Peristaltic pumping is an inherently multiphysics problem where the deformation of the tube and the pumped fluid are strongly coupled. We used COMSOL Multiphysics to investigate the performance of a 180 degree rotary peristaltic pump with two metallic rollers, and an elastomeric tube pumping a viscous Newtonian fluid. The model captures the peristaltic flow, the flow fluctuations that result when the rollers engage and disengage the tube, and the contact interaction between the rollers and the tube. We are using the model to investigate the effect of pump design variations such as tube occlusion, tube diameter, and roller speed, on the flow rate, flow fluctuations, and stress state in the tube.


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Traditional pastoralists survive in few places in the world. They can still be encountered in the African Sahel, where annual alternations of dry and wet seasons force them to continual mobility. Little is known about the genetic structure of these populations. We present here the population distribution of 312 hypervariable segment I mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and 364 Y-short tandem repeat haplotypes in both farmer and pastoralist groups from the Lake Chad Basin and the West African Sahel. We show that the majority of pastoral populations (represented in the African Sahel by the Fulani nomads) fail to show significant departure from neutrality for mtDNA as evidenced by Fu's Fs statistics and exhibit lower levels of intrapopulation diversity measures for mtDNA when contrasted with farmers. These differences were not observed for the Y chromosome. Furthermore, analyses of molecular variance and population distributions of the mtDNA haplotypes show more heterogeneity in the sedentary groups than in the pastoralists. On the other hand, pastoralists retain a signature of a wide phylogenetic distance contributing to their male gene pool, whereas in at least some of the farmer populations, a founder effect and/or drift might have led to the presence of a single major lineage. Interestingly, these observations are in contrast with those recorded in Central Asia, where similar comparisons of farmer and pastoral groups have recently been carried out. We can conclude that in Africa, there have been no substantial mating exchanges between the Fulani pastoralists coming to the Lake Chad Basin from the West African Sahel and their farmer neighbors. At the same time, we suggest that the emergence of pastoralism might be an earlier and/or a demographically more important event than the introduction of sedentary agriculture, at least in this part of Africa.


The European Union's Council Regulation on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development has introduced auctioning as a new instrument for granting agri-environmental payments and awarding conservation contracts for the recent multi-annual budgetary plan. This paper therefore deals with the conception and results of two case study auctions for conservation contracts. Results of two field experiments show much differentiated bid prices in the model-region and budgetary cost-effectiveness gains of up to 21% in the first auction and up to 36% in the repeated auction. Besides these promising results, some critical aspects as well as lessons to be learned will also be discussed in this paper to improve the design and performance of upcoming conservation auctions.


The Information Manipulation Classification Theory offers a systematic approach to understanding the differences and similarities among various types of information manipulation (such as falsification, exaggeration, concealment, misinformation or hoax). We distinguish twelve salient factors that manipulation varieties differ by (such as intentionality to deceive, accuracy, and social acceptability) to provide an abstract framework and conceptualize various permutations. Each variety then is represented as a set of features in the twelve-dimensional space. Our contributions are two-fold. In Library and Information Science (LIS) literature, a nuanced understanding of information manipulation varieties and their inter-relation lends greater awareness and sophistication to the ways we think about information and information literacy. For Natural Language Processing (NLP), the model identifies salient features for each manipulation variety, creates a potential for automated recognition and adaptability from deception detection technology to identification of other information manipulation varieties based on similarities.


Following more than a decade of scientific debate about the setting of a standard for 222Rn in drinking water, Congress established a timetable for the promulgation of a standard in the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. As a result of those Amendments, the EPA contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to undertake a risk assessment for exposure to radon in drinking water. In addition, the resulting committee was asked to address several other scientific issues including the national average ambient 222Rn concentration and the increment of 222Rn to the indoor-air concentration arising from the use of drinking water in a home. A new dosimetric analysis of the cancer risk to the stomach from ingestion was performed. The recently reported risk estimates developed by the BEIR VI Committee for inhalation of radon decay products were adopted. Because the 1996 Amendments permit states to develop programs in which mitigation of air-producing health-rsik reductions equivalent to that which woul...


The Dawid-Skene estimator has been widely used for inferring the true labels from the noisy labels provided by non-expert crowdsourcing workers. However, since the estimator maximizes a non-convex log-likelihood function, it is hard to theoretically justify its performance. In this paper, we propose a two-stage efficient algorithm for multi-class crowd labeling problems. The first stage uses the spectral method to obtain an initial estimate of parameters. Then the second stage refines the estimation by optimizing the objective function of the Dawid-Skene estimator via the EM algorithm. We show that our algorithm achieves the optimal convergence rate up to a logarithmic factor. We conduct extensive experiments on synthetic and real datasets. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is comparable to the most accurate empirical approach, while outperforming several other recently proposed methods.


During the turbulent 1970s and 1980s the Bundesbank established an outstanding reputation in the world of central banking. Germany achieved a high degree of domestic stability and provided safe haven for investors in times of turmoil in the international financial system. Eventually the Bundesbank provided the role model for the European Central Bank. Hence, we examine an episode of lasting importance in European monetary history. The purpose of this paper is to highlight how the Bundesbank monetary policy strategy contributed to this success. We analyze the strategy as it was conceived, communicated and refined by the Bundesbank itself. We propose a theoretical framework (following Soderstrom, 2005) where monetary targeting is interpreted, first and foremost, as a commitment device. In our setting, a monetary target helps anchoring inflation and inflation expectations. We derive an interest rate rule and show empirically that it approximates the way the Bundesbank conducted monetary policy over the period 1975-1998. We compare the Bundesbank's monetary policy rule with those of the FED and of the Bank of England. We find that the Bundesbank's policy reaction function was characterized by strong persistence of policy rates as well as a strong response to deviations of inflation from target and to the activity growth gap. In contrast, the response to the level of the output gap was not significant. In our empirical analysis we use real-time data, as available to policy-makers at the time.


Local agencies drive criminal justice policy, but states pick up the tab for policy choices that result in state imprisonment. This distorts local policies and may actually contribute to increased state prison populations, since prison is effectively "free" to the local decisionmakers who send inmates there. This Article looks directly at the source of the "correctional free lunch" problem and proposes to end state funding for prisons. States would, instead, reallocate money spent on prisons to localities to use as they see fit — on enforcement, treatment, or even per-capita prison usage. This would allow localities to retain their decision-making autonomy, but it would internalize the costs of those decisions.


Reading as a cultural skill is acquired over a long period of training. This thesis supports the idea that reading is based on specific strategies that result from modification and coordination of earlier developed object recognition strategies. The reading-specific processing strategies are considered to be more analytic compared to object recognition strategies, which are described as holistic. To enable proper reading skills these strategies have to become automatized. Study 1 (Chapter 4) examined the temporal and visual constrains of letter recognition strategies. In the first experiment two successively presented stimuli (letters or non-letters) had to be classified as same or different. The second stimulus could either be presented in isolation or surrounded by a shape, which was either similar (congruent) or different (incongruent) in its geometrical properties to the stimulus itself. The non-letter pairs were presented twice as often as the letter pairs. The results demonstrated a preference for the holistic strategy also in letters, even if the non- letter set was presented twice as often as the letter set, showing that the analytic strategy does not replace the holistic one completely, but that the usage of both strategies is task-sensitive. In Experiment 2, we compared the Global Precedence Effect (GPE) for letters and non-letters in central viewing, with the global stimulus size close to the functional visual field in whole word reading (6.5◦ of visual angle) and local stimuli close to the critical size for fluent reading of individual letters (0.5◦ of visual angle). Under these conditions, the GPE remained robust for non-letters. For letters, however, it disappeared: letters showed no overall response time advantage for the global level and symmetric congruence effects (local-to-global as well as global-to-local interference). These results indicate that reading is based on resident analytic visual processing strategies for letters. In Study 2 (Chapter 5) we replicated the latter result with a large group of participants as part of a study in which pairwise associations of non-letters and phonological or non-phonological sounds were systematically trained. We investigated whether training would eliminate the GPE also for non-letters. We observed, however, that the differentiation between letters and non-letter shapes persists after training. This result implies that pairwise association learning is not sufficient to overrule the process differentiation in adults. In addition, subtle effects arising in the letter condition (due to enhanced power) enable us to further specify the differentiation in processing between letters and non-letter shapes. The influence of reading ability on the GPE was examined in Study 3 (Chapter 6). Children with normal reading skills and children with poor reading skills were instructed to detect a target in Latin or Hebrew Navon letters. Children with normal reading skills showed a GPE for Latin letters, but not for Hebrew letters. In contrast, the dyslexia group did not show GPE for either kind of stimuli. These results suggest that dyslexic children are not able to apply the same automatized letter processing strategy as children with normal reading skills do. The difference between the analytic letter processing and the holistic non-letter processing was transferred to the context of whole word reading in Study 4 (Chapter 7). When participants were instructed to detect either a letter or a non-letter in a mixed character string, for letters the reaction times and error rates increased linearly from the left to the right terminal position in the string, whereas for non-letters a symmetrical U-shaped function was observed. These results suggest, that the letter-specific processing strategies are triggered automatically also for more word-like material. Thus, this thesis supports and expands prior results of letter-specific processing and gives new evidences for letter-specific processing strategies.


