The eight nonisomorphic Drinfel'd double (DD) structures for the Poincaré Lie group in (2  +  1) dimensions are explicitly constructed in the kinematical basis. Also, the two existing DD structures for a non-trivial central extension of the (1  +  1) Poincaré group are also identified and constructed, while in (3  +  1) dimensions no Poincaré DD structure does exist. Each of the DD structures here presented has an associated canonical quasitriangular Poincaré -matrix whose properties are analysed. Some of these -matrices give rise to coisotropic Poisson homogeneous spaces with respect to the Lorentz subgroup, and their associated Poisson Minkowski spacetimes are constructed. Two of these (2  +  1) noncommutative DD Minkowski spacetimes turn out to be quotients by a Lorentz Poisson subgroup: the first one corresponds to the double of with trivial Lie bialgebra structure, and the second one gives rise to a quadratic noncommutative Poisson Minkowski spacetime. With these results, the explicit construction of DD structures for all Lorentzian kinematical groups in (1  +  1) and (2  +  1) dimensions is completed, and the connection between (anti-)de Sitter and Poincaré -matrices through the vanishing cosmological constant limit is also analysed.


My dissertation investigates the reproduction of gender-differentiated outcomes in sites of technology production and why Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) remains highly segregated. Computer technology both reflects and manufactures social values and the reproduction of systems of power in the US. I use ethnographic methods and media analysis to explore the social construction of gender, race and technology and their co-constitution of cultural norms governing labor segregation in CSE. I rely on and contribute to feminist theory from a variety of orientations anthropology, Marxism, science and technology studies and critical race studies to argue theoverrepresentation of white males in CSE is a matter of reproductive and economic justice. My cross-sectional method illuminates barriers women face at three different stages of a CSE career. At the heart of this research are the stories of women who persist in CSE, the barriers to desegregating the field and their ideological justifications and the broad cultural domains that shape and are shaped by the product, practices and applications of computer technology. In my dissertation, I advance five related arguments. First, women who navigate, resist, and subvert male hegemony to persist as workers in CSE have a unique standpoint in US society and have the potential to transform, institutionally and interpersonally, unjust social relations. Second, rites of passage (Davis Floyd 1992) in CSE, for example, interviews, long hours, precision questioning, combative work styles and the valorization of logical and abstract approaches to knowledge production over creative, material ones reproduce the ideological union between masculine ideals and competency in the field. These rituals also serve to indoctrinate CSE workers' to the core values in computing commodity production, including constant observation, intense evaluations of others, and the devaluation of sociality. Third, participants' emotions allowed me to locate and interpret the conflicts and contradictions of women CSE professionals. Many of these contradictions signal a rupture, women's struggle to navigate the bifurcated nature of their workplace role participants privileged to be agents in a powerful field and marginalized members of this field (Smith 1990). These sites of rupture are areas ripe for social change activism. Fourth, the majority of my participants have social change aspirations. They want to use their CSE skills to make the world a better place. These aspirations correlate with a commitment to support other women in CSE. Navigating the experience of rupture, combined with a yearning for social justice, may ignite feminist consciousness in women CSE workers, which can lead to collective action in pursuit not only of equality in CSE but also in broader cultural domains. Finally, I argue that social change aspirations are a collective form of reproductive aspirations and CSE workers can effectively organize around the shared yearning to contribute to the reproduction of the collective well being of society. These findings elucidate the causes of women's underrepresentation in CSE and the consequences of denying women of all ethnicities the opportunity to influence the design and application of technology. My research is meant to inform strategies that eradicate the barriers excluding women from Computer Science and Engineering and transform the powers of technology to advance social justice.


Most all nations recognize the need to protect intellectual property in some form due to its potential value. In 1994, the signatory nations of the General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade signed the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), an ambitious international convention that set forth an international baseline for patent, copyright, and trademark protection. In addition to providing procedures for the settlement of property disputes, one practical effect of TRIPs has been the harmonization of the world's patent laws. In 1994, the United States passed the Uruguay Round Agreement Act, legislation that implemented several changes to domestic patent law required by TRIPs. Although opinions, especially those of developing nations, debate the fairness of TRIPs, the Agreement represents an effective balance among competing interests and a m~or step towards world patent law harmonization.


Atong is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Northeast India and Bangladesh. Seino van Breugel provides a deep and thorough coverage and analysis of all major areas of the grammar, which makes this book of great interest and value to general linguists and typologists as well as area specialists. Alongside an Atong-English dictionary and five fully-glossed Atong texts recorded during extensive fieldwork, this work also provides a sizable ethnolinguistic introduction to the speakers and their culture. Of particular interest is the pragmatic approach taken for the grammatical analysis. Whereas the form of an utterance provides some clue as to its possible meaning, inference is always needed to arrive at the most relevant interpretation within the context in which the utterance occurs. "This is a very important book for South Asian and Sino-Tibetan linguistic scholarship. Of the 200 languages of Northeast India, only a handful have been documented; the present work brings the number of full-scale modern grammars for these languages to six. Thus it represents a unique and extremely valuable contribution." Professor Scott DeLancey University of Oregon "This is a solid academic work which makes a huge contribution to the field. There is no other detailed account of this particular language, and it is highly doubtful that anyone will write something more comprehensive in the future." Dr Willem de Reuse University of North Texas


During the mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT), 2 families, 14 genera and 41 species of benthic foraminifera (Extinction Group) declined in abundance (8–12 % of early Pleistocene benthic foraminiferal fauna) and finally disappeared at mid-bathyal depths in the Caribbean Sea (ODP Site 1000A, 916m depth), as part of the global extinction of at least 73 deep-water species at this time. At this site, the final phase of pulsed glacial decline, partial interglacial recoveries (0.8–0.67 Ma), and final extinction (0.58 Ma) was essentially the same as the youngest level so far documented elsewhere (0.57 Ma). Extinction Group specimens had smaller average sizes during periods of decline than during favorable periods with higher abundances. Census counts on different size fractions indicate that this extinction event is best recorded by studies of shells in the 150–300μm size range. Pteropod dissolution proxies indicate that intermediate waters in the Caribbean became less corrosive around the onset of the MPT (after c. 1.2 Ma). This is interpreted to be a result of increased input of northern hemisphere-sourced intermediate water at the expense of southern-sourced Antarctic Intermediate Water. Intervals of enhanced Extinction Group decline in intermediate waters in the Caribbean occurred during glacials around the start (1.15–1.05 Ma) and end (0.83–0.65 Ma) of the MPT. During these glacial periods preservation of carbonate was optimal and a 13 C values high (in source waters at mid-depths in the North Atlantic), suggesting a causal link with enhanced inflow of a less-corrosive, colder, nutrient-depleted, well-ventilated water mass, such as Glacial North Atlantic Intermediate Water.


This thesis argues that questions of ethical life,
moral identity, and gender are inextricably involved,
and that an appropriate conception of each is
necessary for the thinking of the others. In
particular it seeks to demonstrate that the way in
which freedom is conceived in its relation to moral
identity and ethical life has profound implications
for the thought of gender relations. It is further
argued that the writings of Kierkegaard open up a way
of relating freedom and the finite that offers the
possibility of re-thinking gender.
The writings of Rousseau and of Freud are examined to
show the interdependence of their philosophical
anthropology and the systematic subordination and
exclusion of women that operates in each of them. In
each case it is shown that, despite the very
different, and even opposed ways that they construe
the nature of moral identity and its relation to
ethical life, a parallel gender polarity is at work.
In Rousseau male moral identity rests on independence
from society and infinite, excessive freedom. This is
brought into relation to the mundane world of ethical
life through gender. Women are denied independence
and moral identity and made responsible for social
being. Their subordination is such that dependence on
them does not destroy the integrity of men. The
crisis of this unstable structure is demonstrated
through a reading of Rousseau's novel La Nouvelle
Heloise, the death of whose heroine is shown to be
the moment of collapse of the Rousseauean synthesis.
In Freud moral identity is achieved through the
identification of the self with social authority. The
finite freedom that can be thought in psychoanalysis
rests on a fusion of ethical and moral life. The
"depersonalisation" of the super-ego is the road to
liberation. Through the gendered experience of the
Oedipal drama this path can only be taken by men.
Woman are again exclude from moral identity, being
allowed only a "masochistic" relation to the Law. The
crisis of this structure is found in the notion of
the "archaic heritage", which it is argued,
represents a collapse of Freudian thought.
Finally both Freud and Rousseau are brought into
relation with the psychological writings of
Kierkegaard, whose distinctive notion of freedom and
faith is held to address the limitations of both sets
of writing. Infinite freedom is made to co-exist with
finitude. The implications of these writings for the
thought of gender is briefly explored through other
of the writings of Kierkegaard.


This paper discusses various concepts of unemployment rate benchmarks that are frequently used by policymakers for assessing the current state of the economy as it relates to the pursuit of both price stability and maximum employment. In particular, we propose two broad categories of unemployment rate benchmarks: (1) a longer-run unemployment rate expected to prevail after adjusting to business cycle shocks and (2) a stable-price unemployment rate tied to inflationary pressures. We describes how various existing measures used as benchmark rates fit within this taxonomy with the goal of facilitating the use of a common set of terms for assessments of the current state of the economy and deliberations among policymakers.


