Computing applications demand good performance from networking systems. This includes high-bandwidth communication using protocols with sophisticated features such as ordering, reliability, and congestion control. Much of this protocol processing occurs in software, both on desktop systems and servers. Multi-processing is a requirement on today's computer architectures because their design does not allow for increased processor frequencies. At the same time, network bandwidths continue to increase. In order to meet application demand for throughput, protocol processing must be parallel to leverage the full capabilities of multi-processor or multi-core systems. Existing parallelization strategies have performance difficulties that limit their scalability and their application to single, high-speed data streams. This dissertation introduces a new approach to parallelizing network protocol processing without the need for locks or for global state. Rather than maintain global states, each processor maintains its own copy of protocol state. Therefore, updates are local and don't require fine-grained locks or explicit synchronization. State management work is replicated, but logically independent work is parallelized. Along with the approach, this dissertation describes Dominoes, a new framework for implementing replicated processing systems. Dominoes organizes the state information into Domains and the communication into Channels. These two abstractions provide a powerful, but flexible model for testing the replication approach. This dissertation uses Dominoes to build a replicated network protocol system. The performance of common protocols, such as TCP/IP, is increased by multiprocessing single connections. On commodity hardware, throughput increases between 15-300% depending on the type of communication. Most gains are possible when communicating with unmodified peer implementations, such as Linux. In addition to quantitative results, protocol behavior is studied as it relates to the replication approach.


This memo documents a method for a Kerberos Key Distribution Center
(KDC) to respond to client requests for Kerberos tickets when the
client does not have detailed configuration information on the realms
of users or services. The KDC will handle requests for principals in
other realms by returning either a referral error or a cross-realm
Ticket-Granting Ticket (TGT) to another realm on the referral path.
The clients will use this referral information to reach the realm of
the target principal and then receive the ticket. This memo also
provides a mechanism for verifying that a request has not been
tampered with in transit. This memo updates RFC 4120. [STANDARDS-
TRACK]


In Bangladesh, jute mills are producing conventional yarns heavier than 275 tex. These are used as hessian, sacking, carpet backing cloth etc. For diversified uses of jute it is most essential to produce medium count yarn of 241 to 275 tex. In this regard, slip draft spinning machine has been studied. This machine is capable to produce yarn of 241 to 280 tex at flyer speed of 2900 rpm to 4850 rpm. But there is a relation between flyer speed and yarn breakages of the machine. In addition spinning efficiency of the machine also depends on the yarn breakages. Through a series of experiment, a relation has been established between flyer speed and yarn breakages of the experimental machine for production of jute yarn. From the experimental observation, it shows that for production of 241 tex jute yarn 4700 rpm flyer speed is the most suitable speed and 4800 rpm flyer speed is the most suitable speed for production of 275 tex jute yarn. In addition productivity of the machine also maximum at that flyer speed of the machine. In this experimental study, it was found that at 4850 rpm it was very difficult to spin yarn due to its random breakages. That consequently lowered the productivity. Therefore, it is necessary to select proper flyer speed for the production of yarn of particular linear density (tex). It was also observed that the number of breakages increased with the increase of flyer speed. At 2900-rpm flyer speed, the yarn breakage was 0.8/ spindle-hr and at 4850 rpm the yarn breakages is 3.5/spindle-hr. for producing 241 tex jute yarn. Almost all jute mills of Bangladesh have been slip draft spinning machine. Using proper flyer speed, which was found from the experiment, can use the machine in production of medium count jute yarn. The produced yarn can replace the synthetic/manmade fibre in the world textile market.


One of the most revealing things about national character is the way that citizens react to and report on their travels abroad. Oftentimes a tourist's experience with a foreign place says as much about their country of origin as it does about their destination. A Happy Holiday examines the travels of English-speaking Canadian men and women to Britain and Europe during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It describes the experiences of tourists, detailing where they went and their reactions to tourist sites, and draws attention to the centrality of culture and the sensory dimensions of overseas tourism. Among the specific topics explored are travellers' class relationships with people in the tourism industry, impressions of historic landscapes in Britain and Europe, descriptions of imperial spectacles and cultural sights, the use of public spaces, and encounters with fellow tourists and how such encounters either solidified or unsettled national subjectivities. Cecilia Morgan draws our attention to the important ambiguities between empire and nation, and how this relationship was dealt with by tourists in foreign lands. Based on personal letters, diaries, newspapers, and periodicals from across Canada, A Happy Holiday argues that overseas tourism offered people the chance to explore questions of identity during this period, a time in which issues such as gender, nation, and empire were the subject of much public debate and discussion.


> Perspective on the papers by Keren et al and Rennie et al (see pages 317 and 323)

In this month's journal, two papers highlight the challenges facing clinicians in both visual and risk perception of neonatal jaundice. Keren et al 1 question the accuracy and predictive value of visual assessment of jaundice. Rennie et al 2 report wide variation in the content and quality of charts used to guide the treatment of jaundice in the UK. What are the implications of these findings?

Despite conflicting evidence concerning its reliability, clinicians have long relied on cephalocaudal progression3 to estimate the severity of neonatal jaundice. In one of the largest studies to date, Keren et al report poor correlation between visual assessment by experienced neonatal nurses and transcutaneous or laboratory bilirubin measurement. Correlation was poorer for non-white and near-term infants, two groups at greater than average risk for significant hyperbilirubinaemia. Riskin et al 4 reported similar inaccuracy in visual assessment conducted by both neonatal doctors and nurses. Furthermore, while absence of jaundice was found to have good negative predictive value, visual assessment performed poorly in predicting which infants are at risk for significant hyperbilirubinaemia.1

These studies evaluated visual assessment of jaundice in the first 3 days of life. Their findings may not be applicable thereafter, by which time most newborn infants have been discharged. It is unlikely that midwives or other health professionals, working in home conditions of varying space and lighting, will visually assess jaundice more accurately than professionals in the controlled environment of a postnatal ward during a well-conducted research study. While extrapolation is problematic, the findings of Keren et al have significant implications: evaluation of neonatal jaundice should not rely on visual inspection alone but must be supplemented by measurement of serum (or transcutaneous) bilirubin. Furthermore, …


The Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt of NE Iraq hosts a prolific hydrocarbon system. Reservoirs are commonly found in fractured Cretaceous carbonates (Shiranish Formation) such as in the Taq Taq Field located in the Kirkuk Embayment of the Zagros foothills. Data providing information on fractures in the Taq Taq Field are core, image logs and flowmeters from wells, and surface observations. For comparison, an outcrop study has been undertaken around the Bina Bawi Anticline (10 km from Taq Taq Field), where the same stratigraphical unit is exposed in a continuous, lenticular-shaped belt. Fracture data have been collected using scanlines on bedding surfaces in the limbs and hinge of the anticlines. Both the Bina Bawi Anticline and Taq Taq Field show a systematic relationship between fracture sets and fracture lineaments, with a dominance of NE–SW-oriented structures. This orientation is perpendicular to the major folds and parallel to the maximum horizontal in situ stress. There are three fracture populations in the Bina Bawi Anticline, classified according to their relationship with the fold axis and bedding: (i) NW–SE-striking fractures normal to bedding: (ii) NE–SW-striking fractures normal to bedding; and (iii) conjugate oblique fracture sets subnormal to bedding. Both fracture intensity and fracture terminations are controlled by the location within the anticline; the hinge zone displays the highest intensity and the most fracture-abutting terminations. Cross-cutting relationships suggest that a prefolding stage of NE–SW tensional fractures predates folding-related tensional and shear fractures. Few uplift fractures can be indicated. We propose that the former fracture set (joints) formed in a foreland setting and was controlled by the far-field stresses, whereas later fracturing occurred due to outer arc extension during flexing of the Bina Bawi and Taq Taq anticlines. Our comparative analysis of outcrop and well data underline the importance of representative analogue data for reservoir modelling and production strategies.


The use of AD59333 IC for detecting atmospheric ice and atmospheric ice type was evaluated in this article. A prototype circuit was developed and was tested using a frequency sweep from 40 Hz to 20 kHz. The IC was calibrated using 100 kΩ resistor. The real and imaginary components of discrete Fourier transform were recorded at each frequency increment in order calculate the gain factor at each frequency increment. The unknown impedance was then calculated at each frequency increment. Results reflect that it was possible to use the dielectric loss data to detect an icing event and however it was difficult to determine icing type using AD5933 IC.


In the last two decades, the LGBT movement has gained momentum that is arguably unprecedented in speed and suddenness when compared to other human rights movements. This book investigates the recent history of this transnational movement in Europe, focusing on the diffusion of the norms it champions and the overarching question of why, despite similar international pressures, the trajectories of socio-legal recognition for LGBT minorities are so different across states. The book makes the case that a politics of visibility has engendered the interactions between movements and states that empower marginalized people - mobilizing actors to demand change, influencing the spread of new legal standards, and weaving new ideas into the fabrics of societies. It documents how this process of 'coming out' empowers marginalized social groups by moving them to the center of political debate and public recognition and making it possible for them to obtain rights to which they have due claim.


Due to the ignorance of the effect of the water-vapor interface on the cavitation flow field, the Standard k-e Turbulence model (ST model) may overestimate the turbulent viscosity. It is unable to simulate cavitation shedding, especially at small attack angles of a hydrofoil. In the present investigation, a turbulent viscosity correction model is proposed to dampen the turbulent viscosity at the water-vapor interface. Cavitation flow around a NACA0009 truncated hydrofoil with a 2.5° angle of attack is used to demonstrate the effect of correction. The results show that the Interface Effect-based correction model (IE model) can both predict the pressure distribution on the suction surface of the hydrofoil with experimental data and the re-entrance jet in the leading-edge cavitation shedding. The region of the IE model influenced concentrates on the water-vapor interface and intensifies the vortex strength, which directly enhances the formation of a horseshoe vortex. The reduction of turbulent viscosity by the IE model reduces the resistance to the development of a re-entrance jet. The shear stress plays an important role in the shedding of the attached cavity bubble. The increase of shear force in the leading-edge cavitation occures with the re-entrance of water and the main shear flow concentrates on the middle of the cavity bubble. This paper therefore presents a new method of numerical simulation of cavitation flow in engineering applications.


