Various techniques are applied to control the pest damage to (pome) crops in different countries of the world. Among the integrated pest management programmes (IPCP), mating disruption (MD) approach has its own advantages over pesticide techniques being less hazardous to environment. An exhaustive systematic field trial surveys were conducted to explore the seasonal activities of Codling Moth (CM) Cydia pomonella under natural conditions and the (MD) method was applied to Control Maling Disruption (CM) damage to apple (pome) crops in area of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, (Pakistan). Mating Disruption (MD) technique offers several advantages over pesticide sprays methods and, MD reduces CM damage. The present study describes the assessment of time of pest infestation, peak flight temporal and spatial variation of CM (Cydia pomonella) in two different experimented habitats by the use of pheromone trap approach. For experimental data, two distinct flight periods of CM were recorded, suggesting two generations per year. The pest population density was observed to be the highest in the first weeks of May and July. It was concluded that by application of the MD technique a better growth of pome crops can be obtained. Hence, for sustainable and comprehensive fruit farming, a more widespread use of pheromones technique (Mating Disruption- MD) may be useful step to enhance the agricultural yield of apple (pome) crops.


Circular and bio-economy represents a political and industrial initiative to ensure that our society can rely on renewable biological sources while achieving economic growth. However, there is a need to critical review how realistic and feasible such initiatives are towards fulfilling the promised benefits of this economy. The literature on bio-economy often discusses the importance of innovative business models and their role in a successful shift to a bio-economy. Still, much of the discussion that is related to circular business models is fragmented and immature. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic literature review of circular business model activities and the barriers to a bio-economy. Further, this review provides future research directions for a shift to a bio-economy. This study is based on a systematic review of 42 scientific journal articles and book chapters on a forest-based bio-economy. The business model canvas is used to provide a structured aggregation of the existing circular business models activities being used by the forestry sector. In addition, we develop a framework that describes the barriers to bio-economy-based circular business models and suggest new directions for future research. The study highlights the need for alignment among the elements of a business model as a key condition for its successful implementation in a bio-economy.


To examine the hydrological system sensitivity of the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California to climate change scenarios (CCS), five headwater basins in the snow-dominated Upper San Joaquin River Watershed (USJRW) were selected for hydrologic simulations using the Hydrological Simulation Program-Fortran (HSPF) model. A pre-specified set of CCS as projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were adopted as inputs for the hydrologic analysis. These scenarios include temperature increases between 1.5 and 4.5 °C and precipitation variation between 80 and 120% of the baseline conditions. The HSPF model was calibrated and validated with measured historical data. It was then used to simulate the hydrologic responses of the watershed to the projected CCS. Results indicate that the streamflow of USJRW is sensitive to the projected climate change. The total volume of annual streamflow would vary between −41 and +16% compared to the baseline years (1970–1990). Even if the precipitation remains unchanged, the total annual flow would still decrease by 8–23% due to temperature increases. A larger portion of the streamflow would occur earlier in the water year by 15–46 days due to the temperature increases, causing higher seasonal variability of streamflow.


A big challenge for creating human-level game AI is building agents capable of operating in imperfect information environments. In real-time strategy games the technological progress of an opponent and locations of enemy units are partially observable. To overcome this limitation, we explore a particle-based approach for estimating the location of enemy units that have been encountered. We represent state estimation as an optimization problem, and automatically learn parameters for the particle model by mining a corpus of expert StarCraft replays. The particle model tracks opponent units and provides conditions for activating tactical behaviors in our StarCraft bot. Our results show that incorporating a learned particle model improves the performance of EISBot by 10% over baseline approaches.


*Corresponding Author Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Tel.:+ 9647504471369 The aim of this study was to determine the effect of psychological intervention on the rate of marital satisfaction of infertile couples who attended the infertility center in a maternity hospital in Arbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq . A cross-sectional study with 638 infertile couples assessed for depression, 140 couples with a member who had a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score of 17 or higher were randomized to receive psychological treatment either before or during infertility treatment. Logistic regression was performed to eliminate confounding factors and in the later stage, 140 volunteer couples were assigned to two groups of intervention (70 couples) and control (70 couples). The intervention group was treated With Psychological treatment (cognitive-behavioral therapy and supportive psychotherapy) for a period of six months. Evaluation and Nurturing Relationship Issues, Communication, and Happiness (ENRICH) Marital satisfaction test, Stress scale (Holmes-Rahe) and a demographicsocial questionnaire were used for data collection. Data were analyzed with t-test, paired t-test, chi-square, and logistic regression. Marital satisfaction after psychological intervention was more common among subjects with level of education of high school or more, housewives, age 19-25 years, duration of marriage or infertility of less than five years or unknown cause of infertility, and subjects without stress or with low stress. These relationships were statistically significant (p< 0.001). Considering the prevalence of marital dissatisfaction among infertile couples and the effect of psychological intervention, special attention should be given to psychological treatments in these subjects. This would help in improving their mental health and quality of life.


Preface: Doctoral Education and Teaching in OB. Organizational Behavior: A Micro Perspective. Part 1: The Science and Metaphor of Micro OB. B.M. Staw, Dressing Up Like an Organization: When Psychological Theories can Explain Organizational Action. R.I. Sutton, B.M. Staw, What Theory is Not. J. Pfeffer, Barriers to the Advance of Organizational Science: Paradigm Development as a Dependent Variable. Part 2: Decision Making. B.M. Staw, Knee-Deep in the Big Muddy: A Study of Escalating Commitment to a Chosen Course of Action. D. Kahneman, D. Lovallo, Timid Choices and Bold Forecasts: A Cognitive Perspective on Risk Taking. R.M. Dawes, The Robust Beauty of Improper Linear Models in Decision Making. D. Kahneman, J.L. Knetsch, R.H. Thaler, Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem. G.F. Loewenstein, L. Thompson, M.H. Bazerman, Social Utility and Decision Making in Interpersonal Contexts. Part 3: Negotiation and Social Dilemmas. M.H. Bazerman, T. Magliozzi, M.A. Neale, Integrative Bargaining in a Competitive Market. M.W. Morris, R.P. Larrick, S.K. Su, Misperceiving Negotiation Counterparts: When Situationally Determined Bargaining Behaviors are Attributed to Personality Traits. L. Thompson, D. Gentner, J. Loewenstein, Avoiding Missed Opportunities in Managerial Life: Analogical Training More Powerful than Individual Case Training. M.B. Brewer, R.M. Kramer, Choice Behavior in Social Dilemmas: Effects of Social Identity, Group Size and Decision Framing. Part 4: Groups and Teams. P.B. Paulus, M.T. Dzindolet, Social Influence Processes in Group Brainstorming. D.W. Liang, R. Moreland, L. Argote, Group versus Individual Training and Group Performance: The Mediating Role of Transactive Memory. D. Gigone, R. Hastie, The Common Knowledge Effect: Information Sharing and Group Judgment. K.A. Jehn, P.P. Shah, Interpersonal Relationships and Task Performance: An Examination of Mediating Processes in Friendship and Acquaintance Groups. Part 5: Procedural Justice. E.A. Ling, R. Kanfer, P.C. Earley, Voice, Control and Procedural Justice: Instrumental and Noninstrumental Concerns in Fairness Judgments. T.R. Tyler, The Psychology of Procedural Justice: A Test of the Group-Value Model. J. Greenberg, Stealing in the Name of Justice: Informational and Interpersonal Moderators of Theft Reactions to Underpayment Inequity. Part 6: Relationships and Trust. A. Tesser, M. Millar, J. Moore, Some Affective Consequences of Social Comparison and Reflection Processes: The Pain and Pleasure of Being Close. D.J. McAllister, Affect- and Cognition-based Trust as Foundations for Interpersonal Cooperation in Organizations. D. Krackhardt, Assessing the Political Landscape: Structure, Cognition and Power in Organizations. Part 7: Values, Norms and Politics. S. Kerr, On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B. P.E. Tetlock, Cognitive Biases and Organizational Correctives: Do Both Disease and Cure Depend on the Politics of the Beholder? D.T. Miller, The Norm of Self-Interest.


Following varying degrees of deregulation of the New South Wales and Victorian electricity markets, consumers in those states have faced market determined prices, and since September 1997 instruments for risk management, in the form of electricity futures contracts, have been available. This paper addresses two important questions in relation to these new markets. The first is whether the electricity futures prices, determined on the Sydney Futures Exchange, reflect all publicly available information as fully as possible. This issue is investigated by the forecast error approach, which permits a test of the semi-strong efficient markets hypothesis (EMH). Rejection of this hypothesis would imply that agents are responding to price signals which are not of the best possible quality, so that unarbitraged profit opportunities remain, and some misallocation of resources could occur. The second question addressed is whether there is evidence of increasing returns to liquidity in this market. Liquidity is measured here by the standard deviation of market clearing prices, and a simple binomial model is employed to generate the hypothesis of increasing returns. An implication of support for the hypothesis of increasing returns is that larger markets could be expected to grow further, and contracts with smaller volumes could be expected to disappear. This would apply also to multiple contracts in the same commodity. The results suggest first, that the EMH cannot be rejected, and second, that there is no significant relationship between volume and liquidity in these markets at this stage.


