Climate change and particularly variations in air temperature have significant impacts on the growth rhythm of plants where these occur at the limits of their natural distribution range, especially at northern latitudes. Our study area, Fennoscandia and Kola Peninsula, is characterized by large regional climatic differences from south to north, from west to east, and from lowland to mountains. Accordingly, the region is well suited for looking for evidence of climatic change and studying regional differences in the response of such change. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that the projected warming in northern Europe is greater than for many other regions of the world. Therefore major physical and ecological changes are expected. On land, there will be a tendency for shifts in major biomes such as tundra and boreal forest. Permafrost will decline, trees and shrubs will encroach northern tundra, and broad-leaved trees may encroach coniferous forests. Net primary productivity in ecosystems is likely to increase. The temperature level at the end of the 20th century is ca. 0.5 oC higher than in the 1930 for the Northern hemisphere (IPCC and World Meteorological Organization). Other studies show that in the period 1890-1999, the increase in temperature over Fennoscandia varies between 0.02 (Karasjok) and 0.1 oC decade-1 (Helsinki), and they also showed that at several stations within the area the spring temperatures have increased steadily throughout the 20th century. Most stations experienced low spring temperatures in the beginning of the century, and rather high temperatures around 1950. At present, the winter temperature levels are considerably higher than in the rest of the period. However, at northern stations the winter temperatures were higher in the 1930s than at present. Phenological registrations have been used word-wide to look for possible effects of climate change, but within Fennoscandia the problem is that phenological registrations are sparse. On Kola Peninsula, however, such observations can be tracked back more than 70 years. The few existing historical series may be useful for local studies of climatic and environmental effects through time. However, the rugged topography within the area, with its large variations in micro and local climate and thus growing conditions, makes it difficult to draw conclusions for regions or larger areas. Accordingly, in order to document the effects of the current climatic trend there is a need for objective methods applicable on a regional level. Hence, satellite data is probably the only realistic way of documenting regional trends in phenological events within Fennoscandia and Kola Peninsula. However, there are very few time-series of data available that span a sufficient time-period to be useful for trend analysis. The only long-time series with sufficient spatial coverage and temporal resolution is the NOAA AVHRR GIMMS NDVI dataset produced by Dr. Tucker at NASA, at present covering the period from July 1981 to December 2002. This dataset has been used for several global studies, but for our purpose the main challenge is the low spatial resolution of 8x8 km2. For a typical Norwegian coastal area, within one pixel there will be all types of land-cover types from ocean to rich vegetated lowland to non-vegetated high mountains and glaciers. The advantage with this dataset is that it is based on satellite data acquired several times a day, and therefore it is very good to use in order to follow "the green wave" of vegetation during springtime. Accordingly, it is of importance to investigate whether this dataset can be applied to document the regional phenological differences within the region, and whether phonological trends that may be related to climate change is observed. The NOAA AVHRR GIMMS NDVI data set obtained from weather satellites was together with in-situ data and climate data used to investigate regional climatic change impact on the length of the growing season in Fennoscandia and Kola Peninsula during the last two decades. We used phenological observation data for birch (Betula pubescens), and birch give a significant contribution to the reflectance from the ground in order to analyze the satellite data. A method using an individual threshold NDVI value for defining the onset of the growing season applied to each pixel for each year was chosen, and a high correlation was found between the NDVI data and in-situ phenological data on onset of leafing of birch. Determining the end of growing season based on a threshold NDVI value shows a lower correlation with surface data, but the timing by the set threshold is observed to measure somewhere in-between the onset of yellowing and all leaves fallen. In general, the results show a pattern according to vegetation zones and the altitude gradient, and partly according to vegetation sections. There are high regional differences in trends in the onset of spring. In the southern part of Fennoscandia, and on the oceanic west coast of Norway, the spring starts considerably earlier in the late nineties compared to the early eighties. The spring is stable or delayed in the northern boreal zone, which occupies large areas of northern Fennoscandia and Kola peninsula, and the same trend is also found in the alpine areas which occupies parts of both southern and northern Norway. The strongest delay occurred in the most continental section of the northern boreal zone. In the entire boreo-nemoral and nemoral zone, which occupy most of the southern part of Fennoscandia, the trend is opposite. In these areas the spring starts considerably earlier, in some parts several weeks. In the most oceanic section, the coastline of Western Norway, the spring also starts earlier. This earlier trend fits with the pattern from western and central Europe, and is likely to be related to increased spring temperature. At the same time the autumn is delayed in the whole area except in the most continental section of northern Fennoscandia (Sweden and Finland) as well as the mountainous areas of northern and southern Norway. This also means that the growing season is prolonged for the whole area, except the northern continental section (northern part of Sweden and Finland and parts of Kola peninsula). In contrast, the timing of midsummer shows less change in all the study area. There is no specific or significant trend for the timing of the peak NDVI value. These changes in the onset of spring and autumn as well as the change in the length of the growing season may if they seem to be prolonged in the future lead to another use of the reindeer pastures as well as changes in timing of migration and in migration patterns. For example the migration to the summer pastures can start earlier now than 20 years earlier for most of the reindeer husbandry districts in Fennoscandia. In addition the migration back to winter pastures can start later, and this will reduce the length and the use of the autumn, winter and spring pastures, and these changes may be positive. If these trends will be prolonged, we have to recalculate the estimations of the carrying capacity for the different reindeer pastures in Fennoscandia. We have used the NOAA AVHRR GIMMS NDVI dataset to assess the change in maximum NDVI on regional level. It is observed that the trend is towards a higher peak NDVI-value in midsummer in the most of northern Fennoscandia. For larger parts of Fennoscandia the trends are positive and causes for this could be increased extent of the mountain birch forests and changes in the vegetation cover from lichen dominated cover to more heather vegetation and scrubs but these changes may be negative for the reindeer pasture. Also overgrowing of the cultural landscape as well as general increase of the boreal forests may reduce the carrying capacity for the reindeer. It is also observed in the EU-funded HIBECO-project and the NFR (Norwegian Research Council) funded PhenoClim-project that more "humid preferring" plant species, for instance the Lapland dwarf cornel (Cornus suecica) and mosses have increased in recent years, while typical heath species as crowberry (Empetrum hermaphroditum), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) and reindeer lichens have decreased. The quality of the reindeer pastures is then reduced, and these changes are considered negative for the reindeer husbandry. This may have been caused by a combination of grazing, increased precipitation and higher temperatures during the growing season.


The domain of accessible information about celebrities, political leaders, and other public figures is expanding as technology evolves, placing new stresses on already uneasy legal boundaries around their privacy. The availability of cheap, fast, and informative genetic sequencing technologies, combined with growing public interest in genetic information, make it likely that we will soon witness paparazzi carrying swabs and sterile tubes in search for genetic materials connected in some way to the public figures they pursue. In a world in which genetic paparazzi are not only a possibility, but a probability, courts will inevitably be asked to determine the legal status of genetic materials and information obtained from public figures without consent. The genetics of public figures serves as a useful test case of the legal framework governing genetics and privacy because public figures are at the same time beneficiaries of more rights than most of us — in the form of rights of publicity — and fewer rights — in the form of diminished expectations of privacy.

When disputes involving genetic paparazzi ultimately reach the courtroom, judges will have to confront scenarios that touch on fundamental questions regarding the nature of genetics and its relationship to concepts of personhood and identity, property, health and disease, intellectual property, and reproductive rights. While the question of what courts will decide is intriguing, this Article moves beyond such predictions to focus on how resulting court decisions in seemingly narrow cases may have broad and potentially harmful impact. Despite the complexity of the legal issues that such suits will implicate, the constraints of existing law make it likely that courts will address such disputes largely through the lens of traditional privacy and publicity rights. In this Article we argue that pursuing genetic paparazzi cases through the narrow lens of existing privacy and publicity law would ignore the multidimensional nature of genetic materials and information, leading to unintended and problematic consequences for how the law approaches genetics. We go on to highlight additional aspects of genetic materials and information that policymakers, courts, and lawyers ought to consider when responding to media excursions into the genetics of public figures so as not to impede other genetic interests that might be implicated.


Continued scaling of switching capacity in the Internet core is threatened by power considerations. Internet service providers face increased carbon footprint and operational costs, while router manufacturers encounter upper limits on switching capacity per rack. This paper studies the role of packet buffer memory on the power consumption of backbone routers. Our first contribution is to estimate from published datasheets the energy costs of static RAM/dynamic RAM packet-buffer memory, showing that it accounts for over 10% of power consumption in a typical router line-card; we then show, using empirical data from core and enterprise networks, that much of this memory is used for only a small fraction of time. Our second contribution is to develop a simple yet practical algorithm for putting much of the memory components to sleep and waking them as needed, while being able to control resulting traffic performance degradation in the form of packet loss during transient congestion. Finally, we conduct a comprehensive evaluation of our scheme, via analytical models pertaining to long-range-dependent traffic, using simulations of offline traffic traces taken from carrier/enterprise networks as well as online Transmission Control Protocol flows in ns2, and by implementing our scheme on a programmable-router test bed. This paper is the first to show the feasibility of, and energy savings from, dynamic management of packet buffer memory in core routers in the market today.


