The relentless emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance warrant an increased awareness of the problem and improved coordination and standardisation of surveillance systems, as well as resistance control strategies. Moreover, this underscores the urgent need for new antibiotics active against the emerging resistant pathogens. Ceftobiprole is a new β-lactam molecule engineered for bactericidal activity against methicillin-resistant staphylococci that also exhibits an extended broad spectrum of activity covering the most clinically important Gram-positive (methicillin-susceptible staphylococci, penicillin-susceptible and -resistant pneumococci, other streptococci and ampicillin-susceptible enterococci) and Gram-negative (Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter spp., Haemophilus spp. and Moraxella spp.) pathogens. Results from studies with experimental infections and from clinical trials support a role for ceftobiprole in treating complicated skin and skin structure infections caused by Gram-positive pathogens, including methicillin-resistant staphylococci, and suggest a potential role for this drug in treating other types of serious infection caused by Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens.


In this paper, we study the generalization performance of min $\ell_2$-norm overfitting solutions for the neural tangent kernel (NTK) model of a two-layer neural network with ReLU activation that has no bias term. We show that, depending on the ground-truth function, the test error of overfitted NTK models exhibits characteristics that are different from the"double-descent"of other overparameterized linear models with simple Fourier or Gaussian features. Specifically, for a class of learnable functions, we provide a new upper bound of the generalization error that approaches a small limiting value, even when the number of neurons $p$ approaches infinity. This limiting value further decreases with the number of training samples $n$. For functions outside of this class, we provide a lower bound on the generalization error that does not diminish to zero even when $n$ and $p$ are both large.


STUDY QUESTION
What are the effects of smoking on the functional aspects of the sperm, the levels of lipid peroxidation and the protein profile of seminal plasma in patients with varicocele?

SUMMARY ANSWER
In men with varicocele, smoking is associated with altered semen quality, decreased sperm functional integrity and seminal oxidative stress. Alterations in seminal plasma protein profiles are also present and may explain the altered semen phenotype.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
Varicocele is a major cause of male infertility. It reduces testicular blood renewal with a consequent accumulation of toxic substances. Thus, it can potentiate the toxic effects of environmental exposure to genotoxic substances such as those found in cigarette smoke.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE AND DURATION
A cross-sectional study was performed in 110 patients presenting with variococele to the Human Reproduction Section of the Sao Paulo Federal University (2006-2010). The patients were divided into a control group of non-smokers, a moderate smokers group and a heavy smokers group.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING AND METHODS
Semen parameters were analysed by standard methods. Sperm DNA integrity and mitochondrial activity were assessed by Comet assays and by 3,3'-diaminobenzidine deposition, respectively. The level of lipid peroxidation in semen was determined by malondialdehyde quantification. Proteomic studies were performed by 2D-electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Both groups of smokers showed reduced semen quality in comparison with the control group. In the groups of smokers, sperm DNA integrity and mitochondrial activity were also decreased and lipid peroxidation levels were increased. Proteomic analyses revealed 20 proteins differentially expressed between the study groups.

LIMITATIONS AND REASONS FOR CAUTION
A study including smokers without varicocele is still warranted as these results apply only to smokers who present varicocele.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Patients with varicocele who are exposed to tobacco smoking present more important alterations to semen quality and sperm functional integrity and show changes in the seminal plasma proteome. This suggests testicular, and possibly systemic, adverse effects of smoking.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
Funding for the study was provided by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Fapesp) (2007/59423-7) and by the Division of Urology, Human Reproduction Section at the São Paulo Federal University.


Smart phones pose new challenges to usable security. Current means of specifying security policies or preferences for resource sharing are either woefully inadequate or too hard to use. This article presents a policy model approach toward usable security for smart phones. In particular, the approach adopts a semantic-based policy representation to help users' understanding of security policies and to better reflect what users really want. Furthermore, given the special nature of smart phones' usage, social awareness plays an important role. In this regard, the authors present propose a socially-aware policy reasoning model based on the results of a user study.


Based on his extensive experience with dentists in the past 30 years, Dr. Roger P. Levin has authored a new book entitled The 31 Biggest Mistakes Dentists Make. His premise is simple. As he says in the introduction, "We can learn from our mistakes. But isn't it better to learn from other people's mistakes?"


The fundamental rovibrational band of CO near 4.7 μm is a sensitive tracer of the presence and location of molecular gas in the planet-forming region of protoplanetary disks at 0.01–10 AU. We present a new analysis of a high-resolution spectral survey (R ∼ 96,000, or ∼ 3.2 km s − 1 ?> ) of CO rovibrational lines from protoplanetary disks spanning a wide range of stellar masses and of evolutionary properties. We find that the CO emission originates in two distinct velocity components. Line widths of both components correlate strongly with disk inclination, as expected for gas in Keplerian rotation. By measuring the line flux ratios between vibrational transitions F v = 2 – 1 / F v = 1 – 0 ?> , we find that the two velocity components are clearly distinct in excitation. The broad component ( FWHM = 50 – 200 km s − 1 ?> ) probes the disk region near the magnetospheric accretion radius at ≈ 0.05 ?> AU, where the gas is hot ( 800 – 1500 ?> K). The narrow component ( FWHM = 10 – 50 km s − 1 ?> ) probes the disk at larger radii of 0.1–10 AU, where the gas is typically colder (200–700 K). CO excitation temperatures and orbital radii define an empirical temperature–radius relation as a power law with index −0.3 ± 0.1 between 0.05 and 3 AU. The broad CO component, co-spatial with the observed orbital distribution of hot Jupiters, is rarely detected in transitional and Herbig Ae disks, providing evidence for an early dissipation of the innermost disk. An inversion in the temperature profile beyond 3 AU is interpreted as a tracer of a regime dominated by UV pumping in largely devoid inner disks, and may be a signature of the last stage before the disk enters the gas-poor debris phase.


Abstract The Middle Woodland period in eastern North America witnessed a florescence of monumental architecture and material exchange linked to widespread networks of ritual interaction. Although these networks encompassed large geographic areas and persisted for several centuries, extant archaeological models have tended to characterize Middle Woodland interaction as an historically unitary process. Using new data from the Garden Creek site in North Carolina, I argue that these frameworks obscure important historical shifts in Middle Woodland interaction. Recent collections-based research, geophysical survey, targeted excavation, and 14C dating (including Bayesian modeling) of this site reveal two coeval diachronic changes: a shift from geometric earthwork construction to platform mound construction; and a shift from the production of special artifacts {mica, crystal quartz) to the consumption of exotic artifacts in association with platform mound ceremonialism. These data hint at important changes in interregional relationships between the Appalachian Summit, the Hopewellian Midwest, and the greater Southeast during the Middle Woodland period, and provide a springboard for considering how processes of culture contact contributed to precolumbian cultural change.


Introduction Ethnicity is difficult to collect in a standard way between health and census datasets, meaning routinely calculated rates are prone to numerator-denominator bias. Methods Census and mortality data have been routinely linked in the New Zealand Census-Mortality Study, creating time series data from 1981. More recently, the Cancer trends study has linked cancer registrations. The proportion of eligible mortality / cancer records linked to a census record is now over 80%. Weighting is used to adjust for any linkage bias. Results Previously calculated mortality rates for Māori and Pacific people were shown to be underestimated by a quarter due to numerator-denominator bias. Corrected trends in mortality rates since 1981 demonstrate little if any improvement in Māori mortality rates during the 1980s–90s, concurrent with major reforms that impacted more on Māori than non-Māori (eg, unemployment rates among Māori reached 25% in 1992, compared with 7% among Europeans). Other analyses demonstrate that CVD is the major cause of death giving rise to ethnic inequalities in mortality, but as CVD rates fall for all ethnic groups inequalities in mortality are "relocating" to cancer. Inequalities in cancer incidence are less prominent than inequalities in cancer mortality, but nevertheless there are curious findings, such as: higher (and faster rising) breast cancer incidence among Māori, despite a more favourable risk factor profile; and particularly high endometrial and thyroid cancer incidence among Pacific women. There has also been a tremendous reduction in cervical cancer inequalities. Conclusion This linkage has allowed accurate research on trends that was hitherto impossible.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
In a canine model, we evaluated the feasibility of nerve-sparing cryosurgery by active warming of the neurovascular bundle (NVB). Furthermore, our aim was to determine if NVB warming increases the risk of acinar gland and stromal-tissue preservation in adjacent areas of the prostate. The effects of a single versus double freeze-thaw cycle on prostate tissue were also assessed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Ten prostate lobes from five dogs were evaluated. Nine lobes from five dogs were treated with cryoablation using 17-gauge gas-driven cryoneedles. Seven lobes wre treated with active warming of the NVB using helium gas, and two lobes were treated without active warming. A single or double freeze-thaw cycle was utilized. Prostate tissue ablation and NVB preservation were evaluated in histologic sections.

RESULTS
All seven prostate lobes treated with active warming demonstrated complete or partial NVB preservation. Four of these lobes had adjacent gland preservation. All lobes treated with a double freeze-thaw cycle showed complete and uniform ablation of prostate tissue. One of the three lobes treated with a single freeze-thaw cycle demonstrated incomplete ablation of the tissue.

CONCLUSIONS
This is the first study investigating the feasibility of NVB preservation under controlled experimental conditions. In our canine model, NVB preservation with active warming was possible but not consistently reproducible. In some cases, NVB preservation with active warming may result in incomplete peripheral tissue ablation. A double, but not a single, freeze-thaw cycle induces complete and effective necrosis of prostatic tissue. These results have significant clinical applications when attempting nerve-sparing cryosurgical ablation of the prostate.