We describe S2LET, a fast and robust implementation of the scale-discretised wavelet transform on the sphere. Wavelets are constructed through a tiling of the harmonic line and can be used to probe spatially localised, scale-dependent features of signals on the sphere. The reconstruction of a signal from its wavelets coe cients is made exact here through the use of a sampling theorem on the sphere. Moreover, a multiresolution algorithm is presented to capture all information of each wavelet scale in the minimal number of samples on the sphere. In addition S2LET supports the HEALPix pixelisation scheme, in which case the transform is not exact but nevertheless achieves good numerical accuracy. The core routines of S2LET are written in C and have interfaces in Matlab, IDL and Java. Real signals can be written to and read from FITS files and plotted as Mollweide projections. The S2LET code is made publicly available, is extensively documented, and ships with several examples in the four languages supported. At present the code is restricted to axisymmetric wavelets but will be extended to directional, steerable wavelets in a future release.


Some sessile invertebrates are capable of maintaining space in barren habitats pro- duced by sea urchins, thereby creating species-rich patches in a species-poor landscape. We sought to determine the role of a large and common barnacle, Austrobalanus imperator, in the establishment and persistence of these species-rich patches. Barnacle density was modified in 2 experiments at sites in southeastern Australia. The first experiment concerned community establishment and involved the addition of barnacles in 4 densities (zero (control), low, medium and high) to plots on vertical rock surfaces. The addition of barnacles at ecologically realistic densities and spatial arrangements rapidly resulted in statistically significant increases in invertebrate cover and diversity. After 56 mo, the diversity of invertebrates was significantly higher on plots that received high densities of barna- cles relative to controls. However, invertebrate cover no longer differed between treatment plots, despite evidence that barnacles modify the grazing intensity of sea urchins. The second experi- ment assessed the persistence of sessile invertebrates following the removal of barnacles from well- established assemblages dominated by sponges. The removal of barnacles did not hinder the rapid recovery of sponges to pre-manipulation levels, indicating that barnacles played an inconsequential role in well-established assemblages. We conclude that barnacles play an important functional role in this system, as they promote the recruitment of sessile invertebrates. It was also clear that the de- velopment of invertebrate assemblages on natural vertical surfaces was very slow, which raises the question of whether we are examining these important occupiers of space at appropriate temporal and spatial scales.


In this speech delivered for the annual Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. Lecture on State Courts and Social Justice, the Honorable Michael Wolff offers a new way of thinking about sentencing. Instead of attempting to limit judicial discretion and increase incarceration, states should aim to reduce recidivism in order to make our communities safer. Judge Wolff uses the example of Missouri's sentencing reforms to argue that states should adopt evidence-based sentencing, in which the effectiveness of different sentences and treatment programs are regularly evaluated. In pre-sentencing investigative reports, probation officers should attempt to quantify - based on historical data - the risk the offender poses to the community and the specific treatment that would be most likely to prevent reoffending. Judges, on their own, lack the resources to implement all of these recommendations. Probation officers and others involved in sentencing should receive the same information.


A structural health monitoring (SHM) paradigm based on the simultaneous use of ultrasounds and electromechanical impedance (EMI) is proposed to monitor waveguides. The paradigm uses guided ultrasonic waves (GUWs) in pulse-echo and pitch-catch mode, and EMI simultaneously. The three nondestructive methodologies are driven by the same sensing/hardware/software unit. To assess the feasibility of this unified system an aluminum plate was monitored by means of two transducers. Damage was simulated by adding small masses to the plate. The results associated with pulse-echo and pitch-catch GUW testing and with EMI monitoring show that the proposed system is robust and can be developed further to address the challenges associated with the SHM of complex structures. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/91


This is a book on the interrelationship of the EU legal order and the Cyprus issue. The book addresses a question which is of great significance for the legal order of the EU (as well as for Cypriots, Turks and Greeks), namely how the Union deals with the de facto division of the island.
Despite the partial normalisation of relations between the two ethno-religious groups on the island, Cyprus' accession to the EU has not led to its reunification, nor to the restoration of human rights, nor a complete end to the political and economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community. Ironically enough, the accession of the island to the EU actually added a new dimension to the division of the island. According to Protocol 10 on Cyprus to the Act of Accession 2003, the Republic of Cyprus joined the Union with its entire territory. However, due to the fact that its Government cannot exercise effective control over the whole island, pending a settlement, the application of the acquis is 'suspended in those areas of the Republic of Cyprus in which the Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not have effective control.'
Given this unprecedented (for an EU Member State) situation of not controlling part of its territory, the book analyses the limits of the suspension of the Union acquis in the areas north of the Green Line. In other words, the telos of this particularly challenging research is to map the partial application of Union law in an area where there are two competing claims of authority.


Steel making is an energy intensive industry and for this reason, energy prices, especially oil and natural gas prices, have an important effect on this industry. In 2008, the sharp rise of crude oil as well as iron ore price caused the sharp rise of steel price because of the rise in prices of key production factors. But Iran's producers experienced almost no rise in their production factor prices especially key factors of energy and iron ore prices. As a matter of fact, inexpensive energy and iron ore are competitive advantages of steel makers in Iran because the huge natural resources of the country let the government to provide inexpensive production factors for the industry. But these inexpensive factors have some side effects that one of them is on the stock price of steel makers in stock market. In this paper we are to model the effects of fluctuations in world steel price on stock price of one of Iranian steel producers. In the end, we will offer some policies to mitigate the fluctuations of stock prices.


OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether hyperfibrinogenemia represents a component of the metabolic syndrome. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted on the relation between fibrinogen and the metabolic syndrome in a working population of 1,252 nondiabetic men, aged 35–64 years, randomly selected among all men participating in a health screening. We measured anthropometric characteristics, blood pressure, fasting plasma fibrinogen, cholesterol (total, LDL, and HDL), triglycerides, glucose, and insulin. Individuals with two or more metabolic abnormalities (defined as being in the highest quartile of the distribution of diastolic blood pressure, plasma glucose, or triglycerides or being in the lowest quartile of HDL cholesterol) were considered to have the metabolic syndrome. RESULTS Age-adjusted fibrinogen levels correlated significantly with BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, plasma total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and HDL cholesterol (inversely). Subjects with the metabolic syndrome had significantly higher plasma fibrinogen levels than those without (285.1 ± 1.9 vs. 300.2 ± 3.0 mg/dl, mean ± SE, P = 0.0001). Plasma fibrinogen concentrations and the prevalence of hyperfibrinogenemia (defined as ≥350 mg/dl) increased progressively from 279 to 307 mg/dl (P = 0.0001) and from 9 to 22% (P = 0.0024), respectively, across categories with an increasing number of metabolic disorders characterizing the syndrome (only one, any two, three or more). In multivariate analyses, both plasma insulin and the metabolic syndrome were significantly and independently associated with plasma fibrinogen. CONCLUSIONS The finding suggests that hyperfibrinogenemia may be considered a component of the metabolic syndrome. This may also explain the increased cardiovascular risk associated with hyperinsulinemia/insulin resistance.


The American death penalty is disappearing. Death sentences and executions have reached the lowest levels seen in three decades. Even the states formerly most aggressive in pursuit of death sentences have seen death sentences teadily decline. Take Virginia, which has the highest rate of executions of any death penalty state, and which has executed the third highest number of prisoners since the 1970s. How times have changed. There has not been a new death sentence in Virginia since 2011. Only seven counties have imposed death sentences in the past decade in Virginia. There are now two or fewer trials a year at which a judge or jury considers imposing the death penalty. Still more surprising, at over one half of those trials the judge or jury chooses a sentence of life without parole (eleven of twenty-one cases from 2005 to 2015 at which there was a capital sentencing hearing resulted in a life sentence). Why is this happening-and in Virginia of all places? In this study, I examine every capital trial from 2005 to 2015-twenty-one trials-and I compare a group of twenty capital trials from 1996 to 2004. The law on the books has not meaningfully changed. However in 2004, the legislature created regional defense resource centers to handle capital cases. From 1996 to 2004, the crucial sentencing phase, at which the judge or jury decided whether to impose the death penalty, was typically cursory, averaging less than two days long. In the more recent trials, the average was twice that-four days-and still more striking was the increase in the numbers of defense witnesses called, the greater use of expert witnesses, and the added complexity of sentencing proceedings. Improved capital defense resources may explain this sharp and sudden decline in death sentences. North Carolina, which created a similar state capital defense resource office, experienced a decline that tracks Virginia's, and yet in states like Florida, lacking statewide defense resources, the rate with which death sentences are imposed has remained fairly stable. This evidence: (1) raises heightened Eighth Amendment arbitrariness concerns with the scattered state of the


A novel electronically tunable frequency dependent negative resistance (FDNR) circuit employing single FDCCII and three passive components is proposed. All passive components are grounded. The proposed circuit requires no component matching. The performance of the FDNR is demonstrated on the seventh order elliptic filter. Simulation results are given to confirm the theoretical analysis. The proposed implementation can be used for the realization of electronically adjustable FDNR for the design of integrated circuits active filters.


