Sample records for exploitation

  1. The exploitation argument against commercial surrogacy.

    PubMed

    Wilkinson, Stephen

    2003-04-01

    This paper discusses the exploitation argument against commercial surrogacy: the claim that commercial surrogacy is morally objectionable because it is exploitative. The following questions are addressed. First, what exactly does the exploitation argument amount to? Second, is commercial surrogacy in fact exploitative? Third, if it were exploitative, would this provide a sufficient reason to prohibit (or otherwise legislatively discourage) it? The focus throughout is on the exploitation of paid surrogates, although it is noted that other parties (e.g. 'commissioning parents') may also be the victims of exploitation. It is argued that there are good reasons for believing that commercial surrogacy is often exploitative. However, even if we accept this, the exploitation argument for prohibiting (or otherwise legislatively discouraging) commercial surrogacy remains quite weak. One reason for this is that prohibition may well 'backfire' and lead to potential surrogates having to do other things that are more exploitative and/or more harmful than paid surrogacy. It is concluded therefore that those who oppose exploitation should (rather than attempting to stop particular practices like commercial surrogacy) concentrate on: (a) improving the conditions under which paid surrogates 'work'; and (b) changing the background conditions (in particular, the unequal distribution of power and wealth) which generate exploitative relationships.

  2. Two questions about surrogacy and exploitation.

    PubMed

    Wertheimer, Alan

    1992-01-01

    In this article I will consider two related questions about surrogacy and exploitation: (1) Is surrogacy exploitative? (2) If surrogacy is exploitative, what is the moral force of this exploitation? Briefly stated, I shall argue that whether surrogacy is exploitative depends on whether exploitation must be harmful to the exploited party or whether (as I think) there can be mutually advantageous exploitation. It also depends on some facts about surrogacy about which we have little reliable evidence and on our philosophical view on what counts as a harm to the surrogate. Our answer to the second question will turn in part on the account of exploitation we invoke in answering the first question and in part on the way in which we resolve some other questions about the justification of state interference. I shall suggest, however, that if surrogacy is a form of voluntary and mutually advantageous exploitation, then there is a strong presumption that surrogacy contracts should be permitted and even enforceable, although that presumption may be overridden on other grounds.

  3. Competing Discourses about Youth Sexual Exploitation in Canadian News Media.

    PubMed

    Saewyc, Elizabeth M; Miller, Bonnie B; Rivers, Robert; Matthews, Jennifer; Hilario, Carla; Hirakata, Pam

    2013-10-01

    Media holds the power to create, maintain, or break down stigmatizing attitudes, which affect policies, funding, and services. To understand how Canadian news media depicts the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth, we examined 835 Canadian newspaper articles from 1989-2008 using a mixed methods critical discourse analysis approach, comparing representations to existing research about sexually exploited youth. Despite research evidence that equal rates of boys and girls experience exploitation, Canadian news media depicted exploited youth predominantly as heterosexual girls, and described them alternately as victims or workers in a trade, often both in the same story. News media mentioned exploiters far less often than victims, and portrayed them almost exclusively as male, most often called 'customers' or 'consumers,' and occasionally 'predators'; in contrast, research has documented the majority of sexually exploited boys report female exploiters. Few news stories over the past two decades portrayed the diversity of victims, perpetrators, and venues of exploitation reported in research. The focus on victims but not exploiters helps perpetuate stereotypes of sexual exploitation as business or a 'victimless crime,' maintains the status quo, and blurs responsibility for protecting youth under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Health care providers and researchers can be advocates for accuracy in media coverage about sexual exploitation; news reporters and editors should focus on exploiters more than victims, draw on existing research evidence to avoid perpetuating stereotypes, and use accurate terms, such as commercial sexual exploitation, rather than terms related to business or trade.

  4. Competing Discourses about Youth Sexual Exploitation in Canadian News Media

    PubMed Central

    Saewyc, Elizabeth M.; Miller, Bonnie B.; Rivers, Robert; Matthews, Jennifer; Hilario, Carla; Hirakata, Pam

    2015-01-01

    Media holds the power to create, maintain, or break down stigmatizing attitudes, which affect policies, funding, and services. To understand how Canadian news media depicts the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth, we examined 835 Canadian newspaper articles from 1989–2008 using a mixed methods critical discourse analysis approach, comparing representations to existing research about sexually exploited youth. Despite research evidence that equal rates of boys and girls experience exploitation, Canadian news media depicted exploited youth predominantly as heterosexual girls, and described them alternately as victims or workers in a trade, often both in the same story. News media mentioned exploiters far less often than victims, and portrayed them almost exclusively as male, most often called ‘customers’ or ‘consumers,’ and occasionally ‘predators’; in contrast, research has documented the majority of sexually exploited boys report female exploiters. Few news stories over the past two decades portrayed the diversity of victims, perpetrators, and venues of exploitation reported in research. The focus on victims but not exploiters helps perpetuate stereotypes of sexual exploitation as business or a ‘victimless crime,’ maintains the status quo, and blurs responsibility for protecting youth under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Health care providers and researchers can be advocates for accuracy in media coverage about sexual exploitation; news reporters and editors should focus on exploiters more than victims, draw on existing research evidence to avoid perpetuating stereotypes, and use accurate terms, such as commercial sexual exploitation, rather than terms related to business or trade. PMID:26793015

  5. Sex trafficking and sexual exploitation in settings affected by armed conflicts in Africa, Asia and the Middle East: systematic review.

    PubMed

    McAlpine, Alys; Hossain, Mazeda; Zimmerman, Cathy

    2016-12-28

    Sex trafficking and sexual exploitation has been widely reported, especially in conflict-affected settings, which appear to increase women's and children's vulnerabilities to these extreme abuses. We conducted a systematic search of ten databases and extensive grey literature to gather evidence of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation in conflict-affected settings. International definitions of "sexual exploitation" and "sex trafficking" set the indicator parameters. We focused on sexual exploitation in forms of early or forced marriage, forced combatant sexual exploitation and sexual slavery. We extracted prevalence measures, health outcomes and sexual exploitation terminology definitions. The review adhered to PRISMA guidelines and includes quality appraisal. The search identified 29 eligible papers with evidence of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation in armed conflict settings in twelve countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. The evidence was limited and not generalizable, due to few prevalence estimates and inconsistent definitions of "sexual exploitation". The prevalence estimates available indicate that females were more likely than males to be victims of sexual exploitation in conflict settings. In some settings, as many as one in four forced marriages took place before the girls reached 18 years old. Findings suggest that the vast majority of former female combatants were sexually exploited during the conflict. These studies provided various indicators of sexual exploitation compatible to the United Nation's definition of sex trafficking, but only 2 studies identified the exploitation as trafficking. None of the studies solely aimed to measure the prevalence of sex trafficking or sexual exploitation. Similar descriptions of types of sexual exploitation and trafficking were found, but the inconsistent terminology or measurements inhibited a meta-analysis. Findings indicate there are various forms of human trafficking and sexual exploitation in conflict-affected settings, primarily occurring as early or forced marriage, forced combatant sexual exploitation, and sexual slavery. The studies highlight the extraordinary vulnerability of women and girls to these extreme abuses. Simultaneously, this review suggests the need to clarify terminology around sex trafficking in conflict to foster a more cohesive future evidence-base, and in particular, robust prevalence figures from conflict-affected and displaced populations.

  6. Optimal exploitation strategies for an animal population in a stochastic serially correlated environment

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Anderson, D.R.

    1974-01-01

    Optimal exploitation strategies were studied for an animal population in a stochastic, serially correlated environment. This is a general case and encompasses a number of important cases as simplifications. Data on the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) were used to explore the exploitation strategies and test several hypotheses because relatively much is known concerning the life history and general ecology of this species and extensive empirical data are available for analysis. The number of small ponds on the central breeding grounds was used as an index to the state of the environment. Desirable properties of an optimal exploitation strategy were defined. A mathematical model was formulated to provide a synthesis of the existing literature, estimates of parameters developed from an analysis of data, and hypotheses regarding the specific effect of exploitation on total survival. Both the literature and the analysis of data were inconclusive concerning the effect of exploitation on survival. Therefore, alternative hypotheses were formulated: (1) exploitation mortality represents a largely additive form of mortality, or (2 ) exploitation mortality is compensatory with other forms of mortality, at least to some threshold level. Models incorporating these two hypotheses were formulated as stochastic dynamic programming models and optimal exploitation strategies were derived numerically on a digital computer. Optimal exploitation strategies were found to exist under rather general conditions. Direct feedback control was an integral component in the optimal decision-making process. Optimal exploitation was found to be substantially different depending upon the hypothesis regarding the effect of exploitation on the population. Assuming that exploitation is largely an additive force of mortality, optimal exploitation decisions are a convex function of the size of the breeding population and a linear or slightly concave function of the environmental conditions. Optimal exploitation under this hypothesis tends to reduce the variance of the size of the population. Under the hypothesis of compensatory mortality forces, optimal exploitation decisions are approximately linearly related to the size of the breeding population. Environmental variables may be somewhat more important than the size of the breeding population to the production of young mallards. In contrast, the size of the breeding population appears to be more important in the exploitation process than is the state of the environment. The form of the exploitation strategy appears to be relatively insensitive to small changes in the production rate. In general, the relative importance of the size of the breeding population may decrease as fecundity increases. The optimal level of exploitation in year t must be based on the observed size of the population and the state of the environment in year t unless the dynamics of the population, the state of the environment, and the result of the exploitation decisions are completely deterministic. Exploitation based on an average harvest, harvest rate, or designed to maintain a constant breeding population size is inefficient.

  7. An Effect Analysis of Comprehensive Treatment of Groundwater Over-Exploitation in Cheng’an County, Hebei Province, China

    PubMed Central

    Shao, Weiwei; Zhou, Jinjun; Liu, Jiahong; Zhang, Haixing; Wang, Jianhua; Xiang, Chenyao; Yang, Guiyu; Tang, Yun

    2017-01-01

    The comprehensive treatment project of groundwater over-exploitation in Hebei Province has been implemented for more than a year, and the effect of exploitation restriction is in urgent need of evaluation. This paper deals with Cheng’an County of Hebei Province as the research subject. Based on collected hydro-meteorological, socioeconomic, groundwater, and other related data, together with typical regional experimental research, this study generates the effective precipitation–groundwater exploitation (P-W) curve and accompanying research methods, and calculates the quantity of groundwater exploitation restriction. It analyzes the target completion status of groundwater exploitation restriction through water conservancy measures and agricultural practices of the groundwater over-exploitation comprehensive treatment project that was implemented in Cheng’an County in 2014. The paper evaluates the treatment effect of groundwater over-exploitation, as well as provides technical support for the effect evaluation of groundwater exploitation restriction of agricultural irrigation in Cheng’an County and relevant areas. PMID:28054979

  8. An Effect Analysis of Comprehensive Treatment of Groundwater Over-Exploitation in Cheng'an County, Hebei Province, China.

    PubMed

    Shao, Weiwei; Zhou, Jinjun; Liu, Jiahong; Zhang, Haixing; Wang, Jianhua; Xiang, Chenyao; Yang, Guiyu; Tang, Yun

    2017-01-04

    The comprehensive treatment project of groundwater over-exploitation in Hebei Province has been implemented for more than a year, and the effect of exploitation restriction is in urgent need of evaluation. This paper deals with Cheng'an County of Hebei Province as the research subject. Based on collected hydro-meteorological, socioeconomic, groundwater, and other related data, together with typical regional experimental research, this study generates the effective precipitation-groundwater exploitation (P-W) curve and accompanying research methods, and calculates the quantity of groundwater exploitation restriction. It analyzes the target completion status of groundwater exploitation restriction through water conservancy measures and agricultural practices of the groundwater over-exploitation comprehensive treatment project that was implemented in Cheng'an County in 2014. The paper evaluates the treatment effect of groundwater over-exploitation, as well as provides technical support for the effect evaluation of groundwater exploitation restriction of agricultural irrigation in Cheng'an County and relevant areas.

  9. Optimal exploitation strategies for an animal population in a Markovian environment: A theory and an example

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Anderson, D.R.

    1975-01-01

    Optimal exploitation strategies were studied for an animal population in a Markovian (stochastic, serially correlated) environment. This is a general case and encompasses a number of important special cases as simplifications. Extensive empirical data on the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) were used as an example of general theory. The number of small ponds on the central breeding grounds was used as an index to the state of the environment. A general mathematical model was formulated to provide a synthesis of the existing literature, estimates of parameters developed from an analysis of data, and hypotheses regarding the specific effect of exploitation on total survival. The literature and analysis of data were inconclusive concerning the effect of exploitation on survival. Therefore, two hypotheses were explored: (1) exploitation mortality represents a largely additive form of mortality, and (2) exploitation mortality is compensatory with other forms of mortality, at least to some threshold level. Models incorporating these two hypotheses were formulated as stochastic dynamic programming models and optimal exploitation strategies were derived numerically on a digital computer. Optimal exploitation strategies were found to exist under the rather general conditions. Direct feedback control was an integral component in the optimal decision-making process. Optimal exploitation was found to be substantially different depending upon the hypothesis regarding the effect of exploitation on the population. If we assume that exploitation is largely an additive force of mortality in Mallards, then optimal exploitation decisions are a convex function of the size of the breeding population and a linear or slight concave function of the environmental conditions. Under the hypothesis of compensatory mortality forces, optimal exploitation decisions are approximately linearly related to the size of the Mallard breeding population. Dynamic programming is suggested as a very general formulation for realistic solutions to the general optimal exploitation problem. The concepts of state vectors and stage transformations are completely general. Populations can be modeled stochastically and the objective function can include extra-biological factors. The optimal level of exploitation in year t must be based on the observed size of the population and the state of the environment in year t unless the dynamics of the population, the state of the environment, and the result of the exploitation decisions are completely deterministic. Exploitation based on an average harvest, or harvest rate, or designed to maintain a constant breeding population size is inefficient.

  10. The Illusions and Juxtapositions of Commercial Sexual Exploitation among Youth: Identifying Effective Street-Outreach Strategies

    PubMed Central

    HOLGER-AMBROSE, BETH; LANGMADE, CHEREE; EDINBURGH, LAUREL D.; SAEWYC, ELIZABETH

    2015-01-01

    To explore sexually exploited youths’ perspectives of how street outreach workers can effectively provide outreach and connections to services, we conducted qualitative interviews with 13 female participants, ages 14–22, in a Midwestern U.S. city. Participants reported multiple types of exploitation, most first exploited by age 13, plus substance use, and recurrent homelessness. Nearly all had a pimp, and all used the internet as a venue for sexual exploitation. Participants wanted outreach workers to use “soft words” to refer to exploitation. They expressed contradictory images of their “boyfriend” pimps and their exploitation. They wanted outreach workers to “provide resources,” “be non-judgmental,” ”listen,” and “care.” Street outreach can be one way to support sexually exploited youth, but should occur in multiple settings. PMID:23590353

  11. To defer or to stand up? How offender formidability affects third party moral outrage.

    PubMed

    Jensen, Niels Holm; Petersen, Michael Bang

    2011-03-16

    According to models of animal behavior, the relative formidability of conspecifics determines the utility of deferring versus aggressing in situations of conflict. Here we apply and extend these models by investigating how the formidability of exploiters shapes third party moral outrage in humans. Deciding whether to defer to or stand up against a formidable exploiter is a complicated decision as there is both much to lose (formidable individuals are able and prone to retaliate) and much to gain (formidable individuals pose a great future threat). An optimally designed outrage system should, therefore, be sensitive to these cost- benefit trade-offs. To test this argument, participants read scenarios containing exploitative acts (trivial vs. serious) and were presented with head-shot photos of the apparent exploiters (formidable vs. non-formidable). As predicted, results showed that, compared to the non- formidable exploiter, the formidable exploiter activated significantly more outrage in male participants when the exploitative act was serious. Conversely, when it was trivial, the formidable exploiter activated significantly less outrage in male participants. However, these findings were conditioned by the exploiters' perceived trustworthiness. Among female participants, the results showed that moral outrage was not modulated by exploiter formidability.

  12. Understanding and Responding to the Needs of Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth: Recommendations for the Mental Health Provider.

    PubMed

    Ijadi-Maghsoodi, Roya; Cook, Mekeila; Barnert, Elizabeth S; Gaboian, Shushanik; Bath, Eraka

    2016-01-01

    Mental health providers are frequently at the forefront of addressing the multifaceted needs of commercially sexually exploited youth. This article provides an overview of the definition of commercial sexual exploitation of children and relevant legislation including the shift toward decriminalization of commercially sexually exploited youth. To provide clinicians with tools needed to deliver competent care to this population, a review of risk factors for commercial sexual exploitation of children and the role of the clinician in identification, assessment, and treatment of commercially sexually exploited youth are discussed. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  13. Transnational gestational surrogacy: does it have to be exploitative?

    PubMed

    Kirby, Jeffrey

    2014-01-01

    This article explores the controversial practice of transnational gestational surrogacy and poses a provocative question: Does it have to be exploitative? Various existing models of exploitation are considered and a novel exploitation-evaluation heuristic is introduced to assist in the analysis of the potentially exploitative dimensions/elements of complex health-related practices. On the basis of application of the heuristic, I conclude that transnational gestational surrogacy, as currently practiced in low-income country settings (such as rural, western India), is exploitative of surrogate women. Arising out of consideration of the heuristic's exploitation conditions, a set of public education and enabled choice, enhanced protections, and empowerment reforms to transnational gestational surrogacy practice is proposed that, if incorporated into a national regulatory framework and actualized within a low income country, could possibly render such practice nonexploitative.

  14. Uncertainty of exploitation estimates made from tag returns

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Miranda, L.E.; Brock, R.E.; Dorr, B.S.

    2002-01-01

    Over 6,000 crappies Pomoxis spp. were tagged in five water bodies to estimate exploitation rates by anglers. Exploitation rates were computed as the percentage of tags returned after adjustment for three sources of uncertainty: postrelease mortality due to the tagging process, tag loss, and the reporting rate of tagged fish. Confidence intervals around exploitation rates were estimated by resampling from the probability distributions of tagging mortality, tag loss, and reporting rate. Estimates of exploitation rates ranged from 17% to 54% among the five study systems. Uncertainty around estimates of tagging mortality, tag loss, and reporting resulted in 90% confidence intervals around the median exploitation rate as narrow as 15 percentage points and as broad as 46 percentage points. The greatest source of estimation error was uncertainty about tag reporting. Because the large investments required by tagging and reward operations produce imprecise estimates of the exploitation rate, it may be worth considering other approaches to estimating it or simply circumventing the exploitation question altogether.

  15. Effects of anthropogenic groundwater exploitation on land surface processes: A case study of the Haihe River Basin, Northern China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xie, Z.; Zou, J.; Qin, P.; Sun, Q.

    2014-12-01

    In this study, we incorporated a groundwater exploitation scheme into the land surface model CLM3.5 to investigate the effects of the anthropogenic exploitation of groundwater on land surface processes in a river basin. Simulations of the Haihe River Basin in northern China were conducted for the years 1965-2000 using the model. A control simulation without exploitation and three exploitation simulations with different water demands derived from socioeconomic data related to the Basin were conducted. The results showed that groundwater exploitation for human activities resulted in increased wetting and cooling effects at the land surface and reduced groundwater storage. A lowering of the groundwater table, increased upper soil moisture, reduced 2 m air temperature, and enhanced latent heat flux were detected by the end of the simulated period, and the changes at the land surface were related linearly to the water demands. To determine the possible responses of the land surface processes in extreme cases (i.e., in which the exploitation process either continued or ceased), additional hypothetical simulations for the coming 200 years with constant climate forcing were conducted, regardless of changes in climate. The simulations revealed that the local groundwater storage on the plains could not contend with high-intensity exploitation for long if the exploitation process continues at the current rate. Changes attributable to groundwater exploitation reached extreme values and then weakened within decades with the depletion of groundwater resources and the exploitation process will therefore cease. However, if exploitation is stopped completely to allow groundwater to recover, drying and warming effects, such as increased temperature, reduced soil moisture, and reduced total runoff, would occur in the Basin within the early decades of the simulation period. The effects of exploitation will then gradually disappear, and the land surface variables will approach the natural state and stabilize at different rates. Simulations were also conducted for cases in which exploitation either continues or ceases using future climate scenario outputs from a general circulation model. The resulting trends were almost the same as those of the simulations with constant climate forcing.

  16. Diffusive coevolution and mutualism maintenance mechanisms in a fig-fig wasp system.

    PubMed

    Wang, Rui-Wu; Sun, Bao-Fa; Zheng, Qi

    2010-05-01

    In reciprocal mutualism systems, the exploitation events by exploiters might disrupt the reciprocal mutualism, wherein one exploiter species might even exclude other coexisting exploiter species over an evolutionary time frame. What remains unclear is how such a community is maintained. Niche partitioning, or spatial heterogeneity among the mutualists and exploiters, is generally believed to enable stability within a mutualistic system. However, our examination of a reciprocal mutualism between a fig species (Ficus racemosa) and its pollinator wasp (Ceratosolen fusciceps) shows that spatial niche partitioning does not sufficiently prevent exploiters from overexploiting the common resource (i.e., the female flowers), because of the considerable niche overlap between the mutualists and exploiters. In response to an exploiter, our experiment shows that the fig can (1) abort syconia-containing flowers that have been galled by the exploiter, Apocryptophagus testacea, which oviposits before the pollinators do; and (2) retain syconia-containing flowers galled by Apocryptophagus mayri, which oviposit later than pollinators. However, as a result of (2), there is decreased development of adult non-pollinators or pollinator species in syconia that have not been sufficiently pollinated, but not aborted. Such discriminative abortion of figs or reduction in offspring development of exploiters while rewarding cooperative individuals with higher offspring development by the fig will increase the fitness of cooperative pollinating wasps, but decrease the fitness of exploiters. The fig-fig wasp interactions are diffusively coevolved, a case in which fig wasps diversify their genotype, phenotype, or behavior as a result of competition between wasps, while figs diverge their strategies to facilitate the evolution of cooperative fig waps or lessen the detrimental behavior by associated fig wasps. In habitats or syconia that suffer overexploitation, discriminative abortion of figs or reduction in the offspring development of exploiters in syconia that are not or not sufficiently pollinated will decrease exploiter fitness and perhaps even drive the population of exploiters to local extinction, enabling the evolution and maintenance of cooperative pollinators through the movement between habitats or syconia (i.e., the metapopulations).

  17. The Intersection of Financial Exploitation and Financial Capacity

    PubMed Central

    Lichtenberg, P.A.

    2016-01-01

    Research in the past decade has documented that financial exploitation of older adults has become a major problem and Psychology is only recently increasing its presence in efforts to reduce exploitation. During the same time period, Psychology has been a leader in setting best practices for the assessment of diminished capacity in older adults culminating in the 2008 ABA/APA joint publication on a handbook for psychologists. Assessment of financial decision making capacity is often the cornerstone assessment needed in cases of financial exploitation. This paper will examine the intersection of financial exploitation and decision making capacity; introduce a new conceptual model and new tools for both the investigation and prevention of financial exploitation. PMID:27159438

  18. Main principles of developing exploitation models of semiconductor devices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gradoboev, A. V.; Simonova, A. V.

    2018-05-01

    The paper represents primary tasks, solutions of which allow to develop the exploitation modes of semiconductor devices taking into account complex and combined influence of ionizing irradiation and operation factors. The structure of the exploitation model of the semiconductor device is presented, which is based on radiation and reliability models. Furthermore, it was shown that the exploitation model should take into account complex and combine influence of various ionizing irradiation types and operation factors. The algorithm of developing the exploitation model of the semiconductor devices is proposed. The possibility of creating the radiation model of Schottky barrier diode, Schottky field-effect transistor and Gunn diode is shown based on the available experimental data. The basic exploitation model of IR-LEDs based upon double AlGaAs heterostructures is represented. The practical application of the exploitation models will allow to output the electronic products with guaranteed operational properties.

  19. Financial Exploitation Is Associated With Structural and Functional Brain Differences in Healthy Older Adults

    PubMed Central

    Spreng, R. Nathan; Cassidy, Benjamin N; Darboh, Bri S; DuPre, Elizabeth; Lockrow, Amber W; Setton, Roni; Turner, Gary R

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Background Age-related brain changes leading to altered socioemotional functioning may increase vulnerability to financial exploitation. If confirmed, this would suggest a novel mechanism leading to heightened financial exploitation risk in older adults. Development of predictive neural markers could facilitate increased vigilance and prevention. In this preliminary study, we sought to identify structural and functional brain differences associated with financial exploitation in older adults. Methods Financially exploited older adults (n = 13, 7 female) and a matched cohort of older adults who had been exposed to, but avoided, a potentially exploitative situation (n = 13, 7 female) were evaluated. Using magnetic resonance imaging, we examined cortical thickness and resting state functional connectivity. Behavioral data were collected using standardized cognitive assessments, self-report measures of mood and social functioning. Results The exploited group showed cortical thinning in anterior insula and posterior superior temporal cortices, regions associated with processing affective and social information, respectively. Functional connectivity encompassing these regions, within default and salience networks, was reduced, while between network connectivity was increased. Self-reported anger and hostility was higher for the exploited group. Conclusions We observed financial exploitation associated with brain differences in regions involved in socioemotional functioning. These exploratory and preliminary findings suggest that alterations in brain regions implicated in socioemotional functioning may be a marker of financial exploitation risk. Large-scale, prospective studies are necessary to validate this neural mechanism, and develop predictive markers for use in clinical practice. PMID:28369260

  20. Simulated population responses of common carp to commercial exploitation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Weber, Michael J.; Hennen, Matthew J.; Brown, Michael L.

    2011-12-01

    Common carp Cyprinus carpio is a widespread invasive species that can become highly abundant and impose deleterious ecosystem effects. Thus, aquatic resource managers are interested in controlling common carp populations. Control of invasive common carp populations is difficult, due in part to the inherent uncertainty of how populations respond to exploitation. To understand how common carp populations respond to exploitation, we evaluated common carp population dynamics (recruitment, growth, and mortality) in three natural lakes in eastern South Dakota. Common carp exhibited similar population dynamics across these three systems that were characterized by consistent recruitment (ages 3 to 15 years present),more » fast growth (K = 0.37 to 0.59), and low mortality (A = 1 to 7%). We then modeled the effects of commercial exploitation on size structure, abundance, and egg production to determine its utility as a management tool to control populations. All three populations responded similarly to exploitation simulations with a 575-mm length restriction, representing commercial gear selectivity. Simulated common carp size structure modestly declined (9 to 37%) in all simulations. Abundance of common carp declined dramatically (28 to 56%) at low levels of exploitation (0 to 20%) but exploitation >40% had little additive effect and populations were only reduced by 49 to 79% despite high exploitation (>90%). Maximum lifetime egg production was reduced from 77 to 89% at a moderate level of exploitation (40%), indicating the potential for recruitment overfishing. Exploitation further reduced common carp size structure, abundance, and egg production when simulations were not size selective. Our results provide insights to how common carp populations may respond to exploitation. Although commercial exploitation may be able to partially control populations, an integrated removal approach that removes all sizes of common carp has a greater chance of controlling population abundance and reducing perturbations induced by this invasive species.« less

  1. Artificial neural networks in models of specialization, guild evolution and sympatric speciation.

    PubMed

    Holmgren, Noél M A; Norrström, Niclas; Getz, Wayne M

    2007-03-29

    Sympatric speciation can arise as a result of disruptive selection with assortative mating as a pleiotropic by-product. Studies on host choice, employing artificial neural networks as models for the host recognition system in exploiters, illustrate how disruptive selection on host choice coupled with assortative mating can arise as a consequence of selection for specialization. Our studies demonstrate that a generalist exploiter population can evolve into a guild of specialists with an 'ideal free' frequency distribution across hosts. The ideal free distribution arises from variability in host suitability and density-dependent exploiter fitness on different host species. Specialists are less subject to inter-phenotypic competition than generalists and to harmful mutations that are common in generalists exploiting multiple hosts. When host signals used as cues by exploiters coevolve with exploiter recognition systems, our studies show that evolutionary changes may be continuous and cyclic. Selection changes back and forth between specialization and generalization in the exploiters, and weak and strong mimicry in the hosts, where non-defended hosts use the host investing in defence as a model. Thus, host signals and exploiter responses are engaged in a red-queen mimicry process that is ultimately cyclic rather then directional. In one phase, evolving signals of exploitable hosts mimic those of hosts less suitable for exploitation (i.e. the model). Signals in the model hosts also evolve through selection to escape the mimic and its exploiters. Response saturation constraints in the model hosts lead to the mimic hosts finally perfecting its mimicry, after which specialization in the exploiter guild is lost. This loss of exploiter specialization provides an opportunity for the model hosts to escape their mimics. Therefore, this cycle then repeats. We suggest that a species can readily evolve sympatrically when disruptive selection for specialization on hosts is the first step. In a sexual reproduction setting, partial reproductive isolation may first evolve by mate choice being confined to individuals on the same host. Secondly, this disruptive selection will favour assortative mate choice on genotype, thereby leading to increased reproductive isolation.

  2. Effects of anthropogenic groundwater exploitation on land surface processes: A case study of the Haihe River Basin, northern China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zou, Jing; Xie, Zhenghui; Zhan, Chesheng; Qin, Peihua; Sun, Qin; Jia, Binghao; Xia, Jun

    2015-05-01

    In this study, we incorporated a groundwater exploitation scheme into the land surface model CLM3.5 to investigate the effects of the anthropogenic exploitation of groundwater on land surface processes in a river basin. Simulations of the Haihe River Basin in northern China were conducted for the years 1965-2000 using the model. A control simulation without exploitation and three exploitation simulations with different water demands derived from socioeconomic data related to the Basin were conducted. The results showed that groundwater exploitation for human activities resulted in increased wetting and cooling effects at the land surface and reduced groundwater storage. A lowering of the groundwater table, increased upper soil moisture, reduced 2 m air temperature, and enhanced latent heat flux were detected by the end of the simulated period, and the changes at the land surface were related linearly to the water demands. To determine the possible responses of the land surface processes in extreme cases (i.e., in which the exploitation process either continued or ceased), additional hypothetical simulations for the coming 200 years with constant climate forcing were conducted, regardless of changes in climate. The simulations revealed that the local groundwater storage on the plains could not contend with high-intensity exploitation for long if the exploitation process continues at the current rate. Changes attributable to groundwater exploitation reached extreme values and then weakened within decades with the depletion of groundwater resources and the exploitation process will therefore cease. However, if exploitation is stopped completely to allow groundwater to recover, drying and warming effects, such as increased temperature, reduced soil moisture, and reduced total runoff, would occur in the Basin within the early decades of the simulation period. The effects of exploitation will then gradually disappear, and the variables will approach the natural state and stabilize at different rates. Simulations were also conducted for cases in which exploitation either continues or ceases using future climate scenario outputs from a general circulation model. The resulting trends were almost the same as those of the simulations with constant climate forcing, despite differences in the climate data input. Therefore, a balance between slow groundwater restoration and rapid human development of the land must be achieved to maintain a sustainable water resource.

  3. The Illusions and Juxtapositions of Commercial Sexual Exploitation among Youth: Identifying Effective Street-Outreach Strategies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holger-Ambrose, Beth; Langmade, Cheree; Edinburgh, Laurel D.; Saewyc, Elizabeth

    2013-01-01

    To explore sexually exploited youths' perspectives of how street outreach workers can effectively provide outreach and connections to services, we conducted qualitative interviews with 13 female participants, ages 14 to 22, in a Midwest U.S. city. Participants reported multiple types of exploitation, most first exploited by age 13, plus substance…

  4. Exploit and ignore the consequences: A mother of planetary issues.

    PubMed

    Moustafa, Khaled

    2016-07-01

    Many environmental and planetary issues are due to an exploitation strategy based on exploit, consume and ignore the consequences. As many natural and environmental resources are limited in time and space, such exploitation approach causes important damages on earth, in the sea and maybe soon in the space. To sustain conditions under which humans and other living species can coexist in productive and dynamic harmony with their environments, terrestrial and space exploration programs may need to be based on 'scrutinize the consequences, prepare adequate solutions and then, only then, exploit'. Otherwise, the exploitation of planetary resources may put the environmental stability and sustainability at a higher risk than it is currently predicted. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Exploit and ignore the consequences: A mother of planetary issues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moustafa, K.

    2016-07-01

    Many environmental and planetary issues are due to an exploitation strategy based on exploit, consume and ignore the consequences. As many natural and environmental resources are limited in time and space, such exploitation approach causes important damages on earth, in the sea and maybe soon in the space. To sustain conditions under which humans and other living species can coexist in productive and dynamic harmony with their environments, terrestrial and space exploration programs may need to be based on 'scrutinize the consequences, prepare adequate solutions and then, only then, exploit'. Otherwise, the exploitation of planetary resources may put the environmental stability and sustainability at a higher risk than it is currently predicted. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Availability Control for Means of Transport in Decisive Semi-Markov Models of Exploitation Process

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Migawa, Klaudiusz

    2012-12-01

    The issues presented in this research paper refer to problems connected with the control process for exploitation implemented in the complex systems of exploitation for technical objects. The article presents the description of the method concerning the control availability for technical objects (means of transport) on the basis of the mathematical model of the exploitation process with the implementation of the decisive processes by semi-Markov. The presented method means focused on the preparing the decisive for the exploitation process for technical objects (semi-Markov model) and after that specifying the best control strategy (optimal strategy) from among possible decisive variants in accordance with the approved criterion (criteria) of the activity evaluation of the system of exploitation for technical objects. In the presented method specifying the optimal strategy for control availability in the technical objects means a choice of a sequence of control decisions made in individual states of modelled exploitation process for which the function being a criterion of evaluation reaches the extreme value. In order to choose the optimal control strategy the implementation of the genetic algorithm was chosen. The opinions were presented on the example of the exploitation process of the means of transport implemented in the real system of the bus municipal transport. The model of the exploitation process for the means of transports was prepared on the basis of the results implemented in the real transport system. The mathematical model of the exploitation process was built taking into consideration the fact that the model of the process constitutes the homogenous semi-Markov process.

  7. Financial Exploitation Is Associated With Structural and Functional Brain Differences in Healthy Older Adults.

    PubMed

    Spreng, R Nathan; Cassidy, Benjamin N; Darboh, Bri S; DuPre, Elizabeth; Lockrow, Amber W; Setton, Roni; Turner, Gary R

    2017-10-01

    Age-related brain changes leading to altered socioemotional functioning may increase vulnerability to financial exploitation. If confirmed, this would suggest a novel mechanism leading to heightened financial exploitation risk in older adults. Development of predictive neural markers could facilitate increased vigilance and prevention. In this preliminary study, we sought to identify structural and functional brain differences associated with financial exploitation in older adults. Financially exploited older adults (n = 13, 7 female) and a matched cohort of older adults who had been exposed to, but avoided, a potentially exploitative situation (n = 13, 7 female) were evaluated. Using magnetic resonance imaging, we examined cortical thickness and resting state functional connectivity. Behavioral data were collected using standardized cognitive assessments, self-report measures of mood and social functioning. The exploited group showed cortical thinning in anterior insula and posterior superior temporal cortices, regions associated with processing affective and social information, respectively. Functional connectivity encompassing these regions, within default and salience networks, was reduced, while between network connectivity was increased. Self-reported anger and hostility was higher for the exploited group. We observed financial exploitation associated with brain differences in regions involved in socioemotional functioning. These exploratory and preliminary findings suggest that alterations in brain regions implicated in socioemotional functioning may be a marker of financial exploitation risk. Large-scale, prospective studies are necessary to validate this neural mechanism, and develop predictive markers for use in clinical practice. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.

  8. 25 CFR 20.516 - How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be handled?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be... FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAMS Child Assistance Foster Care § 20.516 How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be handled? Reported child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases and the...

  9. 25 CFR 20.516 - How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be handled?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be... FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAMS Child Assistance Foster Care § 20.516 How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be handled? Reported child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases and the...

  10. 25 CFR 20.516 - How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be handled?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be... FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAMS Child Assistance Foster Care § 20.516 How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be handled? Reported child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases and the...

  11. 25 CFR 20.516 - How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be handled?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2012-04-01 2011-04-01 true How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be... FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAMS Child Assistance Foster Care § 20.516 How are child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases to be handled? Reported child abuse, neglect or exploitation cases and the...

  12. Exploitation: One View of Industry and Business. Training and Development Research Center: Project Number Ten.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Swanson, Richard A.; And Others

    A reasonable definition of exploitation is an unjust or improper use of another person for one's own profit or advantage. Exploitation predates the age of industry; it is not the sole province of industry and business. Worker responses to exploitation in the evolving industrial democracy have taken the form of labor unions, political clubs, credit…

  13. "Nobody Told Me It Was Rape": A Parent's Guide for Talking with Teenagers about Acquaintance Rape and Sexual Exploitation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adams, Caren; Fay, Jennifer

    This book was written to help parents talk to their adolescent children about acquaintance rape and sexual exploitation. It may also be useful to family life educators presenting units on rape and sexual exploitation. Acquaintance rape and sexual exploitation are explained in the first section. The second section discusses talking with teenagers…

  14. Temporal Structure in Cooperative Interactions: What Does the Timing of Exploitation Tell Us about Its Cost?

    PubMed Central

    Barker, Jessica L.; Bronstein, Judith L.

    2016-01-01

    Exploitation in cooperative interactions both within and between species is widespread. Although it is assumed to be costly to be exploited, mechanisms to control exploitation are surprisingly rare, making the persistence of cooperation a fundamental paradox in evolutionary biology and ecology. Focusing on between-species cooperation (mutualism), we hypothesize that the temporal sequence in which exploitation occurs relative to cooperation affects its net costs and argue that this can help explain when and where control mechanisms are observed in nature. Our principal prediction is that when exploitation occurs late relative to cooperation, there should be little selection to limit its effects (analogous to “tolerated theft” in human cooperative groups). Although we focus on cases in which mutualists and exploiters are different individuals (of the same or different species), our inferences can readily be extended to cases in which individuals exhibit mixed cooperative-exploitative strategies. We demonstrate that temporal structure should be considered alongside spatial structure as an important process affecting the evolution of cooperation. We also provide testable predictions to guide future empirical research on interspecific as well as intraspecific cooperation. PMID:26841169

  15. Financial Decision-making Abilities and Financial Exploitation in Older African Americans: Preliminary Validity Evidence for the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Rating Scale (LFDRS)

    PubMed Central

    Ficker, Lisa J.; Rahman-Filipiak, Annalise

    2015-01-01

    This study examines preliminary evidence for the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Rating Scale (LFDRS), a new person-centered approach to assessing capacity to make financial decisions, and its relationship to self-reported cases of financial exploitation in 69 older African Americans. More than one third of individuals reporting financial exploitation also had questionable decisional abilities. Overall, decisional ability score and current decision total were significantly associated with cognitive screening test and financial ability scores, demonstrating good criterion validity. Financially exploited individuals, and non-exploited individuals, showed mean group differences on the Mini Mental State Exam, Financial Situational Awareness, Psychological Vulnerability, Current Decisional Ability, and Susceptibility to undue influence subscales, and Total Lichtenberg Financial Decision Rating Scale Score. Study findings suggest that impaired decisional abilities may render older adults more vulnerable to financial exploitation, and that the LFDRS is a valid tool for measuring both decisional abilities and financial exploitation. PMID:26285038

  16. [Ecotourism exploitation model in Bita Lake Natural Reserve of Yunnan].

    PubMed

    Yang, G; Wang, Y; Zhong, L

    2000-12-01

    Bita lake provincial natural reserve is located in Shangri-La region of North-western Yunnan, and was set as a demonstrating area for ecotourism exploitation in 1998. After a year's exploitation construction and half a year's operation as a branch of the 99' Kunming International Horticulture Exposition to accept tourists, it was proved that the ecotourism demonstrating area attained four integrated functions of ecotourism, i.e., tourism, protection, poverty clearing and environment education. Five exploitation and management models including function zoned exploitation model, featured tourism communication model signs system designing model, local Tibetan family reception model and environmental monitoring model, were also successful, which were demonstrated and spreaded to the whole province. Bita lake provincial natural reserve could be a good sample for the ecotourism exploitation natural reserves of the whole country.

  17. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Commercially Sexually Exploited Youth.

    PubMed

    Cohen, Judith A; Mannarino, Anthony P; Kinnish, Kelly

    2017-06-01

    Commercially sexually exploited children and adolescents ("commercially exploited youth")present numerous clinical challenges that have led some mental health providers to question whether current evidence-based treatments are adequate to address the needs of this population. This paper 1) addresses commonalities between the trauma experiences, responses and treatment challenges of commercially exploited youth and those of youth with complex trauma; 2) highlights the importance of careful assessment to guide case conceptualization and treatment planning for commercially exploited youth; and 3) describes strategies for implementing Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for complex trauma specific to these youth.

  18. The Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young People in Northern Ireland: Overview from the Barnardo's beyond the Shadows Service

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Montgomery-Devlin, Jacqui

    2008-01-01

    The present paper provides an overview of child sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland and related issues. It focuses on Barnardo's response to the problem of sexual exploitation and sets it in both a historical and a contemporary context. The paper considers the importance of recognising exploitation as child abuse and addresses specific myths…

  19. The Trauma of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Youth: A Comparison of CSE Victims to Sexual Abuse Victims in a Clinical Sample.

    PubMed

    Cole, Jennifer; Sprang, Ginny; Lee, Robert; Cohen, Judith

    2016-01-01

    This study examined the demographic features, trauma profiles, clinical severity indicators, problem behaviors, and service utilization characteristics of youth victims of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) compared with a matched sample of sexually abused/assaulted youth who were not exploited in commercial sex. Secondary data analysis and propensity score matching were used to select a sample of 215 help-seeking youth who were exploited in prostitution (n = 43) or who were sexually abused/assaulted but not exploited in prostitution (n = 172) from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network Core Data Set (NCTSN CDS). Propensity Score Matching was used to select a comparison sample based on age, race, ethnicity, and primary residence. Statistically significant differences were noted between the groups on standardized (e.g., UCLA Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index [PTSD-RI], Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL]) and other measures of emotional and behavioral problems (e.g., avoidance and hyperarousal symptoms, dissociation, truancy, running away, conduct disorder, sexualized behaviors, and substance abuse). This study provides useful insight into the symptom and service utilization profiles of youth exploited in commercial sex as compared with youth with other types of sexually exploitive experiences. Targeted screening and event-sensitive measures are recommended to more accurately identify youth exploited in commercial sex. More research is needed to determine if and what modifications to trauma therapies may be required to address the more severe symptomatology and behavior problems associated with youth exploited in commercial sex. © The Author(s) 2014.

  20. Baseline Characteristics of Dependent Youth Who Have Been Commercially Sexually Exploited: Findings From a Specialized Treatment Program.

    PubMed

    Landers, Monica; McGrath, Kimberly; Johnson, Melissa H; Armstrong, Mary I; Dollard, Norin

    2017-01-01

    Commercial sexual exploitation of children has emerged as a critical issue within child welfare, but little is currently known about this population or effective treatment approaches to address their unique needs. Children in foster care and runaways are reported to be vulnerable to exploitation because they frequently have unmet needs for family relationships, and they have had inadequate supervision and histories of trauma of which traffickers take advantage. The current article presents data on the demographic characteristics, trauma history, mental and behavioral health needs, physical health needs, and strengths collected on a sample of 87 commercially sexually exploited youth. These youth were served in a specialized treatment program in Miami-Dade County, Florida, for exploited youth involved with the child welfare system. Findings revealed that the youth in this study have high rates of previous sexual abuse (86% of the youth) and other traumatic experiences prior to their exploitation. Youth also exhibited considerable mental and behavioral health needs. Given that few programs emphasize the unique needs of children who have been sexually exploited, recommendations are offered for providing a continuum of specialized housing and treatment services to meet the needs of sexually exploited youth, based on the authors' experiences working with this population.

  1. A Primer on Foraging and the Explore/Exploit Trade-Off for Psychiatry Research.

    PubMed

    Addicott, M A; Pearson, J M; Sweitzer, M M; Barack, D L; Platt, M L

    2017-09-01

    Foraging is a fundamental behavior, and many types of animals appear to have solved foraging problems using a shared set of mechanisms. Perhaps the most common foraging problem is the choice between exploiting a familiar option for a known reward and exploring unfamiliar options for unknown rewards-the so-called explore/exploit trade-off. This trade-off has been studied extensively in behavioral ecology and computational neuroscience, but is relatively new to the field of psychiatry. Explore/exploit paradigms can offer psychiatry research a new approach to studying motivation, outcome valuation, and effort-related processes, which are disrupted in many mental and emotional disorders. In addition, the explore/exploit trade-off encompasses elements of risk-taking and impulsivity-common behaviors in psychiatric disorders-and provides a novel framework for understanding these behaviors within an ecological context. Here we explain relevant concepts and some common paradigms used to measure explore/exploit decisions in the laboratory, review clinically relevant research on the neurobiology and neuroanatomy of explore/exploit decision making, and discuss how computational psychiatry can benefit from foraging theory.

  2. [Impacts of hydroelectric cascade exploitation on river ecosystem and landscape: a review].

    PubMed

    Yang, Kun; Deng, Xi; Li, Xue-Ling; Wen, Ping

    2011-05-01

    Hydroelectric cascade exploitation, one of the major ways for exploiting water resources and developing hydropower, not only satisfies the needs of various national economic sectors, but also promotes the socio-economic sustainable development of river basin. unavoidable anthropogenic impacts on the entire basin ecosystem. Based on the process of hydroelectric cascade exploitation and the ecological characteristics of river basins, this paper reviewed the major impacts of hydroelectric cascade exploitation on dam-area ecosystems, river reservoirs micro-climate, riparian ecosystems, river aquatic ecosystems, wetlands, and river landscapes. Some prospects for future research were offered, e.g., strengthening the research of chain reactions and cumulative effects of ecological factors affected by hydroelectric cascade exploitation, intensifying the study of positive and negative ecological effects under the dam networks and their joint operations, and improving the research of successional development and stability of basin ecosystems at different temporal and spatial scales.

  3. A litmus test for exploitation: James Stacey Taylor's stakes and kidneys.

    PubMed

    Kuntz, J R

    2009-12-01

    James Stacy Taylor advances a thorough argument for the legalization of markets in current (live) human kidneys. The market is seemly the most abhorrent type of market, a market where the least well-off sell part of their body to the most well off. Though rigorously defended overall, his arguments concerning exploitation are thin. I examine a number of prominent bioethicists' account of exploitation: most importantly, Ruth Sample's exploitation as degradation. I do so in the context of Taylor's argument, with the aim of buttressing Taylor's position that a regulated kidney market is morally allowable. I argue that Sample fails to provide normative grounds consistent with her claim that exploitation is wrong. I then reformulate her account for consistency and plausibility. Still, this seemingly more plausible view does not show that Taylor's regulated kidney market is prohibitively exploitative of impoverished persons. I tack into place one more piece of support for Taylor's conclusion. (wc. 148).

  4. Organ sales needn't be exploitative (but it matters if they are).

    PubMed

    Lawlor, Rob

    2011-06-01

    This paper considers two arguments that are common in the literature on organ sales. First, organ sales are exploitative and therefore should not be permitted. Second, it doesn't matter whether organ sales are exploitative or not; the only thing that matters is that we do what is in the interests of those who need to be protected. In this paper, I argue that both of these arguments are too simplistic. My intention, however, is not to argue for or against organ sales. My conclusion, rather, is simply that we cannot hope to address the issue of organ sales if we lack a good understanding of exploitation. We should not attempt to answer the question of whether or not organ sales should be banned on the grounds that they are exploitative without acknowledging and addressing the nuances involved in understanding exploitation.

  5. An ethnomethodological approach to examine exploitation in the context of capacity, trust and experience of commercial surrogacy in India.

    PubMed

    Saravanan, Sheela

    2013-08-20

    The socio-ethical concerns regarding exploitation in commercial surrogacy are premised on asymmetric vulnerability and the commercialization of women's reproductive capacity to suit individualistic motives. In examining the exploitation argument, this article reviews the social contract theory that describes an individual as an 'economic man' with moral and/or political motivations to satisfy individual desires. This study considers the critique by feminists, who argue that patriarchal and medical control prevails in the surrogacy contracts. It also explores the exploitative dynamics amongst actors in the light of Baier's conceptualization of trust and human relationship, within which both justice and exploitation thrive, and Foucault's concept of bio-power. Drawing on these concepts, this paper aims to investigate the manifestations of exploitation in commercial surrogacy in the context of trust, power and experiences of actors, using a case study of one clinic in India. The actors' experiences are evaluated at different stages of the surrogacy process: recruitment, medical procedures, living in the surrogate home, bonding with the child and amongst actors, financial dealings, relinquishment and post-relinquishment.This study applies ethnomethodology to identify phenomena as perceived by the actors in a situation, giving importance to their interpretations of the rules that make collective activity possible. The methods include semi-structured interviews, discussions, participant observation and explanation of the phenomena from the actors' perspectives. Between August 2009 and April 2010, 13 surrogate mothers (SMs), 4 intended parents (IPs) and 2 medical practitioners (MPs) from one clinic in Western India were interviewed.This study reveals that asymmetries of capacity amongst the MPs, SMs, IPs and surrogate agents (SAs) lead to a network of trust and designation of powers through rules, bringing out the relevance of Baier's conceptualization of asymmetric vulnerability, trust and potential exploitation in human relationships. The IPs are exploited, especially in monetary terms. The SMs are relatively the most exploited, given their vulnerability. Their remuneration through surrogacy is significant for them, and their acquired knowledge as ex-surrogates is used for their own benefit and for exploiting others. Foucault's conceptualization of power is hence relevant, since the ex-SMs re-invest the power of their exploitative experience in exploiting others.

  6. An ethnomethodological approach to examine exploitation in the context of capacity, trust and experience of commercial surrogacy in India

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    The socio-ethical concerns regarding exploitation in commercial surrogacy are premised on asymmetric vulnerability and the commercialization of women’s reproductive capacity to suit individualistic motives. In examining the exploitation argument, this article reviews the social contract theory that describes an individual as an ‘economic man’ with moral and/or political motivations to satisfy individual desires. This study considers the critique by feminists, who argue that patriarchal and medical control prevails in the surrogacy contracts. It also explores the exploitative dynamics amongst actors in the light of Baier’s conceptualization of trust and human relationship, within which both justice and exploitation thrive, and Foucault’s concept of bio-power. Drawing on these concepts, this paper aims to investigate the manifestations of exploitation in commercial surrogacy in the context of trust, power and experiences of actors, using a case study of one clinic in India. The actors’ experiences are evaluated at different stages of the surrogacy process: recruitment, medical procedures, living in the surrogate home, bonding with the child and amongst actors, financial dealings, relinquishment and post-relinquishment. This study applies ethnomethodology to identify phenomena as perceived by the actors in a situation, giving importance to their interpretations of the rules that make collective activity possible. The methods include semi-structured interviews, discussions, participant observation and explanation of the phenomena from the actors’ perspectives. Between August 2009 and April 2010, 13 surrogate mothers (SMs), 4 intended parents (IPs) and 2 medical practitioners (MPs) from one clinic in Western India were interviewed. This study reveals that asymmetries of capacity amongst the MPs, SMs, IPs and surrogate agents (SAs) lead to a network of trust and designation of powers through rules, bringing out the relevance of Baier’s conceptualization of asymmetric vulnerability, trust and potential exploitation in human relationships. The IPs are exploited, especially in monetary terms. The SMs are relatively the most exploited, given their vulnerability. Their remuneration through surrogacy is significant for them, and their acquired knowledge as ex-surrogates is used for their own benefit and for exploiting others. Foucault’s conceptualization of power is hence relevant, since the ex-SMs re-invest the power of their exploitative experience in exploiting others. PMID:23962325

  7. Organ sales: exploitative at any price?

    PubMed

    Lawlor, Rob

    2014-05-01

    In many cases, claims that a transaction is exploitative will focus on the details of the transaction, such as the price paid or conditions. For example, in a claim that a worker is exploited, the grounds for the claim are usually that the pay is not sufficient or the working conditions too dangerous. In some cases, however, the claim that a transaction is exploitative is not seen to rely on these finer details. Many, for example, claim that organ sales would be exploitative, in a way that doesn't seem to depend on the details. This article considers, but ultimately rejects, a number of arguments which could be used to defend this sort of claim. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. Sex Workers Perspectives on Strategies to Reduce Sexual Exploitation and HIV Risk: A Qualitative Study in Tijuana, Mexico

    PubMed Central

    Goldenberg, Shira M.; Engstrom, David; Rolon, Maria Luisa; Silverman, Jay G.; Strathdee, Steffanie A.

    2013-01-01

    Globally, female sex workers are a population at greatly elevated risk of HIV infection, and the reasons for and context of sex industry involvement have key implications for HIV risk and prevention. Evidence suggests that experiences of sexual exploitation (i.e., forced/coerced sex exchange) contribute to health-related harms. However, public health interventions that address HIV vulnerability and sexual exploitation are lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study was to elicit recommendations for interventions to prevent sexual exploitation and reduce HIV risk from current female sex workers with a history of sexual exploitation or youth sex work. From 2010–2011, we conducted in-depth interviews with sex workers (n = 31) in Tijuana, Mexico who reported having previously experienced sexual exploitation or youth sex work. Participants recommended that interventions aim to (1) reduce susceptibility to sexual exploitation by providing social support and peer-based education; (2) mitigate harms by improving access to HIV prevention resources and psychological support, and reducing gender-based violence; and (3) provide opportunities to exit the sex industry via vocational supports and improved access to effective drug treatment. Structural interventions incorporating these strategies are recommended to reduce susceptibility to sexual exploitation and enhance capacities to prevent HIV infection among marginalized women and girls in Mexico and across international settings. PMID:24023661

  9. Sex workers perspectives on strategies to reduce sexual exploitation and HIV risk: a qualitative study in Tijuana, Mexico.

    PubMed

    Goldenberg, Shira M; Engstrom, David; Rolon, Maria Luisa; Silverman, Jay G; Strathdee, Steffanie A

    2013-01-01

    Globally, female sex workers are a population at greatly elevated risk of HIV infection, and the reasons for and context of sex industry involvement have key implications for HIV risk and prevention. Evidence suggests that experiences of sexual exploitation (i.e., forced/coerced sex exchange) contribute to health-related harms. However, public health interventions that address HIV vulnerability and sexual exploitation are lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study was to elicit recommendations for interventions to prevent sexual exploitation and reduce HIV risk from current female sex workers with a history of sexual exploitation or youth sex work. From 2010-2011, we conducted in-depth interviews with sex workers (n = 31) in Tijuana, Mexico who reported having previously experienced sexual exploitation or youth sex work. Participants recommended that interventions aim to (1) reduce susceptibility to sexual exploitation by providing social support and peer-based education; (2) mitigate harms by improving access to HIV prevention resources and psychological support, and reducing gender-based violence; and (3) provide opportunities to exit the sex industry via vocational supports and improved access to effective drug treatment. Structural interventions incorporating these strategies are recommended to reduce susceptibility to sexual exploitation and enhance capacities to prevent HIV infection among marginalized women and girls in Mexico and across international settings.

