bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pearls and Pitfalls in Head and Neck and Neuroimaging
Authors: Aygun Nafi , Shah Gaurang , Gandhi Dheeraj
Published: December 2013

Pearls and Pitfalls in Head and Neck and Neuroimaging illustrates and describes the imaging entities that can cause confusion and mismanagement in daily radiological practice. Frequent interpretation errors are covered in 105 cases that provide real-life clinical scenarios for focused and practical learning. The chosen cases represent a modern neuroradiology practice and cover the brain, spine and head and neck regions, including the full panoply of imaging modalities. The underlying reasons for common mistakes are analyzed and radiologic findings that help with the correct diagnosis are emphasized. A differential diagnosis is provided for each case with examples of alternative diagnoses, allowing readers to visually grasp the differentiating features. Pearls and Pitfalls in Head and Neck and Neuroimaging provides a valuable resource for general and sub-specialist radiologists needing to improve their diagnostic proficiency in adult and pediatric patients. This book also serves as a preparation resource for recertification exams in radiology.
The Skew-Normal and Related Families
Authors: Azzalini Adelchi , Capitanio Antonella
Published: December 2013

Interest in the skew-normal and related families of distributions has grown enormously over recent years, as theory has advanced, challenges of data have grown, and computational tools have made substantial progress. This comprehensive treatment, blending theory and practice, will be the standard resource for statisticians and applied researchers. Assuming only basic knowledge of (non-measure-theoretic) probability and statistical inference, the book is accessible to the wide range of researchers who use statistical modelling techniques. Guiding readers through the main concepts and results, it covers both the probability and the statistics sides of the subject, in the univariate and multivariate settings. The theoretical development is complemented by numerous illustrations and applications to a range of fields including quantitative finance, medical statistics, environmental risk studies, and industrial and business efficiency. The author's freely available R package sn, available from CRAN, equips readers to put the methods into action with their own data.
An Account of the Nature and Medicinal Virtues of the Principal Mineral Waters of Great Britain and Ireland
Authors: Elliot John
Published: December 2013

Although he was tried for attempted murder and died in Newgate Prison, the natural philosopher and apothecary John Elliot (1747–87) published a number of significant scientific works in the first part of the 1780s, especially with regard to sensory perception. This 1789 second edition of a 1781 work is essentially an alphabetically arranged catalogue of the principal British mineral waters, their properties and uses, along with those 'most celebrated ones which the English valetudinarian may have occasion to visit on the continent'. In his introduction, Elliot classes the waters according to their respective mineral properties and supplies details of the four classes of substances found united with water, and three methods for analysis. An extract of Joseph Priestley's 1772 pamphlet Directions for Impregnating Water with Fixed Air, with Dr John Nooth's alternative method as an appendix, forms an entertaining preface, informative as to the history of producing carbonated water.
Presidential Legislation in India
Authors: Dam Shubhankar
Published: December 2013

India has a parliamentary system. Yet the president has authority to occasionally enact legislation (or ordinances) without involving parliament. This book is a study of ordinances at the national level in India, centred around three themes. First, it tells the story of how an artefact of British constitutional history, over time, became part of India's legislative system. Second, it offers an empirical account of the ways in which presidents have resorted to ordinances in post-independence India. Third, the book analyses a range of ordinance-related questions, including some that are yet to be judicially adjudicated. In the process, the book explains why much of India's Supreme Court's jurisprudence is mistaken, and what should take its place. Overall, the book explains why the fate of parliamentary reforms in India may be tied to the reform of this provision for ordinances. Presidential Legislation in India offers a new frame through which to assess the executive's legislative powers both in parliamentary and presidential systems.
Legal Resolution of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Disputes
Authors: Fry James D.
Published: December 2013

How viable is the resolution of nuclear non-proliferation disputes through the International Court of Justice and international arbitration? James Fry examines the compromissory clauses in the IAEA Statute, IAEA Safeguards Agreements and the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material that give jurisdiction to these fora and analyses recent jurisprudence to demonstrate how legal resolution can handle such politically sensitive disputes. In sum, legal resolution of nuclear non-proliferation disputes represents an option that States and commentators have all too often ignored. The impartiality and procedural safeguards of legal resolution should make it an acceptable option for target States and the international community, especially vis-à-vis the procedural shortcomings and general heavy-handedness of Security Council involvement under UN Charter Chapter VII.
Reactive-infiltration instabilities in rocks. Part 2. Dissolution of a porous matrix
Authors: Szymczak Piotr , Ladd Anthony J. C.
Published: December 2013

A reactive fluid dissolving a uniform porous material triggers an instability in the dissolution front, leading to spontaneous formation of pronounced well-spaced channels in the surrounding rock matrix. The concentration field within the dissolving region contains two different length scales, upstream (no reaction) and downstream of the front position. Previous investigations of the reactive-infiltration instability have considered one or other of the scales to be dominant, leading to rather different conclusions. Here we describe a more general linear stability analysis which includes both length scales simultaneously. We show how previous work corresponds to special cases of our more general analysis and obtain closed-form solutions for small permeability gradients.
Experimental study of a model valve with flexible leaflets in a pulsatile flow
Authors: Ledesma-Alonso R. , Guzmán J. E. V. , Zenit R.
Published: December 2013

