In plant-arthropod associations, the first herbivores to colonise a plant may directly or indirectly affect community assembly on that particular plant. Whether the order of arrival of different arthropod species further modulates community assembly and affects plant fitness remains unclear. Using wild Brassica oleracea plants in the field, we manipulated the order of arrival of early-season herbivores that belong to different feeding guilds, namely the aphid Brevicoryne brassicae and caterpillars of Plutella xylostella. We investigated the effect of herbivore identity and order of arrival on community assembly on two B. oleracea plant populations during two growth seasons. For this perennial plant, we evaluated whether foliar herbivory also affected herbivore communities on the flowers and if these interactions affected plant seed production. Aphid infestation caused an increase in parasitoid abundance, but caterpillars modulated these effects, depending on the order of herbivore infestation and plant population. In the second growth season, when plants flowered, the order of infestation of leaves with aphids and caterpillars more strongly affected abundance of herbivores feeding on the flowers than those feeding on leaves. Infestation with caterpillars followed by aphids caused an increase in flower-feeding herbivores compared to the reversed order of infestation in one plant population, whereas the opposite effects were observed for the other plant population. The impact on plant seed set in the first reproductive year was limited. Our work shows that the identity and arrival order of early season herbivores may have long-term consequences for community composition on individual plants and that these patterns may vary among plant populations. We discuss how these community processes may affect plant fitness and speculate on the implications for evolution of plant defences.


The reading underachievement of African American (AA) school-age children has received considerable attention in educational circles. Unfortunately, there are relatively few studies designed to uncover the source or sources of these reading achievement differences, especially in children beyond early elementary grades. Some studies suggest that oral language skills such as those required to produce oral narrative and expository discourse are positively linked to reading comprehension outcomes in older children. Very little research exists on the connections between reading comprehension and narrative discourse in African American children and no studies explore oral expository discourse in this population.
The purpose of this research study was to examine the relationship between language features of oral discourse, both narrative and expository, and reading comprehension abilities of African American children. Forty-three African American third- and fourth-grade children with average or low reading comprehension ability participated in the study. Each participant produced one oral expository explanation of a favorite game or sport and one oral fictional narrative, elicited via a wordless picture book in an individual session. The oral discourse samples were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for productivity (total number of T-units), syntactic (mean length of T-unit and clausal density), and discourse (discourse quality) features of language.
The two groups performed similarly on the productivity measure for both the narrative and expository tasks. Reading comprehension group differences emerged on the narrative task. Children in the average comprehender group outperformed those in the low comprehender group on mean length of T-unit (MLTU), clausal density (CD), and discourse quality (DQ). On the expository explanation task, grade by gender interactions were detected with third grade boys producing more total number of T-units (TNT) in their explanations than the fourth grade boys. However, fourth grade boys outperformed third grade boys and fourth grade girls on the amount of clausal density they produced in their explanations. Results validated a continuing relationship between oral discourse, particularly narrative, and reading comprehension in older, school-age children. Relative strengths and needs in the oral discourse of African American children with differing reading comprehension profiles are discussed. Implications for the use of oral language assessment to understand and treat reading comprehension difficulties in African American children as well as suggestions for future research are presented.


The identification of sources is one of the prerequisites for the implementation of the Air Quality Directive (AQD). It provides scientific support to the development and periodic revision of air quality plans and short term action plans and to the quantification of categories with special status like long range transport, natural sources and winter road salting and sanding. The suitability of receptor models (RM) for the apportionment of pollutant sources in the implementa-tion of the AQD is testified by the amount of published studies in 2005 and 2010 in correspondence with the entry into force of new provisions for PM10 and PM2,5, respectively. In recent years, Member States were requested to provide official estimations of source contribution to the Commission like the quantification of natural sources in 2006 and PM10 time extension reports in 2009 (Fragkou et al., 2011). These experiences have shown that al-though this kind of methodology is used by about 60 % of the European experts involved in source apportion-ment there is a considerable variability in the methodo-logical approaches and adopted tools. Furthermore, there are critical steps that require strict quality assurance standards and skilled practitioners (e.g. identification of the appropriate number of sources). In order to foster harmonization in this field, the JRC has promoted a number of interconnected initiatives linked to FAIRMODE. One of those was to set up a group of experts with skills in different areas to assess RM methodologies and propose common criteria and procedures for source apportionment studies. The infor-mation collected was summarized in a document which is intended to serve as a basis for a common Receptor Model Technical Protocol (RMTP). The RMTP is addressed to different kinds of us-ers: Policy makers and managers interested in the output of RMs for development of mitigation measures, air quality experts and scientists unfamiliar with these tech-niques, and RM practitioners involved in the model ex-ecution and interpretation of results. In order to address such heterogeneous readership the document was designed to be accessible at different levels. The RMTP is organized in three sections : an introduction to present the methodology to the unskilled reader, illustrating its capabilities and recom-mending when and how to use it ; a core section concerning the most common RM methodologies for source apportionment with in-depth analysis boxes for more experienced readers. The section is structured in 13 chapters following, as a check list, the logical steps to accomplish a source apportionment study. The first chapters deal with preliminary activities like the evaluation of the study area, collection of exist-ing information and experimental design. In the follow-ing chapters data collection and data treatment are dis-cussed. The section includes also chapters regarding spe-cific aspects of widely used methodologies like CMB, Factor Analysis, and PMF. The evaluation of test per-formance and reporting are discussed in the last part of this section ; the third section of the document was conceived to give an insight on the capabilities and the possible future trends in RM methodology. It consists of four chapters dealing with advanced, innovative techniques for which ready- to-use tools are already available or under development : trajectory analysis combined with RM, constrained and expanded models, AMS data processing, and the aethalometer model. The document includes a number of annexes to provide additional and practical information on specific topics, and examples.


One problem with the Becker-Murphy model of Rational Addiction, at least in the eyes of many public health specialists, is that it does not explain why so many rational, forward looking, smokers should apparently find it so hard to quit, especially since the terminal conditions are part of an intertemporal optimization problem. In this paper we apply techniques of stochastic control theory to introduce uncertainty into the individual's perception of how her stock of addiction will accumulate over time as a consequence of her time path of smoking. We assume that addiction capital is basically unobservable, so she cannot adjust her smoking behaviour according to a feedback policy rule but instead builds uncertainty into her consumption plan from the beginning. We discuss the differences between the equation explaining her lifetime smoking trajectory in the deterministic and stochastic cases, and find that the quadratic utility function which underlies the familiar lead-lag consumption form of rational addiction equation is not, in fact, capable of allowing for the type of uncertainty which we consider here.


We study a model in which heterogenous agents first form a trading network where link formation is costless. Then, a seller and a buyer are randomly selected among the agents to bargain through a chain of intermediaries. We determine both the trading path and the allocation of the surplus among the seller, the buyer and the intermediaries at equilibrium. We show that a trading network is pairwise stable if and only if it is a core periphery network where the core consists of all weak (or impatient) agents who are linked to each other and the periphery consists of all strong (or patient) agents who have a single link towards a weak agent. Once agents do not know the impatience of the other agents, each bilateral bargaining session may involve delay, but not perpetual disagreement, in equilibrium. When an agent chooses another agent on a path from the buyer to the seller to negotiate bilaterally a partial agreement, her choice now depends both on the type of this other agent and on how much time the succeeding agents on the path will need to reach their partial agreements. We provide sufficient conditions such that core periphery networks are pairwise stable in presence of private information.


Gliomas are the most common primary intracranial tumor, representing 81% of malignant brain tumors. Although relatively rare, they cause significant mortality and morbidity. Glioblastoma, the most common glioma histology (∼45% of all gliomas), has a 5-year relative survival of ∼5%. A small portion of these tumors are caused by Mendelian disorders, including neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, and Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Genomic analyses of glioma have also produced new evidence about risk and prognosis. Recently discovered biomarkers that indicate improved survival include O⁶-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase methylation, isocitrate dehydrogenase mutation, and a glioma cytosine-phosphate-guanine island methylator phenotype. Genome-wide association studies have identified heritable risk alleles within 7 genes that are associated with increased risk of glioma. Many risk factors have been examined as potential contributors to glioma risk. Most significantly, these include an increase in risk by exposure to ionizing radiation and a decrease in risk by history of allergies or atopic disease(s). The potential influence of occupational exposures and cellular phones has also been examined, with inconclusive results. We provide a "state of the science" review of current research into causes and risk factors for gliomas in adults.


In the trajectory segmentation problem we are given a polygonal trajectory with n vertices that we have to subdivide into a minimum number of disjoint segments (subtrajectories) that all satisfy a given criterion. The problem is known to be solvable efficiently for monotone criteria: criteria with the property that if they hold on a certain segment, they also hold on every subsegment of that segment [4]. To the best of our knowledge, no theoretical results are known for non-monotone criteria.

We present a broader study of the segmentation problem, and suggest a general framework for solving it, based on the start-stop diagram: a 2-dimensional diagram that represents all valid and invalid segments of a given trajectory. This yields two subproblems: (i) computing the start-stop diagram, and (ii) finding the optimal segmentation for a given diagram. We show that (ii) is NP-hard in general. However, we identify properties of the start-stop diagram that make the problem tractable, and give polynomial-time algorithm for this case.

