While multitask learning has been extensively studied, most existing methods rely on linear models (e.g. linear regression, logistic regression), which may fail in dealing with more general (nonlinear) problems. In this paper, we present a new approach that combines dictionary learning with gradient boosting to achieve multitask learning with general (nonlinear) basis functions. Specifically, for each task we learn a sparse representation in a nonlinear dictionary that is shared across the set of tasks. Each atom of the dictionary is a nonlinear feature mapping of the original input space, learned in function space by gradient boosting. The resulting model is a hierarchical ensemble where the top layer of the hierarchy is the task-specific sparse coefficients and the bottom layer is the boosted models common to all tasks. The proposed method takes the advantages of both dictionary learning and boosting for multitask learning: knowledge across tasks can be shared via the dictionary, and flexibility and generalization performance are guaranteed by boosting. More important, this general framework can be used to adapt any learning algorithm to (nonlinear) multitask learning. Experimental results on both synthetic and benchmark real-world datasets confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach for multitask learning.


This paper is part of a larger piece of work on juridical discourse in which I try to elaborate a general description of the discursive and interdiscursive structures of the law and to specify some of the central doctrinal categories of contemporary law. The category of legal subject has an exemplary status in such a project for a number of reasons: it is constructed, in historically differential ways, through a diversity of overlapping positions in legal and para-legal practices and languages; it covers both human and non-human entities; it is formed in direct relation to the juridical/economic concept of property; and it is closely linked, as both foundation and effect, to the philosophical category of subject. My account here is necessarily cursory, but it should be apparent that it has implications, in part, for the broader debate that has taken place in recent years around the concept of the subject.


Introduction: Inappropriate use of antibiotics for non-severe upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), many of which are viral, adds to the burden of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is increasing in Streptococcus pneumoniae, the microorganism responsible for most cases of acute otitis media (AOM) and acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS). Method: The Infectious Diseases Society of Southern Africa held a multidisciplinary meeting to draw up a national guideline for the management of URTIs in 2003. Background information reviewed included randomised controlled trials, existing URTI guidelines and local antibiotic susceptibility patterns. The initial document was drafted at the meeting. Subsequent drafts were circulated to members of the working group for modification. The guideline was published in the South African Medical Journal in 2004 and was a consensus document based upon the opinions of the working group. In 2008 it was decided to update and republish the guideline. This was done electronically using the same working group members, including overseas experts. Output: Penicillin remains the drug of choice for tonsillopharyngitis. Single-dose parenteral administration of benzathine penicillin is effective, but many favour oral administration twice daily for 10 days. Amoxycillin remains the drug of choice for both AOM and ABS. A dose of 90 mg/kg/day is recommended in general, which should be effective for pneumococci with high-level penicillin resistance (this is particularly likely in children ≤2 years of age, in day-care attendees, in cases with prior AOM within the past six months, and in children who have received antibiotics within the last three months). Alternative antibiotic choices are given in the guideline with recommendations for their specific indications. These antibiotics include amoxycillin-clavulanate, some cephalosporins, the macrolide/azalide and ketolide groups of agents and the respiratory fluoroquinolones. Conclusion: The guideline should assist rational antibiotic prescribing for URTIs. However, it should be continuously updated when new information becomes available from randomised controlled trials and surveillance studies of local antibiotic susceptibility patterns.


Malnutrition accounts for more than 5 million deaths of under-5s in the developing world annually. There is mounting evidence implicating aflatoxin contamination as an important factor in infant under-nutrition. Aflatoxins have in the past been associated with the development of primary liver cancer. More recent studies link chronic aflatoxicosis to infant growth stunting and increased morbidity and mortality due to negative impact on immune function and micro-nutrient absorption. Southern Africa is largely subtropical and experiences erratic rainfall, poverty, and high burden of disease (especially HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis). The geography, climate and socioeconomic factors in Southern Africa make the region conducive to the growth of aflatoxigenic fungi. However, studies on the natural occurrence of aflatoxins are outdated. This review discusses the need for new surveillance studies into the presence and ecology of aflatoxins in food commodities originating from, and traded by and within Southern Africa's rural agricultural sector.


Epilepsy is characterized by the presence of recurrent seizures. A seizure can be defined as "an episodic disturbance of movement, feeling, or consciousness caused by sudden synchronous, inappropriate, and excessive electrical discharges in the cerebral cortex". One in every three patients with epilepsy is probable to be severely disabled. It is continuing this scenario as an attempt to develop potent and nontoxic anti-convulsant agents. Recently the discovery of benzothiazepine derivatives as an anticonvulsant agent is a significant area for research in medicinal chemistry as it is free from all side effects which is shown by a developed as an anticonvulsant agent. In this paper, we have presented results of 2D, and 3D docking poses studies of a series of 300 (Three series) molecules containing 1,5-benzothiazepine pharmacophore as anti-convulsant agents. Docking analysis was utilized to predict the mechanism of action of the designed derivatives for anticonvulsant potential. All the molecules exhibited a binding score in the range of -82.61 to - 118.25 kcal/mol. Most active molecules from Series 1, 2 and 3 exhibited hydrogen bond interactions with LEU282B, LEU282B and LEU282B. Also for the selected standard sodium phenytoin showed the hydrogen bond interaction with LYS637A. It was noted that the docking score of 1a to 10a, 101b to 110b and 201c to 210c was almost the same as that of selected standard sodium phenytoin. The protein showed hydrogen bonding with all synthesized compound showed potential against epilepsy with GABA nergic mechanism.
Keywords: Anti-convulsant; 1,5-benzothiazepine; V-Life MDS 4.3.


Background More than 700 UK residents were tested for possible contamination with polonium-210 (210Po) following the alleged poisoning of Mr Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006. This paper describes the epidemiology of internal contamination with the radionuclide in this group. Methods 11 locations in London had been identified as sufficiently environmentally contaminated with 210Po to present a health risk to people associated with them. Public health consultant teams identified individuals at risk and offered 24-h urine testing for 210Po excretion. Prevalence of internal contamination was estimated, and a retrospective cohort analysis was completed for each location. Results Overall 139 individuals (prevalence 0.19 (95% CI 0.13 to 0.27)) showed evidence of internal contamination with 210Po, although none with uptakes likely to cause adverse health effects. Substantial prevalence was seen among specific hotel service staff, customers, staff and other users of a hotel bar, office and hospital staff, staff of one restaurant and residents of and visitors to the family home. Increased risks of contamination were seen for a hotel bar in association with occupational, behavioural and temporal factors. Occupational and guest exposure to contaminated areas of hotels were also associated with increased contamination risk. Nurses were more likely to become contaminated than other staff involved in direct patient care. Conclusions Uptake of trace amounts of radionuclide in this incident was frequent. Occupational, behavioural and temporal gradients in contamination risk were mostly consistent with a priori site risk assessments. Utility of the investigation methods and findings for future accidental or deliberate environmental contamination incidents are discussed.


Data-driven innovation is unlocking new opportunities for Europe to grow its economy and address pressing social challenges. While Europe has achieved some early successes in data-driven innovation, including in areas such as education, energy, environmental management, health care, open data, smart cities, and smart manufacturing, it has not yet come close to reaching its full potential. The primary obstacle is that Europe's policymakers, both in its capital cities and in Brussels, have not yet fully embraced data-driven innovation as a core driver of economic and social progress. To inject new leadership into this debate, Member States should appoint national chief data officers to not only champion data innovation domestically, but also serve on a new, independent advisory panel charged with counseling the European Commission on how to seize opportunities to innovate with data.


Eurozone leaders agreed this morning on the rough outline of a package of measures designed to end the crisis in the eurozone. This commentary argues that a central pillar of the package will not work. The so-called 'first-loss insurance' of eurozone sovereign debt relies on an incomplete analysis of the underlying problem and the proposed solution.


Introduction: A simple and Rapid High Performance Liquid Chromatographic method was developed and validated for simultaneous estimation of lamivudine, tenofovir alafenamide and dolutegravir in their tablet dosage form. Method: The method was established using Agilent C18 (250 × 4.6 mm, i.d., 5 μm) column, a mobile phase consisting of 0.05M phosphate buffer pH 6.2 (solvent A) and acetonitrile (solvent B) 60:40 v/v at a flow rate of 1 mL/min with isocratic elution, injecting 10 μL sample into the chromatographic system. The eluted compounds were detected by using PDA Detector at a detection wavelength of 260 nm and the temperature was maintained at 30°C. Result: Retention times for the three compounds were found to be 3.09 min, 6.19 min and 9.61min for lamivudine, tenofovir alafenamide, and dolutegravir respectively. The linearity range was 10-80 μg/ml for three drugs with values of LOD found to be 0.56, 0.39μg, 1.35μg and LOQ were found to be 1.50μg, 0.99μg and 3.61 μg for lamivudine, tenofovir alafenamide and dolutegravir respectively which were linear enough showing correlation coefficient 0.999 in all the cases. Conclusion: The proposed method is therefore, suitable for the purpose in quality-control laboratories for quantitative analysis of the drugs individually and in the combined dosage form. The method was found to be as it is simple and rapid with tremendous precision and accuracy. The method can be used as a routine quality control method for triple combined dosage forms.


