Abstract With increasing terrorist threats of different types, explosives detection for various types and forms of explosives is of growing interest. This paper reviews the broad array of possible methods of explosives detection, using both nuclear- and nonnuclear-based instruments, with their advantages and disadvantages for different scenarios. An explanation of the fundamental physics for each approach is accompanied by its general applicability and citations to the relevant scientific literature.


OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to investigate the misdirection of the electrode into the superior semicircular canal during cochlear implantation and to suggest surgical principles for correct electrode insertion through the round window membrane. MATERIALS and METHODS: In this retrospective case review, operative records and postoperative images of cochlear implantations performed at a tertiary care facility from 1988 to 2010 were reviewed. RESULTS: In 3 out of 629 cases, electrode insertion into the superior semicircular canal was found. All 3 cases occurred in cochlear implantations using the round window approach, and none was found when using the cochleostomy approach. Insufficient exposure of the round window membrane and intra-cochlear soft tissue were regarded as the cause of misdirection of the electrode. The electrodes were repositioned appropriately into the cochlea with revision surgery in all 3 cases. CONCLUSION: In order to prevent electrode misdirection during cochlear implantation through the round window, the round window membrane needs to be clearly visualized by sufficiently drilling bony overhangs and removing soft tissues around the round window.


The recent financial crisis has highlighted the role of interdependence among major economies through linkages among financial institutions, in addition to the trade linkages that are at the centre of traditional models of the international business cycle. Focusing on a sample of AsiaPacific and OECD countries, this paper develops a model of the international transmission of shocks through de-leveraging across financial institutions. In a macro-economic model in which highly levered investors hold interconnected portfolios across countries, we show that the presence of binding leverage constraints introduces a powerful financial transmission channel which results in a high correlation among macroeconomic aggregates during business cycle downturns, quite independent of the size of international trade linkages.


Control modules used for critical phases of reactor operation such as heating, cooling and reacting can be optimized using advanced process control technology to reduce batch cycle time. Temperature control of batch reactors is difficult for conventional Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers due to the open loop instability of these processes coupled with the long time delays and large time constants. These dynamics are present on various reactor designs involving heating or cooling with jackets, internal coils, or recirculation loops through external heat exchangers. Model Predictive Control (MPC) provides an alternative to PID for use in these control modules to dramatically improve temperature set point tracking, improve product consistency, and reduce batch cycle time. This paper describes the design of an MPC controller that is built to specifically handle the dynamics found on batch reactors as well as the large process disturbances that occur due to exothermic reactions. The results of an application example will be discussed.


TO THE EDITOR: In the April 2008 issue of the Journal, Nancee Blum, M.S.W., et al. (1) reported the positive effects of a 20week Systems Training for Emotional Predictability and Problem Solving (STEPPS) group treatment compared with that of standard therapy (including individual psychotherapy and psychotropic medication) but no additional group treatment. Patients with borderline personality disorder were assessed on several core symptoms and emergency department visits. STEPPS has been presented as a broad approach, which includes numerous components of well-established manualized psychotherapies, such as dialectical behavior therapy, shown to be effective in the treatment of borderline personality disorder (2, 3). However, several factors in the study conducted by Blum et al. remain unclear, and further explanation may help to better support their conclusions of an effective psychotherapeutic intervention. First, more patients in the STEPPS group received individual psychotherapy compared with patients in the standard condition group. In addition, individual therapists were informed about the STEPPS program. To clearly define the effect of STEPPS, it would have been helpful to know the degree to which each individual therapist integrated elements of the program into therapy treatment. Second, the authors stated that improvement for the treatment as usual group alone appeared to be mostly confined to the first half of the treatment period. This conclusion seems premature, since Borderline Evaluation of Severity Over Time Scale scores and Clinical Global Impression (CGI) ratings showed benefits of STEPPS only within the last 4 weeks of treatment, whereas no data were presented for most primary and secondary outcome measures for weeks 12 or 16. Important amelioration of psychopathology with the discontinuation of therapy is particularly surprising, since our experience with dialectical behavior therapy has shown that there is, in most cases, a tendency for a patient's symptoms to worsen before leaving the therapy, reflecting the patient's fear of falling back into dysfunctional behavior. Since patients with borderline personality disorder are rather sensitive to changes in interpersonal relations, this paradox effect between weeks 16 and 20 should be assessed in future studies using STEPPS. Third, dialectical behavior therapy has been repeatedly shown to reduce suicide attempts and self-harm (2, 3). It would be interesting to learn of the exact number of suicide attempts and self-harm acts in both groups. Last, the 1-year follow-up analysis should have included baseline values prior to treatment, which would have allowed for observation of any positive treatment effects of data for week 72, as opposed to the absence of significant symptom worsening between weeks 20 and 72.


Speaker diarization is the task of determining "who spoke when?" in an audio or video recording that contains an unknown amount of speech and also an unknown number of speakers. Initially, it was proposed as a research topic related to automatic speech recognition, where speaker diarization serves as an upstream processing step. Over recent years, however, speaker diarization has become an important key technology for many tasks, such as navigation, retrieval, or higher level inference on audio data. Accordingly, many important improvements in accuracy and robustness have been reported in journals and conferences in the area. The application domains, from broadcast news, to lectures and meetings, vary greatly and pose different problems, such as having access to multiple microphones and multimodal information or overlapping speech. The most recent review of existing technology dates back to 2006 and focuses on the broadcast news domain. In this paper, we review the current state-of-the-art, focusing on research developed since 2006 that relates predominantly to speaker diarization for conference meetings. Finally, we present an analysis of speaker diarization performance as reported through the NIST Rich Transcription evaluations on meeting data and identify important areas for future research.


Traditional concert dance marketing strategies tend to rely exclusively on the use of abstracted body language to transmit meaning from digital and stage presentations to the eyes of viewers. These images can be highly attractive to dance audience and fellow artists who follow and relate to this genre of performance, but are typically beyond the reach and interest of most non-dance spectators. This research investigates how the study of sports and music marketing strategies, in relation to how they connect to their respective audiences, may give new insights and directions in how concert dance advertising plans can incorporate more emotional and relatable content to non-dance spectators who do not have the same sensibility and history with abstract physical language. By embracing more well-rounded and balanced approaches to promotion such as those currently being put forth by the sport and music sectors, the concert dance industry can help infuse their dance marketing efforts with a fresh jolt of personal engagement, encouraging the general public to see concert dance as a viable form of entertainment and art that can have relevance and value to their lives.


Every year, millions of people die from diseases that are preventable by vaccination. The
lack of an effective cold-chain in developing countries means that many of the
vaccinations intended for administration are spoiled and wasted. Poor energy
infrastructure in these countries is often coupled with high solar irradiance values,
providing a compelling reason for research into effective solar powered refrigeration
systems.
A number of studies have shown that a refrigeration system, thermally powered via a
jet-pump circuit, as an alternative to an electrically driven compressor, could provide a
working solution. Such a system could be powered largely by heat (i.e. solar energy) and
would find application in developing countries with high solar availability. A
comparative review of prior research into small scale jet-pump refrigeration systems
highlighted a gap in existing knowledge as the performance of small scale units (<500W)
has not previously been investigated.
A system specification was defined, based on current World Health Organisation (WHO)
standards for solar-powered vaccine refrigerators. A jet-pump, rated to deliver 100 W evaporator cooling capacity using R134a as a working fluid, was developed and tested at
the defined operating conditions (Te=6°C, Tg=90°C and Tc=42°C). The experimental
study focused on the need for technology that is suited to off-grid applications and the
use of secondary heat sinks (i.e. cooling water circuits) was avoided. Alternatives to an
electrically powered refrigerant feed pump were investigated and a novel reservoir
transfer system is presented and experimentally evaluated. In order to minimise moving
parts, the use of natural convection heat transfer (i.e no fans) was also investigated for
both the evaporator and condenser heat exchangers. Automated systems were used to
control the apparatus and experimental data collected to evaluate the systems thermal
coefficient of performance (COP).
Experimental results showed that the system could achieve COPs of 0.06 - 0.12 and
demonstrates the potential for small capacity jet-pump cooling systems using less than
50 W electrical power.


