Optimistic concurrency relies on speculative execution, read-write conflict detection, and checkpointrollback techniques to provide a programming model that replaces locks with the abstraction of atomic, isolated execution of critical sections. Previous research has shown that on chip multi-processors, a class of workloads featuring irregular parallelism and rare read-write conflicts can reap significant benefits from the TM model because complex synchronization code can be avoided without the scalability sacrifice that is the hallmark of coarse-grain synchronization. In a distributed in a distributed setting, however, with current technological parameters, this class of workloads becomes vanishingly small. Moreover, this class does not include the workloads currently used to evaluate TM and distributed TM systems. We construct a model that predicts performance for a distributed software transactional memory (DSTM) executing a given workload. The model assumes optimal pipelining, batching, and locality, and predicts performance by finding the critical path induced by read-write sharing. We validate the model against real executions from TM benchmarks in the literature, finding that it tracks observed scalability to within 17%. We apply this model to popular TM benchmark applications, observing that none scale in a distributed context because transactions are too short in relation to network latencies. Traditional latency hiding techniques such as prefetching, batching, and speculation are do not help, and in fact, sometimes make performance worse. We conclude current TM benchmarks are not appropriate workloads for a distributed system using optimistic concurrency.


Precision viticulture is a specialization of precision agriculture techniques applied to viticulture. Precision agriculture is the use of information system technologies applied to agricultural production. Some of the applicable technologies are; Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), spectroscopy analysis of Near-Infrared (NIR), Geographic Information Systems (GIS). These systems provide means of observation, evaluation and control of agricultural activities. The farmers demand assistant systems to perform actions for saving time and avoiding risks. There are studies of maps crops and mesh-sampling techniques to predict the harvest volume in a vineyard with a certain varieties of grapes. The prediction is based on a previous study of crops over a period of three to four years. Along these three or four years a large volume of samples is taken to study several parameters. In this application area is where the wireless sensor networks technologies would have high incidence. In this context we intend to analyse, at first place, the specific characteristics of the operational environment of a vineyard. Second, we will analyse the most appropriate architecture for a sensor network in this environment. Application of wireless sensor networks technology can take many forms depending of environment, and implementation objectives. In this paper we discuss about the best procedure for deployment and the optimal topology of a wireless sensor network for viticulture.


The legislative decision to amend a statute and reduce a sentence but not to apply it retroactively to pending prosecutions or to finalized convictions is in accord with the principles of retroactivity, but contrary to legitimate goals of punishment, i.e. deterrence and retributivism. Genarlow Wilson, convicted at seventeen of aggravated child molestation, a felony, for consensual oral sex with a fifteen-year old classmate, was sentenced to a mandatory minimum of ten years. While his appeal was pending, the Georgia Legislature reclassified the conduct as a misdemeanor and reduced the sentence to a maximum of one year but decided not to apply the changes retroactively to him. I use the Genarlow Wilson case as a backdrop to examine the denial of the retroactive application of ameliorative sentencing changes that is manifested through the use of a legislative device known as the express saving clause or a general saving statute. Currently, in the majority, ameliorative sentencing changes are applied retroactively provided there is a clear expression of legislative intent. Dissatisfied with this approach, a minority of jurisdictions engage in retroactive amelioration routinely either judicially or legislatively. While the courts in these jurisdictions apply ameliorative changes retroactively despite the existence of a general saving statute in contravention of the rules of statutory construction thus bordering on what some may label as judicial activism, the legislatures have created an ameliorative amendment exception to the general saving statute. Each applies ameliorative sentencing changes retroactively but restricts the application of such changes to circumstances in which there is neither an express saving clause nor has final judgment been determined. In my proposed retroactive amelioration statute, I advocate for ameliorative sentencing changes to be applied to pre-final judgment defendants adopting the current minority legislative practice and to those with finalized convictions through an administrative sentence readjustment process.


The functional value of oyster reefs is recognized in many estuarine systems, with increasing interest in oyster reef restoration for ecological function rather than for fishery production. Reefs provide structure and refuge for juvenile fish and crustaceans, and may be a locus for predator foraging. However, reef morphology influences the relative value of refuge and forage functions, and reef utilization by benthic, epibenthic, and nektonic organisms. Reef fragmentation will increase the edge to interior ratio, and may enhance use by organisms that favor edge regions, or decrease use by species requiring more interior habitat. The influence of fragmentation was examined using created intertidal oyster reefs and natural reef patches in southeastern North Carolina. Created reef treatments included a uniform circular reef, a small fragmented reef, a large fragmented reef, and reference natural reef and mudflat areas. In addition, uniform and fragmented patch reefs in two nearby tidal creeks were also sampled. All treatments were sampled immediately after construction in June 2002, and then quarterly over two years, targeting infauna, epifauna, and nekton. Effects of fragmentation on infuana were variable, with a combination of positive and negative species-specific responses. However, preferential use of large fragmented reefs over small fragmented reefs was observed for Lagodon rhomboides, Panopeus herbstii, and Geukensia demissa, suggesting that the small fragmented reefs were most likely below the patch size threshold at which edge effects become beneficial. Implications are that oyster reef fragmentation may be an important factor for restoration managers to consider when designing reefs in which increased habitat utilization is a primary goal. Although a degree of fragmentation may be beneficial for some species, once fragmentation leads to a loss of reef area below critical thresholds, degradation effects on habitat utilization could be great.


Literary translators are often too shy to discuss their own practice. As the penury of translators' prefaces would attest, they have assimilated the fidelity imperative only too well and, even though they may be masters at transforming the literal into the literary, they prefer to remain invisible behind their author as if only the latter were real and they merely fiction(al) workers. Such doesn't appear to be the case for two translators of Tres Tristes Tigres by the Cuban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante: the first, Albert Bensoussan, working in French and the author of Confessions d'un traitre (PU de Rennes, 1995); the second, Suzanne Jill Levine, working in English and the author of The Subversive Scribe (Graywolf Press, 1991). While it is undeniable that their respective collaboration with authors of the calibre of Cabrera Infante must have played a large part in their desire to write of what must have been an unforgettable experience, this paper will focus on different questions in order to gain insight into the theorization by translators of their own practice: Why and how do both Bensoussan and Levine produce prize-winning translations of famously difficult and considered "untranslatable" works? Why, in spite of their success and ability to push translational creativity to its limits, are they ultimately incapable of dispelling a sense of betrayal? Rather than providing definitive answers, exploring these questions leads to reflect on possibly constant factors in literary translation and on teaching or evaluating translations as well as training translators.


Introduction. Part I: Annuities: A Blend of Insurance and Investment. Chapter 1: Making Sense of Annuities. Chapter 2: Using Annuities to Meet Retirement Challenges. Chapter 3: Dissecting an Annuity. Chapter 4: Weighing the Pros and Cons of Annuities. Chapter 5: Deciding Whether an Annuity Is Right for You. Part II: Identifying the Main Types of Annuities. Chapter 6: Saving with Fixed Annuities. Chapter 7: Experimenting with Index Annuities. Chapter 8: Meeting the New Generationof Variable Annuities (VAs). Chapter 9: Financing Your Retirement with an Income Annuity. Chapter 10: Aging Gracefully with an ALDA. Part III: Making the Most of Your Annuity. Chapter 11: Structuring Your Annuity Correctly. Chapter 12: Optimizing Your Variable Annuity (VA) Investments. Chapter 13: Accessing, Escaping from, or Converting Your Annuity. Chapter 14: The Taxing Side of Annuities. Part IV: Navigating the Annuity Superstore. Chapter 15: Getting Creative with Annuities. Chapter 16: Going to Meet the (Sales) Representative. Chapter 17: Avoiding Annuity Pitfalls. Part V: The Part of Tens. Chapter 18: Ten Essential Annuity Expressions. Chapter 19: Ten Questions to Ask Before You Sign a Contract. Chapter 20: Ten Factors that Determine Longevity. Chapter 21: Ten Web Sources for More Annuity Information. Appendix A: Key Research Sources. Appendix B: Protection from Insurer Default. Appendix C: General Rule for Pensions and Annuities. Glossary. Index.


Lowry, L. Son. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2012. Print. Fourteen year-old Claire is a Birthmother. It is her role in the Community to grow and deliver a child, never having the opportunity to know anything about her baby. But when something goes wrong at her first delivery, Claire is released from Birthmother duty and is given a new life path. But in all the confusion, she is mistakenly given information that she is not supposed to have: her "product" is a baby boy. She has a son. Claire tries to settle into her new life, but something inside her has changed. She feels different. She feels. She longs for the baby she was not allowed to know.  And when she discovers that her child is no longer living in the Community, she sacrifices everything to find him, to be with him, and to love him. Son is the concluding novel in The Giver quartet. It starts off in the same Community in which The Giver is set, and follows Claire in her journey to find her son. Along the way, she encounters different communities from her own, full of good and caring people, people who feel, who help her on her journey. But just as she gets close to her final destination, she has to make a choice that will alter her course, and may cause her to lose what she wants most. With Son, Lowry answers what fans of The Giver have been asking for years - what happened to Jonas and the baby? Son brings in characters, settings and themes from the second and third sequels ( Gathering Blue and Messenger ), but this is the only other novel to revolve around characters from Jonas' community. The character and plot development in Son is strong enough to have it be a standalone novel; however, the best reading experience will come from having read the previous novels, or at minimum, The Giver. However, Son touches on themes brought in from Messenger and Gathering Blue that are more abstract and symbolic than those found in the Giver, so the reader must be prepared for some differences. This novel is a must-read for fans of The Giver and its sequels. Lowry draws you into the characters and their story and has the reader rooting for the best possible outcome. The various themes in Son : love, grief, and good versus evil intertwine to create a riveting novel that is difficult to put down. Son is rich in literary devices and descriptive language; because of this, it would be a good contender as both a read-aloud and as a novel study.  In addition to this, its popular dystopian theme would be attractive to reluctant readers. Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Joanna Noakes Joanna Noakes is a grade 4/5 French Immersion teacher in Surrey, B.C. She has always had an interest in reading and books, and hopes to move into a library position in the near future. She is enthused by the prospect of enticing a reluctant reader with a new book, and plans to continue expanding her own reading repertoire to assist her with that task.


