Computed tomogram reconstruction theory is usually subdivided into two basic approaches: algebraic and analytic. Least-squares matrix formulation provides a simple connection between these approaches. At this conceptual level the dichotomy between the approaches reduces to choice of metric. The appropriate choice eliminates the matrix inversion implicit in the algebraic methods and makes the correspondence to convolution backprojection clear. Additionally, the matrix formulation, by incorporating the features of a discrete, finite, overdetermined system, is much closer to actual computational implementations than the analytic model. The analysis shows that non-linearities such as beam hardening can be partially corrected for by the convolution. Using the matrix formulation the authors explore the effects of two commonly used backprojection interpolation schemes on the point spread function and the resulting deviation from the continuous analytic model.


The asterinid sea star Patiriella vivipara is endemic to southeast Tasmania and has a highly restricted distribution, being only known from four locations. It has an unusual pattern of viviparous reproduction, giving birth to juveniles. In this study the birth rate, growth rate, size and age at commencement of reproduction of P vivipara was examined in aquaria for a period of six years. The population of P vivipara at Pittwater was also monitored through monthly examination of a permanent 1m2 quadrat in which the number of adults and juveniles were counted and recorded. These counts were made over an eight-year period. Patiriella vivipara gives birth to juveniles through the year with a period of enhanced reproduction from November to January. Records of water salinity and temperature were taken at Pittwater, as were air temperatures and exposure times during low tide.


The waters around Australia, the world's smallest continent, are home to the greatest diversity of sharks and rays on Earth. Fully 100 of these sea creatures (along with their little-known relatives, the chimaerids) have been named or described since the first edition of this book - the biggest revision of the Class Chondrichthyes since the time of Linneaus. This second edition of "Sharks and Rays of Australia" brings more than 300 of these species to life in newly commissioned, full-color illustrations. Here, in precisely painted detail, are the weird silvery ghost shark and the remarkably camouflaged ornate wobbegong; spurdogs and swell sharks; the primitive frilled shark and the blacktip, a fast swimmer capable of leaping out of the water like a dolphin. Peter Last and John Stevens review the major shake-ups in the elasmobranch family tree - sorting out, for instance, dogfishes and skates - and include updated family keys, the latest information about species ranges, and new distribution maps. Extensively revised species descriptions reflect additional fisheries and newly gleaned life history and biological information - all essential to conservation efforts as sharks die in commercial bycatches and end up on restaurant menus. An essential tool for conservation biologists trying to save threatened sharks, now under siege worldwide, this marvelous volume will also appeal to fish biologists, divers, naturalists, commercial and recreational fishermen, and anyone with an appreciation for these ancient evolutionary survivors.


All integer data types in programs (such as int, short, byte) have an underlying finite representation in hardware. This finiteness can result in subtle integer-overflow errors that are hard to reason about both for humans and analysis tools alike. As a first step towards finding such errors automatically, we will describe two modular arithmetic decision procedures for reasoning about bounded integers. We show how to deal with modular arithmetic operations and inequalities for both linear and non-linear problems. Both procedures are suitable for integration with Nelson-Oppen framework [1, 2, 3]. The linear solver is composed of Muller-Seidl algorithm [4] and an arbitrary integer solver for solving preprocessed congruences and inequalities. For the non-linear problems we use Newton's p-adic iteration algorithm to progressively reason about the satisfiability of the input constraints modulo 2, for increasing k. We use a SAT solver only for the base case when k = 1. According to our knowledge, this is the first Nelson-Oppen decision procedure capable of reasoning about multiplication over bounded integers without converting the entire problem to a SAT instance.


The first comprehensive history of Balinese politics from the middle of the 17th century till the end of Dutch colonial rule in 1942. Based on extensive research in colonial archives in the Netherlands and Indonesia, a variety of Balinese historical narratives, interviews with former colonial officials as well as many Balinese, and fieldwork data concerning temples, rituals, and oral histories.


While it is well established that elevated temperatures can induce surface roughening of metal surfaces, the effect of a high electric field on the atomic structure at ambient temperature has not been investigated in detail. Here we show with atomic resolution using in situ transmission electron microscopy how intense electric fields induce reversible switching between perfect crystalline and disordered phases of gold surfaces at room temperature. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations reveal that the mechanism behind the structural change can be attributed to a vanishing energy cost in forming surface defects in high electric fields. Our results demonstrate how surface processes can be directly controlled at the atomic scale by an externally applied electric field, which promotes an effective decoupling of the topmost surface layers from the underlying bulk. This opens up opportunities for development of active nanodevices in, e.g., nanophotonics and field-effect transistor technology as well as fundamental research in materials characterization and of yet unexplored dynamically controlled low-dimensional phases of matter.


BACKGROUND. Daily humans are exposed to various sources of estrogen-like compounds (xenoestrogens), such as food (naturally occurring, residues or contaminants), clothes and cosmetics. Non-governmental organisations give the impression that this causes adverse effects on human health and the environment. Indeed, scientists recognized estrogens and their metabolites as tumor promoters. On the other hand science, suggests protective effects of plant derived estrogens (phytoestrogens) against these tumors. In both adverse and beneficial effects the same cellular processes are involved, illustrating that this is a thought-provoking matter. AIM. What role do all these compounds have in the ultimate effect? The conclusions in this thesis may prove helpful in the discussion to answer this question. METHODS & RESULTS. Two processes within cells that may be affected by xenoestrogens involve: i) estrogen receptors and ii) the rate limiting enzyme converting androgens to estrogens (aromatase). Individual phytoestrogens (i.e. apigenin, coumestrol, genistein, naringenin) and synthetic estrogens (i.e. bisphenol A, hexachlorocyclohexane, methoxychlor, nonyl- and octylphenol, phthalates, parabens, polycyclic musks) are able to induce estrogen receptor mediated estrogenic responses (proliferation) in cultured breast cancer cells (MCF-7 cell proliferative assay, E-screen). Mixtures containing three to six phytochemicals or two to six synthetic estrogens interact with each other and with endogenous estrogens (estradiol, E2) in an additive way when calculated in the concentration addition model. Uterotrophy in prepubertal female rats is induced in response to phytochemical mixtures and synthetic estrogen mixtures following the concentration addition model (rat uterotrophic assay), confirming additive effects of estrogenic compounds in an in vivo model. Phytochemicals (apigenin, chrysin, prenylnarigenin, naringenin), parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl, isopropyl-, butyl-, benzylparaben) and three synthetic lactones (TM-7, TM-8, TM-9) inhibit activity of aromatase isolated from human placental tissue (tritium-water-release-assay). The potencies of prenylnaringenin, TM-7 and fadrozole to inhibit aromatase isolated from placental microsomes are similar to those to inhibit aromatase in fibroblasts isolated from healthy mammary tissue. In cultured MCF-7 cells combined with cells isolated from (healthy) mammary connective tissue (fibroblasts) (co-cultures), the phytoestrogens biochanin A, chrysin and naringenin are stronger estrogens than aromatase inhibitors. CONCLUSIONS. The body burden of estrogenic compounds is presented in estrogen equivalents (EEQs) by adding up the product of estrogen equivalency factors (EEFs) and internal concentrations of known xenoestrogens. The contribution to circulating estrogens due to todays exposure levels of xenoestrogens is negligible compared to endogenous produced estrogens or even use of contraceptives. These xenoestrogen levels are considerable lower than levels effective to disturb hormone production via inhibition of aromatase. Consuming certain food supplements or phytoestrogen-rich diets, however, should be approached with more careful, especially in young children and postmenopausal women.


The study examines the theory and practice of social marketing and aims to identify key criteria that are linked to the successful outcome of social marketing campaigns. The premise underpinning the thesis is that although theory and the definition of social marketing are still being discussed, the practice is expanding rapidly around the world, with many campaigns being launched in attempts to tackle a whole range of issues. There is therefore a need to understand the efficacy of the use of benchmarks and marketing strategies employed during campaigns and to consider how these are linked to success. In order to identify and evaluate success and the various relationships with these core variables, the study utilizes a mixed method analysis of a sample of global social marketing campaign case studies from both statutory and non-statutory organizations. The research was undertaken in two stages: stage one was a qualitative survey of twelve campaigns that identified key benchmarks and strategies; stage two was a quantitative survey of one hundred case campaigns which sought to statistically assess the importance of the benchmarks and strategies.

The study identified key benchmarks and strategies that could help to develop more efficient campaigns in a climate of time and budgetary constraints. The study provides one of the first frameworks for developing future campaigns and for assessing those already undertaken. However, only a small number of benchmarks were found to be significant and no specific strategies were found to be statistically significant with regard to success. The main limitation of the study was relatively small sample size and future research should attempt to evaluate a larger sample so that a more robust statistical analysis can be undertaken.

The original contribution to knowledge that this research has generated lies in the identification of a framework for social marketing campaign design. This research presents a significant step forward in understanding the essential components of successful social marketing campaigns and identifying benchmarks that are important for success.


Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease is a tick born spirochetal infection. Clinical signs of Lyme borreliosis are uncommon in horses, but when present they are often vague and nonspecific. In horses, Lyme borreliosis has been implicated in musculoskeletal, neurological, reproductive, and ocular disorders, including uveitis, but definitive diagnosis can be challenging as the causative agent is rarely isolated and serologic tests can be unreliable and do not confirm active disease. Here, we report two cases of equine uveitis associated with B. burgdorferi based on the identification of spirochetes within ocular fluids and confirmed with PCR testing. The two cases illustrate some of the challenges encountered in the recognition and diagnosis of equine Lyme borreliosis. Although only one of many possible causes of equine uveitis, Lyme disease should be considered a differential diagnosis, especially in endemic areas. Given the possibility for false negative results of serum tests during uveitis associated with B. burgdorferi and the failure of such tests to confirm active infection, a combination of cytologic assessment, antibody, and/or PCR testing of ocular fluids may be worthwhile if the clinical suspicion for Lyme uveitis is high.


Author(s): Hance, Dalton J.; Perry, Russell W.; Burau, Jon R.; Blake, Aaron; Stumpner, Paul; Wang, Xiaochung; Pope, Adam | Abstract: Because fish that enter the interior Delta have poorer survival than those emigrating via the Sacramento River, understanding the mechanisms that drive entrainment rates at side channel junctions is critically important for the management of imperiled juvenile salmon. Here, we implement a previously proposed process-based conceptual model to study entrainment rates based on three linked elements: the entrainment zone, critical streakline, and cross-sectional distribution of fish. The critical streakline is the location along a channel cross-section immediately upstream of a junction that forms the spatial divide between parcels of water that enter a side channel or remain in the main channel. The critical streakline therefore divides the main channel into entrainment zones within which fish would likely enter each channel. Combined with information about the cross-sectional distribution of fish upstream of a junction, this conceptual model provides a means to predict fish entrainment into each channel. To apply this conceptual model, we combined statistical models of the critical streakline, the cross-sectional distribution of acoustic tagged juvenile Chinook salmon, and their probability of entrainment into Georgiana Slough. We fit joint beta regression and logistic regression models to acoustic telemetry data gathered in 2011 and 2012 to estimate the cross-sectional distribution of fish upstream of the junction, and to estimate the probability of entrainment for fish on either side of the critical streakline. We show that entrainment rates can be predicted by understanding how the combination of critical streakline position and cross-sectional distribution of fish co-vary as a function of environmental covariates. By integrating over individual positions and entrainment fates to arrive at population-level entrain probability in relation to environmental covariates, our model offers managers a simple but powerful tool to evaluate how alternative actions affect migrating fish.


Governing, which is defined as the totality of interaction of actors aiming to solve societal problems, is never as ideal as its definition. A two-tier analysis of governance – one that considers individual actors and institutions – proves that dominance is always at play among these multiple interactions. The two-tier analysis shows that when water is managed by a public agency, it does not necessarily mean that water is managed by a state institution. The study of water allocation at West Tarum Canal shows that the adoption of market institutions by the Government of Indonesia has resulted in a societal problem of the marginalisation of farmers. The hegemony of the market is achieved through the successful attempt by multilateral agencies to make the Indonesian Government and its apparatus adopt market institutions. Fiscal decentralisation is another determining factor accelerating the adoption of market institutions in the allocation of water at West Tarum Canal.


The fourteenth amendment affords procedural due process, equal protection, and substantive bill of rights protections. It applies to state actors, not private ones. The NCAA is an association of colleges and universities that regulates intercollegiate athletics. It is a private actor. On occasion the Supreme Court has treated private actors as state actors for purposes of the fourteenth amendment. The NCAA is not one of them. There is ongoing discussion whether the NCAA should be treated as a state actor. One side focuses on the NCAA's monopoly power as "the only game in town" and its impact on non-members, particularly student-athletes, who have no say in its policies. The other side worries that state actor status would bring protracted and often frivolous lawsuits and thwart its ability to provide an even playing field because student-athletes whose eligibility is at issue could compete during pendency of litigation. The conventional wisdom, shared by both sides, is that NCAA state actor status necessarily would trigger greater judicial and legislative oversight of NCAA processes; substantially more opportunities for non-members to prevail against alleged NCAA over-reaching; and fundamental, perhaps widespread, change to the way the NCAA operates. In my article I discuss why the conventional wisdom likely is wrong, and conclude that the only clear consequence to the NCAA's regulatory authority over intercollegiate athletics attendant on NCAA state actor status would be to end or at least cabin NCAA bylaws and policies that accord preferential treatment to women and racial and ethnic minorities. In all other ways the NCAA might well be able to proceed as usual.


This paper attempts to borrow the tradition of estimating policy reaction functions in monetary policy literature and apply it to capital controls policy literature. Using a novel weekly dataset on capital controls policy actions in 21 emerging economies over the period 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2015, I examine the competitiveness and macroprudential motivations for capital control policies. I introduce a new proxy for competitiveness motivations: the weighted appreciation of an emerging-market currency against its top five trade competitors. The analysis shows that past emerging-market policy systematically responds to both competitiveness and macroprudential motivations. The choice of instruments is also systematic: policy-makers respond to competitiveness concerns by using both instruments - inflow tightening and outflow easing. They use only inflow tightening in response to macroprudential concerns. I also find evidence that that policy is acyclical to foreign debt but is countercyclical to domestic bank credit to the private non-financial sector. The adoption of explicit financial stability mandates by central banks or the creation of inter-agency financial stability councils increased the weight of macroprudential factors in the use of capital controls policies. Countries with higher exchange rate pass-through to export prices are more responsive to competitiveness concerns.


The plot of return from America to Asia to search for origins is central to Asian diasporic literature of the past 120 years. By returning to Asia and writing about their ancestors, Asian North Americans (those born or raised in the United States or Canada) expand their cultural understanding and produce narratives that serve as "countermemory," contributing to a communal memory that is "oppositional . . . the memory of the subordinated and the marginalized, memory from below versus memory from above," in the words of Viet Thanh Nguyen. For immigrants and their offspring, Asian diasporic narratives of return typically reflect experiences of "racial melancholia," described as unresolved mourning for the losses associated with migration, in the context of social discrimination, exclusion, or marginalization due to race. For Asians, racial melancholia is exacerbated by its incompatibility with ideals of America as equal, inclusive, and race-blind. Writers sometimes use narratives of return to comprehend and resolve their parents' melancholia by remembering their stories and articulating their grievances; this process of countermemory typically requires a lengthy cultural apprenticeship. In addition to family histories, narratives of return encompass essays, memoirs, novels, poems, plays, and films. They may also be written by or about protagonists born and raised in Asia who return, perhaps to reform or improve their homeland, after living abroad.


We report on a method that can be used to improve the result of multiwavelength contouring in the case of objects with rough surface. It is based on the combined evaluation of multiple measurements with varying direction of illumination. While the individual measurements share the same systematics with respect to the shape of the investigated object, the noise arising from speckle decorrelation fluctuates statistically and hence can be reduced by means of averaging. For the case of three illumination directions we show that weighted averaging of the measured phase distributions enhances the signal-to-noise ratio by approximately 3 dB.


Audio navigation interfaces have traditionally been studied (and implemented) using headphones. However, many potential users (especially those with visual impairments) are hesitant to adopt these emerging wayfinding technologies if doing so requires them to reduce their ability to hear environmental sounds by wearing headphones. In this study we examined the performance of the SWAN audio navigation interface using bone-conduction headphones ("bonephones"), which do not cover the ear. Bonephones enabled all participants to complete the navigation tasks with good efficiencies, though not immediately as effective as regular headphones. Given the functional success here, and considering that the spatialization routines were not optimized for bonephones (this essentially represents a worst-case scenario), the prospects are excellent for more widespread usage of bone conduction for auditory navigation, and likely for many other auditory displays.


Papikion Mt pluton which intrudes Kardamos Dome, consists of biotite (Bi), hornblende (Hbl) and biotite-hornblende (Bi-Hbl) bearing rock types. In this work the relationship among the amphiboles of each Hbl-bearing rock type is studied. Moreover, their minimum crystallization pressure and temperature are estimated. The amphiboles of the Hbl granodiorite (GRD), the Bi-Hbl diorite (DR) and the Hbl diorite (DR) are classified mainly as magnesiohornblende and ferrohornblende and the amphiboles of the Bi-Hbl GRD as ferroedenite and hanstingsite. It is to note that some samples contain amphibole crystals showing a sieved texture with quartz. These sieved amphiboles have no chemical differences from the rest amphibole crystals. This texture can probably derive from the breakdown of mafic minerals of an assimilated xenolith such as pyroxenes and hornblende itself, leaving quartz. Using the Al-in-hornblende geobarometer and the plagioclase-hornblende geothermometer), minimum crystallization pressures from 4.6 to 5.2 kbar and temperatures from 700 to 740 °C were estimated for the Bi-Hbl GRD. The DR shows crystallization pressures ranging from 6.4 to 7.4 kbar and temperatures ranging from 620 to 700 °C. The Hbl GRD shows the lowest P-T values, thus an average crystallization pressure about 3 kbar and an average temperature about 600 °C were estimated.


Many natural language processing and information retrieval problems can be formalized as the task of semantic matching. Existing work in this area has been largely focused on matching between short texts (e.g., question answering), or between a short and a long text (e.g., ad-hoc retrieval). Semantic matching between long-form documents, which has many important applications like news recommendation, related article recommendation and document clustering, is relatively less explored and needs more research effort. In recent years, self-attention based models like Transformers and BERT have achieved state-of-the-art performance in the task of text matching. These models, however, are still limited to short text like a few sentences or one paragraph due to the quadratic computational complexity of self-attention with respect to input text length. In this paper, we address the issue by proposing the Siamese Multi-depth Transformer-based Hierarchical (SMITH) Encoder for long-form document matching. Our model contains several innovations to adapt self-attention models for longer text input. We propose a transformer based hierarchical encoder to capture the document structure information. In order to better capture sentence level semantic relations within a document, we pre-train the model with a novel masked sentence block language modeling task in addition to the masked word language modeling task used by BERT. Our experimental results on several benchmark data sets for long-form document matching show that our proposed SMITH model outperforms the previous state-of-the-art models including hierarchical attention, multi-depth attention-based hierarchical recurrent neural network, and BERT. Comparing to BERT based baselines, our model is able to increase maximum input text length from 512 to 2048. We will open source a Wikipedia based benchmark data set, code and a pre-trained model to accelerate future research on long-form document matching.