We provide new evidence about earnings and labour market volatility in Britain over the period 1992-2008, and for women as well as men. (Most research about volatility refers to earnings volatility for US men.) We show that earnings volatility declined slightly for both men and women over the period but the changes are not statistically significant. When we look at labour market volatility, i.e. including in the calculations individuals with zero earnings as well as employees with positive earnings, there is a marked and statistically significant decline for both women and men, with the fall greater for men. Using variance decompositions, we show that the fall in labour market volatility is largely accounted for by changes in employment attachment rates. Labour market volatility trends in Britain, and what contributes to them, differ from their US counterparts in several respects.


This thesis argues that there is a need for design practitioners and design researchers to more clearly articulate and understand the role of design in motivating and engaging human behaviour. Reflecting upon a multifaceted design process adopted in the course of the development of a Public Engagement with Science Exhibition; Ergonomics Real Design hosted at the Design Museum, London in late 2009 and early 2010, this thesis profiles research exploring the concept of human motivational engagement as part of the design and utilisation of a museum exhibition. The role of design and designers in motivating humans is discussed and a number of factors that impact upon the motivational engagement of humans in the museum environment are identified. These factors are synthesised in this thesis in the form of a Motivational Design Framework. The thesis builds upon its definition of factors regulating the motivation of users within the design of multi-touchpoint sociotechnical systems, specifically within the museum environment, through documentation and case-based reflection upon an applied design process that sought to adopt a philosophy of motivational design and elicit the motivational engagement of its participants. Finally this thesis presents an approach to evaluating the motivational engagement of users following their interaction with a designed, multi-touchpoint user experience. The results of these research objectives are recorded and discussed in terms of their implication for design practitioners interested in consciously motivating and engaging user behaviour. This thesis synthesises some key concepts, methods and tools of interest to designers and design researchers who wish to support the motivational energisation, engagement and generative behavioural potential of their users. This thesis advocates for, and contributes to, the formalisation of motivation as a tractable and syntactic concept within the field of exhibition design specifically, and within the broader field of design research more generally.


We aimed to further investigate the "hairlessness" norm that is the common practice of body hair removal among women. A sample of 198 undergraduate students (91 men, 107 women) completed questionnaires asking about attitudes toward women's body hair and the reasons women remove this hair, as well as a measure of disgust sensitivity. It was found that the vast majority (98%) of female participants regularly remove their leg and/or underarm hair, most frequently by shaving, and attribute this to femininity and attractiveness reasons. However, the attributions that they and men made for other women were much more socially normative in nature. For the sample as a whole, negative attitudes toward body hair were related to disgust sensitivity. It was concluded that body hair on women, but not on men, has become an elicitor of disgust and its removal correspondingly normative.


The spondylitis associated HLA-B27 epitope includes a characteristic unpaired cysteine at amino acid position 67. On some B27 molecules the thiol (-SH) side chain of this residue seems to be available for chemical interactions. The possibility that free radicals produced during inflammation might specifically affect this group was investigated in this work. Cells bearing HLA-B27 were exposed to free radicals generated by ultraviolet irradiation or hydrogen peroxide, and HLA antigens were then measured by flow cytometry. Binding of monoclonal antibodies to B27 was not affected. These results do not support a specific susceptibility of HLA-B27 to damage by free radicals, despite its apparently vulnerable structure.


This paper considers the characteristics of the institutions applying antitrust and regulatory legislation in Italy, on the basis of specificity of the aims to which each institution is devoted. In particular, it argues that the regulatory Authorities perform a mainly administrative task, while the Antitrust Authority has more of a judicial character. On these bases it considers the existing legislation and organisation of the institutions, and in particular whether independence from Government is necessary or not. Finally, the paper examines the projects of reform of the system of Independent Authorities currently being elaborated in Italy, and suggests that the quasi-judicial character of the Antitrust Authority activity would require a separation between its functions as inquirer and judge.


DNA microarrays and specific reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assays were used to reveal transcriptional patterns in the blood of children presenting with dengue shock syndrome (DSS) and well-matched patients with uncomplicated dengue. The transcriptome of patients with acute uncomplicated dengue was characterized by a metabolically demanding "host-defense" profile; transcripts related to oxidative metabolism, interferon signaling, protein ubiquination, apoptosis, and cytokines were prominent. In contrast, the transcriptome of patients with DSS was surprisingly benign, particularly with regard to transcripts derived from apoptotic and type I interferon pathways. These data highlight significant heterogeneity in the type or timing of host transcriptional immune responses precipitated by dengue virus infection independent of the duration of illness. In particular, they suggest that, if transcriptional events in the blood compartment contribute to capillary leakage leading to hypovolemic shock, they occur before cardiovascular decompensation, a finding that has implications for rational adjuvant therapy in this syndrome.


The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) requested the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to carry out an environmental assessment of Ogoniland due to perpetual oil spillages and gas flaring by the multinational oil companies, specifically Shell Petroleum Development Company (Nigeria) Ltd (SPDC). The Environmental Assessment Report (EA Report) was finalised and submitted to the FGN in August 2011 for review and implementation.The aim of this country report is to determine the sincerity of the FGN in finding the lasting solution to the severe environmental degradation in Ogoniland. This is imperative because of the historic failures of the Nigeria Government to implement recommendations contained in environmental assessment reports of this nature and to enforce judicial decisions. It is also necessary so as to ascertain whether the commissioning of the EA Report was simply a political gimmick to project to the world that Nigeria is working in the interest of establishing a healthy environment for the people of the Niger Delta, following civil unrests in the area which have been partly responsible for lowering crude oil exports. Another potential area of concern is whether there is any provision within Nigeria's domestic legislation for compelling the Government to implement the EA Report's recommendations should it fail to do so. Alternatively, would it be more desirable to invoke provisions of international laws to compel Nigeria to implement these recommendations? Whilst it has been suggested that SPDC and the FGN should contribute US$1 billion as starting capital for the implementation of the EA Report's recommendations, it is unclear whether the SPDC and FGN are under any obligation to do so. What is furthermore unclear is the implication of their failure to make such a contribution.


This paper presents a study of the way in which context and language in an institutional setting are mutually affected in the development of confrontational interaction. We hypothesise that when the canonical institutional context in terms of tenor and mode is altered, the encounter may depart from its prototypical form and even become unsustainable in the environment in which it is taking place. Our analysis identifies the factors that are responsible for disruptions in the flow of discourse and the different consequences that these may bring about in two media interviews. It shows that the smooth development of this type of discourse depends on three factors: (a) how well the participants comply with the roles dictated by the institution, (b) how they exercise power in relation to their roles, and (c) whether they observe the expected interactional behavior and content in a discourse of this kind.


Olusegun A. Sogunro, Central Connecticut State University The selection of an appropriate research method has always been a dilemma for many researchers and evaluators. While the quantitative-- qualitative research debate ravages, what is obvious is that there is no one best research method for all research and evaluations. Different research purposes require the use of different research methods, separately or in concert with each other. For all practical purposes, both quantitative and qualitative methods have different, but complementary roles to play in a research process and outcome. This paper explains the experience of the author in using a mixture of the two research approaches to evaluate a leadership training program. The fray between champions of these two distinguishable research approaches is essentially ideological and political. Basically, the two approaches differ in their ways of conducting research, and each tends to claim superiority over the other. Ironically, each tradition overtly discredits the other as if it is infallible. The stage is always charged so that, given the chance, these champions would fight at any setting to defend their research philosophies. Fueling this charged situation is the subconscious luring of graduate students into these dichotomous camps of research methodologies and paradigms, especially from the standpoint of the research orientations of the professors - instructing or advising. This paper presents my experience as a researcher, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Definitions Creswell (1994) defined a quantitative research as "an inquiry into a social or human problem, based on testing a theory composed of variables, measured with numbers, and analyzed with statistical procedures, in order to determine whether the predictive generalizations of the theory hold true" and a qualitative research as "an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting" (pp. 1-2). In a very simplistic form, Punch (1998) defined quantitative research as an "empirical research where the data are in the form of numbers" and qualitative research as an "empirical research where the data are not in the form of numbers" (p. 4). Gay and Airasian (2000) defined quantitative research as "the collection of numerical data in order to explain, predict and/or control phenomena of interest" and qualitative research as "the collection of extensive data on many variables over an extended period of time, in a naturalistic setting, in order to gain insights not possible using other types of research (p. 627). While both research approaches are equally recognized and used in conducting research, the major differences between them are in the areas of data collection and analyses. According to Gall, Gall & Borg (1999), quantitative research "rely heavily on numerical data and statistical analysis." In contrast, qualitative research "make little use of numbers or statistics but instead rely heavily on verbal data and subjective analysis" (p. 13). My Experience in Using a Mixture of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Approaches In the course of undertaking an evaluation study toward my dissertation, it became apparent that the suggestions given to me by my advisors were largely based on their professional preparations, interest or orientations. For instance, one professor suggested the use of questionnaire for data collection while the other suggested that the use of interviews alone would suffice. However, based on my curiosity to explore the two research approaches, I adopted the mixed methodology approach. Between January 1994 and December 1995, I conducted an evaluation study of the impact of a leadership training program on the participants. The program was organized by the Rural Education Development Association (REDA) of Alberta, Canada. …


