In order to achieve state-of-the-art performance, modern machine learning techniques require careful data pre-processing and hyperparameter tuning. Moreover, given the ever increasing number of machine learning models being developed, model selection is becoming increasingly important. Automating the selection and tuning of machine learning pipelines consisting of data pre-processing methods and machine learning models, has long been one of the goals of the machine learning community. In this paper, we tackle this meta-learning task by combining ideas from collaborative filtering and Bayesian optimization. Using probabilistic matrix factorization techniques and acquisition functions from Bayesian optimization, we exploit experiments performed in hundreds of different datasets to guide the exploration of the space of possible pipelines. In our experiments, we show that our approach quickly identifies high-performing pipelines across a wide range of datasets, significantly outperforming the current state-of-the-art.


The Supreme Court waited until the last day of the 2009-10 Term to issue its pronouncement on business method patents, Bilski v. Kappos. It then came "not with a bang but a whimper." Those who thought, based on statements in earlier Court opinions or the tenor of oral argument in Bilski, that the Court might find all business methods, including tax strategies, not to be patentable subject matter, were disappointed. All the Justices agreed that patent protection did not extend to Bilksi's hedging strategy process claims because they involved only an abstract idea. All agreed as well that the Federal Circuit's machine-or-transformation test was not the sole test for patentability of a process, although they recognized that it was an important and useful test in many, perhaps even most, cases. They also declined to endorse the Federal Circuit's prior test for patentability, whether the invention produced a "useful, concrete and tangible result." The five members of the majority, in an opinion by Justice Kennedy, read the patent law as leaving open "the possibility of some business method patents." At the same time, the opinion was quick to disclaim "broad patentability of such claimed inventions." But the majority failed to offer guidance on when an idea is an abstract idea or what the limits on business method patents might be. After Bilski, the status of patents on tax strategies, as one type of business method patent, is no clearer than it was before the case was decided. Under the machine-or-transformation test, applications for tax strategy inventions that did not depend on computer software were clearly not patentable. Although it will depend on how the Patent and Trademark Office, lower courts, and the Federal Circuit analyze and apply the term "abstract idea," the same result is likely, but not certain, to hold after Bilski. Tax strategy patents may provide a rich testing ground for determining whether it is possible for an invention that does not meet the machine-or-transformation test nonetheless to be patent eligible because it is a practical application of an abstract idea. Some further guidance maybe available when the Federal Circuit decides Fort Properties, Inc., which involves section 1031 like-kind exchanges. Both before and after Bilski, another set of issues involves tax applications for tax strategies with claims that include use of computers or computer software, which many tax strategy patents already, or easily could, do. The PTO has issued thoughtful Interim Bilski Guidance, but difficult questions remain when this guidance is applied to tax strategy patents. For those who believe that, as a matter of policy and practice, tax strategies should not be patented, Bilski underscores the need for legislation, although drafting and passing such legislation involve a number of challenges. This article provides background on business method patents generally, on tax strategy patents in particular, and on the Bilski case before discussing the Supreme Court opinion, its implications for business method patents, and its implications for tax strategy patents.


In this paper, we present a new compositional verification methodology for efficiently verifying high-assurance properties such as reachability and deadlock freedom of real-time systems. In this methodology, each component of real-time systems is initially specified as a timed automaton and it communicates with other components via synchronous and/or asynchronous communication channels. Then, each component is analyzed by a generation of its state-space graph which is formalized as a new state-space representation model called Multiset Labeled Transition Systems (MLTSs). Afterward, the state spaces of the components are hierarchically composed and simplified through a composition algorithm and a set of condensation rules, respectively, to get a condensed state space of the system. The simplified state spaces preserve equivalence with respect to deadlock and reachable states. Such equivalence is assured by our reduction theories called IOT-failure equivalence and IOT-state equivalence. To show the performance of our methodology, we developed a verification tool RT-IOTA and carried out experiments on some benchmarks such as CSMA/CD protocol, a rail-road crossing, an alternating bit-protocol, etc. Specifically, we look at the time taken to generate the statespace, the size of the state space, and the amount of reduction achieved by our condensation rules. The results demonstrate the strength of our new technique in dealing with the state-explosion problem.


This study was conducted to determine the effect on semen quality traits of supplementing the diets of Iraqi drakes with L-carnitine. Forty eight male Iraqi ducks, 30 weeks old, were randomly allocated to four treatments with 12 drakes per treatment group, replicated three times, with four drakes per replicate. The treatment groups consisted of birds fed a diet free of L-carnitine (T1, control group); birds fed a diet containing 50 mg L-carnitine/kg diet (T2); birds fed a diet containing 100 mg L-carnitine/kg diet (T3); and birds fed a diet containing 150 mg L-carnitine/kg diet. The drakes were fed the experimental diets only during the experimental period, which lasted three months. The semen quality traits that were investigated were ejaculate volume, mass and individual motility of spermatozoa, spermatocrit, spermatozoa concentration, percentages of dead and abnormal spermatozoa and acrosomal abnormalities. Supplementing the diet of drakes with L-carnitine at the levels of 50 - 150 mg/kg diet significantly increased ejaculate volume, spermatocrit, mass and individual motility of spermatozoa, and concentration of spermatozoa, while percentages of dead and abnormal spermatozoa and acrosomal abnormalities were decreased. However, T4 (150 mg L-carnitine/kg diet) recorded the best results in relation to all semen quality traits included in this study. Dietary supplementation with L-carnitine improved the semen quality of local drakes; therefore L-carnitine can be used as an efficient feed additive to improve the reproductive performance of male ducks.


Urban teens of color are often portrayed as welfare mothers, drop outs, drug addicts, and both victims and perpetrators of the many kinds of violence which can characterize life in urban areas. Although urban youth often live in contexts which include poverty, unemployment, and discrimination, they also live with the everydayness of school, friends, sex, television, music, and other elements of teenage lives. Inner City Kids explores how a group of African American, Jamaican, Puerto Rican, and Haitian adolescents make meaning of and respond to living in an inner-city community. The book focuses on areas of particular concern to the youth, such as violence, educational opportunities, and a decaying and demoralizing urban environment characterized by trash, pollution, and abandoned houses. McIntyre's work with these teens draws upon participatory action research, which seeks to codevelop programs with study participants rather than for them.


Is the consciousness of Americans in the midst of dramatic transformation? Or do people think and feel much the same as they have always thought and felt? Do most people enjoy their work, or hate it? Is the American family being replaced by new institutional forms, or is it much the same as it was in the 1950's? Have material values been replaced by a "postmaterial consciousness" in a postindustrial society? Are Americans becoming more conservative, less conservative, or staying about the same? State of the Masses asks the important questions. Originally published in 1986, this prescient study evaluate the views of social critics, neo-conservatives, neo-Marxists, post-industrialists, and the theorists of the little man, who puport to describe the nature, social conditions, outlooks, and motivations of the American populace. The claims of one group are often diametrically opposed to those of another. The authors make the case for which claims can be considered true and which false. Hamilton and Wright analyze the contradictory claims and compares their implications with the best social science research and data available at that time. They also explore the implications for theories in light of the conflicting portrait the evidence provides. The authors conclude with a new perspective for understanding continuities and changes in the United States. This is a prescient view of American society during turmoil, and a model for how social science research can be used predictively.


Context The past decade has witnessed a sustained emphasis on information and communication technologies (ICT) in education, coupled with the rise of online social media and increasing pervasiveness of personal media devices. Research Question Our research question asked: How has this changing context affected the educational experiences of American high school students? Setting The exploratory, qualitative study took place at two high schools in a large metropolitan district in the southeastern United States. One high school was in a downtown area, and the other was in a suburban setting. Research Design The researchers used various qualitative research approaches, including interviews, on-site observations, and document analysis. Our interview participants included classroom teachers and support staff as well as students drawn from across each school's grade levels. We also shadowed 10 of the student interview participants through their entire school days. Findings In terms of classroom instruction, we found that ICT had affected school, teacher, and student practices in some ways, but traditional teacher-centered practices such as student completion of printed worksheets were still prevalent. However, widespread student access to personal media devices and online social media site influence had a noticeable effect on the two high schools. The researchers encountered specific "types" of students whom technology particularly influenced: "Digital Rebels," "Cyber Wanderers," and "eLearning Pioneers." In addition, we discovered that computer-based remedial programs served as problematic educational lifelines for students at risk of dropping out. Conclusions The two study high schools presented a complex portrait. In the end, technology functioned both as an imperfect school reform effort that produced only partial instructional change and as a successful though uninvited disruptive innovation that allowed students to challenge and unsettle existing educational norms. We close by considering implications of our findings.