Multimedia meeting collections, composed of unedited audio and video streams, handwritten notes, slides, and electronic documents that jointly constitute a raw record of complex human interaction processes in the workplace, have attracted interest due to the increasing feasibility of recording them in large quantities, by the opportunities for information access and retrieval applications derived from the automatic extraction of relevant meeting information, and by the challenges that the extraction of semantic information from real human activities entails. In this paper, we present a succint overview of recent approaches in this field, largely influenced by our own experiences. We first review some of the existing and potential needs for users of multimedia meeting information systems. We then summarize recent work on various research areas addressing some of these requirements. In more detail, we describe our work on automatic analysis of human interaction patterns from audio-visual sensors, discussing open issues in this domain.


We have identified a sequence element that specifies the position of transcription initiation for the dihydrofolate reductase gene. Unlike the functionally analogous TATA box that directs RNA polymerase II to initiate transcription 30 nucleotides downstream, the positioning element of the dihydrofolate reductase promoter is located directly at the site of transcription initiation. By using DNase I footprint analysis, we have shown that a protein binds to this initiator element. Transcription initiated at the dihydrofolate reductase initiator element when 28 nucleotides were inserted between it and all other upstream sequences, or when it was placed on either side of the DNA helix, suggesting that there is no strict spatial requirement between the initiator and an upstream element. Although neither a single Spl-binding site nor a single initiator element was sufficient for transcriptional activity, the combination of one Spl-binding site and the dihydrofolate reductase initiator element cloned into a plasmid vector resulted in transcription starting at the initiator element. We have also shown that the simian virus 40 late major initiation site has striking sequence homology to the dihydrofolate reductase initiation site and that the same, or a similar, protein binds to both sites. Examination of the sequences at other RNA polymerase II initiation sites suggests that we have identified an element that is important in the transcription of other housekeeping genes. We have thus named the protein that binds to the initiator element HIP1 (Housekeeping Initiator Protein 1).


OBJECTIVE
Clinical response to antipsychotic drug treatment is highly variable, yet prognostic biomarkers are lacking. The authors recently demonstrated that successful antipsychotic drug treatment alters resting-state functional connectivity of the striatum. The goal of the present study was to test whether intrinsic striatal connectivity patterns provide prognostic information and can serve as a potential biomarker of treatment response to antipsychotic drugs.

METHOD
The authors used resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) to develop a prognostic index in a discovery cohort of 41 first-episode schizophrenia patients, then tested this index in an independent cohort of 40 newly hospitalized chronic patients with acute psychosis. In the discovery cohort, patients underwent resting-state fMRI scanning at the initiation of randomized controlled treatment with a second-generation antipsychotic. Whole-brain functional connectivity maps were generated for each subject from striatal seed regions. A stringent measure of clinical response was calculated that required sustained improvement over two consecutive study visits. Clinical response was entered into a survival analysis, and Cox regression was applied to the functional connectivity data. A striatal connectivity index was created, comprising functional connections of the striatum that predicted treatment response. This striatal connectivity index was tested on a generalizability cohort of patients with psychotic disorders who were hospitalized for an acute psychotic episode.

RESULTS
A total of 91 regions functionally connected with the striatum provided significant prognostic information. Connectivity in these regions was used to create a baseline striatal connectivity index that predicted response to antipsychotic treatment with high sensitivity and specificity in both the discovery and generalizability cohorts.

CONCLUSIONS
These results provide evidence that individual differences in striatal functional connectivity predict response to antipsychotic drug treatment in acutely psychotic patients. With further development, this has the potential to serve as a prognostic biomarker with clinical utility and to reduce the overall burden associated with psychotic illnesses.


Separated children seeking asylum in Europe have the right to a representative, typically in the form of a guardian, and the right to have their best interests taken into account. These rights are articulated in the Council Directives and Regulations regulating the Common European Asylum System. The original language used around the time of developing the Common European Asylum System related to 'harmonisation'. This article, therefore, looks at the level of harmonisation of the systems of guardianship, and the guardians' responsibility to determine and promote the best interest, for separated children seeking asylum in Europe. The article begins by defining the guardian and the best interest principle and outlining the relevant law, which presently exists in Europe. Three case studies were chosen to provide current examples of the differences in practice in Europe, namely: Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands. The question dealt with in this article is to what extent the three case study countries meet the minimum standards set out in European law in respect of guardianship and the best interests of separated children seeking asylum.


A special type of Red sandy dunal soil [Theri-soil] of Tamil Nadu is called Theri-soils. Theri-soilsare located inTuticorin, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu. The Merits ofTheri lands are deep sand zone, good permeability and quality ground water. The Demerits of Their lands are un suitable for agriculture, the surface of the soil is not plane, higher level of soil erosion, sand dunes, from the top to the bottom only sand , low nutrients and minerals and low water holding capacity.Tank silt and Neem Compost are the materials used for the amendment of theTherisoils selected for the study to improve the fertility constraints of the soil.Measurements were made on the physico chemical and physical properties such as pH, EC, Particle density , Bulk density, Porosity, Water holding capacity, Organic carbon content , and Hydraulic conductivity .To convert this soil into a cultivable land, attempts were made to improve the soil moisture characteristics of the soil using soil amendment.The observations were taken for both the Tank silt added Theri soil and the Neem compost added Theri soil. Comparing the above eight properties of the amended Theri soil, the best amendment among the two was found out.


A wavelet representation of speech was used to display the instantaneous amplitude and phase within 14 octave frequency bands, representing the envelope and the carrier within each band. Adding stationary noise alters the wavelet pattern, which can be understood as a combination of three simultaneously occurring subeffects: two effects on the wavelet levels (one systematic and one stochastic) and one effect on the wavelet phases. Specific types of signal processing were applied to speech, which allowed each effect to be either included or excluded. The impact of each effect (and of combinations) on speech intelligibility was measured with CVC's. It appeared that the systematic level effect (i.e., the increase of each speech wavelet intensity with the mean noise intensity) has the most degrading effect on speech intelligibility, which is in accordance with measures such as the modulation transfer function and the speech transmission index. However, also the introduction of stochastic level fluctuations and disturbance of the carrier phase seriously contribute to reduced intelligibility in noise. It is argued that these stochastic effects are responsible for the limited success of spectral subtraction as a means to improve speech intelligibility. Results can provide clues for effective noise suppression with respect to intelligibility.


The stories told by critics of U.S. copyright law are filled with examples of overextension of copyright, in which content owners use the broad remedies copyright law provides to limit reimagining of or commentary on their works with which they disagree. Such critics often propose a solution that sounds in the restructuring of copyright law itself, such as a more expansive reading of the law's fair use provisions or a limitation of the copyright term. While the concerns of these critics are justified, their focus might be turned elsewhere. A solution to the cudgel of copyright law already exists in the realm of U.S. trademark law. The content owners who are the subject of commentators' criticism are not, when their claims are correctly characterized, seeking to control the exploitation of the work for which copyright law provides them a limited monopoly; they are seeking to control the associations of attribution that subsequent use of the work suggests. This interest - an interest in accurate source identification and the desire to avoid consumer confusion in the marketplace - is, if anything, the domain of trademark law-related regimes and should be so addressed. Despite this allocation of harms within the intellectual property law scheme, courts and commentators have generally been resistant to allowing trademark law-related claims a place at the table with respect to copyrighted (or formerly copyrighted goods), a resistance that seems much weaker at other intellectual property law interfaces. The dominant justification for this resistance - that recognition of trademark-based interests for communicative goods will work an even greater extension of copyright - misconceives the nature of the relationship between copyright law and trademark law, which address different economic harms, albeit occasionally with respect to the same goods. Thus, a recognition (and reinvigoration) of the trademark/copyright divide can enable us to think more creatively about how to stem the overuse of copyright: namely, by requiring content owners to state attributional and related claims as trademark law-related claims, not as copyright claims, by characterizing the refusal to do so as copyright misuse, and by strictly construing the alternative regime to ensure only legally cognizable claims survive. Copyright law doesn't forbid such a move and, indeed, may well be enhanced by it.


Mapping of trees plays an important role in modern urban spatial data management, as many benefits and applications inherit from this detailed up-to-date data sources. Timely and accurate acquisition of information on the condition of urban trees serves as a tool for decision makers to better appreciate urban ecosystems and their numerous values which are critical to building up strategies for sustainable development. The conventional techniques used for extracting trees include ground surveying and interpretation of the aerial photography. However, these techniques are associated with some constraints, such as labour intensive field work and a lot of financial requirement which can be overcome by means of integrated LiDAR and digital image datasets. Compared to predominant studies on trees extraction mainly in purely forested areas, this study concentrates on urban areas, which have a high structural complexity with a multitude of different objects. This paper presented a workflow about semi-automated approach for extracting urban trees from integrated processing of airborne based LiDAR point cloud and multispectral digital image datasets over Istanbul city of Turkey. The paper reveals that the integrated datasets is a suitable technology and viable source of information for urban trees management. As a conclusion, therefore, the extracted information provides a snapshot about location, composition and extent of trees in the study area useful to city planners and other decision makers in order to understand how much canopy cover exists, identify new planting, removal, or reforestation opportunities and what locations have the greatest need or potential to maximize benefits of return on investment. It can also help track trends or changes to the urban trees over time and inform future management decisions.


