreased IPDI-BEAS-2B-CM-, IPDI-HBEC-CM- and recombinant human IL-8-mediated BSMC proliferation and migration, whereas blocking Rnd3 using small interfering RNA failed to affect BSMC proliferation, suggesting that Rnd3 was only involved in the regulation of BSMC migration. Our study suggests that inhibition of IL-8 or IL-8-mediated FAK/ERK/Rnd3 signalling is an attractive therapeutic target for IPDI-mediated asthma.


This cogent and knowledgeable critique of the tradition of modern analytic philosophy focuses on the work of its central figures -- Russell, Carnap, and Quine -- and finds it wanting. In its place, Hao Wang unfolds his own original view of what philosophy could and should be. The base of any serious philosophy, he contends, should take as its point of departure the actual state of human knowledge. He explains the relation of this new tradition to mathematical logic and reveals the crucial transitions and mistakes in mainstream Anglo-American philosophy that make a new approach so compelling.Equally at home in philosophy and mathematics, Wang is uniquely qualified to take on the task of critically examining modern philosophy. He carefully traces the path of ideas from Russell and Wittgenstein through the Vienna Circle to modern British and American philosophy, and makes use of his familiarity with the profound thought of Kurt GA del with whom he has had numerous discussions. He also presents the broader significance of Russell's philosophy, provides a comprehensive and unified treatment of Quine's work in logic and in philosophy, and delineates what is common between Carnap and Quine.


We demonstrate the importance of intertemporal marginal propensities to consume (iMPCs) in disciplining general equilibrium models with heterogeneous agents and nominal rigidities. In a benchmark case, the dynamic response of output to a change in the path of government spending or taxes is given by an equation involving iMPCs, which we call the intertemporal Keynesian cross. Fiscal multipliers depend only on the interaction between iMPCs and public deficits. We provide empirical estimates of iMPCs and argue that they are inconsistent with representative-agent, two-agent and one-asset heterogeneous-agent models, but can be matched by models with two assets. Quantitatively, models that match empirical iMPCs predict deficit-financed fiscal multipliers that are larger than one, even if monetary policy is active, taxation is distortionary, and investment is crowded out. These models also imply larger amplification of shocks that involve private borrowing, as we illustrate in an application to deleveraging.


Physics is really important to game programmers who need to know how to add physical realism to their games. They need to take into account the laws of physicswhen creating asimulation or game engine, particularly in 3D computer graphics, for the purpose of making the effects appear more real to the observer or player.The game engine needs to recognize the physical properties of objects that artists create, and combine them with realistic motion. The physics ENGINE is a computer program that you work into your gamethat simulates Newtonian physics and predict effects under different conditions. In video games, the physics engine uses real-time physics to improve realism. This is the only book in its category to take readersthroughthe process ofbuilding a complete game-ready physics engine from scratch.The Cyclone game engine featured in the book was written specifically for this book and has beenutilized in iPhone application development and Adobe Flash projects. There is a good deal of master-class level information available, but almost nothing in any format that teaches the basics in a practical way. The second edition includes NEW and/orrevised material on collision detection, 2D physics, casual game physics for Flash games, more references, a glossary, and end-of-chapter exercises. The companion website will include the full source code of the Cyclone physics engine, along with example applications that show the physics system in operation. --A truly accessible text that allows even novice programmers to create powerful physics engines for their games. --Covers particle effects, flight simulation, car pysics, crates, destructible objects, cloth and ragdolls, and more. --Supports each new concept with diagrams, code, end-of-chapter exercises and resources. --This edition includescompletely NEWmaterial on: collision detection, 2D physics, casual game physics for Flash games. --Powerful associated website offering: the full source code of the Cyclone physics engine, along with example applications that show the physics system in operation. The Cyclone engine has been used in commercial game development.


The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) is in the process of digitizing an exceptional collection of audio and video recordings of the Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF) concerts. Since 1967, five thousand hours of both audio and video have been recorded with about 60% digitized so far. In order to make these archives easily manageable, ensure the correctness of the supplied metadata, and facilitate copyright management, one of the desired tasks is to know exactly how many songs are present in a given concert, and identify them individually, even in very problematic cases (such as medleys or long improvisational periods). However, due to the sheer amount of recordings to process, it is a quite cumbersome and time consuming task to have a person listen to each concert and identify every song. Consequently, it is essential to automate the process. To that end, this paper describes a strategy for automatically detecting the most important changes in an audio file of concert; for MJF concerts, those changes correspond to song transitions, interludes, or applause. The presented method belongs to the family of audio novelty-based segmentation methods. The general idea is to first divide a whole concert into short frames, each of a few milliseconds length, from which well-chosen audio features are extracted. Then, a similarity matrix is computed which provides information about the similarities between each pair of frames. Next, a kernel is correlated along the diagonal of the similarity matrix to determine the audio novelty scores. Finally, peak detection is used to find significant peaks in the scores which are suggestive of a change. The main advantage of such a method is that no training step is required as opposed to most of the classical segmentation algorithms. Additionally, relatively few audio features are needed which leads to a reduction in the amount of computation and run time. It is expected that such a preprocessing shall speed up the song identification process: instead of having to listen to hours of music, the algorithm will produce markings to indicate where to start listening. The presented method is evaluated using real concert recordings that have been segmented by hand; and its performance is compared to the state-of-the-art.


This essay uses the recent controversy over President Obama's mandate that insurance companies provide generous birth control coverage to explore larger issues about the optimal locus of health care decision making. Mandates may be justified in some instances, but they sacrifice choice and local variation and perhaps lead to worse social outcomes. The key question for policy makers is whether market processes or rule by expert is more likely to strike the right balance of choice and mandate.


A computer control for a Sandercock-type multipath tandem Fabry–Perot interferometer is described, which offers many advantages over conventionally used analog control: The range of stability is increased due to active control of the laser light intensity and the mirror dither amplitude. The alignment is fully automated enabling start of a measurement within a minute after start of align, including optionally finding the optimum focus on the sample. The software control enables a programmable series of measurements with control of, e.g., the position and rotation of the sample, the angle of light incidence, the sample temperature, or the strength and direction of an applied magnetic field. Built-in fitting routines allow for a precise determination of frequency positions of excitation peaks combined with increased frequency accuracy due to a correction of a residual nonlinearity of the mirror stage drive.


We discuss self-serving uses of equity in international climate negotiations. Using unique data from a world-wide survey of agents involved in international climate policy, we show that the perceived support of different equity rules by countries can be explained by the ranking of their economic costs. Despite being self-serving, equity arguments may be perceived as being used for different reasons, e.g. out of fairness considerations or to facilitate of negotiations. Consistent with experimental and behavioral studies, we find empirical evidence for self-serving biases: individuals are more likely to state reasons with positive attributes if they evaluate countries that support the individual's personally preferred equity rule. Negotiators perceive countries' use of equity as less influenced by pressure from interest groups.


