The main objective of the presented research is to develop a model in order to predict fracture of asphalt road surface impacted by an automobile tire stud. As a result of the analysis it is demonstrated that the critical automobile speed leading to creation of fracture in asphalt does depend on combination of asphalt mean elastic modulus and special dynamic strength characteristics responsible for the incubation process of microcracking caused by impacts. It is shown that in certain conditions smaller elastic moduli combined with bigger ductility of compound and increased dynamic strength can result in greater threshold car velocities giving brittle damage to asphalt. At the same time larger elastic moduli can provide better performance of asphalt layer undergoing quasistatic loading (slow heavy traffic). One of the practical solutions to maximize durability of highways is to use different asphalt mixtures in right (slower) and left (faster) traffic lanes. This can be, for example, achieved by addition of plasticizers into asphalt mixture used to cover high-speed traffic lanes. FEM sim ulation is giving a quantitative prediction of critical vehicle velocities leading to initiation of fracture in asphalt.


A comparison of different methods for estimating the anthropogenic CO 2 burden in the Atlantic Ocean is performed using referenced, high quality total dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) data. The dataset is from two cruises through the center of the basin between 62°N and 43°S in 1991 and 1993. The specific anthropogenic input is determined utilizing empirical procedures as described in Gruber et al. (1996) and Chen and Millero (1979) to correct for remineralization and to estimate preanthropogenic endmembers. These estimates are compared with output of the Princeton ocean biogeochemical model and the NCAR ocean model. The results show that the specific inventories of anthropogenic carbon agree to within 20% but with different storage and uptake patterns. The empirical estimates differ because of assumptions about mixing and winter outcrop endmembers. The same remineralization quotients (Redfield ratios) were used for each method. Varying these constants within the range of literature values causes changes in specific inventories of similar magnitude as the differences observed with different methodologies. Comparison of anthropogenic CO 2 uptake and chlorofluorocarbon ages suggests that the anthropogenic CO 2 penetration in the North Atlantic is too shallow following the procedure according to Gruber et al. (1996), and too deep using those of Chen and Millero (1979). The results support these previous observations in that the uptake of CO 2 in the North Atlantic is disproportionate to its surface area. This is caused by a combination of deep water formation and deep winter mixed layers. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0889.1999.00027.x


The development of efficient catalysts with a visible-light response is of great importance in photocatalysis. Porphyrinic metal-organic frameworks (porph-MOFs) have recently been shown as promising photocatalyst candidates due to their large surface area, high visible light harvesting efficiency, and semiconductive properties, but challenges still remain because of their rapid charge recombination. Herein, we report the design of an effectively visible-light-driven composite material, namely TP-222(Zn), containing zirconium-based porph-MOF PCN-222(Zn) linked TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) via the compound 4-mercaptopyridine which is axially bonded to the porphyrin central Zn metal in the PCN-222(Zn) and anchored onto the surface of TiO2 NPs. The resulting composite material demonstrates the high dispersion of TiO2 NPs and their close contact with the porph-MOF matrix, and serves as an effective photocatalyst for degrading organic contaminants under visible light irradiation due to their synergistic effect. It is further confirmed by fluorescence spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy that the remarkably enhanced photocatalytic activity of the TP-222(Zn) composite is attributed to the efficient charge separation with electron injection from PCN-222(Zn) to TiO2 NPs. In addition, the TP-222(Zn) composite shows excellent stability and recyclability as a result of the axially coordinative interaction between TiO2 NPs/PCN-222(Zn) and the 4-mercaptopyridine. Overall, this work provides a new strategy for the fabrication of highly efficient porph-MOF-based composite materials for visible light-driven photocatalysis.


For resistive fault current limiters (RFCLs) based on high temperature superconducting coated conductors (HTS-CCs), inhomogeneity, in terms of critical current and geometrical imperfections such as stabilizer and substrate thicknesses, plays a very important role and it may limit the penetration of such devices into the electrical market. This paper presents an electrothermal model, developed in SimPowerSystem™, able to describe the transient response of HTS-CC candidates with different degrees of inhomogeneity, both in terms of critical current and of stabilizer thickness. Critical current inhomogeneity has been modeled with Gaussian distributions. The layer thicknesses used in the simulations have been chosen by fitting the temperature dependence of real tape resistances. Our approach considers relative inhomogeneity positions as well as thermal conduction along the HTS-CC length. The model is tuned using experimental measurements made on ReBaCuO coated conductors. A new dynamical thermal calibration of the model is proposed using finite element method calculations. Inhomegeneity effects with different possible faults (e.g. three phase and single phase short-circuit) are presented.


Within each of us exists the elements of the masculine and the feminine. Carl Jung first introduced these concepts in his explanation of the components of human behavior. Marion Woodman, a Jungian analyst from Toronto, has brought our attention to the imbalance of the masculine and feminine within human nature. Her work, as well as the work of Stephen Levine, has inspired the author to direct her attention to the implications for nursing.


The city of Washington, D.C., held a special place in the creative life of Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983). It was there that the Argentine composer achieved many important successes, beginning with the premiere of his Second String Quartet (1958), which was commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation, and performed in the Library of Congress. Given these achievements, it is no surprise that Ginastera considered Washington his lucky city. The U.S. capital also proves providential for Ginastera researchers, since much of the documentation about the composer's U.S. activities is housed at the Library of Congress.This article explores the highlights of the Ginastera letters at LC—a resource that yields fresh perspectives into the composer's connections with music and musicians from the United States. Ginastera's letters to Aaron Copland open a window into the composer's relationship with his teacher, mentor, and friend. His correspondence with Harold Spivacke illustrates the role that the former chief of the LC Music Division played in shaping his career. Together these collections offer a glimpse into the interior world of a musician whose thoughts and words are little known. They illuminate important moments of his life, reveal insights into his creative process, and question traditional assumptions about his musical development.


In this article I analyse longitudinal patterns of relative poverty among the foreign-born in Sweden, with data drawn from the register-based LINDA dataset. The descriptive statistics suggest that immigrants stay in poverty longer than poor natives do, just as they more often fall back into poverty. Poverty transitions are more frequently associated with employment transition among immigrants than among natives, while other trigger events are more prevalent among natives who experience poverty transition. Conditional transition rates of all the events associated with poverty exits and entries are more favourable for natives. The multivariate analysis shows that poverty is stickier among immigrants even after controlling for the observable characteristics, but the degree of disadvantage relative to natives varies greatly by immigrant group. Longer duration of stay and living with a Swedish-born adult are both beneficial in the context of poverty dynamics.


This thesis aims to explore the design and implementation of Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) specifically for non medical scenarios, and therefore to propose a solution that overcomes typical drawbacks of existing systems such as long and uncomfortable setup time, scarce or nonexistent mobility, and poor real-time performance. The research starts from the design and implementation of a plug-and-play wearable low-power BCI that is capable of decoding up to eight commands displayed on a LCD screen, with about 2 seconds of latency. The thesis also addresses the issues emerging from the usage of the BCI during a walk in a real environment while tracking the subject via indoor positioning system. Furthermore, the BCI is then enhanced with a smart glasses device that projects the BCI visual interface with augmented reality (AR) techniques, unbinding the system usage from the need of infrastructures in the surrounding environment.


Liver-specific ablation of cytochrome P450 reductase in mice (LCN) results in hepatic steatosis that can progress to steatohepatitis characterized by inflammation and fibrosis. The specific cause of the fatty liver phenotype is poorly understood but is hypothesized to result from elevated expression of genes encoding fatty acid synthetic genes. Since expression of these genes is known to be suppressed by polyunsaturated fatty acids, we performed physiological and genomics studies to evaluate the effects of dietary linoleic and linolenic fatty acids (PUFA) or arachidonic and decosahexaenoic acids (HUFA) on the hepatic phenotypes of control and LCN mice by comparison with a diet enriched in saturated fatty acids. The dietary interventions with HUFA reduced the fatty liver phenotype in livers of LCN mice and altered the gene expression patterns in these livers to more closely resemble those of control mice. Importantly, the expression of genes encoding lipid pathway enzymes were not different between controls and LCN livers, indicating a strong influence of diet over POR genotype. These analyses highlighted the impact of POR ablation on expression of genes encoding P450 enzymes and proteins involved in stress and inflammation. We also found that livers from animals of both genotypes fed diets enriched in PUFA had gene expression patterns more closely resembling those fed diets enriched in saturated fatty acids. These results strongly suggest only HUFA supplied from an exogenous source can suppress hepatic lipogenesis.


This paper establishes that when there is not a complete set of markets but more than one commodity the stock market equilibrium will not in general be a constrained Pareto optimum. The economy will lack both the property of exchange and production efficiency. Necessary conditions which must be satisfied if the economy is to be a constrained Pareto optimum for all technologies are derived; if all individuals have identical, homothetic indifference maps, then either there must be unitary price elasticities (so there is no effective risk) or all individuals must have the same degree of risk aversion (so there is no trade on the stock market).


Sediments (sample) at nine different sampling points along oke-afa canal, Isolo Lagos (figure 1.0) were analyzed for heavy metals, to determine their level of pollution. The levels of heavy metals in some of the samples were not detectable. The results are then compare with maxim permissible limit (MPL) in the world wide soils and fresh water sediments (USPH), zinc (87-431 mg/kg); lead (range ND-45 mg/kg) cadmium (range ND -16 mg1kg) and Nickel (range ND- 6mg/kg). KEY WORDS: sediments, Heavy metal, pollution assessment, Oke-Afa canal.


