Continental margins and their fossilized analogues are important repositories of natural resources. With better processing techniques and increased availability of high-resolution seismic and potential field data, imaging of present-day continental margins and their embedded sedimentary basins has reached unprecedented levels of refinement and definition, as illustrated by examples described in this volume. This, in turn, has led to greatly improved geological, geodynamic and numerical models for the crustal and mantle processes involved in continental margin formation from the initial stages of rifting through continental rupture and break-up to development of a new ocean basin. Further informing these models, and contributing to a better understanding of the features imaged in the seismic and potential field data, are observations made on fossilized fragments of exhumed subcontinental mantle lithosphere and ocean–continent transition zones preserved in ophiolites and orogenic belts of both Palaeozoic and Mesozoic age from several different continents, including Europe, South Asia and Australasia.


These essays offer a fresh perspective on the interrelationships between sense perception and secular and Christian cultures in England from the Middle Ages into the Early Modern period.


Methyl anthranilate (MA) is a grape-flavored food additive that is aversive to birds. Previous studies had indicated that anthranilates can deter frugivorous birds but that anthranilates are phytotoxic. In this study, I tested the bird repellency to 2 MA formulations on bluebeny plants in a large flight pen. Neither MA fonnulation protected the blueberries from damage by cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) or European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). The encapsulated formulation, however, was nonphytotoxic. Due to the on-going need for safe bird deterrent compounds, further development and testing of MA as a bird repellent on fruit is warranted. The most fruitful and cost-effective approach, however, might be to integrate MA use with other bird deterrent methods to lower the attractiveness of the cultivated fruit relative to available alternate foods.


The fresh concrete water‐cement ratio (w/c) determination tool is urgently needed for use in the quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) process at the job site. Various techniques have been used in the past to determine this parameter. However, many of these techniques can be complicated and time consuming. Furthermore, extensive calibration is often needed to correlate the properties measured by these techniques with w/c. During the course of this study, the method for use of unit weight for the determination of w/c of fresh concrete has been developed and evaluated on both laboratory and field concretes. Additionally, the accuracy of using microwave oven technique for w/c determination reported by previous research was confirmed. Finally, the accuracies of unit weight and microwave oven techniques for the determination of w/c were compared. The unit weights required for this method have been determined either by using a "zero‐air" procedure (ZAP) developed as a part of this study or by using conventional (following AASHTO specifications) methods. The ZAP technique was used to verify the w/c of 58 different laboratory concrete mixes. These verification efforts revealed that the minimum, maximum, standard error, and 95th percentile of the differences (∆w/c) between batched and determined w/c were, respectively, 0.000, 0.042, 0.017, and 0.030. The AASHTO determined unit weight (which also required measurements of the actual air content of concrete) was used to verify the w/c values of an additional set of 57 laboratory mixes. When using the AASHTO unit weights (and air contents) the minimum, maximum, standard error, and 95th percentile of ∆w/c were, respectively, 0.000, 0.075, 0.030, and 0.054. In addition, the AASHTO unit weight method was also used to verify the w/c values of 22 different field mixtures. For this case, the differences (∆w/c) between the design and unit weight‐calculated values of w/c were in the range ±0.030 for all but one mixture. Finally, direct comparison of the results from the proposed method with the results obtained from the microwave oven method revealed that the former is faster but slightly less accurate. Specifically, when used on five separate concrete samples, the accuracy of the microwave oven method was 0.010, much smaller than previously mentioned values of 0.030 (for the ZAP) and 0.054 (for the AASHTO) unit weight methods.


Urban areas can be large emitters of air pollutants leading to negative health effects and environmental degradation. The rate of venting of these airsheds determines the pollutant loading for given emission levels, and also determines the regional impacts of the urban plume. Mexico City has approximately 20 million people living in a high altitude basin with air pollutant concentrations above the health limits most days of the year. A mesoscale meteorological model (MM5) and a particle trajectory model (FLEXPART) are used to simulate air flow within the Mexico City basin and the fate of the urban plume during the MCMA-2003 field campaign. The simulated trajectories are validated against pilot balloon and radiosonde trajectories. The residence time of air within the basin and the impacted areas are identified by episode type. Three specific cases are analysed to identify the meteorological processes involved. For most days, residence times in the basin are less than 12 h with little carry-over from day to day and little recirculation of air back into the basin. Very efficient vertical mixing leads to a vertically diluted plume which, in April, is transported predominantly towards the Gulf of Mexico. Regional accumulation was found to take place for some days however, with urban emissions sometimes staying over Mexico for more than 6 days. Knowledge of the residence times, recirculation patterns and venting mechanisms will be useful in guiding policies for improving the air quality of the MCMA.


Amorphous AlN (a-AlN) is modeled by melt-and-quench technique using ab initio molecular dynamic simulations. For the first time, three-dimensional hexagonal-like nanoclusters embedded in amorphous matrix are proposed for a-AlN. The model is chemically ordered and dominantly fourfold coordinated, but its short-range order is partially different from the crystalline morphology due to the nanoclusters. The model is semiconducting with a theoretical band gap of 1.7 eV.


The propagation properties of strip waveguides are analyzed by a mode-matching technique. Mode coupling, which causes leakage effects, is taken into account in the analysis. The numerical results for the attenuation constants of the first three leaky modes are presented as a function of the strip width. The numerical results obtained by the present method are compared with other theoretical and experimental results. It is found that the higherorder leaky modes have varied and interesting properties, as does the fundamental leaky mode.


EthicsResearchers will be releasing parts of their collections of samples taken from the Yanomamo in Brazil and Venezuela during fieldwork in the 1960s and early 1970s to the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C., which in turn will escort them back to Brazil and the Yanomamo tribe. Venezuela has not asked for samples taken from its Yanomamo tribes. The return marks at least the third time that an indigenous group has retrieved DNA or other tissue from scientists, suggesting a shifting landscape in genetics studies on indigenous people.


The recent recession has brought fiscal policy back to the forefront, with economists and policy makers struggling to reach a consensus on highly political issues like tax rates and government spending. At the heart of the debate are fiscal multipliers, whose size and sensitivity determine the power of such policies to influence economic growth. Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis focuses on the effects of fiscal stimuli and increased government spending, with contributions that consider the measurement of the multiplier effect and its size. In the face of uncertainty over the sustainability of recent economic policies, further contributions to this volume discuss the merits of alternate means of debt reduction through decreased government spending or increased taxes. A final section examines how the short-term political forces driving fiscal policy might be balanced with aspects of the long-term planning governing monetary policy. A direct intervention in timely debates, Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis offers invaluable insights about various responses to the recent financial crisis.


We review recent work on broadband RF channelizers based on integrated optical frequency Kerr micro-combs combined with passive micro-ring resonator filters, with microcombs having channel spacings of 200GHz and 49GHz. This approach to realizing RF channelizers offers reduced complexity, size, and potential cost for a wide range of applications to microwave signal detection.


Car ownership is growing in many countries.While beneficial to individuals in many cases, this trend has often resulted in significant economic, social, and environmental costs to society more generally. In researching possible solutions, one approach is to look at particular areas or communities that exhibit less reliance on the car or are even 'car free' to some extent, in order to see if lessons can be learned. Accordingly, this study seeks to define and characterize transport practices in Amish communities—in groups located across the United States and Canada—which for religious reasons have eschewed the car. Specifically, the paper draws on a comprehensive literature and archival review, supplemented with expert interviews, to briefly outline Amish beliefs and traditions, and then relate how these influence people's mobility by mode, journey purpose, community, and stage of life. The study considers mobility by utilizing twelve broad mobilities as motivations, along with examples applied across six suggested stages of life. The twelve motivations considered are: migration; business / profession; discovery; medical related; military related; post-employment; trailing travel; travel across modes; travel for service work; tourist travel; visiting friends / relatives; and work / commuting. The six life stages are infancy, preschool, scholars, young people, adults, and old folks. The impacts of Amish transport are then considered with respect to society more broadly but also for each of the life stages.


The publication offers guidance on how Higher Education
programmes for professionals training to work with children
and young people might be developed or adapted to
incorporate appropriate elements of global citizenship.
Teaching citizenship education is far from homogeneous
among the countries of the European Union. This creates a
challenge for educators teaching the subject, especially as
the concept of citizenship has taken on increasing importance
as Europe enlarges and converges. The educators' role in
promoting responsible citizenship is highlighted by the
Council of Europe: the social agenda gives the education
system a key role in developing responsible citizenship within
a democratically based society for young Europeans (CoE,
2004). The relevance of such educational goals is underlined
by the impact of globalisation on world citizens. An
increasingly 'interconnected world' means people coexist in
ever-changing societies, in which patterns of relations
broaden and diversify continuously. The notion of citizenship
now includes the harmonious coexistence of different
communities in local, regional, national and international
contexts.
Against this background the education system is an
important medium through which equity, inclusion and social
cohesion can be imparted. Social inclusion and active
citizenship are among the three strategic goals for European
education and training systems adopted by the Council of
Europe (CoE, 2001). Arguably, the education system can
contribute to promoting social cohesion and active citizenship
through informing pupils about what it means to be a citizen.
Students need to know the rights and duties entailed in
citizenship and to an idea of citizenship of the country in
which they live (which might be conceptualised differently in
other countries). Despite apparently universal aims, official
descriptions of citizenship education in different countries
show a wide range of definitions and different objectives.
Most aims include the development of political literacy, of
attitudes and values integral to responsible citizenship and
encouraging active participation in public life. But official
documents show some countries focus on particular areas,
such as political literacy, while others may target active
participation (Eurydice, 2005). Understandably, European
guidance on citizenship education has prioritised the
European dimension and has given less emphasis to global
aspects.
The effective teaching of citizenship education depends on
the skills, knowledge and commitment of the teacher. Given
the diversity of how citizenship education is incorporated into the curriculum, the different ways in which it is shaped as a
subject, the varying levels of support for teachers, and the
disparate levels and means of training for teachers, it is
inevitable that many teachers may find themselves lost in
the vast array of approaches, theories, policies and ideas
about what they should teach and do. These guidelines
outline what teacher trainers should bear in mind when
working with student teachers. Both teachers and teacher
trainers need to be aware of how their disciplines have an
impact on the world, whether or not they are working in the
field of citizenship education. Helping young pupils to become
responsible global citizens is the role of all educators, no
matter what their specialist subject.