Favorability of and perceived similarity to the attributes of the prototypical teen drinker – (a known risk factor for adolescent alcohol use) have not been examined in Thailand. Though there is an existing measure of the drinker prototype, it has not been adapted for use in Thailand. The attributes that comprise the drinker prototype in Thai adolescents are unknown. The purpose of this study was to culturally adapt an existing adolescent drinker prototype measure and psychometrically test it in Thai adolescents. Six age/gender specific focus groups were conducted with Thai adolescents (N=43) the 7th to 9th grades (aged 13-15) at a public middle school in Thailand to identify the characteristics of adolescent Thai drinkers. The attributes characterizing the drinker prototype were sociable, fighter, talkative cool, mature, and funny. Then, the attributes that comprise the drinker prototype were incorporated into the measure and translated into Thai using the committee approach. After conducting cognitive interviews to verify that the measure was understandable, reliability and validity testing of the culturally-adapted measure was conducted with 306 Thai adolescents in the 7th to 9th grades. Adolescents rated the favorability of and similarity to the six drinker prototype attributes on 5 point Likert scales and answered questions about lifetime alcohol use, past year alcohol use, number of drinking days in the past year, and maximum number of drinks-per-occasion in the past year. Fifty-eight percent of the sample reported ever drinking and 33% reported past year drinking. Past year drinkers reported drinking 7.4 (SD=13.0) days/last year; maximum number of drinks/occasion was 4.14 (SD=7.4). The average favorability and similarity scores were slightly above or at the scale midpoint (3.2 and 3.0 respectively). Internal consistency for favorability was low (alpha=.56) but for similarity was adequate (alpha = .70). Correlations were modest between favorability and alcohol use (rho=.15-.19) for girls, but were stronger between similarity and alcohol use (rho=.38-.51). The only correlation for boys was between similarity and ever drinking (rho=0.21). Findings suggest that our culturally adapted adolescent drinker prototype measure works as well for girls as it does with other samples, but it is not valid or reliable for boys.


Over the years it is getting more present the use of machine learning techniques applied to many different disciplines. In aeronautic field they are used as a substitute or as an enrichment of flight systems in order to have a better production of flight data. The main three aspects studied in neural networks, which are one of the many machine learning techniques and the one used in this thesis, are the network architecture, the training phase and the testing phase.There are other very important aspects such as the various methods for carrying out these operations. The knowledge of the latter is very important in order to obtain very precise networks in the purpose that is set. This thesis is in fact aimed at finding a method for the improvement of one of these aspects. The focus of this project is on the analysis of input data, that is the training and, in a small part, which impact they do have on neural network quality, that is the testing phase, which constitutes the output. In this specific case the neural network is used to simulate an angle of attack sensor. The main advantage of a NN is that it is possible to model, even if having an approximation, the complex behavior of a given system, without knowing equations and relations which govern the system. In this case the advantage is quite clear: knowing data as accelerations over the three body axis and the rotation rates around them and some other data, it is possible to find the angle of attack, without modeling the entire flight mechanics of the plane. Characteristics of the input data will be evaluated via statistics and a data reduction technique will be used in order to select only meaningful data points with the usage of k-means clustering algorithm. In previous studies an encouraging method was found to exploit neural networks in order to simulate the angle of attack sensor. However, certain of the complexity of neural networks, it is an improvable method. Therefore this thesis has the role of proposing an improvement of a previously used method. This study has been done in collaboration with Ing. Nando Groppo and flight data utilized in this thesis are from a Groppo G70.


Architectural ornament, the art of decorative patterning, is commonly perceived as an historical characteristic for architecture which declined in the beginning of the 20th century. The lecture of Adolf Loos in 1908 "Ornament and Crime" [1] can certainly be seen as a crucial contribution in the architectural discussion about the exclusion of ornament. Although the modernist emphasis on unadorned form, the upcoming international style and the replacement of craftsmanship by the rise of mass production yielded to a systematic elimination of ornament, we are experiencing its revival in contemporary architecture through experiments using digital technologies. New concepts and procedures of surface modeling and texturing, have lent themselves to rediscovering ornament, and the related computer numerically controlled manufacturing (CNC manufacturing) processes are being used to compensate for the declining skills of the artisans. Our ongoing research, teaching, and professional activities using new digital processes have found success in the architecture of the present, both in the revitalization of historical buildings, and in a new "reinterpretation" of ornament applied to contemporary architecture and allowing for an interesting integration into a historical context.


This talk is about making it easy to implement a distributed CQL. CQL is a continuous query language that extends SQL with a notion of windows over infinite streams of data. Programmers like using CQL, because its syntax is already familiar to them from their experience with other database-backed applications. CQL was originally designed to target a single node implementation of the Stanford Stream Data Management System. However, as streaming applications are expected to process larger and larger amounts of data at faster and faster rates, CQL will need to scale to run on clusters of machines.


The objective of this study was to investigate physical fitness of preschoolaged children just before entering school according to their body mass index, and to examine possible associations of body mass index, fat mass and fat-free mass with physical fitness in preschool-aged children. Two hundred and fifty-six preschoolers aged 6 to 7 years participated in the study. Physical fitness was assessed using PREFIT test battery and body composition was estimated using four skinfold thickness parameters. Overweight children had lower cardiorespiratory fitness and lower results in all weight-bearing fitness tests, and better handgrip strength test result in comparison with normal-weight children. Significant associations were found between body composition indices and the results of physical fitness tests. Higher BMI associated negatively with weight-bearing physical fitness tests. The results of the research indicate that weight-status and body composition have significant effect on physical fitness in 6–7 years old preschoolers.


This report is the result of a computer architecture simulation game development project. The goals of the project were to develop conceptual ideas for a game that could be used in teaching computer architecture at a university level and develop a prototype of game. The game should be based on simulation and the BSPlab simulator. Two types of simulation games were identified; observer and participant. The observer type puts the player outside the simulation and the participant type puts the player inside the simulation. The observer type of simulation game was selected as best suited for a game about computer architecture and simulation. Three conceptual ideas for types of observer simulation games were developed; Computer Tycoon, which puts the player in charge of a company. Computer Manager, which puts the player in the role of manager of a computer team and Computer Builder, which lets the player construct a computer city. The Computer Manager idea was developed further. The player is put in the role of the manager of a computer team. The team competes in a league against other teams, playing a series of matches against each other. A ranking system shows how well the teams have done and in the end of the series a winner will be declared. This is similar to a football-league. A simple prototype of the Computer Manager idea was designed and implemented in Java for use in evaluation of the idea.


Electrons that flow like a fluid Electrons inside a conductor are often described as flowing in response to an electric field. This flow rarely resembles anything like the familiar flow of water through a pipe, but three groups describe counterexamples (see the Perspective by Zaanen). Moll et al. found that the viscosity of the electron fluid in thin wires of PdCoO2 had a major effect on the flow, much like what happens in regular fluids. Bandurin et al. found evidence in graphene of electron whirlpools similar to those formed by viscous fluid flowing through a small opening. Finally, Crossno et al. observed a huge increase of thermal transport in graphene, a signature of so-called Dirac fluids. Science, this issue p. 1061, 1055, 1058; see also p. 1026 Transport measurements in thin wires of PdCoO2 reveal a regime wherein electron-electron collisions play a major role. [Also see Perspective by Zaanen] Electron transport is conventionally determined by the momentum-relaxing scattering of electrons by the host solid and its excitations. Hydrodynamic fluid flow through channels, in contrast, is determined partly by the viscosity of the fluid, which is governed by momentum-conserving internal collisions. A long-standing question in the physics of solids has been whether the viscosity of the electron fluid plays an observable role in determining the resistance. We report experimental evidence that the resistance of restricted channels of the ultrapure two-dimensional metal palladium cobaltate (PdCoO2) has a large viscous contribution. Comparison with theory allows an estimate of the electronic viscosity in the range between 6 × 10–3 kg m–1 s–1 and 3 × 10–4 kg m–1 s–1, versus 1 × 10–3 kg m–1 s–1 for water at room temperature.


BACKGROUND
Using a multidimensional approach, we assessed young women's knowledge of oral contraceptives (OC) and its influence on OC continuation rates.

METHODS
We used data from 659 women aged 13-25 years participating in a randomized controlled trial of an educational text message OC continuation intervention. Women received 6 months of daily text messages or routine care. At baseline and 6 months, we administered a comprehensive 41-item questionnaire measuring knowledge of OC's mechanism, effectiveness, use, side effects, risks, and benefits. We ascertained OC continuation status and reasons for discontinuation at 6 months. We analyzed relationships between OC knowledge and continuation with multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS
Young women scored, on average, 22.8 out of 41 points on the OC knowledge assessment at baseline and 24.7 points at 6 months. The 6-month OC continuation rate was 59%. OC continuers had >2-points-higher OC knowledge scores at 6 months than discontinuers (p<0.001). Those who reported discontinuing their OCs for side effects and forgetfulness scored >2 points lower than women who discontinued for other reasons (p-values<0.001). In multivariable regression models, each correct response on the baseline and 6-month knowledge assessments was associated with a 4% and 6% increased odds of OC continuation, respectively. Six-month OC knowledge scores were negatively associated with OC discontinuation due to side effects (odds ratio [OR] 0.94) and forgetfulness (OR 0.88).

CONCLUSIONS
OC knowledge, which was low among young women in our study, was associated with OC continuation and common reasons for discontinuation. Continued efforts to characterize relationships between OC knowledge and behavior and to test the effectiveness of different components of interventions aimed at increasing knowledge, addressing side effects, and improving use of OCs are warranted.