The automotive industry evaluates various success factors to achieve competitive advantage in selling products. Existing studies have predicted the success of newly launched automobiles based on an economic perspective. However, factors such as dynamic changes in consumer preferences and the emergence of numerous automobile brands pose difficulty in understanding product quality. This study proposes a method of understanding the automotive market using text mining techniques and online user opinions for newly launched cars. By analyzing customer experiences and expectations through their opinions, we can anticipate automobile demand in the market more easily. The proposed method is based on online reviews from an online portal for automobiles. Based on a literature review, this study presents a framework for analyzing input versus output word-of-mouth (WOM). It also integrates the success factors from existing automobile studies and derives functional categories and relevant keywords. The analysis identifies differences in consumer-interest factors that lead to short-term success or normal results in automobile sales. In addition, it confirms that the elements of WOM produces varying results depending on the timing these are employed in relation to the product launch (i.e., before or after a product's launch). It revealed which dimensions of automobile characteristics are important factors in identifying sales volume and market share for specific types and brands of automobile models. The results of this study provide theoretical advantage in predicting market success in the automobile industry. In addition, the study derives practical insights into characteristics of classification information for market forecasts in the automotive industry. The paper provides empirical insights about how input WOM and output WOM which are analyzed differently can have predictive power in forecasting market share and sales volume for automobiles.


Sex is one of the dominant metaphors of China's postmillennial consumerist modernity. Public media and private discussions map endless pleasures and possibilities onto sexed bodies, foregrounding sexuality as an increasingly significant component of individual identity. Yet, as argued in this article, the diversity of sexual representations masks the discursive operation of the sexed body in consolidating individual accommodation with the consumer market and in "neutralizing" the exploratory and pluralist meanings of contemporary sexual culture. Inheriting a recent ideological history in which sexuality was not a significant component of public discussions about gender relationships, and in an ideological context bridging local and global interests that limit the interrogation of gender as a critical category of enquiry and organization, sex and the sexed body emerge in mainstream discourse as a collection of acts, responsibilities, and choices dissociated from the broad social issues of gender hierarchy and injustice.


Theatre in the Third Reich, the Prewar Years, Essays on Theatre in Nazi Germany, edited by Glen W. GadberryThere were few subjects on which Hitler did not consider himself an expert. This was especially true when it came to cultural affairs. Although his tastes remained quite petit bourgeois -- the Fuhrer preferred entertainment for its own sake, the kitschier the better -- as dictator of Germany he had to insist on the propagation of high culture, albeit one that would follow the official tribal values of his regime. This imperative was reflected in the politicization of everything from Wagnerian operas (about whose production the Fuhrer had fixed opinions) across to classic German drama. But such classical fare was usually performed to certain fixed traditional standards. Therefore, only in the more proletarian genres, such as that of the stage review and the cinema, was the regime really able to call the shots, and only here did a universal Hitlerian version of socialist realism really emerge.Shortly after the Nazi accession to power, the Fuhrer's Council of United German Culture and Art Organizations was established with Culture Chambers which had the authority to control the entire entertainment industry.However, the establishment of a new theater aesthetic was not easy. Depending on the personal whims of such prima donnas as Joseph Paul Goebbels, Alfred Rosenberg, Hermann Goring, as well as various lesser satraps, standards often fluctuated between ideology and art. For example, propaganda minister Goebbels thought that Nazi entertainment should be non-sentimental, manly, and heroic in tone and show "steelhard" romanticism. It must be accessible to all, create a soothing sense of stability, and promote the solidity of the regime. Drama had to reflect life the way the regime wanted it to be, not the way it was. Hitler, on the other hand, liked less ideological fare. Three of his favorite movies were Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Gone with the Wind, and King Kong, and he adored Viennese operetta.The eleven essays in this book try to make sense of this National Socialist theatrical Byzantium. While they do not pretend to treat their subject comprehensively -- the chapters often come at the reader from different directions -- they collectively add up to a satisfying whole nonetheless. And they are all the more welcome since there is a relative absence of material written about theatre under the Nazis. A few examples can illustrate the book's general scope and diversity."Theatre in Detmold 1933-1939: A Case Study of Provincial Theatre During the Nazi Prewar Era" shows how a regional repertory theater with a strong tradition "swiftly and seemingly without serious objection or defiance, acquiesced to the new order and structure of the Third Reich cultural agenda." Author Ron Engle claims that such a smooth transformation was characteristic of the way other such theaters conducted their affairs.The Nazi career of actor Werner Krauss is related in "Werner Krauss and the Third Reich." Krauss, the leading actor in the expressionistic classic Das Kabinett von Dr. …


In model selection, usually a best predictor is chosen from a collection {μ(.,s)} of predictors where μ(.,s) is the minimum least-squares predictor in a collection U s of predictors. Here s is a complexity parameter; that is, the smaller s, the lower dimensional/smoother the models in U s . If L is the data used to derive the sequence {μ(., s)}, the procedure is called unstable if a small change in L can cause large changes in {μ(., s)}. With a crystal ball, one could pick the predictor in {μ(.,s)} having minimum prediction error. Without prescience, one uses test sets, cross-validation and so forth. The difference in prediction error between the crystal ball selection and the statistician's choice we call predictive loss. For an unstable procedure the predictive loss is large. This is shown by some analytics in a simple case and by simulation results in a more complex comparison of four different linear regression methods. Unstable procedures can be stabilized by perturbing the data, getting a new predictor sequence {μ(., s)} and then averaging over many such predictor sequences.


We installed three 350-m-long seismic arrays, each array consisting of 12 three-component stations, across the Coyote Creek fault (CCF), Clark Valley fault (CVF), and Buck Ridge fault (BRF) of the San Jacinto fault zone (SJFZ) near Anza, California, to record fault zone trapped waves from microearthquakes. We observed trapped waves with relatively large amplitudes and long duration at stations close to the fault traces for earthquakes occurring within the fault zone. The coda-normalized amplitude spectra of trapped waves showed peaks at 4–7 Hz, which decreased sharply with the distance from the fault trace. Observations and three-dimensional finite difference simulations of trapped waves revealed low-velocity and low-Q waveguides on these active faults with the width of 75–100 m in which shear velocities are reduced by 25–30% from wall rock velocities and Q values are 40–90 at depths between the surface and 18 km. The locations of earthquakes for which we observed trapped waves delineate the most seismically active fault strands of the SJFZ in a region with complicated slip planes near Anza. The low-velocity waveguides inferred from trapped waves extend 15 to 20 km in the length on these active faults and are segmented by the fault discontinuities. The waveguide on the BRF dips south westward to connect the waveguide on the CVF, which dips northeastward. This waveguide extends at the seismogenic depth through Anza slip gap to another low-velocity waveguide on the Casa Loma fault (CLF), which has been delineated in our previous study of the SJFZ using trapped waves [Li et al., 1997]. The waveguide on the CCF in Coyote Mountain is nearly vertical and disconnected from the CLF at the south edge of Anza gap. We interpret the low-velocity waveguides on these active strands to partly result from recent prehistoric significant earthquakes on them and evaluate the future earthquake in the Anza region


For the visible-infrared person re-identification (VIReID) task, one of the major challenges is the modality gaps between visible (VIS) and infrared (IR) images. However, the training samples are usually limited, while the modality gaps are too large, which leads that the existing methods cannot effectively mine diverse cross-modality clues. To handle this limitation, we propose a novel augmentation network in the embedding space, called diverse embedding expansion network (DEEN). The proposed DEEN can effectively generate diverse embeddings to learn the informative feature representations and reduce the modality discrepancy between the VIS and IR images. Moreover, the VIReID model may be seriously affected by drastic illumination changes, while all the existing VIReID datasets are captured under sufficient illumination without significant light changes. Thus, we provide a low-light cross-modality (LLCM) dataset, which contains 46,767 bounding boxes of 1,064 identities captured by 9 RGB/IR cameras. Extensive experiments on the SYSU-MM01, RegDB and LLCM datasets show the superiority of the proposed DEEN over several other state-of-the-art methods. The code and dataset are released at: https://github.com/ZYK100/LLCM


A four-season survey of Trichoptera between April 2008 and January 2009, from 20 sites in 11 rivers flowing off the Tsitsikamma mountains in the Eastern and Western Cape, collected 42,683 adults and 6741 larvae, comprising 48 species in 22 genera and 12 families. Trichoptera were the numerically dominant freshwater macroinvertebrate taxon. Of the species collected, 15 are recognised regional Cape Floristic Realm (CFR) endemics. Some specimens of Trichoptera that could not be recognised as described species are now the subject of further studies. Distinct differences between rivers, in terms of species composition of Trichoptera, were noted. The variation in species composition can be partially explained by the physicochemical and ecological attributes of the rivers surveyed. Anthropogenic disturbances were noted in most of the lower reaches of the rivers. The upper reaches of the rivers could be statistically grouped together and thus be considered as a unit for conservation. The highest diversity, 25 species, was recorded from the pristine upper reaches of the Bobbejaans River. An evaluation of conservation requirements identified a number of threats: increased loads of fine sediment and nutrients, higher water temperature regimes, and changes to pH, from the natural acid (pH < 5.5) to neutral or alkaline conditions. Changes in any of these would be detrimental to the survival of many of the endemic Trichoptera in the CFR, and all of these changes would be exacerbated by decreased water-flow volumes. It is thus important to limit the levels of water abstraction from these rivers: to ensure the maintenance of cool temperature and acidic pH regimes while limiting nutrient levels in the rivers. To maintain conservation of the lower reaches of the rivers it is recommended that an ecologically-functional continuity with upstream reaches is maintained to enable the occupation of all zones of the rivers with a diversity of CFR freshwater endemic species. Some CFR Trichoptera were selected as indicators of favourable conditions for the survival and maintenance of viable populations of other CFR-endemic freshwater species.


ous effect on physical development, health or survival. The organisation of services in thirty-three countries within the European region of WHO are described in this report. An outline of the constitution of each of the countries is given, followed by a summary of environmental protection measures (water, air, noise, solid waste and radiation). Addresses of enforcement agencies follow. One conclusion which may be reached is that there is no preferred administrative system. For example, monitoring of lead may be performed by up to six different bodies.


