THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Culture has been defined as a shared set of values and beliefs by Hofstede (1980), and it is common to members of the group (Hall 1966) and separates them from other groups (Hofstede 1997). Cultural values define the self and personality of consumers in different cultures. The five dimensions of cultural values as proposed by Hofstede (1980, 2001), and Hofstede and Hofstede (2005) are--power distance (low vs. high), uncertainty avoidance (low vs. high), individualism (vs. collectivism), masculinity (vs. femininity), and long term (vs. short term) orientation. Countries with high power distance index have a great inequity between superiors and subordinates. Countries with high uncertainty avoidance index have a society where people do not like to take risks and prefer security and safety in everyday life. Countries that rank high in the individualism index have societies that promote self interest rather than the interest of the group. Finally, countries that score high on the masculinity index have societies where the gap between men and women is very wide. Scholars have studied the influence of all of the cultural factors that were proposed by Hofstede (1980), and its impact on behaviors of people in different cultures (countries). However, there is conflicting viewpoint about the impact of culture on consumption. There are some who think that since the world is getting smaller, people are travelling more, cultures are getting more homogenous and thus their preferences are becoming similar (Elinder 1965, Ganesh 1998; Hannerz 1990; Levitt 1983). Walker (1996) thinks that the consumer culture has been homogenized by mass media while Jain (1989) concludes that the homogenization is the effect of socio-economic infrastructures and economic development. Companies have subsequently started using somewhat standardized marketing strategies for different cultures and countries (Zou and Cavusgil 2002), which has led companies to promote global brands (Aaker and Joachimsthaler 1999), and position their products to a global consumer culture (Alden, et al. 1999). On the other hand, there are those who believe that there is not enough information that there has been any convergence of national cultures to a so called global consumer culture. Usunier (1997), Craig et al. (1992) think that the opposite is true, especially in industrialized countries where there appears to be some divergence in people's behaviors. This is because national cultural values are deeply influenced by a country's history (De Mooij 2000), and even after people are exposed to different cultures they hold on to their own values and do not necessarily change and start buying foreign products which may be cheaper (Kotler 1986; Suh and Kwon 2002). This leads one to believe that cultural differences still play a dominant role (Clark 1990; Steenkamt et al. 1999; Hofstede 2007; Takada and Jain 1991) in determining the values of people in different cultures and ultimately their behavior (Markus and Kitayama 1991; Triandis 1989). Cultural differences have been linked to the differences in attitudes and persuasion (Aaker 2000; Aaker and Maheswaran 1997; Chang and Chieng 2006), emotions (Matsumoto et al. 2008; Wang et al. 2006; Yuki et al. 2007) behavior and habits of consumers (Green and Langeard 1975; Hempeel 1974; Lee and Green 1991; Malhotra and McCort 2001; Zhang and Gelb 1996). Diffusion of new products (Dwyer et al. 2005; Gatignon et al. 1989; Ganesh 1998; Ganesh et al, 1997; Helsen et al. 1993; Kumar et al. 1998; Kumar and Krishnan 2002; Mahajan and Muller 1994; Takada and Jain 1991; Talukdar et al. 2002; Steenkamp 2001; Steenkamp et al. 1999; Van Everdingen and Waarts 2003; Yaveroglu and Donthu 2002), acceptance of new products (Yeniyurt and Townsend 2003), innovativeness (Shane 1995; Tellis, et al. 2003), entrepreneurship (Morris et al. 1993), organizational behavior Hofstede (1983), and consumption of products and services (Chui and Kwok 2008; Suedo 2004) have also been linked to the differences in cultural values of different cultures (countries). …


Policy makers have been faced with identifying solutions to address poverty and other social problems facing U.S. cities. Community development corporations have emerged as major players in the rebuilding of cities across America. Research has shown that CDCs have been successful in their quest in the revitalization of neighborhoods and communities (Vidal, 1992). However, little research has focused on the success of their efforts on a city level. This study seeks to address this gap in the literature. Using data collected from the American Community Survey and Guidestar on U.S. cities and CDCs, this paper examines to what extent are CDCs revitalizing U.S. cities by developing three models of city revitalization. The study finds a negative relationship between the amount of monies spent by CDCs on programs and administration, and the amount of people living below poverty. Additionally, a negative relationship is also found between CDC expenditures and the percentage of vacant housing in U.S. cities.


Human trafficking falls within the jurisdictional competence of the International Criminal Court ("ICC") as one of the article 7 crimes against humanity, whether committed in an atmosphere of conflict or in times of relative peace. Despite the ICC's jurisdiction, as well as the globally pervasive nature of peacetime trafficking in particular, the ICC has not yet heard a human trafficking case.

Accountability at the international level, however, is crucial, and the ICC's oversight has the potential to fill gaps in the current anti-trafficking regime. This note explores this potential, and then examines whether the text of the Rome Statute or prior jurisprudence from international criminal tribunals creates barriers to prosecuting peacetime trafficking cases. It reviews three archetypal trafficking cases that the ICC could hear ((1) state agents trafficking civilians themselves; (2) state agents facilitating the trafficking of civilians, but not engaging in the trafficking themselves; and (3) state agents acquiescing to trafficking, particularly through generationally-embedded forms of slavery), and demonstrates how each fit within the relevant requirements of the Rome Statute.


