With the increasing number and affordability of image capture devices, there is an increasing demand to objectively analyze and compare the quality of images. Image quality can also be used as an indicator to determine if the source image is of high enough quality to perform analysis on. When applied to real world scenarios, use of a blind algorithm is essential since a flawless reference image typically is unavailable. Recent research has shown promising results in no reference image quality utilizing natural scene statistics in the visual image space. Research has also shown that although the statistical profiles vary slightly, there are statistical regularities in IR images as well which would indicate that natural scene statistical models may be able to be applied. In this project, I will analyze BRISQUE quality features of IR images and determine if the algorithm can successfully be applied to IR images. Additionally, in order to validate the usefulness of these techniques, the BRISQUE quality features are analyzed using a detection algorithm to determine if they can be used to predict conditions which may cause missed detections.


Abstract. The regime of intense desert dust (DD) episodes over the broader Mediterranean Basin is studied for the period 2000–2007 at a complete spatial coverage. An objective and dynamic algorithm has been set up which uses daily measurements of various aerosol optical properties taken by different satellite databases, enabling the identification of DD episodes and their classification into strong and extreme ones. The algorithm's performance was tested against surface-based (in situ) particulate matter (PM) and (columnar) sun-photometric AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) measurements from stations distributed across the Mediterranean. The comparisons have shown the reasonable ability of the algorithm to detect the DD episodes taking place within the study region. The largest disagreements with PM data were found in the western Mediterranean in summer, when African dust transport has a great vertical extent that cannot be satisfactorily captured by surface measurements. According to our results, DD episodes in the Mediterranean Basin are quite frequent (up to 11.4 episodes yr−1), while there is a significant spatial and temporal variability in their frequency of occurrence and their intensity. Strong episodes occur more frequently in the western Mediterranean Basin, whilst extreme ones appear more frequently over central Mediterranean Sea areas. Apart from this longitudinal variation, there is a predominant latitudinal variability in both frequency and intensity, with decreasing values from south to north. A significant seasonal variation was also found for the frequency of DD episodes, with both strong and extreme episodes being more frequent during summer in the western Mediterranean Basin, but during spring in its central and eastern parts. In most cases (> 85%) the Mediterranean dust episodes last a bit longer than a day on average, although their duration can reach six days for strong episodes and four days for extreme episodes. A noticeable year-to-year variability was also found, especially for the frequency of the episodes.


During the 1980s and 1990s, the autonomy and capacity of the state has been under considerable stress in regards to the reduction of public policy choice. 'External' forces of globalisation and technical innovations have led to a loss of economic 'boundary control', initiating cross-national policy change and a convergence of public policies on a neo- liberally-led paradigm. This development has been reflected in the processes of policy change experienced by the British Labour Party and the German Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD), in particular in the ideologically charged area of 'social democratic' labour market policy (LMP) choices. This study argues, that although political systems and institutional cultures of 'social democratic' parties and agents differ substantially between the UK and Germany, 'social democratic' parties economic policy approaches are increasingly developing along similar lines. Both parties' responses to the changing contextual 'internal' domestic as well as 'external' socio-economic factors are cross-nationally compared and their constrains encountered by path dependencies and a historically institutionalised economic policy paradigm are investigated. Faced with a general shift in paradigm from 'Keynesian' to 'neo-liberal', party actors - guided by prescriptive social democratic policy templates - were initially inhibited from aligning policy approaches. This contributed significantly to a 'delayed' shift in both parties' economic policy paradigm, electoral failure, and a lack of the parties' public economic policy credibility. Several strata of information have been used to combine analytical and empirical evidence - utilising both quantitative (statistical) data as well as the historical analysis of both parties' policy development processes. Qualitative sources have been backed up by quantitative evidence of the parties' programmatic changes in labour market polices that were gathered with a labour market policy coding frame for the statistical multi-lingual comparison and content analysis of parties policy documents.


This study explored the perceptions of physiotherapists with different levels of context related experience undertaking emergency on-call duties in New Zealand (NZ). A purpose-designed questionnaire was developed to investigate whether differences existed between novice and expert physiotherapists in their perceptions of emergency on-call duties and in their responses to an emergency on-call vignette. A questionnaire was administered to 71 participants with varying levels of on-call experience, in all centres providing emergency on-call services within NZ. Years of active emergency on-call experience were used to classify novices (less than 5 years) and experts (more than 5 years). A response rate of 79% (n = 56) was obtained. Significant differences between novices and experts were seen in self-rated confidence scores, self-rated stress levels and perceived support required whilst undertaking emergency oncall duties (all p < .001). There were no statistically significant differences between novices and experts in response to any questions in the vignette. The results of this study provide useful information for service providers regarding the perceptions and concerns of emergency on-call physiotherapists. It is recommended that novice physiotherapists be provided with better opportunities to gain specific context related experience prior to undertaking emergency on-call duties in order to improve confidence levels and reduce stress associated with undertaking on-call duties. In addition, specific continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities and support mechanisms should be provided for all staff undertaking emergency on-call work. Dunford F, Reeve J, Larmer P (2011): Determining differences between novice and expert physiotherapists in undertaking emergency on-call duties. New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy 39(1) 17-26.


Purpose

Activation policies are key elements of contemporary welfare reform throughout Europe. The purpose of this paper is to explore the consequences of more active and individualised welfare policies for conceptualisations of professionalism and competence in the welfare services.

Design/methodology/approach

The primary data are 25 qualitative interviews with street-level bureaucrats (SLBs) conducted in two local offices in The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV). These data were supplemented by relevant policy documents. A distinction between the authorities discourse of organisational professionalism and the SLBs discourse of occupational professionalism is applied to structure the analysis.

Findings

Efforts to professionalise activation work takes place in the absence of a specific professional knowledge base to guide daily work. The paper explores how relevant competence and skills are defined in such a context, both from the perspective of the authorities and from the front-level workers themselves. A key finding is that such competence tends to be defined in terms of the ability to manage communicative processes and relations. Paradoxically, the active turn in social policy with its emphasis on work and activity seems to entail a competence ideal that is inward looking and psychologised.

Research limitations/implications

The qualitative approach implies limited generalisability in terms of statistical representativity. Furthermore, the results invite closer studies of the practical effects for social security users of the identified patterns.

Practical implications

Policy makers who aim to make welfare services more work orientated should look for ways of increasing SLBs concrete relations with and practical experience from collaboration with employers. This may entail reviewing the practice of outsourcing the implementation of active measures to private actors.

Originality/value

The paper adds to a small literature on the implementation of activation policy in contemporary welfare states.


Abstract The aims of the study were to identify the reasons why high socio-economic class women in the Cape Metropole decide not to breast-feed; to evaluate whether the type and volume of infant formula selected by the mother was appropriate for her infant's current age and to identify the factors that influence the decision-making process when deciding which infant formula to feed her infant. An observational descriptive study with consecutive sampling was utilised. Data of 55 mothers with infants aged 0 to 6 months that were not currently breast-fed was captured in day care centres and private clinics situated in the Cape Metropole. Data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire available in Afrikaans and English. The majority of mothers (80%) decided only after the birth of their infant to rather opt for formula feeding. Evident factors that were identified as barriers to breast-feeding include a lack of knowledge and experience (38%) as well as a lack of facilities at public places (75%) and at work (71%) to breast-feed. Perceived benefits of infant formula included that the father could help with the workload (67%) and does not feel left out (38%), the mother knows what volume of milk is received (84%) and the convenience if the mother is working (64%). The mothers were overall not concerned about possible side-effects of breast-feeding and did not feel that their breasts were physically not of optimal physiology to breast-feed. One of the greatest challenges to support, protect and promote breast-feeding is to ensure that information sources give scientifically correct information to the uninformed or information-seeking mother in a standardised and positive manner.


