Spatial planning is one of the most complex activities of public organizations. Since approximately halfway the 1990s a new generation of geo-information technologies has become available to support those involved in planning in handling the complexity: Planning Support Systems (PSS). PSS consist of a combination of planning related theory, data, information, knowledge, methods and instruments, that take the form of an integrated environment with a shared interface. Many see PSS as promising support tools to handle complexity of planning, however usage in planning practice stays far behind of supply, which is problematic regarding this assumed potential. This project aims to explain the relative under-use of PSS in planning practice and formulate guidelines for enhanced PSS application in spatial planning. For this purpose the study combines insights of PSS users, PSS experts and PSS system developers. The problem has been studied from three approaches that each emphasize specific aspects of usage of PSS. Results of an analysis of instrumental quality of the existing PSS show that PSS technology is still in an early stage of development. The analysis also shows that there exists a dichotomy between the demands of planning practice and the supply of PSS: practice demands in particular simple systems, while many developers provide advanced systems. Results of an analysis of acceptance of PSS show that the main causes for the limited acceptance of PSS are: the lack of awareness of the existence and potential of PSS, the lack of experience with PSS, and the lack of intention to start using PSS among the intended users. Results of an analysis of diffusion of PSS show that diffusion is most likely to take place bottom-up. Geo-information specialists are the most suitable employees in practice to take the PSS from the extra organizational environment. However, bottom-up diffusion is often blocked by managers who perceive investments in ICT such as PSS as a risk. The instrument, user and transfer approach were subsequently applied to explain differences in usage of PSS types. Results show that PSS with the primary aim of informing the actors involved in planning are applied widely, while PSS with the primary aim of supporting communication and analysis are much less widely used. The primary causes of less wide usage of PSS for communication and analysis are lack of experience with these PSS, lack of awareness of their existence and potential, and lack of instrumental quality of many of these PSS. Secondary causes are hampered acceptance and diffusion. To enhance usage of PSS in planning practice, we recommend to the actors involved in PSS development and application of PSS start improving their communication and cooperation in development and application of PSS. Interactive learning processes in which PSS developers, researchers and practitioners are involved can constitute the right combination of knowledge and experience to come to successful applications. These can furthermore lead to the availability of examples that may convince others of the use of applying PSS. This can stimulate awareness, experience, instrumental quality, acceptance and diffusion of PSS.


Cuba has had a nationalized food rationing system since 1962, and has been lauded for exemplary food security innovations in the face of national financial hardship. Decreases in food and agricultural related importations after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 limited the amount of food provided in the monthly rations, forcing individuals to acquire increasing amounts of their food through other means. This article reveals the complexities Cubans face when attempting to access foods in Santiago de Cuba. This project examines how Cubans experience their food system, their struggles to maintain food traditions despite the low availability of ingredients, and how people use and relate to Cuba's food provisioning system. In this article two memories of past periods of abundance are juxtaposed to show the different ways in which individuals interpret food security. The analysis of semistructured interviews, community mapping, and participant-observation reveal the ways in which residents of Santiago de Cuba orient to their present situation through memories of past periods when foods were more available and more easily accessible.


Computations in the brain are broadly assumed to emerge from patterns of fast electrical activity. Challenging this view, we show that a male fly's decision to persist in mating, even through a potentially lethal threat, hinges on biochemical computations that enable processing over minutes to hours. Each neuron in a recurrent network measuring time into mating contains slightly different internal molecular estimates of elapsed time. Protein Kinase A (PKA) activity contrasts this internal measurement with input from the other neurons to represent evidence that the network's goal has been achieved. When consensus is reached, PKA pushes the network toward a large-scale and synchronized burst of calcium influx, which we call an eruption. The eruption functions like an action potential at the level of the network, transforming deliberation within the network into an all-or-nothing output, after which the male will no longer sacrifice his life to continue mating. We detail the continuous transformation between interwoven molecular and electrical information over long timescales in this system, showing how biochemical activity, invisible to most large scale recording techniques, is the key computational currency directing a life-or-death decision.


Let the Chief Examiner help you pass the CIPD exam! As part of the CIPD Revision Guides series, this guide is designed to aid CIPD students in preparing for their Managing in a Business Context examination. Based on the experience and skills of the CIPD Chief Examiner, this Guide provides comprehensive and relevant information and invaluable advice for students in the lead-up to their CIPD examinations. Included are opportunities to practise exam technique, assess knowledge levels and benefit from handy tips on improving exam performance. The Guide also includes: - advice on how to prepare for exams; - guidance on how to avoid common mistakes and how to maximise potential; - advice on how to approach exam questions; - examples of past exam questions with suggestions on how best to answer (including examples from the May 2004 exam paper); and - examples of responses students have given and an explanation of why these were good, poor or average.


This research is based on the Fogo Process which used film to bridge communication between a group of remote Newfoundland fishing communities and government policy makers and politicians in the late 1960s. The research expands the scope of the Fogo Process by integrating principles from participatory video, a development strategy used to build local capacity around socio-economic issues, participatory action research and advances in video technology.

This thesis is an investigation of the role of participatory video as a tool to influence government policy-making. The research is set within the context of a group of five remote Aboriginal communities in northwestern Ontario, Canada. These communities, collectively know as Keewaytinook-Okimakanak (KO), were part of a federal pilot program to encourage innovative broadband infrastructure development across the country. These communities represent a rare research environment because prior to the introduction of broadband services, they were minimally serviced in terms of telecommunications, with one telephone available for all the communities needs.

The research was initially made possible because of the need for program evaluation data. Video was used to gather testimonial stories in support of KO's Smart Program evaluation report. Video was chosen because it was felt by the evaluation team and KO leadership that Industry Canada, the primary funding agency, could make a more informed assessment if the data was contextualized through the provision of real life accounts and experiences with broadband. Very few Canadians have ever visited communities such as these and the impact that broadband was having on health care, education and community development required a communication mechanism beyond conventional evaluation approaches.

Local leadership quickly realized the potential of video to link their needs with policy makers located thousands of kilometers away. Research continued into the development and dissemination of locally produced videos in the service of policy needs. During the course of the initial video productions, I provided training workshops in the communities thereby creating a critical mass of people who could produce their own video media and, in turn, teach others.

After the collaborative production of twenty two videos, and numerous others produced independently by former trainees, the research culminated in the production of Turning the Corner. This was a 17 minute video produced in cooperation with the Privy Council of Canada's Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat and KO leadership. The purpose of the video was to relay the message that bottom-up planning and funding strategies were essential to the success of broadband expansion across Canada's Northern Aboriginal communities. This message was based on the lessons and experience of the KO communities where broadband had transformed community life from telehealth applications and internet assisted education to overcoming isolation and community development. The video made real the need for local planning and initiative to be brought into the planning process for broadband infrastructure through a series of screenings to senior policy makers in the nation's capital, Ottawa.


Small-to-medium scale softwood sawmills in the Copperbelt of Zambia are operating below 50% capacity. The timber supply is uncertain as demand continues to increase in tandem with economic activities and population growth. This study identified the financial, i.e., access to finance and operating costs, and non-financial, i.e., raw material, transport, skilled labor, and sawn timber recovery, as the limiting factors affecting performance. The authors benchmarked various financial ratios, i.e., gross profit margin, net profit margin, return on investment, return on capital employed, and working capital turnover, of the small-scale sawmills compiled from survey data with the average industry ratios. Raw material is the most limiting factor affecting profitability/success of small-scale sawmills. A Cobb-Douglas model demonstrated that sawn timber recovery depends on operator skills, particularly in non-automatic machinery, which are common. Strategies currently employed are value addition, multiple sourcing, equipment acquisition and modernization, and labor cost reduction. Measures proposed to enhance profitability are credit guarantee schemes, collaboration, tax reduction, lesser-used timber utilization, and timber auction floor.


The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is a statutory component of the Key Stages 2 and 3 National Curricula in the UK. This research presents findings from a national survey of the availability and usage of ICT in music classrooms within English secondary schools. It also examined a range of issues related to the training and continuing professional development opportunities that teachers utilised to develop their skills in this area. Key findings from the research show that music education is dominated by conservative uses of ICT that reinforce traditional subject content. Rigorous strategies for the sharing of knowledge in this area are needed if wider impact is to be made on the delivery of music curriculum that exploits the broader potential of ICT to widen access and provide students with an inclusive and personalised curriculum.


We discuss the monodromy action of loops in the horseshoe locus of the Hénon map on its Julia set. We will show that for a particular class of loops there is a certain combinatorially-defined subset of the Hénon Julia set which must remain invariant under the monodromy action of loops in certain regions. We will then describe a conjecture for what the monodromy actions of these loops are as well as a possible connection between the algebraic structure of automorphisms of the full 2-shift and the existence of certain types of loops in the horseshoe locus.


Oceana Sensor Technologies (OST) is working with the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), DARPA, and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) under a cooperative agreement to develop a new class of networkable, smart sensors for prognostics and health management (PHM) aboard JSF, other aircraft, and industrial applications. We call these devices Intelligent Component Health Monitors or ICHM/sup TM/. The ICHM has been prototyped in relatively large form factors built for normal industrial environments. The effort described herein has several objectives targeted to deliver a class of devices ready to be incorporated into the JSF design. Specifically we will: 1) environmentally harden the ICHM/sup TM/ design; 2) incorporate additional self-calibration/test functions; 3) integrate and demonstrate transducer technologies of Stewart Hughes Limited (SHL) with the Intelligent Component Health Monitor (ICHMTM); 4) integrate an ICHM-based engine sensor network; and 5) conduct testing in realistic engine and aircraft environments. This paper describe this development effort.