This workshop focused primarily on the recent risk-sharing transactions executed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and briefly on future plans to restructure the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). The year 2013 has been one of experimentation, with the Federal Housing Finance Agency's encouragement of both enterprises to do risk-sharing with private capital by using two basic forms: 1) insurance-based risk transfer and 2) capital-market-based solutions. By design, the core structures of Fannie Mae's Connecticut Avenue Securities (CAS) and Freddie Mac's Structured Agency Credit Risk (STACR) transactions are closely matched, with similar synthetic structures and similar attachment and detachment points. Credit ratings are important for these transactions to build a broad investor base. The enterprises will do more experiments with risk-sharing models such as having placing some or all of the risk of actual losses with investors, reinsurance, and more traditional lender recourse While there is legislative consensus on a few major points—eliminate the GSEs, preserve the TBA (to be announced) market, place private enhancement in a first-loss position, and have a catastrophic government guarantee behind it—crafting a GSE reform plan that passes muster with a broad constituency is more difficult and unlikely before the 2016 elections.


Scaling experimentally derived effects of CO2 on marine fauna to population responses is critical for informing management about potential ecological ramifications of ocean acidification. We used an individual-based model of winter flounder to extrapolate laboratoryderived effects of elevated CO2 assumed for early life stages of fish to long-term population dynamics. An offspring module with detailed hourly to daily representations of spawning, growth, and mortality that incorporates potential elevated CO2 effects was linked to an annual time-step parent module. We calibrated the model using a 40 yr Reference simulation (1977−2016) that included gradual warming and then performed 'Retrospective' simulations that assumed a suite of elevated CO2 effects by changing fertilization rate, mortality rate of embryos due to developmental malformations, larval growth rate, and size-at-settlement. 'Recovery' simulations that started at low population size were then used to further explore possible interactions between the effects of CO2 and warming on population productivity. Warming had a major negative effect on the simulated winter flounder population abundance, and reduced larval growth had the largest single impact among the CO2 effects tested. When a combination of the assumed CO2 effects was imposed together, average annual recruitment and spawning stock biomass were reduced by half. In the Recovery simulations, inclusion of CO2 effects amplified the progressive decrease in population productivity with warming. Our analysis is speculative and a first step towards addressing the need for extrapolating from laboratory effects of ocean acidification to broader, ecologically relevant scales.


We observed significant changes in the dissolved oxygen content and the fluorescence of humic substances and dissolved aromatic amino acids after 24 h light and dark incubations in the coastal upwelling system of the Riía de Vigo under a wide variety of meteorologic and oceanographic conditions. Respiration rates were inversely correlated with the net production of humic fluorescence in the dark at a net rate of −0.027 ± 0.003 µg equivalents of quinine sulphate per µmol of O2, suggesting that marine humics are a by‐product of the bacterial respiration of dissolved organic matter (DOM). On the contrary, humic fluorescence consumption in the light minus dark incubations was positively correlated with the net production in the dark, indicating a rapid photodegradation of recently produced marine humic substances. Parallel incubation experiments demonstrated that daily photodegradation rates and residual humic fluorescence levels followed a seasonal pattern characterized by a marked autumn maximum. Finally, a significant linear correlation between the gross primary production (Pg) and the net production of aromatic amino acids fluorescence in the light pointed to the rapid consumption of dissolved protein‐like materials at a net average rate of −1.4 ± 0.2 ppb equivalents of tryptophan per day, which accumulates in the water column only when Pg exceeds 80 ± 20 µmol kg−1 d−1.


A detailed analysis of the strong room-temperature photoluminescence ~PL! signal of size controlled nc-Si is reported. The size control of nc-Si is realized by evaporation of SiO/SiO 2 superlattices and subsequent thermally induced phase separation. By this method the synthesis of completely SiO2 passivated Si nanocrystals with a controlled size is demonstrated. A strong blueshift of the photoluminescence signal from 1.3 to 1.65 eV with decreasing crystal size is observed. Resonant photoluminescence measurements prove the breakdown of the k-conservation rule for nc-Si by showing an increase in the no-phonon transition probability with decreasing crystal size. A no-phonon to phonon assisted transition probability ratio above 1 is detected at 4.5 K. These results confirm quantum confinement as the origin of the investigated luminescence signal. The size dependence of the different luminescence properties and the very high no-phonon transition probability indicate a lower confinement barrier compared to other systems containing nc-Si and additional migration effects of the excitons between the nanocrystals. A separation of quantum confinement and migration effects on the PL signal is possible due to the very narrow size distribution of the nc-Si and detailed time and temperature dependent investigations of the photoluminescence.


Twenty-six years have passed since computers entered the Turkish Education System. Studies regarding the evaluation of the integration process reveal that the technology use has not yet been reflected into classroom activities sufficiently. This article aims to evaluate studies conducted from the beginning of the process to determine problems with regard to the integration process, especially by focusing on the elementary education. The article carefully examined the relevant literature, short-term action plans, circulars, regulations, project documents, and research studies. It appears that all the investments and projects carried out so far regarding the generalization of the use of ICT in education have remained mostly at macro level. More concrete policies and practices taking all the dimensions into consideration were put into practice only in the last period of the technology integration process. There are still problems at present situation particularly in the dimensions of infrastructure, teacher education, instructional materials, and software. Micro-level studies, which are carried out at the level of individual school, should be supported. Then, there will be better chances to convert the results of studies into policies for effective reform.