Published since 1959, Advances in Applied Microbiology continues to be one of the most widely read and authoritative review sources in Microbiology. The series contains comprehensive reviews of the most current research in applied microbiology. Recent areas covered include bacterial diversity in the human gut, protozoan grazing of freshwater biofilms, metals in yeast fermentation processes and the interpretation of host-pathogen dialogue through microarrays. Eclectic volumes are supplemented by thematic volumes on various topics including Archaea and "Sick Building Syndrome . Impact factor for 2006: 1.96.


Browsers are crucial to make software models accessible. Problem domains often require multiple views to access, interpret and edit the underlying elements. However, browsers are expensive to create and burdensome to maintain. Glamour is a framework dedicated to building browsers. It uses a components and connectors architecture and it comes with an embedded domain specific language that allows the user to build browsers quickly. It accommodates any kind of domain models via on-the-fly transformations and it enforces a strict and explicit separation between the presentation of the data and the navigation flow between different entities. Glamour is platform independent and can be used with various GUI frameworks such as Morphic or Widgetry as backend. For details, we refer the reader to the Masters thesis of the first author [Bun09].


Service-Oriented Computing (SOC) promises a world of cooperating services loosely connected, creating dynamic business processes and agile applications that span organizations and platforms. As a computing paradigm, it utilizes services as fundamental elements to support rapid, low-cost development of distributed applications in heterogeneous environments. Realizing the SOC promise requires the design of Service-Oriented Architectures (SOAs) that enable the development of simpler and cheaper distributed applications. In this collection, researchers from academia and industry report on recent advances in the field, exploring approaches, technology, and research issues related to developing SOAs.SOA enables service discovery, integration, and use, allowing application developers to overcome many distributed enterprise computing challenges. The contributors to this volume treat topics related to SOA and such proposed enhancements to it as Event Drive Architecture (EDA) and extended SOA (xSOA) as well as engineering aspects of SOA-based applications. In particular, the chapters discuss modeling of SOA-based applications, SOA architecture design, business process management, transactional integrity, quality of service (QoS) and service agreements, service requirements engineering, reuse, and adaptation.Contributors: L. Bahler, Boualem Benatallah, Christoph Bussler, F. Caruso, Fabio Casati, C. Chung, Emilia Cimpian, B. Falchuk, Dimitrios Georgakopoulos, Jaap Gordijn, Paul Grefen, Jonas Grundler, Woralak Kongdenfha, Yutu Liu, Mark Little, Heiko Ludwig, J. Micallef, Thomas Mikalsen, Adrian Mocan, Anne H. H. Ngu, Bart Orriens, Savas Parastatidis, Michael Papazoglou, Barbara Pernici, Pierluigi Plebani, Isabelle Rouvellou, Quan Z. Sheng, Halvard Skogsrud, Stefan Tai, Farouk Toumani, Pascal van Eck, Jim Webber, Roel Wieringa, Jian Yang, Liangzhao Zeng, Olaf Zimmermann.Cooperative Information Systems series


Photograph of the front and side of the Kolstad Jewelry store, located at 100 W. Oak in Palestine, Texas, taken from the corner of Oak and Sycamore streets. It is a two-story brick building with decorative architectural elements around the upper-story windows and roofline. On the first floor, the walls around the store are tiled and there is a striped awning over the sidewalk with the text "Texas' Oldest Store" above the entrance. Signs above the awning say "Thomas C. Smith, Proprietor," "Kolstad," and "George Handson: Jeweler, Calligrapher, Clock Repair" on the front of the store and "Kolstad [...] Texas' Oldest Store" on the side. A part of an adjacent building is visible on the far right.


We have developed a sales-support system for door-to-door sales of cosmetics based on a system called Skin-Expert, a skin-image grading service that includes analysis and diagnosis. Skin-Expert analyzes a customer's current skin quality from a picture of the skin. Several parameters are extracted by image processing, and the skin grading is done by rules generated by data mining from a baseline of grades given by human skin-care experts. Communication with the Skin-Expert is through a cellular telephone with a camera, using e-mail software and a Web browser. Salespeople photograph the customer's skin using the camera in a standard cellular telephone and then send an e-mail message that includes the picture as an attachment to our analysis system. Other parameters associated with the customer (for example, age and gender) are included in the body of the message. The picture is analyzed by our skin-grading system, and the results are made available as a page in HTML format on a customer-accessible Web site. An e-mail is sent when the results are available, usually within minutes. Salespeople check the results by using a Web browser on their cellular telephones. The output not only provides a grading result but also gives recommendations for the care and cosmetics that are most suitable for the customer. Our system integrates cellular communication, Web technology, computer analysis, data mining, and an expert system. Though salespeople use only a cellular telephone with very little computing power as the front end, they can take advantage of intelligent services such as computer grading and data mining. The salespeople do not need to think about what is running in the background, and there is no requirement that end users have any special hardware.


More and more companies are coming to understand the competitive advantage offered by outstanding design. With this, you can create products, services, and experiences that truly matter to your customers' lives and thereby drive powerful, sustainable improvements in business performance. But delivering great designs is not easy. Many companies accomplish it once, or twice; few do it consistently. The secret: building a truly design-driven business, in which design is central to everything you do. Do You Matter? shows how to do precisely that. Legendary industrial designer Robert Brunner (who laid the groundwork for Apple's brilliant design language) and Stewart Emery (Success Built to Last) begin by making an incontrovertible case for the power of design in making emotional connections, deepening relationships, and strengthening brands. You'll learn what it really means to be "design-driven" and how that translates into action at Nike, Apple, BMW and IKEA.You'll learn design-driven techniques for managing your entire experience chain; define effective design strategies and languages; and learn how to manage design from the top, encouraging "risky" design innovations that lead to entirely new markets. The authors show how (and how not) to use research; how to extend design values into marketing, manufacturing, and beyond; and how to keep building on your progress, truly "baking" design into all your processes and culture.


Collagen vascular disease occurs when problems with the immune system affect collagen. Collagen is a tough, fiber-like protein that makes up about a third of body protein. It is part of the structure of tendons, bones, and connective tissues. In a class of diseases known as autoimmune disorders, the body's immune system attacks its own tissues. Some of these diseases are similar to each other such as arthritis and inflammation of arteries in the tissues that connect joints and other tissues. As a group, these diseases are known as collagen vascular diseases.


Clifford Geertz, one of the most influential thinkers of our time, here discusses some of the most urgent issues facing intellectuals today. In this collection of personal and revealing essays, he explores the nature of his anthropological work in relation to a broader public, serving as the foremost spokesperson of his generation of scholars, those who came of age after World War II. His reflections are written in a style that both entertains and disconcerts, as they engage us in topics ranging from moral relativism to the relationship between cultural and psychological differences, from the diversity and tension among activist faiths to "ethnic conflict" in today's politics. Geertz, who once considered a career in philosophy, begins by explaining how he got swept into the revolutionary movement of symbolic anthropology. At that point, his work began to encompass not only the ethnography of groups in Southeast Asia and North Africa, but also the study of how meaning is made in all cultures--or, to use his phrase, to explore the "frames of meaning" in which people everywhere live out their lives. His philosophical orientation helped him to establish the role of anthropology within broader intellectual circles and led him to address the work of such leading thinkers as Charles Taylor, Thomas Kuhn, William James, and Jerome Bruner. In this volume, Geertz comments on their work as he explores questions in political philosophy, psychology, and religion that have intrigued him throughout his career but that now hold particular relevance in light of postmodernist thinking and multiculturalism. "Available Light" offers insightful discussions of concepts such as nation, identity, country, and self, with a reminder that like symbols in general, their meanings are not categorically fixed but grow and change through time and place. This book treats the reader to an analysis of the American intellectual climate by someone who did much to shape it. One can read Available Light both for its revelation of public culture in its dynamic, evolving forms and for the story it tells about the remarkable adventures of an innovator during the "golden years" of American academia.


