Three-Phase Electrical Power-Joseph E. Fleckenstein 2017-12-19 Three-Phase Electrical Power addresses all aspects of three-phase power circuits. The book treats the transmission of electrical power from the common sources where it is generated to locations where it is consumed. At typical facilities where electrical power is used, the book covers the important topics of grounding, currents, power, demand, metering, circuit protection, motors, motor protection, power factor correction, tariffs, electrical drawings, and relays. Included in the text are the necessary methods of computing currents and power in all possible types of circuit applications as those that are balanced, unbalanced, leading, lagging, three-wire, and four-wire. Focusing on electrical gear, programs, and issues related to the generation and use of three-phase electrical power, this contemporary educational guide: Uses simple, straightforward language to explain key concepts and their underlying theory Introduces numerous examples, illustrations, and photographs to aid in comprehension Employs phasor concepts throughout the text to aid in the analysis of three-phase circuits Encourages applied learning by supplying practical problems at the end of each chapter Provides extensive references and a glossary of symbols, acronyms, and equations Three-Phase Electrical Power delivers a muchneeded modern-day treatment of three-phase electrical power for electrical engineering students and practitioners alike.


The two questions that constitute the title of the paper are examined in the context of thought sequences, i.e., progressions of phrase-like expressions that spontaneously run through people 's minds. The analysis of a corpus of such sequences suggests that the articulation of thought in language affords fluidity that makes novelty possible. The articulation makes control possible, it lends momentum to thought, it presents alternative avenues for the further progression of thought, it renders thought into an activity akin to action in the real world, and it results in objectivization that provides compartmentalization and reflection. While the discussion focuses on the medium of language, it is noted that similar patterns hold with other media of articulation, both in natural cognition and in the arts. General implications are proposed and discussed.


Crossbar arrays of resistive non-volatile memories (NVMs) offer a novel and innovative solution for deep learning tasks which are typically implemented on GPUs [1]. The highly parallel structure employed in these architectures enables fast and energy-efficient multiply-accumulate computations, which is the workhorse of most deep learning algorithms. More specifically, we are developing analog hardware platforms for acceleration of large Fully Connected (FC) Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) [1,2], where training is performed using the backpropagation algorithm. This algorithm is a supervised form of learning based on three steps: forward propagation of input data through the network (a.k.a. forward inference), comparison of the inference results with ground truth labels and backpropagation of the errors from the output to the input layer, and then in-situ weight updates. This type of supervised training has been shown to succeed even in the presence of a substantial number of faulty NVMs, relaxing yield requirements vis-a-vis conventional memory, where near 100% yield may be required [2].
We recently surveyed the use of analog memory devices for DNN hardware accelerators based on crossbar array structures and discussed design choices, device and circuit readiness, and the most promising opportunities compared digital accelerators [3]. In this presentation, we will focus on our implementation of an analog memory cell based on Phase-Change Memory (PCM) and 3-Transistor 1-Capacitor (3T1C) [4]. Software-equivalent accuracy on various datasets (MNIST, MNIST with noise, CIFAR-10, CIFAR-100) was achieved in a mixed software-hardware demonstration with DNN weights stored in real PCM device arrays as analog conductances. We will discuss how limitations from real-world non-volatile memory (NVM), such as conductance linearity and variability affects DNN training and how using two pairs of analog weights with varying significance relaxes device requirements [5, 6, 7]. Finally, we summarize all pieces needed to build an analog accelerator chip [8] and how lithography plays a role in future development of novel NVM devices.

References:
[1] G. W. Burr et al., "Experimental demonstration and tolerancing of a large-scale neural network (165,000 synapses), using phase-change memory as the synaptic weight element" IEDM Tech. Digest, 29.5 (2014).
[2] G. W. Burr et al., "Experimental demonstration and tolerancing of a large-scale neural network (165,000 synapses) using phase-change memory as the synaptic weight element", IEEE Trans. Elec. Dev, 62(11), pp. 3498 (2015).
[3] H. Tsai et al., "Recent progress in analog memory-based accelerators for deep learning", Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 51 (28), 283001 (2018)
[4] S. Ambrogio et al., "Equivalent-Accuracy Accelerated Neural Network Training using Analog Memory", Nature, 558 (7708), 60 (2018).
[5] T. Gokmen et al., "Acceleration of deep neural network training with resistive cross-point devices: design considerations", Frontiers in neuroscience, 10, 333 (2016).
[6] S. Sidler et al., "Large-scale neural networks implemented with non-volatile memory as the synaptic weight element: impact of conductance response", ESSDERC Proc., 440 (2016).
[7] G. Cristiano et al., "Perspective on Training Fully Connected Networks with Resistive Memories: Device Requirements for Multiple Conductances of Varying Significance", accepted in Journal of Applied Physics (2018).
[8] P. Narayanan et al., "Toward on-chip acceleration of the backpropagation algorithm using nonvolatile memory", IBM J. Res. Dev., 61 (4), 1-11 (2017).


This work introduces firm heterogeneity in a dynamic model of growth with both process and product innovations. Deliberate R&D is undertaken to create new varieties of products that contribute to welfare through consumer's love of variety. Long-run growth is fuelled by process innovations that occur in response to i) increased supply capabilities (which increase with the number of varieties of patents at the technology frontier) and ii) demand incentives (through a larger market). The growing economy is described by a succession of moving equilibria and scale effects are mitigated through the reallocation of the workforce between the R&D and production sectors.


Terrior is the interaction of the elements of the Vineyard Habitat. To understand Terroir is to understand environmental influences on wine quality. This compilation is intended as a resource for people wishing to understand something of the soil aspects of the Tasmanian vineyard Terroir. Tasmania is now a widely acclaimed cool-climate wine region. The island has a maritime climate and is cooled by fresh westerly winds from the southern ocean. Characters of freshness and elegance could be said to define the Tasmanian style. The wines of Tasmania express the geography of the vineyard and climate of the season in terms of flavour and style. There is much detail to understand of the influence of climate on wine flavours. Vineyard yield and bunch exposure interact with the temperature, light and transpiration as the grape berry is engusting. There are many questions yet to be answered about the environmental influences on flavour biochemistry during this process of engustation. Similarly there is much to understand about the influences of soil on wine quality. The profiles in this collection were assembled for an industry forum conducted by interstate vineyard water management specialists from the Co-operative Research Centre for Viticulture. They were displayed at this workshop to help give Tasmanian relevance to the water management technologies developed interstate. The workshop included a focus on timing water stress as a factor in managing toward wine quality. The amounts of water supplied by a soil at different tensions is an important component of the influence of soil in Terroir. Structural measures detailed in this collection of profiles allow us to deduce some aspects of this component. Soil also influences Terroir in its thermal characteristics. These include influences on frost, springtime root warming and autumn cooling. Nutrition exerts its major influences on vigour and fruit set. Perhaps the finer influences of nutrition on quality will be discerned in the future. Aeration, pH and salinity can all exert stresses on vines in different ways. The influences of soil are amplified in the Tasmanian environment where an important seasonal difference may be just a few day degrees. We hope that by describing these soils in relation to vines, progress on detailing these influences is encouraged. Above all this collection shows the diversity of the Tasmanian vineyard Terroir and the wide adaptability of wine grapes to these soil types.


Phase-shift cavity ring-down spectroscopy (PS-CRDS) is an alternative CRDS approach that allows the detection of minute changes in cavity losses by measurement of the phase shift experienced by a modulated laser as it propagates through a high-quality factor cavity. Fiber loop resonators and microresonators have been employed in previous PS-CRDS demonstrations for liquid phase applications. Here we employ a tapered fiber-based linear fiber cavity for the demonstration of a highly sensitive sensor for sucrose concentration in water using PS-CRDS. Our linear fiber cavity has a small cavity length (∼1.25m) that enables the observation and tracking of individual cavity modes in transmission and phase spectra recorded during laser sweeps. Hence, we eliminate the need for Pound–Drever–Hall locking of the laser source to the cavity resonance and thus provide a simpler experimental scheme. We analyze the recorded data sets to track the changes in phase shifts observed only when the laser wavelength is in resonance with the cavity modes. Such a mode-tracking PS-CRDS approach reveals limit of detection values less than around 400 µM, better than the performance of previously demonstrated PS-CRDS sucrose concentration sensors employing fiber loop resonators. The sensitivity of our sensor critically depends on the fiber taper diameter and can reach up to around 6°/1 mM Suc. for 3.2 µm taper diameter at 6 MHz modulation frequency using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with reflectivities around 86%. This value can be further increased by employing FBGs with higher reflectivities or fiber tapers with smaller diameters provided that the cavity loss due to water absorption is compensated with an amplifier.


With the goal of addressing open and dynamic scenarios like the Web, in this paper we introduce a semantic-oriented extension of the tuple space model. In our model, each tuple space is equipped with the ontological description of the coordination domain (e.g. expressed in W3C's OWL language). Tuples represent individuals of the domain along with their properties, and retrieval templates correspond to queries used to check whether an individual is the instance of an ontological concept (as typical in Description Logics, the logic of semantic reasoning). Differently from existing approaches in literature, we obtain a model that is fully expressive -- compared to OWL -- with a smooth extension of the standard syntactic setting of tuple spaces, namely, by an intuitive extension of the language for tuples and tuple templates. We discuss an incarnation of this model in the TuCSoN coordination model and infrastructure.


