Around schools, increases in walking and cycling help to reduce traffic congestion and improve the road safety and neighborhood navigation skills of children. Physical activity and independent mobility may also have a positive effect on children's behavioural and cognitive development. Child pedestrians, however, are a vulnerable road user groups, experiencing an increased crash and injury risk relative to older pedestrians, constituting a substantial proportion of all pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries, with children below the age of 10 years of age shown to have four to 11 times greater risk of collision compared to other pedestrians, and they frequently occur around schools. In fact, vehicle collisions involving children pedestrians are considered as the most serious health risk facing children in developed worlds. School safety evaluations were conducted involving four components: i) site visits providing physical assessments of current road conditions, ii) consultation with key groups including school principals and Local Council representatives, iii) desk-top review of available behavioural and training programs, iv) workshops to develop recommendations for appropriate and sustainable conceptual solutions. Using a number of case studies, the findings suggest that evidence-based and consultative selection of initiatives can be effective in encouraging walking and cycling while providing a safer environment around schools. This can be achieved through implementation of multi-faceted initiatives including engineering treatments to enhance the safety of the physical environment around the school and on popular routes to school, as well as sustainable educational/training programs for both students and parents. Evidence-based safety assessments are useful to develop a Safe System environment around schools. A combination of improvements to road design and operation, especially vehicle speed reductions and separation of vehicles and pedestrians, and behavioural programs to improved education and training, along with enhanced supervision can achieve sustainable reductions in child pedestrian trauma around schools. Keywords: SR2S Language: en


European human rights law, with its source both in the Treaties of the European Union and the Council of Europe's European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), may appear to be plagued by an unnecessary duplication of institutional and legal provisions. Namely, the EU's European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Council of Europe's European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) have jurisdiction over different human rights instruments even though their territorial jurisdiction overlaps. In this light, the Lisbon Treaty took action to unify the two regimes by initiating proceedings for the EU to accede to the ECHR. This paper argues that the legal order pre-Lisbon treaty was actually an extremely functional institutional and legal system that provided for the uniform development of European human rights law. It was characterized by a functional division of labor between the ECJ and the ECtHR that also provided private litigants with an opportunity to forum shop. Further, the two Courts developed customary practices to ensure both inter-court comity and interpretational convergence, creating a uniform body of human rights law. Therefore, I conclude that the EU's accession to the ECHR is mostly a symbolic and political reform rather than a substantive legal one.


We numerically investigate the transient interaction between optical Kerr bistability and stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) when an intense optical pulse is incident in a short fiber ring resonator. An initial phase detuning of the ring resonator and the difference in the phase shift between the pump wave and the created Stokes wave are taken into account in the three-wave SBS model. The ratio of the Brillouin gain coefficient to the nonlinear refractive index of the fiber, which is termed the relative Brillouin gain coefficient, is used as a key parameter for examining the conditions for obtaining optical Kerr bistability in a fiber ring resonator. The numerical results show that optical Kerr bistability cannot be obtained in a ring resonator made from a conventional fused-silica fiber because of the generation of SBS. However, if other fibers with relative Brillouin gain coefficients at least 1 order smaller than that of fused-silica fibers are used, we can suppress SBS and hence obtain optical Kerr bistability. Moreover, we investigate theoretically and experimentally the dynamics of SBS in a fused-silica fiber ring resonator irradiated by a Gaussian pulse. The relaxation and pulsation in the Stokes signal depend strongly on the initial phase detuning of the ring resonator. The experimental results obtained with a single-frequency pulsed YAG laser agree qualitatively with theoretical predictions.


This paper deals with speech signals under psychological stress. The investigation of the speaker's stress is based on statistical analysis of glottal pulses derivative. A pitch synchronous selection of segments from the glottal pulse waveform is used. Selected segments are fixed in their maxima and overlaid. The generated distribution matrix is analysed using special cuts. A new database of speech under stress is created for use in our experiments consisting of data collected during oral final examinations at our university. The database contains read and conversational speech of 31 male speakers, both in neutral and stressed state. The stress recognition rate in the speaker dependent binomial classification (stress/no stress) reaches 88%.


Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii) is one of the most widely distributed tree species native to the Pacific coast. Named for its discoverer, Archibald Menzies, a 19th century Scottish physician and naturalist, the species is called arbutus in Canada, and madrone, madrona, or madrono in the United States. The latter name is ascribed to Father Juan Crespi, chronicler of the 1769 Portola expedition. Although examples of fine furniture and attractive veneer from madrone are common, utilization is far below potential and management is almost nil.


Cross-lagged latent difference score (LDS) models complement cross-lagged regression models, but are better suited to detecting differences in intrapersonal change and examining the relation between changes in different variables across time. In this article we present cross-lagged LDS models as a method for conceptualizing and measuring change in two-wave dyadic data. The statistical analysis of these models is illustrated using data on marital forgivingness collected from 61 couples at two time points separated by a 10-year interval. The results support the view that cross-lagged LDS models can be an appropriate means to analyze within-person change over two occasions in the context of nonindependent couple data. This is true even when sample size prohibits the estimation of cross-lagged LDS models through common factors using multiple indicators. Conditions that increase model reliability in the absence of multiple indicators are described.


Samples from 28 sites at Mole Creek were analysed for a range of water quality indicators. Low or negligible bacterial counts were obtained for sites with mainly forested catchments; cleared catchments gave more variable and generally higher results. Higher turbidity and nitrate levels were recorded in cleared catchments, suggesting increased erosion and nutrient loading of streams. A comparison of water quality parameters at streamsinks and related springs shows that the karst aquifer is not an efficient water purifier. Rapid capture of surface run off via solutional openings, coupled with the pipe-like efficiency with which karst conduits transfer the water, constrains the potential for the karst aquifer to ameliorate water pollution problems. This connection between surface and underground environments is a key consideration for sustainable land management in karstlands. We conclude that karst aquifers have more in common with surface streams than non-karstic ground-water systems, in terms of their water purification properties. Water from two bores was found to be relatively free of microbiological pollution, despite being located in disturbed catchments. This suggests that ground-water sourced from bores is less affected by activities at the surface, although further work is required to confirm this.


Motivation: Data centers are a critical component of modern IT infrastructure but are also among the worst environmental offenders through their increasing energy usage and the resulting large carbon footprints. Efficient management of data centers, including power management, networking, and cooling infrastructure, is hence crucial to sustainability. In the absence of a 'first-principles' approach to manage these complex components and their interactions, data-driven approaches have become attractive and tenable.
 Results: We present a temporal data mining solution to model and optimize performance of data center chillers, a key component of the cooling infrastructure. It helps bridge raw, numeric, time-series information from sensor streams toward higher level characterizations of chiller behavior, suitable for a data center engineer. To aid in this transduction, temporal data streams are first encoded into a symbolic representation, next run-length encoded segments are mined to form frequent motifs in time series, and finally these metrics are evaluated by their contributions to sustainability. A key innovation in our application is the ability to intersperse "don't care" transitions (e.g., transients) in continuous-valued time series data, an advantage we inherit by the application of frequent episode mining to symbolized representations of numeric time series. Our approach provides both qualitative and quantitative characterizations of the sensor streams to the data center engineer, to aid him in tuning chiller operating characteristics. This system is currently being prototyped for a data center managed by HP and experimental results from this application reveal the promise of our approach.


This study shows that wood fiber of Phoenix tree ( Firmiana simplex ) is an effective adsorbent for malachite green (MG). MG sorption behavior onto the wood adsorbent was investigated in this study. Basic condition was favorable for MG adsorption to the adsorbent. The pseudo second order equation well described MG adsorption onto the wood adsorbent. The Freundlich Isotherm could describe the sorption data. The positive value of ΔH 0 showed that adsorption of malachite green onto the wood adsorbent was endothermic. The negative values of ΔG at various temperatures indicate the spontaneous nature of the adsorption process.


Many countries committed to climate action by adopting the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. This study synthesizes 40 years of scientific evidence of what may be an important benefit of these commitments: the non-use value of biodiversity conservation. The synthesis investigates whether biodiversity values can be integrated into climate change damage estimates based on non-use valuation studies of different threats to biodiversity. In the absence of estimates of public willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid the adverse impacts of anthropogenic climate change on biodiversity, we synthesize non-use values for biodiversity conservation from stated preference studies that account for a heterogeneous set of biodiversity threats. We test whether biodiversity non-use values are affected by the threats that policies aim to address, be it human activities or other threats. We estimate meta-regression models in which we explain the variation in these non-use values by accounting for the observed heterogeneity in good, methodology, sample, and context characteristics. We estimate meta-regression models using 159 observations from 62 publications. The models suggest that non-use values for biodiversity conservation addressing human impacts may be larger than those addressing other threats. We also find that non-use values are generally not sensitive to which biodiversity indicators, habitat types, or taxonomic groups are valued. We predict that the mean annual WTP for avoiding human-caused biodiversity losses ranges from 0.2 to 0.4% of GDP per capita. Our findings suggest that state-of-the-art climate change damage functions in integrated assessment models may underestimate actual damage costs because they do not incorporate the premium that the public is willing to pay to avoid human-caused biodiversity losses.


