Turkey is located on the Mediterranean sector of Alpine-Himalayan Tectonic Belt with many grabens, acidic volcanism, hydrothermal alteration zones, numerous hot springs and fumaroles. The data gathered since 1962 indicate that Turkey has a high geothermal energy potential. By comparison, it is among the first seven countries in abundance of geothermal resources around the world, while the share of its potential used is only about 2%. This means that considerable studies on geothermal energy could be conducted in order to increase energy supply and to reduce atmospheric pollution in Turkey. The main objective of the present study is threefold, namely: (1) to overview Turkey's geothermal fields suitable for power generation together with their possible utilization opportunities, (2) to present problems encountered and research projects developed in the Denizli-Kizildere geothermal field with an estimated capacity of 200 MWe and (3) to assess the current status of geothermal energy use for electric energy production in Turkey. The Denizli-Kizildere geothermal power plant with an installed capacity of 20.4 MWe, which is, at present, the only operating geothermal power plant of Turkey, was put into operation in 1984, while electricity from geothermal energy has been produced commercially since 1913. This plant produced on average an electrical energy of 84,920 MWh in the period between 1998–2001, representing an average electric power of 10.45 MWe in the same period. Parallel to the development of the geothermal energy utilization in the country, it is projected that, by the years 2010 and 2020, the total geothermal power installed capacity will increase to 500 MWe and 1000 MWe, respectively.


A feature model (FM) defines the valid combinations of features, whose combinations correspond to a program in a Software Product Line (SPL). FMs may evolve, for instance, during refactoring activities. Developers may use a catalog of refactorings as support. However, the catalog is incomplete in principle. Additionally, it is non-trivial to propose correct refactorings. To our knowledge, no previous analysis technique for FMs is used for checking properties of general FM refactorings (a trans- formation that can be applied to a number of FMs) containing a representative number of features. We propose an efficient encoding of FMs in the Alloy formal specification language. Based on this encoding, we show how the Alloy Analyzer tool, which per- forms analysis on Alloy models, can be used to automatically check whether encoded general and specific FM refactorings are correct. Our approach can analyze general transformations automatically to a significant scale in a few seconds. In order to evalu- ate the analysis performance of our encoding, we evaluated in automatically generated FMs ranging from 500 to 2,000 features. Furthermore, we analyze the soundness of general transformations.


Brassinosteroids (BR) have centrally important functions in plant growth by promoting cell proliferation and cell expansion through phosphorylation-mediated regulatory cascades that are initiated by perception of BR by receptor-like kinases of the BRI1 family. These BR-mediated growth responses have been explained by transcriptional controls mediated by phosphorylation of BES1/BZR1 transcription factors. Here we link BRI1-mediated phosphorylation to another growth regulatory network that directly mediates protein stability. BRI1 and its co-receptor BAK1 phosphorylate and inhibit the activities of the growth repressor DA1 by promoting the formation of high molecular weight complexes. Phospho-mimic forms of DA1 are less active while phospho-dead mutants have increased growth-repressive activity, while their regulatory monoubiquitylation is unaffected. BR inhibition of DA1 activity maintains higher levels of DA1 substrates such as UBP15 that sustain the potential for cell proliferation during leaf growth. Reduced BR levels lead to activation of DA1 peptidase activity and a transition from cell proliferation to cell growth and differentiation. This dual monoubiquitylation-phosphorylation regulation supports the key role of BR levels in maintaining the proliferative potential of cells during organ growth.


Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the effect that transporting a patient has on the quality
of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) provided during pre-hospital resuscitation. Utilising the
2010 European Resuscitation Council (ERC) guidelines as a framework, one- and two-person
manual CPR (SCPR) and mechanical CPR (MCPR) were directly compared in a simulated prehospital
transport setting.
Methods: Ten practising paramedics each volunteered to participate in four pre-hospital CPR
scenarios. The MCPR device used for this study was the LUCASTM2. Data were captured electronically
using QCPRTM wireless technology (Resusci Anne® Wireless SkillReporterTM manikin and software
by Laerdal Medical©).
Results: A reduction in the rate, depth and percentage of correct compressions was noted when
the paramedics were moving the patient. In relation to the 2010 ERC guidelines, the SCPR did not
meet current guidelines and was of more variable quality than MCPR. MCPR was consistent and
conformed to the guidelines. However, the application of the LUCASTM2 when only one paramedic
was present resulted in a significant delay in commencing chest compressions.
Conclusion: In the pre-hospital setting, transporting a patient during a cardiac arrest can have
a deleterious effect on the quality of chest compressions being provided. When provided by a
mechanical device rather than manually, the quality of chest compressions produced is closer to
that currently recommended, but two persons would be required for timely deployment of the
device and to maximise the chest compression fraction. This could suggest a potential use for
pre-hospital MCPR even in the absence of recommendation for routine use.
Keywords
CPR; mechanical CPR; transport


While the important role of family as a carer has been increasingly recognised in healthcare service provision, particularly for patients with acute or chronic illnesses, the carer's information needs have not been well understood and adequately supported by current health information systems. In order to effectively provide continuous and home-based care for the patient, a family relative as the primary carer needs sufficient access to medical knowledge and patient's health information. There are two challenges. First, being a family relative, the primary carer is often a non-medical practitioner. Second, in Australia, many primary carers are family relatives of patients from a non-English speaking background. They are often seen as interpreters in clinical consultation sessions. Their roles and responsibilities as an interpreter and a carer are often mixed and blurry. Therefore, their information needs are often seen as secondary to the patient or neglected. The primary carer's information needs are currently not yet well understood. This paper reports finding from a case study which examines an on-line diary of a husband-carer who provided support and care for his wife, who at the time of care was a lung cancer patient. The case study examines an ongoing learning process that the husband went through, identifies information needs by the carer and cultural factors which played an important role in the husband's interpretation of information, decision making and provision of care. The finding extends a current model of the user's information needs in the literature and suggests implications for further research into developing health information systems to meet information needs by the family carer.


On September 24-25, 2013, the Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data project at Harvard University held a workshop titled "Integrating Approaches to Privacy across the Research Data Lifecycle." Over forty leading experts in computer science, statistics, law, policy, and social science research convened to discuss the state of the art in data privacy research. The resulting conversations centered on the emerging tools and approaches from the participants' various disciplines and how they should be integrated in the context of real-world use cases that involve the management of confidential research data.Researchers are increasingly obtaining data from social networking websites, publicly-placed sensors, government records and other public sources. Much of this information appears public, at least to first impressions, and it is capable of being used in research for a wide variety of purposes with seemingly minimal legal restrictions. The insights about human behaviors we may gain from research that uses this data are promising. However, members of the research community are questioning the ethics of these practices, and at the heart of the matter are some difficult questions about the boundaries between public and private information. This workshop report, the second in a series, identifies selected questions and explores issues around the meaning of "public" in the context of using data about individuals for research purposes.


The polymerization process of dicyclopentadiene using a multicomponent catalytic system based on bis(cyclopentadienyl)titanium dichloride and diethylaluminum chloride was studied. It was demonstrated that the application of an excess of the aluminum component leads to the formation of stable charged complexes of blue discoloration, which initiate cationic polymerization of dicyclopentadiene. Unstabilized thin layers of obtained polydicyclopentadiene undergo oxidation and structuring under atmospheric oxygen. Oxidation of polydicyclopentadiene films in air occurs slowly during several weeks and can be determined by the increase of carbonyl and hydroxyl adsorption bands in infrared spectra. Along with oxidation, cross-linking processes occur in polymers, which lead to a change in physical parameters of the layers, and more precisely to a decrease in the permeability of atmospheric oxygen through the layers. Consequently, this leads to the transition of the oxidation from a kinetic mode into a diffusive mode. Such structural changes do not occur in a polymer that was stabilized by adding an antioxidant.


Abstract: Focusing on the expanding realm of international adjudication, this article approaches justice from the domain of the empirical and shows – through a careful, interview-based case study analysis in the WTO context – that justice in the international context is not only a contested concept, but also a multifaceted one, deeply embedded in notions such as the rule of law, fairness, equality, transformation, and cooperation. Whereas in the past, the primary, if not the sole role of international courts was that of settling disputes, in their modern legalised reincarnation these empowered international institutions have come to be seen primarily as enforcement mechanisms. Mechanisms that have been put in place by states in order to give effect to their originally negotiated commitments, and to hold states (or other entities) accountable for the international rules agreed-upon. Within this common enforcement-centred discourse of international courts, in turn, the natural tendency has so far been to think of 'justice' mainly through its 'legal' or 'rule of law' dimension. This article challenges this enforcement-centred discourse. Focusing on the vibrant WTO dispute settlement system (DSS) and its operation throughout the perennial EC–Bananas dispute, the article argues that the current enforcement-oriented debate of international courts, and the WTO DSS in particular, is lacking in several aspects. First, it brushes aside other important roles served by the DSS, and consequently overshadows the manifold social outcomes – beyond rule-compliance – produced by this system. Second, the prevalent rule-enforcement discourse further works in turn as to mask the multiple challenges of justice encapsulated in international disputes reaching the DSS docket, and obstructs the need to explore other conceptions of justice – beyond its legal-procedural meaning – such as global distributive, corrective, or transformative justice, through which the diverse roles and outcomes of the DSS may (and should) be evaluated. Against this backdrop, the article puts forwards a broad multifunctional account of the WTO DSS, which goes beyond the prevalent view of the system as primarily an enforcement mechanism, portraying it instead as a system of multiple, competing, and shifting roles. Among them, providing an orderly mechanism of renegotiation, redistribution, and settlement. Roles that essentially allow WTO Members to readjust their original WTO commitments and reallocate their burdens and benefits of international cooperation, and thereby to arrive at new – at times not fully legally-compliant – but not necessarily 'unjust' cooperative and sustainable social outcomes.


