Our goal is to build conversational agents that combine information from speech, gesture, hand-writing, text and presentations to create an understanding of the ongoing conversation (e.g. by identifying the action items agreed upon), and that can make useful contributions to the meeting based on such an understanding (e.g. by confirming the details of the action items). To create a corpus of relevant data, we have implemented the Carnegie Mellon Meeting Recorder to capture detailed multi-modal recordings of meetings. This software differs somewhat from other meeting room architectures in that it focuses on instrumenting the individual rather than the room and assumes that the meeting space is not fixed in advance. Thus, most of the sensors are user-centric (closetalking microphones connected to laptop computers, instrumented note-pads, instrumented presentation software, etc), although some are indeed "room-centric" (instrumented whiteboard, distant cameras, table-top microphones, etc). This paper describes the details of our data collection environment. We report on the current status of our data collection, transcription and higher-level discourse annotation efforts. We also describe some of our initial research on conversational turn-taking based on this corpus.


This paper aims at analysing the role of proverbs in the sustenance of gender violence within the Spanish context. As demonstrated by feminist linguistic activities, one of the avenues through which the status quo of both men and women are enacted and sustained is through language. However, given the complex nature of the relationship between gender and language, speakers often overlook the role of discourse on gender relations. The author investigates this interconnection using a multidimensional approach which includes insights from Lakoff and Johnson's (1980) theory of metaphor and Austin's (1965) Speech Act theory. This study confirms that quite a number of Spanish proverbs contain violent metaphors that can unconsciously shape speakers' perceptions and actions. Misogynous ideologies in Spanish proverbs should therefore continue to be exposed, criticised and eliminated through conscientization in order to sustain the campaign for gender equality.


A numerical method for the simulation of the motion of a glacier in two and three dimensions is presented. Glacier ice is treated as an incompressible viscous fluid. The model equations are based on mass, momentum, energy conservation and a specific rheology law for ice (the so called Glen's flow law). In this study a simplified model due to Blatter[8], called the first order approximation (FOA), is used. The problem is split in two sub-problems: (a) the computation of the velocity field for a given glacier geometry and (b) the computation of the evolution of the glacier geometry when the velocity field is known. Concerning sub-problem (a), the FOA leads to a system of non-linear elliptic partial differential equations, which are solved numerically by a standard linear finite element method. The non-linearity is solved iteratively with a frozen coefficient method. Sub-problem (b) leads to a transport equation, which is approached with either an upwind Euler scheme or a Lax-Wendroff scheme in the two dimensional case, and with a stabilized finite element method in the three-dimensional case. All computations are done on a moving domain applying an arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) method. Moreover an algorithm that deforms the computational mesh in accordance with the evolution of the glacier geometry is given. From a theoretical point of view, the existence and uniqueness of a weak solution to problem (a) is established using calculus of variations methods. The solution of the discrete problem is proved to be convergent to the exact solution. Further a priori and a posteriori error estimates are given. Using several test cases, the a priori and a posteriori error estimates are numerically verified. Then simulations of the past evolution of real glaciers is done and the computations are compared with measurements as well as with results of simulations found in the literature. Finally, under the assumption that the climate stays the same over the next 20 years, some predictions of the future evolution of these glaciers are presented.


This festschrift in honor of Professor Ayodeji Olukoju, one of Nigeria's brightest historians, brings together scholarship representative of the third wave of historical scholarship on Nigeria. Olukoju, a pioneering historian of Nigerian maritime history, also produced significant revisionist scholarship in the areas of economic, urban, and infrastructure history. The contributions in this volume epitomize the groundbreaking directions of his career; they are marked by a search for new explanations and venture into uncharted terrain in Nigerian history. Aside from its critical engagement of Olukoju's impressive scholarship, this volume presents chapters on such underresearched aspects of Nigerian history as sexuality, children and youth, crime, memory, and HIV/AIDS. It offers historical explanations of a host of development challenges confronting Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, and resilient reinterpretations of the place of history in nation building. The contributors, pioneering experts in their various subfields, bring their research and teaching experience to the fore and deploy neglected data as they unfold topics that shed light on Nigeria, its peoples, and cultures. They show that history, both as a daily practice and as an academic endeavor, remains vital as Africans seek solutions to the continent's critical development challenges.


Many of nonlinear systems in the field of engineering such as nano-resonator and atomic force microscope can be modeled based on Duffing equation. Analytical frequency response of this system helps us analyze different interesting nonlinear behaviors appearing in its response due to its rich dynamics. In this paper, the general form of Duffing equation with cubic nonlinearity as well as parametric excitations is considered and its frequency response is derived utilizing Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM) for the first time. Although time response of different Duffing systems has been analyzed using HAM, derivation of its frequency response equation by applying this powerful method has not been presented. The main advantage of proposed simple closed-form solution is that it is not restricted to weakly nonlinear systems in contrast with perturbation methods. Because of numerous applications of Micro-electro-mechanical resonator and its rich and nonlinear dynamics, it is considered as a case study in this paper and the obtained analytical equation is applied to find its frequency response. The validation of analytical method is verified by comparing the results with numerical simulations. It is also shown that proposed closed-form equation for nano-resonator frequency response can capture both hardening and softening behavior of nano-resonator as well as jump phenomenon. The results of this paper can be useful in analysis of different engineering systems modeled by general Duffing equation.


The author traces the relationship between religious, and especially Christian, thought and ethics on the one hand and secular democracy on the other. While he concedes that the relationship between Christianity and democracy is and has been ambivalent, he demonstrates the significant contribution made by particularly the radical Reformations as well as religious minorities such as Judaism, towards the development of secular democracy. Majority religions, including the Catholic and Orthodox Churches and especially Islam, however, lagged and still lag behind in this regard, partly because of their more regimented internal structures.


When higher eukaryotic cells enter mitosis, membrane organization changes dramatically and traffic between membrane compartments is inhibited. Since membrane transport along microtubules is involved in secretion, endocytosis, and the positioning of organelles during interphase, we have explored whether the mitotic reorganization of membrane could involve a change in microtubule-based membrane transport. This question was examined by reconstituting organelle transport along microtubules in Xenopus egg extracts, which can be converted between interphase and metaphase states in vitro in the absence of protein synthesis. Interphase extracts support the microtubule-dependent formation of abundant polygonal networks of membrane tubules and the transport of small vesicles. In metaphase extracts, however, the plus end- and minus end-directed movements of vesicles along microtubules as well as the formation of tubular membrane networks are all reduced substantially. By fractionating the extracts into soluble and membrane components, we have shown that the cell cycle state of the supernatant determines the extent of microtubule-based membrane movement. Interphase but not metaphase Xenopus soluble factors also stimulate movement of membranes from a rat liver Golgi fraction. In contrast to above findings with organelle transport, the minus end-directed movements of microtubules on glass surfaces and of latex beads along microtubules are similar in interphase and metaphase extracts, suggesting that cytoplasmic dynein, the predominant soluble motor in frog extracts, retains its force- generating activity throughout the cell cycle. A change in the association of motors with membranes may therefore explain the differing levels of organelle transport activity in interphase and mitotic extracts. We propose that the regulation of organelle transport may contribute significantly to the changes in membrane structure and function observed during mitosis in living cells.


The pharmaceutical industry remains powerful due to its firm scale and global reach. However, analysis of the source of biotechnology-derived products in healthcare, valued at $70 billion worldwide by 2000, reveals an almost complete dependence, in three key markets of the USA, UK and Germany, on products developed by entrepreneurial biotechnology firms. These tend to operate in knowledge-driven clusters centred upon universities, research hospitals and research institutes, supported in major ways by public funding. This, and the growing public perception of possible problems with biotechnologies will increasingly bring "big pharma" into uncertain relations with governmental bodies, something that has been pronounced in the UK of late. Whether large pharmaceutical firms will retain their traditional powers of action in relation to governments and markets under these circumstances seems unlikely. However, such is their control over marketing and distribution as well as funding of entrepreneurial firms within or outside biotechnology clusters, that any serious challenge to their hegemony is difficult to envisage at present.


Objective: Forensic settings offer challenges to traditional recovery approach principles. The aim of this article is to bring out remand prisoners' needs for personal recovery in closed institutions. The purpose of the research is to explore the reflections of remand prisoners' experiences and needs for emotional and psychological ways of coping with imprisonment in the context of personal recovery.
Research Design and Methods: Ten people held on remand in prison were interviewed. The semi-structured interview was designed based on the main themes revealed in literature to support the recovery process in secure settings: relationships and connectedness with family and staff, emotional and psychological coping with imprisonment, a secure environment, and involvement in programs and activities. The thematic analysis made it possible to focus on participants' perceived limitations and opportunities for personal recovery in a closed institution.
Results: Interviewees' reflections indicated that remand prisoners find it difficult to cope with social isolation, the lack of self-realization and overthinking. Being apart from family and having limited opportunities to communicate creates distress and worry, and culminates in a loss of connectedness. Negative relationships and perceived power differences with staff lead to tensions and create and confirm the identity 'me as a criminal.'
Conclusion: There is a need to accomplish positive relationships between staff and remand prisoners. Creating more opportunities for prisoners to stay connected with loved ones and offering meaningful activities would lead to remand prisoners having better self-images, less stress, and more hope for the future in their return to society.


