PEDOT:PSS/Ag NW/PEDOT:PSS hybrid films were deposited on PET substrates by the spin coating technique at room temperature. The optical transmittance, sheet resistance, crystallization and surface morphology were characterized by using the double beam spectrophotometer, Hall effect system, X-ray diffractometer and field emission scanning electron microscopy. XRD patterns of the hybrid films display characteristic diffraction peaks of Ag (111) and Ag (200), and the Ag NW networks have a polycrystalline structure with a Ag (111) preferred orientation. A high transmittance of 83.95% at the 550 nm wavelength and a low sheet resistance of 21.98 Ω/ are achieved for 3-PEDOT:PSS/5-Ag NW/3-PEDOT:PSS hybrid films.


Long-term use of corticosteroids (CS) may result in significant risk of adverse events (AEs), and the true incidence of AEs in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) receiving CS is unknown.1 Such AE data may be reported in spontaneous reporting systems (SRS). Using data-mining algorithms for disproportionality, we determined the frequency of AEs of special interest (AESIs) associated with CS in patients with IBD.

 The FDA SRS database (FAERS) was examined for AE reports associated with prednisone/prednisolone (PRED) or budesonide (BUD) use for Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis from Q1 2008 to Q4 2019. The incidence of key predefined AESIs was determined and the association with CS therapy was assessed using the proportional reporting ratio (PRR) criteria.

 Totals of 420,913 and 33,215 all-cause AEs were reported for PRED and BUD, respectively. The number of AE reports for each CS increased over time (Figure 1) and this was reflected in an increase in the proportion of reports of all AEs over time relating to CS. Common AEs reported with CS therapy included diarrhoea, abdominal pain, pyrexia and weight loss (Figure 2). Compared with other drugs and based on the PRR criteria, AESIs including osteonecrosis, adrenal insufficiency and Cushingoid complications were more frequently reported in patients treated with PRED; adrenal insufficiency, pancreatitis and Cushingoid complications were more frequently reported in patients treated with BUD (Table 1). There was no confounding effect from gender or disease type identified between CS and any of the AESIs in patients with IBD.

 Analysis of FAERS demonstrated that steroid-treated patients with IBD report AEs that are consistent with the known safety profile for CS. Cushingoid complications and adrenal insufficiency were common signals for PRED and BUD. The increased reporting of AEs over time may reflect growth in CS prescribing, or growing awareness and reporting of CS AEs by prescribers. This analysis will be repeated in multiple international SRS systems to provide a global image of AEs for CS use in IBD.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to review literature from the past decade on applications of artificial intelligence (AI) to breast MRI.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In June 2018, a systematic search of the literature was performed to identify articles on the use of AI in breast MRI. For each article identified, the surname of the first author, year of publication, journal of publication, Web of Science Core Collection journal category, country of affiliation of the first author, study design, dataset, study aim(s), AI methods used, and, when available, diagnostic performance were recorded.

RESULTS
Sixty-seven studies, 58 (87%) of which had a retrospective design, were analyzed. When journal categories were considered, 36% of articles were identified as being included in the radiology and imaging journal category. Contrast-enhanced sequences were used for most AI applications (n = 50; 75%) and, on occasion, were combined with other MRI sequences (n = 8; 12%). Four main clinical aims were addressed: breast lesion classification (n = 36; 54%), image processing (n = 14; 21%), prognostic imaging (n = 9; 13%), and response to neoadjuvant therapy (n = 8; 12%). Artificial neural networks, support vector machines, and clustering were the most frequently used algorithms, accounting for 66%. The performance achieved and the most frequently used techniques were then analyzed according to specific clinical aims. Supervised learning algorithms were primarily used for lesion characterization, with the AUC value from ROC analysis ranging from 0.74 to 0.98 (median, 0.87) and with that from prognostic imaging ranging from 0.62 to 0.88 (median, 0.80), whereas unsupervised learning was mainly used for image processing purposes.

CONCLUSION
Interest in the application of advanced AI methods to breast MRI is growing worldwide. Although this growth is encouraging, the current performance of AI applications in breast MRI means that such applications are still far from being incorporated into clinical practice.


In this introduction to Marxism and the law, Hugh Collins presents a unified and coherent view of Marxism, which he uses to examine the specific characteristics of legal institutions, rules, and ideals. He pays particular attention to the place of ideology in law, the distinction between base and superstructure, and the destiny of law in a Communist society. His principal theme is the Marxist critique of the ideal of the Rule of Law. He argues that the main purpose of a Marxist theory of law is to expose the belief in the Rule of Law as being a subtle and pervasive ideology which serves to obscure the structures of class domination within the State. The author frequently subjects the Marxist approach to criticism and he shows that many of the Marxist claims about law are unproven or misconceived. The book is written in straightforward non-technical language which requires no knowledge of either Marxism or law.


Debt may help to manage type II corporate agency co nfli ts because it is easier for controlling shareholders to modify the leverage ratio than to m odify their share of capital. A sample of 112 firms listed on the French stock market over th period 1998-2009 is empirically tested. It supports an inverted U-shape relationship between s hareholders' ownership and leverage. At low levels of ownership, controlling shareholders u se more debt in order to inflate their stake in capital and to resist unfriendly takeovers attem pts. When ownership reaches a certain point, controlling shareholders' objectives further conver ge with those of outside shareholders. Moreover, financial distress will prompt controllin g shareholders to reduce the firm's leverage ratio. Empirically, it is shown that the inflection point where the sign of the relationship between ownership and debt changes is around 40%. D ebts may help in curbing private appropriation and appears also as a governance vari able. JEL: G3/ G32/G34


In this article, an efficient algorithm for the reconstruction of a 1-D random rough surface profile separating two lossy dielectric half-spaces is presented. First, the general scattering problem is formulated by the use of surface integral equations (SIEs). Then, the synthetic scattering field data are obtained through the use of these conventional SIEs. In the inverse problem, the same SIEs together with the data equation are solved in an iterative fashion to reconstruct the surface variation. In the numerical implementation, the so-called ill-posed inverse problem is regularized in the sense of Tikhonov, and a least squares solution is obtained by the use of appropriate basis functions. A very detailed numerical assessment of the presented approach is provided which shows that the method is very effective and promising.


Abstract. The Semiology of Graphics of French cartographer J. Bertin is not only a seminal work on maps design, it contains also very useful sets of rules and insights that apply to graphics (BERTIN, 1970, 1973, 1987, 2005; DHIEB, 2018). Even though the visual variables are considered by cartographers as one of the most principal discoveries of the book (DE GOLBERY et al., (1996; PALSKY, 2017;), Bertin stated very useful techniques, innovations, artefacts and examples that apply specifically to the design of maps and graphics.One of the most important issues that were not discussed considering the visual variables and the overall design addresses the design of graphics and the use of visual variables. When handling statistical data to design graphics, these latter should not be built randomly; their design should obey strict rules and contain necessary components with regards to the data handled. May we talk about a kind of guideline to help users to choose the most efficient type of graphic depending on the data characteristics the design context, and the message to convey?Yet the specialized software dedicated to graphics design such as Excel do not answer this question and do not help sufficiently the map users to make the best choice and when a choice is made, a useful explanation is not furnished to justify this choice by common users or by cartographers. Our hypothesis is that the design of graphics and the choice of appropriate visual variables according to their properties is worth it: it may greatly influence their attractivity and increase their readability and memorization.This issue was encountered by authors when designing the Urban Atlas of Jeddah (UAJ). Besides detailed maps that portray the spatial distribution and analysis of various data on Jeddah and its districts, the UAJ needed that some of these data to be converted into graphics when the focus is on attribute characteristics rather than on spatial distribution. When inserted in one Atlas, the choice of one given type of graphics does not depends only on scientific criteria but also on design considerations (choice of appropriate visual variables, consistency, homogeneity, and relevance…). For instance, we should not put in one single atlas only one type of graphics, nor the same looks in terms of retained visual variables.Yet, the recent Arabic translation of the Semiology of Graphics (DHIEB, 2018) gave them very useful guidelines in designing Atlas graphics. The goal of this paper is first to put altogether Bertin's principles and insights that should apply to the design of graphics; second to implement such guidelines in the UAJ project; and third to evaluate such uses stated 50 years ago by Bertin and other graphicians (BERTIN, 1970, 1973, 1987, 2005; BONIN, 1983; BONIN S. and BONIN M., 1989; GIMENO, 1980; BORD, 2000) with regards to the scientific and technical evolution of graphics design. Full automation of graphical design (GRONOFF, J.-D., 1983; MULLER, J.C., 1984) should be inspired by Bertin's statements on the use of visual variables and the multiple rules that should be extracted from the Graphics Design Guideline (GDG) developed by the authors. Examples of simple graphics or of graphics processing (AMADO, 1994) from the UAJ are furnished according to the sets of prototypes of graphics realized.


Display Ads and the generalized assignment problem are two well-studied online packing problems with important applications in ad allocation and other areas. In both problems, ad impressions arrive online and have to be allocated immediately to budget-constrained advertisers. Worst-case algorithms that achieve the ideal competitive ratio are known, but might act overly conservative given the predictable and usually tame nature of real-world input. Given this discrepancy, we develop an algorithm for both problems that incorporate machine-learned predictions and can thus improve the performance beyond the worst-case. Our algorithm is based on the work of Feldman et al. (2009) and similar in nature to Mahdian et al. (2007) who were the first to develop a learning-augmented algorithm for the related, but more structured Ad Words problem. We use a novel analysis to show that our algorithm is able to capitalize on a good prediction, while being robust against poor predictions. We experimentally evaluate our algorithm on synthetic and real-world data on a wide range of predictions. Our algorithm is consistently outperforming the worst-case algorithm without predictions.


