Titanium aluminium based nitride (Ti, Al)N coatings possess excellent tribological behaviour with respect to metal cutting and polymer forming contacts. In the present work TiAlN coatings were deposited by plasma spray process. Three coatings of TiAlN were deposited on AISI-347 grade boiler steel substrate out of which two were thin nano coatings deposited at different temperatures of 500°C and 200°C and one conventional coating was deposited by plasma spraying. The as sprayed coatings were characterized with relative to coating thickness, microhardness, porosity and microstructure. The optical microscopy (OM), the XRD analysis and field mission scanning electron microscope (FESEM with EDAX attachment) techniques have been used to identify various phases formed after coating deposited on the surface of the substrate. Subsequently the sliding wear behaviour of uncoated, PVD sprayed nanostructured thin TiAlN coatings deposited at 500°C and 200°C and plasma sprayed conventional coated AISI-347 grade boiler steel were investigated according to ASTM standard G99-03 using pin on disk wear test rig. Cumulative wear volume loss and coefficient of friction, μ were calculated for the coated as well as uncoated specimens for 10, 15 and 20 N normal loads at a constant sliding velocity of 1 m/sec. The worn out samples were analysed with SEM/EDAX. Wear rates in terms of volumetric loss (mm³/g) for uncoated and coated alloys were compared. The nanostructured TiAlN coatings deposited at 500°C and 200°C has shown minimum wear rate as compared to conventional TiAlN coating and uncoated AISI-347 grade boiler steel. Nanostructured TiAlN coatings were found to be successful in retaining surface contact with the substrate after the wear tests.


IN THIS ESSAY I WANT TO EXAMINE William James's pluralism, which, alongside his more well known doctrines of pragmatism and radical empiricism, came to dominate his philosophical outlook from roughly the mid-1890s until the end of his life. More exactly, I want to identify and examine some of the various senses in which James was a pluralist, which include, but are not limited to, the pluralistic-melioristic and, ultimately, panpsychic religious worldview that he defended in such later works as Pragmatism (1907) and A Pluralistic Universe (1909). Although a fair amount has been written on the latter subject, to date there has yet to appear a comprehensive study of James's pluralism and the place that it occupies in his philosophy. (1) While it is not my intention to undertake such a project here, I hope that the present essay sheds some new light on this rich, complex, and understudied area of James's thought. Understanding James's pluralism is a matter of no small importance, if for no other reason than that James himself came to regard "the problem of the one and the many," or the conflict between monism and pluralism in metaphysics, as the most important and far reaching of all philosophical dilemmas. (2) Yet, James was not only a pluralist in his metaphysics, but also, as we shall see, in such areas as epistemology, ethics, and the philosophy of religion. (3) Indeed, I hope to show that these last-mentioned types of pluralism are distinct from the sense in which James most often used the term: namely, as a shorthand for his metaphysical pluralism, which includes both his "each-form" view of the world (we might call this, more specifically, his commitment to ontological pluralism) and his pluralistic, melioristic, and panpsychic religious worldview (hereafter, James's pluralistic religious worldview). (4) The relationship between James's pluralism and his other major philosophical doctrines, pragmatism and radical empiricism, is a complicated one, particularly the relationship between pluralism and radical empiricism. (5) It is fairly uncontroversial, I think, to say that the metaphysical doctrine that James calls "pluralism" shares a number of common features with his radical empiricism. This connection is hardly self-evident, though, in the case of the other senses of pluralism that I shall discuss, and is further complicated by the fact that what James meant by the terms "radical empiricism" and "pluralism" evolved considerably from 1897 until his death in 1910. With the exception of his metaphysical pluralism, I shall assume no special connection between James's post-1904 radical empiricism (which includes the essays collected in Essays in Radical Empiricism) and his defense of pluralistic views in the other, above-mentioned areas of his philosophy. This may strike some specialist readers as a problematic assumption, but I believe that a careful consideration of the textual evidence supports it. In any event, I shall try to make the case that what these different Jamesian senses of pluralism have in common is not necessarily an underlying commitment to metaphysical doctrines such as radical empiricism or ontological pluralism, but rather a principled antireductionism that recognizes the fact of pluralism in these different philosophical domains. (6) Put somewhat differently, I shall offer a basically nonmetaphysical interpretation of James's pluralistic epistemological, ethical, and religious views, which I believe are distinct from his metaphysical doctrine of pluralism. As we shall see, James's philosophy is pluralistic in a number of different senses, and not merely in its conception of the fundamental nature of reality. The essay is organized as follows: In the first section I discuss the complex and sometimes confusing relationship between James's pluralism and radical empiricism. What I try to show here is that James's use of the term "pluralism" is quite varied, ranging from his general formulation in the Preface to The Will to Believe (1897), to his equation of pluralism with practical religion and polytheism in The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), to his increasingly technical metaphysical speculations in such works as Pragmatism (1907), A Pluralistic Universe (1909), and the posthumously published Some Problems of Philosophy (1910). …


Most people experience the impacts of governance, fair or unfair, at a very local level. It is where poor and marginalized people, including women, experience inequalities most keenly – in the way that issues that particularly concern them tend to get de-prioritized and their participation is obstructed. In most political systems it is also at the level of local governance that citizens can, in theory, participate and take action to make changes that affect their lives, livelihoods and communities. In practice, the dynamics of local governance can be complex and challenging to navigate. Local governance involves real people and complex networks of social, religious, and economic relationships, with all the messiness that implies. Development programmes working on governance need to make a thorough analysis of local power relations and how change happens in the local context, in order to shape options and approaches.
• This overview paper draws out the lessons from the case studies in the 'Local Governance and Community Action' series on the experience of communities in Nepal, Malawi, Kenya, Viet Nam and Tanzania. Discussed through the lens of Oxfam's Right to Be Heard framework, with its three key aspects – people claiming rights, institutions willing and capable of delivering rights, and people in positions of power with the will to make it happen – the case studies explore a range of contexts in which local governance dynamics are central to the process of change.
• The case studies cover a lot of ground, but there are gaps and issues that need further work and thought (for example, how to operate effectively in the very different urban context; how to manage risks where local governance is a site of conflict as well as potential collaboration). Oxfam plans to add further studies in this series, and welcomes contributions and discussion.


The past two decades have witnessed the rise of a new global cycle of collective action not only organized through the Internet and made visible during mass pro-test events, but also locally shaped by diverse organizations, networks, platforms and groups. Focusing on specific cases in two Iberian cities — Barcelona and Lisbon — we argue that this protest cycle has given rise to new kinds of movements referred to here as 'new, new' social movements. We analyze particular aspects of each case, but also discuss their European and global dimensions. The article will also highlight the role of youth, discussing the characteristics associated with the participation of young people in the 'new, new' movements. After a short introduction to the research on this topic, focusing on the emergence of the 'anti-corporate globalization movement' and related theoretical implications, we provide a description of four protest events in Barcelona and Lisbon. Next, we analyze the local contexts that anchor these events. Finally, we discuss the main characteristics of the 'new, new' social movements, examining the links between Barcelona and Lisbon and the wider international context that shapes them and paying particular attention to contemporary networking dynamics.


OBJECTIVES
Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) in health economics commonly present choice sets in an unlabeled form. Labeled choice sets are less abstract and may increase the validity of the results. We empirically compared the feasibility, respondents' trading behavior, and convergent validity between a labeled and an unlabeled DCE for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programs in The Netherlands.

METHODS
A labeled DCE version presented CRC screening test alternatives as "fecal occult blood test,""sigmoidoscopy," and "colonoscopy," whereas the unlabeled DCE version presented them as "screening test A" and "screening test B." Questionnaires were sent to participants and nonparticipants in CRC screening.

RESULTS
Total response rate was 276 (39%) out of 712 and 1033 (46%) out of 2267 for unlabeled and labeled DCEs, respectively (P<0.001). The labels played a significant role in individual choices; approximately 22% of subjects had dominant preferences for screening test labels. The convergent validity was modest to low (participants in CRC screening: r=0.54; P=0.01; nonparticipants: r=0.17; P=0.45) largely because of different preferences for screening frequency.

CONCLUSION
This study provides important insights in the feasibility and difference in results from labeled and unlabeled DCEs. The inclusion of labels appeared to play a significant role in individual choices but reduced the attention respondents give to the attributes. As a result, unlabeled DCEs may be more suitable to investigate trade-offs between attributes and for respondents who do not have familiarity with the alternative labels, whereas labeled DCEs may be more suitable to explain real-life choices such as uptake of cancer screening.


Objective To establish a convenient,objective and applicable method to assess gingival biotype using periodontal probing.Methods A total of 66 maxillary anterior teeth from 14 volunteers (6 males,8 females) with healthy gingiva,aged from 20 to 30 years,were recruited in this study.The gingival biotypes were evaluated by whether or not the outline of the periodontal probe was clear inside the gingiva.Gingival thickness of the cement6-enamel junction(CEJ) in upper anterior teeth was measured by cone-beam CT (CBCT).Results The method of periodontal probing-assessed gingival biotype had good consistency and repeatability. The result of probing-assessed gingival biotype was consistent with that obtained by CBCT. The mean thickness of gingiva in thin,compromised and thick gingival biotype was ( 1.02 ± 0.20),( 1.28 ± 0.25 ) and ( 1.46 ± 0.25 ) mm.These differences were significant for all three comparisons( P =0.001,respectively).Conclusions Periodontal probing-assessed gingival biotype is a simple,relatively objective and suitable method for clinical examination.

