This study applies a quasi-experimental research design to evaluate the effects of Chile's national teacher evaluation system on teacher productivity (as measured by student learning), on teaching behaviors, and on teacher beliefs. The paper's identification strategy exploits a recent change in the evaluation assignment mechanism, together with a discontinuity in the evaluation system's scoring mechanism. Jointly, these two factors provide plausibly exogenous variation in which teachers get newly evaluated, after two years. My econometric analysis is motivated by, and overcomes, two limitations of a simple regression-discontinuity approach: systematic sorting of teachers close to the cut-off score, as well as additional programs that also use the same cut-off to determine teacher eligibility. The study's main results suggest that student learning, teacher beliefs, and teaching behaviors remain unaffected by a teacher's reevaluation, both in the year of the evaluation and in the year thereafter. The article confirms that these findings are not driven by a teacher's level of work experience, by student sorting, or by systematic attrition.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the specific relationship between temporary agency workers (TAWs) and their employing temporary work agencies in Germany that is characterized – in contrast to other European countries – by agencies' central role in employment and the prevalence of permanent contracts. The study addresses a research gap in understanding the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) provided by temporary work agencies in the relationship between employment-specific antecedents and TAWs' subjective well-being (SWB).

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a sample of 350 TAWs in Germany, the mediating role of POS provided by agencies is analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The authors show that procedural justice, performance feedback and social network availability positively relate to POS while perceived job insecurity shows the expected negative influence and distributive justice has no impact on POS. POS, in turn, positively relates to SWB. The partially mediating effect of POS between employment-specific antecedents and SWB is also confirmed.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based on cross-sectional data and self-reported measures; this may limit causal inferences.

Practical implications

The results highlight the importance of agencies creating POS and reducing perceived job insecurity for improving TAWs' SWB.

Originality/value

The study contributes to previous POS research by focusing on the agencies' role and by showing the mediating effect of POS on TAWs' SWB in Germany.


For the past 12 years, the Chilean Professional Soccer Association ANFP has applied operations research OR techniques to schedule soccer leagues in Chile. Using integer programming-based methods, the ANFP decides which matches are played in each round, taking into account various objectives, such as holding down costs and ensuring engaging tournaments for the fans. It has scheduled more than 50 tournaments using this approach, resulting in an estimated direct economic impact of about $59 million, including reductions in television broadcaster operating costs, growth in soccer pay-television subscriptions, increased ticket revenue, and lower travel costs for the teams. This application of OR has also had significant noneconomic impacts. First, the incorporation of team requirements and various sporting criteria has improved process transparency and schedule fairness, increasing fans' interest in local professional tournaments; second, because of the high portability of these techniques, they have been used successfully to schedule sports leagues in other countries examples include volleyball and basketball in Argentina, and the South American qualifiers for the 2018 Soccer World Cup. Furthermore, the models and methods used in this scheduling application have been disseminated widely, helping to promote OR as an effective tool for addressing practical problems. Our outreach activities have reached thousands of high school and university students in four countries and a more general audience of millions of television viewers and Internet users.


The Langton Ultimate Cosmic ray Intensity Detector (LUCID) experiment is a satellite-based device that uses five Timepix hybrid silicon pixel detectors to make measurements of the radiation environment at an altitude of approximately 630 km, i.e. in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) . The experiment launched aboard Surrey Satellite Technology Limited's (SSTL's) TechDemoSat-1 on Tuesday the 8th of July 2014. The Timepix detectors, developed by the Medipix2 Collaboration, are arranged to form the five sides of a cube enclosed by a 0.7 mm thick aluminium covering, and are operated in Time-over-Threshold (ToT) mode to allow the flux, energy and directionality of incident ionising radiation to be measured. To understand the expected detector performance with respect to these measurements, the LUCID experiment has been modelled using the Allpix software package, a generic simulation toolkit for silicon pixel detectors built upon the GEANT4 framework. The work presented here summarises studies completed using the GridPP Collaboration's computing grid infrastructure to perform the simulations, store the resultant datasets, and share that data with the LUCID Collaboration. The analysis of these datasets has given an indication of the expected performance in differing space radiation environments (for example, during passes of the polar regions or the South Atlantic Anomaly), and has allowed the LUCID Collaboration to prepare for when data is transmitted back to Earth in late 2014.


The focus of this paper is on variability concerns in wastewater treatment and approaches to control unacceptable fluctuations in effluent quality. Areas considered include: factors contributing to variability in both waste loads and process technology performance; variability assessment; control of variability employing the process best management practice (BMP); design/operation of biological waste treatment technologies for variability reduction; and modelling to enhance process control.


Molecular acceptors are promising alternatives to fullerenes (e.g., PC61/71BM) in the fabrication of high-efficiency bulk-heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. While solution-processed polymer–fullerene BHJ devices have recently met the 10% efficiency threshold, molecular acceptors have yet to prove comparably efficient with polymer donors. At this point in time, it is important to forge a better understanding of the design parameters that directly impact small-molecule (SM) acceptor performance in BHJ solar cells. In this report, we show that 2-(benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazol-4-ylmethylene)malononitrile (BM)-terminated SM acceptors can achieve efficiencies as high as 5.3% in BHJ solar cells with the polymer donor PCE10. Through systematic device optimization and characterization studies, we find that the nonfullerene analogues (FBM, CBM, and CDTBM) all perform comparably well, independent of the molecular structure and electronics of the π-bridge that links the two electron-deficient BM end groups. With estimated...


Using a 1/5 random draw of the 1% census of 2005, we investigate how China's higher education expansion commenced in 1999 affects the education opportunities of various population groups and how this policy affects the labor market. Treating the expansion as an experiment and using a LATE framework, we find that higher education expansion increased the probability of go to college tremendously. Different populations "benefit" from this policy differently however. Minority female, those from central-western region and from rural areas are less likely to benefit from it. One-child families are more responsive to this policy. Using higher education resources at the provincial level as another dimension of variation, and using a difference-in-difference strategy, we find that the education expansion decreased the within sector inequality of population with above high school (inclusive) education. This is primarily due to the increase of the income level for high school graduate. That of the college graduate deceased, but only slightly and not significantly.


Australia in the late 1990 adopted a purchaser-provider model of performance budgeting – so-called "accrual output budgeting‿ – which attracted considerable international interest. By 2003, however, the system was in headlong retreat. This paper examines the key difficulties experienced by this system, and links these to the system changes now being made. It speculates on the possible future of performance budgeting in Australia. It draws on extensive interviews and examination of budgetary process documentation in a number of Australian jurisdictions.


Twelve mollusk species from late Jurassic to Oligocene cold seep deposits are described and illustrated. Nine of them are new, two have already been named, two new genera are introduced, and one species is described only in open nomenclature. Puncturella (sensu lato) mcleani sp. nov. and Fissurella (sensu lato) bipunctata Stanton, 1895 are the only confirmed fissurellids in fossil cold seeps. The sutilizonid Triassurella goederti sp. nov. is similar to the modern ventinhabiting Sutilizona and the Late Triassic shallow-water reef-inhabitant Triassurella carnica. A smooth, late Jurassic neritid is the oldest neritid from fossil seeps and probably represents an independent neritid radiation into the seep environment, without close phylogenetic connection to the modern Bathynerita. The four new abyssochrysoid caenogastropods Humptulipsia macsotayi, Hokkaidoconcha novacula, Paskentana anistratenkorum, and P. umbilicata significantly extend the stratigraphic and geographic ranges of these apparently seep-restricted genera. Four bivalves are described, including the new modiomorphid Caspiconcha rubani from the early Cretaceous and the new bathymodioline Bathymodiolus (s.l.) palmarensis from the Oligocene. Among the lucinids, the oldest seep-inhabiting lucinid (late Jurassic) is described as Beauvoisina carinata gen. et sp. nov.; the new genus Cubatea is introduced for an Oligocene lucinid from Cuba. It is suggested that Caspiconcha, Paskentana, and hokkaidoconchids constitute the core of a seeprestricted fauna that inhabited seeps worldwide from (at least) late Jurassic to early Cretaceous time. These taxa are, at the family level, phylogenetically unrelated to the modern vent and seep fauna.


This paper describes a program, the Work Readiness Seminar, designed in collaboration with a community organization, the Altrusa Club, to respond to needs of chronic psychiatric female patients. The five sessions of the program provide the women with information about everyday survival skills and an opportunity to practice these skills. The excellent role models provided by the Altrusa Club members and the programming of life skills "in vivo" are the strengths of the program. This paper also briefly describes three additional programs that evolved from the Work Readiness Seminar. All four programs use community groups as a resource for teaching life skills to chronic psychiatric patients.


