This research proposes that design and visual thinking in combination with narrative theory contribute to enhance knowledge of innovation processes and support managers in their work. In particular, the focus is on the use of Storyboarding to support a better definition of a project's brief. Innovation studies have shown that the initial phases of innovation processes (typically called the "front end of innovation") are crucial for success. A proper definition of a brief, that occurs at the front of the front end, is therefore one of the most relevant events in innovation. This study investigates the early phases of innovation by developing and evaluating a new method for developing a brief.First, an explorative approach has been used in order to develop knowledge of challenges in the front end of innovation and how design thinking, visual thinking and narratives can bring new insights in teamwork. In this explorative search the use of case studies has been employed. Then, the explorative search has focused onthe use of Storyboarding as a tool for reflection, and in particular for igniting dynamics of framing and reframing of innovation problems. Finally, in order to create a deeper knowledge in the use of storyboarding three hypotheses has been evaluated, four experiments has been conducted with the involvement of more than 60 people defining innovation briefs. In these experiments, storyboarding (visual and narrative) has been used to support "thinking" that leads to the brief. In other words, storyboarding has been seen as a process to enable innovation teams to think differently or more precisely, rather than just a tool to represent or to communicate the brief. The experiments show that using storyboarding has effects that can support innovation management. First, storyboarding is useful if management wants to "stimulate" a reflection on meaning when developing a brief, i.e. when they want an innovation team to consider both utilitarian and emotional/symbolic factors in an innovation process. Second, Storyboarding brings a narrower focus, compared to traditional written briefs, within the "area of interest" brought up by management, which sometimes may be asked for when the organization is in search for reframing the direction of innovation.


This research proposed to scrutinise and test the 'underclass' theory by examining a prime indicator of underclass' membership youth unemployment, in specific relation to a possible breakdown in the work ethic of socially excluded young people. Research examined the concept of a 'weak labour force attachment' (Wilson 1990) which suggests that in localities characterised by key features of social exclusion, exhibiting structural poverty, chronic joblessness and benefit dependency, residents will be exposed to an environment that 'reinforces' the unemployed condition, primarily through a weakening of the attachment to work for its residents. This phenomena is seen as transmittable through the socialisation process, shaping the work aspirations of future generations. Such localities are often conceptualised by popularised ideology as being socially, economically and morally in decline, typified in terms of the run down council estate, and closely associated with the concept of an 'emerging underclass'. Research focussed on a sample of 'unemployed' 16-18 age group from a south Wales valley region. Comparisons were made between young people residing in localities designated as 'marginalised' defined in terms of declining local authority housing estates, with those young people residing in geographically neighbouring localities, which exhibited similarities in socio-economic profile. The gendered distribution of the sample cohort supported current labour market trends that youth unemployment is disproportionately affecting young males. Analysis of research data strongly challenges the 'underclass' thesis on the grounds that 'marginalised' youths are exhibiting dysfunctional work attitudes. No comparative evidence was found in relation to a weakening of the work ethic of young people residing in 'marginalised' communities, with their contemporaries residing in the main valley region. However, key research findings indicated that 'marginalised' youth face accumulative, and additional difficulties when entering the youth labour market which are distinctive from their peers who live in the mainstream valley region. The 'marginalised' sample was disproportionately represented in the 'long term unemployed' (unemployed accumulatively for 5 months) and the 'disaffected in school' cohorts (characterised by high levels of truancy, early leaving, suspension and educational underachievement). 'Disaffection' in school manifested itself in terms of motivational and behavioural dysfunction but these features could not be generalised to the world of work and were not indicative of an erosion of work aspirations of socially excluded youth. However, a tangible relationship was found between those young people detached from spheres of education, with labour market exclusion.


In the early 1990s, a few organisations in the Netherlands began to experiment with flexible workplaces. Traditional cellular offices and the open‐plan offices or team‐oriented bullpen spaces in which everyone had their own fixed workplace were no longer a matter of course. Making use of modern information and communication technology, the pioneers redirected their attention towards the sharing of activity related workplaces in a combi‐office. Economic considerations (eg low occupancy of expensive workplaces), organisational developments (network organisations, teamwork, fast exchange of knowledge, part‐time work) and external developments (globalisation, strong competition) are important drivers for change. The aim is to stimulate new ways of working (dynamic, less closely linked to place and time), to improve labour productivity and to make major cost savings (fewer workplaces, fewer square metres), without reducing employee satisfaction. Since then a number of new offices have been realised. Twelve per cent of organisations that have moved recently use flexible workspaces for the most part or exclusively. An important question now is whether the aims have been achieved. What are the actual benefits? What are the risks? How should consultants advise their clients? The field is dominated by the opinions of those in favour and those against. Statements expressing the successes or failures of flexible offices contradict each other. Hard data are almost lacking. Due to the scarcity of empirically supported insights, the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands together with the Centre for People and Buildings and the Centre for Facility Management are carrying out investigations into the costs and benefits of workplace innovation. This paper reports on progress so far, with a focus on employee satisfaction and labour productivity.


In addition to the long-term renal complications, previous studies suggested that after acute renal failure (ARF), rats manifest an increased pressor response to an overnight infusion of ANG II. The present study tested whether recovery from ARF results in alterations in sensitivity to the peripheral vasculature. ARF was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by 45 min of bilateral renal ischemia and reperfusion. Animals were allowed to recover renal structure and function for 5-8 wk, after which the acute pressor responses to ANG II were evaluated either in vivo in in situ skeletal muscle arterioles or in isolated gracilis muscle arteries in vitro. Baseline arterial pressure was not different in ARF rats vs. sham-operated controls, although ARF rats exhibited an enhanced pressor response to bolus ANG II infusion compared with control rats. Steady-state plasma ANG II concentration and plasma renin activity were similar between ARF and control rats. Constrictor reactivity of in situ cremasteric arterioles from ARF rats was enhanced in response to increasing concentrations of ANG II; however, no difference was observed in arteriolar responses to elevated PO2, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, or sodium nitroprusside. Isolated gracilis muscle arteries from ARF rats also showed increased vasoconstriction in response to ANG II but not norepinephrine. In conclusion, recovery from ischemic ARF is not associated with hypertension but is associated with increased arteriolar constrictor reactivity to ANG II. Although the mechanisms of this altered responsiveness are unclear, such changes may relate, in part, to cardiovascular complications in patients with ARF and/or after renal transplant.


Background The double role of caregiver-employee (CE) defines those workers who simultaneously serve as an informal, unpaid care provider for sick, disabled, or elderly relatives, and it is a situation that is on the increase in most western countries. Providing informal caregiving can lead to detrimental effects on emotional well-being and several physical and psychological diseases (e.g., caregiver-burden). CEs can suffer double discomfort (at work and at home), but, first of all, they can be exposed to a high level of home-to-work conflict (HWI). In this study, we analyzed the CE phenomenon in a typical Italian public company, where the mean age of workers is particularly high. Methods An online questionnaire related to the perception of HWI, well-being, and discomfort at work (depression, emotional exhaustion, job engagement) in relation to the family load (none, parents with <12 children to care for, caregiver to other adults, or children and older adults to care for/old/children to care for employees) was answered by 1704 administrative workers. Results More than 20% of our sample was included in the elder caregiver condition or in the double role or "sandwiched" condition with older adults and children to care for. The family load changed significantly between the different age groups: for workers aged between 55 and 64 years, the percentage was nearly 27%. CEs had higher levels of HWI and of personal and job discomfort and lower levels of engagement, when compared with non-CEs. Having "only" older adults to care for (the typical CE condition) was associated with having the most negative results. Conclusion This study confirms and underlines the increasing number of CEs in western organizations and their higher levels of HWI, work disengagement, emotional exhaustion, and depression. As the general population and workforce experience increased "graying," and many more workers become CEs out of necessity, stable caregiver-friendly workplace policies (CFWPs) should be developed.


The main task of the silicon carbide layer in Triso-coated fuel particles for gas-cooled high temperature fission reactors is to retain fission products. It has been observed that some fission products, and in particular Pd, attack the SiC layer and are supposed to be responsible for corrosion of the material, which could facilitate fission products release. We used first principles calculations based on Density Functional Theory (DFT) in order to investigate the energetic, structural, and kinetic properties of Pd impurities inside SiC; we obtained solution and migration energies in pure SiC and discuss the thermodynamics of a few reactions that could possibly occur for Pd impurities in silicon carbide.


Mobile TV broadcast networks have received significant attention from the industry and academia, as they have already been deployed in several countries around the world and their expected market potential is huge. In such networks, a base station broadcasts TV channels in bursts with bit rates much higher than the encoding bit rates of the videos. This enables mobile receivers to receive a burst of traffic and then turn off their receiving circuits till the next burst to conserve energy. The base station needs to construct a transmission schedule for all bursts of different TV channels. Constructing optimal (in terms of energy saving) transmission schedules has been shown to be an NP-complete problem when the TV channels carry video streams encoded at arbitrary and variable bit rates. In this paper, we propose a near-optimal approximation algorithm to solve this problem. We prove the correctness of the proposed algorithm and derive its approximation factor. We also conduct extensive evaluation of our algorithm using implementation in a real mobile TV testbed as well as simulations. Our experimental and simulation results show that the proposed algorithm: 1) is practical and produces correct burst schedules; 2) achieves near-optimal energy saving for mobile devices; and 3) runs efficiently in real time and scales to large scheduling problems.


