Although the emergence of creoles presupposes naturalistic SLA, current SLA scholarship does not shed much light on the development of creoles with regard to the population-internal mechanisms that produce normalization and autonomization from the creoles' lexifiers. This is largely due to the fact that research on SLA is focused on individuals rather than on communities of speakers producing their own separate norms, whereas genetic creolistics deals precisely with this particular aspect of language change and speciation. It is not enough to prove that transfer from the first to the second language is possible and can evolve into substrate influence on the emergent vernaculars—transfer is not ineluctable and varies from one learner to another. Additionally, how and why particular features of some speakers spread to a whole population (or to parts thereof), whereas others do not, must be accounted for. Consistent with colonial socioeconomic history, the gradual emergence of creoles suggests a complex evolution that cannot be accounted for with simplistic invocations of either interlanguage or relexification. This article presents limitations in the cross-pollination that has been expected from genetic creolistics and research on SLA.


Adaptive segmented attenuation correction using the local thresholding technique (adaptive LTS) has been developed for whole body PET imaging using short (2-3 minutes), post-injection transmission scans. Optimal threshold is derived at every scan position to provide appropriate segmentation on the transmission images, which are forward-projected into the attenuation sinograms. The entire computation of the new attenuation sinograms of a single bed position (47 slices) on ECAT EXACT takes as little as 6 minutes. So far, the technique has found been very successful in 30 /sup 18/FDG whole-body oncologic studies without user interaction. The resulting emission data quantitatively matches and qualitatively surpasses those using the standard method. This method can increase scanner throughput without sacrificing the quality and accuracy of whole-body imaging.<<ETX>>


: Some problems of molecular genetics are considered. A special attention is paied to enzymology of genetic processes, in particular, to the mechanism of DNA replication, gene ingeneering and the structure and activity regulation mechanisms of genetic loci in higher organisms.


This demonstration illustrates how the methods developed in the MIR community can be used to provide real-time feedback to music users. By creating a genre classifier plugin for a popular media player we present users with relevant information as they play their songs. The plug-in can furthermore be used as a data collection platform. After informed consent from a selected set of users the plug-in will report on music consumption behavior back to a central server.


Objective We propose a cloud-based Open Source Health Intelligence (OS-HINT) system that uses open source media outlets, such as Twitter and RSS feeds, to automatically characterize foodborne illness events in real-time. OSHINT also forecasts response requirements, through predictive models, to allow more efficient use of resources, personnel, and countermeasures in biological event response. Introduction An increasing amount of global discourse reporting has migrated to the online space, in the form of publicly accessible social media outlets, blogs, wikis, and news feeds. Social media also presents publicly available and highly accessible information about individual, real-time activity that can be leveraged to detect, monitor, and more efficiently respond to biological events. Methods Salmonella and Escherichia Coli (E. coli) events were selected based on the magnitude and number of reported outbreaks to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the last ten years (1). These events affect multiple states and were large enough to ensure appropriate confidence levels when developing response metrics obtained from our prediction models. We collected social media data between 2006 – 2012 due to the emergence of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media utilization during this time period. Characterization is defined as the process of identifying specific event features that inform overall situational awareness. The number hospitalized, dead, or injured, in addition to patient demographics and symptoms were determined to be useful for our characterization and forecast event metrics. Analytical methods, such as term-frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF), natural language processing (NLP), and information extraction, were used to characterize events according to our metrics. Lexicon development, during NLP implementation, was generated from online news articles used to describe the events. Lastly, forecasting algorithms were developed to predict the potential response based on similar historical events that were initially characterized by our information extraction algorithms. Results The OSHINT system was developed in Amazon Web Services and includes real-time social media collection for event characterization (see Figure 1). OSHINT currently characterizes number of victims ill, hospitalized, and dead due to foodborne illness events. OSHINT was used to characterize the recent national 2012 Salmonella event related to cantaloupes, during which OSHINT characterized social media posts related to the event, as news articles and Twitter tweets streamed into the system (Figure 2). On August 17, 2012 the OSHINT system identified a large increase in Twitter tweets mentioning salmonella. Social media data found absent (victims missing work or school day), death, hospital, and sick events to involve 2, 4, 17, 283 media mentions, respectively. Our TF-IDF algorithm characterized the salmonella event impact as two dead and 150 sickened by salmonella-tainted cantaloupe. Retrospective analysis of CDC reported data on August 30, 2012 indicated the salmonella event involved two deaths in 204 cases (2). Conclusions The OSHINT team is continually developing and refining characterization and forecasting algorithms used in the system. Upon completion, OSHINT will characterize symptoms, geography, and demographics for E. coli and Salmonella events. The system will also forecast number sick, dead, and hospitalized for an effective and quick response. We will refine our algorithms and evaluate the system against past and future events to provide confidence in our results.


Pathological fibrosis of the liver is a landmark feature in chronic liver diseases, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Diagnosis and assessment of progress or treatment efficacy today requires biopsy of the liver, which is a challenge in, e.g., longitudinal interventional studies. Molecular imaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) have the potential to enable minimally invasive assessment of liver fibrosis. This review will summarize and discuss the current status of the development of innovative imaging markers for processes relevant for fibrogenesis in liver, e.g., certain immune cells, activated fibroblasts, and collagen depositions.


Taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy (TIPN) affects a number of patients with breast cancer. To properly manage these patients, nurses must be able to identify and assess TIPN, as well as educate patients on TIPN as a side effect of taxane therapy. This article provides practical suggestions regarding how nurses can incorporate clinically feasible measurement approaches into practice and includes examples of grading TIPN that illustrate the limitations of the current tools and techniques for assessment. For example, a shortened and revised version of the Total Neuropathy Score and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy/Gynecologic Oncology Group– Neurotoxicity subscale should be considered for future use. In addition, neuropathy-related results from numerous phase III trials in breast cancer are discussed, and the latest evidence regarding pharmacologic interventions for TIPN is briefly summarized.


OBJECTIVE Esophageal perforation is a rare but well-known complication of anterior cervical spine surgery. The authors performed a systematic review of the literature to evaluate symptomatology, direct causes, repair methods, and associated complications of esophageal injury. METHODS A PubMed search that adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines included relevant clinical studies and case reports (articles written in the English language that included humans as subjects) that reported patients who underwent anterior spinal surgery and sustained some form of esophageal perforation. Available data on clinical presentation, the surgical procedure performed, outcome measures, and other individual variables were abstracted from 1980 through 2015. RESULTS The PubMed search yielded 65 articles with 153 patients (mean age 44.7 years; range 14-85 years) who underwent anterior spinal surgery and sustained esophageal perforation, either during surgery or in a delayed fashion. The most common indications for initial anterior cervical spine surgery in these cases were vertebral fracture/dislocation (n = 77), spondylotic myelopathy (n = 15), and nucleus pulposus herniation (n = 10). The most commonly involved spinal levels were C5-6 (n = 51) and C6-7 (n = 39). The most common presenting symptoms included dysphagia (n =63), fever (n = 24), neck swelling (n = 23), and wound leakage (n = 18). The etiology of esophageal perforation included hardware failure (n = 31), hardware erosion (n = 23), and intraoperative injury (n = 14). The imaging modalities used to identify the esophageal perforations included modified contrast dye swallow studies, CT, endoscopy, plain radiography, and MRI. Esophageal repair was most commonly achieved using a modified muscle flap, as well as with primary closure. Outcomes measured in the literature were often defined by the time to oral intake following esophageal repair. Complications included pneumonia (n = 6), mediastinitis (n = 4), osteomyelitis (n = 3), sepsis (n = 3), acute respiratory distress syndrome (n = 2), and recurrent laryngeal nerve damage (n = 1). The mortality rate of esophageal perforation in the analysis was 3.92% (6 of 153 reported patients). CONCLUSIONS Esophageal perforation after anterior cervical spine surgery is a rare complication. This systematic review demonstrates that these perforations can be stratified into 3 categories based on the timing of symptomatic onset: intraoperative, early postoperative (within 30 days of anterior spinal surgery), and delayed. The most common source of esophageal injury is hardware erosion or migration, each of which may vary in their time to symptomatic manifestation.


Structural Vector Autoregressions* Structural vector autoregressive (VAR) models were introduced in 1980 as an alternative to traditional large-scale macroeconometric models when the theoretical and empirical support for these models became increasingly doubtful. Initial applications of the structural VAR methodology often were atheoretical in that users paid insufficient attention to the conditions required for identifying causal effects in the data. In response to ongoing questions about the validity of widely used identifying assumptions the structural VAR literature has continuously evolved since the 1980s. This survey traces the evolution of this literature. It focuses on alternative approaches to the identification of structural shocks within the framework of a reduced-form VAR model, highlighting the conditions under which each approach is valid and discussing potential limitations of commonly employed methods. JEL Classification: C32 and C51


Abstract Palaeohydrology is the study of various past aspects of the hydrological cycle. It is accomplished by interpreting indices of past hydrological processes. By its focus on the effects of realized processes, palaeohydrology provides a critical scientific complement to studies that idealize hydrological systems in order to predict future change. Future habitability of the planet will surely require the guidance of scientific concepts, but it will also require a basis in the perception of change that compels people to act. Human perception is grounded in the concrete particulars of reality, not in the abstract idealizations of theoretical science. While we scientists may wish otherwise, say for a more enlightened public and political sector, it is pragmatic not to expect such on the short time scale of potential detrimental changes for Earth's habitability to humankind. The greatest repository of scientific knowledge for stimulating human perception is the geological past. This experience of the Earth is the only real evidence of global environmental change available. It can function scientifically as a source of data with which to test models of change, confirming or falsifying theoretical extrapolations to past states (retrodictions). However, its more important role is as a source of discovery. In the geological record the scientist can discover previously unanticipated realizations of hydrological processes that will require new or revised models (hypotheses) for their explanation. It is our challenge as scientists to devote as much effort to exploring this real world of Earth experience as we currently apply to idealizing the abstract world of Earth systems.