This paper examines the technologies that enable the representation of Hebrew on websites. Hebrew is written from right to left and in non-Latin characters, issues shared by a number of languages which seem to be converging on a shared solution—Unicode. Regarding the case of Hebrew, I show how competing solutions have given way to one dominant technology. I link processes in the Israeli context with broader questions about the 'multilingual Internet,' asking whether the commonly accepted solution for representing non-Latin texts on computer screens is an instance of cultural imperialism and convergence around a western artifact. It is argued that while minority languages are given an online voice by Unicode, the context is still one of western power.


To the Editor.— The angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, captopril, is attracting much attention both in the United States and in Great Britain. I read with interest the article by Wilkin et al in the August 1980Archives(116:902-905) postulating cutaneous kinin potentiation as a possible mechanism for eruptions occurring early in the course of treatment with captopril. Report of a Case.— In January 1980,I saw a 45-year-old man who had an eruption clinically suggestive of pemphigus after taking captopril for six months. Histopathologic examination showed a high-level intraepidermal cleft, with bulla formation and numerous acantholytic cells within the bulla. Immunofluorescent microscopy of a lesion showed middle and upper epidermal intercellular staining with IgG and lower epidermal intercellular staining with C3. Immunofluorescent microscopy of perilesional skin showed dermoepidermal deposition of C3. These findings were consistent with a diagnosis of pemphigus erythematosus, and pemphigus antibodies were present in a titer of 1:40. The


The aim of this study was to identify the differences between the main macro and micronutrients including proteins, fat, minerals and vitamins in cow and goat dehydrated fermented milks. Fermented goat milk had higher protein and lower ash content. All amino acids (except for Ala), were higher in fermented goat milk than in fermented cow milk. Except for the values of C11:0, C13:0, C16:0, C18:0, C20:5, C22:5 and the total quantity of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, all the other fatty acid studied were significantly different in both fermented milks. Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe, Cu and Se were higher in fermented goat milk. Fermented goat milk had lower amounts of folic acid, vitamin E and C, and higher values of vitamin A, D3, B6 and B12. The current study demonstrates the better nutritional characteristics of fermented goat milk, suggesting a potential role of this dairy product as a high nutritional value food.


Runic inscriptions on the Continent, excluding Frisia, are commonly treated as representing the precursors of Old High German and Old Saxon, which are attested in manuscripts of the eighth‒eleventh centuries. If these literary languages are the result of regular sound change from a relatively homogeneous Northwest Germanic, then close study of the runic inscriptions might enable us to see some of those sound changes in progress. This paper examines the runic evidence for specific sound changes affecting the Germanic diphthongs */ai au eu/, and argues that the dialects of the inscriptions do not fit easily into a linear progression from Northwest Germanic to literary Old High German and Old Saxon.


We present a general scheme to treat backbone hydrogen bonding in protein using the molecular fractionation with conjugate caps (MFCC) approach. In this approach, molecular caps are employed to mimic the hydrogen bonding environment of protein fragments that are calculated individually. Using this scheme in the MFCC method, we carried out explicit numerical calculations for a number of secondary structures of proteins, including the alpha-helix and beta-sheet. The calculated electron densities, electrostatic potentials, and dipole moment are compared with those from the standard full system ab initio calculations. The result shows that the current treatment using the hydrogen bond cap gives an accurate description of the hydrogen bonding effect and accurate dipole moment. In contrast, calculation using the standard force field (FF) approach gives dipole moments that are in huge error (i.e., significantly smaller) than the quantum result for helix structures due to the lack of polarization effect with fixed partial charges. The present study demonstrates that the MFCC approach can quantitatively describe hydrogen bonding in practical ab initio Calculation of proteins. Our result also underscores the importance of the polarization effect in backbone hydrogen bonding of protein. This could have significant implication in studying the electrostatic interaction of proteins, such as protein solvation. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


We consider the problem of estimating preferences of human agents from data of strategic systems where the agents repeatedly interact. Recently, it was demonstrated that a new estimation method called "quantal regret" produces more accurate estimates for human agents than the classic approach that assumes that agents are rational and reach a Nash equilibrium; however, this method has not been compared to methods that take into account behavioral aspects of human play. In this paper we leverage equilibrium concepts from behavioral economics for this purpose and ask how well they perform compared to the quantal regret and Nash equilibrium methods. We develop four estimation methods based on established behavioral equilibrium models to infer the utilities of human agents from observed data of normal-form games. The equilibrium models we study are quantal-response equilibrium, action-sampling equilibrium, payoff-sampling equilibrium, and impulse-balance equilibrium. We show that in some of these concepts the inference is achieved analytically via closed formulas, while in the others the inference is achieved only algorithmically. We use experimental data of 2x2 games to evaluate the estimation success of these behavioral equilibrium methods. The results show that the estimates they produce are more accurate than the estimates of the Nash equilibrium. The comparison with the quantal-regret method shows that the behavioral methods have better hit rates, but the quantal-regret method performs better in terms of the overall mean squared error, and we discuss the differences between the methods.


The field of Procedural Generation is being increasingly used in modern content generation for its ability to significantly decrease the cost and time involved. One such area of Procedural Generation is Shape Grammars, a type of formal grammar that operates on geometric shapes instead of symbols.

Conventional shape grammar implementations use mesh representations of shapes, but this has two significant drawbacks. Firstly, mesh representations make Boolean geometry operations on shapes difficult to accomplish. Boolean geometry operations allow us to combine shapes using Boolean operators (and, or, not), producing complex, composite shapes. A second drawback is that sub-, or trans-shape detailing is challenging to achieve. To address these two problems with conventional mesh-based shape grammars, we present a novel extension to shape grammars, in which a voxel representation of the generated shapes is used.

We outline a five stage algorithm for using these extensions and discuss a number of optional enhancements and optimizations. The final output of the algorithm is a detailed mesh model, suitable for use in real-time or offline graphics applications. We also test our extension's performance and range of output with three categories of testing: performance testing, output range testing, and variation testing.

The results of the testing with our proof-of-concept implementation show that our unoptimized algorithm is slower than conventional shape grammar implementations, with a running time that is O(N^3) for an N^3 voxel grid. However, there is scope for further optimization to our algorithm, which would significantly reduce running times and memory consumption. We outline and discuss several such avenues for performance enhancement.

Additionally, testing reveals that our algorithm is able to successfully produce a broad range of detailed outputs, exhibiting many features that would be very difficult to accomplish using mesh-based shape grammar implementations. This range of 3D models includes fractals, skyscraper buildings, space ships, castles, and more. Further, stochastic rules can be used to produce a variety of models that share a basic archetype, but differ noticeably in their details.


Conceptual development and conceptual change processes are described by a longitudinal study on preschool children's conception of the earth. Conceptual change is often described as a causal process in which changes in an embraced system of beliefs result in a new system of beliefs. A normative line of research has been dominating the research field of conceptual change. There has been a search for specific conceptions that are missing in the learners' reasoning or that prevent conceptual change from occur. Here, the learner's capacity of reasoning is focused. The children's reasoning is described in its own right (Driver & Easley, 1978). It is argued that conceptual change is to be understood as an intentional activity with regard to the learner, that is, what the learner is doing when trying to understand something.Children were interviewed annually from four to six years of age. There were 37 children participating, of which 29 were followed during all three years. The children were interviewed about their conceptions of the earth.The results directs the focus of conceptual change from specific conceptions to structural changes. The children processed a lot of conflicting information. However, there does not appear to be any specific conflict that causes the process of conceptual change to occur. Rather, conceptual change is about the reorganization of the sum total of beliefs and to find adequate contexts to which they relate. Conceptual change involves a simultaneous processing of information and complex conception as well as revisions and changes at a model level, and all of this processing is related to contexts for description and explanation. The result also indicates some core stability in reasoning over the course of the investigation.


In this thesis we use non-crossing partitions(NCP) to examine Artin groups of finite type and their subgroups. We follow the work of Brady-Watt and Bessis to construct a con- tractible universal cover for the Artin group B(W) using this NCP structure. This space X can be factored out by normal subgroups H of B(W) and the resulting quotient space is a K(H,1). We examine this quotient space to see what information it gives us about the subgroup H.
The main result of this thesis is that B(F4)′, the commutator subgroup of the Artin group B(F4), is finitely presented. It is already known whether the commutator subgroups of the other irreducible Artin groups are finitely presented. We retract the space X in the F4 case and filter it appropriately to apply a theorem of Brown. If the filtration is finite mod B(F4)′ and successive stages of the filtration are obtained from the previous stage by the adjunction of 3-cells then B(F4)′ has finiteness type F2 but not finiteness type F3.
We also recover the fact that B(C3)′ is finitely generated but not finitely presented. This is done by examining the fundamental group and second homology group of our K(B(C3)′, 1).
The other subgroup we are interested in is the kernel of the map which sends the NCP generators of an Artin group to the lengths of the corresponding non-crossing partitions. We define a Morse function on the quotient space in this case to calculate the homology. The Morse function on the quotient space also defines one on truncations of the NCP lattice. The simplification resulting from this Morse function recovers the fact that the homology of these truncations is entirely in the top dimension.