The city of Salisbury was built together with the cathedral in the early part of the thirteenth century, shortly after the Fourth Lateran Council in Rome and
the signing of Magna Carta in England. This book describes how the bishop and his chapter took advantage of this extraordinary opportunity.
The author argues that the political turmoil which affected the development of Old Sarum was replaced at Salisbury by a sacramental vision superimposing
ideas of movement and time over a static, partly geometric order. The most significant occasions used by the clergy to reveal this tension were the
Rogation processions around Ascension Day which seem to have left an imprint on the layout of the city.
The study goes on to suggest that participation in the processions - inside the cathedral and the city - brought past, present and future together in one
experience which linked normal time with the foundation of Salisbury as well as the hope associated with the Second Coming. This observation not only
offers new insights into the concerns of urban Christianity in the first half of the thirteenth century but also points to an alternative way of looking at gothic
architecture based around movement.
Contents: The development of Old Sarum in relation to key historical events - A survey of thirteenth-century Salisbury including key institutions,
occupations, and the built fabric - Medieval modes of representation and other new towns - Geometry and form - Drawings and contemporary written
accounts - processions at Old Sarum and Salisbury - The meaning of the ceremonies linked to the foundation - The theology of the Salisbury Chapter -
Description of the cathedral buildings, the Close and the city and their relationship to sacred time and space - The orientation of the new city and its
processional structure.


Abstract Heroin users are a stigmatized group of learners on the edge of society, whose struggle for recognition remains largely ignored. Drug treatment in the form of methadone and prescription drugs has only served to further stigmatize and disrespect their rights. Adult education aspires to be a discourse of resistance and a social movement for the creation of a diverse and just society. The work of Axel Honneth and his 'Theory of Recognition' can help to advance those aspirations and radically shift our understanding of the drug user and the recovery process.


The untransformed glucocorticoid receptor of rat thymus cytosol was characterized in the form of its complex with [1,2,4-3H]triamcinolone acetonide by ion-exchange chromatography and by gel filtration and sucrose-density-gradient ultracentrifugation at different ionic strengths. Molybdate (10 mM) was present throughout all experimental procedures and prevented receptor inactivation and degradation as well as transformation. At low ionic strength the molybdate-stabilized steroid-receptor complex was detected as a single highly asymmetric entity with a Stokes radius of 5.85 nm, a sedimentation coefficient of 9.6 S and an apparent molecular weight of 236 000. This form was converted into a smaller, even more asymmetric, form in increasing proportion as the ionic strength was increased. In the presence of 0.4 M-KCl, the smaller form had a Stokes radius of 4.95 nm, a sedimentation coefficient of 4.6 S and an apparent molecular weight of 95 500. It is concluded that the glucocorticoid-receptor complex exists at low ionic strengths as a homodimer or as a heterodimer in which only one subunit possesses a steroid-binding site, and that the process of dissociation into subunits brought about by increasing the ionic strength is a process distinct from, but possibly preceding, the transformation phenomenon responsible for conferring DNA-binding properties on the complex.


The Cape Fold Belt (CFB) along the southern coast of South Africa contains several tectonic windows that expose low-grade "basement" rocks as inliers that are inferred to be late Neoproterozoic in age subjected to tectono-metamorphism during the Pan African Saldanian Orogeny (ca. 650 to 550 Ma). Whilst a Saldanian tectonic history along the northwest to southeast trending western branch of the CFB has been well documented, such Neoproterozoic deformation along the east-west trending southern branch of the CFB is not established. This work presents new field observations and SHRIMP U/Pb geochronologic data from the Kleinrivier Sequence within the Gamtoos Inlier exposed along the eastern-most known tectonic window, near Port Elizabeth, and which is here renamed the Gamtoos Complex. The study area includes 3 tectonic sequences from the Gamtoos Complex ("pre-Cape") and 2 sequences from the overlying Table Mountain Group of the Cape Supergroup. The lower sequences of the Gamtoos Complex comprise north-east verging thrust packages within a regional antiform, all of which have a common oriented planar tectonic fabric (S 2 ) coincident with those in the lower Paleozoic rocks. Phyllites from the Kleinrivier and upper Sardinia Bay sequences (spanning the pre-Cape and Cape boundary) are similarly affected by a slaty cleavage (S 1 ), crenulation cleavage (S 2 ) and multiple generations of quartz veins. U/Pb data are from zircons of metasediments and igneous rocks from the Gamtoos Complex and from the overlying rocks of the Table Mountain Group. Meta-greywackes of the Kleinrivier Sequence (youngest zircon: 523 ± 6 Ma) are probably Cambrian in age. However, some units from the Kleinrivier Sequence are intruded by felsic sills with a Concordia age: 530.2 ± 4.4 Ma and therefore require further U/Pb detrital zircon analyses. Mafic sills and dykes also intrude the Kleinrivier Sequence and were subsequently deformed and contain S 2 . Boulder conglomerates in the Sardinia Bay Sequence (youngest matrix zircon: 521 ± 6 Ma) are separated from the Kleinrivier Sequence by an angular unconformity. It also contains granite-boulders (Concordia age: 530.2 ± 4.7 Ma), and is overlain by the feldspathic psammites and quartzites of the Sardinia Bay Sequence with zircons as young as 510 ± 7 Ma (e.g. middle Cambrian). In total, 75% of the detrital zircons from all sequences date between early-Mesoproterozoic and early-Neoproterozoic (ca. 1455 to 852 Ma) and are likely sourced from the gneisses of the Namaqua-Natal province that are known to underlie the CFB, whilst the Neoproterozoic to mid-Cambrian zircons (ca. 828 to 431 Ma) have been sourced from Pan African mobile belts, possibly the Mozambican and/or Saldanian Belts to the east and west, respectively. Such "Pan African" detrital zircons are more prevalent in the Sardinia Bay Sequence and form the dominant component in the Lower Table Mountain Group, suggesting a lesser source influence from the Namaqua Natal Mobile Belt. The conglomerates at Sardinia Bay possibly represent mid-Cambrian rift sequences, similar to the Klipheuwel Group that overlie the Malmesbury Sequence and Cape granites along the western branch of the CFB. The Sardinia Bay Sequence has zircons equivalent to those of the Peninsula Formation (youngest zircon: 516 ± 5 Ma), and therefore should be linked to represent the lower Table Mountain Group.


Ultrafine Y2O3 modified carbon aerogels (Y-CAs) were successfully fabricated via in situ and sol–gel methods. The Y-CA materials exhibit interconnected porous structures and high adsorption ability. The Y-CA/S composites loaded with sulfur served as cathode materials in lithium–sulfur batteries to suppress the polysulfide diffusion and offer high electrical conductivity during the charge/discharge process. In particular, the designed Y2-CA/S cathode exhibits a high initial discharge capacity of 1369 mA h g−1 and retained 1108 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.2C. The Y2-CA/S cathode presents a good rate capability of 994 mA h g−1 up to 2C and nice long-term cycling stability with a high reversible capacity of 892 mA h g−1 after 300 cycles at 0.5C. The excellent electrochemical performance of the batteries is attributed to high adsorption ability and the uniform Y2O3 distribution on the porous and interrelated carbon spheres.


The definition of the structure and kinematics of the South-Pyrenean Frontal thrust, to the west of its westernmost outcrop in the External Sierras is the goal of this work. The methodology used is based on the construction and restoration of three balanced cross-sections. In addition to that, paleomagnetic analyses are applied to unravel possible vertical axis rotations linked to thrust kinematics. Stepwise thermal demagnetizations of 22 new sites together with previously published data from 25 sites (sampled in Bartonian-Priabonian sediments) define reliable primary directions in the region allowing for potential vertical axis rotations estimation. The comparison between the deformed and the pre-deformational states in the cross-sections agrees with the paleomagnetic data in that neither gradient of shortening, nor significant vertical axis rotations can be invoked to explain the along-strike changes of the main structures (folds and thrusts) linked to the South-Pyrenean Frontal thrust, west of the western termination of the External Sierras. Therefore, these changes are here interpreted as the result of a wedge thrust in the Paleozoic basement, whose displacements in transferred to the Mesozoic-Tertiary cover through the Upper Triassic detachment level. This non-rotational kinematics of deformation implies a change of deformational style with respect to the External Sierras, where clockwise vertical axis rotations and gradient of shortening linked to rotational kinematics are found to be controlled by the Upper Triassic detachment level.


