Abstract In the history of vocational education and training, apprentices seldom feature as actors. They are also rarely mentioned among those affected by economic conditions and political measures. Studies of England and Scotland have shown that, over a period of decades, there was a widespread apprentice movement during the twentieth century. So far, studies of German-speaking areas have barely registered this and have solely concentrated on apprentice protests in the 1960s and 1970s. The present article addresses this desideratum, investigating the form and content of how apprentices articulated their interests in Switzerland between 1880 and 1950. The main reason why Switzerland never experienced major sustained apprentice protests was because of its corporatist organisation of vocational education policy. This policy meant that there was no space available for independent forms of protest as charitable organisations, industrial and occupational associations, trade unions and state agencies assumed the task of articulating the interests of apprentices.


We use an analytical model to propose candidate compositionally complex alloys of the Mo-Nb-Ta-W family with optimal yield stress. We then introduce a computationally tractable method based on first-principles calculations to model phase equilibria in complex alloys at arbitrary concentrations. We utilize this method to predict the phase diagram at the optimized compositions and observe a tendency towards ordering for some of the proposed alloys. By combining yield stress data and thermodynamic equilibria, we suggest two alloy compositions with optimal mechanical properties and a strong solid solution forming ability for further experimental validation.


Microblogging social media focuses on fast open real-time communication using short messages between users and their followers. Twitter is currently one of the largest and widely known microblogging OSN in the world, with more than 330 million monthly active users as of December 2017. Moreover, an average of 500 million Tweets (short messages) per day are generated within the service. Microblogging social media generate large amounts of content and community finding techniques are a suitable alternative for organising it. However, a fundamental challenge in the community detection literature is the diversity for a definition of user community, which makes evaluating and interpreting algorithms difficult. Therefore, in this thesis, two types of user community definition are adopted and investigated for microblogging: functional and structural definitions. A functional community groups its users by a common independent social function, e.g. fans of the same football team, while in a structural community the members exclusively depend on their connectivity in a network, e.g. modularity. In this work, functional definitions are built and characterised to be used as user-labelled ground-truth using eight types of social functions from Twitter interaction networks. Afterwards, these ground-truth functional communities are evaluated – in static and dynamic scenarios – considering thirteen popular structural community definitions from the literature. The goodness, robustness and sensitivity of these structural community definitions for detecting the functional ground-truth under different perturbation strategies is investigated. The proposed evaluation is carried using five different Twitter datasets captured during diverse periods of time. The results of the study show that definitions based on internal and mixed connectivity, e.g. Triangle Participation Ratio, Fraction Over Median Degree or Conductance work best for the Twitter use case and are very robust. On the other hand, other scores such as Modularity are limited and do not perform well due to the sparsity and noise of microblogging. Furthermore, using user activity as basis to refine communities into their active hotspots further improves the performance of community detection in microblogging. It is demonstrated in this work that standard community detection algorithms are challenged by the fast-paced dynamics and link sparsity of microblogging data. Therefore, it is argued that temporal characteristics must be considered for community detection methods in microblogging.


The realistic incorporation of reliability into the optimisation of reservoir system design and operation remains a particularly difficult task after decades of research. While most of this research has worked with methods based on linear or dynamic programming, little has been done to find out how well the problem could be handled by a simulation model linked to an optimisation model (SO model). Water supply systems have to satisfy different demands that each require various levels of reliability and these need to be incorporated in analyses for efficient system design and operation. This study presents an approach for determining the reservoir sizes and monthly operating rules that maximise the yield of a water supply system subject to multiple reliability constraints of supply and reservoir storage. A behaviour analysis model linked to a genetic algorithm is applied and the constraints are implemented using multiplicative penalties. This approach is found to deal with multiple reliability constraints realistically and effectively with multiple runs clearly identifying the active and the redundant constraints. The long computation times are, however, a drawback for the approach and suggestions to reduce these are suggested. Powell's conjugate direction method is also used to optimise one of the cases analysed and obtains a slightly lower yield than the genetic algorithm but with a lower number of simulations. The method obtains yields comparable to the South African Water Resources Yield Model (WRYM) and has the advantage of automating the derivation of inter-reservoir operating rules.


1. Concerns about insect declines are growing and the provisioning of ecosystem
services like pollination may be threatened. To safeguard biodiversity, greening
measures were introduced within the reform of the EU's Common Agricultural
Policy. One measure commonly applied by farmers is the cultivation of nitrogen
fixing crops. Although underlying studies are largely missing, this measure is criticized
as providing no significant biodiversity benefit.
2. Using a landscape-scale approach, we selected 30 paired study landscapes
(1 km × 1 km) in Germany, that is, 15 study landscapes with faba bean (FB) fields
(Vicia faba L .) a nd 15 w ithout a ny g rain l egumes. F lower-visiting w ild b ees were
recorded with transect walks at the field margins of different crops using a stratified
sampling approach. We analysed the effect of FB cultivation and landscape
composition on the abundance and species richness of wild bees as well as on the
functional composition of the bee communities.
3. Bumblebee densities (Bombus spp. Latreille) were more than twice as high in FB
compared to control landscapes after the flowering of the beans. Non-Bombus
wild bee densities, however, were not affected by FB cultivation, but were enhanced
by increasing amounts of semi-natural habitats (SNH).
4. After the beans' blooming had ceased, FB landscapes had a higher proportion of
wild bees collecting pollen from Fabaceae than control landscapes. The communityweighted
means for bee size, measured as intertegular distance, were not affected
by FB cultivation, but we found smaller species and species with shorter tongues
with an increasing percentage of SNH.
5. Synthesis and applications. The cultivation of faba bean Vicia faba L . s trongly increased
bumblebee densities throughout the season. This indicates that also
on-field greening measures can support biodiversity. Nevertheless, since only
functional groups adapted to faba bean benefit, measures to promote seminatural
habitats in agricultural landscapes need to be implemented. We conclude
that the combination of on- and off-field measures is essential to maintain farmland
biodiversity and the Common Agricultural Policy should furthermore promote
both.


This book presents a paleographic analysis of the Aramaic and Hebrew inscriptions from Mt. Gerizim and their historical background within the historical and political context of Palestine in the Hellenistic period.


This thesis describes research and development. work carried out
by the author into the control of traction and braking systems
on rail vehicles.
After a review of recent developments, the problem of. driving a
train under minimum-energy control subject·to timetable and
operational constraints is discussed. This is partitioned into
two sections. Firstly, target time and velocities for key pOints
on the journey are computed; these are communicated to or stored
on the train, together with route and vehicle data. Secondly,
an on-board digital system drives the train to each target
according to control algorithms which incorporate a predictorcorrector
module, whose function is to determine which of two
criteria of performance is to be used (minimum-energy when running
early or on-time, minimum-time when running late).
Most of the thesis is devoted to the analysis and design of the
train-borne control system. The general form of the optimal
control (of tractive or braking effort) is determined by the application
of Pontryagin's Maximum Principle over each section of the
journey. However, the moments of transition between the various
modes of control are calculated by a method which involves a lookahead
model in the predictor module, rather than by iterative
solution of the state and co-state equations .
An important aspect of the design is the dynamic response of the
braking SUb-system, which may include a substantial pneumatic
transport lag within the control loop. S-plane and z-plane design
procedures for the required discrete control algorithms to.achieve
a specified transient response are derived.
The thesis concludes with a chapter on the instrumentation required
for the train-borne control system.


This is Part 2 of a two-part analysis of serialism, randomness and statistical feedback. Part 1 developed the theoretical basis, which the present article applies to seven compositional scenarios. Scenarios 1-3 cover discrete distributions in static contexts and deem methods effective when they are able to utilize the least-weighted state at least once. Scenarios 4 and 5 cover continuous distributions, again in static contexts. These scenarios measure effectiveness by comparing the expected mean and variance with the statistics obtained from populations. Scenario 6 covers discrete distributions with evolving weights, with effectiveness being gauged through the number of samples required to establish a trend. Scenario 7 covers conditional distributions through the paradigm of the Markov chain. Here a realization is deemed effective if it represents the least-weighted transition at least once.


Project oriented courses became a global trend among best engineering universities around the world in the past decade. They teach students not only core academic knowledge, but face students with real problem solving situations, where they need to express and develop their other virtues and skills, e.g. working in multidisciplinary teams, time and task management, problem solving, different presentation and communication skills, etc. In this paper we investigate (multi-) cultural background of virtual team members from two different aspects: how it influences the team's creativity and how various cultural backgrounds of creative team members could lead into different perceptions of particular design features. Multi-cultural background of NPD teams is a complex challenge, which—if not addressed properly—could cause multi-level problems. The results of our first described research clearly indicate how these differences could affect the forming of virtual NPD creative teams and suggest guidelines how to build effective NPD teams. The second research shows that the same design features can trigger different responses in different cultural background. The designers, who design a product for a particular market, should be aware of these differences, which must be addressed with a special care if we want the product to be properly accepted at the desired target of a global market.