Vietnam was often called a "teenager's war." The average age was 19.2, so in the main, the War was fought by 17, 18, 19 and 20 year olds barely out of high school and often without the income, intelligence, inclination, or focus to attend college. For everyone, the draft loomed large in our futures, so you could choose your branch of service or let the draft decide for you. This was the 60's. Fresh from sock hops and college freshman mixers, young men found themselves in a fight for their lives, from the Delta to the DMZ, on animal trails, numbered hills and in remote jungle outposts. Teenagers witnessed the unspeakable carnage of war while trying to understand the collision of emotions and insult to the senses that is combat. Thousands died there and many thousands more were wounded and maimed. So the hell of combat was replaced by the painful recovery in a military hospital. For me and thousands of others it was Great Lakes Naval Hospital at Great Lakes, Illinois."For Self and Country" follows my many months of recovery along with the stories of the brave young men who surrounded me and sustained me with friendship, uncommon humor, and courage. This is a story of family, young love, and the magnificent care administered by the Navy doctors, nurses and revered Corpsmen. Great Lakes was a place of great pain but also recovery, not just from the physical damage we sustained but also the unseen emotional injuries everyone endured but rarely talked about. We helped each other in our recovery by talking to each other about our wartime experiences and how we would need to cope outside the insulated and protected hospital. Most of us had no expectation of surviving Vietnam; now that we had we were unsure what place we would have in civilian life.


This article reviews the acute and chronic toxicity of the three oxidant air pollutants ozone, nitric oxide (NO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The toxicity of binary mixtures of NO2 with other inhaled agents is also discussed. Newer studies are emphasized, especially those published in the last 5 years or still in press. Very recent data from our laboratory that suggest a new cellular mechanism of importance in lung injury in animals exposed to mixtures of ozone and NO2 that may have general relevance with regard to the effects of oxidant air pollutants on the lung are also presented.


An actual Chilean copper smelter wastewater treatment is a complex process that actually mostly is focused on fulfillment of threshold values more than sustainability. The actual wastewater treatment includes a number of precipitation, neutralization, clarifying and filtering steps. This manuscript proposes a new sustainable process that would eliminate/reduce several of the disadvantages in an actual copper wastewater treatment such as a) reduced lime addition, b) a separate gypsum and heavy metal/arsenic precipitation, c) an electrodialysis stage that would recover copper, d) an easier ferric ion dosage for arsenic removal by electrocoagulation, and e) a less reagent consuming neutralization step. Keyword: Sustainable wastewater treatment, Electrocoagulation, Arsenic removal, Copper recovery


This study explored the growth and fermentation capabilities of four distinct yeast strains, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii CNCM I-745, S. cerevisiae 7012, S. cerevisiae 7028, and S. cerevisiae var. diastaticus BE-134, with the aim of identifying the most suitable strain for the production of a fermented beverage from soybean residue hydrolysate (SRH). The results were as follows: S. cerevisiae 7012 exhibited the most efficient fermentation, with residual sugar content of 2.16 g/100 ml, an ethanol concentration of 1.39% v/v, and a favourable aroma, receiving a sensory score of 4.3/5 points. Within this sensory profile, the aromatic compound 2-phenylethanol was found to be the predominant component. Additionally, S. cerevisiae var. boulardii CNCM I-745 demonstrated superior biomass production ability, achieving a cell density of 7.71 log CFU/ml after 48 hours of fermentation solution also showed the highest antioxidant activity, equivalent to 1.63 mg of ascorbic acid per 100 ml. Consequently, these two yeast strains were selected for combined use in fermentation to leverage the probiotic characteristics of S. cerevisiae var. boulardiiCNCM I-745 and the flavouring capacity of S. cerevisiae 7012 in creating fermented beverages from SRH.


This one-volume book touches on all aspects of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery. Its consequent size yields both advantages and disadvantages. The major advantage is that it is a onetouch reference. The disadvantage is the sheer weight of the book, which requires a special table for storage. This is the 14th edition of the text, the first of which was printed in 1908. All editions have been edited by a member of the Ballenger family, establishing an 83-year tradition of service to otolaryngology that deserves high praise. It is hoped that this tradition will continue.


Since orthodox medicine sets the standard for what is acceptable within the medical arena, some alternative medicines integrate into medicine while others remain separate or face too much scrutiny to continue practicing. In the 1970s, Morely and Wallis (1976) recognized Dianetics and Scientology as a "marginal medicine," and from the 1960s to 1970s several government organizations worldwide investigated the group. Consequently, Scientology retreated from the medical arena, claiming that it was a religion and establishing boundaries to insulate itself from regulation. Despite Scientology's attempted retreat, Dianetics and Scientology doctrines and practices continue to reflect concerns and actions that belong to what Tovey and Adams (2001) identify as the social world of alternative medicine. In this article, I outline Scientology's position within the medical arena, how that position has transformed over time, and Scientology's isolation from the dominant social world within that arena (specifically scientific medicine).


Context. The dramatic event of the 2029 close encounter between the Earth and the asteroid Apophis on April 13 2029 at a minimum distance of 38 400 km constitutes an opportunity to make investigations about the modeling of the rotational changes of the asteroid during the event.
Aims. In this paper we deepen a previous study of the rotational changes of Apophis caused by gravitational effects during the close encounter, using important constraints on initial conditions brought by new recent observational data. We also evaluate the effects of the triaxial form of the asteroid on the motion of its axis of rotation in space, as well as the modifications of the spin rate due to tidal deformation.
Methods. First we used more drastic constraints for the physical and geometrical parameters of Apophis, deduced from recent observational campaigns. Second we evaluated the disturbing potential due to the Earth depending not only on the asteroid flattening, but also on the component due to its triaxiality, to deduce the equations of motion and investigate the displacement of the spin axis. Third we estimated what should be the zonal deformation of the asteroid due to the tide exerted by the Earth during the close encounter and we measured the consequences on variations of the spin rate.
Results. We show that the variations of obliquity and precession in longitude of Apophis during the 2029 close encounter can reach very large values, at the level of of respectiveley 1–10° and 10–40° depending on geometrical parameters. On the contrary, effects on the spin rate should be relatively small, leading to variations of the sidereal angle of rotation not exceeding 30 s.
Conclusions. The tribute of this paper is to give a constrained model of the important rotational variations of Apophis during its 2029 close encounter with the Earth.


A preliminary in-vitro solid-state fermentation of peeled (PCRM) and unpeeled cassava root tuber meal (UCRM) using Aspergillus niger van Tieghem, was conducted, followed by a force-feeding experiment to investigate the effects of a diet of solid state fermented peeled (PCRM) and unpeeled (UPCRM) cassava root, supplemented with limiting amino acid, on metabolizable energy (ME) for meat-type cockerels. Forty eight, 84 d-old meat-type cockerels (Ross 308) were assigned to 8 treatments consisting of 6 birds per treatment laid out in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatment consisting of PCRM and UCRM subjected or not to solid-state fermentation and supplemented with or without limiting amino acids. An additional 6 cockerels were used for endogenous study. Peeling of cassava root increased (P < 0.05) gross energy content of the resultant cassava meal when compared with UCRM. Solid-state fermentation using Aspergillus niger increased (P < 0.05) the crude ash, ether extract and arginine concentration of PCRM and UCRM. Solid-state fermented PCRM recorded the highest (P < 0.05) amylopectin, least (P < 0.05) resistant starch and hydrocyanide concentration. Highest (P < 0.05) apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and nitrogen corrected AME (AMEn) values were obtained for cockerels fed with solid-state fermented PCRM supplemented with or without amino acid. However, supplementation of solid-state fermented PCRM with amino acid resulted in highest (P < 0.05) true metabolisable energy (TME) and nitrogen corrected TME (TMEn) for meat-type cockerels. Reduced (P < 0.05) AME and AMEn values were recorded for UCRM, regardless of solid-state fermentation and amino acid supplementation. In conclusion, solid-state fermentation and amino acid supplementation of PCRM resulted in improved AME, AMEn, TME and TMEn values for meat-type cockerels. Amino acid supplementation had no improvement on AME, AMEn and TME values of UCRM for meat-type cockerels.


Polling system models have a wide range of important applications including time-sharing computer systems, industrial control, communications, and computer networks. In this paper, we propose a two-class prioritybased polling system that uses gated and exhaustive services to achieve the priority-based scheme. This model is set up according to the method of the imbedded Markov chain theory and the generation function and explicitly analyzes key system performance characteristics including mean queue length, cyclic time, and throughput. Theoretical and simulation results are identical and demonstrate the efficiency of the model.


Commercial purity copper was subjected to ECAP and subsequent cold rolling. Structure and mechanical properties were studied using EBSD analysis, TEM and tensile tests. Effect of ECAP number passes on grain size and fraction of high angle boundaries after cold rolling was investigated. Rolling results in grain refinement and HABs fraction increase the more ECAP number passes. UTS increases significantly after rolling. Increase of strength is accompanied by loss of plasticity. Evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties is discussed.


Groundnut, an important crop provides significant sources of cash, oil and an important role in diets but the yield is low due to different constraints like earthening up. In this regard, this study was carried out to improve yields by identifying the best stages of earthening up practices. The experiment was conducted at Abergelle Agricultural Research Centre testing site in 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 cropping seasons. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. There were seven treatments of earthening up (pre-flowering, 25% flowering stage, 50% flowering stage, 75% flowering stage, 50% pegging, pre-flowering + 50% flowering + 50% peg formation and control). The analyzed variables (days to 90% maturity, biomass yield, grain yield, harvest index, 1000 seed weight, number of pods/plant and number of seeds/pod) revealed significantly difference (p=5%). The analysis of variance showed that highest yield was obtained from 50% earthening up (23 ql/ha) and lowest grain yield was observed in control/no earthening up (18 qt/ha). Generally, earthening up practices at 50% flowering stage enhances the yield of groundnut. So, it should be practiced or applied at similar agro-ecology for better yield of ground nut.

