Wireless sensor networks necessitate a programming model different from those used to develop desktop applications. Typically, resources in terms of power and memory are constrained. C is the most common programming language used to develop applications on very small embedded sensor devices. We claim that C does not provide efficient mechanisms to address the implicit asynchronous nature of sensor sampling. C applications for these devices suffer from a disruption in their control flow. In this paper, we present FlowTalk, a new object-oriented programming language aimed at making software development for wireless embedded sensor devices easier. FlowTalk is an object-oriented programming language in which dynamicity (e.g., object creation) has been traded for a reduction in memory consumption. The event model that traditionally comes from using sensors is adapted in FlowTalk with controlled disruption, a light-weight continuation mechanism. The essence of our model is to turn asynchronous long-latency operations into synchronous and blocking method calls. FlowTalk is built for TinyOS and can be used to develop applications that can fit in 4 KB of memory for a large number of wireless sensor devices.


ABSTRACT Background: Methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) associates with cognitive impulsivity deficits. However, few studies have examined longitudinal changes in cognition, and it remains unclear if deficits resolve during early recovery. Objectives: To compare: (1) cognitive function of individuals with MUD at treatment onset and six-weeks later with controls tested over the same period; (2) cognitive changes in MUD-individuals who remained abstinent versus relapsed. Method: We recruited 108 participants meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for methamphetamine dependence (81 males) and 50 demographically matched controls (38 males); 77 methamphetamine- dependent participants (59 males) and 48 controls (36 males) were retained at follow-up. We administered response inhibition, delay discounting and uncertainty-based decision-making tests at both endpoints. Relapse was defined as methamphetamine concentrations >0.4 ng/mg at follow-up in hair toxicology. Results: We found a significant time-by-group interaction on uncertainty-based decision-making (effect size: η2 = .05), although post-hoc tests to disentangle this interaction yielded inconclusive results (p-range = .14–.40; BF10 -range = 0.43–1.67). There were no significant time-by-group interactions on response inhibition or delay discounting, with the former likely a null effect (η2 -interaction = .003 and .02; BFincl = 0.23 and 0.71). There were no significant differences in cognitive recovery between individuals who maintained abstinence (n = 12) versus relapsed (n = 65) (η2 -range = .003-.04), although evidence was inconclusive toward whether findings reflected true null effects (BFincl -range = 0.33–0.75). Conclusion: We did not find evidence that MUD-related cognitive impulsivity deficits improve beyond practice effects over 6 weeks. Findings do not support previous, albeit conflicting, evidence of early recovery of cognitive deficits in MUD.


Mixing of analytes and reagents is a critical step in realizing a lab-on-a-chip. However, mixing of liquids is very difficult in continuous flow microfluidics due to laminar flow conditions. An alternative mixing strategy is presented based on the discretization of liquids into droplets and further manipulation of those droplets by electrowetting. The interfacial tensions of the droplets are controlled with the application of voltage. The droplets act as virtual mixing chambers, and mixing occurs by transporting the droplet across an electrode array. We also present an improved method for visualization of mixing where the top and side views of mixing are simultaneously observed. Microliters of liquid droplets are mixed in less than five seconds, which is an order of magnitude improvement in reported mixing times of droplets. Flow reversibility hinders the process of mixing during linear droplet motion. This mixing process is not physically confined and can be dynamically reconfigured to any location on the chip to improve the throughput of the lab-on-a-chip.


The formation of cracks in concrete is a normal phenomenon. However, effective control and prevention of the formation of cracks is the key for successful life of concrete structures. Specifically, cracks represent a path of least resistance for moisture and corrosive ionic agents from de-icing salts to reach embedded steel in concrete. Commercial wireless sensor networks utilizing crack gauge sensors can be applied for crack monitoring in the common concrete structure. The crack sensors circuits' boards, which are used to stimulate the cracks, are currently unavailable for the SG-Link module platform. The SG-Link module is an ultra-low-power module for use in sensor networks, monitoring applications and rapid application prototyping. Therefore, a crack sensor circuit board for the SG-Link module platform has been developed. The development of a smart wireless sensor network for the crack monitoring system is divided into four parts: a crack gauge sensor, signal conditioning, the SG-Link module, and a base station unit. The signal conditioning module consists of a crack gauge sensor, a wheatstone bridge, an amplifier, and a filter. The SG-Link module consists of an analog to digital converter (ADC), a microcontroller unit (MCU), and a transmitter with an antenna. The base station unit includes an antenna and a receiver module connected to the base station or computer. In this study, cracks are monitored based on the change of the electrical resistance between the sensor's two terminals that are taken from the simulation model of the crack sensor board consisting of a crack gauge sensor and signal conditioning. This thesis looked at the effectiveness of a wireless system for crack monitoring in concrete structures. Tests were conducted in a laboratory to monitor the cracks in the structures and explore the validity and reliability of the monitoring mechanism and data transmission.


This article analyzes the 2012 case of Blueford v. Arkansas. Blueford was tried for murder for allegedly shaking his girlfriend's baby to death. He claimed that it was an accident. He was tried for capital murder (death penalty waived), first degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide. The jury was told to consider the charges in order of seriousness, beginning with capital murder, and not moving on to first degree murder until it had reached a conclusion on capital murder, etc. After a time the jury announced that it could not reach a verdict. The judge asked the status of the case and the foreman announced that they had unanimously agreed that it was not capital murder or first degree murder but were hung 9-3 for conviction on manslaughter. After further consideration they were still hung and the judge declared a mistrial under "manifest necessity" without further discussing the status of the negotiations. The Court held that it was OK to retry Blueford for capital and first degree murder because, despite the foreman's announcement, there had been no final resolution of those charges.


This paper deals with deposition of aluminum nitride layer on different underlayers namely silicon (100), amorphous thermal silicon dioxide, and titanium (001). The aluminum nitride layer was deposited using 3-grid radio frequency inductive coupled plasma (RFICP) Kaufman ion-beam source which provides slow deposition rate with low energy of plasma ions. This possibility leads to high homogeneity and very smooth surface. Titanium layer was deposited by argon plasma at low energy of 200 eV to attain the highly oriented c-axis layer. The aluminum nitride was sputtered on substrate which was heated to 350 °C. The nitrogen plasma only at energy of 500 eV was used. It was observed the aluminum nitride deposited on thermal silicon dioxide has the highest root mean square of roughness (RRMS) = 1.49 nm and the lowest intensity of X-ray diffraction in Bragg-Brentano focusing geometry (XRD–BB). The aluminum nitride deposited on silicon (100) shows higher intensity of XRD–BB and the lowest RRMS = 0.48 nm. Although the RRMS = 0.66 nm of aluminum nitride thin film deposited on titanium (001) underlayer was obtained, the highest intensity of XRD– BB was observed. Azimuthally averaged intensity of pole figures obtained using parallel beam setup represents the information about misorientation of individual crystallites. These analyses were performed for aluminum nitride layers deposited on titanium (001) film and silicon (100) wafer. Misorientation determined from full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the pole figures was of about 0.5° lower for aluminum nitride thin film deposited on titanium underlayer than one deposited directly on silicon substrate without silicon dioxide.


We show that gravitational Chern–Simons corrections, associated with the σ-model anomaly on the M5-brane worldvolume, can resolve the M2-brane solution with Ricci-flat, special holonomy transverse space. We explicitly find smooth solutions in the cases when the transverse space is a manifold of Spin(7) holonomy and SU(4) holonomy. We comment on the consequences of these results for the holographically related three-dimensional theories living on the worldvolume of a stack of such resolved M2 branes.


Based on the screw theory, the force analysis of the 3-RPS parallel machine is illuminated. Been equivalent to a 6-chain parallel machine, the deformation harmony equation of the parallel machine under the outside generalized force is interpreted. The instantaneous stiffness model of the parallel machine, which includes the change of the force Jacobian matrix, is established. Considering the deviation of the position and orientation of the moving platform, which is resulted from the distortion of the PRS chains of the parallel machine, the influence of the change of the Jacobian matrix to the instantaneous stiffness model of the 3-RPS parallel machine is analyzed, and furthermore, it is verified with an instance.


It is now generally accepted that aging and eventual death of multicellular organisms is to a large extent related to macromolecular damage by mitochondrially produced reactive oxygen species, mostly affecting long-lived postmitotic cells, such as neurons and cardiac myocytes. These cells are rarely or not at all replaced during life and can be as old as the whole organism. The inherent inability of autophagy and other cellular-degradation mechanisms to remove damaged structures completely results in the progressive accumulation of garbage, including cytosolic protein aggregates, defective mitochondria, and lipofuscin, an intralysosomal indigestible material. In this review, we stress the importance of crosstalk between mitochondria and lysosomes in aging. The slow accumulation of lipofuscin within lysosomes seems to depress autophagy, resulting in reduced turnover of effective mitochondria. The latter not only are functionally deficient but also produce increased amounts of reactive oxygen species, prompting lipofuscinogenesis. Moreover, defective and enlarged mitochondria are poorly autophagocytosed and constitute a growing population of badly functioning organelles that do not fuse and exchange their contents with normal mitochondria. The progress of these changes seems to result in enhanced oxidative stress, decreased ATP production, and collapse of the cellular catabolic machinery, which eventually is incompatible with survival.