The Schoenlein-Henoch syndrome is described on the basis of 44 personally observed cases. It is defined as a condition in which nontraumatic hemorrhage with or without edema may occur in the skin, or subcutaneous tissue, or joints, or viscera, or in any combination of them, and in which the blood platelets are normally abundant. The causes of the syndrome are varied, but streptococcal infection is important, and "anaphylactoid" causes rare. The prognosis is good, and the 4 cases with renal involvement also did well. Schoenlein-Henoch purpura and purpura simplex overlap, but in contrast with the latter, Schoenlein-Henoch purpura is not familial, and is common in males and children.


This study investigates unsupervised anomaly action recognition, which identifies video-level abnormal-human-behavior events in an unsupervised manner without abnormal samples, and simultaneously addresses three limitations in the conventional skeleton-based approaches: target domain-dependent DNN training, robustness against skeleton errors, and a lack of normal samples. We present a unified, user prompt-guided zero-shot learning framework using a target domain-independent skeleton feature extractor, which is pretrained on a large-scale action recognition dataset. Particularly, during the training phase using normal samples, the method models the distribution of skeleton features of the normal actions while freezing the weights of the DNNs and estimates the anomaly score using this distribution in the inference phase. Additionally, to increase robustness against skeleton errors, we introduce a DNN architecture inspired by a point cloud deep learning paradigm, which sparsely propagates the features between Joints. Furthermore, to prevent the unobserved normal actions from being misidentified as abnormal actions, we incorporate a similarity score between the user prompt embeddings and skeleton features aligned in the common space into the anomaly score, which indirectly supplements normal actions. On two publicly available datasets, we conduct experiments to test the effectiveness of the proposed method with respect to above-mentioned limitations.


The importance of data and data quality has long been a second thought for many utilities. There is often the perception that, "as long as the bills get paid our data is good enough!" As both customers and regulators owners alike are becoming more demanding in customer service and the impacts of the Smart Grid are being clarified, it has become an imperative for utilities to better manage their data. In the Smart Grid era, Asset Management at the distribution level is no longer a lofty goal but rather a necessity. Unfortunately from the perspective of technical resources, data is never good enough. Managers are faced with the challenge of balancing adequate data quality against the cost of maintaining that quality of data. This paper discusses the realities associated with data quality and a successful asset management program.


This paper takes Value Added as an indicator of corporate performance. In considering the case of differences in growth opportunities, we use Panel Threshold Model to do an empirical analysis in the relationship between environmental management, capital structure and corporate performance of listed companies in China. The results show that: There is a weak positive correlation between environmental management and corporate performance, which means environmental management can improve corporate performance; there is a significant regime effects between capital structure and corporate performance relying on corporate growth opportunities. Capital structure and corporate performance are negatively related for low growth companies and positively related for high growth companies. This is consistent with the classical theory of capital structure, which means Value Added is more suitable as an indicator of corporate performance than profits in China.


In this Article, I will argue that a person may be deserving of criminal punishment even in certain situations where she is not necessarily morally responsible for her criminal act. What these situations share in common are two things: (a) the psychological factors that motivate the individual's behavior are environmentally determined and (b) her crime is serious, making her less eligible for sympathy and therefore less likely to be acquitted. To get to this conclusion, I will proceed in four steps. In Part II, I will offer the first two of these steps. First, I will argue that our foundational assumption that moral responsibility is necessary for just blame and punishment is not self-evident and is actually rather difficult to explain and justify. Second, I will offer an explanation and justification that appeals to our moral psychology. Specifically, I will argue that we subscribe to this assumption (that moral responsibility is necessary for just blame and punishment) ultimately because we sympathize with agents who lack responsibility for their actions. Third, in Part IV, I aim to show that even if moral responsibility is not conceptually — only "emotionally" — necessary for just blame and punishment, the traditionally recognized criminal excuses (automatism, duress, entrapment, hypnosis, infancy, insanity, involuntary intoxication, mistake of fact, and mistake of law) are not at risk because, contrary to popular wisdom, they do not really rely on this assumption to begin with. Instead, they stand less for the metaphysical proposition that we should refrain from blaming and punishing the non-responsible and more for the normative/ethical proposition that we should refrain from blaming and punishing those whom we cannot reasonably expect to have acted better. I will further argue that the latter proposition does not necessarily reduce to the former. Fourth, once I have defended my account of the excuses, I will question in Parts V and VI the increasingly popular notion that we should add certain conditions or circumstances to the list of recognized excuses. I will focus on one in particular — the psychological theory of "situationism" — and will argue that, despite its initial plausibility, it should be kept off the list. While situationism arguably does negate moral responsibility, it does not negate criminal responsibility. Of course, this is a controversial point. Criminal responsibility is almost universally thought to require moral responsibility. But in a previous article, "Dangerous Psychopaths: Criminally Responsible But Not Morally Responsible, Subject to Criminal Punishment And to Preventive Detention," 48 San Diego L. Rev. 1299 (2011), I used personality psychology to drive a wedge between the two. In this article, I will use the opposite end of the psychological spectrum — social psychology — to drive the same important wedge.


Essential Cases: Public Law provides a bridge between course textbooks and key case judgments. Essential Cases provides you with succinct summaries of some of the landmark and most influential cases in public law. Each summary begins with a review of the main case facts and decision. The summary is then concluded with expert commentary on the case from the author, Thomas Webb, including his assessment of the wider questions raised by the decision for you to consider.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Objectives: There is a great deal of variation in the extent to which people with tinnitus find it distressing, which cannot be explained solely by differences in perceived loudness. The Cognitive Behavioral Model of Tinnitus Distress proposes that tinnitus becomes and is maintained as a distressing problem due to a process of interaction between negative thoughts, negative emotions, attention and monitoring, safety behavior, and beliefs. This study used path analysis to assess how well different configurations of this model fit using questionnaire data obtained from people with tinnitus. Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Three hundred forty-two members of the public with tinnitus volunteered to complete a survey comprising a series of questionnaires and subscales of questionnaires measuring each of the constructs contained within the Cognitive Behavioral Model of Tinnitus Distress. The optimum factor structure of each measure for the study population was established, and the resulting factors were used to construct a series of path models based on the theoretical model. Path analysis was conducted for each of these, and the goodness of fit of the models was assessed using established fit criteria. Results: Five of the six path models tested reached the threshold for adequate fit, and further modifications improved the fit of the three most parsimonious of these. The two best-fitting models had comparable fit indices which approached the criteria for good fit (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.061, Comparative Fit Index = 0.984, Tucker Lewis Index = 0.970 and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.055, Comparative Fit Index = 0.993, Tucker Lewis Index = 0.982). They differed principally in the placement of tinnitus magnitude and the inclusion/noninclusion of control beliefs. Conclusions: There are theoretical arguments to support both a beliefs-driven and a loudness-driven model, and it may be that different configurations of the Cognitive Behavioral Model of Tinnitus Distress are more appropriate to different groups of people with tinnitus. Further investigation of this is needed. This notwithstanding, the present study provides empirical support for a model of tinnitus distress which provides a clinical framework for the development of more effective psychological therapy.


Responding to climate change requires a desirable endpoint or vision against which to plan adaptation and mitigation and to determine `success'. Climate change impact, adaptation and vulnerability (CCIAV) models are useful tools to assess the consequences of adaptation in reducing the potential impacts of climate change. However, to date most CCIAV studies have had two significant limitations - (1) the lack of a clearly defined Vision and (2) a lack of contextualisation of adaptation according to the constraints (and opportunities) of alternative socio-economic futures. This paper describes how a European integrated assessment platform (the IMPRESSIONS integrated assessment platform or IAP), downscaled European Shared Socio-economic Pathways (Euro-SSPs) and a structured stakeholder engagement process of adaptation planning and Visioning have been brought together to provide a rich understanding of the adaptation challenges facing Europe. A scenario-neutral multi-dimensional Vision for Europe in 2100 (encapsulating such factors as equity, lifestyle, governance, resilience, environment, food, water and energy) was derived by stakeholders, who then developed preliminary adaptation, mitigation and transformational pathways to achieve the Vision within the context of the individual Euro-SSPs. The multi-sectoral IMPRESSIONS IAP was then used to assess the ability of the pathways to achieve selected indicators of the Vision. The results demonstrate the very different challenges and opportunities for Europe over the coming century posed by the Euro-SSPs and the synergies and trade-offs between meeting Europe's food demand under climate change and other desirable aspects of the Vision.


Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) in children was previously considered to be a rare occurrence. However, the growing number of case reports and cross‐sectional studies through the past three decades indicate that ACD is, in fact, a highly relevant diagnosis in children. Furthermore, the frequency of ACD in children seems to be increasing. In 1999, a review of the literature reported prevalence rates of 14.5–70% in selected paediatric populations. The current paper reviews the studies on the prevalence of positive patch test reactions and ACD in the paediatric population during the past decade, and provides an overview of the main findings. We found reported sensitization rates of 26.6–95.6% in selected groups of children. The associated relevance was 51.7–100%. The most common allergens were nickel, cobalt, thimerosal, and fragrance. Tailored patch testing increases the rate of relevant patch test reactions. Children with atopic dermatitis are as frequently sensitized as children with no history of atopic dermatitis, and there are no differences associated with sex. Children and adults can be tested with equal concentrations of patch test allergens. Our findings may support the notion that the prevalence of ACD in children is increasing over time or indicate an increased awareness.