The goal of this thesis is to enable robots to produce motion that is suitable for human-robot collaboration and co-existence. Most motion in robotics is purely functional: industrial robots move to package parts, vacuuming robots move to suck dust, and personal robots move to clean up a dirty table. This type of motion is ideal when the robot is performing a task in isolation. Collaboration, however, does not happen in isolation. In collaboration, the robot's motion has an observer, watching and interpreting the motion. In this work, we move beyond functional motion, and introduce the notion of an observer into motion planning, so that robots can generate motion that is mindful of how it will be interpreted by a human collaborator. We formalize predictability and legibility as properties of motion that naturally arise from the inferences that the observer makes, drawing on action interpretation theory in psychology. Predictable motion stems from a goal-to-action inference and matches the observer's expectation, given the robot's goal. Legible motion stems from an action-to-goal inference: the robot is clearly conveying its goal with its ongoing motion. We propose models for these inferences based on the principle of rational action, Bayesian inference, and the principle of maximum entropy. We then use a combination of constrained trajectory optimization and machine learning techniques to enable robots to plan motion that is predictable or legible. Finally, we verify that the generated motions are more predictable and legible, and evaluate the impact of such motion on a physical human-robot collaboration task. Our results suggest that predictability and legibility do not only increase task performance, but also make the collaboration process more fluent, increasing subjective metrics such as trust or comfort. We also show generalizations of the legibility formalism to deception, gestures, and assistive teleoperation.


Humans are cognitive entities. Our behaviors and ongoing interactions with the environment are
threaded with creations and usages of meaningful information, be they conscious or unconscious.
Animal life is also populated with meaningful information related to the survival of the individual
and of the species. The meaningfulness of information managed by artificial agents can also be
considered as a reality once we accept that the meanings managed by an artificial agent are
derived from what we, the cognitive designers, have built the agent for.
This rapid overview brings to consider that cognition, in terms of management of meaningful
information, can be looked at as a reality for animal, humans and robots. But it is pretty clear
that the corresponding meanings will be very different in nature and content. Free will and selfconsciousness
are key drivers in the management of human meanings, but they do not exist for
animals or robots. Also, staying alive is a constraint that we share with animals. Robots do not
carry that constraint.
Such differences in meaningful information and cognition for animal, humans and robots could
bring us to believe that the analysis of cognitions for these three types of agents has to be done
separately. But if we agree that humans are the result of the evolution of life and that robots are a
product of human activities, we can then look at addressing the possibility for an evolutionary
approach at cognition based on meaningful information management. A bottom-up path would
begin by meaning management within basic living entities, then climb up the ladder of evolution
up to us humans, and continue with artificial agents.
This is what we propose to present here: address an evolutionary approach for cognition, based
on meaning management using a simple systemic tool.
We use for that an existing systemic approach on meaning generation where a system submitted
to a constraint generates a meaningful information (a meaning) that will initiate an action in order
to satisfy the constraint [1,2]. The action can be physical, mental or other.
This systemic approach defines a Meaning Generator System (MGS). The simplicity of the MGS
makes it available as a building block for meaning management in animals, humans and robots.
Contrary to approaches on meaning generation in psychology or linguistics, the MGS approach is
not based on human mind. To avoid circularity, an evolutionary approach has to be careful not to
include components of human mind in the starting point.
The MGS receives information from its environment and compares it with its constraint. The
generated meaning is the connection existing between the received information and the
constraint. The generated meaning is to trigger an action aimed at satisfying the constraint. The
action will modify the environment, and so the generated meaning. Meaning generation links
agents to their environments in a dynamic mode. The MGS approach is triadic, Peircean type.
The systemic approach allows wide usage of the MGS: a system is a set of elements linked by a
set of relations. Any system submitted to a constraint and capable of receiving information from
its environment can lead to a MGS. Meaning generation can be applied to many cases, assuming
we identify clearly enough the systems and the constraints. Animals, humans and robots are then
agents containing MGSs. Similar MGSs carrying different constraints will generate different
meanings. Cognition is system dependent.
We first apply the MGS approach to animals with "stay alive" and "group life" constraints. Such
constraints can bring to model many cases of meaning generation and actions in the organic
world. However, it is to be highlighted that even if the functions and characteristics of life are well
known, the nature of life is not really understood. Final causes are difficult to integrate in our
today science. So analyzing meaning and cognition in living entities will have to take into account
our limited understanding about the nature of life. Ongoing research on concepts like autopoiesis
could bring a better understanding about the nature of life [3].
We next address meaning generation for humans. The case is the most difficult as the nature of
human mind is a mystery for today science and philosophy. The natures of our feelings, free will
or self-consciousness are unknown. Human constraints, meanings and cognition are difficult to
define. Any usage of the MGS approach for humans will have to take into account the limitations
that result from the unknown nature of human mind.
We will however present some possible approaches to identify human constraints where the MGS
brings some openings in an evolutionary approach [4, 5]. But it is clear that the better human
mind will be understood, the more we will be in a position to address meaning management and
cognition for humans. Ongoing research activities relative to the nature of human mind cover
many scientific and philosophical domains [6].
The case of meaning management and cognition in artificial agents is rather straightforward with
the MGS approach as we, the designers, know the agents and the constraints. In addition, our
evolutionary approach brings to position notions like artificial constraints, meaning and autonomy
as derived from their animal or human source.
We next highlight that cognition as management of meaningful information by agents goes
beyond information and needs to address representations which belong to the central hypothesis
of cognitive sciences.
We define the meaningful representation of an item for an agent as being the networks of
meanings relative to the item for the agent, with the action scenarios involving the item.
Such meaningful representations embed the agents in their environments and are far from the
GOFAI type ones [4]. Meanings, representations and cognition exist by and for the agents.
We finish by summarizing the points presented and highlight some possible continuations.
[1] C. Menant "Information and Meaning" http://cogprints.org/3694/
[2] C. Menant "Introduction to a Systemic Theory of Meaning" (short paper)
http://crmenant.free.fr/ResUK/MGS.pdf
[3] A. Weber and F. Varela "Life after Kant: Natural purposes and the autopoietic foundations of
biological individuality". Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 1: 97–125, 2002.
[4] C. Menant "Computation on Information, Meaning and Representations. An Evolutionary
Approach" http://www.idt.mdh.se/ECAP-2005/INFOCOMPBOOK/CHAPTERS/10-Menant.pdf
http://crmenant.free.fr/2009BookChapter/C.Menant.211009
[5] C. Menant "Proposal for a shared evolutionary nature of language and consciousness"
http://cogprints.org/7067/
[6] Philpapers "philosophy of mind" http://philpapers.org/browse/philosophy-of-mind


The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis is preparing a Handbook of Systems Analysis, which will appear in three volumes:

Volume 1: Overview is aimed at a widely varied audience of producers and users of systems analysis studies.

Volume 2: Methods is aimed at systems analysts and other members of systems analysis teams who need basic knowledge of methods in which they are not expert; this volume contains introductory overviews of such methods.

Volume 3: Cases contains descriptions of actual systems analyses that illustrate the diversity of the contexts and methods of systems analysis.

Drafts of the material for Volume 1 are being widely circulated for comment and suggested improvement. This Working Paper is the current draft of Chapter 5. Correspondence is invited.

Volume 1 will consist of the following ten chapters:

1. The context, nature, and use of systems analysis

2. The genesis of applied systems analysis;

3. Examples of applied systems analysis

4. The methods of applied systems analysis: An introduction and overview

5. Formulating problems for systems analysis

6. Objectives, constraints, and alternatives

7. Predicting the consequences: Models and modeling

8. Guidance for decision

9. Implementation

10. The practice of applied systems analysis

To these ten chapters will be added a glossary of systems analysis terms and a bibliography of basic works in the field.


The theoretical analysis of R-fold modular redundancy with distributed voters -- distributed R-fold modular redundancy, in terms of reliability is presented for the first time to the best of author's knowledge. This technique is compared in terms of resistance to massive levels of defect density expected in future nano-devices to R-fold modular redundancy with a single voter, cascaded R-fold modular redundancy and NAND multiplexing. Optimal partition size analysis and redundancy optimization of distributed R-fold modular redundancy technique has been performed for the first time in the context of a large-scale system. The optimal window of application of different fault-tolerant techniques with respect to defect density is presented as a way to find the optimum design trade-off between the reliability and power/area.


