Hague Conference Conventions and the United States: A European View

From a European perspective, international cooperation in litigation does not primarily require the safeguarding of governmental interests, but the equitable balancing of the interests of plaintiffs and defendants. A European view of the role of US procedures in Hague Conference conventions is presented

Multi-modal dictionary learning for image separation with application in art investigation

In support of art investigation, we propose a new source separation method that unmixes a single X-ray scan acquired from double-sided paintings. In this problem, the X-ray signals to be separated have similar morphological characteristics, which brings previous source separation methods to their limits. Our solution is to use photographs taken from the front and back-side of the panel to drive the separation process. The crux of our approach relies on the coupling of the two imaging modalities (photographs and X-rays) using a novel coupled dictionary learning framework able to capture both common and disparate features across the modalities using parsimonious representations; the common component models features shared by the multi-modal images, whereas the innovation component captures modality-specific information. As such, our model enables the formulation of appropriately regularized convex optimization procedures that lead to the accurate separation of the X-rays. Our dictionary learning framework can be tailored both to a single- and a multi-scale framework, with the latter leading to a significant performance improvement. Moreover, to improve further on the visual quality of the separated images, we propose to train coupled dictionaries that ignore certain parts of the painting corresponding to craquelure. Experimentation on synthetic and real data - taken from digital acquisition of the Ghent Altarpiece (1432) - confirms the superiority of our method against the state-of-the-art morphological component analysis technique that uses either fixed or trained dictionaries to perform image separation.Comment: submitted to IEEE Transactions on Images Processin

X-ray image separation via coupled dictionary learning

In support of art investigation, we propose a new source sepa- ration method that unmixes a single X-ray scan acquired from double-sided paintings. Unlike prior source separation meth- ods, which are based on statistical or structural incoherence of the sources, we use visual images taken from the front- and back-side of the panel to drive the separation process. The coupling of the two imaging modalities is achieved via a new multi-scale dictionary learning method. Experimental results demonstrate that our method succeeds in the discrimination of the sources, while state-of-the-art methods fail to do so.Comment: To be presented at the IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), 201

A method for determination of retention of silver and cerium oxide manufactured nanoparticles in soils

Methods to study the retention of manufactured nanoparticles (MNP) are lacking for soils that are likely to be increasingly exposed to MNP. In this study we present, for the first time, a method to determine retention values (Kr) of Ag and CeO2 MNP, that can be ranked among solid–liquid partitioning (Kd) values of bulk (micrometre-sized) forms, soluble salts and other possible contaminants of soils. After method optimisation, suspensions containing 1.24 mg kg–1 Ag as Ag MNP and 1.30 mg kg–1 Ce as CeO2 MNP were added to five soils. More than 7% of Ag MNP occurred as soluble AgI after 24 h and the range of Kr values of Ag MNP (77–2165 L kg–1) and CeO2 MNP (1.1–2828 L kg–1) contrasted with Kd values of soluble AgI, CeIII and CeIV salts and bulk Ag and CeO2 powders in different soils.Geert Cornelis, Jason K. Kirby, Douglas Beak, David Chittleborough and Mike J. McLaughli

In Intertidal Gastropod Community Malalayang Beach Manado North Sulawesi

This study aims to determine the density and relative density of gastropods and diversity index of the community as well as evenness and dominance index in the intertidal beach Malalayang), Manado in North Sulawesi. Gastropods were sampled using quadrate with size 1x1m2 placed systematically and disproportionately on dead coral sandy substrate, mix mud, rocks slightly sandy substrate, and substrate-sized stones. The study found that there has been a change in the amount of 30 species of gastropod species (Manginsela, 1998) increased to 69 species. While the density of gastropods contained in the intertidal beach of Malalayangis ranging from 13,63individu / m2to currently 2,73-13,63individu / m2 and relative density ranging from 11.22% - 42.78%. Diversity index of organism is high with a value of H '= 2.81497. Evenness index of gastropods in Malalayang Beach intertidalcould be categorized fairly even and almost evenly. Meanwhile, the low dominance values ​​C = 0.2132, indicating that the area has good conditions as a place to live, and yet there is competition, which means, food or a place is suitable for gastropods to live. The intertidal area of Malalayang Beach Manado North Sulawesi substrate are mainly in the form of sandy coral, slightly muddy and rocky. Keywords: gastropod, distribution A B S T R A K Penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui kepadatan, kepadatan relative dari masing-masing jenis gastropoda serta indeks keanekaragam komunitas gastropoda, kemerataan dan indeks dominansi di intertidal Pantai Malalayang (di belakang Minanga Hotel), Manado Sulawesi Utara. Pengambilan contoh gastropoda menggunakan kuadrat ukuran 1x1m2 yang ditempatkan secara sistimatis dan proporsional pada substrat karang mati berpasir campur lumpur, substrat bebatuan sedikit berpasir substrat batu-berukuran. Hasil penelitian menemukan telah terjadi Perubahan jumlah spesies gastropoda dari 30 spesies (Manginsela, 1998) meningkat menjadi hanya 69 spesies. Sedangkan kepadatan gastropoda yang terdapat di intertidal pantai Malalayang dari berkisar 13,63individu/m2 saat ini 2,73-13,63individu/m2 dan kepadatan relatif berkisar 11,22% - 42,78%. Keanekaragaman jenis organisme tergolong tinggi dengan nilai H' = 2,81497. Kemerataan jenis gastropoda pada intertidan Pantai Malalayang Manado Sulawesi Utara termasuk kategori cukup merata dan hampir merata. Sedangkan, Dominasi rendah yakni nilai C = 0

