Scholarship on the history of imperialism has tended to overly concentrate on Western imperial hegemony over non-Western societies. On the other hand forms of imperialism in societies elsewhere, particularly Africa, remain understudied. The frame of Western imperialism with its operational principles has generally been represented by non Western scholars as economically exploitative, culturally repressive, politically intrusive and disorienting. The rather limited literature on imperial systems in African political history has often been deconstructive of Western imperialism's disruptive propensities in its target societies. However, some referential frameworks employed in interpreting Western imperialism are also applicable to processes of empire building and maintenance in Africa. One of the most relevant of these conceptual frames, perhaps, is J.A. Hobson's idea that imperialism was invariably fashioned through the 'combination of economic and political forces' whose sources are traceable to selfish capitalist interests. Using and modifying the Hobsonian economic model of interpretation, this paper analyses an imperial conflict between the British, a Western imperial power, and Asante, an African imperial overlord, in the interior of Ghana during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It focuses on the ways in which the rivalry between the two imperial powers manifested as the two powers struggled over the control of Nkoransa, a state in northwestern Ghana, which was strategically situated to sway much of the tide of north-south commerce during the period. The paper argues that the pursuit of commercial domination in the area of modern Ghana was the key issue at the centre of all the imperial contestation between Asante and the British from 1874 to 1900 as represented by the struggle over Nkoransa.


Like it or not, the European Union, in the wake of Lisbon, has become an international actor. It now faces two major external challenges. The first is to develop a strategic vision for a potentially tumultuous emerging multi-polar world. The European Council's December 2008 'Report on the Implementation of the European Security Strategy' recognized that, over the last five years, the threats facing the EU had become 'increasingly complex', that 'we must be ready to shape events [by] becoming more strategic in our thinking'. The second challenge is to help nudge the other major actors towards a multilateral global grand bargain. Such a bargain will be the necessary outcome of the transition from a US-dominated post-1945 liberal world order, towards a new 21st-century order accommodating the rising powers and sensitive to the needs of the global south. Without such a comprehensive and co-operative bargain, the emerging multi-polar world will be rife with tensions and highly conflict-prone.


Muhammadiyah represent " movement missionize mungkar nahi ma'ruf amar" berpedoman to and alQur'an of alHadits owning charitable of usahaamal the effort as its mission medium.
[At] public and its it[him] society more tend to to cultural Islam teaching, that is Islam manual matching with their ancestors teachings, so that born him of Muhammadiyah in the year 1912 the felt to oppose against the understanding of which they believe its truth and they cannot accept Muhammadiyah off hand.
Based on background above, hence this research aim to to dig fact and data becoming old fellow expectation and motivation send to school its child [in] institute education of Muhammadiyah, especially [in] SD Muhammadiyah 03 district of Gresik. This Research use approach qualitative and data collecting [pass/through] interview and observation, its research subyek sedangakan [is]
concentration to old fellow and headmaster and also pertinent other school [party/ side]. While data analysis in this case writer use data discount, displayed [by] verification and data. and also withdrawal of conclusion.
Result of from research which have shown there are some factor which motivating old fellow send to school its childs [in] SD Muhammadiyah 03 District Of Gresik 1. SD Muhammadiyah 03 District of Gresik represent SD owning background institute education base on Islam so that Iesson of [his/its] religion plenty (of) and made account of 2. this SD Muhammadiyah have high social caring to situation of student old fellow which still requiring many aid, so that some effort [done/conducted] by school [party/ side] raise proposal to certain companys as well as [at] individual as donator remain to, to look for bursarys to which [is] very requiring [him/ it] 3. this SD Muhammadiyah [of] its strategic situation, so that besides old fellow can watch its childs [of] begitupun also the expense of school relative far easier and is cheap 4. SD Muhammadiyah 03 District have professional teacher and headmaster in its performance.
As for expectation of old fellow to its child which [in] sending to school [in] SD Muhammadiyah 1. Old fellow wish its childs which still sit [in] bench of SD have foundation and stock of spiritual sturdy, so that its expectation become one who believe bookish and do a good deed matching with the one which [in] explaining in and alQur'an of alHadits 2. wishing its childs have proud achievement and can be well reputed [of] old fellow also company of Muhammadiyah 3. wishing its childs become " conscience", that is [is] better the than its old fellow [of] goodness evaluated from storey;level of spiritual and also from better social stratification storey;level 4. wishing its childs become child which [is] and shalih of shalihah,
devoting to both old fellow and serve candidly to Allah of SWT to the death.


A procedure for providing real-time route guidance in congested vehicular traffic networks is described. The control procedure, implementable in a decentralized scheme, envisions a set of distributed local controllers in the network in which every controller can extract only limited information from detectors. The assignment logic is driven by informed local search procedures and heuristics. A simulation-assignment model was developed and used to assess the effectiveness and robustness of the procedure in dealing with normal as well as incident traffic conditions. A comparative study was undertaken to gauge the performance of the distributed control structure against a benchmark scenario of the time-dependent system-optimal logic in a centralized architecture. The assessment was conducted under various operational scenarios of different incident links, durations, and severity. The findings of the simulation-based experiments indicated that the distributed scheme is more robust than the centralized time-dependent scheme under incident conditions.


This article is an attempt to discuss the image of Alexander von Humboldt as a pure natural scientist with a humanist ethos, and to highlight that he was in fact one of the first thinkers who anticipated positions known today as political ecology. We outline that his universal knowledge obviously has contradictory perspectives, and was interpreted in several directions. On the one hand, there is the position taken by post-colonial critics that Humboldt showed Eurocentric and imperialist thinking during his travels to the Americas, as Pratt has advocated. On the other hand, and in explicit contrast to the post-colonial critique, Humboldt has been regarded by Sachs as a founding figure of American environmentalism and as "perhaps, the first ecological thinker." Furthermore, Wulf's biography titled The Invention of Nature tries to show that Humboldt wanted to bridge the gap between the emerging natural sciences and Romanticist aesthetics. However, based on his writings, we argue that his perception of nature has been misread and that his position was shaped by a view akin to open and critical political ecology, as opposed to pure nature constructivism without including local humans. We show this by focusing on his research methods that were open to local Indigenous ecological knowledge, his appraisal of Indigenous socio-cultural systems, his perception of nature as Indigenous cultural landscapes degraded by colonial and early capitalist market forces, his openness towards Indigenous ontologies of what we call nature, and finally his focus on local institutions for the sustainable governance of resources.


Background Poor maternal nutrition as indicated by chronic energy deficiency (CED) has been linked to a higher risk of dying due to pregnancy-related complications and is associated with negative birth outcome including intrauterine growth retardation that could lead to the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. Objectives Objective. This study aimed to identify the determinants of maternal under nutrition using data of the "2011 Updating Survey" conducted by FNRI-DOST. Methods The 11,531 mothers with children 0–5 years old were included as participants and were classified into pregnant mothers, lactating mothers and non-pregnant/non-lactating mothers (NP/NL). The anthropometric measurements were assessed using the appropriate anthropometric indices for each physiologic group. Bivariate analysis using chi-square and binary logistic regression were applied to identify the potential determinants of maternal undernutrition. Result The likelihood of undernutrition as indicated by CED among NPNL mothers increased with lower socioeconomic status (OR: 1.47; CI: 1.18–1.83), urban place of residence (OR: 1.25; CI: 1.04–1.49), younger age at first pregnancy (OR: 2.23; CI: 1.76–2.82), late timing of first prenatal visit (OR: 1.26; CI: 1.06–1.50), non-participation in prenatal services (OR: 1.31; CI: 1.09–1.56) and poor kitchen cleanliness (OR: 2.16; CI: 1.44–2.35). On the other hand, undernutrition among pregnant mothers is directly associated with 2 factors, the wealth status (OR: 2.19; CI: 1.27–3.79) and consumption of variety of fruits (OR: 0.26; CI: 0.08–0.82) while age was borderline odds. (OR: 0.45; CI: 0.18–1.07, p=0.07). Among lactating mothers, the likelihood of undernutrition increased with longer duration of breastfeeding (OR: 1.86; CI: 1.40–2.47) while wealth status (OR: 1.28; CI: 0.99–1.67, p=0.06), non- participation in postnatal services (OR: 1.27; CI: 0.98–1.66, p=0.07), non-consumption of calcium-rich foods (OR: 0.70; CI: 0.48–1.03, p=0.07) and non-usage of food cover (OR: 1.94; CI: 0.99–3.81, p=0.05) showed borderline odds. Conclusion Maternal undernutrition is determined by socio-economic, demographic, reproductive, health and dietary practices. Strategies aimed at improving maternal nutrition should prioritize (1) female adolescents, (2) schools and out-of-school youth programs, (3) gatekeepers in nutrition and health as part of support group team to ensure access to prenatal delivery and post-natal services.


