The advancement of religion is a controversial head of charitable trusts: whilst its foundations are based on tenets of intangible belief systems, New Zealand law, alongside other common law jurisdictions, supports the notion that the public benefit requirement of all charitable trusts be presumed in this particular head. Common law also reflects decades of evolution of the interpretation of the advancement of religion, thus not limiting the advancement of religion to only the traditional methods of yesteryear, such as offering church services. Nevertheless, with the recent contentious judgment in the New Zealand case of Liberty Trust v Charities Commission, this article submits that the established doctrines associated with the advancement of religion have been advanced beyond envisioned boundaries. The article supports a more conservative interpretation based on established case law. This would not only continue to support fully the evolution of the advancement of religion, but would also provide judicial certainty in an area of law that is undergoing continued change.


This thesis examines, in comparative terms, Canadian and Nigerian laws relating to the concept of corporate majority rule and minority protection from majority opportunism and oppression in private corporations. The key shareholder remedies of derivative actions and oppression are comparatively discussed, with highlights of the similarities
and differences in both remedies under Canadian and Nigerian laws.
From theoretical perspectives, this thesis examines the theory that considers the corporation a nexus for a set of contracting relationships among parties. It also considers the proprietary conceptualisation of the corporation. Another theory sees the corporation as an agency relationship between two individuals with differing goals and interests. Lastly, the legal personality theory of the corporation, which considers the corporation a legal person capable of acquiring rights and assuming obligations, is discussed. Understanding of these theories gives better insights into reasons why
conflicts arise amongst corporate stakeholders.
A comparative appraisal of the key minority shareholder remedies of oppression and derivative actions under Canadian and Nigerian corporate laws reveals certain areas of convergence and other areas of uniqueness. This work demonstrates that the shareholder remedies available in the two jurisdictions are very similar in nature and, in most cases, known by the same names. However, there are some differences bordering on, among others, proper parties to commence shareholder litigations, length of pre-action notice, and the codification of common law rules into the corporate statute. For instance, while Nigeria statutorily incorporates the common law rule in Foss v. Harbottle and its exceptions into its corporate law, Canada only utilises the rule for historical and analytical purposes.
This thesis advocates a reconsideration of the minority shareholder remedy of derivative actions with regard to close corporations, and the absence of a principled test for
determination of liability under the oppression remedy. The attitude of the courts has always been to treat each case according to its peculiar facts. It is further suggested
that the courts could, in the exercise of their discretion, liberally interpret the provisions of current corporate statutes to include discretionary, non-traditional corporate stakeholders, such as the environment, as beneficiaries of the dynamic remedy of oppression.


Voice conversion is a challenging task which transforms the voice characteristics of a source speaker to a target speaker without changing linguistic content. Recently, there have been many works on many-to-many Voice Conversion (VC) based on Variational Autoencoder (VAEs) achieving good results, however, these methods lack the ability to disentangle speaker identity and linguistic content to achieve good performance on unseen speaker scenarios. In this paper, we propose a new method based on feature disentanglement to tackle many to many voice conversion. The method has the capability to disentangle speaker identity and linguistic content from utterances, it can convert from many source speakers to many target speakers with a single autoencoder network. Moreover, it naturally deals with the unseen target speaker scenarios. We perform both objective and subjective evaluations to show the competitive performance of our proposed method compared with other state-of-the-art models in terms of naturalness and target speaker similarity.


One strategy used by some Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) governments to stimulate national competitiveness is to encourage innovation via programmes aimed at assisting firms to collaborate. Economic Development Officers operate within a multi-government bureaucratic maze in order to implement these programmes. This paper examines what factors affect the way Economic Development Officers implement an array of government policies that foster collaboration amongst firms and the implications of those factors. The findings suggest that a number of factors compromise their ability to implement these policies effectively, especially since the implementation of New Public Management. In particular, the findings suggest that organisational bureaucratic communication processes moderate the way Economic Development Officers' perceive a chronic lack of resources and multi-stakeholder accountability. The findings reiterate the importance of ensuring that there is synergy between business policy goals and resourcing and accountability mechanisms for those expected to implement the programmes intended to foster collaboration amongst firms.


Aim: This paper provides an overview of the epidemiology of rugby league injuries and associated costs in New Zealand requiring medical treatment. Method: New Zealand national Accident Compensation Corporation injury data for the period 1999 to 2007 were searched for rugby league injury cases. Data were analysed by demographics, body region, nature/severity of injury, and medical procedure and costs. Results: A total of 5941 injury entitlement claims were recorded over the study period with a significant decrease observed in the injury rate between the 1999–2000 and 2002–2003 reporting years. The total cost of the injuries for the study period was $42 822 048 (equivalent to £15 916 072). The mean (SD) number of injury entitlement claims per year was 743 (271) and yearly cost was $5 352 760 (£1 989 880) ($2 485 535 (£923 994)). The knee was the most commonly reported injury site (225 per 1000 entitlement claims; $8 750 147 (£3 252 020)) and soft tissue injuries were the most common injury types (474 per 1000 entitlement claims; $17 324 214 (£6 438 599)). Accounting for only 1.8% of total injury entitlement claims, concussion/brain injuries accounted for 6.3% of injury entitlement costs and had the highest mean cost per claim ($25 347 (£9420)). The upper and lower arm recorded the highest mean injury site claim cost of $43 096 (£16 016) per claim. The 25–29 age group recorded 27.7% of total injury entitlement claims and 29.6% of total injury entitlement costs, which was slightly more than the 20–24 age group (27.3% claims; 24.7% costs). Nearly 15% of total moderate to serious injury entitlement claims and 20% of total costs were recorded from participants 35 years or older. Discussion: This study identified that the knee was the most common injury site and soft tissue injuries were the most common injury type requiring medical treatment, which is consistent with other international studies on rugby league epidemiology. This study also highlights that the rate of injury and the average age of injured rugby league players increased over time. The high cost of concussion/brain injuries is a cause for concern as it reflects the severity of the injuries. Conclusion: Injury prevention programmes for rugby league should focus on reducing the risk of concussion/brain injury and knee and soft tissue injury, and should target participants in the 20–30 years old age range. More longitudinal epidemiological studies with specific details on injury mechanisms and participation data are warranted to further identify the injury circumstances surrounding participation in rugby league activities.


The temperature distribution in the Danish Central Graben contains many local thermal anomalies, with the thermal gradient varying throughout the area from around 20 degrees Ckm (super -1) to about 55 degrees Ckm (super -1) . The presence of sub-surface salt structures of various shapes and sizes is responsible for many of the anomalies. In the case of the 1-1 well, however, four components can contribute to the observed thermal anomaly. (1) crystalline basement focusing of heat; (2) convection of heat from the deeper basin; (3) a local thermal anomaly due to salt or structure effects; and (4) the possible spatial variation of basement heat flux with position relative to the graben flank. While components (1), (2) and (3) do contribute to the thermal anomaly at the 1-1 well, they are not large enough to account for the anomaly without the presence of a local increase in basement heat flux of around 0.5 HFU (c. 21mWm (super -2) ).