Although air pollution indoors has been a problem for a long time, because of indoor heating in poorly ventilated interiors, significant scientific study is really a product of the late 20 th C. Increased time spent indoors and the regulatory problems of these seemingly private and familiar spaces have confronted legislators with considerable problems in how to respond. Although it is evident that pollutants leak from outdoor air to the indoor environment, there are a far wider range of air pollutants indoors that arise though building materials, consumer products and the range of indoor activities. Indoor-outdoor ratios prove a useful tool for establishing the likely sources of air pollutants within buildings. Although the prime concern with indoor pollution was health there is also worry about airborne contaminants in manufacturing industries, museums and archives. In recent years there have been a number of studies that show that indoor air pollution has a subtle chemistry that produces a range of novel products. Because the indoor environment has less photochemical activity, photosensitive species such as the NO 3 radical can potentially play a role. The presence of high surface areas indoors also means that reactions with surfaces are also important.


We report our experiences from participating to the controlled experi- ment of the ImageCLEF 2010 Wikipedia Retrieval task. We built an experimental search engine which combines multilingual and multi-image search, employing a holistic web interface and enabling the use of highly distributed indices. Modali- ties are searched in parallel, and results can be fused via several selectable meth- ods. The engine also provides multistage retrieval, as well as a single text index baselines for comparison purposes. Experiments show that the value added by image modalities is very small when textual annotations exist. The contribution of image modalities is larger when search is performed in a 2-stage fashion, i.e., using image search for re-ranking a smaller set of only the top results retrieved by text. Furthermore, first splitting annotations to many modalities with respect to natural language and/or type and then fusing results has the potential of achieving better effectiveness than using all textual information as a single modality. Con- cerning fusion, the simple method of linearly combining evidence is found to be the most robust, achieving the best effectiveness.


After the spread of the function of the scenographer in the modern theater, his vision has become present in most of the theatrical works and because the director is the master of the work and the owner of the vision that appears in front of the audience, the overlap between the visions of each of them was required. This research is an attempt to detect the overlap and disengagement in the work of each of them.The research is divided into a methodological framework that included the research problem, importance, limits, and purpose, and then the definition of terms. In the theoretical framework, the research dealt with two theoretical sections that pave the way for raising ideas related to this subject: the first section (scenography and theatrical directing). The second section is (the overlap of the two visions of the designer and the director). The sample of the research was intentionally chosen which is the play (the Birth of Oblivion) and after the analysis of the show, according to the descriptive approach, a set of results emerged and the most important of which are: 1- Play scenes or lighting or accessories cannot be included according the views of the designer of the scenography on account of the external vision so that the elements of the scenography do not dominate the external vision. 2. The scenography design vision and the directing vision must match because both of them create a single audio-visual image. The research ends with a list of sources and a summary in English


Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) nanoparticles suitable for solar cell absorber fabrication were synthesized by the microwave-assisted heating method. The influence of the reaction temperature, the temperature increase duration and post-annealing temperature on the chemical composition, crystallographic structure, phase purity and optical properties of CZTS nanocrystals has been investigated by means of XRD, Raman spectroscopy, scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopies (TEM), EDX and UV–Vis spectroscopies. The chemical composition of the CZTS nanoparticles synthesized at a temperature of 250°C and the temperature increase duration of 10 min are almost stoichiometric. The post-annealing process of CZTS has been investigated by means of the in situ XRD method. The results obtained point to the presence of a pure CZTS phase after annealing of the synthesized powder at a temperature of 550°C. The direct band gap energy (E g ) of the CZTS nanoparticles obtained depends on the post-annealing temperature and reaches nearly 1.5 eV at 550°C.


Anecdotal evidence suggests that recent video-recorded police–citizen encounters have undermined police legitimacy and fueled civil unrest across the United States. Drawing from the process-based model of policing, social cognitive theory, and past research on media effects, we assess the influence of viewing cell phone videos of police–citizen encounters on perceptions of law enforcement. Using quasi-experimental methods and video footage of an actual police–citizen encounter captured on cell phones, the effects of viewing these videos are assessed using a series of repeated measure ANOVAs. Results indicate that viewing cell phone videos of police–citizen encounters significantly impacts perceptions of law enforcement, though little evidence of differing effects based on point-of-view, number of video exposures, or ordering of video exposures was found. The process-based model of policing should consider further incorporating the contributions of technology to provide a more holistic account of the factors influencing perceptions of police.


This study proposes a framework for an infrastructure asset management manual containing infrastructure asset management processes and operation techniques, which can be adjusted by different ordering authorities to develop their own manuals. The following conclusions were drawn in this study. First, the justification for implementation of asset management was examined through analysis of changes and status of asset management in domestic infrastructure, and the current status and insufficiencies in the asset management manuals of the government and ordering authorities were inspected. Second, the current status and systems of infrastructure asset management manuals in developed foreign nations such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States were examined, to analyze and compare the characteristics of asset management manuals among different nations. The directivity for composition of an infrastructure asset management manual in Korea was deduced for reference. Third, based on the directivity for composition of a domestic and foreign infrastructure asset management manual, a framework for an infrastructure asset management manual that can be utilized by the ordering authorities was proposed for (1) a general infrastructure asset management manual connected to global asset management manuals; (2) a manual that considers the asset management experience of the ordering authorities; (3) a systematic manual that takes user convenience into account; and (4) a circulatory process, which links infrastructure policy and strategy in the decision-making stage.


Learning fine-grained image similarity is a challenging task. It needs to capture between-class and within-class image differences. This paper proposes a deep ranking model that employs deep learning techniques to learn similarity metric directly from images. It has higher learning capability than models based on hand-crafted features. A novel multiscale network structure has been developed to describe the images effectively. An efficient triplet sampling algorithm is also proposed to learn the model with distributed asynchronized stochastic gradient. Extensive experiments show that the proposed algorithm outperforms models based on hand-crafted visual features and deep classification models.


Framed within an Anishnaabe method and an anti-colonial discursive framework, this thesis explores how Aboriginal students confront narratives of colonial violence in the postsecondary classroom while at the same time living and experiencing colonial violence on a daily basis. In order to garner an understanding of what pedagogies might be useful in postsecondary classrooms that cover such curricula, I explored these questions by interviewing 8 Aboriginal students and 5 Aboriginal professors who were taking or teaching courses on Aboriginal peoples and colonial history. I also engaged two Aboriginal Elders in conversations on pedagogy because they are recognized as carriers of Aboriginal traditional knowledge. Drawing on the literature I theorize colonization as violent, ongoing and traumatic. Specifically, I trace how education for Aboriginal peoples has always been and continues to be part of the colonial regime--one that is marked by violence, abuse and a regime that has had devastating consequences for Aboriginal peoples. This thesis confirms that despite some changes to the educational system Aboriginal students and professors interviewed in this research still confront significant challenges when they enter sites such as the postsecondary classroom. The most profound finding in this thesis was the extent of racism that Aboriginal students confront and negotiate in postsecondary classrooms. These negotiations are especially profound and painful in mixed classrooms where the narrative of ongoing colonial violence is discussed. Aboriginal students also employ a number of strategies to resist ongoing colonialism and racism. The narrative of racism is not new but it does reaffirm that colonialism continues to have devastating effects on Aboriginal peoples. It also reaffirms the pervasiveness of violence in our society despite the fact that many would rather ignore or downplay the level of violence that exists. There is no doubt that the Aboriginal students interviewed in this research describe a significant psychological toll in an environment of ongoing colonialism and is especially difficult when revisiting historical and ongoing accounts of violence of their own colonial history. The thesis offers some suggestions for mitigating this impact in the classroom.


We present a flexible variable-focus converging microlens actuated by electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD). The microlens is made of two immiscible liquids and a soft polymer, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Parylene intermediate layer is used to produce robust flexible electrode on PDMS. A low-temperature PDMS-compatible fabrication process has been developed to reduce the stress on the lens structure. The lens has been demonstrated to be able to conform to curved surfaces smoothly. The focal length of the microlens is 29–38 mm on a flat surface, and 31–41 mm on a curved surface, varying with the voltage applied. The resolving power of the microlens is 25.39 line pairs per mm by a 1951 United States Air Force (USAF) resolution chart and the lens aberrations are measured by a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor. The focal length behavior on a curved surface is discussed and for the current lens demonstrated the focal length is slightly longer on the curved surface as a result of the effect of the curved PDMS substrate.


system is considered. Credit in this section should be given looked by the authors. Although almost identical upgraded it provides additional features that for the authors stating prospectively a small number criteria were used, it scored 38 on one occasion and require the original cost-benefit analysis to be of appropriate outcome measures. Hadler et al 50 on the other, suggesting a serious degree of reassessed. Upgrading the equipment commonly used one: the disability score designed by Roland inconsistency in the review process. results in faster throughput, better discrimination, and Morris and shown by them to be a more Whether the term manipulation should be used, and added diagnostic value-for example, that reliable and sensitive index of disability in back as Koes and colleagues used it, "to cover both provided by angiography-with the result that it pain than measures such as pain experienced or manipulation and mobilisation" is at least arguable. tends to be cost neutral on a per patient basis. spinal mobility,' for which Koes and colleagues Their conclusions about manipulation (thus In their analysis Szczepura and colleagues would have awarded points, defined) in back pain seem analogous to generalisacalculated that changes in patients' management Ten points were available If the five suggested tions about antibiotics for sore throat. helped to reduce the costs of examination by £80 outcome measures were measured blind. Hadler T W MEADE and, furthermore, that if half of the diagnostic et al relied on a patient questionnaire administered JOY TOWNSEND procedures performed in addition to magnetic over the telephone by someone unaware of the ANDREW FRANK


Business law is grounded in the common law of fiduciary duty. Courts and policymakers have been loath to abandon that principle. Yet, particularly in the contractual context of limited liability companies (LLCs), the fiduciary label is illusory and may undercut sound governance practices for those entities. This Article presents an in-depth empirical study about governance provisions included in LLC operating agreements and examines the implications of the data in the context of various types of businesses that might choose to organize as LLCs. The Article uses the data and related case studies to offer a new approach to LLC governance - the "coactive" LLC.