This article originally appeared in the October 2013 Environmental and Energy Law Committee newsletter. ON August 20, 2013, the Third Circuit opened the door to common law tort claims even though the defendant was in full compliance with its Clean Air Act ("CAA") permit, and held that those tort claims were not preempted by the CAA. (1) Bell and Luppe brought a class action on behalf of 1,500 individuals, all of whom owned property within one mile of a coal-fired electrical generation facility operated by GenOn. The class plaintiffs complained of ash and contaminants setding on their property, and brought suit under several tort theories. GenOn argued that the plant was already subject to extensive regulation under the CA'A; the plant was in full compliance with its own CAA permit; it owed no extra duty under state tort law; and the class claims were preempted by the CAA. The district court agreed and determined that the CAA preempted state common law claims brought by private property owners against a source of pollution located within the state. The Third Circuit, however, reversed, determining that the federal regulation was designed to set a floor and nothing in the CAA prohibited a state from enforcing stricter standards against pollution sources within that state. I. Federalism and Mechanics of the Clean Air Act The court determined that the CAA is designed to employ "cooperative federalism," meaning that state and local governments have the primary responsibility for air pollution prevention but that the federal government's assistance is "essential" in achieving that goal. The Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") sets the standards for acceptable national ambient air quality standards (called "NAAQS"), and each state must do the following: formulate a plan (State Implementation Plan or "SIP") for implementing, maintaining, and enforcing those standards; submit the plan to the EPA for approval; and enact laws to enforce the plan. As part of the enforcement protocol, states must put a mandatory permitting program into place for all stationary sources, limiting the amounts and types of emissions each source is allowed to discharge. The permit for each stationary source is designed to be source-specific, tailoring the CAA's requirements to each source based on relevance. The court determined that the CAA provides for citizen suits; EPA regulation, fines, and civil actions; and state regulation. II. Preemption The complaint in Cheswick alleged state tort claims for nuisance, negligence and recklessness, and trespass. Defendant moved to dismiss on the grounds of preemption. The Supreme Court has held that the Supremacy Clause preempts any state law that interferes with or is contrary to federal law. (2) Federal law can preempt state law in the following three ways: (1) express preemption, (2) field preemption, and (3) conflict preemption. (3) Express preemption applies where the statutory language used by Congress expressly declares the intent to displace state law. (4) Field preemption applies where the "federal interest is so dominant that the federal system will be assumed to preclude enforcement of state laws on the same subject." (5) Conflict preemption supplants state law with federal law in all areas where the two conflict, either because compliance with both laws is impossible or because state law creates an "obstacle to the accomplishment and execution" of Congress' full purposes or objectives. (6) The Cheswick court analyzed both field and conflict preemption within the context of whether the CAA preempted state tort claims against an in-state source and determined that two savings clauses in the CAA evince Congressional intent to reserve the right to sue under state common law. The Third Circuit found that the language of the savings clauses in the CAA manifest Congress' intent not to occupy the entire field and that the tension between the permit system and state nuisance law would not frustrate Congress' purpose with regard to the CAA. …


To meet their aim of reducing the acceptability of psychoactive substances to young people, the designers of drug prevention programmes need to have a thorough understanding of the personal views already held by their audience with respect to the object of attitude and behavioural change. However, few studies involving younger adolescents have collated participant-generated impressions of a range of legal and illegal substances. The present study used a word association methodology to explore adolescents' impressions of cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol and taking a range of illegal drugs. In total, 3571 images were generated which were placed into 24 categories on the basis of content analysis. The predominance of negative imagery was of note, particularly for cigarette smoking and drug taking and there was little evidence of a simplistic generic attitude to substance use. Images of alcohol, especially alcopops, were markedly more positive and were much less likely to contain reference to specific health problems than the images of cigarette smoking. However, there was less differentiation between 'hard' and 'soft' illegal drugs than has been found with older adolescents in other studies and many of the images relating to illegal drugs were poorly defined, revealing vague notions of danger and risk. The present methodology is proposed as a useful tool for assessing attitudes both prior to and following prevention programmes and it is suggested, based on the wide variation in images elicited, that successful prevention dialogues with young people may need to vary their message according to the particular substance targeted.


After the watershed 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision Lawrence v.Texas, courts are faced with the daunting task of navigating the bounds of sexual privacy in light of Lawrence's sweeping language and unconventional structure. This Note focuses on the specific issue of state governments regulating sexual device distribution. Evaluating the substantive due process rights of sexual device retailers and users, this Note ultimately argues that the privacy interest identified in Lawrence is sufficiently broad to protect intimate decisions to engage in adult consensual sexual behavior, including the liberty to sell, purchase, and use a sexual device.


In mid-October 2016, officials from China's Ministry of Environmental Protection counted five illegal trash-burning sites and hundreds of thousands of vehicles exceeding emission standards in Beijing alone. For the first time since last winter's pollution high season, city officials issued a yellow air-quality alert, which required shutting down power plants and reining in Beijing's frenetic factories and road traffic. If this winter is anything like past winters, the city will have to pull out the yellow card again—and may even have to reach for its red card.


Following our recent development of a paradigm for extending the classic concepts of circuit elements to the infrared and optical frequencies [Phys. Rev. Lett.95, 095504 (2005)], in this paper we investigate the possibility of connecting nanoparticles in series and in parallel configurations, acting as nanocircuit elements. In particular, here we analyze a pair of conjoined half-cylinders whose relatively simple geometry may be studied and analyzed analytically. In this first part of this work, we derive a novel closed-form quasi-static analytical solution of the boundary-value problem associated with this geometry, which will be applied in Part 2 for a nanocircuit and physical interpretation of these results.


There exist differences in the values of the tensile strength of cement-treated soils among results from direct tension, splitting tension, and bending tests. This paper presents numerical simulations that serve to explain such differences in the tensile strength properties obtained from the three types of tests. Finite element (FE)-analyses were performed to simulate the three tests as boundary value problems. A simple elasto-plastic model that simulates the behavior of cement-treated sands under a general three-dimensional stress state was used for these analyses. The analytical results showed that the direct tension tests yield reliable values of the actual tensile strength that will be mobilized under an ideal condition of uniaxial tension. On the other hand, in the splitting tension and bending tests, the tensile strength values are calculated from an external load by assuming a linear-elastic behavior in estimating the stress distribution. However, these values do not correspond to the actual tensile strength. The splitting tensile tests underestimate the tensile strength because the shear failure occurs below the loading strip and restrains further increase of the applied load. On the other hand, the bending tests overestimate the tensile strength because of the redistribution of stresses induced by the strain-softening behavior on the tensile side.


The purpose of this study was to learn about the practice of special education administration from veteran special education administrators. Research questions include: What institutional arrangements support special education administrators' work? What personal and professional commitments keep special education administrators engaged in their practice? How do special education administrators manage the conflicts inherent in the position? What roles and functions are enacted by special education administrators in their school districts? A brief history of special education and the laws that have shaped the provision of services is given. Case law is examined in relation to components of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2012) and how the results of case law have altered interpretations of the law. The multifaceted and complex roles of special education administrators are discussed. Eight special education administrators in North Carolina were interviewed individually. The interviews were audio recorded. Each participant verified their information by reading the transcript of their interview. Data was organized by codes, categories, and themes. Each theme was then viewed through Bolman and Deal's (2013) four frames. Describing, examining, and explaining the practices of veteran special education administrators provide rich information to inform local school districts and preparation programs on the required skills and qualities to be successful as a special education administrator. Four major themes emerged across all the information: focus on the individual student and his/her needs, collaboration among school level personnel, effective communication and trusting relationships, and support for special education within and beyond the district. Each theme includes categories that elaborate on the complex practices of special education administrators. These practices are done with humility, patience, kindness, discernment, flexibility, self-confidence, and with a sense of humor. The skills and qualities potential special education administrators should possess or have the capacity to learn include a knowledge base of all the aspects of special education programming including the laws and policies; fiscal and budgetary knowledge; recruiting, hiring and retaining qualified personnel; and advocacy skills. Organization and program development skills are needed to implement the requirements of federal, state, and local laws and policies. Research skills are needed to stay abreast of current research and using data to make decisions. Conducting program evaluations to determine their effectiveness is needed. Providing and securing professional development for teachers, teaching assistants, parents, and all other service providers as well as finding resources are practices found in veteran special education administrators. Collaboration with a variety of stakeholders is necessary for successful special education programs. Ideas for future research include looking at student outcomes in relation to the amount of time the special education administrator has been in the position, how other central office staff turnover effect the special education administrator, and how well superintendents understand the role of a special education administrator.


We investigated the haptic cuing of visual attention using spatially-predictive (75% valid) and spatially-nonpredictive (25%) haptic cues. The participants performed a visual change detection task immediately following a haptic spatial cue whose location corresponded to one of the four visual quadrants. The participants were explicitly instructed to use the spatially-predictive haptic cues but to try and ignore the spatially-nonpredictive cues. In addition to reaction time (RT) data, we recorded participants' eye-position in order to provide a direct measure of overt visual attention. The results indicated that the spatially-predictive haptic cues reduced the amount of time taken to detect the visual changes, as expected. The spatially-nonpredictive cues increased visual search latencies, indicating that the cues could not be ignored completely. There was also evidence that haptic cuing served to alert the participants resulting in an overall reduction of response latencies


Korean Abstract: 본 연구는 아베노믹스의 성장전략이 법제화를 거쳐 상당부분 구조개혁을 수반할 것으로 예상되면서, 지금까지 아베 내각이 추진한 성장전략 전반을 개관한 다음, 성장전략 관련 시책 가운데 사업재편, 기업지배구조 개혁, 제4차 산업혁명, 노동시장 개혁 등 4가지 정책이슈를 중심으로 성장전략의 이행 성과와 과제를 점검하였다. English Abstract: More than 20 years have passed since Japan entered a recession in the mid-1990s, with the bubble burst and changes in the population structure-low birth rate and aging population-acting as catalysts. It is true that Abenomics did manage to stimulate some growth in the Japanese economy, which had continued on a downward trend especially after the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake; however, Japan's nominal GDP in 2015 is still a meager 500 trillion yen, significantly lower than its GDP of 521 trillion yen in 1997, demonstrating the necessity for large-scale structural reform. Japan's potential growth rate also illustrates something along the same line. Japan's potential growth rate reached 4.9% in the late 1980s, and then plummeted to around 2% in 1992 after the bubble burst. In 1994, the figure halved to around 1%, and in 1997, to around 0%. In 2015, it was a mere 0.3%, showing that indeed something more than the hitherto practiced expansive fiscal policy and quantitative easing (QE) is required. Thus, this research presumes that the Abenomics growth strategy will accompany structural reform, using legalization as the tool. We first present a general overview of the Abe administration's growth strategy, then examine its results and challenges, focusing on the four policy issues of business restructuring, corporate governance reform, the 4th industrial revolution, and employment/labor market reform. This research's final aim is to present policy implications for the Korean government, considering the policy agendas the Korean government is currently facing, such as expanding the private investment, labor market reform, structural reform, the 4th industrial revolution, etc.