Introduction: The efficacy of alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) in preserving the bone after tooth extractions and before rehabilitation with an implant-supported restoration is examined. A new, non-invasive measurement method to determine the extent of bone preservation is presented. This measurement method is based on a 3D comparison of the condition immediately after extraction with the data of a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) eight weeks after extraction. Method: The study is a single-center, randomized, controlled parallel-group clinical investigation. 88 patients who required extraction of a maxillary tooth participated in the study. In 44 patients (intervention group), the socket is filled with a combination of a collagen plug and a collagen membrane introduced in the empty socket immediately after tooth removal (ARP). The 44 patients (control group) experience unassisted socket healing the hyporeflective space. Primary endpoints are (1) bone loss after tooth extraction; (2) the preservation of the alveolar ridge (soft tissue and bone); (3) the need for augmentation during the subsequent implant treatment; and (4) the question whether ARP is more costeffective than the therapy with unassisted socket healing. Patients will be followed for 5 years. Discussion: The extent of bone resorption after tooth extraction significantly influences the subsequent implant placement. Preserving the bone as well as possible is of great importance for the stability, prosthetically correct position and long-term functional success of the implantological treatment. A new, non-invasive method, without additional, study-related X-ray exposure, presented here for the first time, the change in volume of the bone bed can be analyzed. The preliminary results of this feasibility test report a median value of buccal and palatal bone loss of 6.2 mm (control)/4.4 mm (test) and 2.5 mm (control)/2.8 mm (test), respectively. These values are comparable to studies that also determined bone resorption by CBCT.


Since the release of the report of the Institute of Medicine on medical errors and patient safety in November 1999, health policy makers and health care leaders in several nations have sought solutions that will improve the safety of health care. This attention to patient safety has high-lighted the importance of a learning approach and a systems approach to quality measurement and improvement. Balanced with the need for public disclosure of performance, confidential reporting with feedback is one of the prime ways that nations such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia have approached this challenge. In the United States, the Quality Interagency Coordination Task Force has convened federal agencies that are involved in health care quality improvement for a coordinated initiative. Based on an investment in a strong research foundation in health care quality measurement and improvement, there are eight key lessons for continuing education if it is to parlay the interest in patient safety into enhanced continuing education and quality improvement in learning health care systems. The themes for these lessons are (1) informatics for information, (2) guidelines as learning tools, (3) learning from opinion leaders, (4) learning from the patient, (5) decision support systems, (6) the team learning together, (7) learning organizations, and (8) just-in-time and point-of-care delivery.


A method for path planning for a long-haul submarine optical fiber cable connecting two locations on the surface of the Earth is presented. Previous work on path planning takes account of the laying cost of the cable including material, labor, and its survivability, with consideration of risk of future cable break arising from laying of the cable in sensitive and risky areas, such as, in particular, earthquake prone areas. Previous work has also taken account of variation in the cost per unit length to optimize shielding (and associated increased costs) in higher risk areas. The key novelty here is to take account of the important requirement to reduce the likelihood of capsize of a remotely operated cable laying vehicle as it buries the cable in an uneven terrain. This instability risk depends on the direction of the path and slope of the terrain and is included here in the laying cost. Minimization of the cable laying cost and the expected number of potential cable repairs are the two objectives used to formulate the multi-objective optimal control problem. Using a Pareto approach, we solve the problem via dynamic programming and a computationally efficient algorithm based on the Ordered Upwind Method. Numerical results are consistent with an intuitive assessment of path quality, e.g., we can observe that the algorithm avoids high slope areas when better solutions are clearly available. Pareto optimal solutions and an approximate Pareto front are obtained to provide insight and guidance for cable path design that considers trade-offs between cost effectiveness (that includes consideration for stability of the remotely operated cable laying vehicle) and seismic resilience. © 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement


Objective: The aim of this study was to assess outcomes related to general quality of life, daytime sleepiness and functional sleep outcomes, functional outcomes of orthognathic surgery, and facial aesthetics in patients undergoing maxillomandibular advancement (MMA) surgery for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional self-report study. A questionnaire was constructed using questions drawn from previously validated questionnaires. The survey was distributed to 25 patients who underwent MMA surgery for the treatment of OSA at LHSC in London, Ontario by a single surgeon between 2002 and 2013. Results: The survey results showed that MMA patients responded positively with respect to quality of life, snoring, functional sleep outcomes and daytime sleepiness, and facial aesthetics. Nineteen (86.4%) indicated that their sleep apnea symptoms have improved since the surgery. Eighteen (81.8%) reported neutral or positive changes with respect to facial attractiveness. Nineteen (86.4%) indicated that their overall quality of life has become better since having MMA. Most patients indicated that the surgery was worthwhile and would recommend it to others suffering from OSA. Conclusions: MMA surgery for the treatment of OSA appears to have an overall positive effect on quality of life, sleep outcomes, and aesthetic outcomes. The majority of patients found the surgery worthwhile. Orthodontic treatment in conjunction with MMA appears to enhance the subjective aesthetic outcomes of treatment.


Cultivation of the geoduck Panopea zelandica (Quoy & Gaimard, 1835) requires knowledge on embryonic development to produce spat in hatcheries. This study investigated the development of P. zelandica embryos at 15°C and 35 ppt and the optimal sperm:egg ratios for fertilization under hatchery conditions. Panopea zelandica broodstock were induced to spawn by serotonin injection. Sperm and eggs were collected and fertilization was conducted at sperm:egg ratios of: 50:1, 100:1, 500:1, 1000:1 and 10,000:1 over 40 min. The optimal sperm:egg ratio was <500:1 and the normal embryo yield at 3 and 18 h post-fertilization (hpf) ranged from 83–96%. Panopea zelandica eggs (~80 μm diameter) developed the first and second polar bodies within 15–20 and 50–55 min post-fertilization, respectively. The blastula appeared at ~8 hpf, including the XR and XL cells and the presumptive shell field depression. Gastrulation occurred at 12–18 hpf with organic material apparent at the shell field depression. The mid-stage trochophore, which appeared at around 35 hpf had an apical plate with an apical tuft. The shell field spread to form the periostracum, which expanded and folded into right and left segments covering the late trochophore. The early D-stage veliger appeared at 45 hpf with the soft body being enclosed by two valves and the appearance of the velum. These observations will serve as the basis for future analyses of P. zelandica embryogenesis and for optimization of commercial production of D-veliger larvae.


Background. Uterine inversion is a rare, but life threatening, obstetrical emergency which occurs when the uterine fundus collapses into the endometrial cavity. Various conservative and surgical therapies have been outlined in the literature for the management of uterine inversions. Case. We present a case of a chronic, recurrent uterine inversion, which was diagnosed following spontaneous vaginal delivery and recurred seven weeks later. The uterine inversion was likely due to a leiomyoma. This late-presenting, chronic, recurring uterine inversion was treated with a vaginal hysterectomy. Conclusion. Uterine inversions can occur in both acute and chronic phases. Persistent vaginal bleeding with the appearance of a prolapsing fibroid should prompt further investigation for uterine inversion and may require surgical therapy. A vaginal hysterectomy may be an appropriate management option in select populations and may be considered in women who do not desire to maintain reproductive function.


Despite widespread acceptance of the notion that studies of the past provide tangible benefits, academic historians usually remain reluctant to apply "lessons" from history to the realms of public and business policy. This article suggests reasons for that reluctance while also suggesting that historians of technology can make valuable contributions to the policy community. In particular, these professionals can employ tools and insights developed in their field to highlight the social contexts in which technology evolves, helping decision makers understand why specific policies may or may not accomplish stated goals. The article also suggests means by which historians can influence policy, such as through their teaching, their writing and speaking to lay ! audiences, and their direct participation in government bodies. Due to institutional disincentives for this nontraditional activity, however, historians interested in policy work should already have acquired secure, tenured positions within their academic institutions.


In this paper we provide some evidence that repeat taking of competitive exams may reduce the impact of background disadvantages on educational outcomes. Using administrative data on the university entrance exam in Turkey we estimate cumulative learning between the first and the nth attempt while controlling for selection into retaking in terms of observed and unobserved characteristics. We find large learning gains measured in terms of improvements in the exam scores, especially among less advantaged students.


This study has the purpose of investigating the performance of the adaptive camber profile (ACP) concept on wind turbine blades. As such, it extends previous studies at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics at the Technische Universitat Darmstadt in which the load-dependent ACP concept has been examined for two-dimensional flow and for synthetic gust generation.
The experiments in this study have been performed on the Berlin Research Turbine (BeRT) at the Technische Universitat Berlin.
Two main goals were formulated in designing the experiments. The first goal was to investigate the ACP performance under fully three-dimensional operating conditions and with realistic turbulence/gust conditions of the inflow.
For this, the response of the ACP elements when the turbine operated with a yawed rotor plane was compared to the non-yawed case. The yawed rotor plane resulted in local variations of angle of attack, dependent on both rotation angle and span location, yielding highly unsteady conditions of the onflow. The aim was to examine the ability of the ACP concept to alleviate gust load fluctuations. The second goal was to investigate to what extent the ACP concept was suitable over a larger range of angle-of-attack variations. This was realised by outfitting one rotor blade with three ACP sections, distributed between the root and tip of the blade, since these three positions exhibit very different effective AoA variations. The experiments show that it is favourable to control not only the outer blade area with an ACP mechanism but also the area near the blade root, resulting in a significantly higher overall gust load reduction. A peak load reduction of about 10% could be achieved. On the other hand, local load increase of about 20% could be achieved and this leads to a reduction of load fluctuation amplitude compared with rigid profiles. Based on the findings of this study it can be concluded that the ACP concept, if properly designed and implemented for specific operating conditions, has great potential to increase the lifetime and the energy output of wind turbines.