This study mainly investigated the effectiveness of Information and Communication Technologies in promoting and disseminating information to users at the Museum and House of Culture (MHC). Spesifically, the study sought to identify information and communication channels used, examine the application of ICT in online and onsite museum services and the patterns of ICT use, and to determine the challenges faced in applying ICT in promoting and disseminating information to the users. The sample size consisted of 72 respondents (48 staf fand 24 museum users). Data for this study were collected using documentary review, questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussion and observation. Whereas quantitative data were analysed using SPSS qualitative data were subjected to content analysis. The study findings revealed that MHC uses various channels of communication and that electronic and computerised communication channels were preferred by the majority of the respondents. The challenges to effective utilisation of ICT at the Museum included inadequate skills, inadequate funds, technological obsolescence and technophobia among staff. The study concludes that, although MHC uses various channels of communication and different ICTs in its operations, communication links at the MHC have a lot of weaknesses and challenges. Thus, the study recommends the formulation of the Museum Information and ICT Policy to have in place a staff development plan in addition to increasing public awareness on museum potentiality.


With social networking and Web 2.0 technologies becoming increasingly popular, they pose great potentials and challenges for the future of E-commerce. Social shopping sites emerged as the latest developments to leverage the power of social networking with online shopping. Users on social shopping sites can post product recommendations, create wish lists, post photos, make purchases, and form social shopping communities. Despite enormous business interests and potentials, little is known about whether users will adopt such systems. This research-in-progress paper proposes to apply and extend the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to understand the adoption of social shopping sites, and the factors that lead to the adoption. TAM posits two factors, the perceived ease of use and the perceived usefulness, determine a person's intention to use a new IT. This study explores two additional antecedents in the context of social shopping adoption: an online shopper's tendency to social comparison, and trust in the website. The extended TAM model will be tested through surveys. This research is among the very first to systematically examine the merge of social networking with Ecommerce technologies. With the increasing importance of Web 2.0 to E-commerce, this study is timely and important.


Reconfiguration is one of the central mechanisms in distributed systems. Due to failures and connectivity disruptions, the very set of service replicas (or servers) and their roles in the computation may have to be reconfigured over time. To provide the desired level of consistency and availability to applications running on top of these servers, the clients of the service should be able to reach some form of agreement on the system configuration. We observe that this agreement is naturally captured via a lattice partial order on the system states. We propose an asynchronous implementation of reconfigurable lattice agreement that implies elegant reconfigurable versions of a large class of lattice abstract data types, such as max-registers and conflict detectors, as well as popular distributed programming abstractions, such as atomic snapshot and commit-adopt.


Starch is a major component in the human diet, and the acquisition of starch-rich food sources is considered a pivotal step in the biological and cultural evolution of humankind. However, the potential role of starch as an energy vector in paleo-ecosystems has never been addressed, obviously due to the lack of tangible records of preQuaternary starch grains. Here we describe similar to 280-m. y.-old lycopsid megaspores from Permian forest-swamp deposits in north China that bear caps of granular material. Size, shape, and surface structures as well as chemical and optical properties of these grains show that these caps are masses of compound storage starch. This is by far the oldest unequivocal record of fossil starch known to date. Deposition outside the actual megaspore container makes it unlikely that these starches were used for embryo nutrition; moreover, ultrathin sections of the megaspores indicate that they may have been produced after the megaspores were fertilized. By analogy to the elaiosomes on seeds of zoochorous plants today, we suggest that these starch caps were used to attract and reward animals, possibly land arthropods or snails, for megaspore dispersal. This study offers a rare glimpse into early stages of plant-animal co-evolution in Permian swamp-forest ecosystems.


A new design of inlet valve has been innovated based on a study of flow formation using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation software of two intake valve's designs. Three-dimensional figs of simulations represent flow were used to visual the turbulence kinetic energy of the air that is formed in the combustion chamber. The new design of inlet valve contains holes in the chamfer to allow more swirl turbulence flow than conventional design in order to leverage the good Air-Fuel mixing in the combustion chamber. Simulations carried by two port flow speeds 5 & 15 m/s for different designs and compared with conventional design simulation. Figs showed 60 % improvement in turbulence when using valve contains sided circular holes in simulation. A new Variable Inlet Valve Opening (VIVO) design was proposed based on the promising result in forming swirl and tumble turbulence that should improve burning, torque and power of the engine. The innovated valve design with self drive variable opening holes also should give more breathe during the high speed of the engine.


Using firm-level data for the UK, we investigate the link between firms' financial health, borrowing ratio and export exit, paying special attention to the recent financial crisis. Our results show that deterioration in the financial position of firms has increased the hazard of export exit during the crisis. We also find that the sensitivity of export exit to changes in firms' financial condition is higher during the crisis for those firms which face increases in loan spreads associated with the firm-specific interest rate.


In the study of Systems Biology it is necessary to simulate cellular processes and chemical reactions that comprise biochemical systems. This is achieved through a range of mathematical modeling approaches. Standard methods use deterministic differential equations, but because many biological processes are inherently probabilistic, stochastic models must be used to capture the random fluctuations observed in these systems. The presence of noise in a system can be a significant factor in determining its behavior. The Chemical Master Equation is a valuable stochastic model of biochemical kinetics. Models based on this formalism rely on physically motivated parameters, but often these parameters are not well constrained by experiments. One important tool in the study of biochemical systems is sensitivity analysis, which aims to quantify the dependence of a system's dynamics on model parameters. Several approaches to sensitivity analysis of these models have been developed. We proposed novel methods for estimating sensitivities of discrete stochastic models of biochemical reaction systems. We used finite-difference approximations and adaptive tau-leaping strategies to estimate the sensitivities for stiff stochastic biochemical kinetics models, resulting in significant speed-up in comparison with previously published approaches for a similar accuracy. We also developed an approach for estimating sensitivity coefficients involving adaptive implicit tau-leaping strategies. We provide a comparison of these methodologies in order to identify which approach is most efficient depending of the features of the model. These results can facilitate efficient sensitivity analysis, which can serve as a foundation for the formulation, characterization, verification and reduction of models as well as further applications to identifiability analysis.


This article examines the experiments that A Midsummer Night's Dream undertakes in three distinct modes of audience imagination: the radical abstraction from the stage required by the visualization of exotic landscapes; perceived alterations of what is materially present onstage; and the "apprehension" of what is materially present onstage. I argue that the range of imaginative production tested by the play reflects the contested nature of psychological models of the imaginative faculty in the period, though the specific functions that Shakespeare foregrounds depart in important ways from these models. Most significantly, the play explores what I call imaginative "presentation," in which the imagination plays a fundamental role not only in representing fictional scenes or re-presenting stored impressions but also in presenting what is accurately perceived. This last function, especially, raises difficult questions about the ontology of images that theater is uniquely equipped to answer. The play thus makes two important interventions with regard to imagination: first, in its rearrangement of the series of imaginative functions set out in faculty psychology, and second, in what counts as an image. In methodological terms, this essay engages recent models of "distributed cognition" in early modern drama by suggesting that the internal differentiation of psychological faculties may be as important as their external distribution.


The aim of this study was to establish the effectiveness of teaching methods for acquisition of daily living skills by learners with mental retardation. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Dependent variable for this study was acquisition of daily-living skills while independent variables were methods of teaching, how teachers applied the methods; challenges encountered and teaching/learning materials used by teachers. The study used purposive sampling to select the district, special units, learners and teachers. The target population in this study was eighty four respondents. The sample for the study was the same as the target population, as this number was manageable within the time available. The study used semi-structured questionnaires for teachers and head-teachers, and observation checklists for learners to obtain the data. Spearman order correlation coefficient was used. The reliability level was 0.6 for questionnaires and 0.5 for observation checklist. The study was carried out in special units for learners with mental retardation in public primary schools in Kasarani sub-county, Kenya. The data was analyzed using qualitative and quantitative methods. It was then presented in narrative passages and tables using frequencies and percentages. The findings of the study showed that learners with MR were not taught DLS effectively because teachers did not use appropriate teaching methods, strategies, or correct teaching/learning materials. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of teachers in the units for learners with MR were not trained to teach such learners. Only 22% of the teachers were trained in the area of MR. The findings show that forty-eight (80%) of learners did not get sufficient DLS as the methods and teaching/learning materials used were neither appropriate nor relevant. Consequently, the study concluded that learners were not taught DLS appropriately for acquisition of independent living. The study recommends that government should develop costeffective training for teachers in the area of mental retardation to curb the problem of understaffing and ineffective teaching. It also recommends that schools with special units need to be headed by teachers who are specialists in the area of mental retardation because they can understand the needs, abilities and interests of learners with MR and provide appropriate learning environment, and also offer necessary support to the teachers in the units.


This paper considers the problem of server-side scheduling for jobs composed of multiple pieces with consecutive (progressive) deadlines. One example is server-side scheduling for video service, where clients request flows of content from a server with limited capacity, and any content not delivered by its deadline is lost. We consider the simultaneous goals of 1) minimizing overall loss, and 2) differentiating loss fractions across classes of flows in proportion to relative weights. State-of-the-art policies, like Discriminatory Processor Sharing and Weighted Fair Queueing, use a fixed static proportional allocation of service rate and fail to achieve both goals. The well-known Earliest Deadline First policy minimizes overall loss, but fails to provide proportional loss across flows, because it treats packets as independent jobs. This paper introduces the Earliest Progressive Deadline First (EPDF) class of policies. We prove that all policies in this broad class minimize overall loss. Furthermore, we demonstrate that many EPDF policies accurately differentiate loss fractions in proportion to class weights, satisfying the second goal.


