In a recent article, I argued that diversified investors - the vast majority of investors - would prefer that securities fraud class actions under the 1934 Act and Rule 10b-5 be dismissed in the absence of insider trading or similar offenses during the fraud period. See Richard A. Booth, The End of the Securities Fraud Class Action as We Know It, 4 Berk. Bus. L. J. 1 (2007), http://ssrn.com/abstract=683197. In this article, I draw on the classic case, SEC v. Texas Gulf Sulfur Company, to show that the federal courts originally viewed securities fraud as inextricably connected to insider trading and that the recognition of separable causes of action has caused much of the difficulty in this area. I argue that the federal law of insider trading fails to capture many of ways that insiders can misappropriate stockholder wealth. For example, timing and backdating in connection with stock option grants likely do not constitute insider trading but likely do constitute misappropriation. Thus, I here address the question of how to define misappropriation of stockholder wealth in the context of a derivative action based on securities fraud. I conclude that the question is essentially one of state law fiduciary duty that should be decided by state courts under the emerging duty of candor. Although this solution raises potential conflicts with federal law in general and SLUSA in particular, I argue that these conflicts are no different from conflicts that arise in many state law cases that touch on issues of disclosure. Moreover, I argue that handling such claims under state law is more consistent with the federal statutory scheme and ultimately preferable to developing or maintaining a separate body of federal law addressing either securities fraud or insider trading.


This research focuses on the role of the coach in developing team flow and achieving successful results in Japanese university baseball. The purpose of this study, which was addressed using narrative analysis of coach interviews and participant observation, is to understand the team flow state in a Japanese university baseball team. The specific aims are to describe the characteristics of the team flow state, and describe how the coach is able to guide the team along the path to team flow and successful results. In this narrative research, the primary method was a life story interview with a coach who had the central role of team building over 4 years with a university baseball team. The initial life story interview and follow-up interviews were analyzed based on the constructivist grounded theory advocated by Charmaz (2006). A team in the team flow state practices an excellence-centered philosophy premised on doing everything to maximize use of everyone's potential ability, which is the Successful Result or "SR" that may in turn lead to a team victory. By building the coaches' and players' thinking, actions, and tactics from an excellence-centered philosophy with the SR standard as the foundation, it is thought that the team flow state can be achieved. From the analysis of the Japanese baseball coach's narrative, five characteristics were identified as characteristics of the team in the team flow state: deep understanding of successful result (SR), successful results realized through a regular routine, players perform with a feeling of ease in a self-directed manner, players understand what they need to do, and bond of trust between players and coach. It has become clear that to guide a team with these 5 characteristics toward team flow, it is important for the coach to establish an unshakeable philosophy and communicate this to the players in various ways. The coach's philosophy should be rooted in his own value system and way of thinking. It should be the foundation of the coach's actions and should exert influence on the will and actions of the players. The players should experience this philosophy on a daily basis in various situations so that the players comprehend the coach's value system. Furthermore, through capturing these experiences in words, players can develop a deeper understanding, and the value system can be spread across the entire team. By incorporating the SR within the team framework the evaluation point of the coach, teammates, and the athlete him or herself is something other than the result and can be something that is controllable. This allows the athlete to continually challenge without fear and to feel relaxed and happy while continuing to challenge issues with a forward looking attitude. This state is the same as what Csikszentmihalyi (1990) referred to as the flow state. In the current SR flow model the SR is controllable and is the aim of all members of the team from coach and staff to the players, which in turn allows them to attain the SR result they seek and thereby a collective flow state. This collective flow state is in fact a team flow state.


In McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (1987), the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to racial discrimination in the use of the death penalty. That challenge was based on a landmark study of race and capital sentencing in the state of Georgia by the late Professor David Baldus and colleagues. The legal holding in McCleskey stands, despite the fact that the author of the opinion, Justice Lewis Powell, later renounced it in retirement. It is sometimes described as the Dred Scott decision of the twentieth century. But on the empirical question that was as stake in McCleskey, Baldus has prevailed. Neither the Court in McCleskey, nor any justice at the time or since, has disputed his factual conclusion that many defendants in Georgia were sentenced to death because of their race, and especially because of the race of the victims of the crimes for which they were convicted. This was a remarkable achievement. It fundamentally changed our understanding of the role of race in criminal justice in the United States.


This paper reports on the conceptual development and empirical evaluation of a postgraduate (PG) research service quality management model, through conducting an electronic survey among a cohort of master's and doctorate graduates at one of the top three research universities in South Africa, using specifically developed and validated research instruments.By fitting the data from a sample of 117 graduates to a conceptual model using structural equation modelling, it became evident that the PG research students' perception of the Organisational Climate for Research (OCR) is associated with their perception of the PG Research Service Quality (PGSQUAL), the PG Service Experience (SERVEXP) and their perception of their Role (RC). However, no association was found between the students' perception of the research climate (OCR) and their satisfaction (SERVSAT) with the research service; the service experience (SERVEXP) and postgraduate research service quality (PGSQUAL); service satisfaction (SERVSAT) and postgraduate service quality (PGSQUAL).  The aforementioned findings imply that higher education institutions need to create a research climate which is supportive of service quality, and better manage the research climate, so that the PG students are clear about their role, which will eventually translate to a better PG service experience and improved perception of PG service quality.


In this paper, an experimental study has been conducted on strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) connections by FRP sheets. The innovation of this research is using narrow grooves on critical regions of connection to increase the adherence of FRP sheets and prevent their early debonding. Therefore, four RC connections were made and tested under a constant axial load on the column and an increasing cyclic load on the beam. The first specimen, as the standard reference specimen, had close tie spacing in ductile regions of beam, column and panel zone based on seismic design provisions, and the second specimen, as the weak reference specimen did not have these conditions in all regions. Two other weak specimens were strengthened using two different strengthening patterns with FRP sheets; one by ordinary surface preparation and the other with surface grooving method for installing FRP sheets on the connection. The results showed that ultimate load and ductility of the weak specimen compared to standard specimen decreased 25% and 17%, respectively. The shear failure and concrete crushing were prevented in the ductile regions of the beam and panel zone in both strengthened specimens. Also, it was observed that early debonding of FRP sheets was prevented in the strengthened connection with grooving pattern and so had desirable ductility and bearing capacity similar to the standard specimen.


Firms pay out cash using both dividends and share repurchases. In many aspects these two means are similar, but one important difference is that dividends are generally taxed more heavily than share repurchases. Nevertheless firms persist in paying out large amounts in dividends. This paper provides an explanation for this dividend puzzle by developing a class of signaling models violating the "single-crossing property in which information about the quality of the firm is asymmetric between the management and the shareholders. In these models a high-quality firm can always signal its quality by using share repurchases only. However, in certain cases share repurchases become costlier on the margin for a high-quality firm than for a low-quality imitator. In such cases, the high-quality firm signals most cost efficiently by means of a combination of share repurchases and taxable cash dividends financed by the issuance of new shares. Taxable cash dividends financed by the issuance of new shares then can be considered a positive kind of money burning whose role is to signal a firm's high quality. The implications of the models are consistent with several important empirical facts about dividends and share repurchases. Thus, this paper's main contribution is to examine a range of new signaling models that provides a role for taxable cash dividends and share repurchases and to derive their empirical implications.


This paper re-examines Canada's response to the Suez Crisis within the context of its overall approach to the Middle East in the early 1950s. It reminds contemporary readers that most Canadian policymakers, including Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent and his Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester B. Pearson, viewed the distant and unfamiliar region with reserve, as one better left to the Great Powers to sort out. That view only changed in 1956, when the Suez Crisis, Anglo-American discord, and the possibility of nuclear war threatened Canadian strategic interests, transforming Canada into a small regional stakeholder.


The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain a richer understanding of the effect of community-based group music therapy on quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities through the insights of four sub-groups in two community-based group music therapy choirs: choir members (people with developmental disabilities), parents/caregivers, choir leaders (music therapists) and the program supervisor. The study provided valuable feedback concerning how satisfied persons with developmental disabilities were with the group music therapy services that they had received, what benefits the choir members had derived from participating in the community-based group music therapy choirs, and how the benefits were related to the choir members' quality of life.  Data were collected in group and individual interviews that were conducted with 29 individuals consisting of 18 choir members, 8 parents/caregivers, 2 choir leaders and 1 program supervisor. Key statements of each subgroup were summarized according to the transcript texts. Global themes shared by part or all of the subgroups were identified by comparing and contrasting subgroups' key statements.  The result of this study showed that there is a significant positive effect of community-based group music therapy on the quality of life for individuals with developmental disabilities in the five categories of "emotional well-being," "social inclusion," "interpersonal relations," "self-determination," "personal development" and eleven subcategories of "safety," "self-concept," "happiness," "community integration/participation," "lifestyle," "friendships," "family relationships," "personal control," "choices," "education," and "skills." Thirty global themes of the effect of community-based group music therapy on quality of life for people with developmental disabilities shared by part or all of the subgroups were identified and described.