As government policies across the country try to encourage more environmentally friendly buildings, the next green issue facing the owners of the completed structure is obtaining the proper insurance coverage to protect their investment. A typical property insurance policy covers the costs to reconstruct or replace property damaged as the result of a casualty, so the Insurance Service Organization and other carriers offer specific green building endorsements in an effort to augment the underlying property policy. However, these buildings maintain unique characteristics, which becomes relevant to the owner and policy underwriter as well as other stakeholders like the holder of a mortgage and major tenants. Accordingly, this article seeks to address the issues associated with a property insurance policy and the applicable endorsements that provide coverage for a green building.


This paper investigates the effect of Laplacian normalization in graph-based semi-supervised learning. To this end, we consider multi-class transductive learning on graphs with Laplacian regularization. Generalization bounds are derived using geometric properties of the graph. Specifically, by introducing a definition of graph cut from learning theory, we obtain generalization bounds that depend on the Laplacian regularizer. We then use this analysis to better understand the role of graph Laplacian matrix normalization. Under assumptions that the cut is small, we derive near-optimal normalization factors by approximately minimizing the generalization bounds. The analysis reveals the limitations of the standard degree-based normalization method in that the resulting normalization factors can vary significantly within each connected component with the same class label, which may cause inferior generalization performance. Our theory also suggests a remedy that does not suffer from this problem. Experiments confirm the superiority of the normalization scheme motivated by learning theory on artificial and real-world data sets.


We combine a large multi-site randomized control trial with administrative and survey data to demonstrate that intensive advising during high school and college leads to large increases in bachelor's degree attainment. Novel causal forest methods suggest that these increases are driven primarily by improvements in the quality of initial enrollment. Program effects are consistent across sites, cohorts, advisors, and student characteristics, suggesting the model is scalable. While current and proposed investments in postsecondary education focus on cutting costs, our result suggest that investment in advising is likely to be a more efficient route to promote bachelor's degree attainment.


Where do baby apes sleep? In apricots! I'm Elsa, and that's one of my jokes (I tell LOTS of jokes and I'm going to be a big star one day). I do my best to cheer my family up - but no one seems to laugh much any more. Not since we lost our lovely house and had to move into a bed and breakfast hotel ...


Many aspects of The End of Men are debatable. Among them is the critical issue of essentialism: do Rosin's claims about women withstand scrutiny when we ask, "Is this representative of all women?" While women as a group may have progressed in some domains, they have remained the same or worse in others, and some women have not progressed at all. An even more significant shortcoming of The End of Men, however, is its essentialism about men. Rosin assumes a beginning, namely, men's prior place of power and privilege in the domains she addresses. To assume that is true of all or most men ignores significant differences among men; it makes the argument one that predominantly focuses upon white middle- and upper-class men and women. Further, it ignores a fundamental aspect of male dominance: it is not only about the relationship of all men to all women, but just as important, it is about the relationship of men to each other. By rendering this male hierarchy invisible, Rosin excludes those men at the bottom of the hierarchy, suggesting a false, or at least limited, perspective on men's position as a whole. Indeed, her argument reinforces male hierarchy by ignoring persistent subordination that benefits only those men at the top of the patriarchal heap. The end-of-men argument, then, recasts hegemony. To illustrate this point, I focus on one group of males excluded by this essentialism: black boys. Although Rosin's argument implicitly is about adult males, the basis for some of her argument of decline in position or change in status is grounded in differentials between girls and boys. That argument assumes a historic and contemporary position of power, privilege, and dominance by men in critical domains. The subordinated position of many adult black men, grounded in a history of oppression and violent victimization, belies that claim. My argument here is that the contemporary position of adult black men is grounded in the undermining of opportunity and harsh repression of black boys. For most black boys, privilege and dominance in the sense Rosin assumes have almost never been present in their lives. Part I explores the context of the lives of black boys. I include in this description the systems that subordinate rather than support them. Although in theory these are "helping" systems, designed to assist children and families or to foster development, they actually function to collectively funnel children, and black boys in particular, toward outcomes that undermine opportunity. Part II considers where this context leads us and what is needed. I identify the levels of inequalities present in the lives of black boys. In addition, I suggest that the criminalization and stigmatization of black boys and men as "dangerous" serves continued white male hegemony. This conclusion challenges at a deep level the assumptions and arguments Rosin makes in The End of Men. Part III explores several theoretical frameworks that I believe could be helpful in ensuring social justice and individual opportunity for black boys. These include masculinities theory, critical race theory, and vulnerabilities theory. In addition to raising questions critical to the analysis of boys and men, these frameworks also suggest we should ask who benefits from the argument made in, and the attention given to, The End of Men.


The media is replete with stories of marketers committing corporate crimes such as bribery, corruption, or the miss-selling of goods and services. A growing corpus of work has articulated the relationship between certain forms of corporate crime (such as competition law) and marketing. What remains overlooked, however, is how marketers organize certain corporate crimes that may be quite complex in nature, (such as collusion to fix prices between firms that are traditionally competitors). In this study, we examine one form of corporate crime committed by marketers: illegal price-fixing cartels, and explain the possible modes of organizing price-fixing cartels through the lens of Practice Theory. Studies in economic sociology and marketing demonstrate that markets can be viewed as emergent entities composed by the practices of actors. The notion of practices can be found in the work of a number of divergent authors in the social sciences such as Bourdieu (1992, 1984), Giddens (1984) and de Certeau (1984), to denote the routines, techniques and habits that give rise to social structures and purpose. Practice Theory emphasises the actions of what actors do, with what, how and when. Through the application of Practice Theory and three vignettes of price-fixing cartels in the European Union, we demonstrate that illegal price-fixing networks forged by marketing managers in competing organizations can be viewed as bundles of practices and give rise to contrasting structures or modes of exchange.


For several decades friction welding technology has found broad application in many fields of the metal and plastic connection industry. The fabricated joints are laminar or punctiform depending upon the shape of the parts to be welded. The work presented here deals with the application of this technology to wood connection. Its application to the material wood is still very young and the process is to a large extent unexplored. The type of connections investigated in this study is of laminar shape. The wood in the contact zone is heated by means of frictional energy. This causes a thermal alteration of the wood cell structure, which leads to the formation of a viscous layer. After cooling, the material in this layer forms the connection. The welding machine used for these investigations applies a circular movement to the parts to be welded. Within the scope of the work presented here the behaviour of the material during the welding process is examined. Measurement of the frictional force and interfacial temperature during the welding process shows that this process bears distinct resemblance to friction welding of metals and thermoplastic synthetics. As with metals and plastics, this process can be divided into different phases by means of measuring the frictional force. These phases reflect the particular states of the interface (dry friction, transition phase, viscous state). The influences of the machine settings, welding frequency and welding pressure, on the process cycle are examined by means of the friction force and the interfacial temperature as a function of welding time and welding displacement. To investigate the influence of the annual rings and their orientation these investigations are carried out for samples with different cut direction. Welding frequency and welding pressure affect the welding duration as well as the friction force in a distinct manner. The results show that circular friction welding is influenced by the orientation of annual rings in a significant way. The moisture content of the material is part of the investigations as well. Its influence on the behaviour of the material and the resistance of the connection is of substantial importance. This result arises from investigations on test pieces welded with different moisture contents. In accordance with the experiments carried out, the atmosphere of the welding environment (ambient air, argon atmosphere) seems to be not very important with regard to the process flow. Investigations concerning the evolution of the interfacial resistance showed that the welded connections do not meet the resistance achievable by conventional glues. However, the relatively high initial resistance permits a continuous welding of multilayered laminates. The initial strength of the newly formed connection clearly exceeds the load applied by the newly introduced vibration. Therefore the existing joint is not damaged by welding of an additional layer. Microscopic examinations reveal that the cell structure at the contact layer is completely destroyed. It becomes apparent that the decomposed wood forms a viscous layer during the welding process. This layer encloses the adjacent cell structure, embeds the cell walls, and contributes in this manner to the adhesion. Thermal degradation of the adjacent cell structure occurs only within a thin layer close to the contact zone. This is due to the good insulation properties of wood. The thermal influence becomes evident by a visible dark discoloration of the cell structure. The joint consists of a consolidated mass of thermally-altered wood decomposition products. This is also reflected in the results of chemical analyses carried out within the scope of this research. This study shows that the main components of wood (cellulose, polyoses and lignin) experience a thermal degradation. Within the material, which forms the interfacial layer the cellulose was detected to remain in a relatively high proportion. Due to its predominantly crystalline structure the cellulose behaves in a thermally relatively stable manner. Polyoses are thermally significantly less stable. Compared with thermally unchanged spruce wood, polyoses remain only in a small percentage in the joint substance. The molecular structure of lignin, the third chemical compound, experiences distinct changes. However, its total mass stays relatively stable. The investigations indicate reactions between the decomposition products of polyoses and cellulose and the thermally altered units of lignin, which could lead to a cross-linking of the joint material and thus contribute to cohesion. Advantages of this technology are seen particularly in the rapidity of the joint formation. In addition, wooden compounds, which are fabricated by this method consist of natural wood and thermally altered wood only. Compared to glued compounds where the adhesives usually contain solvents, this leads to advantages with regard to environmental compatibility. With respect to machining, welded connections offer advantages when compared to traditional methods used for wood connection. Disadvantages result from the resistance of the joint, which is significantly less stable than the resistance of most conventional glues. One application of this new method is seen in the fabrication of solid wood elements with rather small stress loads at the interface.