"An alchemical mix of Borges, Raymond Chandler and Buffy the Vampire Slayer."-Salon.com (Best of the Year) "A delightful collection."-Cleveland Plain Dealer "My favorite fantasy writer."-Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered "Link's stories defy explanation, or at least, brief summary, instead working on the plane between dream and cognitive dissonance. They are true to themselves: witty, beautiful, funny, and startling."-Rain Taxi "Link uses the nonsensical to illuminate truth, blurring the distinctions between the mundane and the fantastic to tease out the underlying meanings of modern life."-Booklist "The 11 fantasies in this first collection from rising star Link are so quirky and exuberantly imagined that one is easily distracted from their surprisingly serious underpinnings of private pain and emotional estrangement." -Publishers Weekly Kelly Link's collection of stories, Stranger Things Happen, really scores. -Daniel Mendelsohn, New York Magazine "A tremendously appealing book, and lovers of short fiction should fall over themselves getting out the door to find a copy." -Washington Post Book World "Stylistic pyrotechnics light up a bizarre but emotionally truthful landscape. Link's a writer to watch." -Kirkus Reviews "A set of stories that are by turns dazzling, funny, scary, and sexy, but only when they're not all of these at once. Kelly Link has strangeness, charm and spin to spare. Writers better than this don't happen." -Karen Joy Fowler "Kelly Link is probably the best short story writer currently out there, in any genre or none. She puts one word after another and makes real magic with them-funny, moving, tender, brave and dangerous. She is unique, and should be declared a national treasure, and possibly surrounded at all times by a cordon of armed marines." -Neil Gaiman "Kelly Link is the exact best and strangest and funniest short story writer on earth that you have never heard of at the exact moment you are reading these words and making them slightly inexact. Now pay for the book." -Jonathan Lethem The eleven stories in Kelly Link's debut collection are funny, spooky, and smart. They all have happy endings. They were all especially written for you. A Best of the Year pick from Salon.com, Locus, The Village Voice, and San Francisco Chronicle. Includes Nebula, World Fantasy, and Tiptree award-winning stories. Kelly Link is the author of three collections of short fiction Stranger Things Happen, Magic for Beginners, and Pretty Monsters. Her short stories have won three Nebula, a Hugo, and a World Fantasy Award. She was born in Miami, Florida, and once won a free trip around the world by answering the question "Why do you want to go through the world?" ("Because you can't go through it.") Link lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she and her husband, Gavin J. Grant, run Small Beer Press, co-edit the fantasy half of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and play ping-pong. In 1996 they startd the occasional zine Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet.


Noisy probabilistic relational rules are a promising world model representation for several reasons. They are compact and generalize over world instantiations. They are usually interpretable and they can be learned effectively from the action experiences in complex worlds. We investigate reasoning with such rules in grounded relational domains. Our algorithms exploit the compactness of rules for efficient and fexible decision-theoretic planning. As a first approach, we combine these rules with the Upper Confidence Bounds applied to Trees (UCT) algorithm based on look-ahead trees. Our second approach converts these rules into a structured dynamic Bayesian network representation and predicts the effects of action sequences using approximate inference and beliefs over world states. We evaluate the effectiveness of our approaches for planning in a simulated complex 3D robot manipulation scenario with an articulated manipulator and realistic physics and in domains of the probabilistic planning competition. Empirical results show that our methods can solve problems where existing methods fail.


The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates a critical shortage of more than 4 million health care workers. Though pharmacists represent the third largest healthcare professional group in the world, they are underestimated and underutilized in many developing nations including India and China. As they are trained at a critically insufficient scale, their large potential is being wasted and remain untapped. Since the number of medicines available to consumers and their complexity is increasing day by day, the pharmacists should look for steps beyond just compounding and dispensing. Though the community pharmacist's role in public health (PH) has not well defined, they are certainly not new to PH. Albeit there is an increasing recognition of the contribution that community pharmacy can make to improve the PH, still there is a need to integrate pharmacy into the wider PH workforce.


This article explores the possibilities of articulating a theory of teacher actions in light of a critical or constitutive phenomenology of action. Through the use of a video analysis project, a case from a learning session is presented as a point of departure. The general question is whether constitutive phenomenology as a kind of reflective analysis may help to explore and understand the practical knowledge of a teacher in a classroom interacting with children. The situation is deliberately seen from the teacher's point of view, and seeks to demonstrate how the knowledge of teachers' actions in relation to a teaching subject, and in interaction with students' and children's calls, may be analysed. A general theory of teacher actions is formulated as a dynamic combination or balance of focal and global beliefs, values and practices, while different types of combinations of these phenomenologically described thetic "positionalities" are described to understand ignoring more generally. The ignoring of children in a classroom is further analysed and described according to the German Bildung tradition and the pedagogical paradox of formation. The article also discusses contributions and limitations of phenomenology in pedagogical research, and in relation to teacher student pedagogy in particular.


In this original and trenchant work, Christina Sharpe interrogates literary, visual, cinematic, and quotidian representations of Black life that comprise what she calls the "orthography of the wake." Activating multiple registers of "wake"—the path behind a ship, keeping watch with the dead, coming to consciousness—Sharpe illustrates how Black lives are swept up and animated by the afterlives of slavery, and she delineates what survives despite such insistent violence and negation. Initiating and describing a theory and method of reading the metaphors and materiality of "the wake," "the ship," "the hold," and "the weather," Sharpe shows how the sign of the slave ship marks and haunts contemporary Black life in the diaspora and how the specter of the hold produces conditions of containment, regulation, and punishment, but also something in excess of them. In the weather, Sharpe situates anti-Blackness and white supremacy as the total climate that produces premature Black death as normative. Formulating the wake and "wake work" as sites of artistic production, resistance, consciousness, and possibility for living in diaspora, In the Wake offers a way forward.


Tools for Schools Africa Foundation. 9 Degrees North: The ABCs of North Ghana . Red Deer, Alberta: Tools for Schools Africa Foundation, 2011. Print. Since 2003, Tools for Schools Africa Foundation has been working to increase educational opportunities in northern Ghana. A registered charity based out of Red Deer, Alberta, they have been working to advance the quality of life of those living in the northern regions of Ghana by improving access to post-primary education. One of their recent projects includes the publication of an ABC book for primary school students. 9 Degrees North: The ABCs of North Ghana is an amazing piece of beautiful artistry; each letter colourfully depicting animals, activities, plants, traditions, history and other aspects of Ghanaian life. Each of the 26 letters is illustrated by a different artist, allowing readers to be introduced to a variety of artistic mediums, including oils, pastels, watercolours and pencil. The artistry from letter to letter is unique, featuring different uses of colour and technique, yet each image is consistently impressive. The accessible and well-written sentences that accompany each illustration introduce readers to Bolga baskets (grass baskets made in Bolgatanga), Kapok trees (used by people and farm animals for its shade), Oware (the national game of Ghana), and the Black Volta River (full of crocodiles) amongst many other interesting facts and features about this country. In addition to the few sentences used to explain the illustrations associated with each of the 26 letters, there is a detailed appendix with additional facts about the object or focus of each letter which could serve as a useful teaching tool for using this book in the classroom. The appendix also includes several additional photographs and paintings of Ghana. 9 Degrees North: The ABCs of North Ghana is highly recommended for elementary school libraries as well as public libraries. With its varied and vibrant illustrations, and with proceeds from the sale of this book supporting scholarships for girls in northern Ghana, this will also make an excellent addition to any reader's collection. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Nicole Dalmer Nicole Dalmer is a Public Services Librarian at H.T. Coutts Education & Physical Education Library at the University of Alberta. She is interested in health literacy, pinball, and finding the perfect cup of coffee to accompany a good read.


The United States serves as a primary facilitator for anti-trafficking efforts throughout the world. Its yearly published Trafficking in  Persons Report (TIP) outlines the efforts of each country to combat human trafficking. Countries are then classified into four tiers  based on their compliance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). The United States is a Tier 1 country meaning it fully  complies with the minimum standards of the TVPA. Despite its  successful compliance, the United States continues to encounter problems when investigating human trafficking. Therefore, this paper will focus on trafficking investigations within the United  States. It will provide information on current efforts to combat human trafficking among local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Challenges to these investigations will be identified along with potential solutions and lessons learned. After researching studies on current law enforcement efforts, it was determined  agencies need better training to identify the indicators of trafficking, skills for interviewing victims, improved collaboration among agencies at each level of government, and uniform  response protocols. The information provided will be beneficial to not only law enforcement agencies, but anyone who may assist with trafficking cases or encounter trafficking victims.


Abstract. We determine enhancement ratios for NOx, PAN, and other NOy species from boreal biomass burning using aircraft data obtained during the ARCTAS-B campaign and examine the impact of these emissions on tropospheric ozone in the Arctic. We find an initial emission factor for NOx of 1.06 g NO per kg dry matter (DM) burned, much lower than previous observations of boreal plumes, and also one third the value recommended for extratropical fires. Our analysis provides the first observational confirmation of rapid PAN formation in a boreal smoke plume, with 40% of the initial NOx emissions being converted to PAN in the first few hours after emission. We find little clear evidence for ozone formation in the boreal smoke plumes during ARCTAS-B in either aircraft or satellite observations, or in model simulations. Only a third of the smoke plumes observed by the NASA DC8 showed a correlation between ozone and CO, and ozone was depleted in the plumes as often as it was enhanced. Special observations from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) also show little evidence for enhanced ozone in boreal smoke plumes between 15 June and 15 July 2008. Of the 22 plumes observed by TES, only 4 showed ozone increasing within the smoke plumes, and even in those cases it was unclear that the increase was caused by fire emissions. Using the GEOS-Chem atmospheric chemistry model, we show that boreal fires during ARCTAS-B had little impact on the median ozone profile measured over Canada, and had little impact on ozone within the smoke plumes observed by TES.


