Based on the 24th Fairchild Lecture at the University of Wisconsin Law School, this article demonstrates how extreme economic inequality in this country exacerbates the insecurity most people face. Four areas of labor and employment law are explored to show the risks workers carry and how economic inequality heightens them. While the increasingly globalized economy, and its resulting increase in business volatility, has contributed to economic inequality, in the United States much of that inequality is the consequence of government action and inaction. Government policy has moved from the goal of decreasing inequality after World War II to increasing it in the last forty years. That this has gone unchallenged until the Great Recession is the result of a general decline in focus on inequality in society generally, but also by many academic disciplines. The collective good has lost out to an idealized view of individualism, individualism divorced from the reality of the lives most people lead. The richest segment of society has invested, and continues to invest, considerable effort to reinforce our focus on narrow individualism and to gain influence in government policy making. While that effort has been undertaken quite broadly, the investment in election outcomes has led to a bidding war between the two parties for campaign and electioneering money. In Citizens United, the Supreme Court opened unlimited electioneering spending to individuals, corporations and other organizations. The government has lost the power to regulate the present "gift economy" in Washington that now drives the establishment of government policy: Buying access to policy makers is not, as a matter of constitutional law, corruption or its appearance and so it cannot be regulated. Recapturing public policy from the undue influence of money will be quite difficult in face of Citizens United. Further, our politicians and policy makers, without regard to party affiliation, fear change in the status quo and so far resist reforms that are possible even within the tight constraints of Citizens United. The article will discuss the work being done in several academic disciplines to refocus on economic inequality. But a change in academic focus is only one small step in the right direction. Given the momentum supporting the present system, it may take a broad-based social movement to force changes in election spending. That is a prerequisite for government policymakers to escape the overwhelming role that money now plays in establishing national policy to allow them to once again address the real needs of our nation.


Non-state actors, including terrorist groups, regularly launch attacks against states, often from external bases. When a victim state seeks to respond with force to those attacks, it must decide whether to use force on the territory of another state with which it may not be in conflict. International law traditionally requires the victim state to assess whether the territorial state is "unwilling or unable" to suppress the threat itself. Only if the territorial state is unwilling or unable to do so may the victim state lawfully use force. Yet there has been virtually no discussion, either by states or scholars, of what that test requires. The test's lack of content undercuts its legitimacy and suggests that it is not currently imposing effective limits on the use of force by states at a time when trans-national armed violence is pervasive. This Article provides the first sustained descriptive and normative analysis of the test. Descriptively, it explains how the "unwilling or unable" test arises in international law as part of a state's inquiry into whether it is necessary to use force in response to an armed attack. It identifies the test's deep roots in neutrality law, while simultaneously illustrating the lack of guidance about what inquiries a victim state must undertake when assessing whether another state is "unwilling or unable" to address a particular threat. Normatively, the Article plumbs two centuries of state practice to propose a core set of substantive and procedural factors that should inform the "unwilling or unable" inquiry. It then applies those factors to a real-world example – Colombia's use of force in Ecuador in 2008 against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – to explore how the use of these factors would affect the involved states' decision-making and the evaluation by other states of the action's legality. The Article argues that the use of these factors would improve the quality of state decision-making surrounding the use of force in important substantive and procedural ways.


The purpose of this review is to examine the parallels between the effects mercury intoxication on the brain and the brain pathology found in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This review finds evidence of many parallels between the two, including: (1) microtubule degeneration, specifically large, long-range axon degeneration with subsequent abortive axonal sprouting (short, thin axons); (2) dentritic overgrowth; (3) neuroinflammation; (4) microglial/astrocytic activation; (5) brain immune response activation; (6) elevated glial fibrillary acidic protein; (7) oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation; (8) decreased reduced glutathione levels and elevated oxidized glutathione; (9) mitochondrial dysfunction; (10) disruption in calcium homeostasis and signaling; (11) inhibition of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activity; (12) disruption of GABAergic and glutamatergic homeostasis; (13) inhibition of IGF-1 and methionine synthase activity; (14) impairment in methylation; (15) vascular endothelial cell dysfunction and pathological changes of the blood vessels; (16) decreased cerebral/cerebellar blood flow; (17) increased amyloid precursor protein; (18) loss of granule and Purkinje neurons in the cerebellum; (19) increased pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in the brain (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-8); and (20) aberrant nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-kappaB). This review also discusses the ability of mercury to potentiate and work synergistically with other toxins and pathogens in a way that may contribute to the brain pathology in ASD. The evidence suggests that mercury may be either causal or contributory in the brain pathology in ASD, possibly working synergistically with other toxic compounds or pathogens to produce the brain pathology observed in those diagnosed with an ASD.


The paper is devoted to the investigation of directional derivatives and the cone of decrease directions for convex operators on Banach spaces. We prove a condition for the existence of directional derivatives which does not assume regularity of the ordering cone K. This result is then used to prove that for continuous convex operators the cone of decrease directions can be represented in terms of the directional derivatices . Decrease directions are those for which the directional derivative lies in the negative interior of the ordering cone K. Finally, we show that the continuity of the convex operator can be replaced by its K-boundedness.


Do parenting styles continue from generation to generation? It is counter-intuitive to
think that parenting styles do not continue from generation to generation, yet many
researchers have found this to be true (Campbell & Gilmore, 2007; Covell, Grusec, &
King, 1995; Staples & Warden Smith, 1954; Woods, Glavin, & Kettle, 1960). When we
look at the major events of the 20th century, such as the Great Depression, World War II,
and the rise of divorce rates, we can also see changes in social behavior and family
structure, either as a direct or indirect result of these major events (e.g. Elder, 1974,
1994). Americans seem to be more individualistic today than they were 75 years ago,
perhaps as one of the indirect results of these major events (Stearns, 2003). Many
researchers have found strong correlations between parenting styles and cultural
variables, such as collectivism and individualism (Baumrind, 1991). Research on
intergenerational transmissions and continuity of parenting styles, behaviors, and values
within families in the past 75 years provides strong evidence that parenting styles change
over time, even from generation to generation within families. Therefore the present
study asks the questions, have individualistic values increased with time over the past 75 years? And, have parenting style trends gone toward emphasizing higher warmth and
lower control from generation to generation? Triads of grandmothers, mothers, and
daughters were used, each generation representing a different cohort (the Children of the
Great Depression, Baby Boomers, and women who grew up in the 1990s). Maternal
warmth and control were measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI, Parker,
Tupling, & Brown, 1979). Individualistic values, as measured by a rank-order scale
(Bengston, 1975), rose significantly from generation to generation, as did parental
warmth. There was no significant difference in the use of parental control from
generation to generation within these families. The present study also found that although
number of hours worked per week while raising their daughters did not increase
significantly from grandmothers to mothers, there did exist a significant decrease (from
the grandmother generation to the mother generation) in number of nights per week
families ate dinner altogether while raising their daughters. These findings support much
of the research which suggests that changing views of society may play a key role in the
discontinuity of parenting practices from generation to generation.


Abstract. The southeastern Atlantic (SEA) and its associated cloud deck, off
the west coast of central Africa, is an area where aerosol–cloud
interactions can have a strong radiative impact. Seasonally,
extensive biomass burning (BB) aerosol plumes from southern Africa
reach this area. The NASA ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and
their intEractionS (ORACLES) study focused on quantitatively
understanding these interactions and their importance. Here we
present measurements of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN)
concentration, aerosol size distribution, and characteristic
vertical updraft velocity (w∗) in and around the marine boundary
layer (MBL) collected by the NASA P-3B aircraft during the August
2017 ORACLES deployment. BB aerosol levels vary considerably but
systematically with time; high aerosol concentrations were observed
in the MBL (800–1000 cm−3) early on, decreasing
midcampaign to concentrations between
500 and 800 cm−3. By late August and early September,
relatively clean MBL conditions were sampled (<500 cm−3). These data then drive a state-of-the-art
droplet formation parameterization from which the predicted cloud
droplet number and its sensitivity to aerosol and dynamical
parameters are derived. Droplet closure was achieved to within
20 %. Droplet formation sensitivity to aerosol concentration,
w∗, and the hygroscopicity parameter, κ, vary and
contribute to the total droplet response in the MBL clouds. When
aerosol concentrations exceed ∼900 cm−3 and maximum
supersaturation approaches 0.1 %, droplet formation in the MBL
enters a velocity-limited droplet activation regime, where the cloud
droplet number responds weakly to CCN concentration increases. Below
∼500 cm−3, in a clean MBL, droplet formation is
much more sensitive to changes in aerosol concentration than to
changes in vertical updraft. In the competitive regime, where
the MBL has intermediate pollution (500–800 cm−3),
droplet formation becomes much more sensitive to hygroscopicity
(κ) variations than it does in clean and polluted
conditions. Higher concentrations increase the sensitivity to
vertical velocity by more than 10-fold. We also find that
characteristic vertical velocity plays a very important role in
driving droplet formation in a more polluted MBL regime, in which
even a small shift in w∗ may make a significant difference in
droplet concentrations. Identifying regimes where droplet number
variability is driven primarily by updraft velocity and not by aerosol
concentration is key for interpreting aerosol indirect effects,
especially with remote sensing. The droplet number responds
proportionally to changes in characteristic velocity, offering the
possibility of remote sensing of w∗ under velocity-limited
conditions.