Ocean Drilling Program Site 806 in the western Pacific shows evidence of a remarkably constant average sedimentation rate. This feature allows us to analyze ancient climate proxies without the need for "orbital tuning," a standard procedure in prior work, but one that can lead to biased results. Spectral analysis of stable oxygen isotope ratios at this site, a proxy for global ice volume, shows a single narrow peak with a period ≈ 100 k.y., a result that supports our model which links glacial cycles to variations in the inclination of the Earth's orbit. In contrast, spectral analysis of the coarse component fraction of the sediment (primarily foraminifera) shows a structure characteristic of standard Milankovitch theory, with a triplet of peaks with periods near those expected from the Earth's eccentricity: 95, 125, and 400 k.y. Bispectral analysis confirms these linkages but suggests that orbital inclination also plays some role in the coarse fraction. From the clear presence of both signals in different proxies at the same site, we conclude that although eccentricity affected the local climate, it is orbital inclination that drove the variations in the global ice volume for the past million years.


Featured in New York Times: 100 Notable Books of 2015 Michael Pye's The Edge of the World is an epic adventure: from the Vikings to the Enlightenment, from barbaric outpost to global centre, it tells the amazing story of northern Europe's transformation by sea. 'An utterly beguiling journey into the dark ages of the north sea. This is a complete revelation...Pye writes like a dream. Magnificent' Jerry Brotton, author of A History of the World in Twelve Maps. This is a story of saints and spies, of fishermen and pirates, traders and marauders - and of how their wild and daring journeys across the North Sea built the world we know. When the Roman Empire retreated, northern Europe was a barbarian outpost at the very edge of everything. A thousand years later, it was the heart of global empires and the home of science, art, enlightenment and money. We owe this transformation to the tides and storms of the North Sea. The water was dangerous, but it was far easier than struggling over land; so it was the sea that brought people together. Boats carried food and raw materials, but also new ideas and information. The seafarers raided, ruined and killed, but they also settled and coupled. With them they brought new tastes and technologies - books, clothes, manners, paintings and machines. In this dazzling historical adventure, we return to a time that is largely forgotten and watch as the modern world is born. We see the spread of money and how it paved the way for science. We see how plague terrorised even the rich and transformed daily life for the poor. We watch as the climate changed and coastlines shifted, people adapted and towns flourished. We see the arrival of the first politicians, artists, lawyers: citizens. From Viking raiders to Mongol hordes, Frisian fishermen to Hanseatic hustlers, travelling as far west as America and as far east as Byzantium, we see how the life and traffic of the seas changed everything. Drawing on an astonishing breadth of learning and packed with human stories and revelations, this is the epic drama of how we came to be who we are. "A closely-researched and fascinating characterisation of the richness of life and the underestimated interconnections of the peoples all around the medieval and early modern North Sea. A real page-turner." (Chris Wickham, author of The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000). "Elegant writing and extraordinary scholarship...Miraculous." (Hugh Aldersey-Williams, author of Periodic Tales and Anatomies). "Splendid. A heady mix of social, economic, and intellectual history, written in an engaging style. It offers a counterpoint to the many studies of the Mediterranean, arguing for the importance of the North Sea. Exciting, fun, and informative." (Michael Prestwich, Professor of History, Durham University). "Bristling, wide-ranged and big-themed...at its most meaningful, history involves a good deal of art and storytelling. Pye's book is full of both." (Russell Shorto, New York Times). "Beautifully written and thoughtfully researched...for anyone, like this reviewer, who is tired of medieval history as a chronicle of kings and kingdoms, knights and ladies, monks and heretics, The Edge of the World provides a welcome respite." (Prof Patrick J Geary, Wall Street Journal).


Web application security is a definite threat to the world's information technology infrastructure. The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), generally defines web application security violations as unauthorized or unintentional exposure, disclosure, or loss of personal information. These breaches occur without the company's knowledge and it often takes a while before the web application attack is revealed to the public, specifically because the security violations are fixed. Due to the need to protect their reputation, organizations have begun researching solutions to these problems. The most widely accepted solution is the use of an Intrusion Detection System (IDS). Such systems currently rely on either signatures of the attack used for the data breach or changes in the behavior patterns of the system to identify an intruder. These systems, either signature-based or anomaly-based, are readily understood by attackers. Issues arise when attacks are not noticed by an existing IDS because the attack does not fit the pre-defined attack signatures the IDS is implemented to discover. Despite current IDSs capabilities, little research has identified a method to detect all potential attacks on a system. This thesis intends to address this problem. A particular emphasis will be placed on detecting advanced attacks, such as those that take place at the application layer. These types of attacks are able to bypass existing IDSs, increase the potential for a web application security breach to occur and not be detected. In particular, the attacks under study are all web application layer attacks. Those included in this thesis are SQL injection, cross-site scripting, directory traversal and remote file inclusion. This work identifies common and existing data breach detection methods as well as the necessary improvements for IDS models. Ultimately, the proposed approach combines an anomaly detection technique measured by cross entropy and a signature-based attack detection framework utilizing genetic algorithm. The proposed hybrid model for data breach detection benefits organizations by increasing security measures and allowing attacks to be identified in less time and more efficiently.


New idioms and idiomatic expressions, which are modern stock expressions, constitute communicative clogs in Yoruba routine discourses because of their semantic complexity and deviant nature. Existing studies have established their scope of usage in Yoruba music but have hardly addressed their communicative adaptability in politics. This paper investigated issues expressed with these idioms, context and strategies for using them in po litical arena. This is with a view to establishing their communicative and stylistic relevance in Yoruba discourses. The paper adopted Mukarovsky ' s theory of Standard Language because of its capac ity to explain the "differentia specifica" between the lan guage of everyday interaction and literary language. Data were collected from different routi ne communicative discourses of politicians and party members on radio, during political rallies or campaigns and were subjected to pragmatic and stylistic analysi s. Political issues were expressed using new idioms and idiomatic expressions in the following sociopolitical contexts: Ete for corruption/stealing; O j u y ọ b o for under achiever; Y o o w ọ l e e e k e n s i for deceit; O b o j e t i for collective support; Oyin ni o for a successful tenure; A j i m o b i for collective responsibility; Naija for affection/disappointment and K a r i g o / K a r i k ọ o m u for continuity and discontinuity. Nominalisation, Pidginisation and dialect expressio ns were the strategies employed for the formation of new idioms in this paper. These strategies were used to express different political happenings contextualized in underachievement, slo ganeering for support, deceit, and acceptance/rejection for second term in office respectively. New idioms and idiomatic expressions, used to express sociopolitical issues in Yoruba routine communication, occurred in med iated and non - mediated contexts and were conveyed through nominalization, pidginisation, and dialect ex pressions. These idioms reflect dynamism and modernity - constrained stylistic choices in Yoruba .


Recombination and microsatellite mutation in humans contribute to disorders including cancer and trinucleotide repeat (TNR) disease. TNR expansions in wild-type yeast may arise by flap ligation during lagging-strand replication. Here we show that overexpression of DNA ligase I (CDC9) increases the rates of TNR expansion, of TNR contraction, and of mitotic recombination. Surprisingly, this effect is observed with catalytically inactive forms of Cdc9p protein, but only if they possess a functional PCNA-binding site. Furthermore, in vitro analysis indicates that the interaction of PCNA with Cdc9p and Rad27p (Fen1) is mutually exclusive. Together our genetic and biochemical analysis suggests that, although DNA ligase I seals DNA nicks during replication, repair, and recombination, higher than normal levels can yield genetic instability by disrupting the normal interplay of PCNA with other proteins such as Fen1.


Postmodernism criticizes metanarratives. Modern metanarratives including Enlightenment, Hegelianism, and Marxism present general claims about knowledge and truth. Under postmodern condition metanarratives are damageable, criticizable, and finally negligible. In this essay metanarratives are explained and the incredulity towards them is traced. In Finnegans Wake, which is under postmodern condition, metanarratives are targets of Joyce's parody. In this novel, religion is bitterly criticized, Enlightenment is mocked, and Hegelianism and Marxism are disfigured. Joyce shows his incredulity towards metanarratives and employs postmodernist techniques. Finnegans Wake's world is postmodern.