Background: Preservation and storage of muscle glycogen is the most important factor limiting the success of individuals in performing the following activities. It has been shown that melatonin supplementation before exercise can maintain glycogen stores. This study aimed to investigate the effect of melatonin consumption (6 mg) on the time of exhaustion during a submaximal-activity and also the maximum oxygen consumption during an increasing activity in physical education girl students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 13 girls with the mean age of 21.5±1.29 years, the mean weight of 58.36±2.69 kg and vo2max 39.08±4.17 mg/kg/min were participated and received melatonin (6 mg) and placebo (starch capsules) in two complementary steps. Supplements were administered acutely 30 minutes before the exercise. Each test was repeated in placebo and supplement conditions. To ensure the elimination of exercise and supplement impact, the interval of 5 to 7 days was considered between the two tests. The sub-maximal and progressive protocols respectively included running below the maximum intensity (70 of the heart rate reserve) to exhaustion and the Bruce's test on the treadmill. Results: The results showed that consumption of 6 mg melatonin significantly increased the time to reach exhaustion (P=0.01) and the maximum oxygen consumption (P=0.002). Conclusion: It appears that trained girls can use 6 mg of melatonin supplement 30 minutes before starting the exercise to improve endurance performance and aerobic capacity.


OBJECTIVE
Oropharyngeal cancers are a biologically heterogenous group of tumors with diverse risk factors including tobacco, alcohol, HPV, inherited disorders, the acquired immunodeficiency of Karposi's Sarcoma and non Hodgkin's lymphoma. In the Czech Republic, oropharyngeal cancers represent around 2% of all cancers. The treatment of these tumors is long and complex. Reconstructive procedures in maxillofacial oncosurgery demand good interdisciplinary collaboration and great professional preparedness of the surgical and nursing team. Patient age and stage of disease, including the presence of metastases are of key importance. A prerequisite for the success of surgical treatment is removal of the tumor with a sufficient safety margin. Reconstructive procedures then follow.

AIM
To highlight the importance of radical tumor resection and describe reconstruction of the defect in a group of our patients.

METHODS AND RESULTS
From 2008 to 2013, 23 patients with oropharyngeal carcinoma underwent radical surgical removal of tumor, followed by reconstruction of postoperative defects using distant and free flaps. The histopathology showed predominantly squamous cell carcinomas and one of Merkel cell carcinoma. 16 patients had malignant disease detected in III-IV. In only 7 cases was treatment initiated in the first and second stages of the disease. In these patients, the tumors were removed with a safety margin of healthy tissue and in none, did the basic cancer recur . The postoperative course in terms of flap engraftment and overall condition of the patient was uneventful. All of these patients still enjoy a good life quality with a current mean survival in range 5 - 76 months. Radical surgical removal of a malignant tumor in the early stages of the disease is associated with fewer postoperative complications and longer survival.

CONCLUSION
To avoid the risk of local and/or systemic postoperative complications, appropriate patient selection is important. Overall, the traditional, classic reconstructive procedures with the use of prostheses, in many cases is still the best option in our experience.


The ability to innovate is increasingly viewed as the single most important factor in developing and sustaining competitive advantage. This is especially true in the complex, multi-faceted, dynamic area of healthcare technology. Healthcare is the largest user of national economic resources. If delivery continues to be provided in a traditional manner then in Europe by 2060 spending on chronic care alone will cost three times the current level of overall spend on healthcare. Improving the patient's quality of life using connected health technologies has been identified as a strategic priority of large companies and government organisations in the current environment. In this context connected health can be described as the utilisation of "connecting" technologies (communication systems – broadband, wireless, mobile phone, fixed phone lines) and medical devices for healthcare applications. There is a need to better understand how innovations are managed within technology based healthcare companies, developed, nurtured and brought to the patient. This paper explores the application of an innovative open business model approach (Chesbrough, 2006 and Osterwalter 2009) to 5 companies involved the research & development or delivery of connected health solutions in Ireland.It is hypothesised that by using an open business model framework a greater understanding can be elicited of the factors that will enable connected health companies to remain competitive even in times of economic uncertainty.The research shows the emergence of a typology of connected health companies which will be applicable to other organisations involved in the development or distribution of innovative technologies. This paper highlights the challenges to success for connected health companies and outlines the open innovation strategic moves that will enable them to maintain a more profitable position in a future connected healthcare system.


VLBI satellite tracking is a popular topic in geodesy at the moment. Attributed with the
potential to solve the pending problem of inter-technique frame ties, the prospect of success
provides the impetus of ongoing research in that area.
Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) is a well-probed space geodetic technique used to
determine the Celestial Reference Frame (CRF), the Terrestrial Reference Frame (TRF) and the
Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP) in between. Alternatively, VLBI is generally used in spacecraft
tracking. Technology in that area has been rapidly advancing in the last years. An overview
of present realizations of VLBI spacecraft tracking, including data processing on the example
of the Japanese lunar mission SELENE is part of this work. Today's most precise and reliable
realizations of the TRF rely on the measurements of several space geodetic techniques and the
corresponding inter-technique ties. For future improvement, and also for a rigorous determination
of the whole system of CRF-EOP-TRF, alternative methods for connecting the various space
geodetic techniques, establishing precise frame ties, are urgently needed. A promising solution is
the use of VLBI satellite observations, either in combination with a so-called space tie realized by
a dedicated satellite or by directly observing satellites of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems
(GNSS) with VLBI. The study of successful realizations of VLBI tracking and identifying proper
applications for practical geodetic value summarizes this work.
With the goal to process real data, the Vienna VLBI Software VieVS is extended for the possibilities
to schedule, simulate and analyze VLBI satellite observations. Some details on the corresponding
delay modeling are provided. The technique of VLBI satellite tracking is introduced,
discussing some practical issues as well as the latest developments. This thesis contains a detailed
simulation study of VLBI observations to satellites, identifying adequate observing strategies for
the precise determination of antenna coordinates on Earth in the satellite's system. For satellites
at heights between 1000 and 20000 km, adequate observation strategies are found that allow
the determination of the station coordinates at the level of a few millimeters. Therefore, the
approach of weekly solutions in chosen, meaning that one satellite is observed by either a regional
or a global antenna network during seven consecutive days. For the investigated satellites
at 2000 and 6000 km, a feasible observing interval of 1 minute is found. Assuming turbulent
tropospheric conditions, in regional networks of 6-7 stations with baseline lengths between 2000
and 3000 km, weekly 3D position rms between 3 and 14 mm can be expected, depending on the
orbit, respectively the height, of the observed satellite, as well as on the changing geometry between the observing baselines and the target satellite. For global networks, a considerable high
number of observing telescopes is needed, about 16-32, with expected accuracies at the same
level as in regional networks for a higher satellite at 6000 km height and about a factor of two
worse for a very low satellite at 2000 km. In the case of VLBI observations to a satellite of the
GNSS, alternative observing strategies are needed. In this thesis the combination with a classical
VLBI session observing extragalactic radio sources or the observation of a satellite constellation
are introduced.
The careful assessment of the presented results reveals valuable application of such observations
in the area of frame ties, strongly supporting immediate realization and ongoing research
on the topic of VLBI satellite observations.


To date, the growing body of literature about Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) has focused primarily on questions of policy design. It has widely neglected the beneficiaries of policy and their lives beyond DDR programmes. The present study intends to balance this shortcoming by systematically describing the individual perspective of ex-combatants. Through a series of 62 interviews with former Colombian paramilitaries, the themes that are central to their lives are identified. The selection of the interviewees and the interview analysis draw on grounded theory. The goal of this inductive approach is to build a substantive theory that consists of interrelated categories grounded in qualitatively collected data. According to the present analysis, the central themes in the ex-combatants' lives are the emotional legacies stemming from their involvement in war, strategies to overcome security challenges and economic difficulties, as well as a pact with the state, stigma within communities and a disrupted family life. Some preliminary policy implications complement the empirical analysis of this study. The interviewed former combatants demobilised together with their units of the United Self-defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia - AUC). The AUC were a paramilitary federation mostly financed through drug-trafficking who fought against leftist guerrilla groups. After negotiating with the Colombian government, 31.671 members of the AUC demobilised between 2003 and 2006. Since that time, they have received support from a national reintegration programme.


Historically, percussionists have maintained that a perceptible difference exists in the responses of aluminum and brass marimba resonators. Brass resonators are thought to produce a fuller and richer sound, whereas aluminum resonators are considered to yield an inferior, thinner sound. Marimba performers will seek out and pay a premium price for instruments equipped with brass resonators, while lower cost aluminum resonators are found primarily on student model instruments. Experiments are being performed to determine if any such difference can be detected in laboratory measurements. This paper will outline experimental techniques used in recording airborne responses generated by repeatable, mechanized mallet strokes. Data analysis will be summarized, and results will be presented showing the nature of measured differences in both overtone structure and response evolution.