A matrix formalism for grating and prism compressors is introduced. It is an extension of the standard ABCD matrix formalism for Gaussian optics, but includes the possibility of considering dispersive elements such as gratings and prisms. The full formation on the frequency-dependent phase shift is obtained to compute the time delay dispersion. The formalism simplifies the design of compressors with focusing optics. Information on beam divergence and astigmatism is also acquired. >


Abstract A three-dimensional reconstruction is provided of the composition, spatial distribution, and structure of a single-aged, Middle Pennsylvanian (Moscovian) peat-forming forest of a high-ash, planar (rheotrophic) mire, buried in situ by volcanic ash and preserved in the Lower Radnice Coal of the Radnice Basin (Czech Republic). The reconstruction is based on a detailed taxonomic and taphonomic analysis of fossils in a ∼0.5-m-thick tuff bed at the base of the Whetstone Horizon excavated over an area of 93.5 m2. In all, 24 whole-plant taxa of various growth forms were identified. This assemblage represents a lepidodendrid- and Cordaites borassifolius-dominated forest, with a well-developed understory of subarborescent lycopsids, tree ferns, medullosan pteridosperms, and calamites, as well as herbaceous ground cover. Lycopsids were dominated by Lepidodendron simile bearing Flemingites-type cones and L. lycopodioides; Lepidophloios cf. acerosus was subdominant. Lianas, mostly lyginopterid pteridosperms and some ferns, were usually found close to upright stems. The ground cover, mostly ferns and sphenophyllaleans, was taxonomically the most diverse stratum, although only a minor contributor to the peat. Based on samples from the coal roof, the palynological record is in agreement with the tuff bed assemblage except for the quantity of certain taxa. To reduce this bias, compression R-values were calculated from the percent cover of aerial plant parts in the excavation and in the dispersed palynoflora. These R-values suggest that in the palynological record, arborescent lycopsids and sphenophylls are greatly overrepresented, ferns and cordaites strongly underrepresented, and calamites are almost the same in both records.


What is a case study and what is it good for? In this article, we argue for a new approach—the comparative case study approach—that attends simultaneously to macro, meso, and micro dimensions of case-based research. The approach engages two logics of comparison: first, the more common compare and contrast; and second, a "tracing across" sites or scales. As we explicate our approach, we also contrast it to traditional case study research. We contend that new approaches are necessitated by conceptual shifts in the social sciences, specifically in relation to culture, context, space, place, and comparison itself. We propose that comparative case studies should attend to three axes: horizontal, vertical, and transversal comparison. We conclude by arguing that this revision has the potential to strengthen and enhance case study research in Comparative and International Education, clarifying the unique contributions of qualitative research.


This thesis analyses the social struggles that occurred between 2010 and 2014 during the crisis in Greece: labour struggles, the movement of the squares, demonstrations and riots, neighbourhood assemblies, solidarity projects and economies, local environmental struggles, and anti-fascist and migrants' struggles. It discusses their internal and external limits in the historical specificity of the contemporary crisis and class relation.

Drawing critically on Theorie Communiste's periodising schema, these struggles are framed, first, through a shift in the dynamic of the class relation effected by the crisis and the restructuring, which is a continuation of the first phase of 'neoliberal' restructuring in the 1990s. This shift intensified a central capitalist contradiction: while the capital relation imposes most violently the absolute dependence of subsistence on the wage, the wage relation fails to guarantee subsistence and integrates proletarians as surplus to capitalist reproduction. Second, the struggles are framed through the deep political crisis of state sovereignty and the relation between state and civil society, caused by the relentless imposition of the restructuring in conjunction with supranational institutions. These historical transformations are traced through the mutual constitution of international tendencies and the development of class struggle in Greece, against theories of dependency and underdevelopment. Ideological responses to the financial crisis and the logic of the restructuring are interrogated by employing theories of value, fetishism, and the state influenced by the German 'value-form' debate. Foucault-influenced conceptions of governmentality and sovereignty are also deployed to examine the restructuring's forms of imposition and the biopolitical crisis-management strategies of the state, which reinforced the racialised and gendered constitution of civil society.

The thesis argues that these two elements, the changing dynamic of the class relation and the crisis of the state and civil society, defined the struggles of this period, in which two core characteristics can be identified. First, labour struggles confronted the dilemma between the necessity and inadequacy of the wage through an ambivalence between their attachment to work and their estrangement from it. This ambivalence did not question the terms of the dilemma posed, which were only questioned fleetingly in riots that interrupted the normality of commodity exchange. Second, the deep political crisis provoked struggles defending democracy, with the disempowered 'Greek citizen' as their central subject, which constitutively excluded migrants. The splitting of these struggles between leftwing anti-imperialist and rightwing anti-immigration nationalism, and into a struggle between fascism and anti-fascism, were not able to challenge this constitutive exclusion, which was only questioned by migrants' own struggles. Nationalism and the drive to reinforce unsettled social hierarchies played into the governmental effort to contain the political crisis, through the state's biopolitical management of the migrant and marginal, racialised and gendered surplus populations produced in the crisis.


Biological nanopore technology has the advantages of high selectivity and high reproducibility for characterizing single biomolecules. However, it is challenging to achieve protein sequencing owing to the heterogeneous charge distributions of the protein and the small structural difference from each amino acid. Here, we took the inherent electrochemically confined sensing interface of the aerolysin nanopore to enhance its interaction with single amino acids. The results showed that single cysteine molecules, a highly reactive amino acid in aging and neurodegenerative diseases, could be captured and monitored by an aerolysin nanopore as it produced distinctive current blockages with a prolonged statistical duration of 0.11 ± 0.02 ms at +120 mV. This is the first report of the detection of a single amino acid molecule by a biological nanopore directly without any modification and labelling. This study facilitates the direct detection of single amino acids by regulating the characteristic interaction between the single amino acids and the designed sensing interface of aerolysin nanopores.


The development of acousto ultrasonics (AU)-based methods in the area of structural health monitoring (SHM) within the scientific community has been enormous within the last years. A variety of methods and procedures to monitor diverse structures have been investigated. Following fundamental studies, the examination of distinct influences on these methods led to a broadbased knowledge within the SHM community about AU-methods. Nevertheless the sector of industrial application of the developed methods is very small up to now. This paper presents a necessary step for bringing SHM into industrial application via classification and knowledge distribution. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/250


We study the formation and evolution of filamentary configurations of dark matter haloes in voids. Our investigation uses the high-resolution Lambda cold dark matter simulation CosmoGrid to look for void systems resembling the VGS_31 elongated system of three interacting galaxies that was recently discovered by the Void Galaxy Survey inside a large void in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxy redshift survey. H I data revealed these galaxies to be embedded in a common elongated envelope, possibly embedded in intravoid filament. In the CosmoGrid simulation we look for systems similar to VGS_31 in mass, size and environment. We find a total of eight such systems. For these systems, we study the distribution of neighbour haloes, the assembly and evolution of the main haloes and the dynamical evolution of the haloes, as well as the evolution of the large-scale structure in which the systems are embedded. The spatial distribution of the haloes follows that of the dark matter environment. We find that VGS_31-like systems have a large variation in formation time, having formed between 10 Gyr ago and the present epoch. However, the environments in which the systems are embedded evolved to resemble each other substantially. Each of the VGS_31-like systems is embedded in an intravoid wall, that no later than z = 0.5 became the only prominent feature in its environment. While part of the void walls retain a rather featureless character, we find that around half of them are marked by a pronounced and rapidly evolving substructure. Five haloes find themselves in a tenuous filament of a fewh-1 Mpc long inside the intravoid wall. Finally, we compare the results to observed data from VGS_31. Our study implies that the VGS_31 galaxies formed in the same (proto) filament, and did not meet just recently. The diversity amongst the simulated halo systems indicates that VGS_31 may not be typical for groups of galaxies in voids.


Abstract Background: Substance use and homelessness often overlap. Harm reduction is an evidence-based response to reducing harms of use rather than preventing use per se. While harm reduction is a key principle of Housing First, there has been limited research related to the implementation of harm reduction within programmes that aim to end homelessness. Methods: As part of a community-based research study, we conducted 29 qualitative interviews with staff and residents in two transitional programmes. We used interpretive description to analyze the data and generate practice relevant recommendations. Results: Being abstinent was not a criterion for programme eligibility but participants identified "getting and coming clean" as a programme goal. While harm reduction was official policy and safer use supplies were available, there was a zero tolerance policy for substance use onsite and sanctions for use. In the wake of a persistent culture of abstinence and conflicting policies related to substance use and harm reduction, staff turned a blind eye to substance use in an effort to prevent harms. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight tensions between abstinence and harm reduction policies and the problems associated with the implementation of harm reduction as waiving requirements for sobriety, distribution of clean supplies, and tolerating discrete use in an environment that restricts use as fulfilling harm reduction mandates. Partial or incomplete implementation of harm reduction and a failure to shift norms related to substance use and harm reduction may contribute to harms of overdose, intoxication and stigma as well as tensions between residents.


Polymer-clay thin films constructed via layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly, with a nanobrick wall structure (i.e., clay nanoplatelets as bricks surrounded by a polyelectrolyte mortar), are known to exhibit a high oxygen barrier. Further barrier improvement can be achieved by lowering the pH of the clay suspension in the polyethylenimine (PEI) and montmorillonite (MMT) system. In this case, the charge of the deposited PEI layer is increased in the clay suspension environment, which causes more clay to be deposited. At pH 4, MMT platelets deposit with near perfect ordering, observed with transmission electron microscopy, enabling a 5× improvement in the gas barrier for a 10 PEI/MMT bilayer thin film (85 nm) relative to the same film made with pH 10 MMT. This improved gas barrier approaches that achieved with much higher aspect ratio vermiculite clay. In essence, lower pH is generating a higher effective aspect ratio for MMT due to greater induced surface charge in the PEI layers, which causes heavier clay deposition. These flexible, transparent nanocoatings have a wide range of possible applications, from food and electronics packaging to pressurized bladders.