Lowland tropical peatlands can act as sinks and sources of carbon, interchanging greenhouse gases (GHG) with the atmosphere. Despite the importance of lowland tropical peatlands in the past, present and future global carbon cycle, uncertainties exists about the controls regulating the processes of carbon turnover. Therefore, this study examined different controls of carbon turnover, including abiotic, biotic and anthropogenic. For this purpose, six peatlands with different dominant vegetation were selected in the north western region of the Republic of Panama (9° 4' 16.06" N; 82° 6' 28.98" W). Two phasic communities were used as experimental models; Raphia taedigera palm swamps and mixed forest swamps with Campnosperma panamensis. A combination of in situ and ex situ experiments were performed between March 2010 and November 2012: i) ex situ respirometric assays were used to quantify differences in carbon turnover through the peat profile under different redox regimes, ii) litter bags experiments were used to investigate the effect of plant materials with distinct botanical origins on peat accumulation, iii) the effect of vegetation on greenhouse gases emissions was assessed with in situ and ex situ experiments and iv) land use change (LUC) was monitored to evaluate its consequences on the short term carbon turnover processes. Ex situ respirometric assays suggested that organic matter composition of peat plays a major role in controlling the potential CO2 and CH4 production. Under anaerobic conditions, the potential CO2 and CH4 production decreased with depth. The potential CO2 and CH4 productions in the surface peat layers of the anaerobic assays were 7 and 120 fold higher than those in deeper layers of the peat profile respectively. The change in redox regime affected the carbon turnover; the CO2 potential production in the surface layers ( 50 cm depth) increased 47 fold. In contrast, CH4 production was reduced two orders of magnitude under aerobic conditions. Tissue types of R. taedigera and C. panamensis showed different in situ decomposition rates. Decomposition was significantly slower belowground than at the surface, reflecting the importance of the redox regime on the litter decomposition. Roots presented the lowest in situ decomposition rates among tissues both at the surface (R. taedigera: 0.59 ± 0.04 y-1; C. panamensis: 0.45 ± 0.01 y-1) and belowground (R. taedigera: 0.13 ± 0.01 y-1; C. panamensis: 0.17 ± 0.005 y-1). Macromolecular analyses revealed that roots and stems have similar composition to the peat material accumulated in deeper layers. Vegetation exerted a direct control on GHG fluxes from lowland tropical peatlands. In both ex situ and in situ measurements, fluxes of CO2 and CH4 varied with vegetation activity. In terms of CO2eq (Addition of mass flow of GHG, converted with the global warming potential of each gas), the agricultural LUC increased CO2eq emissions from the R. taedigera swamp at Cricamola by ca. 20 t CO2eq ha-1 y-1. At the pristine site, CO2, CH4 and N2O contributed with ca. 90, 9 and 1 % of the TCO2eq respectively. In contrast, in the anthropogenically impacted plot, CO2, CH4 and N2O contributed with ca. 29, 69 and 2 % of the TCO2eq respectively. Water table strongly influenced the carbon turnover. Under flooded conditions (water table at or above the surface; 0 to 0.15 m), the CH4 emissions were ca. 4 times higher in comparison with those where the water table was below the surface (−0.01 to −0.4 m). In contrast, CO2 emissions were ca. 1.5 times higher when the water table was below the surface. It was concluded that the interdependence of hydrology, peat composition and vegetation activity are the main factors controlling carbon turnover in the lowland peatlands of the north western region of Panama. This thesis has shown that fine scale alterations of these three factors can have large scale consequences, demonstrating sensitivity to perturbations and ease shift of lowland tropical peatlands from carbon sinks to carbon sources.


In this article the caring power in the Swedish probation service is discussed. By exploring the history of probation, formed since the early 19 century, the structure that is constructed through human interaction and that defines the role of helper and helped is shown. Within this structure, different interpretations exist and different stories are told. This variation is highlighted through stories of support and control, told by social workers and clients. The purpose is to show that different aspects occur in different relationships, and that different discourses co‐exist in a structure of caring power. Caring power is a way of exercising power through kindness. Support and control are different interpretations of the actions taken within the probation service and they are both part of the caring power. When the relationship between the social worker and the client is based on mutual understanding, the caring power can function and stories about the supportive aspects are told. When there is no mutual understanding, the actors tell stories about control. That way the caring power always exists, and depending on the relationship between the actors involved, we regard it in different ways. When the actors unite in their task, only the supportive aspects are shown, but when the actors cannot unite, the power is revealed.


Open innovation is the current tendency used by companies in order to get new ideas and accomplish services/products developments. Social networks web 2.0 arise as an attractive alternative to provide simple and powerful mechanisms in which users, customers, providers and other stakeholders can communicate their ideas in a natural way. In this paper an analysis is presented about the technological tools offered by social networks web 2.0 as enabler of interactions in open innovation processes. The survey begins with the detection of collaborative features of social networks. Afterwards, it follows with a list of the most representative social networks according to popularity and academic approaches. A later filter is performed to select the those to study deeply by means of a checklist. The next step eases a results analysis whose goal is to assess the interaction level allowed by each social network. Finally, a set of proposals are generated in order to support open innovation using web 2.0 approaches, among them, a new social network structure which integrates the best interaction practices identified.


In this paper we address traffic engineering problems for wireless communications by proposing a practical technique to construct a DBMAP-based model equivalent to an IPP-based model. On the one hand, IPP-based (ON-OFF) models are widespread in practice to simulate the application layer traffic in wireless networks. On the other hand, DBMAP-based models are backed by the developed matrixanalytic methods. The derived model is easy to use and allows to apply matrix-analytic methods in the performance evaluation of the emerging networking technologies.


BRD accounts for approximately 70% of feedlot morbidity and 50% of feedlot mortality, negatively affecting profit (Edwards 1996; Galyean, Perino, Duff 1999; Loneragan et al. 2001; Chirase and Greene 2001; Smith 1998). This study provides an economic evaluation and net return estimate associated with testing and removal of BVDV persistently infected (PI) calves of differing management backgrounds (low-risk preconditioned calves vs. high-risk auction market calves). Results show that establishment of a PI-BVDV control program within auction market calves increases net returns while a PI-BVDV control program for preconditioned calves is not economically justified.


OBJECTIVES
To develop a method of economic evaluation and triage for research prioritisation, before the funding decision.

DATA SOURCES
Existing models were researched focusing on MEDLINE, HealthSTAR, IBSS and HEED.

REVIEW METHODS
Papers of primary relevance that included a proposed model were reviewed in detail, and their models appraised using criteria adapted from the EUR-ASSESS project and the authors' previous experience. From this the PATHS model was developed. It assumes three or more possible alternative outcomes or scenarios in terms of research results: 'favourable' to the technology being assessed, 'unfavourable' or 'inconclusive'. An associated flow of benefits or disbenefits, costs or savings is identified for each potential research outcome depending on the likely implementation of the results as judged by experts. These benefits and costs are weighted and discounted in the model to give an expected incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (EICER). EICERS could be estimated for any number of research areas or proposals to inform funding prioritisation. The model was tested and evaluated on three case studies identified in liaison with the NHS R&D HTA programme and the UK Medical Research Council. These case studies were funded research projects, where full evaluation was underway and where results would be reported during the PATHS project. The studies were selected to include surgery or other invasive procedures, and non-invasive health services projects (a fourth case study did not complete during the course of the study). The three case studies included randomised controlled trials of early surgery or observation for small abdominal aortic aneurysms, infusion protocols for adult pre-hospital care, and postnatal midwifery support.

RESULTS
Each of the three assessments indicated net clinical benefit or no clinical loss of benefit, in addition to health service cost savings in excess of the cost of the trial. For two case studies, the value of the proposed trial, as evaluated by the model in the prediction, was consistent with the ex post evaluation, thus providing positive tests of the value of the model. In the third case meaningful ex post analysis was not possible as very poor compliance with the trial protocol (indicated in the ex ante evaluation) seriously undermined its conclusions. During the study, at the request of the UK HTA programme, the model was also applied to a funding request for a large randomised trial of beta-interferon for multiple sclerosis treatment.

CONCLUSION
The PATHS model has a useful part to play in the research prioritisation process. Its strengths lie in its emphasis on the impact of research results on policy and practice (the keystone for NHS research) and net effects on health benefits and costs. It assesses the cost-effectiveness of the research and may identify ways to enhance the research design, endpoints relevant to implementation, analytical methods and dissemination. Further research is recommended to investigate the scope for synthesising the strengths of the PATHS model with other approaches including value of information; to compare ex ante and immediate ex post assessments of implementation with long term follow-up of actual implementation; and to assess the robustness of such approaches to the choice and number of experts used.


