Bagasse fly ash (BFA), a sugar industry waste was converted into zeolitic material (ZBFA) by alkaline hydrothermal treatment. The virgin BFA and synthesized ZBFA were characterized by various instrumental techniques viz. XRF, FTIR, PXRD. Zeolitazation achieved showed that zeolite‐P was the dominant constituent of ZBFA. The physico‐chemical properties of BFA and ZBFA were compared. Morphology of the sorbents was examined by SEM. The kinetic and thermodynamic data of sorbents were evaluated by Coats and Redfern method using Thermal Analysis (TGA, DTG, and DTA) data. The point of zero charge value of the sorbents determined by mass titration method showed higher value for ZBFA (pH 8.62) as compared with BFA (pH 5.80). The specific surface area of ZBFA increased to 505 m2/g (BFA = 440 m2/g). Sorption capacities of BFA and ZBFA were examined by sorption of phenol at various operational parameters. The equilibrium data were analyzed by various adsorption isotherms viz. Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and D‐R. Langmuir isotherm best fits the experimental data for ZBFA (qm = 35.43 mg/g) and BFA (qm = 16.33 mg/g). The isotherms study indicates that the sorption capacity of synthetic zeolitic (ZBFA) products is significantly increased after alkaline hydrothermal treatment. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2011


State medical boards are increasingly responsible for regulating medical and osteopathic licensure and professional conduct in the United States. Yet, there is great variation in the extent to which such boards take disciplinary action against physicians, indicating that some boards are more zealous regulators than others. We look to the political roots of such variation and seek to answer a simple, yet important, question: are nominally apolitical state medical boards responsive to political preferences? To address this question, we use panel data on disciplinary actions across sixty-four state medical boards from 1993 through 2006 and control for over-time changes in board characteristics (e.g., composition, independence, budgetary status), regulatory structure, and resources. We show that as state legislatures become more liberal [conservative], state boards increasingly [decreasingly] discipline physicians, especially during unified government and in the presence of highly professional legislatures. Our conclusions join others in emphasizing the importance of state medical boards and the contingent nature of political control of state regulation. In addition, we emphasize the roles that oversight capacity and strategy play in offsetting concerns regarding self-regulation of a powerful organized interest.


In this paper, we propose and evaluate a cluster-based network server called PRESS. The server relies on locality-conscious request distribution and a standard for user-level communication to achieve high performance and portability. We evaluate PRESS by first isolating the performance benefits of three key features of user-level communication: low processor overhead, remote memory accesses, and zero-copy transfers. Next, we compare PRESS to servers that involve less intercluster communication, but are not as easily portable. Our results for an 8-node server cluster and five WWW traces demonstrate that user-level communication can improve performance by as much as 52 percent compared to a kernel-level protocol. Low processor overhead, remote memory writes, and zero-copy all make nontrivial contributions toward this overall gain. Our results also show that portability in PRESS causes no throughput degradation when we exploit user-level communication extensively.


"This investigation was carried out to determine the distribution of load over the wings of a high speed airplane under all conditions of flight. In particular it was desired to find the pressure distribution during level flight, over the portions of the wings in the slipstream and, during violent maneuvers, over the entire wing surface. The method used consisted in connecting a number of holes in the surface of the wings to recording multiple manometers mounted in the fuselage of the airplane. In this way simultaneous records could be taken on all of the holes for any desired length of time" (p. 179).


ABSTRACT Accurate detection of transcriptional regulatory elements is essential for high-quality genome annotation, metabolic reconstruction, and modeling of regulatory networks. We developed a computational approach for reconstruction of regulons operated by transcription factors (TFs) from large protein families and applied this novel approach to three TF families in 10 Desulfovibrionales genomes. Phylogenetic analyses of 125 regulators from the ArsR, Crp/Fnr, and GntR families revealed that 65% of these regulators (termed reference TFs) are well conserved in Desulfovibrionales, while the remaining 35% of regulators (termed singleton TFs) are species specific and show a mosaic distribution. For regulon reconstruction in the group of singleton TFs, the standard orthology-based approach was inefficient, and thus, we developed a novel approach based on the simultaneous study of all homologous TFs from the same family in a group of genomes. As a result, we identified binding for 21 singleton TFs and for all reference TFs in all three analyzed families. Within each TF family we observed structural similarities between DNA-binding motifs of different reference and singleton TFs. The collection of reconstructed regulons is available at the RegPrecise database (http://regprecise.lbl.gov/RegPrecise/Desulfovibrionales.jsp).


Craig Somerton, Michigan State University CRAIG W. SOMERTON Craig W. Somerton is an Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Undergraduate Program for Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University. He teaches in the area of thermal engineering including thermodynamics, heat transfer, and thermal design. He also teaches the capstone design course for the department. Dr. Somerton has research interests in computer design of thermal systems, transport phenomena in porous media, and application of continuous quality improvement principles to engineering education. He received his B.S. in 1976, his M.S. in 1979, and his Ph.D. in 1982, all in engineering from UCLA.


One emerging tool to measure the social-related impacts in supply chains is Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), a derivative of the well-established environmental LCA technique. LCA has recently started to gain popularity among large corporations and initiatives, such as The Sustainability Consortium or the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. Both have made the technique a cornerstone of their applied-research program. The Social Hotspots Database (SHDB) is an overarching, global database that eases the data collection burden in S-LCA studies. Proposed "hotspots" are production activities or unit processes (also defined as country-specific sectors) in the supply chain that may be at risk for social issues to be present. The SHDB enables efficient application of S-LCA by allowing users to prioritize production activities for which site-specific data collection is most desirable. Data for three criteria are used to inform prioritization: (1) labor intensity in worker hours per unit process and (2) risk for, or opportunity to affect, relevant social themes or sub-categories related to Human Rights, Labor Rights and Decent Work, Governance and Access to Community Services (3) gravity of a social issue. The Worker Hours Model was developed using a global input/output economic model and wage rate data. Nearly 200 reputable sources of statistical data have been used to develop 20 Social Theme Tables by country and sector. This paper presents an overview of the SHDB development and features, as well as results from a pilot study conducted on strawberry yogurt. This study, one of seven Social Scoping Assessments mandated by The Sustainability Consortium, identifies the potential social hotspots existing in the supply chain of strawberry yogurt. With this knowledge, companies that manufacture or sell yogurt can refine their data collection efforts in order to put their social responsibility performance in perspective and effectively set up programs and initiatives to improve the social conditions of production along their product supply chain.


This study focuses on the employment effects of military spending versus channeling some significant part of the military budget into alternative purposes. We begin by introducing the basic input-output modeling technique for considering issues such as these in a systematic way. We then present some simple alternative spending scenarios, namely devoting $1 billion to the military versus the same amount of money spent for five alternatives: tax cuts which produce increased levels of personal consumption; health care; education; mass transit; and construction targeted at home weatherization and infrastructure repair. Our first conclusion in assessing such relative employment impacts is straightforward: $1 billion spent on personal consumption, health care, education, mass transit, and construction for home weatherization and infrastructure will all create more jobs within the U.S. economy than would the same $1 billion spent on the military. We then examine the pay level of jobs created through these alternative spending priorities and assess the overall welfare impacts of the alternative employment outcomes. We then consider what would be the impact on employment of transferring all $138 billion in funding that went to the Iraq war in 2007 into alternative peaceful purposes. As we show, a transfer of funds of this magnitude would enable the U.S. government to provide, for example, health insurance for the 45 million U.S. residents who are now uninsured, and still provide funds for significant investments in education and energy conservation. A transfer of the Iraq budget into these alternative purposes would also expand employment in the U.S. by between 600,000 – 1 million jobs, depending on how exactly the $138 billion were allocated.


Purpose As prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, finding novel markers for prognosis is crucial. BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP-1), a nuclear-localized deubiquitinating enzyme, has been reported in several human cancers. However, its prognostic role in PCa remains unknown. Herein, we assessed the prognostic and clinicopathologic significance of BAP-1 in PCa. Materials and Methods Seventy surgical specimens from radical prostatectomy cases were examined. Two cores per case were selected for construction of tissue microarrays (TMAs). After the exclusion of two cases because of tissue sparsity, BAP-1 immunohistochemical expression was evaluated in 68 cases of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded TMA tissue blocks. The immunohistochemical stain was scored according to proportion of nuclear staining: negative (<10% of tumor cells) or positive (≥10% of tumor cells). Results BAP-1 expression was negative in 30 cases (44.1%) and positive in 38 cases (55.9%). Positive BAP-1 expression was more common in pT3b disease than in pT2 (p=0.038). A high preoperative prostate-specific antigen level was correlated with BAP-1 expression (p=0.014). Age, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and grade group were not significantly correlated with BAP-1 expression. Patients with positive BAP-1 expression showed significantly shorter disease-free survival (p=0.013). Additionally, BAP-1 was an independent prognostic factor of PCa (p=0.035; hazard ratio, 9.277; 95% confidence interval, 1.165–73.892). Conclusions Our study findings showed an association of BAP-1 expression with poor PCa prognosis and suggest a potential role for BAP-1 as a prognostic biomarker for PCa.