Context: The naso-orbito-ethmoid (NOE) area is an intricate structure composed of the nasal, lacrimal, maxillary, frontal, and ethmoid bones. The treatment of NOE fractures is one of the most challenging issues in the management of maxillofacial injuries. The management of these fractures requires a thorough knowledge of midfacial anatomy, surgical techniques, and the available implements in order to obtain optimal aesthetic and functional results. The aim of this study was to review current knowledge (i.e., from the past ten years) concerning NOE fractures and the related surgical techniques. Evidence Acquisition: An extensive electronic literature search was performed via international and national databases, including MEDLINE/PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), DOAJ, Iranian Science Information database (SID), Iranmedex, and Irandoc. Literature published between October 2004 and October 2014 was searched for using specific keywords. The references from each study were also searched. Finally, all articles relevant to the selected keywords and the topic of the study were reviewed. Results: High-energy blunt or penetrating traumas are themost common cause of NOE fractures. NOE fractures account for some 5% and 15% of adult and pediatric facial fractures, respectively. These fractures are characterized by three major post-injury symptoms, namely increased intercanthal distance, diminished nasal projection, and impaired nasofrontal and lacrimal drainage. The prompt management of NOE fractures is of the utmost importance in avoiding secondary deformities. Surgical treatment is guided by the pattern and classification of the injury. The surgical approach also varies according to the fracture type and other concomitant facial injuries. If the fractured fragment cannot be reduced satisfactorily by closed reduction, the operation should be converted into an open reduction and internal fixation. The most common method for medial canthopexy is transnasal wiring. Conclusions: Nowadays, advances in radiographic imaging along with the evolution in minimally invasive surgical techniques have led to more conservative treatment modalities that may minimize post-injury complications and improve aesthetic outcomes


The years from 2011 to 2013 were remarkable in municipal bankruptcy terms. During those years, several cities and counties took the rare step of filing for bankruptcy under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code. When Detroit filed for bankruptcy in July, 2013, it became the largest city measured by both population and outstanding debt to file for Chapter 9.The recent filings challenge the conventional wisdom that Chapter 9 is poorly tailored to the rehabilitation needs of larger cities and counties. Those who have written about Chapter 9 in the past twenty years have treated Chapter 9 and state intervention in municipal financial affairs as freestanding alternatives rather than as complementary components of a comprehensive municipal financial recovery plan. These authors compare municipal bankruptcy to corporate bankruptcy and conclude that because Chapter 9 does not incorporate all of the Chapter 11 checks on debtor behavior, it cannot adequately promote the financial rehabilitation of a sizable general-purpose municipality. This approach ignores the original goal of Congress in enacting a municipal bankruptcy law in the aftermath of the Great Depression, which was to bring together two sovereigns, the state and the federal government, to accomplish something that neither could accomplish alone – the imposition of a plan to adjust municipal debts that would be binding on all creditors, wherever located. This article refocuses the discussion about the limitations of the municipal bankruptcy process by examining the goals of Chapter 9 and relating its governance provisions to those goals. A refocused discussion is particularly timely, because the deteriorating financial condition of many cities has led states to reexamine their programs for resolving municipal financial distress and the conditions under which they permit their municipalities to file for bankruptcy. Chapter 9 may only be as effective as the state governance that accompanies it. Therefore, policy makers on the state and federal levels need an understanding of the role of Chapter 9 in an integrated scheme for municipal financial recovery in order to decide whether and how to assist municipalities on the state level and to decide whether reforms to Chapter 9 are necessary.


Early applications of desalination were small-scale plants deploying a range of technologies. However with the technological developments in Reverse Osmosis, most new plants use this technology because it has a proven history of use and low energy and capital costs compared with other available desalination technologies. This has led to the recent trend for larger seawater desalination plants in an effort to further reduce costs, and 1000 MLD seawater desalination plants are projected by 2020.

Efficient Desalination by Reverse Osmosis recognises that desalination by reverse osmosis has progressed significantly over the last decades and provides an up to date review of the state of the art for the reverse osmosis process. It covers issues that arise from desalination operations, environmental issues and ideas for research that will bring further improvements in this technology.

Efficient Desalination by Reverse Osmosis provides a guide to best practice from pre-treatment to brine management.

ISBN: 9781780405049 (eBook)

ISBN: 9781780405056 (Print)


Abstract This paper presents a new analysis of the 238U cross sections in the unresolved resonance range, from 20 to 150 keV. Statistical analysis of the resonance parameters in the resolved resonance range with random-matrix theory provides accurate experimental values of strength function, average radiative width and average level spacing for s- and p-wave resonances. Above 20 keV, the simultaneous fit of selected experimental data (average transmission and capture) is performed with a statistical model of nuclear reactions as implemented in the SAMMY code. Compared to previous evaluations, such as those described by Fröhner or by Maslov et al., this work benefits from the accurate transmission data measured by Harvey et al. at Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator, which have never been studied before. This new evaluation was written into the current ENDF format for use in practical applications. This work stresses the need for an improved ENDF format to store average resonance parameters and cross sections in the unresolved resonance range.


The process quality of food products is currently the subject of increased attention. In the area of meat production, public discussion has centered on perceived low standards of animal welfare. Besides an increase in legislative regulations, improved animal welfare standards are most frequently achieved through the establishment of so-called animal welfare labels. So far these labeling concepts have not been substantially evaluated in terms of how well they carry out their goal of improving process quality in agricultural animal husbandry. This paper will use a recognized list of criteria to evaluate selected animal welfare labels Results show that competing labels vary strongly regarding the improvement of process quality. This has far-reaching effects not only for consumers and other label users, but also for companies that want to enter the animal welfare segment of the meat market.


This paper discusses the
implementation of Load Frequency Control (LFC) in restructured power system
using Hybrid Fuzzy controller. The formulation of LFC in open energy market is
much more challenging; hence it needs an intelligent controller to adapt the
changes imposed by the dynamics of restructured bilateral contracts. Fuzzy
Logic Control deals well with uncertainty and indistinctness while Particle
Swarm Optimization (PSO) is a well-known optimization tool. Abovementioned
techniques are combined and called as Hybrid Fuzzy to improve the dynamic
performance of the system. Frequency control of restructured system has been
achieved by automatic Membership Function (MF) tuned fuzzy logic controller.
The parameters defining membership function has been tuned and updated from
time to time using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The robustness of the
proposed hybrid fuzzy controller has been compared with conventional fuzzy
logic controller using performance measures like overshoot and settling time
following a step load perturbation. The motivation for using membership
function tuning using PSO is to show the behavior of the controller for a wide
range of system parameters and load changes. Error based analysis with
parametric uncertainties and load changes is tested on a two-area restructured
power system.


Title of Document: RADIATIVE FLUXES AND ALBEDO FEEDBACK IN POLAR REGIONS. Xiaolei Niu, Doctor of Philosophy, 2011 Directed By: Professor, Dr. Rachel T. Pinker, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science The Arctic is experiencing an unprecedented increase in surface temperature and decrease in sea ice extent. Discussion as to the causes that contribute to the Arctic warming is still ongoing. The ice-albedo feedback has been proposed as a possible mechanism for polar amplification of such warming. It states that more open water leads to more solar heat absorption, which results in more ice melting and more open water. In order to study this relationship there is a need for accurate information on the solar heat input into the Arctic Oceans. I have developed and improved inference schemes for shortwave radiative fluxes that respond to the needs of Polar Regions utilizing most recent information on atmospheric and surface states. A Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) approach has been optimized for Polar Regions and implemented at 1° for 2002-2010 and at 5-km for 2007. A methodology was developed to derive solar fluxes from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and implemented at 0.5° for 1983-2006. Evaluation against ground measurements over land and ocean at high latitudes shows that the MODIS shortwave flux estimates are in best agreement with ground observations as compared to other available satellite and model products, with a bias of -3.6 Wm and standard deviation of 23 Wm at a daily time scale. The AVHRR estimates agree with ground observations with a bias of -4.7 Wm and a standard deviation of 41 Wm at a daily time scale. The ice-albedo feedback was evaluated by computing the solar heating into the Arctic Ocean using the improved satellite flux estimates. A growth at a rate of 2 %/year in the trend of solar heating for 2003-09 was found at a 75 % confidence level; the trend for 1984-2002 was only 0.2 %/year at a 99 % confidence level. The ice retreat is correlated to the solar energy into the ocean at 0.7 at a 75 % confidence level. An increase in the open water fraction resulted in a maximum 300 % positive anomaly in solar heating in 2007 located where the maximum sea ice retreat is. RADIATIVE FLUXES AND ALBEDO FEEDBACK IN POLAR REGIONS


This paper focuses on water quality monitoring of the main streams, irrigation canals, collector-drainage system of Zeravshan River Basin and on developing a platform for efficient data management and sharing of water quality and hydrological datasets. The water quality monitoring had been carried out from 2005 to 2010 throughout the basin and collected water samples, hydrological, meteorological and economic data indicate that generally water in the downstream part of the basin was in significant low quality. The water contains high concentration of salts and heavy metals that could be dangerous for people livelihood. The water quality datasets are stored in a newly developed web-based geospatial database, coupled with hydrological data collected during many years. The database integrates quantitative and qualitative datasets into spatially-explicit maps which help intuitive data handling and easy sharing for collaboration work. The web-based feature of the database with online access to the visualized maps of hydrological and water quality datasets provides an interactive framework solution for collaboration among those involved in water resources management in Zeravshan river basin.


The current article deals with the problem of assessing the practical capacity of an airport network. This problem is approached using simulation techniques taking into account not only the different mandatory variables which are imposed by the current legislation but also other factors that affect the practical capacity of the airport such as weather conditions. The model will be used for assessing the potential capacity problems that will be faced by the future airport. The article put focus on one airport of the North Holland region which is a good example of a region that struggles for allocating the growing traffic in the coming years.