Non-malleable codes were introduced by Dziembowski, Pietrzak and Wichs as an elegant relaxation of error correcting codes, where the motivation is to handle more general forms of tampering while still providing meaningful guarantees. This has led to many elegant constructions and applications in cryptography. However, most works so far only studied tampering in the split-state model where different parts of the codeword are tampered independently, and thus do not apply to many other natural classes of tampering functions. The only exceptions are the work of Agrawal et al. which studied non-malleable codes against bit permutation composed with bit-wise tampering, and the works of Faust et al. and Ball et al., which studied non-malleable codes against local functions. However, in both cases each tampered bit only depends on a subset of input bits. In this work, we study the problem of constructing non-malleable codes against more general tampering functions that act on the entire codeword. We give the first efficient constructions of non-malleable codes against tampering functions and affine tampering functions. These are the first explicit non-malleable codes against tampering functions where each tampered bit can depend on all input bits. We also give efficient non-malleable codes against t-local functions for t=o(√n), where a t-local function has the property that any output bit depends on at most t input bits. In the case of deterministic decoders, this improves upon the results of Ball et al, which can handle t≤ n1/4. All our results on non-malleable codes are obtained by using the connection between non-malleable codes and seedless non-malleable extractors discovered by Cheraghchi and Guruswami. Therefore, we also give the first efficient constructions of seedless non-malleable extractors against tampering functions, t-local tampering functions for t=o(√n), and affine tampering functions. To derive our results on non-malleable codes, we design efficient algorithms to almost uniformly sample from the pre-image of any given output of our non-malleable extractor.


The idea of a Future Internet platform is to deliver reusable and common functionalities to facilitate making wide ranges of software products and services. The Future Internet platform, introduced by the Future Internet Public Private Partnership (FI-PPP) project, makes the common functionalities available through so-called Enablers to be instantly integrated into software products and services with less cost and complexity rather than a development from scratch.Quality assessment of software products and services and gaining insights into whether the quality fulfills users' expectations within the platform are challenging. The challenges are due to the propagation of quality in the heterogeneous composite software that uses Enablers and infrastructure developed by third parties. The practical problem is how to assess the quality of such composite software as well as the impacts of the quality on users' Quality of Experience (QoE).The research objective is to study an analytics-driven Quality-Impact approach identifying how software quality analytics together with their impact on QoE of users can be used for the assessment of software products and services in a Future Internet platform.The research was conducted with one systematic mapping study, two solution proposals, and one empirical study. The systematic mapping study is contributed to produce a map overviewing important analytics for managing a software ecosystem. The thesis also proposes a solution to introduce a holistic software-human analytics approach in a Future Internet platform. As the core of the solution, it proposes a Quality-Impact inquiry approach exemplified with a real practice. In the early validation of the proposals, a mixed qualitative-quantitative empirical research is conducted with the aim of designing a tool for the inquiry of user feedback. This research studies the effect of the instrumented feedback tool on QoE of a software product.The findings of the licentiate thesis show that satisfaction, performance, and freedom from risks analytics are important groups of analytics for assessing software products and services. The proposed holistic solution takes up the results by describing how to measure the analytics and how to assess them practically using a composition model during the lifecycle of products and services in a Future Internet platform. As the core of the holistic approach, the Quality-Impact assessment approach could elicit relationships between software quality and impacts of the quality on stakeholders. Moreover, the early validation of the Quality-Impact approach parameterized suitable characteristics of a feedback tool. We found that disturbing feedback tools have negligible impacts on the perceived QoE of software products.The Quality-Impact approach is helpful to acquire insight into the success of software products and services contributing to the health and sustainability of the platform. This approach was adopted as a part of the validation of FI-PPP project. Future works will address the validation of the Quality-Impact approach in the FI-PPP or other real practices.


Optimal motion planning is critical for the successful operation of an autonomous mobile robot. Many proposed approaches use either fuzzy logic or genetic algorithms (GAs), however, most approaches offer only path planning or only trajectory planning, but not both. In addition, few approaches attempt to address the impact of varying terrain conditions on the optimal path. This paper presents a fuzzy-genetic approach that provides both path and trajectory planning, and has the advantage of considering diverse terrain conditions when determining the optimal path. The terrain conditions are modeled using fuzzy linguistic variables to allow for the imprecision and uncertainty of the terrain data. Although a number of methods have been proposed using GAs, few are appropriate for a dynamic environment or provide response in real-time. The method proposed in this paper is robust, allowing the robot to adapt to dynamic conditions in the environment


Objectives Enhancing care coordination and reducing hospital readmissions have been a focus of multiple quality improvement (QI) initiatives. Project BOOST (Better Outcomes by Optimizing Safe Transitions) aims to enhance the discharge transition from hospital to home. Previous research indicates that QI initiatives originating externally often face difficulties gaining momentum or effecting lasting change in a hospital. We performed a qualitative evaluation of Project BOOST implementation by examining the successes and failures experienced by six pilot sites. We also evaluated the unique physician mentoring component of this program. Finally, we examined the impact of intensification of the physician mentoring model on adoption of BOOST interventions in two later Illinois cohorts (27 hospitals). Methods Qualitative analysis of six pilot hospitals used a process of methodological triangulation and analysis of the BOOST enrollment applications, the listserv, and content from telephone interviews. Evaluation of BOOST implementation at Illinois hospitals occurred via mid-year and year-end surveys. Results The identified common barriers included inadequate understanding of the current discharge process, insufficient administrative support, lack of protected time or dedicated resources, and lack of frontline staff buy-in. Facilitators of implementation included the mentor, a small beginning, teamwork, and proactive engagement of the patient. Notably, hospitals viewed their mentors as essential facilitators of change. Sites consistently commented that the individualized mentoring was extremely helpful and provided significant accountability and stimulated creativity. In the Illinois cohorts, the improved mentoring model showed more complete implementation of BOOST interventions. Conclusions The implementation of Project BOOST was well received by hospitals, although sites faced substantial barriers consistent with other QI research reports. The unique mentorship element of Project BOOST proved extremely valuable in helping sites overcome their distinctive challenges and identify facilitators for success. The findings from this qualitative study should contribute to future BOOST implementation success and others' efforts to optimize hospital discharge transitions.


[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] More than 12 years ago, Bob Sexton started changing the way technology was taught at Seymour High School. With the change came complaints and concerns from parents who said their children should be learning woodworking, not manufacturing. Through hard work and determination, Sexton proved the need for a new way of teaching technology education. He recently was presented with the 2007 Distinguished Teacher of the Year award from the Greater Seymour Chamber of Commerce for his work at the school. Several years ago, John Bottorff, then director of the chamber, took Sexton on a two-week tour through many of Jackson County's industries. "I had a grant proposal that I was working on and he took two weeks to run me through different companies; it was the beginning of the industry and the school partnership," Sexton said during the recent annual chamber awards program. "The partnership is still growing, thanks to Jackie Hill and Jackson County Industrial Development Corp." Today, Sexton's manufacturing lab is being used as an example for other communities that want to develop their own labs as part of the Economic Opportunities 2015, or EcO15 project. EcO15 is a regional project that covers southeast Indiana and focuses on advanced manufacturing, health care services, and hospitality and tourism. Recently, community foundation officials from around southeast Indiana toured the lab to get ideas to take back to their own schools. Sexton said the southeast region of Indiana will see the results of the $38 million grant from the Lilly Endowment fund that he was a part of this year. "The grant has allowed me to show off to the entire state our facilities at Seymour High School," Sexton said during his award acceptance speech. "Thankfully, years ago we had the foresight to do something and to follow a thought that I truly believe in," Sexton added. "That is what we need to teach, this generation's future, not my past. The 'Dream It. Do It.' campaign has allowed me to do that." The Indiana Region 9 Workforce Board, in partnership with educators, businesses, government, and economic development officials, launched "Dream It. Do It." The program's goal is to make this region of the Hoosier state the best place in the world for manufacturing and a major player in the global economy. Sexton's lab has not only brought people in from surrounding communities, he also has been busy giving tours to people from as far away as Texas and Canada. This year, Sexton has changed his teaching methods to add online learning. "Man, that's a whole different ball game for me," Sexton said. "It pushes me a little further; it pushes me further than my students at times." Sexton said the school has also added the Manufacturing Skill Standards class, which is a night class for adults. He hopes to incorporate it into the curriculum for high school students in the fall. "I want to be teaching the next generation's future, not my past," Sexton repeated, and that is exactly what he's done. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sexton has success stories of many of his former students, and one student told Sexton shortly after getting a job that he was being considered for promotion. "The student was ahead of the game because he had knowledge of one of the software programs the company used that he had learned in high school," Sexton said. During the tour with community foundation leaders, Sexton talked about a student he had who was into robotics. "He used every excuse to be able to use the robot," Sexton said. "He would rush to get done with whatever station he was assigned to, so he would have time to use the robot. He would come in on his own free time to use the robot." After high school, the student went on to college, where he won awards in robotics, and he later went to work for Sony. Community Benefits Superintendent Robert Schmielau said the program and its hands-on approach offers advantages to students and community and could help battle the so-called brain drain of graduates completing their educations and living and working elsewhere. …


We report on a search for Λb0→pπ- and Λb0→pK- (and charge conjugate) decays in pp collisions at s=1.96TeV using 193pb-1 of data collected by the CDF II experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Data were collected using a track trigger that has been optimized to select tracks belonging to a secondary vertex that is typical of two-body charmless decays of b-flavored hadrons, including Λb0 baryons. As no Λb0 signal was observed, we set the upper limits on the branching fraction B(Λb0→ph-), where h is K or π, of 2.3×10-5 at 90% C.L. and 2.9×10-5 at 95% C.L. © 2005 The American Physical Society.