We study two concrete non-monotone criteria that arise in practical applications in more detail. Both are based on a given univariate attribute function f over the domain of the trajectory. We say a segment satisfies an outlier-tolerant criterion if the value of f lies within a certain range for at least a given percentage of the length of the segment. We say a segment satisfies a standard deviation criterion if the standard deviation of f over the length of the segment lies below a given threshold. We show that both criteria satisfy the properties that make the segmentation problem tractable. In particular, we compute an optimal segmentation of a trajectory based on the outlier-tolerant criterion in O(n2 log n+kn2) time, and on the standard deviation criterion in O(kn2) time, where n is the number of vertices of the input trajectory and k is the number of segments in an optimal solution.


We present and demonstrate a novel approach for automated planning of common pilot channel (CPICH) power in mobile networks with co-existing HSDPA and R99 services. CPICH power allocation greatly influences the cell coverage pattern. A conventional strategy is to uniformly allocate a constant proportion of the total power to CPICH. We study non-uniform CPICH and optimize its allocation for enhancing HSDPA performance. We focus on HSDPA performance at cell edges, where user throughput is typically very low. Our approach is based on a linear-integer mathematical model; solving the model results in a power allocation that both ensures CPICH coverage and optimizes HSDPA performance at cell edges. Moreover, the model allows for precise control of soft handover (SHO) regions for R99 service. Experimental results show that our approach yields significant enhancement of HSDPA performance at cell edges with preserved R99 SHO control.


Physically Based Rendering: From Theory to Implementation, Third Edition, describes both the mathematical theory behind a modern photorealistic rendering system and its practical implementation. Through a method known as 'literate programming', the authors combine human-readable documentation and source code into a single reference that is specifically designed to aid comprehension. The result is a stunning achievement in graphics education. Through the ideas and software in this book, users will learn to design and employ a fully-featured rendering system for creating stunning imagery. This completely updated and revised edition includes new coverage on ray-tracing hair and curves primitives, numerical precision issues with ray tracing, LBVHs, realistic camera models, the measurement equation, and much more. It is a must-have, full color resource on physically-based rendering. Presents up-to-date revisions of the seminal reference on rendering, including new sections on bidirectional path tracing, numerical robustness issues in ray tracing, realistic camera models, and subsurface scattering Provides the source code fora complete rendering systemallowing readers to get up and running fast Includes a unique indexing feature, literate programming, that lists the locations of each function, variable, and method on the page where they are first describedServes as an essential resource on physically-based rendering


In the Spring 2015 issue of Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal , Kimberly Connor described building an Ignatian Pedagogy Faculty Learning Community at the University of San Francisco. One outcome of the FLC was to gather and make easily available a collection of resources on Jesuit education and the IPP (Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm). In this issue, two USF Gleeson Library/Geschke Center librarians, Zheng (Jessica) Lu, Digital Collections Librarian, and Vicki Rosen, Distance Learning Services Librarian, describe creating Practicing Ignatian Pedagogy: A Digital Collection of Resources , an openly accessible database available through the USF Library website, using the FLC resources and digital technology


Cooperative relay technology has recently been introduced into cognitive radio (CR) networks to enhance the network capacity, scalability, and reliability of end-to-end communication. In this paper, we investigate an underlay cognitive network where the quality of service (QoS) of the secondary link is maintained by triggering an opportunistic regenerative relaying once it falls under an unacceptable level. Analysis is conducted for two schemes, referred to as the channel-state information (CSI)-based and fault-tolerant schemes, respectively, where different amounts of CSI were considered. We first provide the exact cumulative distribution function (cdf) of the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over each hop with colocated relays. Then, the cdf's are used to determine a very accurate closed-form expression for the outage probability for a transmission rate R. In a high-SNR region, a floor of the secondary outage probability occurs, and we derive its corresponding expression. We validate our analysis by showing that the simulation results coincide with our analytical results in Rayleigh fading channels.


Initial work focused on the preparation, optimisation and characterisation of poly (D,L-lactide) (PLA) microspheres with the aim of optimising their formulation based on minimizing the particle size into the range suitable for pulmonary delivery to alveoli. In order to produce dry powders and to enhance their long-term physico-chemical stability, microspheres were prepared as a dry powder via freeze-drying. Optimisation studies showed that using appropriate concentrations of polymer 3% (w/v) in organic phase and emulsifier 10% (w/v) in external aqueous phase, the double solvent evaporation method produced high protein loading microspheres (72 ± 0.5%) with an appropriate particle size for pulmonary drug delivery. Combined use of trehalose and leucine as cyroprotectants (6% and 1% respectively, w/v) produced freeze-dried powders with the best aerosolisation profile among those tested. Although the freeze-dried PLA microsphere powders were not particularly respirable in dry powder inhalation, nebulisation of the rehydrated powders using an ultrasonic nebuliser resulted in improved aerosilisation performance compared to the air-jet nebuliser. When tested in vitro using a macrophage cell line, the PLA microspheres system exhibited a low cytotoxicity and the microspheres induced phagocytic activity in macrophages. However, interestingly, the addition of an immunomodulator to the microsphere formulations (4%, w/w of polymer) reduced this phagocytic activity and macrophage activation compared to microspheres formulated using PLA alone. This suggested that the addition of trehalose dibehenate may not enhance the ability of these microspheres to be used as vaccine delivery systems.


This study examined whether changes in the levels of the messenger RNAs (mRNAs) encoding the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) synthesizing enzymes, glutamate decarboxylase (GAD)65 and GAD67 and transforming growth factor-alpha (TGFalpha) in the hypothalamus are correlated with the arrest of pulsatile GnRH release during infancy in the agonadal male monkey. This experiment also provided the opportunity to examine changes in hypothalamic GnRH gene expression during this critical phase of primate development. Male rhesus monkeys were castrated at 1 week of age: four were killed 4-7 weeks after orchidectomy while pulsatile GnRH release was robust as reflected by high circulating LH levels, and four were killed at 12-15 months of age after establishing that pulsatile GnRH release had been arrested. GAD65, GAD67, TGFalpha, and GnRH mRNA levels were estimated using RNase protection assays employing homologous probes and the results were expressed relative to cyclophilin mRNA levels. GnRH peptide was measured by RIA. GAD65 and GAD67 mRNA levels in the hypothalamus of juveniles were significantly greater than those in neonatal monkeys. On the other hand, hypothalamic TGFalpha and GnRH mRNA (and peptide) levels in agonadal neonate and juvenile monkeys were indistinguishable. These results indicate that the molecular concomitants associated with bringing the hypothalamic GnRH pulse generator into check in agonadal neonatal males are not a mirror image of those previously reported at the time this neuronal network is reactivated at puberty when TGFalpha and GnRH gene expression increase and GAD65 and GAD67 mRNA levels remain unchanged. Thus, the neurobiological mechanism that reactivates pulsatile GnRH release at puberty is likely to involve more than a simple reversal of that underlying inhibition of the same network in late infancy.


Studies were carried out to understand the effect of floodplain roughness on flow structures, sediment transport rates and bedforms in a mobile meandering channel with overbank flows. Three floodplain roughnesses were examined in this study. Flow structures and bedforms were measured using a three component laser Doppler anemometer (LDA) system and digital photogrammetry, respectively. Comparisons of flow structures and bedforms between different floodplain rougheness are made. Considerable changes in the flow structure and bed form were observed. In particular, multiple secondary flow cells along the meandering channel occur at deeper water depths as the floodplain roughness increases. These cells also cause a series of wavy bedforms along the meandering channel. This paper is separated into two parts. Part I concentrates, in detail, on the flow structure with bedforms in the meandering channel for overbank flow as to change of floodplain roughness. The sister paper, Part II, concentrates on bed form formation during flood, sediment transport rates and flow resistance in the main channel and floodplain.


Counselling psychology, a rapidly expanding mental health discipline, is rooted in academic psychology and therefore has unique potential of develop and sustain a powerful model for the integration of research and practice. This is the argument of this pioneering book, which brings together contributions from many leading counselling psychologists to show how practitioners are already working along these lines, and how the model can be developed for the future. The aim of the book is to bridge the divide between academic psychology and counselling practice and to encourage professionals to bring ethically aware and culturally sensitive research into the consulting room. It provides a secure grounding for trainees and an excellent resource for experience practitioners. Counselling Psychology: * defines and contextualizes the discipline * examines its potential for future development * shows how research integrated with supervised practice can be applied in professional settings.