We present a generic matrix class facility in Java and an on-going project for a runtime environment with continuous compilation aiming to support automatic parallelization of sparse computation on distributed environments. Our package comes with a collection of matrix classes with a uniform interface for operations on dense and sparse matrices. These matrix operations are implemented both for sequential and parallel executions on distributed memory environments. In our environment, a program such as the conjugate gradient solver is written by users using high-level generic matrix notations in Java. At runtime the generic notations are mapped to specific implementations. Our approach is particularly useful for optimizing sparse computation for distributed environments because, with the help of profiling information and a cost model, it can automatically select suitable compression and distribution schemes according to access patterns of the programs and non-zero structures of the matrices. Our testbed is currently based on Java and PVM on an IBM SP2 workstation cluster. Preliminary experimental results show that our approach is promising in speeding up sparse matrix computations on distributed memory environments. 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The integration, mining, and analysis of person-specific data can provide enormous opportunities for organizations, governments, and researchers to leverage today's massive data collections. However, the use of personal or otherwise sensitive data also raises concerns about the privacy, confidentiality, and potential discrimination of people. Privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) is a growing research area that aims at integrating sensitive information from multiple disparate databases held by different organizations while preserving the privacy of the individuals in these databases by not revealing their identities and thereby preventing re-identification and discrimination. PPRL approaches are increasingly required in many real-world application areas ranging from healthcare to national security. Previous approaches to PPRL have mostly focused on linking only two databases. Scaling PPRL to several databases is an open challenge since privacy threats as well as the computation and communication costs increase significantly with the number of databases involved. We thus propose a new encoding method of sensitive data based on Counting Bloom Filters (CBF) to improve privacy for multi-party PPRL (MP-PPRL). We investigate optimizations to reduce computation and communication costs for CBF-based MP-PPRL. Our empirical evaluation with real datasets demonstrates the viability of our approach in terms of scalability, linkage quality, and privacy.


There has been a recent surge of interest in understanding the convergence of gradient descent (GD) and stochastic gradient descent (SGD) in overparameterized neural networks. Most previous works assume that the training data is provided a priori in a batch, while less attention has been paid to the important setting where the training data arrives in a stream. In this paper, we study the streaming data setup and show that with overparamterization and random initialization, the prediction error of two-layer neural networks under one-pass SGD converges in expectation. The convergence rate depends on the eigen-decomposition of the integral operator associated with the so-called neural tangent kernel (NTK). A key step of our analysis is to show a random kernel function converges to the NTK with high probability using the VC dimension and McDiarmid's inequality.


Over the past thirty years, a great deal of business cycle research has been based on purely real models that abstract from the presence of nominal rigidities, and so (at least implicitly) assume that the Phillips curve is vertical. In this paper, I show that such models are fragile, in the sense that their implications change significantly when the Phillips curve is even slightly less than vertical. I consider a wide class of purely real macroeconomic models and perturb them by introducing a non-vertical Phillips curve. I show that in the perturbed models, if there is a lower bound on the nominal interest rate, then current outcomes necessarily depend on agents' beliefs about the long-run level of economic activity. The magnitude of this dependence becomes arbitrarily large as the slope of the Phillips curve becomes arbitrarily large in absolute value (closer to vertical). In contrast, the limiting purely real model ignores this form of monetary non-neutrality and macroeconomic instability. I conclude that purely real models are too incomplete to provide useful guides to questions about business cycles. I describe what elements should be added to such models in order to make them useful.


Assigning a fail grade, particularly when it results in the termination of a career goal, is a taboo and taken-for-granted aspect of an assessor's role. Hermeneutics provided the main framework for interpreting the subjective and objective experiences of both academic and fieldwork supervisors during this process.

An incremental research design, using a principal and two supplementary methods was used to investigate the minutiae of assessing whether a student has achieved the required standard of competence. Focused interviews were conducted with 25 academic and 5 fieldwork supervisors to compare the perspective of staff with different roles, relationships and responsibilities. These were preceded by two questionnaire surveys with trained, experienced fieldwork supervisors. On the first survey 64% (n=72) ranked 'failing a student' as their most problematical responsibility. The second survey comprised immediate and follow-up evaluations of five 'failure workshops' attended by 101 supervisors. They highlighted the importance of an assessor's affective response, reinforced effective supervisory strategies and the professional obligation to act as a gatekeeper of future standards.

The results revealed a diverse array of individual factors, institutional rituals and external pressures which seemed to facilitate or sabotage the quality of the process and outcome. These included an assessor's inexperience, the conflict in values and roles between therapist and educator; characteristics of the student particularly the pastoral relationship and stage of training; the valued impartiality of an external examiner or fieldwork organiser; and the threat to reputations and course viability if results provide the primary performance indicator.

An understanding of the complex constellation of factors which may influence an assessor's ability and confidence to fairly judge both initial and ongoing competence is important for all 'caring' professions to ensure only safe practitioners are registered to work with vulnerable clients.


This study deals with the relationship between computer expertise and obesity in the Black Belt region of Alabama. On the surface these concepts may seem unrelated. However, access to the internet has been associated with a plethora of positive outcomes related to overall quality of life including increased civic engagement (Tolbert & McNeal, 2003) and social capital building activities (Kavanaugh & Patterson, 2001). Non-hispanic blacks, Hispanics, those who did not graduate from high school, low income individuals, and older adults are affected by obesity to a greater degree (CDC, 2010; Wang & Beydoun, 2007). Recent studies have indicated increased computer use among all segments of the population; however, minorities and low-income populations lag behind in adopting some of these technologies (Fox, 2011). Data was collected from residents of the Black Belt region of Alabama. The assessment instrument was modified from a Computer Expertise (CE) questionnaire developed by Arning and Ziefle (2008). The instrument was modified by adding questions concerning demographics and obesity. A Pearson correlation indicated a small, negative relationship (r(304)=.-161, p=.002) between basal metabolic index (BMI) and CE score. When race/ethnicity was included in the model, regression analysis revealed that the CE score failed to explain a significant portion of the variance in BMI. However, search engine knowledge, laptop use, and obtaining health information from television were found to be significant predictors of BMI. The finding that search engine


Frequency dependent biological tissue is effectively modeled over a wide microwave bandwidth with FDTD, using a supplemental equation to account for dispersion. The varying wave velocity and attenuation is accurately accounted for with a simple single pole rational conductivity function of the Z-transform variable (Z = ejω∆t), along with constant real dielectric constant. Tt is possible to generate a supplemental discretized time domain equation which closely matches measured values across more than a decade of frequency. The agreement between measured and modeled propagation constant and decay rate for more than 30 tissue types are often to within 5%. This formulation avoids memory-intensive convolution operations and is at least as accurate as Debye models. Special stability conditions are derived using von Neumann analysis. The resulting requirement that all zeros of the stability equation be within the unit circle sets a minimum grid spacing interval. A tabulation of 2 ps time step models for 33 measured tissues is provided A threedimensional breast cancer simulation which makes use of four types of dispersive tissue is studied as an example of the effectiveness of this model. Keywords–Modeling, FDTD, Dispersion, Wave propagation.