Temporal bone CT images obtained on a photon-counting detector CT scanner were rated as having superior spatial resolution and more critical structure visualization than those obtained on a conventional energy-integrating detector scanner, even with a substantial dose reduction. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Photon-counting detector CT is a new technology with a limiting spatial resolution of ≤150 μm. In vivo comparisons between photon-counting detector CT and conventional energy-integrating detector CT are needed to determine the clinical impact of photon counting-detector CT in temporal bone imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospectively recruited patients underwent temporal bone CT examinations on an investigational photon-counting detector CT system after clinically indicated temporal bone energy-integrating detector CT. Photon-counting detector CT images were obtained at an average 31% lower dose compared with those obtained on the energy-integrating detector CT scanner. Reconstructed images were evaluated in axial, coronal, and Pöschl planes using the smallest available section thickness on each system (0.4 mm on energy-integrating detector CT; 0.2 mm on photon-counting detector CT). Two blinded neuroradiologists compared images side-by-side and scored them using a 5-point Likert scale. A post hoc reassignment of readers' scores was performed so that the scores reflected photon-counting detector CT performance relative to energy-integrating detector CT. RESULTS: Thirteen patients were enrolled, resulting in 26 image sets (left and right sides). The average patient age was 63.6 [SD, 13.4] years; 7 were women. Images from the photon-counting detector CT scanner were significantly preferred by the readers in all reconstructed planes (P < .001). Photon-counting detector CT was rated superior for the evaluation of all individual anatomic structures, with the oval window (4.79) and incudostapedial joint (4.75) receiving the highest scores on a Likert scale of 1–5. CONCLUSIONS: Temporal bone CT images obtained on a photon-counting detector CT scanner were rated as having superior spatial resolution and better critical structure visualization than those obtained on a conventional energy-integrating detector scanner, even with a substantial dose reduction.


Unavailability of high frequency weekly or daily data compels most studies of price transmission in developing countries to use low frequency monthly data for their analyses. Analysing price dynamics, especially in agricultural markets, with monthly data may however yield imprecise price adjustment parameters and lead to wrong inferences on price dynamics. This is because agricultural markets in developing countries usually operate daily or weekly, not monthly, as implied by the market analysts who use low frequency data. This paper investigates the relevance of data frequency in price transmission analysis by using a standard and a threshold vector error correction model to estimate and compare price adjustment parameters for high frequency semi-weekly data and low frequency monthly data obtained from five major fresh tomato markets in Ghana. The results reveal that adjustment parameters estimated from the low frequency data are higher in all cases than those estimated from the high frequency data. There is reason to suspect that using low frequency data, as confirmed in some literature, leads to an overestimation of the price adjustment parameters. More research involving a large number of observations is however needed to enhance our knowledge about the usefulness of high frequency data in price transmission analysis.


The thesis defends a form of contextual dialogical multiculturalism as necessary to the important task of achieving cross-cultural understanding. In response to the simplified accounts of culture found within abstract liberal theory and "strong" multiculturalism, the thesis develops a position that responds to the deep reality of difference and the embeddedness of persons within different horizons, whilst at the same time sensitised to the dynamic and internally diverse nature of cultural and religious communities. Engaging with claims within contemporary debates that multiculturalism segregates communities, it is argued that a form of multicultural integration is necessary to foster connection between groups. Through appeal to a range of literature, including Anglo- Indian imaginative literature and feminist discussions of culture, the thesis develops a more subtle and nuanced understanding of culture and identity as characterised by change and continuity. Using the insights of Gadamer's hermeneutic position and the feminist "world travelling" approach, it is argued that cross-cultural understanding and dialogue can be reached only through complex recognition of the situated position from which the self and the other speak. Gadamer's metaphor of an evolving "fusion of horizons" is invoked to illustrate the ability of a dialogical contextual position to mediate a path between moral relativism and abstract universalism. The compatibility of a culturally sensitive approach with a situated universalism is illustrated through discussion of the culture of human rights, which is seen as a powerful example of universalism constructed through dialogue.


Ultrasonic systems based on a pulse time-of-flight estimation have been widely used for determining the two-dimensional position and orientation of mobile robots inside a room. The problems with existing systems, that use constant-frequency emissions, are mainly related to potential confusion of echoes from previous or subsequent pulses, those of other systems, or from other objects. This paper presents an ultrasonic system combining frequency-modulated emissions and correlation detection for time-of-flight estimation from the noisy echoes in real-time based on a digital polarity correlator where both input signals are infinitely clipped and converted to binary representations before correlation. The digital signal processing system is integrated into a single programmable logic device. Some experimental results are presented, and an analysis of the performance of distance measurement is carried out. The system can be easily adapted for sonar systems for robot navigation.


A novel 3D terrain matching method based on 3D Zernike moments is presented in this paper. In the method, 3D Zernike moments which are one-to-one correspondence with the 3D terrain are proposed to represent the reference DEM and recovered DEM (REM) from real-time data to convert 3D terrain matching to 3D Zernike moments feature vectors matching. The matching is divided into coarse and fine matching two steps. In the coarse matching, the matching window glides to 5 pixels as step size, lower order 3D Zernike moments are adopted as the 3D terrain feature. Fine matching is at coarse matching foundation to process, namely we only make fine matching to three superior coarse matching positions and their nearby regions, the matching window glides to 1 pixels as step size, higher order 3D Zernike moments are adopted as the 3D terrain feature. The similar degree of two pieces of terrain is measured by the Camberra distance of the 3D Zernike moments of them, the more small Camberra distance is, the more alike two pieces of terrain is, vice versa. The proposed matching method is based on surface feature, comparing with based on point feature and line feature, it possesses higher successful matching probability and higher location accuracy and stronger robust to noise. The theories and experiments prove above conclusions.


Passive samplers were deployed across Cleveland, OH and Chicago, IL to evaluate the spatial variability of airborne PCBs in urban areas. We measured SigmaPCB concentrations, the sum of 151 congeners or congener groups quantified using tandem mass spectrometry, spatial distributions, and congener profiles in two urban areas in the Great Lakes region. Mean SigmaPCB concentrations were significantly different between Cleveland (1.73 +/- 1.16 ng m(-3)) and Chicago (1.13 +/- 0.58 ng m(-3)) during the August 2008 sampling period. Mean congener profiles were compared with commercial Aroclor mixtures and found to be similar to Aroclor 1242 in Cleveland and similar to a mixture of 1242 and 1254 in Chicago. We observed large spatial variation in concentrations and weak or no significant autocorrelation between sites in both cities. "Hot spots" of high SigmaPCB concentrations were identified in both urban areas and the congener profiles at these locations were most strongly correlated to that of PCB Aroclor mixtures. Congener profiles showed important differences including the enrichment of dioxin-like congeners in Chicago.


The current investigates the debate of OR as a science or technology. Operations Research is a set of methods (methodologies) with the aim of improving decision making in organizations and hence is of great importance in both academic and practical fields in the entire world. The main question of the paper is that why such a debate is important? Does it make any difference realizing OR as science or technology in its aim of improving decision making in organizations? If it makes any difference, what it will be? This paper first reviews the evidence of the parties in conflict and then analyses the importance of considering or as a science/technology and its implications in the future of the discipline. Finally some recommendation is presented for the policy makers of the science and technology in Iran.


We study the effect of residential segregation on fertility for the socially excluded and marginalized Roma ethnic minority. Using original survey data we collected in Serbia, we investigate whether fertility differs between ethnically homogeneous and mixed neighbor- hoods. Our results show that Roma in less segregated areas tend to have significantly fewer children (around 0.9). Most of the difference arises from Roma in less segregated areas waiting substantially more after having a boy than their counterparts in more segregated areas. We account for the endogeneity of the level of segregation using (il)legal possibility to build in the area at the time of its creation as an instrument. We find that the true gap due to segregation is actually larger than that estimated by OLS (around 1.4). We finally provide evidence that exposure to the Serbian majority culture is the main mechanism at play, as opposed to differences in opportunity cost of time, migration patterns, family arrangements and returns to education.


In light of the ever changing composition of the Earth's atmosphere and the consequences of ultraviolet (UV) radiation for the biological environment, it is important to be able to determine the specific ultraviolet radiation levels that reach plants and humans on the Earth's surface. Dosimetry is a technique that is commonly employed to measure UV exposures to an object or subject. Miniaturised dosimeters using polysulphone have previously been used to measure received surface exposures by plants and humans, for exposure periods of up to one day. Larger dosimeters using polyphenylene oxide (PPO) as the photoactive material have successfully recorded UV exposures for up to seven days. A combination of a miniaturised dosimeter with PPO as the photoactive material has been developed in this research. An examination of the miniaturised PPO dosimeter for: the dark reaction, repeatability of measurement, dose response and the cosine response was completed. Two field tests comparing change in absorbance measurements for both large and miniaturised dosimeters were also undertaken. The results show the miniaturised PPO dosimeter to have the same dosimeter characteristics as the larger dosimeter and to provide results in the field consistent with those of the larger dosimeters. Consequently the miniaturised PPO dosimeters can be employed to evaluate the biologically effective UV to plants and humans. Successfully characterising the miniaturised PPO dosimeters allows greater number of measurements and increased potential for a wide range of environments to be tested in a cheaper and more time and measurement efficient way. Current research indicates that the financial cost of damage caused by UVB is extensive. Costs are incurred due to skin cancer in humans and reduced crop yields. Development of methods that allow for greater accuracy in recording specific radiation exposures will benefit society by providing information that enables action to be taken to reduce the future impact of UV radiation.


