Though diversity remains a compelling state interest, recent rulings like Ricci v. DeStefano and Parents' Involved toll a menacing bell for schools employing racial classifications to admit minority students. Yet, defenders of diversity may find refuge in original meanings, particularly the original meaning of diversity as articulated by Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. in Regents v. Bakke in 1978. Virginian by birth, Powell's interest in "genuine diversity" coincided with a forgotten version of pluralism extant in the American South during the first half of the Twentieth Century. Further, Powell's conviction that diversity distinguished America coalesced during a trip to the Soviet Union in 1958. Recovering Powell's pluralism not only sheds new light on the Justice, but might hold the key to new ways of thinking about diversity generally in university admissions.


The submandibular salivary glands of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice, a model for Sjogren's syndrome and type-1 diabetes, show an elevated level of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), a protein involved in cell proliferation and repair of DNA damage. We reported previously that epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the most abundant green tea catechin, normalizes the PCNA level. PCNA's activity can be regulated by the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21, which is also important for epithelial cell differentiation. In turn, expression of p21 and PCNA are partially regulated by Rb phosphorylation levels. EGCG was found to modulate p21 expression in epithelial cells, suggesting that EGCG-induced p21 could be associated with down-regulation of PCNA in vivo. The current study examined the protein levels of p21 and p53 (which can up-regulate p21) in NOD mice fed with either water or EGCG, and the effect of EGCG on p21 and p53 in cell line models with either normal or defective Rb. In NOD mice, the p21 level was low, and EGCG normalized it. In contrast to HSG cells with functional Rb, negligible expression of p21 in NS-SVAC cells that lack Rb was not altered by EGCG treatment. Inhibition of p53 by siRNA demonstrated that p21 and p53 were induced independently in HSG cells by a physiological concentration range of EGCG, suggesting p53 could be an important but not conditional factor associated with p21 expression. In conclusion, PCNA and p21 levels are altered inversely in the NOD model for SS and in HSG cells, and warrant further study as candidate new markers for salivary dysfunction associated with xerostomia. Induction of p21 by EGCG could provide clinically useful normalization of salivary glands by promoting differentiation and reducing PCNA levels.


ABSTRACT Striving better to uncover causal effects, political science is amid a revolution in micro-empirical research designs and experimental methods. This methodological development—although quite promising in delivering new findings and discovering the mechanisms that underlie previously known associations—raises new and unnerving ethical issues that have yet to be confronted by our profession. We believe that addressing these issues proactively by generating strong, internal norms of disciplinary regulation is preferable to reactive measures, which often come in the wake of public exposés and can lead to externally imposed regulations or centrally imposed internal policing.


Third-party applications on Facebook can collect personal data of the users who install them, but also of their friends. This raises serious privacy issues as these friends are not notified by the applications nor by Facebook and they have not given consent. This paper presents a detailed multi-faceted study on the collateral information collection of the applications on Facebook. To investigate the views of the users, we designed a questionnaire and collected the responses of 114 participants. The results show that participants are concerned about the collateral information collection and in particular about the lack of notification and of mechanisms to control the data collection. Based on real data, we compute the likelihood of collateral information collection affecting users: we show that the probability is significant and greater than 80% for popular applications such as TripAdvisor. We also demonstrate that a substantial amount of profile data can be collected by applications, which enables application providers to profile users. To investigate whether collateral information collection is an issue to users' privacy we analysed the legal framework in light of the new General Data Protection Regulation. We provide a detailed analysis of the entities involved and investigate which entity is accountable for the collateral information collection. To provide countermeasures, we propose a privacy dashboard extension that implements privacy scoring computations to enhance transparency towards collateral information collection. Furthermore, we discuss alternative solutions highlighting other countermeasures such as notification and access control mechanisms, cryptographic solutions and application auditing. To the best of our knowledge this is the first work that provides a detailed multi-faceted study of this problem and that analyses the threat of user profiling by application providers.


We address the problem of automatic recognition of functional parts of man-made 3D shapes in the presence of significant geometric and topological variations. We observe that under such challenging circumstances, the context of a part within a 3D shape provides important cues for learning the semantics of shapes. We propose to model the context as structural relationships between shape parts and use them, in addition to part geometry, as cues for functionality recognition. We represent a 3D shape as a graph interconnecting parts that share some spatial relationships. We model the context of a shape part as walks in the graph. Similarity between shape parts can then be defined as the similarity between their contexts, which in turn can be efficiently computed using graph kernels. This formulation enables us to: (1) find part-wise semantic correspondences between 3D shapes in a nonsupervised manner and without relying on user-specified textual tags, and (2) design classifiers that learn in a supervised manner the functionality of the shape components. We specifically show that the performance of the proposed context-aware similarity measure in finding part-wise correspondences outperforms geometry-only-based techniques and that contextual analysis is effective in dealing with shapes exhibiting large geometric and topological variations.


The present doctoral thesis is structured as a collection of three essays.
The first essay, "SOC(HE)-Italy: a classification for graduate occupations" presents the conceptual basis, the construction, the validation and the application to the Italian labour force of the occupational classification termed SOC(HE)-Italy. I have developed this classification under the supervision of Kate Purcell during my period as a visiting research student at the Warwick Institute for Emplyment Research. This classification links the constituent tasks and duties of a particular job to the relevant knowledge and skills imparted via Higher Education (HE). It is based onto the SOC(HE)2010, an occupational classification first proposed by Kate Purcell in 2013, but differently constructed. In the second essay "Assessing the incidence and wage effects of overeducation among Italian graduates using a new measure for educational requirements" I utilize this classification to build a valid and reliable measure for job requirements. The lack of an unbiased measure for this dimension constitutes one of the major constraints to achieve a generally accepted measurement of overeducation. Estimations of overeducation incidence and wage effects are run onto AlmaLaurea data from the survey on graduates career paths. I have written this essay and obtained these estimates benefiting of the help and guidance of Giovanni Guidetti and Giulio Pedrini. The third and last essay titled "Overeducation in the Italian labour market: clarifying the concepts and addressing the measurement error problem" addresses a number of theoretical issues concerning the concepts of educational mismatch and overeducation. Using Istat data from RCFL survey I run estimates of the ORU model for the whole Italian labour force. In my knowledge, this is the first time ever such model is estimated on such population. In addition, I adopt the new measure of overeducation based onto the SOC(HE)-Italy classification.


In this paper, we leverage the torus topology to design a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) backbone network for operation in hazardous avionic environments. The proposed WDM local area network offers efficient data delivery and fast fault recovery via establishing four non-overlapping lightpaths for any source-destination pair. First, we describe a torus-based architecture and propose an efficient non-overlapping lightpath setup algorithm: FOLD (Four-way Optimal Disjoint Routing). The algorithm is proved to achieve optimal link utilization. Second, based on the proposed lightpath setup algorithm, a wavelength allocation and reuse (WAR) scheme enforcing wavelength continuity is proposed to minimize the wavelength utilization for all-to-all communication. An analytical calculation on wavelength utilization shows that the proposed WAR performs very close to an ideal wavelength assignment scheme without wavelength continuity being enforced. Lastly, the probabilistic and capacity analysis demonstrates vast reliability improvement via applying the proposed network architecture in terms of network-failure-induced impact on connection reliability and network capacity degradation.


Abstract. The present paper is a preliminary study preparing the introduction of reversible trace gas uptake by ice particles into a 3-D cloud resolving model. For this a 3-D simulation of a tropical deep convection cloud was run with the BRAMS cloud resolving model using a two-moment bulk microphysical parameterization. Trajectories within the convective clouds were computed from these simulation outputs along which the variations of the pristine ice, snow and aggregate mixing ratios and concentrations were extracted. The reversible uptake of 11 trace gases by ice was examined assuming applicability of Langmuir isotherms using recently evaluated (IUPAC) laboratory data. The results show that ice uptake is only significant for HNO3, HCl, CH3COOH and HCOOH. For H2O2, using new results for the partition coefficient results in significant partitioning to the ice phase for this trace gas also. It was also shown that the uptake is largely dependent on the temperature for some species. The adsorption saturation at the ice surface for large gas mixing ratios is generally not a limiting factor except for HNO3 and HCl for gas mixing ratio greater than 1 ppbv. For HNO3, results were also obtained using a trapping theory, resulting in a similar order of magnitude of uptake, although the two approaches are based on different assumptions. The results were compared to those obtained using a BRAMS cloud simulation based on a single-moment microphysical scheme instead of the two moment scheme. We found similar results with a slightly more important uptake when using the single-moment scheme which is related to slightly higher ice mixing ratios in this simulation. The way to introduce these results in the 3-D cloud model is discussed.


Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is an autosomal recessive disorder associated with multiple oculocutaneous manifestations.We discuss a unique case of XP having bilateral ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) and periocular basal cell carcinoma. In the right eye, a large OSSN mass involving the ocular surface extensively along with intraocular invasion was noted, whereas in the left eye, the tumour mass was involving the limbus, and extending up to three clock hours. Because of extensive disease in the right eye, orbital exenteration was performed, and for the left eye, a wide excision of the mass with triple freeze thaw cryo application to the margins followed by amniotic membrane grafting was done. Basal cell carcinoma was noted around the medial canthus on both sides. The right-sided basal cell carcinoma was treated by wide excision followed by a forehead rotation flap and the left-sided lesion was managed with topical 5% imiquimod cream.