 Key words: Yield, yield components, groundnut, earthening up.


2020 has seen the whole world battling a pandemic. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily transmitted through respiratory droplets when in close contact with an infected person, by direct contact, or by contact with contaminated objects and surfaces. Aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) like intubation have a high chance of generating large concentrations of infectious aerosols. AGPs potentially put healthcare workers at an increased risk of contracting the infection, and therefore special precautions are necessary during intubation. The procedure has to be performed by an expert operator who uses appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Modifications of known techniques have helped to reduce the chances of contracting the infection from patients. The use of checklists has become standard safe practice. This chapter looks at the current knowledge we have regarding this illness and how we should modify our practice to make managing the airway both safer for the patient and the healthcare workers involved. It addresses the preparation, staff protection, technical aspects and aftercare of patients who need airway intervention. It recommends simulation training to familiarize staff with modifications to routine airway management.


The concept of a trickle tower, using ordered bipolar electrode elements stacked in (10 to 80) similar layers
of porous, 3D electrodes separated by insulating separator meshes is described and key features of
electrochemical reactors based on the bipolar trickle tower reactor (BTTR) geometry are reviewed. Fluid flow,
mass transfer, active area and bypass current are considered in detail, since they affect the reaction
environment. Modified reactor designs have resulted from the process of electrode selection and tower
construction. The performance of BTTRs is illustrated by examples from laboratory and industry, including
electrosynthesis and environmental treatment. Experimental data are used to rationalise reaction environment
and simulate performance. Operational factors such as electrolyte flow, mass transport rates and volumetric
electrode area are highlighted as important factors in achieving high efficiency; minimisation of internal
bypass currents is critical. Developments have enabled improvements in reactor construction and a wider
choice of electrode material. Future R & D needs are highlighted.


Germination in mountain hemlock, Tsuga mertensiana (Bong.) Carr., was investigated using 19 seed sources from British Columbia. Neither light nor stratification for 28 days had any significant effect on germination capacity, but light significantly (p ≤ 0.01) reduced germination rate. Stratification significantly increased germination rate in all seed sources, although the amount of total variation attributable to this effect was small. Stratification did not overcome the effect of light, and it is recommended that seeds should be covered after sowing in the nursery. All sources, including one from the interior of the province, germinated relatively uniformly. No correlations could be found between germination parameters and age, source elevation and seed weight, but germination capacity and seed weight were correlated with latitude. No correlation existed between seed weight and elevation. For most sources, a test duration of 21 days was adequate for complete germination even of unstratified seeds. Mountain hemlock seeds should be stratified before being sown in the nursery, and they should be covered during the germination phase to exclude light.


Described in the paper are the results of research, experiments and designing of individual protection means for medical personnel attending the patients with extra dangerous infections under the conditions of Meltzer boxes. The authors elaborated pressure suits that can protect the medical personnel from being infected by microbe aerosols. The testing of the mentioned protection suits in infection hospitals of Moscow, Elista, Rostov-on-Don and of other cities was positively assessed.


Extracellular pH (pH(o)) influences vasoconstriction partly by modulating Ca(2+) influx through voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels in the vasculature. The mechanism of this effect of pH(o) is, however, controversial. Using the whole cell voltage-clamp technique, we examined the influence of pH(o) on L-type Ca(2+) channel currents in isolated human mesenteric arterial myocytes. Acidification to pH 6.2 and alkalinization to 8.2 from 7.2 decreased by approximately 50% and increased by 25-30%, respectively, the peak amplitude of Ca(2+) and Ba(2+) currents (1.5 and 10 mM), with an apparent pK(a) of 6.8. Activation and inactivation of Ca(2+) and Ba(2+) currents were shifted toward positive membrane voltages during acidification and in the opposite direction during alkalinization. The relationship between the current amplitude and shifts in the gating parameters in solutions of different pH(o) conformed closely to that predicted by the Gouy-Chapman model, in which the divalent cation concentration at the outer surface of the membrane varies with the extent to which protons neutralize the membrane surface potential.


A fine control of a photonic molecule is obtained by nanofluidic techniques. The coupling condition between the modes of two photonic crystal nanocavities is modified by spectrally tuning each single resonator. Clear mode anticrossing and transition from localized to delocalized states are observed. The detuning induced by disorder, always present in real device, is experimentally compensated by locally modifying the photonic environment of the cavity.


My dissertation is interested in exploring dialectical relations that reveal complex power (im)balances in recent fiction. In my close reading of five novels published since the year 2000, I reflect on the postmodern legacy in the twenty-first century, after the declaration of the death of metanarratives and the concomitant emergence of marginalized voices in late twentieth century. How has fiction in recent years engage with persistent macro narratives in the light of emergent voices? What are the new questions and/or positions that are opened up, recurring issues that are unsettled, or even promises unfulfilled, in these writings with regards to the 'maturation' of formerly disenfranchised identities?

There are three main areas of contention that I will analyse in my reading of the novels: gender relations, diasporic and local identities, as well as the role of scientific thought in present-day representations of identities, particularly its narratives of Darwinism, genetics and reproduction. They are compelling issues as, despite the postmodern drive to collapse margins and center, they represent instances of recurring peripheral and dominating narratives; indeed, even as familiar power dynamics are challenged or undermined, new ones are born. I will examine in individual chapters the novels' portrayal of both old and new structures of opposition and power within the discourse of two formerly disenfranchised voices: the female and the colonized/decolonized. Following this will be a chapter on the literary reflection on the hegemonic role of science in our society today. These chapters, as well as areas of overlap within and among them, reveal the ever-increasing complexity and interconnectedness of power relations that demand the intellectual skill, dexterity, and concentration akin to that of a tightrope walker to achieve a nuanced understanding of individual and collective identities in the twenty-first century.


The objective of the study was to assess monetization opportunity in existing gas processing facilities by recovering CO2 from the acid gas stream and utilizing it to enhance oil recovery. This could potentially lead to generating more revenues with minimum modifications and optimizing the plot footprint, energy, and overall cost, all while maintaining business continuity.
 The Study was conducted in two stages:
 Feasibility Study was carried out to identify a potential site location and UTC per ton of potential recovered CO2 to meet pilot phase EOR requirement of upstream oil facilities. Study recommended to recover CO2 from existing AGRU Regenerator overhead using chemical solvents, TEG dehydration and compression. Pre-Feed Study – The developed idea along with other potential options were thoroughly evaluated by a Pre-FEED Study to select the most techno-economic viable location, technologies and overall process configuration in order to capture CO2 to meet upstream oil company pilot phase requirements for EOR.
 The final selected concept for CO2 capture was as per followings:
 Low pressure chemical solvent type CO2 capture Unit located downstream of the AGRU but upstream of the flash / recovered flare gas tie in; Wet CO2 compression to TEG dehydration unit and dry CO2 compression transport for injection; Reinject enriched H2S from the CO2 capture unit to condensate reservoir The selected concept UTC US$ / MT of CO2 compared by performing similar exercises for other two sites and it is observed that UTC varies depending on existing process and utilities systems configuration, feed gas quality and product specifications.
 Concept of recovering CO2 from existing oil & gas facilities for EOR facilitates minimizing CO2 emissions and its footprint.
 This concept can potentially be enhanced by taking calculated risks and applying emerging technologies with Licensors' to ease UTC from its current level and complement other by-products to enhance overall value chain in energy sector. In addition to that this, UAE has set the National Climate Change Plan 2017–2050 that serves as a roadmap to boost nationwide actions for climate mitigation. Capturing CO2 for EOR economically will facilitate UAE to minimize carbon emission footprint.
 Based on aforementioned Pre-FEED study, this paper identifies and evaluates the most viable options for the CO2 capture unit location, CO2 capture technology, CO2 dehydration and transport technology and H2S handling for the entire operating envelope. This paper also provides an overview of the CO2 dehydration unit optimum operating pressure, discussions on CO2 wet and dry compressors and the configuration of the CO2 capture train(s).


The Fe3O4@SiO2@APTMS@Glu-His@V complex was prepared with modification of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles with (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS) and glutaraldehyde-L-histidine Schiff base followed by complexation with VOSO4. Characterization of the Fe3O4@SiO2@APTMS@Glu-His@V complex was carried out by means of FTIR, XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, AAS and VSM techniques. It was found that Fe3O4@SiO2@APTMS@Glu-His@V complex successfully catalyze the epoxidation of allyl alcohols with tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) in moderate to high yields. The epoxidation of geraniol with 100 % conversion and 100% selectivity within 15 min is remarkable. Short reaction time, high activity, selectivity, stability, reusability and easily magnetic separation of the catalyst with no leaching during the course of reactions are some advantages of this research.


ABSTRACT Using the concepts of social navigation and vital conjunctures, this paper investigates how Cameroonian returnees experience their return in a crisis-ridden context in constant decay, characterised by material and existential uncertainties. Based on semi-structured interviews with 41 Cameroonians returning from countries in the Global North under different circumstances, we examine the ingenuity of these returnees to navigate an environment that is constantly changing. To uncover this, we first analysed returnees' perspectives on how they were received by their different communities of origin. Second, through the subjective experiences of returnees, we explain the unpredictable macro-structural challenges such as the 'anglophone crisis', labour market integration and institutional challenges in creating business. We further explore the tactics generated by returnees to navigate the socio-cultural, economic and political context characterised by uncertainties. The results illustrate the agency and proactivity by returnees who returned empty-handed and those who returned with resources to generate diverse tactics to cope with community expectations and sustain themselves economically. This article contributes to the literature on return and reintegration, where the returnees developed complex actions to manoeuvre unpredictable events in a changing spatial context.