The microstructure evolution of sputtered polycrystalline Ni54.75Mn13.25Fe7Ga25 ferromagnetic shape memory thin film annealed under different conditions is studied. Microstructure of different annealed films was studied using Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and corresponding selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns. The result shows that in the microstructure of as-deposited Ni54.75Mn13.25Fe7Ga25 free-standing film, after annealed at 1073 K for different time, the crystalline grain grows up with the increase of the annealing time. By analysis of the SAED patterns, the structure of the thin films change from face-centered cubic austenite to orthorhombic structure martensite compared between the film annealed at 1073 K for 10 mins, 1hr, 4 hrs, and 24 hrs respectively. It indicated that the heat treatment is an effective method of crystallizing behavior for the thin film.


International student migration makes a significant contribution to higher education in the United Kingdom (UK). They comprise a fifth of all students in the sector, and account for 14 per cent of universities' total income in 2017/18. Yet these students' impact on the UK is far more profound than simply adding a revenue stream to the university sector. Their cultural, social and economic contributions are less easy to quantify but no less important and enriching. Three quarters of international students are from non-EU countries with China sending the single most students to the UK. However, West Africa, and Nigeria in particular, is responsible for 2 per cent of the overall number of international students and is positioned joint sixth in the top ten of sending countries. Many of these student-migrants, in supplementing their finances to fund their studies in the UK, undertake employment. Temporary and/or part-time employment is integral to the student-migrant experience, despite the express purpose of their admission into the UK designated for study purposes and not work. This explicit object is reflected in restrictions affixed to international students' employment rights whilst studying; they are generally restricted to a maximum of 20 hours of work per week during term time and proscribed from working full-time or as independent contractors. Given the scant regard this topic has received in the existing literature, this study offers an examination of students' lived employment experiences under these rules. There is a dearth of insight and knowledge available on students' everyday mobilities as transnational actors, and those studies which do offer some insights are inherently fragmented. This is pertinent because any bid, albeit by the state or Higher Education Institutions, to improve the holistic experiences of international students in the UK is best served when informed by nuanced empirical accounts of their subjective experiences within specified contexts, including temporary employment. More so, considering the significant economic and socio-cultural benefits of their presence, this insight is integral to efforts towards attracting more international students to the country and strengthening the UK's position as a prime study destination. This study adopts a qualitative methodology through interviews and ethnographic observations with cohorts of international student workers from sub-Saharan Africa to present a holistic picture of the lived experiences, through employment practices, of this group of student-migrant-workers. The study aims to offer contributions to the existing body of literature in two principal ways. First, it accounts for the employment experiences of student-migrants through the analytical framework of 'precarity' by examining the various manifestations of insecurity in the students' lived realities, nuanced by structures of migration control and labour market temporalities. I discover that these students are forced to contend with intersecting forms of insecurities in their labour market encounters. This reifies their dependence on certain forms of employment and relationships, and renders them increasingly susceptible to unfavourable work conditions including low pay, exploitation, discrimination and abuse. I conclude this aspect of the study by advancing an argument that Higher Education Institutions, as the primary sponsors of these students, must do more to forearm them with candid insights on what to expect of the temporary employment market, and furnish them with a comprehensive knowledge of their accruable employment rights. For the second contribution, adopting the socio-legal schema of legal consciousness, this study considers the student-migrants' relationship with the law by way of the legal restrictions on their employment and interrogate their agency in their efforts to derogate from these rules. These derogations are conceptualised as 'semi-legality', an analytical construct that marks an indeterminate halfway point between utter illegality and compliance, as it applies to labour. I find that there are two discernible plots towards enabling semi-legal employment and evading detection thereof. The first involves the students undertaking work with different employers simultaneously, meanwhile the second entails students contracting for work through the use of private limited companies as a trading structure. I argue that the specifics of the student's violation of visa rules has profound distinctive implications for their legal consciousness disposition and more so the manner in which they simultaneously resist and make recourse to the law and its institutions towards resolving workplace grievances


Founded in the early 1980s, the Resource Center of the Americas was a well-respected and important Minneapolis institution. Yet when the Resource Center was quite abruptly forced to suspend operations due to financial shortfalls in the mid-2000s, the Center's board of directors hired executive director Jason Stone to help determine the future of the organization. This case explores the history of the Resource Center of the Americas and the process the organization used to chart its future. The case requires participants to evaluate the available options for the Resource Center of the Americas, specifically evaluating a merger with the nonprofit organization La Conexion. Is merging with La Conexion the best option for the Resource Center of the Americas? Is the organization's survival worth giving up a vibrant, politically active history and shifting to a more direct service approach? Or is it time to close the Resource Center permanently, preserving the rich history of the organization without altering its mission?


In the process of connected wind generation with the power grid, the classification and recognition of power quality disturbance signals which are researched by the scholars at home and abroad are always the hot issues in Power System. A new method using Fractional Fourier Transform (FRFT) with Wavelet Entropy is presented for recognizing the signals of PQ disturbance based on the characteristics of power quality (PQ) signals. FRFT have better time-frequency aggregation and can choose better domain instead of and make PQ disturbance recognize more accurately with wavelet entropy. Simulation results demonstrate its effectiveness.


The books of Genesis through Second Kings trace a history of Israel from earliest times through the fall of the Southern Kingdom in 586 BCE. In earlier work, I demonstrate that this narrative contains a sophisticated political theory – a systematic analysis which justifies political authority; demonstrates the necessity of law and government; explores the nature of power relations in families; argues that nationhood is the best form of political organization; identifies self-governance, centralized institutions and sovereignty as the essential elements of nationhood; and claims that constitutional monarchy represents the best form of national government. But if the bible contains such a theory, why has it not been identified before now? The reason is that the bible's political theory is embodied in narratives rather than in discursive analysis. The political meaning of the narratives was lost as the bible came to be interpreted from an exclusively spiritual point of view. This paper identifies advantages and disadvantages of narratives and offers conjectures for why Greek thinkers presented their political ideas discursively while the culture of ancient Israel opted to convey abstract ideas in the form of narrative.


In Sri Lanka, women's labor force participation has never exceeded 35% in over three decades. As of 2022, the country was ranked 110 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Index. The gaps in women's participation in the formal economy alongside women's limited political empowerment are two leading causes for the country to be lagging in such global gender equality indicators. At a large cost to the economy, the existence of archaic gender norms that promulgate women's unpaid care work often exclude women from the formal labor force. This paper dissects the socio-economic and socio-political factors that lead to the invisibility of women in Sri Lanka's economy, while seeking to understand how such underlying causes have been aggravated within the precarity of the post-pandemic context. It is important, now more than ever, to recognize the invisibility of women in Sri Lanka's formal economy, while bringing about a transformative vision with a multi-pronged approach to address existing gaps and challenges. With reference to key principles of feminist economics, including the theoretical foundations of Claudia Goldin, Nancy Folbre, and Diane Elson, among others, the paper will make a case for inclusivity and intersectionality in policy recommendations aimed at encouraging women's entry, active engagement, contribution, and retention in Sri Lanka's economy. The paper reaches a conclusion that when women lead, participate, and benefit equally in all aspects of life, societies and economies will thrive, thereby contributing to sustainable development and inclusive economic growth.


Background: Ironically, the hospital which is believed to be a healthy and safe place can be dangerous to health. Pollutants such as particulate matter 2.5 microns (PM₂.₅) can be present in hospital indoor air and may adversely affect the health of the hospital occupants. Objective: Possible sources of indoor PM₂.₅ in an urban tertiary care hospital in the Philippines are identified and apportioned in this study. Methods : PM₂.₅ measurements were conducted in two naturally ventilated wards (NVWs), two mechanically ventilated wards (MVWs), and a roof deck near the hospital. Mass concentrations with analytical uncertainties of thirteen elements (Al, Na, S, Si, Cl, K, Ca, V, Fe, Zn, Br, Hg, Pb) from PM₂.₅ measurements were utilized with Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) receptor model to identify and apportion possible sources of indoor PM₂.₅. Results: In NVWs and MVWs, four types of sources were identified including sodium and chlorine sources, crustal emissions, anthropogenic sulfur sources, and road dust. Cleaning agents used in the hospital were identified as an anthropogenic indoor source of sodium while the other factors mainly came from outdoor sources. Conclusion: The contribution of anthropogenic outdoor pollutants such as road dust and sulfur sources to indoor PM₂.₅ are highlighted in the study. The types of both indoor and outdoor sources of indoor PM₂.₅ can be influenced by the type of ventilation.


The U.S. cattle inventory was at 87.7 million head at the beginning of 2014, the lowest inventory since 1951. Cattle producers have downsized their herds in recent years due to increased incidence of drought and high feed prices. A tight U.S. beef supply coupled with a strong demand for beef are driving beef prices to record highs. Given these conditions, cattle producers will be looking to rebuild their herds in the near future. The beef industry' s rebuilding strategy should reflect consumer desires in order to sustain beef demand. Recent literature suggests a strong consumer focus on beef quality. Quality can embody many factors, but is most often described as the beef sensory characteristics such as flavor, color, tenderness, and juiciness. These characteristics contribute to the consumer's beef eating experience and are largely determined by USDA beef quality grades. Estimating beef demand differentiated by quality grade will help determine the best rebuilding focus for the future of the beef industry.


Abstract This paper presents a model to generate and study Gnutella topology from an original point of view. Instead of using characteristics of the final topology, the network is constructively created from scratch and its connectedness is studied by simulation. As the resultant topology has the same node degree distribution as what has been measured from the true Gnutella and a virus outbreak simulation has shown that the network is not connected, it is argued that the true Gnutella might not be a connected network. To improve the connected ability of the model, a modification on the connection mechanism is proposed and the topological change of the network is studied by simulation. Although the node degree distribution of the resultant topology is deviated from the measurement results, this new connection mechanism can indeed improve the connectedness of the network that is confirmed by the virus outbreak simulation.