Studies have shown that application of innovation in products and marketing as strategy is important to the survival of a firm. However, only few companies are adopting this concept as a major strategy due to their obliviousness to its imminent contribution to the corporate goal. Many of the early adopters of this concept are also failing to achieve the most from it due to their lack of proper understanding of its fundamental and benefits. This study analysed empirically the impact of product innovation on sales volume of consumer goods using Philips consumer electronics, a division of Philips B.V as a case study. Identified hypothesis concerning the relationship between product innovation and the company corporate goal were tested with the use of telephone interviews and questionnaire to stimulate responses from staff of the firm and the consumer of its products. Analysing of the responses obtained from the field study showed that lack of product innovation could affect the organisation's profit and consumer satisfaction because of its great impact on consumers' buying decision. Monitoring and responding accordingly to changes in consumers' taste will ensure success in product innovation. Evidently, adoption of product innovation can lead to increase in sales volume of a firm's product. The finding of this research work will be useful to the firm used as a case study in regards to better development of its innovation funnel with feedback from market trends and consumer dynamic needs. Although, this research work used a single company for analysis, however the result of the findings can be adequately applied to other firms especially firms within the same industry.


The acclaimed and enthralling story of the dark side of Elizabethan rule, from Stephen Alford Elizabeth I's reign is known as a golden age, yet to much of Europe she was a 'Jezebel' and heretic who had to be destroyed. The Watchers is a thrilling portrayal of the secret state that sought to protect the Queen; a shadow world of spies, codebreakers, agent provocateurs and confidence-men who would stop at nothing to defend the realm. Reviews: "Forget Le Carre, Deighton and the rest - this is more enthralling than any modern spy fiction". (Daily Telegraph). "Absorbing and closely documented...Alford vividly evokes this murky world of codes, ciphers, invisible ink, intercepted letters, aliases, disguises, forgeries and instructions to burn after reading ...flowing narrative [and] crisp judments ...engrossing". (Guardian). "[Alford] has brought a dash of le Carre to the 16th century". (The Times (Book of the Week)). "A vivid and staggeringly well-researched portrait of the sinister side of Elizabethan England...This is a spectacular book. It sheds new light on plots that most historians have ceased to explore and brings less famous conspiracies to the attention of the general reading public". (Herald). "Fascinating...If you want to know the inside story of this struggle, the dark heart of calculation and the fight for survival, then this is the book to read. I know no better". (Spectator). About the author: Stephen Alford is the author of the acclaimed biography Burghley: William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He taught for fifteen years at Cambridge University, where he was a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of History and a Fellow of King's College. He is now Professor of Early Modern British History in the University of Leeds.


Molecular imprinted polymer (MIP MAA-β-CD) with 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and methacrylic acid functionalized β-cyclodextrin (MAA-β-CD) as the template molecule and the functional monomer, respectively, was prepared and used in molecular imprinted-solid phase extraction (MISPE) for the extraction of phenols (2,4-dichlorophenol, 2-chlorophenol, 4-chloro-3-methylphenol, 4-chlorophenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, and 2-nitrophenol) from water samples. The MISPE method was optimized prior to the determination using gas chromatography coupled with a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Under the optimized conditions, the MIP MAA-β-CD sorbent showed good linearity (0.01-12 mgL−1), low limits of detection (0.14-0.75 µgL−1), and good repeatability (RSD 2.3-3.6%, n = 3). Good recoveries were obtained in the range of 97-115% for tap water and between 88-103% for river water. The developed MIP MAA-β-CD SPE was then compared with other adsorbents. The unique properties of β-CD and presence of imprinted cavities explains the higher extraction recoveries obtained for phenols when using MIP MAA-β-CD SPE.


We discuss the criticality of infrastructure in economic development and security, and identify various risks posed by smart technologies as applied to infrastructure. We provide a computational intelligence methodology, using attitudinal and fuzzy modelling, and illustrate its application as a risk modelling decision technology in the selection of smart technology in critical infrastructure.


Impaired drainage of aqueous humor through the trabecular meshwork (TM) culminating in increased intraocular pressure is a major risk factor for glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Regulation of aqueous humor drainage through the TM, however, is poorly understood. The role of RhoA GTPase-mediated actomyosin organization, cell adhesive interactions, and gene expression in regulation of aqueous humor outflow was investigated using adenoviral vector-driven expression of constitutively active mutant of RhoA (RhoAV14). Organ-cultured anterior segments from porcine eyes expressing RhoAV14 exhibited significant reduction of aqueous humor outflow. Cultured TM cells expressing RhoAV14 exhibited a pronounced contractile morphology, increased actin stress fibers, and focal adhesions and increased levels of phosphorylated myosin light chain (MLC), collagen IV, fibronectin, and laminin. cDNA microarray analysis of RNA extracted from RhoAV14-expressing human TM cells revealed a significant increase in the expression of genes encoding extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, cytokines, integrins, cytoskeletal proteins, and signaling proteins. Conversely, various ECM proteins stimulated robust increases in phosphorylation of MLC, paxillin, and focal adhesion kinase and activated Rho GTPase and actin stress fiber formation in TM cells, indicating a potential regulatory feedback interaction between ECM-induced mechanical strain and Rho GTPase-induced isometric tension in TM cells. Collectively, these data demonstrate that sustained activation of Rho GTPase signaling in the aqueous humor outflow pathway increases resistance to aqueous humor outflow through the trabecular pathway by influencing the actomyosin assembly, cell adhesive interactions, and the expression of ECM proteins and cytokines in TM cells.


Clinical Image: An 80-year-old lady presented after "passing out" on rising from her bed. This was preceded by 4 weeks of diffuse, dull, intermittent, non-radiating abdominal pain, associated with bloating, which was more to solids than liquids and relieved by vomiting. She noted early satiety, a 15 lbs weight loss (last 3 months) and constipation. Examination revealed a malnourished woman with temporal and supraclavicular wasting. Her abdomen was distended, tender, with a "succussion splash" 9 hours after her last meal. Lab results were consistent with hypokalemic hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis and prerenal azotemia. Abdominal radiograph showed inferior displacement of Transverse Colon (Figure 1A). Computed Tomography (CT) showed a distended stomach, pyloric inflammation (Figure 1B) and partial gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) (Figure 1C). Subsequent EGD showed pyloric stenosis with partially obstructing duodenal bulb ulceration. Biopsy was negative for H. pylori infection, scar tissue or malignancy. She was treated with intermittent NG tube suction and intravenous proton pump inhibitors (PPI's). Her diet was progressively advanced. She was discharged home on oral PPI's and was symptom free at 4-week follow-up.


Although discrimination has been shown to adversely affect the health of marginalized populations, there is a paucity of research on the health impacts of discrimination experienced by illicit drug users. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between interpersonal discrimination and the mental and physical health of illicit drug users taking into account several potential confounding factors. A sample of 1,008 active illicit substance users (defined as having used cocaine, crack, or heroin in the previous 2 months) were recruited in three New York City neighborhoods between August 2000 and January 2001 using street-outreach techniques. Discrimination due to illicit drug use was the most common form of interpersonal discrimination experienced and more than one-half the study participants reported experiencing discrimination due to more than one attribute. Discrimination was significantly associated with poor mental health (measured by the SF-36 mental health score), depression (measured by the CES-D), and the number of self-reported chronic physical health conditions. The presence of multiple stigmatizing characteristics was associated with poorer mental and physical health. Discrimination may contribute to poor mental and physical health in this marginalized population, potentially complicating the provision of substance abuse treatment.


Thermally sprayed MCrAlY bond coats are important elements of thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems which are applied to the surface of gas turbine components to protect them in high temperature environments. Knowledge of their mechanical properties is essential in preventing TBC failure which can have catastrophic consequences. However, limited data on modulus, strength and ductility are available for such coatings. In this work, the ductile to brittle transition behaviour of a CoNiCrAlY coating has been investigated via the small punch tensile test (SPTT). Displacement controlled tests were carried out on free standing coatings at room temperature (RT) and between 400-750 °C at a rate of 1 μms-1. At low temperatures there was evidence of elastic-brittle behaviour and at high temperatures there was clear evidence of yielding and plastic deformation. The ductile to brittle transition temperature was found to be between 500-750 °C. The yield stress ranged from 1000-1500 MPa below 600 °C to less than 500 MPa above 650 °C. The elastic modulus was found to be approximately 200-230 GPa at 500 °C and 55 GPa above 700 °C. At room temperature the fracture surface showed flat, smooth features indicating brittle failure whereas at 700 °C there was evidence of ductile tearing.


Background: Imaging characteristics of osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) lesions quantified by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are often used to inform treatment and prognosis. However, the interrater reliability of clinician-driven MRI-based assessment of OCD lesions is not well documented. Purpose: To determine the interrater reliability of several historical and novel MRI-derived characteristics of OCD of the knee in children. Study Design: Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 3 Methods: A total of 42 OCD lesions were evaluated by 10 fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeons using 31 different MRI characteristics, characterizing lesion size and location, condylar size, cartilage status, the interface between parent and progeny bone, and features of both the parent and the progeny bone. Interrater reliability was determined via intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) with 2-way random modeling, Fleiss kappa, or Krippendorff alpha as appropriate for each variable. Results: Raters were reliable when the lesion was measured in the coronal plane (ICC, 0.77). Almost perfect agreement was achieved for condylar size (ICC, 0.93), substantial agreement for physeal patency (ICC, 0.79), and moderate agreement for joint effusion (ICC, 0.56) and cartilage status (ICC, 0.50). Overall, raters showed significant variability regarding interface characteristics (ICC, 0.25), progeny (ICC range, 0.03 to 0.62), and parent bone measurements and qualities (ICC range, –0.02 to 0.65), with reliability being moderate at best for these measurements. Conclusion: This multicenter study determined the interrater reliability of MRI characteristics of OCD lesions in children. Although several measurements provided acceptable reliability, many MRI features of OCD that inform treatment decisions were unreliable. Further work will be needed to refine the unreliable characteristics and to assess the ability of those reliable characteristics to predict clinical lesion instability and prognosis.