Hannibal Lecter, the serial-killer and cannibal psychiatrist who becomes increasingly central in a trilogy of novels by Thomas Harris (and their film adaptations), has been a prominent character in popular culture in the fifteen years since Jonathan Demme's film version of The Silence of the Lambs, to the extent that 'fava beans and a nice Chianti' has become something of a catchphrase. This paper will consider the strange career of this character, who moves from a small role in Harris's Red Dragon to being the eponymous anti-hero of Hannibal, and whose self-declared 'evil' being is increasingly situated not in the position of the monstrous Other, but as the attractive figure of identification for the reader and audience. In Silence of the Lambs, Lecter asks Clarice Starling whether she considers his actions 'evil'. She avoids moral or religious judgements, much to Lecter's own amusement. At once rational and insane, Lecter is used as a resource by the FBI to hunt down other serial killers. He demonstrates advanced medical knowledge (especially in distinction to Dr Chilton, the vain, intellectually limited Director of Lecter's maximum security hospital), but at the same time exhibits an understanding of the serial killers which exceeds (and is more authentic than) medical discourse through his very own homicidal insanity. Lecter signifies a rupture in the truth-claims of medical science in the face of acts of self-declared 'evil', an 'evil' which leads to a knowledge of the Other that reason is unable to approach. In Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, the FBI operatives at the centre of the narratives are in some way identified with him, but by the third novel, Hannibal, Lecter moves to centre stage. Generically, the texts also move, from horror-inflected procedural thriller to perverse Gothic romance and Grand Guignol. In Hannibal, Lecter overcomes those who wish to revenge themselves on him, rescues Clarice Starling, and eventually 'woos' her so that they end up as a grotesque couple. From being a Frankenstein-like, diabolic 'mad scientist', Lecter becomes a latter-day 'mad, bad and dangerous to know' Romantic hero, with demonic significations raised to an intense pitch. This paper will attempt to trace the Romantic and Gothic inheritance of Harris's texts, from Blake through Shelley to Byron. The elements of Gothic can be seen in Demme's mise-en-scene in his film of The Silence of the Lambs, particularly in the institution in which Lecter is incarcerated: his cell is a dungeon. Where, in the first two novels, Lecter figures as an Other who manifests the hidden psychosis of Will Graham or reveals the psychological workings beneath the surface of Clarice Starling's ambition, this depth-model is abandoned in Hannibal to playfulness, excess and parody. The abandonment of psychological depth-models is mirrored in Lector's increasingly prominent use of masks and disguises, which not only identify him with the masked serial killers of the 'slasher' horror sub-genre, but complements his trajectory from Other to Self, a self which is made up only of surfaces. Where, in Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, Lecter is the external manifestation of the troubling 'evil' Otherness within the Self, in Hannibal, this disruption is defused by making him the central character, enabling a less troubling identification of the reader or viewer with the fantastical (and for Harris, I would argue, deliberately frivolous) escapades of a Gothic anti-hero.


benefits and challenges and the costs of tourism development to the community; (2) provide the basic framework for doing so; and (3) assist communities in the development of a marketing and promotion program by providing the basic information necessary to accomplish this. The material is primarily directed toward small towns and rural areas; however, it can also provide useful information to representatives of larger cities. It is intended to be used as an introductory planning guide or &dquo;tourism primer.&dquo;


This paper sets out to study recent developments in the relatively new area in management theory - Age Management. First the general labor and financial market conditions are specified which have led to the growing need of an age-oriented strategy for employment in the company. Next the concept of Age Management is defined, both from the macro, enterprise-level and individual perspectives. The next section studies the benefits derived from implementing Age Management for the company and its employees, followed by a section on specific Age Management tools and measures. The penultimate section explores the prerequisites for successful implementation. This paper finds that Age Management as a concept is gaining ground, predominantly in managing and retaining near-retirement-age workers. Concluding, we find that there is a significant need for more comprehensive Age Management and effective Age Management measures to maintain firms' and economies' competitiveness in the face of demographic decline.


A coreset is a small set that can approximately preserve the structure of the original input data set. Therefore we can run our algorithm on a coreset so as to reduce the total computational complexity. Conventional coreset techniques assume that the input data set is available to process explicitly. However, this assumption may not hold in real-world scenarios. In this paper, we consider the problem of coresets construction over relational data. Namely, the data is decoupled into several relational tables, and it could be very expensive to directly materialize the data matrix by joining the tables. We propose a novel approach called ``aggregation tree with pseudo-cube'' that can build a coreset from bottom to up. Moreover, our approach can neatly circumvent several troublesome issues of relational learning problems [Khamis et al., PODS 2019]. Under some mild assumptions, we show that our coreset approach can be applied for the machine learning tasks, such as clustering, logistic regression and SVM.


Traditional network topology inference aims at reconstructing the routing trees rooted at each probing source from end-to-end measurements. However, due to emerging technologies such as network function virtualization, software defined networking, and segment routing, many modern networks are capable of supporting generalized forwarding that can create complex routing topologies different from routing trees. In this work, we take a first step towards closing this gap by proposing methods to infer the routing topology (referred to as 1-1-N topology) from a single source to multiple destinations, where routes may be required to traverse a given waypoint. We first thoroughly study the special case of 1-1-2 topologies, showing that even this seemingly simple case is highly nontrivial with 36 possibilities. We then demonstrate how the solution to the special case can be used as building blocks to infer 1-1-N topologies. The inferred topology is proved to be equivalent to the ground truth up to splitting/combining edges in the same category.


Big data and data-driven innovation are drivers for economic growth. To capture this growth, data often need to be shared among organisations. However, many challenges to sharing data among organisations exist. This paper investigates how governance is organised in inter-organisational data collaborations. First, based on literature, four archetypical modes of governance are identified: Market, Hierarchy, Bazaar and Network. Subsequently, these theoretical modes are investigated empirically by exploring governance modes in four use cases. Based on a cross-case comparison, we find that major challenges to data sharing are the commercially sensitive nature of data and privacy risks. Due to legal implications, sharing of personal data always takes place hierarchically. Therefore, coordination and control over data need to be firmly in place before organisations engage in data sharing. Further research should look into how these aspects can be organised in inter-organisational data collaborations to foster innovation.


A study of reducing nitrogen oxide (NO) emission by using different fuel oil/hydrogen-rich refinery gas ratios (FO/RG) of the volumetric flow rate in a 130-ton/hr, full-scale, mediumpressure boiler was carried out. The influence of the FO/RG ratio on boiler outlet temperature, flue -gas flow rate and temperature, and O2 concentration in the excess air was also investigated. Test results show that by adjusting the FO/RG volumetric flow rate ratio from 5:1 to 1.8:1, fuel cost was reduced by as much as $33 million NT (~$1.1 million US) per year. Concentration of NO was lowered from 167 to 152 ppm, reducing NO emission a total of 72 tons per year. The air pollution fee was cut as much as $860,000 NT (~$27,000 US) each year. Hence, changing the FO/RG ratio of the volumetric flow rate can not only save fuel costs, but can also greatly reduce NO emission and air pollution fees. Results of this study can help to develop boilers that operate more economically and efficiently.


Due to advancements in lighting technologies new opportunities for application emerge. In this paper an interdisciplinary study towards the development of adaptive lighting environments is presented. An implementation of an adaptive lighting environment is made in the domain of office work. For evaluation, experts from the domains of human-system interaction, activity and context recognition, and system architecture design are interviewed. Contributions are made with regard to the implementation of the adaptive lighting in office environments and an evaluation method that is in line with the interdisciplinary approach. From the evaluation method insights in the fields of human-computer interaction, activity and context recognition and system architecture and (wireless) networking and in topics that span across these fields are gained.


In order to study the characteristics of success in life we must consider the social construction of genders (male and female) manifested in the interaction between the sexes. Social interpretation of biological sex leads to the identification of a set of behaviors particular to each sex, both in society and subsequently in private life as well as in the public eye. The research aims to identify the opinions and beliefs on the matter of students from the Veterinary Medicine University of Bucharest, their views on success in life, in the work place, in their study environment and in society as a whole, the characteristics of each gender, equality between women and men. The research findings reveal a specific social pattern determined by gender and residential environment .


Cake Decorating is a required course in the Baking and Pastry curriculum offered in proprietary colleges and two-year community colleges. Baking and pastry students take this course typically in the second year of their curriculum. Gisslen's Professional Baking, 3e serves the needs of the fundamental baking course. However, in Baking and Pastry programs, students are more focused on decorating and design. This underscores the need for a book with complete and detailed instructions on decorating methods and techniques.


Insufficient attention has been given to reports in the literature describing patients with symptomatic migraine who, in addition to, or instead of, the well-recognized zones of hypofusion, have zones of hyperperfusion, which can be interpreted as hypermetabolism due to neuronal activation. A new neural theory of migraine is proposed in which it is hypothesized that migraine is an electrical disease of the brain in which abnormally-functioning serotonergic pacemaker cells in the raphe nuclei inappropriately activate and inhibit wide areas of the brain. Excessive neuronal activation could cause migraine stroke by excitotoxicity and could explain the association of migraine with epilepsy. The serotonergic nuclei are positioned to mediate stress-induced migraine.


This study examines sentiment from routine financial news and outlines the impact of the media content on three main index futures contracts of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Bursa Malaysia and Singapore Exchange. The sample selection is based on high a percentage of English usage, thus enabling cross-country comparison. I generate several news factors from routine financial news and find that factors that represent pessimistic market sentiment are more prevalent. Highly pessimistic news factors (Pessimism, Negative and Weak) predict lower returns on the same day, while the negative impact will reverse within the next five days. The finding is consistent with the noise trader theory that investors initially overreact to negative market news and drive the price lower, before the price corrects itself. Since investors are only obligated to pay maintenance margin when trading futures contracts, the trading strategy based on this finding becomes more economically significant compared to paying full price in the spot market. The second part of this thesis examines the role of sentiment in predicting the mean-variance relationship. I argue that sentiment will affect returns volatility. Risk-averse rational investors require higher returns for holding risky assets, which implies positive mean-variance relationships. During a high sentiment period, noise traders dominate the trading activities, leading to a weaker mean-variance trade off. Evidence points to negative mean-variance relationships during a high sentiment period, but the results are mixed during a low sentiment period. The finding suggests that sentiment can be incorporated into the index futures pricing model, through its interaction with returns volatility.