Myelosuppression is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and is often exacerbated by currently available treatments for this disease. Myelosuppression often requires dose reductions in cytotoxic agents, delays in therapy, truncated treatment courses, or the exclusion of elderly or infirmed individuals from receiving standard chemoimmunotherapy. High-dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) and the anti-CD20 mAb rituximab (Rituxan), each is non-myelotoxic and can induce partial remissions when used alone to treat patients with CLL. However, complete remissions (CRs) in CLL patients are rarely observed following treatment with either agent. Recently, we reported the use of the combination of HDMP and rituximab in fludarabine-refractory patients [Castro Leukemia 2008]. The promising clinical activity and tolerability of this regimen in the refractory setting led to the evaluation of this regimen for the initial treatment of patients with CLL. To mitigate toxicity associated with use of HDMP, we employed a 40% reduction in the dose of HDMP by administering solumedrol at 1 gm/m2 for 3 instead of 5 days during each 4-week treatment cycle. Rituximab was given weekly for 12 weeks at 375mg/m2 or at 750mg/m2 in 9 doses over the 12 weeks of treatment to chemotherapy na·ve CLL patients with an NCI-WG indication for treatment. Objectives were to determine the response rate, safety, and toxicity of this regimen. PFS, overall survival (OS), hematologic, and immune parameters were also evaluated. We enrolled 28 patients who had a median age 65 years (range 48–80), 29% of whom were at least 70 years old. Forty-six were high risk by modified Rai classification, 39% had unfavorable cytogenetic features, and 64% had CLL cells that used unmutated IgVH region genes or exhibited high expression levels of ZAP-70. Patients received the full course of treatment without dose reductions or delays and the treatment well tolerated. Overall response rate was 96% with complete remission achieved in 32% of patients, 22% of whom had no detectable minimal residual disease (MRD) by sensitive 4-color flow cytometry capable of detecting residual CLL cells when present in marrow mononuclear cells at levels of more than 0.01%. Those patients over age 70 had an ORR of 100% with 38% CR, and 11% MRD-negative CR. There was a non-significant trend towards those receiving rituximab at 750mg/m2 being more likely to achieve a CR to treatment (Odds Ratio (OR) = 4.3, p-value 0.09). Individually, both beta-2-microglobulin (p=0.04) and splenomegaly palpable to at least 5 cm below the left costal margin (p The majority of adverse events were grade I/ II (80%) and hematologic toxicity was minimal. During the course of treatment, we noted resolution of thrombocytopenia or anemia. (See Figure) A total of 81 cycles of treatment were administered and only one red cell transfusion and no platelet transfusions were required. Serum immunoglobulins decreased with therapy and a low threshold was used to initiate intravenous gammaglobulin for those patients with experiencing recurrent infections. Percent of CD4 T cell counts increased significantly from median 2% (+/−4% 95% CI) to 32% (+/−8%) (Student t-test p Six patients received consolidation with alemtuzumab at least 4 months following initial therapy and 83% of these patients became MRD negative. The CR and MRD negative CR rate following HDMP and Rituximab with 6 patients receiving consolidation were 43% and 25% respectively. With over three years of follow-up (36.3 mo) median PFS and time to requiring additional therapy have not been reached and OS is 96%. Achieving a MRD negative response was associated with significantly prolonged PFS and time to requiring additional therapy over all other responses (log-rank test p= 0.036 and 0.016 respectively). In summary, the combination of HDMP and rituximab is an effective non-myelotoxic treatment regimen for patients with CLL. Treatment was well tolerated, notably in elderly patients and those with baseline cytopenias making this regimen an effective and safe alternative for frontline therapy.


The appropriate choice of nanoparticles is proved to be essential in tuning the properties of F:SnO2 (FTO) nanocomposites. With the use of more conductive sulphur-doped TiO2 (S:TiO2) nanoparticles, the sheet resistance of S:TiO2–FTO nanocomposites is successfully reduced down to 38% as compared to the standard flat FTO (11.7 Ω sq−1), while the haze factor of the S:TiO2–FTO nanocomposites can be varied from almost zero (reference flat FTO) up to 60%; moreover the majority of 〈110〉 oriented S:TiO2 nanoparticles leads to a strong (110) texture in the resulting S:TiO2–FTO nanocomposites by local epitaxy. Careful morphology analyses and angle-resolved measurements reveal that the haze factor is proportional to the total surface coverage of the S:TiO2 nanoparticle agglomerates, while the feature size of the agglomerates determines the angular distribution of the scattered light – this is confirmed by an angle-resolved Mueller matrix polarimeter which allows obtaining the optical microscopic and angle-resolved images of the exact same textured region. Our work establishes the guidelines to fabricate FTO and other transparent conductive oxide (TCO) nanocomposites as promising electrodes in solar cells with tunable structural, electrical, and optical properties.


Author(s): Serrano Najera, Jose Luis | Advisor(s): Gomez-Quinones, Juan | Abstract: Indigenous social movements in the Americas have multiple sources, but in regards to Mexican Americans, my focus considers Chicana/o Indigeneity of particular importance to decolonization efforts because of its density, scope, and breadth, as well as spatial location. My dissertation answers the following question: how are Chicana/o assertions of cultural Indigeneity, intrinsically parallel and related to Chicana/o participation in Indigenous transnational struggles? The underlying premises for my investigation of Chicana/o Indigeneity are the following subquestions: how do transnational these efforts enrich our understanding of the respect of human rights, and what are the bases of Chicana/o Indigeneity? I explicate how Chicana/o historic consciousness is influenced by the complex transnational activism with Indigenous Peoples to decolonize the Americas and contend that Chicana/o Indigenist activists, informed by trans-border interactions, cultural practices, and long oral traditions challenged hegemonic constraints of Indigeneity constructed by Mexican and U.S. pro-western domination premised assimilationist projects. These challenges have resulted in Chicana/o participation in broader challenges to the prominence of western cultural hegemony in the nation-states of the Americas. I depict groups and organizations comprising a specific activism that challenge assimilation and contribute to the prominence of contemporary Indigenismo or Indigenism as a cultural and political ideology. This activism, which seeds and stimulates Indigenism, instills calls for cultural assertion within international human rights advocacy. I focus on Chicana/o activists, activist organizations, and cultural groups that demanded the right to revive their Indigenous culture, and in doing so, aligned their cultural revival with the right to cultural survival that is integral to the demands of Indigenous Peoples. Since the late 1960s, the objective of Chicana/o statements on Indigeneity have provided the forum for a discussion regarding a culturally autonomous trajectory for Chicanas and Chicanos free of colonial logics, hegemonic cultures, and oppression. By no means has this road been straight forward and without equivocations. Nevertheless, by the 1980s and well into the twenty-first century, most Chicana/o and Indigenous activists stood generally unified by certain precepts and agreements despite national borders in their efforts to redress the violation of human rights in the Americas.


The Hall coefficient RH of the cuprate superconductor YBa 2Cu3Oy was measured in magnetic fields up to 60 T for a hole concentration p from 0.078 to 0.152 in the underdoped regime. In fields large enough to suppress superconductivity, RH(T) is seen to go from positive at high temperature to negative at low temperature, for p0.08. This change of sign is attributed to the emergence of an electron pocket in the Fermi surface at low temperature. At p<0.08, the normal-state R H(T) remains positive at all temperatures, increasing monotonically as T→0. We attribute the change of behavior across p=0.08 to a Lifshitz transition, namely a change in Fermi-surface topology occurring at a critical concentration pL=0.08, where the electron pocket vanishes. The loss of the high-mobility electron pocket across pL coincides with a tenfold drop in the conductivity at low temperature, revealed in measurements of the electrical resistivity ρ at high fields, showing that the so-called metal-insulator crossover of cuprates is in fact driven by a Lifshitz transition. It also coincides with a jump in the in-plane anisotropy of ρ, showing that without its electron pocket, the Fermi surface must have strong twofold in-plane anisotropy. These findings are consistent with a Fermi-surface reconstruction caused by a unidirectional spin-density wave or stripe order. © 2011 American Physical Society.


