The research approaches Turkish membership question to the European Union as an open-ended struggle among social forces. It aims to address whether there is a hegemonic pro-membership perspective and if any, which social forces are supporting it. Is there any alternative contesting and resisting membership and neo-liberal restructuring? Can disadvantaged groups from globalisation form a united struggle, and if not, how can we account for the lack of an alternative? At the theoretical level, it dismisses mainstream integration theories as debate is mainly stuck to the dichotomy between membership or not (form of integration), that in return is a non-debate. It introduces Gramscian historical materialist framework that paves the way to account for socio-economic content and power relations underpinning ongoing integration process. The argument proceeds by delving into a debate on theoretical coordinates regarding hegemony in Gramscian analyses and the theory of discourse introduced by Laclau and Mouffe in the Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. Ultimately, it dismisses theory of discourse and conceives class struggle in relation to discipline of capital over society within social relations of production. The empirical data relies on semi-structured interviews conducted with capital and labour, political parties, state officials and women rights/feminist groups and human rights groups. Additionally, particular sectors, textile, automotive and agriculture are examined in parallel with Gramscian historical materialist coordinates on intra-class struggle.

I shall argue that pro-membership perspective, whose socio-economic content is consolidation of neo-liberal restructuring, is hegemonic. It is pioneered by internationally oriented capital and conveyed as the means to stimulate competitiveness and economic growth and to consolidate democracy. It draws support from nationally oriented capital analogous with delocalization of production and integration to transnational production via outsourcing and contract manufacturing. Yet, it is possible to identify two rival class strategies that contest neo-liberal pro-membership project, neo-mercantilism that is supported by nationally oriented labour, nationalist political parties, centre-left political parties and Ha-vet (No-Yes) that is underpinned by internationally oriented labour, social democratic fraction among the Left, particular women rights groups and human rights groups. On the one hand, position of social forces underpinning neo-mercantilism is weakened in economy and ideas that echo import-substitution policy under Keynesian welfare state regime and developmentalist state in periphery are defeated analogous with globalisation and neo-liberal restructuring. The only criticism of neo-mercantilist project remains on national sensitivities. Put bluntly, the critique is anti-imperialist though not anti-capitalist. At the final analysis, membership is interpreted in relation to modernization and westernization with a populist discourse. On the other hand, although social forces within Ha-vet read European Union as a capitalist economic integration model, they conceive internationalisation of labour and European Social Model as the only viable mechanism to struggle against globalization and transnationalisation of production. Moreover, European integration is received positively as a democratization project. Ultimately, neither neo-mercantilism that supports 'membership on equal terms and conditions', nor Ha-vet that adopts the motto of 'another globalisation and Europe is possible', stands as an overall alternative.


Artificial pollination of date palms has been practiced over thousands of years to improve the fruiting traits in date palms. Due to the changes in agricultural practices in the modern period, mechanical pollination techniques were tried in some parts of the world. But machine pollination of date palms has not gained popularity worldwide owing to economic, environmental, or technical challenges. Of late, agricultural drones were introduced to pollinate date palms in significantly less time and reduce the risk of injury, manpower, and cost. Modern drones can have integrated, built-in smart data-collecting devices to provide the farmers with all relevant information. Although this autonomous method provides a number of benefits in terms of labor and cost, pollination time, ease of use, etc, studies have not yet entirely evaluated the efficacy of drone pollination on date palms. This paper summarizes the outcomes of an autonomous drone pollination study performed during the 2022 season in the orchards of Oman. The pros and cons of this artificial aerial pollination method are examined in the paper. The impact of this method of pollination on crop yield, fruit quality, and fruit set percentage are analyzed. This study also explores the limitations of the autonomous drone pollination system and throws light on ways to improve its efficiency.


We present a framework for processing point-based surfaces via partial differential equations (PDEs). Our framework efficiently and effectively brings well-known PDE-based processing techniques to the field of point-based surfaces. Our method is based on the construction of local tangent planes and a local Delaunay triangulation of adjacent points projected onto this plane. The definition of tangent spaces relies on moment-based computation with proven scaling and stability properties. Once local couplings are obtained, we are able to easily assemble PDE-specific mass and stiffness matrices and solve corresponding linear systems by standard iterative solvers. We demonstrate our framework by different classes of PDE-based surface processing applications, such as texture synthesis and processing, geometric fairing, and segmentation.


Abstract Interactions between different axes of an organism's niche determine the evolutionary trajectory of a population. An extreme case of these interactions is predicted from ecological theory in Liebig's law of the minimum. This law states that in environments where multiple nutrients are in relatively low concentrations, only one nutrient will affect the growth of the organism. This implies that the evolutionary response of the population would be dictated by the most growth‐limiting nutrient. Alternatively, it is possible that an initial adaptation to the most limiting nutrient results in other nutrients present in low concentration affecting the evolutionary dynamics of the population. To test these hypotheses, we conducted twelve evolution experiments in chemostats using Escherichia coli populations: four under nitrogen limitation, four under magnesium limitation, and four in which both nitrogen and magnesium are in low concentrations. In the last environment, only magnesium seems to limit growth (Low Nitrogen Magnesium Limited environment, LNML). We observe a decrease in nitrogen concentration in the LNML environment over the course of our evolution experiment indicating that nitrogen might become limiting in these environments. Genetic reconstruction results show that clones adapted to magnesium limitation have genes involved in nitrogen starvation, that is, glnG (nitrogen starvation transcriptional regulator) and amtB (transport protein) to be upregulated only in the LNML environment as compared to magnesium‐limiting environments. Together, our results highlights that in low‐nutrient environments, adaptation to the growth‐limiting nutrient results in other nutrients at low concentrations to play a role in the evolutionary dynamics of the population.


Training simulator is a necessary equipment for modern navigation education to accords with the demands of the STCW78/10 convention. A new type of simulation training system for main engine remote control has been successfully put into use for chief engineer' training, which is the main part of the modern marine engine room simulator recently developed by Qingdao Ocean Shipping Mariners College and Dalian Maritime University. The simulation system, the simulated object of which are the Autochief 4 remote control system, the main engine with the type of MAN B&W 10L90MC and the pneumatic maneuvering system, has good simulation effect due to accurate mathematical models, nice human-machine interfaces and abundant troubles to shot. This paper introduces the innovative design, the plentiful functions of the simulation system and the application of IT.


Functional morphology and biomechanical properties of hook structures functioning as attachment devices in the leaning climbers Rosa arvensis, Rosa arvensis 'Splendens', Asparagus falcatus and Asparagus setaceus are analysed in order to investigate the variability in closely related species as well as convergent developments of hook structure and properties in distant systematic lineages (monocots and dicots). Prickles and spines were characterised by their size, orientation and the maximum force measured at failure in mechanical tests performed with traction forces applied at different angles. In Rosa arvensis and Rosa arvensis 'Splendens' three types of prickles differing largely in geometrical and mechanical properties are identified (prickles of the wild species and two types of prickles in the cultivar). In prickles of Rosa arvensis no particular orientation of the prickle tip is found whereas in the cultivar Rosa arvensis 'Splendens' prickles gradually gain a downward-orientation due to differential growth in the first weeks of their development. Differences in mechanical properties and modes of failure are correlated to geometrical parameters. In Asparagus falcatus and Asparagus setaceus spines are composed of leaf tissue, stem tissue and tissue of the axillary bud. Between species spines differ in size, orientation, distribution along the stem, tissue contributions and mechanical properties. The prickles of Rosa arvensis and its cultivar and the spines of the studied Asparagus species have several traits in common: (1) a gradual change of cell size and cell wall thickness, with larger cells in the centre and smaller thick-walled cells at the periphery of the hooks, (2) occurrence of a diversity of shape and geometry within one individual, (3) failure of single hooks when submitted to moderate mechanical stresses (Fmax/basal area < 35 N/mm²) and (4) failure of the hooks without severe stem damage (at least in the tested wild species).


Background The cost of implementing safety systems in primary care has not been examined. One type of safety system is a safety learning system (SLS). An SLS has 2 components: a reporting that monitors patient safety incidents and a learning component that facilitated the development and implementation of improvement strategies. It is important to understand the costs of an SLS to determine if the improvement program is financially sustainable. Objective To determine the costs of the development, implementation, and operation of the community-based SLS. Methods Nineteen participating family physician clinics in Calgary, Alberta, were included (15 urban and 4 rural) consisting of 47 physicians, 53 office staff, 18 nurses, and 6 clinic managers. Costs of the SLS were determined by the ingredient method using micro-costing. The costs were divided into 3 stages: development, implementation, and operational. Development costs were processes required to create and initiate the SLS. Implementation costs were accrued as a result of establishing, running, and refining the SLS. Finally, operational costs were those related to maintaining the SLS. Costs were further broken down into fixed, marginal, and in kind; this approach will allow policy and decision makers to apply the appropriate costs to their own settings. Results The total development, implementation, and operational costs for the SLS in Canadian dollars were $77,011, $19,941, and $166,727, respectively, with a total cost of $263,679 over approximately a 4-year period. During this time, 270 incident reports were submitted, and 54 improvement cycles were implemented. Conclusions The results provide quantitative data, which could be useful to legislators, policy makers, and other private and public sector payers of patient safety programs in determining the overall sustainability of an SLS.