This article explores effectual processes within home-based, online businesses. Our empirical evidence provides a number of refinements to the concept of effectuation in this specific domain. First, the ubiquity of non-proprietary online trading platforms encourages the adoption of effectual approaches and removes the importance of forming proprietary strategic alliances and pre-commitments. Second, the notion of affordable loss – a central tenet of effectuation – should be extended beyond the notion of economic to social affordable loss, including loss of status and reputation, and finally, home-based online businesses allow effectuation to be associated with low levels of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and experience.


This study empirically characterizes the interdependence in cyber attacks and examines the impact from the first international treaty against cybercrimes (Convention on Cybercrimes: Europe Treaty Series No. 185). With the data covering 62 countries over the period from year 2003 to 2007, we find that, international cooperation in enforcement as measured by the indicator of joining the Convention on Cybercrimes, deterred cyber attacks originating from any particular country by 15.81% ~ 24.77% (in 95% confidence interval). Second, joining the Convention also affected the interdependence in cyber attacks from two angels. First, for any pair of country, closer status in joining or not joining the Convention was associated with less negative or more positive correlation. Second, joining the Convention or joining it earlier was associated with lower correlation between countries over time. We discuss the policy implications from our findings to public authorities, cyber insurance companies and organizational users.


Threats from man-made radionuclides include waste issues, increasing number of power plants, underground bomb testing, nuclear weapons, and "dirty bombs". Until recently the ionizing radiation protection system focused on protecting humans with an implied protection of biota. However, goals of sustainable development and precautionary principles for human activity are leading to an inclusion of plant and animal populations in the protection system.From this perspective, the present thesis examines wetlands that function as sinks for the radionuclide 137Cs, and describes calculated and measured radiation doses to residing biota. Also, multi-level effects from exposure to low-dose rate ionizing radiation were studied. Accumulation of 137Cs after the Chernobyl accident fallout was studied in a riparian wetland with a mean activity concentration of 1 200 kBq m-2 in Sweden (paper I). A mass balance budget of 137Cs showed that the sedimentation of new material was balanced by the decay process of 137Cs in parts of the wetland (paper I).Frogs were identified as organisms of concern in this wetland. Internal radiation doses, based on whole body measurements of frogs, were estimated to be lower than external doses based on soil samples (paper II). Current dose models for biota resulted in a wide range of doses depending on different levels of conservatism in the models. Therefore, in situ measurements with frog-phantoms were found to provide valuable dose information (paper III). Measured doses using frog-phantoms were lower than calculated doses using several dose models. Although a dose conversion factor by FASSET was found to be useful for comparison with measurements in the field. A higher dose was measured to the phantom surface in comparison to inner parts, i.e. the sensitive skin of frogs receives the highest dose. Estimated and measured radiation doses to frogs were below suggested dose rate limits.Low-dose rate 137Cs exposure of eggs and tadpoles from three amphibian species, Scaphiopus holbrookii, Bufo terrestris, and Rana catesbeiana, showed no increased levels of strand breaks in red blood cells, and no effects on development, survival or growth up to metamorphosis (paper IV). The ecological factor larval density had a stronger effect on metamorphic traits than low-dose rate radiation. Higher levels of strand breaks were detected after an acute dose in R. catesbeiana than after a chronic dose supporting a dose rate limit for protection of amphibians rather than a dose limit (paper IV).Based on current knowledge, frogs in the contaminated wetland are probably not exposed to radiation doses from 137Cs that are harmful for the population. However, variations in sensitivity between populations and species, and adaptive responses have been shown for amphibians exposed to other stressors. This supports further research on effects of chronic low-dose rates of ionizing radiation on amphibians.


This study focuses on the effectiveness of using multimedia virtual simulation in Islamic Studies in Malaysia. Virtual simulation methods embedded in Microsoft PowerPoint was used in this study to determine the effectiveness of these modes to motivate students on the topic of pilgrimage in the Islamic Studies subject. Pilgrimage topic has been choosen because pilgrimage of hajj is a difficult topic to be learnt as it is not same as performing everyday prayers or fasting during in Ramadhan for Muslims. Virtual simulation allow students to interact with a virtual environment that almost similar to the real environment in Mecca. A study was conducted using a 2x2 factorial experimental and quasi t-test was used as a method of analyzing the data. The finding of this study shows that the use of virtual simulation help students to increase their achievement in a topic of pilgrimage


Efficient and safe use of mobile roof supports (MRS) depends on the interaction between the MRS and coal strata. Of particular interest to this study are the mechanics of strata deformation as influenced by geologic conditions, pillar extraction methods, and MRS load-bearing capabilities. To provide a better understanding of the mechanics of strata deformation, the authors have collected and reviewed measurements of convergence and stress in one western U.S. mine and have completed pseudo-three-dimensional, boundary-element modeling for two typical pillar-pulling plans. Stress distribution in the mine roof above pairs of MRS's was calculated to demonstrate how MRS's contributed to the control of roof block movements. It was shown that overall stress and roof-floor convergence patterns were most influenced by the stiffness of coal-measure rocks and by pillar-pulling sequences and layouts. MRS's and other support systems play a critical role in controlling the stability of both the immediate roof and the middle roof for a distance of up to 18 m (60 ft) above the seam. MRS's provide unique ground control advantages over other types of secondary support by significantly reducing the time between mining and installation of secondary support. Although MRS's are similar to posts in stiffness and capacity, they are more effective than posts under static loads because they can yield and still maintain loads at near-peak capacity, whereas posts fail and loose their ability to limit mine roof deformation.


A fiber optic probe has been built and demonstrated that utilizes back scattered spontaneous Raman spectroscopy to detect and identify gaseous species. The small probe, coupled to the laser and data acquisition equipment with optical fibers, has applications in gaseous leak detection and process monitoring. The probe design and data acquisition system are described. Raman scattering theory has been reviewed and the results of intensity calculations of hydrogen and nitrogen Raman scattering are given. Because the device is in its developmental stage, only preliminary experimental results are presented here. Intensity scans across the rotationalvibrational Raman lines of nitrogen and hydrogen are presented. Nitrogen at a partial pressure of 0.077 MPa was detected. Hydrogen at a partial pressure of 2 kPa approached the lower limit of detectability with the present apparatus. Potential instrument improvements that would allow more sensitive and rapid hydrogen detection are identified.


A few events in recent American history are analyzed as "disagreement failures," while others are described as exemplifying "disagreement success." These terms are defined in order to support the conclusion that deliberative democracy requires both the celebration of disagreement and the crossing of multiple borders through dialogue. Such a "democracy of conversation" more specifically requires a culture that explicitly celebrates disagreement as an activity, meaning that it treats actual engagement in disagreement as a part of a life well-lived, and that it therefore routinely pushes for the inclusion of as many "sides" as possible in public talk. Supported in this way, cross-border, public conversation would be inherently democratic, community-building, and anti-totalitarian. Held regularly, such talk would help participants to see issues from multiple points of view, and would do so without asking them to give in to the non-thinking of mere tolerance. People who take part in such conversations would be more likely to face up to difficult issues politicians often avoid, and politicians would both be pushed and enabled to do better. In addition, such disagreement practice would cultivate respect for humanity, as participants observe themselves and others making sense, being civil, and in general doing a good job under presssure.


This Essay seeks to demonstrate that federal disability discrimination law conflicts with and thus supervenes the Trump Administration's new regulations changing the standards for excluding immigrants from the United States on the basis of their likelihood of becoming a public charge. The new regulations use an explicit disability-related criterion that is not required by the statutory admission standards and will have an unjustified negative impact on immigrants who have disabling conditions. The Essay draws the comparison to Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Inc., a 2014 case in which the Supreme Court invalidated a federal regulation on the ground that it conflicted not with its enabling legislation but with an unrelated federal statute, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.


Many machine learning tasks such as multiple instance learning, 3D shape recognition and few-shot image classification are defined on sets of instances. Since solutions to such problems do not depend on the permutation of elements of the set, models used to address them should be permutation invariant. We present an attention-based neural network module, the Set Transformer, specifically designed to model interactions among elements in the input set. The model consists of an encoder and a decoder, both of which rely on attention mechanisms. In an effort to reduce computational complexity, we introduce an attention scheme inspired by inducing point methods from sparse Gaussian process literature. It reduces computation time of self-attention from quadratic to linear in the number of elements in the set. We show that our model is theoretically attractive and we evaluate it on a range of tasks, demonstrating increased performance compared to recent methods for set-structured data.