Steganography is a useful technique that helps in securing data in communication using different data carriers like audio, video, image and text. The most popular type of steganography is image steganography. It mostly uses least significant bit (LSB) technique to hide the data but the probability of detecting the hidden data using this technique is high. RGB is a color model which uses LSB to hide the data in three color channels, where each pixel is represented by three bytes to indicate the intensity of red, green and blue in that pixel. In this paper, steganography based RGB image is proposed which depends on genetic algorithm (GA). GA is used to generate random key that represents the best ordering of secret (image/text) blocks to be hiding in the cover image. Experimental results, obtained from different experimental tests, show that our proposed system proves to be more efficient than another steganography technique presented in literature and in comparison with the original cover image in terms of fidelity criteria and degradation quality of the .


Genetic data are not necessarily fully informative, leading to uncertainty in an inferred genotype. The posterior genotype probability distribution incorporates the identification information present in the data. To compare uncertain genotypes, we introduce here a match likelihood ratio (MLR), a simple generalization of the likelihood ratio standardly used to understand the import of genetic evidence in forensic applications. The MLR gives the relative probability of a match between questioned evidence and a suspect, with respect to a match between the evidence and a relevant population. Coancestry can be naturally incorporated. We present illustrative examples, and provide a detailed analysis and comparison for a two person DNA mixture. We describe MLR's computation efficiencies when making multiple genotype comparisons, and show how MLR was used to explain evidence in court. As statistical computing of forensic DNA inferences becomes more commonplace, the MLR may help in quantifying match identification information.


The aim of this paper is to adapt related variety calculations to the special case of Hungarian regional development in the late post-socialist transition period. First, we test regional employment growth in rising and declining regions separately, in order to distinguish those areas that could cope with economic transition and those that could not. We find that related variety speeded up growth in the dynamic regions but at the same time pushed lagging regions to a downhill path that might be due to their unflexible industry structure. Second, regional variety measures are decomposed into domestic and foreign subsets and a new variable, ownership variety is introduced. Findings suggest that regional employment growth is due to related variety in the domestic set in earlier phases whereas the economy has evolved into a stage in which relatedness among foreign firms enhances regional employment growth significantly.


The E3 ubiquitin ligase human murine double minute (HDM2) is overexpressed in 40%-80% of late-stage metastatic cancers in the absence of gene amplification. Hdm2 regulates p53 stability via ubiquitination and has also been implicated in altering the sensitivity of cells to TGF-beta1. Whether TGF-beta1 signaling induces Hdm2 expression leading to HDM2-mediated destabilization of p53 has not been investigated. In this study, we report that TGF-beta1-activated SMA- and MAD3 (Smad3/4) transcription factors specifically bound to the second promoter region of HDM2, leading to increased HDM2 protein expression and destabilization of p53 in human cancer cell lines. Additionally, TGF-beta1 expression led to Smad3 activation and murine double minute 2 (Mdm2) expression in murine mammary epithelial cells during epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Furthermore, histological analyses of human breast cancer samples demonstrated that approximately 65% of late-stage carcinomas were positive for activated Smad3 and HDM2, indicating a strong correlation between TGF-beta1-mediated induction of HDM2 and late-stage tumor progression. Identification of Hdm2 as a downstream target of TGF-beta1 represents a critical prosurvival mechanism in cancer progression and provides another point for therapeutic intervention in late-stage cancer.


ABSTRACT This study estimates for the first time dietary acrylamide intake in Chile and conducts exposure risk assessments using the margin of exposure (MOE) method. A consumption frequency survey of starchy foods was carried out in the metropolitan region of Santiago, Chile on people from different socioeconomic levels aged between 12 and 65 years old. The acrylamide contents of the most frequently consumed foods were determined by an in-house validated GC-MS technique. The potatoes and bread group contributed ~77% to the dietary acrylamide exposure in Chile, with estimated daily mean exposure of 0.55 µg kgbw −1 day−1 and 0.22 µg kgbw −1 day−1, respectively. Chilean population aged between 12 and 17 years old presented the highest acrylamide intake (mean, 1.27 µg kgbw −1 day−1; 95th percentile, 3.90 µg kgbw −1 day−1). Finally, since the estimated MOEs were lower than 10,000, the dietary acrylamide exposure in the metropolitan region of Santiago, Chile is of public health concern according to the EFSA criteria.


In this article we build on our past attempts to reconstruct a 3D, time-varying bolus of radiotracer from first-pass data obtained by the dynamic SPECT imager, FASTSPECT, built by the University of Arizona. The object imaged is a CardioWest total artificial heart. The bolus is entirely contained in one ventricle and its associated inlet and outlet tubes. The model for the radiotracer distribution at a given time is a closed surface parameterized by 482 vertices that are connected to make 960 triangles, with nonuniform intensity variations of radiotracer allowed inside the surface on a voxel-to-voxel basis. The total curvature of the surface is minimized through the use of a weighted prior in the Bayesian framework, as is the weighted norm of the gradient of the voxellated grid. MAP estimates for the vertices, interior intensity voxels and background count level are produced. The strength of the priors, or hyperparameters, are determined by maximizing the probability of the data given the hyperparameters, called the evidence. The evidence is calculated by first assuming that the posterior is approximately normal in the values of the vertices and voxels, and then by evaluating the integral of the multi- dimensional normal distribution. This integral (which requires evaluating the determinant of a covariance matrix) is computed by applying a recent algorithm from Bai et. al. that calculates the needed determinant efficiently. We demonstrate that the radiotracer is highly inhomogeneous in early time frames, as suspected in earlier reconstruction attempts that assumed a uniform intensity of radiotracer within the closed surface, and that the optimal choice of hyperparameters is substantially different for different time frames.


Purpose: To demonstrate the proof‐of‐principle and feasibility of a novel optical calorimeter to determine radiation absorbed dose to water of a proton beam. Methods: The rise in temperature resulting from irradiation of a medium can be exploited by the use of a laser optics technique, named digital holographic interferometry (DHI). DHI can detect miniscule temperature changes in a transparent medium by measuring the corresponding change in the refractive index. A prototype of a lensless Fourier Transform digital holography (LFTDH) interferometer was developed and applied to the University of Washington experimental 30 MeV proton beam of 2 mm width. The output of the interferometer was digitally reconstructed and mathematically converted to absorbed dose through the calorimetric equations, resulting in a time series of high resolution two dimensional maps of absorbed dose. Results: The measurements qualitatively revealed the Bragg peak and relative dose profiles across the beam, in 2D dose maps with dimensions of ∼6 × 8 mm (defined by the area of the optoelectronic sensor used). Heat diffusion within the water sample caused a blurring effect on the determined dose profiles but this can be accounted for by use of the heat equation. Experimental noise can further be reduced by improved isolation from the ambient conditions. Conclusion: A prototype DHI detector has been developed and shown to resolve small temperature changes resulting from irradiation of a water sample with a high dose rate proton beam. The results are high resolution (25 pixels/mm) and independent of beam type, energy and dose rate. These results present a proof‐of‐principle of DHI detectors and indicate the feasibility of the approach for high dose rate dosimetry applications. Alicia Cavan acknowledges support from a Claude McCarthy fellowship (Universities New Zealand) for the proton beam research.