This text analyzes basic aspects of the doctrine called "Regulatory Takings", its relationship with Bilateral Investment Treaties, and how both factors have encouraged a global acceptance of this thesis. Property rights and expropriations really imply an analysis of many other issues related to political economy, public policy and how a particular interpretation of property rights affects many countries, especially in Latin America, Middle East, and other developing regions in the world. The current scenario in Latin America is such that there is inequality in the understanding of property rights and the efficiency of its protection. Therefore, countries without a clear acceptance of the free market have a very weak basis for the protection of property rights. On the other hand, countries with a clear and strong acceptance and implementation of the free market have a solid basis for knowledge and protection of property rights. The change in the acceptance of free market system and the increasing criticism of it in developing countries could affect the real application of the notion of "regulatory takings".


That is suggested and widely accepted that a significant portion of the Great Siberian Rivers discharge comes to the Arctic ocean via submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). However, that statement was never proofed by observations. When groundwater discharges from the coastal aquifer to the ocean, the radium isotopes are transported with the groundwater, and they can be measured to trace and quantify SGD, and the flux of constituents associated with SGD. The primary goal of this study is to use radium isotopes to proof that SGD is existing in the Laptev Sea coastal zone close to the Lena River delta, which supposed to be characterized by continuous permafrost with thickness up to 600-800m. If so, we supposed to quantify methane fluxes to the coastal ocean through SGD. Discrete seawater, and Lena river water samples were collected from different horizons from the holes made in fast ice using submerged pump and Niskin bottle in the western part of Buor- Khaya Bay in March-April 2014 and 2015. We identified and traced SGD using short-lived radium (224Ra and 223Ra) and radon (222Rn) isotopes in complex with geophysical (electromagnetic technique), geological (sediment core results from 16 boreholes), hydrological (temperature, salinity), and hydrochemical (total alkalinity, dissolved methane and oxygen) data. It was found that the SGD is controlled by the processes associated with changing state of the subsea permafrost. Thus, this technique can give an unique information about the location of SGD "leakage" sites across the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, which represents > 80% of subsea permafrost existing in the entire Arctic ocean


We introduce load-balanced fractional repetition (LBFR) codes, which are a strengthening of fractional repetition (FR) codes. LBFR codes have the additional property that multiple node failures can be sequentially repaired by downloading no more than one block from any other node. This allows for better use of the network, and can additionally reduce the number of disk reads necessary to repair multiple nodes. We characterize LBFR codes in terms of their adjacency graphs, and use this characterization to present explicit constructions of LBFR codes with storage capacity comparable to existing FR codes. Surprisingly, in some parameter regimes, our constructions of LBFR codes match the parameters of the best constructions of FR codes.


This article compares two approaches to genre analysis: Biber's multidimensional analysis (MDA) and Tribble's use of the keyword function of WordSmith. The comparison is undertaken via a case study of conversation, speech, and academic prose in modern American English. The terms conversation and speech as used in this article correspond to the demographically sampled and context-governed spoken data in the British National Corpus. Conversation represents the type of communication we experience every day whereas speech is produced in situations in which there are few producers and many receivers (e.g., classroom lectures, sermons, and political speeches). Academic prose is a typical formal-written genre that differs markedly from the two spoken genres. The results of the MDA and keyword approaches both on similar genres (conversation vs. speech) and different genres (the two spoken genres vs. academic prose) show that a keyword analysis can capture important genre features revealed by MDA.


We revisit the problem of three identical bosons in free space, which exhibits a universal hierarchy of bound states (Efimov trimers). Modelling a narrow Feshbach resonance within a two-channel description, we map the integral equation for the three-body scattering amplitude to a one-dimensional Schrödinger-type single-particle equation, where an analytical solution of exponential accuracy is obtained. We give exact results for the trimer binding energies, the three-body parameter, the threshold to the three-atom continuum, and the recombination rate.


The Annual Boole Lecture was established and is sponsored by the Boole Centre for Research in Informatics, the Cork Constraint Computation Centre, the Department of Computer Science, and the School of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, at University College Cork. The series in named in honour of George Boole, the first professor of Mathematics at UCC, whose seminal work on logic in the mid-1800s is central to modern digital computing. To mark this great contribution, leaders in the field of computing and mathematics are invited to talk to the general public on directions in science, on past achievements and on visions for the future.


Objective: Engineered immune cells (e.g., therapeutic T cells) provide a revolutionary approach to combat cancer. Certain activated immune cells can exquisitely sense and respond to the tumor microenvironment. Here, we propose a paradigm based on engineering macrophages to allow selective intercellular drug delivery and augmentation of antitumor activities by hijacking tumor microtube networks. Methods: Macrophages were engineered via anchoring lipopolysaccharides on the plasma membrane (LM). The tumor tropism of LM encapsulating doxorubicin (LM-Dox) was monitored by a real-time cell migration assay and small animal in vivo imaging. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (CCL2) was measured by quantitative PCR and ELISA. Intercellular conduit formation was characterized by confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. LM-Dox activation of tumor-associated macrophages to release TNF-α was evaluated by western blot and immunofluorescence assays. The potential therapeutic effects of LM-Dox in a 3D tumor-immune model and a murine orthotopic lung cancer model were tested. Results: LM-Dox exhibited tumor tropism in response to CCL2 produced by A549 lung tumor cells and lung tumor tissues resulting in a remarkably higher amount of tumor accumulation than the case of Lipo-Dox (~ 4-fold). Intriguingly, LM-Dox accumulated at tumor sites hijacked the established tumor microtube networks and even stimulated microtube formation with tumor cells but not with normal cells to enable selective and rapid transport of the drug to tumor cells. Simultaneously, LM-Dox induced secretion of TNF-α in tumor-associated macrophages, which increased the antitumor activity of Dox. Thus, LM-Dox increased the inhibitory effects on tumor growth and metastasis in a mouse orthotopic lung cancer model and minimized the side effects of Dox-induced tumor invasion. Conclusion: Lipopolysaccharide-anchored macrophages that can hijack tumor microtube networks for selective drug transport may serve as versatile bioactive carriers of anticancer drugs. In the clinical context, these engineered microphages represent a personalized medicine approach that can be translated into potential use of patient-derived monocytes/macrophages for drug delivery by means of cell-to-cell communication.


Malaria is a leading cause of deaths globally. Rapid and accurate diagnosis
of the disease is key to its effective treatment and management. Identification
of plasmodium parasites life stages and species forms part of the diagnosis. In
this study, a technique for identifying the parasites life stages and species using
microscopic images of thin blood smears stained with Giemsa was developed. The technique
entailed designing and training Artificial Neural Network (ANN) classifiers to perform
the classification of infected erythrocytes into their respective stages and species.
The outputs of the system were compared to the results of expert microscopists.
A total of 205 infected erythrocytes images were used to train and test the performance
of the system. The system recorded 99.9% in recognizing stages and 96.2% in recognizing
plasmodium species.


: Transvenous electrical ablation of AV conduction was performed in 15 patients with drug-resistant supraventricular tachycardia. Eight patients had paroxysmal AV nodal reentry tachycardia, one had permanent junctional reentry tachycardia, five had recurrent atrial flutter and one paroxysmal atrial tachycardia. The intracardiac ablation was done with 150-350 J, on average twice per patient. Permanent 3 degrees AV block was achieved in ten patients, in none of whom there was a recurrence of the tachycardia. In four patients with re-established AV conduction the clinical symptoms had nonetheless improved; despite repeated use of His-bundle ablation, permanent junctional reentry tachycardia could not be controlled satisfactorily and required surgical section of the accessory pathway. Apart from septic fever in one patient there were no serious complications. Implantation of a pacemaker, however, was required in all those patients in whom a permanent 3 degrees AV block had been produced. For this reason alone, His-bundle ablation should only be used in drug-refractory supraventricular tachycardias. But in these this method presents an important advance in treatment.


Microwave radiation is focussed on the sharp edges of the Zn swarf. Plasma is produced by a microwave under atmospheric conditions and successfully used to synthesize ZnO nanowires and ZnO nanoparticles. The fabrication setup is very simple but extremely fast and effective. The sharp Zn swarf is irradiated by the microwave and is ignited and sputtered by the air plasma with a very high oxidization and crystallization rate.


Understandings of risk permeate end-of-life (EOL) care contexts. In addition to the risk of bodily death, patients, family and healthcare providers face spiritual and communication risks during EOL care. The Western biomedical healthcare model is an objectivist, curative framework focusing on fixing the body; this cultural notion limits communication regarding physical illness. Existing work argues that Americans' reticence to discuss EOL can be considered a public health issue, due to high financial and relational costs, lack of education about treatment options, and avoidance of EOL discussions until decisions must be made during health crises. The current study applied risk orders theory in analysing chaplains' experiences of EOL care in the US, where medical practice is dominated by biomedical health models. Risk orders theory is used to examine risk discourses from a social constructionist perspective in response to dominant objectivist approaches to risk. The current study expands conceptions of third-order risks through exploration of the chaplaincy profession. Analysis of chaplain qualitative interviews and focus groups, totalling 48 participants across the US, suggest chaplains possess the potential to reframe cultural discourses about death and reinvigorate cultural imagination surrounding EOL care.


