Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)-the sourcing of business services through external third parties-is a global phenomenon, which generated nearly $300 billion worldwide in 2012. BPO is highly IT-enabled, and on a growth trajectory that impacts across functions of major, medium and small enterprises, including procurement, human resources, accounting and finance, sales, marketing, legal, asset management and key administrative processes. Despite this size and spread, BPO services and the ability of clients to manage their providers, are still evolving and have a mixed record. In the course of their research, the authors have found only 20% of outsourcing arrangements are world-class performers. A further 25% are 'good', 40% are 'OK' and 15% are 'poor'. This book pinpoints and describes in detail the effective practices that characterize the top global BPO performers, including Microsoft, BP, EMC and TalkTalk. The authors provide case illustrations and examples throughout of how world-class practices were generated and evolved, and how they can be applied to real life settings and problem areas.


Antigone defending her integrity and ideals to the death, Oedipus questing for his identity and achieving immortality - these heroic figures have moved playgoers and readers since the fifth century BC. Towering over the rest of Greek tragedy, these plays are among the most enduring and timeless dramas ever written. Robert Fagles' translation conveys all of Sophocles' lucidity and power: the cut and thrust of his dialogue, his ironic edge, the surge and majesty of his choruses and, above all, the agonies and triumphs of his characters.


This paper studies equilibrium voluntary disclosures for a company financed with both debt and equity, where the firm's manager is compensated based on a linear combination of the market prices of the firm's equity and enterprise values (i.e., the sum of its values of equity and debt). Such compensation policies span "all equity" contracts, "all debt" contracts, and "all enterprise value" contracts. We show: (1) under both "all equity" and "all debt" contracts, increased debt always leads to reduced voluntary disclosure; (2) under "all enterprise value" contracts, increased debt has no effect on voluntary disclosure; (3) for all contracts that place positive weight on both equity and enterprise values, more debt leads to less (respectively, more) disclosure if the initial debt level is low (respectively, high); (4) increasing the weight on equity prices always induces less disclosure, so: (5) "all equity" contracts minimize disclosures, and "all debt" contracts maximize disclosures.


Increase speed, power, endurance, and efficiency with Cutting-Edge Cycling. You'll learn how to apply the latest in cycling research, science, and technology to train smarter, ride longer, and race faster.
 Renowned cycling coach Hunter Allen and leading scientist Stephen Cheung share the most recent biomechanical, physiological, and technical advances and research, why they matter, and how you can incorporate them for maximal training and optimal performance.
 From the latest information on periodization, lactate threshold, and recovery to bike fit, pedaling technique, and cadence, Cutting-Edge Cycling covers every aspect of conditioning, preparation, and competition in this physically demanding sport. Additional coverage includes interviews on a broad range of topics: interpreting lab results, fatigue, monitoring training, high-intensity training, prevention of and recovery from overtraining, pacing, power meter quadrant analysis, hydration, and cooling strategies.
 If you're serious about gaining the edge on the competition, Cutting-Edge Cycling is one guide you shouldn't be without.


Objective:Following the Second International Conference on Concussion in Sport in 2005, a summary agreement statement was published that introduced new terminology for sport-related concussions. This new classification system is binary (ie, "simple" versus "complex" concussions). Athletes who are slow to recover (ie, >10 days) are classified as having complex concussions. The purpose of this study was to determine if high school football players, retrospectively classified as having a simple or a complex concussion, could be differentiated in the first 48 after injury on the basis of symptom reporting or neuropsychological testing. Design:Case-control study. Setting:Pennsylvania high school football programs. Participants:The total sample consisted of 114 concussed high school football players who were identified through a 3 year prospective cohort study. Interventions:All completed a computerized neuropsychological screening evaluation within 72 hours of injury. They were followed clinically until they recovered and were cleared to return to play. They were classified retrospectively as having a simple (n = 55) or complex (n = 59) concussion based on their recovery times. Main Outcome Measurements:Neurocognitive test performance and symptom ratings. Results:Within 72 hours after injury, athletes with complex concussions performed more poorly on neuropsychological testing and reported more symptoms than those with simple concussions. Athletes with complex concussions who were slow to recover were 18 times more likely to have 3 unusually low neuropsychological test scores than those with simple concussions (95% CI = 2.3-144.9). Athletes with previous concussions did not recover more slowly. Conclusions:This study provides evidence that supports and refutes the clinical usefulness of the new simple-complex concussion classification system.


In vitro techniques used for evaluating ruminant feeds can be classified into those that estimate gravimetrically their digestibility or degradability by quantifying the insoluble residues that remain after their incubation in inoculum containing rumen fluid, and those that measure the appearance of fermentation products such as gases. This paper reviews the development of three important in vitro techniques and addresses some problems associated with them. It is argued that whereas in vitro gas techniques have received much attention over the last two decades on account of the ease with which gas production kinetics can be assessed, there is little hard evidence of their superiority over gravimetric techniques. A conceptual problem with in vitro gas measurements arises from the variation in the proportion of products of microbial degradation of feeds, i.e. short chain fatty acids (SCFA), microbial biomass and gases. It is demonstrated that a close stoichiometrical relationship exists between SCFA and gas production, and that both products can practically be considered as one fermentative complex. A potentially competitive relationship exists between this complex and microbial growth with respect to substrate utilization. This problem can be overcome by measuring true substrate degradability concomitantly with gas production. On this account, this paper advances the hypothesis that it is possible to select feeds with high degradability in the rumen and less gas released in relation to the amount of substrate degraded, which has direct implications as a means for improving the efficiency of utilization of feeds for meat and milk production, while decreasing the emissions of gases to the atmosphere.


This paper studies the robustness of exemplar effects in word comprehension by means of four long-term priming experiments with lexical decision tasks in Dutch. A prime and target represented the same word type and were presented with the same or different degree of reduction. In Experiment 1, participants heard only a small number of trials, a large proportion of repeated words, and stimuli produced by only one speaker. They recognized targets more quickly if these represented the same degree of reduction as their primes, which forms additional evidence for the exemplar effects reported in the literature. Similar effects were found for two speakers who differ in their pronunciations. In Experiment 2, with a smaller proportion of repeated words and more trials between prime and target, participants recognized targets preceded by primes with the same or a different degree of reduction equally quickly. Also, in Experiments 3 and 4, in which listeners were not exposed to one but two types of pronunciation variation (reduction degree and speaker voice), no exemplar effects arose. We conclude that the role of exemplars in speech comprehension during natural conversations, which typically involve several speakers and few repeated content words, may be smaller than previously assumed.


Haplogroup H (hg H) includes about 40–50% of the West Eurasian mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) samples investigated so far. In order to enhance discrimination within this haplogroup we selected 45 coding region SNPs that allow to ascribe samples to the main phylogenetic branches of super hg HV (that embraces hg H) and, in particular, to H sublineages with a much finer resolution than previous studies. SNP selection was carried out using the most up‐to‐date available literature on population and forensic genetics and extended by means of phylogenetic analysis of complete or coding region genomes (<430) and control region sequences. A meticulous inspection of the H phylogeny led us to the observation of various but uncharacterized subclades of hg H. The selected SNPs were amplified in two PCR‐multiplex reactions and subsequently targeted in three single‐base extension multiplex reactions. A total of 2214 West Eurasian samples were screened for hg H specific loci 2706 and 7028, of which 859 fell in hg H and were further subjected to subhaplogroup typing. We observed 35 different subhaplogroups in total, 33 of which were found at frequencies below 5%. This assay can be used as a prescreening tool in forensic casework for rapid discrimination between divergent lineages (very effective for high‐volume crime cases) or as discriminatory assay, when identical hg H haplotypes were obtained by control region sequencing.


Objective : Transmucosal buccal drug delivery could be an alternative for oral administration for systemic delivery of Verapamil Hydrochloride (VH), as it has low bioavailability 20 - 35 % due to its extensive first pass metabolism and variable absorption at GIT. Method: Buccal patches of VH were prepared by solvent casting method using bioadhesive polymers HPMC K4M, Carbopol 934P, Chitosan acetate and Okra mucilage isolated from Hibiscus esculantus fruits, in various combinations as per 2 4 half factorial model. The prepared medicated patches were subjected for in vitro and ex vivo characterization. Results : The mass uniformity, thickness, drug content, surface pH and folding endurance for the medicated patches were found satisfactory. The formulation contains Chitosan acetate and Okra mucilage has moderate swelling 38.86 % w/w in 2h, ex vivo mucoadhesion strength 27.78 ± 0.12 g on porcine buccal membrane and sustained in vitro release rate as 73.14 % (F7) compared to 93.06 % (F1) in 120 min with non-Fickian mechanism. The flux value of F1 (0.635 mg/cm2/h) was modified to the range of 0.538 mg/cm 2 /h to 0.294 mg/cm 2 /h by addition of Chitosan acetate and Okra mucilage in combination with HPMC K4M and Carbopol 934P. No significant changes were observed in the Physical and chemical characteristics during short term stability study. Chemical compatibility of VH with polymers was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. Conclusion: Overall, Chitosan acetate and Okra mucilage imparts good physical properties to the buccal patch, significantly controls release and diffusion of VH from the matrix film with satisfactory bucco-adhesion. Key words : Buccal Patches, Mucoadhesive, Transmucosal, Verapamil HCl, Okra Mucilage, Chitosan Acetate.


