Beams are subject a flexure and shear, with the last as the theme of this research.  The purpose of this paper is to analyze specifications for the shear design of concrete block structural masonry beams, based on an extensive literature review and experimental tests here reported. From this scope, specifications for revision of Brazilian standardization are suggested. In the theoretical part, literature review from both national and international researchers were considered and the specifications of Brazilian standards, in addition to North American, Australian, Canadian and European, ABNT NBR 15961-1/2011, ABNT NBR 6118/2014TMS 402/2016, AS3700/2001, CSA S304/2014 and EuroCode6.1/2001, respectively. To analyze and validate the specifications of the literature, an experimental program was carried out assessing ten concrete block masonry beams results tested mainly to shear loads. Two-course high beams with three vertical load positions (position a/d) and two transverse reinforcement rates were tested. The specifications from the Brazilian and European standards led to considerably higher results than the experimental results, while those presented in the standards TMS 402/2016, AS3700/2001, CSA S304/2014 and NBR6118/2014 lead to results close to those obtained experimentally. As a conclusion, it can be noted that the rupture pattern is similar to that expected for reinforced concrete beams, the cracks were conditioned by the position of the loading point and by the mortar joints positions, the increase in the transverse reinforcement ratio led to an increase in the shear force. Results indicate that the consideration of apparent increase in shear strength by the ratio M⁄(V∙d) is not consistent. Eliminating this recommendation, considering the masonry shear strength equal to 0.35 MPa, limiting the stirrups tension to 0.90 of  and considering the contribution of the longitudinal reinforcement, it was possible to estimate the shear value at the rupture of each beam between 73% to 106% of the values verified in the tests.


Introduction Tobacco smoking claims 700 000 lives every year in Europe and the cost of tobacco smoking in the EU is estimated between €98 and €130 billion annually; direct medical care costs and indirect costs such as workday losses each represent half of this amount. Policymakers all across Europe are in need of bespoke information on the economic and wider returns of investing in evidence-based tobacco control, including smoking cessation agendas. EQUIPT is designed to test the transferability of one such economic evidence base—the English Tobacco Return on Investment (ROI) tool—to other EU member states. Methods and analysis EQUIPT is a multicentre, interdisciplinary comparative effectiveness research study in public health. The Tobacco ROI tool already developed in England by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) will be adapted to meet the needs of European decision-makers, following transferability criteria. Stakeholders' needs and intention to use ROI tools in sample countries (Germany, Hungary, Spain and the Netherlands) will be analysed through interviews and surveys and complemented by secondary analysis of the contextual and other factors. Informed by this contextual analysis, the next phase will develop country-specific ROI tools in sample countries using a mix of economic modelling and Visual Basic programming. The results from the country-specific ROI models will then be compared to derive policy proposals that are transferable to other EU states, from which a centralised web tool will be developed. This will then be made available to stakeholders to cater for different decision-making contexts across Europe. Ethics and dissemination The Brunel University Ethics Committee and relevant authorities in each of the participating countries approved the protocol. EQUIPT has a dedicated work package on dissemination, focusing on stakeholders' communication needs. Results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications, e-learning resources and policy briefs.


The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) bring human-AI interaction to the forefront of HCI research. This paper argues that games are an ideal domain for studying and experimenting with how humans interact with AI. Through a systematic survey of neural network games (n = 38), we identified the dominant interaction metaphors and AI interaction patterns in these games. In addition, we applied existing human-AI interaction guidelines to further shed light on player-AI interaction in the context of AI-infused systems. Our core finding is that AI as play can expand current notions of human-AI interaction, which are predominantly productivity-based. In particular, our work suggests that game and UX designers should consider flow to structure the learning curve of human-AI interaction, incorporate discovery-based learning to play around with the AI and observe the consequences, and offer users an invitation to play to explore new forms of human-AI interaction.


OBJECTIVE
To determine current practices regarding use of antimicrobials in equine patients undergoing surgery because of colic at veterinary teaching hospitals.

DESIGN
Survey.

SAMPLE POPULATION
Diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons performing equine surgery at veterinary teaching hospitals in the United States.

PROCEDURE
A Web-based questionnaire was developed, and 85 surgeons were asked to participate. The first part of the survey requested demographic information and information about total number of colic surgeries performed at the hospital, number of colic surgeries performed by the respondent, and whether the hospital had written guidelines for antimicrobial drug use. The second part pertained to nosocomial infections. The third part provided several case scenarios and asked respondents whether they would use antimicrobial drugs in these instances.

RESULTS
Thirty-four (40%) surgeons responded to the questionnaire. Respondents indicated that most equine patients undergoing surgery because of colic at veterinary teaching hospitals in the United States received antimicrobial drugs. Drugs that were used were similar for the various hospitals that were represented, and for the most part, the drugs that were used were fairly uniform irrespective of the type of colic, whereas the duration of treatment varied with the type of colic and the surgical findings. The combination of potassium penicillin and gentamicin was the most commonly used treatment.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Results of this study document the implementation of recommendations by several authors in veterinary texts that antimicrobial drugs be administered perioperatively in equine patients with colic that are undergoing surgery. However, the need for long-term antimicrobial drug treatment in equine patients with colic is unknown.


Can the standard search-and-matching labor market model replicate the business cycle fluctuations of the job finding rate and the unemployment rate? In the model, fluctuations are prominently driven by productivity shocks which are commonly interpreted as technology shocks. I estimate different types of technology shocks from structural VARs and reassess the empirical performance of the standard model based on second moments that are conditional on technology shocks. Most prominently, the model replicates the conditional volatility of job finding and unemployment, so that the Shimer critique does not apply. Instead the model lacks non-technological disturbances to replicate the overall sample volatility. In addition, positive technology shocks lead to a fall in job finding and an increase in unemployment thereby opposing the dynamics in the standard model similar to the hours puzzle in Gali (1999).


The density functional theory (DFT) method has been carried out to investigate the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis and to find the binding affinity towards protein kinase 2 of different coumarin derivatives. NBO analysis was observed in the range (~ 1.9 e) which indicates the intramolecular charge transfer between the bonding and antibonding orbitals. Molecular docking study has been performed with CK2 enzyme to analysis their anticancer aspects due to interaction with CK2 enzyme. The binding affinity was calculated for different coumarins.


The aim of the present study was to evaluate the underlying processes involved in the oxygen wasting induced by inotropic drugs and acute and chronic elevation of fatty acid (FA) supply, using unloaded perfused mouse hearts from normal and type 2 diabetic (db/db) mice. We found that an acute elevation of the FA supply in normal hearts, as well as a chronic (in vivo) exposure to elevated FA as in db/db hearts, increased myocardial oxygen consumption (MVo₂(unloaded)) due to increased oxygen cost for basal metabolism and for excitation-contraction (EC) coupling. Isoproterenol stimulation, on top of a high FA supply, led to an additive increase in MVo₂(unloaded), because of a further increase in oxygen cost for EC coupling. In db/db hearts, the acute elevation of FA did not further increase MVo₂. Since the elevation in the FA supply is accompanied by increased rates of myocardial FA oxidation, the present study compared MVo₂ following increased FA load versus FA oxidation rate by exposing normal hearts to normal and high FA concentration (NF and HF, respectively) and to compounds that either stimulate (GW-610742) or inhibit [dichloroacetate (DCA)] FA oxidation. While HF and NF + GW-610742 increased FA oxidation to the same extent, only HF increased MVo₂(unloaded). Although DCA counteracted the HF-induced increase in FA oxidation, DCA did not reduce MVo₂(unloaded). Thus, in normal hearts, acute FA-induced oxygen waste is 1) due to an increase in the oxygen cost for both basal metabolism and EC coupling and 2) not dependent on the myocardial FA oxidation rate per se, but on processes initiated by the presence of FAs. In diabetic hearts, chronic exposure to elevated circulating FAs leads to adaptations that afford protection against the detrimental effect of an acute FA load, suggesting different underlying mechanisms behind the increased MVo₂ following acute and chronic FA load.


Code-based cryptography is one of the main techniques enabling cryptographic primitives in a post-quantum scenario. In particular, the MDPC scheme is a basic scheme from which many other schemes have been derived. These schemes rely on iterative decoding in the decryption process and thus have a certain small probability p of having a decryption (decoding) error.In this paper we show a very fundamental and important property of code-based encryption schemes. Given one initial error pattern that fails to decode, the time needed to generate another message that fails to decode is strictly much less than 1/p. We show this by developing a method for fast generation of undecodable error patterns (error pattern chaining), which additionally proves that a measure of closeness in ciphertext space can be exploited through its strong linkage to the difficulty of decoding these messages. Furthermore, if side-channel information is also available (time to decode), then the initial error pattern no longer needs to be given since one can be easily generated in this case.These observations are fundamentally important because they show that a, say, 128- bit encryption scheme is not inherently safe from reaction attacks even if it employs a decoder with a failure rate of 2−128. In fact, unless explicit protective measures are taken, having a failure rate at all – of any magnitude – can pose a security problem because of the error amplification effect of our method.A key-recovery reaction attack was recently shown on the MDPC scheme as well as similar schemes, taking advantage of decoding errors in order to recover the secret key. It was also shown that knowing the number of iterations in the iterative decoding step, which could be received in a timing attack, would also enable and enhance such an attack. In this paper we apply our error pattern chaining method to show how to improve the performance of such reaction attacks in the CPA case. We show that after identifying a single decoding error (or a decoding step taking more time than expected in a timing attack), we can adaptively create new error patterns that have a much higher decoding error probability than for a random error. This leads to a significant improvement of the attack based on decoding errors in the CPA case and it also gives the strongest known attack on MDPC-like schemes, both with and without using side-channel information.