Today's surgical environment is a complex multifaceted one that has eroded the traditional doctor patient relationship. Increasingly a discerning public expects surgery to be efficiently performed and be free of complications. Decisions about choosing a doctor are now data driven and the health system must adapt accordingly in order to attract patients. The streamlining of the patient: treatment: outcome continuum can be made better with the use of various standard operating proce-dures such as the use of guidelines, protocols and checklists with a multidisciplinary team where all stakeholders are actively engaged. This is especially important in developing countries for the potential savings in lives and finances. Still the need for individualization and good clinical judgment remains. The basis of all our decisions however must be evidence-based, and once applied in the best interest of the patient will benefit health care systems. There is good evidence that this is the case, and the only limitation currently is the lack of more widespread implementation.


:This article discusses ways to use interactive software in biology education. The types of interactive software used in teaching biology and the possibilities in preparing future biology teachers for professional activities are described. And also, it is devoted to the development of electronic teaching and methodological resources of educational institutions, improving mechanisms for the effective use of interactive software based on innovative approaches, methodological support for the organization of the educational process based on interactive software in the training system of future biology teachers, a system of professional competencies and mechanisms of cyclic diagnostics.


We compared perception of mistuned intervals in unaccompanied melodies performed by trumpet, violin, and voice, and examined whether there were differences between the three timbres in performances with and without vibrato. Participants were 144 university music students. Listeners heard the three unaccompanied solo performers in two vibrato conditions (with and without vibrato), and three intonation conditions (selected melodic intervals were in tune, sharp 25 cents, or flat 25 cents relative to equal temperament). All three stimuli were perceived as more out of tune when there was no vibrato compared to vibrato. In performances without vibrato, violin was judged as more out of tune than voice and trumpet across all three tuning conditions. Melodies performed with vibrato were judged differently: Violin was judged as least in tune for intervals mistuned in the flat direction, trumpet was heard as least in tune for intervals mistuned sharp, and voice was judged least in tune when intervals were in tune (relative to equal temperament). Differences in perception between timbres may be influenced by characteristics of the vibrato itself such as modulation width, rate, and type.


This classroom research was conducted on the autocad instructions to the first grade of mechinary class of SMK Negeri 1 Stabat aiming at : (1) improving the student' archievement on autocad instructional to the student of mechinary architecture class of SMK Negeri 1 Stabat, (2) applying Quantum Learning Model to the students of mechinary class of SMK Negeri 1 Stabat, arising the positive response to autocad subject by applying Quantum Learning Model of the students of mechinary class of SMK Negeri 1 Stabat. The result shows that (1) by applying quantum learning model, the students' achievement improves significantly. The improvement of the achievement of the 34 students is very satisfactory; on the first phase, 27 students passed (70.59%), 10 students failed (29.41%). On the second phase 27 students (79.41%) passed and 7 students (20.59%) failed. On the third phase 30 students (88.24%) passed and 4 students (11.76%) failed. The application of quantum learning model in SMK Negeri 1 Stabat proved satisfying. This was visible from the activeness of the students from phase 1 to 3. The activeness average of the students was 74.31% on phase 1,81.35% on phase 2, and 83.63% on phase 3. (3) The application of the quantum learning model on teaching autocad was very positively welcome by the students of mechinary class of SMK Negeri 1 Stabat. On phase 1 the improvement was 81.53% . It improved to 86.15% on phase 3. Therefore, The improvement of student' response can be categorized good.


Purpose - The aim of this paper is to offer an exploratory review of the extent to which the leading ocean cruise companies are publicly addressing and reporting on their sustainability strategies and achievements and to offer some reflections on sustainability within the cruise industry. Design/Methodology/Approach – The paper begins with an outline of cruising and the cruising industry and a short commentary on the sustainability challenges the industry faces. The information on which the paper is based is drawn from the leading cruise companies' corporate web sites. Findings – The findings of the paper reveal a marked variation in the extent to which the leading cruise companies publicly report on their sustainability strategies and achievements. While the two leading cruise companies, namely the Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises, published extensive sustainability reports which covered a number of environmental social and economic issues, the other leading cruise companies published very limited information on sustainability. More critically the authors argued that the cruise companies' commitments to sustainability are driven by the search for efficiency gains and are couched within existing business models centred on continuing growth than on maintaining the viability of natural ecosystems and communities. As such the leading UK retailers are, at best, currently pursuing a 'weak' rather than a 'strong' model of sustainability. Originality/Value – The paper provides an accessible exploratory review of sustainability reporting in the cruise industry and it will interest professional working in the cruise industry and more generally in the hospitality industry as well as academics and students interested in hospitality management.


This Article investigates the problematic invocation of unique circumstances as a justification for circumventing international law relating to the use of force and state secession. Borrowing from the teachings of critical sociology, this Article addresses the lessons learned from NATO's 1999 intervention in Kosovo and Kosovo's 2008 Declaration of Independence from Serbia; it adapts those teachings to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. Doctrinal, state-sponsored, and international juridical attempts to conform the Kosovo events to the international rule of law mask internal and unreconciled tensions within the United Nations Charter system. These tensions, which threaten to further weaken the system and expose it to dangerous manipulations, have upset international law's delicate balance between respect for territorial integrity and the right of self-determination. These weaknesses also help explain why two of the most significant doctrinal developments to emerge from the mist of Kosovo — the Responsibility to Protect and remedial secession — have retreated from earlier enthusiastic assessments of their prospects in international law. Embedded in the recourse to the sui generis claim is the cautionary belief that its invocation may likely mask extralegal intentions as support for international law's progressive development.


Multiparous Israeli-Holstein cows (n=42) averaging 158 d in milk and 621 kg of body weight were used to investigate the effects of energy source (fat or concentrate) on production, rumination time, energy balance, metabolic heat production, and efficiency under hot and humid conditions. Cows were assigned to 3 diet treatment groups: a lactating-cow ration (1.75 Mcal of net energy for lactation/kg of dry matter (DM; control); supplemented with 0.825 kg/d per cow of ground corn grain (2.7% of diet; HG); or supplemented with 0.300 kg/d per cow of calcium salts of fatty acids (1.5% of diet; HF). Milk production, body weight, and rumination time were recorded daily. Rectal temperature and respiratory rate (RR) were measured weekly. Mean daily maximum ambient temperature, relative humidity, and temperature-humidity index were 31.5 degrees C, 86.6%, and 76.8, respectively. Dry matter intake was lower in HF and HG cows than in controls. Average daily rumination time was lowest in the HG group: 393.0, 377.7, and 390.8 min/d for control, HG, and HF cows, respectively. Milk production was higher in the control group than in the HG group; milk fat content was 0.38 units higher and fat yield was 11% greater in HF cows than in HG cows. Fat-corrected milk yield was higher in HF cows than in HG cows, but not higher than in controls. Energy balance in HF cows was lower than in both other groups, and nonesterified fatty acid concentrations in plasma were increased by fat supplementation. Rectal temperature was highest in HF cows, and RR was higher in the HF cows than in the controls. Metabolic heat production was similar in HG and HF cows and lower than in controls. Body weight gain of the HG cows tended to be higher than that of the others. Efficiency of conversion of DM or energy intake to milk and fat-corrected milk was higher in HF cows than in both other groups; however, when taking the energy retention in body mass into account, no differences in energy utilization were observed between HF and HG groups. A principal component analysis revealed that rumination time played a pivotal role in the deleterious effect of heat stress in dairy cows. In conclusion, increasing the energy density in diets of heat-stressed mid-lactation cows over 1.75 Mcal/kg of DM was not effective in enhancing production. Both dietary treatments were effective in reducing metabolic heat production, but the changes were not reflected in rectal temperature and RR. Fat supplementation increased metabolic efficiency; however, whereas HF cows prioritized milk production, HG cows channeled energy for body mass deposition.


Crowdfunding is a process where commercial or non-commercial projects are initiated in a public announcement by organizations or individuals to receive funding, assess the market potential, and build customer relationships. Crowdfunding is employed in a variety of different categories, ranging from technology to arts and even disaster relief. Even though crowd-funding has received widespread attention, not only in the media, literature on the subject is still sparse and lacks especially empirical research. In contrast, research in new product preannouncement is established and more mature, and, due to similarities in process and goals, yields entry points for crowdfunding research. This paper contributes by reducing the gap in crowdfunding research by drawing on insights from new product preannouncement literature. To this end, a common definition of crowdfunding, which is currently lacking in literature, is derived and used to characterize commonalities with new product preannouncement. This theoretical discussion is complemented by empirically testing the derived hypotheses about common success factors. Conclusions are drawn from the logistic-regression, using the technology category of a project dataset with 45,400 observations. Research shows that while timing and communication are key success factors, common to both new product preannouncement and crowdfunding, other success factors may already be standard and cannot separate the successful crowdfunding projects from the unsuccessful.


