This article investigates the colonial photographic collections belonging to the traveller Giuseppe De Reali (1877-1937) and the anthropologist Nello Puccioni (1881-1937). Between the end of the nineteenth century and the 1930s, both visited the African continent several times, creating two collections — a zoological-naturalistic one, and an anthropologicalethnographicone — that are now kept and partly displayed in the Natural History Museum of Venice and in the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology in Florence, respectively. By analysing these images, the article examines the modes of representation of the African continent and its populations, and the functions and meanings acquired by pictures and objects in the transfer to museums. In conclusion, it raises a series of preliminary questions concerning the continuities of exhibition practices between the fascist and the republican period.


In this study, visibility of objects on the road is tested using image processing techniques over the photo of an illuminated road. Visibility level standard of the international commission on illumination was used was for this test. Through software developed for this purpose, a correlation was established between the qualitative values of pixels and photometric units over the road photo using image processing techniques. Thanks to the correlation found, it has become possible to calculate glare values of the road and the critical object over the road. Moreover, required parameters for the visibility level are entered into the developed software, making it possible to calculate the visibility of the critical object over the road.


The book describes formal models of reasoning that are aimed at capturing the way that economic agents, and decision makers in general think about their environment and make predictions based on their past experience. The focus is on analogies (case-based reasoning) and general theories (rule-based reasoning), and on the interaction between them, as well as between them and Bayesian reasoning. A unified approach allows one to study the dynamics of inductive reasoning in terms of the mode of reasoning that is used to generate predictions.


Glucose effectiveness, the ability of hyperglycemia to suppress endogenous glucose production (EGP), is lost in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Free fatty acids (FFA) modulate the effectiveness of glucose to suppress EGP, and increased FFA contribute importantly to the loss of glucose effectiveness in T2DM. Elevating FFA levels in nondiabetic subjects increases gluconeogenesis (GNG) and impairs glucose effectiveness. However, inhibiting GNG alone does not decrease EGP under normoglycemic conditions because of compensatory increases in glycogenolysis (autoregulation). Since hyperglycemia inhibits glycogenolysis, we hypothesized that inhibiting GNG in the presence of hyperglycemia would decrease EGP and prevent the negative impact of FFA on glucose effectiveness. To determine the impact of inhibiting GNG in the presence of elevated FFA, EGP ([3-3H]-glucose) was measured during three separate 7h normoglycemic/hyperglycemic 'pancreatic clamp' studies in n = 7 nondiabetic subjects (1F/6M; age = 45 ± 5 years; BMI = 28 ± 3.0 kg/m2). Following an initial 210-minute interval of euglycemia (5 mM), blood glucose levels were raised to hyperglycemic levels (10 mM) from t = 210-420 minutes. The first pancreatic clamp study was a baseline study with saline infusions (Lip2/Et2) in which hyperglycemia suppressed EGP by 61%. Lipid emulsion (Liposyn 20%) was infused throughout the second and third study types (Lip+ and Lip+/Et+) to increase FFA to T2DM levels (Å500 mM). After raising plasma FFA to T2DM levels, suppression of EGP by hyperglycemia was impaired in Lip+ (34% suppression) and rates of GNG increased by 67% to 1.49 ± 0.14 mg/kg.min (p = .03). In addition to Liposyn, ethanol (Et) was infused during hyperglycemia in the third study type (Lip+/Et+) to rapidly inhibit GNG (measured by deuterated water) by {223}80%. GNG inhibition significantly enhanced suppression of EGP by hyperglycemia (65.8% decrease, p = .004 vs Lip+) and thus restored glucose effectiveness (p = .6 vs Lip2/Et2). We conclude that increased FFA impair the ability of glucose to suppress EGP in large part due to FFA-induced stimulation of GNG. Inhibiting GNG with ethanol restored glucose effectiveness despite increases in FFA up to T2DM levels. Thus, inhibiting GNG is a potential approach to regulate glucose production in T2DM.


Background/Aim: To examine the relationship between acute appendicitis and the presence of an appendicolith in abdominal CT scans of patients attending emergency services. Materials and Methods: Abdominal CT scan reports were retrospectively reviewed for 267 patients through the PACS database. A 16-slices MDCT GE Light Speed scanner (Milwaukee WI) was used with a scanning protocol of 5 mm axial collimation and a pitch of 1.0, along with oral contrast material (Gastrografin 3.7% diatrizoate meglumine) and 140 mL of intravenous (IV) nonionic contrast material (Omnipaque). Particular attention was given to the study protocol, patients' age, and gender. Statistical Analysis: We used MS-EXCEL and SPSS version 12.0 to perform chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. Bookends and Papers, components in Mac OS X software, were used for literature reviews and the organization of results. Results: Two hundred and sixty-seven abdominal CT scan reports were examined along side their respective images on a GE Centricity workstation. Thirty-four (12.7%) were labeled as acute appendicitis cases based on the CT findings and the rest were assigned other diagnoses. Twenty-six of the 267 CT scan reports were plain studies and 241 were contrast-enhanced scans. Less than half of the patients (123, 46.1%) were males and 144 (53.9%) were females. Thirteen males (48.1%) and 14 (51.9%) females were found to have an appendicolith. Only 3% in the ≤ 11 years' age group, in contrast to 40% in the 11-20 years' age group, was diagnosed with appendicitis. The incidence in other age groups was as follows: 19% in the 21-30, 14% in the 31-40, 2.5% in the 41-50, 8% each in the 51-60 and 61-70, and none in the ≥71 years' age groups. Conclusions: We conclude that the presence of an appendicolith i) has no particular predilection for gender or age, and ii) is not associated with a diagnosis of appendicitis.


This article considers Australian articulations of identity and representations of Boer soldiers in the South African War. Examining accounts from Australian war correspondents and military personnel, we make three observations. First, that widespread expressions of British Empire loyalty shaped rather than excluded expressions of nascent Australian nationalism. Second, that emergent Australian nationalism, particularly the notion of the 'bushman', was central to positive and negative comparisons to Boer soldiers. Finally, that transnational discourses of settler colonialism and whiteness enabled such comparisons, which simultaneously facilitated claims about Australian martial superiority and deceptive Boer indolence, despite noted similarities between bushman and Boer.


We combine a synoptic data set on organic carbon (C) concentrations in ∼1000 Norwegian lakes with detailed information on catchment properties derived from digital maps of elevation, climate, vegetation density, and land use. The resulting regression model explains 83% of the variance in total organic C from eight predictor variables: mean air temperature, area specific runoff, terrain slope, vegetation density, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, water residence time, and catchment area fractions of bogs and arable land. Vegetation density, expressed as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), was by far the strongest predictor, while area fraction of bogs in the catchment also gave a strong positive effect on organic C concentrations and export fluxes. The unbiased sampling of lakes relative to whole population of catchments in the region and the general robustness of the model, as witnessed by imputation and resampling tests, allowed confident prediction of organic C concentrations and export fluxes for all 20,000 catchments of the Norwegian mainland. The method used in this study can, with some modifications, be extended to larger geographical regions and holds promise for predicting organic C fluxes under changed climatic conditions.


It has long been recognized that vocal signals communicate information about the age, sex and affective state of callers. However, the mechanisms by which these types of information are communicated are less well understood. Here we investigated variation in the acoustic properties of the long-distance vocalizations, called 'whoops', emitted by free-living spotted hyenas, Crocuta crocuta. Specifically we investigated whether the fundamental frequency, length and rate of whoops provide information about the caller's age, sex and/or level of arousal. We determined the latter by contrasting whoops emitted spontaneously with whoops emitted during periods of social excitement, when callers typically also exhibited visual signals associated with heightened arousal. We found that the minimum fundamental frequency of a whoop provides reliable information about the caller's general age and, for adult callers, information about sex as well. The vast majority of adult male whoop bouts were emitted spontaneously, but juveniles and adult females produced many of their bouts during periods of social excitement. Although context did not significantly affect the whoop bouts of adult females, juvenile bouts emitted during social excitement had higher maximum fundamental frequencies, greater proportions of asymmetric whoop subtypes, and reduced inter-whoop intervals. By reducing the inter-whoop intervals of bouts, juvenile hyenas significantly increased the likelihood that conspecifics would respond to whoops by approaching the caller or its social companion. Peak fundamental frequency and the relative abundance of whoop subtypes did not appreciably affect response. We discuss the potential functions of whooping by juvenile and adult hyenas in light of these findings.


ABSTRACT The average length of a first instance civil trial in Cyprus is approximately two years. The article identifies the elements of Cypriot civil litigation that contribute to lengthy and costly trials despite the recent amendments to the Cypriot Civil Procedure Rules. It then examines the civil procedure reforms that took place in England and Wales in the last twenty years and examines whether and to what extent they can provide inspiration for a thorough reform in Cyprus law.


In this paper, we explore three issues related to the acquisition of mood selection in Spanish relative clauses by second language (L2) and heritage (HL) speakers of Spanish: (1) whether HL speakers are more native-like than L2 learners; (2) whether the speakers' performance differs depending on task modality (written vs. oral), since HL speakers are known to perform better in oral tasks and L2 learners tend to do better in written tasks; and (3) whether knowledge of French as an L1/dominant language (DL) has an impact on the acquisition of Spanish subjunctive, since both languages include this mood in their grammars, but it is used more productively in Spanish. Results from a sentence combination felicity task (SCFT) in Spanish—in written and oral forms—and a written elicited production task (EPT) in French, administered to advanced L2 and HL speakers of Spanish whose L1/DL is French and two monolingual (Spanish and French) control groups, revealed that L2 learners pattern more closely with the control group than HL speakers in the SCFT, both written and orally. In the EPT, all bilingual speakers display higher levels of subjunctive use than the control group, showing a potential influence from the L2/weaker language on the L1/DL.