Gender inequality is a pervasive global phenomenon, particularly in parliamentary representation and the political realm as a whole. Previous scholarship looked for explanations in the countries' national development levels, political regimes and electoral systems. Some scholars searched for answers at the domestic level within societies' religious and cultural value systems. This dissertation departs from prior research by looking beyond the national domestic level into individual party-level explanations for women's political leadership, broadly defined to include their station within parties' decision-making inner structures. A core assumption in this thesis is that political institutions, mainly political parties, are the main vehicles – forklifts -for women's ascendance to political leadership. This dissertation attempts to identify what party-level characteristics enhance or impede women's leadership in political parties, and how these characteristics vary across different parties. The theory advanced in this dissertation is that party-level characteristics, especially their religiosities and secularisms, influence women's chances in assuming leadership positions within parties' inner structures. I argue that the root of the problematic of women's leadership lies in party variation in religiosity, which can explain variation in women's shares in parties' executive and legislative bodies. This is premised on a multivocal understanding of religions implying that there is a continuum of multiple religiosities and secularisms. Religiosity of political parties refers to the religious components on their political platforms or the extent to which religion penetrates their political agendas. The core argument in this dissertation is that as religiosity in party platforms increases women's leadership is more likely to fall. This implies that in parties with more extensive religious goals women's leadership is likely to prove stunted. It is my contention that parties with extremist religiosity are less accommodating to women's demands for leadership than parties with more secular and civil platforms. The theory of party variation in religiosity and women's leadership is explored indepth and tested in Lebanon as a single country case-study. Political parties are the unit of analysis and women's leadership in political parties is the main dependent variable. Female nominations for national parliamentary and local municipal councils are other dependent variables. Other party-level characteristics are explored as explanatory variables besides religiosity, notably, institutionalization as indicated by democratic procedures in leadership transitions and decentralized decision-making, pluralism in religious affiliation of members, and the size of female membership.


Using positron emission tomography and the carbon 11-labeled ligand raclopride, central D2-dopamine receptor occupancy in the putamen was determined in psychiatric patients treated with clinical doses of psychoactive drugs. Receptor occupancy in drug-treated patients was defined as the percent reduction of specific carbon 11-raclopride binding in relation to the expected binding in the absence of drug treatment. Clinical treatment of schizophrenic patients with 11 chemically distinct antipsychotic drugs (including both classic and atypical neuroleptics such as clozapine) resulted in a 65% to 85% occupancy of D2-dopamine receptors. In a depressed patient treated with the tricyclic antidepressant nortriptyline, no occupancy was found. The time course for receptor occupancy and drug levels was followed after withdrawal of sulpiride or haloperidol. D2-dopamine receptor occupancy remained above 65% for many hours despite a substantial reduction of serum drug concentrations. In a sulpiride-treated patient, the dosage was reduced in four steps over a nine-week period and a curvilinear relationship was demonstrated between central D2-dopamine receptor occupancy and serum drug concentrations. The results demonstrate that clinical doses of all the currently used classes of antipsychotic drugs cause a substantial blockade of central D2-dopamine receptors in humans. This effect appears to be selective for the antipsychotics, since it was not induced by the antidepressant nortriptyline.


The issue of granting software patents in the United States has a created a rift between the open source community and patent owners. One of the contributing factors causing conflict between the open source community and patent owners is the read granting of software patent applications by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The increasing volume of software patent applications received by the USPTO has strained the patent system and consequently software patent applications are granted without close examination of whether they meet the requirements for a valid patent. The conflict between patent owners and the open source community is exacerbated when alleged patent infringement occurs for software products that circulate in the technology industry that should be open and free to use within the open source community. Subsequently, this issue is complicated when the alleged patent infringement occurs. The threat of litigation is a financial burden that is too great to bear by small and medium enterprises and by developers who unknowingly use software protected by a patent, which results in paying license fees and/royalties to avoid costly litigation. The granting of software patents without scrutiny of prior art by the USPTO is restricting innovation within the information technology sector and hindering developers, programmers, and technology innovators from creating and innovating new and emerging technologies. Further, the granting of software patents without close examination by patent examiners restricts and contradicts the ethos and philosophy behind a grant of patent.


Bone tissue engineering combines cells and a biodegradable 3D scaffold to repair diseased or dented bone tissue. Challenges are lay down by the design and fabrication of the synthetic tissue scaffold and the engineering of tissue constructs in vitro and in vivo. In bone tissue engineering, bioactive glasses and related bioactive composite materials represent promising scaffolding materials. In this paper, we present state-of-the-art fabrication technologies for a variety of bone tissue engineering scaffolds discussing their microstructure and pertinent properties. The spotlight is in the development of synthetic scaffolds based on bioactive glasses and their polymeric composites, together with 45S5 Bioglass®, Bioglass®-poly(lactic acid) and Bioglass®-poly(hydroxylalkanoate) composites. Research has recently developed further a number of scaffold fabrication techniques, including foam replication technique, thermally induced phase separation, textile and foam coating methods and biomimetic approaches to optimise scaffold structure and properties. Among these techniques, the foam replication method to produce highly porous, biodegradable and mechanically competent Bioglass®-derived glass-ceramic scaffolds is highlighted as one of the most promising technologies because of its potential in addressing basic scaffold requirements as well as the vascularisation issue. The enhancement of scaffold properties and functions by surface modification of the basic pore network, both its chemistry and topography, is also discussed. Finally, limitations of presently developed bone tissue constructs are summarized and future directions of research are discussed.


Jason Strong the explorer, and his cousins Megan and Greg, are looking for yetis on Ice Island. But something strange is happening on the island; it is getting warmer. Jason must do something quickly or Ice Town will flood! Can Jason stop the thieves, Doctor Danger and Hopeless Harry, before they melt the glacier? Can he save the town and the polar bears?


Importance Scuba diving is becoming increasingly popular. However, scuba diving is associated with specific risks; 80% of adults and 85% of juvenile divers (aged 6-17 years) have been reputed to have an ear, nose, or throat complaint related to diving at some point during their diving career. Divers frequently seek advice from primary care physicians, diving physicians, and otorhinolaryngologists, not only in the acute setting, but also related to the long-term effects of diving. Observations The principles underpinning diving-related injuries that may present to the otorhinolaryngologist rely on gas volume and gas saturation laws, and the prevention of these injuries requires both that the diver is skilled and that their anatomy allows for pressure equalization between the various anatomical compartments. The overlapping symptoms of middle ear barotrauma, inner ear barotrauma, and inner ear decompression sickness can cause a diagnostic conundrum, and a thorough history of both the diver's symptoms and the dive itself are required to elucidate the diagnosis. Correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment result in a more timely return to safe diving. Conclusions and Relevance The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of otorhinolaryngological complications during diving. With the increasing popularity of diving and the frequency of ear, nose, or throat–related injuries, it could be expected that these injuries will become more common and this review provides a resource for otorhinolaryngologists to diagnose and treat these conditions.


In 2010 the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver director Adam Lerner did something unheard of in the museum world: he mounted a large exhibition of paintings without first knowing whether they were real or fakes. Painted in the Suprematist and Constructivist style of early twentiethcentury Russian avantgarde masters, the 172 canvases had been acquired by amateur collectors Ron and Roger Pollard from a mysterious seller in Germany they met on eBay, who claimed the paintings were found in an abandoned shipping container held in German customs since the 1980s. In From Russia with Doubt, Lerner skillfully weaves together the tale from the initial eBay find to his controversial decision to exhibit the collection, guiding readers through the looking glass into the Byzantine corridors of the art world and beyond describing the owners' quest to authenticate and appraise the would-be masterpieces. What he finds raises powerful questions about our own relationship to art.


Achieving high performance is one of the most difficult challenges in designing digital circuits. Flip-flops and adders are key blocks in most digital systems and must therefore be designed to yield highest performance. In this thesis, a new high performance serial adder is developed while power consumption is attained. Also, a statistical framework for the design of flip-flops is introduced that ensures that such sequential circuits meet timing yield under performance criteria. Firstly, a high performance serial adder is developed. The new adder is based on the idea of having a constant delay for the addition of two operands. While conventional adders exhibit logarithmic delay, the proposed adder works at a constant delay order. In addition, the new adder's hardware complexity is in a linear order with the word length, which consequently exhibits less area and power consumption as compared to conventional high performance adders. The thesis demonstrates the underlying algorithm used for the new adder and followed by simulation results. Secondly, this thesis presents a statistical framework for the design of flip-flops under process variations in order to maximize their timing yield. In nanometer CMOS technologies, process variations significantly impact the timing performance of sequential circuits which may eventually cause their malfunction. Therefore, developing a framework for designing such circuits is inevitable. Our framework generates the values of the nominal design parameters; i.e., the size of gates and transmission gates of flip-flop such that maximum timing yield is achieved for flip-flops. While previous works focused on improving the yield of iii flip-flops, less research was done to improve the timing yield in the presence of process variations.


How do parents and children care for each other when they are separated because of migration? The way in which transnational families maintain long-distance relationships has been revolutionised by the emergence of new media such as email, instant messaging, social networking sites, webcam and texting. A migrant mother can now call and text her left-behind children several times a day, peruse social networking sites and leave the webcam for 12 hours achieving a sense of co-presence.

