This study investigated the current knowledge, perceptions, and practices of RiskBased Monitoring (RBM) using written and verbal responses to an ethics review board approved questionnaire. Responses were collected from individuals involved in the practice, oversight, and implementation of clinical trial monitoring in the USA. RBM was viewed as a positive force with a bright future. However the results suggested that a renewed focus on change management strategies is needed to ensure RBM practices penetrate all levels of clinical trial management. The site sponsor/site operational relationship was identified as a key RBM component. Shortcomings in this relationship were identified as significant operational barriers to effective RBM practice. Respondents indicated that current RBM training efforts were lacking. Because RBM is new and its practices deviate significantly from the past total monitoring efforts, both industry and the clinic need to work harder to ensure that everyone involved in clinical trial monitoring understands these differences. Fortunately, overcoming the identified barriers will not require massive changes to current RBM practice. By refocusing efforts on the sponsor/CRO and investigative sites to attain RBM governance, develop quality control plans, institute an optimal RBM platform, and improve training, the true promise of RBM is within reach. Each of these are critical pieces to an effective RBM implementation methodology and correcting initial stumbles in their implementation can assure the RBM future is as promised. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/


After discussing Lavater's place in eighteenth-century German letters and his importance in the history of Western physiognomy, Dr. Tytler examines the literary portrait in the modern novel and suggests that the development of techniques of character description and the growth of observational powers of narrators and characters alike, as manifest in fiction from the 1790s onward, may be more fully appreciated when considered in the light of the physiognomical background previously delineated.Originally published in 1982.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


This contribution discusses the grammarians of the first half of the 17th century. The grammar by Ch. Gueintz (1641) was the German grammar that was officially recognized by the Fruitbearing Society. Prince Ludwig of Anhalt-Kothen, the head of the Fruitbearing Society, commissioned Gueintz to write this grammar in 1638. The results reported here of a comparison of the grammars show that Gueintz' most important sources apparently were the Allgemeine Sprachlehr [General Grammar] (1619) by W. Ratke and not his Wortschickungslehr [Word Usage] (c. 1630), which is partially preserved in manuscript form. Gueintz' sources apparently also included the grammars by J. Clajus (1578) and St. Ritter (1616).


Clustering methods have been studied and applied in a diversity of problems involving multidimensional data. The objective is to classify N unlabeled objects in a P-dimensional space into groups based on their similarities. Difficulties include determining the real number of categories and a metric which optimally adapt to data. Conventional methods, such as k -means, may impose a structure on data rather than finding it. This paper focuses the usage of self-organizing feature map (SOM) as a clustering tool. Although SOM had been applied as visualization tool of high-dimensional data some additional procedures are required to enable a meaningful cluster's interpretation. It is shown that the map can be partitioned by analyzing inconsistent neighboring relations between neurons. The results are sets of connected neurons that represent data clusters. The number of clusters and its membership neurons are determined by the algorithm.


A taxonomic review of the Neotropical nymphaline butter ̄y genus Hypanartia HuÈbner is presented, including notes on the taxonomy, biology and distribution of its component species, illustrations of all taxa and the male genitalia of all species, and the description of four new species and two new subspecies: Hypanartia celestia sp.n., H. cinderella sp.n., H. dione disjuncta ssp.n., H. fassli sp.n., H. trimaculata sp.n. and H. trimaculata autumna ssp.n. Hypanartia arcaei (Salvin) is placed as a subspecies of H. dione (Latreille) (stat.n.) and lectotypes are designated for eight nominal taxa. Fourteen species are recognized, with the centre of diversity being in high Andean cloud forest habitats. A cladistic analysis was conducted, based on ®fty-three illustrated characters of male genitalic and abdominal morphology, and external facies, to investigate phylogenetic relationships. The resulting phylogenetic hypothesis was used to test four different geographical mechanisms of speciation in the Andes: colonization from temperate latitudes, speciation across elevational gradients, radiation within the Andes and allopatric speciation between the Andes and other montane regions. There is evidence that speciation across an elevational gradient occurred twice, both times into elevations largely unoccupied by the genus, and in both cases followed by subsequent, elevationally sympatric, in situ radiation. Differentiation in allopatry between montane regions has apparently been of recent in ̄uence only, causing infraspeci®c variation in two species. These results parallel several recent studies of Andean bird speciation.


In 2003, Drs James Marks and Lynne Wilcox began developing a plan to realize their vision of creating a scholarly journal that would strengthen the links connecting public health research, practice, and policy with regard to chronic diseases. Their vision resulted in the publication the following year of Preventing Chronic Disease: Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy (PCD). As we start our 10th year of publication, we can reflect on what has been accomplished and what might be on the horizon. In the accompanying editorial, Dr Wilcox describes the importance of the journal's focus on chronic disease in 2004 and highlights some of the early milestones in the journal's development (1). One of the core drivers for starting PCD was the recognition that the field of public health would benefit from an open access forum for sharing successes and lessons learned in order to increase the quality, relevance, and effectiveness of our efforts and to improve their efficiency. The journal's focus on chronic conditions and its commitment to providing a forum for sharing best practices and innovations is just as important today as it was a decade ago, and will increasingly be so in the future.

PCD has grown and changed with advances in technology and public health science to meet the changing demands of the field. In 2004, the journal was among the first to be published only in electronic format. The landscape of e-publishing has dramatically changed since then. In a world of increasing demand and constricting resources, there is an increasing push to use these resources effectively and efficiently. Since its inception, the journal has evolved to meet these challenges. PCD will continue to build on its solid foundation and expand its efforts by increasing its quality, relevance, impact, and efficiency.

The changes and developments at the journal in 2012 demonstrate our continued commitment to the field by incorporating the best of science, practice, policy, and publishing technology in our publication processes and content. Some of these innovations are more visible to the reader than others; however, all affect our ability to be of service to the field. First, we have increased our efficiency by redesigning our production workflow, incorporating new software that facilitates document formatting on the journal's Web pages. Second, accompanying this change in production schedules, we can now make PCD articles available as soon as they are produced, without holding them to be bundled into an issue. These 2 changes have dramatically reduced the amount of time from acceptance to publication, a metric important to authors who want to see their work published more quickly and to the field to speed the process of translating research and experience into practice.

In addition to these publishing innovations, we have implemented technological innovations to increase our reach, access, and efficiency of distribution. PCD content is now available on multiple technology platforms through the development of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's iPad application and the PCD-specific iPad application, both of which are available through the iTunes store under the Medical category (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/preventing-chronic-disease/id560556547?mt=8). Additionally, the PCD-specific application is available for the iPhone. Journal content is also available through the CDC Content Syndication service, allowing our content to be easily placed on external websites (http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/subscriptions/syndication.htm). These advancements increase the reach of PCD, as do the increased distribution of summaries and content to media outlets, Facebook, and Twitter, and the continued promotion of the RSS feed; for example, our monthly Web views went from approximately 102,000 to 160,000 from January to June of 2012.

The recognition and stature of PCD have increased steadily since the first issue in 2004. The journal's commitment to excellence in content and delivery is evidenced by the recognition of a growing number of ranking organizations and indexing services. Ratings of PCD's impact, according to SCImago Journal Rank indicators (2), document a continual increase in our ranking from 2004 through 2010, the most recent year with complete data available. PCD is now indexed by a number of services including PubMed, PubMed Central, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, PsycINFO, and DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals), with full text content available in many of these systems. In 2012 PCD received a Thomson Reuters impact factor, debuting with a score of 1.819, which placed the journal in the top half of public health and environmental journals. We have also made efforts to increase PCD's reach through offering continuing medical education credits, thanks to our partnership with Medscape. The quantitative data on journal ranking and use of the educational offerings are strong demonstrations of our relevance and impact in the field. If past experience is any indication of future performance, PCD will continue to achieve its mission of promoting an open exchange of information for all those working to reduce the burden of chronic diseases and improve health.

Publishing PCD is a community effort that involves researchers, reviewers, readers, and staff. Over the past several years the quality of submissions has consistently increased, as has the number, by 20%. This increase reflects the increased reach and impact of the journal in the field. In addition to contributing authors, our volunteer peer reviewers are critical to our success. The 46,000 subscribers and other readers who use the results of these efforts to implement change and improve the health of the population are critical to the success of the journal. With the guidance of the editorial board and dedication of the staff, PCD continues to develop from the vision of Drs Marks and Wilcox and to reflect the state of public health programs, policy, and research. It is rewarding to work with the PCD community, which is dedicated to efficiency in publishing processes and technology and to making the latest in evidence-based practice and practice-based evidence available to all who are working to prevent and minimize the burden of chronic diseases.

The accomplishments in 2012 exemplify PCD's commitment to serving the field and provide a firm foundation for development over the next 10 years and beyond. The field of chronic disease prevention and health promotion is becoming more complex as more people have multiple chronic conditions (both physical and mental) and the once seemingly clear distinction between communicable and noncommunicable diseases becomes blurred. Furthermore, the burden of chronic diseases is increasing globally, and PCD is committed to being of service to researchers, practitioners, and policy makers around the world. Thank you to all who contribute to, review, read, and produce PCD for continuing to move the journal forward.