Magnetic braking is a long-established application of Lenz's law. A rigorous analysis of the laws governing this problem involves solving Maxwell's equations in a time-dependent situation. Approximate models have been developed to describe different experimental results related to this phenomenon. In this paper we present a new method for the analysis of magnetic braking using a magnet fixed to the glider of an air track. The forces acting on the glider, a result of the eddy currents, can be easily observed and measured. As a consequence of the air track inclination, the glider accelerates at the beginning, although it asymptotically tends towards a uniform rectilinear movement characterized by a terminal speed. This speed depends on the interaction between the magnetic field and the conductivity properties of the air track. Compared with previous related approaches, in our experimental setup the magnet fixed to the glider produces a magnetic braking force which acts continuously, rather than over a short period of time. The experimental results satisfactorily concur with the theoretical models adapted to this configuration.


SYNOPSISSec. I. Introduction.—This contains a brief summary of the principle of reflex visual sensations as discovered by Allen. The author, whose vision is somewhat abnormal, sets out to determine the character of these reflexes for his abnormal vision.Sec. II. Apparatus and Methods of Measurement.—All experiments were performed in a daylight room, using the critical frequency of flicker method. The results, which are quantitative, were obtained by making measurements on pure spectral colors.Sec. III. Normal Curves.—Abnormal vision is shown by the character of the persistency curve, taken under normal conditions of daylight adaptation. The type of curve, which was found to be the same for both eyes, is compared with one for normal vision and one for partial red color blindness.Sec. IV. Reflex Curves.—This contains the descriptions and results of experiments carried out by fatiguing the left eye and making measurements of the changes in the visual response of the right to light from the different parts of the spectrum.The nature of any change in the response was always found to be an enhancement of brightness of the affected colors. Red and green were found to be more susceptible to this reflex enhancement than the violet. Certain colors, .660μ, .505μ, .425μ, and the entire region .520μ to .480μ, showed no reflex transferred to the other eye. The magnitude of the reflex was greatest for fatiguing colors near the ends of the spectrum. The effect of dark adaptation was also transferred to the other eye similarly to fatigue.Sec. V. Fatigue Curves.—This contains descriptions and results of experiments in which the measurements were made on the fatigued eye, the other being always in daylight adaptation.It was found that the red sensation was very difficult to fatigue, but very susceptible to enhancement. The violet showed the reverse character, and the green an intermediate position. No effect was obtained for fatigue colors, .665μ, .589μ, .570μ, and only a small effect for .520μ. The effects of darkness and strong white light are very similar, both showing fatigue characteristics.Sec. VI. The Theoretical Considerations.—The experimental results show that every ray of light produces both a direct and a reflex effect upon all three fundamental sensations, which are shown to be red, green, and violet. The author's type of color vision is shown to be that of an anomalous trichromat, and experimental evidence is applied to give a fuller meaning to the phenomenon as well as to explain it. The principle of visual reflexes is applied to the Young-Helmholtz and Hering theories to show that the two can no longer be regarded as rival theories, but can be harmonized by this principle.


The health consequences and fiscal burden of musculoskeletal diseases has been acknowledged but never fully addressed. An agenda unveiled by the World Health Organization to redress the balance sets specific goals for the next 10 years (the bone and joint decade). These include a 25% reduction in the expected increase in morbidity from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis.

We have reviewed advances in rheumatology that can be easily integrated into routine clinical practice and highlighted areas where appropriate treatment has been shown to prevent later disability or morbidity. References are supplied for published trials and systematic reviews.

The chronic disease model of illness advocates patients as managers of their disease. In a trial to assess this model in 211 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, Mazzuca et al reported greater benefits over one year in a self care group compared with standard treatment.1

### Diet

Cross sectional studies and studies of longitudinal cohorts have shown that obesity increases the risk of osteoarthritis of the knee in both men and women,2 primarily by increasing forces across the knee. An imbalance of growth factors affecting the cartilage and underlying bone may also contribute. Weight loss reduces symptoms as well as improving functional ability.3 High vitamin C intake is associated with a threefold reduction in progression of osteoarthritis of the knee.4 Progression of osteoarthritis of the knee and hip is faster in people with lower vitamin D concentrations. 5 6 However, as yet there is no evidence that vitamin supplementation improves symptoms.

### Physical activity

Previous knee surgery and injury are risk factors for osteoarthritis of the knee, as are occupational kneeling and squatting. Observations in the Framingham heart cohort confirm that heavy physical occupational and leisure activity, particularly in obese people, predispose to subsequent osteoarthritis of the knee.7

#### Recent advances

Weight loss of even …


Performance estimation is a key step in the development of an embedded system. Normally, the performance evaluation is performed using a simulator or a performance mathematical model of the target architecture. However, both these approaches are usually based on the knowledge of the architectural details of the target. In this paper we present a methodology for automatically building an analytical model to estimate the performance of an application on a generic processor without requiring any information about the processor architecture but the one provided by the GNU GCC Intermediate Representation. The proposed methodology exploits the linear regression technique based on an application analysis performed on the Register Transfer Level internal representation of the GNU GCC compiler. The benefits of working with this type of model and with this intermediate representation are three: we take into account most of the compiler optimizations, we implicitly consider some architectural characteristics of the target processor and we can easily estimate the performance of portions of the specification. We validate our approach by evaluating with cross-validation technique the accuracy and the generality of the performance models built for the ARM926EJ-S and the LEON3 processors.


Common sense and practical experience dictate that organizations with effective reporting systems are able to learn from smaller mishaps and incidents so as to forestall serious workplace accidents (Reason, 1997;Connell, 1998; Johnson, 2001; 2001; Sullivan, 2001). Confidentiality is clearly important in mediating the number of reports. Systems that have shifted to confidentiality all show a huge increase in willingness to report as measured by the number of reports received (e.g.Madsen, 2001;Noerbjerg, 2004). The consensus is that fear of retribution, either by immediate superiors, by others in the employing organization, or by another agency, hampers people's willingness to report.Conversely, non-punitive systems generate more reports-and by extension,more learning-because people feel free to tell about their troubles (particularly if they see their line managers as involved in creating those troubles). Indeed, confidential systems whose contributors have been threatened with exposure through, for example, judicial proceedings, show a dramatic drop, or even a complete drying-up of reporting (Dekker, 2003). Reports that will be treated confidentially also differ in substance from other forms of occurrence reporting-they typically hold greater candor and higher psychosocial resolution (O'Leary & Pidgeon, 1995).


The Life of John Locke [1876] Henry Richard Fox Bourne (2 volumes) 508pp 588pp The Life of John Locke, with extracts from his correspondence, journals and common-place books [1830] Lord Peter King (2 volumes) 462pp 530pp Discourses: Translated from Nicole's Essays by John Locke with important variations from the original French [1828] Translated by John Locke 274pp Logical Tracts comprising Observations and Essays illustrative of Mr Locke's Treatise upon the Human Understanding [1790] Thomas Ludlam 114pp Notes and Annotations on Locke [1794] Thomas Morrell 130pp A Second Vindication of Mr Locke [1738] Vincent Perronet 158pp


The inference of a Deterministic Finite Automaton (DFA) without negative examples is one of the most natural inference problems. On the other hand, it is well known that DFA cannot be identified in the limit from positive examples only. We propose two modifications of this problem to make it solvable, i.e., identifiable in the limit, while remaining rather close to the original problem. First, we propose to use the inclusion of languages to reason about complexity and infer the simplest solution. Second, we set the maximum number of states for the inferred DFA. These changes bring new means to control the solution space. While the language inclusion allows us to choose a simplest solution among possible solutions, the maximum number of states determines the degree of approximation. We propose an efficient inference method based on the incremental use of a SAT solver and demonstrate on a practical example the relevance of our approach.


OBJECTIVE
This report describes outpatient department visits in the United States in 1995. Statistics are presented on selected patient and visit characteristics.

METHODS
The data presented in this report were collected from the 1995 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). NHAMCS is part of the ambulatory care component of the National Health Care Survey, which measures health care utilization across various types of providers. NHAMCS is a national probability survey of visits to outpatient departments and emergency departments of non-Federal, short-stay and general hospitals in the United States. Sample data were weighted to produce annual estimates.

RESULTS
During 1995, an estimated 67.2 million visits were made to hospital outpatient departments in the United States, an overall rate of 25.7 visits per 100 persons. Overall, visit rates did not vary by age. Females and black persons had higher rates of visits than males and whites, respectively. There were an estimated 7.3 million injury-related outpatient department visits in 1995.


Modern product design and development organizations have to adopt flexible and dynamic working arrangements to meet the increasingly varied demands of their customers. Knowledge, particularly during the early stages of design, is fundamental to the success of the total product design and development process. This knowledge should be easy for the design team to locate and access, it should be relevant to the design teams activities, and it should be in a format that the design team can use. To this end, this paper describes WebCADET, a WWW-based knowledge server, which supports designers during the early stages of their design decision-making activities. WebCADET aims to address some of the most significant knowledge management issues in modern design enterprises by providing effective and efficient mechanisms for the capture, storage and management of concept design knowledge.


BACKGROUND
Abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) sometimes occurs in critically ill patients following damage control surgery. The purpose of the present study was to develop a model of ACS and to evaluate its pathologic impact on liver, kidney, and lung morphology.