Implementation of organic transistors in low-end, large-volume microelectronics depends, greatly, on the level of performance that can be achieved, but also on the compatibility of the technology with low-cost processing methodologies. Here we examine the suitability of a family of solution-processable zwitterionic molecules, so-called squarilium dyes, for the fabrication of organic ambipolar transistors and their application in (opto)electronic circuits. Ambipolar organic semiconductors and transistors are interesting because they could deliver performance characteristics (i.e. noise margins and signal gain) similar to that of complementary logic, but with the fabrication simplicity associated with unipolar logic (i.e. single semiconductor material and single type of metal electrodes). By designing squarilium dyes with appropriate electrochemical characteristics we demonstrate single-layer organic transistors that exhibit ambipolar charge transport with balanced electron and hole mobilities. By integrating a number of these ambipolar transistors we are also able to demonstrate complementary-like voltage inverters with wide noise margin and high signal gain. Another interesting feature of the squarilium dyes studied here is their strong absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. By exploring this interesting property we are able to demonstrate NIR light-sensing ambipolar organic transistors with promising operating characteristics.


An important goal in rehabilitation engineering is to develop technology that allows individuals with severe motor impairment to practice arm movement without continuous supervision from a rehabilitation therapist. This paper describes the development of such a system, called Therapy WREX or ("T-WREX"). The system consists of an orthosis that assists in arm movement across a large workspace, a grip sensor that detects hand grip pressure, and software that simulates functional activities. The arm orthosis is an instrumented, adult-sized version of the Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX), which is a five degrees-of-freedom mechanism that passively counterbalances the weight of the arm using elastic bands. After providing a detailed design description of T-WREX, this paper describes two pilot studies of the system's capabilities. The first study demonstrated that individuals with chronic stroke whose arm function is compromised in a normal gravity environment can perform reaching and drawing movements while using T-WREX. The second study demonstrated that exercising the affected arm of five people with chronic stroke with T-WREX over an eight week period improved unassisted movement ability (mean change in Fugl-Meyer score was 5 points plusmn2 SD; mean change in range of motion of reaching was 10%, p<0.001). These results demonstrate the feasibility of automating upper-extremity rehabilitation therapy for people with severe stroke using passive gravity assistance, a grip sensor, and simple virtual reality software


In this second edition of The Economics of Law, an introduction to, and overview of, the economic analysis of law is provided. The text covers the history of the economics of law, the difference between economic and legal reasoning, basic economic concepts, and application of economics to tort and crime, and has been expanded to cover the economics of competition law and regulation. The first edition owas one of the first non-US introductions to the economics of law. This edition has been described by Professor Sam Peltzman, general editor of the Journal of Law & Economics, as the most lucid exposition of the topic I've seen, and I am recommending to all who ask 'what's this law and econ stuff about'.


Much fan speculation about the 1998 Neutral Milk Hotel album In The Aeroplane Over the Sea has culminated in the popular theory that the album is about Anne Frank and her family. Listeners cite song titles such as "Holland, 1945" and lyrics like "Anna's ghost all around," and public instances of Jeff Mangum, the band's songwriter, alluding to being inspired by dreams of a European family from the 1940s. However, a deconstructive analysis of the album itself reveals that what seems like Mangum's manifest dream-content about Anne Frank becomes 'traces' of meaning pursuant to Jacques Derrida, and listeners find themselves at the center of play between lyrical and musical forces, which give rise to various, contradicting interpretations. In an alteration to the song 'Engine,' an outtake from the recording sessions for Aeroplane, Mangum sings, "For I am an engine, and I'm rolling on/through endless revisions to state what I mean." This self-referential adjustment to the lyrics confesses Mangum's struggles to communicate the meanings of his works accurately. With this insight, and Aeroplane's legacy marked by lyrical mysteriousness, the Anne Frank interpretation becomes troublesome and has less chance for stability as a meaning. While Mangum had before hinted that the songs were possibly about Anne Frank, he now gives reason not to trust his role as guarantor of his songs' meanings, and attacks his own authority as author. If the album concerns a Jewish family, lyrics which shout out "I love you Jesus Christ" several times and state that a "world that you need is wrapped in gold silver sleeves left beneath Christmas trees" are problematic, since Judaism generally does not celebrate Jesus Christ or his birth. Further, the instrumentation also stands in contrast to an easy interpretive experience. If the album concerns Anne Frank, it reflects on her death after she has passed, with a sense of longing. But the instrumentation is often wild, rowdy, and unconventional. These arrangements often amount to lively and inventive or bold horn movements, only to contrast with lyrics supposedly about saving a dead girl and her family. The popular interpretation fans cling to overlooks the peculiar, deliberate oppositions the album establishes, by which it destabilizes itself and evades a single interpretation, and rather invites multiple interpretations. A fixed meaning is elusive with regard to the present contradictions, and any meaning-possibility arises from a Derridean play of the album's polar forces.


In 158 obese children, aged from three months to 15 years, blood glucose, immunoreactive insulin, and free fatty acid levels were measured during a standard oral glucose tolerance test carried out prior to treatment. The results were analyzed for the total sample as well as for three age groups: 0–5 years, 6–10 years, and 11–15 years and compared with those of 70 normal-weight children matched for age and sex. Glucose tolerance is normal in the obese children. It is different from the controls only two hours after glucose loading, when a slight but significant elevation is found. The glucose levels at one and two hours are significantly higher in the obese children of group III than in the younger ones. Fasting F.F.A. levels are similar in normal and obese children, but the F.F.A. decrease following glucose absorption is significantly diminished in the obese. The F.F.A. levels of the youngest obese are significantly higher than those of the older ones. A constant and important hyperinsulinism, fasting and postabsorptive, is demonstrated in obese children of all ages, even before five years and at the beginning of obesity. Age- and sex-related differences in insulin secretion are much more marked in the obese than in normal children. The degree of hyperinsulinemia is related to the degree of obesity, but not to its duration. The results suggest that hyperinsulinism is associated with obesity from its onset rather than being a long-term consequence of overweight. However, the origin of hyperinsulinism in obesity and the mechanism of insulin resistance still remain obscure.


Abstract. Computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) aim to assist administration and maintenance agents in their asset maintenance tasks (e.g., building, network, air conditioning, faucets maintenance). In this context, geospatial data can help to have a better understanding of the assets they represent by providing additional information: spatial, thematic, temporal, or inter-object relationships. Using such information often leads to interoperability issues as different domains describe them with different data models, like Building Information Modeling (using the Industry Foundation Classes format) and Geographic Information System (using the CityGML format). Spatial information, and particularly 2D or 3D geometry, are stored using heterogeneous representations (e.g., triangle soup, boundary representation, sweep volume, composite solids). Visualization and navigation in the information provided by multiple data sources remain a problem, as there is a need to understand the domains, languages, and models used to describe them. Furthermore, there is a need for solutions to integrate geometric data to manage and visualize existing 2D or 3D representations of assets in geospatial data stores while being able to retrieve additional information using semantic data stores. We propose, in this paper, a methodology to integrate heterogeneous geospatial data in the same viewer by transforming geometric data to a standardized format while keeping a link to sources, in order to navigate in the context of an asset by visualizing its spatial and thematic information.


This paper examines the digital ecodynamics of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a configurational approach to explain the competitive performance –innovation and internationalization performance – of these firms. Digital ecodynamics refer to the interplay between the triad of information technology (IT) ambidexterity, dynamic capabilities, and environmental uncertainty. A configurational approach involves a systems perspective of IT 'fit' in which variables are viewed in combination, forming configurations that generate the outcome of interest. The idea is to capture configurations of digital ecodynamics that account for the nonlinear complex interplay of its three constitutive elements as they jointly affect competitive performance. In doing so, we further distinguish between IT capabilities for exploitation that are oriented on the firm's productivity, and IT capabilities for exploration that are oriented on innovation. This paper theoretically combines configurational theory with the resource-based view, fit, and ambidexterity. A survey of 140 SMEs serves to test the proposed hypotheses. Three configurations characterize SMEs' digital ecodynamics and have consequences for performance. Configurations I and III positively influence innovation performance whereas Configuration I positively influences internationalization performance, demonstrating the equifinal properties of configurational theory. Furthermore, configurations that give priority to exploration goals through their IT capabilities show better competitive performance.


