Global temperature changes are predicted to influence the distributions of plants and can have significant consequences for population genetic structure. Both the nature of these consequences and the processes that shape them are of interest for both conservation genetics and the development of realistic management programs. Rapid range expansion occurs on short temporal scales not conducive to conventional phylogeographical analyses. This paper presents the findings from a population genetic study of the invasive grass Microstegium vimineum Trin. A. Camus throughout the James River Basin of Virginia. Genotypic analysis using Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) molecular markers were used to test for evidence of rapid range expansion and the effects associated with colonization and spread of Microstegium vimineum. Within the James River Basin three genetically distinct clusters were identified that were not clearly associated with natural geographic boundaries and recent founder events were also inferred. The James River Basin also appears to act as a corridor for long-distance dispersal events. These findings contribute to our knowledge of the genetic consequences of rapid range expansion for invasive species, and more importantly, native species. Contrary to several studies, the present research also indicates that long-distance dispersal is not rare and can be a major contributor to the genetic structure following range expansion.

An alternative road traffic noise barrier using an array of periodically arranged vertical cylinders known as a Sonic Crystal (SC) is investigated. As a result of multiple (Bragg) scattering, SCs exhibit a selective sound attenuation in frequency bands called band gaps or stop bands related to the spacing and size of the cylinders. Theoretical studies using Plane Wave Expansion (PWE), Multiple Scattering Theory (MST) and Finite Element Method (FEM) have enabled study of the performance of SC barriers. Strategies for improving the band gaps by employing the intrinsic acoustic properties of the scatterer are considered. The use of the tube cavity (Helmholtz type) resonances in Split Ring Resonator (SRR) or the breathing mode resonances observed in thin elastic shells is shown to increase Insertion loss (IL) in the low-frequency range below the first Bragg stop band. Subsequently, a novel design of composite scatterer uses these 2 types of cylindrical scatterer in a concentric configuration with multiple symmetrical slits on the outer rigid shell. An array of composite scatterers forms a system of coupled resonators and gives rise to multiple low-frequency resonances. Measurements have been made in an anechoic chamber and also on a full-scale prototypes outdoors under various meteorological conditions. The experimental results are found to confirm the existence of the Bragg band gaps for SC barriers and the predicted significant improvements when locally resonant scatterers are used. The resonant arrays are found to give rise to relatively angle-independent stop bands in a useful range of frequencies. Good agreement between computational modelling and experimental work is obtained. Studies have been made also of the acoustical performances of regular arrays of cylindrical elements, with their axes aligned and parallel to a ground plane including predictions and laboratory experiment.

In this project, we study an asymptotic expansion method for solving stochastic volatility European option pricing problems. We explain the backgrounds and details associated with the method. Specifically, we present in full detail the arguments behind the derivation of the pricing PDEs and detailed calculation in deriving asymptotic option pricing formulas using our own model specifications. Finally, we discuss potential difficulties and problems in the implementation of the methods.

Due to energy scarcity coupled with environment issues, it is likely to see the biggest shift in generation portfolio in the UK and world wide, stimulated by various governmental incentives policies for promoting renewable generation and reducing emission. The generation expansion in the future will be driven by not only peak demand growth but also emission reduction target. Thus, the traditional generation expansion planning (GEP) model has to be improved to reflect this change against the new environment. The policy makers need a better assessment tool to facilitate the new environment, so they can make appropriate policies for promoting renewable generation and emission reduction, and guide the generation mix to evolve appropriately over time. Since the expansion of new generation capacities is highly capital intensive, it makes the improvement of GEP quite urgent and important. The thesis proposes the GEP modelling improvement works from the following aspects: • Integrating short-term emission cost, unit commitment constraints in an emission target constrained GEP model. • Including the network transmission constraints and generation location optimization in an emission constrained GEP. • Investigating the impacts of multi-stage emission targets setting on an emission constrained GEP problem and its overall expansion cost. • Incorporating the uncertain renewable generation expansion and short-term DSR into the GEP problem and find out its potential contributions to the GEP problem. A real case study is made to determine the optimal generation mix of the Great Britain in 2020 in order to meet the 2020 emission reduction target. Different optimal generation mixes of the UK in 2020 are identified under a series of scenarios. The scenarios are constructed according to different GB network transmission capacity hypotheses and demand side response (DSR) level scenarios.