The COVID-19 disaster has revealed the extent of Indonesia's capacity to deal with a pandemic. This study analyzes, at a greater depth, the situation of those deprived members of the population who live with multidimensional poverty and the risk of COVID-19 infection. The indicators for the deprivation of drinking water, cooking fuel and toddler nutrition contained in the Indonesian Multidimensional Poverty Index indicator are fatal risk factors affected by COVID-19. This study contributes to strategic policy recommendations, both in its focus and locus, to improve community resilience in facing the current and future pandemic. It is estimated that 176.04 million out of 264 million people or 66.62 percent of the Indonesian population are at risk of being infected with COVID-19. Of the 176 million people in the at-risk groups, at least 21.43 million people or 8.11 percent fall into the category of the multidimensionally poor. We estimate the multidimensional poor population in Indonesia to be 21.58 million people. This shows that most of the multidimensional poor population in Indonesia is vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. On the other hand, there are about 1.27 million multidimensionally poor individuals who are at high risk of being infected with COVID-19. Regionally, the number of people who are more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection tends to be concentrated in Java. Based on geographic characteristics, as many as 93.34 million people or 66.78 percent who live in urban areas are at risk. We also find a strong positive correlation between the number of people at risk and the number of multidimensional poor people in each province in Indonesia. We also conduct simulations using the susceptible, exposed, infectious, and recovered (SEIR) model to estimate the number of people affected in each risk group, based on whether there are social restriction policies or not. We use several simulation scenarios to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in a more diverse approach. Our finding shows that effective social restriction policies can significantly reduce the number of people affected by COVID-19. In simulations of the multidimensional poor and at-risk group, if there is no social restriction policy, the number of people in the group who can be infected with COVID-19 reaches1.13 million people, within six months. However, if there is a social restriction policy, the number of people infected in this group can be reduced to 27,348 using a not very effective policy and can be suppressed to reach 830 people with a very effective policy.


Social integration of refugees is a concept that connotes ideas of enjoying the opportunities, rights and services available to the citizens of the refugees' new community. This thesis examines the problems and process of social integration of Congolese refugees in one of the southern towns of Norway. This research mainly aimed at finding out whether Congolese refugees are socially well-integrated; and establishing factors that contribute to their integration or lack of it. Based on the expression of social integration theories, this research has used qualitative methods through interviews and document analysis. Results have shown that some Congolese refugees are socially integrated in the Norwegian community. Findings indicate that the mastery of the Norwegian language and the ability to establish social network with Norwegians citizens are the momentous factor to refugees' integration. This study suggest that the service in charge of refugee should develop a mechanism to ensure that refugees are given enough psychological assistance due to the fact that a good number of them have experienced such serious traumatic situations that financial and/or material assistance alone do not suffice for them to feel socially integrated in this new community.


The sixteen essays in this book were written to celebrate the ninetieth birthday of Richard Musgrave and to commemorate the tenth anniversary of CES, the Center for Economic Studies at the University of Munich. Musgrave is considered to be a founding father of modern public economics. He belongs to the intellectual tradition that views government as an instrument that can be used to correct market failure and to establish the society that people want. Although his work fits within the individualistic framework of modern economics, he also draws on principles of moral philosophy. The essays take stock of and extend the theory and practice of public finance and public policy. They address the evolving role of government and the welfare state, the interaction between taxation and markets, the future of pension and health care systems, and international tax issues and fiscal federalism.


Double-labeled oligonucleotide probes containing fluorophores interacting by energy-transfer mechanisms are essential for modern bioanalysis, molecular diagnostics, and in vivo imaging techniques. Although bright xanthene and cyanine dyes are gaining increased prominence within these fields, little attention has thus far been paid to probes containing these dyes internally attached, a fact which is mainly due to the quite challenging synthesis of such oligonucleotide probes. Herein, by using 2'-O-propargyl uridine phosphoramidite and a series of xanthenes and cyanine azide derivatives, we have for the first time performed solid-phase copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) click labeling during the automated phosphoramidite oligonucleotide synthesis followed by postsynthetic click reactions in solution. We demonstrate that our novel strategy is rapid and efficient for the preparation of novel oligonucleotide probes containing internally positioned xanthene and cyanine dye pairs and thus represents a significant step forward for the preparation of advanced fluorescent oligonucleotide probes. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the novel xanthene and cyanine labeled probes display unusual and very promising photophysical properties resulting from energy-transfer interactions between the fluorophores controlled by nucleic acid assembly. Potential benefits of using these novel fluorescent probes within, for example, molecular diagnostics and fluorescence microscopy include: Considerable Stokes shifts (40-110 nm), quenched fluorescence of single-stranded probes accompanied by up to 7.7-fold light-up effect of emission upon target DNA/RNA binding, remarkable sensitivity to single-nucleotide mismatches, generally high fluorescence brightness values (FB up to 26), and hence low limit of target detection values (LOD down to <5 nM).


Received 06 May 2011 Revised 18 June 2011 Accepted 08 July 2011 Early online 10 July 2011 Print 31 July 2011 Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is the commonest bacterial infection which requires medical treatment in pregnancy. Untreated ASB in 25-30% of can cases lead to pyelonephritis which may lead to increased risk of abortions, intrauterine fetal deaths, prematurity and low birth weight. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Gandhi Hospital over a period of ten months with 125 asymptomatic pregnant women in the age group of 15-35 years. The objectives of the study were to determine prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria, to identify its risk factors and to compare the screening methods. Of the 125 pregnant women, significant bacteriuria was seen in 21 (16%). The prevalence of bacteriuria showed a rise with increasing maternal age and increasing gestational period. Anemics and hypertensives were at greater risk. The most common isolates were Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus (28% each). Culture proved to be the gold standard for diagnosis. Catalase and Nitrate reduction tests were used as screening methods with a sensitivity of 90.48% and 71.43% respectively. Multiple drug resistance was observed in Gram-positive and Gram-negative isolates. Routine screening for asymptomatic bacteriuria is therefore recommended throughout pregnancy to avoid adverse fetal and maternal outcomes. Corresponding author


Over the past decade, increasing effort has been made to develop both national and global indices of well-being. Much like earlier sustainability indices directed at questions of economics and environment, well-being metrics seek to chart the quality of life of citizens in order to (1) support administrative decision making and policy formation, (2) encourage consensus building and public participation in defining what's important, (3) educate and advocate, and (4) facilitate research through data collection and analysis. This paper explores a number of indices of wellbeing, including the Canadian Index of Well-being, the OECD Your Better Life Index, and the Happy Planet Index, to discuss (1) comparative differences and similarities across the indices, (2) how the indices are used currently, and (3) the importance of understanding judgments of wellbeing based on notions of place.