This study was concerned with the physicochemical characterization and kinetics study of Amagunze clay dissolution in nitric acid. The effects of acid concentration, temperature, particle size, stirring speed and solid/liquid ratio on the leaching of alumina from Amagunze clay were investigated. The X-ray fluorescence data revealed the presence of Al2O3 and SiO2 as major oxides. Metals such as Mg, K, Ca, andTi exist as minor elements while Cr, Zn, Mn and Sr exist as traces. The analysis of Amagunze clay by X-ray diffraction revealed the presence of microline and quartz. The FTIR result confirmed the results of XRF and XRD analysis by revealing the presence of relevant functional groups. Results of the leaching studies showed that alumina dissolution in nitric acid increased with increasing concentration of nitric acid, temperature and stirring rate, and decreased with increasing particle diameter and solid/liquid ratio. In 10M HNO3, at a temperature of 363K using 75μm particle diameter with solid/liquid ratio of 20g/L and stirring speed of 540 rpm, about 85.4% of alumina dissolved in 150 minutes. The activation energy, reaction order and Arrhenius constant calculated at the conditions above were 15.36 KJ/mol, 0.41, 0.586 s, respectively. The mechanism of dissolution of alumina was established to follow the shrinking core model for the surface chemical reaction mechanism. The XRD analysis of the post-leaching residue revealed the presence of microline and quartz. Hence, Amagunze clay has proved to be a viable alternative source for alumina production.


Laubach and Williams (2003) employ a Kalman filter approach to jointly estimate the neutral real federal funds rate and trend output growth using an IS relationship and an output gap based inflation equation. They find a positive link between these two variables, but also much error surrounding neutral real rate estimates. We modify their approach by including variables for regulations on deposit interest rates and on wages and prices. These variables are statistically significant and notably affect estimates of two policy relevant coefficients: the sensitivity of output to the real interest rate and that of inflation to the output gap.


Submerged T-foils are an essential forward component of the ride control systems of high speed ferries. A model scale T-Foil for a 2.5m towing tank model of a 112m INCAT Tasmania high-speed wave-piercer catamaran has been tested for both static and dynamic lift performance. The tests were carried out using a closed-circuit water tunnel to investigate the lift and drag characteristics as well as frequency response of the T-Foil. The model T-Foil operates at a Reynolds number of approximately 105, has an aspect ratio of 3.6 and a planform which is strongly tapered from the inboard to outboard end. All of these factors, as well as strut and pivot interference, influence the steady lift curve slope ( of the  model T-foil which was found to be 61% of the value for an ideal aerofoil with elliptic loading. The T-foil dynamic performance was limited primarily by the stepper motor drive system and connection linkage. At the frequency of maximum motion of the 2.5 m catamaran model (about 1.5Hz) the model T-foil has approximately 5% reduction of amplitude and 15 degrees of phase shift relative to the low frequency response. Only very small limitations arose due to the unsteady lift as predicted by the analysis of Theodorsen. It was concluded that the model scale T-foil performed adequately for application to simulation of a ride control system at model scale.


We provide an experimental proof of concept for a robust, continuously rotating microstructure-consisting of two metallodielectric (gold-polystyrene) Janus particles rigidly attached to each other-which is driven in uniform ac fields by asymmetric induced-charge electro-osmosis. The pairs (doublets) are stabilized on the substrate surface which is parallel to the plane of view and normal to the direction of the applied electric field. We find that the radius of orbit and angular velocity of the pair are predominantly dependent on the relative orientations of the interfaces between the metallic and dielectric hemispheres and that the electrohydrodynamic particle-particle interactions are small. Additionally, we verify that both the angular and linear velocities of the pair are proportional to the square of the applied field which is consistent with the theory for nonlinear electrokinetics. A simple kinematic rigid body model is used to predict the paths and doublet velocities (angular and linear) based on their relative orientations with good agreement.


Europe invented the modern patent system. Fillipo Brunelleschi, the 14th-century avant-guard Venetian architect, laid the foundation for that system by securing the right to commercial exploitation of his invention through blackmail. Since then, the patent system and its reputation has been no stranger to controversy. After its consolidation, the modern patent system has resisted change except when change serves the interests of its architects and sponsors. On that basis, the recent history of the patent system reflects strategic accommodation of inventions in the realms of chemistry, life sciences (bio-technologies) and, lately, business methods and inventions in the information and communication technologies. These developments depict the convenient, albeit discriminatory malleability of the patent system.Historically, that plasticity of the patent system has not been invoked to accommodate traditional knowledge. When it comes to traditional knowledge, the patent system relapses into questionable orthodoxy as a rigid creation incapable of recognizing alternative forms of innovation outside the paradigm of western science and technology. How to deal with traditional knowledge remains a thorn in the side of the patent system. The subject of traditional knowledge is arguably the single most enduring source of pressure on the patent system through its nearly six-hundred-year history. This chapter links the patent system's interface with traditional knowledge to the latter's experience with and treatment in the history, philosophy and sociology of science. It argues that despite the patent system's opposition to traditional knowledge, at both practical and theoretical levels, as a matter of current reality, traditional knowledge has defied that system without much notice being taken of this transformation. Indeed, traditional knowledge challenges the patent system to re-think the importance of epistemic pluralism and equity in innovation and knowledge production which that system has historically ignored.


The software design industry lacks standards for both code quality and security; as a result, code vulnerability at the time of a product's release is often compromised at subsequent, critical junctures in its consumer-use phase. Exacerbating this problem is the fact that developers typically waive all liability for code errors and place the burden of security on unqualified, non-expert users. Although certain legal remedies exist in the US – often in the form of US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement actions classifying inadequate data security as an 'unfair trade practice' – they are limited in nature, infrequently utilised and are generally incapable of meaningfully protecting consumers. History has shown that other major technological advances, including developments in the aircraft and automotive industries, have occurred in similar unregulated manners, often resulting in negative and potentially dangerous outcomes for the public. To ensure the security of today's software environment, change from within the industry – not unlike the Ralph Nader-inspired industry-wide automotive safety improvements in the 1970s – is necessary to create a shared liability model for software which protects users from poor development practices. Such a model, when coupled with certification standards and education, will result in a more secure software design industry.


ABSTRACT
Tendon injury is prevalent and costly in the United States, comprising 45% of the 66 million musculoskeletal injuries and costing $114 billion annually. Surgical and therapeutic methods, such as arthroscopic surgery, dry needling, and physical therapy, produce mixed success in reintroducing a healing response in tendinopathy due in part to inconsistent dosing and monitoring. Ultrasound is one therapeutic modality that has been shown to noninvasively induce bioeffects in tendon that may help promote healing. However, results from this modality have also been mixed. This review compares the current state of the field in therapeutic ultrasound and shockwave therapy, including low-intensity therapeutic ultrasound, extracorporeal shockwave therapy, and radial shockwave therapy, and evaluates the efficacy in treating tendinopathies with ultrasound. We found that the mixed successes may be attributed to the wide variety of achievable parameters within each broader treatment type and the lack of standardization in measurements and reporting. Despite mixed outcomes, all three therapies show potential as an alternative therapy with lower-risk adverse effects than more invasive methods like surgery. There is currently insufficient evidence to conclude which ultrasound modality or settings are most effective. More research is needed to understand the healing effects of these different therapeutic ultrasound and shockwave modalities.


There is no disease more mysterious and elusive than bronchial asthma, as to both cause and cure, and no disease in the practice of medicine requires more painstaking study if a partial or complete relief is hoped for. The successful treatment of bronchial asthma depends largely on the diagnosis of its cause, or at least the elimination of organic disease with dyspnea or dyspneic attacks. The course which I pursue and find most satisfactory is as follows: A thorough and exhaustive history should be taken because much can be learned from the history as to the patient's habits, his environment, his occupation, his food, and whether his attacks are seasonal or perennial in type. He should be thoroughly questioned as to the previous medical history, as many cases of asthma have been preceded by acute attacks of bronchitis, influenza, pregnancy or chronic thyroidism. A complete physical examination should be made


The production of model Francis runner to be used in the Waterpower laboratory at NTNU is a length and costly process. Due to the production cost there are years between each time a new Francis model is bought. The Tokke Francis model at Waterpower laboratory, was given from the industry after they had run model tests in the laboratory when design- ing the Tokke prototype. In order to give the students at the Waterpower laboratory an opportunity to design their own turbines and test, the production cost must be significantly reduced. To be able to do that, new designs need to be developed and new production method used. The objective of this thesis is to carry out a new mechanical design of a Francis model runner and evaluate different mechanical designs of guide vanes and stay vanes. The new alternative designs were made with a combination of standard production methods and material, and new plastic materials from rapid prototyping such as selective laser sintering (SLS) and rapid CNC machining. To carry out the new mechanical runner design, the MATLAB design software Khoj was used. From Khoj two sets of streamlines were generated, one set for the sucction side and one for the pressure side. Then the streamlines were imported into the CAD program PTC Creo Parametric and a 3D-model of the design was made. Two test pieces in a polyamide material was made using selective laser sintering. One of the test pieces was tested for pull-out strength using some self tapping thread inserts, the results showed that the pull-out strength was more than good enough. The threaded insert could be used to attach the runner vanes to the hub and ring. The main focus of this thesis has been the new mechanical design of a model runner and runner vanes. The model design was not produced and tested in the laboratory due to lack of time and money.