Throughout Chinese history, mountains have been integral components of the religious landscape. They have been considered divine or numinous sites, the abodes of deities, the preferred locations for temples and monasteries, and destinations for pilgrims. Early in Chinese history a set of five mountains were co-opted into the imperial cult and declared sacred peaks, yue, demarcating and protecting the boundaries of the Chinese imperium. The Southern Sacred Peak, or Nanyue, is of interest to scholars not the least because the title has been awarded to several different mountains over the years. The dynamic nature of Nanyue raises a significant theoretical issue of the mobility of sacred space and the nature of the struggles involved in such moves. Another facet of Nanyue is the multiple meanings assigned to this place: political, religious, and cultural. Of particular interest is the negotiation of this space by Daoists and Buddhists. The history of their interaction leads to questions about the nature of the divisions between these two religious traditions. James Robson's analysis of these topics demonstrates the value of local studies and the emerging field of Buddho-Daoist studies in research on Chinese religion.


This paper introduces the Multicellular Signalling (MULTISIG1) model in which DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair initiation requires intercellular stress-response signalling from a threshold number of cells with DSBs, which occurs at the threshold radiation absorbed dose, T. The model applies to low radiation doses and employs an exponential distribution of times to DNA DSB repair completion with mean β. The MULTISIG1 model is found to be consistent with published data for γ-H2AX foci removal (reflecting DSB repair kinetics) after exposing cultures of confluent (non-dividing) human-derived lung fibroblast (MRC-5 line) to low-dose, 90-kV machine X-rays. T is estimated to be slightly greater than 1.2 mGy, a dose associated with, on average, about 1 electron track (form ionisations) per cell nucleus. β is estimated to be about 2.5 h and the corresponding rate of break repairs (μ) is estimated to be about 0.4 break repairs/h on different DNA molecules.


Appreciative Inquiry is a vehicle for achieving lasting positive social change within an organization. By tracking the progress of a single organization over a four-year period, this research demonstrates that Appreciative Inquiry can be used to build a strengths-based culture that encourages and fosters learning, risktaking and growth at the individual, team and organizational levels. During the observation period, the four-phase Appreciative Cycle was repeatedly applied, reinforcing positive emotional associations and forming the basis for a common language which became a tool for enhancing communication, increasing buy-in, improving relationships, and cultivating greater accountability, collaboration and shared leadership, all of which have led to overall enhanced productivity and a willingness to take on deeper and broader levels of change.


Plaintiffs must satisfy certain standing requirements before they may bring a civil action in federal court. Typically a plaintiff must have been injured in particular way, the injury was caused by the defendant's conduct, and it is capable of being redressed by the relief granted by the court. This article, a contribution to a symposium on Access to the Courts in the Roberts Era, revisits these requirements in light of (1) several cases decided in the early years of the Roberts Court, (2) the new members of the Court, and (3) the considerable and continuing scholarly debate over the role of Congress in statutorily providing for Congress. Part II of the article briefly sets out the standing requirements. Part III addresses the views on standing of the most recent additions to the Court, Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito, before they joined the Court. Part IV addresses, in three sections, the standing decisions of the initial Terms of the Roberts Court. The first section of that part discusses and dismisses the utility of a purely originalist approach to determining standing. The second section discusses recent cases which have addressed the limitations separation of powers concerns place on standing sought by taxpayers, or by states as plaintiffs. The third section considers from various perspectives the role of Congress in providing for standing by statute, and the appropriate response of federal courts in applying those statutes. The article concludes in Part V by addressing the likely future of standing in the Roberts Court and in the Obama Presidency.


This paper presents an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) dedicated to neural recording systems. By using two continuous-time incremental sigma-delta ADCs in a pipeline configuration, the proposed ADC can achieve high-resolution without sacrificing the conversion rate. This two-step architecture is also power-efficient, as the resolution requirement for the incremental sigma-delta ADC in each step is significantly relaxed. To further enhance the power efficiency, a class-AB output stage and a dynamic summing comparator are used to implement the sigma-delta modulators. A prototype chip, designed and fabricated in a standard 0.18 μm CMOS process, validates the proposed ADC architecture. Measurement results show that the ADC achieves a peak signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio of 75.9 dB over a 4 kHz bandwidth; the power consumption is 34.8 μW, which corresponds to a figure-of-merit of 0.85 pJ/conv.


College spring break has become a popular event that lasts for a week or two each year in March. The partying and drinking that occur on the beaches of popular North American vacation destinations may seem unrelated to the prostitution found in Amsterdam's red light district. What, if anything, do travelers to these two different destinations have in common? Recent scholarship has argued that it is necessary to expand the definition of 'sex tourism.' Scholars have also researched college students' behaviors during spring break trips. These studies show that students engage in drinking and sexual behaviors that pose threats to their health. However, there is a lack of scholarship that associates spring break with sex tourism. This project reviews literature on each topic. Then, it examines spring break in the media by reviewing MTV's portrayal of the yearly event in the show Spring Break. Finally, the project analyzes a survey conducted in October 2011 that asked college students about their actual spring break experiences. By expanding the definition of sex tourism and considering students' spring break experiences, the project argues that although students may not consider themselves sex tourists, spring break is a type of sex tourism.


Epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, play an important role in regulation of stem cell fate and tumorigenesis. The Ten-Eleven-Translocation 2 (TET2) is a core enzyme for DNA demethylation by catalyzing the conversion of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydromethylcytosine (5hmC). It has been shown that TET2 is the main regulator of hematopoietic stem cell homeostasis and loss of TET2 is highly associated with hematopoietic malignancies. Our previous work has also shown that loss of TET2 expression is linked to promotion of an epithelial-mesenchymaltransition phenotype and expansion of a breast cancer stem cell-like population with skewed asymmetric cell division in vitro (1); however, the in vivo role that TET2 plays in regulation of mammary stem cell (MaSC) fate and development of mammary pathology has yet to be determined. Here, using our newly established mammary-specific Tet2-knockout mouse model, the data reveals for the first time that TET2 plays a pivotal role in mammary gland development via directing MaSC to luminal lineage commitment in vivo. Furthermore, we find that TET2 coordinates with FOXP1 to target and demethylate FOXA1, GATA3, and ESR1, key transcription factors that orchestrate mammary luminal lineage specification and endocrine response and are often silenced by DNA methylation in aggressive human breast cancers. Finally, loss of TET2 expression leads to promotion of mammary tumor development with defective luminal cell differentiation and tamoxifen resistance in a PyMT;Tet2 deletion breast cancer mouse model. As a result, this study provides a previously unidentified role for TET2 in governing luminal lineage specification and endocrine response that underlies resistance to anti-estrogen treatments.


With the increase in the number of non traditional academic programs, debate has raged over the quality of these programs as compared to the traditional format. In order to address this concern, Cardinal Stritch University (CSU) conducted a two-year assessment research project comparing the academic achievement of students in similar traditional and nontraditional adult education undergraduate programs in business. The main goal of the research project was to compare and contrast the academic achievement through pre- and post-assessment by using the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Major Field Achievement Test (MFAT) in business. Nature of the Problem Over the past decade the number of nontraditional, adult education programs has increased dramatically in higher education. With this influx of new programs has come a barrage of criticism and questions regarding the academic quality of such programs. Moreover, accreditation organizations are emphasizing assessment as a major component for re-accreditation. This assessment evidence must demonstrate that significant and favorable learning has occurred between the student's enrollment, graduation, and beyond. One of the major concerns of the University is to provide assessment evidence that satisfies the guidelines set by accrediting agencies. Assessment is also good for the University and helps with continuous improvement. The assessment documentation needs to include undergraduate traditional and nontraditional students' outcomes information (for example test scores). The "nontraditional student" is a student that attends CSU's College of Business and Management (CBM) accelerated program developed for the working adult student. The delivery system is accelerated; courses are between five to ten weeks in length. The program is designed around the cohort model. Between fourteen to twenty-two students makeup a cohort group. Students attend class as a group one night a week for four hours, taking one course at a time and follow a preset program schedule. The curriculum and instruction are designed specifically for the adult learner. The "traditional student" is a student attending in the traditional fourteen-week format, meeting three to five times per week for fifty to ninety minutes each class. These students attend class independently; not as a cohort group. Previous Research Studies Scott and Conrad (1991, pp. 6-66) examined previous research which compared traditional and intensive course formats. Their study ranged from nontraditional courses developed during World War II to the present. Based on the research they reviewed, no significant differences in student learning over time were found to support one type of learning format better than another learning format. Consequently, Scott-Conrad concluded that, "based on the evidence, intensive courses seem to be effective alternatives to traditional-length classes regardless of format, degree of intensity, discipline or field of study--although the research seems to suggest that certain fields of study may benefit more than others" (p. 67). Lord (1997) compared constructivist teaching to traditional teaching in a year-long study. Lord explains that constructivist educators believe that learners assess new knowledge by associating it with prior experiences, student-centered group activities, and the presentation of only necessary content in a lesson. His study compared two populations of General Biology students taught by the same instructor by two different teaching methods. The same unit exams were given to each group. The constructivist group scored significantly higher on each of the unit exams than their traditional counterparts. In conclusion, Lord justified the results by stating that the constructivist group was able to discuss and formulate their own understandings which helped them integrate and actually apply the knowledge as compared to the traditional learning experience which is strictly memorization of content (pp. …


Any system of classification or individuation of objects, any set of categories for describing the world, indeed, any system of representation at all is conventional, and to that extent arbitrary. (p. 160) Searle, J. R. (1995). The construction of social reality. New York: The Free Press. Voir aussi Danziger (1990), Feyerabend (1979), Popper (2006).