Drawing on a long-term ethnographic study of prolonged separation between migrant mothers and their children who remain in the Philippines, this book develops groundbreaking theory for understanding both new media and the nature of mediated relationships. It brings together the perspectives of both the mothers and children and shows how the very nature of family relationships is changing. New media, understood as an emerging environment of polymedia, have become integral to the way family relationships are enacted and experienced. The theory of polymedia extends beyond the poignant case study and is developed as a major contribution for understanding the interconnections between digital media and interpersonal relationships.


Preface. 1 Introduction. I Statistical Physics of Atomic Systems. 2 Basic Distributions in Systems of Particles. 2.1 The Normal or Gaussian Distribution. 2.2 Specifics of Statistical Physics. 2.3 Temperature. 2.4 The Gibbs Principle. 2.5 The Boltzmann Distribution. 2.6 Statistical Weight, Entropy and the Partition Function. 2.7 The Maxwell Distribution. 2.8 Mean Parameters of an Ensemble of Free Particles. 2.9 Fermi-Diracand Bose-Einstein Statistics. 2.10 Distribution of Particle Density in External Fields. 2.11 Fluctuations in a Plasma. 3 Bose-Einstein Distribution. 3.1 Laws of Black Body Radiation. 3.2 Spontaneous and Stimulated Emission. 3.3 Vibrations of Diatomic Nuclei. 3.4 Structures of Solids. 3.5 Structures of Clusters. 3.6 Vibrations of Nuclei in Crystals. 3.7 Cluster Oscillations. 3.8 Debye Model. 3.9 Distributions inMolecular Gas. 3.10 Bose Condensation. 3.11 Heliumat Low Temperatures. 3.12 Superfluidity. 4 Fermi-Dirac Distribution. 4.1 Degenerate Electron Gas. 4.2 Plasma of Metals. 4.3 Degenerate Electron Gas in a Magnetic Field. 4.4 Wigner Crystal. 4.5 The Thomas-Fermi Model of the Atom. 4.6 Shell Structure of Atoms. 4.7 Sequence of Filling of Electron Shells. 4.8 The Jellium Model of Metallic Clusters. 4.9 Shell Structure of Clusters. 4.10 Clusters with Pair Interaction of Atoms as Fermi Systems. 4.11 Partition Function of a Weakly Excited Cluster. 5 Equilibria Between States of Discrete and Continuous Spectra. 5.1 The Saha Distribution. 5.2 Heat Capacityof Ionized Gases. 5.3 Ionization Equilibrium for Metallic Particles in a Hot Gas. 5.4 Thermoemission of Electrons. 5.5 Autoelectronand Thermo-autoelectron Emission. 5.6 Dissociative Equilibrium in Molecular Gases. 5.7 Formation of Electron-Positron Pairs in a Radiation Field. II Equilibrium and Excitation of Atomic Systems. 6 Thermodynamic Values and Thermodynamic Equilibria. 6.1 Entropy as a Thermodynamic Parameter. 6.2 First Law of Thermodynamics. 6.3 Joule-Thomson Process. 6.4 Expansion of Gases. 6.5 CarnotCycle. 6.6 Entropyof anIdealGas. 6.7 Second Law of Thermodynamics. 6.8 Thermodynamic Potentials. 6.9 Heat Capacities. 6.10 Equilibrium Conditions. 6.11 ChemicalPotential. 6.12 Chemical Equilibrium. 7 Equilibrium State of Atomic Systems. 7.1 Criterion of the Gaseous State. 7.2 Equation of the Gas State. 7.3 Virial Theorem. 7.4 The State Equation for an Ensemble of Particles. 7.5 System of Repulsing Atoms. 7.6 Vander Waals Equation. 7.7 Liquid-Gas Equilibrium. 7.8 The Equation of the Solid State. 7.9 Lennard-Jones Crystals and the Character of Interactions in Solid Rare Gases. 7.10 Equilibrium Between Phases in Rare Gases. 8 Thermodynamics of Aggregate States and Phase Transitions. 8.1 Scaling for Dense and Condensed Rare Gases. 8.2 PhaseTransitionsat High Pressures and Temperatures. 8.3 Scaling for Molecular Gases. 8.4 Two-state Approximation for Aggregate States. 8.5 Solid-Solid Cluster Phase Transition. 8.6 Configuration Excitation of a Large Cluster. 8.7 Lattice Model for Phase Transition. 8.8 Lattice Model for Liquid State of Bulk Rare Gases. 8.9 Chemical Equilibria and Phase Transitions. 9 Mixtures and Solutions. 9.1 Ideal Mixtures. 9.2 Mixing of Gases. 9.3 The Gibbs Rule for Phases. 9.4 Dilute Solutions. 9.5 Phase Transitions in Dilute Solutions. 9.6 Lattice Model for Mixtures. 9.7 Stratification of Solutions. 9.8 Phase Diagrams of Binary Solutions. 9.9 Thermodynamic Parameters of Plasma. 9.10 Electrolytes. 10 Phase Transition in Condensed Systems of Atoms. 10.1 Peculiarities of the Solid-liquid Phase Transition. 10.2 Configuration Excitation of a Solid. 10.3 Modified Lattice Model for Configuration Excitation of a Bulk System of Bound Atoms. 10.4 Liquid State of Rare Gases as a Configurationally Excited State. 10.5 The Role of Thermal Excitation in the Existence of the Liquid State. 10.6 Glassy States and Their Peculiarities. III Processes and Non-equilibrium Atomic Systems. 11 Collision Processes Involving Atomic Particles. 11.1 Elementary Collisions of Particles. 11.2 Elastic Collisions of Particles. 11.3 Hard Sphere Model. 11.4 Cross Section of Capture. 11.5 Liquid Drop Model. 11.6 Association of Clusters in Dense Buffer Gas. 11.7 The Resonant Charge Exchange Process. 11.8 The Principle of Detailed Balance for Direct and Inverse Processes. 11.9 Three-body Processes and the Principle of Detailed Balance. 11.10 The Principle of Detailed Balance for Processes of Cluster Growth. 12 Kinetic Equation and Collision Integrals. 12.1 The Boltzmann Kinetic Equation. 12.2 Collision Integral. 12.3 Equilibrium Gas. 12.4 The Boltzmann H-Theorem. 12.5 Entropyand Information. 12.6 The Irreversibility of the Evolution of Physical Systems. 12.7 Irreversibility and the Collapse of Wave Functions. 12.8 Attractors. 12.9 Collision Integral for Electrons in Atomic Gas. 12.10 The Landau Collision Integral. 12.11 Collision Integral for Clusters in Parent Vapor. 13 Non-equilibrium Objects and Phenomena. 13.1 Non-equilibrium Molecular Gas. 13.2 Violation of the Boltzmann Distribution Due toRadiation. 13.3 Processes in Photoresonant Plasma. 13.4 Equilibrium Establishment for Electrons in an Ideal Plasma. 13.5 Electron Drift in a Gas in an External Electric Field. 13.6 Diffusion Coefficient of Electrons in aGas. 13.7 Distribution Function of Electrons in a Gas in an External Electric Field. 13.8 Atom Excitation by Electrons in a Gas in an Electric Field. 13.9 Excitation of Atoms in Plasma. 13.10 Thermal Equilibrium in a Cluster Plasma. IV Transport Phenomena in Atomic Systems. 14 General Principles of Transport Phenomena. 14.1 Types of Transport Phenomena. 14.2 Diffusion Motion of Particles. 14.3 The Einstein Relation. 14.4 Heat Transport. 14.5 Thermal Conductivity Due to Internal Degrees of Freedom. 14.6 Momentum Transport. 14.7 Thermal Conductivity of Crystals. 14.8 Diffusion of Atoms in Condensed Systems. 14.9 Diffusion of Voids as Elementary Configuration Excitations. 14.10 Void Instability. 14.11 Onsager Symmetry of Transport Coefficients. 15 Transport of Electrons in Gases. 15.1 Conductivity of Weakly Ionized Gas. 15.2 Electron Mobility in a Gas. 15.3 Conductivity of Strongly Ionized Plasma. 15.4 Thermal Diffusion of Electrons in a Gas. 15.5 Electron Thermal Conductivity. 15.6 The Hall Effect. 15.7 Deceleration of Fast Electrons in Plasma. 16 Transport of Electrons in Condensed Systems. 16.1 Electron Gas of Metals. 16.2 Electrons in a Periodical Field. 16.3 Conductivity of Metals. 16.4 Fermi Surface of Metals. 16.5 Drift of an Excess Electron in Condensed Systems. 16.6 The Tube Character of Electron Drift in Condensed Inert Gases. 16.7 Electron Mobility in Condensed Systems. 17 Transport of Ions and Clusters. 17.1 Ambipolar Diffusion. 17.2 Electrophoresis. 17.3 Macroscopic Equation for Ions Moving in Gas. 17.4 Mobility of Ions. 17.5 Mobility of Ions in Foreign Gas. 17.6 The Chapman-Enskog Method. 17.7 Mobility of Ions in the Parent Gas. 17.8 Mobility of Ions in Condensed Atomic Systems. 17.9 Diffusion of Small Particles in Gas or Liquid. 17.10 Cluster Instability. V Structures of Complex Atomic Systems. 18 Peculiarities of Cluster Structures. 18.1 Clusters of Close-packed Structure with a Short-range Interaction BetweenAtoms. 18.2 Energetics of Icosahedral Clusters. 18.3 Competition of Cluster Structures. 18.4 Configuration Excitation of Clusters. 18.5 Electron Energy Surface of Three Hydrogen Atoms. 18.6 Peculiarity of the Potential Energy Surface for Ensembles of Bound Atoms. 19 Structures of Bonded Large Molecules. 19.1 Structures of Atomic and Molecular Systems. 19.2 Solutions of Amphiphiles. 19.3 Structures of Amphiphilic Molecules. 19.4 Polymers. 19.5 Gels. 19.6 Charging of Particles in Suspensions. 19.7 Associationin Electric Fields and Chain Aggregates. 20 Fractal Systems. 20.1 Fractal Dimensionality. 20.2 Fractal Aggregates. 20.3 Fractal Objects Similar to Fractal Aggregates. 20.4 Percolation Clusters. 20.5 Aerogel. 20.6 Fractal Fiber. VI Nucleation Phenomena. 21 Character of Nucleation in Gases and Plasma. 21.1 Peculiarities of Condensation of Supersaturated Vapor. 21.2 Nuclei of Condensation. 21.3 Instability of Uniform Nucleating Vapor. 21.4 Classical Theory of Growth of Liquid Drops in Supersaturated Vapor. 21.5 NucleationatStrongSupersaturation. 21.6 Nucleation under Solid-Liquid Phase Transition. 22 Processes of Cluster Growth. 22.1 Mechanisms of Cluster Growth in Gases. 22.2 Kinetics of Cluster Coagulation. 22.3 The Coalescence Stage of Cluster Growth. 22.4 Growth of Grains in a Solid Solution. 22.5 Character of Growth of Charged Clusters in a Plasma. 22.6 Peculiarities of Nucleation on Surfaces. 23 Cluster Growth in Expanding Gases and Plasmas. 23.1 Transformation of Atomic Vapor in Clusters in an Expanding Gas. 23.2 Heat Regime of Cluster Growth in Expanding Gas. 23.3 Mechanisms of Nucleation in Free Jet Expansion. 23.4 Nucleation in Free Jet Expansion in Pure Gas. 23.5 Hagena Approximation for Nucleation Rate. 23.6 Character of Nucleation in Pure Gas. 23.7 Instability of Clusters in a Nonhomogeneous Vapor. 24 Conclusions. Appendix. A Physical Constants and Units. A.1 Some Physical Constants. A.2 Conversion Factors for Energy Units. A.3 Numerical Coefficients in Some Relationships of Physics. B Physical Parameters in the Form of the Periodical Table of Elements. B.1 Mobilities of Atomic Ions in Parent Gases. B.2 Ionization Potentials for Atoms and Their Ions. B.3 Electron Binding Energies in Negative Ions of Atoms. B.4 ParametersofDiatomicMolecules. B.5 Parameters of Positively Charged Diatomic Molecules. B.6 Parameters of Negatively Charged Diatomic Molecules. B.7 Cross Sections of Resonant Charge Exchange. B.8 Parameters of Evaporation for Metallic Liquid Clusters. B.9 Parameters of Metals at RoomTemperatures. B.10 Parameters of Crystal Structures of Elements at Low Temperatures. References. Index.