SUMMARY Current production systems for crops, meat, dairy and bioenergy in the European Union (EU) rely strongly on the external input of nitrogen (N). These systems show a high productivity per unit of land. However, the drawback is a complex web of N pollution problems contributing in a major way to degradation of ecosystems. European Union Directives and national policies have improved nutrient management and reduced fertilizer N use in most European countries, which has curbed the N pollution trends particularly in regions with high stocking rates of animals. However, improvement is slowing down and environmental targets for N are not within reach. Building on the 2011 European Nitrogen Assessment, the current paper reviews key features of the complex relationships between N use and food production in Europe in order to develop novel options for a more N-efficient, less N-polluting and secure European food system. One option is to relocate feed and livestock production from Northwestern to Central and Eastern Europe. This would allow a reduction of N rates and N pollution in cereal production in Northwest Europe by 30% (50 kg N/ha), while increasing total cereal production in Europe. Another option is a change towards legume-based cropping systems to produce animal feed, in order to decrease dependence on N fertilizer and feed imports. The greatest challenge for Europe is to decrease the demand for feed commodities, and thus for land and N, by a shift to more balanced (and healthier) diets with less animal protein. These drastic changes can be stimulated by targeted public–private research funding, while the actual implementation can be enhanced by smart payment schemes using, for example money from the Common Agricultural Policy, certification and agreements between stakeholders and players in the food and energy chain. Involving networks of consumers, producers and non-governmental organizations is critical. An effective strategy starts with convincing consumers with a Western diet to eat less meat and dairy by communicating the associated health benefits and smaller ecological footprints. Internalizing the cost of N pollution leading to increased prices for N-intensive food products may also enhance involvement of consumers and provide financial resources to compensate farmers for loss of income and extra costs for stricter N measures.


Transmitting sensitive data over non-secret channels has always required encryption technologies to ensure that the data arrives without exposure to eavesdroppers. The Internet has made it possible to transmit vast volumes of data more rapidly and cheaply and to a wider audience than ever before. At the same time, strong encryption makes it possible to send data securely, to digitally sign it, to prove it was sent or received, and to guarantee its integrity.

The Internet and encryption make bulk transmission of data a commercially viable proposition. However, there are implementation challenges to solve before commercial bulk transmission becomes mainstream. Powerful have a performance cost, and may affect quality of service. Without encryption, intercepted data may be illicitly duplicated and re-sold, or its commercial value diminished because its secrecy is lost. Performance degradation and potential for commercial loss discourage the bulk transmission of data over the Internet in any commercial application. This paper outlines technical solutions to these problems. We develop new technologies and combine existing ones in new and powerful ways to minimise commercial loss without compromising performance or inflating overheads.


Meeting: Cases, Concepts and Connections : the Influence of Research on Public Policy; Evaluation Workshop, 24-25 Mar. 2003, IDRC Auditorium, Ottawa, ON, CA


In this paper we develop a dynamic regional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for Guatemala that incorporates regional disaggregated sectors for agriculture. The model is designed to be useful as a development tool for determining the effects of regional investments intended to reduce regional poverty and also to explore policy options to deal with a number of macro and balance-of-payments issues. Our model extends previous modeling work on Guatemala in several ways. First, it develops an updated regional social accounting matrix (SAM) for 2008, coupled with an updated CGE. Second, the CGE is a recursive dynamic model that incorporates unemployment in the short run. Most CGE models are not useful for short-run analysis because they are comparative static models that assume full employment. We specify a fixed minimum wage and an informal sector and use a recursive dynamic framework to solve for the short-run adjustment process that occurs as the economy responds to shocks. Second, the model is regional, permitting us to examine the impact of sectoral development policies, particularly those focused on agriculture. Guatemala has one of the lowest investment rates in Latin America. We show that if the investment share is raised by 4percent over five years, the rate of growth of the economy rises by about .6 percentage points. Guatemala is also quite sensitive to external macro disturbances. Our dynamic model gives a first approximation of the timing and nature of the adjustment over the ten years following various macro disturbances. We show that after ten years most of these shocks are absorbed by changes in the real exchange rate and the composition of output rather than the rate of growth of output. Negative shocks cause a real devaluation and a shift from consumption and non-tradables and towards exports and tradable goods. An important empirical question is whether the adjustment toward the traded goods sector is as flexible as the underlying elasticities in the model imply.


The establishment of national park in customary region had aroused conflic since it had not incorporate traditional management system in its management system. The objectives of this research is to develop such policies for national park zonation that amalgamating the national-global interests for conservation on the one side and the customary community interests on the other side. Result shows that adaptation was needed toward the prevailing science-based ecologically-oriented regulation on zoning plan, so it would incorporate the community's custom in order to achieve effective management of national park. Appropriate and applicable zoning can be achieved through implementation of management mindset with customary people livelihood perspectives, zone establishment which give priority to the achievement of national park functions rather than the fulfillment of zone requirements, and adaptation of zone formation and criteria toward traditional land use as efforts to accommodate the interest of biodiversity conservation and customary people livelihood.


Knowledge is an interesting word, which never goes out of fashion. In the political context, knowledge is something everyone hails and cherishes. An example is that the Socialist Government in Norway renamed its "Ministry of Education and Research" to the "Ministry of Knowledge". It would probably be politically wrong to defy the word "knowledge". The word "knowledge" stirs, however, different sentiments in people. In modern education, the word signifies something notable, discernable, visual or at least possible to distinguish from what it is not. In learning in higher education, knowledge is most often considered as the raw material for learning, with the little extra that distinguishes it from "information". Knowledge is information with a direction, a purpose and meaning, but without the implied cultivation of a teaching and learning process. Given knowledge is used for educational purposes, the processing of knowledge from its basic concepts to embodied and reflected knowledge, properly understood and reconceptualised by the learner, transforms not only the learner, but also the knowledge. In a peripatetic tradition, one likes to think of knowledge as foundation elements for constructions of ethical wisdom as its highest reflective level. Probably we will never see a "Ministry of Wisdom" established, because what is "wisdom" is probably so much more politically charged than "Knowledge". One can only wonder why anyone would degrade a ministry for education to something less. In Europe a rewriting of university curricula is underway all over the continent, because "knowledge" is a key concept in the writing of "learning outcomes". It appears every college is absorbed in sorting out what knowledge is and how knowledge can be classified in categories and levels, and then composed to readable descriptions of syllabi, course descriptions and schemes. Let us hope they are more able than what has been the case. Professor Ronald Barnett of the London University, Institute of education, described, in a book published in 2000, how awkwardly most of this literature was written and claimed that most of the academic community was rather unskilled in prescribing the paths we want learners to follow to achieve wisdom. It is "...grossly under-conceptualised in higher education...." (2000, p. 322) And, he asserts, for the most they miss the point of how we become educated in our age. He comments the following about knowledge in this context, which is inescapably a supercomplex one. He suggests:  The key problem of supercomplexity is not one of knowledge; it is one of being. Accordingly, we have to displace knowledge from the core of our pedagogies. The student's being has to take centre stage. Feeling uncertainty, responding to uncertainty, gaining confidence to insert oneself amid the numerous counter-claims to which one is exposed, engaging with the enemy, and developing resilience and courage: these are matters of being. Their acquisition calls for a revolution in the pedagogical relationships within a university. (Barnett 2000, s.170-171).  He clearly states that knowledge is pretty useless in itself, and that higher education has a significant way to go in order to put knowledge in its proper place. Writing well about what role and position "knowledge" has in the life of higher education is difficult, and Barnett's comment should remind us that there is more to education than "knowledge".  In this issue of Seminar.net, we find three different approaches to handling knowledge and putting it in its proper place. Knut Arne Strand and Tor Arne Hjeltnes focus on the process of helping corporate customers to explicate their needs for turning professional knowledge into teachable material for e-learning. Knowledge is here understood as a complex matter of people managing a professional knowledge base, and transforming it to a platform from which students can learn in practical contexts online. Siv Oltedal's project describes how a particular seminar form, using video and videoconferencing technology allows participants to elicit their knowledge and share their reflection and learning during seminars. Finally, Gunilla Jedeskog and Inger Landstrøm describe how a particular sort of knowledge, materialised in a manifest technological item, alters and disturbs the established ecology of knowledge in an organisation.


Background and Purpose— Cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease share common risk factors. Our goal was to determine whether levels of N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and cardiac troponin T measured with a highly sensitive assay (hs-cTnT) are associated with silent brain infarcts (BIs) and white matter lesions (WMLs) on MRI in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Methods— At ARIC visit 3 (1993–1995), 1920 participants had brain MRI. NT-proBNP and hs-cTnT were measured in all individuals at ARIC visit 4 (1996–1998). Of 1920 individuals, 1112 had a follow-up MRI [2004–2006]). We analyzed the association of NT-proBNP and hs-cTnT with MRI-defined BI and WML on the initial MRI and incident BI and WML progression on the follow-up MRI in participants without heart failure, coronary heart disease, or stroke. Results— In the adjusted model, individuals in the highest NT-proBNP quartile had significantly more BI (odds ratio, 3.50; 95% confidence interval, 2.03–6.20), and WML (&bgr;-coefficient, 0.09; SE, 0.03) on the baseline MRI and more incident BI (odds ratio, 2.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.38–3.47) and WML progression (&bgr;-coefficient, 0.22; SE, 0.10) on the follow-up MRI. Individuals in the highest hs-cTnT category had more BI (odds ratio, 3.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.57–5.82) and WML (&bgr;-coefficient, 0.11; SE, 0.04) on the initial MRI and more WML progression (&bgr;-coefficient, 0.43; SE, 0.17) on the follow-up MRI. Conclusions— NT-proBNP and hs-cTnT are independently associated with silent MRI-defined BI and WML, suggesting that cardiovascular biomarkers may be useful to identify individuals with subclinical cerebral injury.