A connected graph $G$ with at least $2m + 2n + 2$ vertices which contains a perfect matching is $E(m, n)$-{\it extendable}, if for any two sets of disjoint independent edges $M$ and $N$ with $|M| = m$ and $|N|= n$, there is a perfect matching $F$ in $G$ such that $M\subseteq F$ and $N\cap F=\emptyset$. Similarly, a connected graph with at least $n+2k+2$ vertices is called $(n,k)$-{\it extendable} if for any vertex set $S$ of size $n$ and any matching $M$ of size $k$ of $G-S$, $G-S-V(M)$ contains a perfect matching. Let $\varepsilon$ be a small positive constant, $b(G)$ and $t(G)$ be the binding number and toughness of a graph $G$. The two main theorems of this paper are: for every graph $G$ with sufficiently large order, 1) if $b(G)\geq 4/3+\varepsilon$, then $G$ is $E(m,n)$-extendable and also $(n,k)$-extendable; 2) if $t(G)\geq 1+\varepsilon$ and $G$ has a high connectivity, then $G$ is $E(m,n)$-extendable and also $(n,k)$-extendable. It is worth to point out that the binding number and toughness conditions for the existence of the general matching extension properties are almost same as that for the existence of perfect matchings.


This essay situates Tetsuro Watsuji within contemporary approaches to social cognition. It argues for Watsuji's current relevance, suggesting that his analysis of embodiment and social space puts him in step with some of the concerns driving ongoing treatments of social cognition in philosophy of mind and cognitive science. It is further shown how Watsuji offers a fruitful contribution to this discussion by lending a phenomenologically informed critical perspective. First, some interpretative work is done to explore Watsuji's conception of embodied intersubjectivity. The focus in particular is on Watsuji's conception of what is termed here the "hybrid" body as well as his distinctive treatment of interpersonal space—what Watsuji terms "betweenness" (aidagara). Next, these notions are connected to current treatments of social cognition within philosophy of mind and cognitive science. Made explicit are several of the ways that Watsuji challenges the core cognitivist and internalist presuppositions behind the Theory of Mind paradigm, and experimental work is drawn from, among other sources, developmental psychology and gesture studies to support Watsuji's alternative characterization of embodied social interaction.


In 2008, the South African parliament passed the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act, which came into effect on 2 August 2010. In doing so, South Africa sought to replicate the apparent success of the United States of America's Bayh-Dole legislation. One of the express objectives of the Bayh-Dole Act is the increase in university-industry collaborations (U-I). Whilst U-I has not been expressly stated as a primary aim of the IPR Act, the legislative history has demonstrated that issues relating to U-I have permeated the political landscape from the inception of the IPR Act. It is therefore relevant – although hitherto unexplored – to consider whether South Africa's IPR Act might have the same supposedly positive effect on U-I experienced by the Bayh-Dole Act. In answering this question, this paper chooses to focus on two factors that may be considered particularly pertinent in light of South Africa's recent socio-legal landscape, namely (a) the lack of substantive patent examinations, and (b) government investment in higher education. To this end, it will be argued that the IPR Act will only serve to have a negative effect on U-I, if any at all.


Inventories are raw materials, work-in-process goods and completely finished goods that are considered to be the portion of business's assets that are ready or will be ready for sale.  Formulating a suitable inventory model is one of the major concerns for an industry.  The earliest scientific inventory management researches date back to the second decade of the past century, but the interest in this scientific area is still great. Again considering the reliability of any process is an important feature in the research activities. Values of some factors are very hard to define or almost unreal. In such cases, AI models of inventory management take an important place.


Abstract Lower Triassic marine strata in Spitsbergen accumulated on a mid-to-high latitude ramp in which high-energy foreshore and shoreface facies passed offshore into sheet sandstones of probable hyperpycnite origin. More distal facies include siltstones, shales and dolomitic limestones. Carbon isotope chemostratigraphy comparison allows improved age dating of the Boreal sections and shows a significant hiatus in the upper Spathian. Two major deepening events, in earliest Griesbachian and late Smithian time, are separated by shallowing-upwards trends that culminated in the Dienerian and Spathian substages. The redox record, revealed by changes in bioturbation, palaeoecology, pyrite framboid content and trace metal concentrations, shows anoxic phases alternating with intervals of better ventilation. Only Dienerian–early Smithian time witnessed persistent oxygenation that was sufficient to support a diverse benthic community. The most intensely anoxic, usually euxinic, conditions are best developed in offshore settings, but at times euxinia also developed in upper offshore settings where it is even recorded in hyperpycnite and storm-origin sandstone beds: an extraordinary facet of Spitsbergen's record. The euxinic phases do not track relative water depth changes. For example, the continuous shallowing upwards from the Griesbachian to lower Dienerian was witness to several euxinic phases separated by intervals of more oxic, bioturbated sediments. It is likely that the euxinia was controlled by climatic oscillations rather than intra-basinal factors. It remains to be seen if all the anoxic phases found in Spitsbergen are seen elsewhere, although the wide spread of anoxic facies in the Smithian/Spathian boundary interval is clearly a global event.


Cellulase was covalently immobilized using a hydrophilic polyurethane foam (HypoI| 2002). Compared to the free enzyme, immobilized cellulase showed a dramatic decrease (7.5-fold) in the Michaelis constant for carboxymethylcellulose. The immobilized enzyme also had a broader and more basic pH optimum (pH 5.5-6.0), a greater stability under heat-denaturing or liquid nitrogen-freezing conditions, and was relatively more efficient in utilizing insoluble cellulose substrates. High molecular weight compounds (Blue Dextran) could move throughout the foam matrix, indicating permeability to insoluble celluloses; activity could be further improved 2.4-fold after powdering foams under liquid nitrogen. The improved kinetic and stability features of the immobilized cellulase combined with advantageous properties of the polyurethane foam (resistance to enzymatic degradation, plasticity of shape and size) suggest that this mechanism of cellulase immobilization has high potential for application in the industrial degradation of celluloses. Index Entries: Cellulase; enzyme immobilization; polyurethane foam; cellulose degradation.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of a rare disease that causes severe arterial hypertension in children. It is important to advise pediatricians to measure arterial pressure in children in order to avoid late diagnosis and renal insufficiency.

DESCRIPTION
We report a case of a 13-year-old patient that presented typical clinical and laboratorial features of Liddle's syndrome. The diagnosis was established based on the clinical picture associated with the presence of chronic hypokalemia, increase of urinary potassium excretion with sodium retention and reduction of renin plasma activity, and circulating levels of angiotensin II and aldosterone. In a spite of the initial therapeutic response to triamterene, the patient developed progressive renal failure due to the delay in the diagnosis and the poorly controlled hypertension.

COMMENTS
Liddle's syndrome consists of a form of pseudoaldosteronism characterized by arterial hypertension, hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis and failure to thrive. Some aspects regarding physiopathology, diagnosis and treatment are discussed.


This document provides a framework for establishing and controlling
Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Generalized MPLS (GMPLS)
Traffic Engineered (TE) Label Switched Paths (LSPs) in multi-domain
networks. For the purposes of this document, a domain is considered
to be any collection of network elements within a common sphere of
address management or path computational responsibility. Examples of
such domains include Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) areas and
Autonomous Systems (ASes). This memo provides information for the
Internet community.


Abstract. Geologically rapid climate change is anticipated to increase extinction risk nonuniformly across the Earth's surface. Tropical species may be more vulnerable than temperate species to current climate warming because of high tropical climate velocities and reduced seawater oxygen levels. To test whether rapid warming indeed preferentially increased the extinction risk of tropical fossil taxa, we combine a robust statistical assessment of latitudinal extinction selectivity (LES) with the dominant views on climate change occurring at ancient extinction crises. Using a global data set of marine fossil occurrences, we assess extinction rates for tropical and temperate genera, applying log ratios to assess effect size and Akaike weights for model support. Among the classical "big five" mass extinction episodes, the end-Permian mass extinction exhibits temperate preference of extinctions, whereas the Late Devonian and end-Triassic selectively hit tropical genera. Simple links between the inferred direction of climate change and LES are idiosyncratic, both during crisis and background intervals. More complex models, including sampling patterns and changes in the latitudinal distribution of continental shelf area, show tropical LES to be generally associated with raised tropical heat and temperate LES with global cold temperatures. With implications for the future, our paper demonstrates the consistency of high tropical temperatures, habitat loss, and the capacity of both to interact in generating geographic patterns in extinctions.