The newest addition to the spate of recent theories of comparative corporate governance is Corporate Governance in the Common-Law World: The Political Foundations of Shareholder Power, an important new book by Christopher Bruner. Focusing on the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Australia, Bruner argues that the robustness of the country's social welfare system is the key determinant of the extent to which its corporate governance is shareholder-centered. This explains why corporate governance is so shareholder-oriented in the United Kingdom, which has universal healthcare and generous unemployment benefits, while shareholders' powers are more attenuated in the United States, with its much weaker social welfare protections. Canada and Australia fall in between but closer to the U.K.After describing Bruner's theory and evidence in the first part of this Essay, I poke at it from several angles in the three parts that follow. In Part II, I consider whether there is a mechanism that adequately explains the connection between social welfare and shareholder orientation; interestingly, despite the book's title, Bruner does not suggest that the common law plays any particular role. In Part III, I consider whether shareholders in the United States may have more power than their limited formal rights suggest, and in Part IV I ask whether the United States (rather than the United Kingdom, as is conventionally assumed) may simply be an outlier, due to federalism and other factors and as reflected in the U.S.'s weak social welfare system. I then conclude.


In this research we introduce a new approach for Arabic word disambiguation by utilizing Wikipedia as the lexical resource for disambiguation. The nearest context for an ambiguous word is selected using Vector Space Model and cosine similarity between the word's context and the retrieved senses from Wikipedia. Three experiments have been conducted to evaluate the proposed approach, two experiments use the first retrieved sentence for each sense from Wikipedia but they use different Vector Space Model while the third experiment use the first paragraph for the retrieved sense from Wikipedia. The experiments show that using the first retrieved paragraph is better than the first retrieved sentence and the use of Tf-Idf VSM is better than using raw frequency


Breast cancer is a major health problem and exposure to oestrogen is a main risk factor. Many environmental chemicals with oestrogenic activity are known to enter the human breast from exposure through diet, the domestic environment and personal care products. In this study, six chemicals, used to absorb ultraviolet light (UV screens) in consumer products and known to be detectable in human milk, have been studied for their effects on proliferation and migration of MCF-7, T-47-D and MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells. The six chemicals were benzophenone-1 (Bp1), benzophenone-2 (Bp2), benzophenone-3 (Bp3), octylmethoxycinnamate (OMC), 3-(4-methylbenzilidene) camphor (4MBC) and homosalate
(HS). All six of these UV screens at 10-5M could induce luciferase activity from an ERELUC reporter gene stably transfected into MCF-7 cells. Dose-response experiments on proliferation of oestrogen-responsive MCF-7 and T-47-D cells showed increased proliferation following the exposure to the UV screens but not OMC, which had no effect on proliferation of MCF-7 cells except when cells are seeded on a laminin matrix. No effect on MDA-MB-
231 cell proliferation was recorded. Although the oestrogenic activity of these chemicals has been shown to influence proliferation, this is only one of the hallmarks of cancer cells. Another important hallmark is activation of invasion and metastasis which is relevant for breast cancer where mortality arises not from growth of the primary tumour but from metastatic tumour spread. Effects of these UV screens have therefore been studied on migration and invasion of MCF-7, T-47-D and MDA-MB-231 cells following prior (2 weeks) or (up to 30 weeks) exposure using a wound healing assay, time-lapse microscopy or xCELLigence technology. 2 weeks of exposure to10-5M OMC, 4MBC and HS increased the motility of MCF-7 cells as determined by xCELLigence technology or time-lapse microscopy. 21 weeks of exposure to 10-5 M Bp1, Bp3, to 10-7M concentrations of OMC, 4MBC and HS increased the motility of MCF-7 cells. Results using western immunoblotting suggest a decrease in E-cadherin mRNA levels by 10-5 M Bp1, Bp3, OMC, 4MBS and HS
and protein levels of cells exposed to 10-5 M Bp1 and HS.10-5M Bp1 also increased the secretion of MMP-9 as measured by zymography and the protein levels of pro-MMP-14 as measured by western immunoblotting. β-catenin protein was reduced in MCF-7 cells following the exposure to 10-5M OMC, which also reduced the mRNA levels of other two molecular markers of motility (PIK3R1 and BMP7). T-47-D cells exposed to 10-5M of the UV screens have shown an increase in motility as determined by xCELLigence but only Bp1 increased the migration as determined by wound healing. MDA-MB-231 cells showed no increase in motility following 2 weeks of exposure to the UV screens. However, 8 weeks of exposure to 10-7 M Bp2, Bp3, 4MBC and HS increased the cells motility as determined by the
xCELLigence and 15 weeks of exposure to 10-7 M of the UV screens increased the motility of MDA-MB-231 cell as measured by the time-lapse microscopy. OMC and 4MBC increased the secretion of MMP-2 by MDA-MB-231 cells. Overall, these results demonstrate for the first time that these six UV screens can influence not only proliferation but also migration of human breast cancer cells.


Is the writing of history a subjective translation of the past or a truthful recording of the facts? Some theorists suggest that historiography is a geo-political space to expand power and control while others insist that history is no more than a fiction. Through the comparison of different textual descriptions of the same Chinese historical events in the late 19th and early 20th century, the author of this article contends that although the historiographers should keep an eye towards updating the source material with newly discovered evidence, the past is a once existent reality and therefore has a compelling and distinctive form which a postmodern fiction can never replace; and although the interpretation of history cannot ideally avoid the possibility of bias shaped by individual discourses of a given culture, readers have the right to know the facts as such; otherwise, what Hegel once worried about might come true though in a different version: "the only thing we can learn from history is that no one learns anything from history."


In "Taking the Path of Zen," Robert Aitken provided a concise guide to zazen (Zen meditation) and other aspects of the practice of Zen. In "The Mind of Clover "he addresses the world beyond the zazen cushions, illuminating issues of appropriate personal and social action through an exploration of the philosophical complexities of Zen ethics. Aitken's approach is clear and sure as he shows how our minds can be as nurturing as clover, which enriches the soil and benefits the environment as it grows. The opening chapters discuss the Ten Grave Precepts of Zen, which, Aitken points out, are "not commandments etched in stone but expressions of inspiration written in something more fluid than water." Aitken approaches these precepts, the core of Zen ethics, from several perspectives, offering many layers of interpretation. Like ripples in a pond, the circles of his interpretation increasingly widen, and he expands his focus to confront corporate theft and oppression, the role of women in Zen and society, abortion, nuclear war, pollution of the environment, and other concerns."The Mind of Clover" champions the cause of personal responsibility in modern society, encouraging nonviolent activism based on clear convictions. It is a guide that engages, that invites us to realize our own potential for confident and responsible action.


We investigate the non-Markovianity of continuous-variable Gaussian quantum channels through the evolution of an operational metrological quantifier, namely, the Gaussian interferometric power, which captures the minimal precision that can be achieved using bipartite Gaussian probes in a black-box phase estimation setup, where the phase shift generator is a priori unknown. We observe that the monotonicity of the Gaussian interferometric power under the action of local Gaussian quantum channels on the ancillary arm of the bipartite probes is a natural indicator of Markovian dynamics; consequently, its breakdown for specific maps can be used to construct a witness and an effective quantifier of non-Markovianity. In our work, we consider two paradigmatic Gaussian models, the damping master equation and the quantum Brownian motion, and identify analytically and numerically the parameter regimes that give rise to non-Markovian dynamics. We then quantify the degree of non-Markovianity of the channels in terms of Gaussian interferometric power, showing, in particular, that even nonentangled probes can be useful to witness non-Markovianity. This establishes an interesting link between the dynamics of bipartite continuous-variable open systems and their potential for optical interferometry. The results are an important supplement to the recent research on characterization of non-Markovianity in continuous-variable systems.


Gwinnett County is working with the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and Barton-Ashman Associates to download the ARC trip tables for use in a microcomputer transportation planning model (TRANSPLAN). The hardware system is an IBM-PC-AT (640K) with dual 15MG external hard disk drives for mass storage. The regional network for Gwinnett County uses 52 zones and approximately 2000 links. The 1980 and 2010 trip tables for Gwinnett County will be extracted from the regional database using the NAG routine from the Urban Transportation Planning System (UTPS). The new county-level network will include approximately 200 internal zones, 50 external stations, and 6,000 - 8,000 links. The TRANSPLAN 2010 assignment will be adjusted to match regional assignments at external stations. This work will be used in county-level highway assignments; subarea highway assignments; corridor studies; and traffic impact studies for rezoning applications and impact fee assessments.