Abstract. We investigate the relative impacts of biomass burning emissions and dynamics on tropical upper tropospheric carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O 3 ) over western and central Indonesia during the August–November 2006 fires in equatorial Asia by using a global three-dimensional model of tropospheric chemistry (GEOS-Chem) and by comparing model results with Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) observations of upper tropospheric CO and O 3 . GEOS-Chem CO and O 3 show similarities with MLS observed enhancements from convective lifting of fire emissions. In the tropical upper troposphere (UT), fire effluents from equatorial Asia are primarily transported southwestward to the eastern tropical Indian Ocean, driven by the high-pressure systems along 10° N–15° N and 10° S–15° S latitudes, and northeastward to southeast Asia and beyond, driven by the western North Pacific subtropical high. A characteristic feature of these CO enhancements is that they lag behind biomass burning emissions (by 2–3 weeks) at the three pressure levels 215, 147 and 100 hPa, resulting from the decreasing influence of deep convective lifting with altitude in the tropical UT. Inclusion of biomass burning injection height significantly improves model comparison with observations. We estimate the fire influences by contrasting one model simulation with year-specific and another with climatological biomass burning emissions. Biomass burning accounts for about 50–150 ppbv of CO and 5–15 ppbv of O 3 in the tropical UT below 100 hPa during October and November, with temporal variations driven by biomass burning and deep convection. We estimate the dynamic impacts by examining the difference between a model simulation for 2006 (El Nino) and another for 2005 (neutral). The dynamic impacts are far more complex and account for up to 100 ppbv of CO and 30 ppbv of O 3 in the tropical UT below 100 hPa. The temporal variation of the dynamic impact on CO is driven by deep convection. The variation of the dynamic impact on O 3 depends on deep convection as well as the associated lightning NO x emissions and also reflects non-linearity of O 3 chemistry.


This paper provides novel evidence that similarity in employees' political attitudes plays a role in mergers and acquisitions. Using detailed data on individual campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans, our estimates show that firms are considerably more likely to announce a merger, complete a merger, and a have shorter time-to-completion when their political attitudes are closer. Furthermore, acquisition announcement returns and post-merger operating performance are significantly higher when the acquirer and the target have more similar political attitudes. The effects of political partisanship on mergers are stronger in more recent years, when the political polarization in the U.S. is greater. Overall, we provide estimates that political attitudes and polarization have real effects on the allocation of assets in the economy.


Thirty undergraduates participated in an experiment investigating the effect of the arithmetic difference between stimulus identity and stimulus numerosity in a numerical version of the Stroop task. It was found that digits symbolically close to the enumeration response reliably produced larger interference than digits that were farther from the enumeration response. This semantic distance effect was found with different numerosities (1-9) and different enumeration processes (counting and subitizing), and it increased as a function of numerosity in the subitizing range. These findings suggest that digit identity autonomously activates a magnitude representation organized as a compressed number line.


It has long been recognized that leaf traits exert a crucial control on litter decomposition, a key process for nutrient cycling, and that invading species can greatly alter such soil processes via changes in mixed litter trait composition. Trait effects on ecosystem processes are hypothesized to operate via changes in either dominant trait values in the community (often calculated as community‐weighted mean trait values; CWM) or trait functional diversity (dissimilarity between species trait values; FD). Few have studied the effects of these community trait components in tandem due to their interdependence. We studied litter mixture decomposition using three exotic and six native European tree species with a range in litter decomposability, to disentangle the unique and combined roles of CWM and FD in explaining net litter mixture mass loss. We showed that while CWM exerted the strongest effect on mass loss, FD modulated its effects, increasing mass loss in mixtures with low mean decomposability and decreasing mass loss in mixtures with high mean decomposability. Litter species identity and native/exotic status explained relatively little additional variation in mass loss after accounting for CWM and FD. We further showed that alterations to CWM and FD were more important than the replacement of a native species with an exotic counterpart in predicting mass loss. Synthesis: Our results indicate that the effect of adding an exotic or losing a native species on litter decomposition rate can be predicted from how a species alters both CWM and FD trait values. This supports the idea that the repercussions of exotic species on ecosystem processes depends on the extent that introduced species bear novel traits or trait values and so on how functionally dissimilar a species is compared to the existing species in the community.


This paper analyzes consumption responses to unexpected unemployment shocks in a Life-Cycle Model (LCM) using subjective (un)employment probabilities. Prior papers have either distinguished between the degree of unexpectancy or the degree of persistency. Our proposed method takes into account both unexpectancy through subjective job loss expectations and persistency through subjective job finding expectations as well as non-liquidity driven age effects. Panel data with detailed information on a wide array of spending categories allows us to analyze the effects of job loss on intratemporal substitution from work-related to leisure-related spending and from spending to home production. Our results suggest substantial decreases in spending (about 34%) due to job loss shocks. We find little evidence for consistently increasing spending on leisure activities after a job loss shock, but we find reasonable evidence for shifts from spending to home production. However, this shift is only small compared to the total spending drop.


ABSTRACT Portela, L.I.; Custódio, A., and Trigo-Teixeira, A., 2016. Deposition in flowing water of fine sediments under different salinity conditions. In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 118-122. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. While the effect of salinity on the settling of fine sediments has been shown to be important in laboratory experiments, only a few studies have attempted to investigate depositional properties in flumes under different salinity conditions. This paper examines the effect of salinity on the deposition in flowing water of fine sediments collected in the Tagus estuary. The sampling site is located in the middle-upper reach of the estuary, where fine-grained sediments are the dominant intertidal material and tidal currents the major transport mechanism. The experiments were conducted in an annular flume (mean diameter 3.7 m, height 0.4 m, width 0.3 m), with initial suspended sediment concentration of 0.7 g l−1 and five different salinities (0, 2.5, 5, 10 and 15). Two types of experiments were performed: tidal variation for 6.5 hours; and response to sudden reduction in flow velocity (from 0.5 m s−1 to 0.25 m s−1) for 8 hours. Samples were collected every 30 minutes to determine suspended sediment concentration by filtration and grain size by laser diffraction. The experiments with different salinities have yielded similar results, particularly regarding deposition for a velocity of 0.25 m s−1 (final C = 0.417-0.399 g l−1, D90 = 22-19 μm, D50 = 8-6 μm, D10 = 2 μm). A consistent effect of salinity on the deposition of fine sediments from a flowing suspension could not be observed. Further research should examine deposition at lower flow velocities.


Massively parallel numerical calculations of 2-D steady incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mixed convection heat transfer at high-Hartmann numbers (Ha) are conducted in a square cavity using a scalable computational implementation developed here. The mixed convection phenomena is a result of the forced convection from an adiabatic and moving top wall, and natural convection from buoyant effects in a domain that has hot and cold walls on each side. The Navier-Stokes equations in the form of a vorticity-streamfunction formulation, and the energy equation, are solved numerically using a uniform mesh of size 1200 × 1200, and simulations are conducted on up to 256 parallel computing cores. The effects of magnetic field in terms of Ha ≤ 1000 are studied for flows at various Richardson numbers (0.1 ≤ Ri ≤ 100). Contours of streamfunction, vorticity and temperature, and profiles of centerline velocities are presented to assess the MHD effects. While the magnetic field makest all flows one-dimensional, with stretching observed in the direction of the magnetic field, its effect on heat transfer is more pronounced only with increased Ri.


There are a number of different causes for facial wrinkle lines, such as aging, gravity, and chronic pulling of mimetic muscles on the face. Among these, pulling by mimetic muscles on the skin not only involves facial expression but also has a great role in forming facial wrinkle lines as a result of repetitive action, such as dynamic or hyperkinetic wrinkle lines. Botulinum toxin A is currently being used for eliminating facial hyperkinetic wrinkles by causing paralysis of the underlying mimetic muscles. Because there are some histologic differences between Asians and Caucasians, such as thick dermis and more abundant collagen fiber, etc., the chronic pulling by mimetic muscles on the skin is expected to affect facial wrinkles differently. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of botulinum toxin A injection in eliminating facial hyperkinetic wrinkle lines among Korean patients. This study included 38 patients and 59 injection sessions from January of 1996 to April of 1997. We used Botox containing 100 U. Toxin was diluted with 4 ml of sterile normal saline and yielded 2.5 U for each 0.1 cc. A dose of 5 to 10 U was used in each muscle. Ages ranged from 26 to 56 years. There were 33 women and 5 men included in this study. Thirty-two of the patients were followed from 3 months up to 12 months after injections. The number of injection sessions that were performed on each patient was as follows: one session, 23 patients; two sessions, 10 patients; three sessions, 4 patients; four sessions, 1 patient. The number of injections per target site among these 38 patients was as follows: lateral canthal area, 33; glabellar area, 9; forehead, 9; nasal dorsum, 5. The most common duration of effective response was about 4 months, but in eight patients the period was over 5 months. After the response, complete recovery took alout 1 or 2 months. Two patients felt unsatisfied, five patients felt slightly improved, and 25 patients retained only a slight line and were satisfied with the results. None of the patients experienced complete removal of wrinkle lines. Adverse effects included altered facial looks or appearances, mild local swelling, and ecchymosis at the injection sites. No systemic side effects were noted. Based on these results, the injection of botulinum toxin A seems to be an effective method of eliminating wrinkle lines on the upper third of the face in Korean patients, and it was a simple and effective nonsurgical procedure.


In the last few years paleomagnetic investigations within the Apennine chain have revealed that the area is characterized by a complex pattern of deformation, not linkable to a simple and homogeneous process. In order to estimate the amount, sense and timing of vertical axis rotations within the Central Apennines, Neogene continental basins have been investigated for paleomagnetic studies. The paleomagnetic results obtained in the Plio-Pleistocene Todi basin showed that the Upper Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene evolution, associated with major dip-slip tectonics, has not involved vertical axis rotation since that time. The Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility analysis (AMS), carried out on the same samples treated for paleomagnetic determination, revealed the presence of two groups of specimens characterized by different magnetic lineation directions. One direction trends NE-SW and is parallel to the orientation of the regional extension stress typical of the area. This direction is observed throughout the northern basin. The other, restricted to the southern basin, trends N-S and shows no links with the tectonic, hydrological-sedimentary conditions of the area. The results of the AMS analysis will be presented and discussed in the light of the rock magnetic results and the tectonic framework of the area.