Summary: Mutants of the gliding bacterium Cytophaga johnsonae that are incapable of movement are called truly nonmotile (TNM) to distinguish them from other mutants that are motile but produce nonspreading colonies. All TNM mutants are pleiotropic, being nonmotile, unable to digest chitin, resistant to all phages that infect wild-type cells, nonadherent and having less hydrophobic surfaces than do wild-type cells. In this study, we tested the idea that the TNM pleiotropy is the result of blocking cell surface movement, rather than of loss or alteration of a specific cell surface component. Motility of wild-type cells was blocked by addition of chemicals, and treated cells were compared with untreated cells for their ability to adhere to spheroidal hydroxyapatite (SHA) beads and to adsorb phages, two characteristics used as an index of the TNM pleiotropy. All the chemicals tested that blocked motility also reduced phage adsorption and adherence to SHA to approximately the same extent seen with TNM mutants. The chemicals tested (carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, cyanide, azide and photoactivated eosin Y and rose bengal) were sufficiently different from each other to reduce the possibility that each chemical inhibited phage adsorption and cell adherence by similar secondary effects, independent of their effects on motility. It was also shown that the pleiotropy of TNM mutants is not caused by their inability to maintain a membrane potential. The results are compatible with the conclusion that the TNM pleiotropy is manifested whenever cell movement is stopped, whether by mutation or by use of chemical inhibitors, and they are inconsistent with the idea that all TNM mutants are pleiotropic because they all carry a lesion in the same gene that codes for expression of surface components required for all characteristics affected. The reason that stopping motility influences several seemingly unrelated properties is not known but is probably related to adaptations required for the organism to interact with its environment through a cell surface covered with a slime that is normally kept in motion by components of the machinery of gliding motility.


The first scientist to see the long-awaited sign of gravitational waves was a soft-spoken Italian postdoc. Marco Drago, 33, works at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hanover, Germany, overseeing one of four automatic "pipelines" that comb the raw data from LIGO's twin detectors, thousands of kilometers away. On 14 September 2015, the pipeline flagged a possible detection. Drago thought the event had to be a test—it was too sharp and clear to be true, and the recently upgraded detectors weren't even supposed to be taking data yet. Scrambling to figure out what was going on, Drago inadvertently alerted his 1000 fellow researchers that a possible detection was in the bag—something that, under LIGO protocols, none of them was supposed to know. Before they could announce a detection, however, they had to rule out a host of other scenarios—including the possibility that the whole thing was an elaborate prank.


ABSTRACT Area measurements play a prominent role in many types of geographical and historical analyses. The accuracy and precision of such measurements, however, are dependent on a host of input factors, including the type of instrumentation used as well as the scale and projection of the source map and its level of cartographic generalization. As a consequence of variability in these inputs, published area measures change over time. This paper reviews the record of land area measurements for counties published by the US Census Bureau between 1880 and 2000, documents the major changes in measurement instrumentation and procedures employed, and analyzes patterns of the greatest variability in reported values. Two states are used as case studies (Iowa and Maine). The results suggest that the greatest variability occurs in those areas with irregular borders, thus reflecting the interaction of the source maps with human measurement error and the encoding capabilities of the area measurement instruments. The observations also indicate that variability in area measurements for counties has decreased over time.


Image Segmentation plays an essential role in computer vision and image processing with various applications from medical diagnosis to autonomous car driving. A lot of segmentation algorithms have been proposed for addressing specific problems. In recent years, the success of deep learning techniques has tremendously influenced a wide range of computer vision areas, and the modern approaches of image segmentation based on deep learning are becoming prevalent. In this article, we introduce a high-efficient development toolkit for image segmentation, named PaddleSeg. The toolkit aims to help both developers and researchers in the whole process of designing segmentation models, training models, optimizing performance and inference speed, and deploying models. Currently, PaddleSeg supports around 20 popular segmentation models and more than 50 pre-trained models from real-time and high-accuracy levels. With modular components and backbone networks, users can easily build over one hundred models for different requirements. Furthermore, we provide comprehensive benchmarks and evaluations to show that these segmentation algorithms trained on our toolkit have more competitive accuracy. Also, we provide various real industrial applications and practical cases based on PaddleSeg. All codes and examples of PaddleSeg are available at https://github.com/PaddlePaddle/PaddleSeg.


Updated for use with latest version of Autodesk Inventor software, AUTODESK INVENTOR 2012 ESSENTIALS PLUS demonstrates critical CAD concepts, from basic sketching and modeling through advanced modeling techniques, and provides the skills you need to master this commonly-used professional tool. The book walks you through every component of the software, including the user interface, toolbars, dialogue boxes, sketch tools, drawing views, assembly modeling, and more. A combination 'how-to' and reference manual, AUTODESK INVENTOR 2012 ESSENTIALS PLUS also features step-by-step tutorials and project exercises, and is an ideal resource for new learners and working professionals alike.


A participatory action research approach was employed to investigate school students' information discernment capabilities. Placing school student participants at the centre of the research process enabled them to define the problem in their own words and begin to find solutions to the issue of how to choose good quality information. Findings confirmed the results of many studies - that school students adopt a cognitive default position of trust and are relatively unquestioning when using information sources for their work (in this case the Extended Project Qualification or EPQ). Results also showed that with an appropriate embedded learning and teaching intervention, which includes aspects of information and digital literacy, school students adopt a cognitive questioning state, which leads to pro-active scepticism, enhancing their information discernment and in turn enables them to make better information choices. This has implications not only for school teachers and librarians but for educational policy makers also.


Oak-hickory (Quercus-Carya spp.) forest types are widespread across the midwestern United States, but changes in forest disturbance regimes are resulting in little to no oak recruitment and a compositional shift to shade-tolerant, mesophytic species, such as American beech (Fagus grandifolia) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum). We conducted camera trap surveys in a mature upland hardwood forest of southern Illinois, USA during May to August 2015–2016 to document mammal summer habitat use in relation to forest structure and composition to further understand how regional shifts in forests may affect mammal communities. With nearly 4000 camera days of effort, we modeled occupancy patterns for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), raccoon (Procyon lotor), and eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus canadensis). Forest composition models outcompeted forest structure models for white-tailed deer, where we observed a statistically significant negative relationship between white-tailed deer habitat use and beech dominance. Further, we found a strong, positive association between deer and oak dominance. Model selection indicated little support for within-stand forest structure or composition characteristics influencing habitat use for raccoons. Eastern gray squirrel occurrence was best described by forest composition, revealing a positive relationship with beech–maple importance values. Our predictive models indicated that the impact of forest changes underway will have varying impacts on wildlife species. We can expect changes in habitat use patterns to be more pronounced with time barring revised forest management practices, and these changes are likely to be most influential at the landscape-scale. We conclude that a patchwork mosaic of forest conditions will likely best support a diverse and abundant mammal community across the region.


The study was carried out to assess the impact of erosion of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) on technological capability building in Nigeria by commercial motorcycling transportation mode. The study used primary and secondary data sources. The number of respondents sampled was 500. Structured questionnaires were administered on commercial motorcyclists. This was supplemented with field observations and interviews. A total of 500 questionnaires were administered on the respondents with 72% response rate. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The study showed that the active population was heavily involved in commercial motorcycling which has no technical value addition to the nation's economy. About 8% of the commercial motorcyclists had at least a University Degree (Masters and Bachelor Degrees), about 54% of them had at least a senior secondary school education, 36% had junior secondary education and below, while about 2% had no formal education. The study also revealed that majority (about 85%) of the commercial motorcyclists were tradesmen or craftsmen before: auto-mechanics (25.88%), carpenters (14.12%), bricklayers (8.24%), painters (7.06%) and panel beaters (5.88%). Of these, more than half had graduated from their chosen trades or crafts, while 15% were civil servants. However, the respondents who are now commercial motorcyclists make at least twice the income they made in their former trade per day, hence the drift. The study concluded that drift from crafts and trade to commercial motorcycling will speedily erode the indigenous technology capacity of Nigeria if there would not be urgent government intervention to reverse the situation.


System-environment interactions are intrinsically nonlinear and dependent on the interplay between many degrees of freedom. The complexity may be even more pronounced when one aims to describe biologically motivated systems. In that case, it is useful to resort to simplified models relying on effective stochastic equations. A natural consideration is to assume that there is a noisy contribution from the environment, such that the parameters that characterize it are not constant but instead fluctuate around their characteristic values. From this perspective, we propose a stochastic generalization of the nonlocal Fisher-KPP equation where, as a first step, environmental fluctuations are Gaussian white noises, both in space and time. We apply analytical and numerical techniques to study how noise affects stability and pattern formation in this context. Particularly, we investigate noise-induced coherence by means of the complementary information provided by the dispersion relation and the structure function.


Abstract High topography in the realm of the rifted East African Plateau is commonly explained by two different mechanisms: (1) rift-flank uplift resulting from mechanical and/or isostatic relaxation and (2) lithospheric uplift due to the impingement of a mantle plume. High topography in East Africa has far-reaching effects on atmospheric circulation systems and the amount and distribution of rainfall in this region. While the climatic and palaeoenvironmental influences of high topography in East Africa are widely accepted, the timing, the magnitude and this spatiotemporal characteristic of changes in topography have remained unclear. This dilemma stems from the lack of datable, geomorphically meaningful reference horizons that could unambiguously record surface uplift. Here, we report on the formation of high topography in East Africa prior to Cenozoic rifting. We infer topographic uplift of the East African Plateau based on the emplacement characteristics of the c. 300 km long and 13.5 Ma Yatta phonolitic lava flow along a former river valley that drained high topography, centred at the present-day rift. The lava flow followed an old riverbed that once routed runoff away from the eastern flank of the plateau. Using a compositional and temperature-dependent viscosity model with subsequent cooling and adjusting for the Yatta lava-flow dimensions and the covered palaeotopography (slope angle), we use the flow as a 'palaeo-tiltmeter'. Based on these observations and our modelling results, we determine a palaeoslope of the Kenya dome of at least 0.2° prior to rifting and deduce a minimum plateau elevation of 1400 m. We propose that this high topography was caused by thermal expansion of the lithosphere interacting with a heat source generated by a mantle plume. Interestingly, the inferred Mid-Miocene uplift coincides with fundamental palaeoecological changes including the two-step expansion of grasslands in East Africa as well as important radiation and speciation events in tropical Africa.