Microcasting Shape-Deposition-Manufacturing is an approach to SolidFreeform-Fabrication (SFF) process which is a novel method for rapid automated manufacturing of near-net-shape multi-material parts with complex geometries. By this method, objects are made by sequentially depositing molten metal droplets on a substrate and shaping by a CNC tool, layer by layer. Important issues are concerned with remelting dept of substrate, cooling rate and stress build up. In the present study attempts were made to numerically model the heat transfer and phase change within the droplet/substrate, making a better understanding of process performance. Thus, making a brief literature review, a 2-D transient heat transfer Finite Element Analysis was carried out by the use of ANSYS multiphysics, in which solidification is handled using apparent capacity method. Verification was done by available experimental data in the open literature to ensure model predictions. The model was run under various process parameters and obtained results presented in the form of temperature fields, solidification profiles, cooling curves and remelting history curves. Solidification profile studies predict a columnar dendritic solidified structure in the vertical orientation which was in agreement with metallographic sections published earlier. Parametric studied were also carried out under different boundary conditions, initial temperature of the droplet and Substrate temperature. It was concluded that 1) the process is not sensitive to convection/radiation effects from the surface. 2) the main parameter that can control the maximum remelting dept is initial temperature of the droplet. the more drop temperature, the more remelting dept. This parameter also affects cooling rate during solidification. 3) Increasing substrate temperature showed a decreased cooling rate in solid, which can be used to reduce residual stresses, but it had a minor effect on the cooling rates during solidification.


In this paper we present the first two-component, semi-empirical chromospheric model of the RS CVn binary system V 711 Tau based on detailed fits of H α and Mg IIh line profiles. Synthetic Hα and Mg IIh line profiles are computed by means of NLTE radiative transfer calculations. Using the observed Emission Measure distribution to constrain the transition region structure and the photospheric Next-Generationmodel with log(g)=3.5 andTeff =4800 K, we have built a grid of chromospheric models for the K1 IV component of the binary system by means of spline interpolations between photospheric and transition region models. With such interpolations the free parameters are restricted to the temperature minimum and the position of an interpolation knot. We find that a mean singlecomponent model cannot satisfactorily reproduce the observed line profiles. Chromospheric Doppler Imaging is then used to consider the chromospheric emission as due to two different components of known surface coverage and emission. Extensive grids of semi-empirical chromospheric models are built separately for the two components and the weighted-combined synthetic Hα and Mg IIh profiles are compared with observations. Two-component synthetic line profiles reproduce the observed Hα and Mg IIh in detail, indicating that thebroad andnarrowcomponents can be interpreted in terms of radiative transfer effects in different atmospheric structures for the active and quiet regions. From this analysis we infer information on physical properties of the active region, from which the broad component originates, with respect to the remaining chromosphere from which thenarrowcomponent originates. We show also that the variability outside flares can be reproduced considering slightly different models for the active region.


One of the most powerful economies in the global economic system is Japan. Nowadays the global economic system is facing many economic and political challenges. Owing to the fact that Japan is one of the most powerful economies, it has to maintain or enhance its economic power in order to face the upcoming challenges. Japanese economic growth is a combination of export growth, private investment and consumption. In order to overcome slow growth, Japan launched "Abenomics†, a policy based on three "arrows†: bold monetary policy, flexible fiscal policy, and a growth strategy. Despite the adoption of Abenomics, Japan's economy has to overcome three major challenges. First, government debt continues to rise as a percentage of GDP. Second, Japan is faced with declining population growth, which reduces its potential economic growth. The Japanese population is aging fast and, as a result this will limit growth and productivity because of a shrinking and aging labour force. The most important challenge for the Japanese economy is potential economic competition from China in high-technology products. Japan is facing increasing competition from China. The main economic advantage that Japan maintains is its high technological development in several sectors. The aim of this paper is to show whether Japan has a Revealed Comparative Advantage in high-technology exports. The methodology adopted is the theory of comparative advantage.


Yearbook for Temple High School in Temple, Texas includes photos of and information about the university, student body, faculty, and organizations.


Bail is one of the most consequential decisions in criminal justice. The ability to secure bail often makes the difference between guilt and innocence, retaining employment and family obligations, and keeping a place to live. These implications affect those charged with felonies and this has been the focus for many years, but it affects even more so those charged with misdemeanors. A misdemeanor is theoretically a less serious crime with less serious consequences, but the effects on a defendant's life are just as serious in the short term. There is a growing body of important empirical work that demonstrates the impact of being denied bail on those charged with misdemeanors. However, there is a lack of theoretical scholarship explaining defendants' rights when it comes to misdemeanor bail. There is also a lack of historical perspective in determining how we have dealt with misdemeanor crimes. Considering this historical perspective, we learn that misdemeanors have always been plentiful but it is only recently that they have become a serious problem and that their impact has become as serious as felony offenses. This Article strives to a first step toward creating a theoretical footing for misdemeanor bail decisions by considering the historical role of misdemeanors and discussing the importance of creating an analytical framework for making these decisions.


The intersection between close relationships research and virtual reality holds great promise for the advancement of both fields. In social science research laboratories and mainstream society, virtual reality is becoming an increasingly popular and viable tool and method for not only studying close relationships such as romantic relationships and friendships, but also for engaging in relational processes (e.g., social interactions, relationship formation, and relationship maintenance). Initial research at the forefront of this intersection has focused on attachment theory in adult romantic relationships, exploring (a) how attachment processes occur and (b) how they may be studied using digital, immersive spaces created via virtual reality. The current chapter first provides a general overview of both attachment theory and virtual reality before delving deeper into the intersection of adult attachment theory, neuroscience, and virtual reality. The chapter then concludes with potential future directions for research at the intersection of close relationships and virtual reality.


Race is, and always has been, an explosive issue in the United States. In this timely new book, Tim Wise explores how Barack Obama's emergence as a political force is taking the race debate to new levels. According to Wise, for many white people, Obama's rise signifies the end of racism as a pervasive social force; they point to Obama not only as a validation of the American ideology that anyone can make it if they work hard, but also as an example of how institutional barriers against people of color have all but vanished. But is this true? And does a reinforced white belief in color-blind meritocracy potentially make it harder to address ongoing institutional racism? After all, in housing, employment, the justice system, and education, the evidence is clear: white privilege and discrimination against people of color are still operative and actively thwarting opportunities, despite the success of individuals like Obama. Is black success making it harder for whites to see the problem of racism, thereby further straining race relations, or will it challenge anti-black stereotypes to such an extent that racism will diminish and race relations improve? Will blacks in power continue to be seen as an "exception" in white eyes? Is Obama "acceptable" because he seems "different from most blacks," who are still viewed too often as the dangerous and inferior "other"? "From the Civil Rights struggle, to Dr. King's dream, to Barack Obama's election, Tim Wise provides us with an extremely important and timely analysis of the increasing complexity of race on the American political and social landscape. Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama provides an insightful and much needed lens through which we can begin to navigate this current stage in our ongoing quest for a more inclusive definition of who we are as a nation. It's definitely a book for these times!"--Danny Glover "Tim Wise has looked behind the curtain. In Between Barack and a Hard Place he explores the real issues of race in the Obama campaign and incoming presidency, issues that the mainstream media has chosen to ignore. His book debunks any notion that the United States has entered a post-racial period; instead he identifies the problems that emerge in the context of the victory of a black presidential candidate who chose to run an essentially non-racial campaign. With this book, Wise hits the bull's eye."--Bill Fletcher "Wise outlines...how racism and white privilege have morphed to fit the modern social landscape. In prose that reads like his lightening rod speeches, he draws from a long list of high-profile campaign examples to define what he calls 'Racism 2.0,' a more insidious form of racism that actually allows for and celebrates the achievements of individual people of color because they're seen as the exceptions, not the rules."--Jamilah King, Colorlines "This book makes an intriguing argument and is packed with insight. Wise clearly explains the complexity of institutional racism in contemporary society. He continuously reminds the reader that Obama's victory may signal the entrenchment of a more complicated, subtle, and insidious form of racism. The jury is still out." --Jeff Torlina, Multicultural Review Tim Wise is among the most prominent antiracist writers and activists in the US and has appeared on ABC's 20/20 and MSNBC Live. His previous books include Speaking Treason Fluently and White Like Me.


Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) is the only naturally-occurring pine distributed throughout the Ozark-Ouachita Highlands. Once dominant on south-facing and ridgetop stands and important in mixed stands, it is now restricted to south- and southwestfacing slopes in the Ouachita and southern Ozark Mountains, and to isolated pure and mixed stands in the northern Ozarks. Its position as a minority component in mixed stands has declined to the status of relict. Restoration and management of shortleaf pine fall into three categories--science, empirical observation, and wishful application of generalities. In science, knowledge exists about regenerating pure stands of shortleaf pine through plantation forestry or natural regeneration, about managing second-growth stands to restore pine-bluestem communities, and about applying growth and yield models for pure stands of the species. Empirically, evidence suggests that relying on advance growth rather than seedfall will better regenerate shortleaf pine naturally over time, in conjunction with prescribed burning. Generalities become more wishful when considering the use of herbicides to supplement fire, and when thinking about effective ways to underplant a minor and varying shortleaf pine component in hardwood stands so as to recover the dramatically depleted area of oak-pine woodlands--the omitted step in restoring this species fully in the Ozark-Ouachita Highlands.


In mid-2001, the Southern Research Station (SRS) and the Southern Regional Office (R8) of the U.S. Forest Service worked through a 3-day facilitated discussion to develop a strategy to guide research and technology transfer on non-timber forest products (NTFPs). In all, more than 14 specialists took part in developing the strategy, representing the Forest Service Washington and Region 8 Offices, the National Forests, Research, and State & Private Forestry. Technical disciplines represented during the process included ecology, botany, social science, inventory and monitoring, and marketing and management. The guide establishes strategic goals and recommended actions to advance the knowledge concerning the management of forest resources for NTFPs. It is intended to help direct research efforts of the Southern Research Station concerning the ecological, economic, and social sustainability of market and non-market NTFPs, as well as tlie inventory and monitoring of these products on public and private forestlands. A corresponding purpose is to guide technology transfer efforts in Region 8, state and private forestry, as well as the national forest system with SRS scientists.


