No need to justify your choice: pre-compiling line breaks to improve eBook readability

Implementations of eBooks have existed in one form or another for at least the past 20 years, but it is only in the past 5 years that dedicated eBook hardware has become a mass-market item. New screen technologies, such as e-paper, provide a reading experience similar to those of physical books, and even backlit LCD and OLED displays are beginning to have high enough pixel densities to render text crisply at small point sizes. Despite this, the major element of the physical book that has not yet made the transition to the eBook is high-quality typesetting. The great advantage of eBooks is that the presentation of the page can adapt, at rendering time, to the physical screen size and to the reading preferences of the user. Until now, simple first-fit linebreaking algorithms have had to be used in order to give acceptable rendering speed whilst conserving battery life. This paper describes a system for producing well-typeset, scalable document layouts for eBook readers, without the computational overhead normally associated with better-quality typesetting. We precompute many of the complex parts of the typesetting process, and perform the majority of the ‘heavy lifting’ at document compile-time, rather than at rendering time. Support is provided for floats (such as figures in an academic paper, or illustrations in a novel), for arbitrary screen sizes, and also for arbitrary point-size changes within the text

Reliability of the Wingate Anaerobic Test with Ice Hockey Players on the Velotron Cycle Ergometer

Purpose: This study evaluated the test-retest reliability of the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) performed on a Velotron electromagnetically-braked cycle ergometer (EE) for power-trained athletes and assessed whether a familiarization trial was necessary to achieve high test-retest reliability. Methods: Twenty-one male ice hockey players (age 23.5 ± 4.7 yrs, mass 86.3 ± 16.6 kg, height 180.9 ± 7.4 cm) from a collegiate club team (Club = 10) and a recreational league (Rec = 11) performed three, 30-sec WAnTs within 2 weeks, and with at least 24 hours between visits. Mean power, anaerobic capacity, peak power, anaerobic power, maximum RPM, and fatigue index were assessed. Resistance was 8.5% of the participant’s body weight. Results: The effect of time on power output was moderated (p \u3c .001, ηp2 = .24) such that a significant increase was observed after a practice trial, but not between subsequent trials for the Club players; no practice effect was observed among Rec players. Extremely high reliability was found between trials after excluding the practice trial (ICC1,1 \u3e .89). The Club players achieved higher outputs despite no significant differences in body size or age compared to the Rec League players. Conclusion: Ice hockey players performing the 30-sec WAnT on the Velotron EE had highly reliable data, and using a familiarization trial is recommended to increase reliability and achieve higher power outputs. Lastly, because WAnT results from EE and mechanically-braked ergometers cannot be compared, normative tables for EE results need to be created

COUNTERING THE HYBRID THREAT: THE ROLE OF SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES IN NATO’S STRATEGY

Russia’s aggressive and unconventional actions over the past decade have reinforced NATO's fear of the threat Russia represents to European and global security. Special Operations Forces would seem to have unique applicability when defending against such hybrid tactics, but it has proven difficult for NATO and the academic community to determine the appropriate role of NATO SOF in countering hybrid threats. This is due to a combination of factors: the difficulty of clearly defining the hybrid threat, legal and organizational checks on the use of military internal to national borders, atrophy of useful capabilities due to decreased interoperability and lack of exercise, and a disconnect between developed SOF capabilities and those necessary to be effective in this arena. This thesis lays out a categorized description of observed Russian hybrid tactics. It then identifies NATO SOF's current capabilities that can be matched as counters to elements of the Russian hybrid threat. This includes inherent capabilities as well as those gained by NATO SOF through participation in the ISAF SOF mission in Afghanistan and combat operations in Iraq. Finally, it recommends the NSHQ-assisted formation of Counter Hybrid Threat Joint Interagency Task Forces within NATO member countries, with NSHQ facilitating NATO-wide connectivity and cooperation, along with additional recommendations for research and focus for organizational planning to counter the Russian hybrid threat.http://archive.org/details/counteringthehyb1094561316Lieutenant Junior Grade, United States NavyMajor, United States ArmyMajor, Army, NorwayApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Maximizing alcohol yields from wheat and maize and their co-products for distilling or bioethanol production