We examine the tropical ozone mixing ratio perturbation fields generated from a monthly ozone climatology using 1998 to 2006 ozonesonde data from the Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) network and the 13-year satellite record from 1993 to 2005 obtained from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE). The long time series and high vertical resolution of the ozone and temperature profiles from the SHADOZ sondes coupled with good tropical coverage north and south of the equator gives a detailed picture of the ozone structure in the lowermost stratosphere down through the tropopause where the picture obtained from HALOE measurements is blurred by coarse vertical resolution. Ozone perturbations respond to annual variations in the Brewer-Dobson Circulation (BDC) in the region just above the cold-point tropopause to around 20 km. Annual cycles in ozone and temperature are well correlated. Above 20 km, ozone and temperature perturbations are dominated by the Quasi-biennial Oscillation (QBO). Both satellite and sonde records show good agreement between positive and negative ozone mixing ratio anomalies and alternating QBO westerly and easterly wind shears from the Singapore rawinsondes with a mean periodicity of 26 months for SHADOZ and 25 months for HALOE. There is a temporal offset of one to three months with the QBO wind shear ahead of the ozone anomaly field. The meridional length scales for the annual cycle and the QBO, obtained using the temperature anomalies and wind shears in the thermal wind equation, compare well with theoretical calculations.


Visualization is vital to the scientific discovery process.
An interactive high-fidelity rendering provides accelerated insight into complex structures, models and relationships.
However, the efficient mapping of visualization tasks to high performance architectures is often difficult, being subject to a challenging mixture of hardware and software architectural complexities in combination with domain-specific hurdles.
These difficulties are often exacerbated on heterogeneous architectures.
In this thesis, a variety of ray casting-based techniques are developed and investigated with respect to a more efficient usage of heterogeneous HPC systems for distributed visualization, addressing challenges in mesh-free rendering, in-situ compression, task-based workload formulation, and remote visualization at large scale.

A novel direct raytracing scheme for on-the-fly free surface reconstruction of particle-based simulations using an extended anisoptropic kernel model is investigated on different state-of-the-art cluster setups.
The versatile system renders up to 170 million particles on 32 distributed compute nodes at close to interactive frame rates at 4K resolution with ambient occlusion.
To address the widening gap between high computational throughput and prohibitively slow I/O subsystems, in situ topological contour tree analysis is combined with a compact image-based data representation to provide an effective and easy-to-control trade-off between storage overhead and visualization fidelity.
Experiments show significant reductions in storage requirements, while preserving flexibility for exploration and analysis.
Driven by an increasingly heterogeneous system landscape, a flexible distributed direct volume rendering and hybrid compositing framework is presented.
Based on a task-based dynamic runtime environment, it enables adaptable performance-oriented deployment on various platform configurations.
Comprehensive benchmarks with respect to task granularity and scaling are conducted to verify the characteristics and potential of the novel task-based system design.
A core challenge of HPC visualization is the physical separation of visualization resources and end-users.
Using more tiles than previously thought reasonable, a distributed, low-latency multi-tile streaming system is demonstrated, being able to sustain a stable 80 Hz when streaming up to 256 synchronized 3840x2160 tiles and achieve 365 Hz at 3840x2160 for sort-first compositing over the internet, thereby enabling lightweight visualization clients and leaving all the heavy lifting to the remote supercomputer.


This paper presents a qualitative and formative study of the uses of a starfield-based visualization interface for analysis of library collections. The evaluation process has produced feedback that suggests ways to significantly improve starfield interfaces and the interaction process to improve their learnability and usability. The study also gave us clear indication of additional potential uses of starfield visualizations that can be exploited by further functionality and interface development. We report on resulting implications for the design and use of starfield visualizations that will impact their graphical interface features, their use for managing data quality and their potential for various forms of visual data mining. Although the current implementation and analysis focuses on the collection of a physical library, the most important contributions of our work will be in digital libraries, in which volume, complexity and dynamism of collections are increasing dramatically and tools are needed for visualization and analysis.


Rejecting a common assumption in the sovereign debt literature, we document that creditor losses ("haircuts") during sovereign restructuring episodes are asymmetric across debt instruments. We code a comprehensive dataset on instrument-specific haircuts for 28 debt restructurings with private creditors in 1999-2015 and find that haircuts on shorter-term debt are larger than those on debt of longer maturity. In a standard asset pricing model, we show that increasing short-run default risk in the run-up to a restructuring episode can explain the stylized fact. The data confirms the predicted relation between perceived default risk, bond prices, and haircuts by maturity.


Copyright ©2014 KIEEME. All rights reserved. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. pISSN: 1229-7607 eISSN: 2092-7592 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4313/TEEM.2014.15.4.175 TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC MATERIALS Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 175-181, August 25, 2014


We revisit the challenges and prospects for ocean circulation models following Griffies et al. (2010). Over the past decade, ocean circulation models evolved through improved understanding, numerics, spatial discretization, grid configurations, parameterizations, data assimilation, environmental monitoring, and process-level observations and modeling. Important large scale applications over the last decade are simulations of the Southern Ocean, the Meridional Overturning Circulation and its variability, and regional sea level change. Submesoscale variability is now routinely resolved in process models and permitted in a few global models, and submesoscale effects are parameterized in most global models. The scales where nonhydrostatic effects become important are beginning to be resolved in regional and process models. Coupling to sea ice, ice shelves, and high-resolution atmospheric models has stimulated new ideas and driven improvements in numerics. Observations have provided insight into turbulence and mixing around the globe and its consequences are assessed through perturbed physics models. Relatedly, parameterizations of the mixing and overturning processes in boundary layers and the ocean interior have improved. New diagnostics being used for evaluating models alongside present and novel observations are briefly referenced. The overall goal is summarizing new developments in ocean modeling, including: how new and existing observations can be used, what modeling challenges remain, and how simulations can be used to support observations.


Letter from Camille Wallace talking about her trip to Denver and Pueblo. She mentions that they have gone to many parties including a whist party and afternoon teas. They enjoyed reading Charles' letter that had been published in the McKinney Messenger. She reports that her sister Mollie and her family are living on a coffee plantation in Mexico and have suffered from floods. Includes the envelope.


A brief introduction into the spectroscopy of fusion plasmas is presented. Basic principles of the emission of ionic, atomic and molecular radiation will be explained and a survey of the effects, which lead to the population of the respective excited levels, will be given. The instrumentation, which is necessary for such measurements under the conditions in tokamak and stellarator plasmas, will be described. As illustrative examples for the wide wavelength range covered the derivation of core plasma parameters, transport properties, boundary temperatures and fluxes including their molecular composition will be given.


We propose a new extension to the purely functional programming language Haskell that supports compile-time meta-programming. The purpose of the system is to support the algorithmic construction of programs at compile-time. The ability to generate code at compile time allows the programmer to implement such features as polytypic programs, macro-like expansion, user directed optimization (such as inlining), and the generation of supporting data structures and functions from existing data structures and functions. Our design is being implemented in the Glasgow Haskell Compiler, ghc. This version is very slightly modified from the Haskell Workshop 2002 publication; a couple of typographical errors are fixed in Figure 2.


Abstract. An efficient approach to the numerical upscaling of thermal conductivities of fibrous media, e.g. insulation materials, is considered. First, standard cell problems for a second order elliptic equation are formulated for a proper piece of random fibrous structure, following homogenization theory. Next, a graph formed by the fibers is considered, and a second order elliptic equation with suitable boundary conditions is solved on this graph only. Replacing the boundary value problem for the full cell with an auxiliary problem with special boundary conditions on a connected subdomain of highly conductive material is justified in a previous work of the authors. A discretization on the graph is presented here, and error estimates are provided. The efficient implementation of the algorithm is discussed. A number of numerical experiments is presented in order to illustrate the performance of the proposed method.


Pamela S. Karlan is a unique figure in American law. A professor at Stanford Law School and former counsel for the NAACP, she has argued seven cases at the Supreme Court and worked on dozens more as a clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun. In her first book written for a general audience, she examines what happens in American courtrooms -- especially the Supreme Court -- and what it means for our everyday lives and to our national commitments to democracy, justice, and fairness. Through an exploration of current hot-button legal issues -- from voting rights to the death penalty, health care, same-sex marriage, invasive high-tech searches, and gun control -- Karlan makes a sophisticated and resonant case for her vision of the Constitution. At the heart of that vision is the conviction that the Constitution is an evolving document that enables government to solve novel problems and expand the sphere of human freedom. As skeptics charge congressional overreach on such issues as the Affordable Care Act and even voting rights, Karlan pushes back. On individual rights in particular, she believes the Constitution allows Congress to enforce the substance of its amendments. And she calls out the Roberts Court for its disdain for the other branches of government and for its alignment with a conservative agenda.


McClure, Nikki. How To Be A Cat . New York, NY: Abrams Appleseed, 2013. Print. In line with Abrams high-quality art books, How To Be A Cat features self-taught artist Nikki McClure's intricate cutout artwork and a glimpse into the daily activities of felines. Following a simple black-on-white color scheme with baby-blue highlights, readers are offered sixteen one-word lessons on how to be a cat, such as how to stretch, pounce, wait and dream. Using images and single text statements on each page, How To Be A Cat tells the story of a kitten learning about its environment.  It awakens, cleans itself, and then, being playful, gets into trouble by attacking its adult cat companion, learning both how to pounce and how to be brave. It then receives a lesson in hunting—the art of simply listening—before exploring, getting lost, and inevitability being found again. The story therefore comes full circle, starting with the safety and security of life at home to the adventures and fears of the outside world and back home again where one can feast and sleep. McClure's cutout felines bear a variety of adorable facial expressions, allowing readers the opportunity to connect and fall in love with this sweet little kitten. Further, the vignettes playfully convey feline behavior and profoundly depict the relationship of a child and its mentor, encompassing the associated trials and moments of tenderness. How To Be A Cat is recommended for elementary school libraries as well as public libraries, and would make a great book for story time. For, it is perfect for young readers, who, like the kitten in the story, are learning about themselves and the world around them. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Jessica Thorlakson Jessica Thorlakson is a Public Services Librarian at the University of Alberta's H. T. Coutts Education and Physical Education Library. She has a background in English Literature and enjoys little more than reading a good book and drinking some tea.