Wetlands provide many important services throughout the world, with an estimated economic value that, in comparison to other ecosystems, far exceeds their relatively small global extent. In recognition of their importance, both national and international regulations exist to protect the world's remaining wetlands. Of growing interest is the "no-net-loss" policy which permits unavoidable destruction of wetlands if compensated by restoration of degraded wetlands or creation of new wetlands. The fundamental assumption of no-net-loss is that wetlands can be created which function equivalently to natural wetlands. One integral function that wetlands perform is cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Here we demonstrate that loss of this nutrient-related function is not being mitigated by creation or restoration of wetlands. We compare indicators of plant- and microbial-mediated functions, as well as abiotic (e.g., soil character, hydrology) and biotic (e.g., plant community composition) structure, between 10 created or restored and 5 natural freshwater depressional wetlands in central Ohio, USA. Nutrient stocks were generally smaller and transformations slower in created wetlands than in natural wetlands, with little development over time. Of particular concern were differences in C- and N-related function. Created wetlands stored 90% less C within litter and 80% less C within soil and processed 60% less N through denitrification, on average compared to natural wetlands. Our study suggests that subversion of natural wetlands into restored or created wetlands could have large-scale environmental consequences such as reduced capacity for nitrate removal and C sequestration.


Affixation is the morphological process that consists of adding an affix (i.e., a bound morpheme) to a morphological base. It is cross-linguistically the most common process that human languages use to derive new lexemes (derivational affixation) or to adapt a word's form to its morphosyntactic context (inflectional affixation). Suffixes (i.e., bound morphemes following the base) and prefixes (i.e., bound morphemes preceding the base) are the most common affixes, with suffixation being more frequently recorded in the world's languages than prefixation. Minor types of affixation include circumfixation and infixation. Conversion and back-formation are related derivational processes that do not make use of affixation.
 Many studies have concentrated on the need to differentiate derivation from inflection, but these morphological processes are probably best described as two end points of a cline. Prototypically, derivation is used to change a word's category (part of speech) and involves a semantic change. A word's inflectional distinctions make up its paradigm, which amounts to the different morphological forms that correlate with different morphosyntactic functions. Form-function mapping in (derivational and inflectional) affixation is a key issue in current research on affixation. Many deviations from the canonical One Form-One Meaning principle can be observed in the field of affixation.
 From a diachronic point of view, it has been demonstrated that affixes often derive from free lexemes by grammaticalization, with affixoids being recognized as an intermediate step on this cline. More controversial, but still attested, is the opposite change whereby affixes and affixoids develop into free morphemes through a process of degrammaticalization.


Objective: Reporting guidelines call for descriptions of control group support in equal detail as for interventions. However, how to assess the active content (behaviour change techniques (BCTs)) of treatment-as-usual (TAU) delivered to control groups in trials remains unclear. The objective of this study is to pre-test a method of assessing TAU in a multicentre cost-effectiveness trial of an HIV-treatment adherence intervention. Design: HIV-nurses (N = 21) completed a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire enquiring about TAU adherence counselling. Two coders independently coded BCTs. Main outcome measures: Completeness and clarity of nurse responses, inter-coder reliabilities and the type of BCTs reported were examined. Results: The clarity and completeness of nurse responses were adequate. Twenty-three of the 26 identified BCTs could be reliably coded (mean κ = .79; mean agreement rate = 96%) and three BCTs scored below κ = .60. Total number of BCTs reported per nurse ranged between 7 and 19 (M = 13.86, SD = 3.35). Conclusions: This study suggests that the TAU open-ended questionnaire is a feasible and reliable tool to capture active content of support provided to control participants in a multicentre adherence intervention trial. Considerable variability in the number of BCTs provided to control patients was observed, illustrating the importance of reliably collecting and accurately reporting control group support.


The academic literature that explores consumer behaviour in relation to ethical fashion has, to date, emphasised the behaviour of the highly motivated ethical consumer. A number of ethical fashion studies have examined the behaviour of the mainstream consumer but of these, very few were conducted in the UK or emphasised mainstream consumer interpretation of the ethical fashion message.
In the drive towards mainstreaming sustainable product consumption, global information programmes imply that consumer education leads to consumer action. The research presented in this thesis questions the value of mediated consumer information in the development of product literacy and ethical fashion involvement in mainstream fashion markets. The underlying argument that frames the study is that the complex nature of both the sustainability discourse and the contemporary fashion system is a barrier to the mainstreaming of ethical fashion consumption.
A grounded theory approach was adopted to guide the research that was conducted in two stages. In stage one, the qualitative content analysis of mainstream print media exposed the complexities inherent within the communication of ethical fashion to mainstream consumers during 2006 to 2008; the peak of ethical fashion promotion in the UK. Emergent theory was tested with mainstream consumers. The analysis of focus group discussion exposed mainstream consumer interpretation of both the lexicon of ethical fashion and the prevailing media frames. Consumer interpretations were compared to the results of the analysis of mainstream retailer texts. Through the constant comparative method, stage one of the research led to the development of a preliminary theoretical model. In stage two of the research, the content analysis of print media and retailer texts from 2012 considered temporal change in ethical fashion communication and informed the refinement of the emergent grounded theory.
The findings of this research provide evidence that the vocabulary and framing of ethical fashion functions as a barrier to ethical product literacy and results in low mainstream consumer involvement. Findings exposed the lack of consistency in stakeholder use and interpretation of the ethical fashion message. The resulting theory models the implications of incidentally encountered knowledge for the successful communication, interpretation of and involvement with ethical fashion by mainstream fashion consumers. The resulting theoretical model presents mainstream consumer understanding of ethical fashion as a complex and dynamic phenomenon.
This thesis contributes to the emerging body of literature that analyses the complexity of the language of ethical fashion for mainstream consumers. A contribution is also made to the understanding of product literacy and its role in supporting mainstream consumer involvement with ethical fashion products.


The primary goal of the current research program is to define quantitative relationships between marine resource populations and freshwater inflows to the State's bays and estuaries. However, we know there is year-to-year variability in the population densities and successional events of estuarine communities. This year-to-year variability is apparently driven by long-term, and global-scale climatic events, e.g., El Nino, which affects rates of freshwater inflow. Therefore, this report documents long-term changes in populations and communities that are influenced by freshwater inflow. The best indicator of productivity is the change in biomass of the community over time. A secondary goal of the current research is to quantify loss of nitrogen in Texas estuaries. Nitrogen is the key element limiting productivity. A simple budget would account for nitrogen entering the bay via freshwater inflow, how it is captured and transformed into biomass, and finally how it is lost from the ecosystem. One aspect of nitrogen loss is very poorly understood: How much nitrogen is buried in sediments and lost from the system? We report here nitrogen content changes with respect to sediment depth. Presumably nitrogen is labile in the upper, biologically active, layers of sediment and refractory at depth. Therefore, it is important to determine the sediment depth at which nitrogen content is at a low and constant value. This study is a continuation of freshwater inflow studies that began in 1984. The goals have evolved over the years to reflect the synthesis of new information and the management needs of the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). The original studies (1984-1986) were designed to determine the effect of inflow on Lavaca Bay. One station used during that study is still being sampled. San Antonio Bay was studied in 1987, and the Nueces Estuary (Nueces and Corpus Christi Bays) were studied in 1988. Long-term studies of the Lavaca-Colorado and Guadalupe Estuaries began in 1990. Our initial conclusions based on one to four years of data were that inflow does increase benthic productivity (Kalke and Montagna, 1991; Montagna and Kalke, 1992; 1995). However, later analysis of the data set over a 5-year period demonstrated that the largest effect may not be on productivity, but may be on community structure (Montagna and Li, 1996). This implies that reduced inflows may not only reduce productivity but may also change the composition of species in an estuary. The complete long-term record now extends over nine years. The completion of this research will take 12 to 20 years, because the trends are driven by long-term climatic events controlled by global climate patterns, e.g, El Nino.


Despite a heated debate on the perceived increasing complexity of financial regulation, there is no available measure of regulatory complexity other than the mere length of regulatory documents. To fill this gap, we propose to apply simple measures from the computer science literature by treating regulation like an algorithm - a fixed set of rules that determine how an input (e.g., a bank balance sheet) leads to an output (a regulatory decision). We apply our measures to the regulation of a bank in a theoretical model, to an algorithm computing capital requirements based on Basel I, and to actual regulatory texts. Our measures capture dimensions of complexity beyond the mere length of a regulation. In particular, shorter regulations are not necessarily less complex, as they can also use more "high-level" language and concepts. Finally, we propose an experimental protocol to validate measures of regulatory complexity.


Bacteria coordinate cell density dependent behaviors by communicating through chemical intermediaries in a process called quorum sensing. In a bacterial culture, individual cells will constitutively produce signal molecules, termed autoinducers, and export them into the environment. When the concentration of autoinducers reaches a threshold, the cells sense that they are in a specific situation, which requires the upregulation of certain genes. This upregulation causes the bacteria to produce proteins that allow them to take part in a coordinated population-wide behavior. In bacteria that are naturally competent, or capable of importing DNA from the environment, the expression of competence genes is often regulated by quorum sensing. Recent evidence has shown that the archaean Haloferax volcanii is naturally competent, which leads to the hypothesis that H. volcanii may use quorum sensing as a regulatory mechanism as well. In the domain Archaea, quorum sensing is a phenomenon that has received very little investigation and no concrete conclusions have been drawn yet. Comparative genomics studies and nutritional competence growth studies with H. volcanii in conditioned media were performed to gain further insight into quorum sensing in archaea. Comparative proteomic studies suggest that a peptide autoinducer export protein may also function in archaea. The conditioned media growth studies suggest that an autoinducer susceptible to heat treatment may regulate competence in H. volcanii.