Encoding a large-scale network into a low-dimensional space is a fundamental step for various network analytic problems, such as node classification, link prediction, community detection, etc. Existing methods focus on learning the network representation from either the static graphs or time-aggregated graphs (e.g., time-evolving graphs). However, many real systems are not static or time-aggregated as the nodes and edges are timestamped and dynamically changing over time. For examples, in anti-money laundering analysis, cycles formed with time-ordered transactions might be red flags in online transaction networks; in novelty detection, a star-shaped structure appearing in a short burst might be an underlying hot topic in social networks. Existing embedding models might not be able to well preserve such fine-grained network dynamics due to the incapability of dealing with continuous-time and the negligence of fine-grained interactions. To bridge this gap, in this paper, we propose a fine-grained temporal network embedding framework named FiGTNE, which aims to learn a comprehensive network representation that preserves the rich and complex network context in the temporal network. In particular, we start from the notion of fine-grained temporal networks, where the temporal network can be represented as a series of timestamped nodes and edges. Then, we propose the time-reinforced random walk (TRRW) with a bi-level context sampling strategy to explore the essential structures and temporal contexts in temporal networks. Extensive experimental results on real graphs demonstrate the efficacy of our FiGTNE framework.


Abstract Porphyroblastic garnet-bearing metagabbros from the base of the lower crust section of the Serre (southern Italy) exhibit multi-stage dehydration and decompression after the Panafrican emplacement of their protoliths. The first dehydration event produced Am–Opx–Cpx–Pl–Grt as the peak assemblage. Two decompression stages are documented by: (1) coronas of Opx–Pl and Opx–Am, and symplectites of Opx–Am–Pl around clinopyroxene within the porphyroblastic garnet as well as in the matrix and (2) symplectites of Pl–Am–Opx–Grt having different textures around the porphyroblastic garnet. During the second decompression stage, a new local, somewhat intense, dehydration occurred and produced rims of Opx+Pl around the porphyroblastic amphibole, or lenses of Pl–Opx–Am–Spl±Bt between layers of dominant amphibole. A deformation stage separates older from younger reaction textures. The porphyroblastic garnet, its inclusions and the matrix are affected by fractures, which have been overgrown by coronas and symplectites around the porphyroblastic garnet and the amphibole of the matrix. Preferred P–T estimates are: ∼900 °C and ∼1.1 GPa at the metamorphic peak; ∼850 °C and 0.8–0.9 GPa during the formation of corona around clinopyroxene; 750–650 °C and 0.7–0.8 GPa during the formation of corona around garnet. All these textures formed under granulite-facies conditions. The subsequent metamorphic evolution consists of rehydration under amphibolite-facies conditions. The P–T–t path agrees with the path shown by the uppermost migmatites of the Serre section, and the P–T estimates at the top and the bottom of the section are consistent with the thickness (7–8 km) of the lower crustal segment. A contractional regime, which caused a crustal thickening of about 35 km, was followed by an extensional one producing significant crustal thinning; the change of tectonic regime probably occurred about 300 Ma ago when the emplacement of voluminous granitoids and the initial stages of exhumation of the lower crustal section had taken place.


Diffusion theory is widely used to describe photon migration in turbid media because it is simple and, in certain cases, can be accurate to within a few percent. However, it neglects the ballistic nature of photon propagation between successive scattering events and hence entirely breaks down for short times and distances, as well as for strong absorption. Here we generalize on the exact two-stream theory of one-dimensional photon migration to obtain a telegrapher equation that accounts for both diffusive and ballistic aspects of propagation in three-dimensional media. At long times and distances the standard diffusion theory is recovered, whereas at short times and distances we find improved predictions for such phenomena as pulse spreading, diffuse photon-density wave dispersion, transmission through a slab, and pulse reflection from a semi-infinite medium. Our theory should be useful for accurately characterizing turbid media, such as biological tissues, and may also aid in improving the spatial resolution of images made with diffuse light.


Human Resource Management (HRM) is a contested academic discipline and professional space, in which mid‐career entry is not uncommon, and where study and professional membership are often key to career advancement. Subsequently, engagement with study while working full‐time occurs frequently, commonly at postgraduate level. However, understanding of the student‐practitioner experience is limited due to recognised gaps around research of part‐time, taught postgraduate and mature student experience. This is an odd omission given that it represents a potential growth area following recent funding changes. This study explores these experiences in the context of constellations and landscapes of practice, focussing on issues of social identity theory and academic literacies within them.

Utilising Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore reflective accounts of the lived experiences of five practitioner‐students in one Higher Education (H.E.) Institution, the study used an innovative focus group approach, combined with semi‐structured interviews. Analysis was conducted through the development of case vignettes alongside thematic analysis supported through NVivo.

For all participants studying occurred during career transition, with studying for additional qualifications intended to validate this transfer. However, in the wider personal context of career and family, study had significant impacts, with complex negotiations involved around obligations to family and employers. Participants legitimised their membership of HRM communities though their wider practice experience. Practice experience was also used to delineate between other members of both their academic and practice communities, with individuals who demonstrated experience given preference. Participants' experience of education was characterised by comparisons between academic and practice communities, and negotiation of the boundaries between them was constant. Strength of practitioner identity affected alignment and approaches to studying. Engagement with discourse was also heavily influenced by dominant practitioner discourse patterns.

This study offers insight into particular experiences of H.E. which may align to other niche student cohorts, and contributes to closing the gap around knowledge of part‐time, postgraduate and mature student experiences. It further adds to knowledge of communities of practice, constellations and landscapes and maps an example. It provides insight into how such students negotiate academic discourse engagement, and the impact balancing study with employment has on approaches to learning. Lastly, it applies this understanding to the support of practitioner‐students learning across academic‐practice boundaries, making recommendations to those facilitating these experiences.


This thesis examines associations between positive psychological capital (PsyCap), work engagement, and performance among teachers in Pakistan. A sequential mixed methods design was applied that involved two studies. The first involved a cross-sectional survey of Pakistani teachers (N = 675) that sought to quantitatively establish the nature and strength of relations between PsyCap, work engagement, and job performance. The second was a qualitative study that involved six focus groups with the intention of discursively examining the mechanisms linking PsyCap, work engagement, and job performance. In both studies, teachers were divided into three strata: School, college, and university. A number of significant findings were identified. Overall, the findings from the quantitative study showed that PsyCap and work engagement were additively linked to job performance. PsyCap accounted for relatively large portions of variance in performance compared to work engagement. The results from the qualitative study confirmed and extended the findings of Study 1. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the focus group transcripts. Seven main themes were identified along with a further set of sub-themes. The key themes that emerged were teachers' role in students' lives, teachers' understanding of their job performance. PsyCap and its mechanism, significance of work engagement, PsyCap and work engagement, and demographic and religious factors. The findings shed light on the mechanisms underpinning the positive relationship between PsyCap, work engagement, and performance among teachers, highlighting the role of religious factors within these relationships. The overall results of the current investigation highlight the nature and strength of relationships between PsyCap and performance, and work engagement and performance, and reinforce the value of utilising PsyCap and work engagement in organisational research to enhance performance. Future research should involve other occupational groups to explore the broader application of this framework.


The problem of the tsunami wave generation by the submarine landslide, which is moving along the bottom slope, is studied. A number of numerical experiments were carried out for a model submarine landslide. A maximum amplitude and the wavelength were defined for various landslide profiles and their moving rates. As expected, the highest waves are generated when the velocity of the submarine mudslide is equal to the long wave propagation velocity. The landslides, which are moving slower and faster than the resonant one, generate waves with a lower amplitude and a bigger wavelength. The generated waves have a fairly expressed directivity of radiation.


Cholangiocarcinoma has a worldwide distribution which accounts for about 10-15% of all cases of primary hepatobiliary malignancy. Although, in the majority of cases, no aetiological factor can be identified, a number of risk factors have been shown to be important in the development of cholangiocarcinoma; most of these factors share long standing inflammation and chronic injury of the biliary epithelium. Primary sclerosing cholangitis is an uncommon disease, characterized by stricturing, fibrosis and inflammation of the biliary tree which is closely associated with chronic inflammatory bowel disease, particularly ulcerative colitis. It is commonly associated with cholangiocarcinoma and between 10-20% of patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis will go on to develop a cholangiocarcinoma. The rare congenital fibropolycystic diseases of the biliary system are associated with increased risks of cholangiocarcinoma, particularly choledochal cysts and Caroli's disease. Choledochal cysts are associated with a 10% overall incidence of cholangiocarcinoma: there is a 1% cumulative risk which plateaus after 15-20 years. However, the risk is diminished in children who present under the age of 10 years where the over all risk is 0.7%. This compares with the 14% over all risk of patients presenting over the age of 20 years. In the Far East, other forms of chronic inflammation associated with cholangiocarcinoma include infestation with liver flukes. Clonorchis sinensis and Opisthorchis viverinni. Cholangiocarcinoma is also rarely seen in association with cirrhosis and has been weakly linked to hepatitis C infection.