The purpose of this study was to investigate Arthur Bird's (1856-1923) Suite in D for double wind quintet. This study presents a biographical sketch about the composer and a descriptive analysis of the Suite in D in order to bring attention to this turn of the twentieth-century American composer and the substantial number of works Bird created. Existing, accessible information focusing upon Arthur Bird and his music is limited. Therefore, it is important to provide conductors and performers with another resource as they study and perform the chamber wind works of Arthur Bird is important. In conjunction with the written document, a lecture recital was presented in which the work was performed in its entirety. The performing ensemble included students from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music. The lecture recital took place on Sunday, March 21, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. in the Organ Recital Hall. The analysis process involved three aspects: the study of the musical score for Suite in D, evaluation of reference recordings, and researching of documents about the composer's life and music. After a brief introduction, the document presents a brief biographical sketch about Bird and his music as it pertains to the Suite in D including Bird's early years in Boston, Massachusetts, and his musical education in Europe. Also included in the study are descriptions of Bird's compositional output, criticism, personal and professional relationships, and activity later in life. The biographical section concludes with a description of the compositional origins and historical context of the Suite in D. Following the biographical information is a descriptive analysis of the Suite in D examining aspects of formal organization, harmonic content, melody, and rhythmic vocabulary. Performance considerations of the Suite, as well as conclusions, complete the study. Due to the orchestrational craftsmanship, harmonic interest, and melodic content, Bird's music is considered to be meritorious among work by American and European art music composers during the turn of the twentieth century.


The control of tomato bacterial spot by the application of chemicals was evaluated on field condition during two trials. Thirty days after transplanting and every 14 days the tomato plants PA-529 hybrid were sprayed with acibenzolar-S-methyl (2.5 g·100 L -1 ), fluazinam (25 g·100 L -1 ), pyraclostrobin (8 g·100 L -1 ), pyraclostrobin + metiram (20 g·100 L -1 + 220 g·100 L -1 ), copper oxychloride (25.20 g·100 L -1 ), mancozeb + copper oxychloride (88 g·100 L -1 + 60 g·100 L -1 ), oxytetracycline (40 g·100 L -1 ) and water (control), totaling five applications during the crop cycle. Forty days after transplanting, the plants were inoculated with a Xanthomonas perforans isolate (10 7 UFC·mL -1 ), disease severity was assessed (10, 19, 29, and 36 days after inoculation), and the area under the disease progress curve was calculated. All chemicals controlled the disease, but better results for total mass and number of fruit was obtained for fluazinam, pyraclostrobin, pyraclostrobin + metiram, copper oxychloride, and mancozeb + copper oxychloride in the first trial, and pyraclostrobin and pyraclostrobin + metiram in the second trial. The average fruit weight, °Brix, pH and total acidity were not affected by the application of the chemicals. The enzymatic activity of the polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase was higher in the first trial, but in the second, only the polyphenoloxidase had the highest activity in the treatments with acibenzolar-S-methyl, pyraclostrobin, and pyraclostrobin + metiram on tomato leaves. Products containing pyraclostrobin increased the activity of some enzymes without reducing the productivity.


This paper draws inspiration from Edward Said's orientalism, and examines how the three National Museums of Singapore – the Singapore History Museum, the Singapore Art Museum and the Asian Civilizations Museums – are orientalized. The process is mediated through the museums' close links to tourism promotion in the city-state. The tourism authorities in Singapore have found that the city destination has become too modern and western for many tourists, and the destination has embarked on a campaign to make Singapore more oriental. The creation of the museums is one strategy to orientalize Singapore; these museums assert different layers of Singapore's oriental identities. Each museum appropriates the tourist orientalist imagination in different ways. This paper argues that the orientalist imagination can be understood as a set of knowledge resources for the construction of local identities to enhance a destination's uniqueness and attractiveness. Besides reviewing Said's orientalism, this paper visits criticisms of the theory, within the context of the orientalization process of museums in Singapore.


In 1889 two Russian immigrants, Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, met in a coffee shop on the Lower East Side. Over the next fifty years Emma and Sasha would be fast friends, fleeting lovers, and loyal comrades. This dual biography offers an unprecedented glimpse into their intertwined lives, the lasting influence of the anarchist movement they shaped, and their unyielding commitment to equality and justice. Berkman shocked the country in 1892 with "the first terrorist act in America," the failed assassination of the industrialist Henry Clay Frick for his crimes against workers. Passionate and pitiless, gloomy yet gentle, Berkman remained Goldman's closest confidant though the two were often separated--by his fourteen-year imprisonment and by Emma's growing fame as the champion of a multitude of causes, from sexual liberation to freedom of speech. The blazing sun to Sasha's morose moon, Emma became known as "the most dangerous woman in America." Through an attempted prison breakout, multiple bombing plots, and a dramatic deportation from America, these two unrelenting activists insisted on the improbable ideal of a socially just, self-governing utopia, a vision that has shaped movements across the past century, most recently Occupy Wall Street. Sasha and Emma is the culminating work of acclaimed historian of anarchism Paul Avrich. Before his death, Avrich asked his daughter to complete his magnum opus. The resulting collaboration, epic in scope, intimate in detail, examines the possibilities and perils of political faith and protest, through a pair who both terrified and dazzled the world.


The Supreme Court in Rostker v. Goldberg (1981) upheld male-only military registration, and endorsed male-only conscription and combat positions. Few cases have challenged restrictions on women's military service since Rostker, and none have reached the Supreme Court. Federal statutes continue to exclude women from military registration and draft eligibility, and military regulations still ban women from some combat positions. Yet many aspects of women's legal status in the military have changed in striking respects over the past quarter century while academic attention has focused elsewhere. Congress has eliminated statutory combat exclusions, the military has opened many combat positions to women, and the public has become more enthusiastic about women's military service, including in combat. This Article brings long overdue attention to the record of women's legal status in the military in order to make three broad theoretical and historical points. First, women's continued exclusion from registration, draft eligibility, and some combat positions undermines the common assumption that legalized sex inequality has faded into history. Second, the record of women's legal status in the military helps illuminate how extrajudicial events can shape the Supreme Court's constitutional interpretation and then render that interpretation much less plausible over time. Rostker reflected contemporaneous understandings of sex equality. The extrajudicial transformation in women's military role since Rostker has undercut the factual premises and cultural assumptions behind Rostker's interpretation of constitutional equal protection, making clear that Rostker is inconsistent with the rest of the Court's sex discrimination jurisprudence. Third, and most strikingly, the record of women's legal status in the military illustrates how extrajudicial actors can develop and enforce their own evolving understanding of sex equality norms, sometimes becoming a more important source of those norms than courts. The extrajudicial transformation in women's military role has shifted the foundational normative commitments that shape the evolving meaning of constitutional equal protection. This transformation makes limits on women's military service that seemed just and reasonable in the 1970s and 1980s, even to many proponents of sex equality in constitutional and statutory law, now appear increasingly wrong, inequitable, and invidious. Over time, that shift in perspective is likely to affect demands for further change and judgments that both courts and extrajudicial decisionmakers reach about how the Constitution's open-textured language of equal protection applies to specific questions about women's military role. The Article concludes by exploring some of the practical consequences of the extrajudicial shift in perspective on women's military service.


The rise of Asia, as well as the future of regional cooperation and integration (RCI) the world over, will be profoundly influenced by the challenges of slowing productivity growth, increasing economic inequalities and systemic vulnerabilities. Such structural reform issues will require RCI policies that complement domestic policy reform. This unique book explains what drives the regional economic integration of nations and their contribution to national knowledge capital. It also lays out how such beneficial integration can generate broad-based, equitable wealth in Europe and Asia.


This is the original conductor's score for the opera "Daisy" including the vocal parts as well as instrumental lines for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horns, trumpets, bass trombone, timpani and percussion, harp and piano, violin, viola, cello, and string bass. The introductory pages at the start of the score include acknowledgements and synopsis by Professor Kenneth L. Ballenger, the cast of characters and scene list (5 scenes). There is an index to the scenes for each act following their title pages (before page 1 for Act I and before page 262 for Act II).


Continuing a two-year program to bring back twenty-two Maurice Sendak treasures long out of print, our second season of publication highlights one of the most successful author-illustrator pairings of all time. A pioneer of great childrens literature, Ruth Krausspublished more than thirty books for children during a career that spanned forty years. Krauss and Sendak collaborated on eight books, and we are delighted to reintroduce four of these gems in brand-new editions, together with a favorite Maurice Sendak picture book.