Using the cutback technique, the attenuation of four different silica step-index fibers is measured in the very wide wavelength range of 190-1700 nm. The measured spectra are deconvolved into components describing Rayleigh scattering, infrared losses, Urbach edge, anomalous loss, and different localized absorptions using a least squares fit. The evaluated Urbach edge is compared against results based on measurements on bulk glass samples and good agreement between the two is found. Furthermore, the Urbach edge is found to contribute significantly to the overall attenuation at communication wavelengths for two of the four fibers investigated.


Mutual information (MI) is a commonly adopted utility function in Bayesian optimal experimental design (BOED). While theoretically appealing, MI evaluation poses a significant computational burden for most real world applications. As a result, many algorithms utilize MI bounds as proxies that lack regret-style guarantees. Here, we utilize two-sided bounds to provide such guarantees. Bounds are successively refined/tightened through additional computation until a desired guarantee is achieved. We consider the problem of adaptively allocating computational resources in BOED. Our approach achieves the same guarantee as existing methods, but with fewer evaluations of the costly MI reward. We adapt knapsack optimization of best arm identification problems, with important differences that impact overall algorithm design and performance. First, observations of MI rewards are biased. Second, evaluating experiments incurs shared costs amongst all experiments (posterior sampling) in addition to per-experiment costs that may vary with increasing evaluation. We propose and demonstrate an algorithm that accounts for these variable costs in the refinement decision.


We read with interest the cohort study by Cheung et al 1 reporting that use of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) after Helicobacter pylori eradication is associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer (GC). We believe that the significantly elevated HR of GC with PPI use (HR 2.44; 95% CI 1.42 to 4.20) is a consequence of two time-related biases. Immortal time bias was introduced by misclassifying exposure,2–4 while latency bias was introduced by not incorporating latency in the exposure definition, a major issue for potential carcinogenic drug effects.5 6

Immortal time in a cohort study refers to a period of follow-up time when the outcome could not occur.3 It arises in this study from the definition of frequency of PPI use, 'calculated by dividing the total treatment duration by the duration of follow-up', namely the average use over the entire follow-up. Exposure to PPIs was then categorised 'into non-regular use (<weekly use; reference group) and regular use (at least weekly use)'.1 Thus, the PPI 'non-users' included authentic non-users of PPIs and the non-regular PPI users (less than weekly use), together making up the reference group against which the risk …


PURPOSE
To study the effect of different filters on the dose response curves of the Gafchromic XRQA2 film. To measure the kV XVI cone-beam CT (CBCT) surface dose received during 3D and 4D imaging protocols in three body regions (head and neck, chest and pelvis).

METHODS
GafChromic XR- QA2 film (International Specialty Products, Wayne, NJ) dose response curves were generated for three irradiation settings: 100 kVp S20/F0; 120 kVp S20/F0 and 120 kVp S20/F1(F1 is a Bowtie filter). Film pieces were irradiated in air by the X-ray Volume Imager (XVI) mounted on the Elekta Synergy linear accelerator (Elekta, Crawley, UK) and their responses were correlated to air kerma measurements. To measure the CBCT surface dose, film pieces were taped on the surface of a male Alderson Rando Phantom (Alderson Research Laboratories, Inc., Long Island City, New York) at four different places (Anterior, Posterior, Right Lateral, Left Lateral).

RESULTS
The dose response curves of XRQA2 film generated with F1 and F0 filters were found to differ by 5 to 7% when the air kerma changed between 2 and 5 cGy. This was less than the observed difference (more than 15%, especially at low air kerma) in the dose response curves when different energies (100 and 120 kVp) and same filter were used. Surface dose ranged between 0.02 cGy and 4.99 cGy. The lowest average surface dose (0.05 cGy) was observed when the fast head and neck protocol was used, whilst the highest average surface dose (3.06 cGy) was noticed when the chest m2 0 protocol was used.

CONCLUSIONS
Filters seem to have less effect on the dose response of the film compared with energy. Gafchromic XRQA2 film was used successfully to measure the XVI CBCT surface dose. The dose was found to vary from one imaging protocol to another, with 4D protocols not necessarily delivering more doses.


Abstract. The contributions of the dynamic and thermodynamic forcing to the interannual variability of the equatorial Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) are investigated using a set of interannual regional simulations of the tropical Atlantic Ocean. The ocean model is forced with an interactive atmospheric boundary layer, avoiding damping toward prescribed air temperature as is usually the case in forced ocean models. The model successfully reproduces a large fraction (R2  =  0.55) of the observed interannual variability in the equatorial Atlantic. In agreement with leading theories, our results confirm that the interannual variations of the dynamical forcing largely contributes to this variability. We show that mean and seasonal upper ocean temperature biases, commonly found in fully coupled models, strongly favor an unrealistic thermodynamic control of the equatorial Atlantic interannual variability.


The use of height data to measure living standards is now a well-established method in the economic literature. Moreover, while much is known about 19th century black legal and material conditions, less is known about how 19th century institutional arrangements were related to black stature. Although modern blacks and whites reach similar terminal statures when brought to maturity under optimal biological conditions, 19th century African-American statures were consistently shorter than whites, indicating a uniquely 19th century phenomenon may have inhibited black stature growth. It is geography and insolation that present the most striking attribute for 19th century black and statures, and greater insolation is documented here to be associated with taller black and white statures.


Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility, volume and quality of traffic to website or a web page in search engines via the natural search results. SEO can also target other areas of a search, including image search and local search. SEO is one of many different strategies used for marketing a website but SEO has been proven the most effective. An Internet marketing campaign may drive organic search results to websites or web pages but can be involved with paid advertising on search engines. All search engines have a unique way of ranking the importance of a website. Some search engines focus on the content while others review Meta tags to identify who and what a web site's business is. Most engines use a combination of Meta tags, content, link popularity, click popularity and longevity to determine a sites ranking. To make it even more complicated, they change their ranking policies frequently. This paper provides an overview of search engine optimisation strategies and pitfalls.


The legitimacy of legislation is crucial for modern democracies. This paper provides a brief but detailed description and legal, quantitative analysis of this process, drawing attention to the most significant Hungarian techniques. According to the main provisions of Act CXXXI of 2010 on public participation in the drafting of legislation, public consultations are to be carried out within the framework of general or direct consultations. The general consultation is mandatory and open for the public, all draft bills, governmental decrees and ministerial decrees drafted by ministries are to be published on the Government's webpage. The direct consultation is based on strategic partnerships between the relevant ministries and stakeholders, outstanding organisations. In Hungary, it is the responsibility of the minister competent to draft the legislation to open and conduct public consultation and to process the received comments. These mandatory and optional processes strengthen the legitimacy and the acceptance of legislation. As a consequence of this the legal provisions meet with the social requirements, and they can be applied as a best practice for other countries.


This project sought to examine and critically evaluate current methodologies for the analysis and interpretation of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis within palaeopathology, with reference to clinical research. A compartmental recording method was developed for osteoarthritis and a distinction between degenerative joint changes and osteoarthritis was maintained. This method was applied to the analysis of five Post-Medieval skeletal populations from both rural and urban sites from northern England. An analysis of the pattern and distribution of osteoarthritis and DJC between the sites, including rural versus urban differences, age and sex-specific comparisons, and, where possible, a comparison with contemporaneous sites from southern England was undertaken. A set of diagnostic criteria for rheumatoid arthritis was developed, applied, and tested on potential cases of rheumatoid arthritis within the archaeological record. Given this condition's scarcity within the palaeopathological context, a wider geographical and temporal analysis was conducted.
Results, based on clinical research and differential prevalence rates, indicated that DJC and osteoarthritis should be assessed separately. General rural-urban patterns were similar for DJC, even when compared with age or sex, which was not the case for osteoarthritis. The compartmental approach indicated differential distributions between mobile and stable elements of ball-and-socket and between skeletal elements in hinge joints respectively, which was explained through osteophyte-development and biomechanical analysis. The results were compared with clinical research to explore the impact of degeneration on the daily lives of past individuals, while not relying on activity reconstruction.
A foundation for future research on rheumatoid arthritis was created by the development of the set of diagnostic criteria and a visual comparative study of the erosive lesions between palaeopathological cases. Remarkable similarities were found in the expression of erosions in several skeletal elements (ulna, radius and cervical vertebrae). By analysing clinical, palaeopathological and historical information this project concluded that the disease is not of recent origin.


Activity patterns of six morphologically similar, homologous muscles were recorded from the fourth leg pair in two species of arachnids that use different mechanisms to extend the femur-patella (knee) joint during locomotion. The giant whipscorpion Mastigoproctus giganteus (Uropygi) lacks femur-patella extensor muscles but extends this joint with hydraulic pressure, a mechanism that appears to be phylogenetically primitive in arachnids. The black emperor scorpion Pandinus imperator (Scorpiones) has an unusual muscle that promotes simultaneous extension at the femur-patella joint and distally adjacent patella-tibia joint. Comparison of electromyograms from freely walking animals revealed similarities in muscle firing patterns of the two species, including asymmetrical alternation of trochanter-femur levator and depressor muscles, transfemoral muscle activation during protraction and abrupt termination just prior to levator activation, and persistence of flexor activity during retraction (extension). These results indicate that the apparent evolutionary transition from hydraulic to muscular extension occurred without substantial alteration of several components of the primitive motor programme. It is suggested that the patterns of extension force generated by hydraulic pressure and by bifunctional extensors are similar and that this similarity is associated with conservation of the motorprogramme.