Abstract Physiological responses of the halophyte, Atriplex subspicata Nutt. Rydb., to defoliation injury were evaluated through a series of experiments measuring plant gas exchange, fluorometry, and enzyme activity. Leaves exposed to simulated insect herbivory exhibited reductions in photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration. Carboxylation efficiency, maximum assimilation, and CO2 compensation were also negatively associated with mechanical leaf injury. Insect injury by a herbivore generalist, Spilosoma virginica, also reduced photosynthesis and carboxylation efficiency within the saturated spectrum of A/Ci response curves. Initially, declines in photosynthesis occurred because of transient stomatal limitations. However, after time, mesophyll limitations impaired photosynthesis and the plant's ability to compensate for injury. Fluorescence data and light assimilation responses indicated that defoliation did not play a role in limiting light reactions of photosynthesis. Enzyme analyses showed increased peroxidase activity with insect injury, suggesting the need for future characterization of oxidative enzymes, which have been associated with traits of resistance. Overall, we found a salt-tolerant plant to be susceptible to insect herbivory through a reduction in the efficiency of the plant to allocate energy resources. If salt tolerance comes at the cost of susceptibility to biotic interference, natural occurring halophytes or plants with transgenic salt tolerance may be at risk for heightened deleterious response to insect herbivory.


Abstract We study the stability of a viscous incompressible fluid ring on a partially wetting substrate within the framework of long-wave theory. We discuss the conditions under which a static equilibrium of the ring is possible in the presence of contact angle hysteresis. A linear stability analysis (LSA) of this equilibrium solution is carried out by using a slip model to account for the contact line divergence. The LSA provides specific predictions regarding the evolution of unstable modes. In order to describe the evolution of the ring for longer times, a quasi-static approximation is implemented. This approach assumes a quasi-static evolution and takes into account the concomitant variation of the instantaneous growth rates of the modes responsible for either collapse of the ring into a single central drop or breakup into a number of droplets along the ring periphery. We compare the results of the LSA and the quasi-static model approach with those obtained from nonlinear numerical simulations using a complementary disjoining pressure model. We find remarkably good agreement between the predictions of the two models regarding the expected number of drops forming during the breakup process.


This appeal involves an effort by a state administrative agency, the Texas Medical Board, to evade the substance of federal antitrust law. The basic purpose of antitrust law is to prevent markets from being manipulated anticompetitively — yet that is precisely what professional licensing boards dominated by market participants do. The Board argues that it is actively supervised and therefore qualifies for the narrow state-action immunity to antitrust law. But this active supervision is illusory, and this Court should not be fooled by the Board's attempt to argue otherwise.The background for this dispute begins with California Retail Liquor Dealers Ass'n v. Midcal Aluminum, Inc., 445 U.S. 97 (1980), where the Supreme Court held that private parties are not immune from antitrust law unless (1) they are acting pursuant to a clearly articulated anticompetitive state policy and (2) they are actively supervised by the State.In particular, professional licensing boards dominated by market participants can have anticompetitive effects, and federal antitrust law plays a valuable role in controlling these effects. The Supreme Court recognized as much in North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC, 135 S. Ct. 1101 (2015), holding that the Midcal test — in particular its second prong — applies to such boards, just as it applies to fully private parties: "[A] state board on which a controlling number of decisionmakers are active market participants in the occupation the board regulates must satisfy Midcal's active supervision requirement in order to invoke state-action antitrust immunity." 135 S. Ct. at 1114.The Texas Board concedes that it is dominated by active market participants and that the active-supervision requirement therefore applies. However, it argues, first, that state judicial review satisfies this requirement. Second, it argues that because Texas law has mechanisms to limit Board members' self-dealing and promote accountability, the active-supervision requirement should be enforced less strictly than it would otherwise be. In effect, the Board contends that that this Court should endorse a "sliding scale" approach to assessing state supervision.Both these arguments are mistaken.For judicial review to count as active supervision, it must reach the merits of the specific anticompetitive decisions; it must be de novo; and it must be actual, not potential — that is, it must occur before anticompetitive harm is suffered, and it must not require victims to engage in costly litigation. See N.C. Dental, 135 S. Ct. at 1116 ("The supervisor must review the substance of the anticompetitive decision, not merely the procedures followed to produce it; the supervisor must have the power to veto or modify particular decisions to ensure they accord with state policy; and the 'mere potential for state supervision is not an adequate substitute for a decision by the State.'" (citations omitted) (quoting FTC v. Ticor Title Ins. Co., 504 U.S. 621, 638 (1992)). Yet state judicial review fails on all these dimensions. It goes to whether Board decisions are adequately reasoned and within the broad bounds of the Board's authority, not to whether disinterested officials actually approve of the merits. It defers heavily to Board decisionmaking in areas of discretion. And it relies on costly litigation by the victims of Board action, which is not guaranteed to occur before harm is suffered.Moreover, the "sliding scale" of review is supported by neither existing law nor good sense. The strength of the active-supervision inquiry does not depend on whether there are mechanisms to limit self-dealing and promote accountability. Such mechanisms are praiseworthy, but they do not ensure that disinterested officials actually approve of the specific Board decisions challenged here. The reasoning of N.C. Dental does not support a sliding scale of active-supervision scrutiny depending on these factors, and such a sliding scale would not be judicially administrable.Therefore, the Board should be denied state-action immunity.


A wireless multicast network with a stringent decoding delay constraint and a minimum coverage requirement is characterized when the fading channel state information is available only at the receiver side. In the first part, the optimal expected rate achievable by a random user in the network is derived in a single antenna system in terms of the minimum multicast requirement in two scenarios: hard coverage constraint and soft coverage constraint. In the first case, the minimum multicast requirement is expressed by multicast outage capacity while in the second case, the expected multicast rate should satisfy the minimum requirements. Also, the optimum power allocation in an infinite layer superposition code, achieving the highest expected typical rate, is derived. For the MISO case, a suboptimal coding scheme is proposed, which is shown to be asymptotically optimal, when the number of transmit antennas grows at least logarithmically with the number of users in the network. In the second part, a joint source-channel coding scheme is motivated, where a multi-resolution Gaussian source code is mapped to a multi-level channel code. In this part, the hard and soft coverage constraints are defined as maximum outage multicast distortion and maximum expected multicast distortion, respectively. In each scenario, the minimum expected distortion of a typical user is derived in terms of the corresponding coverage constraint. The minimization is first performed for the finite state fading channels and then is extended to the continuous fading channels.


The concept of a peak in value or a "100% location" is so well established in real estate that there is no reference to the term in recent real estate principles and appraisal texts. However, the land value section in appraisals of a regional shopping center did not apply the concept when adjusting comparables for location, which resulted in a substantial underestimation of site value. A regression model that included a distance variable to control for location produced a value estimate that was more than double the values in the appraisals. The empirical results illustrate that the subject site represented a distinct peak in land value as well as reemphasizing the importance of making careful location adjustments in situations where there is a distinct peak in land value.


Eleven adult patients with nocturnal asthma, and gastro-oesophageal reflux documented by endoscopy or ambulatory oesophageal pH monitoring completed a double-blind cross-over study (4 week treatment, one week run-in and cross-over periods) comparing the effects of omeprazole 20 mg daily and placebo on asthma control assessed by symptoms, peak expiratory flow rate and bronchodilator usage. Omeprazole treatment did not improve asthma symptoms during the day or night, or peak expiratory flow rate readings. There was no difference in bronchodilator inhaler usage during omeprazole therapy. Treatment of gastro-oesophageal reflux with omeprazole in patients with nocturnal asthma and gastro-oesophageal reflux does not improve asthma symptoms or peak expiratory flow rate. This suggests that gastro-oesophageal reflux does not exacerbate bronchoconstriction in nocturnal asthma.


A search for the direct production of a pair of $\tau$ sleptons, the supersymmetric partners of $\tau$ leptons, is presented. Each $\tau$ slepton is assumed to decay to a $\tau$ lepton and the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), which is assumed to be stable and to not interact in the detector, leading to an imbalance in the total reconstructed transverse momentum. The search is carried out in events identified as containing two $\tau$ leptons, each decaying to one or more hadrons and a neutrino, and significant transverse momentum imbalance. In addition to scenarios in which the $\tau$ sleptons decay promptly, the search also addresses scenarios in which the $\tau$ sleptons have sufficiently long lifetimes to give rise to nonprompt $\tau$ leptons. The data were collected in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC with the CMS detector in 2016-2018, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. No significant excess is seen with respect to standard model expectations. Upper limits on cross sections for the pair production of $\tau$ sleptons are obtained in the framework of simplified models. In a scenario in which the $\tau$ sleptons are superpartners of left-handed $\tau$ leptons, and each undergoes a prompt decay to a $\tau$ lepton and a nearly massless LSP, $\tau$ slepton masses between 115 and 340 GeV are excluded. In a scenario in which the lifetime of the $\tau$ sleptons corresponds to $c\tau_0$ = 0.1 mm, where $\tau_{0}$ represents the mean proper lifetime of the $\tau$ slepton, masses between 150 and 220 GeV are excluded.