Dryland forests, those characterised as having low precipitation and soil nutrients, account for over a quarter of forests globally. Increasing their productivity often relies on irrigation and fertilisation, but the impacts on the wider habitat are largely unknown. Understory invertebrates, in particular, play key roles in forest systems (e.g. nutrient cycling), but their responses to dryland forest management practices are untested. We investigated the impacts of irrigation, fertilisation and a combination of both on soil chemistry, understory vegetation, tree growth and understory arthropod communities in a Eucalyptus plantation to establish linkages between dryland management and ecosystem responses. Fertilisation increased all soil nutrients (N, NO3N, P and K) with similar effects on the chemical composition of understory grasses. Fertilisation also caused declines in foliar silicon concentrations, an important herbivore defence in grasses. Irrigation increased growth of both understory plants (+90%) and trees (+68%). Irrigation increased the abundance of ground‐dwelling arthropods by over 480% relative to control plots, but depressed higher level taxon arthropod diversity by 15%, declining by a further 7% (−22%) in combined treatment plots. Irrigation also caused a surge in the abundance of Collembola (+1300%) and Isopoda (+323%). Fertilisation drove increases in the abundance of Isopoda (+196%) and Diptera (+63%), whereas fertilisation combined with irrigation increased populations of Thysanoptera (+166%) and Acarina (+328%). Airborne arthropods were less affected, but fertilisation increased the abundance of Apocrita (+95%) and depressed populations of Thysanoptera (−77%). Diptera abundance was positively related to understory vegetation growth, whereas the abundance of other groups (Collembola, Isopoda, Thysanoptera and Acarina) correlated positively with tree growth. We proposed that the large increases in populations of key detritivores, Collembola and Isopoda, were linked to increased leaf litter from enhanced tree growth in irrigated and combined treatment plots. Our findings suggest that dryland management can increase both plant productivity and abundance of arthropods, but cause arthropod diversity at the higher taxon level to decline overall.


While computed tomographic angiography (CTA) has emerged as a powerful noninvasive option that allows for direct visualization of arterial stenosis(AS), it cant assess the hemodynamic abnormality caused by an AS. Alternatively, trans-stenotic pressure gradient (TSPG) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) are well-validated hemodynamic indices to assess the ischemic severity of an AS. However, they have significant restriction in practice due to invasiveness and high cost. To fill the gap, a new computational modality, called InVascular has been developed for non-invasive quantification TSPG and/or FFR based on patient's CTA, aiming to quantify the hemodynamic abnormality of the stenosis and help to assess the therapeutic/surgical benefits of treatment for the patient. Such a new capability gives rise to a potential of computation aided diagnostics and therapeutics in a patient-specific environment for ASs, which is expected to contribute to precision planning for cardiovascular disease treatment. InVascular integrates a computational modeling of diseases arteries based on CTA and Doppler ultrasonography data, with cutting-edge Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) parallel-computing technology. Revolutionary fast computing speed enables noninvasive quantification of TSPG and/or FFR for an AS within a clinic permissible time frame. In this work, we focus on the implementation of inlet and outlet boundary condition (BC) based on physiological image date and and 3-element Windkessel model as well as lumped parameter network in volumetric lattice Boltzmann method. The application study in real human coronary and renal arterial system demonstrates the reliability of the in vivo pressure quantification through the comparisons of pressure waves between noninvasive computational and invasive measurement. In addition, parametrization of worsening renal arterial stenosis (RAS) and coronary arterial stenosis (CAS) characterized by volumetric lumen reduction (S) enables establishing the correlation between TSPG/FFR and S, from which the ischemic severity of the AS (mild, moderate, or severe) can be identified. In this study, we quantify TSPG and/or FFR for five patient cases with visualized stenosis in coronary and renal arteries and compare the non-invasive computational results with invasive measurement through catheterization. The ischemic severity of each AS is predicted. The results of this study demonstrate the reliability and clinical applicability of InVascular.


This project presents the design and implementation of a Content-Based Image Retrieval
(CBIR) system where queries are formulated by visual examples through a
graphical interface. Visual descriptors and similarity measures implemented in this
work followed mainly those defined in the MPEG-7 standard although, when necessary,
extensions are proposed. Despite the fact that this is an image-based system, all
the proposed descriptors have been implemented for both image and region queries,
allowing the future system upgrade to support region-based queries. This way, even a
contour shape descriptor has been developed, which has no sense for the whole image.
The system has been assessed on different benchmark databases; namely, MPEG-7
Common Color Dataset, and Corel Dataset. The evaluation has been performed for
isolated descriptors as well as for combinations of them. The strategy studied in this
work to gather the information obtained from the whole set of computed descriptors
is weighting the rank list for each isolated descriptor.


INTRODUCTION Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have played an essential leadership role in recent economic development in China to meet various market needs as well as to create sizable number of jobs. However, it has been widely discussed that the financial access of private SMEs is considerably constrained, and improving their financing environment is requisite for sustaining high economic growth and for further promoting the transition to a market economy. The transaction and information costs to use external financial sources--be it through indirect or direct financing-are generally thought to be higher for SMEs than for large major enterprises. SMEs are generally under disadvantageous position due to the existence of scale economies of financial transactions. The transaction and information costs associated with financial intermediation depend on numerous factors, including the availability and reliability of information concerning a firm's business conditions, relationship between the firm and financial intermediaries, availability of collateral, efficiency and competitiveness of financial intermediaries, and effectiveness of legal and judicial systems to protect financial claims. Against the backdrop of high intermediation costs owing to these underdeveloped institutions, SMEs in developing countries tend to rely on informal financing sources such as family and friends. Along with these kinds of problems generally observed in developing countries, it should be noted that China, having gradually transitioned to a market economy from a planned one, is still lagging behind in the economically rational allocation of capital. During the period of strong economic growth since the initiation of economic reforms and opening up to the outside, China has succeeded in mobilizing financial resources, and the financial deepening, measured in terms of money supply relative to gross domestic products, has reached an impressive high level comparable to those of advanced countries. However, the capital allocation of China's financial institutions, dominated by the four major state-owned commercial banks, has been seriously distorted for the state-owned sectors, and the financial deepening, as exceptional as it is, has not necessarily contributed to the economic growth (Boyreau-Debray, 2003; Ferri, 2005; Okura, 1996). Thus, in spite of recent dramatic economic development, China still combines aspects of both a developing country and a transitional economy with respect to the capital allocation to SMEs. Reflecting the interests of policy makers as well as researchers in promoting private SMEs, the number of studies surveying SME financing conditions has grown in China. Lin, Xia, He, and Guan (2003), reporting results of the survey conducted in 2000 on 3,027 SMEs, show that the major financing source of working capital as well as investment capital is self-owned capital for about three-quarters of their sample firms, and suggest that the SMEs have faced significant difficulties in borrowing external funds. ADB (2003), having surveyed the financing sources of private SMEs in Beijing, Shenyang, Xi'an, Wenzhou, and Nanhai, shows that there is a marked difference in the degree of bank loan use among these five cities. The proportion of firms obtaining more than 10 percent of required capital from bank loans are less than 20 percent in Shenyang and Xi'an, but that figure is roughly 40 percent in Wenzhou where the private sector has most developed across the country. Xuan and Okura (2006) also find that the share of private enterprises and individuals in total loans of financial institutions are significantly higher in Zhejiang than in other provinces. These findings suggest that the supply side of private SME financing has more developed in Wenzhou and other cities in Zhejiang Province, seemingly keeping pace with the development of private enterprises. Lin, He, and Cai (2005) report results of a survey on 491 private enterprises in Guangdong Province, and provide valuable information on the relationship between firm size and financing patterns. …


Clostridium botulinum Type F has been demonstrated in two samples of marine sediments. One sample was taken 83 kilometers off the coast of California; the other, 100 kilometers off the coast of Oregon. Cultures of this type have not been reported previously in the United States, and only once before in the whole world.