Palm vein recognition technology is a one of the most effective biometric technologies for personal identification. Palm acquisition techniques are either contact-based or contactless-based. The contactless-based palm vein system is considered more accurate and efficient when used in modern applications, but it may suffer from problems like pose variations and the delay in the matching process. This paper proposes a contactless-based identification system for palm vein that involves two main steps; First, the central region of the palm is cropped using fast extract region of interest algorithm, then the features are extracted and classified using altered structure of Residual Attention Network, which is a developed version of convolutional neural network that uses an attention mechanism. The altered structure is constructed by stacking multiple attention modules and pre-activation residual unit with additional down sampling layers in between. The proposed system was tested on contactless CASIA multispectral palm vein databases that contains palm images with obvious pose variations taken from 100 persons. The results show that our system has outperformed other state-of-the-art systems with 95.55% accuracy and fast identification process of 0.06 second per person.


In the general population, it is unknown whether stress-related perinatal factors influence lymphocyte subset counts in neonates. The aim of this study was to assess the associations of perinatal factors related to stress and hypoxia (mode of delivery, Apgar scores, and umbilical cord blood pH) with absolute lymphocyte subset counts (T, B, NK, helper T, cytotoxic T, naïve, memory T) in cord blood of 571 neonates. This study was embedded in a population-based prospective cohort study from fetal life onwards. All models were adjusted for gestational age, birth weight, gender, maternal fever, and each of the other perinatal stress-relating factors. Our results showed that increasing stress-related mode of delivery was positively associated with NK and memory T-lymphocyte subset counts (all p < 0.01). Effects of Apgar scores on lymphocyte subsets were explained by umbilical cord blood pH. Lower umbilical cord blood pH was associated with higher B, NK, and memory T-lymphocyte counts (all p < 0.05). Effects of mode of delivery and umbilical cord blood pH on other lymphocyte subsets were not observed. We conclude that, in the general population, lymphocyte subset counts in neonates increase with increasing stress- and hypoxia-related perinatal factors.


We explore whether there is a gender wage gap in the gig economy and examine to what degree gender differences in job application strategy could account for the gap. With a large-scale dataset from a leading online labor market, we show that females only earn around 81.4% of the hourly wage of their male counterparts. We further investigate three main aspects of job application strategy, namely bid timing, job selection, and avoidance of monitoring. After matching males with females using the propensity score matching method, we find that females tend to bid later and prefer jobs with a lower budget. In particular, the observed gender difference in bid timing can explain 7.6% of the difference in hourly wage, which could account for 41% of the gender wage gap (i.e. 18.6%) observed by us. Moreover, taking advantage of a natural experiment wherein the platform rolled out the monitoring system, we find that females are less willing to bid for monitored jobs than males. To further quantify the economic value of the gender difference in avoidance of monitoring, we run a field experiment on Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT), which suggests that females tend to have a higher willingness to pay (WTP) for the avoidance of monitoring. The gender difference in WTP for the avoidance of monitoring can explain 8.1% of the difference in hourly wage, namely, 44% of the observed gender wage gap. Overall, our study reveals the important role of job application strategies in the persistent gender wage gap.


Convincing arguments for using critical realism as an underpinning for theories of IT-associated organizational change have appeared in the Information Systems literature. A central task in developing such theories is to uncover the generative mechanisms by which IT is implicated in organizational change processes, but to do so, we must explain how critical realism's concept of generative mechanisms applies in an IS context. Similarly, convincing arguments have been made for using Gibson's (1986) affordance theory from ecological psychology for developing theories of IT-associated organizational change, but this effort has been hampered due to insufficient attention to the ontological status of affordances. In this paper, we argue that affordances are the generative mechanisms we need to specify and explain how affordances are a specific type of generative mechanism. We use the core principles of critical realism to argue how affordances arise in the real domain from the relation between the complex assemblages of organizations and of IT artifacts, how affordances are actualized over time by organizational actors, and how these actualizations lead to the various effects we observe in the empirical domain. After presenting these arguments, we reanalyze two published cases in the literature, those of ACRO and Autoworks, to illustrate how affordance-based theories informed by critical realism enhance our ability to explain IT-associated organizational change. These examples show how researchers using this approach should proceed, and how managers can use these ideas to diagnose and address IT implementation problems.


Such factors as the rate of the changes in pH, temperature, mixer speed and the nature of the anions present in the solution has a significant effect on the indices of oxytetracycline dihydrate crystallization, i. e. residual content of the antibiotic in the mother solution and the specific surface of the crystalls. In this connection the effect of the above factors on the main indices of the process were studied. On the basis of the experimental data dependences were found which provided determination of the crystallization conditions securing the process indices.


The development of bimetallic aluminium-salen complexes [{Al(salen)}(2)O] as catalysts for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates (including the commercially important ethylene and propylene carbonates) from a wide range of terminal epoxides in the presence of tetrabutylammonium bromide as a cocatalyst is reported. The bimetallic structure of one complex was confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The bimetallic complexes displayed exceptionally high catalytic activity and in the presence of tetrabutylammonium bromide could catalyse cyclic carbonate synthesis at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. Catalyst-reuse experiments demonstrated that one bimetallic complex was stable for over 60 reactions, though the tetrabutylammonium bromide decomposed in situ by a retro-Menschutkin reaction to form tributylamine and had to be regularly replaced. The mild reaction conditions allowed a full analysis of the reaction kinetics to be carried out and this showed that the reaction was first order in aluminium complex concentration, first order in epoxide concentration, first order in carbon dioxide concentration (except when used in excess) and unexpectedly second order in tetrabutylammonium bromide concentration. Further kinetic experiments demonstrated that the tributylamine formed in situ was involved in the catalysis and that addition of butyl bromide to reconvert the tributylamine into tetrabutylammonium bromide resulted in inhibition of the reaction. The reaction kinetics also indicated that no kinetic resolution of racemic epoxides was possible with this class of catalysts, even when the catalyst was derived from a chiral salen ligand. However, it was shown that if enantiomerically pure styrene oxide was used as substrate, then enantiomerically pure styrene carbonate was formed. On the basis of the kinetic and other experimental data, a catalytic cycle that explains why the bimetallic complexes display such high catalytic activity has been developed.


Thesis (M.A.)--Georgetown University, 2009.; Includes bibliographical
 references. Studies of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) have generally focused on the
 programmers who write the code (including their culture, ethics, and motivations), the
 economic consequences of giving away code, and the legal and moral basis for FOSS licenses, in
 relation to copyright. However, the act of building FOSS applications, or, rather, the very
 act of programming, is fundamentally mediated by computer interfaces, including programming
 languages. In the pursuit of an understanding of FOSS development, these interfaces - and the
 material practices which they both derive and are derived from - cannot be ignored.; Two
 procedural genres, in particular, stand out in the material practices of software development:
 iteration and abstraction. Iteration, in this context, refers to the writing of software
 through incremental changes, leaving it ever subject to further modifications: bug fixes,
 extensions, and re-factoring. Abstraction, on the other hand, refers to the use of interfaces
 (programming languages, APIs, and user interfaces) to hide complexity, thereby enabling new
 relations between code and people.; This thesis is an exploration of iteration and abstraction
 in the practices of programming, as these concepts relate to the politics and production of
 FOSS projects. Iteration and abstraction will be introduced through simple code examples, in
 order to ground them as fundamental characteristics of programming, but will then be examined
 through a wider discussion of development methodologies and social relations. A comparison of
 compiled source code and interpreted source code, and the politics they embody, will serve as
 a proxy for the comparison of proprietary and FOSS development, respectively, again using
 iteration and abstraction as an entry point.; Finally, iteration and abstraction will be
 discussed in the context of Drupal, an open source content management system, and the
 community behind it. While these concepts, at the level of the individual, seem highly
 compatible with the politics of FOSS, studying a FOSS community reveals several sources of
 tension between iteration, abstraction, and the collaborative model of FOSS development.; This
 project brings a necessary precision and depth, and, as such, will inform future research on
 both FOSS and broader themes in open and participatory culture.


In this paper, photovoltaic integration of a dual-polarized microstrip patch antenna is demonstrated for 5.8 GHz band WiMAX networks. The proposed antenna consists of a dual-fed ±45° dual-polarized square microstrip patch stacked with a polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) solar cell operating as an RF parasitic patch element in addition to its photovoltaic function. A DC/RF isolation circuit consisting of quarter-wavelength microstrip transmission lines providing RF open-circuit and DC short-circuit impedances at the DC terminals of the stacked solar cell is used in order to minimize the effect of solar operation on the RF response of the antenna. It is demonstrated that the proposed solar patch antenna operates across a measured frequency band of 5.66-5.91 GHz with a gain of 7.6 dBi at the resonance frequency of 5.8 GHz.


Latin American feminists brought up the issue of violence in the 1970s under military rule or situations of armed conflict. These contexts made feminists specifically concerned with state violence against women. Women's organizations pointed to torture and rape of political prisoners and the use of rape as a weapon of war and connected these forms of violence to deeper societal patterns of subordination and violence against women in both the private and public spheres. Processes of democratization in the region brought new opportunities to institutionalize norms to end violence against women (VAW), and in many countries feminists managed to get the issue on the political agenda. In the mid 1990s, the region pioneered international legislation on VAW that uniquely included state-sponsored violence. The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (1994) established an international obligation for states to prevent, investigate, and punish VAW regardless of whether it takes place in the home, the community, or in the public sphere. While Latin American governments massively ratified this convention, national legislation was not brought in line with the broad scope of the international convention. This points to the complex and often contradictory dynamics of institutionalizing norms to oppose VAW in multilevel settings.