Abstract Freshwater mussels use an array of strategies to transfer their parasitic larvae (glochidia) to fish hosts. We examined the effects of temperature, photoperiod, and female gravidity on mantle lure display and conglutinate release by Ligumia subrostrata (Say, 1831) in 2 laboratory experiments. In the 1st experiment, we examined the use of these strategies in 4 temperature treatments (5, 15, 25, 35°C) and 3 photoperiods (10∶14, 12∶12, and 14∶10 h light∶ dark). In the 2nd experiment, we observed infection strategies under ambient conditions with flow-through pond water. Water temperature appeared to be the primary cue governing use of these strategies. Lure display occurred over a protracted period, but the highest display frequency occurred between ∼11 and 20°C. Lure display declined rapidly above this range and ceased altogether >28°C. Release of conglutinates increased coincident with the decrease in lure display but, at ambient temperatures, occurred over a protracted period similar in duration to lure display. Females that were not gravid at the beginning of the experiment did not display lures, and gravid females whose gills were flushed of glochidia displayed for only a short period during which frequency of display was much lower than gravid individuals. Ligumia subrostrata exhibits a temperature-mediated switch between alternate host strategies. We present evidence that lure display is a primary strategy for host infection and conglutinate release is a secondary, bet-hedging strategy to reduce wastage of glochidia that ultimately must be cleared from the gills at the end of the reproductive season.


After providing the current rationale and historical background for educational standards, this article discusses various meanings and interpretations attached to this term. It then provides a comparative analysis of three sets of publications that are seen as providing national standards for science education, developed by the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Research Council. Next, the role of assessment in setting standards is discussed; in particular, the science frameworks used by the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, the work of the New Standards Project; and the expectations built into rigorous university entrance exams, as represented by the Advanced Placement examinations. The article also addresses the current status of state science curriculum frameworks, including commonalities and variations among them. It concludes with a brief discussion of standards and framework documents, whether nationally or state developed, as policy levers for reforming science education in elementary and secondary school.


Bank as a financial institution is place to a variety of financial transactions both for
companies and individuals. The Bank is a business entity which collects funds from the public in
the form of savings and channel them to the public in other forms in order to improve the
standard of living of the people. Society as the party most responsible, in general, have the
attitude responsive to the various services provided by each bank to attract public sympathy.
Sympathy and public trust in a bank, not apart from the bank's financial condition, including the
bank's health. Bank health are not only important for the continuity of its operations, but also
important for the banking system and economic development of a country, because healthy
banks will have positive influence on public confidence and to achieve the economic system are
active and efficient. Assessment of the health of a particular bank can be done by analyzing its
financial statements. The financial statements of banks in the form of balance sheet, providing
information to parties outside the bank, such as central banks, the public, and investors
regarding its financial position description, which can further be used to assess the inherent
risks in a bank. Income Statement provides a description of the business development bank.
Soundness essentially assessed with a qualitative approach on various aspects affecting the
condition and development of a bank. Qualitative approach in the implementation is done by
quantifying the components of each factor such as: Capital, Assets Quality, Management,
Profitability and Likuiditas.Faktor-factors assessed as described above is known as CAMEL
(Capital, Asset, Management, Earning, and Likuidity.)
Keywords: Perbankan, Capital, Asset, Management, Earning, Likuidity


Abstract The locus of creative inspiration and production is commonly associated with either the dynamism of the inner city or with the natural landscape, with its Arcadian transformative associations. This article considers the spatiality of creative work in an in-between site: the outer suburbs in Australia. The outer suburbs occupy a conflicted status in the national imaginary: frequently regarded as the locus of consumption and materialism, they are localities which few associate with creativity or creative industries. Creative city discourse further instils the idea that all things creative occur only in the inner city. Yet Australia is a highly suburbanised country: the middle and outer suburbs are where most Australians live and work. This article challenges the perception that creativity is spatially clustered in the inner city. It is based on empirical and qualitative research that maps and investigates the experience of creative industries workers in outer-suburban localities of Brisbane and Melbourne. One of the key findings is the significance of the relationship between work and place for creative workers located in outer-suburban localities, rupturing assumptions about suburbia and "creative" inner-city enclaves.


At Makemo Atoll (French Polynesia), the carapid fish Onuxodon fowleri lives in symbiosis with the black-lip pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera . Although the symbiont seems to live inside its host bivalve by using it as a shelter, additional data are still needed to better understand the exact nature of this association. For this purpose, we implemented an approach using stable isotope ratios of carbon ( 13 C/ 12 C) and nitrogen ( 15 N/ 14 N). The δ 13 C and δ 15 N values were measured in tissues of the pearl oyster (gonads, gills, mantle and muscles), white muscle tissue from the fish and other food sources. This stable isotope approach was also complemented by the analysis of stomach contents in the carapid fish. Overall, the isotopic compositions measured in the present study support a commensal relationship between O. fowleri and P. margaritifera . In addition, our isotopic data bring new information about another guest living inside P. margaritifera , namely the palaemonid shrimp Conchodytes meleagrinae . Based on the δ 13 C and δ 15 N values, it appears that the shrimp might feed on the bivalve gonads.


The present contribution of small scale agriculture to rural livelihood in north-west Peddie district and the four factors identified by Lipton (1996) as being essential for small scale farming to flourish, were analysed by making use of data obtained in two recent studies conducted in the area. The two studies, which both used a questionnaire survey for data collection, enabled a comparison between dryland and irrigated agriculture. The analysis showed that agriculture adds to rural livelihood in a modest way only, and hardly ever constituted the main source of household income. For the majority of households in both the dryland and irrigated production environments the main source of income consisted of State transfers of which pensions were the most important. In the area, three of the four factors identified by Lipton (1996), namely access to agricultural land, research and development of appropriate technology, and rural infrastructure were found to require reform for local small scale farming to become a viable livelihood option. The only factor which did not appear to present a major constraint was access to markets. Relative to the present level of production, the market in the rural area itself is sufficiently large to absorb most produce, usually at prices higher than those offered by formal markets. In future, access to markets could become a constraint if production by small scale farmers were to be increased significantly.


The association between trace elements and saprolite minerals has been investigated at the Boddington gold deposit and Scuddles massive Cu-Zn sulphide deposit in Western Australia by in situ laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and electron microprobe. The study provides new information about the occurrence and abundance of base metals, gold and their pathfinders in clay and ferruginous materials. Traces are predominantly located in vermiculite, interstratified clay minerals (chlorite–vermiculite and chlorite–smectite), goethite, hematite and titanium oxides. Although kaolinite is the main constitutent of saprolite, it retains insignificant amounts of trace elements and therefore dilutes geochemical anomalies. Anatase and rutile host abundant trace elements used as pathfinders for Au mineralization at Boddington (W, Bi and Mo) and base metal mineralization at Scuddles (Sb and Bi). As a result, the relative accumulation of these resistate minerals during weathering inflates pathfinder geochemical signatures. LA-ICP-MS compositional depth profiling obtained on conventional thin sections has proved to be an efficient tool to determine element–mineral associations in weathered material and to measure trace element concentrations. It allows a rapid detection of inclusions and highlights the distribution of trace elements between mineralogical phases.


The spatial variability of pineapple yields from a one-hectare field located on a tropical peat was quantified. In situ yield measurements were recorded based on 0.6 × 25-m rectangular grids. A total of 60 geo-referenced yield records were obtained. Recording points were spaced 8 × 18 m. Yield data were subjected to semivariogram and kriging analyses. The average pineapple yield was 93.3 kg per grid with a CV of 13.7%. The spatial structure of pineapple yields was fitted using an exponential function with a total variation (sill) of 137.6, a random variation (nugget) of 49.3, and an effective range of 38.1 m. Based on the nugget to sill ratio, pineapple yields showed a moderate spatial dependence. A map comprising measured and interpolated yield values showed that 31% of the field had yields close to the field average, 36% had yields above the average, and 33% with yields below the average. These results suggest that site-specific management of pineapple is necessary.


Hurricane disturbances have profound impacts on ecosystem structure and function, yet their effects on ecosystem CO2 exchange have not been reported. In September 2004, our research site on a fire‐regenerated scrub‐oak ecosystem in central Florida was struck by Hurricane Frances with sustained winds of 113 km h−1 and wind gusts as high as 152 km h−1. We quantified the hurricane damage on this ecosystem resulting from defoliation: we measured net ecosystem CO2 exchange, the damage and recovery of leaf area, and determined whether growth in elevated carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere (Ca) altered this disturbance. The hurricane decreased leaf area index (LAI) by 21%, which was equal to 60% of seasonal variation in canopy growth during the previous 3 years, but stem damage was negligible. The reduction in LAI led to a 22% decline in gross primary production (GPP) and a 25% decline in ecosystem respiration (Re). The compensatory declines in GPP and Re resulted in no significant change in net ecosystem production (NEP). Refoliation began within a month after the hurricane, although this period was out of phase with the regular foliation period, and recovered 20% of the defoliation loss within 2.5 months. Full recovery of LAI, ecosystem CO2 assimilation, and ecosystem respiration did not occur until the next growing season. Plants exposed to elevated Ca did not sustain greater damage, nor did they recover faster than plants grown under ambient Ca. Thus, our results indicate that hurricanes capable of causing significant defoliation with negligible damage to stems have negligible effects on NEP under current or future CO2‐enriched environment.