SUMMARY Despite significant expansion of the global protected area (PA) network, this investment has not commonly been matched by investment in their management. This includes managing trade-offs between social and biodiversity goals, including resource use in PAs. While some resource-use activities receive significant attention, the full suite of resources extracted from PA systems is rarely documented. This paper illustrates the potential risk of resource use to PA ecological performance through a survey of resources harvested in South Africa's national parks. Even for this comparatively well-managed suite of parks, significant data gaps preclude assessments of harvest sustainability. Harvest quantities were known for < 8% of the 341 used resources, while 23% were not identified to species level. International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List conservation status had not been evaluated for 78% of species, and 31% of all species (83% of marine species) had not been evaluated nationally. Protected areas face ongoing pressure to balance people-based and biodiversity outcomes, but whether or not both objectives can be achieved cannot be assessed without adequate data. Managing PAs in future will require consideration of trade-offs between investing in PA expansion, increasing the monitoring and management capacity of PA agencies, and investing in the research needed to support decision making.


Biomass represents an abundant carbon-neutral renewable resource for the production of bioenergy and biomaterials, and its enhanced use would address several societal needs. Advances in genetics, biotechnology, process chemistry, and engineering are leading to a new manufacturing concept for converting renewable biomass to valuable fuels and products, generally referred to as the biorefinery. The integration of agroenergy crops and biorefinery manufacturing technologies offers the potential for the development of sustainable biopower and biomaterials that will lead to a new manufacturing paradigm.


Incubation with cucumber phloem exudate in vitro results in a dramatic decrease in the electrophoretic mobility of Hop stunt viroid. UV cross-linking and a combination of size exclusion and ion exchange chromatography indicate that this phenomenon reflects a previously unsuspected ability of phloem protein 2, a dimeric lectin and the most abundant component of phloem exudate, to interact with RNA. In light of its demonstrated ability to move from cell to cell via plasmodesmata as well as long distances in the phloem, our results suggest that phloem protein 2 may facilitate the systemic movement of viroids and, possibly, other RNAs in vivo.


Background Telehealth use is increasing due to its ability to overcome service access barriers and provide continued care when disease transmission is of concern. However, little is known of the validity, reliability and utility of performing physiotherapy assessments using synchronous forms of telehealth across all physiotherapy practice areas. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the current clinometric value of performing physiotherapy assessments using synchronous forms of telehealth across all areas of physiotherapy practice. Methods A comprehensive search of databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library, Embase and EBSCO) was undertaken to identify studies investigating the clinometric value of performing physiotherapy assessments using synchronous forms of telehealth across all physiotherapy practice areas. Following selection, a quality appraisal was conducted using the Brink and Louw or Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Evidence regarding validity, reliability and utility of synchronous telehealth physiotherapy assessments was extracted and synthesised using a critical narrative approach. Results Thirty-nine studies conducted in a variety of simulated (n = 15) or real-world telehealth environments (n = 24), were included. The quality of the validity, reliability and utility studies varied. Assessments including range of movement, muscle strength, endurance, pain, special orthopaedic tests (shoulder/elbow), Berg Balance Scale, timed up and go, timed stance test, six-minute walk test, steps in 360-degree turn, Movement Assessment Battery for Children (2nd Edition), step test, ABILHAND assessment, active straight leg raise, and circumferential measures of the upper limb were reported as valid/reliable in limited populations and settings (many with small sample sizes). Participants appeared to embrace telehealth technology use, with most studies reporting high levels of participant satisfaction. If given a choice, many reported a preference for in-person physiotherapy assessments. Some inconsistencies in visual/auditory quality and challenges with verbal/non-verbal communication methods were reported. Telehealth was considered relatively cost-effective once services were established. Conclusions Performing physiotherapy assessments using synchronous forms of telehealth appears valid and reliable for specific assessment types in limited populations. Further research is needed in all areas of physiotherapy practice, to strengthen the evidence surrounding its clinometric value. Clinicians contemplating using this assessment mode should consider the client/family preferences, assessment requirements, cultural needs, environment, cost considerations, access and confidence using technology. Protocol registration PROSPERO: CRD42018108166.


We predict that in arrays of quantum dots (0D superlattice) and arrays of one-dimensional quantum wires (1D superlattice) chaotic transport should be observed in the presence of an ac field and for a wide range of physical parameters, like the external dc bias, contact charge, doping levels, and disorder in the array. Time-dependent current oscillations set in the array due to the formation of electric domain walls when sequential resonant tunneling is the main transport mechanism between adjacent units. Such oscillations can then be forced into spatiotemporal chaos. A similar phenomenon has been predicted and demonstrated for solid-state superlattices. However, contrary to the latter case, the domain walls move across a larger number of units in the superlattice the lower the dimensionality, due to the different spatial distribution of the electric-field across the array in the three cases.


Narratives of mourning and healing have become a popular discourse in films about animalhuman relationships set in the contemporary East Asian urban milieu. From the mainstream to the arthouse, from micro films to personal documentaries, images of the dying pet have triggered poignant revelations about human existence. While most of these films focus on the process of how the human protagonists come to the enlightening moment of self-understanding through the grieving experience, the deaths of their animal companions are often the imperative origins of such self-making. Interestingly, the cause of these animals' loss is either evaded by or mirrored through human illness in these cinematic Bildungsromane. Given such a lacuna in the interpretive context, how do we read these textual animals who are dying in the arms of their fragile human companions? How do the interspecies life-and-death stories illuminate the dialectics of alienation and intimacy of the city dwellers? How does the claustrophilic timespace of the cinematic medium articulate and habituate these affective stories of failures and recovery? How do we produce a critical reflection on the imaginary of vulnerability, the ethics of care, and fabulations of inadequacy and sentimentality in the cosmopolitan East Asian cities where pet-keeping is becoming en vogue and a sign of economic prosperity? Through a comparative study of Quill (dir. Yochi Sai, Japan, 2004), Gu Gu The Cat (dir. Isshin Inudo, Japan, 2008), and This Darling Life (dir. Angie Chen, Hong Kong, 2008), this paper attempts to examine the urban phenomenon that while animals have become vital participants of everyday life, human beings are facing a (de)pressing need to rethink their affective network with these nonhuman urban residents. These stories of failures – the failure of language in articulating the loss of the animal other in the human milieu as well as the failure of knowing oneself until the inconceivable moment of loss and death – signify the therapeutic journey in which the seeking of interpretation beyond language becomes an essential process toward a more limpid subjectivity both within and outside the narrative chronotope. By studying the representation of selected 'cute' animal images and their tragic deaths on East Asian screens, this paper aims at exploring the transference of vulnerability and power between the animal beings and their human counterparts. This journal article is available in Animal Studies Journal: https://ro.uow.edu.au/asj/vol4/iss1/5 VULNERABILITY IN THE CITY 57 Vulnerability in the City: Reading Healing Narratives in East Asian Animal Films Fiona Y.W. Law University of Hong Kong Abstract: Narratives of mourning and healing have become a popular discourse in films about animalNarratives of mourning and healing have become a popular discourse in films about animalhuman relationships set in the contemporary East Asian urban milieu. From the mainstream to the arthouse, from micro films to personal documentaries, images of the dying pet have triggered poignant revelations about human existence. While most of these films focus on the process of how the human protagonists come to the enlightening moment of self-understanding through the grieving experience, the deaths of their animal companions are often the imperative origins of such self-making. Interestingly, the cause of these animals' loss is either evaded by or mirrored through human illness in these cinematic Bildungsromane. Given such a lacuna in the interpretive context, how do we read these textual animals who are dying in the arms of their fragile human companions? How do the interspecies life-and-death stories illuminate the dialectics of alienation and intimacy of the city dwellers? How does the claustrophilic timespace of the cinematic medium articulate and habituate these affective stories of failures and recovery? How do we produce a critical reflection on the imaginary of vulnerability, the ethics of care, and fabulations of inadequacy and sentimentality in the cosmopolitan East Asian cities where pet-keeping is becoming en vogue and a sign of economic prosperity? Through a comparative study of Quill (dir. Yochi Sai, Japan, 2004), Gu Gu The Cat (dir. Isshin Inudo, Japan, 2008), and This Darling Life (dir. Angie Chen, Hong Kong, 2008), this paper attempts to examine the urban phenomenon that while animals have become vital participants of everyday life, human beings are facing a (de)pressing need to rethink their affective network with these nonhuman urban residents. These stories of failures – the failure of language in articulating the loss of the animal other in the human milieu as well as the failure of knowing oneself until the inconceivable moment of loss and death – signify the therapeutic journey in which the seeking of interpretation beyond language becomes an essential process toward a more limpid subjectivity both within and outside the narrative chronotope. By studying the VULNERABILITY IN THE CITY 58 representation of selected 'cute' animal images and their tragic deaths on East Asian screens, this paper aims at exploring the transference of vulnerability and power between the animal beings and their human counterparts.