Embossing or imprint lithography is the key-technology for the mass production of nanosized structures with low cost. Currently Si or quartz template which is produced by e-beam or DUV lithography and reactive ion etching, is used. However they are very expensive and easily damaged due to their brittleness. On the other hand, Ni template has high mechanical durability and can be fabricated with low cost by electroplating. However, one of the key obstacles of Ni template is poor antistiction property, when it is used with sticky thermoset polymer. Due to its poor antistiction property, detachment of Ni template from epoxy substrate is one of the key obstacles. In this experiment, quartz template with 150nm to 1μm sized surface protrusion was fabricated and used to emboss the PMMA coated Si wafer. Then the imprinted PMMA layer was coated with metal seed layer and electroplating of Ni was followed to fabricate Ni template with 150nm to 1μm sized patterns. In order to form antistiction layer on Ni template, SAM antistiction layer was formed on SiO2 coated Ni template. As a result, nano patterns could be successfully transferred to sticky thermoset polymer using Ni template without any degradation of antistiction property.


The following is a translation of the Nagoya High Court's decision in Mōri v. Japan, a case challenging the constitutionality of Japan's deployment of its Self-Defense Forces ("SDF") to the Middle East in connection with the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. Beginning in December of 2003, Japan deployed ground and air forces of the SDF to the Middle East, including three C-130H "Hercules" transport aircraft which were used to airlift coalition forces and supplies between Kuwait and Baghdad. In response, more than 5,700 citizens, represented by over 800 attorneys, filed lawsuits in eleven district courts across the country in one of the largest coordinated litigation efforts in modern Japanese history. In Mōri, the plaintiffs argued that the deployment violated their "right to live in peace" [heiwateki seizonken], provided in the Preamble of the Constitution of Japan, which they defined as "the right to live in a Japan that does not engage in war or the use of military force." They also argued that the deployment violated Article 9 of the Constitution, which renounces war and prohibits the use or threat of force. They demanded an injunction against the deployment, a confirmation that the deployment was unconstitutional, and ¥10,000 each (approx. US$100) in damages.The case turned on whether the right to live in peace is a "concrete right" [gutaiteki kenri], meaning a right that can be enforced in court. The plaintiffs argued that the Preamble, Article 9, and the individual rights provided in Chapter III of the Constitution together guarantee the right to live in peace. The government argued that the right to live in peace is merely an abstract concept, not an enforceable right, and therefore the plaintiffs lacked a legal interest in the lawsuit necessary to establish standing. The Nagoya District Court held that the plaintiffs lacked standing and dismissed the case without addressing the constitutionality of the deployment under Article 9. However, the district court recognized a concrete aspect of the right to live in peace, reasoning that because peace is the foundation of all human rights making their enjoyment possible, the right to live in peace is enforceable when combined with other human rights provisions. The Nagoya High Court affirmed the district court and dismissed the appeal on standing grounds, holding that the deployment did not infringe on appellants' right to live in peace. However, the high court stated in dicta that, in certain situations, the right to live in peace is a concrete right. The high court also stated that the integration of the SDF's air transport activities with the use of force by coalition forces in an international military conflict constituted the use of force by the SDF in violation of Article 9. The Nagoya High Court's finding of a violation of Article 9 was the first since the Sapporo District Court's decision in the Naganuma case 35 years before, and the first to be entered as a final judgment. The high court's recognition of the right to live in peace was also the first since Naganuma, breaking from a series of lower court decisions that dismissed the right to live in peace as merely an abstract concept. Less than a year later, the Okayama District Court followed the Nagoya High Court in recognizing the right to live in peace in a similar SDF Iraq Deployment case, and provided further detail regarding the right's substance. The Nagoya and Okayama decisions suggest the emergence (or revival) of a new human right in Japan: the right to live in peace.


North Dakota currently designs roads based on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Design Guide procedure, which is based on the empirical findings of the AASHTO Road Test of the late 1950s. However, limitations of the current empirical approach have prompted AASHTO to move toward the new mechanistically based pavement design procedure described in the Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), which was released to the public for review in 2004 under National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 1-37A. MEPDG combines mechanistic and empirical methodology and provides more realistic characterization of in-service pavements. Its mechanistic approach is both more thorough and more computationally complex than the existing AASHTO design method, and as a result the method can require an extensive number of detailed material, foundational, traffic, and environmental inputs. This and other factors can present a challenge to agencies wishing to implement the new method. Because AASHTO has adopted the MEPDG and highway agencies across the nation are moving towards its implementation, it is critical that North Dakota becomes familiar with the MEPDG documentation and software and identify input data requirements for design. This report summarizes the findings of MEPDG implementation in North Dakota, identifies input data needs and research steps of the MEPDG implementation in the state and also prepares North Dakota for successful implementation of the MEPDG statewide.


This diary study examines the psychological processes that contribute to daily recovery from emotional labor by combining emotion regulation with work-home resources theories. We hypothesized that overall perceptions of display rules relate positively to daily deep and surface acting. Daily surface acting was expected to relate positively to exhaustion and negatively to flow during work and consequently, to a higher need for recovery at the end of the workday. In contrast, daily deep acting was hypothesized to relate positively to flow and negatively to exhaustion and consequently, to a lower need for recovery at the end of the workday. In turn, need for recovery was expected to associate negatively to vigor at bedtime through reduced relaxation during leisure. Fifty Dutch and Polish employees first filled in a survey, and then a diary for five consecutive workdays, twice per day: at the end of the workday and before sleep. Multilevel path analyses largely supported these hypotheses suggesting that surface acting has unfavorable implications, whereas deep acting has favorable implications for daily well-being at work and recovery after work.


The reaction mechanisms for the hemoglobin degrading enzymes in the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite, plasmepsin II (Plm II) and histo-aspartic protease (HAP), have been analyzed by molecular simulations. The reaction free energy profiles, calculated by the empirical valence bond (EVB) method in combination with molecular dynamics (MD) and free energy perturbation (FEP) simulations are in good agreement with experimental data. Additional computational methods, such as homology modelling and automated substrate docking, were necessary to generate a 3D model and a reactive substrate conformation before the reaction mechanism in HAP could be investigated. HAP is found to be an aspartic protease with a peptide cleaving mechanism similar to plasmepsin II. The major difference between these enzymes is that the negatively charged tetrahedral intermediate is stabilized by the charged histidine in HAP while in Plm II it is a neutral aspartic acid. Also the reaction mechanism for two other aspartic proteases, cathepsin D and HIV-1 protease, was simulated. These enzymes are relevant both for the inhibitor selectivity and for obtaining a general picture of catalysis in aspartic proteases. Another project involves inhibitor design towards plasmepsins. In particular, Plm II directed inhibitors based on the dihydroxyethylene scaffold have been characterized computationally. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to propagate the investigated system through time and to generate ensembles used for the calculation of free energies. The ligand binding affinities were calculated with the linear interaction energy (LIE) method. The most potent inhibitor had a Ki value of 6 nM and showed 78 % parasite inhibition when tested on red blood cells infected by malaria parasite P. falciparum. Citrate synthase is part of the citric acid cycle and is present in organisms that live in cold sea water as well as hot springs. The temperature adaptation of citrate synthase to cold and heat was investigated in terms of the difference in transition state stabilization between the psychrophilic, mesophilic and hyperthermophilic homologues. The EVB, FEP and MD methods were used to generate reaction free energy profiles. The investigated energetics points toward the electrostatic stabilization during the reaction as the major difference between the different citrate synthase homologues. The electrostatic stabilization of the transition state is most effective in the following order of the citrate synthase homologues: hyperthermophile, mesophile, psycrophile. This could be a general rule for temperature adaptation of enzyme catalysis.


Using a novel dataset on the 15 European banks classified as G-SIBs from 2005 to 2014, we find that the impact of foreign expansion on risk is always negative and significant for most individual and systemic risk metrics. In the case of individual metrics, we also find that foreign expansion affects risk through a competition channel as the estimated impact of openings differs between host countries that are more or less competitive than the source country. The systemic risk metrics also decline with respect to expansion, though results for the competition channel are more mixed, suggesting that systemic risk is more likely to be affected by country or business models characteristics that go beyond and above the differential intensity of competition between source and host markets. Empirical results can be rationalized through a simple model with oligopolistic/oligopsonistic banks and endogenous assets/liabilities risk.


Since the importance of spirituality and post modernism is a globalized one this study tries to show position of female characters in Wilson's masterpieces the Piano Lesson and The Fences. One of America's most powerful and original dramatists, August Wilson offered an alternative history of the twentieth century, as seen from the perspective of black Americans. He celebrated the lives of those seemingly pushed to the margins of national life, but who were simultaneously protagonists of their own drama and evidence of a vital and compelling community. Decade by decade, he told the story of a people with a distinctive history who forged their own future, aware of their roots in another time and place, but doing something more than just survive. Wilson deliberately addressed black America, but in doing so he discovered an international audience. Alongside chapters addressing Wilson's life and career, and the wider context of his plays, this Companion dedicates individual chapters to each play in his ten-play cycle, ordered chronologically and thereby demonstrating Wilson's notion of an unfolding history of the twentieth century.