From the award-winning champion of culinary simplicity who gave us the bestselling "How to Cook Everything" and "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" comes "Food Matters," a plan for responsible eating that's as good for the planet as it is for your weight and your health.We are finally starting to acknowledge the threat carbon emissions pose to our ozone layer, but few people have focused on the extent to which our consumption of meat contributes to global warming. Think about it this way: In terms of energy consumption, serving a typical family-of-four steak dinner is the rough equivalent of driving around in an SUV for three hours while leaving all the lights on at home.Bittman offers a no-nonsense rundown on how government policy, big business marketing, and global economics influence what we choose to put on the table each evening. He demystifies buzzwords like "organic," "sustainable," and "local" and offers straightforward, budget-conscious advice that will help you make small changes that will shrink your carbon footprint -- and your waistline.Flexible, simple, and non-doctrinaire, the plan is based on hard science but gives you plenty of leeway to tailor your food choices to your lifestyle, schedule, and level of commitment. Bittman, a food writer who loves to eat and eats out frequently, lost thirty-five pounds and saw marked improvement in his blood levels by simply cutting meat and processed foods out of two of his three daily meals. But the simple truth, as he points out, is that as long as you eat more vegetables and whole grains, the result will be better health for you and for the world in which we live.Unlike most things that are virtuous and healthful, Bittman's plan doesn't involve sacrifice. From Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing to Breakfast Bread Pudding, the recipes in Food Matters are flavorful and sophisticated. A month's worth of meal plans shows you how Bittman chooses to eat and offers proof of how satisfying a mindful and responsible diet can be. Cheaper, healthier, and socially sound, "Food Matters" represents the future of American eating.


Psychopathy has been the subject of investigations in both philosophy and psychiatry and yet the conceptual issues remain largely unresolved. This volume approaches psychopathy by considering the question of what psychopaths lack. The contributors investigate specific moral dysfunctions or deficits, shedding light on the capacities people need to be moral by examining cases of real people who seem to lack those capacities. The volume proceeds from the basic assumption that psychopathy is not characterized by a single deficit--for example, the lack of empathy, as some philosophers have proposed -- but by a range of them. Thus contributors address specific deficits that include impairments in rationality, language, fellow-feeling, volition, evaluation, and sympathy. They also consider such issues in moral psychology as moral motivation, moral emotions, and moral character; and they examine social aspects of psychopathic behavior, including ascriptions of moral responsibility, justification of moral blame, and social and legal responses to people perceived to be dangerous. As this volume demonstrates, philosophers will be better equipped to determine what they mean by "the moral point of view" when they connect debates in moral philosophy to the psychiatric notion of psychopathy, which provides some guidance on what humans need in order be able to feel the normative pull of morality. And the empirical work done by psychiatrists and researchers in psychopathy can benefit from the conceptual clarifications offered by philosophy. ContributorsGwen Adshead, Piers Benn, John Deigh, Alan Felthous, Kerrin Jacobs, Heidi Maibom, Eric Matthews, Henning Sass, Thomas Schramme, Susie Scott, David Shoemaker, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Matthew Talbert


We study random partitions $\lambda=(\lambda_1,\lambda_2,\dots,\lambda_d)$ of $n$ whose length is not bigger than a fixed number $d$. Suppose a random partition $\lambda$ is distributed according to the Jack measure, which is a deformation of the Plancherel measure with a positive parameter $\alpha>0$. We prove that for all $\alpha>0$, in the limit as $n \to \infty$, the joint distribution of scaled $\lambda_1,\dots, \lambda_d$ converges to the joint distribution of some random variables from a traceless Gaussian $\beta$-ensemble with $\beta=2/\alpha$. We also give a short proof of Regev's asymptotic theorem for the sum of $\beta$-powers of $f^\lambda$, the number of standard tableaux of shape $\lambda$.


In this work the problem of fluid flow in deformable porous media is studied. First, the stationary fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problem is formulated in terms of incompressible Newtonian fluid and a linearized elastic solid. The flow is assumed to be characterized by very low Reynolds number and is described by the Stokes equations. The strains in the solid are small allowing for the solid to be described by the Lame equations, but no restrictions are applied on the magnitude of the displacements leading to strongly coupled, nonlinear fluid-structure problem. The FSI problem is then solved numerically by an iterative procedure which solves sequentially fluid and solid subproblems. Each of the two subproblems is discretized by finite elements and the fluid-structure coupling is reduced to an interface boundary condition. Several numerical examples are presented and the results from the numerical computations are used to perform permeability computations for different geometries.


A lot of economic problems can be formulated as constrained optimizations and equilibration of their solutions. Various mathematical theories have been supplying economists with indispensable machineries for these problems arising in economic theory. Conversely, mathematicians have been stimulated by various mathematical difficulties raised by economic theories. The series is designed to bring together those mathematicians who are seriously interested in getting new challenging stimuli from economic theories with those economists who are seeking effective mathematical tools for their research.


Research has shown that immobilization such as that which occurs during treatment to an injury can results in significant muscle strength and force steadiness loss within the first week (Lundbye-Jensen & Nielsen, 2008; Newsom, Knight, & Balnave, 2003). Research has examined the efficacy of imagery in minimizing strength-loss during a period of immobilization (Newsom, Knight, & Balnave, 2003; Stenekes, Geertzen, Nicolai, De Jong, & Mulder, 2009). While promising, limitations remain with regards to type of imagery used and structures immobilized. This study assessed the effectiveness of using internal kinesthetic mental imagery to maintain thenar muscle group strength during immobilization of the thumb. Participants' thenar muscle group strength was measured pre- and post-immobilization period in adduction, abduction, opposition and flexion. Force steadiness was also evaluated pre- and post-immobilization at 5%, 25% and 50% of maximum thumb flexion force. All participants were immobilized for seven days on their non-dominant hand in a thumb spica cast. During the immobilization period, both the control and experimental groups were instructed to limit the use of their non-dominant hand. The experimental group completed a daily 8-minute imagery script. Results of separate repeated measure 2 (group) x2 (pre/post) ANOVAs failed to support the effect of imagery to maintain muscle strength or force steadiness following 7-days of immobilization. Future research should add a familiarization session to the protocol to allow participants to become more accustomed to the unique testing procedures.


The revenues from a carbon tax could help finance lower corporate tax rates, extending business tax preferences, or other corporate tax reforms. Such a tax swap would reduce the environmental risks of carbon emissions and improve the efficiency of America's corporate tax system. But it would also pose a significant distributional challenge. A carbon tax would fall disproportionately on low-income families, while corporate tax cuts would disproportionately benefit those with high incomes. Policymakers may want to use some revenue to offset those impacts. They may also want to use some carbon revenues for deficit reduction.


The priority of secured credit has repeatedly and famously been attacked for allowing the exploitation of certain types of unsecured creditor. It has also been blamed for creating inefficiencies. This paper examines these arguments specifically as applied to the UK, and using both theoretical analysis and recent empirical data, suggests none of them can be sustained. It is argued that security is unlikely to lead to the exploitation of involuntary, "uninformed", or "unsophisticated" creditors, since the perverse incentives it allegedly creates for the debtor's management are likely to be outweighed by the managers' liquidation-related costs. It is then pointed out that both exploitation-based and inefficiency-based attack on the priority of secured credit depend on the assumption that secured credit is generally cheaper than unsecured credit, and further, that this is why debtors prefer to borrow on a secured rather than unsecured basis. Recent evidence from the UK (hereafter, "this jurisdiction") is used to challenge this assumption. This has dramatic implications for the attacks on security, which are discussed. The paper concludes with the demonstration that secured credit, by inducing creditors to lend when they would not do so without being offered priority, is mutually value-enhancing for all types of creditor, including unsecured ones.


Attract, engage, and inspire your customers with an "Optimize and Socialize" content marketing strategyOptimize is designed to give readers a practical approach to integrating search and social media optimization with content marketing to boost relevance, visibility, and customer engagement. Companies, large and small, will benefit from the practical planning and creative content marketing tactics in this book that have been proven to increase online performance across marketing, public relations, and customer service. Learn to incorporate essential content optimization and social media engagement principles thereby increasing their ability to acquire and engage relevant customers online.Optimize provides insights from Lee Odden, one of the leading authorities on Content and Online Marketing. This book explains how to:Create a blueprint for integrated search, social media and content marketing strategyDetermine which creative tactics will provide the best results for your companyImplement search and social optimization holistically in the organizationMeasure the business value of optimized and socialized content marketingDevelop guidelines, processes and training to scale online marketing successOptimize offers a tested approach for a customer-centric and adaptive online marketing strategy that incorporates the best of content, social media marketing, and search engine optimization tactics.


Our goal is to reveal temporal variations in videos that are difficult or impossible to see with the naked eye and display them in an indicative manner. Our method, which we call Eulerian Video Magnification, takes a standard video sequence as input, and applies spatial decomposition, followed by temporal filtering to the frames. The resulting signal is then amplified to reveal hidden information. Using our method, we are able to visualize the flow of blood as it fills the face and also to amplify and reveal small motions. Our technique can run in real time to show phenomena occurring at the temporal frequencies selected by the user.