Four healthy adult subjects received intravenous tolbutamide (TOL) at six different doses (twenty-four tests): 0.0625 gin., 0.125 gin., 0.25 gm., 0.5 gin., 1.0 gm. and 1.5 gm. Blood glucose (BG), serum immunoreactive insulin (IRI) and serum TOL levels were determined before and for 180 minutes after TOL. There was a highly significant correlation of the dose of TOL with the peak IRI (p<.01), zero to ten minute IRI area (p<.001), and zero to sixty minute IRI area (p<.001) and with the decline in BG expressed as zero to sixty minute BG area (p<.001). Similar significant correlations were observed between levels of TOL and both IRI and BG. At each dose level the IRI response correlated significantly with the BG fall. An additional eighteen subjects received the 1.0 gm. dose. In these, serum TOL levels did not correlate with either BG or IRI. These subjects also received intravenous glucose (0.5 gm. per kilogram body weight). BG levels did not correlate with IRI. However, there were striking correlations between TOL and glucosestimulated peak IRI (p<.001), zero to ten minute IRI area (p<.001) and zero to sixty minute IRI area (p<.05). Also, the zero to ten minute BG areas in the two tests were negatively correlated (p<.05). The mean (± SEM) space of distribution for glucose (G.S.) and tolbutamide (T.S.) was found to be 13.45 ± 0.71 and 6.34 ± 0.31 L., respectively. There was a significant correlation between G.S. and T.S. (r = 0.70; p<.01). Within individuals a significant dose-response relationship exists between TOL and IRI. TOL- and glucose-induced IRI secretion dynamics suggest strong similarities between mechanisms of rapid IRI release and/or size of available IRI storage pools.


SGT1 (Suppressor of G2 allele of SKP1) is required to maintain plant disease Resistance (R) proteins with Nucleotide-Binding (NB) and Leucine-Rich Repeat (LRR) domains in an inactive but signaling-competent state. SGT1 is an integral component of a multi-protein network that includes RACK1, Rac1, RAR1, Rboh, HSP90 and HSP70, and in rice the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK), OsMAPK6. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) N protein, which belongs to the Toll-Interleukin Receptor (TIR)-NB-LRR class of R proteins, confers resistance to Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV). Following transient expression in planta, we analyzed the functional relationship between SGT1, SIPK - a tobacco MAPK6 ortholog - and N, using mass spectrometry, confocal microscopy and pathogen assays. Here, we show that tobacco SGT1 undergoes specific phosphorylation in a canonical MAPK target-motif by SIPK. Mutation of this motif to mimic SIPK phosphorylation leads to an increased proportion of cells displaying SGT1 nuclear accumulation and impairs N-mediated resistance to TMV, as does phospho-null substitution at the same residue. Forced nuclear localization of SGT1 causes N to be confined to nuclei. Our data suggest that one mode of regulating nucleocytoplasmic partitioning of R proteins is by maintaining appropriate levels of SGT1 phosphorylation catalyzed by plant MAPK.


The parental age of the broiler bird is known to exert a significant effect on embryo hatchability and early chick survival. In order to increase chick yield to the broiler industry, there is a need to procure hatching eggs at earlier stages of the hen's reproductive life. However reduced hatchability of eggs from young parents has affected the economics of such a move and has thus led to the eggs from young parents being discarded. Results to date have shown that there are extensive disturbances to yolk lipid uptake and the subsequent assimilation of lipid by the embryonic tissues. The present study was concerned with comparative changes in lipid and fatty acid compositions of the subcellular lipid, together with aspects of tissue lipid metabolism in embryos and neonatal chicks derived from mature and young parents. Fertile eggs were obtained from Ross 1 broiler-breeder parent stock at twenty-three to twenty-four and then again at thirty-seven to forty weeks of age. Embryos and chicks from each parental group were randomly selected at predetermined intervals during incubation and post-hatch development. Tissue organelles were separated by standard techniques following suitable modification. Preparations for electron microscopy were also made by standard techniques. Lipid extraction and subsequent analyses of lipid moieties and fatty acids were performed by a range of methodologies which included differential solvent extraction, Thin Layer chromatography. Gas Liquid chromatography and High Performance Liquid chromatography. As shown by electron microscopy, the mitochondria exhibited typical pleomorphism throughout the embryonic and post-hatch periods. Absolute amounts of lipid associated with the liver cytoplasm of embryos from mature parents increased dramatically over the last week of incubation. In embryos from young parents, the lipid accumulation was significantly less. There was a rapid diminution in the levels of cytoplasmic lipid in the livers of chicks of mature parents following hatching. By comparison, the rate of lipid loss was less in the livers of chicks from young parents. The levels of lipid associated within the membrane organelles were, throughout the embryonic and post-hatch periods, consistently higher than within the cellular supernatant. Within the subcellular fractions from embryos of young parents, the levels of lipid within the mitochondria of the liver, heart and brain were higher compared with those from mature parents. Phospholipids and free cholesterol were the major lipid fractions within the mitochondria and microsomes. The phospholipids of the liver mitochondria and microsomes from embryos of both parental groups, showed unique changes in their saturated to polyunsaturated fatty acid pairings during the final week of incubation, suggesting the differentiation in phospholipid turnover and associated changes in membrane organelle stability and function. Lipid and fatty acid changes in the heart organelles were very similar to those of the liver, suggesting similar relative metabolic changes in spite of proportional differences in both lipid and fatty acid compositions. The mitochondria of the brain were characterised by high levels of docosahexaenoic acid, whilst the levels of linoleic and linolenic acids were exceedingly low. Cholesteryl esters, in particular cholesterol oleate, comprised by far the bulk of the supernatant fractions of the liver and heart. A marked increase in the relative concentration of cholesteryl esters was observed within the liver during the final week of incubation. By comparison, the brain supernatant displayed an exceedingly low level of cholesteryl esters throughout the embryonic and post-hatch periods. The level of cholesteryl esters and of cholesterol oleate in particular, decreased following hatching. The triglycerides of the liver uniquely showed, during the final week of incubation, a very high concentration of docosahexaenoic acid, the level of which decreased rapidly during the early post-hatch period. In contrast, the concentration of docosahexaenoic acid within the triglycerides of the brain organelles was very low. A marked increase in the relative concentration of triglycerides occurred in both the subcellular fractions of the liver and heart following hatching, associated in particular with the rapid reduction in cholesterol ester level. A range of significant differences in both lipid and fatty acid compositions of the liver and its organelles between progeny from mature and young parents was observed, reflecting disturbances in lipid metabolism within the embryos from young parent stock. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).


Australian capital cities are being redeveloped through urban renewal and gentrification, especially in their inner cities. However, too often the market-led urban consolidation used in main Australian capital cities contributes to the displacement of low-income households from the inner cities into the outer suburbs which has implications for socio-spatial equity (Atkinson and Wulff, 2009; Atkinson et al., 2011). Housing displacement of low-income households is a growing problem both internationally and nationally however within the Australian context the focus has been on Sydney and Melbourne with little research focused on the other capital cities such as Brisbane. Over the last 20 years, the City of Brisbane has undertaken many urban renewal projects that have led to gentrification in its inner city, but few precautions have been taken to avoid or rigorously understand through research, policy or planning the displacement of low income households (Darchen and Ladouceur, 2013; Walters and McCrea, 2014). This paper explores housing insecurity and displacement within the case-study of Brisbane the impact of these factors on low to middle income households; and the implications for planning policy and practice at the metropolitan scale.


The Laboratory of Ancient Topography and Photogrammetry (LabTAF) at the University of Salento has long been engaged in the study of the ancient landscape, essentially through intensive field survey, the analysis of vertical and oblique multi-temporal aerial photographs and the development of a GIS system devoted to archaeological documentation. This integrated system of knowledge supports two main goals: sophisticated elaboration of complex datasets and practical possibilities for preservation of the archaeological heritage by providing efficient tools to the management of the territory and its cultural components. This contribution presents an analytic study of a sample area, chosen for its geomorphological characteristics and for its cultural complexity. This territory lies in the southern part of the Apulia Region, located between Lecce, the ancient Roman Lupiae, and its seaport at San Cataldo, along the Adriatic coast, covering about 85 km2 circa. Analysis of data from the field archaeological surveys, analysis of aerial photographs, archaeological aerial-survey and excavations revealed that the full functionality of the ancient harbour required the inland presence of a productive and receptive territory, with the distribution of rural settlements closely connected with the coast and the road system. The research presents an excellent opportunity for testing the potential of GIS systems in combination with conventional methodologies for landscape analysis, archaeological excavations and the application of new technologies.


The spatial variability of soil mechanical impedance on the basis of scientific-research center of Dnepropetrovsk State Agrarian University has been studied. The horizon heterogeneity of the soil cover may be areas with reduced soil mechanical impedance on the north-east of the field, which are surrounded by homogeneous sites with higher soil mechanical impedance. Cluster analysis allowed identifying three main groups (clusters) with the same type of soil mechanical impedance change - A, B, C. The soil spatial organization groups (clusters) have been established as having statistically different physical and biological properties. It was found that the soil mechanical impedance can act as an integrated indicator that indicates spatial variability of soil physical properties. Key words: the soil mechanical impedance, the productivity of sunflower, the optimal plant density, the spatial heterogeneity of soil properties.


We propose a model for two-dimensional photonic materials constructed on a kind of fractal structures. Total energy flows of the photonic materials constructed with either dielectric cylinders or air holes show that both of them possess absolute gaps for the electromagnetic waves.


This paper is an attempt to examine and to assess Adorno's theory of the "culture industry" as it pertains to his underlying anthropology or account of human life. Ultimately, I believe this is of critical importance to any evaluation of Adorno's relevance and helpfulness for contemporary Christian theological ethics. The expository concern of this essay, contained in Part I, is to summarize Adorno's claims about the culture industry and to show its role within his project . Part II contains the twofold critical concern of this essay: 1) to describe the anthropological assumptions necessary for Adorno to assert that the culture industry can accomplish its vicious task and 2) to survey Adorno's analysis of jazz as a representative example of how his anthropology distorts his ability to hear one of the "most characteristic forms of mass culture." The concluding, constructive section, will present, as a counter-analysis, a theologically-informed "Jazz Anthropology" that both refutes Adorno's reading of jazz and offers a better model for understanding key aspects of human life. My ultimate goal in this paper is to argue that, as we see in his analysis of jazz, the anthropological assumptions and commitments underlying Adorno's sweeping theory of the culture industry cause him to mis-hear, misunderstand, and mis-diagnose critical aspects of the society he hopes to free.