This paper considers the scenario of a targeted drug delivery system, which consists of deploying a number of biological nanomachines close to a biological target (e.g., a tumor), able to deliver drug molecules in the diseased area. Suitably located transmitters are designed to release a continuous flow of drug molecules in the surrounding environment, where they diffuse and reach the target. These molecules are received when they chemically react with compliant receptors deployed on the receiver surface. In these conditions, if the release rate is relatively high and the drug absorption time is significant, congestion may happen, essentially at the receiver site. This phenomenon limits the drug absorption rate and makes the signal transmission ineffective, with an undesired diffusion of drug molecules elsewhere in the body. The original contribution of this paper consists of a theoretical analysis of the causes of congestion in diffusion-based molecular communications. For this purpose, it is proposed a reception model consisting of a set of pure loss queuing systems. The proposed model exhibits an excellent agreement with the results of a simulation campaign made by using the Biological and Nano-Scale communication simulator version 2 (BiNS2), a well-known simulator for molecular communications, whose reliability has been assessed through in vitro experiments. The obtained results can be used in rate control algorithms to optimally determine the optimal release rate of molecules in drug delivery applications.


In response to the poor urban sanitation in Monrovia's slums and Buchanan's peri-urban areas in Liberia, Oxfam piloted worm toilets (aka Tiger Toilets), constructing 180 toilets between 2011 and 2015. One toilet was constructed per household for families containing fewer than 10 people. Each toilet was connected to a biodigester containing 2 kg of African night crawlers (Eudrilus eugeniae). This paper documents the programme approach including how the community was mobilized and the construction process. The results section reviews field observations, challenges, and the maintenance problems encountered. In the discussion the paper reviews the design changes, lessons learned, limits for scale, and critical factors for success (favourable environment, local supply, infiltration capacity, and local technicians). The paper concludes that although the project is still ongoing, the study suggests that the African night crawlers can digest significant volumes of human excreta if proper conditions of aeration, m...


In this paper, we present ultrasonic signal processing methods for the quantification of volume loss in a thick-wall aluminum tube, including temperature compensation, along with a novel experimental sequence for control purposes. The experimental sequence contains damage steps and null (no-damage) steps, randomly distributed and of random time duration. For the quantification, circumferentially propagating ultrasonic waves are used because they can repeatedly sample the volume loss area in the tube. Our experimental results show that the ultrasonic signal processing methods used in this paper, combined with the optimal signal stretching temperature compensation technique, can successfully quantify the volume loss. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/89


St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, was renowned for his genius. His masterful exposition of Christian theology, drawing upon Aristotle's philosophy to form a solid intellectual foundation for Christian ideas, has formed the core of the Catholic Church's teaching for almost a thousand years. Beyond Christianity, Aquinas has also exerted a major influence on legal philosophy. As the foremost expositor of natural law theory, natural law theorists to the present age owe a great debt to Aquinas's discussion of law in his Treatise On Law. However, one aspect of Aquinas's legacy has generated an inordinate amount of contention – his view of the relationship between justice and legality. Is an unjust law a law at all? Modern natural law theorists taking contradictory positions all claim to be faithful to Aquinas's ideas on the matter. Some, taking a view that has been described as "strong natural law theory", argue that Aquinas believed that the injustice of a law renders it legally invalid. Others, taking the position of "weak natural law theory", argue that Aquinas perceived an unjust law as legally defective but still a law in a secondary sense. Even legal positivists, the traditional opponents of natural law theory, have proposed interpretations of Aquinas's thoughts on the matter. They cannot all be correct.

This paper is directed at investigating what really Aquinas's position was on the relationship between justice and legality. It will do so by taking a detailed look at Aquinas's Treatise On Law, the broader context of the Summa Theologiae ("the Summa") within which the Treatise is situated, and Aquinas's methodological and definitional approaches. The outline of the paper is as follows. First, it will describe the different positions that modern natural law theorists have taken on the relationship between justice and legality, with a view to identifying the key conceptual differences between strong and weak natural law theory. Second, it will briefly describe how Aquinas's thought on this issue has been interpreted by modern legal theorists, to illustrate the extent of disagreement between interpreters of Aquinas. Third, it will provide an overview of Aquinas's arc of argument in his Treatise On Law, to provide context for the subsequent deep-dive into Aquinas's thought. Fourth, the paper will formulate a set of questions to be resolved, corresponding to the key conceptual differences between strong and weak natural law theory, and will then evaluate Aquinas's text, context, and methodology to determine how Aquinas's thought bears on these questions.


We study the basic allocation problem of assigning resources to players to maximize fairness. This is one of the few natural problems that enjoys the intriguing status of having a better estimation algorithm than approximation algorithm. Indeed, a certain Configuration-LP can be used to estimate the value of the optimal allocation to within a factor of 4+ ε. In contrast, however, the best-known approximation algorithm for the problem has an unspecified large constant guarantee. In this article, we significantly narrow this gap by giving a 13-approximation algorithm for the problem. Our approach develops a local search technique introduced by Haxell [13] for hypergraph matchings and later used in this context by Asadpour, Feige, and Saberi [2]. For our local search procedure to terminate in polynomial time, we introduce several new ideas, such as lazy updates and greedy players. Besides the improved approximation guarantee, the highlight of our approach is that it is purely combinatorial and uses the Configuration-LP only in the analysis.


A random survey of 100 representative mosques in the U.S. was conducted to measure the correlation between Sharia adherence and dogma calling for violence against non-believers.  Of the 100 mosques surveyed, 51% had texts on site rated as severely advocating violence; 30% had texts rated as moderately advocating violence; and 19% had no violent texts at all.  Mosques that presented as Sharia adherent were more likely to feature violence-positive texts on site than were their non-Sharia-adherent counterparts.  In 84.5% of the mosques, the imam recommended studying violence-positive texts.  The leadership at Sharia-adherent mosques was more likely to recommend that a worshipper study violence-positive texts than leadership at non-Sharia-adherent mosques.  Fifty-eight percent of the mosques invited guest imams known to promote violent jihad.  The leadership of mosques that featured violence-positive literature was more likely to invite guest imams who were known to promote violent jihad than was the leadership of mosques that did not feature violence-positive literature on mosque premises.


The statistics are startling. Since 1973, America's imprisonment rate has multiplied over five times to become the highest in the world. More than two million inmates reside in state and federal prisons. What does this say about our attitudes toward criminals and punishment? What does it say about us? This book explores the cultural evolution of punishment practices in the United States. Anne-Marie Cusac first looks at punishment in the nation's early days, when Americans repudiated Old World cruelty toward criminals and emphasized rehabilitation over retribution. This attitude persisted for some 200 years, but in recent decades we have abandoned it, Cusac shows. She discusses the dramatic rise in the use of torture and restraint, corporal and capital punishment, and punitive physical pain. And she links this new climate of punishment to shifts in other aspects of American culture, including changes in dominant religious beliefs, child-rearing practices, politics, television shows, movies, and more. America now punishes harder and longer and with methods we would have rejected as cruel and unusual not long ago. These changes are profound, their impact affects all our lives, and we have yet to understand the full consequences.


This article argues the Canadian government's decision in 2010 to eliminate the mandatory long-form census constitutes a mobilizing appeal to libertarian populism commensurate not only with neoliberal concepts of individualism, private property, and the role of the state, but also with a redefinition of what counts as valid argumentation and a legitimate basis for making knowledge claims. This rationale has implications for sociological research and theory, for the profession of sociology, and for a sociological vision of society.


Violet root rot (VRR), caused by the fungus Helicobasidium purpureum (anamorph Rhizoctonia crocorum), is a common problem for carrot growers in the Ohakune region of New Zealand. VRR can still be problematic even after many years of fallow, suggesting that alternative hosts may be maintaining and harbouring the disease. Seeds from a selection of common weed and pasture (ryegrass, clover and plantain) species sourced from the Ohakune area were planted into pots of steam-sterilised Ohakune soil and grown in the glasshouse. Following seedling establishment, pots were inoculated with H. purpureum.
Four and a half months post inoculation, all plants were assessed visually, and then well-rinsed root samples were taken for DNA extraction and PCR testing. Of the nine weed species assessed, all tested positive for H. purpureum by PCR, and seven had visual symptoms on plants. For the twelve pasture species assessed, ten tested positive for H. purpureum by PCR, while eight had visual symptoms on plants. Some plants, in particular various clovers, plantain and dock, had numerous sclerotia on the outside of roots. These results indicate that alternate hosts in pasture or fallowed fields are capable of harbouring H. purpureum.