Research on dyslexia in forensic psychiatric patients is limited, and therefore one aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of dyslexia in a sample of forensic psychiatric patients by using different criteria. Another aim was to investigate how phonological-processing skills in these patients might be related to disadvantageous background factors and poor reading habits. Forensic psychiatric patients performed reading, writing and intelligence tests, as well as a battery of phonological processing tasks. They were also interviewed about reading habits and literacy conditions in their childhood homes. Data regarding the patients' dyslexia diagnoses and backgrounds were collected from forensic psychiatric investigations and patient records. The results showed that 11–53% of the patients met the discrepancy criteria for dyslexia, whereas 50% fulfilled the phonological core deficit criterion. Neither disadvantageous background factors nor reading habits were related to phonological-processing skills.


The authors propose a dual-polarised T/R antenna system that utilises a 3 dB 90° hybrid coupler and a dual-polarised antenna. From the practical point of view the T/R isolation performance of this system can be made better than that of systems using circulators. There is no power loss both in transmit and receive modes compared to 6 dB total loss in a conventional system using a hybrid coupler and a single polarised antenna. To validate the system performance, a sample structure is realised for a C band application. The presented system analysis and measurements are for an above-ground application. The measurements show good agreement with the theoretical expectations.


Stimulation of the medullary pyramids and contra- and ipsilateral red nuclei produced short latent EPSPs in interneurons of the lateral part of Rexed's laminae V--VII of the C1--C3 segments of the cat spinal cord. Stimulation of the first and second cervical dorsal roots was not effective in exciting of these neurons. It is supposed that these interneurons represent a relatively specialized group which form, apparently, disynaptic cortico- and/or rubro-motoneuronal pathways.


The usage of biodegradable polymers as implant material instead of metal is of growing interest because no second surgery is needed and the healing time is shortened. Combining biodegradable polymers with hydroxyapatite particles leads to implants with osteoconductive properties and improved mechanical strength. Using 3D printing it is possible to generate highly structured and complex or even individualized implants based on a patient data set. This work presents a preliminary study on the 3D printing of a commercially available biodegradable poly(L-lactide)/hydroxyapatite composite using the novel composite extrusion modeling (CEM) process. Optimized printing parameters have been investigated and first 3D printed specimens have been analyzed regarding their density and microstructure. Furthermore, first benchmark parts show the potential of manufacturing implants by CEM 3D printing using this composite material.


Background— Transvalvular peak pressure drops are routinely assessed noninvasively by echocardiography using the Bernoulli principle. However, the Bernoulli principle relies on several approximations that may not be appropriate, including that the majority of the pressure drop is because of the spatial acceleration of the blood flow, and the ejection jet is a single streamline (single peak velocity value). Methods and Results— We assessed the accuracy of the Bernoulli principle to estimate the peak pressure drop at the aortic valve using 3-dimensional cardiovascular magnetic resonance flow data in 32 subjects. Reference pressure drops were computed from the flow field, accounting for the principles of physics (ie, the Navier–Stokes equations). Analysis of the pressure components confirmed that the spatial acceleration of the blood jet through the valve is most significant (accounting for 99% of the total drop in stenotic subjects). However, the Bernoulli formulation demonstrated a consistent overestimation of the transvalvular pressure (average of 54%, range 5%–136%) resulting from the use of a single peak velocity value, which neglects the velocity distribution across the aortic valve plane. This assumption was a source of uncontrolled variability. Conclusions— The application of the Bernoulli formulation results in a clinically significant overestimation of peak pressure drops because of approximation of blood flow as a single streamline. A corrected formulation that accounts for the cross-sectional profile of the blood flow is proposed and adapted to both cardiovascular magnetic resonance and echocardiographic data.


The physical mechanism of elastic wave propagation through granular solids is investigated. Based on the symmetry of a one dimensional chain of spheres, spherical surface waves are considered to be responsible for the energy transport. A simple mathematical model is set up to describe the energy exchange during consequent granule-to-granule interactions. Experiments on a two-sphere setup support this model.


The lengths of the synthetic phase (S) and postsynthetic gap plus a half of the mitotic time (G2+1/2 M) has been investigated in hepatocytes of control and thyroxine-treated male white rats using percent labeled mitosis curves after injection of isotope at 10, 16, 22 and 4 o'clock. In the control, the minimum lengths of G2 lasted 3.0 hours without being changed during 24 hours. On the contrary, G2+1/2 M and S varied from 3.2 to 4.4 and from 8.0 to 9.5 hours, accordingly. A prolonged administration or hormone induced changes in duration of all the above phases whose alterations in thyroxine-treated group of animals showed 2.0--3.0, 2.9--3.4 and 6.4--11.3 hours, respectively. During 24 hours, there was observed a characteristic pattern of changes in the labeling index (LI) of both groups of animals. It has been established for both the groups that the increased in LI coincides with the shortening of S-phase. The data allow to conclude that some intracycle mechanisms may exist controlling the cell division and exerting their effects on the cells at the end of G1-phase and during G2-phase. Thyroxine is a regulator of cell proliferation, and its effect was found to occur due to the intracycle mechanisms of cell cycle kinetics.


As deep learning applications are becoming more and more pervasive, the question of evaluating the reliability of a prediction becomes a central question in the machine learning community. This domain, known as predictive uncertainty, has come under the scrutiny of research groups developing Bayesian approaches to deep learning such as Monte Carlo Dropout. Unfortunately, for the time being, the real goal of predictive uncertainty has been swept under the rug. Indeed, Bayesian approaches are solely evaluated in terms of raw performance of the prediction, while the quality of the estimated uncertainty itself is not assessed. One contribution of this article is to draw attention on existing metrics developed in the forecast community, designed to evaluate both the sharpness and the calibration of predictive uncertainty. Sharpness refers to the concentration of the predictive distributions and calibration to the consistency between the predicted uncertainty level and the actual errors. We further analyze the behavior of these metrics on regression problems when deep convolutional networks are involved and for several current predictive uncertainty approaches. A second contribution of this article is to propose an alternative metric that is more adapted to the evaluation of relative uncertainty assessment and directly applicable to regression with deep learning. This metric is evaluated and compared with existing ones on a toy dataset as well as on the problem of monocular depth estimation.


Studies over the past decades have identified bacteriophage-encoded factors that interfere with host cell shape or cytokinesis during viral infection. The phage factors causing cell filamentation that have been investigated to date all act by targeting FtsZ, the conserved prokaryotic tubulin homolog that composes the cytokinetic ring in most bacteria and some groups of archaea. However, the mechanisms of several phage factors that inhibit cytokinesis, including gp56 of bacteriophage SP01 of Bacillus subtilis, remain unexplored. Here, we show that, unlike other published examples of phage inhibition of cytokinesis, gp56 blocks B. subtilis cell division without targeting FtsZ. Rather, it utilizes the assembled FtsZ cytokinetic ring to localize to the division machinery and to block recruitment of proteins needed for septal cell wall synthesis. ABSTRACT Previous work identified gene product 56 (gp56), encoded by the lytic bacteriophage SP01, as being responsible for inhibition of Bacillus subtilis cell division during its infection. Assembly of the essential tubulin-like protein FtsZ into a ring-shaped structure at the nascent site of cytokinesis determines the timing and position of division in most bacteria. This FtsZ ring serves as a scaffold for recruitment of other proteins into a mature division-competent structure permitting membrane constriction and septal cell wall synthesis. Here, we show that expression of the predicted 9.3-kDa gp56 of SP01 inhibits later stages of B. subtilis cell division without altering FtsZ ring assembly. Green fluorescent protein-tagged gp56 localizes to the membrane at the site of division. While its localization does not interfere with recruitment of early division proteins, gp56 interferes with the recruitment of late division proteins, including Pbp2b and FtsW. Imaging of cells with specific division components deleted or depleted and two-hybrid analyses suggest that gp56 localization and activity depend on its interaction with FtsL. Together, these data support a model in which gp56 interacts with a central part of the division machinery to disrupt late recruitment of the division proteins involved in septal cell wall synthesis. IMPORTANCE Studies over the past decades have identified bacteriophage-encoded factors that interfere with host cell shape or cytokinesis during viral infection. The phage factors causing cell filamentation that have been investigated to date all act by targeting FtsZ, the conserved prokaryotic tubulin homolog that composes the cytokinetic ring in most bacteria and some groups of archaea. However, the mechanisms of several phage factors that inhibit cytokinesis, including gp56 of bacteriophage SP01 of Bacillus subtilis, remain unexplored. Here, we show that, unlike other published examples of phage inhibition of cytokinesis, gp56 blocks B. subtilis cell division without targeting FtsZ. Rather, it utilizes the assembled FtsZ cytokinetic ring to localize to the division machinery and to block recruitment of proteins needed for septal cell wall synthesis.


