In spatial augmented reality applications, when video projectors display images on timevarying, non-planar surfaces, rather than on flat, rigid surfaces, undesired image distortion may occur. For applications where realism is of the utmost importance, such as surgical simulations, image distortion can significantly detract from the user experience. To combat this, the time-varying surface can be modelled using a mass-spring model, commonly used for simulating deformable objects in computer graphics. The mass-spring model can be formulated into a nonlinear state space equation that describes the dynamics of discrete points making up the surface of the object. Two simulation techniques are used to verify the model and to determine the best approach for real-time simulations. To project images in real-time onto quickly changing surfaces, an extended Kalman filter (EKF) prediction algorithm is developed to predict the position of the deforming surface, at a specified point in time, Ts seconds, in the future. Using the linearized mass-spring system, the EKF is formulated and tested upon two simulation scenarios. The simulation scenarios include a falling cloth with added process noise, and a cloth perturbed by random viscous forces. Using mean squared error, the results show the EKF predictions and simulation outputs converge within a narrow band. For each scenario, the parameters of the EKF are manually tuned to improve the accuracy of the predictions. Experimental data is collected by measuring the movement of cloth-like materials to verify the effectiveness of the prediction algorithm. Specifically, cloth movement data is captured using infra-red markers and motion capture software. The EKF prediction algorithm is run on the experimental data producing near convergent results between the predictions and the measurements. When the physical surface is changing noticeably and quickly, compared to the projector's drawing rate, additional distortion may occur. An inter-frame prediction algorithm is developed to further predict the position of discrete points at their corresponding projection times. This is most useful when the prediction algorithm produces predictions slower than the drawing rate of the projector (Ts > 1 fps ). When implementing the EKF in real-time, there is a trade-off between speed and accuracy. If the number of discrete points is large, the EKF is required to solve a large system of equations. To combat this, nonlinear optimization techniques are used to find parameters that reduce the number of states while maintaining system dynamics. This results in a sparser, more computationally efficient model with similar physical behaviour to the original system. Applications for time-varying surface prediction include surgical simulations, projection for entertainment and advertising, and other spatial augmented reality applications.


Background: The extent to which temporal increases in the use of prenatal ultrasonography reflect changes in maternal risk is unknown. In this population-based study, we examined the use of prenatal ultrasonography from 1996 to 2006 in Ontario. Methods: With fiscal year 1996/97 as the baseline, we evaluated the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the change in rates of ultrasonography for each subsequent year. The RR was adjusted for maternal age, income, rural residence, maternal comorbidities, receipt of genetics consultation or amniocentesis — all in the index pregnancy — and history of complications in a prior pregnancy. Results: The study sample consisted of 1 399 389 singleton deliveries. The rate of prenatal ultrasonography increased from 2055 per 1000 pregnancies in 1996 to 3264 per 1000 in 2006 (adjusted RR 1.55, 95% CI 1.54–1.55). The rate increased among both women with low-risk pregnancies (adjusted RR 1.54, 95% CI 1.53–1.55) and those with high-risk pregnancies (adjusted RR 1.55, 95% CI 1.54–1.57). The proportion of pregnancies with at least four ultrasound examinations in the second or third trimesters rose from 6.4% in 1996 to 18.7% in 2006 (adjusted RR 2.68, 95% CI 2.61–2.74). Paradoxically, this increase was more pronounced among low-risk pregnancies (adjusted RR 2.92, 95% CI 2.83–3.01) than among high-risk pregnancies (adjusted RR 2.25, 95% CI 2.16–2.35). Interpretation: Substantial increases in the use of prenatal ultrasonography over the past decade do not appear to reflect changes in maternal risk. Nearly one in five women now undergo four or more ultrasound examinations during the second and third trimesters. Efforts to promote more appropriate use of prenatal ultrasonography for singleton pregnancies appear warranted.


To understand how regulation influences competitiveness and upgrading processes, this article focuses on the organizational changes involved in "rewarding regulation." Through a qualitative study of two clusters in the agrifood industry in Nicaragua, it analyzes two types of regulation and their interaction with small producers' production organizations: food safety and environmental sustainability. The analysis shows that regulation plays a crucial role in fostering changes in organizational practices and routines. This occurs when local organizations build new knowledge and skills to upgrade products and production processes, while developing new connections among producers and between them to other private and public actors that support economic development. "Rewarding regulation" is part of a process of learning and creating networks that help build local know-how and generate supportive collective resources.