Stem Cell Niche
The stem cell niche is a complex local signaling microenvironment that regulates stem cell activity for tissue and organ maintenance and regeneration. As well as responding locally, during puberty, the mammary gland stem cell niche also responds to systemic hormonal signals. Zhao et al. have found that Gli2 , a transcriptional effector of Hedgehog signaling, coordinates the niche-signaling program and activates expression of receptors for the mammatrophic hormones estrogen and growth hormone throughout the mammary gland (see the Perspective by Robertson). Disease may result not only from stem cell defects, but also from dysregulation of the microenvironment.

Science , this issue p. [eaal3485][1]; see also p. [250][2]

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aal3485
 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aan1506


OBJECTIVE To review the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appearance of bone marrow edema (BME) and to discuss the applications of this imaging modality in the diagnosis of associated disorders. A case of BME in the foot is also provided to acquaint the reader with how MRI may assist in establishing a differential diagnosis in patients with normal radiographs and clinical findings that suggest osseous injury. CLINICAL FEATURES A 42-yr-old woman suffered from persistent pain along the dorsum of her foot that worsened with jogging. There was foot pronation and palpable pain and swelling at the third tarsometatarsal joint. An MRI was performed, but it was initially misinterpreted. A second review of the MRI examination established the presence of stress-induced BME adjacent to the articular margins of the third tarsometatarsal joint. INTERVENTION AND OUTCOME Medical treatment consisted of a cortisone injection into the left third tarsometatarsal joint, which provided transient relief. Chiropractic treatment included flexible custom orthotics prescribed to specifically address her foot pronation. This was the only chiropractic treatment employed. CONCLUSION In the presented case, the sensitivity of MRI to stress-induced BME identified the cause of this patient's symptoms and, more importantly, directed management. Because of its ability to demonstrate anatomic and physiologic information, MRI is the ideal imaging modality for assessing suspected injury to the osseous tissues. In patients who relay historical information that suggests chronic or acute osseous injury but demonstrate no radiographic changes to support the clinical suspicion of bony abnormality, an MRI may be indicated to exclude occult injury.


Land cover and agricultural management practices can significantly influence soil structure. However, little is known about how fertilizer applications and land cover affect soil hydrology and groundwater recharge over long time periods. The objective of this study was to use stable water isotopes as environmental tracers to provide additional information required for better understanding of water flow and solute transport processes in the unsaturated zone influenced by land cover and type of fertilizer applications. Five lysimeters containing undisturbed soil monoliths from the same agricultural field site were investigated over a period of 5 yr. Liquid cattle slurry and solid animal manure were applied to the maize (Zea mays L.) and winter rye (Secale cereale L.) lysimeters. The grass–clover lysimeter was treated with mineral fertilizer. Quantitative influence of land cover and type of fertilizer application on water flow and solute transport was evaluated for all lysimeters using a modified version of HYDRUS‐1D. The highest drainage was observed in the maize lysimeter treated with cattle slurry, and the lowest in the grass lysimeter treated with mineral fertilizer. Pronounced differences in water contents and estimated saturated hydraulic conductivities between the lysimeters were restricted to the upper 25 to 30 cm of the soil. In particular, the lysimeters treated with animal manure had higher porosities, indicating a higher content of organic matter. Main differences in discharge between the lysimeters were observed in spring and during the plant growth periods, indicating the importance of nonuniform, patchy infiltration patterns during snow melt and of root water uptake, respectively. Mean water flow velocities, transit times, and effective water contents were estimated from the stable water isotope data, providing evidence on the impact of land cover and type of fertilizer application. We found smaller mean transit times in the maize lysimeters and for soils with liquid cattle slurry applications. Simulations indicate that numerical modeling can reproduce the general trend of water flow and isotope transport. Despite differences in mean transit times, fitted dispersivities were all in the same range, suggesting similar soil structures in the five lysimeters. However, more data for calibration and more information about heterogeneous infiltration would be required to improve the model accuracy. In general, stable water isotopes clearly contributed an added value, elucidating differences in mean flow parameters between the lysimeters. Thus, they provided evidence of the impacts of land cover and fertilizer applications, which are not obvious from water balance and mean discharge rates alone.


Abstract Laetinaevia marina is a frequent ascomycetous fungus that is widely distributed on the seashores of Scandinavia and Great Britain. It grows on fronds of Fucales (Phaeophyceae) that are washed ashore and lie decaying at the high tide mark or further up on the beach. It is one of the few described marine discomycetes. In the current generic concept it is regarded as a member of Naevioideae (Dermateaceae or Mollisiaceae), while it has previously been placed in the genus Orbilia (Orbiliaceae). We studied fresh collections, in live and dead state, to provide a morphological update on the species and to elucidate its systematic placement using molecular systematics. The hemiamyloid reaction of the apical ring, the absence of croziers, and the faintly refractive vacuolar bodies of the terminal cells of living paraphyses are reported here for the first time. A thin gel sheath surrounding the ascospores was confirmed to exist. Based on morphological characters, ribosomal RNA and protein coding gene sequences published for this species here for the first time, we show that L. marina is distinct from the genera and families it was previously placed in, and propose the new combination Calycina marina, despite its erumpent, sessile, pulvinate and rather immarginate apothecia. Furthermore, we present additional observations on the ecology, phenology, and distribution of the species.


CD4+ helper T (Th) cells that produce interleukin-17 (IL-17) are a distinct lineage of Th cells (Th17 cells) and are important in autoimmune disorders. Exactly how cytokine signaling generates Th17 cells is only recently becoming clear. IL-6 stimulates Th17 differentiation in vitro, so Yang et al. analyzed splenocytes from immunized wild-type and Il-6 knockout mice by flow cytometry and found that Il-6 knockout mice had the fewest Th17 cells. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) inhibits Th17 differentiation, so naïve T cells from IFN-γ-deficient mice were activated in vitro with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 in the presence or absence of cytokines and/or cytokine-neutralizing antibodies. IL-6 simulated production of Th17 cells, whereas IL-23 resulted in few Th17 cells but synergized with IL-6. This effect might be due to the increased amounts of IL-23 receptor (IL-23R) mRNA observed in IL-6-treated naïve CD4+ T cells, as measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Infection of naïve CD4+ T cells from IFN-γ-deficient mice with a retrovirus encoding a hyperactive form of signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT3) resulted in more Th-17 cells and higher amounts of mRNAs for IL-17 and IL-22 than in control cells. Activation of naïve CD4+ T cells from mice with a hematopoietic-specific deletion of Stat3 produced fewer Th17 cells and lower amounts of IL-17 and IL-22 mRNAs than did equivalent treatment of wild-type cells. Activated CD4+ T cells from Stat3 knockout mice had lower amounts of mRNAs for IL-23R and RORγt (retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor γ-T), a Th17-specific transcription factor. This study nominates STAT3 as the essential regulator of Th17 cells, analogous to STAT4 and STAT1 in Th1 cells and STAT6 in Th2 cells. X. O. Yang, A. D. Panopoulos, R. Nurieva, S. H. Chang, D. Wang, S. S. Watowich, C. Dong, STAT3 regulates cytokine-mediated generation of inflammatory helper T cells. J. Biol. Chem. 282, 9358-9363 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]


As is well known the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) is a constitutional innovation,but can its scheme deliver? This timely and provocative book probes the extent to which the HRA is guaranteeing rights and whether it is transforming the legal landscape. This companion text to Understanding Human Rights Principles (Hart Publications 2001) is the culmination of a six-month project where key elements of the HRA were analysed and subjected to detailed scrutiny by expert practitioners and academics. The result is seven chapters of the highest quality which examine the following subjects including the reach of the Act and its jurisdictional scope and how to strike the balance under the HRA between interpretation and incompatibility. Two chapters look at remedies for breach of human rights. The first under the HRA and the second using Community law principles. The text then goes on to consider assessment of fact, due deference, and the wider impact of the Human Rights Act in administrative law. It then asks what is public power? And looks at the courts' approach to the public authority definition under the Act. Finally access to court under the Human Rights Act is examined including standing, legal assistance and third party intervenors. The book's contributors are the leading experts in the field including Dinah Rose, Nathalie Lieven, Janet Kentridge, Kate Markus, Richard Clayton QC, Peter Roth QC, and Tim Owen QC. It provides an unparalleled examination of the scheme of the Human Rights Act and its component parts and it is of direct relevance to the practitioner and academic.


This paper aims to investigate the mindset essential to entrepreneurial success of the young students towards entrepreneurship, who are yet to enter the field of work (Generation Z). Generation Z are those born between 1996 to 2000 (Mark & Sniderman, 2018). The factors associated with the entrepreneurial mindset are inclination to take risks, venturing into new fields, innovation & creativity. In this paper an empirical study has been done wherein a survey was conducted on 148 students who are pursuing their graduation/post-graduation degrees in various fields (Management, Hospitality, Law, Design, Information Technology, Family Managed Business, Liberal Arts and Journalism) to test how the demographic profiles play a vital role in affecting the factors like willingness towards taking risk, innovation, working out of their comfort zone, facing challenging situations and uncertainty, few of the key factors associated with entrepreneurship. This study contributes to the body of the literature of entrepreneurial mindset with insights that there is relationship between the demographics of the students, their cultural background and their mindset towards entrepreneurship. The tests used to identify the relationship are One-way ANOVA test, Chi-Square and Cross-Tabulations.