  10. Rationalising predictors of child sexual exploitation and sex-trading.

    PubMed

    Klatt, Thimna; Cavner, Della; Egan, Vincent

    2014-02-01

    Although there is evidence for specific risk factors leading to child sexual exploitation and prostitution, these influences overlap and have rarely been examined concurrently. The present study examined case files for 175 young persons who attended a voluntary organization in Leicester, United Kingdom, which supports people who are sexually exploited or at risk of sexual exploitation. Based on the case files, the presence or absence of known risk factors for becoming a sex worker was coded. Data were analyzed using t-test, logistic regression, and smallest space analysis. Users of the voluntary organization's services who had been sexually exploited exhibited a significantly greater number of risk factors than service users who had not been victims of sexual exploitation. The logistic regression produced a significant model fit. However, of the 14 potential predictors--many of which were associated with each other--only four variables significantly predicted actual sexual exploitation: running away, poverty, drug and/or alcohol use, and having friends or family members in prostitution. Surprisingly, running away was found to significantly decrease the odds of becoming involved in sexual exploitation. Smallest space analysis of the data revealed 5 clusters of risk factors. Two of the clusters, which reflected a desperation and need construct and immature or out-of-control lifestyles, were significantly associated with sexual exploitation. Our research suggests that some risk factors (e.g. physical and emotional abuse, early delinquency, and homelessness) for becoming involved in sexual exploitation are common but are part of the problematic milieu of the individuals affected and not directly associated with sex trading itself. Our results also indicate that it is important to engage with the families and associates of young persons at risk of becoming (or remaining) a sex worker if one wants to reduce the numbers of persons who engage in this activity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. 77 FR 36491 - Request for Information Regarding Senior Financial Exploitation

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-19

    ... Senior Financial Exploitation AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. ACTION: Request for...'') to facilitate the financial literacy of individuals aged 62 or older (``seniors''), on protection... Monica Jackson at 202-435-7275. For specific questions on senior financial exploitation, please call...

  12. Capability of the People’s Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-10-09

    Capability of the People’s Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation Prepared for The US-China Economic and...the People?s Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...Capability of the People’s Republic of China to Conduct Cyber Warfare and Computer Network Exploitation 2 US-China Economic and Security Review

  13. Some Problems of Exploitation of Jet Turbine Aircraft Engines of Lot Polish Air Lines,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1977-04-26

    CI ‘AD~AOII6 221 FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY DIV WR IGHT—PATTERSON AFB OHIO F/I 21/5SOME PROBLEMS OF EXPLOITATION OF JET TURBINE AIRCRAFT ENGINES O—CTC(U...EXPLOITATION OF JET TURBINE AIRCRAFT ENGINES OF LOT POLISH AIR LINE S By: Andrzej Slodownik English pages: 1~ Source: Technika Lotnicza I Astronautyczna...SOME PROBLEMS OF EXPLOITATION OF JET TURBINE AIRCRAFT ENGINES OF LOT POLISH AIR LINES Andrzej Slodownik , M. Eng . FTD— ID ( RS) I— 0 1475 — 77 I

  14. Exploitation of prisoners in clinical research: perceptions of study participants

    PubMed Central

    Christopher, Paul P.; Stein, Michael D.; Johnson, Jennifer E.; Rich, Josiah D.; Friedmann, Peter D.; Clarke, Jennifer G.; Lidz, Charles W.

    2015-01-01

    This paper discusses findings of a study examining whether prisoners view their participation in clinical research studies as exploitative. Perspectives of seventy prisoners who were enrolled in one of six different clinical studies were analyzed. A minority of participants agreed with statements suggestive of potential exploitation. All but one participant believed that prisoners should have greater access to research. On balance, these data provide reassurance that prisoners in this sample do not view their involvement in clinical research as inappropriately exploitative. PMID:26964404

  15. Impact of tidal phenomenon “Met Ef” on the exploitation of benthos at inshore shoals in Kei islands, Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Renjaan, Eugenius Alfred; Makailipessy, Marvin Mario

    2017-10-01

    A study on benthos exploitation at five shoals located in Rosenberg and Nerong Straits, the kei islands had been conducted during period of the lowest ebb tide phenomenon which locally termed Met Ef on 2016. The purpose of the study is to know the impact of the Met Ef on benthos exploitation at the shoals by local communities during the Met Ef. Data of tidal amplitudes were obtained from the Tide Charts Mobile Applications which confirmed the observations on tide pole during October, November, and December 2013 until 2016. Data of benthos exploited during periods of Met Ef at the shoals was obtained through direct observation on benthos exploited by the local communities, also by interviewing them using questionnaires. The results showed that the lowest ebb tide of the Met Ef occurred in November, i.e., at 2 to 5 days after the full moon and/or new moon, with an average tidal range of 2.66 m and even have ever one reached 2.80 m. The most exploited benthos at the shoals is Giant clam (Tridacna sp.), Spider conch (Lambis sp.), Hammer oyster (Malleus sp.), Octopus (Octopus spp.). The intensity of benthos exploited at the shoals increased during the period of Met Ef especially in October because at that time the sea was very calm and clear due to relatively lower wind speed and the rain fall was relatively lower. This has promoted an easier accessibility of the communities to exploit benthos at shoals and, therefore October is considered by the local communities as the peak of Met Ef, instead of November. During November and, December the availability of benthos in shoals has been reduced due to it has been exploited intensely in October.

  16. Local Perspectives on Environmental Insecurity and Its Influence on Illegal Biodiversity Exploitation

    PubMed Central

    Gore, Meredith L.; Lute, Michelle L.; Ratsimbazafy, Jonah H.; Rajaonson, Andry

    2016-01-01

    Environmental insecurity is a source and outcome of biodiversity declines and social conflict. One challenge to scaling insecurity reduction policies is that empirical evidence about local attitudes is overwhelmingly missing. We set three objectives: determine how local people rank risk associated with different sources of environmental insecurity; assess perceptions of environmental insecurity, biodiversity exploitation, myths of nature and risk management preferences; and explore relationships between perceptions and biodiversity exploitation. We conducted interviews (N = 88) with residents of Madagascar’s Torotorofotsy Protected Area, 2014. Risk perceptions had a moderate effect on perceptions of environmental insecurity. We found no effects of environmental insecurity on biodiversity exploitation. Results offer one if not the first exploration of local perceptions of illegal biodiversity exploitation and environmental security. Local people’s perception of risk seriousness associated with illegal biodiversity exploitation such as lemur hunting (low overall) may not reflect perceptions of policy-makers (considered to be high). Discord is a key entry point for attention. PMID:27082106

  17. Local Perspectives on Environmental Insecurity and Its Influence on Illegal Biodiversity Exploitation.

    PubMed

    Gore, Meredith L; Lute, Michelle L; Ratsimbazafy, Jonah H; Rajaonson, Andry

    2016-01-01

    Environmental insecurity is a source and outcome of biodiversity declines and social conflict. One challenge to scaling insecurity reduction policies is that empirical evidence about local attitudes is overwhelmingly missing. We set three objectives: determine how local people rank risk associated with different sources of environmental insecurity; assess perceptions of environmental insecurity, biodiversity exploitation, myths of nature and risk management preferences; and explore relationships between perceptions and biodiversity exploitation. We conducted interviews (N = 88) with residents of Madagascar's Torotorofotsy Protected Area, 2014. Risk perceptions had a moderate effect on perceptions of environmental insecurity. We found no effects of environmental insecurity on biodiversity exploitation. Results offer one if not the first exploration of local perceptions of illegal biodiversity exploitation and environmental security. Local people's perception of risk seriousness associated with illegal biodiversity exploitation such as lemur hunting (low overall) may not reflect perceptions of policy-makers (considered to be high). Discord is a key entry point for attention.

  18. Normative Beliefs about Aggression as a Mediator of Narcissistic Exploitativeness and Cyberbullying

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ang, Rebecca P.; Tan, Kit-Aun; Mansor, Abu Talib

    2011-01-01

    The current study examined normative beliefs about aggression as a mediator between narcissistic exploitativeness and cyberbullying using two Asian adolescent samples from Singapore and Malaysia. Narcissistic exploitativeness was significantly and positively associated with cyberbullying and normative beliefs about aggression and normative beliefs…

  19. The exploitation of Gestalt principles by magicians.

    PubMed

    Barnhart, Anthony S

    2010-01-01

    Magicians exploit a host of psychological principles in deceiving their audiences. Psychologists have recently attempted to pinpoint the most common psychological tendencies exploited by magicians. This paper highlights two co-occurring principles that appear to be the basis for many popular magic tricks: accidental alignment and good continuation.

  20. Early Sexual Exploitation as an Influence in Prostitution.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Silbert, Mimi H.; Pines, Ayala M.

    1983-01-01

    Surveyed 200 female street prostitutes to determine whether they were sexually exploited during childhood. Results showed 60 percent of the subjects were sexually exploited. The few girls who discussed their abuse with others were met with shame and most often inaction. Only 10 percent were abused by strangers. (JAC)

  1. Exploitation: One View of Industry and Business.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Swanson, Richard A.; And Others

    1986-01-01

    This article examines the meaning of exploitation with specific reference to industry and business. The authors contend that the concept of exploitation--"the unjust or improper use of another person for one's own profit or advantage"--should be studied to improve understanding of the dynamics of the workplace. (Author/CT)

  2. Ambidextrous Leadership and Employees' Self-reported Innovative Performance: The Role of Exploration and Exploitation Behaviors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zacher, Hannes; Robinson, Alecia J.; Rosing, Kathrin

    2016-01-01

    The ambidexterity theory of leadership for innovation proposes that leaders' opening and closing behaviors positively predict employees' exploration and exploitation behaviors, respectively. The interaction of exploration and exploitation behaviors, in turn, is assumed to influence employee innovative performance, such that innovative performance…

  3. Transitioning from AOP to IATA - Exploiting mechanistic ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Slide presentation at satellite meeting of the QSAR2016 Meeting on How to Transition from AOP to IATA-Exploiting mechanistic insight for practical decision making. . Slide presentation at satellite meeting of the QSAR2016 Meeting on How to Transition from AOP to IATA-Exploiting mechanistic insight for practical decision making. .

  4. A Descriptive Study on Sexually Exploited Children in Residential Treatment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Twill, Sarah E.; Green, Denise M.; Traylor, Amy

    2010-01-01

    Sexual exploitation and prostitution of children and adolescents is a multibillion dollar industry in the United States (Estes and Weiner in "Medical, legal & social science aspects of child sexual exploitation: A comprehensive review of pornography, prostitution, and internet crimes, vol I," G.W. Medical Publishing, Inc, St Louis,…

  5. Assessment Methods of Groundwater Overdraft Area and Its Application

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dong, Yanan; Xing, Liting; Zhang, Xinhui; Cao, Qianqian; Lan, Xiaoxun

    2018-05-01

    Groundwater is an important source of water, and long-term large demand make groundwater over-exploited. Over-exploitation cause a lot of environmental and geological problems. This paper explores the concept of over-exploitation area, summarizes the natural and social attributes of over-exploitation area, as well as expounds its evaluation methods, including single factor evaluation, multi-factor system analysis and numerical method. At the same time, the different methods are compared and analyzed. And then taking Northern Weifang as an example, this paper introduces the practicality of appraisal method.

  6. Quantifying Risk of Financial Incapacity and Financial Exploitation in Community-dwelling Older Adults: Utility of a Scoring System for the Lichtenberg Financial Decision-making Rating Scale.

    PubMed

    Lichtenberg, Peter A; Gross, Evan; Ficker, Lisa J

    2018-06-08

    This work examines the clinical utility of the scoring system for the Lichtenberg Financial Decision-making Rating Scale (LFDRS) and its usefulness for decision making capacity and financial exploitation. Objective 1 was to examine the clinical utility of a person centered, empirically supported, financial decision making scale. Objective 2 was to determine whether the risk-scoring system created for this rating scale is sufficiently accurate for the use of cutoff scores in cases of decisional capacity and cases of suspected financial exploitation. Objective 3 was to examine whether cognitive decline and decisional impairment predicted suspected financial exploitation. Two hundred independently living, non-demented community-dwelling older adults comprised the sample. Participants completed the rating scale and other cognitive measures. Receiver operating characteristic curves were in the good to excellent range for decisional capacity scoring, and in the fair to good range for financial exploitation. Analyses supported the conceptual link between decision making deficits and risk for exploitation, and supported the use of the risk-scoring system in a community-based population. This study adds to the empirical evidence supporting the use of the rating scale as a clinical tool assessing risk for financial decisional impairment and/or financial exploitation.

  7. How ecology shapes exploitation: a framework to predict the behavioural response of human and animal foragers along exploration-exploitation trade-offs.

    PubMed

    Monk, Christopher T; Barbier, Matthieu; Romanczuk, Pawel; Watson, James R; Alós, Josep; Nakayama, Shinnosuke; Rubenstein, Daniel I; Levin, Simon A; Arlinghaus, Robert

    2018-06-01

    Understanding how humans and other animals behave in response to changes in their environments is vital for predicting population dynamics and the trajectory of coupled social-ecological systems. Here, we present a novel framework for identifying emergent social behaviours in foragers (including humans engaged in fishing or hunting) in predator-prey contexts based on the exploration difficulty and exploitation potential of a renewable natural resource. A qualitative framework is introduced that predicts when foragers should behave territorially, search collectively, act independently or switch among these states. To validate it, we derived quantitative predictions from two models of different structure: a generic mathematical model, and a lattice-based evolutionary model emphasising exploitation and exclusion costs. These models independently identified that the exploration difficulty and exploitation potential of the natural resource controls the social behaviour of resource exploiters. Our theoretical predictions were finally compared to a diverse set of empirical cases focusing on fisheries and aquatic organisms across a range of taxa, substantiating the framework's predictions. Understanding social behaviour for given social-ecological characteristics has important implications, particularly for the design of governance structures and regulations to move exploited systems, such as fisheries, towards sustainability. Our framework provides concrete steps in this direction. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  8. Historical spatial reconstruction of a spawning-aggregation fishery.

    PubMed

    Buckley, Sarah M; Thurstan, Ruth H; Tobin, Andrew; Pandolfi, John M

    2017-12-01

    Aggregations of individual animals that form for breeding purposes are a critical ecological process for many species, yet these aggregations are inherently vulnerable to exploitation. Studies of the decline of exploited populations that form breeding aggregations tend to focus on catch rate and thus often overlook reductions in geographic range. We tested the hypothesis that catch rate and site occupancy of exploited fish-spawning aggregations (FSAs) decline in synchrony over time. We used the Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson) spawning-aggregation fishery in the Great Barrier Reef as a case study. Data were compiled from historical newspaper archives, fisher knowledge, and contemporary fishery logbooks to reconstruct catch rates and exploitation trends from the inception of the fishery. Our fine-scale analysis of catch and effort data spanned 103 years (1911-2013) and revealed a spatial expansion of fishing effort. Effort shifted offshore at a rate of 9.4 nm/decade, and 2.9 newly targeted FSAs were reported/decade. Spatial expansion of effort masked the sequential exploitation, commercial extinction, and loss of 70% of exploited FSAs. After standardizing for improvements in technological innovations, average catch rates declined by 90.5% from 1934 to 2011 (from 119.4 to 11.41 fish/vessel/trip). Mean catch rate of Spanish mackerel and occupancy of exploited mackerel FSAs were not significantly related. Our study revealed a special kind of shifting spatial baseline in which a contraction in exploited FSAs occurred undetected. Knowledge of temporally and spatially explicit information on FSAs can be relevant for the conservation and management of FSA species. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

  9. The ESA scientific exploitation element results and outlook

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Desnos, Yves-louis; Regner, Peter; Delwart, Steven; Benveniste, Jerome; Engdahl, Marcus; Donlon, Craig; Mathieu, Pierre-Philippe; Fernandez, Diego; Gascon, Ferran; Zehner, Claus; Davidson, Malcolm; Goryl, Philippe; Koetz, Benjamin; Pinnock, Simon

    2017-04-01

    The Scientific Exploitation of Operational Missions (SEOM) element of ESA's fourth Earth Observation Envelope Programme (EOEP4) prime objective is to federate, support and expand the international research community built up over the last 25 years exploiting ESA's EO missions. SEOM enables the science community to address new scientific research areas that are opened by the free and open access to data from operational EO missions. Based on community-wide recommendations, gathered through a series of international thematic workshops and scientific user consultation meetings, key research studies have been launched over the last years to further exploit data from the Sentinels (http://seom.esa.int/). During 2016 several Science users consultation workshops have been organized, new results from scientific studies have been published and open-source multi-mission scientific toolboxes have been distributed (SNAP 80000 users from 190 countries). In addition the first ESA Massive Open Online Courses on Climate from space have been deployed (20000 participants) and the second EO Open Science conference was organized at ESA in September 2016 bringing together young EO scientists and data scientists. The new EOEP5 Exploitation element approved in 2016 and starting in 2017 is taking stock of all precursor activities in EO Open Science and Innovation and in particular a workplan for ESA scientific exploitation activities has been presented to Member States taking full benefit of the latest information and communication technology. The results and highlights from current scientific exploitation activities will be presented and an outlook on the upcoming activities under the new EOEP5 exploitation element will be given.

  10. Enacting Principal Leadership: Exploiting Situated Possibilities to Build School Capacity for Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lai, Edith

    2015-01-01

    This paper attempts to identify leadership practices of school principals as they engaged in exploring and exploiting possibilities in and around the school contexts to develop school capacity for change. Based on interview data of school principals, this paper shows that the capabilities of school leaders to perceive and exploit situated…

  11. An ecology-oriented exploitation mode of groundwater resources in the northern Tianshan Mountains, China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shang, Haimin; Wang, Wenke; Dai, Zhenxue; Duan, Lei; Zhao, Yaqian; Zhang, Jing

    2016-12-01

    In recent years, ecological degradation caused by irrational groundwater exploitation has been of growing concern in arid and semiarid regions. To address the groundwater-ecological issues, this paper proposes a groundwater-resource exploitation mode to evaluate the tradeoff between groundwater development and ecological environment in the northern Tianshan Mountains, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Field surveys and remote sensing studies were conducted to analyze the relation between the distribution of hydrological conditions and the occurrence of ecological types. The results show that there is a good correlation between groundwater depth and the supergene ecological type. Numerical simulations and ecological assessment models were applied to develop an ecology-oriented exploitation mode of groundwater resources. The mode allows the groundwater levels in different zones to be regulated by optimizing groundwater exploitation modes. The prediction results show that the supergene ecological quality will be better in 2020 and even more groundwater can be exploited in this mode. This study provides guidance for regional groundwater management, especially in regions with an obvious water scarcity.

  12. An ecology-oriented exploitation mode of groundwater resources in the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain, China

    DOE PAGES

    Shang, Haimin; Wang, Wenke; Dai, Zhenxue; ...

    2016-10-10

    In recent years, ecological degradation caused by irrational groundwater exploitation has been of growing concern in arid and semiarid regions. To address the groundwater-ecological issues, this paper proposes a groundwater-resource exploitation mode to evaluate the tradeoff between groundwater development and ecological environment in the northern Tianshan Mountains, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Field surveys and remote sensing studies were conducted to analyze the relation between the distribution of hydrological conditions and the occurrence of ecological types. The results show that there is a good correlation between groundwater depth and the supergene ecological type. Numerical simulations and ecological assessment modelsmore » were applied to develop an ecology-oriented exploitation mode of groundwater resources. The mode allows the groundwater levels in different zones to be regulated by optimizing groundwater exploitation modes. The prediction results show that the supergene ecological quality will be better in 2020 and even more groundwater can be exploited in this mode. This study provides guidance for regional groundwater management, especially in regions with an obvious water scarcity.« less

  13. An ecology-oriented exploitation mode of groundwater resources in the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain, China

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shang, Haimin; Wang, Wenke; Dai, Zhenxue

    In recent years, ecological degradation caused by irrational groundwater exploitation has been of growing concern in arid and semiarid regions. To address the groundwater-ecological issues, this paper proposes a groundwater-resource exploitation mode to evaluate the tradeoff between groundwater development and ecological environment in the northern Tianshan Mountains, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Field surveys and remote sensing studies were conducted to analyze the relation between the distribution of hydrological conditions and the occurrence of ecological types. The results show that there is a good correlation between groundwater depth and the supergene ecological type. Numerical simulations and ecological assessment modelsmore » were applied to develop an ecology-oriented exploitation mode of groundwater resources. The mode allows the groundwater levels in different zones to be regulated by optimizing groundwater exploitation modes. The prediction results show that the supergene ecological quality will be better in 2020 and even more groundwater can be exploited in this mode. This study provides guidance for regional groundwater management, especially in regions with an obvious water scarcity.« less

  14. From Exploitation to Industry: Definitions, Risks, and Consequences of Domestic Sexual Exploitation and Sex Work Among Women and Girls

    PubMed Central

    Gerassi, Lara

    2015-01-01

    In the last 15 years, terms such as prostitution, sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, modern-day slavery, and sex work have elicited much confusion and debate as to their definitions. Consequently several challenges have emerged for both law enforcement in the prosecution of criminals and practitioners in service provision. This article reviews the state of the literature with regard to domestic, sexual exploitation among women and girls in the United States and seeks to (1) provide definitions and describe the complexity of all terms relating to domestic sexual exploitation of women and girls in the United States, (2) explore available national prevalence data according to the definitions provided, and (3) review the evidence of mental health, social, and structural risk factors at the micro-, mezzo-, and macrolevels. PMID:26726289

  15. From Exploitation to Industry: Definitions, Risks, and Consequences of Domestic Sexual Exploitation and Sex Work Among Women and Girls.

    PubMed

    Gerassi, Lara

    In the last 15 years, terms such as prostitution, sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, modern-day slavery, and sex work have elicited much confusion and debate as to their definitions. Consequently several challenges have emerged for both law enforcement in the prosecution of criminals and practitioners in service provision. This article reviews the state of the literature with regard to domestic, sexual exploitation among women and girls in the United States and seeks to (1) provide definitions and describe the complexity of all terms relating to domestic sexual exploitation of women and girls in the United States, (2) explore available national prevalence data according to the definitions provided, and (3) review the evidence of mental health, social, and structural risk factors at the micro-, mezzo-, and macrolevels.

  16. HIV risks and needs related to the Sustainable Development Goals among female sex workers who were commercially sexually exploited as children in Lesotho.

    PubMed

    Grosso, Ashley; Busch, Shianne; Mothopeng, Tampose; Sweitzer, Stephanie; Nkonyana, John; Mpooa, Nkomile; Taruberekera, Noah; Baral, Stefan

    2018-02-01

    Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) about gender equality; decent work; and peace, justice, and strong institutions include a focus on eradicating trafficking and sexual exploitation of and violence against women and children. In Lesotho, 86% of women have experienced gender-based violence. In addition, overall HIV prevalence is among the highest globally, and higher among adolescent girls than boys. Moreover, nearly three quarters of female sex workers (FSW) are estimated to be living with HIV in Lesotho. In this context, sexually exploited children may be particularly vulnerable to violence and HIV acquisition risks. This study's objective is to examine the prevalence and correlates of experiencing sexual exploitation as a child among FSW in Lesotho. FSW (≥18 years) recruited through respondent-driven sampling in Maseru and Maputsoe from February to September 2014 completed HIV and syphilis testing and an interviewer-administered survey, including a question about the age at which they started providing sex for money. This study examined correlates of experiencing sexual exploitation as a child (<18 years) through multivariable logistic regression analyses for each city, controlling for current age. Across both cities, 20.0% (142/710) of participants were sexually exploited as children. Among them, 65.5% (93/142) tested positive for HIV and 31.0% (44/142) for syphilis, which was similar to those who started selling sex as adults, after adjusting for current age. Participants who experienced child sexual exploitation were more likely to have been forced to have sex before age 18 than those who started selling sex as adults (Maseru-adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 3.52, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.61 to 7.66, p = 0.002; Maputsoe-aOR: 4.39, 95% CI: 1.22 to 15.75, p = 0.023). In Maseru, participants who were sexually exploited as children were more likely to avoid carrying condoms to prevent trouble with police (aOR: 3.18, 95% CI: 1.50 to 6.75, p = 0.003). Risk determinants for HIV and violence among sexually exploited children can be studied retrospectively through research with adult FSW. Further research working directly with sexually exploited children will improve understanding of their needs. Preventing commercial sexual exploitation of children and addressing the social and healthcare needs of those who are exploited are necessary to fully achieve SDGs 5, 8 and 16 and an AIDS-Free Generation. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of the International AIDS Society published by John Wiley & sons Ltd on behalf of the International AIDS Society.

  17. Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking of Children and Adolescents: A Narrative Review.

    PubMed

    Barnert, Elizabeth; Iqbal, Zarah; Bruce, Janine; Anoshiravani, Arash; Kolhatkar, Gauri; Greenbaum, Jordan

    Commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of children and adolescents represent a severe form of child abuse and an important pediatric health concern. Youth who are commercially sexually exploited have a constellation of clinical risk factors and high rates of unmet physical and mental health needs, including conditions that directly result from their victimization. Common physical health needs among commercially sexually exploited children and adolescents include violence-related injuries, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and other acute infections. Common mental health conditions include substance use disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and suicidality, and anxiety. The existing literature indicates that trauma-informed approaches to the care of commercially sexually exploited youth are recommended in all aspects of their health care delivery. Additionally, medical education that attunes providers to identify and appropriately respond to the unique needs of this highly vulnerable group of children and adolescents is needed. The available research on commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of children and adolescents remains fairly limited, yet is expanding rapidly. Especially relevant to the field of pediatrics, future research to guide health professionals in how best to identify and care for commercially sexually exploited children and adolescents in the clinical setting signifies a key gap in the extant literature and an important opportunity for future study. Copyright © 2017 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Ethics position towards the exploitation of manganese material in Oenbit Village, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fios, Frederikus

    2017-04-01

    Oenbit village is an area that is located in the district of Timor Tengah Utara (TTU), Timor Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. In Oenbit ongoing a conflict between the economic interests of some parties namely the government, corporation and the local indigenous community. Government of Timor Tengah Utara give legal permission to the Elgari Resources Indonesia (ERI) Company to exploit the mining of Manganese in Oenbit Village which informally is the ancestral land of indigenous peoples Oenbit hereditary called pusuf kelef and Kot-tau niap-tau (king land). Oenbit society has an ethical belief that the ancestral land Oenbit should not be produced by outside parties besides the local community on the orders of the king. Manganese exploitation in Oenbit Village cause problems contradictorily interesting to reflect on the ethical-philosophical. This paper aims to reflect the ethical position against cases of exploitation of manganese in the Oenbit Village with focuses on the local government’s decision to issue a permit exploitation and ERI Company exploit Mangan assumed unethical traditional indigenous tribe Oenbit. The study found that the district government and ERI Company has violated the public ethics and society traditional law, especially the rights of local indigenous communities by exploiting manganese material. The method used is the reflection of philosophy with ethical approaches and relevant ethical theories.

  19. Fluency Heuristic: A Model of How the Mind Exploits a By-Product of Information Retrieval

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hertwig, Ralph; Herzog, Stefan M.; Schooler, Lael J.; Reimer, Torsten

    2008-01-01

    Boundedly rational heuristics for inference can be surprisingly accurate and frugal for several reasons. They can exploit environmental structures, co-opt complex capacities, and elude effortful search by exploiting information that automatically arrives on the mental stage. The fluency heuristic is a prime example of a heuristic that makes the…

  20. The influence of simulated exploitation on Patella vulgata populations: protandric sex change is size-dependent.

    PubMed

    Borges, Carla D G; Hawkins, Stephen J; Crowe, Tasman P; Doncaster, C Patrick

    2016-01-01

    Grazing mollusks are used as a food resource worldwide, and limpets are harvested commercially for both local consumption and export in several countries. This study describes a field experiment to assess the effects of simulated human exploitation of limpets Patella vulgata on their population ecology in terms of protandry (age-related sex change from male to female), growth, recruitment, migration, and density regulation. Limpet populations at two locations in southwest England were artificially exploited by systematic removal of the largest individuals for 18 months in plots assigned to three treatments at each site: no (control), low, and high exploitation. The shell size at sex change (L 50: the size at which there is a 50:50 sex ratio) decreased in response to the exploitation treatments, as did the mean shell size of sexual stages. Size-dependent sex change was indicated by L 50 occurring at smaller sizes in treatments than controls, suggesting an earlier switch to females. Mean shell size of P. vulgata neuters changed little under different levels of exploitation, while males and females both decreased markedly in size with exploitation. No differences were detected in the relative abundances of sexual stages, indicating some compensation for the removal of the bigger individuals via recruitment and sex change as no migratory patterns were detected between treatments. At the end of the experiment, 0-15 mm recruits were more abundant at one of the locations but no differences were detected between treatments. We conclude that sex change in P. vulgata can be induced at smaller sizes by reductions in density of the largest individuals reducing interage class competition. Knowledge of sex-change adaptation in exploited limpet populations should underpin strategies to counteract population decline and improve rocky shore conservation and resource management.

  1. Rational Exploitation and Utilizing of Groundwater in Jiangsu Coastal Area

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kang, B.; Lin, X.

    2017-12-01

    Jiangsu coastal area is located in the southeast coast of China, where is a new industrial base and an important coastal and Land Resources Development Zone of China. In the areas with strong human exploitation activities, regional groundwater evolution is obviously affected by human activities. In order to solve the environmental geological problems caused by groundwater exploitation fundamentally, we must find out the forming conditions of regional groundwater hydrodynamic field, and the impact of human activities on groundwater hydrodynamic field evolution and hydrogeochemical evolition. Based on these results, scientific management and reasonable exploitation of the regional groundwater resources can be provided for the utilization. Taking the coastal area of Jiangsu as the research area, we investigate and analyze of the regional hydrogeological conditions. The numerical simulation model of groundwater flow was established according to the water power, chemical and isotopic methods, the conditions of water flow and the influence of hydrodynamic field on the water chemical field. We predict the evolution of regional groundwater dynamics under the influence of human activities and climate change and evaluate the influence of groundwater dynamic field evolution on the environmental geological problems caused by groundwater exploitation under various conditions. We get the following conclusions: Three groundwater exploitation optimal schemes were established. The groundwater salinization was taken as the primary control condition. The substitution model was proposed to model groundwater exploitation and water level changes by BP network method.Then genetic algorithm was used to solve the optimization solution. Three groundwater exploitation optimal schemes were submit to local water resource management. The first sheme was used to solve the groundwater salinization problem. The second sheme focused on dual water supply. The third sheme concerned on emergency water supppy. This is the first time environment problem taken as water management objectinve in this coastal area.

  2. Conceptual model and map of financial exploitation of older adults.

    PubMed

    Conrad, Kendon J; Iris, Madelyn; Ridings, John W; Fairman, Kimberly P; Rosen, Abby; Wilber, Kathleen H

    2011-10-01

    This article describes the processes and outcomes of three-dimensional concept mapping to conceptualize financial exploitation of older adults. Statements were generated from a literature review and by local and national panels consisting of 16 experts in the field of financial exploitation. These statements were sorted and rated using Concept Systems software, which grouped the statements into clusters and depicted them as a map. Statements were grouped into six clusters, and ranked by the experts as follows in descending severity: (a) theft and scams, (b) financial victimization, (c) financial entitlement, (d) coercion, (e) signs of possible financial exploitation, and (f) money management difficulties. The hierarchical model can be used to identify elder financial exploitation and differentiate it from related but distinct areas of victimization. The severity hierarchy may be used to develop measures that will enable more precise screening for triage of clients into appropriate interventions.

  3. Balancing the Budget through Social Exploitation: Why Hard Times Are Even Harder for Some.

    PubMed

    Tropman, John; Nicklett, Emily

    2012-01-01

    In all societies needs and wants regularly exceed resources. Thus societies are always in deficit; demand always exceeds supply and "balancing the budget" is a constant social problem. To make matters somewhat worse, research suggests that need- and want-fulfillment tends to further stimulate the cycle of wantseeking rather than satiating desire. Societies use various resource-allocation mechanisms, including price, to cope with gaps between wants and resources. Social exploitation is a second mechanism, securing labor from population segments that can be coerced or convinced to perform necessary work for free or at below-market compensation. Using practical examples, this article develops a theoretical framework for understanding social exploitation. It then offers case examples of how different segments of the population emerge as exploited groups in the United States, due to changes in social policies. These exploitative processes have been exacerbated and accelerated by the economic downturn that began in 2007.

  4. How to do research fairly in an unjust world.

    PubMed

    Ballantyne, Angela J

    2010-06-01

    International research, sponsored by for-profit companies, is regularly criticised as unethical on the grounds that it exploits research subjects in developing countries. Many commentators agree that exploitation occurs when the benefits of cooperative activity are unfairly distributed between the parties. To determine whether international research is exploitative we therefore need an account of fair distribution. Procedural accounts of fair bargaining have been popular solutions to this problem, but I argue that they are insufficient to protect against exploitation. I argue instead that a maximin principle of fair distribution provides a more compelling normative account of fairness in relationships characterised by extreme vulnerability and inequality of bargaining potential between the parties. A global tax on international research would provide a mechanism for implementing the maximin account of fair benefits. This model has the capacity to ensure fair benefits and thereby prevent exploitation in international research.

  5. Immaterial Boys? A Large-Scale Exploration of Gender-Based Differences in Child Sexual Exploitation Service Users.

    PubMed

    Cockbain, Ella; Ashby, Matthew; Brayley, Helen

    2017-10-01

    Child sexual exploitation is increasingly recognized nationally and internationally as a pressing child protection, crime prevention, and public health issue. In the United Kingdom, for example, a recent series of high-profile cases has fueled pressure on policy makers and practitioners to improve responses. Yet, prevailing discourse, research, and interventions around child sexual exploitation have focused overwhelmingly on female victims. This study was designed to help redress fundamental knowledge gaps around boys affected by sexual exploitation. This was achieved through rigorous quantitative analysis of individual-level data for 9,042 users of child sexual exploitation services in the United Kingdom. One third of the sample were boys, and gender was associated with statistically significant differences on many variables. The results of this exploratory study highlight the need for further targeted research and more nuanced and inclusive counter-strategies.

  6. Identifying potential disaster zones around the Verkhnekamskoye potash deposit (Russia) using advanced information technology (IT)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Royer, J. J.; Filippov, L. O.

    2017-07-01

    This work aims at improving the exploitation of the K, Mg, salts ore of the Verkhnekamskoye deposit using advanced information technology (IT) such as 3D geostatistical modeling techniques together with high performance flotation. It is expected to provide a more profitable exploitation of the actual deposit avoiding the formation of dramatic sinkholes by a better knowledge of the deposit. The GeoChron modelling method for sedimentary formations (Mallet, 2014) was used to improve the knowledge of the Verkhnekamskoye potash deposit, Perm region, Russia. After a short introduction on the modern theory of mathematical modelling applied to mineral resources exploitation and geology, new results are presented on the sedimentary architecture of the ore deposit. They enlighten the structural geology and the fault orientations, a key point for avoiding catastrophic water inflows recharging zone during exploitation. These results are important for avoiding catastrophic sinkholes during exploitation.

  7. The ethics of commercial surrogate mothering: a response to Casey Humbyrd.

    PubMed

    Omonzejele, Peter F

    2011-01-01

    This article critically examines the argument advanced by Casey Humbyrd in support of international commercial surrogate mothering. It finds her arguments unconvincing especially at the point of implementation. This is because the author was unable to demonstrate how regulation and her notion offair compensation would not lead to undue inducement and exploitation in resource-poor settings where urgent needs often exist. In fact, the argument advanced in this article is that commercial surrogate mothering cannot but be exploitative in so far as urgent and compelling needs exist. To logically drive home this point, the elements of exploitation were discussed in order to show that regulation and fair compensation cannot prevent exploitative transaction in commercial surrogate mothering arrangements. This may happen in the same way as regulation and compensation framework have not been successful in preventing the allegations of exploitation in the research context especially where studies are conducted in resource-poor countries.

  8. Exploiting water versus tolerating drought: water-use strategies of trees in a secondary successional tropical dry forest

    Treesearch

    Fernando Pineda-García; Horacio Paz; Frederick C. Meinzer; Guillermo Angeles; Guillermo Goldstein

    2015-01-01

    In seasonal plant communities where water availability changes dramatically both between and within seasons, understanding the mechanisms that enable plants to exploit water pulses and to survive drought periods is crucial. By measuring rates of physiological processes, we examined the trade-off between water exploitation and drought tolerance among seedlings of trees...

  9. Compression of contour data through exploiting curve-to-curve dependence

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yalabik, N.; Cooper, D. B.

    1975-01-01

    An approach to exploiting curve-to-curve dependencies in order to achieve high data compression is presented. One of the approaches to date of along curve compression through use of cubic spline approximation is taken and extended by investigating the additional compressibility achievable through curve-to-curve structure exploitation. One of the models under investigation is reported on.

  10. The Peace and Power Conceptual Model: An Assessment Guide for School Nurses Regarding Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.

    PubMed

    Fraley, Hannah E; Aronowitz, Teri

    2017-10-01

    Human trafficking is a global problem; more than half of all victims are children. In the United States (US), at-risk youth continue to attend school. School nurses are on the frontlines, presenting a window of opportunity to identify and prevent exploitation. Available papers targeting school nurses report that school nurses may lack awareness of commercial sexual exploitation and may have attitudes and misperceptions about behaviors of school children at risk. This is a theoretical paper applying the Peace and Power Conceptual Model to understand the role of school nurses in commercial sexual exploitation of children.

  11. Exploitation in International Paid Surrogacy Arrangements.

    PubMed

    Wilkinson, Stephen

    2016-05-01

    Many critics have suggested that international paid surrogacy is exploitative. Taking such concerns as its starting point, this article asks: (1) how defensible is the claim that international paid surrogacy is exploitative and what could be done to make it less exploitative? (2) In the light of the answer to (1), how strong is the case for prohibiting it? Exploitation could in principle be dealt with by improving surrogates' pay and conditions. However, doing so may exacerbate problems with consent. Foremost amongst these is the argument that surrogates from economically disadvantaged countries cannot validly consent because their background circumstances are coercive. Several versions of this argument are examined and I conclude that at least one has some merit. The article's overall conclusion is that while ethically there is something to be concerned about, paid surrogacy is in no worse a position than many other exploitative commercial transactions which take place against a backdrop of global inequality and constrained options, such as poorly-paid and dangerous construction work. Hence, there is little reason to single surrogacy out for special condemnation. On a policy level, the case for prohibiting international commercial surrogacy is weak, despite legitimate concerns about consent and background poverty.

  12. Exploitation in International Paid Surrogacy Arrangements

    PubMed Central

    Wilkinson, Stephen

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Many critics have suggested that international paid surrogacy is exploitative. Taking such concerns as its starting point, this article asks: (1) how defensible is the claim that international paid surrogacy is exploitative and what could be done to make it less exploitative? (2) In the light of the answer to (1), how strong is the case for prohibiting it? Exploitation could in principle be dealt with by improving surrogates' pay and conditions. However, doing so may exacerbate problems with consent. Foremost amongst these is the argument that surrogates from economically disadvantaged countries cannot validly consent because their background circumstances are coercive. Several versions of this argument are examined and I conclude that at least one has some merit. The article's overall conclusion is that while ethically there is something to be concerned about, paid surrogacy is in no worse a position than many other exploitative commercial transactions which take place against a backdrop of global inequality and constrained options, such as poorly‐paid and dangerous construction work. Hence, there is little reason to single surrogacy out for special condemnation. On a policy level, the case for prohibiting international commercial surrogacy is weak, despite legitimate concerns about consent and background poverty. PMID:27471338

  13. Design of Provider-Provisioned Website Protection Scheme against Malware Distribution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yagi, Takeshi; Tanimoto, Naoto; Hariu, Takeo; Itoh, Mitsutaka

    Vulnerabilities in web applications expose computer networks to security threats, and many websites are used by attackers as hopping sites to attack other websites and user terminals. These incidents prevent service providers from constructing secure networking environments. To protect websites from attacks exploiting vulnerabilities in web applications, service providers use web application firewalls (WAFs). WAFs filter accesses from attackers by using signatures, which are generated based on the exploit codes of previous attacks. However, WAFs cannot filter unknown attacks because the signatures cannot reflect new types of attacks. In service provider environments, the number of exploit codes has recently increased rapidly because of the spread of vulnerable web applications that have been developed through cloud computing. Thus, generating signatures for all exploit codes is difficult. To solve these problems, our proposed scheme detects and filters malware downloads that are sent from websites which have already received exploit codes. In addition, to collect information for detecting malware downloads, web honeypots, which automatically extract the communication records of exploit codes, are used. According to the results of experiments using a prototype, our scheme can filter attacks automatically so that service providers can provide secure and cost-effective network environments.

  14. 28 CFR 81.12 - Submission of reports to the “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Submission of reports to the âCyber... “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (a) When a provider of... circumstances to the “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Web site (http...

  15. 28 CFR 81.12 - Submission of reports to the “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Submission of reports to the âCyber... “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (a) When a provider of... circumstances to the “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Web site (http...

  16. 28 CFR 81.12 - Submission of reports to the “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Submission of reports to the âCyber... “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (a) When a provider of... circumstances to the “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Web site (http...

  17. 28 CFR 81.12 - Submission of reports to the “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Submission of reports to the âCyber... “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (a) When a provider of... circumstances to the “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Web site (http...

  18. 28 CFR 81.12 - Submission of reports to the “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Submission of reports to the âCyber... “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. (a) When a provider of... circumstances to the “Cyber Tipline” at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Web site (http...

  19. Boldness predicts an individual's position along an exploration-exploitation foraging trade-off.

    PubMed

    Patrick, Samantha C; Pinaud, David; Weimerskirch, Henri

    2017-09-01

    Individuals do not have complete information about the environment and therefore they face a trade-off between gathering information (exploration) and gathering resources (exploitation). Studies have shown individual differences in components of this trade-off but how stable these strategies are in a population and the intrinsic drivers of these differences is not well understood. Top marine predators are expected to experience a particularly strong trade-off as many species have large foraging ranges and their prey often have a patchy distribution. This environment leads these species to exhibit pronounced exploration and exploitation phases but differences between individuals are poorly resolved. Personality differences are known to be important in foraging behaviour but also in the trade-off between exploration and exploitation. Here we test whether personality predicts an individual exploration-exploitation strategy using wide ranging wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) as a model system. Using GPS tracking data from 276 wandering albatrosses, we extract foraging parameters indicative of exploration (searching) and exploitation (foraging) and show that foraging effort, time in patch and size of patch are strongly correlated, demonstrating these are indicative of an exploration-exploitation (EE) strategy. Furthermore, we show these are consistent within individuals and appear stable in the population, with no reproductive advantage. The searching and foraging behaviour of bolder birds placed them towards the exploration end of the trade-off, whereas shy birds showed greater exploitation. This result provides a mechanism through which individual foraging strategies may emerge. Age and sex affected components of the trade-off, but not the trade-off itself, suggesting these factors may drive behavioural compensation to maintain resource acquisition and this was supported by the evidence that there were no fitness consequence of any EE trait nor the trade-off itself. These results demonstrate a clear trade-off between information gathering and exploitation of prey patches, and reveals for the first time that boldness may drive these differences. This provides a mechanism through which widely reported links between personality and foraging may emerge. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.

  20. Financial decision-making abilities and financial exploitation in older African Americans: Preliminary validity evidence for the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Rating Scale (LFDRS).

    PubMed

    Lichtenberg, Peter A; Ficker, Lisa J; Rahman-Filipiak, Annalise

    2016-01-01

    This study examines preliminary evidence for the Lichtenberg Financial Decision Rating Scale (LFDRS), a new person-centered approach to assessing capacity to make financial decisions, and its relationship to self-reported cases of financial exploitation in 69 older African Americans. More than one third of individuals reporting financial exploitation also had questionable decisional abilities. Overall, decisional ability score and current decision total were significantly associated with cognitive screening test and financial ability scores, demonstrating good criterion validity. Study findings suggest that impaired decisional abilities may render older adults more vulnerable to financial exploitation, and that the LFDRS is a valid tool.

  1. Deception in plants: mimicry or perceptual exploitation?

    PubMed

    Schaefer, H Martin; Ruxton, Graeme D

    2009-12-01

    Mimicry involves adaptive resemblance between a mimic and a model. However, despite much recent research, it remains contentious in plants. Here, we review recent progress on studying deception by flowers, distinguishing between plants relying on mimicry to achieve pollination and those relying on the exploitation of the perceptual biases of animals. We disclose fundamental differences between both mechanisms and explain why the evolution of exploitation is less constrained than that of mimicry. Exploitation of perceptual biases might thus be a precursor for the gradual evolution of mimicry. Increasing knowledge on the sensory and cognitive filters in animals, and on the selective pressures that maintain them, should aid researchers in tracing the evolutionary dynamics of deception in plants.

  2. Balancing the Budget through Social Exploitation: Why Hard Times Are Even Harder for Some

    PubMed Central

    Tropman, John; Nicklett, Emily

    2013-01-01

    In all societies needs and wants regularly exceed resources. Thus societies are always in deficit; demand always exceeds supply and “balancing the budget” is a constant social problem. To make matters somewhat worse, research suggests that need- and want-fulfillment tends to further stimulate the cycle of wantseeking rather than satiating desire. Societies use various resource-allocation mechanisms, including price, to cope with gaps between wants and resources. Social exploitation is a second mechanism, securing labor from population segments that can be coerced or convinced to perform necessary work for free or at below-market compensation. Using practical examples, this article develops a theoretical framework for understanding social exploitation. It then offers case examples of how different segments of the population emerge as exploited groups in the United States, due to changes in social policies. These exploitative processes have been exacerbated and accelerated by the economic downturn that began in 2007. PMID:23936753

  3. Misreporting behaviour in iterated prisoner's dilemma game with combined trust strategy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Bo; Zhang, Bin; Wu, Hua-qing

    2015-01-01

    Effects of agents' misreporting behaviour on system cooperation are studied in a multi-agent iterated prisoner's dilemma game. Agents, adopting combined trust strategy (denoted by CTS) are classified into three groups, i.e., honest CTS, positive-reporting CTS and negative-reporting CTS. The differences of cooperation frequency and pay-off under three different systems, i.e., system only with honest CTS, system with honest CTS and positive-reporting CTS and system with honest CTS and negative-reporting CTS, are compared. Furthermore, we also investigate the effects of misreporting behaviour on an exploiter who adopts an exploiting strategy (denoted by EXPL) in a system with two CTSs and one EXPL. At last, numerical simulations are performed for understanding the effects of misreporting behaviour on CTS. The results reveal that positive-reporting behaviour can strengthen system cooperation, while negative-reporting behaviour cannot. When EXPL exists in a system, positive-reporting behaviour helps the exploiter in reducing its exploiting cost and encourages agents to adopt exploiting strategy, but hurts other agents' interests.

  4. Diel horizontal migration in streams: juvenile fish exploit spatial heterogeneity in thermal and trophic resources

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Armstrong, Jonathan B.; Schindler, Daniel E.; Ruff, Casey P.; Brooks, Gabriel T.; Bentley, Kale E.; Torgersen, Christian E.

    2013-01-01

    Vertical heterogeneity in the physical characteristics of lakes and oceans is ecologically salient and exploited by a wide range of taxa through diel vertical migration to enhance their growth and survival. Whether analogous behaviors exploit horizontal habitat heterogeneity in streams is largely unknown. We investigated fish movement behavior at daily timescales to explore how individuals integrated across spatial variation in food abundance and water temperature. Juvenile coho salmon made feeding forays into cold habitats with abundant food, and then moved long distances (350–1300 m) to warmer habitats that accelerated their metabolism and increased their assimilative capacity. This behavioral thermoregulation enabled fish to mitigate trade-offs between trophic and thermal resources by exploiting thermal heterogeneity. Fish that exploited thermal heterogeneity grew at substantially faster rates than did individuals that assumed other behaviors. Our results provide empirical support for the importance of thermal diversity in lotic systems, and emphasize the importance of considering interactions between animal behavior and habitat heterogeneity when managing and restoring ecosystems.

  5. Large scale, synchronous variability of marine fish populations driven by commercial exploitation.

    PubMed

    Frank, Kenneth T; Petrie, Brian; Leggett, William C; Boyce, Daniel G

    2016-07-19

    Synchronous variations in the abundance of geographically distinct marine fish populations are known to occur across spatial scales on the order of 1,000 km and greater. The prevailing assumption is that this large-scale coherent variability is a response to coupled atmosphere-ocean dynamics, commonly represented by climate indexes, such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation. On the other hand, it has been suggested that exploitation might contribute to this coherent variability. This possibility has been generally ignored or dismissed on the grounds that exploitation is unlikely to operate synchronously at such large spatial scales. Our analysis of adult fishing mortality and spawning stock biomass of 22 North Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) stocks revealed that both the temporal and spatial scales in fishing mortality and spawning stock biomass were equivalent to those of the climate drivers. From these results, we conclude that greater consideration must be given to the potential of exploitation as a driving force behind broad, coherent variability of heavily exploited fish species.

  6. Operational Decision Aids for Exploiting or Mitigating Electromagnetic Propagation Effects

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-09-01

    Exploitation or mitigation of environmental effects rank equal in importance with weapons systems. The rapidly changing propagation environment ...global in nature . It not only involves the ocean environment from the tropics to the poles, but also the coastal and land environments . Some of the...tactics must take environ - mental conditions into account and either mitigate or exploit their effects. There are many environmental factors that influence

  7. An Assessment of ELINT Exploitation for Situational Awareness Visualisations on Operator Situational Awareness

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-10-01

    C L A S I F I C A T I O N An Assessment of ELINT Exploitation for Situational Awareness Visualisations on Operator Situational...environment. The An Assessment of ELINT Exploitation for Situational Awareness Visualisations on Operator Situational Awareness EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...1. ELEXSA’s Process of Sequential Enrichment. 2 Figure 2. Sample ELEXSA Visualisation . 3 Figure 3. Example Llama/Cheetah Network Layout. 5

  8. Host discrimination in modular mutualisms: a theoretical framework for meta-populations of mutualists and exploiters

    PubMed Central

    Steidinger, Brian S.; Bever, James D.

    2016-01-01

    Plants in multiple symbioses are exploited by symbionts that consume their resources without providing services. Discriminating hosts are thought to stabilize mutualism by preferentially allocating resources into anatomical structures (modules) where services are generated, with examples of modules including the entire inflorescences of figs and the root nodules of legumes. Modules are often colonized by multiple symbiotic partners, such that exploiters that co-occur with mutualists within mixed modules can share rewards generated by their mutualist competitors. We developed a meta-population model to answer how the population dynamics of mutualists and exploiters change when they interact with hosts with different module occupancies (number of colonists per module) and functionally different patterns of allocation into mixed modules. We find that as module occupancy increases, hosts must increase the magnitude of preferentially allocated resources in order to sustain comparable populations of mutualists. Further, we find that mixed colonization can result in the coexistence of mutualist and exploiter partners, but only when preferential allocation follows a saturating function of the number of mutualists in a module. Finally, using published data from the fig–wasp mutualism as an illustrative example, we derive model predictions that approximate the proportion of exploiter, non-pollinating wasps observed in the field. PMID:26740613

  9. Root Exploit Detection and Features Optimization: Mobile Device and Blockchain Based Medical Data Management.

    PubMed

    Firdaus, Ahmad; Anuar, Nor Badrul; Razak, Mohd Faizal Ab; Hashem, Ibrahim Abaker Targio; Bachok, Syafiq; Sangaiah, Arun Kumar

    2018-05-04

    The increasing demand for Android mobile devices and blockchain has motivated malware creators to develop mobile malware to compromise the blockchain. Although the blockchain is secure, attackers have managed to gain access into the blockchain as legal users, thereby comprising important and crucial information. Examples of mobile malware include root exploit, botnets, and Trojans and root exploit is one of the most dangerous malware. It compromises the operating system kernel in order to gain root privileges which are then used by attackers to bypass the security mechanisms, to gain complete control of the operating system, to install other possible types of malware to the devices, and finally, to steal victims' private keys linked to the blockchain. For the purpose of maximizing the security of the blockchain-based medical data management (BMDM), it is crucial to investigate the novel features and approaches contained in root exploit malware. This study proposes to use the bio-inspired method of practical swarm optimization (PSO) which automatically select the exclusive features that contain the novel android debug bridge (ADB). This study also adopts boosting (adaboost, realadaboost, logitboost, and multiboost) to enhance the machine learning prediction that detects unknown root exploit, and scrutinized three categories of features including (1) system command, (2) directory path and (3) code-based. The evaluation gathered from this study suggests a marked accuracy value of 93% with Logitboost in the simulation. Logitboost also helped to predicted all the root exploit samples in our developed system, the root exploit detection system (RODS).

  10. Automated UAV-based video exploitation using service oriented architecture framework

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Se, Stephen; Nadeau, Christian; Wood, Scott

    2011-05-01

    Airborne surveillance and reconnaissance are essential for successful military missions. Such capabilities are critical for troop protection, situational awareness, mission planning, damage assessment, and others. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) gather huge amounts of video data but it is extremely labour-intensive for operators to analyze hours and hours of received data. At MDA, we have developed a suite of tools that can process the UAV video data automatically, including mosaicking, change detection and 3D reconstruction, which have been integrated within a standard GIS framework. In addition, the mosaicking and 3D reconstruction tools have also been integrated in a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) framework. The Visualization and Exploitation Workstation (VIEW) integrates 2D and 3D visualization, processing, and analysis capabilities developed for UAV video exploitation. Visualization capabilities are supported through a thick-client Graphical User Interface (GUI), which allows visualization of 2D imagery, video, and 3D models. The GUI interacts with the VIEW server, which provides video mosaicking and 3D reconstruction exploitation services through the SOA framework. The SOA framework allows multiple users to perform video exploitation by running a GUI client on the operator's computer and invoking the video exploitation functionalities residing on the server. This allows the exploitation services to be upgraded easily and allows the intensive video processing to run on powerful workstations. MDA provides UAV services to the Canadian and Australian forces in Afghanistan with the Heron, a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV system. On-going flight operations service provides important intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information to commanders and front-line soldiers.

  11. Do observed levels of exploitation from consumption-oriented and trophy-oriented fisheries reduce relative stock densities of Muskellunge below target levels in northern Wisconsin?

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Faust, Matthew D.; Hansen, Michael J.

    2017-01-01

    Muskellunge anglers desire to catch large fish, and release rates by recreational anglers often approach 100% (Isermann et al. 2011). Muskellunge are also a culturally significant fish for Chippewa tribes and support a subsistence spearing fishery in Wisconsin’s Ceded Territory (Erickson 2007). Although Muskellunge populations within the state’s Ceded Territory are exposed to both angling and spearing fishery exploitation, Faust and Hansen (2016) suggested that under certain conditions (e.g., high minimum length limits (MLL) and low spearing exploitation) Muskellunge fisheries with disparate motivations could coexist (i.e., sufficient numbers of large individuals remained despite harvest from consumptive fishery), but noted that larger declines in trophy Muskellunge abundance were predicted at lower MLLs (e.g., 102-cm). Fisheries managers with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) wished to further understand how specific relative stock densities (RSD), used by the WDNR to define and monitor trophy Muskellunge fisheries, are reduced at exploitation rates commonly experienced by populations in northern Wisconsin. Similarly, understanding how trophy Muskellunge abundance may have declined under the previous statewide MLL (i.e., 86-cm) at these levels of exploitation was also desired. Thus, our objectives were to 1) determine if observed levels of angling and spearing exploitation reduced predicted RSD indices below thresholds used by the WDNR to define trophy Muskellunge fisheries for three typical Muskellunge growth potentials in northern Wisconsin across a variety of MLLs; and 2) quantify how numbers of trophy Muskellunge declined under an 86-cm MLL at observed levels of exploitation.