Building secure software is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Prediction models that identify vulnerability prone software components can be used to focus security efforts, thus helping to reduce the time and effort required to secure software. Several kinds of vulnerability prediction models have been proposed over the course of the past decade. However, these models were evaluated with differing methodologies and datasets, making it difficult to determine the relative strengths and weaknesses of different modeling techniques. In this paper, we provide a high-quality, public dataset, containing 223 vulnerabilities found in three web applications, to help address this issue. We used this dataset to compare vulnerability prediction models based on text mining with models using software metrics as predictors. We found that text mining models had higher recall than software metrics based models for all three applications.


Introduction: This article is part of a Focus Theme of Methods of Information in Medicine on Health Record Banking. Background: Healthcare is often ineffective and costs are steadily rising. This is in a large part due to the inaccessibility of medical and health data stored in multiple silos. Further more, in most cases molecular differences between individuals that result in different susceptibilities to drugs and diseases as well as targeted interventions cannot be taken into account. Technological advances in genome sequencing and the interaction of 'omics' data with environmental data on one hand and mobile health on the other, promise to generate the longitudinal health data that will form the basis for a more personalized, precision medicine. Objectives: For this new medicine to become a reality, however, millions of personal health data sets have to be aggregated. The value of such aggregated personal data has been recognized as a new asset class and many commercial entities are competing for this new asset (e.g. Google, Facebook, 23andMe, PatientsLikeMe). The primary source and beneficiary of personal health data is the individual. As a collective, society should be the beneficiary of both the eco nomic and health value of these aggregated data and (health) information. Methods: We posit that empowering citi zens by providing them with a platform to safely store, manage and share their healthrelated data will be a necessary element in the transformation towards a more effective and efficient precision medicine. Such health data platforms should be organized as co operatives that are solely owned and controlled by their members and not by shareholders. Members determine which data they want to share for example with doctors or to contribute to research for the benefit of their health and that of society. Members will also decide how the revenues generated by granting third parties access to the anonymized data that they agreed to share, should be invested in research, information or education. Results: Currently no functional Health Data Cooperatives exist yet. The relative success of health data repositories such as 23andme and PatientsLikeMe indicates that citizens are willing to participate in research even if – and in contrast to the cooperative model – the commercial value of these data does not go back to the collective of users. Conclusions: In the Health Data Cooperative model, the citizens with their data would take the center stage in the healthcare system and society would benefit from the health-related and financial benefits that aggregation of these data brings.


The past decade has seen a surge in research and policy analysis on ways in which technology and finance can support mitigation. Similar studies for adaptation are much more recent, and their results therefore less mature. This is a potential bottleneck in the negotiations towards an agreement in Copenhagen. This paper aims to facilitate discussions on adaptation finance by presenting a summary overview of the current state of knowledge and policy initiatives, and by outlining a number of issues that would need to be considered in the negotiation process.


Military employment commonly exposes personnel to strenuous physical exertion. The resulting interaction between occupational stress and individual susceptibility to illness demands careful management. This could extend to prospective identification of high physiological strain in healthy personnel, in addition to recognition and protection of vulnerable individuals. The emergence and ubiquitous uptake of 'wearable' physiological and medical monitoring devices might help to address this challenge, but requires that the right questions are asked in sourcing, developing, validating and applying such technologies. Issues that must be addressed include system requirements, such as the likelihood of end users deploying and using technology as intended; interpretation of data in relation to pretest probability, including the potential for false-positive results; differentiation of pathological states from normal physiology; responsibility for and consequences of acting on abnormal or unexpected results and cost-effectiveness. Ultimately, the performance of a single monitoring system, in isolation or alongside other measures, should be judged by whether any improvement is offered versus existing capabilities and at what cost to mission effectiveness.