Laws designed to affect the flow of information take many forms: rules against misrepresentation, disclosure requirements, secrecy requirements, rules governing the formatting or packaging of information, and interpretive rules designed to give people new reasons to share information. Together these and similar rules constitute the law of deception: laws that aim to prevent or cure deception. One encounters similar problems of design, function and justification throughout the law of deception. Yet very little has been written about the category as a whole. This article begins to sketch a general theory. It identifies three regulatory approaches. Interpretive laws, such as common law fraud, prohibit the making of untrue statements. These laws work by giving legal effect to commonly understood extralegal norms of interpretation and truth telling, in order to achieve specifically legal ends. Purpose-based laws, such as the tort of concealment, target acts done with a bad intent. Rather than employing an objective standard of behavior, they define the object of regulation by an actor's wrongful state of mind. Finally, causal-predictive laws employ everyday folk-psychology, empirical studies or cognitive theory to predict the informational effects of narrowly described behaviors. Much consumer protection law is of the causal-predictive sort. These regulatory approaches reach different types of informationally significant behavior, are suited to different regulatory ends, and require different institutional competencies. After describing the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, the article applies the theory to the Lanham Act's false advertising provisions. In deciding Lanham Act cases, courts have arrived at a complex set of rules that include all three approaches. A critical analysis of those rules illustrates the theory's ability both to explain the law of deception and to recommend improvements in it.


The author of 'Across the Wire' offers brilliant investigative reporting of what went wrong when, in May 2001, a group of 26 men attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona. Only 12 men came back out. 'Superb ...Nothing less than a saga on the scale of the Exodus and an ordeal as heartbreaking as the Passion ...The book comes vividly alive with a richness of language and a mastery of narrative detail that only the most gifted of writers are able to achieve. - Los Angeles Times Book Review.


While the 1960s and 1970s still knew permanent education (Council of Europe), recurrent education (OECD) and lifelong education (UNESCO), over the past 20 years, lifelong learning has become the single emblem for reforms in (pre-) primary, higher and adult education systems and international debates on education. Both highly industrialized and less industrialized countries embrace the concept as a response to the most diverse economic, social and demographic challenges - in many cases motivated by international organizations (IOs).
Yet, literature on the nature of this influence, the diffusion of the concept among IOs and their understanding of it is scant and usually focuses on a small set of actors. Based on longitudinal data and a large set of education documents, the work identifies rapid diffusion of the concept across a heterogeneous, expansive and dynamic international field of 88 IOs in the period 1990-2013, which is difficult to explain with functionalist accounts.
Based on the premises of world polity theory, this paper argues that what diffuses resembles less the bundle of systemic reforms usually associated with the concept in the literature and more a surprisingly detailed model of a new actor " the lifelong learner.


This Article addresses the rise of "co-religionist commerce" in the United States — that is, the explosion of commercial dealings that take place between co-religionists who intend their transactions to achieve both commercial and religious objectives. To remain viable, coreligionist commerce requires all the legal support necessary to sustain all other commercial relationships. Contracts must be enforced, parties must be protected against torts, and disputes must be reliably adjudicated.Under current constitutional doctrine, co-religionist commercial agreements must be translated into secular terminology if they are to be judicially enforced. But many religious goods and services cannot be accurately translated without religious terms and structures. To address this translation problem, courts could make use of contextual tools of contract interpretation, thereby providing the necessary evidence to give meaning to co-religionist commercial agreements. However, contextual approaches to co-religionist commerce have been undermined by two current legal trends — one in constitutional law, the other in commercial law. The first is New Formalism, which discourages courts from looking to customary norms and relational principles to interpret commercial instruments. The second is what we call Establishment Clause Creep, which describes a growing judicial reticence to adjudicate disputes situated within a religious context. Together, these two legal developments prevent courts from using context to interpret and enforce co-religionist commercial agreements.This Article proposes that courts preserve co-religionist commerce with a limited embrace of contextualism. A thorough inquiry into context, which is discouraged by both New Formalist and many Establishment Clause doctrines, would allow courts to surmise parties' intents and distinguish commercial from religious substance. Empowering the intent of co-religionist parties and limiting the doctrinal developments that threaten to undermine co-religionist commerce can secure marketplace dealings without intruding upon personal faith.


Atlas of the Dutch water mites (Acari: Hydrachnidia) Few biogeographic studies have been published on water mites. Only Lundblad (1962) has published an atlas of the Swedish water mites. So far, there are no complete publications on the distribution of Dutch water mites. Acarologists who worked on Dutch water mites, i.e. A.C. Oudemans (1858-1943), G. Romijn (1868-1930) and A.J. Besseling (1898-1968) have collected in a limited geographical area only. Besseling, therefore, classified most of the water mites as rare or very rare. Davids (1979) adapted this to the knowledge of that time. Since this last publication, many new data have been collected in The Netherlands, including biotopes which had hardly been investigated. This resulted in publications on the coastal dunes (Smit & Van der Hammen 1992), quagfens (Smit & Van der Hammen 1996) and springs and streams (Van der Hammen & Smit 1996). We also tried to collect hyporheic water mites, however, without results so far. Many data have been collected by the regional water authority boards, for which we identified and checked many specimens. The result of our work is a number of new species for the Dutch fauna and some taxonomical changes (Smit & Van der Hammen 1990b, 1992c, Smit & Duursema 1993, Smit et al. 1993a, Van Maanen et al. 1997). Furthermore, three new species for science could be described (Smit & Van der Hammen 1992b, Smit 1996a). The database contains some 4900 localities, with 60.000 records. We used a 5x5km-grid to show the distribution of the species. In The Netherlands 1666 of these so called hour-squares can be found with fresh - brackish water, of which 1120 have one or more records of water mites. We stored our data in the program Ecolims, including data on watertype and co-ordinates of the Dutch Topographical Survey. We have gained an almost complete coverage. Only some brackish areas, the large rivers (Rhine, Meuse) and the lake IJsselmeer have limited or no data. However, most of these areas are poor in water mite species. We did not include many old data. Usually, these data do not contribute much to our knowledge, as the earlier acarologists usually collected close to their homes. Furthermore, these old localities are difficult to locate. Only for rare species, occurring in less than 10 5x5kmsquares, we have added old data from the notebooks of Besseling (deposited in the Zoological Museum in Amsterdam). Included in these notebooks are the data of Romijn. Furthermore, data from C. Davids have been used. Our recent data show a bimodal distribution over the year (figure 3), as we sampled twice a year, in spring and in summer. We give a revised list of the Dutch water mites on p. 6-13. Previous reviews have been published by Besseling (1964), Van der Eijck (1977), Davids (1979, 1980) and Mol (1984). We re-identified a number of species from the collection of Besseling. We followed the classification of Viets (1987), except for Hydrachna and Piona, where no subgeneric classification is given. For the subgeneric classification of Unionicola we followed Vidrine (1986) and Harvey (1998). On the family level one change has been made: the Wettininae have been raised to family level (Harvey 1998). The genus Hydrochoreutes has been placed in its own subfamily, the Hydrochoreutinae (Smith & Cook 1991). The number of species known from The Netherlands in earlier publications was 188 (Besseling 1964) and 213 (Davids 1979), respectively. The Dutch list now contains 51 genera, with 234 species and including six subspeies not belonging to the nominate form. Five species and one subspecies new for the Dutch fauna are given: Piersigia limophila, Torrenticola anomala, Piona disparilis, Piona conglobata coacta, Forelia spatulifera and Arrenurus sculptus. On the other hand, four species have been omitted: Oxus oblongus, Piona annulata, Forelia koenikei and Arrenurus pugionifer. The description of the species includes the following topics. Nomenclature: For each species a complete list of synonyms used in Dutch publications is given, as well as all publications in which records of the species in The Netherlands have been published. Not included in this bibliography is the so-called 'grey' literature, e.g. unpublished reports. Occurrence and distribution: For each species its occurrence is given, using the following division: very rare species occurs in 10 or less 5x5km-squares rare species occurs in 11-29 squares rather rare species occurs in 30-100 squares rather common species occurs in 101-250 squares common species occurs in 251-500 squares very common species occurs in more than 500 squares The seasonal periodicity is given for species which show a preference for either spring or (late) summer/ autumn. Only old records of species which occur in less than ten squares or species which have not been found recently, have been included on the maps. To distinguish these records from recent observations a division is made between data before and since 1970. This is a convenient year because the recent extensive research on the distribution of Dutch watermites started in 1978-1979. All data of environmental parameters are from the provinces Noord- and Zuid-Holland only. In these provinces, situated in the Holocene part of the country, fringe zones occur from Pleistocene to Holocene and from coastal dunes to the low lying 'polders'. Furthermore, very brackish parts can be found, as well as clay and peat soils. Therefore, the data given in this paper are not suitable for species which have their optimum in acid waters or in streams. Summary: Each species account is concluded with a short summary in English. The diversity of the water mite fauna is highest in the seepage region between the Holocene and Pleistocene parts of The Netherlands. The reasons are probably the better water quality, the low chloride content and the relatively high habitat diversity caused by peat digging activities in earlier centuries. In parts of The Netherlands with only lentic waters, chloride and nutrient levels are the main factors that determine the species richness of the water mite fauna. For example, in ditches with a bad water quality the maximum number of species is 10; when the quality is optimal, more than 20 species are possible. Since the beginning of the 20th century the diversity of the water mite fauna in lotic waters has deteriorated strongly. Of the rheophilic species 40% has disappeared and nowadays 80% is rare or very rare. The main reasons are canalization and eutrophication. In The Netherlands, the surface waters are classified in different types, mainly based on morphology and lentic-lotic divisions. Distinguished are: springs, brooks, rivers, fens, marshes, cattle pools, larger pools, ditches, small canals, large canals, lakes, dune waters and city waters. The water mite fauna of each of them has been calculated and compared with each other. Only species present in more than 10% of the number of localities belonging to a special water type is given (table 84).