In this paper, we explore teens' mental models of public library websites for teens (teen library websites/TLWs), specifically favorite websites as they relate to prior knowledge and experience. Thirty teen participants from three public libraries within three demographically diverse locations in New Jersey took part in the study. Each participant completed a questionnaire, a drawing task, and a semi-structured individual interview. During the semi-structured interview, participants described their drawings in detail, discussed and demonstrated their favorite websites and evaluated current TLWs. The results showed that teen public library users hold multiple mental models of TLWs. In addition, favorite websites data provided some understanding of the role of prior knowledge and experience in teens' use and expectations of TLWs. Based on analysis of the data, we offer design recommendations for making TLWs better match teens' design and use expectations and preferences.


In the year 1918, the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan proposed a set of sequences called Ramanujan Sums as bases to expand arithmetic functions in number theory. Today, exactly a 100 years later, we will show that these sequences re-emerge as exciting tools in a completely different context: For the extraction of periodic patterns in data. Combined with the state-of-the-art techniques of DSP, Ramanujan Sums can be used as the starting point for developing powerful algorithms for periodicity applications. The primary inspiration for this thesis comes from a recent extension of Ramanujan sums to subspaces known as the Ramanujan subspaces. These subspaces were designed to span any sequence with integer periodicity, and have many interesting properties. Starting with Ramanujan subspaces, this thesis first develops an entire family of such subspace representations for periodic sequences. This family, called Nested Periodic Subspaces due to their unique structure, turns out to be the least redundant sets of subspaces that can span periodic sequences. Three classes of new algorithms are proposed using the Nested Periodic Subspaces: dictionaries, filter banks, and eigen-space methods based on the auto-correlation matrix of the signal. It will be shown that these methods are especially advantageous to use when the data-length is short, or when the signal is a mixture of multiple hidden periods. The dictionary techniques were inspired by recent advances in sparsity based compressed sensing. Apart from the l1 norm based convex programs currently used in other applications, our dictionaries can admit l2 norm formulations that have linear and closed form solutions, even when the systems is under-determined. A new filter bank is also proposed using the Ramanujan sums. This, named the Ramanujan Filter Bank, can accurately track the instantaneous period for signals that exhibit time varying periodic nature. The filters in the Ramanujan Filter Bank have simple integer valued coefficients, and directly tile the period vs time plane, unlike classical STFT (Short Time Fourier Transform) and wavelets, which tile the time-frequency plane. The third family of techniques developed here are a generalization of the classic MUSIC (MUltiple SIgnal Classification) algorithm for periodic signals. MUSIC is one of the most popular techniques today for line spectral estimation. However, periodic signals are not just any unstructured line spectral signals. There is a nice harmonic spacing between the lines which is not exploited by plain MUSIC. We will show that one can design much more accurate adaptations of MUSIC using Nested Periodic Subspaces. Compared to prior variants of MUSIC for the periodicity problem, our approach is much faster and yields much more accurate results for signals with integer periods. This work is also the first extension of MUSIC that uses simple integer valued basis vectors instead of using traditional complex-exponentials to span the signal subspace. The advantages of the new methods are demonstrated both on simulations, as well as real world applications such as DNA micro-satellites, protein repeats and absence seizures. Apart from practical contributions, the theory of Nested Periodic Subspaces offers answers to a number of fundamental questions that were previously unanswered. For example, what is the minimum contiguous data-length needed to be able to identify the period of a signal unambiguously? Notice that the answer we seek is a fundamental identifiability bound independent of any particular period estimation technique. Surprisingly, this basic question has never been answered before. In this thesis, we will derive precise expressions for the minimum necessary and sufficient datalengths for this question. We also extend these bounds to the context of mixtures of periodic signals. Once again, even though mixtures of periodic signals often occur in many applications, aspects such as the unique identifiability of the component periods were never rigorously analyzed before. We will present such an analysis as well. While the above question deals with the minimum contiguous datalength required for period estimation, one may ask a slightly different question: If we are allowed to pick the samples of a signal in a non-contiguous fashion, how should we pick them so that we can estimate the period using the least number of samples? This question will be shown to be quite difficult to answer in general. In this thesis, we analyze a smaller case in this regard, namely, that of resolving between two periods. It will be shown that the analysis is quite involved even in this case, and the optimal sampling pattern takes an interesting form of sparsely located bunches. This result can also be extended to the case of multi-dimensional periodic signals. We very briefly address multi-dimensional periodicity in this thesis. Most prior DSP literature on multi-dimensional discrete time periodic signals assumes the period to be parallelepipeds. But as shown by the artist M. C. Escher, one can tile the space using a much more diverse variety of shapes. Is it always possible to account for such other periodic shapes using the traditional notion of parallelepiped periods? An interesting analysis in this regard is presented towards the end of the thesis.


This dissertation addresses the low-carbon transformation of the German and European electricity sectors. It applies techno-economic electricity sector models to research questions on market design and infrastructure investment. The first part consists of three chapters on Germany. It starts with a chapter on the nodal dispatch model for the German electricity system (ELMOD-DE) which implements the DC load flow approach. In March 2016, the respective model source code and a nodal and hourly dataset for 2012 were published to support the effort of increasing transparency in policy-oriented energy sector modeling. In the following chapter, ELMOD-DE is applied to analyze the effects of one northern and one southern bidding zone on the German electricity market. The results discuss the effect on re-dispatch levels, deviations in zonal prices, and distributional effects. The third chapter extends ELMOD-DE to a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) to determine nodal investment for renewable integration in gas-fired power stations, in pumped-storage hydroelectric plants, and in HVAC and HVDC transmission lines for the years 2024 and 2034. The second part consists of three chapters on transmission investment. It starts with a chapter on national-strategic decisions on network expansion. A game theory model determines stable expansion strategies, the effect of cost-allocation schemes, and changes in national welfare levels as results of cross-border transmission investment. The following chapter raises the issue of dynamic changes in network congestion during the low-carbon transformation. It applies a mathematical problem with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) to test different regulatory approaches and their effect on network investment. The last chapter, again, uses a MILP to determine network investment for the European transmission network up to 2050. The nodal model optimizes investments in HVDC lines and in the existing HVAC network for three different scenarios, comparing the results to the Roadmap 2050.


Degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS) usually happens at lower lumbar levels (more commonly at L4–5) with the degree of slip is Meyerding classification type 1 or 2. Rarely DS has Meyerding type 3 or more slip. DS is usually a combination of facet hypertrophy and thickening of ligamentum flavum that leads to spinal stenosis. Therefore, majority of DS patients usually presents to a surgeon with symptoms of spinal stenosis. In that sense, the treatment for DS is hotly debated in literature. Different articles clearly mention superiority of decompression and fixation (DF) over decompression alone (D) in such cases (1). Decompression alone can improve clinical symptoms of patients with DS; however, symptoms can recur in few years requiring another surgery. Therefore, according to the current consensus, DF is often indicated while treating DS with lumbar stenosis (2-4).


This study provides an in depth insight into the current views and opinions of elite level rugby union players regarding the use of performance analysis as a tool for improving their own playing performance and in highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of upcoming opponents. A total of seventy-three elite level rugby union players from two clubs in Great Britain completed a semi-structured questionnaire. Additionally, four players completed a semi-structured interview and following inductive content analysis, four key themes emerged: (1) the use of video for player development, (2) preparing for a match, (3) using video for player reflection in addition to other psychological tools and (4) players suggestions for improvements to the clubs current performance analysis programme. The main finding of the study concludes that players viewed performance analysis as a beneficial and useful tool to support their development and preparation. As a result the study provides an insight into the use of performance analysis within professional rugby union, enabling rugby coaches and practitioners to gain an understanding and appreciation of the players views towards the clubs current provision. Additionally, the findings help build and strengthen the on-going knowledge coaches, analysts and researchers currently have regarding how players perceive performance analysis.


This Article offers a new interpretation of the modern federal immigration power. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Supreme Court and Congress fundamentally transformed the federal government's authority to regulate immigration, from a species of commercial regulation firmly grounded in Congress' commerce authority, into a power that was unmoored from the Constitution, derived from the nation's "inherent sovereignty," and subject to extraordinary judicial deference. This framework, which is commonly referred to as the "plenary power doctrine," has stood for more than a century as an anomaly within American public law. The principal legal and rhetorical rationale for the plenary power doctrine was and remains the supposition that the regulation of immigration is always inherently related to the conduct of foreign affairs, and, especially, to national security.By situating this radical yet extremely durable doctrinal transformation within its appropriate intellectual and political context, this Article seeks to denaturalize the "national security rationale" for immigration exceptionalism. It argues that the plenary power doctrine was borne of an urgent sense of national peril, the basic terms of which most contemporary policymakers, judges, and scholars would emphatically reject. Although the doctrine made its judicial debut in the Chinese Exclusion Case, its historical origins in fact lie largely beyond Chinese exclusion in a much broader contemporaneous critique of (mostly European) immigration. The late nineteenth-century architects of the plenary power doctrine believed that the unchecked immigration of economically degraded, politically inassimilable, and racially unfit immigrants had created a virtual state of national emergency. In response, the Court fashioned an immigration power adapted not to the regulation of labor, or economic dependency, or crime - issues that, then as now, characterize most immigration lawmaking - but rather to the defense of the nation against foreign aggression.Although the immigrants upon whom this power was exercised were citizens of ostensibly "friendly" nations, policymakers and judges re-imagined them as enemy aliens. Through this process, the Court in effect invented the "immigrant" as a distinct, and distinctly consequential, legal construct.