The key to optimizing alcohol production from cereals is a full understanding of the physiology and processing characteristics of different cereals. This study examined the maximum alcohol yields that can be obtained from wheat and maize using different processing technologies. Lower processing temperatures (85°C) resulted in high alcohol yields from wheat (a temperate crop), whereas higher processing temperatures (142°C) gave maximum alcohol yields from maize (a tropical crop). Similar trends were also observed when the spent grains from these cereals were processed using commercial enzymes. Mill settings were additional factors in influencing alcohol production. Wheat has the potential to produce higher alcohol yields when compared with maize, when residual biomass (i.e. spent grains) saccharification using selected commercial enzymes is taken into account. While this approach is not applicable for the Scotch whisky industry owing to strict legislation forbidding the use of exogenous enzymes, this is pertinent for bioethanol production to increase the alcohol yield obtained from both starch and lignocellulosic components of whole cereal grains. Wheat and maize processing temperatures and the use of processing aids are of potential economic benefit to bioethanol producers and to beverage alcohol producers seeking to understand the factors influencing the processing properties of different cereals

Measuring disease in dermatology: studies of objective and subjective methods

Itch lies second only to disturbance of body image as a reported symptom in dermatology. This study started by concentrating on improving the measurement of itch. Itch has a paired physical response, scratch. The pairing can be exploited: preliminary work by this unit had validated the use of wrist-worn movement-measuring machines called ‘accelerometers’ to measure itch-related movement (scratch and rub). The first part of this research developed use of these machines. Simple accelerometers (‘Actiwatch Plus’) were used to observe the pattern of variation of itch over clusters of nights and in different conditions. The accelerometer scores were able to identify controls’ scores from those with itchy disease. Considerable variation (56%) was discovered in objective score between subject and considerable variation was noted (46%) even within subject. More complex accelerometers, (‘DigiTrac’) which could potentially specifically identify itch-related movement on the basis of frequency of action derived from Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), were validated against the ‘gold standard’ measurement of itch-related movement, directly observed movement (via infra red video recording). It was necessary to characterise the ‘frequency of action’ of itch on video and, as an aside, the characteristics of human itch-related movement were compared to other mammals’ itch-related movement ‘frequency of action’. The ‘frequency of action’ and video data was used to enrich the DigiTrac readouts to improve specificity of itch-related movement detection. During the accelerometer studies, an unexpected finding came to light: objective score of itch was not related to subjective score. To try to explain the lack of relationship, a 42 day longitudinal study of atopic dermatitis patients’ subjective and objective scores was undertaken. The results demonstrated autocorrelation for subjective scores, but not for the objective scores but still did not fully explain the lack of relationship. In an effort to explain the disconnect between subjective and objective scores a second tranche of experiments and the second part of this research interrogated whether the methods with which we measure disease as a whole in dermatology are robust. One study investigated whether the way patients are asked about subjective symptoms in general was resistant to the effects of focusing and framing bias. The results were reassuring as they suggested that the commonly used and recommended symptom scoring systems were robust in the face of bias. In order to assess whether perspective or perception of disease explained the disconnect, a study was designed in collaboration with the Edinburgh College of Art. A series of computer-generated images of different psoriasis severities were created and used to assess how doctors and patients assessed disease-extent. This study showed that, whilst each group had a naturally divergent opinion of extent of disease, by scoring disease using the models it was possible to unify the perspective and perception of extent. Finally, an exploratory study to reduce recall bias to a minimum, in case this had caused the disconnect between objective and subjective, was undertaken. This employed a novel questionnaire, the Day Reconstruction Method

Evidence of Associations Between Feto-Maternal Vitamin D Status, Cord Parathyroid Hormone and Bone-Specific Alkaline Phosphatase, and Newborn Whole Body Bone Mineral Content