We describe an expression-invariant method for face recognition by fitting an identity/expression separated 3D Morphable Model to shape data. The expression model greatly improves recognition and retrieval rates in the uncooperative setting, while achieving recognition rates on par with the best recognition algorithms in the face recognition great vendor test. The fitting is performed with a robust nonrigid ICP algorithm. It is able to perform face recognition in a fully automated scenario and on noisy data. The system was evaluated on two datasets, one with a high noise level and strong expressions, and the standard UND range scan database, showing that while expression invariance increases recognition and retrieval performance for the expression dataset, it does not decrease performance on the neutral dataset. The high recognition rates are achieved even with a purely shape based method, without taking image data into account.


The current research assessed Health Belief Model (HBM) constructs, sexual behaviour, and drug use practices in 123 heterosexual IDUs (62 men and 61 women) who were seronegative for HIV. Results indicated that HBM variables significantly explained 25% of the variance in condom usage in IDU men. Higher reports of condom usage were associated with negative attitudes related to condom discomfort, inconvenience, and acceptance; positive attitudes related to perceptions of condoms as adding excitement to sex; positive attitudes regarding condom efficacy and lower perceived susceptibility for AIDS. Alcohol, marijuana, and methadone usage explained an additional 21% of the variance in condom usage with alcohol use contributing positively to condom use while the other substances had negative contributions. HBM constructs did not significantly explain the variance in other risk behaviours in this group, however, control variables contributed to significant proportions of the variance in risky practices. HBM components did not significantly explain any of the variance in the sexual behaviours of IDU women, but demographic variables and substance use behaviours contributed to the variance in a number of sexual practices in this group. Based upon these findings, implications for clinical intervention are discussed.


Despite several attempts by the Antipiracy Foundation in South Africa, piracy and counterfeiting of movies on DVD is still widespread. This paper explores piracy in Hanover Park, a Cape Flats township, as an expression of a politics of resistance to racism and racial disadvantage, but more specifically as a routine social practice deeply embedded within the lived reality of community members. The research questions were guided by a desire to explore qualitatively the processes by which consumers in this low-income neighbourhood practise and understand their purchase and consumption of pirated goods, particularly films on DVD. The study found that the consumers of Hanover Park engage in a complicated process of bricolage, often recontextualising what they view to communicate new meanings, appropriating African-American and gang films as a form of political cultural resistance. Because of group and familial viewing practices, social networks are solidified and piracy often becomes a form of political bricolage against a perception of racial and class marginalisation. We find that both the 'reworking' of community and expression of resistance unfortunately seem to occur primarily in the arena of leisure, where the practice of piracy is routinised as an integral part of the lived experiences of community members. 'Globality' is experienced through a preference for Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters; and a media-saturated globalised national context meets the unequal purchasing power and economic constraints of the local context, while resulting in little moral concern over the practice of piracy, which lends a political dimension to everyday practice.


In the pharmaceutical field, current practice in gaining process understanding by data analysis or knowledge discovery has generally focused on dealing with single experimental databases. This limits the level of knowledge extracted in the situation where data from a number of sources, so called fractured data, contain interrelated information. This situation is particularly relevant for complex processes involving a number of operating variables, such as a fluid-bed granulation. This study investigated three data mining strategies to discover and integrate knowledge "hidden" in a number of small experimental databases for a fluid-bed granulation process using neurofuzzy logic technology. Results showed that more comprehensive domain knowledge was discovered from multiple databases via an appropriate data mining strategy. This study also demonstrated that the textual information excluded in individual databases was a critical parameter and often acted as the precondition for integrating knowledge extracted from different databases. Consequently generic knowledge of the domain was discovered, leading to an improved understanding of the granulation process.


The relationship between pH of granulation of burn wound and take rate of skin graft was presented. The bacteria in the granulation tissue were also quantified. The results showed: (1) The optimal pH of granulation wound for the take of skin graft is 7.2-7.5; (2) pH of granulation of burn wound is related to quantity and species of bacteria in the granulation tissue. The wound pH is 6.7 or lower when the number of Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus is over 10(7)/gm of granulation tissue. The wound pH is 8.0 when the number of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is 10(8)/gm of granulation tissue. Because the measurement of wound pH is rapid, simple and noninvasive, it might be useful in predicting the take rate of skin graft.


On-the-fly video retrieval using web images and fast Fisher Vector products (VRFP) is a real-time video retrieval framework based on short text input queries, which obtains weakly labeled training images from the web after the query is known. The retrieved web images representing the query and each database video are treated as unordered collections of images, and each collection is represented using a single Fisher Vector built on CNN features. Our experiments show that a Fisher Vector is robust to noise present in web images and compares favorably in terms of accuracy to other standard representations. While a Fisher Vector can be constructed efficiently for a new query, matching against the test set is slow due to its high dimensionality. To perform matching in real time, we present a lossless algorithm that accelerates the inner product computation between high-dimensional Fisher Vectors. We prove that the expected number of multiplications required decreases quadratically with the sparsity of Fisher Vectors. We are not only able to construct and apply query models in real time, but with the help of a simple reranking scheme, we also outperform state-of-the-art automatic retrieval methods by a significant margin on TRECVID MED13 (3.5%), MED14 (1.3%), and CCV datasets (5.2%). We also provide a direct comparison on standard datasets between two different paradigms for automatic video retrieval: zero-shot learning and on-the-fly retrieval.


by BENJAMIN A THOMAS (Under the Direction of Peter Kner) ABSTRACT When imaging deep into tissue samples in fluorescence microscopy, refractive index differences in the sample, and the refractive index differences between the sample, immersion medium, and cover glass cause distortion in the optical signal. These distortions result in a loss of resolution and a decrease of the signal to noise ratio of the imaging system. The addition of Adaptive Optics to a fluorescent microscope offers a possible method to correct these aberrations and obtain high resolution images in thick tissue. Adaptive Optics systems work by sensing the wavefront of the incoming light, and then correcting the distortions in the wavefront through the use of an adjustable optical element, usually a deformable mirror. In this paper we discuss the design and implementation of a Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor for a wide-field fluorescence microscope for the measurement and correction of wavefront aberrations caused by C. elegans.


Computing is a high-level process of a physical system. Recent interest in non-standard computing systems, including quantum and biological computers, has brought this physical basis of computing to the forefront. There has been, however, no consensus on how to tell if a given physical system is acting as a computer or not; leading to confusion over novel computational devices, and even claims that every physical event is a computation. In this paper, we introduce a formal framework that can be used to determine whether a physical system is performing a computation. We demonstrate how the abstract computational level interacts with the physical device level, in comparison with the use of mathematical models in experimental science. This powerful formulation allows a precise description of experiments, technology, computation and simulation, giving our central conclusion: physical computing is the use of a physical system to predict the outcome of an abstract evolution. We give conditions for computing, illustrated using a range of non-standard computing scenarios. The framework also covers broader computing contexts, where there is no obvious human computer user. We introduce the notion of a 'computational entity', and its critical role in defining when computing is taking place in physical systems.


A bacteriphage typing scheme for differentiating Proteus isolated from clinical specimens was developed. Twenty-one distinct patterns of lysis were seen when 15 bacteriophages isolated on 8 Proteus mirabilis, 1 P. vulgaris, and 1 P. morganii were used to type 162 of 189 (85.7%) P. mirabilis and P. vulgaris isolates. Seven phages isolated on 3 P. morganii were used to type 13 of 19 (68.4%) P. morganii isolates. Overall, 84.1% of the 208 isolates were lysed by at least 1 phage at routine test dilution (RTD) or 1,000 x RTD. Fifty isolates, retyped several weeks after the initial testing, showed no changes in lytic patterns. The phages retained their titers after storage at 4 C for several months. A computer analysis of the data showed that there was no relationship between the source of the isolate and bacteriophage type. This bacteriophage typing system may provide epidemiological information on strains involved in human infections.


Abstract Within the Middle Jurassic Entrada Sandstone of south-central Utah, cylindrical burrows, 15–95 mm diameter, are abundant in large-scale, eolian cross-strata. Burrows are oriented at a high angle to stratification and commonly extend more than 30 cm below their surface termini. They are rarely inclined more steeply than 22°. Many are sinuous, and they sometimes branch (∼120°) at bends. Burrows terminate upward against flat-topped cones of structureless sandstone that are up to 15 cm deep and present at numerous, closely spaced stratigraphic horizons. Entrada eolian dune deposits also host abundant burrows likely produced by small insects. Both large and small burrows are most numerous in the uppermost parts of very thick (up to 35 m) compound sets of cross-strata generated by superimposed dunes migrating along the lee slopes of giant dune ridges. The size and morphology of the large burrows and the nature of their fills suggest that they were excavated by vertebrates, possibly insectivores, but the possibility that scorpions or spiders dug the burrows cannot be ruled out. In modern dunes, the top 20 cm of rain-moistened sand dries quickly, but underlying sediment can remain moist for long periods. Conical pits formed on the dry surface of Jurassic dunes at the tops of burrows that were primarily excavated in underlying moist sand. Cones composed of structureless sandstone are active fills produced when burrowers pushed moist sand to the surface, forming spoil piles. Most cylindrical portions of the burrows were also actively backfilled; remaining parts were passively filled when burrow walls collapsed. Cones at burrow tops now delineate thin (∼5–10-cm-thick) packages of cross-strata that record slow (seasonal?) dune migration. Rainfall on dune surfaces allowed scattered plants, insects, and insectivorous vertebrates to inhabit the Entrada sand sea. Burrows provided animals with refuge from the hot, desiccating surface conditions.