The concept of Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) and Multicast
Listener Discovery (MLD) snooping requires the ability to identify the
location of multicast routers. Since snooping is not standardized,
there are many mechanisms in use to identify the multicast routers.
However, this can lead to interoperability issues between multicast
routers and snooping switches from different vendors. This document
introduces a general mechanism that allows for the discovery of
multicast routers. This new mechanism, Multicast Router Discovery
(MRD), introduces a standardized means of identifying multicast
routers without a dependency on particular multicast routing
protocols. [STANDARDS-TRACK]


This chapter discusses the relationship between small farmers land use and deforestation, with particular attention paid to the past 30 years of Amazonian colonization in Brazil and Ecuador. Our analysis calls attention to common features uniting different social groups as small farmers (e.g., social identity, access to land and resources, technology, market and credit), as well as the variability between small farmers in terms of time in the region (from native populations to recent colonists), contribution to regional deforestation, types of land use systems. At a regional level, small farmers contribute to the majority of deforestation events, but ate responsible for only a fraction of the total deforested area in Amazonia. We discuss three misconceptions that have been used to define small farmers and their contribution to the regional economy, development, and deforestation: (1) small farmers have backward land use systems associated with low productivity and extensive deforestation and subsistence production, (2) small farmers contribute to Amazonian deforestation as much as large farmers, and (3) small farmers, particularly colonist farmers, follow an inexorable path of deforestation unless curbed by government action. We conclude the chapter discussing their growing regional importance and the need for more inclusive public concerning infrastructure and services and valorization of resources produced in rural areas of Amazonia.


This research aimed to explore and contextualise research on the electrophysiological potentials evoked in response to human face recognition within the South African context. Previous research provides evidence that there is a measurable difference in the electrophysiological response to faces of people of other racial groups when compared to the response to one's own race group. The difference is seen in greater peak amplitudes in response to one's own-race (indicating greater attention being granted) in comparison to the other-race. This has been labelled the Cross-Race Effect. This research also attempted to expand on previous research in the use of a mixed-race sample and realistic colour images, in contrast to previously used greyscale images. A purposive sample of 40 students at the University of the Witwatersrand was split equally between gender and race (Black and White) with an Indian control group. The electrical potentials elicited by the facial stimuli were extracted from the ongoing electroencephalograms. The results obtained displayed inverse results to those found internationally, with Black participants eliciting no differences between racial groups, and White participants eliciting a greater peak amplitude to Black (other-race) faces. A gender effect was also seen, with White participants eliciting greater peak amplitudes towards female faces, while Black participant again showed no differences between male and female faces. Trends displayed in the results, and the significance thereof, are discussed, and the importance of the effect of society of developmental neurology is highlighted, with the rephrasing of cultural neuroscience to Socio-Cultural Neuroscience. The results ultimately suggest that the internationally seen crossrace effect is absent in a young South African population (with the principle of increased exposure leading to increased attention still in effect), indicating that South Africa is beginning to move away from racial discrimination, and moving towards a future of true integration and equality.


Abstract The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT), American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), and the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) have previously offered varied guidance on the role of backboards and spinal immobilization in out-of-hospital situations. This updated consensus statement on spinal motion restriction in the trauma patient represents the collective positions of the ACS-COT, ACEP and NAEMSP. It has further been formally endorsed by a number of national stakeholder organizations. This updated uniform guidance is intended for use by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel, EMS medical directors, emergency physicians, trauma surgeons, and nurses as they strive to improve the care of trauma victims within their respective domains.


A systematic account is provided of the siphonophores, medusae, ctenophores, molluscs and salps net-collected in basins of the Gulf of Maine and adjacent canyons during three cruises carried out in September 2002, 2003 and 2004. We describe the siphonophore Lensia quadriculata sp. nov. and the hydroidomedusae Jeanbouillonia maserati gen. nov. et sp. nov., the latter is the first member of the new family Jeanbouilloniidae. New observations are made about the morphology and/or systematics of the siphonophore Gilia reticulata and the hydroidomedusae Bougainvillia platygaster, Bougainvillia principis, Modeeria rotunda, Clytia hemisphaerica, Orchistoma collapsum and Dichotomia cannoides . Parasites associated with the ctenophores Pleurobrachia pileus (a cestode) and Beroe sp. (a hyperid amphipod) are reported.


The ability to exploit prior experience to solve novel problems rapidly is a hallmark of biological learning systems and of great practical importance for artificial ones. In the meta reinforcement learning literature much recent work has focused on the problem of optimizing the learning process itself. In this paper we study a complementary approach which is conceptually simple, general, modular and built on top of recent improvements in off-policy learning. The framework is inspired by ideas from the probabilistic inference literature and combines robust off-policy learning with a behavior prior, or default behavior that constrains the space of solutions and serves as a bias for exploration; as well as a representation for the value function, both of which are easily learned from a number of training tasks in a multi-task scenario. Our approach achieves competitive adaptation performance on hold-out tasks compared to meta reinforcement learning baselines and can scale to complex sparse-reward scenarios.


Arctic Ocean Circulation Patterns Revealed by Ocean Bottom Pressure Anomalies Ana Cecilia Peralta Ferriz Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor James H. Morison Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory, UW Over the last few decades, the Arctic Ocean has experienced drastic changes that include increased temperature, changes in freshwater distribution, and decrease in sea ice extent and thickness. These changes, which potentially affect global climate, are intimately linked to changes in the Arctic Ocean circulation. Thus, understanding Arctic Ocean circulation patterns is fundamental to monitoring and predicting the fate of the Arctic System. Since 2002, NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has provided continuous measurements of the time-varying gravity field of the Arctic Ocean. The gravitational variations represent mass variations, or the time-varying ocean bottom pressure (OBP) field. OBP variations are the sum of the mass change due to the sea surface height change and the integrated density variations through the water column. In this dissertation, in situ and GRACE measurements of OBP anomalies, complemented by information from ocean models, are used to investigate the relative contribution of sea surface height and density-variations on the Arctic OBP field. The dynamics associated with the observed OBP changes are investigated. Major findings include the identification of three primary temporal-spatial modes of OBP variability at monthly to inter-annual timescales with the following characteristics: • Mode 1 is a wintertime basin-coherent Arctic mass change forced by southerly winds through Bering and Fram Straits. • Mode 2 reveals mass change along the Siberian shelves, driven by surface Ekman dynamics and associated with the Arctic Oscillation. • Mode 3 reveals a mass drop in Western Arctic shelves forced by the strengthening of the anticyclonic Beaufort Gyre, and wintertime along-shore westerly winds that increase OBP in the Eastern Arctic shelves. The OBP changes in the Kara Sea reveal a more baroclinic ocean character than modeling results have previously suggested, due to the complex bathymetry of this region and runoff-derived large density changes through the water column. This work integrates the character of the Arctic mass changes at different timescales, and provides information about the ocean mass re-distribution during years of rapidly thinning and disappearing seasonal sea ice.


We present a perspective on how to approach developing silvicultural prescriptions for restoring oak woodlands and savannas. A large degree of success depends on selecting appropriate sites for restoration. We discuss historical landscape ecology, fire history, detecting legacies of woodland/savanna structure, and models of historical vegetation surveys. Ultimately, site selection for restoration is determined by integrated management goals and objectives. We discuss silvicultural practices for restoration including prescribed burning and thinning by mechanical or chemical methods or timber harvesting. We provide an overview of fire effects on vegetation and stress how the timing and sequencing of the various practices can be used flexibly depending on site restrictions, initial vegetation condition, and threats such as invasive species. We review various fire regime attributes that managers can control in moving the vegetation toward the desired future condition. We conclude by giving a perspective on developing the restoration prescription using a holistic, integrated resource management approach.


The accounting of IT-costs is an important aspect not only in the context of corporate cost accounting in general, but also for the management of IT. Various approaches to IT-cost accounting exist. However, they usually are implemented with only loose integration to the company s IT-management. This often causes discrepancies between the numbers used for accounting and those for planning and operating the IT. A tighter integration of the information basis, which the two corporate functions (cost accounting and IT-management) share, is suggested, to solve this problem. One way to achieve this integration, is the implementation of cost accounting concepts in an IT-management method. In this paper we introduce concepts for modelling IT-costs within a domain specific language for the modelling of IT-landscapes. The language is part of an IT-management method, which is currently under development. Using these concepts, costs can be modelled on the same level of abstraction as ITcomponents, thereby establishing a higher integration level between corporate cost accounting and IT-management.


This study examines how the effect of news media exposure on perceived health risks is conditioned by perceived self-relevance and perceived news credibility, based on the issue of air pollution in China. An online survey ( N = 1,257) showed that the positive association between news media exposure and perceived health risks was stronger in conditions where perceived self-relevance was high than in conditions where perceived self-relevance was low. Furthermore, in conditions where perceived self-relevance was low, this positive association was stronger in the condition where perceived news credibility was high than the condition where perceived news credibility was low. The conditional media effect approach to public risk perceptions explicates the mechanism of the individual stations in the social amplification of risk framework (SARF) and highlights SARF's individual aspect. Moreover, this approach indicates that individuals have some level of agency to select from numerous news based on perceived self-relevance, whereas this selective exposure is not necessarily accompanied by critical judgment of news credibility. These findings anticipate an ongoing tension between ubiquitous media influence and individual agency.