Key words:
Gingival ;  Cone-beam computed tomography;  Gingival biotype;  Periodontal probing


OBJECTIVE: To evaluate immediate soft tissue changes following rapid maxillary expansion (RME) in growing patients, using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). METHODS: Twenty-three consecutive patients (10 male, 13 female) treated by RME were selected. Patients were scanned using CBCT prior to placement of the rapid maxillary expander (T0), then immediately following full activation of the appliance (T1). Defined landmarks were then located on the pre- and post-treatment orientated images. Change in landmark position from pre- to post-treatment was then measured. In addition to landmarks, 10 direct measures were made to determine distance change without regard to direction to measure soft tissue change of the lips. RESULTS: Significant transverse expansion was measured on most soft tissue landmark locations. All the measures made showed significant change in the lip position with a lengthening of the vertical dimension of the upper lip, and a generalized decrease of anterior-posterior thickness of both the upper and lower lips. CONCLUSIONS: Significant changes in the soft tissue do occur with RME treatment. There is a transverse widening of the midface, and a thinning of the lips.


Template to be used to create guides for departments. Copy quick start, journal articles, books & proceedings, citing and add to or delete from as needed. Link to standards, patents, and contact.


The objective of this paper is to present recent developments in the field of Induction motor fault signature analysis with particular regard to Sound signature analysis of induction motor of fan. The different types of fan faults that can be identified from the sound signature analysis (1) are, for example, rotor faults, bearing faults, unbalances wings etc. Corresponding to the above-mentioned faults, many types of machine fault signature analysis techniques (2) have been proposed for motor faults detection and diagnosis. These techniques include vibration monitoring, motor current signature analysis (MCSA) (3-6), electromagnetic field monitoring (7), chemical analysis, temperature measurability (8, 9), infrared measurement, acoustic noise analysis (10), and partial discharge measurement (11, 12). Among these methods, vibration analysis, current analysis and Sound signature analysis are the most popular due to their easy measurability, high accuracy, and reliability.


The article addresses the continuing struggle of the federal courts to define the scope of the federal government's foreign affairs power to preempt state law. In 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals did an about face in Movsesian v. Victoria Versicherung, which involved a claim that a California statute using the phrase "Armenian Genocide" is preempted by a few informal nonbinding statements of executive policy made to Congress objecting to the use of those words in Congressional resolutions. In Movsesian I, the Ninth Circuit found the California statute preempted in a decision that would have expanded the federal government's foreign affairs power to preempt state law in unprecedented and potentially dangerous ways. Perhaps recognizing in hindsight the possible implications of its decision, the Ninth Circuit then granted rehearing and reversed itself in 2010, now convinced that there is no clear federal policy that preempts the California statute. In neither decision, however, did the Ninth Circuit extensively consider the implications of preempting states from using certain words when legislating. This article uses the Movsesian decisions to illustrate the confusion in this area of the law and calls on the Supreme Court to provide greater clarity. It argues that it is bad law and policy for the judiciary to find state law preempted in the absence of a formal legislative act to provide guidance. Doing so effectively requires the judiciary to decide for the executive branch when a foreign policy exists and the substance and scope of that policy. The article ultimately concludes that allowing the federal government to impose a complete ban the use of particular words in state legislation would violate state sovereignty.


PURPOSE
To assess the prevalence and treatment outcomes of angle-closure mechanisms other than pupillary block in a population of Brazilian patients.

METHODS
A retrospective chart review was conducted to evaluate patients who had undergone laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) due to occludable angles at a single institution between July 2009 and April 2012. An occludable angle was defined as an eye in which the posterior trabecular meshwork was not visible for ≥180° on dark-room gonioscopy. Key exclusion criteria were any form of secondary glaucoma and the presence of >90° of peripheral anterior synechiae. Collected data were age, race, gender, angle-closure mechanism (based on indentation goniocopy and ultrasound biomicroscopy), intraocular pressure (IOP), number of antiglaucoma medications and subsequent management during follow-up. If both eyes were eligible, the right eye was arbitrarily selected for analysis.

RESULTS
A total of 196 eyes of 196 consecutive patients (mean age 58.3 ± 11.6 years) who underwent LPI were included. In most of the patients [86% (169 patients; 133 women and 36 men]), LPI sucessfully opened the angle. Mean IOP was reduced from 18.3 ± 6.4 mmHg to 15.4 ± 4.5 mmHg after LPI (p<0.01). Among the 27 patients with persistent occludable angles, the most common underlying mechanisms were plateau iris (56%) and lens-induced component (34%). Most of these patients (85%) were treated with argon laser peripheral iridoplasty (ALPI); approximately 90% showed non-occludable angles following the laser procedure (mean IOP reduction of 18.9%), with no significant differences between patients with plateau iris and lens-induced components (p=0.34; mean follow-up of 11.4 ± 3.6 months).

CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that, in this population of Brazilian patients, several eyes with angle closure were not completely treated with LPI. In the present large case series involving middle-age patients, plateau iris was the leading cause of persistent angle closure and was effectively treated with ALPI. A detailed eye examination with indentation gonioscopy should always be performed after LPI to rule out persistent angle closure due to non-pupillary block mechanisms.


This current study primarily focuses on the contribution of the etudes, which have a significant role in piano education, to musical expression and narration improvement. Starting from this point of view, Op. 65 etudes by Albert Loeschhorn which were released as studies for improving technical and musical expression and with the aim of being used in different stages of piano education were investigated. According to Loeschhorn, the term etude was not considered to be an exercise to overcome a specific technical difficulty. Instead, he constructed etudes that were intended for clearing technical problems and that gave particular importance to students' expressing the musical sentences by composers, which can be considered among the main factors in music and music education. In this research, the studies that were designed to increase awareness on these issues were analyzed. The etudes that were analyzed in this study were limited to the first Op. 65 book. Several pedagogues and researchers in the field along with parallel views with educators on the importance of musical expression and narration concluded that the etudes by Loeschhorn could be beneficial to resolve various problems by prioritizing musical expression and narration.

 Key words: Music education, piano education, musical expression.


The advent of functional genomics, proteomics, chemi-informatics, and other systems-based scientific approaches have raised expectations of novel targets for drug discovery and design. Similarly, advances in materials sciences and biomolecular chemistries raised the prospects of highly targeted therapeutics that maximize efficacy while minimizing systemic toxicity. In spite of these advances, the gross measure of approvable drug output is declining, with only 17 new chemical entities approved by the FDA in 2007. This is in the face of high levels of R&D expenditures in both public and private sectors, and suggests that new, integrative approaches are needed in order to maximally exploit the rapidly expanding knowledge of potential drug and disease targets. The convergence of novel druggable targets with new chemical entities that can be specifically targeted to disease-causing sites and genes represents one means of creating highly efficacious and specific therapies. The approaches that are needed to facilitate such convergence include merging computational methods, systems biology, and gene-linked categorization of diseases with the use of appropriate drug delivery vehicles.


Drugs targeting the orthosteric, primary binding site of G protein–coupled receptors are the most common therapeutics. Allosteric binding sites, elsewhere on the receptors, are less well-defined, and so less exploited clinically. We report the crystal structure of the prototypic β 2 -adrenergic receptor in complex with an orthosteric agonist and compound-6FA, a positive allosteric modulator of this receptor. It binds on the receptor's inner surface in a pocket created by intracellular loop 2 and transmembrane segments 3 and 4, stabilizing the loop in an α-helical conformation required to engage the G protein. Structural comparison explains the selectivity of the compound for β 2 - over the β 1 -adrenergic receptor. Diversity in location, mechanism, and selectivity of allosteric ligands provides potential to expand the range of receptor drugs.


None of the perpetrators involved in the October 6, 1976, massacre in Thailand has been brought to justice. It has been this "culture of impunity" that limits the possibility of truth projects. Past state violence has been protected by the country's blanket amnesty laws and libel laws. Additionally, unreleased archival materials are restricted from public release by copyright law. Audiovisual and documentary evidence for counter-memory projects are thus challenged. On the other hand, evidence collected by activist archivist groups reveals painful memories from the relatives of victims and provides hope for truth-seeking. Collections of photographs, audio interviews, testimonies, and artifacts are utilized by both archivists and documentary filmmakers to forge claims toward restorative justice. And while the dominant discourse forces society at large to keep silent, historians, archivists, and filmmakers collectively resist forgetting. Together they lay claim to photographic and audio evidence as well as personal painful memories to illustrate and generate public dialogue, telling truths through sight and sound. Some of these archival efforts led to practices in participatory documentary-making. Collectively, these efforts in archival practice and filmmaking give birth to an ethic of immediation in humanitarianism. Thailand's next generation is engaged in recalling memories of past state violence and questioning the present authoritarian regime through archival filmmaking and exhibition practices.


The adaptation of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (LITMUS-MAIN) for use with Slovak speaking children is a vital step in the process of creating a transparent evaluation of children's narrative abilities. Since its first translation and adaptation in 2012, new pilot data from different groups of children has been collected in Slovakia. This paper describes the process of adapting the instrument to fit the Slovak language and reports on analyses of narrative production in monolingual (103 Slovak-speaking children) and bilingual (37 Slovak-English speaking) pre-school children. Within a pilot study, the story elicitation method was also compared (telling vs. retelling) within a small sample of 10 monolingual Slovak-speaking children. All results show transparent and detailed possibilities in terms of finding a meaningful evaluation that can evaluate a child's complex narrative abilities.