INTRODUCTION: Orthopedic maxillary expansion, also commonly referred to as Rapid Maxillary Expansion (RME) is a widely used orthodontic technique for early treatment of skeletal transverse deficiencies1. Condylar changes in response to RME have been observed using a variety of imaging techniques such as tomograms2, magnetic resonance imaging3-4 and cone beam computerized tomography5. To this day, most of the studies have focused on changes in condylar position after RME but to best our knowledge, no study has examined the changes in condylar shape and volume in addition to position. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this retrospective cohort study is to determine the long term effect of Rapid Maxillary Expansion (RME) on condylar shape, volume and orientation as well as on mandibular rotation. METHOD: Pre- and post-expansion cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT) images of forty-four healthy subjects (mean age=11.8±2.06) who previously had undergone banded RME were selected from a CBCT repository. Due to extensive time range existing between the pre- and post-CBCTs (0.7-4.7y, average time = 2.4y ± 0.97), a stratified analysis was run to account for the subject’s growth. Two subgroups were created according to the Baccetti Cervical Maturation stage : a “growing” group (n=37, mean age=11.86y, diff CVM>1) and a “non-growing” group (n=7, mean age=11.73y, diff CVM<1). Linear, angular and volumetric changes as well as condylar surface area differences and changes in mandibular rotation were assessed on isolated 3D condyles using Mimics version 20.0 software (Materialise, Leuven, Belgium). The condyles were segmented by a plane passing through the sigmoid notch (Snp) and parallel to a Frankfort Horizontal derivative plane (FHD). Changes in mandibular rotation were evaluated by analyzing the alterations in the angle between mandibular plane and FHD plane before and after RME. Paired T test was performed to compare pre- and post- expansion for all variables stated above. Statistical significance was set at <0.05. RESULTS: In the “growing” group, the right and left condylar heights and widths significantly increased by 0.61mm±1.19mm (p=0.0035), 0.80±1.26 (p=0.0005) and 1.01mm±0.95mm (p<0.0001), 0.89±0.93 (p<0.0001) respectively. The right and left condylar volumes significantly increased by 117.7mm3±149.3mm3 (p<0.0001) and 106.7mm3±133.5mm3 (p<0.0001), respectively. In the “non growing” group, the right condylar height and the right condylar width statistically increased by 1.56mm±1.65 and 0.42mm±0.42 respectively. The right and left condylar volumes also increased by 114.1mm3±104.3 and 141.5mm3±89.1 respectively. No statistically significant changes were found in condylar orientation and mandibular plane angle for either of the two sub-groups. CONCLUSION: Right condylar height, width, and right and left volumes were significantly increased after rapid maxillary expansion. No statistically significant effect on condylar orientation and mandibular plane was found. Condylar growth still remains to be an important co-founding factor which potentially affected the results of our study. A control group will be required to assess the effects of growth in our current findings to limit the effects of growth on our results.

The theme of this paper is to create strategy for czech company which would like to expand to foreign market. The whole project of expansion will be based on inner analysis of comapny, analysis of target market and analysis of competition. Moreover, the part of this project will consist of concrete technical and marketing steps to promote the presence of czech company on foreign market.

archives@tulane.edu / Research has shown that populations with mental illness tend to have higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. This can be due in part to the medication treatment as anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medications have been shown to be major contributors to elevated rates of obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and metabolic disorders that have the potential to lead to cardiovascular disease. Existing literature has identified many barriers that contribute to low preventive care utilization and screenings for metabolic risk factors. Consequently, national policy initiatives, such as the 2010 Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion, have aimed to improve access to care impacting adults with mental illness and expand coverage for more preventive and mental health services. Thus, this project: (1) examined longitudinal trends in diabetes preventive screenings and healthcare utilization associated with the 2016 Louisiana Medicaid expansion for a traditionally enrolled Severe Mentally Ill (SMI) Medicaid insured population, (2) assessed differences in racial and other socio-demographic characteristics associated with receiving diabetes preventive care and utilizing health care services amongst a traditionally enrolled SMI Medicaid insured population, and (3) assessed if Medicaid expansion was associated with better access to care and increased utilization of preventive care for diabetes-related complications in adults with diabetes and depression. To address these aims, adults ages 18 to 64 were analyzed through two data sources. The first is Louisiana Medicaid claims data; a longitudinal assessment of screening rates over a five-year period was used in an interrupted time series analysis to look at the change in screening rates for preventive care services and health care utilization before and after expansion for adults with SMI. Next, we used multivariable logit regression modeling, to examine the likelihood of receiving preventive care and utilizing health care services based on sociodemographic characteristics. Results from these analyses showed there was a total of 53,926 adults with a diagnosed SMI who had continuous enrollment in Medicaid between January 1st, 2014 – December 31st, 2018. Medicaid expansion was associated with significant increases in ED utilization and average inpatient length of stay for traditionally enrolled SMI adults. Racial differences in the likelihood of going to the ED were also apparent as blacks were more likely to go to the ED and for reasons that could have been prevented. For the third aim, data were extracted from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey for the years 2010 to 2017 for all adults with a self-reported diagnoses of depression and diabetes by a health professional. A retrospective cross-sectional study design using difference-in-differences analysis assessed relationship between Medicaid expansion and access to care and preventive care utilization for Medicaid eligible respondents in expansion states, compared to Medicaid eligible respondents in non-expansion states. Medicaid expansion significantly increased insurance coverage and the likelihood of having a personal doctor for eligible respondents in expansion states. / 1 / Alisha Monnette