Design, History and Time reflects on the nature of time in relation to design, in both past and contemporary contexts. In contrast to a traditional design historical approach which emphasises schools and movements, this volume addresses time as a continuum and considers the importance of temporality for design practice and history.

Contributors address how designers, design historians and design thinkers might respond to the global challenges of time, the rhythms of work, and the increasing speed of life and communication between different communities. They consider how the past informs the present and the future in terms of design; the importance of time-based design practices such as rapid prototyping and slow design, time in relation to memory and forgetting, and artefacts such as the archive for which time is key, and ponder the design of time itself.

Showcasing the work of fifteen design scholars from a range of international contexts, the book provides an essential text for thinking about changing attitudes to the temporal.


PURPOSE
Percutaneous tissue biopsy is a mainstay of diagnostic and interventional radiology, providing a minimally invasive method for diagnosing malignant and benign disease. The purpose of this review was to collect and summarize the best available evidence regarding the risk factors associated with bleeding complications in image-guided liver biopsy.

METHODS
A literature review was performed, searching Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health (CADTH) databases for any studies evaluating bleeding complications in image-guided liver biopsy. A total of 68 articles, published between January 1994 and April 2015, were reviewed in full, with 34 ultimately eligible for inclusion in the review.

RESULTS
Bleeding of any kind occurred in up to 10.9% of image-guided liver biopsies, with major bleeding episodes ranging from 0.1% to 4.6% and minor bleeding events occurring in up to 10.9% of biopsies. The overall rate of bleeding was, however, found to be less than 2%. Several risk factors (patient, operator, and procedure-related) were identified as potentially indicative of an increased risk of post-biopsy bleeding. Patient-related risk factors included patient age (>50 years or <2 years), inpatient status (8/12 vs. 4/12, P < 0.001), comorbidities and/or concurrent diagnoses and coagulation status (rate of bleeding was 3.3% for international normalized ratio [INR] 1.2-1.5 vs. 7.1% for INR >1.5, P < 0.001). There was no consensus on impact of operator experience (>200 biopsies/year vs. <50/year) on post-biopsy bleeding rate. Procedure-related risk factors included needle size (cutting biopsy vs. fine needle aspiration, P < 0.001) and the presence of a patent track on post-biopsy ultrasound (P < 0.001). Lastly there was no difference found between targeted vs. nontargeted biopsies and number of needle passes.

CONCLUSION
Reported rate of post-biopsy bleeding ranges between 0% and 10.9%, although the vast majority of studies reported bleeding rates under 2%. Several patient, operator, and procedure-related risk factors are associated with a higher risk of bleeding following liver biopsy.


Spraying or dipping flower clusters of the Black Corinth grapevine in 4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (4-CPA) at full bloom results in the formation of a good set, but the accompanying formation of hard seeds is objectionable in the dried currants. If sprays are applied 3-7 days after full bloom, the number of berries with hard seeds is greatly reduced. The structure of seeds from nearly mature berries from vines treated with 4-CPA at full bloom are compared with those of comparable age from girdled and control vines. An occasional seed from a girdled vine exhibits a structure generally characteristic of seeded varieties of grapes. No embryos were found in the seeds. However, the inner layer of the outer integument develops into a hard, often multilayered shell. Seeds from control vines degenerate, but they do possess a single layer of thickwalled cells in the outer integument. In 4-CPA treated vines there is a wide band of several layers of thick-walled cells, which have had their origin from the inner layer of the outer integument. Pedicels or "capstems" of 4-CPA treated vines are larger in diameter than those of girdled or control vines. The vascular cylinder is much wider and cells of the xylem (wood) are larger than girdled or control. A general discussion of the anatomical effects of substituted phenoxy compounds on plants is included.


In this thesis work, a design of reliable antenna front-end for W band automotive radar is studied and the problems and considerations associated with phased array antenna design at W-band are addressed. Proposed phased array antenna consists of on chip patch antenna which has the advantages of being integrated by the active circuitry. A sample of patch antenna and patch array are designed and fabricated to be tested for their functionality. Printing antenna on Silicon substrate is a compact and cost-effective approach. However, antenna on Silicon will have poor gain and will also suffer from surface wave (SW) excitation. The reason for this is Silicon high dielectric constant and loss. Surface wave can be easily excited on high dielectric constant substrate which results in gain drop and distortion in radiation pattern. To avoid substrate loss, available back etching in foundry process is used to remove the silicon under the radiating antenna and improve the gain. To kill the surface wave, a type of engineered material- called Electromagnetic Band-Gap (EBG)- is designed to filter the SW around the antenna's frequency of operation. To test the fabricated antenna, a measurement setup is implemented to do refection coefficient and radiation pattern measurement. Measured S parameters show that there is frequency shift in response of measured antenna with respect to the simulated one. This shift can be attributed to uncertainty about the dielectric constant of Silicon at W-band. To find the exact value of Silicon dielectric constant, a measurement setup based on free space method is devised to determine the exact value of the silicon dielectric constant at W-Band frequency range.


In a hierarchical scheduling framework, a resource can be shared among modules with different criticality levels. In our recently introduced adaptive hierarchical scheduling framework, modules receive a dynamic portion of the CPU during run-time. While providing temporal isolation is one of the main advantages of hierarchical scheduling, in an adaptive framework, for example when the CPU is overloaded, the higher priority modules can violate timing guarantees of the lower priority modules. However, the priorities of modules are assigned based on parameters other than the module criticality levels. For example the priority is often assigned according to periods and deadlines of tasks to increase the CPU utilization assuming static systems, i.e. modules parameters do not change during runtime. In an overload situation the high criticality modules should be superior to the low criticality modules in receiving resources. In this paper, extending our adaptive framework, we propose two techniques for controlling the CPU distribution among modules in an overload situation. We are taking another step towards having a complete adaptive hierarchical scheduling framework by incorporating an overload controller into our framework.


This study looks at GeoGebra as a type of technology and assesses teachers' perspective towards training and use of GeoGebra as a tool to enhance learning of mathematics. This paper is reporting the findings of a larger study that was conducted in Kajiado County in Kenya (Africa) on GeoGebra use in teaching Secondary School Mathematics. The study sought to relate teachers' perceptions towards uptake of technology and the actual uptake of technology as indicated by the Diffusion Innovation Model. The findings after training sessions with the mathematics teachers showed that the mathematics teachers were willing to use GeoGebra in their classes. The teachers said that among all topics, they felt that Geometry was the most complicated to teach and that GeoGebra was a welcome solution to this problem. Teachers' responses indicated that GeoGebra is useful for teaching and learning Mathematics and that it would help learners grasp concepts in Geometry.


Separation of CO2 using adsorption and membrane separations can be performed under moderate conditions for carbon capture and release processes. Although porous media work well for this purpose, these novel materials must be fabricated with high CO2 separation ability. We propose the use of nanoscale BaTiO3 crystals as separators for CO2 adsorption. Although BaTiO3 is a conventional ceramic, it exhibits high dielectric properties and shows potential for a strong interaction with the quadrupole moment of CO2. However, this high adsorption potential is reduced by the extremely small surface area of BaTiO3. Here, we fabricated nanoscale BaTiO3 crystals with high surface area and nanopores, and demonstrated their excellent CO2 adsorption performance with large adsorption hysteresis. The CO2 adsorbed in the nanoscale BaTiO3 crystals could be perfectly released under vacuum conditions. The structure of adsorbed CO2 was similar to CO2 solid at 1 GPa. The unique adsorption properties of CO2 in these nanoscale BaTiO3 crystals are of interest for the development of materials with high CO2 adsorption ability.


This paper considers the relation of indigenous and foreign in how "the Pacific" and the "Pacific Rim" have been and are imagined. First, I ponder the power of cartography through the lens of two maps derived from the eighteenth century and speculate as to how such maps differed from indigenous genealogies of places and peoples. Second, I explore the origins and the lasting significance of the partitioning of the Pacific into the spatiotemporal regions of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia, and consider some indigenous uses of these foreign constructs. Third, I reflect on how academic and policy representations of the Pacific "region" and "rim" have been shaped by geopolitical concerns and developmentalism starting in the 1970s, from the viewpoint of Australia (and in a more fleeting way, the United States). Fourth, through a brief exegesis of the influential writings of Epeli Hau'ofa, I consider his alternative vision of Oceania as a "sea of islands." Finally, I confront the specter of new ethnological typifications derived from a reading of "roots" and "routes" as dichotomy rather than dialectic, and stress the need for refocusing on the relations and creative exchanges between Islanders living in and between region and rim.


The subtour centre problemis the problem of finding a closed trail S of bounded length on a connected simple graph G that minimises the maximum distance from S to any vertex of G. It is a central location problem related to the cycle centre and cycle median problems (Foulds et al., 2004; Labbe et al., 2005) and the covering tour problem (Current and Schilling, 1989). Two related heuristics and an integer linear programme are formulated for it. These are compared numerically using a range of problems derived from tsplib (Reinelt, 1995). The heuristics usually perform substantially better then the integer linear programme and there is some evidence that the simpler heuristics perform better on the less dense graphs that may be more typical of applications.