Compared to satellite-derived heating profiles, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies general circulation model (GCM) convective heating is too deep and its stratiform upper-level heating is too weak. This deficiency highlights the need for GCMs to parameterize the mesoscale organization of convection. Cloud-resolving model simulations of convection near Darwin, Australia, in weak wind shear environments of different humidities are used to characterize mesoscale organization processes and to provide parameterization guidance. Downdraft cold pools appear to stimulate further deep convection both through their effect on eddy size and vertical velocity. Anomalously humid air surrounds updrafts, reducing the efficacy of entrainment. Recovery of cold pool properties to ambient conditions over 5-6 h proceeds differently over land and ocean. Over ocean increased surface fluxes restore the cold pool to prestorm conditions. Over land surface fluxes are suppressed in the cold pool region; temperature decreases and humidity increases, and both then remain nearly constant, while the undisturbed environment cools diurnally. The upper-troposphere stratiform rain region area lags convection by 5-6 h under humid active monsoon conditions but by only 1-2 h during drier break periods, suggesting that mesoscale organization is more readily sustained in a humid environment. Stratiform region hydrometeor mixing ratio lags convection by 0-2 h, suggesting that it is strongly influenced by detrainment from convective updrafts. Small stratiform region temperature anomalies suggest that a mesoscale updraft parameterization initialized with properties of buoyant detrained air and evolving to a balance between diabatic heating and adiabatic cooling might be a plausible approach for GCMs.


We consider the representation of densely sampled scanned 3D objects. Scanning physical objects can be an efficient way of obtaining natural looking input for computer graphics image generation. Scanned meshes however require large amounts of storage. For applications such as computer graphics, preserving the look of objects rather than precise measurements is critical. We seek a representation that preserves characteristic features at both low and high spatial frequencies. Our proposed representation consists of a simplified base mesh and characteristic detailed patches. The detailed patches contain a spatially dense sampling of mean curvature on a small region on the object surface. A large initial set of patches covering the object is segmented into sets of patches using k-means clustering. Each cluster of patches is then compactly represented with Gaussian distributions. We present comparisons of a series of original scanned objects and the objects reconstructed from the compact representation.


Advances in medical knowledge give clinicians more objective information for a diagnosis. Therefore, there is an increasing need for bibliographic search engines that can provide services helping to facilitate faster information search. The ImageCLEFmed benchmark proposes a medical case-based retrieval task. This task aims at retrieving articles from the biomedical literature that are relevant for differential diagnosis of query cases including a textual description and several images. In the context of this campaign many approaches have been investigated showing that the fusion of visual and text information can improve the precision of the retrieval. However, fusion does not always lead to better results. In this paper, a new query-adaptive fusion criterion to decide when to use multi-modal (text and visual) or only text approaches is presented. The proposed method integrates text information contained in MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms extracted and visual features of the images to find synonym relations between them. Given a text query, the query-adaptive fusion criterion decides when it is suitable to also use visual information for the retrieval. Results show that this approach can decide if a text or multi{modal approach should be used with 77.15% of accuracy.


The development of an e¤ective mechanism for pricing options has inspired a large volume of academic research and has ultimately changed the landscape of the �nancial markets. Since the publication of Black and Scholes�(1973)
seminal paper on option pricing, the �nance literature has explored and at least partially resolved many of the limitations associated with the original model. The reality of stochastic volatility contradicts a key assumption of the Black-Scholes model and addressing this has motivated the development of more appropriate volatility models. The improved speci�cation and
forecasting of asset price volatility has been influenced by the demands of risk management and portfolio functions. The increased use of quantitative methods in portfolio management is due, in part at least, to successful
academic research into asset volatility.

Existing research is extended in this thesis by �rst examining the forecasting power of implied volatilities from traded UK equity options. Composite
implied volatilities are created using weighting techniques that efficiently capture the predictive information in traded options. These implied volatilities are benchmarked against subsequently realized stock price volatility estimated from high-frequency stock price data. The predictive information provided by the options market is compared against that available from sophisticated statistical models such as the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (GARCH) model and the exponential-GARCH (E-GARCH) model. Comparison of implied and statistical forecasts is carried out over a number of forecasting horizons using regression analysis as well
as robust pairwise tests.

The second part of this thesis uses semi-parametric techniques to examine the long-run dynamics of UK equity volatility. The nature of volatility persistence found in both the implied and realized volatility series of a
number of companies is carefully examined. Testing the time-domain properties of the volatility series identities the extent to which structural breaks in volatility contribute to observed levels of persistence in our sample of companies. The nature of the long-run relationship between implied and realized volatility is also examined. The relevance of these empirically observed volatility characteristics is examined in the final part of this thesis.

Using dynamic programming techniques together with Monte Carlo simulation, optimal portfolio weights are determined for a derivative strategy implemented in discrete time. The derivative strategy is activated across a six-month investment horizon and rebalancing occurs at the beginning of each month. The creation of a series of variance grid points at each time step makes the dynamic programming approach computationally feasible. Progressing backwards from the end of the investment horizon, optimal portfolio
weights are found for each of the variance grid points. The optimisation procedure assumes that volatility is driven by a short-memory affine process. The economic cost associated with omitting long-memory effects is isolated
by simulating a fractionally integrated process across the same investment horizon and applying the previously assigned weights at each time step. The relevance of omitting possible regime shifts in the volatility process are evaluated in the same manner. Portfolio outcomes are derived for the optimal case, that is, when actual volatility follows a short memory process. Outcomes are also derived for the alternative conditions, that is, a 'true' long memory, fractionally integrated process as well as the 'spurious' long memory or regime-switching case. The impact of volatility mis-specification is
captured in the characteristics of the portfolio's terminal wealth distribution.


This module has been designed to support the teaching of singing by tutors with some understanding of how to set about the task. Resources include links to songs, discussion materials, links to published resources and web-based video materials, academic texts and student activities. The intention is to balance skill development in singing with pedagogical awareness and critical understanding. The module consists of three phases:

(Pedagogy) What is there to think about in learning how to teach singing in the primary school?
(Strategy) How do you teach a song?
(Critical awareness) What are the issues to be aware of?
The activities and materials have been designed to provide a sensitive approach to getting students singing. There is an attempt to identify free resources which could support students' work in schools, and there is an opportunity for critical reflection on current initiatives in primary singing.


Corrosion is less frequent in prestressed concrete than in ordinary reinforced concrete, but when it does occur, the results can be more dangerous and more costly. In prestressed concrete structures the reinforcing steel elements are subjected to high mechanical stresses, therefore corrosion of the tendons can lead to catastrophic consequences, by the failure of the steel and consequently of structure, or part of it, with a great potential for life losses, life disruption, and a huge economical impact. One of the most dangerous aspects is that the corrosion related fracture of the steel might lead to a sudden collapse of the structure with little or no warning. The intention of this project report is to collect and synthesize information on the corrosion of the prestressing tendons as a mechanism of deterioration in prestressed concrete.


Abstract Communication abundance in the digital sphere has raised concern over audience fragmentation and the declining capacity of general news media to shape common experiences and promote shared discourses required by a well-functioning local democracy. Based on the concept of mediated public connection this paper offers an analytical framework to investigate how people orient themselves to a local public world through media in high-choice, digitally advanced information environments. Two analytical dimensions of people's media use – practice and perception – are tested on survey data from Norway (N = 1692) using a network analysis approach combined with media experience data. The study finds substantial convergence in use of different online and offline media with the largest audience overlap occurring between online local and regional newspapers and Facebook. These digital players represent the backbone of the local media environment under study. Overall, citizens' experiences with different media as democratic resources for their local public life are not very strong and weaker for online media than for their offline editions.