Is love "blind" when it comes to gender? For women, it just might be. This unsettling and original book offers a radical new understanding of the context-dependent nature of female sexuality. Lisa Diamond argues that for some women, love and desire are not rigidly heterosexual or homosexual but fluid, changing as women move through the stages of life, various social groups, and, most important, different love relationships.This perspective clashes with traditional views of sexual orientation as a stable and fixed trait. But that view is based on research conducted almost entirely on men. Diamond is the first to study a large group of women over time. She has tracked one-hundred women for more than ten years as they have emerged from adolescence into adulthood. She summarizes their experiences and reviews research ranging from the psychology of love to the biology of sex differences. "Sexual Fluidity" offers moving first-person accounts of women falling in and out of love with men or women at different times in their lives. For some, gender becomes irrelevant: "I fall in love with the person, not the gender," say some respondents." Sexual Fluidity" offers a new understanding of women's sexuality - and of the central importance of love.


A tool was developed that allows evaluation of thermal mass control strategies using HVAC utility costs as the baseline for comparison. Inverse models are used to represent the behavior of the building, cooling plant, and air distribution system. Inverse models use measured data to "learn" system behavior and provide relatively accurate site-specific performance predictions. Based on weather and solar inputs, as well as occupancy and internal gains schedules and utility rates, the evaluation tool predicts the total HVAC utility cost for a specified control strategy. Intelligent thermal mass control strategies can then be identified in a simulation environment using this analysis tool. The evaluation tool was validated using data collected from a field site located near Chicago, Illinois. The tool predicted HVAC utility costs for a summer month billing period that were within approximately 5% of actual costs. Additional studies were performed to examine the utility savings potential for summertime operations at the field site using various thermal mass control strategies. The best strategy resulted in approximately a 40% reduction in total cooling costs as compared with night setup control. Simulation studies were also used to analyze the overall impact of location on the savings potential for use of building thermal mass. Representative utility rates for five locations (Boston, Chicago, Miami, Phoenix, and Seattle) were used along with the models obtained for the field site. Significant savings were achieved in all locations except Seattle.


Many combinatorial optimization problems such as the bin packing and multiple knapsack problems involve assigning a set of discrete objects to multiple containers. These problems can be used to model task and resource allocation problems in multi-agent systems and distributed systms, and can also be found as subproblems of scheduling problems. We propose bin completion, a branch-and-bound strategy for one-dimensional, multicontainer packing problems. Bin completion combines a bin-oriented search space with a powerful dominance criterion that enables us to prune much of the space. The performance of the basic bin completion framework can be enhanced by using a number of extensions, including nogood-based pruning techniques that allow further exploitation of the dominance criterion. Bin completion is applied to four problems: multiple knapsack, bin covering, min-cost covering, and bin packing. We show that our bin completion algorithms yield new, state-of-the-art results for the multiple knapsack, bin covering, and min-cost covering problems, outperforming previous algorithms by several orders of magnitude with respect to runtime on some classes of hard, random problem instances. For the bin packing problem, we demonstrate significant improvements compared to most previous results, but show that bin completion is not competitive with current state-of-the-art cutting-stock based approaches.


Readers are invited to submit questions relating to problem cases. Inquiries will be answered by qualified consultants and replies forwarded by mail promptly. Selected problems and solutions are published every month in this section.


Electric Motors and Drives is intended for non-specialist users of electric motors and drives, filling the gap between maths- and theory-based academic textbooks and the more prosaic 'handbooks', which provide useful detail but little opportunity for the development of real insight and understanding. The book explores all of the widely-used modern types of motor and drive, including conventional and brushless D.C., induction motors and servo drives, providing readers with the knowledge to select the right technology for a given job.

 The third edition includes additional diagrams and worked examples throughout. New topics include digital interfacing and control of drives, direct torque control of induction motors and current-fed operation in DC drives. The material on brushless servomotors has also been expanded.

 Austin Hughes' approach, using a minimum of maths, has established Electric Motors and Drives as a leading guide for electrical engineers and mechanical engineers, and the key to a complex subject for a wider readership, including technicians, managers and students.

 * Acquire knowledge of and understanding of the capabilities and limitations of motors and drives without struggling through unnecessary maths and theory
 * Updated material on the latest and most widely-used modern motors and drives, including brushless servomotors
 * New edition includes additional diagrams and worked examples throughout


Social community is a basic need of human life. Exchange, networking and cooperation are the driving forces for innovation and are at the same time essential for the accomplishment of everyday life. Since the foundation of Facebook in 2004, (digital) networking has been redefined and constantly reinvented. Research and science endeavor to describe the phenomena, to analyze them scientifically and to make the benefits of digital networking accessible to all. In that context this article presents first results of the evaluation of a quarter related networking platform. Objectives of the evaluation are the derivation of criteria for the implementation of neighborhood apps as well as the gain in knowledge about content satisfaction and the user-friendliness of the neighborhood app used in the project. First results show that there is a cross-generational interest in digital networking and that tools for neighborhood work and district communication make the use of a neighborhood platform attractive. Nevertheless, there is a certain inhibition to the usage due to the fear to do something wrong, additional work and the low added value in the initial phase due to low numbers of users.


Polak, Monique. Pyro. Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2012. Ebook. Franklin Westcott has always been fascinated by fire.  As pressures mount in his life, Franklin struggles internally to keep things together.  His father is running to be re-elected as Mayor, and is focused on catching the pyromaniac that is threatening the community.  Franklin's mother reveals she is in love with someone else, and moves out of their home.  At his father's request, Franklin attends Sunday school, something he hasn't done for years.  Fatefully, he becomes involved in the lighting crew for the talent show the Sunday school is presenting.  There he meets Tracy, one of the girls performing in the show, who is also struggling with her own inner turmoil.  Together, Franklin and Tracy face the obstacles life has presented them.  As their relationship grows, Franklin begins to open up to Tracy and, in her, finds the support he needs to face his inner demons. The simple sentences and compelling storyline make this an accessible and intriguing read for struggling and reluctant readers.  The straightforward plot development is quick paced, engaging the reader from start to finish.  The unexpected revelations and complexities keep the reader questioning the outcome for Franklin to the very end.  It deals with subject matter which is realistic and relevant to middle school students, broaching a topic which is often in the shadows of more prevalent issues, such as bullying and teenage suicide. Polak researched "firestarters" over several months, utilizing the expertise of Dr. Kenneth R. Fineman, a psychologist specializing in the topic.  Polak also interviewed numerous firefighters and high school students to gain further insights to the techniques and characteristics of such youth.  The result is a story which reveals the consequences of such actions for all those involved. Pyro brings awareness to the issue and promotes fire prevention. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Kimberly Scheideman Kimberly Scheideman is a student in the TLDL program at the University of Alberta, and an Instructional Coach/Teacher with ECSRD No. 2 in Spruce Grove, Alberta.


Abstract. We present the first data on the concentration of sea-salt aerosol throughout
most of the depth of the troposphere and over a wide range of latitudes,
which were obtained during the Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission.
Sea-salt concentrations in the upper troposphere are very small, usually less
than 10 ng per standard m3 (about 10 parts per trillion by mass) and
often less than 1 ng m−3. This puts stringent limits on the
contribution of sea-salt aerosol to halogen and nitric acid chemistry in the
upper troposphere. Within broad regions the concentration of sea-salt aerosol
is roughly proportional to water vapor, supporting a dominant role for wet
scavenging in removing sea-salt aerosol from the atmosphere. Concentrations
of sea-salt aerosol in the winter upper troposphere are not as low as in the
summer and the tropics. This is mostly a consequence of less wet scavenging
in the drier, colder winter atmosphere. There is also a source of sea-salt
aerosol over pack ice that is distinct from that over open water. With a
well-studied and widely distributed source, sea-salt aerosol provides an
excellent test of wet scavenging and vertical transport of aerosols in
chemical transport models.


Inflation worries the general public much more than it does the economics profession, and economists remain perplexed as to exactly why. The costs that concern economists are inflation's deadweight loss. But that is only a part of the losses that concern the public, because inflation simultaneously transfers some of people's income into the hands of government. The fact that the seigniorage tax may pay for programs they favor is a separate issue. Moreover, unlike income and other taxes, which people in democratic countries may think they have some control over through voting, seigniorage appears utterly arbitrary. In fact, people can be aware of the fall in their real cash balances without realizing at all that government gains. Admittedly the magnitude of this tax is low in developed countries like the United States, even when inflation hits double digits. But that hardly justifies indifference to dollars that inflation takes from the public and gives to the government. The public may still overestimate the costs of inflation after including their losses through the seigniorage transfer. Yet macroeconomists are guilty of overlooking the public's dislike for this implicit tax.


This paper describes a project about the beliefs and practices regarding learner autonomy (LA) held by English language teachers in a university language centre. A distinctive feature of this project was the manner in which professional development workshops for the teachers were informed by prior research about these teachers� perspectives on LA. Following a brief rationale for the project, we outline its research component before illustrating how this shaped the teacher workshops. The model for relating research and professional development we illustrate here is one that we believe can be applied more generally in supporting teacher development and institutional change in ELT.