In February 1945, as I joined the small queue outside the Jameson Hall at the University of Cape Town to register for a law degree, the youngster in front of me immediately turned round, stuck out his hand and introduced himself. 'I'm Hannes Fagan,' he said. This warm, friendly and cheerful greeting was typical of our former colleague, Johannes Jacobus Fagan, who passed away on 28 October 2014 and to whose memory we have gathered here this morning to pay tribute.


An application of the original numerical inversion technique to modeling the tsunami sources of the 16 September 2015 Chile tsunami is presented. The problem of recovering a tsunami source from remote measurements of the incoming wave in the deep-water tsunameters is considered as an inverse problem of mathematical physics in the class of ill-posed problems. This approach is based on the least squares and the truncated singular value decomposition techniques. As is done in the inverse seismic problem, the numerical solutions obtained by mathematical methods become unstable due to the presence of noise in real data. The method proposed suppresses the negative effect of the ill-posedness of the problem determining the inevitable instability of the numerical solution. Implementation of the methodology proposed to the 16 September 2015 Chile tsunami has successfully produced the tsunami source model. The tsunami source recovered by the method proposed can find practical applications both as an initial condition for various optimization approaches and for computer-aided calculation of the tsunami wave propagation.


We evaluate the impacts of a compulsory dialogue meeting for long-term sick-listed workers in Norway. The meeting is organized by the local social security administration after around six months of absence, and its purpose is to bring together the absentee, the employer, and the family physician to discuss whether arrangements can be made to facilitate partial or full work resumption. Our causal analysis is based on random-assignment-like geographical variation in the meeting propensity. We find that the meetings reduce absence duration considerably, both through a notification and an attendance effect. They also reduce the risk of premature labor market exit.


Environmental policy often assumes that firms will participate in a competitive emissions trading market to cost-effectively achieve their emission reduction constraint. Indeed, the competitive market assumption is central to the notion that emission trading is the least-cost management option to achieve an environmental objective. This paper uses two optimisation models based on marginal abatement cost functions to investigate how market power distortions within an emission trading system can impact overall compliance costs and environmental performance. One model is based on the solvent degreasing sector in Canada and the other is for the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The analysis indicates that the presence of market power can result in a sub-optimal economic outcome while improving environmental performance. Given this result, policy makers should consider the implications of market power when designing emissions trading programmes. This is particularly the case if a few firms control a large share of the overall emission reduction target.


A range of emerging applications, from adaptive spectrum sensing to proactive spectrum mobility, depend on the ability to foresee spectrum state evolution. Despite a number of studies appearing about spectrum prediction, fundamental issues still remain unresolved: 1) The existing studies do not explicitly account for anomalies, which may incur serious performance degradation; 2) they focus on the design of batch spectrum prediction algorithms, which limit the scalability to analyze massive spectrum data in real time; 3) they assume the historical data are complete, which may not hold in reality. To address these issues, we develop a Robust Online Spectrum Prediction (ROSP) framework, with incomplete and corrupted observations, in this paper. We first present data analytics of real-world spectrum measurements to reveal the correlation structures of spectrum evolution and to analyze the impact of anomalies on the rank distribution of spectrum matrices. Then, from a spectral–temporal 2-D perspective, we formulate the ROSP as a joint optimization problem of matrix completion and recovery by effectively integrating the time series forecasting techniques and develop an alternating direction optimization method to efficiently solve it. We apply ROSP to a wide range of real-world spectrum matrices of popular wireless services. Experiment results show that ROSP outperforms state-of-the-art spectrum prediction schemes.


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What does it mean to be digitally capable? Not just for an individual, but from an organisational perspective. How will you lead using the plethora of digital tools and channels available to you?

The Jisc building digital capability project has been addressing these issues for institutional leaders, for those on the front line of teaching and research, and those who support them. Come and hear what difference it's made to participants.


This note develops the time-delay approach to networked control systems with scheduling protocols, variable delays and variable sampling intervals. The scheduling of sensor communication is defined by a stochastic protocol. Two classes of protocols are considered. The first one is defined by an independent and identically-distributed stochastic process. The activation probability of each sensor node for this protocol is a given constant, whereas it is assumed that collisions occur with a certain probability. The resulting closed-loop system is a stochastic impulsive system with delays both in the continuous dynamics and in the reset equations, where the system matrices have stochastic parameters with Bernoulli distributions. The second scheduling protocol is defined by a discrete-time Markov chain with a known transition probability matrix taking into account collisions. The resulting closed-loop system is a Markovian jump impulsive system with delays both in the continuous dynamics and in the reset equations. Sufficient conditions for exponential mean-square stability of the resulting closed-loop system are derived via a Lyapunov-Krasovskii-based method. The efficiency of the method is illustrated on an example of a batch reactor. It is demonstrated how the time-delay approach allows treating network-induced delays larger than the sampling intervals in the presence of collisions.