Three-dimensional shape can be drawn using a variety of feature lines, but none of the current definitions alone seem to capture all visually-relevant lines. We introduce a new definition of feature lines based on two perceptual observations. First, human perception is sensitive to the variation of shading, and since shape perception is little affected by lighting and reflectance modification, we should focus on normal variation. Second, view-dependent lines better convey smooth surfaces. From this we define view-dependent curvature as the variation of the surface normal with respect to a viewing screen plane, and apparent ridges as the loci of points that maximize a view-dependent curvature. We present a formal definition of apparent ridges and an algorithm to render line drawings of 3D meshes. We show that our apparent ridges encompass or enhance aspects of several other feature lines.


Planning means constructing a course of actions to achieve a specified set of goals when starting from an initial situation. For example, determining a sequence of actions (a plan) for transporting goods from an initial location to some destination is a typical planning problem in the transportation domain. Many planning problems are of practical interest.


Exchange Server 2007 How-To Real Solutions for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Administrators J. Peter Bruzzese Need fast, reliable, easy-to-implement solutions for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007? This book delivers exactly what youre looking for. Youll find tested, step-by-step procedures for everything from planning deployment and infrastructure through installing, configuring, managing, and securing Exchange in your production environment. Completely up-to-date, this book reflects Exchange Server 2007s newest features, including the significant enhancements introduced with Service Pack 1. When time is of the essence, turn here first: get answers you can trustand useright now! Fast, Accurate, and Easy-to-Use! Prepare for deployment with the right hardware, software, server roles, and storage architecture Upgrade, transition, or migrate from previous versions of Exchangeor from Novell or Lotus Install roles, Edge Transport Servers, Active/Passive mailboxes, and more Work with Exchange Management Console and Exchange Management Shell Discover best practices for managing Exchange disk storage Efficiently manage users, distribution groups, and mailboxes Create and use Administrative Roles, Address Lists, Offline Address Books, and Managed Content Settings Configure Client Access Servers, including Outlook Web Access, ActiveSync, and Outlook Anywhere Fight spam with Exchange Server 2007s powerful antispam features Design and deploy disaster recovery plans you can trust Plan and implement the best high availability options for your environment Configure Unified Messaging to deliver voicemail and fax services Monitor and troubleshoot Exchange J. Peter Bruzzese (cofounder of ClipTraining.com) is an independent consultant, trainer, and author of the monthly column Exclusively Exchange. Bruzzeses website, exclusivelyexchange.com, provides screencasts about Exchange 2007 SP1, as well as Exchange blog postings and peer assistance. He has consulted with clients ranging from Goldman Sachs to Microsoft, and instructed for leading training organizations such as CBT Nuggets (for their Exchange 2007 Certification Series) and New Horizons. Bruzzese writes the Enterprise Windows blog for InfoWorld, contributes to Redmond and WindowsITPro Magazines, and speaks regularly at the MCP TechMentor Conferences. His recent books include Tricks of the Windows Vista Masters and Administrators Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers.


BACKGROUND
HTLV1 is a retrovirus that infects CD4-positive cells and leads to Adult T-cell leukemia by constitutive activation of nuclear factor kappa B. Ascorbic acid (AA) is an essential nutrient that possess anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activity against a number of malignant cell lines. This study delineates the effect of AA on Tax protein expression as well as NF-κB and MMP9 activity in two HTLV1-positive leukemia cells (HuT-102 and C91-PL).

METHODS
The cytotoxic and antiproliferative effect of AA were studied by LDH release and MTT tests, respectively. The proteins expression level was assessed by western blotting. RT-PCR was used to study mRNAs level. Finally, ELISA/EMSA and Zymography were used to evaluate NF-κB and MMP-9 activities, respectively.

RESULTS
Cell lines were treated with non-cytotoxic concentrations of AA for 48h and 96h, which resulted in a significant inhibition of proliferation at a concentration of 50µg/ml at 96h in both cell lines. The same concentration inhibited Tax protein expression as well as the NF-κB nuclearization and DNA binding activity. The inhibitory effect of AA on MMP9 protein expression and activity started at 100µg/ml and 50µg/ml in HuT-102 and C91-PL cells respectively, with no effect at the transcriptional levels of MMP-9 in either one of the two cell lines.

CONCLUSION
These results indicated that while AA exerted its anti-proliferative effect on the NF- κB activation pathway by suppressing Tax expression, its effects on MMP9 seemed to be independent of this mechanism and follow a different approach.


The rapid anthropogenic climate change that is projected for the 21st century is predicted to have severe impacts on ecosystems and on the provision of ecosystem services. With respect to the longevity of trees, forestry in particular has to adapt now to future climate change. This requires profound multidisciplinary knowledge on the direct and indirect climate sensitivity of forest ecosystems on various spatial scales. Predictions on growth declines due to increasing drought exposition during climate change are widely recognized for European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), which is the major forest tree in European temperate deciduous forests. However, research from other continents or other biomes has shown that winter climate change may also affect forest growth dynamics due to declining snow cover and increased soil cooling. So far, this winter cold sensitivity is largely unexplored in Europe. Thus, particularly focussing on forest growth dynamics and winter cold sensitivity, the goal of this PhD-project was to explore how climate sensitivity of forest ecosystems differs regionally. By doing so, the project aimed to deliver insights about possibilities and limits of upscaling regional knowledge to a global understanding of climate sensitivity. To achieve these goals, this PhD-project integrated five studies (Manuscripts 1–5) that investigated the climate sensitivity of biogeochemical cycles, plant species composition in forests, and forest growth dynamics across spatial scales. In particular, a large-scale gradient-design field experiment simulated the influence of winter climate change on forest ecosystems by snow cover and soil temperature manipulations (Manuscript 1). This study indicated that soil cooling and decreased root nutrient uptake may indirectly reduce growth of adult forest trees. Moreover, this study indicated uniform ecological sensitivity to soil temperature changes across sites along a large winter temperature gradient (ΔT = 4 K across 500 km), irrespective of the site-specific history of snow cover conditions, which motivates upscaling from local winter climate change studies to the regional scale. Although regional climate drives growth of adult forest trees, local factors, such as site-specific edaphic conditions, might control plants in the forest understory. This assumption was tested by mapping the forest understory composition along the same winter temperature gradient as introduced above (Manuscript 2). Across sites, this study found that edaphic conditions explained the spatial turnover in the forest understory composition more than climate, which might moderate direct climate change impacts on the forest understory composition. However, edaphic conditions, forest structure, and climate are linked by triangular interactions. Thus, climate change might still indirectly affect the forest vegetation dynamics. Moreover, a dendroecological study focussed on the same winter temperature gradient from central to cold-marginal beech populations as above in order to identify gradual changes in summer drought and winter cold sensitivity in tree growth (Manuscript 3). Towards the cold distribution margin, the influence of drought on tree growth gradually decreased, while growth reductions were increasingly related to winter cold due to harsher winter climate. By a large-scale dendroecological network study assessed the relationship of growth dynamics to climate and reproductive effort in beech forests across Europe (Manuscript 4). Indeed, this study found the general pattern across the distribution range of beech that high temperature controlled growth indirectly via resource allocation to reproduction. However, the strong, direct drought signal that could be generally detected from dry-marginal to central populations vanished towards the cold-marginal populations, where the more focussed study of Manuscript 3 identified a stronger relationship of tree growth to winter cold. Further extending the scope of this PhD-thesis to global scales, litter decomposition rates were assessed across biomes (Manuscript 5). This study found a robust relationship between climate and decomposition rates, but it also demonstrated large within-biome variability on a local scale. These local scale differences might depend on habitat conditions that, in turn, could be modulated by climate change, which calls for a better exploration of indirect climate sensitivity. In conclusion, this PhD-thesis highlighted that multidisciplinary research can advance the understanding of ecological interactions in forest ecosystems under changing climate scenarios. In this PhD-project, a winter climate change experiment, where site-representative target trees were selected by means of dendroecology, contributed to a mechanistic understanding of winter cold sensitivity in forest growth dynamics. Dendroecological investigations then put the findings in a broader temporal and spatial context by describing local climate sensitivity of tree growth on different spatial scales. This thesis further shows that global generalizations about the relationship of climate and ecological processes in ecosystem models have to be critically reviewed for the need of local and regional adjustment because these processes might experience considerable regional- or local-scale variation. However, this thesis reports uniform sensitivity of ecological processes to altered winter soil temperature regimes across a large winter temperature gradient. Thus, upscaling from insights of previous winter climate change experiments to regional scales is encouraged.