Background: Accumulating evidence implicates Haptoglobin (Hp) gene polymorphism as a potential risk predictor for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). We explored the association of Hp polymorphism with premature CAD and its severity within 165 unrelated Chinese patients and 116 healthy controls using genotyping, biochemical parameters, and the Gensini scoring system. Levels of HP and IL-17 in plasma were determined by ELISA.
Results: The frequencies of Hp genotypes and Alleles, Hp levels and IL-17 levels were significantly different between CVD group and control group, and among the three subgroups. Hp2-2 was associated with the highest Gensini score but the lowest Hp concentrations. After adjustments for confounding parameters, the OR of premature CAD associated with Hp2-2 was 0.630 (95% CI 0.449-0.884; P<0.05). The Hp2-2 genotype was associated with an increase in coronary artery stenosis especially in group C (OR=2.319; 95% CI 1.278-4.209; P<0.05). Gensini score was associated with Hp and IL-17 levels when we considered the entire patients. r-values were 0.296 and 0.140, respectively (P<0.05).
Conclusions: Hp polymorphism is independently associated with increasing CAD severity. Hp and IL-17 may be biomarker of coronary artery stenosis. Further studies are warranted to study the role of Hp and IL-17 in the pathogenesis of CAD.


Hydrogen is one of the promising energy sources in the future, because it has the advantages of clean combustion products, high efficiency, and renewable energy. However, hydrogen has the characteristics of low ignition energy, wide flammable range (4% -75%), and fast burning flame speed, which can cause explosion hazards. Typically, the accidental release of hydrogen into confined or semi confined enclosures can often lead to a flammable hydrogen-air mixture with concentration gradients and possible flame acceleration and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT). The present study aims to test the capability of our in-house density-based solver, ExplosionEngFoam, for flame acceleration (FA) and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in homogenous/inhomogeneous hydrogen-air mixtures. The solver is based on the open source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) platform OpenFOAM and uses the modified Weller et al.'s combustion model taking into account LD and RT instabilities, turbulence and non-unity Lewis number etc. Numerical simulations were conducted for both homogeneous and inhomogeneous mixtures in a long enclosed channel with 5.4 m in length and 0.06 m in height. The predictions demonstrate good quantitative agreement with the experimental measurements in flame tip position, speed and pressure profiles by Boeck et al. [1]. The flow characteristics such as flame fine structure, wave evolution etc. were also discussed.


An assessment of trends of climate change and variability on cocoa yields from 1975 to 2010 in Meme Division aimed at providing a framework for future adaptation strategies was focused on relating cocoa yield with climatic conditions. Rainfall and temperature data were analyzed by fitting regression lines in an attempt to determine their trend during the study period and possible future projections. The purposive sampling technique was used to select ten villages using a criteria based on the proportion of the population involved in cocoa cultivation. Farm selection was based on age, consistency of sizes and management practices in an attempt to keep the factors affecting cocoa yield constant. Data on cocoa yield, flowering, and pod infestation were obtained through semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using univariate, bivariate and graphical techniques. The results revealed that increased rainfall above 3000mm per annum, decreased cocoa yields by 0.16% per millimeter while increased temperatures of 0.34°C per decade increased cocoa yield. Flowering intensity also varied with seasons and was continuous in some localities, while cocoa black pod infestation increased with rainfall and low temperatures, and vice versa for capsids. Keywords: climate change and variability, cocoa yields, Meme Division, black pod infestation, capsids JOURNAL OF THE CAMEROON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 11 No. 1 (2013)


It is probable that no new doctrine of international law has received universal recognition so rapidly as has that of the Continental Shelf. Its being an extension of the outer limit of coastal state sovereignty endeared it to nationalistic pride, a matter evidenced by the time spent in discussing the nature of the rights, which ended by according the coastal state sovereign rights over its natural resources. These were further defined as being exclusive and unshared rights. As in the case of the territorial sea, the area of control was difficult to define. The present seaward limit of national sovereignty is defined at the edge of the Continental Shelf at 200 metres isobath or the depth to which the submarine areas can be exploited. Exploitability appears to be a poor criterion in these days of rapidly expanding marine technology. All reasonable geological boundaries of the sea floor (shore line, shelf edge, base of Continental Slope, toe of continental rise, axes of trenches, deepest parts of abyssal plains, and the mid ocean rift) are described according to their origin and value as seaward limits of national sovereignty for exploitation purposes. All contain uncertainties or deficiencies stemming from present inadequate knowledge of bathymetry, ambiguity of definition, or unreasonable relationship to areas of possible mineral resources. Accordingly a more precise definition of seaward boundaries for the areas under present national jurisdiction is most desirable, with some form of international regime applied to the deeper areas of ocean floor. For the purposes of this study the subject is divided into three main parts, namely:-(1) The theory of the Continental Shelf in international law.(2) The legal regime of the Continental Shelf, and(3) The legal regime of the deep-sea floor. Before considering the legal norms of the new doctrine, a geological and geographical study of the nature, origin and formation of the Shelf is given in Section One of Part One. This study is relevant to the legal aspects of the Shelf area in that it provides full data about the geophysical structure of the Shelf and associated areas. It also helps to determine how far jurists were willing to establish the legal framework of the Shelf in accordance with its geographical limits. A comparison between the geophysical and legal definitions of the Shelf is a good evidence of the limited extent to which the two concepts are uniform. In Part Two the question of the legal regime of the Shelf is examined from the point of view of the legal basis of claims to the Shelf area which, until recently, was regarded, like the waters above it, res communis. The nature of the rights asserted is also explored under both the unilateral claims of coastal states and the provision of the Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf. The third item, which is examined under this heading, is the problem of delimitation. Here, a special consideration is given to the decision of the ICJ in the North Sea Continental Shelf Cases, Part Three deals with proposals de lege ferenda on the question of the legal regime of the deep-sea floor. The limited scope of this thesis did not allow more than recording the results achieved by the U,N, General Assembly and other international and national bodies. I have attempted in this study to present, in an inductive fashion, the work of all those who contributed to the establishment of the doctrine of the Continental Shelf. My task did not go further than displaying the various opinions on the subject, adding my own views where necessary. I am relieved to find that Dr. Mouton, in the introduction to his great work "The Continental Shelf," "states,"..., one can not solve a new problem alone. One has to put the opinions next to each other in their original wording, in order to "be able to attain a certain amount of progression in thought and give the reader the chance, without forcing him to go through all the sources, to compare the arguments and judge whether he can or can not agree with the conclusions we have reached, "Finally, as I read and re-read the manuscript and corrected the proofs, the words of a twelfth century Syrian judge repeatedly came to my mind: "Never have I met an author who is not ready to proclaim on the morrow of finishing his book, 'O, had I expressed this differently, how much better would it have been! Had such a statement been added, how much more correct, it would have been! Had this been moved forward, it would have read better and had that been omitted, it would have certainly been preferable,' In such experience there is indeed a great lesson; it provides full evidence that defect characterizes all works of man,'"


Between 1940 and 1976, two cases of tick-borne relapsing fever were reported in Colorado, but since 1977, 23 confirmed cases have occurred. All patients had fever, with a mean of 2.8 febrile episodes (range, one to six). Complications included thrombocytopenia, endophthalmitis, meningitis, abortion, in utero infection, and erythema multiforme. All treated patients were eventually cured with antibiotics, although two pregnant patients failed to be cured by their initial courses of antibiotics. Seven of 21 treated patients had Jarisch-Herxheimer reactions, three of whom required intensive care. Five of nine patients who received tetracycline at an initial dose of 5 mg/kg or more had reactions v none of four patients treated with lower doses. Possible causes of the recent increased incidence include increased physician awareness and reporting, improved diagnostic techniques, and an actual increase due to a larger population at risk. Because summertime visits to the Rocky Mountains are becoming increasingly popular, physicians elsewhere should know how to recognize and treat this condition.


SARS-CoV-2 corona virus infection (COVID-19) is a public health emergency of international concern causing many deaths. The aim of this study was to assess demography, clinical presentation, blood group, disease severity and outcome of COVID-19 infected patients in Bangladesh. This is a cross sectional, observational study of 436 COVID19 infected patients, confirmed by RT-PCR assay's on nasopharyngeal swab specimens, presented at Faridpur Medical College Hospital and Kurmitola General Hospital during the month of May to September, 2020. Data were collected in a preformed data sheet and analyzed for variables included demography, source of infection, spreading within family, clinical features, blood group, disease severity and outcome. Study showed mean age 41.27±16.65 years with slight male predominance (1.87:1), most were service holder (47%), source of infection was unknown (40%), from infected family members (35%) and working place (23%). In 44% cases, family members of infected index cases were unaffected. Common co-morbidities were Diabetes Mellitus (19.7%) and Hypertension (19%). Blood group of most (41.29%) was B positive. Disease spectrum ranged from asymptomatic (15%), mild (53%), moderate (19%) and severe (13%) disease. Common presenting symptoms were fever (72.2%), cough (42.9%) dyspnoea (29.6%), myalgia (22.9%), anorexia (17.9%), fatigue (17.4%), diarrhea (13.5%), headache (12.4%) and anosmia (12.4%). Majority (75.2%) had nonspecific (fever, mayalgia, fatigue) symptoms and in 16.28% cases it was the only presentation. Respiratory (61.9%) and GI (28.4%) symptoms presented either concomitantly or with nonspecific symptoms (55%). Majority (95%) of patients recovered and only 5% died.