Non-native freshwater fishes may spread via estuaries, invading nearby basins. The Brazilian natives Rhamdia quelen and Geophagus brasiliensis, and the worldwide introduced Clarias gariepinus, Ictalurus punctatus, Oreochromis niloticus and Cyprinus carpio were acutely exposed (6h) to salinities 15 and 30. Hypothetically, the introduced species display greater physiological plasticity than do the natives. Exposure to salinity 30 was lethal after 1.5-3h to all species except for O. niloticus and G. brasiliensis. Increase in plasma osmolality was inversely related to muscle water content, mainly in salinity 30 for all species. R. quelen and C. gariepinus displayed increased expression of heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) on salinity increase; differently, I. punctatus, O. niloticus and C. carpio showed high constitutive levels already in freshwater. Species with high constitutive expression of HSP and/or high degree of euryhalinity (cichlids) could potentially use estuaries as bridges, especially through areas of salinity ,15. Additionalkeywords: biologicalinvasions,environmentalmatching,heat-shockprotein,musclewater,osmoregulation, physiological tolerance.


This paper outlines a conceptual framework in order to systematically discuss the meaning of intercultural learning in history education and how it could be advanced. We do so by bringing together theories of historical consciousness, intercultural competence and postcolonial thinking. By combining these theories into one framework, we identify some specific and critical aspects of historical learning that are relevant for today. We have constructed a matrix with three rows of narrative abilities intersecting with three columns of intercultural dimensions. This generates a matrix that consists of nine cells. By formulating a set of questions and answers for each cell, we outline learning applications and demonstrate how the historical and intercultural concepts are mutually enriching. The framework addresses two issues: firstly, the intercultural historical competence that may result; and secondly, how it can be developed. This can be used by researchers to analyse the intercultural elements of historical learning, in schools and in society, and by educators to construct relevant learning activities.


The El Asnam earthquake (MLH = 7.2; MLV = 7.3; MPV = 6.5) occurred at 12:24:24 G.M.T. on 10 October 1980 in the central part of the Chelif valley in Algeria affecting a rather densely populated region of about 900 000 within 7000 km2. (Ambraseys 1980). It destroyed at least 25 000 housing units and rendered 300 000 people homeless. The main shock, which killed about 2500 and injured more than 7000 people, was felt as far away as Spain 550 km distant. It was followed by a damaging aftershock 3 hr later (MLV = 6.1; MPV = 5.9). No foreshocks were recorded, but other phenomena have been reported which could have been premonitory (Fig. 1a). The El Asnam earthquake is the largest event in the Atlas since 1790, and in the Chelif valley since 1716. For the Atlas as a whole, the moment rate calculated from long-term observations is only 1025 dyn-cm/year. This corresponds to a slip rate of only 0.7 mm/year which is a small fraction of the value calculated from plate motions, implying that much of the deformation of the Atlas occurs aseismically and that the tectonic activity of the region is not fully reflected by its short-term seismicity. This is a serious handicap in the assessment of the earthquake hazard in the Atlas. The frequency distribution of events above magnitude 4 3/4 was found to be f(M) = 2.2 exp(-2.2M), with a probable cut-off at about M = 7 1/4 to which corresponds a return period


This paper focuses on the political and moral debate surrounding two pieces of federal legislation which sought to criminalize a particular late term abortion technique scientifically known as "intact dilation and extraction," and popularly known as "partial birth abortion." The Congressional "Partial Birth Abortion" Bans of 1996 and 1997 inflamed the already emotionally charged contest over abortion rights. The intense lobbying and advocacy efforts put pro-choice activists in the uncomfortable position of having to defend one of the most extreme positions on the abortion-rights spectrum. The advocacy was further complicated by the fact that very few women obtain late term abortions in America each year, that relatively little is known about them, and that many (but not all) of them are already marginalized by youth, lack of education, and poverty. The uneasiness of even the pro-choice community in dealing with the issue became particularly salient in the tactical, representational, and rhetorical strategies that pro-choice opponents of the legislation used. They highlighted the most morally-appealing segment of women who obtain late-term abortions ? those who seek the procedure only after learning that their pregnancies pose a threat to maternal health. Pro-choice advocates emphasized these health risks, and focused on particular qualities about these women which gave them greater normative credibility: the fact that they were all older, married women whose pregnancies were intended and for whom abortion was a terrible last resort. The reality, however, is that the majority of women and girls who seek the late term procedure do so prior to fetal viability and for "elective" ? non-health-related ? reasons. Research indicates that they are often young, poor, and lacking in education and resources. The fact that these abortions are both non-therapeutic and late term makes them the most morally offensive to many people. Perhaps both because of their already marginalized positions and the lack of moral persuasiveness surrounding their stories, these women and girls were not included in the representational or rhetorical strategies of pro-choice advocates. Thus, pro-choice advocates relied on the narratives of a small group of women to represent the interests of a much larger and dissimilar group. This reinforced the invisibility and powerlessness of the women in the larger group, and could have resulted in a conflict of interest between the two groups had a maternal health exception been added to the bans. These tensions were brought to light during a contentious battle over the numbers of, and reasons for, late term abortions. Pro-choice advocates were confronted with a statistical reality which was difficult to introduce in the political and popular discourse. They adopted a representational strategy which could have had disastrous political results. The confusion, however, may ultimately have positive effects. An analysis of the debate can serve as a diagnostic tool for underlying tensions within the pro-choice movement, and stimulate ideas for more effective and thorough advocacy.


Ground Based Wireless Positioning provides an in-depth treatment of non-GPS based wireless positioning techniques, with a balance between theory and engineering practice. The book presents the architecture, design and testing of a variety of wireless positioning systems based on the time-of-arrival, signal strength, and angle-of-arrival measurements. These techniques are essential for developing accurate wireless positioning systems which can operate reliably in both indoor and outdoor environments where the Global Positioning System (GPS) proves to be inadequate. The book covers a wide range of issues including radio propagation, parameter identification, statistical signal processing, optimization, and localization in large and multi-hop networks. A comprehensive study on the state-of-the-art techniques and methodologies in wireless positioning and tracking is provided, including anchor-based and anchor-free localisation in wireless sensor networks (WSN). The authors address real world issues such as multipath, non-line-of-sight (NLOS) propagation, accuracy limitations and measurement errors. Presenting the latest advances in the field, Ground Based Wireless Positioning is one of the first books to cover non-GPS based technologies for wireless positioning. It serves as an indispensable reference for researchers and engineers specialising in the fields of localization and tracking, and wireless sensor networks. Provides a comprehensive treatment of methodologies and algorithms for positioning and tracking Includes practical issues and case studies in designing real wireless positioning systems Explains non-line-of-sight (NLOS) radio propagation and NLOS mitigation techniques Balances solid theory with engineering practice of non-GPS wireless systems


Online photo services such as Flickr and Zooomr allow users to share their photos with family, friends, and the online community at large. An important facet of these services is that users manually annotate their photos using so called tags, which describe the contents of the photo or provide additional contextual and semantical information. In this paper we investigate how we can assist users in the tagging phase. The contribution of our research is twofold. We analyse a representative snapshot of Flickr and present the results by means of a tag characterisation focussing on how users tags photos and what information is contained in the tagging. Based on this analysis, we present and evaluate tag recommendation strategies to support the user in the photo annotation task by recommending a set of tags that can be added to the photo. The results of the empirical evaluation show that we can effectively recommend relevant tags for a variety of photos with different levels of exhaustiveness of original tagging.


Introduction: Aging is characterized by the progressive loss of physiological capacity. At the cellular level, two key hallmarks of the aging process include telomere length (TL) shortening and cellular senescence. Repeated intermittent hyperoxic exposures, using certain hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) protocols, can induce regenerative effects which normally occur during hypoxia. The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether HBOT affects TL and senescent cell concentrations in a normal, non-pathological, aging adult population. Methods: Thirty-five healthy independently living adults, aged 64 and older, were enrolled to receive 60 daily HBOT exposures. Whole blood samples were collected at baseline, at the 30th and 60th session, and 1-2 weeks following the last HBOT session. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) telomeres length and senescence were assessed. Results: Telomeres length of T helper, T cytotoxic, natural killer and B cells increased significantly by over 20% following HBOT. The most significant change was noticed in B cells which increased at the 30th session, 60th session and post HBOT by 25.68%±40.42 (p=0.007), 29.39%±23.39 (p=0.0001) and 37.63%±52.73 (p=0.007), respectively. There was a significant decrease in the number of senescent T helpers by -37.30%±33.04 post-HBOT (P<0.0001). T-cytotoxic senescent cell percentages decreased significantly by -10.96%±12.59 (p=0.0004) post-HBOT. In conclusion, the study indicates that HBOT may induce significant senolytic effects including significantly increasing telomere length and clearance of senescent cells in the aging populations.