Shares of expatriates of total population in the UAE have been consistently on the rise. It is widely believed that the very high number of expatriates is the main cause of the imbalance in the population structure in the country. In addition, increasing numbers of expatriates from certain regions may imply possible risks related to security, social and economic conditions in the country. This research aims at looking at the possibilities of implementing a system in which duration of stay of expatriate workers in the UAE labor market is limited to a maximum number of years. In particular, the research intends to provide an overview of duration of stay of expatriates in the UAE in relation to nationalities, occupations, sectors, skills and educational levels and to supply a number of scenarios which can be implemented in the UAE and the pros and cons of each scenario in terms economic and demographic factors.


Abstract—With the increasing of human space activities, the number of space debris has increased dramatically, and the possibility that spacecrafts on orbit are impacted by space debris is growing. A method is of the vital significance to real-time detect and assess spacecraft damage, determine of gas leak accurately, guarantee the life safety of the astronaut effectively. In this paper, acoustic sensor array is used to detect the acoustic signal which emits from the damage of the spacecraft on orbit. Then, we apply the time difference of arrival and beam forming algorithm to locate the damage and leakage. Finally, the extent of the spacecraft damage is evaluated according to the nonlinear ultrasonic method. The result shows that this method can detect the debris impact and the structural damage, locate the damage position, and identify the damage degree effectively. This method can meet the needs of structural damage detection for the spacecraft in-orbit.


Containers have grown into the most dependable and lightweight virtualization platform for delivering cloud services, offering flexible sorting, portability, and scalability. In cloud container services, planner components play a critical role. This enhances cloud resource workloads and diversity performance while lowering costs. We present a hybrid optimum and deep reinforcement learning approach for dynamic scalable task scheduling (DSTS) in a container cloud environment in this research. To expand containers virtual resources, we first offer a modified multi-swarm coyote optimization (MMCO) method, which improves customer service level agreements. Then, to assure priority-based scheduling, we create a modified pigeon-inspired optimization (MPIO) method for task clustering and a rapid adaptive feedback recurrent neural network (FARNN) for pre-virtual CPU allocation. Meanwhile, the task load monitoring system is built on a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN), which allows for dynamic priority-based scheduling. Finally, the presentation of the planned DSTS methodology will be estimated utilizing various test vectors, and the results will be associated to present state-of-the-art techniques.


Objective: To identify optimum features from the initial feature set to classify ship ISAR images with good accuracy. The optimum feature selection brings down the computational complexity and also removes the redundant features in the feature vector. Methodology: Colour moments computed from R, G, B, RG, GB, RB component images are taken as one feature vector. The average wave energy values of horizontal, vertical and diagonal details of images decomposed up to five levels using wavelet transform are considered as second feature vector. The ship ISAR images measured with high resolution Radar are used as data set to test the classification performance of the two feature sets, which is explored uniquely in this work. Genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization techniques are used to find the optimum feature sets. Probabilistic neural network is used to compare the classification accuracy achieved with full length feature vectors and optimum feature vectors of the two considered feature sets. Findings: Data set of two ships is taken. The data of each ship is divided in to two parts training data and test data. The feature vectors computed from training set are used to train the classifier and that computed from test set are used to test the classification accuracy. The number of variables (number of features in the feature vector) of optimization algorithms Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) is varied to find the optimum feature set to classify the ship ISAR image data. The function that computes the classification accuracy is used as the objective function of the optimization algorithms. From the initial feature vector of thirty colour moments a set of four features is identified that gives 100% accuracy for both the targets considered. From starting set of fifteen average energy levels, a set of four energy levels identified by PSO and the set of three energy levels are found to be more effective in classification of the ship ISAR images with classification accuracy of 66.6% for the first target and 75% for the second target. Both the optimization techniques performed in similar way. Other optimization algorithms can be explored to find feature combinations that classify ship ISAR images with better accuracy. Application: Classification based on ISAR images has application in automatic non-cooperative target recognition, development of monitoring systems for surveillance along transportation corridors etc. to avoid illegal immigration. Future Work: Different classifiers Self Organizing Maps, Support Vector Machines etc. can be used to study the possibility of obtaining optimum solution in smaller time.


IN JANUARY 1577, William Cecil, Lord Burghley, wrote to Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon and Lord President of the Council in the North, to inform him that Queen Elizabeth I had nominated Bishop Sandys of London to be the new Archbishop of York. His letter was also intended to enlist Huntingdon's help in securing the houses of Bishopthorpe and Cawood for Sandys' use.1 Edwin Sandys had risen from Bishop of Worcester to Bishop of London, and his progression through the ranks of the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Elizabethan Church echoed the progress of his predecessor at York, Edmund Grindal. Having succeeded Grindal as Bishop of London he was once again to replace him, this time at York, whilst Grindal went on to be Archbishop of Canterbury. In contrast to Grindal's career, Sandys left in his wake a trail of complaints about his financial dealings, which were often exacerbated by his rather irascible personality which seemed to engender disputes. At the end of April 1577 Sandys took 'farewell' as the key theme of the sermon he delivered at St Paul's Cross prior to taking up his office at York. The sermon 'For the Rest, Brethren, Fare ye well' expressed Sandys' genuine regret at leaving London, making comparison between his situation and that of St Paul, who was called away from his diligent labours at Corinth to preach elsewhere.2 Adamant that he would not forget those he left behind, he was keen to state that he was not a saint like St Paul, but that he too had loved his congregation and had sought to persuade rather than to use correction to reform transgressors.3 Sandys' assertion that where there was 'backwardness in knowledge, there must needs be also weakness of faith', was an early indication of how he was to view the North.4 His translation to the archbishopric of York was also to be part of a move to convert the Catholic North, but it was not just recusants who were to be Sandys' antagonists, as he was also to find himself in conflict with those who should have been his Protestant allies. This article will demonstrate that Sandys was at odds not just with the Catholic priests engaged in reconverting the nation and their papist congregations but also with those who should have been his natural allies. Sandys was in constant conflict with fellow Protestants who were engaged in the same tasks as him, namely creating a godly community in the North. Yet when examined in context, these quarrels sprang from a desire to secure the Church's property, safeguard the Church's reputation and to ensure that, as Archbishop of the province, he could genuinely fulfil what he saw as his duty, to educate the unenlightened.


A ray tracing model for thermal effects solid-state single-pass amplifiers is presented, which is able to simulate thermal lensing, depolarization and beam quality degradation. The ray tracing algorithm is based on alternatively evaluating the axial and radial gradient and thereby finding the trajectory in thermally influenced media. This enables to find the focal length distribution of the system. Additionally, to the position of the rays, its phase is also determined, which enables to reconstruct the wavefront of the beam after passing through the crystal. This wavefront is used for a Zernike polynomial analysis to determine spherical aberration, which is linked to the beam quality of the passing beam. Furthermode the total depolarization is obtained by finding the change of polarization for each ray separately. The simulation for thermal lensing is compared with a single-pass Nd:YVO4 system, the beam degradation is compared with a Nd:YVO4-MOAP system. Both show good agreement with the simulation data, as long as the gain of the system is homogeneous.


Background: The development of good learning resources in line with current technology to facilitate active learning has become a trend in education. An innovative learning material is believed to be able to motivate the students to learn and to improving students' skills for chemistry and pharmacy students to handle chemical reaction. Objectives: The study aimed to enact an innovative learning material with guided project to be implemented as learning resources to improve student's performance in organic chemistry. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out at Universitas Negeri Medan with the involvement of 180 chemistry students in the Department of Chemistry. It consisted of the development and standardization of an innovative learning package with guided project and implementing it for the teaching of carboxylic acid topic. Results and Conclusion: An innovative learning package with project contextual example related to carboxylic acid topic has been developed in a systematic order and the projects were provided to guide the students to become independent learners. The learning package was easy to follow and guided the students to do scientific investigations. The guide projects integrated in the learning package facilitated the students to gain deeper understanding of organic chemistry concept, be able to set their own project to keep the students engage in curiosity and problem solving and develop students' skills on planning, actions and reporting the project results. The developed learning material is very effective to improve students' competence, where students' performance in experimental class (M=83.23±4.41) was higher than that in control class (M=77.22±4.79). Students' learning style has been changed to become independent learner.


Stroke patients suffer from different temporal and/or permanent consequences that include movement disabilities. They are usually treated with physical rehabilitation
which can compound different exercises, some of them performed by specialists or physical therapists and others involving exercises performed by the patient on his/her
own.
Therefore, it is important for the doctor (and also for the patient) tracking the performance of the exercises done by the patient on his/her daily life. This information can help doctors and physiotherapists catch information about progress and movements that sometimes are not possible to get by just talking with the patient. The information may include the activities the patient performs such as
running, walking, standing, etc... and the time the patient spends on them. Doctors can analyze the activities and times and extract results which can help them on
seeing what needs to be improved by the patient, or what the patient lacks of, making afterwards a more specialized treatment adapting it to the specific patient thanks to
the collected data.
Smart Health App project aims to create an android application which is able to classify the activities performed by a patient, analyzing the accelerometer data
given by the mobile phone sensors. The application is inspired on previously made Human Activity Recognition (HAR) systems such as Activity Recognition for Stroke
Patients[16], trying to improve the different lacks of them. The application is able to record users' movements save them and label them on the training process.
Afterwards, it is able to classify the movements data (accelerometer information) into specific activities relying on random forest machine learning algorithm for the
human activity recognition process. The main improvement is making all the process straightforward and on the same application so that users and doctor can in a
relatively few time obtain the output classification results.
This project proved that making an android based Human Activity Recognition tool is possible classifying movements into activities with a good accuracy, which is over 90% of correctly classified instances. That results were obtained with themobile phone's only accelerometer sensor, proving then that it is possible to use that only one accelerometer sensor to correctly classify movements of stroke patients.
With the mobile phone as only sensor device, it was important testing what are the best placements for the mobile phone while the user performs the activity. Two
different placements were compared, hand and arm as they both were practical places to hold a mobile phone on. Arm placement provided better results.
And last, some other machine learning algorithms were tested to see whether random forest is the best algorithm on stroke HAR.