Proposes a new approach for vision based longitudinal and lateral vehicle control which makes extensive use of binocular stereopsis. Longitudinal control-i.e. maintaining a safe, constant distance from the vehicle in front-is supported by detecting and measuring the distances to leading vehicles using binocular stereo. A known camera geometry with respect to the locally planar road is used to map the images of the road plane in the two camera views into alignment. Any significant residual image disparity then indicates an object not lying in the road plane and hence a potential obstacle. This approach allows the separation of image features into those lying in the road plane, e.g. lane markers, and those due to other objects. The features which lie on the road are stationary in the scene and appear to move only because of the egomotion of the vehicle. Measurements on these features allow (a) a dynamic camera calibration update and (b) support the search for lane marker, which are used for lateral control.


It is suggested in the literature that we have entered a postmodern era with a growth in new sports associated with spontaneity and playfulness as opposed to the rationalised and standardised characteristics of many traditional sports. Many of these new sports have been categorised as being alternative, lifestyle or extreme sports and are known to have fewer rules and regulations than conventional sports. Alternative sports have experienced a significant increase in popularity with many of them being adventure sports. For example; surfing, wakeboarding and mountain biking. The global sporting landscape is now comprised of participants who intentionally pursue experiences of risk and danger (e.g., snowboarding, bungee jumping, cave diving, parkour, mountaineering, free running, rock climbing). This study aims to contribute towards understanding the extent that international tourists have overlooked Northern Cyprus as a destination of choice for these new sport forms and their potential to revitalize its adventure sports tourism industry. A thriving sports tourism industry can create income, employment, civic pride, and cultural rejuvenation and education opportunities.


Mobility is one of the most important challenges in a wireless sensor system. Usually, continuous connectivity of a Mobile Node (MN) is achieved by supporting handoff from one connection point to another. In order to guarantee reliability and seamless communications to a MN, it is important to avoid unnecessary handoffs occurring during a short period of time. In this paper, we present a mobility management solution that is applied to a network operating in an oil refinery environment. The proposed mobility solution is supported by fuzzy logic techniques in order to keep the number of handoff triggers to low values and at the same time to provide high reliability. The performance evaluation of the proposed fuzzy-based solution and the conventional Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) based method shows that the proposed solution manages to increase the reliability of the system and at the same time reduce the handoff overhead.


This thesis develops scalable algorithms and techniques to classify large amount of time series data. Nowadays, many real-world applications are generating huge amount of time series data. This wealth of data is required to create finer and more accurate classification models that allow us to learn from the data. Unfortunately, the state-of-the-art classification algorithms are impractical for large amount of time series data. Models that are accurate but slow are not good. Therefore, the ability to classify large amount of data quickly and accurately allows the state of the art to be more practical in many applications.


Functional programming languages are informally classified into pure and impure languages. The precise meaning of this distinction has been a matter of controversy. We therefore investigate a formal definition of purity. We begin by showing that some proposed definitions which rely on confluence, soundness of the beta axiom, preservation of pure observational equivalences and independence of the order of evaluation, do not withstand close scrutiny. We propose instead a definition based on parameter-passing independence. Intuitively, the definition implies that functions are pure mappings from arguments to results; the operational decision of how to pass the arguments is irrelevant. In the context of Haskell, our definition is consistent with the fact that the traditional call-by-name denotational semantics coincides with the traditional call-by-need implementation. Furthermore, our definition is compatible with the stream-based, continuation-based and monad-based integration of computational effects in Haskell. Finally, we observe that call-by-name reasoning principles are unsound in compilers for monadic Haskell.


Case studies are widely used in management education. Most of the literature discussing the case study method
has reflected the perspective of the teacher, implying a teacher-centred view of the case study as a learning strategy.
Little is known about the student perspective on case studies. If we are to use the case study method as a component
of a student-centred learning experience, then we must know how students perceive case studies, and
understand the differences in attitude towards case studies that are found between different groups within the student
body. This paper reports on a study of 288 final-year undergraduate students at two UK higher education institutions
and is designed to uncover their views about the case study method. All of the respondents were currently
enrolled on a strategic marketing or strategic management module on which case studies were used as a key component
of the teaching and learning strategy. In general, students believed case studies to be useful as a method
of acquiring skills and knowledge. The inherent ambiguity of the complex case study, grounded in business realities,
can cause anxiety among some students. There is evidence of marked differences in attitude towards case
studies between students with different entry qualifications and with different ethnic backgrounds. Older students are found to have more favourable attitudes to case studies than younger students. These findings have practical
implications for the effective use of the case study method. Lecturers using this approach need to be aware of the likely differences of attitude towards case studies of students in their class, and consider these when designing
appropriate teaching and learning strategies.


Aim/Purpose: This paper aims to empirically quantify the financial distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). The paper also aims to identify the most important predictors of financial distress pre- and mid-pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge toll, not only on human lives but also on many businesses. This provided the impetus to assess the impact of the pandemic on the financial status of Jordanian companies.

Methodology: The initial sample comprised 165 companies, which was cleansed and reduced to 84 companies as per data availability. Financial data pertaining to the 84 companies were collected over a two-year period, 2019 and 2020, to empirically quantify the impact of the pandemic on companies in the dataset. Two approaches were employed. The first approach involved using Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) based on Altman's (1968) model to obtain the Z-score of each company over the investigation period. The second approach involved developing models using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) with 15 standard financial ratios to find out the most important variables in predicting financial distress and create an accurate Financial Distress Prediction (FDP) model.

Contribution: This research contributes by providing a better understanding of how financial distress predictors perform during dynamic and risky times. The research confirmed that in spite of the negative impact of COVID-19 on the financial health of companies, the main predictors of financial distress remained relatively steadfast. This indicates that standard financial distress predictors can be regarded as being impervious to extraneous financial and/or health calamities.

Findings: Results using MDA indicated that more than 63% of companies in the dataset have a lower Z-score in 2020 when compared to 2019. There was also an 8% increase in distressed companies in 2020, and around 6% of companies came to be no longer healthy. As for the models built using ANNs, results show that the most important variable in predicting financial distress is the Return on Capital. The predictive accuracy for the 2019 and 2020 models measured using the area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) graph was 87.5% and 97.6%, respectively.

Recommendations for Practitioners: Decision makers and top management are encouraged to focus on the identified highly liquid ratios to make thoughtful decisions and initiate preemptive actions to avoid organizational failure.

Recommendation for Researchers: This research can be considered a stepping stone to investigating the impact of COVID-19 on the financial status of companies. Researchers are recommended to replicate the methods used in this research across various business sectors to understand the financial dynamics of companies during uncertain times.

Impact on Society: Stakeholders in Jordanian-listed companies should concentrate on the list of most important predictors of financial distress as presented in this study.

Future Research: Future research may focus on expanding the scope of this study by including other geographical locations to check for the generalisability of the results. Future research may also include post-COVID-19 data to check for changes in results.


We describe our efforts in deploying Google search by voice for Cantonese, a southern Chinese dialect widely spoken in and around Hong Kong and Guangzhou. We collected audio data from local Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong and Guangzhou by using our DataHound smartphone application. This data was used to create appropriate acoustic models. Language models were trained on anonymized query logs from Google Web Search for Hong Kong. Because users in Hong Kong frequently mix English and Cantonese in their queries, we designed our system from the ground up to handle both languages. We report on experiments with different techniques for mapping the phoneme inventories for both languages into a common space. Based on extensive experiments we report word error rates and web scores for both Hong Kong and Guangzhou data. Cantonese Google search by voice was launched in December 2010. Index Terms: voice search, Cantonese speech recognition, multilingual speech recognition


The imperviousness of mathematical truth to anti-objectivist attacks has always heartened those who defend objectivism in other areas, such as ethics. It is argued that the parallel between mathematics and ethics is close and does support objectivist theories of ethics. The parallel depends on the foundational role of equality in both disciplines. Despite obvious differences in their subject matter, mathematics and ethics share a status as pure forms of knowledge, distinct from empirical sciences. A pure understanding of principles is possible because of the simplicity of the notion of equality, despite the different origins of our understanding of equality of objects in general and of the equality of the ethical worth of persons.


Central nervous system integration of sensory inputs is critical for orchestrating physiological responses to stress. The focus of my doctoral research was investigating the physiological consequences of sensory stimulation to begin to answer the question of how the body integrates information about stress, pain and other sensory inputs. Conscious, chronically instrumented rabbits were used to minimize the influence of anesthesia and surgery. Two studies explored the role of the midbrain periaqueductal gray in modulating the cardiovascular response to hemorrhage and sensory stimulation. Other studies describe the assessment and use of a model of visceral pain, colorectal distension, to quantify the effect of concurrent stress and pain on the cardiovascular and respiratory response to blood loss. The results from these studies provide insight into 1) a central nervous system site for integration of multiple sensory inputs; and 2) potential sex differences in the response to concurrent stress, pain and hemorrhage.


Introduction. Gabapentin is an anti-epileptic drug which is also used for the treatment of postoperative pain and a variety of psychiatric diseases including chronic anxiety disorders. We tested the hypothesis that compared with a placebo control, gabapentin would reduce preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty. Methods. Following ethics approval, patients par- ticipating in a larger double blind, randomized, trial of multimodal analgesia were given either gabapen- tin 600 mg (N = 22) or placebo (N = 48) 2 hours before spinal anesthesia. Prior to administering the study medication, baseline anxiety levels were mea- sured using a visual analog scale (VAS). Two hours after the ingestion of gabapentin or placebo, and prior to surgery, patients again rated their anxiety using a VAS. Results. Anxiety scores did not differ significantly between the groups either before (P = 0.95) or 2 hours after (P = 0.61) ingestion of gabapentin or placebo. Baseline anxiety and postdrug anxiety scores failed to demonstrate a significant associa- tionwithmaximalpostoperativepainatrest,maximal postoperative pain with movement, and cumulative morphine consumption 48 hours after surgery. Conclusions. Administration of gabapentin 600 mg prior to surgery does not reduce preoperative anxiety.