While the performance of face recognition systems has improved significantly in the last decade, they are proved to be highly vulnerable to presentation attacks (spoofing). Most of the research in the field of face presentation attack detection (PAD), was focused on boosting the performance of the systems within a single database. Face PAD datasets are usually captured with RGB cameras, and have very limited number of both bona-fide samples and presentation attack instruments. Training face PAD systems on such data leads to poor performance, even in the closed-set scenario, especially when sophisticated attacks are involved. We explore two paths to boost the performance of the face PAD system against challenging attacks. First, by using multichannel (RGB, Depth and NIR) data, which is still easily accessible in a number of mass production devices. Second, we develop a novel Autoencoders + MLP based face PAD algorithm. Moreover, instead of collecting more data for training of the proposed deep architecture, the domain adaptation technique is proposed, transferring the knowledge of facial appearance from RGB to multi-channel domain. We also demonstrate, that learning the features of individual facial regions, is more discriminative than the features learned from an entire face. The proposed system is tested on a very recent publicly available multi-channel PAD database with a wide variety of presentation attacks.


A fiber-optic mirror magneto-optical trap (mirror-MOT) that uses a pair of circularly polarized light-emitting optical fibers as an optical access is demonstrated. The fiber is fabricated so that a length of birefringence fiber, designed to be a quarter wave retarder at both wavelengths of 780 and 852 nm, is attached directly onto a polarization-maintaining normal fiber. The polarization states of light emitted from the fibers are sufficiently circular for the operation of a mirror-MOT with 87Rb atoms. The mirror-MOT is able to capture approximately the same number of atoms obtainable with a conventional mirror-MOT. The technique makes it possible to fabricate a compact MOT apparatus by introducing the optical fibers directly into an ultrahigh-vacuum chamber.


Acute cholangitis usually develops in congenital hepatic fibrosis (CHF), accompanied by cystic dilated bile ducts. However, it can also develop in simple CHF and may lead to critical course. A 30-year old man presented with recurrent acute cholangitis without bile duct dilatation. He visited the hospital for febrile sense and abdominal pain in the right upper quadrant. He had been admitted several times for hepatosplenomegaly and cholangitis since childhood and received a liver biopsy 15 years ago. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) revealed hepatosplenomegaly and a mildly dilated bile duct without stones or biliary cysts. His condition improved after conservative treatment. However, during a two-month follow up period, the patient experienced three episodes of acute cholangitis. A liver biopsy was performed and showed periportal fibrosis and intrahepatic ductular dysplasia, characteristics of congenital hepatic fibrosis. The periportal fibrosis and the infiltration of inflammatory cells were aggravated compared to 15 years ago. There was no evidence of hepatic cirrhosis. He was diagnosed with congenital hepatic fibrosis with recurrent acute cholangitis without intrahepatic duct dilatation, and conservatively treated with antibiotics.


Address Event Sensing (AES) represents a completely new way of sensing reality. Legacy vision systems rely on sensors that capture intensity images at a constant rate (e.g., $30$~fps) leading to high latency and redundancy in terms of information and computation. This results in wasting precious resources such as energy, CPU, memory access, storage and waiting time for superfluous frames. AES silicon retina instead are bio-inspired sensors that asynchronously emit spikes, i.e., events, whenever they occur. An ON/OFF event is a positive/negative log intensity change that is registered at a pixel whenever a brightness threshold is crossed. Since the concept of frame is completely eliminated, this approach allows to significantly reduce the latency between photodiode illumination change detection and its off-chip transmission down to $\approx 15$~\textmu s. By contrast, the time it takes to build a single frame is $33.3$~ms for a video at $30$~fps resolution. The impact of temporal redundancy removal is such that the low computational requirements make these dynamic vision sensors (also known as event cameras) well suited for real-time feedback vision-based robotics systems. Address-event silicon retina apply to important and trending computer vision and vision-based robotic systems tasks such as multi-object tracking, gesture recognition, autonomous driving and surveillance just to name but a few. \noindent To this date, the vast majority of applications of AES are bounded to local devices. For example, the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)'s iCub humanoid robot features two event cameras as eyes to track ball movements. In this thesis, we aim at going beyond and study the case when these events have to be transmitted to remote devices. The potential of such paradigm change is huge and stems from industrial applications to coordination of drone swarms. Specifically, in this work we assess whether today wireless networks can support event-based communications for specific computer vision tasks such as continuous object tracking. We pay particular attention to the challenges introduced by latency and losses for a distributed event-based video streaming system and compared with legacy vision frame-based systems both over 802.11ac. For the latter, a custom Java platform has been developed to perform the frame-based streaming analysis and object tracking through OpenCV . For the event-based analysis instead, we relied on jAER as rendering support. jAER is an open-source Java-based framework suitable not only for the visualization of real-time events collected through a sensor or recorded datasets, but also for the development of real-time event-based algorithms and applications. The results highlight that a too small buffer size is detrimental for latency and tracking performance because more than the 50\% of events is dropped as the application threads involved are not able to keep up with events generation and packetization. The scene complexity and speed of objects are key features for event generation. Events are generated asynchronously and independently one from each other, but at application level, object tracking is performed over cluster of events because these are correlated and define the same moving object. We show that complex scenes with high speed moving objects generates more events and thus are more sensible to losses.


Clostridium perfringens is one of the most widespread anaerobic spore forming bacteria found in the environment. The toxotype A of the species inhabits the gastrointestinal tract of birds and mammals exhibiting pathogenic properties in the immunocompromised host. The virulence determinants of C. perfringens are toxins and extracellular enzymes which cause gas gangrene, enteritis necroticans, food poisoning, and non-food borne gastrointestinal infections in humans. The young animals suffer from enterotoxaemia, dysentery and necrotic enteritis due to the anaerobic spore forming bacilli. This article reviews the epidemiological significance of C. perfringens and its disease diagnostics, taking into account all known to date virulence determinants of the microorganism.


Purpose – The objective of the paper is to describe the "scientific identity" of the "top" journals in services marketing by reviewing and evaluating the methodological approaches and the geographical affiliations of authors published in selected journals. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of "top" journals in services marketing is selected on the basis of expert opinion. The selection includes the International Journal of Service Industry Management (IJSIM), the Journal of Services Marketing (JSM), the Journal of Service Research (JSR), Managing Service Quality (MSQ), and the Service Industries Journal (SIJ). The review and evaluation considers all papers (a total of 1,107) published in these journals over a six-year period from 2000 to 2005. The papers are categorized and the geographical affiliations of the authors are noted. The compiled results are analyzed for patterns that reveal the "scientific identity" of each of the selected journals. Findings – The "scientific identities" of JSM and JSR are revealed as being built upon quantitative research designs and the North American paradigm of research values. MSQ and SIJ are found to be largely based upon a mix of empirical research designs and the European paradigm of research values. IJSIM is found to be based on a mix of empirical research designs and a mix of European and North American research values. However, no journal is found to be narrowly focused, and the variety of "scientific identities" among the journals studied here bodes well for ongoing scientific enquiry in services marketing. Research limitations/implications – Further studies of the "scientific identity" of individual research journals are required in other sub-disciplines of marketing. Practical implications – Scholars will benefit from insights into the "scientific identities" of the "top" journals in services marketing. In particular, scholars can note the particular features of individual journals while acknowledging the paradigmatic flexibility and richness of research designs that are present in all of these journals. Originality/value – This is the first review and evaluation of the "scientific identity" of "top" service-marketing journals in terms of categories of papers published and geographical affiliation of published authors. The study provides valuable insights into the nature of academic publishing in the burgeoning area of services marketing.


Abstract This paper applies different analytical frameworks to explore processes of family bargaining about providing care for dependent older people in Mexico and Peru. These frameworks include cultural norms, life course effects and material exchange. The paper is based on 19 in-depth qualitative family case studies, which are linked to a wider set of quantitative survey data. Care arrangements and bargaining processes are revealed to be highly gendered, and largely conform to prevailing cultural norms. Rather than neutral and objective, the self-identified role as main carer is found to be subjective and potentially ambiguous. The few men who self-identify as main carers are more likely to play an indirect, organisational role than engage directly in daily care. As such, bargaining mainly relates to which woman performs the main care role, and large family networks mean that there is usually more than one candidate carer. Bargaining can occur inter-generationally and conjugally, but bargaining between siblings is of particular importance. Bargaining is framed by the uncertain trajectory of older people's care needs, and arrangements are sometimes reconfigured in response to changing care needs or family circumstances. Taking the narratives at face value, the influence of life course effects on bargaining and care arrangements is more obvious than material exchange. There are, however, indications that economic considerations, particularly inheritance, still play an important behind the scenes role.