METHODS
Twenty Wistar rats (mass 300-350 g) were randomly divided into four groups: 1) intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH): a laparotomy was performed and the abdomen packed with cotton until an intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) of 15 mm Hg was reached; 2) hypovolemia (HYPO): blood was withdrawn until a mean arterial pressure ~60 mm Hg was reached; 3) IAH + HYPO (to resemble clinical ACS); and 4) sham surgery. After 3 hours of protective mechanical ventilation, the animals were euthanized and the liver, kidney and lungs removed to examine the degree of tissue damage.

RESULTS
IAH resulted in the following: oedema and neutrophil infiltration in the kidney; necrosis, congestion, and microsteatosis in the liver; and alveolar collapse, haemorrhage, interstitial oedema, and neutrophil infiltration in the lungs. Furthermore, IAH was associated with greater cell apoptosis in the kidney, liver and lungs compared to sham surgery. HYPO led to oedema and neutrophil infiltration in the kidney. The combination of IAH and HYPO resulted in all the aforementioned changes in lung, kidney and liver tissue, as well as exacerbation of the inflammatory process in the kidney and liver and kidney cell necrosis and apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONS
Intra-abdominal hypertension by itself is associated with kidney, liver and lung damage; when combined with hypovolemia, it leads to further impairment and organ damage.


Lal Ded and Habba Khatoon are two Kashmiri women poets who share commonalities with Bhakti poet Mira Bai. Within the comparative framework the paper would try to explore these commonalities in their poetry. The selection of these three women poets would throw some light on the syncretism in the Sufi and Bhakti tradition as upheld by Lal Ded and Mira Bai respectively in their poetry. This paper would not be just an intercultural comparative analysis of Lal Ded and Mira; it would also engage us intra-culturally. This analysis would be done within the framework of literary historiography. From Lal Ded to Habba Khatoon, we see a shift from the Sufi poetry to the romantic poetry. It is this "idea of literary history" which helps us to have a holistic understanding of these poets irrespective of their socio-cultural background, and the different temporal settings they live in. The aim of this paper is to explore their voices against the patriarchy. For this, the paper shall closely observe a few works of the above mentioned women poets and see, how their ideology of self-determination sets them apart not only from the women of their times, but also many women of contemporary times.


Arterial hypoxemia was common in 53 patients following acute myocardial infarction. It was most marked in patients with evidence of left ventricular failure. Arterial oxygen tension, however, was reduced in many of the patients who were without evidence of failure.An increase in arterial oxygen tension following three deep breaths suggested maldistribution of ventilation. Right-to-left shunting of blood was demonstrated by 100% oxygen studies. There was a significant correlation between reduced arterial oxygen tension and low pulmonary diffusing capacity, but a poor correlation between the former and a low cardiac index. We suggest that the hypoxemia following acute myocardial infarction is the result of abnormalities in small airways as well as of vascular congestion in the lungs.The patients with the lowest arterial oxygen tension at the time of study subsequently had more marked arrhythmias and a higher mortality rate.


Nowadays, the design of the product plays a major role when functional differences become significant small. In order to be distinctive on the market as a company, distinction must be made in both areas. The company Bright Biomethane sees opportunities in this area of product design.

Bright Biomethane is a subsidiary of the main company HoSt. HoSt is the supplier of biogas plants and Bright Biomethane has been established for supplying the biogas upgrading systems. These biogas upgrading systems consist of shipping containers containing the biogas upgrading equipment. Bright Biomethane wants to change the look of the shipping container housing so it has a more stylish appearance. At the moment the containers just look like regular cheap shipping containers. In addition, the redesign also needs to provide more brand recognition.

The aim of the assignment is to redesign the housing of the equipment of the biogas upgrading installation to ensure that Bright Biomethane's systems are recognized as being from Bright Biomethane and are more appealing to the eye to get stronger position on the market as a biogas upgrading system supplier.

To gather the relevant data for the requirements of the new housing, all stakeholders were analyzed and interviews were held and information was gathered about brand recognition. This research showed that in comparison with the competition, Bright Biomethane does not differ much in terms of the appearance of the upgrading systems. The distinctive character is mainly based on technical specifications and the simplistic way of working. There is no direct demand from the customer to adjust the housing, which resulted in the housing being designed from the perspective of the company rather than that of the customer. Also, a low budget redesign had to be taken into account, which limited the various possibilities.

In addition, the company had the wish to dispose larger installations in the housing and increasing work- and maintenance space. At last, for brand recognition, consistency of the corporate identity turns out to be a key factor. Ultimately all requirements and wishes were included in the list of requirements which is a good guideline for redesigning the housing.

Because the most important requirement was to get rid of the container appearance, alternative housings were first looked at. The search resulted in the alternative housings going over the intended budget.
This fact led to a go / no go decision which resulted in staying with the current shipping container housing.

To get fully rid of the container look, a method was examined to fully cover the container with facade cladding so that it no longer resembles the container; unfortunately this method went also over the budget.

Now it was decided to stay with the current shipping container housing, it was examined what the shipping container gives its cheap look and what it takes to break it within the intended budget. The most important factors were the simplistic symmetrical shape, primary color use, the emergence of rust and low visual complexity. To counteract these factors, subtle adjustments have been examined so that it no longer associated with the standard shipping container, increases the brand recognition and is applicable for all customers and different containers.

After a large form study and several designs were made, a choice was made for the final concept by means of an internal meeting and a multi-criteria analysis. This moment of choice showed that a subtle adjustment in the form of a paint adjustment to the container is most preferred.

The final design has to be elaborated on certain aspects such as the logo design, color choice, choice of paint, realization and costs. These choices were made on the basis of the preference of the company and the associated theory.
The final design was then tested by means of a SWOT analysis in order to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This analysis resulted in the insight that the adjustment certainly offers added value for the customer and the company. The product is in line with the characteristics of the company, ensures more brand recognition, represents more quality and reliability, is durable and can be used for all customers and containers.

Finally a production ready design was delivered which the company will take into production.

A recommendation for the company is to test the final design by submitting it to future customers. From this test they will be able to receive information about the acceptance of the new design. In addition, it is advisable to look over the longer term whether the brand recognition has actually grown and whether more installations have been sold.

As a final recommendation, the company should check whether the design principle also can be applied in the main company. The main company HoSt also uses the standard shipping container as a housing and also uses the standard shipping container colors. From the research, color appears to play a very important role for the association of the shipping container. Therefore, it should be considered whether the same design principle can also be applied in the main company.


Resection of early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) offers patients the best hope of cure, however recurrence rates post-resection remain high suggesting the presence of micro-metastatic disease at the time of surgery undetected by standard staging methods. A critical step in the metastatic cascade is the entry of tumor cells into the circulation enabling their distribution to and seeding of distant organs. This review explores the evidence for predictive and prognostic circulating biomarkers in the early stage NSCLC population. We summarize studies that have explored a variety of targets including circulating proteins, nucleic acids and more recently circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as potentially clinically relevant biomarkers in the early stage setting. Circulating biomarkers may add clinically relevant information about the biological behavior of tumors over and above that provided by pathological staging. Improvement in the stratification of patients according to the likelihood of metastatic relapse after radical treatments such as surgical resection could allow more effective targeting of systemic therapies such as adjuvant chemotherapy.


Machine learning algorithms are everywhere, ranging from simple data analysis and pattern recognition tools used across the sciences to complex systems that achieve super-human performance on various tasks. Ensuring that they are well-behaved---that they do not, for example, cause harm to humans or act in a racist or sexist way---is therefore not a hypothetical problem to be dealt with in the future, but a pressing one that we address here. We propose a new framework for designing machine learning algorithms that simplifies the problem of specifying and regulating undesirable behaviors. To show the viability of this new framework, we use it to create new machine learning algorithms that preclude the sexist and harmful behaviors exhibited by standard machine learning algorithms in our experiments. Our framework for designing machine learning algorithms simplifies the safe and responsible application of machine learning.


A methylxanthine derivative with hemorrheologic and immunomodulating properties. Pentoxifylline inhibits phosphodiesterase, resulting in increased levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in erythrocytes, endothelium, and the surrounding tissues. This leads to vasodilation, improves erythrocyte flexibility, and enhances blood flow. In addition, the increased level of cAMP in platelets inhibits platelet aggregation, which may contribute to a reduction in blood viscosity. This agent also inhibits production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma, while it induces Th2-like (T-helper 2) cytokine production, thereby inhibiting Th1-mediated (T-helper 1) inflammatory and autoimmune responses.


Silver jewelry from the Royal Tombs of Ur, about 2500 B.C., compares favorably in purity with present-day sterling, and it also met specifications recorded in cuneiform literatutre of a later period for similar objects. The original chemical composition has been greatly modified by corrosion, calcification, and chlorination. The source and diffusion of various elements detected were traced to study the original composition.


A filter bank having up to 32 channels is formed by multiplexing a recursive two-pole delay line filter. Thirty-two sets of filter constants are stored and addressed digitally while multiple delays are provided in analog form by a charge-coupled device (CCD) delay line. The interface between the digitally stored constant and the delayed analog signal occurs in a four quadrant multiplying D/A where the delayed analog signal is weighted by the constant. Sampling and clamping at the CCD interfaces insures accurate dipolar analog operation. The filter hardware is described, the filter constants are derived, and the performance is documented.