Multi-criteria decision support (MCDS) is crucial in many business and web applications such as web searches, B2B portals and on-line commerce. Such MCDS applications need to report results early; as soon as they are being generated so that they can react and formulate competitive decisions in near real-time. The ease in expressing user preferences in web-based applications has made Pareto-optimal (skyline) queries a popular class of MCDS queries. However, state-of-the-art techniques either focus on handling skylines on single input sets (i.e., no joins) or do not tackle the challenge of producing progressive early output results. In this work, we propose a progressive query evaluation framework ProgXe that transforms the execution of queries involving skyline over joins to be non-blocking, i.e., to be progressively generating results early and often. In ProgXe the query processing (join, mapping and skyline) is conducted at multiple levels of abstraction, thereby exploiting the knowledge gained from both input as well as mapped output spaces. This knowledge enables us to identify and reason about abstract-level relationships to guarantee correctness of early output. It also provides optimization opportunities previously missed by current techniques. To further optimize ProgXe, we incorporate an ordering technique that optimizes the rate at which results are reported by translating the optimization of tuple-level processing into a job-sequencing problem. Our experimental study over a wide variety of data sets demonstrates the superiority of our approach over state-of-the-art techniques.


From the creators of the hugely popular tumblr site, 'Cabin Porn', comes this collection of breath-taking photography of rural escapes and inspiring stories of people who've created their dream home. A simple shelter, somewhere peaceful, surrounded by nature...wherever you dream of having your quiet place, these rural escapes are for anyone yearning for a different kind of existence. Cabin Porn began as an online project created by a group of friends to inspire their own homebuilding. As they collected more photos, their site attracted thousands of submissions from other cabin builders and a passionate audience of more than ten million people. This book is an invitation to slow down, take a deep breath, and enjoy the beauty and serenity that happens when nature meets simple craft.


To understand the neural basis of implicit memory, a cortical neural network was modeled and simulated. As a cognitive process that relies on implicit memory, we employed "priming", in which the identification of a stimulus is facilitated as a consequence of prior exposure to it. The network was trained to learn a visual scene that contains multiple objects each of which is composed of features with different sensory modalities. After the training, limit-cycle attractors corresponding to the learned objects are formed in the dynamic system of the network. Each limit-cycle attractor contains point attractors corresponding to the features of an individual object. In the priming test, the network is first stimulated (primed) with a cue feature that belongs to one of the objects. After the stimulation, we let the network identify one of its associate feature stimuli that belong to the same object. The identification of the associate stimulus is greatly enhanced if the cue stimulus is presented before the identification process, thus the network is primed. We demonstrate that the neural basis of implicit memory arises from the stabilization of relevant attractors, which is established by the rapid and small increase in the strength of synaptic connections during priming period. Repetitive trials of priming are stored as experience, in which synaptic accumulation is essential for the storage of the experience.


Maps of the wildland– urban interface (WUI) are both policy tools and powerful visual images. Although the growing number of WUI maps serve similar purposes, this article indicates that WUI maps derived from the same data sets can differ in important ways related to their original intended application. We discuss the use of ancillary data in modifying census data to improve WUI maps and offer a cautionary note about this practice. A comparison of two WUI mapping approaches suggests that no single map is "best" because users' needs vary. The analysts who create maps are responsible for ensuring that users understand their purpose, data, and methods; map users are responsible for paying attention to these features and using each map accordingly. These considerations should apply to any analysis but are especially important to analyses of the WUI on which policy decisions will be made.


Kazakhstan owns one of the largest global oil reserves (~3%). This paper aims at investigating the challenges and potentials for production from weakly-consolidated and unconsolidated oil sandstone reserves in Kazakhstan.
 We used the published information in the literature, especially those including comparative studies between Kazakhstan and North America. Weakly consolidated and unconsolidated oil reserves, in Kazakhstan, were studied in terms of the depth, pay-zone thickness, viscosity, particle size distribution, clay content, porosity, permeability, gas cap, bottom water, mineralogy, solution gas, oil saturation, and homogeneity of the pay zone. The previous and current experiences in developing these reserves were outlined. The stress condition was also discussed. Furthermore, geological condition, including the existing structures, layers and formations were addressed for different reserves.
 Weakly consolidated heavy oil reserves in shallow depths (less than 500 m) with oil viscosity around 500 cP and thin pay zones (less than 10 m) have been successfully produced using cold methods, however, thicker zones could be produced using thermal options. Sand management is the main challenge in cold operations, while sand control is the main challenge in thermal operations. Tectonic history is more critical in comparison to the similar cases in North America. The complicated tectonic history, necessitates the geomechanical models to strategize the sand control especially in cased and perforated completion. These models are usually avoided in North America due to the less problematic conditions. Further investigation has shown that Inflow Control Devices (ICDs) could be utilized to limit the water breakthrough, as water coning is a common problem, which initiates and intensifies the sanding.
 This paper provides a review on challenges and potentials for sand control and sand management in heavy oil reserves of Kazakhstan, which could be used as a guideline for service companies and operators. This paper could be also used as an initial step for further investigations regarding the sand control and sand management in Kazakhstan.


Education policy makers have struggled for decades with the question of how to best serve high ability K‐12 students. As in the debate over selective college admissions, a key issue is targeting. Should gifted and talented programs be allocated on the basis of cognitive ability, or a broader combination of ability and achievement? Should there be a single admission threshold, or a lower bar for disadvantaged students? We use data from a large urban school district to study the impacts of assignment to separate gifted classrooms on three distinct groups of fourth grade students: non-disadvantaged students with IQ scores ≥130; subsidized lunch participants and English language learners with IQ scores ≥116; and students who miss the IQ thresholds but scored highest among their school/grade cohort in state-wide achievement tests in the previous year. Regression discontinuity estimates based on the IQ thresholds for the first two groups show no effects on reading or math achievement at the end of fourth grade. In contrast, estimates based on test score ranks for the third group show significant gains in reading and math, concentrated among lower-income and black and Hispanic students. The math gains persist to fifth grade and are also reflected in fifth grade science scores. Our findings suggest that a separate classroom environment is more effective for students selected on past achievement - particularly disadvantaged students who are often excluded from gifted and talented programs.


Abstract Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) and Loss of Flow Accident (LOFA) thermal simulations have been performed for the ARIES compact stellarator fusion power plant. The ARIES-CS design uses three separate coolant loops: lithium-lead (LiPb) in the blanket, helium in the blanket and the shield, and water in the vacuum vessel. The thermal response to LOCA/LOFA conditions was simulated using transient axisymmetric finite element models. In these analyses, the plasma was quenched three seconds after coolant loss, and the temperature of the chamber components subsequently increased due to the generated decay heat. Thermal simulations determined the maximum temperatures reached in the various components were below the 740°C temperature limit for the reusability of the ferritic steel structure.


Context: Despite being defined during the first phase of the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) process, the protocol is usually refined when other phases are performed. Several researchers have reported their experiences in applying SLRs in Software Engineering (SE) however, there is still a lack of studies discussing the iterative nature of the protocol definition, especially how it should be perceived by researchers conducting SLRs. Objective: The main goal of this study is to perform a survey aiming to identify: (i) the perception of SE researchers related to protocol definition; (ii) the activities of the review process that typically lead to protocol refinements; and (iii) which protocol items are refined in those activities. Method: A survey was performed with 53 SE researchers. Results: Our results show that: (i) protocol definition and pilot test are the two activities that most lead to further protocol refinements; (ii) data extraction form is the most modified item. Besides that, this study confirmed the iterative nature of the protocol definition. Conclusions: An iterative pilot testcan facilitate refinements in the protocol.


The design phase in robotics engineering is the core action for defining functionality. In soft robotics, especially in soft grabbing mechanisms, the challenge is to envision the interaction with different objects in terms of shape, size and stiffness. By enhancing the design phase with virtual reality (VR), all involved entities in the process are provided with a visualization method that facilitates the process and supports the functionality definition. In this way, utilizing VR, we exploit the possibilities of the designed soft grabbing robot and at the same time analyze different applications. When it comes to grabbing objects, application can vary over industry and sizes: from harvesting fruits and vegetables in the agricultural industry, over sorting objects in warehouses, to handling break bulk in ports. In this paper we demonstrate the use of VR in the conceptual design phase of a smart robotic grasper inspired by elephant's trunk. By applying VR in the early stages of the design process, we can analyze the robot and its interaction with the environment and intervene if needed in the CAD model. With this approach we are saving resources but more importantly time and at the end of the design stage we are confident in the robot's functionality and performances.


My purpose here is to share with you some ideas and concems I have about the physical setting of the urban university. In part these ideas and concerns were stimulated by the environmental crisis of the late 1960's, in particular as it was revealed in the erosion of human dignity in major urban settings. However, something else was happening at about the same time right here at the Graduate Center that gave me much food for thought. A relatively old and undistinguished office building was transformed into a unique and indeed prize-winning educational setting. What was happening here made me think a great deal about what had happened and was happening in the development of the physical facilities of other much larger urban colleges or universities.