As advertisement is shifting from the traditional media to the Internet, advertising in web search engines has
emerged in the form of sponsored search. Advertisers pay the search engine to show their content, usually in
order to get traffic to their own websites. A large amount of the search engine's income derives from sponsored search. In sponsored search, a number of advertisers are competing for a limited number of slots in each
specific keyword search in the search engine. In order to distribute the available slots among the advertisers,
search engines are starting to hold keyword auctions. The questions that appear in this setup from a mechanism design point of view are two, how to assign advertisers to slots (or vice versa), and how to price each
slot. This work proposes a novel approach were distributing the slots among the advertisers is based on how
much each advertiser values appearing in a keyword search slot at a specific time. The proposed approach
makes this value independent of her true payment to the search engine, which can take the form of a flat fee.
For this purpose we have designed a new auction mechanism that fairly distributes resources (or goods, e.g.,
slots) in online fashion, based on the users' declared preferences, while being socially efficient. While the
main motivation for this work was sponsored search, the proposed mechanism can be used in general for the
fair distribution of resources in an online fashion among a set of users. Hence, we refer to this mechanism as
Fair and Efficient Distribution of Resources (FEDoR). FEDoR can be used even when the auction is done in
a distributed fashion (i.e., without central authority), and it provides fairness, social efficiency and incentive
compatibility.


This thesis attempts to explain the social preferences in Germany towards Turkey's EU membership, the factors that shape these preferences and their relative impact on Turkish accession. The major political parties and the public are identified as two significant domestic groups whose preferences influence the national position on Turkey. Particularly, the impact of SPD, CDU/CSU, the Greens and FDP is substantial in this respect. The public impact is more limited and indirect. The attitude of these domestic groups is shaped by material and identity-based concerns over Turkish membership. The major political parties tend to assess Turkish accession in terms of the security and economic benefits it will bring to the EU. The material benefits of Turkey's inclusion are the primary determinants which shape the position of the social democrats, the Greens and the liberals. On the other hand, the identity and culture based concerns influence the stance of CDU/CSU. The public attitude is mainly determined by the perceived economic and cultural threats posed by Turkey's membership. Particularly, the perceived cultural differences between Turkey and the EU member states play an important role in the increasing public opposition against Turkish accession.


Locating-dominating codes in a graph find their application in sensor networks and have been studied extensively over the years. A locating-dominating code can locate one object in a sensor network, but if there is more than one object, it may lead to false conclusions. In this paper, we consider stronger types of locating-dominating codes which can locate one object and detect if there are multiple objects. We study the properties of these codes and provide bounds on the smallest possible size of these codes, for example, with the aid of the Dilworth number and Sperner families. Moreover, these codes are studied in trees and Cartesian products of graphs. We also give the complete realization theorems for the coexistence of the smallest possible size of these codes and the optimal locating-dominating codes in a graph.


Early Ordovician volcanic rocks exposed in the South Mayo region of western Ireland document the history of a volcanic arc complex, produced following the initiation of south-dipping subduction within the Iapetus Ocean in the Late Cambrian or Early Ordovician. Lavas of the Lough Nafooey Group (Tremadoc-Arenig) show an eruption history marked by an initial period of tholeiitic basaltic volcanism, followed by a shift to increasing silica compositions of calc-alkaline affinity. Subsequent volcanism of the Tourmakeady Group (Arenig) shows a mixture of rhyolitic and andesitic compositions, which are in turn succeeded by tuffs of the Rosroe and Mweelrea Formations of the Murrisk Group (Llanvirn). These are also rhyolitic and andesitic but are generally more siliceous. The overall increase in silica contents may reflect increasing fractional crystallization due to crustal thickening. Trace element studies of the basaltic members of the Lough Nafooey Group show a strong subduction zone influence. While absolute levels of immobile trace and rare earth elements decrease upsection, relative depletion of the most incompatible elements decreases over the same time period. These trends suggest decreasing degrees of partial melting of a progressively more depleted source mantle upsection. The basaltic Bohaun Volcanic Formation (Tremadoc-Arenig ?) shows greater depletion in its incompatible trace elements than the Lough Nafooey Group, so indicating a more depleted mantle source. Comparison with modern arc systems suggests that the Bohaun Volcanic Formation was probably generated shortly after the initiation of subduction and was erupted in a more trenchward position than the Lough Nafooey Group (i.e. in the forearc). This confirms a south-dipping polarity to the subduction zone, and suggests an age of initiation during the Late Cambrian or earliest Ordovician.


The failure of past foreign aid programs has given rise to a new consensus on how to make foreign aid effective. According to the new approach, aid that goes into poor countries that have good policies and institutions is highly effective at promoting growth and reducing poverty. Disbursing aid to countries that have good policies contrasts with the traditional practice of providing aid to countries irrespective of the quality of their policies or providing aid to promote policy reforms. President George Bush's proposed foreign aid initiative, the Millennium Challenge Account, is based on the selective approach to foreign assistance, as are, in large part, the World Bank's calls to double foreign aid flows worldwide. Yet enthusiasm about the promise of selective aid is unfounded. Bold empirical claims about the positive effects of "selectivity" are based entirely on World Bank research, most of which is difficult or impossible to reproduce by outside researchers. Though the World Bank's research has had an enormous influence on the debate, the few attempts to reproduce the Bank's findings using its own data and methodology have contravened the Bank's findings. Providing development assistance to countries with decent policies and institutions is a dubious undertaking. Good policies will reap the rewards of growth. "Overrewarding" those countries with foreign aid, by contrast, may have effects similar to those of traditional foreign aid programs: slowing the pace of reform and development. Even if selectivity could somehow be made effective, the practical impediments to making it work are formidable. Delivery of MCA funds, for example, will surely suffer from politicization, bureaucratic self-interest, and congressional micromanagement. The prevalence of traditional foreign aid programs throughout the developing world will also undermine the intended impact of more narrowly focused selective aid programs. September 17, 2003


Aim: Multiple recent trials have proven the efficacy of thrombectomy in large vessel occlusive stroke and earlier reperfusion correlates with improved outcomes. We developed a thrombectomy technical difficulty index (TTDI) to predict the expected procedural difficulty as an aid to operator decision making for the achievement of a fast and successful recanalization. Materials and Methods: Key thrombectomy factors were used to grade predicted difficulty of thrombectomy on a 3-point scale, from minimal, mild to moderate to severe. Thirty patients that underwent thrombectomy had their computed tomography angiograms scans analysed by seven neurointerventionists using the TTDI to predict level of difficulty to establish its reliability (intra-class correlation, ICC) and validity. Results: An almost perfect level of agreement on TTDI scores between the 7 neurointerventionists was reported (ICC = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.81 to 0.94), and an expert INR opinion of case difficulty using the TTDI (ICC = 0.861, 95% CI = 0.77 to 0.93). Validity analysis showed that that length of procedure was shorter for minimal compared to mild to moderate difficultly cases as assessed with TTDI. Conclusion: The TTDI is a promising tool to assess predicted thrombectomy case difficulty, allowing operator to consider potential problems and inform decisions about whether a modification to technique, including access, equipment and anaesthesia, should be considered. Larger prospective studies evaluating the TTDI are warranted.


The treatment during the embryonic preimplantation phase of Wistar rats with the Pradosia huberi extract did not interfere with the water and feed consumption, as well as upon the body-weight gain. However, it has expressed a decrease of the uterine implant number, followed by the preimplantation losses at all applied doses (1.22, 6.1, and 30.5 mg/kg), and the number of embryonic resorptions in the two highest doses (6.1 and 30.5 mg/kg). After the organ weighing (hypophysis, ovaries, and uterus), only the relative weight of the hypophysis was raised at the different doses (1.22, 6.1, and 30.5 mg/kg). It was concluded that the hydroalcoholic extract of Pradosia huberi compromises the reproductive ability during the embryonic preimplantation phase, suggesting a possible toxic effect upon the reproductive system of Wistar rats.


Banks are the backbones of any economy therefore it is of immense importance for economies to possess a healthy and buoyant banking system with effective corporate governance practices. In Nigeria, the Central Bank replaced the past governance codes with the CBN code (2012). Therefore this study examines corporate governance and financial performance in Nigerian banks, using this new code. The main issues in this study are: what is the relationship between board size and financial performance of banks in Nigeria? What is the effect of the proportion of non- executive directors on the financial performance of banks in Nigeria? To what extent is the corporate governance disclosure of banks in Nigeria in compliance to CBN governance code (2012)? Does a relationship actually exist between banks that disclose on corporate governance and their financial performance in Nigeria? These questions were answered by examining the yearly-published reports of the listed banks in Nigeria. In examining whether or not there is a relationship between corporate governance and the financial performance of the banks, this research employed the regression analysis method to determine the relationship. However, the variables that were employed for corporate governance are: board size, board composition (the ratio of non-executive directors to total directors), and corporate governance disclosure index. Variables used in this study for examining the financial performance of these banks were the financial accountant measure for performance. These measures are return on equity (ROE) and return on asset (ROA). In examining the level of compliance of the banks in this study to the CBN (2012) governance code, the research employed the content analysis method. Employing the content analysis, a disclosure index was formed and the annual report for each bank was examined using the CBN code of corporate governance (2012) as a guide. The results of the study showed that a positive relationship exists between the corporate governance variables and the performance variables.


Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to examine the long-run relationship and short-term linkage between the Asian REIT markets and their respective macroeconomic variables. Design/methodology/approach - – The data collected comprised total return REIT Index from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and South Korea and their macroeconomic variables from the date of availability of the data until December 2014. The macroeconomic variables are either available in monthly or quarterly basis, they will be separately tested with REIT Index respectively to their frequency. All the variables are tested for its stationarity prior to the investigation of their long-run relationship and short-term linkage using Johansen cointegration test and Granger causality test. Findings - – The results showed that certain of the emerging REIT markets show a higher degree of integration with macroeconomic variables in the long run. This implies that the emerging REIT markets are more sensitive towards the change in macroeconomic environment in relative to the developed REIT markets. Practical implications - – The paper implied that the distinction of each market structure and their unique way of policy implementation. The findings can assists policy makers to understand about the significance of policy implementation on the Asian REIT markets prior to decision making and also for the portfolio management my asset managers. Originality/value - – The paper is one of the few attempts at assessing the long-term relationship and short term linkage between the Asian REIT markets and the macroeconomic variables.