Tobacco smoke is an established carcinogen, but the association between tobacco smoking and cancer risk in BRCA mutation carriers is not clear. The aim of this study was to evaluate prospectively the association between tobacco smoking and cancer incidence in a cohort of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. The study population consisted of unaffected BRCA mutation carriers. Information on lifestyle including smoking histories, reproductive factors, and past medical histories was obtained through questionnaires. Incident cancers were updated biennially via follow‐up questionnaires. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using time‐dependent Cox regression models. There were 700 incident cancers diagnosed over 26,711 person‐years of follow‐up. The most frequent cancers seen in BRCA mutation carriers were breast (n = 428; 61%) and ovarian (n = 109; 15%) cancer. Compared to nonsmokers, (ever) smoking was associated with a modest increased risk of all cancers combined (HR = 1.17; 95%CI 1.01–1.37). Women in the highest group of total pack‐years (4.3–9.8) had an increased risk of developing any cancer (HR = 1.27; 95%CI 1.04–1.56), breast cancer (HR = 1.33, 95%CI 1.02–1.75), and ovarian cancer (HR = 1.68; 95%CI 1.06–2.67) compared to never smokers. The associations between tobacco smoking and cancer did not differ by BRCA mutation type or by age at diagnosis. This prospective study suggests that tobacco smoking is associated with a modest increase in the risks of breast and ovarian cancer among women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.


Marriage is no longer what it once was. Since the 1970s, and accelerating in recent decades, the link between formal marriage and family life has weakened dramatically. Nearly half of American adults are now unmarried at any given time, and two of five children are born to unmarried parents. At the same time, delayed marriage, divorce and remarriage, and changing gender roles have transformed the content of marriage itself. Despite these changes, the federal income tax and the Social Security system continue to define "family" based on formal marriage, and our casebooks teach students that the economic vulnerability of the married woman is the central problem of gender in welfare-state design. In this article, I argue that the growing gap between legal fiction and social reality undermines the ability of the tax and transfer systems to achieve any of a range of objectives -- whether fostering individual freedom, aiding the poor, or shoring up the traditional family. Joint filing, for example, is no longer well-tailored to serve important social objectives, and this point holds whether one endorses the new individualism or, like many social conservatives, wishes to combat it. Similarly, the spousal benefit in Social Security no longer protects the most vulnerable citizens, or even the most vulnerable women, once we look past current retirees to future cohorts. Changes in gender roles within marriage and class patterns of marriage have shifted the burdens of gender inequality toward single mothers.


QUESTIONS: Species pools are the product of complex ecological and evolutionary mechanisms, operating over a range of spatial scales. Here, we focus on species absent from local sites but with the potential to establish within communities — known as dark diversity. Methods for estimating dark diversity are still being developed and need to be compared, as well as tested for the type, and amount, of reference data needed to calibrate these methods. LOCATION: South Bohemia (48°58′ N, 14°28′ E) and Železne Hory (49°52′ N, 15°34′ E), Czech Republic. METHOD: We compared a widely accepted algorithm to estimate species pools (Beals smoothing index, based on species co‐occurrence) against a novel method based on an unconstrained ordination (UNO). Following previous work, we used spatially nested sampling for target plots, with the dark diversity estimates computed from smaller plots validated against additional species present in larger plots, and a reference dataset (Czech National Phytosociological Database of >30,000 plots as global reference data). We determined which method provides the best estimate of dark diversity with an index termed the "Success Rate Index". RESULTS: When using the whole reference dataset (national scale), both UNO and Beals provided comparable predictions of dark diversity that were better than null expectations based on species frequency. However, when predicting from regionally restricted spatial scales, UNO performed significantly better than Beals. UNO also tended to detect less common species better than Beals. The success rate of combining UNO and Beals slightly outperformed the results obtained from the single methods, but only with the largest reference dataset. CONCLUSIONS: The UNO method provides a consistently reliable estimate of dark diversity, particularly when the reference dataset is size‐limited. For future calculations, we urge caution regarding the choice of dark diversity methods with respect to the reference data available, and how different methods handle species of high, and low, occurrence frequency.


In many learning problems, ranging from clustering to ranking through metric learning, empirical estimates of the risk functional consist of an average over tuples (e.g., pairs or triplets) of observations, rather than over individual observations. In this paper, we focus on how to best implement a stochastic approximation approach to solve such risk minimization problems. We argue that in the large-scale setting, gradient estimates should be obtained by sampling tuples of data points with replacement (incomplete U-statistics) instead of sampling data points without replacement (complete U-statistics based on subsamples). We develop a theoretical framework accounting for the substantial impact of this strategy on the generalization ability of the prediction model returned by the Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) algorithm. It reveals that the method we promote achieves a much better trade-off between statistical accuracy and computational cost. Beyond the rate bound analysis, experiments on AUC maximization and metric learning provide strong empirical evidence of the superiority of the proposed approach.


It is important to understand the variation in permeability along eolian bounding surfaces in subsurface eolian reservoirs for hydrocarbon recovery, CO2 sequestration, aquifer management, and groundwater contaminant transport. The objectives of this investigation are to identify features associated with the J-2 unconformity and measure the range of permeability for each of these features. These features include dune lithofacies contacts, lag and reworked deposits, polygonal fracture networks, interdunes and paleowater tables. Petrographic image analysis, cathodoluminescence, x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive x-ray elemental analysis are used to characterize possible depositional and diagenetic influences on the range of permeability for each feature. J-2 dune facies are the most common and have a similar range in permeability to that shown by wind ripple laminations. Polygonal fracture networks can be weak or well developed and can be poorly to well cemented. Permeability variation in polygonal fracture networks is based on the intensity of cementation and would only significantly affect horizontal communication in a reservoir. Paleowater tables are generally well cemented, much like wet interdune deposits, and act as permeability barriers to fluid flow. Lag and reworked deposits are likely the result of sediment gravity flows generated either by topographic relief or from dunes bypassing on the incipient J-2 surface. Depending on the thickness and cementation of the lag and reworked deposits, these could act as significant permeability barriers and even generate stratigraphic traps. While permeability is reduced in many of these deposits by their depositional character, samples with ~5% cement generally have permeabilities that are 150mD or less and samples with more than 10% cement generally have permeabilities less than 10mD. Samples with this intensity of cementation are intensely concretionary, interdunes, paleowater tables, polygonal fractures, or reworked deposits.


In the Information Age the di cult part is not producing or even having access to information. Our society has become increasingly rich in information and new analysis tools that enable users to make sense of it are demanded. Visualization goes beyond using computer graphics to communicate information; visualization enables us to think. This thesis studies using three-dimensional (3D) metaphoric representations for visualizing large volumes of abstract data. Speci cally, it focuses four main challenges in 3D information visualization: mapping the information, visualizing it, navigating the representations, and managing dynamics. A key research problem in the visualization of abstract information, since it has no natural and obvious physical representation, is to discover visual mappings for representing the information and to understand what analysis tasks they support. We present a framework and a strategy for automatically mapping abstract information onto 3D metaphoric virtual worlds. We give several examples of implemented visual mappings that illustrate and validate our strategy. The fact that the information mapping is done automatically allows us to create di erent visualizations on the y. Furthermore, since our mapping strategy is based on metadata, our mapping engine is virtually application domain independent. We took advantage of both features to develop multiple views for di erent domain applications and research their usefulness in information visualization. Now that available graphics computing power is not a hindering factor anymore, navigation is frequently seen as the weakest link in 3D virtual worlds. We introduce a novel concept of navigation metaphor-aware navigation and build on that concept to design and implement an integrated helped-navigation system that extends the traditional navigation systems present in most 3D viewers. We provide examples to illustrate our helpednavigation mechanisms, namely the metaphor-aware navigation. The visualization of dynamic data is still a seldom explored issue in information visualization. In this thesis, we investigate the impact of real-time visualization of dynamic data and we propose strategies to cope with data dynamics across the entire pipeline of canonical information-visualization systems. The impact of data dynamics on the visualizations is attacked with more detail and we devise constraint propagation strategies to minimize the disruptive e ects the dynamics may have on the stability of the virtual world.


This study describes the amendment of an algebraic anisotropic dissipation rate model (ADRM) and its application to various turbulent flows to test the model's performance. Modeling anisotropies for the turbulence dissipation rate is considered by an analysis of the exact transport equation for the dissipation rate tensor. The second-moment closure, which is based on the explicit amended ADRM, is proposed and it is closely linked to the elliptic-blending model that is used for the prediction of Reynolds stresses. To develop and calibrate the present elliptic-blending second-moment closure that uses the amended ADRM, firstly, the distributions of both the mean velocity and Reynolds stress are solved for flows in a fully developed non-rotating channel and a straight square duct. And then, the fully developed turbulent flows in a rotating channel and a rotating straight square duct are predicted to test the ability of the explicit amended ADRM that is combined with the rotation effect. The prediction results are directly compared with the DNS and the large-eddy simulation (LES) to assess the performance of the new model predictions and to show their reasonable agreement with the DNS and LES data for all the flow fields that are analyzed for the present study.