The immunodominant ovalbumin257-264 (OVA-8, SIINFEKL) and herpes simplex virus gB496-503 (HSV-8, SSIEFARL) peptides share 50% amino acid identity (residues P1, P3, P5 and P8) and bind with comparable efficacy to the murine MHC-encoded class I molecule H-2Kb. However, these two peptides bind differently to H-2Kbm8, a natural H-2Kb variant with a substitution in four amino acids on the floor of the peptide-binding site; HSV-8 binds with high and OVA-8 with a relatively low efficacy. To investigate which of the non-homologous peptide residues were responsible for this differential binding, we used substituted peptide variants and the class I thermodynamic stabilization assay. Variation at the solvent-exposed peptide residues P6 and P7 did not appreciably influence binding. By contrast, variation at the buried P2 and, surprisingly, at the solvent-exposed P4 residue was found to be important. Transplantation of the HSV-8 P2 or P4 residues onto the OVA-8 backbone created variant peptides O2S (P2I-->S) and O4E (P4N-->E) that bound considerably better to H-2Kbm8 than OVA-8. Furthermore, the double-substituted peptide, O2S4E, bound even better, revealing a cooperative effect of the two residues. The reciprocally substituted peptides H2I and H4N, generated by grafting the OVA-8 P2 and P4 residues onto the HSV-8 backbone respectively, bound to H-2Kbm8 slightly worse than HSV-8 but the double-substituted peptide H2I4N bound as poorly as OVA-8. Effects exerted by the P4 residue, which is solvent accessible and therefore available for the TCR contact, demonstrated that exposed peptide residues can, in certain situations, influence not only the TCR contact but also MHC-peptide binding.


Soil microorganisms are key players in biogeochemical cycles. Yet, there is no consistent view on the significance of microbial biodiversity for soil ecosystem functioning. According to the insurance hypothesis, declines in ecosystem functioning due to reduced biodiversity are more likely to occur under fluctuating, extreme or rapidly changing environmental conditions. Here, we compare the functional operating range, a new concept defined as the complete range of environmental conditions under which soil microbial communities are able to maintain their functions, between four naturally assembled soil communities from a long-term fertilization experiment. A functional trait approach was adopted with denitrifiers involved in nitrogen cycling as our model soil community. Using short-term temperature and salt gradients, we show that the functional operating range was broader and process rates were higher when the soil community was phylogenetically more diverse. However, key bacterial genotypes played an important role for maintaining denitrification as an ecosystem functioning under certain conditions.


We discuss the results of a study aimed at shedding light on the influence that the sharing of professional teaching experiences may have on teachers' professional learning. The focus is on the uses that participants make of their notes about their lesson planning experience in an in-service blended learning course, and the mediation strategies undertaken by the tutor in the virtual sessions. The study suggests that bringing in professional experience, which is generally well accepted, appears to be irrelevant, or may show a modest impact on professional learning development. Specific expertise is necessary for tutors to be able to support the meaning making process and effectively help in-service teachers to move from the mere exchange of experiences towards the appropriation of the target concepts.


The essay tries to bring into study the "metaphysics of voice", of which Corrado Bologna had spoken years ago in his Flatus vocis, whose speculative summit is reached and expressed in the pages entitled "The Voice of Love". In order to become σὰρξ (Sarx) the λογος (Logos) must become and express himself as φωνή􀀀 (Voice), and as incarnated It represents the "absolute paradox", i.e. the most radical confrontation against every gnostic temptation. That prologue, which is a "conclusion" of the Forth Gospel, reaches us in such a way to put out the question of the existence of God, in an ontotheological sense, on which Philosophy and the so-called "rational Theology" devoted much energy. What we urgently need instead is a "speculative theology", capable of going beyond, by crossing them through, the intricacies of both Ontotheology and Philology. Too much time and resources have been wasted in attempts to prove the existence of God and in the exegesis of texts, depriving the existence of the listening to the "voice", which precedes and inaugurates the word, allowing the embodiment of thought. This way, one can grasp, albeit broadly, the metaphysical valence of the Christological event, through a path that leads from the reflection on the metaphysics of voice to the sacramentality of the Word itself, assuming as conjunction the analogia Verbi (Analogy of the Word), disclosing through it both the cosmic-anthropological and the historical-eschatological dimensions of the Hebraic-Christian Revelation, whose fruitfulness for the philosophical thought requires to be inhabited and further articulated.


This study uses nearly 25,000 carbon measurements from the WOCE/JGOFS global CO2 survey to examine the distribution of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA) in the Indian Ocean. Shallow and intermediate distributions of inorganic carbon do not strictly follow temperature and salinity because of differing surface gradients and vertical biological processes that work to modify the circulation derived features. Anthropogenic CO2 has increased the shallow DIC by as much as 3%, decreasing the vertical DIC gradient. Deep ocean DIC and TA increase toward the north because of the decomposition and dissolution of organic and inorganic particles. Calcite saturation depths range from 2900–3900 m with the deepest saturation depth in the central Indian Ocean. Variations of aragonite saturation depth (200–1400 m) are similar to calcite, but the deepest saturations are in the southwestern Indian Ocean. The shallowest aragonite saturation depths are found in the Bay of Bengal. In the northern Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, the current aragonite saturations are 100 and 200 m shallower, respectively, than in preindustrial times. Estimates of carbonate dissolution rates on isopycnal surfaces range from 0.017 to 0.083 μmol kg−1 yr−1 in deep waters. Upper water column dissolution rates range from 0 to 0.73 μmol kg−1 yr−1, with a local maximum occurring in intermediate waters just below the aragonite saturation horizon. Dissolution is also generally higher north of the Chemical Front at 10–20°S. There is some evidence for significant sedimentary sources in the northern Indian Ocean.


Ab specificity is determined by V region sequence. The murine Mab 18B7 (IgG1) binds to the Cryptococcus neoformans capsular polysaccharide glucuronoxylomannan and produces annular immunofluorescence (IF) on yeast cells. The heavy and light V regions of 18B7 were expressed with the human C regions μ, γ1, γ2, γ3, γ4, and α1, and the specificity and binding properties of these mouse-human chimeric (ch) Abs was determined. The chIgG1, chIgG2, chIgG4, and the chIgA produced annular IF, whereas the IgM and IgG3 produced punctate IF, despite identical V region sequences. Competition experiments with murine Abs that competed with mAb 18B7 and binding assays to peptide mimetics of glucuronoxylomannan provided additional evidence for altered specificity in some of the ch Abs. Expression of 18B7 heavy V region with murine μ C region produced IgM with a punctate IF, indicating that a change in fine specificity also accompanied the change from murine IgG1 to IgM. Our results show that Ab fine specificity can be a function of isotype. This phenomenon may be most apparent for Abs that bind to Ag with repeating epitopes, such as polysaccharides, where the quarternary structure of the Ag-Ab complex may be influenced by such constraints as Fab-Fab angles, Fc-Fc interactions, Ab size, and solvent accessibility to exposed surfaces. Alterations in Ab fine specificity following isotype change could have important implications for current concepts on the generation of secondary Ab responses to certain Ags and for the isotype preference observed in Abs to polysaccharides.


We report the discovery and monitoring of the near-infrared counterpart (AT2017gfo) of a binary neutron-star merger event detected as a gravitational wave source by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo (GW170817) and as a short gamma-ray burst by Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Integral SPI-ACS (GRB 170817A). The evolution of the transient light is consistent with predictions for the behavior of a "kilonova/macronova" powered by the radioactive decay of massive neutron-rich nuclides created via r-process nucleosynthesis in the neutron-star ejecta. In particular, evidence for this scenario is found from broad features seen in Hubble Space Telescope infrared spectroscopy, similar to those predicted for lanthanide-dominated ejecta, and the much slower evolution in the near-infrared K s -band compared to the optical. This indicates that the late-time light is dominated by high-opacity lanthanide-rich ejecta, suggesting nucleosynthesis to the third r-process peak (atomic masses A ≈ 195 ). This discovery confirms that neutron-star mergers produce kilo-/macronovae and that they are at least a major—if not the dominant—site of rapid neutron capture nucleosynthesis in the universe.


Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are electric fields, delivered via wearable arrays placed on or near the tumor site, that exert physical forces to disrupt cellular processes critical for cancer cell viability and tumor progression. As a first-in-class treatment, TTFields therapy is approved for use in newly diagnosed glioblastoma, recurrent glioblastoma, and pleural mesothelioma. Additionally, TTFields therapy is being investigated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), brain metastases from NSCLC, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and gastric adenocarcinoma. Because TTFields therapy is well tolerated and delivery is locoregional, there is low risk of additive systemic adverse events (AEs) when used with other cancer treatment modalities. The most common AE associated with TTFields therapy is mild-to-moderate skin events, which can be treated with topical agents and may be managed without significant treatment interruptions. Currently, there are no guidelines for oncologists regarding the management of TTFields therapy-related skin AEs in the thoracic region, applicable for patients with pleural mesothelioma or NSCLC. This publication aims to provide guidance on preventing, minimizing, and managing dermatologic AEs in the thoracic region to help improve patient quality of life and reduce treatment interruptions that may impact outcomes with TTFields therapy.


Generally speaking, the asphalt concrete pavement will be affected by the temperature and aging when it is in the use, which makes the modulus of asphalt mixtures change as non-uniformity gradient. This paper assumes the different changes on the modulus of surface layer with different gradient and then researched the mechanical characteristics of asphalt concrete pavements with cracks and no cracks by the finite-element method . Moreover, the research focused on the stress and K I & K II of the asphalt concrete pavements affected by the modulus of surface layer changed as non-uniformity gradient. The results demonstrated that the larger the gradient on the modulus of the surface layer,the bigger the tensile stress and K I and K II of the asphalt concrete pavements, and K IIis even much bigger than K I. Consequently, it is of great importance to take into account the effect of the modulus of surface layer changed as non-uniformity gradient. It also makes a great significance for the revision of pavement design and the analysis of pavement damage mechanism.