  12. Sensory exploitation and sexual conflict

    PubMed Central

    Arnqvist, Göran

    2006-01-01

    Much of the literature on male–female coevolution concerns the processes by which male traits and female preferences for these can coevolve and be maintained by selection. There has been less explicit focus on the origin of male traits and female preferences. Here, I argue that it is important to distinguish origin from subsequent coevolution and that insights into the origin can help us appreciate the relative roles of various coevolutionary processes for the evolution of diversity in sexual dimorphism. I delineate four distinct scenarios for the origin of male traits and female preferences that build on past contributions, two of which are based on pre-existing variation in quality indicators among males and two on exploitation of pre-existing sensory biases among females. Recent empirical research, and theoretical models, suggest that origin by sensory exploitation has been widespread. I argue that this points to a key, but perhaps transient, role for sexually antagonistic coevolution (SAC) in the subsequent evolutionary elaboration of sexual traits, because (i) sensory exploitation is often likely to be initially costly for individuals of the exploited sex and (ii) the subsequent evolution of resistance to sensory exploitation should often be associated with costs due to selective constraints. A review of a few case studies is used to illustrate these points. Empirical data directly relevant to the costs of being sensory exploited and the costs of evolving resistance is largely lacking, and I stress that such data would help determining the general importance of sexual conflict and SAC for the evolution of sexual dimorphism. PMID:16612895

  13. Mathematics of Sensing, Exploitation, and Execution (MSEE) Hierarchical Representations for the Evaluation of Sensed Data

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-06-01

    theories of the mammalian visual system, and exploiting descriptive text that may accompany a still image for improved inference. The focus of the Brown...test, computer vision, semantic description , street scenes, belief propagation, generative models, nonlinear filtering, sufficient statistics 16...visual system, and exploiting descriptive text that may accompany a still image for improved inference. The focus of the Brown team was on single images

  14. Demographic threats to the sustainability of Brazil nut exploitation.

    PubMed

    Peres, Carlos A; Baider, Claudia; Zuidema, Pieter A; Wadt, Lúcia H O; Kainer, Karen A; Gomes-Silva, Daisy A P; Salomão, Rafael P; Simões, Luciana L; Franciosi, Eduardo R N; Cornejo Valverde, Fernando; Gribel, Rogério; Shepard, Glenn H; Kanashiro, Milton; Coventry, Peter; Yu, Douglas W; Watkinson, Andrew R; Freckleton, Robert P

    2003-12-19

    A comparative analysis of 23 populations of the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) across the Brazilian, Peruvian, and Bolivian Amazon shows that the history and intensity of Brazil nut exploitation are major determinants of population size structure. Populations subjected to persistent levels of harvest lack juvenile trees less than 60 centimeters in diameter at breast height; only populations with a history of either light or recent exploitation contain large numbers of juvenile trees. A harvesting model confirms that intensive exploitation levels over the past century are such that juvenile recruitment is insufficient to maintain populations over the long term. Without management, intensively harvested populations will succumb to a process of senescence and demographic collapse, threatening this cornerstone of the Amazonian extractive economy.

  15. National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

    MedlinePlus

    ... Professional Organizations & Networks National & International Collaboration EN SP Report Child Sexual Exploitation Make a CYBERTIPLINE Report Number of reports NCMEC responded to in 2017 regarding possible child ...

  16. Life-history plasticity and sustainable exploitation: a theory of growth compensation applied to walleye management.

    PubMed

    Lester, Nigel P; Shuter, Brian J; Venturelli, Paul; Nadeau, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    A simple population model was developed to evaluate the role of plastic and evolutionary life-history changes on sustainable exploitation rates. Plastic changes are embodied in density-dependent compensatory adjustments to somatic growth rate and larval/juvenile survival, which can compensate for the reductions in reproductive lifetime and mean population fecundity that accompany the higher adult mortality imposed by exploitation. Evolutionary changes are embodied in the selective pressures that higher adult mortality imposes on age at maturity, length at maturity, and reproductive investment. Analytical development, based on a biphasic growth model, led to simple equations that show explicitly how sustainable exploitation rates are bounded by each of these effects. We show that density-dependent growth combined with a fixed length at maturity and fixed reproductive investment can support exploitation-driven mortality that is 80% of the level supported by evolutionary changes in maturation and reproductive investment. Sustainable fishing mortality is proportional to natural mortality (M) times the degree of density-dependent growth, as modified by both the degree of density-dependent early survival and the minimum harvestable length. We applied this model to estimate sustainable exploitation rates for North American walleye populations (Sander vitreus). Our analysis of demographic data from walleye populations spread across a broad latitudinal range indicates that density-dependent variation in growth rate can vary by a factor of 2. Implications of this growth response are generally consistent with empirical studies suggesting that optimal fishing mortality is approximately 0.75M for teleosts. This approach can be adapted to the management of other species, particularly when significant exploitation is imposed on many, widely distributed, but geographically isolated populations.

  17. Emerging Roles of Combat Communication Squadrons in Cyber Warfare as Related to Computer Network Attack, Defense and Exploitation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-06-01

    EMERGING ROLES OF COMBAT COMMUNICATION SQUADRONS IN CYBER WARFARE AS RELATED TO COMPUTER NETWORK ATTACK, DEFENSE AND EXPLOITATION GRADUATE RESEARCH...Communication Squadrons in Cyber Warfare as Related to Computer Network Attack, Defense and Exploitation GRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECT Presented to the Faculty...Education and Training Command In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Cyber Warfare Michael J. Myers Major, USAF June 2011

  18. Exploitation of Children. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice of the Committee on the Judiciary. United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, First Session on Problems of Exploited Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

    The proceedings of this hearing on the exploitation of children deal with the problems of children and adolescents who run away from home. Family problems and abuse that cause these children to leave home are described by former runaway witnesses. Other testimony is included from several people who work with runaway youths and describe programs to…

  19. Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice of the Committee on the Judiciary. United States Senate, Ninety-Ninth Congress, First Session on S. 1305 (October 1, 1985).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

    The Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act would establish criminal penalties for the transmission by computer of obscene matter, or by computer or other means, of matter pertaining to the sexual exploitation of children. Opening statements by Senators Trible, Denton, Specter, and McConnell are presented. The text of the bill…

  20. An integrated approach to historical population assessment of the great whales: case of the New Zealand southern right whale.

    PubMed

    Jackson, Jennifer A; Carroll, Emma L; Smith, Tim D; Zerbini, Alexandre N; Patenaude, Nathalie J; Baker, C Scott

    2016-03-01

    Accurate estimation of historical abundance provides an essential baseline for judging the recovery of the great whales. This is particularly challenging for whales hunted prior to twentieth century modern whaling, as population-level catch records are often incomplete. Assessments of whale recovery using pre-modern exploitation indices are therefore rare, despite the intensive, global nature of nineteenth century whaling. Right whales (Eubalaena spp.) were particularly exploited: slow swimmers with strong fidelity to sheltered calving bays, the species made predictable and easy targets. Here, we present the first integrated population-level assessment of the whaling impact and pre-exploitation abundance of a right whale, the New Zealand southern right whale (E. australis). In this assessment, we use a Bayesian population dynamics model integrating multiple data sources: nineteenth century catches, genetic constraints on bottleneck size and individual sightings histories informing abundance and trend. Different catch allocation scenarios are explored to account for uncertainty in the population's offshore distribution. From a pre-exploitation abundance of 28 800-47 100 whales, nineteenth century hunting reduced the population to approximately 30-40 mature females between 1914 and 1926. Today, it stands at less than 12% of pre-exploitation abundance. Despite the challenges of reconstructing historical catches and population boundaries, conservation efforts of historically exploited species benefit from targets for ecological restoration.

  1. An integrated approach to historical population assessment of the great whales: case of the New Zealand southern right whale

    PubMed Central

    Jackson, Jennifer A.; Carroll, Emma L.; Smith, Tim D.; Zerbini, Alexandre N.; Patenaude, Nathalie J.; Baker, C. Scott

    2016-01-01

    Accurate estimation of historical abundance provides an essential baseline for judging the recovery of the great whales. This is particularly challenging for whales hunted prior to twentieth century modern whaling, as population-level catch records are often incomplete. Assessments of whale recovery using pre-modern exploitation indices are therefore rare, despite the intensive, global nature of nineteenth century whaling. Right whales (Eubalaena spp.) were particularly exploited: slow swimmers with strong fidelity to sheltered calving bays, the species made predictable and easy targets. Here, we present the first integrated population-level assessment of the whaling impact and pre-exploitation abundance of a right whale, the New Zealand southern right whale (E. australis). In this assessment, we use a Bayesian population dynamics model integrating multiple data sources: nineteenth century catches, genetic constraints on bottleneck size and individual sightings histories informing abundance and trend. Different catch allocation scenarios are explored to account for uncertainty in the population's offshore distribution. From a pre-exploitation abundance of 28 800–47 100 whales, nineteenth century hunting reduced the population to approximately 30–40 mature females between 1914 and 1926. Today, it stands at less than 12% of pre-exploitation abundance. Despite the challenges of reconstructing historical catches and population boundaries, conservation efforts of historically exploited species benefit from targets for ecological restoration. PMID:27069657

  2. Effects of recruitment, growth, and exploitation on walleye population size structure in northern Wisconsin lakes

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hansen, Michael J.; Nate, Nancy A.

    2014-01-01

    We evaluated the dynamics of walleye Sander vitreus population size structure, as indexed by the proportional size distribution (PSD) of quality-length fish, in Escanaba Lake during 1967–2003 and in 204 other lakes in northern Wisconsin during 1990–2011. We estimated PSD from angler-caught walleyes in Escanaba Lake and from spring electrofishing in 204 other lakes, and then related PSD to annual estimates of recruitment to age-3, length at age 3, and annual angling exploitation rate. In Escanaba Lake during 1967–2003, annual estimates of PSD were highly dynamic, growth (positively) explained 35% of PSD variation, recruitment explained only 3% of PSD variation, and exploitation explained only 7% of PSD variation. In 204 other northern Wisconsin lakes during 1990–2011, PSD varied widely among lakes, recruitment (negatively) explained 29% of PSD variation, growth (positively) explained 21% of PSD variation, and exploitation explained only 4% of PSD variation. We conclude that population size structure was most strongly driven by recruitment and growth, rather than exploitation, in northern Wisconsin walleye populations. Studies of other species over wide spatial and temporal ranges of recruitment, growth, and mortality are needed to determine which dynamic rate most strongly influences population size structure of other species. Our findings indicate a need to be cautious about assuming exploitation is a strong driver of walleye population size structure.

  3. Study on the groundwater sustainable problem by numerical simulation in a multi-layered coastal aquifer system of Zhanjiang, China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Pengpeng; Li, Ming; Lu, Yaodong

    2017-10-01

    Assessing sustainability of coastal groundwater is significant for groundwater management as coastal groundwater is vulnerable to over-exploitation and contamination. To address the issues of serious groundwater level drawdown and potential seawater intrusion risk of a multi-layered coastal aquifer system in Zhanjiang, China, this paper presents a numerical modelling study to research groundwater sustainability of this aquifer system. The transient modelling results show that the groundwater budget was negative (-3826× 104 to -4502× 10^{4 } m3/a) during the years 2008-2011, revealing that this aquifer system was over-exploited. Meanwhile, the groundwater sustainability was assessed by evaluating the negative hydraulic pressure area (NHPA) of the unconfined aquifer and the groundwater level dynamic and flow velocity of the offshore boundaries of the confined aquifers. The results demonstrate that the Nansan Island is most influenced by NHPA and that the local groundwater should not be exploited. The results also suggest that, with the current groundwater exploitation scheme, the sustainable yield should be 1.784× 108 m3/a (i.e., decreased by 20% from the current exploitation amount). To satisfy public water demands, the 20% decrease of the exploitation amount can be offset by the groundwater sourced from the Taiping groundwater resource field. These results provide valuable guidance for groundwater management of Zhanjiang.

  4. [Commercial sexual exploitation of children: Meanings and practices of people who work and reside in downtown Medellin (Colombia), 2015].

    PubMed

    Ossa-Estrada, Diego Alejandro; Muñoz-Echeverri, Iván Felipe

    2017-01-01

    The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a public health problem and a serious violation of the rights of children and adolescents. The response to this problem has been affected by the meanings and practices of the actors involved. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the problem, a qualitative social study using a grounded theory approach was carried out between 2014 and 2015. The aim was to understand the meanings and practices regarding this issue of people who spend time in an area of the city center with a high presence of commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents. The techniques used were participant observation and semi-structured interviews. We found that the predominate conceptions lead to practices that aggravate and perpetuate rights violations. Although practices of protection towards victims were identified, these were limited to critical aspects of the context. Actions to eradicate commercial sexual exploitation should work with the community and the meanings within the community regarding sexual exploitation so as to potentiate the victim protection practices carried out and reduce barriers to such practices.

  5. Under the Skin of a Lion: Unique Evidence of Upper Paleolithic Exploitation and Use of Cave Lion (Panthera spelaea) from the Lower Gallery of La Garma (Spain).

    PubMed

    Cueto, Marián; Camarós, Edgard; Castaños, Pedro; Ontañón, Roberto; Arias, Pablo

    2016-01-01

    Pleistocene skinning and exploitation of carnivore furs have been previously inferred from archaeological evidence. Nevertheless, the evidence of skinning and fur processing tends to be weak and the interpretations are not strongly sustained by the archaeological record. In the present paper, we analyze unique evidence of patterned anthropic modification and skeletal representation of fossil remains of cave lion (Panthera spelaea) from the Lower Gallery of La Garma (Cantabria, Spain). This site is one of the few that provides Pleistocene examples of lion exploitation by humans. Our archaeozoological study suggests that lion-specialized pelt exploitation and use might have been related to ritual activities during the Middle Magdalenian period (ca. 14800 cal BC). Moreover, the specimens also represent the southernmost European and the latest evidence of cave lion exploitation in Iberia. Therefore, the study seeks to provide alternative explanations for lion extinction in Eurasia and argues for a role of hunting as a factor to take into account.

  6. Sexual slavery without borders: trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation in India.

    PubMed

    Joffres, Christine; Mills, Edward; Joffres, Michel; Khanna, Tinku; Walia, Harleen; Grund, Darrin

    2008-09-25

    Trafficking in women and children is a gross violation of human rights. However, this does not prevent an estimated 800 000 women and children to be trafficked each year across international borders. Eighty per cent of trafficked persons end in forced sex work. India has been identified as one of the Asian countries where trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation has reached alarming levels. While there is a considerable amount of internal trafficking from one state to another or within states, India has also emerged as a international supplier of trafficked women and children to the Gulf States and South East Asia, as well as a destination country for women and girls trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation from Nepal and Bangladesh. Trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation is a highly profitable and low risk business that preys on particularly vulnerable populations. This paper presents an overview of the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation (CSE) in India; identifies the health impacts of CSE; and suggest strategies to respond to trafficking and related issues.

  7. Under the Skin of a Lion: Unique Evidence of Upper Paleolithic Exploitation and Use of Cave Lion (Panthera spelaea) from the Lower Gallery of La Garma (Spain)

    PubMed Central

    Camarós, Edgard; Castaños, Pedro; Ontañón, Roberto; Arias, Pablo

    2016-01-01

    Pleistocene skinning and exploitation of carnivore furs have been previously inferred from archaeological evidence. Nevertheless, the evidence of skinning and fur processing tends to be weak and the interpretations are not strongly sustained by the archaeological record. In the present paper, we analyze unique evidence of patterned anthropic modification and skeletal representation of fossil remains of cave lion (Panthera spelaea) from the Lower Gallery of La Garma (Cantabria, Spain). This site is one of the few that provides Pleistocene examples of lion exploitation by humans. Our archaeozoological study suggests that lion-specialized pelt exploitation and use might have been related to ritual activities during the Middle Magdalenian period (ca. 14800 cal BC). Moreover, the specimens also represent the southernmost European and the latest evidence of cave lion exploitation in Iberia. Therefore, the study seeks to provide alternative explanations for lion extinction in Eurasia and argues for a role of hunting as a factor to take into account. PMID:27783697

  8. Risk assessment by dynamic representation of vulnerability, exploitation, and impact

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cam, Hasan

    2015-05-01

    Assessing and quantifying cyber risk accurately in real-time is essential to providing security and mission assurance in any system and network. This paper presents a modeling and dynamic analysis approach to assessing cyber risk of a network in real-time by representing dynamically its vulnerabilities, exploitations, and impact using integrated Bayesian network and Markov models. Given the set of vulnerabilities detected by a vulnerability scanner in a network, this paper addresses how its risk can be assessed by estimating in real-time the exploit likelihood and impact of vulnerability exploitation on the network, based on real-time observations and measurements over the network. The dynamic representation of the network in terms of its vulnerabilities, sensor measurements, and observations is constructed dynamically using the integrated Bayesian network and Markov models. The transition rates of outgoing and incoming links of states in hidden Markov models are used in determining exploit likelihood and impact of attacks, whereas emission rates help quantify the attack states of vulnerabilities. Simulation results show the quantification and evolving risk scores over time for individual and aggregated vulnerabilities of a network.

  9. Piloting the older adult financial exploitation measure in adult safeguarding services.

    PubMed

    Phelan, A; Fealy, G; Downes, C

    Financial abuse is arguably the most complex form of elder abuse as it may occur remote to the older person and it is impacted by issues such as cultural values, perpetrator intent and family expectations. Financial abuse may not be recognised by either the older person or the perpetrator, thus, its prevention, early identification and amelioration are important. The (Irish) National Centre for the Protection of Older People undertook a study to determine the appropriateness of the Older Adult Financial Exploitation Measure for use by the national safeguarding older person services. Findings from a small pilot study involving 16 safeguarding staff's use of the Older Adult Financial Exploitation Measure with 52 community dwelling older people referred to their service demonstrate a higher suspicion of financial abuse as well as identifying multiple instances of possible financial exploitation in a single individual. Thus, the Older Adult Financial Exploitation Measure is considered appropriate to assist safeguarding personnel's assessment of older people related to a suspicion of financial abuse. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Experiments on Adaptive Techniques for Host-Based Intrusion Detection

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    DRAELOS, TIMOTHY J.; COLLINS, MICHAEL J.; DUGGAN, DAVID P.

    2001-09-01

    This research explores four experiments of adaptive host-based intrusion detection (ID) techniques in an attempt to develop systems that can detect novel exploits. The technique considered to have the most potential is adaptive critic designs (ACDs) because of their utilization of reinforcement learning, which allows learning exploits that are difficult to pinpoint in sensor data. Preliminary results of ID using an ACD, an Elman recurrent neural network, and a statistical anomaly detection technique demonstrate an ability to learn to distinguish between clean and exploit data. We used the Solaris Basic Security Module (BSM) as a data source and performed considerablemore » preprocessing on the raw data. A detection approach called generalized signature-based ID is recommended as a middle ground between signature-based ID, which has an inability to detect novel exploits, and anomaly detection, which detects too many events including events that are not exploits. The primary results of the ID experiments demonstrate the use of custom data for generalized signature-based intrusion detection and the ability of neural network-based systems to learn in this application environment.« less

  11. Sexual slavery without borders: trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation in India

    PubMed Central

    Joffres, Christine; Mills, Edward; Joffres, Michel; Khanna, Tinku; Walia, Harleen; Grund, Darrin

    2008-01-01

    Trafficking in women and children is a gross violation of human rights. However, this does not prevent an estimated 800 000 women and children to be trafficked each year across international borders. Eighty per cent of trafficked persons end in forced sex work. India has been identified as one of the Asian countries where trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation has reached alarming levels. While there is a considerable amount of internal trafficking from one state to another or within states, India has also emerged as a international supplier of trafficked women and children to the Gulf States and South East Asia, as well as a destination country for women and girls trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation from Nepal and Bangladesh. Trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation is a highly profitable and low risk business that preys on particularly vulnerable populations. This paper presents an overview of the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation (CSE) in India; identifies the health impacts of CSE; and suggest strategies to respond to trafficking and related issues. PMID:18817576

  12. A Heated Debate: Theoretical Perspectives of Sexual Exploitation and Sex Work

    PubMed Central

    Gerassi, Lara

    2015-01-01

    The theoretical and often political framework of sexual exploitation and sex work among women is widely and enthusiastically debated among academic and legal scholars alike. The majority of theoretical literature in this area focuses on the macro perspective, while the micro-level perspective as to theory and causation remains sparse. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the philosophical, legal, and political perspectives pertaining to sexual exploitation of women and girls while addressing the subsequent controversies in the field. PMID:26834302

  13. The Exploitation of the Electric Contributions in Infrared Power Generation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-02-02

    Technical Report for year one 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 3/10/2015-2/2/16 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE The exploitation of the electric contributions in...establishes a method to harvest infrared radiation and transform it into usable energy. We have identified an electrical contribution to the energy...area code) (540) 568-8857 ^olko^ögüöo Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98) Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18 The exploitation of the electric contributions

  14. The physician as perpetrator of abuse.

    PubMed

    Kluft, R P

    1993-06-01

    Although the exploitation and abuse of patients is forbidden by every code of medical ethics, physicians are in a power position vis-a-vis their patients, and this power may be misused. The spectrum of abusive physician behaviors includes doctors functioning as agents of control, exploiting physicianly perogatives, acting out personal problems in the medical setting, allowing subversion of their judgment, deliberately delivering suboptimal care, dehumanizing care, and sexually exploiting patients. Guidelines for the treatment of patients with such prior experiences are offered.

  15. International Intelligence Forum 2006. Black Sea and Caspian Sea Symposium, held in Washington, DC on 9-10 March 2006

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-03-01

    a challenge that is going to transmute from a world where, at least as seen from the United States, the focus is on al Qaeda and similarly...they are moved for the purposes of sexual exploitation and this is mainly young women. They are moved for the purposes of labor exploitation; this...percent of traffi cked people are young women, and they are usually traffi cked for purposes of sexual exploitation. Refugees or members of displaced

  16. Final Report, “Exploiting Global View for Resilience”

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chien, Andrew

    2017-03-29

    Final technical report for the "Exploiting Global View for Resilience" project. The GVR project aims to create a new approach to portable, resilient applications. The GVR approach builds on a global view data model,, adding versioning (multi-version), user control of timing and rate (multi-stream), and flexible cross layer error signalling and recovery. With a versioned array as a portable abstraction, GVR enables application programmers to exploit deep scientific and application code insights to manage resilience (and its overhead) in a flexible, portable fashion.

  17. Self-organization, collective decision making and resource exploitation strategies in social insects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nicolis, S. C.; Dussutour, A.

    2008-10-01

    Amplifying communications are a ubiquitous characteristic of group-living animals. This work is concerned with their role in the processes of food recruitment and resource exploitation by social insects. The collective choices made by ants faced with different food sources are analyzed using both a mean field description and a stochastic approach. Emphasis is placed on the possibility of optimizing the recruitment and exploitation strategies through an appropriate balance between individual variability, cooperative interactions and environmental constraints.

  18. Network Penetration Testing and Research

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Murphy, Brandon F.

    2013-01-01

    This paper will focus the on research and testing done on penetrating a network for security purposes. This research will provide the IT security office new methods of attacks across and against a company's network as well as introduce them to new platforms and software that can be used to better assist with protecting against such attacks. Throughout this paper testing and research has been done on two different Linux based operating systems, for attacking and compromising a Windows based host computer. Backtrack 5 and BlackBuntu (Linux based penetration testing operating systems) are two different "attacker'' computers that will attempt to plant viruses and or NASA USRP - Internship Final Report exploits on a host Windows 7 operating system, as well as try to retrieve information from the host. On each Linux OS (Backtrack 5 and BlackBuntu) there is penetration testing software which provides the necessary tools to create exploits that can compromise a windows system as well as other operating systems. This paper will focus on two main methods of deploying exploits 1 onto a host computer in order to retrieve information from a compromised system. One method of deployment for an exploit that was tested is known as a "social engineering" exploit. This type of method requires interaction from unsuspecting user. With this user interaction, a deployed exploit may allow a malicious user to gain access to the unsuspecting user's computer as well as the network that such computer is connected to. Due to more advance security setting and antivirus protection and detection, this method is easily identified and defended against. The second method of exploit deployment is the method mainly focused upon within this paper. This method required extensive research on the best way to compromise a security enabled protected network. Once a network has been compromised, then any and all devices connected to such network has the potential to be compromised as well. With a compromised network, computers and devices can be penetrated through deployed exploits. This paper will illustrate the research done to test ability to penetrate a network without user interaction, in order to retrieve personal information from a targeted host.

  19. 50 CFR 648.141 - Closure.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... inaction of one or more states will cause the applicable target exploitation rate specified in § 648.140(a... state has been remedied by that state without causing the applicable specified target exploitation rate...

  20. Impact of Chaos Functions on Modern Swarm Optimizers.

    PubMed

    Emary, E; Zawbaa, Hossam M

    2016-01-01

    Exploration and exploitation are two essential components for any optimization algorithm. Much exploration leads to oscillation and premature convergence while too much exploitation slows down the optimization algorithm and the optimizer may be stuck in local minima. Therefore, balancing the rates of exploration and exploitation at the optimization lifetime is a challenge. This study evaluates the impact of using chaos-based control of exploration/exploitation rates against using the systematic native control. Three modern algorithms were used in the study namely grey wolf optimizer (GWO), antlion optimizer (ALO) and moth-flame optimizer (MFO) in the domain of machine learning for feature selection. Results on a set of standard machine learning data using a set of assessment indicators prove advance in optimization algorithm performance when using variational repeated periods of declined exploration rates over using systematically decreased exploration rates.

  1. Micro-UAV tracking framework for EO exploitation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Browning, David; Wilhelm, Joe; Van Hook, Richard; Gallagher, John

    2012-06-01

    Historically, the Air Force's research into aerial platforms for sensing systems has focused on low-, mid-, and highaltitude platforms. Though these systems are likely to comprise the majority of the Air Force's assets for the foreseeable future, they have limitations. Specifically, these platforms, their sensor packages, and their data exploitation software are unsuited for close-quarter surveillance, such as in alleys and inside of buildings. Micro-UAVs have been gaining in popularity, especially non-fixed-wing platforms such as quad-rotors. These platforms are much more appropriate for confined spaces. However, the types of video exploitation techniques that can effectively be used are different from the typical nadir-looking aerial platform. This paper discusses the creation of a framework for testing existing and new video exploitation algorithms, as well as describes a sample micro-UAV-based tracker.

  2. For your first born child: an ethical defense of the exploitation argument against commercial surrogacy.

    PubMed

    Osberg, Brendan

    2006-01-01

    In this essay I explore two arguments against commercial surrogacy, based on commodification and exploitation respectively. I adopt a consequentialist framework and argue that commodification arguments must be grounded in a resultant harm to either child or surrogate, and that a priori arguments which condemn the practice for puritanical reasons cannot form a basis for public law. Furthermore there is no overwhelming evidence of harm caused to either party involved in commercial surrogacy, and hence Canadian law (which forbids the practice) must (and can) be justified on exploitative grounds. Objections raised by Wilkinson based on an 'isolated case' approach are addressed when one takes into account the political implications of public policy. I argue that is precisely these implications that justify laws forbidding commercial surrogacy on the grounds of preventing systematic exploitation.

  3. Off-shoring clinical research: exploitation and the reciprocity constraint.

    PubMed

    Mitra, Agomoni Ganguli

    2013-12-01

    The last 20 years have seen a staggering growth in the practice of off-shoring clinical research to low-and middle-income countries (LICs and MICs), a growth that has been matched by the neoliberal policies adopted by host countries towards attracting trials to their shores. A recurring concern in this context is the charge of exploitation, linked to various aspects of off-shoring. In this paper, I examine Alan Wertheimer's approach and offer an alternative view of understanding exploitation in this context. I will suggest that the justification for the enterprise of research is largely dependent on its integration within a health system from which participants regularly benefit and I argue that an attention to a principle of reciprocity will enable us to better recognize and address exploitation in international research. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Normative beliefs about aggression as a mediator of narcissistic exploitativeness and cyberbullying.

    PubMed

    Ang, Rebecca P; Tan, Kit-Aun; Talib Mansor, Abu

    2011-09-01

    The current study examined normative beliefs about aggression as a mediator between narcissistic exploitativeness and cyberbullying using two Asian adolescent samples from Singapore and Malaysia. Narcissistic exploitativeness was significantly and positively associated with cyberbullying and normative beliefs about aggression and normative beliefs about aggression were significantly and positively associated with cyberbullying. Normative beliefs about aggression were a significant partial mediator in both samples; these beliefs about aggression served as one possible mechanism of action by which narcissistic exploitativeness could exert its influence on cyberbullying. Findings extended previous empirical research by showing that such beliefs can be the mechanism of action not only in offline but also in online contexts and across cultures. Cyberbullying prevention and intervention efforts should include modification of norms and beliefs supportive of the legitimacy and acceptability of cyberbullying.

  5. Contextual classification on the massively parallel processor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tilton, James C.

    1987-01-01

    Classifiers are often used to produce land cover maps from multispectral Earth observation imagery. Conventionally, these classifiers have been designed to exploit the spectral information contained in the imagery. Very few classifiers exploit the spatial information content of the imagery, and the few that do rarely exploit spatial information content in conjunction with spectral and/or temporal information. A contextual classifier that exploits spatial and spectral information in combination through a general statistical approach was studied. Early test results obtained from an implementation of the classifier on a VAX-11/780 minicomputer were encouraging, but they are of limited meaning because they were produced from small data sets. An implementation of the contextual classifier is presented on the Massively Parallel Processor (MPP) at Goddard that for the first time makes feasible the testing of the classifier on large data sets.

  6. The exploitation of "Exploitation" in the tenofovir prep trial in Cameroon: Lessons learned from media coverage of an HIV prevention trial.

    PubMed

    Mack, Natasha; Robinson, Elizabeth T; MacQueen, Kathleen M; Moffett, Jill; Johnson, Laura M

    2010-06-01

    media coverage influences how clinical trials are perceived internationally and in communities where trials occur, affecting recruitment, retention, and political support for research. We conducted a discourse analysis of news coverage from 2004-2005 of a trial in Cameroon on oral PrEP for HIV prevention, to identify messages, communication techniques, and sources of messages that were amplified via media. We identified two parallel discourses: one on ethical concerns about the Cameroon trial, and a second, more general "science exploitation" discourse concerned with the potential for trials with vulnerable participant populations to be conducted unethically, benefiting only wealthy populations. Researchers should overtly address exploitation as an integral, ongoing component of research, particularly where historical or cultural conditions set the stage for controversy to emerge.

  7. Assessing groundwater availability and the response of the groundwater system to intensive exploitation in the North China Plain by analysis of long-term isotopic tracer data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Su, Chen; Cheng, Zhongshuang; Wei, Wen; Chen, Zongyu

    2018-03-01

    The use of isotope tracers as a tool for assessing aquifer responses to intensive exploitation is demonstrated and used to attain a better understanding of the sustainability of intensively exploited aquifers in the North China Plain. Eleven well sites were selected that have long-term (years 1985-2014) analysis data of isotopic tracers. The stable isotopes δ18O and δ2H and hydrochemistry were used to understand the hydrodynamic responses of the aquifer system, including unconfined and confined aquifers, to groundwater abstraction. The time series data of 14C activity were also used to assess groundwater age, thereby contributing to an understanding of groundwater sustainability and aquifer depletion. Enrichment of the heavy oxygen isotope (18O) and elevated concentrations of chloride, sulfate, and nitrate were found in groundwater abstracted from the unconfined aquifer, which suggests that intensive exploitation might induce the potential for aquifer contamination. The time series data of 14C activity showed an increase of groundwater age with exploitation of the confined parts of the aquifer system, which indicates that a larger fraction of old water has been exploited over time, and that the groundwater from the deep aquifer has been mined. The current water demand exceeds the sustainable production capabilities of the aquifer system in the North China Plain. Some measures must be taken to ensure major cuts in groundwater withdrawals from the aquifers after a long period of depletion.

  8. Assessing exploitation experiences of girls and boys seen at a Child Advocacy Center

    PubMed Central

    Edinburgh, Laurel; Pape-Blabolil, Julie; Harpin, Scott B.; Saewyc, Elizabeth

    2015-01-01

    The primary aim of this study was to describe the abuse experiences of sexually exploited runaway adolescents seen at a Child Advocacy Center (N = 62). We also sought to identify risk behaviors, attributes of resiliency, laboratory results for sexually transmitted infection (STI) screens, and genital injuries from colposcopic exams. We used retrospective mixed-methods with in-depth forensic interviews, together with self-report survey responses, physical exams and chart data. Forensic interviews were analyzed using interpretive description analytical methods along domains of experience and meaning of sexual exploitation events. Univariate descriptive statistics characterized trauma responses and health risks. The first sexual exploitation events for many victims occurred as part of seemingly random encounters with procurers. Older adolescent or adult women recruited some youth working for a pimp. However, half the youth did not report a trafficker involved in setting up their exchange of sex for money, substances, or other types of consideration. 78% scored positive on the UCLA PTSD tool; 57% reported DSM IV criteria for problem substance use; 71% reported cutting behaviors, 75% suicidal ideation, and 50% had attempted suicide. Contrary to common depictions, youth may be solicited relatively quickly as runaways, yet exploitation is not always linked to having a pimp. Avoidant coping does not appear effective, as most patients exhibited significant symptoms of trauma. Awareness of variations in youth’s sexual exploitation experiences may help researchers and clinicians understand potential differences in sequelae, design effective treatment plans, and develop community prevention programs. PMID:25982287

  9. Current approaches to exploit actinomycetes as a source of novel natural products.

    PubMed

    Genilloud, Olga; González, Ignacio; Salazar, Oscar; Martín, Jesus; Tormo, José Rubén; Vicente, Francisca

    2011-03-01

    For decades, microbial natural products have been one of the major sources of novel drugs for pharmaceutical companies, and today all evidence suggests that novel molecules with potential therapeutic applications are still waiting to be discovered from these natural sources, especially from actinomycetes. Any appropriate exploitation of the chemical diversity of these microbial sources relies on proper understanding of their biological diversity and other related key factors that maximize the possibility of successful identification of novel molecules. Without doubt, the discovery of platensimycin has shown that microbial natural products can continue to deliver novel scaffolds if appropriate tools are put in place to reveal them in a cost-effective manner. Whereas today innovative technologies involving exploitation of uncultivated environmental diversity, together with chemical biology and in silico approaches, are seeing rapid development in natural products research, maximization of the chances of exploiting chemical diversity from microbial collections is still essential for novel drug discovery. This work provides an overview of the integrated approaches developed at the former Basic Research Center of Merck Sharp and Dohme in Spain to exploit the diversity and biosynthetic potential of actinomycetes, and includes some examples of those that were successfully applied to the discovery of novel antibiotics.

  10. Pheromone evolution and sexual behavior in Drosophila are shaped by male sensory exploitation of other males.

    PubMed

    Ng, Soon Hwee; Shankar, Shruti; Shikichi, Yasumasa; Akasaka, Kazuaki; Mori, Kenji; Yew, Joanne Y

    2014-02-25

    Animals exhibit a spectacular array of traits to attract mates. Understanding the evolutionary origins of sexual features and preferences is a fundamental problem in evolutionary biology, and the mechanisms remain highly controversial. In some species, females choose mates based on direct benefits conferred by the male to the female and her offspring. Thus, female preferences are thought to originate and coevolve with male traits. In contrast, sensory exploitation occurs when expression of a male trait takes advantage of preexisting sensory biases in females. Here, we document in Drosophila a previously unidentified example of sensory exploitation of males by other males through the use of the sex pheromone CH503. We use mass spectrometry, high-performance liquid chromatography, and behavioral analysis to demonstrate that an antiaphrodisiac produced by males of the melanogaster subgroup also is effective in distant Drosophila relatives that do not express the pheromone. We further show that species that produce the pheromone have become less sensitive to the compound, illustrating that sensory adaptation occurs after sensory exploitation. Our findings provide a mechanism for the origin of a sex pheromone and show that sensory exploitation changes male sexual behavior over evolutionary time.

  11. Fishing and temperature effects on the size structure of exploited fish stocks.

    PubMed

    Tu, Chen-Yi; Chen, Kuan-Ting; Hsieh, Chih-Hao

    2018-05-08

    Size structure of fish stock plays an important role in maintaining sustainability of the population. Size distribution of an exploited stock is predicted to shift toward small individuals caused by size-selective fishing and/or warming; however, their relative contribution remains relatively unexplored. In addition, existing analyses on size structure have focused on univariate size-based indicators (SBIs), such as mean length, evenness of size classes, or the upper 95-percentile of the length frequency distribution; these approaches may not capture full information of size structure. To bridge the gap, we used the variation partitioning approach to examine how the size structure (composition of size classes) responded to fishing, warming and the interaction. We analyzed 28 exploited stocks in the West US, Alaska and North Sea. Our result shows fishing has the most prominent effect on the size structure of the exploited stocks. In addition, the fish stocks experienced higher variability in fishing is more responsive to the temperature effect in their size structure, suggesting that fishing may elevate the sensitivity of exploited stocks in responding to environmental effects. The variation partitioning approach provides complementary information to univariate SBIs in analyzing size structure.

  12. The Problem of Multiple Criteria Selection of the Surface Mining Haul Trucks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bodziony, Przemysław; Kasztelewicz, Zbigniew; Sawicki, Piotr

    2016-06-01

    Vehicle transport is a dominant type of technological processes in rock mines, and its profit ability is strictly dependent on overall cost of its exploitation, especially on diesel oil consumption. Thus, a rational design of transportation system based on haul trucks should result from thorough analysis of technical and economic issues, including both cost of purchase and its further exploitation, having a crucial impact on the cost of minerals extraction. Moreover, off-highway trucks should be selected with respect to all specific exploitation conditions and even the user's preferences and experience. In this paper a development of universal family of evaluation criteria as well as application of evaluation method for haul truck selection process for a specific exploitation conditions in surface mining have been carried out. The methodology presented in the paper is based on the principles of multiple criteria decision aiding (MCDA) using one of the ranking method, i.e. ELECTRE III. The applied methodology has been allowed for ranking of alternative solution (variants), on the considered set of haul trucks. The result of the research is a universal methodology, and it consequently may be applied in other surface mines with similar exploitation parametres.

  13. Poverty-Exploitation-Alienation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bronfenbrenner, Martin

    1980-01-01

    Illustrates how knowledge derived from the discipline of economics can be used to help shed light on social problems such as poverty, exploitation, and alienation, and can help decision makers form policy to minimize these and similar problems. (DB)

  14. Exploiting Thread Parallelism for Ocean Modeling on Cray XC Supercomputers

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sarje, Abhinav; Jacobsen, Douglas W.; Williams, Samuel W.

    The incorporation of increasing core counts in modern processors used to build state-of-the-art supercomputers is driving application development towards exploitation of thread parallelism, in addition to distributed memory parallelism, with the goal of delivering efficient high-performance codes. In this work we describe the exploitation of threading and our experiences with it with respect to a real-world ocean modeling application code, MPAS-Ocean. We present detailed performance analysis and comparisons of various approaches and configurations for threading on the Cray XC series supercomputers.

  15. Commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of children in the United States.

    PubMed

    Greenbaum, V Jordan

    2014-10-01

    Child commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking are global health problems requiring a multidisciplinary approach by individuals, organizations, communities, and national governments. The adverse emotional, physical, and social consequences for victims are legion and in many areas of the United States and the rest of the world, victim resources are scarce. Since violence, deprivation, abuse, and infection are so integral to the exploitation experience, victims may present for care to community and academic pediatric and adolescent health care providers. It is essential that medical professionals have the knowledge, skills, and resources to recognize victims, assess their needs, and treat them appropriately, including making key referrals for community services. However, to date medical information and resources regarding commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking has been sparse. There are no clinically validated screening tools specifically designed to identify victims in the health care setting and since victims seldom self-identify, it is likely that the majority of victims are unrecognized. The opportunity for comprehensive assessment and intervention is lost. Further, professionals receive little training on appropriate interview techniques for this special population, and many are ill equipped to ensure safety and optimal medical evaluation during the visit. This article provides a general overview of child sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation (CSEC), describing the epidemiology of international and domestic exploitation, and reviewing the challenges of conducting research on this population. The five stages of trafficking are explained, as are typical physical and emotional consequences of exploitation. The medical evaluation is described, including potential indicators of CSEC and sex trafficking, common medical presentations by victims, approaches to the comprehensive medical interview, and the appropriate medical exam with diagnostic testing and treatment. Finally, a discussion of common victim needs is provided, with a description of resources and referrals. Copyright © 2014 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Balancing exploration and exploitation in transferring research into practice: a comparison of five knowledge translation entity archetypes

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Translating knowledge from research into clinical practice has emerged as a practice of increasing importance. This has led to the creation of new organizational entities designed to bridge knowledge between research and practice. Within the UK, the Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) have been introduced to ensure that emphasis is placed in ensuring research is more effectively translated and implemented in clinical practice. Knowledge translation (KT) can be accomplished in various ways and is affected by the structures, activities, and coordination practices of organizations. We draw on concepts in the innovation literature—namely exploration, exploitation, and ambidexterity—to examine these structures and activities as well as the ensuing tensions between research and implementation. Methods Using a qualitative research approach, the study was based on 106 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with the directors, theme leads and managers, key professionals involved in research and implementation in nine CLAHRCs. Data was also collected from intensive focus group workshops. Results In this article we develop five archetypes for organizing KT. The results show how the various CLAHRC entities work through partnerships to create explorative research and deliver exploitative implementation. The different archetypes highlight a range of structures that can achieve ambidextrous balance as they organize activity and coordinate practice on a continuum of exploration and exploitation. Conclusion This work suggests that KT entities aim to reach their goals through a balance between exploration and exploitation in the support of generating new research and ensuring knowledge implementation. We highlight different organizational archetypes that support various ways to maintain ambidexterity, where both exploration and exploitation are supported in an attempt to narrow the knowledge gaps. The KT entity archetypes offer insights on strategies in structuring collaboration to facilitate an effective balance of exploration and exploitation learning in the KT process. PMID:24007259

  17. Balancing exploration and exploitation in transferring research into practice: a comparison of five knowledge translation entity archetypes.

    PubMed

    Oborn, Eivor; Barrett, Michael; Prince, Karl; Racko, Girts

    2013-09-05

    Translating knowledge from research into clinical practice has emerged as a practice of increasing importance. This has led to the creation of new organizational entities designed to bridge knowledge between research and practice. Within the UK, the Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) have been introduced to ensure that emphasis is placed in ensuring research is more effectively translated and implemented in clinical practice. Knowledge translation (KT) can be accomplished in various ways and is affected by the structures, activities, and coordination practices of organizations. We draw on concepts in the innovation literature--namely exploration, exploitation, and ambidexterity--to examine these structures and activities as well as the ensuing tensions between research and implementation. Using a qualitative research approach, the study was based on 106 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with the directors, theme leads and managers, key professionals involved in research and implementation in nine CLAHRCs. Data was also collected from intensive focus group workshops. In this article we develop five archetypes for organizing KT. The results show how the various CLAHRC entities work through partnerships to create explorative research and deliver exploitative implementation. The different archetypes highlight a range of structures that can achieve ambidextrous balance as they organize activity and coordinate practice on a continuum of exploration and exploitation. This work suggests that KT entities aim to reach their goals through a balance between exploration and exploitation in the support of generating new research and ensuring knowledge implementation. We highlight different organizational archetypes that support various ways to maintain ambidexterity, where both exploration and exploitation are supported in an attempt to narrow the knowledge gaps. The KT entity archetypes offer insights on strategies in structuring collaboration to facilitate an effective balance of exploration and exploitation learning in the KT process.

  18. MED-SUV final strategic issues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Spampinato, Letizia; Puglisi, Giuseppe; Sangianantoni, Agata

    2016-04-01

    Aside the scientific, technical and financial aspects managed by the "Project Management" Work Package (WP1), the great challenge and more time consuming task of this WP has surely been the definition and application of some strategic guidelines crucial to trace the project right path to its final success and for the project outcome sustainability after month 36. In particular, given that one of the main objectives of MED-SUV is that to be compliant with the GEO initiative, particularly concerning the data sharing, great efforts have been made by WP1 at first to define the MED-SUV Data Policy Guidelines, and currently to make it suitable for the EU Supersites. At present, WP1 is also dealing with the exploitation of the achieved foreground among the project's participant and to define a Memorandum of Understanding to sustain the monitoring systems and e-infrastructure developed in the project framework. Whilst the Data Policy guidelines document was implemented in the first year of MED-SUV, WP1 is now focused on the last deliverable 'Strategic and Legal deliverables', which includes the remaining issues. To the aim, WP1 has strategically separated the Exploitation of Foreground document preparation from the Memorandum of Understanding definition. The Exploitation of Foreground process has regarded the identification of Foreground, the exploitable results, the purpose of such Foreground, the collection of information from either the scientific community of MED-SUV or industrial participants; to this aim WP1 circulated an ad hoc questionnaire to put together information on (the) every kind of MED-SUV outcome, on their owners, on the kind of ownership (single/joint), on the outcome exploitation, and on proposals for its sustainability. While the first information will allow us to prepare the final Exploitation Agreement among the project's participant, the information on the exploitation of the outcome and likely sustainability proposals will contribute to the definition of the project Memorandum of Understanding for the maintenance of the developed instrumentation and of the MED-SUV e-infrastructure following the project end.

  19. 50 CFR 648.20 - Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council ABC control rules.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... biology of the stock, fisheries that exploit the stock, and data collection methods; (iv) The stock... SSC to determine the following: (i) Key features of the stock biology, the fisheries that exploit it...

  20. 50 CFR 648.20 - Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council ABC control rules.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... biology of the stock, fisheries that exploit the stock, and data collection methods; (iv) The stock... SSC to determine the following: (i) Key features of the stock biology, the fisheries that exploit it...

  1. 50 CFR 648.20 - Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council ABC control rules.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... biology of the stock, fisheries that exploit the stock, and data collection methods; (iv) The stock... SSC to determine the following: (i) Key features of the stock biology, the fisheries that exploit it...

  2. The ups and downs of trophic control in continental shelf ecosystems.

    PubMed

    Frank, Kenneth T; Petrie, Brian; Shackell, Nancy L

    2007-05-01

    Traditionally, marine ecosystem structure was thought to be determined by phytoplankton dynamics. However, an integrated view on the relative roles of top-down (consumer-driven) and bottom-up (resource-driven) forcing in large-scale, exploited marine ecosystems is emerging. Long time series of scientific survey data, underpinning the management of commercially exploited species such as cod, are being used to diagnose mechanisms that could affect the composition and relative abundance of species in marine food webs. By assembling published data from studies in exploited North Atlantic ecosystems, we found pronounced geographical variation in top-down and bottom-up trophic forcing. The data suggest that ecosystem susceptibility to top-down control and their resiliency to exploitation are related to species richness and oceanic temperature conditions. Such knowledge could be used to produce ecosystem guidelines to regulate and manage fisheries in a sustainable fashion.

  3. Rethinking exploitation: a process-centered account.

    PubMed

    Jansen, Lynn A; Wall, Steven

    2013-12-01

    Exploitation has become an important topic in recent discussions of biomedical and research ethics. This is due in no small measure to the influence of Alan Wertheimer's path-breaking work on the subject. This paper presents some objections to Wertheimer's account of the concept. The objections attempt to show that his account places too much emphasis on outcome-based considerations and too little on process-based considerations. Building on these objections, the paper develops an alternative process-centered account of the concept. This alternative account of exploitation takes as its point of departure the broadly Kantian notion that it is wrong to use another as an instrument for the advancement of one's own ends. It sharpens this slippery notion and adds a number of refinements to it. The paper concludes by arguing that process-centered accounts of exploitation better illuminate the ethical challenges posed by research on human subjects than outcome-centered accounts.

  4. Contribution to understanding the post-mining landscape - Application of airborn LiDAR and historical maps at the example from Silesian Upland (Poland)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gawior, D.; Rutkiewicz, P.; Malik, I.; Wistuba, M.

    2017-11-01

    LiDAR data provide new insights into the historical development of mining industry recorded in the topography and landscape. In the study on the lead ore mining in the 13th-17th century we identified remnants of mining activity in relief that are normally obscured by dense vegetation. The industry in Tarnowice Plateau was based on exploitation of galena from the bedrock. New technologies, including DEM from airborne LiDAR provide show that present landscape and relief of post-mining area under study developed during several, subsequent phases of exploitation when different techniques of exploitation were used and probably different types of ores were exploited. Study conducted on the Tarnowice Plateau proved that combining GIS visualization techniques with historical maps, among all geological maps, is a promising approach in reconstructing development of anthropogenic relief and landscape..

  5. The microeconomics of sexual exploitation of girls and young women in the Peruvian Amazon.

    PubMed

    Mujica, Jaris

    2013-01-01

    This paper examines the sexual exploitation of girls and young women as an increasing phenomenon within the extractive industries of wood, oil, minerals and gas in Peruvian Amazonia. The analysis focuses on the city of Pucallpa and the northern part of the Ucayali River and aims to identify the social and economic dynamics underpinning the commercial sexual exploitation of female children and teenagers around the main river port. The study describes the local operating mechanisms of bars and restaurants in the port, the demand for and perceptions of the sexual exploitation of children and teenagers, and the economic logic that it entails. Using a discourse analytic approach, it is argued that this is a business whose profitability is tied to the trade in alcoholic beverages and foods and which responds to a set of family connections and networks.

  6. Trauma and its aftermath for commercially sexually exploited women as told by front-line service providers.

    PubMed

    Hom, Kristin A; Woods, Stephanie J

    2013-02-01

    Commercial sexual exploitation of women and girls through forced prostitution and sex-trafficking is a human rights and public health issue, with survivors facing complex mental health problems from trauma and violence. An international and domestic problem, the average age of recruitment into sex-trafficking is between 11 and 14 years old. Given its secrecy and brutality, such exploitation remains difficult to study, which results in a lack of knowledge related to trauma and how best to develop specific services that effectively engage and meet the unique needs of survivors. This qualitative research, using thematic analysis, explored the stories of trauma and its aftermath for commercially sexually exploited women as told by front-line service providers. Three themes emerged regarding the experience of sex-trafficking and its outcomes-Pimp Enculturation, Aftermath, and Healing the Wound-along with seven subthemes. These have important implications for all service and healthcare providers.

  7. Assessing exploitation experiences of girls and boys seen at a Child Advocacy Center.

    PubMed

    Edinburgh, Laurel; Pape-Blabolil, Julie; Harpin, Scott B; Saewyc, Elizabeth

    2015-08-01

    The primary aim of this study was to describe the abuse experiences of sexually exploited runaway adolescents seen at a Child Advocacy Center (N=62). We also sought to identify risk behaviors, attributes of resiliency, laboratory results for sexually transmitted infection (STI) screens, and genital injuries from colposcopic exams. We used retrospective mixed-methods with in-depth forensic interviews, together with self-report survey responses, physical exams and chart data. Forensic interviews were analyzed using interpretive description analytical methods along domains of experience and meaning of sexual exploitation events. Univariate descriptive statistics characterized trauma responses and health risks. The first sexual exploitation events for many victims occurred as part of seemingly random encounters with procurers. Older adolescent or adult women recruited some youth working for a pimp. However, half the youth did not report a trafficker involved in setting up their exchange of sex for money, substances, or other types of consideration. 78% scored positive on the UCLA PTSD tool; 57% reported DSM IV criteria for problem substance use; 71% reported cutting behaviors, 75% suicidal ideation, and 50% had attempted suicide. Contrary to common depictions, youth may be solicited relatively quickly as runaways, yet exploitation is not always linked to having a pimp. Avoidant coping does not appear effective, as most patients exhibited significant symptoms of trauma. Awareness of variations in youth's sexual exploitation experiences may help researchers and clinicians understand potential differences in sequelae, design effective treatment plans, and develop community prevention programs. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  8. The possibility of increasing the efficiency of accessible coal deposits by optimizing dimensions of protective pillars or the scope of exploitation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bańka, Piotr; Badura, Henryk; Wesołowski, Marek

    2017-11-01

    One of the ways to protect objects exposed to the influences of mining exploitation is establishing protective pillars for them. Properly determined pillar provides effective protection of the object for which it was established. Determining correct dimensions of a pillar requires taking into account contradictory requirements. Protection measures against the excessive influences of mining exploitation require designing the largest possible pillars, whereas economic requirements suggest a maximum reduction of the size of resources left in the pillar. This paper presents algorithms and programs developed for determining optimal dimensions of protective pillars for surface objects and shafts. The issue of designing a protective pillar was treated as a nonlinear programming task. The objective function are the resources left in a pillar while nonlinear limitations are the deformation values evoked by the mining exploitation. Resources in the pillar may be weighted e.g. by calorific value or by the inverse of output costs. The possibility of designing pillars of any polygon shape was taken into account. Because of the applied exploitation technologies the rectangular pillar shape should be considered more advantageous than the oval one, though it does not ensure the minimization of resources left in a pillar. In this article there is also presented a different approach to the design of protective pillars, which instead of fixing the pillar boundaries in subsequent seams, the length of longwall panels of the designed mining exploitation is limited in a way that ensures the effective protection of an object while maximizing the extraction ratio of the deposit.

  9. Elder Fraud and Financial Exploitation: Application of Routine Activity Theory.

    PubMed

    DeLiema, Marguerite

    2017-03-10

    Elder financial exploitation, committed by individuals in positions of trust, and elder fraud, committed by predatory strangers, are two forms of financial victimization that target vulnerable older adults. This study analyzes differences between fraud and financial exploitation victims and tests routine activity theory as a contextual model for victimization. Routine activity theory predicts that criminal opportunities arise when a motivated offender and suitable target meet in the absence of capable guardians. Fifty-three financial exploitation and fraud cases were sampled from an elder abuse forensic center. Data include law enforcement and caseworker investigation reports, victim medical records, perpetrator demographic information, and forensic assessments of victim health and cognitive functioning. Fraud and financial exploitation victims performed poorly on tests of cognitive functioning and financial decision making administered by a forensic neuropsychologist following the allegations. Based on retrospective record review, there were few significant differences in physical health and cognitive functioning at the time victims' assets were taken, although their social contexts were different. Significantly more fraud victims were childless compared with financial exploitation victims. Fraud perpetrators took advantage of elders when they had no trustworthy friends or relatives to safeguard their assets. Findings support an adapted routine activity theory as a contextual model for financial victimization. Fraud most often occurred when a vulnerable elder was solicited by a financial predator in the absence of capable guardians. Prevention efforts should focus on reducing social isolation to enhance protection. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  10. Dissemination and Exploitation: Project Goals beyond Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamann, Kristin; Reitz, Anja

    2017-04-01

    Dissemination and Exploitation are essential parts of public funded projects. In Horizon 2020 a plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results (PEDR) is a requirement. The plan should contain a clear vision on the objectives of the project in relation to actions for dissemination and potential exploitation of the project results. The actions follow the basic idea to spread the knowledge and results gathered within the project and face the challenge of how to bring the results into potentially relevant policy circle and how they impact the market. The plan follows the purpose to assess the impact of the project and to address various target groups who are interested in the project results. Simply put, dissemination concentrates on the transfer of knowledge and exploitation on the commercialization of the project. Beyond the question of the measurability of project`s impact, strategies within science marketing can serve purposes beyond internal and external communication. Accordingly, project managers are facing the challenge to implement a dissemination and exploitation strategy that ideally supports the identification of all partners with the project and matches the current discourse of the project`s content within the society, politics and economy. A consolidated plan might unite all projects partners under a central idea and supports the identification with the project beyond the individual research questions. Which applications, strategies and methods can be used to bring forward a PEDR that accompanies a project successfully and allows a comprehensive assessment of the project afterwards? Which hurdles might project managers experience in the dissemination process and which tasks should be fulfilled by the project manager?