This paper presents a case study of the Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technology Centre in Australia. MALTC is special in two ways: (1) it has been entirely independent and indigenous-run from the time of its conception; and (2) its work has involved the reclamation of a language that was not spoken for more than a century. The paper explores how MALTC sees language and culture as inseparable and tightly linked to identity, and how this vision has been at the heart of the centre's work, shaping its goals, methods, and outputs.

First, we discuss MALTC's Wildlife Dictionary, which relates to the centre's lexicographic work. Here the primary focus has been on uncovering the knowledge systems and cultural practices that are seen as the definition of words. Wildlife was chosen as the primary topic for a thematic dictionary because it relates to the creation of the world, to the very essence of a land, and to the identity of individuals as they pass through different phases of their lives.

Second, we explore the centre's focus on developing technologies to support their language and cultural work, as embodied in the Miromaa software and in Puliima, an indigenous language and technology forum, organized by MALTC. Unlike traditional language materials, new and powerful information technology allows the sort of multimedia and multiplatform approaches capable of creating resources that do justice to complex aboriginal conceptions of language, as well as making the work more engaging, practical and effective.

Third, we will discuss the MALTC's work with heritage artifacts, specifically the traditional Possum Skin Cloak, which is made from a series of panels containing symbols with great significance to aboriginal communities and to the lives of the individuals who wear them. The process of translation and exploration of semantic connotation provides access to previously unknown symbolic meanings, hence to the uncovering and creation of knowledge and a deepening of culture. Thus the language is not seen as the end point of language documentation and reclamation, but as a path to something broader, including cultural understanding, the enhancement of community knowledge, and identity.

This paper illustrates how indigenous conceptions and ideologies can lead to choices of activities and methods of LDC that are distinct from those determined by academic linguists. Language centres, in being locally grounded, tied to community, and focused on strengthening languages, are in a unique position to present alternative models of LDC work.


In Vladan Desnica's unfinished novel, The Discovery of Athanatic, "contagion" is presented in a very specific way. Unlike any epidemic that equates people through dangerous experiences, Desnica's unfinished novel erupts an "epidemic of immortality" that opens up the deepest inequality: inequality before death. Desnica's novel is not only one of the first dystopian novels in Serbian literature of the 20th century, but it is also a novel about writing a novel, which suppresses the very theme of immortality. Death appears on the horizon of writing and the question arises whether it is possible to write without death at all, which is of supreme importance for the poetics of high modernism. In specific borderline situations, the modernist subject turns to himself and searches for meaning and ultimate truth, which gives Desnica's unfinished novel, of which an important part has been included in his major novel, The Springtimes of Ivan Galeb, poetic significance. The "contagion" would not have the same literary relevance without it.


Maintaining human health during long-term space missions is of major concern at any time. It is well known that space missions influence the immune system of the explorers and that they become more susceptible to bacterial infections. At the same time, bacteria exposed to the space environment have been shown to get more aggressive and more resistant to antibiotics. This particular combination can lead to severe infections and may jeopardise the mission; therefore a strong and uncompromising strategy inhibiting the propagation of bacteria is urgently needed. To achieve this, antimicrobial surfaces may just offer the answer. They provide a promising alternative to conventional cleaning procedures with e.g. disinfectants and contain organic/inorganic substituents or antimicrobial metals such as copper or silver. Copper is an essential metal but toxic at higher concentrations. On the contrary, silver is not essential and therefore toxic even at low concentrations. Due to their antimicrobial properties, both metals were used for medical issues and the storage of drinking water since thousands of years. While the toxicity is well known, the exact mechanisms of the toxicity are still unclear. In this study the antimicrobial effect of pure copper and new, potentially antimicrobial eutectic alloys composed of aluminium, silver and/or copper was investigated under wet contact killing conditions.
First, the survival of Gram-positive and Gram-negative cells after contact with antimicrobial materials was examined. Additionally, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and damages of the membrane, DNA and RNA were determined for copper exposed samples. ROS production and membrane damages increased rapidly within one hour while the effect on cell survival was negligible even after two hours of exposure. Only longer exposure of up to four hours led to a rapid decrease in cell survival depending on the concentration of exposed cells/cm².
Further investigations were conducted with selected strains of the Keio collection. This collection is composed of E. coli strains which exhibit knockouts in one gene whereby each deleted gene was exchanged by a kanamycin cassette. To determine metabolic influences of pure copper and eutectic alloy exposed samples, 21 strains which had either a direct link to copper and/or silver transport mechanisms or a general function in the microorganism were selected. After pre-testing, different survivability's of E. coli ΔcopA, ΔrecA, ΔcutA, ΔcueR and ΔcueO were obtained. The survival was decreased in absence of CueO compared to ΔcopA strains when exposed to pure copper surfaces. In contrast to this, the survivability was vice versa when exposed to silver containing alloys whereas CueO had no function in silver oxidization.
Finally, the release of metal ions and the cell associated metal concentration was determined by taking the example of Staphylococcus cohnii, Escherichia coli K12 and ΔcopA to identify possible connections between cell associated ions and the survival of cells. These measurements indicated that the higher release of ions after exposure of cells in buffer is caused by an indirect dissolution. Despite a relatively high cell associated ion concentration, the experiments in the current study (with ex vivo and in vivo DNA/RNA and the above mentioned Keio strains) pointed out that these ions were possibly primarily present in the periplasm. Additionally, investigations on ternary, eutectic alloys were conducted. They showed that special casting protocols need to be in progress to obtain antimicrobial effects. Due to the antimicrobial effect and light weight, these materials could be a great opportunity to be applied in hospitals or in spacecraft facilities.


An innovative scheme known as Project Yi Jin that provided an alternative route for students who failed in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) to gain an academic status for, and access to, higher education was evaluated after one year's implementation. A survey of 2416 students via telephone found that students who successfully completed the project had better opportunities for further study and tended to do so at higher academic levels than those who did not complete the programme. They also had better subsequent employment opportunities and felt more satisfied with the course. The programme was found to be gender and age unbiased and was able to differentiate higher academic achievers from lower academic achievers for more advanced academic pursuit. Project Yi Jin has served as a bridge between secondary and tertiary education and provided a route for those who had completed secondary education in Hong Kong with unsatisfactory results and those mature students who are 21 or above to obtain a formal qualification for both employment and continuing education purposes.


In this pioneering volume, Robert Skloot brings together four plays - three of which are published here for the first time - that fearlessly explore the face of modern genocide. The scripts deal with the destruction of four targeted populations: Armenians in Lorne Shirinian's "Exile in the Cradle", Cambodians in Catherine Filloux's "Silence of God", Bosnian Muslims in Kitty Felde's "A Patch of Earth", and Rwandan Tutsis in Erik Ehn's "Maria Kizito". Taken together, these four plays erase the boundaries of theatrical realism to present stories that probe the actions of the perpetrators and the suffering of their victims. A major artistic contribution to the study of the history and effects of genocide, this collection carries on the important journey toward understanding the terror and trauma to which the modern world has so often been witness.


A controversy has developed regarding the stellar wind mass loss rates in O stars. The current consensus is that these winds may be clumped, which implies that all previously derived mass loss rates using density-squared diagnostics are overestimated by a factor of ≈2. However, arguments based on Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) observations of the P v resonance line doublet suggest that these rates should be smaller by another order of magnitude, provided that P v is the dominant phosphorous ion among these stars. Although a large mass loss rate reduction would have a range of undesirable consequences, it does provide a straightforward explanation of the unexpected symmetric and un-shifted X-ray emission-line profiles observed in high-energy resolution spectra. But acceptance of such a large reduction then leads to a contradiction with an important observed X-ray property: the correlation between He-like ion source radii and their equivalent X-ray continuum optical depth unity radii. Here we examine the phosphorous ionization balance since the P v fractional abundance, q (P v), is fundamental to understanding the magnitude of this mass loss reduction. We find that strong emission line radiation in the XUV energy band (defined here as 54 to 124 eV) can significantly reduce q (P v). Furthermore, owing to the unique energy distribution of these XUV lines, there is a negligible impact on the S v fractional abundance (a key component in the FUSE mass loss argument). We conclude that large reductions in O star mass loss rates are not required, and the X-ray optical depth unity relation remains valid.


Graph Neural Networks achieve remarkable results on problems with structured data but come as black-box predictors. Transferring existing explanation techniques, such as occlusion, fails as even removing a single node or edge can lead to drastic changes in the graph. The resulting graphs can differ from all training examples, causing model confusion and wrong explanations. Thus, we argue that explicability must use graphs compliant with the distribution underlying the training data. We coin this property Distribution Compliant Explanation (DCE) and present a novel Contrastive GNN Explanation (CoGE) technique following this paradigm. An experimental study supports the efficacy of CoGE.


The intersection of brownfields redevelopment and these broader concerns presents a host of issues. Does redevelopment of brownfields connect to a larger vision for the city that links with "smart growth" and climate action goals? Retooling the original developer-centered vision of VCPs to promote broader goals is an ongoing challenge. Has the affected community been involved in planning for brownfields remediation, or has the developer controlled the process? The latter narrows the ability to view the project as part of a community-wide plan, and undermines its legitimacy. Finally, if brownfields redevelopment yields benefits, how can we measure success over the long term? Metrics for assessing this are only just now emerging. As I note in Part III, many key questions have incomplete answers today, and as a result, finality in brownfields remediation and reuse continues to elude us. I draw a number of examples from New Jersey, a Rust Belt state with many brownfields and a complex history of dealing with them. 20 Recent developments in that state, including a 2009 state statute that privatized cleanups, and well-publicized funding shortfalls and regulatory errors in 2011, highlight the challenges of contemporary brownfields redevelopment.