We demonstrate the functionalization of silicon nanowire based field effect transistors (SiNW FETs) FETs with stimuli-responsive polymer brushes of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAM) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA). Surface functionalization was confirmed by atomic force microscopy, contact angle measurements, and verified electrically using a silicon nanowire based field effect transistor sensor device. For thermo-responsive PNIPAAM, the physicochemical properties (i.e., a reversible phase transition, wettability) were induced by crossing the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of about 32 °C. Taking advantage of this property, osteosarcomic SaoS-2 cells were cultured on PNIPAAM-modified sensors at temperatures above the LCST, and completely detached by simply cooling. Next, the weak polyelectrolyte PAA, that is sensitive towards alteration of pH and ionic strength, was used to cover the silicon nanowire based device. Here, the increase of pH will cause deprotonation of the present carboxylic (COOH) groups along the chains into negatively charged COO− moieties that repel each other and cause swelling of the polymer. Our experimental results suggest that this functionalization enhances the pH sensitivity of the SiNW FETs. Specific receptor (bio-)molecules can be added to the polymer brushes by simple click chemistry so that functionality of the brush layer can be tuned optionally. We demonstrate at the proof-of concept-level that osteosarcomic Saos-2 cells can adhere to PNIPAAM-modified FETs, and cell signals could be recorded electrically. This study presents an applicable route for the modification of highly sensitive, versatile FETs that can be applied for detection of a variety of biological analytes.


Three kinds of "films" i.e. cross-linked film, grainy film and transparent film, were obtained in the process of plasma polymerization of Octamethylcyclotetrasioxane (D4) under different conditions. From SEM photos, we can see that the cross-linked film has a network form. From XPS spectra, we can see that the content of Si-C bond of the cross-linked film is lower than that of the transparent film, and this result agrees well with the test results of FTIR spectra. This proves that the cleavage of the Si-C bond and C-H bond are the main cleavage in the formation of cross-linked film, whereas the cleavage of the Si-O is the main cleavage in the formation of transparent film. In order to enhance the collision of the reactive particles and investigate the influence of magnetic field on the plasma polymerization, we introduced the magnetic field, as a result, we got the grainy film.


Reston virus (family Filoviridae) is unique among the viruses of the Ebolavirus genus in that it is considered non-pathogenic in humans, in contrast to the other members which are highly virulent. The virus has however, been associated with several outbreaks of highly lethal hemorrhagic fever in non-human primates (NHPs), specifically cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) originating in the Philippines. In addition, Reston virus has been isolated from domestic pigs in the Philippines. To better understand virus spillover events and potential adaption to new hosts, the whole genome sequences of representative Reston virus isolates were obtained using a next generation sequencing (NGS) approach and comparative genomic analysis and virus fitness analyses were performed. Nine virus genome sequences were completed for novel and previously described isolates obtained from a variety of hosts including a human case, non-human primates and pigs. Results of phylogenetic analysis of the sequence differences are consistent with multiple independent introductions of RESTV from a still unknown natural reservoir into non-human primates and swine farming operations. No consistent virus genetic markers were found specific for viruses associated with primate or pig infections, but similar to what had been seen with some Ebola viruses detected in the large Western Africa outbreak in 2014–2016, a truncated version of VP30 was identified in a subgroup of Reston viruses obtained from an outbreak in pigs 2008–2009. Finally, the genetic comparison of two closely related viruses, one isolated from a human case and one from an NHP, showed amino acid differences in the viral polymerase and detectable differences were found in competitive growth assays on human and NHP cell lines.


his thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English, 2015.


INTRODUCTION: Beyond oral contraceptives (OCs), metabolic factors have been suggested to increase the risk of hepatocellular adenoma (HCA). The impact of risks remains poorly defined, particularly among men and those with adenomatosis. Thus, we aimed to examine HCA clinical and outcome characteristics through a large multicenter cohort. METHODS: HCA diagnosis was made based on a combination of clinical, radiologic, and histologic criteria. Patient and clinical data including follow-up imaging, complications, and interventions were collected between 2004 and 2018 from 3 large academic centers. RESULTS: Among 187 patients (163 female and 24 male) with HCA, 75 had solitary HCA, 58 had multiple HCAs, and 54 had adenomatosis. Over a median follow-up of 3.3 years (quartile 1: 1.2, quartile 3: 8.8), 34 patients (18%) had radiologic interventions, 41 (21%) had surgical resections, 10 (5%) developed tumoral hemorrhage, and 1 had malignant transformation. OC and corticosteroid use were present in 70% and 16%, respectively. Obesity (51%), type 2 diabetes (24%), hypertension (42%), and hypertriglyceridemia (21%) were also common. Metabolic comorbidities were more common in patients with large HCAs and adenomatosis. Compared with women, men had less hepatic steatosis (4% vs 27%), smaller HCAs (2.3 cm vs 4.4 cm), and more corticosteroid use (38% vs 11%) (P < 0.05 for all). With OC cessation, 69% had a decrease in size of HCA, but 25% eventually required advanced interventions. DISCUSSION: In this large HCA cohort, obesity and metabolic comorbidities were important risk factors associated with large HCAs and adenomatosis. Long-term adverse outcomes were infrequent, 5% had tumor hemorrhage, and 1 patient exhibited malignant transformation.


Decision Making in Gastroenterology is a book of annotated algorithms. The author has given a great deal of thought to the structure of these well-conceived decision trees. Numerous gems and a few excellent references are found in the annotations. While the algorithmic method has worked well in the operation and repair of mechanical devices, there are major shortcomings in clinical medicine if too much reliance is placed on this highly structured approach. Decision Making in Gastroenterology oversimplifies complexities and indicates neither which steps are critical nor at what point a decision is crucial. For example, it has not been shown that a nasogastric tube is essential for the successful treatment of pancreatitis, yet the book states I should use such a tube for severe (but not mild) pancreatitis. It goes on to suggest that I can only determine the severity of the pancreatitis by doing laboratory studies. This approach not


The visual servoing architectures with an eye-in-hand configuration, composed of a 6-d.o.f. manipulator robot and a video camera, are categorised as high-coupled and nonlinear systems. For this reason, in order to have a stable and convergent behaviour, advanced techniques like predictive control are needed. These types of techniques can solve the potential problems that can appear in classical (image-based visual servoing) while different type of constraints for visual servoing system can be fulfilled easier. Three different visual predictive control architectures based on image moments are proposed. The model for the image moments predictor used in the first architecture is an extension of a local model point features predictor. The second predictive approach uses an image moment-based predictor to describe the future behaviour of the system over a certain camera velocity scenario directly in the image moments space. In order to have a faster convergence and in the same time a desired behaviour of the servoing system, a reference trajectory is employed. This represents the main contribution of the last predictive control technique proposed in this study. A Matlab simulator was developed and all the visual servoing architectures described in the study were implemented. The simulation results showed that all the proposed visual predictive control approaches are stable and convergent when dealing with visual servoing tasks, but the best performances were assigned to the reference trajectory-based image moments architecture.


BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY
Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) is a rare and histologically benign tumor, but it may have malignant propensity for life-threatening complications. Herein are described four cases of PFE which reflect the clinical diversity of this lesion. The diagnostic and surgical approach utilized is also briefly reviewed.

METHODS
The files of four patients with cardiac valvular PFE treated at the authors' center between January 2002 and November 2003 were reviewed. The diagnosis was strongly suggested by echocardiography. Tumors were noted in aortic (n = 2), mitral (n = 1) and tricuspid (n = 1) sites. Indications for surgery were myocardial infarction (both aortic tumors), previous stroke (mitral tumor), and preventive (tricuspid tumor).

RESULTS
Surgical excision with a conservative, valve-sparing approach was performed in all cases. For the first aortic tumor, the aortic valve was reconstructed with a patch of autologous pericardium. None of the patients had evidence of valvular regurgitation after excision on intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography, and all had an uneventful recovery. There were no cases of recurrence or regurgitation on follow up echocardiography.

CONCLUSION
PFE is an uncommon but increasingly recognized cause of embolic phenomena. Prompt identification allows for surgical excision, which seems to be curative, safe and well-tolerated. A conservative valve-sparing approach is recommended because of the absence of recurrence after total excision.


We performed 3-D nonlinear-viscoelastic ground motion simulations using a finite difference modeling method in a frequency range of 0.1 to 1 Hz in the Kinburn basin, Ottawa, Canada, for large earthquakes. Comparing the records and simulated velocity time series showed that regular viscoelastic simulations could model the ground motions at the rock and soil sites in the Kinburn basin for the Ladysmith earthquake (Mw=4.7). Using nonlinear-viscoelastic ground motion simulations for the scaled Ladysmith earthquake (Mw=7.5) significantly reduced the amplitude of the horizontal components of the Fourier spectrum and the predicted PGA and PGV values compared to regular linear viscoelastic simulations. Further, using a finite fault source (Mw=7) for the nonlinear-viscoelastic simulation decreased PGAs of the horizontal components. Our sensitivity analysis of simulations for different seismic moments showed that the PGV values exponentially increased with moment magnitude. Using a Gaussian source function with a short half duration increased the PGVs and the amplitude of velocity Fourier spectrum. Relaxation times and relaxation coefficients for viscoelastic simulation significantly increased PGV, the amplitude of the PSA ratio, and the velocity Fourier spectrum for a small earthquake. Employing a small soil Q model reduced PGV, PSA of soil/rock ratios, and the amplitude of velocity Fourier spectrum. Using finite fault model for a large earthquake (Mw =7) significantly reduced the PGV values relative to a point source model.
We increased the maximum frequency to 2.5 Hz in FD modeling using a dual grid size method for two basins (Kinburn and Orleans basins in Ottawa, Canada). The simulated velocity time series from the dual grid size method provided better results compared to the results of the single grid size, although there were large differences between the amplitude of the velocity Fourier spectrum of the simulations and the amplitude of the records, particularly at low frequencies (<1 Hz). However, the velocity Fourier spectrums of the records and simulations showed a similar variation versus frequency. Further, using the dual grid size method increased the PGVs and amplitudes of the velocity Fourier spectrum for both the Kinburn and Orleans basins compared to the results of the single grid size simulation.