Abstract In ablator shell fabrication, trace elements and impurities are introduced in the deposition and the pyrolysis process, which must be controlled below a critical level. However, it is the opacity, not the individual elements, which matters in an Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) implosion. Radiography measures the opacity, allowing the accurate determination of the total impurity effect in a lump sum. Furthermore, by using the sputter target trace element information, we can determine the radial profile of oxygen to ±0.4 at. %. Oxygen is very difficult to measure by any other method, but is critically important for beryllium process development such as mandrel removal. To ensure measurement accuracy, we use a local standard to remove fluctuation in film developing and a step wedge to calibrate the film model.


This paper analyses the effect of the West Sumatra public asset insurance program on short-term economic recovery after the September 2009 West Sumatra Earthquake. We use satellite data on yearly differences in nighttimelight intensity as a proxy for economic activity, to investigate the effect of the earthquake damage on overall luminosity in 2009 and the progress in recovery in the year 2010. Our identification strategy applies a regression discontinuity (RD) approach that exploits the discontinuity in insurance coverage at the provincial border. We find a small, statistically significant and positive effect of the public insurance scheme on the short-term recovery in West Sumatra.


The previous findings have shown that musicians as well as music teachers differ in personality characteristics from the general population. There are strong indications that musicians are exposed to numerous stressful situations during their education and professional life. We aimed to: identify preferred coping styles of music teachers and their possible difference in comparison to non-music teachers' coping styles, as well as to depict their relationship taking into consideration certain socio-demographic variables. The sample consists of music teachers (N=67) who teach instruments and music theory and teachers who teach general subjects (N=72). All the teachers filled in the Plutchik's Coping Styles Questionnaire. We included gender, educational level, working experience and urban/non-urban environment as socio-demographical variables. Findings show that music teachers have preferred coping styles such as: minimizing the problem, avoiding the problem, asking others for help, doing unrelated pleasurable activities, but also improving shortcomings. On the other hand, no differences were found regarding the coping styles profile between music and non-music teachers. There are indications that female teachers are more prone to use avoiding, help seeking and substitution behavioral strategies, but they are also prone to use improving personal limitations or limitations imposed by the situation. Results show that there are differences, to a certain extent, between: older and younger music teachers and music teachers from urban and non-urban environments. We may conclude that mainly passive and avoiding styles and dysfunctional strategies in tension reduction are used by both groups of teachers.


The Syrian problem is only the latest in a series of conflicts--over the last two decades-which have exposed the shifting dynamics of the Security Council's Chapter VII functions. The burst of optimism after the Cold War as to an effective role for the Security Council in dealing with international conflicts involving high levels of violence soon dissipated. The cooperative posture of a diminished Russia was succeeded by a reassertion of the new Russia of its status as a global power. At the same time, an increasingly reassured and economically powerful China became a more important actor on the international scene with its own aspirations. If this sounds like the reemergence of a dynamic not too far from the Cold War, why should it not have a paralyzing effect on the Security Council's ability to deal with conflicts similar to the one we saw during the Cold War? But there is more. At least five other factors have affected the Chapter VII dynamics of the Security Council. First, the increasing demand of regional organizations to play a key role, at least at the policy level, about how to address serious disturbances in or caused by a regional delinquent state. Second, the increasing need for robust military force and firepower in enforcement actions by the Security Council. Third, the inability of the organization to muster such a force from the contributions of a large number of states willing and able to contribute to and to operate under UN command and control. Fourth, the unavailability of a sufficient number of highly trained military personnel and military material in many states due to their shrinking military budgets. And fifth, beyond the traditional peacekeeping operations, the continuing indispensability of the participation of the United States in almost any serious military operation conducted under the auspices of the UN. I will discuss two of these factors. Recent enforcement actions have required significant amounts of military firepower. The success of major enforcement operations for crises such as the uprising in Syria may require--as they did in its predecessors, the first Gulf War, Kosovo, and Libya--a strong military and a significant military arsenal. Those states that possess such now rare commodities are understandably reluctant to put them under UN command and control. In addition, with the shift in perception of international politics, national priorities, and shrinking military budgets, the number of such states has been reduced significantly. If anything, it has become clear that major enforcement actions authorized by the Security Council requiring significant use of force cannot be accomplished without the effective participation, if not the leading role, of the United States. From the first Gulf War in expelling Iraq from Kuwait, to creating a safe zone for humanitarian assistance in Somalia, and to aerial bombing in Kosovo and Libya, the United States has had to shoulder the major military burden. On a smaller scale, other states have stepped in: other NATO states in Kosovo, Australia in East Timor, and France in Cote d'Ivoire. …


The paper studies managerial incentives in a model where managers choose product market strategies and make takeover decisions. The equilibrium contract includes an incentive to increase the firm's sales, under either quantity or price competition. This result contrasts with previous findings in the literature, and hinges on the fact that when managers are more aggressive, rival firms earn lower profits and thus are willing to seU out at a lower price. However, as a side-effect of such a contract, the manager might undertake unprofitable takeovers.


IMPORTANCE
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance allows food manufacturers to determine whether additives to food are "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS). Manufacturers are not required to notify the FDA of a GRAS determination, although in some instances they notify the agency. The individuals that companies select to make these determinations may have financial conflicts of interest.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the extent to which individuals selected by manufacturers to make GRAS determinations have conflicts of interest between their obligations to ensure that the use of the additive is safe and their financial relationships to the company. DESIGN Using conflict of interest criteria developed by a committee of the Institute of Medicine, we analyzed 451 GRAS notifications that were voluntarily submitted to the FDA between 1997 and 2012.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Number of GRAS notices submitted to the FDA; frequency of various types of relationships between decision maker and additive manufacturer; frequency of participation on GRAS panels by individuals; and number of GRAS safety determinations identified by the FDA that were not submitted to the agency.

RESULTS
For the 451 GRAS notifications, 22.4% of the safety assessments were made by an employee of an additive manufacturer, 13.3% by an employee of a consulting firm selected by the manufacturer, and 64.3% by an expert panel selected by either a consulting firm or the manufacturer. A standing expert panel selected by a third party made none of these safety assessments. The 290 panels that made GRAS determinations had an average of 3.5 members, with a maximum of 7. Ten individuals served on 27 or more panels; 1 individual served on 128 panels (44.1%). At least 1 of the 10 individuals with the most frequent service was a member of 225 panels (77.6%).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Between 1997 and 2012, financial conflicts of interest were ubiquitous in determinations that an additive to food was GRAS. The lack of independent review in GRAS determinations raises concerns about the integrity of the process and whether it ensures the safety of the food supply, particularly in instances where the manufacturer does not notify the FDA of the determination. The FDA should address these concerns.


The purpose of this paper is to describe one strand of New Keynesian literature which explores how increased flexibility of wages and prices might exacerbate the economy's downturn, and to contrast it with other strands of New Keynesian literature. This strand of literature holds that even if wages and prices were perfectly flexible, output and employment would be highly volatile. It sees the economy as amplifying the shocks that it experiences and making their effects persist. It identifies incomplete contracts, and, in particular, imperfect indexing, as central market failures, and it attempts both to explain the causes and consequences of these market failures. The models described here contain three basic ingredients: risk-averse firms; a credit allocation mechanism in which credit-rationing, risk-averse banks play a central role; and new labor market theories, including efficiency wages and insider-outsider models. These building blocks should help to explain how price flexibility contributes to macroeconomic fluctuations and to unemployment. In particular, the first two building blocks will explain why small shocks to the economy can give rise to large changes in output, while the new labor market theories will explain why those changes in output (with their associated changes in the demand curve for labor) result in unemployment.


Plasma concentrations of testosterone were estimated in normal men, in patients before treatment for prostatic cancer, and in patients who had had various forms of endocrine treatment for prostatic carcinoma. There was no decline in plasma testosterone levels with age. Patients with non-metastatic disease had levels similar to those of normal controls, but in advanced metastatic disease the levels were low. After orchidectomy the plasma testosterone level fell to that found in normal women. In every patient stilboestrol in doses as small as 1 mg three times a day suppressed plasma testosterone at first to negligible amounts, irrespective of the clinical response. Subsequently a small but significant rise in the concentration was always observed over a period of six months' oestrogen therapy. Pituitary ablation with yttrium-90 lowered the plasma testosterone concentration again to negligible amounts in patients who had been on stilboestrol. In advanced metastatic disease this was often associated with relief of pain. Preliminary studies with aminoglutethimide indicate that it can produce biochemical and clinical effects similar to those of pituitary ablation.


1. A double lumen perfusion technique has been used in man to study the absorption of the two neutral amino acids glycine and l-alanine from the two dipeptides, l-alanylglycine and glycyl-l-alanine and from an equivalent amino acid mixture. 2. Glycine was absorbed faster from the dipeptides than from the equivalent amino acid mixture, and the difference in absorption rates of glycine and alanine seen when the equimolar mixture of the amino acids was perfused, was abolished when either dipeptide was perfused. This suggests that dipeptides are taken up by the mucosal cell by a mechanism independent of the amino acid-transport system. 3. The presence of free amino acids in the lumen during perfusion of both dipeptides suggests that hydrolysis occurs at some stage in the uptake process. Intraluminal hydrolysis was insufficient to account for the concentration of the amino acids seen, and their presence is thought to be due to hydrolysis of the dipeptides at the brush border. 4. It is suggested that these results confirm that at least two modes of peptide absorption occur simultaneously, namely, direct peptide uptake, and peptide hydrolysis with subsequent absorption of the released amino acids by the amino acid transport system.