Online optimization covers problems such as online resource allocation, online bipartite matching, adwords (a central problem in e-commerce and advertising), and adwords with separable concave returns. We analyze the worst case competitive ratio of two primal-dual algorithms for a class of online convex (conic) optimization problems that contains the previous examples as special cases defined on the positive orthant. We derive a sufficient condition on the objective function that guarantees a constant worst case competitive ratio (greater than or equal to $\frac{1}{2}$) for monotone objective functions. We provide new examples of online problems on the positive orthant and the positive semidefinite cone that satisfy the sufficient condition. We show how smoothing can improve the competitive ratio of these algorithms, and in particular for separable functions, we show that the optimal smoothing can be derived by solving a convex optimization problem. This result allows us to directly optimize the competitive ratio bound over a class of smoothing functions, and hence design effective smoothing customized for a given cost function.


Interactions between adhesion molecules support the checkerboard-like patterning of cells in the cochlea. Developmental patterning is very important in the arrangements of cells within organs and tissues. The organ of Corti in the inner ear contains mechanosensory hair cells that are interdigitated with nonsensory supporting cells. During development, these two cell types are arranged in a checkerboard-like pattern. Togashi et al. worked in mice (see the Perspective by Choi and Peifer) to show that the immunoglobulin-like cell-cell adhesion molecules nectin-1 and nectin-3 play a key role in this checkerboard-like patterning through their heterophilic interactions. Mice lacking either nectin-1 or nectin-3 fail to organize their auditory epithelia properly. Thus, differential cell adhesion can control the spatial pattern of cells in a tissue. H. Togashi, K. Kominami, M. Waseda, H. Komura, J. Miyoshi, M. Takeichi, Y. Takai, Nectins establish a checkerboard-like cellular pattern in the auditory epithelium. Science 333, 1144–1147 (2011). [Abstract] [Full Text] W. Choi, M. Peifer, Arranging a cellular checkerboard. Science 333, 1099–1100 (2011). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Multicore processors have been effective in scaling application performance by dividing computation among multiple threads running in parallel. However, application performance does not necessarily improve as more cores are added. Application performance can be limited due to multiple bottlenecks including contention for shared resources such as caches and memory. In this paper, we perform a scalability analysis of parallel applications on a 64-threaded Intel Nehalem-EX based system. We find that applications which scale well on small number of cores, exhibit poor scalability on large number of cores. Using hardware performance counters, we show that many performance limited applications are limited by memory bandwidth on manycore platforms and exhibit improved scalability when provisioned with higher memory bandwidth by varying the number of memory riser cards used. Results show significant energy savings for these memory bandwidth limited applications by regulating the number of threads used and applying dynamic voltage and frequency scaling.


Summary
Condition is defined as the pool of resources available to an individual that can be allocated to fitness-enhancing traits. Consequently, condition could influence developmental trade-offs if any occur. Although many studies have manipulated diet to demonstrate condition-dependent trait expression, few studies have determined the contribution of specific nutrients to condition or trade-offs.
We used nutritional geometry to quantify the effects of dietary protein and carbohydrate content on larval performance and the development of adult morphology including body size as well as a primary and secondary sexually selected trait in male broad-horned beetles, Gnatocerus cornutus.
We found that offspring survival, development rate and morphological traits were highly affected by dietary carbohydrate content and to a lesser extent by protein content and that all traits were maximized at a protein-to-carbohydrate ratio around 1:2. The absolute size of a secondary sexual character, the mandibles, had a heightened response to the increased availability and ratio of both macronutrients. Male genitalia, in contrast, were relatively insensitive to the increased availability of macronutrients.
Overall, while nutrition influenced trait expression, the nutritional requirements of development rate and morphological traits were largely the same and resource acquisition seems to implement only weak trade-offs in this species.
This finding contrasts with some resource constraint predictions, as beetles seem able to simultaneously meet the nutritional requirements of most traits.


The late 1800s through the early 1900s saw the rapid development of growth media containing various substrates, i.e. carbohydrates, to identify and differentiate microbes isolated from clinical specimens. However, during the 1950s, an evolution of diagnostic services occurred created by a growing population with access to health insurance and the subsequent requirement for quality healthcare. The utilization of miniaturized, multi-test kits provided the first significant advancement of the biochemical, growth-based approach needed to handle the increased demand for clinical services. These testing kits provided reductions in labor and material costs associated with making, maintaining, inoculating, and reading tubed and plated media, while also reducing the time required to identify microbial isolates. The trend to improve laboratory efficiency and quality continued with the incorporation of automation and computers throughout the 1970s. Automated systems greatly increased the testing capacity of laboratories by allowing the simultaneous determination of identification and antimicrobial susceptibilities from one inoculum, and by further reducing the time to identification to hours instead of days. Within just the last 10 – 15 years, development and integration of a new growth-based approach for identification has occurred in the form of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The mass spectrometric approach provides the lowest cost per analysis and fastest time to identification after isolation of any current technique available in the microbiology laboratory. As healthcare costs and demand continue to increase, and more hospitals look to consolidate laboratories, fully automated facilities incorporating mass spectrometry for identification, along with molecular methods, will become commonplace.


We report on a large-scale case study of a combinatorial prediction market. We implemented a back-end pricing engine based on Dudik et al.'s (2012) combinatorial market maker, together with a wizard-like front end to guide users to constructing any of millions of predictions about the presidential, senatorial, and gubernatorial elections in the United States in 2012. Users could create complex combinations of predictions and, as a result, we obtained detailed information about the joint distribution and conditional estimates of election results. We describe our market, how users behaved, and how well our predictions compared with benchmark forecasts. We conduct a series of counterfactual simulations to investigate how our market might be improved in the future.


This letter presents a reactive planning system that enriches the topological representation of an environment with a tightly integrated semantic representation, achieved by incorporating and exploiting advances in deep perceptual learning and probabilistic semantic reasoning. Our architecture combines object detection with semantic SLAM, affording robust, reactive logical as well as geometric planning in unexplored environments. Moreover, by incorporating a human mesh estimation algorithm, our system is capable of reacting and responding in real time to semantically labeled human motions and gestures. New formal results allow tracking of suitably non-adversarial moving targets, while maintaining the same collision avoidance guarantees. We suggest the empirical utility of the proposed control architecture with a numerical study including comparisons with a state-of-the-art dynamic replanning algorithm, and physical implementation on both a wheeled and legged platform in different settings with both geometric and semantic goals.


A nonexperimental descriptive study was conducted to determine the interrelatedness among coping strategies, humor and burnout among nursing education faculty. The conceptual framework of this study was based on the constructs of coping strategies and humor which were conceptualized as having a direct relationship to burnout. Areview of the literature concerning coping, humor and burnout supported this proposition and emphasized the need for empirical testing. Coping Humor Scale. Wavs of Coping Questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory were the instruments used to measure the constructs. Academic history and demographic data sheets were also used. Hie instruments were mailed to 285 nursing faculty teaching in programs of nursing in the Dallas /Fort Worth, Texas area. The return rate for the mailing was 70.07%. Burnout among nursing education faculty showed a low degree of emotional exhaustion (54.8%), a low degree of depersonalization (84.7% and a low degree of personal accomplishment (60.7%). The findings did not reveal a high or low degree of burnout but rather a pattern of burnout suggestive of a different stage. Humor as a coping mechanism during stressful events was not frequently used. The highest proportion of nursing education faculty used distancing (46.53%) as a coping strategy. The second strategy used was planful problem solving (11.3%) with escape-avoidance used the least (3.34%). Multiple regression was used to test the research questions related to the predictor variables of coping, academic history and demographic data as they relate to each criterion variable of burnout. The use coping strategies (including humor) to predict various stages of burnout revealed only weak variable predictors. Academic history and demographic were also weak predictors for burnout.


In the presence of a sufficient temperature gradient, snow evolves from an isotropic network of ice crystals to a transversely isotropic system of depth hoar chains. This morphology is often the weak layer responsible for full depth avalanches. Previous research primarily focused on quantifying the conditions necessary to produce depth hoar. Limited work has been performed to determine the underlying reason for the microstructural changes. Using entropy production rates derived from nonequilibrium thermodynamics, this research shows that depth hoar forms as a result of the snow progressing naturally toward thermal equilibrium. Laboratory experiments were undertaken to examine the evolution of snow microstructure at the macro scale under nonequilibrium thermal conditions. Snow samples with similar initial microstructure were subjected to either a fixed temperature gradient or fixed heat input. The metamorphism for both sets of boundary conditions produced similar depth hoar chains with comparable increases in effective thermal conductivity. Examination of the Gibbs free energy and entropy production rates showed that all metamorphic changes were driven by the system evolving to facilitate equilibrium in the snow or the surroundings. This behavior was dictated by the second law of thermodynamics. An existing numerical model was modified to examine depth hoar formation at the grain scale. Entropy production rate relations were developed for an open system of ice and water vapor. This analysis showed that heat conduction in the bonds had the highest specific entropy production rate, indicating they were the most inefficient part of the snow system. As the metamorphism advanced, the increase in bond size enhanced the conduction pathways through the snow, making the system more efficient at transferring heat. This spontaneous microstructural evolution moved the system and the surroundings toward equilibrium by reducing the local temperature gradients over the bonds and increasing the entropy production rate density. The employment of nonequilibrium thermodynamics determined that the need to reach equilibrium was the underlying force that drives the evolution of snow microstructure. This research also expanded the relevance of nonequilibrium thermodynamics by applying it to a complicated, but well bounded, natural problem.