Underground coal mining has occurred beneath 32 multiplied by 10**9m**2 (8 million acres) of land in the United States and will eventually extend beneath 162 multiplied by 10**9m**2 (40 million acres). In areas of abandoned mines where total extraction was not achieved, roof collapse, crushing of coal pillars, or punching of coal pillars into softer mine floor or roof rock is now resulting in sinkhole or trough subsidence tens or even hundreds of years after mining. Subsidence due to total extraction can be predicted fairly reliably with regard to both areal extent and downward displacement of the ground surface, whereas subsidence associated with abandoned mines is unpredictable in both magnitude and extent. Differences in geology, in mining, and building construction practice between Europe and the United States preclude direct transfer of European subsidence engineering experience. Building damage cannot be related simply to tensile and compressive strains at the ground surface. Recognition of the subsidence damage role played by ground-structure interaction and by structural details is needed.


.A relatively simple technique for characterizing an all-resonant intracavity continuous-wave (CW) solid-state Raman laser involves the use of ring-down spectroscopy. As used here, characterizing signifies determining such parameters as threshold pump power, Raman gain, conversion efficiency, and quality factors (Q values) of the pump and Stokes cavity modes. Heretofore, in order to characterize resonant-cavity-based Raman lasers, it has usually been necessary to manipulate the frequencies and power levels of pump lasers and, in each case, to take several sets of measurements. In cases involving ultra-high-Q resonators, it also has been desirable to lock pump lasers to resonator modes to ensure the quality of measurement data. Simpler techniques could be useful. In the present ring-down spectroscopic technique, one infers the parameters of interest from the decay of the laser out of its steady state. This technique does not require changing the power or frequency of the pump laser or locking the pump laser to the resonator mode. The technique is based on a theoretical analysis of what happens when the pump laser is abruptly switched off after the Raman generation reaches the steady state. The analysis starts with differential equations for the evolution of the amplitudes of the pump and Stokes electric fields, leading to solutions for the power levels of the pump and Stokes fields as functions of time and of the aforementioned parameters. Among other things, these solutions show how the ring-down time depends, to some extent, on the electromagnetic energy accumulated in the cavity. The solutions are readily converted to relatively simple equations for the parameters as functions of quantities that can be determined from measurements of the time-dependent power levels. For example, the steady-state intracavity conversion efficiency is given by G1/G2 1 and the threshold power is given by Pin(G2/G1)2, where Pin is the steady-state input pump power immediately prior to abrupt switch-off, G1 is the initial rate of decay of the pump field, and G2 is the final rate of decay of the pump field. Hence, it is possible to determine all the parameters from a single ring-down scan, provided that the measurements taken in that scan are sufficiently accurate and complete.


Excerpt] At heart, this book is a comparison, not of twenty-five groups, but of the four major class categories I found among 362 meeting participants. Most of us frequendy guess wrong about our acquaintances' class backgrounds and current class status. In doing this analysis, I had a special lens into social change groups, watching their conversations and their dynamics'while hold ing members' class indicators in mind. In chapter 3 I introduce the com monalities within each class. I proftle the movement traditions into which the twentyfive groups fall in chapter 4. For a surprisingly large number of attitudes and behaviors, I found that class does predict how an activist may think or act, more so than race, age, or gender. The subde interplay between how things are done in each movement tradition and the effects of individual members' class predispositions paints a complex picture of why activists tend to think and act as they do. The following five chapters each add a new layer to this understanding of intersecting class cultures and movement traditions. In interviews, activists repeatedly raised the same few concerns about problems within their groups. Since one goal of this book is to help social change groups grow and thrive, each of these five chapters about my research findings focuses on one of these common organizational problems: (1) low turnout, (2) inactive members, (3) disagreements over antiracism, (4) overtalking, and (5) offensive behavior by activists. Class dynamics are woven into each of thesy troubles, and resolving them requires understanding class-culture differences. These problem-solving implications apply to other kinds of organizations as well, such as workplaces, schools, and social services agencies.


AUTOMATIC CATEGORIZATION OF ABTRACTS THROUGH BAYESIAN NETWORKS by William Ramirez This thesis presents a method for assigning abstracts of Artificial Intelligence papers to their area of the field. The technique is implemented by the use of a Bayesian network where relevant keywords extracted from the abstract being categorized, are entered as evidence and inferencing is made to determine potential subject areas. The structure of the Bayesian network represents the causal relationship between Artificial Intelligence keywords and subject areas. Keyword components of the network are selected from precategorized abstracts. The work reported here is part of a larger project to automatically assign papers to reviewers for Artificial Intelligence conferences. The process of assigning papers to reviewers begins by using the inference system reported here to derive Artificial Intelligence subject areas for such papers. Based on those subjects, another module can select reviewers according to their specialization and limited by conflicts of interest. AUTOMATIC CATEGORIZATION OF ABSTRACTS THROUGH BAYESIAN NETWORKS


Vital homeostatic mechanisms monitor O2 supply and adjust respiratory and circulatory function to meet demand. The pulmonary arteries and carotid bodies are key systems in this respect. Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) aids ventilation−perfusion matching in the lung by diverting blood flow from areas with an O2 deficit to those rich in O2, while a fall in arterial pO2 increases sensory afferent discharge from the carotid body to elicit corrective changes in breathing patterns. We discuss here the new concept that hypoxia, by inhibiting oxidative phosphorylation, activates AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) leading to consequent phosphorylation of target proteins, such as ion channels, which initiate pulmonary artery constriction and carotid body activation. Consistent with this view, AMPK knockout mice exhibit an impaired ventilatory response to hypoxia. Thus, AMPK may be sufficient and necessary for hypoxia‐response coupling and may regulate O2 and thereby energy (ATP) supply at the whole body as well as the cellular level.


The production of Z bosons in pPb collisions at √ s NN = 5.02 TeV is studied by the CMS experiment via the electron and muon decay channels. The inclusive cross section is compared to pp collision predictions, and found to scale with the number of elementary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The differential cross sections as a function of the Z boson rapidity and transverse momentum are measured. Though they are found to be consistent within uncertainty with theoretical predictions both with and without nuclear effects, the forward-backward asymmetry suggests the presence of nuclear effects at large rapidities. These results provide new data for constraining nuclear parton distribution functions


ABSTRACT Objective: To report a rate case of Juvenile xanthogranuloma in a newborn infant. Case description: We present the case of a 31-week preterm newborn with multiple skin lesions whose clinical, histological and immunohistochemical findings allowed the diagnosis of juvenile xanthogranuloma. Currently, the patient has nine months-old, and there is no aggravation of the skin lesions or evidence of extra-cutaneous involvement, particularly ophthalmic. Comments: Juvenile xanthogranuloma is a rare and benign condition, included in the vast group of non-Langerhans histiocytosis. It typically occurs in the pediatric age and may have a neonatal presentation. It affects predominantly the skin, in the form of papules or yellow and/or erythematous nodules and could be asymptomatic, multiple or solitary. Extra-cutaneous involvement, is more common in toddlers and when multiple lesions are present. The eye is the most affected site. We highlight this clinical case by its presentation in the neonatal period and in the form of multiple lesions, which bestows an increased risk of extra-cutaneous involvement, although this has not yet been verified.