Monks in Politics, Monks in the World: Buddhist Activism in Contemporary Myanmar Despite common claims that monks in Myanmar are expected to remain aloof from politics, there is a long history of monastic political engagement in the country. This activism has continued during the present transition period, with monks being involved in issues from land rights protests to anti-Muslim campaigns. Of particular interest, beyond the mere range of issues, are the motivations and methods as well as the ways in which monks have justified their participation in political issues. Based on field work in Myanmar from 2011-2014, this chapter identifies four different ways that monks explain their participation. First is invoking the duty of a monk to defend the sāsana, the Buddhist religion, second is a further consideration of other "vocationally correct" ways for monks to participate in politics, third relates to the particular characteristics of monks, and the fourth looks at the importance of the intention behind any act and its purpose. The range of views on monastic political engagement reveals the ways in which the monastic vocation in Myanmar is being discussed, challenged, reinforced, and transformed during this period of change.


Field notes were contributed by Ruth Phipps and other observers. This item was used as supporting documentation for the Iowa Ornithologists' Union Quarterly field report of spring 1982.


IDtension is an Interactive Drama project initiated 10 years ago. It provides long term solutions to the problem of combining narrativity and interactivity. The demo consists of a playable text-based interactive drama called "The Mutiny". The user is given many possibilities of meaningful narrative actions (around 100 in the middle of the story), which are fully interpreted by the narrative engine to generate story events on the fly. IDtension is based on a narrative-centered goal structure, second order narrative predicates and a model of the user. Actions are selected according to an innovative history-based interface.


Genetic rearrangements are a hallmark of several forms of leukemia and can lead to oncogenic fusion proteins. One example of an affected chromosomal region is the gene coding for Nup214, a nucleoporin that localizes to the cytoplasmic side of the nuclear pore complex (NPC). We investigated two such fusion proteins, SET-Nup214 and SQSTM1 (sequestosome)-Nup214, both containing C-terminal portions of Nup214. SET-Nup214 nuclear bodies containing the nuclear export receptor CRM1 were observed in the leukemia cell lines LOUCY and MEGAL. Overexpression of SET-Nup214 in HeLa cells leads to the formation of similar nuclear bodies that recruit CRM1, export cargo proteins, and certain nucleoporins and concomitantly affect nuclear protein and poly(A)+ RNA export. SQSTM1-Nup214, although mostly cytoplasmic, also forms nuclear bodies and inhibits nuclear protein but not poly(A)+ RNA export. The interaction of the fusion proteins with CRM1 is RanGTP-dependent, as shown in co-immunoprecipitation experiments and binding assays. Further analysis revealed that the Nup214 parts mediate the inhibition of nuclear export, whereas the SET or SQSTM1 part determines the localization of the fusion protein and therefore the extent of the effect. SET-Nup214 nuclear bodies are highly mobile structures, which are in equilibrium with the nucleoplasm in interphase and disassemble during mitosis or upon treatment of cells with the CRM1-inhibitor leptomycin B. Strikingly, we found that nucleoporins can be released from nuclear bodies and reintegrated into existing NPC. Our results point to nuclear bodies as a means of preventing the formation of potentially insoluble and harmful protein aggregates that also may serve as storage compartments for nuclear transport factors.


The paper analyses whether the composition of public spending is converging in the European Union. The novelty of the paper lies in the use of different techniques from traditional beta and sigma convergences, of the economic and functional classifications of public spending, and of two measures of the size of public expenditure: as a share of GDP and as a share of total public expenditures. The tests do not detect a convergence of the composition of public expenditures, mainly when the composition of public expenditures is measured as a share of total public expenditures.


We advance a dominant neural strategy for facilitating conceptual thought. Concepts are groupings of "object" attributes. Once the brain learns such critical groupings, the "object" attributes are inhibited from conscious awareness. We see the whole, not the parts. The details are inhibited when the concept network is activated, ie. the inhibition is dynamic and can be switched on and off. Autism is suggested to be the state of retarded concept formation. Our model predicts the possibility of accessing nonconscious information by artificially disinhibiting (turning off) the inhibiting networks associated with concept formation, using transcranial magnetic brain stimulation (TMS). For example, this opens the door for the restoration of perfect pitch, for recalling detail, for acquiring accent-free second languages beyond puberty, and even for enhancing creativity. The model further shows how unusual autistic savant skills as well as certain psychopathologies can be due respectively to privileged or inadvertent access to information that is normally inhibited from conscious awareness.


This article considers the definition and impact of stalking behaviours, and describes recent examples, as well as the characteristics and behaviours of stalkers. Current legal frameworks and their application are reviewed, including recent changes in the law. Management and treatment issues as well as attention to minimising a violent outcome and general ethical matters are discussed. (Int J Clin Pract 2000; 54(4): 239‐242)


: The effect of 3 types of fat: 1) Ghee, 2) Corn oil, 3) Subsidized vegetable oil (SVO) on serum and tissue lipids was studied by using adult albino male rats mean weight 114 g. Rats fed diet containing SVO had the highest serum cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations than those fed diet containing ghee or corn oil. Serum high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL) concentration was highest in animals fed the ghee and lowest with those fed the SVO diet. On the other hand phospholipids values tend to be lower when feeding diets containing oils. Also serum triglycerides levels were higher on saturated fat diet than on the unsaturated fat diets. The same trends were found for liver cholesterol as in serum cholesterol. SVO diet gave the highest liver cholesterol concentration. Also SVO gave the highest heart phospholipids values.


This article examines the empirical support for psychological therapies for children with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Empirical support for psychological treatments of noninjured children provides a foundation upon and a framework in which to discuss applications to children with neurobehavioral dysfunction. Behavioral interventions to address externalizing behaviors have received the greatest focus, whereas there is a paucity of work that pertains to internalizing features and prosocial behavior such as assertiveness. Although the systematic study of psychological intervention lags far behind the rapidly increasing knowledge of neurobehavioral sequelae to TBI, there are promising directions that stem from initial findings.


Hydrazones with various structures are characterized with high pharmacological activity and are an important class of organic compounds for new drug development. Steroidal hydrazones are exhibited high bioactivity including cytotoxicity. In order to continue the study of the structure-activity relationship of derivatives of 5?-steroids hydrazones of 5?-pregnan-3?-ol-20-one have been synthesized on the basis of tigogenin. Target compounds have been received by interaction of ketone - 5?-pregnan-3?-ol-20-one with arylhydrazines (4-nitrophenyl- or 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine) and arylhydrazides (3-bromobenzoic, nicotinic, salicylic, izonicotinic acids and thiosemcarbazide) in different solvents (ethylene glycol, ethyl or methyl alcohol) by using various catalysts (sodium acetate, acetic acid or concentrated hydrochloric acid). The structures of synthesized nitrogen-containing new steroids have been established by IR-, 1H, 13C NMR, mas-spectral data and their cytotoxic activity have been studied.


UNHCR is charged with the pursuit of durable solutions for the problem of refugees. Those solutions are voluntary repatriation and assimilation within new national communities which means either local integration in the country of refuge - tangentially touched upon in this paper - or resettlement in a third state. 'Voluntary repatriation' is the generally preferred solution whilst 'resettlement' is considered to be the solution of last resort. This chapter will focus on the limitations of both solutions. Voluntary repatriation is an inherently complex and demanding solution. Beyond that, it hinges on the formal link of nationality - alternatively, in the absence of that particular link and even more tenuous: mere residence in the country of origin - of the refugees concerned even though that link may, owing to the passage of time, have turned into a rather artificial one and the same applies to former habitual residence of one's forebears. Resettlement is a solution for relatively few refugees, tainted by scarcity and the leeway that apparently is considered, right or wrong, to inhere in the discretion of states to offer resettlement places. Both solutions date from a specific historic time and context, whereby resettlement, rather than local integration, developed as the solution for those who had valid objections to returning to their respective countries of origin. Nonetheless, on the basis of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, those with valid objections to return - that is, refugees in the sense of the Convention - are in essence entitled to local integration in the country of refuge rather than resettlement. In view of the limitations of voluntary repatriation particularly with respect to those who are trapped in protracted refugee situations, the original priority given to resettlement is worth revisiting.


The COVID-19 pandemic has had tremendous impact on Americans' lives including their personal and social behaviors. While people of all ages are affected in some way by the pandemic, older persons have been far more likely to suffer the most severe health consequences. For this reason, how people have responded to mitigating behaviors to COVID-19 may differ by age. Using a nationally representative sample from the longitudinal data of the Understanding America Study (UAS), we examined differentials in behavioral responses to COVID-19 by age and how they changed over the first three months of the pandemic. Behavioral responses and changes in behavior over time differed by age, type of behaviors and time reference. At the beginning of the pandemic (March, 2020), older and younger people were similar in their likelihood of engaging in preventive personal behaviors when controlling for other influences. As the pandemic progressed, however, older people adopted mitigating personal behavioral changes more than younger people, such that about 1–2 months after the pandemic started, older people were more likely to comply with suggested behaviors and regulations including practicing better hygiene, quarantining, and social distancing. One month into the pandemic, older people were less likely than younger people to engage in two of four risky behaviors. The change in risky behavior over time did not differ by age; but both younger and older people were more likely to engage in risky behaviors after two months. Being female, a member of a racial/ethnic minority group, higher socioeconomic status, having more COVID-19 cases in one's state of residence, a higher perceived risk for infection and dying, and a more left-leaning political orientation were related to adopting more pandemic mitigating behaviors.