Disordered eating is a psychological ailment that befalls many athletes and can persist into retirement. Links have been established between disordered eating and societal and sport-specific pressures; however, little research has focused on the perspective of retired athletes in a time-based sport. The purpose of the current research was to explore the conceptualization of disordered eating in relation to swimming participation, how retirement affects eating patterns, and ways to mitigate disordered eating. Following IPA methodological guidelines, a homogeneous sample of retired swimmers (N = 6) was chosen for semistructured, participant-driven interviews determined by scores on a disordered-eating questionnaire. Three superordinate themes were revealed: (1) pressures unique to swimming, (2) transition to eating pattern awareness, and (3) maintaining ideal eating patterns in retirement. The results revealed a combination of novel findings and expansion of previous data on disordered eating. Suggestions f...


The incidence of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is one in 7,000 to 12,000 live births. Virtually, all surgically untreated patients with FAP inevitably develop colorectal-cancer in their lifetime because they carry the adenomatous polyposis coli gene. Thus prophylactic proctocolectomy is indicated. Surgical treatment of FAP is still controversial. There are however, four surgical options: ileorectal anastomosis, restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis, proctocolectomy with ileostomy, and proctocolectomy with continent-ileostomy. Conventional proctocolectomy options largely lie between colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis or ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. Detractors of ileal pouch-anal anastomosis prefer ileorectal anastomosis because of better functional results and quality of life. The functional outcome of total colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis is undoubtedly far superior to that of the ileoanal pouch; however, the risk for rectal cancer is increased by 30%. Even after mucosectomy, inadvertent small mucosal residual islands remain. These residual islands carry the potential for the development of subsequent malignancy. We reviewed the literature (1975-2012) on the incidence, nature, and possible etiology of subsequent ileal-pouch and anal transit zone adenocarcinoma after prophylactic surgery procedure for FAP. To date there are 24 studies reporting 92 pouch-related cancers; 15 case reports, 4 prospective and 5 retrospective studies. Twenty three of 92 cancers (25%) developed in the pouch mucosa and 69 (75%) in anal transit zone (ATZ). Current recommendation for pouch surveillance and treatment are presented. Data suggest lifetime surveillance of these patients.


The interpretation-construction distinction, which marks the difference between linguistic meaning and legal effect, is much discussed these days. I shall argue that the distinction is both real and fundamental – that it marks a deep difference in two different stages (or moments) in the way that legal and political actors process legal texts. My account of the distinction will not be precisely the same as some others, but I shall argue that it is the correct account and captures the essential insights of its rivals. This Essay aims to mark the distinction clearly!The basic idea can be explained by distinguishing two different moments or stages that occur when an authoritative legal text (a constitution, statute, regulation, or rule) is applied or explicated. The first of these moments is interpretation – which I shall stipulate is the process (or activity) that recognizes or discovers the linguistic meaning or semantic content of the legal text. The second moment is construction – which I shall stipulate is the process that gives a text legal effect (either my translating the linguistic meaning into legal doctrine or by applying or implementing the text). I shall then claim that the difference between interpretation and construction is real and fundamental. Although the terminology (the words "interpretation" and "construction" that express the distinction) could vary, legal theorists cannot do without the distinction.One more preliminary point: the topic of this Essay is narrow and conceptual. This Essay, has three goals: (1) to explicate the nature of the interpretation-construction distinction, (2) to argue that this distinction marks a real difference, and (3) to suggest that the distinction is helpful in that it enables legal theorists to clarify the nature of important debates, for example debates about constitutional interpretation. The Essay does not offer any particular theory of interpretation or construction – that it is, it remains agnostic about questions as to how linguistic meaning can be discerned or how legal content ought to be determined. Nor does this theory offer an account of the history and origins of the distinction. Those topics are important, but raising them in this Essay might shift attention away from prior questions about the nature and value of the distinction itself.Here is the roadmap. In Part II, this Essay shall discuss two preliminary sets of ideas: (1) vagueness and ambiguity, and (2) semantic content and legal content. In Part III, this Essay shall use these preliminary ideas to answer the questions, "What is interpretation?" and "What is construction?" In Part IV, this Essay shall consider some objections to the interpretation-construction distinction. In Part V, this Essay shall develop the argument that the distinction is fundamental and indispensable.


Recent research demonstrates the difficulties that federal systems of government may present for international treaty formation, a prime example being legally binding treaties aimed at harnessing global forests to regulate climate change. Some federal constitutions, such as the U.S. and Canadian constitutions, grant subnational governments virtually exclusive direct forest management regulatory authority for non-federally owned forests. With subnational governments controlling sixty-five percent of forests in the United States and eighty-four percent in Canada, the U.S. and Canadian federal governments may be constrained during international negotiations and unable to legally bind subnational governments to any agreement prescribing methods of utilizing these forests to combat climate change. These constraints are especially important since these two countries control fifteen percent of the world's forests. Decentralized forest policy in the U.S. and Canada certainly provides valuable benefits. Yet constitutional decentralization in federal systems should be more effectively balanced with global forest governance if that mechanism for addressing climate change is to be preserved in its most flexible form. Though a binding agreement has yet to materialize, and other increasingly touted mechanisms may be utilized to tackle climate change, it is imperative that world governments maintain every legal and policy tool at their disposal to address the problem. A recent comparative constitutional analysis of five federal systems controlling fifty-four percent of global forests determined that the United States and Canada lack two of the three key elements of federal constitutional structure that best facilitate a federal nation's ability to enter into and successfully implement an international climate agreement including forests while also preserving the recognized benefits of decentralized forest policy. This Article addresses how these constitutional deficiencies might be remedied to achieve more effective climate and forest governance. In other words, the Article explores mechanisms for establishing "Fail-safe Federalism" for forest management in the United States and Canada, by first highlighting the domestic nuances of both constitutional structure and forest policy in the two countries and next assessing whether top-down, bilateral, horizontal, or transnational approaches are the most effective mechanisms for forging Fail-safe Federalism within each.


Open access This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http:// creativecommons. org/ licenses/ bync/ 4. 0/.


This study investigates how microenterprises in Ethical Fashion (EF) retail adopt and make use of social media. Drawing on an explorative case study, supplemented by an action research approach, we first examine the antecedents of a successful adoption based on the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework. Subsequently, we shed light on the benefits and drawbacks of social media adoption for the three microenterprises of our case study on the operational and the strategical level. More particularly, we present how they improve value creation through the employment of social media in their value networks and how they overcome the lack of a sophisticated IT infrastructure. Finally, we investigate the reluctance of the three microenterprises to adopt inter-organizational information systems. The findings of our study also reveal a halo effect in the adoption process that may mislead the adopting organization.


This article examines different views of the European Union (EU) legislative decision-making process through a quantitative analysis of all Commission proposals initi- ated between 1984 and 1999. Using the positions of Member States, the analysis is innovative in two respects: the identification of the relative importance of institutions and preferences for the process of EU legislative decision making, and the empirical evaluation of the ongoing theoretical controversy between constructivists and spatial analysts about the con- verging or diverging effect of Member State positions. The findings reveal that the process of EU legislative integration is significantly slowing down, even though Council qualified majority voting facilitates decision making while parliamentary participation modestly increases the duration. Against the constructivist claims of convergence, the results show that the divergence of Member State positions significantly determines the duration of the legislative process, in particular in the key domains of EU integration: the larger the distance between the Member States' positions, the longer the EU decision-making process takes. This suggests that the accession of countries with diverging positions will slow down the EU's legislative process, but institutional reform of the Council's decision-making threshold is a promising solution for coping with this effect.


This paper argues the case for the right of secession in Western democracies. I suggest that the winners gain more than the losers may lose. Indeed, the external effects of secession may well be positive. However, the political economy of secession is highly problematic. Ideally, the rules for secession should be set at the international level but international organisations have a vested interest in preventing secession. It is easier to establish the right of secession at the national level. The opinion of the European Union institutions that Catalonia and Scotland, after seceding, would have to reapply for EU membership has no basis in the European treaties. Nor has this question been settled in any UN agreement or Vienna Convention. There are merely practices, and they vary among international institutions. The paper concludes with suggestions on how secessions from EU member states and withdrawals of member states from the EU might be implemented.


Spatial time domain reflectometry (spatial TDR) is a new measurement method for determining water content profiles along elongated probes (transmission lines). The method is based on the inverse modeling of TDR reflectograms using an optimization algorithm. By means of using flat ribbon cables it is possible to take two independent TDR measurements from both ends of the probe, which are used to improve the spatial information content of the optimization results and to consider effects caused by electrical conductivity. The method has been used for monitoring water content distributions on a full‐scale levee model made of well‐graded clean sand. Flood simulation tests, irrigation tests, and long‐term observations were carried out on the model. The results show that spatial TDR is able to determine water content distributions with an accuracy of the spatial resolution of about ±3 cm compared to pore pressure measurements and an average deviation of ±2 vol % compared to measurements made using another independent TDR measurement system.