The paper presents an attempt to develop a theory of system change and replacement that does not attempt to reify systems. Systemic semiotics is used to produce descriptions and explanations of system change and replacement that are communicative, socio-semantic, and contextual. The situational and cultural contexts of four distinct but related information systems are described. The contributions of these workpractices across multiple systems are analysed and described. Related workpractices form so-called genre assemblages. Persistent workpractices enter into metastable relationships with other related workpractices in the genre assemblages. This explains how systems can be difficult to actually decommission and accounts for some unusual modalities in the succession of systems


Jamming games between a cognitive radio enabled secondary user (SU) and a cognitive radio enabled jammer are considered, in which end-user decision making is modeled using prospect theory (PT). More specifically, the interactions between a user and a smart jammer regarding their respective choices of transmit power are formulated as a game under the assumption that the end-user decision making under uncertainty does not follow the traditional objective assumptions stipulated by expected utility theory, but rather follows the subjective deviations specified by PT. Two PT-based static jamming games are formulated to describe how subjective SU and jammer choose their transmit power to maximize their individual signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR)-based utilities under uncertainties regarding the opponent's actions and channel states, respectively. The Nash equilibria of the games are presented under various channel models and transmission costs. Moreover, a PT-based dynamic jamming game is presented to investigate the long-term interactions between a subjective and a smart jammer according to a Markov decision process with uncertainty on the SU's future actions and the channel variations. Simulation results show that the subjective view of an SU tends to exaggerate the jamming probabilities and decreases its transmission probability, thus reducing the average SINR. On the other hand, the subjectivity of a jammer tends to reduce its jamming probability, and thus increases the SU throughput.


Margin is one of the most important concepts in machine learning. Previous margin bounds, both for SVM and for boosting, are dimensionality independent. A major advantage of this dimensionality independency is that it can explain the excellent performance of SVM whose feature spaces are often of high or infinite dimension. In this paper we address the problem whether such dimensionality independency is intrinsic for the margin bounds. We prove a dimensionality dependent PAC-Bayes margin bound. The bound is monotone increasing with respect to the dimension when keeping all other factors fixed. We show that our bound is strictly sharper than a previously well-known PAC-Bayes margin bound if the feature space is of finite dimension; and the two bounds tend to be equivalent as the dimension goes to infinity. In addition, we show that the VC bound for linear classifiers can be recovered from our bound under mild conditions. We conduct extensive experiments on benchmark datasets and find that the new bound is useful for model selection and is usually significantly sharper than the dimensionality independent PAC-Bayes margin bound as well as the VC bound for linear classifiers.


Sum-product networks (SPN) are knowledge compilation models and are related to other graphical models for efficient probabilistic inference such as arithmetic circuits and AND/OR graphs. Recent investigations into generalizing SPNs have yielded sum-product-max networks (SPMN) which offer a data-driven alternative for decision making that has predominantly relied on handcrafted models. However, SPMNs are not suited for decision-theoretic planning which involves sequential decision making over multiple time steps. In this paper, we present recurrent SPMNs (RSPMN) that learn from and model decision-making data over time. RSPMNs utilize a template network that is unfolded as needed depending on the length of the data sequence. This is significant as RSPMNs not only inherit the benefits of SPNs in being data driven and mostly tractable, they are also well suited for planning problems. We establish soundness conditions on the template network, which guarantee that the resulting SPMN is valid, and present a structure learning algorithm to learn a sound template. RSPMNs learned on a testbed of data sets, some generated using RDDLSim, yield MEUs and policies that are close to the optimal on perfectly-observed domains and easily improve on a recent batch-constrained RL method, which is important because RSPMNs offer a new model-based approach to offline RL.


A budget of US $ 40.8 billion was allocated for wastewater utilities in Korea for the year 2004, but no definite standard for determining the appropriate budget allotted to wastewater utilities in Korea has been established. Thus, an effective method of determining the conditions of wastewater utilities and the allotment of an appropriate budget has been developed in this study. To this end, 36 indicators of the condition of Korean wastewater utilities were chosen, and then divided into four categories, namely: facilities, maintenance, management efficiency and environmental effects. The wastewater utilities of 48 Korean cities were allocated scores for each category based on their pertinent conditions. Through a cluster analysis, these cities were then subdivided into eight groups based on their individual scores for each category. From the cluster analysis, V and IV groups were found to be very good in all categories, I and II groups were average, III and VII groups required a bigger budget in the facilities category, IV group required a bigger budget in the maintenance category, and VIII group needed a bigger budget for both the facilities and maintenance categories. After examining the scores of all the groups in the different categories, it was determined that the facilities and maintenance categories were of the highest priority for the budget allocation.


The County Sanitation Districts of Orange County (CSDOC), California own and operate two wastewater treatment plants. Reclamation Plant No. 1, in Fountain Valley, treats approximately 60 million gallons per day (mgd) of sewage. Treatment Plant No. 2, in Huntington Beach, treats about 200 mgd. Both have received odor complaints from nearby residents. Growing public concern prompted CSDOC to install and operate a number of odor control facilities at each plant. Constructed at a cost of more than $30 million, these include: Covered processes with ventilation for odor capture; Chemical addition systems for odor control; and Caustic scrubber systems for odor reduction. The Districts still receive a few odor complaints, though they have consistently met state standards for hydrogen sulfide concentration at plant boundaries. These have been traced mostly to scrubber discharge. The trends in complaints with the implementation schedule for odor control facilities are illustrated.


The present study was designed to investigate the extent of osteoconductive property of a mechanical mixture of octacalcium phosphate (OCP) and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP). OCP was mixed with ACP in granules that had a diameter of 300 and 500 μm, respectively, and at 25, 50, or 75 wt %. The physicochemical characteristics and the osteoconductive properties of the mixtures were compared with OCP alone or ACP alone through implantation into rat critical-sized calvaria defects for up to 12 weeks and simulated body fluid (SBF) immersion for 2 weeks. The mixtures of OCP and ACP, in particular the OCP 25 wt % and ACP 75 wt % (O25A75), had higher radiopacity compared to ACP and OCP alone. O25A75 induced greater enhancement of bone regeneration than ACP alone at 8 weeks and that than OCP alone at 12 weeks. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses of the retrieved mixtures showed that ACP, OCP, and O25A75 tended to convert to hydroxyapatite (HA) after the implantation, while the structure of OCP remains without complete conversion after SBF immersion. Analyses by FTIR curve fitting of the solids and the degree of supersaturation of the SBF supported the observation that the existence of ACP enhances the kinetics of the conversion. Scanning electron microscopy found that the surface of O25A75 had distinct characteristics with OCP and ACP after SBF immersion. The results suggest that the extent of the osteoconduction of OCP could be controlled by the copresence of ACP most probably through the prevailing dissolution-precipitation of the surface of ACP crystals to form HA.


Taro Gold inspires and enlightens with "Living Wabi Sabi: The True Beauty of Your Life." A blend of Eastern wisdom, feng shui, and the movement toward simplicity, Wabi Sabi is a Japanese expression meaning "wisdom in natural simplicity." Wabi Sabi helps us to see the beauty in imperfection, to discover that our unique flaws also can lead us to our greatest strengths and treasures. No one is perfect--in fact, we all are perfectly imperfect. That is the paradoxical first lesson shared by Taro Gold in "Living Wabi Sabi: The True Beauty of Your Life." What is Wabi Sabi? A universal ideal of beauty, Wabi Sabi celebrates the basic, the unique, and the imperfect parts of our lives. Wabi Sabi is the comfortable joy you felt as a child, happily singing off key, creatively coloring outside the lines, and mispronouncing words with gusto. On a deeper level, Wabi Sabi is the profound awareness of our oneness with all life and the environment. It includes a deep awareness of the choices we make each day, the power we have to accept or reject each moment of our lives, and to find value in every experience. Appreciate this and every moment, no matter how imperfect, for this moment is your life. When you reject this moment, you reject your life. You don't have to settle for this moment, you are free to steer a different course, but for now, this moment is yours, so be mindful to make the most of it." "Living Wabi Sabi: The True Beauty of Your Life" leads us to discover the true beauty of our lives, to know true joy here and now, to reveal the most powerfully positive sides of imperfection. Illustrated with stunning yet simple watercolor art, "Living Wabi Sabi: The True Beauty of Your Life" is a beautiful keepsake that is sure to become a beloved resource for wisdom in the joy of living.


In 2015, the United Nations approved a new international development agenda, known as the 2030 Agenda, consisting of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets. The agenda asserts the need for targeted actions to bolster sustainable economic growth, decent employment, and industrialization in all countries. This international strategic framework is of particular relevance to Mexico in light of its low-growth context, as well as its relative abandonment of active industrialization policies, for more than three decades now. This document provides a retrospective view of growth and industrialization in Mexico, and identifies challenges and obstacles in the current national context when it comes to achieving the targets set forth in Goals 8 and 9 on the 2030 Agenda.