This memo is a discussion of some of the ideas expressed in RFC-1016
on Source Quench. This memo introduces the distinction of the cause of
congestion in a gateway between the effects of "Funneling" and
"Mismatch". It is offered in the same spirit as RFC-1016; to stimulate
discussion. The opinions offered are personal, not corporate,
opinions. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.


This paper studies adaptive equalization for time-dispersive communication channels whose impulse responses have unknown lengths. This problem is important, because an adaptive equalizer designed for an incorrect channel length is suboptimal; it often estimates an unnecessarily large number of parameters. Some solutions to this problem exist (e.g., attempting to estimate the "channel length" and then switching between different equalizers); however, these are suboptimal owing to the difficulty of correctly identifying the channel length and the risk associated with an incorrect estimation of this length. Indeed, to determine the channel length is effectively a model order selection problem, for which no optimal solution is known. We propose a novel systematic approach to the problem under study, which circumvents the estimation of the channel length. The key idea is to model the channel impulse response via a mixture Gaussian model, which has one component for each possible channel length. The parameters of the mixture model are estimated from a received pilot sequence. We derive the optimal receiver associated with this mixture model, along with some computationally efficient approximations of it. We also devise a receiver, consisting of a bank of soft-output Viterbi algorithms, which can deliver soft decisions. Via numerical simulations, we show that our new method can outperform conventional adaptive Viterbi equalizers that use a fixed or an estimated channel length.


ABSTRACT When thinking about children's entitlements, priority tends to be given to protecting their well-being achievements, while limiting their entitlement to exercise freedoms and agency. An assumption of "inability" is used as the grounding justification for limiting children's freedom and agency. Using the capability approach (CA) as a method to conceptualise what is owed to individuals, this article shows that the justifiability of restricting freedom to "unable" individuals is not as straightforward as assumed. Understanding the role that abilities play in justifiably limiting freedom requires an assessment of what being "(un)able" means, and how this "inability" may translate into particular privileges or restrictions. The article, thus, intends to give an answer to the following questions: first, how should the concept of "ability" be understood within the CA? And, second, how does ability bind our understanding of the legitimate restriction of freedom and agency? The article offers a response to the first question through an evolving and dynamic understanding of "ability." It claims, moreover, that the process through which abilities develop (the process of capability-formation) ought to be taken into account when assessing what is owed to an individual as a matter of justice.


When a language commission was stopped in its tracks. In the course of the standardisation of Afrikaans, the first two editions of the Afrikaanse woordelijs en spelreëls, published in 1917 and 1918, were heavily inundated with Dutch words. During that time Afrikaans was a well-known spoken language, and since 1860 it was sporadically written as well, without any uniformity, however. In the third edition of the Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls of 1921, the third spelling commission made some telling changes to the first editions, and a good part of the Dutch content was replaced with Afrikaans words, and spelling rules were altered for the spelling of Afrikaans as well. The fourth edition of this publication tried to follow suit, but contrary to expectations, was subjected to some changes by a conference chaired by the minister of education in 1930. This conference requested for the content of this edition to be Dutchified in some important ways, shortly before its publication in 1931. These changes didn't satisfy the delegates of a second conference, held in 1932. An unheard-of decision was subsequently taken: corrections were published in 1932 to accompany the fourth Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls. This decision wasn't very effective and resulted in much uncertainty about the spelling of Afrikaans until the publication of the next Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls, of 1937.


The study of surface characterisation of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibre before
and after physical and chemical treatments was carried out by using light microscopy,
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR)
techniques. One of the objectives of the study was to evaluate fibre microphological
characteristics of different parts of oil palm empty fruit bunch. This study was also
conducted to examine the effects of chemical pre-treatment and mechanical refining on
the morphological characteristics of EFB fibres and to evaluate the surface
characteristics of chemically modified EFB fibre after being treated with succinic
anhydride. For comparison, samples from fresh fruit bunches were also examined. The
mechanical refining process employs pre-treatment with water and sodium hydroxide
(1%). Chemical modification on EFB fibres with succinic anhydride was carried out for
1,2,3,4,5 and 6 hour each at 80oC, 100oC and 120oC. The objective of this study was to
examine the effects of succinic anhydride modification on the morphology of EFB
fibres, as well as the extent of cell wall bulking.Oil palm EFB differs from wood fibres since it does not posses structures such as
cambium, ray cells, sapwood or heartwood portion. These differences are highlighted in
this study. EFB is formed from structures of vascular bundles which consist of xylem
cells, phloem cells, vessels and fibrous sheath and embedded within soft ground
parenchymatous tissue. The examination on the surface morphology of the fibre vascular
bundle suggested that this material may require pretreatment and chemical modification
to enhance surface quality within a fibre/matrix composite due to its waxy surface
nature. Light and SEM micrographs revealed on the presence of cell inclusions such as
stegmata which marked it's presence through the globular protrusion on the surface of
fibre. Silica bodies are found abundantly embedded within the stegmata cells which are
detachable upon processing.
This study also clarified on the differences in properties of fibres according to different
parts of a single fruit bunch. The study on the properties of individual fibre from
different section of EFB (core, stalk and spikelets) concluded that fibre properties within
the fruit bunch are not homogenous. The stalk portion of the fruit bunch has short fibre
lengths (μm) and high tendency to collapse. Compare to the core of the fruit bunch, the
fibre length from this part is longer. Being compared to wood fibre properties, the core
of EFB exhibit quiet a comparable properties especially referring to its Runkel ratio,
coefficient of suppleness and felting power.
The results also indicate that mechanical refining significantly changed the morphology
of EFB fibre structure. The untreated and unrefined EFB fibre is still in it's original
cylindrical shape suggesting the presence of lignin which holds up the cell wall. The Special thanks to the lecturers and staffs of Faculty of Forestry especially to fellow
colleagues: Sapari Mat, Frisco Nobilly, Norzanalia, Mastura, Rasmina, Nurulhuda and
Dr. Manohar for being such a good listener and source of encouragements. Heartfelt
gratitude to her fellow postgraduates, especially to FORGRAD members, and to her
other numerous friends for their inspirations and guidance. Much appreciation also goes
to Hazeline Aasyiqeen, Rohaida, Ann and friends for continuous support and helping
hands.
Last but not least, the author wishes her deepest appreciation to her dearest parents and
brother for their encouragement, understanding, love and sacrifices along the completion
of this study.
xi


The Object Project : At Home with Art in Everton began in February 2013 with collaborating artists Lin Holland & Jane Poulton working with households from the West Everton Community Council (WECC) on a long-term participatory research project.

The aim of the project was to build a dialogue between artists and residents wherein they collectively explored how objects become meaningful in the lives of their owners and, concurrently, whether contemporary art objects might have a role in domestic spaces.

Central to the project was the understanding that, in order for this dialogue to be mutually meaningful, the artists would employ their usual methods of working within the critical discourses of contemporary art.
The project began with Holland & Poulton visiting each household where participants shared with them a significant object, revealing how and why it had accrued its meaning. The intimate setting of the home as the space for these conversations encouraged trusting relationships to be built from the beginning. This produced a distinctive aspect to the project and led to its deeper social impact upon all those involved.

In response to these conversations and treasured objects, the artists made a new artwork for each participant, which responded to the domestic context and visual environment of the object, its history and lineage, and to the wider family and social relations associated with it. These site-specific works were made with materials and processes that included, amongst others: bronze, steel, stone, porcelain, film, photography, fabric and a sung performance. This rich diversity reflected the individuality of each participant and their distinctive object.

The installation of the artworks in participants' homes during March 2014 provided platforms for discussion around the concept, process, and resolution of each site-specific piece.

The project had many social moments with group gallery visits, sculpture workshops and several reflective and celebratory gatherings. A community within the community was formed that established new friendships and rekindled others through a collective and personally meaningful engagement with contemporary art.


10 Background: Classification of breast cancers into molecular subtypes may be important for the proper selection of therapy for patients with early breast cancer. Previous analyses had shown that breast cancer subtypes have distinct clinical outcome (Sorlie, PNAS, 2001; Esserman, BCRT, 2011). Herein, we analyze using MammaPrint together with an 80-gene molecular subtyping profile (BluePrint) the response to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and long term outcomes.

METHODS
This study was carried out on data from 144 patients from the I-SPY I trial; 232 patients from biomarker discovery program at MD Anderson (133 and 99 respectively; Hess, 2006, JCO; Iwamoto, 2011, BCRT); and 68 patients from City of Hope (Somlo, ASCO, 2010). All patients were treated in the neo-adjuvant setting with standard chemotherapy. MammaPrint and BluePrint were determined on 44K Agilent arrays run at Agendia or available through the I-SPY 1 data portal, or from Affymetrix U133A arrays. MammaPrint and BluePrint resulted in 4 distinct molecular groups: Luminal A (MammaPrint Low-risk/Luminal-type), Luminal B (MammaPrint High-risk/Luminal-type), Basal-type and HER2-type.