The biogenic production and subsequent oxidation of methane in aquatic sediments are important microbial processes that contribute to the global carbon cycle and play a significant role in the natural flux of methane to the atmosphere. I studied the importance of biogenic methane to the diet of benthic Chironomus as well as the effects of sedimentation on Chironomus carbon signatures through the use of stable isotope analysis. Results suggest benthic Chironomus are obtaining a portion of their carbon (4 - 89%) from biogenically produced methane via methane-oxidizing bacteria (MOB). Core incubation experiments showed significant levels of methane production (up to 1,514.7 mg/m2/day) and methane oxidation (up to 1101.0 mg/m2/day). Sedimentation rates, measured with vertical-suspended sediment traps, were variable by site, reservoir and thermal profile. Linear regression analysis found a significant negative correlation between total sedimentation and the percent organic matter in the sediment and a positive relationship between inorganic sedimentation and the d13C values of Chironomus. In conclusion, biogenic methane and sedimentation are important to Chironomus in these reservoirs, and the production and oxidation of biogenic methane in these reservoirs is significant.


Surface drip irrigation laterals were spaced next to crop rows (0.91 m) and in alternate row middles (1.83 m) to document crop yield and partial net economic returns compared with non-irrigated peanut (Arachis hypogaea), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), and corn (Zea mays). A drip irrigation system was installed at two sites, for three years (2002 to 2004) in a randomized block design. Surface drip irrigated peanut had greater yield (4900 kg/ha), market grade (74%), and gross revenue ($2000/ha) compared with non-irrigated peanut (4066 kg/ha, 71%, and $1570/ha), respectively. Drip tubing in peanut spaced at 0.91 m is not cost effective while those spaced at 1.83 m returned an average $120/ha compared with non-irrigation. Drip tubing space at 0.91 and 1.83 m had similar corn yield (10,555 kg/ha) and was significantly greater than the non-irrigated areas (5,562 kg/ha). Drip tubing spaced at 0.9 m in corn had a net loss in revenue compared with non-irrigation. The 1.83 m spaced laterals in corn had $196/ha greater net revenue compared with non-irrigation. Cotton lint yield averaged 1194 kg/ha for 0.91 and 1.83-m lateral spacing and was almost two times greater than non-irrigated lint yield. Cotton gross revenue averaged $1200 and $600/ha for irrigated and non-irrigated treatments, respectively. Cotton net revenue was $613 and $969 for 0.91 and 1.83 m lateral spacing, respectively. The 0.91-m lateral spacing may not be cost effective for peanut, corn, or cotton. Conversely, the 1.83-m lateral spacing may be cost effective for peanut, corn, and cotton.


We study an approach to policy selection for large relational Markov Decision Processes (MDPs). We consider a variant of approximate policy iteration (API) that replaces the usual value-function learning step with a learning step in policy space. This is advantageous in domains where good policies are easier to represent and learn than the corresponding value functions, which is often the case for the relational MDPs we are interested in. In order to apply API to such problems, we introduce a relational policy language and corresponding learner. In addition, we introduce a new bootstrapping routine for goal-based planning domains, based on random walks. Such bootstrapping is necessary for many large relational MDPs, where reward is extremely sparse, as API is ineffective in such domains when initialized with an uninformed policy. Our experiments show that the resulting system is able to find good policies for a number of classical planning domains and their stochastic variants by solving them as extremely large relational MDPs. The experiments also point to some limitations of our approach, suggesting future work.


The high species richness, coupled with high proportion of endemism, makes the Mediterranean one of the world's 'biodiversity hotspots'. However, the continuous increase in fisheries in the last few decades has led to the overexploitation of their main commercial stocks. Using fishery-independent data collected under the framework of the MEDITS trawl surveys carried out over the last 20 years, we study the demersal fish diversity pattern in the Mediterranean at a large spatial and temporal scale to determine whether it is being affected by the general fishing overexploitation of the demersal resources. The detected diversity trends are compared with the spatio-temporal variation in bottom trawl fishing effort in the Mediterranean. Our results show a stability and even recovery of demersal fish diversity in the Mediterranean together with higher diversity values on the continental shelves of the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily and the Aegean Sea. At large temporal and spatial scales, the high diversity of demersal assemblages in the Mediterranean is associated with a reduction in bottom trawl fishing effort. The inclusion of species other than target ones through diversity indices is important in the implementation of an ecosystem-based fisheries management.


Average student Moritaka Mashiro enjoys drawing for fun. When his classmate and aspiring writer Akito Takagi discovers his talent, he begs Moritaka to team up with him as a manga-creating duo. But what exactly does it take to make it in the manga-publishing world


Coffelt, Nancy.  Catch That Baby! Toronto: Aladdin, 2011. Print. There comes a point in every toddler's life when he or she just needs to make a break for it and run away from Mom; if naked, after a bath, so much the better.  Nancy Coffelt captures that moment in this delightful book.  Rudy tosses his towel at the dog, shouts, "No dressed" and the romp begins.  Mom chases, clothing in hand, and is joined in successive panels by other family members all of whom try, but not too hard, to "catch that naked baby". This is primarily a picture book.  Award-winning illustrator Scott Nash has drawn cartoon style illustrations, with large blocks of bright colour, little visual detail and speech bubbles.   The simple presentation is perfect for toddlers, who will be able to completely relate to "Nudie Rudy" pelting around the house in the buff, although most pre-readers will not end up swinging from vines in the conservatory. Young children will enjoy the repetition in the little bit of text on each page and will love finding Rudy on each page, particularly on pages where those silly adults cannot see him, even though he is so obviously in plain sight that a baby could find him. Catch That Baby! is a gem that will become a favourite read aloud book in many families.  It would make an excellent gift for a toddler and belongs in every public library collection. Highly recommended:  4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Sandy Campbell Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.


Algebraic Semantics of Imperative Programs presents a self-contained and novel "executable" introduction to formal reasoning about imperative programs. The authors' primary goal is to improve programming ability by improving intuition about what programs mean and how they run.The semantics of imperative programs is specified in a formal, implemented notation, the language OBJ; this makes the semantics highly rigorous yet simple, and provides support for the mechanical verification of program properties.OBJ was designed for algebraic semantics; its declarations introduce symbols for sorts and functions, its statements are equations, and its computations are equational proofs. Thus, an OBJ "program" is an equational theory, and every OBJ computation proves some theorem about such a theory. This means that an OBJ program used for defining the semantics of a program already has a precise mathematical meaning. Moreover, standard techniques for mechanizing equational reasoning can be used for verifying axioms that describe the effect of imperative programs on abstract machines. These axioms can then be used in mechanical proofs of properties of programs.Intended for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students, Algebraic Semantics of Imperative Programs contains many examples and exercises in program verification, all of which can be done in OBJ.


Drugs with clinical adverse effects are compared in an ex vivo 3-dimensional multi-cellular human liver slice model. Functional markers of oxidative stress and mitochondrial function, glutathione GSH and ATP levels, were affected by acetaminophen (APAP, 1 mM), diclofenac (DCF, 1 mM) and etomoxir (ETM, 100 μM). Drugs targeting mitochondria more than GSH were dantrolene (DTL, 10 μM) and cyclosporin A (CSA, 10 μM), while GSH was affected more than ATP by methimazole (MMI, 500 μM), terbinafine (TBF, 100 μM), and carbamazepine (CBZ 100 μM). Oxidative stress genes were affected by TBF (18%), CBZ, APAP, and ETM (12%–11%), and mitochondrial genes were altered by CBZ, APAP, MMI, and ETM (8%–6%). Apoptosis genes were affected by DCF (14%), while apoptosis plus necrosis were altered by APAP and ETM (15%). Activation of oxidative stress, mitochondrial energy, heat shock, ER stress, apoptosis, necrosis, DNA damage, immune and inflammation genes ranked CSA (75%), ETM (66%), DCF, TBF, MMI (61%–60%), APAP, CBZ (57%–56%), and DTL (48%). Gene changes in fatty acid metabolism, cholestasis, immune and inflammation were affected by DTL (51%), CBZ and ETM (44%–43%), APAP and DCF (40%–38%), MMI, TBF and CSA (37%–35%). This model advances multiple dosing in a human ex vivo model, plus functional markers and gene profile markers of drug induced human liver side-effects.


At a seminar organized by UNCTAD and the Government of India in 2002, participants considered how evolving national systems for the protection of traditional knowledge could be supported or augmented by international measures adopted at the regional or global level. The need for solutions on the international level has been discussed in a number of fora. Yet, the effective protection of the holders of traditional knowledge requires that these discussions move in some way toward implementation of working systems of protection. This short paper, commissioned by UNCTAD for a conference in February 2004, and to be republished in a book on traditional knowledge, focuses on framework, or structural, issues, rather than on the substantive elements of sui generis systems for the protection of traditional knowledge. It considers the extent to which proponents must articulate the need for a completely new paradigm, or whether instead they can point to historical antecedents in the intellectual property system. The principal impetus for the paper is the proposal of the Indian government that international law require the disclosure of the country of origin of genetic resources and related traditional knowledge in patent applications (and require compliance with the laws of the country of origin). This proposal is essentially an attempt to derogate from the principle of territoriality that pervades and is at the root of, international intellectual property law. That principle is most resolutely advocated and enforced in the patent context. In contrast, international trademark (and geographical indications) law - while firmly based upon the same general principle - has in several respects developed exceptions to that principle. These exceptions might provide the source for a range of options that countries might consider as the model for a system of traditional knowledge protection that likewise moves away from the principle of territoriality. An historical analysis of where resistance to such developments has been most acute in the field of trademark and geographical indications might also provide guidance to those seeking to construct an approach to traditional knowledge that encounters less resistance. The paper conceptualizes the different departures from territoriality in trademark law and thus suggests analogous devices for the protection of traditional knowledge that could be developed along the lines suggested by the Indian government. This helps to identify the structural variables that countries should consider in fashioning a traditional knowledge regime that eschews a rigid commitment to territoriality.