BACKGROUND
 Many children aged younger than 5 years living in low- and middle-income countries are at risk for poor development. Early child development (ECD) programs are cost-effective strategies to reduce poverty, crime, school dropouts, and socioeconomic inequality. With the spread of low-cost mobile phones and internet access in low- and middle-income countries, new service delivery models such as mobile phone–aided interventions have a great potential to improve early childhood development.

 OBJECTIVE
 This study aimed to identify the beliefs on importance of ECD, feasibility of a proposed intervention using mobile phones and factors that may affect the usability of the intervention among mothers of newborns in a poverty-stricken area in southwestern China.

 METHODS
 We conducted an in-depth, semistructured interview study of 25 low-income mothers of newborns recruited from two county hospitals in Yunnan Province. We applied the health belief model and cultural competence theories to identify the facilitators, barriers, and preferences among the target population for parenting knowledge.

 RESULTS
 The results showed that the participants had low health literacy and high perceived needs for learning ECD knowledge. At the same time, they experienced several barriers to learning parenting information and following evidence-based instructions including having limited time, limited financial resources, and different opinions on childcare among family members. Many participants preferred to receive personalized messages tailored to their specific needs and preferred videos or graphics to text only in the messages. Many favored a separate module to support postpartum mental health.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The study assessed the acceptability of an early childhood intervention using mobile phones to meet the needs of the target population based on their beliefs, traits, and preferences and provided suggestions to refine the intervention to improve its usability.


Summary form only given. This paper describes the use of the "Plan 9 from Bell Labs " distributed operating system as a grid computing infrastructure. In particular it compares solutions using the de facto standard middleware toolkit for grids, Globus, to an environment constructed using computers running the Plan 9 operating system. These environments are compared based on the features they offer in the context of grid computing: authentication, security, data management, and resource discovery.


Visual expertise can be defined as maximal adaptation to the requirements of a vision-intensive task. The process of developing a "good eye" in vision-intensive tasks is proposed, indicated, and elaborated by various measures contingent on diverse methodological arenas, all of which attempt to advance our understanding of what constitutes visual expertise. The aim of this special issue is to provide a reflection on this methodological pluralism and to offer a discussion of the affordances and constraints of some of these methodological approaches. Specifically, grounded on the medical domain, this special issue brings together a selection of nine articles that discuss cognitive-neurosciences, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis, eye tracking, pupillometry, the flash-preview moving window paradigm, the combination of eye tracking data and verbal report data, the use of interviews and verbal protocols, ethnomethodology, and the expert performance approach. Two commentaries conclude the special issue. As an introduction, this article presents a comparative metaphorical mapping of visual expertise research. Metaphors are a useful tool for mirroring in simple terms the often complex paradigms underlying theory and applied research practice. We first identify four metaphors used in the analysis of visual cognition: activation, detection, inference, and practice. These metaphors are described with an empirical example and discussed to elicit (partly tacit) assumptions associated with prototypical method decisions. We then link the proposed metaphorical mapping to the contributions in this special issue.


Abstract Some sport sociologists have argued that sport is a male‐dominated institution and sexist culture in which female athletes experience various forms of discrimination, including sexual victimization from coaches and male athletes. Previous research does indicate that female athletes suffer higher rates of sexual victimization from authority figures in sport than their non‐athletic counterparts in education and the workplace, although many studies fail to differentiate adequately between sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault, and other descriptions that imply variations in the severity of victimization. Researchers have also speculated that athletic participation can protect female athletes from sexual victimization through a variety of social‐psychological mechanisms such as team membership, physical strength, and self‐confidence. This paper reports on the first descriptive analysis to test the "sport protection hypothesis" among both female and male athletes, using cross‐tabulation secondary analyses of data from the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey, conducted in 1995 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (N = 4,814). United States college students of traditional undergraduate age (18–24) were included in the sample (N = 2,903). Limited support for the protection hypothesis was found. Student athletes were significantly less likely to report sexual victimization during their late high school and early college years than their non‐athletic counterparts. A gender gap in the pattern of reported sexual victimization also appeared between males and females across all student age groups, with females reporting more sexual victimization than males. However, no significant gender gap was found among athletes. The results are discussed in relation to student gender, athletic status, and concomitant health benefits and also to debates about agency and resilience among athletes


Grand canonical ensemble Monte Carlo simulations of the adsorption properties of several model faujasite zeolites were performed using the statistical bias method. The results enable a better understanding of the effect
 of cation exchange in the selective adsorption of binary mixtures of para- and meta-xylene isomers. The
 NaY/KY reversal of adsorption selectivity (from m- to p-xylene) can be accounted for by a simultaneous change
 in the size of the cation and a displacement of the potassium cation towards the centre of the supercage;
 this gives rise to a complete rearrangement of the adsorption potential energy surface. BaX is shown to be
 selective in p-xylene because of the sufficient size of the barium cation. Increasing the number of cations in the NaY faujasite model had a similar effect on selectivity to increasing the cation size. On the basis of our simulations, we predict that NaX should be only weakly selective in favour of one or the other xylene
 isomer. We also predict that adding a small
 amount of water
 molecules could enhance the adsorption selectivity in favour of p-xylene.


ABSTRACT: It has always recognized the uncertainty caused by the technical aspects in the management of projects, providing a dimension of complexity that is possible solving skills thought technical knowledge based on rational processes. But over time, the complexity of projects has increased and traditional models to guide no longer effective in many organizations. The search for answers and solutions has directed interest towards approaches that emphasize the complex social relationships that arise in the context of projects, with a growing social dimension of complexity. In this article an overview of the evolution of the concept of complexity in project management and the description of its different dimensions is shown. This analysis is approached from the model Working With People , as appropriate conceptual framework to guide the complex social relations in the field of project management. The first frameworks that are committed to international innovative approaches to complexity in project management are also shown. Current trends point to the need for greater understanding of the project environment, integrating social learning processes that foster skills development and guiding the management from the ethics and values to help to overcome the conflicts that may arise between the parties. Key Words: complexity, Project Management, dimensions of complexity, frameworks complexity, Working With People


Purpose: To assess the incidence and predictors of acute renal failure after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) in a cohort of patients with generalized atherosclerosis. Methods: A retrospective review of 213 consecutive patients (127 men; median age 71 years, interquartile range 63–77) undergoing femoropopliteal PTA was undertaken. Renal function was measured by creatinine clearance at baseline and 24 hours after the intervention; acute renal dysfunction was defined as $20% decrease of creatinine clearance. The predictive value of potential risk factors was determined in a multivariate model adjusting for comorbidities, pre-existing renal impairment, and angiographic data. Results: Overall serum creatinine values and creatinine clearance remained stable within 24 hours after PTA. Acute renal dysfunction occurred in 25 (12%) patients. Two (1%) patients developed oliguria; one required transient hemodialysis and developed persistent renal failure. Pre-existing impaired renal function (OR 12.2, p , 0.0001) and contrast dosage (OR 1.1, p 5 0.03) were independent predictors of acute renal failure; hypertension (OR 7.9, p 5 0.06) and congestive heart failure (OR 4.5, p 5 0.06) were associated factors. Conclusions: While transient acute renal dysfunction occurs in ;10% of patients with peripheral artery disease within 24 hours after angioplasty, persistent renal failure or endstage renal disease is rare. J Endovasc Ther 2001;8:609–614


The palladium-catalyzed silaboration of pyridines has been investigated with the use of density functional theory. The results predict a very interesting dearomatization step in the reaction mechanism which is surprisingly facile due to the formation of a very strong covalent bond between nitrogen and boron in the product. Our calculations show that the regioselectivity of the final product is governed by a mixture of electronic and steric effects, and our predicted outcomes are in agreement with the experimental results.


Previous work with high-speed tungsten-inert-gas (t.i.g.) arcs has shown the need for experiments to determine their melting performance. To achieve this, a new apparatus has been built in which the workpiece is of substantial thickness, rather than the earlier tests which used thin shims as the workpiece. The apparatus also has a calorimetric capability, which allows the magnitude of the total heat input to be determined. Data describing the variation of the weld penetration, width and cross-section over a wide range of arcing conditions (current, speed, tip angle, arc gap) have been determined. Additionally, interesting observations have been made concerning the changing distribution of heat input under certain arcing conditions.


Native Americans are disproportionately represented as offenders in the U.S. criminal justice system, particularly in the southwestern and north-central regions. However, until recently there was little investigation into the reasons for their over-representation. Furthermore, there has been little acknowledgment of the positive contributions of Native Americans to the criminal justice system?in rehabilitating offenders, aiding victims, and supporting service providers. This book offers a valuable and contemporary overview of how the American criminal justice system impacts Native Americans on both sides of the law.Each of the fourteen chapters of Criminal Justice in Native America was commissioned specifically for this volume. Contributors many of whom are Native Americans?rank among the top scholars in their fields. Some of the chapters treat broad subjects, including crime, police, courts, victimization, corrections, and jurisdiction. Others delve into more specific topics, including hate crimes against Native Americans, state-corporate crimes against Native Americans, tribal peacemaking, and cultural stresses of police officers. Separate chapters are devoted to women and juveniles. The well-known scholar Marianne Nielsen provides a context-setting introduction, in which she addresses the history of the legal treatment of Native Americans in the United States as well as a provocative conclusion that details important issues for current and future research in Native American criminal justice studies. Intended to introduce students to the substantive concerns of a range of disciplines that contribute to Native American Studies, mong them, criminal justice and criminology, law, sociology, and anthropology Criminal Justice in Native America will interest all readers who are concerned about relationships between Native peoples and prevailing criminal justice systems.