The friction behavior of single silicon wafer sliding against different ice counterparts (α-Al2O3, CeO2 and SiO2) at 10±0.5 °C within a velocity of 60 rpm~300 rpm were studied using a home-made friction and wear testing machine. The morphologies and surfaces roughness of the worn silicon wafers were observed and examined on a non-contact surface topography instrument (ADE). It was found that the friction coefficient of the single silicon wafer decreased with the increase of sliding velocity. Single crystal silicon wafer coupled with α-Al2O3 ice counterpart recorded the highest friction coefficient and the biggest surface roughness, while it had the lowest friction coefficient and the smallest surface roughness as with CeO2 ice counterpart. One reason was that a series of tribochemical reactions occurred at the local contact point between the ice counterpart and the silicon wafer during sliding. Under alkaline condition, there would be a soft corrosion layer formed on the surface of the silicon wafer. Another reason was that the hardness of the abrasive particles was different and this caused different cutting depth of them.


ABSTRACT Forest management can have substantial impacts on ecosystem carbon storage, but those effects can vary significantly with management type and species composition. We used systematic review methodology to identify and synthesize effects of thinning and/or burning, timber harvesting, clear-cut, and wildfire on four components of ecosystem carbon: aboveground vegetation, soil, litter, and deadwood. We performed a meta-analysis on studies from the United States and Canada because those represented 85% of the studies conducted worldwide. We found that the most important variables in predicting effect sizes (ratio of carbon stored in treated stands versus controls) were, in decreasing order of importance, ecosystem carbon component, time since treatment, and age of control. Management treatment was the least important of all the variables we examined, but the trends we found suggest that thinning and/or burning treatments resulted in less carbon loss than wildfire or clear-cut. This finding is consistent with recent modeling studies indicating that forest management is unimportant to long-term carbon dynamics relative to the effects of large-scale natural disturbances (e.g., drought, fire, pest outbreak). However, many data gaps still exist on total ecosystem carbon, particularly in regions other than North America, and in timber production forests and plantations.


We present a new lighting estimation and editing framework to generate high-dynamic-range (HDR) indoor panorama lighting from a single limited field-of-view (LFOV) image captured by low-dynamic-range (LDR) cameras. Existing lighting estimation methods either directly regress lighting representation parameters or decompose this problem into LFOV-to-panorama and LDR-to-HDR lighting generation sub-tasks. However, due to the partial observation, the high-dynamic-range lighting, and the intrinsic ambiguity of a scene, lighting estimation remains a challenging task. To tackle this problem, we propose a coupled dual-StyleGAN panorama synthesis network (StyleLight) that integrates LDR and HDR panorama synthesis into a unified framework. The LDR and HDR panorama synthesis share a similar generator but have separate discriminators. During inference, given an LDR LFOV image, we propose a focal-masked GAN inversion method to find its latent code by the LDR panorama synthesis branch and then synthesize the HDR panorama by the HDR panorama synthesis branch. StyleLight takes LFOV-to-panorama and LDR-to-HDR lighting generation into a unified framework and thus greatly improves lighting estimation. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our framework achieves superior performance over state-of-the-art methods on indoor lighting estimation. Notably, StyleLight also enables intuitive lighting editing on indoor HDR panoramas, which is suitable for real-world applications. Code is available at https://style-light.github.io.


patterns due to economic and sociologic activities in African rural area are an important factor in the comprehension of the transmission of this disease. Through interviews and a participatory workshop, activities related to water-contact were identified, quantified and located for the study site of Tougou, situated in the north of Burkina Faso. Tougou, a field site for the 2iE Institute of Ouagadougou since 2004, has a sahelian climate; with a dry season of eight months and all precipitations occurring during the four other months of the year; and is affected by urinary schistosomiasis. The water-contact rates for the identified activities and the attractiveness of the different water points at the site, point out a seasonal variation in water-contact patterns. Using modelling to explore the effect of the seasonality of water-contacts in schistosomiasis transmission cycle, two different issues are observed depending on the considered system. In a local system, including one point of contact with water and one village, the seasonal variation of water-contacts leads to a decrease in the number of parasites per person. In opposite way, in a connected system of several villages having several water points where contacts occur, the seasonal variation of water-contacts lead to an increase in the number of parasites per person, due to the gathering of most water contacts at fewer number of water points during the dry period of the year. Table of content


Inevitable surface defects on α-Fe2O3 photoanodes, a promising candidate for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting with excellent stability and absorption in the visible light region, greatly limit their PEC performance for water oxidization. Surface modification is an effective strategy to decrease the negative effects of the surface defects. However, a challenge in understanding the nature of surface modification still remains. Here, we found that an ion-permeable Al2O3 coating layer can effectively prevent oxygen diffusion to the photoanode surface, thus suppressing the back reaction from oxygen reduction. The ion-permeable Al2O3 leads to ineffective surface state passivation due to the possible interface corrosion effect of OH− ions that decrease the interactions between Al2O3 and Fe2O3. In contrast, the ion-impermeable Al2O3 layer exhibits strong interactions with Fe2O3 and is mainly responsible for both surface state passivation and back reaction suppression, improving the photocurrent onset potential. Our results indicated that the modification of ion-impermeable passivation layers is a potential effective strategy to enhance the PEC performance.


The need to increase the flexibility of the labour market and its adaptability to various shocks requires reconfiguration of its institutions by the government authorities in order to most fully correspond to modern socio-economic conditions. The main purpose of this article is to compare the two stages of labour market reform (1990-2007 and 2008-2017) in the OECD countries. The analysis focuses on the most important labour market institutions: employment protection legislation, wage setting system and active programs. The task of the study is to identify the main vector of these changes, to analyze the features and consequences of the transformations being carried out, and most importantly, answer the question whether the new regulatory norms have contributed to the labour market flexibility. The study is based on institutional analysis. In the domestic literature, the reform of the labour market in developed and transitional economies is considered either in the country aspect or in relation to specific areas of reform. The peculiarity of this work is the interrelated analysis of the reform of the three main labour market institutions, as well as getting an answer to the question of why, after almost two decades of reforms, a new reconfiguration of labour market policies was required. The main sources of statistical information are: OECD Employment and Labour Market Statistics Database; Employment Protection Database (2013 update); Database of Public expenditure and participant shares on LMP. Acquaintance with the main directions of such reforms in the OECD countries, their positive outcomes and possible negative consequences will allow the government bodies of the Russian Federation to choose the most optimal variant of institutional changes.


Tetranychus urticae Koch is an important citrus pest that produces chlorotic spots on the leaves and scars on the fruit of affected trees. It is detected by visual inspection of the leaves. This work studies the potential of colour and hyperspectral imaging (400–1000 nm) under laboratory conditions as a fast and automatic method to detect the damage caused by this pest. The ability of a traditional vision system to differentiate this pest from others, such as Phyllocnistis citrella, and other leaf problems such as those caused by nutritional deficiencies, has been studied and compared with a more advanced hyperspectral system. To analyse the colour images, discriminant analysis has been used to classify the pixels as belonging to either a damaged or healthy leaves. In contrast, the hyperspectral images have been analysed using PLS DA. The rate of detection of the damage caused by T. urticae with colour images reached 92.5%, while leaves that did not present any damage were all correctly identified. Other problems such as damage by P. citrella were also correctly discriminated from T. urticae. Moreover, hyperspectral imaging allowed damage caused by T. urticae to be discriminated from healthy leaves and to distinguish between recent and mature leaves, which indicates whether it is a recent or an older infestation. Furthermore, good results were achieved in the discrimination between damage caused by T. urticae, P. citrella, and nutritional deficiencies.


Nizatidine, a new H2-receptor antagonist for the treatment of duodenal ulcer disease, was compared with cimetidine in an 8-wk, randomized, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial. Patients were randomly allocated to receive either nizatidine 300 mg h.s. or cimetidine 800 mg h.s. Patients were treated for 8 wk, regardless of the healing status of their ulcers. An endoscopy was performed at Wk 2, 4, and 8. Healing rates with nizatidine 300 mg h.s. were numerically, but not statistically significantly, superior to those with cimetidine 800 mg h.s. at each treatment period. Ulcer healing rates at Wk 2, 4, and 8 were 41% (78/191), 73% (130/179), and 81% (145/179) for nizatidine and 33% (60/184), 67% (116/174), and 75% (126/168) for cimetidine, respectively. Symptoms of peptic ulcer disease were similarly reduced at each treatment period by nizatidine and cimetidine. Patients with healed ulcers at either Wk 2 or Wk 4 were continued on therapy and an endoscopy was performed at Wk 8. Ulcer recurrence occurred in 10% of nizatidine-treated and 19% of cimetidine-treated patients at Wk 8 (p = 0.085). The observation of recurrence of duodenal ulcer while patients were receiving full-dose H2-receptor antagonist therapy has not been reported previously.


ABSTRACT What incentives and disincentives do Internet users weigh as they consider providing information to institutional actors such as government agencies and corporations online? Focus group participants list several benefits to sharing information including convenience, access to information, personalization, financial incentives, and more accurate health information, but also recognize that not all sharing may be in their interest. Disincentives to sharing include skepticism, distrust, and fears of discrimination. Decisions about sharing are related to the information type, the context in which information is revealed, and the institution to which they are – or think they are – providing information. Significantly, many participants were mistrustful of both governmental and corporate actors. Participants displayed awareness of privacy risks, but frequently mischaracterized the extent to which information could be aggregated and mined. They displayed resignation towards privacy violations, suggesting that they perceived little control over their ability to protect their privacy, which may influence their privacy behaviors. This calls into question the privacy calculus, as individuals misunderstand the risks of their information provision and do not believe opting out of information-sharing is possible.