Melanesia is one of the most biologically and culturally diverse regions on earth, yet its species and ecosystems are fundamentally threatened by rapidly growing and modernising populations that drive increased demands for natural resource extraction. Despite good intentions, many conservation projects in Melanesia have not succeeded, largely due to a failure on the part of researchers and practitioners to understand underlying differences between western and indigenous worldviews and issues surrounding land and marine tenure arrangements. Learning from these failures is critical in order to improve odds for future project effectiveness and sustainability. Here I present lessons from attempts across Melanesia at establishing protected areas, conservation agreements, ecotourism initiatives and research-action arenas. These showcase challenges and conflicts when worldviews collide and opportunities that arise when mutual expectations are clarified early on during planning processes. Factors that contribute to more successful outcomes include: respecting international protocols for free, prior and informed consent; co-creating research and management agendas with local communities; clearly articulating realistic expected benefits; and establishing locally perceived equitable and transparent benefits sharing mechanisms.


The Arctic regions are inhabited by diverse populations, both indigenous and non-indigenous. Health Transitions in Arctic Populations describes and explains changing health patterns in these areas, how particular patterns came about, and what can be done to improve the health of Arctic peoples. This study correlates changes in health status with major environmental, social, economic, and political changes in the Arctic. T. Kue Young and Peter Bjerregaard seek commonalities in the experiences of different peoples while recognizing their considerable diversity. They focus on five Arctic regions ? Greenland, Northern Canada, Alaska, Arctic Russia, and Northern Fennoscandia, offering a general overview of the geography, history, economy, population characteristics, health status, and health services of each. The discussion moves on to specific indigenous populations (Inuit, Dene, and Sami), major health determinants and outcomes, and, finally, an integrative examination of what can be done to improve the health of circumpolar peoples. Health Transitions in Arctic Populations offers both an examination of key health issues in the north and a vision for the future of Arctic inhabitants.


The forms of decentralization, focusing on the main features and differences of these forms, are analyzed in this article. It is shown that each type of decentralization - political, administrative, fiscal, and market - has different characteristics, policy implications, and conditions for success. There are defined the main goals of decentralization reforms and identified the tools for theirs achievement. Decentralization is considered as a sine qua non not only in the development of local self-government, but with regard to civil society as a whole and the greatest factor of social change. Decentralization can address poverty, gender inequality, environmental concerns, and the improvement of healthcare, education and access to technology. Moreover, decentralization does not only affect government and civil service, but is conditional on the involvement of community organizations, stakeholders in the private sector, international aid organizations and citizens. The measurements of decentralization are analyzed too. Since, the standard measures fail to take into account the different degrees of decentralization and the true decision-making authority of sub-national institutions over revenues and expenditures, there are focusing on the search for more impartial and integrated evaluation indicators.


since been replaced by the simpler trypsine-Giemsa technic. ' One workshop was concerned with the efforts to establish (nationwide) registries of chromosome disturbances. Difficulties involved in such an endeavor were critically discussed (F. 'Hecht). Another workshop (H. Lubs) collected data on routine karyotyping and nuclear sexing in newborn populations. Karyotype abnormallties were found in 3.5 to 6.5 per 1,000 live births. It is noteworthy that the incidence of mongolism was 0.8 per 1,000, i.e., roughly I in 1,200 and not, as commonly assumed, 1 in 600 live births. In four neonatal surveys (workshop on XYY males) 17 XYY individuals were identified among 11,000 males (I in 650). Follow-ups after a few months to three years did not reveal any specific or consistent phenotypic abnormalities. Most (If the children did not show any physical abnormal. ity at all. This is of importance with respect to eugenic counseling when prenatal chromosomal analysis yields an XYY karyotype in the fetus. A final workshop (Margery Shaw) reviews what the computer can do for the cytogeneticist. Applicability for the routine cytogenetic laboratory has not yet been reached, since karyotype errors are made by the computer with approximately one· fourth of the cells.-HANS ZELLWEGER, M.D., Iowa City, Ia.


Abstract The microstructure evolution in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of 1005 low carbon steel during gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) was quantitatively investigated using a combination of several numerical models. In particular, the α ferrite→γ austenite phase transformation during heating was studied using a Johnson–Mehl–Avrami (JMA) analysis, the γ grain growth was calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation, and the γ→α transformation during cooling was examined using an austenite decomposition model. In addition, the phase equilibria of the 1005 steel were calculated using computational thermodynamics software, Thermo-Calc, while the necessary temperature v. time data for all the microstructure models were obtained from a thermofluid model. These models were then used to calculate the extent of austenitisation with time during heating, the γ grain growth, and the volume fractions of various microconstituents of the final microstructure in the HAZ. It was found that a considerable amount of superheat was required for the initiation and completion of the α→γ transformation under the heating rates typical of arc welding. Significant γ grain growth was found to take place in the HAZ, particularly in the vicinity of the fusion zone (FZ) boundary, where the computed maximum γ grain size was about eight times greater than that of the base metal. The predicted final microstructure in the HAZ was predominantly allotriomorphic and Widmanstatten ferrites, which was consistent with the post-weld metallographic measurements. Overall, the computed microstructure evolution in the HAZ using the multiphenomena models was consistent with the available experimental data. The results reported here indicate that it is now possible to develop a quantitative model of complex weld microstructure evolution with the recent advances in transport phenomena and phase transformation models.


The Fault Tolerant Systems Group (GSTF) of the Technical University of Valencia has developed the DICOS (Distributed Industrial COntrol System) system. The architecture of DICOS nodes and the error detection mechanisms used are presented. These mechanisms are based on the built-in capabilities of the microcontroller used, control flow checking with the aid of a second microcontroller and double execution of tasks. In order to validate the error detection mechanisms, a software fault injector (SOFI-SOftware Fault Injector) has been developed to obtain the error coverage and latency times. In this paper SOFI is presented, showing its primary features and results of different fault injection campaigns.


We prove an a posteriori error estimate for an inverse acoustic scattering problem, where the objective is to reconstruct an unknown wave speed coefficient inside a body from measured wave reflection data in time on parts of the surface of the body. The inverse problem is formulated as a problem of finding a zero of a Jacobian of a Lagrangian. The a posterori error estimate couples residuals of the computed solution to weights the reconstruction reflecting the sensitivity of the reconstruction obtained by solving an associated linaerized problem for the Hessian of the Lagrangian. We show concrete examples of reconstrution including a posteriori error estimation.


This document presents a performance comparison between the per-
domain path computation method and the Path Computation Element (PCE)
Architecture based Backward Recursive Path Computation (BRPC)
procedure. Metrics to capture the significant performance aspects are
identified and detailed simulations are carried out on realistic
scenarios. A performance analysis for each of the path computation
methods is then undertaken.


At Fraunhofer IPT we are realizing industry 4.0 through the adaptive digitalization and networking of machines, parts, personnel and other entities in the working environment, in order that information and instruction will be available everywhere and all the time in the production process. With analysis of big production data including machine states and product information gathered in the manufacturing, a predictive production process will be possible, which leads to the reduction of raw materials and scrap parts and to shorten the makespan. In addition, smart devices will play a very important role to help people being integrated in the future manufacturing environment. In this paper, we present our current development progress within the from the German Research Foundation DFG supported Cluster of Excellence "Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries". Firstly, an overall introduction to our current research in industry 4.0 research is given. After that we propose a conception of implementing digitalization and connection, which presents the effort to enhance both the ability of workers and human-machine-interaction in future production environment. Furthermore, we discuss the application areas of wearable computer technology and identify research topics for smart glasses. With a demonstrator developed in this scope for visual inspection of working parts we present the agile and flexible retrievability of information and interactivity of smart glasses in the future working environment. A further work area in our scope of Industry 4.0 development is the tracing & tracking of participating entities, i.e. the Internet-of-Things (IoT). We are now working on a Bluetooth-based agile low-cost Indoor Positioning System, which will also be proposed in this paper.


The authors describe why and how different types of simulations can be used to understand and support the challenges of utility deregulation. They present an overview of liberalization and deregulation efforts in three utility markets—electricity, natural gas, and drinking water—and describe the main challenges and opportunities for regulators and business managers. A general classification of seven different types of simulation is presented, including market simulations, policy simulations, dynamic business simulations, capability simulations, day-in-a-life simulations, performance simulations, and gaming simulations. The authors reflect on the role of these simulations for utility deregulation and give examples.


The matter in an accretion disk must lose angular momentum when moving radially inwards but how this works has long been a mystery. By calculating the trajectories of individual colliding neutrals, ions, and electrons in a weakly ionized 2D plasma containing gravitational and magnetic fields, we numerically simulate accretion disk dynamics at the particle level. As predicted by Lagrangian mechanics, the fundamental conserved global quantity is the total canonical angular momentum, not the ordinary angular momentum. When the Kepler angular velocity and the magnetic field have opposite polarity, collisions between neutrals and charged particles cause: (i) ions to move radially inwards, (ii) electrons to move radially outwards, (iii) neutrals to lose ordinary angular momentum, and (iv) charged particles to gain canonical angular momentum. Neutrals thus spiral inward due to their decrease of ordinary angular momentum while the accumulation of ions at small radius and accumulation of electrons at large radius produces a radially outward electric field. In 3D, this radial electric field would drive an out-of-plane poloidal current that produces the magnetic forces that drive bidirectional astrophysical jets. Because this neutral angular momentum loss depends only on neutrals colliding with charged particles, it should be ubiquitous. Quantitative scaling of the model using plausible disk density, temperature, and magnetic field strength gives an accretion rate of 3 × 10−8 solar mass per year, which is in good agreement with observed accretion rates.