Abstract This is a plea to interlink Resistance Studies and Violence Studies. Instead of invastigating the efficiency of violence alone and declaring violence absolutely and completely in and on its own, it is necessary to look at resistance practices (escape lines, fighting back), body politics and passivations (self-injury, abortion, suicide) at the same time. For their part, resistance practices and passivations can not be measured by success but by the fact that they actually happened. People cannot be completely reduced to bare bodies without resistance. Resistance to violence has to be considered in its inconspicuous, low-threshold and "flat" forms. In this elementary political sense resistance is understood as a punctually weakening violence and as seperation of powers in statu nascendi.


The purpose of the research was to develop an automated program incorporating a predictive artifact correction technique (PACT) to correct for the signal deviations from metal beam hardening artifacts in Computed Tomography (CT) detector raw data. Thin-slice sequential CT scans were performed on a dosimetry head phantom using a Somatom Sensation 16 scanner to establish a ground truth image. Metal pins were then affixed to either side of the phantom at the three and nine o'clock positions to cause streak artifact in detector raw data and a subsequent streak image. The program automatically detected the extent of the overlap peaks in the detector raw data causing the artifact. It profiled a correction using adjacent projections so that the peak error could be corrected rather than simply being removed or smoothed by interpolation. The PACT algorithm modified raw data was then reconstructed on a SYNGO CT reconstruction workstation. This image was then compared against ground truth and that produced by commercially available metal artifact reduction projection completion and also a research based iterative technique. Qualitative results illustrate superior suppression of streak artifact in images using PACT when compared directly to tested projection completion methods but inferior to iterative reconstruction. Recovery of voxel data underlying the streak is also demonstrated to be quantitatively superior with PACT when referenced to the original ground truth image. Limitations were however detected with the threshold technique for initial localisation of the streak sources. The work still demonstrates the feasibility of this predictive artifact correction technique in correcting beam hardening affected voxel data without recourse to expensive additional options such as iterative reconstruction or dual energy that are not so commonly available in the clinical setting.


ACR Appropriateness Criteria® 1 Acute Trauma to the Ankle American College of Radiology ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Acute Trauma to the Ankle Variant 1: Adult or child 5 years of age or older. Acute trauma to the ankle or acute trauma to the ankle with persistent pain for more than 1 week but less than 3 weeks. No exclusionary criteria present. Initial imaging. Patient meets the requirements for evaluation by the Ottawa Ankle Rules which are positive: 1. Inability to bear weight immediately after the injury, OR 2. Point tenderness over the medial malleolus, the posterior edge or inferior tip of the lateral malleolus, talus, or calcaneus, OR 3. Inability to ambulate for 4 steps in the emergency department.


Amine transaminases are versatile biocatalysts for the production of pharmaceutically and agrochemically relevant chiral amines. They represent an environmentally benign alternative to waste intensive transition metal catalysed synthesis strategies, especially because of their high stereoselectivity and robustness. Therefore, they have been frequently used in the (chemo)enzymatic synthesis of amines and/or became attractive targets for enzyme engineering especially in the last decade, mainly in order to enlarge their substrate scope. Certainly, one of the most notable examples of amine transaminase engineering is the
manufacturing of the anti-diabetic drug Sitagliptin in large scale after several rounds of protein engineering. Thereby, the target amine was produced in asymmetric synthesis mode which is the most convenient and favored route to a target chiral amine, starting from the corresponding ketone. The choice of the amine donor is highly relevant for reaction design in terms of economical and thermodynamic considerations. For instance, the use of alanine as the natural amine donor is one of the most common strategies for the amination of target ketones but needs the involvement of auxiliary enzymes to shift the reaction equilibrium towards product formation. In fact, isopropylamine is probably one of the most favored donor molecules since it is cheap and achiral but it is supposed to be accepted only by a limited number of amine transaminases.
This thesis focusses on the optimization and application of amine transaminases for asymmetric synthesis reactions en route to novel target chiral amines using isopropylamine as the preferred amine donor.


Kinetic equation parameters for the curing reaction of a commercial glass fiber reinforced high performance epoxy prepreg composed of the tetrafunctional epoxy tetraglycidyl 4,4-diaminodiphenyl methane (TGDDM), the tetrafunctional amine curing agent 4,4'-diaminodiphenylsulfone (DDS) and an ionic initiator/accelerator, are determined by various thermal analysis techniques and the results compared. The reaction is monitored by heat generated determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The changes in physical properties indicating increasing conversion are followed by shifts in glass transition temperature determined by DSC and temperature-modulated DSC (TMDSC), thermomechanical (TMA) and dynamic mechanical (DMA) analysis and thermally stimulated depolarization (TSD). Changes in viscosity, also indicative of degree of conversion, are monitored by DMA. Thermal stability as a function of degree of cure is monitored by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The parameters of the general kinetic equations, including activation energy and rate constant, are explained and used to compare results of various techniques. The utilities of the kinetic descriptions are demonstrated in the construction of a useful time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagram for rapid determination of processing parameters in the processing of prepregs.

Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Files: Thesis.pdf
Special Conditions


2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a highly toxic and persistent organic pollutant, which is ubiquitously found in the environment. The prototype dioxin compound was classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. TCDD acts as a potent liver tumor promoter in rats, which is one of the major concerns related to TCDD exposure. There is extensive evidence, that TCDD exerts anti-estrogenic effects via arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-mediated induction of cytochromes P450 and interferes with the estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha)-mediated signaling pathway. The present work was conducted to shed light on the hypothesis that enhanced activation of estradiol metabolism by TCDD-induced enzymes, mainly CYP1A1 and CYP1B1, leads to oxidative DNA damage in liver cells. Furthermore, the possible modulation by 17beta-estradiol (E2) was investigated. The effects were examined using four different AhR-responsive species- and sex-specific liver cell models, rat H4II2 and human HepG2 hepatoma cell lines as well as rat primary hepatocytes from male and female Wistar rats. The effective induction of CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 by TCDD was demonstrated in all liver cell models. Basal and TCDD-induced expression of CYP1B1, which is a key enzyme in stimulating E2 metabolism via the more reactive formation of the genotoxic 4-hydroxyestradiol, was most pronounced in rat primary hepatocytes. CYP-dependent induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was only observed in rodent cells. E2 induced ROS only in primary rat hepatocytes, which was associated with a weak CYP1B1 mRNA induction. Thus, E2 itself was suggested to induce its own metabolism in primary rat hepatocytes, resulting in the redox cycling of catechol estradiol metabolites leading to ROS formation. In this study the role of TCDD and E2 on oxidative DNA damage was investigated for the first time in vitro in the comet assay using liver cells. Both TCDD and E2 were shown to induce oxidative DNA base modifications only in rat hepatocytes. Additionally, direct oxidative DNA-damaging effects of the two main E2 metabolites, 4-hydroxyestradiol and 2-hydroxyestradiol, were only observed in rat hepatocytes and revealed that E2 damaged the DNA to the same extent. However, the induction of oxidative DNA damage by E2 could not completely be explained by the metabolic conversion of E2 via CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 and has to be further investigated. The expression of low levels of endogenous ERalpha mRNA in primary rat hepatocytes and the lack of ERalpha in hepatoma cell lines were identified as crucial. Therefore, the effects of interference of ERalpha with AhR were examined in HepG2 cells, which were transiently transfected with ERalpha. The over-expression of ERalpha led to enhanced AhR-mediated transcriptional activity by E2, suggesting a possible regulation of E2 levels. In turn, TCDD reduced E2-mediated ERalpha signaling, confirming the anti-estrogenic action of TCDD. Such a modulation of the combined effects of TCDD with E2 was not observed in any of the other experiments. Thus, the role of low endogenous ERalpha levels has to be further investigated in transfection experiments using rat primary hepatocytes. Overall, rat primary hepatocyte culture turned out to be the more adaptive cell model to investigate metabolism in the liver, reflecting a more realistic situation of the liver tissue. Nevertheless, during this work a crosstalk between ERalpha and AhR was shown for the first time using human hepatoma cell line HepG2 by transiently transfecting ERalpha.


The response of East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) precipitation to long term changes in regional anthropogenic aerosols (sulphate and black carbon) is explored in an atmospheric general circulation model, the atmospheric component of the UK High-Resolution Global Environment Model v1.2 (HiGAM). Separately, sulphur dioxide (SO2) and black carbon (BC) emissions in 1950 and 2000 over East Asia are used to drive model simulations, while emissions are kept constant at year 2000 level outside this region. The response of the EASM is examined by comparing simulations driven by aerosol emissions representative of 1950 and 2000. The aerosol radiative effects are also determined using an off-line radiative transfer model. During June, July and August, the EASM was not significantly changed as either SO2 or BC emissions increased from 1950 to 2000 levels. However, in September, precipitation is significantly decreased by 26.4% for sulphate aerosol and 14.6% for black carbon when emissions are at the 2000 level. Over 80% of the decrease is attributed to changes in convective precipitation. The cooler land surface temperature over China in September (0.8 °C for sulphate and 0.5 °C for black carbon) due to increased aerosols reduces the surface thermal contrast that supports the EASM circulation. However, mechanisms causing the surface temperature decrease in September are different between sulphate and BC experiments. In the sulphate experiment, the sulphate direct and the 1st indirect radiative effects contribute to the surface cooling. In the BC experiment, the BC direct effect is the main driver of the surface cooling, however, a decrease in low cloud cover due to the increased heating by BC absorption partially counteracts the direct effect. This results in a weaker land surface temperature response to BC changes than to sulphate changes. The resulting precipitation response is also weaker, and the responses of the monsoon circulation are different for sulphate and black carbon experiments. This study demonstrates a mechanism that links regional aerosol emission changes to the precipitation changes of the EASM, and it could be applied to help understand the future changes in EASM precipitation in CMIP5 simulations.