Development of electrode materials with high capability and long cycle life are central issues for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Here, we report an architecture of three-dimensional (3D) flexible silicon and graphene/carbon nanofibers (FSiGCNFs) with atomic-scale control of the expansion space as the binder-free anode for flexible LIBs. The FSiGCNFs with Si nanoparticles surrounded by accurate and controllable void spaces ensure excellent mechanical strength and afford sufficient space to overcome the damage caused by the volume expansion of Si nanoparticles during charge and discharge processes. This 3D porous structure possessing built-in void space between the Si and graphene/carbon matrix not only limits most solid-electrolyte interphase formation to the outer surface, instead of on the surface of individual NPs, and increases its stability but also achieves highly efficient channels for the fast transport of both electrons and lithium ions during cycling, thus offering outstanding electrochemical performance (2002 mAh g(-1) at a current density of 700 mA g(-1) over 1050 cycles corresponding to 3840 mAh g(-1) for silicon alone and 582 mAh g(-1) at the highest current density of 28 000 mA g(-1)).


Abstract The choice, consumption and later evaluation of destination experiences, is a complex and important area. Consumers are often highly involved. The experience involves both products and services requiring a relatively high level of expenditure. It also usually involves a degree of risk within a relatively unfamiliar environment. Such factors mean that consumers can hold strong and influential attitudes toward different destinations. The factors and processes that influence destination choice have received considerable research attention. In addition, studies have begun to investigate satisfaction levels relating to the quality of the destination experience. However, it is argued in this paper that important information affecting consumer destination decision making needs to be better incorporated into a systematic planning process. This will aid the strategic management of such information and better enable the implementation of strategies aimed at enhancing destination competitiveness.


Abstract Cloud computing revolutionizes the way large amounts of data are processed and offers a compelling paradigm to organizations. An increasing number of data-intensive scientific applications are being ported to cloud environments such as virtualized clusters, in order to take advantage of increased cost-efficiency, flexibility, scalability, improved hardware utilization and reduced carbon footprint, among others. However, due to the complexity of the application execution environment, routine tasks such as monitoring, performance analysis and debugging of applications deployed on the cloud become cumbersome and complex. These tasks often require close interaction and inspection of multiple layers in the application and system software stack. For example, when analyzing a distributed application that has been provisioned on a cluster of virtual machines, a researcher might need to monitor the execution of his program on the VMs, or the availability of physical resources to the VMs. This would require the researcher to use different sets of tools to collect and analyze performance data from each level. Otus is a tool that enables resource attribution in clusters and currently reports only the virtual resource utilization and not the physical resource utilization on virtualized clusters. This is insufficient to fully understand application behavior on a cloud platform; it would fail to account for the state of the physical infrastructure, its availability or the variation in load by other VMs on the same physical host, for example. We are extending Otus to collect metrics from multiple layers, starting with the Hypervisor. Otus can now collect information from both the VM level as well as the Hypervisor level; and this information is collected in an OpenTSDB database, which is scalable to large clusters. A web-based application allows the researcher to selectively visualize these metrics in real-time or for a particular time range in the past. We have tested our multi-layered monitoring technique on several Hadoop Mapreduce applications and clearly identified the causes of several performance problems that would otherwise not be clear using existing methods. Apart from helping researchers understand application needs, our technique could also help accelerate the development and testing of new platforms for cloud researchers.


Human Papillomavirus has emerged as a distinct cause of cervical changes in young women. Its prevalence is continuously growing and is considered at epidemic proportions with 20 million Americans already infected and 5.5 million new cases reported annually. (2) (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Tracking the Hidden Epidemics., Trends in STDs in the U.S. 2000, Atlanta, Georgia, 2000)


A practical range-resolved differential absorption and scattering lidar has been optimized for maximum range and sensitivity. Compression of the signal amplitude dynamics, quasi-simultaneous dual-pulse operation, the processing sequence of the primary signals, a method of alignment mismatch compensation, and the effects of temporal and spatial averaging are discussed. Experimental verifications with a four-laser system for NO2 and SO2 are presented. For NO2 a range of up to 6 km at a sensitivity of 10 ppb and for SO2 a range up to 3 km at 15-ppb sensitivity have been accomplished.


Fidel Castro described Salvador Allende's democratic election as president of Chile in 1970 as the most important revolutionary triumph in Latin America after the Cuban revolution. Yet celebrations were short lived. In Washington, the Nixon administration vowed to destroy Allende's left-wing government while Chilean opposition forces mobilized against him. The result was a battle for Chile that ended in 1973 with a right-wing military coup and a brutal dictatorship lasting nearly twenty years. Tanya Harmer argues that this battle was part of a dynamic inter-American Cold War struggle to determine Latin America's future, shaped more by the contest between Cuba, Chile, the United States, and Brazil than by a conflict between Moscow and Washington. Drawing on firsthand interviews and recently declassified documents from archives in North America, Europe, and South America--including Chile's Foreign Ministry Archive--Harmer provides the most comprehensive account to date of Cuban involvement in Latin America in the early 1970s, Chilean foreign relations during Allende's presidency, Brazil's support for counterrevolution in the Southern Cone, and the Nixon administration's Latin American policies. The Cold War in the Americas, Harmer reveals, is best understood as a multidimensional struggle, involving peoples and ideas from across the hemisphere.


Summary Mammogenesis and lactation were induced in five multiparous, non-pregnant goats by treatment with oestrogen and progesterone for 11 d, followed by dexamethasone for 3 d. Reserpine was administered during the last 5 d. All five goats lactated, although milk yield was less than had been achieved in previous natural lactations. Mammary development was assessed in vivo, using magnetic resonance imaging. Although parenchyma volume increased by more than 6-fold overall, only 25% of this increase occurred during steroid treatment. Most development took place after the cessation of treatment, when milking commenced. Maximum size was not achieved until week 8 of the induced lactation, and was only 70% of normal parenchyma volume. After 18 weeks lactation the activities of three key milk synthetic enzymes were very similar to values previously found in natural lactations, and secretion efficiency (milk production per unit volume of parenchyma) was also similar to that of natural lactations. We conclude that the lower than normal milk yields were associated with incomplete proliferation of mammary tissue, rather than inadequate differentiation of individual secretory cells.


As American professional journalism with its established rules and values transitions to the little-regulated, ever-evolving world of digital news, few of its practitioners, contributors and consumers are giving thought to the moral and intellectual implications that this transition entails. While technologists and innovators have embraced this passage into a hybrid model of skilled and citizen-generated news production, even spearheading its new practices at times, this transition is taking place in a moral and regulatory void: without a strong legislative foundation for cyberspace and revised ethical rules for the journalism profession online, media professionals and independent news producers lack guidance and tools to respond appropriately to new ethical issues not covered by current laws and ethical codes. Some of the key questions facing the profession are: should online journalism and all new forms of news media production be regulated, and if so, to what extent and by whom? What constitutes ethical collaboration? How does current regulation operate? Should or could it be extended to the digital domain? In this thesis I argue that professional and amateur news publishing on the Internet and other digital formats have created new social issues, ethical dilemmas and unanticipated situations for journalists, which are specific to digital media and unaddressed by current laws, standards, and codes of ethics. Following an analysis of these issues and the deficiencies of current ethics codes, using a real-life case study and comments from working journalists on their new professional needs, I then propose my vision for online news media production, arguing for an open-source, participatory model supported by a solid, individual ethical foundation and a revised relationship with sources. The thesis culminates with my proposed code of ethics for collaborative journalism in the digital age, the Open Park Code of Ethics and the Global Media Ethics Forum. Initially conceived as a news-reporting and educational tool for the Open Park project of The MIT Center for Future Civic Media, the OP Code reflects the principles and guidelines of my open-source model and is readily usable and adaptable to the needs of varied news media communities and individual producers. Thesis Supervisors: William Uricchio, Director of Comparative Media Studies David L. Chandler, MIT News Office Science Writer


OBJECTIVE
Shame has long been seen as relevant to substance use disorders, but interventions have not been tested in randomized trials. This study examined a group-based intervention for shame based on the principles of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in patients (N = 133; 61% female; M = 34 years old; 86% Caucasian) in a 28-day residential addictions treatment program.

METHOD
Consecutive cohort pairs were assigned in a pairwise random fashion to receive treatment as usual (TAU) or the ACT intervention in place of 6 hr of treatment that would have occurred at that same time. The ACT intervention consisted of three 2-hr group sessions scheduled during a single week.

RESULTS
Intent-to-treat analyses demonstrated that the ACT intervention resulted in smaller immediate gains in shame, but larger reductions at 4-month follow-up. Those attending the ACT group also evidenced fewer days of substance use and higher treatment attendance at follow-up. Effects of the ACT intervention on treatment utilization at follow-up were statistically mediated by posttreatment levels of shame, in that those evidencing higher levels of shame at posttreatment were more likely to be attending treatment at follow-up. Intervention effects on substance use at follow-up were mediated by treatment utilization at follow-up, suggesting that the intervention may have had its effects, at least in part, through improving treatment attendance.

CONCLUSIONS
These results demonstrate that an approach to shame based on mindfulness and acceptance appears to produce better treatment attendance and reduced substance use.


The response of the middle atmosphere temperature to short term solar UV radiation related to the 27-day period of the sun has been studied by Rayleigh Lidar at mid-latitude in the height range 30–90 km. Among the 9 sequences, each of 3 to 4 months duration, which corresponds to clear solar signature, two types of behavior have been found: either the temperature response is positively correlated with the solar UV flux in the whole height range, or the response reverses abruptly from positive to negative within the height interval 40–60 km. It is important to notice that this second type of behavior is observed as well in summer or in winter, i.e. even in the absence of planetary wave activity, but has only been seen during the Westward phase of the QBO.