This collaboration promotes a broad reconsideration of science in the early American republic. We argue that scientific activity permeated early American society, but appeared in different forms and in different places than most historical literature has identified. Mathematical tables and astronomical charts in almanacs, snippets on chemistry and climate in agricultural journals, illustrations of mineral resources in geological maps, accessibly-written resource analysis in consulting reports, and articles in local newspapers arguing about causes of phenomena from the mundane to the surprising: all express a pervasive commitment to scientific ideas, questions, and investigation. These diverse genres of print, moreover, evidence a society that strongly valued studies of the natural world for their connections with important contemporary human endeavors. In the early republic scientific questions were deeply interwoven with commerce, with territorial claims, and with moral order: Early Americans mapped the world conceptually in order to claim it for some people and not for others. We identify a constellation of interests that we call the ''sciences of territoriality'' centered on the description and appropriation of natural resources. Our investigation of print culture both emphasizes an often-ignored facet of the early American republic-that scientific thinking was as ubiquitous and as taken for granted as religion or politics-and reveals particular, often unrecognized, characteristics of science in the early United States. The commercial and moral forces underlying the ''sciences of territoriality,'' combined with widespread literacy and an active broad-based print culture, deeply shaped early epistemological hierarchies in the United States.


Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) in a transmission electron microscope offers the possibility of extracting high accuracy maps of composition and electronic properties through EELS spectrum images (EELS-SI). Acquiring EELS-SI for different tilt angles, a 3D tomographic reconstruction of EELS information can be achieved. In the present work we show that an EELS spectrum volume (EELS-SV), a 4D dataset where every voxel contains a full EELS spectrum, can be reconstructed from the EELS-SI tilt series by the application of multivariate analysis. We apply this novel approach to characterize a nanocomposite material consisting of CoFe2O4 nanocolumns embedded in a BiFeO3 matrix grown on a LaNiO3 buffered LaAlO3 (001) substrate.


PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) collapse method is a simple and low cost approach for micronanochannel fabrication. However, the bonding pressure which influences the size of the final PDMS micro/nanochannels has not yet been studied. In this study, the effect of the bonding pressure on the size and maximum local stress of the PDMS micronanochannels was investigated by both experimental and numerical simulation method. The results show that when the bonding pressure is lower than 0.15 MPa the experiment results can agree well with the simulation results. The fluorescent images demonstrate that there is no blocking or leakage over the entire micro/nanochannels.


Traditionally implants for hip arthroplasty are secured with bone cement. Problems have been encountered with cement fixation with loosening and osteolysis attributed to the reaction to particulate cement material and also polyethylene debris from wear. Cementing techniques have been improved and the Swedish Hip Register [1] demonstrates that the revision rates have been reduced with improved cementing techniques. However, uncemented hip arthroplasty is now having a revival. In particular, bioactive materials are being used and this paper presents the results of a consecutive series of hip arthroplasties carried out over a total period of just 16 years. All the patients are included, including primary and revision hip arthroplasty. Patients are assessed using the Harris Hip Score [2]. 13% of the hips scored less than 80 on the Harris Hip Score but only 9.4% scored poor pain scores. These represent the results of poor hip arthroplasty, of which an even smaller percentage are related to failed HA hip arthroplasty.


Research on the relationship among language learning strategy, language learning beliefs and autonomy abounds in the literature. However, few studies have explored the possibility of promoting learners' autonomy and changing their beliefs through instructing language learning strategies in a collaborative manner. In addition, most of the earlier investigations have been carried out through purely cognitive or sociocultural perspectives employing solely quantitative or qualitative methods. Using a socio-cognitive framework, the present study aimed at first, identifying the relationships among language learning beliefs, language learning strategies, and learner autonomy; and second, investigating the role of collaboration in using language learning strategies that would eventually lead to autonomy and change of beliefs. To collect data, a mixed-method design was applied. An autonomy questionnaire, Horwitz's BALLI (Beliefs about Language Learning Inventory, 1987) and Oxford's SILL (Strategy Inventory for Language Learning, 1990) were given to177 EFL learners at the University of Mazandaran in Iran. To supplement the quantitative data with qualitative data, negotiated interviews and the learners' selfreflection notes were used. The analysis was done using paired sample T-tests, SEM and also content analysis. The findings revealed that language learning beliefs affected the learners' autonomy through the mediation of language learning strategies. However, the instruction of the strategies did not have any effects on the learners' autonomy but it helped in changing their language learning beliefs. The qualitative analysis also led to identifying some categories, subcategories and their relationships to and effects on each other.


Employee-owned businesses, benefit corporations, and other efforts in sustainability entrepreneurship are responding to prevalent challenges such as climate change, economic inequalities, and unethical business behavior. Universities, however, often fall short in sufficiently equipping students with competencies in sustainability entrepreneurship. One reason is that none of the existing frameworks links competencies to the actual processes of entrepreneurship, from discovery to consolidation. If graduates are to successfully start and run sustainability-oriented enterprises, the real-world entrepreneurship processes should provide the main orientation for training and learning. The present study proposes such a framework. We first conducted a qualitative literature review on competencies for entrepreneurs, sustainability professionals, social entrepreneurs, and sustainability entrepreneurs. We clustered the identified competencies according to conceptual similarities. On this basis, we describe sustainability entrepreneurship competencies along the entrepreneurial process model. The result is a process-oriented and literature-based framework of sustainability entrepreneurship competencies. It is intended to be used as a general vision for students, faculty, and entrepreneurs, as well as for the design of curricula, courses, and assessments.


The goal of genome wide association (GWA) mapping in modern genetics is to identify genes or narrow regions in the genome that contribute to genetically complex phenotypes such as morphology or disease. Among the existing methods, tree-based association mapping methods show obvious advantages over single marker-based and haplotype-based methods because they incorporate information about the evolutionary history of the genome into the analysis. However, existing tree-based methods are designed primarily for binary phenotypes derived from case/control studies or fail to scale genome-wide. In this paper, we introduce TreeQA, a quantitative GWA mapping algorithm. TreeQA utilizes local perfect phylogenies constructed in genomic regions exhibiting no evidence of historical recombination. By efficient algorithm design and implementation, TreeQA can efficiently conduct quantitative genom-wide association analysis and is more effective than the previous methods. We conducted extensive experiments on both simulated datasets and mouse inbred lines to demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of TreeQA.


Abstract In this paper, the results of the surface functionalization of the Ti6Al4V alloy scaffolds with different structures for use as a material for medical implants are presented. Radio frequency magnetron sputtering was used to modify the surface of the porous structures by deposition of the biocompatible hydroxyapatite (HA) coating with the thickness of 860±50 nm. The surface morphology, elemental and phase composition of the HA-coated scaffolds were studied. According to energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, the stoichiometric ratio of Ca/P for flat, orthorhombic and cubic scaffolds is 1.65, 1.60, 1.53, respectively, which is close to that of stoichiometric ratio for HA (Ca/P = 1.67). It was revealed that this method of deposition makes it possible to obtain the homogeneous crystalline coating both on the dense sample and in the case of scaffolds of complex geometry with different lattice cell structure.


Background: Action research is a well-established research methodology. It is following a post-positivist research philosophy grounded in critical thinking. The methodology is driven by practical problems, emphasis participatory research, and develops practically useful solutions in an iterative manner. Objective: Two objectives are to be achieved: (1) Understanding the state of the art with respect to action research usage in the software engineering literature, and (2) reflecting and providing recommendations of how to foster industry-academia collaboration through action research. Method:} Based on our experience with two action research studies in close collaboration with Ericsson lessons learned and guidelines are presented. Results: In both cases presented action research led to multiple refinements in the interventions implemented. Furthermore, the close collaboration and co-production with the industry was essential to identify and describe the required refinements to provide an in-depth understanding. In comparison with previous studies, we required multiple iterations while previous software engineering studies reported mostly one iteration, or were not explicit regarding the number of iterations studied. Conclusion: We conclude that action research is a powerful tool for industry-academia collaboration. The success of the method highly depends on the researchers and practitioners working in a team. Future studies need to improve the reporting with respect to describing the type of action research used, the iterations, the model of collaboration, and the rationales for changes in each iteration.


Abstract The American dilemma was once distinctively American, rooted in the particular history of the United States and in the conflict between liberal principles and exclusionary practice. The contemporary American dilemma takes a different form, arising from the challenges that emerge when international migration confronts the liberal nation-state. Solving the earlier dilemma called for extending and deepening citizenship so that it would be fully shared by all Americans. However, that more robust citizenship is only for Americans, who alone can cross U.S. borders as they please. Consequently, rights stop at the national boundary, where the admission of foreigners is controlled and restricted. Because entries are rationed, migration policies select a favored few, creating new forms of de jure inequality that separate citizens from resident aliens and distinguish among resident foreigners by virtue of their right to territorial presence. Thus, the encounter between citizens wanting to preserve their national community and newly arrived foreigners seeking to get ahead yields an inescapable social dilemma, one that America shares with other rich democracies.