We address adaptive output feedback control of uncertain nonlinear systems with noisy output measurements, in which both the dynamics and the dimension of the regulated systems may be unknown, and only the relative degree of the regulated output is assumed to be known. Given a smooth reference trajectory, the problem is to design a controller that forces the system measurement to track it with bounded errors. A recently developed method proposes the use of a linear error observer that estimates the tracking error and its derivatives. Since the observer is full order, it also estimates the states of the controller, even though these states are exactly known. It has been observed experimentally that the resulting adaptive control architecture is very sensitive to sensor noise. In this paper we provide a specific reduced order observer that significantly reduces sensitivity to sensor noise in adaptive control design. Experimental results on a three degrees of freedom laboratory model helicopter are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the reduced order observer design.


The budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, accumulates the storage polysaccharide glycogen in response to nutrient limitation. Glycogen synthase, the major form of which is encoded by the GSY2 gene, catalyzes the key regulated step in glycogen storage. Here, we utilized Gsy2p fusions to green fluorescent protein (GFP) to determine where glycogen synthase was located within cells. We demonstrated that the localization pattern of Gsy2-GFP depended upon the glycogen content of the cell. When glycogen was abundant, Gsy2-GFP was found uniformly throughout the cytoplasm, but under low glycogen conditions, Gsy2-GFP localized to discrete spots within cells. Gsy2p is known to bind to glycogen, and we propose that the subcellular distribution of Gsy2-GFP reflects the distribution of glycogen particles. In the absence of glycogen, Gsy2p translocates into the nucleus. We hypothesize that Gsy2p is normally retained in the cytoplasm through its interaction with glycogen particles. When glycogen levels are reduced, Gsy2p loses this anchor and can traffic into the nucleus.


Background: Articular cartilage damage has been reported in 23% of knees with an acute anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and 54% of those with chronic ACL laxity. Because the purpose of surgery is to reconstruct the ACL, the chondral lesion is usually an incidental finding. It is not known if any of the numerous treatments that have been recommended for chondral defects alters the natural history of the untreated lesion. We sought to determine what effect, if any, an isolated articular cartilage defect observed at the time of ACL reconstruction would have on the radiographic, subjective, and objective results after surgery if no intervention was performed on the cartilage lesion itself.Methods: From 1987 to 1999, 2770 ACL reconstructions were performed, and 125 of them were done in patients who had an articular cartilage defect of Outerbridge grade 3 or 4 but had both menisci intact. The mean defect size was 1.7 cm 2 (range, 0.5 to 6.5 cm 2 ). Postoperative rehabilitation was not altered because of the chondral defect, and patients were allowed full weight-bearing and the full range of motion of which they were capable. A control group of patients matched on the basis of sex and age at surgery was identified from the database. No patient in the control group had a chondral defect or meniscal tear. Patients were evaluated at one, two, and five years after surgery and every five years thereafter with use of the IKDC (International Knee Documentation Committee) criteria, modified Noyes subjective questionnaire, and radiographs.Results: Subjective follow-up was carried out more than two years after surgery (mean time, 8.7 years after surgery) for 101 patients. The results of objective evaluation were available for fifty-two patients, at a mean of 6.3 years. The patients in the control group had significantly higher subjective scores than did the patients with a defect in the medial compartment (mean, 95.2 points versus 94.0 points; p = 0.0451) and those with a defect in the lateral compartment (mean, 95.9 points versus 92.8 points; p = 0.0047). There was no significant correlation between larger defect size and lower subjective scores (p = 0.2543). The distribution of IKDC radiographic ratings was not significantly different between the groups. At least 79% of the patients in both groups returned to jumping, twisting, and pivoting sports at least at the recreational level.Conclusions: While statistical analysis revealed a difference in subjective scores between the defect and control groups, an average of 93 points for the patients with a lateral defect and 94 points for those with a medial defect indicates that most patients have very few symptoms. This study provides a baseline of information that can be used to compare the results of procedures designed to treat articular cartilage defects.


There are increasing incidence of Hangman fracture with the development of society and industrialization. The research on upper cervical spine concerning hangman fracture is able to be well carried on with The finite element method(FEM) developing. The research includes a biomechanical experiment of cadaver specimens and FEM analysis accordingly. The finite element models of geometrical complex structure from medical images are generated automatically, the research presents simulation of different surgical option of hangman fracture, testified the models by loads, calculated the stabilities and stress of models. The corresponding results were summarized with experiment of cadaver specimens. The research demonstrate that clinical therapeutics is an good option for Hangman fracture with C2-3 inter-vertebral disc injury.


Novel power-supply-free, surface-mount-type magnetoelectric passive current sensors were developed and integrated with a four-channel, 2.4-GHz wireless communication (transmitter and receiver) unit to form a new generation of wireless condition monitor for train traction systems. The wireless condition monitor was deployed in a field study on the East Rail Line in Hong Kong. Four pairs of magnetoelectric passive current sensors and single-channel wireless transmitters were installed, respectively, on and near the electric cables of four electric motor drives located underneath the 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 11th cars of a 12-car mainline train. The four-channel wireless receiver was housed in the driver's cab of the train to provide real-time wireless monitoring of the current signatures of the four electric motor drives due to the operation of the train traction system in steady-state and acceleration conditions. The monitored current signatures were post-processed to obtain the distributions of the ratio of harmonic-to-fundamental current, their total harmonic distortions and power factors as well as the frequency spectra. A practical implication and correlation of the post-processed data with the operating conditions of the train traction system was established for application of the proposed wireless condition monitor as train traction system monitor.


Hadoop has become increasingly popular as it rapidly processes data in parallel. Cloud computing gives reliability, flexibility, scalability, elasticity and cost saving to cloud users. Deploying Hadoop in cloud can benefit Hadoop users. Our evaluation exhibits that various internal cloud attacks can bypass current Hadoop security mechanisms, and compromised Hadoop components can be used to threaten overall Hadoop. It is urgent to improve compromise resilience, Hadoop can maintain a relative high security level when parts of Hadoop are compromised. Hadoop has two vulnerabilities that can dramatically impact its compromise resilience. The vulnerabilities are the overloaded authentication key, and the lack of fine-grained access control at the data access level. We developed a security enhancement for a public cloud-based Hadoop, named SEHadoop, to improve the compromise resilience through enhancing isolation among Hadoop components and enforcing least access privilege for Hadoop processes. We have implemented the SEHadoop model, and demonstrated that SEHadoop fixes the above vulnerabilities with minimal or no run-time overhead, and effectively resists related attacks.


The effect of one isolate of Bacillus subtilis and two isolates of B. thuringiensis subsp. aegypti, the bioproducts Agarin® and Vertemic® and the chemical nematicide Vydate L 24 %, were evaluated on Meloidogyne javanica infection on tomato plants in the greenhouse using autoclaved and non-autoclaved soil. Treatment with Vydate L 24 % and 2 mg washed pellet of the tested Bacillus isolates caused the great reduction (66.9-96 %), followed by treatment with 10 ml of Bacillus isolates supernatant which showed (26.3-57.7 %) reduction in nematode infection and reproduction (numbers of nematode root galls, egg-masses / plant and number of 2nd stage juveniles / 250 cc soil) in both autoclaved and non-autoclaved soil. In another test, treatments with Vydate L 24 %, Agarin® and Vertemic® induced great reduction (66.3-91.8 %) in nematode infection and reproduction on infected tomato plants. Also, treatments with Vydate L 24 % and the tested bioproducts showed significant increase in the dry weight of the shoot and root systems in comparison with check treatment..


Fasting gastric fundus tone is maintained by continuous cholinergic input. 5-Hydroxytryptamine-1 (5-HT1) receptor activation decreases gastric fundus tone in humans. Whether this fundus-relaxing effect is mediated via inhibition of cholinergic input or via activation of a nitrergic pathway is unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of nitrergic inhibition on feline gastric fundus tone and on 5-HT1receptor-mediated relaxation of the fundus. Administration of N ω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME) alone caused a significant decrease of the mean baseline volume ( P < 0.005), which was restored completely by addition ofl-arginine. Sumatriptan caused a dose-dependent relaxation of the gastric fundus ( P < 0.0005). This relaxation was inhibited by l-NAME ( P < 0.02) and was restored by prior administration of l-arginine. Buspirone did not cause any change in mean baseline volume, whereas the sumatriptan-induced relaxation was not affected by prior administration of NAN-190. Our data indicate that fasting fundus tone relies not only on continuous cholinergic input but also on continuous nitrergic input, implying that fasting fundus tone is maintained by the balance of a cholinergic and nitrergic drive. Furthermore, fundus relaxation via 5-HT1 receptor activation is mediated through activation of a nitrergic pathway.


The deformation and fracture of oxide scales developed on Fe3Al, during cooling, has been modelled using finite element analysis FEA. Embedded defects have been introduced at the oxide surface and at the oxide/substrate interface and the propagation of these defects and the influence of such propagation on scale spallation has been analysed under both elastic and elastic plastic conditions. Relaxation of stresses associated with the plastic deformation of the substrate has been found to delay scale spallation and a greater temperature drop is required to cause spallation. In this situation, the presence of an oxide surface crack influences scale spallation in a complex manner. The oxide surface crack does not influence the scale spallation process for a purely linear elastic analysis, which is solely controlled by interfacial defects.