Sitompul FA, Siregar EH, Roesma DI, Dahelmi, Prasetya E. 2018. Molecular identification of coffee (Coffea arabica) pollinator insects in North Sumatra, Indonesia based on designed COI primers. Biodiversitas 19: 1877-1883. Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) is one of the most important economic commodities in the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Insects associated with pollination of C. arabica are one of the key factors for successful cultivation of C. arabica, but, the research regarding of these was still limited. The population of coffee plant is scattered across the highlands of Indonesia and the pollination of C. arabica is strongly believed linked to a diverse group of pollinating insects. However, lack of taxonomic identification of insects pollinating these plants has become one of constraints to succeed the cultivation of C. Arabica. This study aimed to analyze types and variations of pollinating insects of C. arabica in the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia, using DNA barcoding. DNA barcoding is now considered an alternative method of molecular identification. Sixteen of C. arabica flower visitors were captured in different planting location in North Sumatra province. Using mtDNA markers, the cytochrome oxidase subunit sequence I (COI), about 12 pollinator insect species were identified based on the COI sequence i.e Amegilla cingulata, Apis dorsata, Apis cerana, Trigona chanchamayoensis, Idiella divisa, Dolichopodidae sp., Allactoneura sp., Stomorhina discolor, Phytomia erratica, Rhiniidae sp., Melipona bicolor, and Hymenoptera sp.


In this study, the effects of CNT growth on the tensile properties of carbon fibers and their composites are examined. A novel CNT synthesis method – the PopTube Approach – is used to grow CNTs directly on carbon fibers. This technique utilizes microwave irradiation to synthesize CNTs on carbon fibers using the organometallic compound ferrocene as both the catalyst and primary carbon source. To study the effects of the CNT growth process at the fiber level, CNTreinforced single fibers are harvested and tested for tensile strength. To study the effects of the CNT growth process at the composite level, CNT-reinforced woven carbon fiber fabric is used to produce laminate composites – which are also tested for tensile strength. In both components of this study, control groups are tested for comparison. Single fiber tensile tests are carried out according to ASTM D3379, while composite tensile tests are carried out according to ASTM D3039. Results show that single fiber tensile strength is reduced on the order of 10% as a result of the CNT growth process. This suggests that the CNT synthesis process causes some degree of damage to the fibers themselves, which is perhaps to be expected. Composite tensile strength, however, is reduced on the order of 30%. Factors contributing to this decline at the composite level are identified and examined. Along with damage to the fibers and a reduction in fiber volume fraction due to the presence of CNTs, a shift in failure mode is observed in the CNT-reinforced composites as a result of the increased interfacial shear strength provided by the CNTs. These observations suggest that a tradeoff may exist in CNT-reinforced composites between the desired improvements in delamination resistance and the undesired reduction of in-plane tensile properties.


Gift exchange plays a crucial role in the social and political organisation of Mendi in Papua New Guinea. This book reveals how considerable light can be shed on Mendi society, particularly on its political economy, by examining both the well-known ceremonial exchange festivals and the hitherto relatively little-studied everyday gift-giving practices. The author shows that the latter are crucial for understanding inter-group politics, the process of leadership, male-female relationships and the status of women, and the production, distribution and circulation of wealth. Currently the only book available on this society, the work offers an unusual combination of a social structural analysis with a study of local history and change. It is also of interest for its integration of the study of gift exchange and politics with the study of gender roles and relationships.


I will give a broad overview of what has become the standard paradigm in cosmology. I will describe the relational (\`{a} la Leibnitz) notion of time that is often used in cosmological calculations and discuss how the local nature of Einstein's equations allows us to translate this notion into statements about `initial' data. Classically this relates our local definition of time to a quasi-local region of a particular spatial slice, however incorporating quantum theory comes at the expense of losing this (quasi-) locality entirely. This occurs due to the presence of two, apparently distinct, issues: (1) Seemingly classical issues to do with the infinite spatial volume of the universe and (2) Quantum field theory issues, which revolve around trying to apply renormalization in cosmology.

 Following the 'cosmological principle' - an extension of the 'Copernicus principle' - that physics at every point in our universe should look the same, we are lead to the modern view of cosmology. This procedure is reasonably well understood for an exactly homogeneous universe, however the inclusions of small perturbations over this homogeneity leads to many interpretational/ conceptual difficulties. For example, in an (spatially) infinite universe perturbations can be arbitrarily close to homogeneous. To any observer, such a perturbation would appear to be a simple rescaling of the homogenous background and hence, physically, would not be considered an inhomogeneous perturbation at all. However, any attempt to choose the physically relevant scale at which perturbations should be considered homogeneous will break the cosmological principle i.e. it will make the resulting physics observer dependent. It amounts to `putting the perturbations in a box' and a delicate practical issue is that the universe is not static, hence the scale of the box will be time dependent. Thus what appears 'physically homogeneous' to an observer at one time will not appear so at another.

 This issue is brought to the forefront by considering the canonical (space and time rather space-time) version of the theory. The phase space formulation of General Relativity, just as for any other theory, contains the shadow of the underlying quantum theory. This means that, although the formulation is still classical, many of the subtleties that are present in the quantum theory are already apparent. In the cosmological context the infinite spatial volume renders almost all expressions formal or ill-defined. In order to proceed, we must restrict our attention to a cosmology that has some finite spatial extent, on which our relational notion of time is everywhere definable. In particular, this would constrain the permissible data outside our `observable universe'.

 This difficulty is an IR or large (spatial) scale issues in cosmology, however in addition there are UV or short (spatial) scale problems that need to be tackled. There are the usual problems of renormalization, which are further complicated by the fact that the universe is not static. In the cosmological setting this leads to new IR problems which again prevent one from taking the spatial extent of the universe to infinity. The physical relevance of this problem, the consequence for defining a time variable, and the distinction of homogeneous and inhomogeneous IR issues will be discussed.


This is a comparative case study of two media business leaders, one from Russia and one from Kyrgyzstan. Alexei Kharitonov of the Abak-Press and Kylychbek Sultanov of the Computer Press both started media companies after the break-up of the Soviet Union and managed to grow them from small businesses into the present media holdings.In comparing the media holding from Russia, which is the former Soviet Union's largest economy, and the one from Kyrgyzstan, which is one of the smallest economies of the post-Soviet space, this will allow us to capture the processes of private media maturation in countries with a shared Soviet past, yet with a different present. The observed time frame is 25 years from the fall of the Soviet Union (1991-2016).

Only 13 media holdings in both Russia and Kyrgyzstan were found to meet the criteria of financial self-sustainability without any reliance on state/foreign funds. The data came from 54 in-depth semi-structured interviews with company founders/owners, senior and junior staff, media experts, academics, representatives of competing businesses, and failed media entrepreneurs. Data collection took place in Ekaterinburg and Bishkek in 2014-16, and it was supported through a University of Westminster scholarship.

Theory-wise, this research is focused on the concepts of charisma, media leadership and media entrepreneurship. The main argument is that Max Weber's (1947) theory of charismatic authority is applicable to media business leaders in emerging economies. Charisma is a rare and transitory phenomenon (Yukl, 2013). This research argues that the charismatic authority of media leaders in the post-Soviet states is not only the closest to Weber's original idea, but also morphs into the legal-rational authority of media managers once such companies enjoy financial stability. The reason for this can be explained through the turbulent nature of the media markets being formed (Vartanova, 2013) and the cultural character of the leadership which finds itself able to fit in certain contexts (Walter and Bruch, 2009). Moreover, in the fast-paced transition economy settings, the transformation from charismatic authority to legal-rational authority may take place within a single person. The Weberian theory of charismatic authority is discussed in this research alongside Alan Bryman's (1992) findings on charisma in organisations and John Kotter's (1982, 2012) model for the appraisal of general managers. In particular, Kotter's framework for analysing the personal and background characteristics of company leaders is applied to analyse the maturation of leadership within privately-owned media businesses in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.


Wages for the vast majority of workers have stagnated since the 1980s while productivity has grown. We investigate two coexisting explanations based on rising market power: 1. Monopsony, where dominant firms exploit the limited mobility of their own workers to pay lower wages; and 2. Monopoly, where dominant firms charge too high prices for what they sell, which lowers production and the demand for labor, and hence equilibrium wages economy-wide. Using establishment data from the US Census Bureau between 1997 and 2016, we find evidence of both monopoly and monopsony, where the former is rising over this period and the latter is stable. Both contribute to the decoupling of productivity and wage growth, with monopoly being the primary determinant: in 2016 monopoly accounts for 75% of wage stagnation, monopsony for 25%.


One of the main challenges for novice programmers is to learn the statement, syntax, logical thinking and program design in a short time. Students usually experience a heavy cognitive load when learning to program. The limitation of teaching hours in high school also leaves no time for instructors to individually assist each student. In this study, we propose a gap-filled programming practice (GFPP) system to help novice programmers reduce their cognitive load and ensure students focus on the specific contents instructors want them to practice. The research shows that students who were taught with GFPP system scored higher than students who were taught with traditional approach. The students can finish the practices efficiently and the positive feedbacks from GFPP system make them feel more confident and unafraid of learning programming.