If such a change of the temperature is confirmed to be solar induced, this response to change in the UV flux is clearly different from the one we observed for the 11-year solar cycle. Therefore the 27-day signature of atmospheric structure should not be used as a proxy for the 11-year variation.


The purpose of this paper is to gain the perspectives from social service providers that are a key component in focused deterrence programs. All focused deterrence/pulling levers programs have at least two essential elements: first, the message to the target population that reoffending will be met with swift and certain punishment, and second that social service providers are available to assist in their transition to a law-abiding lifestyle.,A case study approach was used to gather qualitative data with open-ended interviews of social service providers that participated in Operation RASOR, a modified focused deterrence initiative that identified cross-jurisdictional, chronic offenders across three cities in New England.,The results showed that many providers were unable, and sometimes unwilling, to participate in the strategy due to their lack of awareness of what focused deterrence strategies encompass, participant eligibility restrictions, and lack of funding. These findings may impact the success of focused deterrence programs.,Future research should include a larger sample from programs operating in different cities. The importance of the social services component of focused deterrence strategies and their capability of serving clients within those programs needs further examination for the integrity of these programs to adequately serve the participants.,The perceptions from social service providers on the program elements and ability to provide necessary services to the targeted offenders have never been examined. This study aids in expanding the literature on focused deterrence programs. It can also inform law enforcement agencies on the services that are most needed by the target population and the importance of coordinating their initiatives with service providers.


There is more than one mobile-phone subscription per member of the Australian population. The number of complaints against the mobile-phone-service providers is also high. Therefore, the mobile service providers are facing a huge challenge in retaining their customers. There are a number of existing models to analyse customer behaviour and switching patterns. A number of switching models may also exist within a large market. These models are often not useful due to the heterogeneous nature of the market. Therefore, in this study we use data mining techniques to let the data talk to help us discover switching patterns without requiring us to use any models and domain knowledge. We use a variety of decision tree and decision forest techniques on a real mobile-phone-usage dataset in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of data mining techniques in knowledge discovery. We report many interesting patterns, and discuss them from a brand-switching and marketing perspective, through which they are found to be very sensible and interesting.


Sir,

van Dijk and colleagues have made an impressive scientific analysis of the relation between the clinical features during head-up-tilt induced syncope in adults and the simultaneous EEG findings (van Dijk et al. , 2014). In particular, these authors have drawn attention to the semiology associated with the 'classical' slow-flat-slow EEG pattern and with simple EEG slowing without EEG flattening. I would like to add some observations to their excellent study, based on personal experience (Stephenson, 1990) and perusal of the literature.

If syncope is sufficiently severe the slow-flat-slow EEG appearance seems to be independent of age—in that it is also observed in young children—and is seen in all types of syncope, however induced. However, the exact clinical semiology seems to vary with different methods of syncope generation. For example, in Gastaut and Fischer-Williams's (1957) predominantly …


NaI (Tl) detectors have been widely used during the recent years based on their response to γ-rays, which is significant mainly for the elemental analysis of neutron-induced prompt γ-rays. The detector functions significantly influence the analysis results, especially the detector efficiency. The present study focused on this problem and has been made of the contribution of the full-energy peak attenuation in the calculation of the detector efficiency. An empirical formula has been derived to calculate the full-energy peak attenuation for 3″×3″ NaI (Tl) well-type detector using isotropic radiating axial point sources. The measured efficiency values are used in this method to find the peak attenuation coefficient for this particular source-to-detector geometry. In addition, the obtaining values were used to calculate the detector full-energy peak efficiency, and compared it with the measured ones. The calculated values of the detector efficiency are found to be in a good agreement with experimental data. This gives indication about the ability to extend the calculated efficiency values to build an efficiency curve as a function of γ-ray energy as not many radioactive sources exist for the standardization process.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to outline a thematic approach to the clinical treatment of clients who have experienced racial trauma. Using the literature on trauma and racist incidents, the authors explore the following counseling themes for trauma treatment: acknowledge, share, safety and self-care, grieve, shame and self-blame/internalized racism, anger, coping strategies, and resistance strategies. The authors then provide a case study of a Native American client. In addition, potential buffers to the traumatizing impact of racist incidents are provided. In conclusion, the importance of counselor competence is explored. Limitations of the proposed themes are described and a call for further examination of counseling responses to racist-incident-based trauma is made.


Abstract Background: College students who play drinking games (DGs) more frequently report higher levels of alcohol use and experience more alcohol-related harm. However, the extent to which they are at risk for increased consumption and harm as a result of DG play on a given event after accounting for their typical DG participation, and typical and event drinking, is unclear. Objectives: We examined whether first-year students consumed more alcohol and were more likely to experience consequences on drinking occasions when they played DGs. Methods: Participants (n = 336) completed up to six web-based surveys following weekend drinking events in their first semester. Alcohol use, DG play, and consequences were reported for the Friday and Saturday prior to each survey. Typical DG tendencies were controlled in all models. Typical and event alcohol use were controlled in models predicting risk for consequences. Results: Participants consumed more alcohol on DG versus non-DG events. All students were more likely to experience blackout drinking consequences when they played DGs. Women were more likely to experience social-interpersonal consequences when they played DGs. Conclusion: DG play is an event-specific risk factor for increased alcohol use among first-year students, regardless of individual DG play tendencies. Further, event DG play signals increased risk for blackout drinking consequences for all students, and social-interpersonal consequences for women, aside from the amount of alcohol consumed on those occasions as well as typical drinking behaviors. Prevention efforts to reduce high-risk drinking may be strengthened by highlighting both event- and person-specific risks of DG play.


HycycleS is a European Framework 7 project focussing on the decomposition of sulphuric acid, a key step in the Hybrid Sulphur and Sulphur Iodine thermochemical cycles. The final aim is to bring thermochemical water splitting closer to realisation by improving the efficiency, stability, practicability, and costs of the key components involved and by elaborating detailed engineering solutions. The project started in January 2007 and was completed at the end of March 2011.
In the HycycleS project, emphasis is put on materials and components for sulphuric acid evaporation, decomposition, and sulphur dioxide separation. In particular, corrosion testing of materials for construction and catalysts has been undertaken and catalyst materials have been investigated for their activity in sulphuric acid decomposition. The largest SiC heat exchanger reactor in the world has been built. Experiments have been conducted in a solar receiver reactor and a model of the reactor created. Thermodynamic data for the SO2-O2-H2O system has been collected and high temperature ceramic membranes have been investigated for their use in SO2/O2 separation. Finally a cost analysis for the cycles has been conducted. This paper will present the key results of the project.


Nursing is a profession. Although the art and science has become more science than art due to advances in technology and regulatory requirements, the profession of nursing is among the most trusted in modern society. How do we continue to earn that trust and respect? One could argue that looking after our professional development through ongoing education and certification gives us the confidence to move forward and meet any challenge that we encounter in this complex healthcare environment.

Investing in professional development is not only beneficial to nurses practicing in today's healthcare environment, but is also a way to practice safely while protecting patients. Caring for patients in a safe and compassionate manner is a herculean task. Nurses need every advantage at their disposal to keep up with practice and regulatory demands. Participating in and seeking out new challenges through continuing education and specialty certification provides a strong and expanding foundation of knowledge to afford nurses the tools to remain at the top of their game. Because one has gained, through sheer longevity, expert status in their chosen area of practice; does not mean that additional expertise can neither be attained nor utilized through ongoing professional development.

From the patient's perspective, having nurses who care about competence in their role by participating in continuing education and certification, is comforting. Ongoing professional development sends a message to patients that their caregiver is committed to provide the best care possible by constantly striving for more education in their chosen specialty. While studies have not been able to prove unequivocally that certification results in improved patient outcomes, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that nurses who regularly participate in continuing education will have a better skill set that they can employ in their everyday practice.

Finally, because the nursing profession is one of great diversity, it is conceivable and even likely that nurses will move into different specialty areas of nursing through their career. It is unlikely, however, that nurses who change direction in specialties will want to remain novices in their new area of practice. This then puts a nurse on a trajectory of life-long learning and ongoing professional development. And that perhaps, is as it should be.

Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.

Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.


Abstract For a maximal torus in a quasi-split semi-simple simply-connected group over a local field of characteristic 0, Langlands and Shelstad constructed a cohomological invariant called the splitting invariant, which is an important component of their endoscopic transfer factors. We study this invariant in the case of a split real group and prove a decomposition theorem which expresses this invariant for a general torus as a product of the corresponding invariants for simple tori. We also show how this reduction formula allows for the comparison of splitting invariants between different tori in the given real group.