In the United States, research funded by the government produces a significant portion of data. US law mandates that these data should be freely available to the public through 'public access', which is defined as fully discoverable and usable by the public. The U.S. government executive branch supported the public access requirements by issuing an Executive Directive titled 'Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research' that required federal agencies with annual research and development expenditures of more than $100 million to create public access plans by 22 August 2013. The directive applied to 19 federal agencies, some with multiple divisions. Additional direction for this initiative was provided by the Executive Order 'Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information' which was accompanied by a memorandum with specific guidelines for information management and instructions to find ways to reduce compliance costs through interagency cooperation. In late 2013, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) funded the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) to conduct a project to help IMLS and its constituents understand the implications of the US federal public access mandate and how needs and gaps in digital curation can best be addressed. Our project has three research components: (1) a structured content analysis of federal agency plans supporting public access to data and publications, identifying both commonalities and differences among plans; (2) case studies (interviews and analysis of project deliverables) of seven projects previously funded by IMLS to identify lessons about skills, capabilities and institutional arrangements that can facilitate data curation activities; and (3) a gap analysis of continuing education and readiness assessment of the workforce. Research and cultural institutions urgently need to rethink the professional identities of those responsible for collecting, organizing, and preserving data for future use. This paper reports on a project to help inform further investments.


This paper aims to enable the relevant use of water main service lifetime and failure data to build a medium or long term infrastructure management plan. Firstly, how to estimate the service lifetime distribution of water mains using observations of decommissioning times which are possibly left-truncated and predominantly right-censored, is shown. Three methods are presented: a non-parametric method another based on the parametric Weibull distribution, and a third based on the parametric Herz distribution. An application with actual data related to grey cast iron water mains of two large French and German water distribution networks illustrates the implementation of the theoretical methods. The paper then investigates the link between failure rate and pipe renewal, and discusses the use of observation-based service time survival functions for infrastructure asset management.


The ware called Taches Noires was developed in Albisola (Liguria, NW Italy) during the 18th century. In just a few years, it spread all over the Mediterranean (Italy, France, Spain, Tunisia, and Greece) and also in the New World (Canada, the Caribbean Islands, and Mexico). The success of the Taches Noires ware was so massive that it was soon copied by Spanish and French workshops. A collection of Catalan imitations and Ligurian imports found in Barcelona were analysed and compared to previously existing data from Barcelona productions, as well as reference samples from Albisola. The study proved the presence of both local imitations and original Albisola imports. The analysis showed a homogeneous product of high technical quality for the Albisola pottery. On the contrary, the local imitations presented a greater diversification in the choice and manipulation of the raw materials, probably related to the existence of different workshops engaged in the manufacturing of these products. Nevertheless, for one of the local groups, ceramists adopted a glaze recipe similar to the one used in Albisola, clearly indicating a direct transfer of knowledge, and possibly of potters, from Albisola to Barcelona.


We outline the core claims of Basil Moore's book Horizontalists and Verticalists: The Macroeconomics of Credit Money and place them in their historical, contemporary and present contexts. Several theoretical problems raised by the book and recent developments in the operation of financial markets and monetary policy are discussed. We find that Moore is a key figure in the theory of endogenous money, but his version of the theory was viewed as radical and was by no means widely accepted. Recent developments have validated many of his ideas, which are now commonplace, but others remain unresolved and controversial.


The pattern of interactions between individuals in a population contains implicitly within them a remarkable amount of information. This information, if extracted, could be of significant importance in several realms such as containing the spread of disease, understanding information flow in social systems and predicting likely future interactions. A popular method of discovering structure in networks is through community detection which attempts to capture the extent to which that network is different from a random network. However, communities are not very well defined for time-varying networks. In this paper, we introduce the notion of spatio-temporal communities that attempts to capture the structure in spatial connections as well as temporal changes in a network. We illustrate the notion via several examples and list the challenges in effectively discovering spatio-temporal communities. For example, such communities are lost if the temporal interactions are aggregated in a single weighted network since the concurrency information is lost. We present an approach that first extracts concurrency information via node-clustering on each snapshot. Each node is then assigned a vector of community memberships over time, which is then used to group nodes into overlapping communities via recently introduced link clustering techniques. However we measure similarity (of nodes and edges) based on concurrence, i.e. when they existed, if they existed together. We call our approach the co-community algorithm. We validate our approach using several real-world data sets spanning multiple contexts.


The comparison between various language policies that aim to manage multilingual communication ought to rely on some robust methodology for evaluation. This paper discusses the possibility to found such a methodology on the well-established concepts of efficiency and fairness. Assessing efficiency implies comparing how resources are allocated under alternative policy options (or scenarios) in order to identify the policy promising the best overall allocation. Assessing fairness calls for the evaluation of the distributive effects of each scenario on the linguistic groups involved in communication — that is, ascertaining who benefits and who loses (and how much) under alternative policy options. This paper develops indictors of effective and fair communication, which synthesise some desirable characteristics of communication processes, and which enable us to rank-order, with respect to their relative efficiency and fairness, different ways of handling communication in multilingual settings. In order to assess effectiveness and efficiency, we work with three (not mutually exclusive) definitions of communication, namely, informatory, cooperative and strategic communication, which reflect the different (main) communicational intents of the actors. In order to assess fairness, we establish a distinction between communication in terms of access, process and outcome.


Introduction Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is typically delivered in hospital-based classes and is recommended to help people reduce their risk of further cardiac events. However, many eligible people are not completing the programme. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of delivering a web-based CR intervention for those who decline/drop out from usual CR. Intervention A web-based CR programme for 6 months, facilitated with remote support. Methods Two-centre, randomised controlled feasibility trial. Patients were randomly allocated to web-based CR/usual care for 6 months. Data were collected to inform the design of a larger study: recruitment rates, quality of life (MacNew), exercise capacity (incremental shuttle walk test) and mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). Feasibility of health utility collection was also evaluated. Results 60 patients were randomised (90% male, mean age 62±9 years, 26% of those eligible). 82% completed all three assessment visits. 78% of the web group completed the programme. Quality of life improved in the web group by a clinically meaningful amount (0.5±1.1 units vs 0.2±0.7 units: control). Exercise capacity improved in both groups but mood did not change in either group. It was feasible to collect health utility data. Conclusions It was feasible to recruit and retention to the end of the study was good. The web group reported important improvements in quality of life. This intervention has the opportunity to increase access to CR for patients who would otherwise not attend. Promising outcomes and recruitment suggest feasibility for a full-scale trial. Trial registration number 10726798.


Designing fonts and typefaces is a difficult process for both beginner and expert typographers. Existing workflows require the designer to create every glyph, while adhering to many loosely defined design suggestions to achieve an aesthetically appealing and coherent character set. This process can be significantly simplified by exploiting the similar structure character glyphs present across different fonts and the shared stylistic elements within the same font. To capture these correlations, we propose learning a stroke‐based font representation from a collection of existing typefaces. To enable this, we develop a stroke‐based geometric model for glyphs, a fitting procedure to reparametrize arbitrary fonts to our representation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our model through a manifold learning technique that estimates a low‐dimensional font space. Our representation captures a wide range of everyday fonts with topological variations and naturally handles discrete and continuous variations, such as presence and absence of stylistic elements as well as slants and weights. We show that our learned representation can be used for iteratively improving fit quality, as well as exploratory style applications such as completing a font from a subset of observed glyphs, interpolating or adding and removing stylistic elements in existing fonts.


PURPOSE
Current amorphous silicon electronic portal imaging devices (a-Si EPIDs) that are frequently used in radiotherapy applications employ a metal plate/phosphor screen configuration to optimize x-ray detection efficiency. The phosphor acts to convert x rays into an optical signal that is detected by an underlying photodiode array. The dosimetric response of EPIDs has been well characterized, in part through the development of computational models. Such models, however, have generally made simplifying assumptions with regards to the transport of optical photons within these detectors. The goal of this work was to develop and experimentally validate a new Monte Carlo (MC) model of an a-Si EPID that simulates both x-ray and optical photon transport in a self-contained manner. Using this model the authors establish a definitive characterization of the effects of optical transport on the dosimetric response of a-Si EPIDs employing gadolinium oxysulfide phosphor screens.