Compared to the rapidly-growing economies of Southeast Asia, the growth performance of the Pakistan economy was significantly weaker during the 1970s and 1980s. While the Southeast Asian countries made substantial progress in improving living standards, the average standard of living, as measured by the GNP per capita, was virtually stagnant in Pakistan over this period. Much of the difference in economic performance between Pakistan and the Southeast Asian countries is often attributed to the low rates of saving and investment in Pakistan.1 Indeed, the differences in rates of domestic investment are often attributed to the differences in rates of domestic saving. Hence, the disparity in the growth performance between Pakistan and the Southeast Asian countries over the past two decades relates to the differences in saving rates, and an understanding of the fundamental determinants of saving in Pakistan assumes critical importance. This paper reviews trend developments in the private saving behaviour in Pakistan, and compares these trends with those seen in the Southeast Asian economies during the period since 1970. Using co-integration analysis, the long-run properties of Pakistan's saving rate are examined, with a view to identifying the main determinants of saving. The principal finding is that about one-half of the trend increase in saving appears to be related to financial development and deepening. In contrast to the results obtained by Faruqee and Husain (1994) and Husain (1995) for the Southeast Asian countries, demographics appear not to have played an important role in determining saving behaviour in Pakistan, possibly because high rates of population growth during the past three decades resulted in a virtually unchanged demographic structure of the population.


An experimental modal analysis is the process to identify structure's dynamic characteristics. For investigating vibrational characteristics of cylindrical shell with multiple supports, modal testing is performed using impact exciting method. The frequency response function(FRF) measurements are also made on the experimental model within the frequency range from 0 to 4kHz. Modal parameters are identified from resonant peaks in the FRF's and animated deformation patterns associated with each of the resonances are shown on a computer screen. The experimental results are compared with analytical and FEA results.


Trust plays an important role in the charity sector, as for donors it is difficult to assess whether their money has been used as directed. If the public has little confidence in a charitable organization, they will be less willing to support the organization. As a consequence, for charities it is of importance that their advertisements create trust in order for donors to donate and to continue donating. This study examines several message factors and their influence on people's trust and intentions to donate to a charitable organization.
One way to possibly influence potential donors to contribute to charitable organizations is through communicating the successes of the organization to the public. Another way is by emphasizing what goals the charity yet wants to accomplish in the future. Next to focusing the advertising message on successes or future goals, potential donors can also be influenced by the type of evidence that is presented. In this study a distinction is made between presenting the message with statistical and anecdotal evidence. A study in this field was carried out, to examine the effectiveness of different charity advertisements in relation to trust and donation intention. A 2 (advertising strategy scenarios: future goals versus past successes) by 2 (evidence type: anecdotal versus statistical) between subjects design was used. Four manipulated charity advertisements were used, about a fictive charitable organization that raises money for research into childhood cancer. An online survey was carried out, in which 171 participants from the Netherlands took part. The effects of the advertising strategy scenarios and evidence types were measured on five constructs; trust in the charitable organization, message- and messenger credibility, risk perception and donation intention. Results showed that participants exposed to anecdotal evidence scored statistically significantly higher on trust in the charitable organization as opposed to those exposed to statistical evidence. However, no significant differences were found for message- and messenger credibility, the perceived risk and donation intention between the two evidence types. Results showed no statistically significant differences between participants exposed to charity advertisements that focused on future goals and those exposed to past successes. In addition, also no interaction effects between the advertising strategy scenarios and evidence types were found. Notably, in all four conditions participants scored low on donation intention. The findings of this study provide insight into the effects of evidence types combined with different advertising strategy scenarios in charity fundraising messages, which charitable organizations should take into account when developing advertising messages.


East Asian corporate bond markets have grown significantly over the past decade. The expansion of these markets has been underpinned by strong economic growth and regulatory initiatives that have helped to improve market infrastructure and encourage participation. These developments have helped corporations to diversify their funding and are likely to have played a part in supporting the economies in the region during the global financial crisis.


Pasuruan is one of the regencies in East Java province has many attractions but not yet terekpose perfectly. Pasuruan not only has a beautiful nature, but also a tourist destination worth to visit. The study was conducted using qualitative research is to conduct interviews, observation, documentation, and literature to obtain data to support the drafting. Data were analyzed using multiple stages of data reduction, data presentation and conclusion. the concept of "Original" presented to provide information to the target audience that Ranu Grati has a natural beauty and beautiful and natural panorama that can be enjoyed by families who want to travel to Ranu Grati. Results from logo creation and media campaign against Ranu Grati is an attempt Travel introduction lake Ranu Grati Pasuruan, East Java, to attract tourists to visit. Besides promoting Ranu Grati which can be enjoyed in various media. Keywords : Design, Logo, Tourism, Ranu Grati, Pasuruan, East Java, Original.


This article examines photographs taken of American public school classes between the 1880's and the 1940's. Most of the images were found in two virtual archives: The American Memory site at the Library of Congress and The National Archives and Record Center. These very large photograph collections were searched for representations of race, gender, and physical ability. The photographs were compared and contrasted and analyzed for elements of hidden curricula using techniques drawn from the social sciences and humanities. It was found that these large photo collections have significant gaps and historical amnesias. Collections made under conditions of racial segregation are themselves segregated and continue to reproduce images of hierarchy and dominance. To the extent these sites function as important resources for teachers and students searching for primary source documents for history and social studies projects, the archives convey significantly biased views of the history of education and minority groups in America.


The project pursued in this paper is to develop from first information-geometric principles a general method for learning the similarity between text documents. Each individual document is modeled as a memoryless information source. Based on a latent class decomposition of the term-document matrix, a low-dimensional (curved) multinomial subfamily is learned. From this model a canonical similarity function - known as the Fisher kernel-is derived. Our approach can be applied for unsupervised and supervised learning problems alike. This in particular covers interesting cases where both, labeled and unlabeled data are available. Experiments in automated indexing and text categorization verify the advantages of the proposed method.


ABSTRACT In clinical endpoint bioequivalence (BE) studies, the primary analysis for assessing equivalence between a generic and an innovator product is based on the observed per-protocol (PP) population (usually completers and compliers). However, missing data and noncompliance are post-randomization intercurrent events and may introduce selection bias. Therefore, PP analysis is generally not causal. The FDA Missing Data Working Group recommended using "causal estimands of primary interest." In this paper, we propose a principal stratification causal framework and co-primary causal estimands to test equivalence, which was also recommended by the recently published ICH E9 (R1) addendum to address intercurrent events. We identify three conditions under which the current PP estimator is unbiased for one of the proposed co-primary causal estimands – the "Survivor Average Causal Effect" (SACE) estimand. Simulation shows that when these three conditions are not met, the PP estimator is biased and may inflate Type 1 error and/or change power. We also propose a tipping point sensitivity analysis to evaluate the robustness of the current PP estimator in testing equivalence when the sensitivity parameters deviate from the three identified conditions, but stay within a clinically meaningful range. Our work is the first causal equivalence assessment in equivalence studies with intercurrent events.


Network reliability is very important in wireless body area network since the vital human life might be jeopardized, unless managed properly. In this article, a new modeling and analysis of node behaviors in wireless body area networks is presented for increasing reliability in the presence of multi-type failures, while saving energy. First, the nodes are classified into types with regard to their capabilities on relaying and sensing. Then, the node behaviors in the presence of failures such as energy exhaustion and/or malicious attacks have been modeled using a novel semi-Markov process. Finally, simulation has been done to evaluate the performance.


I show how a formalization of Grice's Brevity intuition, which I call Efficiency ( Meyer 2013 , 2014 ), correctly distinguishes between acceptable and unacceptable disjunctions that all seem to be redundant at first (e.g. Gajewski & Sharvit 2012 ; Mayr & Romoli 2013 ). The upshot is that the presence of embedded implicatures is one way of making a structure efficient in the formal sense developed here. I show that a particular prediction of Efficiency – the existence of embedded implicatures resulting in overall weakening of meaning – is not incorrect, and sheds new light on the role of rise-fall-rise intonation in these cases ( Fox & Spector 2013 ; Buring 1997 ).


During the last decade, cellulose structural features have been revisited, with particular focus on its structural anisotropy (amphiphilicity) and interactions determining its recalcitrance to dissolution. Evidences for cellulose amphiphilicity are patent, for instance, in its capacity to adsorb at oil–water interfaces, thus being capable of stabilizing emulsions. This behavior is observable in all its forms, from cellulose nanoparticles to macromolecules. This chapter is divided into two main parts; first, the fundamentals of emulsion formation and stabilization will be introduced, particularly focusing on the role of natural emulsifiers. Secondly, the emerging role of cellulose as a natural emulsifier, where the ability of cellulose to form and stabilize emulsions is revisited, from cellulose nanoparticles (Pickering-like effect) to macromolecules (i.e., cellulose derivatives and native molecular cellulose).


The incorporation of extensively fluorinated, or fluorous, analogues of hydrophobic amino acids into proteins potentially provides the opportunity to modulate the physicochemical properties of proteins in a predictable manner. On the basis of the properties of small fluorocarbon molecules, extensively fluorinated proteins should be both more thermodynamically stable and self-segregate through "fluorous" interactions between fluorinated amino acids. We have examined the effects of introducing the fluorous leucine analogue l-5,5,5,5',5',5',-hexafluoroleucine (hFLeu) at various positions within the hydrophobic core of a de novo-designed four-alpha-helix bundle protein, alpha(4). The stabilizing effect of hFLeu is strongly dependent on the positions at which it is incorporated, with per-residue DeltaDeltaG(degrees)((fold)) ranging from -0.09 to -0.8 kcal mol(-1) residue(-1). In particular, incorporating hFLeu at all the "a" positions or all the "d" positions of the hydrophobic core, thereby creating an alternating packing arrangement of leucine and hFLeu, leads to very stably folded proteins that exhibit higher per-residue DeltaDeltaG(degrees)((fold)) values than proteins that are packed entirely with hFleu. We conclude that efficient packing of the fluorous amino acid within the hydrophobic core provides a more important contribution to enhancing protein stability than do fluorocarbon-fluorocarbon interactions between fluorinated protein side chains.