The effect of monosodium glutamate (MSG) on the histogenesis of bone and bone marrow of mice is studied. Intraperitoneal-subcutaneous injections and oral administration of the drug MSG induced marked repression in the ossification of developing endochondral bone with the persistence of cartilagenous elements and chondrocytes. A massive accumulation of adipose tissue accompanied by receded haemopoietic tissue within the bone marrow is observed in the MSG-treated animals. These pathological changes are attributed to the influence of the drug on the hydrolysis of enzyme alkaline phosphatase, glycolysis involved in the bone deposition or on the secretion of hormones responsible for bone resorption.


Bone morphology has been increasingly recognized as a significant variable in the evaluation of non-arthritic hip pain in young adults. Increased availability and use of multidetector CT in this patient population has contributed to better characterization of the osseous structures compared to traditional radiographs. Femoral and acetabular version, sites of impingement, acetabular coverage, femoral head–neck morphology, and other structural abnormalities are increasingly identified with the use of CT scan. In this review, a standard CT imaging technique and protocol is discussed, along with a systematic approach for evaluating pelvic CT imaging in patients with non-arthritic hip pain.


The use of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) or Best Management Practice (BMP) is becoming increasingly common. However, rather than adopting the preferred "treatment train" implementation, many developments opt for end of pipe control ponds. This paper discusses the use of SuDS in series to form treatment trains and compares their potential performance and effectiveness with end of pipe solutions. Land-use, site and catchment characteristics have been used alongside up-to-date guidance, Infoworks CS and MUSIC to determine whole-life-costs, land-take, water quality and water quantity for different SuDS combinations. The results presented show that the use of a treatment train allows approaches differing from the traditional use of single SuDS, either source or "end of pipe", to be proposed to treat and attenuate runoff. The outcome is a more flexible solution where the footprint allocated to SuDS, costs and water quality can be managed differently to satisfy more efficiently the holistically stakeholders' objectives.


Abstract : This report is the result of a workshop conducted by the Institute for Defense Analyses to develop the functional specifications and estimates of implementation effort for foundation building blocks for Command and Control Systems in WIS. The group concluded that: 1) the development of a modernized WIS incorporating the specified foundation technology building blocks can be accomplished within the time frame proposed, 2) the use of Ada and proposed information processing standards are appropriate for use in WIS modernization and are expected to reduce the time required to implement the full system, and 3) it is critical to the success of the WIS modernization that major attention be paid to interface definition and design, system integration and test, and configuration management of the system while under development.


Global climate negotiations have been characterized by a divide between developed and developing nations – a split which has served as a persistent barrier to international agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process. Notable progress in bridging this division was achieved at the 21st Conference of the Parties meeting in Paris through the introduction of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). However, the collective ambition of submitted INDCs falls short of a global 2°C target, requiring an effective ratchet mechanism to review and increase national commitments. Inequitable distribution of additional responsibilities risks re-opening historic divisions between parties. This article presents a flexible ratchet framework which shares mitigation commitments on the basis of per capita equity in line with emerging requirements for a 2°C target. The framework has been designed through convergence between developed and developing nations; developed nation targets are based on an agreed standardized percentage reduction wherever emissions are above per capita equity; developing nations are required to peak emissions at or below per capita equity levels by an agreed convergence date. The proposed framework has the flexibility to be integrated with current INDCs and to evolve in line with shifting estimates of climate sensitivity. Policy relevance The outcome of the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) negotiations in Paris offered mixed results in terms of level of ambition and submitted national commitments. A global agreement to keep average global temperature rise below two degrees was maintained; however, current pledged Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) are projected to result in an average warming of close to three degrees. The implementation of a global ratchet mechanism to scale-up national commitments will remain key to closing this ambition gap to reach this two degree target. How this upscaling of responsibility is shared between parties will be a defining discussion point within future negotiations. This study presents a standardized, equity-based framework for how this ratchet mechanism can be implemented – a framework designed to be flexible for evolution in line with better understanding of climate sensitivity, and adaptable for integrations with current INDC proposals.


The present study was carried out in order to identify the ant fauna of cocoa fields leeched by Loranthaceae, genus Phragmanthera in Nkoemvone seed farms in the South region of Cameroon. The collection of ants was conducted between November 2013 and January 2014. A total of 15 ant species divided into two sub families (Formicinae and Myrmicinae) have been identified, the subfamily of Myrmicinae being the most represented with 8 genera and 13 species. Fourteen of the 15 ant species harvested, were found on infested cocoa trees. Tetramorium aculeatum has emerged as the most abundant ant species on infested cocoa trees with an index of Berger-Parker dominance equal to 0.32 and 0.34 for cocoa parasitized by Phragmanthera capitata and Phragmanthera nigritana, respectively.

 Key words: Ants, inventory, cocoa plants parasitized, Loranthaceae, Cameroon.


The constitutive relations found in traditional Navier-Stokes-based computational fluid dynamics solvers are known to be limited in altitude. The presence of nonequilibrium phenomena beyond what these methods are able to predict becomes more prevalent at higher altitudes, or increasing Knudsen number. The bulk viscosity, normally assumed to be zero in most computational fluid dynamics applications, is examined as a means of increasing the range of applicability of computational fluid dynamics. The bulk viscosity model used was from recent calculations available in the literature, from a new anisotropic potential energy surface, and is restricted to temperatures below 2000 K. The normal shock problem was solved for Mach numbers up to ten, using the bulk viscosity model. The bulk viscosity provided improvement in the agreement with observations of normal shock thickness for Mach numbers up to ten. Two axisymmetric, experimentally observed flows were solved with and without the bulk viscosity, and compared to DSMC solutions of a previous work. Improvement of surface heat transfer agreement with observation was found for a hollow-cylinder flare axisymmetric body. Improvement of separation point prediction was found for an axisymmetric double cone.


Machaeridians are an extinct group of armoured annelids, which are mainly known from isolated sclerites present from the Ordovician to the Permian. Based on articulated specimens with preserved soft-tissues and trace fossils, derived machaeridians are interpreted to have an infaunal burrowing mode of life. However, the taphonomy of sclerite associations is still largely unstudied. We herein investigated associated sclerites from the Middle Devonian of China using micro-computer tomography and 3D-analysis. These sclerites belong to a single individual and lie in close proximity. The absence of indications for current alignment, major bioturbation or other processes causing a disarticulation as reflected in the randomly arranged dacryoconarids suggest that the sclerites became disarticulated in the course of the normal decay processes, perhaps aided by scavenging and incomplete burial. The unique morphology of the sclerites indicates that the specimen presented here belongs to a previously undescribed species, which we describe herein as Lepidocoleus kuangguoduni sp. nov.


A nutritional requirement for the lipase production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain was investigated. The bacterial strain was isolated from municipal sewage and it was culture with different nutritional composition. The maximum lipase activity was obtained with maltose as the sole carbon source 6.5 Uml-1, followed by lactose 4.6Uml- 1. The various salts used the best results were observed with calcium chloride 4.6 Uml-1as and sodium chloride an inorganic source. Among the various commercial grade oil highest activity was observed with coconut oil 8.1 Uml-1 and gingili oil 6.8 Uml-1. Amino acids are also play a significant role for the lipase production. The maximum lipase activity was observed with glycine 5.1Uml-1 followed by tryptophan 4.6Uml-1 as a supplement. The organism grows optimally in the temperature of 40oC and pH 8. The strain isolated from the municipal sewage is industrially important from in terms of ability. These findings will be helpful in prospect for increase the production of industrial enzyme.


Uranium may enter the human body through ingestion or inhalation. Ingestion of uranium compounds through the diet, mainly drinking water, is a common occurrence, as these compounds are present in the biosphere. Inhalation of uranium-containing particles is mainly an occupational safety problem, but may also take place in areas where uranium compounds are abundant. The uranium concentration in urine samples may serve as an indication of the total uranium body content. A method based on flow injection and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (FIAS-ICPMS) was found to be most suitable for determination of uranium in clinical samples (urine and serum), environmental samples (seawater, wells and carbonate rocks) and in liquids consumed by humans (drinking water and commercial beverages). Some examples of the application of the FIAS-ICPMS method are reviewed and presented here.


This essay focuses on animals as a site for religion and identifies what McGregor calls the "religion of animals." The construction of the human-animal divide is explored through the Quran, Islamic theology, and philosophy, with particular attention paid to the encyclopedic epistle The Case of the Animals versus Man from tenth-century Iraq. The same human-animal divide is shown to be maintained variously among European philosophers. McGregor argues that both modern and medieval formulations are organized around a series of assumptions about language, the self, and the religious other. The study of comparative religion is thus usefully decentered by the question of the animal. The Case of the Animals versus Man, the essay contends, represents a solution to the challenges of comparison. The religion of others, then, along with the religion of animals creates a discursive gesture of openness: an opening that points beyond the exclusivity of communitarianism and the ego-centered limitations of religion.


