Abstract The species of the genus Platanus L. are widely used in urban green infrastructure in Bulgaria and abroad, but are proven to be a serious source of allergen pollen emissions. The number of people, affected by pollinosis, is increasing every year and this affects the world economy and health of the population in a high level. The pollen of the plane tree is light, very small and spreads anemophilically. This is one of the genera that produce the largest amount of pollen per inflorescence. This makes Platanus a tree of a high allergy potential that has the tendence to get higher in time, because of its increasing use in urban green spaces. The aim of this study is to collect data for allergy potential of the three species of plane tree in some of the European countries, where the allergy is a significant problem, and to compare the sensitization of patients to its pollen in Bulgaria.


The different means to stimulate public participation in urban planning in Jelgava, Latvia, is reviewed. Questionnaires, exhibits, public discussions, etc were used to reach as many as possible. While many hundred of the inhabitants did take part, some groups were identified as more active, such as teachers, medical personnel and students. Key areas for public participation were identified as environmental quality, social and economic development, garbage management and the planning of cementeries.


This paper proposes a method for measuring total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and other hydrocarbon fractions in soils, and discusses its uncertainties. In this method, hydrocarbons are microwave-extracted from the soil and then subjected to solid phase extraction (SPE). The resulting fractions are analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. In tests using reference soil samples of a known TPH content, recoveries were on average 90% for all fractions. The limit of detection for TPH in the tested soils was below 0.2 mg kg−1. Inter-repetition variation in the quantification of aliphatic hydrocarbons was <3%, and <4% for aromatic hydrocarbons. The expanded uncertainty associated with the method ranged from 9% to 15% for aliphatic hydrocarbons and from 19% to 30% for aromatic hydrocarbons. The possible contributors towards the overall uncertainty are discussed.


Increasingly, organisations strive to shape their knowledge environment and organisational culture for improved performance and organisational success. Despite that, existing evidence recounts the individual role of organisational culture, knowledge management and intellectual capital towards organisational performance and success, a comprehensive explanation of the effect of multiple dimensions of these factors on organisational success remains unexplored. This paper adds to existing literature by proposing that an organisation's knowledge environment combines its knowledge sharing practices (i.e. knowledge types, knowledge sharing approaches and knowledge sharing processes) and its intellectual capital. This paper presents a conceptual model on the relationship between organisational culture, knowledge environment and organisational success. The model proposes the role of organisational culture in shaping knowledge sharing practices, intellectual capital and organisational success. This research-in-progress concludes with directions for future research on the effect of organisational culture, knowledge sharing practices and intellectual capital on organisational success.


Abstract The term air conditioning not only prescribes comfort temperature and relative humidity, but also the quality of air inside the room. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) has become a concomitant of air conditioning. The pollutants generated inside the room affect the quality of air inside the room. The major pollutants considered are occupant generated (carbon dioxide - CO2, odour), sulphur dioxide and toluene etc. The monitoring and controlling of all pollutants is cumbersome. Of all, CO2 is frequently considered as the surrogate index of pollutants provided that there are no other major sources of adverse pollutants present. ASHRAE standard 62-1999 recommends a ventilation rate of 8 L/s per person. Because carbon dioxide is a bioeffluent, the monitoring of CO2 concentration inside a space helps in ventilation control, thereby maintaining IAQ and, in turn, comfort conditions. Therefore, to achieve this in optimal system design and control, the instantaneous occupancy level is required. To estimate the instantaneous occupancy level, the instantaneous CO2 concentration and its generation rate must be known. The impasse with CO2 as an indicator of occupancy is the cost and the time response of the sensor. Furthermore, the system behaviour is non-linear. These factors call for more accurate design of controllers. Hence fuzzy controllers can be chosen as the best option. Not only the ventilation flow rate but also the supply flow rate can be varied to achieve optimum comfort control from the system. It has been found that the system settling time is very much improved when using a fuzzy controller as opposed to conventional controllers. This enables fast varying occupancy levels to be monitored for the optimum control of ventilation to maintain IAQ. The regulation of supply and ventilation flow rates is also shown to be able to reduce fresh air demand by over 50% when compared to an unregulated system. Apart from the resultant energy savings achieved in the provision of fresh air, the air conditioning load is also reduced.


In order to form the firm active fixation with the adjacent bone, a new kind of bioactive composite hydrogel was prepared as calcic layer of cartilage with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and bioglass (BG). The biomineralization properties of the PVA/BG biocomposite hydrogel were studied through Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, XRD and SEM with EDX. Results showed that hydroxylcarbonateapatite was formed on the surface of the PVA/BG biocomposite hydrogel after the biocomposite hydrogel soaked into SBF solution. The composite possesses good mineralization properties and could form good firm active fixation with the adjacent bone.


Aedes albopictus is a major vector of dengue and Chikungunya viruses. Olfaction plays a vital role in guiding mosquito behaviors and contributes to their ability to transmit pathogens. Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are abundant in insect olfactory tissues and involved in the first step of odorant reception. While comprehensive descriptions are available of OBPs from Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus and Anopheles gambiae, only a few genes from Ae. albopictus have been reported. In this study, twenty-one putative AalbOBP genes were cloned using their homologues in Ae. aegypti to query an Ae. albopictus partial genome sequence. Two antenna-specific OBPs, AalbOBP37 and AalbOBP39, display a remarkable similarity in their overall folding and binding pockets, according to molecular modeling. Binding affinity assays indicated that AalbOBP37 and AalbOBP39 had overlapping ligand affinities and are affected in different pH condition. Electroantennagrams (EAG) and behavioral tests show that these two genes were involved in olfactory reception. An improved understanding of the Ae. albopictus OBPs is expected to contribute to the development of more efficient and environmentally-friendly mosquito control strategies.


The distinction between I- and E-concepts, derived from Chomsky's (1986) distinction between I- and E-language, has become an integral part of Jackendoff's conceptual semantics. Where, if at all, are they to be found in the model of the mind proposed in Jackendoff's core paper, i.e., in which of the three rings? How do they relate to the idea of I- and E-values, independently proposed by myself (but similarly inspired) in the framework of a theory of lexical semantics known as conceptual axiology? Where in the mind, if at all, are the latter to be found? I will argue that something is missing both in Jackendoff's conceptual semantics and in his picture of the mind: he fails to distinguish between meanings, values and concepts, and talks instead about "conceptual structure "—which presumably belongs to the conscious mind, and to it alone. In an attempt to bring values and concepts together in a comprehensive picture, I will point to the similarities between sensory and linguistic input, and provide details relating to the act of communication as I have come to see it throughout the years.


One of the paradoxes confronting higher education teachers and other staff supporting students is that despite their perception that they offer students opportunities for support, students do not take advantage of them. Our research was based on the desire to understand the ways students cope and what resources they draw on. To this end, we interviewed students from a range of backgrounds and courses. We famed our analysis in terms of situated self‐esteem because the data revealed the strength of students' personal projects, together with clear evidence of the complexities of help seeking. Situated self‐esteem concerns proper and measured judgements about the self and the ability to cope rather than conceptualizing esteem in a therapeutic framework. We conclude by considering the ways in which institutional support for learning and teaching might strengthen students' resources, not undermine them.


Purpose: The ideal IGRT‐based delivery to manage intrafraction motion has two requirements: complete spatio‐temporal knowledge of the anatomy, and real‐time beam adaptation corresponding to motion‐induced anatomical changes. Toward this goal, we investigate an integrated strategy combining two powerful techniques — online image‐guidance using fast cine‐MR imaging (4D‐MRI) and real‐time, locally adaptive delivery using dynamic multileaf collimator (DMLC)‐based tracking. Method and Materials:ImageSNR and, therefore, field strength (Bo) requirements for an integrated MRI+Linac for the task of radiotherapy guidance were investigated. Using multisection, multiphase steady‐state free precession (SSFP) and spoiled gradient recall (SPGR) sequences, 3D volumes (1.4s/volume) and 2D coronal slices (0.5s/slice) of a volunteer's thoracic region were acquired with a 1.5T MRI. For each set, a region of interest encompassing the diaphragm was segmented and trajectories of superior‐inferior and left‐right motion were computed for voxels within. In order to simulate real‐time imaging with lower field strength MRI+Linacs, the SNR for each set was progressively degraded and corresponding motion trajectories recalculated. 4D locally‐adaptive IMRT was implemented using a DMLC tracking algorithm which adapts the beam aperture(s) in real‐time using 3D position information from an independent monitoring system. The aforementioned trajectories were programmed into a high‐resolution 3D‐programmable motion platform and geometric accuracy of DMLC tracking was measured. Results: The SSFP‐acquired 2D and 3D images yielded adequate SNR for registration, while the SPGR sequence yielded faster acquisition but poorer SNR. For SSFP images, even with a factor‐of‐six SNR reduction (corresponding to Bo ∼0.2T), no significant changes were observed in estimated motion trajectories. Finally, sub‐millimeter tracking accuracy was observed for these traces for simultaneous target motion in the S‐I and left‐right directions. Conclusion: These initial studies provide valuable insights into design requirements of integrated MRI+Linac systems and indicate that 4D‐MRI combined with DMLC tracking represents a highly promising approach for intrafraction motion management.