Inaugurated during World War I, Vaucluse House museum aimed to educate visitors of the work of nineteenth century parliamentarian William Charles Wentworth, in particular his role in the installation of responsible government in New South Wales, indeed his writing of the first Constitution, for this and other Wentworth projects were among those which underpinned twentieth century democracy. This article uses museum theory concerning the character of the modern disciplinary museum, and also the tendency of that institution to shape knowledge, to investigate the experience offered to audiences at Vaucluse House over the museum's first curatorial period. It argues that, in the context of war and an official need to press empire nationalist identity, particular curatorial practices and museological assumptions shaped the themes available and assumed certain audience responses. In the absence of any contemporary methods for assessing museum work in detail, the decision to install a major thematic display of constitutional history intermingled with a house museum interpretation produced mixed messages. Unexpected new evidence and ingenuous curatorial expansion of the rooms available for inspection soon produced unintended consequences. In a changing historical and cultural context, the major theme and rationale of the museum began to be undermined and the house museum interpretation began to dominate. It was this focus which was finally and belatedly endorsed by the museum Trustees in the mid 1950s.


Although the differential response of the kidney to the acute load of various sources of dietary protein in subjects with normal renal function is well known, the influence of habitual dietary protein intake and dietary acid load on renal function has not been tested well. The association between renal hyperfiltration (RHF), the earlier and possibly reversible stage of chronic kidney disease, and the sources of habitual dietary protein and dietary acid load was analyzed with the baseline data of 123,169 middle-aged healthy Koreans of a large prospective cohort study, who had a baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) >60 mL/min/m2 and no known history of diabetes and/or hypertension. eGFR was calculated with the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation using serum creatinine and RHF was defined as eGFR >95th percentile after adjustment for age, sex, height, and body weight. Dietary acid load was calculated with estimated net endogenous acid production (eNEAP). Although the level of habitual intake of animal protein was positively and vegetable protein was negatively associated with RHF, this association was significant only in women and younger participants (younger than sex-specific median age). The odds for RHF increased as the percentile rank of eNEAP increased until about the 50th percentile and then leveled off. The positive association between eNEAP and RHF was significant in both sexes and age groups. Dietary acid load was associated with RHF regardless of sex and age and rather than the amount of the total or the individual sources of habitual dietary protein, may be a better target for the dietary intervention of chronic kidney disease.


METEOROLOGICAL FEATURES - The Brazilian coast could be considered a calm area not affected by violent tropical storms. The major meteorological factor in Brazil is the South Atlantic anticyclone, almost permanent, which causes periodical northward heading of cold fronts. A slightly reduced energy and frequency of storms could be observed going up from South coast toward North and could reach the major part of Northeast region. As a general condition the average monthly frequency of cold fronts passing along the Brazilian coast is higher during the winter - five per month with an average duration of 3 days, decreasing to 2 per month during summer with an average duration of 5 days. During winter high waves could occur between Santos and Macae caused by a depression near the Rio de Janeiro as the cold front stays at North, before the cold front goes down to South. Fig. l shows the average flow pattern across Brazil for summer and winter periods and a six days cold front advancing toward North, going into as far as to tropical latitudes during winter time. The daily tracks of the winter cyclones appear on this figure; they do not get beyond latitudes of 40 South.


Abstract Previous research has claimed that providing people with information about global warming may have a negative (and unanticipated) effect on their explicit attitudes towards climate change. One study found that more informed respondents felt less personally responsible for global warming and also showed less concern for the problem as a whole. This earlier study was, however, correlational in design and did not allow for firm conclusions regarding the direction of causality. For this reason, in our study we used an experimental approach — highly informative (and emotional) clips from An Inconvenient Truth were played to sets of participants and their mood states were measured as well as their explicit social attitudes/social cognitions on five critical scales (message acceptance/motivation to do something about climate change/empowerment/shifting responsibility for climate change/fatalism). Our study found that the clips did affect emotion, and in particular, they decreased the happiness and calmness levels of our participants, but they also felt more motivated to do something about climate change, more able to do something about climate change and, in addition, they were significantly less likely to think that they had no control over the whole climate change process. These were much more optimistic conclusions than the previous study had allowed, and they remind us of the power of strong informative and emotional messages on explicit attitude change and social cognition generally.


ABSTRACT The Protection of telomeres 1 (POT1) protein is a single-stranded telomere binding protein that is essential for proper maintenance of telomere length. Disruption of POT1 function leads to chromosome instability and loss of cellular viability. Here, we show that targeted deletion of the mouse Pot1b gene results in increased apoptosis in highly proliferative tissues. In the setting of telomerase haploinsufficiency, loss of Pot1b results in depletion of germ cells and complete bone marrow failure due to increased apoptosis, culminating in premature death. Pot1b−/−mTR+/− hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells display markedly reduced survival potential in vitro. Accelerated telomere shortening, increased G overhang and elevated number of chromosome end-to-end fusions that initiate an ATR-dependent DNA damage response were also observed. These results indicate an essential role for Pot1b in the maintenance of genome integrity and the long-term viability of proliferative tissues in the setting of telomerase deficiency. Interestingly, these phenotypes closely resemble those found in the human disease dyskeratosis congenita (DC), an inherited syndrome characterized by bone marrow failure, hyperpigmentation, and nail dystrophy. We anticipate that this mouse will serve as a useful model to further understand the pathophysiology of DC.


Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) offers a solution to the problem of exploiting the large bandwidth on optical links; it is the current favorite multiplexing technology for optical communication networks. Due to the high cost of an optical amplifier, it is desirable to strategically place the amplifiers throughout the network in a way that guarantees that all the signals are adequately amplified while minimizing the total number amplifiers being used. Previous studies all consider a star-based network. This paper demonstrates an original approach for solving the problem in switch-based WDM optical network assuming the traffic matrix is always the permutation of the nodes. First we formulate the problem by choosing typical permutations which can maximize the traffic load on individual links; then a GA (genetic algorithm) is used to search for feasible amplifier placements. Finally, by setting up all the lightpaths without violating the power constraints we confirm the feasibility of the solution.


This paper focuses on sport as panacea for cultism in Nigerian tertiary institutions. The vices that stigmatized the tertiary institutions today are traceable to the uncontrolled behaviour of students. School authorities and concerned government over the years have applied measures to check the excesses of students in tertiary institutions without noticeable success. Sports stand to provide the needed solution to these linger problems of cultism in tertiary institutions. Sports is perceived as wholesome pursuits for students in tertiary institution which channel their thinking and disposition toward worthwhile goal. Sports provide students the opportunity to cultivate sportsmanship qualities, which is necessary for school discipline. The paper focused on the educational values of sports to include self discipline and control, obedience to and co-operation with constituted authorities among others. Similarly, sports provide students with safety value of letting off excessive energies, which ordinarily could have been mischievously channeled towards acts that are opposed to school discipline. The sports programme organization in schools were highlighted the components of a sound sports programmes in Nigerian te   rtiary institutions from which students can benefit in building up desirable behaviour were also discussed. Finally, recommendations were made on  how participation in sports by students can help solve the problems of cultism activities in tertiary institutions.


Wireless Physical Layer Security with CSIT Uncertainty Amal Hyadi Recent years have been marked by an enormous growth of wireless communication networks and an extensive use of wireless applications. In return, this phenomenal expansion induced more concerns about the privacy and the security of the users. Physical layer security is one of the most promising solutions that were proposed to enhance the security of next generation wireless systems. The fundamental idea behind this technique is to exploit the randomness and the fluctuations of the wireless channel to achieve security without conditional assumptions on the computational capabilities of the eavesdropper. In fact, while these elements have traditionally been associated with signal deterioration, physical layer security uses them to ensure the confidentiality of the users. Nevertheless, these technical virtues rely heavily on perhaps idealistic channel state information assumptions. In that regard, the aim of this thesis is to look at the physical layer security paradigm from the channel uncertainty perspective. In particular, we discuss the ergodic secrecy capacity of different wiretap channels when the transmitter is hampered by the imperfect knowledge of the channel state information (CSI). We consider two prevalent causes of uncertainty for the CSI at transmitter (CSIT); either an error of estimation occurs at the transmitter and he can only base his coding and the transmission strategies on a noisy version of the CSI, or the CSI feedback link has a limited capacity and the legitimate receivers can only inform the transmitter about the quantized CSI. We investigate both the single-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wiretap channel and the multi-user broadcast wiretap channel. In the latter scenario, we distinguish between two situations: 5 multiple messages transmission and common message transmission. We also discuss the broadcast channel with confidential messages (BCCM) where the transmitter has one common message to be transmitted to two users and one secret message intended to only one of them. In all cases, we show that by appropriately designing the coding and the transmission schemes, a secure communication can still be achieved even with an imperfect knowledge of the CSIT.