Study Design. A retrospective review. Objective. This study aimed to determine the factors associated with malpractice litigation in cases involving spine surgery in the United States. Summary of Background Data. Medical malpractice is of substantial interest to the medical community due to concerns of increased health care costs and medical decision-making for the sole purpose of reducing legal liability. Methods. The Westlaw online legal database (Thomson Reuters, New York, NY) was searched for verdict and settlement reports pertaining to spine surgery from 2010 to 2015. Data were collected regarding type of procedure, patient age and gender, defendant specialty, outcome, award, alleged cause of malpractice, and factors involved in the plaintiff's decision to file. Initial search queried 187 cases, after which exclusion criteria were applied to eliminate duplicates and cases unrelated to spine surgery, yielding a total of 98 cases for analysis. Results. The verdict was in favor of the defendant in 62 cases (63.3%). Neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons were the most common defendants in 29 (17.3%) and 40 (23.8%) of the cases, respectively. A perceived lack of informed consent was noted as a factor in 24 (24.4%) of the cases. A failure to diagnose or a failure to treat was noted in 31 (31.6%) and 32 (32.7%) cases, respectively. Median payments for plaintiff verdicts were nearly double those of settlements ($2,525,000 vs. $1,300,000). A greater incidence of plaintiff verdicts was noted in cases in which a failure to treat (P < 0.05) was cited, a patient death occurred (P < 0.05), or an emergent surgery had been performed (P < 0.01). Conclusion. Overall, physicians were not found liable in the majority of spine surgery malpractice cases queried. Level of Evidence: 4


"New Beginnings" covers Irish constitutional development from Home Rule to the Good Friday Agreement, focusing on turning points where radical constitutional change was discussed, attempted, or implemented. It asks what Irish constitution-makers were trying to do in drafting constitutional documents, or significantly amending existing constitutions. It deals with the 1919, 1922, and 1937 constitutions, debates over the 1937 constitution since 1969, and the 1998 Belfast peace agreement. Taking the relationship between constitutionalism and democracy as its key issue, it asks why Irish politicians have seen constitutions as ways of making democracy more manageable, rather than of furthering democracy. It is intended for students of politics and constitutional law, as well as the general reader, and written in an accessible style that assumes no prior knowledge of Irish constitutional history or law.


Limited attention has been paid so far to the impacts of war on proximate determinants of fertility, including childbearing preferences. This study explores the relationship between exposure to local conflict violence and fertility desires in Colombia. I combined nationally representative micro-level data from the Demographic and Health Surveys on the timing, frequency and decisiveness of reproductive preferences, with geospatial information about local violence from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program from 2000 to 2016. The results show a remarkable stability in women's childbearing desires in relation to conflict during the observation period, robust to multiple re-specifications of the study sample, statistical model and conflict measurements. The study indicates that previously reported increases to fertility behavior cannot be explained by altered preferences, suggesting a surge in unwanted pregnancies. This highlights the need for policy programs to support women in realizing their fertility preferences, whatever they may be.


. Central Bank is one of the most important institutions of a country because its responsibility is to draw and implement the monetary policy. The central bank, in order to accomplish this responsibility, has to have a clearly defined main objective, the instruments that will use to achieve the objective, and it should be able to make precise or very good forecasts of macroeconomic variables. In order to make these forecasts, the central bank should first of all understand every monetary transmission mechanism and determine the most effective one. The success or non-success of monetary policy, living apart the other factors, depends on the monetary regime implemented in the country. In the last years, a lot of countries have implemented the inflation targeting regime. One of the conditions of the implementation of the inflation targeting regime is that the central bank should be able to make precise forecasts. For this reason, the structural macroeconomic models, in these days, have became very used because the central banks have used these models as a basis for the policy decision-making based in forecasts. The main goal of these models is to provide a more structured input for the monetary policy decision making, helping to create a full 'history' and helping to explain the consequences of different external shocks and different policy rules.Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model is one of the most used forecasting models in the countries that have implemented the inflation targeting regime. Albania is one of the countries that want to formally implement the inflation targeting regime and give up the monetary targeting regime. Now for now Bank of Albania is using the MEAM model as a macroeconomic model of forecasting. In we look at the experience of the other countries that have implemented the inflation targeting regime and the recommendations of the foreign experts, we can conclude that Bank of Albania should work and should evaluate a DSGE model. This is the main reason why this paper is focused on the theoretical analysis of the DSGE model. In the paper will be presented arguments that explain why this is a good forecasting model for Albania. The arguments will be given based on the analysis of the characteristics of this type of model. Also in this paper we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this type of model. This analysis will help us strengthen the arguments about the necessity of use of this model from Bank of Albania.


This article uses data from the second wave of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (or HILDA) Survey to provide an overview of the structure and distribution of household wealth in Australia. The data confirm that wealth is very unequally distributed, with the bottom half of the distribution owning less than 10 per cent of total household net worth, while the wealthiest 10 per cent account for 45 per cent. The article also includes an analysis of the factors associated with household wealth that indicates that wealth is significantly related to a range of factors including age, country of birth, parental occupational status, education, marital status, working hours, income, self-reported savings behaviour, a willingness to take risks and even various lifestyle behaviours, such as smoking and alcohol consumption.


The Internet has evolved from a network of computers to a global social phenomenon. Once a medium that offered access only to a few, the smartphone and mobile network revolution has thrown it open to a much wider and more varied audience. In the process it is transforming itself from a place where people exchange information to a place where people conduct business as well. The convenience provided by online business transactions – e-commerce – is the reason why more and more users are turning to the Internet for their buying and selling. This is not only changing the face of retailing and rewriting the rules of the game but also throwing up new challenges to the legal, policy-making and taxation fraternity at a pace that they are ill-equipped to deal with. This paper presents some of the major conceptual characteristics of e-commerce and the legal and taxation challenges that arise therefrom. It then suggests the approach that could be adopted for tackling these legal and taxation issues.


The revised second edition of this popular one-stop resource covers the basics of digital licensing for librarians in a plain-language approach that demystifies the process. Written from the librarian perspective, this second edition updates licensing terminology and changes in technology, covers opportunities for cost savings, includes further information on the global aspects of licensing, and explains how to educate organizations that have signed license agreements. Librarians play a unique role in license agreements and this book, which also includes a comprehensive checklist for a digital license, gives library professionals and students the tools needed to negotiate and organize license agreements.


"Drug Interaction Facts[trademark]" provides health professionals with a fast and accurate interaction screening tool, with over 12,000 monographs. In just seconds, potential interactions can be reviewed by class, generic drug, or trade name. Comprehensive information on drug/drug or drug/food interactions is provided in a unique and logical quick-reference format to enhance the speed and accuracy of therapeutic decision making. "Drug Interaction Facts[trademark]" provides information on the onset, severity, and documentation of clinically significant interactions, including a review of their effects, mechanism, and management. Readers will also find discussion and assessment of the data used to document the interaction.


Abstract In situ spacer layer interferometry has been used to monitor and compare the formation of both tribo- and thermal zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZDDP) films on steel surfaces. For the ZDDP solution studied, negligible thermal film formation takes place below a temperature of 110°C, but a ZDDP tribofilm is generated on rubbed surfaces even at room temperature. The ZDDP tribofilm formation is critically dependent on the extent of direct solid solid contact during rubbing and does not take place if the elastohydrodynamic film thickness is significantly greater than the surface roughness. Tests at different slide-roll ratios indicate that the rate of ZDDP tribofilm formation is proportional to the product of sliding distance and rubbing time. Based on the results, it is not possible to explain ZDDP tribofilm formation in terms of a response to contact pressure or flash temperature. It is likely that the tribofilm reaction is either strongly catalysed by species released during rubbing, such as soluble FeII or FeIII, or is triggered by triboelectronic processes such as exoelectron emission.


Precipitation of hydroxides and carbonates from solutions containing complex compounds is a valuable industrial process enabling one to synthesize electrode materials with high density particles of microspherical morphology and high tap density. As a complex formation agent, ammonia is almost exclusively used in this process. Aiming at the search of other complex formation agents and the detailed studies of complex formation at precipitation, we have first investigated the hydrolysis of solutions containing citric acid. Equilibria in solutions containing citrate complexes of manganese and carbonates are computed. It is found that in Mn(NO3)2 - хC6H8O7∙H2O - уNa2CO3 systems, a neutral Mn(HCitr) complex dominates up to pH=9.5 and precipitation of MnCO3 from carbonate containing solutions begins at рН~6.5. Experiments show that MnCO3 precipitates from these systems in the form of openwork quasi-spherical aggregates formed by nanosized crystals. The synthesis of LiMn2O4 from this precursor does not influence the morphology of the material, and the resulting product consists of aggregates of less than 4 mkm and nanocrystals of ~90 nm. Electrochemical tests evidence that for the best samples, the specific capacity of 103 mAh/g can be achieved at 1 C current. At 20 C current, they deliver ~25 mAh/g capacity. After high-rate tests, in control cycles with 1 C current, the samples demonstrate high capacity retention, returning up to 98% of their initial capacity. This signifies their good prospects for using in high-rate batteries.