The biological activity of a molecularly cloned DNA of a rat endogenous C-type leukaemia helper virus, RHHV, was assessed by intranuclear microinjection into normal rat kidney cells (NRK153). Release of rat C-type leukaemia helper viruses by the microinjected cells was examined by superinfection of Kirsten-transformed non-producer cells (K-NRK). Immediate release of helper leukaemia viruses at a very low level was observed only in the NRK153 m3 . 5/cir cells microinjected with the supercoiled form of RHHV DNA in toto, suggesting that the circular form of the virus DNA might have expedited the replication and expression of virus particles. Genome rescue experiments were also performed by co-cultivating the microinjected NRK153 m cells carrying various linear RHHV DNAs, in toto or of subgenomic sizes, with K-NRK cells. The results indicated that both the total and the 5.8 to 6.2 kb DNA fragment proximal to the 5' terminus of the cloned RHHV 8.8 kb DNA were able to rescue successfully a transforming replication-competent pseudotype virus. Subgenomic DNA fragments derived from the centre or the 3' end of the RHHV DNA were ineffective in the genome rescue experiments.


Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has fundamentally transformed how we treat psychiatric disorders, but is still in need of innovation to optimally correct dysregulation that occurs throughout the fronto-limbic network. rTMS is often applied over the prefrontal cortex, a central node in this network, but less attention is given to subcortical areas because they lie at depths beyond the electric field penetration of rTMS. Recent studies have demonstrated that the effectiveness of rTMS is dependent on the functional connectivity between deep subcortical areas and superficial targets, indicating that leveraging such connectivity may improve dosing approaches for rTMS interventions. The current preliminary study, therefore, sought to test whether task-related, fMRI-connectivity-based rTMS could be used to modulate amygdala activation through its connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). For this purpose, fMRI was collected on participants to identify a node in the mPFC that showed the strongest negative connectivity with right amygdala, as defined by psychophysiological interaction analysis. To promote long-lasting Hebbian-like effects, and potentially stronger modulation, 5Hz rTMS was then applied to this target as participants viewed frightening video-clips that engaged the fronto-limbic network. Post-rTMS fMRI results revealed promising increases in both the left mPFC and right amygdala, for active rTMS compared to sham. While these modulatory findings are promising, they differ from the a priori expectation that excitatory 5Hz rTMS over a negatively connected node would reduce amygdala activity. As such, further research is needed to better understand how connectivity influences TMS effects on distal structures, and to leverage this information to improve therapeutic applications.


Many studies showed inconsistent cancer biomarkers due to bioinformatics artifacts. In this paper we use multiple data sets from microarrays, mass spectrometry, protein sequences, and other biological knowledge in order to improve the reliability of cancer biomarkers. We present a novel Bayesian network (BN) model which integrates and cross-annotates multiple data sets related to prostate cancer. The main contribution of this study is that we provide a method that is designed to find cancer biomarkers whose presence is supported by multiple data sources and biological knowledge. Relevant biological knowledge is explicitly encoded into the model parameters, and the biomarker finding problem is formulated as a Bayesian inference problem. Besides diagnostic accuracy, we introduce reliability as another quality measurement of the biological relevance of biomarkers. Based on the proposed BN model, we develop an empirical scoring scheme and a simulation algorithm for inferring biomarkers. Fourteen genes/proteins including prostate specific antigen (PSA) are identified as reliable serum biomarkers which are insensitive to the model assumptions. The computational results show that our method is able to find biologically relevant biomarkers with highest reliability while maintaining competitive predictive power. In addition, by combining biological knowledge and data from multiple platforms, the number of putative biomarkers is greatly reduced to allow more-focused clinical studies.


A design solution of machine tool control system and its hardware and software design were proposed for the requirement of high precision internal grinding. The ARM microprocessor was used as the system control center and the technical grade touch screen was used as the human machine interface. The feed motion of the X, Z 2-axis servo motor was controlled by the system to complete the grinding path, and the machine tool switching signal was controlled by the Soft PLC Technology. The whole system has the advantage of stable, high performance and user friendly, meeting the requirement of high precision grinding.


Pen-based computing devices have become more popular and more important, because it facilitates a natural way of input to users. To develop pen-based systems, automatic interpretation of sketches is crucial. However, this task is sensitive to drawing styles. This paper proposes a stroke grouping method based on Gestalt theory. The proposed algorithm group strokes into regions, each stroke is split into smaller stroke segments according to its corners and junctions. Then, for every stroke segments that can form closed loops, all possible regions are searched. Applying the notion of law of continuity in Gestalt theory to a set of all possible regions, scores of good continuity and convexity of all regions can be computed. The region with the best score is stored and extracted from the sketch. This iterative process is repeated until no stroke segments are left in the set of closed-loop segments. The algorithm implemented and tested on a tablet PC showed good results.


PurposeMore companies embrace flexible work arrangements (FWA) as one of their employee retention strategies, yet its effectiveness is not consistent. Generally, past researchers use the social exchange theory to explain how FWA lowers turnover intention, while the rest adopts the border theory to justify why FWA can be ineffective. Here, the authors compare the competing theories for the first time to differentiate the theoretical reasoning of three forms of FWA (flex time, flex leave and homeworking). Two mediators (organisational commitment and work−family conflicts) are chosen to represent the mechanism of each theory.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ the latest wave of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) Work Orientation Module from 2015. Based on nationally representative data from 35 nations and 17,604 participants, the authors employed simple mediation and parallel double-mediation models via bootstrapping procedures to investigate the theoretical reasoning behind each FWA.FindingsThe results indicate that organisational commitment and work−family conflicts as significant mediators in all models, supporting both theories. The authors first tested each mediator in separated models. In models concerning the social exchange theory, all FWA lead to increased organisational commitment before lowering turnover intention, implying the beneficial outcomes of FWA. However, findings also support the border theory's perspective where flex time and homeworking increase turnover intention through heightened work−family conflicts. The parallel double-mediation further suggests that all three FWA forms have their unique theoretical framework, impacting turnover intention differently.Originality/valueBoth the social exchange theory and border theory are well-developed theories but grounded on different theoretical reasoning. This is the first paper that compares both theoretical perspectives in the context of FWA. It offers a new perspective in explaining the inconclusive effectiveness of FWA and provides future researchers a more integrated interpretation and prediction of FWA's impact on turnover intention.


Closing the control loop by providing somatosensory feedback to the user of a prosthesis is a well-known, long standing challenge in the field of prosthetics. Various approaches have been investigated for feedback restoration, ranging from direct neural stimulation to noninvasive sensory substitution methods. Although there are many studies presenting closed-loop systems, only a few of them objectively evaluated the closed-loop performance, mostly using vibrotactile stimulation. Importantly, the conclusions about the utility of the feedback were partly contradictory. The goal of the current study was to systematically investigate the capability of human subjects to control grasping force in closed loop using electrotactile feedback. We have developed a realistic experimental setup for virtual grasping, which operated in real time, included a set of real life objects, as well as a graphical and dynamical model of the prosthesis. We have used the setup to test 10 healthy, able bodied subjects to investigate the role of training, feedback and feedforward control, robustness of the closed loop, and the ability of the human subjects to generalize the control to previously "unseen" objects. Overall, the outcomes of this study are very optimistic with regard to the benefits of feedback and reveal various, practically relevant, aspects of closed-loop control.


Computing workloads often contain a mix of interactive, latency-sensitive foreground applications and recurring background computations. To guarantee responsiveness, interactive and batch applications are often run on disjoint sets of resources, but this incurs additional energy, power, and capital costs. In this paper, we evaluate the potential of hardware cache partitioning mechanisms and policies to improve efficiency by allowing background applications to run simultaneously with interactive foreground applications, while avoiding degradation in interactive responsiveness. We evaluate these tradeoffs using commercial x86 multicore hardware that supports cache partitioning, and find that real hardware measurements with full applications provide different observations than past simulation-based evaluations. Co-scheduling applications without LLC partitioning leads to a 10% energy improvement and average throughput improvement of 54% compared to running tasks separately, but can result in foreground performance degradation of up to 34% with an average of 6%. With optimal static LLC partitioning, the average energy improvement increases to 12% and the average throughput improvement to 60%, while the worst case slowdown is reduced noticeably to 7% with an average slowdown of only 2%. We also evaluate a practical low-overhead dynamic algorithm to control partition sizes, and are able to realize the potential performance guarantees of the optimal static approach, while increasing background throughput by an additional 19%.


Despite inititatives to reduce tobacco consumption, smoking remains a primary cause of death for both smokers and nonsmokers exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). The characteristics of some specific groups can make them more exposed to ETS or limit the benefit of prevention measures. This study investigated determinants of ETS in a population of young adult students, considered at higher risk of exposure due to their specific lifestyle. This cross-sectional study involved 90 students aged 20 ± 1.7 years, from the University of Luxembourg, prior to the smoking ban enforcement in public places in the country. Participants reported their tobacco consumption and exposure to ETS at home and/or in public places, and provided a hair sample analyzed for nicotine and cotinine. Nicotine and cotinine were significantly higher in smokers than in nonsmokers' hair in general (median: 2.6 vs. 0.9 ng/mg and 87.1 vs. 22.5 pg/mg respectively). However, nonsmokers exposed to ETS at home and in public places had comparable concentrations to smokers (nic = 2.2 ng/mg; cot = 56.2 pg/mg), whereas unexposed nonsmokers presented significantly lower values (nic = 0.4 ng/mg, cot = 8.5 pg/mg). Nonsmokers exposed to ETS only at home presented higher values than nonsmokers only exposed in public places (nic: 1.3 vs. 0.8 ng/mg, cot: 70.4 vs. 15.0 pg/mg). The study shows the widespread exposure to ETS in this population, the importance of exposure assessment, and the relevance of hair analysis for this purpose. Results suggest that ETS can lead to equivalent exposure to active smoking and that exposure at home can highly contribute to ETS, which is not solved by smoking ban in public places.