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the dynamical behaviour of a model valve in a pulsatile flow. The valve is modelled as a pair of curved, rectangular, flexible leaflets that open and close under a time-periodic flow. Using image analysis, the range of flow parameters for which a valve (of a particular geometry and material properties of the leaflets) works correctly were identified. A correct performance was considered to be when the valve opened in one direction but blocked the flow in the reversed direction. A model is proposed to predict the performance of the valves. Furthermore, an analysis of fluid strains is conducted for valves that operate correctly to identify the influence of the valve’s design on fluid stresses. The main purpose of this investigation is to gain insight for the design of future prosthetic heart valves.
Ownership, resources, and business-group effects on affiliate performance: Evidence from Taiwan
Authors: Wang Chuan-Hung , Chu Wenyi , Chen Chien-Nan
Published: December 2013

Business groups not only help affiliates circumvent market imperfections, but they also have great influence on the economic development of emerging markets. This study applies three ways to clarify the influence of business-group effects on affiliate performance. First, this study finds that the business group can explain a respectable portion of the variations in affiliate performance. Second, this study examines the impact of family ownership, resource abundance, and resource dispersion on affiliate performance and finds that group size and financial resources positively affect affiliate performance, while family ownership and group diversification do not have a significant effect on affiliate performance. Finally, the magnitude of business-group effects is subject to the ownership and resources of each business group. Family groups, large groups, and highly diversified groups have smaller business-group effects, while groups with high financial resources have greater business-group effects, indicating that business-group effects are heterogeneous and dependent on different group features. This study provides support to the resource-based and the institution-based views of business groups.
Customer participation and new product development outcomes: The moderating role of product innovativeness
Authors: Lin Ming-Ji James , Tu Yu-Cheng , Chen Der-Chao , Huang Chin-Hua
Published: December 2013

Investigation of customer participation in new product development (NPD) performance has yielded conflicting results. This study explores the idea that intensive customer participation is not always better. Instead, the usefulness of customer participation in NPD is determined by the fit between product innovativeness and customer participation as information providers and as co-developers. An empirical study of 196 NPD projects of Taiwanese high-tech firms is analyzed by structural equation modeling. The findings show that product innovativeness negatively moderates the impact of customer participation as information providers on NPD outcome. Thus, the greater the involvement of customer participation as information providers in radical innovation projects, the lower the NPD outcome. Moreover, our results also indicate that product innovativeness positively affects the relationship between customer participation as a co-developer and NPD outcome, which suggest that the more customer participation as a co-developer in a radical innovation project, the better the NPD outcome.
Introduction: Corporate Reputation in Historical Perspective
Authors: Olegario Rowena , McKenna Christopher
Published: December 2013

“Corporate reputation” is a term that on the face of it hardly needs explanation. Historians have long used it in an unproblematic fashion to refer to the way a firm is perceived by others. Yet as with many such terms, corporate reputation can be theorized or at least formally defined. Scholars in the fields of marketing and organization increasingly are doing both; since the 1980s they have attempted to distinguish reputation from the related constructs of image, identity, status, legitimacy, celebrity, and brand equity. The project is ongoing, and a strong consensus has not yet been reached on how to define corporate reputation. Charles Fombrun, whose definitions have been perhaps the most widely used, suggests the following: “a collective assessment of a company's attractiveness to a specific group of stakeholders relative to a reference group of companies with which the company competes for resources.” Fombrun's definition contains three core ideas: firms have multiple reputations, depending on which stakeholders are being considered; corporate reputation is a comparative construct, because a firm is always judged in relation to something else—in this case, the firm's competitors; and firms' reputations are a source of competitive advantage or disadvantage.

Historians, who for valid intellectual reasons rarely attempt the formal definition of terms, have not participated in the theorizing of corporate reputation. Yet the peculiar skills of historians are much needed; for if the study of corporate reputation has underemphasized the role of institutional phenomena such as rules, norms, processes, and structures, it has all but ignored historical context and historical processes.
Otitis media in Indigenous Australian children: review of epidemiology and risk factors
Authors: Jervis-Bardy Jake , Sanchez L , Carney A S
Published: December 2013

Background:

Otitis media represents a major health concern in Australian Indigenous children (‘Indigenous children’), which has persisted, despite public health measures, for over 30 years.

Methods:

Global searches were performed to retrieve peer-reviewed and ‘grey’ literature investigating the epidemiology of and risk factors for otitis media in Indigenous children, published between 1985 and 2012.