One of the Civil criteria in ABET TC2K 1 is that programs "apply current knowledge and adapt to emerging applications of technology," such as, changes in the building codes. Structural design firms also have the expectation that Civil Engineering Technology (CET) graduates should be able to apply current codes to determine structural loads, required for the analysis and design of structures. While most CET programs expose their students to structural analysis and design using instructor or textbook-prescribed loads, few expose students to the detailed calculation of actual structural loads using current codes. Many jurisdictions in the United States, including New York State, have recently adopted the International Building Code (IBC) 2 , which contains the latest provisions on structural loads, including wind and seismic loads for buildings. Prior to 2002, in New York State, the building code only required buildings to be designed for wind loads using a very simple tabular method. Seismic loads were not considered. Under that dispensation, it was possible and feasible to integrate the topic of structural loads, dead, live, snow and wind load, into any one of the structural design courses, all-be-it at an elementary level. However, with the adoption of building codes, such as the IBC 2000, the calculation of structural loads has become complex and time consuming. In order to meet the changing needs in this subject area of the CET curriculum, a new standalone course in structural loads and systems has become a necessity. This paper discusses the development and integration of a 2-credit hour required course in structural loads and systems that is offered to 3 rd year students in the CET program at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The topics discussed include: impetus for developing the course, course structure and syllabus, integration into the curriculum, intended learning outcomes, course text development (no available structured textbook exists), typical homework assignments, summary and conclusions.


The recommended diet for human infants within the first 6 months of life is breast milk. No other natural or artificial formulation has been able to match up to this gold standard. Mothers who have attempted to pursue exclusive breastfeeding can, however, attest to numerous nutritional and non-nutritional challenges mainly resulting in insufficient milk production (hypogalactia) or the absence of milk production (aga-lactia). There are very few and officially recommended orthodox drugs to increase lactation. The most widely used galactagogues being chlorpromazine, sulpiride, metoclopramide and domperidone are associated with very high incidences of unpleasant side effects including their extra-pyramidal effects in both mother and infant. There is therefore a need to keep searching for more acceptable galactagogues. This section reviews current literature on medicinal plants used within the local Ghanaian com-munity to enhance lactation. Various electronic databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, SciFinder and Google Scholar as well as published books on Ghanaian medicinal plants were searched. A total of 22 plants belonging to 13 families were reviewed with regards to their medicinal values, information on lactation and toxicity.


Ravelingien et al 1 argue that, given the restrictions that must be imposed on recipients of xenotransplanted organs, we should conduct clinical trials of xenotransplantation only on patients in a persistent vegetative state. I argue that there is no ethical barrier to using terminally ill patients instead. Such patients can choose to waive their rights to the liberties that xenotransplantation would probably restrict; it is surely rational to prefer to waive your rights rather than to die, and permissible to allow patients to make this choice.

Perhaps the single most important advance in the history of moral thought occurred when it came to be generally recognised that all people are protected by rights that are inviolable, at least without their consent. The precise nature and content of these rights is controversial, but there is a consensus among reasonable people over their core. We all have a right to life, to liberty, to security of person and to equality before the law. Other rights—so-called positive rights, such as the right to economic security, or cultural rights, for instance—may be controversial, but we all agree at least on these.

Ravelingien et al 1 therefore seem to be on solid ground when they conclude that it would not be permissible to use living persons as subjects in clinical trials of xenotransplantation, as such trials, potentially or actually, result in the violation of the core human rights of the subjects. Their argument is as follows:

 Xenotransplantation carries with it a currently unquantifiable risk of the transmission of viruses, from the animal that is the source of the organ transplanted, to the human recipient. Such viruses could have potentially catastrophic consequences, up to and including triggering a global and devastating pandemic. Therefore, it would be necessary to monitor the health status of recipients of …