After years of close contact with the Johannine epistles, David Rensberger discusses the numerous puzzles--linguistic, literary, and historical--that characterize these brief texts. His comments on their theological and ethical significance illumines the meaning and interrelationship of faith and love. In short, Rensberger skillfully demonstrates that despite the Johannine epistles' existence on the periphery of the New Testament canon, they nevertheless touch on the heart of its message. Inquiry includes relationship of these epistles to the gospel of John, Christology, Dualism, Eschatology, the Church, and Salvation.


Glass fibre reinforced concrete is recent development in the field of concrete technology. Concrete being the most important and widely used material is called upon to possess very high strength and sufficient workability properties. The concrete has more desirable properties like High compressive strength, stiffness, durability. At the same time concrete is brittle and weak in tension. To improve the concrete properties, the system was named glass- fibre reinforced concrete view the alkali resistance glass fibre is used.

In thefirst part of experimental investigation, the glass fibre has been used to study the effect on compressive strength on M15, M20 amp M25 grade of concrete for different % of glass fibreie., 0%,3%, 5%, 7% by weight of aggregates.

And in todayrsquos world the main emphasis is on green and sustainable development. Presently large amount of fly ash is generated in thermal power plants as a waste material with an improper impact on environment and humans. Fly ash is difficult to decompose, so using fly ash is a major step towards sustainable development. Also, Cement industry is one of the major contributors to pollution by releasing carbon dioxide. So, by partially replacing cement with pozzolanic material such as fly ash, the cement industry can serve both the purposes of meeting the demands of construction industry and at the same time providing a green and clean environment. This research workincludes second part whichinvestigates the behavior of concrete and optimum percentage while replacing fly ash in different proportions.nbsp The cement has been replaced accordingly in the range of 0%, 18%, 20% amp22% by weight of cement of M25 grade concrete. Concrete mixtures were produced, tested and compared in terms of compressive strength, as an alternative to traditional concrete.


Background/aim We aimed to compare the results of the treatment of the patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) by mechanical lysis and steroid hylase injection via epiduroscopy due to their stabilization status and to detect the effect of pathological diagnostic markers on prognosis and ongoing treatment protocol. Materials and methods Eighty-two patients with FBSS symptoms were included. Two groups were composed as group I (stabilized) and group II (nonstabilized). All patients were evaluated using the oswestry disability index (ODI) and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores before and after treatment at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months and using the patient satisfaction scale at 12 months following treatment. Epidural scar tissue visual and mechanical signs were also recorded. Results Mean VAS scores were 7.8 and 3.28 points in group I (P < 0.001) and 7.51 and 2.74 points in group II (P < 0.001) at the beginning and at 12 months, respectively. Mean ODI scores were 34.05 and 22.16 points in group I (P < 0.001) and 30.74 and 19.46 points in group II (P < 0.001) at the beginning and at 12 months. VAS and ODI scores decreased significantly in both groups, but were more significant in the nonstabilized group (P < 0.001). Moderate or severe fibrous tissue was observed in 86.58% of the patients and patient satisfaction scores were very good or good in 78.06% of the patients. During the procedure, a dura rupture developed in four patients in the stabilization group and in two patients in the nonstabilization group; however, none of these patients developed a spinal headache and no significant permanent complication arose. Conclusion We suggest that epidural adhesiolysis, hyaluronidase, and steroid injection in patients with FBSS chronic low back pain and/or radicular symptoms may give reliable information about the quality of life, accuracy of diagnosis, and the possible course of the present findings and may be more effective in nonstabilized patients.


Reliably modelling the demographic and distributional responses of a species to environmental changes can be crucial for successful conservation and management planning. Process-based models have the potential to achieve this goal, but so far they remain underused for predictions of species' distributions. Individual-based models offer the additional capability to model inter-individual variation and evolutionary dynamics and thus capture adaptive responses. We present RangeShiftR, an R package that provides flexible and fast simulations of spatial eco-evolutionary dynamics and species' responses to environmental changes. It implements the individual-based simulation software RangeShifter for the widely used statistical programming platform R. The package features additional auxiliary functions to support model specification and analysis of results. We provide an outline of the package's functionality, describe the underlying model structure with its main components and present a short example. RangeShiftR offers substantial model complexity, especially for the demographic and dispersal processes. It comes with comprehensive documentation and elaborate tutorials to provide a low entry level. Thanks to the implementation of the core code in C++, the computations are fast. The complete source code is published under a public licence, making adaptations and contributions feasible. The RangeShiftR package facilitates the application of individual-based and mechanistic modelling to eco-evolutionary questions by operating a flexible and powerful simulation model from R. It allows effortless interoperation with existing packages to create streamlined workflows that can include data preparation, integrated model specification, and results analysis. Moreover, the implementation in R strengthens the potential for coupling RangeShiftR with other models.


There has been an increasing reliance on sales taxation in both the states and counties in the United States. In this paper, we are examining the relationship between state and local sales taxation and business activity in the U.S. by utilizing county-level data for the period 2002-2011. We have found significant negative association between the state and county combined sales tax rate and annual payroll of businesses particularly in the manufacturing sector. There is also evidence of spatial dependence particularly in the payroll response of businesses within the contiguous region. While we found no significant relationship with employment, there is also statistically significant negative association with retail establishments and small establishments with less than 10 employees. It is possible that businesses respond to a sales tax rate increase first, or more directly, by reducing payroll rather than employment. While the economic significance of these results, however, is not found to be overwhelmingly strong, policymakers should still pay attention particularly to how manufacturing businesses respond to sales tax rate tax changes in the form of changes in payroll, and the responses from the small retail establishments.


Contemporary archaeologies are complex and diverse. It is easier to find things that differentiateprehistoric archaeology, for example, (e.g. Childe 1929) from the archaeology of the contemporary past(Buchli and Lucas 2001) than to identify what both share. The same claim applies to a history ofarchaeology as such. To simplify, to indicate the differences between culture-historical archaeology,processual archaeology and post-processual archaeologies does not cause many problems (Trigger 2006).However, in this article I claim that these archaeologies use in a very same way the ideas of what 'new' and'critique' in archaeology are about. The thesis of this text is: there is usually not so much truly new in theideas that are described as new and innovative (Žižek 2008).


Previous studies show that spousal social emotional support has a strong impact on businessman's efficacy. Spousal social emotional support is not solely influenced by the businessman's strategies of marital relationship, but also associated with demographic factors, such as working period, marital duration, and number of children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between demographic factors with spousal social emotional support. Research conducted at 61 married businessmen in Surabaya, Indonesia. Hypotheses in this study were tested with Spearman's rho. The results of this study indicate that both the marital duration and the number of children have no association with spousal social emotional support. While the working period has negative association with spousal social emotional support. Some argumentations are discussed further in this study.


This article focuses on a particular aspect of media capture theory: advertising as a means of financing media outlets in a transitional democracy such as Iraqi Kurdistan. Its aim is to investigate the extent to which various social actors attempt to capture news media by choosing to provide financial support to some and withhold it from others through their allocation of advertisements and announcements. We report on the findings of a quantitative content analysis of the ads published in six major weekly and daily newspapers in the five-year period from 2014 through 2018 (N = 11,112). These findings provide information on the linkages between media organizations and powerful social actors within a nontransparent media environment, and shed new light on the nature and profile of both "partisan" and "independent" media outlets. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results with regard to the state of media capture in Iraqi Kurdistan.


Whether an old photograph or a single video frame, there is a wealth of data hidden in a picture. Image processing and pattern analysis play a vital role in engineering science and can be applied in diverse areas to solve existing and practical problems. The Handbook of Research on Emerging Perspectives in Intelligent Pattern Recognition, Analysis, and Image Processing discusses the advances of image processing and pattern analysis and addresses how new innovations will cater to the demands of daily life. This handbook provides the resources necessary for technology developers, scientists, and policymakers to adopt and implement new inventions across the globe. The chapters presented in this publication encompass various aspects of recent image processing and pattern analysis innovations including, but not limited to, mobile image tracking, motion picture analysis, pattern classification, multisensory data fusion, 3D imaging, supporting routing protocols, brain computer interfaces, image restoration, and medical imaging.


Security-conscious users are very careful with software they allow their phone to run. They are much less careful with the choices they make regarding accessories such as headphones or chargers and only few, if any, care about cyber security threats coming from the phone's protective case. We show how a malicious smartphone protective case can be used to detect and monitor the victim's interaction with the phone's touchscreen, opening the door to keylogger-like attacks, threatening the user's security and privacy. This feat is achieved by implementing a hidden capacitive sensing mechanism inside the case. Our attack is both sensitive enough to track the user's finger location across the screen, and simple and cheap enough to be mass-produced and deployed en masse. We discuss the theoretical principles behind this attack, present a preliminary proof-of-concept, and discuss potential countermeasures and mitigations.


This Essay explores the relationship between normative law and economics and legal theory. We claim that legal theory must account for law's coerciveness, its normativity, and its institutional structure. Economic analyses that engage these features are an integral part of legal theory, rather than external observations about law from an economic perspective. These analyses, or economic analysis in law, play a crucial role in understanding the law and in developing legal policy arguments. After establishing its terminology, the Essay maps out three contributions of economic analysis in law: prescriptive recommendations in areas amenable to preference satisfaction as a normative criterion; analyzing efficiency as one aspect of a broader normative inquiry; and exposing feasibility constraints. Finally, the Essay turns to an exploration of possibilities for extending economic analysis in law beyond its comfort zone. It suggests that economic analysis might expand into areas where values other than preference satisfaction are or ought to be dominant considerations.