This paper presents a new method for inferring the semantic properties of documents by leveraging free-text keyphrase annotations. Such annotations are becoming increasingly abundant due to the recent dramatic growth in semi-structured, user-generated online content. One especially relevant domain is product reviews, which are often annotated by their authors with pros/cons keyphrases such as "a real bargain" or "good value." These annotations are representative of the underlying semantic properties; however, unlike expert annotations, they are noisy: lay authors may use different labels to denote the same property, and some labels may be missing. To learn using such noisy annotations, we find a hidden paraphrase structure which clusters the keyphrases. The paraphrase structure is linked with a latent topic model of the review texts, enabling the system to predict the properties of unannotated documents and to effectively aggregate the semantic properties of multiple reviews. Our approach is implemented as a hierarchical Bayesian model with joint inference. We find that joint inference increases the robustness of the keyphrase clustering and encourages the latent topics to correlate with semantically meaningful properties. Multiple evaluations demonstrate that our model substantially outperforms alternative approaches for summarizing single and multiple documents into a set of semantically salient keyphrases.


Business enterprises, large, medium and small have become the main source of employment in our economy. They have become a source of livelihood to majority of Kenyans, employing over 65% of the working population. The government collects a lot of revenue from the many businesses that operate in Kenya. They also contribute to the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the betterment of all in the economy. Their growth and excellent performance is therefore very crucial. Previous research has shown that many organizations that have applied TQM Principles and have obtained ISO certification have managed to achieve excellent performance in sales, profitability, competitiveness and increased market share. This research project sought to assess the extent to which the application of these principles contributed to the growth of an organization. A lot has been written in this area. Many quality Gurus like Deming,
Crosby, Juran, Ishikawa and others have put forward the concepts of quality. They have given various principles that should be the road map to effectively implementing TQM
principles. This got to be highlighted in the literature review. Owing to the importance of this area and to the fact that it has been ignored the research project adopted the Deming
Model that emphasized on creating awareness of its benefits amongst our country's business organizations. Unilever Kenya, which is a food processing and distribution firm was sampled out for this research. With the use of questionnaires, the researcher hoped to establish if indeed there is a positive and significant relationship between the TQM principles application
and excellent business performance.


This paper describes the design and operation of two different full-scale anaerobic wastewater treatment plants treating evaporator condensates from the chemical pulping industry. The cases described comprise effluent treatment plants at a kraft based pulp mill and a sulphite based pulp mill. In both cases the IC expanded sludge bed reactor is the heart of the installation. As the internal circulation does not affect the upflow velocity in the upper part of the IC reactor and because of the two-stage separation system optimal sludge retention is ensured. Special attention is given to the typical characteristics of both types of condensates. The potential inhibiting effects of some components as also solutions to avoid inhibition and the necessity to add nutrients and essential (trace) metals are discussed. Kraft mill condensate is characterised by high concentrations of methanol (approx. 2500 mg/l). When operating the IC reactor at volumetric loading rates of 10-18 kg/m 3 .d removal efficiencies were as high as 80-85 % for COD and more than 99 % for methanol. Sulphite mill condensate is characterised by high concentrations of acetic acid (approx. 2000 mg/l). Operating at volumetric loading rates between 5 and 22 kg/m 3 .d the IC reactors realised removal efficiencies of more than 90 % on COD and more than 97 % on acetic acid.


The Veteran's Administration (VA) is charged with caring for our nation's veterans, but their procedures allow for a gender bias that is causing countless veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) to remain without adequate help. Though women have been involved in every military conflict in the United States, women continue to be treated differently than men. Women were not granted official military status until 1949, but they currently make up the fastest growing portion of the veteran population. The impending lift of the ban on women in combat will likely only increase women's involvement in the military, so their disparate treatment must be dealt with quickly to avoid an increase in an already prevalent problem.The VA only currently recognizes two types of PTSD: Military Sexual Trauma-related PTSD (MST) and Combat-related PTSD. MST complaints increased 46% from 2012 to 2013. An estimated 26,000 men and women experienced MST in 2011, but only 3,300 of those victims filed reports. Increased numbers of women are seeing combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 15% of active duty soldiers are females. Because of the gender bias in the military sexual trauma reporting process and the VA in-processing, the already over-burdened VA system has become even more inefficient and female and male veterans alike are the ones harmed.Various failures on the VA's part account for veterans' difficulties in obtaining earned and promised benefits. For example, the two types of PTSD have different burden of proof structures, and the interviewers who determine whether or not a veteran gets benefits have an extreme gender bias. Even worse, the VA did not offer mental healthcare services to women until 1988, and the VA currently only has four facilities dedicated to women's care.Men are expected to be "stronger" than to have psychological or emotional issues and women who are already often perceived as "weaker" do not wish to add to that perception by admitting any struggles. Each sex fears retribution, loss of promotion, loss of opportunity to re-enlist, and loss of the respect of their superiors and/or peers. Though Congress has recently attempted a weak solution, it is quite simply not even close to being enough to close the gender gap. This paper proposes a three-tiered solution focusing on enhancing reporting schemes within the military and the relationship between the military and the VA, restructuring the PTSD intake within the VA, and adopting a common sense approach to VA benefits.Part I of this paper will discuss the history of women in the military, the history of PTSD, and gender bias' role in PTSD; part II of this paper will discuss and analyze the military's, Congress', and the VA's failures in consistently and adequately serving soldiers and veterans with PTSD. Part III of this paper will discuss ways in which the military and VA can improve including recent Congressional steps that have attempted to do so.


This review paper evaluates the potential of remote sensing for assessing landscape and species diversity in mountainous terrain. Understanding the complex mechanism of biodiversity necessitate its spatial and temporal dynamics and synergetic adoption of measurement approaches with long-term plot inventories. In view of this, importance of geoinformatics - which can be seen as a combination of integrating tools such as Geographic Information System (GIS), satellite remote sensing, Global Positioning System (GPS), and information and communication technologies, are realized as complimentary systems to ground-based studies. This paper addresses how wide range of geospatial tools can be used in monitoring and assessment of biodiversity. Further discussions are made on the wide variety of landscape ecological application tools, and the required data from broad spatial extents that cannot be collected through field-based methods. Remote sensing data and techniques address these needs, which include identifying and detailing the biophysical characteristics of species' habitats, predicting the distribution of species and spatial variability in species richness, and detecting natural and human-caused changes at scales ranging from individual landscapes to the entire world.


type="main"> This paper quantifies how variation in economic activity and inflation in the United States influences the market prices of level, slope, and curvature risks in Treasury markets. We develop a novel arbitrage-free dynamic term structure model in which bond investment decisions are influenced by output and inflation risks that are unspanned by (imperfectly correlated with) information about the shape of the yield curve. Our model reveals that, between 1985 and 2007, these risks accounted for a large portion of the variation in forward terms premiums, and there was pronounced cyclical variation in the market prices of level and slope risks.


The purpose of this RFC is to outline a variety of models for policy
based routing. The relative benefits of the different approaches are
reviewed. Discussions and comments are explicitly encouraged to move
toward the best policy based routing model that scales well within a
large internetworking environment.


Turunen, Helina Characteristics of the subscription revenue model used in SaaS applications Jyvaskyla: University of Jyvaskyla, 2012, 22 p. Information Systems, Bachelor's Thesis Supervisor: Ojala, Arto Cloud service and cloud business have increased tremendously in the last few years. Both the technology and business aspect of cloud services have been studied widely, especially the advantages of cloud computing from the customer perspective. Cloud service pricing and its characteristics have been studied less than the technology and business models, and this thesis concentrates on the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the subscription model used in Software as a Service (SaaS) applications. The thesis is based on a literature review conducted by using various academic article databases such as IEEE Explore and ACM Digital Library. The research was conducted by using academic articles and up-to-date Internet resources. Among the principle findings of this research is that the characteristics of the subscription model are closely related to the already know characteristics of cloud services. The most surprising finding was how using the subscription model motivates the software developers to create better software faster and more efficiently when compared to traditional software models. From the customer point of view, a negative finding was the possible customer lock-in effect caused by the subscription model together with the SaaS delivery model, as the combination might cause enormous switching costs should such a change be required. The profitability of the subscription model should be analyzed from the customer perspective as well as the provider perspective. This should be done with a view to reducing the negative aspects and increasing customer satisfaction even further.


This paper revisits the results from the U.S. Department of Energy's '20% Wind Energy By 2030' study, which envisioned that 54 GW of offshore wind would be installed by said year. The analysis is conducted using the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS), a capacity expansion model developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The model is used to optimize the deployment of the 54 GW of wind capacity along the coasts and lakes of the United States. The graphical representation of the results through maps will be used to provide a qualitative description for planning and designing an offshore grid. ReEDS takes into account many factors in the process of siting offshore wind capacity, such as the quality of the resource, capital and O&M costs, interconnection costs, or variability metrics (wind capacity value, forecast error, expected curtailment). The effect of these metrics in the deployment of offshore wind will be analyzed through examples in the results.