Effective integration of optical remote sensing with flux measurements across multiple scales is essential for understanding global patterns of surface – atmosphere fluxes of carbon and water vapor. SpecNet (Spectral Network) is an international network of cooperating investigators and sites linking optical measurements with flux sampling for the purpose of improving our understanding of the controls on these fluxes. An additional goal is to characterize disturbance impacts on surface – atmosphere fluxes. To reach these goals, key SpecNet objectives include the exploration of scaling issues, development of novel sampling tools, standardization and intercomparison of sampling methods, development of models and statistical methods that relate optical sampling to fluxes, exploration of component fluxes, validation of satellite products, and development of an informatics approach that integrates disparate data sources across scales. Examples of these themes are summarized in this review.


Objective: To determine whether family history of migraine increased the likelihood of posttraumatic migraine (PTM) symptom presentation in adolescents following concussion, and examine the influence of family history of migraine and PTM on postinjury outcomes. Setting: Outpatient concussion clinic. Participants: A total of 153 patients with concussion (103 males and 50 females) aged 15.72 ± 1.48 years (range 12–18 years). Design: Cross-sectional, observational study of patients presenting for initial evaluation 4.72 ± 3.05 days (range 1–14) postinjury. Main Measures: Computerized neurocognitive testing, symptom report, and vestibular/oculomotor screening. Results: Patients with a family history of migraine were 2.6 times (odds ratio = 2.60, confidence interval = 1.35–5.02, P = .003) more likely to present with PTM compared with patients without a family history. Results of multivariate analyses of covariance, controlling for concussion history, revealed significant main effects for PTM on (1) Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT)/Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) (F = 15.43, P <.001) and (2) Vestibular/Ocular Motor Screening (VOMS) (F = 8.52, P < .001). There was no main effect for family history of migraine on ImPACT/PCSS (P = .22) and VOMS (P = .83) or interaction between family history of migraine and PTM on ImPACT/PCSS (P = .84) and VOMS (P = .52). Conclusion: Family history of migraine is associated with PTM symptoms following sport-related concussion, suggesting a genetic predisposition for migraine may serve as a catalyst or trigger for onset of PTM. However, only presence of PTM, rather than family history of migraine, was related to worse neurocognitive and vestibular/oculomotor outcomes.


Plasma actuators based on dielectric barrier discharge promise a bright future in aerodynamical applications. By creating a body force in the surrounding gas through plasma – gas interaction, plasma actuators, operated in quiescent air, induce a weak flow above their surface with a velocity of typically 5-8 m/s, the so called ionic wind. The ionic wind can influence the boundary-layer of any externally applied flow. Thus, plasma actuators are used for flow-control applications with a wide range of different flow velocities, temperatures and pressures.

In the present work, the impact of these environmental conditions on the power consumption, plasma length and resonance behavior of the plasma actuators is studied. It is shown that an increase of the temperature or decrease of the pressure favor the discharge, as they increase the plasma length and the power consumption for a constant voltage amplitude. During the experiments temperatures from ambient temperature up to 600°C were tested and the pressure ranges from ambient pressure down to p = 0.11 bar. Scaling numbers and power laws were found to describe the impact of these parameters on the power consumption and plasma length. A hypothesis that the mean free path of the ions and electrons could be the dominant impact factor on the
discharge was derived. Thus, the temperature and pressure dependence on the mean free path leads to the observed effects. Also, it is shown that the impedance of the plasma actuator, which is a product of an active and passive component of the actuators capacitance, is increased by an increasing temperature or decreasing pressure. This effects lead to a decrease of the resonance frequency of the circuit.
External flows with small velocities between 0 m/s and 21 m/s have no effect on the power consumption and resonance behavior of an actuator. High velocities decrease the power consumption and the impedance, as they reduce the discharge volume and relative discharge duration. These effects are shown in different experiments of a plasma actuator exposed to flow Mach numbers between 0.42 and 0.7.

The second part of this thesis focuses on the investigation of the environmental and voltage impact on filaments in the discharge that are caused by an instability in the discharge process. It is shown that increasing the pressure or flow velocity stabilizes the discharge and thus delays the onset of the formation of filaments towards higher voltages. The temperature seems to have no impact on the onset voltage. These effects are in good agreement with the predications by a theoretical model of the filaments. With the help of streak-camera images it is shown that the filaments only occur during the negative half-cycle. Increasing the voltage amplitude or temperature increases the spacing between the filaments, which typically ranges in between 2 mm and 4 mm. The same effect is achieved by decreasing the pressure. Measurements with a Pitot tube
and particle image velocimetry show that the filaments increase the local velocity of the ionic wind by a factor of roughly 1.1 - 1.6. Thus, the ionic wind of a discharge with filaments looses its two-dimensional character and becomes three-dimensional. This effect may allow advanced flow-control strategies, for example active vortex generation using the discharge filaments.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze whether caregiver and family characteristics predict success in a family-based lifestyle intervention program for children and adolescents.

METHOD
Participants were 111 overweight and obese children (7-15 years) who attended a family-based weight-reduction program. Body mass index (BMI) and BMI standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS) of index child, and BMI of family members, family adversity characteristics, depression, and attachment attitudes of the primary caregiver were assessed.

RESULTS
Risk of nonresponse (<or=5% reduction of BMI-SDS or dropout) was elevated in older children, cases with obese sibling(s), maternal depression, and avoidant attachment attitude. In a logistic regression analysis, maternal depression, attachment attitude, and age of index child explained common variance whereas the presence of obese siblings explained unique variance in nonresponding.

DISCUSSION
To meet the specific needs of all participating families and to prevent the discouraging experience of failure in weight-control interventions, our data suggest that special support should be provided to adolescents with obese siblings, and cases of maternal depression, and avoidant attachment attitude.


Nonthermal plasmas generated at atmospheric pressure have recently found many applications such as surface cleaning and pollution control. One plasma generation configuration consists of two dielectrically insulated parallel plates with application of an AC voltage of several kV and several kHz. Such a plasma generating structure is very similar to many HV insulating systems and equipment and as such they share much similarity in the evolving plasma and associated plasma-structure interaction. In this contribution, we develop a one-dimensional numerical model to simulate discharge plasmas supported by such an insulated electrode structure and for simplicity we consider helium as the working gas. Assuming that the hydrodynamic approximation applies, various ionization, excitation and recombination processes are considered as sources of generation of charged particles and excited species. Boltzmann equations are then solved in conjunction with the Poisson equation. Numerical examples are then used to explore the conditions under which the induced plasma is nonthermal. Also studied is the dependence of the plasma upon frequency of the applied voltage and the pressure of the ambient gas. These correlative relationships should also be true for many insulating devices and systems.


Executive Summary The Oolloo aquifer is an important karstic aquifer in the northern part of Australia's Northern Territory. Its groundwater discharges into the Daly River, providing the major portion of its baseflow with flow maintained throughout the Dry season supporting the associated riverine ecosystems. This groundwater is also increasingly being extracted for agriculture. A draft Water Allocation Plan for the aquifer is to be released during early 2012 and this study comprises research into various aspects of aquifer water balance and components of the associated water cycle. It was undertaken in order to provide the most up to date scientific knowledge to support the plan. Geological investigations including reconnaissance mapping and drilling have better defined the extent of the aquifer and has confirmed a twofold subdivision into an upper, highly permeable, fractured and karstic aquifer and a lower, less permeable, mainly fractured rock aquifer. A new geological formation, the Florina Formation was also recognised and mapped. It is important because it acts as a confining layer to the Oolloo aquifer. Drilling through the Florina Formation into the top of the Oolloo aquifer has demonstrated that the Oolloo Dolostone was exposed to the atmosphere and underwent kastification prior to the deposition of the Florina Formation during the Early Palaeozoic. This explains the widespread development of the highly permeable karstic aquifer, even at depth in the central parts of the Daly Basin. The updated knowledge about the Oolloo aquifer has been used to compile a new hydrogeological map of the area. Groundwater discharge from the aquifer is largely through springs in the Daly and Katherine Rivers. They occur in places where confining layers are not present. Three main groups of springs were recognised based on location and discharge. They have been named the Katherine River, Stray Creek and Daly River spring zones. Spring discharge from the Oolloo aquifer varies considerably with time on a scale of decades due to medium term (decadal) rainfall changes. Hydrochemical investigations have indicated both upward and downward leakage of groundwaters between the Oolloo aquifer and overlying Cretaceous strata, depending on the local hydraulic gradient. Localised upward leakage from the underlying Jinduckin Formation into the Oolloo aquifer was also indicated. Nitrate concentrations in groundwater are very low. Broad trends in dissolved oxygen and iron(II) concentration, coupled with the fact that measured concentrations are so low, suggests there may be some capacity for denitrification to mitigate potential future nitrogen contamination of the groundwater. A suite of environmental tracers (222Rn, CFCs, SF6, 14C, and 4He) was used to characterise groundwater interaction between the Oolloo aquifer and Daly River. Both modern (less than about 100 years) and older (hundreds to thousands of years) waters were differentiated in the groundwater and springs. Their distribution has led to a new conceptual model of groundwater flow. At the small scale, within 1 km of the river, the Oolloo aquifer is recharged by a combination of deep drainage through surface soils and, to a lesser degree, from annual flooding and lateral flow into the aquifer. In the subsequent Dry season, discrete point source seeps provide relatively young water to the river. However, at the large scale, on the order of the Daly Basin, regional scale groundwater flow supplies water to major spring zones and most likely to submerged (concealed) seepage zones that extend downstream of Stray Creek. Along the entire section of the Stray Creek and Daly River spring zones the older regional-scale groundwater makes up approximately 35 per cent of the baseflow. In the Stray Creek spring zone it represents approximately 90 per cent of baseflow. At Oolloo Crossing, groundwater levels exhibit a hydraulic damming effect that governs interaction between the Daly River and adjacent aquifer. At this location extensive bank-storage is probably not occurring during the annual flooding. Groundwater recharge was estimated utilising environmental tracers, analysis of time-series hydraulic head data and cross sectional numerical modelling. Vertical recharge was estimated to be 17 per cent of rainfall where the massive unit of the Oolloo aquifer is close to the ground surface and 7 per cent where overlain by Cretaceous sediments. When a dual-continua approach to modelling groundwater flow and apparent age is invoked, the unique transmission and storage properties (i.e. matrix and conduit flow) of the Oolloo aquifer can be replicated. Furthermore, qualitative comparison of apparent age appears to be useful for further constraining numerical models. Recharge (and other water balance components) was also estimated using SVAT (soil-vapour-atmospheric transfer) models calibrated, where possible for soils, vegetation and land forms of the Daly River catchment. The SWAT model was tested over the Oolloo region, simulating surface runoff, soil profile water redistribution and evapotranspiration. Model outputs compared reasonably to observed data available. In addition, outputs from the WAVES model were extracted to generate a map of deep drainage (downward drainage beyond the root zone) and values of recharge ranged up to 150 mm/year with a mean of 67 mm/year (7 per cent of rainfall) in good agreement with geochemical based estimates. These models are limited by the paucity of soil data available to provide robust simulations, with soil hydraulics particularly import for the accurate partitioning of runoff and drainage. An extensive set of soil hydraulic properties was obtained by field and laboratory measurements across the extent of the Oolloo aquifer to examine the degree of spatial variation and the departure from agricultural soil types for which there are some available data. Observations were made across the Oolloo region to examine variability in soil texture, bulk density, hydraulic conductivity and water release properties. Two distinct groups were identified based on water release characteristics that correspond to agricultural and non-agricultural soils. Data describing non-agricultural soils is sparse despite the area occupied across the Daly catchment, especially in headwaters landforms. A flume was established within one of these small headwater creek systems characterised by skeletal soils and runoff was three times that typically occurring from agricultural soils. Spring dependant ecosystems will be broadly protected by the Water Allocation Plan as it sets minimum flows at various points in the river based on ecological studies. More localised impacts on spring flows caused by drawdowns from production bores located too close to the river need to be addressed. To do this buffer zones adjacent to the main spring zones are recommended. The karstic nature of the aquifer makes it difficult to set distance limits based on rigorous scientific methods. Observed groundwater levels and overall knowledge of the aquifer have been used to recommend limits of three km for the Stray Creek spring zone and 1.5km for the Daly and Katherine River spring zones.