Federated Domain Generalization (FedDG) attempts to learn a global model in a privacy-preserving manner that generalizes well to new clients possibly with domain shift. Recent exploration mainly focuses on designing an unbiased training strategy within each individual domain. However, without the support of multi-domain data jointly in the minibatch training, almost all methods cannot guarantee the generalization under domain shift. To overcome this problem, we propose a novel global objective incorporating a new variance reduction regularizer to encourage fairness. A novel FL-friendly method named Generalization Adjustment (GA) is proposed to optimize the above objective by dynamically calibrating the aggregation weights. The theoretical analysis of GA demonstrates the possibility to achieve a tighter generalization bound with an explicit reweighted aggregation, substituting the implicit multi-domain data sharing that is only applicable to the conventional DG settings. Besides, the proposed algorithm is generic and can be combined with any local client training-based methods. Extensive experiments on several benchmark datasets have shown the effectiveness of the proposed method, with consistent improvements over several FedDG algorithms when used in combination. The source code is released at https://github.com/MediaBrain-SJTU/FedDG-GA


Although multistage thermal decomposition (fractionation) of biomass with catalytic upgrading is a promising strategy of achieving sustainable fuels production, the number of thermal decomposition stages, their conditions, and the optimal catalytic upgrading chemistries are not known. In this paper, we use conceptual process modeling to propose a general roadmap for the design of a biorefinery by employing these technologies. The overall process considered includes a biomass pretreatment system, a (multistage) thermal decomposition system in which the biomass in decomposed into various fractions, a fraction upgrading system, and a combustion system. We focus primarily on the design of the thermal decomposition and fraction upgrading systems. The goal of our work is to demonstrate the key trade-offs between various process options and to identify important areas for improvement. In general, increasing the complexity of the fraction upgrading systems increases the ultimate yield of C6+ products, though there are diminishing returns on the increase in product yield versus the complexity of the catalytic upgrading sequences. The choice of the number of thermal decomposition stages is not simple and requires careful consideration of the chemistries available to upgrade different components and the relative abundances of these different components. Therefore, the optimal design of the thermal decomposition and fraction upgrading systems cannot be done independently.


This memo describes a methodology for measuring TCP throughput
performance in an end-end managed network environment. This memo is
intended to provide a practical approach to help users validate the
TCP layer performance of a managed network, which should provide a
better indication of end-user application level experience. In the
methodology, various TCP and network parameters are identified that
should be tested as part of the network verification at the TCP layer.


ABSTRACT A lactating dairy cow experiment was conducted to determine the influence of a ruminal buffer product containing magnesium-exchanged zeolite on ruminal fermentation and lactational performance. The experimental TMR diet consisted of 38% alfalfa hay, 19% corn silage, 14% corn grain, and 30% concentrate mix on a DM basis, and it was fed ad libitum. Thirty primiparous and multiparous lactating Holstein cows (52 ± 23.0 DIM) were assigned to 1 of 3 dietary treatments with 10 cows in each treatment: control (TMR diet without ruminal buffer), TMR diet with 1.4% sodium bicarbonate (SBD), and TMR diet with 1.4% zeolite product (ZD). The experiment was a completely randomized design performed over 12 wk. Intake of DM was similar (26.5 kg/d) across treatments. Milk yield was similar among the 3 treatments (40.7 kg/d on average), and efficiency (4% FCM/DMI) was not affected by treatments. Milk fat concentration did not differ among treatments, whereas milk protein concentration tended to be higher for the ZD than for the control and the SBD (P = 0.15). Although feeding the ZD resulted in a tendency of increased milk protein concentration, feed nitrogen (N) efficiency for milk N did not differ among the 3 treatments. In addition, milk urea N concentration was not influenced by feeding the ZD. Ruminal pH tended to increase (P = 0.11) when feeding the SBD or the ZD compared with the control. Concentration of ammonia N did not differ among treatments. Feeding the ZD tended to decrease (P = 0.14) total VFA production compared with feeding the control and the SBD, whereas molar proportions of acetate and propionate were not affected by the treatments. The zeolite product used in this study would cost-effectively replace sodium bicarbonate as a ruminal buffer additive in a lactating dairy diet, but its efficacy needs to be further assessed when supplemented in a high-concentrate lactating dairy diet whereby animals may experience subacute ruminal acidosis.


We consider a model that distinguishes susceptible; infected, but not yet infectious; pre-symptomatic, symptomatic, asymptomatic, and hospitalized infectious; recovered and dead members of two groups: healthcare workers (HCW) and members of the community that they serve. Because of the frequency or duration of their exposures to SARS-CoV-2, a greater fraction of HCW would experience severe COVID-19 symptoms that require medical care, which reduces mortality rates, absent personal protective equipment (PPE). While N95 masks (and, possibly, other scarce medical resources) are available to members of both groups, they do not use them equally well (i.e. efficacy and compliance differ). We investigated the optimal allocation of potentially scarce medical resources between these groups to control the pandemic and reduce overall infections and mortality via derivation and analysis of expressions for the reproduction numbers and final size. We also simulated prevalence and cumulative incidence, quantities relevant to surge capacity and population immunity, respectively. We found that, under realistic conditions, the optimal allocation is virtually or entirely to HCW, but that allocation of surplus masks and other medical resources to members of the general community also reduces infections and deaths.


This paper surveys the evidence on the effectiveness of monetary transmission in developing countries. We summarize the arguments for expecting the bank lending channel to be the dominant means of monetary transmission in such countries, and present a simple model that suggests why this channel may be both weak and unreliable under the conditions that usually characterize those economies. Next, we review the empirical methodologies that have been employed in the recent literature to assess monetary policy effectiveness, both in developing countries as well as in industrial and emerging economies, essentially based on vector autoregressions (VARs). It is very hard to come away from this review of the evidence with much confidence in the strength of monetary transmission in developing countries. We distinguish between the 'facts on the ground' and 'methodological deficiencies' interpretations of the absence of evidence for strong monetary transmission. We suspect, however, that 'facts on the ground' are indeed an important part of the story. The fact that a wide range of empirical approaches have failed to yield evidence of effective monetary transmission in developing countries, and that the strongest evidence for effective monetary transmission has arisen for relatively prosperous and more institutionally-developed countries such as some central and Eastern European transition economies (at least in the later stages of their transition) and Tunisia, makes us doubt whether methodological shortcomings are the whole story. If this conjecture is correct, the stabilization challenge in developing countries is acute indeed, and identifying the means of enhancing the effectiveness of monetary policy in such countries is an important challenge


This paper presents the first significant object detection framework, NeRF-RPN, which directly operates on NeRF. Given a pre-trained NeRF model, NeRF-RPN aims to detect all bounding boxes of objects in a scene. By exploiting a novel voxel representation that incorporates multi-scale 3D neural volumetric features, we demonstrate it is possible to regress the 3D bounding boxes of objects in NeRF directly without rendering the NeRF at any viewpoint. NeRF-RPN is a general framework and can be applied to detect objects without class labels. We experimented NeRF-RPN with various backbone architectures, RPN head designs and loss functions. All of them can be trained in an end-to-end manner to estimate high quality 3D bounding boxes. To facilitate future research in object detection for NeRF, we built a new benchmark dataset which consists of both synthetic and real-world data with careful labeling and clean up. Code and dataset are available at htt ps: //github.com/lyclyc52/NeRF_RPN.


In Markov-switching regression models, we use Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence between the true and candidate models to select the number of states and variables simultaneously. In applying Akaike information criterion (AIC), which is an estimate of KL divergence, we find that AIC retains too many states and variables in the model. Hence, we derive a new information criterion, Markov switching criterion (MSC), which yields a marked improvement in state determination and variable selection because it imposes an appropriate penalty to mitigate the over-retention of states in the Markov chain. MSC performs well in Monte Carlo studies with single and multiple states, small and large samples, and low and high noise. Furthermore, it not only applies to Markov-switching regression models, but also performs well in Markov- switching autoregression models. Finally, the usefulness of MSC is illustrated via applications to the U.S. business cycle and the effectiveness of media advertising.


An approach to the early diagnosis of academic problems on courses for Distance Education (DE) students at the University Of Swaziland (UNISWA) is proposed. The first stage involved the analysis of the academic performance of three cohorts of Diploma of Commerce students to identify problem courses. This was followed up by brief interviews with staff exploring potential explanations based on Mayes' (1995) conceptual framework. Finally recommendations to improve the courses can be made. The findings showed that in general the DE students' academic performance was significantly below that of their FT equivalents. From the data and the interviews it would appear that for the worse cases this poor performance could be explained by a combination of factors. First, many of the printed modules were out of date, and consequently face-to-face time was being used nearly entirely to provide additional lectures at the expense of tutorials. Second, the DE students did not receive any practicals for a number of key courses. And third, the students themselves neither wanted nor were fully prepared to undertake DE courses. This latter effect diminished over the years. The continually reviewing and updating of printed modules is a slow and expensive business, but clearly if not undertaken creates very significant disadvantages for the DE student. One solution is to move more material online where it is easier to update, but access technology in Swaziland is still poor so web-based solutions are still some way off. In the meantime, lecturers are being encouraged to create supplementary handouts for students, and being positively encouraged not to use too much of their face-to-face time for 'catch-up' and updating lectures. The overall approach seemed successful and there are plans to continue to use it to identify and rectify problems. One future development is to use the University's computerised marking system to assist the analysis. This should make the task easier and less time consuming.