In this paper, a new type lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) complex was prepared with a new method using phosphorus pentachlorine (PCl5), lithium fluoride (LiF) and 1,2-dimethoxyethane (C4H10O2). The structure of the complex was carefully characterized by FTIR, TG-DTG, 1H NMR and 31P NMR. FTIR results indicate that the synthesized complex is consisted of LiPF6 and C4H10O2. Chemical analysis shows that the content of LiPF6 in the complex is about 45%, which could infer that the mole ratio of LiPF6 and LiPF6(C4H10O2)2 in the complex is 1:2. The results of 1H NMR and 31P NMR further confirm the composition of the complex and determine the structure. The molecular formula of the LiPF6 complex is LiPF6(C4H10O2)2. Thermal analysis shows that the strong decomposition peaks of the complex appear at 75°C and 175°C. LiPF6(C4H10O2)2 may be used in the electrolyte of the lithium ion battery which 1,2-dimethoxyethane is permitted or broke down into LiPF6 after further preparation.


Harmonia axyridis (Pallas, 1773) is an Asian coccinellid released in several places to act as a biological control agent of aphids. Dinocampus coccinellae (Schrank, 1802) is an endoparasite that uses more than 40 coccinellid species as hosts. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the interactions between D. coccinellae and H. axyridis and to determine the impact of the parasitoid on the establishment capacity of H. axyridis . It was also investigate the influence of host on the development of D. coccinellae using other Coccinellidae species as hosts: Cycloneda sanguinea , (L., 1763) Cycloneda pulchella (Klug, 1829), Eriopis connexa (Germar, 1824), and Olla v-nigrum (Mulsant, 1866) . In no-choice tests, pupa was the least attacked stage, and the fourth instar and adults the most attacked. In choice tests, the pupa was less attacked when combined with all the other stages, and the fourth instar and adults the most attacked. There was statistical difference only for fecundity, fertility, and number of eggs/day, with higher values found in the non-parasitized control group. Due to the low rate of parasitism it is believed that D. coccinellae has little impact on the populations of this coccinellid in Brazil. However, it is noteworthy that an increase in H. axyridis coverage areas can affect the populations of D. coccinellae , as in some places of occurrence, H. axyridis has become the predominant species of Coccinellidae. The result can be a decrease in populations of this species of parasitoid or its better adaptation to the new host.


Background.Neck and low back pain are leading causes of morbidity and health care utilization. However, little is known about the characteristics that differentiate those who seek from those who do not seek health care for their pain. Objectives.The objectives of this study were to: 1) describe health care utilization for neck and back pain; 2) determine the characteristics of individuals seeking health care for neck and back pain; and 3) identify the characteristics of patients who consult medical doctors, chiropractors, or both. Design.Population-based cross-sectional mailed survey. Subjects.Subjects were randomly selected adults from the Saskatchewan Health Insurance and Registration File. Measures.Demographic, socio-economic, general health, comorbidity, health-related-quality-of-life, pain severity and health care utilization data were collected. The main outcome was whether subjects with prevalent neck or low back pain visited a health care provider in the previous month. Results.Twenty-five percent of individuals with neck or low back pain visited a health care provider. Seeking health care was associated with disabling neck or back pain, digestive disorders, worse bodily pain and worse physical-role-functioning. Compared with medical patients, fewer chiropractic patients lived in rural areas or reported arthritis, but they reported better social and physical functioning. More patients consulting both providers reported disabling neck or back pain. Conclusions.Individuals seeking care for neck or back pain have worse health status than those who do not seek care. Patients consulting chiropractors alone report fewer comorbidities and are less limited in their activities than those consulting medical doctors.


Walter Benjamin describes the concept of "presence of mind" as a way of thinking about and being in time that is at once, historical, prophetic, and actively engaged in the fullness of the moment. Its achievement is a bodily art as much as a mental one; it is the sort of understanding that comes from walking down the street. The street I want to walk along today is West Florissant Avenue, in Ferguson, Missouri. There on August 4, 2014, Emerson Electric announced third-quarter sales of $6.3 billion, down about 1 percent from the second quarter, but undergirded by a record backlog of orders. A quarter mile to the northeast, five days later, Officer Darren Wilson killed Michael Brown.  While the distance between the spot on Canfield Drive where Michael Brown died and the corporate headquarters of Emerson Electric is so small that the shots fired by Officer Wilson must have been audible in the company lunchroom, I do not want to draw too direct a line between them. I do not want to suggest that Emerson Electric is responsible for the murder of Michael Brown, at least not according to any conventional understanding of responsibility in our society. I do, however, want to use the proximity of Emerson's corporate headquarters and the shooting of Michael Brown to suggest something about the framing determinants of historical events: ways the relationship between the past and the future is hedged in, limited, perhaps even determined by past histories and the habits of mind they support.  After explaining what I mean on a fairly abstract level, with reference to the long history of the United States, I narrow the aperture a bit to think about the history of racism and real estate, of white supremacy and wealth, of  structural racism  with particular attention to the history of twentieth-century Saint Louis. I then, finally, return to Ferguson, the recent past, and the notion of "presence of mind."


Distributed autonomous mobile robots is a set of robots that move freely in a two dimensional plane. For the distributed autonomous mobile robots, a number of algorithms for shape formation problems have been proposed. In this paper, we propose three kinds of distributed algorithms for capturing an escaping target using the autonomous mobile robots. In addition, we implement the proposed algorithms in the simulation environment, and verify performance of the proposed algorithms.


Abstract Trichotillomania (TTM) is increasingly being recognized as a prevalent disorder. Nevertheless, few data are available regarding the effects of TTM on quality of life or the economic costs associated with this disorder. Two hundred members of the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Association of South Africa were surveyed in this pilot study, using a detailed self-report questionnaire. Of the 75 respondents, 27 reported hair pulling as a symptom. Results from this investigation indicate that hair pulling may be associated with substantial morbidity, including significant effects on occupational, academic, social, and family functioning. Additional costs may be incurred by delays in seeking treatment and incorrect diagnoses. While further work in a larger sample of patients is clearly needed, psychoeducation of practitioners and the public on TTM may result in earlier referral, diagnosis, treatment, and greater cost savings in the long term.


Indigenous people are among the first to face the direct consequences of climate change, due to their dependence upon, and close relationship, with the environment and its resources. Climate change exacerbates the difficulties already faced by indigenous communities including political and economic marginalization, loss of land and resources, human rights violations, discrimination and unemployment. General Nakar in Quezon is among the few municipalities in Southern Tagalog that has thickly forested areas. Tropical forests in General Nakar, are the richest type of the world in terms of the diverstiy of inhabiting people. Indigenous people of the tropical rainforest belt are very dependent on the forest. The Dumagats, who are cultural minorities who reside in this area, have been affected by the impacts of environmental and climate change and have struggled to adapt the changes in the environment they live in. Climate change poses threats and dangers to the survival of these indigenous communities. These Dumagats are vital to, and active in, the many ecosystems that inhabit their lands and territories and may therefore help enhance the resilience of these ecosystems. In addition, they interpret and react to the impacts of climate change in creative ways, drawing on traditional knowledge and other technologies to find solutions, which may help society at large to cope with impending changes.


In this thesis several studies are presented with the objective to detect and elucidate the patterns by which new drugs are prescribed by general practitioners (GPs). Furthermore, we studied the influences of medical specialists and community pharmacists as important factors on the GP's decision to prescribe new drugs during the first six moths after the drug's market introduction. The reason for why it is important to study the dynamics of prescribing new drugs is that even after years of extensive clinical testing in very specific patients there is still a high degree of uncertainty about the new drug's surplus value in medical practice when the new drug is introduced on the market. This uncertainty not only applies to the new drug's clinical effectiveness, but also to its safety profile when used by 'normal' patients and its socio-economic impact on society in general. The individual and fairly rational decisions of GPs to prescribe new drugs to specific patients may have unintentional consequences in the general patient population. GPs may decide that a new drug is the best option for his/her unique patient that failed to respond satisfactory to older drugs. However, if the majority of the GPs makes similar decisions this can result in the new drug being prescribed to patients for whom the drugs was not developed in the first place. The studies in this thesis resulted in three important findings. First, a small group of GPs seems, despite all reasons to be cautious, responsible for a substantial proportion of all early new drugs prescriptions within the first six months after the drug's market introduction. However, the GP's decisions to prescribe a new drug seem to be very drug dependent. Prescribing one new drug does not seem to be a strong predictor for the GP to prescribe other new drugs as well. This finding contradicts with the concept of the early adopters as being related to a general innovative predisposition. Second, our findings contradict the general and expected concept that the diffusion of new drugs generally follows a two-step model, with hospital specialists as the innovators and GPs as the followers. Although the influence of hospital specialists is clearly visible for new drugs, and often greater than for existing older drugs, the rapid uptake of new drugs may not always be specialist induced. GPs themselves are responsible for a considerable amount of all early prescriptions for new drugs. Third, GPs that participate in pharmacotherapeutic audit meetings with the community pharmacists working in the same neighbourhood prescribe less new drugs. The professional collaboration between GPs and pharmacists seem to be an effective way to control early new drug prescribing in general practice. However, it is vital that GPs and pharmacists set common goals on how to optimise pharmacotherapy. This concordance should be reflected in PTAMs that result in concrete decisions with auditing of GP prescribing behaviour. Pharmacists should take up an active role in organising PTAMs to extent their influence on drug prescribing.