High quality single Josephson junctions and junction arrays with 10 junctions in series have been fabricated using masked proton beam irradiation damage technology. Monte Carlo simulation of the irradiation damage profile underneath the metal mask has been carried out systematically to guide the metal mask structure design. A high resolution and high aspect ratio metal mask opening was fabricated by focused 30 keV Ga ion beam milling. Various nonconducting oxide buffer layers have been investigated for a Ga contamination free mask fabrication. A contamination free irradiation process and subsequent removal of metal mask after ion irradiation are the keys for the improved properties of junctions fabricated with YBCO.


We present an integrated optimization approach to parameter estimation for discrete choice demand models where data for one or more choice alternatives are censored. We employ a mixed-integer program (MIP) to jointly determine the prediction parameters associated with the customer arrival rate and their substitutive choices. This integrated approach enables us to recover proven, (near-) optimal parameter values with respect to the chosen loss-minimization (LM) objective function, thereby overcoming a limitation of prior multistart heuristic approaches that terminate without providing precise information on the solution quality. The imputations are done endogenously in the MIP by estimating optimal values for the probabilities of the unobserved choices being selected. Under mild assumptions, we prove that the approach is asymptotically consistent. For large LM instances, we derive a nonconvex-contvex alternating heuristic that can be used to obtain quick, near-optimal solutions. Partial information, user acceptance criteria, model selection, and regularization techniques can be incorporated to enhance practical efficacy. We test the LM model on simulated and real data and present results for a variety of demand-prediction scenarios: single-item, multi-item, time-varying arrival rate, large-scale instances, and a dual-layer estimation model extension that learns the unobserved market shares of competitors. This paper was accepted by Yinyu Ye, optimization.


The significant growth in the number of mobile users and their increasing demand for flexible access to various services has motivated significant research work in the area of future wireless access systems. It is assumed that heterogeneous radio access networks will be cooperating, as well as the IP-based backbone. Our assumptions on these different radio access technologies and the backbone result in a highly complex architecture. Consequently, management platform designers and developers need organizational guidance during the phase of creation of advanced service management platforms. Therefore, in this paper, a Unified Modeling Language process for designing such software platforms is presented.


Background: Relatives are those persons who are closest to the patient, regardless of relationship and included into the patient´s life world. When a person is in a palliative stage this affects not only the patient but also the relatives, as it implies such a big change in life for all. The nurse has an important role for both the patient and the relatives. Aim: The aim is to highlight the relative´s needs of support for palliative care. Method: A literature review based on previous research. Ten articles were found, nine with a qualitative approach and one with both qualitative and quantitative approach. Results: The analysis resulted in six themes, these were the result of the study. The six themes were, "to be seen an confirmed", "good communication", "continuous information", "availability and continuity", "to participate" and "to share responsibility with the staff". Conclusion: As a nurse we come in contact with relatives of patients in a palliative setting in any form. Our result is useful in all types of care not only in palliative care. It´s much a question of attitude in our performance and attitude is such a large and vital component in health care.


In recent years, collateralization of derivative contracts has extended from the standard mark-to-market and margining systems for exchange-traded contracts to the over-the-counter (OTC) market. This expansion of credit enhancement in OTC contracts has been underway at least since the 1990s, but it was formalized in the Dodd–Frank Act. The great majority of derivatives are now subject to collateralization requirements that are specified in a Credit Support Annex to the counterparties' ISDA agreement. Derivatives counterparties must make a credit value adjustment (CVA) to the value of a contract on their books to account for the effect of counterparty credit risk. But the pricing models generally do not take the interaction between market prices and collateral values into account. This article develops a valuation approach that incorporates the counterparty's credit quality and the effect of collateral, given market practices on how collateral is handled both under normal conditions and in a bankruptcy. Empirical comparison of the pricing of matched swaps with and without collateral support shows that the market does adjust for the mitigation of counterparty risk by the use of collateral, and that both factors are important.


Abstract The quality attributes of filleted rainbow trout and Baltic herring in over-wrap packages (polystyrene or wood fibre), vacuum packages and gas packages (35% CO 2 + 32·5% Ar + 32·5% N 2 , 35% CO 2 + 65% Ar, or 40% CO 2 + 60% N 2 ) stored at 2 °C were compared. Mesophilic bacteria grew most quickly in over-wrap packed fillets and most slowly in vacuum and gas packed fillets. Coliform bacteria grew faster in over-wrap and vacuum packed fish than in gas packed fish. Over-wrapped herring fillets had the least drip formation during storage, whereas gas-packed herring had the greatest drip. Drip was very small in trout fillets in all package types. The appearance of herring was evaluated as worse in vacuum and gas packages due to the excessive drip formed. The odour of trout packed in a wood fibre package was evaluated as slightly poor at the very beginning of the storage due to the very strong odour of the package, which masked the odour of the fish. The sensory quality of both fillets deteriorated faster in over-wrap and vacuum packages than in gas packages. The sensory quality of trout and herring in the three types of gas packages was quite similar. Argon in the gas mixture did not increase the shelf-life of fillets.


That hay fever is a form of hypersensibility to pollen proteins is conceded by everyone. The mechanism of this form of hypersensibility, likewise the phenomenon of its desensitization with pollen extract (phylactically or prophylactically administered) are still mooted questions.
 Cooke, Flood, Coca's (1) definition of hay fever as a "clinical symptomatic expression of local hypersensitiveness" cannot hold. The skin and conjunctional reactions in hay fever subjects are certainly extranasal. Sewall's (2) criticism that no local manifestation of hypersensibility can occur without the background of a general hypersensibility is amply justified.
 Up to now animal experiments to produce clinical hay fever have not been successful. Koessler (3) reports passive anaphylaxis in guinea-pigs. Cooke, Flood and Coca (4) and myself2 have failed to produce active or passive anaphylaxis with pollen extracts. My experiments to produce a passive anaphylaxis were made with patients' blood out of season. It is possible that Koessler's experiments were made in season.


Abstract Hatchling river turtles (Smooth Softshell Turtles, Apalone mutica; Spiny Softshell Turtles, Apalone spinifera; Northern Map Turtles, Graptemys geographica; False Map Turtles, Graptemys pseudogeographica; and Ouachita Map Turtles, Graptemys ouachitensis) were released in a variety of settings to help place orientation and dispersal from nests in the context of nest site selection by females and juvenile recruitment habitat. Visual cues associated with near open or far dark horizons were the primary environmental cues used during initial orientation and dispersal of the hatchling river turtles. On a river beach, hatchlings of both species of Softshell Turtles dispersed toward the open horizon of the nearby river. In contrast, hatchlings of all 3 species of Map Turtles on the same beach dispersed toward the near dark horizons of a forest that led them away from the river. Hatchling Map Turtles of all 3 species released in autumn and Northern Map Turtles also released in spring at a field arena dispersed toward near dark horizons of pine (Pinus spp.) and deciduous trees to the north and south of the arena (directions that were parallel to the Mississippi River). At a site in upland prairie habitat with no nearby wetlands, hatchlings of all 3 species of Map Turtles dispersed to the north toward near dark horizons of an oak (Quercus spp.) forest rather than toward more distant dark horizons of mixed oak and pine trees. At a lowland prairie site where no near dark horizon was visible, Northern Map Turtles dispersed toward 2 far dark horizons that were ∼ 230 m to the north (a pond surrounded with trees) and to the south (an area of large deciduous trees at the west end of a windrow of pine trees), but not toward the large riparian wetland 280 m to the west. The bimodal dispersal pattern toward 2 equidistant dark horizons within 230 m but not toward the riparian area 280 m to the west suggests that the perception distance for hatchling Northern Map Turtles is between 230 and 280 m. Dispersal of a combined sample of naïve hatchling False Map and Ouachita Map Turtles released in a mature corn field was not different from random, but the directions taken by the majority of hatchlings were to the north and south across corn rows that may be the closest match to dark horizons used for dispersal in typical habitats.


Abstract We live in a new normal of increasing, crosscutting, and shifting patterns of disasters fueled by large-scale environmental change, from floods to wildfires to pandemics. Our intervention in this forum piece makes the case that disasters, and responses to disasters, must be understood within the context of the global political-economic system of capitalism. We situate disasters, their making, and their politics within the Capitalocene and argue that disasters and the physical processes that underpin them are not natural: they are unevenly produced through, and exacerbated by, processes inherent in the capitalist system, with uneven consequences. We suggest that the predominantly technomanagerial approaches to disasters pursued within the neoliberal state and multilateral governance institution system reveal the tensions in addressing the causes of environmental change and the new normal of disasters under capitalism. We argue that through an engagement with the Capitalocene, environmental politics could further contribute to nuanced, critical understandings of disasters and their making in ways that foreground their in/justice implications.