The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on 2003 Electronic Spectroscopy and Dynamics - July 6-11, 2003 was held at Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, July 6-11, 2003. The Conference was well-attended with 103 participants (attendees list attached). The attendees represented the spectrum of endeavor in this field coming from academia, industry, and government laboratories, both U.S. and foreign scientists, senior researchers, young investigators, and students. In designing the formal speakers program, emphasis was placed on current unpublished research and discussion of the future target areas in this field. There was a conscious effort to stimulate lively discussion about the key issues in the field today. Time for formal presentations was limited in the interest of group discussions. In order that more scientists could communicate their most recent results, poster presentation time was scheduled. Attached is a copy of the formal schedule and speaker program and the poster program. In addition to these formal interactions, ''free time'' was scheduled to allow informal discussions. Such discussions are fostering new collaborations and joint efforts in the field.


Sir Guy Millard Fyfield served as private secretary to British Prime Minister Anthony Eden beginning in 1955. In this capacity Sir Millard primarily dealt with foreign affairs for the Eden administration. After this term, Sir Millard returned to work with the United Kingdom Foreign Office, where he had previously been employed before serving in the armed forces during World War II. He later occupied several Foreign Service posts, including appointments as the United Kingdom's Ambassador to Italy and Sweden.

This interview, conducted on 20 April 1990 during his retirement, gives insight into Prime Minister Eden's actions and relationships during the Suez Crisis of 1956. Specifically, Sir Millard discussed Britain's relationship with the French, the United States and Israel as well as the decision to withdraw troops. Sir Millard also evaluates the United Nations role and management in the crisis.


Josephson junctions are dissipationless elements used notably in superconducting nanocircuits. While being indispensable for the making of superconducting quantum bits, they are plagued by intrinsic noise mechanisms that reduce the coherence time of the quantum devices. An important source of such fluctuations may come from the non-cristallinity and disorder of the oxide layer sandwiched between the two superconducting leads. In this work, roughness in a Josephson junction is modeled as a set of pinholes with a universal bimodal distribution of transmission eigenvalues that sum incoherently in the noise power. Each of these channels is treated as a ballistic quantum point contact with a thin barrier that determines the transmission eigenvalue. The noise spectrum is calculated using the quasiclassical Green's function method to analyze high and low transmission limits at non-zero temperature for all interesting frequencies. As suggested by experiments, low transmission channels generate shot noise while fast switching between subgap states creates strong non-poissonian low-frequency noise. However, when analyzed for three different universal models of disorder, the principal contribution to noise is found to come from the partially opened channels. Finally, fluctuations of the noise from sample to sample is seen to be dominated by the contribution of opened channels which may reduce the reproducibility of results between different experiments.


RGBD semantic segmentation requires joint reasoning about 2D appearance and 3D geometric information. In this paper we propose a 3D graph neural network (3DGNN) that builds a k-nearest neighbor graph on top of 3D point cloud. Each node in the graph corresponds to a set of points and is associated with a hidden representation vector initialized with an appearance feature extracted by a unary CNN from 2D images. Relying on recurrent functions, every node dynamically updates its hidden representation based on the current status and incoming messages from its neighbors. This propagation model is unrolled for a certain number of time steps and the final per-node representation is used for predicting the semantic class of each pixel. We use back-propagation through time to train the model. Extensive experiments on NYUD2 and SUN-RGBD datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.


We study the intergenerational transmission of time preferences in a setting without reverse causality concerns. We find substantial transmission of patience from parents to children, which is insensitive to the inclusion of comprehensive sets of administratively reported controls and persists as children age. We further explore heterogeneity in the transmission with respect to two theoretically important but distinct dimensions of socialization through which parents can influence children's traits: parenting values and parental involvement. Our results show that, in contrast to authoritative parents, authoritarian and permissive parents transmit patience to their offspring. Meanwhile, parental involvement is not an important moderator. These patterns replicate in an independent sample with richer measures of parental involvement.


Pay-per-click advertising includes various formats (e.g., search, contextual, and social) with a total investment of more than 140 billion USD per year. An advertising campaign is composed of some subcampaigns-each with a different ad-and a cumulative daily budget. The allocation of the ads is ruled exploiting auction mechanisms. In this paper, we propose, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, an algorithm for the online joint bid/budget optimization of pay-per-click multi-channel advertising campaigns. We formulate the optimization problem as a combinatorial bandit problem, in which we use Gaussian Processes to estimate stochastic functions, Bayesian bandit techniques to address the exploration/exploitation problem, and a dynamic programming technique to solve a variation of the Multiple-Choice Knapsack problem. We experimentally evaluate our algorithm both in simulation-using a synthetic setting generated from real data from Yahoo!-and in a real-world application over an advertising period of two months.


AbstractShannon introduced the concept of zero-error capacity of a discrete memoryless channel. The channel determines an undirected graph on the symbol alphabet, where adjacency means that symbols cannot be confused at the receiver. The zero-error or Shannon capacity is an invariant of this graph. Gargano, Körner, and Vaccaro have recently extended the concept of Shannon capacity to directed graphs. Their generalization of Shannon capacity is called Sperner capacity. We resolve a problem posed by these authors by giving the first example (the two orientations of the triangle) of a graph where the Sperner capacity depends on the orientations of the edges.Sperner capacity seems to be achieved by nonlinear codes, whereas Shannon capacity seems to be attainable by linear codes. In particular, linear codes do not achieve Sperner capacity for the cyclic triangle. We use Fourier analysis or linear programming to obtain the best upper bounds for linear codes. The bounds for unrestricted codes are obtained from rank arguments, eigenvalue interlacing inequalities and polynomial algebra.The statement of the cyclic q-gon problem is very simple: what is the maximum size Nq(n) of a subset Sn of {0, 1,
$$\ldots$$
, q−1}n with the property that for every pair of distinct vectors x = (xi), y = (yi)
$$\in $$
Sn, we have xj−yj ≡ 1(mod q) for some j? For q = 3 (the cyclic triangle), we show N3(n)≃2n. If however Sn is a subgroup, then we give a simple proof that
$$\left| {S_n } \right| \leqslant \sqrt 3 ^n $$
.


In order to assess the nutritional status of children with heart diseases and to evaluate nutritional parameters for predicting postoperative complications, 50 children undergoing to cardiac surgery and classified in high and low surgical risk prospectively evaluated. Assessment parameters included anthropometry and plasma proteins albumin, transferrin and prealbumin. The nutritional classification according to Waterlow's modified criteria showed a high prevalence of malnutrition in the population studied (78%). The measures of arm circumference when located below the 5th percentile showed a significant association with general postoperative complications in the high risk group (arm circumference, p = 0.0019; arm muscle circumference, p = 0.0419). The percentage of weight per height, serum albumin and transferrin has not played a prognostic role concerning postoperative morbidity. The mean value of prealbumin was significantly lower in high risk group patients developing postoperative infections (p < 0.01) compared to those who did not. The sensitivity-specificity analysis of prealbumin as risk indicator for postoperative infection was 87.5% and 59% respectively. The nutritional risk classification seems to be a good way to identify the subgroups of children with additional postoperative surgical risk. However, more specific and sensitive tests are desirable to provide an individual identification of these children.