In common with other members of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC), Burkholderia multivorans is capable of producing exopolysaccharide (EPS) when grown on certain mannitol-rich media. The significance of the resulting mucoid phenotype and the genome-wide response to mannitol has never been characterized despite its clinical relevance following the approval of a dried-powder preparation of mannitol as an inhaled osmolyte therapy for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. In the present study we defined the transcriptional response of B. multivorans ATCC 17616, a model genome-sequenced strain of environmental origin, to growth on mannitol-rich yeast extract media (MYEM). EPS-dependent and -independent impact of MYEM on virulence-associated traits was assessed in both strain ATCC 17616 and the CF isolate B. multivorans C1576. Our studies revealed a significant transcriptional response to MYEM encompassing approximately 23 % of predicted genes within the genome. Strikingly, this transcriptional response identified that EPS induction occurs in ATCC 17616 without the upregulation of the bce-I and bce-II EPS gene clusters, despite their pivotal role in EPS biosynthesis. Of approximately 20 differentially expressed putative virulence factors, 16 exhibited upregulation including flagella, ornibactin, oxidative stress proteins and phospholipases. MYEM-grown B. multivorans also exhibited enhanced motility, biofilm formation and epithelial cell invasion. In contrast to these potential virulence enhancements, MYEM-grown B. multivorans C1576 showed attenuated virulence in the Galleria mellonella infection model. All of the observed phenotypic responses occurred independently of EPS production, highlighting the profound impact that mannitol-based growth has on the physiology and virulence of B. multivorans.


Several studies have investigated the presence of a drug interaction between tramadol and ondansetron that reduced the efficacy of tramadol postoperatively. Most of these studies were small and the results inconsistent, so we performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomised controlled trials comparing the cumulative dose of tramadol administered by patient‐controlled analgesia within the first 24 h after surgery between subjects receiving tramadol alone and those who received tramadol with ondansetron. Six studies, with a total of 340 participants, met the selection criteria and were included in the meta‐analysis. There was an increased tramadol requirement in patients receiving ondansetron. The standardised mean difference in tramadol requirements, expressed in terms of standard deviations (95% CI), was 1.03 (0.54–1.53) (p < 0.001) at 4 h, 0.66 (0.06–1.25) (p = 0.03) at 8 h, 0.86 (0.41–1.31) (p < 0.001) at 12 h and 0.45 (0.01–0.90) (p = 0.046) at 24 h postoperatively, where the mean pooled standard deviations were 79.5, 157.7, 238.1 and 289.4 mg at 4, 8, 12 and 24 h, respectively. There was a significant linear time effect over the 24 h, indicating that the effect of ondansetron on tramadol consumption diminished with time. The results support the presence of a drug interaction between tramadol and ondansetron in the early postoperative period that potentially decreases the effectiveness of tramadol.


Abstract Do prime ministers pay an electoral penalty for using procedural force to pass laws? Influential theories of parliamentary governance and legislative bargaining assume that the use of the confidence vote procedure – parliamentary governments' most powerful legislative weapon – entails an electoral cost, but evidence on this important claim has been scarce. This article provides the first estimates of how prime ministers' public approval responds to their use of the confidence vote. Analysing time series data from France 1979–2008, it is found that prime ministers experience a considerable drop in approval after their use of the confidence vote that is not accounted for by standard economic and political covariates. The effect size is similar to a 1 per cent decline in economic growth. The findings help explain French prime ministers' selective use of the confidence vote procedure. They also suggest that political costs constrain the bargaining power conferred by the confidence vote.


The high-intensity activated crosswalk (HAWK) device is a pedestrian-activated beacon located on the roadside and on mast arms over the major approaches to an intersection. It was created in Tucson, Arizona, and at the time of this study was used at more than 60 locations. The HAWK head consists of two red lenses over a single yellow lens. It shows a red indication to the motorists when activated, which creates gaps for pedestrians to use to cross the major roadway. A before-and-after study of the safety performance of HAWK devices is documented. The evaluations used an empirical Bayes method to compare the crash prediction for the after period had the treatment not been applied with the observed crash frequency for the after period with the treatment installed. Crash types examined included total, severe, and pedestrian crashes. The evaluation used data for 21 HAWK sites and 102 reference sites and found the following changes in crashes after the HAWK beacon was installed: between 13% and 29% reduction in all crashes and approximately 50% reduction in pedestrian crashes.


The fact that there are more embedded computers than general-purpose computers and that we are impacted by hundreds of them every day is no longer news. What is news is that their increasing performance requirements, complexity and capabilities demand a new approach to their design.

Fisher, Faraboschi, and Young describe a new age of embedded computing design, in which the processor is central, making the approach radically distinct from contemporary practices of embedded systems design. They demonstrate why it is essential to take a computing-centric and system-design approach to the traditional elements of nonprogrammable components, peripherals, interconnects and buses. These elements must be unified in a system design with high-performance processor architectures, microarchitectures and compilers, and with the compilation tools, debuggers and simulators needed for application development.

In this landmark text, the authors apply their expertise in highly interdisciplinary hardware/software development and VLIW processors to illustrate this change in embedded computing. VLIW architectures have long been a popular choice in embedded systems design, and while VLIW is a running theme throughout the book, embedded computing is the core topic. Embedded Computing examines both in a book filled with fact and opinion based on the authors many years of R&D experience.

? Complemented by a unique, professional-quality embedded tool-chain on the authors' website, http://www.vliw.org/book
? Combines technical depth with real-world experience
? Comprehensively explains the differences between general purpose computing systems and embedded systems at the hardware, software, tools and operating system levels.
? Uses concrete examples to explain and motivate the trade-offs.

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1: An Introduction to Embedded Processing
Chapter 2: An Overview of VLIW and ILP
Chapter 3: An Overview of ISA Design
Chapter 4: Architectural Structures in ISA design
Chapter 5: Microarchitecture Design
Chapter 6: System Design and Simulation
Chapter 7: Embedded Compiling and Toolchains
Chapter 8: Compiling for VLIWs and ILP
Chapter 9: The Run-time System
Chapter 10: Application Design and Customization
Chapter 11: Application Areas
Appendix A: The VEX System
Appendix B: Glossary
Appendix C: Bibliography


In lieu of an abstract, the first paragraph is included here
In 2017, the Austrian Association for American Studies (AAAS) met for its annual conference at Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, forty-four years after it had been founded there in 1974 and seventy years after the first Salzburg Seminar had been held at the same place. The "Schloss," as the present site of the Salzburg Global Seminar is lovingly called, was the setting of many of the past conferences of the association and is intricately connected with the founding and development of the field of American Studies in Austria and Europe. The conference topic, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? The Changing Nature of American Studies," was meant to open up a dialogue about the temporal dimensions of American studies as a discipline, from the past to the present and the possible futures. Sixty-five speakers from nine countries, among them four invited keynote lecturers, and sixteen graduate students met in the spirit of collegiality that the Seminar has become famous for. This inaugural volume of a new journal issued by the AAAS will demonstrate that the conference yielded productive and interesting insights into the nature of American studies.


The pharmacokinetic properties of SCE-2787 administered intravenously at a dose of 20 mg/kg of body weight were studied with mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, and monkeys and were compared with those of ceftazidime, cefpirome, and cefclidin in mice and dogs. The area under the concentration-time curve for plasma after intravenous administration was the largest in monkeys, followed by those in dogs, rabbits, rats, and mice, in that order. The elimination half-life ranged from 0.2 to 0.3 h in mice and rats to 0.7 to 1.3 h in rabbits, dogs, and monkeys. In young dogs, the concentrations of SCE-2787 in plasma were somewhat lower than those in the mature dogs. SCE-2787 was distributed well to the tissues, and the highest concentration was found in the kidneys in all species tested; the distribution to the lungs, liver, and spleen was also good, but the concentrations in these tissues were lower than those in the plasma. The pharmacokinetic parameters and urinary excretion of SCE-2787 in mice and dogs were similar to those of ceftazidime, cefpirome, and cefclidin. The maximum concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid of rats and rabbits were 0.8 and 1.3 micrograms/ml, and the relative percentages of the area under the concentration-time curve of SCE-2787 in the cerebrospinal fluid to that in the plasma were 4.6 and 6.4%, respectively. SCE-2787 was excreted mainly in the urine; the recovery rate ranged from 74% (rats) to 90% (dogs) of the dose. The biliary excretion of SCE-2787, however, was low, amounting to about 1.4% for mice and rats and less than 0.5% for rabbits and dogs. In rats, there was no accumulation in the tissues and no delay in urinary excretion upon multiple intravenous administration of 20 mg of SCE-2787 per kg once daily for 7 days. No active metabolites were found in the plasma or urine of animals given SCE-2787. The binding of SCE-2787 to serum protein in mice, rats, dogs, monkeys, and humans was less than 11% and similar to that of cefclidin.


This article investigates a hypothesis drawn from Martin Wight, that a society of states lacking a shared culture, as a result of expansion beyond its original base, will be unstable. This instability hypothesis has been influential in how the English School has presented the history of the expansion of European international society to a global scale. The article starts by offering two models of how a global international society could have come about since the late classical era: a multicultural encounter among several expanding civilizations (polycentric), or the takeover of the system by one centre (monocentric). Using these models as a backdrop, two accounts of the expansion story are developed. The Vanguardist account emphasizes the exceptionalism of European culture, posits a 500-year period of western domination, sees multiculturalism and the decline of western power as problematic, and tends to pessimism about the future of international society. The Syncretist account emphasizes the permanence of cross-cultural exchange, posits only a 200-year period of western dominance, sees culture and international society as evolving together, and is not pessimistic about the stability of international society. These two models and two accounts are then used to assess the possible future of international society. The article argues that culture is less of a problem for international society than Wight, and much of the English School, suppose. The evidence for the substantial success of syncretism is strong and provides considerable stability to most of the likely outcomes. The key problem is not culture, but socio-political structure. How can what North et al. call natural states and open access orders find shared practices and institutions that do not destabilize international society?