Fuzzing is a software testing technique that quickly and automatically explores the input space of a program without knowing its internals. Therefore, developers commonly use fuzzing as part of test integration throughout the software development process. Unfortunately, it also means that such a blackbox and the automatic natures of fuzzing are appealing to adversaries who are looking for zero-day vulnerabilities. To solve this problem, we propose a new mitigation approach, called FUZZIFICATION, that helps developers protect the released, binary-only software from attackers who are capable of applying state-of-the-art fuzzing techniques. Given a performance budget, this approach aims to hinder the fuzzing process from adversaries as much as possible. We propose three FUZZIFICATION techniques: 1) SpeedBump, which amplifies the slowdown in normal executions by hundreds of times to the fuzzed execution, 2) BranchTrap, interfering with feedback logic by hiding paths and polluting coverage maps, and 3) AntiHybrid, hindering taint-analysis and symbolic execution. Each technique is designed with best-effort, defensive measures that attempt to hinder adversaries from bypassing FUZZIFICATION. Our evaluation on popular fuzzers and real-world applications shows that FUZZIFICATION effectively reduces the number of discovered paths by 70.3% and decreases the number of identified crashes by 93.0% from real-world binaries, and decreases the number of detected bugs by 67.5% from LAVA-M dataset while under user-specified overheads for common workloads. We discuss the robustness of FUZZIFICATION techniques against adversarial analysis techniques. We opensource our FUZZIFICATION system to foster future research.


A unique and innovative model of primary healthcare (PHC) delivery began at the Sudbury District Nurse Practitioner Clinics (SDNPC) in 2007. Significant growth and development has taken place since the opening of this new model of PHC delivery. Now that SDNPC is operating at full capacity, an evaluation was warranted of patient experiences with clinic services and the level of overall patient satisfaction. A survey of clinic patients was conducted in the spring of 2011. Results demonstrated high satisfaction with clinic services. Some areas were identified for review, including the level of accessibility to same-day appointments and rationale for patient use of walk-in clinics and emergency department care. One of the strengths and benefits of this model of NP care was demonstrated in this evaluation, whereby a majority of patients identified that they had received counselling about a lifestyle issue and, of those patients, most reported a resulting positive health-related behavioural change. Ongoing comprehensive evaluation is important to ensure that services are efficient and directed to optimal patient health outcomes.


The article presents regional differences in the impact that the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) exerts on the flow of European rivers. The impact is determined by temporal variations in the strength of relations expressed by coefficients of correlation between monthly or seasonal NAO indices and discharges recorded at 510 river profiles. The results of the correlation analysis were arranged using Ward's method of hierarchical grouping. The classification of river profiles thus obtained made it possible to distinguish seven regions differing in the nature of the dependence between streamflow and the intensity of the NAO. The most statistically significant positive correlations are displayed by the rivers of Fennoscandia, Denmark and the northwest part of the British Isles in the winter period, while the most significant negative correlations (also in winter) are recorded for streams of the Mediterranean Basin, western France and the southeast of England. In the southeast part of the Baltic Sea drainage basin, significant positive correlations of streamflow with the NAO indices can be observed in the winter season and negative correlations are observed in spring.


A radioimmunoassay system showed elastase levels of 128 to 232 ng/mL in normal rat serum. The average normal value was approximately 64-fold greater than the minimal detectable amount. No cross-immunoreactivity was found with human elastase 1, porcine elastase, and trypsin. The elastase and amylase levels in rat serum were measured during pancreatitis induced by trypsin (group 1) and normal saline solution (group 2). Within 15 minutes the serum elastase and amylase levels increased significantly and remained elevated. The serum elastase levels in group 1 were significantly higher than in group 2. Hemorrhagic pancreatitis was found in group 1 and edematous pancreatitis was found in group 2 five hours after induction of pancreatitis. Elastase levels in these tissues were significantly lower than those in normal tissue. The levels in ascitic fluid were higher than those found in serum.


Background and objectives: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is one of the pathogenic bacteria originated from water and is released through water. This study was conducted with the aim of isolating Stenotrophomonas maltophilia from water and water tap in the environment and investigating the existence of rpfF gene and its relation with biofilm formation, motility and the extracellular enzymes of bacteria.
Methods: This cross sectional descriptive study was done on 150 samples of water and 100 samples of water tap in the environment. First, samples were identified through cultivation and molecular method. Existence of rpfF gene of isolates was investigated by PCR method. Formation of biofilm by microplate method and staining crystal violet was investigated. Swimming, swarming and twitching motilities of bacteria and also production of extracellular enzymes of isolates were investigated. In order to find out the relationship between rpfF gene and biofilm formation, motility and production of Extracellular enzymes, Pearson's statistical analysis was used.
Results: The rate of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolation was 1.2%. 100% of isolates included rpfF gene. 100% of isolates of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia were able to move and form biofilm. Enzymes such as gelatinase, lecithinase and protease were included in 100% of isolates and hyaluronidase, lipase and hemolysin of them are included in 66.66% of isolates.
Conclusions: The results of this study suggested the existence of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia bacterium in water and water tap. Also, there was a significant relationship between the existence of rpfF gene and biofilm formation and extracellular enzymes and positive relationship with motility of bacteria.


Abstract Breeding seabirds, often nest at high densities and supply large amounts of marine-derived nutrients, such as nitrogen, in their feces into the ecosystems surrounding their breeding colonies. It has been well demonstrated that the nitrogen supplied by seabirds (seabird-N) into terrestrial ecosystems has a strong bottom-up effect on both producers and consumers. The seabird-N can reach into the surrounding marine ecosystems near the colony through multiple pathways including the surface run-off of rainwater or leaching by ground water. However, in marine ecosystems the bottom-up effects of seabird-N have been rarely documented. A few studies using stable isotope analyses have reported that seabird-N enhances the productivity of both phytoplankton and macro algae. There have been more limited studies documenting similar positive effects of seabird-N on marine consumers. Very little is known about spatio-temporal variations in the effects of the seabird-N on marine ecosystems. To understand the ecosystem functions of seabirds in marine nutrient cycling and the bottom-up effects of seabird-N in marine ecosystems, further research is necessary.


Background Cutaneous mastocytosis (CM) is a disease characterised by abnormal proliferation of mast cells in the skin causing pruritic rashes over the body, mainly in infants and small children. The authors report an infant with non-pigmented plaque forming CM, who was treated for 18 months as atopic dermatitis, which it mimicked until a biopsy was done. Case Report This 9 months old Caucasian male infant had a persistent, intensely pruritic rash from the age of 6 weeks. He was also "developing white lumps wherever touched", as well as intermittent blisters. There was strong family history of atopy. Differential diagnosis of cow's milk intolerance was considered and the feed was changed to soya milk, and later to Neocate, with no improvement. Milk-free weaning was also discussed. Child developed diarrhoea while on Neocate. Examination revealed a thriving infant with extensive erythematous plaquey lesions over the trunk and extremities that urticated on touch (figure 1). Darier's sign (weal and surrounding erythema developing after stroking the affected skin) was demonstrated (figure 2). Investigation showed low levels of neutrophils, low IgG and normal inflammatory markers and functional antibodies. Radioallergosorbent test to milk and egg was negative. A skin biopsy later confirmed CM. Discussion CM is a condition with mast cell proliferation and accumulation in the skin. Urticaria pigmentosa is the most common variety in children, followed by solitary mastocytoma. However, non-pigmented plaque forming lesions can occur in infancy and are often missed. Stem cell factor, a cytokine produced by many tissues, plays a key role in stimulating CD34 cells expressing KIT protein to transform to mastocytes (figure 3). Systemic symptoms including headache, flushing, dizziness, syncope, diarrhoea, etc, can occur following mast cell degranulation by exposure to heat, cold, sunlight, friction or certain medications. Abstract G42 Figure 3 Mast cell differentiation. SCF-mast cell growth factor, KIT-SFC receptor. Conclusion Lack of awareness about this uncommon condition may lead to delayed diagnosis causing frustration in parents. Darier's sign (elicited by stroking the lesion causing urticarial weal within the lesions) is a simple clinical sign that helps to clinch the diagnosis, avoiding unnecessary investigation and inappropriate treatment.


For part 1 see ibid., Dec 1993, p53-61. Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics, first formulated in 1940. were primarily a literary device intended to support a series of stories about robot behavior. Over time, he found that the three Laws included enough apparent inconsistencies, ambiguity. and uncertainty to provide the conflicts required for a great many stories. In examining the ramifications of these laws. Asimov revealed problems that might later confront real roboticists and information technologists attempting to establish rules for the behavior of intelligent machines. As information technology evolves and machines begin to design and build other machines, the issue of human control gains greater significance. In time, human values tend to change; the rules reflecting these values, and embedded in existing robotic devices, may need to be modified. But if they are implicit rather than explicit, with their effects scattered widely across a system, they may not be easily replaceable. Asimov himself discovered many contradictions and eventually revised the Laws of Robotics. >


Over the last two decades, there has been considerable interest in the electron–atom scattering problem. Most of this work has concentrated on elastic scattering and excitation of the lowest energy states. However, due to recent technological advances, it is now becoming possible to examine experimentally the excitation of higher lying states. The important question then concerns whether these higher states contain new information. It has been argued that the scattering amplitudes for electron–helium excitation should scale with principal quantum and thus contain no new information. The purpose of this work is to examine the n-dependence for electron–hydrogen scattering. The converged-close-coupling and second-order distorted–wave methods have been used to calculate scattering amplitudes for excitation of the n = 2, 3 and 4 levels of the hydrogen atom. The n-dependence of the integrated cross sections, differential cross sections and angular correlation parameters will be discussed for energies from threshold to 500 eV.