We have previously observed less muscle fatigue in women than men under conditions of intact circulation, but similar fatigue across the sexes during local ischemia. Thus, we hypothesized that women utilize their aerobic metabolic pathways to a greater extent than do men. To test this hypothesis, we examined the extent to which different pathways of intramuscular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production were utilized by men and women during maximal voluntary isometric contractions. Force production during 15‐s and 60‐s contractions were recorded in parallel sessions. In one session, central activation was assessed with electrical stimulation. In the other, phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to quantify muscle oxidative capacity, and the contributions of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation to ATP synthesis during the 60‐s contraction. Fatigue and central activation were similar in men and women during both the 15‐s and 60‐s contractions. The rate constants of phosphocreatine recovery following the 15‐s contraction were similar in men and women, indicating similar oxidative capacities. Men exhibited greater acidosis and peak glycolytic rates compared with women during the 60‐s contraction, with no differences observed in creatine kinase flux or the percent of oxidative capacity utilized. We conclude that men exhibit greater in vivo glycolysis during brief, intense isometric contractions. Although this metabolic difference did not contribute to any observable differences in fatigue in the present study, these results highlight a potentially important mechanism to explain sex‐related differences in muscle function. Muscle Nerve, 2005


The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of length of dry period on rumen papillae dimensions of dairy cows around parturition. Twelve rumen-cannulated Holstein dairy cows were assigned to a dry period length of 60 (G60), 30 (G30) or 0 (G0) days. The experiment started 60 d before expected calving date and lasted until wk 8 postpartum for each individual cow. Cows received ad libitum forage mixtures of corn silage, grass silage and straw (containing 12% CP, 5.3 MJ NEL/kg DM for dry cows and 15% CP, 6.4 MJ NEL/kg DM for lactating cows). Concentrates were fed individually starting 10 d antepartum with 1.0 kg/d, gradually increasing up to 8.5 kg/d at d17 postpartum. Milk yield and DMI were recorded daily. The rumen contents of each cow were evacuated at wk-9, wk-6, wk-2, d3, d7, d14, d28 and d56 relative to parturition. At each time, biopsies were taken to determine papillae dimensions at 3 locations: the right dorsal sac cranially of the dorsal coronary groove (DS), the right wall of the caudodorsal blind sac (DB) and the ventral wall of the caudoventral blind sac (VB). Treatment effects were tested by mixed model analysis using REML procedure. Data are presented as means ± SE. Mean DMI postpartum was 21.2, 22.2 and 23.7 (±0.6 kg/d) for G60, G0 and G30 respectively (P <0.05). Average daily milk yield postpartum was significantly lower for G0 (P <0.05) compared with G30 or G60 (35.1 vs. 41.4 and 41.8 ± 3.1 kg/d, respectively). For cows with a dry period (G30 and G60), papillae surface area decreased prepartum (P <0.05). More importantly, during the first 2 weeks postpartum the papillae growth was significantly delayed for G60 compared with G30; mean papilla surface was 42.5, 58.6 and 60.6 (±7.1, P <0.05) mm2 for G60, G30 and G0 respectively. Irrespective of treatment, rumen papillae were largest at VB and smallest at DS and papilla surface increased approximately 50% postpartum (P <0.05). In conclusion, a shortened dry period of 30 vs. 60 d increases papillae surface in the first weeks of lactation and herewith may improve absorption capacity of volatile fatty acids, without a negative effect on milk yield as found with 0 d dry.


Wheat, (Triticum species) a cereal grass of the Gramineae (Poaceae) family, is the world's largest edible grain cereal-grass crop. Wheat has been a food crop for mankind since the beginning of agriculture. For over fifty years, researchers have known that the cereal plant, at this young green stage, is many times richer in the levels of vitamins, minerals and proteins as compared to seed kernel, or grain products of the mature cereal plant. The young germinated plant is a factory of enzyme and growth activity. In the early stages of growth they store large amounts of vitamins and proteins in the young blades. After jointing stage, the nutritional level in the leaves drops rapidly while the fiber content increases rapidly. Agriculturally, important species of Triticum include - Triticum aestivum, Triticum durum and Triticum dicoccum. Wheatgrass has been traditionally used, since ancient times, to treat various diseases and disorders. Presently, there are number of wheatgrass suppliers, in almost all cities of India, supply fresh wheatgrass, on daily basis to their regular customers by home-delivery system for various ailments and as a health tonic. Dr. Ann Wigmore, U. S. A. founder director of the Hippocrates Health Institute, Boston, U.S.A. was one of the proponents of the ''Wheatgrass Therapy'. Dr. Wigmore claimed that wheatgrass is a safe and effective treatment for ailments such as high blood pressure, some cancers, obesity, diabetes, gastritis, ulcers, anemia, asthma and eczema. Scientific reports on nutritional analysis of wheatgrass have been published frequently in various journals. These reports and the chemical analyses undertaken reveal that wheatgrass is rich in chlorophyll, minerals like magnesium, selenium, zinc, chromium, antioxidants like beta-carotene (provitamin A), vitamin E, vitamin C, antianemic factors like vitamin B12, iron, folic acid, pyridoxine and many other minerals, amino acids and enzymes, which have significant nutritious and medicinal value.


A mainlobe maintenance method based on shrinkage estimator is presented here to promote the adaptive digital beamforming performance when there exists mainlobe jamming (MLJ). First, block matrix preprocessing (BMP) method is applied to suppress the MLJ. Then, the linear combination of estimated covariance matrix and identity matrix is optimised to generate more accurate estimation of the covariance matrix. After that, the improved covariance matrix is utilised to generate the adaptive weights to suppress the sidelobe jamming. Finally, the simulation shows that the proposed method is capable of eliminating peak offset of mainlobe and high sidelobes introduced by BMP and provides robustness against finite data samples effects. Accordingly, it outperforms noise whitening with error compensation, diagonal loading, and robust covariance matrix reconstruction in output SINR.


The commensal microbiota of fish skin is suspected to provide a protection against opportunist infections. The skin of fish harbors a complex and diverse microbiota that closely interacts with the surrounding water microbial communities. Up to now there is no clear evidence as to whether the host regulates the recruitment of environmental bacteria to build a specific skin microbiota. To address this question, we detected Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) associated with the abundance of specific skin microbiota bacterial strains in brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis), combining 16S RNA tagged-amplicon 454 pyrosequencing with genetic linkage analysis. Skin microbiota analysis revealed high inter-individual variation among 86 F2 fish progeny based upon the relative abundance of bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Out of those OTUs, the pathogenic strain Flavobacterium psychrophilum and the non-pathogenic strain Methylobacterium rhodesianum explained the majority of inter-individual distances. Furthermore, a strong negative correlation was found between Flavobacterium and Methylobacterium, suggesting a mutually competitive relationship. Finally, after considering a total of 266 markers, genetic linkage analysis highlighted three major QTL associated with the abundance of Lysobacter, Rheinheimera and Methylobacterium. All these three genera are known for their beneficial antibacterial activity. Overall, our results provide evidence that host genotype may regulate the abundance of specific genera among their surface microbiota. They also indicate that Lysobacter, Rheinheimera and Methylobacterium are potentially important genera in providing protection against pathogens.


The children of today are the adults of tomorrow. The children of today are the leaders of tomorrow. One of the effective way to construct a sustainable society is to pay attention to early childhood: to ensure adequate care and development for all children and to teach them the kinds of knowledge, skills and values – such as empathy, sharing, respect for others, love for nature – that promote sustainability from a very early age. The importance of the first years of a human being in constructing the basis of the personality, the values and attitudes that will guide thoughts, feelings and behaviour of human beings for the rest of their life. The children are very sensitive, interested and curious about the elements of nature, early childhood education, from its early beginning, should include in the programme creative experiences and exploratory activities with elements such as plants, flowers, seeds, water, fire and wind. Recently, teachers and children in education and care centres have been discussing and observing environmental problems. They are emotionally touched by, and intellectually interested in it. It is necessary that the government and politicians acknowledge the importance of early education in building up a sustainable society. The United Nations, international organizations and national governments have been obtaining good results in creating a consciousness about the seriousness of the problems that are placing life on our planet at risk. People are becoming more sensitive to the dangers threatening the environment. However, they have not realized that childhood is a privileged time to create a new attitude of care, respect and sustainability of life on our planet. The aim of this paper is to analyse the importance of early childhood education for a sustainable society.

Keywords: Childhood Education, Sustainable Society, knowledge, skills


Background Demographic growth in conjunction with the rise of chronic diseases is increasing the pressure on health care systems in most OECD countries. Physical activity is known to be an essential factor in improving or maintaining good health. Walking is especially recommended, as it is an activity that can easily be performed by most people without constraints. Pedometers have been extensively used as an incentive to motivate people to become more active. However, a recognized problem with these devices is their diminishing accuracy associated with decreased walking speed. The arrival on the consumer market of new devices, worn indifferently either at the waist, wrist, or as a necklace, gives rise to new questions regarding their accuracy at these different positions. Objective Our objective was to assess the performance of 4 pedometers (iHealth activity monitor, Withings Pulse O2, Misfit Shine, and Garmin vívofit) and compare their accuracy according to their position worn, and at various walking speeds. Methods We conducted this study in a controlled environment with 21 healthy adults required to walk 100 m at 3 different paces (0.4 m/s, 0.6 m/s, and 0.8 m/s) regulated by means of a string attached between their legs at the level of their ankles and a metronome ticking the cadence. To obtain baseline values, we asked the participants to walk 200 m at their own pace. Results A decrease of accuracy was positively correlated with reduced speed for all pedometers (12% mean error at self-selected pace, 27% mean error at 0.8 m/s, 52% mean error at 0.6 m/s, and 76% mean error at 0.4 m/s). Although the position of the pedometer on the person did not significantly influence its accuracy, some interesting tendencies can be highlighted in 2 settings: (1) positioning the pedometer at the waist at a speed greater than 0.8 m/s or as a necklace at preferred speed tended to produce lower mean errors than at the wrist position; and (2) at a slow speed (0.4 m/s), pedometers worn at the wrist tended to produce a lower mean error than in the other positions. Conclusions At all positions, all tested pedometers generated significant errors at slow speeds and therefore cannot be used reliably to evaluate the amount of physical activity for people walking slower than 0.6 m/s (2.16 km/h, or 1.24 mph). At slow speeds, the better accuracy observed with pedometers worn at the wrist could constitute a valuable line of inquiry for the future development of devices adapted to elderly people.