This report is the second in a series of companion papers describing the effects of atmospheric light scattering in observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) by the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT), in orbit since 23 January 2009. Here we summarize the retrievals from six previously published algorithms; retrieving column‐averaged dry air mole fractions of CO2 (XCO2) during 22 months of operation of GOSAT from June 2009. First, we compare data products from each algorithm with ground‐based remote sensing observations by Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON). Our GOSAT‐TCCON coincidence criteria select satellite observations within a 5° radius of 11 TCCON sites. We have compared the GOSAT‐TCCON XCO2 regression slope, standard deviation, correlation and determination coefficients, and global and station‐to‐station biases. The best agreements with TCCON measurements were detected for NIES 02.xx and RemoTeC. Next, the impact of atmospheric light scattering on XCO2 retrievals was estimated for each data product using scan by scan retrievals of light path modification with the photon path length probability density function (PPDF) method. After a cloud pre‐filtering test, approximately 25% of GOSAT soundings processed by NIES 02.xx, ACOS B2.9, and UoL‐FP: 3G and 35% processed by RemoTeC were found to be contaminated by atmospheric light scattering. This study suggests that NIES 02.xx and ACOS B2.9 algorithms tend to overestimate aerosol amounts over bright surfaces, resulting in an underestimation of XCO2 for GOSAT observations. Cross‐comparison between algorithms shows that ACOS B2.9 agrees best with NIES 02.xx and UoL‐FP: 3G while RemoTeC XCO2 retrievals are in a best agreement with NIES PPDF‐D.


The polymorphism in the gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR) gene was detected by PCR single-strand conformational (PCR-SSCP) and DNA sequencing methods in 224 Boer goats. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), G891T and G757A, were found in the exon I of the goat GnRHR gene and their associations with litter size in Boer goats were evaluated. Association analysis showed that G891T and G757A had significant effects on litter size. In locus G891T, individuals with GT genotype had significantly larger litter sizes compared to GG genotype in the first and third parity. In locus G757A, ewes with GG genotype had significantly higher litter sizes than those of GA in the fourth parity. The present study primarily revealed an association between allele T at 891 locus of the GnRHR gene and high litter size in the first and third parity in Boer goats. These results provide evidence that the GnRHR gene may be significantly correlated with a high prolificacy in goats.


Zebrafish have become an important alternative model for characterizing chemical bioactivity, partly due to the efficiency at which systematic, high-dimensional data can be generated. However, these new data present analytical challenges associated with scale and diversity. We developed a novel, robust statistical approach to characterize chemical-elicited effects in behavioral data from high-throughput screening (HTS) of all 1,060 Toxicity Forecaster (ToxCast™) chemicals across 5 concentrations at 120 hours post-fertilization (hpf). Taking advantage of the immense scale of data for a global view, we show that this new approach reduces bias introduced by extreme values yet allows for diverse response patterns that confound the application of traditional statistics. We have also shown that, as a summary measure of response for local tests of chemical-associated behavioral effects, it achieves a significant reduction in coefficient of variation compared to many traditional statistical modeling methods. This effective increase in signal-to-noise ratio augments statistical power and is observed across experimental periods (light/dark conditions) that display varied distributional response patterns. Finally, we integrated results with data from concomitant developmental endpoint measurements to show that appropriate statistical handling of HTS behavioral data can add important biological context that informs mechanistic hypotheses.


"The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first intent was to gain an understanding of the factors that influence physical activity participation for middle school girls who are overweight. Secondly, the researcher wanted to examine the effects of a recreation center's wellness program on the overall physical activity levels and on the determinants of physical activity participation of overweight girls. A mixed-methods design was used to gather data prior to and after participating in a recreation center's wellness program through administration of a modified Previous-Day Physical Activity Recall, focus groups, and reflective journals. The participants were ages 11-13 with a BMI greater than the 85th percentile, and were all enrolled in a wellness program at a recreation center in North Carolina. At the start of the program the girls experienced a wide range of barriers to physical activity and, at the completion of the program, significant barriers still existed that were obstacles to participation in physical activity."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.


ABSTRACT The authors explore protein sonification issues using Morse code theory. Short musical phrases based on protein amino acids are used to compose protein music. Rhythms and tunes familiar to teenagers are also investigated, with the aim of producing different genres of protein music. A special musical instrument, the Chinese guzheng, can be employed to play the protein music. Experiment is carried out with different proteins, including the HIV main protease. It is hoped that this study can help unveil the mysteries of nature and motivate students to learn biology.


This study appraises The Conference Board (TCB) coincident and leading economic indices (CEI and LEI) for China with a focus on China CEI. The evaluation is mainly based on a critical discussion of the major data problems in the Chinese official statistics and their implications in modeling China's macroeconomic dynamics, and a development of a set of new commodity indicators as alternatives to some of the components in the existing TCB China CEI and LEI. It also examines the trends, cyclical movements and turning points in the Chinese economy as identified by the TCB China indices. Our empirical findings through regressions show that despite the data problems the existing TCB China CEI is robust in predicting the cyclic movements of GDP. However, commodity-based indicators which tend to pronounce the variations of industrial output indeed better model the dynamics of GDP.


Agroecosystems are vital for supplying ecosystem services to human society, but most modern farming practices impact detrimentally on the environment. Public agricultural support policies have been critically important in influencing the transformation of the farm sectors; however, few of them have been dedicated to enhancing ecosystem services beyond agricultural commodities. The largest agricultural support system worldwide, the European common agricultural policy (CAP), has now come to a critical point, as major decisions concerning its design and implementation after 2013 are about to be taken. The debate on this reform process presents a unique opportunity to trigger a transition from commodity‐based subsidy policies to policies centered on efficient provision of ecosystem services from agricultural land. To prompt such discussion, we formulate key recommendations informed by a review of ecosystem services literature and address verifiable links to human well‐being, nonmarket valuation for balanced services provision, treatment of ecosystem services bundles, site‐specific and regionalized approaches, matching spatial scales for different ecosystem services, funding permanence for payment schemes, strong monitoring and adaptive approaches to tackling uncertainties, and coherent cross‐sectoral policy design. If these issues were to be considered in formulating and implementing future CAP, it might become an exemplar for redirecting agricultural policies elsewhere in the world toward sustainability.


The social function of the Internet has changed dramatically in recent years. What was, until recently, a supplement to other channels of information and communication has become increasingly a basic requirement of social and economic inclusion. Educational systems, employers, and government agencies at all levels have shifted services online—and are pushing rapidly to do more. Price remains only one factor shaping the fragile equilibrium of home broadband adoption, and library and community organizations fill the gap by providing critical training and support services while under severe economic pressures. Commissioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to analyze the factors shaping low rates of adoption of home broadband services in low-income and other marginalized communities, this SSRC study is one of the only large-scale qualitative investigations of barriers to adoption in the US and complements FCC survey research on adoption designed to inform the 2010 National Broadband Plan. The study draws on some 170 interviews of non-adopters, community access providers, and other intermediaries conducted across the US in late 2009 and early 2010 and identifies a range of factors that make broadband services hard to acquire and even harder to maintain in such communities.


Oyster reef restoration is currently receiving increased attention as a means of enhancing water quality and fisheries. Oyster reefs not only directly provide habitat for fish and invertebrates, but also may indirectly affect adjacent sandflat areas with broader ecological consequences. Aspects of reef morphology, including vertical and edge complexity, influence the degree of impact oyster reefs have on adjacent communities. This study examines the extent to which created reefs of varying vertical and edge complexity influence sediment nutrient fluxes, microphytobenthos biomass, sediment grain size, and sediment organic content in a southeastern North Carolina intertidal sandflat. An overall significant effect of reef edge complexity on microphytobenthos biomass, pore water nutrients, and sediment grain size was discovered, though some patterns varied seasonally. Reef surface complexity was associated with changes in sediment characteristics, including greater proportions of fine sediments and percent organic matter immediately adjacent to the reef. Seasonal trends were highly significant with strong differences among seasons. This study is significant in demonstrating linkages between intertidal oyster reefs and adjacent sandflat communities including changes in microphytobenthos biomass and sediment characteristics in the sandflat area. Moreover, the nature of these linkages is influenced by both edge and surface attributes of the reef.


Academic integrity is a fundamental value, and maintaining it is central to achieving the mission of providing high-quality instructional programs. Cheating in academic settings is a widespread problem, and the perception is that the proliferation of technology in recent years has compounded this concern. This paper provides an overview of the issues related to academic dishonesty and the problems associated with cheating on college campuses. Academic misconduct in online courses and programs is discussed, and a variety of ways that technology can be used by students to cheat are described. Strategies are offered that can be used to decrease cheating and promote ethical behavior. It is the responsibility of faculty and administrators to take steps to deter academic misconduct and to strive to create a culture of academic integrity.