Unsupervised clustering of high spatial resolution remote-sensing images plays a significant role in detailed land-cover identification, especially for agricultural and environmental monitoring. A recently promising method is approximate spectral clustering (SC) which enables spectral partitioning for large datasets to extract clusters with distinct characteristics without a parametric model. It also facilitates the use of various information types via advanced similarity criteria. However, it requires an empirical selection of a similarity criterion optimal for the corresponding application. To address this challenge, we propose an approximate SC ensemble (ASCE2) which fuses partitionings obtained by different similarity representations. Contrary to existing spectral ensembles for remote-sensing applications, the proposed ASCE2 employs neural gas quantization instead of random sampling, advanced similarity criteria instead of traditional distance-based Gaussian kernel with different decay parameters, and a two-level ensemble. We evaluate the proposed ASCE2 with three measures (accuracy, adjusted Rand index, and normalized mutual information) using five remote-sensing images, two of which are commonly available. We apply the ASCE2 in two applications for agricultural monitoring: 1) land-cover identification to determine orchard fields using a WorldView-2 image (0.5-m spatial resolution) and 2) finding lands in good agricultural condition using multitemporal RapidEye images (5-m spatial resolution). Experimental results indicate a significant betterment of the resulting partitionings obtained by the proposed ensemble, with respect to the evaluation measures in these applications.


The hippocampus is a brain structure known to be involved in high-level cognitive features such as memory and navigation. Spatially responsive cells in the hippocampal region, known as place cells and grid cells, have given neuroscientists an opportunity to try to decipher the neural implementation of computations performed by the hippocampus. Important insights toward this goal might be offered by studying the phenomena of global remapping and rate remapping, known from hippocampal experiments, that relate changes in the environment to changes in neural activity. This project implements a biologically plausible neural network that models grid cells, place cells and other parts of the hippocampus in order to computationally reproduce the remapping phenomena. The implemented model successfully exhibits both global and rate remapping, and thus offers a potential framework for a better understanding of why these phenomena occur.


This article approaches the piloting stage of 42 trainees involved on MOOC courses for 3D CAD Footwear Developer, developed under Skills 4 Smart TCLF project. S4TCLF it is a project oriented to enhance the modernisation and competitiveness of the EU Textile, Clothing, Leather, and Footwear industry, through the development of a sustainable upskilling and reskilling strategy, which is supported by a communication campaign to attract social, economic and political actors. The project consortium is made from 22 partners within 9 European countries. The 3D CAD Footwear Developer is one of the 8 qualification profiles for which a training course was developed in our European partnership. The course responds to the industry needs and fulfil educational requirements by tackling knowledge and skills related to the footwear product design and styling process, manufacturing stages and technologies, 3D CAD modelling and virtual prototyping, 2D CAD pattern engineering, 3D/2D CAD of lasts, soles and heel, which all together correspond to the level 5 of the European Qualification Framework (EQF). The MOOC courses for 3D CAD Footwear Developer were published on the Iversity learning platform, part of the Springer Nature. A chapter of this course is structured in 3-5 video lectures supported by audio voice. At the end of the chapter an assignment task is proposed to be solved in order to continue with the next chapter/unit. The guided trainees were questioned and assessed by the S4TCLF project staff at different times. The aim of the piloting session was to obtain feedback and to assess the added value of the teaching materials.


AbstractCarbon Footprints, as an indicator of climate performance, help identify major GHG emission sources and potential areas of improvement. In the context of greatly expanding sub-national climate efforts, research on Carbon Footprint accounting at municipality level is timely and necessary to facilitate the establishment of local climate strategies. This study aims at exploring the methodologies for Carbon Footprint assessment at municipality level, based on the case study of Haninge municipality in Sweden. In the study, a Greenhouse Gas inventory of Haninge is developed and it is discussed how the municipality can reduce its Carbon Footprint. The Carbon Footprint of Haninge is estimated to be more than 338,225 tonnesCO2eq, and 4.5 tonnes CO2eq per capita. These numbers are twice as large as the production-based emissions, which are estimated to be 169,024 tonnes CO2eq in total, and approximately 2.3 tonnes CO2eq per capita. Among them the most important parts are emissions caused by energy use, and indirect emissions caused by local private consumption. It is worth noting that a large proportion of emissions occur outside Haninge as a result of local consumption. Intensive use of biomass for heat production and electricity from renewable sources and nuclear power have significantly reduced the climate impact of Haninge. The major barrier for Carbon Footprint accounting at municipality level is lack of local statistics. In the case of Sweden, several databases providing emission statistics are used in the research, including KRE, RUS, NIR and Environmental Account.


Cushion foam sheets, made from different blends of wheat starch, were developed with a co-rotating twin-screw extruder machine and compared to commercial plastic foam cushions. An experimental study was developed to identify the effect of three ingredients: glycerol, gluten, and sodium bicarbonate on the bulk expansion, the cellular structure and the mechanical properties of the resulted foams. The experiments showed that the properties of the resulted foams were affected by the formulation. Foams with high level of glycerol and gluten content had lower densities and higher expansion ratio, cell size area, and cell wall thickness than blends with high level of sodium bicarbonate, which had better mechanical strength but less elasticity and shock absorption. The extruded materials had shown their suitability for cushioning use by having comparable physical properties with the commercial plastic foams. The dynamic cushion curve test indicated that the starch-based foam sheets provided good shock absorption properties. They had lower and larger deceleration peak than the expandable polyethylene foams we tested.


Stripe rust, caused by the biotrophic fungus Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is one of the most widespread and destructive wheat diseases worldwide. Growing resistant cultivars is an effective approach for controlling this disease. However, because host resistance genes were easily overcome by new virulent Pst races, there is a continuous demand for identifying new effective wheat stripe rust resistance genes and develop closely linked markers for marker-assisted selection (MAS). Baidatou, an old Chinese wheat landrace, has been grown for several decades in Longnan region, Gansu Province, where stripe rust epidemics are frequent and severe. In our previous study, a single dominant gene YrBai in Baidatou was identified to control the adult-plant resistance (APR) to Chinese prevalent Pst race CYR33. And the gene was located on wheat chromosome 6DS by four polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) and two sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers, with the genetic distances of two closely linked markers 3.6 and 5.4 cM, respectively. To further confirm the APR gene in Baidatou and construct the high-density map for the resistance gene, adult plants of F1, F2, F3, and F5:6 populations derived from the cross Mingxian169/Baidatou and two parents were inoculated with CYR33 at Yangling field, Shaanxi Province during 2014–2015, 2015–2016, and 2016–2017 crop seasons, respectively. The field evaluation results indicated that a single dominant gene confers the APR to Pst race CYR33 in Baidatou. 92 F3 lines and parents were sequenced using DArTseq technology based on wheat GBS1.0 platform, and 31 genetic maps consisted of 2,131 polymorphic SilicoDArT and 952 SNP markers spanning 4,293.94 cM were constructed. Using polymorphic SilicoDArT, SNP markers and infection types (ITs) data of F3 lines, the gene YrBai was further located in 0.8 cM region on wheat chromosome 6D. These closely linked markers developed in this study should be useful for MAS for Baidatou in crop improvement and map-based clone this gene.


Purpose:To identify the gene causing rod-cone dystrophy/amelogenesis imperfecta
Methods:Homozygosity mapping was performed using the Affymetrix 50K XbaI array in one family and candidate genes in the linked interval were sequenced with ABI Dye Terminator, vers. 1 in the index patient of 3 families. The identified mutations were screened in normal control individuals. Expression analyses were performed on RNA extracted from the brain, various parts of the eye and teeth; immunostaining was done on mouse eyes and jaw and knock-down experiments were carried out in zebrafish embroys.
Results:Sequencing the coding regions of ancient conserved domain protein 4 (CNNM4), a metal ions transporter, revealed a 1-base pair duplication (p.L438fs) in family A, a p.R236Q mutation in family B and a p.L324P in family C. All these mutations were homozygous and involved very conserved amino acids in paralogs and orthologs. Immunostaining and RT-PCR confirmed that CNNM4 was strongly expressed in various parts of the eye and in the teeth. Morpholino experiments in zebrafish showed a loss of ganglion cells at 5 days post fertilization.
Conclusions:The rod-cone dystrophy/amelogenesis imperfecta syndrome is caused by mutation in CNNM4 and is due to aberrant metal ion homeostasis.


Patient was an 80 year old woman with dyspepsia. An upper endoscopy showed confluent polypoid lesions in the second portion of the duodenum. A histological study showed a follicular B-cell lymphoma. This is a rare low grade neoplasm of duodenum which must be differentiated from follicular reactive hyperplasia and other lymphomas.