We compared 13 cases of Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis from community hospitals to previous series all of which originated from university or tertiary care hospitals. In our experience Staph. aureus was the third leading cause of endocarditis and accounted for 20% of cases. The infection presented as one of three syndromes: native valve endocarditis, prosthetic valve endocarditis and endocarditis in drug addicts. Laboratory data revealed leukocytosis; infiltrates, nodules, congestive heart failure and cardiomegaly were seen on chest x-ray; and echocardiography infrequently detected vegetations. Criteria which favored the diagnosis of endocarditis in staphylococcemic patients were: absence of a primary site of infection, community acquisition of infection, metastatic infectious sequelae and vegetations documented by echocardiography. Treatment requires prolonged intravenous administration of high dose bactericidal antimicrobial agents; commonly nafcillin or oxacillin combined for a variable period with gentamicin. The mortality rate in our series was 23% and complications occurred in 70% of cases.


Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) using SiC on insulator (SiC-OI) substrate with the structure of 3C-SiC (100)/SiO2/Si have been fabricated. SiC-OI substrates with SiC thicknesses of 100 nm and 600 nm are employed as starting materials and aluminum ions are implanted for p-regions or channel regions with a multi-implantation technique. Afterward, to form the source and drain regions, phosphorus ions are implanted. The gate oxide layer is grown in dry thermal oxidation, followed by post-oxidation annealing. Nickel is used as a contact material for the source and drain region, and aluminum is used for the gate material. From Id-Vd characteristics, 600 nm SiC-OI MOSFET is superior to 100 nm SiC-OI MOSFET. It is might that the crystalline quality of surface SiC layers affects the performance of MOSFET. SiC-OI MOSFET is operated successfully for the first time.


Background Patient histories in electronic health records currently exist mainly in free text format thereby limiting the possibility that decision support technology may contribute to the accuracy and timeliness of clinical diagnoses. Structuring and/or coding make patient histories potentially computable. Methods A systematic review was undertaken of the benefits and risks of structuring and/or coding patient history by searching nine international databases for published and unpublished studies over the period 1990–2010. The focus was on the current patient history, defined as information reported by a patient or the patient's caregiver about the patient's present health situation and health status. Findings were synthesised through a theoretically based textural analysis. Findings Of the 9207 potentially eligible papers identified, 10 studies satisfied the eligibility criteria. There was evidence of a modest number of benefits associated with structuring the current patient history, including obtaining more complete clinical histories, improved accuracy of patient self-documented histories, and better associated decision-making by professionals. However, no studies demonstrated any resulting improvements in patient care or outcomes. When more detailed records were obtained through the use of a structured format no attempt was made to confirm if this additional information was clinically useful. No studies investigated possible risks associated with structuring the patient history. No studies examined coding of the patient history. Conclusions There is an insufficient evidence base for sound policy making on the benefits and risks of structuring and/or coding patient history. The authors suggest this field of enquiry warrants further investigation given the interest in use of decision support technology to aid diagnoses.


Testing of the ultrasonic signal is an important matter in laser ultrasonic field. Because of the weakness of the surface vibration caused by ultrasonic, common methods can hardly satisfy the industry application commands. In this paper, a noncontact method, based on two-wave-mixing and the optical adaptivity of photorefractive crystals, is presented to detect the ultrasonic signal on a rough surface. The photorefractive effect and two-wave-mixing characteristics of photorefractive crystals are introduced, followed by the design of ultrasonic signal testing system using a photorefractive crystal, including the stray light collection, crystal protection from high voltage and noise suppression of optical maser. Finally, experiments are carried out to verify the performance of the system. The results show the ability of the system in ultrasonic vibration detection on a few? kinds of rough surfaces and material defect evaluation.


Abstract : Analytical difficulties associated with the dynamic crack propagation problem have limited the available dynamic solutions to idealized situations. The major limitations introduced by these analytical solutions make both numerical methods and direct experimental observations necessary for the complete understanding of the dynamic fracture process. A principal purpose of experimental studies is to observe directly the instantaneous stress intensity factor as a function of crack speed, and to determine whether or not the observed variation constitutes a material characteristic. The present paper provides a description of dynamic crack propagation experiments on double cantilever beam specimens of a high strength steel. Measurements of the crack tip deformation field and of crack speed during propagation have been made using the optical method of caustics in reflection. A principal advantage of a measurement made directly at the crack tip is that the interpretation of data does not rely on a complete transient stress analysis of the entire specimen. The inherent time dependence of crack propagation experiments requires that many sequential measurements of field quantities be made in an extremely short time and in a way that does not interfere with the process to be observed. Furthermore, the area over which the field quantities are to be measured advances along with the crack tip, and often in a nonuniform way. The method of caustics is attractive for meeting these experimental requirements. (Author)


It is well known that a complex orthogonal design that provides full diversity and full transmission rate exists only for two antennas. For larger number antennas either the symbol rate or full diversity needs to be sacrificed in general. In this paper, we present a quasi-orthogonal space time block code (QOSTBC)for four transmit antennas based on group precoding (GP), which we call GP-QOSTBC, that achieves full rate and full diversity. The optimal receiver for the new code decouples the symbol detection problem into pairs of symbols, thus greatly reducing decoding complexity. Simulation results show that the proposed quasi-orthogonal code outperforms the previous Jafarkhani code and coordinate-interleaved space-time block codes.


The aim of this study was to investigate the biocompatibility of contrast agents, such as gadolinium 1, 4, 7, 10 tetraazacyclo-dodecane tetraacetic acid (GdDOTA) and gadolinium dioctyl terephthalate (GdDOTP), encapsulated in a polymeric matrix containing chitosan and hyaluronic acid using RAW264.7 murine macrophages and human blood samples. The cell viability and cytotoxicity were evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays, while cell cycle analysis was determined in RAW264.7 cells using flow cytometry. The mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), hemolytic index, complement activation, and thrombogenic potential of gadolinium (Gd) containing nanohydrogels were measured by fluorometric and spectrophotometric methods. Taken together, our results demonstrate the good bio- and hemocompatibility of chitosan-based nanohydrogels with the RAW264.7 cell line and human blood cells, suggesting that these could be used as injectable formulations for the magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic of lymph nodes.


Dancers in black and white against blue backdrop at the Weekend Festival of Black Dance Rhythm and Soul of a People sponsored by The Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Dallas, Texas.


The Medical Physics and Radiation Protection communities lost one of their true pioneers in May, 2014 with the passing of Warren K. Sinclair, Ph.D. He received his Doctorate in Physics at the University of London, U.K. He was a fellow of the Institute of Physics and a Certified Health Physicist. After a number of posts at Hospitals and Universities in the U.K. and New Zealand, he became the Head, Physics Department at the M.D. Anderson Hospital, Houston, TX. He held a number of academic physics positions with the University of Texas, Austin at the main campus and at the Postgraduate School of Medicine, Houston. He later served as a Senior Biophysicist, Division Director, and then Associate Laboratory Director for Biomedical Division Director, and then Associate Laboratory Director for Biomedical and Environmental Research at the Argonne National Laboratory, IL. He had additional academic appointments at the University of California, Berkeley; Northern Illinois University; the University of Illinois (Chicago Circle Campus); and the University of Chicago. Warren was a charter member of the AAPM and a leader in many communities: President of the AAPM from 1960 to 1961 and the Journal Editor from 1964 to 1969, the 2nd President of the NCRP from 1977 to 1991, and the President of the Radiation Research Society from 1978 to 1979. His many awards included the William D. Coolidge Award in 1986. Even this barely scratches the surface of the many other organizations he served with and influenced including the ICRP, IOP, RSNA, SNM, and UNSCEAR. His research interests resulted in publications from 1948 to the 1990s in many aspects (physical and biological) of radiotherapy and the effects of ionizing radiation in general, leading to early definitions of RBE values for megavoltage radiotherapy as well as contributing to the development of the modern framework for radiation protection worldwide. Warren was not a retiring person and even after moving to NCRP President Emeritus status continued to provide advice and comments on publications and to mentor others until the time of his passing. Sadly, Warren's long-time wife Joy passed away in December, 2014 but he is survived by his son Bruce and daughter Roslyn, 2 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.


Digital Musical Instruments (DMIs) offer new opportu-nities for collaboration, such as exchanging sounds or sharing controls between musicians. However, in the context of spontaneous and heterogeneous orchestras, such as jam sessions, collective music-making may become challenging due to the diversity and complexity of the DMIs and the musicians' unfamiliarity with the others' instruments. In particular, the potential lack of visibility into each musician's respective contribution to the sound they hear, i.e. who is playing what, might impede their capacity to play together. In this paper, we propose to augment each instrument in a digital or-chestra with visual feedback extracted in real-time from the instrument's activity, in order to increase this awareness. We present the results of a user study in which we investigate the influence of visualisation level and situational visibility during short improvisations by groups of three musicians. Our results suggest that internal visualisations of all instruments displayed close to each musician's instrument provide the best awareness.