The type 1 IGF receptor (IGF1R) is a transmembrane tyrosine kinase that is frequently overexpressed by tumours, and mediates proliferation and apoptosis protection. IGF signalling also influences hypoxia signalling, protease secretion, tumour cell motility and adhesion, and thus can affect the propensity for invasion and metastasis. Therefore, the IGF1R is now an attractive anti-cancer treatment target. This review outlines the effects of IGF1R activation in tumour cells, and will describe the strategies that are available to block IGF signalling, both as investigational tools and as novel anti-cancer therapeutics. Design of specific IGF1R inhibitors has been problematic due to close homology with the insulin receptor, but recently it has proved possible to design selective IGF1R inhibitors. These compounds and IGF1R antibodies are showing promise in preclinical models of human cancer, and several agents are now in early phase clinical trials. Both classes of agents affect insulin receptor signalling, either by direct kinase inhibition or antibody-induced insulin receptor downregulation. This effect may lead to clinical toxicity, but could be therapeutically beneficial in blocking signalling via variant insulin receptors capable of a mitogenic response to IGF-II. Specificity for IGF1R targeting can be achieved by antisense and siRNA-mediated IGF1R downregulation; these approaches have undoubted utility as research tools, and may in future generate nucleic-acid-based therapeutics. It will be important to use data from preclinical and early clinical trials to establish the molecular correlates of sensitivity to IGF1R blockade, and the optimum means of combining this new approach with standard treatment modalities.


The most common sources of environmental noise are human transportation systems which can have catastrophic effects on physiology and behavior of wildlife species. Spatial models of noise propagation from roads in ecological sensitive region could be very useful tools for prediction of roads impacts. The goal of our study was to apply a straightforward, accurate, and affordable approach for modeling noise impacts from Isfahan's west ringway, which passes through Ghamishloo wildlife refuge. We used the System for the Prediction of Acoustic Detectability noise model (SPreAD-GIS). For this study, land use map, meteorological data, topography map, and noise source characteristics were used as the model inputs. We compared the model results to wildlife occurrences to evaluate how noise effects could impact threatened animals. The key affected species of the study area Goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) and wild sheep (Ovis orientalis isphahanica), were considered for impact analysis. The results showed that in the areas with noise intensity lower that 20 db the animal has no actions and the area is known as "calm area", however the areas with noise intensity higher than 20 db is as "disturbance and action" area. The comparison of the results of both species showed that the results vary based on their habitat and behavior, and we found the higher noise impacts on distribution of Goitered gazelle in the study area.


Higher education institutions have a responsibility to produce successful graduates; therefore, teaching, of which assessment is an integral part, must promote quality learning. This paper reports on an evaluation of the quality of summative assessments. A qualitative research design was used and a document analysis strategy was followed. Examination papers, memoranda and applicable learner guides were the primary data sources. Results showed that the assessment instruments studied mostly complied with the principles for assessment and the NQF level descriptors. However, it was found that only 10% of the marks allocated in the papers were allotted for items requiring higher order cognitive activity, and only 50% were aligned with outcomes and criteria found in the learner guides. It is therefore concluded that an improvement in the quality of summative assessment instruments is required.


In the lead-up to the next presidential election, it will be important for candidates both to maintain an online presence and to exercise control over bad faith uses of domain names and web content related to their campaigns. What are the legal implications for the domain name system? Although, for example, Senator Hillary Clinton now owns "hillaryclinton.com", the more generic "hillary.com" is registered to a software firm, Hillary Software, Inc. What about "hillary2008.com"? It is registered to someone outside the Clinton campaign and is not currently in active use. This article examines the large gaps and inconsistencies in current domain name law and policy as to domain name use in the political context. Current domain name policy is focused on protecting trademark uses of domain names against bad faith commercial "cybersquatters". It does not deal with protecting important uses of domain names as part of the political process. This article identifies the current problems with Internet domain name policy in the political context and makes recommendations for developing clearer guidelines for uses of political domain names. In so doing, it creates a new categorization system for different problems confronting the political process in cyberspace, including: (a) socially and economically wasteful political "cybersquatting"; (b) politicial "cyberfraud" which might involve conduct such as registering a politician's name as a domain name to promulgate a misleading message about the politician; and, (c) competition between politicians' names and competing trademark interests.


This thesis describes a PhD study which explored the impact of short breaks provided by children's hospices on the partner relationship between parents. The specific objectives of the study were to: (1) explore parents' perceptions of parenting life-limited/ threatened children or young people on their relationships, (2) determine if frequent short breaks enhance relationship satisfaction between parental figures compared to those who receive short breaks less frequently or not at all, (3) identify effects on relationships of parents receiving home and hospice-based short breaks compared to those receiving hospice-based short breaks only or home-based care only, and (4) identify societal factors influencing romantic relationships between parents of families receiving short breaks. A two phase exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used. In the first phase fifteen parental figures accessing a children's hospice were interviewed. Three main themes were identified, reflecting parents' perceptions of short breaks on their relationship with their partners: (1) 'Every family is different', (2) 'Short break significance' and (3) 'Short break quality'. The theme 'Every family is different' encompassed three sub-themes: (i) 'Alternative short breaks'; (ii) 'Pressure and conflict between parental figures' and (iii) 'Together but separate'. 'Short break significance' comprised (i) 'Significance to relationship' and (ii) 'Children before relationship'. 'Short break quality' encompassed: (i) 'Building trust' and (ii) 'Getting a real break'. The second phase, an online survey, further explored interview themes. Participating children's hospices distributed the survey to parents currently accessing short breaks. Results suggested hospice short breaks positively impacted relationship satisfaction and also supported interview themes. Integration of findings from both phases revealed the impact of children's hospice short breaks on parental relationships is mediated by both external and internal influences. External influences are represented by a modified ABCX model of adjustment and adaptation (McCubbin and Patterson 1983) and the theme 'Every family is different'. Families differ externally in terms of contributory stressors and protective resources. Couples with high contributing stressors and low protective resources benefit from short breaks, whilst those with low contributing factors and high protective resources benefit less. The theme of 'Short break quality' represented internal influences, comprising 'Building trust' and 'Getting a real break'. Building trust was strongly linked to frequency of short breaks and hospice staff knowing the child or young person. The theme 'Getting a real break' was linked to short break location. If short break quality was perceived to be poor, perceived impact on relationships between parents was lessened. This study has significant implications for how short breaks are delivered by children's hospices, specifically the importance of recognising individual family differences, tailoring short breaks to meet these differing needs and building trust between parents and hospice staff.


The debate over how to properly foster and maintain affordable housing has remained a longstanding, contentious issue in Massachusetts government. For the past thirty years, this debate has crystallized and regularly centered on Chapter 40B, Massachusetts's affordable housing law. Recent executive, legislative, and private proposals, coupled with extraordinary increases in housing costs, have resulted in growing concerns over the effectiveness of 40B and the correct method, if any, of axing its deaciencies. This Note examines these proposals as well as affordable housing efforts in other parts of the country and argues that Massachusetts's affordable housing crisis will only be solved if the State legislature replaces 40B's arbitrary housing quotas with new initiatives that create enough housing to meet demand and new incentives that encourage municipalities and the private sector to join in its efforts.


This paper shows that when the bankruptcy code protects the creditors' rights with no impairments to secured creditors, issuance of debt such as repo with exemption from automatic stay adds no value. When the bankruptcy process admits violations of absolute priority rules or results in collateral impairments to secured creditors, the liability structure includes short-term debt, with safe harbor protection when the pledged collateral satisfies a minimum liquidity threshold. Safe harbor rights lead firms to issue more short-term debt, less long-term debt and increase the long-term spreads.


Coal will continue to play a major role in the global energy system for the coming decades. Climate change mitigation policies and measures may put stricter caps on emission of greenhouse gases. This report analyses what role clean coal technologies (CCTs) can play in a world where carbon emissions are constrained and which policy frameworks are conducive to CCTs. For that purpose, future coal scenarios are analysed, as well as policy frameworks that encourage CCTs. The technical focus of this study is on supercritical pulverised coal combustion (SPCC), integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and CO{sub 2} capture and storage. From a scenario analysis involving major world regions it appears that CCTs have a significant potential for climate change mitigation. To date, the Kyoto Protocol has failed to encourage the implementation of CCTs within its mechanisms; however, Governments have increased support for carbon capture and storage (CCS). In current post-2012 climate policy regime proposals CCTs are likely to play a limited role. A separate agreement specifically targeting CCTs may be more effective and such an agreement is also introduced in this study. 65 refs., 4 figs., 8 tabs.


The objective of this study was to increase knowledge of sexual abuse against older residents in nursing homes. A qualitative approach was used. Through a focus group interview with staff in nursing homes, the aim was to reveal employees' thoughts, experiences, and attitudes. Findings from the focus group interview show that sexual abuse of older residents is a taboo topic among health professionals. Acts of sexual abuse are difficult to imagine; it is hard to believe that it occurs. The fact that staff are not aware that it could happen, or have a hard time believing that it actually happens, can amplify the residents' vulnerable position as potential victims of abuse, and it makes it even more challenging to report or uncover such acts. The study highlights the need for education of all health care workers in Norway as well as more research on sexual abuse against older residents in nursing homes. Furthermore, there is a need for good policies and reporting systems, as an important step towards addressing sexual abuse of the aged in a more appropriate way. Further research must aim to reveal more about this taboo area.