Electric fields can be effectively used to sense, manipulate, and move particles in lab-on-a-chip devices. Nevertheless, the throughput of such devices is a critical issue, which can be effectively improved by increasing the height of the microchannels. For this purpose, vertical electrodes are needed in order to apply electrical stimuli homogeneously over the full height of the channel. In this paper, we propose different fabrication processes based on a conformal coating of 3-D SU-8 structures with metal layers, defining vertical electrodes in microfluidic channels with high aspect ratio and uniform coating of the vertical sidewalls. We describe two different strategies to achieve the patterning of connection lines inside the gaps of the pillar electrodes - one based on liftoff and the other based on dry film resist. We show how the liftoff approach allows for high connection densities and high resolution of the patterning inside the 3-D electrode arrays. Moreover, we highlight how the dry film process provides an efficient and low-cost alternative when neither high-density patterning nor high resolution is needed. Standard resistive and impedance measurements show high conductivity of the structures whose fabrication process grants standard photolithographic resolution in the definition of the electrode features.


This paper according to the characteristics and functions of WeldQAS V5 HKS intelligent welding monitoring system. In this paper, the technology and method of combining intelligent monitoring system with welding robot to create a monitoring program is analyzed in detail. At the same time, the use of some functions of V5 WeldQAS system is described, and the monitoring technology is applied to the automatic welding technology of the side beam of high speed EMU bogie, It reflects the rail passenger car industry's most advanced intelligent control of welding quality results. Through the data of welding monitoring records, to achieve the welding products and parameters of traceability, not only effectively control the process parameters, reduce labor intensity of workers, but also improve the quality of welding significantly. It pointed out that the intelligent welding monitoring technology is an effective method to improve the degree of welding automation and ensure the quality of welding.


An important prerequisite for the reliability and robustness of a service robot is ensuring the robot's correct behavior when it performs various tasks of interest. Extensive testing is one established approach for ensuring behavioural correctness; this becomes even more important with the integration of learning-based methods into robot software architectures, as there are often no theoretical guarantees about the performance of such methods in varying scenarios. In this paper, we aim towards evaluating the correctness of robot behaviors in tabletop manipulation through automatic generation of simulated test scenarios in which a robot assesses its performance using property-based testing. In particular, key properties of interest for various robot actions are encoded in an action ontology and are then verified and validated within a simulated environment. We evaluate our framework with a Toyota Human Support Robot (HSR) which is tested in a Gazebo simulation. We show that our framework can correctly and consistently identify various failed actions in a variety of randomised tabletop manipulation scenarios, in addition to providing deeper insights into the type and location of failures for each designed property.


Recently, fitted Q-iteration (FQI) based methods have become more popular due to their increased sample efficiency, a more stable learning process and the higher quality of the resulting policy. However, these methods remain hard to use for continuous action spaces which frequently occur in real-world tasks, e.g., in robotics and other technical applications. The greedy action selection commonly used for the policy improvement step is particularly problematic as it is expensive for continuous actions, can cause an unstable learning process, introduces an optimization bias and results in highly non-smooth policies unsuitable for real-world systems. In this paper, we show that by using a soft-greedy action selection the policy improvement step used in FQI can be simplified to an inexpensive advantage-weighted regression. With this result, we are able to derive a new, computationally efficient FQI algorithm which can even deal with high dimensional action spaces.


Preservice elementary teachers should experience science through inquiry in order to be effective in teaching science. In addition, inquiry as a mode of teaching is mandated by Kansas and National Science Education Standards. As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, teachers also need to be prepared to include basic skills in reading and mathematics in all instruction. To address these issues, Fort Hays State University (FHSU) is adapting and extending the NSF‐developed teacher enhancement materials Operation Primary Physical Science (OPPS) for use in a physical science course for preservice elementary teachers. This paper presents main features of OPPS, describes advantages of using it as a template in developing desired course material and discusses results collected with students enrolled in the adapted course during 2004/2005 academic year.


Within the European Community, the elderly community is growing, and consequently there has been a significant increase in the need for the provision of assistance to carers, with family carers in general playing a central role in most activities of informal care in the community. This type of care is based on a strong liaison between informal carers, the professionals and the frail, elderly or disabled person(s) who are the focus of care. Services like videoconferencing, multimedia information, bespoke programs can help the carers in their daily work. ACTION is a European funded project in healthcare telematics. The article describes recent telematics developments and gives a detailed overview of the ACTION project.


A perceptual approach to generating features for use in indexing and retrieving images is described. Salient regions that immediately attract the eye are colour (textured) regions that usually dominate an image. Features derived from these will allow search for images that are similar perceptually. We compute colour features and Gabor colour texture features on regions identified from a coarse representation of the image, generated by a multiband smoothing algorithm based on human psychophysical measurements of colour appearance. Images are retrieved, using a multi-feedback retrieval and ranking mechanism. We examine the performance of the features and the feedback mechanism.


The levels of total Mercury (t-Hg) were determined in various segments of the marine environment of Qatar. Several coastal stations, both on the East as well as the West coast of Qatar were worked for t-Hg in seawater, sediments and biological matrices. Nearly 20 stations were worked within the EEZ of Qatar, on the east coast, wherein seawater samples were collected at different depths for t-Hg along with surface sediments and resident biota. Seawater samples were not filtered and results given are for total dissolved Hg. Sediment samples were analyzed for leachable as well as t-Hg contents. A wide range of 22-198 ng/L values were obtained for the seawater samples, 0.098-317 ug/g dry wt. in sediments and 0.008-0.093 ug/g dry wt. in biota were measured. The leachable fractions amounted to a range of 3-18% of the t-Hg in sediments. The results do not indicate any elevated levels but are discussed in the light of the geographical distribution of stations and sampling sites with respect to their location and possible input sources.


This research project is designed to determine a plan of assessment and intervention, which can be used by nurses in the community to help elderly patients cope with painful conditions. A theoretical model is developed, in which coping is defined in terms of the degree of control experienced over pain and other stressors. This model identifies emotional state as the indicator of coping at any particular time. A study is described, in which subjects were 190 retired patients, who were being visited by a district nurse, and who identified that they had persistent or recurrent pain. Data on pain and coping was collected using semi-structured interview. Mood state was measured as the dependent variable. Independent variables for quantitative analysis included pain intensity ratings, pain duration, disability, health, personal and financial problems, age and locus of control. Qualitative data were collected to validate the quantitative findings. Questionnaire data were collected from nurses for purposes of verification and comparison. Nonparametric correlations, and multiple regression analysis, identified that the variables which directly determined coping were feeling the pain to be under control, being occupied, feeling informed about the painful condition, having regrets and non pain-related personal problems (notably bereavement loss). Those who used active occupational and pain-relieving strategies coped better than those who adopted passive coping strategies. Patients generally valued supportive aspects of nursing care, particularly the provision of encouragement and confidence. Nurses systematically underestimated patients' worst pain and overestimated anxiety. There was a significant association between patients' pain complaints and perceived pain exaggeration. Few nurses used a pain assessment protocol, or had received formal education in the management of chronic pain. These results are used to produce guidelines for the nursing management of elderly patients with pain in the community, with particular reference to assessment and intervention, based upon the nursing process.