Chimera: (Biology) An organism consisting of at least two genetically different kinds of tissue as a result of mutation, grafting, etc. Collins English Dictionary This thesis has set out to investigate the regenerative potential of peripheral nerve allografting in a rodent model. In particular, the strategy of reconstructing a nerve defect using a novel chimeric graft of mixed antigenicity (Sandwich graft) was explored as an alternative to autografting or immunosuppression. Peripheral nerve injury produces significant individual and community morbidity. Despite technical and surgical advances, even the results from urgent repair of single modality nerves are sub-optimal. This situation is compounded when nerve structure is lost and a bridging conduit is required to reconstruct the defect. While many organic and inorganic materials have been investigated, autografting remains the mainstay of current clinical practice. However, suitable autografts are in limited supply and associated with donor site morbidity. Like autografts, peripheral nerve allografts (PNAG) possess all the features required of an ideal nerve conduit, especially Schwann cells. Studies with acellular conduits have shown the addition of Schwann cells is advantageous to regeneration. However, immunological rejection of antigenic Schwann cells within nerve allografts renders the graft acellular, inhibiting regeneration. Immunosuppression preserves allogenic Schwann cells and results in regeneration equivalent to autografts. But immunosuppressants are associated with serious side effects such that their use in peripheral nerve injuries is deemed unethical. Temporary immunosuppression has been proposed as a solution to this problem until the non-antigenic host axon regeneration is established. However this has produced conflicting results although an axonopathic process following drug withdrawal is acknowledged. The aims of this project were firstly to assess the regenerative potential of non- immunosuppressed PNAGs. The hypothesis being that rejection would produce acellular grafts as donor Schwann cells were destroyed. Host Schwann cells are known to repopulate acellular conduits from adjacent nerve ends. By using a chimeric Sandwich graft, the second aim of the project was to assess whether augmenting host Schwann cell graft repopulation could improve axonal regeneration and reduce immunosuppressant requirements. A clinically reproducible chimeric construct of a nerve allograft with an intervening segment of autologous nerve (a Sandwich graft) was used to bridge a standard traumatic nerve gap within the experimental groups. Comparisons were made between simple and sandwich grafts composed of autologous, isogeneic and allogenic nerves split into immunosuppressed and non-immunosuppressed limbs, incompatible rat strains were employed using Cyclosporin (CyA) as the sole immunosuppressant. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of immunohistochemical and conventional histological specimens, along with measurement of Gastrocnemius muscle mass, were used to assess the outcome of nerve regeneration. Analyses were undertaken within the early and late regeneration periods of 21 days and 32 weeks respectively. Immunohistochemistry and conventional histological techniques were employed, along with measurements of muscle mass recovery to indicate target organ reinnervation. Cyclosporin (CyA) was the sole immunosuppressants used. Non-immunosuppressed PNAGs were shown to support less early axonal regeneration than their immunosuppressed counterparts and non-allogenic controls. This was associated with a reduction in Schwann cells and increased inflammation indicating rejection. However, the pattern of regeneration followed that of the other groups and improved with time. Sandwich allografting was associated with improved axonal regeneration, increased Schwann cells and less inflammation suggesting reduced antigenicity of the sandwich construct. The increased neurorrhaphies compared to simple grafts did not appear deleterious. Long-term myelinated nerve counts and target organ reinnervation produced similar results from all experimental groups regardless of immunosuppression. This work validates the use of a chimeric sandwich graft within this model. The addition of a depot of host Schwann cells within an allograft without immunosuppression produces similar regeneration to non-allogenic grafts and reduces the early delay period associated with rejection. Further analysis of the formulations of CyA used indicated that although oily and parenteral CyA did adequately immunosuppress the allografts, the results from parenteral CyA were marginally better. Also, CyA use did contribute to model morbidity and mortality within these experiments.


In this study, we examined the association between naturalistically observed in-person contact with an ex-partner and separation-related psychological distress (SRPD). One hundred twenty-two recently separated adults were assessed using the Electronically Activated Recorder on three occasions across 5 months. The association between in-person contact with an ex-partner, as a between-person variable, and concurrent SRPD was not reliably different from zero, nor was the time-varying effect of in-person contact. However, more frequent in-person contact with an ex-partner predicted higher SRPD 2 months later, above and beyond the variance accounted for by concurrent in-person contact, demographic, relationship, and attachment factors. Follow-up analyses showed that this effect was present only for people without children; a 1 SD increase in in-person contact offset and slowed the predicted decline in SRPD over 2 months by 112%. In our discussion, we emphasize new ways to think about the role of in-person contact in shaping adults' psychological adjustment to separation over time.


Prolactin is a major hormone product of the pituitary gland, the central endocrine regulator. Despite its physiological importance, the cell-level mechanisms of prolactin production are not well understood. Having significantly improved the resolution of real-time-single-cell-GFP-imaging, the authors recently revealed that prolactin gene transcription is highly dynamic and stochastic yet shows space-time coordination in an intact tissue slice. However, it still remains an open question as to what kind of cellular communication mediates the observed space-time organization. To determine the type of interaction between cells we developed a statistical model. The degree of similarity between two expression time series was studied in terms of two distance measures, Euclidean and geodesic, the latter being a network-theoretic distance defined to be the minimal number of edges between nodes, and this was used to discriminate between juxtacrine from paracrine signalling. The analysis presented here suggests that juxtacrine signalling dominates. To further determine whether the coupling is coordinating transcription or post-transcriptional activities we used stochastic switch modelling to infer the transcriptional profiles of cells and estimated their similarity measures to deduce that their spatial cellular coordination involves coupling of transcription via juxtacrine signalling. We developed a computational model that involves an inter-cell juxtacrine coupling, yielding simulation results that show space-time coordination in the transcription level that is in agreement with the above analysis. The developed model is expected to serve as the prototype for the further study of tissue-level organised gene expression for epigenetically regulated genes, such as prolactin.


ABSTRACT A gibbsite-containing quartz sandstone occurs near Fort Walton, Florida. Scanning electron micrographs show the gibbsite of the matrix to be anhedral which is the typical morphology in many deposits of bauxite. At the contact surface with the quartz grains, however, the gibbsite crystals are euhedral, as if recrystallized from solution. No kaolinite was detected at this interface despite both Al2O3 and SiO2 being available for combination at the contact. Alternative hypotheses of origin are a) deposition of gibbsite in a sandstone from solutions that obtained the alumina by leaching from a gibbsite zone above, and b) development of gibbsite by intense leaching of clastic sediments on a Tertiary terrace, during which fine quartz sand, probably aeolian, as added.


Book synopsis: Ugliness is very much alive in the history of art. From ritual invocations of mythic monsters to the scare tactics of the early twentieth-century avant-garde, the cabinet of curiosities to the identity politics of today, the ugly has been every bit as active as beauty, and often much more of a reality... why then has it been so neglected. This book seeks to remedy this oversight through both broad theoretical reflection and concrete case studies of ugliness in various historical and cultural contexts. The protagonists range from cooks to psychoanalysts, the object, from war prostheses to plates of asparagus, on a world stage stretching from ancient Athens to Singapore today. Drawing across disciplinary and cultural boundaries, the writers illuminated why ugliness, associated over the millennia with negative categories ranging from sin and stupidity to triviality and boredom, remains central to art and cultural practice.


In recent years, Hong Kong has actively participated in such international research projects as the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009 (ICCS 2009), organised by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), with the aim of learning more about the performance of Hong Kong students in different spheres. Such international studies generate invaluable data with a scope beyond that which any individual researcher could achieve. Secondary analysis of this data helps inform policies and practices. In this study, the Hong Kong sample from the ICCS 2009 was subjected to secondary analysis. The sample comprised 2,902 junior secondary students with a mean age of 14.3 years. The sample was used for the investigation of adolescents' civic behaviour, and to identify the factors that contribute to such behaviour. The schools were chosen for the ICCS 2009 study through stratified random sampling and an intact class from each chosen The Hong Kong Institute of Education Library For private study or research only. Not for publication or further reproduction. v school was surveyed. This study built on social cognitive theory to develop a conceptual model of the effects of the classroom climate on students' selfreported civic behaviour. The study then tested the model using a two-step multilevel structural equation model. The results showed that the classroom climate had both direct and indirect effects on adolescents' civic behaviour at both the studentand class-level. This study contributes to the application of social cognitive theory using secondary data and demonstrates how this theory can be used for research into adolescents' civic behaviour. By adopting a twostage approach, five sets of plausible values were established for each scale developed using item response theory (IRT). Multilevel structural equation modelling (MSEM) was then used. The hypothetical model, based on social cognitive theory, was examined and the implications of the model discussed. This study can stimulate future research to explore more deeply the influences on adolescents exerted by different people in their social lives. Further, the secondary data analysis in this study identified different scale structures from the international scales identified by the IEA. It can therefore provide insights that are beneficial to future research on local contexts using the ICCS 2009 data. The Hong Kong Institute of Education Library For private study or research only. Not for publication or further reproduction.