Placing concrete requires much more water than the cement needs for its hydration. This results in an important porosity in the hardened concrete, which accentuates the degradation of this material. By adding small amounts of polymeric admixtures, called superplasticizers, to the fresh concrete one can significantly reduce the amount of water required to obtain the suitable workability. The plasticizing effect of superplasticizers has been studied for many years, and remains today, an ongoing field of research. This research led to a better understanding of the forces that act during the deflocculation and dispersion of cement grains induced by superplasticizers. This research work was performed within the framework of the "Superplast" European project. Its main objective has been to determine which parameters (molecular structure, induced charge, adsorption mode, molar mass) influence the plasticizing effects of superplasticizers. The results of this study will allow synthesis new polymeric admixtures with better performances than those currently available. For this study, two types of superplasticizers were selected: lignosulfonates and polycarboxylates. For each one, different samples were synthesised and characterised. For each sample, adsorption, rheological and interaction forces measurements were performed by our partners while we have performed adsorption and electroacoustic measurements on model powder suspensions. Different cement model powders were investigated and a magnesium oxide was selected. The particle size distribution and reactivity were carefully characterized. The inert model system (MgO) allowed us to study adsorption mechanisms without the complexity linked to cement hydration reactions that modify surface and solution of the suspension. Particle surface charge and pH are the two main parameters that influence the polymer adsorption and the polymer conformation. Magnesium oxide which has a high isoelectric point (around at pH 12.4) allows a surface charge similar to cement suspensions at high pH. First, we have measured the adsorption isotherms of all superplasticizers on model suspensions in NaOH (0.01M). This study allowed us to evaluate the affinity of each polymer for MgO and its adsorption plateau. These measurements showed that the lignosulfonates have a higher affinity than the polycarboxylates. They also showed that lignosulfonate adsorption is mainly influenced by their molar mass and their carboxylic group content (for similar sulfonate group content) while polycarboxylate adsorption is mainly driven by the backbone length, the side chain length and the carboxylic group content. Adsorption plateaux allowed us to calculate the surface coverage ratio and to estimate the superplasticizer conformation on the surface. Adsorption isotherms were finally measured on a Portland cement. The polymer adsorption is influenced by the same parameters as on MgO. The model system MgO is representative for the polymer adsorption on cement. In a second step, different electrolytes were added to model suspensions. This practice allowed us to study separately the effect of the main ions present in cement suspensions (Na+, Ca2+, SO42-, OH-) and to mimic the ionic composition of the aqueous phase of the cement suspension. Lignosulfonate adsorption is neither influenced by the studied ions or the pH. Only an increase of ionic strength increases the adsorbed polymer mass. Polycarboxylate adsorption is influenced by calcium and sulfate ions and by the particle surface charge. Finally, superplasticizer adsorption was studied on different cements by our partners and on a fly ash and a silica fume by ourselves. Lignosulfonate adsorption isotherms on cements showed that affinity and adsorbed polymer mass increases with the C3A content and decreases with the alkalis content. The isotherms measured on industrial by-products showed that superplasticizers adsorb on fly ash, but not on silica fume.


This paper explores the use of a mediator/wrapper approach to enable the search of an existing library management system using different information retrieval protocols. It proposes an architecture for a software component that will act as an intermediary between the library system and search services. It provides an overview of different approaches to add Z39.50 and Search/Retrieval via URL (SRU) functionality using a middleware approach that is implemented on the BISIS library management system. That wrapper performs transformation of Contextual Query Language (CQL) into Lucene query language. The primary aim of this software component is to enable search and retrieval of bibliographic records using the SRU and Z39.50 protocols, but the proposed architecture of the software components is also suitable for inclusion of the existing library management system into a library portal. The software component provides a single interface to server-side protocols for search and retrieval of records. Additional protocols could be used. This paper provides practical demonstration of interest to developers of library management systems and those who are trying to use open-source solutions to make their local catalog accessible to other


Purpose
This study aims to understand their emergence and types of business models in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper builds upon a systematic literature review of IoT ecosystems and business models to construct a conceptual framework on IoT business models, and uses qualitative research methods to analyze seven industry cases.

Findings
The study identifies four types of IoT business models: value chain efficiency, industry collaboration, horizontal market and platform. Moreover, it discusses three evolutionary paths of new business model emergence: opening up the ecosystem for industry collaboration, replicating the solution in multiple services and return to closed ecosystem as technology matures.

Research limitations/implications
Identifying business models in rapidly evolving fields such as the IoT based on a small number of case studies may result in biased findings compared to large-scale surveys and globally distributed samples. However, it provides more thorough interpretations.

Practical implications
The study provides a framework for analyzing the types and emergence of IoT business models, and forwards the concept of "value design" as an ecosystem business model.

Originality/value
This paper identifies four archetypical IoT business models based on a novel framework that is independent of any specific industry, and argues that IoT business models follow an evolutionary path from closed to open, and reversely to closed ecosystems, and the value created in the networks of organizations and things will be shareable value rather than exchange value.


Macbeth Presented by the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, Drew University, Madison, New Jersey. October 19-November 19, 2004. Directed by Bonnie J. Monte. Set by Michael Schweikardt. Costumes by Frank Champa. Lighting by Brenda Gray. Sound by Richard M. Dionne. Fights by Rick Sordelet. With Robert Cuccioli (Macbeth), Laila Robins (Lady Macbeth), Gregory Derelian (Macduff, Macdonwald), Raphael Nash Thompson (Duncan), Jimonn Cole (Malcolm), Michael Stewart Allen (Banquo), Eric Hoffmann (Porter), Melissa T. Miller (Lady Macduff, Witch), Corey Tazmania (Lady Macbeth's Gentlewoman, Witch), Caralynn Kozlowski (Witch), Austin Colaluca (Fleance), and others. One of the harrowing ironies of Shakespearean tragedy is that the evil are accorded the most discerning moral sense. Having abandoned righteousness, they see it from without, more clearly and distinctly than those who abide. Their moral perspicacity serves as a convenience for the playwright, since the evildoers now can conduct us, lighting the way with a fine-tuned sense of wrong and right. In the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's production of Macbeth, one such discerning character was Lady Macbeth. As played by the superb Laila Robins, she had already decided you have to be bad to be great, and that her husband was "not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it." To her irritable impatience, he'd love to have the throne by foul play, as long as he didn't have to do the foul play himself: "wouldst not play false / And yet wouldst wrongly win." Her discernment marked her as evil--as damned and damning. As interpreted by director Bonnie J. Monte and company, Macbeth is an encounter with human evil--its sources, motivations, and consequences--to spur terror in a time of terror. In an interview, Monte said she wished "to resurrect what is frightening about this play ... [T]o honor this play, and to bridge the Jacobean and the contemporary audiences, I found myself feeling that the rediscovery of the sources of human evil was the really terrifying thing here." What to do with the weird sisters? Styled as Witches in this production, they were the decision to do evil. Once Macbeth set eyes and ears on them, he had decided--and was terrified. From 1.3 forward, he was never free from them. When he left the stage with Lady Macbeth in 1.5, thrilled with violence and evil and sex, a Witch followed them off. The Witches dogged his step, observed the carnage, emerged from shadows, insinuated themselves among the guests at the banquet in act three. As he sank deeper into the consequences of his acts, Macbeth became more and more the Witches' intimate, preferring one in particular, blonde like his wife. Several of Macbeth's agonized soliloquies took place on a loveseat in his boudoir. As the play drew on, his chosen Witch approached the loveseat little by little, perched on it, moved nearer to Macbeth. A visual echo of Lady Macbeth, she was a beckoning into further intimacy with darkness. King James I and other protestant theorists believed damnation begins on earth. …


Abstract. The "1809 eruption" is one of the most recent unidentified volcanic eruptions with a global climate impact. Even though the eruption ranks as the third largest since 1500 with a sulfur emission strength estimated to be 2 times that of the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo, not much is known of it from historic sources. Based on a compilation of instrumental and reconstructed temperature time series, we show here that tropical temperatures show a significant drop in response to the ∼ 1809 eruption that is similar to that produced by the Mt. Tambora eruption in 1815, while the response of Northern Hemisphere (NH) boreal summer temperature is spatially heterogeneous. We test the sensitivity of the climate response simulated by the MPI Earth system model to a range of volcanic forcing estimates constructed using estimated volcanic stratospheric sulfur injections (VSSIs) and uncertainties from ice-core records. Three of the forcing reconstructions represent a tropical eruption with an approximately symmetric hemispheric aerosol spread but different forcing magnitudes, while a fourth reflects a hemispherically asymmetric scenario without volcanic forcing in the NH extratropics. Observed and reconstructed post-volcanic surface NH summer temperature anomalies lie within the range of all the scenario simulations. Therefore, assuming the model climate sensitivity is correct, the VSSI estimate is accurate within the uncertainty bounds. Comparison of observed and simulated tropical temperature anomalies suggests that the most likely VSSI for the 1809 eruption would be somewhere between 12 and 19 Tg of sulfur. Model results show that NH large-scale climate modes are sensitive to both volcanic forcing strength and its spatial structure. While spatial correlations between the N-TREND NH temperature reconstruction and the model simulations are weak in terms of the ensemble-mean model results, individual model simulations show good correlation over North America and Europe, suggesting the spatial heterogeneity of the 1810 cooling could be due to internal climate variability.


Stem cell transfusion have undeniable benefits for patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) especially for augmenting the mostly suppressed normal precursor stem cell necessary for fighting infections. While many patients use own stem cells, other patients that might benefit from this treatment are unable to use own stem cells and may lack Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) identical donor because of HLA polymorphism. Stem cells collected from the bone marrow , umbilical cord blood and peripheral blood stem cells may be from own or HLA partially mismatched unrelated or related donors. The data obtained show that hematologic recovery is highest in peripheral blood and lower in cord blood than in bone marrow, graft versus host disease is higher in peripheral blood than in bone marrow and lowest in cord blood, incidence of relapse and survival were comparable across sources , mortality is higher in cord blood than in peripheral blood and bone marrow and is mostly as a result of infection due to poor engraftment .This comparison is aimed at improving the quality of decision taking on source of stem cells for transfusion in cases of AML as it compares cord blood, peripheral blood and bone marrow in a single study .