Electrically conductive polymeric materials have recently attracted considerable interest from academic and industrial researchers to explore their potential in biomedical applications such as in biosensors, drug delivery systems, biomedical implants and tissue engineering. Conventional conductive homopolymers such as polypyrrole and PEDOT show promising conductivity for these applications, however their mechanical properties, biocompatibility and processability are often poor. This has led to more recent attention being directed towards conductive polymeric composites comprised of biostable/biocompatible polymers with dispersed conductive fillers such as graphene, carbon nanotubes and metallic nanoparticles. The major objective of this paper is to provide an up to date review of the recent investigations conducted in the development of conductive polymer composites focussing on the methods of their preparation, underlying concepts of their conductivity and the ways to tailor their properties. Furthermore, recent progress made in conventional conducting polymers and their composites/blends for biomedical applications is also discussed.


SN 1999aw was discovered during the first campaign of the Nearby Galaxies Supernova Search project. This luminous, slow-declining [Δm15(B) = 0.81 ± 0.03] Type Ia supernova was noteworthy in at least two respects. First, it occurred in an extremely low luminosity host galaxy that was not visible in the template images nor in initial subsequent deep imaging. Second, the photometric and spectral properties of this supernova indicate that it very likely was similar to the subclass of Type Ia supernovae whose prototype is SN 1999aa. This paper presents the BVRI and JsHKs light curves of SN 1999aw (through ∼100 days past maximum light), as well as several epochs of optical spectra. From these data, we calculate the bolometric light curve and give estimates of the luminosity at maximum light and the initial 56Ni mass. In addition, we present deep BVI images obtained recently with the Baade 6.5 m telescope at Las Campanas Observatory that reveal the remarkably low-luminosity host galaxy.


We used a single-energy x-ray method and an image processing system to measure the amount of calcium salts deposited in 60 human aortas (41 male and 19 female) of ages 15-88 y. The aortas were removed at autopsy, slit lengthwise and preserved in formalin. The aortas were x-rayed while flat, together with a calibration block containing known amounts of CaHPO4. We determined the amount of calcium salt, referenced to CaHPO4, from the x-ray film with a personal computer using a frame-grabbing board. There was less calcium in the thoracic than the abdominal aorta both in males and females and those of ages less than 50 y. The coefficient of correlation for abdominal aortic calcium mass versus age in 19 females was 0.557 and in 41 males was 0.321. The higher correlation of mass with age for females may be related to differences in calcium metabolism between sexes.


Representational media are everywhere in children's daily lives: the photos on the wall, the videos shown on TV, and the picture books children read. In order to foster better learning and develop more age-appropriate interactive media for children, prior researchers have explored young children's ability to understand these representational media, including photos and videos. In the current study, 24-month-olds' ability to utilize and apply information from video and pictures to solve tasks in the real world was tested. Replicating two of the conditions in Troseth, Saylor, and Archer (2006)'s study, the current study investigated if a five-minute interactive, contingent video experience could facilitate children's use of information from video to solve an object retrieval task, compared to a controlled group. As a transfer task, children participated in an object retrieval task using photos on the following day. This task explored whether experience with contingent video (video chat) would promote children's understanding of representations more generally. A significant positive correlation was found between children's performance on the first day and the second day, and children's language skill also displayed a significant positive correlation with children's performance. However, children in the interactive video condition in the current study did not perform as well as in the Troseth et al. (2006) study. With the support from a follow-up CCTV condition (with a full-sized video screen), it was conjectured that the children's lower performance in the video condition resulted from a lack of parental support while co-viewing the video chat with their child. TODDLERS' REPRESENTATIONAL INSIGHT 3 Can 24-Month-Old Toddlers Transfer Their Representational Insights from Video to Pictures?


The etiology of fatal catatonia, characterized by an agitated psychosis of acute onset which frequently ends in hyperthermia and death, has puzzled clinicians for many years. Controversy has centered around its relationship to schizophrenia. A case report is presented of a man who seemed to have acute schizophrenia, later developing catatonic features; he became hyperthermic and died after nine days despite electroconvulsive therapy and medical support. Postmortem examination revealed microscopic changes in the central nervous system consistent with viral encephalitis. We suggest fatal catatonia may on occasion be the result of a virus acting on the limbic area in particular. Psychiatric presentation and rapid deterioration would create difficulties in diagnosis and management.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Although diabetes occurs frequently in pancreatic cancer, the value of new-onset diabetes as a marker of underlying pancreatic cancer is unknown.

METHODS
We assembled a population-based cohort of 2122 Rochester, Minnesota, residents age > or =50 years who first met standardized criteria for diabetes between January 1, 1950, and December 31, 1994, and identified those who developed pancreatic cancer within 3 years of meeting criteria for diabetes. We compared observed rates of pancreatic cancer with expected rates based on the Iowa Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results registry. In a nested case control study, we compared body mass index (BMI) and smoking status in diabetes subjects with and without pancreatic cancer.

RESULTS
Of 2122 diabetic subjects, 18 (0.85%) were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer within 3 years of meeting criteria for diabetes; 10 of 18 (56%) were diagnosed <6 months after first meeting criteria for diabetes, and 3 were resected. The observed-to-expected ratio of pancreatic cancer in the cohort was 7.94 (95% CI, 4.70-12.55). Compared with subjects without pancreatic cancer, diabetic subjects with pancreatic cancer were more likely to have met diabetes criteria after age 69 (OR = 4.52, 95% CI, 1.61-12.74) years but did not differ significantly with respect to BMI values (29.2 +/- 6.8 vs 26.5 +/- 5.0, respectively). A larger proportion of those who developed pancreatic cancer were ever smokers (92% vs 69%, respectively), but this did not reach statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS
Approximately 1% of diabetes subjects aged > or =50 years will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer within 3 years of first meeting criteria for diabetes. The usefulness of new-onset diabetes as marker of early pancreatic cancer needs further evaluation.


The effect of high intensity (photosynthesis-saturating) light on the optical properties of the bacteriochlorophyll and the light-induced H+ uptake by R. rubrum chromatophores was studied. It was shown that under aerobic conditions illumination causes reversible inhibition (in the dark) of the chromatophore ability for the light-induced uptake of H+, a reversible inhibition of the photosynthetical reaction center function and irreversible bleaching of the antennal bacteriochlorophyll. A kinetic comparison of spectral effects and reversible changes in pH as well as the effects of atmospheric oxygen and exogenous electron donors suggests that inhibition of photoactivity of the chromatophores upon illumination is due to accumulation of oxidized bacteriochlorophyll in the reaction center.


Based on the divide‐and‐conquer method in the density‐functional theory, an efficient approach is developed to compute analytically the energy gradients with respect to the nuclear coordinates. Tests performed show that both energy gradients and optimized molecular geometry converge to the corresponding results of the Kohn–Sham method when the nearest neighbor contributions are increased.


We address an approximation method for Gaussian process (GP) regression, where we approximate covariance by a block matrix such that diagonal blocks are calculated exactly while off-diagonal blocks are approximated. Partitioning input data points, we present a two-layer hierarchical model for GP regression, where prototypes of clusters in the upper layer are involved for coarse modeling by a GP and data points in each cluster in the lower layer are involved for fine modeling by an individual GP whose prior mean is given by the corresponding prototype and covariance is parameterized by data points in the partition. In this hierarchical model, integrating out latent variables in the upper layer leads to a block covariance matrix, where diagonal blocks contain similarities between data points in the same partition and off-diagonal blocks consist of approximate similarities calculated using prototypes. This particular structure of the covariance matrix divides the full GP into a pieces of manageable sub-problems whose complexity scales with the number of data points in a partition. In addition, our hierarchical GP regression (HGPR) is also useful for cases where partitions of data reveal different characteristics. Experiments on several benchmark datasets confirm the useful behavior of our method.


This paper seeks to explain the extraordinary violence of modern-day organized white supremacism in the United States. We begin on a conceptual level by distinguishing the racial ideologies and violence associated with modern racist movements from the racism and racial violence expressed in daily life in highly racialized and racially unequal societies. We then move to an empirical level by using our interviews with a broad set of former racist activists to explore how violence is caused by—and also can cause—the vicious racist ideologies of modern white supremacism.


My thesis is that languages and frameworks can and should be designed to make it easier for programmers to write reviewably secure systems. A system is reviewably secure if its security is easy for an experienced programmer to verify, given access to the source code. A security reviewer should be able, with a reasonable amount of effort, to gain confidence that such a system meets its stated security goals. This dissertation includes work on on language subsetting and web application framework design.
It presents Joe-E, a subset of the Java programming language designed to enforce object-capability security, simplifying the task of verifying a variety of security properties by enabling sound, local reasoning. Joe-E also enforces determinism-by-default, which permits functionally-pure methods to be identified by their signature. Functional purity is a useful property that can greatly simplify the task of correctly implementing and reasoning about application code. A number of applications of the Joe-E language are presented and evaluated.
The second part of this dissertation presents tool and framework enhancements for improving the security of web applications. I present techniques for retrofitting existing web applications to use template systems effectively to prevent cross-site scripting and content injection vulnerabilities while preserving functionality. I also show how HTML templates can be rewritten to normalize their output, improving the assurance of security provided by automatic escaping and other static analyses.
These two applications of my thesis demonstrate that practical enhancements to languages and frameworks can support developers in creating more secure software that is easier to review. Continued improvement in language and framework support for reviewability is a promising approach toward improving the security provided by modern software.