Sex identification of unknown human skeletal remains is of great importance in establishing identity and individuality. In adults, the hip bone is the most reliable sex indicator because of its sexual dimorphism. Each population should have its own specific standards of identification. The objective of this study is to develop a logistic regression formula for adult sex identification using threedimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) of the pelvis and to perform an assessment of its validity in sex determination among a sample of the Egyptian population in the Suez Canal region. 141 pelvic-abdominal CT images (free of any pelvic orthopaedic disorder) were included; they were reconstructed to produce 3D-CT pelvic images which were divided into a calibration group (47 male and 47 female) and a test group (47 CT images the sex of which was unknown to the observers). Twenty radiometric variables were measured for the calibration group. A logit response formula for sex prediction was developed and applied on the test group for sex prediction. The logit response formula for the test sample showed sensitivity, specificity, and an overall accuracy of 100%. The proposed method represents a quick and reliable metric method in establishing sex from a CT image of the pelvis bone.


The authors show how the entropy-alpha target decomposition scheme may be used for parametric inversion studies on random particle cloud models for vegetation layers. The decomposition is detailed first and then applied to a two-parameter model for backscatter from a random cloud of small anisotropic particles. The two main parameters used are the mean particle shape and the mean orientation angle of the cloud. An inversion algorithm is presented and applied to broad-band polarimetric radar data from the European Microwave Signature Laboratory (EMSL), Joint Research Center, Ispra, Italy. The results have been obtained from measurements of a fir tree and a ficus tree. They show a wavelength scale dependence of the shape and distribution of scatterers, which reflects the complex volume scattering nature of such problems. Moreover, the values and trends from these two trees as a function of the frequency are different, as expected from their physical structures. Consequently, this algorithm has the potential to be useful in the construction of classification schemes for vegetation.


Running off-site software middleboxes at third-party service providers has been a popular practice. However, routing large volumes of raw traffic, which may carry sensitive information, to a remote site for processing raises severe security concerns. Prior solutions often abstract away important factors pertinent to real-world deployment. In particular, they overlook the significance of metadata protection and stateful processing. Unprotected traffic metadata like low-level headers, size and count, can be exploited to learn supposedly encrypted application contents. Meanwhile, tracking the states of 100,000s of flows concurrently is often indispensable in production-level middleboxes deployed at real networks. We present LightBox, the first system that can drive off-site middleboxes at near-native speed with stateful processing and the most comprehensive protection to date. Built upon commodity trusted hardware, Intel SGX, LightBox is the product of our systematic investigation of how to overcome the inherent limitations of secure enclaves using domain knowledge and customization. First, we introduce an elegant virtual network interface that allows convenient access to fully protected packets at line rate without leaving the enclave, as if from the trusted source network. Second, we provide complete flow state management for efficient stateful processing, by tailoring a set of data structures and algorithms optimized for the highly constrained enclave space. Extensive evaluations demonstrate that LightBox, with all security benefits, can achieve 10Gbps packet I/O, and that with case studies on three stateful middleboxes, it can operate at near-native speed.


Abstract Prickly lettuce is an annual weed that germinates in both the fall and the spring. It is often found in no-till soybeans and winter wheat in Ontario, Canada, as well as along the edges of fields. Field studies were conducted from 2001 to 2004 to estimate crop yield losses, and to characterize the phenology and seed production of prickly lettuce in relation to time of emergence. Prickly lettuce had a large impact on soybean yield, with losses of 60 to 80% at densities of 50 plants m−2 or more. Prickly lettuce density estimated to cause a 10% soybean yield loss varied from 0.2 plants m−2 in 2002 to 1.2 plants m−2 in 2003 and 2004. In winter wheat, prickly lettuce at densities up to 200 plants m−2 caused no detectable yield loss in this study. Plants that emerged in the fall generally were larger, flowered earlier. and produced more seeds than those emerging in spring, but size and fecundity were strongly density-dependent. The number of flowers produced per plant could be estimated from the height of the main stem. Seed production per plant ranged from 2,200 to 67,000 in soybeans, and up to 87,000 in a noncrop area at the edge of the field. Winter wheat harvest interrupted prickly lettuce flowering, and only about 25 to 30% of the plants present in the wheat crop survived harvest and flowered in untreated stubble. These plants produced less than 4,000 seeds per plant. Postharvest control with glyphosate, mowing, or cultivation prevented prickly lettuce seed production in wheat stubble. This study suggests that prickly lettuce populations could build up quickly in continuous no-till soybeans, but rotation with winter wheat and control of plants at the edge of the field would help to limit population growth. Nomenclature: Prickly lettuce, Lactuca serriola L. LACSE; soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr.; wheat, Triticum aestivum L.


Anesthesiologists have been debating on the timing of tracheal extubation (removal of laryngeal mask airway, laryngeal tube, etc.) in children on whether the extubation has to be done while the children are anesthetized or awake. Some studies have shown that removal of airway devices in an anesthetized state was accompanied by less minor respiratory complications such as coughing, hypersalivation and desaturation than in awake [1]. However, the upper airway obstruction after the removal of airway devices in the anesthetized state remains as a potential life-threatening risk.

Kim et al. [2] suggest in this month's edition that the use of caudal block may be a solution in lowering both minor and major complications. The laryngeal mask airway was designed originally to be placed within the mouth until the return of protective airway reflexes. However, in clinical practice, it is true that many anesthesiologists have not always followed this rule [1].

Caudal block is one of the most frequently used regional blocks in pediatric patients. This technique provides postoperative analgesia after infraumbilical operations as an adjunct to general anesthesia. Neuraxial anesthesia has been reported to have direct sedative properties and to markedly reduce the amount of hypnotic agents required for general anesthesia. The assumptive mechanism includes decrease in the general anesthetic demand by blocking the pain from surgical site and suppressing movement in response to a noxious stimulus [3].

Kim et al. [2] have also shown that the apparently separate two anesthetic procedures- removal of laryngeal mask airway and caudal block, could be clinically associated. However, there are several points to be taken into consideration. Firstly, it seems somewhat unethical to observe that there is significant difference in managing the postoperative pain between the two groups, considering that there was nothing done in the control group comparable to the caudal block. Secondly, since they have already showed that laryngeal mask airway removal could be accomplished without coughing, moving, or any other airway complication at 1.8% end-tidal sevoflurane concentration in 50% of anesthetized children in their previous article, the need for control group appears questionable [4]. Thirdly, this paper is deficient in delineating the level of the caudal analgesia that is truly blocked in the children. Despite the existing difficulties of checking the truly blocked level, it could have been checked right after the extubation. In addition, use of various concentrations or volume of the local anesthetics for caudal blocks may have strengthened the author's opinions. Finally, there is a need to conduct such studies by recruiting a number of patients as it could bring in a drastic understanding and methodological changes in anesthesiologists.

To be conservative or not, that is not only Hamlet's soliloquy. It is difficult for clinicians to change their concepts, traditions and practices based on a single published literature. The efforts of Kim et al. [2] have helped us by providing a new strategy in an effort to increase safety in removing the laryngeal mask airway.


Variable speed wind turbine generators are more powerful than constant speed turbines. However the unstable wind speed causes the variable speed machine to have variable voltage and frequency. The quality of power can be improved if a suitable control technique is used in the system, the fluctuating wind generator output needs to be controlled, for this reason one needs to study the dynamic characteristics of the combined wind generator system. Better control design can be designed for more dynamic performance. Blade pitch control of the fan is discussed here in this research by using rotary potentiometers for position control and some tests is done in control laboratory as a simulation of the position control.


The paper is devoted to methodological aspects of the study of institutional functions of education as one of the basic theoretical constructs of contemporary sociology of education. The author argues that the elaboration into the function problem also provides a direction for social-practical outputs of this branch of sociology, conceptual ground for its own theoretical, revitalizing its connection with general sociology. Without such elaboration, the author assumes, most of theoretical and empirical studies and measurements conducted by sociologists are doomed to thematic fragmentation, have slim chances to contribute to a shared sociological vision of education, delineate the area of institutional responsibility of education in society, improve educational politics, resist the neoliberal "Trojan horses" in education. The author brings a set of criteria to define the institutional functions of education, including the empirical measurability of each function, and a hypothetical model of functions detailed by four major areas of society: economic, social, cultural and political.


A multiple stepped quantum wells (MSQWs) solar cell, in which GaAs stepped-potential layers are sandwiched between strain-balanced InGaAs wells and GaAsP barriers, has been proposed, and improvements in short-circuit current and fill factor have been demonstrated. We have studied carrier recombination dynamics and carrier escape kinetics from the wells, comparing the MSQW with the normal multiple quantum well (MQW). Carrier recombination rate was examined by time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) and a longer carrier lifetime was observed for MSQWs than for MQWs. Carrier escape from the wells was also investigated in terms of temperature-dependent PL. Smaller thermal activation energy was observed for MSQWs than for MQWs. Carrier radiative recombination loss was investigated by bias-dependent PL, and it was found to be smaller for the MSQW than for the normal MQW. Such advantages of the MSQW allowed us to stack a sufficient number of quantum wells to increase short-circuit current without degrading fill factor. For normal MQW solar cells, degradation in fill factor is unavoidable.