The current study examined the importance of co-regulation, defined as the mutual regulatory parent-child process that consists of coordinated emotional expression (Feldman, Greenbaum, & Yirmiya, 1999), on emotion regulation in children across early childhood. Literature related to co-regulation (e.g. responses to emotions) and individual factors of the parent and child (e.g. reactivity and psychopathology) was reviewed and used to develop a transactional model predicting child emotion regulation. It was hypothesized that co-regulation would have an additive and indirect effect on emotion regulation above and beyond the contribution of the individual factors of the child and parent. Maternal and teacher report of child negative reactivity and emotion regulation was obtained at ages 4 and 5. Laboratory observations of these constructs were also utilized. Mothers self-reported on their levels of psychopathology, as well as their reactions to their child's negative emotions. Co-regulation was also obtained using interval coded data of reciprocated positive affect during parent-child interaction tasks. Four structural equation models (SEM) were analyzed in MPlus, and nested models were compared using a chi-square difference test. Using maternal report and observational data, the primary hypothesis was supported, as co-regulation had an additive effect on concurrent emotion regulation. Using observational data of individual factors, co-regulation also had an indirect effect on emotion regulation over time. Findings are interpreted in terms of highlighting the essential role of parent-child interactions on the development of children's emotion regulation across early childhood.


Abstract Efforts to reduce the noise from turbulent jets at fixed flow conditions, with aircraft noise as the principal technological motivation, have generally involved some degree of parametric empiricism often based upon a series of trial-and-error testing. As a result, it is unclear if the modest reductions found, in rare cases that do not greatly affect the flow field or incur prohibitive losses, are near the limit of what can be accomplished or if there are undiscovered opportunities for more substantive reductions with better designs or active control. We assess this using an adjoint-based optimization procedure in conjunction with an experimentally validated large-eddy simulation of a Mach 1.3 turbulent jet. The adjoint solution provides a definitive direction in which to adjust a model control actuation in order to reduce noise, providing guidance that seems lacking by any other current means. It is found that three conjugate-gradient iterations in the control space provide ∼3.5 dB of reduction, comparable to other reductions found empirically. The control seems to work by disrupting the coherence of acoustically efficient axisymmetric flow structures. The control and noise-reduction mechanisms are informative, but also suggest that any significantly quieter state would not be a simple perturbation from the uncontrolled jet. Additional iterations might reduce noise more significantly, but there might be only modest opportunities to reduce the sound from simple round turbulent jets without radical changes or relatively sophisticated controls. Though it is difficult to prove any behaviour in a global space of actuations, there does not seem to be a direct route based upon a local sensitivity gradient to substantially quieting a jet, even with an unrealistically flexible actuation. More complex jets or other noisy flows may be more amenable to control, in which case the adjoint-based optimization procedure demonstrated here could provide invaluable engineering guidance.


This study was conducted to determine the relationship between the degrees of anemia and blood gases in cattle with theileriosis. It included 28 cattle with theileriosis and 7 healthy animals as the control group. The cattle with theileriosis were divided into 4 groups according to their hematocrit (Hct) values: cattle with Hct of >26 were considered as nonanemic (Group 1), Hct of 20-26 as mildly anemic (Group 2), Hct of 14-19 as moderately anemic (Group 3), and Hct of 10-13 as severely anemic (Group 4). The PCO2, HCO3, and TCO2 levels in the study groups were lower than those of the control group. Moreover, reductions in HCO3 and TCO2 concentrations were significant only in the severely anemic group. Similarly, the lowest PCO2 levels were also detected in the severely anemic group. There were no significant differences in the SO2 levels between the control and study groups. On the other hand, the increase was significant in the severely anemic group when compared to Groups 1 and 2. The results seemed to indicate the trend of uncompensated metabolic acidosis in theileriosis cases with severe anemia; thus, veterinary surgeons should bear this in mind when evaluating the prognosis for such cases.


The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamics of R&D investments, and the structure of the seed distribution sector using novel data sets that have not been used before to describe competition in these industries. The results describe four sets of issues of particular importance. One is that while all agbiotechology firms have increased their R&D expenditures, there have been sharp differences in the scope of this spending. Most important is that this has spawned the growth in what is now referred as "seeds and traits." Second, a large number of future traits will be commercialized in the coming years. A third set of results indicates that one firm grew its market share by 14% and a portion of this growth has been through acquisition. The other three majors lost market share, but the ISC (independent seed companies) grew by 10%. At the crop reporting district level, the industry concentration ratios for the four largest firms (CR4) in most regions are .5‐.7. Finally, farmers purchased corn and soybean seed from 4‐7 different companies in most crop reporting districts (CRD) and up to 20 or more companies in the larger producing regions.


If you have trouble putting your thoughts down on paper, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Well has everything you need to know to make writing of any kind as easy as thinking or speaking. This guide gives expert advice on making your writing as clear and persuasive as possible, whether it's a thank-you note, a school paper, or an executive briefing. It provides easy-to-follow guidelines on structure, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and style. You will find terrific tips on minimizing the time and energy taken up by tasks like research, note-taking, and proofreading.


Theileriosis is parasitic infection causes by obligate intracellular protozoa of the genus Theileria. T. lestoquardi is the most virulent species in sheep and goats which causes a severe disease with a high morbidity and mortality rate. In this study the phylogenetic relationships between two local isolate of T. lestoquardi and nine T. lestoquardi global isolates as well as Babesia ovis out-group isolate were analyzed using the 18S rRNA gene sequence. The multiple sequence alignment analysis and neighbor joining phylogenetic tree analysis were performed by using ClustalW multiple sequence alignment online based analysis of 1098bp 18S rRNA gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Phylogenetic analysis results of these gene sequences revealed that T. lestoquardi local isolates were closely related to T. lestoquardi Iran isolate (JQ917458.1) and two Iraq Kurdistan isolates (KC778786.1 and KC778785.1) more than other countries. This study represents the first report on the use of molecular phylogeny to classify T. lestoquardi obtained in Middle Region of Iraq.


The longing for tropical landscapes, setting off for the shores of distant lands, the call of exotic utopia? At a time when long-distance trips were still a veritable adventure, the Habsburgs despatched others on expeditions to bring home objects giving a flavour of far-off lands in order to take vicarious pleasure in their charms. Pleasure in the exotic has, since time immemorial, also been used for purposes of prestige. Surrounding oneself with delicate exotic plants not suited to the harsh European climate was considered a symbol of luxury. Special glasshouses were constructed for the cultivation of exotic table fruit such as the pineapple, which was then shown off as the centrepiece at banquets. Under Franz I Stephan of Lorraine, pleasure in the exotic at the Viennese court was approached from a new, scientific angle. The emperor, extremely interested in science, financed an expedition from 1754 to 1759 which, under the leadership of Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, explored the Caribbean and adjacent South American mainland and, as a result, brought back to Vienna a large number of living exotic plants and animals, as well as shells, minerals and fossils. Expeditions on behalf of the House of Habsburg were also continued under Joseph II, again to the Caribbean, as well as to South Africa and the island of Mauritius. The marriage of Archduchess Leopoldine to Dom Pedro of Brazil also provided the occasion for expeditions by Austrian scholars, whose sensational research findings were published to some acclaim in Europe. The Berglzimmer ('Bergl Rooms') at Schonbrunn are a playful echo of this scientific engagement with exotic flora and fauna. These garden apartments on the ground floor of the palace are named after their creator, Johann Wenzel Bergl, who worked for Maria Theresa as a specialist in mural decoration 'in the Indian, American or Japanese manner'. These depict an artistically-composed idealized natural environment consisting of exotic landscapes and idyllic garden scenery with an impressively colourful variety of plants and animals. The illusionistic effects blur the distinction between wall and ceiling, interior and exterior.


Changes in the kinetics and regulation of oxidative phosphorylation were characterized in isolated rat liver mitochondria after 2 months of ethanol consumption. Mitochondrial energy metabolism was conceptually divided into three groups of reactions, either producing protonmotive force (Deltap) (the respiratory subsystem) or consuming it (the phosphorylation subsystem and the proton leak). Manifestation of ethanol-induced mitochondrial malfunctioning of the respiratory subsystem was observed with various substrates; the respiration rate in State 3 was inhibited by 27+/-4% with succinate plus amytal, by 20+/-4% with glutamate plus malate, and by 17+/-2% with N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine/ascorbate. The inhibition of the respiratory activity correlated with the lower activities of cytochrome c oxidase, the bc(1) complex, and the ATP synthase in mitochondria of ethanol-fed rats. The block of reactions consuming the Deltap to produce ATP (the phosphorylating subsystem) was suppressed after 2 months of ethanol feeding, whereas the mitochondrial proton leak was not affected. The contributions of Deltap supply (the respiratory subsystem) and Deltap demand (the phosphorylation and the proton leak) to the control of the respiratory flux were quantified as the control coefficients of these subsystems. In State 3, the distribution of control exerted by different reaction blocks over respiratory flux was not significantly affected by ethanol diet, despite the marked changes in the kinetics of individual functional units of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. This suggests the operation of compensatory mechanisms, when control redistributes among the different components within the same subsystem.