Objective: The ability to use visual feedback to control handwriting size was compared in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), elderly people, and young adults to better understand factors playing a part in parkinsonian micrographia. Methods: The participants wrote sequences of eight cursive l loops with visual target sizes of 0.5 and 2 cm on a flat panel display digitiser which both recorded and displayed the pen movements. In the pre-exposure and postexposure conditions, the display digitiser showed the actual pen trace in real time and real size. In the distortion exposure conditions, the gain of the vertical dimension of the visual feedback was either reduced to 70% or enlarged to 140%. Results: The young controls showed a gradual visuomotor adaptation that compensated for the visual feedback distortions during the exposure conditions. They also showed significant after effects during the postexposure conditions. The elderly controls marginally corrected for the size distortions and showed small after effects. The patients with PD, however, showed no trial by trial adaptations or after effects but instead, a progressive amplification of the distortion effect in each individual trial. Conclusion: The young controls used visual feedback to update their visuomotor map. The elderly controls seemed to make little use of visual feedback. The patients with Parkinson's disease rely on the visual feedback of previous or of ongoing strokes to programme subsequent strokes. This recursive feedback may play a part in the progressive reductions in handwriting size found in parkinsonian micrographia.


We show that a production-function-based approach with skill differentiation and integrated national markets has predictions for the employment effect of immigrants at the local level. The model predicts that if we look at the employment (rather than wage) response by skill to immigration in a state, we can estimate the substitutability-complementarity between natives and immigrants. This allows us to infer, other things constant, how immigrants stimulate or depress the demand for native labor. We also use a novel instrument based on demographic characteristics of total Central American migrants or Mexican Population to predict immigration by skill level within California. Looking at immigration to California between 1960 and 2005 our estimates support the assumption of a nationally integrated labor market by skill and they support the hypothesis that natives and immigrants in the same education-experience group are not perfectly substitutable. This, in turn, explains the counter-intuitive fact that there is a zero correlation between immigration and native wages and employment outcomes.


Crude ethanolic extract of Thuja occidentalis (Fam: Cupressaceae) is used as homeopathic mother tincture (TOΦ) to treat various ailments, particularly moles and tumors, and also used in various other systems of traditional medicine. Anti-proliferative and apoptosis-inducing properties of TOΦ and the thujone-rich fraction (TRF) separated from it have been evaluated for their possible anti-cancer potentials in the malignant melanoma cell line A375. On initial trial by S-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, both TOΦ and TRF showed maximum cytotoxic effect on A375 cell line while the other three principal fractions separated by chromatography had negligible or no such effect, because of which only TRF was further characterized and subjected to certain other assays for determining its precise anti-proliferative and apoptotic potentials. TRF was reported to have a molecular formula of C10H16O with a molecular weight of 152. Exposure of TRF of Thuja occidentalis to A375 cells in vitro showed more cytotoxic, anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects as compared with TOΦ, but had minimal growth inhibitory responses when exposed to normal cells (peripheral blood mononuclear cell). Furthermore, both TOΦ and TRF also caused a significant decrease in cell viability, induced inter-nucleosomal DNA fragmentation, mitochondrial transmembrane potential collapse, increase in ROS generation, and release of cytochrome c and caspase-3 activation, all of which are closely related to the induction of apoptosis in A375 cells. Thus, TRF showed and matched all the anti-cancer responses of TOΦ and could be the main bio-active fraction. The use of TOΦ in traditional medicines against tumors has, therefore, a scientific basis.


Single domain superparamagnetic ferrite nanoparticles with the composition MFe2O4 (M = Fe, Co, Zn) have been prepared by thermal decomposition of metal acetylacetonates in diphenyl ether or dibenzyl ether, using oleic acid in the presence of oleylamine as a stabilizing agent. The Fe, Co and Zn ferrite nanoparticles are monodisperse with diameters of 4.9, 4.4 and 4.7 nm, respectively. The TG and IR results indicate that four or six carboxylate groups per nm2 are bonded at the surface of the particles acting as chelating and/or bridging bidentate ligands depending on the composition. The oleate groups minimize the interparticle interactions in Fe and Zn ferrite samples, while in the Co ferrite sample dipolar interactions produce broad maxima in the ZFC and energy barriers distribution curves. The inversion degree has been estimated from the Raman spectra and the obtained x values have been used to calculate the saturation magnetization and compare them with the experimental MS values. Compared to bulk materials, the magnetization value is higher for the Zn ferrite sample due to its mixed spinel cation distribution. For the Co ferrite sample, and probably for the Fe one, the low value of saturation magnetization seems to be due to the surface disordered layer of canted spins. Compared to non-coated nanoparticles with the same composition and similar size, the oleate groups, covalently bonded to the superficial cations, increase the anisotropy field and decrease the magnetization.


How do researchers select and work with/in theoretical frameworks in their qualitative research studies? What processes are involved in coming to understand a theory and its connections to educational practices? In this paper, two teacher educators and researchers describe how they lived out these questions through a collaborative approach to reading and understanding Bourdieu's social field theory. Through regular meetings (or, field trips) the two researchers worked through a myriad of overlapping and intersecting issues, taking them on a methodological journey of discussions on the accessibility of theoretical language, the multiple readings and interpretations of Bourdieu's key concepts, and, ultimately, how meaning is made through the specific practices of social studies and mathematics teacher education. In proposing a methodology of making sense, this paper provides insight into the complex relationships between theoretical perspectives, qualitative research methodologies, and teacher education research.


Recent numerical studies have demonstrated the possibility of achieving substantial enhancements in the transmission of transverse-electric-polarized electromagnetic fields through subwavelength slits in a thin metallic screen by placing single or paired metallic cut-wire arrays at a close distance from the screen. In this paper, we report on the first experimental evidence of such extraordinary transmission phenomena, via microwave (X/Ku-band) measurements on printed-circuit-board prototypes. Experimental results agree very well with full-wave numerical predictions, and indicate an intrinsic robustness of the enhanced transmission phenomena with respect to fabrication tolerances and experimental imperfections.


D. Gale Johnson, one of the world's foremost agricultural economists, has over the last five decades changed the conduct of research on agricultural economics and policy. The papers brought together in The Economics of Agriculture reveal the breadth and depth of his influence on the creation of modern agricultural economics. Volume 1 collects for the first time in one source Johnson's most important work. These classic papers explore the consequences of government intervention in United States and world agriculture; the economics of agricultural supply and of rural labor and human capital issues; and the analysis of agricultural productivity in poor countries, including the centrally planned economies of China and Eastern Europe. Models of precise reasoning and powerful empirical research, the papers cover a wide range of topics—from U.S. commodity price policy to the economics of population control and farm policy reform in China. Volume 1 includes a definitive bibliography of Johnson's published writings. Volume 2 presents twenty-two papers by Johnson's former students and colleagues. International in scope, these papers explore themes and topics inspired by Johnson's work, including agricultural policy and U.S. farm prices; European Common Agricultural Policy; and agricultural and rural development in the Third World. Contributors to Volume 2 are David G. Abler, John M. Antle, Richard R. Barichello, Andrew P. Barkley, Karen Brooks, David S. Bullock, Robert E. Evenson, B. Delworth Gardner, Bruce L. Gardner, Dale M. Hoover, Wallace E. Huffman, Paul R. Johnson, Yoav Kislev, Justin Yifu Lin, Yair Mundlak, John Nash, Keijuro Otsuka, Willis Peterson, Todd E. Petzel, Vernon W. Ruttan, Maurice Schiff, G. Edward Schuh, Theodore W. Schultz, James Snyder, Vasant Sukhatme, Daniel A. Sumner, Vinod Thomas, George Tolley, and Alberto Valdes.


The mistress of high tension ("The New Yorker") and undisputed Queen of Suspense Mary Higgins Clark brings us another "New York Times" bestselling novel that "USA TODAY" calls her page-turning best about a killer who targets lonely women on cruise ships, " "a masterful combination of page-turning suspense and classic mystery. When Dr. Susan Chandler decides to use her daily radio talk show to explore the phenomenon of women who disappear and are later found to have become victims of killers who prey on the lonely and insecure, she has no idea that she is exposing herself and those closest to her to the very terror that she hopes to warn others against. Susan sets out to determine who is responsible for an attempt on the life of a woman who called in to the show offering information on the mysterious disappearance from a cruise ship, years before, of Regina Clausen, a wealthy investment advisor. Soon Susan finds herself in a race against time, for not only does the killer stalk these lonely women, but he seems intent on eliminating anyone who can possibly further Susan s investigation. As her search intensifies, Susan finds herself confronted with the realization that one of the men who have become important figures in her life might actually be the killer. And as she gets closer to uncovering his identity, she realizes almost too late that the hunter has become the hunted. Is she the next one marked for murder?"


Explicit modeling of tariff rate quotas (TRQs) is important in the current World Trade Organization negotiations. In order to do such modeling with GTAP, extra data is required and extra equations must be added to the model. This paper provides tools for assisting modelers to carry out explicit modeling of bilateral tariff rate quotas in GTAP using GEMPACK. The paper describes how the extra data for sugar TRQ applications was obtained and reconciled with the standard GTAP data. Supplied with the paper is a TABLO Input file TRQDATA.TAB which others can use for reconciling their TRQ data with the usual GTAP data. Supplied with the paper is a module which can be added to the standard TABLO Input files for GTAP. This module contains the extra equations required to model TRQs. Detailed hands-on examples are supplied with the paper, as is a TRQ application relating to a partial liberalization of sugar TRQ. Readers of the paper can replicate these applications. A windows interface TRQmate is supplied with the paper. This is a relatively general-purpose interface which automates the steps in carrying out TRQ applications with GTAP and GEMPACK. If you wish to carry out your own bilateral TRQ applications with GTAP and GEMPACK, the tools supplied with this paper will make it relatively straightforward for you to do so once you have collected the extra data you need.