Postwar variations from prewar levels in income, expenditures, and prices have necessitated the reconsideration and re-evaluation of our ideas of consumer demandfor food. The Bureau of Agricultural Economics has been devoting attention to the improvement of food consumption data and analyses, particularly those which are useful in forecasting demand in terms of quantities and prices. This article, prepared under the Agricultural Research and Marketing Act of 1946, analyzes relationships between food expenditures and income, including an appraisal of the static and dynamic forces involved.


This article discusses research into planning, and specifically how we might best frame the ethical issues which arise in, and through, such research. One of its central contentions is that ethical sensitivity is developed by researchers as part of a social practice, that is, through communal activity of a particular kind. Therefore, important as it is to ensure that researchers are aware of their personal ethical responsibilities, understanding what the moral point of view requires — that is, being sensitive to ethical issues, especially in new circumstances — is something which researchers acquire through involvement in appropriately conducted social practices. The article's suggestion is that the notion of a social practice, as used by MacIntyre (1985) and others is helpful in framing thinking about research ethics in planning because it places the individual's acquisition and development of a moral perception, and judgements, within a social context. The first section discusses this notion. The article also explores whether the notion of a social practice can usefully be employed to distinguish between the ethical issues which arise in scholarly research in planning as opposed to those which arise in policy-related research in planning.


An asynchronous unit delay is an n input n output asynchronous sequential circuit in which the present value of the output n-tuple is equal to the value of the input n-tuple prior to the last input change. This paper considers the problem of determining when a fundamental mode flow table is realizable as a feedback-free connection of asynchronous unit delays. It is shown that such a realization exists if and only if the flow table is asynchronous definite, where the asynchronous definite property is a modification of the definite property of synchronous sequential machines. A straightforward method of realizing asynchronous definite flow tables without critical races by feedback-free circuits of asynchronous unit delays and combinational gates is developed. The use of asynchronous unit delays for definite tables avoids complicated secondary assignment problems, results in circuits with very simple structure, and brings closer the theories of synchronous and asynchronous sequential machines.


The single crystal nickel-based superalloy, CMSX-4, creep interrupted at the creep strain of 0.01 at 1273K-400MPa was aged at 1273K without stress to make clear the /' rafting mechanism. And the changes in the ' morphology and the dislocation substructures at the /' interface with simple aging time were studied and compared with the previous work at 1273K-250MPa. The cuboidal ' precipitates were regularly arrayed when the creep test was interrupted, but changed to the rafted /' structures normal to the pre-creep stress axis with simple aging time. The aspect ratio of the ' precipitates increased with increasing simple aging time up to 3.60x106s, attained to the maximum value and then decreased. The maximum value of the aspect ratio at 400MPa was lower than one at 250MPa. A number of dislocations were tangled with each other at the /' interfaces of the creep interrupted specimen. These tangled dislocations were only rearranged by simple aging and the dislocation density at the /' interfaces was almost constant, independent of simple aging time. All dislocations of the creep interrupted specimen at the /' interfaces with six kinds of the <110> Burgers vectors were detected equally. The proportion of the six kinds of the <110> Burgers vectors didn't change with simple aging time. Consequently, dislocations at the /' interfaces were considered as not the misfit ones, but the traces of mobile dislocations in the  channels and the formation of the rafted /' structures might be closely correlated with the rearrangement of tangled dislocations at the /' interfaces.


The paper disputes the negative conclusion of prof. Mandler on the thesis by Garegnani, Schefold, Parrinello that intertemporal general equilibrium theory too is undermined by reswitching and reverse capital deepening. The paper argues that Mandler's conclusion rests upon highly criticisable assumptions that render the equations of intertemporal general equilibrium identical to those of general equilibria without capital goods. The Walrasian treatment of the capital endowment is criticized in Part I on the basis of its insufficient persistence, and of other 'methodological' criticisms that are systematically surveyed. In Part II it is shown through a numerical example that Mandler's claim, that the assumption of a single consumer guarantees uniqueness of intertemporal equilibrium independently of reswitching or reverse capital deepening, rests on the absence of production of capital goods in the last period of the equilibrium; this assumption is thus revealed to be one of the tricks that prevents the existence of capital goods from changing the properties of the equilibrium relative to those of equilibria without capital


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Quantitative MR imaging strategies may have considerable potential for in vivo assessment of neuropathologic changes associated with HIV. This investigation evaluated the prognostic significance of whole brain histogram-derived diffusion tensor imaging indices with respect to severity of cognitive impairment and measures of clinical status in cases of HIV.

METHODS
Quantitative indices derived with diffusion tensor imaging, including whole brain fractional anisotropy and the apparent diffusion coefficient, were compared for six patients with HIV and eight control volunteers. Relationships between whole brain indices and specific measures of dementia severity and clinical status were examined.

RESULTS
Whole brain fractional anisotropy was reduced in patients with HIV and was significantly associated with severity of dementia, as indicated by several widely used clinical and functional status measures. Summary fractional anisotropy measures were more prognostic of dementia status than were apparent diffusion coefficient measures.

CONCLUSION
Findings from this investigation support the use of diffusion tensor imaging for noninvasive MR imaging measurement of neuropathologic changes in studies of HIV-associated cognitive impairment.


What are the obstacles that impede understanding and decrease proficiency in reading academic texts in ESP? Correspondingly, how can they be overcome to achieve learning outcomes of EFL courses at tertiary level? Broadly speaking, academic texts are used in numerous learning processes across various stages of study. They are designed or aimed at such a purposeso as to facilitate instruction and the transfer of knowledge in academic subjects studied at the university level by providing textual input for the conceptualization and presentation of facts and hypotheses related to students' respective fields of study. In ESP teaching they are used to introduce academic language through relevant academic content, aiming to draw upon the students' existing vocabulary base, build new lexical-semantic connections and raise the students' overall foreign language proficiency level. Upon direct class observation, the authors have found that students perceive such texts as unnecessarily complex and the language they employ as obsolete and overly pretentious to be considered instrumental. The underlying reasons for this potentially disallowing perspective can be linked to insufficient knowledge of advanced professional vocabulary, elaborate grammatical structures and rhetorical organization patterns, coupled with affective factors, often manifested in the acquired bias toward more "everyday" texts employed in previous language instruction, which provide only a limited representation of language. The role of the teacher is thus to stimulate and channel the students' professed interest and curiosity for their field of study by exploiting academic texts and various language acquisition techniques in order for students to successfully tackle demanding content and acquire new vocabulary and structures. This paper will aim to determine the common features of texts used in tertiary level ESP, namely in applied health sciences and international relations, and to explore and design effective reading techniques and language exercises that might help develop a comprehensive approach to the multilayer pattern that is academic text.

Keywords: academic text, tertiary level ESP, learning obstacles, reading techniques


Experiments of monosized water drop train impingement on a surface heated well above the Leidenfrost temperature are used to derive empirical and semi empirical models describing the dynamics of the reemited drops for the general case of non-normal impacts. The experimental setup combines shadowgraphy with high-speed imaging to obtain both the size and trajectories of the reemited drops. The obtained data are analyzed to describe the impact dynamics and the properties of the reemited drops: contact time, maximum spread diameter and reemited velocities for the rebound regime, drop diameter and velocity distributions in the splashing regime. In the rebound regime, good agreement of the present experimental data with theoretical predictions of the literature based on a mechanical spring-mass analogy is observed. In the splashing regime, the arithmetic drop diameter distribution appears to evolve from a multimodal distribution at the rebound splashing threshold towards a single mode distribution. For both the rebound and splashing regimes, the initial velocity component tangential to the impinged surface is damped proportionally to the normal Weber number. In the splashing regime, the average velocity of the reemited drops normal to the surface appears almost independent of the normal impact Weber number when normalized by its initial value.


A friction stir spot welding process, in which a rotating tool without a probe was employed, was applied to a lap joint of aluminum plate to low carbon steel plate. The thicknesses of both plates were 0.5 mm. In this process, the rotating tool of 5 mm diameter, rotating at 18000 rpm, was plunged into the aluminum plate at a rate of 2 mm/s, and then kept at a maximum plunged depth of 0.05–0.35 mm for 0–2 s (dwell time). In the weld obtained by this process, a hole due to the impression of the penetrated tool probe was not formed, although a slight depression by the tool plunging remained. At tool plunge depths of 0.1 mm or over, it was possible to weld the two plates. The maximum tensile failure load of 454N was obtained at a plunge depth of 0.1 mm and a dwell time of 1.5s. Its joint was fractured at an almost constant load along the periphery of the depression, leaving a part of the aluminum plate on the steel plate surface. Based on the observation of the weld interface microstructure and metal flow of aluminum in the weld, controlling factors of the joint strength were discussed.


NiCrBSi spray and fuse types of coatings are routinely applied on various jobs where metallurgical bond of the coating to the substrate is desired. These coatings require a subsequent fusing operation at temperature of about 1050°C. In the present study NiCrBSi coatings were formed by the HVOF process and by the conventional spray and fuse route. The coatings were characterized for their microstructure, hardness and porosity. The aim of this study was to see whether HVOF spraying NiCrBSi spray and fuse powder could cause instant fusing of the coating without the need for additional fusing operation. XRD study of the coatings was also carried out to find out the difference between the spray and fused NiCrBSi coatings and the HVOF sprayed coatings. The HVOF spraying of NiCrBSi was carried under different set of parameters to determine the effect of spraying parameters on the properties of coating.


Based on the analysis of structural characteristic superiority, the process of combustion, flue gas flow and heat transfer in the upright magnesium reducing furnace, the three dimensional mathematical model is devoloped. And numerical simulation is performed further with the commercial software FLUENT. Finally, the flow and temperature field in furnace and temperature field in reducing pot have been obtained. The results indicate that the upright magnesium reducing furnace has perfect flue gas flow field and temperature field to meet the challenge of the magnesium reducing process; the major factors that affect the magnesium reducing reaction are the low thermal conductivity of slag and the high chemical reaction heat absorption.