While flow-induced vibration of bluff bodies has been extensively studied over the last half-century, only limited attention has been given to flow-induced vibration of elastically mounted rotating cylinders. Since recent low-Reynolds-number numerical work suggests that rotation can enhance or suppress the natural oscillatory response, the former could find applications in energy harvesting and the latter in vibration control. The present experimental investigation characterises the dynamic response and wake structure of a rotating circular cylinder undergoing vortex-induced vibration at a low mass ratio ( $m^{\ast }=5.78$ ) over the reduced velocity range leading to strong oscillations. The experiments were conducted in a free-surface water channel with the cylinder vertically mounted and attached to a motor that provided constant rotation. Springs and an air-bearing system allow the cylinder to undertake low-damped transverse oscillations. Under cylinder rotation, the normalised frequency response was found to be comparable to that of a freely vibrating non-rotating cylinder. At reduced velocities consistent with the upper branch of a non-rotating transversely oscillating cylinder, the maximum oscillation amplitude increased with non-dimensional rotation rate up to $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}\approx 2$ . Beyond this, there was a sharp decrease in amplitude. Notably, this critical value corresponds approximately to the rotation rate at which vortex shedding ceases for a non-oscillating rotating cylinder. Remarkably, at $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}=2$ there was approximately an 80 % increase in the peak amplitude response compared to that of a non-rotating cylinder. The observed amplitude response measured over the Reynolds-number range of ( $1100\lesssim Re\lesssim 6300$ ) is significantly different from numerical predictions and other experimental results recorded at significantly lower Reynolds numbers.


Do intraclass struggles shape the political terrain on which ensuing struggles, within and between classes, are fought and resolved? Out attempt to answer this question focuses on the rivalry among the factions and parties involved in organizing American industrial workers from the late 1930s on. We assess how the political practices of the Communists and their rivals determined which political camp won power in the new CIO unions. A logit model shows that two ensembles of political practices "loaded the historical dice" in favor of the Communists. The chances that Communists would win union leadership were far higher: first, if the union had seceded from the AFL and joined the CIO from below, in an insurgent workers' movement, rather than from above, in a revolt of its top officers; and second, if the union had been organized independently, rather than by a CIO "organizing committee." Two other political practices indirectly favored the Communists: earlier Red union organizing in the industry (although its effects were contradictory); andforming the union as an amalgamated rather than as a unitary organization.


OBJECTIVE:Pouchitis often is diagnosed based on symptoms alone. However, increased stool frequency, urgency, and abdominal pain could be due to a condition resembling irritable bowel syndrome. This study was designed to assess the etiology of bowel symptoms using the Pouchitis Disease Activity Index (PDAI).METHODS:Symptoms, endoscopy, and histology were assessed in 61 consecutive symptomatic patients with ulcerative colitis after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. Pouchitis was defined as a PDAI score of ≥7, cuffitis was defined as endoscopic and histological inflammation of the rectal cuff and no inflammation of the pouch, and irritable pouch syndrome (IPS) was defined as symptoms with a PDAI of <7 and the absence of cuffitis.RESULTS:Thirty-one patients (50.8%) had pouchitis, four (6.5%) had cuffitis, and 26 (42.6%) had IPS. Demographics were similar in the three groups. Increased stool frequency, urgency, and abdominal cramps were the most common symptoms in the three groups. Rectal bleeding was seen only in cuffitis (p < 0.001). No patient in the three groups had fever. Twenty-seven patients (87.1%) with pouchitis responded to a 2-wk course of ciprofloxacin or metronidazole with a reduction in PDAI scores of ≥3. All four patients with cuffitis responded to topical hydrocortisone or mesalamine with a reduction in the PDAI symptom component score of ≥1. Twelve patients with IPS (46.2%) responded to antidiarrheal, anticholinergic, and/or antidepressant therapies with a reduction in the PDAI symptom component score of ≥1, whereas the remaining patients had persistent symptoms despite therapy.CONCLUSIONS:A substantial number of symptomatic patients after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis do not meet the diagnostic criteria for either pouchitis or cuffitis and have been classified as having IPS. There is an overlap of symptoms among patients with pouchitis, cuffitis, and IPS, and endoscopic evaluation can differentiate among these groups. Distinction between these three groups has therapeutic implications.


Atlanta—New phase 3 clinical trial results point to the potential of several targeted therapies for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, a disease with few therapeutic options and an annual worldwide mortality exceeding 100 000. The studies, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held here in June, may change the standard of care for patients with this disease. "The results are likely to lead to an expansion of treatment options for patients with metastatic renal cancer," said Michael Atkins, MD, of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's division of Hematology/Oncology, in Boston. "Today, targeted therapy enters the front line for the treatment of renal cancer," he added.


OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risks and benefits of third-generation oral contraceptives.DATA SOURCES: A medline search was done for English language articles published from 1985 through 1998 relating to the side-effect profile of third-generation oral contraceptives or their association with cardiovascular or thromboembolic disease. All articles containing original data were included.DATA SYNTHESIS: The risk of venous thromboembolism appears to be 1.5- to 2.7-fold greater in users of third-generation, compared with second-generation, oral contraceptives. Compared with nonusers, women who use third-generation oral contraceptives may have a 4.8- to 9.4-fold greater risk of venous thromboembolism. Users of third-generation oral contraceptives do not appear to have an increased risk of myocardial infarction compared with nonusers and may have risk of myocardial infarction of 0.26 to 0.7 compared with second-generation users. Whether third-generation oral contraceptives are associated with a decreased stroke risk is still not clear.CONCLUSIONS: Although third-generation oral contraceptives most likely increase a user's risk of venous thromboembolism, their improved side-effect profile and their possible decreased association with myocardial infarction and stroke may make them a useful new class of oral contraceptives for most women except those at increased risk of venous thrombosis.


Evaluation of combustion characteristic, engine performances and exhaust emissions of nanoparticles blended in palm oil methyl ester (POME) was conducted in this experiment using a single-cylinder diesel engine. Nanoparticles used was aluminium oxide (Al2O3) and silicon dioxide (SiO2) with a portion of 50 ppm and 100 ppm. SiO2 and Al2O3 were blended in POME and labelled as PS50, PS100 and PA50, PA100, respectively. The data results for
PS and PA fuel were compared to POME test fuel. Single cylinder diesel engine YANMAR TF120M attached with DEWESoft data acquisition module (DAQ) model SIRIUSi-HS was used in this experiment. Various engine loads of zero, 7 N.m, 14 Nm, 21 N.m and 28 N.m at a constant engine speed of 1800 rpm were applied during engine testing. Results for each fuel were obtained by calculating the average three times repetition of engine testing. Findings show that the highest maximum pressure of nanoparticles fuel increase by 16.3% compared to POME test fuel. Other than that, the engine peak torque and engine power show a significant increase by 43% and 44%, respectively, recorded during the PS50 fuel test. Meanwhile, emissions of nanoparticles fuel show a large decrease by 10% of oxide of nitrogen (NOx), 6.3% reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) and a slight decrease of 0.02% on carbon monoxide (CO). Addition of nanoparticles in biodiesel show positive improvements when used in diesel engines and further details were discussed.


The State of Washington has established benchmarks for reducing vehicle miles travelled (VMT). The ambitious targets call for VMT reductions of 18 percent by the year 2020, 30 percent by the year 2035, and 50 percent by mid century. This report discusses estimates and examines impacts of VMT reduction strategies on selected groups and geographic areas mandated by state legislation. The five groups and areas were small businesses whose employees cross county lines to get to work, low-income residents, farmworkers—especially migrant workers, distressed counties, and counties with more than half the land in federal or tribal ownership. The study defined these groups and areas, established a typology of VMT reduction strategies, and made assumptions about behavior and trip lengths based on available literature. It then estimated impacts on the selected groups and areas and suggested several implementation steps and areas for further research.


Obesity, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance, the increasingly common metabolic syndrome, are risk factors for CVD and type 2 diabetes that warrant novel therapeutic interventions. The flavonoid nobiletin displays potent lipid-lowering and insulin-sensitizing properties in mice with metabolic dysfunction. However, the mechanisms by which nobiletin mediates metabolic protection are not clearly established. The central role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) as an energy sensor suggests that AMPK is a target of nobiletin. We tested the hypothesis that metabolic protection by nobiletin required phosphorylation of AMPK and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) in mouse hepatocytes, in mice deficient in hepatic AMPK (Ampkβ1−/−), in mice incapable of inhibitory phosphorylation of ACC (AccDKI), and in mice with adipocyte-specific AMPK deficiency (iβ1β2AKO). We fed mice a high-fat/high-cholesterol diet with or without nobiletin. Nobiletin increased phosphorylation of AMPK and ACC in primary mouse hepatocytes, which was associated with increased FA oxidation and attenuated FA synthesis. Despite loss of ACC phosphorylation in Ampkβ1−/− hepatocytes, nobiletin suppressed FA synthesis and enhanced FA oxidation. Acute injection of nobiletin into mice did not increase phosphorylation of either AMPK or ACC in liver. In mice fed a high-fat diet, nobiletin robustly prevented obesity, hepatic steatosis, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance, and it improved energy expenditure in Ampkβ1−/−, AccDKI, and iβ1β2AKO mice to the same extent as in WT controls. Thus, the beneficial metabolic effects of nobiletin in vivo are conferred independently of hepatic or adipocyte AMPK activation. These studies further underscore the therapeutic potential of nobiletin and begin to clarify possible mechanisms.