Dugong and marine turtles are species of conservation and cultural significance to Indigenous and non-‐Indigenous Australians. Tropical north Australia supports the largest and healthiest populations of these species, but data on size and trends in population and abundance are sparse for many areas. Accordingly, monitoring and mapping dugong and marine turtle distribution and abundance are priorities in national and regional species management, as well as in community-‐based management plans developed by Indigenous sea country managers. Established methods to survey dugong and marine turtles include aerial surveys for dugongs and beach-‐based nesting counts or tagging studies for turtles. In the context of north Australia, these methods have limitations with regard to cost and feasibility; the level of community engagement in field studies; as well as community access, ownership and understanding of study results. In the case of marine turtles, some three decades of nesting census data are required to discern long-‐term trends against high annual variability in nesting numbers. An expensive, logistically challenging, decades-‐long commitment to a marine turtle tagging and nesting beach study is beyond the resources and capacity of most community-‐based organisations in north Australia. Accordingly the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance Limited  (NAILSMA)'s I-‐Tracker program is working with Indigenous land and sea managers and scientists to develop tools that utilise and build on local Indigenous ranger capacity to monitor marine turtles and dugong. These tools include recording in-‐water observations, counts of nests and nesting turtles and stranded or entangled animals using the I-‐Tracker Saltwater Country Patrol application (see http://www.nailsma.org.a /i-‐tracker/saltwater-‐country-‐patrol-‐application). The toolbox also includes a dedicated boat-‐based I-‐Tracker application that uses line transect methods to estimate distribution and abundance of local populations. This report presents results of a field trial conducted at Montgomery Reef, Western Australia in August 2012 of the dedicated boat- ‐based I-‐Tracker Turtle and Dugong Survey application. The project is a collaboration between the Dambimangari Rangers, the Kimberley Land Council (KLC), NAILSMA and CSIRO. The survey method and I-‐Tracker application used were based on previous research and field trials conducted by NAILSMA, CSIRO, and the Wunumbal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation and its Uunguu Rangers with funding from the National Environmental Research Program. A total of 2,363 turtles and five dugong were recorded over four days at Montgomery Reef including 2,289 Green turtles and 18 Hawksbill turtles. The majority of turtles were observed at the reef edge on an incoming tide. Traditional Owners and hunters report that turtles move onto the reef flat with the rising tide to feed. On average 133 Green turtles were sighted per hour of effort on  transect across both boats used. Whenever possible, for each turtle sighting, species, size,  location and distance from the boat,and behaviour were recorded; however, in some areas turtle density was so high it was not possible to record all variables for each turtle. To accommodate this, a 'Green turtle counter' option was included in the I-‐Tracker application to record very  high density groups of turtles. This counter was modified during the field trial so that even in these very high density areas, both distance from the boat and size class were captured, while side of the boat and behaviour were dropped. High rates of tidal flow (tidal ranges 8-‐9m) and water turbidity (and hence low sightability of animals) meant that survey transects were limited to shallow waters adjacent to or on the reef. Survey participants demonstrated a high level of uptake of and competency with the survey method and in using the field personal digital assistants (PDAs) and computer to enter, upload and review survey data. The results of post-‐survey interviews with individual Dambimangari Rangers and Traditional Owners show a high level of satisfaction in the applicability and relevance of the method to Indigenous sea country management.


Background While literature is abundant on factors associated with community college student outcomes, limited attention has been paid to what shapes educational expectations after students enroll, and how these expectations are linked to educational progress. To address this gap, Weidman's (1989) undergraduate socialization theory is particularly relevant, as this theory not only applies to traditional-age college students, but also to adults of varying ages who constantly adapt themselves to changing circumstances, which is characteristic of community college students. Purpose Informed by Weidman's theory, this study examines the following questions: First, what sources of socialization play a role in shaping students' educational expectations after they enroll at a community college? Second, in what ways are educational expectations and sources of socialization related to students' educational progress? Research Design The research involves an analytical sample of 979 students enrolled at a public two-year college in a Midwestern state in spring 2012. The study relies on survey data, collected using the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), along with students' enrollment records. Factor analyses were first applied to extract a theoretically sound factor structure aligned with the study's conceptual underpinning, followed by a structural equation modeling analysis to answer the two research questions. Findings The undergraduate socialization model shows validity based on the study's sample. Results indicate that socialization processes underlying transfer expectations versus completion expectations are distinct from each other. While socialization that concentrates on the interpersonal, social domain tends to foster student expectations to complete a community college credential, these socialization sources do not matter much for promoting transfer expectations, which are largely subject to influences of socialization processes with a distinct academic focus. In addition, both completion and transfer expectations positively influenced educational progress. When educational expectations were accounted for, only a limited number of socialization sources exerted a direct influence on educational progress, as part of the socialization effect was conveyed indirectly through educational and, particularly, completion expectations. Conclusions This study reveals the value of understanding community college students' educational expectations and progress through the lens of socialization. Findings from this research illuminate the critical need to differentiate among varieties of educational expectations and understand the different socialization processes shaping these expectations. In addition, community college leaders should focus on cultivating positive educational expectations and beliefs, as well as assisting students in finding the paths aligned with their expectations.


DOI: 10.14254/2071789X.2018/11-4/7 ABSTRACT. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the following four groups of factors on success perception by managers of Polish smalland medium-sized international new ventures (SMEs INVs): 1) competitive strategy expressed by international orientation of top management and applied marketingmix tools, 2) competitive strategy analyzed within M.E. Porter's framework, 3) sector-specific determinants (industrial branches), and 4) main export markets. Two measures of success perception are considered: subjective evaluation of firm's financial situation and assessment of firm's success as compared to competitors. The methods of data analyses are correlations and multiple linear regression (SPSS software). The analysis is conducted separately for smallsized companies and for medium-sized firms. The hypotheses concerning the roles of international orientation, marketing-mix tools, industrial branches, and main export markets in explaining success have been fully or partially confirmed. The factors that are most positively related to the perception of success across both groups of firms and two measures of success perceptions are high-quality products, good product development strategy and capability to create unique products, i.e. differentiation strategy. The obtained results imply that the most fundamental factor of success is a good product policy within the framework of a differentiation strategy. The second objective of this paper is to provide a comparison between small and medium-sized enterprises, analyzing whether there is a reason to consider SMEs as a uniform category, or whether the factors explaining success are different depending on firms' size.


We explore the relationship between the social interaction of parents and their offspring from a theoretical and an empirical perspective. Our theoretical framework establishes possible explanations for the intergenerational transfer of social interaction whereby the social interaction of the parent may influence that of their offspring and vice versa. The empirical evidence, based on four data sets covering Great Britain and the U.S., is supportive of our theoretical priors. We find robust evidence of intergenerational links between the social interaction of parents and their offspring supporting the existence of positive bi-directional intergenerational effects in social interaction.


s for Mini-Reviews and Viewpoints do not have to be structured. Abstracts should not exceed 350 words. Any abbreviations must be explained.s should not exceed 350 words. Any abbreviations must be explained. Footnotes: Avoid footnotes. When essential, they are numbered consecutively and typed at the foot of the appropriate page. Tables and illustrations: Tables and illustrations (both numbered in Arabic numerals) should be prepared on separate pages. Tables require a heading and figure legends should be supplied on a separate page. For technical reasons, figures with a screen background should not be submitted. When possible, group several illustrations on one block for reproduction (max. size 180 3 223 mm) or provide crop marks. Electronically submitted b/w half-tone and color illustrations must have a final resolution of 300 dpi after scaling, line drawings one of 800–1,200 dpi. Figure files must not be embedded in a document file but submitted separately. Color illustrations Online edition: Color illustrations are reproduced free of charge. In the print version, the illustrations are reproduced in black and white. Please avoid referring to the colors in the text and figure legends. Print edition: Up to 6 color illustrations per page can be integrated within the text at CHF 960.00 per page. References: Identify references in the text with Arabic numerals [in square brackets]. Material submitted for publication but not yet accepted should be noted as [unpublished data] and not be included in the reference list. The list of references should include only those publications cited in the text. Do not alphabetize; number references in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. The surnames of the authors followed by initials should be given. There should be no punctuation other than a comma to separate the authors. Preferably, please cite all authors. Abbreviate journal names according to the Index Medicus system. Also see International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (www.icmje.org). Examples (a) Papers published in periodicals: Vilhelmsson M, Johansson C, Jacobsson-Ekman G, Crameri R, Zargari A, Scheynius A: The malassezia sympodialis allergen Mala s 11 induces human dendritic cell maturation, in contrast to its human homologue manganese superoxide dismutase. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2007;143:155– 162. (b) Papers published only with DOI numbers: Theoharides TC, Boucher W, Spear K: Serum interleukin-6


The objective of this study was to describe how a sample of pediatricians were impacted by and responded to the Disneyland measles outbreak in the United States. We conducted three repeated cross-sectional, online surveys in 2014 (before the outbreak), 2015, and 2016 (after the outbreak) among members of three state chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics. We assessed pediatricians' level of willingness and length of time comfortable delaying the measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccine before and after the outbreak. Frequency of alternative immunization schedule requests and creation of office immunization policies due to the outbreak were measured. The sample included 304 pediatricians in 2014, 270 in 2015, and 221 in 2016. We found no significant changes in willingness or comfort delaying the MMR vaccine before and after the outbreak. In 2015, 38% of pediatricians reported fewer requests for alternative immunization schedules and 20% created stricter office immunization policies. A subsample of pediatricians reported administering the MMR vaccine earlier in the recommended time frame and taking extra precautions in waiting rooms due to the outbreak. Our results suggest that this measles outbreak did not lead to significant changes in attitudes or practices among this sample, but did modestly affect office immunization policies and practices.