Software evolution research has been focused mostly on analyzing the evolution of single software systems. However, it is rarely the case that a project exists as standalone, independent of others. Rather, projects exist in parallel within larger contexts in companies, research groups or even the open-source communities, contexts that we call super-repositories. In this paper, we argue that visualization of super-repositories is useful in a range of situations, and we describe The Small Project Observatory, a prototype tool which aims to visualize super-repositories.


The scarcity of tenure-track lines in most kinesiology departments supports the need for the implementation of faculty mentoring programs. This article summarizes key elements of mentoring programs for tenure-track kinesiology faculty at 3 kinds of state universities. Mentoring at a bachelor's college or university might emphasize support to enhance a new faculty member's teaching effectiveness and student advising strategies and assist new faculty with a positive integration into the campus community. A comprehensive university mentoring approach may place equal emphasis on both formal (e.g., orientation and mentoring committee) and informal (e.g., collegial and self-selected mentoring) interactions. Helping new faculty members understand their role as an important part of the departmental team and organizational mission is a consistent theme. Mentoring at a research-intensive university might emphasize clarifying scholarship, tenure, and promotion expectations relative to support; guidance in portfolio presentation; retention, tenure, and promotion evaluation; and strong communication that promotes mutual professional development and improves or sustains faculty retention.


Training, Inc.'s mission is to equip people to become self-sufficient by providing them with marketable computer, business, and life management skills training. Since 1981, Training, Inc. Indianapolis has worked with more than 5,000 people to help them gain the skills necessary to get and keep good jobs. Graduates typically gain entry-level employment in administrative, customer service, or sales positions. While there are other job training programs which conduct computer skills training, Training, Inc. has three essential practices that set it apart from other programs: 1. Culture of Work, 2. Learning Organization, and 3. Collaborative Partnerships.


In the Western intellectual tradition usury law has historically been the foremost bulwark shielding consumers from harsh credit practices. Historically, the United States commitment to usury law has been deep and consistent. However, the recent rapid growth of the payday loan industry belies this longstanding American tradition. In order to understand the evolution of American usury law, this paper presents a systemic empirical analysis of all fifty state usury laws in two time periods: 1965 and the present. The highest permissible price of a typical payday loan authorized under each state's usury law was calculated. These prices were then translated into Annual Percentage Rate (APR) format following the federal Truth-in-Lending Act price disclosure regulations. Moreover, this Article also compares how each state legislature describes its most expensive permissible payday loan, with how that loan is characterized under federal price disclosure law. It does so by suggesting a new financial concept which I label: salience distortion. This analysis produces three findings: (1) usury law has become more lax; (2) usury law has become more polarized; and, (3) usury law has become more misleading. These findings suggest that the numeric language in current state usury statutes is not chosen because it helpfully describes some expectation of commercial behavior. Rather, legislatures have chosen the language of most current credit price caps because it sounds in an ancient moral tradition - a mythology of sorts - that roughly delineates popular perception of moral and immoral interest rates. Exploiting this normative tradition as well as common behavioral economic heuristics, many state legislatures use small, innocuous numbers in usury law because they are attempting to minimize the public and media outcry over their decision to legalize triple digit interest rate consumer loans.


We report results of the switching properties of Stoner-like magnetic particles subject to short magnetic field pulses, obtained by numerical investigations. We discuss the switching properties as a function of the external field pulse strength and direction, the pulse length and the pulse shape. For field pulses long compared to the ferromagnetic resonance precession time the switching behavior is governed by the magnetic damping term, whereas in the limit of short field pulses the switching properties are dominated by the details of the precession of the magnetic moment. In the latter case, by choosing the right field pulse parameters, the magnetic damping term is of minor importance and ultrafast switching can be achieved. Switching can be obtained in an enlarged angular range of the direction of the applied field compared to the case of long pulses.


Photograph of a large amount of men in dark suits seated around dinner tables in a banquet hall. Most of the men are wearing vests and all are wearing bow ties or neckties. Some of the men have mustaches or glasses. The tables are covered in white tablecloths and fine dinnerware with small lamps. The ornate room is topped with a balcony upon which Texas flags are hanging and there is a chandelier is hanging from the ceiling. In the bottom right-hand corner are the words, "Fort Worth Star-Telegram Banquet to Texas Automobile Dealers and Factory Representatives, Blackstone Hotel, Chicago, Jan. 26, 1916" and in the bottom left is, "Kaufmann and Fabry Co., Chicago".


The article deals with the forecasting studies based on the energy demand and prices in the region in terms of the complex interconnections between economy (and energy) and the growth of uncertainty of the future development of the country and territories. The authors propose a methodological approach, which combines the assessment of the price elasticity of energy demand with the optimization of energy and fuel regional supply. In this case, the price elasticity of demand is determined taking into account the comparison of cost-effectiveness of using different types of fuel and energy by different consumers. The originality of the proposed approach consists in simulating the behaviour of suppliers' (energy companies) and large customers' (power plants, boiler rooms, industry, transport, population) depending on energy price changes, the existing and new technologies, energy-saving activities and restrictions on fuel supplies. To take into account the uncertainty of future economic and energy conditions, some parameters such as prospective technical and economic parameters, price, technological parameters are set as the intervals of possible values with different probability levels. This approach allows making multivariate studies with different combinations of the expected conditions and receiving as a result the range of the projected values of studied indicators. The multivariate calculations show that the fuel demand has a nonlinear dependence on the consumer characteristics, pricing, projection horizon, and the nature of the future conditions uncertainty. The authors have shown that this effect can be significant and should be considered in the forecasts of the development of fuel and energy sector. The methodological approach and quantitative evaluation can be used to improve the economic and energy development strategies of the country and regions.


The purpose of this study was to explore young Chinese consumers' attitudes towards mass customized apparel products and its applications, including both body scanning and co-design. At approximately 200 million people, the young generation of Chinese, aged 19-28, are a growing spending force. This group of consumers is more into fashion compared other age groups (Kalish, 2005), and, having been exposed to western values, their consumption patterns and values are also changing. Using a qualitative methodology, in-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-seven young Chinese consumers aged 18 to 25. Interviews lasted from one to two hours, and were audio-taped with participant consent. Interviews were conducted in Mandarin Chinese, and were then transcribed, translated, and interpreted thematically. Three concepts related to customization emerged and were used to structure the interpretation: Awareness, Perception, and Experience. Several themes surfaced to provide depth information within each conceptual area. Based on the interpretation, participants were divided into three different profiles according to their fashion leadership and interest level: Fashion leader/high interest in mass customization; non-fashion leader/high interest in mass customization; non-fashion leader /low interest in mass customization. The majority of participants was found to be non-fashion leader/ high interest type, and would be interested in mass customization of apparel if given the chance. Results of the study can help marketers better understand young Chinese consumers' perceptions of mass customization in order to successfully market mass customization in China. Avenues of further research are discussed in light of study limitations.


Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s) Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com) This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode


While Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have enjoyed the kind of success most cartoon characters can only dream about--becoming pop culture icons of the highest order and entering the global consciousness practically as family members--Robert Short's The Gospel According to Peanuts also has found a place in the hearts of many readers, with sales now totaling more than ten million copies. This anniversary edition features a new cover, a new interior design, and a new foreword by Martin E. Marty. Whether coming to the book for the first time or taking a second look, a delightful experience awaits in this modern-day guide to the Christian faith, fully illustrated with Peanuts.


Zusammenfassung Vision is not mere registration of what enters, via the gateway of our eyes, from the outside world into our inner consciousness. Understanding the act of seeing as mirroring the outside world in mental images overlooks its temporal aspect. From Berkeley to Helmholtz, from Goethe to Cézanne, new discourses based on the physiology of the sense organs lead to new conceptions of vision not only conceived of as a mental process, but as a cognitive activity. Even before Freud interpreted dreams, seeing was conceived of as accompanying our life even when we sleep. However, to understand even the stream of the sensations, we have to configure them in pictures. Since the 19th century, the media reflect about the confrontation of seeing as a diachronic activity and of perception as coded in synchronic images. The contributions to the volume investigate the opposition of the stream of sensations and the configuration of time – from early illustrations of plants to the avant-gardes, from gesture to cinema, from decapitation to dance, from David Hume to Bergson and Deleuze. The main objective is a critical examination of images rendering vision in motion, without reducing them to the temporality of narrative. Michael F. Zimmermann (Hg.)