Alkyl substituents are promising in improving the solubility and film morphology of aromatic compounds for the solution processing of organic optoelectronic devices. However, the introduction of electronically inert alkyls will generally hinder hole and electron injection and transport into/between the aromatic units, leading to lower electronic properties of the material and thus inferior device performance. Here, we propose an alternative method by using alkyl groups via aromatic double end-capping alkylization, where aromatic carbazole and oligofluorenes were linked at both ends of a hexyl chain to obtain a series of carbazole/oligofluorene end-capped hexanes. These newly designed compounds show high solubility, good film morphology, high thermal stability, blue emission, high triplet energy, and suitable frontier orbital energy levels with good charge transport properties; when used as host materials in solution-processed phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PhOLEDs), these molecules exhibit high device performance with maximum current efficiency of 28.0 cd A−1 and external quantum efficiency up to 7.8%. Our strategy of integrating both the advantages of alkyl and aromatic units offers an effective approach to design high-performance solution-processable organic optoelectronic materials.


Abstract.
 Variation in habitat quality can influence birds' survival and reproduction profoundly, but many methods for assessing it are logistically difficult. Ptilochronology is a method of determining the nutritional state of a bird by measuring the width of the growth bars on its feathers and may be a useful proxy for assessing habitat quality. Since each growth bar is thought to represent 24 hr of feather growth, the average size of growth bars provides a record of the bird's nutritional state during feather growth. Ptilochronology has been validated in adult birds but may not be reliable when applied to nestlings. We compared the growth rate of remiges and the average width of the growth bars on them in Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) chicks. On average, the width of growth bars was slightly less than 50% of that expected if each bar corresponded to the daily growth of the feather. The average width of the growth bars also failed to correlate with the concurrent growth rates of the wing and the remiges themselves, although growth rates of the latter were significantly related. Growth bars on nestlings' feathers were also narrower than those of adult bluebirds and their size varied considerably. These data suggest that nestlings' feathers undergo daily pulses of growth that are variable in duration and number, and consequently ptilochronology may not be a reliable method for determining the growth rate of the feathers and hence determining the nutritional status of nestling birds.


With bite figures from interview data as high as 47 % (Beck & Jones, 1985; Spiegel, 2000), and
National Health Service statistics in the UK showing a 40 % increase in dog bite figures in 2008
and even higher increases, at times of over 100 % in more recent years (NHS, 2008; 2012), we are
addressing a serious and wide-spread – but largely avoidable – problem. When trying to enable
safe interaction between children and dogs, it is vital that children are able to interpret the animal's
signalling correctly to avoid injury and distress. However, it has been shown that children and
adults often do not understand dogs' body signalling (Reisner & Shofer 2008). Without tuition,
children look mainly at the dog's face. In addition, children often confuse a fearful or angry dog
with a friendly one (Meints, Racca & Hickey, 2010).
This study investigated cross-sectionally and longitudinally how 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children
interpret dogs' stress signaling (N = 43, 34 and 36 respectively). We tested at Time 1 (before and
after training intervention), Time 2 (after 6 months) and Time 3 (after 1 year) by showing dog
videos according to the escalation steps of appeasement signalling (Shepherd, 2002). Videos had
been assessed independently by four experienced dog behaviour experts and were then grouped
into four categories (high, medium, low distress and "happy"). We investigated children's evaluations
of dogs by using a 5-point scale with faces ranging from happy (1) via neutral to unhappy
(5). We recorded their looking behaviour using a Tobii Eye-tracker. Parents (N = 33) also took
part in separate sessions and underwent the same procedure. We collected questionnaire data, e.g.
on dog ownership, SES, demographics, bite incidents.
First results on correct answers (pre and post) show a main effect of Age – knowledge improves
significantly with age (F(3,122) = 15.05; p < .0001). We also observed a highly significant main effect
of Learning (F(3,122) = 56.61; p < .0001) with risk judgements improving from pre-training
at time 1 to test at time 1 and 2. Most significant improvements in learning take place in 5 yearolds
and adults (F(3,122) = 6.80; p < .0003). We also found a main effect of Distress Judgement
(F(3,366) = 243.90; p < .0001) – participants show some, but not full awareness of risk and least
distress recognition was shown by 3-year-olds. There were no main effects for Gender or Dog
Ownership.
The error analysis shows that errors are made in all distress categories (high, medium, low). The
lower the distress category, the more errors we find. The younger the participants, the more errors
occur and the more serious the errors are – again, we find significant misinterpretation errors of
highly distressed dogs as "happy" – these errors occur before training to 50–65 % in 3–5-yearolds
and 17 % in adults and are reduced after training to 17–28 % in 4–5-year-old children with
reduction to no errors in adults.
We conclude that successful teaching of dog signalling is possible. Especially children from 4
years onwards profit from the intervention and show significant improvements in knowledge
straight after the intervention and also over time. Increased awareness and knowledge can lead to
safer behaviour with dogs, risk reduction and potentially less bite incidents while dogs profit as
they are treated more appropriately.


Background/Aims: The diagnosis of an underlying myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) is often problematic in patients with Budd Chiari syndrome (BCS) or portal vein thrombosis (PVT). This study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of the JAK2 gene V617F gain-of-function mutation for MPN in splanchnic vein thrombosis patients. Materials and Methods: One hundred eleven patients (80 with PVT, 27 with BCS, and 4 with BCS and PVT) were investigated. The control group included 56 volunteers without any known diseases. LightCycler SNP genotyping was performed to detect the JAK2 V617F mutation in DNA extracted from peripheral blood. Results: The JAK2 V617F mutation was identified in six of 28 patients (21.4%) with idiopathic PVT or BCS and in eight of 45 patients (17.8%) with PVT or BCS secondary to a known prothrombotic factor, but in only one of 38 patients (2.6%) with PVT and cirrhosis (p=0.049). Conclusion: The JAK2 V617F mutation is a noninvasive molecular marker for occult MPNs and can be used for the diagnosis of latent MPNs presenting with thrombotic events. Analysis of JAK2 mutation in the patients with idiopathic PVT or BCS showed that 20% had latent MPNs. In addition to this JAK2 mutation, prothrombotic events were observed in a significant number of patients with splanchnic vein thrombosis. JAK2 gene analysis should be included in the research panel for BCS and PVT patients without cirrhosis.


In this paper, it is to focus on two areas, primarily data inconsistency problems faced by the mobile database users when they are trying to accessing or updating the database data while mobility in work, in such environment demand for appropriate strategies arises, to overcome this problem. When users come in contact with other network node, updated data is not reflected or propagated at the other sites or nodes, which is previously updated or changed at previous visited site or at activity center. Secondly, require advance replication architecture and effective network protocol based algorithms follows effective replication strategy that securely supports databases changes activities anytime and anywhere in mobile computing network environment.


In 2017 Stoke-on-Trent was branded by some as the "Brexit capital of Britain". Many Stokies were angered by the label and the sense of being written off as "left behind" in post-industrial decline, and in answer to the negativity, the city decided to change perceptions for itself.
A bid for UK City of Culture, while lost to Coventry, caught the imagination of people across Stoke; in his 8-part video series, Made in Stoke-on-Trent, Guardian video producer John Domokos tells the story of this transformation. Many challenges still remain, but there are also opportunities: Stoke lost a bid to host a new Channel 4 hub, but has a growing creative sector, two thriving universities and an ambitious new plan to build on its ceramics heritage. Chaired by John Domokos, the panel includes Abi Brown, deputy leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, who lead the City of Culture and Channel 4 bids; Anna Francis, a Stoke-based artist with a focus on "rethinking city resources", who is leading the Portland Inn project; Carol Shanahan is CEO of Synectics Solutions, co-chair of the Opportunity Area Fund for Stoke-on-Trent, and also chair of the Port Vale Foundation Trust; Danny Flynn, he is CEO of the north Staffordshire YMCA and Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities.
The panel discussion will be followed by a Q&A and drinks reception brought to you by Guardian Cities, supported by The Rockefeller Foundation.


Since the early 1990s the European Community has sought to make the protection of human rights and democracy an essential condition of its cooperation (both developmental and economic) with third states. This action combines economic and political objectives in a manner which pushes the boundaries of Community competence to its limits, both internally and externally. This thesis examines first the development of human rights in the international legal system, to establish the legitimacy of any international actor to take such action. It also examines the extent to which the international legal order has developed to accommodate a non-state actor such as the Community. Then, once these wider questions have been considered, the thesis focuses on the internal aspects. The development of human rights within the Community and the developing concern over human rights violations in third states are examined. The definitions of "human rights" in each context are compared. Finally, it examines the operation of the policy, with particular reference to the experiences in the negotiations with Australia and Mexico. No attempt is made to judge the morality of this policy, the question throughout is whether the Community possesses the competence to pursue these aims, and whether the legal mechanism chosen is appropriate to the pursuit of these aims. Ultimately it concludes that the universal approach adopted lays the Community open to unwarranted criticism. The Community is attempting to achieve greater consistency and transparency in the operation of this policy: it is submitted that this does not require a uniform mechanism. The Community should recognise, both in the expression of the policy itself, and in the expression of the rights to be protected, the differences that warrant different implementation in different cases.