Acute renal infarction is usually diagnosed when the triad of flank pain, hematuria and elevated lactate dehydrogenase is observed. Since the symptoms are non specific, diagnosis requires high degree of suspicion or may be missed or confused with renal colic. The incidence of ARI in emergency department visits is 0.007 % whereas in autopsy series is reported 1.4 % indicating the condition goes undiagnosed frequently. With the increase use of contrast enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance angiography the accuracy might be improving at the present time. doi:10.4021/jmc577w


This article reports on data from a qualitative study which explored the reflections of South African primary school principals and the challenges they encountered when implementing and managing the curriculum.Constantly changing educational processes put a great deal of pressure on primary school principals. This study reports the reflections of grade 6 rural primary principals in Mpumalanga province. A qualitative method of inquiry was used in this article, where data were collected using individual interviews with three principals and focus group discussions with the school management teams (SMTs) of three primary schools. The findings show that the techniques used to administer the Annual National Assessments (ANAs) are problematic; the timing of administering the ANAs poses a challenge to principals, as the national guidelines indicating which aspects need to be covered by the ANAs are not distributed to schools. The findings imply a need for greater capacity building amongst principals,as well as further research into continuous curriculum changes in the South African education system. Keywords: Annual National Assessments, management styles, rural primary schools, transformational leadership,women managers


Delay-and-sum (DS) beamforming is one of the basic beamforming methods, and it is effective for both narrowband and wideband sources. However, DS beamforming exhibits high computational complexity. Recently, a fast multistage approximation of DS beamforming was introduced (Oh, S.-M. and McClellan, J.H., Proc. ICASSP-2002, p.2937-40, 2002). In order to improve the computational efficiency of the fast beamformer further, we have integrated a detector into the intermediate stages of the fast algorithm. This detector can save computations by stopping further processing to resolve benign angular sectors that do not contain a coherent source. The joint fast detector/beamformer was tested using various wideband signals such as spread spectrum signals used in wireless communications. This technique should provide a useful direction finding solution in wireless communications and target localization applications. In addition, the fast algorithm can find initial values for high resolution direction-of-arrivals estimators such as coherent signal-subspace methods.


Humanity faces many challenges today that will increase in severity in the future. The urgent need to increase food production levels to meet the needs of an ever-increasing global population is also creating an ever-growing amount of food waste and directly influences food security. The disposal of large and ever increasing amounts of food waste is not only a significant financial loss, but it also creates a serious environment problem. Food waste problems are a major factor preventing sustainable economic growth, acceptable environmental safe guards and sustainable development of food resources. Food waste arises from a variety of sources, starting on the farm, and continuing through post-harvest handling, distribution, wholesale, retail and finally ending with the consumer. However, concerns about hunger, conservation, environmental degradation and the socioeconomic impact of food waste has accelerated research into developing strategies that can reduce food waste levels and promote effective waste utilisation strategies. Because of these concerns, global research interest has focused on developing sustainable eco-friendly practices and innovative strategies that can valorise food waste. Importantly, food waste is a renewable resource that is composed of a wide variety of useful organic materials. Waste valorisation strategies are designed to convert food waste into different value-added products such as bioactive compounds, biofuels and pharmaceuticals. However, to fully exploit this largely under-utilized renewable resource, validated information is needed to clearly elucidate the levels of waste produced within the food supply chain. Currently, there is very little validated information available that specifies the amounts of waste being produced by the various stages within the food supply chain between farm and fork. Also, to fully develop this largely under-utilized renewable resource new manufacturing processes are needed, and conversional manufacturing facilities need to be re-engineered to handle food waste.

The present work examines food waste using a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach to first gain a better understanding of the extent of the problem both globally and locally in Western Australia. And secondly, develop a unique waste valorisation strategy that uses a green chemistry-based process to produce high-value Ag nanoparticles using food waste. From the global perspective, the first part of the thesis examines various articles currently reported in the literature and quantifies waste levels and examines the trends in wastage for various food sectors such as fruit and vegetable, fisheries, meat and poultry, grain, milk and dairy. Also investigated were issues such as factors contributing to food waste, effective cost/benefit food waste utilisation methods, sustainability and environment considerations and public acceptance. All of these factors were identified as hurdles that prevent large scale food waste processing. From an Australian perspective, food waste is estimated to cost around AUS$8 billion annually. This large and unacceptable amount of waste results in significant economic losses for Australia, inefficient use of local resources and has a serious impact on the environment. However, prior to this work there were very few studies reporting the amount and types of wastes being generated. The present work, for the first time, carried out two extensive surveys and assessments in Western Australia Horticultural sector that were designed to identify the types of fruit and vegetable wastes, and their respective waste levels. The first collected data regarding fruit and vegetable wastage produced by Western Australian farmers (growers), and second looked a wastes generated by wholesalers operating at Market City Canning Vale, Perth. Data from both assessments identified the types and amounts of waste generated within Western Australia.

Waste valorisation is an appealing concept for promoting and developing manufacturing processes that converts renewable food wastes into valuable marketable products. The present work developed a new and innovative waste valorisation strategy that produced high-value silver (Ag) nanoparticles form a significant food waste (Carrot, Daucus carota) generated in Western Australia. The economic importance of Ag nanoparticles stems from their incorporation in new pharmaceuticals and antibiotic medications. The results of this work have clearly demonstrated "proof of concept" for this waste valorisation strategy. The Ag nanoparticles produced by this low-cost and one-pot green synthesis approach were found to have positive antimicrobial properties towards two human pathogens, namely, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Thus, demonstrating food waste can be used to produce high-value Ag nanoparticles with antimicrobial properties that have the potential to be used in antibiotic pharmaceuticals.


The modern hammered dulcimer is a trapezoidal‐shaped instrument with 24 to 30 courses of treble and bass strings with a partially chromatic range from D3 to D6, which is played with light wooden hammers. The treble strings are divided by a middle bridge in a ratio of 2:3 so that each course provides two notes a musical fifth apart. Although acoustically similar to the piano, the distinctly different bridge/soundboard placement and hammer/string interactions give the hammered dulcimer a unique percussive sound. Historically in the United States, the hammered dulcimer has remained almost exclusively a folk instrument, most often used as a lead or rhythm instrument in traditional dance bands, but more recently as a concert instrument as well. Instrument builders, almost exclusively folk craft people, and players themselves, have responded with new designs that have changed the sound characteristics and musical and physical flexibility of the instrument.


An Input Distance Function (IDF) is estimated to empirically evaluate and analyse the technical and environmental efficiencies of 210 farms located in the Chaudière watershed (Quebec), where water quality problems are particularly acute because of the production of undesirable outputs that are jointly produced with agricultural products. The true IDF is approximated by a flexible translog functional form estimated using a full information maximum likelihood method. Technical and environmental efficiencies are disaggregated across farms and account for spatial variations. Our results show that there is a significant correlation between the two efficiencies. The IDF is used to compute the cumulative Malmquist productivity index and the Fisher index. The two indices are used to measure changes in technology, profitability, efficiency and productivity in response to the adoption of two selected Best Management Practices (BMPs) whose objective is to reduce water pollution. We found significant differences across BMPs regarding the direction and the magnitude of their effect.


In many real-world problems, first-order (FO) derivative evaluations are too expensive or even inaccessible. For solving these problems, zeroth-order (ZO) methods that only need function evaluations are often more efficient than FO methods or sometimes the only options. In this paper, we propose a novel zeroth-order inexact augmented Lagrangian method (ZO-iALM) to solve black-box optimization problems, which involve a composite (i.e., smooth+nonsmooth) objective and functional constraints. This appears to be the first work that develops an iALM-based ZO method for functional constrained optimization and meanwhile achieves query complexity results matching the best-known FO complexity results up to a factor of variable dimension. With an extensive experimental study, we show the effectiveness of our method. The applications of our method span from classical optimization problems to practical machine learning examples such as resource allocation in sensor networks and adversarial example generation.