It has been shown with priming paradigms at the single word level (e.g., Edmonds & Mizrahi, 2011; Ferretti, McRae, & Hatherell, 2001) and eyetracking methods at the sentence level (e.g., Altmann & Kamide, 1999; Kamide, Scheepers, & Altmann, 2003) that a verb generates semantic expectations about an upcoming noun (McRae, Ferretti, & Amyote, 1997). In addition to semantic relationships, syntactic constraint is also involved in the expectation process (e.g., Friederici, Steinhauer, & Frisch, 1999; Gunter, Friederici, & Schriefers, 2000). Therefore, both semantic and syntactic constraints are important for fast and accurate language comprehension. However, previous studies have investigated the importance of each constraint independently and have not compared the two constraint effects. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of semantic and syntactic constraint to evaluate whether one constraint plays a more important role in expectancy generation.

We presented pictures of objects representing the thematic roles of patient (a receiver of the action) and instrument (an object used to do the action) with simultaneous auditory presentation of verbs. With respect to syntax, the patient (bathtub) would be required after a 2-place verb (scrubbing), but the related instrument (sponge) would be optional and not syntactically required. To evaluate semantic expectation, we manipulated the degree of the semantic relationship (see Materials) of the patients and instruments as they related to the presented verb. Using eyetracking, we hypothesized that if participants looked at the patient picture regardless of how strongly the patient was semantically related to the verb, it would indicate that syntactic expectation overrides semantic expectation. Alternatively, if participants looked at the highly-related picture regardless of whether it was a patient or instrument, it would indicate that semantic expectation overrides syntactic expectation.


BackgroundMany studies reported that copper, zinc and magnesium play important roles in the pathogenesis and development of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Exchange transfusion and intensive phototherapy are known two modalities of therapy for severe neonatal hyper bilirubinemia, but the effect of them on those trace elements is unknown.Materials and MethodsCopper, Zinc and Magnesium serum levels were measured before and after treatment with intensive phototherapy and exchange transfusion in full term neonates with indirect hyperbilirubinemia admitted to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Minia and Sohag University hospitals, Egypt, during 2014-2016 and comparison with normal healthy neonates was done.ResultsThere were significant higher copper and magnesium and lower zinc serum levels in neonates with indirect hyperbilirubinemia than controls before and after intensive phototherapy. These levels were significantly changed after exchange transfusion to be comparable with controls. Significant positive correlations between the total bilirubin levels and hemoglobin, copper, and magnesium serum levels and significant negative correlations with serum zinc levels were present. There were no significant correlations between maternal and neonatal copper, zinc or magnesium serum levels.ConclusionNeonates with indirect hyperbilirubinemia had significant higher copper and magnesium and lower zinc serum levels than healthy neonates which were not related to their maternal serum levels. Intensive phototherapy had no effect on their levels while exchange transfusion changed these levels to be comparable with that of normal healthy neonates.


Nerve injuries are common, and the available treatments including invasive surgeries do not guarantee complete regeneration of the injured nerves and restoration of function. Despite the ability of peripheral nerves to regenerate, the slow rate of axonal growth hampers the functional recovery. Development of new approaches to discover underlying mechanisms that may accelerate axonal growth is needed to overcome these limitations and augment available treatments of nerve injury. In addition to chemical factors, recent studies suggested the use of optogenetics and electrical stimulation to promote axonal growth. The underlying mechanisms of these approaches, however, require further investigation. Furthermore, their application relies on invasive hardware, which may not be compatible with injured nerves under significant mechanical deformation. Here, it is shown that thermal activation of a heat sensitive ion channel TRPV1 promotes axonal growth in a calcium‐dependent manner. By leveraging heat dissipation of magnetic nanoparticles in alternating magnetic fields, the calcium influx through TRPV1 channels endogenously expressed in dorsal root ganglion explants is triggered remotely. The accelerated axonal growth through elongation of neurofilaments and increased Schwann cell migration following magnetothermal stimulation is observed. These findings suggest future applications of magnetothermal modulation of axonal growth as a minimally invasive approach to accelerate nerve regeneration.


Prestressed concrete bridges require strengthening due to aging, frequent over load, deterioration, etc. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites have been successfully used for enhancing flexural, shear, and axial strength of RC and PC members. Increase in traffic service load on highway bridges dictates replacement of the bridge super structure or adoption of a structural upgrade system. Strengthening of existing concrete bridges with conventional construction materials results in an increase in the dead load, and possible decrease in bridge clearance. The use of CFRP composites is considered a practical alternative for flexural strengthening of prestressed concrete bridge girders. The effectiveness of the use of CFRP depends on several factors, which are not yet quantified. This paper presents a finite element investigation on the effectiveness of CFRP composites in flexural strengthening on AASHTO type II prestressed girder.


This paper addresses the development of software created at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, located in Medellin, Colombia, for the direct and reverse analyses of a serial robot manipulator. Results provided for the software are used for the simulation of the manipulator and also provides data for the control of a serial manipulator prototype. Both, the prototype and its control system were also developed at the University as part of a project to establish a robotics lab. Since joint angles control is affected by the complex relationships presented in the gear transmission mechanisms, the kinematics of gear transmissions is also studied. In this way appropriate mappings between actuators, links and the Cartesian space are established. Software requirements, architecture, and its implementation are addressed. The software includes user-friendly graphical environments that allow one to navigate through all the capabilities of the program. The software has been tested intensively in the prototype and can be extended to serial manipulators with the same structure but different dimensions. Authors expect that virtual tools as the presented in this paper, can help to reduce the time to understand concepts related to motion analysis in the fields of robotics.© 2014 ASME


Retailers increasingly require suppliers to certify for food safety standards. Third party certification bodies audit manufacturing sites to determine compliance with a standard. We use panel data on U.S. manufacturing sites certified for the British Retail Consortium global standard food safety program to identify determinants of certification audit grades. We find that firms with more resources obtain higher grades. Also grades increase with experience which likely indicates that the certification process improves food safety practices. Investigating the relationship between audit grades and the degree of competition between third party certification bodies in the vicinity of a manufacturing site, we find that higher competition is associated with higher audit grades.


The Global Study into management effectiveness evaluation was conducted between late 2005 and 2007. In cooperation with many people across the world, we aimed to strengthen the management of protected areas by compiling the existing work on management effectiveness evaluation, reviewing methodologies, finding patterns and common themes in evaluation results, and investigating the most important factors leading to effective management.


A rationally selected combination of small-molecule chemicals can affect cell plasticity and fate, suggesting an open chemistry way to manipulate cells to achieve a specific goal. Here we for the first time demonstrate that a combination of vitamin C (Vc) and PD0325901 can achieve about 90% erasure of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) within 5 days (decreasing from 3.2 to ~ 0.3 5mC per 100 C) in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). The hypomethylated level is comparable to that of gonadal primordial germ cells (PGCs), whose pluripotency is closely associated with the global DNA hypomethylation. In contrast, Vc or PD0325901 alone only induces a moderately reduced level of global DNA methylation. Our mechanistic study suggested that PD0325901 elevated expression of Prdm14, which repressed de novo methyltransferase Dnmt3b and its cofactor Dnmt3l at levels of protein, via the mode to eliminate 5mC from de novo synthesis. By further addition of Vc, the oxidation of 5mC as catalyzed by Tet1/Tet2 dioxygenases was significantly increased as manifested by the elevated level of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine. However, by the depletion of Tet1/Tet2, Vc failed to enhance PD0325901-stimulated hypomethylation of ESCs' genomic DNA. Furthermore, mouse ESCs in Vc/PD0325901-supplemented medium show great morphology and pluripotency. Therefore, we demonstrate a novel and synergistic chemical approach for promoting hypomethylation and sustaining pluripotency of ESCs.


The effects of whole-body vibration (WBV) on flexibility and muscle stiffness are focused areas of research. Many studies have been performed over a large range of vibratory conditions and have reported varied results on effectiveness. When reviewing the published literature, it is difficult to track the vibration parameters that have positive effects and which have negative or no effects. In writing this paper, over 80 articles were evaluated, 24 of which met the inclusion requirements. The data gathered in the articles were used to develop charts that illustrate the vibration conditions that elicit helpful, harmful, and no effects on flexibility and muscle stiffness. A combination of published data shows that acceleration is the best metric to predict the effectiveness of WBV for improving flexibility and muscle stiffness. This review shows that acceleration in the range of 5g to 10g was most effective in increasing flexibility. Published data on muscle and tendon stiffness are limited, but shows that although WBV is generally significantly less effective in increasing stiffness than increasing flexibility, accelerations below 6.4g were the most effective.


A new image adaptive watermarking algorithm based on Bidimension Empirical Mode Decomposition (BEMD) is proposed. As a new two-dimensional signal processing tool, BEMD is first introduced into the image watermarking field in this paper. In the proposed algorithm, the cover image is decomposed into several intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) based on its local feature adaptively. Then the human visual system (HVS) model function based on IMFs and the logo image is generated, and inserted into the cover image. BEMD technique is used in the extracting processes as well and the recovered watermark image is obtained clearly. We have tested the robustness of the proposed scheme under cropping, JPEG compression, resizing, median filtering, and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) attacks. The experiments indicate that this technique can achieve high imperceptibility while showing good robustness. Furthermore, the proposed method is compared with the block DCT based method, and the experiment result confirms that the proposed method shows better performance.