Title of Dissertation: FOOD PRODUCT RECALLS: TRENDS AND DEMAND IMPACTS Elina Tselepidakis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016 Dissertation directed by: Professor Erik Lichtenberg Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Food product recalls, the removal of risky food products from the marketplace, can impose significant burdens for consumers, producers, and regulators. The purpose of this dissertation is to offer an in-depth investigation of the trends and demand impacts of food product recalls. The first objective is to analyze trends and patterns of food product recall events from 2004 to 2013. The analysis considers multiple factors, including the types of foods being recalled, the reasons for initiating the recalls, the severity of the risks posed by the recalled products, and the geographic distribution. The second objective is develop a general Bayesian model to illustrate how consumers form perceptions of risk based on personal experiences and external signals, such as recall events. The model illustrates frequently observed behavior following the release of negative information: an immediate change in behavior, followed by a gradual return to previous, routine behavior. The third objective is to estimate the impact of leafy green recall events on the demand for packaged leafy green products by analyzing disaggregated household purchasing data. The results of this analysis suggests that iceberg and romaine recall events negatively impacted demand for the implicated leafy green in the weeks immediately following the recall. The fourth objective is to estimate the impact of STEC-contaminated ground beef recall events on the demand for ground beef products, differentiating between recalls prompted by consumer illness investigations and those prompted by laboratory testing. The results suggest that the impacts of recalls prompted by consumer illnesses outbreaks were often greater in magnitude and lasted longer than the impacts of recalls prompted by


Amid the pressure and enthusiasm for researchers to share data, a rapidly growing number of tools and services have emerged. What do we know about the quality of these data? Why does quality matter? And who should be responsible for data quality? We believe an essential measure of data quality is the ability to engage in informed reuse, which requires that data are independently understandable . In practice, this means that data must undergo quality review, a process whereby data and associated files are assessed and required actions are taken to ensure files are independently understandable for informed reuse. This paper explains what we mean by data quality review, what measures can be applied to it, and how it is practiced in three domain-specific archives. We explore a selection of other data repositories in the research data ecosystem, as well as the roles of researchers, academic libraries, and scholarly journals in regard to their application of data quality measures in practice. We end with thoughts about the need to commit to data quality and who might be able to take on those tasks.


Malus sikkimensis. (Local name- Chap shaw sheng) belongs to family Rosaceae is being primarily used for preparing tea by Monpas tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. In the present study sonicator dyeing with Malus extract has been demonstrated. Pretreatment with 1-2 % metal mordant and using 5 % of plant extract (owf) was found to be optimum and showed very good hue colors for cotton, wool and silk dyed fabrics. We have demonstrated that the use of sonication in conjunction with metal mordanting has a synergistic effect on better dye uptake, dye adherence and eventually on good fastness properties of the dyed swatches of cotton, silk and wool.


Abstract Gene presence–absence polymorphisms segregating within species are a significant source of genetic variation but have been little investigated to date in natural populations. In plant pathogens, the gain or loss of genes encoding proteins interacting directly with the host, such as secreted proteins, probably plays an important role in coevolution and local adaptation. We investigated gene presence–absence polymorphism in populations of two closely related species of castrating anther-smut fungi, Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae (MvSl) and M. silenes-dioicae (MvSd), from across Europe, on the basis of Illumina genome sequencing data and high-quality genome references. We observed presence–absence polymorphism for 186 autosomal genes (2% of all genes) in MvSl, and only 51 autosomal genes in MvSd. Distinct genes displayed presence–absence polymorphism in the two species. Genes displaying presence–absence polymorphism were frequently located in subtelomeric and centromeric regions and close to repetitive elements, and comparison with outgroups indicated that most were present in a single species, being recently acquired through duplications in multiple-gene families. Gene presence–absence polymorphism in MvSl showed a phylogeographic structure corresponding to clusters detected based on SNPs. In addition, gene absence alleles were rare within species and skewed toward low-frequency variants. These findings are consistent with a deleterious or neutral effect for most gene presence–absence polymorphism. Some of the observed gene loss and gain events may however be adaptive, as suggested by the putative functions of the corresponding encoded proteins (e.g., secreted proteins) or their localization within previously identified selective sweeps. The adaptive roles in plant and anther-smut fungi interactions of candidate genes however need to be experimentally tested in future studies.


The Boreal Plains (BP) of Western Canada have been exposed to increasing disturbance by wildfire and host a mixture of upland‐wetland‐pond complexes with substantial quantities of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) throughout the terrestrial areas. The ability of these tree species to regenerate within both upland and wetland areas of the BP following wildfire is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of fire on nutrient dynamics in soil and water in peatlands and forested landscapes in the BP and relate this to aspen regeneration. Nutrient concentrations, nutrient supply rates, and net nutrient mineralization rates were determined in burned and unburned sections of a peatland and forest and compared with the regeneration of aspen. NO3−, NH4+, and P varied spatially throughout the landscape, and differences were observed between peatland and upland areas. In general, differences in nutrient dynamics were not observed between burned and unburned areas, with the exception of P. Nutrient and growth data suggest that aspen do not require nutrient‐rich conditions for regeneration and instead relied on forest litter to satisfy nutrient demands. Although the peatlands contained high nutrients, aspen did not flourish in the combination of anoxic and aerobic organic‐rich soils present in this area. Although aspen may use peat water and nutrients through their rooting zones, peatlands are unsuitable for aspen re‐establishment in the long‐term. However, the combination of abundant nutrients in surface mineral soils in peat margins may indicate the vulnerability of margins to upland transformations in later successional stages.


In light of the intertwining logics of military competition and economic interdependence at play in US-China relations, Trading with the Enemy examines how the United States has balanced its potentially conflicting national security and economic interests in its relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC). To do so, Hugo Meijer investigates a strategically sensitive yet under-explored facet of US-China relations: the making of American export control policy on military-related technology transfers to China since 1979. Trading with the Enemy is the first monograph on this dimension of the US-China relationship in the post-Cold War. Based on 199 interviews, declassified documents, and diplomatic cables leaked by Wikileaks, two major findings emerge from this book. First, the US is no longer able to apply a strategy of military/technology containment of China in the same way it did with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This is because of the erosion of its capacity to restrict the transfer of military-related technology to the PRC. Secondly, a growing number of actors in Washington have reassessed the nexus between national security and economic interests at stake in the US-China relationship by moving beyond the Cold War trade-off between the two in order to maintain American military preeminence vis-a-vis its strategic rivals. By focusing on how states manage the heterogeneous and potentially competing security and economic interests at stake in a bilateral relationship, this book seeks to shed light on the evolving character of interstate rivalry in a globalized economy, where rivals in the military realm are also economically interdependent. Available in OSO:


Objectives: This study aimed to assess and compare the perception of laypersons and dental professionals of smile esthetics based on two factors namely gingival display and alignment of teeth. Materials and Methods: A total of 32 females were randomly selected among dental students in the International Campus of School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran) with no previous history of esthetic dental work. Frontal photographs were obtained and cropped from the subnasal to menton areas of subjects to standardize the size of pictures. Three series of slides were prepared of the pictures using Microsoft PowerPoint software. The first series of slides were shown to familiarize the observers with the images. The second and third series were displayed for the observers and they were then asked to fill out a questionnaire. The group of observers included 10 dental specialists and 10 laypersons. Each observer was given a visual analog scale (VAS) chart for scoring (1–10). After completion of the questionnaires, data were transferred to a computer and the differences in judgments of professionals and laypeople were analyzed using the Mann Whitney test. Results: No significant difference was found in the judgments of professionals and laypeople on evaluating overall smile esthetics, gingival display and alignment of teeth except for the slide showing a reverse smile arc. Conclusions: Laypeople and professionals had similar perceptions of smile esthetics. Thus, it appears that clinicians can rely on the judgment of laypersons in esthetic dental treatments.


A new Local Boundary Integral Equation (LBIE) method is proposed for the solution of plane elastostatic problems. Non-uniformly distributed points taken from a Finite Element Method (FEM) mesh cover the analyzed domain and form background cells with more than four points each. The FEM mesh determines the position of the points without imposing any connectivity requirement. The key-point of the proposed methodology is that the support domain of each point is divided into parts according to the background cells. An efficient Radial Basis Functions (RBF) interpolation scheme is exploited for the representation of displacements in each cell. Tractions in the interior domain are avoided with the aid of the companion solution. At the intersections between the local domains and the global boundary, tractions are treated as independent variables with the use of conventional boundary elements. Criteria about the size of the support domains are provided. The integration in support domains is performed easily, fast and with high accuracy. Due to the geometric information provided by the cells the extension of the method to three dimensions is straightforward. Three representative numerical examples demonstrate the achieved accuracy of the proposed LBIE methodology.


With their widespread use in the Global South, mobile phones are attracting growing interest from international aid actors and local authorities alike, who are positioning mobile technology as a growth driver and a solution to many social problems. Initiated by giants of the digital industry, these policies are reviving old questions about technological development, the relationship between the market sector and States, and the role of technology in the inequalities between the Global North and Global South. Through a multi-sited ethnography on maternal care in Ghana and India, this Element provides a first-hand look at initiatives that promise to improve poor women's health in the Global South through the use of mobile phones; a field known as Mobile Health or mHealth. Attentive to the way in which these technical objects modify power relations at both international and local levels, this Element also discusses how mHealth transforms care practices and healthcare.