The shapes (flame-sheet and luminous-flame boundaries) of steady nonbuoyant round hydrocarbon-fueled laminar-jet diffusion flames in still and coflowing air were studied both experimentally and theoretically. Flame-sheet shapes were measured from photographs using a CH optical filter to distinguish flame-sheet boundaries in the presence of blue C02 and OH emissions and yellow continuum radiation from soot. Present experimental conditions included acetylene-, methane-, propane-, and ethylene-fueled flames having initial reactant temperatures of 300 K, ambient pressures of 4-50 kPa, jet exit Reynolds number of 3-54, initial air/fuel velocity ratios of 0-9 and luminous flame lengths of 5-55 mm; earlier measurements for propylene- and 1,3-butadiene-fueled flames for similar conditions were considered as well. Nonbuoyant flames in still air were observed at micro-gravity conditions; essentially nonbuoyant flames in coflowing air were observed at small pressures to control effects of buoyancy. Predictions of luminous flame boundaries from soot luminosity were limited to laminar smoke-point conditions, whereas predictions of flame-sheet boundaries ranged from soot-free to smoke-point conditions. Flame-shape predictions were based on simplified analyses using the boundary layer approximations along with empirical parameters to distinguish flame-sheet and luminous-flame (at the laminar smoke point) boundaries. The comparison between measurements and predictions was remarkably good and showed that both flame-sheet and luminous-flame lengths are primarily controlled by fuel flow rates with lengths in coflowing air approaching 2/3 lengths in still air as coflowing air velocities are increased. Finally, luminous flame lengths at laminar smoke-point conditions were roughly twice as long as flame-sheet lengths at comparable conditions due to the presence of luminous soot particles in the fuel-lean region of the flames.


The paper proposes an algorithm based on the wavelet transform for the analysis of harmonics in power systems. The algorithm proposed decomposes the voltage/current waveforms into uniform frequency bands corresponding to the odd harmonic components of the signal. First, the selection of the mother wavelet, the sampling frequency and the frequency characteristics of the selected wavelet filter bank are studied. Finally the performance of the method proposed is compared with the results obtained using DFT analysis and the harmonic group concept introduced by the International Electro technical Commission using different test waveforms proposed in standard IEC-61000-4-7.


In this work that aims to synthesize and evaluate new cationic lipids as vectors for gene delivery, we report the synthesis of a series of cationic lipids in which a phosphate functional group acts as a linker to assemble on a molecular scale, two lipid chains and one cationic polar head. The mono or dicationic moiety is connected to the phosphate group by an aryl spacer. In this work, two synthesis strategies were evaluated. The first used the Atherton-Todd coupling reaction to introduce a phenolic derivative to dioleylphosphite. The second strategy used a sequential addition of lipid alcohol and a phenolic derivative on POCl3. The two methods are efficient, but the latter allows larger yields. Different polar head groups were introduced, thus producing amphiphilic compounds possessing either one permanent (N-methyl-imidazolium, pyridinium, trimethylammonium) or two permanent cationic charges. All these cationic lipids were formulated as liposomal solutions and characterized (size and zeta potential). They formed stable liposomal solutions both in water (at pH 7.0) and in a weakly acidic medium (at pH 5.5). Finally, this new generation of cationic lipids was used to deliver DNA into various human-derived epithelial cells cultured in vitro. Compared with Lipofectamine used as a reference commercial lipofection reagent, some cationic dialkylarylphosphates were able to demonstrate potent gene transfer abilities, and noteworthily, monocationic derivatives were much more efficient than dicationic analogues.


The Matuyama-Brunhes magnetic reversal is the youngest and most investigated reversal on record, and this has greatly furthered our understanding of the geodynamo by providing detailed records of a highly dynamic change of the earth's magnetic field. Recent paleomagnetic observations in various localities reveal many centennial-scale changes during the reversal. However, we have never observed sub-centennial scale features. Here, we report a 10-yr resolution record of the Matuyama-Brunhes transition (MBT) from a marine sequence from the Chiba Section, central Japan. The record is based on paleomagnetism mainly carried by greigite and an astronomical age model. The transition spans about 9000 yr in total, consisting of two precursory events, the main transition, and rebound. There are two precursory events characterized by multiple polarity swings. The first event occurred in the earliest marine isotope stage (MIS) 19 and spans ca. 1100 yr; the second occurred just after highstand MIS 19.3 and spans ca. 100 yr. The main MBT spanning ca. 2000 yr has nine large directional swings in both inclination (> 50 deg.) and declination (> 100 deg.). The main MBT is postdated by three steep inclination events persisting for 40—70 yr within about 300 yr, regarded as rebounds. Besides these features, there is an interval characterized by large declination fluctuations persisting for about 1200 yr around highstand MIS 19.3. Some of these centennial scale features can be seen in previous high-resolution MBT records from other locations around the world.


Preterm premature rupture of the fetal membranes is associated with 30-40% of premature births and is an important cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Although the major causes of neonatal death associated with PPROM include prematurity complications, infection, and pulmonary hypoplasia, rupture in a preterm gestation also is associated with an increase in morbidity, including cerebral palsy, other developmental delays, as well as chronic lung disease. When PPROM occurs, antibiotic prophylaxis has been shown to reduce the potential for complications and should be considered. Neonates treated intrapartum with antibiotics should have fewer complications, a longer latency period, and an improved long-term outlook compared with those without antepartum or intrapartum prophylaxis.


Next generation displays and lighting applications are increasingly using inorganic quantum dots (QDs) embedded in polymer matrices to impart bright and tunable emission properties. The toxicity of some heavy metals present in commercial QDs (e.g. cadmium) has, however, raised concerns about the potential for QDs embedded in polymer matrices to be released during the manufacture, use, and end-of-life phases of the material. One important potential release scenario that polymer composites can experience in the environment is photochemically induced matrix degradation. This process is not well understood at the molecular level. To study this process, the effect of an artificially accelerated weathering process on QD–polymer nanocomposites has been explored by subjecting CdSe and CdSe/ZnS QDs embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) to UVC irradiation in aqueous media. Significant matrix degradation of QD–PMMA was observed along with measurable mass loss, yellowing of the nanocomposites, and a loss of QD fluorescence. While ICP-MS identified the release of ions, confocal laser scanning microscopy and dark-field hyperspectral imaging were shown to be effective analytical techniques for revealing that QD-containing polymer fragments were also released into aqueous media due to matrix degradation. Viability experiments, which were conducted with Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, showed a statistically significant decrease in bacterial viability when the bacteria were exposed to highly degraded QD-containing polymer fragments. Results from this study highlight the need to quantify not only the extent of nanoparticle release from a polymer nanocomposite but also to determine the form of the released nanoparticles (e.g. ions or polymer fragments).


This thesis is concerned with two main questions. Do systemic banking crises substantially affect the income distribution in a country? Is income inequality a destabilising factor for the macro-economy? In order to answer the first question, this thesis examines a panel of 26 countries since 1900 and assembles a new database of crises, finding that the impact of major banking crises on the national income shares detained by the income groups within the richest decile is mostly small in magnitude. Indeed, the estimated impact is never bigger than a standard deviation of the specific top shares under investigation. Results are also confirmed in a separate analysis for the United States and are robust to a series of checks. These findings lend indirect support to the structuralist hypothesis that only substantial changes in government policies and institutional frameworks can bring about radical changes in income distribution. The analysis also highlights interesting heterogeneity across different income groups, country groups and time periods. The second question is addressed by making use of a newly assembled database on different dimensions of economic inequality. The new data helps to reject the statistical validity of the hypotheses that either growing inequality or a high level of inequality may systematically precede the onset of major banking crises. In addition, simulations based on the UK Family Expenditure Survey data find that even a full equalisation of income would increase the aggregate consumption by 3 percentage points at most. These findings, taken together, point out that an increase in income inequality may not concur to reduce the pressure on aggregate demand or be adduced as a structural factor of financial instability. Nonetheless, the evidence is not yet clear cut as the work further documents that periods of increasing income inequality in the UK were also associated with a reduction of the saving rates across the whole income distribution since 1968. The analysis contends that such evidence of under-saving behaviour may be consistent with the relative income hypothesis and some of its recent formulations such as the 'expenditure cascades' theory.


The relationship between technical and allocative efficiency is examined by drawing on concepts of activity dominance in linear programming. The conclusion is reached that there is no fundamental distinction between technical and allocative efficiency. Other topics addressed in the paper, all connected by the common thread of activity dominance, include activity specification and the nature of returns to scale.


Efforts to engineer synthetic gene networks that spontaneously produce patterning in multicellular ensembles have focused on Turing's original model and the "activator-inhibitor" models of Meinhardt and Gierer. Systems based on this model are notoriously difficult to engineer. We present the first demonstration that Turing pattern formation can arise in a new family of oscillator-driven gene network topologies, specifically when a second feedback loop is introduced which quenches oscillations and incorporates a diffusible molecule. We provide an analysis of the system that predicts the range of kinetic parameters over which patterning should emerge and demonstrate the system's viability using stochastic simulations of a field of cells using realistic parameters. The primary goal of this paper is to provide a circuit architecture which can be implemented with relative ease by practitioners and which could serve as a model system for pattern generation in synthetic multicellular systems. Given the wide range of oscillatory circuits in natural systems, our system supports the tantalizing possibility that Turing pattern formation in natural multicellular systems can arise from oscillator-driven mechanisms.


INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this pilot study was to obtain preliminary data to culturally adapt the Veteran Health Administration Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) assessment instruments for the Hispanic Veteran population. A qualitative analysis explored the cognitive processes used by Hispanic Veterans whose preferred language was Spanish to understand a specific set of screening questions within the Initial TBI Screening, the Comprehensive TBI Evaluation, the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI), and the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire (LTCQ).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A certified translator completed translation of the TBI instruments, an expert panel resolved inadequate expressions of the translations, and translated instruments were back translated. Male and female Hispanic Veterans with a positive TBI screening underwent a recorded administration of the TBI instruments, including LTCQ, followed by systematic debriefing using semi-structured cognitive interviews which then underwent qualitative analysis. The Marin's Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics, the Tropp's Psychological Acculturation Scale, the English-Language Proficiency Test Series, and the TBI Demographic and Language Preference interview were administered to the subjects.

RESULTS
Fifteen subjects were enrolled for the TBI instruments intervention; 11 of them completed all the additional procedures. The TBI instruments intervention seemed to produce very few variations, indicating adequate cultural equivalence. However, the LTCQ instrument showed suggested cultural variations, but did not suggest a lack of understanding or misinterpretation. The population studied displayed preferential connectedness to the Hispanic/Latino culture and to the Spanish language. The LTCQ indicated that subjects perceived themselves as having a worse execution in terms of communication skills than historical control and TBI groups. English-Language Proficiency Test Series found that most of the subject population did not demonstrate mastery of grade-appropriate basic social and academic vocabulary in English.

CONCLUSION
Current findings highlight the importance of using linguistically and culturally appropriate materials upon evaluating Hispanic Veterans with a suspected TBI who have Spanish as their primary or preferred language.


Canine babesiosis caused by different babesia species is a protozoal tick-borne disease with worldwide distribution and global significance. This study was carried out to establish the seasonality and occurrence of canine babesiosis in dogs as observed in Nairobi area using data from the Small Animal Clinic, University of Nairobi over a period of twenty years (1989 – 2009). Thespatio-temporal distribution of the disease is also presented in relationship to age, sex and breeds affected. The warm and humid season played a key role in the occurrence and spread of the disease.The rainy (wet) season recorded a high incidence 54.90%compared to the dry season 45.10%. In the rainy season the occurrence of the disease was in the long rains (April to June) and short rains (October to December) at 52% and 48% respectively. This study concludes that high cases of babesiosis occur throughout all the seasons in the tropical and sub-tropical regions and therefore recommend good tick control strategies in all the seasons to reduce incidences. Keywords : Epidemiology, Babesiosis, Rains, Tropics


This article examines the notion of branding – or place marketing - through the experience of Cascadia – the transborder region of Pacific NorthWest North America. It assesses the Cascadia city-region 'brand' in the context of competing definitions about the cross-border region, asking whether a multiplicity of conceptualizations is a definitional disadvantage or strength. It concludes that the urban conception is the most sustainable 'brand', and one in keeping with the initial branding of Cascadia around ecological imagery. It examines some of the cooperative – and occasionally conflictual – activity in the Cascadia region and concludes with lessons for city regions – particularly those which are not 'top- tiered' in world city terms – from this Mainstreet Cascadia experience, noting that seven 'globalist' characteristics stand out as 'best strategies' for rebranding local-global relations in terms other than 'globalized.


This paper proposes the concept of electoral repertoires in order to analyze practices, techniques and knowledge used during election campaigns. The literature on campaigning is mostly dominated by the question of effects. Changes are primarily related to technological developments. The concept of electoral repertoires allows an empirical analysis of the choices made by the agents in a context where "the choice of weapons" is structured historically and sociologically. The choices made by the agents are always made in particular political contexts defined by legal frameworks, and are also based on party affiliation and internal balance of power inside parties. The electoral repertoires also explain electoral mobilizations by taking into account the trajectories of the agents mobilized and their interactions with their audiences. Finally, the historical and geographical evolutions of repertoires are linked to beliefs that surround modes of action as well as their circulation.


It is foreseen that distributed power generation, using biogas and natural gas as fuel, will play increasingly important role in the future European energy market. These technologies are presenting controllable power generation capacity as complementary to the installed intermittent renewable power generation in terms of wind and solar.A nationally funded project was initiated in Stavanger, Norway in 2010, led by the Center for Sustainable Energy Solutions (cenSE), to investigate use of existing small scale energy conversion technologies developed for natural gas, using as much as possible biogas mixed with natural gas without any hardware modifications to the energy conversion units. Three test setups with a micro gas turbine (100 kWe), a gas engine (11 kWe) and a short stack of solid oxide fuel cell consisting of six cells (30–40 We) were installed for experimental studies, providing necessary data for model validation and development of data driven models for engine performance monitoring.This paper reports the results of the project, concerning mapping the operational window for use of mixture of simulated biogas (50% methane, 50% CO2) and natural gas for each technology as an enabler of biogas utilization with natural gas as fallback solution. The CO2 reduction potential, when natural gas is replaced with biogas, is also presented. Moreover, the capability of using data driven models based on artificial neural network for online monitoring and control of the engine performance at various operational conditions is shown.Detailed reporting on various aspects of fuel composition and technology impact has been conducted earlier. This paper provides a total overview and a comparison of performance of the technologies tested in this study.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs (18-25 nucleotides) that post-transcriptionally modulate gene expression by negatively regulating the stability or translational efficiency of their target mRNAs. In this context, the present study aimed to evaluate the in vitro effects of miR-485 mimics in breast carcinoma T47D cells. Forty-eight hours after T47D cells were transfected with miR-485 mimics, an MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was utilized to determine the effects on cell viability. Colony formation and cell migration assays were adopted to determine whether miR-485 affects the proliferation rates and cell migration of breast carcinoma T47D cells. Our results showed that ectopic expression of miR-485 resulted in a significant decrease in cell growth, cell colony formation, and cell migration. These findings suggest that miR- 485 might play an important role in breast cancer by suppressing cell proliferation and migration.


This article brings together two concepts, 'phantom fat' and 'liminal fat', which both aim to grasp how fat in contemporary culture becomes a kind of material immateriality, corporeality in suspension. Comparing the spheres of representation and experience, we examine the challenges and usefulness of these concepts, and feminist fat studies perspectives more broadly, to feminist scholarship on the body. We ask what connects and disconnects fat corporeality and fat studies from ways of theorising other embodied differences, like gender, 'race', disability, class and sexuality, especially when thinking through their perceived mutability or removability, and assumptions about their relevance for subjectivity. While it is important to consider corporeality and selfhood as malleable and open to change in order to mobilise oppressive normativities around gendered bodies and selves, we argue that more attention should also be paid to the persistence of corporeality and a feeling of a relatively stable self, and the potential for empowerment in not engaging with or idealising continuous transformation and becoming. Furthermore, we suggest that the concepts of phantom fat and liminal fat can help shed light on some problematic ways in which feminist studies have approached – or not approached – questions of fat corporeality in relation to the politics of health and bodily appearance. Questions of weight, when critically interrogated together with other axes of difference, highlight how experiential and subjugated knowledges, as well as critical inquiry of internal prejudices, must remain of continued key importance to feminist projects.


E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes are crucial mediators of protein ubiquitination, which strongly influence the ultimate fate of the target substrates. Recently, it has been shown that the activity of several enzymes of the ubiquitination pathway is finely tuned by phosphorylation, an ubiquitous mechanism for cellular regulation, which modulates protein conformation. In this contribution, we provide the first rationale, at the molecular level, of the regulatory mechanism mediated by casein kinase 2 (CK2) phosphorylation of E2 Cdc34-like enzymes. In particular, we identify two co-evolving signature elements in one of the larger families of E2 enzymes: an acidic insertion in β4α2 loop in the proximity of the catalytic cysteine and two conserved key serine residues within the catalytic domain, which are phosphorylated by CK2. Our investigations, using yeast Cdc34 as a model, through 2.5 µs molecular dynamics simulations and biochemical assays, define these two elements as an important phosphorylation-controlled switch that modulates opening and closing of the catalytic cleft. The mechanism relies on electrostatic repulsions between a conserved serine phosphorylated by CK2 and the acidic residues of the β4α2 loop, promoting E2 ubiquitin charging activity. Our investigation identifies a new and unexpected pivotal role for the acidic loop, providing the first evidence that this loop is crucial not only for downstream events related to ubiquitin chain assembly, but is also mandatory for the modulation of an upstream crucial step of the ubiquitin pathway: the ubiquitin charging in the E2 catalytic cleft.


This paper sets out to explain and describe the potential ways to control COVID-19′s impact on the environment and what controllable strategies and anticipations emerge from rethinking sustainable production. The rapid and devastating spread of this disease has made millions of people throughout the world cover themselves, wear gloves, and use hand sanitizers and other medical applications. However, it means that a huge amount of clinical waste is being dumped into landfills or the oceans, and such activity may simply worsen the infection's transmission and the sustainability of the environment, the socio-economy, and sustainable productions. This disease has greatly changed the way people live and has caused considerable occupational job losses and misfortunes, sending sustainable businesses and other organizations to the wall. Virtually every country is trying to stop the infection transmission by testing patients and isolating people, but the environmental effects of the pandemic and sustainable business have not previously been analyzed. The study suggests that the current options for sustainable production must be measured and also further researched.


Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to study the DNA polymorphism in Indian mungbean cultivars. A total of 60 random primers were used in the study and 33 of them generated reproducible RAPD patterns. Amplification of genomic DNA of most popular 24 Indian mungbean cultivars with these RAPD primers yielded 249 fragments that could be scored, of which 224 were polymorphic, with an average of 7.0 polymorphic fragments per primer. Number of amplified fragments with random primers ranged from 2 (OPI 9) to 17 (OPD 7). Percentage polymorphism ranged from 33% (OPX 5) to a maximum of 100% (OPX 4, OPX 6, OPX 13, OPX 15, OPX 19, OPD 5, OPD 7, OPD 20, OPI 4, OPI 6, OPI 13, OPI 14, OPI 18 and OPF 1), with an average of 90%. The Jaccard's similarity indices based on RAPD profiles were subjected to UPGMA cluster analysis. And genotypes grouped in two major groups. Sixteen out of 24 released cultivars grouped to cluster I. This indicated the narrow genetic base in the Indian mungbean cultivars used in the study. The details of diversity analysis and possible reasons for narrow genetic base in mungbean cultivars are discussed in the present study.


This study explores the application of human resource management (HRM) practices used in Multinational corporation (MNC) hotels in Saudi Arabia. It also considers which HRM practices used in Saudi hotel corporations are more preferred by employees and management consider assist their staff in better undertaking their jobs. Currently there is a scarcity of research examining the HRM practices in the Saudi context. Further, this is the first study investigating these issues within the Saudi hotel setting. Interviews and questionnaires were conducted in the four Saudi cities of Makkah, Jeddah, Al Madinah and Riyadh. The results suggest that, despite the challenges facing the application of HRM practices in Saudi Arabia, the status of practices used in the hotel sector are more appropriately implemented than in other sectors, and were similar to those practices used in the international context. The results showed that there is no fixed list of HRM practices used in the Saudi hotel sector. However, those practices most preferred by managers and employees are job planning, performance evaluation, training, salary and wages, and recruitment.


We have developed a new diagnostic method "microtiter plate-hybridization" (MPH) for the detection of human malaria parasite in which the target DNA sequence of the 18S ribosomal RNA gene is amplified by polymerase chain reaction and hybridized with the species-specific probes immobilized on a microtiter well. The PCR products bound on a well are visualized by the biotin-streptavidin system and the following chromogenic reaction. This method has allowed us to detect and identify the four species of human malaria parasites. We obtained blood samples by finger puncture from 435 donors in Japan, Solomon Island and Vietnam. The results of our method showed good correlation with the results of Giemsa staining microscopy. Furthermore, we developed a new system for the detection of new human malaria parasites. This system involves an acridine orange (AO) staining microscopic examination and "microtiter plate-hybridization". Using the system, we found a case of new variant of Plasmodium ovale whose PCR-amplified DNA did not hybridize with a probe for typical P. ovale in Vietnam. These results indicate that our new method can serve as a useful tool for the clinical management, epidemiological research of malaria, and investigation of the new type of malaria parasite.


Evolution of GNSS systems With this article GEOmedia is starting a review on the latest updates concerning GNSS technology. Since the first GPS satellites, the evolution of GNSS sector witnessed the grow of other constellations: GLONASS, Beidou (Compass) and Galileo. The development of positioning techniques even brought to the creation of specific Augmentation Systems, capable of the enhancement of the localization signals (GBAS and SBAS). The aim of this review is to provide a general-to-particular knowledge of all the positiong and augmentation systems, from a historical point of view to real applications.


The ability of leucine zipper-containing proteins (bZIP proteins) to form homo- and heterodimers increases their selectivity and diversity. To help determine the basis for their interactions, Newman and Keating used protein arrays to analyze the ability of 49 of 51 human bZIP proteins to dimerize in all possible pairwise combinations. Reciprocal binding analyses and biophysical studies in solution were used to confirm the validity of the interactions. New associations were observed that could be related to the functioning of the circadian clock and an intracellular signaling pathway that responds to unfolded proteins. J. R. S. Newman, A. E. Keating, Comprehensive identification of human bZIP interactions with coiled-coil arrays. Science 300, 2097-2101 (2003). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Anaphase initiation has been postulated to be controlled through the ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis of an unknown inhibitor. This process involves the anaphase promoting complex (APC), a specific ubiquitin ligase that has been shown to be involved in mitotic cyclin degradation. Previous studies demonstrated that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pds1 protein is an anaphase inhibitor and suggested that it may be an APC target. Here we show that in yeast cells and in mitotic Xenopus extracts Pds1p is degraded in an APC-dependent manner. In addition, Pds1p is directly ubiquitinated by the Xenopus APC. In budding yeast Pds1p is degraded at the time of anaphase initiation and nondegradable derivatives of Pds1p inhibit the onset of anaphase. We conclude that Pds1p is an anaphase inhibitor whose APC-dependent degradation is required for the initiation of anaphase.


This dissertation is about the relationship of young German adults with the Holocaust. It focuses on the experience of discomfort of young adults in educational encounters with the Holocaust, and is set against the backdrop of tensions inherent in the expectations towards Holocaust education in Germany. It is based on data that has been collected through ethnographic field work in 2013 with young adults in two educational settings in Cologne: with tour guides in a museum, and students in an evening school. German Holocaust education has been crucial for the transmission of social memory in Germany. It has helped to establish Germany as a 'normal' democratic nation in the post-war period, and is expected to keep contributing to the creation of democratic citizens who are empathic with the victims of the Holocaust, who develop a sense of historical responsibility, and are immune to right-wing ideologies. These expectations, however, are frequently proved wrong in educational practice, as Holocaust education practitioners encounter young adults who react with boredom or anger towards the topic. The results of the doctoral research presented here have to be seen in relation to a debate that attempts to understand the difficulties in the transmission of the social memory of the Holocaust in Germany. The findings of this dissertation discuss the young adults' experiences of discomfort in encounters with the Holocaust through images of horror, violence, and crimes; and through narratives on Germanness and guilt, and their coping strategies; they explore how emotions are regarded by tour guides, museum educator, teachers, and students as an important aspect of the success or failure of Holocaust education; they analyze how experiences with the Holocaust as uncomfortable and threatening led young German adults to attribute a human-like agency to the Holocaust; and the young adults often described the German past as an uncomfortable entity in the body, which was found to blur the lines between bodily and political discomfort, and individual and social body. This dissertation explores how young German adults experience encounters with the Holocaust, how discomfort emerges in such encounters, and how the young adults deal with it. The following chapters show the potentials such encounters have, and focus on how they unfold dynamically. Discomfort is found to not be inherent in the relation between young German adults in the Holocaust. Rather, encounters with it can become uncomfortable.


This paper presents the modeling, implementation, and testing of a cross-type receiver (RX) used for wireless power transfer (WPT) into an endoscopic capsule. A 3-D configuration for the receiver is proposed to increase the wireless link power transfer efficiency (WL-PTE) and enhance its robustness to angular variations of the capsule. The diameter and thickness of the flexible transmitter coils are 200 mm and $185~\mu \text{m}$ , respectively. The diameter of the miniaturized RX is 8 mm, which is appropriate for integration within current commercially available capsules. Experimental results demonstrate a WL-PTE of 1.3% and complete system efficiency of 0.9% inside a suitable tissue phantom of the relative permittivity of 300 at 5 MHz. A maximum variation of only 8.4% of the WL-PTE across 90° orientation of the RX was also measured. The minimum WL-PTE of 1% is the recorder for 7-cm translational displacement inside the phantom. A simulated specific absorption rate of 0.86 W/Kg was calculated, which is well below the limit allowed for medical applications. A maximum temperature variation of 2.2 °C was also measured for an operating duration of 10 h, which is typical of a capsule journey inside the gastrointestinal tract. The proposed system represents a viable proposition for WPT in capsule endoscopy.


Android and iOS are two of the leading smart phone and mobile device operating systems on the present market. Both of these platforms support third party application development. Cloud storage involves storing and accessing data online.The goal of this project involved helping a cloud storage company, with an existing iOS application and a less developed Android application, to update the Android application and simultaneously develop both applications. In addition to producing functionality in the applications it was the goal of this project to determine methods that would be useful in further updating and production of new functionality.While a wide range of tools exist aimed at helping cross platform development none of the frameworks examined fit the requirements of this project. As a result development was done natively on each platform. Attempts were made to translate the iOS code line by line and to simply build from an outline of the iOS functionality.During this process a number of tools that could replace each other on each device were determined. Additionally a number of the challenges in translating between operating systems were discussed. Finally while translating functionality line by line proved ineffective, it was found that noting down some aspects of the iOS code structure and some server call code could be useful for Android development when one was familiar with the iOS code.


This paper proposes an intelligent model for detection of phishing emails which depends on a preprocessing phase that extracts a set of features concerning different email parts. The extracted features are classified using the J48 classification algorithm. We experimented with a total of 23 features that have been used in the literature. Ten-fold cross-validation was applied for training, testing and validation. The primary focus of this paper is to enhance the overall metrics values of email classification by focusing on the preprocessing phase and determine the best algorithm that can be used in this field. The results show the benefits of using our preprocessing phase to extract features from the dataset. The model achieved 98.87% accuracy for the random forest algorithm, which is the highest registered so far for an approved dataset. A comparison of ten different classification algorithms demonstrates their merits and capabilities through a set of experiments.