The aim of this study is to show the ethical aspects of the so-called normative accounting theory (NT), with particular emphasis on the ethical and normative theory (EN) important for the development of accounting as a science, taking into account its social function. Attention is focused on the so-called axiological layer with regard to the methodological foundation (pragmatic methods and related metascience) regarding the work of theorists in Western Europe. Although in the years 70s shall be considered as unscientific and begin the process of domination positive theory of accounting. It seems that in the twentyfirst century takes rebirth specific ethical and social topics in accounting. The importance and usefulness of ethics in accounting due to turbulent environment changes of accounting and social needs, as well as changes within the science.


We investigated the surface (<50 nm) of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and its nanocomposite with graphene by attenuated total reflection far- and deep-ultraviolet (ATR-FUV-DUV; 145-300 nm; 8.55-4.13 eV) spectroscopy and quantum mechanical calculations. The major absorption of polymers occurs in FUV and is related to Rydberg transitions. ATR-FUV-DUV spectroscopy allows for direct measurements of these transitions in the solid phase. Using ATR-FUV-DUV spectroscopy, periodic density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT), we explained the origins of the FUV-DUV absorption of PHB and provided insights into structural changes of PHB which occur upon formation of a graphene nanocomposite and upon heating of the pure polymer. The structural changes cause specific and gradual spectral variations in FUV-DUV. We systematically studied the relaxation of the polymer helix and concluded that the common feature of all models of the unfolded helix lies in a specific and consistent FUV-DUV spectral signature. Relaxed structures feature a blue-shift of the major FUV transition (non-bonding molecular orbital to Rydberg 3p and π to π*) as compared with crystalline PHB. The FUV absorption of the relaxed structures was determined to be significantly stronger than that of the crystalline state. These results are consistent with the observed temperature-dependent spectra of the pure PHB. The simulation of the thermal expansion of the crystalline polymer by a periodic-DFT study allows us to exclude the possibility that spectral variations observed experimentally are influenced by changes in the crystalline phase. We concluded that the crystallinity of PHB at the sample surface increases with an increase in graphene content in the nanocomposite. However, it is unlikely that the polymer structure inside the crystal is affected; instead the FUV-DUV spectral variations result from changes in the polymer morphology that occur at the sample surface. The phase transition of PHB is affected by temperature and addition of graphene content. These changes are likely to be the opposite of those occurring in the bulk sample.

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Orbiting Carbon Observatory‐2 (OCO‐2) satellite provides observations of total column‐averaged CO2 mole fractions ( XCO2 ) at high spatial resolution that may enable novel constraints on surface‐atmosphere carbon fluxes. Atmospheric inverse modeling provides an approach to optimize surface fluxes at regional scales, but the accuracy of the fluxes from inversion frameworks depends on key inputs, including spatially and temporally dense CO2 observations and reliable representations of atmospheric transport. Since XCO2 observations are sensitive to both synoptic and mesoscale variations within the free troposphere, horizontal atmospheric transport imparts substantial variations in these data and must be either resolved explicitly by the atmospheric transport model or accounted for within the error covariance budget provided to inverse frameworks. Here, we used geostatistical techniques to quantify the imprint of atmospheric transport in along‐track OCO‐2 soundings. We compare high‐pass‐filtered (<250 km, spatial scales that primarily isolate mesoscale or finer‐scale variations) along‐track spatial variability in XCO2 and XH2O from OCO‐2 tracks to temporal synoptic and mesoscale variability from ground‐based XCO2 and XH2O observed by nearby Total Carbon Column Observing Network sites. Mesoscale atmospheric transport is found to be the primary driver of along‐track, high‐frequency variability for OCO‐2 XH2O . For XCO2 , both mesoscale transport variability and spatially coherent bias associated with other elements of the OCO‐2 retrieval state vector are important drivers of the along‐track variance budget.


Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a rare but serious condition that causes progressive right ventricular (RV) failure and death. PH may be idiopathic, associated with underlying connective-tissue disease or hypoxic lung disease, and is also increasingly being observed in the setting of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). The management of PH has been revolutionised by the recent development of new disease-targeted therapies which are beneficial in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), but can be potentially harmful in PH due to left heart disease, so accurate diagnosis and classification of patients is essential. These PAH therapies improve exercise capacity and pulmonary haemodynamics, but their overall effect on the right ventricle remains unclear. Current practice in the UK is to assess treatment response with 6-minute walk test and NYHA functional class, neither of which truly reflects RV function. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging has been established as the gold standard for the evaluation of right ventricular structure and function, but it also allows a non-invasive and accurate study of the left heart. The aims of this thesis were to investigate the use of CMR in the diagnosis of PH, in the assessment of treatment response, and in predicting survival in idiopathic and connective-tissue disease associated PAH. In Chapter 3, a left atrial volume (LAV) threshold of 43 ml/m2 measured with CMR was able to distinguish idiopathic PAH from PH due to HFpEF (sensitivity 97%, specificity 100%). In Chapter 4, disease-targeted PAH therapy resulted in significant improvements in RV and left ventricular ejection fraction (p<0.001 and p=0.0007, respectively), RV stroke volume index (p<0.0001), and left ventricular end-diastolic volume index (p=0.0015). These corresponded to observed improvements in functional class and exercise capacity, although correlation coefficients between Δ 6MWD and Δ RVEF or Δ LVEDV were low. Finally, in Chapter 5, one-year and three-year survival was worse in CTD-PAH (75% and 53%) than in IPAH (83% and 74%), despite similar baseline clinical characteristics, lung function, pulmonary haemodynamics and treatment. Baseline right ventricular stroke volume index was an independent predictor of survival in both conditions. The presence of LV systolic dysfunction was of prognostic significance in CTD-PAH but not IPAH, and a higher LAV was observed in CTD-PAH suggesting a potential contribution from LV diastolic dysfunction in this group.


An aim of current UK health policy is to 'fully engage' not only sick but also well people in pursuit of health (Wanless 2004). In this policy discourse, it is assumed that 'health literacy' is one of the vehicles for achieving that full engagement: namely, individuals must understand the best information about how to pursue health, not only have access to it. The present project focuses on three related issues: (1) how health information is 'framed', and (2) how that information is understood, evaluated and acted on by those who receive it and (3) in light of the results, what dimensions 'health literacy' must have if changes in health-related behaviour are to ensue. Our focus is men's health. It is widely recognised that men are less likely to engage with their own health than women with theirs. We choose gay men as a critical case. We single out varieties of gay men in Manchester and specifically the health issues they share with other men.


A review of the available data on the polarity of the geomagnetic field during the Carboniferous confirms that it is predominantly reversed, although the data base is only of poor reliability, particularly in terms of the age of the magnetization. New British and Irish data, partially supported by positive fold tests, suggest that the Courceyan and Arundian stages are almost certainly entirely reversed. The Asbian and Brigantian are similarly all reversed, with the exception of two short normal polarity intervals—one at the base and one at the top of the Asbian. An examination of the suggested age for the base of the predominantly Kiaman interval of reversed polarity shows a very wide variation in postulated ages, and it is proposed that the base is defined as being that of the youngest normal interval that can be identified near to the Permo-Carboniferous boundary.


Focusing on Helene Cixous's OR les lettres de mon pere (1997), the article considers how a prominent work of the "linguistic turn" already works with the entanglement of matter and meaning. Cixous foregrounds the materiality of language, showing it is indispensable to signification. The materially inscribed letters "or" (for example, in or, hors, Georges, gorge, Oran, mort, mord, orage, sort, oreille, corps, encore) germinate multiple narrative lines that revolve around a box of letters from the narrator's dead father. Cixous's work explores this entwinement of language-as-materiality with materiality-as-signification in exceptional ways, which problematizes the idea of a material turn coming "after" the so-called linguistic turn of poststructuralism. The text's polyphonic physique resists conventional oppositions of materiality and signification and unfolds a space where they are co-productive of each other. Writing in this sense—feminine writing—sidesteps the subject/object split and explores subjectivity as uniquely textured formations of continuous meaning-mattering.


The constant proportion portfolio insurance (CPPI) strategy is frequently used on both the institutional and the retail sides of the asset management industry. While standard finance theory struggles to justify its popularity, this article attempts to explain the widespread use of the CPPI strategy by referring to elements of behavioral finance. We run bootstrap as well as Monte Carlo simulations for the CPPI strategy and for simple benchmark strategies in order to evaluate the outcomes using cumulative prospect theory. Our simulation results indicate that the CPPI strategy is the preferred strategy for a prospect theory investor. The analysis provides hints at how a CPPI-based investment product should be designed in order to meet the preferences of a prospect theory investor as well as possible.


Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques provide engineering design flexibility not available when manufacturing is constrained by the tool-path restrictions of conventional subtractive techniques such as turning, milling and grinding. AM techniques allow the manufacture of complex form, light weight components with optimised geometries and topographies, including internal and re-entrant features. These features may greatly enhance the components functional capability. The design flexibility may allow a reduction in assembly part count, with a corresponding reduction in assembly time. Additionally, the ability to use high performance engineering metals in the AM process, such as 316 stainless steel, titanium Ti6Al4V and cobalt chrome provide the aerospace, medical and automotive industries with a new manufacturing toolbox using familiar raw materials. These quality-driven industries are fully aware of the potential of AM and are actively engaged and invested with the AM industry and research community. The complex features and design freedom providing great potential for these industries also presents challenges for surface measurement and characterisation.