Background: The universal principles of biomedical ethics provide overall guidance which are applicable to all settings. However, the range of ethical issues present in different communities differs subject to variations in ethno-cultural contexts. Rapid Ethical Assessment (REA) is an approach developed to improve context-tailored application of the informed consent process in low-income settings. The tool employs ethnographic and action research techniques to explore and address context specific ethical issues. However, information is lacking on its feasibility and applicability for wide-scale use. This study aimed to explore the need for REA and establish its usefulness for research in Ethiopia and similar settings. The study also aimed to assess feasibility of REA so as to provide further guidance on strategies for its future application.
Methods: Pilot REA studies were conducted in three different research projects, 'parent studies', in Ethiopia between 2012 and 2013. The studies employed a range of study designs with multi-disciplinary approach and were conducted in multi-ethnic and multi-cultural settings in Ethiopia. The study disciplines employed ranged from ethics, social science and anthropology to public health. The study designs employed ranged from qualitative, ethnographic and mixed methods to quantitative interventional studies.
Results: Qualitative and quantitative studies of research stakeholders indicated presence of gaps in the research consent process in Ethiopia. The need for the REA approach in understanding and addressing these gaps was highlighted. Based on the pilot studies, REA was found to be useful to identify important context-specific ethical issues and contextualizing consent processes for community-based medical research. The ethical issues ranged from general issues such as the cultural setting of the study, perception about research, health and health care practices to perceptions about the research subject matters, and communication dynamics and norms and their hierarchies. REA was associated with improved levels of information comprehension and quality of the informed consent process. REA also appeared to be a feasible intervention in terms of cost, time and skill. REA skills were easily transferrable to local experts and the approach was flexible and adaptable to circumstances, settings and needs.
Conclusion: Given clear strategic guidelines, REA is a highly useful approach to identify important ethical issues in research conducted in the Ethiopian context. It is feasible that the approach could be applied at wider scale in such settings. The approach is recommended for further dissemination coupled with continued documentation and validation.


The clearest, easiest-to-use guide to understanding GAAS 2013 on the market—fully updated
This latest resource to understanding GAAS addresses the toughest part of the job—identifying, interpreting, and applying the many audit, attest, review, and compilation standards relevant to a particular engagement. The only GAAS reference organized according to practitioners' actual use of the Statements on Auditing Standards (SASs), inside you'll find explanations, practice notes, practical illustrations, checklists, and questionnaires to guide users through the auditing process.

Detailed explanation of all new SAS standards
Updates and interpretations of new Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS) Compilation and Review statements
A brief identification of each SAS, SSAE, and SSARS, with its effective date and tips on when to apply it
A convenient and comprehensive glossary of official definitions, which are usually scattered throughout a standard
Behind-the-scenes explanations of the reasons for each pronouncement and brief explanations of the basic ideas of the section
Concise listing and descriptions of each standard's specific mandate
Easy-to-read capsule summary of interpretations, plus selected AICPA practice alerts and advisories
Helpful techniques for remaining compliant with each standard
Examples and illustrations for testing internal controls

Wiley Practitioner's Guide to GAAS 2014 presents each statement individually, explaining how the standards are related and offering guidance on the entire engagement process in the form of practice notes, checklists, questionnaires, and real-world examples that illustrate how the fundamental requirements of each section are applied.


The renowned American Impressionist Childe Hassam built his reputation on light-filled images depicting the streets of New York and New England's coastal resorts. He was also known as a consummate traveler who delighted in discovering and painting new scenes and unfamiliar landscapes. In 1904 and 1908, Hassam traveled west, visiting Oregon and the surrounding region. He was captivated by the beauty of the Northwest landscape: its rocky coast, lush valleys, forested mountains, and stark high deserts. During his sojourns in the West, he painted at least 60 images, ranging from portraits and still lifes to landscapes and seascapes in oil, watercolor, and pastel. Childe Hassam: Impressionist in the West explores this significant, but little known, body of work in the context of the artist's entire oeuvre and larger developments in modern art at the turn of the century. Richly illustrated, it investigates how Hassam's images of the West mirror a number of his personal and professional concerns; provides insights into technical aspects of his work, which he tended to adapt to the subject and circumstances at hand; and looks at how the West appealed to his desire to create an art that was purely American in both content and style. Childe Hassam: Impressionist in the West offers a lucid and in-depth look at this intriguing interlude in Hassam's career and the remarkable works that resulted.


Summary The efficacy of strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus megaterium and Azospirillum spp. in in vitro solubilization of Ca3PO4 was studied. Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus megaterium strains were the most powerful phosphate solubilizers on Pikovskaya (PVK) plates and liquid medium. Azospirillum lipoferum strains showed weak zones of solubilization on the PVK plates. Phosphate solubilization by the tested organisms was accompanied with pH reduction of the culture medium. Maximum pH reduction was 2.8, 1.2 and 0.5 units for Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus megaterium and Azospirillum lipoferum strain 137, respectively. Alginate and agar immobilization of the tested bacteria or coimmobilization of A. lipoferum 137 and B. megaterium significantly enhanced phosphorus solubilization for four consecutive 4-day cycles. In a pot experiment, phosphorus mobilization in wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Beni Swif 1) inoculated with B. megaterium or A. lipoferum 137 as single or mixed inocula (as free or alginate immobilized beads) was studied in presence of Ca3PO4. Wheat inoculated with mixed inocula exhibited high shoot dry weight, total nitrogen (N) yield and the shoot phosphorus content increased by 37 and 53 % compared to the plants inoculated with A. lipoferum and uninoculated ones, used as control, respectively. Maximum nitrogenase activity (measured by acetylene reduction assay) was observed in mixed inoculum treatment, and was increased by 500 and 32 % compared to uninoculated and A. lipoferum inoculated plants. Results demonstrate the beneficial influence of coinoculation of A. lipoferum and B. megaterium for providing balanced N and P nutrition of wheat plants.


This thesis takes a discursive approach to the talk of parents of children with an ADHD diagnosis. It uses data from 2 focus groups, 10 individual interviews and 3 mother/father interviews. The thesis adopts a synthetic approach to discourse and draws on the analytic concepts associated with both conversation analysis and with discursive approaches more concerned with the wider social context. The concepts of interpretative repertoires and subject positions are used to argue that prevalent understandings of ADHD place parents of children with ADHD at the centre of a highly moralised debate. Specifically, the prevalent psychosocial repertoire is identified as aligning ADHD with ineffective parenting.

The research explores how parents talk about their experiences of ADHD, and how, through discursive action parents construct their identities in relation to ADHD. It does this, firstly, by identifying and analysing the discursive resources parents deploy in their constructions of ADHD, and their accounts of having a child with ADHD; secondly, by considering the ways in which parents manage their moral positioning in relation to their children's ADHD diagnosis; thirdly, by identifying the cultural discourses that mothers and fathers use in the formation of their identities as 'good' parents.

Analysis suggests that parents attend to issues of responsibility and accountability in their constructions of ADHD. ADHD can be understood as a social category which is fluid, contradictory, and imbued with a moral discourse that is linked to competing subject positions. The thesis demonstrates that parenting identities are not fixed, but are fluid and flexible depending on what is at stake. By using different discursive resources, mothers and fathers construct distinct parenting identities. Significantly, these resources often make relevant gendered subject positions, such as the valorised/blameworthy mother and the disciplining, out-at-work father. However, overall, these distinct parenting identities are formulated to convey the idea of a morally adequate and balanced parenting team.


This paper offers the first detailed English-language analysis of international investment arbitration law and practice in Thailand. Part 1 briefly introduces burgeoning foreign direct investment (FDI) and investment treaties in the Asian region, followed by more recent emergence of significant investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims. Part 2 sketches the expansion of inbound FDI into Thailand from the 1980s, and more recent outbound investment especially into neighbouring developing countries. This expansion prompted Thailand to enter into dozens of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), including ISDS-backed protections especially from the mid-1990s, and Free Trade Agreements including investment chapters from 2004.Part 3 outlines the first two treaty-based claims filed against Thailand, especially the 2009 arbitration award in favour of Walter Bau due to a lack of 'fair and equitable treatment' related to a Don Muang airport tollway concession project. However, Part 3 also examines cases where the Thai government has been subject to arbitration claims under concessions or other contracts with foreign investors. Thailand's policy response has focused on restricting the capacity of public authorities to agree to arbitration clauses in concession contracts (in 2004) and other public contracts (in 2009, partly liberalised in 2015). Thailand also revised its Model BIT to somewhat reduce parallel treaty-based protections for foreign investors, but only from 2013.Nonetheless, Thailand joins other countries in the region (like Vietnam, Korea and Australia) that have weathered high-profile ISDS claims, but have decided not to let old investment treaties expire (as in Indonesia). Instead, they are negotiating future treaties with provisions recalibrating the rights of foreign investors and host states. However, Thailand has maintained the comparatively unusual extra response of maintaining restrictions on public authorities agreeing to arbitration in investment contracts.