A complete, full-color guide to all the elements of dSLR photography If you have a digital SLR camera, youll find everything you need in this full-color reference to help you get the best results. Ten self-contained minibooks cover the basics of dSLR photography and address camera models from the five leading dSLR manufacturers. Topics include lenses, exposure, lighting, composition, processing and editing, a guide to manufacturers and systems, and a guide to camera settings, plus separate minibooks covering video and high dynamic range (HDR) photography. This full-color volume covers all the key elements essential to good photography as well as the basics of camera bodies and lenses, dSLR workflow, and advice on the best camera settings to use for different situations Covers lighting, composition, and exposure as well as macro and telephoto lenses Features minibooks on video, HDR photography, processing and editing images, and a guide to leading camera manufacturers and systems Digital SLR Photography All-in-One For Dummies replaces an entire shelf of digital photography books and helps you get the photos you dream of.


OBJECT
The goal in this study was to evaluate the incidence and clinical implications of the development of cutaneously derived intradural inclusion cysts (ICs) following fetal myelomeningocele (fMMC) closure.

METHODS
Retrospective databases and responses to a parental questionnaire were reviewed to determine the incidence, clinical presentation, and outcomes of fMMCs in children in whom ICs developed at follow-up.

RESULTS
Prior to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-sponsored Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS), 54 patients underwent fMMC closure at the authors' institution. Sixteen (30%) presented with symptomatic tethered cord syndrome (TCS) at a median age of 27 months (range 4-93 months). Ten (63%) of the 16 (19% of the total) developed TCS in association with an intradural IC. In 9 (90%) of 10 patients, the IC was seen on preoperative MR imaging, and in 1 it was found during surgery. Four additional children (7% of the total) with evidence of an IC on surveillance MR imaging are currently asymptomatic at 94, 84, 60, and 60 months of age, respectively. All but 1 (an L-3 level lesion) IC developed in infants with L-4 and L-5 defects. After cyst removal, 6 children are asymptomatic at a median follow-up of 36 months (range 12-63 months). Following IC removal, 4 children lost normal bladder function and now require clean intermittent catheterization, and 1 lost normal leg function and now requires a walking aid for ambulation. Histologically, 8 lesions were dermoid, 1 was an epidermoid, and 1 was a mixed dermoid-epidermoid IC. Three patients developed another IC and required its removal at 24, 39, and 51 months, respectively. One required another tethered cord release within 57 months after IC removal.

CONCLUSIONS
Cutaneously derived intradural ICs can develop following fMMC surgery. Deterioration of bladder function, risk of recurrence, and loss of lower-extremity function appear to be the most important long-term complications of IC in children with fMMCs. The ongoing NIH-sponsored MOMS may help determine whether children with fMMC are at increased risk of IC development compared with children treated with postnatal MMC closure. Parents seeking fMMC closure should be informed about the possibility of IC formation and the potential clinical consequences.


"This investigation assesses the evolution of Nashville, Tennessee's Lower Broadway in the last quarter of the 20th century. As an American streetscape, the area evolved from a heavily blighted street with the loss of the Grand Ole Opry in the mid 1970s to a family-friendly tourist attraction by the mid 1990s. In order to investigate the many changes that occurred over a 20-year period, the research consists of preservation theory, urban economics, and how tourism and entertainment have shaped and continue to shape Lower Broadway. The research reveals the various ways in which preservationists, city staff and private investors achieved substantial revitalization and demonstrates the ways in which historic preservation and entertainment commingle to bring about lasting renewal for the urban environment."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.


This article explores how speculative bubbles undermine the effectiveness of securities regulations and spawn epidemics of securities fraud. A brief historical survey demonstrates that stock market bubbles almost invariably coincide with epidemics of securities fraud, and provides a compelling argument that the outbreak of fraud in the Enron era did not stem merely from factors unique to the 1990s, but from the dynamics of an asset price bubble as well. Drawing on perspectives from securities law practice and economic theory, the article argues that bubbles dilute the deterrent effect of antifraud rules and promote deregulation. Both effects alter the calculus of securities law compliance for public companies and market intermediaries. In turn, diluted regulations and deregulation further fuel a bubble's expansion. The article creates a basic model for how bubbles promote deregulation. During the formation a bubble, three interrelated cycles - the business cycle, the cycle of investor confidence and the regulatory cycle - generate feedback for each other (by stimulating excessive economic growth, investor trust in the integrity of the market and deregulation). When a bubble bursts, these three cycles reverse and generate negative feedback (through recession, a collapse of investor trust and re-regulation). The interaction of these cycles creates the potential for a perverse pattern of under-regulation or deregulation as bubbles form - the moment when more oversight is needed - and re-regulation in the aftermath of a bubble - once the economy and investor trust have already been damaged. The article also explores how the dynamics of a bubble can undermine the deterrent effect of anti-fraud rules on securities issuers and market intermediaries by distorting the rational calculus of compliance, potentially exacerbating behavioral biases and raising information and agency costs.


A guide for translators, about the translation theory, the translation process, interpreting, subtitling, internationalization and localization and computer-assisted translation. A special section is dedicated to the translator's education and associations. The guide include, as annexes, several independent adaptations of the corresponding European Commission works, freely available via the EU Bookshop as PDF and via telework.ro as EPUB, MOBI (Kindle) and PDF. For a "smart", sensible translation , you should forget not the knowledge acquired at school or university, but the corrective standards. Some people want a translation with the touch of the source version, while another people feel that in a successful version we should not be able to guess the original language. We have to realize that both people have right and wrong, and that their only fault is to present requirement as an absolute truth. Teachers agree at least on this principle: "If a sentence is ambiguous, the translation must also be". There is another critical, less easy to argue, based on an Italian phrase with particularly strong wording: "Traduttore, traditore". This critique argues that any translation will betray the author's language, spirit, style … because of the choices on all sides. What to sacrifice, clarity or brevity, if the formula in the text is brief and effective, but impossible to translate into so few words with the exact meaning? One could understand this criticism that it encourages us to read "in the text." It seems obvious that it is impossible to follow this advice into practice.


A Gray code is a Hamilton path $H$ on the $n$-cube, $Q_n$. By labeling each edge of $Q_n$ with the dimension that changes between its incident vertices, a Gray code can be thought of as a sequence $H = t_1,t_2,\ldots,t_{N-1}$ (with $N = 2^n$ and each $t_i$ satisfying $1 \le t_i \le n$). The sequence $H$ defines an (undirected) graph of transitions , $G_H$, whose vertex set is $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ and whose edge set $E(G_H) = \{ [t_i,t_{i+1}] \mid 1 \le i \le N-1 \}$. A $G$-code is a Hamilton path $H$ whose graph of transitions is a subgraph of $G$; if $H$ is a Hamilton cycle then it is a cyclic $G$-code. The classic binary reflected Gray code is a cyclic $K_{1,n}$-code. We prove that every tree $T$ of diameter 4 has a $T$-code, and that no tree $T$ of diameter 3 has a $T$-code.


In recent years, technological developments have led to digital files being more easily distributed, for example through Napster (a file sharing service on the Internet). In order to manage and control the distribution of digital files, a new concept has been developed, called DRM (Digital Rights Management). The purpose is to set every single file with individual rights that are extremely hard to break, and consequently make people pay and use the files legally. The file will then be fully protected from intrusion and alteration until the set rights expire. The goal of this thesis is to look into and summarise DRM of today. We have concentrated on the mobile DRM market, and especially mobile phones. Especially the solutions/applications that already exist and their functionality and properties, but also requirements regarding security levels, compatibility etc. We have also added predictions of the near future, ours as well as others. Existing applications for DRM are well made but few are constructed for mobile phones. Mobile phones will however be a good and secure platform for DRM. At present there is no DRM application inserted in mobile phones in Europe. The third generation (3G) network will push the progress with the capability of broader bandwidth, with capacity of downloading more content to the phone. Since the mobile phone software is embedded and the mobile phones are within a trusted network, the security level of a DRM application in a mobile phone can be discussed. A lower level of security would make it easier for managing content but also open up the market for hackers that wish to trespass. With a lower level of security you always have to consider the consequences and often it creates more problems than it solves. We believe the DRM market and its value will increase exponentially over the next few years. The number of players on the mobile Internet DRM market will be less than on the Internet DRM market, due to the complexity of getting applications into the phone. The latter will consist of many more players, and remain fragmented, since it is an open market.


Homeland security is a critical component of the War on Terrorism. In our federal system of government, who is responsible for securing the homeland? The U.S. Congress has made available to states and cities some funding for overtime and equipment, but it has not assumed responsibility for covering all of the security costs incurred locally. While deploying some federal personnel for domestic security, the Executive branch relies largely on state and local officials for the necessary manpower. Meanwhile, governors and mayors complain about the unfairness of asking them to shoulder the burden of preventing terrorist attacks that would affect the entire nation, pointing to the risks of refusing states and cities the resources they need. Yet residents of states and cities less vulnerable to attack are reluctant to contribute to the high costs of security efforts necessary in places like New York City and Washington, D.C. Ratified in an age of insecurity, the U.S. Constitution provides clear guidance on the issue of responsibility for homeland security. The Protection Clause of Article IV requires the national government to safeguard states and their cities from attack, either by providing the necessary security or by paying the costs of security measures implemented locally. Although today largely forgotten, the Clause once maintained a prominent role in guiding federal efforts in fortifying coastal towns, securing the frontiers, and responding to foreign invasions and domestic insurrections. Examining how the Protection Clause governed early conceptions of national security - as well as early implementation of security efforts - unlocks a security constitution designed expressly to address many of the logistical concerns now raised by the War on Terrorism. Finally, the U.S. Supreme Court's anticommandeering doctrine, based on the Tenth Amendment, should not limit the national government's ability to deploy modern state and local security personnel, like law enforcement, for counterterrorism work. Historically, the Protection Clause has allowed and even compelled the federal deployment of state militia - who, under the Constitution's several Militia Clauses, could be (and often were) deployed by the federal government for security purposes. Indeed, the Constitution specifically provides for and encourages this type of commandeering as a way to protect citizens from the national military taking over towns and cities.