Abstract To understand the effects of island and mainland on life history traits (e.g. longevity, age at maturity, body size and body mass) of the smooth newt Lissotriton vulgaris (Linnaeus, 1758), we generated data on age and body measurements for an island (Bozcaada) and a mainland (Çanakkale) population in northwestern Turkey. Age was determinated by skeletochronology. The maximum life span was 4 years in the island population and 5 years in the mainland population. Age at maturity was estimated to be 2–3 years for both sexes and the populations. While mean snout-venth length (SVL) was calculated as 35.56 mm for females and 31.95 mm for males in the mainland population, it was found to be 32.83 mm for females and 31.78 mm for males in the island population. Females from the mainland population were found to be significantly larger and heavier than those of the island population. A significant positive correlation was found between SVL and age for only males in the mainland population. Unexpectedly, age was not correlated with body size for the island individuals. Since there were hardly any demographic studies on any Urodela species comparing island and mainland populations, in this paper we contribute to the literature on this subject.


This book presents an overview of the latest theories of affect regulation and focuses on how these theories work in clinical settings and how therapists can be taught to implement them. The notion of teaching and learning will be extended by the theories themselves-the author presents methods of education that enact the theories being taught. The book is divided into eight chapters, each one highlighting a particular structure or related structures of the brain. Suggestions for learning how to clinically apply the neurobiological/neuroanatomical information are offered. What is so unique about this book is that the bulk of the chapters are clinical dialogue, accompanied by neurobiological commentary. Thus, readers can see for themselves, during the course of parts of sessions, just how a "neurobiological outlook" can inform therapeutic understandings of what clients are doing and saying. The result is a very user-friendly learning experience for readers, as they are taken along a journey of understanding various brain systems and how they relate to psychotherapeutic principles. Elegantly bridging the gap between the academic and clinical domains, this book is essential for anyone interested in the application of neurobiological principles to psychotherapy and wishes to learn about neurobiology without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated.


Summary Public sector services in all developed economies have had to meet new demands for accountability and transparency, leading to the creation of complex audit systems. This article examines the way that this has been done in relation to social work practice in the UK. Auditing is a dynamic process and the aim of the Audit Commission is to be a driving force in improving services. However, it is argued that social work presents particular challenges because of the nature of its knowledge base. Improvement in services to users cannot be achieved just by managerial changes but requires rigorous research to increase our understanding of what works. The process of making social work 'auditable' is in danger of being destructive, creating a simplistic description of practice and focusing on achieving service outputs with little attention to user outcomes. Alternatively, however, if it is linked to research methods, it could be highly constructive, producing reliable evidence not only on efficiency but on effectiveness.


In 2020, in the new EU strategic horizon that is opening at present, the place should matter more than ever when it refers to territories that are envisaged from the Social Innovation paradigm (Moulaert, Mulgan and Morgan). Nevertheless, how will the suggested H2020 strategy based on Smart City and Communities, contribute and implement the so‐called Social Innovation; facing realistic, economic and politic‐driven issues in an increasingly territorially heterogeneous EU current context? This article aims to shed some light on the Critical Social Innovation (CSI) challenges from a constructive position.


Strong empirical evidence suggests that people infer prevailing proenvironmental norms based on the behavior of people they encounter and engage with. These norms seem to be adopted in response to both internal motivation and social pressure. To formalize such behavior, the economic literature has introduced theoretical models that include moral and social drivers. We complement this theoretical literature by analyzing the adoption of green behavior in presence of social networks. Leveraging insights from the network-science literature, we extend an existing model of socially contingent moral motivation to include characteristics of human social behavior that have been shown, empirically, to matter for green behavior, but which have been neglected by most theoretical models. Our network moral-motivation model leads naturally to spatial-heterogeneity in environmental norms. Consistent with nonnetwork models, we show that temporary subsidies can lead to stable equilibria with positive adoption, even when the subsidy is discontinued. In our model, however, regulators can achieve significant savings by targeting subsidies. With our computational exercises, using small semi-realistic networks, we quantify the gains of targeting subsidies, or social interventions, towards optimal seed groups. These gains may be large compared to widespread subsidies, or random selection of seed groups, and depend on the society's structural characteristics. Hence, considering social networks may change radically the performance of initiatives aimed at promoting the adoption of green behavior.


This book addresses the conflict between free speech and religion. Religious authorities have long tried to "discipline" free speech when it runs counter to religious teachings or dogmas. The reaction to the cartoons about the prophet Muhammad, published in the Danish Jyllands-Posten, demonstrated the resonance of the accusation of blasphemy inside Islam. The conflict is not, however, limited to Islam. The Catholic Church and various Protestant churches have strongly expressed their hostility toward various books, plays, and films that they consider "collective defamation." There is an increasing concern about the need to protect religious sensitivities against offensive speech, in particular where such speech affects vulnerable minorities and collective identities based on religious affiliation. The thought-provoking essays in this book are a welcome contribution to the current debate on how to deal with the clash between free speech and religion in a world where a growing number of people are committed in a fundamental way to religion in everyday life.


This is an account of three weeks spent in Israel and the Occupied Territories talking to activists and volunteers engaged in initiatives to foster cooperation and understanding between Israelis and Palestinians. Interviews in the article include: with the Siraj Centre who run walking tours in the West Bank and along the renowned Abraham Peace Trail; Yesh Din who investigate infringements of personal and property rights experienced by Palestinians in the Occupied Territories; The Greenhouse at Kibbutz ein Shemer, where Israeli and Palestinian youth collaborate in conducting scientific, ecologically based experiments; Neve Shalom where Jews and Palestinian Arabs have been living together for fifty years; Derech Hachlama whose volunteers drive Palestinian families with sick children from checkpoints to Israeli hospitals; and others. Within the context of the Netanyahu government's increasingly hard-line approach to the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza, the unsung story of this intrepid band of warriors for peaceful coexistence deserves telling.


Cancer is the second leading cause of the death in the United States (U.S.). The National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NCCCP) is a national, public health practice program funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The NCCCP has been planning and implementing interventions to reduce the burden of cancer since 1998. Interventions are implemented across three areas primary prevention, early detection, and survivorship using health systems and environmental changes to promote sustainable cancer control. The aim of this chapter is to provide a summary of the NCCCP, and highlight specific examples of interventions and successes to aid cancer planning in other countries. Cancer plan analyses show that all NCCCP participant cancer plans address reducing tobacco use for cancer prevention and 98% contain activities to increase colorectal cancer screening. The vast majority implement activities to improve the quality of life following a cancer diagnosis (94%). Relatively fewer cancer plans contain activities to reduce radon exposure (42%), promote human papilloma virus vaccination (62%), and incorporate the use of genomics in cancer control (56%). The examples of NCCCP activi ties demonstrate success in controlling cancer and other non-communicable diseases through public health practice.


This thesis is about common-sense psychology and its role in cognitive science. Put simply, the argument is that common-sense psychology is important because it offers clues to some complex problems in cognitive science, and because common-sense psychology has significant effects on our intuitions, both in science and on an everyday level.

The thesis develops a theory of anthropomorphism in common-sense psychology. Anthropomorphism, the natural human tendency to ascribe human characteristics (and especially human mental characteristics) to things that aren't human, is an important theme in the thesis. Anthropomorphism reveals an endemic anthropocentricity that deeply influences our thinking about other minds. The thesis then constructs a descriptive model of anthropomorphism in common-sense psychology, and uses it to analyse two studies of the ascription of mental states. The first, Baron- Cohen et al. 's (1985) false belief test, shows how cognitive modelling can be used to compare different theories of common-sense psychology. The second study, Searle's (1980) `Chinese Room', shows 'that this same model can reproduce the patterns of scientific intuitions taken to systems which pass the Turing test (Turing, 1950), suggesting that it is best seen as a common-sense test for a mind, not a scientific one. Finally, the thesis argues that scientific theories involving the ascription of mentality through a model or a metaphor are partly dependent on each individual scientist's common-sense psychology.

To conclude, this thesis develops an interdisciplinary study of common-sense psychology and shows that its effects are more wide ranging than is commonly thought. This means that it affects science more than might be expected, but that careful study can help us to become mindful of these effects. Within this new framework, a proper understanding of common-sense psychology could lay important new foundations for the future of cognitive science.


Approximate PP-wave reflection coefficients for weak contrast interfaces separating elastic, weakly transversely isotropic media have been derived recently by several authors. Application of these coefficients is limited because the axis of symmetry of transversely isotropic media must be either perpendicular or parallel to the reflector. In this paper, we remove this limitation by deriving a formula for the PP-wave reflection coefficient for weak contrast interfaces separating two weakly but arbitrarily anisotropic media. The formula is obtained by applying the first-order perturbation theory. The approximate coefficient consists of a sum of the PP-wave reflection coefficient for a weak contrast interface separating two background isotropic half-spaces and a perturbation attributable to the deviation of anisotropic half-spaces from their isotropic backgrounds. The coefficient depends linearly on differences of weak anisotropy parameters across the interface. This simplifies studies of sensitivity of such coefficients to the parameters of the surrounding structure, which represent a basic part of the amplitude-versus-offset (AVO) or amplitude-versus-azimuth (AVA) analysis. The reflection coefficient is reciprocal. In the same way, the formula for the PP-wave transmission coefficient can be derived. The generalization of the procedure presented for the derivation of coefficients of converted waves is also possible although slightly more complicated. Dependence of the reflection coefficient on the angle of incidence is expressed in terms of three factors, as in isotropic media. The first factor alone describes normal incidence reflection. The second yields the low-order angular variations. All three factors describe the coefficient in the whole region, in which the approximate formula is valid. In symmetry planes of weakly anisotropic media of higher symmetry, the approximate formula reduces to the formulas presented by other authors. The accuracy of the approximate formula for the PP reflection coefficient is illustrated on the model with an interface separating an isotropic half-space from a half-space filled by a transversely isotropic material with a horizontal axis of symmetry. The results show a very good fit with results of the exact formula, even in cases of strong anisotropy and strong velocity contrast.