When we take a look on any map, we see that the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union can't help but have a tremendous impact on the future of the continent. It cannot go unnoticed that the shape of the continent has substantially changed; even of we do not know that the total surface of the EU countries is now 4,324,782 km² (or 1,669,807 sq mi) as opposed to over 3,250,000 km² at the break of the Millennium. The population, nearly half a billion, has risen by 21%, and it includes large countries, like Poland, which itself makes 8% of the EU population. Here is New Europe, or NE. Having admitted Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, the European Union, apart from the ideas behind it, its politics and its government, can never be the same.


In this essay, I make two main points: First, I call for a focus on the impact of structural conditions on preferences regarding intimacy. We tend to think our preferences are natural and fixed when, in fact, they may be more plastic and susceptible to structural influences than we imagine. To illustrate this theme, I examine a few structures that channel our preferences, namely, racial screening mechanisms on Internet dating web sites and sex segregation in queer social spaces. Second, I provide a warning against uncritical celebrations of increasing interracial intimacy as a sign of reduced prejudice and social progress. Our celebrations should be tempered by the awareness that race structures even our most intimate relationships. Although two people have crossed racial lines and may have even committed to spending their lives together, we cannot easily conclude that they have transcended race. Because race and gender intersect to determine an individual's value in the romantic marketplace, the two partners are unlikely to be similarly situated in terms of their options for leaving the relationship should it become unhappy. For instance, black heterosexual men enjoy greater options for interracial coupling than do black heterosexual women. Further, people of color who are in interracial relationships may have to suffer racialized microaggressions in order to maintain the relationship. Yet these subtle insults may escape the awareness of the white partner in the relationship, who might not intend to cause any harm or see the comments as racially offensive. One source of such racialized harms is likely to arise from racial disagreements in perceiving discrimination. Because black people and white people tend to view allegations of discrimination through fundamentally different lenses, they are likely to disagree as to the existence of discrimination, even when they are in an intimate relationship. This essay allows me to extend the analysis from three of my prior publications and explore their intersections. First, I consider whether a proposal I made regarding expressions of racial preference in casting advertisements might be applied to such preferences in the online dating context. Second, I extend to the romantic arena a phenomenon that I identified as "perceptual segregation," previously examined primarily in the workplace. Third, I have previously argued that, in predominantly white and gay romantic marketplaces, men of color face pressure to conform to certain racialized sex roles, such as the "aggressive black top" and the "submissive Asian bottom." In the final part of this essay, I present an empirical study of online dating trends that tests this argument.


Layout analysis--the division of page images into text blocks, lines, and determination of their reading order--is a major performance limiting step in large scale document digitization projects. This thesis addresses this problem in several ways: it presents new performance measures to identify important classes of layout errors, evaluates the performance of state-of-the-art layout analysis algorithms, presents a number of methods to reduce the error rate and catastrophic failures occurring during layout analysis, and develops a statistically motivated, trainable layout analysis system that addresses the needs of large-scale document analysis applications. An overview of the key contributions of this thesis is as follows. First, this thesis presents an efficient local adaptive thresholding algorithm that yields the same quality of binarization as that of state-of-the-art local binarization methods, but runs in time close to that of global thresholding methods, independent of the local window size. Tests on the UW-1 dataset demonstrate a 20-fold speedup compared to traditional local thresholding techniques. Then, this thesis presents a new perspective for document image cleanup. Instead of trying to explicitly detect and remove marginal noise, the approach focuses on locating the page frame, i.e. the actual page contents area. A geometric matching algorithm is presented to extract the page frame of a structured document. It is demonstrated that incorporating page frame detection step into document processing chain results in a reduction in OCR error rates from 4.3% to 1.7% (n=4,831,618 characters) on the UW-III dataset and layout-based retrieval error rates from 7.5% to 5.3% (n=815 documents) on the MARG dataset. The performance of six widely used page segmentation algorithms (x-y cut, smearing, whitespace analysis, constrained text-line finding, docstrum, and Voronoi) on the UW-III database is evaluated in this work using a state-of-the-art evaluation methodology. It is shown that current evaluation scores are insufficient for diagnosing specific errors in page segmentation and fail to identify some classes of serious segmentation errors altogether. Thus, a vectorial score is introduced that is sensitive to, and identifies, the most important classes of segmentation errors (over-, under-, and mis-segmentation) and what page components (lines, blocks, etc.) are affected. Unlike previous schemes, this evaluation method has a canonical representation of ground truth data and guarantees pixel-accurate evaluation results for arbitrary region shapes. Based on a detailed analysis of the errors made by different page segmentation algorithms, this thesis presents a novel combination of the line-based approach by Breuel with the area-based approach of Baird which solves the over-segmentation problem in area-based approaches. This new approach achieves a mean text-line extraction error rate of 4.4% (n=878 documents) on the UW-III dataset, which is the lowest among the analyzed algorithms. This thesis also describes a simple, fast, and accurate system for document image zone classification that results from a detailed comparative analysis of performance of widely used features in document analysis and content-based image retrieval. Using a novel combination of known algorithms, an error rate of 1.46% (n=13,811 zones) is achieved on the UW-III dataset in comparison to a state-of-the-art system that reports an error rate of 1.55% (n=24,177 zones) using more complicated techniques. In addition to layout analysis of Roman script documents, this work also presents the first high-performance layout analysis method for Urdu script. For that purpose a geometric text-line model for Urdu script is presented. It is shown that the method can accurately extract Urdu text-lines from documents of different layouts like prose books, poetry books, magazines, and newspapers. Finally, this thesis presents a novel algorithm for probabilistic layout analysis that specifically addresses the needs of large-scale digitization projects. The presented approach models known page layouts as a structural mixture model. A probabilistic matching algorithm is presented that gives multiple interpretations of input layout with associated probabilities. An algorithm based on A* search is presented for finding the most likely layout of a page, given its structural layout model. For training layout models, an EM-like algorithm is presented that is capable of learning the geometric variability of layout structures from data, without the need for a page segmentation ground-truth. Evaluation of the algorithm on documents from the MARG dataset shows an accuracy of above 95% for geometric layout analysis.


The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.


Orientation: Business rescue has become a critical part of business strategy decision making, especially during economic downturns and recessions. Past legislation has generally supported creditor-friendly regimes, and its mind-set still applies which increases the difficulty of such turnarounds. There are many questions and critical issues faced by those involved in rescue. Despite extensive theory in the literature on failure, there is a void regarding practical verifiers of the signs and causes of venture decline, as specialists are not forthcoming about what they regard as their "competitive advantage". Research purpose: This article introduces the concept and role of "verifier determinants" of early warning signs, as a tool to confirm the causes of decline in order to direct rescue strategies and, most importantly, reduce time between the first observation and the implementation of the rescue. Motivation for the study: Knowing how specialist practitioners confirm causes of business decline could assist in deciding on strategies for the rescue earlier than can be done using traditional due diligence which is time consuming. Reducing time is a crucial element of a successful rescue. Research design and approach: The researchers interviewed specialist practitioners with extensive experience in rescue and turnaround. An experimental design was used to ensure the specialists evaluated the same real cases to extract their experiences and base their decisions on. Main findings: The specialists confirmed the use of verifier determinants and identified such determinants as they personally used them to confirm causes of decline. These verifier determinants were classified into five categories; namely, management, finance, strategic, banking and operations and marketing of the ventures under investigation. The verifier determinants and their use often depend heavily on subconscious (non-factual) information based on previous experiences, rendering them "irrational" in modern management perspectives. Practical/Managerial implications: Decision makers and affected persons could benefit from the insights obtained through this study. Confirming early warning signs through verifier determinants would be beneficial for entrepreneurs who are creditors, rescue practitioners, government regulators, court officials and educators alike. Contribution/Value add: Knowing the verifier determinants could assist decision making and improve the effectiveness of rescue strategies.


Grey-box modelling deals with models which are able to integrate the following two kinds of information: qualitative (expert) knowledge and quantitative (data) knowledge, with equal importance. The doctoral thesis has two aims: the improvement of an existing neuro-fuzzy approach (LOLIMOT algorithm), and the development of a new model class with corresponding identification algorithm, based on multiresolution analysis (wavelets) and statistical methods. The identification algorithm is able to identify both hidden differential dynamics and hysteretic components. After the presentation of some improvements of the LOLIMOT algorithm based on readily normalized weight functions derived from decision trees, we investigate several mathematical theories, i.e. the theory of nonlinear dynamical systems and hysteresis, statistical decision theory, and approximation theory, in view of their applicability for grey-box modelling. These theories show us directly the way onto a new model class and its identification algorithm. The new model class will be derived from the local model networks through the following modifications: Inclusion of non-Gaussian noise sources; allowance of internal nonlinear differential dynamics represented by multi-dimensional real functions; introduction of internal hysteresis models through two-dimensional "primitive functions"; replacement respectively approximation of the weight functions and of the mentioned multi-dimensional functions by wavelets; usage of the sparseness of the matrix of the wavelet coefficients; and identification of the wavelet coefficients with Sequential Monte Carlo methods. We also apply this modelling scheme to the identification of a shock absorber.