Abstract Introduction Past research suggests a link between post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and an increased risk for sexual problems. However, there is still no clear picture whether these higher rates are related to trauma exposure or to PTSD itself. Aim The aim of the present study was to complement existing knowledge on the relative impact of trauma and PTSD on sexuality in later life, considering different aspects of trauma exposure on both men and women. Methods The study was conducted on a unique population sample of former Swiss indentured child laborers (55 men, M age 78, age range 60–95 years) who have repeatedly experienced a variety of severe childhood traumas. Main Outcome Measures Sexual outcomes were measured using two scales from the Trauma Symptom Inventory—Dysfunctional Sexual Behavior (DSB) and Sexual Concerns (SC). PTSD symptoms and trauma were assessed with the Short Screening Scale for PTSD and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, respectively. Results Twenty‐two individuals showed PTSD symptoms, and 53 reported having experienced childhood trauma. Significant differences between men and women were reported for DSB and SC. Men reported a significantly higher prevalence of both SC and DSB compared with women. Conclusions This is the very first study investigating DSB and SC in a sample of older adults exposed to similar traumatic experiences and settings. However, some study limitations need to be considered such as the small sample size. Additional studies are needed to further explore the relative role of traumatization and PTSD on sexual behavior and well‐being, especially to improve sexual therapy for patients who experience trauma. Rechsteiner K, Burri A, and Maercker A. Sexual behavior and concerns in a sample of elderly, former indentured Swiss child laborers. Sex Med 2015;3:305–314.


JUST AS WE CAN BE MORE OR LESS CERTAIN about empirical matters, e.g., that global warming is caused by humans or that the CIA planned the murder of President John F. Kennedy, we can be more or less certain about normative matters, e.g., that male circumcision is morally wrong or that an action is right if and only if it maximizes happiness. in other words, both normative and nonnormative beliefs can vary in degrees. Recently, it has been argued that this is a challenge for noncognitivism about normativity. Noncognitivists think that normative judgments (primarily) express conative or "desire-like" attitudes rather than beliefs, so the challenge is to account for the fact that normative certitude varies in degrees. Michael Smith presented the challenge in a 2002 paper and James Lenman (2003) and Michael Ridge (2003, 2007) responded independently. We challenged Lenman's and Ridge's responses in our joint 2009 paper. Andrew Sepielli (forthcoming) has now joined the rescue operation. His basic idea is that noncognitivists should employ the notion of being for (Schroeder 2008) to account for normative certitude. But as we shall see in section 2, the being for account of normative certitude is vulnerable to many problems shared by other noncognitivist theories. Furthermore, Sepielli's favored normalization procedure for degrees of being for has highly problematic implications, as we will show in section 3. We begin in section 1 by explaining the being for account of normative certitude. 1. The Being For Account of Normative Certitude Sepielli takes noncognitivism to be a psychological theory about normative judgment, and expressivism to be the semantic theory endorsed by most noncognitivists. According to expressivism, the meaning of normative terms is to be understood in terms of the (noncognitive) psychological states they are used to express. A notorious problem for expressivism is to account for the meaning of normative terms when they are embedded in complex sentences. This problem goes by various labels, such as the Frege-Geach problem, the problem of embedding and the negation problem. On Sepielli's view, noncognitivism can account for normative certitude only if expressivism has enough structure to solve the Frege-Geach problem. Sepielli's basic maneuver is to apply Schroeder's recent treatment of the Frege-Geach problem to the problem of normative certitude. Let us follow Schroeder and focus on negation. Consider the sentence (1) "Jon thinks that murdering is wrong." There are various places where we can insert a negation in this sentence, e.g., the following: (2) "Jon thinks that murdering is not wrong." Now, expressivists face at least two challenges. The first is to explain what kind of noncognitive attitude (2) attributes to Jon. The second is to explain why this attitude is inconsistent with the attitude attributed to Jon in (1). Advocates of traditional expressivism might want to say that (1) attributes to Jon a negative attitude to murdering while (2) attributes to Jon an attitude of toleration of murdering. But then it remains to be explained why a negative attitude to murdering and toleration of murdering are inconsistent attitudes. Since the two attitudes have the same content, the alleged inconsistency between them cannot be explained in terms of their content. According to Schroeder's diagnosis, traditional expressivism has too little structure to meet the second challenge, so his fix is to add more structure. He does so by introducing the attitude of being for. The idea is that to think an action wrong, right, etc., is to take the attitude of being for some other attitude to the action in question. To illustrate, sentence (1) should be understood as (1') "Jon is for blaming for murder" and (2) as (2') "Jon is for not blaming for murder." It is easy to see that the content of the attitude attributed to Jon in (1') is inconsistent with the content of the attitude attributed to Jon in (2'). …


Background: Inclisiran inhibits hepatic synthesis of proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9. Previous studies suggest that inclisiran might provide sustained reductions in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels with infrequent dosing. Materials and Methods: We enrolled patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ORION-10 trial) and patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or an atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk equivalent (ORION-11 trial) who had elevated LDL cholesterol levels despite receiving statin therapy at the maximum tolerated dose. Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either inclisiran (284 mg) or placebo, administered by subcutaneous injection on day 1, day 90, and every 6 months thereafter over a period of 540 days. The coprimary end points in each trial were the placebo-corrected percentage change in LDL cholesterol level from baseline to day 510 and the time-adjusted percentage change in LDL cholesterol level from baseline after day 90 and up to day 540. Results: A total of 1,561 and 1,617 patients underwent randomization in the ORION-10 and ORION-11 trials, respectively. Mean (±SD) LDL cholesterol levels at baseline were 104.7 ± 38.3 mg per deciliter (2.71 ± 0.99 mmol per liter) and 105.5 ± 39.1 mg per deciliter (2.73 ± 1.01 mmol per liter), respectively. At day 510, inclisiran reduced LDL cholesterol levels by 52.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 48.8-55.7) in the ORION-10 trial and by 49.9% (95% CI, 46.6-53.1) in the ORION-11 trial, with corresponding timeadjusted reductions of 53.8% (95% CI, 51.3-56.2) and 49.2% (95% CI, 46.8-51.6) (P < .001 for all comparisons vs. placebo). Adverse events were generally similar in the inclisiran and placebo groups in each trial, although injectionsite adverse events were more frequent with inclisiran than with placebo (2.6% vs. 0.9% in the ORION-10 trial and 4.7% vs. 0.5% in the ORION-11 trial); such reactions were generally mild, and none were severe or persistent. Conclusion: Reductions in LDL cholesterol levels of approximately 50% were obtained with inclisiran, administered subcutaneously every 6 months. More injectionsite adverse events occurred with inclisiran than with placebo.


The authors construct real-time trading strategies based on the dynamic theories of Cootner [1960], Stoll [1979], and Hirshleifer [1990]. These strategies are constructed using the aggregate positions of hedgers. For a sample of 10 liquid commodities they find broad support for these dynamic theories. The active long flat strategies outperform buy and hold strategies, even during a commodity bull market, suggesting that these actively managed strategies are better investments than passive indexes. The results illustrate the importance of being able to capture "phases of backwardation" even during a commodity bull market.


Fasciolosis is a worldwide zoonotic infection caused by liver flukes of the genus Fasciola, of which Fasciola hepatica and a larger species, Fasciola gigantica are the most common representatives. These two food-borne trematodes usually infect domestic ruminants and cause important economic losses to sheep, goats and cattle. In commercial herds, fasciolosis is of great economic significance worldwide with losses estimated to exceed 2000 million dollars yearly, affecting more than 600 million animals, in articles reported a decade ago. In addition, F. hepatica causes an estimated loss of $3 billion worldwide per annum through livestock mortality, especially in sheep, and by decreased productivity via reduction of milk and meat yields in cattle. The parasitological diagnosis of fasciolosis is often unreliable because the parasite's eggs are not found during the prepatent period. Even when the worms have matured, the diagnosis may still be difficult since eggs are only intermittently released. Repeated examinations of stools are usually required to increase the accuracy of the diagnosis. Early diagnosis of fasciolosis is necessary for institution of prompt treatment before irreparable damage of the liver occurs. For these reasons, serology is the most dependable method for diagnosing fasciolosis. Attempts have been made to diagnose fasciolosis by detecting antibodies in the serum of sheep suspected of being infected with the flukes. Advances in immunodiagnosis have focused on detection of Fasciola antigens in host body fluid; these tests have an advantage over antibody detection because antigenemia implies recent and active infection. Similarly, somatic and excretory secretory (E/S) antigens of Fasciola sp. or their partially purified component are the commonest source of antigens used in protection trials and serodiagnosis. Thus, the aim of the present review is to encourage more young researchers to initiate work on this aspect of these economically cosmopolitan parasites.

 Key words: Fasciolosis, Antigenemia, E/S antigens, serodiagnosis, immunoassay, Fasciola spp., zoonotic disease.


This paper investigates if there is state dependence in the gender composition of managers in German establishments. We analyze whether the number of hired female managers (respectively the share of females within hired managers) depends on the past hiring decisions of an establishment. Using administrative data, we apply dynamic linear models and dynamic tobit models accounting for unobserved heterogeneity and the endogeneity of lagged dependent variables. We find that an increase of female manager hires in present leads to more female hired managers in the future. Similarly, the number of male manager hires also exhibits state dependence.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the image quality of virtual monochromatic images synthesized from dual-source dual-energy computed tomography (CT) in comparison with conventional polychromatic single-energy CT for the same radiation dose.