This paper begins by asking to what extent numbers of species are an adequate measure of biological diversity, either locally or globally; both for evolutionary understanding and for practical applications, biodiversity may often be better quantified at lower or higher levels, from genes to ecosystems. The subsequent discussion, however, focuses on species, and discusses questions that arise in estimating how many species there have ever been, how many there currently are in various taxonomic groups, and how we may quantify the differing degrees of 'independent evolutionary history' or 'taxonomic distinctiveness' in different species or groups. I conclude with opinions about how the practical task of identifying and recording species diversity might be better managed.


We give an update of the observations and analysis of G2 – the gaseous red emissionline object that is on a very eccentric orbit around the Galaxy's central black hole and predicted to come within 2400 RS in early 2014. During 2013, the laser guide star adaptive optics systems on the W. M. Keck I and II telescopes were used to obtain three epochs of spectroscopy and imaging at the highest spatial resolution currently possible in the near-IR. The updated orbital solution derived from radial velocities in addition to Br-γ line astrometry is consistent with our earlier estimates. Strikingly, even ∼ 6 months before pericenter passage there is no perceptible deviation from a Keplerian orbit. We furthermore show that a proposed "tail" of G2 is likely not associated with it but is rather an independent gas structure. We also show that G2 does not seem to be unique, since several red emission-line objects can be found in the central arcsecond. Taken together, it seems more likely that G2 is ultimately stellar in nature, although there is clearly gas associated with it.


Introduction: Novel triplet therapies (tx) for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) have improved outcomes and extended survival. However, the use of multi-agent tx over an extended period increases the tx-related symptom burden and impacts health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Therefore, highly effective tx that preserve HRQoL are needed. The randomized phase 2 ELOQUENT-3 study (NCT02654132) demonstrated that addition of elotuzumab (elo) to pomalidomide and dexamethasone (EPd) resulted in a 46% reduction in the risk of progression/death vs Pd, without affecting HRQoL, in patients (pts) with RRMM for whom lenalidomide (len) and a proteasome inhibitor (PI) had failed (Dimopoulos et al. N Engl J Med 2018; Weisel et al. ASH 2018). Here, we present pt-reported outcomes (PROs) with EPd vs Pd after extended follow-up (FU) of ELOQUENT-3.
 Methods: PROs were an exploratory endpoint, assessed using the 3-level EuroQoL 5 Dimensions Questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L) and the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory MM module (MDASI-MM). The EQ-5D-3L includes a global health visual analog scale (VAS) and utility index (UI); the MDASI-MM measures total symptom severity (13 core items plus 7 MM items) and symptom interference (6 items). EQ-5D-3L UI and VAS scores range from −0.59 to 1 and 0 to 100, respectively, with minimally important differences (MIDs) of 0.08 and 7. MDASI-MM scores range from 0 to 10; MIDs were based on the standard error of the mean for subscales. Higher scores indicate better health for EQ-5D-3L, but more severe symptoms for MDASI-MM. PRO data were collected at baseline (BL), at the start of every 28-d tx cycle, at the end of tx, and during FU. All randomized pts with BL and ≥1 post-BL assessment were included in the PRO analysis. Completion rates and changes from BL scores were evaluated descriptively; completion rates from the 'expected population' did not include pts who had died or discontinued. Longitudinal analyses of change from BL used mixed effects models. First deterioration/improvement was defined as the first change from BL that was ≥responder definition threshold.
 Results: Of 117 randomized pts, 106 (EPd n=55; Pd n=51) had BL and ≥1 post-BL assessment and were included in PRO analyses (database lock, Nov 2018; minimum FU, 18.3 mo). BL characteristics of the PRO population were generally balanced between arms and representative of the entire study population. PRO completion rates from the expected population were ≥79% and ≥96% for the MDASI-MM and EQ-5D-3L, respectively, for all on-tx timepoints. Although completion rates between arms were similar throughout, between-tx HRQoL analysis was not feasible after Cycle 13 due to low Pd pt numbers. Mean BL scores were similar between arms: EPd vs Pd MDASI-MM total symptom severity, 1.5 vs 1.6; symptom interference, 2.5 vs 2.3; EQ-5D-3L UI, 0.70 vs 0.68; VAS, 65.6 vs 69.2.
 In the EQ-5D-3L UI, neither tx arm had a clinically meaningful deterioration (CMD); in the VAS, there was a CMD in the Pd arm only. In MDASI-MM total symptom severity, there was a CMD in both arms (Figure). In MDASI-MM symptom interference, there was a CMD in both arms at some timepoints (Figure). However, Pd sample sizes were small for the MDASI-MM (n≤15).
 Longitudinal analyses demonstrated no clinically meaningful differences between arms for EQ-5D-3L UI and VAS or MDASI-MM total symptom severity and symptom interference or the items of pain, fatigue, or bone aches. There were no statistically significant differences in time to deterioration between arms for EQ-5D-3L UI or VAS. However, there was a trend towards a reduction in the risk of deterioration in the EQ-5D-3L VAS for pts receiving EPd vs Pd (HR 0.70; 95% CI 0.43-1.14; p=0.110). Median time to deterioration was generally similar between arms across the MDASI-MM subscales. Hospitalizations were similar between EPd (32 pts [53%]) and Pd arms (31 pts [54%]). Mean duration of hospitalization was 9.9 d with EPd and 12.9 d with Pd.
 Conclusions: HRQoL was similar between pts who received EPd and Pd in ELOQUENT-3, demonstrating the addition of elo to Pd did not impair HRQoL. These pt-reported findings complement extended FU data that demonstrated EPd gave clinically meaningful improvements in survival without increasing toxicity, further supporting the use of EPd in pts with RRMM after failure of len and a PI. Further PRO analysis in a larger study is warranted.
 Study support: BMS. Writing support: Adam Gill, Caudex, funded by BMS.

 Weisel: Sanofi: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Adaptive Biotech: Consultancy; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Bristol-Myers Squibb: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Juno: Consultancy. Paner:Rush University Medical Center: Employment; Dova: Consultancy, Honoraria; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria; Cellectar: Consultancy, Honoraria; Cellectar: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria; Celgene: Consultancy, Honoraria; Oncopeptides: Consultancy, Honoraria. Taylor:Adelphi Values: Employment, Other: I am an employee of Adelphi Values, a consulting firm who has received payment from Bristol-Myers Squibb for statistical data analysis in Bristol-Myers Squibb's trials. Cocks:Amgen: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Adelphi Values: Employment; Celgene Corporation: Consultancy; Endomag Ltd.: Consultancy. Popa-McKiver:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Employment. Chen:Bristol-Myers Squibb: Employment. Cavo:Janssen, Celgene: Other: Travel Accommodations; Celgene, Janssen, Amgen, BMS, Abbvie, Takeda: Honoraria; Janssen, Celgene: Speakers Bureau; Janssen, Celgene, Amgen, Abbvie: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.


This article provides an overview of the transition from minority government to the new non-racial, non-sexist and democratic government, and the transition from apartheid control of the media to a period of dramatic change. On 30 March 1994 an act of parliament brought the Independent Broadcasting Authority into existence, and its work over the past six years has been extensive. This article covers its legal constitution; its aims and objectives; its remit and responsibilities; questions concerning divisions of bimedia and new technology; the IBA Council and its standing committees; and the relationships between licensing, monitoring and advertising. The broad divisions and categories of new radio are in the public, private and community sectors, and matters related to new industrial development, media empowerment and overall regulation are addressed.


Understanding the event structure of sentences and the whole documents is an important step in being able to extract meaningful information from text. Our task is the identification of critical illness phenotypes, specifically pneumonia, from clinical narratives. To capture those phenotypes, it is important to identify the change of state for events, in particular events that measure and compare multiple states across time. In this abstract, we describe a corpus annotated for events with change of state information. Our corpus is comprised of chest x-ray reports, where we find many descriptions of change of state comparing the volume and density of the lungs and surrounding areas.


Physical and biological quality of seed is a very important activity when cowpea seed have to be stored for long time. The treatment of chemicals inhibitors in stores is a common practice to prevent the quality of seed. The effects of different concentrations (0, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 ppm) sage (Salvia officinalis) and Turkish oregano (Origanum onites) on cowpea seeds in stroge. The study was arranged in factorials with 4 replications and of variance was done using statistical analysis system (SAS) software. The data collected included the rate of damaged seeds, weight loss percentage in seed, seed germination. The highest rate of damaged seeds, weight loss in seed was obtained on untreatment volatile oil. The highest seed germination was obtained on 250, 500 and 1000 ppm sage volatile oil and Turkish oregano volatile oil treatment.

 Key words: Cowpea, sage, seed, stroge,Turkish oregano, volatile oil.


Community Financial Institution Exemption Act Amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to exempt community financial institutions from all rules and regulations issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Defines a "community financial institution" as an insured depository institution or credit union with less than $10 billion in consolidated assets. Authorizes the Bureau to: (1) revoke such an exemption with respect to a specific rule or regulation issued or modified after enactment of this Act and with respect to a specific class of community financial institutions if the Bureau finds that such class of institutions has engaged in a pattern or practice of activities that have been detrimental to the interests of consumers and that are of a type that the specific rule or regulation is intended to address, and (2) modify a rule or regulation issued before enactment of this Act with respect to such institutions if the effect of such modification is to expand a current exemption or to reduce the costs and the regulatory burden associated with complying with such rule or regulation.