Results:

In Indigenous children, the prevalence of otitis media subtypes is 7.1–12.8 per cent for acute otitis media, 10.5–30.3 per cent for active chronic otitis media and 31–50 per cent for tympanic membrane perforation. The initial onset of otitis media in Indigenous children occurs earlier and persists for longer after the first year of life, compared with non-Indigenous children. Indigenous children are colonised by otopathogens more frequently, at younger ages and with a higher bacterial load. Poor community and domestic infrastructure, overcrowding and exposure to tobacco smoke increase the risk of otitis media in Indigenous children; however, the availability of swimming pools plays no role in the prevention or management of otitis media.

Conclusion:

Despite awareness of the epidemiological burden of otitis media and its risk factors in Indigenous children, studies undertaken since 1985 demonstrate that otitis media remains a significant public health concern in this population.
Distributed coverage with mobile robots on a graph: locational optimization and equal-mass partitioning
Authors: Yun Seung-kook , Rus Daniela
Published: December 2013

This paper presents decentralized algorithms for coverage with mobile robots on a graph. Coverage is an important capability of multi-robot systems engaged in a number of different applications, including placement for environmental modeling, deployment for maximal quality surveillance, and even coordinated construction. We use distributed vertex substitution for locational optimization and equal mass partitioning, and the controllers minimize the corresponding cost functions. We prove that the proposed controller with two-hop communication guarantees convergence to the locally optimal configuration. We evaluate the algorithms in simulations and also using four mobile robots.
Changing aetiology of healthcare-associated bloodstream infections at three medical centres in Taiwan, 2000–2011
Authors: LAI C. C. , CHEN Y. H. , LIN S. H. , CHUNG K. P. , SHENG W. H. , KO W. C. , HSUEH P. R.
Published: December 2013

This multicentre surveillance study was conducted to investigate the trends in incidence and aetiology of healthcare-associated bloodstream infections (HCA-BSIs) in Taiwan. From 2000 to 2011 a total of 56 830 HCA-BSIs were recorded at three medical centres, and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) were the most common pathogens isolated (n = 9465, 16·7%), followed by E. coli (n = 7599, 13·4%). The incidence of all HCA-BSIs in each and all hospitals significantly increased over the study period owing to the increase of aerobic Gram-positive cocci and Enterobacteriaceae by 4·2% and 3·6%, respectively. Non-fermenting Gram-negative bacteria, Bacteroides spp. and Candida spp. also showed an increase but there was a significant decline in the numbers of methicillin-resistant S. aureus. In conclusion, the incidence of HCA-BSIs in Taiwan is significantly increasing, especially for Enterobacteriaceae and aerobic Gram-positive cocci.
Bentham on Mensuration: Calculation and Moral Reasoning
Authors: QUINN MICHAEL
Published: December 2013

This article argues that Bentham was committed to attempting to measure the outcomes of rules by calculating the values of the pains and pleasures to which they gave rise. That pleasure was preferable to pain, and greater pleasure to less, were, for Bentham, foundational premises of rationality, whilst to abjure calculation was to abjure rationality. However, Bentham knew that the experience of pleasure and pain, the ‘simple’ entities which provided his objective moral standard, was not only subjective, and only indirectly accessible to the legislator, but also typically dependent on a complex of socially mediated beliefs and attitudes. All moral reasoning involved a process of inference from contingent ‘facts’ which was littered with possibilities for error. The Bentham who emerges is a more vulpine hedgehog than is usually allowed, whose core insistence is that, despite its imperfections, consequentialist analysis and decision-making remains the only viable route to a rational morality.
When Good Forecasts Go Bad: The Time-for-Change Model and the 2004 Presidential Election
Authors: Abramowitz Alan I.
Published: December 2013

Despite mediocre approval ratings and below average economic growth, George W. Bush has a good chance of winning a second term in the White House according to the time-forchange forecasting model.
Understanding depot antipsychotics: an illustrated guide to kinetics
Authors: Meyer Jonathan M.
Published: December 2013

Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics can have considerable advantages over oral medications for the management of patients with schizophrenia. Despite the high prevalence of treatment nonadherence with oral pharmacotherapy, LAI antipsychotics are significantly underutilized in this patient population. The availability of newer LAI antipsychotic preparations combined with a resurgent interest in the use of typical antipsychotics has rekindled awareness of the value of LAI medications. This article is intended to provide a visual understanding of the various kinetic profiles of LAI antipsychotics to facilitate initiation and greater use of these agents.
THUCYDIDES AND LAW: A RESPONSE TO LEITER
Authors: Shanske Darien
Published: December 2013

Thucydides is the author of the most harrowing account of societal breakdown in antiquity. Brian Leiter has recently made the provocative claim that Thucydides’ analysis of such breakdowns indicates that morality is of little import in guiding behavior, including legal behavior. Yet Thucydides also narrates events, particularly in Athens, that indicate that something resembling morality can continue to guide action, including legal action, even at the worst of times. Thucydides provides tantalizing clues as to why he narrates events that only sometimes follow the path predicted by Leiter. In particular, Thucydides (accurately) portrays the law that suffuses Athenian life and saves Athens itself as, for the most part, informal and infused with moral concerns. Leiter's reading of Thucydides therefore not only is limited but misses implicit arguments that challenge Leiter's broader argument for a particular form of legal realism.
The persistence of a chlorophyll spectral biosignature from Martian evaporite and spring analogues under Mars-like conditions
Authors: Stromberg J. M. , Applin D. M. , Cloutis E. A. , Rice M. , Berard G. , Mann P.
Published: December 2013