Textural studies of carbonate minerals over the past three decades revealed that their textures are useful tool for understanding of petrogenesis of carbonatites. Petrographic, cathodoluminescence (CL) and electron-microprobe studies on textures of calcite and dolomite were performed for interpretation of evolution of Eppawala carbonatites in Sri Lanka. The studied carbonatites are dominated by calcite with subordinate dolomite. Calcites occur in two different morphological forms, reflecting two generations: as grains with dolomite inclusions (type-1) and dolomite-free (type-2) ones. Dolomites were subdivided into five distinct morphological types: randomly distributed, coarse-grained dolomite (type-1), rod-shaped or vermicular dolomite microcrysts within the type-1 calcite (type-2), inclusions of dolomite within the type 1 calcite forming plugor wedge-shaped arrangements (type-3), dolomite microcrysts along the grain boundaries of the type 1 calcite (type-4) and clusters of dolomite crosscutting the type 1 calcite (type-5). The geochemical results indicate that these five morphological types accounts for three different generations of dolomites. Type-1 dolomite and type-1 calcite are interpreted as primary magmatic. Type-2 and type-3 represent exsolved dolomite formed by exsolution from type-1 calcite. Type-4 and type-5 dolomites are recrystallized and reorganized dolomites of exsolved type-2 and type-3 dolomites. Type-2 calcite reflects later recrystallization event. The composition of type-1 calcite indicates minimum temperatures of exsolution of c. 650 °C. The exsolution and recrystallization kinetics reflected the equilibration of carbonatite magma at two crustal depths during the petrogenesis of Eppawala carbonatite. The re-localization may have been related to the deformations experienced by the country rocks.


A 2-D smart flow sensor with self-testing function was designed, fabricated and tested in this paper. It is composed of cross-structure heaters and four symmetrically located sensing parts. When the flow angle changes in the clockwise direction, the temperature differences among the four parts, namely Mode 1 given by T13(T24) and Model 2 given by T12(T14) will be Sine(Cosine) functions of wind direction. Further study shows that the magnitude of mode 1 is 1.414 times that of Mode 2, and the phase of Mode 2 leads Mode 1 by 45°. By using the fixed phase gap between the two modes, the self-test function can be realized without additional components. In order to achieve a high sensitivity and robust sensor, thermal insulated substrate was introduced to fabricate calorimetric flow sensor instead of silicon wafers. The proposed sensor was fabricated on the Pyrex7740 substrate using single liftoff process. Finally, a wind tunnel test was carried out in constant power (CP) mode, and the test results show reasonable agreement with the simulation curves.


Nano-Al13 clusters have the potential to form and remain in a coagulation process, but cannot be directly traced by traditional instrumental techniques in real time since there is only a trace concentration after being dosed. In this study, an optimized electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) method was introduced for the first time to determine the coagulation pathways when using AlCl3 (monomeric Al, i.e., Alm) and polymeric aluminum chloride (PACl) as coagulants. The transformation mechanisms of Al clusters, including Alm, oligomeric Al (Alo), Al13 and transient Al (Alts), were clearly elucidated using statistical analysis and a real-time tracking experiment. The nano-Al13 clusters could be detected in the coagulation batch experiment conducted using AlCl3 as the coagulant. Moreover, using a statistical method, the Al13 clusters in the PACl coagulant and the Al13 clusters formed by AlCl3 coagulation were confirmed to be an efficient coagulant species. In the real-time tracking experiments, the reversible transformations among Alm, Alo, Al13 and Alts clusters were instantly observed after the addition of the coagulant (i.e., during the coagulation process). In the subsequent process (i.e., the flocculation process), only floc aggregation occurred, and no obvious transformations among the four types of Al clusters were observed. The continuous aggregation and increase in floc were mainly attributed to particle coalescence with the Al clusters. The mineral–water interface was inferred to favor the transformation of Alm and Alo aggregates into Al13 as well as the reverse reaction (e.g., the degradation of Al13).


The article considers the issues related to the activation of the stimulus in students of educational institutions as an integral part of motivation in pedagogy, which is one of the priorities of higher education, in turn, the correct and timely application of motivational factors allows for qualitative analysis. , on the activation of cognitive interest in the training of specialists. The purpose of the article is to study and evaluate the features of the implementation of student incentives in the educational process. To achieve this goal, the analysis of the known literature on the definition and application of motivation in the educational process. The definition of stimulus and stimulation process as a factor of psychological motivation is considered and analyzed. In the article on the basis of the analysis of the literature it is possible to come to a conclusion that neither in understanding of essence of stimulus, its role in regulation of behavior, nor in understanding of a parity between stimulation and stimulus does not have.


The Future Internet is expected to greatly influence how the food and agriculture sector is currently operating. In this paper, we present the specific characteristics of the agri-food sector focusing on how information management in this area will take place under a highly heterogeneous group of actors and services, based on the EU SmartAgriFood project. We also discuss how a new dynamic marketplace will be realized based on the adoption of a number of specialized software modules, called "Generic Enablers" that are currently developed in the context of the EU FI-WARE project. Thus, the paper presents the overall vision for data integration along the supply chain as well as the development and federation of Future Internet services that are expected to revolutionize the agriculture sector. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of HAICTA.


Behavioral responses of captive animals to the presence of visitors in zoos and wildlife parks can be interpreted as signs of negative (disturbance), neutral or positive (enrichment) welfare. In the present study, we investigated behavioral responses of captive common ravens, Corvus corax and crows, Corvus corone, to the presence of visitors in general and to the proximity or distance of visitors to the aviary respectively. Duration of affiliative behaviors, feeding and stress-related behaviors did not change when visitors were present compared to control situations without visitors being present. Both corvid species showed less head up behavior when visitors were in sight compared to the control condition. In contrast, preening of crows significantly increased when visitors were within two meters of the aviary compared to the control condition. The same relationship was found in regard to increase in vocalization for common ravens, but not for crows. Our results indicate that corvids, housed in a wildlife park for several years, still show behavioral responses to the presence of human visitors in close proximity to their enclosure. Overall, we did not find clear indications for reduced welfare due to visitor presence, such as increased locomotion or stress-related behaviors. We therefore conclude that the described behavioral changes are not indicative of any negative welfare impacts of visitor presence.


Chronic heart failure (CHF) - a widely spread manifestation of various forms of heart diseases - is characterized by high mortality. Prognosis is especially unfavorable in patients with wide QRS complex. Method of resynchronizing therapy was elaborated for the treatment of this group of patients in addition of medical therapy. Its efficacy for improvement of clinical course and prognosis of CHF was demonstrated in a number of randomized controlled trials. However according to some data in 30-45% of cases application of the method is associated with no clinical improvement or reversal of cardiac remodeling when standard criteria (left ventricular ejection fraction less or equal 35%, QRS 120-150 ms, functional class II-IV) are used for patients selection. In this review we consider possibilities of various methods of selection of patients providing maximal probability of efficacy. We also present analysis of techniques of detection of implantation site of left ventricular lead and various tactics of management of patients after implantation of biventricular pacemaker.


A type of blocking is investigated in which, on completion of its service, a job attempts to enter a new station. If, at that moment, the destination station is full, the job is forced to reside in the server of the source station until a place becomes available in the destination station. The server of the source station remains blocked during this period of time. This model is known as a queuing network with transfer blocking. The state space of queuing networks with blocking is reduced by considering finite capacities of the stations. A nonblocking queuing network with the appropriate total number of jobs is derived. The state space of this network is equal to the state space of the blocking queuing network. The transformation of state space is exact for two-station networks and approximate for three-or-more station cases. The approximation has been validated by executing several examples, including stress tests. In all investigated network models, the approximate throughput results deviate, on the average, less than 3% from the simulation results. >


Assessment of redfish has traditionally suffered from the inability to age the fish. For golden redfish in Icelandic waters, length distributions and abundance indices are available both from commercial catch and from surveys, particularly a groundfish survey in March. This paper addresses the use of an age- and length-based cohort model for the assessment of redfish, where all selection curves depend on the length of the fish and information on age is not a prerequisite but can be utilised if available. In the last few years it appears that ageing of this species has been successful and in this paper we compare assessment results of a model that incorporates age information with those that do not. Finally, we calculate yield per recruit, Fmax and F0.1 for the stock. Stock size, catch and fishing mortality are then simulated 10 years ahead using different catch control laws.


When determining absolute ages of identifiably young stellar populations, results strongly depend on which stars are studied. Cooler (K, M) stars typically yield ages that are systematically younger than warmer (A, F, G) stars by a factor of two. I explore the possibility that these age discrepancies are the result of magnetic inhibition of convection in cool young stars by using magnetic stellar evolution isochrones to determine the age of the Upper Scorpius subgroup of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB Association. A median age of 10 Myr consistent across spectral types A through M is found, except for a subset of F-type stars that appear significantly older. Agreement is shown for ages derived from the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and from the empirical mass-radius relationship defined by eclipsing multiple-star systems. Surface magnetic field strengths required to produce agreement are of order 2.5 kG and are predicted from a priori estimates of equipartition values. A region in the HR diagram is identified that plausibly connects stars whose structures are weakly influenced by the presence of magnetic fields with those whose structures are strongly influenced by magnetic fields. The models suggest this region is characterized by stars with rapidly thinning outer convective envelopes where the radiative core mass is greater than 75% of the total stellar mass. Furthermore, depletion of lithium predicted from magnetic models appears in better agreement with observed lithium equivalent widths than predictions from non-magnetic models. These results suggest that magnetic inhibition of convection plays an important role in the early evolution of low-mass stars and that it may be responsible for noted age discrepancies in young stellar populations.


Summary: Four strains of lactobacilli, isolated from the contaminant flora of English top fermentation brewers' yeasts, were found to be heterofermentative. Two strains were tentatively identified as Lactobacillus brevis. For growth, all the strains required exogenous supplies of a number of growth factors of the vitamin B complex, a pyrimidine, at least one purine and at least 14 amino acids. The ability of hypoxanthine to substitute for both adenine and guinane in one strain of L. brevis is especially notable. L-Arginine, essential for the growth of all strains, increased the rate and final amount of growth in glucose medium of both strains of L. brevis, when it was supplied in relatively high concentration. Suspensions of the organisms converted arginine into ornithine, ammonia and a small amount of citrulline. Maltose, fructose and L-arabinose were better substrates for the growth of all strains than glucose, which, as major source of energy, supported little or no growth of the two unidentified strains. All the strains transformed fructose into mannitol. The rate and extent of growth of most strains on hexoses and the rate of growth of all strains on maltose were increased by the presence of acetate. Whereas the strains of L. brevis formed only little acid from glucose, all strains produced considerable amounts of volatile and non-volatile acids from L-arabinose.