Abstract. Several previous studies highlight pressure (or equivalently, pressure altitude) discrepancies between the radiosonde pressure sensor and that derived from a GPS flown with the radiosonde. The offsets vary during the ascent both in absolute and percent pressure differences. To investigate this problem further, a total of 731 radiosonde/ozonesonde launches from the Southern Hemisphere subtropics to northern mid-latitudes are considered, with launches between 2005 and 2013 from both longer term and campaign-based intensive stations. Five series of radiosondes from two manufacturers (International Met Systems: iMet, iMet-P, iMet-S, and Vaisala: RS80-15N and RS92-SGP) are analyzed to determine the magnitude of the pressure offset. Additionally, electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) ozonesondes from three manufacturers (Science Pump Corporation; SPC and ENSCI/Droplet Measurement Technologies; DMT) are analyzed to quantify the effects these offsets have on the calculation of ECC ozone (O3) mixing ratio profiles (O3MR) from the ozonesonde-measured partial pressure. Approximately half of all offsets are > ±0.6 hPa in the free troposphere, with nearly a third > ±1.0 hPa at 26 km, where the 1.0 hPa error represents ~ 5% of the total atmospheric pressure. Pressure offsets have negligible effects on O3MR below 20 km (96% of launches lie within ±5% O3MR error at 20 km). Ozone mixing ratio errors above 10 hPa (~ 30 km), can approach greater than ±10% (> 25% of launches that reach 30 km exceed this threshold). These errors cause disagreement between the integrated ozonesonde-only column O3 from the GPS and radiosonde pressure profile by an average of +6.5 DU. Comparisons of total column O3 between the GPS and radiosonde pressure profiles yield average differences of +1.1 DU when the O3 is integrated to burst with addition of the McPeters and Labow (2012) above-burst O3 column climatology. Total column differences are reduced to an average of −0.5 DU when the O3 profile is integrated to 10 hPa with subsequent addition of the O3 climatology above 10 hPa. The RS92 radiosondes are superior in performance compared to other radiosondes, with average 26 km errors of −0.12 hPa or +0.61% O3MR error. iMet-P radiosondes had average 26 km errors of −1.95 hPa or +8.75 % O3MR error. Based on our analysis, we suggest that ozonesondes always be coupled with a GPS-enabled radiosonde and that pressure-dependent variables, such as O3MR, be recalculated/reprocessed using the GPS-measured altitude, especially when 26 km pressure offsets exceed ±1.0 hPa/±5%.


Hermeneutic or interpretive inquiry is a living tradition of interpretation with a rich legacy of theory, philosophy, and practice. This paper is not intended to be a treatise on the right way to view and practice this tradition, but an exploration of the legacies that inform the philosophy of practice as the author has taken it up. In this explication, the author examines the ancestral, philosophical, and methodological histories that inform a current practice of hermeneutic inquiry.


Competition between visually presented stimuli is associated with longer reaction times, reduced BOLD response and reduced neural firing. Previously we observed that competition affects working memory (WM) performance (Ahmad, Nobre, Shapiro & McNab, submitted). In that study we manipulated competition during WM encoding by varying the spatial proximity between two items (Near vs. Far conditions). Participants were required to report the colour of a target item on a colour wheel. We demonstrated that the effect of competition extends to WM. Relative to the Far condition, the Near condition was associated with reduced WM precision and an increase in the number of times the colour of the un-cued item was erroneously reported. We also observed that pre-cues directing attention to one of the items failed to reduce the effects of competition on WM. Here we present an experiment in which we examined whether the effect of competition upon WM could be reduced with a different top-down manipulation. We examined whether prior knowledge of the trial type (Near vs. Far) would enable participants to reduce the effects of competition on WM. Prior knowledge was manipulated using a mixed versus blocked design. We again observed that the Far condition, relative to the Near condition, was associated with greater precision (F(1,27)= 24.12, p< .001) and a lower probability of reporting the colour of the non-target (F(1,27)= 66.13, p< .001). However, there was no interaction with prior knowledge for either precision (F(1,27)= 0.57, p=0.456) or probability of reporting the non-target (F(1,27)= 2.38, p=0.135). Together with the previous pre-cue experiment, the results indicate that it may not be possible to overcome the effects of competition on WM with top-down control. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


Complete garment knitting technology is a method of producing knitted products, generally fashion garments, ready-made directly in the knitting machine without additional operations such as cutting and sewing. This makes it possible to manufacture a knitted fashion garment with fewer processes then with conventional production methods. In the fashion business customer demand is always changing due to fashion trends, so to be able to manufacture and deliver products rapidly is important. Mass customisation is a customer co-design process of products and services that tries to meets the needs of an individual customer's demand for certain product features. In the fashion business this means that the customer can order a garment with a customised style, colour, size, and other personal preferences. The principal objective of this dissertation was to examine if and how complete garment technology can be applied to the customisation of knitted fashion products. It was pursued through several independent studies in knitting technology, mass customisation, and fashion logistics against a theoretical frame of reference in these areas. The papers in this thesis present various examples of how knitted fashion garments can be customised and integrated into fashion retailing concepts. The starting point of the research was the Knit-on-Demand research project conducted at the Swedish School of Textiles in collaboration with a knitting manufacturing and retailing company. The aim was to develop a shop concept built on the complete garment technology where a garment could be customised, produced, and delivered as quickly as possible. This initial idea failed due to the expense of investing in complete garment knitting technology, and so other avenues of research had to be found. The Knit-on-Demand project continued, using a business model similar to the complete garment concept but with the retail store and the production unit situated in different locations. The overall research question addressed in this thesis is: How can complete garment knitting technology be applied in a retail concept for customised garments? This question is then divided in two problems: What are the fashion logistics effects of combining complete garment technology and mass customisation? How does the co-design process function in the customisation of knitted fashion garments? The following is a qualitative study based on five research articles applying different research methodologies: case studies, simulations, and interviews. The empirical context is the area of mass customisation of fashion products and knitting technology, more specifically called complete garment knitting production technology. No prior studies describing mass customisation of complete garment knitting technology in combination with fashion logistics were found in the literature. The main contribution of this study is the demonstration that complete garment knitting technology can be applied in the customisation of fashion products. It also illustrates the importance of the co-design process between the company and the customer through which a knitted garment can be customised, produced, and delivered to the customer in three to five hours. The process of co-design and manufacture of a customised complete fashion product is examined, and the advantages and disadvantages associated with customisation of knitted garments are identified and described.


In recent years, innovative texts in mathematics, science, foreign languages, and other fields have achieved dramatic pedagogical gains by abandoning the traditional encyclopedic approach in favor of attempting to teach a short list of core principles in depth. Two well-respected writers and researchers, Bob Frank and Ben Bernanke, have shown that the less-is-more approach affords similar gains in introductory economics. Although recent editions of a few other texts have paid lip service to this new approach, Frank/Bernanke is by far the best thought out and best executed principles text in this mold. Avoiding excessive reliance on formal mathematical derivations, it presents concepts intuitively through examples drawn from familiar contexts. The authors introduce a well-articulated short list of core principles and reinforcing them by illustrating and applying each in numerous contexts. Students are periodically asked to apply these principles to answer related questions, exercises, and problems. The text also encourages students to become Economic Naturalists, people who employ basic economic principles to understand and explain what they observe in the world around them. An economic naturalist understands, for example, that infant safety seats are required in cars but not in airplanes because the marginal cost of space to accommodate these seats is typically zero in cars but often hundreds of dollars in airplanes. Such examples engage student interest while teaching them to see each feature of their economic landscape as the reflection of an implicit or explicit cost-benefit calculation. The Second Edition of Frank/Bernanke follows the successful First Edition with severalpedagogical improvements. Based on reviewer feedback, this edition offers (1) even more streamlined coverage of the cost-benefit approach in the introductory chapter; (2) exercises that are more closely tied to the examples; (3) expanded narrative explanations of important principles, making them more accessible to average students; and (4) expanded coverage of several key topics. The result is a revision that is motivating to students, an effective text for teaching, and an exciting first course in Economics.


Astrophysical observations at millimeter wavelengths require large (2-to-5- meter diameter) telescopes carried to altitudes above 35 km by scientific research balloons. The scientific performance is greatly enhanced if the telescope is cooled to temperatures below 10 K with no emissive windows between the telescope and the sky. Standard liquid helium bucket dewars can contain a suitable telescope for telescope diameter less than two meters. However, the mass of a dewar large enough to hold a 3-to-5-meter diameter telescope would exceed the balloon lift capacity. The solution is to separate the functions of cryogen storage and in-flight thermal isolation, utilizing the unique physical conditions at balloon altitudes. Conventional dewars are launched cold: the vacuum walls necessary for thermal isolation must also withstand the pressure gradient at sea level and are correspondingly thick and heavy. The pressure at 40 km is less than 0.3% of sea level: a dewar designed for use only at 40 km can use ultra thin walls to achieve significant reductions in mass. This innovation concerns new construction and operational techniques to produce a lightweight liquid helium bucket dewar. The dewar is intended for use on high-altitude balloon payloads. The mass is low enough to allow a large (3-to-5-meter) diameter dewar to fly at altitudes above 35 km on conventional scientific research balloons without exceeding the lift capability of the balloon. The lightweight dewar has thin (250- micron) stainless steel walls. The walls are too thin to support the pressure gradient at sea level: the dewar launches warm with the vacuum space vented continuously during ascent to eliminate any pressure gradient across the walls. A commercial 500-liter storage dewar maintains a reservoir of liquid helium within a minimal (hence low mass) volume. Once a 40-km altitude is reached, the valve venting the vacuum space of the bucket dewar is closed to seal the vacuum space. A vacuum pump then evacuates the dewar vacuum space to provide the necessary thermal isolation. Liquid helium may then be transferred from the storage dewar into the bucket dewar to cool the telescope inside the bucket dewar. By splitting the functions of helium storage and in-flight thermal isolation, the parasitic mass associated with the dewar pressure vessel is eliminated to achieve factor-of-five or better reduction in mass. The lower mass allows flight on conventional scientific research balloons, even for telescopes 3 to 5 meters in diameter.