Background This study evaluated the reliability and criterion validity of the Mywellness Key accelerometer (MWK) using treadmill protocols and indirect calorimetry. Methods Twenty-five participants completed two four-stage 20-minute treadmill protocols while wearing two MWK accelerometers. Reliability was assessed using raw counts. Validity was assessed by comparing the estimated VO2 calculated from the MWK with values from respiratory gas exchange. Results Good overall and point estimates of reliability were found for the MWK (all intraclass correlations > 0.93). Generalizability theory coefficients showed lower values for running speed (0.70) versus walking speed (all > 0.84), with the majority of the overall percentage of variability derived from the participant (68%–88% of the total 100%). Acceptable validity was found overall (Pearson's r = 0.895–0.902, P < 0.0001), with an overall mean absolute error of 16.22% and a coefficient of variance of 16.92%. Bland-Altman plots showed an overestimation of energy expenditure during the running speed, but total kilocalories were underestimated during the protocol by approximately 10%. Conclusion Good validity was found during light and moderate walking, while running was slightly overestimated. The MWK may be useful for clinicians and researchers interested in promotion or assessment of physical activity.


In this paper, we consider the use of ontologies as a basis for structuring and simplifying the process of constructing domain-specific problemsolving tools. We focus specifically on the task of scheduling. Though there is commonality in scheduling system requirements and design at several levels across application domains, different scheduling environments invariably present different challenges (e.g., different dominating constraints, different objectives, different domain structure, different sources of uncertainty, etc.), and hence we can expect high-performance application systems to require customized solutions. Unfortunately, the time and cost associated with such domain-specific system development at present is typically quite large. Our work toward overcoming this application construction bottleneck has led to the development of OZONE, a toolkit for configuring constraint-based scheduling systems. A central component of OZONE is its scheduling ontology, which defines a reusable and extensible base of concepts for describing and representing scheduling problems, domains and constraints. The OZONE ontology provides a framework for analyzing the information requirements of a given target domain, and a structural foundation for constructing an appropriate domain model. Through direct association of software component capabilities with concepts in the ontology, the ontology promotes rapid configuration of executable systems and allows concentration of modeling effort on those idiosyncratic aspects of the target domain. The OZONE ontology and toolkit represent a synthesis of extensive prior work in developing constraint-based scheduling models for a range of applications in manufacturing, space and transportation logistics. We first motivate the use of ontologies as model building tools, establishing linkages to recent concepts in software engineering and proposing an extended view of ontologies that includes capability descriptions. We then describe our perspective on the structure of planning and scheduling domain models and summarize major components of current OZONE scheduling ontology. Ontologies and Model Building


In a complex world, products that are easy to use win favor with consumers. This is the first book on the topic of simplicity aimed specifically at interaction designers. It shows how to drill down and simplify user experiences when designing digital tools and applications. It begins by explaining why simplicity is attractive, explores the laws of simplicity, and presents proven strategies for achieving simplicity. Remove, hide, organize and displace become guidelines for designers, who learn simplicity by seeing before and after examples and case studies where the results speak for themselves.


Current interdisciplinary research suggests that organizational capabilities have a direct, unconditional impact on firm performance. The authors extend this literature by developing a framework that proposes a contingency approach to the value of organizational capabilities. This framework highlights the effect of information in the external environment in stimulating firms to deploy their technology and marketing capabilities to influence the level and speed of relevant product development activities. Using a longitudinal quasiexperiment to isolate the effects of external information on the relationship between firm capabilities and product development outcomes, the authors obtain results that are consistent with this framework. The authors therefore conclude that the most valuable characteristic of firm capabilities may be their ability to serve as flexible strategic options. In this role, firms can deploy them in ways consistent with environmental forces.


Abstract Stroke is the second top leading cause of death globally. It is caused by an abrupt interruption of blood flow to the brain. In that course, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its derivative N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), neurohormones produced mainly by the heart ventricles in response to excessive stretching of cardiomyocytes (heart muscle cells), are proven to be good biomarkers for heart failure diagnosis. Moreover, there is growing clinical interest of the use of NT-proBNP for stroke diagnosis and prognosis because it is significantly associated with cardioembolic stroke and secondary stroke reoccurrence, with sensitivity >90% and specificity >80%. However, in diagnostic settings, there is still a need to address the encountered analytical problems, particularly assay specificity and set up. In this study, a novel approach for NT-proBNP detection is demonstrated using an electrochemical immunoassay method. A label-free impedimetry immunosensor for stroke biomarker was developed using modified disposable screen-printed gold electrodes (SPGE) hosting specific anti-NT-proBNP capture antibody. The performance of our immunosensor was studied in the presence of NT-proBNP in both buffered and mock (porcine) plasma samples. A linear relation between the relative total resistance (ΔRtot) responses and the NT-proBNP concentrations in buffer was observed in a range from 0.1 to 5 ng mL-1 with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.94656. Overall, the biosensor has demonstrated the capability to quantitate NT-proBNP and differentiate such concentrations in a low concentration range, especially among 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 3 ng mL-1 in plasma samples within 25 min. This range is valuable not only for classifying cardioembolic stroke (higher or equal to 0.5 ng mL-1), but also predicting the risk of secondary stroke reoccurrence (higher than 0.255 ng mL-1). Our biosensor has the potential to be used as an easy-to-use point-of-care test that is both accurate and affordable.


The goal of this article is to introduce the international audience to writing competitions as a data collection method. Although commonly used in Finland this method is less known elsewhere. The article will use a Canada-wide writing competition on the Finnish-Canadian sauna as an example of this method. It compares and contrasts the method to two other more commonly used methods, interviewing and auto-ethnography. The advantages, disadvantages and challenges of this method are described and discussed. According to the author, a writing competition is a fast way of gathering a large amount of data from a wide geographical area.


A comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art in traffic noise abatement was conducted. Key literature was reviewed, and surveys conducted with state DOT noise analysts, and local environment noise control programs, and vehicle manufacturers. Areas of interest included abatement strategies, effective vehicle noise control, land use compatibility programs, and programmatic and administrative issues. Findings included the following: (1) the demand for noise abatement is increasing; (2) state DOTs need better sources of funds for retrofit ("Type II") noise barrier programs; (3) state and local noise control programs have suffered greatly since the end of the USEPA noise program in 1982; and (4) truck manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe are successfully meeting the newly manufactured vehicle noise standards in their respective areas. Current Washington initiatives were also examined. WSDOT has included noise abatement as a priority area in its 1991 Transportation Policy Plan and the legislature developed a Growth Management Act and Growth Strategies Act that calls for comprehensive land use plan development by cities and counties. Recommendations to WSDOT included the need for expanded staff, a dedicated source of funds for a phased retrofit abatement program and active involvement in implementation of the two growth acts.


This paper is part II of a two-volume study conducted as a part of the IMF's ongoing process of evaluating its lending facilities. It focuses on IMF-supported programs and macroeconomic performance during 1988-92, reflecting information available through the end of 1993. Part I (Occasional Paper No. 128) provides an overview of the principal issues and findings and distills the main message for future programs. Part II presents detailed examinations of selected policy issues in five background papers.


This topic has witnessed a real increase in media coverage due to the recent activity of extreme right parties across Europe, notable being in the past year the Greek parties and the Dutch stance regarding immigration. For answering the question, and following the pathway of the module, the essay is looking at the extreme right parties in four European countries: France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. Research for this paper has been focused mostly on the specialised literature, Pietro Ignazi being brought into discussion the most. Because of the large variables over years, the essay is looking at the parties from the 1960s until the early 2000s.


Building on 20 years of national cooperation under the Australian Newspapers Plan (ANPlan), the National Library of Australia has delivered digitised newspapers to the Australian public since 2007, and incorporated newspaper delivery into Trove (www.trove.nla.gov.au) in 2009. Trove has won a number of awards for its user engagement features, most notably the ability for users to correct the computer-generated text imperfectly generated by Optical Character Recognition software. By July 2013, use of Trove dwarfed use of the Library's other online services, the Trove Newspapers zone dominated use of Trove, and Australians had corrected more than 100 million lines of text - the equivalent of 270 standard work years of crowd-sourced effort. With five years' experience, this form of user engagement is a mature part of the Library's service offering, and evaluation of its impacts and future is timely. The paper will summarise what we know about the motivations of those who engage in this activity, their patterns of engagement, how 'deep' the penetration of this form of engagement with the Library extends, and what current statistics suggest about where we are in the user engagement growth curve. The paper also considers the significant impact the success of crowd-sourcing has on the Library's rationale for offering this service (are we offering the service to address a huge task, or to build and maintain a broader community of Library supporters?), the opportunities and risks in having dramatically increased the number of Australians passionately engaged with the Library, and the ways in which success is changing the Library's thinking about service delivery and engagement with the public. For those considering or in the early days of offering a digitised newspaper service, the paper provides a view 'from the trenches' about the ways in which success can fundamentally reshape the questions libraries must ask themselves.