Introduction: Arteriovenous fistula (AVF), permanent catheter (PC), and vascular graft are three vascular access types used for hemodialysis (HD) procedure. Due to insufficient reliable information on the comparison between AVF and PC. This study was conducted to compare AVF and PC regarding adequacy of dialysis. Material and Methods: This prospective study was carried out in tertiary care center over 6 months (Jan 2021 to June 2021). In this study, 100 HD pts were enrolled and assigned to two unequal groups of AVF and PC. Before and after the dialysis session, blood samples were taken for laboratory examinations and measurement of urea reduction ratio and Kt/V. The patients were followed up for six months, and then laboratory examinations were repeated. Results: Out Of the 100 HD pts, 40 had AVF and 60 patients on PC. During the 6-month follow-up, 30 patients in PC group but only two patient in AVF group showed infection (P = 0.050), while in each group, thrombosis were seen in 6 patients on PC and 4 patients of AVF (P = 0.50). Catheter dysfunction was seen in 15 patients of PC group and one patients of AVF group (P = 0.0001).There was no difference between the two groups in Kt/V and URR at the beginning of the study; however, after six months, Kt/V and URR were greater in AVF group (P< 0.05). Conclusion: We found better dialysis adequacy in AVF group & there were some advantages of AVF over PC, such as lower rate of infection and thrombosis. We recommend that AVF be created in all of patients with chronic kidney disease who are candidates for HD.


The main aim of this thesis is to present the potential of an integrated analysis for the study of past relations between humans and pigs. In particular, the advent of pig domestication and patterns of early husbandry in southern Europe will be discussed on the basis of a multidisciplinary approach. The core method is represented by abiometrical analysis of pig teeth and bones from archaeological as well as modem collections. The study of recent material provides the opportunity to detect variation in wild boar size and shape across the whole range of distribution of the species. An archaeological baseline for domestic pigs is obtained through the study of a large Neolithic assemblage from England. With the adoption of a size index scaling technique this is then used as a 'standard' reference for the analysis of southern European material. In addition to this biometrical analysis, a historical approach to the study of pig husbandry in medieval England and ethnoarchaeological work in Sardinia and Corsica provide further opportunities to build up an interpretative framework for the archaeological evidence. A number of case studies from rehistoric and historic Portugal and prehistoric Italy are then resented. In Portugal abundant data collected from late prehistoric and historic assemblages are compared with Mesolithic and Neolithic evidence and provide the opportunity to study variations in patterns of pig hunting and husbandry through a long chronologicalsequence. The evidence for this country indicates that wild boars increased in size after the Mesolithic whereas no improvement in domestic pigs can be detected until the Middle Ages, which means that practices of free-range husbandry were probably adopted for the whole of the prehistoric and early historic periods. In Italy an even larger number of sites is used to illuminate the evolution of pig exploitation in that particular country. Like in Portugal a pattern of size increase in wild boars emerges after the Mesolithic, but in Italy it is also possible to detect size decrease in domestic pigs, with intensification in pig husbandry occurring probably sometime in the late Neolithic. The similarity in size between Mesolithic and Neolithic pigs confirms the suggestion brought about by genetic analysis that pigs were domesticated locally. The use of a diversity of approaches and the large chronological and geographic scale of this analysis provides us with a unique insight into the great variety of interactions that occurred between humans and pigs and the general importance of these animals in human history.


We document substantial heterogeneity in occupational employment dynamics in response to government spending shocks. Employment rises most strongly in service, sales, and office ("pink-collar") occupations. By contrast, employment in blue-collar occupations is hardly affected by fiscal stimulus which is striking in light of its strong exposure to the cycle and its long-run decline due to technical change and globalization. We provide evidence that occupation-specific changes in labor demand are key to understand these findings and develop a business-cycle model that explains the heterogeneous occupational employment dynamics as a consequence of differences in the short-run substitutability between labor and capital services across occupations.


This short paper describes MORTAL, a new general-purpose programming language and compiler for high-performance scientific applications. MORTAL aims to bridge the knowledge gap between computer scientists and scientists by offering a multiparadigm programming environment that allows connecting the mathematical formulae written by scientist to algorithms implemented by the software engineer in a natural way, and understood by both. We provide the rationale for MORTAL, give an overview of the language design and the MORTAL compiler. The compiler is self-hosting, and our initial evaluation shows that MORTAL programs have similar performance as C programs.


We demonstrate the generation of slow and fast light based on stimulated Brillouin scattering in As(2)Se(3) chalcogenide fiber with the best efficiency ever reported. The Brillouin gain of 43 dB is achieved with only 60-mW pump power in a 5-m single-mode chalcogenide fiber, which leads to the optical time delay of 37 ns with a 50-ns Gaussian pulse.


In the era of Internet of Things (IoT) and with the explosive worldwide growth of electronic data volume, and associated need of processing, analysis, and storage of such humongous volume of data, several new challenges are faced in protect-ing privacy of sensitive data and securing systems by designing novel schemes for secure authentication, integrity protection, encryption, and non-repudiation. Lightweight symmetric key cryptography and adaptive network security algo-rithms are in demand for mitigating these challenges. This book presents some of the state-of-the-art research work in the field of cryptography and security in computing and communications. It is a valuable source of knowledge for re-searchers, engineers, practitioners, graduates, and doctoral students who are working in the field of cryptography, network security, and security and privacy issues in the Internet of Things (IoT). It will also be useful for faculty members of graduate schools and universities.


Representational predicaments arise when a job incumbent believes that attributions and images assumed by dominant authorities unfavourably ignore, or disproportionately and unfavourably emphasize, aspects of the incumbent's own work and social identity. This is likely to happen when the incumbent does not have a close relationship with a dominant authority, and when power asymmetries give the former relatively little control over which aspects of their work and social identity are made visible or invisible to the latter. We draw on critical incident interviews from three organizations to illustrate a typology of six types of representational predicament: invasive spotlighting, idiosyncratic spotlighting, embedded background work, paradoxical social visibility, standardization of work processes, and standardization of work outputs. We analyse responses to representational predicaments according to whether they entailed exit, voice, loyalty, or neglect. Incumbents tended to respond with loyalty if they felt able and willing to accommodate their work behaviour and/or social identity to the dominant representations, and if there were sufficient compensatory factors, such as intrinsic rewards from the work or solidarity with colleagues. Exit or neglect appeared to reflect the belief that it was impossible to accommodate. Power asymmetries appeared to deter voice. Individual employees with a close and cordial working relationship with a member of a dominant authority group, or who were relationally networked to one, appeared not to experience representational predicaments.


Though scientific evidence for the existence of global warming continues to mount, in the United States and other countries belief in global warming has stagnated or even decreased in recent years. One possible explanation for this pattern is that information about the potentially dire consequences of global warming threatens deeply held beliefs that the world is just, orderly, and stable. Individuals overcome this threat by denying or discounting the existence of global warming, and this process ultimately results in decreased willingness to counteract climate change. Two experiments provide support for this explanation of the dynamics of belief in global warming, suggesting that less dire messaging could be more effective for promoting public understanding of climate-change research.


This brief looks at Kazakhstan's chairmanship through the prism of the EU's relations with Central Asian states and examines what lessons the EU can draw from the Kazakhstan chairmanship. The OSCE Chairmanship and the agreement to hold the 2010 OSCE Summit in Astana, despite it not having a Summit-like agenda were significant 'carrots' given to Kazakhstan. Did these carrots bring any results, and is there any reason to offer more such carrots to Kazakhstan or to other Central Asian states?


A modeling framework is proposed for the control of rigid and flexible cable-like systems such as cranes, together with a systematic algorithm for computing flat outputs of mechanical systems for which the flat output is a linear combination of free coordinates. Key Lagrange multipliers are shown (i) to impose the condition of cable looseness, and (ii) to act as the extended states in the classical state-space representation. Some examples of cranes and suspended cable robots are given with their corresponding dynamics summarized as a set of well-defined vectors and matrices of real numbers.


The drilling of hydrocarbon exploration wells in the Faroe–Shetland Basin has provided an expanding sample resource that provides material for testing recently developed palynology-based sediment transport analysis. This technique has been verified by comparison with heavy mineral analysis; both approaches have been used to identify sediment sources and input points along the strike of the Palaeocene West Shetland Platform. Integration of heavy mineral and palynological data has provided a basis for understanding arenaceous and argillaceous sediment distribution and sourcing. In addition to a source from the western, Greenland side of the basin, four argillaceous and four arenaceous sedimentary sources have been identified along the strike of the West Shetland Platform. These vary in temporal and spatial distribution, and thus provide a history of sediment source evolution. This analysis supports a persistent difference in source between the Corona Basin and the Flett and Judd Sub-basins. Although source variation and overlap between basins is evident, transfer zones represent both conduits for and barriers to effective sediment transport. Both palynological and heavy mineral evidence identifies the former presence of Late Namurian–Westphalian strata on the West Shetland Platform, which were removed by subsequent erosion.