Machine learning techniques based on neural networks are achieving remarkable results in a wide variety of domains. Often, the training of models requires large, representative datasets, which may be crowdsourced and contain sensitive information. The models should not expose private information in these datasets. Addressing this goal, we develop new algorithmic techniques for learning and a refined analysis of privacy costs within the framework of differential privacy. Our implementation and experiments demonstrate that we can train deep neural networks with non-convex objectives, under a modest privacy budget, and at a manageable cost in software complexity, training efficiency, and model quality.


Water is part of the heritage of the planet. Every continent, nation, region, city, and citizens are fully responsible for it. The environment and the future of our planet depend on the preservation of water and its cycles. Those should remain intact and work normally in order to ensure continuity of life on Earth. This balance depends, in particular, on the preservation of the seas and oceans where the cycles begin. The water management requires a balance between the necessity of environmental protection and the need for economic order, health and social affairs. In Brazil, around 80% of the sewage is discharged into water bodies without treatment, in which 85% are domestic sewage and 15% industry sewerage. Therefore, the conditions of sanitation are poor in most Brazilian cities. This scenario is not very different in the City of Rio de Janeiro. In the waters of the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, the problem of sewage release has mostly been solved, but there is still much to do. A better control over the quality of its waters is necessary, in contrast to the lack of public resources needed for this. This work proposes to investigate the correlations of the spatial and temporal data that compose the set of pollutants of the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon. The main goal is to achieve a methodology for the classification of water quality, which may be used in other water bodies. For that, in the investigative process, several techniques of data mining will be used to group and classify the available data. The work includes several steps of knowledge discovery that will be implemented to reach the goals. Tasks such as cleaning, integration and data selection, as well as post-processing and visualization algorithms must be executed. Some preliminary results, already available, will be shown in this article.


Background: There is a lack of knowledge and research of Indigenous grandparents rearing grandchildren. A burgeoning area of research, the literature only includes studies conducted from the year 2002 and onwards. In order to minimize the burdens that Indigenous grandparents encounter when assuming this role, a greater understanding of this population is crucial. This scoping review was GrandFamilies Vol. 4(1), 2017 77 undertaken to gain insight into and generate awareness of this population, specifically concerning their needs and experiences. Methods: Sixteen databases were searched, including two medical databases and 14 social science databases. A total of 92 titles and abstracts were independently reviewed. Of these, 36 full-text articles were retrieved; 31 articles met the inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Findings: Four major themes were identified: (1) The historical context of Indigenous peoples and how this has affected families; (2) The context of caregiving and government policies as they relate to Indigenous grandparents raising their grandchildren; (3) The physical and mental health of the grandparents; and (4) Informal social support.


This article investigates how war and occupation disrupt and produce new gender norms. It explores civilian masculinities and the ways in which masculinities are impacted by conflict and insecurity. Focusing on the West Bank, we argue that insecurity and occupation create the conditions for masculinity nostalgia, or a yearning for a set of gender norms and relations linked to fantasies of a secure, 'traditional' and ordered past. Masculinity nostalgia builds on conceptions of thwarted masculinity and the ways in which individuals are held accountable to gender norms. The article draws on interviews with Palestinians to highlight how masculinity nostalgia is associated with three particular identities: father, breadwinner and landowner. We demonstrate that Palestinian civilians lament the ways in which the occupation has impacted men's ability to fulfil such archetypical identities, at the same time as they reaffirm the value and legitimacy of these identities. We argue that peace and security are often assumed to be dependent upon 'the return' of men to their presumed rightful places at the head of households and as economic providers. In turn, masculinity nostalgia emphasizes the ways in which yearnings for peace and security can be interwoven with yearnings for patriarchal gendered orders.


Much work on display-based ubicomp systems (and rapid prototyping in general) focus on producing proof-of-concept demonstrators, usually to gauge technical feasibility and collect initial user feedback. In our work, we've found that it's often equally important to investigate factors such as use and appropriation and that in some cases, without user studies, technical feasibility can be meaningless. We used rapid prototyping combined with a phased, iterative, and user-centered design approach to develop five display-based ubicomp systems for real-world use over time. In this article, we discuss our aims, approach, and lessons learned. The ubicomp systems that we developed and deployed use rapid prototyping techniques and a user-centered design approach.


The grammatical category of personal pronouns is one of the most researched domains in Japanese as well as in other languages. In fact, works on the genesis and development of Japanese personal pronouns in comparison to those in other languages have been continuously reported long before the notion of grammaticalization was introduced and became an important concept in studies of language change. While preceding studies mostly lay emphasis on the different behaviors between Japanese personal pronouns and the counterparts in European languages, Heine and Song (2010, 2011) exemplify some features common among particular sets of languages i.e. referential shifting between different pronouns, especially from third to second person. As a supplemental survey to Heine and Song (2010, 2011), the present study aims to point out other pathways, especially from first to second person, through which personal pronouns are grammaticalized more in Japanese than in other languages.


In this paper, we present miniaturized polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based diaphragm dielectric elastomer actuators capable of out-of-plane displacement up to 25% of their diameter. This very large percentage displacement is made possible by the use of compliant electrodes fabricated by low-energy gold ion implantation. This technique forms nanometer-scale metallic clusters up to 50 nm below the PDMS surface, creating an electrode that can sustain up to 175% strain while remaining conductive yet having only a minimal impact on the elastomer's mechanical properties. We present a vastly improved chip-scale process flow for fabricating suspended-membrane actuators with low-resistance contacts to implanted electrodes on both sides of the membrane. This process leads to a factor of two increase in breakdown voltage and to RC time constant shorter than mechanical time constants. For circular diaphragm actuator of 1.5-3-mm diameter, voltage-controlled static out-of-plane deflections of up to 25% of their diameter is observed, which is a factor of four higher than our previous published results. Dynamic characterization shows a mechanically limited behavior, with a resonance frequency near 1 kHz and a quality factor of 7.5 in air. Lifetime tests have shown no degradation after more than 4 million cycles at 1.5 kV. Conductive stretchable electrodes photolithographically defined on PDMS were demonstrated as a key step to further miniaturization, enabling large arrays of independent diaphragm actuators on a chip, for instance for tunable microlens arrays or arrays of micropumps and microvalves.