Purpose Capacity for change, or the ability and willingness to undertake change, is an organizational characteristic with potential to foster quality management in health care. We report on the development and psychometric properties of a quantitative measure of capacity for change for use in primary care settings. Methods Following review of previous conceptual and empirical studies, we generated 117 items that assessed organizational structure, climate, and culture. Using information from direct observation and key informant interviews, a research team member rated these items for 15 primary care practices engaged in a quality improvement intervention. Distributional statistics, pairwise correlation analysis, Rasch modeling, and item content review guided item reduction and instrument finalization. Reliability and convergent validity were assessed. Results Ninety-two items were removed because of limited response distributions and redundancy or because of poor Rasch model fit. The final instrument comprising 25 items had excellent reliability (α = .94). A Rasch model-derived capacity for change score correlated well with an independently determined, qualitatively derived summary assessment of each practice's capacity for change (ρS = 0.82), suggesting good convergent validity. Conclusion We describe a new instrument for quantifying organizational capacity for change in primary care settings. The ability to quantify capacity for change may enable better recognition of practices likely to be successful in their change efforts and those first requiring capacity building prior to change interventions.


Pulmonary function studies performed in seven patients who had recovered from 'shock lung' showed a highly significant decrease of diffusing properties of the lung, a slight loss of lung recoil pressure, and a borderline increase of residual volume with normal vital capacity and total lung capacity. Pulmonary compliance was normal. The interpretation of these findings is discussed.


Varroa mite, Varroa destructor is the most important ectoparasite of the honey bee, Apis mellifera worldwide, contributing to colony collapse. The development of alternative non-toxic methods against this pest is needed, as most of the wide-used acaricides in apiculture are banned in the European Union, which increase the risk of developing resistant mite populations against the remaining few products. In order to reveal biological basis of a new, semiochemical-based method, the aim of this study was to search for olfactory stimuli, used by female Varroa mites in orienting to drone brood for egglaying. Volatiles of uncapped drone brood were collected in situ, inside bee-hives, using either charcoal, or HayeSep® Q filters. Collections were analyzed by gas chromatograph linked to an electrotarsogram detector (GC-ETD), using the foreleg of female mite. Results showed that most components were present in collections trapped by any of these filters. However, some components appreared only in charcoal-, while others only in HayeSep® collections, respectively. Out of the large number of components, a few elicited electrophysiological responses. Structure elucidation of these active components are underways. Futher behavioral studies should reveal, which components play role in attraction of Varroa mites.


We have isolated and characterized a new human cDNA, coding for a protein kinase, related to the protein kinase C (PKC) gene family. Although this protein kinase shares some homologous sequences and structural features with the four members of the PKC family initially isolated (alpha, beta I, beta II, and gamma), it shows more homology with the recently described PKC-related subfamily, encoded by the cDNAs delta, epsilon, and zeta. The transcript for this gene product, termed PKC-L, is most abundant in lung tissue, less expressed in heart and skin tissue, and exhibited very low expression in brain tissue. Thus, its tissue distribution is different from that described for other mammalian members of the PKC gene family, their expression being enriched in brain tissues. PKC-L is also expressed in several human cell lines, including the human epidermoid carcinoma line A431. The ability of phorbol esters to bind to and stimulate the kinase activity of PKC-L was revealed by introducing the cDNA into COS cells.


In this paper, microstrip-fed slot antennas with suppressed harmonics are proposed. To obtain this operation, conductor lines connected with ground plane are inserted in slot antennas. To verify the validation of the proposed antennas, the equivalent circuit analysis is presented. Also, the miniaturization and bandwidth enhancement of the antenna for various applica- tions are achieved and analyzed through parameter study. From the measured return losses, input impedances, and radiation patterns, it is shown that the proposed antennas offer excellent harmonic suppression characteristic in harmonic bandwidth including the second and third harmonic frequencies. Index Terms—Bandstop, harmonic suppression, miniaturiza- tion, slot antennas, wideband.


OBJECTIVE To describe a minimally invasive 3-portal laparoscopic approach for elective ovariohysterectomy and the outcome of that procedure in a population of goats. DESIGN Descriptive clinical study. ANIMALS 16 healthy client-owned goats. PROCEDURES Food but not water was withheld from all goats for 24 hours before the procedure. Goats were anesthetized and positioned in dorsal recumbency. Three laparoscopic portals were created in the caudoventral portion of the abdomen, and the abdomen was insufflated to a maximum pressure of 10 mm Hg. A blunt-tip vessel sealer and divider device was used to transect the left and right mesovarium and mesometrium and uterus, and the resected tissue was removed from the abdomen. After hemostasis was verified, the portals were closed in a routine manner and anesthesia was discontinued. Goats were discharged from the hospital 24 hours after the procedure, and owners were contacted by telephone or email to obtain short- and long-term follow-up information by use of standardized questions. RESULTS All procedures were performed by a surgeon and assistant surgeon. The procedure was not complex and was easily learned. No intraoperative complications were reported, and only 1 goat required rescue analgesia post-operatively. No other postoperative complications were recorded. Median surgery time was 43 minutes (range, 20 to 65 minutes). All owners were satisfied with the outcome of the procedure, and several perceived that the procedure improved goat behavior. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Results indicated that laparoscopic ovariohysterectomy was a viable alternative for elective sterilization of female goats.


Abstract. The Neotropical Andean grasslands above 3500 m a.s.l., known as paramo, offer remarkable ecological services for the Andean region. The most important of these is the water supply of excellent quality to many cities and villages in the inter-Andean valleys and along the coast. The paramo ecosystem and especially its soils are under constant and increased threat by human activities and climate change. In this study, the recovery speed of the paramo soils after drought periods are analysed. The observation period includes the droughts of 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 together with intermediate wet periods. Two experimental catchments – one with and one without paramo – were investigated. The Probability Distributed Moisture (PDM) model was calibrated and validated in both catchments. Drought periods and its characteristics were identified and quantified by a threshold level approach and complemented by means of a drought propagation analysis. At the plot scale in the paramo region, the soil water content measured by time domain reflectometry (TDR) probes dropped from a normal value of about 0.84 to  ∼ 0.60 cm3 cm−3, while the recovery time was 2–3 months. This did not occur at lower altitudes (Cumbe) where the soils are mineral. Although the soil moisture depletion observed in these soils was similar to that of the Andosols (27 %), decreasing from a normal value of about 0.54 to  ∼ 0.39 cm3 cm−3, the recovery was much slower and took about 8 months for the drought in 2010. At the catchment scale, however, the soil water storage simulated by the PDM model and the drought analysis was not as pronounced. Soil moisture droughts occurred mainly in the dry season in both catchments. The deficit for all cases is small and progressively reduced during the wet season. Vegetation stress periods correspond mainly to the months of September, October and November, which coincides with the dry season. The maximum number of consecutive dry days were reached during the drought of 2009 and 2010 (19 and 22 days), which can be considered to be a long period in the paramo. The main factor in the hydrological response of these experimental catchments is the precipitation relative to the potential evapotranspiration. As the soils never became extremely dry nor close to the wilting point, the soil water storage capacity had a secondary influence.


The topographic evolution of continents and especially the growth and dismembering of mountain ranges plays a major role in the tectonic evolution of orogenic systems, as well as in regional or global climate changes. A large number of studies have concentrated on the description, quantification and dating of relief building in active mountain ranges. However, deciphering the topographic evolution of a continental area submitted to recurrent tectonic deformation over several hundred millions of years remains a challenge. Here we present a synthesis of the tectonic, geochronological and sedimentological data available on the intracontinental Tian Shan Range to describe its general topographic evolution from Late Palaeozoic to Early Tertiary. We show that this evolution has occurred in two very distinct geodynamic settings, initiating during the Carboniferous in an ocean subduction - continent collision tectonic context before becoming, from Early Permian, purely intra-continental. We show that during most of the Mesozoic, the topography is mostly characterized by a progressive general decrease of the relief. Nonetheless localized, recurrent deformation induced the formation of small-scale reliefs during that period. These deformations were driven by far field effects of possibly several geodynamic processes in a way that still remains to be fully understood.


1,3-Butadiene (BD) is an important industrial and environmental chemical classified as a human carcinogen based on epidemiologic studies in occupationally exposed workers and animal studies in laboratory rats and mice. BD is metabolically activated to three epoxides that can react with nucleophilic sites in biomolecules. Among these, 1,2,3,4-diepoxybutane (DEB) is considered the ultimate carcinogen due to its high genotoxicity and mutagenicity attributed to its ability to form DNA-DNA cross-links. Our laboratory has developed quantitative high-performance liquid chromatography-muESI(+)-tandem mass spectrometry methods for two DEB-specific DNA-DNA cross-links, 1,4-bis-(guan-7-yl)-2,3-butanediol (bis-N7G-BD) and 1-(guan-7-yl)-4-(aden-1-yl)-2,3-butanediol (N7G-N1A-BD). This report describes molecular dosimetry analysis of these adducts in tissues of B6C3F1 mice and F344 rats exposed to a range of BD concentrations (0-625 ppm). Much higher (4- to 10-fold) levels of DEB-DNA cross-links were observed in mice compared with rats exposed to the same BD concentrations. In both species, bis-N7G-BD levels were 1.5- to 4-fold higher in the liver than in other tissues examined. Interestingly, tissues of female animals exposed to BD contained higher concentrations of bis-N7G-BD adducts than tissues of male animals, which is in accord with previously reported differences in tumor incidence. The molecular dosimetry data presented herein suggest that species and gender differences observed in BD-induced cancer are directly related to differences in the extent of BD metabolism to DEB. Furthermore, a rat model of sensitivity to BD may be more appropriate than a mouse model for assessing human risk associated with BD exposure, because rats and humans seem to be similar with respect to DEB formation.