METHODS
In dual-energy CT, besides the material-specific information, one may also synthesize monochromatic images at different energies, which can be used for routine diagnosis similar to conventional polychromatic single-energy images. In this work, the authors assessed whether virtual monochromatic images generated from dual-source CT scanners had an image quality similar to that of polychromatic single-energy images for the same radiation dose. First, the authors provided a theoretical analysis of the optimal monochromatic energy for either the minimum noise level or the highest iodine contrast to noise ratio (CNR) for a given patient size and dose partitioning between the low- and high-energy scans. Second, the authors performed an experimental study on a dual-source CT scanner to evaluate the noise and iodine CNR in monochromatic images. A thoracic phantom with three sizes of attenuating rings was used to represent four adult sizes. For each phantom size, three dose partitionings between the low-energy (80 kV) and the high-energy (140 kV) scans were used in the dual-energy scan. Monochromatic images at eight energies (40 to 110 keV) were generated for each scan. Phantoms were also scanned at each of the four polychromatic single energy (80, 100, 120, and 140 kV) with the same radiation dose.

RESULTS
The optimal virtual monochromatic energy depends on several factors: phantom size, partitioning of the radiation dose between low- and high-energy scans, and the image quality metrics to be optimized. With the increase of phantom size, the optimal monochromatic energy increased. With the increased percentage of radiation dose on the low energy scan, the optimal monochromatic energy decreased. When maximizing the iodine CNR in monochromatic images, the optimal energy was lower than that when minimizing noise level. When the total radiation dose was equally distributed between low and high energy in dual-energy scans, for minimum noise, the optimal energies were 68, 71, 74, and 77 keV for small, medium, large, and extra-large (xlarge) phantoms, respectively; for maximum iodine CNR, the optimal energies were 66, 68, 70, 72 keV. With the optimal monochromatic energy, the noise level was similar to and the CNR was better than that in a single-energy scan at 120 kV for the same radiation dose. Compared to an 80 kV scan, however, the iodine CNR in monochromatic images was lower for the small, medium, and large phantoms.

CONCLUSIONS
In dual-source dual-energy CT, optimal virtual monochromatic energy depends on patient size, dose partitioning, and the image quality metric optimized. With the optimal monochromatic energy, the noise level was similar to and the iodine CNR was better than that in 120 kV images for the same radiation dose. Compared to single-energy 80 kV images, the iodine CNR in virtual monochromatic images was lower for small to large phantom sizes.


Many developed societies are witnessing, amongst other things, populations that are ageing and legislation designed to promote equality for all. How are these trends impacting upon innovation, and how are government and enterprise responding to this? Various terms - largely interchangeable - are used to describe the process of designing products and services that enable a wider access to these in society: universal design, design for all, and inclusive design. Within industrial design and architecture there are established movements promoting the use of universal design principles in consumer products, housing and public spaces. Examples of products that are universally useable by young and old, able-bodied and disabled alike can be found already: mobile telephones, ATMs, elevators, healthcare equipment, kitchen appliances, website design, and watches. This focus on inclusive (universal) design is occurring worldwide but at different rates, and in different forms. This paper examines the impact of inclusive design on the innovation process, considering: What is driving the adoption and implementation of inclusive (universal) design practices in society? Which activities require further attention in the innovation debate? It considers inclusive design in products, services and processes. The paper suggests that whilst considerable attention has been paid to consumer product innovation, and to a lesser extent consumer services, there is both a need and a shortfall of attention on innovation in industrial products and operations. Companies will need to develop working environments that accommodate a greater variety of workforce, especially by age and ability. This will necessitate internal innovation of practice as well as the selection of appropriate external processes and practices. Finally, the paper highlights a number of research areas requiring further examination with regard to inclusive design practice.


In this paper, we address attacks that exploit the timing behavior of TCP and other protocols and applications in low-latency anonymity networks. Mixes have been used in many anonymous communication systems and are supposed to provide countermeasures to defeat traffic analysis attacks. In this paper, we focus on a particular class of traffic analysis attacks, flow-correlation attacks, by which an adversary attempts to analyze the network traffic and correlate the traffic of a flow over an input link with that over an output link. Two classes of correlation methods are considered, namely time-domain methods and frequency-domain methods. Based on our threat model and known strategies in existing mix networks, we perform extensive experiments to analyze the performance of mixes. We find that all but a few batching strategies fail against flow-correlation attacks, allowing the adversary to either identify ingress and egress points of a flow or to reconstruct the path used by the flow. Counterintuitively, some batching strategies are actually detrimental against attacks. The empirical results provided in this paper give an indication to designers of Mix networks about appropriate configurations and mechanisms to be used to counter flow-correlation attacks.


Settlements of sites with existing structures are more difficult to mitigate than those of sites without structures. Equipment access, work area, noise, dust, vibrations, and cost are amplified and become more critical. Following are three case histories involving mitigation of settlements under three different types of structures. The first case, an office building in the San Francisco Bay Area, involved soil densification under piles to mitigate further settlements. The compaction grout densification process was extended beyond the bottoms of the piles to treat fill materials under the footprint of the building. Additional lense grout reinforcement was required to reinforce the hillside soils to reduce downward movements. Five years after completion of remediation work, the site showed no detectable movement. The second case concerned a maintenance facility at the June Lakes Ski Resort in the Sierra Mountains, where a structure had been built on top of a fill that was underlain by a layer of gravel and cobbles. Within a year of construction, signs of structural distress were evident. Geotechnical investigations revealed that settlements were caused by at least two factors; the downward migration of the upper fill layer into the large pores of the lower layer, and the possible densification of the upper fill under its own weight. The remedial work consisted of providing a barrier between the two layers to allow for an effective compaction grout densification effort of the upper fill layer and to prevent further migrations into the gravel and cobbles layer. No structural distress or any movement has been detected since the remedial work was completed six years ago. The third case presents the treatment of the old and new footings of the Rose Bowl Stadium in Southern California. A permeation grouting system was selected, designed, and implemented to solidify zones of the sand-gravel-cobbles mixture of the foundation soils to act as pedestals for underpinning the old footings and supporting the new ones.


Abstract This article explores the relationship between precision attack and international humanitarian law. It begins by addressing the nature of precision attack, including precision technologies, the combat environment in which it occurs, attacker tactics, and the targeting process. Modern precision attack's greatest impact on international humanitarian law lies in four areas: indiscriminate attack; proportionality; precautions in attack; perfidy and protected status. The author concludes that precision warfare has both positive and negative implications for the interpretation and application of international humanitarian law on the twenty-first-century battlefield.


We study a financial network where forced liquidations of an illiquid asset have a negative impact on its price, thus reinforcing network contagion. We give conditions for uniqueness of the clearing asset price and liability payments. Our main result holds under mild and natural assumptions on the price impact function: monotonicity of the price impact function and strict monotonicity of the proceeds of liquidation in the liquidated quantity.


Probably majority of appraisal assignments involve the valuation of less than the whole property and many approaches in valuation offer the value for the entire property. Partial Interest is an Interest (in property) that is less complete than a fee sample interest. An important part of the concepts used by the valuers are related with Partial Interest and Allocation Matter: Bundle of rights, Cash Generating Unit, Component Value, Control, Control premium, Easement, Financial Interest The allocation is a professional service for which the valuers have the background to perform. There are many cases when a valuer has to allocate the value into components: -For accounting purpose (real property, personal property, working capital, intangible value, impairment concept etc.); -For taxation (building and land); -Purchasing price allocation; -Dissenting action n squeeze out/ sell out -For investment decisions etc. // In this paper we discuss about division of real property using different criteria (between public and private interest) considering legal point of view, economic point of view and physical division of the property. The paper examines the general principles and methods used in allocation matter and valuation of partial interest


BACKGROUND
Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) is a tumor-associated molecule, whose expression may help the cancer cells to escape the immune response.

AIMS
The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of HLA-G level in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 52 patients who had definite pathological diagnosis and 20 cases of healthy controls were enrolled in this clinical trial. Immunohistochemisty (IHC) and quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis were considered for HLA-G identification and multilevel validations. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS and statistical significance was determined at P < 0.05.

RESULTS
IHC results demonstrated that the expression of HLA-G in OSCC was strongly positive and the rate of positive expression was 55.77% (29/52), but the expression of HLA-G in healthy controls was negative (0/20). Furthermore, RT-PCR results showed that the positive expression rate of HLA-G messenger RNA was weak in healthy controls, but strong in OSCC. Besides, HLA-G expression in the tumors was significantly correlated with histological grade.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggested that HLA-G is associated with the prognosis of OSCC and may serve as a novel therapeutic target.


Hypercomputational formal theories will, clearly, be both structurally and foundationally different from the formal theories underpinning computational theories. However, many of the maps that might guide us into this strange realm have been lost. So little work has been done recently in the area of metamathematics, and so many of the previous results have been folded into other theories, that we are in danger of loosing an appreciation of the broader structure of formal theories. As an aid to those looking to develop hypercomputational theories, we will briefly survey the known landmarks both inside and outside the borders of computational theory. We will not focus in this paper on why the structure of formal theory looks the way it does. Instead we will focus on what this structure looks like, moving from hypocomputational, through traditional computational theories, and then beyond to hypercomputational theories.