Background: Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in India is 8.7%. Around 52% of the cases of diabetes among adults in India are undiagnosed. A simplified Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) for screening of undiagnosed diabetic subjects was developed by Mohan Diabetes Foundation, Chennai. IDRS can be reliably used as an effective tool for the mass screening of diabetes in the community.

Objectives: To assess the risk for type 2 diabetes among study participants using simplified version of IDRS and to estimate prevalence of abdominal obesity and physical activity among males and females.

Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the field practice area of Urban Health Center of a medical college hospital in South India. Simple random sampling was performed to select the participants. Data collection tool had two parts. First part was about socio-demographic information and second part was "Simplified Indian Diabetes Risk Score". Pearson's Chi-square was used as a test of significance. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Total 145 persons participated in the study. The prevalence of people at high risk of diabetes was 34% in the present study. The prevalence of abdominal obesity was 44% and 84% among males and females, respectively.

Conclusion: One-third of the participants were at high risk for diabetes. IDRS is a simple and easy to use tool to assess the risk of diabetes in the community.


Noise stress is dangerous natural contaminant that produces harmful physiological, psychological and morphological outcomes to the body. So this study was conducted in order to investigate the effects of noise stress on the parenchyma of testis. Healthy mature females rats (n = 20) were mated with the mature male rats and then randomly allocated equally either to experimental or control groups. Experimental group has given daily noise stress up to birth their child. In the second step, the child's pregnant rats of experimental group were distributed to three subgroups as follow: group I (without exposure to noise stress), group II (exposure to noise for 8 weeks) and group III (exposure to noise for 14 weeks) for morphometric analysis of their child's testicles by sacrificing of them at weeks 14. In general, the testes of non-exposed group were grown larger than ones in the noise exposed groups. Moreover, the testes of the experimental group 1 were larger than the other experimental groups. Indeed, the rate of atrophic seminiferous tubules and jumbled appearance of the interstitial space were more observed in the noise stress exposed group than non-exposed ones. In addition, seminiferous tubules analysis revealed that the characteristics of interstitial space cells and epithelial germinative cells of the seminiferous tubules in the control group were better than the noise exposed groups. It seems that the noise stress has negative influences on the fertility of male based on enhancing of the apoptotic process induced by pathogenesis stress and suppressing the kinetics spermatogenesis.


This article examines the violence that marred the 2017 General elections. Within the post-colonial theoretical context, the article explores the more localized narratives that drive violent skirmishes with specific reference to Nairobi's sub-spaces, such as the Kawangware slum. Further, the article seeks to explain why the sub-space is vulnerable to violent skirmishes (often ethnic) that accompany divisive elections and the implications of these conflicts for the future of urban politics in Nairobi's post-colonial space. The overall survey approach and delivery process of this article drew heavily on goodwill data and information from various respondents, majorly slum dwellers, who were randomly sampled. The questionnaires were designed to capture qualitative data on aspects of identity politics, people's political attitudes and perceptions that drive them to engage in violence before, during and even after elections. In analysing the causes of violence during the electioneering period, it was concluded that political maturity is measured by the degree of public participation and, to be precise, their engagement in political processes. On the other hand, Nairobi's post-colonial space is plagued with a myriad of challenges, key among them poverty, unemployment and crime. This has precipitated identity politics as a blueprint for preferred politicians, thus making the electoral process a protracted one, exacerbating political uncertainty and endless unrests characterized by violence. This study recommends that urban violence be examined in view of the interactional effects between emerging issues and the existing power holders and governmental agents representing them.


A fourth order transmission error was employed to improve the stability and tooth strength of circular-arc curvilinear cylindrical gears. The coefficient of fourth order polynomial curve was determined, the imaginary rack cutter which formed by the rotation of a head cutter and the imaginary pinion were introduced to determine the pinion and gear tooth surfaces, respectively. The numerical simulation of meshing shows: 1) the fourth order transmission error can be achieved by the proposed method; 2) the stability transmission can be performed by increasing the angle of the transfer point of the cycle of meshing; 3) the tooth fillet strength can be enhanced.


Fixed costs are higher and variable costs lower for clinical laboratory testing than for alternate-site testing (AST). For AST to become cost-effective, variable costs must be reduced. Four models for accounting for the costs of clinical laboratory testing and AST are compared. A common error is to omit some of the indirect costs of a cost-per-test analysis for AST, thereby providing false claims. For a cost-per-test analysis, we recommend that identical categories be used for both the central laboratory and for AST. However, cost-per-test data alone do not completely represent institutional costs or savings associated with laboratory testing at any site.


The sensitivity of ram erythrocyte-specific B-cells to cyclophosphane was studied. An antigen and two polyclonal activators, lipopolysaccharide and dextran sulfate, were used as the clone activators. The immunodepressant effect of cyclophosphane was found to depend on the degree of the immunocompetent clone activation. The maximal elimination of the clone under the influence of cyclophosphane occurred after its activation by the antigen and lipopolysaccharide. The drug exerted the minimal effect on the "resting" clone. The degree of suppression of the clone activated by dextran sulfate took the intermediate position.


This paper contributes to the debate on the existence of pollution haven effects by systematically measuring the pollution content of trade (measured by the pollution content of imports, PCI) and decomposing it into three components - a deep component (unrelated to the environmental debate but including variables traditionally present in the gravity model) and two components (factor endowments and environmental policies) that occupy center stage in the debate on trade and the environment. The decomposition is carried out for 1986-88 for an extensive data set covering 10 pollutants, 48 countries, and 79 ISIC 4-digit sectors. Illustrative decompositions presented for three of the 10 pollutants in the data set indicate a significant pollution haven effect which increases the PCI of the North because of stricter environmental regulations in the North. At the same time, the factor endowment effect decreases the PCI of the North as the North is relatively well-endowed in capital and pollution-intensive activities are also capital-intensive. On a global scale, because the bulk of trade is intraregional with a high North-North share, these effects are small relative to the deep determinants of the worldwide pollution content of trade. In sum, although the impact has been stronger on vertical (North-South) trade flows, differences in factor endowments and environmental policies have only marginally affected the pollution content of world trade during the 1986-88 period.


This thesis investigates the intonation system of Anglesey Welsh, an under
researched variety with regards to its suprasegmental aspects. The main aim of this thesis
is to provide a fine-grained intonational investigation into the realisation of the structural
components of the intonation system. The secondary aim considers a functional hypothesis
proposed by Haan (2002), that there may be a trade-off between the amount of lexicosyntactic
marking used to cue interrogativity (e.g. inversion, wh-words) and the amount of
intonational marking (e.g. higher and later accent peaks).
With regards to the phonetic realisation of the structural elements, two features are
investigated: the vertical scaling (or height) and the temporal alignment to the segmental
string. The materials were manipulated to test the effect that a) grammatical function and
b) temporal constraints had on the scaling and alignment of the structural components.
The results show that the scaling (height) was significantly affected by the
grammatical function of the test sentences, with the structural components in questions
being realised higher than statements. With regards to alignment, there was evidence of
significant adjustments in the location of some structural components as a function of the
number of syllables available in the sentence.
The final part of this thesis discusses issues surrounding a phonological analysis of
the intonation system using the scaling and alignment data. It is proposed that Anglesey
Welsh questions and statements are best analysed as having a rising L+H* in both
prenuclear and nuclear position, followed by a low boundary tone L%.
This thesis contributes to knowledge on prosodic typology by analysing the
structure and function of the intonation system using a widely used approach to
intonational analysis (the autosegmental-metrical approach). Furthermore, it tests
questions about the phonetic implementation of intonation in Anglesey Welsh and uses the
patterning to discuss an appropriate underlying phonological representation of the
intonation.


If the desired signal is present in training snapshots, the adaptive array performance is known to be quite sensitive even to slight mismatches between the presumed and actual signal steering vectors. Such mismatches can occur as a result of environmental nonstationarities, look direction errors, imperfect array calibration or distorted antenna shape, as well as distortions caused by medium inhomogeneities, near-far mismatch, source spreading, and local scattering. The similar type of performance degradation can occur when the signal steering vector is known exactly but the training sample size is small. In this paper, we develop a new approach to robust adaptive beamforming in the presence of an arbitrary unknown signal steering vector mismatch. Our approach is based on the optimization of worst-case performance using Second-Order Cone (SOC) programming. The adaptive beamformer proposed is shown to have a substantially improved robustness as compared to existing algorithms and enjoy simple implementation.


From the late 1880s to around 1915, Childe Hassam, America's foremost impressionist, frequently visited the Isles of Shoals, the site of a summer resort popular with many American artists and writers. Paintings from Hassam's Isles of Shoals series are among the most familiar icons of late nineteenth-century American art. But until now, a comprehensive selection of these beautiful works had not been collected in one place. David Park Curry's informative text provides the background essential to a full appreciation of these works.


Microbial biotechnology is expected to change production methods, the products themselves and the structure of the industries in the new economies. Hopefully, countries in the Middle-East, Latin America, Asia and Africa have already recognized the importance of microbial biotechnology's promise. In this sense, the importance of externalities which might affect the success or failure of these companies becomes an issue of paramount importance. In the present study, we will try to identify the main external factors which could lead in the success of microbial biotechnology firms in Iran. To do so, the research follows a qualitative research design to answer this main question. Based on our findings, critical success factors are categorized in the following categories: General Environment (GE), Political Position (PP), Economic Position (EP), and Market Position (MP).