Aristotle?s treatise On the Soul figures among the most influential texts in the intellectual history of the West. It is the first systematic treatise on the nature and functioning of the human soul, presenting Aristotle?s authoritative analyses of, among others, sense perception, imagination, memory, and intellect. The ongoing debates on this difficult work continue the commentary tradition that dates back to antiquity. This volume offers a selection of papers by distinguished scholars, exploring the ancient perspectives on Aristotle?s De anima, from Aristotle?s earliest successors through the Aristotelian Commentators at the end of Antiquity. It constitutes a twin publication with a volume entitled Medieval Perspectives on Aristotle?s De anima (to be published in the Series ?Philosophes Medievaux?, Peeters Publ.), both volumes appearing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the De Wulf Mansion Centre for Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy at K.U. Leuven and U.C. Louvain.


Failures of equipment used in deepwater oil and gas production are potentially hazardous, difficult and costly to rectify, and damaging to the environment; a high degree of reliability over many years of continuous operation is therefore an essential requirement of subsea systems. Although technical issues have been widely investigated, less is known about the organizational factors that promote high reliability in the design, manufacture, and installation of these systems. This review draws on studies of high‐reliability manufacturing and process industries to examine the roles of intraorganizational factors (particularly organizational culture) that may promote or detract from the achievement of high reliability in subsea systems. External factors, such as supply chain coordination, are also considered. Studies of organizational change designed to enhance the reliability of design and manufacturing processes are rare in the subsea industry, but relevant issues arising from change initiatives in other organizational settings are discussed. Finally, several areas are identified in which systematic industry‐based research could contribute to identifying critical elements in the development and operation of subsea systems and, hence, reduce the risk of failures. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) have a long history, almost as long as the Structural Learning Theory (initially in Scandura, 1971). Although wellfunded for many years, neither ITS nor contemporary successors based on BIG DATA (e.g., Knewton) come close to modeling the processes used by good human tutors. AuthorIT & TutorIT rest on a fundamentally different theoretical foundation designed from inceptions explicitly with this in mind. After summarizing approaches, this paper focuses on answering four basic questions that good human tutors must ask, explicitly or implicitly. It shows how AuthorIT authoring and TutorIT delivery technologies have made it possible in a highly cost effective manner to build a broad variety of TutorIT tutorials that interact with students as might a good human tutor. Those interested in field testing or further research are encouraged to contact the author.


We present an application of the conformal mapping (CM) method to determine the magnetic field and force in an electromechanical actuator. First, we show how to find, using a special type of CM known as the Schwarz-Christoffel mapping, the magnetic field in such a configuration. Then, we integrate the field in order to determine the force acting on the actuator moving part. The results are verified by a finite-element method.


Abstract Critical experiments are carried out in order to validate, improve, and benchmark the extensive data calculations available. A series of such experiments was performed at the Los Alamos Criticality Experiments Facility. These experiments were performed to provide criticality safety data for waste matrix materials. These critical experiments were fueled with highly enriched uranium, moderated and reflected with polyethylene, and mixed with silicon dioxide (SiO2), aluminum (Al), magnesium oxide (MgO), and gadolinium (Gd). The uncertainties affecting the experiment were divided into three broad categories: mass measurement, geometry, and material composition. Each category is considered in turn, and then the total experimental uncertainty is derived. All four experiments had a measured keff of 1.001. The sensitivity analyses of these critical experiments yielded uncertainties in the measured keff of ±0.0026 for SiO2, ±0.0026 for Al, ±0.0021 for MgO, and ±0.0029 for Gd. These experiments were judged to be of benchmark quality.


Isopod crustaceans from deep bores in calcrete aquifers of the Fortescue River drainages in the Pilbara Region (Western Australia) are found to be closely related to Tainisopus Wilson and Ponder, 1992, but represent a distinct taxon, Pygolabis humphreysi gen. nov., sp. nov . The two taxa provide information for a diagnosis of a new family of Flabellifera sensu lato, the Tainisopidae. Although similar to Tainisopus in many details, Pygolabis gen. nov. has tong-like uropodal endopods and an elongate pleotelson, thus lacking the presumably primitive condition of Tainisopus . The pleotelson of Pygolabis gen. nov. contains powerful muscles that cause the uropods to rotate medially, bringing the tong-like endopods together. Similar structures in other unrelated hypogean crustaceans are noted. Pygolabis gen. nov. has a highly complex appendix masculina on the endopod of male pleopod II, unlike the simple appendix masculina seen in Tainisopus .


What are the powerful new ideas in knowledge based design? What important research issues require further investigation? Perhaps the key research problem in AI-based design for the 1980's is to develop better models of the design process. A comprehensive model of design should address the following aspects of the design process:the state of the design ; the goal structure of the design process;design decisions; rationales for design decisions; control of the design process; and the role of learning in design. This article presents some of the most important ideas emerging from current AI research on design especially ideas for better models design. It is organized into sections dealing with each of the aspects of design listed above.


Array comparative genomic hybridization (Array CGH) with tiling path resolution for a ∼4.61 Mb region of chromosome band 20p12.1 has been used to investigate copy number loss in 48 colorectal cancer cell lines and 37 primary colorectal cancers. A recurrent deletion was detected in 55% of cell lines and 23% of primary cancers and the consensus minimum region of loss was identified as a ∼190kb section from 14.85 Mb to 15.04 Mb of chromosome 20. Two noncoding RNA genes located in the region, BA318C17.1 and DJ974N19.1, were investigated by mutation analysis and real‐time PCR in colorectal cancer cell lines. Sequence changes in BA318C17.1 and reduced expression of both genes was detected, suggesting that the abrogation of these genes may play a role in colorectal tumorigenesis. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Body-centric communications are emerging as a new paradigm in the panorama of personal communications. Being concerned with human behaviour, they are suitable for a wide variety of applications. The advances in the miniaturization of portable devices to be placed on or around the body, foster the diffusion of these systems, where the human body is the key element defining communication characteristics.

This thesis investigates the human impact on body-centric communications under its distinctive aspects. First of all, the unique propagation environment defined by the body is described through a scenario-based channel modeling approach, according to the communication scenario considered, i.e., on- or on- to off-body. The novelty introduced pertains to the description of radio channel features accounting for multiple sources of variability at the same time. Secondly, the importance of a proper channel characterisation is shown integrating the on-body channel model in a system level simulator, allowing a more realistic comparison of different Physical and Medium Access Control layer solutions. Finally, the structure of a comprehensive simulation framework for system performance evaluation is proposed. It aims at merging in one tool, mobility and social features typical of the human being, together with the propagation aspects, in a scenario where multiple users interact sharing space and resources.


Big Data has become a buzz word. It is the next big thing that every corporation should invest in. It is said to bring hundreds of billions dollars in benefits to consumers. In this concept paper I show that Big Data is a tool that will allow corporations to take away consumer surplus from consumers by allowing corporations to charge prices based on consumer personal digital trace. Paper argues that after some time consumers will figure it out and will demand that they are paid to provide such data. So eventually they will get their consumer surplus back. There are also negative externalities of Big Data, such as problems with proper inflation measurement. So from economist viewpoint Big Data is not a disruptive innovation offering great value to consumers. It is a big lie.


Recent scholarship presumes that the word "nigger" has always been a racist epithet thrust upon African Americans to demean Black social identity in the United States. But how is it, then, that the word "nigger" emerge as a slur more virulent than other racially coded language from the post-revolutionary period such as "African," "Black," and "darky?" This article demonstrates that before 21st century hip hop made popular the word "nigga" with a soft "a," "nigger" had long been two words with multiple meanings: one for Black speakers and another for white. Using evidence drawn from blackface literary and cultural productions from the 1770s to the 1840s and from the writings, speeches and memoirs of Black activists and authors from the 1820s to the 1860s, this article shows that the violence and power behind the word was based precisely on the fact that African American laborers used the word themselves. "Nigger" had once described an actual labor category. Black laborers thus adopted it into their own vocabulary as a social identity to claim a sense of national belonging, akin to a proto-pan-Africanism. Once blackface theatrical productions gained popularity in the early 1830s, in a trick of ventriloquy, white performers and later their audiences put the word "nigger" into the mouths of Black caricatures to authenticate these anti-Black portrayals. In doing so, whites blamed Black people for using language meant to subjugate them and thus accused African Americans for being self-acknowledged "niggers," a discursive weapon in the fight for white supremacy that, in turn, buttressed white notions of national belonging. In response, Black transatlantic abolitionists denounced white usage as a great verbal symbol of American hypocrisy.


In this essay, Marsh argues that the current foreclosure crisis should serve as a wake-up call for a long-overdue modernization of the American land title recording system. Lenders invented the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) because the land title system, developed in a far different time and place, failed to meet the needs of the modern real estate industry. But a private MERS-like system is not the answer. Instead, Marsh argues that the federal government should implement a solution that replaces both the existing local land title system and MERS. An ideal system should be organized around some clear principles. It should be transparent. It should be easy to search, through dynamic, robust indexing, and easy to access, preferably through the Internet. Documents in PDF form should be down-loadable. Electronic filing should be facilitated. There should be uniformity and consistency in the rules governing the form and substance of documents eligible for recording. The system should be public. Establishing and protecting a clear registry of property interests is and should continue to be an essential function of government.