Spring and evaporite deposits are considered two of the most promising environments for past habitability on Mars and preservation of biosignatures. Manitoba, Canada hosts the East German Creek (EGC) hypersaline spring complex, and the post impact evaporite gypsum beds of the Lake St. Martin (LSM) impact. The EGC complex has microbial mats, sediments, algae and biofabrics, while endolithic communities are ubiquitous in the LSM gypsum beds. These communities are spectrally detectable based largely on the presence of a chlorophyll absorption band at 670 nm; however, the robustness of this feature under Martian surface conditions was unclear. Biological and biology-bearing samples from EGC and LSM were exposed to conditions similar to the surface of present day Mars (high UV flux, 100 mbar, anoxic, CO2 rich) for up to 44 days, and preservation of the 670 nm chlorophyll feature and chlorophyll red-edge was observed. A decrease in band depth of the 670 nm band ranging from ∼16 to 80% resulted, with correlations seen in the degree of preservation and the spatial proximity of samples to the spring mound and mineral shielding effects. The spectra were deconvolved to Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Pancam and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mastcam science filter bandpasses to investigate the detectability of the 670 nm feature and to compare with common mineral features. The red-edge and 670 nm feature associated with chlorophyll can be distinguished from the spectra of minerals with features below ∼1000 nm, such as hematite and jarosite. However, distinguishing goethite from samples with the chlorophyll feature is more problematic, and quantitative interpretation using band depth data makes little distinction between iron oxyhydroxides and the 670 nm chlorophyll feature. The chlorophyll spectral feature is observable in both Pancam and Mastcam, and we propose that of the proposed EXOMARS Pancam filters, the PHYLL filter is best suited for its detection.
An assessment of the 2011 Spanish pension reform using the Swedish system as a benchmark
Authors: VIDAL-MELIÁ CARLOS
Published: December 2013

The aim of this paper is to make an assessment of the 2011 reform of the public pension system in Spain using the Swedish pension system as a benchmark, although some reference to the US pension system is also made. The paper focuses on the reform, explaining its aims, breaking down the main contents, critically examining the official view and describing the expected ageing of the Spanish population. This approach complements the quantitative analyses performed by other researchers and will enable us to assess the reformed system with the focus on four main areas: actuarial fairness, actuarial transparency, solvency and communication with the public. The main conclusion is that the reform was a wasted opportunity given that Spain did not take advantage of the lessons learned in Sweden, it did not include any elements for improving the management of pay-as-you-go systems, and there is no sound basis for claiming that the system's sustainability is assured in the medium term, the long term or even the short term. The new parametric reforms currently under consideration in Spain are targeted to correct some of the pension system's design faults that have been highlighted in this paper.
Religion, Political Actors, and Democratization: The Turkish Case
Authors: Ozzano Luca
Published: December 2013

This article is part of a special issue on the five Muslim democracies. It aims at understanding the role played by religion, and particularly by religiously oriented actors, in Turkey's democratization processes. The first section analyzes the different theoretical approaches to the role of religion in democratization. The second section analyzes the different phases of Turkey's political history since the 1980 coup, taking into account both democratization processes and the role played by religious actors in the political system, and trying to understand the possible relations between the two phenomena.
A lab-on-chip cell-based biosensor for label-free sensing of water toxicants
Authors: Liu F. , Nordin A. N. , Li F. , Voiculescu I.
Published: December 2013

This paper presents a lab-on-chip biosensor containing an enclosed fluidic cell culturing well seeded with live cells for rapid screening of toxicants in drinking water.
Light-emitting Ga-oxide nanocrystals in glass: a new paradigm for low-cost and robust UV-to-visible solar-blind converters and UV emitters
Authors: Sigaev Vladimir N. , Golubev Nikita V. , Ignat'eva Elena S. , Paleari Alberto , Lorenzi Roberto
Published: December 2013

We demonstrate that nano-confinement of donor–acceptor recombination can force a nanophase to follow efficient bimolecular kinetics of light-emission, allowing Ga2O3 nanocrystals to work in glass as unprecedented solar-blind UV-to-visible converters.
Herstellung und In-vitro-Analyse einer Polyethylenimin-Beschichtung auf Herniennetzen
Authors: Scheuerlein H. , Erdmann J. , Rauchfuss F. , Dittmar Y. , Jandt K. , Jandt K. , Settmacher U. , Zankovych S.
Published: December 2013