A public health crisis is looming. The recent Australian Bureau of Statistics report 'Australian Health Survey' (October 2012) highlighted increasing overweight/obesity and alarmingly low rates of exercise in the country's population. It is projected that the problem will decimate the nation's future capacity to pay for health-support as the population ages, unless the trend can be turned around. There is now very widely accepted convergent research bridging the public health sector, environmental psychology, town planning, transport planning and urban design that concludes the importance of better urban design of the built environment in facilitating better public health outcomes. Beyond concerns for public health, including climate change impact and reliance on fossil fuels, more and more signals point to the lack of sustainability of our current lifestyles. Many remedies are being explored and central to most of them is the harsh reality that the built environment is the major contributor to sustainability problems and consequentially must be where solutions are found. Urban design is a slow-acting force but potentially a powerful one that has taken over twenty-five years in Australia to gain traction at a leadership level. The value of urban design is constantly being challenged but as the evidence mounts that good urban design matters significantly, there is a need to communicate best knowledge. Contributing to this is the need for more case studies to demonstrate solutions that can be taken up and applied across communities. Social ecology and planned behaviour theory confirms that urban design attributes need to be combined in order to reliably deliver good results. An integrated approach is required. A case study is presented that shows how a country town has responded to the evidence and has developed practical policies underpinned by theory to guide the future design and upgrading of the built environment to help improve public health.


This review addresses the role of exercise as an intervention for treating neurological disease. It focuses on three major neurological diseases that either present in acute or neurodegenerative forms—Parkinson's disease, cerebellar ataxia, and cortical stroke. Each of the diseases affects primarily different brain structures, namely the basal ganglia, the cerebellum, and the cerebrum. These structures are all known to be involved in motor control, and the dysfunction of each structure leads to distinct movement deficits. The review summarizes current knowledge on how exercise can aid rehabilitation or therapeutic efforts. In addition, it addresses the role of robotic devices in enhancing available therapies by reviewing how robot-aided therapies may promote the recovery for stroke survivors. It highlights recent scientific evidence in support of exercise as a treatment for brain dysfunction, but also outlines the still open challenges for unequivocally demonstrating the benefits of exercise.


This paper introduced the lateral analysis for tall buildings due to the seismic performance for different reinforced concrete slab systems. It study three systems, flat slab, ribbed slab, and panelled beam slab. The three systems are from the most attractive and commonly used floor systems, especially in high-rise constructions. In high seismicity regions, the declared non-ductile flat slab system poses a significant risk, brittle punching failure arises from the transfer of shearing forces and unbalanced moments between slab and columns that may trigger a progressive building collapse. This system is inherently flexible due to the non-rigid slab-column connections, and the building high aspect (height/width) ratio. Hence, in regions of high seismic risk, design codes recommended the use of slab-column frames to resist slabs, and require another stiffer system to resist lateral wind and seismic forces. From this standpoint, the choose of a system that provide rigid concrete slab than flat slab to resist lateral wind and seismic forces. This system is chosen to be the ribbed slab, and the panelled beam slab. These two systems of concrete slabs are ductile, and balanced moments between slab and columns. As the different types of seismic load resisting systems generally presented. Then, three systems of slabs performance for systems high-rise buildings during seismic loads are introduced. Some seismic design, analysis and performance assessment aspects of flat slab, and ribbed slab, and panelled beams systems for high-rise buildings are subsequently discussed. Finally, suggestions to improve the seismic performance of high rise buildings horizontal members in slabs (ribs or beamscolumn) buildings are presented. ETABS version 9.5 is for analysis under lateral loads. ETABS is a programmer for linear, nonlinear, static and dynamic analysis, and the design of building systems. Multistory buildings constitute a very special class of structures and therefore deserve special treatment. The program is used to calculate the drifts for the systems and we noticed that the minimum drift was occurred in the ribbed slab system.So that, in high seismic risk regions, ribbed-slab-column frames is recommended to be gravity load resisting systems for building of high values of height/width ratios.


This paper proposes a method for performing blind source separation (BSS) and blind dereverberation (BD) at the same time for speech mixtures. In most previous studies, BSS and BD have been investigated separately. The separation performance of conventional BSS methods deteriorates as the reverberation time increases while many existing BD methods rely on the assumption that there is only one sound source in a room. Therefore, it has been difficult to perform both BSS and BD when the reverberation time is long. The proposed method uses a network, in which dereverberation and separation networks are connected in tandem, to estimate source signals. The parameters for the dereverberation network (prediction matrices) and those for the separation network (separation matrices) are jointly optimized. This enables a BD process to take a BSS process into account. The prediction and separation matrices are alternately optimized with each depending on the other; hence, we call the proposed method the conditional separation and dereverberation (CSD) method. Comprehensive evaluation results are reported, where all the speech materials contained in the complete test set of the TIMIT corpus are used. The CSD method improves the signal-to-interference ratio by an average of about 4 dB over the conventional frequency-domain BSS approach for reverberation times of 0.3 and 0.5 s. The direct-to-reverberation ratio is also improved by about 10 dB.


Nowadays, the number of layers and of neurons in each layer of a deep network are typically set manually. While very deep and wide networks have proven effective in general, they come at a high memory and computation cost, thus making them impractical for constrained platforms. These networks, however, are known to have many redundant parameters, and could thus, in principle, be replaced by more compact architectures. In this paper, we introduce an approach to automatically determining the number of neurons in each layer of a deep network during learning. To this end, we propose to make use of a group sparsity regularizer on the parameters of the network, where each group is defined to act on a single neuron. Starting from an overcomplete network, we show that our approach can reduce the number of parameters by up to 80\% while retaining or even improving the network accuracy.


The wing imaginal disc of Drosophila melanogaster is a prominent experimental system for research on control of cell growth, proliferation and death, as well as on pattern formation and morphogenesis during organogenesis. The precise genetic methodology applicable in this system has facilitated conceptual advances of fundamental importance for developmental biology. Experimental accessibility and versatility would gain further if long term development of wing imaginal discs could be studied also in vitro. For example, culture systems would allow live imaging with maximal temporal and spatial resolution. However, as clearly demonstrated here, standard culture methods result in a rapid cell proliferation arrest within hours of cultivation of dissected wing imaginal discs. Analysis with established markers for cells in S- and M phase, as well as with RGB cell cycle tracker, a novel reporter transgene, revealed that in vitro cultivation interferes with cell cycle progression throughout interphase and not just exclusively during G1. Moreover, quantification of EGFP expression from an inducible transgene revealed rapid adverse effects of disc culture on basic cellular functions beyond cell cycle progression. Disc transplantation experiments confirmed that these detrimental consequences do not reflect fatal damage of imaginal discs during isolation, arguing clearly for a medium insufficiency. Alternative culture media were evaluated, including hemolymph, which surrounds imaginal discs during growth in situ. But isolated larval hemolymph was found to be even less adequate than current culture media, presumably as a result of conversion processes during hemolymph isolation or disc culture. The significance of prominent growth-regulating pathways during disc culture was analyzed, as well as effects of insulin and disc co-culture with larval tissues as potential sources of endocrine factors. Based on our analyses, we developed a culture protocol that prolongs cell proliferation in cultured discs.


Hyperlipaemia is an important condition in ponies, not just because of the seriousness of the clinical signs and biochemical changes involved, but because of the distress it causes owners and breeders that have had animals suffer from it. Hyperlipaemia occurs most commonly in fat ponies in late pregnancy and is rarely seen in larger horses. The syndrome has similarities with conditions in other species but the definitive aetiologies are not yet known. The condition in ponies is undoubtedly related to stress. The biochemical mechanisms involved in equine hyperlipaemia are considered and an hypothesis of possible pathogenesis is put forward. This hypothesis is tested by presenting the results of a preliminary study to evaluate glucose and lipid metabolism in horses and ponies. It appears that the pony is markedly insensitive to insulin compared to larger horses which means that triglycerides are more readily mobilised and the animal is therefore susceptible to hyperlipaemia in a situation of negative energy balance. The effect of stress is to increase cortisol levels which only exacerbates the insulin insensitivity and so creates a vicious circle. The importance of an innate insulin insensitivity may also be important in the pathogenesis of such conditions as laminitis.