Abstract. A small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with survey-grade GNSS positioning is used to produce a point cloud for topographic mapping and 3D reconstruction. The objective of this study is to assess the accuracy of a UAV imagery-derived point cloud by comparing a point cloud generated by terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). Imagery was collected over a 320 m by 320 m area with undulating terrain, containing 80 ground control points. A SenseFly eBee Plus fixed-wing platform with PPK positioning with a 10.6 mm focal length and a 20 MP digital camera was used to fly the area. Pix4Dmapper, a computer vision based commercial software, was used to process a photogrammetric block, constrained by 5 GCPs while obtaining cm-level RMSE based on the remaining 75 checkpoints. Based on results of automatic aerial triangulation, a point cloud and digital surface model (DSM) (2.5 cm/pixel) are generated and their accuracy assessed. A bias less than 1 pixel was observed in elevations from the UAV DSM at the checkpoints. 31 registered TLS scans made up a point cloud of the same area with an observed horizontal root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.006m, and negligible vertical RMSE. Comparisons were made between fitted planes of extracted roof features of 2 buildings and centreline profile comparison of a road in both UAV and TLS point clouds. Comparisons showed an average +8 cm bias with UAV point cloud computing too high in two features. No bias was observed in the roof features of the southernmost building.


It seems impossible to create a comprehensive evaluation model which fully takes into account the multi‐dimensional context of integrated health and social care. Clinical integration, as a prerequisite for efficient outcomes of integration, must nonetheless get special attention. For more extensive evaluations, a quality chain matrix, including co‐operating acts by different providers, has proven to be useful. Examples of evaluated services in Sweden are given, and the management benefits of the use of evaluation data are highlighted.


The process of high-gain image amplification in photorefractive crystals is investigated. We show that in the regime of large energy transfer, the spatially nonuniform depletion of the pump wave results in the introduction of distortions into the amplified output image. This distortion mechanism and its dependence on the characteristics of the image to be amplified are described theoretically through numerical solutions of the coupled-wave equations for image-bearing beams. The numerical results are then checked experimentally in photorefractive BaTiO3.


The effects of a depolarizing (decamethonium, DECA) and a nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking agent (vecuronium, VECU) on the phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (31P-NMR)-detected metabolic response to muscle contractions were studied separately in six healthy untrained males. Subjects who showed splitting of the P(i) peak during graded rhythmic forearm exercise without the drugs were selected. It was found that both drugs abolished the P(i) peak splitting during exercise. Despite a similar reduction in phosphocreatine (PCr) during exercise with each drug, a smaller increase in P(i) was observed with DECA than with VECU (P < 0.05). End-exercise muscle pH was higher with DECA (6.93 +/- 0.07) than with VECU (6.79 +/- 0.11) (P < 0.05). The PCr and P(i) recovery was two- and threefold faster with DECA than with VECU, respectively (P < 0.05). On the basis of the concept that depolarizing and nondepolarizing agents have a preferential effect on fast- and slow-twitch muscle fibers, respectively, the present results support the hypothesis that the NMR-observed splitting of the P(i) peak reflects the metabolic differences between the two major fiber types of human skeletal muscle.


Initial teacher education programmes such as the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in South Africa are undergoing significant changes with the introduction of a new policy regime. This paper briefly outlines the policy changes advanced for teacher education programmes in South Africa. It examines productive pedagogies as a conceptual framework to underpin such a restructured programme. It then proposes that multiple representations can serve as a productive pedagogy of enactment in the science classroom because it engages the student with higher-order thinking skills, connects them with the world beyond the classroom in a supportive environment, and values difference by affording students multiple opportunities to develop a deep understanding of concepts. Some examples are given and the broader implications for classroom practice are discussed.


The demand for ultra supercritical (USC) power plants has increased due to the need for high thermal efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions. For turbine materials, high-cycle and lowcycle fatigue life at USC service temperatures are needed to verify material integrity due to the heat-up and cool-down process of power plant operation and due to turbine variations during operation. In this paper, fatigue characteristics for 9~12 Cr steels as candidate USC bucket materials were investigated. First, the fatigue life between DS2B2 and COST B2 steel were compared. COST B2 is the commercial steel with improved high temperature properties by adding boron, and DS2B2 is the new steel developed by Doosan by adding Co and adjusting Mo and W based on the same Mo equivalent value (%wt. Mo + 1/2 %wt. W). DS2B2 steel was found to have longer low cycle fatigue life than COST B2. Second, the effect of boron on fatigue life for bucket materials based on COST B2 steel was investigated. At room temperature, as boron content increased, low cycle fatigue life became superior, whereas, at 593oC the fatigue life was similar. For high cycle fatigue, as boron content increased, fatigue life increased due to the strengthening effect by the addition of boron.


As beta strategies play an increasingly important role in the design and implementation of investment portfolios, Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to gain traction within institutional fund management. This growth has been driven in recent years by an increased focus on cost, risk management, and the benefits of diversification. A series of recent surveys by Greenwich Associates reported that ETFs are now used by 18% of institutional funds, up from 14% in 2012. Greenwich also found that this usage was "significantly higher" among the largest and most innovative investors. For example, almost a quarter of corporate and public pension funds with more than $5 billion in assets under management used ETFs. Looking forward, the growth in institutional ETF investing is expected to continue with 50% of the surveyed U.S. institutions indicating they expect to increase allocations to ETFs this year. In this article, the authors review the latest trends in both tactical and strategic applications of ETFs in institutional managed portfolios.


Many cardiac interventional procedures (e.g., radiofrequency ablation) require fluoroscopy to navigate catheters in veins toward the heart. However, this image guidance method lacks depth information and increases the risks of radiation exposure for both patients and operators. To overcome these challenges, we developed a robotic visual servoing system that maintains visualization of segmented photoacoustic signals from a cardiac catheter tip. This system was tested in two in vivo cardiac catheterization procedures with ground truth position information provided by fluoroscopy and electromagnetic tracking. The 1D root mean square localization errors within the vein ranged 1.63 − 2.28 mm for the first experiment and 0.25 − 1.18 mm for the second experiment. The 3D root mean square localization error for the second experiment ranged 1.24 − 1.54 mm. The mean contrast of photoacoustic signals from the catheter tip ranged 29.8 − 48.8 dB when the catheter tip was visualized in the heart. Results indicate that robotic-photoacoustic imaging has promising potential as an alternative to fluoroscopic guidance. This alternative is advantageous because it provides depth information for cardiac interventions and enables enhanced visualization of the catheter tips within the beating heart.


Typescript.%%%%%%%%%%%%Microfiche.%%%%xix, 113 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm%%%%In this study, first the surface displacement of standing waves IS derived from the finite amplitude approximation when the wave elevation exceed a breakwater with a vertical wall. Some important phenomena related to wave motion are also studied. Second, a basic concept is explained to obtain a total amount of wave overtopping, considering the property of standing waves in front of the vertical wall. Third, computer experiments are carried out In order to estimate the surface displacement of waves and the total amount of wave overtopping. These calculations are compared with the results of laboratory experiments. A perturbation method representing a non-linear gravity water waves is applied to the vertical displacement of the water surface and the velocity potential to derive a standing wave equation at wave overtopping. The author gives consideration to the solution of Goda and Abe (1968), who dealt with the standing wave as a combination of incident wave, reflective wave and bound wave (secondary effect by two waves) and calculated the surface displacement for various wave conditions. In this study this method is expanded to predict the temporal and spatial free surface displacement, the reflection effect, and the effect to the incident wave height in front of the breakwater when the crest level of the breakwater is lowered below the maximum wave elevation and the wave overtopping takes place. In addition to the non-linear treatment of the standing wave, the wave crest and trough levels and the variation of mean water level are studied to ascertain the interaction of waves and structure in non-overtopping and overtopping conditions. A theoretical investigation is conducted to study the behavior of wave overtopping in the presence of a vertical wall. A hypothesis is proposed to calculate the quantity of overtopping water during an entire wave period. The hypothesis is based on the energy equation. The total amount of wave overtopping is calculated by integrating a function of the free surface elevations of perfect and partial standing waves at the vertical wall. Experiments were performed to verify the theories in a two-dimensional wave channel where a vertical breakwater model was placed. The surface displacement of partial standing waves was measured at several points between the breakwater and 150cm from the breakwater. The surface displacements, calculated using the finite amplitude method are shown to be in agreement with test data for which the crest levels of the breakwater were chosen 4cm, and 8cm above still water level, and above maximum wave elevations. The comparison of results of the numerical method of wave overtopping with data obtained from measurements by another investigator, shows a reasonable agreement despite the simple hypothesis that was assumed.


The nonlinear hydrodynamic stability of thin, compressible, Keplerian disks is studied on the large two-dimensional compressible scale, using a high-order-accuracy spectral method. We find that purely hydrodynamical perturbations can develop initially into either sheared disturbances or coherent vortices. However, the perturbations decay and do not evolve into a self-sustained turbulence. Temporarily, because of an inverse cascade of energy, which is characteristic of two-dimensional flows, energy is being transferred to the largest-scale mode before being dissipated. In the case of an inner reflecting boundary condition, it is found that the innermost disk is globally unstable to nonaxisymmetric modes which can evolve into turbulence. However, this turbulence cannot play a significant role in angular momentum transport in disks.