Objective: Knowledge about the internal anatomy of the root canal and apical foramen is a critical prerequisite for root canal therapy and is necessary for the success of endodontic treatment. This study aimed to determine the distance of apical foramen from the anatomical apex and apical constriction, evaluate the deviation of apical foramen from the anatomical apex and specify the most common canal types in maxillary premolar teeth using stereomicroscope. Methods: In this laboratory experimental study, 100 extracted first and second maxillary premolars of patients presenting to dental clinics in Tehran were selected. After the disinfection of roots and access cavity preparation, apical foramen deviation and its distance from the anatomical apex were determined by introducing a #10 hand file into the canal and observation under stereomicroscope; 2% methylene blue was then injected into the canals and demineralization and clearing process were carried out to measure the distance of apical foramen from the apical constriction and evaluate the canal type. Results: The mean distance of apical foramen from the anatomical apex and apical constriction was 0.4-0.5 and 0.5-0.7 mm, respectively in maxillary first premolars and 0.3-0.7 and 0.6-1 mm, respectively in maxillary second premolars. In less than 17% of first premolars and 37% of second premolars, the canal followed a straight path to the anatomical apex without any deviation towards the mesiodistal or buccolingual directions. The most common canal type according to Vertucci's classification was type IV in the first and type I in the second premolars. In general, 94% (n=47) of the first premolars and 46% (n=23) of the second premolars had 2 canals while the remaining teeth had a single canal. Conclusion: This study showed that the apical foramen in premolar teeth is located at a 0.3-0.7 mm distance from the anatomical apex and 0.5-1 mm distance from the apical constriction. In more than 83% of first premolars and 63% of second premolars the apical foramen did not correspond to the anatomical apex. First and second premolars had 2 canals in 94% and 46% of cases, respectively.


INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, it is much more common in end stage renal disease patients with vascular grafts, to be kidney transplant candidates. We expose our experience in five cases.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Of all 1,483 kidneys transplanted in our center, 5 recipients had a previous aortobifemoral bypass (2 due to abdominal aortic aneurysm, and 3 due to vascular occlusive disease). We review the clinical features, outcome and complications in these patients.

RESULTS
The vascular surgery was done 6 months to 16 years prior to transplantation. The renal transplant was done in iliac fossa with arterial anastomosis to the vascular graft. Surgical complications were: 1 renal artery thrombosis that was treated with thrombectomy, and 1 stricture at the ureterovesical junction. 2 patients dead at 6 months and 7 years with a functioning allograft and 3 patients live with functional allograft at 7 months, 3 years and 7 years.

CONCLUSION
Kidney transplantation may be successful in selected patients with aortobifemoral bypass.


The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic complicates empirical virtual reality (VR) research and especially laboratory studies. As an alternative study design, we conducted a distributed VR study that took place in the participants' homes, using mobile VR goggles and personal smartphones. We investigated the influence of two different locomotion techniques on presence, usability, and cybersickness. Subjects were asked to solve a navigation task once with the continuous "Look-Down-to-Move" technique and once with the non-continuous "Point-And-Teleport" technique. Surprisingly, the two locomotion techniques performed comparably well on all variables assessed. The study design showed to be understandable and conductible for the subjects. However, we found that (1) hardware limitations of the used smartphones and (2) confounding factors that are beyond the control of the experimenters could have distorted the results of the study. We propose using uniform hardware and imposing stricter rules for participation to achieve more controlled conditions. Our results hint that the impact of the continuity of locomotion on presence, usability, and cybersickness may be less severe in the context of mobile VR than in immersive high-end VR devices. If these findings are corroborated by subsequent studies, they could provide designers of mobile virtual environments (VEs) with more flexibility when developing a suitable locomotion technique for their application.


An experimental study carried out on a movable bed physical model at the Laboratory for Applied Hydraulics of HEPIA yielded an innovative solution to replace a fish pass suffering from clogging on the Arve River in Geneva. Fish migration in the Vessy meander is altered by a 220 m long, 3.5 m high spillway conveying a part of the river discharge to a low-head hydraulic power station. Since the Suisse Federal Law on Fishing (RS 923.0) requires from all power plant operators to guarantee a free fish migration the Service Industriel de Genève (SIG) is obliged to replace the inoperative fish pass. The main achievements of the investigations are a) calibration of the physical model to the current hydroand morphodynamics; b) identification of the appropriate location of the fish entrance and the water intake of the future fish pass; c) hydraulic analyses of new structures; d) proposal of a sustainable and ecological solution. The analyses pointed out that a bypass river would gather the largest number of benefits. A concrete fish pass would suffer from clogging. A riprap ramp, although less exposed to clogging, would offer favourable hydraulic conditions only up to medium discharges of the Arve River. The bypass river would run on Arve's right overbank. Bed load is deflected by a groin implemented in the Arve upstream from the new water intake, protecting the latter from clogging. The new fish pass should offer optimal flow and ecological conditions for all fish species and can therefore be constructed.


Listening is associated with and a likely cause of desired organizational outcomes in numerous areas, including job performance, leadership, quality of relationships (e.g., trust), job knowledge, job attitudes, and well-being. To advance understanding of the powerful effects of listening on organizational outcomes, we review the construct of listening, its measurement and experimental manipulations, and its outcomes, antecedents, and moderators. We suggest that listening is a dyadic phenomenon that benefits both the listener and the speaker, including supervisor-subordinate and salesperson-customer dyads. To explain previous findings and generate novel and testable hypotheses, we propose the episodic listening theory: listening can lead to a fleeting state of togetherness, in which dyad members undergo a mutual creative thought process. This process yields clarity, facilitates the generation of novel plans, increases well-being, and strengthens attachment to the conversation partner. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, Volume 9 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


The influence of indium surface segregation, As–P exchange at the interfaces and residual incorporation of As and P on the photoluminescence properties of GaAs/GaInP quantum wells, is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that these effects may lead to an important energy shift or compensate each other depending on growth conditions. As a consequence the exploitation of photoluminescence spectra in such heterostructures have to be carefully carried out. Four samples have been especially designed to study, in addition to indium segregation, the As–P exchange at the GaAs on GaInP interface. Their low temperature photoluminescence study illustrates the complex behaviours observed in this material system. Photoluminescence spectra are shown to be very sensitive to the interface chemistry, in particular As–P exchange.


We evaluate mobility predictors in wireless networks. Handoff prediction in wireless networks has long been considered as a mechanism to improve the quality of service provided to mobile wireless users. Most prior studies, however, were based on theoretical analysis, simulation with synthetic mobility models, or small wireless network traces. We study the effect of mobility prediction for a large realistic wireless situation.
We tackle the problem by using traces collected from a large production wireless network to evaluate several major families of handoff-location prediction techniques, a set of handoff-time predictors, and a predictor that jointly predicts handoff location and time. We also propose a fallback mechanism, which uses a lower-order predictor whenever a higher-order predictor fails to predict.
We found that low-order Markov predictors, with our proposed fallback mechanisms, performed as well or better than the more complex and more space-consuming compression-based handoff-location predictors. Although our handoff-time predictor had modest prediction accuracy, in the context of mobile voice applications we found that bandwidth reservation strategies can benefit from the combined location and time handoff predictor, significantly reducing the call-drop rate without significantly increasing the call-block rate.
We also developed a prediction-based routing protocol for mobile opportunistic networks. We evaluated and compared our protocol's performance to five existing routing protocols, using simulations driven by real mobility traces. We found that the basic routing protocols are not practical for large-scale opportunistic networks. Prediction-based routing protocols trade off the message delivery ratio against resource usage and performed well and comparable to each other.


Electrospinning is a very simple, robust, and versatile technique to process solutions or melts into continuous fibres with diameters down to the nanoscale, which has attracted much attention in both research and commerce. Up to now, a rich variety of electrospun fibres with controllable morphology, alignment and composition have been synthesized, and the materials composed of functional electrospun fibres have already been successfully applied in many technological areas. In particular for anisotropic nanoparticles (NPs), electrospinning shows its powerful capability to assemble them on a large scale. The goal of this brief focus article is to show you how to use the electrospinning technique for preparing the functional fibres you want.


Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is an efficient method of data transmission. It is a base for high speed communication systems. The main drawback of OFDM system is that it suffers from high Peak-to- Average Power Ratio (PAPR). Due to high PAPR there is inefficient use of high power amplifier and this could limit transmission efficiency.  OFDM  consist  of  large  number  of  independent  subcarriers,  as  a  result  of  which  the amplitude of such a signal can have high peak values. In this paper, we introduce a modified SLM technique to reduce PAPR. The simulation results show PAPR can be reduced by applying the proposed scheme. The complexity is also reduced in proposed scheme. The PAPR of original OFDM is near about 10db in my base paper and it reduces it to 6.6db using SLM. And by using the modified SLM technique PAPR is reduced nearly about 3.2dB in comparison to base paper.


Each year academic regalia at US universities is a central component associated with the pomp and circumstance of commencement exercises. At one university, faculty of 20 different colleges play a significant role during those same commencement exercises. Currently, the Academic Costume Code, maintained by the American Council on Education, serves as the governing body for academic regalia at universities around the country. Though faculty play a prominent role in the visual presence at commencement exercises, little is known about faculty attitudes and beliefs regarding the use of academic regalia during commencement events. The goal of this research is to better understand the attitudes, beliefs, use, and opinions of current faculty at one Land-Grant university. The theory of planned behaviour provides the theoretical background for this research. This research study used an online instrument to census tenure-system, academic specialists, and fixed-term faculty at Michigan State University. Research objectives included: 1) defining how faculty use academic regalia in the context of commencement exercises; 2) determining the differences among attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behaviours, and opinions about the use of academic regalia; and 3) determining how faculty attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behaviours determine intentions to use academic regalia in commencement exercises at a Land-Grant university. Results indicated that over 88 percent of faculty respondents positively supported the continued use of academic regalia at commencement events. Descriptive results also suggest a similar trend in attitudes and beliefs about the continued use of academic regalia at commencement exercises. A modified exploratory factor analysis (EFA) indicated observed constructs had a positive direct effect on factor loadings of attitudes and subjective norms, and behavioural control and intent. This research provides support for a continued understanding of attitudes and beliefs about the use of academic regalia; future studies should be conducted at other Land-Grant institutions in the United States.