The cavity–particle dynamics at cavitation inception on the surface of spherical particles suspended in water and exposed to a strong tensile stress wave is experimentally studied with high-speed photography. Particles, which serve as nucleation sites for cavitation bubbles, are set into a fast translatory motion during the explosive growth of the cavity. They reach velocities of ~40 ms−1 and even higher. When the volume growth of the cavity slows down, the particle detaches from the cavity through a process of neck-breaking, and the particle is shot away. The experimental observations are simulated with (i) a spherical cavity model and (ii) with an axisymmetric boundary element method (BEM). The input for both models is a pressure pulse, which is obtained from the observed radial cavity dynamics during an individual experiment. The model then allows us to calculate the resulting particle trajectory. The cavity shapes obtained from the BEM calculations compare well with the photographs until neck formation occurs. In several cases we observed inception at two or more locations on a single particle. Moreover, after collapse of the primary cavity, a second inception was often observed. Finally, an example is presented to demonstrate the potential application of the cavity–particle system as a particle cannon, e.g. in the context of drug delivery into tissue.


Objective. To design a faculty-guided international elective Advanced Pharmacy Practice Expereince (APPE) in partnership with a medical relief organization. To expose students to pharmacy-related opportunities in non-traditional settings focused on an indigent population, while obtaining a global perspective on healthcare. Methods. The College of Pharmacy partnered with an international medical relief organization utilizing their resources for trip planning and in-country logistics to provide a framework for a pharmacy student rotation. The international trip is a portion of the calendar month rotation, while the balance is faculty-guided discussion groups, involvement in formulary planning, developing educational materials, and local medical relief work. Student course evaluations, exit interviews, and post-trip debriefing were used to evaluate the rotation experience. Results. The APPE rotation met all pre-selected objectives outlined by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. This is evidenced by complete submersion into a developing country's culture and healthcare system as well as student course evaluation responses. Students evaluated seven rotation objectives with the College of Pharmacy's Likert scale. The average score was 4.8 of 5, which demonstrated the student's either agreed or strongly agreed that each objective was met. Additionally, the response to the exit interview and group de-briefing questions confirmed that the students successfully met the goals and objectives of the APPE rotation. Conclusions. Partnering with an international medical organization can provide a framework for a facultyguided international elective APPE experience, requiring minimal resources from the College of Pharmacy while providing a quality international experience.


The lack of adequate housing is a problem throughout Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Almost 40 percent of families in the region live in a house beyond repair, have no title, or lack water, sewerage, electricity, adequate building materials, or space. It is estimated that by 2015, that number will increase by 10 percent. Only an investment of at least $310 billion will close the region's current housing gap, that is 7.8 percent of LAC's GDP. The demand for improved housing among the base of the pyramid (BOP) has been consistently strong and represents a relatively steady proportion of the overall income of this segment of the population. Yet the supply of innovative and tailored solutions continues to be limited. This report presents and analyzes promising business models that are enabling companies and other organizations to provide services and products to the BOP and in doing so help address the region's pressing housing deficit. The business models show that BOP families have both the willingness and the economic capacity to make a down payment and pay monthly installments for a finished housing solution. They also demonstrate that BOP families can afford to take out a loan for home construction or improvements if financial products are designed to take into account their particular circumstances, which include labor informality or low formal wages, lack of appropriate collateral, and a volatile wage-earning scheme. Most importantly, these models expose the vast opportunities for the private sector to enter and serve the BOP market. Demand at the BOP is latent and growing, and business models with the potential to serve this market segment are in need of adequate financing. This shows that the market opportunity is there for developers, suppliers of construction materials, financial institutions, and impact investors.


This is a subjective state-of-the-art report on the lifeline earthquake engineering in Japan. Beginning from the difference between civil engineering and building engineering in Japan, the paper briefly describes the evolution in the said field since early 70's. Depicted are the importance of and the lessons from the 1978 Miyagi-ken-oki earthquake in the Japanese lifeline earthquake engineering. Conservatism is one of the most notable characteristics in the earthquake-resistant design in Japan. It is stressed that good maintenance of lifelines in the ordinary times is by itself the most effective preparedness effort, and that this notion is beginning to be understood especially by large lifeline utilities.


Shallow dike intrusion and widening was proposed several decades ago as a cause of surface faulting and graben formation on Earth. This hypothesis was subsequently applied to the spectacular linear and/or radial graben systems visible on Mars. However, a recent study has suggested that shallow dike intrusion on Mars results in contractional folding and uplift adjacent to dike walls rather than extensional faulting and subsidence above the dike tip, even in the presence of concurrent regional extension. Here, discrete element numerical modeling is used to re-examine the typical style of deformation above the shallow tips of widening dikes on Mars. The dikes are embedded in a frictional, cohesive material representing the Martian crust. In the experiments presented here, subsidence and extensional faulting (graben formation) are produced above the dike tips, even with modest amounts of widening. For suggested depths to dike tips on Mars, an overlying graben is produced in all cases; no upright detachment-style folds are produced. Results indicate that dike widening does indeed remain a possible mechanism for graben formation on Mars. Implications for the interpretation of deformation associated with shallow dike intrusion on Earth and distant planetary surfaces are discussed.


Rapid and effective ignition of pyrotechnic countermeasure decoy flares is vitally important to the safety of expensive military platforms such as aircraft. QinetiQ is conducting experimental and theoretical research into pyrotechnic countermeasure decoy flares. A key part of this work is the development and application of improved ignition models to improve the understanding of the ignition processes occurring for these flares. Typically, these flares are wrapped in a material such as foil. Until this material bursts or ruptures, the flare can be considered to be effectively a closed system. Therefore it is possible to use gun internal ballistics models to investigate the ignition and combustion processes in these flares. Previous work validated the computer models for conditions of atmospheric pressure and 21oC. This paper describes computer modelling and experiments conducted to validate predictions at pressures equivalent to those at 20000 and 40000 feet.


This study considers the reasons for, and subsequent consequences of MOOC participants choosing to see content "All at once" or released weekly "Step by step". It aims to identify the types of MOOC participant most likely to choose selective release over seeing the materials all at once, and studies whether one path or another is more likely to lead to successful completion of the MOOC.

The MOOC in question is the twice-yearly Learn Moodle Basics MOOC which regularly attracts over 3000 participants and which in recent years has offered participants when signing up the choice of how to access the course content.

It is envisaged that the report will be useful to educators and researchers interested in MOOC motivation and completion rates in general and to instructional designers considering how best to present their materials. As the MOOC focuses on how to teach with Moodle, the report should also be of interest to researchers exploring how the Moodle platform can be suited to MOOC delivery.

The study involved taking the completion data from three recent Learn Moodle Basics MOOCs and analysing the results to identify which cohort ("All at once" or "Step by step") had higher results in terms of completion, partial completion and non-completion - if indeed there was a significant difference. An earlier study along similar lines (Mullaney, T and Reich, J 2013) suggested there is no significant difference. We test the findings against the earlier study and, additionally, explore the reasons behind participants' choice of path through the course. The most recent MOOC also included a participant survey asking why one path was preferred over the other. The results of this survey also form part of the study.

The findings reveal that there is no appreciable difference between the completion and non-completion rates of participants in both groups. An alternative certificate, a "Certificate of Achievement," is awarded for partipants who complete all but one specific activity, and while again, no significant difference was noted in how many from both cohorts, it was observed that far fewer participants in both cohorts obtained this. It could be implied that, realising they would not obtain a Certificate of completion, participants were far less motivated to continue with the remaining activities.

The results from the participant survey again unsurprisingly reveal that experienced Moodlers and those having previously done the MOOC are more likely to select the All at Once path whereas those who wish to 'chunk' their learning into 'manageable' sections are more likely to select the Step by Step path. However, there is no appreciable difference in confidence or competence in English.

The study recommends continuing to offer both options of content release in further MOOCs. It also recommends working together with the authors of a recent study of Learn Moodle MOOCs (Monllau Olive D et al, 2019) to explore in greater depth indicators of success and failure in both groups by enabling the Learning Analytics feature on the Learn Moodle site.


There is a growing recognition that for developed economies, like the UK, tariff-free market access is just one of a number of measures that ease cross-border trade flows. Modern trade agreements go beyond tariff reductions by setting rules, such as market access and regulation of foreign service providers. We examine the contribution of deep non-tariff provisions on international trade in goods and services. Using a gravity model, we find that provisions related to services, investment, and competition make up half of the overall impact of economic integration agreements on trade flows. These deep provisions have larger effects for trade in services than for trade in goods, and their relative contribution is highest in sectors that facilitate supply chain activity, such as transportation and storage. We apply our sectoral estimates of deep provisions to examine two counterfactuals of the UK signing bilateral deals with the US and with China and India. We find that negotiating services, investment, and competition provisions in these future deals would boost trade relatively more in professional, scientific, and technical activities in the UK.


We present A GGREGA T HOR , a framework that implements state-of-the-art robust ( Byzantine-resilient ) distributed stochastic gradient descent. Following the standard parameter server model, we assume that a minority of worker machines can be controlled by an adversary and behave arbitrarily. Such a setting has been theoretically studied with several of the existing approaches using a robust aggregation of the workers' gradient estimations. Yet, the question is whether a Byzantine-resilient aggregation can leverage more workers to speed-up learning. We answer this theoretical question, and implement these state-of-the-art theoretical approaches on A GGREGA T HOR , to assess their practical costs. We built A GGREGA T HOR around TensorFlow and introduce modifications for vanilla TensorFlow towards making it usable in an actual Byzantine setting. A GGREGA T HOR also permits the use of unreliable gradient transfer over UDP to provide further speed-up (without losing the accuracy) over the native communication protocols (TCP-based) of TensorFlow in saturated networks. We quantify the overhead of Byzantine resilience of A GGREGA T HOR to 19% and 43% (to ensure weak and strong Byzantine resilience respectively) compared to vanilla TensorFlow.