This paper analyzes the impact on age group wage differentials in a setting of imperfect labor substitution at different ages (years) of working life. We examine the wage prospect of assuming medium, high, and low levels of fertility during the population projection period (2020-2090). Main focus is on comparisons of selected Calendar year Age wage profiles and the comparisons of selected Cohort Lifetime wage profiles. The analytical results come from applying a CRESH Labor Aggregator to Age-group Labor supplies with a parametric calibration to register based micro data for Denmark. The results show Calendar year wage effects and Cohort wage effects from ageing that will not exist without non-zero Labor Complementarity elasticities, and are new contributions demonstrating the economic effects of large/small generations and cohort sizes. The impact of cohort size on the lifetime wage profile of its own cohort does depend on sizes of other cohorts, which are affected by the fertility rates underlying many cohorts. Hence, economic advantages of being a small cohort depend on fertilities and the sizes of many other existing cohorts.


We created a tool to address two problems with using NetFlows logs for security analysis: (1) NetFlows come in multiple, incompatible formats, and (2) the sensitivity of NetFlow logs can hinder the sharing of these logs. We call the NetFlow converter and anonymizer that we created to address these problems CANINE: Converter and ANonymizer for Investigating Netflow Events). This paper demonstrates the use of CANINE in detail.


This paper reports the results of a 1997–98 survey designed to explore the careers of the University of Michigan Law School's minority graduates from the classes of 1970 through 1996, and of a random sample of Michigan Law School's white alumni who graduated during the same years. It is to date the most detailed quantitative exploration of how minority students fare after they graduate from law school and enter law practice or related careers. The results reveal that almost all of Michigan Law School's minority graduates pass a bar exam and go on to have careers that appear successful by conventional measures. In particular, the survey indicates that minority graduates (defined so as to include graduates with African American, Latino, and Native American backgrounds) are no less successful than white graduates, whether success is measured by the log of current income, self-reported satisfaction, or an index of service contributions. Also, although an admissions index that combines LSAT scores and undergraduate grade-point average is a significant predictor of law school grades, it does not predict career success on any of our three outcome measures. Michigan is a highly selective law school; our results may not generalize to people who have graduated from other law schools.


Freshwater biodiversity is currently threatened worldwide. In North Africa, 24.4% of Odonata are regionally threatened with extinction. In this region, freshwater resources are particularly scarce and an increasing shortage of water is expected. To better understand the current threats to the endangered North African damselfly Coenagrion mercuriale we updated information on extinct and extant populations in North Africa and characterized these localities with regard to their topography, climate and anthropogenic use (anthrome). The C. mercuriale populations are being lost and this damselfly is experiencing range contraction. In Morocco nearly 45% of the populations have become extinct in recent decades and in Tunisia a single extant population remains. This species, which occupied predominantly areas of high value for human settlement, is now mainly restricted to high altitude areas. Nevertheless, the extant populations remain under threat of extinction due to increasing demand for water, changes in agricultural practices and land conversion.


Combining electric cars with utility services seems to be a natural fit and holds the promise to tackle various mobility as well as electricity challenges at the same time. So far no viable business model for vehicle-to-grid technology has emerged, raising the question which characteristics a vehicle-to-grid business model should have. Drawing on an exploratory study amongst 189 Dutch consumers this study seeks to understand consumer preferences in vehicle-to-grid business models using conjoint analysis, factor analysis and cluster analysis. The results suggest that consumers prefer private ownership of an EV and a bidirectional charger instead of community ownership of bidirectional charger, they prefer utility companies instead of car companies as the aggregator and they require home and public charging. The most salient attributes in a V2G business model seem to be functional rather than financial or social. The customer segment with the highest willingness to adopt V2G prefers functional attributes. Based on the findings, the study proposes a business model that incorporates the derived preferences.


No general scientific effort had ever been made to determine the exact character of the snake population in Central America, with the exception of Costa Rica, until July, 1924. Therefore very little definite scientific knowledge of the species of snakes responsible for snake-bite accidents had been recorded. Brazil was apparently the only country in the tropics of the western hemisphere that had made significant progress in the study of its venomous snakes. A great stimulus was given the subject in 1924 by Dr. W. E. Deeks, General Manager of the United Fruit Company's Medical Department, and since then considerable progress has been made in a Central American snake census and in promoting the manufacture of antivenin.
During my service in his organization while at Tela, Honduras, C. A., a plan was launched for a snake census of the coastal plain in use by the fruit growers.Snake accidents had never been a subject of great importance in these plantations yet occasional tragic accidents did occur and we were not prepared to offer modern treatment nor did we have scientific information regarding the species of snakes responsible for the accident.


This paper presents a scalable content-based image indexing and retrieval system based on vector wavelet coefficients of color images. Highly decorrelated wavelet coefficient planes are used to acquire a search efficient feature space. The feature space is subsequently indexed using properties of all the images in the database. Therefore, the feature key of an image not only corresponds to the content of the image itself but also to how much the image is different from the other images being stored in the database. The search time linearly depends on the number of images similar to the query image and is independent of the database size. We show that, in a database of 5,000 images, query search takes less than 30 msec on a 266 MHz Pentium II processor, compared to several seconds of retrieval time in the earlier systems proposed in the literature.