The charge recombination dynamics of excited donor-acceptor complexes in polar solvents has been investigated within the framework of the stochastic approach. The model involves the excited state formation by the pump pulse and accounts for the reorganization of a number of intramolecular high-frequency vibrational modes, for their relaxation as well as for the solvent reorganization following nonexponential relaxation. The hot transitions accelerate the charge recombination in the low exergonic region and suppress it in the region of moderate exothermicity. This straightens the dependence of the logarithm of the charge recombination rate constant on the free energy gap to the form that can be fitted to the experimental data. The free energy dependence of the charge recombination rate constant can be well fitted to the multichannel stochastic model if the donor-acceptor complexes are separated into a few groups with different values of the electronic coupling. The model provides correct description of the nonexponential charge recombination dynamics in excited donor-acceptor complexes, in particular, nearly exponential recombination in perylene-tetracyanoethylene complex in acetonitrile. It appears that majority of the initially excited donor-acceptor complexes recombines in a nonthermal (hot) stage when the nonequilibrium wave packet passes through a number of term crossings corresponding to transitions toward vibrational excited states of the electronic ground state in the area of the low and moderate exothermicity.


The proteome-wide characterization and analysis of protein ligand-binding sites and their interactions with ligands can provide pivotal information in understanding the structure, function and evolution of proteins and for designing safe and efficient therapeutics. The SMAP web service (SMAP-WS) meets this need through parallel computations designed for 3D ligand-binding site comparison and similarity searching on a structural proteome scale. SMAP-WS implements a shape descriptor (the Geometric Potential) that characterizes both local and global topological properties of the protein structure and which can be used to predict the likely ligand-binding pocket [Xie,L. and Bourne,P.E. (2007) A robust and efficient algorithm for the shape description of protein structures and its application in predicting ligand-binding sites. BMC bioinformatics, 8 (Suppl. 4.), S9.]. Subsequently a sequence order independent profile–profile alignment (SOIPPA) algorithm is used to detect and align similar pockets thereby finding protein functional and evolutionary relationships across fold space [Xie, L. and Bourne, P.E. (2008) Detecting evolutionary relationships across existing fold space, using sequence order-independent profile-profile alignments. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 105, 5441–5446]. An extreme value distribution model estimates the statistical significance of the match [Xie, L., Xie, L. and Bourne, P.E. (2009) A unified statistical model to support local sequence order independent similarity searching for ligand-binding sites and its application to genome-based drug discovery. Bioinformatics, 25, i305–i312.]. These algorithms have been extensively benchmarked and shown to outperform most existing algorithms. Moreover, several predictions resulting from SMAP-WS have been validated experimentally. Thus far SMAP-WS has been applied to predict drug side effects, and to repurpose existing drugs for new indications. SMAP-WS provides both a user-friendly web interface and programming API for scientists to address a wide range of compute intense questions in biology and drug discovery. AVAILABILITY SMAP-WS is available from the URL http://smap.nbcr.net.


The dramatic reduction of transmission loss in optical fibers coupled with equally important developments in the area of light sources and detectors has brought about a phenomenal growth of the fiber optic industry during the past two decades. The birth of optical fiber communication coincided with the fabrication of low-loss optical fibers and room-temperature operation of semiconductor lasers in 1970. Ever since, the scientific and technological progress in this field has been so phenomenal that we are already in the fifth generation of optical fiber communication systems within a brief span of 30 years. Recent developments in optical amplifiers and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) are taking us to a communication system with almost "zero" loss and "infinite" bandwidth. Indeed, optical fiber communication systems are fulfilling the increased demand on communication links, especially with the proliferation of the Internet. This module, Optical Waveguides and Fibers, is an introduction to the basics of fiber optics, discussing especially the characteristics of optical fibers as regards their application to telecommunication (to be covered in Module 1.8, Fiber Optic Telecommunication) and fiber optic sensors.


ABSTRACT This paper proposes a methodological framework that extends the advantages of behavioral targeting while preserving the privacy of the individual. Instead of profiling individual users according to their general interests, we profile website audiences according to their online purchase behavior. This presents a trade-off between looser, aggregate audience profiling and deeper understanding of actual purchase behavior, the holy grail of online advertising. Our framework is based on the analysis of raw clickstream data of Web users who explicitly agreed to participate in an online audience panel. We experiment with data collected by an online analytics company, SimilarWeb, which consists of 3,463,796 records of online purchases and 1.1 billion records of Website visits. We train a multilabeled classification model on the clickstream of panel members with distinctive online purchase profiles to predict the purchase potential of the entire panel. We aggregate the individual purchase behavior profiles (both ground-truth and predicted) into purchase behavior profiles of Web domain audiences and test the resulting methodology on 3,408 Web domains, with very promising results. If privacy-related regulation tightens up in the near future, the proposed panel-based, purchase-focused ad targeting mechanism might be the panacea for online advertisers.


Abstract Adolescence is a vulnerable period of individual development when decision-making is easily compromised, and criminal involvement reaches its peak. We draw on and extend novel decision-making perspectives and use the first two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 13,399) to analyze whether factors representing adverse physical conditions, negative mental states, and stressful social circumstances condition the effect of thoughtfully reflective decision-making (TRDM) on adolescent delinquent behavior. We find that experiencing various "hot triggers" such as sleep problems, depression, and straining conditions significantly reduces the crime-preventive impact of TRDM (an example of cool processing) among adolescents. We outline potential avenues for further theoretical development of integrated frameworks of decision-making and crime and discuss policy implications aimed at ways to deal with the adverse social, emotional, and physical triggers and foster thoughtful decision-making skills among adolescents.


Nowadays there is an increase of imported natural building stones, often used as replacement of local, more traditional building stones. The durability of these traditional stones is generally well known; however, when new imported materials are used, it is essential to study their behaviour under the current and local climatological conditions to predict their weathering resistance. In addition to water exposure, these building materials have to be resistant to significant mechanical stress created by the imbibition of de-icing salt solutions, frequently used during winter in Western Europe, with temperature periodically changing from freeze to thaw conditions. Porous network modifications related to the materials' chemical composition are very complex when different forces are acting on the stone itself. Therefore it is crucial to determine the internal structure of the building stone under changing external conditions with and without the presence of de-icing salts, to understand the influence of these additional salts. In this paper, particular attention was paid to the multi-characterization of compact Kandla Grey laminated sandstone, a building stone frequently imported from India to Belgium recently. Traditional as well as highly advanced research techniques were used for the characterization and monitoring of changes under different external conditions. This study demonstrates that the structural characteristics of the laminations have an effect on the frost resistance of the stone and its response to salt weathering. From the experiments carried out, it can be concluded that Kandla Grey can be sensitive to frost and salt weathering under the current climatic conditions in Western Europe.


Reasoning based on belief functions and cause-effect hierarchies are combined to create a methodology for enhanced evidential reasoning. A description of the methodology is given as well as examples of the utilization of a complete system. The method provides reasoning about belief among alternatives, is extensible, and can be easily scaled up to large problems. It is asserted that belief manipulation coupled with information about fault history, events, and symptoms is sufficient to secure good diagnostic results. >


The effect of moisture content and wood density on the preservative uptake (on the basis of the percentage of void volume filled (VVF%)) of Caucasian fir (Abies nordmanniana (Link.) Spach.) was studied in various levels of moisture content (MC). VVF% was measured in 11 MC regimes (7 of which were designed to be below the fibre saturation point (FSP)) consequtively nominated using a conventional kiln. All the samples were treated with CCA-tanalith C via a mild schedule of full-cell impregnation. A significant correspondence between MC and both wood density and VVF% was established and an attempt was thus made to correlate VVF% with porosity (the fractional void volume) at respective moisture contents. The significance of these changes was discussed in relation to the FSP, the activity of which was barely detectable. MC values above the FSP stimulate and decrease the retention of preservative in the wood voids, whereas MC values below the FSP influence the preservative uptake due to the effect of the voids available in wood. It was found that there were significant differences in VVF% between the regimes of MC above the FSP, whereas there was quite a different trend at MC values just below the FSP. In this range, there were no differences in VVF% (figures in parentheses) between the levels of MC at 10% (61.6) and 20% (60.3) but there was a significant difference between 22% (59.4) and 28% (56.7). These observations suggest that MC at 22% (close to 20%) could be highlighted as the exact value for Caucasian fir, and hence it may be best to preferentially kiln dry this species to a target moisture content of 22%.


We have characterized previously a class of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) ligand termed selective AHR modulators (SAhRMs). SAhRMs exhibit anti-inflammatory properties, including suppression of cytokine-mediated acute phase genes (e.g., Saa1), through dissociation of non–dioxin-response element (DRE) AHR activity from DRE-dependent xenobiotic gene expression. The partial AHR agonist α-naphthoflavone (αNF) mediates the suppressive, non-DRE dependent effects on SAA1 expression and partial DRE-mediated CYP1A1 induction. These observations suggest that αNF may be structurally modified to a derivative exhibiting only SAhRM activity. A screen of αNF derivatives identifies 3′,4′-dimethoxy-αNF (DiMNF) as a candidate SAhRM. Competitive ligand binding validates DiMNF as an AHR ligand, and DRE-dependent reporter assays with quantitative mRNA analysis of AHR target genes reveal minimal agonist activity associated with AHR binding. Consistent with loss of agonist activity, DiMNF fails to promote AHR binding to DRE probes as determined through electromobility shift assay. Importantly, mRNA analysis indicates that DiMNF retains the suppressive capacity of αNF regarding cytokine-mediated SAA1 expression in Huh7 cells. Interestingly, predictive docking modeling suggests that DiMNF adopts a unique orientation within the AHR ligand binding pocket relative to αNF and may facilitate the rational design of additional SAhRMs. Microarray studies with a non-DRE binding but otherwise functional AHR mutant identified complement factor C3 as a potential SAhRM target. We confirmed this observation in Huh7 cells using 10 μM DiMNF, which significantly repressed C3 mRNA and protein. These data expand the classes of AHR ligands exerting DRE-independent anti-inflammatory SAhRM activity, suggesting SAhRMs may have application in the amelioration of inflammatory disorders.