This paper offers an original theory of contract law that draws from recent work in the philosophy of action and legal theory. Human beings are essentially planning creatures. Making plans and following through with them is crucial to everyday practical reasoning both for individuals acting alone and individuals acting together. This somewhat intuitive point was not fully appreciated in the philosophy of action as recently as twenty years ago, when Michael Bratman began to point out the inadequacies of the then-dominant view of rationality. Recently, Scott Shapiro has been applying Bratman's insights on practical reasoning to debates in legal theory to great effect, developing what he calls the planning theory of law. According to the planning theory, laws are plans for citizens, developed and applied by legal institutions to solve coordination problems that result from individuals living together in otherwise unplanned communities. In this paper, I propose a new theory of contract law informed by these insights. First I will survey the current leading theories of contract and explain why a new theory is needed. Then I will argue that viewing contracts as plans designed to solve a particular coordination problem better accounts for how we are able to make exchanges over time even in situations where the parties involved might otherwise not be able to trust one another. A planning theory of contract law takes the view that whatever ends a society might want to achieve, those ends are more likely to be achieved if the parties have the ability to create contracts, that is, to adopt legally obligatory plans to make exchanges. The theory does not seek to justify a particular body of contract law. Rather, as I will argue, it explains the fundamental doctrines of our current law better than do the presently available theories. Once we view contracts as plans, it becomes clear that a better understanding of planning will give us a better understanding of contract law. It follows that advances in the philosophy of practical reasoning as it treats plans will give us insight into contract law. In the final part of the paper, I will show how these insights go beyond an accurate description of the established central doctrines of contract law and can lead to a better resolution of more controversial issues. For now I will be limited to offering a few indicative examples that offer suggestions for further study. At the very least, I hope to establish that contract scholars should pay attention to scholarship on practical reasoning just as they have long studied moral philosophy and economics.


Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic intrusive rocks from the Wallowa and Olds Ferry arc terranes of the Blue Mountains Province, Oregon-Idaho, provide constraints on the paleogeographic and tectonic setting of magmatism preserved in both arcs. Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopic data show that the Wallowa terrane represents an isotopically depleted, juvenile intra-oceanic island arc. By contrast, isotopic data for intrusive rocks of the Olds Ferry arc are more isotopically enriched, and thereby establish a clear distinction between the two arcs. This distinction strengthens paleogeographic interpretation of the Olds Ferry terrane as a fringing continental arc, and it provides a basis for correlation to other inboard Cordilleran arc terranes including Quesnellia and Stikinia. The Wallowa terrane is by contrast more similar geologically and isotopically to the outboard Insular terranes. These isotopic data also constrain interpretations of regional lithospheric architecture. Isotopic profiles generated orthogonal to the inferred Wallowa–Olds Ferry terrane boundary and the western Idaho shear zone show abrupt increases in initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr that mark the transitions between three geochemically distinct lithospheric columns. West-to-east spatial variability in the isotopic compositions of Neogene volcanic rocks is explained by the partial melting of these three geochemically distinct mantle reservoirs coupled to their respective crustal columns since the early Mesozoic, rather than alternative models of lithosphere-scale decollement offset during Sevier shortening. The inherited arc-related mantle of the Olds Ferry arc may also have played a primary role in the petrogenesis of distinctive Neogene low-K, high-alumina olivine tholeiites of the High Lava Plains.


Previous experiments have demonstrated a link between transcriptional regulatory mechanisms acting during F9 cell differentiation and transcription control by the adenovirus E1A gene. We have isolated a number of differentiation-specific genes by cDNA cloning to determine if E1A exerts a coordinated control over differentiation specific gene expression. The mRNAs encoded by these cDNAs were undetectable or only barely detectable in undifferentiated cells but then rose in concentration upon differentiation. Analysis of transcription rates in isolated nuclei revealed that all but one of the genes was transcriptionally regulated during differentiation. Interestingly, alpha 2-type IV collagen expression was activated by a post-transcriptional mechanism since the gene was transcribed in both undifferentiated and differentiated cells whereas the cytoplasmic mRNA was undetectable in undifferentiated cells but rose in abundance in parallel with other regulated transcripts. Adenovirus infection of differentiated F9 cells reduced the cytoplasmic mRNA levels of each of the differentiation specific genes to near that found in the undifferentiated cell. Of those genes that were transcriptionally activated by differentiation, adenovirus infection specifically inhibited transcription. In contrast, although the alpha 2 collagen mRNA levels were reduced by adenovirus infection similar to the other mRNAs, the control was post-transcriptional since transcription of the gene was unaffected. Thus, the mechanism for loss of gene expression mediated by E1A reflects the mechanism by which the gene was activated during differentiation. Based on these results we suggest that E1A controls the expression of the F9 cell phenotype by targeting a regulatory activity acting early in the differentiation program.


Python is a wonderful programming language that is being used more and more in a lot of different industries. It is fast, flexible, and comes with batteries included. Most of the books you read about Python teach you the language basics. But once you've learnt them, you are on your own designing your application and discovering best practices. In this book, we'll see how to leverage Python to efficiently tackle your problems and build great Python applications.


The target article adopts an adaptationist research strategy that, while logically coherent, suffers from various limitations, including problems in reconstructing past selective environments, ambiguity in how narrowly to define adaptive problems or selection pressures, and an overemphasis on specialization in evolved psychological mechanisms. To remedy these problems, I support a more flexible approach involving phenotypic adaptation and cultural evolution.


Petrocodon asterocalyx F.Wen, Y.G.Wei & R.L.Zhang, a new species from the Danxia landform area in Guangxi, South China, is described and illustrated based on molecular and morphological data. The molecular evidence shows that the new species is recovered in a weakly supported clade. Within this clade, the new one is morphologically similar to P. hancei (Hemsl.) A.Weber & Mich.Moller and P. coriaceifolius (Y.G.Wei) Y.G.Wei & Mich.Moller, and it can be distinguished from the former by calyx lobes 20–40 × 2–3 mm, corolla 2.5–3.0 cm long, filaments sparsely erectly pubescent, anthers sparsely pubescent, staminodes 3, and stigmas 2; from latter by leaf blades rhombic-oblong or rhombic, base shallowly cuneate, margin crenulate to serrate, calyx lobes linear, 20–40 × 2–3 cm, and anthers 3.5–3.8 mm long, sparsely pubescent and elliptical.


This paper deals with the experimental validation of a Matlab-Simulink simulation tool of marine current turbine (MCT) systems. The developed simulator is intended to be used as a sizing and site evaluation tool for MCT installations. For that purpose, the simulator is evaluated within the context of speed control of a permanent magnet synchronous generator-based (PMSG) MCT. To increase the generated power, and therefore the efficiency of an MCT, a nonlinear controller has been proposed. PMSG has been already considered for similar applications, particularly wind turbine systems using mainly PI controllers. However, such kinds of controllers do not adequately handle some of tidal resource characteristics such as turbulence and swell effects. Moreover, PMSG parameter variations should be accounted for. Therefore, a robust nonlinear control strategy, namely second-order sliding mode control, is proposed. The proposed control strategy is inserted in the simulator that accounts for the resource and the marine turbine models. Simulations using tidal current data from Raz de Sein (Brittany, France) and experiments on a 7.5-kW real-time simulator are carried out for the validation of the simulator.


The ecosystems of the western Antarctic Peninsula, experiencing amongst the most rapid trends of regional climate warming worldwide, are important "early warning" indicators for responses expected in more complex systems elsewhere. Central among responses attributed to this regional warming are widely reported population and range expansions of the two native Antarctic flowering plants, Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis. However, confirmation of the predictions of range expansion requires baseline knowledge of species distributions. We report a significant southwards and westwards extension of the known natural distributions of both plant species in this region, along with several range extensions in an unusual moss community, based on a new survey work in a previously unexamined and un-named low altitude peninsula at 69°22.0′S 71°50.7′W in Lazarev Bay, north-west Alexander Island, southern Antarctic Peninsula. These plant species therefore have a significantly larger natural range in the Antarctic than previously thought. This site provides a potentially important monitoring location near the southern boundary of the region currently demonstrated to be under the influence of rapidly changing climate trends. Combined radiocarbon and lead isotope radiometric dating suggests that this location was most likely deglaciated sufficiently to allow peat to start accumulating towards the end of the 19th century, which we tentatively link to a phase of post-1870 climate amelioration. We conclude that the establishment of vegetation in this location is unlikely to be linked to the rapid regional warming trends recorded along the Antarctic Peninsula since the mid-20th century.


Background and Objectives: Regarding the high prevalence of unhealthy food habits among Iranian children, we aimed to assess the effect of a school-based nutrition education program on nutritional status of primary school students in Shiraz. Materials and Methods: This randomized educational controlled trial was carried out on 221 primary school age children selected by cluster sampling in the elementary schools of Shiraz-Iran. The intervention consisted of 6 nutrition education sessions carried out through one year for children, using active learning methods. Mothers' education was carried out in person in both lecture and question-answer sessions also via sending text messages and pamphlets. Weight, height and waist circumference (WC) of children were measured before and after the intervention. Also a 168-item food frequency questionnaire was completed. Two separate nutrition knowledge questionnaires were filled up by children and their mothers. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. Results: 171 children (83 in the case and 88 in the control group), aged 9.5-10.5 years, completed the study. Anthropometric and nutritional knowledge of the participants in both the intervention and control groups was significantly increased. Weight, height, WC and nutritional knowledge increased significantly more in the intervention group compared to the controls. Consumption of fruits and vegetables decreased in the intervention group while plain sugar and fast foods intake increased among the controls. There were no significant differences between the changes in the intake of any of the food groups in the two groups. Conclusions: In conclusion, the designed nutrition education program could increase students' nutritional knowledge, and lead to a non-significant change towards reducing the consumption of unhealthy foods such as fast foods, sweets and salty snacks.