Hintergrund: Bestimmte Beschichtungen wie etwa Titan können die Biokompatibilität von Herniennetzen verbessern. Beschichtungen mit Biopolymeren wie Polyethylenimin (PEI) können ebenfalls die Materialeigenschaften von Implantaten verbessern, dieser Ansatz wurde aber bisher noch nicht an Herniennetzen untersucht. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war daher die Klärung der Frage, ob und wie Herniennetze mit ihrer 3-dimensionalen Struktur erfolgreich mit PEI beschichtet werden können und mit welchen Verfahren sich diese Beschichtung am besten nachweisen lässt.
Methoden: Handelsübliche Netze aus Polypropylen, Polyester und ePTFE wurden mit PEI beschichtet. Die Beschichtung wurde durch einen Zytotoxizitäts- und Zellproliferationstest, die konfokale Laser-Scanning- und Elektronenmikroskopie sowie Röntgenfotoelektronenspektroskopie (XPS) analysiert.
Ergebnisse: Die Oberflächenmodifikation durch PEI lässt Mausfibroblasten schneller und zahlreicher auf der Netzoberfläche anwachsen. Aufgrund der 3-dimensionalen Netzstruktur zeigten sowohl die XPS als auch die konfokale Laser-Scanning-Mikroskopie Schwächen in der Durchführbarkeit und Aussagekraft, wobei die XPS insgesamt bessere Resultate lieferte. Der elektronenmikroskopische Zellnachweis ist nicht gelungen. Im Zytotoxizitätstest fand sich kein Hinweis für eine Zellschädigung über 24 Stunden.
Schlussfolgerung: Die hier vorliegenden Ergebnisse zeigen erstmalig, dass eine PEI-Beschichtung von Herniennetzen möglich und effektiv ist. Die PEI-Beschichtung kann schnell und kostengünstig realisiert werden. Bis eine solche Beschichtung allerdings in der klinischen Routine zum Einsatz kommen kann, sind weitere Untersuchungen sowohl hinsichtlich der Beschichtungsqualität als auch der Zytotoxizität notwendig. Insgesamt stellt PEI ein vielversprechendes Polymer dar, dessen Potenzial im Hinblick auf die Beschichtung medizinischer Implantate weiterer Forschung wert ist.
Lamb survival in Australian flocks: a review
Authors: Hinch G. N. , Brien F.
Published: December 2013

Lamb survival is known to be a key component of reproductive efficiency in sheep flocks. It has been the subject of a large number of studies over the decades and this review provides an update and insights into the latest understanding of the extent and variability of lamb losses across Australia. The pattern of causes of lamb losses, including dystocia, starvation/exposure, mismothering and predation, are examined. Likewise the importance of birthweight in contributing to such losses is discussed as are strategies for improving lamb survival. The strategies examined include improved ewe nutrition, shelter provision and selection for cold resistance and improved maternal behaviour.
Minorities and marginality: pertinacity of Hindus and Sikhs in a repressive environment in Afghanistan
Authors: Emadi Hafizullah
Published: December 2013

The situation of Hindus and Sikhs as a persecuted minority is a little-studied topic in literature dealing with ethno-sectarian conflict in Afghanistan. Hindu and Sikh communities’ history and role in Afghanistan's development are examined through a structural, political, socioeconomic, and perceptual analysis of the minority populations since the country gained its independence in 1919. It traces a timeline of their evolving status after the breakdown of state structure and the ensuing civil conflicts and targeted persecution in the 1990s that led to their mass exodus out of the country. A combination of structural failure and rising Islamic fundamentalist ideology in the post-Soviet era led to a war of ethnic cleansing as fundamentalists suffered a crisis of legitimation and resorted to violence as a means to establish their authority. Hindus and Sikhs found themselves in an uphill battle to preserve their culture and religious traditions in a hostile political environment in the post-Taliban period. The international community and Kabul failed in their moral obligation to protect and defend the rights of minorities and oppressed communities.
Assessing Short-term, Dynamic Changes in Risk: The Predictive Validity of the Brockville Risk Checklist
Authors: Chagigiorgis Helen , Michel SteveF. , Seto MichaelC. , Laprade Ken , Ahmed AdekunleG.
Published: December 2013

In the present study, we examined the predictive utility of the Brockville Risk Checklist (BRC), a structured assessment tool for clinical care planning, using a semi-parametric regression technique. We examined BRC scores and the frequency and type of incidents (aggression, noncompliance, etc.) over 13 assessments for 121 psychiatric patients at a medium-secure forensic unit. Most patients were male (95%), on average 40.9 ( SD = 13.0) years old, and diagnosed with a psychotic disorder (78%). Generalized estimating equation (GEE; Liang & Zeger, 1986) modeling was used in this study to determine if changes in dynamic risk scores over time predicted outcomes (presence or absence of an incident) during the approximately six-week follow-up period. Results showed that scores on the Harm to Others scale assessed at one case conference significantly predicted changes in aggressive and total incidents recorded in the subsequent case conference. The BRC shows promise as a dynamic measure of inpatient aggression, predicting verbal or physical incidents an average of six weeks later.
The Offence Analogue and Offence Reduction Behaviour Rating Guide as a Supplement to Violence Risk Assessment in Incarcerated Offenders
Authors: Mooney JessicaL. , Daffern Michael
Published: December 2013