During C. elegans development, microRNAs (miRNAs) function as molecular switches that define temporal gene expression and cell lineage patterns in a dosage-dependent manner. It is critical, therefore, that the expression of miRNAs be tightly regulated so that target mRNA expression is properly controlled. The molecular mechanisms that function to optimize or control miRNA levels during development are unknown. Here we find that mutations in lin-42, the C. elegans homolog of the circadian-related period gene, suppress multiple dosage-dependent miRNA phenotypes including those involved in developmental timing and neuronal cell fate determination. Analysis of mature miRNA levels in lin-42 mutants indicates that lin-42 functions to attenuate miRNA expression. Through the analysis of transcriptional reporters, we show that the upstream cis-acting regulatory regions of several miRNA genes are sufficient to promote highly dynamic transcription that is coupled to the molting cycles of post-embryonic development. Immunoprecipitation of LIN-42 complexes indicates that LIN-42 binds the putative cis-regulatory regions of both non-coding and protein-coding genes and likely plays a role in regulating their transcription. Consistent with this hypothesis, analysis of miRNA transcriptional reporters in lin-42 mutants indicates that lin-42 regulates miRNA transcription. Surprisingly, strong loss-of-function mutations in lin-42 do not abolish the oscillatory expression patterns of lin-4 and let-7 transcription but lead to increased expression of these genes. We propose that lin-42 functions to negatively regulate the transcriptional output of multiple miRNAs and mRNAs and therefore coordinates the expression levels of genes that dictate temporal cell fate with other regulatory programs that promote rhythmic gene expression.


The ecological interface design (EID) paradigm was introduced in the process control domain 25 years ago by Kim Vicente and Jens Rasmussen, as a way to help operators cope with system complexity and events unanticipated in the design of automated control systems. Since that time, this perspective has sparked interest in other safety-critical sociotechnical domains where humans cooperate with computerized systems to ensure safe and efficient system behavior. Many of our own, but also other explorations have, however, resulted in several usability concerns and misconceptions about the EID perspective as a viable design approach. This paper discusses some of these concerns and misconceptions, where the final goal is to get past the EID label and to consider the general lessons relative to the demands and opportunities that advanced information technologies offer and complex systems require. This paper concludes with a preliminary outlook for the future of EID, where it is anticipated that the adjective "ecological" will become increasingly redundant, as the focus on supporting "productive thinking" becomes the dominant paradigm for engineering representations.


PURPOSE
Although the benefits of combined endurance (E) and strength (S) training for the development of physical fitness and health are well known, scientific examination of the effect of loading order when E and S are combined into the same training session (E+S vs S+E) is rare. This study investigated the effects of moderate frequency E+S versus S+E training on physical fitness, body composition, and blood lipids.

METHODS
Physically active and healthy young men performed E+S (n = 16) or S+E (n = 18) training 2-3 times a week for 24 wk. Endurance (by incremental bike test) and strength (by dynamic leg press) performance as well as body composition (by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry), muscle cross-sectional area of vastus lateralis (by ultrasound), and blood lipid levels were determined before and after the intervention.

RESULTS
Time to exhaustion, aerobic power (W), and one-repetition maximum strength significantly increased in the two groups at week 24 (E+S, 12%-15%, P = 0.003-0.001; S+E, 16%-17%, P < 0.001), but no between-group difference was observed. Similarly, the two groups significantly increased total lean mass (E+S, 3%; S+E, 3%; both P = 0.001) and muscle cross-sectional area (E+S, 14%, P = 0.001; S+E, 16%, P < 0.001) at week 24 to a similar extent. No significant changes in body fat or blood lipid levels were observed in either of the two groups at week 24.

CONCLUSIONS
These results showed that moderate-frequency (2-3 times per week) combined E+S or S+E training led to significant improvements in physical fitness and lean body mass but did not induce significant changes in body fat or blood lipid levels. Furthermore, because no between-group differences were observed, these results indicate that loading order does not seem to affect training adaptations of healthy moderately active young men.


More than 50 years ago, Miller performed his groundbreaking experiments that showed that an atmosphere containing methane and ammonia could yield amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Today, many authors favor a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere, but such an atmosphere is much less suitable for producing organic molecules. In his Perspective,
 Chyba
 highlights the report by
 Tian
 et al ., who propose instead that the early atmosphere was carbon dioxide--based but may have contained many times more molecular hydrogen than previously thought. Such an atmosphere would have supported the abiotic synthesis of organic molecules far better than a carbon dioxide atmosphere with very small amounts of hydrogen.


This paper formalizes the design of experiments intended specifically to study spillover effects. By first randomizing the intensity of treatment within clusters and then randomly assigning individual treatment conditional on this cluster-level intensity, a novel set of treatment effects can be identified. We develop a formal framework for consistent estimation of these effects, and provide explicit expressions for power calculations. We show that the power to detect average treatment effects declines precisely with the quantity that identifies the novel treatment effects. A demonstration of the technique is provided using a cash transfer program in Malawi.


A general, analytic approach to the calculation of magnet fields in a slottless, axial-flux, permanent magnet generator is presented. The basic 'building block' is the vector potential produced by a current sheet situated between two, infinitely permeable, iron surfaces. By modelling the magnet by currents at its periphery, and integrating over the magnet thickness, the vector potential and magnetic field due to the permanent magnets can be found. In contrast the armature winding is represented by a current sheet close to the stator iron surface. Magnetic field results produced by the analytic equations have been compared with two-, and three-, dimensional finite element studies and found to produce results comparable to within 5%. In addition emf, flux and inductance measurements have been made on two generators and compared with both finite element and analytic results. The analytic model predicts the emf to within 5%. The 'end winding' inductance of a toroidal, air-gap, armature winding, is shown to contribute significantly to the overall inductance with the analytical model predicting the inductance to within 10% of the measured values.


Thrombin-mediated endothelial-cell release of von Willebrand factor (VWF) and P-selectin functionally links protease-activated receptors (PARs) to thrombosis and inflammation. VWF release can be stimulated by both Ca2+ and cAMP, and, although both VWF and P-selectin are found in Weibel-Palade bodies (WPBs), we found that their release could be differentially regulated. In these studies, human umbilical vein endothelial cells stimulated with cAMP or PAR2-AP led to a delayed release of VWF and significantly less P-selectin release compared with histamine, thrombin, or PAR1-AP. Dose-response studies revealed that PAR2-AP was significantly less efficacious in promoting the release of P-selectin compared with VWF. PAR2-AP-induced robust stimulation of intracellular Ca2+ coupled with a significantly greater inhibitory effect of calcium chelation on release of VWF compared with cell-surface expression of P-selectin, suggests an additional Ca2+-independent pathway involved in release of P-selectin. PAR2-AP failed to increase global cAMP levels; however, inhibition of protein kinase A led to a significant attenuation of PAR2-AP-mediated release of VWF. Confocal microscopy studies revealed that PAR2 and forskolin caused preferential release of a population of Weibel-Palade bodies (WPBs) consisting of only VWF. Thus, WPBs are pharmacologically and morphologically heterogeneous, and distinct granule populations are susceptible to differential regulation.


The emergence of public service media in the mid-twentieth century on both sides of the Atlantic was a response to particular technological realities and market structures. Public media systems manifested theories about the function of media in a democracy, the sources of cultural authority and innovation, the limitations of the market, and the values of social cohesion and inclusion.In the early twenty-first century, the underlying theories and justifications for public service media are now in flux. Those who defend continued public funding of legacy and new non-commercial media services, and work to reform their operations, have struggled to untangle the contingencies of twentieth-century organizational structures from the enduring values that spawned their creation. In other words, policymakers and commentators have recognized that legacy public broadcasting systems must be updated for a post-broadcasting world, or wither away. But the values and purposes of a new, multi-platform, multi-actor public media system are not yet clearly articulated.This chapter argues that the American system of public service media -- long the poor cousin of the world's better-funded systems -- in fact may model new forms of service for the digital age. This evolving model includes diverse funding sources, distributed ownership and citizen engagement. And it is grounded in narratives of community service, innovation and democratic participation, as well as in those of market failure and canonical excellence. The chapter traces these distinct and sometimes conflicting narratives through the history of American public service media, with comparisons to the UK and European contexts. It concludes that a strong version of the innovation narrative is best suited to shape the future functions and structures for public service media in 21st century, media-rich democracies.