The present study sought to determine whether the combination of late preconditioning (PC) with postconditioning enhances the reduction in infarct size. Chronically instrumented rats were assigned to a 45-min (subset 1) or 60-min (subset 2) coronary occlusion followed by 24 h of reperfusion. In each subset, rats received no further intervention (control) or were preconditioned 24 h before occlusion (PC), postconditioned at the onset of reperfusion following occlusion, or preconditioned and postconditioned without (PC + postconditioning) or with the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib (3 mg/kg ip; PC + postconditioning + celecoxib) 10 min before postconditioning. Myocardial cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression and COX-2 activity (assessed as myocardial levels of PGE(2)) were measured 6 min after reperfusion in an additional five groups (control, PC, postconditioning, PC + postconditioning, and PC + postconditioning + celecoxib) subjected to a 45-min occlusion. PC alone reduced infarct size after a 45-min occlusion but not after a 60-min occlusion. Postconditioning alone did not reduce infarct size in either setting. However, the combination of late PC and postconditioning resulted in a robust infarct-sparing effect in both settings, suggesting additive cardioprotection. Celecoxib completely abrogated the infarct-sparing effect of the combined interventions in both settings. Late PC increased COX-2 protein expression and PGE(2) content. PGE(2) content (but not COX-2 protein) was further increased by the combination of both interventions, suggesting that postconditioning increases the activity of COX-2 induced by late PC. In conclusion, the combination of late PC and postconditioning produces additive protection, likely due to a postconditioning-induced enhancement of COX-2 activity.


Digital mammography is most reliable and effective technique for early and accurate identification of Breast cancer. Image processing plays a significant role in diagnosis and classification of breast cancer in medical field. In this paper, a system is created to classify the mammogram images into three classes, namely Benign, Malignant and Normal. Mammogram images are pre-processed and the features are extracted from the segmented region. These features are used to train modified SVM and KNN classifier. The proposed Hybrid algorithm with modified SVM and KNN classifier helps to classify the mammogram images. This latest technique improves the SVM algorithm with introducing multi class for classification of breast cancer. It exploits the KNN algorithm according to the distribution of test images in a feature space. This study also evaluates the accuracy with the SVM and KNN classifier. The modified SVM and KNN hybrid algorithm produces higher prognosis accuracy than the KNN method and SVM technique. This method is tested for 10 test images with 20 trained. This methodology achieves an overall mean accuracy of 99.3406% in classification of mammogram images.


There is a current trend toward nonsurgical therapy for small, minimally symptomatic acute subdural hematomas (ASDH), but data supporting such a scheme have been lacking. We evaluated 83 patients with minimally symptomatic ASDH (Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 11-15) and found 58 managed nonsurgically (70%) and 25 managed with craniotomy (30%). Patients managed without surgery had a lower incidence of focal neurologic deficits (12% vs. 40%; p < .01), open cisterns (90% vs. 28%; p < .001), and small (< or = 1 cm) ASDHs (92% vs. 62%; p < .001). Ninety-three percent of patients managed nonsurgically had functional recovery compared with 84% of patients with craniotomy. Age and injury Severity Score were significantly associated with patient outcome. Timing of surgery had no association with outcome. Six percent of patients managed nonsurgically developed chronic SDH requiring craniotomy. We conclude that unless the hematoma is causing clinical evidence of intracranial hypertension or significant neurologic dysfunction, there appears to be no advantage in evacuating the clot. Selected patients with ASDH and GCS scores of 11-15 can safely be managed without craniotomy.


Optimal filters for nonlinear systems are in general difficult to derive or implement. The common approach is to use approximate solutions such as extended Kalman filters, ensemble filters or particle filters. However, no optimality properties can be guaranteed by these approximations, and even the stability of the estimation error cannot often be ensured. Another relevant issue is that, in most practical situations, the system whose variables have to be estimated is not known, and a two-step procedure is adopted, based on model identification from data and filter design from the identified model. However, the designed filter may display large performance deteriorations in the case of modeling errors. In this paper, a new approach overcoming these issues is proposed, allowing the design of optimal filters for nonlinear systems in both the cases of known and unknown system. The approach is based on the direct filter design from a set of data generated by the system. Either experimental or simulated data can be used for design. A bound on the number of data necessary to ensure a given filter accuracy is also provided, showing that the proposed approach is not affected by the curse of dimensionality.


In this paper the issue of nonlinearity and heterogeneity in the derivation of feed efficiency estimates for beef cattle based on performance data for 6253 animals is examined. Using parametric, non-parametric and integer programming approaches, we find evidence of nonlinearity between feed intake and measures of size and growth, and susceptibility of, feed efficiency estimates to assumptions pertaining to heterogeneity between animals and within cohorts. Further, differences in feed cost implied by selection based on different feed efficiency estimates were evaluated and compared-"costs of misspecification" of up to $280/kg DM was derived.


A marine operation is a complex non-routine activity of limited duration carried out in offshore environment. Due to safety reasons, these operations are normally performed within specific sea state limits, which are derived from numerical modelling and analysis of hazardous events. In view of the uncertainties in the assessment of structural responses under stochastic environmental conditions, these limiting curves correspond to a target structural failure probability recommended in offshore standards (for example, 10−4 per operation as specified by DNV-GL). However, one of the main limitations is that these curves do not reflect site-specific safety assessment. The current paper presents a novel methodology for assessing the structural safety level of marine operations from a long-term perspective. The methodology includes estimation of extreme response distribution under all possible operational sea states (i.e. the operational domain under the limiting sea states) for a given offshore site and is compared to the response limit to obtain an average failure probability. A case study is also presented for a blade root mating process onto preassembled hub using a jack-up crane vessel and risk of impact between root and hub is considered critical. Global time-domain simulations are performed using multibody dynamics, and extreme value distributions for impact velocities are derived for different wind-wave conditions. The allowable impact velocity between the blade root and the hub is determined by an explicit finite element analysis of the damage at the blade root. Finally, the average failure probabilities considering the operational domain are obtained for four different European offshore sites and are compared to the target level of structural failure probability considered for the limiting sea states.


The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between intimacy and marital satisfaction of couples in different stages of the family life cycle. The Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships (PAIR) questionnaire (Schaefer & Olson, 1981) and a subscale of the Enriching and Nurturing Relationship Issues, Communication and Happiness (ENRICH) questionnaire (Olson, Fournier, & Druckman, 1982) were administered to 57 couples. Significant differences between men and women were found on two of the five aspects of experienced intimacy (sexual and recreational) as well as for social and sexual discrepancy scores (difference between experienced and desired intimacy). With the exception of social intimacy as experienced by women, a positive correlation was found for both sexes between all the components of experienced intimacy and marital satisfaction. No differences were found for experienced intimacy or marital satisfaction according to family developmental stages.


This investigation has assessed natural product antifouling performance of an isolated compound from a terrestrial source against marine biofilm forming bacteria, Cobetia marina and Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus. Novel bioassay protocols using the hydrodynamic system and its well plate microfluidics capability were developed to test the in situ antifouling efficacy of the natural product against biofilm attachment under two shear stresses (0.07 and 0.3 Pa). The hydrodynamic results allowed for the first time the direct observation of the natural product influence on newly attached marine biofilms and the evolution of the antifouling affect with time. Biofilm attachment behaviour appeared to be markedly different in the presence of the natural product, illustrated by limited cluster and extracellular polymeric substance formation which suggests an interference of the bacterial attachment mechanisms. Ultimately, this is fundamental in developing greater understanding of the biofilm kinetics. These observations were confirmed using epifluoresence and confocal microscopy, with the additional corroborative data on bacterial cell integrity using the LIVE / DEAD nucleic acid kit.


This article explores the leadership of a closing school. It draws on the case of Newley School, a mixed comprehensive for students aged between 11 and 18 years, and examines the primary leadership activities undertaken during the 12-month period when the school reopened temporarily as a 'new' school. These activities were driven by the imperative of ensuring the provision of a positive learning environment for students. The article examines the key factors underpinning the cultural change required to secure this environment. It moves on to explore the impact of cultural change activities from the viewpoint of some of the school's main stakeholders – students, parents, teachers and governors. It highlights the importance of short-term culture building and provides insights into the potential benefits of school federations. The article concludes with implications for school leaders attempting to manage cultural change.


In this article we quantify the marginal external effects of nearby land based wind turbines on property prices capitalized through traded residential properties located within 2,500 meters or less. We succeed in separating the effect of noise and visual pollution from wind turbines. This was achieved by using a dataset covering 21 municipalities and consisting of 12,640 traded residential properties sold in the period 2000-2011. We model the hedonic price function in two steps. First we detrend data across municipalities using a pooled cross sectional model which allows for different price trends across municipalities. Second we control for spatial autocorrelation by using explicit spatial models. Properties affected by noise and visual pollution from wind turbines are identified using Geographical Information Systems. Our results show that wind turbines have a significant negative impact on the price schedule of neighboring residential properties. The visual pollution accounts for 3.15% of the residential sales price. The price premium declines with distance by about 0.242% of the sales price for every 100 meters. The effect of noise depends on the noise level emitted and ranges from 3% to 7% of the sale price for residential properties.