This paper analyzes the information asymmetry between owner/manager and lenders. More specifically, the research investigates the role of corporate governance mechanisms in reducing the agency costs of debt. The findings show that lenders perceive higher agency costs of debt if the controlling shareholder owns a percentage of capital greater than 66%. Results also show that the presence of independent directors elected by minority shareholders on the board mitigates the agency conflicts between borrowers and lenders. In the same way, the audit committee independence reduces the agency costs of debt. Moreover, the study shows that when the audit committee chairman coincides with the board chairman banks perceive more risk and, therefore, a bigger asymmetry. This coincidence increases the concentration of power in the hands of just one person and this enhances the likelihood of opportunistic actions by the management that could damage lenders. This means that it is costly for companies to concede to just one person too much influence over the board activities, because it reduces the effectiveness of the monitoring role played by independent directors, increasing the information asymmetry between borrowers and lenders.


Concern has been expressed in the professional literature - borne out by professional experience and observation - that the supply and demand relationship existing between the 13 English and Welsh Library and Information Studies (LIS) Schools (as providers of `First Professional' staff) and the Higher Education Library and Information Services (HE LIS) sector of England and Wales (as one group of employers of such staff) is unsatisfactory and needs attention. An appropriate methodology to investigate this problem was devised. A basic content analysis of Schools' curricular and recruitment material intended for public consumption was undertaken to establish an overview of the LIS initial professional education system in England and Wales, and to identify and analyse any covert messages imparted to readers. This was followed by a mix of Main Questionnaires and Semi-Structured Interviews with appropriate populations. The investigation revealed some serious areas of dissatisfaction by the HE LIS Chiefs with the role and function of the Schools. Considerable divergence of views emerged on the state of the working relationships between the two sectors and on the Schools' successes in meeting the needs of the HE LIS sector and on CPD provision. There were, however, areas of substantial and consistent agreement between the two sectors. The main implications of the findings were that those areas encompassing divergence of views were worrying and needed addressing by both sides. Possible ways forward included recommendations on improving the image of the profession purveyed by the Schools; the forming of closer and more effective inter-sectoral relationships; recognising fully the importance of `practicum' and increasing and sustaining the network of `practicum' providers.


Regional food systems are complex networks, with numerous retail sources that underpin a local economy. However, evidence is limited regarding how consumers define, identify, and source regionally grown fresh fruits and vegetables (RGFFV). A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tasmania (TAS) and South Western Australia (SWA) to compare how RGFFV are defined, identified and sourced by consumers, including self-reported consumption of selected RGFFV. Survey data were analyzed using the Chi-square test and t-tests. Results (TAS n = 120, SWA n = 123) identified that consumers had mixed perceptions of how RGFFV are defined, including produce sold at farmers markets, or grown within their region (TAS/SWA). RGFFV were commonly identified using product labelling (55% TAS, 69% SWA; p > 0.05). Respondents reported frequently shopping for RGFFV at major supermarkets, with more TAS respondents shopping weekly in comparison to SWA respondents (67% vs. 38%; p < 0.001). Supermarkets offered convenience and consumers enjoyed the experience of farmers' markets, especially in TAS (42%) in comparison to SWA (21%; p = 0.012). The major RGFFV consumed were root vegetables and apples/pears, but consumers were frequently unsure about the produce's provenance. Our findings indicate multiple opportunities to improve consumption of fresh, regional produce in TAS and SWA, which may positively impact regional economic growth and community health.


Two species Gomphonema laticollum Reichardt and Gomphonema bukycanyona sp. nov. are recorded for the first time from the hydrotopes of Ukraine. Their morphology using CM and SEM microphotos and geographic distribution are described. New terminology is suggested for the poles of the heteropolar frustule. Depending on the pole contour valve head and foot or head pole and foot pole are used to date. However, many species of Gomphonema Ehrenb. do not have a wide round pole that resembles a head, instead they may have the same contour on both poles. According of every pole functions an attaching valve pole is a pole with pore fields or other structures that attach individual to substratum. A free valve pole is relatively freely located in a space pole. The function of free pole consists in expansion of individual contact space – a part of the environment where an individual may interact directly with its physical body and its biospace (=биополе in Rus.). Within an individual contact space physical, maximum energy and informative interaction, high interchange of substances are accomplished between individual and environment. This ecosystem parameter is a part of individual biosphere and impacts directly on the formation of a species econiche. Proposed terms concern functional morphology of the genera with heteropolar frustule as Gomphonema, Didymosphenia M. Schmidt, Meridion Agardh, Licmophora Agardh and other. Species typification of Bacillariophyta is discussed.


Systemic sclerosis (SSc) and vibration induced white finger syndrome (VWF) are common causes of secondary Raynaud's phenomenon. Previous studies have suggested an increase in inflammation in patients with SSc. Vibration induced white finger syndrome occurs in workers exposed to vibration and is now a prescribed disease. In VWF, although it is recognised that vibration can cause direct damage to blood vessels, it does not explain why only some workers are affected. It is possible that an inflammatory process develops in these patients in the same way as is seen in SSc. Leukotriene B4, produced mainly by polymorphonuclear cells, is a potent mediator of inflammation. The plasma thiol concentration shows the degree of oxidation of plasma and a decreased concentration indicates the increased production of free radicals which are capable of oxidative damage. In this work, the white blood cell (WBC) production of leukotriene B4 and plasma thiol concentrations were measured in patients with SSc and VWF. Fifty nine patients were studied: 34 had SSc and 25 had VWF. The results were compared with 25 matched normal controls and are expressed as the median and range. After stimulation of the polymorphonuclear cells with calcium ionophore A23187 (1 microgram/ml), patients with SSc and VWF were found to have significantly increased leukotriene B4 production (23.5 (14.4-44.0) and 26 (14.4-39.4) ng/10(6) cells, respectively) compared with normal controls (17.2 (6.0-38.0) ng/10(6) cells). The plasma thiol concentration was shown to be significantly lower in patients with SSc and VWF (445 (375-475) and 450 (417-510) mumol/l, respectively) compared with normal controls (480 (418-555) mumol/l). Our results show increased leukotriene B4 production and increased free radical activity in patients with SSc and VWF. Although previous indirect evidence has suggested increased WBC activity in patients with SSc, this is reported directly here for the first time. In addition, the possibility of an inflammatory process occurring in patients with VWF, as shown here, has not previously been studied. This may be a further mechanism to explain the poor circulation in the fingers of these patients.


We study the impact of the minimum wage on firm exit in the restaurant industry, exploiting recent changes in the minimum wage at the city level. We find that the impact of the minimum wage depends on whether a restaurant was already close to the margin of exit. Restaurants with lower ratings are closer to the margin of exit at all observed minimum wage levels, and are disproportionately driven out of business by increases to the minimum wage. Our point estimates suggest that a one dollar increase in the minimum wage leads to a 14 percent increase in the likelihood of exit for a 3.5-star restaurant (which is the median rating on Yelp), but has no discernible impact for a 5-star restaurant (on a 1 to 5 star scale). Looking at data from delivery orders, we find that lower rated restaurants also increase prices in response to minimum minimum wage increases. Overall, our analysis also highlights how digital data can be used to shed new light on labor policy and the economy.


The objective of this paper is to understand the RRA's relatively high, and yet uneven, performance. While the organization is effective regarding overall revenue collection, and processes of tax filling and payment, it is much less so with regard to everyday bookkeeping, reporting and provision of inputs to policymaking. The paper argues that the dominant nature of the political settlement and the ruling elite's paradigmatic ideas of national self-reliance supported the performance of the RRA in extracting revenues. On the other hand, the top-down pressure on the RRA to perform produced a range of perverse incentives in the organization, making everyday processes of bookkeeping and reporting secondary. In addition, vested interests regarding property tax and the tension between state-centered and marketed ideas about development led to a series of policy gaps that limited revenue mobilization. Furthermore, the vulnerability of the elite anchored in its minority status, and its origins in the diaspora, meant that the state in general, and the RRA in particular, while autonomous from social pressure, might not be much embedded in society. This led to an uneven performance. The organization performed well in the raw task of extracting revenue, which requires a high level of autonomy, but much less so when its tasks, such as providing advice to policy formulation, required some embeddedness with key segments of society.


Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques have recently become popular in the treatment of neurological diseases and disorders. Transcranial direct current stimulation [tDCS] is a method of brain stimulation whereby direct electrical current is passed through the intact scalp into the nervous tissue, producing lasting changes in neural activity of the stimulated areas. The polarity, or direction, of current flow in relation to the orientation of neural networks determines whether neuronal activity is enhanced or inhibited. The lasting increases or decreases in neuronal activity produced by tDCS have been used to shape cognitive function in various neurological diseases and disorders, including stroke, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and depression. Currently, the mechanism of action for the effects caused by tDCS is not well understood. The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the efficacy of tDCS as a therapy for these brain disorders. The vast majority of these studies found strong and largely consistent evidence


This study was performed to test the feasibility of chitosan and polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) incorporated nanoparticles as sustained-release carriers for the delivery of negatively charged low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry was used to evaluate the interactions between chitosan and LMWH. The shifts, intensity, and broadening of the characteristic peaks for the functional groups in the FTIR spectra indicated that strong interactions occur between the positively charged chitosans and the negatively charged LMWHs. Three types of LMWH nanoparticles (NP-1, NP-2, and NP-3) were prepared using chitosan with or without PLGA: NP-1 nanoparticles were formed by polyelectrolyte complexation after single mixing, NP-2 nanoparticles were prepared by polyelectrolyte complexation after single emulsion–diffusion–evaporation, and NP-3 nanoparticles were optimized by double emulsion–diffusion–evaporation. NP-3 nanoparticles of LMWH prepared by the emulsion–diffusion–evaporation method showed significant differences in particle morphology, size, zeta potential, and drug release profile compared to NP-1 nanoparticles formed by polyelectrolyte complexation. Another ionic complex of LMWH with chitosan-incorporated PLGA nanoparticles (NP-2) showed lower drug entrapment efficiency than that of NP-1 and NP-3. The drug release rate of NP-3 was slower than the release rates of NP-1 and NP-2, although particle morphology of NP-3 was similar to that of NP-2. Cell viability was not adversely affected when cells were treated with all three types of nanoparticles. The data presented in this study demonstrate that nanoparticles formulated with chitosan–PLGA could be a safe sustained-release carrier for the delivery of LMWH.


Focusing on internal contradictions within the Israeli left, this essay considers the impact of the historical legacy of anti-Semitism on everyday thinking about Israel and the Palestinian territories. Contesting the view that to criticize Israel is to engage in anti-Semitic defamation, it offers an historical account of how Israel's actions in the West Bank have come to be immunized from conscientious criticism. It also documents how progressive media outlets in contemporary Israel have silenced or otherwise marginalized Israel's most active critics.


By applying a homogenization method based on systematic full-electrodynamic complex-band-structure calculations, we deduce the effective permittivity tensor of a uniaxial photonic crystal consisting of consecutive hexagonal arrays of aligned metallic nanorods of finite length. The form of the obtained permittivity tensor over a relatively broad low-frequency region, where homogenization is applicable, suggests the occurrence of unconventional refractive behavior, namely, negative refraction and self-collimation. This behavior is corroborated by straightforward calculation of the relevant group velocities in the actual photonic crystal. Moreover, it is shown that, in the frequency region where negative refraction occurs, a finite slab of the crystal possesses eigenmodes that form flat bands outside the light cone, as many as the number of its constituent layers. These eigenmodes allow for transfer of the evanescent components of an incident wave field to the other side of the slab, thus enabling subwavelength imaging.


Introduction: Cheiloscopy is the study of characteristic pattern of elevations and depressions on labial mucosa. It is unique for every individual-like fingerprints and hence can be used to determine the sex and for personal identity. Aim: The aim of the study is to compare and to determine the distribution of lip print pattern among Indian and African students studying in KSR Educational Institutions, Tiruchengode. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on randomly selected 100 college students (50 Indian and 50 African) studying in KSR Educational institutions, Tiruchengode. The study included a total of 50 Indians (30 males and 20 females) and 50 Africans (30 males and 20 females). Materials used in the present study were bond paper, oil-free lipstick or matted lipstick, lipstick applying brush, and magnifying glass with light lip prints was taken on folded bond paper and analyzed using magnifying lens. Tsuchihashi's classification of lip prints was used, and statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. Results: Our study showed that Type II was the most predominant pattern among Indian males, and Type III was the most predominant pattern among African males, whereas Type I was the most predominant pattern among both Indian and African females. Hence, these results confirm the uniqueness of lip prints for every individual and show its variation according to gender. Conclusion: Based on the lip anatomy and their prints, it is possible to find out the races. Further, research needs to be done among a larger population to prove lip prints as a promising tool for personal identification and to arrive at guidelines regarding racial predilection.


Since the early 1990s, many authors have independently suggested that self/nonself recognition by the immune system might be modulated by the rates of change of antigen challenges. This paper introduces an extremely simple and purely conceptual mathematical model that allows dynamic discrimination of immune challenges. The main component of the model is a motif which is ubiquitous in systems biology, the incoherent feedforward loop, which endows the system with the capability to estimate exponential growth exponents, a prediction which is consistent with experimental work showing that exponentially increasing antigen stimulation is a determinant of immune reactivity. Combined with a bistable system and a simple feedback repression mechanism, an interesting phenomenon emerges as a tumor growth rate increases: elimination, tolerance (tumor growth), again elimination, and finally a second zone of tolerance (tumor escape). This prediction from our model is analogous to the "two-zone tumor tolerance" phenomenon experimentally validated since the mid 1970s. Moreover, we provide a plausible biological instantiation of our circuit using combinations of regulatory and effector T cells.


A series of reduced band gap donor–acceptor copolymers that contain electron accepting 1,2,6,7-tetra(4-dodecylphenyl)dicyclopenta[cd,jk]pyrene were prepared. The hydrocarbon acceptor relies on its cyclopenta-fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (CP-PAH) character to access a relatively reduced lowest unoccupied molecular orbital. The donor unit was varied between thiophene, bithiophene, and 1,4-diethynyl-2,5-bis(octyloxy)-benzene producing polymers with band gaps between 1.69–1.74 eV. The synthetic methodology as well as the optoelectronic properties of the donor–acceptor copolymers, including thin-film absorption and cyclic voltammetry, are presented.


We present a new scalable approach to using deep neural network (DNN) derived features in Gaussian mixture density hidden Markov model (GMM-HMM) based acoustic modeling for large vocabulary continuous speech recognition (LVCSR). The DNN-based feature extractor is trained from a subset of training data to mitigate the scalability issue of DNN training, while GMM-HMMs are trained by using state-of-the-art scalable training methods and tools to leverage the whole training set. In a benchmark evaluation, we used 309-hour Switchboard-I (SWB) training data to train a DNN first, which achieves a word error rate (WER) of 15.4% on NIST-2000 Hub5 evaluation set by a traditional DNN-HMM based approach. When the same DNN is used as a feature extractor and 2,000-hour "SWB+Fisher" training data is used to train the GMM-HMMs, our DNN-GMM-HMM approach achieves a WER of 13.8%. If per-conversation-side based unsupervised adaptation is performed, a WER of 13.1% can be achieved.


Femtosecond filamentation inside a periodic lattice in air is numerically shown to form intense dynamic bullets. The long propagation distance of the bullet structure is primarily attributed to the effect of the lattice that regulates the competition between linear and nonlinear spatiotemporal effects in the region of normal dispersion.


This thesis deals with the application of electromagnetic time reversal to locating transient disturbance sources and the use of the asymptotic theory for the modelling of their interaction with transmission lines. We demonstrate that the time-of-arrival, which is one of the most commonly used methods to locate lightning discharges, can be seen as a special case of time reversal. The problem of a lossy ground that affects the propagation of electromagnetic transient fields generated by a lightning strike is addressed by proposing three different back-propagation models and comparing their performances in terms of location accuracy. Two sets of simulations are carried out to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed approaches. The first set of simulations is performed using numerically-generated fields and the proposed algorithm is shown to yield very good results even if the soil is not perfectly conducting. In particular, it is shown that considering a model in which losses are inverted in the back-propagation yields theoretically exact results for the source location. We also show that a lack of access to the complete recorded waveforms may lead to higher location errors, although the computed errors are found to be within the range of performance of the present LLSs. A second set of simulations is performed using the sensor data reported by the Austrian Lightning Location System (ALDIS). The locations obtained by way of the EMTR method using only the available sensor data (amplitude, arrival time and time-to-peak), are observed to be within a few kilometres of the locations supplied by the LLS. The possible sources of this discrepancy are discussed in the thesis. The second part of this document deals with the computation of the current induced in a line due to an external electromagnetic field. We derive high-frequency expressions for the current induced along a multiconductor line by an external plane wave, in which the effects of the terminals of the line are modelled by matrices of scattering and reflection coefficients. Different approaches are proposed to compute the coefficients that feed the analytical expression for the current induced along the line. Using an iterative method, mathematical expressions are derived, for the particular case of open-circuit lines. For the general case of arbitrary line terminations, an approach using auxiliary short lines, solved with a numerical solver is proposed. At low frequencies, the proposed three-term formulation can be adapted to lossy lines and analytical expressions for the coefficients, providing a new and elegant formulation for the classical transmission line theory. The proposed theory is validated through numerical simulations and experiments and is found to be much more effective than the traditional full-wave approaches in terms of memory requirements and computational times. The asymptotic theory is also applied to a lumped source excitation, according to a procedure analogous to the one for a plane wave excitation. A method for the determination of matrices of coefficients is also presented.