The paper discusses the modern state of the Kets ethnos, its cultural heritage, and existing problems. The paper analyzes the role of social factors in the transformation of traditional economy and the Kets philosophy at the modern stage. Using analysis of the data collected, the climatic impact on the traditional resource use of the Kets people has been identified. The paper suggests possible ways of diversification of traditional Kets economy under the existing organization of economy in the remote regions of the country. Global climate warming increases the dependency of traditional Kets economy on the environmental and geographical factors (natural-environmental resources of the taiga, natural disasters, natural risks of different origin, etc.).


A new cubic binary phase was recently discovered in the IV–VI monochalcogenides: tin monosulfide and tin monose-lenide. Here, we explored the possible materials design space for this phase across groups IV–VI. The structure and properties of this new phase, the π phase, including mechanical and thermodynamic stability and band gap width, were studied using density functional theory across the monochalcogenide systems of groups IV–VI. The structure of the new π phase was interpreted in terms of a distorted rock-salt structure, and the bonding between the 64 atoms of the unit cell was elucidated. It was found that the π phase is mechanically stable in germanium sulfide and germanium selenide and unstable in the tellurides. The energy differences between the π phase and the stable orthorhombic structures were very small, suggesting that the π phase could be thermodynamically accessible in monochalcogenide nanoparticles. The band gaps of the new phase were found to range from 1.0–1.4 eV, which may be attractive for a variety of photovoltaic and photosensing applications, in particular for GeS, which uniquely has a direct band gap in the π phase.


An embedding of many-valued logics based on SIXTEEN in classical higher-order logic is presented. SIXTEEN generalizes the four-valued set of truth degrees of Dunn/Belnap's system to a lattice of sixteen truth degrees with multiple distinct ordering relations between them. The theoretical motivation is to demonstrate that many-valued logics, like other non-classical logics, can be elegantly modeled (and even combined) as fragments of classical higher-order logic. Equally relevant are the pragmatic aspects of the presented approach: interactive and automated reasoning in many-valued logics, which have broad applications in computer science, artificial intelligence, linguistics, philosophy and mathematics, become readily enabled with state of the art reasoning tools for classical higher-order logic.


Measurements are reported of electromagnetic emission close to the cyclotron frequency of energetic ions in JET plasmas heated by waves in the ion cylotron range of frequencies (ICRF). Hydrogen was the majority ion species in all of these plasmas. The measurements were obtained using a sub-harmonic arc detection system in the transmission lines of one of the ICRF antennas. The measured ion cyclotron emission spectra were strongly filtered by the antenna system, and typically contained sub-structure, consisting of sets of peaks with a separation of a few kHz, suggesting the excitation of compressional Alfvén eigenmodes closely spaced in frequency. In most cases the energetic ions can be clearly identified as ICRF wave-accelerated 3He minority ions, although in two pulses the emission may have been produced by energetic 4He ions, originating from third harmonic ICRF wave acceleration. It is proposed that the emission close to the 3He cyclotron frequency was produced by energetic ions of this species undergoing drift orbit excursions to the outer midplane plasma edge. Particle-in-cell and hybrid (kinetic ion, fluid electron) simulations using plasma parameters corresponding to edge plasma conditions in these JET pulses, and energetic particle parameters inferred from the cyclotron resonance location, indicate strong excitation of waves at multiple 3He cyclotron harmonics, including the fundamental, which is identified with the observed emission. These results underline the potential importance of ICE measurements as a method of studying confined fast particles that are strongly suprathermal but have insufficient energies or are not present in sufficient numbers to excite detectable levels of γ-ray emission or other collective instabilities.


This paper investigates the improvement of the speed and torque dynamic responses of three phase Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) using Direct Torque Control (DTC) technique. Different torques are applied to PMSM at different speeds during operation to ensure the robustness of the controller for wide torque variations. Optimal PI controller is used to modify the response of DTC. The optimal gains of PI controller are tuned by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique. Neural Network controller is called the Nonlinear Autoregressive-Moving Average (NARMA-L2) which is trained based on optimal PI controller (PI-PSO) data. The results show the superiority performance of using NARMA-L2 controller on PI-PSO controller for different speeds and load change. The overall simulation and design of the scheme are implemented Using MATLAB/Simulink program.


OBJECTIVE To determine the association of coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence with diabetes, fasting serum glucose, and insulin in a biracial cohort of middle-aged men and women. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We examined a population-based sample (n = 13,446 free of baseline CHD) from four U.S. communities in 1987–1989. We defined diabetes on the basis of baseline fasting glucose concentration (≥ 7.8 mmol/l), medical history, and current medications. A central laboratory measured fasting insulin with a nonspecific radioimmunoassay. After 4–7 years, 209 men and 96 women developed CHD. RESULTS After adjustment for sociodemographic characteristics, smoking status, ethanol intake, sports participation, and hormone replacement therapy, the relative risk of CHD for people with diabetes versus those without diabetes was 3.45 (95% CI 2.16–5.50) among women and 2.52 (1.78–3.56) among men. Relative risks of CHD with diabetes were somewhat lower in blacks than non-blacks, but because diabetes was more than twice as prevalent in blacks, the percentage of CHD cases attributable to diabetes (population attributable risk) was 27% for black women, 15% for non-black women, 8% for black men, and 12% for non-black men. Among people without diabetes, fasting glucose was not independently associated with CHD incidence. Among women without diabetes, there was a positive association between fasting insulin and CHD; multivariable adjusted relative risks of CHD across quintiles of fasting insulin were 1.00, 0.76, 2.08, 2.08 and 2.82 (P for linear trend = 0.02). However, among men without diabetes, fasting insulin and CHD were not associated. CONCLUSIONS Diabetes conveys a high risk of CHD in black and non-black middle-aged men and women. Fasting insulin, however, is a CHD risk factor only among women in this cohort.


"One of the least understood countries in the world, North Korea has long been known for its repressive regime. Yet it is far from being an impenetrable black box. Media flows covertly into the country, and fault lines are appearing in the government's sealed informational borders. Drawing on deeply personal interviews with North Korean defectors from all walks of life, ranging from propaganda artists to diplomats, Jieun Baek tells the story of North Korea's information underground--the network of citizens who take extraordinary risks by circulating illicit content such as foreign films, television shows, soap operas, books, and encyclopedias. By fostering an awareness of life outside North Korea and enhancing cultural knowledge, the materials these citizens disseminate are affecting the social and political consciousness of a people, as well as their everyday lives"--Front jacket flap


ABSTRACT In individuals with polymicrobial infections, microbes often display synergistic interactions that can enhance their colonization, virulence, or persistence. One of the most prevalent types of polymicrobial infection occurs in chronic wounds, where Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus are the two most common causes. Although they are the most commonly associated microbial species in wound infections, very little is known about their interspecies relationship. Evidence suggests that P. aeruginosa–S. aureus coinfections are more virulent than monoculture infection with either species; however, difficulties in growing these two pathogens together in vitro have hampered attempts to uncover the mechanisms involved. Here we describe a simple and clinically relevant in vitro wound model that supported concomitant growth of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. We observed that the ability of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus to survive antibiotic treatment increased when they were grown together in planktonic cocultures and that antibiotic tolerance was further enhanced when they were grown together in the wound model. We attributed this enhanced tolerance to both the "host-derived" and "bacterium-derived" matrix components. Taken together, our data indicate that P. aeruginosa and S. aureus may benefit each other by coinfecting wounds and that the host-derived matrix may serve as important a role as the bacterium-derived matrix in protecting bacteria from some antibiotics.


Abstract This study uses Monte Carlo experiments to produce new evidence on the performance of a wide range of panel data estimators. It focuses on estimators that are readily available in statistical software packages such as Stata and Eviews, and for which the number of cross-sectional units (N) and time periods (T) are small to moderate in size. The goal is to develop practical guidelines that will enable researchers to select the best estimator for a given type of data. It extends a previous study on the subject (Reed and Ye, Which panel data estimator should I use? 2011), and modifies their recommendations. The new recommendations provide a (virtually) complete decision tree: When it comes to choosing an estimator for efficiency, it uses the size of the panel dataset (N and T) to guide the researcher to the best estimator. When it comes to choosing an estimator for hypothesis testing, it identifies one estimator as superior across all the data scenarios included in the study. An unusual finding is that researchers should use different estimators for estimating coefficients and testing hypotheses. The authors present evidence that bootstrapping allows one to use the same estimator for both.


SUMMARY Schistosoma japonicum remains highly endemic in many counties in China and has recently re-emerged, to a large extent, in previously controlled areas. To test the hypothesis that small rodents and less agriculturally important domestic animals such as dogs and cats may play an important role in the transmission and potential re-emergence of this disease, an annual investigation of S. japonicum among humans, domestic animals and rodents, combined with detailed surveys of the snail intermediate host, was performed across 3 marshland villages and 3 hilly villages in Anhui province of China over 2 consecutive years. The highest infection prevalence and intensity observed across all mammals was in rodents in the hilly region; while in the marshland, bovines were suspected as the main reservoirs. However, relatively high infection prevalence levels were also found in dogs and cats in both regions. Such results may have implications for the current human- and bovine-oriented control policy for this medically and veterinarily important disease, particularly within the hilly regions of mainland China.