This chapter examines the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for resolving competition-related disputes. It first provides an overview of the benefits of mediation as a means of resolving competition disputes and how ADR is encouraged in competition litigation. It then considers the relevant ADR provisions in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR) and in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) Rules, before discussing cross-border mediations and how disputes are mediated and regulated. It also offers practical guidance on when to mediate, choosing a mediator, the typical stages of a mediation process, the role of a mediation agreement, and the implications of mediation confidentiality. Finally, it explains the specific provisions relating to voluntary redress schemes, a form of ADR.


Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)–oxidized carbon nanotubes (OMWCNTs), PVDF–graphene oxide (GO) and PVDF–OMWCNTs–GO composite ultrafiltration membranes were prepared by solution-blending the ternary mixture of PVDF–oxidized low-dimensional carbon nanomaterials–dimethylacetamide in combination with the phase inversion method. The microscope images of the PVDF matrix microstructure showed that the composite membranes exhibited a bigger mean pore size and higher roughness parameters than pristine membranes. The contact angle of the membranes decreased from 78.5° (PVDF) to 66.8° (PVDF–OMWCNTs), 66.4° (PVDF–GO) and 48.5° (PVDF–OMWCNTs–GO). For the PVDF–OMWCNTs, PVDF–GO and PVDF–OMWCNTs–GO composite membranes, there was a 99.33%, 173.03% and 240.03% increase in permeation flux and a 21.71%, 17.23% and 14.29% increase in bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection, respectively, compared with those of the pristine membranes. The newly developed composite ultrafiltration membranes demonstrate an impressive prospect for the anti-irreversible fouling performance in multi-cycle operations from BSA treatment. Additionally, the addition of OMWCNTs and GO increased the tensile strength of composite membranes from 1.866 MPa to 2.106 MPa and 2.686 MPa, respectively. Conspicuously, the PVDF composite ultrafiltration membranes endowed with oxidized low-dimensional carbon nanomaterials demonstrated fascinating hydrophilicity, permeability, antifouling and mechanical performance and promising application prospects owing to the rich oxygen-containing functional groups, high specific surface and synergistic effect of inorganic additive.


The highly transient nature of outgassing commonly observed at volcanoes is in part controlled by the permeability of lava domes and shallow conduits. Lava domes generally consist of a porous outer carapace surrounding a denser lava core with internal shear zones of variable porosity. Here we examine densification using uniaxial compression experiments on variably crystalline and porous rhyolitic dome lavas from the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Experiments were conducted at 900°C and an applied stress of 3 MPa to 60% strain, while monitoring acoustic emissions to track cracking. The evolution of the porous network was assessed via X‐ray computed tomography, He‐pycnometry, and relative gas permeability. High starting connected porosities led to low apparent viscosities and high strain rates, initially accompanied by abundant acoustic emissions. As compaction ensued, the lavas evolved; apparent viscosity increased and strain rate decreased due to strain hardening of the suspensions. Permeability fluctuations resulted from the interplay between viscous flow and brittle failure. Where phenocrysts were abundant, cracks had limited spatial extent, and pore closure decreased axial and radial permeability proportionally, maintaining the initial anisotropy. In crystal‐poor lavas, axial cracks had a more profound effect, and permeability anisotropy switched to favor axial flow. Irrespective of porosity, both crystalline samples compacted to a threshold minimum porosity of 17–19%, whereas the crystal‐poor sample did not achieve its compaction limit. This indicates that unconfined loading of porous dome lavas does not necessarily form an impermeable plug and may be hindered, in part by the presence of crystals.


Austin Sarat's 'When the State Kills' seeks to explore the interrelationship between capital punishment and American culture. Utilizing scholarly approaches drawn from sociology, literary criticism, cultural studies, and political science, Sarat illuminates the ways in which the official legal regime of capital punishment creates, reflects, and reinforces broader cultural attitudes about crime and punishment. Moreover, he argues that the destructive long-term cultural consequences of the death penalty provide a reason for abolition over and above any criminological or doctrinal arguments against the practice. Thus, 'When the State Kills' not only offers a powerful intervention in the ongoing death penalty debate, but also provides an opportunity to consider more generally the benefits of studying law through a cultural lens. This Review Essay suggests that a cultural analysis of law should be treated as far more than simply an add-on to more doctrinally focused legal policy debates. Instead, sociolegal scholarship provides useful insights into just the sort of normative questions that are at the heart of such debates. A cultural approach ensures that we will always attend to the important relationship between law and culture: how legal institutions construct social reality, how 'law talk' gets dispersed throughout the society, how individuals deploy and resist legal norms, and how law symbolically reflects and reinforces deep cultural attitudes, fears, or beliefs. The Essay uses Sarat's book to identify four ways in which this broader view of law can provide a distinctive framework for recontextualizing established legal doctrine or reconceiving intractable policy dilemmas.


A fundamental aspect of being human is knowing that one day we will die. Efforts to contend with this knowledge are at the root of a great many social behaviours across a variety of domains, and include efforts to transcend the human body, aggression against enemies and the need for scapegoats, even extreme reactions such as terrorism and suicide, as well as the development of symbolic language and the creation of art and music. In this thought-provoking addition to the Herzliya Series on Personality and Social Psychology, editors Phillip R. Shaver and Mario Mikulincer have gathered a varied group of international thinkers to investigate these existential concerns within a framework that is both philosophical and practical. Theorists examine the nature of universal themes such as the importance of personal choice and human autonomy in an arbitrary world, and the vital roles of parenthood and religion in providing solace against the threat of meaninglessness. And clinicians discuss the use of various cognitive behavioural therapies, emphasising the mind's propensity to assign value in ways that can be either maladaptive or liberating. The authors build upon insights from previous chapters, resulting in a cohesive and thoughtfully-prepared book filled with cutting-edge research.


The convergence recorded in some Pan-African deformational belts (sensu lato) in South America, Africa, Madagascar, southern India, Sri Lanka, and Antarctica is temporally correlated with opening of the Iapetus ocean. We propose a model in which continent-continent collision and closure of the Adamastor ocean between the Amazon–West African–Rio de La Plata cratons and the Sao Francisco–Congo–Kalahari cratons in the late Neoproterozoic are linked to rifting and orthogonal spreading between Laurentia and the South American cratons. By the Early Cambrian, the cratons in South America and Africa were assembled as West Gondwana. Closure of the Mozambique ocean, which appears to have extended across Antarctica between Lutzow-Holm Bay and the Shackleton Range, resulted in continued convergence between the Congo–Kalahari–Queen Maud Land block and East Gondwana in the Cambrian. Coeval deformation in the Transantarctic Mountains may be related to the obliquity of the Antarctic margin relative to Iapetus spreading directions. Initiation of voluminous arc magmatism along the paleo-Pacific margin of Gondwana in the Early Cambrian is broadly synchronous with the cessation of intra-Gondwana Pan-African deformation, possibly reflecting a change in plate motions at the time of final Gondwana assembly. The new subduction regime along the Gondwana margin in the Early Cambrian may be linked to the closure of the Iapetus ocean basin.