One in four adults over the age of 60 suffers from diabetes. Around 85%-90% of individuals who have diabetes suffer from Type II diabetes. The prevalence of individuals with diabetes is expected to increase. This paper addresses the influence spousal support, friend support, and religion all have on diabetes mellitus. Gender difference in relation to spousal support benefits has also received limited attention. The limited amount of studies that have examined gender differences in relation to spousal support and diabetes management indicate that diabetic men benefit the most from spousal support due to their wives active involvement in meal preparation and grocery shopping. The results showed that neither spousal support nor religious salience was significantly related to diabetes management. There were observed gender differences in religious salience (males = 4.84, females = 5.36, p < .001) and positive spousal support (males = 3.19, females = 3.02, p <.001), but none of the major hypotheses were supported.


Terrorism is affecting all societies and industries. As tourism is implemented throughout the world it has become endangered by its consequences. Security policies are at the centre of the fight against such threat inducing fear from a customer perspective as well as with regards to sustainability risks for stakeholders. Moreover, the impact of policies implemented to counter terrorism on hosts and guests' relationships needs to be addressed. Using the work of poststructuralist Michel Foucault, this thesis focuses on meaning creation, as well as the power relations between actors in the context of tourism experiences. It aims to understand the direct impact of security policies on the meaning creation between actors and to analyse their consequences on the acceptance of tourism in a given destination. Current security policies are increasing unbalanced power relations between hosts and guests, along with the potential alienation of locals towards their identity. Paradoxically, this discourse is creation is re-creating a prolific context for violent political group. Subsequently transforming current security policies into a medium of propagation for these groups' political agenda. This thesis argues that society and the tourism industry in particular need to re-think the scope of security for a better fulfilment of hosts and guests needs. This will enable a long-term pattern of terrorism prevention by focusing on the root causes of terrorism instead of fixing its symptoms. Silent Consequences of Security Thomas Victor Schneider


Machine learning (ML) for biomedical research is one of the fastest growing research areas in the world today. For NLP specifically, free-text healthcare reports are an important resource whose processing can contribute potentially to patient diagnosis, treatment, and management. However, the inability to explain the outputs of ML algorithms is currently a barrier to the use of these models in a clinical setting. We present a method that uses the ontologies and knowledge-bases in the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) to verify and explain the output of biomedical ML models. Our verifier takes as input the results from an ML model, and uses the UMLS to correlate the results of the task with the confidence of the model for each result. We applied this architecture to two tasks using textual cancer pathology reports: ICD-O topography classification, and named entity recognition. For the former, we identified that the presence of certain entities in a report is inversely related to the model's confidence values; while, for the latter, we identified categories of errors related to lower confidence values. Our approach, therefore, not only verifies the accuracy of ML model results, but provides explanations that may be used to improve model design


Much of Tchaikovsky's music for the ballets Sleeping Beauty and Nutcracker exhibits what Harald Krebs calls metrical dissonance: the juxtaposition or superimposition of noncoincident pulses and rhythmic patterns. This article shows how the dances of the composer's collaborators, Enrico Cecchetti, Antonietta Dell'Era, Lev Ivanov, and Marius Petipa, respond to and participate in these metrical dissonances. The first part of the article defines metrical dissonance, the processes that transform it, and the related but distinct phenomenon of metric type. The second part presents four choreomusical analyses that draw on archival dance notation and videos of present-day performances.


Lanthanum-modified lead zirconate-titanate (PLZT5/54/46) powders were prepared from the commercial PbO, La2O3, TiO2 and ZrO2 powders by high-energy ball milling process. The synthesized powders milled for different hours were characterized using XRD and SEM. Thedesigned PLZT perovskite phase was formed from the mixture of the starting materials after milling for 20 hours. PLZT(5/54/46) ceramics were obtained using the produced powders milled for 20 h followed by sintering at temperatures ranging from 1000 to1200°C. Ferroelectric property of the PLZT ceramics was also measured.


In nano precision technology, actuating along the vertical axis is a special challenge because of the permanent gravitational force. In this paper, the development of an integrated guiding and actuation element for the vertical motion is presented.
A pneumatic-cylinder-like setup is used with its pressure being load controlled, to compensate the gravitational force of the load. An additional electromagnetic drive creates only dynamic forces for the precision motion, keeping the ohmic heat emission to a minimum. For the vertical
guiding an aerostatic bushing is used. The whole setup sits on a planar aerostatic bearing pad. Therefore, translational friction can be neglected.
Initial testing results of such a unit are presented and an outlook for future research work is given.


Broadband is widely recognized as a key platform for enabling and supporting job creation, economic development, and innovation in both the short- and long-terms. Many recent policy debates have focused on spurring the deployment of wired broadband networks to unserved parts of the country. While important, these discussions largely overlook the vital role that wireless broadband is playing and will continue to play in delivering critical services and applications to a variety of end-users. This article analyzes the current state of the marketplace and assesses how a variety of sectors of the economy - healthcare, energy, education, and public safety - are leveraging ubiquitous and robust wireless broadband networks to deliver cutting-edge new tools. In order to sustain such high levels of innovation and competition, innovators will require additional spectrum resources to ensure that wireless networks are reliable and capable of providing fast transmission speeds. As such, this article provides an analysis of how the Federal Communications Commission has historically apportioned spectrum and draws best practices for use in today's marketplace. In an effort to prevent a spectrum shortage and provide policymakers with guidance as they approach these issues, this article concludes by articulating a series of recommendations for use by policymakers. Combined with the best practices, these policy recommendations seek to ensure meaningful policy making as stakeholders aim to position the wireless sector for continued success.


Ambiguity, the state in which alternative interpretations are plausible or even desirable, is an inexorable part of complex sensemaking. Its challenges are compounded when analysis involves risk, is constrained, and needs to be shared with others. We report on several studies with avalanche forecasters that illuminated these challenges and identified how visualization designs can better support ambiguity. Like many complex analysis domains, avalanche forecasting relies on highly heterogeneous and incomplete data where the relevance and meaning of such data is context-sensitive, dependant on the knowledge and experiences of the observer, and mediated by the complexities of communication and collaboration. In this paper, we characterize challenges of ambiguous interpretation emerging from data, analytic processes, and collaboration and communication and describe several management strategies for ambiguity. Our findings suggest several visual analytics design approaches that explicitly address ambiguity in complex sensemaking around risk.


This paper investigates network-based fuzzy static output feedback tracking control for Van der Pol's oscillators using positive effects of network-induced delays. Taking network-induced delays into account, the network-based nonlinear control system is modeled as an asynchronous T-S fuzzy system with an interval time-varying delay. A discontinuous complete Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and a new relaxation method involving the asynchronous constraints on membership functions are proposed to derive some delay-dependent criteria on H∞ tracking performance analysis and controller design of the asynchronous fuzzy system. The effectiveness of the proposed method is shown by a numerical example.


Several methods exist to eliminate the contribution of scattered photons during imaging. One of these, the channel ratio (CR) scatter correction technique, uses the change in the ratio of counts from two symmetrical adjacent energy windows straddling the energy photopeak. The accuracy of the results depends upon the assumption that the ratio of the scatter components in the two windows (H value) is constant and is independent of the relative size of the scatter contribution. In this study a Monte Carlo simulation was used to investigate the behaviour of the scatter component for different source sizes at different depths. Four disc sources containing a 99Tcm solution were simulated at different depths as imaged with a scintillation camera. Two 10% energy windows with 5% offsets to either side of the 140 keV photopeak of 99Tcm were used. The ratio of the scattered counts in the lower energy window to the scattered counts in the upper window (true H value) was determined from the simulation for each source at every depth. Since it is impossible to measure the true H value at different organ depths during a clinical study, the use of an average H value was considered. Scatter correction was applied to the images simulated at the various depths in water. The geometric mean was calculated and attenuation correction performed assuming mono-exponential attenuation. For quantitation purposes the corrected counts were expressed in terms of a references source. The choice of the reference source yielding the best quantitative results was also investigated. Results of this Monte Carlo simulation study show that although the true H value depends on both source size and depth of the source in the scattering medium, the CR scatter correction technique can be applied successfully when an average H value is used.


Androgens are important regulators of body composition and promote myogenic differentiation and inhibit adipogenesis of mesenchymal, multipotent cells. Here, we investigated the mechanisms by which androgens induce myogenic differentiation of mesenchymal multipotent cells. Incubation of mesenchymal multipotent C3H 10T1/2 cells with testosterone and dihydrotestosterone promoted nuclear translocation of androgen receptor (AR)/beta-catenin complex and physical interaction of AR, beta-catenin, and T-cell factor-4 (TCF-4). Inhibition of beta-catenin by small inhibitory RNAs significantly decreased testosterone-induced stimulation of myogenic differentiation. Overexpression of TCF-4, a molecule downstream of beta-catenin in Wnt signaling cascade, in C3H 10T1/2 cells significantly up-regulated expression of myoD and myosin heavy chain II proteins and of follistatin (Fst), which binds and antagonizes native ligands of the TGF-beta/Smad pathway. Gene array analysis of C3H 10T1/2 cells treated with testosterone revealed that testosterone up-regulated the expression of Fst and modified the expression of several signaling molecules involved in the TGF-beta/Smad pathway, including Smad7. Lowering of testosterone levels in mice by orchidectomy led to a significant decrease in Fst and Smad7 expression; conversely, testosterone supplementation in castrated mice up-regulated Fst and Smad7 mRNA expression in androgen-responsive levator ani muscle. Testosterone-induced up-regulation of MyoD and myosin heavy chain II proteins in C3H 10T1/2 cells was abolished in cells simultaneously treated with anti-Fst antibody, suggesting an essential role of Fst during testosterone regulation of myogenic differentiation. In conclusion, our data suggest the involvement of AR, beta-catenin, and TCF-4 pathway during androgen action to activate a number of Wnt target genes, including Fst, and cross communication with the Smad signaling pathway.