Based on the geochemistry of mafic rocks, the Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic
eastern margins of the North and South Australian Cratons can be classified into the
Eastern Domain (Mount Isa Eastern Succession, Curnamona Province and
Georgetown Inlier) and Western Domain (Mount Isa Western Succession, Kalkadoon-
Leichhardt Belt and McArthur River Basin). Basaltic magmatism of the Eastern
Domain was synchronous with back arc basinal development, while Western Domain
magmas were emplaced into a thicker continental crust. This difference is reflected in
the metallogenic nature of the domains, whereby Fe-oxide-Cu-Au (IOCG) and
Broken Hill Type (BHT-type) deposits dominates the Eastern Domain, and stratiform
Pb-Zn-Ag and Mount Isa Style Cu-Pb-Zn(Ag) are found in the Western Domain.
Based on the distinct evolutionary trends for mafic magmas of the domains of
Mesoproterozoic Australia, we suggest that the Mount Isa Western Succession and
McArthur River Basin continue to be recognised as part of the North Australian
Craton. While the Mount Isa Eastern Succession, Curnamona Province and the
Georgetown Inlier be referred to as the East Australian Craton. An actively or
formerly subducted slab sitting in the mantle lithosphere to the east of the eastern
margin of the East Australian Craton may have provided the appropriate mantle
chemistry to contribute to subsequent generation, in an extended continent, of
magmas and volcano-sedimentary input that led to the formation of Mesoproterozoic
IOCG and BHT deposits.

In the Mount Isa Eastern Succession, mafic rocks and magmas contributed
sulphur and metals to IOCG ore deposition over a protracted (~170My) period.
Between 1686 Ma and 1660Ma, S and metals (Cu, Au, Zn, Fe, Ni, Co) were exsolved
from crystallising strongly fractioned back-arc tholeiitic magmas into active
extensional faults, and surrounding country rocks. During Isan peak-metamorphism,
at ~1600Ma-1580Ma, significant amounts of S, Cu, Au, Zn, Ni, Co and Cr were
leached from mafic rocks and crustal accumulations, and led to the deposition of early
IOCG and base metal deposits. Subsequent albitic alteration associated with the
hydrothermal fluids of the ~1550Ma-1490Ma Williams-Naraku Batholith may also
have sequestered sulphide material from mafic rocks. This study highlights the
possibility that the previously held consensus that the Williams-Naraku Batholith of
felsic-intermediate magmas contributed the bulk of the metals to the Eastern
Succession mineral deposits, may not necessarily be the case, but rather, fluids
derived from these magmas remobilised previously existing mafic derived metal
accumulations.

Protracted metal and sulphur contributions to the Mount Isa Eastern
Succession Iron oxide-Cu-Au (IOCG) province occurred primarily as a consequence
of long-lived fluid and melt fluxes from the base of the crust, stimulated by initial
back-arc emplacement of voluminous mafic magmas. The concentration of sulphur,
iron, copper and gold into the presently observed mineral deposits involved a
significant component of remobilisation and reworking of early initial enrichments
(pre- to syn-Isan Orogeny) by later fluids (syn- to post-Isan and syn-Williams/Naraku
Batholith). Osborne (eastern domain) and Eloise-type ores formed or were strongly
remobilized at c. 1600 Ma by reduced, mafic-derived fluids, whereas oxidised brines
released by the Williams/Naraku granitoids overprinted magnetite ± sulphides at
Osborne (western domain) and Starra to produce younger (c. 1530 Ma) hematitechalcopyrite
associations. CO2-rich, potentially mantle-derived fluid may have
periodically pulsed through the system, manifest now as pyrrhotite-stable carbonate
veins and pods. Exploration for Ernest Henry and Starra style deposits should focus
on recognition of oxidised corridors in relation to mafic- proximal and structurally defined
targets, However, the possibility remains that large, early mafic rock related
Cu-Au ± (Fe, Co, Ni, Zn) deposits are preserved distal to the oxidising effects of the
Williams-Naraku hydrothermal system, and may also present exploration
opportunities.

Within the southern portion of the Mount Isa Eastern Succession, mafic rocks,
and faults that intersect areas of mafic rocks, exhibit the strongest spatial relationship
to IOCG mineralisation than any other geological unit. In contrast, felsic rocks, of
which both genetic and exploration models have relied heavily upon in the past in
order to explain the final localisation controls on IOCG deposits, do not display a
significant relationship to mineralisation. The results attained call for an immediate
review of exploration practices in the Eastern Succession, and call upon more mafic related
models in order to achieve sustainable IOCG mineral discoveries.


After a century of its retreat from political and social stages in East Asia, Confucianism eventually found its revival together with the economic industrialization in the region. The awakening consciousness of the traditional Confucian values leads to a reconsideration of their implication on a modern society. Certainly China has experienced massive social and cultural transformations during the last century, an era marked with rapid adoption of Western norms and ideas. In the mean time, Chinese cultural heritages have never been totally cut and the Chinese people and the Chinese society today are still considerably shaped by China's unique past and its traditional cultural identity, especially by the Confucian traditions. Despite the disruptive scholarly debates on the actual relevance of Confucianism and modernization, there are precious elements within the Confucian values which provide the relevance of Confucianism to the future, such as an ethic of responsibility and the understanding of the humanistic meaning of life. This paper endeavors to explore and discuss various aspects of the relationship between the old Confucian traditions and the modern Chinese cultural identity, including Confucianism as a way of life, Chinese understanding of morality and value relationships, and recent Confucian influence on Chinese politics. On the base of this examination, considerations will be given to demonstrate that Confucian teachings did not perished but are still relevant in modern China. A proper appreciation of these values can help to better comprehend Chinese contemporary society and Chinese cultural identity.


This thesis explored two key aspects of growth, namely the role of financial
development and external financial liberalization. In the case of financial
development, it evaluated in chapter 4, how far the financial reforms implemented
since 1977 was successful in increasing the level of savings and investment as
postulated in the McKinnon -Shaw hypothesis. It employed an Autoregressive
Distributed Lag approach (ARDL) to evaluate the impact of the interest rates on
savings as well as on investment. In the case of savings, the modelling involved
an unrestricted error correction model (ECM), a long-run level model and a short-
run restricted ECM. To assess the impact of interest rates and savings on
investment, a long-run differenced ARDL model was performed. Our empirical
research confirmed that there was a positive effect from financial liberalization,
both on savings and investment. In the case of external financial liberalization, it
investigated in chapter 5, the contribution of outward looking policies on per
capita economic growth. We employed a multiple linear regression model using
OLS approach and regressed the per capita economic growth, as a dependent
variable on some key explanatory variables including FDI inflows, bank credit to
private sector and trade openness. We found evidence in support of our hypothesis
that outward-oriented policies stood favourably in contributing for economic
growth. We finally examined in chapter 6, further scope for greater external
openness to contribute towards faster economic growth and development of Sri
Lanka's economy. Our conclusion in this respect is that unless Sri Lanka adapts
several policy measures to streamline its macroeconomic environment and
gradually build up adequate external reserves, it would not be desirable for the
country to consider rapid opening up of its capital account in the current setting.
The overall finding of this study is that there was a positive impact of financial
liberalization on savings and investment, as well as of external openness on
economic growth.


In this paper we apply two different estimation methods, namely DOLS and FMOLS to estimate real demand for money in Australia with the inclusion of financial innovations. We use a conventional money demand function that was enriched with a proxy for financial innovations. This sum of the number of cheques, credit cards, charge cards, ATM and direct entry payment was included in the regression model to proxy the effect of financial innovations on the money demand. The results indicate that the estimated coefficient of TPI using DOLS is not significant yet it is highly significant using FMOLS and it bears positive sign so that 1 percent increase in TPI leads to the increase of money demand by 0.24 percent. Also, using "Root Mean Squared Error" as the benchmark for predictive power, we conclude that FMOLS is superior to DOLD when it comes to forecasting.


Although much has been written about the general relationship between democracy and development since the end of the Second World War, a common consensus has not emerged to explain the various facets of this relationship. Originally defined in purely economic terms, only recently has the concept of development been broadened to include the most vital non-economic components under the umbrella of 'human development'. Indeed, the UNDP's first Human Development Report (1990) proposed that human development should serve as the yardstick with which to measure the progress of nations. Influenced by the post-Cold War euphoria, the accompanying political argument, propagated by many international bodies (including the World Bank and the UNDP), Western policy-makers and development planners, held that democracy and human development are mutually complementary phenomena. To date, however, the empirical basis for this view has not been established. Using data from 123 countries for the 1970-90 period, this thesis represents an extensive cross-national, time-series investigation into the nature of the relationship between democracy and human development. It will be argued that there are in fact two relationships to be established, one between democracy and levels of human development and one between democracy and human development performance. This leads to the fundamental question: Is democracy typically the by-product of development, the catalyst for development, or neither. To answer this, the records of democratic and non-democratic states will be evaluated and compared using many different analytical techniques, sample groups and controlling variables. This thesis will also examine other important related concerns, including the triangular relationship between democracy, human development and economic growth, and the political basis of the best-performing case studies, or 'developmental states'. Several new empirical measures have been constructed specifically for the purposes of this research, including a new measure of democracy, the Level of Democracy index (LoD), and a new and more comprehensive measure of human development, the Integrated Human Development Index (I-HDI).