Corrosion of reinforcement in concrete is one of the main causes of structural deterioration, The aim of our work was to develop corrosion preventions systems for reinforced concrete structures by using admixtures. This study indicates the applicability of those compounds for steel corrosion preventions in reinforced concrete structures. Various techniques for including accelerated corrosion of steel in concrete are used by the researchers. In this paper, an experimental studies dealing with a strength characteristics in admixture concrete using super plasticizers (SP), viscositymodifying agents (VMA) at the dosage of 2%, 4% and 6% by weight of water. Corrosion of steel in concrete is a slow process due to the protective nature of concrete. It takes a reasonably long time for this process of rebar corrosion in a limited duration available for performing tests studies are, The effect of mineral admixture in reducing reinforcement corrosion, Test behavior of for compressive strength, split tensile strength, flexural strength of self compacting concrete. The effectiveness of the applied current in inducing reinforcement corrosion and some of the alternative techniques for inducing accelerated corrosion of the steel in concrete are also described in the paper.


Product Description The art of macro photography-photographing small objects or super close-ups of small sections of big objects-yields fascinating results, but shooting at this level brings its own set of challenges. Now you can shoot close-ups with confidence and creative flair with this information-packed guide. Renowned photographer Harold Davis provides pages of field-tested techniques on focus, depth-of-field, exposure-even the appropriate equipment to use for this unique niche of digital photography. The book includes stunning and intriguing examples of his work to illustrate concepts. Walks you through the basics of macro photography, whether you're capturing an insect, a flower, a close-up of the texture of a pine cone, or more Shows you how to overcome the challenges of this type of photography, such as using the appropriate equipment and how to handle focus, depth of field, and exposure Takes you beyond the fundamentals to help you develop your own creative style Informs and inspires you with the author's own stunning examples of macro photography Join the vast and beautiful world of small photography with this essential guide. Amazon Exclusive: Photography Tips and Techniques from Harold Davis How to Use Shadows to Enhance Your Composition How to Use LAB Color for Black and White Effects Professional Photography Techniques from Harold Davis Amazon Exclusive: Interview with Award-Winning Photographer Harold Davis We hear youve written some new digital photography titles. Whats the story behind these books? Wiley Publishing is releasing three new books of mine, Creative Close-Ups: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques , Creative Night: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques , and Creative Composition: Digital Photography Tips & Techniques . My idea with these books was to help people become better photographers by presenting the subject of digital photography in a different way. Whats different about your approach? They say that cameras dont take photos, people do. Its really true. Someone with a great eye can take masterful photos with an inexpensive camera. Therefore, it is important to know something about photo technique, but the really amazing thing is that we can conceptualize and come up with these bits and bytes that make up a photoand they can be meaningful to people. I try to help people come up with images that are relevant and meaningful. Cameras and hardware are just tools. Whats with all the photos in these books? Well, everyone likes to look at striking images, so one thing my photos do in these books is get peoples attention. However, the photos play another role as well. Each photo in my book is accompanied by the story of how the photo was made and the technical data related to the photo. That way, if youre not ready to dive into the text itself, you can learn a lot just by browsing the photos. My feeling is that you truly do learn about photography by looking at photos. Its much more important to look at images you admire and try and figure out why you like them than it is to read about photography. The photos in these books are baked into the DNA of the teaching strategy. By browsing through the pages, someone can learn a great deal and have an enjoyable visual experience at the same time. Whats the most important thing that readers can get out of your new books? I want to inspire readers to be the most creative and best photographers they can be. If you pick up one of my books, I hope you can make use of the technical content and see how the photos relate to some of your own work. The most important thing, however, is to take the ideas in the book, get out there, and do some really peddle-to-the-metal creative photography.


Personalized or precision medicine is predicated on the assumption that the average response to treatment is not necessarily representative of the response of each individual. A commitment to personalized medicine demands an effort to bring evidence-based medicine and personalized medicine closer together. The use of relatively homogeneous groups, defined using a priori criteria, may constitute a promising initial step for developing more accurate risk-prediction models with which to advance the development of personalized evidence-based medicine approaches to heterogeneous syndromes such as schizophrenia. However, this can lead to a paradoxical situation in the field of psychiatry. Since there has been a tendency to loosely define psychiatric disorders as ones without a known aetiology, the discovery of an aetiology for psychiatric syndromes (e.g. 22q11.2 deletion syndrome in some cases of schizophrenia), while offering a path toward more precise treatments, may also lead to their reclassification away from psychiatry. We contend that psychiatric disorders with a known aetiology should not be removed from the field of psychiatry. This knowledge should be used instead to guide treatment, inasmuch as psychotherapies, pharmacotherapies and other treatments can all be valid approaches to mental disorders. The translation of the personalized clinical approach inherent to psychiatry into evidence-based precision medicine can lead to the development of novel treatment options for mental disorders and improve outcomes.


Computer vision has experienced many advances over the recent years. As such, it started to rapidly find its way into many commercial and industrial applications,
with the disciplines of visual object detection and tracking being most prominent. A good example of computer vision being applied in practice, is
the social network and website Facebook, where advanced object detection algorithms are utilized to detect and recognize people and in particular -- their faces.
One of the main reasons for the rapid expansion of computer vision in practice, is the ever emerging new computing platforms, such as the cloud service,
capable to handle the complex mathematics involved in analyzing and extracting information from images.

Despite its advances however, computer vision is still in its early stages of establishing a solid foothold in the world of embedded systems.
Specifically, systems which are subjected to real-time constraints, with restricted computational resources, are struggling the most.
Thus the usage of modern visual object detection and tracking algorithms in safety critical embedded systems is still more or less restricted.
Fortunately, this is starting to change with newly developed embedded computer architectures, which employ application specific hardware to perform the task of
computer vision more efficiently.

In this thesis, two state-of-the-art computer vision algorithms in the form of HOG-SVM detection and Particle filter tracking, are explored and evaluated
on a real-time embedded MPSoC, called Starburst. Eventually, it can be shown that these two seemingly ``difficult'' algorithms, not only can satisfy
certain real-time constraints, but also achieve a high throughput on an embedded system such as Starburst.
To accomplish this, the thesis contributes with a powerful real-time hardware architecture of the HOG object detector,
and a software based multiple processor object tracking framework, based on the Particle filter.

Both implementations are evaluated and tested on Starburst, to determine their respective real-time capabilities and whether
imposed throughput constraints can be satisfied.
Additionally, the functional behavior and accuracy of the implementations is also analyzed, but not to a full extent, since both
algorithms are widely studied and documented in modern literature.
The focus of this research is thus mainly on the temporal behavior.


T here is continuing concern about environmental neurotoxicity and the potential effects of neurotoxic chemicals on human beings, caused in part by the dearth of information about the overall magnitude of the problem. Indeed, the number of people with neurotoxic disorders, and the extent of neurologic disease and dysfunction that results from exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment, are not known. Until a few years ago, for instance, only a few of the several thousand chemicals in commercial use in the United States had been tested for neurotoxicity, though it can be hoped the recent implementation of new federal guidelines for neurotoxicity and developmental neurotoxicity will lead these gaps in data to be filled.


Underwater vehicles have been developed mainly for underwater exploration and rescue. Many large- and middle-size vehicles are available but few are in smaller scale. As the size goes into mini-scale which is less than 20 cm, it is challenging to allocate required components within limited space, while providing designed functions at the same time. The aims of this research are to design and rapid manufacture structural components for a remote-controlled underwater vehicle in the mini-scale region. The vehicle would integrate vision capability to provide functions of underwater ecological observation and tracking. In order to design the structural components for this mini-scale vehicle, commercial CFD software was adopted to simulate flows. An improved external shape was obtained and detailed designs of the structural components were implemented. A rapid prototyping technique, Shape Deposition Manufacturing (SDM) process, was utilized to rapidly manufacture these components. The finished components were assembled with control modules and propulsion systems as an underwater vehicle and the preliminary underwater test was conducted successfully.


The context in which higher education institutions (HEIs) now operate is facing fundamental changes; HEIs are often said to be in a time of crisis, and new models of education are being explored both within and outside the academy. The rise of open educational resources and practices and alternative forms of accreditation are gaining recognition as learners and educators explore new ways of learning and connecting both within and outside the institution. Simultaneous to this rise in new learning cultures and paradigms, traditional disciplinary boundaries are themselves being challenged as networked technologies and changing social/cultural conditions are leading to further critique of traditional pedagogies, and increasing support for interdisciplinarity. In this paper, we explore emerging and converging technologies and disciplines through two higher education international collaboration scenarios. These two projects illustrate the potential of interdisciplinary communities of practice to nurture and support new pedagogical paradigms. We conclude by identifying five design principles for global interdisciplinary projects.


A visit by an arctic fox ( Alopex lagopus ) to Funk Island, Newfoundland, during 2009 had a negative impact on the breeding performance of five of the nine breeding seabird species. Species that nest in burrows (Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica ) or on the ground (northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis , great black-backed Larus marinus and herring gulls Larus argentatus ) did not fledge any offspring in 2009, and common murres ( Uria aalge ) at this colony, the largest for this species in North America, experienced an estimated 4.9% (~19 712.4 breeding pairs) reduction in the number of nesting birds. Later-than-normal persistence of Arctic sea ice on the Newfoundland-Labrador Shelf in 2009 likely provided the fox access to the colony up until late April, which coincided with the seabirds' return. The persistent predation threat near the onset of breeding likely resulted in large-scale abandonment of breeding attempts by vulnerable seabirds.