In this Article, we revisit the clash between private law and the First Amendment in the Supreme Court's recent case, Snyder v. Phelps, using a private-law lens. We are scholars who write about private law as individual justice, a perspective that has been lost in recent years but is currently enjoying something of a revival.Our argument is that the Supreme Court's theory of private law has led it down a path that has distorted its doctrine in several areas, including the First Amendment–tort clash in Snyder. In areas that range from punitive damages to preemption, the Supreme Court has adopted a particular and dominant, but highly contested, theory of private law. It is the theory that private law is not private at all; it is part and parcel of government regulation, or "public law in disguise."Part I is a brief overview of how that jurisprudential view came to be, as well as a sketch of a competing view of private law as individual justice. In Part II, we briefly trace the development of the doctrine surrounding the tension between the First Amendment and private law, particularly tort law, and how it helps lead to the view of private law as government regulation displayed in Snyder. We also point out how the intentional infliction of emotional distress tort, the main claim at issue in Snyder, is a particularly poor vehicle for the Court's theory of private law. A relatively recent tort, it was developed by scholars and judges as a means of redress for plaintiffs who had been wronged, but were left without a remedy.Part III presents the central claims of the Article. We argue that the conception of private law as government regulation in Snyder arises from a combination of (1) the doctrinal tools that judges use in First Amendment cases, (2) the unitary nature of the state-action doctrine, and (3) the influence of instrumentalism, specifically in obscuring the plaintiff's agency and the state interest in redress, and in privileging a particular view of compensation. In Part IV, we present some normative or prescriptive implications of our analysis, and then conclude.


Distributed systems comprise distributed computing systems, distributed information systems, and distributed pervasive systems. They are often very complex and their implementation is challenging. Intensive and continuous testing is indispensable to ensure reliability and high quality of a distributed system. The testing process should have a high degree of automation, not only on lower levels (i.e. unit and module testing), but also on higher testing levels (e.g. system, integration, and acceptance tests). To achieve automation on higher testing levels virtual infrastructure components (e.g. virtual machines, virtual networks) that are offered as a Service (IaaS) can be employed. The elasticity of on-demand computation resources fits well together with the varying resource demands of automated test execution.
A methodology for automated acceptance testing of distributed systems that uses virtual infrastructure is presented. It is founded on a task-oriented model that is used to abstract concurrency and asynchronous, remote communication in distributed systems. The model is used as groundwork for a domain-specific language that allows expressing tests for distributed systems in the form of scenarios. On the one hand, test scenarios are executable and, therefore, fully automated. On the other hand, test scenarios represent requirements to the system under test making an automated, example-based verification possible.
A prototypical implementation is used to apply the developed methodology in the context of two different case studies. The first case study uses RCE as an example of a distributed, workflow-driven integration environment for scientific computing. The second one uses MongoDB as an example of a document-oriented database system that offers distributed data storage through master-slave replication. The results of the experimental evaluation indicate that the developed acceptance testing methodology is a useful approach to design, build, and execute tests for distributed systems with high quality and a high degree of automation.


1.1 This test method covers the production of cavitation damage on the face of a specimen vibrated at high frequency while immersed in a liquid. The vibration induces the formation and collapse of cavities in the liquid, and the collapsing cavities produce the damage to and erosion (material loss) of the specimen. 1.2 Although the mechanism for generating fluid cavitation in this method differs from that occurring in flowing systems and hydraulic machines (see 5.1), the nature of the material damage mechanism is believed to be basically similar. The method therefore offers a small-scale, relatively simple and controllable test that can be used to compare the cavitation erosion resistance of different materials, to study in detail the nature and progress of damage in a given material, or—by varying some of the test conditions—to study the effect of test variables on the damage produced. 1.3 This test method specifies standard test conditions covering the diameter, vibratory amplitude and frequency of the specimen, as well as the test liquid and its container. It permits deviations from some of these conditions if properly documented, that may be appropriate for some purposes. It gives guidance on setting up a suitable apparatus and covers test and reporting procedures and precautions to be taken. It also specifies standard reference materials that must be used to verify the operation of the facility and to define the normalized erosion resistance of other test materials. 1.4 A history of this test method is given in Appendix X4, followed by a comprehensive bibliography. 1.5 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. The inch-pound units given in parentheses are for information only. 1.6 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. For specific safety warning information, see 6.1, 10.3, and 10.6.1. 2. Referenced Documents 2.1 ASTM Standards: A276 Specification for Stainless Steel Bars and Shapes B160 Specification for Nickel Rod and Bar B211 Specification for Aluminum and Aluminum-Alloy Bar, Rod, and Wire D1193 Specification for Reagent Water E177 Practice for Use of the Terms Precision and Bias in ASTM Test Methods E691 Practice for Conducting an Interlaboratory Study to Determine the Precision of a Test Method E960 Specification for Laboratory Glass Beakers G40 Terminology Relating to Wear and Erosion G73 Test Method for Liquid Impingement Erosion Using Rotating Apparatus G117 Guide for Calculating and Reporting Measures of Precision Using Data from Interlaboratory Wear or Erosion Tests G119 Guide for Determining Synergism Between Wear and Corrosion G134 Test Method for Erosion of Solid Materials by Cavitating Liquid Jet


Economies at early stages of development are often shaken by abrupt changes in growth rates, whereas in advanced economies growth rates tend to be relatively stable. To explain this pattern, we propose a theory of technological diversification. Production makes use of different input varieties, which are subject to imperfectly correlated shocks. Technological progress takes the form of an increase in the number of varieties, raising average productivity. In addition, the expansion in the number of varieties in our model provides diversification benefits against variety-specific shocks and it can hence lower the volatility of output growth. Technological complexity evolves endogenously in response to profit incentives. The decline in volatility thus arises as a by-product of firms' incentives to increase profits and is hence a likely outcome of the development process. We quantitatively asses the predictions of the model in light of the empirical evidence and find that for reasonable parameter values, the model can generate a decline in volatility with the level of development comparable to that in the data.


Ensuring the long-term usability of engineering informatics (EI) artifacts is a challenge, particularly for products with longer lifecycles than the computing hardware and software used for their design and manufacture. Addressing this challenge requires characterizing the nature of EI, defining metrics for EI sustainability, and developing methods for long-term EI curation. In this paper we highlight various issues related to long-term archival of EI and describe the work towards methods and metrics for sustaining EI. We propose an approach to enhance the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) functional model to incorporate EI sustainability criteria, Digital Object Prototypes (DOPs), and end user access requirements. We discuss the end user's requirements from the point of view of reference , reuse and rationale – the "3Rs" – to better understand the level of granularity and abstractions required in the definition of engineering digital objects. Finally we present a proposed case study and experiment.


Bouchard, David. (2012). Beneath Raven Moon. North Vancouver, BC: More Than Words Publishers. Print and CD. Trickster Raven is at it again in Beneath Raven Moon , a creation myth taken from the tradition of the Kwakwaka'wakw people of British Columbia. Metis author David Bouchard weaves together the enchanting tale of how keen-eyed Eagle and whimsical Raven conspire to create a love match between two young people with the story of how the Earth was given Grandmother Moon. Each page is beautifully illustrated with West Coast First Nation's designs in the dark golds, silvers, blues and oranges of nighttime. Bouchard sets a quiet, ethereal tone for the text through carefully-paced repetition and descriptions of night time scenes. The use of playful dialogue, traditional terms such as Grandmother Moon or Grandfather Cedar and Bouchard's placement of Trickster as a force in many aboriginal cultures enhances the timeless feeling of the text. Beneath Raven Moon derives its authenticity from its Metis author and K'omoks First Nations illustrator. Source notes are background information that places this myth in the tradition of the Kwakwaka'wakw people from BC's Inside Passage. Each page contains both English and Kwakwala text, with the Kwakwala translation attributed to Pauline and Pewi Alfred. In keeping with First Nations' oral traditions, a CD of the story read aloud in English, Kwakwala and French is included with the book. The CD also features the haunting First Nations flute music of Mary Youngblood. Students aged eight to twelve will enjoy the visual and auditory experience of Beneath Raven Moon. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Kristie Oxley Kristie Oxley is an elementary Montessori teacher at Richard McBride Elementary School in New Westminster, BC.