  11. MIT Lincoln Laboratory Annual Report 2011

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-01-01

    under the Optical Processing Architecture at Lincoln ( OPAL ) program, for mission planning and data processing. SBSS will provide significant...exploitation, and dissemination. The ISR program is expected to continue to develop automated exploitation techniques and data- mining software tools for

  12. Human trafficking and exploitation: A global health concern.

    PubMed

    Zimmerman, Cathy; Kiss, Ligia

    2017-11-01

    In this collection review, Cathy Zimmerman and colleague introduce the PLOS Medicine Collection on Human Trafficking, Exploitation and Health, laying out the magnitude of the global trafficking problem and offering a public health policy framework to guide responses to trafficking.

  13. Content-based image exploitation for situational awareness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gains, David

    2008-04-01

    Image exploitation is of increasing importance to the enterprise of building situational awareness from multi-source data. It involves image acquisition, identification of objects of interest in imagery, storage, search and retrieval of imagery, and the distribution of imagery over possibly bandwidth limited networks. This paper describes an image exploitation application that uses image content alone to detect objects of interest, and that automatically establishes and preserves spatial and temporal relationships between images, cameras and objects. The application features an intuitive user interface that exposes all images and information generated by the system to an operator thus facilitating the formation of situational awareness.

  14. Cryptographic Securities Exchanges

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thorpe, Christopher; Parkes, David C.

    While transparency in financial markets should enhance liquidity, its exploitation by unethical and parasitic traders discourages others from fully embracing disclosure of their own information. Traders exploit both the private information in upstairs markets used to trade large orders outside traditional exchanges and the public information present in exchanges' quoted limit order books. Using homomorphic cryptographic protocols, market designers can create "partially transparent" markets in which every matched trade is provably correct and only beneficial information is revealed. In a cryptographic securities exchange, market operators can hide information to prevent its exploitation, and still prove facts about the hidden information such as bid/ask spread or market depth.

  15. Reliability and safety, and the risk of construction damage in mining areas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Skrzypczak, Izabela; Kogut, Janusz P.; Kokoszka, Wanda; Oleniacz, Grzegorz

    2018-04-01

    This article concerns the reliability and safety of building structures in mining areas, with a particular emphasis on the quantitative risk analysis of buildings. The issues of threat assessment and risk estimation, in the design of facilities in mining exploitation areas, are presented here, indicating the difficulties and ambiguities associated with their quantification and quantitative analysis. This article presents the concept of quantitative risk assessment of the impact of mining exploitation, in accordance with ISO 13824 [1]. The risk analysis is illustrated through an example of a construction located within an area affected by mining exploitation.

  16. An exploratory study of adolescent pimping relationships.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Pamela M; Coyle, Karin K; Johnson, Anisha; Denner, Jill

    2014-04-01

    In the last decade, public attention to the problem of commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) has grown. This exploratory qualitative study examines adolescent pimping relationships, including how urban youth perceive these types of relationships. Study data stem from interviews with three young adult informants with first-hand knowledge of adolescent pimping, as well as three gender-specific focus group discussions with a convenience sample of 26 urban high school students who have first- or second-hand knowledge of adolescent pimping. Findings indicate that respondents believe teen pimping exists in their schools and communities, and that those exploited typically do not self-identify as victims. Respondents also believed that younger pimps are more likely to use violence to induce compliance among the girls they exploit, whereas older pimps are more likely to emotionally manipulate young women into exploitation. Further, respondents indicated that some young people agreed to exchange or sell sex for money as a favor to their boyfriends or girlfriends, and some young people believed that selling sex is acceptable under certain circumstances. The growing attention to CSEC provides an important opportunity to expand prevention efforts to reach those most affected and at risk for exploitation. The findings highlight critical areas for augmenting traditional content in school-based HIV/STI and sexuality education classes.

  17. Linking pollinator efficiency to patterns of pollen limitation: small bees exploit the plant-pollinator mutualism.

    PubMed

    Koski, Matthew H; Ison, Jennifer L; Padilla, Ashley; Pham, Angela Q; Galloway, Laura F

    2018-06-13

    Seemingly mutualistic relationships can be exploited, in some cases reducing fitness of the exploited species. In plants, the insufficient receipt of pollen limits reproduction. While infrequent pollination commonly underlies pollen limitation (PL), frequent interactions with low-efficiency, exploitative pollinators may also cause PL. In the widespread protandrous herb Campanula americana , visitation by three pollinators explained 63% of the variation in PL among populations spanning the range. Bumblebees and the medium-sized Megachile campanulae enhanced reproductive success, but small solitary bees exacerbated PL. To dissect mechanisms behind these relationships, we scored sex-specific floral visitation, and the contributions of each pollinator to plant fitness using single flower visits. Small bees and M. campanulae overvisited male-phase flowers, but bumblebees frequently visited female-phase flowers. Fewer bumblebee visits were required to saturate seed set compared to other bees. Scaling pollinator efficiency metrics to populations, small bees deplete large amounts of pollen due to highly male-biased flower visitation and infrequent pollen deposition. Thus, small bees reduce plant reproduction by limiting pollen available for transfer by efficient pollinators, and appear to exploit the plant-pollinator mutualism, acting as functional parasites to C. americana It is therefore unlikely that small bees will compensate for reproductive failure in C. americana when bumblebees are scarce. © 2018 The Author(s).

  18. Social Class and Mental Health: Testing Exploitation as a Relational Determinant of Depression

    PubMed Central

    Muntaner, Carles; Ng, Edwin; Prins, Seth J.; Bones-Rocha, Katia; Espelt, Albert; Chung, Haejoo

    2016-01-01

    This study tests whether social class exploitation operates as a relational mechanism that generates mental health inequalities in the nursing home industry. We ask, does social class exploitation (i.e., the acquisition of economic benefits from the labor of those who are dominated) have a systematic and predictable impact on depression among nursing assistants? Using cross-sectional data from 868 nursing assistants employed in 50 nursing homes in three U.S. states, we measure social class exploitation as “ownership type” (private for-profit, private not-for-profit, and public) and “managerial domination” (labor relations violations, perceptions of labor-management conflict). Depression is assessed using the original and revised versions of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D and CESD-R). Using two-level logistic regressions, we find that private for-profit ownership and higher managerial domination are predictive of depression among nursing assistants even after adjustment for potential confounders and mediators. Our findings confirm the theoretical and empirical value of applying a social class approach to understanding how mental health inequalities are generated through exploitative mechanisms. Ownership type and managerial domination appear to affect depression through social relations that generate mental health inequalities through the process of acquiring profits, controlling production, supervising and monitoring labor, and enforcing disciplinary sanctions. PMID:25813501

  19. The growth and exploitation rate of yellowstripe scad (selaroides leptolepis cuvier, 1833) in the Malacca Strait, Medan Belawan Subdistrict, North Sumatera Province

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tambun, J.; Bakti, D.; Desrita

    2018-02-01

    Yellowstripe scad included the one of commodity that has an important economic value in the Malacca Strait. Fish were found mostly in Indonesian of waters made this fish as one of the main target catch. But, it can had negative impact on the population of the fish. The study is done at Belawan Waters on March until May 2017 that which is purposed to study about the frequency distribution of length, determine the parameters of growth and, determine mortality rate and the rate of exploitation in order to provide appropriate management model for the fish resource. Yellowstripe scad was observed around 360 samples with the length range between 110 - 175 mm. The fish separated by bhattacarya method used the aid software FISAT II. A pattern of growth Yellowstripe scad alometrik negative with growth coefisien (K) 1.1 with length asimtotic (L∞) 181.65. The rate of mortality total ( Z) yellowstripe scad 4.34 per year at the rate of mortality natural ( M ) 1.204 per year and rate mortality by fishing (F) 3.136 per year in order to obtain the rate of exploitation 0.722. The value of this exploitation rate has exceeded the value of the optimum exploitation of 0.5.

  20. Eggs, ethics and exploitation? Investigating women's experiences of an egg sharing scheme

    PubMed Central

    Haimes, Erica; Taylor, Ken; Turkmendag, Ilke

    2012-01-01

    Abstract There is a growing global demand for human eggs for the treatment of sub-fertile women and for stem cell-related research. This demand provokes concerns for the women providing the eggs, including their possible exploitation, whether they should be paid, whether they can give properly informed consent and whether their eggs and bodies are becoming commodified. However, few of the debates have benefitted from insights from the women themselves. We address this gap in knowledge by reporting on a study investigating women’s views and experiences of a scheme in which they can volunteer, in their capacity as fertility patients, to ‘share’ their eggs with researchers and receive a reduction in in vitro fertilisation fees. We focus our discussion on the question of exploitation, a concept central to many sociological and ethical interests. In brief, our analysis suggests that while interviewees acknowledge the potential of this scheme to be exploitative, they argue that this is not the case, emphasising their ability to act autonomously in deciding to volunteer. Nonetheless, these freely made decisions do not necessarily take place under circumstances of their choosing. We discuss the implications of this for egg provision in general and for understandings of exploitation. PMID:22443419

  1. The consequences of balanced harvesting of fish communities

    PubMed Central

    Jacobsen, Nis S.; Gislason, Henrik; Andersen, Ken H.

    2014-01-01

    Balanced harvesting, where species or individuals are exploited in accordance with their productivity, has been proposed as a way to minimize the effects of fishing on marine fish communities and ecosystems. This calls for a thorough examination of the consequences balanced harvesting has on fish community structure and yield. We use a size- and trait-based model that resolves individual interactions through competition and predation to compare balanced harvesting with traditional selective harvesting, which protects juvenile fish from fishing. Four different exploitation patterns, generated by combining selective or unselective harvesting with balanced or unbalanced fishing, are compared. We find that unselective balanced fishing, where individuals are exploited in proportion to their productivity, produces a slightly larger total maximum sustainable yield than the other exploitation patterns and, for a given yield, the least change in the relative biomass composition of the fish community. Because fishing reduces competition, predation and cannibalism within the community, the total maximum sustainable yield is achieved at high exploitation rates. The yield from unselective balanced fishing is dominated by small individuals, whereas selective fishing produces a much higher proportion of large individuals in the yield. Although unselective balanced fishing is predicted to produce the highest total maximum sustainable yield and the lowest impact on trophic structure, it is effectively a fishery predominantly targeting small forage fish. PMID:24307676

  2. Theory of electrically controlled resonant tunneling spin devices

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ting, David Z. -Y.; Cartoixa, Xavier

    2004-01-01

    We report device concepts that exploit spin-orbit coupling for creating spin polarized current sources using nonmagnetic semiconductor resonant tunneling heterostructures, without external magnetic fields. The resonant interband tunneling psin filter exploits large valence band spin-orbit interaction to provide strong spin selectivity.

  3. The GMAO OSSE for Weather Analysis and Prediction Using the High-Resolution GEOS-5 Nature Run

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Errico, Ronald; Prive, Nikki; Da Silva Carvalho, David

    2017-01-01

    Applications of OSSEs:1. Estimate effects of proposed instruments (and their competing designs)on analysis skill by exploiting simulated environment, and 2. Evaluate present and proposed techniques for data assimilation by exploiting known truth.

  4. Support for ICES International Symposium: Recruitment Dynamics of Exploited Marine Populations: Physical-biological Interactions

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1997-09-30

    Environmental Science ,Chesapeake Biological Laboratory,PO Box 38,Solomons,MD,20688 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING...DYNAMICS OF EXPLOITED MARINE POPULATIONS: PHYSICAL-BIOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS Michael J. Fogarty University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Chesapeake

  5. Life-Long Radar Tracking of Bumblebees

    PubMed Central

    Lim, Ka S.; Reynolds, Andrew M.; Chittka, Lars

    2016-01-01

    Insect pollinators such as bumblebees play a vital role in many ecosystems, so it is important to understand their foraging movements on a landscape scale. We used harmonic radar to record the natural foraging behaviour of Bombus terrestris audax workers over their entire foraging career. Every flight ever made outside the nest by four foragers was recorded. Our data reveal where the bees flew and how their behaviour changed with experience, at an unprecedented level of detail. We identified how each bee’s flights fit into two categories—which we named exploration and exploitation flights—examining the differences between the two types of flight and how their occurrence changed over the course of the bees’ foraging careers. Exploitation of learned resources takes place during efficient, straight trips, usually to a single foraging location, and is seldom combined with exploration of other areas. Exploration of the landscape typically occurs in the first few flights made by each bee, but our data show that further exploration flights can be made throughout the bee’s foraging career. Bees showed striking levels of variation in how they explored their environment, their fidelity to particular patches, ratio of exploration to exploitation, duration and frequency of their foraging bouts. One bee developed a straight route to a forage patch within four flights and followed this route exclusively for six days before abandoning it entirely for a closer location; this second location had not been visited since her first exploratory flight nine days prior. Another bee made only rare exploitation flights and continued to explore widely throughout its life; two other bees showed more frequent switches between exploration and exploitation. Our data shed light on the way bumblebees balance exploration of the environment with exploitation of resources and reveal extreme levels of variation between individuals. PMID:27490662

  6. Regime Shift in an Exploited Fish Community Related to Natural Climate Oscillations.

    PubMed

    Auber, Arnaud; Travers-Trolet, Morgane; Villanueva, Maria Ching; Ernande, Bruno

    2015-01-01

    Identifying the various drivers of marine ecosystem regime shifts and disentangling their respective influence are critical tasks for understanding biodiversity dynamics and properly managing exploited living resources such as marine fish communities. Unfortunately, the mechanisms and forcing factors underlying regime shifts in marine fish communities are still largely unknown although climate forcing and anthropogenic pressures such as fishing have been suggested as key determinants. Based on a 24-year-long time-series of scientific surveys monitoring 55 fish and cephalopods species, we report here a rapid and persistent structural change in the exploited fish community of the eastern English Channel from strong to moderate dominance of small-bodied forage fish species with low temperature preferendum that occurred in the mid-1990s. This shift was related to a concomitant warming of the North Atlantic Ocean as attested by a switch of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation from a cold to a warm phase. Interestingly, observed changes in the fish community structure were opposite to those classically induced by exploitation as larger fish species of higher trophic level increased in abundance. Despite not playing a direct role in the regime shift, fishing still appeared as a forcing factor affecting community structure. Moreover, although related to climate, the regime shift may have been facilitated by strong historic exploitation that certainly primed the system by favoring the large dominance of small-bodied fish species that are particularly sensitive to climatic variations. These results emphasize that particular attention should be paid to multidecadal natural climate variability and its interactions with both fishing and climate warming when aiming at sustainable exploitation and ecosystem conservation.

  7. Surrogate Model Application to the Identification of Optimal Groundwater Exploitation Scheme Based on Regression Kriging Method—A Case Study of Western Jilin Province

    PubMed Central

    An, Yongkai; Lu, Wenxi; Cheng, Weiguo

    2015-01-01

    This paper introduces a surrogate model to identify an optimal exploitation scheme, while the western Jilin province was selected as the study area. A numerical simulation model of groundwater flow was established first, and four exploitation wells were set in the Tongyu county and Qian Gorlos county respectively so as to supply water to Daan county. Second, the Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) method was used to collect data in the feasible region for input variables. A surrogate model of the numerical simulation model of groundwater flow was developed using the regression kriging method. An optimization model was established to search an optimal groundwater exploitation scheme using the minimum average drawdown of groundwater table and the minimum cost of groundwater exploitation as multi-objective functions. Finally, the surrogate model was invoked by the optimization model in the process of solving the optimization problem. Results show that the relative error and root mean square error of the groundwater table drawdown between the simulation model and the surrogate model for 10 validation samples are both lower than 5%, which is a high approximation accuracy. The contrast between the surrogate-based simulation optimization model and the conventional simulation optimization model for solving the same optimization problem, shows the former only needs 5.5 hours, and the latter needs 25 days. The above results indicate that the surrogate model developed in this study could not only considerably reduce the computational burden of the simulation optimization process, but also maintain high computational accuracy. This can thus provide an effective method for identifying an optimal groundwater exploitation scheme quickly and accurately. PMID:26264008

  8. HIV prevalence in children and youth living on the street and subject to commercial sexual exploitation: a systematic review.

    PubMed

    Noreña-Herrera, Camilo; Rojas, Carlos Alberto; Cruz-Jiménez, Lizeth

    2016-11-03

    The aim of this review was to describe HIV prevalence in children and youth living on the street and subject to commercial sexual exploitation, and the studies' characteristics in terms of place, time, population, and sample design. This was a systematic review, not a meta-analysis, based on an article search in 10 electronic databases: Science Direct, MEDLINE, OVID, LILACS, Wiley InterScience, MD Consult, Springer Link, Embase, Web of Science, and Ebsco. A complementary search was also performed in the libraries of schools of public health and webpages of U.N. agencies, besides the reference lists from the selected articles. We selected observational studies focused on children and youth living on the street and subject to commercial sexual exploitation, ranging in age from 10 to 20 years, with the results for HIV prevalence rates. A total of 9,829 references were retrieved, of which 15 met the inclusion criteria and comprise this descriptive summary. Of these 15 articles, 12 were conducted in children and youth living on the street and three in children subject to commercial sexual exploitation. All 15 were cross-sectional studies. HIV prevalence in children and youth living on the street ranged from 0% in Dallas, USA and Cochabamba, Bolivia to 37.4% in St. Petersburg, Russia. In children and youth living subject to commercial sexual exploitation, prevalence ranged from 2% in Toronto, Canada to 20% in Kolkata, India. In conclusion, HIV infection is present in children and youth living on the street and subject to commercial sexual exploitation. Measures are needed for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment as a public health priority and an ethical responsibility on the part of governments and society.

  9. Life-Long Radar Tracking of Bumblebees.

    PubMed

    Woodgate, Joseph L; Makinson, James C; Lim, Ka S; Reynolds, Andrew M; Chittka, Lars

    2016-01-01

    Insect pollinators such as bumblebees play a vital role in many ecosystems, so it is important to understand their foraging movements on a landscape scale. We used harmonic radar to record the natural foraging behaviour of Bombus terrestris audax workers over their entire foraging career. Every flight ever made outside the nest by four foragers was recorded. Our data reveal where the bees flew and how their behaviour changed with experience, at an unprecedented level of detail. We identified how each bee's flights fit into two categories-which we named exploration and exploitation flights-examining the differences between the two types of flight and how their occurrence changed over the course of the bees' foraging careers. Exploitation of learned resources takes place during efficient, straight trips, usually to a single foraging location, and is seldom combined with exploration of other areas. Exploration of the landscape typically occurs in the first few flights made by each bee, but our data show that further exploration flights can be made throughout the bee's foraging career. Bees showed striking levels of variation in how they explored their environment, their fidelity to particular patches, ratio of exploration to exploitation, duration and frequency of their foraging bouts. One bee developed a straight route to a forage patch within four flights and followed this route exclusively for six days before abandoning it entirely for a closer location; this second location had not been visited since her first exploratory flight nine days prior. Another bee made only rare exploitation flights and continued to explore widely throughout its life; two other bees showed more frequent switches between exploration and exploitation. Our data shed light on the way bumblebees balance exploration of the environment with exploitation of resources and reveal extreme levels of variation between individuals.

  10. Empirical estimation of recreational exploitation of burbot, Lota lota, in the Wind River drainage of Wyoming using a multistate capture–recapture model

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lewandoski, S. A.; Guy, Christopher S.; Zale, Alexander V.; Gerrity, Paul C.; Deromedi, J. W.; Johnson, K.M.; Skates, D. L.

    2017-01-01

    Burbot, Lota lota (Linnaeus), is a regionally popular sportfish in the Wind River drainage of Wyoming, USA, at the southern boundary of the range of the species. Recent declines in burbot abundances were hypothesised to be caused by overexploitation, entrainment in irrigation canals and habitat loss. This study addressed the overexploitation hypothesis using tagging data to generate reliable exploitation, abundance and density estimates from a multistate capture–recapture model that accounted for incomplete angler reporting and tag loss. Exploitation rate μ was variable among the study lakes and inversely correlated with density. Exploitation thresholds μ40 associated with population densities remaining above 40% of carrying capacity were generated to characterise risk of overharvest using exploitation and density estimates from tagging data and a logistic surplus-production model parameterised with data from other burbot populations. Bull Lake (μ = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.03–0.11; μ40 = 0.18) and Torrey Lake (μ = 0.02, 95% CI: 0.00–0.11; μ40 = 0.18) had a low risk of overfishing, Upper Dinwoody Lake had intermediate risk (μ = 0.08, 95% CI: 0.02–0.32; μ40 = 0.18) and Lower Dinwoody Lake had high risk (μ = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.10–0.67; μ40 = 0.08). These exploitation and density estimates can be used to guide sustainable management of the Wind River drainage recreational burbot fishery and inform management of other burbot fisheries elsewhere.

  11. The Neuropsychological Function of Older First-Time Child Exploitation Material Offenders: A Pilot Study.

    PubMed

    Rodriguez, Marcelo; Ellis, Andrew

    2018-06-01

    Despite the growing incidence of child exploitation offences, there is little knowledge of the neuropsychological function of older child exploitation material offenders (CEMOs). Given that studies have reported that sex offenders demonstrate deficits attributed to frontal and temporal lobe function, the aim of this pilot study was to investigate the frontotemporal function of older first-time child exploitation material offenders (FTCEMOs). The neuropsychological performance of 11 older FTCEMOs was compared with 34 older historical sex offenders (HSOs) and 32 older nonsex offender (NSO) controls. Forty-five percent of FTCEMOs admitted to a pedophilic interest, which was significantly lower than those reported by HSOs. FTCEMOs provided significantly higher intellectual function scores than HSOs. Results revealed no evidence of mild or major neurocognitive disorder in FTCEMOs. Although the groups were not significantly different, compared with normative data, FTCEMOs reported a high incidence of impairment on a measure of decision making and on a measure of facial emotional recognition.

  12. Energy Reduction Effect of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Yong; Zhu, Yongnan; Lin, Zhaohui; Wang, Jianhua; He, Guohua; Li, Haihong; Li, Lei; Wang, Hao; Jiang, Shan; He, Fan; Zhai, Jiaqi; Wang, Lizhen; Wang, Qingming

    2017-11-21

    The North China Plain, with a population of approximately 150 million, is facing severe water scarcity. The over-exploitation of groundwater in the region, with accumulation amounts reaching more than 150 billion m 3 , causes a series of hydrological and geological problems together with the consumption of a significant amount of energy. Here, we highlight the energy and greenhouse gas-related environmental co-benefits of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP). Moreover, we evaluate the energy-saving effect of SNWDP on groundwater exploitation based on the groundwater-exploitation reduction program implemented by the Chinese government. Our results show that the transferred water will replace about 2.97 billion m 3 of exploited groundwater in the water reception area by 2020 and hence reduce energy consumption by 931 million kWh. Further, by 2030, 6.44 billion m 3 of groundwater, which accounts for 27% of the current groundwater withdrawal, will save approximately 7% of Beijing's current thermal power generation output.

  13. Hacking the Cell: Network Intrusion and Exploitation by Adenovirus E1A.

    PubMed

    King, Cason R; Zhang, Ali; Tessier, Tanner M; Gameiro, Steven F; Mymryk, Joe S

    2018-05-01

    As obligate intracellular parasites, viruses are dependent on their infected hosts for survival. Consequently, viruses are under enormous selective pressure to utilize available cellular components and processes to their own advantage. As most, if not all, cellular activities are regulated at some level via protein interactions, host protein interaction networks are particularly vulnerable to viral exploitation. Indeed, viral proteins frequently target highly connected "hub" proteins to "hack" the cellular network, defining the molecular basis for viral control over the host. This widespread and successful strategy of network intrusion and exploitation has evolved convergently among numerous genetically distinct viruses as a result of the endless evolutionary arms race between pathogens and hosts. Here we examine the means by which a particularly well-connected viral hub protein, human adenovirus E1A, compromises and exploits the vulnerabilities of eukaryotic protein interaction networks. Importantly, these interactions identify critical regulatory hubs in the human proteome and help define the molecular basis of their function. Copyright © 2018 King et al.

  14. Fair trade international surrogacy.

    PubMed

    Humbyrd, Casey

    2009-12-01

    Since the development of assisted reproductive technologies, infertile individuals have crossed borders to obtain treatments unavailable or unaffordable in their own country. Recent media coverage has focused on the outsourcing of surrogacy to developing countries, where the cost for surrogacy is significantly less than the equivalent cost in a more developed country. This paper discusses the ethical arguments against international surrogacy. The major opposition viewpoints can be broadly divided into arguments about welfare, commodification and exploitation. It is argued that the only valid objection to international surrogacy is that surrogate mothers may be exploited by being given too little compensation. However, the possibility of exploitation is a weak argument for prohibition, as employment alternatives for potential surrogate mothers may be more exploitative or more harmful than surrogacy. It is concluded that international surrogacy must be regulated, and the proposed regulatory mechanism is termed Fair Trade Surrogacy. The guidelines of Fair Trade Surrogacy focus on minimizing potential harms to all parties and ensuring fair compensation for surrogate mothers.

  15. The Exploitive Mating Strategy of the Dark Triad Traits: Tests of Rape-Enabling Attitudes.

    PubMed

    Jonason, Peter K; Girgis, Mary; Milne-Home, Josephine

    2017-04-01

    The Dark Triad traits have been repeatedly labeled as facilitating an exploitive mating strategy. However, various researchers have repeatedly conflated short-term mating or casual sex with an exploitive mating strategy. In this study using Mechanical Turk participants (N = 252; 142 men, 110 women), we provided a better test of just how sexually exploitive those high on the Dark Triad traits might be by examining how the traits related to rape-enabling attitudes. We examined how each trait may facilitate rape, whether these associations were robust to partialing the variance associated with the Big Five traits and similar in men and women, and showed that one reason why men may be more likely to rape than women is they are characterized by the Dark Triad traits more than women are. In so doing, we test the confluence model of rape that asserts that personality traits similar to the Dark Triad traits act as one pathway to rape.

  16. Internal states drive nutrient homeostasis by modulating exploration-exploitation trade-off

    PubMed Central

    Corrales-Carvajal, Verónica María; Faisal, Aldo A; Ribeiro, Carlos

    2016-01-01

    Internal states can profoundly alter the behavior of animals. A quantitative understanding of the behavioral changes upon metabolic challenges is key to a mechanistic dissection of how animals maintain nutritional homeostasis. We used an automated video tracking setup to characterize how amino acid and reproductive states interact to shape exploitation and exploration decisions taken by adult Drosophila melanogaster. We find that these two states have specific effects on the decisions to stop at and leave proteinaceous food patches. Furthermore, the internal nutrient state defines the exploration-exploitation trade-off: nutrient-deprived flies focus on specific patches while satiated flies explore more globally. Finally, we show that olfaction mediates the efficient recognition of yeast as an appropriate protein source in mated females and that octopamine is specifically required to mediate homeostatic postmating responses without affecting internal nutrient sensing. Internal states therefore modulate specific aspects of exploitation and exploration to change nutrient selection. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.19920.001 PMID:27770569

  17. How do abused elderly persons and their adult protective services caseworkers view law enforcement involvement and criminal prosecution, and what impact do these views have on case processing?

    PubMed

    Jackson, Shelly L; Hafemeister, Thomas L

    2013-01-01

    This study examined law enforcement and prosecution involvement in 71 cases of elder abuse where pure financial exploitation (PFE), physical abuse (PA), neglect (Neglect), or hybrid financial exploitation (HFE) (financial exploitation co-occurring with physical abuse and/or neglect) occurred in a domestic setting. Victims of elder abuse and assigned Adult Protective Services (APS) caseworkers were systematically interviewed. Law enforcement officials were involved in 54% of the cases, and 18% of the cases were prosecuted. PA was significantly more likely to trigger a law enforcement response and to be prosecuted than Neglect or PFE. HFE involved prosecution for assault rather than financial exploitation. Generally, the victims of elder abuse were not receptive to criminal justice involvement, which appears to have a significant impact upon the level of this involvement. The reasons for this reluctance are discussed, as well as the challenges and limitations of criminal justice system involvement and related implications for policy and practice.

  18. Harsh childhood environmental characteristics predict exploitation and retaliation in humans

    PubMed Central

    McCullough, Michael E.; Pedersen, Eric J.; Schroder, Jaclyn M.; Tabak, Benjamin A.; Carver, Charles S.

    2013-01-01

    Across and within societies, people vary in their propensities towards exploitative and retaliatory defection in potentially cooperative interaction. We hypothesized that this variation reflects adaptive responses to variation in cues during childhood that life will be harsh, unstable and short—cues that probabilistically indicate that it is in one's fitness interests to exploit co-operators and to retaliate quickly against defectors. Here, we show that childhood exposure to family neglect, conflict and violence, and to neighbourhood crime, were positively associated for men (but not women) with exploitation of an interaction partner and retaliatory defection after that partner began to defect. The associations between childhood environment and both forms of defection for men appeared to be mediated by participants' endorsement of a ‘code of honour’. These results suggest that individual differences in mutual benefit cooperation are not merely due to genetic noise, random developmental variation or the operation of domain-general cultural learning mechanisms, but rather, might reflect the adaptive calibration of social strategies to local social–ecological conditions. PMID:23118435

  19. Hacking the Cell: Network Intrusion and Exploitation by Adenovirus E1A

    PubMed Central

    King, Cason R.; Zhang, Ali; Tessier, Tanner M.; Gameiro, Steven F.

    2018-01-01

    ABSTRACT As obligate intracellular parasites, viruses are dependent on their infected hosts for survival. Consequently, viruses are under enormous selective pressure to utilize available cellular components and processes to their own advantage. As most, if not all, cellular activities are regulated at some level via protein interactions, host protein interaction networks are particularly vulnerable to viral exploitation. Indeed, viral proteins frequently target highly connected “hub” proteins to “hack” the cellular network, defining the molecular basis for viral control over the host. This widespread and successful strategy of network intrusion and exploitation has evolved convergently among numerous genetically distinct viruses as a result of the endless evolutionary arms race between pathogens and hosts. Here we examine the means by which a particularly well-connected viral hub protein, human adenovirus E1A, compromises and exploits the vulnerabilities of eukaryotic protein interaction networks. Importantly, these interactions identify critical regulatory hubs in the human proteome and help define the molecular basis of their function. PMID:29717008

  20. Sexual exploitation and trafficking of the young and vulnerable: reflections on a legal, ethical, and human rights disgrace.

    PubMed

    English, Abigail

    2011-08-01

    Sexual exploitation and trafficking of the young and vulnerable has devastating consequences for their physical and emotional development, health, and well-being. The horrific treatment they suffer bears the hallmarks of evil made manifest. Governments have enacted laws pursuant to international treaties, conventions, and protocols. Nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are working to prevent young people from being exploited and trafficked, to identify victims, and to provide services to survivors. Progress in addressing the problem is haltingly slow in relation to its magnitude. The prevalence and persistence of this phenomenon is an ethical, legal, and human rights disgrace.

  1. ICER-3D: A Progressive Wavelet-Based Compressor for Hyperspectral Images

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kiely, A.; Klimesh, M.; Xie, H.; Aranki, N.

    2005-01-01

    ICER-3D is a progressive, wavelet-based compressor for hyperspectral images. ICER-3D is derived from the ICER image compressor. ICER-3D can provide lossless and lossy compression, and incorporates an error-containment scheme to limit the effects of data loss during transmission. The three-dimensional wavelet decomposition structure used by ICER-3D exploits correlations in all three dimensions of hyperspectral data sets, while facilitating elimination of spectral ringing artifacts. Correlation is further exploited by a context modeler that effectively exploits spectral dependencies in the wavelet-transformed hyperspectral data. Performance results illustrating the benefits of these features are presented.

  2. The Lichtenberg Financial Decision Screening Scale (LFDSS): A new tool for assessing financial decision making and preventing financial exploitation.

    PubMed

    Lichtenberg, Peter A; Ficker, Lisa; Rahman-Filipiak, Analise; Tatro, Ron; Farrell, Cynthia; Speir, James J; Mall, Sanford J; Simasko, Patrick; Collens, Howard H; Jackman, John Daniel

    2016-01-01

    One of the challenges in preventing the financial exploitation of older adults is that neither criminal justice nor noncriminal justice professionals are equipped to detect capacity deficits. Because decision-making capacity is a cornerstone assessment in cases of financial exploitation, effective instruments for measuring this capacity are essential. We introduce a new screening scale for financial decision making that can be administered to older adults. To explore the scale's implementation and assess construct validity, we conducted a pilot study of 29 older adults seen by APS (Adult Protective Services) workers and 79 seen by other professionals. Case examples are included.

  3. Explore or Exploit? A Generic Model and an Exactly Solvable Case

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gueudré, Thomas; Dobrinevski, Alexander; Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe

    2014-02-01

    Finding a good compromise between the exploitation of known resources and the exploration of unknown, but potentially more profitable choices, is a general problem, which arises in many different scientific disciplines. We propose a stylized model for these exploration-exploitation situations, including population or economic growth, portfolio optimization, evolutionary dynamics, or the problem of optimal pinning of vortices or dislocations in disordered materials. We find the exact growth rate of this model for treelike geometries and prove the existence of an optimal migration rate in this case. Numerical simulations in the one-dimensional case confirm the generic existence of an optimum.

  4. The Lichtenberg Financial Decision Screening Scale (LFDSS): A new tool for assessing financial decision making and preventing financial exploitation

    PubMed Central

    Lichtenberg, P.A.; Howard, H; Simaskp, P.; Mall, S.; Speir, J.; Farrell, C.; Tatro, R; Rahman-Filipiak, A.; Ficker, L.J.

    2016-01-01

    One of the challenges in preventing the financial exploitation of older adults is that neither criminal justice nor noncriminal justice professionals are equipped to detect capacity deficits. Because decision-making capacity is a cornerstone assessment in cases of financial exploitation, effective instruments for measuring this capacity are essential. We introduce a new screening scale for financial decision making that can be administered to older adults. To explore the scale’s implementation and assess construct validity, we conducted a pilot study of 29 older adults seen by APS workers and 79 seen by other professionals. Case examples are included. PMID:27010780

  5. Explore or exploit? A generic model and an exactly solvable case.

    PubMed

    Gueudré, Thomas; Dobrinevski, Alexander; Bouchaud, Jean-Philippe

    2014-02-07

    Finding a good compromise between the exploitation of known resources and the exploration of unknown, but potentially more profitable choices, is a general problem, which arises in many different scientific disciplines. We propose a stylized model for these exploration-exploitation situations, including population or economic growth, portfolio optimization, evolutionary dynamics, or the problem of optimal pinning of vortices or dislocations in disordered materials. We find the exact growth rate of this model for treelike geometries and prove the existence of an optimal migration rate in this case. Numerical simulations in the one-dimensional case confirm the generic existence of an optimum.

  6. NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT AND FISHERIES EXPLOITATION: INTERACTIVE EFFECTS ON ESTUARINE LIVING RESOURCES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT

    EPA Science Inventory

    Fisheries exploitation and increased nutrient loadings affect fish and shellfish abudance and production in estuaries. These stressors do not act independently; instead they jointly influence food webs, and each affects the sensitivity of species and ecosystems to the other. Nu...

  7. Intellectual Property Rights in the Australian University Context: An Overview.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ricketson, Sam

    1993-01-01

    The existing legal position of Australian universities with respect to ownership and exploitation of intellectual property by faculty, students, and outside consultants is described. Issues requiring attention are noted, including resources for exploitation, sharing of proceeds, and copyright considerations; and some possible solutions are…

  8. Fully Exploiting The Potential Of The Periodic Table Through Pattern Recognition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schultz, Emeric

    2005-01-01

    An approach to learning chemical facts that starts with the periodic table and depends primarily on recognizing and completing patterns and following a few simple rules is described. This approach exploits the exceptions that arise and uses them as opportunities for further concept development.

  9. The Balancing Act of Moose and Wolves.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haber, Gordon C.

    1980-01-01

    Discussed is the predator-prey relationship between the moose and the wolves, and the added effect of human exploitations on this relationship. Described is the moose behavior at the population and system levels resulting from the predation pressures on them by the wolves and human exploitation. (DS)

  10. Colonialism in Modern America: The Appalachian Case.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewis, Helen Matthews, Ed.; And Others

    The essays in this book illustrate a conceptual model for analyzing the social and economic problems of the Appalachian region. The model is variously called Colonialism, Internal Colonialism, Exploitation, or External Oppression. It highlights the process through which dominant outside industrial interests establish control, exploit the region,…

  11. Exploitation of commercial remote sensing images: reality ignored?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Allen, Paul C.

    1999-12-01

    The remote sensing market is on the verge of being awash in commercial high-resolution images. Market estimates are based on the growing numbers of planned commercial remote sensing electro-optical, radar, and hyperspectral satellites and aircraft. EarthWatch, Space Imaging, SPOT, and RDL among others are all working towards launch and service of one to five meter panchromatic or radar-imaging satellites. Additionally, new advances in digital air surveillance and reconnaissance systems, both manned and unmanned, are also expected to expand the geospatial customer base. Regardless of platform, image type, or location, each system promises images with some combination of increased resolution, greater spectral coverage, reduced turn-around time (request-to- delivery), and/or reduced image cost. For the most part, however, market estimates for these new sources focus on the raw digital images (from collection to the ground station) while ignoring the requirements for a processing and exploitation infrastructure comprised of exploitation tools, exploitation training, library systems, and image management systems. From this it would appear the commercial imaging community has failed to learn the hard lessons of national government experience choosing instead to ignore reality and replicate the bias of collection over processing and exploitation. While this trend may be not impact the small quantity users that exist today it will certainly adversely affect the mid- to large-sized users of the future.

  12. Impact of marine reserve on maximum sustainable yield in a traditional prey-predator system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paul, Prosenjit; Kar, T. K.; Ghorai, Abhijit

    2018-01-01

    Multispecies fisheries management requires managers to consider the impact of fishing activities on several species as fishing impacts both targeted and non-targeted species directly or indirectly in several ways. The intended goal of traditional fisheries management is to achieve maximum sustainable yield (MSY) from the targeted species, which on many occasions affect the targeted species as well as the entire ecosystem. Marine reserves are often acclaimed as the marine ecosystem management tool. Few attempts have been made to generalize the ecological effects of marine reserve on MSY policy. We examine here how MSY and population level in a prey-predator system are affected by the low, medium and high reserve size under different possible scenarios. Our simulation works shows that low reserve area, the value of MSY for prey exploitation is maximum when both prey and predator species have fast movement rate. For medium reserve size, our analysis revealed that the maximum value of MSY for prey exploitation is obtained when prey population has fast movement rate and predator population has slow movement rate. For high reserve area, the maximum value of MSY for prey's exploitation is very low compared to the maximum value of MSY for prey's exploitation in case of low and medium reserve. On the other hand, for low and medium reserve area, MSY for predator exploitation is maximum when both the species have fast movement rate.

  13. Differences in the Metabolic Rates of Exploited and Unexploited Fish Populations: A Signature of Recreational Fisheries Induced Evolution?

    PubMed Central

    Hessenauer, Jan-Michael; Vokoun, Jason C.; Suski, Cory D.; Davis, Justin; Jacobs, Robert; O’Donnell, Eileen

    2015-01-01

    Non-random mortality associated with commercial and recreational fisheries have the potential to cause evolutionary changes in fish populations. Inland recreational fisheries offer unique opportunities for the study of fisheries induced evolution due to the ability to replicate study systems, limited gene flow among populations, and the existence of unexploited reference populations. Experimental research has demonstrated that angling vulnerability is heritable in Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, and is correlated with elevated resting metabolic rates (RMR) and higher fitness. However, whether such differences are present in wild populations is unclear. This study sought to quantify differences in RMR among replicated exploited and unexploited populations of Largemouth Bass. We collected age-0 Largemouth Bass from two Connecticut drinking water reservoirs unexploited by anglers for almost a century, and two exploited lakes, then transported and reared them in the same pond. Field RMR of individuals from each population was quantified using intermittent-flow respirometry. Individuals from unexploited reservoirs had a significantly higher mean RMR (6%) than individuals from exploited populations. These findings are consistent with expectations derived from artificial selection by angling on Largemouth Bass, suggesting that recreational angling may act as an evolutionary force influencing the metabolic rates of fishes in the wild. Reduced RMR as a result of fisheries induced evolution may have ecosystem level effects on energy demand, and be common in exploited recreational populations globally. PMID:26039091

  14. Application of territorial GIS to study of natural environment for regions under mining exploitation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kirsanov, A.

    1996-07-01

    Mineral resources exploitation becomes one of the leading factors of technogenic impact to natural environment. The processes accompanying exploitation lead to changes of geological/geomorphological, engineering/geological, hydrogeological, geochemical and landscape conditions over the large territories surrounded mining exploitation districts. The types of environmental changes and disturbances are stipulated by several reasons such as kind of exploited resources (ore, petroleum, gas, coal, peat, building materials etc.); the ways of extraction (opened by quarry or closed by mine); natural zone (tundra, taiga, steppe, desert etc.). Expressive revelation and control of these environmental changes is impossible without wide using and analysis of various typesmore » and different times materials of airborne and satellite surveys (MASS). They are the basis of system approach to environmental study because of image is the decreased spatial model of territory. For integrated estimation of natural resources and perspectives of its economical profit using, as well as examination of influence of extraction objects to natural environment necessary to involve different data. Only territorial GIS permits to solve the tasks of collection, keeping, processing and analysis of this data as well as to conduct modelling of situations and presentation of information necessary to accept the decision. The core of GIS is the Data base which consists of initial remote sensing and cartographic data allow in completely obtain various information providing of full value and objectivity of investigations.« less

  15. Preventing Exploits Against Software of Uncertain Provenance (PEASOUP)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-05-01

    Together with Strata’s fine-grained confinement, they build up a robust sandbox environment for SOUP that can resist most kind of exploits...Guide to the World’s Most Popular Disassembler. 2008: No Starch Press. 60. Christey, S., 2011 CWE/SANS top 25 most dangerous software errors

  16. A search for experiments to exploit the space shuttle environment, volume 2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fenn, J. B.

    1979-01-01

    Institutions and laboratories in India, Japan, and Western Europe which were visited during a search for experiments to exploit the space shuttle environment are described. The facilities and current research interests of the various centers are discussed with particular emphasis given to the Indian Space Research Organization.

  17. Ontology-Based Learner Categorization through Case Based Reasoning and Fuzzy Logic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sarwar, Sohail; García-Castro, Raul; Qayyum, Zia Ul; Safyan, Muhammad; Munir, Rana Faisal

    2017-01-01

    Learner categorization has a pivotal role in making e-learning systems a success. However, learner characteristics exploited at abstract level of granularity by contemporary techniques cannot categorize the learners effectively. In this paper, an architecture of e-learning framework has been presented that exploits the machine learning based…

  18. Cloud Cover

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schaffhauser, Dian

    2012-01-01

    This article features a major statewide initiative in North Carolina that is showing how a consortium model can minimize risks for districts and help them exploit the advantages of cloud computing. Edgecombe County Public Schools in Tarboro, North Carolina, intends to exploit a major cloud initiative being refined in the state and involving every…

  19. Exploiting Patient Labour at Kew Cottages, Australia, 1887-1950

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Monk, Lee-Ann

    2010-01-01

    This article examines the exploitation of patient labour at Kew Cottages, Australia's first purpose-built state institution for people with learning disabilities. Analysing historical evidence for the period 1887-1950 shows that unpaid patient labour contributed significantly to the economy of the Cottages and so to the government department of…

  20. The Sexual Exploitation of Missing Children: A Research Review.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hotaling, Gerald T.; Finkelhor, David

    This paper evaluates current knowledge about the prevalence, dynamics, and short- and long-term effects of sexual exploitation among missing children. It is based upon empirical research findings from books, papers presented at professional meetings, doctoral dissertations, works in progress, and more than 75 articles in professional journals.…

  1. 28 CFR 81.13 - Submission of reports by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to designated...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Center for Missing and Exploited Children to designated agencies; designation of agencies. 81.13 Section 81.13 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (CONTINUED) CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY REPORTING DESIGNATIONS AND PROCEDURES Child Pornography Reporting Designations and Procedures § 81.13...

  2. 28 CFR 81.13 - Submission of reports by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to designated...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Center for Missing and Exploited Children to designated agencies; designation of agencies. 81.13 Section 81.13 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (CONTINUED) CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY REPORTING DESIGNATIONS AND PROCEDURES Child Pornography Reporting Designations and Procedures § 81.13...

  3. 28 CFR 81.13 - Submission of reports by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to designated...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Center for Missing and Exploited Children to designated agencies; designation of agencies. 81.13 Section 81.13 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (CONTINUED) CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY REPORTING DESIGNATIONS AND PROCEDURES Child Pornography Reporting Designations and Procedures § 81.13...

  4. 28 CFR 81.13 - Submission of reports by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to designated...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... Center for Missing and Exploited Children to designated agencies; designation of agencies. 81.13 Section 81.13 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (CONTINUED) CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY REPORTING DESIGNATIONS AND PROCEDURES Child Pornography Reporting Designations and Procedures § 81.13...

  5. AIRMEN AS BOLD RISK TAKERS REDEFINING RISK TO ACHIEVE OPERATIONAL AGILITY

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-04-15

    that trust will be central to combat success22, but this AFI indoctrinates decision avoidance and bakes in a lack of trust in lower- level commanders... baking in” risk exploitation to selected COAs, and by providing a means to communicate commanders’ risk profiles which guide risk exploitation during

  6. The moral basis of animal-assisted therapy.

    PubMed

    Zamir, Tzachi

    2006-01-01

    Is nonhuman animal-assisted therapy (AAT) a form of exploitation? After exploring possible moral vindications of AAT and after establishing a distinction between "use" and "exploitation," the essay distinguishes between forms of animal-assisted therapy that are morally unobjectionable and those modes of it that ought to be abolished.

  7. Methods of improvement of exploitation features of carbon and low-alloyed steels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Borisova, L. G.

    2017-10-01

    Wear resistance is the main characteristic that can define detail’s endurance in application environment. To assess the endurance capability of layers strengthening by low-temperature cyanide carburizing, the methods that replicates friction and load conditions, typical for exploitation of details strengthened by cyanide carburizing, were applied.

  8. Exploiting a Corpus of Business Letters from a Phraseological, Functional Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Flowerdew, Lynne

    2012-01-01

    This paper illustrates how a freely available online corpus has been exploited in a module on teaching business letters covering the following four speech acts (functions) commonly found in business letters: invitations, requests, complaints and refusals. It is proposed that different strategies are required for teaching potentially…

  9. Exploiting Formation Flying for Fuel Saving Supersonic Oblique Wing Aircraft

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-07-01

    used and developed during recent wing / winglet / morphing design programmes (Refs.13-14). By exploiting this method, we have assessed the aerodynamics...with winglets ”, AIAA-2006-3460. 25th Applied Aero Conference, San Francisco, June 2006. 15. NANGIA, R.K., PALMER, M.E., “Formation Flying of Commercial

  10. Desiring TESOL and International Education: Market Abuse and Exploitation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chowdhury, Raqib; Ha, Phan Le

    2014-01-01

    This book addresses how Western universities have constructed themselves as global providers of education, and are driven to be globally competitive. It examines how the term "international" has been exploited by the market in the form of government educational policies and agencies, host institutions, academia and the mass media. The…

  11. Bats track and exploit changes in insect pest populations

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The role of bats or any generalist predator in suppressing prey populations depends on the predator’s ability to exploit available prey in space and time. Using a qPCR faecal DNA assay, we document significant association between numbers of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) consumin...

  12. Exploitability Assessment with TEASER

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-05-01

    dear friends Leo St. Amour, Ricky T, Andreas Kellas, and Paul Deardorff for taking time out of their busy schedules to proofread this thesis. Last, I...in glibc mal- loc function. Marked as severe on Chromium, but no known exploit Table 5.1: Summary of results of TEASER compared with other tools and

  13. The World's Exploited Children: Growing Up Sadly.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Knight, William James

    This monograph, fourth in a series on labor development, focuses on child exploitation in the context of child labor. The collection of papers briefly discusses (1) the relation between conditions of poverty and the prevalence of child labor in developing countries; (2) the lack of effectiveness of labor legislation in preventing child…

  14. Child Exploitation: Some Pieces of the Puzzle.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rohlader, Dorothy

    The report addresses the status in North Carolina and in the nation of child exploitation. Legislative and judicial backgrounds of child pornography and child prostitution are reviewed, and difficulties in obtaining statistical data are noted. Law enforcement issues in pornography are cited, and suggestions for further legislation regarding child…

  15. 45 CFR 1178.2 - Withdrawal of information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... within a three month period from the date the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children receives... permission to use the information. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will be responsible... 45 Public Welfare 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Withdrawal of information. 1178.2 Section 1178.2...

  16. 45 CFR 1178.2 - Withdrawal of information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... within a three month period from the date the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children receives... permission to use the information. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will be responsible... 45 Public Welfare 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Withdrawal of information. 1178.2 Section 1178.2...

  17. 45 CFR 1178.2 - Withdrawal of information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... within a three month period from the date the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children receives... permission to use the information. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will be responsible... 45 Public Welfare 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Withdrawal of information. 1178.2 Section 1178.2...

  18. 45 CFR 1178.2 - Withdrawal of information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... within a three month period from the date the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children receives... permission to use the information. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will be responsible... 45 Public Welfare 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Withdrawal of information. 1178.2 Section 1178.2...

  19. 45 CFR 1178.2 - Withdrawal of information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... within a three month period from the date the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children receives... permission to use the information. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will be responsible... 45 Public Welfare 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Withdrawal of information. 1178.2 Section 1178.2...

  20. Membrane traffic and synaptic cross-talk during host cell entry by Trypanosoma cruzi.

    PubMed

    Butler, Claire E; Tyler, Kevin M

    2012-09-01

    It is widely accepted that Trypanosoma cruzi can exploit the natural exocytic response of the host to cell damage, utilizing host cell lysosomes as important effectors. It is, though, increasingly clear that the parasite also exploits endocytic mechanisms which allow for incorporation of plasma membrane into the parasitophorous vacuole. Further, that these endocytic mechanisms are involved in cross-talk with the exocytic machinery, in the recycling of vesicles and in the manipulation of the cytoskeleton. Here we review the mechanisms by which T. cruzi exploits features of the exocytic and endocytic pathways in epithelial and endothelial cells and the evidence for cross-talk between these pathways. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  1. Sharing the Benefits of Research Fairly: Two Approaches

    PubMed Central

    Millum, Joseph

    2016-01-01

    Research projects sponsored by rich countries or companies and carried out in developing countries are frequently described as exploitative. One important debate about the prevention of exploitation in research centers on whether and how clinical research in developing countries should be responsive to local health problems. This paper analyses the responsiveness debate and draws out more general lessons for how policy makers can prevent exploitation in various research contexts. There are two independent ways to do this in the face of entrenched power differences: to impose restrictions on the content of benefit-sharing arrangements, and to institute independent effective oversight. Which method should be chosen is highly dependent on context. PMID:21947808

  2. Deciding to defect: the effects of video-game violence on cooperative behavior.

    PubMed

    Sheese, Brad E; Graziano, William G

    2005-05-01

    This experiment examined the effect of video-game violence on cooperative decision making. Participants (N= 48) were randomly assigned to play either a violent or a nonviolent version of the video game Doom in dyads. Following the video-game task, participants were separated and given an opportunity to choose to cooperate with their partner for mutual gain, withdraw from the interaction, or exploit their partner for their own benefit. Participants in the violent condition were significantly more likely to choose to exploit their partners than participants in the nonviolent condition. These findings suggest that playing violent video games may undermine prosocial motivation and promote exploitive behavior in social interactions.

  3. Investigation of the influence of coolant-lubricant modification on selected effects of pull broaching

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adamczuk, Krzysztof; Legutko, Stanisław; Laber, Alicja; Serwa, Wojciech

    2017-10-01

    The paper presents the results of testing the wear of the tool (pull broach) and a gear wheel splineway surface roughness after the friction node of pull broach/gear wheel (CuSn12Ni2) had been lubricated with metal machining oil and the same oil modified with chemically active exploitation additive. To designate the influence of modifying metal machining oil by the exploitation additive on the lubricating properties, anti-wear and antiseizure indicators have been appointed. Exploitation tests have proved purposefulness of modifying metal machining oil. Modification of the lubricant has contributed to reduction of the wear of the tools - pull broaches and to reduction of roughness of the splineway surfaces.

  4. Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and the School Nurse

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grace, Lisa Goldblatt; Starck, Maureen; Potenza, Jane; Kenney, Patricia A.; Sheetz, Anne H.

    2012-01-01

    As trusted health professionals in the school setting, school nurses are well positioned to identify students who may be victims of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). However, until recently this issue has been clouded by lack of awareness, stigma, and/or denial. Since nationally the average age of entry for girls into the…

  5. Dealing with Students' Plagiarism Pre-Emptively through Teaching Proper Information Exploitation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chankova, Mariya

    2017-01-01

    The present contribution looks into the much discussed issue of student plagiarism, which is conjectured to stem from problems with information searching and exploitation, underdeveloped exposition skills and difficulty in using sources, especially concerning quotations and references. The aim of the study is to determine how effective pre-emptive…

  6. Empirical Analysis of Exploiting Review Helpfulness for Extractive Summarization of Online Reviews

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xiong, Wenting; Litman, Diane

    2014-01-01

    We propose a novel unsupervised extractive approach for summarizing online reviews by exploiting review helpfulness ratings. In addition to using the helpfulness ratings for review-level filtering, we suggest using them as the supervision of a topic model for sentence-level content scoring. The proposed method is metadata-driven, requiring no…

  7. 37 CFR 201.39 - Notice to Libraries and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or Availability at Reasonable...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Notice to Libraries and... Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.39 Notice to Libraries and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or...

  8. 37 CFR 201.39 - Notice to Libraries and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or Availability at Reasonable...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Notice to Libraries and... Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.39 Notice to Libraries and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or...

  9. Status of Sandalwood resources in Vanuatu

    Treesearch

    Leonard Bule; Godfrey Daruhi

    1990-01-01

    On eight islands of Vanuatu archipelago, sandalwood stands have been heavily exploited since the late 1800's. Because of the over-exploitation, which worried the Vanuatu Government, a moratorium was imposed in early 1987. The status of the valuable wood and the beginnings of research into one of the country's potential commodities are reviewed.

  10. Principal Leadership Practices in Exploiting Situated Possibilities to Build Teacher Capacity for Change

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lai, Edith

    2014-01-01

    This paper attempts to identify leadership practices of school principals as they engaged in exploring and exploiting possibilities in and around the school contexts to build teacher capacity for change. Based on interview data of school principals, this paper shows that principals from different schools engaged in qualitatively different…

  11. The intellectual information system for management of geological and technical arrangements during oil field exploitation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Markov, N. G.; E Vasilyeva, E.; Evsyutkin, I. V.

    2017-01-01

    The intellectual information system for management of geological and technical arrangements during oil fields exploitation is developed. Service-oriented architecture of its software is a distinctive feature of the system. The results of the cluster analysis of real field data received by means of this system are shown.

  12. 37 CFR 201.39 - Notice to Libraries and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or Availability at Reasonable...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Notice to Libraries and... Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.39 Notice to Libraries and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or...

  13. 37 CFR 201.39 - Notice to Libraries and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or Availability at Reasonable...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 37 Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Notice to Libraries and... Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights COPYRIGHT OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT OFFICE AND PROCEDURES GENERAL PROVISIONS § 201.39 Notice to Libraries and Archives of Normal Commercial Exploitation or...

  14. 75 FR 40838 - Establishment of the Advisory Board on Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-07-14

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Establishment of the Advisory Board on Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Aging. ACTION... standards for the formation and use of advisory committees. SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Health and Human...