This Article examines categories of prosecutor misconduct that may occur in capital cases, and it discusses suggestions to help prevent and remedy such misconduct. The prosecutor's role is especially important in death penalty cases because the prosecutor is a determining force in the decision of whether a defendant will live or die. Thus, even though prosecutor misconduct is an important concern for all types of cases, it has a special impact in capital cases. Instances of prosecutor misconduct may occur prior to trial during discovery, during jury selection, and during trial and post-trial. In Part One of the Article, we discuss situations where prosecutors withhold exculpatory evidence from defendants in capital cases. In Part Two, we discuss the problem where prosecutors improperly use pretrial publicity to achieve convictions and death sentences in capital cases. Misconduct may occur during jury selection, and in Part Three, we examine situations where some prosecutors have improperly used peremptory challenges to exclude prospective jurors based upon race. Under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), this type of prosecutor misconduct may rise to constitutional significance. Next, in Part Four, we consider the trial itself and discuss situations where prosecutors improperly used false evidence or statements in capital cases. In Part Five, we consider methods for addressing misconduct in capital cases. The Article considers three different categories of ways to deter instances of prosecutor misconduct in capital cases: (1) institutional and systemic methods of preventing prosecutor misconduct; (2) punishment of individual prosecutors responsible for egregious misconduct; and (3) remedies for defendants who are victims of misconduct. After giving an overview of various suggestions, the Article concludes with five specific proposals that should be the first steps toward deterring and remedying prosecutor misconduct in capital cases.


Men's Health lags behind even to this day despite of increased awareness and much ado. The gravity of the situation is yet to be realized as data from various parts of the world is still missing. Available literature since the beginning of time has portrayed Man as the stronger sex and focused on his sexual abilities. Current studies point to the deficiencies that are inherent to men and suggest reasons for the poor health of men when compared to women. The present article focuses on what has been proposed and established and provides suggestions regarding what can be done further to bring the health of men to the same status as enjoyed by women.


Tumorigenesis is a multistep process that involves a series of genetic changes or "multiple hits," leading to alterations in signaling, proliferation, immortalization, and transformation. Many of the molecular factors that govern tumor initiation and progression remain unknown. Here, we evaluate the transformation suppressor potential of caveolin-1 (Cav-1) and its ability to cooperate with a well established tumor suppressor, the INK4a locus. To study the effects of loss of caveolin-1 on cellular transformation, we established immortalized primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) expressing and lacking caveolin-1 by interbreeding Cav-1 (+/+) and Cav-1 (-/-) mice with INK4a (-/-) mice. Analysis of these cells reveals that loss of caveolin-1 confers a significant growth advantage, as measured via cellular proliferation and cell cycle analysis. Loss of caveolin-1 in the INK4a (-/-) genetic background results in constitutive hyperactivation of the p42/44 MAP kinase cascade, decreased expression of p21Cip1, as well as cyclin D1 and PCNA overexpression, consistent with their hyperproliferative phenotype. Importantly, in cells lacking Cav-1 expression, transformation by activated oncogenes (H-RasG12V or v-Src) results in increased tumor growth in vivo (up to >40-fold). Finally, INK4a (-/-)/Cav-1 (-/-) mice demonstrate disturbed mammary epithelial ductal morphology, with hyperplasia, increased side-branching, and fibrosis. Our results provide important new evidence for the transformation suppressor properties of Cav-1 and the first molecular genetic evidence that Cav-1 cooperates with a tumor suppressor, namely the INK4a genetic locus.


Previous research has demonstrated that dispositional optimism is adaptive in terms of facilitating the processing of heath risk information (e.g. Aspinwall & Brunhart, 1996). In contrast, optimism bias appears to impede the processing of health risk information (Radcliffe & Klein, 2002). However, until now there has been no examination of whether both factors impact upon the processing of road risk information. The aim of the reported study was to address this gap. On the basis of past research findings it was hypothesised that participants high on dispositional optimism would have greatest recall for road risk information. It was further hypothesised that optimistically biased participants would have poorer recall for risk information. A community sample of 325 licensed drivers was recruited from the Townsville region. Results indicated the hypotheses were not supported. Participants high on optimism tended to remember more neutral information than risk information. In addition, there were no significant effects of optimism bias on recall. It seems that information about road risks is qualitatively different to information about health risks. That is, recall for road related risk information can not be predicted by optimism and optimism bias as it can be with health behaviours. Results are discussed in light of the differences in perceived controllability of health behaviours and road related behaviours. The implications of these results for road safety campaigns will be explored.