Surface measurement is vital to assure compliance with designed sealing, bearing, flow and adhesion properties of the component. Parts manufactured using AM are not exempt from the stringent quality requirements applicable to other manufacturing processes and so surface texture requirements will be incorporated into drawings and design specifications, imposed by customers onto suppliers. There will need to be a common language and approved standards. Compliance verification will be mandatory. If a feature is specified on a drawing then these industries will require verification that the component complies with design requirements. Traditionally, line-of-sight measuring devices were able to follow the tool pathways to access and measure these surfaces. With the advent of additive processes, new techniques will need to be developed. X-ray computed tomography (CT) has been used successfully for dimensional and defect detection as it allows the measurement of internal and re-entrant features. Thus far, there has been little research on the application of CT for the measurement of surface texture. This thesis reports on the development of a novel technique, detailing the first extraction of areal surface texture parameters per a recognised standard (ISO 25178-2) from CT scans of AM components. Industry will require reproducibility of measurements and so an interlaboratory comparison was performed to compare CT measurement results using this technique from four laboratories. The repeatability and accuracy of surface measurements is also vital for industrial applications and so the influence on extracted surface texture parameter values of selected CT measurement and reconstruction factors has been investigated. Extraction of true 3D data from CT requires the generation of new surface characterisation parameters to take full advantage of the technique and a new parameter has been developed to enable the true surface of re-entrant surfaces to be characterised. The additive process itself is complex and verification of consistent additive machine performance is vital for production. A series of small, inexpensive, surfacespecific measurement artefacts has been developed and built to characterise the build chamber and provide production process verification. This series of inter-related experimental investigations were chosen to be industrially relevant, to be linked closely to component function and be used as practical measurement and surface characterisation techniques. This work is intended, as far as possible, to not be machine-specific, but to be applicable to all CT machines and all metal powder bed fusion (PBF) AM machines. As AM and CT machine capability improves, as it inevitably will, the techniques and applications presented here are designed to evolve with these changes.


The principal aim of this work was to determine the role of non-metallic inclusions in the process of hydrogen stepwise cracking (SWC). Additionally, the influence of inclusions upon the notch ductility of hydrogen charged (HC) and uncharged (UN) tensile specimens was examined. To obtain a basis for experiment a series of low carbon-manganese steels were prepared by induction melting. In order to produce variations in the composition, morphology, volume fraction, size and distribution of the inclusions the steel chemistry was adjusted prior to casting by additions of deoxidiser and Ca-Si injection. Sections of each ingot were hot rolled. Metallography, image analysis, mechanical tests and hydrogen SWC tests were then carried out. The volume fraction, morphology, and shape of inclusions influenced the tensile ductility of the steels. Marked anisotropy was found in the steels containing type II MnS inclusions at all rolling temperatures, whereas the fully Ca treated steel was isotropic. It was found that several inclusion parameters (projected length PL, mean free distance MFD, nearest-neighbour distance NND) correlated with fracture strain. An increase in inclusion volume fraction and/or the dimension of inclusions on a plane parallel to the plane of fracture led to a decrease in fracture strain. The inclusion parameters did not correlate with the fracture strains for the HC tensile specimens. However, large or clusters of inclusions acted as the principal sites for crack initiation. `Fisheyes' or areas of `flat' fracture were often found on these fracture surfaces. The criteria for SWC initiation was found to be either large inclusions or clusters of inclusions. As the PL of inclusions increased the probability of large SWCs occurring increased. SWC initiation at inclusions was believed to occur at a critical concentration of hydrogen. Factors which assisted the concentration of hydrogen at inclusions were discussed. None of the proposed mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement could be identified as the single cause of SWC.


Abstract. Atmospheric reanalyses are data-assimilating weather models
which are widely used as proxies for the true state of the atmosphere in the
recent past. This is particularly the case for the stratosphere, where
historical observations are sparse. But how realistic are these stratospheric
reanalyses? Here, we resample stratospheric temperature data from six modern
reanalyses (CFSR, ERA-5, ERA-Interim, JRA-55, JRA-55C and MERRA-2) to produce
synthetic satellite observations, which we directly compare to retrieved
satellite temperatures from COSMIC, HIRDLS and SABER and to brightness
temperatures from AIRS for the 10-year period of 2003–2012. We explicitly
sample standard public-release products in order to best assess their
suitability for typical usage. We find that all-time all-latitude
correlations between limb sounder observations and synthetic observations
from full-input reanalyses are 0.97–0.99 at 30 km in altitude, falling to
0.84–0.94 at 50 km. The highest correlations are seen at high latitudes and
the lowest in the sub-tropics, but root-mean-square (RMS) differences are
highest (10 K or greater) in high-latitude winter. At all latitudes,
differences increase with increasing height. High-altitude differences become
especially large during disrupted periods such as the post-sudden
stratospheric warming recovery phase, in which zonal-mean differences can be as
high as 18 K among different datasets. We further show that, for the
current generation of reanalysis products, a full-3-D sampling approach (i.e.
one which takes full account of the instrument measuring volume) is always
required to produce realistic synthetic AIRS observations, but is almost
never required to produce realistic synthetic HIRDLS observations. For
synthetic SABER and COSMIC observations full-3-D sampling is required in
equatorial regions and regions of high gravity-wave activity but not
otherwise. Finally, we use cluster analyses to show that full-input
reanalyses (those which assimilate the full suite of observations, i.e.
excluding JRA-55C) are more tightly correlated with each other than with
observations, even observations which they assimilate. This may suggest that
these reanalyses are over-tuned to match their comparators. If so, this could
have significant implications for future reanalysis development.


Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the role of diffusion-weighted MRI in the evaluation and differentiation of space-occupying brain lesions in patients whose conventional MRI (cMRI) examination revealed abnormal imaging features suggestive of space-occupying brain lesions. Diffusion-weighted imaging provides information about the physiological properties of the tumor that have been linked to cellularity, structural integrity, and necrotic transformation of brain or tumor tissue. MR diffusion imaging has become a powerful, multifaceted tool both for very basic clinical needs and for advanced, specialized diagnosis and treatment planning. Background: This study included 75 patients who presented with acute focal neurological deficit or with manifestations of space-occupying brain lesions. All of these patients were subjected to cMRI examination of the brain and to diffusion-weighted MRI. Postprocessing of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps was generated for all patients. Standard mean ADC values were calculated automatically and expressed in 10−S mm2/s. The cutoff value of 1 × 10−3 mm2/s was used to differentiate restricted areas from nonrestricted areas. Patients and methods: Among the 75 studied patients, the final diagnosis was intracranial neoplastic lesions (group A) in 46 patients (61.3%), non-neoplastic tumor-like lesions (group B) in 17 patients (22.6%), intracranial suppuration (group C) in seven patients (9.3%), and intracerebral hemorrhage (group D) in five patients (6.6%). Analysis of calculated ADC values using the t-test, the U-test, analysis of variance, and the c2-test revealed statistical difference of ADC values between high-grade/low-grade gliomas, abscesses, and intracranial necrotic neoplasms including glioblastoma multiforme, lymphoma/high-grade astrocytoma, medulloblastoma/ependymoma and pilocytic astrocytoma, and epidermoid/arachnoid cysts. Results On the basis of simplicity of the method and the results obtained, diffuse-weighted imaging should be used routinely as a valuable noninvasive tool besides cMRI, whenever available, to reach a definitive final diagnosis.


Abstract The goal of our study was to document traditional steppe herders' perception and management of spatial and temporal heterogeneity of forage availability of their seminatural pastures. Ninety-two herders living in the Hortobágy saline steppe, Hungary, Central Europe were interviewed, and participatory observation was used to understand herding and habitat improvement techniques. The herders recognized 47–66 habitat types (mostly grassland types), and listed at least 90 plant species important for grazing. They have a nuanced knowledge of the intra- and interannual variations of forage quality and quantity. They perform very strong and well-planned herding practices. Daily spatial pattern of grazing is, however, often opportunistic and flexible, but has a more-or-less regular year-round cycle, in which marshes and stubbles provide forage in drought periods. Reciprocal learning and continuous communication between the herder and his driving dogs and livestock strongly influence grazing pattern. Herders manage and improve different habitats of their pastures differently by traditional and, less frequently, modern methods. The main method is grazing supplemented by manuring, burning, and removal of spiny weeds. Traditional knowledge of herders could be effectively used in evidence-based conservation and pasture management of European saline steppes; e.g., the reintroduction of some old herding techniques (opportunistic pasture use, grazing of marshes, and burning). Herders' knowledge could also help the fine-tuning and local adaptation of European agri-environmental regulations (e.g., how to balance subsidies for hay-making and grazing in saline steppes). More research is needed, however, on the ecological effects of different traditional grazing techniques, e.g., rotation, manuring, and burning. In general a more complex socio-ecological understanding of the internal and external factors affecting adaptation of the Hortobágy herders to changing environment, society, and European Union policies is needed.