Alcohol addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder that includes certain maladaptive learning and memory. The serine and threonine kinase complex, mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), has been implicated in synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory by controlling protein translation. Here we show that administration of alcohol and excessive voluntary consumption of alcohol induce the activation of the mTORC1-mediated signaling pathway in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of rodents. We further show that the protein expression levels of GluR1 and Homer, two synaptic proteins whose translation has been shown to be modulated by mTORC1, are up-regulated in the NAc of rodents with a history of excessive alcohol consumption. In addition, our results document that the Food and Drug Administration-approved inhibitor of mTORC1, rapamycin, decreases expression of alcohol-induced locomotor sensitization and place preference, as well as excessive alcohol intake and seeking in preclinical rodent models of alcohol abuse. Together, our results suggest that mTORC1 within the NAc is a contributor to molecular mechanisms underlying alcohol-drinking behaviors. Furthermore, despite its massive health and socioeconomic impact worldwide, pharmacotherapies for alcohol abuse and addiction remain limited. Our data therefore put forward the possibility that targeting the mTORC1 signaling cascade is an innovative and valuable strategy for the treatment of alcohol use and abuse disorders.


When I was in high school, I worked in the summers. Not because my parents made me...it was me, I wanted to do it. I wanted to have money for myself and to help them out. It was in the summer that I got a letter from ETS [Educational Talent Search], asking me to come to a program called FOCUS. It is a mini bridge program preparing us for college....(1) I did it for a week and then I went back to work in the broccoli fields in Greenfield. All of a sudden, I got a call on the walkie-talkie. I was putting the boxes of broccoli together in the trailer. It was my supervisor's brother. He said "Pedro, I got some news for you." He hands me the walkie-talkie. [My supervisor on the other end] told me he got a call that I got accepted [to the university]. I was pretty happy! I told my mom. She started screaming! She was packing broccoli. She stopped and said she was very proud of me. It was good. All she could do was smile. She was so happy. Her dream for me to go to college was going to be complete (Student interview, Gonzalez, 2000). ********** THE "BROCCOLI STORY," AS I HAVE DUBBED IT, 15 ONE OF MY FAVORITES AMONG more than 80 hours of oral histories with first-generation college students on our campus. In a graphic and poignant way, Pedro Gonzalez captures the pride and hope that going to college represents for so many Mexican-origin (2) students and their parents. I always think of this story as I drive through the patchwork fields in the region. How many of the women and men I see stooping over this green gold are dreaming these dreams for their children? Pedro's story also reminds me of why I joined the founding faculty of California State University. Monterey Bay (CSUMB). This new university was envisioned specifically to serve the historically underrepresented in higher education--low-income, working-class students from ethnic, racial, and im/migrant backgrounds. Given its geographic location at the edge of the Salinas Valley in California, I knew that many of my new students would be the daughters and Sons of migrant mexicana/o farm workers, who work the fields to put food on our tables every day. Young women and men of Mexican heritage comprise 25% of our student body, and most of them are the first in their families to attend college, sometimes the first to graduate from high school. (3) The opportunity to combine professional and political purposes in one coherent effort remains very seductive. Along with its emotional force, the "broccoli story" draws me in with its subtexts, interpretive possibilities, and theoretical potential. The story is about a personal and collective dream of achieving a college education. It makes a point of affirming a strong sense of responsibility to family, which for students often takes the form of continued contributions to the family economy, as well as role modeling, paving the way to higher education for younger siblings. These commitments shape Mexican-origin students' goals and aspirations in very significant ways. Pedro was not in the fields when telling this story. He was at the university library, constructing his account. He could tell the story because at that time he was living it. How do I, as an oral historian, faculty member, and informal ethnographer on my own campus, interpret this story? Does it merely assert the culturally gendered role of the independent male provider? Or is the story really about how first-generation students of Mexican origin construct and fulfill that educational dream? How do they negotiate the transformative experience of higher education? Are they "losing their culture" to upward mobility, as some studies would claim? Do they experience college as a process of deracination? Or are they negotiating multiple cultural worlds in integrative ways, venturing into the unknown world of higher education to bring new resources to their cultural communities? …


Multi-factor authentication is a well-recognized access control method that enhances the security of users' sensitive data and identities. A successful authentication attempt requires a user to correctly present two or more authentication factors such as knowledge factors, possession factors and inherence factors. For smartphone-based multi-factor authentication, a promising way to authenticate a user is to verify his possession of a legitimate smartphone, which calls for secure and usable device authentication schemes. In this article, we propose to authenticate a device through tracking the hardware fingerprint of its built-in sensor. We first review the existing hardware-rooted identification methods and discuss the merits of applying a hardware fingerprint as a smartphone's unique identity. Then, we analyze the security issues underlying these methods and identify two security requirements for the identification methods to be used in an authentication scheme: Fingerprint Leakage Resilience and Fingerprint Forgery Resilience. Finally, we look into a specific hardware fingerprint originally used for digital cameras. We analyze the feasibility of applying this fingerprint to differentiate off-the-shelf smartphones and list several challenging practical issues underlying this method.


Raymond Hovasse's scientific activities in Turkey (1926-1931) and the foundation of the Baltalimani Zoological Station Sevtap Kadioglu Studies on the history of higher education in Turkey show that foreign scholars contributed at diverse intervals to the educational and research activities of various institutions. During the Darulfunun period (1900-1933) scholars were invited from Germany and France to improve the teaching of natural sciences and also to start research. In 1933 a large group of German-speaking scholars were summoned to Istanbul where they played an important role in the reformation of the University. Although numerous researches were conducted on scholars who were charged in the Istanbul University during the 1933 reformation, studies regarding scholars who came in 1915 and 1926 are rather scarce. The present study aims to shed light on the scientific acitivities that Raymond Hovasse, a French professor or zoology, conducted Turkey. Invited to the Faculty of Science, Istanbul University within the framework of the French-Turkish cultural agreement, Hovasse taught zoology and carried on field research during his 6 year stay from 1926 to 1931. Moreover he founded a zoological station in Baltalimani, a village on the Bosphorus. In this station he researched the migratory behaviour of fish and opened summer courses for interested people. The station stopped functioning after Hovasse left Turkey in 1931. Although the station did not last for very long and its activities were mostly limited to Hovasse's individual efforts, it was important in terms of being the first of such research institutions in Turkey and constituting an model for the Institute of Hydrobiology which would be founded in 1951.


Little is known about how observers' scanning strategies affect performance when monitoring events in closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage. We examined the fixation behaviour of change detectors and non-detectors monitoring dynamic scenes. One hundred forty-seven participants observed mock CCTV videos featuring either a mock crime or no crime. Participants were instructed to look for a crime, to look for something unusual or simply to watch the video. In both videos, two of the people depicted switched locations. Eye movements (the number of fixations on the targets and the average length of each fixation on targets) were recorded prior to and during the critical change period. Change detection (24% overall) was unaffected by event type or task instruction. Fixation behaviour differed significantly between the criminal and non-criminal event conditions. There was no effect of instructions on fixation behaviour. Change detectors fixated for longer on the target directly before the change than did non-detectors. Although fixation behaviour before change predicted change detection, fixation count and durations during the critical change period did not. These results highlight the potential value of studying fixation behaviour for understanding change blindness during complex, cognitively demanding tasks (e.g. CCTV surveillance).


In this study, tensional mechanical properties of sheet metal with heating-lines after laser scanning are investigated based on the thermal-microstructure-mechanical model. The phase transformations, during laser scanning of sheet metal, are calculated by coupling the thermal history from finite element analysis with a phase transformation kinetic model. The flow stresses of material are obtained from the constitutive relationship of the phases based on the mixture strain hardening laws. The results show that the influence of the heating-lines number on tensional mechanical properties of material is obvious. The mechanical properties are related to the distribution of microstructure in heat affected zone after laser scanning.


Since the activation of Columbus on 12 February 2008 three years of busy and partly challenging operation
have been performed by the Columbus FCT. The last year was mainly driven by the ground segment
schedule to update the control rooms and servers to adapt the ground systems with software and hardware
development. Starting with the control room K3 new workstations, new monitoring and command software
as well as a new Voice Communication System (VoCS) have been installed, tested and brought into
operations. Meanwhile also K4, the main control room at Col-CC, is completely renewed and used for
operations. The last step to follow is the update of the backup control room K11 which has been performed
for February/March 2011. Besides the scheduling of the ground events around the most important activities
on board, the proficiency training of the FCT was a major challenge of the Columbus flight control team.
For the first time the flight controllers have to be trained on a completely new system, i.e. the VoCS, during
ongoing operations with all constraints due to shift plan and operation preparation work. This experience
will be used for the training for future add-ons, changes and upgrades as well as for the setup of
continuous proficiency training for upcoming years. Despite the quite low attrition rate in the Flight Control
Team at Col-CC a continuous replacement of flight controllers takes place. The training for the new flight
controller is well established and continuously adapted to the current needs. Nevertheless the knowledge
of the long-term flight controllers has to be kept on the current level of experience and the way how
operation is done. Hence a knowledge database has to be set up for use by the flight controllers and as a
basis for the establishment and extension of the proficiency training of the FCT (see [10]). During the ULF5
(STS-133) flight in February 2011 the WOOV8 valve of the Columbus Thermal Control System is the next
major challenge of the Col-FCT, because this the first major on-orbit maintenance of the Columbus TCU
including a necessary rack tilting. The paper will give an overview of the achievements and highlights of the
last year and concentrate further on the operational goals and constraints of the next years as well as the
first preparations on the planned ISS operations until 2020.