Check Point Software Technologies is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. The company's Secure Virtual Network (SVN) architecture provides the infrastructure that enables secure and reliable Internet communications. Check Point recently announced a ground-breaking user interface that meets the industry's next generation Internet security requirements, including simplified security management for increasingly complex environments. Built upon Check Point's Secure Virtual Network (SVN) architecture, the Next Generation User Interface revolutionizes the way security administrators define and manage enterprise security by further integrating management functions into a security dashboard and creating a visual picture of security operations. The Next Generation User Interface delivers unparalleled ease-of-use, improved security and true end-to-end security management. Check Point's revenues have more than doubled in each of the last two years, while capturing over 50% of the VPN market and over 40% of the firewall market according to IDC Research. The explosive growth of the company is further evidenced by over 29,000 IT professionals becoming Check Point Certified so far. This book will be the complimentary to Syngress' best-selling Check Point Next Generation Security Administration, which was a foundation-level guide to installing and configuring Check Point NG. This book will assume that readers have already mastered the basic functions of the product and they now want to master the more advanced security and VPN features of the product. Written by a team of Check Point Certified Instructors (the most prestigious Check Point certification) this book will provide readers with a complete reference book to Check Point NG and advanced case studies that illustrate the most difficult to implement configurations. Although not a Study Guide, this book will cover all of the objectives on Check Point's CCSE Exam. The reader will learn to design and configure a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The reader will learn to configure Check Point NG for High Availability (HA), which is the ability of a system to perform its function continuously (without interruption) for a significantly longer period of time than the reliabilities of its individual components would suggest. The reader will learn to use Seucure Update, which allows them to perform simultaneous, secure, enterprise-wide software updates.


Standard phrase-based translation models do not explicitly model context dependence between translation units. As a result, they rely on large phrase pairs and target language models to recover contextual e ects in translation. In this work, we explore n-gram models over Minimal Translation Units (MTUs) to explicitly capture contextual dependencies across phrase boundaries in the channel model. As there is no single best direction in which contextual information should flow, we explore multiple decomposition structures as well as dynamic bidirectional decomposition. The resulting models are evaluated in an intrinsic task of lexical selection for MT as well as a full MT system, through n-best reranking. These experiments demonstrate that additional contextual modeling does indeed benefit a phrase-based system and that the direction of conditioning is important. Integrating multiple conditioning orders provides consistent benefit, and the most important directions di er by language pair.


Information poverty, resulting from limited and distorted provision of relevant information on important matters, has increased the vulnerability of India's poor to the crisis initiated by the announcement of demonetisation in November 2016. In this paper we draw on a study of digital finance providers and informal street sellers in Bangalore, conducted in the immediate aftermath of demonetisation. Using the theoretical lens of information poverty, we argue that technologies such as India's biometric identification system (Aadhaar) do in principle help unbanked citizens obtain the digital identity that is needed to transact in a cashless economy. However, several design-reality gaps exist between extant financial technologies and the needs of informal street sellers, and digital tools seem to contribute only minimally to their integration in the new cashless system. Still, the marginalised communities affected by cashlessness hold highly valuable knowledge about the consequences of demonetisation, and use their first-hand information to enact a set of dynamic coping strategies.


Carbon markets are developing world wide with the major aim of environmental protection and poverty alleviation in developing countries. Some carbon sequestration projects have been started in Kenya though it is still not yet a vibrant investment in spite of the available suitable biophysical land. Njoro district has no such project regardless of being affected by deforestation. One inevitable result has been the unpredictable rainfall pattern constituting overall climate change, increased surface run off, the low water levels in river Njoro, loss of biodiversity and the increased poverty in the region. It is still not clear if such projects are to be initiated, the smallscale farmers would be willing to accept and adopt them. There was need therefore, to assess the willingness of small scale farmers to accept and adopt carbon trade tree project in order to understand farmer's decision making process. The study used multi-stage sampling procedure to select 150 small-scale farmers in Njoro district. Both primary and secondary data sources collected using observations and interviews with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, ordinal logit model and the double hurdle model using STATA computer programs. The results indicated that 29% of the farmers practiced tree planting/agro-forestry as the voluntary CDM practice in the study area. On the level of awareness the result indicates that 58% of the farmers were not aware of the project, 23% were aware and correct and 19% of the farmers were aware but wrong signifying low levels of awareness of the CDM project among farmers. Gender, household size, farm debt, attitude towards risk, farm size, land tenure, availability of voluntary CDM and perception of the technology were found to influence the willingness to accept the project. Further, age, extension contacts, attitude towards risk, land tenure and perception towards the technology influenced on the extent the farmer is willing to adopt. The study therefore, recommends policy interventions in increasing awareness, improved training through extension services on agro-environmental programmes, formation of agro-environmental self help groups by farmers and creation of strategies that would improve socio-economic conditions of smallholder farmers in Kenya. Through this, adoption of carbon tree trade would be successful consequently increasing carbon sinks and increased smallholder farm income hence poverty reduction and sustainable development.


The purpose of this report is to present the results of an assessment of national weather, climate, and hydrological services in Central Asia and to present a program to improve these services. The report is based on the findings of three country assessments - the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan - and supporting regional documentation. These and other countries that form the Central Asian region share common concerns, regarding economic development and the vulnerability of their economies and people to weather, climate, and hydrological extremes. National assessments are based on evaluations of weather, climate, and hydrological hazards; key users' needs; national hydro meteorological services' (NMS) capacities; and potential economic benefits from improvement of hydro meteorological service delivery. The results of this global facility for disaster reduction and recovery (GFDRR) work and summary report will contribute directly to the development of the regional initiative to improve weather, climate, and hydrological service delivery in the Central Asia.


The purpose of the article is to analyze the scientific foundations of the process of forming critical thinking of future primary school teachers. Objectives of the study: to analyze scientific interpretations of the content of the concept of «critical thinking of the teacher»; to identify scientific approaches to the development of technologies for the formation of critical thinking of students of pedagogical free economic zones. The urgency of the problem of formation of critical thinking of future specialists in the period of intensive social and economic changes in Ukraine is revealed in the article. Only a critical educator is capable of creative innovation. A teacher who does not have critical thinking cannot teach his students to think critically. The author of the article notes that in the scientific literature there are many interpretations of the concept of «critical thinking». It is seen primarily as one aspect of reflection. Critical thinking necessarily involves both positive and negative evaluation of the thought process and its results. Characteristic features of critical thinking, scientists call its systematization and ability to generalize. In this regard, it is important to master a number of techniques of intellectual activity. Scientists consider critical thinking inseparable from creative thinking. The author notes that the development of critical thinking is a difficult task. This quality develops in the process of solving problematic pedagogical situations. It covers the formation of future teachers'; system of knowledge about the essence of this phenomenon (thinking, reflection, pedagogical and critical thinking), mastering the means and methods of forming critical thinking (methods, techniques, forms, tools, technologies). The author of the article identified a number of methodological approaches to solving the problem of forming students'; critical thinking. The personalpragmatic approach is realized in individual and group forms of training of students, in dialogic activity, in game interaction. The situational approach involves the formation of cases of problematic pedagogical situations, their modeling, analysis and solution. The activity approach includes teaching students to plan (determine the purpose, content, forms, methods) and implementation of pedagogical activities (regulation, control, critical self-analysis and self-assessment of achieved results). Based on the analysis of the works of scientists, the author identifies the most important characteristics of the technology of formation of critical thinking of students: equality of subjects of study; the role of the teacher as a facilitator of the educational process; creating an educational environment where there is an atmosphere of search and openness, natural cooperation and communication; belief in the strength of the student, support for his active position in learning, etc.


This study provides community college leaders with insights regarding how administrators and faculty members perceive faculty portfolios as an evaluation tool in two-year colleges. Utilizing a qualitative design, this study focused on perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the use of portfolios as the primary instrument for faculty evaluation. Overall, faculty and administrators found portfolios useful when the process encouraged and allowed for faculty self-reflection and honest feedback from administrators. Background While community colleges are required to evaluate faculty for accreditation, the development and, more importantly, the utilization of a faculty evaluation system have become crucial issues in educational institutions (Centra, 1993; McKeachie, 1990). The best faculty evaluation programs, according to Cohen & Brawer (2008), are those designed to improve teaching rather than to determine who receives tenure or salary increases. Boyer (1987) observed that one mark of a good college was its faculty evaluation program. Centra (1993) declared that poor evaluation leads to unfair judgments, while good evaluations provide decision-makers with information necessary for informed choices and teachers with useful feedback for improvement. Centra also noted that constructive reviews from administrators in conjunction with self-reflection could add value to the evaluation process. Previous studies have focused primarily on faculty evaluation using student and peer evaluations. A review of the literature suggests that student evaluations and peer evaluations are one-dimensional in evaluation. Faculty portfolios, on the other hand, require a comprehensive development process that encourages faculty members to reflect on all aspects of their jobs (Seldin, 2004). Reis and Villaume (2002) reported the use of portfolios facilitated increased skills related to lesson planning, organization, and time management. Additionally, Willis and Davies (2002) identified portfolios as a tool for improving teacher education programs. Portfolios have also served as a tool for documenting teacher performance against state and national standards. This study, however, was designed to identify how community college administrators and faculty perceive faculty portfolios as an evaluation tool. The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) strives to insure a comprehensive faculty evaluation plan where all stakeholders recognize the value of the evaluation process. Traditionally, faculty evaluations included student evaluations, comments from peer instructors, video and audiotapes, classroom observations, and analysis of course materials. Portfolios were initially recognized as a tool for faculty evaluation when self -reflection from the faculty member was identified as an essential factor in the evaluation process. Methodology This study utilizes a qualitative design to examine the perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the use of portfolios as the primary instrument for faculty evaluation at four community colleges located in North Carolina. The four community colleges that participated in this study are among just nine of 58 community colleges in the state that use faculty portfolios. Of the nine community colleges, five use faculty portfolios as part of their faculty evaluation process while the remainder used portfolios for excellence in teaching awards, merit pay, promotions, or faculty improvement plans. The four institutions participating in this study had used portfolios for faculty evaluation for a minimum of three years and a maximum of nine years. The colleges differed somewhat in how faculty portfolios were used, the contents of the portfolio, the length of time using faculty portfolios, and geographic location. The initial interview questions elicited administrators and faculty perceptions of 1) the use of portfolios for faculty evaluation, 2) the accuracy of portfolios for faculty evaluation, and 3) the use of portfolios to improve instruction. …