The pervasive nature of substance abuse in the United States dictates that much of the research dollars and time is spent on clinical trials that measure anxiety reduction, medication management and the employing of behavioral models that stress gradual change. While these approaches use controls that can be studied and measured in the empirical sense, they often lack the important personal connections with the research participants. As these trials show less than hoped for efficacy, a new body of research is surfacing including spirituality, along with social supports as ways to aid recovery and reduce relapse. Many 12-step groups incorporate spirituality, as opposed to religion as a mainstay of an individual's recovery effort. Spirituality is regularly mentioned across most twelve-step programs as an essential part of sustained and ongoing recovery. Practical definitions of spirituality have eluded researchers in part because they struggle to separate it from religion. While it may not be impossible to measure spirituality in an empirical sense, it may be possible to clarify what role spirituality plays in aiding sustained recovery and prevention of relapse into drug using behavior. We will suggest connectedness as an integral component in defining spirituality and demonstrate that in twelve-step recovery spirituality can be defined as gaining knowledge through connectedness to others.


Abstract. This paper proposes an interoperable model for managing high dimensional point clouds while integrating semantics. Point clouds from sensors are a direct source of information physically describing a 3D state of the recorded environment. As such, they are an exhaustive representation of the real world at every scale: 3D reality-based spatial data. Their generation is increasingly fast but processing routines and data models lack of knowledge to reason from information extraction rather than interpretation. The enhanced smart point cloud developed model allows to bring intelligence to point clouds via 3 connected meta-models while linking available knowledge and classification procedures that permits semantic injection. Interoperability drives the model adaptation to potentially many applications through specialized domain ontologies. A first prototype is implemented in Python and PostgreSQL database and allows to combine semantic and spatial concepts for basic hybrid queries on different point clouds.


Neurons in a pigeon's brain encode the direction and intensity of the geomagnetic field. Many species orient and navigate using aspects of Earth's magnetic field. Magnetic receptors have been found in the eyes, ears, and bills of birds, but there has been no clear evidence of the neural mechanism by which magnetic signals are translated into direction. Recording from the brainstem within conscious pigeons, Wu and Dickman (see the Perspective by Winklhofer) reveal the presence of neurons in the pigeon's brain that encode the inclination angle and intensity of the geomagnetic field. Thus, pigeons, and perhaps other species, can develop an internal model of geopositional latitude to facilitate spatial orientation and navigation based on magnetoreception. L.-Q. Wu, J. D. Dickman, Neural correlates of a magnetic sense. Science 336, 1054–1057 (2012). [Abstract] [Full Text] M. Winklhofer, An avian magnetometer. Science 336, 991–992 (2012). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Potato is the fourth most important crop and consumed all around the world and is one of the main favorite vegetable in Ethiopia. However, the national productivity is very low as compared to the potential of the crop.  One of the main reason for low productivity is low soil fertility. Hence, a field experiment was conducted from 2016-2018 with 9 combination of nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur fertilizers arranged in randomized complete block design with three replications to assess response of potato to these rates. The application 110-19.74-50.8 kg∙ha-1 N2/S2 /P2O5 fertilizer delayed days to flowering and maturity by 8 and 11 days at Darark and 10 and 14 days at Dabat. However, it increased plant height and number of stems per plant, which may positively contribute to increased photosynthetic area. The application of these fertilizers advanced marketable tuber yield by 153% and the total tuber yield by 86.6% relative to unfertilized plants. Furthermore, the partial budget analysis data showed that the highest net benefit and marginal rate of return (4453.6%) was obtained from 110-19.74-50.8 kg ha-1.  Therefore, the current study results is indicative that potato can grow well and provide better yield at Dabat, Dabark and similar agro ecology by using 110-19.74-50.8 kg ha-1 N2/S2 /P2O5, respectively.

 Key words: Fertilizer, marginal rate of return, marketable tuber, yield.


Abstract In this study, proportional integral (PI), fuzzy logic (FL), and sliding mode (SM) control of DC-DC buck-boost converter are presented. The obtained results were compared for these controller methods. The converter system, which is powered by photovoltaic (PV) modules, was simulated using the MATLAB/Simulink software. The sliding mode controller in which the inductance current and the output voltage are used as controller variables was tested and the results are compared with the results obtained by the fuzzy logic controller and proportional integral controller. The small signal analysis of the DC-DC buck boost converter has been conducted for the stability analysis of the designed system. Bode phase and magnitude diagrams are plotted for different duty ratios. The performance of the converter has been analyzed in detail for different photovoltaic conditions. The converter has been simulated for controllers and PV module using different parameters and the effects have been observed by the results. The converter experimental setup was implemented and the results were repeated. A digital signal processor (DSP) was used for the experimental study for faster processing. The experimental results were found to be compatible with the simulation results.


We analyze the relationship between daily fine particle mass concentration (PM2.5) and columnar aerosol optical thickness derived from the Polarization and Directionality of Earth's Reflectances (POLDER) satellite sensor. The study is focused over France during the POLDER-2 lifetime between April and October 2003. We have first compared the POLDER derived aerosol optical thickness (AOT) with integrated volume size distribution derived from ground-based Sun Photometer observations. The good correlation (R=0.72) with sub-micron volume fraction indicates that POLDER derived AOT is sensitive to the fine aerosol mass concentration. Considering 1974 match-up data points over 28 fine particle monitoring sites, the POLDER-2 derived AOT is fairly well correlated with collocated PM2.5 measurements, with a correlation coefficient of 0.55. The correlation coefficient reaches a maximum of 0.80 for particular sites. We have analyzed the probability to find an appropriate air quality category (AQC) as defined by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from POLDER-2 AOT measurements. The probability can be up to 88.8% (±3.7%) for the "Good" AQC and 89.1% (±3.6%) for the "Moderate" AQC.


The newly established Chinese stock market presents us with an interesting case-study of a market which has distinct features and special microstructures. This thesis focuses on the investigation of transaction cost, stock holding period and return volatility with a market microstructure approach. The chapters are mainly motivated by the following issues.
1. What causes the transaction costs disparity of Chinese domestic and foreign-shares? Chapter 3 explores the characteristics of Chinese domestic and foreign shares and examines the transaction cost (measured by bid-ask spread) of the individual shares. We find that the average transaction cost of foreign shares is significantly higher than that of domestic shares. We estimate informed-trading cost component of transaction cost for each share and find it is higher for foreign shares than for domestic shares. After controlling for the informed-trading cost, the transaction cost disparity disappears. Our finding suggests that the higher transaction cost of foreign shares can be attributed to the higher informed-trading costs faced by foreign share investors.
2. How do transaction cost and stock return affect investor's holding period for a stock? Do investors in Chinese stock market tend to sell the winning stocks too soon and hold the losers too long? Chapter 4 investigates the relationship between stock transaction cost and holding period. We compute the holding period for each individual domestic and foreign shares following the method of Atkins and Dyl (1990), the transaction cost and holding period relationship is estimated by the two-stage least square using panel data. Our results provide strong evidence that assets with higher transaction costs will be held by investors with longer holding periods. We also observe that foreign share investors are more sensitive to transaction costs. The disposition effect investigation suggests a negative relationship between stock return and holding period, which indicates both domestic and foreign share investors have the tendency of selling winning stocks too soon and holding losing stocks too long. The disposition effect is stronger in the domestic share market.
3. If transaction cost and trading volume can be regarded as a proxy of information arrival, do they help on explaining stock return volatility persistence? Chapter 5 applies the popular GARCH model to investigate the dynamic relationship of return volatility, trading volume and transaction cost. Based on the mixture of distributions hypothesis (MDH), we include trading volume and transaction cost as mixing variables of information arrival in GARCH model for individual stocks. Our results confirm the relevancy and validity of the MDH for individual stocks. We also find that the trading volume and transaction cost help to explain the GARCH effects on stock return and the persistence of the conditional variance reduces for most stocks. However, as information variables, their power on explaining volatility is limited. The return volatility is better explained by previous volatility.
The final chapter summarises the main results of this thesis as well as the future research plan.


Rarely has any issue been more polarising than the assessment of Sino-Russia relations in recent years. Analysts and observers are either convinced of another emerging Sino-Russia alliance against the West, or dismissive of any meaningful, sustainable strategic relationship between the two while citing their 'peril of proximity', painful historical record and the strategic distrust. Neither description accurately reflects the nature of Sino-Russia relations under the Xi Jinping administration in China. In the past three years, China and Russia have forged new foundations for a third optiona strategic alignment primarily based upon a shared sense of vulnerability and threat perceptions regarding their external environment. This is largely the result of the heightened confrontation both China and Russia have encountered vis-à-vis the United States due to their assertive foreign policy in the Western Pacific and in East Europe, (especially in Ukraine), respectively. Furthermore, the personality and preferences of the Chinese top leader and the general public have also played an important role in constructing the strategic alignment as well.