The Offence Analogue and Offence Reduction Behaviour Rating Guide provides a structure for monitoring behaviors linked to a violent offenders’ criminogenic needs within the prison environment. It has the potential to assist reappraisals of dynamic risk factors, measure treatment progress, and enhance release decision making. The present study investigates the utility of this guide by (1) exploring whether Offence Analogue Behaviours (OABs) and Offence Reduction Behaviours (ORBs) manifest within the prison environment, and (2) investigating the relationship between these behaviors and violent recidivism. This study was conducted via a retrospective review of case files for 94 violent offenders imprisoned and then released into the community in Victoria, Australia. The results indicate that these risk-related behaviors can be identified, and some OABs and ORBs are associated with time to the commission of a violent offense post-release. Most of the significant predictors were pro-social behaviors (ORBs), demonstrating a negative relationship with violent recidivism. This illustrates the importance of attending to the development of pro-social behavior in addition to a reduction in antisocial behavior when assessing risk for future violence in incarcerated offenders. These results suggest the OAB and ORB rating guide may provide a useful framework for structuring observations of risk-related behaviors in custody.
1 Basic Dynamics of Point Particles and Collections
Authors: Johns Oliver Davis
Published: December 2013

This chapter begins with the assumption that Newton's three axioms refer fundamentally to the point particles of Newtonian physics, which are ‘incomparably harder than any porous Bodies compounded of them; even so very hard as never to wear or break in pieces; no ordinary Power being able to divide what God himself made one in the first Creation’. After deriving the laws of momentum, angular momentum, and work-energy for point particles, it will be shown here that, given certain plausible and universally accepted additional axioms, the same laws can essentially be proven to apply to macroscopic bodies, considered as collections of the elementary point particles. The chapter first considers the space and time in which motion takes place before discussing the laws of motion of point masses.
Hamilton's Principle
Authors: Johns Oliver Davis
Published: December 2013

This chapter shows that the general calculus of variations can be used to derive variational principles in mechanics. Two different, but closely related, variational principles are presented here: Hamilton's Principle and the phase-space Hamilton's Principle. It is believed by some authors that variational principles are the foundations of physics. For example, the classic analytical mechanics text of Landau and Lifshitz (1976) writes an action function on page two, and derives the whole of mechanics from it, including Newton's laws. Whether this is a fair judgment or not, it is certainly true that variational principles play a crucial role in quantum theory, general relativity, and theoretical physics in general.
7 Linear Operators and Dyadics
Authors: Johns Oliver Davis
Published: December 2013

This chapter introduces the concept of linear vector functions of vectors and the related dyadic notation, a concept that is particularly important in the study of rigid body motion and the covariant formulations of relativistic mechanics. Linear vector functions of vectors have a rich structure, with up to nine independent parameters needed to characterise them, and vector outputs that need not even have the same directions as the vector inputs. The subject of linear vector operators merits a chapter to itself, not only for its importance in analytical mechanics, but also because study of it will help the reader to master the operator formalism of quantum mechanics. The chapter begins with a definition of operators and matrices, and concludes with the Dirac Notation, used by quantum mechanics for complex vectors.
8 Kinematics of Rotation
Authors: Johns Oliver Davis
Published: December 2013

This chapter discusses and develops the techniques needed to define the location and orientation of a moving rigid body. Roughly speaking, rotation can be defined as what a rigid body does. For example, imagine an artist's construction consisting of straight sticks of various lengths glued together at their ends to make a rigid structure. As such a construction is turned in one's hands, or moved closer for a better look, one will notice that the lengths of the sticks, and the angles between them, do not change. Thinking of those sticks as vectors, their general motion can be described by a class of linear operators called rotation operators, which possess the special property that they preserve all vector lengths and relative orientations.
9 Rotational Dynamics
Authors: Johns Oliver Davis
Published: December 2013

This chapter studies in detail the natural motion of rigid bodies under impressed external forces and torques. The dynamical theorems of collective motion will be extended here by use of the rotation operators. The following sections discuss concepts such as the inertia operator and the spin, the inertia dyadic, and the kinetic energy of a rigid body. Any rigid body will have a system of principal axes. If necessary, three arbitrary body-fixed axes can be chosen, the inertia matrix can be calculated, and then the principal axis eigenvectors can be determined. In many situations of interest, however, the directions of the principal axes can be guessed with relative certainty from the symmetry of the rigid body. A number of rules that can be used are presented here.
Holomorphic functions
Authors: Donaldson Simon
Published: December 2013

This chapter reviews some examples of holomorphic functions in complex analysis. It emphasizes the idea of ‘analytic continuation’, which is a fundamental motivation for Riemann surface theory.
Surface topology
Authors: Donaldson Simon
Published: December 2013