Yang Wang

Arabic is a major international language, spoken in more than 23 countries, and the lingua franca of the Islamic world. The number of Arabic-speaking Internet users has grown over nine-fold in the Middle East between the year 2000 and 2007, yet research in Arabic Information Retrieval (AIR) has not advanced as in other languages such as English. In this thesis, we explore techniques that improve the performance of AIR systems. Stemming is considered one of the most important factors to improve retrieval effectiveness of AIR systems. Most current stemmers remove affixes without checking whether the removed letters are actually affixes. We propose lexicon-based improvements to light stemming that distinguish core letters from proper Arabic affixes. We devise rules to stem most affixes and show their effects on retrieval effectiveness. Using the TREC 2001 test collection, we show that applying relevance feedback with our rules produces significantly better results than light stemming. Techniques for Arabic information retrieval have been studied in depth on clean collections of newswire dispatches. However, the effectiveness of such techniques is not known on other noisy collections in which text is generated using automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems and queries are generated using machine translations (MT). Using noisy collections, we show that normalisation, stopping and light stemming improve results as in normal text collections but that n-grams and root stemming decrease performance. Most recent AIR research has been undertaken using collections that are far smaller than the collections used for English text retrieval; consequently, the significance of some published results is debatable. Using the LDC Arabic GigaWord collection that contains more than 1 500 000 documents, we create a test collection of~90 topics with their relevance judgements. Using this test collection, we show empirically that for a large collection, root stemming is not competitive. Of the approaches we have studied, lexicon-based stemming approaches perform better than light stemming approaches alone. Arabic text commonly includes foreign words transliterated into Arabic characters. Several transliterated forms may be in common use for a single foreign word, but users rarely use more than one variant during search tasks. We test the effectiveness of lexicons, Arabic patterns, and n-grams in distinguishing foreign words from native Arabic words. We introduce rules that help filter foreign words and improve the n-gram approach used in language identification. Our combined n-grams and lexicon approach successfully identifies 80% of all foreign words with a precision of 93%. To find variants of a specific foreign word, we apply phonetic and string similarity techniques and introduce novel algorithms to normalise them in Arabic text. We modify phonetic techniques used for English to suit the Arabic language, and compare several techniques to determine their effectiveness in finding foreign word variants. We show that our algorithms significantly improve recall. We also show that expanding queries using variants identified by our Soutex4 phonetic algorithm results in a significant improvement in precision and recall. Together, the approaches described in this thesis represent an important step towards realising highly effective retrieval of Arabic text.

Objectives: To investigate whether any changes in nasal cavity dimensions or subjective report of nasal symptoms exist after rapid maxillary expansion using two types of expansion appliances, comparing results with an untreated control group. Methods: Subjects were randomly assigned into one of three groups: tooth-borne or bone-anchored expander or untreated control. Acoustic rhinometry was used to measure minimal cross-sectional area and volume of the nasal cavity over three timepionts for treatment subjects and two timepoints for control subjects, taken along with the NOSE Instrument survey. Results: No significant changes in nasal cavity dimension or subjective reports were found in subjects treated with tooth- or bone-anchored appliances compared to control subjects over three timepoints. In addition, non-significant correlation was observed between nasal airway dimensional change and subject symptoms. Conclusions: Rapid maxillary expansion does not result in change of i) nasal airway dimensions or ii) the sensation of nasal symptoms. / Orthodontics