The A-theoretic Farrell–Jones conjecture for virtually solvable groups

We prove the A -theoretic Farrell–Jones conjecture for virtually solvable groups. As a corollary, we obtain that the conjecture holds for S -arithmetic groups and lattices in almost connected Lie groups

Entrepreneurship within General Aviation

Many modern economic theories place great importance upon entrepreneurship in the economy. Some see the entrepreneur as the individual who bears risk of operating a business in the face of uncertainty about future conditions and who is rewarded through profits and losses. The 20th century economist Joseph Schumpter saw the entrepreneur as the medium by which advancing technology is incorporated into society as businesses seek competitive advantages through more efficient product development processes. Due to the importance that capitalistic systems place upon entrepreneurship, it has become a well studied subject with many texts to discuss how entrepreneurs can succeed in modern society. Many entrepreneuring and business management courses go so far as to discuss the characteristic phases and prominent challenges that fledgling companies face in their efforts to bring a new product into a competitive market. However, even with all of these aids, start-up companies fail at an enormous rate. Indeed, the odds of shepherding a new company through the travails of becoming a well established company (as measured by the ability to reach Initial Public Offering (IPO)) have been estimated to be six in 1,000,000. Each niche industry has characteristic challenges which act as barriers to entry for new products into that industry. Thus, the applicability of broad generalizations is subject to limitations within niche markets. This paper will discuss entrepreneurship as it relates to general aviation. The goals of this paper will be to: introduce general aviation; discuss the details of marrying entrepreneurship with general aviation; and present a sample business plan which would characterize a possible entrepreneurial venture

A critical review of the Mediterranean sea turtle rescue network: a web looking for a weaver

A key issue in conservation biology is recognizing and bridging the gap between scientific results and specific action. We examine sea turtles—charismatic yet endangered flagship species—in the Mediterranean, a sea with historically high levels of exploitation and 22 coastal nations. We take sea turtle rescue facilities as a visible measure for implemented conservation action. Our study yielded 34 confirmed sea turtle rescue centers, 8 first-aid stations, and 7 informal rescue institutions currently in operation. Juxtaposing these facilities to known sea turtle distribution and threat hotspots reveals a clear disconnect. Only 14 of the 22 coastal countries had centers, with clear gaps in the Middle East and Africa. Moreover, the information flow between centers is apparently limited. The populations of the two species nesting in the Mediterranean, the loggerhead Caretta caretta and the green turtle Chelonia mydas, are far below historical levels and face a range of anthropogenic threats at sea and on land. Sea turtle rescue centers are acknowledged to reduce mortality in bycatch hotspots, provide a wealth of scientific data, and raise public awareness. The proposal for a Mediterranean-wide rescue network as published by the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas a decade ago has not materialized in its envisioned scope. We discuss the efficiency, gaps, and needs for a rescue network and call for establishing additional rescue centers and an accompanying common online database to connect existing centers. This would provide better information on the number and types of rescue facilities on a Mediterranean scale, improve communication between these facilities, enhance standardization of procedures, yield large-scale data on the number of treated turtles and their injuries, and thus provide valuable input for targeted conservation measures

Product recognition in store shelves as a sub-graph isomorphism problem

The arrangement of products in store shelves is carefully planned to maximize sales and keep customers happy. However, verifying compliance of real shelves to the ideal layout is a costly task routinely performed by the store personnel. In this paper, we propose a computer vision pipeline to recognize products on shelves and verify compliance to the planned layout. We deploy local invariant features together with a novel formulation of the product recognition problem as a sub-graph isomorphism between the items appearing in the given image and the ideal layout. This allows for auto-localizing the given image within the aisle or store and improving recognition dramatically.Comment: Slightly extended version of the paper accepted at ICIAP 2017. More information @project_page --> http://vision.disi.unibo.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=111&catid=7