RESULTS
The overall pCR of this patient cohort was 22% but differed substantially among the subgroups. pCR was observed in 5% of the Luminal-A samples and 10% of Luminal-B, in 39% of the HER2-type samples and in 33% of the Basal-type samples. Patients with Basal-type tumors had a 5-year DFS of 71%; HER2-type had a 5-year DFS of 67% (n=71); 69% in HER2-type subgroup not treated with HER2-targeted therapy (n=45); Luminal-B type had a 5-year DFS of 77% and Luminal-A type showed 5-year DFS of 95%.

CONCLUSIONS
We observed marked differences in response and DFS to neo-adjuvant treatment in groups stratified by MammaPrint and BluePrint. These findings confirm differences in chemotherapy response among molecular subgroups and indicate that the BluePrint and MP profile used for this analysis helps to further establish a clinical correlation between molecular subtyping and treatment outcomes.


The revised criteria for the classification of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were formulated from a computerized analysis of 262 contemporary, consecutively studied patients with RA and 262 control subjects with rheumatic diseases other than RA (non-RA). The new criteria are as follows: 1) morning stiffness in and around joints lasting at least 1 hour before maximal improvement; 2) soft tissue swelling (arthritis) of 3 or more joint areas observed by a physician; 3) swelling (arthritis) of the proximal interphalangeal, metacarpophalangeal, or wrist joints; 4) symmetric swelling (arthritis); 5) rheumatoid nodules; 6) the presence of rheumatoid factor; and 7) radiographic erosions and/or periarticular osteopenia in hand and/or wrist joints. Criteria 1 through 4 must have been present for at least 6 weeks. Rheumatoid arthritis is defined by the presence of 4 or more criteria, and no further qualifications (classic, definite, or probable) or list of exclusions are required. In addition, a "classification tree" schema is presented which performs equally as well as the traditional (4 of 7) format. The new criteria demonstrated 91-94% sensitivity and 89% specificity for RA when compared with non-RA rheumatic disease control subjects.


The picornaviruses are a family of positive sense, single-stranded RNA viruses that initiate translation of their genome using an internal ribosome entry site (IRES), which is typically around 450 nt in length. Currently, three classes of picornavirus IRES element exist, based on structural similarities and biological properties. A novel picornavirus IRES element was identified within the 5' untranslated regions of porcine teschovirus-1 (PTV-1), porcine enterovirus-8 (PEV-8) and simian virus-2 (SV2). These related elements are considerably shorter than other picornavirus IRES elements and surprisingly formation of 48S pre-initiation complexes on the PTV-1 IRES is achieved in the absence of the translation initiation complex eIF4F. Indeed, toeprinting analysis with the PTV-1 IRES indicated that it is able to directly interact with the 40S ribosomal subunit. These properties are unusual for picornavirus IRES elements but are remarkably similar to those of the Flaviviridae IRES elements. Secondary structure models for the PTV-1, PEV-8 and SV2 IRES elements have been derived and key structural features verified through mutagenesis and functional assays. These studies have suggested that a fourth type of IRES element exists within the Picornaviridae, which is structurally and functionally related to the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and pestivirus IRES elements. Picornavirus IRES elements require accessory proteins for their activity. The availability of these proteins may provide insight into the tissue tropism of the viruses. To assess the binding of accessory proteins to the FMDV IRES in cells, a system was designed that could allow the capture of RNA transcripts containing the FMDV IRES and attached proteins from cells. This system made use of a specific protein-RNA interaction between the iron response protein and iron response element, which was placed at the 3' end of the FMDV IRES. Functional assays indicated that key features of this system were operational as expected, but currently no proteins have been identified as FMDV IRES binding proteins using this system.


This study aimed to examine the effect of L-ornithine hydrochloride ingestion on serum growth hormone secretion response after strength training in young men who did not regularly engage in high intensity exercise. Ten healthy young males without workout habits (age: 22.2 +/- 1.0 yr). Subjects performed biceps curl strength training after L-ornithine hydro- chloride and placebo ingestions. They participated in both of the above conditions randomly with a week interval in between. Serum growth hormone and ornithine levels were measured before L-ornithine hydrochloride or placebo ingestions and at 30 minutes after strength training. Serum growth hormone and ornithine level were measured. A change magnitude of serum growth hormone was significantly larger in the L-ornithine hydrochloride condition than in the placebo condition, and the effect size was also large (t = 1.91, p = .044, ES = .75). A significant interaction (F = 280.98, p = 0.000, ηp2 = 0.96) was found in serum ornithine and a multiple comparison test showed that it was greater in the L-ornithine hydrochloride condition. Serum growth hormone level after strength training increases by L-ornithine hydrochloride ingestion in untrained young males.


Young dogs experimentally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi developed acute disease and were studied by pathologic, immunologic, parasitologic and eletrocardiographic methods. The main lesion was an acute myocarditis that began in the atria and propagated through the septum toward the ventricles and, when fully developed, predominated in the right atrium, the right half of the ventricular septum and the free wall of the right ventricle. ECG changes were progressive and reflected the predominant atrial involvement. Cardiac blocks appeared only at the terminal stages and coincided with severe inflammation and necrosis along the A-V conducting tissue. Specific treatment made in 15 dogs with severe acute disease frequently reversed both the histological and ECG changes. Ten animals went into a chronic asymptomatic stage of the infection, three of them after being treated, and were observed from periods of 8 months to 3 years. None of them developed signs of congestive cardiac failure. ECG changes were both non-specific and transient. However, there were focal areas of fibrosis, sclero-atrophy and fatty replacement within the conducting tissue of the heart, probably sequelae from the lesions occuring during the acute infection. There were focal and mild myocarditis in some of the cases. The chronic cardiac form of the disease was studied in microscopic slides from one typical case. This dog developed chronic progressive cardiac failure and complete right bundle branch block 18 months after inoculation. There were cardiomegaly and chronic progressive diffuse myocarditis with fibrosis. Thus, the canine model of Chagas' disease present all stages of the infection as seen in man. Digestive megas were not seen in the present material, but have been described by others. The experimental reproduction of the symptomatic chronic forms in the dog are unpredictable. The present paper aims at presenting the fundamental aspects of the pathology of Chagas's disease in the dog, which are necessary for future studies with the canine model.


From antiquity, when the gods and goddesses were commonly featured in works of art, through to the twentieth century, when Surrealists drew on archetypes from the unconscious, artists have embedded symbols in their works. As with previous volumes in the Guide to Imagery series, the goal of this book is to provide contemporary readers and museum visitors with the tools to read the hidden meanings in works of art. This latest volume is divided thematically into four sections featuring symbols related to time, man, space (earth and sky), and allegories or moral lessons. Readers will learn, for instance, that night, the primordial mother of the cosmos, was often portrayed in ancient art as a woman wrapped in a black veil, whereas day or noon was often represented in Renaissance art as a strong, virile man evoking the full manifestation of the sun's energy Each entry in the book contains a main reference image in which details of the symbol or allegory being analyzed are called out for discussion. In the margin, for quick access by the reader, is a summary of the essential characteristics of the symbol in question, the derivation of its name, and the religious tradition from which it springs.


Commenting on employment and social policy gives me the opportunity to start by pointing out how positive the outcome of the Treaty of Amsterdam (or "Treaty") was in those fields. Indeed, the following four main fields are concerned with substantial extensions or reinforcements of European Community ("EC" or "Community") competencies and responsibilities following the Amsterdam Summit: employment, social policy, equality between men and women, and fundamental rights and non-discrimination. Last but not least, the strengthening of the co-decision procedure, which is now the principal legislative procedure and requires a joint decision of the Council and the European Parliament, does affect a number of articles concerning employment and social policy. I will comment briefly on each of these four issues and their likely policy consequences. SOCIAL POLICY AND EMPLOYMENT ASPECTS OF THE TREATY OF AMSTERDAM


This paper is the result of an empirical study that was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the mechanisms used for monitoring and evaluating staff training and development programmes at the university libraries in Ghana. The study was necessitated by the need to scientifically assess the methods/mechanisms put in place for monitoring and evaluating staff training and development programmes at the university libraries in Ghana in order to make recommendations that will enable the libraries maximised the benefits of training.
The study used the mixed methods research approach, thus a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. The mixed methods were applied in data collection analysis and interpretation of the findings of the study. The study also adopted the survey research method.
The findings reveal that even though the majority of the institutions conducted training needs analysis/assessment for library staff, the process was not properly done. The results also indicate that multiple methods were used in identifying the training needs of the library staff of the university libraries in Ghana.
The findings further reveal that not all the institutions followed the Kirkpatrick model or any known training model of monitoring and evaluating reaction, learning, behavior,results and return on investment in training.
The study recommends that, monitoring and evaluation should be done by all the stakeholders namely, trainers, trainees, supervisors, co-workers and managers and the feedback of the evaluation should be shared with the stakeholders to help improve upon future staff training and evaluation programmes.