The aim of a cooperative system is to coordinate and support group activities. Cooperative Systems Design Language (CSDL) is an experimental language designed to support the development of cooperative systems from specification to implementation. In CSDL, a system is defined as a collection of reusable entities implementing floor control disciplines and shared workspaces. CSDL tries to address the difficulties of integrating different aspects of cooperative systems: cooperation control, communication, and system modularization. This paper presents CSDL as a specification language. Basic units are coordinators that can be combined hierarchically. A coordinator is composed of a specification, a body, and a context. The specification defines the cooperation policy; the body controls the underlying communication channels; and the context defines coordinators' interaction in modular systems. >


Speech perception is characterized by categorical perception of phonemes. Certain speech sounds varying along the continuous acoustic dimension known as voice onset time (VOT) are perceived as either voiced /b/ or unvoiced /p/ phonemes by English listeners. A third VOT prevoiced /p/ phoneme category is used in Thai and is indistinct from the /b/ category in English. Some listeners can learn to perceive speech sounds belonging this third VOT category with a small amount of training. The cognitive mechanisms underlying the variation in individuals' ability to perceive the prevoiced /p/ phoneme are not well understood. The current experiment investigated the role of attention and working-memory in facilitating listeners' ability to learn to perceive the prevoiced /p/ phoneme. A consistent relationship between attentional and workingmemory measures and prevoiced perceptual learning was not found. Musical ability was a good predictor of performance on a prevoiced phoneme identification task.


Dynamically substructured systems (DSS) play an important role in modern testing methods. DSS enables full-size critical components of a complete system to be tested physically in realtime, while the remaining parts of the system run in parallel as a real-time simulation. The performance of DSS testing is influenced by the synchronization of the physical and numerical substructures, which necessitates the design of a DSS controller. Since the testing signal is known and can be assumed to be a perfectly measured disturbance, the DSS control can be viewed as a regulation control problem with measured disturbance attenuation. A potential problem with DSS control arises from actuator saturation, which can be encountered in DSS transfer systems and can significantly influence the testing accuracy. This paper demonstrates the application of a novel robust disturbance rejection antiwindup (AW) technique, to cope with the actuator saturation problem in DSS. Implementation results from a hydraulically-actuated DSS test rig confirm the advantage of using this novel approach over some other existing AW approaches. Furthermore, some specific practical issues are discussed for the AW compensator design, such as the tuning of parameters.


Abstract Scholars have long debated whether nuclear superiority or the balance of resolve shapes the probability of victory in nuclear crises, but they have not clearly articulated a mechanism linking superiority to victory, nor have they systematically analyzed the entire universe of empirical cases. Beginning from a nuclear brinkmanship theory framework, I develop a new theory of nuclear crisis outcomes, which links nuclear superiority to victory in nuclear crises precisely through its effect on the balance of resolve. Using a new data set on fifty-two nuclear crisis dyads, I show that states that enjoy nuclear superiority over their opponents are more likely to win nuclear crises. I also find some support for the idea that political stakes shape crisis outcomes. These findings hold even after controlling for conventional military capabilities and for selection into nuclear crises. This article presents a new theoretical explanation, and the first comprehensive empirical examination, of nuclear crisis outcomes.


In modern robots and industrial machine tools, acceleration times begin to prevail over cruising times. This paper demonstrates the important relations between acceleration shape and the various characteristics of a drive system. These characteristics are mainly power dissipation, speed and mechanical lifetime. An electrical model gives an easy and direct way to analyse various systems


In an effort to increase staff engagement and opportunities for greater two-way communication between managers and staff, a strategic plan was developed involving administration of an agency-wide staff satisfaction survey. A comprehensive survey was administered to nearly 1700 employees throughout the agency, which encompasses several diverse bureaus ranging from child and family services, aging and adult services, and a workforce investment board. The online survey included 36 questions aimed at gathering staff perspectives on job satisfaction, work expectations, supervision, and information sharing within the agency. 825 employees responded to the survey, and findings were analyzed and shared agency-wide. Results of the survey have been used to inform ongoing agency change and to facilitate continued engagement of staff in organizational goals and initiatives.


Despite significant progress in recent years, the evolution of commons over the long run remains an under-explored area within commons studies. During the last years an international team of historians have worked under the umbrella of the Common Rules Project in order to design and test a new methodology aimed at advancing our knowledge on the dynamics of institutions for collective action – in particular commons. This project aims to contribute to the current debate on commons on three different fronts. Theoretically, it explicitly draws our attention to issues of change and adaptation in the commons – contrasting with more static analyses. Empirically, it highlights the value of historical records as a rich source of information for longitudinal analysis of the functioning of commons. Methodologically, it develops a systematic way of analyzing and comparing commons' regulations across regions and time, setting a number of variables that have been defined on the basis of the "most common denominators" in commons regulation across countries and time periods. In this paper we introduce the project, describe our sources and methodology, and present the preliminary results of our analysis.


Background: Americans have a shorter life expectancy compared with residents of almost all other high-income countries. We aim to estimate the impact of lifestyle factors on premature mortality and life expectancy in the US population. Methods: Using data from the Nurses' Health Study (1980–2014; n=78 865) and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986–2014, n=44 354), we defined 5 low-risk lifestyle factors as never smoking, body mass index of 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2, ≥30 min/d of moderate to vigorous physical activity, moderate alcohol intake, and a high diet quality score (upper 40%), and estimated hazard ratios for the association of total lifestyle score (0–5 scale) with mortality. We used data from the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys; 2013–2014) to estimate the distribution of the lifestyle score and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER database to derive the age-specific death rates of Americans. We applied the life table method to estimate life expectancy by levels of the lifestyle score. Results: During up to 34 years of follow-up, we documented 42 167 deaths. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios for mortality in adults with 5 compared with zero low-risk factors were 0.26 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22–0.31) for all-cause mortality, 0.35 (95% CI, 0.27–0.45) for cancer mortality, and 0.18 (95% CI, 0.12–0.26) for cardiovascular disease mortality. The population-attributable risk of nonadherence to 5 low-risk factors was 60.7% (95% CI, 53.6–66.7) for all-cause mortality, 51.7% (95% CI, 37.1–62.9) for cancer mortality, and 71.7% (95% CI, 58.1–81.0) for cardiovascular disease mortality. We estimated that the life expectancy at age 50 years was 29.0 years (95% CI, 28.3–29.8) for women and 25.5 years (95% CI, 24.7–26.2) for men who adopted zero low-risk lifestyle factors. In contrast, for those who adopted all 5 low-risk factors, we projected a life expectancy at age 50 years of 43.1 years (95% CI, 41.3–44.9) for women and 37.6 years (95% CI, 35.8–39.4) for men. The projected life expectancy at age 50 years was on average 14.0 years (95% CI, 11.8–16.2) longer among female Americans with 5 low-risk factors compared with those with zero low-risk factors; for men, the difference was 12.2 years (95% CI, 10.1–14.2). Conclusions: Adopting a healthy lifestyle could substantially reduce premature mortality and prolong life expectancy in US adults.


Abstract During the last fifteen years there has been a paradigm shift in the continuum modelling of granular materials; most notably with the development of rheological models, such as the $\mu (I)$-rheology (where $\mu$ is the friction and I is the inertial number), but also with significant advances in theories for particle segregation. This paper details theoretical and numerical frameworks (based on OpenFOAM) which unify these currently disconnected endeavours. Coupling the segregation with the flow, and vice versa, is not only vital for a complete theory of granular materials, but is also beneficial for developing numerical methods to handle evolving free surfaces. This general approach is based on the partially regularized incompressible $\mu (I)$-rheology, which is coupled to the gravity-driven segregation theory of Gray & Ancey (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 678, 2011, pp. 353–588). These advection–diffusion–segregation equations describe the evolving concentrations of the constituents, which then couple back to the variable viscosity in the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. A novel feature of this approach is that any number of differently sized phases may be included, which may have disparate frictional properties. Further inclusion of an excess air phase, which segregates away from the granular material, then allows the complex evolution of the free surface to be captured simultaneously. Three primary coupling mechanisms are identified: (i) advection of the particle concentrations by the bulk velocity, (ii) feedback of the particle-size and/or frictional properties on the bulk flow field and (iii) influence of the shear rate, pressure, gravity, particle size and particle-size ratio on the locally evolving segregation and diffusion rates. The numerical method is extensively tested in one-way coupled computations, before the fully coupled model is compared with the discrete element method simulations of Tripathi & Khakhar (Phys. Fluids, vol. 23, 2011, 113302) and used to compute the petal-like segregation pattern that spontaneously develops in a square rotating drum.


Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are in the superfamily of the ligand-gated ion channels with
an assembly of five subunits (a, bi€ subunit). nAChRs, such as a4b-and a7-nAChRs play crucial roles in nicotine reward, dependence and withdrawal. Recently, functional profiles of the a5 nAChRs have been studied using the a5 knockout (KO) and the overexpression mice. a5-nAChRs in the brain participate in neuronal activities associate with nicotine dependence, withdrawal, aversion, as well as alcohol use disorders. The main focus of this review is to underst and a5-containing nAChR's properties, function, and related disorders recently discovered.


Globalisation can bring about many positive and negative changes to any economy. Namibia has enjoyed stability since gaining independence about 3 decades ago. Today, Namibia is struggling to stay afloat amid financial crisis. Numerous international com - panies such as Ramatex from Malaysia entered the business sphere shortly after independence, with promises to improve the livelihoods of a young economy. However, this only lasted for a very short while, as most of the promises were not met. As with many global companies, Ramatex packed up and left Namibia in less than 10 years. This had a very big impact on Namibia, as the economy had to find new ways to survive. A substantial number of citizens lost their jobs, and the psychological impacts of recovery were very detrimental on the families. Namibians from all across the country flocked to the capital city Windhoek, with the aim of improving their lives, but all these dreams, hopes and aspirations were short lived. This chapter will make use of secondary research documents and in-depth interviews with some of the key stakeholders. On a positive side, the closure of Ramatex led to the birth local manufacturing giant Dinapama Manufacturing and Supplies, which is striving using lessons from the past to build capacity in the local economy.