The objective of this study was to report single season effects of wood biochar (char) application coupled with N fertilization on soil chemical properties, aerobic rice growth and grain yield in a clayey Rhodic Ferralsol in the Brazilian Savannah. Char application effected an increase in soil pH, K, Ca, Mg, CEC, Mn and nitrate while decreasing Al content and potential acidity of soils. No distinct effect of char application on grain yield of aerobic rice was observed. We believe that soil properties impacted by char application were inconsequential for rice yields because neither water, low pH, nor the availability of K or P were limiting factors for rice production. Rate of char above 16 Mgha −1 reduced leaf area index and total shoot dry matter by 72 days after sowing. The number of panicles infected by rice blast decreased with increasing char rate. Increased dry matter beyond the remobilization capacity of the crop, and high number of panicles infected by rice blast were the likely cause of the lower grain yield observed when more than 60kgNha −1 was applied. The optimal rate of N was 46kgha −1 and resulted in a rice grain yield above 3Mgha −1 .


Seed yield formation and biological nitrogen (N) fixation (BNF) were evaluated during the seed filling period (SFP) for historical soybean genotypes under contrasting N strategies. Overall, seed yield increased with the year of release, primarily associated with increments in the seed number component. The study showed that seed weight factor was maintained across decades regardless of the improvement in seed number. Nitrogen factor, evaluated as zero-N application via inorganic fertilizers versus high-N added, influenced seed yield via impacting seed weight factor. The latter plant trait improved with the high-N treatment, which was related to changes in the duration of the SFP rather than in the rate (seed biomass accumulation per day). The BNF parameter also reflected changes during the SFP related to the N treatment implemented, with high BNF (c.a. peak around 70-90%) under zero-N treatment, but still providing N via BNF at a lower rate (c.a. peak around 40-50%) for the high-N treatment. The latter demonstrated that the N fertilization reduced BNF by nearly 50% but did not completely inhibit this process. Thus, the zero-N plants counted on three sources of N to satisfy seed N demand: N-BNF, Nsoil, and N-fertilizer. Lastly, the high-N treatment also positively impacted yields (+7 bu/a), which could potentially demonstrate a nitrogen limitation toward the end of the SFP for soybeans. Further testing will be performed during the next growing season to provide an improved yield and BNF characterization under different growing seasons (weather).


Abstract In this paper, the term "equilibrium assemblage diagrams" refers to diagrams strictly based on assemblages predicted by Gibbs free energy minimization. The presented Theriak/Domino software uses a unique algorithm of scanning and bookkeeping, which allows to compute completely and automatically a great variety of diagrams: phase diagrams, pseudo-binary, pseudo-ternary, isopleths, modal amounts, molar properties of single phases or bulk-rock properties like total ΔG, volume of solids, etc. The speed and easiness of use makes thermodynamic modeling accessible to any student of Earth sciences and offers a powerful tool to check the consistency of thermodynamic databases, develop new solution models, plan experimental work, and to understand natural systems. The examples described in this paper demonstrate the capacity of the software, but also to show the usefulness and limitations of computed equilibrium assemblage diagrams. For most illustrations, a metapelite (TN205) from the eastern Lepontine Alps is used. The applications include the interpretation of complex diagrams, mineral reactions, the effect of Al content on the equilibrium assemblages, the interpretation of Si per formula unit in white mica, understanding some features of garnet growth, dehydration and isothermal compressibility, a broadening of the concept of AFM diagrams, combining equilibrium assemblage diagram information with thermobarometry, and comparing the results produced with different databases. Equilibrium assemblage diagrams do not always provide straightforward answers, but mostly stimulate further thought


The study reported in this paper applies Sinclair's (2004) descriptive model of lexical items, which consists of five categories of co-selection: two obligatory categories the core and semantic prosody, and three optional categories collocation, colligation and semantic preference. The study examines a selection of spoken discourse events collected in Hong Kong during and in the immediate aftermath of the SARS crisis in 2003. These discourse events form part of the Hong Kong Corpus of Spoken English (HKCSE). The findings show that once the overlapping patterns of co-selection of the most frequently occurring lexical words in the SARS corpus have been determined, it is possible to describe the cumulative effects of the habitual co-selection in the lexical items that contribute to textual meanings and coherence within and across the texts. It is argued that patterns of co-selection provide a fuller picture of textual and intertextual coherence than concentrating solely on lexical cohesion.


The acclaimed Ha-Joon Chang is a voice of sanity--and wit--in this lighthearted audiobook with a serious purpose: to question the assumptions behind the dogma and sheer hype that the dominant school of neoliberal economists have spun since the Age of Reagan. 23 Things They Don't Tell You about Capitalism uses twenty-three short essays (a few great examples: "There Is No Such Thing as a Free Market," "The Washing Machine Has Changed the World More than the Internet Has") to equip listeners with an understanding of how global capitalism works, and doesn't, while offering a vision of how we can shape capitalism to humane ends, instead of becoming slaves of the market. Praise for 23 Things They Don't Tell You about Capitalism"A lively, accessible and provocative book." --Sunday Times (UK) "Chang, befitting his position as an economics professor at Cambridge University, is engagingly thoughtful and opinionated at a much lower decibel level. 'The "truths" peddled by free-market ideologues are based on lazy assumptions and blinkered visions, ' he charges." --Time


This work addresses the problem of scheduling user-defined analytic applications, which we define as high-level compositions of frameworks, their components, and the logic necessary to carry out work. The key idea in our application definition, is to distinguish classes of components, including rigid and elastic types: the first being required for an application to make progress, the latter contributing to reduced execution times. We show that the problem of scheduling such applications poses new challenges, which existing approaches address inefficiently.
Thus, we present the design and evaluation of a novel, flexible heuristic to schedule analytic applications, that aim at high system responsiveness, by allocating resources efficiently, thanks to the flexibility of elastic components. Our algorithm is evaluated using a trace-driven simulation approach, with large-scale real system traces: our flexible scheduler outperforms a baseline approach across a variety of metrics, including application turnaround times, and resource allocation efficiency.
We also present the design and evaluation of a full-fledged system, which we called Zoe, that incorporates the ideas presented in this paper, and report concrete improvements in terms of efficiency and performance, with respect to prior generations of our system.


The vlei rat Otomys irroratus has a wide distribution in southern Africa with several datasets indicating the presence of two putative species (O. irroratus and O. auratus). In the present study we use mitochrondrial cyt b data (∼950 bp) from 98 specimens (including museum material) collected throughout the range of the species to determine the geographical limits of the two recognized species, and we link this to niche modelling to validate these species. Phylogenetic analysis of the DNA sequence data, using maximum parsimony, neighbour joining and Bayesian inference, retrieved two divergent statistically well-supported clades. Clade A occurs in the Western and Eastern Cape while Clade B occurs in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Mean sequence divergence between the two clades (A and B) was 7.0% and between sub-clades comprising clade B it was 4.8%; the two clades diverged during the Pleistocene. Within Clade A the mean sequence divergence among specimens was 1.91%. Niche modelling revealed that the incipient species occupy distinct bioclimatic niches associated with seasonality of precipitation. Our data allow insightful analysis into the factors that could have led to cladogenesis within this rodent. More significantly, the new data enable us to pinpoint the Eastern Cape province as a contact zone for the divergent species. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 104, 192–206.


The Low Energy Electromagnetic package of the Geant4 toolkit incorporates a component for the simulation of atomic relaxation of elements with atomic number between 6 and 100. This process is triggered by the creation of a vacancy in the atomic shell occupancy as a result of an incident particle interaction with an atom of the target material. X-ray fluorescence and Auger electron emission result from the relaxation cascade. The availability of a model handling the atomic relaxation in Geant4 extends the applicability of the simulation toolkit to experimental use cases concerning the investigation of material properties through their characteristic X-ray or Auger emission. It is also relevant to precise simulation applications, like microdosimetry or the design and optimization of detectors based on nanotechnology. The key features of the software development process, the software architecture and design, and the implementation details of the physics model are described.


The thermal issues of Chip-On-Film (COF) packages are becoming increasingly important for high-pin count chips, whose performance is becoming increasingly limited by the maximum power that can be spread without exceeding the maximum junction temperature. This study conducts a numerical investigation to investigate the relationship between power dissipation and the surface temperature of the thermal chip in COF applications. This study develops an ANSYS finite element (FE) model to simulate the junction temperature and temperature distribution within the COF package under various boundary conditions. Based on an effective methodology of equivalent models for thermal conductance, comparing the simulation results with the reference reviewing confirms the validity of the numerical model. Several parametric studies reveal the effects of various configurations of the thermal model. This study also analyzes the thermal resistance at the junction of the package. Results show that the natural convection of the COF package with thermally conductive tape (TCT) achieves a cooling function that keeps the junction temperature of the COF package under 85°C without using a fan. The FE models in this study have enormous potential to quickly assess the thermal limits of many future COF packages and their variations.


This paper is based on an on-going project for modernizing the basic education in mathematics for engineers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. One of the components in the project is using a computer-aided assessment system (MapleT.A.) for handling students' weekly hand-ins. Successful completion of a certain number of problem sets in Maple T.A. is required for being admitted to the final examination. This also gives partial credit towards the final grade. In this paper, I will look at possible influence Maple T.A. may have on the ways students engage with the mathematical problems.