This study presents an artificial neural network (ANN) model that is able to predict suspended solids concentrations in forested catchment namely Berring River, Kelantan, Malaysia.The network was trained using data collected during a period of 13 days in April 2001. The sampling location was established in the middle section of the river for collecting water samples. The study was carried out for a duration of two weeks in April 2001. The water sample was collected at 60% of the total depth from the river bed for every two hours starting from 6:00 am to 12:00 midnight for the whole duration of the study period. In this study five parameters were selected as input parameter for the network which are turbidity, flow velocity, depth, width, and weather condition of during the sampling period, while suspended solids as desire output. The data fed to the neural network were divided into two set: a training set and testing set. 116 of the data were used in training set and 24 remained as testing set. A network of the model was detected automatically by the network to give good predictions for both training and testing data set. A partitioning method of the connection weights of the network was used to study the relative percentage contribution of each of the input variables. It was found that turbidity and river width gives 73.03% and 24.73% each. The performance of the neural network model was measured by computing the correlation coefficient which gives the value of 0.93. It's shown that the neural network gives superior predictions. Based on the results of this study, ANN modeling appears to be a promising technique for the prediction of suspended solids.
Dynamic Metadata(s)


To solve two enduring problems in education—unacceptably large variation in learning opportunities for students across classrooms and little continuing improvement in the quality of instruction—the authors propose a system that centers on the creation of shared instructional products that guide classroom teaching. By examining systems outside and inside education that build useful knowledge products for improving the performance of their members, the authors induce three features that support a work culture for creating such products: All members of the system share the same problems for which the products offer solutions; improvements to existing products are usually small and are assessed with just enough data; and the products are jointly constructed and continuously improved with contributions from everyone in the system.


One species of parasitic bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), 3 species of fleas (Siphonaptera: Ischnopsyllidae), and 2 species of parasitic flies (Diptera: Nycteribiidae) were collected from 9 species of bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in southern interior and northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Female bats that return daily to maternity roosts were more frequently infested with both cimicids and ischnopsyllids than were male bats. Some differences in ectoparasite infestation can be attributed to differences in roosting behavior of the host. New national records for 2 parasite species, and 8 new host records are established for Canada.


Multiplexed RNA imaging in single cells The basis of cellular function is where and when proteins are expressed and in what quantities. Single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH) experiments quantify the copy number and location of mRNA molecules; however, the numbers of RNA species that can be simultaneously measured by smFISH has been limited. Using combinatorial labeling with error-robust encoding schemes, Chen et al. simultaneously imaged 100 to 1000 RNA species in a single cell. Such large-scale detection allows regulatory interactions to be analyzed at the transcriptome scale. Science, this issue p. 10.1126/science.aaa6090 A single-molecule imaging method allows simultaneous measurement of 1000 RNA species in single cells. INTRODUCTION The copy number and intracellular localization of RNA are important regulators of gene expression. Measurement of these properties at the transcriptome scale in single cells will give answers to many questions related to gene expression and regulation. Single-molecule RNA imaging approaches, such as single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH), are powerful tools for counting and mapping RNA; however, the number of RNA species that can be simultaneously imaged in individual cells has been limited. This makes it challenging to perform transcriptomic analysis of single cells in a spatially resolved manner. Here, we report multiplexed error-robust FISH (MERFISH), a single-molecule imaging method that allows thousands of RNA species to be imaged in single cells by using combinatorial FISH labeling with encoding schemes capable of detecting and/or correcting errors. RATIONALE We labeled each cellular RNA with a set of encoding probes, which contain targeting sequences that bind the RNA and readout sequences that bind fluorescently labeled readout probes. Each RNA species is encoded with a particular combination of readout sequences. We used successive rounds of hybridization and imaging, each with a different readout probe, to identify the readout sequences bound to each RNA and to decode the RNA. In principle, combinatorial labeling allows the number of detectable RNA species to grow exponentially with the number of imaging rounds, but the detection errors also increase exponentially. To combat such accumulating errors, we exploited error-robust encoding schemes used in digital electronics, such as the extended Hamming code, in the design of our encoding probes but modified these schemes in order to account for the error properties in FISH measurements. We assigned each RNA a binary word in our modified Hamming code and encoded the RNA with a combination of readout sequences according to this binary word. RESULTS We first imaged 140 RNA species in human fibroblast cells using MERFISH with 16 rounds of hybridization and a modified Hamming code capable of both error detection and correction. We obtained ~80% detection efficiency and observed excellent correlation of RNA copy numbers determined with MERFISH with both bulk RNA sequencing data and conventional smFISH measurements of individual genes. Next, we used an alternative MERFISH encoding scheme, which is capable of detecting but not correcting errors, to image 1001 RNA species in individual cells using only 14 rounds of hybridization. The observed RNA copy numbers again correlate well with bulk sequencing data. However, the detection efficiency is only one-third that of the error-correcting encoding scheme. We performed correlation analysis of the 104 to 106 pairs of measured genes and identified many covarying gene groups that share common regulatory elements. Such grouping allowed us to hypothesize potential functions of ~100 unannotated or partially annotated genes of unknown functions. We further analyzed correlations in the spatial distributions of different RNA species and identified groups of RNAs with different distribution patterns in the cell. DISCUSSION This highly multiplexed imaging approach enables analyses based on the variation and correlation of copy numbers and spatial distributions of a large number of RNA species within single cells. Such analyses should facilitate the delineation of regulatory networks and in situ identification of cell types. We envision that this approach will allow spatially resolved transcriptomes to be determined for single cells. MERFISH for transcriptome imaging. Numerous RNA species can be identified, counted, and localized in a single cell by using MERFISH, a single-molecule imaging approach that uses combinatorial labeling and sequential imaging with encoding schemes capable of detection and/or correction of errors. This highly multiplexed measurement of individual RNAs can be used to compute the gene expression profile and noise, covariation in expression among different genes, and spatial distribution of RNAs within single cells. Knowledge of the expression profile and spatial landscape of the transcriptome in individual cells is essential for understanding the rich repertoire of cellular behaviors. Here, we report multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization (MERFISH), a single-molecule imaging approach that allows the copy numbers and spatial localizations of thousands of RNA species to be determined in single cells. Using error-robust encoding schemes to combat single-molecule labeling and detection errors, we demonstrated the imaging of 100 to 1000 distinct RNA species in hundreds of individual cells. Correlation analysis of the ~104 to 106 pairs of genes allowed us to constrain gene regulatory networks, predict novel functions for many unannotated genes, and identify distinct spatial distribution patterns of RNAs that correlate with properties of the encoded proteins.


Abstract Mine-drainage waters and associated precipitates from several active and abandoned lignite mines and mine dumps in the Sokolov Basin, northwestern Czech Republic, were sampled and analysed. The data showed considerable variations of effluent composition and pH that can generally be related to differences in the local microenvironments. Temporal changes such as seasonal fluctuations of precipitation, leading to variations of water infiltration through and runoff over mines and mine dumps, were also observed to noticeably affect effluent composition. These variations have led to a wide range of precipitates, the principal constituents of which are generally one or several of the ferric minerals jarosite, schwertmannite, goethite, ferrihydrite and lepidocrocite. The present paper consists of two parts: a short review of the genesis and properties of the named minerals, and a study of mine-drainage precipitates formed under different local conditions in various lignite mines and mine dumps of the Sokolov mining district. We show that variations in mine- drainage precipitate mineralogy, such as the presence or absence of specific 'key' minerals, can serve as indicators for factors such as the pH and sulphate concentration, and thus - with certain limitations - for the genetic environment during precipitate formation. Such variations in composition are reflected, among other properties, in the precipitate colour, which can therefore be used for a rapid identification and classification - both in the field and by remote sensing - of regions that are potentially prone to acid mine drainage.