The paper addresses the potential benefits of using a field programmable gate array (FPGA) as opposed to a traditional processor for music synthesis. The benefits result from the use of a cellular design, with each cell performing identical operations on its own state and the states of its neighbours. This gives advantages of design simplicity through inherent parallelism. A cellular model which has previously been used for music synthesis is the mass spring paradigm, and this model is implemented on an FPGA. On a sequential processor, the clock speed requirements of this model increase as N2 (where N is the number of cells), whereas the clock speed requirement increases as N on an FPGA (if the cells can be made small enough that available area on the chip is not a constraint). To make the cells small enough, a bit-serial design was used. This work was performed to advocate the FPGA as a stand-alone live performance music synthesis platform, which has the potential to be reconfigured for example in performance, between synthesis techniques as different sound patches are selected. The paper considers in particular the mass-spring model, because it demonstrates the type of music synthesis technique for which FPGAs provide the greatest potential benefit. The capability to reconfigure combined with the high performance that can be achieved using cellular design suggests that the FPGA is an ideal platform for a live performance hardware music synthesiser, combining the flexibility of software with the speed of a custom ASIC.


Analyses and syntheses conducted before the urban planning process are significant. Accurate analysis and synthesis enable to determine proper site selection and the proper site selection is the basis of a sustainable urban plan. In this sense, fundamental analysis inputs of the proper site selection could be indicated as the related parameters of the earth sciences. The interpretation of these inputs require the essential analyses and syntheses of initially the geological and geotechnical research with geophysics, tectonic, topography, mineral and natural resources, hydrogeology, geomorphology and engineering geology. Synthesis maps composed of these inputs especially provide guides for natural thresholds consisting of landslide, flood, inundation, earthquake etc. for land use planning and site selection parts in the urban planning processes. In this regard, this chapter of the book contains the relation between the earth sciences parameters with the urban planning and the way these parameters lead the way of urban planning processes.


Five cases of a new disease presented with muscular weakness or cramping after exercise; three of the cases also had an elevated serum creatine phosphokinase. Muscle biopsies were histologically normal but lacked adenylate deaminase by stain and solution assay, while the erythrocyte isozyme was normal. A clinical diagnostic test has been developed, and the human enzyme was separated by acrylamide-gel electrophoresis.


In this study, we examine the relation between social network site (SNS) usage and the personal networks of immigrants, using a unique dataset composed of a representative sample of immigrants living in the Netherlands. In theory, SNSs can be a helpful tool for immigrants, because they may help establish social ties in the destination country and help maintain ties with people in the country of origin. We examine whether this is also true in practice by analyzing whether the frequency of using two SNSs—Facebook and Hyves (a Dutch SNS)—is associated with the number of ingroup and outgroup ties, as well as the quality of social relations. In addition, we test whether general emotional disclosure boosts the effect of SNS usage on the quality of relationships. We find that SNS usage is associated with more outgroup ties, but not with more ingroup ties. Our analyses also show that SNS usage is associated with greater quality social relationships among migrants. Contrary to our expectations, we found no interaction between general emotional disclosure and SNS usage on satisfaction with social relations. The implications of these findings are discussed.


Lattice thermal motion is of great importance because it has a significant effect on molecule activation on metal surfaces. Here, we present an in-depth quantum dynamics study of lattice thermal motion for methane dissociation on some static distorted Ni(111) surfaces based on an accurate, fourteen-dimensional potential energy surface fitted to ∼10(5)ab initio energy points. Our study reproduces the tendency that the sticking probability of ground state methane increases (decreases) as the lattice atom moves upward (downward), and thus represents the first validation of the applicability of the energy-shifting scheme to polyatomic molecular gas-surface reactions. Furthermore, we improve on the linear model proposed by Jackson's group and introduce a new model that is applicable to a broad range of surface temperatures.


This study describes a method to easily predict the write yield of a static random access memory (SRAM) memory cell. The differential coefficient of the combined word line margin (CWLM) for the threshold voltage ( V th ) is analysed using the simple Schockley's transistor model. The analysis shows the good linearity comes from keeping the access transistor operating in the saturation mode for a wide range of V th 's. The Monte Carlo simulation demonstrates that the CWLM obeys the normal distribution. The mean and the variance of the CWLM are almost constant for sample numbers ranging from 100 to 100'000. The estimated write failure probability are almost uniform within a factor of 1.7 for the number of samples more than 300, which allows us to evaluate SRAM with a small number of measurements. The predicted distribution using the differential coefficient calculated by the SPICE simulation also matches the Monte Carlo results. The estimated write failure probability agrees with the Monte Carlo results within a factor of 2.0, which is acceptable for SRAM redundancy circuit design. Finally, the write yield is related to the error rate. Thus, the write yield is easily predicted from a small number of measured samples or the differential coefficients of the CWLM on the V th 's calculated by the SPICE simulation.


Hans van Manen (Amsterdam, 1932) is one of the most danced choreographers alive. His repertoire is known for its condensed power, a quality defined by the German critic Horst Koegler as "nuclear dance" after the premiere of his masterpiece Adagio Hammerklavier in 1973. But even if his name is well known in the dance world, from a theoretical point of view his contribution to the dance panorama and evolution of dance poetics in the second half of the 20th century remains almost unexplored. In order to plug such a gap, my research aims to approach the oeuvre of the Dutch choreographer visually, that is, by analyzing the visual event that his ballets are and how the relationship between the viewer and that which is seen is set to happen in his works. This research project, today still in a preliminary phase, emerges from the Master's thesis "Hans van Manen: approaching his poetics", in which I linked Hans van Manen with the discourse around dance aesthetics in the aftermath of World War II in Europe and laid out a possible approach to his oeuvre based on different authors that have written about him so far. In my opinion, van Manen has built a strong, recognizable personal style and poetic point of view which revolves around two main leitmotifs: the recognition of human expression in the abstract form of dance and a certain erotic drive that can be defined in many ways. This article exposes them briefly, and presents the first ideas for further development as discussed with my tutor, Maaike Bleeker, professor of Theatre Studies at Utrecht University.


We have described a 38-year-old white American woman who had a 7-year history of pain in the left anterior chest, neck, right wrist, and buttocks. The pain fluctuated in severity and appeared to coincide with worsening of her skin condition, palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP). She manifested the typical skeletal features of an arthritic condition referred to as pustulotic arthro-osteitis, which is frequently associated with the characteristic rash of PPP. This is an infrequently described disorder in the United States, possibly reflecting lack of familiarity or confusion with related disorders.


Whether in high-tech, service, or traditional industries, the role of knowledge as a primary driver of development is being increasingly recognized. It is not clear, however, whether managerial approaches based on mindsets rooted in past practice are appropriate for, or capable of, fully realizing the potential value of knowledge within the firm and/or industry. At least three related issues stand in the way of full knowledge utilization: conceptualization and measurement of knowledge capital as a primary organizational asset, the integration of knowledge capital into the strategic management process, and the development of organizational forms and processes that facilitate the use and development of knowledge. While leading-edge firms are already wrestling with these issues, advances in theory and research are needed to help develop appropriate responses and provide frameworks that will help spread these new approaches. In doing so, advances may also be made that allow for the recognition of the central role of collaboration in the knowledge process.


We present a novel method for multi-view depth estimation from a single video, which is a critical task in various applications, such as perception, reconstruction and robot navigation. Although previous learning-based methods have demonstrated compelling results, most works estimate depth maps of individual video frames independently, without taking into consideration the strong geometric and temporal coherence among the frames. Moreover, current state-of-the-art (SOTA) models mostly adopt a fully 3D convolution network for cost regularization and therefore require high computational cost, thus limiting their deployment in real-world applications. Our method achieves temporally coherent depth estimation results by using a novel Epipolar Spatio-Temporal (EST) transformer to explicitly associate geometric and temporal correlation with multiple estimated depth maps. Furthermore, to reduce the computational cost, inspired by recent Mixture-of-Experts models, we design a compact hybrid network consisting of a 2D context-aware network and a 3D matching network which learn 2D context information and 3D disparity cues separately. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method achieves higher accuracy in depth estimation and significant speedup than the SOTA methods.