Sézary syndrome (SS), an aggressive form of erythrodermic pruritic cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL), from an immunological perspective characterized by increased Th2 cytokine levels, elevated serum IgE and impaired cellular immunity. Not only the clinical appearance but also the hallmark immunological characteristics of SS often share striking similarities with acute flares of atopic dermatitis (AD), a common benign chronic inflammatory skin disease. Given the overlap of several immunological features, the application of similar or even identical therapeutic approaches in certain stages of both diseases may come into consideration. The aim of this review is to compare currently accepted immunological aspects and possible therapeutic targets in AD and SS.


For those who spoke on behalf of Leave voters, the result on 23 June 2016 meant the people of the United Kingdom were taking back 'control' or getting their 'own country back'. However, two parts of the United Kingdom did not vote Leave: Scotland and Northern Ireland. Here, the significant counterpoint to 'taking back control is "waking up in a different country"', and this sentiment has unique political gravity. Its unique gravity involves two distinct but intimately related matters. The first concerns the politics of identity. The vote was mainly, if not entirely, along nationalist/unionist lines, confirming an old division: unionists were staking a 'British' identity by voting Leave, and nationalists an Irish one by voting Remain. The second concerns borders. The Good Friday/Belfast Agreement of 1998 meant taking the border out of Irish politics. Brexit means running the border between the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom across the island as a sovereign 'frontier'. Although this second matter is discussed mainly in terms of the implications for free movement of people and goods, we argue that it is freighted with meanings of identity. Brexit involves a 'border in the mind', those shifts in self-understanding, individually and collectively, attendant upon the referendum. This article examines this 'border in the mind' according to its effects on identity, politics and the constitution, and their implications for political stability in Northern Ireland.


The first part of this Thesis analyzes the impact of financial constraints (FC) on industrial structure. Chapter 1 presents a model that disentangles several effects of FC on entry, turnover, productivity and firms size distribution. The framework is applied in Chapter 2 which develops an industry equilibrium model of vertical integration under contractual imperfections with specific input suppliers and external investors. I assume that vertical integration economizes on the needs for contracts with specific input suppliers at the cost of higher financial requirements. I show that the two forms of contractual imperfections have different effects on the degree of vertical integration, and that contractual frictions with external investors affect vertical integration through two opposing channels: a direct negative, investment, effect and an indirect positive, entry, effect. Using cross-country- industry data, I present novel evidence on the institutional determinants of international differences in vertical integration which is consistent with the predictions of the theoretical model. In particular, I show' that countries with more developed financial systems are relatively more vertically integrated in industries that are dominated by large firms. The second part (Chapter 3) asks whether vertical integration reduces or increases transaction costs with external investors. I build a model in which a seller produces a good that can be used by a buyer, or sold on a spot market. The buyer and the seller have no cash, need to finance investments for production, and can not foresee in advance whether the input is most efficiently traded on the spot market or among each other. I assume that ownership of physical assets gives control over contracting rights to those assets, that financial streams get transferred with ownership and that returns can not be perfectly verified. The net balance of the costs and benefits of integration in terms of pledgeable income depends on the relative intensities of a positive "profits-pooling" effect against a negative "de-monitoring" effect. I find that larger projects, more specific assets, and low' investors protection are determinants of vertical integration. I discuss joint liability contracts between non integrated firms and how contractual externalities among investors favor integration.


Cyberloafing (or Cyberslacking) is a phenomenon that makes use of the organization's network and internet facilities for personal use is seen as a violation of ethics and regulation in the organization itself. While workers often give reasons as a medium for relieving work stress, they are also difficult to control and manage. For the public sector, excessive use of network facilities can disrupt organizational services and result in a bad image. Although the use of this facility is not directly impacted by the customer, the longterm impact on department network security as well as denial of services and information leakage may occur. The growth of social media and the involvement of agencies in social media plays a role in cyberloafing activities controlling issue. This study was conducted in order to identify the leading factor of Big-Five personality traits in influencing cyberloafing behavior among public servants and to examine the significance of identified factors in influencing cyberloafing. It is based on the personality value needs of civil servants, together with the policies of the use of ICT facilities enforced in the organization. The study found only Neuroticism traits and attitudes towards cyberloafing activities are significant compared to the four combinations of personality traits Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experiences with Attitude that did not show significance on cyberloafing activities. The linear regression of ICT Policy Literate and employee Attitudes towards cyberloafing activities shows there is a weak correlation although it is not significant. The findings of the research also show the balance of cyberloafing activity among the public servant with some characteristic based on personality traits evaluation. This study can be used as a reference to the organization's human resource and ICT Administrator in the development of appropriate policies and guidelines according to the traits of employees in the organization.


The laws of physics might permit the existence, in the real Universe, of closed timelike curves (CTC's). Macroscopic CTC's might be a semiclassical consequence of Planck-scale, quantum gravitational, Lorentzian foam, if such foam exists. If CTC's are permitted, then the semiclassical laws of physics (the laws with gravity classical and other fields quantized or classical) should be augmented by a principle of self-consistency, which states that a local solution to the equations of physics can occur in the real Universe only if it can be extended to be part of a global solution, one which is well defined throughout the (nonsingular regions of) classical spacetime. The consequences of this principle are explored for the Cauchy problem of the evolution of a classical, massless scalar field Φ (satisfying □Φ=0) in several model spacetimes with CTC's.

In general, self-consistency constrains the initial data for the field Φ. For a family of spacetimes with traversible wormholes, which initially possess no CTC's and then evolve them to the future of a stable Cauchy horizon scrH, self-consistency seems to place no constraints on initial data for Φ that are posed on past null infinity, and none on data posed on spacelike slices which precede scrH.

By contrast, initial data posed in the future of scrH, where the CTC's reside, are constrained; but the constraints appear to be mild in the sense that in some neighborhood of every event one is free to specify initial data arbitrarily, with the initial data elsewhere being adjusted to guarantee self-consistent evolution. A spacetime whose self-consistency constraints have this property is defined to be ''benign with respect to the scalar field Φ.'' The question is posed as to whether benign spacetimes in some sense form a generic subset of all spacetimes with CTC's. It is shown that in the set of flat, spatially and temporally closed, 2-dimensional spacetimes the benign ones are not generic. However, it seems likely that every 4-dimensional, asymptotically flat space-time that is stable and has a topology of the form R×(S-one point), where S is a closed 3-manifold, is benign. Wormhole spacetimes are of this type, with S=S^1×S^2. We suspect that these types of self-consistency behavior of the scalar field Φ are typical for noninteracting (linearly superposing), classical fields.

However, interacting classical systems can behave quite differently, as is demonstrated by a study of the motion of a hard-sphere billiard ball in a wormhole spacetime with closed timelike curves: If the ball is classical, then some choices of initial data (some values of the ball's initial position and velocity) give rise to unique, self-consistent motions of the ball; other choices produce two different self-consistent motions; and others might (but we are not yet sure) produce no self-consistent motions whatsoever. By contrast, in a path-integral formulation of the nonrelativistic quantum mechanics of such a billiard ball, there appears to be a unique, self-consistent set of probabilities for the outcomes of all measurements. This paper's conclusion, that CTC's may not be as nasty as people have assumed, is reinforced by the fact that they do not affect Gauss's theorem and thus do not affect the derivation of global conservation laws from differential ones. The standard conservation laws remain valid globally, and in asymptotically flat, wormhole spacetimes they retain a natural, quasilocal interpretation.


The legacy communications link analysis software currently used at Wallops Flight Facility involves processes that are different for command destruct, radar, and telemetry. There is a clear advantage to developing an easy-to-use tool that combines all the processes in one application. Link Analysis in the Mission Planning Lab (MPL) uses custom software and algorithms integrated with Analytical Graphics Inc. Satellite Toolkit (AGI STK). The MPL link analysis tool uses pre/post-mission data to conduct a dynamic link analysis between ground assets and the launch vehicle. Just as the legacy methods do, the MPL link analysis tool calculates signal strength and signal- to-noise according to the accepted processes for command destruct, radar, and telemetry assets. Graphs and other custom data are generated rapidly in formats for reports and presentations. STK is used for analysis as well as to depict plume angles and antenna gain patterns in 3D. The MPL has developed two interfaces with the STK software (see figure). The first interface is an HTML utility, which was developed in Visual Basic to enhance analysis for plume modeling and to offer a more user friendly, flexible tool. A graphical user interface (GUI) written in MATLAB (see figure upper right-hand corner) is also used to quickly depict link budget information for multiple ground assets. This new method yields a dramatic decrease in the time it takes to provide launch managers with the required link budgets to make critical pre-mission decisions. The software code used for these two custom utilities is a product of NASA's MPL.


This paper explores the ways in which parents, who have been the recipients of Parenting Orders, perform identity work through their accounts of their experiences in court. Discourse analysis is used to identify five key 'strategies of resistance' through which parents manage their parental identity and argues that such discursive practices highlight the fragility of such parents' claims to a positive parental identity in light of hegemonic gendered and classed conceptions of 'responsible parenting'. The paper concludes by reflecting on what such practices might mean for parents who find themselves at once both regulated and resistant.