Characterization of High Inlet Diffusion Low Flow Coefficient Inducer Pumps for Space Propulsion in the Presence of a Cavitation Control Device Jeffrey R. Krise Department of Mechanical Engineering Master of Science Historically inducer pumps have been designed with low inlet diffusion that allows for a gradual pressure rise through the machine that has the ability to slowly collapse any cavitation bubbles that may be present. A novel cavitation control device has been developed by researchers at ConceptsNREC that has been shown in previous experimental work to greatly improve the suction performance of a traditionally designed machine. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been employed to understand the effectiveness of the cavitation control device (CCD) at controlling the conditions that lead to cavitation inception and to determine the impact that the CCD has on the flow. Also the upper limit of design incidence ratio where the CCD is no longer able to control the factors that lead to cavitation inception was to be determined through the CFD approach. All machine geometries and test data were provided by researchers at ConceptsNREC. Two cases were selected for validation work and 32 additional designs were employed in a parametric study where the flow coefficient and design incidence ratio were varied over a typical range of interest for a turbopump application. The results of this computational work show that the CCD is able to control the factors that lead to early cavitation inception. The research shows that the addition of the CCD has an overall stabilizing affect on the flow by significantly decreasing the incidence at the leading edge of the blade. It has been determined that the maximum design incidence ratio where the CCD is able to effectively control the factors that lead to cavitation inception is dependent on the flow coefficient and in general the maximum design incidence ratio decreases as the flow coefficient is increased.


During the last few decades, public administration workers have been subject to a number of structural, modernising reforms, in a framework often designated as 'new public management'. The current economic and financial crisis has also meant that the steep rise in public debt has prompted many authorities to try to reduce public expenditure by introducing freezes and reductions in pay and employment for civil servants. This report sets out to provide an overview of the main causes and reasons for change in central public administration in the European member states plus Norway. It also looks at the impact these changes have had on the sector's working conditions, as well as exploring how this situation is expected to evolve.


Abstract:Conspiracy theories are an increasingly popular form of political rhetoric around the globe. The use of conspiracy theories by public officials stems from long-term factors such as distrust, inequality, and political polarization, and is facilitated by one of the preconditions for democracy: competition. This essay explains why conspiracy theories are abundant in the politics of democracies and autocracies alike. It looks at the effects of conspiracy theories on public discourse and discusses how mainstream parties respond to conspiratorial challengers. It concludes by considering how conspiracy theories in politics might be countered.


We study the effect of internet diffusion on childbirth procedures performed in England between 2000 and 2011. We exploit an identification strategy based on geographical discontinuities in internet diffusion generated by technological factors. Our design shuts off the role of financial incentives for suppliers. We show that broadband internet access increased Cesarean-sections: mothers living in areas with better internet access are 1.8 percent more likely to have a C-section than mothers living in areas with worse internet access. The effect is driven by firsttime mothers who are 2.5 percent more likely to obtain an elective C-section. The increased C-section rate is not accompanied by changes in health care outcomes of mothers and newborns. Therefore, health care costs increased with no corresponding medical benefits for patients. Heterogeneity analysis shows that mothers with low income and low education are those more affected: thanks to the internet, they progressively close the C-section gap with mothers with higher income and


BACKGROUND
Immune reconstitution following transplantation in individuals who had received T-cell-depleted marrow from HLA identical siblings was serially documented and correlated with the clinical recovery.

METHODS
Patients were preconditioned with radiation containing programs. GvHD prophylaxis was by T-cell depletion with CAMPATH 1G (ex vivo; median dose 20 mg). After transplantation lymphoid development was studied by flow cytometry and serum Ig concentrations were determined. Charts were reviewed to determine the effects of the immune reconstitution on the clinical performance.

RESULTS
The mean donor mononuclear cell number infused was 0.89x10(8)/kg. Within 6 months all the patients recovered their blood parameters and only one required therapy for GvHD. However, despite normal blood counts, 15 suffered life-threatening opportunistic infections, developing at a median of 24 weeks post grafting, but occurring even after 11 months. At 8 weeks from marrow infusion when leukocyte values had normalized in 15/20, compared to normal, immunophenotyping of blood cells from BMT revealed a significantly reduced mean lymphocyte count (1.06, SD 0.83x10(9)/l; P = 0.01), cells expressing CD3 (0.7x10(9)/l, SD 0.68; P = 0.05), CD4 (0.13x10(9)/l, SD 0.21; P = 0.0001) and CD19 (0.04x10(9)/l, SD 0.05; P = 0.001). Populations expressing CD8 and CD56 remained within normal range throughout the study. Normalization of cell numbers displaying CD2, CD3 and CD19 was delayed until 52, 52 and 24 weeks respectively, while CD4 counts persisted subnormal even at 72 weeks. Serum IgA levels were significantly decreased for the entire study period.

CONCLUSIONS
T-cell depletion with CAMPATH 1G while effectively preventing GvHD, also causes clinically significant and prolonged immunosuppression with apparently important clinical implications.


This paper presents new acoustic evidence against sonority-driven stress in Gujarati. Gujarati has been the subject of more stress descriptions than any other sonority-driven stress case, and is one of the very few where stress is reported to be sensitive to multiple sonority levels. However, all these impressionistic descriptions of Gujarati stress disagree with each other in significant ways. In contrast, this paper presents the results of a production experiment. Acoustic measurements show that [a] does not attract stress away from the default position; instead, stress consistently falls on the penultimate syllable. If such a well-described case as Gujarati does not have sonority-driven stress, it is possible that none of the other cases do either, challenging Kenstowicz (1997)'s and de Lacy (2002 et seq.)'s theories that metrical structure can be sensitive to sonority. If so, the lack of such stress systems presents a challenge to the phonological property of symmetric effect found in a number of theories.


The biologically inspired dynamic materials offer principles for designing man-made systems by using assembly approach. In this work, the hybrid hydrogels consist of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) that combine a mechanically strong skeleton with flexible PEG chains. The distinct gel state is observed at room temperature with G' > G″ and an order of magnitude higher G' values from 0.08 to 0.93 kPa upon increasing CNF concentration from 0.2 to 2 wt % at constant 2 wt % PEG. Combined with mechanically strong CNFs and dynamic ionic bridges through amine-terminated tetra-arm PEG adsorption to TEMPO-oxidized colloidal nanofibrils surface, the assembled colloidal hydrogels show high modulus, reversible gel-sol transition, and rapid self-recovery properties. It is envisioned that simply mixing hard CNF and soft polymeric matrix would lead to a facile method to bridge reversible dynamic bonds in a cellulose-based hybrid network and broad cellulose applications in the preparation of high performance supramolecular systems.


According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, common indicators are needed to monitor the loss of biodiversity and the implications for the sustainable provision of ecosystem services. However, a variety of indicators are already being used resulting in many, mostly incompatible, monitoring systems. In order to synthesise the different indicator approaches and to detect gaps in the development of common indicator systems, we examined 531 indicators that have been reported in 617 peer-reviewed journal articles between 1997 and 2007. Special emphasis was placed on comparing indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem services across ecosystems (forests, grass- and shrublands, wetlands, rivers, lakes, soils and agro-ecosystems) and spatial scales (from patch to global scale). The application of biological indicators was found most often focused on regional and finer spatial scales with few indicators applied across ecosystem types. Abiotic indicators, such as physico-chemical parameters and measures of area and fragmentation, are most frequently used at broader (regional to continental) scales. Despite its multiple dimensions, biodiversity is usually equated with species richness only. The functional, structural and genetic components of biodiversity are poorly addressed despite their potential value across habitats and scales. Ecosystem service indicators are mostly used to estimate regulating and supporting services but generally differ between ecosystem types as they reflect ecosystem-specific services. Despite great effort to develop indicator systems over the past decade, there is still a considerable gap in the widespread use of indicators for many of the multiple components of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and a need to develop common monitoring schemes within and across habitats. Filling these gaps is a prerequisite for linking biodiversity dynamics with ecosystem service delivery and to achieving the goals of global and sub-global initiatives to halt the loss of biodiversity.


The aim of this study was to investigate if dietary administration of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-producing Lactobacillus brevis DPC 6108 and pure GABA exert protective effects against the development of diabetes in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic Sprague Dawley rats. In a first experiment, healthy rats were divided in 3 groups (n=10/group) receiving placebo, 2.6 mg/kg body weight (bw) pure GABA or L. brevis DPC 6108 (~10(9)microorganisms). In a second experiment, rats (n=15/group) were randomised to five groups and four of these received an injection of STZ to induce type 1 diabetes. Diabetic and non-diabetic controls received placebo [4% (w/v) yeast extract in dH2O], while the other three diabetic groups received one of the following dietary supplements: 2.6 mg/kg bw GABA (low GABA), 200 mg/kg bw GABA (high GABA) or ~10(9) L. brevis DPC 6108. L. brevis DPC 6108 supplementation was associated with increased serum insulin levels (P<0.05), but did not alter other metabolic markers in healthy rats. Diabetes induced by STZ injection decreased body weight (P<0.05), increased intestinal length (P<0.05) and stimulated water and food intake. Insulin was decreased (P<0.05), whereas glucose was increased (P<0.001) in all diabetic groups, compared with non-diabetic controls. A decrease (P<0.01) in glucose levels was observed in diabetic rats receiving L. brevis DPC 6108, compared with diabetic-controls. Both the composition and diversity of the intestinal microbiota were affected by diabetes. Microbial diversity in diabetic rats supplemented with low GABA was not reduced (P>0.05), compared with non-diabetic controls while all other diabetic groups displayed reduced diversity (P<0.05). L. brevis DPC 6108 attenuated hyperglycaemia induced by diabetes but additional studies are needed to understand the mechanisms involved in this reduction.