The axis‐translation (ATT), osmotic (OMT), and vapor equilibrium (VET) techniques are widely used suction control techniques for investigating the hydraulic and mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils in the vadose zone. Yet there is still debate in the literature regarding their validity and consistency. In this study, four purposely designed experiments were carried out to measure the water retention curves (WRCs) of a compacted silty sand at different densities using the ATT and OMT. The four WRCs obtained from this study, together with extensive existing data published in the literature, were then analyzed using newly derived thermodynamic equations. The aim and novelty of this study were to apply the thermodynamic theory to verify and explain the validity and consistency of WRCs obtained by the three commonly used experimental techniques. By allowing for some possible experimental errors, the analyzed results reveal that the WRCs obtained from the three techniques are remarkably consistent. These consistent results can be explained by the derived thermodynamic equations, which illustrate that the final soil water content at the thermodynamic equilibrium state should be the same regardless of the suction control technique used, even though the techniques involve different processes of moisture exchange.


BACKGROUND
The adaptive growth of the transplanted heart within the growing child may contribute to long-term cardiac performance. The ability to achieve increased ventricular volume and appropriate muscle mass in the face of immunosuppression and cardiac denervation has not been studied. We previously reported normal left ventricular (LV) volume growth over a 3-year period after cardiac transplantation. This study was designed to assess changes in LV mass and mass/volume ratio and their relation to LV end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) 1 to 4 years after cardiac transplantation.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Cardiac transplantation was performed in 18 patients, age 7 days to 18 years (median, 3.7 years). The indications for cardiac transplantation were cardiomyopathy (8 patients), hypoplastic left heart syndrome (7 patients), and postoperative structural congenital heart disease with ventricular failure (3 patients). The mean follow-up was 48 months, with a range from 29 to 70 months. Serial annual catheterizations were performed after 1 year (16 patients), 2 years (18 patients), 3 years (15 patients), and 4 years (8 patients). Cardiac index (Fick), LVEDP (baseline and after 10-mL/kg saline infusion delivered over 5 minutes), and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) were measured. LV diastolic volume index (LVDVI), LV mass index, and mass/volume ratio were determined angiographically according to the method of Lange and Rackley. The data were analyzed by repeated-measures ANOVA. Least-squares means and group SEM were calculated. No change in cardiac index, SVR, or baseline LVEDP was noted. The LVEDP doubled after fluid challenge, suggesting a restrictive process. The LVDVI remained near 60 mL/m2. The LV mass/volume ratio remained one.

CONCLUSIONS
Appropriate increases in muscle mass occurred after cardiac transplantation, preserving normal mass/volume ratios despite somatic growth deficits associated with immunosuppressive therapy and denervation of the donor heart.


Preface Acknowledgements 1. Introducing Geographic Information Systems in Islamic Area Studies Part 1: Spatial Data Construction and a Method for Preliminary Analysis 2. Constructing Spatial Databases from Old Paper Documents 3. Construction Spatial Databases from Old Maps: A Case in Historical Studies 4. An Exploratory Method for Discovering Qualitatively Changed Areas Using Low Resolution Remotely Sensed Data: A Case in the Persian Gulf Area during 1982-1993 5. Estimating Land Use using High Resolution Remotely Sensed Data (Landsat TM): A Case Study in Ponneri, India Part 2: Regional Analysis 6. Islamic Rule and Local Society in Eighteenth-Century South India 7. Modelling the Spatial Structure of the Administrative System in Ponneri, India, during the late Eighteenth-Century 8. The Ferghana Project: Central Asian Area Studies with GIS 9. The Use of GIS to Locate Abandoned Villages Listed in the Temettuat Registers of Balikesire County, Anatolia Part 3: Urban Analysis 10. The Spatial Structure of Commercial Areas in Turkey and other Islamic Countries 11. The Water Supplies and Public Fountains in Istanbul Part 4: Network Analysis with Space Syntax 12. Application of GIS to Network Analysis: Characterization of Traditional Turkish Urban Street Networks 13. A Three-Dimensional Analysis of the Street Network in Istanbul: An Extension of Space Syntax using GIS 14. The Space Occupied by Marketplaces and their Societies in the Islamic World - With Particular Reference to Isfahan and Istanbul Part 5: Three-Dimensional Spatial Analysis 15. Three-Dimensional View Analysis using GIS: The Locational Tendency of Mosques in Bursa, Turkey 16. An Analysis on the Visibility of Minarets in Sana's Old City of Yemen Index


As atmospheric CO2 concentration increases, the density of stomatal pores on the leaf surface decreases to prevent loss of water during transpiration. An analysis of mutants by Gray et al. reveals that a gene in the plant Arabidposis thaliana called high carbon dioxide (HIC) may be responsible for regulating stomatal development in response to CO2. HIC, expressed exclusively in guard cells that flank stomatal pores, encodes a putative 3-keto acyl coenzyme A synthase, an enzyme involved in synthesizing long-chain fatty acids that comprise components of the extracellular matrix found at the surface of guard cells. When HIC expression is disrupted, plants can no longer respond to increases in CO2. The authors propose that absence of the HIC-encoded enzyme could alter the composition of the extracellular matrix and thus affect diffusion of CO2-regulated morphogens that regulate stomatal development. Gray, J.E., Holroyd, G.H., Van der Lee, F.M., Bahrami, A.R., Sijmons, P.C., Woodward, F.I., Schuch, W., and Hetherington, A.M. (2000) The HIC signalling pathway links CO2 perception to stomatal development. Nature 408: 713-716. [Online Journal]


The objective of this study was to select three strains of probiotic Saccharomyces cerevisiae and to evaluate the effect of S. cerevisiae and rumen bacteria isolate (MR4) supplementation and their combination on rumen fermentability and rumen microbial population. Experiment 1 was designed in a 4 x 5 factorial randomized block design with 3 replications. The first factor was S. cerevisiae strain consisted of control treatment (without S. cerevisiae supplementation), NBRC 10217, NRRL Y 567 and NRRL 12618, and the second factor was incubation time consisted of 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 h. Ration was basal ration for feedlot with forage to concentrate ratio (F:C)= 60:40. Dosage of each treatment with S. cerevisiae was 5 x 1010 cfu/kg ration. Experiment 2 was designed in randomized block design with 4 treatments: P0= basal ration of feedlot; P1= P0 + S. cerevisiae; P2= P0 + MR4 isolate (5 x 107 cfu/kg ration); P3= P0 + S. cerevisiae and MR4 isolate. The result of experiment 1 showed that supplementation of S. cerevisiae NRRL 12618 had the highest S. cerevisiae population and increased rumen bacterial population. This strain was selected as probiotic in experiment 2. The result from experiment 2 showed that probiotic supplementation stabilized rumen pH and produced the highest NH3 concentration (P<0.05) and bacterial population (P<0.05). As compared with control, all treatments reduced protozoa population (P<0.05). Combination of S. cerevisiae and MR4 probiotics produced the highest total volatile fatty acids (VFA) and isovalerate (P<0.05). It was concluded that strain S. cerevisiae NRRL 12618 had potential as probiotic yeast. Supplementation with this strain increased fermentability, rumen isoacid and decreased A:P ratio. Those abilities could be improved with MR4 rumen isolate probiotic.


The lightest supersymmetric particle, most likely the neutralino, might account for a large fraction of dark matter in the Universe. We show that the primordial spectrum of density fluctuations in neutralino cold dark matter (CDM) has a sharp cut-off due to two damping mechanisms: collisional damping during the kinetic decoupling of the neutralinos at O(10 MeV) and free streaming after last scattering of neutralinos. The cut-off in the primordial spectrum defines a minimal mass for CDM objects in hierarchical structure formation. For typical neutralino and sfermion masses the first gravitationally bound neutralino clouds have masses above 10^(-6) M_\odot.


Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO) is a surface treatment for the production of ceramic oxide coatings with great properties, such as high wear and corrosion resistance, on metal substrates, particularly aluminum and magnesium alloys. Formation of PEO coatings involves complex processes and mechanisms that are difficult to study. Currently, the PEO process is in a transition phase from research to commercial application, with a primary focus on the corrosion and wear protection of light alloys, and has recently generated interest as a promising surface treatment for biomedical applications.
To justify the industrial application of PEO, a more systematic and in-depth study of the influence of various parameters on the process is required. The control of the PEO process to yield the desired morphology and microstructure for specific applications is a key requirement if the process is to be industrially applied. The aim of the research in this thesis is to study the influence of electrical parameters, so they can be optimized to produce coatings with enhanced properties mainly for tribological applications.
Alumina coatings were deposited on 6061 aluminum alloy substrates in an alkaline silicate electrolyte using a unipolar pulsed DC current mode. The influence of processing conditions, mainly electrical parameters (applied frequency, duty cycle, and current density), on the formation, growth behaviour and properties of PEO coatings were investigated. Different characterization methods including scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, microhardness tests, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and linear polarization resistance measurements were used to study the microstructure, morphology and properties of coatings.
The correlation between the stage of the PEO process and the properties of the coating has been shown. The voltage-time response was found to be important since it provided readily measurable and useful information about these stages. It was found that using different electrical conditions the microstructure, morphology, growth rate, phase distribution and composition of coatings could be changed. To some degree corrosion performance could be tailored by adjusting processing parameters.