METHODS
The Geant4 MC toolkit was used to develop a model of an a-Si EPID that employs standard electromagnetic and optical physics classes. The sensitivity of EPID response to uncertainties in optical transport parameters was evaluated by investigating their effects on the EPID point spread function (PSF). An optical blur kernel was also calculated to isolate the component of the PSF resulting purely from optical transport. A 6 MV photon source model was developed and integrated into the MC model to investigate EPID dosimetric response. Field size output factors and relative dose profiles were calculated for a set of open fields by separately scoring energy deposited in the phosphor and optical absorption events in the photodiode. These were then compared to quantify effects resulting from optical photon transport. The EPID model was validated against experimental measurements taken using a research EPID.

RESULTS
Optical photon scatter within the phosphor screen noticeably broadened the PSF. Variations in optical transport parameters reported in the literature caused fluctuations in the PSF full width at half maximum (FWHM) and full width at tenth maximum (FWTM) of less than 3% and 5%, respectively, confirming model robustness. Greater deviations (up to 9.5% and 36% for FWHM and FWTM, respectively) were observed when optical parameters were largely different from reference values. When scoring energy deposition in the phosphor, measured and calculated output factors agreed within statistical uncertainties and at least 94% of the MC simulated profile data points passed 3%/3 mm γ-index criterion for all field sizes considered. Despite statistical uncertainties in optical simulations arising from computational limitations, no differences were observed between optical and energy deposition profiles.

CONCLUSIONS
Simulations demonstrated noticeable blurring of the EPID PSF when scoring optical absorption events in the photodiode relative to energy deposition in the phosphor. However, modeling the standard electromagnetic transport alone should suffice when using MC methods to predict EPID dose-response to static, open 6 MV fields with a standard a-Si photodiode array. Therefore, using energy deposition in the phosphor as a surrogate for EPID dose-response is a valid approach that should not require additional corrections for optical transport effects in current a-Si EPIDs employing phosphor screens.


Current approaches to foreign language teaching can be characterized as one-size-fits-all. This is true in the sense that within a given class or instructional level, uniform learning objectives, activities, pacing, and assessment tools are in place for all students. Such approach is not well suited to teaching Spanish to bilingual Latinos who present divergent academic and linguistic backgrounds. Needed for such students is a means to configure Spanish-language instruction along individual learner specifications. An overview of Latino demographics indicates that bilingual Latinos study Spanish in different instructional contexts, depending on where they go to school. Typically, those attending schools with a sizable Latino population study the language in specialized Spanish-for-native-speakers (SNS) classes. Others study in classes with non-native students. Regardless of the type of the class, when bilingual Latino students are enrolled in Spanish-language courses, learning inevitably takes place in the context of a mixed-ability language classroom. Demographic realities being what they are, such classrooms may be on the way to becoming the norm, rather than the exception in Spanish-language programs throughout the country. Predicated on the notion that teaching should be responsive to student differences and reach out to learners at their own level of readiness, Differentiated Teaching (Tomlinson 1999, 2003) is designed to deal with the very type of mixed-ability issues that arise when teaching Spanish to bilingual Latinos. Additionally, this approach represents an effective way to address issues of equity and access to learning – key considerations when dealing with Latino students. Following Tomlinson's work, this paper explores five instructional strategies that support instruction in mixed-ability classes, including: (1) stations; (2) centers; (3) agendas; (4) learning contracts; and (5) multiple-entry journals/reading logs. In addition, it presents samples of differentiated activities for use in mixed-ability Spanish classes.


As the confluence of networks that is the modern Internet grows to encompass everything from nuclear reactors to home appliances, the affordances offered to the average citizen grow as well—but so, too, do the resources made available to those with malicious intent. Through the rise of Big Data and the Internet of Things, terrorist organizations today have been freed from geographic and logistical confines and now have more power than ever before to strike the average citizen directly at home. This, coupled with the inherently asymmetrical nature of cyberwarfare—which grants great advantage to the attacker—has created an unprecedented national security risk that both governments and their citizens are woefully ill-prepared to face.

The Handbook of Research on Civil Society and National Security in the Era of Cyber Warfare addresses the problem of cyber terrorism head-on, first through a review of current literature, and then through a series of progressive proposals aimed at researchers, professionals, and policymakers.

Touching on such subjects as cyber-profiling, hacktivism, and digital counterterrorism, this collection offers the tools to begin formulating a ground-up resiliency to cybersecurity threats that starts at the civilian level.


Bromelain is a proteolytic enzyme that can be found in all parts of pineapple plant varieties. Pineapple crown (PC) has higher bromelain activity than other pineapple wastes such as peels and leaves. This study isolated bromelain from one variety of PC, namely Honi, and determined the optimum drying temperature as well as concentration of ammonium sulphate to obtain the best bromelain characteristics such as protein content, unit activity and specific activity. Honi PC was dried at various drying temperatures (35, 40, 45, 50, and 55 °C), and then extracted and purified using ammonium sulphate in various concentrations (20, 40, 60, and 80%), in order, to get bromelain. Furthermore, the yield of isolated bromelain was calculated and the protein content, unit activity and specific activity of bromelain characterised. The highest yield of crude bromelain (CB) was achieved at 35 °C. However, the highest protein level, unit activity and specific activity of CB were achieved at 55 °C (p < 0.05). Purification of CB using concentrations of ammonium sulphate in the range 40 to 80% resulted in a higher protein level (p < 0.05). The highest unit activity and specific activity of bromelain were achieved at a 60% concentration of ammonium sulphate (p < 0.05). 55 °C and 60% were the optimum drying temperature and concentration of ammonium sulphate respectively to achieve the best characteristics (2.16% protein level, 1.61 U/mL unit activity and 0.75 U/mg specific activity) for bromelain isolated from Honi PC. Honi PC isolated bromelain was shown to inhibit the browning reaction on apple fruits. The agroindustry waste product, Honi PC, has potential as a future alternative bromelain source.


The paper develops a signalling theory of conspicuous consumption where the drive toward spending on an otherwise unuseful good comes from the desire to enter clubs and benefit from the provision of club good financed by members of a club and from a social status effect. Individual incomes are unobserved and admission to a club is based on the inference of an individual's capacity to contribute to the public good. By entering in a club, individuals also gain a certain social status. This inference in turn is based on the signal emitted by spending on a conspicuous good. Because of the joint incentives of club good and social status, people may be induced to overspend in the conspicuous good. We characterise both the pooling equilibria and the separating equilibria of the signalling game played by individuals. We then ask whether taxation can be Pareto-improving and which tax scheme would be chosen by the median voter in this society.


Background: Nurses and podiatrists are frequently involved in the management of complex wounds, however, despite evidence demonstrating the benefits of interprofessional working, there is often little collaboration between these professions when caring for patients with wounds. This partly stems from a lack of awareness of each other's roles as well as inconsistent educational strategies. The University of Huddersfield has started to address this issue by developing an interprofessional strand to undergraduate wound care education. Aim: To develop an IT-based learning resource to convey evidence-based concepts in wound care to pre-registration, undergraduate nursing and podiatry students. Method: A CD-ROM has been developed utilising a problem-based learning format bringing theory to life with the use of case scenarios centred on the management of common wounds.Conclusion: This initiative aims to introduce an IT resource to pre-registration nursing and podiatry students to encourage them to embrace evidencebased concepts, appreciate the importance of an interprofessional approach and be better prepared for independent practice. Conflict of interest: None


Adenovirus Death Protein (ADP) expression during late stages of a lytic infection releases mature virions to promote viral spread, thus leading to death of the host cell. We sought to investigate ADP expression patterns in persistently infected human lymphocytes cells. We hypothesized that low expression of ADP allows the virus to persist while high expression would promote lytic infection in lymphocytes. Accordingly, we found ADP expressed in low amount in BJAB and KE37 cells, while lytically infected Jurkat cells demonstrated higher ADP expression in both protein and transcript levels. ADP overexpression in persistently infected lymphocytes did not alter the viability of these cells, or their level of ADP expression. In contrast, Jurkat cells infected with an ADP-deleted virus had increased survival and maintained viral DNA for greater than 1-month, suggesting conversion to a persistent infection. Also manipulating ADP expression had minimal impact on the total virus yield from infected lymphocytes. INDEX WORDS: Adenovirus, ADP, Persistent infection, Lymphocytes ADENOVIRUS DEATH PROTEIN: THE SWITCH BETWEEN LYTIC AND PERSISTENT INFECTIONS IN LYMPHOCYTES?