Development of a Street Sweeper Fleet Management System by Ravi Shenkar Seera Dr. Shashi Nambisan, Examination Committee Chair Professor of Civil Engineering University of Nevada, Las Vegas Street sweeping is a vital public service that not only facilitates traffic flow and improves the appearance of the neighborhoods. It also helps removes debris and dust from the roadways thus enhancing drainage and reducing air pollution. The need for a street sweeper fleet management system is to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of street sweeping programs. In this research, an application is developed for the management of street sweepers with the aid of a mapping system interface to query and analyze the data collected using Global Positioning System (GPS) devices installed in the sweeper trucks. Based on the functional needs of the system, an architecture is first developed for the system. Then, existing software and hardware components are used as the basis to design the system. Customized interfaces and processes are developed to integrate various system components. The resulting system is expected to provide accurate records of machine activity, improving fleet cost management and vehicle productivity. The system has the capabilities to generate reports and graphical summaries of various aspects of resource allocation and utilization. Examples of such reporting capabilities include records of machine usage and activity including dates, exact times and locations that vehicles start, drive, idle and stop as well


We used the Mendelian randomization design to explore the potential causal association of smoking with ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage using summary statistics data for 34,217 ischemic stroke cases and 404,630 noncases, and 1,545 cases of intracerebral hemorrhage and 1,481 noncases. Genetic predisposition to smoking initiation (ever smoking regularly), based on up to 372 single‐nucleotide polymorphisms, was statistically significantly positively associated with any ischemic stroke, large artery stroke, and small vessel stroke but not cardioembolic stroke or intracerebral hemorrhage. This study provides genetic support for a causal association of smoking with ischemic stroke, particularly large artery and small vessel stroke. ANN NEUROL 2019;86:468–471


The presence of morphologically cryptic lineages with divergent molecular, ecological, and physiological traits within a species is an intriguing evolutionary phenomenon that offers unique opportunities for evolutionary genetics studies. One such system is the whitefly species complex Bemisia tabaci (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), which comprises several cryptic lineages, known as lbiotypesr with worldwide distribution, including two of the world's worst invasive pests. In this dissertation I take a population genetics approach to examine the global genetic structure of B. tabaci biotypes, with a focus on the origins, historical demography, and invasion pathways of the two invasive biotypes, known as lBr and lQr.I begin with a historical overview of multilocus molecular markers used to examine aspects of the biology, ecology, and genetics of the B. tabaci species complex. The first markers employed were allozymes, particularly esterases, which became the basis for the biotype nomenclature, and were substantiated by ecological and biological data. The exploration of various DNA based markers has established that biotypes within B. tabaci are exceptionally diverse genetically, in spite of their identical morphologies.Global population genetics analyses using microsatellite markers showed that well-characterized B. tabaci biotypes correspond to real genetic entities with strong geographic structure, and limited or no gene flow among them. The resulting genetic clusters from this analysis are in general agreement with the only well-resolved global phylogeny of the species, which is based on a single mitochondrial gene ( cytochrome oxidase I ). However, some cases of conflict in the two sets of markers do exist, perhaps associated with the different modes of inheritance, thus cautioning against the use of mitochondrial DNA as a single marker for species or subspecies delineation.Analysis of genetic data with more sophisticated Bayesian coalescent-based approaches offers the opportunity to study both contemporary and ancestral invasion pathways. Using such an approach, I showed that divergence histories of the invasive biotypes B and Q coincided with periods of extensive human movement and trade of agricultural goods in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Africa during the Iron and Bronze Ages, and the Roman period. Results also indicate that ancestral populations to the current B and Q biotypes had much larger effective sizes than those of emerging biotypes, a pattern consistent with expectations of diversification in invasive species.In a contemporary context, I investigated the recent invasion history of biotype Q in the USA. I found that populations introduced into the USA originated from both the Western and Eastern Mediterranean, in at least three independent cryptic invasions, and spread directly from a single initial introduction site, likely through plant trade.Findings from this dissertation underscore the practical importance of better monitoring invasions of this insect and other invasive pests at points of entry and dispersal through trade of plant material. From a theoretical perspective, this work adds insights into the origins of biotypes, both in the B. tabaci complex and more generally, emphasizing the demographic processes involved in diversification of invasive biotypes. The research highlights the potential to use B. tabaci in studies of broader applied as well as evolutionary significance.


Abstract Information technology has explored the growth of text documents data in many organizations and the structural arrangement of voluminous data is a complex task. Handling the text document data is a challenging process involving not only the training of models but also numerous additional procedures, e.g., data pre-processing, transformation, and dimensionality reduction. In this paper, we describe the system's architecture, the technical challenges, and the novel solution we have built. We propose a Recurrent Convolutional Neural network (RCNN), based text information retrieval system which efficiently retrieves the text documents and information for the user query. Pre-processing using tokenization and stemming, retrieval using TF-IDF (Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency), and RCNN classifier which captures the contextual information is implemented. A real-time advanced search system is developed on a huge set of MAHE University dataset. The performance of the proposed text document retrieval system is compared with other existing algorithms and the efficacy of the method is discussed. The proposed RCNN-based text document information retrieval model performs better in terms of precision, recall, and F-measure. A high-quality and high-performance text document retrieval search system is presented.


In this paper, high-efficient lifting-based architectures for the 5/3 discrete wavelet transform (DWT) are proposed. The proposed parallel and pipelined architecture consists of a horizontal filter (HF) and a vertical filter (VF). The system delays of the proposed architectures are reduced. Filter coefficients of the biorthogonal 5/3 wavelet low-pass filter are quantized before implementation in the high-speed computation hardware. In the proposed architecture, all multiplications are performed using less shifts and additions. The proposed architecture is 100% hardware utilization and ultra low-power. The architecture has regular structure, simple control flow, high throughput and high scalability. Thus, it is very suitable for newgeneration image compression systems, such as JPEG-


Short Message Service (SMS) has become an extension of our lives and plays an important role in daily chores. SMS is a popular medium for delivering Value Added Services and are suitable for mobile banking, payment reminders, SOS calls, stock and news alerts, railway and flight enquiries etc. These types of messages are normally computer generated messages sent over Short Message Peer-to- Peer (SMPP) protocol. SMPP is an application layer protocol to send messages over TCP/IP connection. The Short Message Peer-to- Peer (SMPP) protocol is a telecommunications industry protocol for exchanging SMS messages between SMS peer entities such as short message service centers and/or External Short Messaging Entities. SMPP protocol has no security measures specified which allows fast delivery of SMS messages in bulk. Compromised messages or loss of messages can cause lot of revenue loss and fatal consequences. A secure SMPP protocol is proposed and implemented by introducing Transport Layer Security (TLS) with SMPP protocol specifications. A client tool is developed to securely connect to the server. Secure Short Message Peer-to- Peer protocol will enhance the security of fast growing messaging and telecommunication world.


The present work is designed to study the role of Hippocampus in the control of circadian running activity of rats subject to discrete lesions in ventral hippocampus and having free access to the cues namely food, water, male rat and female rat provided in maze-cum-activity cage indigenously prepared for recording open field behavioral activities. The study was done with 8 male adult albino rats. Those in which lesion was confirmed to be located in antero-ventral hippocampus, exhibited marked increase in running activity with disruption of running activity pattern. There was increase of drive towards socio-sexual cues which were non-rewarding under the present experimental set up. The animals in which lesion was located in posteroventral hippocampal areas showed slight increase in the activity but without disruption of circadian running activity nor was there any significant change in the drive. The functional dissociation observed in present study is believed to be due to involvement of fimbrial/fornical system in the lesion process and therefore responsible for disruption of circadian running activity as well as increase of the running activity in hippocampally-lesioned animals. The present work emphasises the importance of Hippocampus-septum-hippocampus feedback loop in controlling relative time, functioning as internal "stop watch" thus providing a temporal reference and detecting phase relation during activity. Interruption of this loop in hippocampally-lesioned rat probably leads to failure to inhibit inappropriate responses and failure to discriminate rewarding and non-rewarding cues.


This thesis presents a history of sports for individuals with physical disabilities in Taiwan between 1945 and 2007. A Foucauldian lens is adopted. Primary data was collected from personal archives of key informants who had lived experience with the developments during this period and with whom interviews were also conducted. Materials were organised using Foucauldian genealogy and analysis was conducting using the lens of biopower to investigate how the bodies of people with physical disabilities were organised in relation to power in the rehabilitation and sporting context. The research portrays how, between 1945 and 1971, the epidemics of poliomyelitis left a large number of children in Taiwan paralysed, and most of them were segregated in institutions. These children became a social problem, and in these institutions, rehabilitation was regarded as physical education and thus became the hallmark of the special education at this time. Development in sports for the disabled occurred between 1972 to 1992, as the authorities began to pay attention to sports for these individuals and it was employed as a tool to encourage them to contribute to the greater national good. Between 1993 and 2007, the status of individuals with physical disabilities entered a liminal state in which they were neither fully included nor excluded in the sports for the disabled in Taiwan. The thesis concludes by highlighting how the Taiwanese State's approach to individuals with physical disabilities targeted them as a social problem that needed to be managed, and sports were employed as techniques to fulfil this goal. The disabled body then becomes a pawn in the State's power game which transformed over time, and it was made docile through the techniques of normalisation that are central to engagement with rehabilitation, physical education and sport.