Because many sources of radiation in the submillimeter–terahertz have relatively low power, the development of sensitive detectors has been important. Equally important is the selection of detector and source methodologies appropriate for specific scientific or technological applications. Discussed is the effect of Bose–Einstein statistics, blackbody mode structure, and detector optical and electronic bandwidths to develop closed-form expressions for the contributions from experimental backgrounds to overall system noise. The results obtained allay the oft-expressed concerns that many important experiments, especially those conducted at elevated temperatures or in harsh environments such as plasmas, are either difficult or not possible with high-resolution cw systems. To the contrary, in the large majority of cases this excess background noise is not observable. Experimental examples are provided.


In 1977, scientists diving in the submersible Alvin on the Galapagos Ridge made a fantastic discovery: springs of warm water emerging from the ocean floor where water temperatures are near freezing, and an abundance of life in what was previously considered a desert. Two years later, predictions they made from the Galapagos dives led them to an even more amazing sight. On the East Pacific Rise off the coast of Mexico, more than a mile and a half below the ocean surface, hot springs exited the ocean floor at more than 350°C — hot enough to melt lead — spewing what looked like black smoke from "chimneys" composed of glittering minerals. Fantastic new life forms were discovered at these vents, in an ecosystem that seemed to be completely independent of photosynthesis at the Earth's surface. Over twenty years later, we know these hydrothermal vents to occur all along the length of the mid-ocean ridge, a globe-encircling volcanic mountain chain that marks where the Earth's tectonic plates move apart. In this lecture we will cover the story of exploration of the seafloor and the discovery of hydrothermal vents, what we know of them today, and some of the fascinating questions that remain.


By most accounts, the scale and scope of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is awe inspiring. A global agreement on this ambitious development agenda is an impressive achievement in and of itself and an important first step towards realizing the lofty vision. This paper argues, however, that unfortunately the debate and discussion on SDGs seem to be stuck on this first step with an implicit assumption that the challenge of implementing this agenda is not intellectually rewarding and somehow the great ideas embodied in SDGs will self-implement. This paper fills an important gap in the literature and offers a practical, actionable and proven methodology for translating SDG vision into realty.


In New Zealand, aerial poisoning with 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate) bait is widely used for control of introduced small mammal pests in remote or forested areas. However this practice is controversial, partly because of perceived risks to native fauna, particularly birds. That perception originally derives from substantial mortality of some native bird species in pre-1980 control operations, which prompted changes in baiting practice to mitigate most of the risk. However contemporary modifications to aerial baiting procedures – including sowing bait in strips or clusters, using prefeed, or adding deer repellent – may have renewed the risk to birds. Here we report observations on the number of dead birds found and on the relative abundance of certain bird species after 15 aerial baiting operations between 2003 and 2014. We found in total 81 bird carcasses, of which 84% were introduced species (mostly blackbirds (Turdus merula)) and 16% were native species (comprising eight kererū Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae, two tomtits Petroica macrocephala and one each of tūī Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae, fantail Rhipidura fuliginosa and silvereye Zosterops lateralis). Overall, significantly more bird carcasses were found per field day of searching effort after standard broadcast 1080 sowing than alternative bait distribution methods (stripor cluster-sowing). Residues of 1080 were detected in 18% (2/11) of the native birds analysed (both tomtits), compared to 94% (33/35) of the introduced birds tested. Blackbirds comprised 80% of the introduced dead birds found, 96% of which (25/26) contained 1080 residue. Furthermore, in two detailed studies conducted in the Hauhungaroa Ranges in 2011 and 2013, blackbirds represented 3.2% and 1.9% of the overall live bird counts but 54% and 73% respectively of the dead birds found. Our results suggest that modern 1080 baiting operations pose only a negligible threat to native forest bird communities and a small threat to individuals, especially relative to the threats they face from the introduced mammals targeted in pest-control operations.


Herschel Island (69.583 °N; 139.083 °W) lies off the Yukon Coastal Plain in the southern Beaufort Sea as a terminal moraine resulting from the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the Early to Middle Wisconsin and represents the likely easternmost edge of Beringia.Massive ground ice bodies in the island's permanently frozen ground are ubiquitous and contribute to the shaping of the landscape since deglaciation. Stable water isotopes (δ18O, δD) have been analysed on various ground ice types. Since ground ice is a valuable record of climate information it can be used for palaeoenvironmental interpretation.Ice wedges on Herschel Island have begun to form in outwash and morainic deposits during the late Pleistocene after deglaciation, when dry and harsh climatic conditions promoted frost cracking. These ice wedges are remarkably depleted in their isotopic signature (δ18O of around −29 ) compared to Holocene ice wedges (δ18O of around 24 to 21 ).Within ice-rich permafrost sediments, also massive ice bodies are exposed whose appearance and isotopic composition is completely different from all other sampled ground ice types. Their δ18O records are strongly depleted (−33 ) thus suggesting a late Pleistocene origin. The slope and d-excess lie near the Global Meteoric Water Line (GMWL) indicating that the moisture source is likely of meteoric origin without substantial alterations. Other massive ice of unknown but supposedly glacial origin was encountered adjacent to large, striated boulders. With about −37 for δ18O, the ice exhibits extremely low isotopic values. The question arises, whether the ice bodies aggraded before or after deglaciation as massive segregated ice or if the ice was originally basal glacier ice buried by supraglacial till.Stable isotope geochemistry is limited to unravel the nature and origin of recovered ground ice. Therefore, hydrochemistry (pH, electrical conductivity, major ions) is used to differentiate between massive segregated ice, buried glacier ice and buried lake ice. Usually, buried ice types have low conductivity values as they derive from meteoric water. Thus, they are dominated by calcium (Ca2+), bicarbonate (HCO3-) and sulphate (SO42-). In turn, massive segregated ice represents frozen ground water and therefore reflects the sediment ion composition. High electrical conductivity values (>1000 µS cm-1) and a broad mixture of significantly occurring ions with peaks in sodium (Na+), strontium (Sr2+), and chloride (Cl-) are obvious. Therefore, massive segregated ice hydrochemical data resemble the Herschel Island sediments that derive from near-shore marine deposits upthrusted by the Laurentide Ice.Ongoing processing of stable isotope and hydrochemical data from ground ice will enable us (1) to provide solid evidence of the timing and the spatial extent of late Pleistocene glaciations on the Yukon Coastal Plain, and (2) to precise the age of the deposition and the processes responsible for the formation of Herschel Island.


The richness and turnover of coastal larval pools set upper limits for biodiversity in coastal systems. For particular local systems, such as embayments, the characteristics of the local larval pool are determined by the relative contributions of locally produced and external larvae. The balance between these sources partially reflects the extent of tidal exchange and is hence related to system size and flushing time. Larvae of benthic marine invertebrates were sampled from 8 bays along the Irish coast to investigate the effect of coastline configuration on the characteristics of the larval pool. Flushing time explained 34.5% of the variability in species richness from a series of daily samples. Many of the potentially relevant environmental variables are correlated, limiting the poten- tial for individual variables to be examined in isolation. We therefore used a principal components analysis to describe the major patterns in environmental variability across bays. The second principal component separated bays along a gradient of increasing depth, salinity, tidal range and flushing time. Scores along this component were generally better predictors of the larval pool than single vari- ables, explaining as much as 61.2% of the variation in species richness, diversity and similarity between dates. Deeper bays, with more saline water and longer flushing times, tended to have richer and more diverse larval pools, with a greater consistency in species composition between sample dates. No relationship was found between environmental variables and larval abundance. Our results suggest that flushing time, particularly when in combination with topographic variables, chlorophyll, tidal range and salinity, may be a useful predictor for the richness and turnover of local larval pools.


This paper forms part of The King's Fund 2012 leadership review, addressing the topic from the perspective of those seeking to provide leadership extending well outside their own immediate organisational boundaries. To establish firm foundations on which to study this whole-system aspect of leadership, the paper first explores leadership, management and administration, responding to the first King's Fund commission which identified that the NHS is over-administered, but under-led. The simple message that management is about control while leadership is about influence becomes supremely important as we explore more deeply into the different demands of increasingly complex systems. The paper then considers the difference between organisations and systems. In this we identify four different styles of whole system:
• Networks
• Markets
• Collaborations
• Social movements
We note that the latter of these is rarely considered in relation to organisational studies, but with the rapid development of social media technologies we believe that social movements are rapidly becoming a serious contender as a major influence on leadership of whole systems. This exploration of whole systems is further developed by applying complexity science. This study demonstrates that the increasing stress facing organisations lowers the threshold at which we must treat them as complex systems. It also demonstrates that such systems respond to influence, but are not susceptible to control, thereby demonstrating that we must strengthen leadership in preference to management. The most important aspects of our paper arise when we bring these two parts of the study together, to explore which characteristics of leadership are required when working across whole systems. We make seven recommendations to leaders about characteristics commonly associated with success in whole systems.
• Go out of your way to make new connections.
• Adopt an open, enquiring mindset, refusing to be constrained by current horizons.
• Embrace uncertainty and be positive about change – adopt an entrepreneurial attitude.
• Draw on as many different perspectives as possible; diversity is non-optional.
• Ensure leadership and decision-making are distributed throughout all levels and functions.
• Establish a compelling vision which is shared by all partners in the whole system.
We include two case studies reflecting the importance of the right approach to leadership across whole systems.