Recently, behavioral factors have become an important value, integrated with other values such as function, affecting the built environment. Accordingly, new terms in research, such as environment-behavior studies (EBS), have arisen. These studies describe the relationship between the environment and human behavior and identify its use in the design process. Besides, their emphasis is on fulfilling the needs of users through the correct application of behavioral design criteria. Behavior setting is one of these studies that can be considered as an important attempt to understand the psychology of human behavior in other than intrapsychic or person-centered terms. This type of study considered that the ultimate object of design is to create a form that satisfies behavior. Students' social behaviors at higher-education buildings, their social interactions, and their gathering areas are among the most significant issues of architectural design. Transition spaces in such type of buildings have an elastic environment; this gives the designer some freedom to express space in a way that is not usually considered. Recent architects stated that a well-designed higher-education transition space (HETS) will help to create an environment of interaction where students can interact with their peers and their professors, thus enhancing the overall performance of such spaces. This performance can be developed by supporting HETS with a variety in functions and activities in order to create an interactive environment that is invaluable to the educational process. The paper will present an analytical approach as an attempt to identify HETS as an efficient ―behavior setting‖ model for better utilization of these spaces. Several samples of international HETS will be described and analyzed to make a better understanding of these spaces and to provide designers with a developed vision about their performance. This proposed vision can be subjected to further researches to identify criteria for assessing HETS performance.


Spatial variability of plankton is a well-known, though poorly characterized and understood, phenomenon. Several studies suggest that patches of plankton are essential to the growth and survival of some planktonic species; thus, any ability to predict the spatial patterns of plankton would significantly enhance our understanding of ocean ecosystems. Furthermore, models that accurately describe planktonic patchiness could permit a mechanistic understanding of the dynamics structuring the plankton. One such model is based on plankton being mixed in 3D isotropic turbulence, giving a k -5/3 slope to the spatial spectrum of plankton variability. Many papers have been published that (often favorably) compare their data to this k -5/3 model. Using a selection of papers published since 1993, I show, however, that the data in many of these studies have not been gathered on scales that allow comparison to the k -5/3 model. I then discuss whether planktonic data can even be used to test such a model: the model is continuum-based, while plankton are quanta at scales relevant to the turbulent scales. Still, many data sets resolving planktonic patchiness show a k -5/3 slope of the spectrum, or at least show a biological spectrum with a different slope than the temperature, salinity, or velocity spectra. I discuss several aspects of biological data that might consistently bias the spectral slopes of planktonic spectra, and conclude that the spectral slope does not contain enough information to distinguish among alternate models of plankton patchiness. While this paper is not a critique of the k -5/3 model or of the spectral method, it is a critique of the use of spectra of biological properties to test the k -5/3 model. I hope that by pointing out some of the pitfalls of spectral analysis of biological data we might gain better insights into the physical-biological interactions creating microscale patchiness in the ocean.


Emotional support is a crucial ability for many conversation scenarios, including social interactions, mental health support, and customer service chats. Following reasonable procedures and using various support skills can help to effectively provide support. However, due to the lack of a well-designed task and corpora of effective emotional support conversations, research on building emotional support into dialog systems remains lacking. In this paper, we define the Emotional Support Conversation (ESC) task and propose an ESC Framework, which is grounded on the Helping Skills Theory. We construct an Emotion Support Conversation dataset (ESConv) with rich annotation (especially support strategy) in a help-seeker and supporter mode. To ensure a corpus of high-quality conversations that provide examples of effective emotional support, we take extensive effort to design training tutorials for supporters and several mechanisms for quality control during data collection. Finally, we evaluate state-of-the-art dialog models with respect to the ability to provide emotional support. Our results show the importance of support strategies in providing effective emotional support and the utility of ESConv in training more emotional support systems.


While the demand for video streaming services has risen rapidly in recent years, supporting video streaming service to a large number of receivers still remains a challenging task. Issues of video streaming in the Internet, such as scalability, and reliability are still under extensive research. Recently proposed network contexts such as overlay networks, and mobile ad hoc networks pose even tougher challenges. This thesis focuses on supporting scalable video streaming applications under various network environments. More specifically, this thesis investigates the following problems: (i) Server selection in replicated batching video on demand (VoD) systems: we find out that, to optimize the user perceived latency, it is vital to consider the server state information and channel allocation schemes when making server selection decisions. We develop and evaluate a set of server selection algorithms that use increasingly more information. (ii) Scalable live video streaming with time shifting and video patching: we consider the problem of how to enable continuous live video streaming to a large group of clients in cooperative but unreliable overlay networks. We design a server-based architecture which uses a combined technique of time-shifting video server and P2P video patching. (iii) A Cooperative patching architecture in overlay networks: We design a cooperative patching architecture which shifts video patching responsibility completely to the client side. An end-host retrieves lost data from other end-hosts within the same multicast group. (iv) V3: a vehicle to vehicle video streaming architecture: We propose V3, an architecture to provide live video streaming service to driving vehicles through vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks. V3 incorporates a novel signaling mechanism to continuously trigger video sources to send video data back to the receiver. It also adopts a store-carry-and-forward approach to transmit video data in a partitioned network environment. We also develop a multicasting framework that enables live video streaming applications from multiple sources to multiple receivers in V2V networks. A message integration scheme is used to suppress the signaling overhead, and a two-level tree-based routing approach is adopted to forward the video data.


The reliable and accurate description of signal attenuation characteristics is important in the simulation and performance analysis of wireless communications systems. Recent works have provided analytical expres- sions for the path loss statistics in cellular systems consid- ering distance-dependent losses and shadowing. In this paper, we extend this analysis by including small-scale fading. A closed-form expression that gives the path loss density in a cellular network is given. The impact of chan- nel parameters and cell size on signal attenuation is fur- ther investigated. Simulation results and comparisons with measured data in the literature verify the accuracy of the solution. The derived formulation is a useful tool for the modeling and analysis of cellular communications systems.


In this study, we show that tasks can be realized by appropriate coordinate transformation. This approach, oblique coordinate control, decouples tasks. Even though a system is large, they can be designed by a combination of small tasks. Therefore, tasks can be regarded as reusable components. In this study, micro-macro bilateral control is achieved as a complicated task. Small objects can be manipulated as large objects in micro-macro bilateral control. However, ideal micro-macro bilateral controllers are usually derived only for single-degree-of-freedom (DOF) systems. Then, we propose a micro-macro bilateral controller for multi-DOF on the basis of oblique coordinate control. To obtain multi-DOF bilateral control, we first derive control goals as kinematic relations. This study also considers the case where scaling gains of position and force are selected in a different manner. The goals of micro-macro bilateral control are then controlled by oblique coordinate control. The validity of the proposed method is experimentally verified.


Introduction: Jaffe's definition for benign osteoblastoma is a rare bone neoplasm characterized by vascular osteoid and a bone-forming matrix rich in osteoblast. It's a rare benign locally aggressive osteoblastic lesion of the bone with a very low risk of becoming cancerous. Case Report: In this case, a twenty-three-year-old man complained of difficulty in walking and pain that had been interfering with his everyday activities for a year. A palpable mass was present on inspection, and an X-ray revealed an enlarged lytic lesion in the talar body involving articular cartilage. Wide excision, bone grafting, and talo-navicular fusion with cannulated cancellous screw fixation were used to treat it. Osteoblastoma is verified by histopathology. Patient was on non-weight bearing with a below-knee cast for six weeks, followed by three months of partial weight-bearing. After six months, the patient had a satisfactory range of motion and was able to bear full weight. Symptoms were relieved, and there was no sign of recurrence after a year. Conclusion: The better treatment option for osteoblastoma of the talus is surgical wide excision and talo-navicular fusion with cannulated cancellous screw fixation and bone grafting.


CONTEXT
While recent pharmacological advances have generated increased public interest and demand for clinical services regarding erectile dysfunction, epidemiologic data on sexual dysfunction are relatively scant for both women and men.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence and risk of experiencing sexual dysfunction across various social groups and examine the determinants and health consequences of these disorders.

DESIGN
Analysis of data from the National Health and Social Life Survey, a probability sample study of sexual behavior in a demographically representative, 1992 cohort of US adults.

PARTICIPANTS
A national probability sample of 1749 women and 1410 men aged 18 to 59 years at the time of the survey.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Risk of experiencing sexual dysfunction as well as negative concomitant outcomes.

RESULTS
Sexual dysfunction is more prevalent for women (43%) than men (31%) and is associated with various demographic characteristics, including age and educational attainment. Women of different racial groups demonstrate different patterns of sexual dysfunction. Differences among men are not as marked but generally consistent with women. Experience of sexual dysfunction is more likely among women and men with poor physical and emotional health. Moreover, sexual dysfunction is highly associated with negative experiences in sexual relationships and overall well-being.

CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that sexual dysfunction is an important public health concern, and emotional problems likely contribute to the experience of these problems.


This paper empirically examines the extent to which organization characteristics promote the diffusion of pollution prevention technologies within a firm (parent company). We use panel data on more than 5000 facilities reporting to the Toxics Release Inventory over the period of 1991 to 2011 to examine the number of pollution prevention technologies adopted by a facility with respect to its size, previous experience in adoption, its distances to its sibling facilities and firm's headquarter, and regional density. We use a two-part hurdle model to estimate the likelihood of adoption and the rate of adoption, while controlling for public and regulatory pressures that may have affected the adoption of pollution prevention technologies. We find that a facility that was located in the same city with its firm's headquarter were more likely to adopt pollution prevention technologies. Past experience in adoption of pollution prevention technology and firm's knowledge stock on pollution prevention technology increased both the likelihood and rate of adoption.