I Introduction THE MAINSTREAM of modern economic theory is built upon two crucial assumptions: first, tastes are given; second, individuals are rational, self-interested economic human beings. By and large, the paradigm of rational choice performs well much of the time, but it remains incomplete since it is often observed that people also pursue the interest of others, such as donating money to charity, volunteering to work for nonprofit organizations, voting, etc. Due to these observed instances of apparently altruistic acts, it appears that people may care not only about their own welfare, but also about the welfare of others. Therefore, an important step forward regarding specific issues in individual behavior is to incorporate more considerations of behavior, preferences, and calculations into the paradigm. As a result, a more realistic point of view involving normative features of altruism, which also appears in recent research as group interest, has been taken into account, and the explicit treatment of altruistic behavior has become increasingly important. (1) This paper presents an experiment investigating people's altruistic behavior in terms of cooperation in a monetary prisoner's dilemma game. We start in Section 1 with an introduction of the notions of altruism from the perspectives of psychology and economics. Section 2 discusses the relevance of altruism and egoism to motives of people's altruistic behavior from a more general and realistic view. Section 3 considers an alternative approach: a conception of altruism is generalized through the prisoner's dilemma game. Section 4 describes the design of our experiment and specifies the experimental findings. Section 5 offers a discussion based on those findings in the experiment. Section 6 comes to a conclusion. Reasonable Conceptions Arguments about altruism unavoidably involve human nature, and in turn unavoidably involve how the phenomenon is defined. In the psychological literature, the studies of altruism are introduced in terms of "behavioral" and "intentional" approaches (see, e.g., Krebs 1982 and Rushton 1982). (2) The former approach is mainly concerned with the control and prediction of behavior; its underlying assumption is that the grounds for differential beneficial behavior come from external appearance. By contrast, the latter approach focuses on the way in which people think the internal aspect is the basis of an individual's subjective motives or intentions. As many psychologists and philosophers have suggested, empathy, sympathy, and internalized moral values have played important roles in theories concerning altruism. It is easier to differentiate among altruistic acts from their appearances than to distinguish real altruism from refined self-interests such as reciprocity, compliance, ingratiation, and other forms of non-altruistic helping behavior. For example, helping an old man cross the street is obviously an altruistic act. It might be done with no concern for personal gain or, alternatively, in the hope of winning praise from others. Therefore, it is important to distinguish between these competing motivations, which are sophisticated internal aspects involving one's antecedent sentiment (empathy, sympathy, benevolence, etc.) and intrinsic values (social norms, moral rules, fairness, reciprocity, etc.). In the economic literature, the conception of altruism is often associated with a sense of giving. From the perspective of behavior, altruism is viewed as an act of one person providing another person with goods or services without asking for compensation. From the perspective of intention, altruism can be defined as a concern for someone else's economic bundles besides one's own. Concentrating on observed altruistic behavior in regular commercial exchanges, Kurz (1977) proposes a definition of altruism in behavioral terms--an act by one person of providing goods and services to another person without any enforceable contract to receive maximal compensation for his or her act (3)--though he claimed that there exists a subtle social mechanism to provide compensations that will ultimately make altruistic behavior individually optimal. …


This presentation was given to the

NZ Cancelled Conference Conversations
Digital Conference

in May 2020.

I question the legitimacy of treating assessment for learning (AfL) as
assessment. The distinction between testing and assessment is first
made, then the defining characteristics of contemporary AfL are
identified. While AfL claims to be assessment, my analysis argues that
AfL is a pedagogical curriculum approach that has some process aspects
of assessment. However, because of the interactive and in-the-moment
characteristics of AfL, it fails to meet requirements of an assessment.
Specifically, because the in-the-moment and on-the-fly aspects of
effective classroom discussions and providing feedback happen in
ephemeral contexts it is not possible to scrutinize the interpretations
teachers make of student products and processes. Furthermore, we cannot
know if those interpretations were sufficiently accurate to guide
classroom interactions. Without social or statistical moderation,
stakeholders cannot be assured that valid conclusions are reached.
Additionally, the scale of error in both teacher and student judgment
means that AfL practices cannot be relied upon for decision making
beyond curriculum-embedded actions within a pedagogical process.
Because teaching requires robust evidence to support decisions made
about students and teachers, the practices commonly associated with AfL
cannot provide sufficient evidence on which to base anything more than
teaching interactions.


This work is a timely exploration of the bonds which tie English cricket to the English nation as both face apparently inexorable decline. Mike Marqusee, an American who has lived in England for 20 years, turns the amused gaze of an outsider on to the idiosyncrasies of the English at play, delving into the interminable wrangles over coloured clothing, covered pitches and commercial sponsorship. Yet Marqusee also displays the knowledgability and passion of a dedicated cricket follower who has watched matches on four continents. His accounts of the origins of the game, its romance with the British Empire, and its traumatic adjustment to the modern market lift the lid on the paradoxes and hypocrisies that have made cricket what it is: democratic and elitist, national and international, ancient and modern. In a revealing scrutiny of the long saga of South Africa's exclusion from world cricket, Marqusee charts England's collusion with apartheid. Spectacularly failing the Tebbit test on every point, his eye-opening account of Pakistan's controversial "ball-tampering" tour of England will provoke intense debate amongst cricket fans about the role of both the media and racism in the modern game. From the phoney war over the omission of Gower, from the England side to England's women cricketers receiving the World Cup outside the Lord's pavilion from which they are banned, this book sheds light not only on cricket, but also on what it means to be part of a nation for whom the game is well and truly up. Mike Marqusee is the author of a cricket novel, "Slow Turn", and "Defeat from the Jaws of Victory: Inside Kinnock's Labour Party" with Richard Heffernan.


This paper discusses the relevance of Indigenous law to Aboriginal title in Canada, as revealed in three leading Supreme Court decisions: Delgamuukw v. British Columbia (1997), R. v. Marshall; R. v. Bernard (2005), and Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia (2014). It concludes that Indigenous law relates to Aboriginal title in two ways: it is part of the evidence that can be relied upon to establish the exclusive occupation necessary for title at the time of Crown assertion of sovereignty, and it continues thereafter to govern the communal land rights of the Aboriginal titleholders. Moreover, the content of Indigenous law is not frozen at the moment of Crown sovereignty – it is dynamic and alterable by the Indigenous people concerned in accordance with their own system of governance.


The purpose: to improve the treatment of patients with orthopedic dento-alveolar deformation of dentition and occlusion by using a range of methods of psychophysiological support of patient care. Material and methods. The study included 86 patients, men and women aged from 18 to 49 years with dento-alveolar deformation of dentition and occlusion. The study used clinical, anthropometric, radiological, photometric and static methods. At each stage of treatment, to investigate the characteristics of the functional status of patients methods of SAN, IPC «adaptive», self-esteem of patients by developed questionnaire were used. Results. A direct, reliable, moderate correlation has been established between the estimates that have given quality of care to patients with a regularity of the complex of psychophysiological methods proposed. Conclusion. A positive impact of the proposed complex of psychophysiological methods to support the functional characteristics of the patients and their assessment of the treatment, and the effectiveness of orthopedic treatment have been determined.


With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) set to sharply increase access to medical care, the problem of rising costs moves center stage in health law and policy discussions. "Consumer directed health care" proposals, which provide patients with financial incentives to equate marginal costs and benefits of care at the point of treatment, demand more decision making ability from boundedly-rational consumers than is plausible. Proposals that seek to change the incentives of health care providers threaten to create conflicts of interest between doctors and patients. New approaches are desperately needed.This article proposes a government-facilitated but market-based approach to improving efficiency in the private market for medical care that I call "relative value health insurance." This approach focuses on the "choice architecture" necessary to enable even boundedly-rational patients to contract for the efficient level of health care services through their health insurance purchase decisions. It relies on using comparative effectiveness research, which the ACA funds at a significant level for the first time, to rate medical treatments on a scale of 1-10 based on their relative value, taking into account costs and expected benefits. These relative value ratings would enable consumers to contract with insurers for different levels of medical care at different prices, reflecting different cost-quality tradeoffs. The article describes both the benefits of the approach and the impediments to its implementation. It concludes with a brief discussion of how the principles can also be applied to public health insurance programs.


Despite a large number of observational studies consistently reporting the association between shorter sleep duration and higher body weight, causality has yet to be established at a population level. This study aims to estimate the population-level causal effect of sleep duration on adolescent body weight, using an instrumental variable (IV) approach that exploits a unique natural experiment in the context of South Korea's highly competitive secondary education. In March 2011, amid growing concerns over the negative consequences of late-night tuition at private tutoring institutes (hagwon), authorities in 3 of the 16 administrative regions in South Korea decreed adjusting the closing hours of hagwon to 10 p.m. This policy change caused a substantial and plausibly exogenous variation in the sleep duration of the "marginal student," whose sleep duration is most likely to be affected by the policy. The IV estimation results on a sample of general high school 10and 11-graders in the 2009−2012 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey show that a 1-hour increase in sleep duration led to a 0.56 kg/m reduction in body mass index, or a 4.3 percentage-point decrease in overweight/obesity. Short sleep duration among adolescents may be an important contributor to increased body weight at the population level. JEL Classification Codes: I12; I18; I28


Shearwave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry (SDUV) is used to quantify both tissue shear elasticity and shear viscosity by evaluating dispersion of shear wave propagation speed over a certain bandwidth (50 to 500 Hz). The motivation for developing elasticity imaging techniques is the desire to diagnose disease processes. However, it is important to study the mechanical properties of healthy tissues; such data can enhance clinical knowledge and improve understanding of the mechanical properties of tissue. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of using SDUV for in vitro measurements of renal cortex shear elasticity and shear viscosity in healthy swine kidneys. Eight excised kidneys from female pigs were used in these in vitro experiments and a battery of tests was performed to gain insight into the material proper ties of the renal cortex. In these 8 kidneys, the overall renal cortex elasticity and viscosity were 1.81 ± 0.17 kPa and 1.48 ± 0.49 Pa-s, respectively. In an analysis of the material properties over time after excision, there was not a statistically significant difference in shear elasticity over a 24-h period, but a statistically significant difference in shear viscosity was found. Homogeneity of the renal cortex was examined and it was found that shear elasticity and shear viscosity were statistically different within a kidney, suggesting global tissue inhomogeneity. In creases of more than 30% in shear elasticity and shear viscosity were observed after immersion in 10% formaldehyde. Finally, it was found that the renal cortex is rather anisotropic. Two values for shear elasticity and shear viscosity were measured depending on shear wave propagation direction. These various tests elucidated different aspects of the material properties and the structure of the ex vivo renal cortex.