A new U-Pb SHRIMP zircon date of 1181 ± 15 Ma has been obtained from a sample of the syntectonic, gneissose
Sikombe Granite from northeastern Transkei (Eatern Cape Province). The outcrops form the most southerly exposures
of the ~1.1 Ga Natal Metamorphic Province (NMP). Previously, these isolated outcrops have been regarded as
possibly forming a separate southerly, amphibolite facies terrane of the NMP, as the lithological assemblage is
somewhat different from those of the granulite grade Margate terrane to the north. The new data do not conclusively
demonstrate this, but they do show that the accretion age of the southerly terrane of the NMP is not significantly
younger than the more northerly terranes. Sm-Nd analyses of three samples of the Sikombe Granite give consistent,
positive End values (+4 at t = 1180 Ma) showing that, like the rest of the NMP, the granite was derived from juvenile
Mesoproterozoic crust, with little or no involvement of older material in its genesis

http://sil.usask.ca/Publications_files/Thomas et al 2004 Sikombe granite.pdf


Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and forward collision warning (FCW) systems are increasingly being developed and introduced into the Australian vehicle fleet. These active safety systems are designed to detect potential collisions and alert the driver and/or apply the brakes of the vehicle to minimize the severity of the collision or stop it from occurring at all. The potential for these technologies to reduce crash speeds or eliminate the crash altogether is substantial and they are predicted to result in a significant reduction in road trauma. However, not all AEB/FCW systems operate in the same way or provide the same level of benefit to the road user. Different systems utilise different types of sensors, operate at different speeds/ranges, and respond to critical situations in different ways. It is therefore important that AEB/FCW systems made available in Australia can be tested and rated for effectiveness. This paper summarises the development of an AEB/FCW evaluation capability by the Centre for Automotive Safety Research. Preliminary results obtained during the testing of an AEB system currently available in Australia are presented.


As social networking services become increasingly popular, more and more attacks against users' private information are reported. As a result, privacy protection becomes an important concern among users. Previous research has produced many different approaches to deal with privacy control in different social networking sites. In this paper, we make a survey on different approaches proposed to tackle the privacy issue in social networking sites. In particular, we put current approaches into three general categories, i.e. approaches addressing end users' active participation, security automation based on machine learning algorithms, and privacy preserving by using a decentralized architecture for social networking services. Then we introduce and analyze some of the approaches in each category. Finally, we give some suggestions that may help privacy control in online social networks.


The running of the top quark mass is experimentally investigated for the first time. The mass of the top quark in the modified minimal subtraction (MS) renormalization scheme is extracted from a comparison of the differential top quark-antiquark (t ¯ t) cross section as a function of the invariant mass of the t ¯ t system to next-to-leading-order theoretical predictions. The differential cross section is determined at the parton level by means of a maximum-likelihood fit to distributions of final-state observables. The analysis is performed using t ¯ t candidate events in the e ± μ ∓ channel in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV recorded by the CMS detector at the CERN LHC in 2016, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9fb − 1 . The extracted running is found to be compatible with the scale dependence predicted by the corresponding renormalization group equation. In this analysis, the running is probed up to a scale of the order of 1TeV. .


Having peaked in early 2007 Irish house prices have fallen steadily. Negative equity occurs if house price falls result in the house value being lower than the outstanding debt. Many in negative equity will be unaffected and will continue to pay their mortgage without difficulty. Negative equity can increase the probability of defaulting if it occurs at the same time as cashflow problems, possibly caused by illness or job loss. This paper estimates that 116,000 borrowers were in negative equity at the end of 2009, rising to 196,000 borrowers by end-2010. Borrowing at, or close to the price peak, high loan-to-value ratios, interest only mortgages and longer mortgage terms have contributed to higher numbers in negative equity. First-time buyers are more likely to be experiencing negative equity. The research shows that many of those who have mortgages are employed in sectors where employment prospects, to date, remain relatively robust. Policies that assist households overcome a loss in income may help lower the default rate.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of a rapidly spreading illness, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), affecting thousands of people around the world. Urgent guidance for clinicians caring for the sickest of these patients is needed. Methods: We formed a panel of 36 experts from 12 countries. All panel members completed the World Health Organization conflict of interest disclosure form. The panel proposed 53 questions that are relevant to the management of COVID-19 in the ICU. We searched the literature for direct and indirect evidence on the management of COVID-19 in critically ill patients in the ICU. We identified relevant and recent systematic reviews on most questions relating to supportive care. We assessed the certainty in the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, then generated recommendations based on the balance between benefit and harm, resource and cost implications, equity, and feasibility. Recommendations were either strong or weak, or in the form of best practice recommendations. Results: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign COVID-19 panel issued 54 statements, of which four are best practice statements, nine are strong recommendations, and 35 are weak recommendations. No recommendation was provided for six questions. The topics were: 1) infection control, 2) laboratory diagnosis and specimens, 3) hemodynamic support, 4) ventilatory support, and 5) COVID-19 therapy. Conclusion: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign COVID-19 panel issued several recommendations to help support healthcare workers caring for critically ill ICU patients with COVID-19. When available, we will provide new evidence in further releases of these guidelines.


Rapid speciation in Lake Victoria cichlid fish of the genus Pundamilia may be facilitated by sexual selection: female mate choice exerts sexual selection on male nuptial coloration within species and maintains reproductive isolation between species. However, declining water transparency coincides with increasingly dull coloration and increasing hybridization. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism underlying this pattern in Pundamilia nyererei, a species that interbreeds with a sister species in turbid but not in clear water. We compared measures of intraspecific sexual selection between two populations from locations that differ in water transparency. First, in laboratory mate-choice experiments, conducted in clear water and under broad-spectrum illumination, we found that females originating from turbid water have significantly weaker preferences for male coloration than females originating from clear water. Second, both the hue and body coverage of male coloration differ between populations, which is consistent with adaptation to different photic habitats. These findings suggest that the observed relationship between male coloration and water transparency is not mediated by environmental variation alone. Rather, female mating preferences are indicated to have changed in response to this variation, constituting the first evidence for intraspecific preference-trait co-evolution in cichlid fish. (C) 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 99, 398-406.


The notion of organizational identity has received increased attention lately. This paper proposes a 'balanced' understanding of identities in networks by combining outside-in and inside-out perspectives on identity development. Empirically a longitudinal case study of the global salmon farming industry is presented. In the discussion a set of sense-processes are illustrated on a network level of analysis, building on the network paradoxes of influence and control. This includes sensemaking (giving meaning to experience), sense-giving (attempts to influence the sense-making of others), sense-breaking (causing others to experience their way of reality as incoherent) and sense-taking (the understanding of how others provide meaning for a focal actor; the successful influence of others). Moreover, a three layered notion of identity, based on the ARA model, is presented. This conceptualization of identity is proposed to provide a meaningful distinction between actor features, resources and activities in the shaping of organizational identities in networks.


The Myth of Empowerment surveys the ways in which women have been represented and influenced by the rapidly growing therapeutic culture--both popular and professional--from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The middle-class woman concerned about her health and her ability to care for others in an uncertain world is not as different from her late nineteenth-century white middle-class predecessors as we might imagine. In the nineteenth century she was told that her moral virtue was her power; today, her power is said to reside in her ability to "relate" to others or to take better care of herself so that she can take care of others. Dana Becker argues that ideas like empowerment perpetuate the myth that many of the problems women have are medical rather than societal; personal rather than political. From mesmerism to psychotherapy to the Oprah Winfrey Show, women have gleaned ideas about who they are as psychological beings. Becker questions what women have had to gain from these ideas as she recounts the story of where they have been led and where the therapeutic culture is taking them.


Context. Solar-like oscillations have been observed by Kepler and CoRoT in several solar-type stars. Aims. We study the variations in the stellar p-mode linewidth as a function of effective temperature. Methods. We study a time series of nine months of Kepler data. We analyse the power spectra of 42 cool main-sequence stars and subgiants using both maximum likelihood estimators and Bayesian estimators to recover individual mode characteristics such as frequencies, linewidths, and mode heights. Results. We report on the mode linewidth at both maximum power and maximum mode height for these 42 stars as a function of effective temperature. Conclusions. We show that the mode linewidth at either maximum mode height or maximum amplitude follows a scaling relation with effective temperature, which is a combination of a power law and a lower bound. The typical power-law index is about 13 for the linewidth derived from the maximum mode height, and about 16 for the linewidth derived from the maximum amplitude, while the lower bound is about 0.3 μHz and 0.7 μHz, respectively. We stress that this scaling relation is only valid for cool main-sequence stars and subgiants, and does not have any predictive power outside the temperature range of these stars.


The ACE-FTS (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment – Fourier Transform Spectrometer) solar occultation instrument that was launched onboard the Canadian SCISAT-1 satellite in August 2003 is measuring vertical profiles from the upper troposphere to the lower mesosphere for a large number of atmospheric constituents. Methane is one of the key species. The version v2.2 data of the ACE-FTS CH 4 data have been compared to correlative satellite, balloon-borne and ground-based Fourier transform infrared remote sensing data to assess their quality. The comparison results indicate that the accuracy of the data is within 10% in the upper troposphere – lower stratosphere, and within 25% in the middle and higher stratosphere up to the lower mesosphere (<60 km). The observed differences are generally consistent with reported systematic uncertainties. ACE-FTS is also shown to reproduce the variability of methane in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere.