The risk of pregnancy in breastfeeding should be a concern of women. Family planning programs in the post natal period contraceptive choices offer high efficiency. Breastfeeding is a natural contraception method (LAM) as a contraceptive shield has 98% efficiency. Women should consider using an alternate contraceptive method when feeding requirements for this method to be effective are not met. Some of contraceptive alternatives in lactation include hormonal methods. According to the Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use WHO combined hormonal methods are contraindicated during breastfeeding, hormonal progestogen only methodo are considered only in Group 3 and Group 1 immediate postpartum after 6 weeks postpartum. There are modifications to these criteria by the CDC and the UK for the use of these hormones in early in lactation.


The oil and gas industry is going through a major technological shift. This is particularly true of the Norwegian continental shelf where new work processes are being implemented based on digital infrastructure and information technology. The term Integrated Operations (IO) has been applied to this set of new processes. It is defined by the Centre for Integrated Operations in the Petroleum Industry as 'work processes and technology to make smarter decisions and better execution, enabled by ubiquitous real time data, collaborative techniques and access to multiple expertise'.It's claimed that IO is efficient, optimises exploration, reduces costs and improves safety performance. However, the picture is not as clear-cut as it may appear. On the one hand, the new work processes do not prevent major accidents: IO-related factors have been identified in recent events such as the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. On the other hand, IO technology provides improved decision-making support (such as access to real-time data and expertise), which can reduce human and material losses and damage to the environment.Given these very different properties, it's vital that the industry has a detailed understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of IO, which this book sets out to do from a multidisciplinary point of view. It analyses Integrated Operations from the angles of statistics, management science, human factors and resilience engineering. These varied disciplines provide a multifaceted understanding of IO that better informs risk assessment practices, as well as explaining new techniques and methods and provides state-of-the-art guidance to risk assessment practitioners working in the oil and gas industry.


We have identified a cDNA encoding a novel inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase. It contains two highly conserved catalytic motifs for 5-phosphatase, has a molecular mass of 51 kDa, and is ubiquitously expressed and especially abundant in skeletal muscle, heart, and kidney. We designated this 5-phosphatase as SKIP (Skeletal muscle and Kidney enrichedInositol Phosphatase). SKIP is a simple 5-phosphatase with no other motifs. Baculovirus-expressed recombinant SKIP protein exhibited 5-phosphatase activities toward inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate, inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate, phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) 4,5-bisphosphate, and PtdIns 3,4,5-trisphosphate but has 6-fold more substrate specificity for PtdIns 4,5-bisphosphate (K m = 180 μm) than for inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (K m = 1.15 mm). The ectopic expression of SKIP protein in COS-7 cells and immunostaining of neuroblastoma N1E-115 cells revealed that SKIP is expressed in cytosol and that loss of actin stress fibers occurs where the SKIP protein is concentrated. These results imply that SKIP plays a negative role in regulating the actin cytoskeleton through hydrolyzing PtdIns 4,5-bisphosphate.


In the past decade, complexity-based thinking has exerted an increasing, yet somewhat controversial authority over management theory and practice. This has in some part been due to the influence of a number of high-profile articles and the not inconsiderable hype which has accompanied them. Another feature of the subject's development has been the diversity of the origins of the thinking and the claims which have been made for it in terms of managerial and organizational implications. Complexity and Organization is the first text to bring this thinking together, presenting some of the most influential writing in the field, showing how the subject has developed and how it continues to influence managerial thinking. Seminal contributions to the field have been brought together in a single accessible volume, allowing readers to access what might otherwise appear a very diverse body of literature. Moreover, the editors, who represent some of the leading thinkers and writers in this field, have combined these readings with a unique commentary, indicating not only the importance of the papers but teasing out the subtle but significant differences and similarities between them. These commentaries take the form of a discussion between the editors, debating the contribution that each paper has made to the field and the influence it has had on management thinking.


Background/Aim: We aimed to investigate the effects of colchicine on clinical recovery, as well as oxidative stress markers and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in whole blood of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Materials and methods: Sixty patients with grade 2 - 3 knee OA according to ACR knee OA criteria whom examination of the knee joint synovial fluid by polarized light microscopy demonstrated CPDD crystals existence were included in the study. Fifty healthy subjects were included as a control group. Patients were divided randomly into two groups. The first group (paracetamol group) was given only paracetamol 3 gr daily p.o and the second group (colchicine and paracetamol group) was given colchicine 1,5 gr and paracetamol 3 gr daily p.o for six months. For outcome measures WOMAC and VAS were used. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) ezyme activities and Glutathione (GSH) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and TAC all were measured. Results: WOMAC scores were improved in both patient groups compared with pre-treatment evaluation (p 0.05). TAC was signifcantly increased only in colchicine/paracetamol group. Oxidant parameter MDA levels were significantly decreased in both paracetamol group and colchicine/paracetamol group. CAT, SOD enzyme activities and GSH levels did not change before and after treatment protocols in both patient groups. Conclusion: Both paracetamol 3000 mg/day and 3000 mg paracetamol plus 1,5 gr/day colchicine is effective in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis. But the addition of colchicine to paracetamol produced significantly greater symptomatic benefit than paracetamol alone. Our study also showed that colchicine lowers whole blood MDA which is a lipid peroxidation compound and elevates TAC levels in patients with knee OA. This may show probable disease modifying effect of colchicine in knee OA which require further long period laboratory and radiologic investigations.


ABSTRACT School readiness is currently a strong focus for education policy in England. However, understanding what it means to be ready for school, and how this is reflected in policy and enacted in practice, are sites of contention. This paper explores the genesis of the current disparity in understandings in the context of the English education system. A comparison of discourses reveals how early years is informed by distinctly different discourses which, transformed into practice, require different pedagogical approaches. This disparity is theorised within Bernstein's Pedagogic Device and Pedagogies of Competence and Performance (Bernstein, B. 2000. Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity. Theory, Research, Critique. London: Rowman and Littlefield.). This provides a theoretical framework which enables articulation of how these discourses are transformed into practice and the resulting pedagogical practices which are shown to be distinctly different. The paper outlines how a politically driven change in discourse has resulted in enforced pedagogical change in early years, and considers whether this is likely to achieve the stated aim of enabling all children to be ready for school. The implications for policy and practice are discussed.


Genetic aspects of alcoholism have been modeled using rats selectively bred for extremes of alcohol preference and voluntary alcohol intake. These lines show similar alcohol drinking phenotypes but have different genetic and environmental backgrounds and may therefore display diverse behavioral traits as seen in human alcoholics. The multivariate concentric square field™ (MCSF) test is designed to provoke exploration and behaviors associated with risk assessment, risk taking and shelter seeking in a novel environment. The aim was to use the MCSF to characterize behavioral profiles in rat lines from selective breeding programs in the United States (P/NP, HAD1/LAD1, HAD2/LAD2), Italy (sP/sNP) and Finland (AA/ANA). The open field and elevated plus maze tests were used as reference tests. There were substantial differences within some of the pairs of selectively bred rat lines as well as between all alcohol‐preferring rats. The most pronounced differences within the pairs of lines were between AA and ANA rats and between sP and sNP rats followed by intermediate differences between P and NP rats and minor differences comparing HAD and LAD rats. Among all preferring lines, P, HAD1 and HAD2 rats shared similar behavioral profiles, while AA and sP rats were quite different from each other and the others. No single trait appeared to form a common 'pathway' associated with a high alcohol drinking phenotype among all of the alcohol‐preferring lines of rats. The marked behavioral differences found in the different alcohol‐preferring lines may mimic the heterogeneity observed among human alcoholic subtypes.


BACKGROUND
Elbow surgery is shared by several subspecialties. We were curious about the most common elbow surgeries and their corresponding diagnoses in the United States.

METHODS
We used the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) and the National Survey of Ambulatory Surgery (NSAS) data gathered in 2006-databases that together provide an estimate of all inpatient and ambulatory surgical care in the US.

RESULTS
An estimated 150,000 elbow surgeries were performed in the US in 2006, 75% in an outpatient setting. The most frequent diagnosis treated operative was enthesopathy (e.g. lateral epicondylitis) and it was treated with several different procedures. More than three quarters of all elbow surgeries treated enthesopathy, cubital tunnel syndrome, or fracture (radial head in particular). Arthroscopy and arthroplasty accounted for less than 10% of all elbow surgeries.

CONCLUSIONS
Elbow surgery in the United States primarily addresses enthesopathies such as tennis elbow, cubital tunnel syndrome, and trauma. It is notable that some of the most common elbow surgeries (those that address enthesopathy and radial head fracture) are some of the most variably utilized and debated.


Thermal barrier coatings are gaining considerable importance for the improvement the energetic efficiency of turbines. These materials are often applied on the surface of blades and are based on a layer of antioxidation material (mainly MCrAlY alloys) and a top layer that acts as proper thermal barrier (normally Yttria partially stabilized Zirconia). Coating removal is an important aspect in the production of these blades. "Decoating" or "stripping" is needed for the production of new components as well as for the reconditioning of existing ones. The present paper is dedicated to the comparison of different stripping methods and to the characterization of the blades surface after removal of thermal spray coatings both of Zirconia and of MCrAlY. The results reported here show that chemical stripping is particularly suitable for MCrAlY coating removal and does not affect the substrate. Water jet stripping can successfully be used for Zirconia-MCrAlY system removal although care is needed to avoid substrate damage. Salt bath technologies have been formed to be effective for TBC removal but not for MCrAlY removal.