Future architectures will feature hundreds to thousands of simple processors and on-chip memories connected through a network-on-chip. Architectural simulators will remain primary tools for design space exploration, performance (and power) evaluation of these massively parallel architectures. However, architectural simulation performance is a serious concern, as virtual platforms and simulation technology are not able to tackle the complexity of 1,000-core future scenarios. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a simulator for 1,000-core processors which exploits the enormous parallel processing capability of low-cost and widely available General Purpose Graphic Processing Units (GPGPU). We demonstrate our GPGPU simulator on a target architecture composed by several cores (i.e. ARM ISA based), with instruction and data caches, connected trough a Networkon-Chip (NoC). Our experiments confirm the feasibility of our approach. Currently, our ongoing work is focused on developing the power models within the simulation engine.


This paper uses a new data set on domestic child adoption to document the preferences of potential adoptive parents over born and unborn babies relinquished for adoption by their birth mothers. We show that adoptive parents exhibit significant biases in favor of girls and against African-American babies. A non-African-American baby relinquished for adoption attracts the interest of potential adoptive parents with probability 11.5% if it is a girl and 7.9% if it is a boy. As for race, a non-African-American baby has a probability of attracting the interest of an adopting parent at least seven times as high as the corresponding probability for an African-American baby. In addition, we show that a child's desirability in the adoption process depends significantly on time to birth (increasing over the pregnancy, but decreasing after birth) and on adoption costs. We also document the attitudes toward babies' characteristics across different categories of adoptive parents – heterosexual and same-sex couples, as well as single women and foreign couples. Finally, we consider several recently discussed policies excluding same-sex and foreign couples from the adoption process. In our data, such policies would reduce the number of adopted babies by 6% and 33%, respectively.


Porous nanohydroxyapatite (nanoHA) is a promising bone substitute, but it is brittle, which limits its utility for load bearing applications. To address this issue, herein, biodegradable electrospun microfibrous sheets of poly(L-lactic acid)-(PLLA)–polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were incorporated into a gelatin–nanoHA matrix which was investigated for its mechanical properties, the physical integration of the fibers with the matrix, cell infiltration, osteogenic differentiation and bone regeneration. The inclusion of sacrificial fibers like PVA along with PLLA and leaching resulted in improved cellular infiltration towards the center of the scaffold. Furthermore, the treatment of PLLA fibers with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide enhanced their hydrophilicity, ensuring firm anchorage between the fibers and the gelatin–HA matrix. The incorporation of PLLA microfibers within the gelatin–nanoHA matrix reduced the brittleness of the scaffolds, the effect being proportional to the number of layers of fibrous sheets in the matrix. The proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells was augmented on the fibrous scaffolds in comparison to those scaffolds devoid of fibers. Finally, the scaffold could promote cell infiltration, together with bone regeneration, upon implantation in a rabbit femoral cortical defect within 4 weeks. The bone regeneration potential was significantly higher when compared to commercially available HA (Surgiwear™). Thus, this biomimetic, porous, 3D composite scaffold could be offered as a promising candidate for bone regeneration in orthopedics.


This report documents the findings of the evaluation of the North Seattle Advanced Traffic Management System (NSATMS) Project. The evaluation was originally designed to analyze the potential transportation benefits and costs of a regional arterial traffic data sharing system that would obtain traffic signal system information (volumes, signal timing plans, etc.) from participating agencies and then share the data among those agencies. The operational goal was to allow each agency to make better control decisions by providing it with real-time knowledge of traffic conditions outside of its own control system boundaries. Because of a series of technical and project management issues, the system as originally envisioned was not successfully implemented. As a result, this evaluation does not include an analysis of direct operational benefits. It does, however, include a discussion of the expected institutional benefits, as well as an extensive "lessons learned" section based on the project team's review of the NSATMS effort. Of particular note were the importance of effective and ongoing lines of project communication, and the critical need to properly evaluate the fundamental nature of the project and provide a well-matched project management structure. The lessons learned from this project provide instructive guidelines for those who are contemplating future ITS system development efforts of comparable scope and complexity. Despite the limited successes of the NSATMS effort, the evaluation team found continued support for the regional arterial ATMS concept within the Puget Sound region. Follow-on research that contributes to a better understanding of the benefits, costs, and technical requirements of an arterial traffic management system is desired by many of the project participants.


This chapter focuses on addressing: the screening criteria used to evaluate potential new energy- related technology ventures in two international markets, namely the Philippines and Brazil; adopting a single case methodology to communicate the firm strategies used to attract investment and the behaviour adopted to try and effectively and efficiently enter the global market; and based on the descriptions and behaviours found, the case offers a holistic entry framework which will advance understanding of transcultural marketing and entry needs of the Philippines and Brazil regarding new energy-related innovations. This chapter uses qualitative case analysis of a single case technology commercialisation organisation and the experience of entering two new world markets: the Philippines and Brazil. These two markets have been selected as they are focused on energy securitisation, possess a distinct business culture related to early stage and Venture Capital (VC) investment and the behaviour of VCs, and are currently commercially attractive and interested in international investment and new technology market development (Broad & Cavanagh, 2011; Castells, 2011). This chapter reports on data focused on investment activity within the technology market in Brazil and the Philippines and cultural factors affecting investment and market entry specific to these markets. The chapter integrates the cultural issues of each destination with current literature and develops a checklist of actions related to each market destination. The chapter will assist with the success of attracting investment, sales growth, and performance in the new market and enhance profitability of the venture. The chapter will offer specific actions related to the entry and investment in each market and contribute to international marketing knowledge. This chapter offers a new transcultural marketing perspective on international venture capital exploring and learning from these two diverse emerging world markets. The lessons learnt from each market creates a shared and advanced outlook on seeking successful venture capital in newer global markets (Broad & Cavanagh, 2011).