In this paper we present some important results on poverty in longitudinal perspective, based on two waves (1985 and 1988) of the Belgian Socio-Economic Panel, a household panel survey. The most important finding is that the number of longer term poor turns out to be considerably smaller than (about half as small as) the number of poor at one moment in time. We also investigate the characteristics of the longer term poor, as well as the incidence and outcomes of some important life events in terms of income, welfare, and poverty. The results are briefly compared with those for other European countries.


The mechanism by which disruption of reading frame can influence pre–messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) processing is poorly understood. We assessed the role of factors essential for nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) in nonsense-mediated altered splicing (NAS) with the use of RNA interference (RNAi) in mammalian cells. Inhibition of rent1/hUpf1 expression abrogated both NMD and NAS of nonsense T cell receptor β transcripts. In contrast, inhibition of rent2/hUpf2 expression did not disrupt NAS despite achieving comparable stabilization of nonsense transcripts. We also demonstrate that NAS and NMD are genetically separable functions of rent1/hUpf1. Additionally, rent1/hUpf1 enters the nucleus where it may directly influence early events in mRNA biogenesis. This provides compelling evidence that NAS relies on a component of the nonsense surveillance machinery but is not an indirect consequence of NMD.


There are two main reasons why the courts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have not
yet had the opportunity to consider fully what would constitute undue influence in the context
of a prenuptial agreement (prenup). First, prenups are not binding under legislation here, as the
court can still decide to not give effect to an agreement if it would lead to unfairness. For
instance, as Lord Phillips put it in Radmacher (Formerly Granatino) v Granatino [2010] UKSC
42, [2010] 2 FLR 1900 (para 81), if the agreement would leave one of the parties in a position
of real need whilst the other party enjoys a sufficiency or more. Secondly, the courts in England
and Wales have avoided the issue of whether prenups have contractual status or not, and so
whilst vitiating factors such as duress and undue influence are relevant to whether consent to a
prenup was freely given, the court has said that pressure falling short of duress is also relevant
(though in practice it has adopted a restrictive approach). But knowing when pressure will
amount to undue influence in this jurisdiction is still important, not least because calls for
contractually binding prenups have resurfaced in recent months (see, for example, Divorce
(Financial Provision) Bill 2017-19). Even if prenups are not made legislatively binding in the
near future, the courts since Radmacher have taken a fairly restrictive approach when deciding
when an imbalance of power between the parties will affect the weight of a prenup on
relationship breakdown. This is problematic when the autonomy of one party has been
compromised by power inequalities in the relationship, and so a new approach is needed. For
this reason, the ground-breaking approach of the High Court of Australia in Thorne v Kennedy
[2017] HCA 49 will be of interest and importance for lawyers in England, Wales and Northern
Ireland. As well as providing guidance on the operation of undue influence in the context of
prenups, it crucially opens up the possibility for a broader range of circumstances to be taken
into account when giving effect to such agreements.


The aim of this study was to empirically examine the association among employee's behviour and organizational learning and also to investigate the moderating effect of knowledge management in this relationship. The research empirically examines the above-mentioned association patterns through a self-administered survey method. Results specify that there exist relationship patterns between employee's behavior and organizational learning. Additionally, present research offers empirical proof of the factors, supporting the association pattern of employee's behavior with organizational learning as well as the association pattern of employee's behavior and knowledge management with organizational learning. Present study adds to knowledge that employee behavior and knowledge management are necessary condition for organizational learning. Findings indicate that employee behavior increases organizational learning. Further to this the relationship of employee behavior and organizational learning becomes strong after the introduction of knowledge management. The study's findings are useful to practitioners and managers involved in the strategy formulation procedure of schools/businesses. Present study also addresses a vital literature gap, by testing the probable association patterns among employee's behavior and organizational learning. Additionally, research also introduces the association pattern of employee's behavior with organizational learning, and the association pattern of employee's behaviour, knowledge management and organizational learning that till now were mainly overlooked by the present literature in the area of education.


Analog quantum algorithms are formulated in terms of Hamiltonians rather than unitary gates and include quantum adiabatic computing, quantum annealing, and the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA). These algorithms are promising candidates for near-term quantum applications, but they often require fine tuning via the annealing schedule or variational parameters. In this work, we explore connections between these analog algorithms, as well as limits in which they become approximations of the optimal procedure.Notably, we explore how the optimal procedure approaches a smooth adiabatic procedure but with a superposed oscillatory pattern that can be explained in terms of the interactions between the ground state and first excited state that effect the coherent error cancellation of diabatic transitions. Furthermore, we provide numeric and analytic evidence that QAOA emulates this optimal procedure with the length of each QAOA layer equal to the period of the oscillatory pattern. Additionally, the ratios of the QAOA bangs are determined by the smooth, non-oscillatory part of the optimal procedure. We provide arguments for these phenomena in terms of the product formula expansion of the optimal procedure. With these arguments, we conclude that different analog algorithms can emulate the optimal protocol under different limits and approximations. Finally, we present a new algorithm for better approximating the optimal protocol using the analytic and numeric insights from the rest of the paper. In practice, numerically, we find that this algorithm outperforms standard QAOA and naive quantum annealing procedures.


Aluminum reinforced in-situ TiC particulate composites were successfully synthesized using mechanicallymilledAl-Ti-C powder by self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) process. The reaction for the formation of TiC fromthe elementalAl, Ti&Cwas studied. The results showthe compact density of the preform has a significant effect on the SHS reaction. No reaction was observed when the compact density falls below 68% of the theoretical density. However, with an increase in density from 68 to 80%, thermal explosion reaction was observed in the Al-melt. Field emission scanning electronmicroscopy (FESEM) and energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX) confirmed the evolution and fine distribution of TiC in the matrix.


Using the fortuitous confluence of two events, the 50th anniversary of the publication of Harry Markowitz' seminal paper on mean-variance optimization and the 100th anniversary of Lord Kelvin's articulation of the atomic model (launching what we now know as quantum mechanics), the author examines selected limits to the usefulness of Modern Portfolio Theory and draws conclusions as to areas where other approaches are as likely as MPT to provide helpful insights to investors. The article starts with a review of the critical assumptions underpinning MPT and then reviews implications on important decisions such as the classification of asset classes, the use of anchor to windward in individual portfolios, the role and use of hedge funds, real estate, or hard assets, and the redefinition of risk. It concludes that a thorough understanding of the assumptions underpinning any tool or process is critical to ensure the usefulness of the model's recommendations and suggests that there are significant limits to the usefulness of the MPT framework in the field of private asset management.


Intelligent agents should have the ability to leverage knowledge from previously learned tasks in order to learn new ones quickly and efficiently. Meta-learning approaches have emerged as a popular solution to achieve this. However, meta-reinforcement learning (meta-RL) algorithms have thus far been restricted to simple environments with narrow task distributions. Moreover, the paradigm of pretraining followed by fine-tuning to adapt to new tasks has emerged as a simple yet effective solution in supervised and self-supervised learning. This calls into question the benefits of meta-learning approaches also in reinforcement learning, which typically come at the cost of high complexity. We hence investigate meta-RL approaches in a variety of vision-based benchmarks, including Procgen, RLBench, and Atari, where evaluations are made on completely novel tasks. Our findings show that when meta-learning approaches are evaluated on different tasks (rather than different variations of the same task), multi-task pretraining with fine-tuning on new tasks performs equally as well, or better, than meta-pretraining with meta test-time adaptation. This is encouraging for future research, as multi-task pretraining tends to be simpler and computationally cheaper than meta-RL. From these findings, we advocate for evaluating future meta-RL methods on more challenging tasks and including multi-task pretraining with fine-tuning as a simple, yet strong baseline.


Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) had few historical opportunities to interact with China, but with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the 16+1 platform, that changed dramatically in recent years. The article discusses recent development in the China-CEE relations with the aim of explaining why the CEE countries became excited about China initially, but also why this excitement led prevailingly to disappointment. It will be argued that the frustration with the EU in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis created an environment in which China was, for a moment, perceived as a promising alternative. A few years into the new diplomatic initiatives, however, most of the CEE countries started to be unsatisfied with the lack of economic results. Eventually, the article will assess the implications of the new era of China-CEE relations for the EU affairs and broader Chinese relations with the developing world. The CEE region is in a specific position vis-à-vis China, for it is structurally in between the developed and the developing world. Moreover, the EU membership adds some critical features which make the Chinese offer less applicable and appealing.


This paper discusses two approaches of the relationship between subjectivity and intersubjectivity. The Husserlian one, a transcendental phenomenological investigation of the possibility of subjectivity and intersubjectivity, and the Waldenfelsian one, an ethical phenomenological investigation of day to day intersubjective interactions. Both authors pretend to give account of the conditions of possibility of intersubjective interaction. However, Husserl starts with the investigation of the transcendental structure of subjectivity, that is, the fundamental conditions required for the appearance of consciousness. By contrast, Waldenfels looks first at practical interaction and draws conclusions on the deeper structure of subjectivity based on the traces he discovers to be characteristic for this interaction. Our interest lies in determining which of the two approaches should be given priority for the investigation of the constitution of intersubjectivity.