In this paper we review the literature on sovereign debt with particular emphasis on indexation and maturity and the main policy proposals related to these topics. We also advance some implications derived from our work. In Alfaro and Kanczuk (2005a, b, c), we modeled sovereign debt as a contingent claim following the framework developed by Grossman and Van Huyck (1988). Our framework, however, recognizes that contingent debt might be associated with incentive problems. Applying this framework to the study of the sustainability of sovereign debt, the tradeoff between nominal and indexed debt, and the optimal debt maturity, we find some of the proposals advanced in the literature regarding lengthening debt maturity and issuing nominal debt to be unsustainable in emerging (volatile) economies.


Despite significant progress in tumour diagnosis and treatment over the last few years, cancer remains a major cause of death worldwide. Cancer prevention through diet and lifestyle changes is gaining importance, as our understanding of the potential of dietary patterns and single foods to avoid carcinogenesis is growing. This review article discusses available evidence for links between nutrition and cancer and summarizes some of the recent findings from observational and interventional studies on the potential of diet and specific nutritional components to reduce cancer risk.


ABSTRACT This paper, based on 100 in-depth interviews conducted in Poland and another 40 in Slovakia, analyses life trajectories of foreign-born scholars who decided to pursue careers in Central Europe. Their narratives are very different from the regular "linear" careers reported in the studies focused on academic profession, which usually start with good student performance and proceed to publications, research projects, and conference appearances, to growing recognition, and finally, retirement. The overarching research question of this paper is, How do contingent factors shape the academic careers of foreign-born scholars in Central Europe? The study demonstrates that, in the semi-peripheries of global knowledge production, a typical recruitment process is triggered by external factors usually unrelated to professional motivations (e.g. a romantic relationship or an unexpected academic job offer). The decision to migrate is usually made with limited knowledge about the receiving country. The emic category of "dart throw" captures this situation well.


BACKGROUND: In lipominiabdominoplasty and mid-abdominoplasty procedures, the umbilicus is usually undermined from its aponeurotic fixation; this modifies its normal vascular pattern. In patients undergoing these procedures and candidates for a secondary classic abdominoplasty, trophic changes, including necrosis, may occur in the umbilical scar. To avoid trophic complications in the neo-umbilicus, autonomization of the umbilical scar was carried out. METHODS: Three candidates for a secondary classic abdominoplasty underwent the umbilicus autonomization process in the private clinic of the corresponding author. One incision, 1 cm from the umbilical scar, was performed from the skin to the aponeurotic plane on each side, with an interval of 15 days between the two surgical incisions. After the second incision, the patient waited for a further 15 days. Thus, the whole process took 30 days before classic abdominoplasty was performed. RESULTS: No trophic alterations or necrosis in the umbilical scar were observed in these cases. CONCLUSIONS: The aesthetic results were satisfactory, indicating the effectiveness of this method


Telephones are a ubiquitous and widely accepted technology worldwide. The low ownership cost, simple user interface, intuitive voice-based access and long history contribute to wide-spread use and success of telephones, and more recently, that of mobile phones. This study presents our preliminary efforts to leverage this technology to bridge disparities in the access to and delivery of personalized health and wellness care by developing and evaluating a Spoken Web enabled Care Management Platform (SW-CMP) for underserved and disadvantaged populations. A pilot evaluation study was conducted with eight proxy users representing both providers and patients. Surveys completed by the participants and data generated from the evaluation process were analyzed. Results were mixed; while the current state of the system does not yet fully support a beneficial user experience and needs significant re-engineering, promising opportunities were identified and are being pursued for improved health management for patients and providers alike.


CGD turned 12 years old in the fall of 2013. This essay is an effort to distill what we think we have learned in the past dozen years. Neither of us was present at the Center's creation in 2001 but each arrived in the formative years and each has spent a decade helping to build CGD. Between us we have a pretty good idea of what makes the place tick one of us working rather more upstream and the other somewhat downstream with plenty of overlap in the middle. This is our idiosyncratic list of 12 lessons from the Center's first 12 years as a think-and-do tank -- the ingredients in CGD's secret sauce. Some are attributes that other think tanks might seek to emulate. Others are part of our core DNA bequeathed to us by the circumstances of CGD's birth. These lessons may be of particular interest to our supporters and funders as well as to laudable efforts (such as the Think Tank Initiative) that seek to support the emergence of high-performing research organizations in developing countries. In compiling this list we've tried to abide by one of our unofficial mottos: "We take our work seriously but not ourselves." We hope this list will be read in that spirit.