(Translated by Philip J. Harold.) Due to our nature as finite beings, we must establish an ordo amoris , an order of love, within the communities to which we belong in order to fulfill our part in the universal moral demand of our common humanity. This forms the foundation of the concept of responsibility. Those things that we are responsible for cannot fundamentally be divided from those people to whom we are responsible. Thus, in economic relations, a common interest by which conflicts of individual conscience can be resolved must be identified in order for ethical reflection on the economy to be possible. After establishing this groundwork, this article highlights the point of view guiding this connection as that from which ethical and economic rationality reciprocally determine each other and at least partially overlap, concluding with a final note on managerial responsibility in the light of the foregoing. Walter Schweidler, "A Better Life: On the Economic Dimension of Moral Responsibility," Journal of Markets & Morality 15, no. 1 (Spring 2012): 103-115


Accurate reconstruction of articular surface of distal humerus by closed manipulation is not possible. The recent trend for displaced intra-articular fractures of the distal humerus is open reduction and stable osteosynthesis with early rehabilitation. We hypothesized that the best exposure of both columns and articular surface of the distal humerus is achieved through trans-olecranon approach and fixation of two columns of intra-articular fracture of distal humeruswith orthogonal plate construct would allow excellent stability and good healing to restore early elbow joint function. 40 cases of intra-articular fractures of distal humerus were treated by open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) with orthogonal plate construct via transolecranon approach. Chevron type olecranon osteotomy was performed and fixed with tension band wiring in all cases. Periodical radiological evaluationand regular clinical examination were done as per Mayo elbow Performance score. All fractures united within average duration of 3 months. More than 1000 of range of motion is attained in 70% of cases with mean motion of arc of 1150. The mean Mayo Elbow Performance Score was 90.25 indicating excellent results with mild impairment. The critical factors for a successful outcome of intra-articular fractures of the distal humerus depends upon meticulous surgical technique, stable internal fixation, surgical experimentation and early controlled postoperative mobilization. ORIF with orthogonal plate construct securing both humeral columns via transolecranon approach results in excellent healing by maintaining functional arc of motion.


Contemporary commentators continue to instruct lawyers and law students that England bequeathed America a sweeping default principle of strict liability for all deaths caused in all felonies. This Article exposes the harsh "common law" felony murder rule as a myth. It retraces the origins of American felony murder rules to reveal their modern, American, and legislative sources, the rationality of their original scope, and the fairness of their original application. It demonstrates that the draconian doctrine of strict liability for all deaths resulting from all felonies was never enacted into English law or received into American law. This Article reviews statutes and reported case law on felony murder in the federal system and in every state from the Revolution to the end of the nineteenth century. It argues that early felony murder rules almost always conditioned murder liability on causing death with fault, even if they did not explicitly require proof of a culpable mental state with respect to death. It also challenges the assumptions that early American criminal law was unified by its derivation from English law. The common law was authoritative in the colonies only in so far as locally received and adapted. English criminal law was viewed with suspicion in the new republic and colonial criminal law was quickly replaced with new legislation in most jurisdictions. Felony murder liability derived from these statutes, not from earlier common law rules.


Hepatitis C is a major global health burden with unsatisfactory treatments and no vaccine available. It is caused by a small positive-strand RNA enveloped virus, namely hepatitis C virus (HCV). HCV encodes 10 proteins, including three structural proteins, the capsid protein (Core) and two envelope proteins (E1 and E2), the focus of this thesis.
 My thesis first concentrated on E2 hypervariable region 1 (HVR1). HVR1 constitutes an immunological decoy as it elicits isolate-specific antibodies but continuously escapes their neutralisation by adapting its aminoacid sequence. Using a set of new anti-HVR1 antibodies, we found that the C-terminus of HVR1 carries virus neutralising determinants and defined key residues in their epitope. Furthermore, anti-HVR1 antibodies did not inhibit E2 interaction with CD81 or heparin but still inhibited cell-cultured HCV (HCVcc) infection after virus attachment had occurred, confirming a role for HVR1 in the active steps of entry.
 In addition, we developed a new method to synchronise HCV infection, based on magnetic adsorption. Briefly, HCV was combined with magnetic beads and pulled down onto the cell surface under a magnetic field. This proved to be both very simple and highly efficient as HCV particles were found to be adsorbed in only two minutes onto the cell surface, more efficiently than after a standard, non-synchronised infection. This new method is amenable to study early steps of virus infection, while optimising the infection efficiency.
Lastly, the characteristics of HCV glycoproteins in the HCVcc system were analysed. Importantly, the secreted envelope glycoproteins were mostly associated with infectious virions, despite the low specific infectivity inherent to the HCVcc system. Importantly, while intracellular glycoproteins were competent for interaction with entry factors (glycosaminoglycans and CD81) they were found to undergo drastic changes during virion morphogenesis and secretion. Indeed, some E2 glycans were modified and most importantly, virion-associated glycoproteins formed high molecular mass covalent complexes that retained a functional conformation. This study is the first one to describe envelope glycoproteins incorporated onto infectious HCV particle and uncovers unexpected features in HCV assembly.
Altogether, this work permitted to delineate more precisely a neutralising epitope in E2 HVR1 and its function in entry. It also gave further insights into the incorporation of HCV glycoproteins in the virion envelope. Together, these results will contribute significantly to future studies aimed at understanding the processes involved in HCV assembly and entry.


Conventional multistation location estimation is not possible for small earthquakes and explosions recorded at only a single seismic station. We present a novel method of estimating epicentral distance by integrating observed travel times ( Lg-Pn and Sn-Pn ) measured on three-component (3C) single-station data with theoretical travel times for the same phase combinations determined from 3D velocity models. Theoretical travel times for the body-wave phases are estimated using raytracing through a 3D P - and S -wave velocity model, while the travel times for Lg are estimated either using raytracing techniques or with a constant velocity determined from synthetics. Backazimuths are determined by applying polarization techniques on 3C data. The backazimuth and distance are then used to determine the epicenter for the event. The results of applying this 3D single-station location methodology to well-located events in southern Asia show mislocation errors that are typically less than 6% of the total propagation path distance. Online Material: Event database with estimated arrival times and backazimuth.


Workers on a construction site face many ambiguities when executing operations at the workface. While they will have received instructions through communications, whether of written (e.g., an engineering drawing; specifications; etc.) and/or oral, about what they are supposed to do once at the workface, they still are required to make a judgment on what will be done and how. This research posits that the more explicit the work instructions the less likely workers will mistakenly execute assignments. We distinguish work instructions based on whether the worker is given clear visual 'signals' (e.g., a solid red traffic light) as opposed to having to rely on visual 'cues' (e.g., a blinking red traffic light). To test this hypothesis, we investigate how the two different instruction types influence performance of a construction worker during assignment execution. An Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) approach was employed. This enabled us to experiment with different types of instructions to a worker, which in turn allowed observing patterns of behavior and responses to a signal versus a cue. An agent (worker) is introduced to two different environments: One environment directs an agent towards a predetermined destination by utilizing explicit instructions (signals); the other environment uses an agent with same knowledge level as in the first environment but only has implicit instructions to follow (cues). Preliminary modeling focused on one key measure: Performance effectiveness. Compared to the explicit instructions case, outcomes using the implicit instructions environment, i.e. following cues, resulted in a probability of only 38 percent in satisfying a required deliverable (performance effectiveness).


Condition Monitoring (CM) offers opportunities for improvement of safety, availability while typically also reducing maintenance cost. For some asset classes however, large up-front investments are required. Most notably, for the wagon subsystem of the freight rail system, a close monitoring of brake performance using on-board sensors for monitoring of the brake hardware using e.g. force sensor appears expensive and economically not viable. The approach outlined in this paper picks up on the approach of the author's contribution to Eurobrake 2019, where a big data approach merely based on accelerometer measurements was proposed. This yields the advantage of reducing hardware cost, both initial investment as well as maintenance cost, since accelerometers are everday electronic components which typically show a large lifespan with little degradation. This reduction in hardware cost needs to be compensated by more elaborate computational approaches, since it is based on the contribution of each individual wagon's brake to the braking performance of the entire train consist. By help of randomised mixture of the wagons during train formation, such an approach may be used to detect degradations of individual wagon brakes. Since such an approach relies on multiple train operations, it is obviously not suited for the replacement of the classical operator based pre-departure check. It may however increase safety and availability on an individual wagon basis due to the ability to observe degradation prior to becoming a functional limitation to be handled during a pre-departure check. Furthermore, it is well suited to supplement novel forms of brake assessments, such as automated brake tests or automated visual inspections and thus provide a higher level of safety and availability at reduced overall cost. The paper features a brief recap of the proposed method, integrated into the Wagon4.0 concept, which is one potential hardware and software basis as well as a review of big data approaches. The development of a simulation environment suitable for the generation of big data sets based on a headless MATLAB/Simulink setup on a cluster architecture is described. The model features an approximation of the pneumatic behaviour of the brake pipe, a simplified wheel-rail contact model, varying brake block friction as well as a parameter based model of a distributor valve for each simulated wagon. Thanks to the hardware and software setup, the simulation environment is able to generate braking data in the range of multiple Terabytes, which can then be analysed using big data approaches. Wagon parameters are sourced from a partly randomised digital wagon pool, which can be sent on virtual mission while observing their braking behaviour. The paper finishes with a preview of the intended analysis, which is currently being implemented on the FH Aachen cluster.