Multi-gate-length (MGL) and dual-gate-length (DGL) biasing techniques are investigated for timing constraint-aware active mode leakage power reduction of VLSI circuits. Key design and technology characteristics essential for leakage reduction are identified and utilized to carry out a Monte-Carlo-based study to benchmark MGL against DGL over different design styles and various technologies. Extensive results indicate that MGL offers generally modest to small advantage over DGL. Novel analytical models have been developed to describe leakage reduction capability of DGL/MGL and reveal its dependences on key design/technology characteristics to quantitatively assess the cost-benefit trade-off of implementing DGL/MGL1.


This research explores the complex, multifaceted and contested subject of risk in the film business. The context is predominantly the UK independent film sector, although this is linked to, and affected by, the activity of major media companies, the international marketplace and other audiovisual sectors such as high-end television (HETV).


In this Letter, we propose a method to study the nature of resonant relaxation in near-Keplerian systems. Our technique is based on measuring the fractal dimension of the angular momentum trails and we use it to analyse the outcome of N-body simulations. With our method, we can reliably determine the time-scale for resonant relaxation, as well as the rate of change of angular momentum in this regime. We find that growth of angular momentum is more rapid than random walk, but slower than linear growth. We also determine the presence of long-term correlations arising from the bounds on angular momentum growth. We develop a toy model that reproduces all essential properties of angular momentum evolution.


We use matched, bank-level panel data on Libor submissions and credit default swaps to decompose bank-funding spreads at several maturities into components reflecting counterparty credit risk and funding-market liquidity. To account for the possibility that banks may strategically misreport their funding rates in the Libor survey, we nest our decomposition within a model of the costs and benefits of lying. We find that Libor spreads typically consist mostly of a liquidity premium and that this premium declined at short maturities following Federal Reserve interventions in bank funding markets. At longer maturities, credit risk explains much of the time variation in Libor, reflecting in part fluctuations in the degree to which default risk is priced in the interbank market. Our results are consistent with banks both under- and over-reporting their funding costs during the crisis but suggest that the incidence of this behavior may have subsequently declined.


Husserl, in his work The Phenomenology of Internal Time-Consciousness, developed ideas concerning a process of object formation called temporalizing space. He affirmed that by such a process, lived experience can be perceived as a sign of objective reality. Throughout the late century, phenomenologists have applied Husserl's notion of internal  time to justify the work of art in relation to truth. This can be extended to the architectural field, where the phenomenological theory of perception has been related to the idea of building and dwelling. Even as Husserl's work has been frequently challenged, his approach to time consciousness is still valuable in approaching the question of how objective reality be constituted through a piece of architecture.


Fixed-point C language is proposed for convenient and efficient programming of fixed-point digital signal processors. This language has a 'fix' data type that can have an individual integer wordlength according to the range of a variable. It can add or subtract two data having different integer wordlengths by automatically inserting shift operations. The accuracy of the fixed-point multiply operation is significantly increased by storing the upper part of the multiplied double-precision result instead of keeping the lower part as in the integer multiplication. The quantization noise resulting from fixed-point arithmetic is significantly reduced when compared with conventional integer programs. The execution speed is much, nearly 20 times, faster than a floating-point C program in fixed-point digital signal processors.


The scientific debate on longevity and its determinants is lively and involves researchers from different disciplines. Finding a clear cut explanation for why some people live longer than others is not an easy task as longevity proves to be connected to more than one factor. Moreover, variables that are shown to be significant for longer survival in certain populations are not always relevant to individuals of other populations. Recently, researchers have identified in Sardinia the Blue Zone (BZ), thus denominated due to the significant number of cases of centenarians recorded as well as a low sex ratio value. This points to an exceptional favourable longevity of males when compared with the expected values in developed countries. A village located in this area was selected for the carrying out of a more detailed analysis at individual level and socio-demographic determinants of longevity were examined. A family reconstructed database was created using a multi-source approach, as this data collection strategy allowed for careful cross-checking of the data, thus guaranteeing data of high quality as well as an exceptionally high level of coverage of known survival. Historical data was therefore used to study today's population, establishing a unique bridge between historical demography and the current level of longevity. The study focused on survival of newborns in the selected village during a period of 50 years – from 1866 to 1915 – and also took into consideration information on related family members. Each individual included in the database was followed from birth to death, as he/she went through marriage and family formation. Complete survival of all newborns was observed until the present. Based on careful review of the existing literature, the empirical model considered factors such as sex differential, the contribution of familial transmission both in terms of genes, biological, and shared environment, and the role played by environment operationalised considering early-life conditions. Concepts were organized into a life-course approach for survival analysis. The analysis of the data enabled to the estimation of mortality trajectories, which in turn confirmed the exceptional longevity of the population understudy and in particular of males. The investigation of differential survival among members of the same community brought to light the relevance of certain familial variables on survival, which are not exclusively genetic. The results achieved open the way to further studies.


The structure of mechanical equipment becomes increasingly complex, and tough environments under which it works often make bearings and gears subject to failure. However, effective extraction of useful feature information submerged in strong noise that is indicative of structural defects has remained a major challenge. Therefore, an adaptive multiscale noise control enhanced stochastic resonance (SR) method based on modified ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) for mechanical fault diagnosis is proposed in the paper. According to the oscillation characteristics of signal itself, the algorithm of modified EEMD can adaptively decompose the fault signals into different scales and it reduces the decomposition levels to improve calculation efficiency of the proposed method. Through filter processing with the constructed filters, the orthogonality of adjacent intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) can be improved, which is conducive to enhancing the extraction of weak features from strong noise. The constructed signal obtained by using IMFs is inputted into the SR system, and the noise control parameter of different scales is optimized and selected with the help of the genetic algorithm, thus achieving the enhancement extraction of weak features. Finally, simulation experiments and engineering application of bearing fault diagnosis demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method.


Immense product choices, the complexity, and enormous amount of information available
on business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce site challenge customers' limited
information processing capabilities, and identifying a product which fits their need is not
an easy job. There is also consumers' dilemma of wanting to have more information on
the one hand and being overloaded with too much information on the other hand.
Therefore, to help consumers deal with this dilemma, e-retailers are increasingly
equipping their e-commerce sites with distinct product recommender systems to provide
highly personalized product recommendations, and assistance in searching, comparing,
and evaluating product information. The online product recommendation (OPR) also
consisting of past consumer recommendations in the form of product ratings and reviews,
which pursued the customers to buy recommended products. It subsequently can be
resulted in higher consumer spending and improved retention rate. However, drawing
benefits out of these advantages depends on whether and to what extent consumers
embrace and fully utilise OPR. The current percentage of Amazon sales based on OPR
usage indicated that a large proportion of online consumers are not using OPR for their
online buying decision given the fact that they have not yet developed trust in OPR.
Nevertheless, no matter how useful OPR is, a critical issue is whether consumers accept
and continue OPR use. This is an important yet neglected issue in existing OPR research.
Therefore, the current study develops an integrated research model to investigate salient
determinants of OPR continuous usage intention and to understand how they influence
the dependent variable. With regards to that, this study specifies four research issues. First, to identify the factors that can be used as surrogate measure of OPR performance in terms of OPR usage outcomes. Second, to identify the factors that measure the consumers' OPR evaluation beliefs in terms of their instrumental, social-psychological, and affective beliefs. Third,
to ascertain how the consumers' perception of OPR performance influences their
behavioural intention towards OPR continuous usage. Fourth, to examine the impact of
OPR evaluation factors on consumers' perception of OPR performance. However, four
theoretical models; IS continuance model, effort-accuracy model, theory of trust
formation, and flow theory, were adopted and integrated to describe the causal linkages
between the determinants of OPR performance and OPR continuous usage intention.
Subsequently, six main hypotheses were developed and tested based on the integrated
research model. A questionnaire that reflects the research constructs is developed to collect the primary
data for this study. The data were collected from 626 Amazon customers who have used
OPR for their buying decision over at least six months. Since this study is quantitative
with a deductive approach, it employs Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation
Modelling (PLS-SEM) to validate and confirm research model by testing the relationships
that were hypothesized. The findings of this study provide empirical evidences on the
salient determinants of OPR continuous usage intention. The PLS results showed that all
evaluation factors (i.e. ease of use, usefulness, confirmation, trust, and enjoyment) have
statistically proven significant impact on OPR performance, except perceived ease of use.
Furthermore, the study findings approve the influence of OPR performance on
consumers' OPR continuous usage intention for future buying decision. The findings
indicated that consumers' perceived decision effort, decision quality, and satisfaction
representing OPR performance are direct determinants of OPR continuous usage
intention and indirect measure of actual OPR continuous usage behaviours. Finally,
research implications, limitations, and future researches are highlighted.


Participants wore a smartphone, which collected GPS, audio, accelerometry and image data, in a pouch around their necks for a period of two weeks. After a retention interval of one week, they were asked to judge the specific day on which each of a selection of images was taken. To account for people's judgements, we proposed a mixture model of four processes uniform guessing, a signal detection process based on decaying memory strength, a week confusion process and a event confusion process in which the sensor streams were used to calculate the similarity of events. A model selection exercise testing all possible subsets of the processes favoured a model that included only the event confusion model. GPS similarities were found to be the most significant predictors, followed by audio and accelerometry similarities and then image similarities.