Retroviruses and long terminal repeat-containing retroelements use host-encoded tRNAs as primers for the synthesis of minus strong-stop DNA, the first intermediate in reverse transcription of the retroelement RNA. Usually, one or more specific tRNAs, including the primer, are selected and packaged within the virion. The reverse transcriptase (RT) interacts with the primer tRNA and initiates DNA synthesis. The structural and sequence features of primer tRNAs important for these specific interactions are poorly understood. We have developed a genetic assay in which mutants of tRNA(iMet), the primer for the Ty1 retrotransposon of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, can be tested for the ability to serve as primers in the reverse transcription process. This system allows any tRNA mutant to be tested, regardless of its ability to function in the initiation of protein synthesis. We find that mutations in the T psi C loop and the acceptor stem regions of the tRNA(iMet) affect transposition most severely. Conversely, mutations in the anticodon region have only minimal effects on transposition. Further study of the acceptor stem and other mutants demonstrates that complementarity to the element primer binding site is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for effective tRNA priming. Finally, we have used interspecies hybrid initiator tRNA molecules to implicate nucleotides in the D arm as additional recognition determinants. Ty3 and Ty1, two very distantly related retrotransposons, require similar molecular determinants in this primer tRNA for transposition.


Aim: The aim of this study was to characterize acceleration transmission and neuromuscular responses to rotational vibration (RV) and vertical vibration (VV) at different frequencies and amplitudes. Methods: Twelve healthy males completed 2 experimental trials (RV vs VV) during which vibration was delivered during either squatting (30°; RV vs VV) or standing (RV only) with 20, 25, and 30 Hz, at 1.5 and 3.0 mm peak-to-peak amplitude. Vibration-induced accelerations were assessed with triaxial accelerometers mounted on the platform and bony landmarks at ankle, knee, and lumbar spine. Results: At all frequency/amplitude combinations, accelerations at the ankle were greater during RV (all P < .03) with the greatest difference observed at 30 Hz, 1.5 mm. Transmission of RV was also influenced by body posture (standing vs squatting, P < .03). Irrespective of vibration type, vibration transmission to all skeletal sites was generally greater at higher amplitudes but not at higher frequencies, especially above the ankle joint. Acceleration at the lumbar spine increased with greater vibration amplitude but not frequency and was highest with RV during standing. Conclusions/Implications: The transmission of vibration during whole-body vibration (WBV) is dependent on intensity and direction of vibration as well as body posture. For targeted mechanical loading at the lumbar spine, RV of higher amplitude and lower frequency vibration while standing is recommended. These results will assist with the prescription of WBV to achieve desired levels of mechanical loading at specific sites in the human body.


Abstract.
 Oaks and their associated gallwasps are often cited as a classic example of coevolution in a plant-insect system. Therefore, it is expected that these gallwasps should demonstrate a high degree of host fidelity over their evolutionary history. To test this, we studied 25 fossil floras from the Oligocene through Pliocene of the western United States. Galls were found on the leaves of Quercus simulata-type Knowlton, 1898 and Q. pollardiana-type (Knowlton) Axelrod, 1940, and match previously reported galls of the form genus Antronoides Waggoner and Poteet, 1996. These fossil leaf-galls are similar to those made on oaks by modern Cynipini wasps, and were restricted to two oak species. Galls are present on these oaks in western floras for a span of 30 million years, indicative of remarkable host fidelity through time. The distribution of galled leaves from across the western United States indicates that the radiation of this group of gallwasps occurred more or less simultaneously across a wide geographic area.


The explosive strength has been pointed as one of physical capacities present in decisive moments in soccer game. So, the aim of this study was to verify possible alterations in elastic explosive strength performance in ten young soccer players (16.54 ± 0.54 years; 73.10 ± 8.36 kg; 178.10 ± 7.67 cm). During the match in preparatory stage to championship, the elastic explosive strength was evaluated by vertical jump with countermovement aid from arms (CMJa), using contact plataform Jump Test® in 3 moments: before, in the interval and after game. BioEstat 5.0 software produced information in descriptive plan (mean and standard deviation) and in the inferential, Anova one-way for differences between moments and post hoc de Tukey's for multiple comparisons (p<0.01). The main results indicate values 47.98 ± 4.61 cm before game, 46.46 ± 3.20 cm in the interval and 44.99 ± 3.71 cm after the game. In relation to collected data before game, it was observed a performance fall about 3.3% in elastic explosive strength in the interval and 6.6% after game (p<0.01). These results shoed to be related with competitive actions sequence performed by soccer players during the match. From above, the used methodology seems to properly identify alterations that occur during matches, as an important indicator to monitoring and controlling training.


White Americans have long resisted the idea of reparations to the descendants of slaves. We examine the psychological basis of such resistance, primarily testing the possibility that resistance may be a function of Whites' perception of the ongoing cost of being Black. White participants (n = 958) across twelve independent samples (varying in age, student status, and geographic location) were asked variations of the question: How much should you be paid to continue to live the remainder of your life as a Black person? Participants generally required low median amounts, less than $10,000, to make the race change, whereas they requested high amounts, $1,000,000, to give up television. To the extent that larger amounts were requested, support for reparations also increased. Attempts to educate participants about Black cost0White privilege had negligible effects on assessments of the cost of being Black and support for reparations. Together, these results suggest that White resistance to reparations for Black Americans stems from fundamental biases in estimating the true cost of being Black. The implications of our findings for color-blind and multiculturalist conceptual approaches are discussed.


Observations of 20 asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter provide information about the nature of these objects' surfaces at centimeter-to-kilometer scales. At least one asteroid (Pallas) is extremely smooth at centimeter-to-meter scales. Each asteroid appears much rougher than the Moon at some scale between several meters and many kilometers. The range of asteroid radar albedos is very broad and implies substantial variations in porosity or metal concentration (or both). The highest albedo estimate, for the asteroid Psyche, is consistent with a surface having porosities typical of lunar soil and a composition nearly entirely metallic.


Incorporating contributions from microbiologists, molecular biologists, plant breeders and soil scientists this volume reports the results and recommendations of an FAO/IAEA meeting of twelve experts on biological nitrogen fixation. This volume will be invaluable to scientists working on nitrogen fixation, soil microbiology, agronomy and crop production as well as farm advisers and extension specialists. Maximising the Use of Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Agriculture is unique in that it: -reviews the latest thinking on various aspects of biological nitrogen fixation technology and applications; -reviews the possibilities in enhancing nitrogen fixation in various cropping systems; -shows ways how biological nitrogen fixation can be used to enhance crop production; -considers the applicability of these technologies to small farmers in developing countries.


© 15th International Conference on Condition Monitoring and Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies, CM 2018/MFPT 2018. All rights reserved. Real time-in-service interfacial load measurement and load tracking between prosthetic socket and the residual limb is of paramount importance. Noroozi et al proposed an inverse method approach using ANN to predict the magnitude and location of the interfacial load between prosthetic socket and the residual limb from the structural response of the socket to the normal internal load due to contact between the stump and the socket. Here the socket mechanical properties act as the transfer function between the forces acting normal to the internal surface of the socket forces and the resultant strains generated on the external surface of the socket. Using this method, it is possible to use the external strains to predict the internal load that caused the strain. With this method, there will be no need for the socket or tissue properties or the exact socket thickness. Using this technique, one can simply transform everyone's socket into their own dedicated transducer suitable for measuring, tracking and monitoring the resultant interfacial load on the internal surfaces of the socket for that user. Currently, all socket interfacial load measurement systems require tactile sensors which require the prior knowledge of the location of the contact points. This makes it impossible for the tactile sensor to predict the magnitude and location of high-pressure points. Alternative tools are tactile sensor placed in liners or drilled and mounted through the socket wall, or total surface bearing ones that are subjective and not suitable for everyday use. For that reason, they require the knowledge of the contact point or areas of high load intensities. The proposed new system requires none of the above constraints and due to its unique design, it is immune to the changes in the overall boundary conditions, making it an invaluable clinical system.


Wildfire danger assessment is essential for operational allocation of fire management resources; with longer lead prediction, the more efficiently can resources be allocated regionally. Traditional studies focus on meteorological forecasts and fire danger index models (e.g., National Fire Danger Rating System—NFDRS) for predicting fire danger. Meteorological forecasts, however, lose accuracy beyond ~10 days; as such, there is no quantifiable method for predicting fire danger beyond 10 days. While some recent studies have statistically related hydrologic parameters and past wildfire area burned or occurrence to fire, no study has used these parameters to develop a monthly spatially distributed predictive model in the contiguous United States. Thus, the objective of this study is to introduce Fire Danger from Earth Observations (FDEO), which uses satellite data over the contiguous United States (CONUS) to enable two-month lead time prediction of wildfire danger, a sufficient lead time for planning purposes and relocating resources. In this study, we use satellite observations of land cover type, vapor pressure deficit, surface soil moisture, and the enhanced vegetation index, together with the United States Forest Service (USFS) verified and validated fire database (FPA) to develop spatially gridded probabilistic predictions of fire danger, defined as expected area burned as a deviation from "normal". The results show that the model predicts spatial patterns of fire danger with 52% overall accuracy over the 2004–2013 record, and up to 75% overall accuracy during the fire season. Overall accuracy is defined as number of pixels with correctly predicted fire probability classes divided by the total number of the studied pixels. This overall accuracy is the first quantified result of two-month lead prediction of fire danger and demonstrates the potential utility of using diverse observational data sets for use in operational fire management resource allocation in the CONUS.