Abstract A constraint tightened linear-time-varying MPC framework is proposed with applications in power tracking for variable and fixed speed generators. Current constraint tightening approaches are extended to allow for practical applications where future system representations are unknown. The resulting control structure is shown to be robustly feasible under given conditions. Knowledge about the geometry of system constraints is exploited to obtain a computationally efficient method of computing tightened sets online. A simulation study is presented demonstrating the ability of the controller to handle modelling error and demonstrate tracking of a commanded power profile.


The work undertaken in this thesis focuses on the effect of increasing molecular complexity on the excited state dynamics in biologically relevant chromophores which have been isolated in the gas phase. The prototypical species phenol is used as a foundation upon which the remainder of the thesis is built. By sequentially adding functionality to the phenol archetype, we gradually develop an understanding of the effect such modifications can have on the excited state landscape, and hence the observed dynamics. The results obtained provide some important first steps towards understanding the excited state dynamics exhibited by larger, more complex, biologically relevant systems.

The first part of this thesis presents H atom elimination dynamics from resorcinol (1,3-dihydroxybenzene) following excitation with ultraviolet light. This investigation utilises time-resolved velocity map imaging and ion yield techniques. Building on previous experiments on phenol-type species, this chapter provides detailed insight into the profound effect that a seemingly small modification can have on the excited state landscape in heteroaromatic, phenol-like systems. Increasing the excitation energy allows the competition between tunnelling and internal conversion to be observed; highlighting that as the absorbed energy increases, internal conversion quickly becomes the dominant relaxation pathway.

The results observed in the latter part of the thesis elegantly highlight the sensitivity of time-resolved ion yield spectroscopy for the study of vibrational motion in important biological motifs. For all three species that we investigate: catechol (1,2-dihydroxybenzene), guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol) and syringol (2,6-dimethoxyphenol), exquisite insight into the early-time vibrational motions is garnered. This is achieved by virtue of the varying ionisation cross-section afforded by the dramatic geometry change following photoexcitation (and photoionisation).

The highly complementary techniques of time-resolved ion yield and velocity map imaging utilised throughout this thesis provide unprecedented insight into the excited state dynamics of the target species, and by coupling with high level abinitio calculations, we are able to rationalise the dynamics of increasingly complex biologically relevant molecules.


This paper is concerned with the design of a robust active suspension controller for light rail vehicles aimed at providing superior ride comfort within the suspension's traveling range. A multibody dynamic model of a three-car train is set up and the control parameters are optimized. Force cancellation, skyhook damper, and track-following concepts are used to synthesize the active controller. Selection of the active suspension parameters is aided by an evolutionary computation algorithm to get the best compromise between ride quality, suspension deflections due to irregular gradient tracks, and robust stability of the control system. A mixed gradient and evolutionary multiobjective optimization approach accompanied with the Pareto set and variable weights are developed to deal with the complicated control design task. Extensive simulations and comparisons are performed to verify the proposed design.


Research is described that determines the direction that a powered wheelchair will take, using the Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment of Evaluations II (PROMETHEE II). This is the first time that this sort of decision making has been used in this type of application. A user suggests a desired direction and speed, and the decision-making system suggests a safe direction for a wheelchair. The two are mixed and the wheelchair then tends to avoid obstacles. The inputs come from a powered wheelchair joystick and two ultrasonic transducers fixed onto the wheelchair and the final direction is a mix of the desired direction and a direction that moves the wheelchair away from obstacles. The arrangement assists a disabled driver to steer their wheelchairs. It uses a systematic decision-making process and this paper presents the process and a new way of selecting a best compromise direction. Sensitivity analysis is employed to explore potentially suitable directions as uncertainty and risk may be present. A suitable direction is selected that provides a robust solution. The user is able to over-ride the suggestions by the PROMETHEE II system by holding the joystick in a position.


Introduction Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has established itself as an effective alternative to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in appropriate patients. However, the proportion of patients that undergo CABG and or valve surgery (VS) following PCI in the short- and long-term is currently unknown. Methods We conducted a single-centre retrospective study examining the indications and number of patients requiring CABG and or VS following a successful PCI over a 4 year period 2009–2012. The surgical procedure was categorised as acute (referred within one month of the index PCI), sub-acute (referred between one month and one year of the index PCI) and remote (referred more than one year and up to 4 years following the index PCI). The denominator used for acute and sub-acute was PCI cases performed over a 3 year period 2009–2011, whilst for remote it was 2008–2010. Results During each 3-year period (2008–2010, 2009–2011), 5244 PCIs were performed at our centre. The total number of patients referred for cardiac surgery post-PCI was 63 (1.2%). Furthermore, the number of patients referred for acute, sub-acute and remote cardiac surgery was 21 (0.4%), 14 (0.26%) and 28 (0.53%) respectively. Within the acute surgery group, 8 patients had extensive 3 vessel disease stabilised with emergency/urgent PCI to allow subsequent CABG, 6 STEMI (1.6% of all primary PCI cases), 2 acute coronary syndromes (ACS) (0.08% of all ACS stented cases). Also within the acute group 10 underwent unsuccessful attempt of a chronic total occlusions (3.3% of all CTOs) and 3 had other technical PCI failures. In the sub-acute group, main reason for surgery was rapid progression in coronary disease to left main equivalent in 8 patients, restenosis in 5 patients (1.6% of all restenosis treated), and 1 missed severe valve disease at initial PCI. Finally, in the remote group, 19 patients underwent VS for progression of their valve disease, 6 progression in coronary disease, 2 restenosis and 1 stent misplaced at a ostium causing chronic valve damage. Conclusion Our data suggest that the number of patients requiring CABG and or valve surgery following PCI either short- or long-term is very small and the reasons differ with time from the PCI. We hope that these results will provide reassurance and interest to our interventional colleagues.


The synthesis of polyphase waste form, which is an immobilization matrix for the HLW, was performed with the mixed composition of garnet and spinel (Gd3Fe5O12 + (NixMn1-x)(FeyCr1y)2O4) at temperatures in the range of 1200C to 1400C. The phases synthesized from all stoichiometric compositions were garnet, perovskite, and spinel. Especially, garnet was synthesized only in the composition of the highest content of Fe(y=0.9), whereas it was not synthesized in other compositions. This result indicated that the content of Fe was closely related to the formation of garnet. The composition of garnet revealed that the content of Gd was exceeded and that of Fe was depleted. Preferential distribution of elements in the phases can be attributed to the nonstoichiometric composition of garnet.


An important objective of the Semantic Web is to make Electronic Commerce interactions more flexible and automated. To achieve this, standardization of ontologies, message content and message protocols will be necessary.In this paper we investigate how Semantic and Web Services technologies can be used to support service advertisement and discovery in e-commerce. In particular, we describe the design and implementation of a service matchmaking prototype which uses a DAML-S based ontology and a Description Logic reasoner to compare ontology based service descriptions. We also present the results of initial experiments testing the performance of this prototype implementation in a realistic agent based e-commerce scenario.


Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are rare neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. One to three percent of GISTs occur in the esophagus. GISTs have a great potential for diffuse intra- abdominal spread and liver metastasis, which are the two most common modes of dissemination. Metastases to other sites, especially the bones and lung, are relatively rare. Never has an esophageal GIST been documented to present with pulmonary and bone metastases. We present an unusual case of an esophageal GIST with pulmonary and bone lesions. We include a review of the literature.


This study tested for dissociations between age-related slowing in peripheral and central processes across semantic and episodic memory tasks. We report the mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) results using reaction time (RT), error, and data from four different experimental tasks and eight data sets (the four tasks involved either multiple sessions or different stimuli) conducted on the same 80 participants (40 younger and 40 older adults). An earlier paper (Allen, Sliwinski, Bowie, & Madden, in press) reported the factor analysis and structural equation modeling results of this study. We employed two semantic memory tasks (lexical decision and multiplication verification) using data from two different sessions (for a total of four semantic data sets), and two episodic memory tasks (hybrid visual search and memory search with digits and withwords as stimuli). For RT analyses, we found Age 2 Task interactions for all four episodic memory data sets, but no Age 2 Task interactions for the four semantic memory data sets. Also, the intercept (assumed to index peripheral processes) and slope (assumed to index central processes) analyses demonstrated that older adults (relative to younger adults) showed both intercept and slope decrements for episodic memory tasks, but only intercept decrements for semantic memory tasks. These data are consistent with a theoretical framework in which there are age-related dissociations between peripheral and central processes across semantic and episodic memory.