We describe what might have been the first reported case of a neuroendocrine carcinoma of the jugular foramen. A 50-year-old woman presented with progressive left-sided sensorineural hearing loss, vertigo, pulsatile tinnitus, headaches, and ataxia. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 4-cm left-sided jugular foramen tumor. The patient underwent near-total resection of the tumor. Despite lower cranial nerve preservation, postoperative paralysis of cranial nerves IX and X occurred, and vocal fold medialization was performed 5 days later. The final pathologic diagnosis was neuroendocrine carcinoma. The patient was treated with concurrent chemotherapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy. This article will discuss the pathologic features and the management of jugular foramen tumors, along with the differential diagnosis of these rare tumors.


The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief and Reconciliation Act of 2003 has been described as textbook fiscal stimulus. Using household survey data on the self-reported qualitative response to the tax cuts, we estimate that the boost to aggregate personal consumption expenditures from the child credit rebate and the reduction in withholdings raised the average level of real GDP in the second half of 2003 by 0.2 percent and by 0.3 percent in the first half of 2004. We also show that households in the survey were well aware of their tax cuts and tended to spend equally out of the child credit rebate and the reduced withholdings, a result that is contrary to the conventional wisdom.


This study is a biblical evaluation of avenging spirits (ngozi) among the Shona people of Zimbabwe. It investigates the Shona understanding of ngozi, the biblical teaching on the spirits that manifest as those of the dead and how the church in Zimbabwe can effectively respond to the ngozi crisis with a pastoral care that is biblically informed and in a practically effective way. The study commences with an evaluation of the biblical teaching on the communication of the living with the dead. This is followed by other related questions to the subject such as the biblical teaching on vengeance for murder and the identity of the spirits that manifest as those of the dead. The Shona traditional understanding of ngozi is examined, giving attention to its types and the way the traditional Shona and the church in Zimbabwe currently address the ngozi crisis. Additionally, the interaction between the belief in ngozi among the Shona and the biblical teaching of spirits that manifest as those of the dead is examined. The outcome of this interaction leads to a proposal on practical guidelines for helping those affected by ngozi crisis and preventing a continuation of the crisis in the present and future Shona generations. [


In addition to its function as a powerful transactivator of viral immediate-early transcription, VP16 is an essential component of the herpes simplex virus (HSV) virion. As such, VP16 is introduced into cells, to effect its function in transactivation, as part of the virus tegument. Here we examine the potential for VP16 protein-protein interactions specific to virus-infected cells and show that VP16 copurifies in a highly enriched fraction with a single major polypeptide which we identify as the virus-encoded structural protein VP22. We further show that in vitro-translated VP22 binds specifically to purified VP16. The activation domain of VP16 was required and largely sufficient for this binding. Mutations within this domain, which disrupt its transactivation function, also affected VP22 binding. Furthermore, we show that while VP16 and VP22 showed distinct patterns of compartmentalization in vivo, coexpression of both proteins resulted in a profound reorganization from their normal locations to a novel macromolecular assembly. The colocalization was also dependent on the activation domain of VP16 but required additional determinants within the N terminus. These results are discussed in the context of VP16 regulation of transcription both early in infection during delivery of tegument proteins and at late times during virus assembly.


Similar to countless natural phenomena, cities have inherent orders that can be properly captured and expressed through a complex analysis of their components. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), this work offers a ring-buffer fractal approach to analyze the spatial characteristics of the components of an urban system. This approach was applied to road length, number of intersections, population+employment, and building gross floor area for the city of Chicago. The complex nature of these four components manifested itself in power-law relationships and represented by their fractal dimensions. Results showed that road length and number of intersections were closely related, albeit their fractal patterns followed slightly different trends. Additionally, population+employment and building gross floor area are significantly similar and one can explain the other. Moreover, the method developed in this study was able to identify the boundary of the old city of Chicago, highlighting its ability to capture hidden characteristics of an urban system. The proposed method could further be used to correlate complex properties of urban transportation systems to other relevant measures, including connectivity, accessibility, and mobility to name a few.


Using the history dependence of a dipolar glass hosted in a compositionally disordered lithium-enriched potassium tantalate niobate (KTN:Li) crystal, we demonstrate scale-free optical propagation at tunable temperatures. The operating equilibration temperature is determined by previous crystal spiralling in the temperature/cooling-rate phase space.