Although mother study of the germ theory of disease may seem redundant, Michael Worboys's Sprruding Germs is not just another study. By examining how germ theories of disease entered the ideas and practices of British physicians, Worboys elucidates a variety of valuable themes regarding this fundamental shift in medicine. Worhoy\ argues that, rather than a radical revolution;iry moment, the emergence of germ and bacterial theories of disease was a process o f gradual integration of new ideas with older concepts. In the decades prior to the wholesale acceptance of bacteriology in the 1890s. there were many "germ theories" of disease. What distinguished them was the definition of what exactly constituted a "germ"--chemical, organic, living beingand how perms affected the body and its physical processes. By emphasizing the "construction" of germ theories of disease, Worboys demonstrates the close interaction of science, society, politics. and personality in the emergence of bacteriiil sciences. He begins with a detailed treatment of the philosophical approaches to disease theory, physiological versus ontological ideas of disease, and concepts o t iymotic disease causation. From there WorbiJys moves roughly chronologically along thematic lines. He begins with veterinary medicine, since the 1866 cattle plague was arguably the "'start of everything' in Britain rcgiirding germs, communicable diseases and Iiiboratory research" (1 6). He then looks at huiiian medicine, examining changes in surgical practices, medical concepts, and public health practices. Surgeons' use of antiseptic and aseptic surgery did not require specific adherence to the idea of bacteria as organic entities. The acceptance of bacterial theory of disease in regular medical ideology took longcr and was the result of more detailed inbestigation and conflict. The growing authority of Medical Officers of Health (MOsH), incanwhile, was a convergence of the MOsH use of extant science and the demonstrable results of sanitary practices. Bacterial theory itself did not give authority to the MO\H. since they could show the discernible results of sanitary technology, but it did enable them to boost their social position by making their practice more "scientific." This i \ ;in important book, both in its themes and its readability. Worboys has written a cornplex work of intellectual history that will be ewmtial reading for the historian of medicine urid science, but he has structured it in such ;I way as to make it accessible to the general reader. Although the topic is quite dense and the themes are complex and at times difficult to follow, Sprecrding G e r m will reward a careful reading with insights into the social, political, and professional atmosphere in which germ theories of disease incubated and spread.


Measuring the time it takes to remove an electron from an atom or molecule during photoionization has been the focus of a number of recent experiments using newly developed attosecond spectroscopies. The interpretation of such measurements, however, depends critically on the measurement protocol and the specific observables available in each experiment. One such protocol relies on high harmonic generation. In this paper, we derive rigorous and general expressions for ionisation and recombination times in high harmonic generation experiments. We show that these times are different from, but related to, ionisation times measured in photoelectron spectroscopy: that is, those obtained using the attosecond streak camera, RABBITT and attoclock methods. We then proceed to use the analytical R-matrix theory to calculate these times and compare them with experimental values.


The tumor suppressor protein retinoblastoma (RB) is mechanistically linked to suppression of transcription factor E2F1-mediated cell cycle regulation. For multiple tumor types, loss of RB function is associated with poor clinical outcome. RB action is abrogated either by direct depletion or through inactivation of RB function; however, the basis for this selectivity is unknown. Here, analysis of tumor samples and cell-free DNA from patients with advanced prostate cancer showed that direct RB loss was the preferred pathway of disruption in human disease. While RB loss was associated with lethal disease, RB-deficient tumors had no proliferative advantage and exhibited downstream effects distinct from cell cycle control. Mechanistically, RB loss led to E2F1 cistrome expansion and different binding specificity, alterations distinct from those observed after functional RB inactivation. Additionally, identification of protumorigenic transcriptional networks specific to RB loss that were validated in clinical samples demonstrated the ability of RB loss to differentially reprogram E2F1 in human cancers. Together, these findings not only identify tumor-suppressive functions of RB that are distinct from cell cycle control, but also demonstrate that the molecular consequence of RB loss is distinct from RB inactivation. Thus, these studies provide insight into how RB loss promotes disease progression, and identify new nodes for therapeutic intervention.


Viscotoxins A2 (VA2) and B (VB) are, together with viscotoxin A3 (VA3), among the most abundant viscotoxin isoforms that occur in mistletoe-derived medicines used in anti-cancer therapy. Although these isoforms have a high degree of amino-acid-sequence similarity, they are strikingly different from each other in their in vitro cytotoxic potency towards tumour cells. First, as VA3 is the only viscotoxin whose three-dimensional (3D) structure has been solved to date, we report the NMR determination of the 3D structures of VA2 and VB. Secondly, to account for the in vitro cytotoxicity discrepancy, we carried out a comparative study of the interaction of the three viscotoxins with model membranes. Although the overall 3D structure is highly conserved among the three isoforms, some discrete structural features and associated surface properties readily account for the different affinity and perturbation of model membranes. VA3 and VA2 interact in a similar way, but the weaker hydrophobic character of VA2 is thought to be mainly responsible for the apparent different affinity towards membranes. VB is much less active than the other two viscotoxins and does not insert into model membranes. This could be related to the occurrence of a single residue (Arg25) protruding outside the hydrophobic plane formed by the two amphipathic alpha-helices, through which viscotoxins are supposed to interact with plasma membranes.


Interactive public displays have been exploited and studied for engaging interaction in several previous studies. In this context, applications have been focused on supporting learning or entertainment activities, specifically designed for people with special needs. This includes, for example, those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In this paper, we present a comparison study aimed at understanding the difference in terms of usability, effectiveness, and enjoyment perceived by users with ASD between two interaction modalities usually supported by interactive displays: touch-based and touchless gestural interaction. We present the outcomes of a within-subject setup involving 8 ASD users (age 18-25 y.o., IQ 40-60), based on the use of two similar user interfaces, differing only by the interaction modality. We show that touch interaction provides higher usability level and results in more effective actions, although touchless interaction is more effective in terms of enjoyment and engagement.


Of major concern in administration of a multimedia tutorial system is proper recording and analysis of a user's activities and success. Recording of the student's actions during the tutorial session gives the designer the capability to "recreate" the tutorial session and refine the system to meet the student's needs. The system can then be adjusted to provide appropriate interactions and feedback to the student. SIMPLE, an NSF-sponsored software package written by Dr. W.M. Marcy and Dr. M.O. Hagler of Texas Tech University, can be used to create a tutorial session and record all details of each action a student takes within the tutorial session. A portion of the software, called Analyze, searches the records and is used to sift out the information of interest to the designer based on special criteria. In the Spring of 1996, Amarillo College in Amarillo, Texas, used the SIMPLE software to create an NSF-funded math tutorial. The results of preliminary testing of the Analyze portion of the SIMPLE software to track student's progress are presented in this paper.


The impact of how knowledge can effect attitude change is important in order to understand the consequences for stigma. The relationship between increasing subject knowledge of mental health and attitude change was explored. The sample comprised 39 students (18 male and 21 female) from a University in the West Midlands. Participant's level of knowledge and stigma were recorded pre and post-test using the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS), Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill (CAMI) and the Opinions about Mental Illness (OMI) scale. Information about mental illness was provided between conditions followed by a distractor task. Responses were calculated and combined to give an overall score. A sign test with continuity correction was used to see whether there was a difference in attitudes. The pre and post-test conditions were scored. Results demonstrate a statistically significant median decrease in stigma in the post-test condition (p = .03). Therefore, this research provides support for the success of providing knowledge and information about mental illness in order to reduce stigma.


In this paper we construct from a cographic matroid M, a pure multicomplex whose degree sequence is the h―vector of the the matroid complex of M. This result provesa conjecture of Richard Stanley [Sta96] in the particular case of cographic matroids. We also prove that the multicomplexes constructed are M―shellable, so proving a conjecture of Manoj Chari [Cha97] again in the case of cographic matroids. The proofs use results on a game for graphs called the chip firing game.


This thesis investigates the flow of compressible fluids in pneumatically fractured formations. Pneumatic fracturing is a recently developed technique for increasing permeability in geologic formations by the controlled injection of high pressure air. The artificially induced fractures enhance the flow rate of liquids and vapors in the subsurface, and can be applied to in situ remediation of hazardous waste sites, and for other hydrogeological applications. A flow model for discrete fractures is derived based on the assumptions of viscous, laminar fluid flow through planar fractures (Poiseuille type flow). The model takes into account non-linearity introduced by gas compressibility effects. Provision is also made for turbulent conditions which can result from high flow velocity and/or surface roughness of fractures. The model is presented in both linear and radial flow formats. Model validation is accomplished by analyzing pressure and flow data from a siltstone formation which had been pneumatically fractured in the vadose zone. Air flows were observed to increase from a baseline of 0.3-0.4 SCFM before fracturing, to 4.0-71 SCFM after fracturing. Using this model, the total equivalent (single) aperture for the 8.4 ft. test zone was found to increase from 86 microns in the prefracture condition, to 516 microns in the postfracture condition. Analysis of fracture flow velocities and associated Reynolds numbers indicated that although laminar flow conditions exist in natural fracture networks, some degree of turbulence may be encountered in pneumatically induced fractures owing to aperture enlargement. Detailed study of borehole video tapes of the fracture well indicated the principal mechanism of flow enhancement was aperture dilation of existing natural fractures, and improvement of fracture connectivity. A minor amount of new R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission. horizontal and vertical fractures were also noted. Statistical analysis of the video also indicated an improvement in flow uniformity along the borehole profile, as a result of fracturing. A physical model of the fracture zone is presented which is useful for analysis of contaminant mass transport in the formation, especially applications involving molecular diffusion, heat transfer, and biodegradation processes. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission. FLUID FLOW MODELING FOR PNEUMATICALLY FRACTURED FORMATIONS


Laparoscopic or percutaneous radiofrequency ablation has become a viable treatment option for small renal tumors. Although long-term results are not yet available, intermediate results show promise for the treatment of select renal lesions. Here, we describe the basics of radiofrequency ablation technology, outline techniques used for both percutaneous and laparoscopic treatment routes, and provide a brief review of clinical results to date. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Somali refugees living in a camp located in Djibouti were studied in October 1991 and May 1992. The refugees had been living at the camp for about two years. The median age of volunteers was 25 years, of whom 69% were female. Paired sera obtained seven months apart were evaluated by complement fixation, microimmunofluorescence, indirect fluorescent antibody, streptococcal antibody, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay techniques for evidence of pathogen infection. Fifty-two percent, 31.3%, 8.0%, 5.9%, and 25.4% of the volunteers had serologic evidence for pre-enrollment infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Rickettsia typhi, R. conorii, and Coxiella burnetti, respectively. Similarly, 43.5%, 5.2%, 6.1%, 10.7%, 15.8%, and 11.9% of the volunteers studied had serologic evidence for new infection with Streptococcus pyogenes, C. pneumoniae, M. pneumoniae, R. typhi, R. conorii, and Cox. burnetii, respectively. These data suggest that the studied pathogens may be endemic in displaced populations living in the Horn of Africa.