Purpose: To evaluate the correlation between pre and post-operative macular volume and visual acuity (VA) and post-operative visual gain in patients who underwent surgical removal of epiretinal membrane (ERM). Methods: Retrospective chart review of 62 patients at a single academic eye center was performed. Patients who underwent pars plana vitrectomy and membrane peel for visually significant epiretinal membrane were included. Those with any confounding macular pathology were excluded. Fellow unaffected eyes were used as controls for macular volume comparison. Clinical and surgical data including pre and post-operative visual acuity, presence of metamorphopsia, lens status, pre and post-operative preoperative macular volume measured by Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), and surgical procedures were collected and analyzed. The correlation between macular volume and visual acuity as well as post-operative visual gain was calculated. Results: There was no statistically significant correlation between macular volume and baseline VA, post-operative VA, or visual gain. Patients with at least 2 lines of VA gain had a larger change in macular volume than patients with less than 2 lines gain (p=0.01). Conclusion: In patients with ERM, macular volume may not be a reliable predictor of baseline or postoperative VA. However, our study suggests that a more favorable outcome of more than 2 lines of VA gained is associated with a higher reduction in macular volume after surgery.


Carbon isotope analyses were performed by accelerator mass spectrometry on fractions of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in groundwater from the Milk River aquifer, Alberta, Canada. The DOC was separated into high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) fractions for analysis. Characterization information and 14C activities suggest that the HMW fractions (primarily humic substances) originate in the interstitial waters of the soil zone in the area of recharge and are transported through the porous media of the aquifer. Transformations of HMW fractions down the flow path, including an increase in carbon, decrease in oxygen, and a pronounced increase in the aliphatic nature of this fraction, are consistent with decreasing 14C activity. The LMW fractions show a dominant kerogen origin. This fraction of the DOC has low 14C activities (generally <1 percent modern carbon), and gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry analyses identified a homologous series of substituted alkanes, further evidence that these compounds may have originated from organic-rich shales in the aquifer and/or confining beds. Geochemical and stable isotope measurements of the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) indicate that microbial activity is occurring in the Milk River aquifer. The alteration of these DIC δ13C ratios by microbial activity render corrections for groundwater age in this aquifer difficult, if not impossible. Although 14C analyses of DOC fractions will not replace other groundwater dating techniques, these analyses do provide additional information on groundwater age and perhaps a more complete interpretation of groundwater age than DIC alone.


An extensive study of the H+CO{sub 2} {yields} OH+CO reaction dynamics has been carried out by means of the quasiclassical trajectory method employing three potential energy surfaces (PESs). The first PES corresponds to the earlier Bradley and Schatz (BS) surface. In the second PES (BSH), the BS surface was modified to include a new term that describes the OH + CO exit channel barrier and van der Waals region, based on high-level ab initio calculations. The third surface (LTSH) corresponds to a modification of the BSH surface where the energies of the various stationary points outside the exit channel region are calibrated from new ab initio calculations. We find that the correction in the exit channel improves the description of the energy partitioning to products, with both BSH and LTSH giving less release to translation and more to CO rotation than BS. These new results are in better agreement with measured product energy partitioning results, and we also find that the LSTH surface gives angular distributions that are in excellent agreement with experiment. Rovibrational state-resolved energy and angular distributions are also discussed. Details of the microscopic reaction mechanism are evaluated on the basis of an analysis of the dynamics asmore » a function of the HOCO complex lifetime, leading to trends that provide insight on the complex-forming reaction fundamentals. In particular we find that the product internal distributions are independent of complex lifetime, while the angular distributions are strongly correlated with lifetime. The often used osculating complex model describes the angular distributions accurately for lifetimes shorter than half the rotational period but becomes inaccurate at longer times.« less


A color space used to create color on a computer monitor or a television screen is RGB color space. However, RGB color space is strongly related to each other, therefore RGB color space is inadequate for adjustment of brightness or contrast. Moreover RGB color space is not suitable for pattern recognition. For this reason, it is needed that color space conversion from RGB to YIQ, YUV or YCrCb. The color space conversion matrix consists of 3 by 3 matrix element that is represented by floating point numbers. However RGB or YUV color space is in integer domain. Therefore these transform lead to lose the least significant bit (LSB) of color space. We propose the simple and fast reversible transform matrix. No lose the least significant bit (LSB) and not required multiplication but shift and addition that provides for real time conversion of huge image.


Background Many patients have uncontrolled asthma despite available treatments. Most of the new asthma therapies have focused on type 2 (T2) inflammation, leaving an unmet need for innovative research into mechanisms of asthma beyond T2 and immunity. An international group of investigators developed the International Collaborative Asthma Network (ICAN) with the goal of sharing innovative research on disease mechanisms, developing new technologies and therapies, organising pilot studies and engaging early-stage career investigators from across the world. This report describes the purpose, development and outcomes of the first ICAN forum. Methods Abstracts were solicited from interdisciplinary early-stage career investigators with innovative ideas beyond T2 inflammation for asthma and were selected for presentation at the forum. Breakout sessions were conducted to discuss innovation, collaboration and research translation. Results The abstracts were categorised into: 1) general omics and big data analysis; 2) lung–brain axis and airway neurology; 3) sex differences; 4) paediatric asthma; 5) new therapeutic targets inspired by airway epithelial biology; 6) new therapeutics targeting airway and circulating immune mediators; and 7) lung anatomy, physiology and imaging. Discussions revealed that research groups are looking for opportunities to further their findings using larger scale collaboration and the ability to translate their in vitro findings into clinical treatment. Conclusions Through ICAN, teams that included interdisciplinary early-stage career investigators discussed innovation, collaboration and translation in asthma and severe asthma research. With a combination of fresh ideas and energetic, collaborative, global participation, ICAN has laid a firm foundation and model for future collaborative global asthma research. Understanding asthma mechanisms beyond T2 inflammation is vital. At the first ICAN forum, innovative asthma research on non-T2 inflammation was shared, providing a foundation for future sharing and prioritisation of asthma research and collaboration. https://bit.ly/3L9X3uD


Abstract When utilized properly, social media offers several personal and professional benefits for the practicing surgeon, including peer networking, education, e-mentorship, marketing, recruitment, and patient outreach. However, unprofessional online behavior is common among surgeons, and this improper use of social media can be quite dangerous. This article reviews the dangers of social media and illustrates this with examples of unprofessional behavior and the associated consequences. It also provides recommendations for maintaining a professional and productive online persona. Surgeons must understand the various social media platforms and their target audience while upholding online professionalism at all times.


Mucormycosis previously known as zygomycosis is a type of scarce infection caused by fungi. Mucorales is the order that mucormycosis is related to, with Rhizopus being the most common genus. Mucormycosis occurs usually in immunocompromised individuals such as diabetics or posttransplant patients. Diabetes is the most common predisposing factor for rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis. The first documented case of an upper airway mucormycosis was described by Paltauf, in 1885. Thereafter, Gregory reported three cases of rhinocerebral mucormycosis in 1943. In rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis, the spores adhere to the nasal mucosa and rapidly proliferate in the ideal metabolic hypoxic state found in diabetics. Being an angiotropic fungus, mucor swiftly invades the elastic lamina of the blood vessels, leading to necrosis and ischemic infarctions. Patients with rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis may present with sinusitis, rhinitis, ocular complaints, or facial pain. Here, we present a subtle presentation of an isolated case of rhinosinusitis mucormycosis in a 50-year-old male presenting to the emergency department with 1-week history of headache aggravated at night and the red flags that lead to the diagnosis. On presentation, the patient was afebrile and generally well. Nasal examination revealed a patch of necrotic mucosa on the nasal septum. The patient was admitted with the differentials of either invasive rhinosinusitis or granulomatous disease. Nasal swabs were collected revealing a colonization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; nevertheless, the red flags that lead to suspecting a more aggressive infection were the complain of paresthesia of the cheek and upper lip, a necrotic patch on the hard palate, and the aggravated nocturnal headache. The definitive diagnosis was achieved by histopathology demonstrating the importance of high index of suspicion in such cases.


GENERATION by SHU ZHANG (Under the Direction of Khaled Rasheed) ABSTRACT In this thesis, two music accompaniment systems are presented. Evac (the evolutionary accompanist) is a system that engages in musical improvisation with the user. It uses a novel, implicitly interactive, genetic algorithm (GA), which allows the user's actions to influence Evac's musical performance without the need for explicit rating of individuals. Evac runs in real time, allowing the user to experience the same kind of exploration that happens in real life improvisation scenarios with other musicians. EvolMusic is an accompaniment system involving human preference learning. It allows direct control from the user over the accompaniment by using machine learning techniques to learn a fitness function from the user's preferences. EvolMusic records a piece of the user's musical input, generates different accompaniments, lets the user vote for his or her favorite, adjusts the GA's fitness function, and then generates new accompaniments which can be further used to learn the user's preferences.