INTRODUCTION
Few couple-focused interventions have been developed to improve distress and relationship outcomes among men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer and their partners.

AIMS
We examined the effects of a five-session Intimacy-Enhancing Therapy (IET) vs. Usual Care (UC) on the psychological and relationship functioning of men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer and their partners. Pre-intervention levels of psychological and relationship functioning were evaluated as moderators of intervention effects.

METHODS
Seventy-one survivors and their partners completed a baseline survey and were subsequently randomly assigned to receive five sessions of IET or UC (no treatment). Eight weeks after the baseline assessment, a follow-up survey was administered to survivor and partner.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Distress, well-being, relationship satisfaction, relationship intimacy, and communication were investigated as the main outcomes.

RESULTS
IET effects were largely moderated by pre-intervention psychosocial and relationship factors. Those survivors who had higher levels of cancer concerns at pretreatment had significantly reduced concerns following IET. Similar moderating effects for pre-intervention levels were reported for the effects of IET on self-disclosure, perceived partner disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness. Among partners beginning the intervention with higher cancer-specific distress, lower marital satisfaction, lower intimacy, and poorer communication, IET improved these outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS
IET had a marginally significant main effect upon survivor well-being but was effective among couples with fewer personal and relationship resources. Subsequent research is needed to replicate these findings with a larger sample and a longer follow-up.


In the UK, the last 15 years have seen a profound change in the way that lesbians and gay men have been socially and politically located and acknowledged. This is evidenced by recent legislative changes that have given protection to lesbians and gay men and placed a duty on public bodies to provide equitable services. For a number of years lesbians and gay men have been specifically targeted, recruited and utilised as adopters of children in public care. With these changes has come the realisation that a number of complexities in adoption practice have been insufficiently addressed. Brown and Cocker (2008) have argued that in the assessment of prospective lesbian and gay adopters, struggling with complexities is crucial for safe and effective assessment of suitability to be realised. This appreciation of the complexity of practice has been articulated in the Independent Inquiry into the Circumstances of Child Sexual Abuse by Two Foster Carers in Wakefield (Parrott et al, 2007). The report noted that the 'homosexuality' of the foster carers became the primary focus of social work anxiety. This happened at the expense of holistic considerations of both the carers' potential and their actual foster care practice. Although these findings relate to foster care, they are transferable to the adoption field. The authors of the Inquiry emphasised the importance of 'discrimination' in practice, arguing that 'discrimination' was essential for discerning and analytical assessment, support and supervision. This article by Christine Cocker and Helen Cosis Brown offers a conceptual framework as well as practice tools to facilitate such discriminatory, effective, discerning and comprehensive assessments of lesbian and gay prospective adopters. The paramountcy of the child's welfare has to remain central to developments in adoption practice. This article maintains this centrality.


We investigate the dynamics of the voter model in which the population itself changes endogenously via the birth-death process. There are two species of voters, labeled A and B, and the population of each species can grow or shrink by the birth-death process at equal rates b. Individuals of opposite species also undergo voter model dynamics in which an AB pair can equiprobably become AA or BB with rate —neutral evolution. In the limit , the distribution of consensus times varies as t−3 and the probability that the population size equals n at the moment of consensus varies as n−3. As the birth/death rate b is increased, fixation occurs more more quickly; that is, population fluctuations promote consensus.


Do differences in tastes for leisure play an important role in determining income inequality? Using NLSY79 data on the joint distribution of lifecycle earnings and work hours, we fit a simple lifecycle model in which workers are heterogeneous in (i) their ability to accumulate human capital (talent), (ii) their preferences over consumption vs. leisure (taste), and (iii) their initial human capital. We find that tastes play a large role: 71\% of earnings variation at age 44 is due to tastes, rather than talent or initial human capital. These findings are driven by the high standard deviation in "permanent" work hours and a large positive correlation between work hours and earnings. Intuitively, tastes matter because they affect the path of wages via their effect on human capital investment. Finally, we show that exchanging the sources of income variation between talent and tastes changes redistributive tax rates significantly, particularly when heterogeneity is due to differences in the marginal utility of consumption, rather than leisure.


Many developing countries are re-orienting their production and marketing systems by linking local agri-producers with organized supply chain networks and supermarkets to meet increasing consumer demands. However, the existing literature is silent on the effects of such integration on relative inefficiency of smallholder producers. This paper analyzes the effects of such supply chains using data from a natural experiment in the dairy sector of Pakistan. We study the impact of rural milk supply chain, known as milk district, on smallholder efficiency of commercial dairy producers by employing stochastic production frontier and technical inefficiency effects model using survey data of 800 dairy households. While location of dairy households in our sample is exogenously determined, building of milk supply chain indeed decreases technical inefficiency. We detect stronger power of milk district in further reducing technical inefficiency if the farms are located in remote areas, or if their size is relatively large. The advice to policy makers from these results conforms to the standard economic view that market competition leads to decreased levels of technical inefficiency of smallholder producers.


The authors derive the object-based effective stiffness of antagonistically actuated, backdrivable, parallel linkages and show how to use this result to synthesize the generalized input loads required to create a desired system stiffness. They investigate the open-loop stability characteristics of such antagonistically actuated systems as a simple four-bar linkage, a dual-arm system, and a multifingered hand. In addition, they compare object-based and joint-based load distribution schemes in terms of their effect on system stability and input load requirements for an overconstrained planar mechanism. These investigations show an extreme interdependence between system geometry, actuation mode, and stability.<<ETX>>


Soft error reliability has become a first-order design criterion for modern microprocessors. Architectural Vulnerability Factor (AVF) modeling is often used to capture the probability that a radiation-induced fault in a hardware structure will manifest as an error at the program output. AVF estimation requires detailed microarchitectural simulations which are time-consuming and typically present aggregate metrics. Moreover, it requires a large number of simulations to derive insight into the impact of microarchitectural events on AVF. In this work we present a first-order mechanistic analytical model for computing AVF by estimating the occupancy of correct-path state in important microarchitecture structures through inexpensive profiling. We show that the model estimates the AVF for the reorder buffer, issue queue, load and store queue, and functional units in a 4-wide issue machine with a mean absolute error of less than 0.07. The model is constructed from the first principles of out-of-order processor execution in order to provide novel insight into the interaction of the workload with the microarchitecture to determine AVF. We demonstrate that the model can be used to perform design space explorations to understand trade-offs between soft error rate and performance, to study the impact of scaling of microarchitectural structures on AVF and performance, and to characterize workloads for AVF.


Abstract The loss and degradation of prairie-oak habitats has resulted in significant changes in bird species breeding distributions and populations. Among the 49 species highly associated with prairie-oak habitats, 21 have experienced extirpations, range contractions, and/or regional population declines. Three species have been regionally extirpated as breeding species since the 1940s, including Lewis's woodpecker, which historically occurred throughout the region. Eleven species have experienced local or ecoregional extirpations and/or range contractions. The predominant pattern of range contraction starts at the northern edge of a species range and moves southward. Nine species have relatively small regional populations, six with limited distribution in the Klamath Mountains ecoregion, and three with small and patchily distributed breeding populations throughout the region. There are nine species with significantly declining regional population trends with a high degree of confidence based on Breeding Bird Survey data, and five with similar declines using Christmas Bird Count data. Several other species may be declining based on a lower degree of confidence in the data or anecdotal observations. These include both endemic subspecies, streaked horned lark and Oregon vesper sparrow, which have regional population estimates of <2,000 and <3,000 birds, respectively. Six species have expanded their range in prairie-oak habitats in the last 50 years. The predominant pattern of range expansion starts at the northern edge of a species range and moves northward. Recommended actions to support prairie-oak bird conservation include range-wide and local inventories and monitoring to determine status, and evaluations and implementation of reintroductions or federal listings as appropriate.


Based on Oxley's predictive model, the novel analytical modeling of shear band spacing of serrated chip in high speed cutting of aluminum alloys is investigated accounting for the effect of strain rate hardening in addition to temperature softening. It is indicated that the shear band spacing decreases with increasing the cutting velocity and increases with increasing undeformed chip thickness. Other than the cutting velocity and undeformed chip thickness, the shear band spacing initially descends to minimum and subsequently ascends with increasing the tool rake angle.


The 2012 presidential election reached new heights in dollars spent and the rancorous nature of advertisements emanating from candidates and other interested parties. While 'going negative' has become a well-known tactic in political campaigns, several observers believe that the level of acrimony crossed the line between civil discourse essential to democratic societies and uncivil haranguing that has little to do with election issues. To explore the nuances of this topic, we open with a discussion of limited cross-disciplinary research on incivility in political discourse so that its essential nature is exposed, differentiating it from more common uses of negativity. Our empirical work examined about 350 television advertisements that were shown between the presidential debates of 2012 and the November elections. Levels of civility and incivility are noted and implications for the future of political advertising are provided.