Time Discounting and the Body Mass Index In many Western countries, the relative weight of people measured by the Body Mass Index (BMI) has increased substantially in recent years, leading to an increasing incidence of overweight and related health problems. As with many forms of risky behavior, it is plausible that overweight is related to the individual discount rate. Increases in credit card debts, the rise in gambling and the development of a more hedonic life style, suggest that the average discount rate has increased over time. This increase may have been the cause of the increase in BMI. Applying a large set of indicators for the individual discount rate, this paper analyzes whether changes in time discounting can account for differences in body mass between individuals at a given point in time and whether changes in the average individual discount rate can explain the remarkable increase in BMI experienced in recent years. We find some evidence for a link between time discounting and differences in BMI between people, but this relationship depends strongly on the choice of the proxy for the discount rate. Giving our hypothesis the best chance, we analyze the development of the time discounting proxies that are most strongly related to BMI. We find no evidence for a change of these proxies over time. Our main conclusion therefore is that overweight might be related to the way people discount future health benefits, but the increase in BMI has to be explained by shifts in other parameters that determine the intertemporal decisions regarding the trade-off of current and future health and satisfaction. JEL Classification: I1


This study approaches foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America and the Caribbean from a new perspective by analysing the strategies of transitional corporations in an attempt to overcome the limitations of official FDI statistics (whether from destination countries or the main investor countries). This is achieved through a study of the information obtained from research programmes of the Unit on Investment and Corporate Strategies and from information obtained from secondary sources, mainly from specialized financial journals. This approach affords a better understanding of the nature of the phenomenon, set against the background of international market trends, national policies (of both source and destination countries) and new corporate strategies. For the eighth consecutive year, FDI flows into the region have increased sharply and have had a very strong impact on the economic performance of countries. In 1997, US$ 65.2 billion poured into the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean. Approximately 30% of that was concentrated in Brazil, which emerged once again as the principal FDI destination country in the region. According to preliminary estimates for 1998, net FDI inflows will be much the same as in 1997. This document presents a comprehensive analysis of FDI patterns in terms of amounts, form, geographical and sectoral destination and main agents. It also includes a detailed study of FDI characteristics in the six main destination countries (other than Brazil) and of the emergence of intraregional investment. As the target for the highest levels of inflows in recent times, Brazil is the subject of a chapter in its own right; another chapter is devoted to the investor country that is the source of the largest stock of FDI in the region, namely, the United States; and a third deals with the sector in which the most important foreign firms in terms of sales are to be found: the automotive industry. This document has thus succeeded in overcoming statistical deficiencies and providing deeper insight into the phenomenon.


This paper investigates an isolated setting of the lexical substitution task of replacing words with their synonyms. In particular, we examine this problem in the setting of subtitle generation and evaluate state of the art scoring methods that predict the validity of a given substitution. The paper evaluates two context independent models and two contextual models. The major findings suggest that distributional similarity provides a useful complementary estimate for the likelihood that two Wordnet synonyms are indeed substitutable, while proper modeling of contextual constraints is still a challenging task for future research.


The mixing ratios of 11 C1–C3 halocarbons have been measured using a GC–twin‐linked ECD system over the period from October 2004 to December 2005 at an urban site in Bristol, UK. Time series and seasonal variations of the halocarbons were analysed over the period to determine biogenic and anthropogenic sources and sinks. Correlations between the target halocarbons were also observed, suggesting common sources within the area. Wind rose plots for all halocarbons have been used to assist in the determination of halocarbons sources. Halocarbon concentrations are highest at low‐wind speeds and decrease as wind speed increases, a few species (CCl4 and CH3Cl most notably) rise at very high‐wind speeds suggesting release from the Bristol Channel. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society


The vast amounts of data that are generated and collected in today's world bear immense potential for businesses and authorities. Innovative companies already adopt novel analytics methods driven by competition and the urge of constantly gaining new insights into business operations, customer preferences, and strategic decision making. Nonetheless, local authorities have been slow to embrace the opportunities enabled by data analytics. In this paper, we demonstrate and discuss how latent structures unveil valuable information on an aspect of public life and communities we all face: criminal activity. On city-scale, we analyze the spatial correspondence of recorded crime to its physical environment, the public presence, and the demographical structure in its vicinity. Our results show that Big Data in fact is able to identify and quantify the main spatial drivers of criminal activity. At the same time, we are able to maintain interpretability by design, which ultimately allows deep informational insights.


In this paper we explore and compare various techniques for the calculation of distance decay parameters which are estimated using statistical methods with half-life decay parameters which are derived mathematically. Half-life models appear to be a valid alternative to traditional spatial interaction models, especially in the presence of spatially highly disaggregate data. Our results indicate that Half-life models are more accurate for the construction of decay parameters than are unconstrained spatial interaction models in 'medium' sized datasets but not as accurate as doubly-constrained models. However, using highly detailed and disaggregate datasets Half-life models may be viable alternatives to doubly-constrained spatial interaction models as the latter will be difficult to estimate when the number of origins and destinations increase. In addition, Half-life models rise in accuracy with increasing degrees of disaggregation due to reductions of systematic errors between observed individual level commuting distance and modelled distances between origins and destinations.In sum, our findings are as follows. First, since unconstrained and doubly-constrained spatial interaction models become increasingly difficult to estimate and/or less accurate to use compared to Half-life models as the spatial disaggregation increases choice of decay parameter estimation model should be considered in relation to level of disaggregation. Secondly, Half-life models are not affected by the systematic errors observed in the statistically derived models. Finally, using Half-life models for the estimation of decay parameters is simple which may make it easy to employ among practitioners lacking skills or computer means for the estimation of more complex statistically derived models.


Grain mold, the most important and widespread disease of sorghum worldwide, is a major
constraint to sorghum productivity. Grain mold development is particularly severe in the shortduration
hybrid cultivars and varieties that are grown during the rainy season under warm and
humid conditions. It is caused by a number of unspecialized fungal pathogens that severely
affect grain mass, seed viability, grain quality and market price. A large volume of literature is
available on studies related to various aspects of grain mold, including biology, epidemiology,
association with mycotoxins and management methods. In this bulletin, attempts have been
made to briefly describe the important findings of research done at ICRISAT and elsewhere,
and to emphasize some of the recent developments on management of grain mold, including
refined screening techniques, sources of resistance, genetics and mechanisms of resistance,
resistance breeding and other management options, including an integrated management
approach.


This paper presents the vehicle speed, direction, identification (ID) sensing methods for Personal Rapid Transit (PRT). The M-method and the T-method are introduced in order to obtain the accurate speed of the vehicle using proximity sensors. Two proximity sensors are utilized to detect the direction of the vehicle and to measure the speed of the vehicle. Another sensor is used for vehicles ID reading. For correct ID detection, two sensing plates aligned with 15mm difference are applied.


Since many years ester liquids are in use as an alternative insulating liquid to mineral oil in distribution transformers. The major advantage, forcing the application of these fluids, is their improved environmental compatibility. But these liquids comprise several additional advantages, which are at first their lower inflammability. Power transformers contain several tons of insulating liquid, that may cause a long lasting pool fire in case of a transformer tank rupture due to winding failures. Meanwhile there are a lot of good experiences concerning the use of the ester liquid Midel 7131 in distribution transformers. This good experience encourages the manufacturer of transformers to use this liquid in power transformers. Due to larger dimensions of power transformers in comparison to distribution transformers special consideration is necessary. The contribution presents some results of investigations concerning the electric and dielectric behaviour of ester liquids in comparison to mineral based transformer oil. Furthermore the performance of ester liquid Midel 7131 and mineral oil mixtures concerning the electric behaviour is introduced.


It is widely believed that the success of deep convolutional networks is based on progressively discarding uninformative variability about the input with respect to the problem at hand. This is supported empirically by the difficulty of recovering images from their hidden representations, in most commonly used network architectures. In this paper we show via a one-to-one mapping that this loss of information is not a necessary condition to learn representations that generalize well on complicated problems, such as ImageNet. Via a cascade of homeomorphic layers, we build the i-RevNet, a network that can be fully inverted up to the final projection onto the classes, i.e. no information is discarded. Building an invertible architecture is difficult, for one, because the local inversion is ill-conditioned, we overcome this by providing an explicit inverse. An analysis of i-RevNets learned representations suggests an alternative explanation for the success of deep networks by a progressive contraction and linear separation with depth. To shed light on the nature of the model learned by the i-RevNet we reconstruct linear interpolations between natural image representations.


Recent studies have shown that storm-water flows from urban and industrial areas typically contain significant quantities of the same pollutants found in wastewater and industrial discharges. As a result of these studies, EPA has determined that the point-source discharge of urban runoff has to be regulated in some manner. Under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program, a state complies by requiring storm-water permits that meet high numerical standards. But EPA may ultimately require technology-based treatment of stormwater, rather than measuring performance by the quality of a particular concentration at the end of the pipe. With that, innovative stormwater management programs are underway around the country. One solution is a strategy known as "best management practices." BMP is a sweeping storm-water management philosophy, in which engineers consider runoff in the overall design of communities, highways, streets and infrastructure. The objective is to treat runoff as a resource that could recharge grounbd water aquifers and augment irrigation water supplies. Under BMP, runoff is controlled at the surface in detention basins and other drainage structures, meaning there is less need for building expensive treatment plants at the discharge point. BMP is being showcased on a $1.2 billion university campus project near Maakkah, Saudi Arabia.