This thesis is comprised of six Chapters on US Conventional and Unconventional Monetary Policy and their interaction with fiscal policy, both domestically and internationally. Chapter 1 introduces the main themes of the thesis. Chapter 2 studies the theoretical background of the thesis. After setting out key themes and the theoretical background in the introductory Chapters, the first core Chapter, i.e. thesis Chapter 3, examines the interaction between fiscal and monetary policy. Price puzzles are a repeated feature of empirical VAR models studying the effect of monetary policy. These price puzzles are often believed to appear due to the lack of information. However, we show that whether monetary and fiscal policy are active or passive influences the appearance of the price puzzle. This is because an active fiscal policy and a passive monetary policy can encourage private expenditure through a positive wealth channel. An active fiscal policy means fiscal authorities set expenditure regardless of tax revenues, while a passive monetary policy refers to a weak response of the policy interest rate to inflation. Finally, we find evidence in this Chapter that fiscal policy stimulates economic activity, i.e. it is non-Ricardian. Chapter 4 examines the effect of monetary and fiscal policy interactions in an international context. In particular, it considers the international spillovers of US monetary policy, whilst account for fiscal policy. This Chapter shows that US government debt influences the duration of the responses to a monetary contraction. Furthermore, it is shown that an increase in US government debt influences both the short and long-term interest rates, inflation, and output in the Euro Area and UK. This is through a positive wealth effect. In addition, the results of Persistence Profiles test, i.e. how fast we converge upon equilibrium following a shock, suggest that accounting for US government debt delays the return to equilibrium following monetary policy shocks. This may be due to the impact of fiscal policy on inflation and its persistence. Chapter 5 studies Unconventional Monetary Policy (UMP). It is shown that UMP increases output and inflation in the US, and generates spillovers to the Euro Area and UK. Furthermore, we present evidence that the portfolio balance is the transmission channel of UMP. That is UMP contributes to lowering the bound yields while it increases the price of assets. Chapter 6 concludes and summarizes the thesis, and provides a discussion of policy implications.


Despite controversies over current educational practices, Texas boasts a rich and vibrant bilingual tradition - and not just for Spanish-English instruction, but for Czech, German, Polish, and Dutch as well. Over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Texas educational policymakers embraced, ignored, rejected, outlawed, then once again embraced this tradition. In The Strange Career of Bilingual Education in Texas, 1836-1981, Carlos Kevin Blanton traces the educational policies and their underlying rationales, from Stephen F. Austin's proposal in the 1830s to "Mexicanize" Anglo children by teaching them Spanish along with English and French, through the 1981 passage of the most encompassing bilingual education law in the state's history. Drawing on primary materials, Blanton presents the Texas experience in light of national trends and movements, such as Progressive Education, the Americanization Movement, and the Good Neighbor Movement. By tracing the many changes that eventually led to the re-establishment of bilingual education in its modern form in the 1960s and the 1981 passage of a landmark state law, Blanton reconnects Texas with its bilingual past.


To solve the problem of group task allocation with time constraints in open and dynamic network environments, this paper proposes a decentralized combinatorial auction-based approach for group task allocation. In the proposed approach, both resource providers and consumers are modeled as intelligent agents. The proposed approach is decentralized, so all the agents are limited to communicating with their neighboring agents. The proposed approach also allows agents to enter and leave the network environments freely, and is robust for the dynamism and openness of the network environments. Tasks in the proposed approach have deadlines, and may need the collaboration of a group of self-interested providers. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms two well-known task allocation approaches in terms of success rate of task allocation, the individual utility of the agents, the speed of task allocation, and scalability.


We discuss the ideas of Morse decompositions and index filtrations for isolated invariant sets for both single-valued and multi-valued maps. We introduce the definition of connection matrix pairs and present the theorem of their existence. Connection matrix pair theory for multi-valued maps is used to show that connection matrix pairs obey the continuation property. We conclude by addressing applications to numerical analysis. This paper is primarily an overview of the papers [R1] and [R2].


Behavioural experiments often require continuous monitoring of the responses that animals make in different situations and in response to various stimuli. Formerly, recording visual observations of animals followed by the manual post hoc analysis of the data was the most commonly employed approach and has the advantage of being non-invasive. However, manual data extraction can be very time-consuming and introduces a risk of bias in identifying salient responses. Although techniques have been developed for specific applications to automate the analysis of behaviours, including some commercial solutions, many are not always adequate for the particular situation or sufficiently flexible to measure the desired movement. We have developed and implemented a relatively low cost system for video recording and reliably extracting data characterizing animal's kinetic responses. This instrumentation has been successfully utilized in our investigations of pigeon head movements by enabling us to record and compare behavioural responses to different types of stimuli.


The Scottish milk chain is the highest green house gas emitter out of the dairy chain. This paper studies the effect of prices on household carbon footprints of both Scottish urban and rural households and the subsequent demand for milk products. Household time series data for 2006–2011 and carbon footprint data were used to estimate a static demand model. Results suggest that a 1% increase in net milk prices equates to a likely carbon footprint reduction of 4,684.13t CO2e /y for urban households. Both households were found to substitute into the lower carbon alternative of soya milk when whole milk prices increase.


Ischaemic stroke is a major cause of mortality and chronic disability for which there is no effective treatment. The subventricular zone (SVZ) is an adult neurogenic niche which mediates limited endogenous repair following stroke. To harness this phenomenon for therapy, it is important to understand how the SVZ niche is altered in stroke, and the processes that recruit neural precursors to the site of injury, which becomes a de facto neurogenic niche. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a β-galactoside binding protein involved in cellular adhesion, inflammation and tumour metastasis. Gal-3 is specifically expressed in the SVZ and maintains neuroblast migration to the olfactory bulb, although its role in post-stroke neurogenesis is not well-understood. Therefore, this project aimed to (1) characterise the cytoarchitecture of the SVZ in response to stroke, and (2) examine the role of Gal-3 in stroke outcome and tissue remodelling, and test the hypothesis that Gal-3 is required for neuroblast ectopic migration into the ischaemic striatum. Using the intraluminal filament model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in mice, and whole mounts of the lateral ventricular wall, significant SVZ reactive astrocytosis and increased vascular branching were observed, thereby disrupting the neuroblast migratory scaffold. Stroke increased SVZ cell proliferation without increase in cell death. Post-stroke ependymal cells were enlarged and non-proliferative, and assumed a reactive astroglial phenotype, expressing de novo high levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein. This was associated with focal planar cell polarity misalignment, and turbulent and decreased rate of cerebrospinal fluid flow. These findings demonstrate significant changes in multiple SVZ cell types which are positioned to influence post-stroke neurogenesis and regulation of the neural stem cell niche Gal-3 was up-regulated in the ischaemic brain and ipsilateral SVZ. To elucidate the role of Gal-3 after stroke, MCAO was performed in wildtype and Gal-3 null (Gal-3 -/- ) mice, and parameters of stroke outcome and post-stroke neurogenesis compared. The deletion of Gal-3 did not affect infarct volumes or neurological outcomes, although neuroblast migration into the ischaemic striatum was increased in Gal-3 -/- brains. Gal-3 -/- mice failed to mount an angiogenic response in the ischaemic striatum, and this was associated with lower levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and increased anti-angiogenic protein levels. Loss of Gal-3 further disrupted the pro-proliferative neural-vascular interaction at the basement membrane. The current data indicate that Gal-3 is a pleiotropic molecule which has distinct roles in both the SVZ and the post-stroke striatum as niches of adult neurogenesis.


Many museums around the world rent audio players to their visitors to provide automated tours delivering pre-recorded information about their exhibits. Though generally pleased with their patrons' responses to automated audio tours museum administrators find that hosting them can be expensive, time consuming, and frustrating. Ongoing advances in mobile wireless technology provide an alternative to the current cumbersome method of renting sound players to museum visitors. Many patrons bring their own "digital sound player" with them in the guise of their personal cell phone. As cell phones proliferate and the price of calling plans falls cell phones may present a viable alternative to current audio tour systems. History calls was a recent experiment using VXML technology to deliver an automated audio museum tour directly to patrons' cell phones.


The stratigraphy of the north polar layered deposits (NPLD) of Mars is believed to contain a climate record of the recent Amazonian period. However, full utilization of this record is difficult without detailed information regarding the physical properties of the constituent layers. Here we present a method for determining the fractional dust content of individual layers using a combination of orbital radar reflectivity measurements and physical modeling. We apply this method to the upper 500 m of the NPLD at 10 study sites and compare the results to a cap‐wide radar‐mapped surface. Our results show that reflectivity can vary drastically both geographically and with depth, a result we attribute to changing dust content, though the impact of variable layer thickness cannot be totally discounted. These findings imply large‐scale regional patterns in ice and dust accumulation do not remain consistent through time. We also find that current models of Mars's dust cycle and polar ice accumulation consistently underpredict the dust content of layers, indicating that our understanding of dust transport, dust sequestration, or dust preservation remains incomplete. Comparisons of study sites on the NPLD also show that some locations contain fewer radar reflectors than others, meaning they may contain a less complete record of the planet's recent paleoclimate, and any future efforts to use the polar layered deposits as a climate proxy, including in situ measurements, should take this into account by choosing study sites wisely.


This book examines innovative theoretical perspectives and novel labour market policy responses to Europe's changing work demands, employment careers and life courses. It presents creative ideas and recommendations for flexicurity policies at various levels and in different social and economic contexts. The driving factors determining the performance of dissimilar pathways in Europe are identified in regard to their impact on the flexibility/security nexus. Key issues in the current European policy debate are addressed, including how innovative policies are designed in the areas of working time, education, work–life balance, employment relations, retirement and migration, how they are put into practice and what determines their level of success.