For the seismic performance assessment of existing sub-standard detailed exterior beam-column joints, it is critical to accurately establish the hierarchy of strength of each element and therefore the likely failure mechanism. However, in current practice, the influence of cast-in-situ slab and transverse beams is typically neglected or calculated based on equations that were derived from modern detailed beam-column joint subassembly tests. In literature, experimental studies for non-ductile beam-column joints constructed prior to the 1970s, thus before the introduction of capacity design principles, explicitly considering the influence of slabs are scarce. This paper presents the experimental results of comprehensively instrumented four 2/3-scaled one-way (two-dimensional, 2D) and two-way (threedimensional, 3D) exterior beam-column joints with and without slabs. Tests were conducted under uni-directional and bi-directional quasi-static lateral loading with concurrent varying axial loading. Comparison in terms of global and local behavior between specimens show the influence of the floor slab and the transverse beam in the resistance mechanism of the beam-column-joint subassembly elements in different ways, depending on the type of frame and the loading protocol. Preliminary recommendations for assessment are tentatively provided as closure.


Objectives Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has surpassed open surgical repair in the management of blunt traumatic aortic injuries (BTAIs) over the past two decades. It is a less morbid procedure associated with lower mortality. We sought to determine the outcomes of early versus delayed TEVAR of BTAI in our population. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected registry that looked at patients presenting with an image-proven diagnosis of BTAI at three tertiary health care facilities in Muscat, Oman. Forty consecutive patients were identified between January 2012 and July 2017, of which four were excluded for incomplete data. The remaining 36 patients were divided based on the timing of repair into early (< 7 days) or delayed (3 7 days) repair. In both cohorts, variables analyzed included patient demographics, mechanism of injury, injury severity score, need for blood products transfusion, use of anti-impulse medications, anticoagulation, intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and total hospital stay. Primary endpoints included: in-hospital mortality, TEVAR-related morbidity, and the need for reintervention. Results Our study subjects were young with a mean age of 33.5±14.8 and 29.9±11.0 years in the early and delayed repair cohorts, respectively. Motor vehicle collisions accounted for the majority of cases (82.6% and 76.9% in early and delayed repair, respectively). Thoracic injuries were the most commonly associated injuries in both early and delayed repair cohorts. Compared to early repair, the delayed repair cohort had a higher incidence of exploratory laparotomies, but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.161). There were four incidences of cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) post-TEVAR; three in the early repair cohort and one in the delayed repair cohort (p = 1.000). There was no statistically significant correlation between left subclavian total or partial coverage and the incidence of CVA (p = 0.220) and type 1 (p = 0.466) or type 2 endoleak (p = 0.102). The early repair cohort had a longer but not statistically significant ICU stay (7.8±6.8 vs. 5.3±10.7, p = 0.386). Prolonged ICU stay was associated with more blood transfusion requirement (p < 0.001), and higher respiratory (p = 0.010) and gastrointestinal complications (p = 0.026). Conclusions The short-term outcomes for TEVAR of BTAI continue to show its feasibility in managing BTAI in severely injured patients. There was no clear statistical significance in mortality and morbidity comparing early versus delayed repair. However, our experience is based on a small sample size and short median follow-up but provides a good platform for further analysis.


Land value sometimes needs to be extracted from the price of a developed property for a number of purposes. For instance, land value tax has long gained recognition of being an efficient and equitable tax. Despite the theoretical significance, daunting difficulties in valuing land often cause land value tax practically impossible. The extraction of land value is however required by legislation in countries such as Taiwan, Japan, and Australia, among others. A number of recent studies have explored the feasibility of constructing empirical models that particularly tackle this issue. This article, using a data set of residential property sales over the period of 1994 to 2003 in Taipei City, Taiwan, provides another attempt. In order to alleviate the difficulties of estimating the value effects of spatially-associated property features through a series of independent variables (distances to service facilities, neighborhood amenity, etc.), a trend surface app roach is employed to establish a locational or spatial variable. This locational or spatial variable aims to capture the overall effects of spatially associated variables on property value. The percentage of land value in the total property price is derived from both linear and non-linear regression models. Results are compared to the rule-of-thumb figures currently adopted by the appraisal profession. The differences, if found, in the percentage of land value as the property price between research findings and the rule-of-thumb are expected to have policy significance.


While operational risk has long been regarded as a mere part of "other" risks--outside the realm of credit and market risk--it has quickly made its way to the forefront of finance. In fact, with implementation of the Basel II Capital Accord already underway, many financial professionals--as well as those preparing to enter this field--must now become familiar with a variety of issues related to operational risk modeling and management. Written by the experienced team of Anna Chernobai, Svetlozar Rachev, and Frank Fabozzi, Operational Risk will introduce you to the key concepts associated with this discipline. Filled with in-depth insights, expert advice, and innovative research, this comprehensive guide not only presents you with an abundant amount of information regarding operational risk, but it also walks you through a wide array of examples that will solidify your understanding of the issues discussed. Topics covered include: The main challenges that exist in modeling operational risk. The variety of approaches used to model operational losses. Value-at-Risk and its role in quantifying and managing operational risk. The three pillars of the Basel II Capital Accord. And much more.


The twentieth-century architect Mies van der Rohe once declared that Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. In "Travels in the History of Architecture" renowned architectural writer Robert Harbison looks closely at such bricks, taking us on a journey through the great themes and movements of architecture, from antiquity to the present day. Using his own experience of the physical fabric of buildings, Harbison interprets the conceptions of the original architects and makers, pointing out carefully crafted detail and inspiring form along the way. Beginning with the great temples and tombs of the Egyptians, and the monuments and shrines of Greek and Roman architecture, and concluding with the museums of the twenty-first century, each chapter of "Harbison's Travels" focuses on a moment in architectural history, with chapters devoted to, among others, Byzantine, Baroque, Mannerism, Historicism and Functionalism. His free-ranging approach draws in references from history, literature and art to illuminate his theme: from a poem praising marble decoration to help us understand how its makers saw Hagia Sophia, to a French Rococo painting to probe the meaning of an English landscape garden. Approachable, idiosyncratic yet authoritative, Harbison's account works equally well as an enlivening introduction to the history of architecture, or as a refreshingly different take on familiar territory for those who are ready to see old buildings in energizing new ways.


Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), have the property of absorbing ultraviolet rays, and are widely used as active ingredients in cosmetics such as sunscreens. They also have many bioactive properties that make them an attractive ingredient for pharmaceuticals and functional food.

This book summarizes information about the molecular structures, activities and applications of mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs). It aims to be an introductory book for undergraduate and graduate students in applied sciences, or as a handbook for researchers in pharmaceutical chemistry and cosmetics.

Key features

- 11 structured chapters covering the biochemistry of MAAs

- Introduces readers to biochemical and synthetic pathways of MAAs

- Presents information on many bioactive properties of MAAs including helioprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-collagenase effects

- Simple, clear explanations for learners

- Academic and scholarly references for advanced readers

- Illustrated appendices


Aim: To assess the changes in color vision in diabetic patients in different stages of diabetic retinopathy compared to healthy individuals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional comparative study included sixty-eight eyes of 40 diabetic patients, divided into four subgroups (10 patients / group) at different stages of diabetic retinopathy (Eighteen of them had maculopathy) as well as 20 eyes of 10 healthy individuals as controls. Diabetic retinopathy and maculopathy were assessed clinically by direct and indirect fundus examination along with fluorescein fundus angiography, optical coherence tomography. Color vision was assessed quantitatively by Ishihara pseudo iso-chromatic plates test and qualitatively by Farnsworth D-15 test. Results: Only two control eyes (10%) failed the Ishihara pseudo iso-chromatic plates test, compared to 19 diabetic eyes (27.9%), 14 eyes (20.58%) were suspects. Also just two control eyes (10%) failed the Farnsworth d-15 test while 34 (50%) diabetic eyes failed the test showing; with Tritanopia was the most encountered color vision defect. We find that color vision defects also increases with increasing disease duration, severity of diabetic retinopathy, increased macular thickness and presence of maculopathy, while type of diabetes shows no significant effect. Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus has a clear negative effect upon the color vision in both qualitative and quantitative manner leading to loss of color vision perception with a varying degree in relation to the type of diabetes, degree of retinopathy, the duration of illness, presence of maculopathy and the increased macular thickness when compared to normal healthy individuals.


From the inception of modern, petrochemical-derived synthetic plastics to the contemporary situation in which over 300 million tons of plastic are produced each year, media assemblages and plastics constitute a range of intra-actions that contribute to our understanding of contemporary material politics. This article explores a number of issues surrounding entanglements of media and plastics, including the formation of vast oceanic plastic garbage patches, the treatment of highly toxic electronics waste, the usage of thermal papers that disrupt the human endocrine system, and the formation of technical fossils whose lack of biodegradability forms one strand of evidence within discourses of the Anthropocene. The material politics of plastics places into conversation temporal scales ranging from geological rhythms, which are measured in millions of years, to the hyperconsumption of 24/7 global capitalism, asking pertinent questions about how we conceptualize contemporary ethical and biopolitical issues surrounding humans and other living systems.