Diabetes is considered to have reached epidemic proportions worldwide. The most distressing complication of diabetes is foot ulcer and is the major cause of lower limb amputation. Hence, they require a prolonged hospital stay to combat more serious complications like gangrene and lower limb amputation. Early detection and prompt treatment help in alleviating the ulceration. Methods: The present study was conducted among 50 diabetes patients. Study subjects were selected using non probability purposive sampling technique. Pus samples were collected by using sterile swabs in a sterile manner from the ulcerated area. The wounds are washed vigorously with normal saline solution before collection of specimen. The specimens were transported immediately to the laboratory for culture. The clinical specimens were first screened microscopically by Gram's stain, and then cultured on blood agar (aerobically and an aerobically), MacConkey agar and Robertson cooked meat broth for 48 hours at 37°C in 5-10 percent CO2 and bacteria's were isolated. Results: The socio demographic profile of the present study reveals that males were predominant among the study population. Type II diabetes was more common, majority of study subjects are suffering from diabetes for more than 5 years and are treated with oral hypoglycemic drugs. The wound size was ≤ 2cms in majority of study subjects. The bacteriological profile of diabetic ulcer reveals that a majority of 23 (46%) had growth of Staphylococcus aureus and 19 (38%) had growth of klebsiella and a minimum of 6 (12%) and 2 (4%) had grown of Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus albus. Conclusion: Early detection of these bacterial pathogens helps to minimize the disease progress.


This book is the outcome of the CIMPA School on Statistical Methods and Applications in Insurance and Finance, held in Marrakech and Kelaat M'gouna (Morocco) in April 2013. It presents two lectures and seven refereed papers from the school, offering the reader important insights into key topics. The first of the lectures, by Frederic Viens, addresses risk management via hedging in discrete and continuous time, while the second, by Boualem Djehiche, reviews statistical estimation methods applied to life and disability insurance. The refereed papers offer diverse perspectives and extensive discussions on subjects including optimal control, financial modeling using stochastic differential equations, pricing and hedging of financial derivatives, and sensitivity analysis. Each chapter of the volume includes a comprehensive bibliography to promote further research


The oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic steel and non-ODS reduced-activation ferritic (RAF) steel were irradiated at 773 K by means of a dual-beam ion irradiation technique to a dose of 0.4 dpa with simultaneous helium implantation up to 1000 appm. Microstructural changes were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The RAF steel showed a preferential formation of cavities at grain boundaries, precipitate interfaces and dislocations. In contrast, the ODS ferritic steel showed a homogeneous and fine distribution of cavities in the matrix. This paper discusses the superior resistance of the ODS ferritic steel against development of cavities in terms of the effects of nano-oxide particles dispersed in the matrix.


BACKGROUND
Echocardiography is an established technique to estimate the risk for cardiovascular complications in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). An enlarged left atrium (LA) has recently emerged as a marker of adverse cardiovascular outcomes in various pathologic conditions. However, there have been few studies to evaluate its prognostic value in patients with ESRD, particularly those receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD).

METHODS
We conducted an observational cohort study to investigate whether enlarged LA can predict patient outcome in 216 patients with CAPD. Study outcomes were all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.

RESULTS
Increased left atrium volume index (LAVI > 32 mL/m(2)) was observed in 99 (45.8%) of the CAPD patients. During the follow-up (26.3 ± 18.6 months), 20 patients (9.3%) died. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that the 5-year survival rate was significantly lower in patients with LAVI > 32 mL/m(2) than those with LAVI ≤ 32 mL/m(2) (69 versus 82%, P = 0.024). In multivariate analyses adjusted for echocardiographic parameters and clinical and laboratory data, increased LAVI was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.10, P = 0.03] and cardiovascular mortality (HR 1.08, 95% CI 1.02-1.14, P = 0.006). Furthermore, increased LAVI provided the highest predictive value for all-cause mortality [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) = 0.766, P < 0.001] and cardiovascular mortality (AUC = 0.836, P < 0.001) among the measured echocardiographic parameters.

CONCLUSIONS
We showed that increased LAVI predicted adverse outcomes better than other echocardiographic parameters in patients with CAPD.


This article, a contribution to the thriving scholarship on the engagements between homeland media and diasporic audiences, breaks new ground through a comparative, political economy inspired analysis of two case studies with transnational implications. First we describe the theatrical distribution and exhibition of homeland fi lms towards/by their diasporas, focusing on Indian and Turkish fi lm structures in one location, the Belgian city of Antwerp. Interviews with 45 key players, participant observation and complementary archival research allow us to reconstruct how privately organised fi lm screenings were substituted by commercial initiatives. Further analysis exploring the relations between local exhibitors and transnational distributors evaluates these structures against the background of global media industries' developments in terms of power and transformations, such as increasing competition. IRIS VANDEVELDE


This article offers strategies for teaching about rationality, bureaucracy, and social change using George Ritzer's The McDonaldization of Society and its ideas about efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control. Student learning is facilitated using a series of strategies: making the familiar strange, explaining McDonaldization, self-investigation and discovery, and exploring and implementing alternatives. Through assignments, class exercises, and films, students contextualize modernity and its unintended negative consequences by viewing McDonaldization though the lenses of work and jobs. These strategies provide a framework to help students understand key concepts, critique McDonaldization, and formulate positive ways to cope with Weber's iron cage.


Immunotherapy has significantly changed the treatment landscape for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with the introduction of drugs targeting programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) and programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1). In particular, the addition of the anti-PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab to platinum-pemetrexed chemotherapy resulted in a significantly improved overall survival in patients with non-squamous NSCLC, regardless of PD-L1 expression. In this preclinical study, we investigated whether chemotherapy can modulate PD-L1 expression in non-squamous NSCLC cell lines, thus potentially affecting immunotherapy efficacy. Among different chemotherapeutic agents tested, only pemetrexed increased PD-L1 levels by activating both mTOR/P70S6K and STAT3 pathways. Moreover, it also induced the secretion of cytokines, such as IFN-γ and IL-2, by activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells PBMCs that further stimulated the expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells, as demonstrated in a co-culture system. The anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy enhanced T cell-mediated cytotoxicity of NSCLC cells treated with pemetrexed and expressing high levels of PD-L1 in comparison with untreated cells. These data may explain the positive results obtained with pemetrexed-based chemotherapy combined with pembrolizumab in PD-L1-negative NSCLC and can support pemetrexed as one of the preferable chemotherapy partners for immunochemotherapy combination regimens.


There is no doubt that spirituality has become a "hot" topic in the social and physical sciences. This increasing professional interest parallels the growing prevalence and salience of spirituality among the general public. Surveys reported in the popular news media indicate that nearly 80% of Americans believe in the power of prayer to improve the course of illness (Wallis, 1996). Health care workers also strongly believe in the power of spirituality and/or religiosity(1) to influence the course of medical and psychological interventions as well as the rate of recuperation from chronic illnesses (Feher & Maley, 1999; Kirkpatrick & McCullough, 1999; Rose, 1999). Perhaps the clearest demonstration of the value of spirituality in the area of rehabilitation concerns treatment for chemical dependency (e.g., Borman & Dixon, 1998; Green, Fullilove, & Fullilove, 1998; Warfield & Goldstein, 1996), where this construct is seen as the central curative factor in recovery. Despite such encouraging initial findings, not all the data are supportive (e.g., Fitchett, Rybarczyk, DeMarco, & Nicholas, 1999), and there are certainly many issues, both theoretical (e.g., George, Larson, Koenig, & McCullough, 2000) and empirical (e.g., Bateson, 1997), that still need to be addressed. At the heart of many of these issues is the need for psychometrically sound measures that can be useful in empirically documenting the unique contribution of spirituality in predictions of salient life outcomes. The purpose of this report is to present the Spiritual Transcendence scale and to demonstrate its potential value for rehabilitation research. Issues in the Measurement of Spirituality In response to this growing attention, there has been an explosion in the number of scales available to measure spirituality (see Hall, Tisdale, & Brokaw, 1994; MacDonald, Friedman, & Kuentzel, 1999; MacDonald, Kuentzel, & Friedman, 1999 for reviews of a variety of instruments). Such a cornucopia of constructs has raised two important issues for the field. First, there is the question of conceptual redundancy. To what degree do these various measures capture distinct aspects of the individual? To the extent that these different scales are simply the reiteration of a common construct, the field will suffer under the burdens of excessive terminology and conceptual disarray. Further, there are concerns about both the psychometric integrity of these scales and their lack of validity evidence (Gorsuch, 1988; Hall, Tisdale, & Brokaw, 1994). The second issue concerns whether these constructs represent new aspects of psychological functioning or whether they are just a repackaging of already established individual difference variables. Van Wicklin (1990) questioned whether spiritual measures were only the "religification" of existing personality constructs. What added value does spirituality bring to the discipline? These are important questions that address our field at a fundamental level. If spirituality is to become an important part of our field, then it needs to be demonstrated that a consideration of one's spirituality and religiosity opens a new arena of understanding previously untapped by traditional psychological methods. Such an empirical case can only be made once sound psychometric instruments become available. I have argued that this process can be expedited if researchers in the area of spiritual research employ the models, methods, and measures of mainstream psychology (Piedmont, 1999b). This integrative approach will accomplish two things. First, it will improve the quality of work done in the spiritual/religious domain. In his insightful critique, Bateson (1997) estimated that research in spirituality is approximately 30 years behind what is occurring in the field in general. Religious researchers lack many of the more sophisticated theoretical models and empirical techniques that define current research efforts. …


The widely used Oaxaca decomposition applies to linear models. Extending it to commonly used nonlinear models such as duration models is not straightforward. This paper shows that the original decomposition that uses a linear model can also be obtained by an application of the mean value theorem. By extension, this basis provides a means of obtaining a decomposition formula which applies to nonlinear models which are continuous functions. The detailed decomposition of the explained component is expressed in terms of what are usually referred to as marginal effects. Explicit formulae are provided for the decomposition of some nonlinear models commonly used in applied econometrics including binary choice, duration and Box-Cox models.