We study the families of solitons supported by parity time (PT) symmetric potentials with spatially modulated nonlinearity. The competition between the real part of PT symmetric potentials and out-of-phase nonlinearity modulations can result in remarkable power-dependent shape transformations of solitons and substantially modifies their stability properties. Linear stability analysis reveals that, with the increase of the strength of out-of-phase nonlinearity modulation, the odd soliton's stability domain deceases, while even for solitons, the reverse applies. The effect of variation of the amplitude of the imaginary part of PT symmetric potential on stability properties of solitons is also studied.


The axons that neurons extend elaborate a complex interconnected network. Similarly, the circulatory system is a complex interconnected network of vessels. Wilson et al. now show that the blood vessels and axons respond similarly to netrins, which were originally identified as axonal guidance factors. The receptors that each tissue uses to read the netrin signals, however, are different, and netrins promote angiogenesis through unknown receptors. Netrins stimulated tissues suffering from diabetic or ischemic damage to grow new blood vessels by signaling endothelial cells to manage proliferation and migration. B. D. Wilson, M. Ii, K. W. Park, A. Suli, L. K. Sorensen, F. Larrieu-Lahargue, L. D. Urness, W. Suh, J. Asai, G. A. H. Kock, T. Thorne, M. Silver, K. R. Thomas, C.-B. Chien, D. W. Losordo, D. Y. Li, Netrins promote developmental and therapeutic angiogenesis. Science 313, 640-644 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


As part of her role in developing educational enterprise in a disadvantaged area, Karen Jaundrill-Scott considered ways of stimulating both educational excellence and social awareness outside the boundaries of traditional pedagogy. The task upon which she embarked was to draw on the resources of a local authority, national funding, collaborating artists and experts, local schools and facilities but perhaps most importantly the support of the local people.
This book records an experiment in the teaching of local history to children from a number of schools in the borough of St Helens.
St Helens is an industrial town, earning its earlier wealth as a coal, chemical and glass-making centre. While there is a vast reservoir of written, photographic and physical evidence, it was felt that a more active approach would stimulate the children's interest in finding out more about the lives and interests of the people at that time.
Like many similar towns, the people needed recreational activity to give temporary relief from the 'daily grind' and within St Helens was an early example of working class entertainment, the Music Hall.
The Citadel, formally called the 'Theatre Royal' took entertainment from the street side-show into a small wooden theatre and then onward to a more substantial theatre.
a group of dancers, actors and historians performed examples of this genre within the music hall and then visited the audience in the schools to encourage their own versions of the art. This collaboration was both exciting and stimulating for artist and child and began to take the shape of a performing apprenticeship.
Groups visiting the borough archives, took back information on the names of the day and this helped in authenticating the acts. This form of research interpretation encouraged a more self-inspired experience in the assimilation and revision of information. Finally the children then revisited the theatre with their own performances.
The latter half of the book evidences the children's engagement in the project and their acceptance that they were 're-enacting' part of their history. The theatre, for a while taken over as a Salvation Army place of worship, reopened as a theatre and Arts Centre in the mid eighties and this project drew the attention and interest of the resident art groups who became part of the activity, sharing their skills in the completion of the book.
While the extended project was a social and educational success at many levels perhaps the most important learning to come from it is that by re-creating our past society we see how we can create our future society.
Whilst offering a history of this particular theatre for a specific audience, the book outlines ways in which similar approaches could be made to inspire a creative and active study of other topics.


Through the example of the Arabic translations of Pierre Bourdieu, this article analyses the conditions of the introduction and reception of a sociological thought of French origin in the contemporary Arab intellectual field and, more generally, those of the international circulation of ideas in a postcolonial context. The diachronic analysis reveals the interpenetration of logics of import and export, the differences between intellectual and academic national traditions in various Arab countries, as well as the difficult conditions through which modern works of social sciences are published and circulated in the Arab world. Hence, the general economy of these translations is characterized as selective, didactic and militant, while a foreignizing and at times literalist translational norm – notwithstanding the diversity of the translators' terminological choices, given the absence of a normative framework – dominates their poetics. The author concludes with an analysis of the Arab translator's habitus, characterized by a specific "suffering of position". A bibliography of Bourdieu's Arab translations is provided.


The vesicant agents, Lewisite and sulphur mustard were initially deployed as chemical weapons in the First World War at Ypres in 1917. These agents cause immediate blistering followed by deep dermal to full thickness burns and can be fatal in 1-3% (NATO 1996). Dermabrasion can accelerate the healing of these types of burn injuries without the need for additional split skin grafting (Rice 1997 and Rice, Brown & Lam et al 1999). Current laser technology allows accurate laser debridement of burn wounds. The corollary of this is that it should be feasible to partially laser debride a vesicant burn to accelerate healing. This treatment should be more precise, encouraging rapid healing compared to dermabrasion. This thesis investigated the application of modem C02 and Erbium:YAG lasers for debriding Lewisite burns on a representative model. A large white pig model (n=6) was used to investigate the effectiveness of C02 and Erbium:YAG lasers in ablation of established Lewisite burns. Burns underwent treatment at four days post-exposure and were histologically assessed at one, two and three weeks thereafter for the rate of epithelial healing. The re-epithelialisation rates in the laser debrided groups were accelerated by a factor of four compared to untreated, historical controls by the first week. (Anova p = 0.006 for pulsed C02 and p = 0.012 for Erbium: YAG). Ablation of the burn eschar was thought to accelerate the rate of healing by causing partial debridement. This method has been termed 'lasablation' A concurrent study of C02 and Erbium: YAG laser debridement of normal skin resulted in a superficial resurfacing burn which healed within a week, regardless of the type of laser. The burn depth was in the order of 150 urn. The superficial nature of these burns allowed for rapid healing, consistent with previous findings. All work was carried out in accordance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 with Home Office approval.


CASE DESCRIPTION
A 7-day-old female alpaca was examined because of an acute onset of diffuse central neurologic deficits.

CLINICAL FINDINGS
Diagnostic imaging with CT and MRI identified an intracranial cyst occupying approximately one-third to one-half of the dorsal portion of the cranial cavity, markedly displacing the cerebral hemispheres bilaterally.

TREATMENT AND OUTCOME
Initial surgical management via trephination and needle drainage was only transiently effective at resolving the neurologic signs. Craniotomy and drainage and removal of the cyst lining resulted in a sustained improvement in neurologic status, and the cria remained clinically normal and well grown at follow-up 5 months after surgery.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
This report represented the first description of the successful treatment of an intracranial cyst in a New World camelid.