Concern for the environment has been steadily growing in recent years, and it is becoming more common to include environmental impact and pollution costs in the design problem along with construction, investment and operating costs. To further complicate matters governmental controls on emissions are still changing and the effect of increased emissions taxes may be critical in choosing a particular design solution. Thermo-economic and environmental analysis has been used previously at LENI to model investment, operating and pollution costs and aggregate them into a single objective that can be minimised. This has the drawback of requiring multiple optimisations in order to determine the sensitivity of the optimum solution to the presumed pollution costs. In addition, designers usually prefer a choice of different technological solutions as well as a clear idea of the trade-offs between multiple objectives without the need to define a common indicator (for example cost). Frequently, the thermodynamic and economic simulation of an energy system is non-linear, disjoint and with multiple local optima making it difficult to optimise with derivative based optimisation methods. This work presents the development of a multi-modal, multi-objective optimisation tool to respond to this need, and then demonstrates it on two complex problems – the design of a district heating system and the configuration of an advanced vehicle drivetrain. Multi-objective optimisation techniques aim to find the trade-off between two or more conflicting objectives. For example, if a design must be both efficient and low cost, then a multi-objective optimisation will find a range of solutions between the lowest cost but least efficient solution and the most efficient but most expensive solution, including some solutions that are fairly efficient and reasonable cost. Multi-modal optimisation techniques aim to keep different local optima. The optimisation tool developed here is the clustering pareto evolutionary algorithm (CPEA). As with other evolutionary algorithms (EAs) it works with a population of solutions, each individual representing a different trade-off between objectives. New solutions are produced using real variable crossover and mutation techniques and the population is ranked and thinned to avoid excessively large populations and maintain convergence pressure. The algorithm uses statistical clustering techniques on the independent variables to keep multiple different local optima simultaneously. The clusters maintain diversity in the population and identify local optima. In problems with many variables multi dimensional scaling (MDS) is used to reduce the number of variables before clustering. Applying the CPEA to the problem of designing a district heating system for minimum costs with and without pollution costs, it was possible to repeat previous work in a fraction of the time. For the same effort it was also possible to produce complete trade-off curves for cost and pollution, showing the dramatic change in optimal solution when pollution costs were included. The clustering and in particular the MDS were found to be key factors in the solution of this problem – without them the best overall solution was not found. A three objective problem was solved and the results compared favourably to a combined two objective problem, although convergence was found to be slower. A parallel version of the CPEA was also applied to the optimisation of a vehicle drivetrain simulation with respect to performance, emissions and costs over a test cycle. The multi-modal nature of the CPEA allowed the simultaneous solution of multiple hybrid and conventional solutions at no extra cost and improving overall convergence. The pollution costs calculated using the same level of taxation as in the district heating problem were found to be of little influence compared to the operating and investment costs, suggesting that pollution costs from the energy domain are unlikely to promote hybrid vehicle technology.


Background Chinese herbs are thought to be effective for type A H1N1 influenza. Series of Chinese herbs have been authorized recommended by the Chinese government, and until now a number of clinical trials of Chinese herbs for H1N1 influenza have been conducted. However, there is no critically appraised evidence such as systematic reviews or meta-analyses on potential benefits and harms of medicinal herbs for H1N1 influenza to justify their clinical use and their recommendation. Methods and Findings CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CBM, CNKI, VIP, China Important Conference Papers Database, China Dissertation Database, and online clinical trial registry websites were searched for published and unpublished randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Chinese herbs for H1N1 influenza till 31 August, 2011. A total of 26 RCTs were identified and reviewed. Most of the RCTs were of high risk of bias with flawed study design and poor methodological quality. The combination of several Chinese herbal medicines with or without oseltamivir demonstrated positive effect on fever resolution, relief of symptoms, and global effectiveness rate compared to oseltamivir alone. However, only one herbal medicine showed positive effect on viral shedding. Most of the trials did not report adverse events, and the safety of herbal medicines is still uncertain. Conclusions Some Chinese herbal medicines demonstrated potential positive effect for 2009 type A H1N1 influenza; however, due to the lack of placebo controlled trial and lack of repeated test of the intervention, we could not draw confirmative conclusions on the beneficial effect of Chinese herbs for H1N1 influenza. More rigorous trials are warranted to support their clinical use.


Non-Aqueous, Capillary Electrophoretic Separations of Enantiomers with a Charged Cyclodextrin Highly-Soluble in Organic Solvents. (August 2004) Silvia Elena Sanchez Vindas, B.S., University of Costa Rica Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Gyula Vigh The synthesis of the sodium salt of heptakis (2, 3-di-O-acetyl-6-O-sulfo)-βcyclodextrin was modified to increase the isomeric purity to 98.5%. This salt was used to obtain the organic-solvent-soluble, single-isomer, charged tetrabutylammonium salt of heptakis (2, 3-di-O-acetyl-6-O-sulfo)-β-cyclodextrin. Its isomeric purity was higher than 99%, as determined by CE, and its structure was confirmed by NMR and ESI-MS analysis. The hydrophobic single-isomer cyclodextrin was utilized to separate the enantiomers of weak base analytes in aprotic media by capillary electrophoresis. The effective mobilities and separation selectivities follow trends observed with negatively charged cyclodextrins in amphiprotic solvents. The properties of the dissolved cyclodextrin are altered by its counter ion, thereby affecting the separations of enantiomers. The aprotic media allow the modification of the separation selectivity, since the binding strength of the enantiomers to the cyclodextrin is intermediate between that reported in aqueous and methanolic buffers.


To analyze the complex and heterogenous real-time embedded systems, recent works have proposed interface techniques between real-time calculus (RTC) and timed automata (TA), in order to take advantage of the strengths of each technique for analyzing various components. But the time to analyze a state-based component modeled by TA may be prohibitively high, due to the state space explosion problem. In this paper, we propose a framework of granularity-based interfacing to speed up the analysis of a TA modeled component. First, we abstract the fine models to work with event streams at coarse granularities. Then based on the RTC theory, we develop a formal mathematical algorithm to derive lower and upper bounds on the arrival patterns of the fine output streams, by analyzing the component for multiple runs at coarse granularities. These bounds may be tighter than those simply implied by the results analyzed from the abstracted models. Our framework can help to achieve the tradeoffs between the precision and the analysis time.


The ability of binaurally-sensitive neurons to detect microsecond differences in
interaural timing challenges the temporal processing capacity of the nervous system.
Whilst brain mechanisms responsible for such exquisite processing have been
investigated for 6 decades, it would be fair to say that this field has undergone
something of a revolution in the last ten years, with. This study reviews new findings
challenging long standing models and assumptions. Particular emphasis is put on the
asymmetry of many neural tuning curves to the interaural time delay of wideband
stimuli around their maximum, which implies that such external temporal differences
are compensated by some internal phase-delay mechanism rather than a system of
axonal time delays as is the prevailing notion today. Such internal phase delay explains
why the ITD that generates maximum neural activity is generally found to be less than a
half period of the tuning curve's modulation (p-limit). The study proposed the interaural
phase circle (IPD circle) and the smoothed interaural phase spectrum (SIPS) as new
binaural displays, which are based on these physiological findings. The IPD-circle
displays the interaural phase difference and the interaural phase coherence within a
single frequency channel in a polar diagram as vector angle and magnitude,
respectively. Its two-dimensionality facilitates the study of IPD and IPC fluctuations.
The SIPS shows an activation matrix of binaural coincidence detectors across their best
frequencies and internal phase delays. It serves similarly to the traditional crosscorrelogram
as a display of interaural temporal differences across frequency. Its
computation is based on the interaural phase spectrum, which is smoothed in the
frequency-dimension by the auditory filter shapes. Both displays describe neural ITD
tuning curves with their asymmetry, and could provide a basis for future physiologically
orientated models.


This article explores the contemporary introduction of restorative justice into the youth justice system in England. Specifically, the research investigates referral orders, and discusses how this new system is functioning 'on the ground' several years after implementation. The findings are based on a qualitative, in‐depth study of one Youth Offending Team. This research concludes that even following an ideological commitment to incorporate restorative justice principles into the youth justice system, the transition to a practical realization of those principles has not been entirely successful. At present, conferencing is falling short in two key areas – victim participation and lack of a relationship between community members and young offenders – due to poor community representation and training and to community members' coercive tactics.


The aim of this article is first to present V.E.Ga.S., a tool which intend to classify video games, study their nature and to corroborate hypothesis by a pragmatic approach. It consists in studying a significant number of video games in order to index their composition of elementary "game bricks". Basing our study on this bricks and crossing them, we try to classify and study video games. In a second time, this paper presents the classification deduced from the results of V.E.Ga.S.


The far-field diffraction patterns (FDPs) of an optical vortex beam by a triangular aperture and a triangular slit are analyzed and compared. We find that for both, the patterns exhibit a truncated optical lattice array which is related to the topological charge of the beam. Compared to the aperture where both geometric and boundary waves contribute to the formation of lattices, the slit produces dimmer FDPs because of the presence of the boundary waves only. However, the average contrast of the patterns by the slit defined as the ratio between the spread and the sum of the minimum and maximum intensities is 40% higher than those by the aperture. This means that it is easier to decide the maxima points contained in the FDPs when using the slit compared to the aperture that is necessary for determining the orbital angular momentum of light.