Young people who drink and drive have a relatively higher risk of crash involvement for all breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) ranges. However, not all aspects of the effect of alcohol consumption on the behavior of young drivers have been sufficiently addressed—especially the differentiated effect of alcohol on their driving performance. The behavior of young drivers under the influence of alcohol is explored within this research in a driving simulator experiment in which participants were subjected to a common predefined dose of alcohol consumption. Comparing behavior before and after consumption as well as across individuals and different BrAC levels allows for useful insights into driver behavior, as well as for suggestions on policy interventions. Results indicate strong differences in individuals, mainly because of differentiated driving experience and baseline driving skills. The results also designate reaction time and speeding as the most robust alcohol impairment indicators that affect driver choices directly. Most important, results suggest that the BrAC–speed curve across individuals is not monotonic over all BrAC intervals.


Auditory events can be considered to have spectral energy at short and long timescales, corresponding to the musical phenomena of pitch and pulse. Neural synchronization—when neurons synchronize their firing with external oscillatory stimuli—can be measured using spectral EEG at both subcortical and cortical levels. It has been shown that subcortical synchronization to tones is more robust in musicians than nonmusicians, suggesting a type of experience-dependent plasticity; a similar test for long timescales has not been investigated. In the current study, EEG was measured from musicians and nonmusicians while they listened to an isochronous sequence of tones. Neural synchronization at short timescales was found to be stronger in musicians. Additionally, the extent of synchronization correlated with the current level of musical engagement. These findings indicate that the experience-dependent plasticity observed in musicians manifests itself at multiple cortical levels corresponding to oscillations at different timescales present in music.


Chaptalization and saignée-watering back were used to investigate the effects of modifying ethanol concentrations on sensory properties of Merlot wines made from fruit harvested at different maturities. Fruit was harvested on three dates with soluble solids concentrations of 20, 24, and 28 Brix. At each harvest, one-third of the must was fermented at the natural soluble solids concentration, and the other two-thirds were manipulated to match the other harvests' Brix, leading to wine ethanol concentrations of 11.6, 14.0, and 16.2% for each of the three soluble solids concentrations. Both fruit maturity and ethanol concentration had significant effects on the chemical and sensory profiles of the wines. Wine physical viscosity increased with increasing ethanol concentrations, and wine color was positively impacted, with higher ethanol concentrations favoring the formation of polymeric pigments leading to darker wines. Wines made from unripe fruit (20 Brix) were characterized by green flavors and sour taste in the sensory analysis, whereas wines made from overripe fruit (28 Brix) were described as fruity and sweet. Manipulations targeting the adjustment of ethanol had a greater effect on wine sensory properties than fruit maturity: wines made from ripe (24 Brix) or overripe fruit adjusted to low ethanol concentrations were described similarly to wines made from unripe fruit, and wines made from unripe or ripe fruit adjusted to high ethanol concentrations were described similarly to wines made from overripe fruit. The results of this study demonstrate that both ethanol concentration and manipulations to achieve desired ethanol concentrations have a large influence on wine chemistry and sensory properties, and suggest that wine ethanol concentration is more important for the sensory profiles of wines than is fruit maturity at harvest.


Agent-based techniques have the potential to improve the security of international maritime transport threatened by a steep rise of maritime piracy. We have demonstrated that a randomized route-selection strategy resulting from a normal two-player game formulation of the transit problem can decrease the number of attacks and the payoff accumulated by pirates. Coordinating the movement of patrol and transit vessels without a central authority requires techniques for semi-cooperative planning and coalition formation. With regard to existing applications of agent-based techniques, the maritime domain seems currently under-represented compared to other traffic and transportation domains. This work is a first step in addressing the situation and bringing this important domain into the focus of researchers in the multiagent systems field.


Abstract The purpose of our paper is to analyze the main factors which influence fiscal balance's evolution and thereby identify solutions for configuring a sustainable fiscal policy. We have selected as independent variables some of the main macroeconomic measures, respectively public debt, unemployment rate, economy openness degree, population, consumer goods' price index, current account balance, direct foreign investments and economic growth rate. Our research method uses two econometric models applied on a sample of 22 countries, respectively 14 developed and 8 emergent. The first model is a multiple regression and studies the connection between the fiscal balance and selected independent variables, whereas the second one uses first order differences and introduces economic freedom as a dummy variable to catch the dynamic influences of selected measures upon fiscal result. The time interval considered was 1999-2013. The results generated using the two models revealed that public debt, current account balance and economic growth significantly influence the fiscal balance. As a consequence, the governments need to plan and implement a fiscal policy which resonates with economy priorities and the phase of the economic cycle, as well as ensure a proper management of the public debt, stimulate sustainable economic growth and employment.


It is reported that, without appropriate support, students might face several difficulties when engaging in highlevel reasoning in science. This paper discusses the design of a software-based tool to support students' inquiry. This scaffolding is provided through the use of STOCHASMOS, a web-based platform designed to support teachers' authoring of inquiry-based learning environments and students' reflective inquiry practices. In this paper, we present the theoretical background supporting the development of STOCHASMOS, present the platform and discuss findings from a classroom study. The results have wider implications for the design of webbased learning environments and for the role of selfand group-reflections in facilitating inquiry processes with scientific data.


The thin film properties of tin(II) 2,3-naphthalocyanine (SnNPc) were interrogated and various strategies for controlling the crystallinity and crystalline orientation within the films were assessed. SnNPc is shown to crystallize in the space group P21/c (Z = 4), where the molecular arrangement consists of alternating layers of concave and convex overlap, induced by the out-of-plane Sn atoms, resulting in a 3D slipped-π-stack network structure analogous to that reported for Phase I of titanyl phthalocyanine. The thin films were studied by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and absorption spectroscopy and are highly sensitive not just to the conditions during growth, but also to substrate pre- and post-deposition treatment. While the films grown at room temperature were largely amorphous, the crystallinity was enhanced with substrate temperature, with the molecules orienting in a standing molecular geometry. A thin layer of 3,4:9,10-perlenetetracarboxylic dianhydride induces a lying molecular geometry of the same polymorph as that of the single crystal, while different polymorphs are accessible through solvent vapor annealing of amorphous films. Transient photocurrent measurements showed a dramatic improvement in photodetector device bandwidth for the lying molecular geometry, which was attributed to enhanced photoconductivity along the π-stacking axis, while solvent vapor annealing could be used to tune the photosensitivity across the near-infrared region.


UNLABELLED
Brain metastases are associated with a dismal prognosis. Whether brain metastases harbor distinct genetic alterations beyond those observed in primary tumors is unknown. We performed whole-exome sequencing of 86 matched brain metastases, primary tumors, and normal tissue. In all clonally related cancer samples, we observed branched evolution, where all metastatic and primary sites shared a common ancestor yet continued to evolve independently. In 53% of cases, we found potentially clinically informative alterations in the brain metastases not detected in the matched primary-tumor sample. In contrast, spatially and temporally separated brain metastasis sites were genetically homogenous. Distal extracranial and regional lymph node metastases were highly divergent from brain metastases. We detected alterations associated with sensitivity to PI3K/AKT/mTOR, CDK, and HER2/EGFR inhibitors in the brain metastases. Genomic analysis of brain metastases provides an opportunity to identify potentially clinically informative alterations not detected in clinically sampled primary tumors, regional lymph nodes, or extracranial metastases.

SIGNIFICANCE
Decisions for individualized therapies in patients with brain metastasis are often made from primary-tumor biopsies. We demonstrate that clinically actionable alterations present in brain metastases are frequently not detected in primary biopsies, suggesting that sequencing of primary biopsies alone may miss a substantial number of opportunities for targeted therapy.


This thesis sought to evaluate how a Christian Peer-ministry programme entitled 'Spiritan Faith Friends' (SFF) impacted the faith development of male adolescents in three second-level Spiritan Schools in Ireland. What faith development meant in the context of this programme was explored, as well as how the faith development of the participants was impacted by a sense of connectedness that may have arisen from belonging to such a programme within a denominational school setting. The definition of 'connectedness' used is in agreement with that of Karcher and Lee (2002, p.93), who define it as 'a response to relatedness and belonging. …. Connectedness, then, reflects one's perception of his or her own involvement in and affection for others, activities and organisations.' There are two elements to draw from this definition: first, connectedness and belonging are distinct from each other yet related, and, second, connectedness which in this sense arises out of one's sense of belonging, has a reciprocal nature, received as well as given.
Many questions were asked, among them: How might this programme impact the faith development
of the male adolescent participants? How might it connect with them during this stage of development? How might it connect with their search for meaning within a religious identity? Does it offer a sense of belonging [to the Christian community] by affording the experience of a role in the Catholic Church? Does the denominational setting impact the outcomes of the programme?
The research was conducted in two stages: an action research stage and a lasting impact stage. Both stages employed 'a wide range of interconnected interpretative methods,' as the researcher's ontology filtered the lens through which she guided and effected the final 'bricolage' (Denzin and Lincoln 2003, p.5).


Volunteers who help with online crowdsourcing such as citizen science tasks typically make only a few contributions before exiting. We propose a computational approach for increasing users' engagement in such settings that is based on optimizing policies for displaying motivational messages to users. The approach, which we refer to as Trajectory Corrected Intervention (TCI), reasons about the tradeoff between the long-term influence of engagement messages on participants' contributions and the potential risk of disrupting their current work. We combine model-based reinforcement learning with off-line policy evaluation to generate intervention policies, without relying on a fixed representation of the domain. TCI works iteratively to learn the best representation from a set of random intervention trials and to generate candidate intervention policies. It is able to refine selected policies off-line by exploiting the fact that users can only be interrupted once per session.We implemented TCI in the wild with Galaxy Zoo, one of the largest citizen science platforms on the web. We found that TCI was able to outperform the state-of-the-art intervention policy for this domain, and significantly increased the contributions of thousands of users. This work demonstrates the benefit of combining traditional AI planning with off-line policy methods to generate intelligent intervention strategies.