"We the Media, has become something of a bible for those who believe the online medium will change journalism for the better." - "Financial Times". Big Media has lost its monopoly on the news, thanks to the Internet. Now that it's possible to publish in real time to a worldwide audience, a new breed of grassroots journalists are taking the news into their own hands. Armed with laptops, cell phones, and digital cameras, these readers-turned-reporters are transforming the news from a lecture into a conversation. In "We the Media", nationally acclaimed newspaper columnist and blogger Dan Gillmor tells the story of this emerging phenomenon and sheds light on this deep shift in how we make - and consume - the news. Gillmor shows how anyone can produce the news, using personal blogs, Internet chat groups, email, and a host of other tools. He sends a wake-up call to newsmakers - politicians, business executives, celebrities - and the marketers and PR flacks who promote them. He explains how to successfully play by the rules of this new era and shift from "control" to "engagement." And, he makes a strong case to his fell journalists that, in the face of a plethora of Internet-fueled news vehicles, they must change or become irrelevant. Journalism in the 21st century will be fundamentally different from the Big Media oligarchy that prevails today. "We the Media" casts light on the future of journalism, and invites us all to be part of it. Dan Gillmor is founder of Grassroots Media Inc., a project aimed at enabling grassroots journalism and expanding its reach. The company's first launch is Bayosphere.com, a site "of, by, and for the San Francisco Bay Area." From 1994-2004, Gillmor was a columnist at the "San Jose Mercury News", Silicon Valley's daily newspaper, and wrote a weblog for SiliconValley.com. He joined the "Mercury News" after six years with the Detroit Free Press. Before that, he was with the "Kansas City Times" and several newspapers in Vermont. He has won or shared in several regional and national journalism awards. Before becoming a journalist, he played music professionally for seven years.


China's economic growth is sputtering, the Euro is under threat, and the United States is combating serious trade disadvantages. Another Great Depression? Not quite. Noted economist and China expert Michael Pettis argues instead that we are undergoing a critical rebalancing of the world economies. Debunking popular misconceptions, Pettis shows that severe trade imbalances spurred on the recent financial crisis and were the result of unfortunate policies that distorted the savings and consumption patterns of certain nations. Pettis examines the reasons behind these destabilizing policies, and he predicts severe economic dislocations--a lost decade for China, the breaking of the Euro, and a receding of the U.S. dollar--that will have long-lasting effects. Pettis explains how China has maintained massive--but unsustainable--investment growth by artificially lowering the cost of capital. He discusses how Germany is endangering the Euro by favoring its own development at the expense of its neighbors. And he looks at how the U.S. dollar's role as the world's reserve currency burdens America's economy. Although various imbalances may seem unrelated, Pettis shows that all of them--including the U.S. consumption binge, surging debt in Europe, China's investment orgy, Japan's long stagnation, and the commodity boom in Latin America--are closely tied together, and that it will be impossible to resolve any issue without forcing a resolution for all. Demonstrating how economic policies can carry negative repercussions the world over, The Great Rebalancing sheds urgent light on our globally linked economic future.


A right bank tributary of the Niger River, the Mekrou, has formed a strongly incised river bed within clayey to sandy alluvium, locally interrupted by thin layers of gravel and coarser deposits. The alluvia give evidence to different climatic conditions: finer material was accumulated during flooding within a humid period, whereas the arid times seem to be reflected by coarser sediments. The cyclic facies change of sedimentation gives evidence for a repeated shilft in climate and hydrologic conditions, assuming that the alluvia originate in the upper Pleistocene. Some human artefacts are associated to the different gravel layers (subjacent bed = Palaeolithic, intermediate bed = middle Palaeolithic, overlying bed = ''recent'' Palaeolithic, Neolithic, and iron Metallurgy). The absence of terraces, the occurrence of sandy sediments on the border of the river bed indicates to active morphodynamic processes; some angularly shaped meanders give evidence for a rapid change of drainage and leads to the hypothesis of a modified flow-off by the river''s recent capture.


It is a received opinion that China's emergence as a regional and global power is the most pivotal transformation underway in East Asia. China's enhanced economic standing in Asia has given her new political influence in the region as her trade with the neighbouring states, in particular the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to her south, has been expanding rapidly in recent years. The stunning economic growth of China has created tremendous business opportunities and signed deals has been drawing increasing volume of foreign investment into this Asian giant that was described to have shaken the world – not with her armies, but with her factories. Whether this market is really that huge with potential as has often been presumed and taken for granted is today a topic hotly debated all over the world. With increasing number of foreign companies setting up their businesses in China and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area – projected to be the world's largest FTA covering 1.7 billion consumers with a combined GDP of US$2 trillion and to be completed within ten years from the setting of its framework agreement in November 2002 – poised to become the core of a broader East Asian economic zone in years to come, this paper attempts to explore the implications, opportunities and challenges arising with the establishment of the ACFTA, the achievement, prospect and challenges with respect to the Early Harvest Program (EHP) and Agreement on Trade in Goods (TIG), potential competition arising from the free flow of goods, impacts on growth, production sharing, possible trade diversion effects and institutional and other factors in market penetration, within the context of both global business linkages and domestic market nexus in the light of the expanding China-Malaysian bilateral trade and China's deepening partnership with ASEAN.


The number of descendants of a node in a binary search tree (BST) is the size of the subtree having this node as a root; the number of ascendants is the number of nodes on the path connecting this node with the root. Using a purely combinatorial approach (generating functions and differential equations) we are able to extend previous results. For the number of descendants we get explicit formulæ for all moments; for the number of ascendants, which is harder, we get the variance. A natural extension of binary search trees occurs when performing local reorganisations. Poblete and Munro have already analyzed some aspects of these locally balanced binary search trees (LBSTs). Here, we relate these structures with the performance of median–of–three Quicksort. We get as new results the variances for ascendants and descendants in this setting. If the rank of the node itself is picked at random ("grand averages"), the corresponding parameters only depend on the size $n$. In this instance, we get all the moments for the descendants (BST and LBST), as well as the probabilities. For ascendants (LBST), we get the variance and (in principle) the higher moments, as well as the (normal) limiting distribution. The emphasis is on explicit formulæ, and these are sometimes quite involved. Thus, in some instances, we have decided to state abridged versions in the paper and collect the long forms into an appendix that can be downloaded from the URLs http://info.tuwien.ac.at/theoinf/abstract/abs_120.htm and http://www.lsi.upc.es/~conrado/research/.


A performance evaluation of 15 text-analysis systems was recently conducted to realistically assess the state of the art for detailed information extraction from unconstrained continuous text. Reports associated with terrorism were chosen as the target domain, and all systems were tested on a collection of previously unseen texts released by a government agency. Based on multiple strategies for computing each metric, the competing systems were evaluated for recall, precision, and overgeneration. The results support the claim that systems incorporating natural language‐processing techniques are more effective than systems based on stochastic techniques alone. A wide range of language-processing strategies was employed by the top-scoring systems, indicating that many natural language‐processing techniques provide a viable foundation for sophisticated text analysis. Further evaluation is needed to produce a more detailed assessment of the relative merits of specific technologies and establish true performance limits for automated information extraction.


Abstract Government provision of a financial safety net for financial institutions has been a key element of the policy response to the current crisis, with governments extending existing guarantees and introducing new ones. These measures have been helpful in avoiding a further accelerated loss of confidence. But they are not costless. Like any guarantee, deposit insurance gives rise to moral hazard, especially if the coverage is unlimited. In the midst of a crisis, the immediate task is to restore confidence, and guarantees can be helpful in that respect. Nonetheless, to keep market discipline operational, it is important to specify when the extra insurance will end, and this timeline needs to be credible. To be able to establish such a timeline the root causes of the lack of confidence—that is the effects of troubled assets on financial firms' health—need to be addressed effectively. On a more fundamental level, once a government has ventured down the road of guarantee expansion, there may be a general perception that a government guarantee will always be available during crisis situations. As a consequence, other elements of the financial safety net may need to be strengthened, including the prudential and supervisory framework. Published as Policy Paper


The aim of this project is to evaluate the use of shell chemistry as a salinity indicator in marginal marine environments through the analysis of the elements Mg and Sr, although the significance of Mn and Fe concentrations are also assessed, within the ostracod valve and calculation of subsequent trace-element/Ca ratios. Two contrasting approaches were investigated; a modern environment where the salinity gradient is well established, and supported by previous work and field measurements (The Fleet, Dorset) and a Holocene sediment sequence where salinity was inferred from faunal palaeoecology of foraminifera and ostracods (Core SB1, Son Bou, Menorca).
The species Cytherois fischeri, Leptocythere castanea, Leptocythere lacertosa, Loxoconcha rhomboidea and Xestoleberis nitida were analysed from the Fleet and generally show no relation to the host water chemistry and high variability at each study site, reflecting the tidal nature of the waterbody. However, L. lacertosa does show a weak negative trend in Mg/Ca across the transect, similar to the inverse relationships reported in a few previous studies (Teeter & Quick, 1990; Keyser et al., 1993 and Boomer, pers. comm.). Positive correlations between Sr/Ca ratios and nominal shell weight for all five species, suggests that part of the Sr content within the valve is simply related to the weight of the shell (i.e. the heavier the valve the more Sr within) and was not subsequently taken up in equilibrium with the host water. The species Cyprideis torosa and Loxoconcha elliptica were analysed from core SB1. The C. torosa Sr/Ca ratio correlated very strongly with the faunal and floral records, reflecting the environmental changes and salinity variations suggested along with the presence/absence of marine connections. The L. elliptica Sr/Ca record and Mg/Ca records for both species do not display such distinct correlations, although more subtle shifts involving increased variability do correlate with more unstable episodes and overall trends in the mean also correlate to hypothesised long term salinity trends. Positive correlation between L. elliptica Sr/Ca and nominal shell weight indicates that part of the Sr within the valve is simply related to the weight of the shell, thereby making the environmental evidence available from the L. elliptica chemistry record more limited than that of the C. torosa record.
Therefore, despite the fact that the Fleet has a reduced tidal flow compared to a normal estuary, it would appear that the water chemistry is still too variable for the ostracod shell chemistry technique to be used as a reliable indicator of water chemistry, although the technique can be of limited use where corroborative evidence from other sources is necessary to support any conclusions.