Abstract Drawing upon the resource-based and relational view, this study examines how the three types of IT competencies (i.e., IT objects, IT operations, and IT knowledge) differentially affect firm performance and how such effects are moderated by interorganizational communication (IOC). We test the hypotheses of interest with data collected from 258 firms in China. The results of hierarchical regression analysis reveal that IT operations and IT knowledge significantly improve firm performance, while IT objects are found to be insignificant. In addition, the moderating effect of IOC on the relationship between the three types of IT competencies and firm performance varies across diffenent types of IT competencies. Specifically, IOC positively moderates the relationship between both IT operations and IT knowledge and firm performance. However, the moderating effect of IOC on the relationship between IT objects and firm performance is not significant.


Context Misdiagnoses may be an underappreciated cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU). Their prevalence, nature, and impact remain largely unknown. Objectives To determine whether potentially fatal ICU misdiagnoses would be more common than in the general inpatient population (∼5%), and would involve more infections or vascular events. Data sources Systematic review of studies identified by electronic (MEDLINE, etc.) and manual searches (references in eligible articles) without language restriction (1966 through 2011). Study selection and data abstraction Observational studies examining autopsy-confirmed diagnostic errors in the adult ICU were included. Studies analysing misdiagnosis of one specific disease were excluded. Study results (autopsy rate, misdiagnosis prevalence, Goldman error class, diseases misdiagnosed) were abstracted and descriptive statistics calculated. We modelled the prevalence of Class I (potentially lethal) misdiagnoses as a non-linear function of the autopsy rate. Results Of 276 screened abstracts, 31 studies describing 5863 autopsies (median rate 43%) were analysed. The prevalence of misdiagnoses ranged from 5.5%–100% with 28% of autopsies reporting at least one misdiagnosis and 8% identifying a Class I diagnostic error. The projected prevalence of Class I misdiagnoses for a hypothetical autopsy rate of 100% was 6.3% (95% CI 4.0% to 7.5%). Vascular events and infections were the leading lethal misdiagnoses (41% each). The most common individual Class I misdiagnoses were PE, MI, pneumonia, and aspergillosis. Conclusions Our data suggest that as many as 40 500 adult patients in an ICU in USA may die with an ICU misdiagnoses annually. Despite this, diagnostic errors receive relatively little attention and research funding. Future studies should seek to prospectively measure the prevalence and impact of diagnostic errors and potential strategies to reduce them.


This article examines the introduction of English to the treaty port of Shanghai and the speech communities that developed there as a result. English became a sociocultural phenomenon rather than an academic subject when it entered Shanghai in the 1840s, gradually generating various social activities of local Chinese people who lived in the treaty port. Ordinary people picked up a rudimentary knowledge of English along trading streets and through glossary references, and went to private schools to improve their linguistic skills. They used English to communicate with foreigners and as a means to explore a foreign presence dominated by Western material culture. Although those who learned English gained small-scale social mobility in the late nineteenth century, the images of English-speaking Chinese were repeatedly criticized by the literati and official scholars. This article explores Westerners' travel accounts, as well as various sources written by the new elite Chinese, including official records and vernacular poems, to demonstrate how English language acquisition brought changes to local people's daily lives. The author argues that treaty-port English in nineteenth-century Shanghai was not only a linguistic medium but, more importantly, a cultural agent of urban transformation. It gradually molded a new linguistic landscape, which at the same time contributed to the shaping of modern Shanghai culture.


Obtaining user feedback is valuable yet often overlooked, so when Memorial University Libraries launched OCLC's WorldCat Local discovery tool for Fall 2010, usability testing was a logical next step. Two branches, each with distinct user groups, the Ferriss Hodgett Library in Corner Brook, and the Health Sciences Library in St. John's, conducted unique usability studies to gain evidence into how WorldCat Local performed common research tasks. The Health Sciences Library was inspired by the information seeking habits of Memorial University's Faculty of Medicine, School of Nursing, and School of Pharmacy. This demographic's heavy reliance on journal literature, and known item searching made these users an interesting test group. The Ferriss Hodgett Library, serving an undergraduate Liberal Arts and Sciences population, was interested in the information seeking behavior of new students with little to no experience using library resources. At the local level, evidence obtained as a result of this usability testing will provide guidance into future use of WCL at Memorial University Libraries. On a broader scale, the usability findings are relevant to any library considering the shift to a new discovery tool.


From the country's top football pundit, Match of the Day's Alan Hansen, comes this hilarious collection of the most ridiculous, embarrassing, unfortunate and incredibly bizarre football injuries from around the world. Hansen has witnessed his fair share of injuries as a player and as a match analyst. They are common occurences on the pitch up and down the country every weekend at all levels of the game. Some are shocking, but you won't find anything too serious in this book. What you will find are hundreds of Alan's favourite mishaps, including gems such as...* Mo Johnston - falling off a rocking horse * Svein Grondalen - the Norwegian defender forced to miss an international match after colliding with a moose while out jogging * Alex Stepney - dislocating his jaw while shouting at his defenders * Richard Wright - falling out of his attic as he put cases back after his summer holidays * David Beckham - on the receiving end of a flying boot from Sir Alex Ferguson * Gordon Banks - and the dodgy bottle of beer that ruled him out of the World Cup * Rio Ferdinand - pulling a leg muscle watching TV for too long Not to mention the player...whose career was ended by a dog on the pitch...dislocated his shoulder while ironing. ..was tackled by a remote control...had his genitals injured by Iron Maiden...was felled by a hard-boiled egg...slipped putting the bins out...It's even got my dodgy toe" - Gary Lineker


We propose a general framework to accelerate significantly the algorithms for nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF). This framework is inspired from the extrapolation scheme used to accelerate gradient methods in convex optimization and from the method of parallel tangents. However, the use of extrapolation in the context of the exact coordinate descent algorithms tackling the nonconvex NMF problems is novel. We illustrate the performance of this approach on two state-of-the-art NMF algorithms: accelerated hierarchical alternating least squares and alternating nonnegative least squares, using synthetic, image, and document data sets.


This paper introduces an autonomic model-based cyber security management approach for the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems. The approach aims at realizing a self-protecting system, which has the ability to autonomously estimate, detect, and react to cyber attacks at an early stage. Our approach integrates various model-based techniques including: 1) real-time estimation and baseline security controls to predict and eliminate potential cyber attacks; 2) data analysis to identify and classify attacks; and 3) a multicriteria optimization method to select the optimal active response for deploying countermeasures while maintaining system functions. The prototype framework has been developed with a master controller virtual machine, which can be configured for various platforms. Experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of this proposed approach in protecting a Web-based application against known and unknown attacks with little or no human intervention.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to examine the association of preexisting opioid use disorder and postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing total hip or knee arthroplasty (THA and TKA, respectively) in the overall population and in the Medicare-only population.

METHODS
This retrospective cohort study examined data from the State Inpatient Databases of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project for the years 2007-2014 from California, Florida, New York, Maryland, and Kentucky. We compared patients with and without opioid use disorders on unadjusted rates and calculated adjusted odds ratios (aORs) of in-hospital mortality, postoperative complications, length of stay, and 30-day and 90-day readmission status; analyses were repeated in a subgroup of Medicare insurance patients only.