In this thesis, we explore some applications of recent developments in the hyperbolic geometry of Riemann surfaces and moduli spaces thereof in string theory [1, 2, 3]. First we show how a proper decomposition of the moduli space of hyperbolic surfaces can be achieved using the hyperbolic parameters. The decomposition is appropriate to define off-shell amplitudes in bosonic-string, heterotic-string and type-II superstring theories. Since the off-shell amplitudes in bosonic-string theory are dependent on the choice of local coordinates around the punctures, we associate local coordinates around the punctures in various regions of the moduli space. The next ingredient to define the off-shell amplitudes is to provide a method to integrate the off-shell string measure over the moduli space of hyperbolic surfaces. We next show how the integrals appearing in the definition of bosonicstring, heterotic-string and type-II superstring amplitudes can be computed by lifting them to appropriate covering spaces of the moduli space. In heterotic-string and typeII superstring theories, we also need to provide a proper distribution of picture-changing operators. We provide such a distribution. Finally, we illustrate the whole construction in few examples. We then describe the construction of a consistent string field theory using the tools from hyperbolic geometry.


Accurate and timely monitoring of gross primary production (GPP) at regional and global scales is necessary for understanding the terrestrial biosphere carbon balance. In this article, 8-day composite GPP is estimated using the region production efficiency model (REG-PEM) in the Heihe river basin from 2006 to 2008. The result indicates that GPP meets the seasonal cycle well and varies with different land covers. Analysis of uncertainty and sensitivity of the REG-PEM model are implemented by the Monte Carlo method. GPP is simulated with a test data set; the data set includes three groups, and each group has 8000 points. The three groups obey uniform distribution, normal distribution and beta distribution, respectively. Uncertainty is assessed by the quantification of mean values and standard deviation of outputs. The distribution of simulated GPP is slightly different from that of model-calculated GPP over the study sites. Among the input parameters, the land surface water index (LSWI) and air temperature (T) make less of a contribution to model output than photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) and the enhanced vegetation index (EVI). The main sources of model uncertainty are input data uncertainty and uncertainty from the specific model.


The struggle over the FTT has developed in three phases. In the first phase (2009 to 2011) the supporters of the tax went on the offensive, supported by the "shock effects" of the financial crisis. This phase ended with the (preliminary) "victory" in the form of the FTT proposal of the European Commission in September 2011. The second phase was shaped by the search for ways how to implement the FTT within the EU. It ended with the publication of a modified FTT proposal by the Commission in February 2013 as basis for the implementation in 11 member countries. The last phase has been marked by a strong counter-offensive of the financial lobby which succeeded in playing off FTT supporting countries against each other, in particular Germany and France. This phase ended with a defeat of the FTT supporters. Not even in a group of EU countries will a general FTT be implemented in the foreseeable future. The struggle over the FTT was mainly carried out in two "battlefields", the intellectual disputes between economists at universities, research institutes and international organisations, and the political controversies between NGOs, political parties, governments and pressure groups, in particular the finance industry.


In this paper, a new digital watermarking method, integrating with the state-of-the-art image compression standard--JPEG 2000, is developed. Unlike most proposed watermarking schemes, which embed watermarks in the wavelet domain, a binary watermark is embedded in the code stream, which is the output of entropy (tier 2) coding. To reduce the image distortion introduced by the embedded watermark, visual compensation is applied. To improve the robustness of the watermark, a protection region, characterized by each subband, is determined according to human visual system (HVS). The experimental results show that, by selecting the subband and bit-plane carefully, the proposed watermarking scheme exhibits a high robustness to normal image processing.


Despite the enormous negative consequences of biological invasions, we have a limited understanding of how spatial demography during invasions creates population patterns observed at different spatial scales. Early stages of invasions, arrival and establishment, are considered distinct from the later stage of spread, but the processes of population growth and dispersal underlie all invasion phases. Here, we argue that the spread of invading species, to a first approximation, exhibits scale invariant spatial-dynamic patterns that transcend multiple spatial scales. Dispersal from a source population creates smaller satellite colonies, which in turn act as sources for secondary invasions; the scale invariant pattern of coalescing colonies can be seen at multiple scales. This self-similar pattern is referred to as "stratified diffusion" at landscape scales and the "bridgehead effect" at the global scale. The extent to which invasions exhibit such scale-invariant spatial dynamics may be limited by the form of the organisms' dispersal kernel and by the connectivity of the habitat. Recognition of this self-similar pattern suggests that certain concepts for understanding and managing invasions might be widely transferable across spatial scales.


As an organization, UKAPA has just begun its development. A handful-sized group is the beginning, just as a handful of PAs started the AAPA many years ago. The British medical system is one that can be joined "by invitation only," and UKAPA is attempting to make ourselves known in order to garner those invitations. We have achieved some small successes, and we hope to soon gain wider recognition both in the United States and in the United Kingdom.


Homework is an important out-of-class activity, crucial to student success in engineering courses. However, in a first-semester freshman engineering course, approximately one-fourth of students were completing less than 80% of the homework.  The purpose of this study was to examine students' attribution of their low completion of homework and suggest corresponding interventions to help students with different attribution types. A qualitative approach was applied using semi-structured interviews for data collection. The interviewees were students who were on track to complete less than 80% of the homework. Students in the study attributed their low rates of completion to multiple factors. We coded and summarized students' attributions of homework incompletion according to Weiner's attribution theory and suggested corresponding interventions for students with different attribution types. Results show that most students attributed their failure to complete their homework to external reasons rather than internal reasons. A large portion of student's attributions for low homework completion was due to poor time management skills.  Some students attributed low homework completion to unstable factors such as illness, transition, or adjustment problems. A small portion attributed low homework completion to uncontrollable reasons, such as sickness and homework difficulty. Students' reasons for homework incompletion varied across the three dimensions of Weiner's attribution theory suggesting that a variety of intervention techniques is required.  In addition to use of widely adopted interventions such as first year seminars, tutoring, and tutorial sessions, intervention techniques based on attribution theory may be necessary to employ, to help students avoid negative emotional and behavioral consequences of homework incompletion.


An 81 MSamples/s JPEG 2000 single-chip encoder is implemented on 5.5 mm2 area using 0.25-mum CMOS technology. This IC can losslessly encode HDTV 720p resolution at 30 frames/s in real time. Three techniques are adopted: line-based discrete wavelet transform, parallel embedded block coding, and precompression rate-distortion optimization. The line-based discrete wavelet transform achieves the minimum external memory access, while the internal memory is reduced by a proper memory access scheme. The parallel embedded block coding increases the throughput and reduces the memory bandwidth with similar hardware cost comparing to conventional architectures. By accurately estimating bit rates, the precompression rate-distortion optimization reduces the required computational power and processing time of the embedded block coding since the code-blocks are truncated before compression. Experimental results show that this encoder has the highest throughput with the smallest area compared with other designs in the literature


According to the World Health Organization, diarrhoea is one of the four main diseases caused by environmental exposure and represents the most common water related disease. In developing countries, the access to safe drinking water is still utopian. Moreover, water is not an endless resource anymore; therefore alternative water supplies need to be investigated. Since water is becoming a worldwide issue, there is an increasing effort to ensure its quality and safety through the development of rapid and effective system of diagnostic which could be applied even in remote places in poor countries. The possibility to diagnose on site and in real time an infectious agent is one of the most challenging goals in lab-on-a-chip technologies. This review describes and discusses the potentialities of microfluidic technology in this new emerging field.


Without exception, all professional sport teams in North America use social media to communicate with fans. Sport communication professionals use Twitter as one of the strategic tools of engagement, yet there remains a lack of understanding about how users are motivated and gratified in their Twitter use. Drawing on a specific sample from the Twitter followers of the Canadian Football League, the researchers used semistructured in-depth interviews, content analysis, and an online survey to seek an understanding of what motivates and satisfies Twitter followers of professional sport teams, measured through the gratifications sought and the fulfillment of these motives through the perceived gratifications obtained. The results add to the sport communications literature by finding 4 primary gratifications sought by Twitter users: interaction, promotion, live game updates, and news. Professional sport teams can improve strategic fan engagement by better understanding how Twitter followers use and seek gratifi...


Purpose

 - The paper seeks to investigate how companies can design digital channels to evoke desired emotions.
Design/methodology/approach
The successful business case of retailer Burberry has been examined to understand the strategy and customer engagement of digital channels implemented by decoding the emotional intensions.

Findings

 - Results illustrate that the ability to create engaging interactions via digital channels with customers has a significant impact on growth, revenue and brand advocacy. Findings from this study provide a new empirical support for the proposition that emotions can be utilized to guide company digital strategy for building digital channel relationships with customers.

Originality/value

 - This is the first study to examine the relationship between digital channels, emotion and customer responses to digital engagements. The inclusion of an emerging theory model is outlined to explain the successful process of reformulating business strategy through a dynamic and creative process of intersecting emotion, strategy and digital channels.