"The settlement is a protest against a restricted view of education." --Jane Addams In a 1904 essay titled "The Humanizing Tendency of Industrial Education," Jane Addams asked her readers to imagine what public schools would look like if they followed the educational practices of Hull House, the social settlement that Addams had formed with Ellen Gates Starr 15 years before. "We could imagine the business man teaching the immigrant his much needed English and arithmetic," she wrote, "and receiving in return lessons in the handling of tools and materials so that they should assume in his mind a totally different significance from that [which] the factory gives them." In the same place, Addams argued, one should see Italian women learning English in the kitchen while they teach their instructors "how to cook the delicious macaroni, such a different thing from the semi-elastic product which Americans honor with that name" (Addams, 1904/1994, p. 120). Had Addams written "The Humanizing Tendency" in 1994 one would see in her remarks a creative but typical description of service-learning. But the date of her writing, 1904, and the location of the service-learning, Hull House, suggests that Addams' work was much more than a standard application of service-learning practice. It was, instead, pioneering work, the understanding of which should reframe thinking about the history and significance of service-learning. Though the service-learning movement has paid more attention to its history than most movements for educational reform, the history it has crafted has taken an unusual form. It has focused overwhelmingly on John Dewey as the intellectual forefather of the movement (Giles, 1991; Giles & Eyler, 1994; Saltmarsh, 1996). In this, the history of a movement about community-campus partnerships for action has been written largely as a history of ideas emerging from a university. Of course, John Dewey's work is enormously rich and his role in creating a system of education responsive to community interests should not be minimized. Nonetheless, if the movement is to learn from its origins, it needs to take a fuller look at them. There have been attempts to expand the early history of service-learning, including efforts to include Jane Addams among the early pioneers of community service in American culture (along with Dewey and Dorothy Day) from Keith Morton and John Saltmarsh (1997). Ira Harkavy and John Puckett (1994) use Hull House as a model for contemporary urban universities, especially the partnerships at University of Pennsylvania. Jane Addams School for Democracy uses the legacy of Hull House to inspire a long-term community-university partnership between the University of Minnesota and the West Side neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota (Longo & Wallace, 2000; Wallace, 2000). In addition, Charles Stevens (2003) has done pioneering work on the African-American origins of service-learning (Stevens, 2003). This article builds upon this work and proposes that Jane Addams' work and writing are essential to such a re-examination of service-learning's history. Addams allows us a glimpse into the origins of service-learning as a practice, as opposed to a theory. A history of service-learning that takes account of Addams also locates the origins of service-learning not in the university, but in the community, with institutions (including institutions of higher education) playing an important supporting role. And it places the origins of service-learning squarely in the movement for the expansion of the role of women in public life. These three expansions of service-learning's history alone should make Addams of interest to contemporary practitioners. But in addition to adding gender, practice, and partnership to service-learning's history, Jane Addams' work is a valuable reminder that service-learning may be understood not only as an educational technique, but also as an agile approach to learning whose greatest value is the unpredictable creativity that it brings to public life. …


Ultra-Relativistic heavy-ion physics is a promising field of high energy physics connecting two fields: nuclear physics and elementary particle physics. Experimental achievements of the last years have provided an opportunity to study the properties of a new state of matter created in heavy-ion collisions called quark-gluon plasma. The initial state of two colliding nuclei is affected by fluctuations coming from wave- functions of nucleons. These fluctuations lead to the momentum anisotropy of the hadronic matter which is observed by the detectors. The system created in the collision behaves like a fluid, so the initial state is connected to the final state via hydrodynamic evolution. In this thesis we model the evolution with relativistic viscous hydrodynamics. Our results, combined with experimental data, give non trivial constraints on the initial state, thus achieving "reverse engineering" of the heavy-ion collisions. The observable which characterizes the momentum anisotropy is the anisotropic flow vn. We present the first measurements of the first harmonic of the anisotropic flow called directed flow v1 in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. We then perform the first viscous hydrodynamic modeling of directed flow and show that it is less sensitive to viscosity than higher harmonics. Comparison of these experimental data with the modeling allows to extract the values of the dipole asymmetry of the initial state, which provides constraints on the models of initial states. A prediction for directed flow v1 in Au-Au collisions is also made for RHIC. We then perform a similar modeling of the second and third harmonics of the anisotropic flow, called respectively elliptic v2 and triangular v3 flow. A combined analysis of the elliptic and triangular flow data compared with viscous hydrodynamic calculations allows us to put constraints on initial ellipticity and triangularity of the system. These constraints are then used as a filter for different models of initial state. At the end of this thesis, we show perspectives in the studies of the initial state which are opened by recent measurements of event-plane correlations which could shed light on the initial state fluctuations.