This paper presents a new semisupervised segmentation algorithm, suited to high-dimensional data, of which remotely sensed hyperspectral image data sets are an example. The algorithm implements two main steps: 1) semisupervised learning of the posterior class distributions followed by 2) segmentation, which infers an image of class labels from a posterior distribution built on the learned class distributions and on a Markov random field. The posterior class distributions are modeled using multinomial logistic regression, where the regressors are learned using both labeled and, through a graph-based technique, unlabeled samples. Such unlabeled samples are actively selected based on the entropy of the corresponding class label. The prior on the image of labels is a multilevel logistic model, which enforces segmentation results in which neighboring labels belong to the same class. The maximum a posteriori segmentation is computed by the α-expansion min-cut-based integer optimization algorithm. Our experimental results, conducted using synthetic and real hyperspectral image data sets collected by the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer system of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jet Propulsion Laboratory over the regions of Indian Pines, IN, and Salinas Valley, CA, reveal that the proposed approach can provide classification accuracies that are similar or higher than those achieved by other supervised methods for the considered scenes. Our results also indicate that the use of a spatial prior can greatly improve the final results with respect to a case in which only the learned class densities are considered, confirming the importance of jointly considering spatial and spectral information in hyperspectral image segmentation.


We present the R npregfast package via some applications involved with the study of living organisms. The package implements nonparametric estimation procedures in regression models with or without factor-by-curve interactions. The main feature of the package is its ability to perform inference regarding these models. Namely, the implementation of different procedures to test features of the estimated regression curves: on the one hand, the comparisons between curves which may vary across groups defined by levels of a categorical variable or factor; on the other hand, the comparisons of some critical points of the curve (e.g., maxima, minima or inflection points), studying for this purpose the derivatives of the curve.


This method allows the prediction of toxicity-related drug clinical trial failures, withdrawals from the market, and idiosyncratic toxicity risk by combining biological network analysis with machine learning. Recent trends in drug development have been marked by diminishing returns caused by the escalating costs and falling rates of new drug approval. Unacceptable drug toxicity is a substantial cause of drug failure during clinical trials and the leading cause of drug withdraws after release to the market. Computational methods capable of predicting these failures can reduce the waste of resources and time devoted to the investigation of compounds that ultimately fail. We propose an original machine learning method that leverages identity of drug targets and off-targets, functional impact score computed from Gene Ontology annotations, and biological network data to predict drug toxicity. We demonstrate that our method (TargeTox) can distinguish potentially idiosyncratically toxic drugs from safe drugs and is also suitable for speculative evaluation of different target sets to support the design of optimal low-toxicity combinations.


Since the late-1990s, advanced economies have converged on an 'active' social policy agenda aimed at maximising employment. Consequently, women are no longer treated as caregivers. Rather, they are required and assumed to be in employment. Although gender has moved from margins to the mainstream of comparative welfare state research in recent years, the agenda of 'gendering' the analysis of welfare states under activation remains incomplete. This three-paper thesis contributes to completing this agenda. Papers 1 and 2 assess activation strategies towards lone mothers who, as sole breadwinners and caregivers within their households, are a 'litmus test' of gendered social rights. Focusing on the UK, Paper 1 shows that, against the commonplace characterisation of the UK as a pioneer of 'making work pay', changes to the UK's tax-benefit system since 2010 have weakened lone mothers' financial incentives to work beyond a few hours a week. Paper 2 subsequently builds on Paper 1 in dimensional and geographical scope by examining how active labour market and family policies across 22 welfare states help or hinder lone mothers' employment. It shows that cross-national variations in support for maternal activation are not well captured by the commonplace dichotomy within the mainstream literature between a Nordic-style 'train-first' approach to activation and an Anglo-Saxon 'work-first' approach. Paper 3 then extends Papers 1 and 2 in conceptual terms. It argues that analysing women's social risks under activation requires looking not just at active labour market and family policies. Also important are gender boardroom quotas and other regulatory policies that set numerical targets for women in top corporate board and executive positions. This is because a 'critical mass' (23-40 per cent) of women in top management can generate important 'trickle-down' benefits, which can help to alleviate some of the 'new' social risks (e.g. work/care conflicts, in-work poverty) faced by women at the bottom of the labour market under activation.


Representation of three dimensional objects using a set of oriented point pair features has been shown to be effective for object recognition and pose estimation. Combined with an efficient voting scheme on a generalized Hough space, existing approaches achieve good recognition accuracy and fast operation. However, the performance of these approaches degrades when the objects are (self-)similar or exhibit degeneracies, such as large planar surfaces which are very common in both man made and natural shapes, or due to heavy object and background clutter. We propose a max-margin learning framework to identify discriminative features on the surface of three dimensional objects. Our algorithm selects and ranks features according to their importance for the specified task, which leads to improved accuracy and reduced computational cost. In addition, we analyze various grouping and optimization strategies to learn the discriminative pair features. We present extensive synthetic and real experiments demonstrating the improved results.


The focus of the following research was to (1) understand the chemistry involved in nitriding an organosilicate glass substrate prior to tantalum deposition, as well as the effect nitrogen incorporation plays on subsequent tantalum deposition and (2) the reduction of a native oxide, the removal of surface contaminants, and the etching of a HgCdTe surface utilizing atomic hydrogen. These studies were investigated utilizing XPS, TEM and AFM. XPS data show that bombardment of an OSG substrate with NH3 and Ar ions results in the removal of carbon species and the incorporation of nitrogen into the surface. Tantalum deposition onto a nitrided OSG surface results in the initial formation of tantalum nitride with continued deposition resulting in the formation of tantalum. This process is a direct method for forming a thin TaN/Ta bilayer for use in micro- and nanoelectronic devices. Exposure to atomic hydrogen is shown to increase the surface roughness of both air exposed and etched samples. XPS results indicate that atomic hydrogen reduces tellurium oxide observed on air exposed samples via first-order kinetics. The removal of surface contaminants is an important step prior to continued device fabrication for optimum device performance. It is shown here that atomic hydrogen effectively removes adsorbed chlorine from the HgCdTe surface.


This paper will critically explore elements of the psychoanalytic paradigm of developmental psychology in relation to the professional practice of working with teenage mothers in an educational setting. Particular focus will be given to the psychosexual and psychosocial staged theories of development. The framework for this critical analysis will examine each stage of psychosexual and psychosocial theory in relation to teenage motherhood. These perspectives have been specifically chosen due to the explicit links between staged childhood experience and adult behaviour in relation to sexual and social aspects of development, both aspects having fundamental links to teenage parenthood. Four case study examples are used to demonstrate how psychoanalytical theory may relate to this cohort. These are taken from my past professional work as a teenage parent programme lead. The examples are given to shed light on the impact of each psychosocial and psychosexual stage of development. This article concludes that whilst both the psychosocial and psychosexual models of development are useful in giving educators a perspective into behaviours that are displayed in adolescence, they are but one of many perspectives that should be taken into account when working with this cohort.


This paper reports the influence of the presence of a water canal on the cooling load calculation for an air-conditioned recreation centre in Macao, and investigates the condensation issue of lower floor ceiling caused by the relatively low temperature of canal water. Different canal surface water activities (water activity factor) cause different evaporation rates of canal water and result in the changes of cooling load. It is found that the design of the large indoor water canal leads to the increase of design cooling load of the upper floor of the centre, for example 304 kW (when water temperature is 20°C and surface activity factor equals 1, which is the function of evaporation rate), and condensation of the lower floor ceiling under canal occurs after an operation break of the air-conditioning system. To minimise the cooling load increase due to the presence of a water canal, the water activity of the canal should be lowered as much as possible, and several energy saving measures are recommended. Furthermore, to avoid the possible condensation phenomena and issue of water drop from the ceiling under the canal, the air humidity of the space under the water canal should be controlled strictly according to the design conditions. Practical application: Heat and mass transfer between the large water surface and the air-conditioned space results in the change of space cooling load in the spaces with large indoor water canal. The influences of the presence of the water canal, due to its evaporation and heat loss, on the cooling load estimation of the space should be investigated for accurately evaluating the cooling load and properly sizing the air conditioning systems in such types of buildings with large interior water facilities. As the evaporation rate changes due to the water activity level of the canal, the change of cooling load should be estimated considering the water activity levels. On the other hand, for the air-conditioned spaces under the canal, there is the arising issue of condensation due to the low temperature of the canal water. Condensation will occur when the external surface temperature of canal wall is lower than the dew point temperature of the nearby air. The process of the possible condensation issues of the lower floor has been analysed and recommendations are proposed according to the simulation results. This paper is useful in the design of air conditioning system for such types of complexes.


Selecting a good conference location within budget constraints to attract paper authors and participants is a very difficult job for the conference organizers. A conference location is also very important along with other issues such as ranking of the conference. Selecting a bad conference location may reduce the number of paper submissions and create bad impressions on the conference to the paper authors and conference participants. The conference location should be selected in such a way that it can attract authors to submit papers as well as others to participate/attend. In this paper we discuss how to select a good conference location within budget constraints that can attract many authors/participants considering participants' interests. We propose several methods to select the best location among the available possible locations within budget constraints based on the authors and participants interests on various features or attributes of the locations. Our problem also has interesting applications in information systems education as well. We perform evaluation of our proposed algorithms both on real and synthetic data.