Superconducting performance and its uniformity was studied in the single-step sintered MgB2 bulk prepared with 4.5 wt% of carbon in the carbon-encapsulated boron. The 20 mm in diameter MgB2 pellet was cut into several pieces from bottom to top and the microstructure, superconducting transition temperature (Tc onset), and critical current density at 20 K were studied. DC magnetization measurements showed a sharp superconducting transition with onset Tc at around 35.5 K in all positions. SEM analysis indicated a dispersion of grains between 200 and 300 nm in size, as the main pinning medium in this MgB2 superconductors. The critical current density at 20 K was quite uniform, around 330 kA/cm2 and 200 kA/cm2 at self-field and 1 T, respectively, for all measured positions. The results indicate that the carbon-encapsulated boron is very promising for production of high quality bulk MgB2 material for various industrial applications.


Traditional approaches to virtual archaeology include dealing with research methods to capture information from heritage sites, creating models out of that information and how to present them to the public; these are intense technical procedures which might be too costly for some types of history or heritage-based projects. Virtual worlds allowed new types of models of/for heritage sites to be produced and disseminated at a fraction of the cost. Second Life®, and its open source counterpart, OpenSimulator, are virtual world platforms with user-generated content. 3D models are created in real time and instantly rendered for all visitors. This allows amateurs and researchers create their own virtual archaeology projects easily and with few costs, and to have the resulting models immediately available to a vast community of users. This article presents an overview of four different approaches to virtual archaeology projects that are present in these platforms and that have been publicly discussed and analyzed; in particular, the last type shows a novel approach to virtual archaeology which is not found in other platforms, and explains how researchers have managed to extend the concept to new areas and develop methodologies to incorporate the validation of historical accuracy to encompass these areas.


The Potters Pond migmatite domain (PPMD) is a heterogeneous zone of migmatites located ∼10 km southwest of Cascade, Idaho, within the western Idaho shear zone (WISZ). The PPMD is the only known exposure of migmatites within the WISZ over its ∼300 km length, occurring where the shear zone orientation changes from 024° south to 005° north of the migmatite domain. Structural mapping within the PPMD has identified multiple generations of migmatite with varied structural fabrics. Leucosome layers were sampled from distinct migmatite localities and morphologies (e.g., metatexite and diatexite) to determine the timing and duration of partial melting in the PPMD. U-Pb age determinations of zircon by means of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) document two periods of protracted migmatite crystallization during the Early and Late Cretaceous. Early Cretaceous (ca. 145–128 Ma) migmatite crystallization ages are coeval with the collision and suturing of oceanic terranes of the Blue Mountains province with North America and the formation of the Salmon River suture zone (SRSZ). Migmatite crystallization ages from ca. 104–90 Ma are associated with Late Cretaceous dextral transpression in the WISZ. Field observations and geochronology of crosscutting leucosome relationships are interpreted to record deep crustal deformation and anatexis associated with formation of the SRSZ, subsequently overprinted by solid-state deformation and renewed anatexis during the evolution of the WISZ. These data are the first direct evidence of the synmetamorphic fabric related to the SRSZ east of the initial Sr 0.706 isopleth and indicate that the WISZ is a temporally distinct overprinting structure.


Flexible ac transmission system (FACTS) controllers offer new opportunities to better control power systems, and can address some of the critical challenges faced by the grid, especially in the context of smart grids. Furthermore, the smartening of distribution systems with distributed generation, storage devices, and intelligent loads have created challenges for the operation of distribution feeders, which can be addressed adequately with power-electronics based controllers and FACTS controllers for distribution systems. However, the capital intensive nature of these controllers is a major obstacle for a wide application of this technology in power systems. A cost effective FACTS controller has been introduced in the literature, which yields operating characteristics similar to those of the versatile Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC). This device consists of converters as well as passive components, and is referred to as the Hybrid Power Flow Controller (HPFC). The study of the HPFC and its performance in electric power systems requires adequate and relevant models representing the device behavior according to the intended studies, such as steady state or time-domain dynamic analyses; moreover, the benefits of an HPFC are determined by its limits and operating constraints. Therefore, static and dynamic models of the HPFC for transmission and distribution system applications are proposed and studied in this work. First, steady-state models of the HPFC for power flow and optimal power flow (OPF) studies are proposed in this work, considering its multiple control modes and operating constraints. Thus, a strategy for control limit handling in power flow calculations is proposed, while considering a discrete passive shunt capacitor bank in the device. Moreover, an OPF model of the device is proposed and explained in detail, representing all the device control and physical limits as constraints in the mathematical formulation, so that the HPFC can be optimally dispatched as a part of the transmission system control assets; this model is used to determine the optimal ratings of the device based on a cost–benefit analysis. The proposed power flow and OPF models are tested and validated based on several loadability studies on a two-area benchmark test system. The HPFC power flow model is also tested and applied to a detailed model of Ontario grid and its neighboring networks with more than 6000 buses. The analyses demonstrate the application of the models for planning and operation studies, evaluating the performance and the effectiveness of the device based on realistic studies and scenarios. Second, the merits and the added value of the HPFC application to distribution systems are discussed here through detailed modeling and time-domain simulations, examining its impact on a distribution network under different conditions. Thus, a detailed dynamic representation of the HPFC is developed and implemented in PSCAD/EMTDC, describing


The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the concentration of liquid organic fertilizer and seed tuber cutting against to growth and production of onion. Experiment was arranged in a factorial experiment using a randomized block design (RBD) and repeated 3 times. Factorial I was concentrationof liquid fertilizer comprises four levels: 0,2.4, and 6 cc/liter of water; factor II was piece of tuber shoots comprises 3 levels: no cutting, cutting 1/4 and ½ part cutting the tubers sprout. The measured variables were plant length, number of leaves, number of tillers, root length, weight stover, fresh weight and dry weight of tubers. Data were analyzed by ANOVA followed by a test ynag HSD 5%. The results showed concentration of organic fertilizer influence on the plant long parameter age of 14, 21 and 28 days after planting, and the number of leaves at the age of 14 and 21. Cutting seed tubers affect the number of leaves aged 14, 21 and 28 days after planting. There is an interaction effect between kosnetrasi organic liquid fertilizer by cutting the tubers lip on the length of the plant ages 35, 42 and 49 days after planting, the number of leaves of the plant ages 28, 35, 42 and 49 days after planting, and the panang roots, weights stover, fresh weight and dry weight of tubers red onion. Combination treatment liquid fertilizer concentrations of 6 cc/liter and ½ part cutting buds bulbs given the best results.