  15. An Exemplary Lesson on Education for Sustainable Development: A Case in Malaysia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mee, Lee Shok

    2017-01-01

    Malaysian mangrove resources are exploited for woods, fisheries, wildlife, agriculture, and in recent decades for aquaculture and ecotourism. Such exploitations are often unsustainable, particularly when there is permanent change in land usage. In the last four decades, it is estimated that the overall loss in mangrove areas is over 16 percent…

  16. Little Adults: Child and Teenage Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Contemporary Brazilian Cinema

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    da Silvia, Antonio Marcio

    2016-01-01

    This current study explores three contemporary Brazilian films' depiction of commercial sexual exploitation of young girls and teenagers. It points out how the young female characters cope with the abuses they suffer and proposes that these filmic representations of the characters' experiences expose a significant social problem of contemporary…

  17. 75 FR 56558 - Office of the Secretary: Combating Exploitative Child Labor by Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-09-16

    ..., education, and sustainable livelihoods, and the capacity of national institutions to combat child labor... and its root causes, and the importance of education for all children and mobilizing a wide array of... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of the Secretary: Combating Exploitative Child Labor by Promoting...

  18. Detecting Targeted Malicious Email through Supervised Classification of Persistent Threat and Recipient Oriented Features

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amin, Rohan Mahesh

    2010-01-01

    Targeted email attacks to enable computer network exploitation have become more prevalent, more insidious, and more widely documented in recent years. Beyond nuisance spam or phishing designed to trick users into revealing personal information, targeted malicious email (TME) facilitates computer network exploitation and the gathering of sensitive…

  19. Beyond the Bravado: Sex Roles and the Exploitive Male.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taubman, Stan

    1986-01-01

    Examines the tendency of men to engage in domestic violence and sexual exploitation and presents male sex-role acquisition as a process of psychosocial violence against young boys, which creates a sense of shame, powerlessness, self-alienation, isolation from others, and retaliatory rage and inhibits capacities for intimacy and mutuality.…

  20. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Perceived Exploitation of College Athletes Questionnaire

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Rheenen, Derek; Atwood, Jason R.

    2014-01-01

    The exploitation of college athletes has been a topic of controversy within American higher education for over half of a century. Especially in the revenue-generating sports of men's basketball and football, critics have highlighted the surplus gains expropriated by colleges and universities on the backs of these young men, who are…

  1. A Qualitative Organic Analysis that Exploits the Senses of Smell, Touch, and Sound

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bromfield-Lee, Deborah C.; Oliver-Hoyo, Maria T.

    2007-01-01

    This laboratory experiment utilizes the characteristic aromas of some functional groups to exploit the sense of smell as a discriminating tool in an organic qualitative analysis scheme. Students differentiate a variety of compounds by their aromas and based on their olfactory classification identify an unknown functional group. Students then…

  2. Guest Editorial: The Exploitation of the Black Athlete: Some Alternative Solutions.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sailes, Gary A.

    1986-01-01

    At the cost of losing the chance to develop nonathletic marketable skills, Black athletes allow themselves to be exploited in the hopes of gaining stardom and wealth. Mass media, sports heroes, and peer pressure can help athletes channel their field talent into the classroom. Some successful high school programs are described. (PS)

  3. Grooming Cybervictims: The Psychosocial Effects of Online Exploitation for Youth.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berson, Ilene R.

    2003-01-01

    Presents an overview of the benefits and risks of Web-based interactions for youth. Discusses, as an illustrative example, the psychosocial effects of online "grooming" practices that are designed to lure and exploit children by enticing them, typically in a nonsexual way, toward a sexual encounter. Suggests constructive solutions and a…

  4. MATHEMATICS OF SENSING, EXPLOITATION, AND EXECUTION (MSEE) Sensing, Exploitation, and Execution (SEE) on a Foundation for Representation, Inference, and Learning

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-07-01

    reconstruction, video synchronization, multi - view tracking, action recognition, reasoning with uncertainty 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17...3.4.2. Human action recognition across multi - views ......................................................................................... 44 3.4.3...68 4.2.1. Multi - view Multi -object Tracking with 3D cues

  5. The Value of Childcare: Class, Gender and Caring Labour

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Andrew, Yarrow; Newman, Brian

    2012-01-01

    Despite increasing attention being paid to early childhood services as the foundation for lifelong learning, one issue seems to be consistently ignored--staff wages. The authors argue that this constitutes ongoing exploitation of childcare staff, and that this exploitation is a result of gendered and classed discourses around caring labour. As…

  6. Class, Ethnicity and Gender in Maxine Hong Kingston's "China Men."

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lisella, Julia

    1997-01-01

    To look at Maxine Hong Kingston's novel "China Men" for its mythic aspects is to overlook the fact that it is a novel about work and class. It condemns a patriarchal capitalist world that exploits both male and female workers and dissects the gender and race issues uncovered by such exploitation. (SLD)

  7. Countermeasure Study on Deep-sea Oil Exploitation in the South China Sea——A Comparison between Deep-sea Oil Exploitation in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Mexico

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Hui; Qiu, Weiting; Qu, Weilu

    2018-02-01

    The unpromising situation of terrestrial oil resources makes the deep-sea oil industry become an important development strategy. The South China Sea has a vast sea area with a wide distribution of oil and gas resources, but there is a phenomenon that exploration and census rates and oil exploitation are low. In order to solve the above problems, this article analyzes the geology, oil and gas exploration and exploration equipment in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Comparing the political environment of China and the United States energy industry and the economic environment of oil companies, this article points out China’s deep-sea oil exploration and mining problems that may exist. Finally, the feasibility of oil exploration and exploitation in the South China Sea is put forward, which will provide reference to improve the conditions of oil exploration in the South China Sea and promoting the stable development of China’s oil industry.

  8. Flavins contained in yeast extract are exploited for anodic electron transfer by Lactococcus lactis.

    PubMed

    Masuda, Masaki; Freguia, Stefano; Wang, Yung-Fu; Tsujimura, Seiya; Kano, Kenji

    2010-06-01

    Cyclic voltammograms of yeast extract-containing medium exhibit a clear redox peak around -0.4V vs. Ag|AgCl. Fermentative bacterium Lactococcus lactis was hereby shown to exploit this redox compound for extracellular electron transfer towards a graphite anode using glucose as an electron donor. High performance liquid chromatography revealed that this may be a flavin-type compound. The ability of L. lactis to exploit exogenous flavins for anodic glucose oxidation was confirmed by tests where flavin-type compounds were supplied to the bacterium in well defined media. Based on its mid-point potential, riboflavin can be regarded as a near-optimal mediator for microbially catalyzed anodic electron transfer. Riboflavin derivative flavin mononucleotide (FMN) was also exploited by L. lactis as a redox shuttle, unlike flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), possibly due to the absence of a specific transporter for the latter. The use of yeast extract in microbial fuel cell media is herein discouraged based on the related unwanted artificial addition of redox mediators which may distort experimental results. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Childhood Maltreatment and Child Protective Services Involvement Among the Commercially Sexually Exploited: A Comparison of Women Who Enter as Juveniles or as Adults.

    PubMed

    Cimino, Andrea N; Madden, Elissa E; Hohn, Kris; Cronley, Courtney M; Davis, Jaya B; Magruder, Karen; Kennedy, M Alexis

    2017-04-01

    A risk for commercial sexual exploitation is childhood maltreatment. It's unknown whether juveniles in commercial sexual exploitation experience more childhood maltreatment than adults or how involved child protective services is in investigating maltreatment, a focus of this study. Women (N = 96) who sold sex commercially completed a cross-sectional questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, t tests, chi-squares, and odds ratios were used to examine differences in background, childhood maltreatment, and child protective services involvement by juvenile or adult entry. Although 93% of participants experienced child maltreatment, juveniles had increased odds of parent/caregiver sexual abuse, being left alone, being kicked out, and running away from a parent/caregiver. There were no differences in cumulative childhood maltreatment resulting in an investigation or removal, indicating that juveniles not investigated or removed by child protective services had as much childhood maltreatment as juveniles who were investigated or removed by child protective services. Results highlight the need for child welfare staff to recognize childhood maltreatment as risks for commercial sexual exploitation.

  10. Labour exploitation and health: a case series of men and women seeking post-trafficking services.

    PubMed

    Turner-Moss, Eleanor; Zimmerman, Cathy; Howard, Louise M; Oram, Siân

    2014-06-01

    Research on the health of trafficked men and on the health problems associated with trafficking for labor exploitation are extremely limited. This study analysed data from a case series of anonymised case records of a consecutive sample of 35 men and women who had been trafficked for labor exploitation in the UK and who were receiving support from a non-governmental service between June 2009 and July 2010. Over three-quarters of our sample was male (77 %) and two-thirds aged between 18 and 35 years (mean 32.9 years, SD 10.2). Forty percent reported experiencing physical violence while they were trafficked. Eighty-one percent (25/31) reported one or more physical health symptoms. Fifty-seven percent (17/30) reported one or more post-traumatic stress symptoms. A substantial proportion of men and women who are trafficked for labor exploitation may experience violence and abuse, and have physical and mental health symptoms. People who have been trafficked for forced labor need access to medical assessment and treatment.

  11. Subjective evaluation of two stereoscopic imaging systems exploiting visual attention to improve 3D quality of experience

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hanhart, Philippe; Ebrahimi, Touradj

    2014-03-01

    Crosstalk and vergence-accommodation rivalry negatively impact the quality of experience (QoE) provided by stereoscopic displays. However, exploiting visual attention and adapting the 3D rendering process on the fly can reduce these drawbacks. In this paper, we propose and evaluate two different approaches that exploit visual attention to improve 3D QoE on stereoscopic displays: an offline system, which uses a saliency map to predict gaze position, and an online system, which uses a remote eye tracking system to measure real time gaze positions. The gaze points were used in conjunction with the disparity map to extract the disparity of the object-of-interest. Horizontal image translation was performed to bring the fixated object on the screen plane. The user preference between standard 3D mode and the two proposed systems was evaluated through a subjective evaluation. Results show that exploiting visual attention significantly improves image quality and visual comfort, with a slight advantage for real time gaze determination. Depth quality is also improved, but the difference is not significant.

  12. Vector quantization for efficient coding of upper subbands

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zeng, W. J.; Huang, Y. F.

    1994-01-01

    This paper examines the application of vector quantization (VQ) to exploit both intra-band and inter-band redundancy in subband coding. The focus here is on the exploitation of inter-band dependency. It is shown that VQ is particularly suitable and effective for coding the upper subbands. Three subband decomposition-based VQ coding schemes are proposed here to exploit the inter-band dependency by making full use of the extra flexibility of VQ approach over scalar quantization. A quadtree-based variable rate VQ (VRVQ) scheme which takes full advantage of the intra-band and inter-band redundancy is first proposed. Then, a more easily implementable alternative based on an efficient block-based edge estimation technique is employed to overcome the implementational barriers of the first scheme. Finally, a predictive VQ scheme formulated in the context of finite state VQ is proposed to further exploit the dependency among different subbands. A VRVQ scheme proposed elsewhere is extended to provide an efficient bit allocation procedure. Simulation results show that these three hybrid techniques have advantages, in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and complexity, over other existing subband-VQ approaches.

  13. Genetic evidence of local exploitation of Atlantic salmon in a coastal subsistence fishery in the Northwest Atlantic

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Bradbury, Ian R.; Hamilton, Lorraine C.; Rafferty, Sara; Meerburg, David; Poole, Rebecca; Dempson, J. Brian; Robertson, Martha J.; Reddin, David G.; Bourret, Vincent; Dionne, Mélanie; Chaput, Gerald J.; Sheehan, Timothy F.; King, Tim L.; Candy, John R.; Bernatchez, Louis

    2014-01-01

    Fisheries targeting mixtures of populations risk the over utilization of minor stock constituents unless harvests are monitored and managed. We evaluated stock composition and exploitation of Atlantic salmon in a subsistence fishery in coastal Labrador, Canada using genetic mixture analysis and individual assignment with a microsatellite baseline (15 loci, 11 829 individuals, 12 regional groups) encompassing the species western Atlantic range. Bayesian and maximum likelihood mixture analyses of fishery samples over six years (2006-2011; 1 772 individuals) indicate contributions of adjacent stocks of 96-97%. Estimates of fishery associated exploitation were highest for Labrador salmon (4.2-10.6% per year) and generally < 1% for other regions. Individual assignment of fishery samples indicated non-local contributions to the fishery (e.g., Quebec, Newfoundland) were rare and primarily in southern Labrador, consistent with migration pathways utilizing the Strait of Belle Isle. This work illustrates how genetic analysis of mixed stock Atlantic salmon fisheries in the northwest Atlantic using this new baseline can disentangle exploitation and reveal complex migratory behaviours.

  14. USA-France: Confronting two perspectives on shale gas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gautier, C.; Fellous, J.

    2013-12-01

    Exploiting shale gas and oil can be seen from very different perspectives, whether you live in the US where it is a decade long reality shaping the country's energy landscape or in France, where it is banned by law since 2011. Beyond this situation, the overall legal framework that regulates (or not) environmental and water protection, the use of chemicals, land ownership and the exploitation of underground mineral resources, the attribution of licenses for exploration and exploitation, etc. in Europe (and particularly in France, the only European country with Bulgaria where hydraulic fracturation is strictly forbidden) and in the US is at complete variance. This presentation will discuss subsequent attitudes vis-à-vis exploration, exploitation, scientific research on shale gas and fracking, and public activism that has arisen as a result of environmental, socioeconomic and human concerns. It will compare and contrast the different views and look at lessons that can be learned from those differences. This work is building upon the experience of the authors who have studied the issues relating to energy, water, population and climate and their connections, as seen from both sides of the Atlantic.

  15. Exploitation of pocket gophers and their food caches by grizzly bears

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Mattson, D.J.

    2004-01-01

    I investigated the exploitation of pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides) by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the Yellowstone region of the United States with the use of data collected during a study of radiomarked bears in 1977-1992. My analysis focused on the importance of pocket gophers as a source of energy and nutrients, effects of weather and site features, and importance of pocket gophers to grizzly bears in the western contiguous United States prior to historical extirpations. Pocket gophers and their food caches were infrequent in grizzly bear feces, although foraging for pocket gophers accounted for about 20-25% of all grizzly bear feeding activity during April and May. Compared with roots individually excavated by bears, pocket gopher food caches were less digestible but more easily dug out. Exploitation of gopher food caches by grizzly bears was highly sensitive to site and weather conditions and peaked during and shortly after snowmelt. This peak coincided with maximum success by bears in finding pocket gopher food caches. Exploitation was most frequent and extensive on gently sloping nonforested sites with abundant spring beauty (Claytonia lanceolata) and yampah (Perdieridia gairdneri). Pocket gophers are rare in forests, and spring beauty and yampah roots are known to be important foods of both grizzly bears and burrowing rodents. Although grizzly bears commonly exploit pocket gophers only in the Yellowstone region, this behavior was probably widespread in mountainous areas of the western contiguous United States prior to extirpations of grizzly bears within the last 150 years.

  16. A profile of high school students in rural Canada who exchange sex for substances.

    PubMed

    Homma, Yuko; Nicholson, Dean; Saewyc, Elizabeth M

    2012-01-01

    The exchange of sexual activities for money, drugs, or other compensation is considered a form of sexual exploitation when it occurs among underage youth. Such practices have been associated with sexual behaviours that increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections. Much of the research on this issue has been conducted on homeless or street-involved youth while adolescents in regular schools have received less attention in this area. The present study examined the prevalence of and factors associated with the exchange of sex for drugs among substance-using students in rural western Canada. Our data source was the 2009 East Kootenay Adolescent Drug Use Survey, a census of students in grades 7-12, who had ever used alcohol, marijuana, or other illicit drugs. In the sample of 2,360 youth, 2% of boys and 3% of girls reported that they had ever exchanged sex for alcohol or drugs, i.e., "exploited" youth, the majority of whom (83% - 98%) were living with family members. The most frequent patterns of past-year substance use were "using alcohol only" for "non-exploited" youth, and using alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs for exploited youth. The exchange of sex was associated with the use of drugs other than alcohol in the past year and with a higher level of impulsivity. The odds of exchanging sex were lower among youth who reported positive family relationships. The findings suggest a need for in-school education about healthy relationships, sexual exploitation, substance use, and impulse control.

  17. Physical health symptoms reported by trafficked women receiving post-trafficking support in Moldova: prevalence, severity and associated factors

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Many trafficked people suffer high levels of physical, sexual and psychological abuse. Yet, there has been limited research on the physical health problems associated with human trafficking or how the health needs of women in post-trafficking support settings vary according to socio-demographic or trafficking characteristics. Methods We analysed the prevalence and severity of 15 health symptoms reported by 120 trafficked women who had returned to Moldova between December 2007 and December 2008 and were registered with the International Organisation for Migration Assistance and Protection Programme. Women had returned to Moldova an average of 5.9 months prior to interview (range 2-12 months). Results Headaches (61.7%), stomach pain (60.9%), memory problems (44.2%), back pain (42.5%), loss of appetite (35%), and tooth pain (35%) were amongst the most commonly reported symptoms amongst both women trafficked for sexual exploitation and women trafficked for labour exploitation. The prevalence of headache and memory problems was strongly associated with duration of exploitation. Conclusions Trafficked women who register for post-trafficking support services after returning to their country of origin are likely to have long-term physical and dental health needs and should be provided with access to comprehensive medical services. Health problems among women who register for post-trafficking support services after returning to their country of origin are not limited to women trafficked for sexual exploitation but are also experienced by victims of labour exploitation. PMID:22834807

  18. Children benefit from morphological relatedness when they learn to spell new words.

    PubMed

    Pacton, Sébastien; Foulin, Jean Noël; Casalis, Séverine; Treiman, Rebecca

    2013-01-01

    Use of morphologically related words often helps in selecting among spellings of sounds in French. For instance, final /wa/ may be spelled oi (e.g., envoi "sendoff"), oit (e.g., exploit "exploit"), ois (e.g., siamois, "siamese"), or oie (e.g., joie "joy"). The morphologically complex word exploiter "to exploit", with a pronounced t, can be used to indicate that the stem exploit is spelled with a silent t. We asked whether 8-year-old children benefited from such cues to learn new spellings. Children read silently stories which included two target nonwords, one presented in an opaque condition and the other in a morphological condition. In the opaque condition, the sentence provided semantic information (e.g., a vensois is a musical instrument) but no morphological information that could justify the spelling of the target word's final sound. Such justification was available in the morphological condition (e.g., the vensoisist plays the vensois instrument, which justifies that vensois includes a final silent s). 30 min after having read the stories, children's orthographic learning was assessed by asking them to choose the correct spelling of each nonword from among three phonologically plausible alternatives (e.g., vensois, vensoit, vensoie). Children chose correct spellings more often in the morphological condition than the opaque condition, even though the root (vensois) had been presented equally often in both conditions. That is, children benefited from information about the spelling of the morphologically complex word to learn the spelling of the stem.

  19. Hitch-hiking parasitic wasp learns to exploit butterfly antiaphrodisiac

    PubMed Central

    Huigens, Martinus E.; Pashalidou, Foteini G.; Qian, Ming-Hui; Bukovinszky, Tibor; Smid, Hans M.; van Loon, Joop J. A.; Dicke, Marcel; Fatouros, Nina E.

    2009-01-01

    Many insects possess a sexual communication system that is vulnerable to chemical espionage by parasitic wasps. We recently discovered that a hitch-hiking (H) egg parasitoid exploits the antiaphrodisiac pheromone benzyl cyanide (BC) of the Large Cabbage White butterfly Pieris brassicae. This pheromone is passed from male butterflies to females during mating to render them less attractive to conspecific males. When the tiny parasitic wasp Trichogramma brassicae detects the antiaphrodisiac, it rides on a mated female butterfly to a host plant and then parasitizes her freshly laid eggs. The present study demonstrates that a closely related generalist wasp, Trichogramma evanescens, exploits BC in a similar way, but only after learning. Interestingly, the wasp learns to associate an H response to the odors of a mated female P. brassicae butterfly with reinforcement by parasitizing freshly laid butterfly eggs. Behavioral assays, before which we specifically inhibited long-term memory (LTM) formation with a translation inhibitor, reveal that the wasp has formed protein synthesis-dependent LTM at 24 h after learning. To our knowledge, the combination of associatively learning to exploit the sexual communication system of a host and the formation of protein synthesis-dependent LTM after a single learning event has not been documented before. We expect it to be widespread in nature, because it is highly adaptive in many species of egg parasitoids. Our finding of the exploitation of an antiaphrodisiac by multiple species of parasitic wasps suggests its use by Pieris butterflies to be under strong selective pressure. PMID:19139416

  20. Hitch-hiking parasitic wasp learns to exploit butterfly antiaphrodisiac.

    PubMed

    Huigens, Martinus E; Pashalidou, Foteini G; Qian, Ming-Hui; Bukovinszky, Tibor; Smid, Hans M; van Loon, Joop J A; Dicke, Marcel; Fatouros, Nina E

    2009-01-20

    Many insects possess a sexual communication system that is vulnerable to chemical espionage by parasitic wasps. We recently discovered that a hitch-hiking (H) egg parasitoid exploits the antiaphrodisiac pheromone benzyl cyanide (BC) of the Large Cabbage White butterfly Pieris brassicae. This pheromone is passed from male butterflies to females during mating to render them less attractive to conspecific males. When the tiny parasitic wasp Trichogramma brassicae detects the antiaphrodisiac, it rides on a mated female butterfly to a host plant and then parasitizes her freshly laid eggs. The present study demonstrates that a closely related generalist wasp, Trichogramma evanescens, exploits BC in a similar way, but only after learning. Interestingly, the wasp learns to associate an H response to the odors of a mated female P. brassicae butterfly with reinforcement by parasitizing freshly laid butterfly eggs. Behavioral assays, before which we specifically inhibited long-term memory (LTM) formation with a translation inhibitor, reveal that the wasp has formed protein synthesis-dependent LTM at 24 h after learning. To our knowledge, the combination of associatively learning to exploit the sexual communication system of a host and the formation of protein synthesis-dependent LTM after a single learning event has not been documented before. We expect it to be widespread in nature, because it is highly adaptive in many species of egg parasitoids. Our finding of the exploitation of an antiaphrodisiac by multiple species of parasitic wasps suggests its use by Pieris butterflies to be under strong selective pressure.

  1. Physical health symptoms reported by trafficked women receiving post-trafficking support in Moldova: prevalence, severity and associated factors.

    PubMed

    Oram, Siân; Ostrovschi, Nicolae V; Gorceag, Viorel I; Hotineanu, Mihai A; Gorceag, Lilia; Trigub, Carolina; Abas, Melanie

    2012-07-26

    Many trafficked people suffer high levels of physical, sexual and psychological abuse. Yet, there has been limited research on the physical health problems associated with human trafficking or how the health needs of women in post-trafficking support settings vary according to socio-demographic or trafficking characteristics. We analysed the prevalence and severity of 15 health symptoms reported by 120 trafficked women who had returned to Moldova between December 2007 and December 2008 and were registered with the International Organisation for Migration Assistance and Protection Programme. Women had returned to Moldova an average of 5.9 months prior to interview (range 2-12 months). Headaches (61.7%), stomach pain (60.9%), memory problems (44.2%), back pain (42.5%), loss of appetite (35%), and tooth pain (35%) were amongst the most commonly reported symptoms amongst both women trafficked for sexual exploitation and women trafficked for labour exploitation. The prevalence of headache and memory problems was strongly associated with duration of exploitation. Trafficked women who register for post-trafficking support services after returning to their country of origin are likely to have long-term physical and dental health needs and should be provided with access to comprehensive medical services. Health problems among women who register for post-trafficking support services after returning to their country of origin are not limited to women trafficked for sexual exploitation but are also experienced by victims of labour exploitation.

  2. Population characteristics and assessment of overfishing for an exploited paddlefish population in the lower Tennessee River

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Scholten, G.D.; Bettoli, P.W.

    2005-01-01

    Paddlefish Polyodon spathula (n = 576) were collected from Kentucky Lake, Kentucky-Tennessee, with experimental gill nets in 2003-2004 to assess population characteristics and the potential for commercial overfishing. Additional data were collected from 1,039 paddlefish caught by commercial gillnetters in this impoundment. Since the most recent study in 1991, size and age structure have been reduced and annual mortality has tripled. In the 1991 study, 37% of the fish collected were older than the maximum age we observed (age 11), and in 2003 annual mortality for paddlefish age 7 and older was high (A = 68%). Natural mortality is presumably low (<10%) for paddlefish; therefore, exploitation in recent years is high. Estimates of total annual mortality were negatively related to river discharge in the years preceding each estimate. The number of paddlefish harvested since 1999 was also negatively related to river discharge because gill nets cannot be easily deployed when discharge exceeds approximately 850 m3/s. Large females spawn annually because all females longer than 1,034 mm eye-fork length (EFL) were gravid. No mature females were protected by the current 864-mm minimum EFL limit. At a low natural mortality rate, higher size limits when exploitation was high (40-70%) increased simulated flesh yields by 10-20%. Even at low levels of exploitation (21%), spawning potential ratios (SPRs) under the current 864-mm minimum EFL size limit fell below 20%. If the size limit was raised to 1,016 mm EFL, the population could withstand up to 62% exploitation before the SPR falls below 20%. An analysis of annual mortality caps indicated that the best way to increase the average size of harvested fish is to increase the minimum size limit. Recruitment overfishing probably occurs during drought years; however, variation in river discharge has prevented the population from being exploited at unsustainable rates in the past. ?? Copyright by the American Fisheries Society 2005.

  3. Trolling may intensify exploitation in crappie fisheries

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Meals, K. O.; Dunn, A. W.; Miranda, Leandro E.

    2012-01-01

    In some parts of the USA, anglers targeting crappies Pomoxis spp. are transitioning from mostly stationary angling with a single pole around submerged structures to using multiple poles while drifting with the wind or under power. This shift in fishing methods could result in a change in catch efficiency, possibly increasing exploitation rates to levels that would be of concern to managers. We studied the catch statistics of anglers fishing while trolling with multiple poles (trollers) and those fishing with single poles (polers) in Mississippi reservoirs. Specifically, we tested whether (1) various catch statistics differed between trollers and polers, (2) catch rates of trollers were related to the number of poles fished, and (3) trollers could raise exploitation rates to potentially unsustainable levels. Results showed that participation in the crappie fisheries was about equally split between polers and trollers. In spring, 90% of crappie anglers were polers; in summer, 85% of crappie anglers were trollers. The size of harvested crappies was similar for the two angler groups, but the catch per hour was almost three times higher for trollers than for polers. Catch rates by trollers were directly correlated to the number of poles fished, although the relationship flattened as the number of poles increased. The average harvest rate for one troller fishing with three poles was similar to the harvest rate obtained by one poler. Simulations predicted that at the existing mix of about 50% polers and 50% trollers and with no restrictions on the number of poles used by trollers, exploitation of crappies is about 1.3 times higher than that in a polers-only fishery; under a scenario in which 100% of crappie anglers were trollers, exploitation was forecasted to increase to about 1.7 times the polers-only rate. The efficiency of trolling for crappies should be of concern to fishery managers because crappie fisheries are mostly consumptive and may increase exploitation rates to unsustainable levels.

  4. Water Resource Monitoring Based n EO Data: Gained Experience After 10 Years of Dragon Programme over the Yangtze River Reaches: From ERS 1 to Sentinel 1 and from MERIS to HJ1 and Pleiades

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yesou, Herve; Huber, Claire; Huang, Shifeng; Studer, Mathias; Lai, Xijun; Chen, Xiaoling; Daillet, Sylviane

    2014-11-01

    Water resources monitoring from space is an application of remote sensing under full development, with arriving satellite such as the Sentinels, and of course the development of inland applications of altimetry and the future mission as SWOT. Since 10 years within the framework of the DRAGON ESA MOST programme, a monitoring of Chines major fresh water lakes, Poyang and Dongting lakes on Yangtze reaches, is realized exploiting large source of EO data. Thanks to EO data archive exploitation, the covered period starts in 2000 up to 2014, over these two core lakes, whereas, since a 2012, a similar approach is carried over the small lakes of Anhui Province. A key question is how to access to convenient satellite data with sufficient resource to insure a high temporal frequency, ie ideally with about 10 days of revisit. An opportunistic approach was followed in order to insure this data access thanks to a large ESA support, accessing Envisat and ESA TPM, as well Chinese data. From 2004 to April 2012, ENVISAT Medium resolution products, MERIS and ASAR WSM data, were the core of the monitoring system. Since the lost of Envisat, the data exploited moved from MR to HR (20-30 m), thanks to the access to large volume of HJ1 images in 2012 and 2014, as well as coverage CSK data (30m) thanks agreement with ASI. The assimilation of these data is a fine preparation for the future exploitation of Sentinel1 and 2 dataset. Furthermore a first Sentinel data have been exploited, less than 45 after satellite launch. In addition on most sensitive areas, such as the Poyang Lake natural Reserve (Jiangxi Pr) and Shenjing Lake (Anhui Prov.) a unique set of VHR data, Pleiades, Kompsat, have been exploited. The expect strategy for the coming months and years will be in a first period, the jointly exploitation of Sentinel 1 data if the Chinese areas are rapidly integrated within the Sentinel 1 acquisition scheme, jointly with the Chinese HJ1AB data. In a second time HJ1AB data would be substituted by the higher resolved and rich in term of radiometry Sentinel2.

  5. Water Resource Monitoring Based on EO Data: Gained Experience After 10 Years of Dragon Programme over the Yangtze Middle Reaches: From ERS 1 to Sentinel 1 and from MERIS to HJ1 and Pleiades

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yesou, Herve; Huber, Claire; Huang, Shifeng; Studer, Mathais; Lai, Xijun; Chen, Xiaoling; Daillet, Sylviane

    2014-11-01

    Water resources monitoring from space is an application of remote sensing under full development, with arriving satellite such as the Sentinels, and of course the development of inland applications of altimetry and the future mission as SWOT. Since 10 years within the framework of the DRAGON ESA MOST programme, a monitoring of Chines major fresh water lakes, Poyang and Dongting lakes on Yangtze reaches, is realized exploiting large source of EO data. Thanks to EO data archive exploitation, the covered period starts in 2000 up to 2014, over these two core lakes, whereas, since a 2012, a similar approach is carried over the small lakes of Anhui Province. A key question is how to access to convenient satellite data with sufficient resource to insure a high temporal frequency, ie ideally with about 10 days of revisit. An opportunistic approach was followed in order to insure this data access thanks to a large ESA support, accessing Envisat and ESA TPM, as well Chinese data. From 2004 to April 2012, ENVISAT Medium resolution products, MERIS and ASAR WSM data, were the core of the monitoring system. Since the lost of Envisat, the data exploited moved from MR to HR (20-30 m), thanks to the access to large volume of HJ1 images in 2012 and 2014, as well as coverage CSK data (30m) thanks agreement with ASI. The assimilation of these data is a fine preparation for the future exploitation of Sentinel1 and 2 dataset. Furthermore a first Sentinel data have been exploited, less than 45 after satellite launch. In addition on most sensitive areas, such as the Poyang Lake natural Reserve (Jiangxi Pr) and Shenjing Lake (Anhui Prov.) a unique set of VHR data, Pleiades, Kompsat, have been exploited. The expect strategy for the coming months and years will be in a first period, the jointly exploitation of Sentinel 1 data if the Chinese areas are rapidly integrated within the Sentinel 1 acquisition scheme, jointly with the Chinese HJ1AB data. In a second time HJ1AB data would be substituted by the higher resolved and rich in term of radiometry Sentinel2.

  6. Hierarchical Recurrent Neural Hashing for Image Retrieval With Hierarchical Convolutional Features.

    PubMed

    Lu, Xiaoqiang; Chen, Yaxiong; Li, Xuelong

    Hashing has been an important and effective technology in image retrieval due to its computational efficiency and fast search speed. The traditional hashing methods usually learn hash functions to obtain binary codes by exploiting hand-crafted features, which cannot optimally represent the information of the sample. Recently, deep learning methods can achieve better performance, since deep learning architectures can learn more effective image representation features. However, these methods only use semantic features to generate hash codes by shallow projection but ignore texture details. In this paper, we proposed a novel hashing method, namely hierarchical recurrent neural hashing (HRNH), to exploit hierarchical recurrent neural network to generate effective hash codes. There are three contributions of this paper. First, a deep hashing method is proposed to extensively exploit both spatial details and semantic information, in which, we leverage hierarchical convolutional features to construct image pyramid representation. Second, our proposed deep network can exploit directly convolutional feature maps as input to preserve the spatial structure of convolutional feature maps. Finally, we propose a new loss function that considers the quantization error of binarizing the continuous embeddings into the discrete binary codes, and simultaneously maintains the semantic similarity and balanceable property of hash codes. Experimental results on four widely used data sets demonstrate that the proposed HRNH can achieve superior performance over other state-of-the-art hashing methods.Hashing has been an important and effective technology in image retrieval due to its computational efficiency and fast search speed. The traditional hashing methods usually learn hash functions to obtain binary codes by exploiting hand-crafted features, which cannot optimally represent the information of the sample. Recently, deep learning methods can achieve better performance, since deep learning architectures can learn more effective image representation features. However, these methods only use semantic features to generate hash codes by shallow projection but ignore texture details. In this paper, we proposed a novel hashing method, namely hierarchical recurrent neural hashing (HRNH), to exploit hierarchical recurrent neural network to generate effective hash codes. There are three contributions of this paper. First, a deep hashing method is proposed to extensively exploit both spatial details and semantic information, in which, we leverage hierarchical convolutional features to construct image pyramid representation. Second, our proposed deep network can exploit directly convolutional feature maps as input to preserve the spatial structure of convolutional feature maps. Finally, we propose a new loss function that considers the quantization error of binarizing the continuous embeddings into the discrete binary codes, and simultaneously maintains the semantic similarity and balanceable property of hash codes. Experimental results on four widely used data sets demonstrate that the proposed HRNH can achieve superior performance over other state-of-the-art hashing methods.

  7. National Counterintelligence Strategy of the United States of America 2016

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-01-01

    including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson...while protecting sensitive information and assets from FIE theft , manipulation, or exploitation;  Identify vulnerabilities and threats to...process into supply chain operations to secure the supply chain from exploitation and reduce its vulnerability to disruption;  Expand partnerships

  8. Putting the Common European Framework of Reference to Good Use

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    North, Brian

    2014-01-01

    This paper recapitulates the aims of the CEFR and highlights three aspects of good practice in exploiting it: firstly, taking as a starting point the real-world language ability that is the aim of all modern language learners; secondly, the exploitation of good descriptors as transparent learning objectives in order to involve and empower the…

  9. On the status, reproductive biology and management of fruit bats of Yap, Micronesia

    Treesearch

    Marjorie V. C. Falanruw

    1988-01-01

    Traditional exploitation of fruit bats of Yap is limited, however commercial exploitation greatly reduced populations until they were protected indefinitely. There will be continued need to manage this resource. This paper is based on field work conducted while Yap's bats were intensively hunted. Data from field work is augmented with information from...

  10. Class Size Effects on Student Achievement: Heterogeneity across Abilities and Fields

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    De Paola, Maria; Ponzo, Michela; Scoppa, Vincenzo

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, we analyze class size effects on college students exploiting data from a project offering special remedial courses in mathematics and language skills to freshmen enrolled at an Italian medium-sized public university. To estimate the effects of class size, we exploit the fact that students and teachers are virtually randomly assigned…

  11. Teaching Students about Biodiversity by Studying the Correlation between Plants & Arthropods

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Richardson, Matthew L.; Hari, Janice

    2008-01-01

    On Earth there is a huge diversity of arthropods, many of which are highly adaptive and able to exploit virtually every terrestrial habitat. Because of their prevalence even in urban environments, they make an excellent model system for any life science class. Since plants also exploit virtually every terrestrial habitat, studying the relationship…

  12. Resource Exploitation and Consumption in the Frame of Education for Sustainable Development in German Geography Textbooks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kowasch, Matthias

    2017-01-01

    This paper discusses the representation of resource exploitation and consumption in German geography textbooks. The aim of the paper is to contribute to a critical and reflective understanding of the representation of resource-related issues in textbooks by analyzing two scientific debates (resource curse and actor analysis). The paper shows that…

  13. Adaptive Red Teaming on Developmental Technologies

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-09-01

    between participating technologies. Power sources such as generators, wind turbines , and solar panels are examples of technology that have high...Day Camera xiv RASE Reconnaissance Advanced Sensor and Exploitation RF radio frequency RFI request for information RGPs rocket...used in night vision equipment, or a more complex electronic attack exploiting a weakness in a wireless network. Technological limitations can be

  14. Two Distinct Exploratory Behaviors in Decisions from Experience: Comment on Gonzalez and Dutt (2011)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hills, Thomas T.; Hertwig, Ralph

    2012-01-01

    Gonzalez and Dutt (2011) recently reported that trends during sampling, prior to a consequential risky decision, reveal a gradual movement from exploration to exploitation. That is, even when search imposes no immediate costs, people adopt the same pattern manifest in costly search: early exploration followed by later exploitation. From this…

  15. An Educational Program to Assist Clinicians in Identifying Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mills, Whitney L.; Roush, Robert E.; Moye, Jennifer; Kunik, Mark E.; Wilson, Nancy L.; Taffet, George E.; Naik, Aanand D.

    2012-01-01

    Due to age-related factors and illnesses, older adults may become vulnerable to elder investment fraud and financial exploitation (EIFFE). The authors describe the development and preliminary evaluation of an educational program to raise awareness and assist clinicians in identifying older adults at risk. Participants (n = 127) gave high ratings…

  16. Development of a redox-free Mitsunobu reaction exploiting phosphine oxides as precursors to dioxyphosphoranes.

    PubMed

    Tang, Xiaoping; Chapman, Charlotte; Whiting, Matthew; Denton, Ross

    2014-07-14

    The development of the first redox-free protocol for the Mitsunobu reaction is described. This has been achieved by exploiting triphenylphosphine oxide--the unwanted by-product in the conventional Mitsunobu reaction--as the precursor to the active P(V) coupling reagent. Multinuclear NMR studies are consistent with hydroxyl activation via an alkoxyphosphonium salt.

  17. The Exploitative Nature of Work-Based Studies: A Sketch of an Idea

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gibbs, Paul

    2004-01-01

    This article argues that, if education is considered as a means of increasing human capital, then the potential exists for exploitation of the learners through the inequitable distribution of the value accruing from their research activities. To illustrate the argument, I discuss these issues through the lens of a work-based professional doctorate…

  18. Linking Exploration and Exploitation: How a Think Tank Triggers a Managerial Innovation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frost, Jetta; Vogel, Rick

    2008-01-01

    In this article, we focus on think tanks as intermediaries between exploration and exploitation. To underpin our theoretical arguments on their linking function between both domains, we conducted a case study. The object of investigation is a think tank which has played a decisive role in the modernisation of the German public sector. The…

  19. Seasonal changes in english walnut (Juglans regia L.) (Juglandaceae), fruit properties and host use patterns by Rhagoletis zoqui (Diptera: Tephritidae)

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Rhagoletis zoqui Bush is a Neosubtropical, univoltine, frugivorous tephritid fly that exploits both native Juglans spp. and the introduced, Palearctic English walnut, Juglans regia. The seasonal development of commercial J. regia fruit and the pattern of host exploitation by R. zoqui were tracked ov...

  20. Learning Compositional Simulation Models

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-01-01

    techniques developed by social scientists, economists, and medical researchers over the past four decades. Quasi-experimental designs (QEDs) are...statistical techniques from the social sciences known as quasi- experimental design (QED). QEDs allow a researcher to exploit unique characteristics...can be grouped under the rubric “quasi-experimental design ” (QED), and they attempt to exploit inherent characteristics of observational data sets

  1. A Randomized Controlled Trial of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Sexually Exploited, War-Affected Congolese Girls

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Callaghan, Paul; McMullen, John; Shannon, Ciaran; Rafferty, Harry; Black, Alastair

    2013-01-01

    Objective: To assess the efficacy of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) delivered by nonclinical facilitators in reducing posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety and conduct problems and increasing prosocial behavior in a group of war-affected, sexually exploited girls in a single-blind, parallel-design, randomized,…

  2. Exploiting HPC Platforms for Metagenomics: Challenges and Opportunities (MICW - Metagenomics Informatics Challenges Workshop: 10K Genomes at a Time)

    ScienceCinema

    Canon, Shane

    2018-01-24

    DOE JGI's Zhong Wang, chair of the High-performance Computing session, gives a brief introduction before Berkeley Lab's Shane Canon talks about "Exploiting HPC Platforms for Metagenomics: Challenges and Opportunities" at the Metagenomics Informatics Challenges Workshop held at the DOE JGI on October 12-13, 2011.

  3. Laser vibrometry exploitation for vehicle identification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nolan, Adam; Lingg, Andrew; Goley, Steve; Sigmund, Kevin; Kangas, Scott

    2014-06-01

    Vibration signatures sensed from distant vehicles using laser vibrometry systems provide valuable information that may be used to help identify key vehicle features such as engine type, engine speed, and number of cylinders. Through the use of physics models of the vibration phenomenology, features are chosen to support classification algorithms. Various individual exploitation algorithms were developed using these models to classify vibration signatures into engine type (piston vs. turbine), engine configuration (Inline 4 vs. Inline 6 vs. V6 vs. V8 vs. V12) and vehicle type. The results of these algorithms will be presented for an 8 class problem. Finally, the benefits of using a factor graph representation to link these independent algorithms together will be presented which constructs a classification hierarchy for the vibration exploitation problem.

  4. Genetic algorithms as global random search methods

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Peck, Charles C.; Dhawan, Atam P.

    1995-01-01

    Genetic algorithm behavior is described in terms of the construction and evolution of the sampling distributions over the space of candidate solutions. This novel perspective is motivated by analysis indicating that the schema theory is inadequate for completely and properly explaining genetic algorithm behavior. Based on the proposed theory, it is argued that the similarities of candidate solutions should be exploited directly, rather than encoding candidate solutions and then exploiting their similarities. Proportional selection is characterized as a global search operator, and recombination is characterized as the search process that exploits similarities. Sequential algorithms and many deletion methods are also analyzed. It is shown that by properly constraining the search breadth of recombination operators, convergence of genetic algorithms to a global optimum can be ensured.

  5. Object classification and outliers analysis in the forthcoming Gaia mission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ordóñez-Blanco, D.; Arcay, B.; Dafonte, C.; Manteiga, M.; Ulla, A.

    2010-12-01

    Astrophysics is evolving towards the rational optimization of costly observational material by the intelligent exploitation of large astronomical databases from both terrestrial telescopes and spatial mission archives. However, there has been relatively little advance in the development of highly scalable data exploitation and analysis tools needed to generate the scientific returns from these large and expensively obtained datasets. Among the upcoming projects of astronomical instrumentation, Gaia is the next cornerstone ESA mission. The Gaia survey foresees the creation of a data archive and its future exploitation with automated or semi-automated analysis tools. This work reviews some of the work that is being developed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium for the object classification and analysis of outliers in the forthcoming mission.

  6. Sensory exploitation as an evolutionary origin to nuptial food gifts in insects.

    PubMed Central

    Sakaluk, S K

    2000-01-01

    Nuptial food gifts given by males to females at mating are widespread in insects, but their evolutionary origin remains obscure. Such gifts may arise as a form of sensory trap that exploits the normal gustatory responses of females, favouring the selective retention of sperm of gift-giving males. I tested this hypothesis by offering foreign food gifts, synthesized by males of one cricket species, to females of three non-gift-giving species. Females provisioned with novel food gifts were 'fooled' into accepting more sperm than they otherwise would in the absence of a gift. These results support the hypothesis that nuptial food gifts and post-copulatory female mating preferences coevolve through a unique form of sensory exploitation. PMID:10722214

  7. Use of communication technologies in document exchange for the management of construction projects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mesároš, Peter; Mandičák, Tomáš

    2016-06-01

    Information and communication technologies represent a set of people, processes, technical and software tools providing collection, transport, storage and processing of data for distribution and presentation of information. Particularly communication systems are the main tool for information exchange. Of the other part, these technologies have a broad focus and use. One of them is the exchange of documents in the management of construction projects. Paper discusses the issue of exploitation level of communication technologies in construction project management. The main objective of this paper is to analyze exploitation level of communication technologies. Another aim of the paper is to compare exploitation level or rate of document exchange by electronic communication devices and face-to-face communication.

  8. Exploiting Social Media Sensor Networks through Novel Data Fusion Techniques

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kouri, Tina

    Unprecedented amounts of data are continuously being generated by sensors (“hard” data) and by humans (“soft” data), and this data needs to be exploited to its full potential. The first step in exploiting this data is determine how the hard and soft data are related to each other. In this project we fuse hard and soft data, using the attributes of each (e.g., time and space), to gain more information about interesting events. Next, we attempt to use social networking textual data to predict the present (i.e., predict that an interesting event is occurring and details about the event) usingmore » data mining, machine learning, natural language processing, and text analysis techniques.« less

  9. Genetic algorithms as global random search methods

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Peck, Charles C.; Dhawan, Atam P.

    1995-01-01

    Genetic algorithm behavior is described in terms of the construction and evolution of the sampling distributions over the space of candidate solutions. This novel perspective is motivated by analysis indicating that that schema theory is inadequate for completely and properly explaining genetic algorithm behavior. Based on the proposed theory, it is argued that the similarities of candidate solutions should be exploited directly, rather than encoding candidate solution and then exploiting their similarities. Proportional selection is characterized as a global search operator, and recombination is characterized as the search process that exploits similarities. Sequential algorithms and many deletion methods are also analyzed. It is shown that by properly constraining the search breadth of recombination operators, convergence of genetic algorithms to a global optimum can be ensured.

  10. Exploiting short-term memory in soft body dynamics as a computational resource

    PubMed Central

    Nakajima, K.; Li, T.; Hauser, H.; Pfeifer, R.

    2014-01-01

    Soft materials are not only highly deformable, but they also possess rich and diverse body dynamics. Soft body dynamics exhibit a variety of properties, including nonlinearity, elasticity and potentially infinitely many degrees of freedom. Here, we demonstrate that such soft body dynamics can be employed to conduct certain types of computation. Using body dynamics generated from a soft silicone arm, we show that they can be exploited to emulate functions that require memory and to embed robust closed-loop control into the arm. Our results suggest that soft body dynamics have a short-term memory and can serve as a computational resource. This finding paves the way towards exploiting passive body dynamics for control of a large class of underactuated systems. PMID:25185579

  11. A causal role for right frontopolar cortex in directed, but not random, exploration

    PubMed Central

    Zajkowski, Wojciech K; Kossut, Malgorzata

    2017-01-01

    The explore-exploit dilemma occurs anytime we must choose between exploring unknown options for information and exploiting known resources for reward. Previous work suggests that people use two different strategies to solve the explore-exploit dilemma: directed exploration, driven by information seeking, and random exploration, driven by decision noise. Here, we show that these two strategies rely on different neural systems. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation to inhibit the right frontopolar cortex, we were able to selectively inhibit directed exploration while leaving random exploration intact. This suggests a causal role for right frontopolar cortex in directed, but not random, exploration and that directed and random exploration rely on (at least partially) dissociable neural systems. PMID:28914605

  12. The alarming decline of Mediterranean fish stocks.

    PubMed

    Vasilakopoulos, Paraskevas; Maravelias, Christos D; Tserpes, George

    2014-07-21

    In recent years, fisheries management has succeeded in stabilizing and even improving the state of many global fisheries resources [1-5]. This is particularly evident in areas where stocks are exploited in compliance with scientific advice and strong institutional structures are in place [1, 5]. In Europe, the well-managed northeast (NE) Atlantic fish stocks have been recovering in response to decreasing fishing pressure over the past decade [3-6], albeit with a long way to go for a universal stock rebuild [3, 7]. Meanwhile, little is known about the temporal development of the European Mediterranean stocks, whose management relies on input controls that are often poorly enforced. Here, we perform a meta-analysis of 42 European Mediterranean stocks of nine species in 1990-2010, showing that exploitation rate has been steadily increasing, selectivity (proportional exploitation of juveniles) has been deteriorating, and stocks have been shrinking. We implement species-specific simulation models to quantify changes in exploitation rate and selectivity that would maximize long-term yields and halt stock depletion. We show that stocks would be more resilient to fishing and produce higher long-term yields if harvested a few years after maturation because current selectivity is far from optimal, especially for demersal stocks. The European Common Fisheries Policy that has assisted in improving the state of NE Atlantic fish stocks in the past 10 years has failed to deliver similar results for Mediterranean stocks managed under the same policy. Limiting juvenile exploitation, advancing management plans, and strengthening compliance, control, and enforcement could promote fisheries sustainability in the Mediterranean. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Groundwater intensive exploitation and mining in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain: Hydrogeological, environmental, economic and social aspects.

    PubMed

    Custodio, Emilio; Cabrera, María Del Carmen; Poncela, Roberto; Puga, Luis-Olavo; Skupien, Elzbieta; Del Villar, Alberto

    2016-07-01

    Intensive exploitation and continuous consumption of groundwater reserves (groundwater mining) have been real facts for decades in arid and semiarid areas. A summary of experience in the hydrogeological, economic, social and ethical consequences of groundwater intensive and mining exploitation in Gran Canaria and Tenerife Islands, in the Canarian Archipelago, is presented. Groundwater abstraction is less than recharge, but a significant outflow of groundwater to the sea cannot be avoided, especially in Tenerife, due to its younger volcanic coastal formations. Consequently, the intensive aquifer groundwater development by means of wells and water galleries (tunnels) has produced a groundwater reserve depletion of about 2km(3). Should current groundwater abstraction cease, the recovery time to close-to-natural conditions is from decades to one century, except in the mid and high elevations of Tenerife, where this recovery is not possible as aquifer formations will remain permanently drained by the numerous long water galleries. The socio-economic circumstances are complex due to a long standing history of water resources exploitation, successive social changes on each island, and well-established groundwater water trading, with complex relationships that affect water governance and the resulting ethical concerns. Gran Canaria and Tenerife are in an advanced groundwater exploitation stage and have a large water demand. They are good examples that allow drawing guidelines to evaluate groundwater development on other small high islands. After presenting the hydrogeological background, the socio-economic results are discussed to derive general knowledge to guide on water governance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. From Desktop to Teraflop: Exploiting the U.S. Lead in High Performance Computing. NSF Blue Ribbon Panel on High Performance Computing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    National Science Foundation, Washington, DC.

    This report addresses an opportunity to accelerate progress in virtually every branch of science and engineering concurrently, while also boosting the American economy as business firms also learn to exploit these new capabilities. The successful rapid advancement in both science and technology creates its own challenges, four of which are…

  15. Electron-Nuclear Quantum Information Processing

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-11-13

    quantum information processing that exploits the anisotropic hyperfine coupling. This scheme enables universal control over a 1-electron, N-nuclear spin...exploits the anisotropic hyperfine coupling. This scheme enables universal control over a 1-electron, N-nuclear spin system, addressing only a...sample of irradiated malonic acid. (a) Papers published in peer-reviewed journals (N/A for none) Universal control of nuclear spins via anisotropic

  16. Hide and Seek: Exploiting and Hardening Leakage-Resilient Code Randomization

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-05-30

    Hide and Seek: Exploiting and Hardening Leakage -Resilient Code Randomization Robert Rudd MIT Lincoln Laboratory Thomas Hobson MIT Lincoln Laboratory...Irvine Ahmad-Reza Sadeghi TU Darmstadt Hamed Okhravi MIT Lincoln Laboratory Abstract Information leakage vulnerabilities can allow adversaries to...bypass mitigations based on code randomization. This discovery motivates numerous techniques that diminish direct and indirect information leakage : (i

  17. Hide and Seek: Exploiting and Hardening Leakage-Resilient Code Randomization

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-03-30

    Hide and Seek: Exploiting and Hardening Leakage -Resilient Code Randomization Robert Rudd MIT Lincoln Laboratory Thomas Hobson MIT Lincoln Laboratory...Irvine Ahmad-Reza Sadeghi TU Darmstadt Hamed Okhravi MIT Lincoln Laboratory Abstract Information leakage vulnerabilities can allow adversaries to...bypass mitigations based on code randomization. This discovery motivates numerous techniques that diminish direct and indirect information leakage : (i

  18. Deceptive Logistics at the Operational Level of War,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-05-04

    maintenance, transport , and other combat service support (CSS) activities with the distinct purpose of contributing to an operational headquarters’ overall...based on the exploitation of supply, maintenance, transport , and other combat service support (CSS) activities with the distinct purpose of contributing...exploitation of supply, maintenance, transport , and other CSS activities with the distinct purpose of contributing to an operational headquarters overall

  19. Reproductive characteristics of a coyote population before and during exploitation

    Treesearch

    John C. Kilgo; Christopher E. Shaw; Mark Vukovich; Michael J. Conroy; Charles Ruth

    2017-01-01

    The eastward expansion of coyotes (Canis latrans) has brought the species into ecosystems and landscapes different from those it historically occupied, yet little is known about the reproductive biology of coyotes in the southeastern United States or the effects of exploitation on reproduction in coyotes. Our objective was to quantify litter size,...

  20. Energy and remote sensing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Summers, R. A.; Smith, W. L.; Short, N. M.

    1977-01-01

    Effective implementation of the President's National Energy Plan and the Nuclear Power Policy Statement require application of the best remote sensing tools available. The potential contributions of remote sensing, particularly LANDSAT data, have yet to be clearly identified and exploited. These contributions investigated fall into the following categories: (1) exploration; (2) exploitation; (3) power plant siting; (4) environmental assessment and monitoring; and (5) transportation infrastructure.

  1. Total Synthesis of the Marine Phosphomacrolide, (-)-Enigmazole A, Exploiting Multicomponent Type I Anion Relay Chemistry (ARC) in Conjunction with a Late-Stage Petasis-Ferrier Union/Rearrangement.

    PubMed

    Ai, Yanran; Kozytska, Mariya V; Zou, Yike; Khartulyari, Anton S; Maio, William A; Smith, Amos B

    2018-06-01

    An effective late-stage large-fragment union/rearrangement exploiting the Petasis-Ferrier protocol, in conjunction with multicomponent Type I Anion Relay Chemistry (ARC) to access advanced intermediates, permits completion of a convergent, stereocontrolled total synthesis of the architecturally complex phosphomacrolide (-)-enigmazole A (1).

  2. History of Missouri Forests in the Era of Exploitation and Conservation

    Treesearch

    David Benac; Susan Flader

    2004-01-01

    The era of timber exploitation and early conservation in the Missouri Ozarks occurred roughly from 1880 to 1950, beginning when large timber companies moved into the region to harvest the pine and oak of the valleys and ridgelines. Pine was largely depleted by 1910, but oak harvest continued. Resident Ozarkers, who came largely from a tradition of subsistence hunting,...

  3. Genomic selection models double the accuracy of predicted breeding values for bacterial cold water disease resistance compared to a traditional pedigree-based model in rainbow trout aquaculture

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Previously we have shown that bacterial cold water disease (BCWD) resistance in rainbow trout can be improved using traditional family-based selection, but progress has been limited to exploiting only between-family genetic variation. Genomic selection (GS) is a new alternative enabling exploitation...

  4. Exceptional Information: Recognizing Threats and Exploiting Opportunities

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-06-09

    EXCEPTIONAL INFORMATION : RECOGNIZING THREATS AND EXPLOITING OPPORTUNITIES A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army...No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for... information . Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information , including suggestions for reducing this

  5. Effectively Responding to the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children: A Comprehensive Approach to Prevention, Protection, and Reintegration Services.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barnitz, Laura

    2001-01-01

    Discusses the international problem of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and efforts to stop the practice and assist the victims. Considers initiatives to formulate a worldwide policy against CSEC, and anti-CSEC efforts in the United States, including law enforcement and education, and advocacy efforts and services for youth.…

  6. Transactional Sex as a Form of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Rwanda: Implications for Child Security and Protection

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, Timothy P.; Binagwaho, Agnes; Betancourt, Theresa S.