Modelling water-harvesting systems in the arid south of Tunisia using SWAT

In many arid countries, runoff water-harvesting systems support the livelihood of the rural population. Little is known, however, about the effect of these systems on the water balance components of arid watersheds. The objective of this study was to adapt and evaluate the GIS-based watershed model SWAT (Soil Water Assessment Tool) for simulating the main hydrologic processes in arid environments. The model was applied to the 270-km(2) watershed of wadi Koutine in southeast Tunisia, which receives about 200 mm annual rain. The main adjustment for adapting the model to this dry Mediterranean environment was the inclusion of water-harvesting systems, which capture and use surface runoff for crop production in upstream subbasins, and a modification of the crop growth processes. The adjusted version of the model was named SWAT-WH. Model evaluation was performed based on 38 runoff events recorded at the Koutine station between 1973 and 1985. The model predicted that the average annual watershed rainfall of the 12-year evaluation period (209 mm) was split into ET (72%), groundwater recharge (22%) and outflow (6%). The evaluation coefficients for calibration and validation were, respectively, R-2 (coefficient of determination) 0.77 and 0.44; E (Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient) 0.73 and 0.43; and MAE (Mean Absolute Error) 2.6 mm and 3.0 mm, indicating that the model could reproduce the observed events reasonably well. However, the runoff record was dominated by two extreme events, which had a strong effect on the evaluation criteria. Discrepancies remained mainly due to uncertainties in the observed daily rainfall and runoff data. Recommendations for future research include the installation of additional rainfall and runoff gauges with continuous data logging and the collection of more field data to represent the soils and land use. In addition, crop growth and yield monitoring is needed for a proper evaluation of crop production, to allow an economic assessment of the different water uses in the watershed

Tinjauan Kuat Lentur Balok Komposit Kayu

This research was use wood beam, reinforced concrete plate and nail as shear connector. Nail that used is artless nail and thread nail that public reside in marketing. the purpose of this research is to know bending strength of a composite beam of wood-concrete with shear connector artless nail and shear connector thread nail. The research was conducted at the Laboratory of Concrete Civil Engineering Department University of Nusa Cendana Kupang - NTT and Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering State Polytechnic of Kupang - NTT. From the results of research and analysis of the data obtained the maximum tension of composite beam with shear connector artless nail : maximum load as big as 40000 N; bending moments as big as 5.01 x106 Nmm; tension depresses as big as 29,327 N/mm2; contact surface-tension as big as 3,545 N/mm2; bending stress as big as 16,381 N/mm2; the shear stress as big as 6,325 N/mm2. Whereas the average test results of composite beams with shear connector thread nail is obtained by maximum load as big as 51667 N; bending moment as big as 6.47 x 106 Nmm ; tension depresses as big as 38,400 N/mm2; contact surface-tension as big as 4,624 N/mm2; bending stress as big as 21,205 N/mm2; the shear stress as big as 8,036 N/mm2

High-Resolution Spectroscopy in Tr37: Gas Accretion Evolution in Evolved Dusty Disks

Using the Hectochelle multifiber spectrograph, we have obtained high-resolution (R~34,000) spectra in the Halpha region for a large number of stars in the 4 Myr-old cluster Tr 37, containing 146 previously known members and 26 newly identified ones. We present the Halpha line profiles of all members, compare them to our IR observations of dusty disks (2MASS/JHK + IRAC + MIPS 24 micron), use the radial velocities as a membership criterion, and calculate the rotational velocities. We find a good correlation between the accretion-broadened profiles and the presence of protoplanetary disks, noting that a small fraction of the accreting stars presents broad profiles with Halpha equivalent widths smaller than the canonical limit separating CTTS and WTTS. The number of strong accretors appears to be lower than in younger regions, and a large number of CTTS have very small accretion rates (dM/dt<10^{-9} Msun/yr). Taking into account that the spectral energy distributions are consistent with dust evolution (grain growth/settling) in the innermost disk, this suggests a parallel evolution of the dusty and gaseous components. We also observe that about half of the "transition objects" (stars with no IR excesses at wavelengths shorter than ~6 micron) do not show any signs of active accretion, whereas the other half is accreting with accretion rates <10^{-9} Msun/yr. These zero or very low accretion rates reveal important gas evolution and/or gas depletion in the innermost disk, which could be related to grain growth up to planetesimal or even planet sizes. Finally, we examine the rotational velocities of accreting and non accreting stars, finding no significant differences that could indicate disk locking at these ages.Comment: 51 pages, 13 (reduced resolution) figures, 2 tables. AJ in pres