A new study published in Biology Letters found that ship noise affects crab metabolism, with largest crabs faring worst, and found little evidence that crabs acclimatise to noise over time. The team from the Universities of Bristol and Exeter found that crabs exposed to recordings of ship noise showed an increase in metabolic rate, indicating elevated stress. In the real world this could have implications for growth and, if the metabolic cost of noise causes crabs to spend more time foraging to compensate, could also increase the risk of predation. Researcher Matt Wale from Bristol's School of Biological Sciences describes the study: "We used controlled experiments to consider how shore crabs of different sizes respond to both single and repeated exposure to playback of ship noise. Ship noise is the most common source of noise in the aquatic environment." Explains Dr Andy Radford, Reader in Behavioural Ecology at Bristol: "We found that the metabolic rate of crabs exposed to ship noise was higher than those experiencing ambient harbour noise, and that larger individuals were affected most strongly. This is the first indication that there might be different responses to noise depending on the size of an individual." If commercially important crabs and lobsters are affected by noise, these findings have implications for fisheries in busy shipping areas where large individuals may be losing out. Conversely, if reducing noise reduces metabolic costs, then quietening aquaculture facilities may lead to higher yields.


Interactive visualization of large structured and unstructured data sets is a permanent challenge for scientific visualization. Large data sets are for example created by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) finite element method (FEM), and computer aided design (CAD). For visualizing those data sets not only accelerated rasterization by means of using specialized hardware i.e. graphics cards is of interest, but also ray casting, as it is perfectly suited for scientific visualization. Ray casting does not only support many rendering modes (e.g., opaque rendering, semi transparent rendering, iso surface rendering, maximum intensity projection, x-ray, absorption emitter model, ...) for which it allows the creation of high quality images, but it also supports many primitives (e.g., not only triangles but also spheres, curved iso surfaces, NURBS, implicit functions, ...). It furthermore scales basically linear to the amount of processor cores used and - this makes it highly interesting for the visualization of large data sets - it scales for static scenes sublinear to data size. Interactive ray casting is currently not widely used within the scientifc visualization community. This is mainly based on historical reasons, as just a few years ago no applicable interactive ray casters for commodity hardware did exist. Interactive scientific visualization has only been possible by using graphics cards or specialized and/or expensive hardware. The goal of this work is to broaden the possibilies for interactive scientific visualization, by showing that interactive CPU based ray casting is today feasible on commodity hardware and that it may efficiently be used together with GPU based rasterization. In this thesis it is first shown that interactive CPU based ray casters may efficiently be integrated into already existing OpenGL frameworks. This is achieved through an OpenGL friendly interface that supports multiple threads and single instruction multiple data (SIMD) operations. For the visualization of rectilinear (and not necessarily cartesian) grids are new implicit kd-trees introduced. They have fast construction times, low memory requirements, and allow ontoday's commodity desktop machines interactive iso surface ray tracing and maximum intensity projection of large scalar fields. A new interactive SIMD ray tracing technique for large tetrahedral meshes is introduced. It is very portable and general and is therefore suited for portation upon different (future) hardware and for usage upon several applications. The thesis ends with a real life commercial application which shows that CPU-based ray casting has already reached the state where it may outperform GPU-based rasterization for scientific visualization.


While the early bird might catch the worm, it's the quick bird that lands the ladies, according to new research into the running performance of an Arctic cousin of the grouse. The study was published in the August 17, 2011, issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Scientists studying rock ptarmigan on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard discovered a large difference in the running capabilities between the sexes, with the larger males able to run more efficiently and up to 50% faster than females. The University of Manchester team suggested that faster, efficient male birds are more successful at breeding, being able to defend larger territories against rivals, indicating that physiology, and not just physical appearance, plays a role in sexual selection. ''L i t t le is known about the role physiology – the internal biological functions of living organisms – plays in sexual selection in birds and other animals,'' said Dr Jonathan Codd, who led the study in the University's Faculty of Life Sciences. ''Male and female ptarmigan exhibi t very dis t inct behaviours during the breeding season. Throughout the summer months, when there is constant daylight on Svalbard, male ptarmigan have to defend their territory from rival males 24 hours a day and are continually active. This places huge demands on their locomotor system.'' ''As a result, male ptarmigans have far superior running abilities to females and, despite their larger size, are much more efficient, expending less energy and are able to achieve aerial running – where both feet are off the ground at the same time–which females cannot.'' The Manchester team says their findings are important for two reasons. Some bird species, like some other animal species, exhibit obvious physical differences between the sexes. For instance, males, as well as females, can be many times larger than the opposite gender. Despite these differences, scientists have rarely looked at their physiological consequences. The gender difference among ptarmigans is relatively subtle; males are slightly larger than females and, as with many bird species, their plumage differs. What this research shows is that even animals with physically similar sexes can show major physiological dif ferences, and the researchers suggest that gender inequality should play a more significant role in zoological studies of the animal kingdom in the future. Secondly, the physical appearance of male and female birds–and other animals – is well documented as playing a role in sexual selection. Male birds are often more colourful than their drab female counterparts and it is known that this plays an important role in the success of males finding mates. This study shows that physiological attributes may also play a role in the breeding success of male birds, with females choosing mates that are faster and able to defend larger territories for longer. ''This research demonstrates that, as well as physical appearance, there may be physiological determinants at play in the sexual selection process, as females appear to be choosing males who successfully defend territories, which is dependent upon their running ability,'' said co-author Dr Robert Nudds. ''We now plan to look at these differences between the sexes in more detail to better understand what is taking place in the mating behaviour of birds.'' The article, ''Evidence for energy savings from aerial running in the Svalbard rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta hyperborea)'', by R.L. Nudds, L.P. Folkow, J.J. Lees, P.G. Tickle, K.-A. Stokkan, and J.R. Codd is published in Proc. R. Soc. B September 7, 2011 278:2654–2661; published online before print February 2, 2011, doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2742.


Evaluation of customer satisfaction differs from one study to another. Studies have been differing with their focus and coverage. Most of studies focused on evaluating factors influencing customer satisfaction or associate customer satisfaction and quality of services. This paper used logistic regression to develop customer satisfaction model for Precision Air. Five dimensions or variables have been considered: on time performance; aircraft safety; schedule integrity; on board services; and customer service. Data used in this paper were collected from four major regions with many flights. These include Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Arusha and Kilimanjaro. A sample size of 272 passengers was selected. Convenience sampling was used to select the respondents. Primary data were collected in the field through questionnaire. Findings showed that out of the five independent variables only one variable is negatively related with satisfaction of airline passengers (customer services). In contrast, on time performance was satisfactory variable by most of passengers compared to the rest of explanatory variables. Airline safety, schedule integrity and on board services are positively related with passengers satisfaction. Relationship between customer services and satisfaction are negatively related which implies that, there is a need of finding strategies to improve customer services to customers. The paper recommends that the airline should maintain and improve on time performance as this is crucial variable for passenger's satisfaction but other variables need more improvement. Keywords: Logistic, Logit, Dimension, On Time Performance, Aircraft Safety, Schedule Integrity, On Board Services, Customer Service


The author's intent in this paper is to discuss new methods for conducting research on and connecting the works of chaos and complexity theorists with interpretive, hermeneutical, and phenomenological theorists as a multiple-method mode of inquiry. He proposes a methodological design that incorporates a recursive process of phenomenological reduction to find connectedness and generate shared meanings among the research performed by leadership theorists. He also provides an emergent metanarrative method for presenting research results, using a complexity-based, interpretive framework.


A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering. Johannesburg, 1996.


During the past decade, federal courts have adjudicated proliferating challenges to novel policy responses to terrorism. Judges often resolve the individual rights and statutory interpretation questions implicated in those controversies by deploying presumptions or rules of thumb derived from the Constitution's Separation of Powers. These "structural constitutional presumptions" serve as heuristics to facilitate adjudication and to enable judicial bypass of difficult legal, policy, and factual questions. This Article challenges the use of such structural presumptions in counterterrorism cases. Drawing upon recent empirical research in political science, political psychology, and security studies, it demonstrates that abstract eighteenth-century Separation of Powers ideals do not translate into robust and empirically defensible generalizations for twenty-first-century security decisions. Structural constitutionalism thus cannot serve as a foundation for heuristics or shortcuts in the judicial consideration of new security measures. To the extent courts properly pass on the legality of counterterrorism policies, judges should rely instead on the ordinary tools of doctrine, statutory construction, and fact finding. The ensuing jurisprudence of counterterrorism would look much more like ordinary public law.