In spite of a high prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy in pregnant women and neonates, relationships among vitamin D status (25(OH)D), parathyroid hormone (PTH), bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP), and whole body bone mineral content (WBBMC) in the newborn are poorly characterized. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between maternal and cord 25(OH)D, PTH, BALP, and WBBMC in newborns in a multiethnic population in Oakland, California and to evaluate the predictive value of the biochemical indices as indicators of WBBMC. Maternal and cord blood were collected from 80 mother-infant pairs and infant WBBMC was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry 8–21 days post-birth. Cord PTH and BALP were each inversely correlated with infant WBBMC (r = −0.28, p = 0.01 and r = −0.26, p = 0.02) and with cord 25(OH)D (r = −0.24, p = 0.03 and r = −0.34, p = 0.002), while cord 25(OH)D and unadjusted or weight-adjusted WBBMC were not significantly correlated with one other. In multivariate regression modeling, infant WBBMC was most strongly predicted by infant weight (p < 0.0001), while either PTH or BALP contributed modestly but significantly to the model (p = 0.006 and p = 0.03 respectively). Cord 25(OH)D was not a significant predictor of infant WBBMC. This study provides evidence of associations between feto-maternal 25(OH)D, cord PTH and BALP, and early infant WBBMC, though neither feto-maternal 25(OH)D nor the measured biochemical indices were suitable indicators of WBBMC

Association mapping of malting quality traits in UK spring and winter barley cultivar collections

Key Message: Historical malting quality data was collated from UK national and recommended list trial data and used in a GWAS. 25 QTL were identified, with the majority from spring barley cultivar sets. Abstract: In Europe, the most economically significant use of barley is the production of malt for use in the brewing and distilling industries. As such, selection for traits related to malting quality is of great commercial interest. In order to study the genetic basis of variation for malting quality traits in UK cultivars, a historical set of trial data was collated from national and recommended list trials from the period 1988 to 2016. This data was used to estimate variety means for 20 quality related traits in 451 spring barley cultivars, and 407 winter cultivars. Genotypes for these cultivars were generated using iSelect 9k and 50k genotyping platforms, and a genome wide association scan performed to identify malting quality quantitative trait loci (QTL). 24 QTL were identified in spring barley cultivars, and 2 from the winter set. A number of these correspond to known malting quality related genes but the remainder represents novel genetic variation that is accessible to breeders for the genetic improvement of new cultivars.Mark E. Looseley, Luke Ramsay, Hazel Bull, J. Stuart Swanston, Paul D. Shaw, Malcolm Macaulay, Allan Booth, Joanne R. Russell, Robbie Waugh, on behalf of the IMPROMALT Consortium, William T.B. Thoma

A qualitative study exploring adolescents’ experience of brief behavioural activation for depression and its impact on the symptom of anhedonia

Objectives: Anhedonia, the loss of interest and pleasure, is a core symptom of depression and is associated with deficits in reward processing. Behavioural Activation for depression may address this symptom due to its focus on identifying and increasing intrinsically rewarding activities. Design: This was a qualitative study employing reflexive Thematic Analysis (TA) to analyse data from semi-structured interviews with young people after treatment. Methods: Participants were eight treatment-seeking adolescents with a recent primary diagnosis of depression who had received eight sessions of Brief Behavioural Activation. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted after treatment was completed. Results: Three main themes emerged: 1) Connecting, reviewing and taking action: ‘focus on getting better rather than what you’re feeling;’ 2) Struggles, restrictors and motivators: ‘it seemed really unachievable;’ and 3) Feeling, acting or seeing things differently: ‘looking forwards in a more healthy way.’ Conclusions: Specific Brief Behavioural Activation strategies (e.g. connecting with values) and more generic therapeutic strategies (e.g. self-monitoring) may both be helpful in treating the symptom of anhedonia in adolescents with depression. Motivational aspects of anhedonia, as well as anxiety, fatigue and academic pressures act as potential barriers to recovery. This highlights the need for psychological treatments for adolescent depression to include explicit and targeted strategies to enhance motivation