The question of what the most accurate and efficient fecal occult blood testing method is for the early detection of pathological gastrointestinal tract bleeding continues to be intensely debated. In this prospective study, the following five uniquely different slide tests were investigated in 120 patients who underwent gastrointestinal tract investigation: (1) a combination monoclonal antibody guaiac test (Monohaem); (2) an immunologic assay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, with (3) a highly sensitive guaiac test (Fecatwin S/Feca enzyme immunoassay), (4) a popular guaiac test (Coloscreen III) (comparable with Hemoccult II), and (5) Coloscreen III/VPI (ie, with vegetable peroxidase) inhibitor. Computerized data show efficiency values for detection of fecal occult blood by Coloscreen III-Fecatwin S-Monohaem combined, 93%; Coloscreen III-Monohaem combined, 91%; Monohaem, 87%; Coloscreen III/VPI, 82%; Coloscreen III, 79 percent; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, 77%; and Fecatwin S, 68%. Results of sensitivity, specificity, false-positive and false-negative test results, tests' predictive value, simplicity, and costs of tests in this clinically based study suggests that the concomitant use of the monoclonal, monospecific test for human hemoglobin and an appropriately sensitive guaiac test is a potentially valuable approach to mass screening and early detection of occult bleeding gastrointestinal tract pathology, including colorectal cancer.


Background: A dermoscope is an office tool used in the diagnosis of various disorders. At present, studies on hypertrophic lichen planus (HLP) and prurigo nodularis (PN) are limited. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the dermoscopic features of HLP and PN and to determine the role of dermoscopy in the differential diagnosis of both the conditions. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken. After clinical assessment and relevant investigations, dermoscopy was performed using DermLite DL3 dermoscope (×10) followed by histopathology. Dermoscopic findings in cases of HLP and PN were evaluated. Results: Thirty patients each with HLP and PN were included in the study. On dermoscopy, peripheral striations were the most common findings in both the conditions. Statistically significant features on intergroup comparison included blue–gray globules (P <0.001), comedo-like openings (P <0.001), and follicular plugging (P <0.001) in HLP and pearly white areas with white starburst pattern (P =0.028), red dots and globules (P <0.001), glomerular vessels (P =0.003), crusting (P =0.002), and erosions (P <0.001) in PN. Conclusion: Dermoscopy is useful in differentiating HLP and PN. Blue-gray globules, comedo-like openings, and follicular plugging were specific for HLP. Pearly white areas with white starburst pattern and red dots and globules were the specific findings in PN.


3D-ICs based on TSV technology provide high bandwidth inter-chip connections. The drawback is that most of the existing TSVs consume a large amount of silicon real estate. We present circuit-level design and analysis of area efficient, low power, high-data-rate 3D serial TSV links. A design space exploration is performed and trade-offs in terms of area, power and performance are presented. Circuit simulations of RC-extracted layouts in 40nm CMOS-technology reveals that 8:1 serialization efficiently balances area consumption and energy efficiency. Using 10μm-diameter TSV technology, an 8Gb/s serial link consumes only 84fJ/bit with 10X area reduction over 8b parallel bus.


We propose parallel algorithms in the massively parallel communication (MPC) model (e.g. MapReduce) for processing large terrain elevation data (represented as a 3D point cloud) that are too big to fit on one machine. In particular, given a set S of 3D points that is distributed across multiple machines, we present a simple randomized algorithm to construct a TIN DEM of S by computing the Delaunay triangulation of the xy-projections of points in S, which is also stored across multiple machines. With high probability, the algorithm works in O(1) rounds and the total work performed is O(n log n). Next, we describe an efficient algorithm in the MPC model for computing the contour tree of the resulting DEM. Under some assumptions on the input, the algorithm works in O(1) rounds and the total work performed is O(n log n).


Sea level rise and coastal erosion are two processes which may result in major problems for coastal cities around the world. This is particularly true for Southern and Eastern African cities as they struggle to meet their developmental challenges in addition to sea level rise and coastal erosion. This thesis focuses on three main areas, the analysis of the rates of sea level from tide gauges in the region, the extent of wave run-up on the beach and the development of a simple technical and management framework that managers can apply to assess coastal hazards. The rates of sea level rise in the region vary, Zanzibar, Tanzania reflects a falling sea level at −3.64 ± 1.62 mm per year while the highest rate of sea level rise at Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territories is +4.35 ± 7.61 mm per year. The rate of sea level rise are dependent on the complex interactions of vertical crustal movements, barometric pressure changes, and the warm Agulhas and cooler Benguela currents. Wave run-up is an indicator of the hazard zone. A number of international wave run-up models were assessed for use in this region and were found to be unsuitable. A new wave run-up model was developed which uses the bathymetric profile as opposed to the beach slope in predicting wave run-up. This model uses the equation Rx H0 = C S, where Rx is the wave run-up height above Still Water Level, H0 is the significant wave height at the closure depth, C is dimensionless coefficient where median values are described by C ' 7.5, S is a representative nearshore slope (S = (hc/xh)). hc is the closure depth and xh the horizontal distance from the waters edge to the closure depth. An assessment of the impacts of sea level rise and wave run-up was undertaken based on a detailed case study of the Durban coastline. The results were incorporated into a standalone freeware viewer tool enabling this information to be accessible to planners, decision makers and the general public. The research has identified several types of shoreline that are vulnerable to coastal erosion, sea level rise and extreme wave events. Recommendations as to what adaptation measures could be undertaken for the different beach types are proposed. With this information coastal managers and decision makers charged with managing shorelines can take the first step in understanding and adapting into the future.