Calorie restriction (CR) is the most frequently studied mechanism for increasing longevity, protecting against stress, and delaying age‐associated diseases. Most studies have initiated CR in young animals to determine the protective effects against aging. Although aging phenomena are well‐documented, the molecular mechanisms of aging and CR remain unclear. In this study, we observe changes in hepatic proteins upon age‐related and diet‐restricted changes in the rat liver using quantitative proteomics. Quantitative proteomes are measured using tandem mass tag labeling followed by LC‐MS/MS. We compare protein levels in livers from young (6 months old) and old (25 months old) rats with 40% calorie‐restricted (YCR and OCR, respectively) or ad libitum diets. In total, 44 279 peptides and 3134 proteins are identified and 260 differentially expressed proteins are found. Functional enrichment analysis show that these proteins are mainly involved in glucose and fatty acid metabolism‐related processes, consistent with the theory that energy metabolism regulation is dependent on age‐related and calorie‐restricted changes in liver tissue. In addition, proteins mediating inflammation and gluconeogenesis are increased in OCR livers, but not YCR livers. These results show that CR in old rats might not have antiaging benefits because liver inflammation is increased.


Attenuation of acid mine drainage (AMD) metals originating from abandoned mines and waste rock dumps is investigated in this thesis at Slattberg in central Sweden, where acid mine leachate has been discharging for over 70 years into the receiving wetland stream and mire. Risk assessment of AMD and related polluted lands requires a holistic approach that is able to study the complexity of pollution emissions and impacted landscapes. In this thesis a link between geochemical contaminant fate modelling and landscape analysis is presented for AMD risk assessment. A simple geochemical landscape analysis tool is developed to analyse and model geochemical abundances, geochemical gradients, geochemical flow patterns and geochemical barriers in the studied stream and mire sediments. Sampling locations at geochemical barriers are identified using landscape geochemical and GIS methods. A sequential chemical extraction procedure is used to investigate fractions which are expected to act as potential sinks of the six studied metals (Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the sediments. For data modelling robust statistical methods of Exploratory Data Analysis are used to treat small sample sizes with multimodal character and outlying values. The spatial variability of metal retention in the sediments is studied by multivariate data analysis methods. Results show that the developed simple geochemical landscape analysis method can be used efficiently for the risk assessment of toxic mine contaminants in the complex receiving wetland landscape. It is suggested by the analysis that the oxidising geochemical barrier in the stream sediments can be sufficiently characterised by the distribution of Fe fractions. At the AMD discharge location metal sulphide formation and organic matter adsorption control metal retention in the mire. Mires are very sensitive to changes in hydrological conditions and drying of the sediments leads to erosion and hence the release of adsorbed metals to the environment.


A mobile ad hoc network consists of a collection of wireless mobile nodes that are capable of communicating with each other without the use of a network infrastructure or any centralized administration. MANET is an emerging research area with practical applications. However, wireless MANET is particularly vulnerable due to its fundamental characteristics, such as open medium, dynamic topology, distributed cooperation, and constrained capability. Routing plays an important role in the security of the entire network. In general, routing security in wireless MANETs appears to be a problem that is not trivial to solve. In this Paper we study the routing security issues of MANETs, and analyze in detail one type of attack the "black hole" problem that can easily be employed against the MANETs. We also propose a solution for the black hole problem for ad hoc on-demand distance vector routing protocol.


Objectives: To clarify the effects of high-intensity and high-frequency long-term/chronic training on neutrophil function and serum levels of myogenic enzymes in male university judoists. Methods: The subjects were 24 male judoists who had stopped judo training for 6 months and then restarted their training. The following parameters were examined before and after a 2 h unified exercise loading (UEL) at the beginning of the restarted quotidian training (pre-training) and at 2 months, 4 months and 6 months thereafter: myogenic enzymes, neutrophil and leucocyte counts, and neutrophil phagocytic activity (PA) and oxidative burst activity as a measure of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production capability. Results: Myogenic enzymes that were measured after UEL at all four points significantly increased except for creatine kinase at the 2-month point (p<0.01 in each) and neutrophil counts significantly increased after UEL at the pre-training, 2-month and 4-month points (p<0.01 in each), but these changes became smaller from the 2-month point. PA significantly decreased after UEL at the pre-training and 2-month points (p<0.01 in each), but no change was seen at the 4-month and 6-month points. On the other hand, no change in ROS production per cell after UEL was seen at the pre-training point, but it significantly increased after UEL at the 2-month, 4-month and 6-month points (p<0.01 in each). Conclusion: The changing rate of the levels of UEL-mediated myogenic enzymes, neutrophil mobilisation and neutrophil function was seen to decrease at the 2-month, 4-month and 6-month assessments, compared with the pre-training point: these may comprise at least some of the long-term training effects.


This thesis focuses on the problem of efficiently allocating resources for enhancing the performance of an autonomous robotic agent. Such an agent is expected to operate in complex dynamic environments by continuously monitoring its internal states and the external events. These requirements give raise to countless problems that have populated research in the autonomous robotics community in the last two decades.
Among these issues, one of the most relevant is to coordinate different low and high-level behaviors, giving them, from time to time, different priority values both for resource allocation and for action selection processes. The main problem in achieving this requirement is that the number and
complexity of the stimuli received by each behavior may be quite high and also the effects on the emerging activity may be very hard to foresee.
It is clear that it is not possible for the robotic control system to process all the incoming information, especially for real-time applications.
Thus, it becomes necessary to build mechanisms able to guide this sensory input selection process and to choose the best action to perform, assuring an efficient use of the robot limited sensorial and cognitive resources. For this purpose, attentional mechanisms, balancing sensors elaboration and actions execution, can be very useful since they play two main roles: they focus the attention on salient regions of the space and they distribute resources and activities in time. As a result of the application of these mechanisms within the robotic control system for sensory-motor coordination, the robot behavior is improved: the robot becomes able to react faster to task-related or safety-critical stimuli and to opportunely split resources among concurrent behaviors. Attentional mechanisms applied to autonomous robotic systems have already been proposed, but mainly for vision-based robotics; conversely, the contribution introduced by the present thesis is the use of an artificial attentional mechanism suitable both for optimizing the use of resources and for execution monitoring and control.


Uniform customs administration remains difficult in the European Union (EU). Since 1979, the European Commission (hereinafter 'Commission') has been trying to reduce variability and uncertainty. Most recently, the Commission introduced a proposed Directive defining customs infringements and sanctions. Unfortunately, the proposed Directive seeks too much convergence too soon. It would lead to more infringements and sanctions, while imposing unfair or unclear standards and procedures in determining liability, calculating fines, classifying infringements, and sentencing. A recent draft report from the European Parliament addresses only some of these concerns. The Commission would do better to seek gradual 'approximation' of customs administration rather than aggressive 'harmonization.'


The goal of automatically encoding natural language text
into some formal representation has been pursued in the field of Knowledge Engineering to support the construction of Formal Ontologies. Many \SOA{} methods have been proposed
for the automatic extraction of lightweight Ontologies and to populate them. Only few have tackled the challenge of extracting expressive axioms that formalize the possibly complex semantics of ontological concepts.
In this thesis, we address the problem of encoding a natural language sentence expressing the description of a concept into a corresponding Description Logic axiom. In our approach, the encoding happens through a syntactic transformation, so that all the extralogical symbols in the formula are words actually occurring in the input sentence. We followed the recent advances in the field of Deep
Learning in order to design suitable Neural Network architectures capable to learn by examples how to perform this transformation. Since no pre-existing dataset was available to adequately train Neural Networks for this task, we designed a data generation pipeline to produce datasets to train and evaluate the architectures proposed in this thesis. These datasets provide therefore a first reference corpus for the task of learning concept description axioms from text via Machine Learning techniques, and are now
available for the Knowledge Engineering community to fill the pre-existing lack of data.
During our evaluation, we assessed some key characteristics of the approach we propose. First, we evaluated the capability of the trained models to generalize
over the syntactic structures used in the expression of concept descriptions, together with the tolerance to unknown words. The importance of these characteristics is due to the fact that Machine Learning systems are trained on
a statistical sample of the problem space, and they have to learn to generalize over this sample in order to process new inputs. In particular, in our scenario, even an extremely large training set is not able to include all the possible
ways a human can express the definition of a concept. At the same time, part of the human vocabulary is likely to fall out of the training set. Thus, testing these generalization capabilities and the tolerance to unknown words is crucial
to evaluate the effectiveness of the model. Second, we evaluated the improvement in the performance of the model when it is incrementally trained with additional
training examples. This is also a pivotal characteristic of our approach, since Machine Learning-based systems are typically supposed to continuously evolve and improve, on the long term, through iterative repetitions of training set
enlargements and training process runs. Therefore, a valuable model has to show the ability to improve its performance when new training examples are added to
the training set.
To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first assessment of an approach to the problem of encoding expressive concept descriptions from text that is entirely Machine Learning-based and is trained in a end-to-end fashion starting from raw text. In detail, this thesis proposes the first two Neural Network architectures in literature to solve the problem together with their
evaluation with respect to the above pivotal characteristics, and a first dataset generation pipeline together with concrete datasets.