In a world in which we are constantly surrounded by data, figures, and statistics, it is imperative to understand and to be able to use quantitative methods. Statistical models and methods are among the most important tools in economic analysis, decision-making and business planning. This textbook, Descriptive Statistics and Modern Data Analysis, aims to familiarise students of economics and business as well as practitioners in firms with the basic principles, techniques, and applications of descriptive statistics and data analysis. Drawing on practical examples from business settings, it demonstrates the basic descriptive methods of univariate and bivariate analysis. The textbook covers a range of subject matter, from data collection and scaling to the presentation and univariate analysis of quantitative data, and also includes analytic procedures for assessing bivariate relationships. It does not confine itself to presenting descriptive statistics, but also addresses the use of computer programmes such as Excel, SPSS, and STATA, thus treating all of the topics typically covered in a university course on descriptive statistics. The German edition of this textbook is one of the bestsellers on the German market for literature in statistics.


Wnts, which are a class of ligands, are involved in many cellular processes and have been previously implicated as prosynaptogenic factors. Klassen and Shen show that the formation of synapses by the motor neuron DA9 is inhibited by a Wnt signaling pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans involving the Wnts LIN-44 and EGL-20, the Wnt receptor LIN-17, and the intracellular signaling component DSH-1. The pathway appeared to be a noncanonical one, as mutations in genes encoding participants in the Wnt-β-catenin pathway, the planar cell polarity pathway, and the Wnt-calcium signaling pathway did not cause the formation of synapses in regions that were asynaptic in wild-type worms. As discussed by Davis and Ghosh, it will be interesting to determine what the mechanism of Wnt regulation of synapse formation is and whether there is a dose-dependent effect that would classify Wnt as a synaptomorphogen. M. P. Klassen, J. Shen, Wnt signaling positions neuromuscular connectivity by inhibiting synapse formation in C. elegans. Cell 130, 704-716 (2007). [PubMed] E. Davis, A. Ghosh, Should I stay or should I go: Wnt signals at the synapse. Cell 130, 593-596 (2007). [PubMed]


Thrombolytic therapy in the management of acute myocardial infarction (Ml) shows true evidence of benefit. Administration of a thrombolytic saves about 30 lives per 1,000 in those presenting within six hours of symptom onset but only 20 lives per 1,000 when patients receive treatment between six and 12 hours after symptom onset. After 12 hours there appears to be only a small and statistically uncertain benefit. The aim in thrombolysis should be to increase the number of patients who achieve TIMI grade 3 flow as soon as possible after the occlusive event. Additional benefit in improving thrombolysis, particularly in reducing 30-day mortality, has been shown by adding the antiplatelet agent, aspirin, to thrombolytic therapy. The addition of a second antiplatelet agent, such as clopidogrel, has been shown to be of benefit in other, less immediately severe atherothrombotic manifestations (unstable angina and non-ST-elevation Ml) and looks to be a promising development in the management of acute ST-elevation Ml. The potential advantages of dual antiplatelet therapy in this setting, investigated in the recently published CLARITY study, are discussed.


The Rome IV Diagnostic Questionnaires were developed to screen for functional gastrointestinal disorders, serve as inclusion criteria in clinical trials, and support epidemiologic surveys. Separate questionnaires were developed for adults, children and adolescents, and infants and toddlers. For the adult questionnaire, we first surveyed 1162 adults without gastrointestinal disorders, and recommended the 90 th percentile symptom frequency as the threshold for defining what is abnormal. Diagnostic questions were formulated and verified with clinical experts using a recursive process. The diagnostic sensitivity of the questionnaire was tested in 843 patients from 9 gastroenterology clinics, with a focus on clinical diagnoses of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional constipation (FC), and functional dyspepsia (FD). Sensitivity was 62.7% for IBS, 54.7% for FD, and 32.2% for FC. Specificity, assessed in a population sample of 5931 adults, was 97.1% for IBS, 93.3% for FD, and 93.6% for FC. Excess overlap among IBS, FC, and FD was a major contributor to reduced diagnostic sensitivity, and when overlap of IBS with FC was permitted, sensitivity for FC diagnosis increased to 73.2%. All questions were understandable to at least 90% of individuals, and Rome IV diagnoses were reproducible in three-fourths of patients after 1 month. Validation of the pediatric questionnaires is ongoing.


Pressures on braided river systems in New Zealand are increasing due to anthropogenic stresses such as demand for irrigation water, braidplain conversion to farmland and invasive vegetation, as well as extreme natural events associated with earthquakes and climate change. These pressures create issues around preserving braided river physical environments and associated ecosystems, and managing hazards such as floods, aggradation and erosion. A need for more robust understanding and quantification of braided river morphodynamic processes underpins many of these issues. Here, we present eight morphodynamic research challenges to service this need. The first four research challenges relate to managing aggradation‐related flooding hazards; the last four address issues stem largely from recent dairy expansion, which has created huge pressure to take land and irrigation water from the alp‐fed braided rivers and to alter flow regimes at their mouths. Hāpua, the freshwater lagoons found where most braided rivers meet the coast, show complex morphodynamic behaviour in response to the interplay of river and coastal processes, and their special ecosystems are sensitive to river flow and sediment load changes. We discuss how physical laboratory experiments and novel numerical modelling can help to understand the morphological processes braided rivers undergo, and we show how those research advances could inform planning and legal decisions to regulate land rights and irrigation water allocation on New Zealand's braidplains. We illustrate these environmental and engineering issues and research challenges with examples from the Kowhai, Waiho, Waiau, Rangitata and Hurunui Rivers. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The geomorphology of the western Siberian Arctic coast represents a significant departure from the global trend of Holocene delta formation by major rivers. The Ob9 and Yenisei Rivers in western Siberia drain into the Arctic Ocean via estuaries ∼900 and ∼500 km long, respectively. Eastern Siberian rivers such as the Lena, Indigirka, and Kolyma terminate at significant marine deltas. We show that this spatial variation in coastal geomorphology can be explained by the glacial isostatic adjustment of the region. The development and collapse of a peripheral bulge in western Siberia, associated with the glaciation and subsequent deglaciation of the Eurasian ice sheets, led to a distinct spatial variation in sea-level change that continues to this day. In particular, since the marked decrease in global-scale ice melting ca. 7 ka, our model predicts a sea-level rise at the mouth of the Ob9 River of ∼14 m, compared to a rise of ∼6 m at the mouth of the Lena River, which ceased at 3 ka. We propose that the enhanced sea-level rise in the western Siberian Arctic associated with peripheral bulge subsidence has prevented the establishment of marine deltas at the mouths of the Ob9 and Yenisei Rivers. We conclude that regional variations in relative sea-level change driven by glacial isostatic adjustment should be considered when interpreting large-scale coastal morphology and deltaic stratigraphy, which is normally assumed to correlate with eustatic fluctuations.


The German population is ageing due to decreasing birth rates and increasing life expectancy. To sustain the German pension system, legal retirement age is increased step by step to 67 years. This raises questions about how to enable and motivate older individuals to work that long. Hence, it is important to understand whether they represent a homogeneous group that can be addressed through specific measures and instruments. Life-span theory points to systematic changes as well as increased heterogeneity with age. For example, work motivation does not generally decline with age but becomes increasingly task-specific, depending on changing life goals and individual adaptation processes in adult development. In this empirical study we analyse age heterogeneity with regard to current life satisfaction and life satisfaction domains (measured as satisfaction with work, income, family and health) that represent personal utilities individuals strive for. For our analysis we use data collected as part of a representative German longitudinal data study (SOEP1). We find increasing heterogeneity in current life satisfaction, satisfaction with work, family life, and health with age. Thus, common mean level analyses on age effects yield only limited informative value. The heterogeneity of older adults should be taken into account when motivating and developing older workers.


The purpose of this study is to explore how Lakatos' scientific research programmes might serve as a theoretical framework for representing and evaluating informal argumentation about socio‐scientific issues. Seventy undergraduate science and non‐science majors were asked to make written arguments about four socio‐scientific issues. Our analysis showed that the science majors' informal arguments were significantly better than the non‐science majors' arguments. In terms of the resources for supporting reasons, we find that personal experience and scientific belief are the two categories that are generated most often in both groups of the participants. Besides, science majors made significantly greater use of analogies, while non‐science majors made significantly greater use of authority. In addition, both science majors and non‐science majors had a harder time changing their arguments after participating in a group discussion. In the study of argumentation in science, scholars have often used Toulmin's framework of data, warrant, backing, qualifiers, claims, and rebuttal. Our work demonstrates that Lakatos' work is also a viable perspective, especially when warrant and backing are difficult to discern, and when students' arguments are resistant to change. Our use of Lakatos' framework highlights how the 'hard core' of students' arguments about socio‐scientific issues does, indeed, seem to be protected by a 'protective belt' and, thus, is difficult to alter. From these insights, we make specific implications for further research and teaching.


This thesis investigated the association between diet-related environmental impact and health. Data were from 40,000 Dutch participants enrolled in the EPIC-NL cohort with available dietary data at baseline (1993-1997) and in 2015. Environmental impact of diet was calculated using greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and land use and health was measured according to the Dutch dietary guidelines (RGV). Additionally, mortality risk of chronic diseases was examined. Diet-related environmental impact was not associated with mortality risk. In 2015, participants ate relatively more fish and chicken but comparable quantities of red and processed meat. This resulted in a healthier diet, but similar environmental impact. Scenarios in which 35 grams of meat per day was replaced by vegetables, fruit or fish were environmentally friendlier (< 10% less GHG emission) and healthier (< 19% lower mortality risk). Better adherence to the RGV was healthier and more sustainable. Modelled policy scenarios with a 15% or 30% higher meat price or 10% lower price for fruit and vegetables showed several billion Euros net benefits over a 30-year period. Important dietary patterns for environment and health were characterized by the ratio of plant-based to animal-based foods (patterns 1) or the amount of dairy consumed (patterns 2). Compared to the average diet in EPIC-NL, participants with a 'plant-based' diet had a favorable score for environmental impact and health, while participants with the 'dairy-based' pattern were slightly healthier but had a higher environmental impact. Health aspects have been central in current dietary guidelines. In order to integrate environmental impact, several adjustments are proposed for profit on both aspects.