Meclonazepam is a benzodiazepine patented in 1977 to treat parasitic worms, which recently appeared as a designer benzodiazepine and drug of abuse. The aim of this study was to identify metabolites suitable as biomarkers of drug intake in urine using high-resolution mass spectrometry, authentic urine samples, and different model systems including human liver microsomes, cryopreserved hepatocytes, and a mice model. The main metabolites of meclonazepam found in human urine were amino-meclonazepam and acetamido-meclonazepam; also, minor peaks for meclonazepam were observed in three of four urine samples. These observations are consistent with meclonazepam having a metabolism similar to that of other nitro containing benzodiazepines such as clonazepam, flunitrazepam, and nitrazepam. Both metabolites were produced by the hepatocytes and in the mice model, but the human liver microsomes were only capable of producing minor amounts of the amino metabolite. However, under nitrogen, the amount of amino-meclonazepam produced increased 140 times. This study comprehensively elucidated meclonazepam metabolism and also illustrates that careful selection of in vitro model systems for drug metabolism is needed, always taking into account the expected metabolism of the tested drug.


Energy storage and consumption of the healthy human body are well geared to the needs under physiological conditions. Any disturbances in this balance can result in metabolic diseases such as obesity. A key feature of metabolic disorders is an abnormal lipid profile, as characterized by elevated serum triglycerides, elevated low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and reduced high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. These alterations can increase the risk for the development of type 2 diabetes or atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases.
In this study, the transcriptional co-factor transforming growth factor beta1-stimulated clone 22 D1 (TSC22D1) was identified as novel regulator of systemic cholesterol metabolism. Acute or chronic knockdown of TSC22D1 in livers of wild-type mice resulted in a significant decrease of serum HDL cholesterol and mildly elevated liver cholesterol. These changes are caused by a reduced expression of key genes involved in cholesterol efflux such as Apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), or transporters as ATP binding cassette protein A1 (ABCA1), ABCG5 and ABCG8. Interestingly, serum HDL cholesterol could be elevated by overexpression of hepatic TSC22D1 in wild type mice.
Moreover, TSC22D1 expression was found to be differentially regulated in mouse models of opposing energy supply. Whereas levels of TSC22D1 transcripts were significantly reduced in states of energy wasting as in cancer cachexia, they were increased by energy surplus as under obese conditions.
Along these lines, hepatic TSC22D1 expression was increased in ob/ob mice, which are highly resistant to the development of atherosclerosis due to their elevated HDL levels. Again, TSC22D1 knockdown significantly lowered serum HDL cholesterol and reduced expression of ApoA1, ABCA1, ABCG5 and ABCG8.
Intriguingly, plasma concentrations of HDL/ApoA1 inversely correlate with the risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in humans. Thus, hepatic TSC22D1 transcription factor complex may represent an interesting new target for beneficial manipulation of HDL cholesterol levels.


Abstract. Geographical features can be represented in different ways. Buildings, for instance, can be represented as areal features defined by polygonal lines or as point features in a map. While the type of representation chosen to represent a building strongly depends on the scale of the map, it seems common to represent points of interests (POIs) as point features. More complex examples exist. For example, the way buildings that are part of a mosque are conceptualized and thus labelled in a map strongly depends on how familiar we are with the Arabic culture. The same applies to the often perceived separation between public and private space in Arabic cultures, which can have an impact on geometrical aspects of map representations. Such coexisting representations of geographical features can, in particular, be observed in collaboratively created data sources (Mocnik et al., 2019), such as OpenStreetMap (OSM) data and maps generated from these. Competing representations of geographical features can reduce the readability of a map, but they can also open up opportunities to draw conclusions about the underlaying mental model (Mayer et al., 2020). When the people involved in the map creation process have different mental representations of a geographical feature, the representations they create often differ. This, in turn, impacts the readability, which refers to the process of transferring a map representation into a mental one, i.e., the process opposed to map creation, as there is often no clear and unambiguous correspondence between the symbols in the map and the represented geographical features (Scheider et al., 2009; Mocnik et al., 2018) Over time, these conceptualizations can mutually influence and lead to a convergence (Mocnik et al., 2017). Despite this, the coexistence of different cartographic representations makes possible to draw conclusions about the way a feature has been conceptualized. The symbols in the map encode, accordingly, besides the intended information about the geographical features, also information about the mental models involved (Mayer et al., 2020). The effect of mental models on the map representation often goes unnoticed because there is, in many cases, only very subtle variation between the map representations of one type of geographical features. If such variation would be much larger, it would even be impossible to interpret the symbols of a map. While the examples discussed above can be traced very well in individual cases, it is yet unclear how systematic the influence of mental models is. A systematic examination of such examples can investigate the influence statistically and at a larger scale. Further research might show the extent to which conclusions can practically be drawn about the conceptualization of geographical features and corresponding mental representations. The ability to trace mental models through maps is a suitable tool for exploring the conceptualization of geographies. For instance, future research might investigate in detail the impact culture has on the way we conceptualize. Likewise, it might investigate how people experience urban landscapes in different ways. By using maps and the data behind them as a source of information for mental models, maps gain a new purpose while the original one is put into the background. While such thinking is common for sketch maps, it also also applies, to a lesser degree, to Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), which can become a valuable data source for ethnologists, human geographers, psychologists, and cognitive scientists. In a similar way, a better understanding of how mental models relate to cartographic representations can help to improve the latter. The cartographic representation of idiosyncratically experienced geographies, for instance, still poses challenges. Also, stories are, in many cases, hard to convey through classical maps (Mocnik and Fairbairn, 2018). The same applies to places and corresponding cartographic representations, which often are characterized by subjective and idiosyncratic aspects (Westerholt et al., 2018; Westerholt et al., 2020). The empirical investigation of the effect mental models have on cartographic representations can be expected to also provide insights into the reverse process, thus leading to cartographic techniques that make it possible to convey idiosyncratic experience and, eventually, also emotions.


The false marking statute was designed to prevent products from being labeled with patents that do not apply to them, but the Federal Circuit recently extended its reach to prevent labeling products with expired patent numbers. This decision has spurred litigation by third parties against the makers of articles covered by expired patents. If this litigation continues, it will create incentives for manufacturers not to mark their products, contravening the public notice function of the patent act. This Note argues that articles covered by now-expired patents should not be considered unpatented articles for the purposes of the false marking statute. Allowing continued labeling after expiration of the patent is consistent with judicial precedent and the policies underlying the false marking statute. The Federal Circuit or Congress should act to exclude labeling articles covered by valid but now-expired patents from being false marking. This restriction would prevent the development of incentives not to mark, avert exploitative litigation, and limit the enforcement of the false marking statute to violations that have the potential to cause serious harm to the public.


In this paper, air gaps were embedded in the n-GaN layer to improve light output power of InGaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Si ions (Si±28) were implanted on the n-GaN surface, causing a lattice constant disorder. Therefore, the GaN grown on the Si-implanted areas had a lower growth rate than the implantation-free regions. Without using a dielectric thin film, lateral epitaxial overgrowth technique was used to form air gaps above the implanted regions and below the active layers of InGaN LEDs. We proposed the growth mechanisms of GaN layer on the Si-implanted GaN templates and characterized the InGaN-based LEDs with embedded air gaps array. With a 20-mA current injection, experimental results indicate that light output power (LOP) of the proposed LEDs was enhanced by 36%, compared with those of the conventional LEDs. This enhancement can be attributed to the light scattering at the textured GaN/gap interfaces to increase the effective light escape cone in the LEDs. Based on ray tracing simulation, if the height and the width of bottom of gaps were increased to 3 μm, the Lop could be enhanced over 70%.


ABSTRACT Recent field work in Lao PDR and the Malaysian state of Sabah produced multiple collections of a large-flowered Ipomoea that appeared to be the same species. The disjunct distribution, however, seemed anomalous. Checking type images and other specimens led to the name I. cambodiensis Gagnep. & Courchet, described from Cambodia. A full description, distribution map, discussion of the taxonomy, ecology, and perceived relationships, plus a compilation of all specimens seen to date are provided for this enigmatic and heretofore little known species.


"Researchers deal new blow to vaccination" and "London study links children's vaccine to serious disease" proclaimed Britain's newspapers last week.

This latest media scare about the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine has left UK doctors fighting a rearguard action to try to minimise damage to vaccine uptake rates, already compromised by previous scares. The research on which the media reports were based linked paramyxovirus infection in childhood with subsequent inflammatory bowel disease (Gastroenterology 1999;116:796-803).

Scott Montgomery and colleagues from the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London analysed data from 7019 members of a nationally representative British cohort born in 1970. They identified subjects with inflammatory bowel disease and looked at the pattern of childhood infections recorded before the onset of the condition. They found that measles and mumps infections occurring together in the same year of life were significantly associated with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, with odds ratios of 7.47 (95%confidence interval 2.42 to 23.06) and 4.27 (1.24 to 14.46) respectively, but not with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, which they studied as a control disease. They concluded that atypical paramyxovirus infections in childhood may be risk factors for later development of inflammatory bowel disease.