Introduction: What is So Special about Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders? What are Autism Spectrum Disorders? Experiences of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. What Parents and Caregivers Need to Know. How to Use this Book. 1. Home Life. Babysitters. Bees. Breastfeeding. Dates for Parents. Discipline. Dogs. Finances. Food. Friendships. Holidays. Marriage Issues. Mealtimes. Morning and Nighttime Routines. Noise. Organization. Preferences. Preparing Simple Meals. Respite Care. Restaurants. Siblings and other Relatives. Support Groups. Talking about Disabilities. Tantrums. Telephone Skills. Television and Video Games. Textures and Temperatures. Weather. 2. Hygiene. Bath Time. Brushing Teeth. Clothes. Grooming. Hair Cuts. Nail Clipping. Toilet Training. 3. Community. Airplanes. Birthday Parties. Car Travel. Car Travel II. - Child Safety Seats. Hotels and Vacations. Play Dates. Reading Faces and Emotions. Shopping. Shoe Stores. Sleepovers. Swimming Pools. Visiting other Families. 4. Medical. Dentist and Doctor Visits. Emergencies. Emergency Phone Calls. Immunizations. Medications. 5. Schools and Organizations Breaks. Bullying and Teasing. Bus rRdes. Clubs. Evaluations. Hobbies. Homework. Mental Health Agencies. Puberty and School. Religious Services. Report Cards. School Lunches. School Team Meetings. School Trips and Excursions. Selecting Childcare Providers. Sports: Hallie's Story. Sports: John's Story. Teacher Assistants. Therapists. Valentine's Day. 6. Tools for Adapting the Environment for Success. Behavior Plans. Choice Boards. Direct Instruction. First-then Statement Cards. Macro and Micro Schedules. Role-playing. Scripting. Symbol Communication Systems. Task Analysis. Wait Boxes. Conclusion. References.


State-of-the art computers need high performance transistors, which consume ultra-low power resulting in longer battery lifetime. Billions of transistors are integrated neatly using matured silicon fabrication process to maintain the performance per cost advantage. In that context, low-cost mono-crystalline bulk silicon (100) based high performance transistors are considered as the heart of today's computers. One limitation is silicon's rigidity and brittleness. Here we show a generic batch process to convert high performance silicon electronics into flexible and semi-transparent one while retaining its performance, process compatibility, integration density and cost. We demonstrate high-k/metal gate stack based p-type metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors on 4 inch silicon fabric released from bulk silicon (100) wafers with sub-threshold swing of 80 mV dec 21 and on/off ratio of near 10 4 within 10% device uniformity with a minimum bending radius of 5 mm and an average transmittance of ,7% in the visible spectrum.


Standard pattern-matching methods used for deep packet inspection and network security can be evaded by means of TCP and IP fragmentation. To detect such attacks, intrusion detection systems must reassemble packets before applying matching algorithms, thus requiring a large amount of memory and time to respond to the threat. In the literature, only a few efforts proposed a method to detect evasion attacks at high speed without reassembly. The aim of this article is to introduce an efficient system for anti-evasion that can be implemented in real devices. It is based on counting bloom filters and exploits their capabilities to quickly update the string set and deal with partial signatures. In this way, the detection of attacks and almost all of the traffic processing is performed in the fast data path, thus improving the scalability of intrusion detection systems.


We thank the discussers for their contribution and the interesting questions they raise regarding our paper (Barton & Garvey 2011). We will divide their comments and questions into four sets and answer each of these in turn.

A well-developed bedding plane shear surface is developed at 0.2 m above the ferruginous concretionary layer marking the top of Zone F1 in the cliffs fronting the Naish Farm estate. It forms a very prominent and unmistakable feature in a scarp face in this area, which is well seen to the west of the area being considered in the paper. We note that the discussers have been to see this but they make no comment on the problems encountered when trying to trace this surface eastwards towards the Cliff House Landslide and Barton-on-Sea. The scarp becomes a much less discernible feature, being dissected by a number of mudslides, and the area is extensively covered with talus and scrub vegetation. Exposures become very rare, which is not what one expects when a bedding plane shear surface is controlling the morphology of the undercliffs. By dint of struggling through the mud and scrub, we managed to find an exposure [NGR 423038 093065], which is about 50 m west of 'Tom's Garden' (see fig. 1 of the paper), in the correct part of the stratigraphy but were unable to find either polishing or slickensiding along bedding planes above the concretionary layer. We presume, therefore, that shearing along the F2 surface is not continuous from east to west along this portion of the outcrop. We have commented upon this is our paper (on p. 235) and noted that it is a curious feature and an interesting subject for future research. Movement along the F2 surface is resumed further east and was clearly involved in …


Synchronous turbo alternators form the basic building block of a generation scheme. Turbo alternators are highly susceptible to foreign material ingress. In industry this phenomenon is on the rise. We evaluated the effects of foreign materials on the generator and condition monitoring equipment. The sources of foreign materials and methods to reduce ingress were investigated. We further evaluated industry best-practices on foreign material exclusion. Information is scarce, as no classic research material is available on foreign material exclusion. We therefore used industry foreign material exclusion best-practices and expert opinions were gathered. Eleven global incidents of foreign material exclusion failure were investigated. The areas of interest were: types of foreign material, area of ingress, condition monitoring response, component damage, root cause and prevention. We point out that turbo alternators are vulnerable to foreign material ingress mainly due to weak foreign material exclusion practices. We categorised the foreign materials and their effects on the operational parts of the turbo generator. We found that the air gap was the most susceptible to ingress. We identified the Generator Core Monitor as a possible solution to minimising foreign material damage.


Introduction: Complicated intraabdominal infections (cIAIs) are a common cause of infection-related morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients and present many challenges unique from other serious infections. cIAIs are generally polymicrobial in nature; however, controversy exists around the pathogenicity of some of the frequently identified microorganisms. Increasing antibiotic resistance among commonly isolated bacteria poses further challenges for clinicians managing patients with cIAIs. Areas covered: This article highlights the microbiology and recent trends in antibiotic resistance most relevant to cIAIs, provides recommendations for treatment using currently available antimicrobials and introduces antibiotics in development with potential roles in managing cIAIs. Expert opinion: Successful treatment of cIAI requires a combination of timely source control and thorough assessment of patient characteristics to guide selection of an appropriate empiric antimicrobial regimen. Specific considerations that should be made when choosing antibiotics include the origin of infection, presence of risk factors for potentially resistant pathogens and severity of disease. While it is encouraging that agents in development may prove helpful in the treatment of cIAIs with resistant pathogens, further identification of novel antibiotics is needed to address this growing concern. In addition, adherence to the principles of antimicrobial stewardship is needed if current antimicrobial resources are to be preserved for the treatment of cIAIs.


Using first principles calculations, we investigate the structural, electronic, optical, and energetic properties of S-doped anatase TiO2 bulk systems. To ensure accurate band gap predictions, we use the HSE06 exchange correlation functional, and the absorption spectra are obtained with density functional perturbation (DFPT) theory by employing HSE06. Various oxidation states (anionic and cationic) of sulfur are considered depending on the location in bulk TiO2: in interstitial position or in substitution for either oxygen or titanium atoms. Among the explored structures, two anionic and one cationic configurations induce an improved optical absorption response in the visible region as observed experimentally. Moreover, we undertake a thermodynamic analysis as a function of the chemical potential of oxygen and considering three relevant sulfur chemical doping agents (S2, H2S, and thiourea). It highlights that cationic configurations (S4+ and S6+) are strongly stabilized in a wide range of oxygen chemical ...


Hydrophobins, a class of highly surface active amphiphilic proteins, can stabilize various interfaces. When used for emulsion stabilization, it has been recently shown that they are able to induce mineralization, resulting in hollow capsules. We found that not all types of hydrophobins trigger mineralization, and that the morphology of the mineral changes depending on the selected oil. We investigated the formation of hydrophobin films at interfaces by the use of CD spectroscopy. In order to elucidate the structural features that enhance the mineralization property and give a possible explanation for this behavior, we performed MD-simulations of two representative hydrophobins (EAS for class I and HFBII for class II) at a hexane–water interface, in the presence as well as in the absence of ions. Our studies showed that the class II hydrophobin HFBII, which did not induce mineralization, only slightly changes its structure during adsorption at the oil–water interface or upon addition of Ca2+ and HPO42− ions. In contrast to that, the class I hydrophobin EAS changed its conformation to a large extent during the adsorption and interacted strongly with added ions. We revealed that EAS preorganizes the ions at short distances matching the lattice dimensions of hydroxyapatite. The latter finding yields a straightforward explanation for the observed differences in mineralization behavior and allows us to search for other hydrophobins that could assist mineralization, despite their different functions in nature.


This is a story about Lao Pako. Lao Pako is located on a small hill on the southern bank of the river Nam Ngum in central Laos. Four seasons of archaeological fieldwork have yielded considerable amounts of pottery, metallurgical remains, glass beads, stone artefacts, spindle whorls as well as other material and structural information that have created a foundation for interpretation. The archaeological interpretation presents Lao Pako as a place where people came to perform rituals c. 1500 years ago. In these rituals, sophisticated combinations of pottery depositions, infant burials and iron production produced a narrative about what it means to be in the world. Things in and on the ground created, and continue to create, non-verbal sentences about life and death, fertility, decay and worldly reproduction. The archaeological interpretation is, however, not the only valid story about Lao Pako. This is a place where spirits are; it is also a tourist resort and a national treasure. These other stories all work to create Lao Pako as a place of interest and are used in this thesis to define the archaeological story, and to visualize the aims and agendas inherent in the production of archaeological knowledge. Using the conceptual apparatus of postcolonial and other critical theory, the thesis aims to critically deconstruct the archaeology performed by the author and others. It entails an explicit critique of the deterministic temporal unilinearity that is inherent in the archaeological narrative of the evolution of humankind, as well as against essentialist notions of culture and the dissociation of the past as exotic otherness. Thus, the stories about Lao Pako demonstrate the need to critically revise the role of archaeology in a postcolonial world, and create archaeological stories by which we are touched, moved and disturbed, without resorting to imperialist notions of time and progress.