In this paper the fundamental idea is top develop and explore an innovative approach of completing human designed networks with that of machine built word networks. This network forms a hybrid method which combines human precision with that of machine computation to form a knowledge representation model. This model in turn encourages faster and efficient construction of automatic ontology. Our objective is to tackle the problem faced in the field of information retrieval and classification in the current era of information overflow


OBJECTIVE
To assess the population prevalence and incidence of binge eating disorder (BED) among young women.

METHOD
In a nationwide longitudinal study of Finnish twins born 1975-1979, the women participated in five surveys from age 16 until their mid-thirties. At Wave 4 (mean age 24 years), the women (N = 2,825) underwent a 2-stage screening for eating disorders. We assessed the lifetime prevalence, incidence, and clinical characteristics of DSM-5 BED.

RESULTS
We detected 16 women who met DSM-5 criteria for BED, yielding a lifetime prevalence of 0.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.4-1.2%). The incidence of BED among women between 10 and 24 years of age was 35 (95% CI 20-60) per 100,000 person-years. The mean age of onset of BED was 19 years (range 13-27 years). Of the cases, 13/16 (81%) were currently ill. Duration of illness at the time of assessment ranged from less than a year to 13 years (median 6 years). Of women with BED, only two had a history of other eating disorders, but six had lifetime major depressive disorder. Two-thirds of the women with BED belonged to the highest weight quartile at age 16, and their mean BMI at age 22-27 year was 26.2 kg/m(2) (range 22.1-32.5 kg/m(2)).

DISCUSSION
Incident BED as defined by DSM-5 was relatively rare among younger women and was often preceded by relative overweight. BED often occurred without a history of other eating disorders, but comorbidity with major depressive disorder was common.


Chromium-tanned leathers used in the manufacture of footwear and leather goods pose an environmental problem because they contain harmful chemicals and are very difficult to recycle. A solution to this problem can be composite materials from tree leaves, fruit residues and other fibrous agricultural products, which can replace chromium-tanned leather. The present study describes the preparation of biocomposite leather-like materials from microbial cellulose and maple leave fibers as bio-fillers. The formulation was optimized by design of experiment and the prepared biocomposites characterized by tensile test, FTIR, DMA, SEM, adhesion test, volume porosity, water absorptivity, surface wettability and shape stability. From the viewpoint of future use in the footwear industry, results obtained showed that the optimized material was considerably flexible with tensile strength of 2.13 ± 0.29 MPa, elastic modulus of 76.93 ± 1.63 MPa and porosity of 1570 ± 146 mL/min. In addition, the material depicted good shape stability and surface adhesive properties. The results indicate that a suitable treatment of biomass offers a way to prepare exploitable nonwoven fibrous composites for the footwear industry without further burdening the environment.


Having worked in the Department of Performance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, from 1985 to 2002, Peggy Phelan is now the Ann O'Day Maples Chair in the Arts at Stanford University. She is the author of Unmarked: The Politics of Performance (1993), Mourning Sex: Performing Public Memories (1997) and the forthcoming Death Rehearsals: The Performances of Andy Warhol and Ronald Reagan, as well as survey essays for the art catalogues Art and Feminism (2001) and Pipilotti Rist (2001). She is co- editor with the late Lynda Hart of Acting Out: Feminist Performances (1993) and with Jill Lane of The Ends of Performance (1998). Professor Phelan has also written plays and performances and has exhibited her visual art. She has made significant contributions across the Arts and Humanities, particularly at the points where live culture, feminism, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, and critical theory meet. In this interview Professor Phelan speaks about some of the awkward grey areas between Performance Studies and Visual Cultural Studies, as well as the themes and topics at the heart of her writing and her practice. These include feminism, performance, psychoanalysis and aesthetics; for Phelan, most of these themes touch on mourning, death and love.


A REAL-TIME SYSTEM IMPLEMENTED IN A COMPUTER, INTERACTS WITH THE REAL PHYSICAL WORLD THROUGH VARIABLES CONDITIONERS (SENSORS, ACTUATORS, D/A AND A/D CONVERTERS) AND PROCESSES EACH PROCESSING NEED AS CONCURRENT TASKS WITH TEMPORAL DEADLINES. IN GENERAL EACH VARIABLE OF THE DYNAMIC PROCESS (INPUTS, OUTPUTS AND STATES) IS RELATED WITH A SPECIFIC TASK; IF IT IS ABOUT A MULTIVARIABLE SYSTEM THEN THERE IS GOING TO BE A SET OF TASKS FOR EACH VARIABLE WHERE EACH WILL HAVE TO BE ANSWERED CORRECTLY WITH TEMPORAL BOUNDS. IN THIS PAPER A MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR THE REPRESENTATION OF ARRIVAL TIMES OF CONCURRENT REAL-TIME TASKS IS TREATED. ADDITIONALLY A STABILITY ANALYSIS IS PROPOSED.


The crime of manslaughter, in England and Wales, arguably includes two ways by which it may be proved, those circumstances which extenuate the crime of murder notwithstanding. One of these sub-species is sometimes referred to as unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter. "UDA" manslaughter has been the subject of criticism for at least 175 years. In recent decades this criticism for at least 175 years. in recent decades this criticism has taken the form of a philosophical argument, centring on the concept of moral luck, which has remained unresolved. Reform proposals over the same period have been contradictory.

This thesis investigates the criticism by means of normative and juridico-historical inquiries, which assess the moral and historical authority for UDA manslaughter. A normative inquiry reaches the conclusion that moral responsibility for unforeseen death may be justified by the relationship between luck and "pursuit", but that criminal liability requires the capacity to foresee and the opportunity to avoid death. The juridico-historical inquiry determines that intended bodily harm (less than serious harm) was a separate sub-species of manslaughter, but that a wider sub-species, involving any advertent crime and the foreseeable risk of some harm, may be justifies by the concept of "heedlessness", if death is a foreseeable consequence of the circumstances in which the crime is committed.


This paper summarizes the evidence constituting the foundation for preventive and health promotive work performed by nurses in primary care. This is a systematic literature review in six scientific databases. Forty original articles and 16 literature reviews met the inclusion criteria. After both authors independently read the articles, 25 were excluded and 15 included. One article was judged to be of high quality, five of medium quality and 10 of low quality. The articles of high and medium quality focused on alcohol counselling, coronary heart disease and diabetes. Of the 16 literature reviews from the Cochrane Library, 10 were found to be relevant and presented evidence. The subjects included smoking cessation, breast-feeding, prevention of falls among the elderly, asthma in children, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Few studies in the area of prevention and health promotion are of adequate scientific quality, resulting in limited evidence for the effects of interventions.


Making decisions in environments with few choice options is easy. We select the action that results in the most valued outcome. Making decisions in more complex environments, where the same action can produce different outcomes in different conditions, is much harder. In such circumstances, we propose that accurate action selection relies on top-down control from the prelimbic and orbitofrontal cortices over striatal activity through distinct thalamostriatal circuits. We suggest that the prelimbic cortex exerts direct influence over medium spiny neurons in the dorsomedial striatum to represent the state space relevant to the current environment. Conversely, the orbitofrontal cortex is argued to track a subject's position within that state space, likely through modulation of cholinergic interneurons.


Unlike path tracing, spectral rendering is still not widely used in production although it has been around for more than thirty years. Traditionally connected to spectral effects such as dispersion and interference, spectral rendering - and, more importantly, the use of spectral data in general - is predominantly a way to guarantee colour fidelity. Additionally, with the rise of path tracing and the growing use of LED lights on-set as well as the recent shift to LED walls in virtual production, it becomes increasingly evident that the traditional way of seeing colour and light as RGB triplets is insufficient if colour accuracy is required. The purpose of the course is two-fold. First and foremost, we want to share what we learned on our way towards a spectral image pipeline. We will talk about the unique opportunities and challenges the use of spectral data brings in a modern production pipeline and our motivation to build a spectral renderer. Since spectral data influences every step of the pipeline, the course will go beyond rendering aspects. We will discuss data acquisition and will shed some light on how to tackle the special problem of LED lights in production as well as its practical usage. The second aim of the course is to build a community. We want to see the topic evolve over the next few years and connect people to shape the future together until spectral imaging is as ubiquitous as path tracing is in production.