SUBJECTS
After applying our exclusion criteria, our study included 1,422,210 adult patients undergoing lower extremity arthroplasties, including 818,931 Medicare insurance patients. In our study, 0.4% of THA patients and 0.3% of TKA patients had present-on-admission opioid use disorder.

RESULTS
Opioid use disorder patients were at higher risk for in-hospital mortality (aOR = 3.10), 30- and 90-day readmissions (aORs = 1.81, 1.81), and pulmonary and infectious complications (aORs = 1.25, 1.96).

CONCLUSIONS
Present-on-admission opioid use disorder was a risk factor for worse postoperative outcomes and increased health care utilization in the lower extremity arthroplasty population. Opioid use disorder is a potentially modifiable risk factor for mortality, postoperative complications, and health care utilization, especially in the at-risk Medicare population.


The designation of Exmoor National Park in 1954 recognised the importance of the open character of much of the area and, in particular, its moorland to that natural heritage of the UK. However, the moorland that the park was charged with maintaining and enhancing was soon under threat and the following years saw extensive moorland loss and the fragmentation of remaining moorland (Lowe et al, 1986). The ensuing moorland conflict and debate eventually lead Exmoor NPA, in collaboration with farmers, land owners, the CLA and NFU to pioneer a new system of moorland management agreements. Indeed, for a short time, Exmoor was the only location operating wholly voluntary management agreements (Brotherton, 1990). Only two agreements now remain and in the twenty-five years since their inception much has changed. Once castigated for their "theft of the countryside" (Shoard, 1980), many farmers now work in partnership with statutory and non-statutory organisations as 'stewards' of the countryside. The purpose of this chapter is to review the policy and economic changes affecting farming over this time and to review the development of Exmoor moorland management agreements.


Glioblastoma
  multiforme
  is
  the
  most
  common
  malignant
  primary
  intracranial
  tumor in
  adults.
  Despite
  years
  of
  advances
  in
  basic
  science
  knowledge
  about
  this
  disease including
  but
  not
  limited
  to
  cellular
  hierarchy,
  genetics,
  and
  mechanisms
  of proliferation
  and
  spread,
  overall
  survival
  of
  patients
  has
  remained
  unmoved
  for
  the past
  fifteen
  years,
  and
  long-‐term
  survivors
  are
  nearly
  nonexistent.
  Barriers
  to improved
  treatment
  occur
  in
  the
  realms
  of
  engineering
  and
  drug
  discovery:
  creation of
  an
  efficient
  delivery
  vehicle
  and
  identification
  of
  novel,
  efficacious
  small
  molecule compounds
  are
  necessary
  to
  achieve
  survival
  benefit
  in
  this
  disease. In
  the
  following
  thesis,
  I
  describe
  efforts
  made
  by
  myself
  individually
  and
  alongside members
  of
  the
  laboratory
  of
  W
  Mark
  Saltzman,
  PhD,
  Goizueta
  Foundation Professor
  and
  Chairman
  of
  Biomedical
  Engineering,
  to
  test
  a
  novel,
  highly-‐ penetrative
  polymeric
  nanocarrier
  platform
  for
  intracranial
  drug
  delivery
  and develop
  a
  high-‐throughput
  screen
  for
  small
  molecule
  compounds
  with
  efficacy against
  brain
  cancer
  stem
  cells.
  I
  show
  that
  the
  combination
  of
  the
  efficient
  delivery system
  and
  small
  molecule
  compounds
  with
  efficacy
  against
  brain
  cancer
  stem
  cells produces
  unprecedented
  gains
  in
  survival
  in
  a
  rat
  model
  of
  glioblastoma.
  Further,
  I describe
  the
  design
  and
  quality
  control
  methodology
  of
  the
  high-‐throughput
  small molecule
  screen
  and
  identify
  a
  large
  number
  of
  small
  molecule
  compounds
  with equal
  efficacy
  to
  first-‐generation
  anti-‐brain
  cancer
  stem
  cell
  drugs
  with
  fewer
  safety concerns.
  Together,
  the
  data
  underscore
  a)
  the
  promise
  of
  this
  efficient
  delivery vehicle
  to
  rapidly
  test
  the
  identified
  anti-‐brain
  cancer
  stem
  cell
  compounds
  and
  b) the
  potential
  for
  this
  combination
  to
  revolutionize
  glioblastoma
  therapy.


Mingzong (r. 926-933) was the most illustrious emperor of the Five Dynasties, and one of the most admired of China's middle period, the Tang to Song. A warrior of Shatuo-Turk ancestry, he ascended the throne of the Later Tang on the heels of a mutiny against his adopted brother, thus sparing his dynasty an early death. Mingzong's brief reign came to be heralded by historians as the "Small Repose"-a happy convergence of peace and prosperity. He marshaled a cluster of eminently able courtiers, men who balanced Confucian charity against the military discipline demanded in a time of transition. These years were marked by trade with bordering states, frenzied diplomatic activity, and a succession of defections from states to the north. Mingzong wisely eschewed military conflict, except as a last resort. Conservative in moral and legal matters, he introduced radical economic reforms that included deregulation of traditional monopolies and timely changes to the tributary system. Drawing extensively on primary sources, including Mingzong's spirited correspondence with his officials, this political and cultural biography brings to life a charismatic emperor who was held up as a model ruler by succeeding generations.


Workers' compensation is a form of insurance that protects employees and business owners from the cost of injuries occurring in the workplace. The duration of time a workers' compensation claim remains open largely depends on the type and severity of the injury. This work focuses on statistical analysis and modeling of claim duration for a workers' compensation insurer. A data set for claim duration that included over two million claims spanning from 1915 to 1994 was analyzed. Exploratory data analysis revealed that the distribution of the data was multi-modal with a gap at approximately 55 years and a positive skew. Log linear analysis and modeling was used to understand the association between categorical variables. The EM algorithm was used to fit gamma and normal mixture models to the claim duration data. Log likelihood and AIC values were used to show that a normal mixture provided the best fit for the data. The likelihood ratio test was used to select the number of components in the mixture model. This test indicated the four component normal mixture model was the best model. The Komogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit test indicated that the selected model was identical to the population distribution that generated the data. Finally, standard errors of the parameter estimates were reported indicating that little uncertainty existed in the estimates.


Background Air travel plays a key role in the spread of many pathogens. Modeling the long distance spread of infectious disease in these cases requires an air travel model. Highly detailed air transportation models can be over determined and computationally problematic. We compared the predictions of a simplified air transport model with those of a model of all routes and assessed the impact of differences on models of infectious disease. Methodology/Principal Findings Using U.S. ticket data from 2007, we compared a simplified "pipe" model, in which individuals flow in and out of the air transport system based on the number of arrivals and departures from a given airport, to a fully saturated model where all routes are modeled individually. We also compared the pipe model to a "gravity" model where the probability of travel is scaled by physical distance; the gravity model did not differ significantly from the pipe model. The pipe model roughly approximated actual air travel, but tended to overestimate the number of trips between small airports and underestimate travel between major east and west coast airports. For most routes, the maximum number of false (or missed) introductions of disease is small (<1 per day) but for a few routes this rate is greatly underestimated by the pipe model. Conclusions/Significance If our interest is in large scale regional and national effects of disease, the simplified pipe model may be adequate. If we are interested in specific effects of interventions on particular air routes or the time for the disease to reach a particular location, a more complex point-to-point model will be more accurate. For many problems a hybrid model that independently models some frequently traveled routes may be the best choice. Regardless of the model used, the effect of simplifications and sensitivity to errors in parameter estimation should be analyzed.