After many years and many rounds of negotiations seeking bilateral free trade agreements (FTA) between Australia and China, Japan and Korea, progress has been minimal because they cannot agree on access to markets for agricultural products. To add to the complications and lack of progress made in these negotiations, China, Japan and Korea have started negotiating a trilateral FTA. If a China-Japan-Korea Trilateral FTA is struck, it could affect Australian negotiation of bilateral FTAs with each of these countries, with consequential implications for Australian agricultural exports. These concerns are the main focus of this paper. However when the comparative advantages of agricultural production and agricultural trade complementarities of these countries are examined, it seems that if a China-Japan-Korea trilateral FTA is struck, it ought to not further complicate Australia's bilateral FTA negotiations. A trilateral FTA between China, Japan and Korea would have limited negative impacts on Australia's agricultural exports to these countries. Australia has a strong comparative advantage in producing many land-intensive products that these three countries will continue to need to import. Nonetheless, successfully concluding bilateral FTAs with each of China, Japan and Korea remains a formidable challenge because agreement on agricultural trade negotiations remains elusive. In future, Australia's FTA negotiators may need to be even more pragmatic, strategic and flexible in their approach to agricultural trade negotiations.


Action research is a qualitative research methodology, which leads the researcher to delve into the problems of a community in order to understand its needs in depth and finally, to propose actions that lead to a change of social paradigm. Although this methodology had its beginnings in the human sciences, it has attracted increasing interest and acceptance in the field of information systems research since the 1990s. The countless possibilities offered nowadays by the use of Information Technologies (IT) in the development of different socio-economic activities have meant a change of social paradigm and the emergence of the so-called information and knowledge society. According to this, governments, large corporations, small entrepreneurs and in general, organizations of all kinds are using IT to virtualize their processes, taking them from the physical environment to the digital environment. However, there is a potential risk for organizations related with exposing valuable information without an appropriate framework for protecting it. This paper shows progress in the development of a methodological design to manage the information security risks associated with the IT-based processes virtualization, by applying the principles of the action research methodology and it is the result of a systematic review of the scientific literature. This design consists of seven fundamental stages. These are distributed in the three stages described in the action research methodology: 1) Observe, 2) Analyze and 3) Take actions. Finally, this paper aims to offer an alternative tool to traditional information security management methodologies with a view to being applied specifically in the planning stage of ITbased process virtualization in order to foresee risks and to establish security controls before formulating IT solutions in any type of organization. Keywords—Action research, information security, information technology, methodological design, process virtualization, risk management.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Nonphysician faculty are common in academic family medicine departments and residencies. The objective of this study was to examine whether these nonphysician faculty have adopted a professional identity of family medicine and how that relates to job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

METHODS
In 2017, a survey of nonphysician members of the Council of Academic Family Medicine organizations in the United States and Canada was conducted. The overall response rate for the survey was 52.6% (526/1,001). The current analysis was conducted on the individuals who met all of the inclusion criteria and had complete data on all investigated scales (n=360). Scales on professional identity, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment were examined along with age, gender, race, and professional characteristics.

RESULTS
The respondents indicated a professional identity with family medicine, commitment to their organization, and high job satisfaction. There was a lack of association with gender for these primary variables. Professional identity had a moderately positive relationship with years in family medicine (r=0.23). Professional identity had a moderately strong positive relationship with both commitment to the organization (r=0.41), and job satisfaction (r=0.43). In multivariate regressions, race/ethnicity was associated with both professional identity (P<.05) and job satisfaction (P<.05), with nonwhites having lower professional identity and job satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of this survey of nonphysician faculty in family medicine indicated a high professional identity to family medicine, high job satisfaction, and commitment to their organization. Strategies including cultural competency training may serve as important tools to avoid dissatisfaction or turnover among this key workforce element in academic family medicine.


The fluid generalized processor sharing (GPS) algorithm has desirable properties for integrated services networks and many packet fair queueing (PFQ) algorithms have been proposed to approximate GPS. However, there have been few high speed implementations of PFQ algorithms that can support large number of sessions with diverse rate requirements and at the same time maintain all the important properties of GPS. The implementation cost of a PFQ algorithm is determined by two components: (1) computation of the system virtual time function and (2) maintaining the relative ordering of the packets via their timestamps in a priority queue mechanism. While most of the recently proposed PFQ algorithms reduce the complexity of computing the system virtual time function, the complexity of maintaining the priority queue, and therefore the overall complexity of implementing PFQ, is still a function of the number of active sessions. In addition, while reducing the algorithmic or asymptotic complexity has been the focus of most analysis, to run at high speed, it is also important to reduce the complexity of basic operations. In this paper, we develop techniques to reduce both types of complexities. In particular, we present a novel grouping architecture for implementing PFQ with an algorithmic complexity that is a function of the number of distinct rates supported, but independent of the number of sessions in the system.


Diabetes mellitus (DM) and chronic inflammation are strongly related to increased cardiovascular risk. This study aims to investigate the influence of physical training on the inflammatory markers of diabetic rats. Adult male Wistar rats were distributed into Sedentary Control (SC), Trained Control (TC), Sedentary Diabetic (SD) and Trained Diabetic (TD) groups were used. Diabetes was induced by Stroptozotosin (55 mg/bw-i.v.). Training protocol consisted of resistance training(elevate upward weights), at 32 +/1 degrees C, one hour/day, five days/week, supporting an overload equivalent to 5% of the body weight, during four weeks. At the end of the experiment the rats were sacrificed by decapitation and blood samples were collected for glucose, IL-18 and TNF-α determination. The results were analyzed by one way at a significance level of 5%. Diabetes reduced blood insulin, HDL and increased blood glucose, IL-18, TNF-α .TG and LDL count. Physical training restored glycemia and inflammatory markers count in diabetic rats. In summary, physical training was able to improve metabolic and immunological aspects in the experimental diabetic rats.


We present recent advances in the development of a Finite Element Time Domain (Discontinuous Galerkin) solver for computational nanophotonics. Throughout this contribution a particular focus is put on metallic nano structures of sizes between 1 nm and 15 nm. Metal structures at these sizes are well known to show spatial dispersion which can be modeled by a nonlocal dispersion model for the electron gas. Taking such a nonlocal model into account leads to a hydrodynamic fluid equation for the free electrons in the metal. While Maxwell's equations describe the evolution of the electromagnetic fields, the additional fluid equation accounts for the material response and is strongly coupled to Maxwell's equations by means of a source current. Numerically speaking, the considered 3D finite element time domain method benefits from high-‐order polynomial solutions on very flexible unstructured tetrahedral meshes. Additionally, working in time domain gives access to broad band frequency solution within a single simulation run due to short pulses. Exploiting distributed memory parallelism eventually allows large computational domains and hence realistic nanophotonic setups. From an application point of view, we assess the performance of the numerical method on multiple nanophotonic scenarios like spherical dimer systems (simulation_mesh_dimer.png) and nanocubes simulation_mesh_nanocube.png). We emphasize the importance of highly accurate numerical schemes that guarantee a powerful resolution of surface effects, which is especially indispensable for plasmonic applications since most physics happen in the vicinity of the metal surface. Moreover, we evidently show the importance of high-‐order numerical methods including curvilinear tetrahedral meshes in order to properly approximate material interfaces if roundings are of concern.


Carboxylesterases hydrolyze chemicals containing such functional groups as a carboxylic acid ester, amide and thioester. The liver contains the highest carboxylesterase activity and expresses two major carboxylesterases: HCE1 and HCE2. In this study, we analyzed 104 individual liver samples for the expression patterns of both carboxylesterases. These samples were divided into three age groups: adults (≥ 18 years of age), children (0 days-10 years) and fetuses (82-224 gestation days). In general, the adult group expressed significantly higher HCE1 and HCE2 than the child group, which expressed significantly higher than the fetal group. The age-related expression was confirmed by RT-qPCR and Western immunoblotting. To determine whether the expression patterns reflected the hydrolytic activity, liver microsomes were pooled from each group and tested for the hydrolysis of drugs such as oseltamivir and insecticides such as deltamethrin. Consistent with the expression patterns, adult microsomes were ∼4 times as active as child microsomes and 10 times as active as fetal microsomes in hydrolyzing these chemicals. Within the same age group, particularly in the fetal and child groups, a large inter-individual variability was detected in mRNA (430 fold), protein (100 fold) and hydrolytic activity (127 fold). Carboxylesterases are recognized to play critical roles in drug metabolism and insecticide detoxication. The findings on the large variability among different age groups or even within the same age group have important pharmacological and toxicological implications, particularly in relation to pharmacokinetic alterations of ester drugs in children and vulnerability of fetuses and children to pyrethroid insecticides.


In this study a review of existing recognised standards for wood mechanical testing was conducted. This review considers tensile, compressive, bending and shear test methodologies from a range of sources. In addition, values for wood mechanical properties were obtained through controlled experimentation using a universal material testing machine. Selected standard procedures were used to obtain wood strength properties both along and across the grain. These consist of a three point bending procedure used to evaluate the wood strength across the grain and a longitudinal shear procedure used to evaluate the wood strength along the grain. Strength properties obtained through controlled experimentation are compared to values available in existing literature with little discrepancy.