Much cognitive and definitional ambiguity surrounds the idea of "having sex," especially among young adults. Researchers have attempted to determine what contextual factors influence university-aged individuals in their understanding and subsequent labeling of sexual behavior. However, previous investigations have been based on heterosexual populations, using questionnaires that may not apply to sexual minorities. The purpose of this study was to gather and compare definitions of sex among university-aged adults of varying sexual and gender identities. This study attempts to re-conceptualize sex definitional research through revised survey measures and varied sampling techniques. In particular, additional sexual behaviors were adapted from public health research of sexual minorities. Analyses of both quantitative and qualitative data are employed in the effort to clarify behaviors that are labeled as "sex" and the contextual factors affecting these definitions. We found higher endorsement of oral sex among females and sexual minorities as well as strong agreement among all participants that anal sex is considered to be sex. In addition, broader definitions of sex were found to be more likely among females and sexual minorities, and the presence of orgasm emerged as a significant variable in deciding whether to label a particular behavior as sex. The additional sexual behaviors had varying levels of endorsement, but were consistently included in sexual minorities' definitions of sex. Future sexuality research should strive to incorporate more gender and orientation minorities and adjust their demographics and measures accordingly.


This theoretical study shows the technical feasibility of self-powered geothermal desalination of groundwater sources at <100 °C. A general method and framework are developed and then applied to specific case studies. First, the analysis considers an ideal limit to performance based on exergy analysis using generalised idealised assumptions. This thermodynamic limit applies to any type of process technology. Then, the analysis focuses specifically on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) driving Reverse Osmosis (RO), as these are among the most mature and efficient applicable technologies. Important dimensionless parameters are calculated for the ideal case of the self-powered arrangement and semi-ideal case where only essential losses dependent on the RO system configuration are considered. These parameters are used to compare the performance of desalination systems using ORC-RO under ideal, semi-ideal and real assumptions for four case studies relating to geothermal sources located in India, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Turkey. The overall system recovery ratio (the key performance measure for the self-powered process) depends strongly on the geothermal source temperature. It can be as high as 91.5% for a hot spring emerging at 96 °C with a salinity of 1830 mg/kg.


Up to one million people within the United States may have Lynch syndrome (LS), but only 10% have been diagnosed. Early identification of these individuals is critical because they are predisposed to the development of colorectal and several other cancers at a relatively young age. Individuals with LS carry a germline mutation in one of four DNA mismatch repair genes, which leads to hypermutability in simple repetitive DNA sequences. This hallmark molecular phenotype called microsatellite instability (MSI) is now widely used to screen individuals needing germline sequencing to confirm diagnosis of LS. Standardized markers for MSI testing and other improvements in methodology have greatly improved the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of MSI testing. The current trend toward universal MSI screening of all colorectal and endometrial cancers will save lives by identifying LS prior to the development of deadly cancer. New technologies for MSI detection, such as next generation sequencing, open the possibility of a single test for LS that determines both tumor MSI status and germline mutations. Moreover, MSI detection is poised to take on an even greater role in prediction of responses to the new immunotherapies targeted at MSI-positive tumors.


: The first measurement of jet shapes, defined as the fractional transverse momentum radial distribution, for inclusive jets produced in heavy-ion collisions is presented. Data samples of PbPb and pp collisions, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 150 inverse microbarns and 5.3 inverse picobarns respectively, were collected at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with a distance parameter R = 0.3, and the jet shapes are measured for charged particles with transverse momentum pt > 1 GeV. The jet shapes measured in PbPb collisions in different collision centralities are compared to reference distributions based on the pp data. A centrality-dependent modification of the jet shapes is observed in the more central PbPb collisions, indicating a redistribution of the energy inside the jet cone. This measurement provides information about the parton shower mechanism in the hot and dense medium produced in heavy-ion collisions. The first measurement of jet shapes, defined as the fractional transverse momentum radial distribution, for inclusive jets produced in heavy-ion collisions is presented. Data samples of PbPb and pp collisions, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 150 μb − 1 and 5.3 pb − 1 respectively, were collected at a nucleon–nucleon centre-of-mass energy of √ s NN = 2 . 76 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The jets are reconstructed with the anti- k T algorithm with a distance parameter R = 0 . 3, and the jet shapes are measured for charged particles with transverse momentum p T > 1 GeV / c . The jet shapes measured in PbPb collisions in different collision centralities are compared to reference distributions based on the pp data. A centrality-dependent modification of the jet shapes is observed in the more central PbPb collisions, indicating a redistribution of the energy inside the jet cone. This measurement provides information about the parton shower mechanism in the hot and dense medium produced in heavy-ion collisions.


The author examines the way in which
past conflicts shape the responses to current
crises. In examining the facts of the
Rwandan case compared with what is
known of the Kosovo crisis, he identifies
a number of similarities shared in both
contexts. However, these first order similarities
prove to be outweighed by the
differences in the capacity for control
possessed by Milosevic, the ethnic and
demographic composition of the communities
in the conflict, and military capabilities.
Importantly, levels of public
support for action were higher in the case
of Kosovo, as were the steps taken by the
international community in the leadup
to the bombing.


If you work in an office, you probably dont lose much sleep worrying about whether your files are safe if your PC melts down. Company IT departments handle those things for business networks. But how about all those precious photos, address lists, the family genealogy, and everything else that lives on your home network? Windows Home Server can save the day if one of your personal PCs hiccups, and Windows Home Server For Dummies serves up all the stuff you need to know to put it to work. Forget everything youve heard about previous versions of Windows Server; this all-new variation has been designed for people who dont wear white lab coats or pocket protectors. Woody Leonhard has tested it and it passed with flying colors. If you have a home or small business network, this book shows you how Windows Home Server helps you Share files among all the PCs in your home Access your files from anywhere Make regular backups automatically Store files securely Play music, TV shows, or movies on your Xbox Share multimedia across your network Keep your virus protection and system upgrades up to date Get regular reports on the overall health of your network Windows Home Server For Dummies provides sage advice on choosing a version of Windows Home Server, installing it, setting up users and passwords, using remote access, scheduling automatic scans and backups, and having fun with multimedia. Trust Woody youll sleep better.


A growing body of literature finds that a healthy corporate culture is associated with superior financial performance. A separate stream of research has found that a firm's adoption of management "best practices" is correlated with higher efficiency and productivity. To date, the cultural and management practices literatures have proceeded in parallel, with few studies considering the relationship between an organization's processes and its culture. This paper uses data from a carefully-designed survey of 370 organizations and nearly ten thousand managers to simultaneously measure corporate culture and management practices. Our key finding is that the quality of a company's management practices and health of its corporate culture are highly correlated. This implies that studies which measure either culture or processes in isolation are likely to overstate their impact on performance. We also provide suggestive evidence that management practices may cause changes in corporate culture, or at least that this effect is stronger than the reverse.


In describing the nature of Christian ethics in America before some recent interventions, Stanley Hauerwas notes that the subject of Christian ethics in America was and is America rather than the Church. He finds this disturbing because it seems to marginalize distinctively Christian moral formation. This critique raises the question of the nature of Christian identity. What should Christian identity in America, Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, etc. be? This question becomes especially urgent with the rise of world Christianity which takes for granted the idea that Christians who live in different contexts perform the Christian faith differently because of said context. This paper argues that while the variety that exists in world Christianity is made necessary by the context in which world Christianity developed, when taken to extremes, it may, among other things, lead to ecclesial apartheid.


SUMMARY: A two-year study focusing on the associated polychaete assemblages revealed that the degradation of the Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows, together with the colonisation of rhizomes by invasive Caulerpa racemosa in the Balearic Islands, have produced important changes in the ecosystem functioning, and have therefore affected the benthic faunal communities. The highest abundance and number of species occurred in C. racemosa from August to December. The species composition of the polychaete assemblage in C. racemosa is similar to that of P. oceanica but abundances of shared species differ between Caulerpa and Posidonia. Abundance, number of species and diversity were positively correlated with C. racemosa biomass. The spatial complexity provided by the network of C. racemosa fronds and stolons seemed to combine with that of the remaining seagrass mat to support a well developed polychaete assemblage. Although invaded meadows harboured significantly modified polychaete assemblages when compared with living P. oceanica meadows, the main impacts seem to be non-harmful (i.e. increased abundance and number of species) and mainly affect their seasonal patterns, which is a direct consequence of the corresponding biomass seasonality of C. racemosa.


Discordance between angiography-based anatomical assessment of coronary stenosis severity and fractional flow reserve (FFR) has been attributed to several factors including lesion length and irregularity, and the myocardial territory supplied by the target vessel. We sought to examine if coronary arterial distensibility is an independent contributor to this discordance. There were two parts to this study. The first consisted of "in silico" models of 26 human coronary arteries. Computational fluid dynamics-derived FFR was calculated for fully rigid, partially distensible and fully distensible models of the 26 arteries. The second part of the study consisted of 104 patients who underwent coronary angiography and FFR measurement. Distensibility at the lesion site (DistensibilityMLA) and for the reference vessel (DistensibilityRef) was determined by analysing three-dimensional angiography images during end-systole and end-diastole. Computational fluid dynamics-derived FFR was 0.67±0.19, 0.70±0.18 and 0.75±0.17 (P<0.001) in the fully rigid, partially distensible and fully distensible models respectively. FFR correlated with both DistensibilityMLA (r = 0.36, P<0.001) and DistensibilityRef (r = 0.44, P<0.001). Two-way ANCOVA analysis revealed that DistensibilityMLA (F (1, 100) = 4.17, p = 0.031) and percentage diameter stenosis (F (1, 100) = 60.30, p < 0.01) were both independent predictors of FFR. Coronary arterial distensibility is a novel, independent determinant of FFR, and an important factor contributing to the discordance between anatomical and functional assessment of stenosis severity.