In the presented work, we make use of the strong reciprocity between kinematics and geometry to build a geometrically nonlinear, shearable low order discrete shell model of Cosserat type defined on triangular meshes, from which we deduce a rotation–free Kirchhoff type model with the triangle vertex positions as degrees of freedom. Both models behave physically plausible already on very coarse meshes, and show good
convergence properties on regular meshes. Moreover, from the theoretical side, this deduction provides a
common geometric framework for several existing models.


Purpose: Usually, a theory of attention upon gazed-at locations is applied. More parameters than gaze location can be derived to improve the theory of attention allocation. The aim of this study was to identify parameters related to eye tracking, that are suitable indicators of attention.
Methods: Binocular eye tracking data was collected with the Eye Tribe tracking system (The Eye Tribe Aps, Copenhagen, Denmark) for the task of visual exploration of the painting "Unexpected Visitors" by Ilya Repin. 20 subjects (valid data: 19/20) had to look at this painting for about two and a half minutes in order to generate fatigue and inattention. In a second step, suitable parameters of attention were transferred to a data set (8 subjects, valid data: 6/8) on a perimetric task executed with the OCTOPUS 900 perimeter (Haag-Streit, Koniz, Switzerland). Monocular parameters could be applied on the perimetric task, the error rate (false positive and false negative catch trials, 5 % each) were taken as additional parameter.
Results: For the image viewing task, the only parameter showing significance was the average level (a10) of fatigue waves (p = 0.00024, ANOVA, ∆ = -0.8316 px). Blink duration (∆ =-270.4 ms), pupil variability (∆ = -0.17868), saccade length (∆ =-0.3135 px) and fixation duration (∆ = 186.5 ms) did not change significantly, but showed relevant trends by differences ∆ of their median between the first and last tenth of the recording time. Blink rate and the Index of Cognitive Activity (ICA) did neither show significant changes nor relevant trends. Vergence accuracy failed to indicate fatigue due to variability between subjects and comparatively small effect size. For the perimetric data, in 3 of 6 subjects fatigue waves over a limited time window could be observed. Only for one subject, a relevant increase in false negative responses to catch trials (50 percentage points) could be observed.
Conclusion: Pupil diameter variability, saccade length, fixation duration and fatigue waves were the parameters indicating fatigue. Only the latter parameter has the potential to be applied to perimetric data.


Static analysis designers must carefully balance precision and efficiency. In our experience, many static analysis tools are built around an elegant, core algorithm, but that algorithm is then extensively tweaked to add just enough precision for the coding idioms seen in practice, without sacrificing too much efficiency. There are several downsides to adding precision in this way: the tool's implementation becomes much more complicated; it can be hard for an end-user to interpret the tool's results; and as software systems vary tremendously in their coding styles, it may require significant algorithmic engineering to enhance a tool to perform well in a particular software domain.
 In this paper, we present Mix, a novel system that mixes type checking and symbolic execution. The key aspect of our approach is that these analyses are applied independently on disjoint parts of the program, in an off-the-shelf manner. At the boundaries between nested type checked and symbolically executed code regions, we use special mix rules to communicate information between the off-the-shelf systems. The resulting mixture is a provably sound analysis that is more precise than type checking alone and more efficient than exclusive symbolic execution. In addition, we also describe a prototype implementation, Mixy, for C. Mixy checks for potential null dereferences by mixing a null/non-null type qualifier inference system with a symbolic executor.


One of the foremost Marxist critics of his generation forcefully argues against Marx's irrelevancy In this combative, controversial book, Terry Eagleton takes issue with the prejudice that Marxism is dead and done with. Taking ten of the most common objections to Marxism-that it leads to political tyranny, that it reduces everything to the economic, that it is a form of historical determinism, and so on-he demonstrates in each case what a woeful travesty of Marx's own thought these assumptions are. In a world in which capitalism has been shaken to its roots by some major crises, Why Marx Was Right is as urgent and timely as it is brave and candid. Written with Eagleton's familiar wit, humor, and clarity, it will attract an audience far beyond the confines of academia.


Countries of the Middle East and Central Asia region have
been hit by two large and reinforcing shocks, resulting in significantly weaker growth projections in 2020. In addition to the devastating toll on human health, the COVID-19 pandemic and the plunge in oil prices are causing economic turmoil in the region, with fragile and conflict affected states particularlyhard-hit given already large humanitarian and refugee challenges and weak health infrastructures. The immediate priority for policies is to save lives with needed health spending, regardless of fiscal space, while preserving
engines of growth with targeted support to households and hard-hit sectors. In this context, the IMF has been providing emergency assistance to help countries
in the region during these challenging times. Further ahead, economic recoveries should be supported with broad fiscal and monetary measures where
policy space is available, and by seeking external assistance where space is limited.


Retrieving aerosol properties from satellite remote sensing over a bright surface is a challenging problem in the research of atmospheric and land applications. In this paper we propose a new approach to retrieve aerosol properties over surfaces such as arid, semiarid, and urban areas, where the surface reflectance is usually very bright in the red part of visible spectrum and in the near infrared, but is much darker in the blue spectral region (i.e., wavelength <500 nm). In order to infer atmospheric properties from these data, a global surface reflectance database of 0.1/spl deg/ latitude by 0.1/spl deg/ longitude resolution was constructed over bright surfaces for visible wavelengths using the minimum reflectivity technique (e.g., finding the clearest scene during each season for a given location). The aerosol optical thickness and aerosol type are then determined simultaneously in the algorithm using lookup tables to match the satellite observed spectral radiances. Examples of aerosol optical thickness derived using this algorithm over the Sahara Desert and Arabian Peninsula reveal various dust sources, which are important contributors to airborne dust transported over long distances. Comparisons of the satellite inferred aerosol optical thickness and the values from ground-based Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sun/sky radiometer measurements indicate good agreement (i.e., within 30%) over the sites in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. This new algorithm, when applied to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Sea-viewing Wide Field of view Sensor (SeaWiFS), and Global Imager (GLI) satellite data, will provide high spatial resolution (/spl sim/1 km) global information of aerosol optical thickness over bright surfaces on a daily basis.


With a language disappearing every two weeks and neologisms springing up almost daily, an understanding of the origins and currency of language has never seemed more relevant. In this charming volume, a narrative history written explicitly for a young audience, expert linguist David Crystal proves why the story of language deserves retelling. From the first words of an infant to the peculiar modern dialect of text messaging, A Little Book of Language ranges widely, revealing language's myriad intricacies and quirks. In animated fashion, Crystal sheds light on the development of unique linguistic styles, the origins of obscure accents, and the search for the first written word. He discusses the plight of endangered languages, as well as successful cases of linguistic revitalization. Much more than a history, Crystal's work looks forward to the future of language, exploring the effect of technology on our day-to-day reading, writing, and speech. Through enlightening tables, diagrams, and quizzes, as well as Crystal's avuncular and entertaining style, A Little Book of Language will reveal the story of language to be a captivating tale for all ages.


VENT-II is a computer program designed to provide detailed analysis of natural-draft and induced-draft combustion appliance vent systems (i.e., furnace or water heater). This program is capable of predicting house depressurization thresholds that lead to backdrafting and spillage of combustion appliances; however, validation reports of the program being applied for this purpose are not readily available. The purpose of this article is to assess VENT-II's ability to predict combustion gas spillage events due to house depressurization by comparing VENT-II simulated results with experimental data for four appliance configurations. The results show that VENT-II correctly predicts depressurizations resulting in spillage for natural draft appliances operating in cold and mild outdoor conditions but not for hot conditions. In the latter case, the predicted depressurizations depend on whether the vent section is defined as part of the vent connector or the common vent when setting up the model. Overall, the VENT-II solver requires further investigation before it can be used reliably to predict spillage caused by depressurization over a full year of weather conditions, especially where hot conditions occur.


One of the early cellular responses to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is the activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR). ER stress and the UPR are both implicated in numerous human diseases and pathologies. In spite of this, our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that regulate cell fate following ER stress is limited. The UPR is initiated by three ER transmembrane receptors: PKR‐like ER kinase (PERK), activating transcription factor (ATF) 6 and inositol‐requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1). These proteins sense the accumulation of unfolded proteins and their activation triggers specific adaptive responses to resolve the stress. Intriguingly, the very same receptors can initiate signalling pathways that lead to apoptosis when the attempts to resolve the ER stress fail. In this review, we describe the known pro‐apoptotic signalling pathways emanating from activated PERK, ATF6 and IRE1 and discuss how their signalling switches from an adaptive to a pro‐apoptotic response.