Sister chromatids are often arranged as incompletely aligned entities in interphase nuclei of Arabidopsis thaliana. The STRUCTURAL MAINTENANCE OF CHROMOSOMES (SMC) 5/6 complex, together with cohesin, is involved in double-strand break (DSB) repair by sister chromatid recombination in yeasts and mammals. Here, we analyzed the function of genes in Arabidopsis. The wild-type allele of SMC5 is essential for seed development. Each of the two SMC6 homologs of Arabidopsis is required for efficient repair of DNA breakage via intermolecular homologous recombination in somatic cells. Alignment of sister chromatids is enhanced transiently after X-irradiation (and mitomycin C treatment) in wild-type nuclei. In the smc5/6 mutants, the x-ray–mediated increase in sister chromatid alignment is much lower and delayed. The reduced S phase–established cohesion caused by a knockout mutation in one of the α-kleisin genes, SYN1, also perturbed enhancement of sister chromatid alignment after irradiation, suggesting that the S phase–established cohesion is a prerequisite for correct DSB-dependent cohesion. The radiation-sensitive51 mutant, deficient in heteroduplex formation during DSB repair, showed wild-type frequencies of sister chromatid alignment after X-irradiation, implying that the irradiation-mediated increase in sister chromatid alignment is a prerequisite for, rather than a consequence of, DNA strand exchange between sister chromatids. Our results suggest that the SMC5/6 complex promotes sister chromatid cohesion after DNA breakage and facilitates homologous recombination between sister chromatids.


A novel ultrawideband (UWB) synchronous receiver for a UWB radar system is presented. The developed receiver is the first to employ a sampling phase detector, which integrates a step recovery diode and a pair of Schottky diodes, to sample the UWB signal of a radar, enabling the miniaturization of the design. It achieves a 6-GHz sampling bandwidth, a dynamic range of more than 50 dB, and low harmonic distortion of the output baseband signal. The receiver's down-converted IF signals closely match with their original shape, demonstrating its good performance to reconstruct the microwave signals from a receiving antenna. These IF signals can be converted to digital signals by a low-cost A/D. For verification, the performance of the UWB receiver is tested through the experiments of buried steels at different thicknesses in the sand when it is applied to the ground-penetrating radar (GPR). The results show that the GPR system has good horizontal resolution and large detection depth. Therefore, this GPR system is very attractive and effective for applications of short-range and high-resolution detection.


Background and purpose: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) constitute the most prevalent brain tumor in adults. The prognosis of GBM is typically bleak, with eventual recurrence in an overwhelming majority of the patients despite multimodality management including surgery, radiation therapy (RT), and systemic treatment. Vast majority of patients develop recurrence within or in close vicinity of the initial RT field, which limits the reirradiation dose to be delivered for recurrent tumor. Accurate target definition is critical for stereotactic reirradiation of recurrent glioblastoma. Multimodality imaging with computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and molecular imaging techniques may be used for detection of recurrence. In this study, we assessed the utility of multimodality imaging in target volume determination for stereotactic reirradiation of recurrent glioblastoma.
Patients and methods: Sixteen patients receiving radiosurgery at our institution for recurrent glioblastoma were identified for comparative evaluation of target definition based on CT imaging only and CT-MR fusion based imaging.
Results: CT-only imaging and CT-MR fusion based imaging for radiosurgery target definition was comparatively evaluated for 16 patients treated with radiosurgery at our institution for recurrent glioblastoma. Comparative assessment revealed that target definition based on CT-MR fusion based imaging was optimal and identical to the consensus decision of treating physicians in majority of the treated patients.
Conclusion: Incorporation of MRI may improve target definition for recurrent glioblastoma radiosurgery despite the need for further supporting evidence.


Electrical transport through CrSi2-Si Schottky junctions was studied by internal photoemission spectroscopy and electrical current-voltage (I-V) techniques in a wide temperature range. The apparent barrier height and the ideality factor derived by using thermionic emission theory were found to be strongly temperature dependent. Internal photoemission measurements yielded a weakly temperature-dependent barrier height for these samples. This difference between optical and electrical results shows that the optical transport was dominated by a single photoemission over the expected barrier at the junction while the electrical transport was determined by more than one current mechanism. For p-type substrates, the same barrier height values were obtained from both electrical and optical measurements in a much wider temperature range. A model based on the presence of more than one current channel and mechanisms was developed in order to describe the measured I-V curves of both types. It was assumed that the junction's interface contains small regions through which charge carriers can tunnel. Experimental results were reproduced reasonably well by using this approach. Some recent models proposed for the electrical transport in metal-semiconductor junctions are also discussed.


This paper presents an architectural design of elastic service frameworks based on OSGi service platforms. Load-balancing and auto-scaling features, among others, are considered as the most essential to enabling the elasticity of cloud services. Our proposal extends OSGi Remote Service Admin Specification to add load balancing capability, so that service developers can use it as a system service, i.e., without knowing the internal details. The proposed approach is validated through a proof-of-concept prototype implementation and evaluation.


We previously found that exposure to glycidol at 1000 ppm in drinking water caused axonopathy in maternal rats and aberrations in late‐stage hippocampal neurogenesis, targeting the process of neurite extension in offspring. To identify the profile of developmental neurotoxicity of glycidol, pregnant Sprague–Dawley rats were given drinking water containing glycidol from gestational day 6 until weaning on day 21 after delivery, and offspring at 0, 300 and 1000 ppm were subjected to region‐specific global gene expression profiling. Four brain regions were selected to represent both cerebral and cerebellar tissues, i.e., the cingulate cortex, corpus callosum, hippocampal dentate gyrus and cerebellar vermis. Downregulated genes in the dentate gyrus were related to axonogenesis (Nfasc), myelination (Mal, Mrf and Ugt8), and cell proliferation (Aurkb and Ndc80) at ≥ 300 ppm, and upregulated genes were related to neural development (Frzb and Fzd6) at 1000 ppm. Upregulation was observed for genes related to myelination (Kl, Igf2 and Igfbp2) in the corpus callosum and axonogenesis and neuritogenesis (Efnb3, Tnc and Cd44) in the cingulate cortex, whereas downregulation was observed for genes related to synaptic transmission (Thbs2 and Ccl2) in the cerebellar vermis; all of these changes were mostly observed at 1000 ppm. Altered gene expression of Cntn3, which functions on neurite outgrowth‐promotion, was observed in all four brain regions at 1000 ppm. Gene expression profiles suggest that developmental exposure to glycidol affected plasticity of neuronal networks in the broad brain areas, and dentate gyrus neurogenesis may be the sensitive target of this type of toxicity. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The recent proliferation of sensors in inhospitable environments such as disaster or battle zones has not been matched by in situ data processing capabilities due to a lack of computing infrastructure in the field. We envision a solution based on small, low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can deploy elastically-scalable computing infrastructure anywhere, at any time. This airborne compute cloud—essentially, micro-data centers hosted on UAVs—would communicate with terrestrial assets over a bandwidth-constrained wireless network with variable, unpredictable link qualities. Achieving high performance over this ground-to-air mobile radio channel thus requires making full and efficient use of every single transmission opportunity. To this end, this dissertation presents two system primitives that improve throughput and reduce network overhead by using recent distributed coding methods to exploit natural properties of the airborne environment (i.e., antenna beam diversity and anomaly sparsity).
We first built and deployed an UAV wireless networking testbed and used it to characterize the ground-to-UAV wireless channel. Our flight experiments revealed that antenna beam diversity from using multiple SISO radios boosts reception range and aggregate throughput.
This observation led us to develop our first primitive: ground-to-UAV bulk data transport. We designed and implemented FlowCode, a reliable link layer for uplink data transport that uses network coding to harness antenna beam diversity gains. Via flight experiments, we show that FlowCode can boost reception range and TCP throughput as much as 4.5-fold.
Our second primitive permits low-overhead cloud status monitoring. We designed CloudSense, a network switch that compresses cloud status streams in-network via compressive sensing. CloudSense is particularly useful for anomaly detection tasks requiring global relative comparisons (e.g., MapReduce straggler detection) and can achieve up to 16.3-fold compression as well as early detection of the worst anomalies.
Our efforts have also shed light on the close relationship between network coding and compressive sensing. Thus, we offer FlowCode and CloudSense not only as first steps toward the airborne compute cloud, but also as exemplars of two classes of applications—approximation intolerant and tolerant—to which network coding and compressive sensing should be judiciously and selectively applied.


In 1739 Hume bequeathed a bold view of the self to the philosophical community that would prove highly influential, but equally controversial. His bundle theory of the self elicited substantial opposition soon after its appearance in the Treatise of Human Nature. Yet Hume makes it clear to his readers that his views on the self rest on respectable foundations: namely, the views of the highly regarded Irish philosopher, George Berkeley. As the author of the Treatise sees it, his account of the self draws on Berkeley's conception of language, especially his views on singular terms. But Hume, as impressed as he is with Berkeley's account of language, deems it necessary to defend this view against possible criticism. In the process Hume modifies Berkeley's views. My paper is a critical investigation of Hume's defense of Berkeley on language and an attempt to highlight the extent to which Hume departs from the views of his Irish colleague.