In the last two decades, the expansion of China's urban labor market has gone through dynamic job creation and destruction, as well as large-scale rural-urban immigration. The marketization since the early 1980s has made great progress in the transition to a real labor market. This book offers a novel analysis of China's labor market using modern structural econometric models. The book examines the issues of the disequilibrium of labor supply and demand in China. It also looks at the impact of rural-urban immigration on the urban labor market. China's Urban Labor Market provides analyses of the economic reasons behind the high unemployment rate in China, and explains why it coexists with a shortage of workers in recent years. (Series: Premiere Collection)


Particulate emission is a major problem in industrial processes, mainly power plants that make use of coal as a primary source of energy. Stringent emissions limits, set by government organisations requires industries to conform to these limits to ensure that air quality is sustained and with minimum pollutant present. Electrostatic precipitators are typically used to filter and collect these particulate emissions. Fly ash resistivity is a primary parameter in the collection of particulate emissions, and there is a resistivity range at which electrostatic precipitator collection is most efficient and anything outside this range limits, their operation. High resistivity ash results in back-corona discharge, whilst low resistivity results in particle re-entrainment into the flue gas stream. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and obtain a fly ash resistivity profile for existing power plants in South Africa. Ash samples obtained from power plants are, tested making use of an ash-resistivity test oven, in accordance with IEEE Standard 548-1984. This paper discusses obtained experimental results, to determine the resistivity profile at which South African power plant electrostatic precipitators operate. The electrical efficiency of the electrostatic precipitator system is evaluated based on the obtained resistivity profiles.


The edge computing paradigm places compute-capable devices - edge servers - at the network edge to assist mobile devices in executing data analysis tasks. Intuitively, offloading compute-intense tasks to edge servers can reduce their execution time. However, poor conditions of the wireless channel connecting the mobile devices to the edge servers may degrade the overall capture-to-output delay achieved by edge offloading. Herein, we focus on edge computing supporting remote object detection by means of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), and develop a framework to reduce the amount of data transmitted over the wireless link. The core idea we propose builds on recent approaches splitting DNNs into sections - namely head and tail models - executed by the mobile device and edge server, respectively. The wireless link, then, is used to transport the output of the last layer of the head model to the edge server, instead of the DNN input. Most prior work focuses on classification tasks and leaves the DNN structure unaltered. Herein, our focus is on DNNs for three different object detection tasks, which present a much more convoluted structure, and modify the architecture of the network to: (i) achieve in-network compression by introducing a bottleneck layer in the early layers on the head model, and (ii) prefilter pictures that do not contain objects of interest using a convolutional neural network. Results show that the proposed technique represents an effective intermediate option between local and edge computing in a parameter region where these extreme point solutions fail to provide satisfactory performance. The code and trained models are available at https://github.com/yoshitomo-matsubaralhnd-ghnd-object-detectors.


This paper reviewed empirical literature on information behaviour of academic faculty across disciplinary fields with particular reference to studies whose demography included the professoriate in the context of their information needs, purposeful information seeking and use of information for teaching and research. Paucity of literature focusing on the professoriate prompted this study. Literature focusing on the professoriate will provide a rich theoretical and contextual background for researchers embarking on studies that focus specifically on the professoriate in related information context, besides filling the knowledge gap in library and information science literature. The scope of the literature review covers scholarly journals in major electronic databases and search engines such as EBSCOhost, ERIC, Social Science Citation Index, ProQuest, Google and Google Scholar. In reviewing the empirical literature, attention was given to literature with professoriate in their population. The outcome of the literature review revealed the general information needs of the professoriate are for teaching and research. Literature on purposeful information seeking revealed the professoriates' use of print and electronic information resources varied across disciplinary fields, and is influenced by age, environmental and individual characteristics. Use of electronic information resources is context-dependent and prevailed more in research settings and in studies conducted in the West relative to those carried out in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. The paper concludes that in-spite of the continued relevance of print information resources, electronic information resources usage continue to increase in academic environment that is fast embracing information technology.


The Parabasala are a primitive group of protists divided into two classes: the trichomonads and the hypermastigids. Until recently, phylogeny and taxonomy of parabasalids were mainly based on the comparative analysis of morphological characters primarily linked to the development of their cytoskeleton. Recent use of molecular markers, such as small subunit (SSU) rRNA has led to new insights into the systematics of the Parabasala and other groups of protists. An updated phylogeny based on SSU rRNA is provided and compared to that inferred from ultrastructural data. The SSU rRNA phylogeny contradicts the dogma equating simple characters with primitive characters. Hypermastigids, possessing a hyperdeveloped cytoskeleton, exhibit the most basal emergence in the parabasalid lineage. Other observations emerge from the SSU rRNA analysis, such as the secondary loss of some cytoskeleton structures in all representatives of the Monocercomonadidae, the existence of secondarily free-living taxa (reversibility of parasitism) and the evidence against the co-evolution of the endobiotic parabasalids and their animal hosts. According to phylogenies based on SSU rRNA, all the trichomonad families are not monophyletic groups, putting into question the validity of current taxonomic assignments. The precise branching order of some taxa remains unclear, but this issue can possibly be addressed by the molecular analysis of additional parabasalids. The goal of such additional analyses would be to propose, in a near future, a revision of the taxonomy of this group of protists that takes into account both molecular and morphological data.


This paper deals with an application to automatic compensation of grinding wheel wear by an image processing based real-time measurement method in dry curve grinding. An online image measurement system was schemed out and its principle was introduced in detail. Real time image of workpiece and grinding wheel is grabbed by CCD camera during grinding process. For the purpose of increasing the measurement precision, a new sub-pixel level accuracy edge detection approach combining Zernike moments operator with Sobel operator is proposed for locating the edge of the machined workpiece, which has advantages of fast processing speed and high edge locating accuracy. The wear amount of the grinding wheel is calculated by the image processing software, and is compensated automatically by NC controller. Finally, this method is applied to a new type CNC curve grinding machine MD9040. The experimental results show that the measurement and compensation method proposed in this paper is effective, and the contour error of the workpiece with real-time compensation is less than the feeding resolution for a compensation of 2μm.


Distinct model-free and model-based learning processes are thought to drive both typical and dysfunctional behaviors. Data from two-stage decision tasks have seemingly shown that human behavior is driven by both processes operating in parallel. However, in this study, we show that more detailed task instructions lead participants to make primarily model-based choices that show little, if any, model-free influence. We also demonstrate that behavior in the two-stage task may falsely appear to be driven by a combination of model-based/model-free learning if purely model-based agents form inaccurate models of the task because of misunderstandings. Furthermore, we found evidence that many participants do misunderstand the task in important ways. Overall, we argue that humans formulate a wide variety of learning models. Consequently, the simple dichotomy of model-free versus model-based learning is inadequate to explain behavior in the two-stage task and connections between reward learning, habit formation, and compulsivity.


OF THE DISSERTATION Nanopower Analog Frontends for Cyber-Physical Systems by Kenji Aono Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, 2018 Professor Shantanu Chakrabartty, Chair In a world that is increasingly dominated by advances made in digital systems, this work will explore the exploiting of naturally occurring physical phenomena to pave the way towards a self-powered sensor for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). In general, a sensor frontend can be broken up into a handful of basic stages: transduction, filtering, energy conversion, measurement, and interfacing. One analog artifact that was investigated for filtering was the physical phenomenon of hysteresis induced in current-mode biquads driven near or at their saturation limit. Known as jump resonance, this analog construct facilitates a higher quality factor to be brought about without resorting to the addition of multiple stages and poles in the filter. Exploiting this allows a filter that mimics mammalian cochlea using nW of power, and the viability of such a filter was demonstrated in the application of speaker recognition. Features were extracted using a silicon cochlea analog frontend, which outperformed features from traditional linear filters when classification was done with a Gini-SVM. To realize the measurement stage of the frontend, a previously reported technology, the Piezoelectric-Floating-Gate (PFG) was employed. The PFG matches physics of ImpactIonized Hot-Electron Injection (IIHEI) in silicon metal-oxide field effect transistors with a piezoelectric transducer to drive nonvolatile data-logging measurements. The PFG implementation is self-powered in the sense that the energy required for sensing comes from the xiii signal being observed, which allows for continuous, zero-downtime measurements of signals that exceed the IIHEI threshold and can drive nW loads. Moreover, since it directly matches the transduction stage to measurement, it obviates the need for an explicit energy conversion stage in the frontend. Multiple interfacing technologies were evaluated, including: wired, self-powered radio-frequency (RF) backscatter, periodic 915 MHz active RF, and a hybrid model that uses energy scavenging to determine if an interrogator is within range before transmitting. A multi-year deployment of this sensor frontend for structural health monitoring is currently active on the Mackinac Bridge in northern Michigan and demonstrates successful transition from laboratory to practice for a CPS. Finally, a modification to the PFG topology to include filtering aspects borrowed from earlier study was proposed and fabricated on a standard 0.5 μm CMOS process. Measurements show that the PFG sensor can be endowed with frequency discriminating capabilities to better focus on signals of interest. The modifications also give rise to a means for higher sensitivity (input stimuli below IIHEI threshold) data-logging that would vastly expand the potential application space.