Background Refeeding syndrome (RS) is a potentially fatal condition that can occur following the re-introduction of nutrition after a period of starvation. Hypophosphataemia following the reintroduction of nutrition is often the only reliable biochemical marker of RS. Refeeding index (RI) generated from baseline insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and leptin has been proposed as a useful biochemical marker for the identification of patients at risk of developing refeeding hypophosphataemia (RH). Methods A prospective study included 52 patients referred for parenteral nutrition (PN). The sensitivity and specificity of IGF-1 measured using a sensitive assay was compared to the RI in predicting the development of RH (a ≥30% drop in PO4 during the first 36-h of PN administration). Leptin and IGF-1 were analysed on baseline samples using a quantitative enzyme-linked immunoassay. Daily blood samples were collected from all patients for routine biochemistry for the full duration of PN administration. Results High sensitivity IGF-1 measurement alone was comparable with the RI, using receiver–operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, with areas under the curve being 0.79 and 0.80, respectively, and superior to leptin alone (0.72) for predicting ≥30% drop in PO4. The cut-off value for IGF-1 that gave best sensitivity (91% [95% CI 75–98%]) and specificity (65% [95% CI 41–85%]) was 63.7 µg/L, with a likelihood ratio of 2.59. Conclusion Baseline IGF-1 is an objective, sensitive and specific biochemical marker in identifying patients who are at high risk of developing RH prior to PN administration and therefore may have a role in clinical practice.


: Only about 1/4 of the statements made by the patients or accompanying persons regarding preclinical medication proved to be true. In about 66% of the cases 1--5 drugs were not stated during the first interview, while in 10% of the cases more drugs were stated than had actually been taken. Among the substances which had remained anonymous, the main shares are represented by benzodiazepines (28%), narcotic drugs (19%), neuroleptics (15%) and alcohol (15%). If one relates the number of false statements to the individual patients grouped according to diagnoses, the relatively highest quota of defaulters is found among the addicts, namely, 100%. This means that all the addicts had made false statements. The second rank is occupied by the alcoholic group who made 66% false statements, followed by the patients suffering from psychoses with 52% false statement, and the depressive patients with 47% false statements.


Making reliable preseason batter projections for baseball players is an issue of utmost importance to both teams and fans who seek to infer a player's underlying talent or predict future performance. However, this has proven to be a difficult task due to the high-variance nature of baseball and the lack of abundant, clean data. For this reason, current leading models rely mostly upon expert knowledge. We propose DeepBall, which combines a recurrent neural network with novel regularization and ensemble aggregation. We compare this to Marcel, the industry-standard open-source baseline, and other traditional machine learning techniques, and DeepBall outperforms all. DeepBall is also easily extended to predict multiple years in the future. In addition to predicting expected performances, we apply standard machine learning techniques to extend DeepBall to model uncertainty in these predictions by estimating the maximum-likelihood distribution over potential outcomes for each player. Due to the positive results, we believe that in the future, DeepBall can be beneficial to both teams and fans in modeling expectation and uncertainty. Finally, we discuss potential extensions to the model and directions of future research.


Smart speakers, which wait for voice commands and complete tasks for users, are becoming part of common households. While voice commands came with basic functionalities in the earlier days, as the market grew, various commands with critical functionalities were developed; e.g., access banking services, send money, open front door. Such voice commands can cause serious consequences once smart speakers are attacked. Recent research shows that smart speakers are vulnerable to malicious voice commands sent from other speakers (e.g., TV, baby monitor, radio) in the same area. In this work, we propose the Speaker-Sonar, a sonar-based liveness detection system for smart speakers. Our approach aims to protect the smart speakers from remote attackers that leverage network-connected speakers to send malicious commands. The key idea of our approach is to make sure that the voice command is indeed coming from the user. For this purpose, the Speaker-Sonar emits an inaudible sound and tracks the user's direction to compare it with the direction of the received voice command. The Speaker-Sonar does not require additional action from the user and works through an automatic consistency check. We built the Speaker-Sonar on a raspberry pi 3b, a circular microphone array, and a commodity speaker by imitating the Amazon Echo. Our evaluation shows that the Speaker-Sonar can reject remote voice attacks with an average accuracy of 95.5% in 2 meters, which significantly raises the bar for remote attackers. To the best of our knowledge, our defense is able to defend against known remote voice attack techniques.


The advent of sensory and communication technologies enables the generation and consumption of large volumes of streaming data. Many of these data streams are geo-referenced. Existing spatio-temporal databases and data stream management systems are not capable of handling real time queries on spatial extents. In this thesis, we investigated several fundamental research issues toward building a data-type-based real time geospatial data stream management system. The thesis makes contributions in the following areas: geo-stream data models, aggregation, window-based nearest neighbor operators, and query optimization strategies. The proposed geo-stream data model is based on second-order logic and multi-typed algebra. Both abstract and discrete data models are proposed and exemplified. I further propose two useful geo-stream operators, namely Region By and WNN, which abstract common aggregation and nearest neighbor queries as generalized data model constructs. Finally, I propose three query optimization algorithms based on spatial, temporal, and spatio-temporal constraints of geo-streams. I show the effectiveness of the data model through many query examples. The effectiveness and the efficiency of the algorithms are validated through extensive experiments on both synthetic and real data sets. This work established the fundamental building blocks toward a full-fledged geo-stream database management system and has potential impact in many applications such as hazard weather alerting and monitoring, traffic analysis, and environmental modeling.


This report describes how the practice of naming post offices through public law originated and how it is commonly done today. House and Senate practices for approving legislation and procedures followed by the U.S. Postal Service in organizing a dedication ceremony, are also described. An increasingly common form of legislation is the naming of post offices for former Members of Congress or other figures of local or national renown. About one in six public laws passed by the 108th Congress was a post office naming bill approved under suspension of the rules. Unanimity of a state's congressional delegation is required for the movement of naming bills to the floor of the House or Senate. The costs of dedicating a post office in the name of an individual are modest, and this action results in no change in public identification of the facility by its geographic location.


Viologens, with their three stable redox states, are highly valuable organic compounds and currently being sought out as an electroactive component for new battery technologies. In this contribution we report the synthesis and characterization of two multicationic star-shaped species with three or four phosphoryl-bridged viologen units as pendant, electroactive functional groups, respectively. The new, water-soluble species show enhanced electronic features over those of the parent viologens with considerably lowered reduction thresholds. Extensive electrochemical and optical studies confirm that the species are indeed stable in their three electronically accessible states, but also that their large size and the molecular architecture that brings the phosphaviologens into close proximity, give rise to slow diffusion rates in solution, as well as intramolecular interactions that lead to slower electron-transfer processes when compared to the monomeric relatives.


According to the proponents of the natural law school of thought, human rights exist as result of higher law than that made by man . There are certain moral norms that bind us as rational beings regardless of where a person comes from. John Locke thus states that all human beings were by their own nature wotthy to respect one another as equals . He explored this concept in "The second Treaties of Civil Government" . In his Chapter 2 'The State of Nature ' he affirms that all men are free to direct their actions and disposes of their possessions without seeking permission from anyone except within the limits imposed by the law of nature. In line with this state of equality no person has more power and authority that another as they are creatures of the same species and status. The protection of the life and dignity of men is thus a function of a legitimate government and a lack of such protection is a threat to the stability of human rights. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the current legal framework protects and promotes the rights of intersex people. This was achieved by analyzing certain domestic legislation. It emerged through the discussion that there are hopeful signs towards the protection and the promotion of the rights of intersex people at the national level through the constitution of an intersex taskforce. The Constitution has not specifically made reference to the rights of intersex people but has put up mechanisms where there can be redress, where fundamental rights and freedoms have been infringed. The inclusion of the word intersex in the interpretation of sex would ensure the instances of institutional discrimination are reduced.


INTRODUCTION Maelstrom (Mael) is an evolutionarily conserved protein that contains a high-mobility group (HMG) box and a putative 3′-5′ exoribonuclease domain (Findley et al. Pek et al., 2012a). Similar to many piRNA pathway proteins, Mael localises to the nuage, a germline-unique structure that is proposed to be the site of piRNA processing during the secondary amplification cycle: the Ping-Pong cycle (Findley et al. However, the molecular function of Mael in the piRNA pathway remains unclear. In Drosophila, Mael also localises to the nucleus, in which it promotes germline stem cell (GSC)/cystoblast (CB) differentiation by repressing the expression of miRNA-7 (miR-7) (Findley et al., 2003; Pek et al., 2009). A recent study has implicated another role for Mael in regulating the microtubule-organising centre (MTOC) by interacting with the components of the MTOC in Drosophila ovaries (Sato et al., 2011). Therefore, Mael appears to perform multiple functions during gametogenesis. An understanding of the mechanism(s) through which Mael is regulated will provide important insights into its specific functions. Recent studies have shown that some piRNA pathway proteins, including those that localise to the nuage, are regulated by post


Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infections are common following renal transplantation and may have long-lasting effects. HCMV can be measured directly by viral DNA or indirectly via host immune responses. HCMV-encoded microRNA (miRNA) may alter the pathobiology of HCMV infections and contribute to the progression of HCMV disease. HCMV-encoded miRNAs can be detected in blood but have not been sought in saliva. We investigated saliva samples from 32 renal transplant recipients (RTR) and 12 seropositive healthy controls for whom immunological data was available. Five HCMV-encoded miRNAs (miR-UL112-5p, miR-US5-2-3p, miR-UL36, miR-US25-2-3p and miR-UL22A) were sought using primer probe assays. HCMV miRNA species were detected in saliva from 15 RTR and 3 healthy controls, with miR-US5-2-3p most commonly detected. The presence of HCMV miRNAs associated with increased T-cell responses to HCMV IE-1 in RTR, suggesting a link with frequent reactivations of HCMV.