Satellite cells are well known as a postnatal skeletal muscle stem cell reservoir that under injury conditions participate in repair. However, mechanisms controlling satellite cell quiescence and activation are the topic of ongoing inquiry by many laboratories. In this study, we investigated whether loss of the cell cycle regulatory factor, pRb, is associated with the re-entry of quiescent satellite cells into replication and subsequent stem cell expansion. By ablation of Rb1 using a Pax7CreER,Rb1 conditional mouse line, satellite cell number was increased 5-fold over 6 months. Furthermore, myoblasts originating from satellite cells lacking Rb1 were also increased 3-fold over 6 months, while terminal differentiation was greatly diminished. Similarly, Pax7CreER,Rb1 mice exhibited muscle fiber hypotrophy in vivo under steady state conditions as well as a delay of muscle regeneration following cardiotoxin-mediated injury. These results suggest that cell cycle re-entry of quiescent satellite cells is accelerated by lack of Rb1, resulting in the expansion of both satellite cells and their progeny in adolescent muscle. Conversely, that sustained Rb1 loss in the satellite cell lineage causes a deficit of muscle fiber formation. However, we also show that pharmacological inhibition of protein phosphatase 1 activity, which will result in pRb inactivation accelerates satellite cell activation and/or expansion in a transient manner. Together, our results raise the possibility that reversible pRb inactivation in satellite cells and inhibition of protein phosphorylation may provide a new therapeutic tool for muscle atrophy by short term expansion of the muscle stem cells and myoblast pool.


HYV Bow has displaced a number of major as well as minor crops. This study examines the magnitude and direction of changes in area of HYV Boro and its competitive crops in Bangladesh over the years (1973-74 to 1984-85). Considering the importance of the crops substituted by HYV Boro particularly the non-cereal crops; more emphasis in research and extension is needed to increase their productivities so that these can be grown profitably like that of HYV Boro.


The S235A-B star forming region has been extensively observed in the past from the radio to the near IR, but what was happening in the immediate surroundings of the water maser, placed in between the two nebulosities, was still unclear because of insufficient resolution especially in the spectral range from the Far IR to the mm, even though there were sound indications that new young stellar objects (YSOs) are being formed there. We present here new high resolution maps at mm wavelengths in different molecules (HCO + ,C 34 S, H2CS, SO2 and CH3CN), as well as in the 1.2 and 3.3 mm continuum obtained with the Plateau de Bure interferometer, and JCMT observations at 450 µm and 850 µm that unambiguously reveal the presence of new YSOs placed in between the two H regions S235A and S235B and associated with the water maser. A molecular core and an unresolved source in the mm and in the sub-mm are centred on the maser, with indication of mass infall onto the core. Two molecular bipolar outflows and a jet originate from the same position. Weak evidence is found for a molecular rotating disk perpendicular to the direction of the main bipolar outflow. The derived parameters indicate that one of the YSOs is an intermediate luminosity object (L ∼ 10 3 L� ) in a very early evolutionary phase, embedded in a molecular core of ∼100 M� , with a temperature of 30 K. The main source of energy for the YSO could come from gravitational infall, thus making of this YSO a rare example of intermediate luminosity protostar representing a link between the earliest evolutionary phases of massive stars and low mass protostars of class 0-I.


The author reflects on the contradictions of his attempts to queer legal writing pedagogy. He introduces a lesbian couple into a hypothetical, but students do not recognize them as lesbian or a couple. He takes steps to make the classroom safer for trans students, but realizes he may have no trans students in his classroom. Meanwhile, students read his performance as queer in unexpected ways. The author offers provocative questions about the relationships among systemic injustice, queer forms of resistance, legal writing, and the academy. If it is impossible to teach people to write effectively for a deeply biased and hierarchical legal system in subversive and liberatory ways, then how can we do it anyway, or what might we want to do instead?


Robots are becoming increasingly relevant to neurosurgeons, extending a neurosurgeon's physical capabilities, improving navigation within the surgical landscape when combined with advanced imaging, and propelling the movement toward minimally invasive surgery. Most surgical robots, however, isolate surgeons from the full range of human senses during a procedure. This forces surgeons to rely on vision alone for guidance through the surgical corridor, which limits the capabilities of the system, requires significant operator training, and increases the surgeon's workload. Incorporating haptics into these systems, ie, enabling the surgeon to "feel" forces experienced by the tool tip of the robot, could render these limitations obsolete by making the robot feel more like an extension of the surgeon's own body. Although the use of haptics in neurosurgical robots is still mostly the domain of research, neurosurgeons who keep abreast of this emerging field will be more prepared to take advantage of it as it becomes more prevalent in operating theaters. Thus, this article serves as an introduction to the field of haptics for neurosurgeons. We not only outline the current and future benefits of haptics but also introduce concepts in the fields of robotic technology and computer control. This knowledge will allow readers to be better aware of limitations in the technology that can affect performance and surgical outcomes, and "knowing the right questions to ask" will be invaluable for surgeons who have purchasing power within their departments.


Social status is a central and universal feature of our highly social species. Reproductively relevant resources, including food, territory, mating opportunities, powerful coalitional alliances, and group-provided health care, flow to those high in status and trickle only slowly to those low in status. Despite its importance and centrality to human social group living, the scientific understanding of status contains a large gap in knowledge-the precise criteria by which individuals are accorded high or low status in the eyes of their group members. It is not known whether there exist universal status criteria, nor the degree to which status criteria vary across cultures. Also unknown is whether status criteria are sex differentiated, and the degree of cross-cultural variability and consistency of sex-differentiated status criteria. The current article investigates status criteria across 14 countries (N = 2,751). Results provide the first systematic documentation of potentially universal and sex-differentiated status criteria. Discussion outlines important next steps in understanding the psychology of status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).


Playfulness is a disposition which promotes adaptability across the lifespan. Attuned co-playfulness is a therapeutic tool requiring self-awareness of the disposition by the therapist. As a music therapy student working on a paediatric ward in a therapeutic play environment, the intersection of music therapy, therapeutic play and playfulness inspired this research. Specific research on playfulness in music therapy is limited. This research investigated playfulness in music therapy practice: how and when playfulness manifested in interpersonal interaction, both within and without music, to foster the therapeutic process. Using an interpretivist, qualitative methodology and an action research approach, three cycles of action research were completed. Cycle one examined how playfulness was evidenced in my practice. Playfulness was evident when I was childlike, free from rules, the music therapy had elements of incongruence, I used humour or experienced joy. Playfulness was most evident with children up to five years of age. Cycle two explored playfulness in music therapy with children in middle childhood. Themes from this cycle included giving children time to warm up, using humour and primarily, collaboration. Cycle three explored the context for playfulness. Playfulness was most evident when music therapy occurred in the playroom or at bedside, without interruption. Playfulness was more evident with a supportive family member present and when there was some familiarity between music therapy student and patient. Confidence levels, health status and responses to the hospital environment impacted on playfulness for both patients and the music therapy student. Playfulness was shown to be a marker of health and wellbeing for the music therapy student. Experiencing a lack of playfulness was a potential indicator of secondary traumatic stress and the need for increased self-care. Exhibiting a lack of playfulness was an appropriate clinical strategy which enabled affective state attunement with participants, supporting the intersubjective therapeutic process. This research raises the relevance of playfulness as a viable therapeutic marker in music therapy for children and adolescents, and as an indicator of wellbeing for music therapists. The findings are specific to this research setting and period and are not generalizable.


The Beatles were responsible for several long-lasting innovations that shaped the history of pop music and Western culture in general. As a British rock band that dominated the popular music scene during the 1960s, they made one of their most significant, yet sometimes overlooked, contributions through the incorporation of elements from Indian culture in their music and lyrics. This essay discusses the role that the Beatles played in introducing and popularizing certain features of Indian culture, and specifically Indian music, in the Western hemisphere. I first describe their relationship with Indian culture. In this section, I bring forth questions, such as why they became interested in this culture, why they decided to go on a spiritual retreat to India, and how the trip influenced their thoughts about foreign culture. After that, this essay analyzes the influence of Indian culture and Indian music on the Beatles' lyrics and music, respectively. Finally, I will illuminate the lasting effect that this cross-fertilization had in subsequent years.


Background and Study Aim: Although the judo throwing techniques are not considered as injurious to the attacker, repetition of these techniques might cause repetitive strain type injuries. The goal of the study was knowledge about the degrees of flexion and extension and abduction and adduction of the main locomotive joints, performing the most employed throwing techniques in high-level competition.
Material and Methods: Two world-class judoists, under the supervision of an elite Japanese expert, performed seoi-nage, uchi-mata, osoto-gari, ouchi-gari and kouchi-gari. They were analysed using three-dimensional technology.
Results: Data of performance throws obtained from expert 1 and 2 respectively were very similar. Results indicate that systematic repetition of seoi-nage, uchi-mata and o-soto-gari can produce shoulder tendon pathologies. Long-term seoi-nage and uchi-mata practice might generate epicondylitis. Judokas who have suffered anterior cruciate ligament injuries must be careful when executing techniques that demand explosive knee extension (i.e. seoi-nage) against a great resistance. Judokas are not exposed to overuse injuries when they perform ouchi-gari and kouchi-gari throws.
Conclusions: Systematic practice of the most employed judo throwing techniques in high-level judo can cause injuries by overuse in the upper-body joints (shoulder, elbow). Nevertheless, the lower-body joints (knee, ankle) do not seem to be at risk of injury by overuse.