Food allergy is an adverse immunological reaction to allergens present in food. Up to 4% adults and 8% children are affected by food allergy. The increase in allergic diseases to food has led to the need for better diagnostics and more effective therapeutic approaches.

This book describes the molecular biology and immunology of major food allergens, from laboratory based science to clinical immunology, encompassing novel characterisation and quantification methods, the application of recombinant food allergens in molecular diagnosis and the development of novel therapeutics. This book is the ideal reference tool for researchers, students and allergy clinicians to accurately diagnose and manage food allergies.


This paper investigates the extent to which test performance is affected by shocks to non-cognitive skills. 440 students took a low stakes mathematics test. About half of them were exposed to positive affirmation while being given test instructions, whereas the other half served as controls. The students were allocated to 14 tutorials and randomisation was conducted at the tutorial level. Mean comparisons suggest that test scores were raised by the intervention. In particular, students with low maths grades and with self-assessed difficulties in maths gained from the positive affirmation. Results suggest that teachers might increase their students' performance by interventions to their non-cognitive skills. Inference is obtained by four different methods that take into account that randomisation was clustered at the tutorial group level. These methods are evaluated in a Monte Carlo study for data generating processes which resemble actual data. We find that randomisation inference followed by the wild cluster bootstrap have superior size properties compared to conventional approaches.


In the conventional microlens-array-based light field imaging system, there is a trade-off between the angular and spatial resolutions. Light field reconstruction from images captured by focal plane sweeping, such as light field moment imaging (LFMI) and light field reconstruction with back projection (LFBP), can achieve high transverse resolution comparable to the modern camera sensor. However, the acquisition of a series of focal plane sweeping images along the optical axis is time consuming and requires fine alignment. Furthermore, different focal-plane-based light field reconstruction techniques require images with different characteristics. To solve these problems, we present an efficient approach for fast light field acquisition with precise focal plane sweeping capture by defocus modulation, rather than mechanical movement. Also, we verify the validity and the improvement of our system. With the controllable point spread function, we can capture images for light field reconstruction with both LFMI and LFBP. Otherwise, we quantitatively compare the two methods using images captured with the proposed systems.


Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have a very important role in the economic equality of the community and have a high employment rate. This study examines the direct and indirect effects of social support and creative self-efficacy on the creativity of SMEs' owners in Banyumas, Indonesia. The sample consists of 119 respondents obtained from Small and Medium business owners in this region. They complement the measure of social support and creative self-efficacy towards the creativity of SME' owners. Structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed relationship between variables using the maximum likelihood estimation of the sample covariance matrix. The results show that social support, significantly positively influences creative self-efficacy and owner creativity, creative self-efficacy significantly influences the creativity of the owner. The findings also reveal that creative self-efficacy can mediate the relationship of social support with owner creativity. The implications of this study are also discussed.


To address situations where commercial negotiations about access and interconnection fail, the Common Regulatory Framework requires national regulatory authorities (NRAs) to have power to resolve disputes between providers. The NRA can impose proportionate obligations. Describing dispute resolution as either a form of regulation in its own right or as simple adjudication is likely to mislead without some analysis of what is meant. There may be a tendency, when the NRA is resolving a dispute, to reflect an interventionist regulatory approach but there are markets that have effective competition and in which the regulator may properly tend towards resolving a dispute towards the adjudication end of the spectrum with a less interventionist approach. This paper reflects on principles that have been applied in the UK and on experience in appeals to and beyond the Competition Appeal Tribunal. Because the task of judges is to tackle the grounds of appeal raised before them, courts do not provide a comprehensive guide to NRAs as to how to handle the wide range of issues that can arise. The UK Supreme Court has emphasised the need for interconnection terms to be consistent with the objectives in Article 8 of the Framework Directive and, within boundaries set by Article 8, for national contract law is to be applied.


Riffle-pool sequences in gravel-bed rivers provide the template for a number ol fish and
invertebrate habitats and their morphological complexities create spatial hydraulic
variation over the flow regime that is logistically impossible to measure completely in
the field. The mechanisms responsible for riffle-pool maintenance are unclear and
despite contributions from many researchers, no conclusive explanation has been
developed. There is much debate over the popular velocity reversal hypothesis, where it
is generally acknowledged that at low flows the maximum bed shear stress in the
channel occurs across the riffle, but at higher less frequent flows areas of maximum bed
shear stress can switch to the pool. Sediment interactions control fluvial forms and
processes, as such specific analysis of spatial hydraulic patterns in boundary shear stress
are required to aid understanding of riffle-pool system behaviour and gain the insight in
to the transport capacity that can scour sediment deposited in the predominandy low
energy, lower competence pools and thereby provide a mechanism for maintenance ol
riffle-pool morphology. Terrestrial LiDAR captures reach scale topographical data to
yield a 0.02 m digital elevation model and provides input to three-dimensional
computation fluid dynamics software (CFD), where the spatial distribution and area!
extent of bed shear stress, surface flow velocities and potential sediment entrainment
over the discharge range are investigated for a 188 m gravel-bed reach of Kingsdale
Beck, UK. With increasing discharge, spatial distributions of shear stress are revealed,
which, until now, have been largely overlooked using previous cross-sectional analysis,
highlighting the influence of pool tails as discharge rises. Results show some agreement
with past literature on reversal with higher shear stress zones associated with riffles. As
discharge increases pools are shown to become more dominant, however the existence
of multiple reversals shows that while reversals do occur, they may be short-lived and
marginal in magnitude, providing inherent problems with current theory. The overall
temporal maintenance of the riffle-pool sequence is more explicitly linked with the long
term flow regime, with the flows responsible for moving pool sediment closely confined
to near bankfull discharge. Results indicate that potential to entrain sediment from
pools occurs only from 85% bankfull. Discharges less than 85% bankfull are suggested
to be responsible for maintaining the riffle-pool morphology through flow routing and
bed shear stress reversal, however, they are not capable of potentially entraining
sediment from the deepest pools. Combined CFD simulations with temporal discharge
dominance derived from triangulated rainfall and the Revitalised FSR/FEH rainfallrunoff
methodology, highlight the role of rarer more extreme flows in terms of
explaining sediment entrainment from pools. At high flow Kingsdale Beck creates a
competent sub channel, where a continuous sinuous channel with higher levels of bed
shear stress develop with embryonic lateral bars, increasing potential sediment
entrainment following the line of thalweg. As flow velocity decreases conventional rifflepool
hydromorphology re-establishes and provides a new proposal for the maintenance
of a riffle-pool sequence.


Tour guides have traditionally played a key role in linking tour operators, incoming agencies and tourists. However, very little attention has been given to the competences that involve performative aspects of guiding. Such performative competences involve the complex maneuvring in native and foreign cultures, intercultural mediating, functioning as pathfinders and mentors, and negotiating in unfamiliar destinations to their guests in a culturally sensitive manner, and coordinating group movements in space. The article examines the complexity involved in guided tours, and consequently the need for a deeper understanding of the performative aspects of guided tours. The article concludes that the performative aspects of guiding tourists involve interpretations, mediations and translations through verbal and bodily communication. It also involves the ability to engage by producing intense moments through narratives and creative affordances. One final conclusion from this work is that it is a challenge to actually use the variety of scientific perspectives offered within tourism education programs in order to produce hybrid study outcomes, but, it could also be seen as the pragmatic approach that tour guides adopt in practice.


A new method to control the free spectral range of a long period fiber grating is proposed and theoretically analyzed. As the refractive index decreases radially outward in the silica cladding due to graded doping of fluorine, waveguide dispersion in the cladding modes was modified to result in the effective indices change and subsequently the phase matching conditions for coupling with the core mode in a long period fiber grating. Enlargement of the free spectral range in a long period fiber grating was theoretically confirmed.


During 2013-2015, the percentage of children and teens aged 4-17 years who had ever received a diagnosis of ADHD was significantly higher among boys than among girls within all urbanization levels. Among boys, those living in small metro and nonmetro micropolitan areas were more likely to have received a diagnosis of ADHD (17.4% and 16.4%, respectively) than were those living in large central (11.4%) and large fringe (12.7%) metropolitan areas. Among girls, those living in large central areas were less likely to have received a diagnosis of ADHD (4.4%) than those living in each of the other five types of urban/rural areas.


The radiofrequency (rf) pulses used in NMR are subject to a number of imperfections, such as those resulting from the inhomogeneity of the rf field or an offset of the transmitter frequency from exact resonance. In spin-echo experiments, these imperfections yield spectra with reduced signal intensity and distorted phase. Composite pulses, which have tailored bandwidth properties
with respect to experimental frequency parameters such as the rf field strength or resonance offset, offer a route to improving the amplitude of the spin-echo signal. However, the symmetry of the pulse sequence must be carefully considered to prevent the introduction of phase errors into the spin-echo signal.

Here, composite pulses will be studied as a means to improving one of the most common techniques for 1H background suppression in MAS NMR, the "Depth" sequence. Novel composite 180° pulses will be presented for this application and verified experimentally. The composite pulse Depth experiment yields spectra with improved amplitude of the 1H signals of interest, while successfully maintaining good suppression of background signals.