The provision of a culturally responsive pedagogy is considered to be an important part of delivering a quality education that is ongoing and able to be sustained over time in Pacific developing nations. A quality sustainable education is considered to encourage cultural inclusivity, policy and curriculum practices in schools. By ensuring an inclusive and quality education, education can serve as a powerful vehicle for wider sustainable economic development in the Pacific region. To meet this end, United Nations Pacific signatories pledged support for the educational goal, endorsing an inclusive and equitable quality education for all that promotes relevant learning.
The implementation of culturally relevant teaching and learning environments have long remained a challenge for Pacific nations. In order to realise a sustainable quality education, the question that needs to be asked is: what does sustainable education look like in Pacific regions? This paper explores how the tivaevae as a culturally responsive pedagogy model creates opportunities for a sustainable education and curriculum in the Pacific region and, in turn, contributes to an inclusive and quality education.


This paper considers nonparametric identification of a two-stage entry and bidding game we call the Affiliated-Signal (AS) model. This model assumes that potential bidders have private values, observe signals of their values prior to entry, and then choose whether to undertake a costly entry process, but imposes only minimal structure on the relationship between signals and values. It thereby nests a wide range of entry processes, including in particular the Samuelson (1985) and Levin and Smith (1994) models as special cases. Working within the AS model, we map variation in factors affecting entry behavior (potential competition or entry costs) into identified bounds on model fundamentals. These bounds are constructive, collapse to point identification when available entry variation is continuous, and can readily be refined to produce the pointwise sharp identified set. We then extend our core results to accommodate nonseparable unobserved auction-level heterogeneity and potential endogeneity of entry shifters, thereby establishing a formal identification framework for structural analysis of auctions with selective entry.


The purpose of this project is to analyze the flow of Industrial Engineering students at California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo in order to measure various graduation metrics by use of a simulation. Currently, graduation rates are relatively low in comparison with the rest of the state of California and future growth and decreased budgets may threaten graduation rates for incoming students. This simulation will identify bottleneck classes [those that hold up students from graduating] and provide a basis for a sensitivity analysis in which different scenarios are constructed to determine their effects on graduation metrics. The simulation will offer a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet as an input in which any user could alter class capacities and offerings so as to determine the effects of these decisions. This tool provides a valuable resource for the Department Chair of the Industrial and Manufacturing Department at California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo because it provides a high-level view of the impact of important decisions for the department. The project concludes with a sensitivity analysis of eight different cases that are analyzed to provide insight into whether or not certain decisions should be made about the curriculum. Of the many conclusions determined from the sensitivity analysis, it is noted that the department can sustain a 10% increase in enrollment of new students, but not a 20% increase in enrollment, while maintaining current graduation rates. Furthermore, the elimination of pass and fail rates from the system does not provide a significant effect on graduation rates and it is recommended that they stay in place. Additionally, it is noted that a reduction in capacity of 10% across all classes is very harmful to students while the adjustment of classes based on effective capacities [the percentage of Industrial Engineering students enrolled multiplied by class capacity] is highly beneficial. It is the hope that this simulation tool can be used by the department in making decisions similar to this in the future.


PURPOSE
To compare esophageal dose distributions in esophageal sparing IMRT plans with predicted dose distributions which include the effect of inter-fraction motion.

METHODS
Seven lung cancer patients were used, each with a standard and an esophageal sparing plan (74Gy, 2Gy fractions). The average max dose to esophagus was 8351cGy and 7758cGy for the standard and sparing plans, respectively. The average length of esophagus for which the total circumference was treated above 60Gy (LETT60) was 9.4cm in the standard plans and 5.8cm in the sparing plans. In order to simulate inter-fractional motion, a three-dimensional rigid shift was applied to the calculated dose field. A simulated course of treatment consisted of a single systematic shift applied throughout the treatment as well a random shift for each of the 37 fractions. Both systematic and random shifts were generated from Gaussian distributions of 3mm and 5mm standard deviation. Each treatment course was simulated 1000 times to obtain an expected distribution of the delivered dose.

RESULTS
Simulated treatment dose received by the esophagus was less than dose seen in the treatment plan. The average reduction in maximum esophageal dose for the standard plans was 234cGy and 386cGY for the 3mm and 5mm Gaussian distributions, respectively. The average reduction in LETT60 was 0.6cm and 1.7cm, for the 3mm and 5mm distributions respectively. For the esophageal sparing plans, the average reduction in maximum esophageal dose was 94cGy and 202cGy for 3mm and 5mm Gaussian distributions, respectively. The average change in LETT60 for the esophageal sparing plans was smaller, at 0.1cm (increase) and 0.6cm (reduction), for the 3mm and 5mm distributions, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
Interfraction motion consistently reduced the maximum doses to the esophagus for both standard and esophageal sparing plans.


The perceived difficulty of the scale-up of photochemistry is one of the main obstacles preventing its widespread use. Herein, we take three different challenging reactions and show that they can be reliably scaled, from immersion well batch reactors to higher power FEP flow reactors. Key to the success has been the development of a powerful calculation methodology which enables the accurate calculation of reactor flow rates from these and previously optimised batch reactions. Despite the challenging nature of these systems, in all cases tens of grams of material was obtained.


Physical distancing reduces transmission risks and slows the spread of COVID-19. Local and regional governments in the United States have issued shelter-in-place policies to mandate physical distancing. Yet compliance with these policies is uneven and may be influenced by beliefs about science and topics of scientific consensus. We theorize that individuals skeptical about the human causes of climate change are less likely to comply with physical distancing orders. Using county-day measures of physical distancing derived from cellphone location data, we demonstrate that the proportion of people who stay at home after lockdown policies go into effect is significantly lower in counties with a high concentration of climate change skeptics. These results are consistent when we study how belief in science influences physical distancing across as well as within Democratic and Republican counties. Our findings suggest public health interventions and messaging about risks associated with COVID-19 that take into account local attitudes towards science may be more effective.


Recently, electromagnetic materials with negative permittivity and permeability have been given much attention. Propagation of electromagnetic waves in double negative (DNG) media and also in photonic crystals has been studied analytically and experimentally. The materials' optical parameters are complex and frequency dependent to account for both dispersion and absorption. Here we have studied theoretically the dispersion as well the transmission and reflection of the visible light on a one-dimensional heterostructure combining anisotropic DNG and isotropic double positive (DPS) materials. Here our center of attention is the study of the non-Bragg band gaps, which are not based on interference, in a one-dimensional photonic crystal composed of alternating layers of DNG and DPS materials. We find that this type of photonic crystal in the visible wavelength range exhibits negative refraction in a wider frequency range than does a single DNG material.


This study presents bioacoustic recordings in combination with movements and diving behavior of three free-ranging harbor porpoises (a female and two males) in Danish waters. Each porpoise was equipped with an acoustic data logger (A-tag), a time-depth-recorder, a VHF radio transmitter, and a satellite transmitter. The units were programmed to release after 24 or 72 h. Possible foraging occurred mostly near the surface or at the bottom of a dive. The porpoises showed individual diversity in biosonar activity ( 50,000 clicks per hour) and in dive frequency (6–179 dives per hour). We confirm that wild harbor porpoises use more intense clicks than captive animals. A positive tendency between number of dives and clicks per hour was found for a subadult male, which stayed near shore. It showed a distinct day-night cycle with low echolocation rates during the day, but five times higher rates and higher dive activity at night. A female traveling in open waters showed no diel rhythm, but its sonar activity was three times higher compared to the males'. Considerable individual differences in dive and echolocation activity could have been influenced by biological and physical factors, but also show behavioral adaptability necessary for survival in a complex coastal environment.


Indian financial intermediary matching international capital to local infrastructure decides how to balance range of services, risk adjusted return, margin pressure, and nation building. IDFC was chartered with partial ownership from the Indian government to help evaluate policy and be a model for how private finance could be attracted to public infrastructure. As the nation and company grow, the firm also grows and embarks on a strategy of rapid expansion, offering a wide new range of financial products, and participating in many aspects of the supply chain. Teaching questions include revisiting the original mission, contemplating the reduced margins and increased risks that come with entering a number of domains which already have established incumbents, and the trade-offs between maximizing shareholder return (for example through investments in full tariff power projects in rich cities) and maximizing the benefit to the nation (for example through subsidized tariff water projects in poor states). Learning Objective: Explore how funds are sourced and allocated to infrastructure projects. Explore government sponsored enterprises and public private partnerships. Discuss the tradeoffs in accomplishing a mission, serving a clientele, growing a portfolio, or concentrating on risk-adjusted return. Extend to other situations and other countries.


This essay develops three new doctrinal arguments in support of the conclusion that a state-level carbon tax with border adjustments should be permissible under the dormant commerce clause. This essay builds on our prior work to argue against the view that a single state cannot (practically) impose a significant carbon tax due to the claim that border tax adjustments are Constitutionally impermissible. By demonstrating how a state government could implement a carbon tax with border tax adjustments in a Constitutionally permissible fashion, this essay shows that levying a carbon tax is a realistic and practical option for U.S. state governments. Non-abridged title: "Strengthening the Case for a State-Level Carbon Tax with Border Adjustments".