Some recent studies suggest that high levels of household debt and leverage have contributed to the relatively sluggish growth of consumer spending in the past few years (Dynan, 2012; Mian, Rao, and Sufi, 2013). However, this conclusion has not been widely accepted because of the empirical challenges associated with identifying the relationship amid the dramatic and complicated changes in the household economic environment during the Great Recession and subsequent slow recovery. Leverage may indirectly influence spending by increasing borrowing constraints, impeding refinancing, and raising the likelihood that a household will face future borrowing constraints. Leverage may directly influence spending simply by making some households uncomfortable with their leverage compared with some behavioral benchmark. The authors use the 2007-09 Survey of Consumer Finances panel to explore these issues. They find that highly leveraged households were more likely to report cutting back their spending in 2009, even after controlling for other factors expected to influence spending, such as changes in income and wealth. In analyzing that relationship, the authors find evidence that leverage influenced household spending through several channels.


The cochlear implant debate has changed, as evidenced in this cogent collection that presents 13 chapters by 20 experts, including several who communicate through sign language but also utilize cochlear implants. The impetus for this change stems from recognition that both visual and aural input can enhance the education of deaf children.Divided into four sections, "Cochlear Implants: Evolving Perspectives" first focuses on the impact of implants in the Deaf community. Chapters in this section examine the issues driving the cochlear implant debate, the ethics of genetic engineering, experiences of implanted adult deaf signers, reflections of deaf mothers who have had their children implanted, and the effects of implants on deaf identity. The second section delves into the mechanics of bimodal processing, including listening strategies that can benefit signing children with cochlear implants. The third section surveys combined aural/visual educational approaches, such as teaching implanted children in an ASL/English bilingual classroom, and applying auditory rehabilitation to a signed communication context.The final section challenges readers to reframe the debate first by exploring sensory politics, then by envisioning an emerging world that requires the Deaf community to connect with it to secure its future. With this information, readers will reach their own conclusions about cochlear implants and auditory and visual approaches to the mastery of both spoken and signed languages.


This thesis examines terrestn'al isopod (Crustacea: Oniscidea) diversity and biogeography from south-western Australia, a region already recognised for tls exceptional high btodtversity and concentrations of endemic species. A taxonomic investigation of tsopods in the Western Australian Museum and material colfected systematically as part of this study revealed seventy taxa, sixty of which were cons1dered native species. The thesis provides a comprehensive revtew of regional taxonomic htstory and includes a key, complete with a set of forty characters states and taxa, illustrated by a number of photographic plates that are designed for use by specialists and non-specialists alike. Prior to this study all the region's indigenous terrestrial isopods were poorly described and, while many taxa are still to be resolved at the species level, it appears at least 35 species are new to science. The distributions of indigenous taxa form some clear and consistent biogeographical patterns. Distributtons of taxa are influenced by steep rainfall gradients, the seasonality of rainfall and by biophysical characteristics of the landscape including, localised landforms and differing microhabitat utilisation. The region ts one of high diversity, with both widely distributed species and highly localised endemics. Two areas, the Perth region of the Swan Coastal Plain and the tall, wet southern forests, are particularly species rich. Beta diversity is also high. This reflects a heterogeneous landscape with profound differences in microhabitat availability, differences often due to recent exogenous disturbance. The construction of a biogeographic model showed a major fauna/ break, which created northern and southern bioregions to which 68% of the taxa were endemic. This biogeographical boundary is significant in that it had not been recognised in any previous biogeographical schemes. Data derived from the analysis of soil, leaf litter and log microhabitat samples show that the existence of terrestrial isopods in south-western Australia is intractably related to organic matter. The geographical range of species is often best explained by the types of m1crohabitat utilised and their degree of moisture dependency. The wetter forests of the region contain relictual short range endemics reliant upon surface organic matter, particularly leaf litter. Moisture is clearly a limiting factor in the distribution of all species. The five most common genera can be differentiated by their dependence upon different moisture regimes in a range of microhabitat types. The spatial and temporal continuity of different types of organic matter in forested landscapes is considered critical to the conseNation of the group in south-Western Australia. Land management practices, such as logging and burning, which influence the nature and distribution of organic matter, are likely to induce profound changes in terrestrial isopod communities. Regular and broadscale prescriptton burning and the increasing scarcity of large and decayed logs are considered to be a pnmary threat to their conservation status. Hypotheses involving the histoncal role of surface organic matter are developed to explain the speciation patterns of the group in the region. In order to test these models, and to provide an urgently needed assessment of the conservation status of relictual forest invertebrates, clear taxonomic prionties are recommended.


The use of commercial road vehicles has grown with the recent rapid economic growth
in the world, but reckless speeding of these heavy vehicles has resulted in fatal accidents
leading to loss of innocent road users lives. Although it is generally recognized that the
majority of the heavy vehicle drivers on the road are law biding citizens, there is,
however, a small but highly conspicuous percentage that persist in speeding and
operating their vehicles in an unsafe and reckless manner. Due to these reasons, the
commercial vehicle speed warning system is designed and developed to monitor the
commercial vehicle speed and determine if the vehicle has exceeded the preset speed
limit.
This warning system consists of two subsystems, the in-vehicle subsystem and the
peripheral interface subsystem and both subsystems are designed by using the
MC68HC11E9 microcontroller in conjunction with the AxIDE program. The in-vehicle
subsystem is fitted into the vehicle for speed monitoring, whereas the peripheral
interface subsystem, which is connected to the host computer, allows the proper calibration of the in-vehicle subsystem as well as the data downloading. A toothed wheel
is built as the vehicle engine model to test the warning system in the laboratory and the
radio frequency serial communication module is used to establish communication link
between these subsystems and both subsystems will support the same communication
protocol.
The basic concepts of in-vehicle speed detection is developed and achieved, and the
wireless data setting and retrieving system is designed, which provides control over the
in-vehicle subsystem functions.


This guide compiles resources about the "Arab Spring" from different think tanks and news sources, and it guides you on how to find relevant information using the library resources.


Here, we proposed an analytical approach based on the use of a molecularly imprinted polymer-coated paper substrate (MIP-CPS) for paper spray ionization mass spectrometry (PS-MS) to improve its specificity. The new substrate developed was applied to detect and quantify dopamine, sarcosine, and butyric acid in synthetic human urine without derivatization or complex sample pre-treatments. The urinary levels of these metabolites can be correlated with several pathological conditions including heart disease, stress, neurological disorders, cancerous tumors, and AIDS. Calibration curves exhibited R2 > 0.99 for dopamine, sarcosine, and butyric acid. LODs and LOQs were found at μg L−1 (parts-per-billion) for dopamine and sarcosine, and pg L−1 (parts-per-trillion) for butyric acid. Precision and accuracy showed coefficients of variation and relative errors less than 18% for almost all analyses. Recovery test results ranged between 95.5 and 117.7%. Finally, we compared the analytical performance of the MIP-CPS with a traditional paper substrate and ESI. The MIP-CPS showed a superior performance in detecting dopamine and avoiding the ionization suppression commonly observed during the analysis of complex biological samples such as urine.


Thesis Abstract: In this thesis the popular Indian film is described as an object of global significance. It is argued that understanding Indian films on a global scale requires different governing structures to existing paradigms of national media research and that, in particular, this requires a focus upon the consumption, rather than the production, of cinema. This thesis will also argue that the Australian media environment is constituted by a complex matrix of transnational cultural flows that spread beyond the boundaries of nationalist discourse, and that understanding the social dynamics of cinema in Australia requires an intellectual engagement with the phenomenon of globalisation. This thesis seeks to locate the cultural geography of Indian films in a global context before presenting a local case study that draws on a body of interviews and survey exercises conducted during 2003-04 with film-viewers and media professionals in the Greater Sydney and Illawarra regions of New South Wales, Australia. My immediate concern is with the manner in which Indian movies reach an audience within this social environment and how that audience is described, both by themselves and by those who seek to cater to them. Thus, a further intention of this study overall is to conduct a re-evaluation of the nature of the social imagination which has been assumed to operate around participation in communities defined by media use. This study therefore combines three major points of enquiry: Indian films as globally dispersed media artefacts, Australia as a site of complex transnational cultural practices, and media audiences as sites of relational social imagination. The theoretical framework that I advance here reformulates the conception of media audiences as 'imagined communities' by replacing a demographically constituted ethnographic model with an emphasis on surveying the diverse inhabitants of a 'cultural field' constructed around the Indian movie in a specific Australian social context.


A new cross-coupled LC chaos oscillator suitable for IC realisation is presented. The proposed circuit was fabricated using a 0.35 mum CMOS process and test results showing its feasibility are given. As a possible application, a method for using the proposed oscillator as the core of a random number generator is described. Experimental binary data obtained according to the proposed method pass the four tests of FIPS-140-2, the full NIST-800-22 and DIEHARD random number test suites.


Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Metabolomics is a powerful tool that can be used to screen for potential biomarkers, exogenous toxicants, and metabolic network changes associated with disease states. Here, we used high-resolution metabolomics to compare over 10,000 plasma metabolic features from older adults with and without PD in an untargeted approach. We performed a network analysis that demonstrates that the presence of the PD drug levodopa influences variation observed between PD and control patients. Metabolome wide association studies and discrimination analysis identified significant differentiation in the metabolomics profile of older adults with and without PD. Notably, 15 metabolic features (ten of which we putatively identified) differed between PD and control adults with p < 0.05 and a corrected false discovery rate less than 20%. Furthermore, 13 metabolic networks were identified to be functionally different between PD and non-PD patients. Lastly, the dopaminergic toxic intermediate DOPAL differed between PD and non-PD populations, which supports the dopaminergic sequestration model of PD. These individual metabolites and metabolic networks have been implicated in past PD pathogenesis models, including the beta-carboline harmalol and the glycosphingolipid metabolism pathway including the ganglioside GM2. We recommend that future studies take into account the confounding effects of levodopa in metabolomic analyses of disease versus control patients, and encourage validation of several promising metabolic markers of PD.