t seems like just yesterday that I attended a very early farm-to-school workshop in the mid-'90s at a national conference. I don't remember the name of the conference or where it took place, but I vividly recall the animated discourse that included expressions of frustration in navigating the National School Lunch and Department of Defense's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program protocols. I also heard the kernels of clever strategy being formulated in a handful of schools around the country to get fresh local farm products into their cafeterias. Back in those early days, things sure were complicated—but also exciting. The U.S. has come a long way since then. With federal and foundation support, the National Farm to School Network is thriving, and nearly half of all U.S. schools purchase at least small amounts of local farm products. The U.S. is also sprouting farm-to-college, farm-to-prison, farm-to-hospital, and now farm-tochildcare programs. This 20-year trend in direct wholesaling to sympathetic local institutions was a logical maturation of the food movement that began with the resurgence of farmers markets in the late 1970s and the advent of community supported agriculture operations (CSAs) in the 1980s. And one might argue that food hubs were a natural next response to the challenges of meeting the needs of institutions—that is, the small-scale wholesaling established by intrepid farm-to-school organizers. I


Sea surface temperature (SST) in the east Pacific warm pool (EPWP) plays a potentially important role in Central American rainfall, tropical cyclogenesis, ocean biology, large-scale tropical heating, and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The first part of this dissertation is aimed at understanding what processes govern the interannual variability of SST in the EPWP. Interannual wind stress, shortwave radiation, and precipitation were used as forcing to an ocean general circulation model. Shortwave heating was identified as the primary driver of the interannual SST tendency in the EPWP. The high correlation between the EPWP and the equatorial Pacific Ocean is explained by the fact that equatorial SST anomalies modify the distribution of atmospheric vertical motions and therefore cloud cover and shortwave heating. In a parallel set of experiments, the low-frequency variability of the Tehuantepec gap winds was also shown to have a considerable effect on that of SST in the EPWP.

Motivated by the results of the first part of this dissertation, the second part offers significant improvements to the mean state of the equatorial Pacific Ocean in a climatology ocean model experiment by including the Galapagos Islands in the model topography. In this context, the equatorial cold bias is reduced. Furthermore, when the ocean model is coupled to the atmosphere through zonal wind stress, the problem of an excessively regular and biennial ENSO is also reduced. The change in ENSO timescale is a result of the same dynamics operating on a different mean state.

The third part of this dissertation is aimed at understanding the role of the interannual variability of SST in the EPWP in that of Central American rainfall. An anomalously warm EPWP can trigger a rapid enhancement of the east Pacific intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in rainy seasons following peak ENSO events, which leads to a rainfall anomaly over Central America. Moreover, the timing and amplitude of the SST-enhanced ITCZ depends on the persistence of the ENSO event. The longer the equatorial SST anomaly persists, the longer the EPWP is subject to anomalous shortwave heating and thus the greater the subsequent SST enhancement of the ITCZ.


Primitive man's discovery of the ability to change matter from one state to another brought about a profound change in spiritual behavior. In The Forge and the Crucible, Mircea Eliade follows the ritualistic adventures of these ancient societies, adventures rooted in the people's awareness of an awesome new power. The new edition of "The Forge and the Crucible" contains an updated appendix, in which Eliade lists works on Chinese alchemy published in the past few years. He also discusses the importance of alchemy in Newton's scientific evolution.


In this thesis a finite element programme for material and geometric nonlinear analysis, has been modified with pre- and post-data processing and eigenvalue solution. More efficient methods to solve elastic and inelastic eigenvalue and eigenvectors have been developed to deal with stability problems in structures with arbitrary shape, irregular stiffness, loads and boundary conditions. The Generalized Beam Theory (GBT) with the facilities of elastic spring restraints, buckling under coupled loads, different load locations has been developed and programmed by the author. It has been applied to reveal the basic behaviour and the interaction between the modes of light gauge steel members. It has been found that the AISI design approach with elastic bucking stresses obtained using GBT can be used to correctly predict the strength of compression thin-walled columns. Three different types of widely used light gauge steel members, namely rack columns, purlins and decks, have been analyzed using both FEM and GBT. The comparison of results from the numerical analyses and comprehensive tests agrees well. The author has risen to the challenge of complicated buckling problems and a pseudo-plastic design procedure for a continuous purlins and roof decks has been established in order to make the best us of the materials. Through the highly complex analyses, some important conclusions for composite deck profiles in the wet concrete stage have been obtained. The ECCS and AISI design approaches for bending have been found to be conservative when the deck is subject to plastic buckling or strength failure. The calculation of the ultimate web crippling load without consideration of bending moment is awkward and further light is shed on this topical problem. The influence of dimples in reducing the deck bending resistance mainly depends on the flange slenderness


Landscape scale analysis of the vegetation of the Pine Mountain Range of westcentral Georgia revealed fourteen plant communities. This unique mountain chain at the southern border of the Piedmont has a plant composition with a mixture of Appalachian, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain species. Dry ridgetops supported Pinus palustris and Quercus laevis, while steep moist slopes have Kalmia latifolia and Rhododendron minus as a component. Communities on calcareous soils include ridgetops with an Aesculus pavia midstory and savannah-like areas with an overstory of P. palustris and understory of Gymnopogon brevifolius and Rhus aromatica. Quercus georgiana was common and widespread in the southern portions of the range, especially in FDR State Park. The moist valleys have provided a refuge for Appalachian and Coastal Plain species, while the uplands harbor P. palustris ecosystems and a Castanea dentata stand. Due to the unique species composition, conservation efforts should focus on returning fire as an ecosystem component and protecting the area from human development and fragmentation.


The purpose of this study were: (1) describe the criteria biographical charged religious tolerance value and (2) biography that meet the criteria for. This research is descriptive qualitative research that is part of the research and development. Data in the form of information in the form of informant statements about the criteria biographical containing values religious tolerance and biographical that meet these criteria. The data was collected by questionnaire and interview from 13 informants consisting of high school teachers and lecturers in Surakarta PBSI FKIP UMS. The data is then codified, tabulated, and analyzed with a critical analysis techniques. Results of the analysis are presented with a formal presentation and tables. Presented the results of this study as follows. (1) There are 44 criteria which can be classified biographical be criteria based on figures and criteria based on the contents of the biography. Criteria based on figures include: based on the character, the existence, religiosity, services / her work, and expertise. Criteria based on biographical forms include: content biography, language, biography, biography and origin. (2) The informant proposed a 39 character name which is considered to have the values of religious tolerance that can be used as an educational resource religious tolerance. However, only 18 were able to biographical mentioned identasnya complete. Kata kunci: tolerance, religious life, biography, education model


This study argues for a reformulation of the semiotic and characteristically linguistic construct of Duality of Patterning. Since the Duality principle was originally formulated, linguists have generally accepted the 'barrier' enshrined in Duality, said to separate the levels of Expression (in particular, its Phonological component) and Wording (Vocabulary and Grammar). However, there was always criticism of the strong formulations of Duality, some from precursors of functional models of language, notably Systemic-Functional Grammar (SFG). On the other hand, although SFG has made a rich and original contribution to the understanding of intonation systems and has controversially defended a 'natural', permeable relation between Wording and Meaning, it has allowed the principle of Duality to be treated uncontroversially. There are also a number of flourishing misunderstandings about Duality, which this study will explain and rectify: its alleged bond with Arbitrariness and with 'meaningless' phonemes rather than contrastive phonetic features. In this study, Duality is characterised as a permeable relation rather than a strict barrier. Much evidence in natural languages and in the literature supports this less rigid view of Duality: Pike, Jakobson, Firth and, more recently, Halliday (1992) following Lemke (1984).