Self-supporting AC (activated carbon)-FWCNT (few-wall carbon nanotubes) hybrid electrodes were fabricated by mixing of ACs with high specific surface area (SSA) and sub-millimeter-long FWCNTs. In order to fabricate the hybrid electrodes, AC and FWCNT were mixed in a weight ratio of 9:1, dispersed by bath-sonication and vacuum-filtrated on a membrane filter. The addition of FWCNTs gives conductivity and mechanical strength, and replace metallic current collectors in thick (0.1 mm) electrodes. For making an electrode, three different ACs that derived from walnut shell (WS), that from apricot stones (AS), and that commercially used for capacitors (YP-80F, Kuraray Chemical Co., Osaka Japan), were used with FWCNT in weight ratio of AC:FWCNT = 9:1. An electrode based only on FWCNT was also prepared as a reference for comparison. Electrochemical properties of the obtained electrodes were investigated by the cyclic voltammetry method (CV). Electrochemical characteristics were measured using the three-electrode cell contained of YP80F-FWCNT, AS-FWCNT, WS-FWCNT as a working electrode, a YP-80F-FWCNT counter electrode and a Ag/AgCl reference electrode with an electrolyte of 1 M Na2SO4 aqueous solution. Also, the morphological properties of obtained electrodes were studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM), the SSA was investigated by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. SSA, conductivity, and resistivity of AS-FWCNT and WS-FWCNT electrodes were summarized. Both the AS-FWCNT and WS-FWCNT hybrid electrodes showed specific capacitances of about 140 F/g at 1 mV/s and about 100 F/g at 100 mV/s, which are similar or even better than the AC-CNT hybrid electrode made of commercialized AC (YP-80F).


An annual wealth tax, a mark-to-market income tax, and a retrospective capital gains tax are three approaches to capital taxation that yield roughly equivalent outcomes under certain conditions. The three approaches differ starkly, however, in their exposure to uncertainty of various types. This essay seeks to highlight the effect of uncertainty on the implementation and operation of alternative capital taxation regimes. An annual wealth tax is highly vulnerable to valuation uncertainty and constitutional uncertainty, but less so to political uncertainty. A retrospective capital gains tax, by contrast, minimizes valuation uncertainty and effectively eliminates constitutional uncertainty but remains highly exposed to political uncertainty. A mark-to-market regime falls somewhere between the two extremes on dimensions of political and constitutional uncertainty but shares in a wealth tax's exposure to valuation uncertainty. Ultimately, the choice among alternative capital taxation regimes reflects a trade-off among uncertainties of different varieties.


The binding of resting platelets to Candida albicans germ tubes was studied by means of an affinity column in which germ tubes were physically immobilized. Adhesion of platelets to the column was dependent on both the germ tube concentration and the number of platelets applied. It was found that the interaction of C. albicans germ tubes with platelets is specific and should be mediated by a fungal protein receptor. The results obtained by scanning electron microscopy confirmed that resting platelets can fix directly onto germ tubes. In addition, this study showed that attachment of platelets onto C. albicans is associated with morphological changes. Platelets lost their discoid shape, became globular, generated spikes or pseudopods, and then flattened on the yeast cells.


INTRODUCTION
Fabry disease is a rare X-linked lysosomal storage disorder caused by a deficiency of alpha-galactosidase, which results in progressive intracellular accumulation of glycosphingolipids in various tissues. Cardiac involvement is frequent, with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (concentric, apical or asymmetric septal) as the most common finding. Evaluating LV systolic dysfunction with conventional echocardiography is not sufficiently sensitive to detect impaired myocardial function early in the course of the disease. Doppler myocardial imaging can quantify changes in global and regional longitudinal myocardial function with great precision.

AIM
To identify parameters of cardiac dysfunction in patients with Fabry disease with no cardiac symptoms using conventional or Doppler echocardiography and tissue Doppler (including tissue tracking, strain and strain rate).

METHODS
Four patients with Fabry disease (3 female; mean age 47 +/- 17 years) and 29 healthy controls (19 female and 10 male; mean age 38 +/- 14 years) were studied with conventional echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging using a Vivid 7 scanner. The following parameters were measured: LV dimensions, ejection fraction (using Simpson's rule), systolic and diastolic velocities and tissue tracking of the mitral annulus at six sites (apical views). LV peak systolic strain and strain rate were obtained in 12 segments from apical views.

RESULTS
Two patients had LV hypertrophy (one concentric and one apical). Diastolic impairment was detected in three patients by reduced flow propagation velocity of early transmitral flow (Vp) and E/Vp ratio. Mitral annulus systolic velocities were lower in Fabry disease than in the controls. Peak systolic strain and strain rate were diminished in all segments in three patients, showing impaired myocardial systolic function. The results are presented for each of the four patients.

CONCLUSIONS
In patients with Fabry disease, with no cardiac symptoms and normal LV systolic function on conventional echocardiography, diastolic dysfunction was detected by Vp and E/Vp ratio regardless of LV hypertrophy. However, tissue Doppler imaging was able to detect impaired myocardial systolic function, particularly in patients with LV hypertrophy.


Since reactions to amethocaine are more frequent than with lignocaine, lignocaine lozenges, although equally unpalatable, followed by the application of lignocaine solution is preferable. However, one lignocaine lozenge (sucking half of which is sufficient) costs about Is., as compared with approximately 1j-d. for one amethocaine lozenge. Lignocaine lozenges can be prepared in hospital pharmac'ies for about 4jd. per lozenge, using 250 mg. of lignocaine hydrochloride and a B.P.C. base. I am, etc.,


Vigilantes are a staple of popular culture, from Charles Bronson's 1974 classic Death Wish, and its parade of sequels, to the latest batch of Batman films. Outside of the fictional sphere, society continues to wrestle with vigilantism, notably in the current debates over the prudence and ethics of the Minuteman civilian border patrol group. And though vigilantism has been the subject of speculation and debate among criminologists, historians, and legal scholars, it has unfortunately been given scant attention by philosophers. Surely a topic of such prominence in popular culture, and continued relevance in real life, is ripe for treatment by applied ethicists. In this paper I seek to formulate a definition of vigilantism and then argue that there are conditions under which vigilantism is not only permissible but, at least for some, obligatory.


Two languages are never considered to represent the same social reality in similar way sufficiently, especially in conveying the humour. The objectives of this research are to identify the patterns of transitivity and modality used to represent the humour in marriage proposal skit of English and Makassarese and also to explain the way of English and Makassarese humour maintain power of relationship in marriage proposal skit. This research was conducted by using Critical Discourse analytic approach of Fairclough and Halliday's Theory particularly in transitivity and modality system of both English and Makassarese. The results of this research show that Halliday's theory cannot cover all Makassarese data, especially in dividing process of functions in the level of ideational and interpersonal meaning of Makassarese data. In fact, in building their relationship through humour, English speakers tend to use many relational processes which they asked about the identity of their interlocutor and also use many deontic modality (desirability, obligation, and permission). In Makassarese data, speakers tend to use many material processes that they can know what happened with their interlocutor and what is their interlocutor doing. And also they use lack of deontic modality with no obligation category.


As the open research movement continues to gather pace, a number of publishers, funders, and institutions are mandating the sharing of underlying research data. At the same time, concerns about introducing extra quality control steps around data availability statements (DAS) are driving a discussion about the best way to make data more open without slowing down publication. This article describes a pilot project to introduce a new Open Data policy to three IOP Publishing (IOPP) journals as part of IOPP's commitment to increasing transparency and support for open science. An investigation was undertaken using an automated workflow monitoring tool to understand the impact of this change on authors and the editorial staff. Changes in revised submission processing times and how often manuscripts were returned to the author were measured. An overall increase in the time editorial staff spent processing manuscripts was found as well as an increase in the number of times manuscripts were returned to authors. Detailed analysis shows that manuscripts in which authors claim in the DAS to have included data within the manuscript were the most strongly affected. Steps to mitigate the effects through improved author communication were found to be effective.


Tin mineralization in central Thailand is associated with granitic rocks of the Thai-Burmese border range (western group). Granitic intrusions east of Bangkok and near the Kampuchea border (eastern group) have no tin. Fractional crystallization is the fundamental petrogenetic process that controls the evolution of both groups of granites. The tin-bearing alkali-feldspar aplogranites of the western group display an extreme degree of differentiation that has no petrological equivalent in the eastern group. These aplogranites are the product of a combination of magmatic fractionation (primary tin enrichment trend) modified by fluid interaction. The latter process is responsible for a secondary geochemical tin deficiency that is balanced by redistribution of tin in fracture systems—i.e., tin mineralization. The pattern of tin depletion in the aplogranites provides an indication of the tin potential in a given ore-forming system.


: Coral reefs comprise some of the most biodiverse habitats on the planet. These ecosystems face a range of stressors, making quantifying community assemblages and potential changes vital to effective management. To understand short- and long-term changes in biodiversity and detect early warning signals of decline, new methods for quantifying biodiversity at scale are necessary. Acoustic monitoring techniques have proven useful in observing species activities and biodiversity on coral reefs through aggregate approaches (i.e. energy as a proxy). However, few studies have ground-truthed these acoustic analyses with human-based observations. In this study, we sought to expand these passive acoustic methods by investigating biological sounds and fish call rates on a healthy reef, providing a unique set of human-confirmed, labeled acoustic observations. We analyzed acoustic data from Tektite Reef, St. John, US Virgin Islands, over a 2 mo period. A subset of acoustic files was manually inspected to identify recurring biotic sounds and quantify reef activity throughout the day. We found a high variety of acoustic signals in this soundscape. General patterns of call rates across time conformed to expectations, with dusk and dawn showing important and significantly elevated peaks in soniferous fish activity. The data reflected high variability in call rates across days and lunar phases. Call rates did not correspond to sound pressure levels, suggesting that certain call types may drive crepuscular trends in sound levels while lower-level critical calls, likely key for estimating biodiversity and behavior, may be missed by gross sound level analyses.