The high-rise building for the RWE AG in Essen was completed at the end of 1996. Design for multi-storey buildings has previously undergone much development due to the demands of this particular style, but now this model developed in a wind tunnel has provided a decisive step forward in the design of high-rise buildings. The design demonstrates a high degree of energy efficiency, recognising the constraints of natural resources, and incorporating them to advantage in the architecture and technology of the building. A second skin in the form of a glass cylinder 120m high permits natural ventilation and enables roof terraces to be created even at this height. A simple, logical concept and intelligent technological solutions allow the requirements of the user regarding daylight and ventilation to be addressed and solved.


The field of sports medicine continues to grow and be popular. The specialty area of sports foot and ankle is particularly exciting. Foot and ankle injury rates continue to be reported at an increasing rate in sports especially in the NFL. Great toe injuries and Lis franc midfoot ruptures can be career ending injuries. Achilles tendon overuse injuries as well as ruptures and peroneal tendon dislocations and tears continue to plague the clinicians and athletes alike. Plantar fasciitis is almost epidemic in the NBA and ankle fractures in the athlete are common but poorly described in the literature. Equally enigmatic are the navicular stress fracture and the Jones fracture of the 5th metatarsal. We hope this issue of "Foot and Ankle Clinics" will help readers and clinicians diagnose, treat and rehab the athlete with foot and ankle injuries. We have asked our distinguished foot and ankle trained specialists to discuss these areas in the more complicated cases. For instance, a great article has been written about ankle sprains in the athletes but how do we treat effectively the athlete with chronic lateral instability who is large framed (>250#) or has come inherent ligamentous laxity or who has a varus hindfoot or has failed a prior lateral ligamentous reconstruction? Also, what is the best treatment for the difficult problem of syndesmosis injury in the athlete, both acute and chronic. All this and more will be right at your fingertips in this highlight of the complicated foot and ankle problems in the athlete. Enjoy and be up to date!


The authors propose a monetary policy rule for the Terms-of-Trade Economic Model (ToTEM), the Bank of Canada's new projection and policy-analysis model for the Canadian economy. They consider simple instrument rules such as Taylor-type and inflation-forecast-based rules. The proposed rule minimizes a loss function that reflects the assumed preferences of the monetary authority over inflation and output, as well as over the variability of its instrument. The authors also investigate how robust the proposed rule is with respect to a particular realization of shocks that differs from the historical distribution used to find the optimized rule.


First paragraph: In the slender volume  Awakening Community Intelligence,  journalist and long-time community supported agriculture (CSA) advocate Steven McFadden argues for the exponential expansion of CSAs. In the face of profound, disruptive challenges in the 21st century—climate change, resource depletion, geopolitical instability—McFadden believes CSAs have the potential to become "community cornerstones" that provide "key points of stability and orientation" (p. 20). In ten very short chapters, McFadden unfolds his vision of this potential and issues a call to action. A "cornerstone" is the central metaphor around which McFadden organizes his vision. Drawn from the craft of stone masonry, the cor-nerstone is "the base upon which other stones are set and the building takes its form" (p. 9). That base, as we look at CSA, is a specific plot of farmland with tangible connections to the natural cycles of life and to which shareholders and farmers freely tie their fates together in forms of reciprocity: the community of shareholders taking care of farmers while farmers take care of the land and nourish the community. These are the sturdy cornerstones. But McFadden's notion of community cornerstones is bigger and more dynamic than the world the stone mason metaphor conjures. It is the cosmic, scintillating image on the cover, he tells us, that captures his vision. With the help of digital networking, CSAs could become a "network of light-giving impulses"; they could serve as "a model for a dynamic, far-flung, and intelligent network of nodes" in which "community intelligence" and "land-based intelligence" is awakened (p. 10). Anchored and networked and intelligently sparking, CSAs, he thinks, can bridge the gap between the personal and the global, becoming worldwide nodes of "environmental and human health consciously woven into a network of associations" (p. 68)....


Vampire bat rabies causes significant impacts within its endemic range in Mexico. These impacts include livestock mortality, animal testing costs, post-exposure prophylaxis costs, and human mortality risk. Mitigation of the impacts can be achieved by vaccinating livestock and controlling vampire bat populations. A benefit-cost analysis was performed to examine the economic efficiency of these methods of mitigation, and Monte Carlo simulations were used to examine the impact that uncertainty has on the analysis. We found that livestock vaccination is efficient, with benefits being over six times higher than costs. However, bat control is inefficient because benefits are very unlikely to exceed costs. It is concluded that when these mitigation methods are judged by the metric of economic efficiency, livestock vaccination is desirable but bat control is not.


This paper describes work being done towards a Framework for Applying the Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS) to Distributed Digital Preservation (DDP). Such a Framework will be helpful for future analyses and/or audits of repositories that are performing digital preservation in highly distributed ways. A great deal of work has already been accomplished toward the Framework itself, including selective community reviews of a white paper, case study interviews with DDP practitioners, and an analysis of OAIS as it relates to DDP. The paper will provide background information on this set of work, describe the research carried out to-date, and explain the proposed Framework components, including concepts and terminology, placement of OAIS functional entities, and roles and responsibilities for carrying out DDP.


This guide provides strategies for disability service providers to draw upon when creating and sustaining a workforce of support workers to meet the aims of DisabilityCare Australia and implement the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. In particular, the Guide is designed to assist providers develop a workforce strategy that will enable support workers to: i) support the independence and social and economic participation of people with disability ii) provide reasonable and necessary supports, and iii) enable people with disability to exercise choice and control in the pursuit of their goals and the planning and delivery of their supports. The essence of DisabilityCare Australia is to be supportive, responsive, flexible and creative. This Guide offers a wealth of ideas and practical suggestions without being prescriptive. It includes ideas relating directly to support workers as well as to their interactions with service users and their employing service provider, and there are varying cost implications. The Guide does not attempt to provide one integrated workforce management strategy. Instead, it is intended that providers will take away ideas to develop their own unique workforce strategy relevant to their environment and provider type. The aim of this guide is to contribute to the development of enthusiastic, competent and satisfied workers who will embrace the aims of DisabilityCare Australia and provide excellent support to people with disability. The Guide is organised around the following themes: Communication Organisational culture, values and expectations Recruitment Flexible, responsive and creative work Training, mentoring and support Recognition and incentives Career Pathways Authors: Dr Carmel Laragy, RMIT University Associate Professor Paul Ramcharan, RMIT University Associate Professor Karen Fisher, Social Policy Research Centre, University of NSW Karen McCraw, CEO, Karden Disability Support Foundation Robbi Williams, CEO, Purple Orange (Julia Farr Foundation)


The Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Research and Development is conducting research into passenger locomotive fuel tank crashworthiness. A series of impact tests is being conducted to measure fuel tank deformation under two types of dynamic loading conditions – blunt and raking impacts. The results of this research program assist in development of appropriate standards for puncture resistance requirements to be applied to alternatively-designed fuel tanks, such as on diesel multiple unit (DMU) passenger rail equipment. This paper describes the results of the first blunt impact test performed on a DMU fuel tank. On June 28, 2016, FRA performed a dynamic impact test of a fuel tank from a DMU rail vehicle. The test was performed at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, Colorado. An impact vehicle weighing approximately 14,000 pounds and equipped with a 12-inch by 12-inch impactor head struck the bottom surface of a DMU fuel tank mounted vertically on an impact wall. The impact occurred on the bottom of the fuel tank at a location centered on two baffles within the fuel tank. The target impact speed was 11.5 mph, and the measured impact speed 11.1 mph. The test resulted in a maximum indentation of approximately 8 inches, the bottom of the tank bending away from the wall, and buckling of several internal baffles. Following the test, the tank was cut open to inspect the damage to the internal structure. This revealed that the buckling behavior of the baffles was isolated to the baffles immediately adjacent the impact location, each one buckling as the tank deformed inward. Prior to the test, finite element analysis (FEA) was used to predict the behavior of the tank during the test. The FE model of the tank required material properties to be defined in order to capture plastic deformation. The combination of metal plasticity, ductile failure, and element removal would permit the model to simulate puncture for this tank at sufficiently-high impact speeds. The pre-test FE model results compared very favorably with the test measurements, and both the pre-test model and the test resulted in similar modes of deformation to the DMU fuel tank. Following the test, material coupons were cut from undamaged areas of the fuel tank and subjected to tensile testing. The post-test FE model was updated with the material behaviors from the post-test material testing. This test is part of a research program investigating puncture resistance of passenger locomotive fuel tanks. The objective of this research program is to establish the baseline puncture resistance of current locomotive fuel tanks under dynamic impact conditions and to develop performance requirements for an appropriate level of puncture resistance in alternative fuel tank designs, such as DMU fuel tanks. Future tests are planned within this research program. The lessons learned during the series of tests support finite element (FE) modeling of impact conditions beyond what was tested. Additional tests investigating the puncture resistance of fuel tanks during sideswipe or raking collisions are also planned.