This article examines the doctrine of tyrannicide in John of Salisbury's mid-twelfth century political treatise, the Policraticus, in light of recent scholarly skepticism that John never meant to advocate a theoretical defense of slaying the tyrant. It is argued that John's conception of tyrannicide in fact possesses a philosophical foundation derived from his idea of the state as a political organism in which all the members cooperate actively in the realization of the common utility and justice. When the ruler of this body politic behaves tyrannically, failing to perform his characteristic responsibilities, the other limbs and organs are bound by their duty to the public welfare and God to correct and, ultimately, to slay the tyrant. John illustrates this position by reference to the many historical and scriptural instances of tyrants who have legitimately been killed. Thus, John not only proposes a theory of tyrannicide, but also roots it in a strong positive obligation to raise the sword against tyrannical rulers in the name of public benefit and justice.


The effective patterns and mechanisms of synoptic systems during the wet and dry spells in Midwest of Iran(MWI) analyzed and discussed on seasonal scales from 1974 to 2003. Synoptic Analysis is based on synoptic chartson Sea Level Pressure (SLP), 850 and 500 Hpa levels. The results of synoptic analysis show that dry spells in MWIare mostly corresponded to Azores High (AZH) intensifying and its central movement to east and northeast of normalposition. Furthermore the Siberian High (SH) ridge is extended from northeast to Iran. The linkage between SH andAZH ridges through Iran, Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Arabic Peninsula lead to drought occurrence in the Middle Eastespecially Iran. The Sudan Low (SL) and Mediterranean Trough (MT) have a limited extend during drought periods(dry spells). The most important occurrence index of droughts in upper charts is reinforcing and extending northwardof Arabia South High (ASH) to Iran and Mesopotamia. This event is marked by a strong ridge in 500 Hpa charts overstudy area. The Circumpolar Vortex (CPV) is contracted to polar area during dry spells and expanded equatorward inwet spells. In Summarized SH extends during wet spells but dose not reach to Iran. In addition Mediterranean EastTrough (MET) reinforced and extended from 25°E to 40°E and its meridional expands reaches to the Red Sea (RS)and Sudan Low. The other result is that during wet and dry spells, the orientation of Blocking Highs ridges in thenorth of Caspian Sea and over Ural Mountain (UM) causes different climatic conditions in Iran.


In this report, the electromigration behavior of 80μm pitch C2 (Chip Connection) interconnection is studied and discussed. C2 is a peripheral ultra fine pitch flip chip interconnection technique with Cu pillars and Sn/Ag capped solder bumps formed on Al pads for wirebonding. The technique was reported in ECTC 2009. It allows an easy control of the space between dies and substrates just by varying the Cu pillar height. The control of the collapse of the solder bumps is not necessary, hence the technology is called the "C2 (Chip Connection)". C2 bumps are connected to OSP surface treated Cu substrate pads on an organic substrate by reflow and no-clean process. C2 is a low cost ultra fine pitch Flip Chip interconnection. However, the electromigration behavior for such a small flip chip interconnection is still an open issue. The electromigration tests were performed on 80μm pitch C2 flip chip interconnection. The interconnections with two different solder materials were tested: Sn/2.5Ag and pure Sn. The effect of Ni barrier layer on the test is also studied. The tests showed that the presence of IMC layers reduce the atomic migration of Cu. The test also showed that the Ni barrier is also effective in reducing the migration of Cu atoms into Sn solder. The under bump metals (UBMs) are formed by sputtered Ti/Cu layers. The electro-plated Cu pillar height is 45μm and the solder height is 25μm for 80μm pitch. The die size is 7.3 mm square and the organic substrate is 20 mm square with 4 layers laminated prepreg with 310μm thickness. Electromigration test condition is 7–10 kA/cm2 at 125–170°C. Intermetallic compounds (IMCs) were formed prior to the test by aging process which is 2,000 hr at 150°C and then the electromigration tests were performed. We have studied the effect of IMCs thickness on electro-migration induced failure mechanism in C2 flip chip interconnection on an organic substrate.


We study implementation issues for spatial convolution filters and their Fourier alternative, with the aim to optimize the accuracy of filter output. We focus on Gaussian scale-space filters and show that there exists a trade-off scale that subdivides the available scale range into two subintervals of equal length. Below this trade-off scale Fourier filtering yields more accurate results than spatial filtering; above it is the other way around. This should be contrasted with demands of computational speed, which show the opposite tenet.


The homestay is one of the tourism businesses that can be pursued by coastal communities. homestay as a microbusiness, According to the concept of community-based tourism (CBT), plays an important role in rural development. Service family-oriented, adaptable to the environment and local culture, and relatively affordable price makes the homestay as a trend for foreign tourists. This study aims to formulate a strategic of empowerment to improve the success of the business owners' homestay. Sample was 160 persons in five of KSPN (the Strategic Areas of Indonesian National Tourism) are Pangandaran-West Java, Parangtritis-Yogayakarta, Karangasem, Bali, Untung Jawa Island-Jakarta, and Tanjung Lesung and Ujung Kulon National Park, Banten. The research was conducted between June 2013 and February 2014. Analysis of the data was performed using Pearson product moment correlation analysis, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) by SmartPLS 2.0 M3. The results of SEM analysis showed that the success of the business owners' homestay is influenced by: (1) the extension process (the correlation coefficient value is .365); (2) entrepreneurial behavior (.417); and (3) Empowerment (.405) were previously affected by occupational competence (.359). The extension process and entrepreneurial behavior have not been able to increase of empowerment. There are four strategies of empowerment in tourism extension programs: (1) an understanding of internal and external problems; (2) the establishment of the organization/groups; (3) an increase of in occupational competence and entrepreneurial behavior; and (4) develop the ability to compete through promotion.


Corrosion of titanium is the major concern when it is used for dental treatment. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of the microbiologically induced corrosive properties of titanium. An experimental well was made of polymethyl methacrylate with pure titanium at the bottom. Viable or killed cells of Streptococcus mutans were packed into the well, and pH at the bacteria-titanium interface was monitored with and without glucose. Before and after 90-minute incubation, the electrochemical behavior on the titanium surface was measured by means of a potentiostat. The oxygen concentration under bacterial cells was monitored with oxygen-sensitive fluorescent film. The amount of titanium eluted was measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. The corrosion current and passive current under killed cells were low and stable during 90 min, while those under viable cells increased, regardless of the glucose-induced pH fall. The polarization resistance and oxygen concentration under killed cells were high and stable, while those under viable cells decreased. No elution of titanium was detected. Viable bacterial cells may form 'oxygen concentration cells' through metabolism-coupled oxygen consumption and subsequently induce corrosive properties of the titanium surface.


Bile acids (BA) enter cholangiocytes by the Na+‐dependent apical BA transporter (ABAT). By this mechanism, taurocholate (TC) and taurolithocholate (TLC) increase cholangiocyte proliferation. No in vivo studies exist regarding the anatomical sites involved in BA‐regulation of cholangiocyte growth. Specific cholangiocyte subpopulations participate in BA‐regulated proliferation. Proliferation was assessed in liver sections by determining the number of proliferating cellular nuclear antigen (PCNA)‐positive cholangiocytes and cytokeratin‐19 (CK‐19)‐positive ducts. We isolated small and large cholangiocytes from rats fed for 1 week TC, TLC, or BA control diet and determined PCNA and ABAT expression and BA transport activity. We evaluated if TC and TLC induction of ABAT expression was dependent on activation of PKC alpha. DNA replication was active only in large normal cholangiocytes. TC and TLC feeding increased proliferation of large cholangiocytes, induced the de novo activation of proliferation of small cholangiocytes, overexpression of ABAT and BA transport activity in large cholangiocytes, and de novo expression of ABAT and BA transport activity in small cholangiocytes. BA‐stimulated ABAT expression was dependent on PKC activation in cholangiocytes. TC and TLC stimulate proliferation of small and large cholangiocytes associated with PKC‐dependent up‐regulation of ABAT.


Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have widely spread in recent years. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) notes that 546 RTAs were notified by January 2013, whereas only 380 were notified by 2007. RTAs have been considered as a stumbling block for the slow progress of the WTO Doha Round, and multilateral liberalisation is said to cause erosion of preferences enjoyed under bilateralism. That is, third country exporters that benefit from multilateral trade liberalization increase their exports, whereas the preferential suppliers in bilateral trade agreements face a decrease of their exports, given the substitutability between export products from different countries. Preference erosion also occurs when countries take up new bilateral trade agreements that can result in "old" trade partner countries losing their preferential treatment. The European Union (EU) has granted preferential market access to a large number of countries and is by far the main trading partner of its neighbouring countries, including Mediterranean partner countries (MED countries). Following the Association Agreements with the EU, there have been efforts of enhanced engagement and co-operation, especially after the Arab spring developments, but negotiations for so called free and comprehensive trade agreements (DCFTAs) are also under way with other partner countries. The objective of this paper is to look into possible preference erosion effects from the perspective of MED countries by depicting recent EU trade agreements as well as multilateral trade liberalisation in a simulation analysis. We apply the MAGNET (Modular Applied General Equilibrium Tool) model that builds upon the GTAP (Global Trade Analysis Project) model in a recursive dynamic general equilibrium framework, with a reference scenario that reflects the economic and population growth paths via most recent projections taken from the literature.