    2012-01-01

    Objective: To illuminate the different manifestations of transactional sexual exploitation and abuse among Rwanda's children in order to inform effective responses by policies, programs, and communities. Method: Qualitative data was collected during April and May 2010. One-hundred and thirty-nine adults (56% female) and 52 children (60% female)…

  7. Clique Relaxations in Biological and Social Network Analysis Foundations and Algorithms

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-10-26

    study of clique relaxation models arising in biological and social networks. This project examines the elementary clique-defining properties... elementary clique-defining properties inherently exploited in the available clique relaxation models and pro- poses a taxonomic framework that not...analyzes the elementary clique-defining properties implicitly exploited in the available clique relaxation models and proposes a taxonomic framework that

  8. Genome-enabled selection doubles the accuracy of predicted breeding values for bacterial cold water disease resistance compared to traditional family-based selection in rainbow trout aquaculture

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    We have shown previously that bacterial cold water disease (BCWD) resistance in rainbow trout can be improved using traditional family-based selection, but progress has been limited to exploiting only between-family genetic variation. Genomic selection (GS) is a new alternative enabling exploitation...

  9. Commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of adolescents.

    PubMed

    Chung, Richard J; English, Abigail

    2015-08-01

    This review describes the current state of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of adolescents in the United States and globally, the legal and health implications of this severe form of abuse, and the roles that pediatric and adolescent healthcare providers can play in addressing this issue. Although this form of exploitation and abuse is shrouded in secrecy, pediatric and adolescent healthcare providers are well positioned to respond when it arises. However, awareness and understanding of the issue are generally lacking among healthcare professionals, currently limiting their effectiveness in combating this problem. Although the empirical evidence base available to guide clinical care of victims of trafficking remains limited given the secretive nature of the abuse, important contributions to the multidisciplinary literature on this issue have been made in recent years, including the Institute of Medicine's landmark report in the United States. Commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking of adolescents represent a human rights tragedy that remains inadequately addressed. As preeminent advocates for the health and well-being of adolescents, pediatric and adolescent healthcare providers can play a crucial role in advancing efforts not only to intervene but also to prevent further victimization of vulnerable youth.

  10. Frontopolar cortex and decision-making efficiency: comparing brain activity of experts with different professional background during an exploration-exploitation task.

    PubMed

    Laureiro-Martínez, Daniella; Canessa, Nicola; Brusoni, Stefano; Zollo, Maurizio; Hare, Todd; Alemanno, Federica; Cappa, Stefano F

    2013-01-01

    An optimal balance between efficient exploitation of available resources and creative exploration of alternatives is critical for adaptation and survival. Previous studies associated these behavioral drives with, respectively, the dopaminergic mesocorticolimbic system and frontopolar-intraparietal networks. We study the activation of these systems in two age and gender-matched groups of experienced decision-makers differing in prior professional background, with the aim to understand the neural bases of individual differences in decision-making efficiency (performance divided by response time). We compare brain activity of entrepreneurs (who currently manage the organization they founded based on their venture idea) and managers (who are constantly involved in making strategic decisions but have no venture experience) engaged in a gambling-task assessing exploitative vs. explorative decision-making. Compared with managers, entrepreneurs showed higher decision-making efficiency, and a stronger activation in regions of frontopolar cortex (FPC) previously associated with explorative choice. Moreover, activity across a network of regions previously linked to explore/exploit tradeoffs explained individual differences in choice efficiency. These results suggest new avenues for the study of individual differences in the neural antecedents of efficient decision-making.

  11. Biodiversity loss in seagrass meadows due to local invertebrate fisheries and harbour activities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nordlund, Lina Mtwana; Gullström, Martin

    2013-12-01

    Seagrass meadows provide a wide variety of ecosystem services, but their distribution and health are adversely affected by man. In the present study, we examined the influence of coastal exploitation in terms of invertebrate harvesting and harbour activity on invertebrate community composition in subtropical seagrass meadows at Inhaca Island, Mozambique, in the Western Indian Ocean. There was a fivefold higher invertebrate density and biomass, and clearly higher invertebrate species richness, in the protected (control) site compared to the two exploited sites. The causes for the clear differences between protected and exploited sites were probably a result of (1) the directional outtake of large edible or saleable invertebrates (mostly molluscs) and the absence of boat traffic in the harvested site, and (2) harbour activities. Invertebrate community composition in the two exploited sites also differed (although less clear), which was likely due to inherent distinction in type of disturbance. Our findings revealed that protection of seagrass habitat is necessary and that disturbances of different origin might require different forms of management and conservation. Designing protected areas is however a complex process due to competition for use and space with activities such as invertebrate harvesting and harbours.

  12. Intensively exploited Mediterranean aquifers: resilience to seawater intrusion and proximity to critical thresholds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mazi, K.; Koussis, A. D.; Destouni, G.

    2014-05-01

    We investigate seawater intrusion in three prominent Mediterranean aquifers that are subject to intensive exploitation and modified hydrologic regimes by human activities: the Nile Delta, Israel Coastal and Cyprus Akrotiri aquifers. Using a generalized analytical sharp interface model, we review the salinization history and current status of these aquifers, and quantify their resilience/vulnerability to current and future seawater intrusion forcings. We identify two different critical limits of seawater intrusion under groundwater exploitation and/or climatic stress: a limit of well intrusion, at which intruded seawater reaches key locations of groundwater pumping, and a tipping point of complete seawater intrusion up to the prevailing groundwater divide of a coastal aquifer. Either limit can be reached, and ultimately crossed, under intensive aquifer exploitation and/or climate-driven change. We show that seawater intrusion vulnerability for different aquifer cases can be directly compared in terms of normalized intrusion performance curves. The site-specific assessments show that (a) the intruding seawater currently seriously threatens the Nile Delta aquifer, (b) in the Israel Coastal aquifer the sharp interface toe approaches the well location and (c) the Cyprus Akrotiri aquifer is currently somewhat less threatened by increased seawater intrusion.

  13. Intensively exploited Mediterranean aquifers: resilience and proximity to critical points of seawater intrusion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mazi, K.; Koussis, A. D.; Destouni, G.

    2013-11-01

    We investigate here seawater intrusion in three prominent Mediterranean aquifers that are subject to intensive exploitation and modified hydrologic regimes by human activities: the Nile Delta Aquifer, the Israel Coastal Aquifer and the Cyprus Akrotiri Aquifer. Using a generalized analytical sharp-interface model, we review the salinization history and current status of these aquifers, and quantify their resilience/vulnerability to current and future sea intrusion forcings. We identify two different critical limits of sea intrusion under groundwater exploitation and/or climatic stress: a limit of well intrusion, at which intruded seawater reaches key locations of groundwater pumping, and a tipping point of complete sea intrusion upto the prevailing groundwater divide of a coastal aquifer. Either limit can be reached, and ultimately crossed, under intensive aquifer exploitation and/or climate-driven change. We show that sea intrusion vulnerability for different aquifer cases can be directly compared in terms of normalized intrusion performance curves. The site-specific assessments show that the advance of seawater currently seriously threatens the Nile Delta Aquifer and the Israel Coastal Aquifer. The Cyprus Akrotiri Aquifer is currently somewhat less threatened by increased seawater intrusion.

  14. Re-shifting the ecological baseline for the overexploited Mediterranean red coral

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Garrabou, J.; Sala, E.; Linares, C.; Ledoux, J. B.; Montero-Serra, I.; Dominici, J. M.; Kipson, S.; Teixidó, N.; Cebrian, E.; Kersting, D. K.; Harmelin, J. G.

    2017-02-01

    Overexploitation leads to the ecological extinction of many oceanic species. The depletion of historical abundances of large animals, such as whales and sea turtles, is well known. However, the magnitude of the historical overfishing of exploited invertebrates is unclear. The lack of rigorous baseline data limits the implementation of efficient management and conservation plans in the marine realm. The precious Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum has been intensively exploited since antiquity for its use in jewellery. It shows dramatic signs of overexploitation, with no untouched populations known in shallow waters. Here, we report the discovery of an exceptional red coral population from a previously unexplored shallow underwater cave in Corsica (France) harbouring the largest biomass (by more than 100-fold) reported to date in the Mediterranean. Our findings challenge current assumptions on the pristine state of this emblematic species. Our results suggest that, before intense exploitation, red coral lived in relatively high-density populations with a large proportion of centuries-old colonies, even at very shallow depths. We call for the re-evaluation of the baseline for red coral and question the sustainability of the exploitation of a species that is still common but ecologically (functionally) extinct and in a trajectory of further decline.

  15. Degree of adaptive response in urban tolerant birds shows influence of habitat-of-origin

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Urban exploiters and adapters are often coalesced under a term of convenience as ‘urban tolerant’. This useful but simplistic characterisation masks a more nuanced interplay between and within assemblages of birds that are more or less well adapted to a range of urban habitats. I test the hypotheses that objectively-defined urban exploiter and suburban adapter assemblages within the broad urban tolerant grouping in Melbourne vary in their responses within the larger group to predictor variables, and that the most explanatory predictor variables vary between the two assemblages. A paired, partitioned analysis of exploiter and adapter preferences for points along the urban–rural gradient was undertaken to decompose the overall trend into diagnosable parts for each assemblage. In a similar way to that in which time since establishment has been found to be related to high urban densities of some bird species and biogeographic origin predictive of urban adaptation extent, habitat origins of members of bird assemblages influence the degree to which they become urban tolerant. Bird species that objectively classify as urban tolerant will further classify as either exploiters or adapters according to the degree of openness of their habitats-of-origin. PMID:24688881

  16. Elder self-neglect and the justice system: an essay from an interdisciplinary perspective.

    PubMed

    Connolly, Marie-Therese

    2008-11-01

    Elder self-neglect is a complex issue for the legal system-one not always easily distinguished from other types of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The issue inherently implicates several disciplines, and although self-neglect is not prosecuted per se, prosecutions of other types of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation may affect self-neglect as well. In addition, other types of legal intervention, such as guardianship actions, may serve to protect vulnerable older people, but it is critical to ensure that such interventions do not inappropriately infringe on the older person's civil liberties or result in exploitation or worse. There are daunting challenges to doing work in this field-death; ageism; medical, legal, and ethical complexities; and a chronic paucity of funding. It is nevertheless imperative that researchers expand their efforts to elucidate the nature and scope of elder self-neglect; its interplay with other forms of abuse, neglect, and exploitation; and the most effective mechanisms for intervention and prevention. Such efforts, and in particular interdisciplinary approaches to these common problems, are critical to improving care for the nation's older people and assisting millions of families and practitioners.

  17. Near real-time, on-the-move software PED using VPEF

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Green, Kevin; Geyer, Chris; Burnette, Chris; Agarwal, Sanjeev; Swett, Bruce; Phan, Chung; Deterline, Diane

    2015-05-01

    The scope of the Micro-Cloud for Operational, Vehicle-Based EO-IR Reconnaissance System (MOVERS) development effort, managed by the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), is to develop, integrate, and demonstrate new sensor technologies and algorithms that improve improvised device/mine detection using efficient and effective exploitation and fusion of sensor data and target cues from existing and future Route Clearance Package (RCP) sensor systems. Unfortunately, the majority of forward looking Full Motion Video (FMV) and computer vision processing, exploitation, and dissemination (PED) algorithms are often developed using proprietary, incompatible software. This makes the insertion of new algorithms difficult due to the lack of standardized processing chains. In order to overcome these limitations, EOIR developed the Government off-the-shelf (GOTS) Video Processing and Exploitation Framework (VPEF) to be able to provide standardized interfaces (e.g., input/output video formats, sensor metadata, and detected objects) for exploitation software and to rapidly integrate and test computer vision algorithms. EOIR developed a vehicle-based computing framework within the MOVERS and integrated it with VPEF. VPEF was further enhanced for automated processing, detection, and publishing of detections in near real-time, thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness of RCP sensor systems.

  18. Fast and behavior-selective exploitation of a marine fish targeted by anglers

    PubMed Central

    Alós, Josep; Palmer, Miquel; Rosselló, Rosario; Arlinghaus, Robert

    2016-01-01

    Harvesting of wild-living animals is often intensive and may selectively target heritable behavioral traits. We studied the exploitation dynamics and the vulnerability consequences of individual heterogeneity in movement-related behaviors in free-ranging pearly razorfish (Xyrichthys novacula). Using underwater-video recording, we firstly document a fast and high exploitation rate of about 60% of the adult population removed in just few days after the opening of the season. Subsequently, we tagged a sample of individuals with acoustic transmitters and studied whether behavioral traits were significant predictors of the vulnerability to angling. Tagged individuals revealed repeatable behaviors in several home range-related traits, suggesting the presence of spatial behavioral types. The individuals surviving the experimental fishery showed only localized and low-intensity movement patterns. Our study provides new insights for understanding the harvesting pressures and selective properties acting on behavioral traits of recreational fishing. Many fish stocks around the globe are today predominantly exploited by recreational fisheries. The fisheries-induced change in fish behavior described here may be therefore widespread, and has the potential to alter food-webs, profitability of the fisheries and to affect stock assessment by eroding catchability in the long-term. PMID:27922022

  19. Numerical Modeling of Exploitation Relics and Faults Influence on Rock Mass Deformations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wesołowski, Marek

    2016-12-01

    This article presents numerical modeling results of fault planes and exploitation relics influenced by the size and distribution of rock mass and surface area deformations. Numerical calculations were performed using the finite difference program FLAC. To assess the changes taking place in a rock mass, an anisotropic elasto-plastic ubiquitous joint model was used, into which the Coulomb-Mohr strength (plasticity) condition was implemented. The article takes as an example the actual exploitation of the longwall 225 area in the seam 502wg of the "Pokój" coal mine. Computer simulations have shown that it is possible to determine the influence of fault planes and exploitation relics on the size and distribution of rock mass and its surface deformation. The main factor causing additional deformations of the area surface are the abandoned workings in the seam 502wd. These abandoned workings are the activation factor that caused additional subsidences and also, due to the significant dip, they are a layer on which the rock mass slides down in the direction of the extracted space. These factors are not taken into account by the geometrical and integral theories.

  20. Domestication and Breeding of Tomatoes: What have We Gained and What Can We Gain in the Future?

    PubMed Central

    Bai, Yuling; Lindhout, Pim

    2007-01-01

    Background It has been shown that a large variation is present and exploitable from wild Solanum species but most of it is still untapped. Considering the thousands of Solanum accessions in different gene banks and probably even more that are still untouched in the Andes, it is a challenge to exploit the diversity of tomato. What have we gained from tomato domestication and breeding and what can we gain in the future? Scope This review summarizes progress on tomato domestication and breeding and current efforts in tomato genome research. Also, it points out potential challenges in exploiting tomato biodiversity and depicts future perspectives in tomato breeding with the emerging knowledge from tomato-omics. Conclusions From first domestication to modern breeding, the tomato has been continually subjected to human selection for a wide array of applications in both science and commerce. Current efforts in tomato breeding are focused on discovering and exploiting genes for the most important traits in tomato germplasm. In the future, breeders will design cultivars by a process named ‘breeding by design’ based on the combination of science and technologies from the genomic era as well as their practical skills. PMID:17717024

  1. Child trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation: a review of promising prevention policies and programs.

    PubMed

    Rafferty, Yvonne

    2013-10-01

    Child trafficking, including commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), is one of the fastest growing and most lucrative criminal activities in the world. The global enslavement of children affects countless numbers of victims who are trafficked within their home countries or transported away from their homes and treated as commodities to be bought, sold, and resold for labor or sexual exploitation. All over the world, girls are particularly likely to be trafficked into the sex trade: Girls and women constitute 98% of those who are trafficked for CSE. Health and safety standards in exploitative settings are generally extremely low, and the degree of experienced violence has been linked with adverse physical, psychological, and social-emotional development. The human-rights-based approach to child trafficking provides a comprehensive conceptual framework whereby victim-focused and law enforcement responses can be developed, implemented, and evaluated. This article highlights promising policies and programs designed to prevent child trafficking and CSE by combating demand for sex with children, reducing supply, and strengthening communities. The literature reviewed includes academic publications as well as international and governmental and nongovernmental reports. Implications for social policy and future research are presented. © 2013 American Orthopsychiatric Association.

  2. Distinct Urban Mines: Exploiting secondary resources in unique anthropogenic spaces.

    PubMed

    Ongondo, F O; Williams, I D; Whitlock, G

    2015-11-01

    Fear of scarcity of resources highlight the need to exploit secondary materials from urban mines in the anthroposphere. Analogous to primary mines rich in one type of material (e.g. copper, gold, etc.), some urban mines are unique/distinct. We introduce, illustrate and discuss the concept of Distinct Urban Mines (DUM). Using the example of a university DUM in the UK, analogous to a primary mine, we illustrate potential product/material yields in respect of size, concentration and spatial location of the mine. Product ownership and replacement cycles for 17 high-value electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) among students showed that 20 tonnes of valuable e-waste were in stockpile in this DUM and a further 87 tonnes would 'soon' be available for exploitation. We address the opportunities and challenges of exploiting DUMs and conclude that they are readily available reservoirs for resource recovery. Two original contributions arise from this work: (i) a novel approach to urban mining with a potential for maximising resource recovery within the anthroposphere is conceptualised; and (ii) previously unavailable data for high-value products for a typical university DUM are presented and analysed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Evaluation of hydrochemical changes due to intensive aquifer exploitation: case studies from Mexico.

    PubMed

    Esteller, M V; Rodríguez, R; Cardona, A; Padilla-Sánchez, L

    2012-09-01

    The impact of intensive aquifer exploitation has been observed in numerous places around the world. Mexico is a representative example of this problem. In 2010, 101 out of the 653 aquifers recognized in the country, showed negative social, economic, and environmental effects related to intensive exploitation. The environmental effects include, among others, groundwater level decline, subsidence, attenuation, and drying up of springs, decreased river flow, and deterioration of water quality. This study aimed at determining the hydrochemical changes produced by intensive aquifer exploitation and highlighting water quality modifications, taking as example the Valle de Toluca, Salamanca, and San Luis Potosi aquifers in Mexico's highlands. There, elements such as fluoride, arsenic, iron, and manganese have been detected, resulting from the introduction of older groundwater with longer residence times and distinctive chemical composition (regional flows). High concentrations of other elements such as chloride, sulfate, nitrate, and vanadium, as well as pathogens, all related to anthropogenic pollution sources (wastewater infiltration, irrigation return flow, and atmospheric pollutants, among others) were also observed. Some of these elements (nitrate, fluoride, arsenic, iron, and manganese) have shown concentrations above Mexican and World Health Organization drinking water standards.

  4. Relativistic Quantum Metrology: Exploiting relativity to improve quantum measurement technologies

    PubMed Central

    Ahmadi, Mehdi; Bruschi, David Edward; Sabín, Carlos; Adesso, Gerardo; Fuentes, Ivette

    2014-01-01

    We present a framework for relativistic quantum metrology that is useful for both Earth-based and space-based technologies. Quantum metrology has been so far successfully applied to design precision instruments such as clocks and sensors which outperform classical devices by exploiting quantum properties. There are advanced plans to implement these and other quantum technologies in space, for instance Space-QUEST and Space Optical Clock projects intend to implement quantum communications and quantum clocks at regimes where relativity starts to kick in. However, typical setups do not take into account the effects of relativity on quantum properties. To include and exploit these effects, we introduce techniques for the application of metrology to quantum field theory. Quantum field theory properly incorporates quantum theory and relativity, in particular, at regimes where space-based experiments take place. This framework allows for high precision estimation of parameters that appear in quantum field theory including proper times and accelerations. Indeed, the techniques can be applied to develop a novel generation of relativistic quantum technologies for gravimeters, clocks and sensors. As an example, we present a high precision device which in principle improves the state-of-the-art in quantum accelerometers by exploiting relativistic effects. PMID:24851858

  5. Relativistic quantum metrology: exploiting relativity to improve quantum measurement technologies.

    PubMed

    Ahmadi, Mehdi; Bruschi, David Edward; Sabín, Carlos; Adesso, Gerardo; Fuentes, Ivette

    2014-05-22

    We present a framework for relativistic quantum metrology that is useful for both Earth-based and space-based technologies. Quantum metrology has been so far successfully applied to design precision instruments such as clocks and sensors which outperform classical devices by exploiting quantum properties. There are advanced plans to implement these and other quantum technologies in space, for instance Space-QUEST and Space Optical Clock projects intend to implement quantum communications and quantum clocks at regimes where relativity starts to kick in. However, typical setups do not take into account the effects of relativity on quantum properties. To include and exploit these effects, we introduce techniques for the application of metrology to quantum field theory. Quantum field theory properly incorporates quantum theory and relativity, in particular, at regimes where space-based experiments take place. This framework allows for high precision estimation of parameters that appear in quantum field theory including proper times and accelerations. Indeed, the techniques can be applied to develop a novel generation of relativistic quantum technologies for gravimeters, clocks and sensors. As an example, we present a high precision device which in principle improves the state-of-the-art in quantum accelerometers by exploiting relativistic effects.

  6. Key issues for determining the exploitable water resources in a Mediterranean river basin.

    PubMed

    Pedro-Monzonís, María; Ferrer, Javier; Solera, Abel; Estrela, Teodoro; Paredes-Arquiola, Javier

    2015-01-15

    One of the major difficulties in water planning is to determine the water availability in a water resource system in order to distribute water sustainably. In this paper, we analyze the key issues for determining the exploitable water resources as an indicator of water availability in a Mediterranean river basin. Historically, these territories are characterized by heavily regulated water resources and the extensive use of unconventional resources (desalination and wastewater reuse); hence, emulating the hydrological cycle is not enough. This analysis considers the Jucar River Basin as a case study. We have analyzed the different possible combinations between the streamflow time series, the length of the simulation period and the reliability criteria. As expected, the results show a wide dispersion, proving the great influence of the reliability criteria used for the quantification and localization of the exploitable water resources in the system. Therefore, it is considered risky to provide a single value to represent the water availability in the Jucar water resource system. In this sense, it is necessary that policymakers and stakeholders make a decision about the methodology used to determine the exploitable water resources in a river basin. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Frontopolar cortex and decision-making efficiency: comparing brain activity of experts with different professional background during an exploration-exploitation task

    PubMed Central

    Laureiro-Martínez, Daniella; Canessa, Nicola; Brusoni, Stefano; Zollo, Maurizio; Hare, Todd; Alemanno, Federica; Cappa, Stefano F.

    2014-01-01

    An optimal balance between efficient exploitation of available resources and creative exploration of alternatives is critical for adaptation and survival. Previous studies associated these behavioral drives with, respectively, the dopaminergic mesocorticolimbic system and frontopolar-intraparietal networks. We study the activation of these systems in two age and gender-matched groups of experienced decision-makers differing in prior professional background, with the aim to understand the neural bases of individual differences in decision-making efficiency (performance divided by response time). We compare brain activity of entrepreneurs (who currently manage the organization they founded based on their venture idea) and managers (who are constantly involved in making strategic decisions but have no venture experience) engaged in a gambling-task assessing exploitative vs. explorative decision-making. Compared with managers, entrepreneurs showed higher decision-making efficiency, and a stronger activation in regions of frontopolar cortex (FPC) previously associated with explorative choice. Moreover, activity across a network of regions previously linked to explore/exploit tradeoffs explained individual differences in choice efficiency. These results suggest new avenues for the study of individual differences in the neural antecedents of efficient decision-making. PMID:24478664

  8. Floral mimicry enhances pollen export: the evolution of pollination by sexual deceit outside of the orchidaceae.

    PubMed

    Ellis, Allan G; Johnson, Steven D

    2010-11-01

    Although the majority of flowering plants achieve pollination by exploiting the food‐seeking behavior of animals, some use alternative ploys that exploit their mate‐seeking behavior. Sexual deception is currently known only from the Orchidaceae and almost always involves pollination by male hymenoptera. An outstanding problem has been to identify the selective factors in plants that favor exploitation of mating versus feeding behaviors in pollinators. Here we show that the insectlike petal ornaments on inflorescences of the daisy Gorteria diffusa elicit copulation attempts from male bombyliid flies and that the intensity of the mating response varies across geographical floral morphotypes, suggesting a continuum in reliance on feeding through mating responses for pollination. Using pollen analogues applied to a morphotype with prominent insectlike petal ornaments, we demonstrate that mate‐seeking male flies are several‐fold more active and export significantly more pollen than females. These results suggest that selection for traits that exploit insect mating behavior can occur through the male component of plant fitness and conclusively demonstrates pollination by sexual deception in Gorteria, making this the first confirmed report of sexual deception outside of the Orchidaceae.

  9. Fast and behavior-selective exploitation of a marine fish targeted by anglers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alós, Josep; Palmer, Miquel; Rosselló, Rosario; Arlinghaus, Robert

    2016-12-01

    Harvesting of wild-living animals is often intensive and may selectively target heritable behavioral traits. We studied the exploitation dynamics and the vulnerability consequences of individual heterogeneity in movement-related behaviors in free-ranging pearly razorfish (Xyrichthys novacula). Using underwater-video recording, we firstly document a fast and high exploitation rate of about 60% of the adult population removed in just few days after the opening of the season. Subsequently, we tagged a sample of individuals with acoustic transmitters and studied whether behavioral traits were significant predictors of the vulnerability to angling. Tagged individuals revealed repeatable behaviors in several home range-related traits, suggesting the presence of spatial behavioral types. The individuals surviving the experimental fishery showed only localized and low-intensity movement patterns. Our study provides new insights for understanding the harvesting pressures and selective properties acting on behavioral traits of recreational fishing. Many fish stocks around the globe are today predominantly exploited by recreational fisheries. The fisheries-induced change in fish behavior described here may be therefore widespread, and has the potential to alter food-webs, profitability of the fisheries and to affect stock assessment by eroding catchability in the long-term.

  10. Social evolution in micro-organisms and a Trojan horse approach to medical intervention strategies.

    PubMed

    Brown, Sam P; West, Stuart A; Diggle, Stephen P; Griffin, Ashleigh S

    2009-11-12

    Medical science is typically pitted against the evolutionary forces acting upon infective populations of bacteria. As an alternative strategy, we could exploit our growing understanding of population dynamics of social traits in bacteria to help treat bacterial disease. In particular, population dynamics of social traits could be exploited to introduce less virulent strains of bacteria, or medically beneficial alleles into infective populations. We discuss how bacterial strains adopting different social strategies can invade a population of cooperative wild-type, considering public good cheats, cheats carrying medically beneficial alleles (Trojan horses) and cheats carrying allelopathic traits (anti-competitor chemical bacteriocins or temperate bacteriophage viruses). We suggest that exploitation of the ability of cheats to invade cooperative, wild-type populations is a potential new strategy for treating bacterial disease.

  11. Commercial sexual exploitation of children and the emergence of safe harbor legislation: implications for policy and practice.

    PubMed

    Shields, Ryan T; Letourneau, Elizabeth J

    2015-03-01

    Commercial sexual exploitation of children is an enduring social problem that has recently become the focus of numerous legislative initiatives. In particular, recent federal- and state-level legislation have sought to reclassify youth involved in commercial sexual exploitation as victims rather than as offenders. So-called Safe Harbor laws have been developed and centered on decriminalization of "juvenile prostitution." In addition to or instead of decriminalization, Safe Harbor policies also include diversion, law enforcement training, and increased penalties for adults seeking sexual contact with minors. The purpose of this paper is to review the underlying rationale of Safe Harbor laws, examine specific policy responses currently enacted by the states, and consider the effects of policy variations. Directions for future research and policy are addressed.

  12. Teotihuacan, tepeapulco, and obsidian exploitation.

    PubMed

    Charlton, T H

    1978-06-16

    Current cultural ecological models of the development of civilization in central Mexico emphasize the role of subsistence production techniques and organization. The recent use of established and productive archeological surface survey techniques along natural corridors of communication between favorable niches for cultural development within the Central Mexican symbiotic region resulted in the location of sites that indicate an early development of a decentralized resource exploitation, manufacturing, and exchange network. The association of the development of this system with Teotihuacán indicates the importance such nonsubsistence production and exchange had in the evolution of this first central Mexican civilization. The later expansion of Teotihuacán into more distant areas of Mesoamerica was based on this resource exploitation model. Later civilizations centered at Tula and Tenochtitlán also used such a model in their expansion.

  13. Are Parenting Practices Associated with the Development of Narcissism? Findings from a Longitudinal Study of Mexican-origin Youth

    PubMed Central

    Wetzel, Eunike; Robins, Richard W.

    2016-01-01

    Narcissism is an important and consequential aspect of personality, yet we know little about its developmental origins. Using data from a longitudinal study of 674 Mexican-origin families, we examined cross-lagged relations between parenting behaviors (warmth, hostility, monitoring) and narcissism (superiority, exploitativeness). Parental hostility at age 12 was associated with higher levels of exploitativeness at age 14, whereas parental monitoring at age 12 was associated with lower levels of exploitativeness at age 14. These effects replicated across three different parenting measures: child reports, spouse reports, and behavioral coding of parent-child interactions. None of the parenting dimensions was related to superiority, suggesting that parenting practices are more strongly related to the maladaptive than the adaptive component of narcissism. PMID:28042186

  14. Charcoal from a prehistoric copper mine in the Austrian Alps: dendrochronological and dendrological data, demand for wood and forest utilisation.

    PubMed

    Pichler, Thomas; Nicolussi, Kurt; Goldenberg, Gert; Hanke, Klaus; Kovács, Kristóf; Thurner, Andrea

    2013-02-01

    During prehistory fire-setting was the most appropriate technique for exploiting ore deposits. Charcoal fragments found in the course of archaeological excavations in a small mine called Mauk E in the area of Schwaz/Brixlegg (Tyrol, Austria) are argued to be evidence for the use of this technology. Dendrochronological analyses of the charcoal samples yielded calendar dates for the mining activities showing that the exploitation of the Mauk E mine lasted approximately one decade in the late 8th century BC. Dendrological studies show that the miners utilised stem wood of spruce and fir from forests with high stand density for fire-setting and that the exploitation of the Mauk E mine had only a limited impact on the local forests.

  15. Heralded amplification of path entangled quantum states

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Monteiro, F.; Verbanis, E.; Caprara Vivoli, V.; Martin, A.; Gisin, N.; Zbinden, H.; Thew, R. T.

    2017-06-01

    Device-independent quantum key distribution (DI-QKD) represents one of the most fascinating challenges in quantum communication, exploiting concepts of fundamental physics, namely Bell tests of nonlocality, to ensure the security of a communication link. This requires the loophole-free violation of a Bell inequality, which is intrinsically difficult due to losses in fibre optic transmission channels. Heralded photon amplification (HPA) is a teleportation-based protocol that has been proposed as a means to overcome transmission loss for DI-QKD. Here we demonstrate HPA for path entangled states and characterise the entanglement before and after loss by exploiting a recently developed displacement-based detection scheme. We demonstrate that by exploiting HPA we are able to reliably maintain high fidelity entangled states over loss-equivalent distances of more than 50 km.

  16. Social evolution in micro-organisms and a Trojan horse approach to medical intervention strategies

    PubMed Central

    Brown, Sam P.; West, Stuart A.; Diggle, Stephen P.; Griffin, Ashleigh S.

    2009-01-01

    Medical science is typically pitted against the evolutionary forces acting upon infective populations of bacteria. As an alternative strategy, we could exploit our growing understanding of population dynamics of social traits in bacteria to help treat bacterial disease. In particular, population dynamics of social traits could be exploited to introduce less virulent strains of bacteria, or medically beneficial alleles into infective populations. We discuss how bacterial strains adopting different social strategies can invade a population of cooperative wild-type, considering public good cheats, cheats carrying medically beneficial alleles (Trojan horses) and cheats carrying allelopathic traits (anti-competitor chemical bacteriocins or temperate bacteriophage viruses). We suggest that exploitation of the ability of cheats to invade cooperative, wild-type populations is a potential new strategy for treating bacterial disease. PMID:19805424

  17. Extractive waste exploitation towards the natural resource preservation: two Italian case studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Antonella Dino, Giovanna; Rossetti, Piergiorgio; Biglia, Giulio; Mehta, Neha; Rodeghiero, Franco

    2017-04-01

    In 2012 the extractive industry represented the second most important sector in terms of waste quantities produced in the EU-27 (29% or 734 million tons). Italy was and still is one of the most important countries as for quarry and mine exploitation, with a consequent huge production of extractive waste (EW; represented by rock waste, operating residues and tailings), which are present in mining dumps (EW facilities). The EU guidelines about waste management aim to the exploitation, based on environmental protection, of any kind of material which can be recovered and recycled, with a consequent natural resources preservation. The decision n. 1600/2002/CE, establishing the VI Environment Action Program, pushes to the revision of the legislation on waste and to the development of specific actions for waste prevention and management. The decisive factors to achieve these results are the minimization of waste production and the recovery of as much waste as possible from the different productive cycles and from landfills, including EW facilities. According to this approach, "WASTE" must be considered as a "RESOURCE", and "LANDFILLS" as "NEW ORE BODIES". In the recent years several projects investigate the recovery of Critical Raw Materials (CRM) and SRM from landfills (Smart Ground, Prosum, etc.). The main objective of the present research, which is one of the activities linked to Smart Ground project (Grant Agreement No 641988), is the estimation of the SRM and CRM present in two selected Italian EW facilities: - Campello Monti mining site (NE Piedmont Region), important for Ni exploitation. The area is characterized by the presence of EW facilities, mainly represented by rock waste and operating residues. - Gorno mining site (N Lombardy Region), famous for Zn exploitation. The area is characterized by the presence of several EW facility areas, mainly represented by rock waste dumps and tailing basins. To appreciate if an EW facility can be considered as an "ore body" to exploit, it is necessary to follow several operative steps, which include: - characterization of the area and of the EW; - evaluation of dumps volume; - SRM estimation, on the basis of EW characterisation and evaluation of dumps volume, and after dressing activities in lab and in pilot plants; - determination of impacts connected to EW management and potential recovery. The comparison of different scenarios (landfilling activity Vs EW exploitation), together with characterisation phases, is useful to evaluate if waste exploitation is profitable or not. At present (December 2016) the phases connected to characterisation of the areas and of the EW have been completed. The first results arising from the sampling activities in Campello Monti show that operating residues are strongly enriched in Ni, Cu, Co; waste rocks in some areas are enriched in the same metals. PGE and Au analysis on the most enriched samples are in progress; the very first results show scattered Pd and Pt enrichments. As for Gorno, the first results arising from rock waste samples show a high content in Zn, often associated to Cd.

  18. The contribution of the Geohazards Exploitation Platform for the GEO Supersites community

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manunta, Michele; Caumont, Hervé; Mora, Oscar; Casu, Francesco; Zinno, Ivana; De Luca, Claudio; Pepe, Susi; Pepe, Antonio; Brito, Fabrice; Romero, Laia; Stumpf, Andre; Malet, Jean-Philippe; Brcic, Ramon; Rodriguez Gonzalez, Fernando; Musacchio, Massimo; Buongiorno, Fabrizia; Briole, Pierre

    2016-04-01

    The European Space Agency (ESA) initiative for the creation of an ecosystem of Thematic Exploitation Platforms (TEP) focuses on the capitalization of Ground Segment capabilities and ICT technologies to maximize the exploitation of EO data from past and future missions. A TEP refers to a computing platform that complies to a set of exploitation scenarios involving scientific users, data providers and ICT providers, aggregated around an Earth Science thematic area. The Exploitation Platforms are targeted to cover different capacities and they define, implement and validate a platform for effective data exploitation of EO data sources in a given thematic area. In this framework, the Geohazards Thematic Exploitation Platform or Geohazards TEP (GEP) aims at providing on-demand processing services for specific user needs as well as systematic processing services to address the need of the geohazards community for common information layers and, finally, to integrate newly developed processors for scientists and other expert users. The GEP has now on-boarded over 40 European early adopters and will transition during 2016 to pre-operations by developing six new Pilot applications that will significantly augment the Platform's capabilities for systematic production and community building. Each project on the Platform is concerned with either integrating an application, running on demand processing using an application available in the platform or systematically generating a new product collection. The platform will also expand its user base in 2016, to gradually reach a total of about 65 individual users. Under a Consortium lead by Terradue Srl, six new pilot projects have been taken on board: photogrammetric processing using optical EO data with University of Strasbourg (FR), optical based processing method for volcanic hazard monitoring with INGV (IT), systematic generation of deformation time-series with Sentinel-1 data with CNR IREA (IT), systematic processing of Sentinel-1 interferometric imagery with DLR (DE), precise terrain motion mapping with SPN Persistent Scatterers Interferometric chain of Altamira Information (ES) and a campaign to test and exploit GEP applications with the Corinth Rift Laboratory in which Greek and French experts of seismic hazards are engaged. The consortium is in charge of the resources and services management under a sustainable and fair governance model to ensure alignment of the Platform with user community needs, broad collaboration with main data and service providers in the domain, and excellence among user initiatives willing to contribute. In this work we show how the GEO Geohazards Supersites community can fully benefit from availability of an advanced IT infrastructure, where satellite and in-situ data, processing tools and web-based visualization instruments are at the disposal of users to address scientific questions. In particular, we focus on the contributions provided by GEP for the management of EO data, for the implementation of a European e-infrastructure, and for the monitoring and modelling of ground deformations and seismic activity.

  19. Intelligence, mapping, and geospatial exploitation system (IMAGES)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moellman, Dennis E.; Cain, Joel M.

    1998-08-01

    This paper provides further detail to one facet of the battlespace visualization concept described in last year's paper Battlespace Situation Awareness for Force XXI. It focuses on the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) goal to 'provide customers seamless access to tailorable imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information.' This paper describes Intelligence, Mapping, and Geospatial Exploitation System (IMAGES), an exploitation element capable of CONUS baseplant operations or field deployment to provide NIMA geospatial information collaboratively into a reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) environment through the United States Imagery and Geospatial Information System (USIGS). In a baseplant CONUS setting IMAGES could be used to produce foundation data to support mission planning. In the field it could be directly associated with a tactical sensor receiver or ground station (e.g. UAV or UGV) to provide near real-time and mission specific RSTA to support mission execution. This paper provides IMAGES functional level design; describes the technologies, their interactions and interdependencies; and presents a notional operational scenario to illustrate the system flexibility. Using as a system backbone an intelligent software agent technology, called Open Agent ArchitectureTM (OAATM), IMAGES combines multimodal data entry, natural language understanding, and perceptual and evidential reasoning for system management. Configured to be DII COE compliant, it would utilize, to the extent possible, COTS applications software for data management, processing, fusion, exploitation, and reporting. It would also be modular, scaleable, and reconfigurable. This paper describes how the OAATM achieves data synchronization and enables the necessary level of information to be rapidly available to various command echelons for making informed decisions. The reasoning component will provide for the best information to be developed in the timeline available and it will also provide statistical pedigree data. This pedigree data provides both uncertainties associated with the information and an audit trail cataloging the raw data sources and the processing/exploitation applied to derive the final product. Collaboration provides for a close union between the information producer(s)/exploiter(s) and the information user(s) as well as between local and remote producer(s)/exploiter(s). From a military operational perspective, IMAGES is a step toward further uniting NIMA with its customers and further blurring the dividing line between operational command and control (C2) and its supporting intelligence activities. IMAGES also provides a foundation for reachback to remote data sources, data stores, application software, and computational resources for achieving 'just-in- time' information delivery -- all of which is transparent to the analyst or operator employing the system.

  20. Exploiting Carvone to Demonstrate Both Stereocontrol and Regiocontrol: 1,2- vs 1,4-Addition of Grignard Reagents and Organocuprates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Truong, Thai Phat; Bailey, Sophia J.; Golliher, Alexandra E.; Monroy, Erika Y.; Shrestha, Uttar K.; Maio, William A.

    2018-01-01

    The ability of certain organometallic reagents to react via 1,2- or 1,4-addition to an a,ß-unsaturated ketone is a fundamental example of regioselectivity at the second-year undergraduate organic level. The following two experiments were designed to demonstrate this preference by exploiting carvone as an inexpensive chiral, nonracemic substrate.…

  1. Financial Exploitation and Psychological Mistreatment among Older Adults: Differences between African Americans and Non-African Americans in a Population-Based Survey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Beach, Scott R.; Schulz, Richard; Castle, Nicholas G.; Rosen, Jules

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: To examine racial differences in (a) the prevalence of financial exploitation and psychological mistreatment since turning 60 and in the past 6 months and (b) the experience--perpetrator, frequency, and degree of upset--of psychological mistreatment in the past 6 months. Design and methods: Random digit dial telephone recruitment and…

  2. DANDRUFF: THE MOST COMMERCIALLY EXPLOITED SKIN DISEASE

    PubMed Central

    Ranganathan, S; Mukhopadhyay, T

    2010-01-01

    The article discuss in detail about the prevalence, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations of dandruff including the etio-pathology. The article also discusses in detail about various treatment methods available for dandruff. The status of dandruff being amphibious – a disease/disorder, and relatively less medical intervention is sought after for the treatment, dandruff is the most commercially exploited skin and scalp disorder/disease by personal care industries. PMID:20606879

  3. 300 nm bandwidth adiabatic SOI polarization splitter-rotators exploiting continuous symmetry breaking.

    PubMed

    Socci, Luciano; Sorianello, Vito; Romagnoli, Marco

    2015-07-27

    Adiabatic polarization splitter-rotators are investigated exploiting continuous symmetry breaking thereby achieving significant device size and losses reduction in a single mask fabrication process for both SOI channel and ridge waveguides. A crosstalk lower than -25 dB is expected over 300nm bandwidth, making the device suitable for full grid CWDM and diplexer/triplexer FTTH applications at 1310, 1490 and 1550nm.

  4. Tactical Medical Training for Police Officers: Lessons from U.S. Special Forces

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-12-01

    time is reliable, dangers inherent in law enforcement combined with police officers working locations is often problematic . In tactical situations, a...technique. Eight people were arrested in August 2012 and indicted on sex trafficking charges for allegedly forcing teenage girls into prostitution ...Six of the people detained were arrested by the Inland Child Exploitation/ Prostitution Task Force. The Inland Child Exploitation/ Prostitution Task

  5. Knowledge Management to Exploit Agrarian Resources as Part of Late-Eighteenth-Century Cultures of Innovation: Friedrich Casimir Medicus and Franz Von Paula Schrank

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Popplow, Marcus

    2012-01-01

    This essay contributes to a recent strain of research that questions clear-cut dichotomies between "scientists" and "artisans" in the early modern period. With a focus on the exploitation of agrarian resources, it argues for the appreciation of a more complex panorama of intersecting knowledge systems spanning from botany as…

  6. Chinese-Latin American Ties: A Convergence of Security Threats to the United States

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-06-14

    of action. This technique provides both advantages and disadvantages . It will consider the potential for exploitation of developing countries and...characteristics disadvantageous to China. 3. Opportunities are vulnerabilities that China could exploit to Beijing’s advantage . 4. Threats are elements...trading partner.22 China seems to be actively (and nefariously) pursuing an economic advantage . Chinese investments often resulted in “guarantees

  7. Attack Methodology Analysis: Emerging Trends in Computer-Based Attack Methodologies and Their Applicability to Control System Networks

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bri Rolston

    2005-06-01

    Threat characterization is a key component in evaluating the threat faced by control systems. Without a thorough understanding of the threat faced by critical infrastructure networks, adequate resources cannot be allocated or directed effectively to the defense of these systems. Traditional methods of threat analysis focus on identifying the capabilities and motivations of a specific attacker, assessing the value the adversary would place on targeted systems, and deploying defenses according to the threat posed by the potential adversary. Too many effective exploits and tools exist and are easily accessible to anyone with access to an Internet connection, minimal technical skills,more » and a significantly reduced motivational threshold to be able to narrow the field of potential adversaries effectively. Understanding how hackers evaluate new IT security research and incorporate significant new ideas into their own tools provides a means of anticipating how IT systems are most likely to be attacked in the future. This research, Attack Methodology Analysis (AMA), could supply pertinent information on how to detect and stop new types of attacks. Since the exploit methodologies and attack vectors developed in the general Information Technology (IT) arena can be converted for use against control system environments, assessing areas in which cutting edge exploit development and remediation techniques are occurring can provide significance intelligence for control system network exploitation, defense, and a means of assessing threat without identifying specific capabilities of individual opponents. Attack Methodology Analysis begins with the study of what exploit technology and attack methodologies are being developed in the Information Technology (IT) security research community within the black and white hat community. Once a solid understanding of the cutting edge security research is established, emerging trends in attack methodology can be identified and the gap between those threats and the defensive capabilities of control systems can be analyzed. The results of the gap analysis drive changes in the cyber security of critical infrastructure networks to close the gap between current exploits and existing defenses. The analysis also provides defenders with an idea of how threat technology is evolving and how defenses will need to be modified to address these emerging trends.« less

  8. Study on the stress changes due to the regional groundwater exploitation based on a 3-D fully coupled poroelastic model: An example of the North China Plain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheng, H.; Zhang, H.; Pang, Y. J.; Shi, Y.

    2017-12-01

    With the quick urban development, over-exploitation of groundwater resources becomes more and more intense, which leads to not only widespread groundwater depression cones but also a series of harsh environmental and geological hazards. Among which, the most intuitive phenomenon is the ground subsidence in loose sediments. However, another direct consequence triggered by the groundwater depletion is the substantial crustal deformation and potential modulation of crustal stress underneath the groundwater over-pumping zones. In our previous 3-D viscoelastic finite element model, we found that continuous over-exploitation of groundwater resources in North China Plain during the past 60 years give rise to crustal-scale uplift reaching 4.9cm, with the Coulomb failure stress decreasing by up to 12 kPa, which may inhibit the nucleation of possible big earthquake events. Furthermore, according to the effective pressure principle and lab experiments, the pore pressure may also have changed due to the reduced water level. In order to quantitatively analyze the stress changes due to the regional groundwater exploitation in North China Plain, a three-dimensional fully coupled poroelastic finite element model is developed in this study. The high resolution topography, grounwater level fluctuation, fault parameters and etc, are taken into consideration. Further, the changes of Coulomb Failure Stress, in correspondence to elastic stress and pore pressure changes induced by fluid diffusion are calculated. Meanwhile, the elastic strain energy accumulation in region due to the regional groundwater exploitation is obtained. Finally, we try to analyze the seismic risk of major faults within North China Plain to further discuss the regional seismic activities.

  9. Pupil Diameter Tracks the Exploration-Exploitation Trade-off during Analogical Reasoning and Explains Individual Differences in Fluid Intelligence.

    PubMed

    Hayes, Taylor R; Petrov, Alexander A

    2016-02-01

    The ability to adaptively shift between exploration and exploitation control states is critical for optimizing behavioral performance. Converging evidence from primate electrophysiology and computational neural modeling has suggested that this ability may be mediated by the broad norepinephrine projections emanating from the locus coeruleus (LC) [Aston-Jones, G., & Cohen, J. D. An integrative theory of locus coeruleus-norepinephrine function: Adaptive gain and optimal performance. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 28, 403-450, 2005]. There is also evidence that pupil diameter covaries systematically with LC activity. Although imperfect and indirect, this link makes pupillometry a useful tool for studying the locus coeruleus norepinephrine system in humans and in high-level tasks. Here, we present a novel paradigm that examines how the pupillary response during exploration and exploitation covaries with individual differences in fluid intelligence during analogical reasoning on Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices. Pupillometry was used as a noninvasive proxy for LC activity, and concurrent think-aloud verbal protocols were used to identify exploratory and exploitative solution periods. This novel combination of pupillometry and verbal protocols from 40 participants revealed a decrease in pupil diameter during exploitation and an increase during exploration. The temporal dynamics of the pupillary response was characterized by a steep increase during the transition to exploratory periods, sustained dilation for many seconds afterward, and followed by gradual return to baseline. Moreover, the individual differences in the relative magnitude of pupillary dilation accounted for 16% of the variance in Advanced Progressive Matrices scores. Assuming that pupil diameter is a valid index of LC activity, these results establish promising preliminary connections between the literature on locus coeruleus norepinephrine-mediated cognitive control and the literature on analogical reasoning and fluid intelligence.

  10. Mechanism of saline groundwater migration under the influence of deep groundwater exploitation in the North China Plain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Han, D.; Cao, G.; Currell, M. J.

    2016-12-01

    Understanding the mechanism of salt water transport in response to the exploitation of deep freshwater has long been one of the major regional environmental hydrogeological problems and scientific challenges in the North China Plain. It is also the key to a correct understanding of the sources of deep groundwater pumpage. This study will look at the Hengshui - Cangzhou region as a region with typical vertical salt water distribution, and high levels of groundwater exploitation, integrating a variety of techniques in geology, hydrogeology, geophysics, hydrodynamics, and hydrochemistry - stable isotopes. Information about the problem will be determined using multiple lines of evidence, including field surveys of drilling and water sampling, as well as laboratory experiments and physical and numerical simulations. The project will characterize and depict the migration characteristics of salt water bodies and their relationship with the geological structure and deep ground water resources. The work will reveal the freshwater-saltwater interface shape; determine the mode and mechanism of hydrodynamic transport and salt transport; estimate the vertical migration time of salt water in a thick aquitard; and develop accurate hydrogeological conceptual models. This work will utilize groundwater variable density flow- solute transport numerical models to simulate the water and salt transport processes in vertical one-dimensional (typical bore) and two-dimensional (typical cross-section) space. Both inversion of the downward movement of saltwater caused by groundwater exploitation through history, and examining future saltwater migration trends under groundwater exploitation scenarios will be conducted, to quantitatively evaluate the impact of salt water migration to the deep groundwater body in the North China Plain. The research results will provide a scientific basis for the sustainable utilization of deep groundwater resources in this area.

  11. Estimating fish exploitation and aquatic habitat loss across diffuse inland recreational fisheries.

    PubMed

    de Kerckhove, Derrick Tupper; Minns, Charles Kenneth; Chu, Cindy

    2015-01-01

    The current state of many freshwater fish stocks worldwide is largely unknown but suspected to be vulnerable to exploitation from recreational fisheries and habitat degradation. Both these factors, combined with complex ecological dynamics and the diffuse nature of inland fisheries could lead to an invisible collapse: the drastic decline in fish stocks without great public or management awareness. In this study we provide a method to address the pervasive knowledge gaps in regional rates of exploitation and habitat degradation, and demonstrate its use in one of North America's largest and most diffuse recreational freshwater fisheries (Ontario, Canada). We estimated that (1) fish stocks were highly exploited and in apparent danger of collapse in management zones close to large population centres, and (2) fish habitat was under a low but constant threat of degradation at rates comparable to deforestation in Ontario and throughout Canada. These findings confirm some commonly held, but difficult to quantify, beliefs in inland fisheries management but also provide some further insights including (1) large anthropogenic projects greater than one hectare could contribute much more to fish habitat loss on an area basis than the cumulative effect of smaller projects within one year, (2) hooking mortality from catch-and-release fisheries is likely a greater source of mortality than the harvest itself, and (3) in most northern management zones over 50% of the fisheries resources are not yet accessible to anglers. While this model primarily provides a framework to prioritize management decisions and further targeted stock assessments, we note that our regional estimates of fisheries productivity and exploitation were similar to broadscale monitoring efforts by the Province of Ontario. We discuss the policy implications from our results and extending the model to other jurisdictions and countries.

  12. A Deep Learning Architecture for Temporal Sleep Stage Classification Using Multivariate and Multimodal Time Series.

    PubMed

    Chambon, Stanislas; Galtier, Mathieu N; Arnal, Pierrick J; Wainrib, Gilles; Gramfort, Alexandre

    2018-04-01

    Sleep stage classification constitutes an important preliminary exam in the diagnosis of sleep disorders. It is traditionally performed by a sleep expert who assigns to each 30 s of the signal of a sleep stage, based on the visual inspection of signals such as electroencephalograms (EEGs), electrooculograms (EOGs), electrocardiograms, and electromyograms (EMGs). We introduce here the first deep learning approach for sleep stage classification that learns end-to-end without computing spectrograms or extracting handcrafted features, that exploits all multivariate and multimodal polysomnography (PSG) signals (EEG, EMG, and EOG), and that can exploit the temporal context of each 30-s window of data. For each modality, the first layer learns linear spatial filters that exploit the array of sensors to increase the signal-to-noise ratio, and the last layer feeds the learnt representation to a softmax classifier. Our model is compared to alternative automatic approaches based on convolutional networks or decisions trees. Results obtained on 61 publicly available PSG records with up to 20 EEG channels demonstrate that our network architecture yields the state-of-the-art performance. Our study reveals a number of insights on the spatiotemporal distribution of the signal of interest: a good tradeoff for optimal classification performance measured with balanced accuracy is to use 6 EEG with 2 EOG (left and right) and 3 EMG chin channels. Also exploiting 1 min of data before and after each data segment offers the strongest improvement when a limited number of channels are available. As sleep experts, our system exploits the multivariate and multimodal nature of PSG signals in order to deliver the state-of-the-art classification performance with a small computational cost.

  13. Increased Host Investment in Extrafloral Nectar (EFN) Improves the Efficiency of a Mutualistic Defensive Service

    PubMed Central

    González-Teuber, Marcia; Silva Bueno, Juan Carlos; Heil, Martin; Boland, Wilhelm

    2012-01-01

    Extrafloral nectar (EFN) plays an important role as plant indirect defence through the attraction of defending ants. Like all rewards produced in the context of a mutualism, however, EFN is in danger of being exploited by non-ant consumers that do not defend the plant against herbivores. Here we asked whether plants, by investing more in EFN, can improve their indirect defence, or rather increase the risk of losing this investment to EFN thieves. We used the obligate plant-ant Acacia-Pseudomyrmex system and examined experimentally in the field during the dry and the rainy seasons how variations in EFN secretion are related to (i) ant activity, to (ii) the ant-mediated defence against herbivores and (iii) the exploitation of EFN by non-ant consumers. Extrafloral investment enhanced ant recruitment and was positively related to the ant mediated defence against herbivores. The ant-mediated protection from exploiters also increased in proportion to the nectar sugar concentration. Although the daily peak of EFN production coincided with the highest activity of EFN thieves, Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus ants protected this resource effectively from exploiters. Nevertheless, the defensive effects by ants differed among seasons. During the dry season, plants grew slower and secreted more EFN than in the rainy season, and thus, experienced a higher level of ant-mediated indirect defence. Our results show that an increased plant investment in an indirect defence trait can improve the resulting defensive service against both herbivores and exploiters. EFN secretion by obligate ant-plants represents a defensive trait for which the level of investment correlates positively with the beneficial effects obtained. PMID:23056362

  14. Towards a long-term Science Exploitation Plan for the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer on Sentinel-3 and the Along-Track Scanning Radiometers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Remedios, John J.; Llewellyn-Jones, David

    2014-05-01

    The Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) on Sentinel-3 is the latest satellite instrument in a series of dual-angle optical and thermal sensors, the Along-Track Scanning Radiometers (ATSRs). Operating on Sentinel-3, the SLSTR has a number of significant improvements compared to the original ATSRs including wider swaths for nadir and dual angles, emphasis on all surface temperature domains, dedicated fire channels and additional cloud channels. The SLSTR therefore provides some excellent opportunities to extend science undertaken with the ATSRs whilst also providing long-term data sets to investigate climate change. The European Space Agency, together with the Department of Energy and Climate Change, sponsored the production of an Exploitation Plan for the ATSRs. In the last year, this been extended to cover the SLSTR also. The plan enables UK and European member states to plan activities related to SLSTR in a long-term context. Covering climate change, oceanography, land surface, atmosphere and cryosphere science, particular attention is paid to the exploitation of long-term data sets. In the case of SLSTR, relevant products include sea, land, lake and ice surface temperatures; aerosols and clouds; fires and gas flares; land surface reflectances. In this presentation, the SLSTR and ATSR science Exploitation Plan will be outlined with emphasis on SLSTR science opportunities, on appropriate co-ordinating mechanisms and on example implementation plans. Particular attention will be paid to the challenges of linking ATSR records with SLSTR to provide consistent long-term data sets, and on the international context of such data sets. The exploitation plan approach to science may prove relevant and useful for other Sentinel instruments.