Unity is a gift of God that involves us staying at the table to find common ground in "the extreme center." Talk of a United Methodist denominational split is not going away, only intensifying. Unless we can go beneath the issues that divide us to find our common ground, we will splinter or worse, just argue ourselves into irrelevance and oblivion. Here, Bishop Scott Jones reminds us that "the strength of Wesleyan doctrine is its ability to articulate holistic, balanced, and practical interpretation of Scripture. It is conservative in some ways and liberal in other ways; it occupies the extremem center and is totally opposed to the dead center. Tackling divisive issues such as homosexuality, race and gender, and authority of Scripture, Jones shows the logical contours of the conversation by locating them in larger questions of doctrine and ecclesiology. He outlines the logic of our current position and explains why it is defensible, while at the same time suggesting a logic for change. Responders include: William J. Abraham, Lonnie D. Brooks, Mary Brooke Casad, Amy DeLong, Sudarshana Devadhar, Sally Dyck, James A Harnish, Carolyn E. Johnson, Susan J. Laurie, Bill McAlilly, Patricia L. Miller, John R. Schol, Joe M. Whittemore, Gerald Jay Williams, William H. Willimon, and David K. Yemba. Scott J. Jones is Bishop of the Kansas Area of The United Methodist Church From the Circuit Rider review: "Scott Jones, Bishop of the Kansas Area, has offered a gift to The United Methodist Church. His stated aim, as a church leader, is to contribute to the continuing conversation about how best to think about, receive, and live more fully into God s gift of unity. Expanding upon his work in his earlier book, "United Methodist Doctrine: The Extreme Center, "the major contribution of his new book is in the format of the book itself. It consists of his essay (about half of the book) followed by responses and reflections from a diverse group of United Methodists expressing a range of viewpoints." (Click here to read the entire review.) "


Abstract. The analysis of aircraft-based measurements of clouds is critical for studies of aerosol and of clouds. Many such measurements have been taken, but it is difficult to compare such data across instruments, flights and campaigns. We present a new open-source software program, SAMAC (Software for Airborne Measurements of Aerosol and Clouds), that may enable a more systematic and comparable approach to the analysis of aerosol–cloud–precipitation data. The software offers a cooperative and reproducible approach to the analysis of aircraft measurements of clouds across campaigns. SAMAC is an object-oriented software program in which a cloud is an object; all the data related to a cloud is contained in the cloud object. The cloud objects come with built-in methods and functions that allow for the quick generation of basic plots and calculations, SAMAC provides a quick view of the data set and may be used to compare clouds and to filter for specific characteristics. Other researchers can readily use already submitted algorithms once their data is placed in the cloud structure provided, and they can contribute their own algorithms to the software for others to see and use. This approach would improve comparability, reproducibility and transparency by allowing others to replicate results and test the same algorithms on different data. SAMAC can be downloaded at https://github.com/StephGagne/SAMAC/releases .


This Article argues that public law has fallen into what I call a deference trap in addressing conflicts in deregulated industries, such as telecommunications and electric power. The deference trap describes a judicial reluctance to intervene in disputes involving political institutions, such as regulatory agencies and states. By reassessing the deference trap across the legal doctrines that are effecting emerging telecommunications and electric power markets, public law can deliver much more for deregulated markets. The deference trap poses a particular cost as markets are deregulated, one that may not have been present during previous regulatory eras in which public and private interests in regulatory bargaining were more likely to converge. In expanding the range and degree of potential divergence between public and private interests, deregulation challenges policy makers and courts to reevaluate many of the traditional public law doctrines that frame the process for defining and implementing the rules in competitive markets. This Article sets out to advance this project in the context of three vignettes. In doing so, I draw on a bargaining account of regulation, supplemented with a comparative institutional analysis. The approach evaluates the institutional setting for governance of deregulated markets; it does not limit its analysis to the decisions of a single regulator but pays attention to alternative (and often competing) institutions, including courts, Congress and state legislatures, and state versus federal regulation. Part I illustrates that public law has fallen into a deference trap in the context of the filed tariff doctrine and suggests that, by focusing on bargaining conditions in tariffing, courts could minimize strategic forum shopping in regulatory enforcement. Part II warns against public law falling into a deference trap in the context of judicial review of state regulation under the dormant commerce clause and state action immunity to antitrust enforcement, suggesting that courts correct for this by taking into account private firm incentives in the state lawmaking process. Part III suggests that federal preemption, as currently construed, also invites a deference trap which can create regulatory commons problems and recommends that courts reformulate preemption principles to realign incentive to facilitate regulatory coordination between the federal government and states. By isolating ex ante and ex post incentives and stressing the institutional context for institutional bargaining in the regulatory process, together these examples reveal weaknesses in traditional doctrines of regulatory law in deregulated markets and suggest ways courts might correct for them.


The purpose of this study was to initiate the development of an evidence-based sport classification system for powerchair football, a sport that serves athletes with physical impairments. Sport classification is designed to increase participation by minimizing the impact of impairment on competition outcome, and powerchair football lacks an evidence-based system of classification which is required of Paralympic sports. A number of approaches were used to build the theoretical model of sport performance (Step 2 of the International Paralympic Committee model). Key sport activities were identified through surveys of stakeholders and underlying determinants of those key activities were identified through game and database analyses. Current findings support drive control, ball control, communication, and adjustment to the ball as key activities in powerchair football with joint-specific strength and range of motion, sensory, and neurological variables identified as underlying determinants.


Commission Directive 2104/85/EU on driving licenses highlighted significant issues related to the Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS). Due to the high incidence of this syndrome in the general population, it is important to precisely assess its impact on work and driving performance, in terms of employee and third-party safety, general health and related social costs (errors, accidents, absenteeism, presenteism, treatments). As occupational health physicians regularly check the workers in the age group in which the incidence of OSAS is higher, they are called upon to play a strategic role in the early detection of the disease and the prescription of an appropriate therapy, as well as in monitoring the treatment effectiveness in order to assess fitness to work and/or drive. The soundness and effectiveness of the occupational health physicians' work depend not only on their knowledge of and attention to the problem, but above all on the interaction with specialists from other disciplines, essential to arrive at a correct diagnosis and an effective treatment. Main goals of this activity are to maintain a satisfactory operating performance and to prevent possible deleterious health effects in the medium and long-term period.


The carcinogenic effects of low radiation doses have not been fully understood until now. Studies on individuals that are occupationally exposed to low radiation doses can help to address this question. This study assesses the micronucleus (MN) frequencies as indicator of DNA damage in radiation workers that are occupationally exposed to low radiation dose. The influence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in XRCC3 gene on the frequency of micronuclei was also evaluated in this study. The effects of confounding factors of gender, age, and smoking status on MN frequencies was assessed in all samples. A total of 60 subjects consisting of 30 radiation workers from Center of Multipurpose Reactor (CMPR), National Nuclear Energy Agency (NNEA) of Indonesia, and 30 control samples were enrolled in this study. The results showed that the difference between MN frequency in radiation workers and in control samples was not statistically significant [0.019 vs. 0.021; p = 0.549]. Age and smoking status did not affect micronucleus frequencies in all samples ( p = 0.723 and 0.828). Micronucleus frequencies in females were higher compared to males, even though the difference was not significant ( p = 0.3). Radiation workers with variant alleles for  XRCC3  olymorphism did not showed higher MN frequencies compared to the controls with the same genotypes. The small numbers of samples with XRCC3 variant alleles found in this study possibly contributed to the insignificant difference of MN frequencies between wild-type allele ( Thr/Thr ) and mutant alleles ( Thr/Met or Met/Met ). Further investigations using larger sample sizes and MN assay in combination with human pan-centromeric probe should be conducted to validate this study results. Other SNP in XRCC3 gene also should be evaluated to find out the association between SNP and MN frequencies.


Topic models are becoming increasingly relevant probabilistic models for dimensionality reduction of text data, inferring topics that capture meaningful themes of frequently co-occurring terms. We formulate topic modelling as an information retrieval task, where the goal is, based on the latent topic representation, to capture relevant term co-occurrence patterns. We evaluate performance for this task rigorously with regard to two types of errors, false negatives and positives, based on the well-known precision-recall trade-off and provide a statistical model that allows the user to balance between the contributions of the different error types. When the user focuses solely on the contribution of false negatives ignoring false positives altogether our proposed model reduces to a standard topic model. Extensive experiments demonstrate the proposed approach is effective and infers more coherent topics than existing related approaches.


Large igneous provinces (LIPs) are proposed to have caused a number of episodes of abrupt environmental change by increasing atmospheric CO2 levels, which were subsequently alleviated by drawdown of CO2 via enhanced continental weathering and burial of organic matter. Here the sedimentary records of two such episodes of environmental change, the Toarcian oceanic anoxic event (T-OAE) and preceding Pliensbachian–Toarcian (Pl-To) event (both possibly linked to the Karoo-Ferrar LIP), are investigated using a new suite of geochemical proxies that have not been previously compared. Stratigraphic variations in osmium isotope (187Os/188Os) records are compared with those of mercury (Hg) and carbon isotopes (δ13C) in samples from the Mochras core, Llanbedr Farm, Cardigan Bay Basin, Wales. These sedimentary rocks are confirmed as recording an open-marine setting by analysis of molybdenum/ uranium enrichment trends, indicating that the Os isotope record in these samples reflects the isotopic composition of the global ocean. The Os isotope data include the first results across the Pl-To boundary, when seawater 187Os/188Os increased from ∼0.40 to ∼0.53, in addition to new data that show elevated 187Os/188Os (from ∼0.42 to ∼0.68) during the T-OAE. Both increases in 187Os/188Os correlate with negative carbon isotope excursions and increased mercury concentrations, supporting an interplay between terrestrial volcanism, weathering, and climate that was instrumental in driving these distinct episodes of global environmental change. These observations also indicate that the environmental impact of the Karoo-Ferrar LIP was not limited solely to the T-OAE.