This paper aims to provide a literature review of the need for integrating financial and non-financial performance measures. More specifically, it aims to provide a framework for the adoption of the balanced scorecard (BSC) at strategic business unit level (SBUs). Different aspects of BSC are identified. They include: integrating financial and non-financial performance measures; allocating the financial and non-financial performance measures to the four perspectives (BSC usage); examining the relative weight placed to the four perspectives; questioning the purpose of using BSC. In addition, the management accounting literature provides many contingent variables influencing the different aspects of BSC. They include: the role of consulting firms; organisation size; perceived environmental uncertainty; business unit strategy; product life-cycle; management style; other factors including national and organisational culture. Following the ideas of the contingency theory relating to the proper fit between contingent variables, aspects of BSC and the effectiveness of BSC, several measures of effectiveness are presented. Drawing off the literature and the suggested framework of the adoption of BSC, several areas for future research are identified. The first is to develop an overall measure that includes the different aspects of BSC. The second is to examine the direct and indirect relationship between the contingent variables and the aspects of BSC. The third is to explain why subjective and objective measures of effectiveness of BSC may agree or disagree. The final area is to examine the relationship between BSC for a given business unit with other BSCs of other business units and that of higher organisational level.


The paper contains a critique of Jerzy Szacki's stance presented in his Liberalism after Communism. The critique is a starting point for a theory of the conflict of traditions in liberal democracies, which is presented here and improved. The original version was presented in the author's book On the Conflict of Traditions. The leading thesis of the latter reads: the one and the only possible liberal political doctrine (which is that of liberalism strictly speaking) implies a metaphysically burdened notion of good. Otherwise it could not be self-consistent. Accepting the notion, in turn, allows, subsequently, the justification of the possible conflict of traditions — without breaching the principles of the liberal public sphere. The mainstream modern liberal political theory (liberalism in the common sense of the word) does not respect the notion, which threatens the systemic self-consistence. This applies to the Polish discourse on liberalism, too. In the first two parts of the paper, the Szacki's position is presented and criticized. In the third part, the main thesis is put forward. The thesis is, in turn, illustrated by the example of the history of liberalism in the Third Polish Republic. In the fifth part, the notions of liberalism sensu stricte, and that of liberalism understood commonly, are presented. Finally, conclusions are drawn from Szacki's stance from the point of view of the experience of 24 years of liberalism in Poland.


More than 200 million women in developing countries who want to avoid or delay pregnancy are not using family planning. These women have an unmet need that can result in unintended pregnancies unsafe abortions poor health and strains on families and economies. Improving access to voluntary family planning could mitigate these challenges and lead to a host of other benefits. The post-2015 focus on universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries and growing evidence that health insurance programs can enhance access to health services offer an opportunity to help fill the gap in unmet need by including family planning in health insurance benefits packages. This policy brief discusses the benefits of family planning and how insurance programs can be designed to increase demand for and uptake of family planning services as well as to improve their quality and equitable provision.


In commercial astaciculture, Diceratocephala boschmai is known to be an ectosymbiont temnocephalid that is widely distributed on Cherax spp., freshwater crayfish native to Australia. This study makes the first report of D. boschmai in samples collected from C. destructor from crayfish farms in Thailand. A description of its internal anatomy is given, and its topographic surface is described using scanning electron microscopy. The phylogeny of D. boschmai in the Rhabdocoela was analyzed for the first time based on 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences. Based on the 18S rDNA sequences, temnocephalids, including D. boschmai, are monophyletic within Rhabdocoela. The congruence between molecular data and morphological information is discussed in the text. The findings reported in the present study add to the body of knowledge on temnocephalids.


As an important part of the Internet-of-Things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M) communications have attracted great attention. In this paper, we introduce mobile edge computing (MEC) into virtualized cellular networks with M2M communications, to decrease the energy consumption and optimize the computing resource allocation as well as improve computing capability. Moreover, based on different functions and quality of service (QoS) requirements, the physical network can be virtualized into several virtual networks, and then each MTCD selects the corresponding virtual network to access. Meanwhile, the random access process of MTCDs is formulated as a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) to minimize the system cost, which consists of both the energy consumption and execution time of computing tasks. Furthermore, to facilitate the network architecture integration, software-defined networking (SDN) is introduced to deal with the diverse protocols and standards in the networks. Extensive simulation results with different system parameters reveal that the proposed scheme could significantly improve the system performance compared to the existing schemes.


It is estimated that in the course of a year approximately 10 million people will pass through pre-trial detention. Although no adequately functioning criminal justice system can presently do entirely without detaining any suspects, pre-trial detention thus remains problematic in the context of human rights (e.g., the right to liberty, the presumption of innocence and often also the right to humane treatment), the detainee's family (e.g., psychologically, socially and financially) and society (e.g., financially and economically). This paper therefore offers a wide variety of topics that are relevant to pre-trial detention. After the introduction (I) the paper focuses on the influence on national law and practice of international human rights norms and national constitutional provisions that are relevant to pre-trial detention (II). Subsequently, the contents, scope and effect of these relevant human rights norms and of national criminal procedural law regarding pre-trial detention in various countries will be examined (III). The fourth part of the paper discusses both international and national standards for the actual conditions of detention, detention facilities and the rights of detainees (IV). The paper further discusses possibilities to apply alternatives to detention, such as bail and electronic monitoring (V), before finally offering conclusions (VI).The paper – which constitutes the introductory synthesis and analyses of a book in the series of the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation (IPPF) – purposes to offer a comparative synthesis of the national systems of twenty one States from around the world against the background of international human rights norms. The analyses focus on possible correlative relationships between the acceptance of international and constitutional fundamental rights norms, the quality of criminal procedural and penitentiary law, and rates of pre-trial detention and the application of pre-trial detention in practice. It not only examines whether and how international human rights standards on detention are influencing national law and practice, and the extent to which international norms are suitable to do so, it also tries to reveal strengths and weaknesses of domestic law systems as such.


The aim of this study is to examine the strategies majority language-speaking parents use to support the development of the minority language in families who follow the pattern of exposure known as one-parent-one-language (OPOL). In this particular pattern of raising a child bilingually, each parent speaks only their own native language to their children. Previous studies concerned with language development in children raised under the OPOL pattern primarily focused on how input from the minority language-speaking parent affects minority language development, leaving the role of the majority language-speaking parent largely unexplored. To address this gap, a case study was carried out on three families in Brisbane, Australia, who reported following the OPOL pattern. Video and audio recordings were taken, along with interviews using an elicited recall task based on the recordings to gather data on the families' language practices and motivations. The results of the qualitative analysis suggest that, in these families, the majority language-speaking parent plays an important role that extends beyond the provision of input in the majority language and may contribute to fostering minority language development and maintenance.


: A multi-scale network integration approach introduced by Jiang et al. [2013] is used to generate a representative pore-network for a carbonate rock with a pore-size distribution across several orders of magnitude. We predict the macroscopic flow parameters of the rock utilising i) 3D images captured by X-ray computed micro-tomography and ii) pore-network flow simulations. To capture the multi-scale pore-size distribution of the rock we imaged four different rock samples at different resolutions and integrated the data to produce a pore-network model that combines information at several length-scales that cannot be recovered from a single tomographic image. A workflow for selection of the number and length-scale of the required input networks for the network integration process, as well as fine tuning the model parameters is presented. Mercury injection capillary-pressure data were used to evaluate independently the multi-scale networks. We explore single-scale, two-scale, and three-scale network models and discuss their representativeness by comparing simulated capillary-pressure versus saturation curves with laboratory measurements. We demonstrate that for carbonate rocks with wide pore-size distributions, it may be required to integrate networks extracted from two or three discrete tomographic data sets in order to simulate macroscopic flow parameters.


Objectives: Altered movement strategy and postural control has been observed in Low Back Pain (LBP) patients. Objective of this study was to determine postural response following support surface translation, also correlations between postural response related measures and disability caused by LBP. Methods: 20 healthy subjects and 20 patients with recurrent non specific LBP participated in this study. They were instructed to stand on a moveable platform with each foot placed on a separate force plate. Platform was translated backward. Center of pressure (CoP) displacement data was derived and used for calculation of postural parameters. Reaction time, Latency, mean initial Velocity and peak displacement were used as measures of postural stability. Disability was assessed by the Oswestry Disability index (ODI) and Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (RMDQ). Correlation between balance and disability measures were assesed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: Subjects with LBP had delayed reaction time, prolonged Latency and slower velocity compared to healthy subjects. Also, correlation between CoP measurments and physical function were poor. Discussion: This study reveald altered postural response against purturbation in patients with LBP and no association between CoP measures and disability.