The aim of the present research was to determine the total selenium content in soil and plants from a microplot experiment with different nitrogen fertilization regimes, and to identify the relationships of the selenium content in soil and plants versus the soil catalase activity. The experiment was conducted in randomized blocks with three replications. The soil and plant samples were collected from a microplot experiment established at the IUNG in Pulawy. The soil was enriched with mineral nitrogen and with nitrogen supplied in slurry, both applied at doses of 100 kg N ha-1. The total selenium content in soil under each of the crop rotation systems was no more than 0.2 mg kg-1. Data from the references imply that the soil was deficient in selenium. The highest amount of selenium was under winter wheat and spring barley with undersown crop in crop rotation A, and in soil under maize crop rotation B. Slurry fertilization significantly stimulated the activity of catalase in soil, as compared with the control and mineral nitrogen fertilization treatments. The highest catalase activity – nearly double the control – was detected in soil under winter wheat in crop rotation A and under spring barley in crop rotation B; winter wheat, regardless of the type of crop rotation, accumulated on average 0.3 mg Se kg-1 d.w. in aerial parts and 0.344 mg Se kg-1 d.w. in roots. The highest amounts of selenium in the investigated parts of plants were reported in the control plots and in the plots with slurry fertilization. Mineral fertilization reduced selenium availability to plants. In both crop rotation systems, the highest bioaccumulation of selenium was noted in winter wheat roots from control plots, while the lowest one was detectetd in aerial parts of plants from the plots with slurry fertilization. Despite the fertilization applied, the selenium content in plant roots was higher than its content in aerial parts. The correlation analysis of the results on selenium concentration in soil and plants as well as the catalase activity of soil identified only a significant dependence between the total selenium content and catalase activity in soil from crop rotation B.


Although the majority of thoracic diseases that are potentially surgical come within the scope of the thoracic surgeon, it is evident to all practitioners that lesions of the chest that are amenable to surgical therapy must be recognized early. Obviously, proper care of the patient with chest disease cannot be carried out otherwise. Since the limit of this paper does not permit discussion of the diagnosis and treatment of chest disease in detail, consideration will be given only to some of the more recent advances in management of those lesions of the lung, pleura, and tracheobronchial tree that are frequently encountered by the surgeon and are of particular interest to the medical profession as a whole. CARCINOMA OF LUNG Diagnostic methods for the detection of carcinoma of the lung have been perfected to such a degree that one can expect a positive diagnosis in approximately 85% of the cases. The


Diagnosis, or the process of identifying the nature and cause of an anomaly in an ontology, has been largely studied by the Semantic Web community. In the context of ontology stream, diagnosis results are not captured by a unique fixed ontology but numerous time-evolving ontologies. Thus any anomaly can be diagnosed by a large number of different explana- tions depending on the version and evolution of the ontology. We address the problems of identifying, representing, exploiting and exploring the evolution of diagnoses representations. Our approach consists in a graph-based representation, which aims at (i) efficiently organizing and linking time-evolving di- agnoses and (ii) being used for scalable exploration. The ex- periments have shown scalable diagnoses exploration in the context of real and live data from Dublin City.


Since its introduction into the clinical setting at the beginning of the 'eighties, transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) has gained increasing acceptance as a non-invasive neuromonitoring technique. The ability of TCD to detect embolic particles within the cerebral blood vessels has been the subject of intensive investigation in recent years. In the present paper, a new method for the detection of emboli (multirange principle), intra-operatively during a neurosurgical intervention in a 35-year-old patient with a tumour in the posterior fossa and an open foramen ovale, is described for the first time. The method opens up new possibilities for the intra-operative management and the rapid assessment and diagnosis of paradoxical cerebral embolism.


OBJECTIVE
A number of studies have used magnetic resonance imaging to examine volumetric differences in temporal structures in subjects suffering from major depressive disorder. Studies have reported lower hippocampal and amygdala volume, but results have been inconsistent. The authors were interested, therefore, in examining these studies in the aggregate in order to determine whether hippocampal volume is lower in major depressive disorder. They also examined factors that may contribute to the disparate results in the literature.

METHOD
A meta-analysis was conducted of studies that used magnetic resonance imaging to assess the volume of the hippocampus and related structures in patients with major depressive disorder.

RESULTS
Patients were seen to have lower hippocampal volume relative to comparison subjects, detectable if the hippocampus was measured as a discrete structure.

CONCLUSIONS
Although the effect of major depressive disorder on amygdala volume remains to be conclusively established, inclusion of the amygdala with the hippocampus appears to have decreased the likelihood of detecting volumetric differences in either structure. Slice thickness or other scan parameters did not account for a substantive amount of the variance in results, whereas clinical variables of the populations studied, such as duration of illness or presence of abuse, may account for much of the discrepancy between findings.


So far, there are limited reports on the investigation on the influence of the rare earth doped low density Bi| 6Pbo 4Sr2Ca2Cu3 0 y system where cerium and dysprosium doping samples possessed a weak connection in the bulk samples. Hence, this study is conducted to investigate the influences of rare earth elements (Ce, Dy) doping on the structural and superconducting properties in low density Bij 6Pbo 4Sr2Ca2Cu3 0 y superconductor. In this research, the influences of cerium and dysprosium doped low density Bi| 6Pbo 4Sr2Ca2Cu3 0 y superconductor were studied based on the best level of low density and sintering time, furthermore, the technique of mixing the superconducting samples with sucrose was used to prepare the low density rare earth elements (Ce, Dy) doped Bi| 6Pbo 4Sr2Ca2Cu3 0 y superconductor. The optimum level of sucrose was found at 0.050 g mixed with 1.950 g of Bi(Pb)SrCaCuO powder while the critical current density, Jc of high density (standard sample) and optimum low 2 2 density was measured to be 3.746 A/cm and 5.405 A/cm , respectively at 77 K under zero magnetic field. Furthermore, the optimal sintering time of the samples Bii 6Pbo 4Sr2Ca2Cu3 0 v system was found at 850°C for 72 hours. The best Jc achieved 2 2 in high density and optimal low density samples were 7.547 A/cm and 8.333 A/cm respectively at 77 K under zero magnetic fields. However, it was found that both doped Ce and Dy at Ca site indicated deteriorations on the superconducting properties when compared with the undoped samples. The doping samples exhibited the increased values of 7c and Jc towards the optimum concentration and decreased after the further increase of Ce and Dy dopants.


"Business processes or workflows are often used to
model enterprise or scientific applications. It has
received considerable attention to automate workflow
executions on computing resources. However, many
workflow scenarios still involve human activities and
consist of a mixture of human tasks and computing
tasks.
Human involvement introduces security and
authorization concerns, requiring restrictions on who
is allowed to perform which tasks at what time. Role-
Based Access Control (RBAC) is a popular authorization
mechanism. In RBAC, the authorization concepts such as
roles and permissions are defined, and various
authorization constraints are supported, including
separation of duty, temporal constraints, etc. Under
RBAC, users are assigned to certain roles, while the
roles are associated with prescribed permissions.
When we assess resource capacities, or evaluate the
performance of workflow executions on supporting
platforms, it is often assumed that when a task is
allocated to a resource, the resource will accept the
task and start the execution once a processor becomes available. However, when the authorization policies
are taken into account," this assumption may not be
true and the situation becomes more complex. For
example, when a task arrives, a valid and activated
role has to be assigned to a task before the task can
start execution. The deployed authorization
constraints may delay the workflow execution due to
the roles' availability, or other restrictions on the
role assignments, which will consequently have
negative impact on application performance.
When the authorization constraints are present to
restrict the workflow executions, it entails new
research issues that have not been studied yet in
conventional workflow management. This thesis aims to
investigate these new research issues.
First, it is important to know whether a feasible
authorization solution can be found to enable the
executions of all tasks in a workflow, i.e., check the
feasibility of the deployed authorization constraints.
This thesis studies the issue of the feasibility
checking and models the feasibility checking problem
as a constraints satisfaction problem.
Second, it is useful to know when the performance of
workflow executions will not be affected by the given
authorization constraints. This thesis proposes the
methods to determine the time durations when the given
authorization constraints do not have impact.
Third, when the authorization constraints do have
the performance impact, how can we quantitatively
analyse and determine the impact? When there are multiple choices to assign the roles to the tasks,
will different choices lead to the different
performance impact? If so, can we find an optimal way
to conduct the task-role assignments so that the
performance impact is minimized? This thesis proposes
the method to analyze the delay caused by the
authorization constraints if the workflow arrives
beyond the non-impact time duration calculated above.
Through the analysis of the delay, we realize that the
authorization method, i.e., the method to select the
roles to assign to the tasks affects the length of the
delay caused by the authorization constraints. Based
on this finding, we propose an optimal authorization
method, called the Global Authorization Aware (GAA)
method.
Fourth, a key reason why authorization constraints
may have impact on performance is because the
authorization control directs the tasks to some
particular roles. Then how to determine the level of
workload directed to each role given a set of
authorization constraints? This thesis conducts the
theoretical analysis about how the authorization
constraints direct the workload to the roles, and
proposes the methods to calculate the arriving rate of
the requests directed to each role under the role,
temporal and cardinality constraints.
Finally, the amount of resources allocated to
support each individual role may have impact on the
execution performance of the workflows. Therefore, it
is desired to develop the strategies to determine the
adequate amount of resources when the authorization
control is present in the system. This thesis presents the methods to allocate the appropriate quantity for
resources, including both human resources and
computing resources. Different features of human
resources and computing resources are taken into
account. For human resources, the objective is to
maximize the performance subject to the budgets to
hire the human resources, while for computing
resources, the strategy aims to allocate adequate
amount of computing resources to meet the QoS
requirements.