This chapter discusses the topological classification of surfaces, and outlines an approach to a proof.
Applications of the Euler characteristic
Authors: Donaldson Simon
Published: December 2013

The genus of a compact oriented smooth surface S can be defined as one-half the dimension of the de Rham cohomology group H1(S). Another way of defining the genus involves the use of the Euler characteristic. This can be done via triangulations of the surface. This chapter describes this approach and then develops some applications.
Meromorphic functions and the Main Theorem for compact Riemann surfaces
Authors: Donaldson Simon
Published: December 2013

This chapter explains a strategy for proving the fundamental structural results about Riemann surfaces. It first considers the consequence of the Main Theorem for compact Riemann surfaces. It then analyzes the Riemann-Roch formula, the fundamental tool in the theory of compact Riemann surfaces.
Mappings and moduli
Authors: Donaldson Simon
Published: December 2013

This chapter analyzes diffeomorphisms of the plane; braids, Dehn twists and quadratic singularities; hyperbolic geometry; and compactification of the moduli space.
Ordinary differential equations
Authors: Donaldson Simon
Published: December 2013

Chapter 1 discussed ordinary differential equations and, in particular, the hypergeometric equation denoted by HGa,b,c(z). This chapter takes this discussion further, fitting it into some of the theory developed in the book..
Elementary Scattering Theory
Authors: Sivia D.S.
Published: December 2013

The opportunities for doing scattering experiments at synchrotron and neutron facilities have grown rapidly in recent years and are set to continue to do so into the foreseeable future. This text provides a basic understanding of how these techniques enable the structure and dynamics of materials to be studied at the atomic and molecular level. Although mathematics cannot be avoided in a theoretical discussion, the aim has been to write a book that most scientists will still find approachable. To this end, the first two chapters are devoted to providing a tutorial background in the mathematics and physics that are implicitly assumed in other texts. Thereafter, the philosophy has been one of keeping things as simple as possible.
Studying matter at the atomic and molecular level
Authors: Darwall Stephen
Published: December 2013

This chapter is based on the notion that the universe is made up of basic building blocks, with chemists such as Dalton and Mendeleev in the nineteenth century and physicists like Thompson, Rutherford, and Chadwick in the early part of the twentieth century reaffirming the concept of atoms. The focus here is on the study of condensed matter – liquids and solids – at the atomic and molecular level. Atoms cannot be seen by the naked eye due to the wave-nature of light, which bends around edges. The limit on seeing detail depends on the angular size of the object rather than its intrinsic dimensions. For example, while the diameter of the sun is 400 times larger than that of the moon, it has the same projection on the sky because it is also 400 times further away.
The basics of X-ray and neutron scattering
Authors: Sivia D. S.
Published: December 2013

This chapter discusses the basic concepts of X-ray and neutron scattering. For purposes of simplicity, the discussion will initially be limited to the case where there is no exchange of energy in the process. The scattering of an X-ray photon, or a neutron, by a sample is characterised by the resultant change in its momentum, P, and energy, E. The momentum and energy gained by the scattered particle is equal to that lost by the sample, of course, and vice versa. The definitions of P and E as ‘incident minus final’, rather than the other way around, is a matter of convention. An ideal scattering experiment consists of a measurement of the proportion of incident particles that emerge with a given energy and momentum transfer. This is encoded in a four-dimensional function S(P,E), traditionally called the ‘scattering law’, where the vector P has three components.
Liquids and amorphous materials
Authors: Sivia D.S.
Published: December 2013

This chapter focuses on liquids and amorphous materials that are characterised structurally by their localised order. Although ice, water, and steam are chemically the same material, they differ greatly in their physical properties. Below 0°C, and under normal atmospheric pressure, the water molecules are held in place by a regular and repeating network of hydrogen bonds, defined by its long-range structural order. At the other extreme, above 100°C, is steam – the random gaseous phase consisting of well-separated molecules. Water occupies the middle ground. While there is enough thermal energy in the system for the hydrogen bonds to be broken easily, there is still an electrochemically driven tendency for neighbouring water molecules to orient themselves in certain directions with respect to each other.
Periodicity, symmetry and crystallography
Authors: Sivia D. S.
Published: December 2013

This chapter delves into the crystalline state – the one occupying the top position in the hierarchy of the phases of matter. A look at elastic scattering with a consideration of the crystalline state gives rise to diffraction patterns with very sharp and clearly defined structure. As such, it is the field in which the earliest X-ray scattering experiments were conducted. Their inherently repetitive nature is the feature that endows crystalline materials with long-range order. In the chapter's analysis, the conclusion that the scattering from a crystalline sample is non-zero only at sharp well-defined points in Q is arrived at with the convolution theorem. The scattering from an ideal crystalline sample can be non-zero only for very specific values of Q; these isolated points of scattered intensity are known as Bragg peaks.
Operators in quantum mechanics
Authors: Galitski Victor , Karnakov Boris , Kogan Vladimir , Galitski, Jr. Victor
Published: December 2013

Mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics is closely connected with the theory of linear operators. A key quantum-mechanical principle is that physical quantities (observables) are represented by Hermitian linear operators that act on state vectors that belong to a Hilbert vector space. This chapter analyzes problems that deal with the basic concepts of the theory of linear operators; eigenfunctions, eigenvalues, mean values; the projection operators; quantum-mechanical representations of operators and wave-functions; and unitary operators.
Quasi-classical approximation; 1/N-expansion in quantum mechanics
Authors: Galitski Victor , Karnakov Boris , Kogan Vladimir , Galitski, Jr. Victor
Published: December 2013

This chapter deals with problems related to quasi-classical energy quantization; quasi-classical wavefunctions, probabilities, and mean values; penetration through potential barriers; and 1/N-expansion in quantum mechanics.
Atoms and molecules
Authors: Galitski Victor , Karnakov Boris , Kogan Vladimir , Galitski, Jr. Victor
Published: December 2013

This chapter considers problems that deal with stationary states of one-electron and two-electron atoms; many-electron atoms (the statistical atomic model); principles of two-atom-molecule theory; atoms and molecules in external fields (interaction of atomic systems); and non-stationary phenomena in atomic systems.
Quantum radiation theory
Authors: Galitski Victor , Karnakov Boris , Kogan Vladimir , Galitski, Jr. Victor
Published: December 2013

This chapter analyzes problems that deal with photon emission; photon scattering (photon emission in collisions); relativistic wave equations; the Klein-Gordon equation; and the Dirac equation.
Needles in a Haystack: the Class NP
Authors: Moore Cristopher , Mertens Stephan
Published: December 2013

NP refers to a class of decision problems in which yes-instances are easy to verify. That is: a decision problem is in NP if, whenever the answer for a particular instance is ‘yes’, there is a simple proof of this fact. Given a graph, a Hamiltonian path is a path that visits each vertex exactly once. This chapter examines the NP class of problems, first by considering the proverbial task of finding a needle in a haystack. It then looks at several definitions of NP and discusses proofs, witnesses, and lucky guesses. It shows that NP encompasses a wide range of fundamental problems, from coloring maps to untying knots and satisfying systems of constraints. It describes some of the classic problems in NP and highlights some reductions between these problems by transforming questions about graphs into questions about Boolean formulas or vice versa. The chapter also analyzes primality in NP.
Counting, Sampling, and Statistical Physics
Authors: Moore Cristopher , Mertens Stephan
Published: December 2013

The objects that are solutions to an NP-complete problem are difficult to count. Counting can be a subtle and complex problem even when the corresponding existence and optimisation problems are in P. Spanning trees and perfect matchings are simple graph-theoretic objects, and the difference between them has deep mathematical roots. A matrix's determinant is the number of spanning trees while its permanent is the number of perfect matchings. Counting is closely associated with sampling. This chapter explores how to generate random matchings, and hence count them approximately, using a Markov chain that mixes in polynomial time. It considers the special case of planar graphs, such as the square lattice, to demonstrate that the number of perfect matchings is in P. It also discusses the implications of this fact for statistical physics and looks at how to find exact solutions for many physical models in two dimensions, including the Ising model.
When Formulas Freeze: Phase Transitions in Computation
Authors: Moore Cristopher , Mertens Stephan
Published: December 2013

Certain formulas, such as the 3-SAT formula, undergo a phase transition from almost certain satisfiability to almost certain unsatisfiability when the number of constraints per variable reaches a critical threshold. This transition is comparable to the freezing of water and also occurs in many other NP-complete problems such as graph coloring and integer partitioning. This chapter first considers some experimental results on random 3-SAT and assumes that a phase transition exists. It then explores some simple phase transitions in random graphs and shows how to compute the size of k-cores, along with the degrees at which they first appear. It also looks at random k-SAT formulas and demonstrates how to prove upper and lower bounds on the critical density of clauses. Furthermore, it describes simple search algorithms as flows through state space before concluding with a discussion of recent advances inspired by techniques in statistical physics.
Processes in Microbial Ecology
Authors: Kirchman David L.
Published: December 2013

This book, which discusses the major processes carried out by viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and other protists – the microbes – in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems, focuses on biogeochemical processes, starting with primary production and the initial fixation of carbon into cellular biomass. It then discusses how that carbon is degraded in both oxygen-rich (oxic) and oxygen-deficient (anoxic) environments. These biogeochemical processes are affected by ecological interactions, including competition for limiting nutrients, viral lysis, and predation by various protists in soils and aquatic habitats. The book links up processes occurring at the micron scale to events happening at the global scale, including the carbon cycle and its connection to climate change issues, and ends with a chapter devoted to symbiosis and other relationships between microbes and large organisms. Microbes have large impacts not only on biogeochemical cycles, but also on the ecology and evolution of large organisms, including Homo sapiens.