A 2-year prospective follow-up study of 100% (N = 29) of a sample of children and adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders found that the baseline lumbar cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolite concentration and autonomic nervous system activity predicted some subsequent outcomes. The 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentration significantly predicted severity of physical aggression during follow-up. The skin conductance level significantly predicted institutionalization. Correlations were in predicted directions with lower cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations and autonomic activity correlated with poor outcome. Moreover, in multivariate analyses, which included nonlaboratory measures as predictors, cerebrospinal fluid and autonomic measures still contributed significantly to the prediction. However, hypothesized predictions of cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid concentrations for suicide attempts and of low autonomic nervous system activity for arrests were not supported thus far. Patients are still at risk; consequently, these results must be considered preliminary. Nonetheless, the results suggest that further investigation of relationships between biological factors and outcome of children with disruptive behavior disorders is warranted.


The effects of partial defoliation on photosynthesis, whole-seedling carbon allocation, partitioning and growth were studied for two species with contrasting foliar traits. Field-grown seedlings of deciduous Japanese larch (Larix leptolepis) and evergreen red pine (Pinus resinosa) were defoliated by hand in early summer for 2 consecutive years. In the first year (1990), seedlings were defoliated by removing the distal 0, 25, 50 or 75% of each needle. In the second year (1991), seedlings were defoliated either 0 or 50%, regardless of previous defoliation treatments. Defoliation had little effect on photosynthesis and starch concentration in whole seedlings of either species in the first year. In the second year, photosynthesis increased in both species in response to the 1991 defoliation treatment, and in red pine also increased in response to the 1990 defoliation treatment. Further, in 1991 both larch and pine had decreased whole-seedling total non-structural carbohydrate concentrations in all seedlings that were defoliated at least once over the 2-yr period. This decrease was noted mostly in the starch component of the non-structural carbohydrates, and was similar in both species. In 1991, biomass was similarly decreased in both species in response to 1991 defoliation. Both species showed overcompensation in total and component biomass in seedlings defoliated by 25% in 1990. Overall, the results do not support the widely held belief that evergreen trees are substantially more affected than deciduous trees by defoliation.


The objective of this research is to create a computationally efficient seismic analysis framework for cold-formed steel (CFS) framed-buildings supported by hysteretic nonlinear models for CFS members and screw-fastened connections. Design of CFS structures subjected to lateral seismic forces traditionally relies on the strength of subassemblies subjected to lateral loading of systems, such as strapped/sheathed shear walls and diaphragms, to provide adequate protection against collapse. Enabling performance-based seismic design of CFS buildings requires computationally efficient and accurate modeling tools that predict the nonlinear cyclic behavior of CFS buildings, the individual CFS components and connections. Such models should capture the energy dissipation and damage due to buckling and cross-sectional deformations in thin-walled CFS components subjected to cyclic loads such as those induced by earthquakes. Likewise, models for screw-fastened CFS connections should capture the energy dissipation and damage due to tilting, bearing, or screw shear when subjected to cyclic loading. In this dissertation, an analysis framework for CFS structures that captures the nonlinear cyclic behavior of critical components including axial members, flexural members, and screw fastened connections is presented. A modeling approach to simulate thin-walled behavior in CFS members is introduced where parameters were developed using results from an experimental program that investigated the cyclic behavior and energy dissipation in CFS axial members and flexural members. Energy dissipation and cyclic behavior of CFS members were characterized for members experiencing global, distortional and local buckling. Cyclic behavior and energy dissipation in thin steel plates and members was further investigated through finite element analysis in ABAQUS to provide a strategy for modeling steel columns cyclic behavior including local buckling. Model parameters were developed as generalized functions of the hysteretic energy dissipated and slenderness. The capabilities of the analysis framework are demonstrated through simulations of CFS wood sheathed shear wall cyclic responses validated with experimental results from full scale shear wall tests.