Considered by many the peak of Osamu Tezuka's artistic achievement and called his "life work" by the author, PHOENIX is made up 12 complex stories linked by the presence of the mythical bird, an immortal guarden of the universal life force. Read in order, the separate stories jump across time, alternating between a distant future and a distant past, converging on the present, with characters from one story being reincarnated in another. The 12 stories over 3000 pages.


Abstract This article describes a pilot evaluation involving teaching and learning activities focussed on developing intercultural competencies in an undergraduate psychology unit. Specifically, first year psychology students engaged in two tasks derived from the alliance building and cultural mapping methods of an existing intercultural training resource—the Excellence in Cultural Experiential Learning and Leadership (EXCELL; Mak, Westwood, Barker, & Ishiyama) programme. At the end of the semester, 94 first year psychology students (mean age = 21.6, standard deviation = 6.4) completed a survey about their educational and intercultural experiences. Quantitative results indicated that participants reported some improvement in various aspects of cultural learning, including being better prepared to communicate with people from different cultures. Thematic analysis of student responses to an open‐ended question regarding cultural learning indicated that students perceived a range of benefits from intercultural training, including increased knowledge, respect, and competencies for engaging with others from different cultures. Students also reported that participation in the training would lead to increased scope and breadth of practice in their future careers. Suggestions for future research about teaching of intercultural competencies within undergraduate curricula are discussed.


This thesis deals with selection strategies in gaze interaction, specifically for a context where gaze is the sole input modality for users with severe motor impairments. The goal has been to contribute to the subfield of assistive technology where gaze interaction is necessary for the user to achieve autonomous communication and environmental control.
From a theoretical point of view research has been done on the physiology of the gaze, eye tracking technology, and a taxonomy of existing selection strategies has been developed.
Empirically two overall approaches have been taken. Firstly, end-user research has been conducted through interviews and observation. The capabilities, requirements, and wants of the end-user have been explored. Secondly, several applications have been developed to explore the selection strategy of single stroke gaze gestures (SSGG) and aspects of complex gaze gestures.
The main finding is that single stroke gaze gestures can successfully be used as a selection strategy. Some of the features of SSGG are: That horizontal single stroke gaze gestures are faster than vertical single stroke gaze gestures; That there is a significant difference in completion time depending on gesture length; That single stroke gaze gestures can be completed without visual feedback; That gaze tracking equipment has a significant effect on the completion times and error rates of single stroke gaze gestures; That there is not a significantly greater chance of making selection errors with single stroke gaze gestures compared with dwell selection.
The overall conclusion is that the future of gaze interaction should focus on developing multi-modal interactions for mono-modal input.


We analyzed tropospheric column ozone (TCO) observed by the GOME-1 (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment; European Space Agency, 1995) and ozonesondes to determine the spatiotemporal variation in TCO over East Asia from 1996 to 2003. An enhanced TCO belt (E-TCO belt) was observed at approximately 35°N throughout the year. The E-TCO belt moved northward from winter to summer and southward from summer to winter, strongly suggesting connection with the seasonal variation of meteorological conditions. The large enhancement of TCO found over central China in summer suggests that there is significant outflow of ozone from that region. This study presents the first satellite-derived comprehensive picture of the TCO spatiotemporal variation over East Asia, which has not been obtained from limited ground-based measurements.


In many applications, it is of interest to compare covariance structures. In this work, we propose hypothesis tests for comparing covariance matrices for data in different groups, especially in shape analysis. The main motivation for the work is comparing covariance matrices of the size and shapes of damaged versus undamaged DNA molecules. A practical motivation behind analyzing the differences between these DNA covariance matrices is to compare the variation between the two groups during situations where the molecules are repairing. The testing methods proposed in this dissertation consist of three types of permutation testing methods for differences in covariance structures. These methods include a testing procedure in which the mean shapes of the DNA molecules are assumed to be equal, a testing procedure in which the assumption of mean shapes between the DNA molecules is relaxed to allow for unequal mean shapes between the DNA molecules, and a testing procedure which corrects for autocorrelation between the DNA observations and allows for unequal mean shapes between the DNA molecules. These testing procedures are then extended to correlation matrices. The testing procedures are implemented using a DNA dataset and a rat calvarial growth dataset.


The Fender Rhodes story is a historical tribute to the electric piano that changed the sound of music. Invented by Harold Rhodes as a rehabilitation tool for soldiers in World War II, the Fender Rhodes piano both revolutionized and empowered musicians to explore a new, electric frontier of music. Through interviews with a remarkable cast of music notables, the book takes an insider's look into how this electric piano played - and continues to play - an integral role in the creation of a wealth of music, from the 1960s through today. The collection of interviews with Michael Bearden, George Benson, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, D'Angelo, Eumir Deodato, George Duke, Larry Dunn, Donald Fagen, Ronnie Foster, Rodney Franklin, Robert Glasper, Jay Graydon, Dave Grusin, Don Grusin, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Ellis Hall, Herbie Hancock, Lalah Hathaway, Rami Jaffee, Bob James, Quincy Jones, Ramsey Lewis, Jeff Lorber, Robin Lumley, Ray Manzarek, Les McCann, Marcus Miller, Steve Molitz, John Novello, David Paich, Jerry Peters, Greg Phillinganes, James Poyser, Patrice Rushen, Joe Sample, Lenny White, Maurice White, Vince Wilburn Jr., Allee Willis, the CBS musical instruments staff, and others provides for a rare glimpse at the music history behind some of the most memorable music of our time.


This paper develops a model showing that people who have flexibility in choosing how much to work will prefer to invest substantially more of their money in risky assets than if they had no such flexibility. Viewed in this way, labor supply flexibility offers insurance against adverse investment outcomes. The model provides support for the conventional wisdom that the young can tolerate more risk in their investment portfolios than the old. The model has other implications for the study of household financial behavior over the life cycle. It implies that households will take account of the value of labor supply flexibility in deciding how much to invest in their own human capital and when to retire. At the macro level it implies that people will have a labor supply response to shocks in the financial markets.


Ten years ago no state allowed same-sex couples to marry, support for gay marriage nationwide hovered around 30 percent, and politicians everywhere thought of it as the third rail of American politics-draw near at your peril. Today, same-sex couples can marry in seventeen states, polls consistently show majority support, and nearly three-quarters of Americans believe legalization is inevitable. In Winning Marriage Marc Solomon, a veteran leader in the movement for marriage equality, gives the reader a seat at the strategy-setting and decision-making table in the campaign to win and protect the freedom to marry. With depth and grace he reveals the inner workings of the advocacy movement that has championed and protected advances won in legislative, court, and electoral battles over the decade since the landmark Massachusetts ruling guaranteeing marriage for same-sex couples for the first time. From the gritty battles in the state legislatures of Massachusetts and New York to the devastating loss at the ballot box in California in 2008 and subsequent ballot wins in 2012 to the joyous victories of securing President Obama's support and prevailing in the Supreme Court, Marc Solomon has been at the center of one of the great civil and human rights movements of our time. Winning Marriage recounts the struggle with some of the world's most powerful forces-the Catholic hierarchy, the religious right, and cynical ultraconservative political operatives-and the movement's eventual triumph.


Respiratory illness is a common manifestation of HIV infection. The availability of effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) has changed the pattern of respiratory ill-health experienced by people living with HIV (PLWH). Among populations with good access to ART, opportunistic respiratory infections such as Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) are becoming less frequent. However, there is evidence to suggest that these populations may be at greater risk of serious non-AIDS illness including chronic respiratory disease. Although there is remaining uncertainty about the extent to which HIV represents an independent risk-factor for respiratory illness in individuals with a suppressed HIV viral load and immune reconstitution, in many settings PLWH have greater exposure to risk factors for respiratory illness (in particular tobacco smoking), which contribute to this burden of disease. As HIV-positive populations age, management of these conditions will therefore become increasingly important. Healthcare services need to manage this growing burden of chronic respiratory illness and provide access to preventative measures including smoking cessation and immunisation against vaccine-preventable respiratory infections in a way that is appropriate to the populations served.


It is hoped that the development of ecotourism will ultimately eliminate the negative impacts of tourism on environmental and ecological systems. This study applies the contingent valuation method to assess the economic values of services provided by forested trails newly opened for recreational purposes. The objective is to evaluate the benefits received by the two main user groups: local residents and visitors to the three trails in I-Lan County, Taiwan. In Taiwan, the demand for outdoor recreation is increasing and trails in marginal forest areas have to deal with the conflicting needs for recreation and conservation. The monetary valuation results show that the three forested trails have significant values for both visitors and residents and that to develop ecotourism for the purposes of trail use and conservation will benefit both groups. However, local residents value the trails more than visitors due to their higher reliance on them and their interactions with them: the residents have long lived in the local villages and have relied on their surroundings to earn their living. The visitors, by contrast, visit the trails only occasionally. The authors conclude that the sustainable development of ecourism can maintain the values generated from the trails and deal successfully with the conflict of needs between recreational exploitation and conservation.