Indisulam is an investigational anticancer agent that is currently being evaluated in phase II clinical studies. The aim of this thesis was to develop a mechanism-based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic model for indisulam-induced myelosuppression and to apply this model as a tool for treatment optimization. This may assist further clinical development of this drug. Indisulam has a highly non-linear concentration-time profile, indicating complex underlying pharmacokinetic processes. The profound non-linearity and the wide variability between patients contributed to poorly predictable drug exposure after treatment with indisulam. A semi-physiological population pharmacokinetic model of indisulam was developed to gain further knowledge and understanding of the disposition of indisulam. Neutropenia and thrombocytopenia were identified as the dose limiting toxicities of indisulam. A subset of patients developed grade 4 neutropenia, the most severe grade according to the Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC) and were at risk of developing serious and rapidly progressing infections. A semi-physiological population pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic model was used to describe the time profile of neutropenia and thrombocytopenia after administration of indisulam. Treatment with indisulam was complicated, mainly because the severity of indisulam-induced haematological toxicity was poorly predictable. An extensive covariate analysis was performed to identify pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic determinants of indisulam. Low body surface area, Japanese race, variant CYP2C genotype, low baseline neutrophil and thrombocyte counts and female sex were identified as clinically relevant risk factors. An algorithm for dose individualization was developed, which may assist in safe dosing of indisulam. Indisulam is currently evaluated in combination regimens. Indisulam in combination with capecitabine was well tolerated in the first treatment cycle, but severe myelotoxicity was observed after the second treatment cycle. A time-dependent drug-drug interaction was identified by population PK-PD modeling. The combination of 550 mg/m2 indisulam and 1250 mg/m2 capecitabine BID was predicted to be safe and feasible for future studies. The combination of indisulam and carboplatin was not tolerable in a 3-weekly regimen, because a delay of re-treatment was frequently required to allow recovery from myelosuppression from previous cycles. A PK-PD model was developed and used to evaluate 3-weekly and 4-weekly administration regimens of various doses of the combination indisulam-carboplatin. This study supported the selection of 500 mg/m2 indisulam in combination with 6 mg.min/ml carboplatin in a 4-weekly regimen as the recommended dose for future studies. A safe dose of indisulam in various administration schedules was previously defined in four parallel phase I dose escalation studies. We proposed a new clinical trial design to increase the efficiency of a phase I program. The method proved to be equally safe as the conventional design, the number of patients treated at a dose level below the recommended dose was reduced and the recommended dose for further evaluation could be precisely determined. This demonstrates that population PK-PD modeling and simulation may support optimization of clinical trial designs. Population PK-PD modeling and simulation has contributed to a better understanding of the clinical pharmacology of indisulam. Dose individualization may improve treatment with indisulam. Further clinical development may be supported by optimization of combination chemotherapy.


Background: Chronic kidney disease is becoming a major public health problem worldwide. The expansion of haemodialysis into a chronic renal replacement therapy also created a new field of medical science, sometimes termed the physiology of the artificial kidney but associated with acute complications. Objectives: The current longitudinal cohort study of six months duration was performed in a tertiary care teaching hospital of south India to assess acute complications associated with haemodialysis in a CKD cohort. Materials and Methods: A Structured process was followed for obtaining permission from hospital authority after the acceptance of institutional review board, a total of 109 patients diagnosed with CKD of both the genders attending department of nephrology for haemodialysis showing willingness towards the study were included and others were excluded. Enrolled patient's demography, approximate data of diagnosis (old cases) and definite data of diagnosis (new cases), vital parameters, treatment, physical examinations and laboratory parameters were obtained and documented. Results: In our study of 109 CKD patients, 81.65% were male and 49.53% falls under the age group of 41 – 60 years, it was observed that 56.88% patients suffers severe anaemia out of which 43.12% were female, and 51.37% suffered severe chronic kidney disease based on serum creatinine levels. Stage I hypertension was reported in 36.69% of patients. Conclusion: In conclusion, complications caused by the reasons other than the dialysis machine and water system remain as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in haemodialysis patients.


In this report we consider the following problem: Given a trained model that is partially faulty, can we correct its behaviour without having to train the model from scratch? In other words, can we "debug" neural networks similar to how we address bugs in our mathematical models and standard computer code. We base our approach on the hypothesis that debugging can be treated as a two-task continual learning problem. In particular, we employ a modified version of a continual learning algorithm called Orthogonal Gradient Descent (OGD) to demonstrate, via two simple experiments on the MNIST dataset, that we can in-fact unlearn the undesirable behaviour while retaining the general performance of the model, and we can additionally relearn the appropriate behaviour, both without having to train the model from scratch.


CONTEXT
A growing body of evidence suggests that aberrant immunologic systems underlie the pathophysiologic characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, to our knowledge, no information is available on the patterns of distribution of microglial activation in the brain in ASD.

OBJECTIVES
To identify brain regions associated with excessively activated microglia in the whole brain, and to examine similarities in the pattern of distribution of activated microglia in subjects with ASD and control subjects.

DESIGN
Case-control study using positron emission tomography and a radiotracer for microglia--[11C](R)-(1-[2-chrorophynyl]-N-methyl-N-[1-methylpropyl]-3 isoquinoline carboxamide) ([11C](R)-PK11195).

SETTING
Subjects recruited from the community.

PARTICIPANTS
Twenty men with ASD (age range, 18-31 years; mean [SD] IQ, 95.9 [16.7]) and 20 age- and IQ-matched healthy men as controls. Diagnosis of ASD was made in accordance with the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Regional brain [11C](R)-PK11195 binding potential as a representative measure of microglial activation.

RESULTS
The [11C](R)-PK11195 binding potential values were significantly higher in multiple brain regions in young adults with ASD compared with those of controls (P < .05, corrected). Brain regions with increased binding potentials included the cerebellum, midbrain, pons, fusiform gyri, and the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices. The most prominent increase was observed in the cerebellum. The pattern of distribution of [11C](R)-PK11195 binding potential values in these brain regions of ASD and control subjects was similar, whereas the magnitude of the [11C](R)-PK11195 binding potential in the ASD group was greater than that of controls in all regions.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate excessive microglial activation in multiple brain regions in young adult subjects with ASD. The similar distribution pattern of regional microglial activity in the ASD and control groups may indicate augmented but not altered microglial activation in the brain in the subjects with ASD.


In the context that global grain security is still in very severe situation, the grain security situation in China is not optimistic as well. The "Red Line of Farmland Area" cannot completely solve the grain security problems in China. We still need to seek new breakthroughs in the quality and yield of farmland. The construction of high standard capital farmland is the important premise to guarantee national grain security. On this basis, this paper has summarized the difficulties we are facing in the construction of high standard capital farmland, and has proposed the methods and measures to construct high standard capital farmland and lay a solid foundation for grain security in China.


Motor Neuron Diseases (MND) including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) are neurodegenerative diseases that can cause progressive paralysis and premature death, while there are no treatments available up to date. Gene therapy using lentiviruses has been successful at alleviating symptoms and extending survival in murine models of both. Restricting transduction to specific cells, is critical for safe and efficient gene therapy. The aim of this study was to generate novel lentiviral vectors with tropism to motor neurons (MNs) using surface engineering, that involves incorporation of a fusogenic glycoprotein (mutated sindbis G) and an antibody recognizing a cell-surface receptor, onto the lentiviral surface. Antibodies against rat Thy1.1, rat p75 (Low Affinity Nerve Growth Factor Receptor) and mouse CAR (Coxsackie and adenovirus receptor) receptors expressed on the presynatpic terminal of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) were cloned and used to surface engineer high titer lentiviral vectors (αThy1.1, αp75 and αCAR). These vectors preferentially transduced cell lines expressing these receptors and primary motor neuron cultures compared to non-targeted controls. The ability of these vectors to be transported retrogradely and transduce MNs was demonstrated in vitro in compartmented microfluidic cultures in fixed and live imaging experiments. Tropism of these vectors was assessed in vivo in the rat brain following intrastiatal injections. In vivo intramuscular delivery of CAR targeted lentiviral vectors in tibialis anterior of mice lead to transduction of motor neurons in ventral spinal cord. Transduction of spinal cord was further demonstrated by in vivo bioluminescence imaging studies in mice injected intramuscularly with the CAR targeted vectors. This is the first ever demonstration that surface engineering can confer novel trafficking and transduction characteristics to lentiviral vectors. These targeted lentiviral vectors have superior trafficking, transduction and specificity for MNs than previously used lentiviral vectors, making them good candidates for non-invasive CNS -targeted delivery of therapeutics in MN diseases.


Although an increasingly large body of literature has examined rising party polarization in Congress, most of the empirical work has focused on ideological polarization between members. Less work has explicitly examined the resulting levels of bipartisan cooperation or the relationship between individual preferences and party strategy. This paper takes on both of these tasks, examining the joint roles of preferences and party strategy in the declining levels of bipartisanship in Congress. By breaking apart congressional behavior into cosponsorship coalitions and roll call votes, this paper suggests that although partisan behavior has increased substantially in roll call votes, the same is not true for bill cosponsorship coalitions. These divergent patterns can be reconciled by taking into consideration congressional agenda control and providing a theoretical perspective on party goals as they relate to partisanship and bipartisanship. As congressional parties sorted, partisan legislation became increasingly likely to face a roll call vote whereas bipartisan legislation became less likely to face a roll call vote.