Objective: To compare the validity of different methods for the assessment of bronchial hyperresponsiveness used by different centers. Methods: Case series of 648 subjects referred to six pulmonary centers, all with a history of shortness of breath without airway obstruction, without use of medication that might influence the tests and without viral infections during the previous two weeks. All subjects answered a questionnaire of recent symptoms and underwent bronchial challenge with a chemical stimulus according to each center's protocol. Analysis was performed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plots using the questionnaire's answers as the gold standard. Diagnostic test sensitivities at the cut-offs for bronchial hyperresponsiveness indicated by each center were compared. Results: ROC plots showed poor validity of all tests, i.e. both acceptable sensitivity and specificity were not observed with any test. There was no obvious difference of the slope of the ROC plots between the different centers. However, maximal sensitivity differed considerably: for "wheeze during the previous 12 months", sensitivity at each center's cut-off for the definition of bronchial hyperresponsiveness varied between 0.35 and 0.73. The choice of the question used as the standard had little influence on test validity. Conclusion: Although some of the differences between centers may be explained by subject characteristics, the large differences of the test sensitivities are unacceptable and underscore the need for standardization of these tests, primarily with respect to sufficient sensitivity.


Methane is produced from fractured coalbed reservoirs at Cedar Hill Field in the San Juan Basin. Fracturing and local stress are critical to production because of the absence of matrix permeability in the coals. Knowledge of the direction of open fractures, the degree of fracturing, reservoir pressure, and compartmentalization is required to understand the flow of fluids through the reservoir. A multicomponent 3-D seismic survey was acquired to aid in coalbed methane reservoir characterization. Coalbed reservoir heterogeneities, including isolated pressure cells, zones of increased fracture density, and variable fracture directions, have been interpreted through the analysis of the multicomponent data and integration with petrophysical and reservoir engineering studies. Strike-slip faults, which compartmentalize the reservoir, have been identified by structural interpretation of the 3-D P-wave seismic data. These faults form boundaries for pressure cells that have been identified by P-wave reflection amplitude anomalies. The analysis of polarizations, traveltimes, and reflection amplitudes from the shear-wave seismic data has allowed the identification of zones of variable fracture direction and fracture density. There is good agreement between stresses inferred from the structural interpretation and those indicated by the shear-wave polarizations. Reflection amplitudes have been calibrated to seismic velocities and reservoir pressures through the use of petrophysical data taken from core samples. New methods have been developed for the statistical analysis of prestack shear-wave polarizations, poststack polarizations, and the accurate determination of traveltime anisotropy. The prestack polarization analysis method allows for rapid and efficient determination of a dominant polarization direction. Shear-wave anisotropy has been quantified over the reservoir zone using both traveltime and thin-bed reflection response with excellent agreement between the two methods. Crack densities computed from the anisotropy show two regions of high crack density, one coinciding with a sealed overpressured cell and the other in the region of the Hamilton #3 well. This indicates the potential for monitoring production of coalbed methane reservoirs using multicomponent seismology.


This paper describes a generic message translator that enables a computer user without programming knowledge to specify a program for translating between two different computer-based message systems. Thus messages formatted for use in one system can be automatically translated by the computer into the proper format for use in the other system. The computer user works interactively with the computer to specify the translating program, making use of the appropriate visual paradigms for the message structure.


A huge isolated accumulation, more than 3 m thick and 10 m wide, of densely packed, uncrushed brachiopods has been found in Jozefka Quarry within the Middle/Upper Devonian Szydlowek Beds deposited in a relatively deep environment of an intrashelf basin (Kostomloty facies zone, western Holy Cross Mountains, Poland). The low-diversity assemblage is strongly dominated by the atrypide Desquamatia globosa jozefkae  Balinski subsp. nov. and, to a lesser degree, by the rhynchonellide Coeloterorhynchus dillanus (Schmidt, 1941), which constitute 72.8% and 22.1% of the fauna, respectively. Less frequent are specimens representing the genera Hypothyridina , Schizophoria and Phlogoiderynchus . According to the conodont fauna found within the coquina bed, the stratigraphic position of the shell accumulation is close to the Givetian/Frasnian boundary. The brachiopods are associated with numerous crinoids and less frequent bryozoans, receptaculitids (Palaeozoic problematica), sponges and solitary corals. Although it is difficult to entirely  exclude the autochthonous nature of the brachiopod coquina member, its allochthonous origin and redeposition of the brachiopod shells to the deep basin by gravity flows is much more probable. Such conclusion is supported by the following facts: (1) the position of the complex in a succession of deep-marine basinal facies impoverished in oxygen; (2) its lateral thinning-out and composite internal stratification; (3) the lensshaped geometry of the coquina bed in the section perpendicular to the bedding dip; (4) high variability of the sediments preserved within the shells; and (5) the preferred orientation of the shells. The brachiopods mixed with crinoidal debris were probably transported by low-velocity, high-density, gravity-induced debris flows. Lack of fossils typical of the Middle Devonian shallows, such as massive stromatoporoids, amphiporoids and tabulates, indicates that the source area of the bioclastic material was not located in the shallowest part of the shelf, but most probably on a submarine sea-mount to the north of present-day Jozefka, as suggested by earlier investigators. The triggering mechanism of the allochthonous deposition was an earthquake rather than storm activity. The enormous thickness of the brachiopod complex is probably caused by the sinking of bioclastic material, transported in succeeding depositional multi-events, in a soft, muddy bottom, typical of the Szydlowek Beds deposition.


The biliodigestive fistula is not a rare affection in the context of acute pathology of the gastrointestinal tract. It often affects patients between 63 and 85 years old , particularly the female sex, and the most common cause is acute or chronic cholecystolithiasis. Open issues are the delayed in the pre-operative diagnosis, and controversies exist regarding the best surgical approach. The choice of treatment options is influenced by the age of the patients and their clinical conditions and also by the presence of comorbidities and of a delayed right diagnosis. In the 1 to 3% of cases, the biliodigestive fistula presents a gallstone ileus as complication, whose diagnosis is particularly difficult for the lack of specific signs and symptoms. The contrast-enhanced CT is considered the gold standard for a specific pre-operative diagnosis, as it directly shows the fistula. Surgical treatments include one-stage procedure or two-stage procedure. Many studies seem to favor a deferred definitive procedure. The Authors describe 4 cases: in 3 cases, women between 70 and 80 years old presenting an history of recurrent cholecystitis, in 2 cases, and in 1 case presenting a bowel obstruction; in 1 case a 50-years-old man, with no significant past medical history, presenting a bowel obstruction. The Authors have performed in the 2 cases of gallstone ileus an enterolithotomy with cholecysto-duodenal fistula repair and cholecystectomy, in one-stage, and this has been possible because of the good clinical conditions of the patients and their low operative risk. In the case of fistula without the complication of gallstone ileus, the treatment approach has been cholecysto-gastric fistula closure with a gastroplastic using separate stitches and cholecystectomy, in one-stage. We are in agreement with data in the literature regarding the delay into the diagnosis of biliodigestive fistula and with the importance to suspect it or gallstone ileus presence, although the clinical presentation is extremely non-specific. In our experience, cholangiopancreatography-CT and CECT have made easier the pre-operative diagnosis and so reducing the delay of the treatment.


Pushed by increasing availability of price data and extensive market liberalisation efforts in many developing countries, research on food market integration has evolved rapidly over the last two decades. Empirical methods to measure market integration diverged in two directions: on the one hand, there is the Parity Bounds Model (PBM), while on the other hand the use of Threshold Autoregressive (TAR) Models has been proposed. This article provides a discussion of the two methods and argues that TAR models are more able to capture the dynamics of the arbitrage process underlying interconnected markets. Furthermore, we extend the standard TAR model to include a time trend in both the threshold and the adjustment parameter. Using weekly maize price data on seven selected markets in Tanzania, we illustrate how both transaction cost and the speed of adjustment have changed during the nineties.


Letter from John C. Brewer to Emma Davis. The first part of the letter is dated May 18, 1879, and the second part is dated May 19, 1879. The first part discusses John being ill, a barbecue John and Emma attended, and mutual acquaintances. The second part discusses John feeling better, and a "singing" he went to.


Accompanied by the invention of information and communication of technologies, e-government has become a prominent feature of modern governance in every country. The aims of e-government are to promote executive efficiencies, to reduce transaction costs of citizen, and to increase the responsiveness of the public sector. However, the requirement of pursuing these goals is based on the security measures of intrusion detection systems (IDS). If technologies are not advanced enough to distinguish between normal connections and illegal attacks, citizens would be doubtful in using the access of e-government to interact with the public sector and will eventually lose the trust of government. Technically, feature representation is an important key to successful pattern classification. However, very few studies focus on extracting better representative features of normal connections and attacks for better detection. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel feature representation approach by cluster centers and nearest neighbors, namely CANN. In this approach, two distances are measured and summed. The first one is based on the distance between each data sample and its cluster center, and the second distance is between the data and its nearest neighbor in the same cluster. Then, this new and one-dimensional distance based feature is used to represent each data sample for intrusion detection The experimental results based on the KDD-Cup 99 dataset show that CANN not only can make the k-nearest neighbor classifier perform reasonably well, but also provides high computational efficiency for the time of training and testing a classifier.