Background: Several studies have highlighted the implications of impulsivity and novelty seeking for both the maintenance and the process of recovery from bulimia nervosa (BN). Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the treatment of choice for BN, but for some cases, this treatment alone might not be sufficient for reducing the high levels of impulsivity. The paper presents a case report of a patient with BN, examining the effectiveness of using a videogame (VG; Playmancer) as an additional intervention designed to address impulsivity. Design: Psychometric and neuropsychological measures were collected at baseline. After this assessment, Playmancer was applied prior to CBT, following an "A-B-A-C-A" single case experimental design. Impulsivity levels were assessed with the Conner's Continuous Performance Test II (CPT-II). After the Playmancer treatment, the patient started CBT, and the levels of impulsivity were recorded again. Finally, psychometric and neuropsychological measures were collected after treatment. Weekly frequency of binges and vomiting were also recorded during the entire procedure. Results: After the VG intervention, psychometric measures such as anxiety levels, impulsivity and novelty seeking decreased. Regarding the neuropsychological measures, impulsivity levels (measured with the CPT-II) progressively decreased throughout the intervention, and an improvement in decision making capacities was observed. Furthermore, the frequency of binges also decreased during and after the VG intervention. Discussion: This case report suggests that using the Playmancer VG to reduce impulsivity prior to CBT may enhance the final results of the treatment for BN.


Lamellar ichthyosis (LI) is a rare inherited skin disorder of cornification, with an incidence of approximately 1 in 200,000 births. It is one of three types of autosomal recessive congenital ichthyosis (ARCI), a collective term for the spectrum of nonsyndromic ichthyoses caused by a number of well-described genetic mutations. We describe the case of LI diagnosed in a 10-day-old child of a Somali refugee at a free clinic in downtown Djibouti. Initial concern was for staphylococcal infection versus congenital disease. With the use of digital photographs, consultation with experts accessed through the Army Teledermatology Consultation Service supported a diagnosis of ARCI. Providing care to patients in austere environments can present numerous medical challenges. A provider cannot be expected to be able to diagnose and treat every disease and disorder alone, especially if there is a language barrier. Telemedicine can help close the gap in knowledge, particularly when presented with a challenging case. With a novel presentation, simply taking a photograph and e-mailing a consultant can quickly augment one?s medical acumen, ensuring appropriate diagnosis and treatment.


We consider preventive maintenance of a continuously operating system, whose real-life prototype is a rotating chemical reactor for production of phosphorous acid. The drum, in which the reaction takes place, has 42 rollers (elements), which are subjected to a heavy load and to chemical corrosion. The components are organized in a ring-type structure. The system failure is defined either as the failure of 2 adjacent elements, or as a failure of any three elements in a set of 6 adjacent elements. The existing servicing policy prescribes replacing only the failed elements at the instant of system failure occurrence. The operational conditions permit the opportunistic replacement of non-failed components at the instant of system failure. In this paper, we propose a cost-effective policy of preventive maintenance: at the same time the system fails, several of the oldest non-failed components are replaced by new ones. The application of the above optimal preventive maintenance policy results in a reduction of the average cost per unit time by 15-30%.


Academic programs focused on engineering entrepreneurship are growing in number and popularity at American universities. However, the fields of engineering, entrepreneurship and technology-based entrepreneurship struggle to recruit and retain female students: a historic and endemic failure at obtaining gender-balanced participation. Understanding the motivations of women engaged in such academic programs can influence recruitment and retention strategies and lead to the creation of transformative learning environments and entrepreneurial ecosystems. This study investigates the motivations that women have for participating in the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program at Penn State. In this five-year study, females from diverse academic majors cited the following to be their top motivations for participating: a) becoming a global professional; b) making a difference; and c) applying theory learned in school to address a problem. In contrast, males cited 1) making a difference 2) participating in an exciting real-world project and 3) applying theory to address a problem, as their top motivations. Studying the motivations and perceptions of enterprising women and men provides compelling insights to help make academic engineering entrepreneurship programs more appealing to both female and male students.


There is a lack of basic knowledge about the effects of environmental factors on the concentration of secondary metabolites in fruits and vegetables. While metabolic pathways are increasingly better described, the effects of environmental factors remain insufficiently understood and quantified. The objective of this presentation is to review the major hypotheses about the effect of environmental factors on biosynthesis and accumulation of carotenoids and polyphenolic compounds in fruits and vegetables, with the exception of quality of light. Firstly, the primary and the secondary metabolisms are interlinked. Biosynthesis of carotenoids and polyphenolic compounds depends on the carbon status. Secondly, it is now well-established that secondary metabolites play a key-role in adaptation of plants to environmental constraints. More specifically, observations strongly suggest that biotic and abiotic constraints may influence the synthesis of carotenoids through the mediation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). All these hypotheses and the prospects of modelling are presented and discussed from a controlling point of view with our objective being to design innovative cropping techniques for farmers in developed and developing countries which will help them to produce fruits and vegetables with enhanced concentrations in phytochemicals without resorting to GMO. The idea is discussed that organic farming results in fruits and vegetables with increased concentrations in polyphenolics, and possibly carotenoids, contributing to health benefits, because they are more stressed. (Resume d'auteur)


Description: Learning to Teach English is an easy-to-use introduction to English language teaching and is ideal for new teachers or those preparing for courses leading to qualifications such as Cambridge English's Celta and TKT, or Trinity College London's CertTesol. The second edition is thoroughly revised and updated and now comes with: a DVD, including recordings of real lessons, the teachers' comments on those lessons, and their tips on developing as a teacher; even more activities for teachers to use in the classroom; Try it out! sections that support ongoing development and reflection after training; a bank of short activities; and a glossary of key teaching terms. Additional key features: grammar reference sections; tasks with commentaries to promote engaged and reflective reading; and complete lesson plans with photocopiable material. The second edition remains an accessible and practical book that will help new teachers as they train and develop through the first years of their teaching careers.


Cultural transformation tends to be described in one of two ways: either with reference to what comes about, is created or emerges in the process of change or with reference to what is destroyed or obscured in that process. Within a performative paradigm, that is, from a perspective which focuses on the manner in which social and cultural reality is constituted or brought about by human activity, theorists have, in recent years, tended to underline the productive aspects of transformation by emphasising the creative thrust of performative processes and events. In so doing, this perspective has tended to overlook the extent to which a certain destructive element may in fact be inherent to such performative processes. Drawing upon a range of historical and contemporary constellations of socio-cultural change and a variety of different types of events and activities, the articles in this volume describe different forms of destruction and their respective role in processes of transformation. Their shared aim is to explore the manner in which destructivity, such as the destabilisation and destruction of orders, subjects and bodies, can be grasped by concepts of performativity. In other words, to what extent may a certain destructive dynamic be inscribed within this very notion?


This work details for the first time the sedimentology of Les Monts de Baileux section. This section, located in a quarry between Chimay and Couvin, exposes a remarkable succession of strata from the top of the Jemelle Formation to the base of the Mont d'Haurs Formation. It therefore offers the opportunity to investigate the entire Hanonet, Trois-Fontaines and Terres d'Haurs formations, biostratigraphically from Polygnathus ensensis to P. timorensis conodont zones. This large lithostratigraphic thickness of clayley and argillaceous, and also pure limestones encompasses the Eifelian/ Givetian boundary in the lower part of Hanonet Formation, allowing a better understanding of the transition between the Eifelian which corresponds to a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate detrital ramp and the lower Givetian dominated by a carbonate rimmed shelf-related sedimentation. Petrographic study leads to the definition of 21 microfacies integrated into two palaeogeographical models. The first model (13 microfacies) is proposed for the Jemelle, Hanonet and Trois-Fontaines formations, i.e. P. ensensis Zone and almost entire P. hemiansatus Zone. In this platform model, the fore-reef environment is characterized by a high influence of storm events and carbonate input coming from proximal settings. The reef is mainly composed of an accumulation of stromatoporoids, crinoids, tabulate corals and rugose corals with a peloidal matrix. The back-reef area is dominated by agitated environments and calmer lagoons. Locally, less agitated conditions allow growth of massive and laminar organisms. The second model (6 microfacies) concerns the Terres d'Haurs Formation with the end of P. hemianstus Zone and significant part of the P. timorensis Zone. This ramp model is divided into a mid-ramp characterized by open-marine sedimentation interrupted by storm-related events and an inner ramp composed of ooidal shoals, back-shoal sedimentation and storm related deposits. Two other microfacies are fragmentarily defined for the Mont d'Haurs Formation, within the main P. varcus / P. rhenanus intervals. This unit was affected by strong dolomitization processes, where scarcity of well preserved, primary sedimentary fabrics is not favourable for designing of a microfacies-based model at all. The last part of the work concerns stratigraphic variations of magnetic susceptibility (MS). Values of mass MS of rocks were plotted and juxtaposed with semi-quantitative variation curves of microfacies. According to the prevailing magnitudes of MS, the relationships with two controlling parameters are evaluated: terrigenous influence (using the thin-section data on detrital quartz contents as proxies) and wave agitation (based on microfacies interpretation). The transgressive-regressive evolution of microfacies characteristics are compared with the juxtaposed trends in decreasing-increasing MS magnitudes. Approximately two thirds of this section suggests a good matching of the trends on generalized lithological and magnetic data. It is explained by common presence of clayey/silty impurities of slightly to moderately varying compositions which are greatly evidenced by means of thin-section studies and represent a principal and abundant paramagnetic component. The overall MS magnitudes actually show decreasing trends together with vigorous, eustatically driven sealevel rises. However, the remaining third of intervals in this section shows the rather complex than simple, equivocally or negatively arranged sequence/lithologic and MS stratigraphic trends.