Listeria monocytogenes and Listeria ivanovii have been identified as the only two pathogenic species in Listeria genus. Food contamination with L. monocytogenes is a severe public health issue causing great economic loss, while L. ivanovii contamination is uncommon, but represents a potential risk of infection in immunocompromised people. The sensitive and rapid method for detection of L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii is beneficial to medical diagnosis and food industry. Herein, we developed an endonuclease restriction-mediated real-time PCR (ET-PCR) assay, allowing for concomitant detection of L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii. This novel PCR assay is convenient in application due to the simplicity of primer design and multi-target detection. The special forward or reverse primer consisted of a reporter dye, oligonucleotides containing the recognition site of restriction enzyme BstUI, oligonucleotides for PCR amplification and a quenching dye. This assay achieved multi-target analysis by restriction of enzyme digestion and release of different reporter dyes. As few as 80 femtogram target DNA per reaction can be detected by both single and duplex ET-PCR assays, which were 100-fold more sensitive than normal PCR assay. This duplex ET-PCR assay was able to discriminate L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii from other common foodborne pathogens. Combined with enrichment, this novel assay offers a sensitive and feasible method for detection of L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii from different matrices. It may be an efficient tool for epidemiologist and clinician in their effort to prevent and control the infections caused by L. monocytogenes or L. ivanovii.


In this paper, experimental results of pool boiling inversion and hysteresis on functionalized 304 stainless steel using distilled water at atmospheric pressure are presented. The surface was modified using femtosecond laser surface processing to create hierarchical micro/nanostructures. Boiling curves were generated once steady-state was reached, with steady-state defined as having a temperature slope less than 0.25 degrees Celsius per minute. The steady-state criterion was examined by allowing the surface to have extended boiling times at specified heat fluxes. In separate runs, the surface boiled for four hours at heat fluxes of 25, 40, 60, and 70 watts per square centimeter once the steady-state criterion was reached. No change in superheat was seen for the 25 and 40 watts per square centimeter heat fluxes over the four hour period. Drastic reductions in superheat of 6.4 and 4.9 degrees Celsius were seen for the 60 and 70 watts per square centimeter heat fluxes, respectively, resulting in higher heat transfer coefficients when compared to a run without extended boiling. It was found that at heat fluxes below the pool boiling inversion point, the superheat did not change with extended boiling times and the steady-state condition was adequate. The opposite was true for heat fluxes above the pool boiling inversion point. The decrease in superheat at higher heat fluxes was attributed to the change in nucleation dynamics, which are the cause of the pool boiling inversion phenomenon. These changes in the nucleation dynamics are suspected to cause a delay in the activation of nucleation sites, requiring longer times to achieve true steady-state conditions. To illustrate the difference in times, lower heat fluxes reached true steady-state in 15 to 20 minutes whereas higher heat fluxes took nearly three hours. Hysteresis of the boiling curve was examined by decreasing the heat flux once it reached about 105 watts per square centimeter. Hysteresis occurred during each run and resulted in a more efficient boiling curve when compared to the increasing heat flux portion. The hysteresis curves for each run were nearly identical regardless of the extended boiling at varying heat fluxes. These results highlight the need for careful consideration and understanding of the steady-state criterion, especially with surfaces that result in pool boiling inversion. These results further confirm that combining pool boiling inversion with hysteresis can result in stable and repeatable enhancement in the boiling curve, regardless of the thermal history of the surface.


The area over which the veins of tin extend is about 1500 feet in length, by 80 in breadth; their number is eighteen or twenty; and they run in various directions, some E. and W., others N.E. and S.W., or N. and S. The tin occurs also disseminated in crystals through the rocks, and accompanying the finer-grained galena and tantalite. The appearance of the veins at the surface is not very promising, the tin being in small detached crystals, scattered through the gangue (which is mostly quartz). The widest of those veins is 10 inches,—the tin being 1 or inch, occupying one side of the vein. The gangue here is felspar, quartz, sparry iron (carbonate of iron?), and fluor-spar. This vein runs E. and W., into the white cryolite. Another vein, about 200 feet west from the cryolite, is visible for about thirty paces; at the surface it is not more than of an inch thick, but at a depth of 6 feet it is 3 inches thick. Other veins are, at the surface, mere strings, varying from to of an inch thick. Nearly all these veins occur in a large vein or bed of felspar and quartz, some of the crystals of the latter having a diameter of 18 inches. This mass contains, in a limited space, various other minerals, such as galena, blende, copper-, iron-, and arsenical-pyrites, fluor-spar, black cryolite, tantalite, molybdena, sparry iron, zircon, &c. There are some peculiarities connected with these tin-veins, which deserve consideration, and would lead one to expect that at a greater depth they might afford a large produce. The only surface-vein which can be seen sectionally 9 (no sinkings having yet been made) widens rapidly as it descends; and in other spots sectional


Microenvironment was monitored within tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) experiment plots in which the severity of brown patch disease, caused by Rhizoctonia solani AG-1-IA, was found to correlate with canopy density. Canopy density was varied either by planting cultivars that produced different densities, or by planting a single cultivar at three seeding rates. Air and foliage temperatures within the canopy differed by only approximately 1°C between low- and high-density canopies during 1993 and 1994 in both studies. In a wet year, 1993, leaf wetness and relative humidity did not differ significantly between low- and high-density canopies. In 1994, which was more typical in regards to weather, a denser canopy promoted leaf wetness and high relative humidity in both studies. Leaf wetness duration averaged over 10 days was 0.8 h longer in the high-density cultivar Arriba than in the low-density cultivar Fawn. In addition, the period of relative humidity above 90% was 2.3 h longer in Arriba than in Fawn. Canopies of tall fescue with different plant densities were inoculated in the laboratory with R. solani and placed under uniformly high humidity and temperature. Hyphae grew between leaf blades separated by up to 8 mm. Interblade hyphal growth occurred more frequently in high-density canopies because of the closer proximity of leaf blades, and as a result, mycelia and necrosis spread more rapidly from inoculation sites in high-density canopies. It was concluded that microenvironmental conditions and the physical proximity of leaf blades in high-density turfs can be more favorable for brown patch disease.


The museums of science and technology (or polytechnic) highlight the process of the innovational development of the society and have their own place in the system of school-science-industry-technical culture. The innovational activity of certain regions, states or groups of states is comprised of inventions, discoveries, new products and technologies that is all that provides the development of society and its competitive advantages. The modern polytechnic museums combine not only the functions of the demonstration of the achievements of the scientific and technological progress but also training and development of new inventions. In connection with the multifunctional nature of the modern polytechnic museum architects face the challenge of the creation of the architecture with universal dimensional planning elements, with its possible transformation in the course of time. Keywords : museum; science; innovations; technology; typology


The current interests in e-sports is being extended to the fields of education these days. Professional game players, so called as 'Pro-Gamers', therefore, should be recognized as human resource for education, and the theoretical foundation for them needs to be established. This study examines informal learning styles, motivation, and interactions among professional game players in South Korea. The aim of this grounded theory study is to discover the trajectory of professional game players' experiences and explain what properties and interactions they are facing depending on the stage of the trajectory. This study conceptualizes educational meaning within and across the society of StarCraft Pro-Gamers, providing suggestions for the management of human resource using models constructed. Data was analyzed by interviewing 1 consultant, 2 directors and 9 Pro-Gamers. By analyzing the data, this study explored what learning strategies Pro-Gamers construct and apply in their trajectory as Pro-Gamers. It includes how they organize learning, how they formulate their motivation and goals, how they cooperate and compete, what curricula they adapt, how they become one of the ace players overcoming their slump, and how informal education works in practice in the interaction among members of a StarCraft Pro-Gamer team. Finally, in this paper the stage theory was presented. It is argued that when the stage of the players shifts (Stage Shifting). It also brings changes to proficiency properties, emotional properties, interactional properties and educational properties related to each stage. Stages are categorized by five levels: Enjoying, Struggling, Achieving, Slumping, and Recovering. Although each stage has its own properties, the stages are grouped by two main properties, one of which is a Communicative Stage and the other is a Practicing Stage.


The availability and excessiveness of alternative (non-survey) data sources, collected on a daily, hourly, and sometimes second-by-second basis, has challenged the federal statistical system to update existing protocol for developing official statistics. Federal statistical agencies collect data primarily through survey methodologies built on frames constructed from administrative records. They compute survey weights to adjust for non-response and unequal sampling probabilities, impute answers for nonresponse, and report official statistics via tabulations from these survey. The U.S. federal government has rigorously developed these methodologies since the advent of surveys -- an innovation produced by the urgent desire of Congress and the President to estimate annual unemployment rates of working age men during the Great Depression.
In the 1930s, Twitter did not exist; high-scale computing facilities were not abundant let alone cheap, and the ease of the ether was just a storyline from the imagination of fiction writers. Today we do have the technology, and an abundance of data, record markers, and alternative sources, which, if curated and examined properly, can help enhance official statistics. Researchers at the Census Bureau have been experimenting with administrative records in an effort to understand how these alternative data sources can improve our understanding of official statistics. Innovative projects like these have advanced our knowledge of the limitations of survey data in estimating official statistics. This paper will discuss advances made in linking administrative records to survey data to-date and will summarize the research on the impact of administrative records on official statistics.


Constraints and proofs are provided by Shih and Pu (see ibid., vol.43, no.2, p.539, 1995) to justify their previous analysis of the idempotent soft morphological filters. It is shown that for a special case, the idempotency in Theorems 3 and 4 of a previous paper by the authors will not hold in the first stage, but the root signal will be produced in the second stage. The exact constraint is added to ensure the idempotency to be valid for the soft morphological closing and opening