Section 17(a)(3) has been widely neglected as a weapon in the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) arsenal against insider trading. Section 17(a)(3) carries the potential of providing the SEC with an advantage that is not afforded by Section 10(b), Rule 10b-5, or Rule 14e-3 — the authority to prosecute insider trading claims premised on the lesser mental state of negligence, thus casting a wider net to enforce insider trading regulations against a new category of defendants — negligent inside traders as well as negligent tippers and tippees. Currently, when pursuing insider trading violations, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) primarily relies on the authority granted by Section 10(b) and the corresponding Rule 10b-5. Although these provisions have become the standard in prosecuting insider trading enforcement actions, the level of culpability that the SEC must prove under these provisions is rigorous and has created a void in the spectrum of liability for insider trading causes of action.
The objective of this article is to propose a method that will allow regulators to bridge the gap that currently exists in the context of insider trading liability, and to discuss how the SEC's task of proving liability would be significantly lessened (and presumably more successful) if it could pursue insider trading claims that require proof of a lesser mental state. In order to accomplish this task, this article addresses: 1) the potential untapped resource of Section 17(a)(3) with respect to SEC enforcement of insider trading abuse; 2) the theoretical concept of negligent insider trading; and 3) the manner in which to remedy this disparate treatment — namely, a legislative amendment to Section 17(a)(3) that will broaden the scope of this statute to apply to negligent sellers as well as negligent purchasers.


During the Second World War, just under two thousand British citizens were detained without charge, trial, or term set, under Regulation 18B of the wartime Defence Regulations. Most of these detentions took place in the summer of 1940, soon after Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, when belief in the existence of a dangerous Fifth Column was widespread. Churchill, at first an enthusiast for vigorous use of the powers of executive detention, later came to lament the use of a power which was, in his words, 'in the highest degree odious'. This book provides the first comprehensive study of Regulation 18B and its precursor in the First World War, Regulation 14B. Based on extensive use of primary sources, it describes the complex history of wartime executive detention: the purposes which it served, the administrative procedures and safeguards employed, the conflicts between the Home Office and the Security Service which surrounded its use, the part played by individuals, by Parliament, and by the courts in restraining abuse of executive power, and the effect of detention upon the lives of individuals concerned, very few of whom constituted any threat to national security. Much of what was done was kept secret at the time, and even today the authorities continue to refuse access to many of the papers which have escaped deliberate destruction. This study is the first to attempt to penetrate the veil of secrecy and tell the story of the gravest invasion of civil liberty which has occurred in Britain this century.


This thesis comprises of a literature review, a research paper and a critical appraisal of the research process. In the literature review, a meta-synthesis methodology was used to identify and synthesise 15 studies that explored the experiences of living with epilepsy. Three themes emerged; 'making sense of epilepsy: "it affects your perception of yourself"'; 'the cost of epilepsy: "getting epilepsy has put me in poverty"'; and 'significance of others in coping with epilepsy; "my family have always helped me"'. Findings are discussed in terms of the impact of epilepsy on identity and self, the losses that individuals have experienced as a consequence of epilepsy, and the ways in which perceived support from others can be helpful or unhelpful. The research paper utilised interpretative phenomenological analysis, whereby six participants who had received a diagnosis of non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD) were interviewed, to explore how they had made sense of it. Three themes emerged; "NEAD is a confusing diagnosis; "all it means is it's not epilepsy"'; 'Legitimising the illness: feeling "like a bit of a fraud"'; and 'NEAD as a challenge to identity: "I want to be more me again"'. Findings suggest that making sense of a diagnosis of NEAD is a challenging process, which differs from person to person. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed. The critical appraisal discusses the comparisons between the findings of the literature review and research paper. Reflections about epistemology are offered, alongside reflections on the research process as a whole.


Humans and animals are capable of learning a new behavior by observing others perform the skill just once. We consider the problem of allowing a robot to do the same -- learning from a raw video pixels of a human, even when there is substantial domain shift in the perspective, environment, and embodiment between the robot and the observed human. Prior approaches to this problem have hand-specified how human and robot actions correspond and often relied on explicit human pose detection systems. In this work, we present an approach for one-shot learning from a video of a human by using human and robot demonstration data from a variety of previous tasks to build up prior knowledge through meta-learning. Then, combining this prior knowledge and only a single video demonstration from a human, the robot can perform the task that the human demonstrated. We show experiments on both a PR2 arm and a Sawyer arm, demonstrating that after meta-learning, the robot can learn to place, push, and pick-and-place new objects using just one video of a human performing the manipulation.


School foodservice is a form of reproductive labor, which is a term meant to encompass various kinds of work—mental, manual, and emotional—aimed at providing the historically and socially, as well as biologically, defined care necessary to maintain existing life and to reproduce the next generation. The increasing reliance on part-time work, convenience foods, and privatization that began in the early 1970s prevents many lunchroom workers' from performing critical acts of reproductive labor. The unintended consequences of this transformation are now becoming clear in terms of the quality of food served in the nation's lunchrooms, the nature of school foodservice labor, and the ecological consequences of the industrial food system. For a radical food politics, reversing the devaluing and deskilling of school foodservice provides a tremendous opportunity to engage both workers and students in pursuit of a just and sustainable food system. Much is at stake – over thirty million children participate in the National School Lunch Program each day. Thus the critical question becomes one of how such a radical revaluing and reskilling can be initiated. One possible avenue is through organized labor. In this article, I analyze early efforts to drive such a transformation, drawn from twelve months of participatory research with UNITE HERE! during their "Real Food, Real Jobs" campaigns in three U.S. cities.


Phosphorylation of the human histone variant H2A.X and H2Av, its homolog in Drosophila melanogaster, occurs rapidly at sites of DNA double-strand breaks. Little is known about the function of this phosphorylation or its removal during DNA repair. Here, we demonstrate that the Drosophila Tip60 (dTip60) chromatin-remodeling complex acetylates nucleosomal phospho-H2Av and exchanges it with an unmodified H2Av. Both the histone acetyltransferase dTip60 as well as the adenosine triphosphatase Domino/p400 catalyze the exchange of phospho-H2Av. Thus, these data reveal a previously unknown mechanism for selective histone exchange that uses the concerted action of two distinct chromatin-remodeling enzymes within the same multiprotein complex.


BACKGROUND
Chronic kidney disease is a major health concern that, if left untreated, may progress to end-stage kidney failure (ESKF). Identifying individuals at an increased risk of kidney disease and who might benefit from a therapeutic or preventive intervention is an important challenge.

AIM
To evaluate the performance of the QKidney® scores for predicting 5-year risk of developing moderate-severe kidney disease and ESKF in an independent UK cohort of patients from general practice records.

DESIGN AND SETTING
Prospective cohort study to evaluate the performance of two risk scores for kidney disease in 364 practices from the UK, contributing to The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database.

METHOD
Data were obtained from 1.6 million patients registered with a general practice surgery between 1 January 2002 and 1 July 2008, aged 35-74 years, with 43,186 incident cases of moderate-severe kidney disease and 2663 incident cases of ESKF. This is the first recorded evidence of moderate-severe chronic kidney and ESKF as recorded in general practice records.

RESULTS
The results from this independent and external validation of QKidney scores indicate that both scores showed good performance data for both moderate-severe kidney disease and ESKF, on a large cohort of general practice patients. Discrimination and calibration statistics were better for models including serum creatinine; however, there were considerable amounts of missing data for serum creatinine. QKidney scores both with and without serum creatinine were well calibrated.

CONCLUSION
QKidney scores have been shown to be useful tools to predict the 5-year risk of moderate-severe kidney disease and ESKF in the UK.


We have heard a lot said in the past few days about some very advanced techniques and ideas relating to better ways of developing software. While I would not take anything away from what has been said, I would like to point out that there are some very serious practical problems in getting the great majority of practitioners in the industry to use and benefit from SP. If the people that I deal with are representative of the industry in general, there are a lot of engineers and programmers who do not yet have an appreciation of SP. If we do not consolidate the gains that are possible in the use of advanced languages and language facilities, we may lose the potential benefits of SP.


Previous studies on learning organizations do not provide a strategic framework of adapting organizational learning for sustainable competitiveness. This paper reviews various contributions on developing learning companies with an objective of proposing ideal management practices for sustainable competitiveness. Based on existing literature review, the essence of integrating business strategy with learning which helps the organization realize sustainable competitiveness. The paper holds that managers need to identify learner's needs and provide conducive learning opportunities and nurture knowledge sharing as part of organizational culture. Further, existing incentives should enhance the desire to learn, as well as developing appropriate mechanisms, leadership and management approaches. The paper adopts the systems approach to exhibit how organizational learning may be adapted within organizational settings. Based on existing theories and previous discussions, the paper seeks to show how organizational learning may be modeled and implemented in developing countries within large and small firms in the 21 st century. In conclusions drawn and recommendations for further research emphasis is laid on the need to link organizational learning to performance as a grey area to be explored.


This book offers a comprehensive survey of descriptions of Constantinople written by visitors, from the pilgrims of the Middle Ages to the European travellers and diplomats of the 18th and 19th centuries. The author examines the evidence these accounts provide for the history of the city, and for monuments which have long disappeared. In its attractive synthesis of bibliographical, archaeological and historical detail, this work is a memorial to Ebersolt's scholarship and a personal tribute to the city itself. Professor Cyril Mango has contributed a preface to this reprint of the 1918 edition.