Some sections of the UK media leapt on the new research …


Background In patients with oesophageal achalasia, pneumatic dilation is the treatment of choice, but it bears the risk of perforation in about 4% of cases. A new nonsurgical method, intrasphincteric injection of botulinum toxin A has shown promising initial results. Purpose To evaluate clinical response following administration of botulinum toxin type A in a patient with oesophageal achalasia. Materials and methods We report the case of an 85-year-old woman with oesophageal achalasia. The patient was admitted to our hospital for surgery for a fractured femur. During the rehabilitation period she developed progressive dysphagia to liquids and solids with regurgitation, needing parenteral nutrition. Gastroscopy was performed and showed oesophageal substenosis with normal-looking mucosa that was diagnosed as oesophageal achalasia. It was considered appropriate to administer botulinum toxin type A (Botox). Following current legislation regulating the off-label use of drugs (RD 1015/2009 and Instruction 05/ 2010 CatSalut), we required the patient's consent and the authorisation of the medical director. Results A new gastroscopy was performed and 25 IU of botulinum toxin type A were injected in each oesophageal quadrant (total 100 IU). The patient started to eat normally again after 24 h with good tolerance. Conclusions The endoscopy findings and good clinical response to botulinum toxin type A confirmed the first diagnosis as oesophageal achalasia. In this patient, botulinum toxin type A administration was very effective. Currently after 6 months, she persists without dysphagia and continues to eat normally. The results of several clinical trials show that botulinum toxin type A is effective in the treatment of dysphagia. In patients who are not candidates for aggressive treatments such as pneumatic dilation or surgical myotomy, especially in elderly patients, endoscopic intramucosal administration of botulinum toxin type A appears a good alternative. No conflict of interest.


One key consequence of give-away privatizations was that public housing in most post-socialist states declined within a few years to a residual share of total housing market. Despite the large differences in public/social housing policies introduced after 1995, this article will show that that almost all new social housing measures proved to be unsustainable, ineffective and often had the unintended consequence of further enhancing homeownership tenure in post-socialist housing systems. The reasons for the limited success of new social housing policies are attributed to broader historical and institutional factors, such as the 'privatization trap', the 'decentralization paradox', the impact of the informal economy and a strong socialist legacy in housing policies. These findings contribute to the study of how post-socialist housing systems emerged, and reveal how short-term policies can produce long-term structural change and can become a barrier to effective and sustainable social housing policies.


This paper considers structural and algorithmic problems in stochastic loss networks. The very popular Erlang approximation can be shown to provide relatively poor performance estimates, especially for loss networks in the critically loaded regime. This paper proposes a novel algorithm for estimating the stationary loss probabilities in stochastic loss networks based on structural properties of the exact stationary distribution, which is shown to always converge, exponentially fast, to the asymptotically exact results. Using a variational characterization of the stationary distribution, an alternative proof is provided for an important result due to Kelly, which is simpler and may be of interest in its own right. This paper also determines structural properties of the inverse Erlang function characterizing the region of capacities that ensures offered traffic is served within a set of loss probabilities. Numerical experiments investigate various issues of both theoretical and practical interest.


We replicate nine key results from the happiness literature: the Easterlin Paradox, the 'U-shaped' relation between happiness and age, the happiness trade-off between inflation and unemployment, cross-country comparisons of happiness, the impact of the Moving to Opportunity program on happiness, the impact of marriage and children on happiness, the 'paradox' of declining female happiness, and the effect of disability on happiness. We show that none of the findings can be obtained relying only on nonparametric identification. The findings in the literature are highly dependent on one's beliefs about the underlying distribution of happiness in society, or the social welfare function one chooses to adopt. Furthermore, any conclusions reached from these parametric approaches rely on the assumption that all individuals report their happiness in the same way. When the data permit, we test for equal reporting functions, conditional on the existence of a common cardinalization from the normal family. We reject this assumption in all cases in which we test it.


The qualitative survey by interviewing 6 famous Lithuanian experts show that Lithuanian assistance provided to Eastern region in the field of health care has been quite significant. Lithuanian experts declare Lithuania as an example for the Eastern region states. Russian language and similar historical background also experience in health policy facilitates cooperation. The support in every case was given by both public and private sector. Almost in all cases funding came from international organizations (except for university cooperation). Corruption and opaque relationships coupled with poor health management are the main difficulties to provide quick and effective assistance to Eastern region states. The main obstacles also are: poor medical management, uneffectively used human and capital resources, the unwillingness of improving the knowledge and skills. Lithuanian government's interest in the assistance to health care for Eastern region is too small. More attention and international cooperation for example in conferences, seminars and training courses and more efficient cross-border cooperation can be recommended in future. That can improve cross-border co-operation with the Eastern region, focusing not only on economic and security issues, but taking into account the perspective of a healthy neighborhood.


ABSTRACT The Molve Field is the most important gas-condensate reservoir in Croatia. This petroleum system is not typical for the Pannonian System, because it comprises several reservoir lithologies, relatively high structural closure and significant tectonic influence on the field's compartmentalization. Strike-slip extension in the Middle Miocene and younger Late Miocene and Pliocene tectonics formed the present-day tectonic setting. Reservoir stratigraphy includes four lithofacies (from Devonian to Neogene) with a unique gas-water contact. The lithologies encompass cataclased granite, gneiss, schists, quartzites, dolomites, limestones and grainstones. Source rocks were generated in lacustrine organic facies and migration occurred in the Late Miocene to Pliocene. Reservoir gas includes 4.5–15.7% C2+, but also non-hydrocarbon components. Analysed porosity data were approximated with a normal-distribution curve in lithofacies I, II and III, making it possible to calculate mean and variance easily by descriptive statistics. Moreover, gas production and effective thicknesses generally can be linked through a linear trend. However, significant deviations in the expected increased production rate with regard to greater reservoir thickness are observed for particular wells. This is a result of locally abrupt changes in effective porosities and permeabilities, and the size of the drainage area along the main fault zones. These faults resulted in significant compartmentalization of the field. Furthermore, owing to significant facies variations, permeability and porosity gradually change, especially in the vertical direction. Significant reserves of condensate (3 × 106 m3) and gas (43 500 × 106 m3) with a high recovery rate of 71% make this field significant for geological reservoir models. The well-established geological model for this field and its stable high pressure have maintained production rates at a present level of approximately 2900 m3 gas and 165 m3 condensate per day, thus providing a valuable example for other large heterogeneous reservoirs in the Pannonian Basin.


Noun phrases (nps) are a crucial part of natural language, and can have a very complex structure. However, this np structure is largely ignored by the statistical parsing field, as the most widely used corpus is not annotated with it. This lack of gold-standard data has restricted previous efforts to parse nps, making it impossible to perform the supervised experiments that have achieved high performance in so many Natural Language Processing (nlp) tasks. We comprehensively solve this problem by manually annotating np structure for the entire Wall Street Journal section of the Penn Treebank. The inter-annotator agreement scores that we attain dispel the belief that the task is too difficult, and demonstrate that consistent np annotation is possible. Our gold-standard np data is now available for use in all parsers. We experiment with this new data, applying the Collins (2003) parsing model, and find that its recovery of np structure is significantly worse than its overall performance. The parser's F-score is up to 5.69% lower than a baseline that uses deterministic rules. Through much experimentation, we determine that this result is primarily caused by a lack of lexical information. To solve this problem we construct a wide-coverage, large-scale np Bracketing system. With our Penn Treebank data set, which is orders of magnitude larger than those used previously, we build a supervised model that achieves excellent results. Our model performs at 93.8% F-score on the simple task that most previous work has undertaken, and extends to bracket longer, more complex nps that are rarely dealt with in the literature. We attain 89.14% F-score on this much more difficult task. Finally, we implement a post-processing module that brackets nps identified by the Bikel (2004) parser. Our np Bracketing model includes a wide variety of features that provide the lexical information that was missing during the parser experiments, and as a result, we outperform the parser's F-score by 9.04%. These experiments demonstrate the utility of the corpus, and show that many nlp applications can now make use of np structure.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of exposure to cold and warm environments on performance-related variables in cross country skiers, wearing standardized skiing clothing. We hypothesized that reducing ambient temperature, skin temperatures will gradually decrease despite increasing core temperature. In addition we hypothesized that the optimal ambient temperature for aerobe endurance performance with the existing cross country skiing suit would be at temperatures around 0 oC. Methods: Nine highly trained male endurance athletes performed one pre-test at 20 °C (±0.1) and six main tests under controlled ambient temperatures at -14 °C (±0.2), -9 °C (±0.1), -4 °C (±0.1), 1 °C (±0.2), 10 °C (±0.1) and 20°C (±0.1). Tests consisted of running on a treadmill with an inclination of 10.5% and a wind speed at 5.5 m·sek-1. The exercise protocol consisted of a 10 min warm up phase (60% of maximal oxygen consumption), a submaximal phase with four steps of 5 minutes with an intensity between 67- 91% of maximal oxygen consumption, and a maximal phase, running to exhaustion. Skin temperatures, rectal temperature, time to exhaustion, oxygen consumption, heart rate, blood lactate, loss of body mass, perceived strain and perceived thermal sensation were measured during the tests. Results: Mean skin temperature decreased significantly with reduced ambient temperatures, despite an increase in rectal temperature. Time to exhaustion was significantly longer at -4 °C and 1°C than at -14 °C, 10 °C and 20 °C. Running speed at lactate threshold was significantly higher at -4 °C than at -9 °C, 10 °C and 20°C. Submaximal oxygen consumption was significantly higher at 10 °C and 20 °C than the other ambient conditions, but no significant difference in VO2max between the ambient conditions were found. Conclusion: The results of the present study indicates an optimal aerobe endurance performance with the existing cross country skiing suit at -4 oC and 1 oC. At higher (10°C and 20°C) and lower (-14 °C and -9 °C) ambient temperatures the aerobe endurance performance was impaired.