An analytical method for designing axial wind turbine blades is described. It is based on the classical blade element momentum (BEM) model, but formulated in terms of velocity triangles, Euler's turbine equation, and the vector mean velocity from in- to outlet in the rotating frame of reference. Airfoil lift and drag are determined via XFOIL. A small axial wind turbine is designed by means of this analytical tool. Then a 3D RANS simulation at design operation is performed. For turbulence modeling we use the standard shear stress transport, and, alternatively, a laminar/turbulent transition model. Local values such as the induction factors, the pressure distributions and integral performance data are compared. Although the blade boundary layer is basically transitional, the accuracy of the numerical results utilizing the laminar/turbulent transition model and the shear stress transport model is similar as compared to the analytical design target.


In this paper, a high-precision dual-servo stage with a magnetically levitated fine stage is described. For magnetic levitation, a Halbach linear active magnetic bearing (HLAMB) is used. The HLAMB has two functions: gravity compensation and actively control of vertical motion. To implement these functions, the HLAMB utilizes permanent magnet arrays and Lorentz coils. The fine stage has positioning capabilities with 6 DOF due to four HLAMBs and four voice coil motors (VCM). The HLAMBs control out-of-plane motions, and the VCM control in-plane motions. The fine stage achieves high-precision position feedback using laser interferometers and capacitive sensors. The coarse stage has an H-type structure that can carry the fine stage 300 mm by 300 mm along the x - and y-axes. Positioning and scanning performances are verified by the experimental results. It has ±10 and ±15 nm in-position stability in the x- and y-axes, respectively. At the scan with 10 mm/s constant velocity, ±1 nm mean tracking error and 4.7 nm jitter were obtained.


The rotor stand vibration signals carry abundant dynamic information of the machinery and are sometimes very useful in the machinery fault diagnosis. Due to the difficulty of recognition for the non-stationery signals, many traditional ways have been discussed and made the comparison to analyze the pros and cons of the methods. Then this paper proposed an improved LMD time-frequency method to solve the shortcuts, so as to obtain the better results during the machinery fault diagnosis. The LMD time-frequency method helps to reduce the appearance of the singular points and glitches and it has better precision in the PF component, so that the characteristics of the original signal can fully be reflected.
 And the simulated rotor signal along with actual fault signals are used to demonstrate, test, verify the accuracy and the effectiveness of the improved LMD method with the support of the established test rig and NI device. Through the Time-Frequency Analysis Time Spectrum, the newly proposed method has been proved its accuracy, efficiency in the time-frequency analysis and its stableness in the machinery fault diagnosis.


In Sinai and Zion (1985), Jon Levenson made the case that rabbinic Judaism has more in common with its forebears in the Hebrew Bible than scholars have customarily granted. Although the rabbis are often derided as gross innovators, bending their religious expression too readily to expediency and the demands of culture, Levenson argued that the rabbinic system, with its principled disregard for the historical aspect of the biblical text, is consistent with the perspective of the biblical religion centered on the Sinaitic covenant. In fact, Levenson argued, there is more continuity between the Bible and its rabbinic interpretation than between the Bible and its early Christian interpretation. He admitted, however, that neither of those religious experiments provides anything like a pure reading of the Bible: I make no claim that Rabbinic Judaism offers the correct understanding of the Hebrew Bible. One need not subscribe to the regnant prejudice to see that Talmudic religion is different from its biblical ancestor, one of the major differences being the presence in it of a Bible. But the change seems more evolutionary than revolutionary; it lacks the "quantum leap" apparent in the Christian claim of a new Israel and, ultimately, a New Testament.... My claim is that because Judaism lacks an overwhelming motivation to deny the pluriform character of the Hebrew Bible in behalf of a uniform reading--such as the christological reading--Jewish exegesis evidences a certain breadth and a certain relaxed posture, both of which are necessary if the Hebrew Bible is to receive a fair hearing. (1) Levenson makes repeated use of the terms "synchronic" and "diachronic," the former referring to a feature of (or an approach to) a text that ignores its historical-contextual aspects (including the historicity of what the text relates), and the latter referring to features/approaches that embrace or depend upon historical-contextual aspects. The key to understanding the Hebrew Bible, according to Levenson, lies in its dependence on the covenantal form of expression. Ancient Near Eastern covenantal formularies, he tells us, typically began with a historical prologue. The more one explains the Israelite faith in terms of covenant, therefore, the more one should subsume the diachronic components of the Hebrew Bible within the synchronic elements (rather than vice versa). In this way, Levenson takes an explicit stand within the well-known debate between Brevard Childs and James Barr: He basically argues that cues from the Bible itself support Childs's so-called "canonical approach." Levenson's overall argument involves comparisons among four distinct approaches to the biblical material: (1) that embodied within the biblical material itself, (2) the rabbinic approach, (3) the Christian approach, and (4) the "modern critical" approach. In the passage already quoted, Levenson gives an indication of how the first three relate to one another. On the facing page in his book, he provides an indication of where the fourth one fits in: "There is ... a quantum leap between the traditional rabbinic approach to the Hebrew Bible and modern critical study." (2) His repeated use of "quantum leap" provides a handy guide to his associations and dissociations: (1) There is no quantum leap between the Bible and the rabbinic approach, but (2) there is a quantum leap between the (Hebrew) Bible and the Christian approach, as well as (3) between the rabbinic and the modern critical approaches. In what follows, I concede that Levenson has given convincing arguments for the first point, and that the third point goes without saying, but I seek to challenge the second point. I also intend to discuss Levenson's somewhat misguided analysis of how the Christian approach correlates with the modern critical approach. How Rabbinic Judaism and New Testament Christianity Read the Bible The claim that the rabbinic approach does not embody a quantum leap might surprise those most familiar with scholarship on the Hebrew Bible and the rabbinic religion: If we believe what scholars have said, there would appear to be a rather sharp divergence between these two entities, amounting to a bold innovation on the part of the rabbis. …


ABSTRACT Lakes beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet are known to decrease traction at the ice base and therefore can have a great impact on ice dynamics. However, the total extent of Antarctic subglacial lakes is still unknown. We address this issue by combining modeling and remote-sensing strategies to predict potential lake locations using the general hydraulic potential equation. We are able to reproduce the majority of known lakes, as well as predict the existence of many new and so far undetected potential lakes. To validate our predictions, we analyzed ice-penetrating radar profiles from radio-echo sounding flights acquired over 1994–2013 in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, and this led to the identification of 31 new subglacial lakes. Based on these findings, we estimate the total number of Antarctic subglacial lakes to be ~1300, a factor of three higher than the total number of lakes discovered to date. We estimate that only ~30% of all Antarctic subglacial lakes and ~65% of the total estimated lake-covered area have been discovered, and that lakes account for 0.6% of the Antarctic ice/bed interface.


A practical method to estimate the remaining pavement life of low-volume roads is presented that uses the results of falling weight deflectometer (FWD) measurements. The method was developed from observations of accelerated pavement tests, and additional field results from Transit New Zealand's asset management database are presented. Methods currently used in Australia and New Zealand to predict the remaining life of pavements are based on linear elastic backcalculation of FWD tests with the association of Australian and New Zealand road transport and traffic authorities (Austroads) approach, in which the life of the pavement is related to the vertical compressive strain at the top of the sub-grade. The vertical compressive subgrade strain is usually determined by linear elastic backcalculation of FWD tests. Industry has highlighted significant concern about the Austroads procedure in New Zealand and whether the traditional FWD analysis with the Austroads subgrade strain criterion can predict pavement life accurately. In response to industry concerns, accelerated pavement test results from the Canterbury Accelerated Pavement Testing Indoor Facility were used to develop a new pavement performance criterion that predicts rutting of a low-volume road. The remaining-life prediction procedure is based on central deflections from the FWD measurement results and uses the change in FWD test results between the start and end of the postcompaction period.


The overall health of the community is based, in part, on the degree or level to which individual members choose to participate as a professional. Do they remain on the periphery or progress to full participation in the professional association? CLS education has been highly successful in preparing practitioners, yet the educational process as a whole has failed to reach the more challenging goal of preparing practitioners as professionals. When designing curricula for educating professionals, educators need to teach the importance of a professional association as a critical and necessary component of the whole. Our goal should be to prepare "practitioners who are constantly seeking to increase their professional competence". To achieve this goal, practitioners must transfer knowledge and skills as they, with guided participation from other professionals, move into professional activities.


Ultra-reliable vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication is essential for enabling the next generation of intelligent vehicles. V2X communication refers to the exchange of information between vehicle and infrastructure (V2I) or between vehicles (V2V). Network slicing is one of the promising technologies for the next generation of connected devices, creating several logical networks on a common and programmable physical infrastructure. Following this idea, we propose a network slicing based communication model for vehicular networks. In this paper, we have modelled a multi-lane highway scenario with vehicles having heterogeneous traffic requirements. Autonomous driving slice (exchanges safety messages) and infotainment slice (provides video stream) are the two logical slices created on a common infrastructure. In addition, a relaying approach is utilized to improve the performance of low signal-to-interferenceplus-noise-ratio (SINR) video streaming vehicles. These low SINR vehicles are served by other infotainment vehicles, which have high quality V2V and V2I link and are not serving as autonomous driving slice access point. An extensive Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) system level simulator is used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, in which it is shown that the proposed network slicing approach increases the packet reception ratio (PRR) from 31.15% to 99.47%.


Abstract:This article summarizes the results of the work of a commission of the German Trade Union Confederation, Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB), on the memory cultures of social democracy and trade unionism in Germany and highlights its recommendations on how to strengthen the public memory of the achievements of trade unionism in German society. It argues that the contemporary memory cultures are highly deficient and in need of a major boost in order to make trade unionism fit for the struggles of the twenty-first century. Memory will be a crucial resource for trade unions, as it gives them a "practical past" with which to operate in the presence with a view to strengthening and protecting workers' rights in the future.