Abstract : Ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) were deployed in the Mediterranean for two refraction surveys shot with underwater sound signal (SUS) charges. The digital data were analyzed to determine: (1) the attenuation features, signal/noise (S/N) characteristics and frequency content of water waves and body waves; and (2) the crustal structure of the test areas. The attenuation of water-wave signals was fairly uniform within the passband of the OBS (10-31 HZ) and was greater in deep water than in shallower water, and body waves were much more strongly attenuated than water waves. The S/N ratios were much larger for the SUS shots detonated at 91 m depth than for those detonated at 244 m depth. The body-wave data indicated the presence of a layer with P-wave velocity of 3.8 km/sec about 0.8 km below mean sea level in one test area. Probably this is a Miocene evaporite sequence. (Author)


Abstract Background: Malaria morbidity and mortality reduction in children greatly depends on caregivers' knowledge about childhood malaria.
Objective: The objective of the study was to assess caregivers' knowledge about malaria in Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center, Southwest Ethiopia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November to December 2005. A Sample of 588 households having children between the ages of 2-59 months were randomly selected from urban, semi-urban and rural strata proportional to their size. Caregivers of the children were interviewed using a structured questionnaire.
Findings: Of 572 interviewed caregivers, most of them (70.1%) spontaneously mentioned mosquitoes as the cause of malaria in children while half of them (51.9%) had non-biomedical perceptions as causes of the disease. Among the symptoms of malaria in children, fever was mentioned spontaneously by most (86.2%) of the caregivers. The three most commonly perceived preventive measures of malaria for children were cleaning the surrounding (43.7%), keeping personal hygiene (35.7%), and mosquito net usage (35%). Urban or semi-urban residence, lower income and having formal education were found to be associated with good knowledge about childhood malaria.
Conclusion: This study identified misperceptions regarding the cause and low level of awareness about childhood malaria among caregivers. These issues need to be addressed through tailored health promotion activities to prevent and control childhood malaria. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2008;22(1):49-54]


The ARF locus is frequently inactivated in human cancer. The oncosuppressor ARF has indeed been described as a general sensor for different situation of cellular stress. We have previously demonstrated that ARF deficiency severely impairs inflammatory responses in vitro and in vivo, establishing a role for ARF in the regulation of innate immunity. The aim of the present work was to get further insights into the immune functions of ARF and to evaluate its possible contribution to the polarization of macrophages toward the M1 or M2 phenotype. Our results demonstrate that resting Arf−/− macrophages express high levels of Ym1 and Fizz-1, two typical markers of alternatively-activated macrophages (M2). Additionally, Arf−/− peritoneal macrophages showed an impaired response to lipopolysaccharide (a classical inducer of M1 polaryzation) and a reduced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines/chemokines. Moreover, upon stimulation with interleukin-4 (IL-4), an inducer of the M2 phenotype, well established M2 markers such as Fizz-1, Ym1 and arginase-1 were upregulated in Arf−/− as compared with wild type macrophages. Accordingly, the cytokine and chemokine profile associated with the M2 phenotype was significantly overexpressed in Arf−/− macrophages responding to IL-4. In addition, multiple pro-angiogenic factors such as VEGF and MMP-9 were also increased. In summary, these results indicate that ARF contributes to the polarization and functional plasticity of macrophages.


Abstract Polarimetric studies of pulsars at low radio frequencies provide important observational insights into the pulsar emission mechanism and beam models, and probe the properties of the magneto-ionic interstellar medium (ISM). Aperture arrays are the main form of next-generation low-frequency telescopes, including the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). These require a distinctly different approach to data processing (e.g. calibration and beamforming) compared to traditional dish antennas. As the second paper of this series, we present a verification of the MWA's pulsar polarimetry capability, using two bright southern pulsars, PSRs J0742–2822 and J1752–2806. Our observations simultaneously cover multiple frequencies (76–313 MHz) and were taken at multiple zenith angles (ZA) during a single night for each pulsar. We show that the MWA can be reliably calibrated for ZA ≲45° and frequencies ≲270 MHz. We present the polarimetric profiles for PSRs J0742–2822 and J1752–2806 at frequencies lower than 300 MHz for the first time, along with an analysis of the linear polarisation degree and pulse profile evolution with frequency. For PSR J0742–2822, the measured degree of linear polarisation shows a rapid decrease at low frequencies, in contrast with the generally expected trend, which can be attributed to depolarisation effects from small-scale, turbulent, magneto-ionic ISM components. This effect has not been widely explored for pulsars in general and will be further investigated in future work.


The state of the sea ice cover results from an interplay between thermodynamics and dynamics. Changes in the ice cover further affect the way in which the ice responds to forcing, both thermodynamic and dynamic. This thesis discusses several aspects of sea ice thermodynamics and dynamics, and their contribution to the evolution of ice pack, and particularly to changes in the Arctic sea ice cover. The main focus is on the ice dynamics in different types of ice zones and under different conditions, which also enables the examination of the impact of thermodynamic forcing on sea ice dynamics. Changes in the Arctic sea ice thickness distribution during the period 1975-2000 are studied in detail, and the contribution of thermodynamics and dynamics as driving forcing is discussed. The results show that the shape of the sea ice thickness distribution has changed: the peak of the distribution has generally narrowed and shifted towards thinner ice. A prevalent feature is the loss of thick, mostly deformed ice, which has had a significant role in the decrease in the mean and modal ice thickness. The results also show a decrease in the seasonal variability of the mean ice thickness, but with strong regional differences. Also, the regional variability of the sea ice thickness has decreased, since the thinning has been the most pronounced in regions which formerly had the thickest ice cover. The observed changes in the regional ice draft distributions cannot be explained by local warming of the atmosphere, but changes in the ice drift patterns have had an essential impact. These results emphasize the importance of the description of sea ice dynamics in the models. Sea ice dynamics, and especially deformation, strongly affect the evolution of ice volume and properties of ice cover. There has still been a need for better understanding of the highly local and intermittent deformation process, as well as its variability that rises from different types of conditions and regions. Several aspects of these questions are covered in this thesis. With coastal and ship radar images, the study of the length scale dependency of sea ice deformation rate is extended to smaller length scales (from 100 m to 10 km) and time scales (from 10 min to 24 h) than were previously possible. Sea ice deformation rate is shown to exhibit a power law with respect to both length scale and time scale at all the scales covered. Both the overall deformation rate and the length scale dependency of deformation rate are found to depend strongly on the time scale considered. Small scale deformation is studied in different type of ice regions (coastal boundary zone, compact Arctic ice pack and marginal ice zone), and under different weather conditions. One of the key findings is the connection between air temperature and deformation rate: during warm days deformation rates are generally higher than during cold days. The deformation rate is found to respond to changes in air temperature in a time scale of days, which is clearly faster than previously assumed. This response is most likely connected to the effectiveness of the healing process. However, despite of the most effective healing during the coldest winter, the previously damaged areas are found to remain the weak points in the ice cover. This confirms that the deformation history is an important factor in determining how the ice cover responds to dynamic forcing.


Any field in a half-space can be described by a continuous spectrum of cylindrical waves. If this spectrum comprises substantially only waves whose propagation constant is very close to the plane wave propagation constant, the field can be resolved into a set of elementary wave beams which are characterized by Laguerre polynomials. They satisfy orthogonality relations like the wave modes in a waveguide. The elementary beams or "beam modes" can be reiterated and guided by reconstituting the cross-sectional phase distribution at certain intervals. Reiterative beams are utilized in the beam waveguide. The finite size of the phase resetting devices effects a modification of the reiterative beam modes and causes diffraction losses. These losses decrease very rapidly with increasing diameter of the phasing devices.


Pre-defined manipulation primitives are widely used for cloth manipulation. However, cloth properties such as its stiffness or density can highly impact the performance of these primitives. Although existing solutions have tackled the parameterisation of pick and place locations, the effect of factors such as the velocity or trajectory of quasi-static and dynamic manipulation primitives has been neglected. Choosing appropriate values for these parameters is crucial to cope with the range of materials present in house-hold cloth objects. To address this challenge, we introduce the Quasi-Dynamic Parameterisable (QDP) method, which optimises parameters such as the motion velocity in addition to the pick and place positions of quasi-static and dynamic manipulation primitives. In this work, we leverage the framework of Sequential Reinforcement Learning to decouple sequentially the parameters that compose the primitives. To evaluate the effectiveness of the method we focus on the task of cloth unfolding with a robotic arm in simulation and real-world experiments. Our results in simulation show that by deciding the optimal parameters for the primitives the performance can improve by 20% compared to sub-optimal ones. Real-world results demonstrate the advantage of modifying the velocity and height of manipulation primitives for cloths with different mass, stiffness, shape and size. Supplementary material, videos, and code, can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/qdp-srl.


Computer gaming offers a unique test-bed and market for advanced concepts in computer science, such as Human Computer Interaction (HCI), computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW), intelligent agents, graphics, and sensing technology. In addition, computer gaming is especially well-suited for explorations in the relatively young fields of wearable computing and augmented reality (AR). This paper presents a developing multi-player augmented reality game, patterned as a cross between a martial arts fighting game and an agent controller, as implemented using the Wearable Augmented Reality for Personal, Intelligent, and Networked Gaming (WARPING) system. Through interactions based on gesture, voice, and head movement input and audio and graphical output, the WARPING system demonstrates how computer vision techniques can be exploited for advanced, intelligent interfaces.