The article analyzes the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict and the Abkhazian war (1992-1993) as reflected in the Georgian print media from the 1980s to date. By using the key postulates of postcolonial studies, it aims to explain the idiosyncrasies of Georgian-Abkhazian as well as Georgian-Russian political and public relations that have evolved dramatically over the past two centuries. My goal is to show the connection between the ethnopolitical confrontation and the cultural and social advancements of the neighboring nations, and to highlight the absurdity of the idea of political domination over indigenous peoples. Several stereotypes have been distinguished that have affected the course of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. The Georgian media discourse analysis reveals prospects for the resolution of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, provided the parties to the conflict act in good faith. This article attempts to trace the revaluation of several Soviet paradigms, as well as intentional and unintentional mistakes made in the Georgian/Abkhazian/Russian humanities.


Organic base (Amine) and inorganic base (Nitrite) have been known for protection of concrete structures but are not commercially indigenous to most developing economies due to manufacturing difficulties and are toxic to the environment. Also inhibitors are not known to stop sulphate attack in concrete. Hence, the objective of the present investigation was to study a novel, eco-friendly and hydrophobic green plant extracts inhibitor and compares its effectiveness with established calcium nitrite and ethanolamine inhibitors. Bambusa Arundinacea (Green plant extracts), calcium nitrite and ethanolamine corrosion inhibitors were selected for the present investigation. Compressive strength of 100×100×100mm concrete cubes after 7, 28 and 90 days of curing test was used. The results of the inhibitors studied showed that Bambusa Arundinacea has superior compressive strength compared to calcium nitrite and ethanolamine. Bambusa Arundinacea may be considered a better substitute for nitrite and amine- based corrosion inhibiting admixtures for durable concrete structures due its pore blocking effects.


The aim of the present study was to compare the effect of an increasing-distance interval-training program with a decreasing-distance interval-training program, matched for total distance and recovery times, on blood free radicals and total anti-oxidative capacity (TAC) at rest and following intense exercise. Forty physical education students were randomly assigned to either the increasing- or decreasing-distance interval-training group (ITG and DTG), and completed two similar relevant sets of tests before and after a six-week twicea- week training program. One training program consisted of increasing-distance interval training (100-200- 300-400-500 m) and the other decreasing-distance interval training (500-400-300-200-100 m). Following training, free radical resting levels were significantly higher in the ITG compared to the DTG (7.94 ± 4.76 vs. 3.84 ± 1.49 μmole, respectively, p<0.05). In addition, following training the free radical response to a maximal exercise test was significantly higher in the ITG compared to the DTG (11.14 ± 6.77 vs. 4.43 ± 1.97 μmole, respectively, p<0.05). No significant changes were found in TAC following the exercise test before and after the training program in either group. Sport scientists, coaches, and athletes should be aware that, in spite of identical total work, an interval-training program might induce different oxidative stress responses if the order of intervals is not identical.


ABSTRACT Objectives: We examined the prospective effects of an evidence-based exercise intervention on depressive symptoms in older Hispanics/Latinos and the potential synergistic effects (if any) of an attribution-retraining component to counter negative ascriptions to the aging process. Method: We analyzed baseline, 1-, 12-, 24-month data collected from Hispanics/Latinos ≥ 60 years participating in an exercise intervention ("¡Caminemos!") across 27 senior centers (N = 572). All participants were given 4 weekly 1-hour group-based exercise classes targeting strength training, endurance, balance and flexibility. In addition, they were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a) treatment group–a 1-hour attribution retraining session where participants were taught that aging does not mean one inevitably becomes sedentary, or b) control group–generic health education. The Geriatric Depression Scale was used to assess depressive symptoms. Covariates included age, sex, education, income, marital status, acculturation, and number of chronic conditions. Results: In prospective analyses, participants in both trial arms displayed lower scores for depressive symptoms at 12- (β1 = –0.17, p = 0.04) and 24-months (β2 = –0.33, p < 0.001) when compared to baseline values. Conclusion: Given expected growth of the older Hispanic/Latino adult population, exercise programs are a promising strategy in promoting favorable mental health.


640 Gb/s all-optical ON-OFF keying signal regeneration based on nonlinearities in a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide is demonstrated and characterized. The data are transferred from the distorted original optical time division multiplexing (OTDM) signal onto a high quality and locally generated 640 GHz clock by pump depletion simultaneously operating a wavelength conversion. The thresholding behavior and the saturation effect of pump depletion in the PPLN waveguide for low and high pump power values, respectively, allow for a noise compression on the wavelength-converted replica of the original signal. The use of a stable clock with a shorter pulsewidth also allows for a sort of sampling of the original OTDM frame in the bit time center, resulting in a pulse reshaping that eliminates all noise contributions on the pulse tails. This operation produces a reduction of the original time jitter of the signal. The sampling operation also results in a compression of the new OTDM frame pulses compensating for the residual chromatic dispersion effects. After having characterized the transfer function of the proposed regeneration scheme, we evaluate its effectiveness as a function of optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR), pulse broadening, and time jitter of the input signal. Regeneration performance is measured in terms of bit error rate (BER) and power penalty @ BER = 10-9. Error-free operation can be recovered and maintained over an input signal OSNR range of 8 dB. This results in a BER improvement up to several orders of magnitude, obtained when the input OSNR is reduced by 20 dB with respect to the baseline. The time jitter of input signals with original jitter values from 100 to 300 fs has been reduced of nearly one order of magnitude to values lower than 40 fs. We also demonstrate that a pulse broadening up to 20% of the original pulsewidth can be compensated. Finally, wavelength tunability of the regenerator input and output signal can be, in principle, guaranteed over the whole C-band and beyond.


JPC : A 63-year-old Caucasian man was seen in clinic having been referred by his general practitioner with a 10 -week history of progressive exertional dyspnoea, associated with dry cough and retrosternal discomfort over the preceding fortnight. There was no history of fever, weight loss, anorexia, haemoptysis, dysphagia or other localising systemic symptoms. His past medical history included psoriatic arthropathy, atrial fibrillation, hypertension and gastro-oesophageal reflux; of note, there was no recent history of palpitations or worsening peripheral oedema, while his joint disease remained quiescent. Current medications (all long-standing) included methotrexate, omeprazole, bisoprolol, aspirin, ramipril and simvastatin. He was a lifelong non-smoker and retired solicitor with no occupational risk factors for lung disease.

On examination he was afebrile with no palpable lymphadenopathy or clubbing. Cardiovascular examination demonstrated rate-controlled atrial fibrillation only; abdominal examination was normal. Respiratory examination revealed dull percussion note and reduced breath sounds at the right lung base, with normal resting oxygen saturations. Chest radiograph and thoracic ultrasound confirmed the presence of a large right-sided pleural effusion. Routine bloods including full blood count, clotting studies, renal function, liver function and serum calcium were unremarkable. I performed a diagnostic and therapeutic pleural aspiration, draining 1500 mL of straw-coloured fluid with no complications. Laboratory analysis showed the effusion to be an exudate (protein 46 g/L, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) 961 IU/L, glucose 0.4 mmol/L); pleural fluid culture and cytology (including flow cytometry) were negative.

NMR : The presence of a cytology-negative exudative pleural effusion of unknown aetiology in a previously well individual requires urgent further investigation. The low pleural fluid glucose and high LDH may imply infection, although these findings are non-specific and can also be seen in the context of chronic inflammation or malignancy; furthermore, the clinical history and negative culture go against an infective cause. The presence of an inflammatory arthropathy may prompt consideration …


This early concept research outlines the need to better understand reconstruction processes in post-disaster environments that can create resilient and sustainable infrastructure systems and proposes methodology aimed at addressing gaps in theory and practice. The paper first introduces the rationale for studying project outcomes of sustainability and resilience and proposes a new method to conceptualize resilience through a network perspective. Next, the paper reviews literature on three factors – coordination, stakeholder participation, and training – each of which is posited to influence these project outcomes. After research questions are identified, the paper proposes research methodology that will study coordination, participation, and training across phases of infrastructure reconstruction from a network perspective in the Central Visayas region in the Philippines. In addition to analyzing the influence of each of these factors individually on the project outcomes, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is proposed as a novel means of capturing snapshots of project phases and analyzing pathways that navigate the complexity of post-disaster reconstruction.


The scale of summit collapse during the April 2007 eruption of Piton de la Fournaise volcano, Réunion Island, western Indian Ocean, was evaluated using before‐and‐after differential digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from nadir and backward‐looking images from the Advanced Spaceborne Emission and Reflection radiometer (ASTER) instrument. The dimensions of horizontal length and width, volume and depth of the depression were estimated as 1,100 × 800 m, 9.6 × 107 m3 and 320 m, respectively. These estimates show excellent agreement with field survey data. A ring shaped thermal anomaly (diameter of about 500 m) was found at Dolomieu Crater during or just after the collapse on nighttime ASTER SWIR image. It may correspond to the high temperature areas associated with the cross section of a hydrothermal zone at a constant altitude inside the crater. Our analysis of ASTER orbital data documents topographic and related thermal changes as a result of the 2007 eruption and demonstrates the power of ASTER as a volcanological tool.


In this paper, we propose a robust, real-time and scalable localization framework for multi-LiDAR equipped vehicles in challenging urban environments. Our test vehicle uses multiple LiDARs with low mounting positions which makes the localization task very challenging in dense traffic scenarios due to the reduced field-of-view of LiDARs and additional uncertainty introduced by the dynamic vehicles. In order to increase the robustness and provide consistently smooth localization output, LiDAR localization is fused with the dead reckoning using the probabilistic scan matching confidence estimation method. We conducted experiments in different urban settings and results confirmed that our framework can operate reliably with low-position multi-LiDAR suite under various traffic scenarios.