The purpose of this article is to evaluate the importance of wages differentials between migrants and non migrants and determine what account for it among habitants of Yaounde and Douala, two cosmopolite cities of Cameroon. We use data derived from the Employment and Informal Sector Survey implemented by the National Institute of Statistics in 2005. Econometric analyses of the migration decision, based on a sample of 3585 individuals, indicate that migration and participation decision are negatively correlated. After controlling for migration and labor force selection, results show that there exist a 12.8% wage differential in favor of migrants due to endowments (10.1%) and unexplained factors (2.7%). Yet, this wage differential does not determine speculative migration decisions to urban Cameroon.


Faced with one of the most severe financial crises in history, the European and national authorities have introduced a number of short-term measures aimed at stabilising the financial system and avoiding spillover to the wider economy. This legal working paper provides a comprehensive overview of the financial crisis measures introduced by the 27 EU Member States from 1 October 2008 through 1 June 2009. A general overview of the individual Member State's rescue schemes as well as details on state guarantee schemes, recapitalisation measures, state loans, the acquisition of impaired assets and nationalisation (where applicable) is set out for each Member State. In addition, individual measures with regard to individual banks are included in the country chapters. Appendix I provides an overview of the deposit-guarantee schemes of the Member States in the form of a chart. Relevant European Central Bank opinions and non-consultation letters can be found in Appendix II and Appendix III contains a table summarising the Member States measures.


What happens to a company's property when it grants a charge over it? How, if at all, is this different from what happens when a company creates a mortgage over the same assets? What is it to own something beneficially, and how is it different from beneficially holding a proprietary right in it? What role is played by floating charges, and is there really no difference between a fixed charge and a floating charge that has crystallised? And what purpose is served by the proceedings which wind up a company? This paper considers all these questions against the background of the recent decision by the House of Lords in 'Buchler v Talbot, Re Leyland Daf'. Their Lordships issued a simple ruling dealing with a simple question, whether the expenses incurred by a liquidator in winding up an insolvent company are payable out of the assets comprised in a crystallised floating charge in priority to the claims of the charge-holder. However, this simple ruling, if taken seriously, has devastating implications for our understanding of ownership and property, of mortgages and charges, and of several important issues in insolvency law. This paper argues that their Lordships' decision is highly questionable at almost every conceivable level. It considers the judgment by examining (a) the juridical nature of charges, (b) the functional nature of floating charges and the empirical context in which they operate, and (c) the question whether the chargee derives benefit from a properly conducted winding-up. The paper considers the implications of their Lordships' judgment, arguing that it cuts huge swathes across property and corporate insolvency law. Without really saying so, have their Lordships abolished the distinction between mortgages and charges? Not only do they seem to assume that there is no such distinction, but the new, unified security interest envisaged by them, in leaving the beneficial ownership of the collateral in the secured creditor, resembles the sort of mortgage that used to exist at law some hundred years ago, before equity intervened to insist that it was the mortgagor's equity of redemption that constituted beneficial ownership. Since the 'chargee' is the beneficial owner of the collateral in the post-Leyland Daf world, he presumably has the right to take possession of the collateral? And should he not be able now to benefit from an increase in the value of the collateral like any (co-)owner, recovering, in the appropriate case, even more than the amount secured? (And if all he gets is what he was owed, no matter how far the value of the collateral might rise, then in what sense is he a (co-)owner, rather than merely the beneficiary of a particular priority position for repayment of a fixed amount with respect to the proceeds of sale of another's property?) If the 'chargor' now only retains an equity of redemption, then the 'chargee' presumably has the right to foreclose? If floating charge holders as a group should not be required to pay for winding-up proceedings because such proceedings only benefit unsecured creditors, then presumably their Lordships were wrong to have held recently that each such proceeding brings benefits to a wider group which nevertheless must be paid for by the creditors of that particular company? The paper concludes by suggesting how the issues addressed by the House of Lords in Re Leyland Daf might have been more satisfactorily resolved.


BACKGROUND. The link between mucus plugs and airflow obstruction has not been established in chronic severe asthma, and the role of eosinophils and their products in mucus plug formation is unknown. METHODS. In clinical studies, we developed and applied a bronchopulmonary segment–based scoring system to quantify mucus plugs on multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) lung scans from 146 subjects with asthma and 22 controls, and analyzed relationships among mucus plug scores, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and airway eosinophils. Additionally, we used airway mucus gel models to explore whether oxidants generated by eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) oxidize cysteine thiol groups to promote mucus plug formation. RESULTS. Mucus plugs occurred in at least 1 of 20 lung segments in 58% of subjects with asthma and in only 4.5% of controls, and the plugs in subjects with asthma persisted in the same segment for years. A high mucus score (plugs in ≥ 4 segments) occurred in 67% of subjects with asthma with FEV1 of less than 60% of predicted volume, 19% with FEV1 of 60%–80%, and 6% with FEV1 greater than 80% (P < 0.001) and was associated with marked increases in sputum eosinophils and EPO. EPO catalyzed oxidation of thiocyanate and bromide by H2O2 to generate oxidants that crosslink cysteine thiol groups and stiffen thiolated hydrogels. CONCLUSION. Mucus plugs are a plausible mechanism of chronic airflow obstruction in severe asthma, and EPO-generated oxidants may mediate mucus plug formation. We propose an approach for quantifying airway mucus plugging using MDCT lung scans and suggest that treating mucus plugs may improve airflow in chronic severe asthma. TRIAL REGISTRATION. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01718197, NCT01606826, NCT01750411, NCT01761058, NCT01761630, NCT01759186, NCT01716494, and NCT01760915. FUNDING. NIH grants P01 HL107201, R01 HL080414, U10 HL109146, U10 HL109164, U10 HL109172, U10 HL109086, U10 HL109250, U10 HL109168, U10 HL109257, U10 HL109152, and P01 HL107202 and National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences grants UL1TR0000427, UL1TR000448, and KL2TR000428.


In the present study, the heat transfer coefficients of benzene in a spiral plate heat exchanger are investigated. The test section consists of a Plate of width 0.3150 m, thickness 0.001 m and Mean hydraulic diameter of 0.01 m. The mass flow rate of water (Hot fluid) is varying from 0.5 kg sec -1 to 0.8 kg sec -1 and the mass flow rate of benzene (cold fluid) varies from 0.4 kg sec -1 to 0.7 kg sec -1 . Experiments have been conducted by varying the mass flow rate, temperature and pressure of cold fluid, keeping the mass flow rate of hot fluid constant. The effects of relevant parameters on spiral plate heat exchanger are investigated. The data obtained from the experimental study are compared with the theoretical data. Besides, a new correlation for the nusselt number which can be used for practical applications is proposed.


This article focuses on the geographical distribution and habitats of the pill clam, Pisidium langleyanum as reflected by 632 samples on record in the database of the National Freshwater Snail Collection (NFSC). The 177 different loci (1/16 -degree squares) from which these samples were collected display a relatively continuous distribution in southern Gauteng, northeastern Free State, the central area of Mpumulanga and the western part of Lesotho. However, it is discontinuously spread through KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, poorly represented in North West, nearly absent in the Northern and Western Cape and completely absent from Limpopo. Details of each habitat as described by collectors during surveys were statistically analysed, as well as altitude and mean annual air temperatures and rainfall for each locality. This species was reported from 10 of the 14 water-body types represented in the database, but the largest number of samples was recovered from rivers, swamps and streams. Chi-square and effect-size values were calculated and an integrated decision tree constructed from the data which indicated that temperature, altitude, types of water-body and substrata were the important factors that significantly influenced the distribution of P. langleyanum in South Africa. In view of the many agents reported for this genus elsewhere in the world that could facilitate its passive dispersal and the fact that this species was already recorded in 1891 from South Africa, it is suggested that its absence in large areas of this country could most probably be attributed to unsuitable environmental conditions. The possible effect of climatic changes on the geographical distribution of P. langleyanum and the conservation status of Pisidium species in South Africa is briefly discussed. The feasibility to exploit this species for monitoring heavy metal pollution in freshwater biotopes and its ability to act as intermediate host for economically important trematode parasites should be investigated.


Software system need to change over time to cope with the new requirements. Furthermore, due to design decisions, the new requirements happen to crosscut the system's structure. Understanding how changes appear in the system can reveal hidden dependencies between different parts of the system. We propose to group entities that change together according to a logical expression that specifies the change condition. Furthermore, we can group entities at different levels of abstraction (i.e., method, class, package). Our approach is based on an explicit history meta model that centers around the notion of history and which enables the definition of historical measurements which summarize the changes. We apply our approach on two large case studies and show how we can identify groups of related entities and detect bad smells.