The model of discrimination animating some of the most common approaches to detecting discrimination in both law and social science—the counterfactual causal model—is wrong. In that model, racial discrimination is detected by measuring the "treatment effect of race," where the treatment is conceptualized as manipulating the raced status of otherwise identical units (e.g., a person, a neighborhood, a school). Most objections to talking about race as a cause in the counterfactual model have been raised in terms of manipulability. If we cannot manipulate a person's race at the moment of a police stop, traffic encounter, or prosecutorial charging decision, then it is impossible to detect if the person's race was the sole cause of an unfavorable outcome. But this debate has proceeded on the wrong terms. The counterfactual causal model of discrimination is not wrong because we can't work around the practical limits of manipulation, as evidenced by both Eddie Murphy's comic genius in the Saturday Night Live skit "White Like Me" and the entire genre of audit and correspondence studies. It is wrong because to fit the rigor of the counterfactual model of a clearly defined treatment on otherwise identical units, we must reduce race to only the signs of the category, meaning we must think race is skin color, or phenotype, or other ways we identify group status. And that is a concept mistake if one subscribes to a constructivist, as opposed to a biological or genetic, conception of race. The counterfactual causal model of discrimination is based on a flawed theory of what the category of race references, how it produces effects in the world, and what is meant when we say it is wrong to make decisions of import because of race. I argue that DISCRIMINATION is a thick ethical concept that at once describes and evaluates the actions to which it is applied, and therefore, we cannot detect actions as discriminatory by identifying a relation of counterfactual causality; we can only do so by reasoning about the action's distinctive wrongfulness by referencing what constitutes the very categories that are the objects of concern. An adequate theory of discrimination must rest upon (1) an account of the system of social meanings or practices that constitute the categories at issue and (2) a moral theory of what is fair and just in various state and private arenas given what the categories are.


Abstract Jaw fracture surgery or orthognathic surgery usually involves the application of an intermaxillary fixation (IMF). Obstructions that cannot be relieved by suction require an immediate release of IMF wires, but releasing the IMF may damage the surgical alignment of the facial bones. The mean time taken to release the jaws was an average of 2 minutes 9 seconds by hospital staff involved in caring for these patients. The aims of this study were to introduce a training model for wire-guided percutaneous cricothyrotomy in the patients applying an IMF and to perform the procedure for medical students. Our model consisted of a facial mannequin, a plastic breathing tube, 2 rolls of tapes, and a reservoir bag. The inner parts of the 2 used rolls of tape represent tracheal/cricoid rings (1-inch width for thyroid and half-inch width for cricoid), and the space between them represents the cricothyroid membrane, which is wrapped with Peha-Haft. A surgeon demonstrated the technique on the model, and then, 60 medical students who had never attended airway-training courses applied the Melker cricothyrotomy kit on the model. All 60 students completed the procedure successfully. The mean (SD) time needed to insert a cricothyrotomy catheter of the medical students was 175 (50) seconds (range, 76–297 s). Most of the students (54; 90%) performed it within 4 minutes; more than half (33; 55%), within 3 minutes. With our manikin model and Melker cricothyrotomy kit, 60 medical students completed the procedure successfully. This model can be useful to cricothyrotomy training for medical personnel.


Of all the ancient Greek tragedians, Euripides was the most sensitive to the lives of women and other outcasts in Athenian society, and "Electra and Other Plays" collects five plays demonstrating his talent for bringing to life their plight. This "Penguin Classics" edition is translated by John Davie with an introduction and notes by Richard Rutherford. Written during a period overshadowed by the fierce struggle for supremacy between Sparta and Euripides' native Athens, these five plays are haunted by the shadow of war - and in particular its impact on women. In "Electra" the children of Agamemnon take bloody revenge on their mother for murdering their father after his return from Troy, and "Suppliant Women" depicts the grieving mothers of those killed in battle. The other plays deal with the aftermath of the Trojan War for the defeated survivors, as Andromache shows Hector's widow as a trophy of war in the house of her Greek captor, and Hecabe portrays a defeated queen avenging the murder of her last-remaining son, while "Trojan Women" tells of the plight of the city's women in the hands of their victors. John Davie's compelling translations are accompanied by an introduction by Richard Rutherford describing the tragic genre and Euripides innovations, along with a chronology, prefaces to each play, notes, a bibliography and a glossary of names. Euripides (c.485-07 BC) was an Athenian born into a family of considerable rank. Disdaining the public duties expected of him, Euripides spent a life of quiet introspection, spending much of his life in a cave on Salamis. Late in life he voluntarily exiled himself to the court of Archelaus, King of Macedon, where he wrote "The Bacchae", regarded by many as his greatest work. Euripides is thought to have written 92 plays, only 18 of which survive. If you enjoyed "Electra and Other Plays", you might like Euripides' "Medea and Other Plays", also available in "Penguin Classics". "The most intensely tragic of all the poets". (Aristotle).


International watershed basins shared by two or more states cover nearly half the land surface of the earth and often present complex, interconnected management challenges. The Columbia River basin has long been considered a model case of international watershed management. The fiftieth anniversary of the Canada–United States treaty that governs the basin occurred in 2014, which was also the first year either country could give notice to terminate and request to renegotiate. Stakeholders and interested parties with values shut out of the original negotiations have long advocated for fundamental changes in how the river is managed and operated. Meanwhile, those interests who are the primary beneficiaries of the current system want to limit any changes in terms, operations, and distribution of benefits. This article explores the politics of potential treaty renegotiation and focuses on the institutional permanence of the existing system, demands for ecosystem functions in future system operations, and whether transformational change or incremental adaption is the politically likely outcome.


Baladi, (B taurus; DAGRIS) a native cattle breed found throughout the entire Southern Mediterranean basin, is known for its high disease resistance and hardiness. Baladi cows in Israel and Southern Mediterranean basin are endangered due to the introduction of larger and more productive European breeds in these regions. In order to promote conservation initiatives of Baladi by stakeholders, the yet unexplored production traits, over their well accepted adaptation to the harsh Mediterranean conditions, were sought in the current study. Aiming at locating the genetic potential of Baladi for meat quality, the allelic and genotypic frequencies of four polymorphisms in CAST, CAPN1, DGAT1, and FASN genes, previously reported to be associated with meat quality traits, were compared to four cattle breeds. The other four breeds included Limousine, Holstein, Simmental and Brahman cattle, which represent beef, dairy, dual-purpose and indicine bovine members, respectively. Relative to the four bovine members, Baladi cattle exhibited high frequencies of the increasing alleles and genotypes in all four SNPs associated with meat tenderness or fat deposition. These findings, along with future phenotyping and genomic profiling of meat quality related markers, and the well-established adaptability to the challenging Mediterranean pasture conditions, may promote conservation initiatives of Baladi cattle by stakeholders.


It is well known that the quality of an image that can be obtained from a groundbased
telescope is limited by the wavefront distortion associated with the atmospheric
turbulence. The turbulence is present as a result of the mixing of the warm and the cold
air. Although the turbulence affects both the amplitude and the phase of the wavefront,
the random phase aberration is found to be more important in the distortion of an image
than the magnitude distortion. As a result, the available light spread over a wide area
and the observed image is blurred.
This effect has hindered astronomers since the invention of the telescope in the 17t h
century. In order to reduce the effect of the atmospheric turbulence and improve the
quality of the image obtained at the ground-based telescopes, large collection aperture
telescopes have been built at high altitude places. Although the light gathering properties
of these modern telescopes are remarkable, the problem that originated from the
atmospheric turbulence has not been solved completely.
The aim of this study is to find ways that can compensate the effects of atmospheric
turbulence and provide a good quality image. There are two approaches proposed to
deal with this problem, namely the adaptive optics and the post-detection processing
approaches. The first half of the thesis is concerned with an adaptive optics approach
while the second half is concerned with a post-detection processing approach.
The adaptive optics approach compensates the wavefront distortion in real time. It uses
hardware designed to physically alter the optical path length of the distorted wavefront.
Thus a disturbance which is in the optical path just opposite to the disturbance associated
with the atmospheric turbulence is introduced so that both disturbances cancel.
Therefore, an accurate estimation of the disturbance introduced by the atmospheric turbulence is crucial in this approach. While the problem can be reformulated as a
standard least square problem from the measurements from Shack Hartmann sensor,
the least square problem is itself under-determined. This means that the quality of
distortion is limited by the number of measurements available, which in turn is limited
by the available light.
In order to solve this under-determined problem, a priori information needs to be applied
so as to put more constraints into the estimation. One piece of a priori information
that can be obtained is the statistics of the turbulence. This can be derived theoretically
using the Kolmogorov turbulence model. By incorporating this information into
the estimation, the problem becomes well-posed. As the simulation results show, the
accuracy in estimating the distorted wavefront is improved by incorporating the a priori
information.
The second approach to compensate the disturbance is the post-detection processing
approach. This is founded upon the insight that short exposure images preserve frequencies
up to the diffraction limit. A variety of techniques have been proposed to
recover this diffraction-limited information, for example, the correlation-based techniques
of Knox-Thompson and bispectrum approaches. However, these techniques are
required to average the effects of atmospheric turbulence before the algorithm can be
applied to recover the object of interest.
Another approach is to consider the problem as a deconvolution problem in which the
object of interest is reconstructed based on the disturbance information and the short
exposure image. In this case the disturbance is unknown. It is a blind deconvolution
problem, that means we need to reconstruct the object from the short exposure image
without a statistical ensemble of distorted images. Three methods are discussed and
compared, they are the conjugate gradient approach, the projection-based approach
and the maximum likelihood approach. All these three methods can be formulated
using the Bayes' theorem but with different assumptions made on the noise statistics
and with different application of the a priori knowledge. They are compared in terms
of the convergence rate, the quality of the reconstructed image and also in the presence
of different noise levels.
As simulation results show, all these three algorithms can blindly deconvolve a blurred
image. In general, the projection-based algorithm and the maximum likelihood algo-rithm produce clean reconstructed images compared to the conjugate gradient algorithm.
However, all three algorithms experience the so-called superresolution effect in
the presence of noise. A way to prevent suprereolving a blurred image is suggested.