Autologous blood clot was injected into six dogs to produce a graduated decrease in cardiac output (CO). The effects of an infusion of norepinephrine, titrated to specific end points, were recorded before embolization and at two levels of pulmonary hypertension. Simultaneous measurements of systemic and renal hemodynamics were made. Sequential blood clot injection increased (p less than .01) pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) from 1.3 to 13 to 33 mm Hg.L-1.min and reduced CO 45 percent and 75 percent (p less than .01). Norepinephrine increased both stroke volume and CO (p less than .01) in each condition and did not increase PVR. Since the biventricular filling pressures remained constant or fell slightly with norepinephrine, the increase in CO is best explained by an improvement in pump performance. There was no deterioration in renal blood flow or creatinine clearance with norepinephrine. The data suggested that in this model of right ventricular dysfunction, norepinephrine consistently improved myocardial performance without provoking further vasoconstriction in either the pulmonary or renal circulations.


Objective: to study vegetative balance at patients with brain tumors located in posterior and medium cranial fossas undergone neurosurgical operations. The analysis of cardiac rhythm variability, orthostatic test and Kerdo index were used as integrative markers of activity of vegetative nervous system. 68 patients from 17 to 71 years old were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups depending on tumor localization. All 68 (100%) patients underwent orthostatic test using "Valenta" diagnostic system, the vegetative Kerdo index was calculated three times (before operation, after an introduction narcosis and after extubation). Daily variability of cardiac rhythm was investigated in 34 (50%) patients. The statistical analysis of results of the tests in two investigated groups had been carried out. Results: according to indicators of Kerdo index, before operation the activity of parasympathetic nervous systems dominated in patients with tumor localization both in posterior and medium cranial fossa. At calculations of Kerdo index after an introduction narcosis and after extubation the distinct tendency to a eutonia condition had been recorded. Analysis of active orthostatic test showed that in the most of the patients the minimum load (transition from a prone position in vertical standing) signs of sympatotonia prevailed. The depression of cardiac rhythm variability depended on tumor localization. More often essential decreasing of cardiac rhythm variability observed in patients with posterior fossa tumors.


The polarization dependence of electric field for hemicyanine layers deposited by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique has been measured. The experimental results show that ferroelectricity exists not only in thick films (200nm) but also in thinner films (3Ohm), and the remnant polarization is related to film thickness. In order to interpret the measured results, a planar rotor model was introduced, and a relation between polarization and film thickness was obtained by perturbation theory. The theory fitting agrees with experimental results well. It is confirmed that ferroelectricity in organic molecular LB films mainly arose from altering of molecular orientation.


The Juno spacecraft has measured Jupiter's low‐order, even gravitational moments, J2–J8, to an unprecedented precision, providing important constraints on the density profile and core mass of the planet. Here we report on a selection of interior models based on ab initio computer simulations of hydrogen‐helium mixtures. We demonstrate that a dilute core, expanded to a significant fraction of the planet's radius, is helpful in reconciling the calculated Jn with Juno's observations. Although model predictions are strongly affected by the chosen equation of state, the prediction of an enrichment of Z in the deep, metallic envelope over that in the shallow, molecular envelope holds. We estimate Jupiter's core to contain a 7–25 Earth mass of heavy elements. We discuss the current difficulties in reconciling measured Jn with the equations of state and with theory for formation and evolution of the planet.


Background Inhaled colistimethate is a drug dispensed in hospital pharmacy services, commonly used in obstructive lung diseases. Purpose To describe and evaluate the causality of a case of thrombocytopenia after initiating inhaled colistimethate treatment. Materials and methods Thrombocytopenia was reported by a patient in our outpatient hospital pharmacy service when he came to return Promixin (sodium colistimethate) 1 MIU. The clinical record was retrospectively reviewed to evaluate the possible causality by the Karch-Lasagna algorithm. The adverse event (AE) was notified to the regional pharmacovigilance centre, which consulted national and European agencies about more notifications. Results A 79 year-old man with diffuse interstitial lung disease (DILD) began inhaled treatment with sodium colistimethate 0.5 MIU/12 h to prevent Pseudomonas sp colonisation. Initial platelet level was normal (130,000 cell /mcL), but after six months' treatment, he presented haematomas in mouth, eye, back and leg with a platelet count of 6, 000 cell/mcL, so colistimethate was discontinued. A week later, after receiving immunoglobulins and corticoids, his platelet level recovered (98,000 cell/mcL). After six weeks, the platelet level had normalised (205,000 cell /mcL) and treatment was restarted at the same dose. Thrombocytopenia reappeared (58,000 cell/mcL) after 15 days of treatment, therefore the drug was definitely stopped. The AE was classified as probable, as it appeared with treatment initiation, disappeared when drug was withdrawn and reappeared after readministration without any alternative explanation. There were no notifications of this AE in the Spanish Pharmacovigilance System and four had been described in the European Medicines Agency database. Conclusions Inhaled colistimethate-induced thrombocytopenia is a serious, rare AE we need to look out for as part of the pharmaceutical care in lung disease patients. No conflict of interest.


Optical breast imaging uses near-infrared light to assess the optical properties of breast tissue. It can be performed relying on intrinsic breast tissue contrast alone or with the use of exogenous imaging agents that accumulate at the tumor site. Different tissue components have unique scattering and absorption characteristics for each wavelength. Using multiple wavelengths allows for the calculation of relative concentrations of oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin, lipid, and water in the tissue (spectroscopic imaging), which may enable discrimination between malignant and benign tissue. With the use of exogenous imaging agents, such discrimination may be improved even further, especially with imaging agents specifically targeted to cancer-associated molecular changes (molecular imaging). Currently used breast imaging modalities (X-ray mammography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging) have limitations in clinical utility, including early detection, diagnosis, and treatment monitoring of breast cancer. Optical breast imaging is being pursued as an adjunct to the current modalities for its potential to provide biophysical and molecular information on tissue. Moreover, important strengths of optical imaging are that the technique uses no ionizing radiation, is relatively cheap, has a very high sensitivity for probe detection, and its imaging agents are easy to generate. First, a literature overview is given of the various clinical optical breast imaging studies and the preclinical optical imaging studies in the evaluation and development of novel target-specific imaging agents for breast cancer. Then, the early evaluation of a new diffuse optical tomography prototype dedicated for breast imaging is described. We showed that based on intrinsic breast tissue contrast alone, our new prototype has the potential to discriminate malignant from benign breast tissue by assessing the optical properties of breast tissue in a reproducible quantitative and qualitative way. We demonstrated the ability of the technique to visualize cysts and elucidate their high water and low total hemoglobin content by spectroscopic analysis. In addition, we showed ability to safely detect malignant breast tumors in patients using a low dose of a novel fluorescent imaging agent. Main limitations of the prototype included geometry issues hindering the visualization of lesions close to the patient's chest wall, and the poor spatial resolution limiting the detection of very small breast lesions. Finally, our preclinical optical imaging studies are reported. In phantom studies, we showed the potential of a commercially available optical breast scanner to detect newly developed molecular imaging agents based on modulating light transmission. Nanomolar concentrations of nanotubes and micromolar concentrations of a small molecule dye could be detected. In a mouse model, we showed that non-invasive in vivo monitoring of changes in protein expression as a response to treatment is feasible using optical imaging. Although optical breast imaging is still in its infancy, the technique is certainly promising in breast cancer detection and treatment management. Further technical developments and the availability of relevant molecular imaging agents for human use in the near future could eventually allow for this technique to be used in routine clinical practice


: Chlamydophila pneumoniae is a respiratory pathogen which has been involved in the pathogenesis of a number of chronic diseases. We studied the association between IgG antibodies against C. pneumoniae and intrinsic asthma in adults. C. pneumoniae IgG serum titers were determined by enzymatic immunoassay in 55 adult patients and 87 healthy controls. A significant association was found between anti-C. pneumoniae antibodies and intrinsic asthma, as compared to the control group (23.6% vs. 10.3%, p <0.05). C. pneumoniae may therefore be involved in the origin or in exacerbations of intrinsic asthma.


Recently, the fiber reinforced composite embedded with visco-elastic layer has received great attention because of its good damping capability. Damping is an important feature for dynamic behaviour of composite structures, which alleviates the resonant vibrations and thus prolongs the service life of structures under fatigue loading or impact. The present paper deals with the dynamic response of a 3D composite structure embedded with visco-elastic layer. The modal analysis, harmonic analysis and transient analysis are carried out respectively. The amplitude of z-displacement of a specific node on the bottom reduces quickly due to the high damping of the visco-elastic layer.


This paper seeks to explore how film directors comprehend an actor's performance while it is being created by the actor on set, as the camera is rolling. The position of screen acting within film scholarship is discussed to draw attention to just how recently film scholars have shifted their position regarding the actor's contribution to the film. This is followed by an examination of the valuable insights into comprehending actor performance that new discoveries in neuroscience and cognitive science are uncovering, along with first-hand research obtained from interviews with Australian directors and actors. By seeking to unpack to a more conscious level what many people (including highly regarded directors), believe to be predominantly an intuitive activity, we may better understand what is actually taking place during that moment on a film set when the director is comprehending the work of the actor as it is being created. This paper argues that it is largely through acute perception, which is linked to an ever-expanding body of both conscious and tacit knowledge regarding actor performance, rather than merely instinct or intuition, that the director is able to comprehend the actor's performance.