Background/Context Studies have found that within-field mentoring, collaboration with colleagues, and administrative support can increase new general education teacher commitment (Kapadia, Coca, & Easton, 2007; Smith & Ingersoll, 2004). In the area of special education, studies have reported that support from mentors and colleagues is associated with increased commitment among novices (Billingsley, Carlson, & Klein, 2004; Whitaker, 2000). Despite these advances, there has been little research on how beginning special educators make sense of the curricular, instructional, and role expectations placed on them or how they negotiate relationships with and make use of supports from mentors, colleagues, and administrators. Purpose One purpose of the study was to explicate differences in the curricular, instructional, and role expectations experienced by beginning special and general education elementary teachers. A second purpose was to document variations in how novices from both groups addressed expectations they encountered. Research Design Data collection during the 2006-07 school year involved interviewing two beginning special education and two general education teachers twice each and surveying all four teachers twice each. All four teachers were working in a medium-sized urban district in Michigan where 40% of students were eligible for free/reduced-price lunches. The interview questions addressed the study participants' professional backgrounds, teaching assignments, and the curricular, instructional, and role expectations they experienced in their schools. The teachers were also asked about the content and frequency of their interactions with their formally assigned mentors, colleagues, and school and district administrators, and their participation in induction and professional development activities. Findings/Results The study found considerable differences in the curricular expectations placed on novice special education and general education teachers, the students they were assigned, and the classrooms and physical settings in which they were expected to work. In addition, the study also found variations in how these teachers made sense of the expectations placed on them and the nature and amount of the effort they seemed to exert in meeting these expectations. Further, due to the nature of the curricular and role expectations they faced, the early career special educators were much more dependent on their general education colleagues (as compared to the general educators in the study) and they were expected to develop relationships with a greater number and wider range of individuals. Conclusions/Recommendations Based on the study findings, there are three main induction practices or activities that school leaders and districts should consider. For one, it is important for new special education teachers to have access to same-field mentors and clear curricular guidelines that can help them determine their curriculum and carry out their instructional duties. Second, in order to further reduce role ambiguity for new special educators, ensure that they meet their legal obligations (enshrined in IDEA and NCLB), and integrate them into their schools, it may be helpful for principals and district administrators to take strong, visible positions in support of inclusion and help them establish productive relationships with other teachers in their schools. Third, we argue that it may be useful for induction programs for beginning special education teachers to address the nature of, and help them build, their relationships with general education colleagues.


The production of lettuce in hydroponic systems with a recirculating nutrient solution has been growing, so it is necessary to evaluate the growth and quality of production under this system. Two harvest cycles were evaluated, comparing the behavior of physiological variables and growth rates on lettuce plants in a hydroponic system with a plastic cover. Lettuce plants were planted at 30 days after germination in an NFT hydroponic system. Nutrient solutions were prepared with sources of potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate, urea phosphate, magnesium sulfate and a source of minor  nutrifeed.  The second cycle had the highest total dry mass and leaf area index (LAI) at 43 days after transplant (dat). The relative growth rate (RGR) declined over time. The absolute growth rate (AGR) presented a sigmoid behavior as a gaussian bell shape; the leaf area index (LAI) increased until 43 dat, with the second cycle presenting the highest value; the net assimilation rate (NAR) decreased over time, with the second cycle having the highest value at 22 dat. The chlorophyll content for this variety was low, with a yellow pigmentation in the plant. The stomatal conductance (SC) in the two cycles at transplant time presented low values caused by the stress leaded by an imbalance in the pH of the solution, when the plants adapted to the system, this value increased.


The use of argon as an environment for the dc arc results in marked prolongation of volatilization, increased initial electrode currents, and enhancement of lines of many elements, particularly volatile ones, when samples are burnt to extinction and compared to helium and argon-helium mixtures. An interdependent relationship between total time necessary for complete volatilization of samples, percentage helium and argon composition of the atmosphere, and sample concentrations is demonstrated. Independently, a relationship between the electrode current, percent helium and argon, and concentration of the sample exists.


The generalization and robustness of an electroencephalogram (EEG)-based system are crucial requirements in actual practices. To reach these goals, we propose a new EEG representation that provides a more realistic view of brain functionality by applying multi-instance (MI) framework to consider the non-stationarity of the EEG signal. In this representation, the non-stationarity of EEG is considered by describing the signal as a bag of relevant and irrelevant concepts. The concepts are provided by a robust representation of homogeneous segments of EEG signal using spatial covariance matrices. Due to the nonlinear geometry of the space of covariance matrices, we determine the boundaries of the homogeneous segments based on adaptive segmentation of the signal in a Riemannian framework. Each subject is described as a bag of covariance matrices of homogeneous segments and the bag-level discriminative information is used for classification. To evaluate the performance of the proposed approach, we examine it in a cultural neuroscience application for classification Iranian versus Swiss normal subjects to discover if strongly differing cultures can result in distinguishing patterns in brain electrical activity of the subjects. To confirm the effectiveness of the proposed representation, we also evaluate the proposed representation in EEG-based mental disorder diagnosis application for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Bipolar Mood Disorder, Schizophrenia/ normal, and Major Depression Disorder/normal diagnosis applications. Experimental results confirm the superiority of the proposed approach, which is gained due to the robustness of covariance descriptor, the effectiveness of Riemannian geometry, the benefits of considering the inherent nonstationary nature of the brain by applying bag-level discriminative information, and automatic handling the artifacts.


In this paper we provide estimates of the coefficient of relative risk aversion using information on self-reports of subjective personal well-being from multiple datasets, including three cross-sectional surveys and two panel surveys, namely the Gallup World Poll, the European Social Survey, the World Values Survey, the British Household Panel Survey for the United Kingdom, and the General Social Survey for the United States. We additionally consider the implications of allowing for health-state dependence in the utility function on the estimates of risk aversion and examine how the marginal utility of income changes in poor health states. Our estimates of relative risk aversion with cross-section data vary closely around 1, which corresponds to logarithmic utility, while the estimates with panel data are slightly larger. We find that controlling for health dependence generally reduces these estimates. In contrast with other studies in the literature, our results also suggest that the marginal utility of income increases when satisfaction with health deteriorates, and this effect is robust across the various datasets analyzed.


Introduction This paper will examine the rapid evolution of traditional sports journalism. It will begin by suggesting a variety of driving forces fueling the shift from traditional journalism of pen and print, to click and internet. Then, it will discuss the implications this shift has upon the realm of sport; for it is not only journalists who are affected, but also professional athletes, sports organizations, and fans alike. As technological advances progress, and trusting, ethical relationships between journalists and athletes regress, there is danger that the presses may indeed come to a complete stop. Definitions of Terms Blog a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Facebook Website for people to create personal pages on which they can post pictures and all manner of personal information and communicate with others. TMZ "Thirty Mile Zone" A term which originated in the 1960s due to growth of 'on location' shoots in Hollywood. A "thirty mile zone" was established to monitor the regulations of these shoots. Now, the acronym is used as a celebrity news source compromised of paparazzi who will report every minute detail of celebrities' personal lives. Twitter Twitter.com is a social networking and "micro-blogging" website which enables users to write short messages to each other. Review of Literature Traditional, old-fashioned sports journalism highlighted the events of a game and the individual performances of athletes. People eagerly awaited the delivery of the morning paper to read the game summary and analyze the box scores; however times have changed. Not only are people no longer waiting for the newspaper to be delivered to their front door step, they are not even purchasing the paper at all. "Following an average drop of 10.6% in the last 12 months, daily newspaper circulation has fallen to a pre-World War II low of an estimated 39.1 million; which means only 12.9% of the U.S. population buys a daily newspaper," (Mutter, 2009). The main reason for the decline is due to technological advances that allow instant access to every score, highlight, and play-by-play via internet websites, postings, and blogs. Certainly, the dying reliance upon the newspaper and printed word is causing a major change in the field of sports journalism; and there are a number of forces causing the presses to come to a halt. Increased Accessibility & Immediacy The most influential impetus behind the change in the field of sports journalism is the evolution of technology. There is no doubt we are living in a society bombarded by an explosion of mass media, and a demand to access information at a faster pace. This is proven by the fact that as newspaper and magazine sales continue to decrease, there is an immense increase in internet sites. The internet has revolutionized the world of sports journalism by providing immediate access through blogs, instant messaging, tweeting, Facebook, and a plethora of other platforms. Ultimately, the factors of increased accessibility and immediacy have forced traditional newspaper journalists to conform to a new system, or lose their position. Further, due to the increased access of sporting events via the internet, satellite, and other advances in technology, a mere review of sporting events and scores is no longer as important to audiences. As Greg Bowers, an assistant professor at the Missouri School of Journalism stated, "The old reason for buying the paper is gone. What journalists are trying to do is create a new reason for buying the paper," (Brown, 2008). This shift in focus, caused by pressure to compete with the immediacy and accessibility of the internet has caused the traditional newspaper presses to stop rolling. …


Introduction Small mammals, and especially insectivores, long have been the stepchildren in Austrian palaeontology, although Hofmann described an insectivore species, Plesiosorex styriacus, from two Styrian sites as early as 1892. In 1893 the same author described and figured an erinaceid tooth, now known as Lantanotherium sp., from Goriach in Styria.
Thenius (1949) presented a revision of the insectivores of the Styrian Tertiary, that is the Miocene. No insectivores were known from other parts of Austria at that time, partly because research was centred in Vienna and Graz; many more fossil sites are known from the eastern parts of Austria, which, however, mainly yielded large mammals. Systematic searches for small mammals by means of screen washing techniques only began in the middle of the 20th century. Until then, finds of small mammals were more or less a side-product of the search for large mammals. The first large-scale excavations, which also yielded lots of small mammals, among them insectivores, started in 1955 in the Kohfidisch caves and fissures in Burgenland, and in the 1960s at the Eichkogel site near Modling in the Vienna Basin. Bachmayer, Zapfe, Thenius and their students initiated and conducted the excavations at these sites. The Kohfidisch fauna, including the insectivores, was presented by Bachmayer & Wilson (1970, 1978, 1980), but not all of the material was taken into account in these contributions. Some insectivores from the Eichkogel were published by Rabeder (1973). The rodents of this site have been published in a number of papers by Daxner-Hock (e.g. 1972, 1977, 1981). Excavations of the Pliocene