This study sought to understand the potential and problems associated with fare-free transit policy. Washington state is extraordinary in the number of such systems that are fully fare-free. Experiences with fare-free policy in Washington are overwhelmingly positive; a result that is consistent with other completely fare-free systems in the U.S. identified in this research. We conclude that fare-free policy does make a difference and that smaller communities especially are better served by a fare-free policy. This positive review of fare-free policy conflicts with common thinking about the policy within the transit industry. We conclude that much of the negative interpretation of the policy is based on a very limited set of experiments with the policy at larger systems. This research points out why these experiments should not be used to dismiss the policy and why the policy's potential success is largely dependent upon transit agency management issues. Furthermore, we present a conceptual overview of why the removal of the fare box results in substantial ridership increases above the levels predicted using standard fare elasticity relationships. This conceptual overview of the relationship between fare-free policy and ridership levels is also suggested as a helpful tool for interpreting the value of increased ridership in juxtaposition to the different objectives of public transportation.


A review of the research methodology literature suggests that owing to the difficulty of gaining access to and obtaining commitments from elites, social scientists less frequently use them as research respondents, opting instead to investigate those over whom power is exercised. This article provides insights into some intricacies of elite interviewing. It recounts the experience of a novice researcher in his quest to gain access to and interview elite individuals within the Ghanaian educational system for his PhD thesis. In the process, the article sheds light on strategies and techniques (related to interviewee identification, scheduling, and researcher preparation for the interview, as well as rapport establishment with potential interviewees) that are helpful as toolkits in ensuring that elite interview processes are not unduly derailed. The article argues that the strategies discussed are useful for circumventing formalised and "public relations" responses, which elites tend to communicate with the press and public.


Every liberal democracy has laws or codes against hate speech - except the United States. For constitutionalists, regulation of hate speech violates the First Amendment and damages a free society. Against this absolutist view, Jeremy Waldron argues powerfully that hate speech should be regulated as part of our commitment to human dignity and to inclusion and respect for members of vulnerable minorities. Causing offense - by depicting a religious leader as a terrorist in a newspaper cartoon, for example - is not the same as launching a libelous attack on a group's dignity, according to Waldron, and it lies outside the reach of law. But defamation of a minority group, through hate speech, undermines a public good that can and should be protected: the basic assurance of inclusion in society for all members. A social environment polluted by anti-gay leaflets, Nazi banners, and burning crosses sends an implicit message to the targets of such hatred: your security is uncertain and you can expect to face humiliation and discrimination when you leave your home. Free-speech advocates boast of despising what racists say but defending to the death their right to say it. Waldron finds this emphasis on intellectual resilience misguided and points instead to the threat hate speech poses to the lives, dignity, and reputations of minority members. Finding support for his view among philosophers of the Enlightenment, Waldron asks us to move beyond knee-jerk American exceptionalism in our debates over the serious consequences of hateful speech.


Drawing on the work of people with strong mainstream reputations, we distinguish model and theory. We argue that a model may qualify as theory only if it purports to answer three questions: Theory of what?, Why should we care?, What merit in your explanation? We examine the 66 regular articles appearing in the 2004 issues of Journal of Economic Theory—"the leading journal in economic theory†—and apply the three requirements. We make the assessment accountable by formulating six subtests and recording our scores in a detailed spreadsheet linked as an appendix; anyone may spot-check the spreadsheet to see if an article was scored unfairly. We find that 27 articles fail the first test (Theory of what?) and 58 articles fail at least one of the three requirements. Thus, 88 percent of the articles do not qualify as theory. (The "pass†rates would be even lower if one were to exclude the special issue, and if one were to include the short notes.) We contend that the journal's claim to scientific status is doubtful, as well as the very title of the journal. A truer title would be, Journal of Economic Model Building. More generally, we challenge calling model building "theory.â€


A teacher's words reflect the theory and methods he uses. Words reveal theoretical structures, the problems identified as relevant, and how those problems should be analyzed. I investigate whether entrepreneurship-rich and institutions-rich theories are represented in Ph.D. programs in economics. I analyze textbooks for the presence of terms that fall naturally into two sets. One set deals with the knowledge and discovery: entrepreneur, innovation, invention, tacit knowledge, and bounded rationality. The other deals with social rules: institutions, property rights, and economic freedom. When the words appear I examine the meaning. I examine the textbooks used in required courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics and industrial organization in all Ph.D. programs in economics in Sweden. The investigation is not specific to Sweden, however, because Ph.D. programs in Sweden are virtually identical to programs in the United States. The same textbooks are used, and nearly all of the textbooks examined are written by economists in the United States. I find that (i) all programs are in the tradition of "mainstream" economics; (ii) by and large, the eight expressions scarcely appear in the textbooks; and (iii) when they do appear, their meaning is diluted or distorted, compared to their meaning in theories where the idea is more central. In my judgment, the results constitute powerful evidence that today's doctoral programs do not train young economists to identify and analyze important economic issues in a relevant way.


This thesis considers the development of synchronization and signal processing techniques for digital communication receivers, which is greatly influenced by the digital revolution of electronic systems. Eventhough synchronization concepts are well studied and established in the literature, there is always a need for new algorithms depending on new system re- quirements and new trends in receiver architecture design. The new trend of using digital receivers where the sampling of the baseband signal is performed by a free running oscil- lator reduces the analog components by performing most of the functions digitally, which increases the flexibility, configurability, and integrability of the receiver. Also, this new de- sign approach contributes greatly to the software radio (SWR) concept which is the natural progression of digital radio receivers towards multimode, multistandard terminals where the radio functionalities are defined by software. The first part of this research work introduces a new technique for jointly estimating the symbol timing and carrier phase of digital receivers with non-synchronized sampling clock for both data-aided and non-data-aided systems using a block-based feed-forward architec- ture. This technique is a practical, rapidly converging, fully digitally implemented synchro- nization concept based on a low-order polynomial approximation of the likelihood functions using the Farrow-based interpolator. A review of maximum likelihood theory, which is the basis for coherent theory of synchronization, defines first the criteria and general framework for developing near-optimum synchronization schemes for digital communication systems. Then, efficient Farrow-based polynomial approximations of the typical likelihood func- tions are derived for systematic symbol timing, carrier phase and fine acquisition frequency synchronization algorithms. Another important receiver functionality closely related to synchronization is propagation delay estimation which is the basis of positioning technologies. Mobile phone positioning is becoming unavoidable after the mandate imposed by communications regulatory bodies on emergency call positioning. The second part of this thesis reviews and develops new tech- niques with subchip resolution capabilities for estimating closely-spaced multipath delays in spread-spectrum CDMA systems. Generally, multipath delays caused by distant reflectors have relatively large delay spread, with more than one chip interval between different paths, that can be resolved using conventional delay-locked-loop techniques. However, shorter excess path delays result in overlapped fading multipath components that introduce signifi- cant errors to the line-of-sight path delay and gain estimation. Overlapping fading multipath components are considered as one of the major sources of error that have strong impact on high precision mobile positioning solutions, as well as, on mobile applications of dedicated systems like the Global Positioning System (GPS). An overview of the most promising ge- olocation positioning techniques for wireless systems that are being standardized is first provided with a survey of fundamental concepts and major problems in positioning. Then, the characteristics of different channel models and conventional multipath delay estimation techniques based on maximum likelihood theory are also discussed. Two new techniques with subchip resolution capabilities are proposed for estimating closely-spaced overlapped multipath components. These techniques are intended to improve the accuracy of location estimates by estimating correctly the delay of the line-of-sight path.


Statistics for Humanities was developed by John Canning, Senior Lecturer in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education at the University of Brighton. It was mostly written when he was Senior Academic Coordinator at the LLAS Centre for languages, linguistics and area studies at the University of Southampton. The work was funded through a British Academy grant. Just 15% of students in England study mathematics beyond GCSE level. However, many of this non-mathematics studying majority find that they need for mathematical skills for the advanced study of other subjects, including humanities and social science subjects at school or university or in their job. Without mathematical, and in particular statistical skills whole areas of the social sciences and humanities are inaccessible to research students and future academics.


Abstract : The LaRC Lagrangian Chemical Transport Model (LaRC LCTM) is used to simulate the kinematic and chemical evolution of an ensemble of trajectories initialized from Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) and Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement (POAM) III atmospheric soundings over the SAGE III-Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE) campaign period. Initial mixing ratios of species which are not measured by HALOE or POAM III are specified using sunrise and sunset constituent CH(4) and constituent PV regressions obtained from the LaRC IMPACT model, a global three dimensional general circulation and photochemical model. Ensemble averaging of the trajectory chemical characteristics provides a vortex-average perspective of the photochemical state of the Arctic vortex. The vortex-averaged evolution of ozone, chlorine, nitrogen species, and ozone photochemical loss rates is presented. Enhanced chlorine catalyzed ozone loss begins in mid-January above 500 K, and the altitude of the peak loss gradually descends during the rest of the simulation. Peak vortex averaged loss rates of over 60 ppbv/day occur in early March at 450 K. Vortex averaged loss rates decline after mid- March. The accumulated photochemical ozone loss during the period from 1 December 1999 to 30 March 2000 peaks at 450 K with net losses of near 2.2 ppmv. The predicted distributions of CH4, O(3), denitrification, and chlorine activation are compared to the distributions obtained from in situ measurements to evaluate the accuracy of the simulations. The comparisons show best agreement when diffusive tendencies are included in the model calculations, highlighting the importance of this process in the Arctic vortex. Sensitivity tests examining the large-scale influence of orographically generated gravity wave temperature anomalies are also presented. Results from this sensitivity study show that mountain-wave temperature perturbations contribute an additional 2-8% O(3) loss during the 1999/2000 winter.