Abductive inference is an important AI reasoning technique to find explanations of observations, and has recently been applied to scientific discovery. To find best hypotheses among many logically possible hypotheses, we need to evaluate hypotheses obtained from the process of hypothesis generation. We propose an abductive inference architecture combined with an EM algorithm working on binary decision diagrams (BDDs). This work opens a way of applying BDDs to compress multiple hypotheses and to select most probable ones from them. An implemented system has been applied to inference of inhibition in metabolic pathways in the domain of systems biology.


Background: Using gesture as a compensatory communication strategy may be challenging for people with severe aphasia. Therapy can improve skills with gesture, at least in elicitation tasks, but gains ar often modest. Raising the treatment dose with technology might improve outcomes. Aims: This feasibility study developed a computer gesture therapy tool (GeST), and piloted it with nine people who have severe aphasia. It aimed to determine whether practice with GeST would improve gesture production and/or spoken naming. It also explored whether GeST encouraged independent practice and was easy to use. Methods & Procedures: Pilot participants had 6 weeks practice with GeST, flanked by pre- and post-therapy tests of gesture and word production. Usability was explored through interviews and structured observations, and the amount of time spent in the programme was monitored. Outcomes & Results: Scores on the gesture test were evaluated by 36 independent raters. Recognition scores for gestures practised with the tool improved significantly after therapy and the gain was maintained. However, gains were small and only occurred on items that were practised with regular therapist support. There was no generalisation to unpractised gestures and no effect on spoken naming. Usability results were positive. Participants undertook an average of 64.4 practice sessions with GeST, and the average session length was just under 14 minutes. Conclusions: GeST was proved to be easy and enjoyable to use and had some effect on participants' gesturing skills. Increasing the magnitude of gains would be desirable. The effect on everyday communication needs to be explored.


Abstract. Monitoring the movement of historic structures on unstable geology is a critical part of conservation. Such documentation can be accomplished using a variety of techniques from close observation to highly accurate instrumentation. However, the monitoring of nearly a hundred structures with varying levels of significance over a large area with limited resources is challenging. This paper describes the approach, methodology, planning, and execution of the initial monitoring system for the historic mausoleums at Makli Hills, Thatta in Sindh (Pakistan). This World Heritage property, located along six kilometers of bluffs above an ancient branch of the Indus River contains the tombs of rulers, poets, and spiritual leaders spanning from the XIVth to XVIIIth centuries. These tombs, built at the edge of eroding bluff, have been subjected to differential settlement leading to a number of past structural failures, serious cracks, deformations, and potential failures. The paper describes this important site, it´s problems, and a methodology to balance the significance and the sheer number of monuments with risk and available budget.


We provide an information-theoretic framework for studying the generalization properties of machine learning algorithms. Our framework ties together existing approaches, including uniform convergence bounds and recent methods for adaptive data analysis. Specifically, we use Conditional Mutual Information (CMI) to quantify how well the input (i.e., the training data) can be recognized given the output (i.e., the trained model) of the learning algorithm. We show that bounds on CMI can be obtained from VC dimension, compression schemes, differential privacy, and other methods. We then show that bounded CMI implies various forms of generalization.


Engelmann and Strobel (AER 2004) question the relevance of inequity aversion in simple dictator game experiments claiming that a combination of a preference for efficiency and a Rawlsian motive for helping the least well-off is more important than inequity aversion. We show that these results are partly based on a strong subject pool effect. The participants of the E&S experiments were undergraduate students of economics and business administration who self-selected into their field of study (economics) and learned in the first semester that efficiency is desirable. We show that for non-economists the preference for efficiency is much less pronounced. We also find a non-negligible gender effect indicating that women are more egalitarian than men. However, perhaps surprisingly, the dominance of equality over efficiency is unrelated to political attitudes.