All subdivisions of the adult zebrafish brain maintain niches of constitutive neurogenesis, sustained by quiescent and multipotent progenitor populations. In the telencephalon, the latter potential neural stem cells take the shape of radial glia aligned along the ventricle and are controlled by Notch signalling. With the aim of identifying new markers of this cell type and of comparing the effectors of embryonic and adult neurogenesis, we focused on the family of hairy/enhancer of split [E(spl)] genes. We report the expression of seven hairy/E(spl) (her) genes and the new helt gene in three neurogenic areas of the adult zebrafish brain (telencephalon, hypothalamus, and midbrain) in relation to radial glia, proliferation, and neurogenesis. We show that the expression of most her genes in the adult brain characterizes quiescent radial glia, whereas only few are expressed in progenitor domains engaged in active proliferation or neurogenesis. The low proliferation status of most her‐positive progenitors contrasts with the embryonic nervous system, in which her genes are expressed in actively dividing progenitors. Likewise, we demonstrate largely overlapping expression domains of a set of her genes in the adult brain, which is in striking contrast to their distinct embryonic expression profiles. Overall, our data provide a consolidated map of her expression, quiescent glia, proliferation, and neurogenesis in these various subdivisions of the adult brain and suggest distinct regulation and function of Her factors in the embryonic and adult contexts. J. Comp. Neurol. 519:1748–1769, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Context: To re-establish a population of the threatened numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) in a newly created safe haven at Mount Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary, in the semi-arid zone of Western Australia, wild-born and captive-bred individuals of both sexes were translocated. Aim: To compare: (1) the use of refuges by wild-born numbats preand post-translocation, and (2) the survival and refuge use of captive-bred numbats compared with wild-sourced numbats posttranslocation. Methods: Monitoring via radio-tracking facilitated the gathering of information on survival and behaviour of numbats preand post-translocation, and allowed a comparison of how different factors (e.g. captive-bred or wild-born; male or female) influenced survival and establishment in a new environment. Key results: There were no significant differences in survival between sexes or between wild-born and captive-bred individuals. However, there were some differences in behaviour between sexes and source populations. Captive-bred numbats, regardless of sex, made greater use of tree hollows as nocturnal refuges than did their wild-born counterparts. Among wild-born numbats, there was a comparatively greater use of tree hollows and logs on the ground by males at Mount Gibson than at Scotia. The use of diurnal escape refuges did not vary between sexes or between captive-bred and wild-born individuals. Conclusions: On the basis of the information presented here, we conclude that, in the absence of predation by mammalian predators, and with suitable release habitat, captive-bred-to-wild translocations of numbats may be as likely to succeed as are wild-to-wild translocations, at least over the first few months post-translocation. Implications: Optimising the size and genetic diversity of the founding population by using animals from a variety of sources may not need to be heavily constrained by concerns about the ability of captive-bred numbats to adapt to and survive life in the wild.


In today's AEC industry (Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry), there has been a vast evolution in the usage of information and communication technology (ICT) for describing and managing construction projects. During the past years this led to the elaboration of the technique Building Information Modelling or BIM for describing buildings and building information according to their different composing elements. One of the major advantages in this BIM approach is the possibility to use this building information for calculation, simulation and analysis in related, more dedicated ICT applications. Starting from the building information model, these applications are accessible through an interoperability language, namely the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), elaborated by the International Alliance for Interoperability or IAI. This paper proposes the development of an approach similar to BIM, namely Architectural Information Modelling (AIM), which describes more theoretical and historical building knowledge instead of the explicit and component-based descriptions inside BIM. It illustrates several possible advantages of this AIM approach for application in building documentation for virtual heritage, combined with possible historical analysis tools. It also makes a short comparison of this technique with procedural methods, a similar technique that is gaining much interest during the past few years in the domain of virtual heritage. Finally, this paper proposes future research ambitions and some conclusions of this first, conceptual research about an architectural information modelling approach.


Longer life expectancy means that chronological age is no longer a useful indicator of defining old age. This study included 6,452 participants aged 60 years and older from the 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey to investigate the relationships between different types of social participation and self-perception of being old in China. Ordinary least square regression was applied. Results show that respondents who engaged in political participation or community participation reported higher self-perception of being old than those who did not engage in these social participations. Respondents who provided more care for grandchildren reported self-perception of being old at younger age. In the context of delaying retirement in China, obligatory participation was associated with an earlier start of the self-perception of being old. Elimination of mandatory retirement and separating that from pension eligibility may be good choices for promoting active aging.


This article describes changes in divorce laws in the United States, England and Wales, France, and Sweden in the areas of obtaining a divorce, spousal support, child support and child custody. Also, the article discusses the relation between individuals' values and their evaluations of the effects of changes in divorce laws on family members, as well as the relation between legal change and cultural values. In addition to providing valuable descriptive information about divorce laws from an international perspective, comparative analyses provide unique insights into the relation between culture and laws pertaining to divorce beyond that provided by an analysis of any single country. This analysis not only provides information about the laws of several Western countries, but also highlights the complex relation between cultural values and the legal aspects of divorce. To further the understanding of this complex relation, the authors' recommend that future researchers must incorporate non-Western countries into their analyses.


The Ameniinae comprise seven genera, of which six occur in Australia; the largest, Amenia, is restricted to this country. Previous studies left some uncertainty about the status of several taxa in Amenia, and Part 1 of this study applies morphometric methods to the problem. These analyses show that Amenia longicornis comprises two geographically isolated, morphologically distinct forms. One occurs around the head of Spencer's Gulf in South Australia and north as far as Alice Springs; the other is widespread across the Nullarbor Plain. Similar studies of A. i. imperialis and close relatives show that A. i. imperialis and A. i. dubitalis are clearly separable by head shape; also, that two other "forms" of A. imperialis can be distinguished: one occurring in northwestern Australia and arid areas of New South Wales and Queensland, the other in the vicinity of Cooktown, Queensland. Likewise, the two subspecies of A. leonina, A. l. leonina and A. l. albomaculata are morphometrically separable, but with some sign of intergradation, as well as the existence of distinct "forms" of A. l. albomaculata in the New England area of New South Wales and on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. Finally, A. chrysame is shown to comprise two morphometrically separable "forms", occurring north and south of the 26th parallel. In Part 2, the subfamily Ameniinae is reviewed, with descriptions of eight new species: two in Stilbomyella, four in Paraplatytropesa, and two in Amenia. The last represent morphometrically recognised siblings of A. imperialis. Also, the subspecies of A. imperialis are raised to full specific rank, as are those of A. leonina; genus Formosiomima is relegated to synonymy under Amenia; the New Guinean Platytropesa simulans is newly recorded from north Queensland; and the known ranges of several other species are extended with new records. In Part 3, phenetic studies are offered to support the existing classification within the subfamily, and its zoogeography and possible evolutionary history are discussed. It seems not unlikely that the Australasian taxa stem from a Paramenia-like ancestor, that originated in western New Guinea as sister to the mainly Oriental Catapicephala. One or more of its descendant species then entered Australia from the north, dispersing, with further concurrent speciation, in a clockwise fashion around the continent. COLLESS, DONALD H., 1998. Morphometries in the genus Amenia and revisionary notes on the Australian Ameniinae (Diptera: Calliphoridae), with the description of eight new species. Records of the Australian Museum 50(1): 85-123.


Objectives Pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinomas are rare and generally aggressive tumors composed of carcinomatous and sarcomatous components; however, the evolution of sarcomatoid cancer has not been elucidated. Here, we aimed to evaluate the mutational profiles and phylogeny of sarcomatoid carcinomas using next generation sequencing and in-silico analysis to facilitate the development of novel therapies. Methods Four patients who underwent surgery for sarcomatoid cancer were enrolled. Cancer cells were collected from carcinomatous and sarcomatous components in each tumor by laser capture microdissection. Next-generation sequencing was performed in each component, and the mutation profiles were compared. For further inference of phylogenies, phylogenetic and PyClone analyses were performed. Mismatch repair disturbance and programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression were also evaluated. Results Comparative genetic analysis of different histological areas revealed that the separate components shared several common mutations, which showed relatively high cellular prevalence in the PyClone statistical inference. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the sarcomatous component had ramified from the carcinomatous component in the early phase of the evolution process and accumulated a number of mutations that were different from those of the carcinomatous component. Moreover, microsatellite instability was detected in a case of sarcomatoid cancer and PD-L1 was strongly positive (≥ 50%) in all sarcomatoid cancers. Conclusions Our data suggest that sarcomatoid carcinoma evolves from a common ancestral clone, and its phylogenetic features may reflect high-grade malignancy in pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma. High tumor mutation burden and strong PD-L1 staining may provide a rationale for the use of targeted immunotherapies in pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinomas.