Following the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act, a persistent policy of urban containment has been pursued throughout rural areas of the United Kingdom. In spite of growing evidence that the effects of containment are incompatible with key aspects of public policy towards housing, agriculture and the environment, there is little sign that government agencies are considering the possibility of a serious policy re-think. This thesis represents the first attempt to analyse the continued commitment to this core of the British land use planning system from the perspective of public choice theory. The thesis begins with an outline of the institutional focus of public choice analysis, considering the fundamental questions of 'market failure', 'government failure' and the theoretical case for state intervention in the market for land. Having examined the evolving context of urban containment in the post-war period, the thesis proceeds to apply key elements of public choice to decision-making incentives in the planning system. The empirical analysis commences with an account of interest group behaviour on the 'demand side' of the political system. A subsequent section turns to the 'supply side', examining bureaucratic incentive structures and the role of regulatory agencies in the management of land use change. A still further section considers the role of legislative incentives on the 'supply side'. Finally, the empirical analysis concludes with a case study of a major planning dispute. The evidence presented suggests that a combination of institutional incentives on both the 'demand' and 'supply' sides of the 'political market' has led to the continual growth of restrictive land use regulation at the expense of a diffuse and unorganized mass of urban taxpayers and consumers. The thesis concludes by outlining a possible institutional alternative based on private property rights, which might help to avoid these undesirable elements of the British planning system.


The d-log t curves of typical fast, medium, and slow emulsions when coated with oils fluorescing in the blue, near ultraviolet, and far ultraviolet respectively, have been studied in the region 900 to 5000 Angstroms by means of a vacuum spectrograph designed especially for photographic photometry, together with ordinary quartz spectrographs. The reciprocity and intermittency failures of the same emulsions, unoiled and when coated with the three oils, have been studied in the range 2300–5000A. The absorption and fluoresence spectra of the oils were also studied in the same range. It was found that the contrast obtained with oil coated plates is constant throughout that part of the spectrum in which the oil absorbs all of the incident light, and is equal to the contrast of the unoiled emulsion near the wave length of maximum intensity of fluorescence of the oil. As the oils studied absorb completely from their respective long wave limits down to at least 900A, the contrast obtained in the Schumann region was constant for a given oil-emulsion combination. This property greatly simplifies photographic photometry in the Schumann region, and enables one to assume the reciprocity law throughout that region when oil-emulsion combinations are used which have been found to obey the reciprocity law at the fluorescence maxima. Most of the secondary problems of photographic photometry are thus transferred from the difficult Schumann region to the near ultraviolet or visible where they can be more readily attacked. A device for varying intensities in the Schumann region is described, which is easily calibrated by means of the reciprocity law after the latter has been tested. A number of suggestions are made by which the use of fluorescent materials can be expected to simplify certain other problems of photometry.


This study is focused on the mineral assemblages developed during hydrothermal alteration in the host rocks of the Chelopech deposit and aims to reveal some characteristics of ore-forming fluids. Three well-distinguished and simultaneously formed hydrothermal alteration zones, characterized by specific mineral associations, occur in the area: advanced argillic, sericitic and propylitic. The presence of silica residue localities in the advanced argillic zone marks the major channels of hydrothermal fluids and indicates participation of extremely acid fluids. The existence of alunite and zunyite in the alteration indicates development of acid-sulphate hydrothermal environment, with presence of F in the fluid, which is considered to be an important feature of ore-bearing high-sulphidation epithermal systems. Dickite in association with alunite in the upper levels of the deposit suggests temperature of formation 200–250 °C. The highest temperature in depth is limited up to 375 °C, considering the occurrence of zunyite, pyrophyllite and dickite.


The advent of Online Social Networks allowed scientists to remarkably improve the knowledge of the mechanisms controlling the formation of information diffusion chains in social networks (typically referred to as information cascades). Nevertheless, we are still not fully able to explain the role of social tie strength in the process, since most of the analyses in literature are based on unweighted networks only, i.e., they do not consider the social strength of the links between nodes. In this paper we contribute to fill this gap by analysing the properties of synthetically generated information cascades in a social network derived from a Facebook communication dataset. The properties of the cascades are studied in detail in relation to the characteristics of the nodes from which the diffusion starts (seed nodes). We compute, for both weighted and unweighted networks, the correlation between different measures of connectivity and centrality of the seed nodes, and the coverage of the resulting cascades. The results indicate that the knowledge of the strength of the social links is fundamental to infer which nodes will give rise to large information cascades.


The cells in mouse bone marrow (BM) capable of responding to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) were shown to be precursor T cells in experiments employing athymic mice, immunofluorescence, and specific lysis of T or B cells with cytotoxic antisera + complement. In contrast, the responses of lymph node (LN) and spleen (Spl) cells to this mitogen were shown by the same techniques to rely upon resident populations of mature T lymphocytes in these peripheral lymphoid organs. Cytolysis of T cells with anti-theta (anti-Thy 1), anti- thymocyte, or anti-brain antisera abolished the PHA responses of LN and Spl, but had no appreciable effect on the BM PHA response. Lysis of B cells with anti-mouse gamma globulin or anti-mouse IgM antisera had no significant effect on either Spl or BM blastogenesis in response to this lectin. Immunofluorescent studies with fluoresceinated anti-brain sera demonstrated acquisition of T-cell surface antigens by BM null lymphocytes during the blastogenic response of this tissue to PHA. The results of these immunofluorescence experiments were reproducible even when marrow obtained from nude mice and pretreated with anti-brain serum plus complement was employed. The implications of these findings with regard to prophylaxis against graft versus host disease in BM transplant recipients are discussed.


Abstract We used an over-dispersed Poisson regression with fixed and random effects, fitted by Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, to model population spatial patterns of relative abundance of American woodcock (Scolopax minor) across its breeding range in the United States. We predicted North American woodcock Singing Ground Survey counts with a log-linear function of explanatory variables describing habitat, year effects, and observer effects. The model also included a conditional autoregressive term representing potential correlation between adjacent route counts. Categories of explanatory habitat variables in the model included land-cover composition, climate, terrain heterogeneity, and human influence. Woodcock counts were higher in landscapes with more forest, especially aspen (Populus tremuloides) and birch (Betula spp.) forest, and in locations with a high degree of interspersion among forest, shrubs, and grasslands. Woodcock counts were lower in landscapes with a high degree of human development. The most noteworthy practical application of this spatial modeling approach was the ability to map predicted relative abundance. Based on a map of predicted relative abundance derived from the posterior parameter estimates, we identified major concentrations of woodcock abundance in east-central Minnesota, USA, the intersection of Vermont, USA, New York, USA, and Ontario, Canada, the upper peninsula of Michigan, USA, and St. Lawrence County, New York. The functional relations we elucidated for the American woodcock provide a basis for the development of management programs and the model and map may serve to focus management and monitoring on areas and habitat features important to American woodcock.


Motivation In the event of an outbreak due to an emerging pathogen, time is of the essence to contain or to mitigate the spread of the disease. Drug repositioning is one of the strategies that has the potential to deliver therapeutics relatively quickly. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has shown that integrating critical data resources to drive drug-repositioning studies, involving host-host, hostpathogen and drug-target interactions, remains a time-consuming effort that translates to a delay in the development and delivery of a life-saving therapy. Results Here, we describe a workflow we designed for a semi-automated integration of rapidly emerging datasets that can be generally adopted in a broad network pharmacology research setting. The workflow was used to construct a COVID-19 focused multimodal network that integrates 487 host-pathogen, 74,805 host-host protein and 1,265 drug-target interactions. The resultant Neo4j graph database named "Neo4COVID19" is accessible via a web interface and via API calls based on the Bolt protocol. We believe that our Neo4COVID19 database will be a valuable asset to the research community and will catalyze the discovery of therapeutics to fight COVID-19. Availability https://neo4covid19.ncats.io


Writing in general, second language writing in particular, can be an obstacle for some students. The reason why writing can be hard to learn is that writers face many challenges the moment they start writing. The challenges could be from gathering the ideas to be written, planning of the outline, focusing on sentence structure, choosing the appropriate expressions, and also making sure of the organization. Moreover, these challenges can cause students to have negative attitudes towards writing. Previous studies suggest that using writing strategies can help student control the writing process which have a positive effect on their writing achievement and their attitudes towards writing. The strategy of mind mapping is used as a pre-writing strategy to help writers visualize the structure of their writing. However, the researcher proposes using mind mapping strategy not only to organize ideas, but also to organize grammatical and linguistic knowledge. This study investigates the effect of using this mind mapping strategy as a pre-writing strategy to enhance female language learners' writing achievement and their attitudes towards writing in English at Taif University, Saudi Arabia. In a quasi-experimental design, a mixed methods approach was adopted by collecting quantitative and qualitative data. The study population is 128 students in an experimental group (n1= 57) and a control group (n2=71). The former received the treatment of instruction using mind mapping strategy and the latter received traditional instruction. The objectives of this study are first, to identify any differences between the mean scores of the experimental group and the control group on post-tests of writing attitudes and writing achievement; second, to identify differences between the mean scores of the pre- and post-tests of writing attitudes and writing achievement for the experimental group; third, to explore students' views concerning difficulties to write in English. fourth, to identify the strategies they used to overcome these difficulties; fifth, to investigate if students thought that mind mapping helped them write better and, if so, how. The researcher prepared a test to measure the writing achievement of female first-year EFL students, and a questionnaire by Sturm (1996) to measure writing attitudes. An interview was conducted with a focus group from the experimental group to achieve the third, fourth and fifth objectives. Independent samples and paired sample t-tests were performed to quantitively analyze data from the writing achievement test and the writing attitudes questionnaire. Data collected from the interview were qualitatively analyzed. The finding of the current study are first, there exists differences between the mean scores of the experimental and the control group on the post-tests of the students` writing achievement and writing attitudes, in favor of the experimental group; second there exists significant differences between the mean scores of the experimental group's pre- and post-tests in writing achievement and writing attitudes, in favor of the post-test; third, students' difficulties to write in English include lack of vocabulary, organization, spelling and grammar; fourth, students are accustomed to memorizing, practicing, and self-correcting, which indicates they are not used to planning their writing; finally, students also positively perceived the strategy of mind mapping and thought it helped them to better write in English.