The University of Missouri-Rolla will identify materials that will permit the safe, reliable and economical operation of combined cycle gasifiers by the pulp and paper industry. The primary emphasis of this project will be to resolve the material problems encountered during the operation of low-pressure high-temperature (LPHT) and low-pressure low-temperature (LPLT) gasifiers while simultaneously understanding the materials barriers to the successful demonstration of high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) black liquor gasifiers. This study will define the chemical, thermal and physical conditions in current and proposed gasifier designs and then modify existing materials and develop new materials to successfully meet the formidable material challenges. Resolving the material challenges of black liquor gasification combined cycle technology will provide energy, environmental, and economic benefits that include higher thermal efficiencies, up to three times greater electrical output per unit of fuel, and lower emissions. In the near term, adoption of this technology will allow the pulp and paper industry greater capital effectiveness and flexibility, as gasifiers are added to increase mill capacity. In the long term, combined-cycle gasification will lessen the industry's environmental impact while increasing its potential for energy production, allowing the production of all the mill's heat and power needs along with surplus electricity being returned to the grid. An added benefit will be the potential elimination of the possibility of smelt-water explosions, which constitute an important safety concern wherever conventional Tomlinson recovery boilers are operated. Developing cost-effective materials with improved performance in gasifier environments may be the best answer to the material challenges presented by black liquor gasification. Refractory materials may be selected/developed that either react with the gasifier environment to form protective surfaces in-situ; are functionally-graded to give the best combination of thermal, mechanical, and physical properties and chemical stability; or are relatively inexpensive, reliable repair materials. This report covers Task 1.3, Simulative corrosion of candidate materials developed by refractory producers and in the laboratory based on the results of Task 1.1 and Task 1.2. Refractories provided by in-kind sponsors were tested by cup testing, density/porosity determinations, chemical analysis and microscopy. The best performing materials in the cup testing were fused cast materials. However, 2 castables appear to outperforming any of the previously tested materials and may perform better than the fused cast materials in operation. The basis of the high performance of these materials is the low open porosity and permeability to black liquor smelt.


"Fearless necessary reporting . . . Klein exposes the 'battle of utopias' that is currently unfolding in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico-a battle that pits a pitilessly neoliberal plutocratic `paradise' against a community movement with Puerto Rican sovereignty at its center." -Junot Diaz "We are in a fight for our lives. Hurricanes Irma and Maria unmasked the colonialism we face in Puerto Rico, and the inequality it fosters, creating a fierce humanitarian crisis. Now we must find a path forward to equality and sustainability, a path driven by communities, not investors. And this book explains, with careful and unbiased reporting, only the efforts of our community activists can answer the paramount question: What type of society do we want to become and who is Puerto Rico for?" -Yulin Cruz, Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich "Puertopians" are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island. In this vital and startling investigation, bestselling author and activist Naomi Klein uncovers how the forces of shock politics and disaster capitalism seek to undermine the nation's radical, resilient vision for a "just recovery." All royalties from the sale of this book in English and Spanish go directly to JunteGente, a gathering of Puerto Rican organizations resisting disaster capitalism and advancing a fair and healthy recovery for their island. For more information, visit http://juntegente.org/. Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist, documentary filmmaker and author of the international bestsellers No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, and No Is Not Enough.


Atmospheric composition is governed by the interplay of emissions, chemistry, deposition, and transport. Substantial questions surround each of these processes, especially in forested environments with strong biogenic emissions. Utilizing aircraft observations acquired over a forest in the southeast U.S., we calculate eddy covariance fluxes for a suite of reactive gases and apply the synergistic information derived from this analysis to quantify emission and deposition fluxes, oxidant concentrations, aerosol uptake coefficients, and other key parameters. Evaluation of results against state‐of‐the‐science models and parameterizations provides insight into our current understanding of this system and frames future observational priorities. As a near‐direct measurement of fundamental process rates, airborne fluxes offer a new tool to improve biogenic and anthropogenic emissions inventories, photochemical mechanisms, and deposition parameterizations.


Rutgers-Newark Law School was the most innovative, exciting, and effective law school in the 1960's and 1970's. Civil rights and liberties, 'poverty law', women's rights, employment discrimination, open housing, and public education were the foci of legal education at Rutgers - Which is the State University of New Jersey. In those two decades Rutgers-Newark - which we affectionately called People's Electric - developed a model of engaged legal education that was and is unique. No other law school of its era - and perhaps since - to my knowledge has been so thoroughly characterized by a broad progressive social agenda. Affirmative action, racial justice, women's rights, public education, open housing, and civil liberties were the focus of the frequently landmark litigation which originated or was substantially aided by students and faculty from Rutgers Newark.The unique activism of Rutgers-Newark - a small public law school in an afflicted city - had a huge impact in the development of the law. The activist faculty and the clinics engaged law students deeply in innovative and intense litigation regarding the most important and controversial issues of the day. Students at People's Electric learned first-hand the law-making function of the courts. They often helped make that law. No other law school in the country can begin to match its record in the 1970's. This was accomplished without endowment, without a base of high ranking or wealthy alumni, without a tradition of such activism at the school, a public law school whose tuition was nominal. Students learned from extraordinarily talented lawyers who they assisted. Their successes showed students how to succeed by really trying. We left Rutgers confident that we knew how to and could change the law, confident that we could make a difference.Graduates continued the mission in many ways. One outstanding example is the cadre who joined the Office of the Public Defender - a statewide agency - which led or participated in the defense of over two hundred capital trials from 1982-2007 when the death penalty was repealed and replaced with life without parole. There were no executions.


The objective of this work is to propose effective and reliable higher order time integration schemes for electromagnetic field-circuit coupled problems. According to the classification criteria listed above, a strong coupling is implemented, i.e., field and circuit unknowns are treated together. The numerical integration process is implemented in a monolithic way. The structure of the work is as follows: in the next chapter relevant fundamental concepts are discussed. First of all, the foundations of the electromagnetism are in the focus of consideration. Quasistatic field regimes and the conditions required for the appropriate field classification are elaborated. Secondly, a brief introduction to the applied method for spatial discretization, the Finite Integration Technique, is presented. Main principles and ideas of the method are listed. Finally, some elements of linear circuit analysis are discussed. These three sections of the second chapter can be considered as the foundation blocks for the field-circuit coupled analysis. In the first part of the third chapter, the external circuit description and the network topology are considered. After that the basic types of the conductor models are discussed. Finally, a transient electromagnetic field-circuit coupeld formulation is derived. The fourth chapter starts with a numerical analysis of the derived formulation and considers the applications of standard time integration schemes to this formulation using test examples. The subject of the final part of this chapter is the higher order integration methods, namely Runge-Kutta methods, and their usage for the numerical integration of field-circuit transient formulations. Adaptive time integration schemes are then considered and their application to the coupled formulation is illustrated by a test problem. In the first part of the fifth chapter, an efficient numerical technique for adaptive integration of problems with sinusoidal dynamics is developed. An envelope integration of electromagnetic problems based on the separation of slow and fast varying dynamics is presented in the second part of this chapter. All proposed numerical technique are illustrated with appropiate numerical examples. The subsequent sixth chapter covers important aspects of the numerical integration of field-circuit coupled problems with switching elements. A particular approach allowing to use standard time integration schemes for DAE systems with discontinuities appearing in the system due to the presence of switching elements is given. Finally, two numerical examples are presented: a step-up converter with a conduction coil and a three-phase transformer coupled to a power electronic network. The work is concluded with a short summary.


This article presents the results of a 2007 policy-views survey of a random sample of members of the American Economic Association. The new survey contains questions about many policy issues not treated by previous surveys. The questions treat such issues as trade restrictions, social insurance for those put out of work by international competition, genetically modified foods, curbside recycling, health insurance (several questions), medical malpractice, barriers to entering the medical profession, organ donations, unhealthy foods, mortgage deductions, taxing internet sales, Wal-Mart, casinos, ethanol subsidies, and inflation targeting. Additional questions treat the relationship between economic growth, happiness, and well-being, whether the typical American consumes too much, works too much, saves too little, and lives in houses that are too large. It finds disagreement on many issues but evidence of considerable agreement on others, including a consensus that the benefits of Wal-Mart stores typically outweigh their costs, that Americans save too little and that economic growth in developed countries increases well being. It finds a consensus in favor of eliminating trade barriers, eliminating or cutting ethanol subsidies, allowing payments to organ donors, and against requiring employers to provide health insurance. The article opens with reflections about why we care whether economists reach a conclusion, and methods for determining whether a consensus has been reached.