This thesis is concerned with the design of distributed algorithms for solving optimization problems. The particular scenario we consider is a network with P compute nodes, where each node p has exclusive access to a cost function fp. We design algorithms in which all the nodes cooperate to find the minimum of the sum of all the cost functions, f1 + ··· + fP. Several problems in signal processing, control, and machine learning can be posed as such optimization problems. Given that communication is often the most energy-consuming operation in networks and, many times, also the slowest one, it is important to design distributed algorithms with low communication requirements, that is, communication-efficient algorithms. The two main contributions of this thesis are a classification scheme for distributed optimization problems of the kind explained above and a set of corresponding communication-efficient algorithms.
The class of optimization problems we consider is quite general, since we allow that each function may depend on arbitrary components of the optimization variable, and not necessarily on all of them. In doing so, we go beyond the commonly used assumption in distributed optimization and create additional structure that can be explored to reduce the total number of communications. This structure is captured by our classification scheme, which identifies particular instances of the problem that are easier to solve. One example is the standard distributed optimization problem, in which all the functions depend on all the components of the variable.
All our algorithms are distributed in the sense that no central node coordinates the network, all the communications occur exclusively between neighboring nodes, and the data associated with each node is always processed locally. We show several applications of our algorithms, including average consensus, support vector machines, network flows, and several distributed scenarios for compressed sensing. We also propose a new framework for distributed model predictive control, which can be solved with our algorithms. Through extensive numerical experiments, we show that our algorithms outperform prior distributed algorithms in terms of communication-efficiency, even some that were specifically designed for a particular application.


Aim: Auditor objectivity in the auditing process is an important part of the IASB and FASB framework as well as in the SOX act. It is unclear whether auditor's self-efficacy through selection of negotiation strategy affect the auditor's objectivity. The purpose of the study is to improve the understanding of what impacts auditor objectivity and as a result show new strategies on how to increase it.Method: Deductive approach with a literature review as secondary data and a web-based questionnaire carried out among 3,264 Swedish auditors as primary data. Analysis was done with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and reported in the SmartPLS and SPSS software.Result & Conclusions: Prior negative negotiation experiences have a detrimental effect on both distributive and integrative negotiation self-efficacy. Distributive negotiation self-efficacy and auditing self-efficacy increase objectivity mainly through the mediation of contending strategy. No relationship between integrative negotiation self-efficacy and negotiation strategy or auditor objectivity was found, possibly due to weak theoretical constructs. No causal claims are posed on these relations. Bandura's four main sources of influence on self-efficacy can be considered as guides on how to shield the auditor from the detrimental effect of failures and build up self-efficacy to perform better in negotiation.Suggestions for future research: Develop stronger constructs for PNE, ISE and expanding-the-agenda-of-issues strategy. Using multiple imputation instead of mean replacement for missing data is highly recommended. Gather at least 400 responses in order to gain stronger statistical power. Introduce a prior auditing experiences construct for ASE to raise awareness of potential differences in how prior experiences affect DSE, ISE and ASE.Contribution of the thesis: This paper uniquely contributes to the literature on factors influencing auditor objectivity. Its main use to auditors, accounting legislators, researchers etc. at the moment is to add to the discussion about objectivity.


Background : Extradural hematomas are neurosurgical emergencies and are one of the most common causes of mortality and disability after traumatic brain injury. This study aimed at evaluating the current  management and factors that influence outcome in patients treated for  extradural hematoma in an African setting. Methods : A total of 224 consecutive patients who were admitted to the neurosurgical unit at the Kenyatta National Hospital and diagnosed with extradural hematoma between January 2007 and December 2011 were included in this study. Results : There was a male predominance of 96.9%. The median age was 29 years. The most common cause of injury was assault (45%). Good functional recovery was achieved by 190(86.2%) of the patients in our  series, whereas residual disability accounted for 6.7% and mortality for 7.1%. The proportion of patients who achieved functional recovery  significantly decreased with increasing age (p=0.011). A lower GCS score at admission was associated with a poorer outcome (p=0.032). The time  elapsed from initial trauma to surgery significantly influenced outcome (p=0.007). Conclusion : A longer duration between trauma and decompression, a low preoperative GCS score, pupillary abnormalities and those older than age 61 are poor prognostic indicators. Key Words : Extradural hematoma, Head injury, Intracranial hematoma, Outcome


Recent studies of the legislative process have put forward a number of plausible hypotheses regarding the distribution of agenda-setting power. These hypotheses have guided scholars in identifying those conflicts and actors that are crucial to explaining legislative change and the wording of legislation. However, this has not yet led to a better understanding of the choice of specific agenda-setting rules. Why does the cabinet in some parliamentary democracies enjoy an undisputed role, while in others the parliament continues to play the role of co-protagonist? This article attempts to answer this question by looking at some well-known features of party systems. It is argued that in pivotal party systems, with limited government alternation, it is much more difficult to strengthen the government vis-a-vis the parliament. One factor prevents the procedural and institutional predominance of the cabinet under these circumstances: the lack of opportunities for, and expectations of, large and controversial policy change.


This paper has two aims:* first, to emphasize how the linguistic input to which children are exposed is inherently variable and complex. To this end, we will discuss two particular phenomena in Dutch, namely Aux+Inf and gender marking in DP's. These phenomena lend themselves to a comparison in terms of the nature of the individual, social and regional variation in the input. Second, regarding the question of whether bidialectal acquisition is the same as bilingual acquisition, it seems that there are, in fact, significant differences between the two. Bidialectal children score significantly higher on vocabulary tests than bilingual speakers, they use the Aux+Inf structure in a different way and they also acquire the neuter gender of the Dutch definite determiner significantly faster than bilingual children. Importantly, this paper also explores whether we can maintain a distinction between monolingual and bidialectal children in so-called bidialectal areas.


The wheel wear prediction is a key-topic in the field of railway research as it has big impact on economical and safety aspects of trainset design, operation and maintenance. The aim of this work was to implement a flexible and predictive railway wheel wear tool that, starting from a specific vehicle mission, provides the wheel profile evolution as a function of the distance run. The wear estimation tool consists of the use of a sequence of pre and post-processing packages, in which the methodologies now presented are implemented, interfaced with a commercial multibody software that is used to study the railway dynamics. The computational tool is applied here to several simulation scenarios. The purpose is to demonstrate its capabilities on wear prediction by evaluating the influence of trainset design and of track layout on the wheel wear growth. Special attention is also given to study how the wear evolution is affected by the friction conditions between the wheel and rail.


Studies on developmental dyslexia in transparent orthographies have established that children learning to read in such languages hardly experience difficulties in word reading accuracy and phonological awareness tasks, but suffer from a reading speed deficit. On the other hand in the English orthography, where the mappings between graphemes and phonemes are largely inconsistent, children exhibit significant difficulties in both word reading accuracy and speed. Greek is characterized by a high degree of regularity for reading, but is inconsistent for spelling. The variability of phoneme-to-grapheme correspondences and the highly inflectional nature of the particular orthography constitute spelling in Greek a considerably demanding task. The present thesis comprises three studies that were concerned with understanding the reading and spelling difficulties that Greek children/participants with dyslexia have and their underlying cognitive deficits, in relation to typically developing children and English children/participants with dyslexia. The first study examined the reading and spelling difficulties in Greek- and English-speaking children/participants with dyslexia, each compared with two control groups. Greek children/participants with dyslexia outperformed their English counterparts on word/nonword phoneme deletion, word/nonword reading, and grammatical spelling. However the two language groups performed similarly on rapid digit naming, spoonerisms and on the choice tasks. Results are discussed in relation to the differences in orthographic consistency between the two languages. The second study examined the development of literacy skills in twenty-three Greek children/participants with dyslexia over a period of 18 months (10 years 5 months to 12 years 3 months). At Time 1 children/participants with dyslexia performed worse on literacy tests than chronological-age control children, but similarly to reading-age controls. At Time 2 children/participants with dyslexia performed worse on all the tasks than CA control children, and worse than RA controls on the tasks of phoneme deletion of nonwords, nonword reading and orthographic spelling. Moreover the concurrent and longitudinal predictors of children's/participants' with dyslexia and typically developing children's reading and spelling abilities were examined. The findings are discussed in relation to theories of normal and atypical reading and spelling development. The third study investigated the ability of twenty-three 10-13 year-old Greek children/participants with dyslexia, and their reading-level and age-level-matched children to spell derivational and inflectional suffixes. Children/participants with dyslexia performed significantly worse than CA controls and RA controls. When they spelled the inflectional ending of adjectives and nouns children/participants with dyslexia did not differ from RA controls. It is suggested that children/participants with dyslexia have weaknesses in grasping the morphological rules of the Greek orthographic system and applying this knowledge in the spelling of word suffixes. The thesis concludes with a discussion of findings in relation to previous literature, the limitations of the present studies and avenues for future research.