Increasing use of information technologies in clinical care; concerns over the role of algorithmic decision-making in everyday life; collection of vast amounts of physical, social, and personal heath data through devices, social media, and the Internet of Things; and highly-visible, informatics-driven efforts such as the Precision Medicine Initiative, make calls for responsible technology use more important than ever. This rapidly-changing landscape challenges informaticians to understand the ethical, legal, and social (ELSI) implications of these developments and informatics educators to develop approaches for incorporating them into already-crowded curricula.
This workshop will promote discussion of approaches to incorporating ELSI competencies in biomedical informatics education, research, and practice, including:
(1) a survey of foundations and competencies,
(2) current approaches for teaching ELSI concepts, and
(3) experiences, lessons learned, and novel proposals for ELSI instruction in biomedical informatics curricula.
AMIA's core competencies include fundamental knowledge in "ethical, legal, social issues: for example, human subjects, HIPAA, informed consent, secondary use of data, confidentiality, privacy." How should these competencies be included and evaluated in a course of study? Are they sufficient for socially responsible and ethical use of technology in biomedicine and health care? The paucity of such topics in biomedical informatics courses and curricula provides an opportunity to elicit diverse opinions and approaches about these questions. Presenters and audience will address them from varying perspectives and educational experiences.
In addition to their expertise in biomedical informatics research and teaching, presenters will draw on their different disciplinary backgrounds (engineering, history, information systems, bioethics, law, social studies of science, computer science, philosophy, human factors, nursing, anthropology, medicine, public health) and country perspectives (US, Canada, Australia) to explore ways to promote ethical and professional responsibility in biomedical informatics.


This paper analyses nursing and midwifery legislation in high HIV-burden countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) South-East Asia Region, with respect to global standards, and suggests areas that could be further examined to strengthen the nursing and midwifery professions and HIV service delivery. To provide universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment, sufficient numbers of competent human resources for health are required. Competence in this context means possession and use of requisite knowledge and skills to fulfil the role delineated in scopes of practice. Traditionally, the purpose of professional regulation has been to set standards that ensure the competence of practising health workers, such as nurses and midwives. One particularly powerful form of professional regulation is assessed here: national legislation in the form of nursing and midwifery acts. Five countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region account for more than 99% of the region's HIV burden: India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand. Online legislative archives were searched to obtain the most recent national nursing and midwifery legislation from these five countries. Indonesia was the only country included in this review without a national nursing and midwifery act. The national nursing and midwifery acts of India, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand were all fairly comprehensive, containing between 15 and 20 of the 21 elements in the International Council of Nurses Model Nursing Act. Legislation in Myanmar and Thailand partially delineates nursing scopes of practice, thereby providing greater clarity concerning professional expectations. Continuing education was the only element not included in any of these four countries' legislation. Countries without a nursing and midwifery act may consider developing one, in order to facilitate professional regulation of training and practice. Countries considering reform to their existing nursing acts may benefit from comparing their legislation with that of other similarly situated countries and with global standards. Countries interested in improving the sustainability of scale-up for HIV services may benefit from a greater understanding of the manner in which nursing and midwifery is regulated, be it through continuing education, scopes of practice or other relevant requirements for training, registration and licensing.


The school drop-out problem is real and has been with us for some time. Unless proper, effective corrective measures are taken and all who teach do something positive, the difficulty is likely to not only remain, but grow worse. Most educators and many interested laymen are concerned with the fundamentals of this deplorably wasteful situation, but it would appear that the real causes are little known or understood (3). Educational researchers HIGH SCHOOL REMEDIAL READING OR BLOOD. SWEAT. AND TEARS?


Our objective was to elucidate how culture influences internal (psychological), external (social), institutional (structural), and health care (medical) processes, which, taken together, create differential risk of comorbidity across contexts. To develop a conceptual model, we conducted qualitative research with 13 female child soldiers in Nepal. Participants gave open-ended responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) vignettes (marital rape, emotional abuse, violence during pregnancy). Twelve participants (92%) endorsed personal responses (remaining silent, enduring violence, forgiving the husband). Twelve participants endorsed communication with one's husband. Only four participants (31%) sought family support, and three contacted police. Ultimately, 12 participants left the relationship, but the majority (nine) only left after the final IPV experience, which was preceded by prolonged psychological suffering and pregnancy endangerment. In conclusion, comorbidity risks are increased in cultural context that rely on individual or couples-only behavior, lack external social engagement, have weak law and justice institutions, and have limited health services.


The youngest, high-grade metamorphic event (M3) in the Central Zone of the Limpopo Belt of southern Africa is considered to have occurred at ~2.0 Ga. Granulite-facies mineralogies indicate peak M3 metamorphic conditions of T >800°C and P = 10 to 12 kbar and a clockwise P-T evolution. New data, while confirming the clockwise P-T evolution, indicate that calc-silicate-metapelitic rocks and amphibolites of the Beit Bridge Complex near the Venetia kimberlite pipes only experienced upper amphibolite-facies metamorphism. This is supported by the mineral chemistry of garnet that shows a prograde zonation. Detailed textural observation of minerals enabled us to evaluate the equilibrium composition during different stages of the P-T evolution. Univariant reaction curves and geothermobarometric calculations constrain these stages. Maximum pressure conditions are represented by the mineral assemblage garnet-kyanite-biotite-phengite (Si = 6.8 p.t.u.)-quartz. Estimated pressures range between 12 and 13 kbar at ~600°C. Decompressional heating was accompanied by the prograde dehydration reaction Bt + Ky = Crd + Kfs + H 2 O at 680° to 720°C and 7 to 8 kbar. Further, based on the sillimanite-producing reaction Ms + Qtz = Kfs + Sill + H 2 O and conventional geothermobarometry (Fe/Mg distribution between garnet/clinopyroxene and garnet/biotite, Si-content (6.4 p.f.u.) of phengite, GASP-barometry, Hbl-Pl-thermometry), peak metamorphism was established at ~700°C and 7 kbar in the sillimanite stability field. Furthermore, fluid inclusion investigations and theoretical considerations revealed the peak metamorphic fluid phase in the calc-silicate-metapelitic rocks to be CO 2 -H 2 O±CH 4 -rich. A variation of fluid composition with lithological differences argues for a rock buffered fluid during upper amphibolite-facies metamorphism. The lower P-T conditions when compared with granulite-facies conditions in other areas in the Central Zone are interpreted to result from the P-T evolution of a distinct crustal block within the Central Zone.


Excerpt] Eleanor Roosevelt, Chair of President Kennedy's Commission on the Status of Women, hosted the third meeting of the Commission at her home in Hyde Park just five months before she died. She expressed confidence in women's continuing progress toward equality, building on the work accomplished since 1929 when she hosted the Women's Trade Union League at the same home when Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was Governor of New York. On October 11, 1963, members of the Commission gathered in the White House and presented their final report, American Women, to President John F. Kennedy. Mrs. Roosevelt's birthday was chosen for the presentation to honor her contribution to the struggle for women's equality. The scope of American Women was broad and the issues were complicated. Established by Executive Order 10980 in 1961, the Commission undertook the first national assessment to determine the status of women in all walks of American life. Administered over two years by the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, the Commission laid out findings and recommendations in seven areas: education and counseling, home and community, employment, labor standards, basic income security, the law, and women as citizens. With the leadership of union women, the Commission's accomplishments included documenting gender discrimination on the national and state levels, contributing to executive and legislative solutions, and forming a network of state women's commissions that helped link diverse women to the newly emerging women's movement across the country. This paper reviews the origins of the Commission, its recommendations, the immediate results of its work, and the implications for working women in the 21st century. Fifty years after the report was issued there has been significant progress toward achieving the goal of gender equality in the home, the workplace, and society. Women are now more likely than men to graduate from high school, college, and graduate school. Women have grown from one-third to almost one-half of the workforce. The greatest increase has come from women with young children, almost two-thirds of whom are now working. Women now earn 78 cents for every dollar a man earns, up from 60 cents. Women now hold 52 percent of management and professional occupations. They are almost half of all union members. Not only are women able to serve on juries, they are now Supreme Court Justices. Women have a significant impact on elections and hold leadership positions in the major political parties. Challenges remain, including the lack of national child care and paid family leave policies, the ongoing struggle of minority women for racial as well as gender equality, and the interrelated problems of unequal pay between women and men and occupational job segregation by gender. These issues were raised by the President's Commission on the Status of Women, but not resolved. At the same time, critical new challenges have emerged with the expanded global economy and the decline in union membership for women half a century later. The 1963 American Women Report was introduced as "An invitation to action," and the challenge for continued action is being taken up by new coalitions of working women.


Design of protected areas has focused on setting targets for representation of biodiversity, but
often these targets do not include prescriptions as to how large protected areas should be or where they
should be located. Principles of island biogeography theory have been applied with some success, but they
have limitations. The so-called SLOSS (single large or several small reserves) debate hinged on applications
of island biogeography theory to protected areas but was resolved only to the point that parties agreed there
might be different approaches in different situations. Although proponents on both sides of the SLOSS debate
generally agree that replicating protected areas is desirable, it is difficult to determine how to replicate reserves
in terms of number and spatial arrangement. More important, many targets for representation often do not
address issues of species persistence. Here, we used a geographic information system in a study of disturbancesensitive
mammals of the Yukon Territory, Canada, to design a protected-areas network that maintains a
historical assemblage of species goals for component ecoregions. We simultaneously determined patterns of
diversity as Whittaker's beta and compositional turnover and examined how these two measures can give
further insights into reserve location and spatial arrangement. Both regional heterogeneity and compositional
turnover between nonadjacent sites were significant predictors of the number of protected areas necessary
to represent mammals within each ecoregion. Thus, protected-area planners can use diversity measures to
identify number and spacing of protected areas within ecologically bounded regions.