We consider the dictionary problem in external memory and improve the update time of the well-known buffer tree by roughly a logarithmic factor. For any \lambda >= max {lg lg n, log_{M/B} (n/B)}, we can support updates in time O(\lambda / B) and queries in sublogarithmic time, O(log_\lambda n). We also present a lower bound in the cell-probe model showing that our data structure is optimal.
In the RAM, hash tables have been used to solve the dictionary problem faster than binary search for more than half a century. By contrast, our data structure is the first to beat the comparison barrier in external memory. Ours is also the first data structure to depart convincingly from the indivisibility paradigm.


Abstract This study examined area-specific self-esteem scores by sexual behavior relative to adolescents' values concerning participation in sexual intercourse as an unmarried teenager. The sample consisted of 332 students in grades 7–12 from a Southern rural school district. Students were asked if they had ever had sexual intercourse (yes/no) and if they had participated in sexual intercourse in the last month (yes/no). Respondents also indicated on a 4-point scale their response to the statement "It is against my values to have sex as an unmarried teenager." Data were analyzed using a 2 × 4 (behavior x values) analysis of variance for each of the three area-specific self-esteem scores (peer, school, and home). Results indicated that students who had participated in sexual intercourse had significantly lower scores in school and home self-esteem than those who had not participated. In addition, those who "strongly agreed" with the values statement and indicated they had not had intercourse had the highest school and home self-esteem scores. Those who strongly agreed with the values statement but indicated they had participated in sexual intercourse had the lowest school and home self-esteem scores. This behavior x values interaction was significant for sexual intercourse–ever, and for school self-esteem and sexual intercourse in the last month. No difference was seen in peer self-esteem scores by behavior nor were there behavior x values interactions.


Homologous recombination (HR), becomes important for repair during replication where completion of DNA synthesis relies on recombination intermediate-mediated lesion bypass. For decades, Holliday Junctions (HJs) were considered the primary recombination intermediate utilized during this repair process, but increasing evidence points out two strong discrepancies: 1) X-structures, when present, are often biochemically inconsistent with being HJs, and 2) despite HR mutants being sensitive to numerous DNA damaging agents, most insults don't result in X-structure accumulation, suggesting alternative HR pathways are at play. The Sgs1-Top3-Rmi1 (STR) complex, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is vital for maintaining genome integrity, and is known to resolve recombination intermediates. We took advantage of this function to identify the recombination intermediates employed, and consequently, the distinct HR pathways at play in response to damage induced by methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), and the ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor, hydroxyurea. Using genetic manipulation, 2D-gel electrophoresis and in vitro biochemical and enzymatic assays, we find that Top3, unassisted by Sgs1 and Rmi1, is able to function through two distinct HR-dependent mechanisms. In the presence of MMS, Top3 is able to provide rescue and reduce recombination-dependent X-structures in sgs1Δ mutants. We find that these X-structures are biochemically consistent with being hemicatenane-related template switch recombination intermediates (Rec-Xs) and not HJs. Furthermore, Top3 and the entire STR complex are capable of resolving Rec-Xs but not equivalent dHJs in vitro. We also find that in the absence of the sumo-targeted ubiquitin ligase, Uls1, Top3 provides rescue to sgs1Δ mutants on HU through a mechanism entirely distinct from Rec-X resolution. We show that in the absence of Sgs1 and Uls1, Top3 is required to promote site specific breaks, and subsequent Rad51-dependent D-loop-mediated fork restart, distinct from a Rad51-independent mechanism in sgs1Δ mutants, and indicative of a Uls1-mediated repair pathway switch. These activities point to the use of template-switch recombination (via gap repair) as a primary mechanism for bypassing MMS-induced damage and coordinated break and D-loop-meditated fork reestablishment in response to HU-induced fork stalling. Importantly, this work highlights novel differences between primary HR repair mechanisms in response to different types of DNA damage, and provides evidence for context-dependent repair pathway choice. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Cell & Molecular Biology First Advisor Frederick B. Johnson This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2311


We introduce a _p_-step formulation for the capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP). The parameter
_p_ indicates the length of partial paths corresponding to the used variables. This provides a family
of formulations including both the traditional arc-based and path-based formulations. Hence, it is a generalization
which unifies arc-based and path-based formulations, while also providing new formulations.
We show that the LP bound of the _p_-step formulation is increasing in _p_, although not monotonically.
Furthermore, we prove that computing the set partitioning bound is NP-hard. This is a meaningful result
in itself, but combined with the _p_-step formulation this also allows us to show that there does not exist
a strongest compact formulation for the CVRP, if _P ≠ NP_. While ending the search for a strongest
compact formulation, we propose the search for the strongest formulation of the CVRP with a number of
variables and constraints limited by a polynomial of fixed degree. We provide new strongest such formulations
of degree three and higher by using a corresponding _p_-step formulation. Furthermore, the results
of our experiments suggest that there are computational advantages from using the _p_-step formulation,
instead of traditional arc-based and path-based formulations.


Solid-state deformation of polyethylene results in a preferential orientation of both crystalline and amorphous regions. Usually, one major problem in the prediction of the mechanical and thermal expansion properties of anisotropic polyethylene lies in determining values for the amorphous phase properties and, particularly, at a given level of solid-state deformation. This paper outlines simple procedures for determining the two-dimensional amorphous orientation function and values for the mechanical and thermal expansion properties of the oriented amorphous phase. Mathematical expressions for determining the tensile and shear moduli, Poisson ratio and thermal strain of the amorphous phase for anisotropic polyethylene at any level of orientation are defined. Comparison between the predicted amorphous phase tensile modulus and the experimental measurements yields an agreement within 30%.


This paper analyses a series of events in which a discarded box found in a garbage room is examined and taken apart in the context of a makerspace. The participants' inquiry provided a rich and multifaceted experience in various settings, including puzzle-solving, exploring physical and digital materials, engaging people with different skills. The social engagements with and around the artifacts brought certain interpretative aspects to the fore. Situated acts of interpretation worked as ways of building a coherent narrative and a meaningful experience. In the paper, we highlight the relationship between on the one hand the subjects' skills and motivations to understand and make sense of the technology at hand which we call material literacy, and on the other hand the specific material qualities that encourage or trigger certain interpretations and experiences. The qualities we discuss are: opacity, risk, authenticity, uniqueness, age, and hybridity. This study allows us to reposition the contemporary understanding of makerspaces beyond that of being places for innovation and learning.


This paper presents both linear and nonlinear analyses of extreme responses for a multi-body wave energy converter (WEC) in severe sea states. The WEC known as M4 consists of three cylindrical floats with diameters and draft which increase from bow to stern with the larger mid and stern floats having rounded bases so that the overall system has negligible drag effects. The bow and mid float are rigidly connected by a beam and the stern float is connected by a beam to a hinge above the mid float where the rotational relative motion would be damped to absorb power in operational conditions. A range of focussed wave groups representing extreme waves were tested on a scale model without hinge damping, also representing a more general system of interconnected cylindrical floats with multi-mode forcing. Importantly, the analysis reveals a predominantly linear response structure in hinge angle and weakly nonlinear response for the beam bending moment, while effects due to drift forces, expected to be predominantly second order, are not accounted for. There are also complex and violent free-surface effects on the model during the excitation period driven by the main wave group, which generally reduce the overall motion response. Once the main group has moved away, the decaying response in the free-vibration phase decays at a rate very close to that predicted by simple linear radiation damping. Two types of nonlinear harmonic motion are demonstrated. During the free-vibration phase, there are only double and triple frequency Stokes harmonics of the linear motion, captured using a frequency doubling and tripling model. In contrast, during the excitation phase, these harmonics show much more complex behaviour associated with nonlinear fluid loading. Although bound harmonics are visible in the system response, the overall response is remarkably linear until temporary submergence of the central float ('dunking') occurs. This provides a strong stabilising effect for angular amplitudes greater than ${\sim}30^{\circ }$ and can be treated as a temporary loss of part of the driving wave as long as submergence continues. With an experimentally and numerically derived response amplitude operator (RAO), we perform a statistical analysis of extreme response for the hinge angle based on wave data at Orkney, well known for its severe wave climate, using the NORA10 wave hindcast. For storms with spectral peak wave periods longer than the RAO peak period, the response is controlled by the steepness of the sea state rather than the wave height. Thus, the system responds very similarly under the most extreme sea states, providing an upper bound for the most probable maximum response, which is reduced significantly in directionally spread waves. The methodology presented here is relevant to other single and multi-body systems including WECs. We also demonstrate a general and potentially important reciprocity result for linear body motion in random seas: the averaged wave history given an extreme system response and the average response history given an extreme wave match in time, with time reversed for one of the signals. This relationship will provide an efficient and robust way of defining a 'designer wave', for both experimental testing and computationally intensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD), for a wide range of wave–structure interaction problems.