The study considers the assumptions for the cultural transformation of the Polish Police for the benefit of further socialization of its activities. The point of reference in this study was the assumptions of a partnership police culture preferred in Western culture and based mainly on moral rules. The description of the police partnership culture was also made in relation to the classic police culture. On the basis of the presented empirical research, the gap in moral competences of the assessed decision-makers was described in a variant version, which occurs between the identified level of development of moral competences and the one postulated by the assumptions of the police partnership culture, in the structure of the entire research sample and taking into account its division into decision-makers from local and higher-level units command. The results of the research showed, socially unacceptable in the sphere of human safety, discrepancies between the identified and postulated state in the context of the requirements of a police partnership culture, as well as a higher level of development of moral competences of decision-makers from local Police units in relation to decision-makers from provincial Police headquarters and the Police Headquarters.


The purpose of this study was to explore a range of perspectives on how academic research and clinical assessment of upper-limb prosthetics could happen in environments outside of laboratories and clinics, such as within peoples' homes. Two co-creation workshops were held, which included people who use upper limb prosthetic devices (hereafter called users), clinicians, academics, a policy stakeholder, and a representative from the upper-limb prosthetics industry (hereafter called professionals). The discussions during the workshops indicate that research and clinical assessment conducted remotely from a laboratory or clinic could inform future solutions that address user needs. Users were open to the idea of sharing sensor and contextual data from within their homes to external laboratories during research studies. However, this was dependent upon several considerations, such as choice and control over data collection. Regarding clinical assessment, users had reservations of how data may be used to inform future prosthetic prescriptions whilst, clinicians were concerned with resource implications and capacity to process user data. The paper presents findings of the discussions shared by participants during both workshops. The paper concludes with a conjecture that collecting sensor and contextual data from users within their home environment will contribute towards literature within the field, and potentially inform future care policies for upper limb prosthetics. The involvement of users during such studies will be critical and can be enabled via a co-creation approach. In the short term, this may be achieved through academic research studies, which may in the long term inform a framework for clinical in-home trials and clinical remote assessment.


One hypothesis for the origin of life suggests that life emerged in a hydrothermal mineral assemblage containing sulphides and hydroxides. The research reported in this thesis shows that these minerals interact with nucleic acid polymers. This has two consequences. Firstly, metal sulphides, particularly iron sulphides, cause the scission of DNA and thus the survival of DNA in this environment is improbable. On the other hand, the reactions at low concentrations could lead to rapid mutations of DNA-like molecules and thus would have affected its evolution. These reactions also have biochemical consequences. For DNA to retain its function as the hereditary molecule it needs to be separated from concentrations of FeS. This also suggests that the results of the molecular ecology of sulfide-rich environments might be affected by reaction with iron sulphides. The effect that these nanoparticulate sulphides have had on the emergence and survival of nucleic acid polymers has been investigated through plasmid electrophoresis and UV-Vis spectrometry. Metal sulphides interact with DNA in two ways: scission of the DNA backbone and binding with sulphide particles. Treatment of pDNA with FeS, CuS, Fe(II), and Cu(II) breaks the ribo-phosphate backbone of the DNA molecule. This occurs through sulphur-based free radicals produced through redox reactions between S22" and Fe(II) and Cu(I) ions. Migration of oligomeric DNA in electrophoresis is retarded by FeS, CuS and ZnS which is attributed to the binding of nanoparticulate sulphides to the DNA. DNA, RNA, adenine, deoxyadenosine and deoxyadenosine monophosphate bind to FeS, CuS, ZnS and Fe(II)/Fe(III) hydroxides. This occurs through the nucleobase rather than the phosphate. Longer DNA molecules adsorb more readily than oligomers, RNA or monomers. Thus the hypothesis that iron-sulphide minerals could adsorb and concentrate nucleic acid constituents promoting nucleic acid formation and then polymerisation is supported, although the hypothesis that the phosphate group emerged to allow this binding is not necessary In the absence of sulphide, Fe(II) causes similar effects. Scission of the DNA occurs through hydroxyl radicals produced through a reaction with trace amounts of Ot also DNA adsorbed onto precipitated green rusts (Fe(II)/(III) hydroxides). Sulphide, in the absence of metal ions, induced no effect on DNA. In the absence of redox, transition metals oxyhydroxides adsorb to DNA but do not act to break up the molecule. Therefore, non-redox active metal sulphides, such as zinc, could have provided some of the functionality of iron sulphide especially with regards to nucleic acid formation, but without producing free radicals and therefore, simultaneous nucleic acid destruction.


Due to the increasing stream of state-of-the-art goods and services, the recent years have witnessed a growing problem of sustainability of consumption and its impact on society and economy. In-kind food consumption from own farms or gardens, which bypasses the usual stages of preprocessing and market distribution, fi ts perfectly into the trend of sustainable consumption. The aim of the paper was to determine the level and structure of household in-kind food consumption across the classes of locality in Poland in 2005 and 2013 in terms of consumption sustainability. The main data source was the microdata of the Household Budget Survey, processed with the standard tools of descriptive statistics. The study found a diminishing importance of in-kind consumption in average Polish households together with its enduring signifi cance in rural households. This contrast seems to be the result of long-standing and still vibrant traditional patterns of consumption, as in-kind consumption has always been considered closely related to the rural lifestyle.


This paper, presents the design and implementation of Frequency Modulation Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar system working at 77GHz for Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) technology which is a flexible system to estimate the speed and distance in accordance to vehicle ahead, which reduces the forces on the rate of accidents by warning the driver when two vehicles become too close. In addition, the principle of FMCW radar is presented to generate Linear Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (LFMCW) sweep waveform through frequency bands with triangular frequency modulation using Voltage Control Oscillator (VCO), a triangle sweep pattern adopt will resolve ambiguity without Doppler processing. This improves the decision making before hardware implementation. The simulation design is achieving the desired performance, one parameter warrants further attention. In the FMCW configuration, the sweep time is about 25 microseconds. Therefore, the system needs to sweep a 140 MHz band within a very short period. Such an automotive radar may able to meet the cost requirement.


Subject literature indicates the International Business Machines (IBM) as the uninterrupted leader in the number of patents obtained from United States Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO), out of all enterprises and industries for over 25 years1, 2, 3. Since 1998, the IBM has conducted an internal business segment called Intellectual Property Management (IPM). How to design the IPM in a large enterprise in a profitable way? The article presents results of two research goals of this study. The result of the first goal was to create an original design of the IPM segment based on the IBM business experience. It was developed throughout many years of research. Given the interdependent environment of IBM, the complexity theory approach was used to achieve this goal. The second goal was to evaluate the dynamic change of the economic profitability of activities included in the IPM segment, and their impact on the total income of the whole IBM enterprise, over the entire research period 1998-2016. The created design of IPM segment is a new and significant help for managers dealing with the complex issues of intellectual property, which allows to achieve economic profitability of IPM in the large enterprises. The results of the second goal indicated that out of all IPM activities only custom development of intellectual property was the only driver of profit increase in the IBM. The final conclusion is that not all activities of IPM generated increasing dynamics in profit which must be taken into account while design own IPM.


This paper presents a context-dependent phone mapping approach for acoustic modeling of large vocabulary speech recognition for under-resourced languages by leveraging on well trained models of other languages. Generally speaking, phone mapping can be considered as a hybrid HMM/MLP (Hid-den Markov Model / Multilayer Perceptron) model where the input of the MLP is phone acoustic scores, e.g. likelihood or posterior scores. In this paper, we use deep neural networks trained with a lot of Malay training data to generate bottleneck and posterior features for the target English acoustic models. We extend the concept of phone mapping by using not only posteriors but also bottleneck feature as the input for phone mapping. Experiments show that the phone mapping technique outperforms the cross-lingual tandem approach significantly. In addition, we also show that bottleneck and posterior features contain complementary information. A consistent improvement is obtained by combining these two feature streams to form the input for phone mapping.


This paper looks at how recent Japanese prime ministers have counterintuitively limited political control over the bureaucracy. It uses conflicts at the foreign and defense ministries to illustrate how the presence of multiple principals alters principal-agent theory and its implications for the politician-bureaucrat relationship. This study integrates the Japanese case into comparative scholarship on Taiwan and Korea.


Final Project Exam is the final lecture that must be taken by students to receive the bachelor degree. Final Project Exam is conducted with the presence of three lecturers as the examiner so a time management is needed for which the three of the lecturers can attend in a same time. This management also includes the availability of rooms which is often not considered when stating the exam schedule. In this rersearch, an application of Final Project Exam Agenda is designed to be able to help managing the exam schedule. The steps which are performed in the research are by performing the requirements analysis on stating the Final Project Exam schedule, then making a design to the services by creating a web based application, and finally testing the application. The apllication was developed by using PHP programming language and MySQL database. From the research performed, it can be concluded this following. Firstly, the application which is developed is able to help user to choose the most suitable schedule either about time or the availability of rooms. Secondly, the application provides information for lecturers about the list of students which are proposing Final Project Exam, the list of the incoming exams, and the list of exams which have been conducted. Thirdly, the application helps students in stating the Final Project Exam schedule beginning from proposing schedule to the three of the examniner lecturers until gaining the exam schedule which is agreed by the three of the examiner lecturers. There is also included in this application a feature of sending message so users can interact through the application