  15. The system neurophysiological basis of non-adaptive cognitive control: Inhibition of implicit learning mediated by right prefrontal regions.

    PubMed

    Stock, Ann-Kathrin; Steenbergen, Laura; Colzato, Lorenza; Beste, Christian

    2016-12-01

    Cognitive control is adaptive in the sense that it inhibits automatic processes to optimize goal-directed behavior, but high levels of control may also have detrimental effects in case they suppress beneficial automatisms. Until now, the system neurophysiological mechanisms and functional neuroanatomy underlying these adverse effects of cognitive control have remained elusive. This question was examined by analyzing the automatic exploitation of a beneficial implicit predictive feature under conditions of high versus low cognitive control demands, combining event-related potentials (ERPs) and source localization. It was found that cognitive control prohibits the beneficial automatic exploitation of additional implicit information when task demands are high. Bottom-up perceptual and attentional selection processes (P1 and N1 ERPs) are not modulated by this, but the automatic exploitation of beneficial predictive information in case of low cognitive control demands was associated with larger response-locked P3 amplitudes and stronger activation of the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG, BA47). This suggests that the rIFG plays a key role in the detection of relevant task cues, the exploitation of alternative task sets, and the automatic (bottom-up) implementation and reprogramming of action plans. Moreover, N450 amplitudes were larger under high cognitive control demands, which was associated with activity differences in the right medial frontal gyrus (BA9). This most likely reflects a stronger exploitation of explicit task sets which hinders the exploration of the implicit beneficial information in case of high cognitive control demands. Hum Brain Mapp 37:4511-4522, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Estimating Fish Exploitation and Aquatic Habitat Loss across Diffuse Inland Recreational Fisheries

    PubMed Central

    de Kerckhove, Derrick Tupper; Minns, Charles Kenneth; Chu, Cindy

    2015-01-01

    The current state of many freshwater fish stocks worldwide is largely unknown but suspected to be vulnerable to exploitation from recreational fisheries and habitat degradation. Both these factors, combined with complex ecological dynamics and the diffuse nature of inland fisheries could lead to an invisible collapse: the drastic decline in fish stocks without great public or management awareness. In this study we provide a method to address the pervasive knowledge gaps in regional rates of exploitation and habitat degradation, and demonstrate its use in one of North America’s largest and most diffuse recreational freshwater fisheries (Ontario, Canada). We estimated that 1) fish stocks were highly exploited and in apparent danger of collapse in management zones close to large population centres, and 2) fish habitat was under a low but constant threat of degradation at rates comparable to deforestation in Ontario and throughout Canada. These findings confirm some commonly held, but difficult to quantify, beliefs in inland fisheries management but also provide some further insights including 1) large anthropogenic projects greater than one hectare could contribute much more to fish habitat loss on an area basis than the cumulative effect of smaller projects within one year, 2) hooking mortality from catch-and-release fisheries is likely a greater source of mortality than the harvest itself, and 3) in most northern management zones over 50% of the fisheries resources are not yet accessible to anglers. While this model primarily provides a framework to prioritize management decisions and further targeted stock assessments, we note that our regional estimates of fisheries productivity and exploitation were similar to broadscale monitoring efforts by the Province of Ontario. We discuss the policy implications from our results and extending the model to other jurisdictions and countries. PMID:25875790

  17. Exploiting short-term memory in soft body dynamics as a computational resource.

    PubMed

    Nakajima, K; Li, T; Hauser, H; Pfeifer, R

    2014-11-06

    Soft materials are not only highly deformable, but they also possess rich and diverse body dynamics. Soft body dynamics exhibit a variety of properties, including nonlinearity, elasticity and potentially infinitely many degrees of freedom. Here, we demonstrate that such soft body dynamics can be employed to conduct certain types of computation. Using body dynamics generated from a soft silicone arm, we show that they can be exploited to emulate functions that require memory and to embed robust closed-loop control into the arm. Our results suggest that soft body dynamics have a short-term memory and can serve as a computational resource. This finding paves the way towards exploiting passive body dynamics for control of a large class of underactuated systems. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  18. SURFING BIOLOGICAL SURFACES: EXPLOITING THE NUCLEOID FOR PARTITION AND TRANSPORT IN BACTERIA

    PubMed Central

    Vecchiarelli, Anthony G.; Mizuuchi, Kiyoshi; Funnell, Barbara E.

    2012-01-01

    The ParA family of ATPases are responsible for transporting bacterial chromosomes, plasmids, and large protein machineries. ParAs pattern the nucleoid in vivo, but how patterning functions or is exploited in transport is of considerable debate. Here we discuss the process of self-organization into patterns on the bacterial nucleoid and explore how it relates to the molecular mechanism of ParA action. We review ParA-mediated DNA partition as a general mechanism of how ATP-driven protein gradients on biological surfaces can result in spatial organization on a mesoscale. We also discuss how the nucleoid acts as a formidable diffusion barrier for large bodies in the cell, and make the case that the ParA family evolved to overcome the barrier by exploiting the nucleoid as a matrix for movement. PMID:22934804

  19. Simple methods of exploiting the underlying structure of rule-based systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hendler, James

    1986-01-01

    Much recent work in the field of expert systems research has aimed at exploiting the underlying structures of the rule base for reasons of analysis. Such techniques as Petri-nets and GAGs have been proposed as representational structures that will allow complete analysis. Much has been made of proving isomorphisms between the rule bases and the mechanisms, and in examining the theoretical power of this analysis. In this paper we describe some early work in a new system which has much simpler (and thus, one hopes, more easily achieved) aims and less formality. The technique being examined is a very simple one: OPS5 programs are analyzed in a purely syntactic way and a FSA description is generated. In this paper we describe the technique and some user interface tools which exploit this structure.

  20. Adaptive intercolor error prediction coder for lossless color (rgb) picutre compression

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mann, Y.; Peretz, Y.; Mitchell, Harvey B.

    2001-09-01

    Most of the current lossless compression algorithms, including the new international baseline JPEG-LS algorithm, do not exploit the interspectral correlations that exist between the color planes in an input color picture. To improve the compression performance (i.e., lower the bit rate) it is necessary to exploit these correlations. A major concern is to find efficient methods for exploiting the correlations that, at the same time, are compatible with and can be incorporated into the JPEG-LS algorithm. One such algorithm is the method of intercolor error prediction (IEP), which when used with the JPEG-LS algorithm, results on average in a reduction of 8% in the overall bit rate. We show how the IEP algorithm can be simply modified and that it nearly doubles the size of the reduction in bit rate to 15%.

  1. Virtual Reconstruction of Lost Architectures: from the Tls Survey to AR Visualization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Quattrini, R.; Pierdicca, R.; Frontoni, E.; Barcaglioni, R.

    2016-06-01

    The exploitation of high quality 3D models for dissemination of archaeological heritage is currently an investigated topic, although Mobile Augmented Reality platforms for historical architecture are not available, allowing to develop low-cost pipelines for effective contents. The paper presents a virtual anastylosis, starting from historical sources and from 3D model based on TLS survey. Several efforts and outputs in augmented or immersive environments, exploiting this reconstruction, are discussed. The work demonstrates the feasibility of a 3D reconstruction approach for complex architectural shapes starting from point clouds and its AR/VR exploitation, allowing the superimposition with archaeological evidences. Major contributions consist in the presentation and the discussion of a pipeline starting from the virtual model, to its simplification showing several outcomes, comparing also the supported data qualities and advantages/disadvantages due to MAR and VR limitations.

  2. Preventing Child Exploitation on the Internet. Special Hearing before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations. United States Senate, One Hundred Fifth Congress, Second Session.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Appropriations.

    This Congressional Hearing focuses on protecting children from exploitation on the Internet. Opening remarks of Senator Gregg, statements of Senator Hollings, and Senator Mikulski, and statement and summary statement of Hon. Louis J. Freeh, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, are provided at the beginning of the…

  3. Exploiting Auxiliary Information about Examinees in the Estimation of Item Parameters.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1986-05-01

    Research. The author is grateful to Kathleen Sheehan and Martha Stocking for their comments and suggestions. a, • ... Am -. ,** . Exploiting...Research Laboratory Dr. Hans Crombag 103 South Mathews Street University of Leyden Urbana, IL 61801 Education Research Center Boerhaavelaan 2 Dr. Susan...Embretson 23-4 EN Leyden University of Kansas The NETHERLANDS Psychology Department Lawrence, KS 66045 CTR/McGraw-Hill Library 2500 Garden Road ERIC

  4. European Science Notes Information Bulletin Reports on Current European/Middle Eastern Science

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-02-01

    Exploitation and Optimum Use of discussed the relationship of the Framework program to Biological Resources the 1992 single European market. This...operation: Shared-cost contracts]. hancement of food quality; (2) food hygiene, safety, and D. The Exploitation and optimum use or Biological toxicology...Table 9), and dis- bracing the biological sciences, agriculture, geologi- semination of research results (see Table 10). cal, and marine and deep sea

  5. Preventing Supercooling Of Gallium

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Massucco, Arthur A.; Wenghoefer, Hans M.; Wilkins, Ronnie

    1994-01-01

    Principle of heterogeneous nucleation exploited to prevent gallium from supercooling, enabling its use as heat-storage material that crystallizes reproducibly at its freezing or melting temperature of 29 to 30 degrees C. In original intended application, gallium used as heat-storage material in gloves of space suits. Terrestrial application lies in preparation of freezing-temperature reference samples for laboratories. Principle of heterogeneous nucleation also exploited similarly in heat pipes filled with sodium.

  6. Exploiting Dark Information Resources to Create New Value Added Services to Study Earth Science Phenomena

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ramachandran, Rahul; Maskey, Manil; Li, Xiang; Bugbee, Kaylin

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents two research applications exploiting unused metadata resources in novel ways to aid data discovery and exploration capabilities. The results based on the experiments are encouraging and each application has the potential to serve as a useful standalone component or service in a data system. There were also some interesting lessons learned while designing the two applications and these are presented next.

  7. Minimizing Actuator-Induced Residual Error in Active Space Telescope Primary Mirrors

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-09-01

    actuator geometry, and rib-to-facesheet intersection geometry are exploited to achieve improved performance in silicon carbide ( SiC ) mirrors . A...are exploited to achieve improved performance in silicon carbide ( SiC ) mirrors . A parametric finite element model is used to explore the trade space...MOST) finite element model. The move to lightweight actively-controlled silicon carbide ( SiC ) mirrors is traced back to previous generations of space

  8. Source Code Vulnerability Assessment Methodology

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-09-01

    Information Sciences Directorate’s (CISD) Center for Intrusion Detection Monitoring and Protection ( CIMP ) to reverse engineer tools captured by...application terminates. It is possible, however, to write past the buffer boundary in a controlled way such that the value for EIP can be overwritten with...vulnerability is widely known and has been exploited in the past . This work provides a proof-of-concept for the ARL/SLAD CAM and exploit development process

  9. Survey of Malware Threats and Recommendations to Improve Cybersecurity for Industrial Control Systems Version 1.0

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-02-01

    not normally blocked by enterprise firewalls . • Some malware exploited zero-day vulnerabilities as well as attempted to exploit vulnerabilities for...servers, receiving updates, and exfiltrating data. Firewalls are routinely configured to block incoming connections while malware within a target...implemented with layers of technical security controls (e.g., ICS-aware firewalls ) to control network traffic and prevent the spread of malware . Intrusion

  10. Exploitation, autonomy, and the case for organ sales.

    PubMed

    Hughes, P M

    1998-01-01

    A recent argument in favor of a free market in human organs claims that such a market enhances personal autonomy. I argue here that such a market would, on the contrary, actually compromise the autonomy of those most likely to sell their organs, namely, the least well off members of society. A Marxian-inspired notion of exploitation is deployed to show how, and in what sense, this is the case.

  11. Transformation-aware Exploit Generation using a HI-CFG

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-05-16

    testing has many limitations of its own: it can require significant target -specific setup to perform well; it is unlikely to trigger vulnerabilities...check fails represents a potential vulnerability, but a conservative analysis can produce false positives , so we can use exploit generation to find...warnings that correspond to true positives . We can also find potentially vulnerable instructions in the course of a manual binary- level security audit

  12. N-CET: Network-Centric Exploitation and Tracking

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-10-01

    DATES COVERED (From - To) October 2008 – August 2009 4 . TITLE AND SUBTITLE N-CET: NETWORK – CENTRIC EXPLOITATION AND TRACKING 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER...At the core of N-CET are information management services that decouple data producers and consumers , allowing reconfiguration to suit mission needs...Shown around the head-node are different pieces of hardware including the Sony PlayStation R©3 (PS3) nodes used for computationally demanding tasks

  13. Wavelet Analysis for RADARSAT Exploitation: Demonstration of Algorithms for Maritime Surveillance

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-02-01

    this study , we demonstrate wavelet analysis for exploitation of RADARSAT ocean imagery, including wind direction estimation, oceanic and atmospheric ...of image striations that can arise as a texture pattern caused by turbulent coherent structures in the marine atmospheric boundary layer. The image...associated change in the pattern texture (i.e., the nature of the turbulent atmospheric structures) across the front. Due to the large spatial scale of

  14. Exploiting Many-Body Bus States for Multi-Qubit Entanglement

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-06-06

    ancilla qubits . We studied electron-spin-photon coupling in a single-spin double quantum dot embedded in a superconducting stripline cavity. We... qubit to a superconducting stripline cavity,” Xuedong Hu, Yu-xi Liu, and Franco Nori, Phys. Rev. B 86, 035314 (2012). [9] “Controllable exchange...DARPA) EXPLOITING MANY-BODY BUS STATES FOR MULTI- QUBIT ENTANGLEMENT MARK FRIESEN UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN SYSTEM 06/06/2013 Final Report

  15. Collaborative Interactive Visualization Exploratory Concept

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-06-01

    the FIAC concepts. It consists of various DRDC-RDDC-2015-N004 intelligence analysis web services build of top of big data technologies exploited...sits on the UDS where validated common knowledge is stored. Based on the Lumify software2, this important component exploits big data technologies such...interfaces. Above this database resides the Big Data Manager responsible for transparent data transmission between the UDS and the rest of the S3

  16. Exploiting Pitch Accent Information in Compound Processing: A Comparison between Adults and 6- to 7-Year-Old Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hirose, Yuki; Mazuka, Reiko

    2017-01-01

    A noun can be potentially ambiguous as to whether it is a head on its own, or is a modifier of a Noun + Noun compound waiting for its head. This study investigates whether young children can exploit the prosodic information on a modifier constituent preceding the head to facilitate resolution of such ambiguity in Japanese. Evidence from English…

  17. Exploiting Free-Energy Minima to Design Novel EphA2 Protein-Protein Antagonists: From Simulation to Experiment and Return.

    PubMed

    Russo, Simonetta; Callegari, Donatella; Incerti, Matteo; Pala, Daniele; Giorgio, Carmine; Brunetti, Jlenia; Bracci, Luisa; Vicini, Paola; Barocelli, Elisabetta; Capoferri, Luigi; Rivara, Silvia; Tognolini, Massimiliano; Mor, Marco; Lodola, Alessio

    2016-06-06

    The free-energy surface (FES) of protein-ligand binding contains information useful for drug design. Here we show how to exploit a free-energy minimum of a protein-ligand complex identified by metadynamics simulations to design a new EphA2 antagonist with improved inhibitory potency. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  18. Automated Discovery of Machine-Specific Code Improvements

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-12-01

    operation of the source language. Additional analysis may reveal special features of the target architecture that may be exploited to generate efficient...Additional analysis may reveal special features of the target architecture that may be exploited to generate efficient code. Such analysis is optional...incorporate knowledge of the source language, but do not refer to features of the target machine. These early phases are sometimes referred to as the

  19. Effects of Behavioural Strategy on the Exploitative Competition Dynamics.

    PubMed

    Nguyen-Ngoc, Doanh; Nguyen-Phuong, Thuy

    2016-12-01

    We investigate a system of two species exploiting a common resource. We consider both abiotic (i.e. with a constant resource supply rate) and biotic (i.e. with resource reproduction and self-limitation) resources. We are interested in the asymmetric competition where a given consumer is the locally superior resource exploiter (LSE) and the other is the locally inferior resource exploiter (LIE). They also interact directly via interference competition in the sense that LIE individuals can use two opposite strategies to compete with LSE individuals: we assume, in the first case, that LIE uses an avoiding strategy, i.e. LIE individuals go to a non-competition patch to avoids competition with LSE individuals, and in the second one, LIE uses an aggressive strategy, i.e. being very aggressive so that LSE individuals have to go to a non-competition patch. We further assume that there is no resource in the non-competition patch so that individuals have to come back to the competition patch for their maintenance, and the migration process acts on a fast time scale in comparison with demography and competition processes. The models show that being aggressive is efficient for LIE's survival and even provoke global extinction of the LSE and this result does not depend on the nature of resource.

  20. Surveillance and reconnaissance ground system architecture

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Devambez, Francois

    2001-12-01

    Modern conflicts induces various modes of deployment, due to the type of conflict, the type of mission, and phase of conflict. It is then impossible to define fixed architecture systems for surveillance ground segments. Thales has developed a structure for a ground segment based on the operational functions required, and on the definition of modules and networks. Theses modules are software and hardware modules, including communications and networks. This ground segment is called MGS (Modular Ground Segment), and is intended for use in airborne reconnaissance systems, surveillance systems, and U.A.V. systems. Main parameters for the definition of a modular ground image exploitation system are : Compliance with various operational configurations, Easy adaptation to the evolution of theses configurations, Interoperability with NATO and multinational forces, Security, Multi-sensors, multi-platforms capabilities, Technical modularity, Evolutivity Reduction of life cycle cost The general performances of the MGS are presented : type of sensors, acquisition process, exploitation of images, report generation, data base management, dissemination, interface with C4I. The MGS is then described as a set of hardware and software modules, and their organization to build numerous operational configurations. Architectures are from minimal configuration intended for a mono-sensor image exploitation system, to a full image intelligence center, for a multilevel exploitation of multi-sensor.

  1. The cost of being valuable: predictors of extinction risk in marine invertebrates exploited as luxury seafood

    PubMed Central

    Purcell, Steven W.; Polidoro, Beth A.; Hamel, Jean-François; Gamboa, Ruth U.; Mercier, Annie

    2014-01-01

    Extinction risk has been linked to biological and anthropogenic variables. Prediction of extinction risk in valuable fauna may not follow mainstream drivers when species are exploited for international markets. We use results from an International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List assessment of extinction risk in all 377 known species of sea cucumber within the order Aspidochirotida, many of which are exploited worldwide as luxury seafood for Asian markets. Extinction risk was primarily driven by high market value, compounded by accessibility and familiarity (well known) in the marketplace. Extinction risk in marine animals often relates closely to body size and small geographical range but our study shows a clear exception. Conservation must not lose sight of common species, especially those of high value. Greater human population density and poorer economies in the geographical ranges of endangered species illustrate that anthropogenic variables can also predict extinction risks in marine animals. Local-level regulatory measures must prevent opportunistic exploitation of high-value species. Trade agreements, for example CITES, may aid conservation but will depend on international technical support to low-income tropical countries. The high proportion of data deficient species also stresses a need for research on the ecology and population demographics of unglamorous invertebrates. PMID:24598425

  2. Ultrasonic imaging of material flaws exploiting multipath information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shen, Xizhong; Zhang, Yimin D.; Demirli, Ramazan; Amin, Moeness G.

    2011-05-01

    In this paper, we consider ultrasonic imaging for the visualization of flaws in a material. Ultrasonic imaging is a powerful nondestructive testing (NDT) tool which assesses material conditions via the detection, localization, and classification of flaws inside a structure. Multipath exploitations provide extended virtual array apertures and, in turn, enhance imaging capability beyond the limitation of traditional multisensor approaches. We utilize reflections of ultrasonic signals which occur when encountering different media and interior discontinuities. The waveforms observed at the physical as well as virtual sensors yield additional measurements corresponding to different aspect angles. Exploitation of multipath information addresses unique issues observed in ultrasonic imaging. (1) Utilization of physical and virtual sensors significantly extends the array aperture for image enhancement. (2) Multipath signals extend the angle of view of the narrow beamwidth of the ultrasound transducers, allowing improved visibility and array design flexibility. (3) Ultrasonic signals experience difficulty in penetrating a flaw, thus the aspect angle of the observation is limited unless access to other sides is available. The significant extension of the aperture makes it possible to yield flaw observation from multiple aspect angles. We show that data fusion of physical and virtual sensor data significantly improves the detection and localization performance. The effectiveness of the proposed multipath exploitation approach is demonstrated through experimental studies.

  3. Effects of trawl selectivity and genetic parameters on fish body length under long-term trawling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Yang; Sun, Peng; Cui, He; Sheng, Huaxiang; Zhao, Fenfang; Tang, Yanli; Chen, Zelin

    2015-10-01

    Long-term fishing pressure affects the biological characteristics of exploited fish stocks. The biological characteristics of hairtail ( Trichiurus lepturus) in the East China Sea are unable to recover because of long-term trawling. Fishing induces evolutionary effects on the fish's biological characteristics. Evidence of these changes includes small size at age, a shift to earlier age structure, and early maturation. Natural and artificial selection usually affect the fish's life history. Selection can induce different chances of reproduction, and individual fish can give a different genetic contribution to the next generation. In this study, analysis of time-dependent probability of significance and test of sensitivity were used to explore the effects of fish exploitation rate, mesh size, and heritability with long-term trawling. Results showed that fishing parameters were important drivers to exploited fish population. However, genetic traits altered by fishing were slow, and the changes in biological characteristics were weaker than those caused by fishing selection. Exploitation rate and mesh size exhibited similar evolutionary trend tendency under long-term fishing. The time-dependent probability of significance trend showed a gradual growth and tended to be stable. Therefore, the direction of fishing-induced evolution and successful management of fish species require considerable attention to contribute to sustainable fisheries in China.

  4. An exploitation-competition system with negative effect of prey on its predator.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yuanshi

    2015-05-01

    This paper considers an exploitation-competition system in which exploitation is the dominant interaction when the prey is at low density, while competition is dominant when the prey is at high density due to its negative effect on the predator. The two-species system is characterized by differential equations, which are the combination of Lotka-Volterra competitive and predator-prey models. Global dynamics of the model demonstrate some basic properties of exploitation-competition systems: (i) When the growth rate of prey is extremely small, the prey cannot promote the growth of predator. (ii) When the growth rate is small, an obligate predator can survive by preying on the prey, while a facultative predator can approach a high density by the predation. (iii) When the growth rate is intermediate, the predator can approach the maximal density by an intermediate predation. (iv) When the growth rate is large, the predator can persist only if it has a large density and its predation on the prey is big. (v) Intermediate predation is beneficial to the predator under certain parameter range, while over- or under-predation is not good. Extremely big/small predation would lead to extinction of species. Numerical simulations confirm and extend our results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. A bi-population based scheme for an explicit exploration/exploitation trade-off in dynamic environments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ben-Romdhane, Hajer; Krichen, Saoussen; Alba, Enrique

    2017-05-01

    Optimisation in changing environments is a challenging research topic since many real-world problems are inherently dynamic. Inspired by the natural evolution process, evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are among the most successful and promising approaches that have addressed dynamic optimisation problems. However, managing the exploration/exploitation trade-off in EAs is still a prevalent issue, and this is due to the difficulties associated with the control and measurement of such a behaviour. The proposal of this paper is to achieve a balance between exploration and exploitation in an explicit manner. The idea is to use two equally sized populations: the first one performs exploration while the second one is responsible for exploitation. These tasks are alternated from one generation to the next one in a regular pattern, so as to obtain a balanced search engine. Besides, we reinforce the ability of our algorithm to quickly adapt after cnhanges by means of a memory of past solutions. Such a combination aims to restrain the premature convergence, to broaden the search area, and to speed up the optimisation. We show through computational experiments, and based on a series of dynamic problems and many performance measures, that our approach improves the performance of EAs and outperforms competing algorithms.

  6. Work or place? Assessing the concurrent effects of workplace exploitation and area-of-residence economic inequality on individual health.

    PubMed

    Muntaner, Carles; Li, Yong; Ng, Edwin; Benach, Joan; Chung, Haejoo

    2011-01-01

    Building on previous multilevel studies in social epidemiology, this cross-sectional study examines, simultaneously, the contextual effects of workplace exploitation and area-of-residence economic inequality on social inequalities in health among low-income nursing assistants. A total of 868 nursing assistants recruited from 55 nursing homes in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia were surveyed between 1999 and 2001. Using a cross-classified multilevel design, the authors tested the effects of area-of-residence (income inequality and racial segregation), workplace (type of nursing home ownership and managerial pressure), and individual-level (age, gender, race/ethnicity, health insurance, length of employment, social support, type of nursing unit, preexisting psychopathology, physical health, education, and income) variables on health (self-reported health and activity limitations) and behavioral outcomes (alcohol use and caffeine consumption). Findings reveal that overall health was associated with both workplace exploitation and area-of-residence income inequality; area of residence was associated with activity limitations and binge drinking; and workplace exploitation was associated with caffeine consumption. This study explicitly accounts for the multiple contextual structure and effects of economic inequality on health. More work is necessary to replicate the current findings and establish robust conclusions on workplace and area of residence that might help inform interventions.

  7. Smoking and the bandit: a preliminary study of smoker and nonsmoker differences in exploratory behavior measured with a multiarmed bandit task.

    PubMed

    Addicott, Merideth A; Pearson, John M; Wilson, Jessica; Platt, Michael L; McClernon, F Joseph

    2013-02-01

    Advantageous decision-making is an adaptive trade-off between exploring alternatives and exploiting the most rewarding option. This trade-off may be related to maladaptive decision-making associated with nicotine dependence; however, explore/exploit behavior has not been previously investigated in the context of addiction. The explore/exploit trade-off is captured by the multiarmed bandit task, in which different arms of a slot machine are chosen to discover the relative payoffs. The goal of this study was to preliminarily investigate whether smokers differ from nonsmokers in their degree of exploratory behavior. Smokers (n = 18) and nonsmokers (n = 17) completed a 6-armed bandit task as well as self-report measures of behavior and personality traits. Smokers were found to exhibit less exploratory behavior (i.e., made fewer switches between slot machine arms) than nonsmokers within the first 300 trials of the bandit task. The overall proportion of exploratory choices negatively correlated with self-reported measures of delay aversion and nonplanning impulsivity. These preliminary results suggest that smokers make fewer initial exploratory choices on the bandit task. The bandit task is a promising measure that could provide valuable insights into how nicotine use and dependence is associated with explore/exploit decision-making. (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  8. Smoking and the bandit: A preliminary study of smoker and non-smoker differences in exploratory behavior measured with a multi-armed bandit task

    PubMed Central

    Addicott, Merideth A.; Pearson, John M.; Wilson, Jessica; Platt, Michael L.; McClernon, F. Joseph

    2014-01-01

    Advantageous decision-making is an adaptive trade-off between exploring alternatives and exploiting the most rewarding option. This trade-off may be related to maladaptive decision-making associated with nicotine dependence; however, explore/exploit behavior has not been previously investigated in the context of addiction. The explore/exploit trade-off is captured by the multi-armed bandit task, in which different arms of a slot machine are chosen to discover the relative payoffs. The goal of this study was to preliminarily investigate whether smokers differ from non-smokers in their degree of exploratory behavior. Smokers (n = 18) and non-smokers (n = 17) completed a six-armed bandit task as well as self-report measures of behavior and personality traits. Smokers were found to exhibit less exploratory behavior (i.e. made fewer switches between slot machine arms) than non-smokers within the first 300 trials of the bandit task. The overall proportion of exploratory choices negatively correlated with self-reported measures of delay aversion and nonplanning impulsivity. These preliminary results suggest that smokers make fewer initial exploratory choices on the bandit task. The bandit task is a promising measure that could provide valuable insights into how nicotine use and dependence is associated with explore/exploit decision-making. PMID:23245198

  9. Access and use of human tissues from the developing world: ethical challenges and a way forward using a tissue trust

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Scientists engaged in global health research are increasingly faced with barriers to access and use of human tissues from the developing world communities where much of their research is targeted. In part, the problem can be traced to distrust of researchers from affluent countries, given the history of 'scientific-imperialism' and 'biocolonialism' reflected in past well publicized cases of exploitation of research participants from low to middle income countries. Discussion To a considerable extent, the failure to adequately engage host communities, the opacity of informed consent, and the lack of fair benefit-sharing have played a significant role in eroding trust. These ethical considerations are central to biomedical research in low to middle income countries and failure to attend to them can inadvertently contribute to exploitation and erode trust. A 'tissue trust' may be a plausible means for enabling access to human tissues for research in a manner that is responsive to the ethical challenges considered. Summary Preventing exploitation and restoring trust while simultaneously promoting global health research calls for innovative approaches to human tissues research. A tissue trust can reduce the risk of exploitation and promote host capacity as a key benefit. PMID:21266076

  10. Re-shifting the ecological baseline for the overexploited Mediterranean red coral

    PubMed Central

    Garrabou, J.; Sala, E.; Linares, C.; Ledoux, J. B.; Montero-Serra, I.; Dominici, J. M.; Kipson, S.; Teixidó, N.; Cebrian, E.; Kersting, D. K.; Harmelin, J. G.

    2017-01-01

    Overexploitation leads to the ecological extinction of many oceanic species. The depletion of historical abundances of large animals, such as whales and sea turtles, is well known. However, the magnitude of the historical overfishing of exploited invertebrates is unclear. The lack of rigorous baseline data limits the implementation of efficient management and conservation plans in the marine realm. The precious Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum has been intensively exploited since antiquity for its use in jewellery. It shows dramatic signs of overexploitation, with no untouched populations known in shallow waters. Here, we report the discovery of an exceptional red coral population from a previously unexplored shallow underwater cave in Corsica (France) harbouring the largest biomass (by more than 100-fold) reported to date in the Mediterranean. Our findings challenge current assumptions on the pristine state of this emblematic species. Our results suggest that, before intense exploitation, red coral lived in relatively high-density populations with a large proportion of centuries-old colonies, even at very shallow depths. We call for the re-evaluation of the baseline for red coral and question the sustainability of the exploitation of a species that is still common but ecologically (functionally) extinct and in a trajectory of further decline. PMID:28198382

  11. Short-term foraging costs and long-term fueling rates in central-place foraging swans revealed by giving-up exploitation times.

    PubMed

    van Gils, J A; Tijsen, W

    2007-05-01

    Foragers tend to exploit patches to a lesser extent farther away from their central place. This has been interpreted as a response to increased risk of predation or increased metabolic costs of prey delivery. Here we show that migratory Bewick's swans (Cygnus columbianus bewickii), though not incurring greater predation risks farther out or delivering food to a central place, also feed for shorter periods at patches farther away from their roost. Predictions from an energy budget model suggest that increasing metabolic travel costs per se are responsible. Establishing the relation between intake rate and exploitation time enabled us to express giving-up exploitation times as quitting harvest rates (QHRs). This revealed that net QHRs were not different from observed long-term net intake rates, a sign that the birds were maximizing their long-term net intake rate. This study is unique because giving-up decisions were measured at the individual level, metabolic and predation costs were assessed simultaneously, the relation with harvest rate was made explicit, and finally, short-term giving-up decisions were related to long-term net intake rates. We discuss and conceptualize the implications of metabolic traveling costs for carrying-capacity predictions by bridging the gap between optimal-foraging theory and optimal-migration theory.

  12. Exploiting heterogeneous publicly available data sources for drug safety surveillance: computational framework and case studies.

    PubMed

    Koutkias, Vassilis G; Lillo-Le Louët, Agnès; Jaulent, Marie-Christine

    2017-02-01

    Driven by the need of pharmacovigilance centres and companies to routinely collect and review all available data about adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and adverse events of interest, we introduce and validate a computational framework exploiting dominant as well as emerging publicly available data sources for drug safety surveillance. Our approach relies on appropriate query formulation for data acquisition and subsequent filtering, transformation and joint visualization of the obtained data. We acquired data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), PubMed and Twitter. In order to assess the validity and the robustness of the approach, we elaborated on two important case studies, namely, clozapine-induced cardiomyopathy/myocarditis versus haloperidol-induced cardiomyopathy/myocarditis, and apixaban-induced cerebral hemorrhage. The analysis of the obtained data provided interesting insights (identification of potential patient and health-care professional experiences regarding ADRs in Twitter, information/arguments against an ADR existence across all sources), while illustrating the benefits (complementing data from multiple sources to strengthen/confirm evidence) and the underlying challenges (selecting search terms, data presentation) of exploiting heterogeneous information sources, thereby advocating the need for the proposed framework. This work contributes in establishing a continuous learning system for drug safety surveillance by exploiting heterogeneous publicly available data sources via appropriate support tools.

  13. Potentially exploitable supercritical geothermal resources in the ductile crust

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Watanabe, Noriaki; Numakura, Tatsuya; Sakaguchi, Kiyotoshi; Saishu, Hanae; Okamoto, Atsushi; Ingebritsen, Steven E.; Tsuchiya, Noriyoshi

    2017-01-01

    The hypothesis that the brittle–ductile transition (BDT) drastically reduces permeability implies that potentially exploitable geothermal resources (permeability >10−16 m2) consisting of supercritical water could occur only in rocks with unusually high transition temperatures such as basalt. However, tensile fracturing is possible even in ductile rocks, and some permeability–depth relations proposed for the continental crust show no drastic permeability reduction at the BDT. Here we present experimental results suggesting that the BDT is not the first-order control on rock permeability, and that potentially exploitable resources may occur in rocks with much lower BDT temperatures, such as the granitic rocks that comprise the bulk of the continental crust. We find that permeability behaviour for fractured granite samples at 350–500 °C under effective confining stress is characterized by a transition from a weakly stress-dependent and reversible behaviour to a strongly stress-dependent and irreversible behaviour at a specific, temperature-dependent effective confining stress level. This transition is induced by onset of plastic normal deformation of the fracture surface (elastic–plastic transition) and, importantly, causes no ‘jump’ in the permeability. Empirical equations for this permeability behaviour suggest that potentially exploitable resources exceeding 450 °C may form at depths of 2–6 km even in the nominally ductile crust.

  14. The cost of being valuable: predictors of extinction risk in marine invertebrates exploited as luxury seafood.

    PubMed

    Purcell, Steven W; Polidoro, Beth A; Hamel, Jean-François; Gamboa, Ruth U; Mercier, Annie

    2014-04-22

    Extinction risk has been linked to biological and anthropogenic variables. Prediction of extinction risk in valuable fauna may not follow mainstream drivers when species are exploited for international markets. We use results from an International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List assessment of extinction risk in all 377 known species of sea cucumber within the order Aspidochirotida, many of which are exploited worldwide as luxury seafood for Asian markets. Extinction risk was primarily driven by high market value, compounded by accessibility and familiarity (well known) in the marketplace. Extinction risk in marine animals often relates closely to body size and small geographical range but our study shows a clear exception. Conservation must not lose sight of common species, especially those of high value. Greater human population density and poorer economies in the geographical ranges of endangered species illustrate that anthropogenic variables can also predict extinction risks in marine animals. Local-level regulatory measures must prevent opportunistic exploitation of high-value species. Trade agreements, for example CITES, may aid conservation but will depend on international technical support to low-income tropical countries. The high proportion of data deficient species also stresses a need for research on the ecology and population demographics of unglamorous invertebrates.

  15. Trade-off between learning and exploitation: the Pareto-optimal versus evolutionarily stable learning schedule in cumulative cultural evolution.

    PubMed

    Wakano, Joe Yuichiro; Miura, Chiaki

    2014-02-01

    Inheritance of culture is achieved by social learning and improvement is achieved by individual learning. To realize cumulative cultural evolution, social and individual learning should be performed in this order in one's life. However, it is not clear whether such a learning schedule can evolve by the maximization of individual fitness. Here we study optimal allocation of lifetime to learning and exploitation in a two-stage life history model under a constant environment. We show that the learning schedule by which high cultural level is achieved through cumulative cultural evolution is unlikely to evolve as a result of the maximization of individual fitness, if there exists a trade-off between the time spent in learning and the time spent in exploiting the knowledge that has been learned in earlier stages of one's life. Collapse of a fully developed culture is predicted by a game-theoretical analysis where individuals behave selfishly, e.g., less learning and more exploiting. The present study suggests that such factors as group selection, the ability of learning-while-working ("on the job training"), or environmental fluctuation might be important in the realization of rapid and cumulative cultural evolution that is observed in humans. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Role of social interactions in dynamic patterns of resource patches and forager aggregation.

    PubMed

    Tania, Nessy; Vanderlei, Ben; Heath, Joel P; Edelstein-Keshet, Leah

    2012-07-10

    The dynamics of resource patches and species that exploit such patches are of interest to ecologists, conservation biologists, modelers, and mathematicians. Here we consider how social interactions can create unique, evolving patterns in space and time. Whereas simple prey taxis (with consumable prey) promotes spatial uniform distributions, here we show that taxis in producer-scrounger groups can lead to pattern formation. We consider two types of foragers: those that search directly ("producers") and those that exploit other foragers to find food ("scroungers" or exploiters). We show that such groups can sustain fluctuating spatiotemporal patterns, akin to "waves of pursuit." Investigating the relative benefits to the individuals, we observed conditions under which either strategy leads to enhanced success, defined as net food consumption. Foragers that search for food directly have an advantage when food patches are localized. Those that seek aggregations of group mates do better when their ability to track group mates exceeds the foragers' food-sensing acuity. When behavioral switching or reproductive success of the strategies is included, the relative abundance of foragers and exploiters is dynamic over time, in contrast with classic models that predict stable frequencies. Our work shows the importance of considering two-way interaction--i.e., how food distribution both influences and is influenced by social foraging and aggregation of predators.

  17. Block sparsity-based joint compressed sensing recovery of multi-channel ECG signals.

    PubMed

    Singh, Anurag; Dandapat, Samarendra

    2017-04-01

    In recent years, compressed sensing (CS) has emerged as an effective alternative to conventional wavelet based data compression techniques. This is due to its simple and energy-efficient data reduction procedure, which makes it suitable for resource-constrained wireless body area network (WBAN)-enabled electrocardiogram (ECG) telemonitoring applications. Both spatial and temporal correlations exist simultaneously in multi-channel ECG (MECG) signals. Exploitation of both types of correlations is very important in CS-based ECG telemonitoring systems for better performance. However, most of the existing CS-based works exploit either of the correlations, which results in a suboptimal performance. In this work, within a CS framework, the authors propose to exploit both types of correlations simultaneously using a sparse Bayesian learning-based approach. A spatiotemporal sparse model is employed for joint compression/reconstruction of MECG signals. Discrete wavelets transform domain block sparsity of MECG signals is exploited for simultaneous reconstruction of all the channels. Performance evaluations using Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt MECG diagnostic database show a significant gain in the diagnostic reconstruction quality of the MECG signals compared with the state-of-the art techniques at reduced number of measurements. Low measurement requirement may lead to significant savings in the energy-cost of the existing CS-based WBAN systems.

  18. Dissemination and exploitation - how to stand out in the information jungle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Walter, Sylvia

    2017-04-01

    EU projects are aiming on research and innovation, fostering competitiveness and growth. For the EU it is therefore essential to convert the public investment into socio-economic benefits for the society, i.e. economy and citizens. This is reflected in the obligation of participants to exploit and disseminate the outcome of their projects, which means to use and communicate results and multiply the benefit of investments. But how to do this efficiently and effectively in a world, which is more and more overloaded with information? Which audiences should be addressed and how to reach them? How to disseminate to an audience, which is "not in the field" of the research subject? And even more important: How to exploit the outcome of your project? H2020 work programmes explicitly specify that a draft "Plan for Exploitation and Dissemination of Results" should be included in a proposal, which force participants to think about presentation and use of results before they have them and to ensure that a project will benefit right from the beginning. This presentation will deal with the challenge of being visible as a consortium and the problem of having clear-sighted visions of how to spread and use results before the results have been achieved.

  19. An Analysis of CNO Availability Performance Metrics and Their Relation to Availability Performance

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-06-01

    burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching...2. Decide how to exploit the constraint. 3. Subordinate everything else to the above decision. 4 . Restructure the system to exploit the system’s...15 work items. 4 . Significance of WIP Management Along with the production bow wave, WIP is actively managed but not directly controlled like

  20. Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary. House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, First Session on H.R. 3062 and Related Bills. (June 16, 1983). Serial No. 138.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Committee on the Judiciary.

    This document presents the transcripts of the Congressional hearing on the protection of children against sexual exploitation. Opening statements from Subcommittee Chairman William J. Hughes and from Representative Lawrence J. Smith are presented. Testimony and prepared statements from seven witnesses are provided, including Congressional…

  1. Concepts, Problems and Opportunities for Use of Annihilation Energy: An annotated Briefing on Near-Term RDT&E to Assess Feasibility,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-06-01

    released when matter and antimatter annihilate. It reviews some of the funiamental ’lifficulties in producing antimatter and moans for storing it. If...summer of 1983 Rand examined the possibilities for exploiting the high energy release resulting from matter -antimatter annihilation. The resultant...several issues inherent in exploiting the energy released when matter and antimatter annihilate. Some of the fundamental difficulties in producing

  2. Exploiting Lexical Regularities in Designing Natural Language Systems.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1988-04-01

    ELEMENT. PROJECT. TASKN Artificial Inteligence Laboratory A1A4WR NTumet 0) 545 Technology Square Cambridge, MA 02139 Ln *t- CONTROLLING OFFICE NAME AND...RO-RI95 922 EXPLOITING LEXICAL REGULARITIES IN DESIGNING NATURAL 1/1 LANGUAGE SYSTENS(U) MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE...oes.ary and ftdou.Ip hr Nl wow" L,2This paper presents the lexical component of the START Question Answering system developed at the MIT Artificial

  3. The role of precise time in IFF

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bridge, W. M.

    1982-01-01

    The application of precise time to the identification of friend or foe (IFF) problem is discussed. The simple concept of knowing when to expect each signal is exploited in a variety of ways to achieve an IFF system which is hard to detect, minimally exploitable and difficult to jam. Precise clocks are the backbone of the concept and the various candidates for this role are discussed. The compact rubidium-controlled oscillator is the only practical candidate.

  4. Exploiting the acylating nature of the imide-Ugi intermediate: a straightforward synthesis of tetrahydro-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones.

    PubMed

    Mossetti, Riccardo; Saggiorato, Dèsirèe; Tron, Gian Cesare

    2011-12-16

    We describe a simple and novel protocol for the synthesis of tetrahydro-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones with three points of diversity, exploiting the acylating properties of the recently rediscovered Ugi-imide. The final compounds can be easily prepared in three synthetic steps using a multicomponent reaction, a Staudinger reduction, and an acylative protocol, with good to excellent yields for each synthetic step.

  5. China Report, Economic Affairs

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-01-26

    Revenue, Expenditures 83 ENERGY Briefs Tianjin Methane Pits 84 - c - MINERAL RESOURCES PRC Journal on Stepping Up Exploitation of Mines (Li Peilin ...Huayun, Zhan Jingwu, Yao Xia, Lin Yinghai, Hou Zhiying, Song [name indis- tinct], Li Baoguang, Zhang Shude, Hu Tingji, and Hao Fuhong attended the...10, 5 Oct 84 pp 4-6 [Article by Li Peilin [621 3099 2651]: "A Probe into the Policy of Stepping Up the Exploitation of Mines"] [Text] Recently

  6. Balancing Information Analysis and Decision Value: A Model to Exploit the Decision Process

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-12-01

    technical intelli- gence e.g. signals and sensors (SIGINT and MASINT), imagery (!MINT), as well and human and open source intelligence (HUMINT and OSINT ...Clark 2006). The ability to capture large amounts of da- ta and the plenitude of modem intelligence information sources provides a rich cache of...many tech- niques for managing information collected and derived from these sources , the exploitation of intelligence assets for decision-making

  7. Polarimetric Intensity Parameterization of Radar and Other Remote Sensing Sources for Advanced Exploitation and Data Fusion: Theory

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-10-01

    is theoretically similar to the concept of “partial or compact polarimetry”, yields comparable results to full or quadrature-polarized systems by...to the emerging “compact polarimetry” methodology [9]-[13] that exploits scattering system response to an incomplete set of input EM field components...a scattering operator or matrix. Although as theoretically discussed earlier, performance of such fully-polarized radar system (i.e., quadrature

  8. Combating Sex Trafficking: The Strategies of the United States and United Kingdom

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-03-01

    transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not involve any...of the means set forth in subparagraph ( a ) of this article; ( d ) “ Child ” shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.86 Therefore...industry, such as Prostitution Research and Education, Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE), Stop Porn Culture, and the Coalition Against

  9. MQW Optical Feedback Modulators And Phase Shifters

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jackson, Deborah J.

    1995-01-01

    Laser diodes equipped with proposed multiple-quantum-well (MQW) optical feedback modulators prove useful in variety of analog and digital optical-communication applications, including fiber-optic signal-distribution networks and high-speed, low-crosstalk interconnections among super computers or very-high-speed integrated circuits. Development exploits accompanying electro-optical aspect of QCSE - variation in index of refraction with applied electric field. Also exploits sensitivity of laser diodes to optical feedback. Approach is reverse of prior approach.

  10. Surfing biological surfaces: exploiting the nucleoid for partition and transport in bacteria.

    PubMed

    Vecchiarelli, Anthony G; Mizuuchi, Kiyoshi; Funnell, Barbara E

    2012-11-01

    The ParA family of ATPases is responsible for transporting bacterial chromosomes, plasmids and large protein machineries. ParAs pattern the nucleoid in vivo, but how patterning functions or is exploited in transport is of considerable debate. Here we discuss the process of self-organization into patterns on the bacterial nucleoid and explore how it relates to the molecular mechanism of ParA action. We review ParA-mediated DNA partition as a general mechanism of how ATP-driven protein gradients on biological surfaces can result in spatial organization on a mesoscale. We also discuss how the nucleoid acts as a formidable diffusion barrier for large bodies in the cell, and make the case that the ParA family evolved to overcome the barrier by exploiting the nucleoid as a matrix for movement. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  11. Exploiting endogenous fibrocartilage stem cells to regenerate cartilage and repair joint injury

    PubMed Central

    Embree, Mildred C.; Chen, Mo; Pylawka, Serhiy; Kong, Danielle; Iwaoka, George M.; Kalajzic, Ivo; Yao, Hai; Shi, Chancheng; Sun, Dongming; Sheu, Tzong-Jen; Koslovsky, David A.; Koch, Alia; Mao, Jeremy J.

    2016-01-01

    Tissue regeneration using stem cell-based transplantation faces many hurdles. Alternatively, therapeutically exploiting endogenous stem cells to regenerate injured or diseased tissue may circumvent these challenges. Here we show resident fibrocartilage stem cells (FCSCs) can be used to regenerate and repair cartilage. We identify FCSCs residing within the superficial zone niche in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) condyle. A single FCSC spontaneously generates a cartilage anlage, remodels into bone and organizes a haematopoietic microenvironment. Wnt signals deplete the reservoir of FCSCs and cause cartilage degeneration. We also show that intra-articular treatment with the Wnt inhibitor sclerostin sustains the FCSC pool and regenerates cartilage in a TMJ injury model. We demonstrate the promise of exploiting resident FCSCs as a regenerative therapeutic strategy to substitute cell transplantation that could be beneficial for patients suffering from fibrocartilage injury and disease. These data prompt the examination of utilizing this strategy for other musculoskeletal tissues. PMID:27721375

  12. Trafficking and contract migrant workers in the Middle East.

    PubMed

    Jureidini, Ray

    2010-01-01

    The paper addresses a number of issues regarding the extent to which trafficking may be applied to migrant domestic workers who enter under the kafala system of sponsorship in the Middle East. Migrant domestic workers are the most numerous of those mentioned in reports on trafficking for labour exploitation in the region. The discussion seeks to determine whether "trafficking" can be ex post facto, rather than ex ante? In other words, can the label of trafficking be attributed only after the worker has arrived in the receiving country and is victimized according to the principles of trafficking protocols? In addition, must there be a proven intent to traffic by agents, or can employers who harm and/or exploit them be considered as traffickers alone? Should the harm done to workers on arrival at their place of work be classified (and assisted) as victims of trafficking, or as exploited workers?

  13. Design strategies from sexual exploitation and sex work studies among women and girls: Methodological considerations in a hidden and vulnerable population.

    PubMed

    Gerassi, Lara; Edmond, Tonya; Nichols, Andrea

    2017-06-01

    The study of sex trafficking, prostitution, sex work, and sexual exploitation is associated with many methodological issues and challenges. Researchers' study designs must consider the many safety issues related to this vulnerable and hidden population. Community advisory boards and key stakeholder involvement are essential to study design to increase safety of participants, usefulness of study aims, and meaningfulness of conclusions. Nonrandomized sampling strategies are most often utilized when studying exploited women and girls, which have the capacity to provide rich data and require complex sampling and recruitment methods. This article reviews the current methodological issues when studying this marginalized population as well as strategies to address challenges while working with the community in order to bring about social change. The authors also discuss their own experiences in collaborating with community organizations to conduct research in this field.

  14. Design strategies from sexual exploitation and sex work studies among women and girls: Methodological considerations in a hidden and vulnerable population

    PubMed Central

    Gerassi, Lara; Edmond, Tonya; Nichols, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    The study of sex trafficking, prostitution, sex work, and sexual exploitation is associated with many methodological issues and challenges. Researchers’ study designs must consider the many safety issues related to this vulnerable and hidden population. Community advisory boards and key stakeholder involvement are essential to study design to increase safety of participants, usefulness of study aims, and meaningfulness of conclusions. Nonrandomized sampling strategies are most often utilized when studying exploited women and girls, which have the capacity to provide rich data and require complex sampling and recruitment methods. This article reviews the current methodological issues when studying this marginalized population as well as strategies to address challenges while working with the community in order to bring about social change. The authors also discuss their own experiences in collaborating with community organizations to conduct research in this field. PMID:28824337

  15. Increasing energy efficiency level of building production based on applying modern mechanization facilities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prokhorov, Sergey

    2017-10-01

    Building industry in a present day going through the hard times. Machine and mechanism exploitation cost, on a field of construction and installation works, takes a substantial part in total building construction expenses. There is a necessity to elaborate high efficient method, which allows not only to increase production, but also to reduce direct costs during machine fleet exploitation, and to increase its energy efficiency. In order to achieve the goal we plan to use modern methods of work production, hi-tech and energy saving machine tools and technologies, and use of optimal mechanization sets. As the optimization criteria there are exploitation prime cost and set efficiency. During actual task-solving process we made a conclusion, which shows that mechanization works, energy audit with production juxtaposition, prime prices and costs for energy resources allow to make complex machine fleet supply, improve ecological level and increase construction and installation work quality.

  16. Exploiting Non-Markovianity for Quantum Control.

    PubMed

    Reich, Daniel M; Katz, Nadav; Koch, Christiane P

    2015-07-22

    Quantum technology, exploiting entanglement and the wave nature of matter, relies on the ability to accurately control quantum systems. Quantum control is often compromised by the interaction of the system with its environment since this causes loss of amplitude and phase. However, when the dynamics of the open quantum system is non-Markovian, amplitude and phase flow not only from the system into the environment but also back. Interaction with the environment is then not necessarily detrimental. We show that the back-flow of amplitude and phase can be exploited to carry out quantum control tasks that could not be realized if the system was isolated. The control is facilitated by a few strongly coupled, sufficiently isolated environmental modes. Our paradigmatic example considers a weakly anharmonic ladder with resonant amplitude control only, restricting realizable operations to SO(N). The coupling to the environment, when harnessed with optimization techniques, allows for full SU(N) controllability.

  17. Diverting victims of commercial sexual exploitation from juvenile detention: development of the InterCSECt screening protocol.

    PubMed

    Salisbury, Emily J; Dabney, Jonathan D; Russell, Kelli

    2015-04-01

    Identifying victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the juvenile justice system is a challenging complexity requiring concerted organizational commitment. Using a three-tiered, trauma-informed screening process, a 3½-month pilot intervention was implemented in Clark County Juvenile Court (Washington) to identify victims in an effort to connect them to community youth advocates and sexual assault resources. A total of 535 boys and girls ages 9 to 19 were screened during intake; 47 of these youth reported risk factors associated with commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and were subsequently referred to community advocates. Six youth (all girls) were confirmed CSEC victims and were successfully diverted from juvenile detention. Study results suggest that despite the lack of reliable data surrounding the prevalence of CSEC, juvenile justice agencies need to become educated on the risk factors to triage victims to services. © The Author(s) 2014.

  18. Les sondages électromagnétiques temporels comme outil de reconnaissance du gisement phosphaté de Sidi Chennane (Maroc) : apport à la résolution d'un problème d'exploitation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kchikach, Azzouz; Andrieux, Pierre; Jaffal, Mohammed; Amrhar, Mostafa; Mchichi, Mohammed; Boya, Baadi; Amaghzaz, Mbarek; Veyrieras, Thierry; Iqizou, Khadija

    2006-05-01

    Exploitation of the phosphatic layers in Sidi Chennane deposit (Morocco) collides frequently with problems bound to the existence, in the phosphatic series, of sterile bodies qualified as derangements. Our study shows that these bodies, masked by the Quaternary cover can be mapped using the Time-Domain ElectroMagnetic Soundings method (TDEM). It is based on the acquisition and the interpretation of a series of tests carried out above a visible derangement in an old trench of exploitation and on 2500 TDEM soundings carried out in a virgin area of the deposit. The article concerns to the analysis of the results and of the proceeding for a possible large geophysics survey. To cite this article: A. Kchikach et al., C. R. Geoscience 338 (2006).

  19. New Enhanced Artificial Bee Colony (JA-ABC5) Algorithm with Application for Reactive Power Optimization

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    The standard artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm involves exploration and exploitation processes which need to be balanced for enhanced performance. This paper proposes a new modified ABC algorithm named JA-ABC5 to enhance convergence speed and improve the ability to reach the global optimum by balancing exploration and exploitation processes. New stages have been proposed at the earlier stages of the algorithm to increase the exploitation process. Besides that, modified mutation equations have also been introduced in the employed and onlooker-bees phases to balance the two processes. The performance of JA-ABC5 has been analyzed on 27 commonly used benchmark functions and tested to optimize the reactive power optimization problem. The performance results have clearly shown that the newly proposed algorithm has outperformed other compared algorithms in terms of convergence speed and global optimum achievement. PMID:25879054

  20. [Establishment of industry promotion technology system in Chinese medicine secondary exploitation based on "component structure theory"].

    PubMed

    Cheng, Xu-Dong; Feng, Liang; Zhang, Ming-Hua; Gu, Jun-Fei; Jia, Xiao-Bin

    2014-10-01

    The purpose of the secondary exploitation of Chinese medicine is to improve the quality of Chinese medicine products, enhance core competitiveness, for better use in clinical practice, and more effectively solve the patient suffering. Herbs, extraction, separation, refreshing, preparation and quality control are all involved in the industry promotion of Chinese medicine secondary exploitation of industrial production. The Chinese medicine quality improvement and industry promotion could be realized with the whole process of process optimization, quality control, overall processes improvement. Based on the "component structure theory", "multi-dimensional structure & process dynamic quality control system" and systematic and holistic character of Chinese medicine, impacts of whole process were discussed. Technology systems of Chinese medicine industry promotion was built to provide theoretical basis for improving the quality and efficacy of the secondary development of traditional Chinese medicine products.