The apparent resurgence of hostility toward Jews has been a prominent theme in recent discussions of Europe; at the same time, the adversities faced by the continent's Muslim population have received increasing attention. In "Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia", Matti Bunzl offers a historical and cultural clarification of the key terms in these ongoing problems. Arguing against the common impulse to analogize anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, it instead offers a framework that locates the two phenomena in different projects of exclusion. According to Bunzl, anti-Semitism was invented in the late nineteenth century to police the ethnically pure nation-state. Islamophobia, by contrast, is a phenomenon of the present, marshaled to safeguard a supranational Europe. With the declining importance of the nation-state, traditional anti-Semitism has run its historical course, while Islamophobia threatens to become the defining condition of the new, unified Europe. By ridding us of misapprehensions, "Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia" enables us to see these forces anew.


Cooperation among cognitive radio users improves the spectrum sensing performance by combining local decisions measured over independent sensing channels, allowing reduction of miss-detection and false alarm probabilities. While most of the works in cooperative spectrum sensing techniques assume perfect channels between the cooperating users, this paper studies the effect of imperfect channels when local users report their sensed information to the fusion center. Cooperative detection and false-alarm probabilities are derived for a general scheme of imperfect reporting channels under non necessarily identical sensing and reporting channels. Numerical simulations show that imperfect reporting channels should be considered to optimize the cooperative sensing in terms of consumed energy and probability of error.


Media productions have often turned to history as a source for a narrative. Wars have been refought, kingdoms have risen and fallen, and significant moments have been replicated for documentaries, films, television shows, radio productions, and other live mediums. These presentations give audiences access to moments in history that might have otherwise been forgotten. With this access, research suggests audiences will actually learn from the presentations available. This study focuses on the types of information available in a historical film. The study is a textual analysis the 1993 film Gettysburg, one of the most well-known and best remembered films about the American Civil War. Gettysburg is a piece of historical fiction that contains many dramatic inventions, yet is also full of depictions of war that attempt to be realistic. Through character dialogue and actions, the film's three main themes emerge. The first main theme is the idea that Gettysburg was the American Civil War's decisive moment. The second main theme is that war is a test of manhooda test some men pass and some men fail. The third main theme is that all of the battle's participants, both North and South, are heroes. These factors seem to encourage the audience to view the Civil War as an important struggle that helped shape the United States as it is today. History and Memory in Gettysburg


Examines the role of the shadow, or underground, economy. Looks at ways of measuring it, the relationship between the shadow economy and the main stream economy, why it has been growing in size, and its effects on overall economic growth. How can states limit the size of the shadow economy, and does it matter that it exists?


New partnerships, cross-organisational collaborations and co-creation, digitalisation, involvement of citizens, public design and innovation stand out as new and emerging solutions in welfare delivery. However, New Public Management (NPM) seems to represent a historical repertoire of perspectives and tools that falls short of dealing with public sector challenges and the complex problems of producing welfare and public value in times of austerity. In the article, we outline a diagnosis of the emerging governance regime of the Involving Network State, and we discuss how to build involving learning communities in order to conduct the needed leadership capabilities and incorporate the impact of leadership education in a multi-contextual public sector. We argue that critical reflexivity needs to be a pivotal point in leadership programmes.


Molecules of the form Cp(6,6-dmch)ZrX(2) (Cp = eta(5)-cyclopentadienyl, X = Cl, Br, I; 6,6-dmch = eta(5)-6,6-dimethylcyclohexadienyl) have been synthesized, and the molecular and electronic structures have been investigated. These molecules allow direct comparison of the bonding and properties of pentadienyl and cyclopentadienyl ligands in the same high-oxidation-state metal complexes. Unlike the well-known Cp(2)ZrX(2) analogues, these Cp(6,6-dmch)ZrX(2) molecules are intensely colored, indicating significantly different relative energies of the frontier orbitals. Also unusual, the average Zr-C distances to the 6,6-dmch pentadienyl ligand are about 0.1 A longer than the average Zr-C distances to the cyclopentadienyl ligand for these Zr(IV) complexes, opposite of what is observed for the Zr(II) complex Cp(2,6,6-tmch)Zr(PMe(3))(2) (tmch = eta(5)-2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexadienyl), reflecting a dramatic reversal in the favorability of the bonding depending on the metal oxidation state. The experimental and computational results indicate that the color of the Cp(6,6-dmch)ZrX(2) complexes is due to a 6,6-dmch ligand-to-metal charge-transfer band. Compared to the Cp(2)ZrX(2) analogues, the Cp(6,6-dmch)ZrX(2) molecules have a considerably less stable HOMO that is pentadienyl-based and an essentially unchanged metal-based LUMO. Also, the lowest unoccupied orbital of pentadienyl is stabilized relative to cyclopentadienyl and becomes a better potential delta electron acceptor, thus contributing to the differences in structure and reactivity of the low-valent and high-valent metal complexes.


Many scholars view the admittedly common tendency toward the coinage and use of "buzzwords" as regrettable and problematic for the information systems (IS) field. Here I suggest instead that the continuing "buzz" associated with IS signals not the field's muddleheadedness, but rather its vitality and force as reflected in an ongoing cascade of technology-driven organizational innovations. Some buzzwords represent what has been termed organizing visions for information systems. Organizing visions arise to facilitate the development and diffusion of IS innovations across firms and industries. While their buzz is therefore important, their history nevertheless also presents us with a history of fuzzy IS types, with implications for research and practice alike.


Under the Japan – Indonesia Economic Partnership Agreement, more than 1,000 of Indonesian health care workers have migrated to Japan. Social adjustment during the process of migration is linked to mental health changes. This study aimed to figure out the strongest predictor that influences the change in mental health status as a result of migration. Baseline data were collected in Jakarta in 2013 during pre-departure orientation. Follow-up study was conducted one year after the study participants migrated to Japan in 2014. Using longitudinal design, this study employed 92 participants consisting of nurse and certified care worker candidates. The multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to figure out the predictors that influence the change in mental health status. The prediction model expected to explain 39.9% of the change in mental health status, p value < 0.01, while sex (b = 0.201, p value <  0.05), economic conditions in pre-migration (b = -0.200, p value < 0.05), and the socio cultural adaptation competency (b = -0.238, p value < 0.05). This finding assumed that female candidates and those who have economic constraint in pre-migration stage, and those who have declining in socio-cultural adaptation competency tend to have lower mental health one year after the migration.


The authors are engaged in studies of biped walking robots from the following two viewpoints. One is a viewpoint as a human science. The other is a viewpoint towards the development of humanoid robots. In the current research concerning a biped walking robot, there is no developed example of a life-size biped walking robot with the antagonistically driven joints by which the human musculo-skeletal system is imitated in lower limbs. Humans are considered to exhibit walking behavior, both efficient and capable of flexibly coping with contact with the outside environment. However, developed biped walking robots can not realize the human walking. Humans can vary the joint stiffness, using nonlinear spring characteristics possessed by the muscle themselves. The function is an indispensable function for a bipedal humanoid. Therefore, the authors designed and built a biped walking robot and a bipedal humanoid having antagonistic driven joints. In this paper, the authors introduce the design method of the biped walking robot. The authors performed walking experiments with the biped walking robot and the bipedal humanoid As a result, quasi-dynamic biped walking, dynamic walking, dynamic dancing with dance music and carry with dynamic walking using antagonist driven joint were realized.


In this chapter we aim at examining the influence of early top management teams (TMTs) on the growth performance of university-based spin-off firms, presenting an empirical research on spin-off companies in Italy. The chapter proceeds along the following lines. First we describe the context of analysis, briefly reviewing the literature on TMT and performance. In the second section we outline the hypotheses of our research. The third section describes the sample and the method for the empirical analysis. The fourth section presents and discusses the results. In the last section we highlight the main implications and limitations of our results and suggest further lines of research.


It is commonly accepted that identity or a sense of self is constructed by and through narrative - the stories we tell ourselves and each other about our lives. This book explores the complex relationships that exist between memory, nostalgia, writing and identity. The author examines a range of autobiographical and first-person fictional texts from holocaust literature, women's writing and popular fiction. Each text foregrounds issues of memory, history and trauma in the construction of identity. There are close readings of texts including Sylvia Fraser's My Father's House, Margaret Atwood's Cats Eye, Barbara Vine's A DarkAdapted Eye, Toni Morrison's Beloved, George Perec's W Or the Memory of Childhood, and Anne Michael's Fugitive Pieces. Reading these texts of memory shows that 'remembering the self' depends not on restoring an original identity, but on 're-membering', on putting past and present selves together, moment by moment, in a process of provisional reconstruction. This is a powerful contribution to the growing field of 'trauma' and holocaust studies. It will be of relevance to those working in the areas of literary and cultural studies, which are witnessing a steady growth of interest in autobiography, theories of narrative, and the relationship between trauma, history and memory. Key Features *Close readings of recent fiction and autobiography, including Toni Morrison's Beloved, Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces and the popularthrillers of Barbara Vine *An interrogation of the models of memory which underpin the constructionof narratives and of identities, and of culture *A focus on meaning as constructed by the readers of the narrative text *An exploration of the myths of 'origin'