This paper describes a method for students to give each other written feedback in academic writing using a Google Docs as a Social Annotation (SA) tool. Student attitudes to using this method has been evaluated, along with their attitudes towards using digital documents as opposed to paper based documents in various education related situations. The results show that the method described was highly appreciated, and furthermore showed that the students in the study already read digitally distributed documents on screen rather than printing them, and that they were very positive to using digital documents rather than paper based documents. It is argued that the method used can be generalized to other kinds of document based discussions such as seminars discussing papers, and that the positive attitude towards using digital documents can be further increased with current and upcoming technical solutions such as HTML5 and the iPad.


smartEducation (Stress Management and Resiliency Techniques) is a mindfulness-based professional learning initiative positioned in a Faculty of Education of a Western Canadian university. Following similar evidence-based initiatives of mindfulness in education, the smartEducation curriculum comprises nine sessions offered in a variety of face-to-face, intensive, and blended formats. This renewal program supports the development of self-care techniques to cultivate personal and professional resilience through a greater understanding and control of breath, movement, and the physiology of emotions. The 20-hour program consists of eight two-hour sessions and a four-hour silent retreat. This article provides an overview of the research supporting mindfulness in education and presents the results of a pilot study conducted with preservice teachers enrolled in the smartEducation course.


The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) evaluated the natural attenuation of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) in ground water beneath the former landfill at Operable Unit 1 (OU 1), Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division Keyport, Washington. The predominant contaminants in ground water are trichloroethene (TCE) and its degradation byproducts cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cisDCE) and vinyl chloride (VC). The Navy planted two hybrid poplar plantations on the landfill in spring of 1999 to remove and control the migration of CVOCs in shallow ground water. Previous studies provided evidence that microbial degradation processes also reduce CVOC concentrations in ground water at OU 1, so monitored natural attenuation is a potential alternative remedy if phytoremediation is ineffective. This report describes the current (2000) understanding of natural attenuation of CVOCs in ground water at OU 1 and the impacts that phytoremediation activities to date have had on attenuation processes. The evaluation is based on ground-water and surface-water chemistry data and hydrogeologic data collected at the site by the USGS and Navy contractors between 1991 and 2000. Previously unpublished data collected by the USGS during 1996-2000 are presented. Natural attenuation of CVOCs in shallow ground water at OU 1 is substantial. For 1999-2000 conditions, approximately 70 percent of the mass of dissolved chlorinated ethenes that was available to migrate from the landfill was completely degraded in shallow ground water before it could migrate to the intermediate aquifer or discharge to surface water. Attenuation of CVOC concentrations appears also to be substantial in the intermediate aquifer, but biodegradation appears to be less significant; those conclusions are less certain because of the paucity of data downgradient of the landfill beneath the tide flats. Attenuation of CVOC concentrations is also substantial in surface water as it flows through the adjacent marsh and out to the tide flats. Attenuation processes other than dilution reduce the CVOC flux in marsh surface water by about 40 percent by the time the water discharges to the tide flats. Despite the importance of natural attenuation processes at reducing both the contaminant concentrations and the contaminant mass at OU 1, natural attenuation alone was not effective enough in the year 2000 to meet current numerical remediation goals for the site. That was in part due to the relatively short distance between the landfill and the adjacent marsh, and in part due to the extremely high CVOC concentrations directly beneath the landfill. Phytoremediation activities had some apparent effect on contaminant concentrations in ground water and surface water, but ground-water redox conditions to date (2000) were not affected by the February 1999 asphalt removal for tree planting. The poplar trees in the phytoremediation plantations were not yet mature in 2000, so the lack of discernible changes to date is understandable. Concentration changes of some redoxsensitive compounds suggest that increased recharge following asphalt removal diluted ambient landfill ground water. CVOC concentrations increased in some downgradient wells in both the northern and southern plantations after asphalt removal, whereas CVOC concentrations decreased in some upgradient wells in the southern plantation. A clear increase in CVOC concentrations in marsh surface water followed asphalt removal, apparently from increased contaminant discharge in ground water beneath the southern plantation. The results of the natural attenuation evaluation suggest than minor modifications to the current sampling plan may be beneficial to understanding the future impacts of phytoremediation and natural attenuation on the fate and distribution of CVOCs at OU 1.


The report introduces a new digital resource on minor Finnic languages. This resource is the main outcome of the project "Documentation of Ingrian: collecting and analyzing fieldwork data and digitizing legacy materials" carried out by Fedor Rozhanskiy and Elena Markus at the University of Tartu in 2011–2013. The collected materials cover several minor Finnic languages with a special focus on varieties spoken in Western Ingria: the Soikkola, Lower Luga, and Heva dialects of Ingrian, the Lower Luga varieties of Votic, and Ingrian Finnish. The resource contains (a) legacy recordings of different genres made by previous researchers in 1968–2012; (b) new audio and video materials recorded mostly in 2011–2013 by the project participants; (c) transcriptions and translations into Russian and English synchronized with sound and video using the ELAN software. Altogether the resource presents 510 hours of audio recordings, 21 hours of video recordings, and 15 hours of ELAN annotations. All media files in the resource are provided with detailed metadata specifying the place and time of the recording, sociolinguistic data about the speaker, the contents of the recording, and the access rights. The resource is available on the websites of the Endangered Languages Archive (London, UK) and the Archive of Estonian Dialects and Kindred Languages of the University of Tartu (Estonia).


This book is a "Wall Street Journal" Bestseller. It offers a compelling look inside the mind and powerful leadership methods of America's coaching legend, John Wooden. 'Team spirit, loyalty, enthusiasm, determination...Acquire and keep these traits and success should follow' - Coach John Wooden. John Wooden's goal in 41 years of coaching never changed; namely, to get maximum effort and peak performance from each of his players in the manner that best served the team. "Wooden on Leadership" explains step-by-step how he pursued and accomplished this goal. Focusing on Wooden's 12 Lessons in Leadership and his acclaimed Pyramid of Success, it outlines the mental, emotional, and physical qualities essential to building a winning organization, and shows you how to develop the skill, confidence, and competitive fire to "be at your best when your best is needed" - and teach your organization to do the same.'What an all-encompassing Pyramid of Success for leadership! Coach Wooden's moral authority and brilliant definition of success encompass all of life. How I admire his life's work and concept of what it really means to win!' - Stephen R.Covey, author, "The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness". '"Wooden On Leadership" offers valuable lessons no matter what your endeavor. 'Competitive Greatness' is our goal and that of any successful organization. Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success is where it all starts' - Jim Sinegal, president & CEO, Costco.