Abstract Only scarce information is available on doctorate recipients' career outcomes (BuWiN, 2013). With the current information base, graduate students cannot make an informed decision on whether to start a doctorate or not (Benderly, 2018; Blank et al., 2017). However, administrative labor market data, which could provide the necessary information, are incomplete in this respect. In this paper, we describe the record linkage of two data sets to close this information gap: data on doctorate recipients collected in the catalog of the German National Library (DNB), and the German labor market biographies (IEB) from the German Institute of Employment Research. We use a machine learning-based methodology, which (a) improves the record linkage of data sets without unique identifiers, and (b) evaluates the quality of the record linkage. The machine learning algorithms are trained on a synthetic training and evaluation data set. In an exemplary analysis, we compare the evolution of the employment status of female and male doctorate recipients in Germany.


Many engineering problems that can be formulated as constrained optimization problems result in solutions given by a waterfilling structure; the classical example is the capacity-achieving solution for a frequency-selective channel. For simple waterfilling solutions with a single waterlevel and a single constraint (typically, a power constraint), some algorithms have been proposed in the literature to compute the solutions numerically. However, some other optimization problems result in significantly more complicated waterfilling solutions that include multiple waterlevels and multiple constraints. For such cases, it may still be possible to obtain practical algorithms to evaluate the solutions numerically but only after a painstaking inspection of the specific waterfilling structure. In addition, a unified view of the different types of waterfilling solutions and the corresponding practical algorithms is missing. The purpose of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, it overviews the waterfilling results existing in the literature from a unified viewpoint. On the other hand, it bridges the gap between a wide family of waterfilling solutions and their efficient implementation in practice; to be more precise, it provides a practical algorithm to evaluate numerically a general waterfilling solution, which includes the currently existing waterfilling solutions and others that may possibly appear in future problems.


Fish have evolved a biological clock to cope with environmental cycles, so they display circadian rhythms in most physiological functions including stress response. Photoperiodic information is transduced by the pineal organ into a rhythmic secretion of melatonin, which is released into the blood circulation with high concentrations at night and low during the day. The melatonin rhythmic profile is under the control of circadian clocks in most fish (except salmonids), and it is considered as an important output of the circadian system, thus modulating most daily behavioral and physiological rhythms. Lighting conditions (intensity and spectrum) change in the underwater environment and affect fish embryo and larvae development: constant light/darkness or red lights can lead to increased malformations and mortality, whereas blue light usually results in best hatching rates and growth performance in marine fish. Many factors display daily rhythms along the hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal (HPI) axis that controls stress response in fish, including corticotropin-releasing hormone (Crh) and its binding protein (Crhbp), proopiomelanocortin A and B (Pomca and Pomcb), and plasma cortisol, glucose, and lactate. Many of these circadian rhythms are under the control of endogenous molecular clocks, which consist of self-sustained transcriptional-translational feedback loops involving the cyclic expression of circadian clock genes (clock, bmal, per, and cry) which persists under constant light or darkness. Exposing fish to a stressor can result in altered rhythms of most stress indicators, such as cortisol, glucose, and lactate among others, as well as daily rhythms of most behavioral and physiological functions. In addition, crh and pomca expression profiles can be affected by other factors such as light spectrum, which strongly influence the expression profile of growth-related (igf1a, igf2a) genes. Additionally, the daily cycle of water temperature (warmer at day and cooler at night) is another factor that has to be considered. The response to any acute stressor is not only species dependent, but also depends on the time of the day when the stress occurs: nocturnal species show higher responses when stressed during day time, whereas diurnal fish respond stronger at night. Melatonin administration in fish has sedative effects with a reduction in locomotor activity and cortisol levels, as well as reduced liver glycogen and dopaminergic and serotonergic activities within the hypothalamus. In this paper, we are reviewing the role of environmental cycles and biological clocks on the entrainment of daily rhythms in the HPI axis and stress responses in fish.


Climate change is impacting wine production in all parts of the world in highly variable ways that may change the expression of terroir, from rapid loss of viability right through to highly beneficial aspects that increase suitability. The ability of the wine sector to adapt to climate change is largely constrained in a relatively consistent manner across the world, with very similar barriers being identified in several countries (Aus, USA, Por, Ita, Esp). The most important of these include accessibility to meaningful predictive climate data projections, the capacity and ability to use the predictive data, and the identification of relevant and practical adaptation response actions. The authors are proposing the development of a simple guide to possible response actions based on a hazard risk analysis and a control point approach that will incorporate a wide range of viti-vinicultural climate types and terroirs. The guide will constitute a framework that can be upgraded as new adaptation options become uncovered through research and practical experience relevant to each region, thereby allowing individual regions to better define their own relevant adaptation strategies. A preliminary framework covering a sample section of the value chain will be presented for discussion.


This study analyzed the spillovers among intra-urban housing submarkets in Beijing, China. Intra-urban spillover imposes a methodological challenge for housing studies from the spatial and temporal perspectives. Unlike the inter-urban spillover, the range of every submarket is not naturally defined; therefore, it is impossible to evaluate the intra-urban spillover by standard time-series models. Instead, we formulated the spillover effect as a Markov chain procedure. The constrained clustering technique was applied to identify the submarkets as the hidden states of Markov chain and estimate the transition matrix. Using a day-by-day transaction dataset of second-hand apartments in Beijing during 2011–2017, we detected 16 submarkets/regions and the spillover effect among these regions. The highest transition probability appeared in the overlapped region of urban core and Tongzhou district. This observation reflects the impact of urban planning proposal initiated since early 2012. In addition to the policy consequences, we analyzed a variety of spillover "types" through regression analysis. The latter showed that the "ripple" form of spillover is not dominant at the intra-urban level. Other types, such as the spillover due to the existence of price depressed regions, play major roles. This observation reveals the complexity of intra-urban spillover dynamics and its distinct driving-force compared to the inter-urban spillover.


The number of Saudi students studying in the United States quintupled from 3,035 students in 2005 to 15,810 students in 2010 due to a fully funded Saudi government scholarship (Open Doors, 2010). As students originating in a cultural background differing from the prevailing principles of their higher education institutions, Saudi students face several challenges. The cultural challenges are one of the most frequently apparent among these challenges (Constantine, Okazaki, & Utsey, 2004; Miller, 2002). Building upon the relationship between the cultural beliefs and student academic achievement, this study aimed at examining the cultural aspects of the increased presence of Saudi students enrolled in the various academic programs at a Mid-Western research university, Riverside State University, a pseudonym. The study followed the qualitative method for data collection and analysis. After conducting initial site observations and document reviews, primary data were collected from open ended interviews with students, administrators, and professors at the university. Study findings revealed various cultural implications arising from the continuous increase of Saudi students on American higher education campuses. The cultural construct was shown to have several subsequent aspects including: transition, academic life, and social life. University support systems were explored to demonstrate a replicable model that can be adopted to ease the cultural adjustment of these students. Recommendations demonstrate how various techniques can be utilized to increase Saudi students' engagement for academic success.