Novel families of dual-compensated 180° composite pulses for I = 1/2 will also be designed for use in NMR spin-echo experiments. These pulses are capable of simultaneously compensating for resonance offset and rf inhomogeneity problems. Crucially, unlike many composite pulses that have been presented before, these new pulses have the correct symmetry properties to form a spin echo without phase distortion.

Composite pulses have found wide usage in solution-state NMR, and although in principle the same pulses can be applied in solid-state NMR experiments, complications can arise under magic angle spinning (MAS). The effects of MAS on composite pulse performance will be explored both through computer simulations and 31P experiments.

Finally, on a different theme, we will investigate spin-locking of half-integer quadrupolar nuclei in solids. Spin-locking is an important feature of many NMR experiments, yet the complex behaviour observed for quadrupolar nuclei is not fully understood. Using the theoretical model introduced by Ashbrook and Wimperis, we will investigate the far off-resonance case of spinlocking
for I = 3/2 and I = 5/2 nuclei.


Introduction: Complete agenesis of body and tail of pancreas is a very rare type of developmental anomaly of pancreas. It is important regarding its presentations of diabetes mellitus, pancreatitis, and exocrine insufficiency. Case Report: An old man had presented with atypical symptoms of obstructive jaundice with exocrine insufficiency. CECT helped to reveal the complete absence of the body and tail of pancreas with radiologically normal head with no signs of pancreatitis or mass lesion. Conclusions: The cause of agenesis of the dorsal pancreas is currently not well understood. It can also present lately as the presenting case. The presentations are usually related to secretory malfunctions. CECT is an initial investigation for diagnosis.


We propose a systematic approach to describe planar slot antennas, embedded in generic stratified media. An equivalent transmission line model for the slot is proposed, based on a spectral domain analysis. First, we introduce a method of moments solution to model semi-infinite slots, fed by a deltagap excitation. The solution entails only two basis functions, one located at the feed and the other at the termination. The latter basis function is chosen to properly account for the field diffractive behavior at the antenna end point. An approximate circuit model is then introduced, which describes the main mode propagating along the slot as an equivalent transmission line. Lumped impedances are extracted to accurately describe the source and the end point. This procedure can be used to derive the input impedance of planar antennas with arbitrary length in generic layered media or the interaction between multiple feeds within the same slot.


The recently reported Wirtinger flow (WF) algorithm has been demonstrated as a promising method for solving the problem of phase retrieval by applying a gradient descent scheme. An empirical choice of stepsize is suggested in practice. However, this heuristic stepsize selection rule is not optimal. In order to accelerate the convergence rate, we propose an improved WF with optimal stepsize. It is revealed that this optimal stepsize is the solution of a univariate cubic equation with real-valued coefficients. Finding its roots is computationally simple because a closed-form expression exists. Furthermore, compared with obtaining the coefficients of the cubic equation, calculating the gradient is still the leading cost. Therefore, the proposed approach has the same dominant cost as WF in each iteration. Simulation results are provided to validate its efficiency compared to the existing technique.


ABSTRACT For some time now, the research focusing on Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) has been very active. Observing that knowledge as a production factor is only becoming more and more pronounced, this focus is well-grounded. It is therefore important to examine how these knowledge-hubs gain and propagate their knowledge. We hypothesize that KIBS (as many other sectors) benefit from intra-industry knowledge spillovers facilitated by geographical concentration. Our focus is the innovative capacity of KIBS, which we measure through trademarks registered by KIBS firms. While there may be several mechanisms facilitating knowledge spillovers, we can identify local intra-sectoral labor mobility as one. Accessibility measures are used to assess the geographical attenuation of the spillover effects. Results show that the distance decay of spillovers is fast. Only local concentrations of KIBS seem to be of importance. Over longer distances, we instead observe negative consequences for trademarking, indicating possible spatial competition effects.


Among the countless funerary monuments present in the Sahara, the corridor and enclosure tumulus (CET) display particularly original architectural features. Their chronology is now well established for the Nigerien Sahara, but remains poorly known for the Tassili Azger in south-eastern Algeria, despite the abundance of monuments identified. This article presents the first results of direct AMS 14 C dating of the mineral fraction (bioapatite) of human bones from three CET excavated in different sites of the Tassili Fadnoun in 2011. The results indicate that these burials date from the late 4 th or early 3 rd mill BCE and are of similar age to the ones of the CET of Emi Lulu in northern Niger. Despite an extensive geographic distribution across the Sahara, it appears that CET share several common characteristics especially in terms of architecture, burial practices and chronology.


Cultivar differentiation is carried out by the least margin of specific descriptors in each species. Nowadays, approximately 38 descriptors, including the obligatory and additional ones, are used to differentiate soybean cultivars. Since these descriptors are still not enough, it is necessary to increase the number of descriptors used, which should be previously identified and evaluated. The objectives of this study were to identify and evaluate new traits for the differentiation of soybean cultivars. The experiments were conducted in a greenhouse at the Plant Science Department of the Federal University of Vicosa at four different times (two during summer and two during winter). The treatments consisted of 11 soybean cultivars arranged in a complete randomized design with five replicates. Each experimental unit consisted of one pot with two plants. The following characteristics were evaluated: hypocotyl length (CH), epicotyl length (CE), petiole length of the unifoliate leaf (CPFU), base shape coefficient of the unifoliate leaf (CFB), base width coefficient of the unifoliate leaf (CLB), petiole length of the first trifoliate leaf (CPFT) and rachis length of terminal leaflet in the first trifoliate leaf (CRFT). Anderson's discriminant analysis was performed, and statistical analyses were carried out using the Genetics and Statistics software 'Programa Genes'. Significant differences were found for all characteristics in the four sowing times. Discriminant analysis allowed the differentiation of the soybean cultivars. It was concluded that the characteristics are useful as additional descriptors of soybean cultivars.


Entertainment is now the largest trend in retailing and urban redevelopment, and is credited with revitalizing many downtowns. Consequently, many other cities are attempting to replicate this success by developing pedestrian-oriented entertainment districts consisting of movie theaters, nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and retail shopping. This paper summarizes the results of 30 police-manager interviews and a nationwide survey used to identify entertainment-district features that create problems and demands for police resources, and effective strategies and tactics for policing entertainment districts. The most effective policing is done at the district planning and design stage by engineering out features that cause problems. Good entertainment-district policing then requires continuous training and education of business managers and private security personnel. Finally, night-time district patrol requires a multi-prong effort to pre-empt problems and assure public safety.


The primary goal of this study was to characterize the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) receptor within the cardiovascular system and elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in peripheral NMDA receptor-mediated pressor response. The central hypothesis of this study was "peripheral NMDA receptor signaling plays a pivotal role in the acute cardiovascular effects of ethanol". The data provide the first evidence that peripheral NMDAR activation mediates dose-dependent pressor responses in conscious unrestrained rats. The results indicated that the pressor response was peripherally mediated because it persisted following ganglionic blockade with hexamethonium and was attenuated by NMDAR antagonists AP-5 or R-(+)-HA-966. Ex vivo studies revealed enhanced nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in vascular tissues collected at the peak of the NMDAR-mediated pressor response. The in vivo findings using selective pharmacological interventions corroborated with complementary ex vivo and in vitro studies supported a causal role for nNOS-(NO)-dependent ROS generation in the NMDA-evoked pressor response. Additional studies tested the hypothesis that NMDAR-mediated enhancement of vascular phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt-protein kinase C (PKC) signaling underlies nNOS and NADPH oxidase (Nox) activation leading to NO and ROS generation and ultimately the pressor response. The pharmacological and ex vivo findings demonstrated that these interventions significantly attenuated the increases in blood pressure and vascular NO production evoked by peripheral NMDAR activation. NMDA-mediated increases in vascular Nox activity and the abrogation of this increase in apocynin wortmannin or chelerythrine pretreated rats was observed. These findings suggested that the vascular PI3K/Akt-PKC signaling cascade partially mediates nNOS (NO) and Nox (ROS) activation which leads to the peripheral NMDAR-mediated pressor response. Further the present study yields new insight into acute ethanol-induced modulation of peripheral (vascular) NMDAR signaling in conscious rats. Our pharmacological findings indicate that ethanol has the ability to attenuate the peripheral NMDAR-mediated responses and the ex vivo studies provided support for the involvement of oxidative stress (ROS) in peripheral NMDA-evoked pressor responses. Despite the ability of ethanol to increase vascular ROS pretreatment with ethanol attenuated the NMDA-evoked oxidative stress and the associated pressor response. Finally in the presence of partial peripheral NMDAR blockade with AP-5 ethanol produced a modest hypotensive response. These findings support a protective role for ethanol against NMDA-mediated oxidative stress. Collectively these studies provide insight into identifying signaling pathway(s) triggered by peripheral NMDAR in conscious animals and potential contribution of NMDAR signaling to the acute cardiovascular effects of ethanol.


In this work, we address the detection of vehicles in a video stream obtained from a moving airborne platform. We propose a Bayesian framework for estimating dense optical flow over time that explicitly estimates a persistent model of background appearance. The approach assumes that the scene can be described by background and occlusion layers, estimated within an expectation-maximization framework. The mathematical formulation of the paper is an extension of the work in (H. Yalcin et al., 2005) where motion and appearance models for foreground and background layers are estimated simultaneously in a Bayesian framework.