This paper researches Lev Vygotsky's theory of mediation in order to address the challenges of forming a holistic approach in the analysis of digital learning environments. It attempts to analyse Lev Vygotsky's approach to mediation and sign operation in learning, as well as the role of communication in the Zone of Proximal Development in order to establish the actuality of Vygotskian theory for the analysis of learning and teaching in terms of digital educational environments. To this end, this paper analyses how the simultaneous representation of artistic texts through various digital media, i.e. study material, shapes the process of learning and teaching. The paper explores the role of inner speech in mediation of study material by means of various sign systems, in order to illustrate the educational value of using various forms of media in learning. The theoretical foundations developed in the paper were illustrated by the examples from the digital platform 'Education on Screen'. The platform represents a research project of the Transmedia Research Group at the University of Tartu, Estonia. The platform offers digital solutions for learning literature, history, social and culture studies in terms of school curriculum.


A four-phase program to improve the specific energy absorbed by axially crushed
composite collapsible tubular energy absorber devices was undertaken. In the first
phase, the effects of trigged tube wall on the crushing behaviour were investigated.
At this stage, triggered tubes were fabricated and crushed. The second phase is
aimed at obtaining the best position for the triggered wall. The third phase focuses
on the effects of material sizing in order to understand the influence of triggered
wall Iength on the responses of composite circular tubes to the axial crushing load.
The results from these three phases lead to the fourth phase. The objective of the 4t"
phases was to optimise the shape geometry of the cross-section area to further
improve tube energy absorption capability. The tubes were manufactured from
woven roving glasslepoxy fabric and had the same lay-up providing a common
laminate for comparison. The failure modes were observed and the specific
sustained crushing loads were determined and compared against non-optimized tubes of the same lay-up. The importance of differentiating between initiation
energy and propagation energy is shown, and a new parameter (energy capability
index (ECI)) is proposed, as a useful measure for comparing crush behaviour of
composite structures. The experimental results demonstrated strong potential
benefits of optimizing the material distribution. The sizing and shape optimization of
composite collapsible tubes exhibited a pronounced effect on their capability to
absorb high specific energy under axial compressive load.
For the effect of triggering it was that tubes (TN) observed to experience
catastrophic failure mode during the post crush stage also displayed very poor
energy absorption. Triggering a part of tube wall was very efficient in improving the
energy absorption capacity of circular composite tubes. Accordingly tubes with
triggered wall (T-tubes) exhibited highest energy absorption capacity compared with
non-triggered tubes. They also experience stable post-crush region of loaddisplacement
curves, which leads to high crashworthiness performance. It is also
evident from the experimental results that change in the triggered wall aspect ratio
significantly affected the energy absorption capability of tube with middle triggered
wall (TM-tubes). Distinct differences were observed between the different aspect
ratio, where TM tubes (i.e. tubes with triggered wall aspect ratio of 0.28) exhibited
the highest energy absorption capacity. Different failure modes were observed for
different triggered wall length ratios (Lt,/H). For the core tubes (TMC-), was
observed that core presence markedly improved the energy absorption capacity of
composite circular tubes. Among TMC- tubes, TMC3 tubes (i.e. tubes with core
thickness of 3.35mm) displayed highest energy absorption capacity.


The Miranda v. Arizona (1966) decision was a pivotal case in the United States. It afforded rights to suspects and defendants against self-incrimination and representation during police interrogations. Miranda ensured police read individuals in custody their rights before interrogations. However, what happens when individuals being read their rights do not fully comprehend the significance of what the police are telling them, whether it is because of lack of comprehension due to brain development, or susceptibility to the influence of those questioning them? The courts have examined these direct issues when it comes to "voluntary" confessions made by juveniles. Several cases ( J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 2011; Yarborough v. Alvarado, 2004) have tackled elements of this issue in court, but studies show that a majority of youth do not fully comprehend what they are waiving when police read their Miranda warnings. This paper will examine the decision in Miranda and other key cases related to the interrogation of juveniles, explore the cognitive development of juveniles, and investigate how police handle interrogation of juveniles.


Outlier detection is an important research problem in data mining that aims to discover useful abnormal and irregular patterns hidden in large data sets. Most existing outlier detection methods only deal with static data with relatively low dimensionality. Recently, outlier detection for high-dimensional stream data became a new emerging research problem. A key observation that motivates this research is that outliers in high-dimensional data are projected outliers, i.e., they are embedded in lower-dimensional subspaces. Detecting projected outliers from high-dimensional stream data is a very challenging task for several reasons. First, detecting projected outliers is difficult even for high-dimensional static data. The exhaustive search for the outlying subspaces where projected outliers are embedded is a NP problem. Second, the algorithms for handling data streams are constrained to take only one pass to process the streaming data with the conditions of space limitation and time criticality. The currently existing methods for outlier detection are found to be ineffective for detecting projected outliers in high-dimensional data streams.
In this thesis, we present a new technique, called the Stream Project Outlier deTector (SPOT), which attempts to detect projected outliers in high-dimensional data streams. SPOT employs an innovative window-based time model in capturing dynamic statistics from stream data, and a novel data structure containing a set of top sparse subspaces to detect projected outliers effectively. SPOT also employs a multi-objective genetic algorithm as an effective search method for finding the outlying subspaces where most projected outliers are embedded. The experimental results demonstrate that SPOT is efficient and effective in detecting projected outliers for high-dimensional data streams. The main contribution of this thesis is that it provides a backbone in tackling the challenging problem of outlier detection for high-dimensional data streams. SPOT can facilitate the discovery of useful abnormal patterns and can be potentially applied to a variety of high demand applications, such as for sensor network data monitoring, online transaction protection, etc.


Patients with Parkinson disease (PD) exhibit a gait disorder called festinating gait which is caused by deficiency of dopamine in the basal ganglia. To analyze gait of patients with PD, different spatiotemporal parameters such as stride length, cadence, and walking speed should be calculated. This paper aims to present a method to extract useful information represented by the positions of certain landmarks on the human body that can be used for analysis of PD patients' gait. This method is tested using 132 videos collected from 7 PD patients and 7 healthy controls. The positions of 4 body landmarks, namely body's center of gravity (COG), the position of the head, and the position of the feet, was computed using a total of more than 41000 of video frames. Results of object's movement plots show high level of accuracy in the calculation of the body landmarks.


Today there is ample evidence that the Cognitive Interview (CI) enhances witnesses' memory. However, less is known about how the CI affects eyewitnesses' confidence. To address this shortcoming we conducted a study analyzing how realism in confidence was affected by the CI. All participants (n=79) were first shown a filmed kidnapping. After 2 weeks we interviewed one-third of the participants according to the guidelines of the CI, one-third according to a Standard Interview (SI), and one-third were not interviewed at all (Control condition). Participants in all three conditions were then asked to answer 45 forced-choice questions, and to give a confidence judgment after each choice. For the 45 questions, no differences in accuracy were found between the three conditions. Confidence was higher in the CI and SI conditions, compared with the Control condition. CI and SI did not differ in metacognitive realism but both showed lower realism compared with the Control condition, although only CI significantly so. The results indicate that the inflation in confidence is more likely to be explained in terms of a reiteration effect, than as a consequence of the particular mnemonics characterizing the CI (e.g. "mental reinstatement of context"). In sum, CI does not seem to impair (or improve) the realism in witnesses' confidence, and does not inflate confidence in erroneous recall, compared to a SI.


NF-κB is a major transcription factor mediating inflammatory response. In response to proinflammatory stimulus, it exhibits characteristic response – a pulse followed by noisy oscillations in concentrations of considerably smaller amplitude. NF-κB is an important mediator of cellular communication, as it is both activated by and upregulates production of cytokines, signals used by white blood cells to find the source of inflammation. While the oscillatory dynamics of NF-κB has been extensively investigated both experimentally and theoretically, the role of the noise and the lower secondary amplitude has not been addressed. We use a cellular automaton model to address these issues in the context of spatially distributed communicating cells. We find that noisy secondary oscillations stabilize concentric wave patterns, thus improving signal quality. Furthermore, both lower secondary amplitude as well as noise in the oscillation period might be working against chronic inflammation, the state of self-sustained and stimulus-independent excitations. Our findings suggest that the characteristic irregular secondary oscillations of lower amplitude are not accidental. On the contrary, they might have evolved to increase robustness of the inflammatory response and the system's ability to return to pre-stimulated state.


The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of modification and nitrogen alloying of X210Cr12 tool steel by addition of nanosized Si3N4 during the casting process. This is an air hardening, high-carbon, high-chromium tool steel which displays an excellent wear resistance and has good dimensional stability and high compressive strength. Of great importance for the tools fabrication of this steel is the ledeboritic structure after casting and the influence of its characteristics on the next processes of forging. machining and heat treatment for obtaining of optimal properties. In this case a modification at the cast process and obtaining of finer structure is a precondition for better results on the next stages of tool manufacture. The role of nitrogen for obtaining of fine grained structure is already proved for many types of steels and the alloying process is precise developed. Si3N4 is one of the most suitable nitrogenous alloying agents for production of alloyed with nitrogen steels because of its high nitrogen content and stability. The investigations show a considerable improvement of the cast structure of X210Cr12 tool steel after the addition of small amount of nanosized silicon nitride during the casting process.