  1. Optimizing Search and Ranking in Folksonomy Systems by Exploiting Context Information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abel, Fabian; Henze, Nicola; Krause, Daniel

    Tagging systems enable users to annotate resources with freely chosen keywords. The evolving bunch of tag assignments is called folksonomy and there exist already some approaches that exploit folksonomies to improve resource retrieval. In this paper, we analyze and compare graph-based ranking algorithms: FolkRank and SocialPageRank. We enhance these algorithms by exploiting the context of tags, and evaluate the results on the GroupMe! dataset. In GroupMe!, users can organize and maintain arbitrary Web resources in self-defined groups. When users annotate resources in GroupMe!, this can be interpreted in context of a certain group. The grouping activity itself is easy for users to perform. However, it delivers valuable semantic information about resources and their context. We present GRank that uses the context information to improve and optimize the detection of relevant search results, and compare different strategies for ranking result lists in folksonomy systems.

  2. New enhanced artificial bee colony (JA-ABC5) algorithm with application for reactive power optimization.

    PubMed

    Sulaiman, Noorazliza; Mohamad-Saleh, Junita; Abro, Abdul Ghani

    2015-01-01

    The standard artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm involves exploration and exploitation processes which need to be balanced for enhanced performance. This paper proposes a new modified ABC algorithm named JA-ABC5 to enhance convergence speed and improve the ability to reach the global optimum by balancing exploration and exploitation processes. New stages have been proposed at the earlier stages of the algorithm to increase the exploitation process. Besides that, modified mutation equations have also been introduced in the employed and onlooker-bees phases to balance the two processes. The performance of JA-ABC5 has been analyzed on 27 commonly used benchmark functions and tested to optimize the reactive power optimization problem. The performance results have clearly shown that the newly proposed algorithm has outperformed other compared algorithms in terms of convergence speed and global optimum achievement.

  3. A poliovirus-induced cytoplasmic membrane complex is exploited by the RNA polymerase of superinfecting Mouse Elberfeld (ME) virus.

    PubMed

    Zeichhardt, H; Habermehl, K O; Wetz, K

    1983-04-01

    The preexistence of a cytoplasmic membrane complex in HEp-2 cells, induced by poliovirus when inhibited in its reproduction by guanidine, was a prerequisite for accelerated reproduction of superinfecting Mouse Elberfeld (ME) virus. Guanidine-inhibited poliovirus induced a membrane complex of 470S that was successively modified into a faster sedimenting membrane complex (up to 700S) by superinfecting ME virus and exploited for ME virus reproduction. The modified membrane complex was the site for ME virus-specific RNA polymerization characterized by the existence of in vivo and in vitro activity of ME virus RNA polymerase associated with the modified membrane complex. Proof of membrane-bound RNA polymerase and newly synthesized ME virus RNA including replicative intermediate led to the conclusion that superinfecting ME virus exploits the 'poliovirus/guanidine'-induced complex as the site of action of its replication complex.

  4. The exploitation of data from remote and human sensors for environment monitoring in the SMAT project.

    PubMed

    Meo, Rosa; Roglia, Elena; Bottino, Andrea

    2012-12-17

    In this paper, we outline the functionalities of a system that integrates and controls a fleet of Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs). UAVs have a set of payload sensors employed for territorial surveillance, whose outputs are stored in the system and analysed by the data exploitation functions at different levels. In particular, we detail the second level data exploitation function whose aim is to improve the sensors data interpretation in the post-mission activities. It is concerned with the mosaicking of the aerial images and the cartography enrichment by human sensors--the social media users. We also describe the software architecture for the development of a mash-up (the integration of information and functionalities coming from the Web) and the possibility of using human sensors in the monitoring of the territory, a field in which, traditionally, the involved sensors were only the hardware ones.

  5. Mirror neurons and the social nature of language: the neural exploitation hypothesis.

    PubMed

    Gallese, Vittorio

    2008-01-01

    This paper discusses the relevance of the discovery of mirror neurons in monkeys and of the mirror neuron system in humans to a neuroscientific account of primates' social cognition and its evolution. It is proposed that mirror neurons and the functional mechanism they underpin, embodied simulation, can ground within a unitary neurophysiological explanatory framework important aspects of human social cognition. In particular, the main focus is on language, here conceived according to a neurophenomenological perspective, grounding meaning on the social experience of action. A neurophysiological hypothesis--the "neural exploitation hypothesis"--is introduced to explain how key aspects of human social cognition are underpinned by brain mechanisms originally evolved for sensorimotor integration. It is proposed that these mechanisms were later on adapted as new neurofunctional architecture for thought and language, while retaining their original functions as well. By neural exploitation, social cognition and language can be linked to the experiential domain of action.

  6. Liking and hyperlinking: Community detection in online child sexual exploitation networks.

    PubMed

    Westlake, Bryce G; Bouchard, Martin

    2016-09-01

    The online sexual exploitation of children is facilitated by websites that form virtual communities, via hyperlinks, to distribute images, videos, and other material. However, how these communities form, are structured, and evolve over time is unknown. Collected using a custom-designed webcrawler, we begin from known child sexual exploitation (CE) seed websites and follow hyperlinks to connected, related, websites. Using a repeated measure design we analyze 10 networks of 300 + websites each - over 4.8 million unique webpages in total, over a period of 60 weeks. Community detection techniques reveal that CE-related networks were dominated by two large communities hosting varied material -not necessarily matching the seed website. Community stability, over 60 weeks, varied across networks. Reciprocity in hyperlinking between community members was substantially higher than within the full network, however, websites were not more likely to connect to homogeneous-content websites. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. In Silico Neuro-Oncology: Brownian Motion-Based Mathematical Treatment as a Potential Platform for Modeling the Infiltration of Glioma Cells into Normal Brain Tissue.

    PubMed

    Antonopoulos, Markos; Stamatakos, Georgios

    2015-01-01

    Intensive glioma tumor infiltration into the surrounding normal brain tissues is one of the most critical causes of glioma treatment failure. To quantitatively understand and mathematically simulate this phenomenon, several diffusion-based mathematical models have appeared in the literature. The majority of them ignore the anisotropic character of diffusion of glioma cells since availability of pertinent truly exploitable tomographic imaging data is limited. Aiming at enriching the anisotropy-enhanced glioma model weaponry so as to increase the potential of exploiting available tomographic imaging data, we propose a Brownian motion-based mathematical analysis that could serve as the basis for a simulation model estimating the infiltration of glioblastoma cells into the surrounding brain tissue. The analysis is based on clinical observations and exploits diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data. Numerical simulations and suggestions for further elaboration are provided.

  8. Applied technology for mine waste water decontamination in the uranium ores extraction from Romania

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bejenaru, C.; Filip, G.; Vacariu, V.T.

    1996-12-31

    The exploitation of uranium ores in Romania is carried out in underground mines. In all exploited uranium deposits, mine waste waters results and will still result after the closure of uranium ore extraction activity. The mine waters are radioactively contaminated with uranium and its decay products being a hazard both for underground waters as for the environment. This paper present the results of research work carried out by authors for uranium elimination from waste waters as the problems involved during the exploitation process of the existent equipment as its maintenance in good experimental conditions. The main waste water characteristics aremore » discussed: solids as suspension, uranium, radium, mineral salts, pH, etc. The moist suitable way to eliminate uranium from mine waste waters is the ion exchange process based on ion exchangers in fluidized bed. A flowsheet is given with main advantages resulted.« less

  9. Exploitation of deep-sea resources: the urgent need to understand the role of high pressure in the toxicity of chemical pollutants to deep-sea organisms.

    PubMed

    Mestre, Nélia C; Calado, Ricardo; Soares, Amadeu M V M

    2014-02-01

    The advent of industrial activities in the deep sea will inevitably expose deep-sea organisms to potentially toxic compounds. Although international regulations require environmental risk assessment prior to exploitation activities, toxicity tests remain focused on shallow-water model species. Moreover, current tests overlook potential synergies that may arise from the interaction of chemicals with natural stressors, such as the high pressures prevailing in the deep sea. As pressure affects chemical reactions and the physiology of marine organisms, it will certainly affect the toxicity of pollutants arising from the exploitation of deep-sea resources. We emphasize the need for environmental risk assessments based on information generated from ecotoxicological trials that mimic, as close as possible, the deep-sea environment, with emphasis to a key environmental factor - high hydrostatic pressure. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Exploiting Quantum Resonance to Solve Combinatorial Problems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zak, Michail; Fijany, Amir

    2006-01-01

    Quantum resonance would be exploited in a proposed quantum-computing approach to the solution of combinatorial optimization problems. In quantum computing in general, one takes advantage of the fact that an algorithm cannot be decoupled from the physical effects available to implement it. Prior approaches to quantum computing have involved exploitation of only a subset of known quantum physical effects, notably including parallelism and entanglement, but not including resonance. In the proposed approach, one would utilize the combinatorial properties of tensor-product decomposability of unitary evolution of many-particle quantum systems for physically simulating solutions to NP-complete problems (a class of problems that are intractable with respect to classical methods of computation). In this approach, reinforcement and selection of a desired solution would be executed by means of quantum resonance. Classes of NP-complete problems that are important in practice and could be solved by the proposed approach include planning, scheduling, search, and optimal design.

  11. Improving risk-stratification of Diabetes complications using temporal data mining.

    PubMed

    Sacchi, Lucia; Dagliati, Arianna; Segagni, Daniele; Leporati, Paola; Chiovato, Luca; Bellazzi, Riccardo

    2015-01-01

    To understand which factor trigger worsened disease control is a crucial step in Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) patient management. The MOSAIC project, funded by the European Commission under the FP7 program, has been designed to integrate heterogeneous data sources and provide decision support in chronic T2D management through patients' continuous stratification. In this work we show how temporal data mining can be fruitfully exploited to improve risk stratification. In particular, we exploit administrative data on drug purchases to divide patients in meaningful groups. The detection of drug consumption patterns allows stratifying the population on the basis of subjects' purchasing attitude. Merging these findings with clinical values indicates the relevance of the applied methods while showing significant differences in the identified groups. This extensive approach emphasized the exploitation of administrative data to identify patterns able to explain clinical conditions.

  12. Fluency heuristic: a model of how the mind exploits a by-product of information retrieval.

    PubMed

    Hertwig, Ralph; Herzog, Stefan M; Schooler, Lael J; Reimer, Torsten

    2008-09-01

    Boundedly rational heuristics for inference can be surprisingly accurate and frugal for several reasons. They can exploit environmental structures, co-opt complex capacities, and elude effortful search by exploiting information that automatically arrives on the mental stage. The fluency heuristic is a prime example of a heuristic that makes the most of an automatic by-product of retrieval from memory, namely, retrieval fluency. In 4 experiments, the authors show that retrieval fluency can be a proxy for real-world quantities, that people can discriminate between two objects' retrieval fluencies, and that people's inferences are in line with the fluency heuristic (in particular fast inferences) and with experimentally manipulated fluency. The authors conclude that the fluency heuristic may be one tool in the mind's repertoire of strategies that artfully probes memory for encapsulated frequency information that can veridically reflect statistical regularities in the world. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

  13. Network exploitation using WAMI tracks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rimey, Ray; Record, Jim; Keefe, Dan; Kennedy, Levi; Cramer, Chris

    2011-06-01

    Creating and exploiting network models from wide area motion imagery (WAMI) is an important task for intelligence analysis. Tracks of entities observed moving in the WAMI sensor data are extracted, then large numbers of tracks are studied over long time intervals to determine specific locations that are visited (e.g., buildings in an urban environment), what locations are related to other locations, and the function of each location. This paper describes several parts of the network detection/exploitation problem, and summarizes a solution technique for each: (a) Detecting nodes; (b) Detecting links between known nodes; (c) Node attributes to characterize a node; (d) Link attributes to characterize each link; (e) Link structure inferred from node attributes and vice versa; and (f) Decomposing a detected network into smaller networks. Experimental results are presented for each solution technique, and those are used to discuss issues for each problem part and its solution technique.

  14. The role of environmental biotechnology in exploring, exploiting, monitoring, preserving, protecting and decontaminating the marine environment.

    PubMed

    Kalogerakis, Nicolas; Arff, Johanne; Banat, Ibrahim M; Broch, Ole Jacob; Daffonchio, Daniele; Edvardsen, Torgeir; Eguiraun, Harkaitz; Giuliano, Laura; Handå, Aleksander; López-de-Ipiña, Karmele; Marigomez, Ionan; Martinez, Iciar; Øie, Gunvor; Rojo, Fernando; Skjermo, Jorunn; Zanaroli, Giulio; Fava, Fabio

    2015-01-25

    In light of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the EU Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, environmental biotechnology could make significant contributions in the exploitation of marine resources and addressing key marine environmental problems. In this paper 14 propositions are presented focusing on (i) the contamination of the marine environment, and more particularly how to optimize the use of biotechnology-related tools and strategies for predicting and monitoring contamination and developing mitigation measures; (ii) the exploitation of the marine biological and genetic resources to progress with the sustainable, eco-compatible use of the maritime space (issues are very diversified and include, for example, waste treatment and recycling, anti-biofouling agents; bio-plastics); (iii) environmental/marine biotechnology as a driver for a sustainable economic growth. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Exploration and Exploitation During Sequential Search

    PubMed Central

    Dam, Gregory; Körding, Konrad

    2012-01-01

    When we learn how to throw darts we adjust how we throw based on where the darts stick. Much of skill learning is computationally similar in that we learn using feedback obtained after the completion of individual actions. We can formalize such tasks as a search problem; among the set of all possible actions, find the action that leads to the highest reward. In such cases our actions have two objectives: we want to best utilize what we already know (exploitation), but we also want to learn to be more successful in the future (exploration). Here we tested how participants learn movement trajectories where feedback is provided as a monetary reward that depends on the chosen trajectory. We mathematically derived the optimal search policy for our experiment using decision theory. The search behavior of participants is well predicted by an ideal searcher model that optimally combines exploration and exploitation. PMID:21585479

  16. The Exploitation of Data from Remote and Human Sensors for Environment Monitoring in the SMAT Project

    PubMed Central

    Meo, Rosa; Roglia, Elena; Bottino, Andrea

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we outline the functionalities of a system that integrates and controls a fleet of Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs). UAVs have a set of payload sensors employed for territorial surveillance, whose outputs are stored in the system and analysed by the data exploitation functions at different levels. In particular, we detail the second level data exploitation function whose aim is to improve the sensors data interpretation in the post-mission activities. It is concerned with the mosaicking of the aerial images and the cartography enrichment by human sensors—the social media users. We also describe the software architecture for the development of a mash-up (the integration of information and functionalities coming from the Web) and the possibility of using human sensors in the monitoring of the territory, a field in which, traditionally, the involved sensors were only the hardware ones. PMID:23247415

  17. Long-range laser scanning and 3D imaging for the Gneiss quarries survey

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schenker, Filippo Luca; Spataro, Alessio; Pozzoni, Maurizio; Ambrosi, Christian; Cannata, Massimiliano; Günther, Felix; Corboud, Federico

    2016-04-01

    In Canton Ticino (Southern Switzerland), the exploitation of natural stone, mostly gneisses, is an important activity of valley's economies. Nowadays, these economic activities are menaced by (i) the exploitation costs related to geological phenomena such as fractures, faults and heterogeneous rocks that hinder the processing of the stone product, (ii) continuously changing demand because of the evolving natural stone fashion and (iii) increasing administrative limits and rules acting to protect the environment. Therefore, the sustainable development of the sector for the next decades needs new and effective strategies to regulate and plan the quarries. A fundamental step in this process is the building of a 3D geological model of the quarries to constrain the volume of commercial natural stone and the volume of waste. In this context, we conducted Terrestrial Laser Scanning surveys of the quarries in the Maggia Valley to obtain a detailed 3D topography onto which the geological units were mapped. The topographic 3D model was obtained with a long-range laser scanning Riegl VZ4000 that can measure from up to 4 km of distance with a speed of 147,000 points per second. It operates with the new V-line technology, which defines the surface relief by sensing differentiated signals (echoes), even in the presence of obstacles such as vegetation. Depending on the esthetics of the gneisses, we defined seven types of natural stones that, together with faults and joints, were mapped onto the 3D models of the exploitation sites. According to the orientation of the geological limits and structures, we projected the different rock units and fractures into the excavation front. This way, we obtained a 3D geological model from which we can quantitatively estimate the volume of the seven different natural stones (with different commercial value) and waste (with low commercial value). To verify the 3D geological models and to quantify exploited rock and waste volumes the same procedure will be repeated after ca. 6 months. Finally, these 3D geological models can be useful to (i) decrease the exploitation costs because they yield the extraction potential of quarry, (ii) become more efficient in the exploitation and more dynamic in the market because they permit better planning and (iii) decrease the waste by limiting the excavation in regions with low-quality rocks.

  18. Study of geohazards in the artisanal exploitation sites and their impacts on their surrounding areas. Cases of Mufwa and Kalimbi mines in the South Kivu province (D.R. Congo)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nshokano, Jean-Robert

    2014-05-01

    Kivu region is located in the eastern part of DR Congo. This region is in western branch of the East African Rift. In this region there is a presence of several mineral resources. It is also a sismic zone with many cases of geohazards. Very often international NGO's (Human rights, Green Peace, etc.) consider the illegal mining exploitations as the causes of conflicts and war in that region. Those illegal mining exploitations are also responsible for the insecure and inconvenient situations in the region. The DR Congo is a country with great mining vocation and remarkable geological diversity, its people has the need and the right to understand the different challenges related to geological resources. So it's up to raise the question: "What about the unsubstitutable links which put the life beings and their physical environment, what about the interest of soil and subsoil in the human subsistence and comfort?" In undertaking natural resource exploitation, extreme comfort and ultra capitalism should not blind people. They are called to preserve a nature for all and a nature for future generations. We have a common earth where we exploit all the mineral resources. It's up to everyone as human being to be aware of our responsibility regarding to the irreversible decrease of mineral resources and the constant danger of geohazards. The project'"Earth and life" essentially aims for the strengthening of efforts in geoeducation and mass geocommunication (information and sensitization) about the challenges of oil and mineral resources on one hand, and on the other hand the natural hazards in the perspective to encourage much more a sustainable development. Through fieldwork investigations (geological survey), we are going to map the artisanal exploitation sites targeted by the project. We will proceed by sensitization and mass information about different topics of geology and mineral resources issues in the region. The fieldworks will allow us to make an inventory of different geohazards in urban and rural areas. These works will be recorded in monthly reports. Informations will be disseminated through a specific program of activities (audiovisual broadcasts, monthly reports posted to internet, conferences, workshops, etc.).

  19. Remotely Effective: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, The Information Revolution in Military Affairs, and the Rise of the Drone in Southeast Asia

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-09-01

    information revolution in military affairs. A country can exploit the revolution by demonstrating proficiency in networked sensors, informationalized C2...eliminates a force’s ability to efficiently use information in the application of force. Removing any IRMA capability from an informationalized ...the way that wars are fought and won. Exploiting the revolution’s core principles enables a net-centric, informationalized force to outmaneuver and

  20. Knowledge Discovery from Growing Social Networks

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-12-24

    a trackback. We exploited the blog “Theme salon of blogs” in the site “goo” 2, where a blogger can recruit trackbacks of other bloggers by registering...using trackbacks. Thus, a piece of information can propagate from one blogger to another blogger through a trackback. We exploited the blog “Theme salon ...interesting propagation properties. The circle is a URL that corresponds to the musical baton which is a kind of telephone game on the Internet. It has the

  1. Exploiting Glide Symmetry in Planar EBG Structures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mouris, Boules A.; Quevedo-Teruel, Oscar; Thobaben, Ragnar

    2018-02-01

    Periodic structures such as electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures can be used to prevent the propagation of electromagnetic waves within a certain frequency range known as the stop band. One of the main limitations of using EBG structures at low frequencies is their relatively large size. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of using glide symmetry in planar EBG structures to reduce their size. Simulated results demonstrate that exploiting glide symmetry in EBG structures can lead to size reduction.

  2. Interconnection network architectures based on integrated orbital angular momentum emitters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Scaffardi, Mirco; Zhang, Ning; Malik, Muhammad Nouman; Lazzeri, Emma; Klitis, Charalambos; Lavery, Martin; Sorel, Marc; Bogoni, Antonella

    2018-02-01

    Novel architectures for two-layer interconnection networks based on concentric OAM emitters are presented. A scalability analysis is done in terms of devices characteristics, power budget and optical signal to noise ratio by exploiting experimentally measured parameters. The analysis shows that by exploiting optical amplifications, the proposed interconnection networks can support a number of ports higher than 100. The OAM crosstalk induced-penalty, evaluated through an experimental characterization, do not significantly affect the interconnection network performance.

  3. Photocatalytic/Magnetic Composite Particles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wu, Chang-Yu; Goswami, Yogi; Garretson, Charles; Andino, Jean; Mazyck, David

    2007-01-01

    Photocatalytic/magnetic composite particles have been invented as improved means of exploiting established methods of photocatalysis for removal of chemical and biological pollutants from air and water. The photocatalytic components of the composite particles are formulated for high levels of photocatalytic activity, while the magnetic components make it possible to control the movements of the particles through the application of magnetic fields. The combination of photocatalytic and magnetic properties can be exploited in designing improved air- and water treatment reactors.

  4. Reaching Into the Unknown: Actions, Goal Hierarchies, and Explorative Agency

    PubMed Central

    Gozli, Davood G.; Dolcini, Nevia

    2018-01-01

    Action is widely characterized as possessing a teleological dimension. The dominant way of describing goal-directed action and agency is in terms of exploitation, i.e., pursuing pre-specified goals using existing strategies. Recent theoretical developments emphasize the place of exploration, i.e., discovering new goals or acquiring new strategies. The exploitation-exploration distinction poses questions with regard to goals and agency: Should exploration, as some authors have suggested, be regarded as acting without a goal? We argue that recognizing the hierarchical nature of goals is crucial in distinguishing the two kinds of activity, because this recognition prevents the claim that exploration is goal-free, while allowing for a homogeneous account of both exploitative and explorative actions. An action typically causes relatively low-level/proximal (i.e., sensorimotor, immediate) and relatively high-level/distal (i.e., in the environment, at a wider timescale) outcomes. In exploitation, one relies on existing associations between low- and high-level states, whereas in exploration one does not have the ability or intention to control high-level/distal states. We argue that explorative action entails the capacity to exercise control within the low-level/proximal states, which enables the pursuit of indeterminate goals at the higher levels of a goal hierarchy, and the possibility of acquiring new goals and reorganization of goal hierarchies. We consider how the dominant models of agency might accommodate this capacity for explorative action. PMID:29563888

  5. Views of Swedish Commissioning Parents Relating to the Exploitation Discourse in Using Transnational Surrogacy

    PubMed Central

    Arvidsson, Anna; Johnsdotter, Sara; Essén, Birgitta

    2015-01-01

    Transnational surrogacy, when people travel abroad for reproduction with the help of a surrogate mother, is a heavily debated phenomenon. One of the most salient discourses on surrogacy is the one affirming that Westerners, in their quest for having a child, exploit poor women in countries such as India. As surrogacy within the Swedish health care system is not permitted, Swedish commissioning parents have used transnational surrogacy, and the majority has turned to India. This interview study aimed to explore how commissioning parents negotiate the present discourses on surrogacy. Findings from the study suggest that the commissioning parents’ views on using surrogacy are influenced by competing discourses on surrogacy represented by media and surrogacy agencies. The use of this reproductive method resulted, then, in some ambiguity. Although commissioning parents defy the exploitation discourse by referring to what they have learnt about the surrogate mother’s life situation and by pointing at the significant benefits for her, they still had a request for regulation of surrogacy in Sweden, to better protect all parties involved. This study, then, gives a complex view on surrogacy, where the commissioning parents simultaneously argue against the exploitation discourse but at the same time are uncertain if the surrogate mothers are well protected in the surrogacy arrangements. Their responses to the situation endorse the need for regulation both in Sweden and India. PMID:25955178

  6. Views of Swedish commissioning parents relating to the exploitation discourse in using transnational surrogacy.

    PubMed

    Arvidsson, Anna; Johnsdotter, Sara; Essén, Birgitta

    2015-01-01

    Transnational surrogacy, when people travel abroad for reproduction with the help of a surrogate mother, is a heavily debated phenomenon. One of the most salient discourses on surrogacy is the one affirming that Westerners, in their quest for having a child, exploit poor women in countries such as India. As surrogacy within the Swedish health care system is not permitted, Swedish commissioning parents have used transnational surrogacy, and the majority has turned to India. This interview study aimed to explore how commissioning parents negotiate the present discourses on surrogacy. Findings from the study suggest that the commissioning parents' views on using surrogacy are influenced by competing discourses on surrogacy represented by media and surrogacy agencies. The use of this reproductive method resulted, then, in some ambiguity. Although commissioning parents defy the exploitation discourse by referring to what they have learnt about the surrogate mother's life situation and by pointing at the significant benefits for her, they still had a request for regulation of surrogacy in Sweden, to better protect all parties involved. This study, then, gives a complex view on surrogacy, where the commissioning parents simultaneously argue against the exploitation discourse but at the same time are uncertain if the surrogate mothers are well protected in the surrogacy arrangements. Their responses to the situation endorse the need for regulation both in Sweden and India.

  7. Characterizing the interaction of groundwater and surface water in the karst aquifer of Fangshan, Beijing (China)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chu, Haibo; Wei, Jiahua; Wang, Rong; Xin, Baodong

    2017-03-01

    Correct understanding of groundwater/surface-water (GW-SW) interaction in karst systems is of greatest importance for managing the water resources. A typical karst region, Fangshan in northern China, was selected as a case study. Groundwater levels and hydrochemistry analyses, together with isotope data based on hydrogeological field investigations, were used to assess the GW-SW interaction. Chemistry data reveal that water type and the concentration of cations in the groundwater are consistent with those of the surface water. Stable isotope ratios of all samples are close to the local meteoric water line, and the 3H concentrations of surface water and groundwater samples are close to that of rainfall, so isotopes also confirm that karst groundwater is recharged by rainfall. Cross-correlation analysis reveals that rainfall leads to a rise in groundwater level with a lag time of 2 months and groundwater exploitation leads to a fall within 1 month. Spectral analysis also reveals that groundwater level, groundwater exploitation and rainfall have significantly similar response periods, indicating their possible inter-relationship. Furthermore, a multiple nonlinear regression model indicates that groundwater level can be negatively correlated with groundwater exploitation, and positively correlated with rainfall. The overall results revealed that groundwater level has a close correlation with groundwater exploitation and rainfall, and they are indicative of a close hydraulic connection and interaction between surface water and groundwater in this karst system.

  8. Space data routers: Space networking for enhancing data exploitation for space weather applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Daglis, I.; Anastasiadis, A.; Balasis, G.; Paronis, D.; Diamantopoulos, S.

    2013-09-01

    Data sharing and access are major issues in space sciences, as they influence the degree of data exploitation. The project “Space-Data Routers” relies on space internetworking and in particular on Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN), which marks the new era in space communications, unifies space and earth communication infrastructures and delivers a set of tools and protocols for space-data exploitation. The main goal is to allow space agencies, academic institutes and research centers to share space-data generated by single or multiple missions, in an efficient, secure and automated manner. Here we are presenting the architecture and basic functionality of a DTN-based application specifically designed in the framework of the SDR project, for data query, retrieval and administration that will enable to address outstanding science questions related to space weather, by providing simultaneous real- time sampling of space plasmas from multiple points with cost-effective means and measuring of phenomena with higher resolution and better coverage. This work has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-SPACE-2010-1, SP1 Cooperation, Collaborative project) under grant agreement No 263330 (project title: Space-Data Routers for Exploiting Space Data). This presentation reflects only the authors’ views and the Union is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

  9. Sentinel-1 data exploitation for geohazard activity map generation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barra, Anna; Solari, Lorenzo; Béjar-Pizarro, Marta; Monserrat, Oriol; Herrera, Gerardo; Bianchini, Silvia; Crosetto, Michele; María Mateos, Rosa; Sarro, Roberto; Moretti, Sandro

    2017-04-01

    This work is focused on geohazard mapping and monitoring by exploiting Sentinel-1 (A and B) data and the DInSAR (Differential interferometric SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar)) techniques. Sometimes the interpretation of the DInSAR derived product (like the velocity map) can be complex, mostly for a final user who do not usually works with radar. The aim of this work is to generate, in a rapid way, a clear product to be easily exploited by the authorities in the geohazard management: intervention planning and prevention activities. Specifically, the presented methodology has been developed in the framework of the European project SAFETY, which is aimed at providing Civil Protection Authorities (CPA) with the capability of periodically evaluating and assessing the potential impact of geohazards (volcanic activity, earthquakes, landslides and subsidence) on urban areas. The methodology has three phases, the interferograms generation, the activity map generation, in terms of velocity and accumulated deformation (with time-series), and the Active Deformation Area (ADA) map generation. The last one is the final product, derived from the original activity map by analyzing the data in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment, which isolate only the true deformation areas over the noise. This product can be more easily read by the authorities than the original activity map, i.e. can be better exploited to integrate other information and analysis. This product also permit an easy monitoring of the active areas.

  10. Evolution of a designless nanoparticle network into reconfigurable Boolean logic

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bose, S. K.; Lawrence, C. P.; Liu, Z.; Makarenko, K. S.; van Damme, R. M. J.; Broersma, H. J.; van der Wiel, W. G.

    2015-12-01

    Natural computers exploit the emergent properties and massive parallelism of interconnected networks of locally active components. Evolution has resulted in systems that compute quickly and that use energy efficiently, utilizing whatever physical properties are exploitable. Man-made computers, on the other hand, are based on circuits of functional units that follow given design rules. Hence, potentially exploitable physical processes, such as capacitive crosstalk, to solve a problem are left out. Until now, designless nanoscale networks of inanimate matter that exhibit robust computational functionality had not been realized. Here we artificially evolve the electrical properties of a disordered nanomaterials system (by optimizing the values of control voltages using a genetic algorithm) to perform computational tasks reconfigurably. We exploit the rich behaviour that emerges from interconnected metal nanoparticles, which act as strongly nonlinear single-electron transistors, and find that this nanoscale architecture can be configured in situ into any Boolean logic gate. This universal, reconfigurable gate would require about ten transistors in a conventional circuit. Our system meets the criteria for the physical realization of (cellular) neural networks: universality (arbitrary Boolean functions), compactness, robustness and evolvability, which implies scalability to perform more advanced tasks. Our evolutionary approach works around device-to-device variations and the accompanying uncertainties in performance. Moreover, it bears a great potential for more energy-efficient computation, and for solving problems that are very hard to tackle in conventional architectures.

  11. Effects of consumption-oriented versus trophy-oriented fisheries on Muskellunge population size structure in northern Wisconsin

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Faust, Matthew D.; Hansen, Michael J.

    2016-01-01

    To determine whether a consumption-oriented fishery was compatible with a trophy-oriented fishery for Muskellunge Esox masquinongy, we modeled effects of a spearing fishery and recreational angling fishery on population size structure (i.e., numbers of fish ≥ 102, 114, and 127 cm) in northern Wisconsin. An individual-based simulation model was used to quantify the effect of harvest mortality at currently observed levels of recreational angling and tribal spearing fishery exploitation, along with simulated increases in exploitation, for three typical growth potentials (i.e., low, moderate, and high) of Muskellunge in northern Wisconsin across a variety of minimum length limits (i.e., 71, 102, 114, and 127 cm). Populations with moderate to high growth potential and minimum length limits ≥ 114 cm were predicted to have lower declines in numbers of trophy Muskellunge when subjected to angling-only and mixed fisheries at observed and increased levels of exploitation, which suggested that fisheries with disparate motivations may be able to coexist under certain conditions such as restrictive length limits and low levels of exploitation. However, for most Muskellunge populations in northern Wisconsin regulated by a 102-cm minimum length limit, both angling and spearing fisheries may reduce numbers of trophy Muskellunge as larger declines were predicted across all growth potentials. Our results may be useful if Muskellunge management options in northern Wisconsin are re-examined in the future.

  12. Role of social interactions in dynamic patterns of resource patches and forager aggregation

    PubMed Central

    Tania, Nessy; Vanderlei, Ben; Heath, Joel P.; Edelstein-Keshet, Leah

    2012-01-01

    The dynamics of resource patches and species that exploit such patches are of interest to ecologists, conservation biologists, modelers, and mathematicians. Here we consider how social interactions can create unique, evolving patterns in space and time. Whereas simple prey taxis (with consumable prey) promotes spatial uniform distributions, here we show that taxis in producer–scrounger groups can lead to pattern formation. We consider two types of foragers: those that search directly (“producers”) and those that exploit other foragers to find food (“scroungers” or exploiters). We show that such groups can sustain fluctuating spatiotemporal patterns, akin to “waves of pursuit.” Investigating the relative benefits to the individuals, we observed conditions under which either strategy leads to enhanced success, defined as net food consumption. Foragers that search for food directly have an advantage when food patches are localized. Those that seek aggregations of group mates do better when their ability to track group mates exceeds the foragers’ food-sensing acuity. When behavioral switching or reproductive success of the strategies is included, the relative abundance of foragers and exploiters is dynamic over time, in contrast with classic models that predict stable frequencies. Our work shows the importance of considering two-way interaction—i.e., how food distribution both influences and is influenced by social foraging and aggregation of predators. PMID:22745167

  13. Prevalence and risk of violence and the physical, mental, and sexual health problems associated with human trafficking: systematic review.

    PubMed

    Oram, Siân; Stöckl, Heidi; Busza, Joanna; Howard, Louise M; Zimmerman, Cathy

    2012-01-01

    There is very limited evidence on the health consequences of human trafficking. This systematic review reports on studies investigating the prevalence and risk of violence while trafficked and the prevalence and risk of physical, mental, and sexual health problems, including HIV, among trafficked people. We conducted a systematic review comprising a search of Medline, PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Web of Science, hand searches of reference lists of included articles, citation tracking, and expert recommendations. We included peer-reviewed papers reporting on the prevalence or risk of violence while trafficked and/or on the prevalence or risk of any measure of physical, mental, or sexual health among trafficked people. Two reviewers independently screened papers for eligibility and appraised the quality of included studies. The search identified 19 eligible studies, all of which reported on trafficked women and girls only and focused primarily on trafficking for sexual exploitation. The review suggests a high prevalence of violence and of mental distress among women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation. The random effects pooled prevalence of diagnosed HIV was 31.9% (95% CI 21.3%-42.4%) in studies of women accessing post-trafficking support in India and Nepal, but the estimate was associated with high heterogeneity (I² = 83.7%). Infection prevalence may be related as much to prevalence rates in women's areas of origin or exploitation as to the characteristics of their experience. Findings are limited by the methodological weaknesses of primary studies and their poor comparability and generalisability. Although limited, existing evidence suggests that trafficking for sexual exploitation is associated with violence and a range of serious health problems. Further research is needed on the health of trafficked men, individuals trafficked for other forms of exploitation, and effective health intervention approaches.

  14. A fish is not a fish: patterns in fatty acid composition of aquatic food may have had implications for hominin evolution.

    PubMed

    Joordens, Josephine C A; Kuipers, Remko S; Wanink, Jan H; Muskiet, Frits A J

    2014-12-01

    From c. 2 Ma (millions of years ago) onwards, hominin brain size and cognition increased in an unprecedented fashion. The exploitation of high-quality food resources, notably from aquatic ecosystems, may have been a facilitator or driver of this phenomenon. The aim of this study is to contribute to the ongoing debate on the possible role of aquatic resources in hominin evolution by providing a more detailed nutritional context. So far, the debate has focused on the relative importance of terrestrial versus aquatic resources while no distinction has been made between different types of aquatic resources. Here we show that Indian Ocean reef fish and eastern African lake fish yield on average similarly high amounts of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and arachidonic acid (AA). Hence a shift from exploiting tropical marine to freshwater ecosystems (or vice versa) would entail no material difference in dietary long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC-PUFA) availability. However, a shift to marine ecosystems would likely mean a major increase in access to brain-selective micronutrients such as iodine. Fatty fish from marine temperate/cold waters yield twice as much DHA and four times as much EPA as tropical fish, demonstrating that a latitudinal shift in exploitation of African coastal ecosystems could constitute a significant difference in LC-PUFA availability with possible implications for brain development and functioning. We conclude that exploitation of aquatic food resources could have facilitated the initial moderate hominin brain increase as observed in fossils dated to c. 2 Ma, but not the exceptional brain increase in later stages of hominin evolution. We propose that the significant expansion in hominin brain size and cognition later on may have been aided by strong directional selecting forces such as runaway sexual selection of intelligence, and nutritionally supported by exploitation of high-quality food resources in stable and productive aquatic ecosystems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Prevalence and Risk of Violence and the Physical, Mental, and Sexual Health Problems Associated with Human Trafficking: Systematic Review

    PubMed Central

    Oram, Siân; Stöckl, Heidi; Busza, Joanna; Howard, Louise M.; Zimmerman, Cathy

    2012-01-01

    Background There is very limited evidence on the health consequences of human trafficking. This systematic review reports on studies investigating the prevalence and risk of violence while trafficked and the prevalence and risk of physical, mental, and sexual health problems, including HIV, among trafficked people. Methods and Findings We conducted a systematic review comprising a search of Medline, PubMed, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Web of Science, hand searches of reference lists of included articles, citation tracking, and expert recommendations. We included peer-reviewed papers reporting on the prevalence or risk of violence while trafficked and/or on the prevalence or risk of any measure of physical, mental, or sexual health among trafficked people. Two reviewers independently screened papers for eligibility and appraised the quality of included studies. The search identified 19 eligible studies, all of which reported on trafficked women and girls only and focused primarily on trafficking for sexual exploitation. The review suggests a high prevalence of violence and of mental distress among women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation. The random effects pooled prevalence of diagnosed HIV was 31.9% (95% CI 21.3%–42.4%) in studies of women accessing post-trafficking support in India and Nepal, but the estimate was associated with high heterogeneity (I 2 = 83.7%). Infection prevalence may be related as much to prevalence rates in women's areas of origin or exploitation as to the characteristics of their experience. Findings are limited by the methodological weaknesses of primary studies and their poor comparability and generalisability. Conclusions Although limited, existing evidence suggests that trafficking for sexual exploitation is associated with violence and a range of serious health problems. Further research is needed on the health of trafficked men, individuals trafficked for other forms of exploitation, and effective health intervention approaches. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary PMID:22666182

  16. Exploiting OSPaN (Optical Solar Patrol Network) Data to Understand Large-Scale Solar Eruptions Impacting Space Weather

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-12-28

    shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number...by CMEs; (2) the angular orientation of newly emerged magnetic flux on the solar surface relative to stable filaments plays a role in how rapidly the...potential of exploiting ISOON observations to increase our understanding of solar eruptions, a requirement for improved prediction and mitigation of space

  17. Exploiting the oxidizing capabilities of laccases exploiting the oxidizing capabilities of laccases for sustainable chemistry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cannatelli, Mark D.

    Part one of this dissertation research has focused on harnessing the ability of laccases to generate reactive para-quinones in situ from the corresponding hydroquinones, followed by reaction with a variety of nucleophiles to perform novel carbon-carbon, carbon-nitrogen, and carbon-sulfur bond forming reactions for the synthesis of new and existing compounds. In part two of this dissertation, the fundamental laccase-catalyzed coupling chemistry developed in part one was applied to functionalize the surface of kraft lignin.

  18. Polysilicon for everything?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ward, M. C. L.; McNie, Mark E.; Bunyan, Robert J.; King, David O.; Carline, Roger T.; Wilson, Rebecca; Gillham, J. P.

    1998-09-01

    We review some of the attractive attributes of microengineering and relate them to features of the highly successful silicon microelectronics industry. We highlight the need for cost effective functionality rather than ultimate performance as a driver for success and review key examples of polysilicon devices from this point of view. The effective exploitation of the data generated by the cost effective polysilicon sensors is also considered and we conclude that `non traditional' data analysis will need to be exploited if full use is to be made of polysilicon devices.

  19. Formation of Neogenic Ores on the Dump-Heaps of Old Uranium Mines and on the Mine-Head of Mines under Exploitation; FORMATION DE MINERAUX NEOGENES SUR LES HALDES D'ANCIENNES MINES D'URANIUM ET SUR LE CARREAU DES MINES EN EXPLOITATION

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chervet, J.

    1960-01-01

    The major degradations suffered by primary and secondary uranium ores under the weathering action of air and water are assessed. Pyritic ores were found to be the most vunerable. The interactions between pynite oxidation products and urantferous compounds often lead to the formation of neogentc ores. (C.J.G.)

  20. Automated Software Vulnerability Analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sezer, Emre C.; Kil, Chongkyung; Ning, Peng

    Despite decades of research, software continues to have vulnerabilities. Successful exploitations of these vulnerabilities by attackers cost millions of dollars to businesses and individuals. Unfortunately, most effective defensive measures, such as patching and intrusion prevention systems, require an intimate knowledge of the vulnerabilities. Many systems for detecting attacks have been proposed. However, the analysis of the exploited vulnerabilities is left to security experts and programmers. Both the human effortinvolved and the slow analysis process are unfavorable for timely defensive measure to be deployed. The problem is exacerbated by zero-day attacks.

  1. Biological research on a Space Station

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Krikorian, A. D.; Johnson, Catherine C.

    1990-01-01

    A Space Station can provide reliable, long duration access to ug environments for basic and applied biological research. The uniqueness of access to near-weightless environments to probe fundamental questions of significance to gravitational and Space biologists can be exploited from many vantage points. Access to centrifuge facilities that can provide 1 g and hypo-g controls will permit identification of gravity-dependent or primary effects. Understanding secondary effects of the ug environment as well will allow a fuller exploitation of the Space environment.

  2. Report of Workshop on Methodology for Evaluating Potential Lunar Resources Sites

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Williams, R. J.; Hubbard, N.

    1981-01-01

    The type and quantity of lunar materials needed to support a space power satellite program was used to define the type and quality of geological information required to certify a site for exploitation. The existing geological, geochemical, and geophysical data are summarized. The difference between these data and the required data for exploitation is used to define program requirements. Most of these requirements involve linear extensions of existing capabilities, fuller utilization of existing data, or expanded use of automated systems.

  3. A Contemporary Challenge to State Sovereignty: Gangs and Other Illicit Transnational Criminal Organizations in Central America, El Salvador, Mexico, Jamaica, and Brazil

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-12-01

    Criminal values are derived from norms based on slave holding, sexual activity with minors and their exploitation in prostitution, the farming of humans...values from norms based on slave holding, sexual activity with minors and their exploitation in prostitution, the “farming” of humans for body...de Cocaina, abuso de drogas (Coca Paste and Cocaine: The Abuse of Drugs), Lima: CEDRO, 1990, pp. 301-321; Stephen E. Flynn, The Transnational Drug

  4. Exploitation of Unintentional Ethernet Cable Emissions Using Constellation Based-Distinct Native Attribute (CB-DNA) Fingerprints to Enhance Network Security

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-09-17

    Exploitation of Unintentional Information Leakage from Inte- grated Circuits”. Ph.D. dissertation, ECE, AFIT, Wright- Patt AFB, OH, 2011. 16. Cobb, W. E...Ph.D. dissertation, ECE, AFIT, Wright- Patt AFB, OH, 2014. 48. Ramsey, B. W., Temple, M. A., and Mullins, B. E. PHY Foundation for Multi-Factor...dissertation, ECE, AFIT, Wright- Patt AFB, OH, 2012. 132 51. Reising, D. R., Temple, M. A., and Oxley, M. E. Gabor-Based RF-DNA Fingerprinting for

  5. Entropy Viscosity and L1-based Approximations of PDEs: Exploiting Sparsity

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-10-23

    AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2015-0337 Entropy Viscosity and L1-based Approximations of PDEs: Exploiting Sparsity Jean-Luc Guermond TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY 750...REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 09-05-2015 2. REPORT TYPE Final report 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 01-07-2012 - 30-06-2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Entropy ...conservation equations can be stabilized by using the so-called entropy viscosity method and we proposed to to investigate this new technique. We

  6. Visualisation of urban airborne laser scanning data with occlusion images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hinks, Tommy; Carr, Hamish; Gharibi, Hamid; Laefer, Debra F.

    2015-06-01

    Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) was introduced to provide rapid, high resolution scans of landforms for computational processing. More recently, ALS has been adapted for scanning urban areas. The greater complexity of urban scenes necessitates the development of novel methods to exploit urban ALS to best advantage. This paper presents occlusion images: a novel technique that exploits the geometric complexity of the urban environment to improve visualisation of small details for better feature recognition. The algorithm is based on an inversion of traditional occlusion techniques.

  7. Archeological Test Excavations at the Proposed Dry Boat Storage Facility and Archeological Survey of the Neal Road Extension Corridor, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1991-11-19

    economy with a primary emphasis on the exploitation of now extinct megafauna (Gardner 1974, Goodyear et al. 1979, Martin and Klein 1984). Evidence...associated with the rapidly changing Early Holocene environments and animal populations. While exploitation of megafauna during the Early Paleoindian Period...cash- crop economy resulted in the abandonment of old fields once they were depleted of their nutrients and the clearing of new fields. Eventually

  8. Adaptive Sensing and Fusion of Multi-Sensor Data and Historical Information

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-11-06

    integrate MTL and semi-supervised learning into a single framework , thereby exploiting two forms of contextual information. A key new objective of the...this report we integrate MTL and semi-supervised learning into a single framework , thereby exploiting two forms of contextual information. A key new...process [8], denoted as X ∼ BeP (B), where B is a measure on Ω. If B is continuous, X is a Poisson process with intensity B and can be constructed as X = N

  9. On the Exploitation of Sensitivity Derivatives for Improving Sampling Methods

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cao, Yanzhao; Hussaini, M. Yousuff; Zang, Thomas A.

    2003-01-01

    Many application codes, such as finite-element structural analyses and computational fluid dynamics codes, are capable of producing many sensitivity derivatives at a small fraction of the cost of the underlying analysis. This paper describes a simple variance reduction method that exploits such inexpensive sensitivity derivatives to increase the accuracy of sampling methods. Three examples, including a finite-element structural analysis of an aircraft wing, are provided that illustrate an order of magnitude improvement in accuracy for both Monte Carlo and stratified sampling schemes.

  10. Diffusion-Cooled Tantalum Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Skalare, Anders; McGrath, William; Bumble, Bruce; LeDuc, Henry

    2004-01-01

    A batch of experimental diffusion-cooled hot-electron bolometers (HEBs), suitable for use as mixers having input frequencies in the terahertz range and output frequencies up to about a gigahertz, exploit the superconducting/normal-conducting transition in a thin strip of tantalum. The design and operation of these HEB mixers are based on mostly the same principles as those of a prior HEB mixer that exploited the superconducting/normal- conducting transition in a thin strip of niobium and that was described elsewhere.

  11. Tailoring the Nanoporous Architecture of Hydrogels to Exploit Entropic Trapping

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shi, Nan; Ugaz, Victor M.

    2010-09-01

    Macromolecules embedded in a nanoporous matrix display anomalous transport behavior in the entropic trapping regime. But these phenomena have not been widely explored in hydrogel matrices because it has not been clear how to link them to the underlying heterogeneous nanopore morphology. Here we introduce a theoretical model that establishes this connection and describe microchip DNA electrophoresis experiments that demonstrate how entropic trapping effects can be exploited to yield a trend of increasing resolving power with DNA size (the opposite of what is conventionally observed).

  12. Absolute calibration of a charge-coupled device camera with twin beams

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Meda, A.; Ruo-Berchera, I., E-mail: i.ruoberchera@inrim.it; Degiovanni, I. P.

    2014-09-08

    We report on the absolute calibration of a Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) camera by exploiting quantum correlation. This method exploits a certain number of spatial pairwise quantum correlated modes produced by spontaneous parametric-down-conversion. We develop a measurement model accounting for all the uncertainty contributions, and we reach the relative uncertainty of 0.3% in low photon flux regime. This represents a significant step forward for the characterization of (scientific) CCDs used in mesoscopic light regime.

  13. Exploitation of Runaways. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Children, Family, Drugs and Alcoholism of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources. United States Senate, Ninety-Ninth Congress, First Session on Examining Alternative Ways to Serve Runaway and Homeless Youths (October 1, 1985).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.

    This document contains testimonies from witnesses and prepared statements from the Congressional hearing called to examine the exploitation of runaway children and adolescents. Opening statements are included from Senators Hawkins, Dodd, and Grassley which briefly describe runaway statistics, the dangers faced by runaways, and efforts to help…

  14. Data Sources for Biosurveillance

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Walters, Ronald A.; Harlan, MS, Pete A.; Nelson, Noele P.

    2010-03-01

    Biosurveillance analyzes timely data, often fusing time series of many different types of data, to infer the status of public health rather than solely exploiting data having diagnostic specificity. Integrated biosurveillance requires a synthesis of analytic approaches derived from the natural disaster, public health, medical, meteorological, and social science communities, among others, and it is the cornerstone of early disease detection. This paper summarizes major systems dedicated to such an endeavor and emphasizes system capabilities that if creatively exploited could contribute to creation of an effective global biosurveillance enterprise.

  15. Intelligence, Surveillance, And Reconnaissance Processing, Exploitation, And Dissemination System In Support Of Global Strike In 2035

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2012-02-15

    ways is the human brain. If the US could design its Processing, Exploitation, and Dissemination (PED) architecture to function similarly to the human...is that a lot of training is required before it starts to “think” in a useful fashion. What the PED system needs is a way to jump start this...Cross-network connectivity Once the PED is using identical standards and operating on two networks at different classification levels, install a

  16. From One Girl to 'Three Girls': The Importance of Separating Agency from Blame (and Harm from Wrongfulness) in Narratives of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Woodiwiss, Jo

    2018-01-01

    In May 2012, nine men from Rochdale were convicted and jailed for grooming girls with alcohol, drugs and gifts before forcing them to have sex with multiple men. Following the case in Rochdale similar cases of grooming and sexual abuse/exploitation of young girls came to light in various towns and cities across the UK. In 2017, the BBC aired the…

  17. The ESA Geohazard Exploitation Platform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bally, Philippe; Laur, Henri; Mathieu, Pierre-Philippe; Pinto, Salvatore

    2015-04-01

    Earthquakes represent one of the world's most significant hazards in terms both of loss of life and damages. In the first decade of the 21st century, earthquakes accounted for 60 percent of fatalities from natural disasters, according to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). To support mitigation activities designed to assess and reduce risks and improve response in emergency situations, satellite EO can be used to provide a broad range of geo-information services. This includes for instance crustal block boundary mapping to better characterize active faults, strain rate mapping to assess how rapidly faults are deforming, soil vulnerability mapping to help estimate how the soil is behaving in reaction to seismic phenomena, geo-information to assess the extent and intensity of the earthquake impact on man-made structures and formulate assumptions on the evolution of the seismic sequence, i.e. where local aftershocks or future main shocks (on nearby faults) are most likely to occur. In May 2012, the European Space Agency and the GEO Secretariat convened the International Forum on Satellite EO for Geohazards now known as the Santorini Conference. The event was the continuation of a series of international workshops such as those organized by the Geohazards Theme of the Integrated Global Observing Strategy Partnership. In Santorini the seismic community has set out a vision of the EO contribution to an operational global seismic risk program, which lead to the Geohazard Supersites and Natural Laboratories (GSNL) initiative. The initial contribution of ESA to suuport the GSNL was the first Supersites Exploitation Platform (SSEP) system in the framework of Grid Processing On Demand (GPOD), now followed by the Geohazard Exploitation Platform (GEP). In this presentation, we will describe the contribution of the GEP for exploiting satellite EO for geohazard risk assessment. It is supporting the GEO Supersites and has been further expanded to address broader objectives of the geohazards community. In particular it is a contribution to the CEOS WG Disasters and its Seismic Hazards Pilot and terrain deformation applications of its Volcano Pilot. The geohazards platform is sourced with elements - data, tools, and processing- relevant to the geohazards theme and related exploitation scenarios. For example, platform provides access to large SAR data collections and services to support SAR Interferometry (InSAR), in particular the Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) techniques, to provide precise terrain deformation. The GEP includes data coming from the ENVISAT ASAR and ERS archives, already hosted in the ESA clusters and in ESA's Virtual Archive and further extended to cover the requirements of the CEOS Pilot on Seismic Hazards. The GEP is gradually accessing Sentinel-1A data alongside with EO data from other space agencies with an interest in the geohazard exploitation platform. Further to this, the platform is intended to be available in the framework of the European Plate Observing System (EPOS) initiative, in order to help its users exploit EO data to support solid Earth monitoring and geophysical and geological analysis.

  18. Activity-based exploitation of Full Motion Video (FMV)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kant, Shashi

    2012-06-01

    Video has been a game-changer in how US forces are able to find, track and defeat its adversaries. With millions of minutes of video being generated from an increasing number of sensor platforms, the DOD has stated that the rapid increase in video is overwhelming their analysts. The manpower required to view and garner useable information from the flood of video is unaffordable, especially in light of current fiscal restraints. "Search" within full-motion video has traditionally relied on human tagging of content, and video metadata, to provision filtering and locate segments of interest, in the context of analyst query. Our approach utilizes a novel machine-vision based approach to index FMV, using object recognition & tracking, events and activities detection. This approach enables FMV exploitation in real-time, as well as a forensic look-back within archives. This approach can help get the most information out of video sensor collection, help focus the attention of overburdened analysts form connections in activity over time and conserve national fiscal resources in exploiting FMV.

  19. Untethered magnetic millirobot for targeted drug delivery.

    PubMed

    Iacovacci, Veronica; Lucarini, Gioia; Ricotti, Leonardo; Dario, Paolo; Dupont, Pierre E; Menciassi, Arianna

    2015-01-01

    This paper reports the design and development of a novel millimeter-sized robotic system for targeted therapy. The proposed medical robot is conceived to perform therapy in relatively small diameter body canals (spine, urinary system, ovary, etc.), and to release several kinds of therapeutics, depending on the pathology to be treated. The robot is a nearly-buoyant bi-component system consisting of a carrier, in which the therapeutic agent is embedded, and a piston. The piston, by exploiting magnetic effects, docks with the carrier and compresses a drug-loaded hydrogel, thus activating the release mechanism. External magnetic fields are exploited to propel the robot towards the target region, while intermagnetic forces are exploited to trigger drug release. After designing and fabricating the robot, the system has been tested in vitro with an anticancer drug (doxorubicin) embedded in the carrier. The efficiency of the drug release mechanism has been demonstrated by both quantifying the amount of drug released and by assessing the efficacy of this therapeutic procedure on human bladder cancer cells.

  20. A systems approach for data compression and latency reduction in cortically controlled brain machine interfaces.

    PubMed

    Oweiss, Karim G

    2006-07-01

    This paper suggests a new approach for data compression during extracutaneous transmission of neural signals recorded by high-density microelectrode array in the cortex. The approach is based on exploiting the temporal and spatial characteristics of the neural recordings in order to strip the redundancy and infer the useful information early in the data stream. The proposed signal processing algorithms augment current filtering and amplification capability and may be a viable replacement to on chip spike detection and sorting currently employed to remedy the bandwidth limitations. Temporal processing is devised by exploiting the sparseness capabilities of the discrete wavelet transform, while spatial processing exploits the reduction in the number of physical channels through quasi-periodic eigendecomposition of the data covariance matrix. Our results demonstrate that substantial improvements are obtained in terms of lower transmission bandwidth, reduced latency and optimized processor utilization. We also demonstrate the improvements qualitatively in terms of superior denoising capabilities and higher fidelity of the obtained signals.

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