Openness has become an explicit subject across science policy and scholarly practice, where it is often vindicated in a rhetoric of optimism. In political discourse, as much as in the scholarly literature, open access to research data and publications is expected to enable what policy has typically failed to achieve by other means: that is, to overcome material, class, and political barriers that stand in the way of knowledge circulation. However, whether openness in science is a good thing or not also seems to depend on what is being opened, to what extent and for whom. In this paper I draw on different critical areas of Latin American science, technology and society studies (LASTS) to suggest that the current dominant views around open science can be limiting, as much as they could be enabling, more inclusive dynamics of access to and uses of scientific knowledge, especially in the peripheral (or non-hegemonic) contexts of science. These limiting views around openness, I argue, are linked with restrictive conceptions about science and its products: scientific activity is understood, by this token, as an invariably universal enterprise. In consequence, science outputs are conceived as self-contained knowledge products, and the processes and practices that account for their production and use are only partly taken into consideration. The aim is hence to elaborate on different forms of participation and exclusion to the processes of knowledge production which could help us understand how different stakeholders become engaged or excluded in the production of knowledge. To do so, I take the case of genomic research and drug development for neglected diseases as my empirical background. The argument draws on two concepts from LASTS. The first one is cognitive exploitation, according to which scientific outputs are used in for-profit contexts by third-parties, but without compensating the original producers. In this way, it is not only producers, users and appropriators of knowledge who become key in the dynamics of knowledge circulation, but also those acting as intermediaries. The other concept is integrated subordination, which refers, on the one hand, to the dynamics by which peripheral regions collaborate with elite research networks, and the difficulties that stand in the way of industrializing scientific knowledge, on the other. These difficulties spawn from the lack of capacities, but also from adherence to international research agendas, which are not necessarily connected with those required to attend to social needs in peripheral contexts. By putting into question the nature and the limits of openness, and by re-examining the types of knowledge at stake (beyond research data and publications), the actors, and their involvement, I suggest other ways in which open scientific knowledge could become effectively used.


We give an explicit description of the Loday assembly map on homotopy groups when restricted to a subgroup coming from the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence. This proves and generalises a formula about the Loday assembly map on the first homotopy group that originally appeared in work of Waldhausen. Furthermore, we show that the Loday assembly map is injective on the second homotopy groups for a large class of integral group rings. Finally, we show that our methods can be used to compute the universal assembly map on homotopy.


Since the removal of Saddam Hussein from power, Iraq has seen an explosion of violence and intimidation against women. However, as al-Jawaheri demonstrates in this original and important book, this development should not have taken people by surprise. The deterioriation of gender relations was in fact an overlooked by-product of a decade of international sanctions.Interviewing women of all different ages and backgrounds, al-Jawaheri examines the impact of the UN economic sanctions on family relations, gender violence, domestic responsibilities and employment practices. She shows that by restricting womens' ability to participate in education and in the labour force, sanctions reinforced conservative gender roles. She shows how the 2003 war and upsurge in sectarianism intensified this problem, and assesses the future prospects for womens' rights in Iraq.


Objectives: This study has been carried out with the aim of investigating motor, cognitive and executive functions of a group of accident-prone drivers. Method: Seventy professional accident-prone drivers with major faults and 30 drivers recognized as good and safe drivers, were examined using tests that assessed reaction time, recognition, memory, attention and concentration, as well as tests assessing decision making and response selection. Results: From among the applied tests, perseveration error scores in Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (p<0.01) and reaction time for visual search (p<0.01) significantly differentiate between the accident prone and safe bus drivers. Scores on the visual search test showed highest correlation with IQ among the measures utilized (r=0.35, p<0.01). However, the scores for visual search test did not show significant correlation with other tests except for response errors in continuous performance test (r=0.24, p<0.001), and perseveration errors in Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (r=0.22; p<0.05). Age showed a positive and significant correlation with IQ scores (r=0.39, p=<0.001), response errors in continuous performance test (r=0.38, p=0.001) and reaction time for visual search test (r=0.23, p=0.05). Conclusion: Neuropsychological tests can diffe- rentiate accident-prone from safe drivers. However, regarding the limitation in the validation of this tool, one should be careful in generalizing the results.


A novel potentiometric cholesterol biosensor was fabricated by immobilization of cholesterol oxidase into stabilized lipid films using zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowalls as measuring electrode. Cholesterol oxidase was incorporated into the lipid film prior polymerization on the surface of ZnO nanowalls resulting in a sensitive, selective, stable and reproducible cholesterol biosensor. The potentiometric response was 57 mV/ decade concentration. The sensor response had no interferences by normal concentrations of ascorbic acid, glucose, and urea, proteins and lipids. The present biosensor could be implanted in the human body because of the biocompatibility of the lipid film.


The topic of this paper is content-based retrieval of 3D models that are represented as triangle meshes. An object from some 3D geometry database can traditionally be accessed using attached structural information such as textual annotation. However, there are frequent requirements for a content-based retrieval of various multimedia contents. A content-based 3D model retrieval system has been implemented and this system is presented here. Models are retrieved by querying using another 3D model where the shape description for the query model is automatically created. The proposed feature vector is invariant with respect to translation, rotation and uniform scaling.


Abstract. The effective thermal conductivity of snow, keff, is a critical variable which determines the temperature gradient in the snowpack and heat exchanges between the ground and the atmosphere through the snow. Its accurate knowledge is therefore required to simulate snow metamorphism, the ground thermal regime, permafrost stability, nutrient recycling and vegetation growth. Yet, few data are available on the seasonal evolution of snow thermal conductivity in the Arctic. We have deployed heated needle probes on low-Arctic shrub tundra near Umiujaq, Quebec, (N56°34'; W76°29') and monitored automatically the evolution of keff for two consecutive winters, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014, at four heights in the snowpack. Shrubs are 20 cm high dwarf birch. Here, we develop an algorithm for the automatic determination of keff from the heating curves and obtain 404 keff values. We evaluate possible errors and biases associated with the use of the heated needles. The time evolution of keff is very different for both winters. This is explained by comparing the meteorological conditions in both winters, which induced different conditions for snow metamorphism. In particular, important melting events in the second year increased snow hardness, impeding subsequent densification and increase in thermal conductivity. We conclude that shrubs have very important impacts on snow physical evolution: (1) shrubs absorb light and facilitate snow melt under intense radiation; (2) the dense twig network of dwarf birch prevent snow compaction, and therefore keff increase; (3) the low density depth hoar that forms within shrubs collapsed in late winter, leaving a void that was not filled by snow.


Submitted 17 Nov 2016; Accepted 26 Dec 2016; Published 14 Jan 2017 Clinical examinations are accompanied by biological analyzes to guide or confirm the clinical diagnosis. The results of these analyzes are interpreted by comparison with reference values. Studies on the biological norms of Africans are rare if not quasi-nonexistent. The aim of this study was to establish population-specific reference values for biochemical indices serving as renal function biomarkers in adults living in Ngaoundere, Cameroon. 205 presumed healthy subjects (118 women and 87 men) residing in the city of Ngaoundere aged 18 to 50 years from various socio-cultural backgrounds, were included in this study. Blood urea and creatinine were tested under standard conditions. Reference intervals varied between 10-44 mg/dl and 0.6-1.4 mg/dl for urea and creatinine, respectively. Urea mean values (27.93± 8.15 mg/dl) were higher in males in comparison with females (23.56± 7.14 mg/dl) (P= 0.02). Similarly, creatinine mean values (1.11 ± 0.13 mg/dl) were higher in males in comparison with females (0.82± 0.11 mg/dl) (P= 0.04). Also, an increase in uraemia was observed with age. The gender differences for creatinemia and uraemia may be related to anthropometric features differences such as the muscle mass. The increase of uraemia with age could be explained by the increase of poor hygiene, notably the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and meat, which is mostly a male habit. The results of this study may help to a better interpretation of the biochemical indices of African subjects, and avoid errors of apprec iation by excess or by default.


The advent of the Information Society is marked by the explosive penetration of information technologies in all aspects of life and by a related fundamental transformation in every form of the organization. Researchers, business people and policy makers have recognized the importance of addressing technological, economic and social impacts in conjunction. For example, the rise and fall of the dot-com hype depended a lot on the strength of the business model, on the technological capabilities available to firms and on the readiness of the society and economy at large sustain a new breed of business activity. However, it is notoriously difficult to examine the cross-impacts of social, economic and technological aspects of the Information Society. This kind of work requires multidisciplinary work and collaboration on a wide range of skills. This addresses this challenge by assembling the latest thinking of leading researchers and policy makers. The book covers all key subject areas of the Information Society an presents innovative business models, case studies, normative theories and social explanations.


AdaBoost has proved to be an eective method to improve the performance of base classifiers both theoretically and empirically. However, previous studies have shown that AdaBoost might suer from the overfitting problem, especially for noisy data. In addition, most current work on boosting assumes that the combination weights are fixed constants and therefore does not take particular input patterns into consideration. In this paper, we present a new boosting algorithm, "WeightBoost", which tries to solve these two problems by introducing an inputdependent regularization factor to the combination weight. Similarly to AdaBoost, we derive a learning procedure for WeightBoost, which is guaranteed to minimize training errors. Empirical studies on eight dierent UCI data sets and one text categorization data set show that WeightBoost almost always achieves a considerably better classification accuracy than AdaBoost. Furthermore, experiments on data with artificially controlled noise indicate that the WeightBoost is more robust to noise than AdaBoost.