The development of orodispersible tablets (ODTs) for poorly soluble and poorly flowable drugs via direct compression is still a challenge. This work aimed to develop ODTs of poorly soluble drugs by combining cyclodextrins that form inclusion complexes to improve wetting and release properties, and directly compressible co-processed excipients able to promote rapid disintegration and solve the poor flowability typical of inclusion complexes. Carbamazepine (CBZ) and hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) were used, respectively, as a model of a poorly soluble drug with poor flowability and as a solubilizing agent. Specifically, CBZ—an antiepileptic and anticonvulsant drug—may benefit from the studied formulation approach, since some patients have swallowing difficulties or fear of choking and are non-cooperative. Prosolv® ODT G2 and F-Melt® type C were the studied five-in-one co-processed excipients. The complex was prepared by kneading. Flow properties of all materials and main properties of the tablets were characterized. The obtained results showed that ODTs containing CBZ/HPβCD complex can be prepared by direct compression through the addition of co-processed excipients. The simultaneous use of co-processing and cyclodextrin technologies rendered ODTs with an in vitro disintegration time in accordance with the European Pharmacopoeia requirement and with a fast and complete drug dissolution. In conclusion, the combination of five-in-one co-processed excipients and hydrophilic cyclodextrins may help addressing the ODT formulation of poorly soluble drugs with poor flowability, by direct compression and with desired release properties.


Dramatic works have played a central role in the evolution of joint authorship doctrine in copyright law.  Ironically, a genre that began as a highly collaborative enterprise has since become the focal point for increasingly narrow interpretations of joint authorship.  Indeed, the origins of today's problematic joint authorship standard can best be understood through the lens of dramatic writing, as most of the leading cases on collaborative authorship have involved disputes over the authorship of plays.
The Anglo-American theater tradition is rooted in sixteenth-century England.  The explosive growth of professional theater in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries took place at a time when collaboration was ubiquitous, even among some of the most famous playwrights.  As the industry changed, however, a cultural preference for romantic authorship took hold.  In the centuries that followed, disputes involving dramatic works had a major impact on the development of concepts relating to collaborative authorship.  Dramatic works continued to play an outsized role in the leading cases on joint authorship under the Copyright Act of 1976.  By this time, however, the collaborative origins of Anglo-American theater were largely forgotten and a judicial bias in favor of romantic authorship led courts to disregard the statutory language in favor of judicially-imposed tests designed to defeat the claims of joint authors.
This Article examines the evolution of copyright law pertaining to collaborative authorship and finds that much of the core legal doctrine in this area arose from disputes involving dramatic works.  This fresh look at theatrical collaborations reveals a rich history that calls into question the modern judicial presumption that dramatic writing is the product of individual genius.  Examining the history of Anglo-American law's response to collaboration in dramatic works offers valuable insight into the development of multiple concepts related to authorship—in particular, the rules governing derivative works, works made for hire, and joint works.  It also demonstrates that the jurisprudence of collaborative playwriting has led courts to develop an unduly narrow judicial interpretation of joint authorship.
Part I examines the ubiquity of collaborative writing in the Elizabethan theater and traces its decline during the English Civil Wars (1642–51) and the Restoration, accompanied by a contemporaneous shift in cultural preference toward sole authorship that was fueled by the concept of the romantic author.  Part II demonstrates the role that dramatic works played in the jurisprudence of authorship in English and American courts during the nineteenth century.  Part III addresses the role of dramatic works in shaping the federal courts' attempts to resolve competing authorship claims under the Copyright Act of 1909 in the absence of clear legislative guidance for distinguishing among joint works, derivative works, and works made for hire.  Part IV examines the federal courts' restrictive interpretations of joint authorship under the Copyright Act of 1976 in the specific context of dramatic works and the courts' reluctance, in many cases, to extend those interpretations to other categories of works.  Part V suggests that the persistent influence of romantic authorship has led federal courts to favor sole authorship over collaborations, and draws a contrast with contemporary English courts' refusal to embrace this trend, concluding that the American courts' preference for solitary authorship of dramatic works conflicts not only with the federal statutes, but with the history of dramatic writing as well.


The paper reports on initial findings from user studies of electronic journals in which users from six academic disciplines participated. Issues of access, content, layout and navigation are considered in addition to the perceived advantages and disadvantages of electronic journals. It is concluded that librarians should view electronic journals as an opportunity rather than a threat.


Automation projects concerning the operation of long pipelines aim to not just improve the operational activities but also contribute to the safety of the facilities and reduce any potential environmental impact of the activity. It is common knowledge that oil companies need to have their pipelines flowing fully pressurized so that its contents can be controlled and accounted for. Therefore, many companies have installed automated control valves at arrival point of the pipelines in order to guarantee that the pressure inside the pipeline is optimal and controlled. This operation has led to important studies in control theory and Proportional, Derivative and Integrative control systems PID.Several articles study methods and optimal gains for the precise positioning of the control valve. The problem presents itself when the valve is required to compensate a severe change in the pressure set point. For instance, if one pump is disconnected from the pipeline by a safety-automated measure in a multi-pump scenario, the rapid movement of the control valve may result in an undesired large overshoot and stabilization period. This can be observed in small diameter or short pipelines in which the system responds fast to any alteration in the control valve position. This behavior can not always be compensated by altering the gains of the PID controller as they are set to work on the most common scenario and can only be expected to correctly respond when the changes in pressure are sufficiently small.Faced with this problem in a pipeline, the engineers and technicians of an oil company installed a pressure set point curve in order to avoid the described behavior of the valve, even if momentarily depressurizing the pipeline. Throughout this article, the results of this alteration are described and it is suggested ways to further improve the control system without jeopardizing the safety of the pipeline operation.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


MagAO-X system is a new adaptive optics for the Magellan Clay 6.5m telescope. MagAO-X has been designed to provide extreme adaptive optics (ExAO) performance in the visible. VIS-X is an integral-field spectrograph specifically designed for MagAO-X, and it will cover the optical spectral range (450 – 900 nm) at high-spectral (R=15.000) and high-spatial resolution (7 mas spaxels) over a 0.525 arsecond field of view. VIS-X will be used to observe accreting protoplanets such as PDS70 b & c. End-to-end simulations show that the combination of MagAO-X with VIS-X is 100 times more sensitive to accreting protoplanets than any other instrument to date. VIS-X can resolve the planetary accretion lines, and therefore constrain the accretion process. The instrument is scheduled to have its first light in Fall 2021. We will show the lab measurements to characterize the spectrograph and its post-processing performance.


Exogenous bilirubin has been shown to protect against oxidative stress in ischemia‐reperfusion injury. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathophysiology of chronic transplant dysfunction leading to late graft failure after renal transplantation. We prospectively investigated whether high endogenous bilirubin is protective against development of late graft failure in renal transplant recipients (RTR). Baseline data were collected between August 2001 and July 2003 in nonicteric outpatient RTR with a functioning graft for >1 year. At baseline, bilirubin and liver enzymes were measured using routine assays on a Merck Mega analyzer. Graft failure was prospectively recorded until May 19 2009. During follow‐up for 7.1[6.2–7.2] years, 55 RTR developed graft failure. We found that circulating levels of bilirubin are inversely associated with late graft failure in RTR (HR = 0.29 [95% CI: 0.16–0.52], P < 0.001). This association was independent of potential confounders, including creatinine clearance, urinary protein excretion, calcineurin inhibitors, and gender (HR = 0.31 [95% CI: 0.15–0.62] P = 0.001). Our findings are consistent with a protective effect of increased endogenous bilirubin against development of late graft failure in RTR. If our findings are confirmed by other studies, intervention with endogenous or exogenous bilirubin may be of interest for long‐term preservation of renal function in RTR.


Letter writing is a pivotal yet neglected medium of historical Chinese communication. The epistolary format is key to sinological research. As historical letters have a specific vocabulary and rhetorical structure it is difficult to read them without the supporting apparatus of specialised study.

The aim of this compendium is to fill the gap in Chinese studies by providing a bilingual Chinese-English edition of a corpus of Chinese letters, prepared for advanced students of Classical Chinese as well as academics with an interest in historical Chinese epistolary art. The book has a broad and general introduction, systematically constructed vocabulary sections as well as detailed grammatical and philological explanations.

It focuses on Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) letter writing, a high point of pre-1911 epistolary activity in Chinese, and will appeal to Chinese scholars and Sinologists at a broad range of academic levels.


A new type of hetero- and homo-polynuclear complexes of copper(II) and nickel(II) containing 1,2,3-triazole groups in polymethylene chains have been synthesized and characterized using NMR and electrochemical methods. The triazole link facilitates the synthesis of hetero-dinuclear macrocyclic complexes. Introducing the triazole unit into the complex structure can lead to increased stability of the bis-macrocyclic system and to obtain electroactive receptors for electron-deficient molecules. Intermolecular interactions between new bis-macrocyclic donors and a chosen acceptor--7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) have been studied by voltammetry. Normal pulse voltammetry with varying initial potentials, E(i), was found to be a convenient tool to follow subtle changes of the electrochemical behavior of the redox centers due to interactions between the π-donor, bis-macrocyclic complex, and the acceptor, TCNQ molecule. The copper(II) bis-macrocyclic compound functions as a receptor able to accommodate the small organic compound in the macrocyclic cavity. This brings together transition metal ions and organic substrates within the same supramolecular structure.