This study aims to quantify slab contributions in EBFs by investigating the dynamic performance of two 3-story EBF configurations with and without concrete slabs: one configuration having long (flexural yielding) links and the other having shorter (shear yielding) links. Particular effort is spent investigating the relative accumulation of ultra low-cycle fatigue damage within the link regions during dynamic loading. All slab and frame geometries are modeled using shell elements. Linear springs and nodal constraints model the discrete slab-to-beam interactions. Recorded earthquake ground accelerations, scaled to design-level intensities, load the EBFs. Ultra low-cycle fatigue damage is investigated using a calibrated micro-mechanics based ductile fracture model. Results indicate reduced system-level frame demands (inter-story drift, residual drift, and link rotation) due to increased system stiffness from the concrete slabs. Reductions in these demands were larger for EBFs with long (flexural yielding) links as compared to the short (shear yielding links). Even with reduced rotation demands, EBF models with slabs sustained similar fatigue damage as the bare-steel EBF models due to increased plastic strain demands, presumably from a neutral axis shift.


Dynamic models of ecosystem services supply and scenario analysis of changes in multiple services are being increasingly used to support land use planning and decision making. This approach reduces potential and real conflicts among various stakeholders potentially creating win–win solutions for all. It is particularly applicable in areas where insufficient land for agriculture and settlements is resulting in high rates of conversion of natural forest and grasslands. We quantified and mapped multiple ecosystem services, including habitat provision as a proxy for biodiversity, carbon storage and sequestration, and water balance and supply in the Sarvelat and Javaherdasht region of the globally-significant Hyrcanian (Caspian) forests in northern Iran using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs tool. This region is experiencing a rapidly increasing rate of forest conversion and as a result, the protected area located within the study landscape is threatened by human encroachment. Plausible future landscapes were modeled under three scenarios: (i) business as usual; (ii) protection-based zoning which reflects an expansion of the protected area boundary to prevent land use changes; and (iii) collaborative zoning through redefining the protection boundary simultaneously with an adjustment to meet local stakeholders' objective of expansion of anthropogenic cover. The results showed that the collaborative zoning scenario would best contribute to effective policy because it presents a more rational spatial configuration of the landscape maintaining the provision of ecosystem services. This scenario may lead to reduced environmental impacts while achieving less conflict between the government and local communities. These results will help to inform and shape natural resource management policies in Iran and is applicable elsewhere in the world. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Recent tests have been performed by the NAB to assess the viability of the all-digital AM IBOC mode, MA3. Hybrid AM transmission using MA1 has been commonplace for several years now, but the all-digital mode presents some unique challenges. The peak to average power ratio of the signal increases significantly compared to a station broadcasting an analog AM or hybrid signal, requiring either a reduction in power or some form of peak control. A typical hybrid transmitter installation would have the transmitter optimized for analog AM performance, but a different set of criteria are required for the all-digital signal to optimize spectral performance and MER. This paper will present an analysis of the MA3 signal and spectral mask, along with the implications for passing it successfully through both current and past generation AM transmitters. Suggested power levels for a given transmitter will be reviewed, along with how these could be increased by reducing the amount of power in the AM carrier. Finally, an innovative signal conditioning technique that reduces the envelope and phase frequency content will be presented, allowing the operator to choose a trade-off between MER and spectral performance into difficult loads.


Proteases have long been studied and analyzed. However, some are more well known than others. Oligopeptidase A (OpdA) is an example of an enzyme that requires particular attention, as preliminary results by Karlyshev 'et al' (unpublished results) has demonstrated its absence in 'Yersinia pseudotuberculosis' results in a reduction of virulence when introduced into mice. Over-expression, purification and enzymatic activity of OpdA from 'Y. pseudotuberculosis' is reported in this study. OpdA-His was successfully over expressed and purified with a molecular weight of 77 kDa. The enzyme displayed no activity against resorufin labeled casein but was able to cleave the short fluorogenic substrates; Abz-NKPRRPQEDDnp and Abz-AAL-EDDnp. The hydrolysis of Abz-NKPRRPQ-EDDnp and Abz- AAL-EDDnp by OpdA-His was enhanced in the presence of Ca2+, C02+ and Mn2+. Interestingly, OpdA-His was inhibited by 0.1 mM and 1 mM Zn2+ and Cu2+, and stimulated by 0.001 mM and 0.01 mM Zn2+. Metal chelating agent EGTA at 1 mM concentration was unable to fully inhibit the hydrolysis of Abz-NKPRRPQ-EDDnp
but fully inhibited the hydrolysis of Abz-AAL-EDDnp after 5 minutes. Likewise, the inhibitory effect of 0.1 mM chymostatin, 0.02 M N-[N-(N-Acetyl-L-Ieucyl)-L-Ieucyl]-L-norleucine (ALLN) and 74IJM antipain was more dramatic on the hydrolysis of
Abz-AAL-EDDnp than the hydrolysis of Abz-NKPRRPQ-EDDnp. In order to determine the ability of OpdA-His to cleave products of other proteases and give an insight into the role of OpdA-His, several attempts were made to purify the ATP-dependent protease Lon. Unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful and Lon was not purified. Glycine extracts of 'Escherichia coli' cells over-expressing OpdA-His did not present any bands on SDS-PAGE. Furthermore, to have an
understanding whether OpdA-His was involved in antimicrobial peptide breakdown, E. coli cells over-expressing OpdA-His were incubated with different concentrations bradykinin for 24 hr at 37 degrees Celsius. Interestingly, over-expression of
OpdA-His reduced cell viability. Overall, these results give strong evidence that OpdA from 'Y. pseudotuberculosis'
is a Zn-dependent metallo-protease that harbors a concentration dependent inhibitory zinc-binding site.


Manage your business from a services perspective What if technology was designed to serve the business every time? That's service management! Done properly, it can make everybody happy the customer, the service provider, and the business owner. Understand the value of managing your physical environments and IT systems with an integrated approach. Learn how real companies improve business performance by streamlining business processes and applying service management standards and best practices. Define service identify what the customer wants, how the business can provide it, and which technological tools will make it happen Who's king? whether you're the IT manager or the business owner, see how to think like the customer Standards are key understand the standards and best practices that can improve quality and reduce costs Strategically speaking develop and implement a service management strategy What's it worth? assess the costs and return associated with service management Get down to business discover how to manage data centers, support services, desktops and devices, IT security, and other business services See it at work explore case studies of service management in the manufacturing, retail, health care, hospitality, and other business sectors Open the book and find: How the digital world has altered service Service management assets and tools Resources for best practices and standards information Advice for defining, creating, and maintaining a service management plan The six layers of service management How to optimize a data center Ideas for managing your business assets as services The role of virtualization and cloud computing


A linearly diffracted laser encoder that has high tolerance of head-to-scale misalignment and a high signal-to-noise ratio is described. The preservation of parallelism between the incident and the diffracted beams, which can be attributed to a built-in folded 1x telescope, allows for the high alignment tolerance. It can be shown that, by coupling this newly developed circular polarization interferometer configuration with grating scale geometry optimization, one can eliminate the problems associated with signal distortion that arise from various efficiencies of the p- and the s-polarized light beams and obtain a high signal-to-noise ratio. Both theoretical and experimental results are presented to confirm the improved results and performance.


Few leisure activities are accessible to institutionalized older adults using wheelchairs; in consequence, they experience lower levels of perceived health than able-bodied peers. Video games have been shown to be an engaging leisure activity for older adults. In our work, we address the design of wheelchair-accessible motion-based games. We present KINECTWheels, a toolkit designed to integrate wheelchair movements into motion-based games, and Cupcake Heaven, a wheelchair-based video game designed for older adults using wheelchairs. Results of two studies show that KINECTWheels can be applied to make motion-based games wheelchair-accessible, and that wheelchair-based games engage older adults. Through the application of the wheelchair as an enabling technology in play, our work has the potential of encouraging older adults to develop a positive relationship with their wheelchair.


Set in the Paris of society women, prostitutes and small-minded bourgeousie, and the isolated villages of rural Normandy that de Maupassant knew as a child, the thirty-three tales in this volume are among the most darkly humorous and brilliant short stories in nineteenth-century literature. They focus on the relationships between men and women, as in the poignant fantasy of "A Parisian Affair", between brothers and sisters, and between masters and servants. Through these relationships, Maupassant explores the dualistic nature of the human character and his stories reveal both nobility, civility and generosity, and, in stories such as "At Sea" and "Boule de Suif", vanity, greed and hypocrisy. Maupassant's stories repeatedly lay humanity bare with deft wit and devastating honesty.