Within this project three different objectives have been the target ofinvestigations. 1. Species grouping. Based on expert knowledge a groupingof 436 tree species occurring in Sabah rain forests was undertaken in 5height groups (criteria 1) and 3 light demand groups (criteria 2). Anindependent performance of both groupings results in max. 15 final groups,from which three (lowest height layer) are considered as identical. Endingup with the resulting 13 groups this new species grouping should be the basisfor a further development of the FORMIX4 model. Height-to-diameter-curvesstill have to be improved for this new grouping. 2. Regeneration: Data frominventories in four different forest reserves in Sabah were analyzed forregeneration of tree species. Because the field data did not content thetree size we are interested in (h <= 1.3m) we can only end up with someorders of magnitude and general features about regeneration. Additionallyinteresting publication and Ph.D. thesis were analyzed. As a result itseems that the number of seedlings varies widely and depends on the distanceto the mother trees, the number of mother trees and a biological phenomenoncalled mass fruiting which occurs every 4-6 years. Some functionalrelationships between number of seedlings and their occurrence in theFORMIX4 model can be mentioned, however the defined numbers of seedlingsare better taken out of the research undertaken parallel to this study byMr. Klaus Werner. His results combined with the expected range for smalltrees might give a good basis for site quality dependent regeneration pattern.3. Mortality: Data from permanent sample plots in four different forestreserves over different lengths of time were analyzed for relationshipsbetween annual mortality rate and functional group, tree size, tree growthand various combinations of the latter. Some of the data sets were stronglyinfluenced by a drought in 1982/83 which makes it impossible to presentreliable figures for the mortality. Therefore again only trends can beworked out. Mortality seems to be significant higher in pioneer species,for trees with no or negative increment and seedlings depending on theirtree density. All other relations are not confirmed over the whole rangeof the data set, but might be used in single case studies. They are:Decreasing mortality rate in big trees, especially for single functionalgroups (pioneer and emergent). Decreasing mortality rate in trees withlarge annual diameter increment. Increasing mortality over a short perioddue to environmental circumstances (e. g. droughts, El Nino ). As generalit can be said that there are very few principle pattern in regenerationand mortality which can be applied for simulation of rain forest. Aworthwhile investigation might be the analysis of a data set of a hugearea over a long period of time like the established 50ha plots in Lambir,Sarawak and Pasoh, Peninsular Malaysia. Unfortunately these data set werenot available for this study.


The research presented in this thesis focuses on the development of wireless, real time
performance monitoring technology within the resistance training domain. The
functionality of current performance monitoring technology and differences in
monitoring ability is investigated through comparative force platform, video and
accelerometer testing and analysis. Determining the complexity of resistance training
exercises and whether performance variable profiles such as acceleration, velocity and
power can be used to characterise lifts is also investigated. A structured user-centred
design process suitable for the sporting domain is proposed and followed throughout the
research to consider the collection, analysis and communication of performance data.
Identifying the user requirements and developing both hardware and software to meet
the requirements also forms a major part of the research. The results indicate that as the
exercise complexity increases, the requirement for sophisticated technology increases.
A simple tri-axial accelerometer can be used to monitor simple linear exercises at the
recreational level. Gyroscope technology is required to monitor complex exercises in
which rotation of the bar occurs. Force platform technology is required at the elite level
to monitor the distribution of force and resultant balance throughout a lift (bilateral
difference). An integrated system consisting of an Inertial Measurement Unit (both
accelerometer and gyroscope technology) and a double plate force platform is required
to accurately monitor performance in the resistance training domain at the elite level.


In 1916, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts addressed a novel question in Massie v. Barker: How does the standard for negligence previously applied to walkers apply to drivers? For the court, the answer was clear: "The law as to drivers of motor vehicles is not different from that which governs other persons. The standard required is that of the reasonably prudent person under all the circumstances." In its 2012 opinion in United States v. Metter, the Eastern District of New York also addressed a question of first impression: How long may the government retain seized and imaged electronic evidence before conducting a review of that evidence to determine whether any of it falls outside the scope of a search warrant?Many advances in technology have forced courts to reconsider existing constitutional tests and standards given the brave new digital world in which we live. Other technological advances have not caused such legal retrofitting as courts have found that existing tests and standards can adequately accommodate some new innovations. This article argues that the problem confronted by the Metter court falls into this second category.


Oxide semiconductors have been widely used in the area of sensors, energy conversion, and environmental cleanup technologies; because of their high multifunctional photo-activities. However, the overall performance of oxide semiconductors is influenced by their photocatalytic activities which are highly dependent on physical properties such as crystallinity, surface area, morphology (e.g., shape and porosity), etc. Thus, understanding the shape-dependent photocatalytic reactions is important for energy or environmental cleanup applications. Herein, two different types of ZnO, rods and plates, were synthesized using solvothermal technique and the shape-dependent photo-activities were evaluated for degradation of methylene blue and phenol and for hydrogen evolution. Experimental results showed that the surface area and bandgap (E=3.26 eV) of rods and plates were found to be nearly identical, but charge transfer varied. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and photoluminescence (PL) analysis revealed that the rods have more pronounced structural oxygen vacancies (Vox, Vo●, and Vo●●) close to the conduction band which lead to electrons trap. On the other hand, the plates relatively have more interstitial oxygen (Oi, Oi', and Oi'') close to the valence band which facilitate hole trapping, reversely increasing the availability of photogenerated electrons and thus resulting in multi-electron transfer reactions. Accordingly, the rods achieved higher degradation efficiency of both methylene blue and phenol than the plates while the opposite was observed for hydrogen evolution. Therefore, ZnO rods can be a relatively good material for production of OH radicals that require degradation of environmental pollutants, whereas ZnO plates can be used for the system that require multiple electron transfer reaction such as energy production via hydrogen evolution.


This paper evaluates the variability of binder rheology for different ageing levels and the influence of ageing at different testing temperatures. Three different ageing levels were applied on a single type of bitumen with a penetration grade of 70/100.The artificial ageing of the binder was performed using the rolling thin-film oven test and the pressure ageing vessel. The rheological behaviour was investigated at low temperatures with the bending beam rheometer (BBR) and at medium and high temperatures with the dynamic shear rheometer (DSR). Several experiments were conducted to determine the range of stiffness and complex modulus results, the type of distribution comparing real and theoretical models, and the effects of ageing on the variability of the rheological behaviour. It was shown that not only the mean results from BBR and DSR tests change with ageing, but also the variability of the results changes with ageing. This would have an impact on mechanistic-empirical pavement design because it would influence the calculated stresses and strains as well as the calculated reliability.


In the context of DNA Barcoding, sequences of standard marker genes for thousands and potentially millions of individuals and species are becoming available, requiring ever more efficient bioinformatic environments and software algorithms for analysis. We here present ExcaliBAR (Extraction, Calculation, Barcoding), a user-friendly software utility to facilitate one important initial step in DNA barcoding analyses, namely the determination of the barcoding gap between pairwise genetic distances among and within species, based on original distance matrices computed by MEGA software. In addition, the software is able to rename sequences downloaded via the standard user interfaces of public databases such as GenBank, without the need of developing and applying specific scripts for this purpose.


This study investigates the role of venture capital (VC) on the board composition and ownership structure of companies making Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on the Taiwan Stock Market between 2001 and 2003. The study compared the board composition and ownership structure of VC-backed and non VC-backed firms in the Information Technology sector. Results of the study suggest that VC firms focus their investments by providing intensive monitoring service, and allow or enable greater independence with regard to board composition and ownership structure. From these results it is argued that investment by venture capitalists is related to a more independent governance structure and a higher degree of information transparency. 1. Introduction The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published a report in 2002, analyzing the 'development status' of Venture Capital (VC) in the United States, Britain, Japan, Germany, and France. The report showed that, based on the ratio of VC investment to Gross Domestic Product, the development status of VC is related to the quality of governance and degree of economic control in the companies in which they invest their capital. Bouresli et al. (2002) and Baker and Gompers (2003) argue that the intervention of VC influences board composition and ownership of the invested company and leads to more independent company governance mechanisms. These studies suggest that differences in board governance and structure between VC-backed and non-VC-backed companies may be attributed to the actual 'presence' of venture capital. This study investigates the attitudes and preferences of venture capitalists (the owners of the VC firms) on the most suitable form of governance in the companies in which they have invested to find out what kind of role venture capitalists play in the formation of company governance. As VC investment has mainly been in the information technology electronics industry in Taiwan over the last few years, this research will use firms from this industry to examine the influence of VC on the governance, composition of the board of directors and ownership structure of the invested companies. Barry et al. (1990) suggest that VC plays an important role in IPOs. Rosentein, Bruno, Bygrave & Taylor (1993) found that while there is no difference in the perceived value of contributions from directors and supervisors in VC or non VC-backed companies, those backed by the top 20VCs are an exception. Rosentein et al (1993) found that that these directors and supervisors provide higher perceived value than others in this situation. Van den Berghe and Levrau (2002) also investigated the 'aggressive' role that VC plays in the invested companies, especially through special development contracts and detailed monitoring mechanisms with regard to the governance of these companies. Baker and Gompers (2003) found that boards of directors of IPO's that received funds from VC funds are different in a variety of ways from boards of directors of IPO's that did not receive such funds; specifically, that inside directors and directors from financial institutions, legal firms and accountancy practices have fewer seats on boards of directors of companies, but that there are more independent outside directors in firms that receive VC funds, compared to firms that do not receive funds from this source. These researchers argue that as the major shareholder of an IPO, VC investment is relevant to the governance of independent companies. 2. Research Methodology 2.1. Hypotheses It is widely believed that, as directors, venture capitalists typically have a monitoring function. Companies- and their boards of directors- that receive VC investment are often 'better protected' if the benefits that accrue to the venture capitalists are about the same as those that are received by stockholders. In addition to offering capital, VCs also monitor operations by serving as directors, by holding supervisory positions, by providing consultation services and by playing an active role in the governance of the invested company. …