Abstract The Sino-Mongolian beaver Castor fiber birulai lives in the Ulungur watershed in China and Mongolia, an area little known to the people outside this region. We recorded the number of families, adults, subadults and juveniles at each of three beaver lodges in the Bulgan Beaver Nature Reserve in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Along the whole Ulungur watershed in China in each of the 3 years we conducted surveys for the beaver and estimated the total population based on the area of food caches. We recorded 135, 167 and 145 Sino-Mongolian beaver colonies and estimated a population 472–599, 543–700 and 508–645 beavers in 2003, 2006 and 2007, respectively. From 1989 to 2007 the number of human households in the Bulgan Nature Reserve increased by 112% and the population by 71%. Consequently human activities in the river valley, including collection of wood for fuel, increased. We also surveyed the site of a relocation of C. f. birulai from the Bulgan River to the Ertix River in 1992 but found no sign of living beavers. The population of the Sino-Mongolian beaver in China is small and restricted geographically. Threats, such as habitat modification and deterioration and competition with people for wood, continue. We recommend that the Bulgan Beaver Nature Reserve be expanded by a transfrontier agreement with the appropriate authorities in Mongolia, and that a plan for sustainable wetland management and restoration is required.


Abstract Ten ice-sheet models are used to study sensitivity of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets to prescribed changes of surface mass balance, sub-ice-shelf melting and basal sliding. Results exhibit a large range in projected contributions to sea-level change. In most cases, the ice volume above flotation lost is linearly dependent on the strength of the forcing. Combinations of forcings can be closely approximated by linearly summing the contributions from single forcing experiments, suggesting that nonlinear feedbacks are modest. Our models indicate that Greenland is more sensitive than Antarctica to likely atmospheric changes in temperature and precipitation, while Antarctica is more sensitive to increased ice-shelf basal melting. An experiment approximating the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's RCP8.5 scenario produces additional first-century contributions to sea level of 22.3 and 8.1 cm from Greenland and Antarctica, respectively, with a range among models of 62 and 14 cm, respectively. By 200 years, projections increase to 53.2 and 26.7 cm, respectively, with ranges of 79 and 43 cm. Linear interpolation of the sensitivity results closely approximates these projections, revealing the relative contributions of the individual forcings on the combined volume change and suggesting that total ice-sheet response to complicated forcings over 200 years can be linearized.


Many studies show a link between social cognition, a set of cognitive and emotional abilities applied to social situations, and executive functions in typical developing children. Children with Down syndrome (DS) show deficits both in social cognition and in some subcomponents of executive functions. However this link has barely been studied in this population. The aim of this study is to investigate the links between social cognition and executive functions among children with DS. We administered a battery of social cognition and executive function tasks (six theory of mind tasks, a test of emotion comprehension, and three executive function tasks) to a group of 30 participants with DS between 4 and 12 years of age. The same tasks were administered to a chronological-age control group and to a control group with the same linguistic development level. Results showed that apart from deficits in social cognition and executive function abilities, children with DS displayed a slight improvement with increasing chronological age and language development in those abilities. Correlational analysis suggested that working memory was the only component that remained constant in the relation patterns of the three groups of participants, being the relation patterns similar among participants with DS and the language development control group. A multiple linear regression showed that working memory explained above 50% of the variability of social cognition in DS participants and in language development control group, whereas in the chronological-age control group this component only explained 31% of the variability. These findings, and specifically the link between working memory and social cognition, are discussed on the basis of their theoretical and practical implications for children with DS. We discuss the possibility to use a working memory training to improve social cognition in this population.


In an approach to understand more about copper toxicity effects on marine microalgae, 72-h growth inhibition toxicity tests were followed on natural picophytoplanktonic populations belonging to different coastal and oceanic geographic locations (Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean) covering, at an approximate longitude of 30oW, latitudes from 32o14´S to 29o10´N. Analyses of samples established different predominant populations for different locations. Copper toxicity tests showed a group of cyanobacteria isolated from coastal samples that were the most sensitive, and a second group of picoeukaryotes collected from the Atlantic Ocean surface, which were more tolerant to copper. The use of flow cytometry for studying copper toxic effects provided a variety of information on cell parameters in addition to cellular density. In particular, an established increase in copper tolerance with increase of cell size was observed in cyanobacteria, but it was not clearly followed in picoeukaryotes. This study aims to relate copper tolerance to the geographic location sites of sampling collection. The results obtained establish that other factors such as cell size, proximity to the coast and copper concentration in situ are considered to have a greater influence than the fact of belonging to a determined location site.


Low-mass protostars are the extrasolar analogues of the natal Solar System. Sophisticated physicochemical models are used to simulate the formation of two protoplanetary discs from the initial prestellar phase, one dominated by viscous spreading and the other by pure infall. The results show that the volatile prestellar fingerprint is modified by the chemistry en route into the disc. This holds relatively independent of initial abundances and chemical parameters: physical conditions are more important. The amount of CO2 increases via the grain-surface reaction of OH with CO, which is enhanced by photodissociation of H2O ice. Complex organic molecules are produced during transport through the envelope at the expense of CH3OH ice. Their abundances can be comparable to that of methanol ice (few % of water ice) at large disc radii (R > 30 AU). Current Class II disc models may be underestimating the complex organic content. Planet population synthesis models may underestimate the amount of CO2 and overestimate CH3OH ices in planetesimals by disregarding chemical processing between the cloud and disc phases. The overall C/O and C/N ratios differ between the gas and solid phases. The two ice ratios show little variation beyond the inner 10 AU and both are nearly solar in the case of pure infall, but both are sub-solar when viscous spreading dominates. Chemistry in the protostellar envelope en route to the protoplanetary disc sets the initial volatile and prebiotically-significant content of icy planetesimals and cometary bodies. Comets are thus potentially reflecting the provenances of the midplane ices in the Solar Nebula.


For systems-on-chip (SoC) development, a predominant part of the design time is the simulation time. Performance evaluation and design space exploration of such systems in bit- and cycle-true fashion is becoming prohibitive. We propose a traffic generation (TG) model that provides a fast and effective network-on-chip (NoC) development and debugging environment. By capturing the type and the timestamp of communication events at the boundary of an IP core in a reference environment, the TG can subsequently emulate the core's communication behavior in different environments. Access patterns and resource contention in a system are dependent on the interconnect architecture, and our TG is designed to capture the resulting reactiveness. The regenerated traffic, which represents a realistic workload, can thus be used to undertake faster architectural exploration of interconnection alternatives, effectively decoupling simulation of IP cores and of interconnect fabrics. The results with the TG on an AMBA interconnect show a simulation time speedup above a factor of 2 over a complete system simulation, with close to 100 % accuracy.


The First World War was an immense economic shock also for the Finnish economy. As the war began, Finland, as the Grand Duchy of Russia, was cut off from its main export market in Western Europe. During the first war years, however, Russian war-related demand boosted Finnish exports and industry (metal and textiles). This boom ended in bust after the Russian revolution. Furthermore, the Finnish Civil War in 1918 aggravated the crisis. The peg of the Finnish currency markka to the ruble (until 1917) and a deficit in state finances fueled inflation: the price level increased about elevenfold before the markka was stabilized in the early 1920s. Because the labor movement lost the civil war, its political position was rather weak after 1918. This paper analyzes these turbulent years from the viewpoint of the labor market in examining the development of nominal and real wages of manufacturing workers, focusing on the four main industries: sawmill, paper and pulp, metal and textile industries. We show that the asymmetrical shocks they faced caused great variation in their wage and employment development. A comparison with Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States shows that the relative position of manufacturing workers (real earnings/real GDP per capita) developed more favorably in the deflation economies (Sweden, the UK, and the USA) than in the inflation economies (Finland and France).


The Venona Secrets presents one of the last great, untold stories of World War II and the Cold War. In 1995 the Venona documents secret Soviet cable traffic from the 1940s that the United States intercepted and eventually decrypted finally became available to American historians. Now, after spending more than five years researching all the available evidence, espionage experts Herbert Romerstein and Eric Breindel reveal the full, shocking story of the days when Soviet spies ran their fingers through America s atomic-age secrets.


A sea change has taken place in Islamic legal studies. This book both reflects and contributes to that change. Traditionally, scholars in this field have tended to focus on law as a body of rules and doctrines, as 'fiqh'. This volume is more interested in how the law has been applied to concrete situations. It looks at judicial decision-making, legal responses (fatwas), customary practices, the actions of public inspectors, cultural contexts, and theological discourses as well as modern legal reform and constitutional development. Reflecting the interests of a new academic generation, "The Law Applied" offers an ambitious and textured account of how Islamic law works in practice in the social life of the contemporary world.