A comprehensive in silico analysis of 71 species representing the different taxonomic classes and physiological genre of the domain Archaea was performed. These organisms differed in their physiological attributes, particularly oxygen tolerance and energy metabolism. We explored the diversity and similarity in the codon usage pattern in the genes and genomes of these organisms, emphasizing on their core cellular pathways. Our thrust was to figure out whether there is any underlying similarity in the design of core pathways within these organisms. Analyses of codon utilization pattern, construction of hierarchical linear models of codon usage, expression pattern and codon pair preference pointed to the fact that, in the archaea there is a trend towards biased use of synonymous codons in the core cellular pathways and the Nc-plots appeared to display the physiological variations present within the different species. Our analyses revealed that aerobic species of archaea possessed a larger degree of freedom in regulating expression levels than could be accounted for by codon usage bias alone. This feature might be a consequence of their enhanced metabolic activities as a result of their adaptation to the relatively O2-rich environment. Species of archaea, which are related from the taxonomical viewpoint, were found to have striking similarities in their ORF structuring pattern. In the anaerobic species of archaea, codon bias was found to be a major determinant of gene expression. We have also detected a significant difference in the codon pair usage pattern between the whole genome and the genes related to vital cellular pathways, and it was not only species-specific but pathway specific too. This hints towards the structuring of ORFs with better decoding accuracy during translation. Finally, a codon-pathway interaction in shaping the codon design of pathways was observed where the transcription pathway exhibited a significantly different coding frequency signature.


Integrated approaches to natural resource management abound, but what does integration mean in practice, what are the benefits and constraints to integration and how can integration be achieved? Characteristics of integrated approaches include linkages to broad strategies; involvement of stakeholders; bringing multiple sectors together; and taking a basin or ecosystem as the management unit. Analysis of early experience in the development and implementation of a new approach to lake management in Uganda – integrated lake management (ILM) – identifies how the approach is integrated through policies, structures and plans. Integration within policies includes the development of more coordinated and coherent natural resource sector policy through the development of a sector wide approach. Integrating lake management priorities into broader poverty reduction policies and development planning guidelines is also essential for effective implementation and to secure resource allocation in developing countries. Integration within lake management structures and planning processes ensures they are inclusive, participatory and inter-sectoral, responding to the development needs of lake-dependent communities, as well as to the management of natural resources. Integrated approaches reflect the complexity and diversity of interests and livelihoods and provide an exciting opportunity for more coordinated and effective policies and programmes within and between sectors.


Selective neuronal loss is a prominent feature in neurodegenerative disorders. Recently, a link between neurodegeneration and a deficiency in the protein phosphatidylinositol transfer protein alpha (PI-TPalpha) has been demonstrated. In this context it is of importance that fibroblasts overexpressing PI-TPalpha (SPIalpha cells) are known to produce and secrete bio-active lipid factors that protect fibroblasts against UV-induced apoptosis. Together with the observation that PI-TPalpha expression is highest in the central nervous system (CNS), these findings imply that PI-TPalpha expression, and consequently its function, is essential in CNS maintenance. In this study, this hypothesis is elaborated and investigated in more detail. We showed that SPIalpha cells produce and secrete PI-TPalpha-dependent lipid factors capable of protecting primary rat, spinal cord-derived, motor neuron cultures. Protection was diminished in the presence of suramin, an antagonist of the G-protein coupled receptor family. Immunocytochemistry studies showed that PI-TPalpha is expressed in both primary astrocyte and motor neuron cultures. To investigate whether the high expression level of PI-TPalpha in the CNS is associated with the cellular production of PI-TPalpha-dependent survival-enhancing activity and, hence, neuroprotection, several in vitro cell models have been developed. Analysis of the PI-TPalpha level in different CNS-derived cell cultures showed that PI-TPalpha expression is relatively high in astrocytes (primary cultures as well as the C6 astroglioma cell line). The level of PI-TPalpha in neuronal cells was significantly lower. Ultimately, a new model has been introduced in which the C6 astroglioma cells served as survival factor-producing cells and the motor neuron NSC-34 cells as a target. An intermediate model was proposed with C6 astroglioma cells in combination with the apoptosis-sensitive SPIbeta fibroblast cell line as a target. This latter model was used to characterise the survival-enhancing effect of the conditioned medium of C6 astroglioma cells (CMc6). CMc6 as well as a lipid extract derived thereof, enhanced survival of SPIbeta cells under serum-free conditions. This effect was attenuated when CMc6 was co-incubated with SR141716A (rimonabant), an antagonist of the cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1R). Mass spectrometry analysis revealed low levels eicosanoid precursors in CMc6, indicating an active eicosanoid metabolism in C6 astroglioma cells. In addition, the presence of three PI-TPalpha- and cyclooxygenase-2-dependent compounds in CMc6 was demonstrated. The nature of these compounds showed resemblance to endocannabinoids. Using RNA interference techniques, the PI-TPalpha expression level in C6 astroglioma cells was downregulated to investigate whether the survival-enhancing effect of CMc6 was a PI-TPalpha-dependent phenomenon. The survival-enhancing effect of the CM derived from these cells was tested on SPIbeta as well as NSC-34 cells and appeared to be reduced when compared to normal CMc6. Taken together, from these data it can be concluded that, at least in C6 astroglioma cells, and possibly also in astrocytes, PI-TPalpha is involved in the production of lipid factors capable of enhancing the survival of an apoptosis-sensitive fibroblast cell line and motor neuron-like cell line. As indicated above, although the identity of these factors remains largely unknown, as yet these lipid factors may be classified as arachidonic acid-derived endocannabinoids, acting on the CB1R or a CB1-like receptor.


Benthic invertebrates mediate bottom–up and top–down influences in aquatic food webs, and changes in the abundance or traits of invertebrates can alter the strength of top–down effects. Studies assessing the role of invertebrate abundance and behavior as controls on food web structure are rare at the whole ecosystem scale. Here we use a comparative approach to investigate bottom–up and top–down influences on whole anchialine pond ecosystems in coastal Hawai'i. In these ponds, a single species of endemic atyid shrimp (Halocaridina rubra) is believed to structure epilithon communities. Many Hawaiian anchialine ponds and their endemic fauna, however, have been greatly altered by bottom–up (increased nutrient enrichment) and top–down (introduced fish predators) disturbances from human development. We present the results of a survey of dissolved nutrient concentrations, epilithon biomass and composition, and H. rubra abundance and behavior in anchialine ponds with and without invasive predatory fish along a nutrient concentration gradient on the North Kona coast of Hawai'i. We use linear models to assess 1) the effects of nutrient loading and fish introductions on pond food web structure and 2) the role of shrimp density and behavior in effecting that change. We find evidence for bottom–up food web control, in that nutrients were associated with increased epilithon biomass, autotrophy and nutrient content as well as increased abundance and size of H. rubra. We also find evidence for top–down control, as ponds with invasive predatory fish had higher epilithon biomass, productivity, and nutrient content. Top–down effects were transmitted by both altered H. rubra abundance, which changed the biomass of epilithon, and H. rubra behavior, which changed the composition of the epilithon. Our study extends experimental findings on bottom–up and top–down control to the whole ecosystem scale and finds evidence for qualitatively different effects of trait- and density-mediated change in top–down influences.


RATIONALE
Automatic prediction algorithms based on routinely collected health data may be able to identify patients at high-risk for hospitalizations related to acute exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

OBJECTIVE
This was a proof-of-concept study for a population surveillance approach towards identifying individuals at high risk of severe COPD exacerbations.

METHODS
We used British Columbia's administrative health databases (1997-2016) to identify patients with diagnosed COPD. We used data from the previous six months to predict the risk of severe exacerbation in the next two months after a randomly selected index date. We applied statistical and machine learning algorithms for risk prediction (logistic regression, random forest, neural network, and gradient boosting). We used calibration plots and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to evaluate model performance based on a randomly chosen future date at least one year later (temporal validation).

RESULTS
There were 108,433 patients in the development and 113,786 in the validation datasets; of these, 1,126 and 1,136, respectively, were hospitalized due to COPD within their outcome windows. The best prediction algorithm (gradient boosting) had an area under the ROC curve of 0.82 (95%CI 0.80-0.83), significantly higher than the corresponding value for the model with exacerbation history as the only predictor (current standard of care - 0.68). The predicted risk scores were well calibrated in the validation dataset.

CONCLUSIONS
Imminent COPD-related hospitalizations can be predicted with good accuracy using administrative health data. This model may be used as a means to target high-risk patients for preventive exacerbation therapies.


The goal of Approximate Query Processing (AQP) is to provide very fast but "accurate enough" results for costly aggregate queries thereby improving user experience in interactive exploration of large datasets. Recently proposed Machine-Learning-based AQP techniques can provide very low latency as query execution only involves model inference as compared to traditional query processing on database clusters. However, with increase in the number of filtering predicates (WHERE clauses), the approximation error significantly increases for these methods. Analysts often use queries with a large number of predicates for insights discovery. Thus, maintaining low approximation error is important to prevent analysts from drawing misleading conclusions. In this paper, we propose ELECTRA, a predicate-aware AQP system that can answer analytics-style queries with a large number of predicates with much smaller approximation errors. ELECTRA uses a conditional generative model that learns the conditional distribution of the data and at run-time generates a small (≈ 1000 rows) but representative sample, on which the query is executed to compute the approximate result. Our evaluations with four different baselines on three real-world datasets show that ELECTRA provides lower AQP error for large number of predicates compared to baselines.