In this study, we examine the arrangements for and experiences of end-use loads providing ancillary services (AS) in five electricity markets: Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), the Nordic market, and the ERCOT and PJM markets in the United States. Our objective in undertaking this review of international experience was to identify specific approaches or market designs that have enabled customer loads to effectively deliver various ancillary services (AS) products. We hope that this report will contribute to the ongoing discussion in the U.S. and elsewhere regarding what institutional and technical developments are needed to ensure that customer loads can meaningfully participate in all wholesale electricity markets.


The global energy system is undergoing a major transition, and in energy planning and decision-making across governments, industry and academia, models play a crucial role. Because of their policy relevance and contested nature, the transparency and open availability of energy models and data are of particular importance. Here we provide a practical how-to guide based on the collective experience of members of the Open Energy Modelling Initiative (Openmod). We discuss key steps to consider when opening code and data, including determining intellectual property ownership, choosing a licence and appropriate modelling languages, distributing code and data, and providing support and building communities. After illustrating these decisions with examples and lessons learned from the community, we conclude that even though individual researchers' choices are important, institutional changes are still also necessary for more openness and transparency in energy research. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).


Total cross sections of π+ and π− mesons on protons and deuterons have been measured in a transmission experiment to relative accuracies of ±0.2% over the laboratory momentum range 0.46-2.67 GeV/c. The systematic error is estimated to be about ±0.5% over most of the range, increasing to about ±2% near both ends. Data have been obtained at momentum intervals of 25-50 MeV/c with a momentum resolution of ±0.6%. No new structure is observed in the π±p total cross sections, but results differ in several details from previous experiments. From 1-2 GeV/c, where systematic erros are the smallest, the total cross section of π− mesons on deuterons is found to be consistently higher than that of π+ mesons by (1.3±0.3)%; about half of this difference may be understood in terms of Coulomb-barrier effects. The πd and πN total cross sections are used to check the validity of the Glauber theory. Substantial disagreements (up to 2 mb) are observed, and the conclusion is drawn that the Glauber theory is inadequate in this momentum range.


ABSTRACT The legal implementation of internationally agreed norms on a domestic level gives momentum to a substantial reinterpretation. Based on this insight, this article develops an ideal-typology of possible 'localization' outcomes. Apart from a literal adoption of an international norm, we show that the domestic implementation may change its emphasis (accentuation), amend it by supplementary purposes (addition), or imply a deviation which nevertheless sticks to the letter of the international wording (subversion). We argue that the specific form of localization depends on the interaction between international pressure politics and its congruence with the prevailing domestic public and private preferences. International power constellations explain why an international norm is implemented, but the specific character of its localization is mainly determined by domestic actor constellations. To substantiate our claims, we analyze the implementation of two interconnected international agreements in India and Brazil. While both the Convention on Biodiversity and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights introduce the norm of property rights for intellectual knowledge in previously (at least internationally) unregulated fields, the particular characteristics of their respective implementation in both countries display the interaction between international pressure and domestic preferences in our four case studies.


'Neoliberal Scotland' argues that far from passing Scotland by, as is so often claimed, neoliberalism has in fact become institutionalised there. As the mainstream political parties converge on market-friendly policies and business interests are equated with the public good, the Scottish population has become more and more distanced from the democratic process, to the extent that an increasing number now fail to vote in elections. This book details for the first time these negative effects of neoliberal policies on Scottish society and takes to task those academics and others who either defend the neoliberal order or refuse to recognize that it exists. 'Neoliberal Scotland' represents both an intervention in contemporary debates about the condition of Scotland and a case study, of more general interest, of how neoliberalism has affected one of the 'stateless nations' of the advanced West. Chapter one takes an overview of the origin and rise of neoliberalism in the developed world, arguing that it repudiates rather than continues the thought of Adam Smith and the Scottish Enlightenment. Part one addresses the fundamental issue of social class in Scotland over three chapters. Chapter two attempts to locate the ruling class both internally and externally. Chapter three explores the changing nature of working class membership and its collective experience. Chapter four follows the working class into the workplace where heightened tensions in the state sector have provoked an increasingly militant response from trade unionists. Part two engages with the broader impact of neoliberalism on Scottish society through a diverse series of studies. Chapter five assesses claims by successive Scottish governments that they have been pursuing environmental justice. Chapter six examines how Glasgow has been reconfigured as a classic example of the 'neoliberal city'. Chapter seven looks at another aspect of Glasgow, in this case as the main destination of Eastern European migrants who have arrived in Scotland through the international impact of neoliberal globalisation. Chapter eight investigates the economic intrusion of private capital into the custodial network and the ideological emphasis on punishment as the main objective in sentencing. Chapter nine is concerned with the Scottish manifestations of 'the happiness industry', showing how market-fundamentalist notions of individual responsibility now structure even the most seemingly innocuous attempts to resolve supposed attitudinal problems. Finally, chapter ten demonstrates that the limited extent to which devolved Scottish governments, particularly the present SNP administration, have been able to go beyond the boundaries of neoliberal orthodoxy has been a function of the peculiarities of party competition in Holyrood, rather than representing a fundamental disavowal of the existing order.


The thirteenth title in the new "Usborne Very First Reading" series, designed for younger children to introduce them to reading together with their parents. Parents and children take turns to read from the page (the text clearly marked for who should be reading) and as the books progress in the series the adults read less and less and the child more and more. There are puzzles at the end to check the child's understanding of the text and guidance notes for the parents. Beautiful illustrations help to motivate beginner readers.


It's the undisputed king of Internet auction sites. It's a global bazaar offering a range of goods from Antiques to Zulu Daisies. Cars, clothing, collectibles: you name it, and it's likely that you can find on eBay. But along with the vast selection of goods available, buyers and sellers also encounter all the other elements that markets are known for: tricks and swindlers, overpriced goods, deceptive labeling, small print, recycled items marked as new, and the occasional rare priceless find or undiscovered treasure. Seasoned eBay traders know that to successfully buy and sell within this mega-shopping platform, you need to understand the system. Unfortunately, the secrets of the site are often tightly held by other buyers and sellers seeking a competitive edge. But what if you're a newcomer? Or an experienced trader who wants to make the jump to power buyer or seller? eBay: The Missing Manual gives you the inside information you'll need to become an eBay expert. Buyers will find the most effective ways to find you want and pay prices that are sure to bring a smile to your face. And you'll get authoritative advice on strategic bidding: how to watch for elusive items, time your bids to take the competition by surprise, and--above all--avoid paying more than you ought to. Sellers will get sure-fire tips from eBay veterans who have discovered ways to ramp up their own auctions and sell at the highest possible prices. From the smallest details, such as how to take and post the most effective photos of your goods, to pricing strategies, inventory management, and shipping methods, this user-friendly manual will help you make more money on eBay. Whether you're selling a single item or running fulltime business on the site, you'll find tips to help you do it more effectively. As in any community, problems and disputes arise, and you'll learn how other eBayers resolve such troubles or work around them. eBay: The Missing Manual has gems of wisdom for everyone from total novices to more experienced traders. If you're looking to improve your eBay auction experience, you'll savor the tips and trick revealed in this guided exploration.


Abstract Innovation is the key to the growth of each business in a fast-changing world. Innovations affect financial activities because the successful innovation opens the new markets, gives the opportunity to reduce costs or introduce new products and services with a higher profit margin. Each organization, institution, enterprise or individual can be innovative. Innovations may not be implemented only in large enterprises, but also in medium or small. The aim of this paper is to innovate and optimize the polishing process in production plant with variant production. In this paper case study is used as research method which includes measurements and observation. The paper is focused on five variants of one product. We obtained the required data by measuring in a manufacturing plant in southern India in Madurai. At the end the results are summarized, and the optimization of the polishing process is proposed.


The number one "New York Times" bestselling author of "Bias" delivers another bombshell--this time aimed at . . . "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America" No preaching. No pontificating. Just some uncommon sense about the things that have made this country great--and the culprits who are screwing it up. Bernard Goldberg takes dead aim at the America Bashers (the cultural elites who look down their snobby noses at "ordinary" Americans) . . . the Hollywood Blowhards (incredibly ditzy celebrities who think they're smart just because they're famous) . . . the TV Schlockmeisters (including the one whose show has been compared to a churning mass of maggots devouring rotten meat) . . . the Intellectual Thugs (bigwigs at some of our best colleges, whose views run the gamut from left wing to far left wing) . . . and many more. Goldberg names names, counting down the villains in his rogues' gallery from 100 all the way to 1--and, yes, you-know-who is number 37. Some supposedly "serious" journalists also made the list, including the journalist-diva who sold out her integrity and hosted one of the dumbest hours in the history of network television news. And there are those famous miscreants who have made America a nastier place than it ought to be--a far more selfish, vulgar, and cynical place. But Goldberg doesn't just round up the usual suspects we have come to know and detest. He also exposes some of the people who operate away from the limelight but still manage to pull a lot of strings and do all sorts of harm to our culture. Most of all, "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America" is about a country where as long as anything goes, as one of the good guys in the book puts it, sooner or later everything will go. This is serious stuff for sure. But Goldberg will also make you laugh as he harpoons scoundrels like the congresswoman who thinks there aren't enough hurricanes named after black people, and the environmentalist to the stars who yells at total strangers driving SUVs--even though she tools around the country in a gas-guzzling private jet. With "Bias," Bernard Goldberg took us behind the scenes and exposed the way Big Journalism distorts the news. Now he has written a book that goes even further. This time he casts his eye on American culture at large--and the result is a book that is sure to become the voice of all those Americans who feel that no one is speaking for them on perhaps the most vital issue of all: the kind of country in which we want to live.