Abstract The coordinated regulation of protein kinases is a rapid mechanism that integrates diverse cues and swiftly determines appropriate cellular responses. However, our understanding of cellular decision‐making has been limited by the small number of simultaneously monitored phospho‐regulatory events. Here, we have estimated changes in activity in 215 human kinases in 399 conditions derived from a large compilation of phosphopeptide quantifications. This atlas identifies commonly regulated kinases as those that are central in the signaling network and defines the logic relationships between kinase pairs. Co‐regulation along the conditions predicts kinase–complex and kinase–substrate associations. Additionally, the kinase regulation profile acts as a molecular fingerprint to identify related and opposing signaling states. Using this atlas, we identified essential mediators of stem cell differentiation, modulators of Salmonella infection, and new targets of AKT1. This provides a global view of human phosphorylation‐based signaling and the necessary context to better understand kinase‐driven decision‐making.


BACKGROUND: Silymarin derived from silybum marianum (milk thistle), a flowering member of the daisy family, may benefit liver function in people infected with the hepatitis C virus. The aims of this pilot study were to assess the efficacy and safety of silymarin on serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA, serum aminotransferases (ALT, AST) levels, liver fibrosis and well-being in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). METHODS: This prospective self-controlled trial study was conducted from March to September 2006 at Department of Gastroenterology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. 55 patients with HCV (10 female and 45 male) with a mean age of 31.8 ± 6.4 years (10-67 years) were participated in the study. Patients received 24 weeks of silymarin (630 mg/day). Baseline virological biochemical, liver fibrosis (by a serum fibrosis markers, including YKL–40 and Hyaluronic acid), and SF-36 questionnaire were performed with biochemical tests repeated at the end of the treatment period. RESULTS: There was statistically difference in mean of ALT (108.7 ± 86.6 vs 70.3 ± 57.7) before and after the treatment (p < 0.001). The means of AST were 99.4 ± 139.7 and 59.7 ± 64.32 before and after the treatment with statistically differences (p = 0.004). After the treatment, nine patients were found with negative HCV-RNA (p = 0.004) and statistically significant improvement in results of liver fibrosis markers were found only in fibrosis group (p = 0.015). Quality of life was improved significantly (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated that in patients with CHC performing silymarin (650 mg/day) for 6 months, improved serum HCV-RNA titer, serum aminotransferases (ALT, AST), hepatic fibrosis and patient's quality of life. More future studies are warranted.


Abstract Over the years, children with autism have often been portrayed in the professional literature and the popular media as asocial creatures bereft of words and subjective worldviews. Alternatively, I examine the lived contexts in which children with autism spectrum disorders actively engage with family members in coconstructed narrative recountings of personal life events, and are apprenticed into culturally consonant genres of life narrative as a technology of the self. Employing naturalistic video- and audio-taped data documenting the everyday lives of 17 U.S. children diagnosed with high functioning autism and Asperger's syndrome, I demonstrate how everyday narratives of personal experience offer a vehicle for expression of the children's subjective life worlds and a venue for self-presentation and intersubjective attunement in which social and moral distinctions of normativity and difference are at stake. These deeply interactive self-fashioning processes highlight and make visible the dynamic intersubjective practices that contribute to human subjectivity. [autism, children, narrative, self, sociality]


This study reviews the presentation and management of extremity soft tissue sarcoma after unplanned incomplete resection in a musculoskeletal tumour centre in Hong Kong. Medical records of 18 patients who were referred to our centre for further management from January 1995 to May 2001 after inadequate tumour excision were reviewed. Fourteen patients had been referred from private clinics and four from public hospitals. At initial presentation, 10 patients had lesions exceeding 5 cm, nine had a tumour deep in the subfascial plane, and eight had tumours that had recently increased in size. Sixteen had no preoperative radiological assessment or biopsy performed before excision. All except two patients needed additional skin and muscle reconstruction in a subsequent re-resection, and 12 required postoperative radiotherapy. Two patients subsequently developed distant metastases, and one patient died of an unrelated cause. No amputations were required, and no major complications arose from second surgery. Physicians' alertness towards the possible malignancy of soft tissue masses in extremities is important to avoid a potentially mutilating second resection. Well-planned re-resection in a specialised tumour centre can achieve satisfactory local control of disease.


instruction-level parallelism, parametric architecture, EPIC, VLIW, superscalar, speculative execution, predicated execution, programmatic cache control, run-time memory disambiguation, branch architecture HPL-PD is a parametric processor architecture conceived for research in instruction-level parallelism (ILP). Its main purpose is to serve as a vehicle to investigate processor architectures having significant parallelism and to investigate the compiler technology needed to effectively exploit such architectures. The architecture is parametric in that it admits machines of different composition and scale, especially with respect to the nature and amount of parallelism offered. The architecture admits EPIC, VLIW and superscalar implementations so as to provide a basis for understanding the merits and demerits of these different styles of implementation. This report describes those parts of the architecture that are common to all machines in the family. It introduces the basic concepts such as the structure of an instruction, instruction execution semantics, the types of register files, etc. and describes the semantics of the operation repertoire.


Purpose  This report presents an evaluation of the implementation of a Best Practice Information Sheet related to tracheal suctioning of adults with an artificial airway. The Centre for Evidence-Based Nursing Aotearoa based in Auckland, New Zealand, conducted a systematic review of the evidence and produced a Best Practice Information Sheet. The present study is an evaluation of the impact of this information sheet. The study also describes the process used to implement the Best Practice Information Sheet at each of three study sites.

Method  A survey of 105 nurses was conducted at three sites: one in New Zealand and two in Australia. Using a before/after design, data were collected at the time of release of the Best Practice Information Sheet and then approximately 12 months later. Suctioning practice was observed with a focus on assessment of the patient by the nurse, the procedure used to suction and the bases for decisions made about suctioning. Before and after data were compared to capture the possible effects on practice of the recommendations in the Best Practice Information Sheet. Those involved in leading the implementation process at each site were interviewed by telephone, notes from the interviews were thematically analysed and comparisons were drawn.

Results  The degree of uptake of the evidence was variable across the three sites and across the recommendations. For a number of recommendations, there was a modest trend towards the uptake of the recommendations of the Best Practice Information Sheet. Other recommendations were congruent with existing usual practice and therefore no change was observed. Each study site employed a range of strategies to implement the Best Practice Information Sheet. Improved practice was seen in relation to a greater number of recommendations at one site. This site appears to have used more sources of information to evaluate the quality of practice, which may have raised the profile of suctioning and its impact on patients.

Conclusions  This study suggests a trend towards a modest uptake of best practice recommendations into nursing practice demonstrated by some behavioural changes within a 12-month period in the context of an implementation plan and a Best Practice Information Sheet.


Studies have established the restricted interactional activity that occurs during teacher-led lessons in classrooms. However, little attention has been given in conversation analysis to the interactional accomplishment of restrictions during activity in classrooms when students work alone. This chapter presents an analysis of restricted interactional activity during an independent writing lesson where young children were completing a writing task. During this lesson some children sought information from others about the spelling of unknown words. The analysis in the chapter produces descriptions of the methods used by the teacher and a student to avoid providing the spelling of words. Withholding of information will be shown to result from the restriction on telling, producing working out of words rather than the provision of specific information that was requested.


Named entity recognition (NER) is a vital task in spoken language understanding, which aims to identify mentions of named entities in text e.g., from transcribed speech. Existing neural models for NER rely mostly on dedicated word-level representations, which suffer from two main shortcomings. First, the vocabulary size is large, yielding large memory requirements and training time. Second, these models are not able to learn morphological or phonological representations. To remedy the above shortcomings, we adopt a neural solution based on bidirectional LSTMs and conditional random fields, where we rely on subword units, namely characters, phonemes, and bytes. For each word in an utterance, our model learns a representation from each of the subword units. We conducted experiments in a real-world large-scale setting for the use case of a voice-controlled device covering four languages with up to 5.5M utterances per language. Our experiments show that (1) with increasing training data, performance of models trained solely on subword units becomes closer to that of models with dedicated word-level embeddings (91.35 vs 93.92 F1 for English), while using a much smaller vocabulary size (332 vs 74K), (2) subword units enhance models with dedicated word-level embeddings, and (3) combining different subword units improves performance.


We present a new method for reconstructing digitally recorded off-axis Fresnel holograms. Currently-used reconstruction methods are based on the simulation and propagation of a reference wave that is diffracted by the hologram. This procedure introduces a twin-image and a zero-order term which are inherent to the diffraction phenomenon. These terms perturb the reconstruction and limit the field of view. Our new approach splits the reconstruction process into two parts. First, we recover the amplitude and the phase in the camera plane from the measured hologram intensity. Our algorithm is based on the hypothesis of a slowly varying object wave which interferes with a more rapidly varying reference wave. In a second step, we propagate this complex wave to refocus it using the Fresnel transform. We therefore avoid the presence of the twin-image and zero-order interference terms. This new approach is flexible and can be adapted easily to complicated experimental setups. We demonstrate its feasibility in the case of digital holographic microscopy and present results for the imaging of living neurons.