Today, DIY -- do-it-yourself -- describes more than self-taught carpentry. Social media enables DIY citizens to organize and protest in new ways (as in Egypt's "Twitter revolution" of 2011) and to repurpose corporate content (or create new user-generated content) in order to offer political counternarratives. This book examines the usefulness and limits of DIY citizenship, exploring the diverse forms of political participation and "critical making" that have emerged in recent years. The authors and artists in this collection describe DIY citizens whose activities range from activist fan blogging and video production to knitting and the creation of community gardens. Contributors examine DIY activism, describing new modes of civic engagement that include Harry Potter fan activism and the activities of the Yes Men. They consider DIY making in learning, culture, hacking, and the arts, including do-it-yourself media production and collaborative documentary making. They discuss DIY and design and how citizens can unlock the black box of technological infrastructures to engage and innovate open and participatory critical making. And they explore DIY and media, describing activists' efforts to remake and reimagine media and the public sphere. As these chapters make clear, DIY is characterized by its emphasis on "doing" and making rather than passive consumption. DIY citizens assume active roles as interventionists, makers, hackers, modders, and tinkerers, in pursuit of new forms of engaged and participatory democracy.ContributorsMike Ananny, Chris Atton, Alexandra Bal, Megan Boler, Catherine Burwell, Red Chidgey, Andrew Clement, Negin Dahya, Suzanne de Castell, Carl DiSalvo, Kevin Driscoll, Christina Dunbar-Hester, Joseph Ferenbok, Stephanie Fisher, Miki Foster, Stephen Gilbert, Henry Jenkins, Jennifer Jenson, Yasmin B. Kafai, Ann Light, Steve Mann, Joel McKim, Brenda McPhail, Owen McSwiney, Joshua McVeigh-Schultz, Graham Meikle, Emily Rose Michaud, Kate Milberry, Michael Murphy, Jason Nolan, Kate Orton-Johnson, Kylie A. Peppler, David J. Phillips, Karen Pollock, Matt Ratto, Ian Reilly, Rosa Reitsamer, Mandy Rose, Daniela K. Rosner, Yukari Seko, Karen Louise Smith, Lana Swartz, Alex Tichine, Jennette Weber, Elke Zobl


The Listening Room at CCRMA, Stanford University is a 3D studio with 16 speakers (4 hang from the ceiling, 8 surround the listening area at ear level and 4 more are below an acoustically transparent grid floor). We found that a standard commercial digital mixer was not the best interface for using the studio. Digital mixers are complex, have an opaque interface and they are usually geared towards mixdown to stereo instead of efficiently routing many input and output channels. We have replaced the mixer with a dedicated computer running Openmixer, an open source custom program designed to mix and route many input channels into the multichannel speaker array available in the Listening Room. This paper will describe Openmixer, its motivations, current status and future planned development.


◾ ABSTRACT: In the poem "ca'line's prayer," Lucille Clift on marks the progression of Black generational memory through the metaphor of drought. Th e poem's 1969 publication coincided with one of the worst droughts in modern history. Across the West African Sahel late rains and the onset of famine led to widespread death and displacement. Starting from this conjunctural moment in the late 1960s and using Clift on's provocation about the "Blackness" of drought, this article contemplates representations of arid environments in African and Afro-diasporic texts. I consider various imaginings of arid spaces, presented simultaneously as wasteland and homeland. Surveying critical scholarship on the Sahelian drought, I interrogate the contested meanings of Black life and death in deserts. I also consider the contemporary resonances of these themes, engaging African eco-critical and Afro/Africanfuturists texts. I show how these por-trayals of actual and imagined deserts reveal alternate modes of encounter forged through Black/African ecological thought. ,


The new generation of wireless communication networks intends to support data rate of Gbit/s. One solution to make it possible is to move upwards in frequency range to employ the unused spectrum in mm-wave frequencies. This brings new challenges in the design of hardware for the communication networks, namely high free space path loss and expensive manufacturing. In this thesis, transformation optics and glide symmetry are employed to address these new challenges for the design of high frequency microwave components and lens antennas. Transformation optics provides a systematic tool to manipulate electromagnetic waves in a desired way. In this thesis, this tool has been used to improve the radiation properties of conventional homogeneous three-dimensional lenses and compress the size of twodimensional graded-index lenses. Glide symmetry is a subset of higher-order symmetries and is described by a translation followed by a reflection with respect to a defined plane. Periodic structures possessing glide symmetry exhibit interesting properties. In this thesis, four of these properties are explored and possible applications are discussed. First, it is demonstrated that the first mode in a glide-symmetric periodic structures is significantly less dispersive than the corresponding conventional non-glide structure. This property was employed to design fully metallic wideband metasurface-based antennas. The losses in this type of antennas are only ohmic which make them suitable for high frequency applications. Second, it is shown that anisotropic glidesymmetric periodic structures can provide higher levels of anisotropy compared to their conventional periodic counterparts. This property is employed to design compressed two-dimensional lenses. Third, it is demonstrated that glide symmetry can be used to match the impedance of two vastly different dielectric media in a parallel plate waveguide configuration by enhancing the magnetic properties. This property was used to match the profile of two-dimensional homogeneous lenses. Fourth it is shown that glide-symmetric holey metallic structures achieve a significantly wider stop-band compared to conventional non-glide periodic structures. This property is exploited to design cost-effective waveguiding structures and microwave components at mm-wave frequencies. Furthermore, using this property, a flange design that provides contact-less measurement at mm-wave frequencies is presented.


Whether you work in a home office or abroad, business success in our ever more globalized and virtual world requires the skills to navigate through cultural differences and decode cultures foreign to your own. Renowned expert Erin Meyer is your guide through this subtle, sometimes treacherous terrain where people from starkly different backgrounds are expected to work harmoniously together. When you have Americans who precede anything negative with three nice comments; French, Dutch, Israelis, and Germans who get straight to the point ("your presentation was simply awful"); Latin Americans and Asians who are steeped in hierarchy; Scandinavians who think the best boss is just one of the crowd--the result can be, well, sometimes interesting, even funny, but often disastrous. Even with English as a global language, it's easy to fall into cultural traps that endanger careers and sink deals when, say, a Brazilian manager tries to fathom how his Chinese suppliers really get things done, or an American team leader tries to get a handle on the intra-team dynamics between his Russian and Indian team members. In The Culture Map, Erin Meyer provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business. She combines a smart analytical framework with practical, actionable advice for succeeding in a global world.


Linking the time when karate was a strictly Okinawan art of self-defense shrouded in the deepest secrecy and the present day, when it has become a martial art practiced throughout the world, is Gichin Funakoshi, the "Father of Karate-do." Out of modesty, he was reluctant to write this autobiography and did not do so until he was nearly ninety years of age. Trained in the Confucian classics, he was a schoolteacher early in life, but after decades of study under the foremost masters, he gave up his livelihood to devote the rest of his life to the propagation of the Way of Karate. Under his guidance, techniques and nomenclature were refined and modernized, the spiritual essence was brought to the fore, and karate evolved into a true martial art. Various forms of empty-hand techniques have been practiced in Okinawa for centuries, but due to the lack of historical records, fancy often masquerades as fact. In telling of his own famous teachers-and not only of their mastery of technique but of the way they acted in critical situations-the author reveals what true karate is. The stories he tells about himself are no less instructive: his determination to continue the art, after having started it to improve his health; his perseverance in the face of difficulties, even of poverty; his strict observance of the way of life of the samurai; and the spirit of self-reliance that he carried into an old age kept healthy by his practice of Karate-do.


The U.S. Supreme Court's pathbreaking decision in Padilla v. Kentucky seems reasonably simple and exact: Sixth Amendment norms were applied to noncitizen Jose Padilla's claim that his criminal defense counsel was ineffective due to allegedly incorrect advice concerning the risk of deportation. This was a very significant move with virtues of both logic and justice. It will likely prevent many avoidable and wrongful deportations. It may also help some deportees who have been wrongly or unjustly deported in the past. However, the apparent exactness of the case, as a Sixth Amendment decision, raises fundamental constitutional questions. For more than a century, courts have formalistically distinguished between two consequences of criminal convictions: the punishment meted out in criminal courts and deportation. The former is, of course, a criminal sanction, while the latter is said to be civil or, at most, quasi-criminal. This Article suggests that Padilla has implicitly challenged this model with potentially powerful consequences. Padilla cannot be squared with the historical, formalist relegation of deportation to the realm of civil collateral consequences in which there is no clear constitutional right to counsel. This Article thus seeks to elucidate how the Padilla opinion might model a viable constitutional reconciliation between the Court's historical formalism and its current realism. This model bridges Fifth and Sixth Amendment jurisprudence and limns a new constitutional norm for deportation that we might call the Fifth-and-a-Half Amendment (Amendment V½). It embodies both the flexible due process guarantees of the Fifth Amendment and – at least for certain types of deportation – the more specific protections of the Sixth Amendment. Amendment V½ is certainly not a perfect solution. However, so long as deportation is formalistically understood as civil and nonpunitive while, in reality, being directly tied to the criminal justice system and highly punitive in effect, it is a legitimate and necessary construct.


The use of multi-user architectures for collaborative design has been explored on several types of engineering software. The client-server architecture of STAR-CCM+ allows collaborative simulation set-up for Computational Fluid Dynamics models. Simulation operations are completed by the server and commands are sent to the server by the client. By using the client-server architecture, users can partition the workload of the simulation set-up and decrease the time required to prepare a simulation prior to solving. Five models are tested to measure the time savings that can be achieved through a collaborative set-up and to explore the functionality of STAR-CCM+ capabilities used in collaboration. These include geometry surface preparation, meshing, and defining physics conditions, as well as fluid flow and conjugate heat transfer solutions. Results from multiple tests on each of these models show that not all operations are compatible with others that may be executed at the same time, but that planning and communication between users allows for a complete set-up and analysis of each simulation. Results show a time reduction of up to 35% in user set-up time with two users working in