Although the environmental movement and the environmental justice movement would seem to be natural allies, their relationship over the years has often been characterized by conflict and division. The environmental justice movement has charged the mainstream environmental movement with racism and elitism and has criticized its activist agenda on the grounds that it values wilderness over people. Environmental justice advocates have called upon environmental organizations to act on environmental injustice and address racism and classism in their own hiring and organizational practices, lobbying agenda, and political platforms. This book examines the current relationship between the two movements in both conceptual and practical terms and explores the possibilities for future collaboration.In ten original essays, contributors from a variety of disciplines consider such topics as the relationship between the two movements' ethical commitments and activist goals, instances of successful cooperation in U.S. contexts, and the challenges posed to both movements by globalization and climate change. They examine the possibility and desirability of one unified movement as opposed to two complementary ones by means of analyses and case studies; these include a story of asbestos hazards that begins in a Montana mine and ends with the release of asbestos insulation into the air of Manhattan after the collapse of the World Trade Center. This book, part of a necessary rethinking of the relationship between the two movements, shows that effective, mutually beneficial alliances can advance the missions of both.Contributors:Kim Allen, J. Robert Cox, Vinci Daro, Kevin DeLuca, Giovanna Di Chiro, Daniel Faber, Dorothy Holland, Dale Jamieson, M. Nils Peterson, Markus John Peterson, Tarla Rai Peterson, Phaedra C. Pezzullo, J. Timmons Roberts, Ronald Sandler, Steve Schwarze, Peter Wenz


Objectives: Currently, evidence for the association between face morphology, attachment loss and recession is lacking. Face type can be described by the ratio of facial width and facial length. We hypothesize, that the facial type might be related to gingival recession (REC) and clinical attachment loss (CAL) and that a broad face is associated with less recession and attachment loss than a long face. Materials and methods: Data from the 10 year follow-up of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-2; 2008-2012; 2333 participants) were used. Periodontitis was assessed by probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL). Generalized regression models were used to assess associations between specific landmark distances extracted from magnetic resonance images (MRI) head scans and clinically assessed gingival recession adjusting(REC) or clinical attachment loss(CAL) adjusting for relevant confounders. Results: Maximum cranial width was negatively associated with mean REC and mean CAL (p<0.05). Also, higher mean REC and higher mean CAL correlate positively with long face (B=0.361 with 95% CI), upper anterior facial height. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, gingival recession and clinical attachment loss were associated with higher Prosopic face and facial length indices results.


Brilliantly funny, teenage angst author Louise Rennison's first book about the confessions of crazy but lovable Georgia Nicolson. Now repackaged in a gorgeous new paperback and looking even fabber than ever. Louise is an international bestselling author and her books can't fail to make you laugh out loud. There are six things very wrong with my life: 1. I have one of those under-the-skin spots that will never come to a head but lurk in a red way for the next two years. 2. It is on my nose. 3. I have a three-year-old sister who may have peed somewhere in my room. 4. In fourteen days the summer hols will be over and then it will be back to Stalag 14 and Oberfuhrer Frau Simpson and her bunch of sadistic 'teachers'. 5. I am very ugly and need to go into an ugly home. 6. I went to a party dressed as a stuffed olive. Follow Georgia's hilarious antics as she tries to overcome the dilemma's that are weighing up against her, and muddle her way through teenage life and all that it entails: how to replace accidentally shaved-off eyebrows; how to cope with Angus, her small labrador-sized Scottish wildcat; her first kiss with Peter - afterwards known as Whelk Boy; annoying teachers; unsympathetic friends and family, and how to entice Robbie the Sex God! Phew - she's really got her work cut out!


Book synopsis: Graffiti are ubiquitous within the ancient world, but remain underexploited as a form of archaeological or historical evidence. They include a great variety of texts and images written or drawn inside and outside buildings, in public and private places, on monuments in the city, on objects used in daily life, and on mountains in the countryside. In each case they can be seen as actively engaging with their environment in a variety of ways. Ancient Graffiti in Context interrogates this cultural phenomenon and by doing so, brings it into the mainstream of ancient history and archaeology. Focusing on different approaches to and interpretations of graffiti from a variety of sites and chronological contexts, Baird and Taylor pose a series of questions not previously asked of this evidence, such as: What are graffiti, and how can we interpret them? In what ways, and with whom, do graffiti communicate? To what extent do graffiti represent or subvert the cultural values of the society in which they occur? By comparing themes across time and space, and viewing graffiti in context, this book provides a series of interpretative strategies for scholars and students of the ancient world. As such it will be essential reading for Classical archaeologists and historians alike.


The idea of generating 21st century skills, which is an initiative for technology enhancement and global awareness, in a rapidly growing environment is challenging society with its sudden onset. As a result of this movement current and future students have a greater likelihood of possessing multiple jobs or careers that will require various skills and abilities. To provide students the best education possible, educators need to look at the barriers that are affecting technology use with the curriculum. Use of Web 2.0 tools, handheld devices, and other emerging technologies constantly in the midst of society forces technology directors to maintain a vision of persistent change.
One social issue currently affecting students is access to technology through the use of Internet resources. Some school districts implement tiered access to teachers (less limitations) and students (full limitations). Teachers who have access to tiered networks possess the ability to create a teacher driven learning environment without forfeiting mandated student protections. With tiered access, teachers utilize tools that would otherwise be considered inappropriate for use by minors to create valid educational resources.
Technology directors are provided many laws, doctrines, and resources at their disposal to help prevent access to inappropriate material from adults and students including the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), E-Rate (provides federal funding to local education agencies), Internet Safety Policies, Negligence, "In Loco Parentis," and "Local Decision." All of these laws, doctrines, and requirements are interpreted by the director of technology, or other authority in which he/she makes the final decision on availability to students. In most cases the technology director will make the day to day decisions regarding sources to be accessed at school. This study, consisting of surveys from twenty-one school systems and interviews of six technology directors, an auditor with the Universal Services Administrative Company, an E-Rate specialist, and a professor, will reflect on CIPA as it relates to the practices of the technology director.
Twenty-one technology directors in North Carolina were surveyed, with most of these directors holding degrees in areas other than technology. These are individuals who make the day to day decisions on which technological matter is considered to be educationally sound for students. Technology directors can cite any policy to determine a website invalid but based upon CIPA those policies could be over restrictive.
The research gathered for this study suggests that school systems and the state of North Carolina need to address current technology policies and trends to understand or possibly change how technology is implemented to students. The use of a committee to decide if web resources are appropriate, a tiered network that separates staff from student access to allow teachers to drive their instruction, and the implementation of state guidelines would create a uniform system for appropriateness of various technologies in schools. Most schools maintain close to one hundred percent Internet connectivity, and now is the time for school systems to utilize this technology to maximum potential.


In the present study the flora and vegetation of Kakamega Forest, an East African rainforest in Western Kenya, was investigated. Kakamega Forest is highly degraded and fragmented and is an ideal model to study the anthropogenic influence on the forest inventory. The main focus was to analyse the influence of human impact on the vascular plant species composition. During five field phases in the years 2001 to 2004 a total of 19 study sites scattered over the whole forest including all fragments were investigated regarding forest structure, species composition and plant communities. The different forest sites were analysed by three different methods, phytosociological releves, line-transect and with the variable-area transect method. The forest survey revealed about 400 taxa of vascular plant species, among them 112 trees, 62 shrubs, 58 climbers and 114 herbs. Several species are restricted to this forest in Kenya, but only one endemic species, the herb Commelina albiflora, could be discovered. About 15 species were recorded as new for Kenya and probably at least one species is new to science. Kakamega Forest is a unique mixture of Guineo-Congolian and Afromontane floral elements. About one half of the vascular plant species has its origin in the lowland forests of the Congo basin and one third originates from Afromontane habitats. The present study represents the first description of plant communities of Kakamega Forest. An analysis of different forest sites and plantations resulted in 17 different vegetation units. For the mature forest sites eleven plant communities were described. The young succession stage consists of two plant communities. Since the disturbance history and the age of the different plant communities could be estimated, their chronology was also described. An exception are the study sites within the plantations and afforested sites. The four defined vegetation units were not described as plant communities, because they are highly affected by man and do not belong to the natural succession of Kakamega Forest. Nevertheless, the regeneration potential of such forests was investigated. Due to the different succession stages the changing species composition along a disturbance gradient could be analysed. Most of Kakamega Forest consists of middle-aged secondary forest often surrounded by very young secondary forest. A true primary rainforest could not be found due the massive influence by over-exploitation. In all parts of the forest the anthropogenic influence could be observed. The forest develops towards a climax stage, but a 2 Abstract comparison with former surveys shows that the regeneration is much slower than expected. Human impact has to be avoided to allow the forest to develop into a primary-like rainforest. But several climax tree species might be missing anyway, because after the broad logging activities in the past there are not enough seed trees remaining. Species richness was highest in disturbed forest sites. A mixture of pioneer, climax and bushland species could be recorded there. Therefore, a high species richness is not a suitable indicator for forest quality. The proportion of climax species typical for Kakamega Forest would be a better measure. Compared to the main forest block the forest fragments do not lack in diversity as expected due to fragmentation processes. Instead, the only near primary forest could be recorded in Kisere, a northern fragment. The high amount of climax species and the more or less undisturbed forest structure is a result of the strict protection by the Kenya Wildlife Service and due to low logging activities. Differences in species composition between the studied forest sites are either a result of the different logging history or management regime rather than due to different edaphic or climatic conditions.