Two novel imidazole derivatives (M-1 and M-2) containing an α-cyanostilbene unit were synthesized and characterized by FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and X-ray crystallography. Compounds M-1 and M-2 exhibited aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) properties due to intermolecular interactions and the restriction of intramolecular rotation in the aggregated state. The relationships between their structures and photophysical properties were studied via spectroscopic methods and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. It is worth noting that these materials can change their fluorescence emission between green and yellow under gaseous acidic (TFA) and basic conditions (Et3N), and they show reversible acid/base stimulated fluorescence switching behavior in the solid state. The mechanism was further confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy in chloroform. In addition, M-1 and M-2 were utilized for picric acid (PA) and 2,4-dinitrophenol (2,4-DNP) detection in a THF–water mixture (fw = 90%) and the detection limits were as low as 10−6 mol L−1.


Precise control of Ba{sub 1{minus}x}Sr{sub x}Ti0{sub 3} (BST) film composition is critical for the production of high-quality BST thin films. Specifically, it is known that nonstoichiometry greatly affects the electrical properties of BST film capacitors. The authors are investigating the composition-microstructure-electrical property relationships of polycrystalline BST films produced by magnetron sputter-deposition using a single target with a Ba/Sr ratio of 50/50 and a (Ba+Sr)/Ti ratio of 1.0. It was determined that the (Ba+Sr)/Ti ratios of these BST films could be adjusted from 0.73 to 0.98 by changing the total (Ar+O{sub 2}) process pressure, while the O{sub 2}/Ar ratio did not strongly affect the metal ion composition. The crystalline quality as well as the measured dielectric constant, dielectric tunability, and electrical breakdown voltage of BST films have been found to be strongly dependent on the composition of the BST films, especially the (Ba+Sr)/Ti ratio. The authors discuss the impact of BST film composition control, through film deposition and process parameters, on the electrical properties of BST capacitors for high frequency devices.


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To identify whether benefit finding is a mediator or moderator in the relationship between caregiver burden and psychological well-being (anxiety and depression) in Chinese family caregivers of community-dwelling stroke survivors.

BACKGROUND
Family caregivers not only bear a heavy burden, a high level of anxiety and depression, but also experience benefit finding (positive effects result from stressful events). However, the relationships among benefit finding, caregiver burden and psychological well-being in Chinese family caregivers are not well known.

DESIGN
This study was a cross-sectional correlational design.

METHODS
Caregivers (n = 145) of stroke survivors were recruited from two communities in Zhengzhou, China. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews with structured questionnaires, examining caregiver burden, benefit finding and psychological well-being of caregivers. A hierarchical regression analysis explored whether caregiver burden and benefit finding were associated with anxiety and depression of caregivers. The moderator role of benefit finding was examined by testing the significance of the interaction between caregiver burden and benefit finding. A mediational model was used to test benefit finding as a mediator between caregiver burden and psychological well-being of caregivers using process in spss 21.0.

RESULTS
Caregiver burden and benefit finding were significantly associated with both anxiety and depression of caregivers. Benefit finding did not portray a moderating role, but portrayed the mediator role in the relationship between caregiver burden, anxiety and depression in caregivers.

CONCLUSION
This study provides the preliminary evidence to nurses that intervention focus on benefit finding may help improve the psychological well-being of caregivers.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
This study offers nurses rational for assessing caregiver's negative emotions and benefit finding. By targeting benefit finding, the nurse may guide caregivers in benefit identification and implement interventions to reduce anxiety, depression and caregiver burden.


The Kitagawa–Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition approach has been widely used to attribute group-level differences in an outcome to differences in endowment, coefficients, and their interactions. The method has been implemented for Stata in the popular oaxaca command for cross-sectional analyses. In recent decades, however, research questions have been more often focused on the decomposition of group-based differences in change over time, for example, diverging income trajectories, as well as decomposition of change in differences between groups, for example, change in the gender pay gap over time. We review five existing methods for the decomposition of changes in group means and contribute an extension that takes an interventionist perspective suitable for applications with a clear before–after comparison. These decompositions of levels and changes over time can be implemented using the xtoaxaca command, which works as a postestimation command for different regression commands in Stata. It is built to maximize flexibility in modeling and implements all decomposition techniques presented in this article.


Aim. To evaluate factors of unfavorable annual prognosis of myocardial infarction (MI) complicated by heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and associated with chronic cerebral ischemia (CCI). Material and Methods. A total of 182 patients with Q wave myocardial infarction complicated by the left ventricular dysfunction concomitant with CCI were included in the study. Of them, 149 (81.9%) patients were men and 33 (18.1%) were women. The mean age was 60.4 (53; 69) years. All patients underwent echocardiography, color duplex scanning of the carotid arteries and examination by an interventional neurologist. Hard endpoints were collected within one year. Results. The majority of the patients included in the study suffered from grade 2 CCI. Atherosclerotic plaques in the brachiocephalic arteries were found in 37.4% of patients; the degree of stenosis did not exceed 50% in all cases. 77 (46.1%) patients achieved hard endpoints within one year. Multivariate logistic regression showed that the most unfavorable predictor of poor 1-year survival was the presence of the positive history of ACVA [RR 7.33 (95% CI 1.97–27.32), p = 0.003], and the most unfavorable predictors of risk of adverse cardiovascular events included prior stroke [RR = 1.92 (95% CI 1.09–3.38), p = 0.025] and carotid atherosclerotic plaques [RR = 2.12 (95% CI 1.34–3.37), p = 0.001]. Conclusion. The presence of carotid atherosclerotic plaques and prior stroke affected the long-term prognosis in patients with myocardial infarction complicated by heart failure and chronic cerebral ischemia.


In packet broadcast networks, users are interconnected via a broadcast channel. The key problem is multiple access of the shared broadcast channel. The performance of the R-ALOHA protocol for multiple access is studied in this paper. Two user models with Poisson message arrivals are analyzed; each message consists of a group of packets with a general probability distribution for group size. In the first model, each user handles one message at a time. In the second model, each user has infinite buffering capacity for queueing. Analytic models are developed for characterizing message delay and channel utilization. Bounds on channel throughput are established for two slightly different protocols. Numerical results from both analysis and simulation are presented to illustrate the accuracy of the analytic models as well as performance characteristics of the R-ALOHA protocol.


In this paper, we present LDPC decoder designs based on gear-shift algorithms, which can use multiple decoding algorithms or update rules over the course of decoding a single frame. By first attempting to decode using low-complexity algorithms, followed by high-complexity algorithms, we increase energy efficiency without sacrificing error correction performance. We present the GSP and IGSP algorithms, and ASIC designs of these algorithms for the 10 Gbps Ethernet (2048,1723) LDPC code. In 65nm CMOS, our pipelined GSP decoder achieves a core area of 5.29mm2, throughput of 88.1 Gbps, and energy efficiency of 39.3 pJ/bit, while our IGSP decoder achieves a core area of 6.00mm2, throughput of 100.3 Gbps, and energy efficiency of 14.6 pJ/bit. Both algorithms achieve error correction performance equivalent to the offset min-sum algorithm. The throughput per unit area and energy efficiency of these decoders improve upon state-of-the-art decoders with comparable error correction performance.


We're interested in the problem of estimating object states from touch during manipulation under occlusions. In this work, we address the problem of estimating object poses from touch during planar pushing. Vision-based tactile sensors provide rich, local image measurements at the point of contact. A single such measurement, however, contains limited information and multiple measurements are needed to infer latent object state. We solve this inference problem using a factor graph. In order to incorporate tactile measurements in the graph, we need local observation models that can map highdimensional tactile images onto a low-dimensional state space. Prior work has used low-dimensional force measurements or engineered functions to interpret tactile measurements. These methods, however, can be brittle and difficult to scale across objects and sensors. Our key insight is to directly learn tactile observation models that predict the relative pose of the sensor given a pair of tactile images. These relative poses can then be incorporated as factors within a factor graph. We propose a two-stage approach: first we learn local tactile observation models supervised with ground truth data, and then integrate these models along with physics and geometric factors within a factor graph optimizer. We demonstrate reliable object tracking using only tactile feedback for ~150 real-world planar pushing sequences with varying trajectories across three object shapes.


Distributed network intrusion detection systems which incorporate tens, hundreds, even thousands, of sensors are becoming increasing popular. Managing and presenting the information from these sensors is becoming an increasingly difficult task. This paper explores the use of Conversation Exchange Dynamics (CED) to integrate and display sensor information from multiple nodes. We present an experimental setup consisting of multiple sensors reporting individual findings to a central server for aggregated analysis. Different scenarios of network attacks and intrusions were planned to investigate the effectiveness of the distributed system. The network attacks were taken from the M.I.T Lincoln Lab 1999 Data Sets. The distributed system was subjected to different combinations of network attacks in various parts of the network. The results were then analyzed to understand the behavior of the distributed system in response to the different attacks. In general, the distributed system detected all attacks under each scenario. Some surprising observations also indicated attack responses occurring in unanticipated scenarios.


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