Abstract Background Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy experienced many adverse effects. The purpose of this study was to assess the symptoms were experienced by cancer patients using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment scale. Methods The study was cross-sectional and was conducted in one-day clinic in large oncology hospital in capital of Greece. The sample consisted of 199 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in cycle 3. Date was collected using Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) additionally with a questionnaire for demographic and clinical characteristics, Descriptive and conductive statistical methods were used. Results The vast majority of patients were women (n = 153, 76.9%) and had breast cancer (n = 153, 76,9%). Patients experienced mild severity symptoms as could be seen from the mean values of symptoms (physical symptoms: 14.85±10.25, emotional symptoms: 6.84±5.24, well-being 3.73±2.61). There is a statistically significant difference between type of cancer and shortness of breath (p = 0.015) between gender and nausea (p = 0.013) gender and shortness of breath (p = 0.013). In addition, there is statistically difference between drowsiness and how is chemotherapy given (p = 0.0017). The rest of the comparisons revealed that there is a statistical significant difference between pain and type of chemotherapy regimen (p = 0.014), nausea and type of chemotherapy regimen (p = 0.012), well-being and type of chemotherapy regimen (p = 0.003) as well as between total symptoms and type of chemotherapy regimen (p = 0.025). Conclusions Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale was an important clinical instrument for assessing symptoms in clinical practice. There is a need for further research in order to use this tool in a daily clinical practice in one day chemotherapy clinic. Legal entity responsible for the study The authors. Funding Has not received any funding. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


The advent of the mobile device has propelled education, adoption and implementation of Augmented Reality on a massive scale. The success and evolution of this event and the underlying technology over the last 5 years is nearly indisputable proof that the industry is progressing, though incredible examples of useful augmented reality applications are yet to be explored. The ability to recognize images, markers and 3D objects is one of the most important aspects of Augmented Reality. With present work we are proposing three application examples, which make recognition and visual search more intuitive, natural and accessible.


This investigation of communities working with leather in India is based on case study research consisting of tanners, artisans and entrepreneurs. Beyond the stereotype of a polluting industry where child labour is considered to be rampant, we find approaches to ecologically and socially responsive design. This is informed by a recent survey of the leather trade in India and current interactions with the subcontinent, including a live client project with a partner institution in the United Kingdom. Focusing on a particular material and trade, the research aims to shed light on the contribution of design networks in the transformation of the Indian and British shoe and leather industries, by means of mapping the interactions. We find that designers work with artisan collectives in an effort to remake traditional objects such as footwear and fashion accessories, and, in doing so, stimulating local economies. These makers display entrepreneurial behaviour and are incorporating innovation, collaboration and networking. The paper concludes with a discourse around socially responsive practices that will impact on the production, reception and consumption of design.


This study examines the process and pattern of spatial polarisation in Melbourne Australia between 1986 and 1996. We construct a five-category polarisation typology based on the relative change in the bottom and top ends of local suburban household income distributions. The suburbs are classified as either: increasing advantage, increasing middle income, stable, polarising or increasing disadvantage. The research then examines the relationship between the suburb classification and house prices over the same period. The spatial units are 327 Melbourne suburbs. The two primary data sources include Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) household income figures and Victorian state government house sale price data for 1986 and 1996. The maps reveal a contiguous sector of increasing advantage in Melbourne's inner and nearby eastern suburbs encircled by an adjacent middle suburban ring characterised by growing disadvantage. Spatially this picture of polarisation corresponds closely with the map showing median house price change between 1986 and 1996. The polarisation categories are closely related to real quartile house prices with the highest house price increases in suburbs of increasing advantage and the lowest gains (or declines) in suburbs increasing in disadvantage.


Many successful methods have been proposed for learning low dimensional representations on large-scale networks, while almost all existing methods are designed in inseparable processes, learning embeddings for entire networks even when only a small proportion of nodes are of interest. This leads to great inconvenience, especially on super-large or dynamic networks, where these methods become almost impossible to implement. In this paper, we formalize the problem of separated matrix factorization, based on which we elaborate a novel objective function that preserves both local and global information. We further propose SepNE, a simple and flexible network embedding algorithm which independently learns representations for different subsets of nodes in separated processes. By implementing separability, our algorithm reduces the redundant efforts to embed irrelevant nodes, yielding scalability to super-large networks, automatic implementation in distributed learning and further adaptations. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach on several real-world networks with different scales and subjects. With comparable accuracy, our approach significantly outperforms state-of-the-art baselines in running times on large networks.


Dr. Erik Antonsen, element scientist and emergency physician, discusses the hazard of traveling farther away from Earth an ever before, especially how to provide appropriate medical care with limited resources and challenging communications. This is part three of a five-part series on the hazards of human spaceflight. HWHAP Episode 59.


The calculation of integral parameters and power distribution is a very important task for fuel assembly design and whole core safety analysis. In this work, we used Monte Carlo (MCNP5) and deterministic lattice cell code WIMSD-5B with the diffusion code CITVAP v3.1 to assess the accuracy of neutronic calculations of three PWR lattice benchmark problems defined by the ANS Ad Hoc Committee on Reactor Physics Benchmarks. The code results for the integral parameters and relative pin power distribution are compared to measured values and the previous calculations obtained from some of organisations participated in this benchmark. The results demonstrate that the codes showed very good estimates of both the integral parameter and power distribution for the critical core and lattice configuration for the three different benchmarks selected.