Both glucose and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) stimulate insulin gene transcription in endocrine pancreatic beta-cells within the islets of Langerhans. The effects of glucose are mediated by the homeodomain transcription factor islet duodenum homeobox -1 (IDX-1) that binds to two adenine thymidine-rich (A1 and A2/3) motifs within the rat insulin promoter. Glucose stimulates the activity of the transactivation domain of IDX-1 that lies within the first 80 amino acids of the IDX-1 protein. The effects of GLP-1 on insulin gene expression are primarily conferred by the cAMP responsive element (CRE) within the insulin promoter. GLP-1 stimulates glucose-dependent insulin release from beta-cells. We hypothesize that GLP-1 may augment the effects of glucose on insulin gene transcription. Here we show that GLP-1 stimulates insulin gene transcription independent of the CRE and is glucose-dependent. Furthermore, we show that GLP-1 stimulates the transactivational activity of IDX-1.


We report on the effect of confinement barriers on the performance of InAs/InGaAs sub-monolayer quantum dot infrared photodetectors. Two samples with different AlxGa1-xAs barrier compositions (x = 0.07 for sample A and x = 0.20 for sample B) were grown with four-stacks of sub-monolayer quantum dot. Sample A had a peak response at ~7.8 μm, whereas sample B demonstrated three peaks at ~3.5, ~5, and ~7.0 μm with the intensity of the peaks strongly dependent on the applied bias. At 77 K, sample A and B had a detectivity of 1.2 × 1011 cm.Hz1/2/W (Vb = −0.4 V bias) and 5.4 × 1011 cm.Hz1/2/W (Vb = −1.5 V bias), respectively.


Many head-mounted virtual reality display (VR-HMD) applications that involve moving visual environments (e.g., virtual rollercoaster, car and airplane driving) will trigger cybersickness (CS). Previous research Arshad et al. (2015) has explored the inhibitory effect of cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on vestibular cortical excitability, applied to traditional motion sickness (MS), however its applicability to CS, as typically experienced in immersive VR, remains unknown. The presented double-blinded 2x2x3 mixed design experiment (independent variables: stimulation condition [cathodal/anodal]; timing of VR stimulus exposure [before/after tDCS]; sickness scenario [slight symptoms onset/moderate symptoms onset/recovery]) aims to investigate whether the tDCS protocol adapted from Arshad et al. (2015) is effective at delaying the onset of CS symptoms and/or accelerating recovery from them in healthy participants. Quantitative analysis revealed that the cathodal tDCS indeed delayed the onset of slight symptoms if compared to that in anodal condition. However, there are no significant differences in delaying the onset of moderate symptoms nor shortening time to recovery between the two stimulation types. Possible reasons for present findings are discussed and suggestions for future studies are proposed.


Ricin selectively depletes hepatic Kupffer's cells (macrophages) in mice, and is cytotoxic in vitro to Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, the L 929 (mouse fibroblast) cell line, and rat bone marrow macrophages. Therefore, the toxicity of ricin to the macrophage J-744A. 1 and CHO cell lines was assessed by determining the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate aminotransfer-ase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Both dose- and time-dependent increases in the release of LDH and AST were observed. In macrophages, concentrations > 10-9 g ricin/ml inhibited the release of ALT at 48- and 72-h incubation times, whereas ALT release from CHO cells was inhibited by all concentrations of ricin at 24 and 48 h. The results indicate that the release of LDH and AST from macrophage and CHO cell lines may be useful in studies involving the molecular mechanism of toxicity of ricin as well as in assessing the efficacy of potential chemoprotectant agents against ricin.


The relatively high electronegativity of nitrogen makes N–N bond forming cross-coupling reactions particularly difficult, especially in an intermolecular fashion. The challenge increases even further when considering the case of dehydrogenative N–N coupling reactions, which are advantageous in terms of step and atom economy, but introduce the problem of the oxidant in order to become thermodynamically feasible. Indeed, the oxidizing system must be designed to activate the target N–H bonds, while at the same time avoid undesired N–N homocoupling as well as C–N and C–C coupled side products. Thus, preciously few intermolecular hetero N–N cross-dehydrogenative couplings exist, in spite of the central importance of N–N bonds in organic chemistry. This review aims at analyzing these few rare cases and provides a perspective for future developments.


BACKGROUND
Studies on pregnant women undergoing cesarean delivery or elderly men scheduled for prostate brachytherapy have demonstrated the predictive value of heart rate variability (HRV) analysis for hypotension during spinal anesthesia. We conducted a prospective observational study to investigate if preoperative HRV analysis may have a role in identifying the risk of hypotension following spinal anesthesia in otherwise healthy patients.

METHODS
The study investigated 47 ASA physical status I-II patients aged between 18-50 years that underwent subarachnoid anesthesia for lower abdominal or orthopedic scheduled surgery. ECG was recorded from all subjects before the subarachnoid block. We analysed the autonomic nervous system modulation, measured by HRV analysis. The variables that were be considered were preoperative HRV total power, low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) heart beat oscillations and LF/HF ratio. The LF/HF ratio was dichotomized according to the median for sensitivity analysis. The lowest arterial pressure value between spinal anesthesia and the end of surgery was recorded.

RESULTS
The median LF/HF before anesthesia was 2.3. We considered two groups of 23 (LF/HF<2.3, group LOW) and 24 (LF/HF>2.3, group HIGH) patients respectively. Both groups had similar baseline demographic and hemodynamic variables. A high preoperative sympathetic outflow and loss of vagal modulation, as stated by LF/HF>2.3, was correlated with a relative risk of 7.7 (95%CI 1.04 to 56.6, p=0.023) of post-spinal hypotension.

CONCLUSIONS
Preoperative analysis of autonomic nervous system modulation might be useful to stratify the risk of post-spinal hypotension and it might indicate the need for careful monitoring or prophylactic fluids.


This paper reports on the co-production of a healthcare leadership model that was generated through in-class qualitative inductive analysis and subsequently critiqued in relation to real world value for local healthcare practice. Healthcare leadership is informed by various theoretical models and associated competencies (e.g. The National Health Service UK Healthcare leadership Model 2016) [1] and when teaching post graduate students there is a need to go beyond merely adopting an 'off the shelf model' and to critically examine what leadership is and how it can be understood in relation to local healthcare culture and practices. Previous work on creative education (Gurbutt & Gurbutt 2015) [2] and collaborative practice for public health (Gurbutt 2016) [3] informed a desire to enhance the students' experience of creative collaboration. develop students' critical thinking about real world value of leadership models through a co-production activity to enhance engagement and the student learning The participants were a post graduate cohort of NHS employees in Greater Manchester UK studying a leadership module at A qualitative inductive analysis methodology was used to produce a descriptive leadership model. The methods included a series of steps initially to generate data using a 'post-it' note exercise exploring local leadership and leading in healthcare. Students sorted the data and developed categories and then through discussion refined them. These were developed into themes that were subsequently represented visually on a sketch-board. This process enhanced students' experiential learning about experience aspects of research methodology that linked to a future research module in their programme. A further step involved discussion about the themes and their possible relationships and facilitation of several iterations of an agreed class diagrammatic model comprising four themes (Support, traits, process, direction) around a core focus (patients). Following this the model was verbally critiqued in relation to informing competency identification in relation to real world healthcare leadership practice as well as reflexivity in terms of participants' awareness of their interpretive standpoint. Learning occurred through the process and about it. Students provided written feedback on their own learning (on the process and the model) as well as how to relate the model to practice. Students reported liking being able to share perspectives and practice putting new ideas forward as well as considering what would operationalise its four main themes. An academic colleague provided in class peer review feedback on tutor facilitation of the co-production activity to inform how to develop this activity further. An employer partner who funded students to undertake leadership modules also provided feedback in terms of partnership collaboration and adding value to the workforce. Overall the aims were met and value was added to co-production through reflective co-learning in this case about developing healthcare leaders.


This paper presents a Gaussian process (GP) model for estimating piecewise continuous regression functions. In many scientific and engineering applications of regression analysis, the underlying regression functions are often piecewise continuous in that data follow different continuous regression models for different input regions with discontinuities across regions. However, many conventional GP regression approaches are not designed for piecewise regression analysis. There are piecewise GP models to use explicit domain partitioning and pose independent GP models over partitioned regions. They are not flexible enough to model real datasets where data domains are divided by complex and curvy jump boundaries. We propose a new GP modeling approach to estimate an unknown piecewise continuous regression function. The new GP model seeks a local GP estimate of an unknown regression function at each test location, using local data neighboring the test location. Considering the possibilities of the local data being from different regions, the proposed approach partitions the local data into pieces by a local data partitioning function. It uses only the local data likely from the same region as the test location for the regression estimate. Since we do not know which local data points come from the relevant region, we propose a data-driven approach to split and subset local data by a local partitioning function. We discuss several modeling choices of the local data partitioning function, including a locally linear function and a locally polynomial function. We also investigate an optimization problem to jointly optimize the partitioning function and other covariance parameters using a likelihood maximization criterion. Several advantages of using the proposed approach over the conventional GP and piecewise GP modeling approaches are shown by various simulated experiments and real data studies.


Public participation has become increasingly important in the water sector. However, the question remains as to what exactly is meant by participation. This article explores the different ways that participation is understood in local and regional water plans and visions in the Dutch water sector. Partly driven by the key role played by participatory water management under the European Water Framework Directive, citizens' engagement has become an important aspect in the plans of authorities across the board that are involved in water management. The study concludes that the most dominant view on participation is very narrow, with a strong focus on clarification and on raising awareness. According to a second, less dominant view on participation, it is stressed that the role of participation is to produce information, knowledge, and expertise to support policy-making. As a consequence, power relations between government and the public remain very much top-down, with very little room for bottom-up ideas.