Dynamic Configuration of Distributed Multimedia Components

A thesis submitted to the University of London in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosoph

Optimization of Nonambulant Mass Casualty Decontamination Protocols as Part of an Initial or Specialist Operational Response to Chemical Incidents

© 2018 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis.© 2018 Robert P. Chilcott, Hannah Mitchell, Hazem Matar. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.Objective: The UK's Initial Operational Response (IOR) is a new process for improving the survival of multiple casualties following a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incident. Whilst the introduction of IOR represents a patient-focused response for ambulant casualties, there is currently no provision for disrobe and dry decontamination of nonambulant casualties. Moreover, the current specialist operational response (SOR) protocol for nonambulant casualty decontamination (also referred to as “clinical decontamination”) has not been subject to rigorous evaluation or development. Therefore, the aim of this study was to confirm the effectiveness of putatively optimized dry (IOR) and wet (SOR) protocols for nonambulant decontamination in human volunteers. Methods: Dry and wet decontamination protocols were objectively evaluated using human volunteers. Decontamination effectiveness was quantified by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the recovery of a chemical warfare agent simulant (methylsalicylate) from skin and hair of volunteers, with whole-body fluorescence imaging to quantify the skin distribution of residual simulant. Results: Both the dry and wet decontamination processes were rapid (3 and 4 min, respectively) and were effective in removing simulant from the hair and skin of volunteers, with no observable adverse effects related to skin surface spreading of contaminant. Conclusions: Further studies are required to assess the combined effectiveness of dry and wet decontamination under more realistic conditions and to develop appropriate operational procedures that ensure the safety of first responders.Peer reviewe

Where are the oil jobs?

Petroleum industry and trade

Strengthening Employment-Based Pensions in Japan

We investigate how the Japanese pension market for funded employment-based pensions is changing and how it might be strengthened in order to better serve one of the most rapidly aging populations in the world. Public and private pensions in Japan are estimated to hold around US$3 trillion, making that system the second largest globally after the United States. However, unfavorable economic developments have cut sharply cut into asset values, and the weak economy is undermining traditional lifetime employment contracts. Recent legislation permitting the establishment of defined contribution plans in Japan may provide new employer-sponsored retirement plan opportunities. We first describe the Japanese pension system at the end of the 20th century and provide an overview and evaluation of the changes in the pension arena emerging from the 2001 legislation. Next we show that important design questions remain to be answered, if Japanese employment-based pensions are to be reformed and modernized. Finally we indicate lessons gleaned from recent changes in US pension plans.

Herding Cats: Improving Law School Teaching

What makes a good law teacher? Is excellence in teaching largely a matter of intellectual brilliance, of superior organization and delivery of material, of friendliness and fairness to one\u27s students? Or does it have more to do with style, with stage presence, with the ability to engage an audience in the act of reflective and spontaneous thinking? While the question of how to define and evaluate teaching necessarily bedevils deans and tenure committees who must make personnel decisions, the focus on defining the competent teacher has obscured from faculty attention the more fundamental question: how can we implement a system to improve faculty performance across the board? It is this question that law schools around the country have not adequately addressed. Three years ago, the faculty of Franklin Pierce Law Center adopted a program to improve our classroom teaching. This article describes and evaluates that program, in which all three authors played a role

A Eutrophication Model of the White River Basin Above Beaver Reservoir in Northwest Arkansas

With national interest focused on man’s ever increasing degradation of the waters in this nation, it is clearly evident that an accurate assessment of all parameters influencing water quality needs to be made. Moreover, nutrient levels and budgets reflecting eutrophication trends are important parameters in the overall factors effecting water quality in lakes and reservoirs. The ability to predict future eutrophication levels will greatly enhance the retardation of the eutrophication process. Through mathematical simulation of this process, eutrophication can be analyzed and intelligent decisions regarding water quality management can be made

Commercializing University Innovations: A Better Way

With the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, the federal government explicitly endorsed the transfer of exclusive control over government-funded inventions to universities and businesses operating with federal contracts. While this legislation was intended to accelerate further development and commercialization of the ideas and inventions developed under federal contracts, the government did not provide any strategy, process, tools, or resources to shepherd innovations from the halls of academia into the commercial market. And more than twenty-five years later, it is clear that few universities have established an overall strategy to foster innovation, commercialization, and spillovers. Multiple pathways for university innovation exist and can be codified to provide broader access to innovation, allow a greater volume of deal flow, support standardization, and decrease the redundancy of innovation and the cycle time for commercialization. Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) were envisioned as gateways to facilitate the flow of innovation but have instead become gatekeepers that in many cases constrain the flow of inventions and frustrate faculty, entrepreneurs, and industry. The proposed changes focus on creating incentives that will maximize social benefit from the existing investments being made in R&D and commercialization on university campuses.

A Critique of Stephane Savanah’s “Mirror Self-recognition and Symbol-mindedness”

Stephane Savanah (Savanah Biol Philos 28:657–673, 2013) provides a critique of theories of self-recognition that largely mirrors my own critique (though without recognizing it) that I began publishing two decades ago. In addition, he both misconstrues my kinesthetic-visual matching model of mirror self-recognition (MSR) in multiple ways (though he appears to agree with the actual model), and misconstrues the evidence in the scientific literature on MSR. I describe points of agreement in our thinking about self-recognition, and criticize and rectify inaccuracies