Trimethoprim (TMP) is widely used to treat infections in humans and in livestock, accelerating the incidence of TMP resistance. The emergent and largely untracked type II dihydrofolate reductases (DfrBs) are intrinsically TMP-resistant plasmid-borne Dfrs that are structurally and evolutionarily unrelated to chromosomal Dfrs. We report kinetic characterization of the known DfrB family members. Their kinetic constants are conserved and all are poorly inhibited by TMP, consistent with TMP resistance. We investigate their inhibition with known and novel bisubstrate inhibitors of 6-hydroxymethyl-7,8-dihydropterin pyrophosphokinase (HPPK). Importantly, all are inhibited by the HPPK inhibitors, making these molecules dual-target inhibitors of two folate pathway enzymes that are strictly microbial.


We are used to thinking about inequality within countries--about rich Americans versus poor Americans, for instance. But what about inequality between all citizens of the world? Worlds Apart addresses just how to measure global inequality among individuals, and shows that inequality is shaped by complex forces often working in different directions. Branko Milanovic, a top World Bank economist, analyzes income distribution worldwide using, for the first time, household survey data from more than 100 countries. He evenhandedly explains the main approaches to the problem, offers a more accurate way of measuring inequality among individuals, and discusses the relevant policies of first-world countries and nongovernmental organizations. Inequality has increased between nations over the last half century (richer countries have generally grown faster than poorer countries). And yet the two most populous nations, China and India, have also grown fast. But over the past two decades inequality within countries has increased. As complex as reconciling these three data trends may be, it is clear: the inequality between the world's individuals is staggering. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the richest 5 percent of people receive one-third of total global income, as much as the poorest 80 percent. While a few poor countries are catching up with the rich world, the differences between the richest and poorest individuals around the globe are huge and likely growing.


Organizational culture is comprised of the shared values and attitudes of an institution's members, and effective organizational culture is a necessary aspect of any successful institution and its governance. Often the term is used in a corporate context, but the concept is an equally important element of academic life and management. Islamic Azad University (IAU) in Iran, established in 1982, is among the primary culturaleducational participants in the crucial task of growing Islamic culture and humanistic development among faculty members, students, scholars and staff at more than 400 branches nationwide and internationally. Clearly, the effectiveness of the organizational culture of IAU will affect its relative ability to achieve this task. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine the dominant organizational culture type based on perceptions and preferences of faculty members at Islamic Azad University (IAU) branches in Iran. This is a descriptive and exploratory research enacted through a nationwide survey. Based on the competing values framework (CVF), Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) was employed to assess the research objective. By using random sampling, 357 questionnaires were distributed among 7selected IAU branches and 329 were considered to be valid. The findings revealed that that the current dominant organizational culture type at IAU branches in Iran was hierarchy culture and the preferred dominant culture type was clan. Furthermore, the current culture type was reasonably congruent. The findings also indicated that there were no significant mean score differences among current organizational culture types and demographic characteristics with respect to gender, marital status and work experience; however there were mean scores differences between current organizational culture types and demographic characteristics with respect to age, education, position, and work fields.


Edentulous denture-wearers eat fewer fruits and vegetables than do comparable dentate individuals. Improved chewing ability with new dentures has resulted in little dietary improvement, suggesting that dietary intervention is necessary. The objective of this randomized controlled trial was to have a positive impact upon dietary behavior of patients receiving replacement complete dentures through a tailored dietary intervention. Readiness to change diet (Stage of Change), intake of fruits, vegetables, and nutrients, and chewing ability were assessed pre-and 6 weeks post-intervention. The intervention group (n = 30) received two dietary counseling sessions; the control group (n = 28) received current standard care. Perceived chewing ability significantly increased in both groups. There was significantly more movement from pre-action into action Stages of Change in the intervention group, who had a greater increase in fruit/vegetable consumption (+209 g/d) than did the control group (+26 g/d) (P = 0.001). Tailored dietary intervention contemporaneous with replacement dentures can positively change dietary behavior.


Abstract : DoD relies on contractors to perform many functions, which can offer benefits for DoD. GAO's work has shown that reliance on contractors to support core missions, however, can place DoD at risk of contractors performing inherently governmental functions. In 2008, Congress required DoD to compile and review an annual inventory of contractors working under contracts for services. The 2010 defense authorization act directed GAO to report for 3 years on these inventories. In January 2011, GAO reported on limitations to DoD's inventory approach. For this report, GAO assessed the following: (1) DoD's progress in addressing these limitations, and (2) the extent to which the military departments addressed instances of contractors performing functions identified as inherently governmental during reviews of their fiscal year 2009 inventories. GAO reviewed DoD guidance, interviewed acquisition and manpower officials, and assessed 12 instances from a nongeneralizable sample in which the Air Force and Army determined that contractors had performed inherently governmental functions. GAO recommends that the military departments and components develop guidance that provides for clear lines of authority, responsibility, and accountability for conducting an inventory review and that the Army and Air Force resolve known instances of contractors performing inherently governmental functions. DoD largely agreed with GAO's recommendations.


We detect a dip of 20%-45% in the surface brightness and number counts of NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) sources smoothed to a few degrees at the location of the WMAP cold spot. The dip has structure on scales of ~1° to 10°. Together with independent all-sky wavelet analyses, our results suggest that the dip in extragalactic brightness and number counts and the WMAP cold spot are physically related, i.e., that the coincidence is neither a statistical anomaly nor a WMAP foreground-correction problem. If the cold spot does originate from structures at modest redshifts, as we suggest, then there is no remaining need for non-Gaussian processes at the last scattering surface of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to explain the cold spot. The late integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, already seen statistically for NVSS source counts, can now be seen to operate on a single region. To create the magnitude and angular size of the WMAP cold spot requires a ~140 Mpc radius completely empty void at z ≤ 1 along this line of sight. This is far outside the current expectations of the concordance cosmology, and adds to the anomalies seen in the CMB.


The Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) and the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), established in March 2010 and May 2011, respectively, have made substantial headway. But despite the rapid progress, a series of fundamental questions have been raised, particularly about the size of the CMIM facility. Although CMIM funding was doubled to $240 billion, effective since May 2012, the swap amount has frequently been criticized as insufficient. Another fundamental issue that still needs to be agreed upon is the CMIM's role and how it fits in among existing regional and global financing facilities. AMRO's surveillance work is seen as vital to the overall success of the CMIM in regional financial cooperation. As other multilateral institutions involved in surveillance work have experienced, effective surveillance to support regional financial cooperation is a complicated task, strewn with obstacles. The primary task of this paper is to suggest possible areas in which the effectiveness of the CMIM and AMRO may be increased, despite constraints and limitations.


A novel bimodal emotion recognition approach from facial expression and speech based on the sparse kernel reduced-rank regression (SKRRR) fusion method is proposed in this paper. In this method, we use the openSMILE feature extractor and the scale invariant feature transform feature descriptor to respectively extract effective features from speech modality and facial expression modality, and then propose the SKRRR fusion approach to fuse the emotion features of two modalities. The proposed SKRRR method is a nonlinear extension of the traditional reduced-rank regression (RRR), where both predictor and response feature vectors in RRR are kernelized by being mapped onto two high-dimensional feature space via two nonlinear mappings, respectively. To solve the SKRRR problem, we propose a sparse representation (SR)-based approach to find the optimal solution of the coefficient matrices of SKRRR, where the introduction of the SR technique aims to fully consider the different contributions of training data samples to the derivation of optimal solution of SKRRR. Finally, we utilize the eNTERFACE '05 and AFEW 4.0 bimodal emotion database to conduct the experiments of monomodal emotion recognition and bimodal emotion recognition, and the results indicate that our presented approach acquires the highest or comparable bimodal emotion recognition rate among some state-of-the-art approaches.


Despite their impressive performance on diverse tasks, neural networks fail catastrophically in the presence of adversarial inputs—imperceptibly but adversarially perturbed versions of natural inputs. We have witnessed an arms race between defenders who attempt to train robust networks and attackers who try to construct adversarial examples. One promise of ending the arms race is developing certified defenses, ones which are provably robust against all attackers in some family. These certified defenses are based on convex relaxations which construct an upper bound on the worst case loss over all attackers in the family. Previous relaxations are loose on networks that are not trained against the respective relaxation. In this paper, we propose a new semidefinite relaxation for certifying robustness that applies to arbitrary ReLU networks. We show that our proposed relaxation is tighter than previous relaxations and produces meaningful robustness guarantees on three different foreign networks whose training objectives are agnostic to our proposed relaxation.


Documenting one of the most remarkable flowerings of knowledge in human history, this work describes the experiments and achievements of innovative physicists such as Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrodinger, Hans Bethe and Richard Feynman. The illustrations focus mainly on the dramatic images, from the atomic to the cosmic scale, made possible by the instruments of advanced physics. Also included are photographs of experimental equipment (massive particle colliders are beautiful in their own right) and pioneering inventions.