Performance and capacity of sulfur recovery unit (SRU) are greatly affected by the H2S:CO2 ratio of the acid gas stream. The acid gases in Iran contain around 35 mol% H2S and 60 mol% CO2. This low concentration of H2S calls for more complex sulfur plant, larger equipments, and higher costs. Acid gas enrichment processes (AGE) is run to upgrade low quality acid gas collected from gas treating units in to higher quality Claus plant feed stream. Using specially formulated solvents or modifications of the existing gas treating units are the most popular approaches for efficient acid gas enrichment.   Three different enrichment schemes are considered and simulated for Khangiran refinery acid gas stream. The results are then compared with each others to select the optimal AGE scheme, which can maximize the H2S content of SRU feed stream while minimizes H2S emission to atmosphere. In the first scheme, part of the acid gas leaving the GTU regenerator overhead is recycled back to the main contactor. In the other two, a separate enrichment tower is utilized between the amine flash drum and regenerator. In the second scheme, the enrichment tower pressure is set between regenerator pressure and ambient pressure, while in the third scheme, the enrichment tower pressure is fixed between amine flash drum pressure and regenerator pressure. The simulation results revealed that the SRU feed stream can be significantly enriched from its original value of 33.5 mol% H2S to about 70 mol%, by applying to the third scheme.


PURPOSE
We updated a long-term cancer control outcome in a large anatomical radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) series. We also evaluated the perioperative parameters that predict cancer specific outcomes following surgery.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
From May 1983 to February 2003, 1 surgeon (WJC) performed RRP in 3,478 consecutive men. Patients were followed with semiannual serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests and annual digital rectal examinations. We used Kaplan-Meier product limit estimates to calculate actuarial 10-year probabilities of biochemical progression-free survival, cancer specific survival and overall survival. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine independent perioperative predictors of cancer progression.

RESULTS
At a mean followup of 65 months (range 0 to 233) actuarial 10-year biochemical progression-free, cancer specific and overall survival probabilities were 68%, 97% and 83%, respectively. On multivariate analysis biochemical progression-free survival probability was significantly associated with preoperative PSA, clinical tumor stage, Gleason sum, pathological stage and treatment era. Cancer specific survival and overall survival rates were also significantly associated with clinicopathological parameters.

CONCLUSIONS
RRP can be performed with excellent survival outcomes. Favorable clinicopathological parameters and treatment in the PSA era are associated with improved cancer control.


Earthquakes are amongst the worst natural disasters on Earth, resulting in an annual average of around 10,000 fatalities last century and progressively increasing in the amount of economic damage they cause, reaching US $20 billion per annum this decade. The mitigation of the unwanted consequences of earthquakes is normally achieved by Risk Management Strategies (RMS), which rely on the development of Earthquake Risk Assessment (ERA) techniques. This thesis aims to develop a framework for ERA for medium seismicity regions that incorporates the spatial aspects of the hazard and risk evaluation. The framework is used to undertake ERA for the island of Cyprus, and the information is used to propose RMS. The ERA framework relies on comprehensive data on the location, value and vulnerability of buildings and the population distribution. These data were collected from the various Cyprus Government Departments. Various hazard and attenuation models are examined, and the effect of their variability is taken into account through Monte Carlo simulations. The estimated annual risk for Cyprus is just below £ 10 million CY. This value was estimated based on the use of the re-appraised historical data for the past-century. Comparisons with other seismic hazard assessment methods, such as recurrence relationships, have revealed that, without a spatial distribution model, such approaches are unsuitable for ERA. Though the maximum intensities predicted are in line with the ones that underpin the aseismic code of Cyprus (CCEAA-CFEE, 1994), the predicted design accelerations are higher than given in the code. Hence, new seismic accelerations are proposed. Despite that, the current reduction in risk is comparable to the additional cost of aseismic design. Seismic retrofitting was also examined and it was found that as part of a general modernisation scheme seismic upgrading is cost effective. However, whatever the state of the building, it is recommended that earthquake insurance should be made mandatory. The current seismic insurance rates appear to be fair, though they seem to underestimate the risk in the areas of high seismicity. The number of likely human losses is also estimated. This study concludes that the result of ERA is heavily dependent on the models and data used, and both require constant updating for the ERA results to remain meaningful.


The architecture of CPUs has shifted in recent years from increased speed to
more cores on the chips. With this change, more developers are focusing on parallelism; however, many developers have not taken advantage of a common hardware component that specializes in parallel applications: the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). By writing code to execute on GPUs, developers have been able to gain increased performance over the traditional CPU in many problem domains, including signal processing. Time domain convolution is an important component of signal processing. Currently, the fastest process to perform convolution is frequency domain multiplication. In addition to being more complex, inconsistencies such as missing data are difficult to solve in the frequency domain. It has been shown that executing frequency domain multiplication on GPUs improves performance, but there is no research for time domain convolution on GPUs. This thesis provides two algorithms that implement time domain convolution on GPUs: one algorithm is for computing convolution all at once and another is designed for real time computation and playing the results. The results from this thesis indicate that using the GPU significantly reduces processing time for time domain convolution.


Objective Drug-related problems (DRPs) are considered a serious, expensive, and important undesirable complication of health care. However, as current health care resources are limited, pharmacist DRP services cannot be provided to all patients. Using a modeling approach, we aimed to identify risk factors for DRPs so that patients for DRP-reduction services can be better identified. Methods Patients with diabetes from outpatient clinics from five key university-affiliated and public hospitals in Jordan were assessed for DRPs (drug without an indication, untreated indication, and drug efficacy problems). Potential risk factors for DRPs were assessed. A logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors using a randomly selected, independent, nonoverlapping development (75%) subsample from full dataset. The remaining validation subsample (25%) was reserved to assess the discriminative ability of the model. Results A total of 1,494 patients were recruited. Of them, 81.2% had at least one DRP. Using the development subsample (n=1,085), independent risk factors for DRPs identified were male gender, number of medications, prescribed gastrointestinal medication, and nonadherence to self-care and non-pharmacological recommendations. Validation results (n=403) showed an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.679 (95% confidence interval=0.629–0.720); the model sensitivity and specificity values were 65.4% and 63.0%, respectively. Conclusion Within the outpatient setting, the results of this study predicted DRPs with acceptable accuracy and validity. Such an approach will help in identifying patients needing pharmacist DRP services, which is an important first step in appropriate intervention to address DRPs.


The current camera has made a huge progress in the sensor resolution and the lowluminance performance. However, we are still far from having an optimal camera as powerful as our eye is. The study of the evolution process of our visual system indicates attention to two major issues: the form and the density of the sensor. High contrast and optimal sampling properties of our visual spatial arrangement are related directly to the densely hexagonal form. In this paper, we propose a novel software-based method to create images on a compact dense hexagonal grid, derived from a simulated square sensor array by a virtual increase of the fill factor and a half a pixel shifting. After that, the orbit functions are proposed for a hexagonal image processing. The results show it is possible to achieve an image processing in the orbit domain and the generated hexagonal images are superior, in detection of curvature edges, to the square images. We believe that the orbit domain image processing has a great potential to be the standard processing for hexagonal images.


Since the late-1990s, over 25 U.S. shared-use vehicle programs—including carsharing and station cars—have been launched. Given their presumed social and environmental benefits, the majority of these programs received some governmental support—primarily in the form of startup grants and subsidized parking. As of July 2003, there were a total of 15 shared-use vehicle programs, including 11 carsharing organizations, two carsharing research pilots, and two station car programs. Over the last five years, U.S. carsharing membership has experienced exponential growth. Despite this expansion, the social and environmental impacts and long-term sustainability of these services remain unclear. As part of their U.S. shared-use vehicle survey (August 2002 to July 2003), the authors documented market growth/trends and limited, systematic evaluation of program impacts. While 80 percent of shared-use programs implement internal customer surveys (initial or follow-up), only a handful of independent studies have been conducted to date. Across organizations, participant use and program benefits are measured using a variety of study tools and metrics. Given current shared-use vehicle growth and the ongoing interest of policymakers and government agencies in this concept, the authors recommend a longitudinal monitoring approach to better understand market developments, social/environmental impacts, and targeted policy strategies. Furthermore, the authors conclude that coordinated, program-wide data collection (consistent survey instruments and performance measures) could enhance overall market awareness and the credibility of shared-use vehicle organizations in leveraging additional public support.


Although Lithodes santolla is a resource with high commercial importance that has aroused interest in controlled reproduction in captivity, currently, little knowledge is available about basic reproductive aspects of this species. This research study describes detailed oogenesis stages at the histological level in adult females of the southern king crab of the Magellan and Chilean Antarctic Region. Oogenesis was quantitatively analyzed from the proliferation of 10-24 μm oogonia and during oocyte growth. Five stages of ovary development were identified: multiplication (0), previtellogenesis (I), vitellogenesis (II), maturity (III) and spawning (IV). Furthermore, 11 oocyte substages were distinguished: oogonia, chromatin nucleolus, early perinucleolus, late perinucleolus, oil globule, early vitellin globule, late vitellin globule, postvitelogenic, germinal vesicle migration and germinal vesicle breakdown. Primary vitellogenesis occurred in oocytes 180-185 μm, containing acidophilic globules and surrounded by a layer of thick follicle cells (20-40 μm). Secondary vitellogenesis was evident in oocytes at 315-321 μm with numerous acidophilic granules in the cytoplasm and surrounded by thin follicle cells; then, cortical crypts appeared, indicating the prematuration stage and preparation for ovulation. This study allows establishing gonadic changes that occur during a reproductive cycle of female L. santolla and help to strengthen aquaculture initiatives and management in the Magellan and Chilean Antarctic Region.