"THE MENTAL DEFECTIVE" SIR,-I have read with interest and profit Dr. Tredgold's signed review of the above work. It leads me to hope that the net resuilt may be a quickening of professional interest in a national and social problem of protean aspect. Restricted as English practice necessarily is by Acts of Parliament and the definitions contained therein, the resultant outlook on mental deficiency vill almost certainly differ from that obtained from a biological survey, or from the practice of countries where such definitions are not in operation. My own experience has been chiefly derived from this wider field. When these several legal and biological jigsaws can be fused into a composite and finished picture the apparent differences of opinion or of interpretation of facts between the reviewer of this book and its authors will be found to be on convergent lines, not on those which never meet. Dr. Tredgold has correctly enough pointed out several errors, especially on the legal side, which have crept into the book, but, if opportunity arises to remove them, such blemishes will disappear. It remains true, however, that I have myself seen such follies as teaching the names of the Saxon kings to low-grade defectives, and from an extensive knowledge of institutions I know many lay visitors whose. knowledge of mental deficiency really is in itnverse ratio to their enthusiasm. For them this book was largely written. I fancy Dr. Tredgold would agree with the objective, and should accept the necessary dogmatism '' so essential to successful teaching or preaching. If these be indeed " grave faults," I am entirely unrepentant. That Dr. Tredgold finds some clinical descriptions to be of little value I can well believe, for they are much better done in his own successful book, and this being so it would have been a futile ploughing of the sands for us to do again what he has better done. On the other hand, from some of his comments my own experience (which I again emphasize has been gained in other fields) leads me to differ. Mental deficiency as it presents itself in the consuIlting room, and especially as restricted by the Acts of the lawyers, is one thing. As met with in the greater world beyond it is quite another. That the numbers of undeveloped defectives in the nearly 200 million peoples of Great Britain and the United States may be nearer the biological 15 or 20 per cent. than the statutory 8 per thousand is not nearly so devoid of evidence as Dr. Tredgold would have us believe. Personally, I should hope that he is right and I am wrong, but I doubt it. I found the Middle WVest of America a perplexing and disturbing problem, as I also do many of our own C 3 folk; but then I do not view these through the rosy spectacles provided so genierously by the law, so there is ample room for differences of opinion. Nor do I agree with Dr. Tredgold that we must necessarily follow a division of the amentias into primary and secondary, nor that we must equally slavishly agree with these unsatisfactory distinctions for all time. Again, experience has led ine, and is increasingly doing so, to a profound disbelief in the existence of " tvpes " of mental defectives. I can see little or no difference between the imbecility of the mongolian imbecile and that of any other imbecile, though why the former should be accompanied by some very definite physical characteristics is another, and to me inexplicable and unexplained, problem, unless, indeed, Crookshank be really right in his ethnological theses. All these are, however, -differenlces of interpretation rather than of fact; and if Dr. Tredgold's review, coming as it does from one of his deservedly great reputation, directs the attention of the profession, not so much to the small book in question, but to the greater problem beyond, I feel sure that both reviewer and authors may rest content, for that, after all, is what we really have at heart.-I am, etc., RICHARD J. A. BERRY. Stoke P'ark Colonfv, Stapleton, 13ristol, Nov. 30th.


The aim of this paper is to develop specification for the production of roasted coffee with improved nutritional quality. In this sense, the influence of different coffee blends and temperatures of roasting on the antioxidant activity of coffee was examined. Also, the composition of some bioactive components in the analyzed samples was determined. Two Arabica coffees of different quality and Robusta coffee were used for preparation of coffee blends. Experimentally determined green coffee blends B1, B2 and B3 were roasted at 167°C, 171°C and 175°C for 25 minutes in order to establish the effect of temperature roasting on the antioxidant activity and the content of bioactive components in blends. Based on results of DPPH and ABTS test, coffee blends B3 and B2, roasted at 171°C, had the highest (P<0.05) antioxidant activity. Those coffee blends had higher content of Robusta coffee than coffee blend B1. Results of this research can provide opportunities for development roasted ground coffee with improved nutritive quality, which could ensure competitiveness of producers in the target market.
Keywords: coffee blends, antioxidant activity, nutritive quality


Recently, structured merge has shown its advantage in improving the merge precision over conventional line-based, unstructured merge. A typical structured merge algorithm consists of matching and amalgamation on abstract syntax trees. Existing tree matching techniques aim to figure out optimal matches by maximizing the number of matched nodes. From real-world codebases, however, we find that many of the reported conflicts are unnecessary. We propose a new objective function for defining a proper tree matching, with which the overall conflicting rate can be greatly reduced. We conducted experiments on 3,687 merge scenarios extracted from 18 open-source projects. Results show significant merge precision enhancement of our approach.


Until recently only aggregate data were available on national payment turnover. In reality, however, there are substantial differences across individual settlements (or between the various districts of Budapest). As a result, there is hardly any settlement which would be more or less on a par with the 'national average' in terms of the volume of payments. This paper presents Hungary's payments infrastructure (its supply of bank branches, automated teller machines and merchant PoS terminals) and payment transactions between individual counties and settlements – which, in principle, reflect well their economic relationships – plotted on maps and summarised in table form. In addition, data on individual settlements are made available for researchers and those with interest in the subject.


Endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) is widely used for the treatment of abdomi- nal aortic aneurysms. Complications secondary to EVAR are also treated with endovascular techniques. When this is not applicable, open surgical repair is mandatory. Surgical re-intervention following EVAR is considered to be more demanding compared with primary open repair and it is related to the type of endograft implanted (infra renal vs. supra- renal fixation), to the indications for surgical conversion (infection vs. non infection), to the setting of presentation (elective vs. emergency) and type of conversion (total vs. partial). While technically challenging, delayed open conversion of EVAR can be accomplished with low morbidity and mortality in both the elective and emergent settings. These results reinforce the justification for long-term surveillance of endografts following EVAR.


The epitaxial growth process was optimized in order to obtain good surface morphology for epilayers grown on 4˚ off-axis substrates. The optimization was carried out from growth temperatures and gas chemistry including C/Si ratio. Step-bunching was significantly suppressed by the optimized process and a surface roughness Ra of 0.2 nm was achieved. Etch pit density evaluation by KOH etching indicated that the basal plane dislocations were reduced to less than 50 cm-2 by the use of 4˚ off-axis substrates. Photoluminescence evaluation showed that the epilayer grown by the optimized process had a better crystalline quality than that grown by a standard process. Schottky diodes fabricated on the epilayer by the optimized process represented the ideality factor n of 1.01 and the barrier height of 1.67eV. These results demonstrate that high quality epilayers with smooth surfaces comparable to those on 8˚off-axis substrates were obtained on 4˚off-axis substrates.


Word spread quickly in Egypt that a Polish exploration group had discovered a fighter plane that had crash- landed in the Western Desert during World War II. The remarkably well-preserved condition of the aircraft (guns and ammunition still intact) led the explorationists to conclude they were the first to see it since the war. Just days after the reported discovery in March 2012, experienced Egyptian desert guide Mohamed Abdel Aziz wanted to confirm the find for himself. While taking a group of recreational off-road motorcyclists into the remote desert near the Farafra Oasis, he too located the wreckage. Abdel Aziz realized the pilot must have survived the crash but likely didn't live long in the barren terrain. A cursory search of the area failed to locate any remains.


This paper explains in detail two methods of developing software gateways of fire fighting subsystem running on based on an integration project of intelligent building system completed by the author recently. One method is to use the Agent which is developed based on AI Agent theory and runs between EBI and MK7022. This Agent can be used as the software gateways of fire fighting subsystem and integrate the fire fighting subsystem into BMS "module parallel integration model". Another method is to develop a driving COM component of fire fighting subsystem which is called by OPC Server to realize the system integration based on OPC component integration.


The expression of "Think globally, act locally" directs listeners to actively participate in the process of globalization and internationalization. This study focuses on teachers' and students' perceptions of what this rhetorical phrase means to them and what actions should be instructed in the classroom. Three research questions asked in this study are: first, what are the participants' perceptions of what the expression "Think globally, act locally" means? Second, what skills / knowledge do the participants' think they require so they are able to "Think globally, act locally"? Third, what courses should be offered to students so they may "Think globally, act locally", or so-called "glocalization" to take place, in answer to this intention? The results of the study suggest that institutions should articulate more specific global competencies for their students overall. Syllabi should be revised to include positive learning outcomes that reflect the spirit embedded in this phrase.


Reducing the likelihood of human error in the use of interactive systems is increasingly important. Human errors could not only hinder the correct use and operation, they can also compromise the safety and security of such systems. Hence the need for formal methods to analyze and verify the correctness of interactive systems, particularly with regards to human interaction. This chapter examines the use of formal modeling and analysis of security properties of interactive systems. The reader is introduced to some basic concepts in security and human-computer interaction, followed by formal modeling of human cognitive behavior and analysis of such systems. Authors highlight the use of model-checking to drive the system development to design secure user actions and sequences of actions. Authors also analyze the patterns of user behavior that may lead to security violation. Finally, particular areas of security protocol design where human interaction plays a key role are discussed.


Abstract Power laws describe the functional relationship between 2 quantities, such as the frequency of a group as the multiplicative power of group size. We examined whether the annual size of well-surveyed wintering populations of endangered Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) followed a power law, and then leveraged this relationship to predict whether the aggregation of Indiana bats in winter was influenced by global climate processes. We determined that Indiana bat wintering populations were distributed according to a power law (mean scaling coefficient α = −0.44 [95% confidence interval {95% CI} = −0.61, −0.28). The antilog of these annual scaling coefficients ranged between 0.67 and 0.81, coincident with the three-fourths power found in many other biological phenomena. We associated temporal patterns in the annual (1983–2011) scaling coefficient with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index in August (βNAOAugust = −0.017 [90% CI = −0.032, −0.002]), when Indiana bats are deciding when and where to hibernate. After accounting for the strong effect of philopatry to habitual wintering locations, Indiana bats aggregated in larger wintering populations during periods of severe winter and in smaller populations in milder winters. The association with August values of the NAO indicates that bats anticipate future winter weather conditions when deciding where to roost, a heretofore unrecognized role for prehibernation swarming behavior. Future research is needed to understand whether the three-fourths–scaling patterns we observed are related to scaling in metabolism.