There are two main human pathogens in the family of Chlamydiaceae. Different serovars of Chlamydia trachomatis cause sexually-transmitted disease and eye infections whereas C. pneumoniae (TWAR) is a common cause of community-acquired respiratory infection. Chlamydia species are obligate, intracellular bacteria sharing a unique developmental cycle that occurs within a protected vacuole termed an inclusion. These microorganisms can be distinguished by two different forms: the infectious, metabolically inert elementary body (EB) and the reproducing non-infectious form, termed the reticulate body (RB). The cycle is terminated when re-differentiation of RBs back to infectious EBs occurs. Chlamydia possesses a type III secretion system (T3SS) essential for delivery of effector proteins into the host for host-cell interactions. This virulence system has been systematically characterized in several mammalian pathogens. Due to lack of a tractable genetic system for Chlamydia species, we have employed chemical genetics as a strategy to investigate molecular aspects of the T3SS. We have identified that the T3S-inhibitors INP0010 and INP0400 block the developmental cycle and interfere with secretion of T3S effector proteins in C. pneumoniae and C. trachomatis, without any cytotoxic effect. We have further shown that INP0010 decreases initiation of transcription in C. pneumoniae during the early mid-developmental cycle as demonstrated by a novel calculation, useful for measurement of transcription initiation in any intracellular pathogen. The mechanism regulating the signal(s) for primary as well as terminal differentiation of RBs has not been defined in Chlamydia. We show using T3S-inhibitors that INP0010 targets the T3SS and thereby arrests RB proliferation as well as RB to EB re-differentiation of C. pneumoniae as where INP0400 targets the T3SS and provokes a bacterial dissociation from the inclusion membrane presumed to mimic the natural occurrence of terminal differentiation. The effect of INP0010 on iron-responsive genes indicates a role for T3S in iron acquisition. Accordingly, our results suggest the possibility that C. pneumoniae acquires iron via the intracellular trafficking pathway of endocytosed transferrin. Moreover, we have for the first time presented data showing generalized bone loss from C. pneumoniae infection in mice. The infection was associated with increased levels of the bone resorptive cytokines IL-6 and IL-1beta. In addition, an increased sub-population of T-cells expressed RANKL during infection. Additionally, C. pneumoniae established an infection in a human osteoblast cell line in vitro with a similar cytokine profile as seen in vivo, supporting a causal linkage. Collectively, these data may indicate a previously unknown pathological role of C. pneumoniae in generalized bone loss.


The demographic shift in the age structure has the effects that many ageing employees work in organisations. Migration can slow down the ageing of population but could not stop it. More and more people with immigration background work in organisations. Therefore, the question is whether diversity sensitive attitudes count for all diversity aspects. The central aim of the study is to deal with the problem fields of multicultural teamwork. Thereby, the focus is on the collaboration of employees with and without immigration background. The interviews with employees with and without an immigration background of various company branches were conducted. The results show that employees with an immigration background have more contact and feel comfortable with persons from different cultures than employees without an immigration background. The qualitative analysis indicates that there is a high need of competence development, especially intercultural and social competences in organisations. The results of the study reveal that personality traits and characteristics of employees play a role to what extent they accept diversity and are willing to work with persons from another culture. Age is not important regarding intercultural competence development.


As mathematical patterns become more complex, students' conditional reasoning skills need to be nurtured so that students continue to critique, construct, and persevere in making sense of these complexities. This article describes a mathematical task designed around the online version of the game Mastermind to safely foster conditional reasoning.


Writing unit tests for legacy systems is a key maintenance task. When writing tests for object-oriented programs, objects need to be set up and the expected effects of executing the unit under test need to be verified. If developers lack internal knowledge of a system, the task of writing tests is non-trivial. To address this problem, we propose an approach that exposes side effects detected in example runs of the system and uses these side effects to guide the developer when writing tests. We introduce a visualization called Test Blueprint, through which we identify what the required fixture is and what assertions are needed to verify the correct behavior of a unit under test. The dynamic analysis technique that underlies our approach is based on both tracing method executions and on tracking the flow of objects at runtime. To demonstrate the usefulness of our approach we present results from two case studies.


The top 1 percent of Americans control 40 percent of the nation's wealth. And, as Joseph E. Stiglitz explains, while those at the top enjoy the best health care, education, and benefits of wealth, they fail to realize that "their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live." Stiglitz draws on his deep understanding of economics to show that growing inequality is not inevitable: moneyed interests compound their wealth by stifling true, dynamic capitalism. They have made America the most unequal advanced industrial country while crippling growth, trampling on the rule of law, and undermining democracy. The result: a divided society that cannot tackle its most pressing problems. With characteristic insight, Stiglitz examines our current state, then teases out its implications for democracy, for monetary and budgetary policy, and for globalization. He closes with a plan for a more just and prosperous future.


The research reported in this book fulfills both a general and a specific purpose. Linear programming models are developed in order to improve the process of planning for economic development, both short-term and long-term. The models are then implemented with data taken from the Indian economy in order to gain insight into their operation and to investigate the Indian Five Year Plans and Indian economic development problems.


Private households constitute a considerable share of Europe's electricity consumption. The current electricity distribution system treats them as effectively passive individual units. In the future, however, users of the electricity grid will be involved more actively in the grid operation and can become part of intelligent networked collaborations. They can then contribute the demand and supply flexibility that they dispose of and, as a result, help to better integrate renewable energy in-feed into the distribution grids.


The notion of formal description techniques for timed systems (T-FDTs) has been introduced in [EDK98a] to provide a unifying framework for description techniques that are formal and that allow to describe the ongoing behavior of systems. In this paper we show that three well known temporal logics, MTL, MTL-R , and CTL*, can be embedded in this framework. Moreover, we provide evidence that a large number of dioeerent kinds of temporal logics can be considered as T-FDTs.


This monograph aims to close the gap in our knowledge of the nature and pace of grammatical change during the formative period of today's Indo-Aryan languages. During the 6th-12th c. the gradual erosion of the synthetic morphology of Old Indo-Aryan resulted ultimately in the remodelling of its syntax in the direction of the New Indo-Aryan analytic type. This study concentrates on the emergence and development of the ergative construction in terms of the passive-to-ergative reanalysis and the co-existence of the ergative construction with the old and new analytic passive constructions. Special attention is paid to the actuation problem seen as the tug of war between conservative and eliminative forces during their development. Other chapters deal with the evolution of grammatical and lexical aspect, causativization, modality, absolute constructions and subordination. This study is based on a wealth of new data gleaned from original poetic works in Apabhramśa (by Svayambhādeva, Puspadanta, Haribhadra, Somaprabha et al.). It contains sections dealing with descriptive techniques of Medieval Indian grammarians (esp. Hemacandra). All the Sanskrit, Prakrit and Apabhramśa examples are consistently parsed and translated. The opus is cast in the theoretical framework of Functional Grammar of the Prague and Amsterdam Schools. It should be of particular interest to scholars and students of Indo-Aryan and general historical linguistics, especially those interested in the issues of morphosyntactic change and typology in their sociohistorical setting.


Like Huck's raft, the experience of American childhood has been both adventurous and terrifying. For more than three centuries, adults have agonized over raising children while children have followed their own paths to development and expression. Now, Steven Mintz gives us the first comprehensive history of American childhood encompassing both the child's and the adult's tumultuous early years of life. Underscoring diversity through time and across regions, Mintz traces the transformation of children from the sinful creatures perceived by Puritans to the productive workers of nineteenth-century farms and factories, from the cosseted cherubs of the Victorian era to the confident consumers of our own. He explores their role in revolutionary upheaval, westward expansion, industrial growth, wartime mobilization, and the modern welfare state. Revealing the harsh realities of children's lives through history--the rigors of physical labor, the fear of chronic ailments, the heartbreak of premature death--he also acknowledges the freedom children once possessed to discover their world as well as themselves. Whether at work or play, at home or school, the transition from childhood to adulthood has required generations of Americans to tackle tremendously difficult challenges. Today, adults impose ever-increasing demands on the young for self-discipline, cognitive development, and academic achievement, even as the influence of the mass media and consumer culture has grown. With a nod to the past, Mintz revisits an alternative to the goal-driven realities of contemporary childhood. An odyssey of psychological self-discovery and growth, this book suggests a vision of childhood that embraces risk and freedom--like the daring adventure on Huck's raft.