Abstract. Submarine groundwater discharge was quantified by a variety of methods for a 4-day period during the early summer of 2004, in Salt Pond, adjacent to Nauset Marsh, on Cape Cod, USA. Discharge estimates based on radon and salinity took advantage of the presence of the narrow channel connecting Salt Pond to Nauset Marsh, which allowed constructing whole-pond mass balances as water flowed in and out due to tidal fluctuations. The data suggest that less than one quarter of the discharge in the vicinity of Salt Pond happened within the pond itself, while three quarters or more of the discharge occurred immediately seaward of the pond, either in the channel or in adjacent regions of Nauset Marsh. Much of this discharge, which maintains high radon activities and low salinity, is carried into the pond during each incoming tide. A box model was used as an aid to understand both the rates and the locations of discharge in the vicinity of Salt Pond. The model achieves a reasonable fit to both the salinity and radon data assuming submarine groundwater discharge is fresh and that most of it occurs either in the channel or in adjacent regions of Nauset Marsh. Salinity and radon data, together with seepage meter results, do not rule out discharge of saline groundwater, but suggest either that the saline discharge is at most comparable in volume to the fresh discharge or that it is depleted in radon. The estimated rate of fresh groundwater discharge in the vicinity of Salt Pond is 3000-7000 m3 d-1. This groundwater flux estimated from the radon and salinity data is comparable to a value of 3200-4500 m3 d-1 predicted by a recent hydrologic model (Masterson, 2004; Colman and Masterson, 2004), although the model predicts this rate of discharge to the pond whereas our data suggest most of the groundwater bypasses the pond prior to discharge. Additional work is needed to determine if the measured rate of discharge is representative of the long-term average, and to better constrain the rate of groundwater discharge seaward of Salt Pond.


Haemophilus influenzae is a significant opportunistic pathogen that causes a range of respiratory infections, including community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and acute otitis media (AOM). These infections frequently require antibiotic therapy for management, with antibiotics of the β-lactam class such as amoxicillin, cefaclor, and amoxicillin-clavulanate historically used as first line therapies. However, the efficacy of these antibiotics is currently threatened by the increasing prevalence of β-lactam resistance mediated by specific mutations in the ftsI gene that produce an N526K substitution in the encoded penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP3), a protein that is the target of these antibiotics. This type of resistance, termed β-lactamase-negative ampicillin-resistance (BLNAR), is difficult to detect in the diagnostic laboratory, as many BLNAR isolates do not actually show an ampicillin resistant phenotype using standard susceptibility testing methods. As a result genotypic testing methods are being increasingly adopted for BLNAR detection. Furthermore, the recent recognition of Haemophilus haemolyticus, a close non-pathogenic relative of H. influenzae, in diagnostic specimens from the respiratory tract, has compounded the issue. This is because H. haemolyticus isolates are frequently mis-identified as H. influenzae, which further complicates the role of the diagnostic laboratory in guiding antibiotic therapy for infections involving H. influenzae.
A working strain collection comprising a total of 393 Haemophilus isolates was established and used for all the subsequent studies conducted in this thesis. Isolates were taken from; 1) the University of Tasmania (UTAS) culture collection (n=44), isolates was unreliable (sensitivity 84%; specificity 26%). Similar findings were reported for the sensitivity and specificity of the Nakamura et al. (2009) primers for detecting the N526K substitution in BLNAR isolates by amplification (sensitivity 96%; specificity 26%). The poor performance of these PCR primers was attributed to the fact that the N526K substitution can be encoded by an AAT-AAG codon change at base pair (bp) position 1576-1578 of ftsI, as well as the recently described AAT-AAA codon change. As the PCR primers investigated were designed for detection of the N526K substitution encoded by the AAG SNP only, they failed to detect N526K encoded by AAA. A search of ftsI gene sequences available on GenBank revealed that the AAT to AAG or AAA codon changes occurred with equal prevalence in N526K-positive BLNAR isolates, suggesting that the prevalence of BLNAR isolates would go under-reported when these PCR algorithms were used for BLNAR detection. Little was known about the β-lactam resistance profile of H. haemolyticus, a respiratory commensal commonly mis-identified as H. influenzae in the diagnostic laboratory. As a result, Chapter 4 examined the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of β-lactam resistance mechanisms in a large collection of H. haemolyticus and H. influenzae isolates, collected during the GROMIT study using a well defined patient population. The prevalence and mechanisms of β-lactam resistance were identified to be similar for both bacterial species, with 13.1% of H. haemolyticus, and 15.7% of H. influenzae isolates harbouring the TEM-1 β-lactamase (with the same replicon and promoter types commonly reported in H. influenzae identified in H. haemolyticus), whilst 31.0% of both H. haemolyticus and H. influenzae isolates were positive for the N526K BLNAR-defining substitution. Further analysis of the ftsI gene encoding PBP3 in these N526K-positive BLNAR isolates revealed that some of the commonly recognized BLNAR-associated substitutions in H. influenzae form part of the baseline PBP3 sequence in H. haemolyticus. This suggests that respiratory isolates of H. haemolyticus might possibly represent a significant reservoir for β-lactam resistance determinants in co-localised H. influenzae. Examination of the ftsI gene sequences of the H. haemolyticus isolates from Chapter 4 revealed some differences that might interfere with the SNP-based PCR assays of Hasegawa et al. (2003) that were previously evaluated in Chapter 3 using only H. influenzae isolates. When evaluated against a panel of susceptible (N526) and resistant (N526K) isolates of H. influenzae and H. haemolyticus in Chapter 5, the primer set (PBP3-S) designed to amplify N526-positive (BLNAS) isolates performed well for the identification of susceptible H. influenzae isolates. However it failed to amplify any H. haemolyticus isolates, irrespective of their N526/N526K status, due to a species-specific sequence variation in the forward primer-binding region. The discovery of this PCR limitation is significant, as these primers are frequently used in respiratory surveillance studies where H. haemolyticus is often mis-identified as H. influenzae, and will result in the mis-categorisation of susceptible H. haemolyticus isolates as low-BLNAR isolates of H. influenzae. A new PCR primer set was therefore developed to overcome this limitation and was 100% sensitive and specific for the separation of N526 isolates (by amplification) from N526K-positive isolates (which fail to amplify) of both species. This is an important new tool for the surveillance of the N526K-positive BLNAR genotype in XV-dependent Haemophilus species commonly encountered in the diagnostic laboratory. Chapter 6 explores the main observation made in Chapter 4, that some of the BLNAR-associated substitutions reported in N526K-positive isolates of NTHi, appear to form part of the baseline PBP3 genotype in susceptible isolates of H. haemolyticus. The ftsI gene sequences from 100 clinical isolates, including susceptible (N526) and resistant (N526K) H. influenzae and H. haemolyticus isolates, were examined using a range of bioinformatic approaches for evidence of inter-species recombination events. Mosaic ftsI gene sequences were identified in 33% of the isolates tested and shown to represent inter-species recombination events. All recombination events occurred in N526K-positive isolates of either species and frequently resulted in the horizontal transfer of only partial ftsI gene fragments. There was no evidence to support the horizontal transfer of the entire ftsI gene among the clinical isolates in vivo. Chapter 7 extended on the work of Chapter 6 using an in vitro approach. Transformation experiments, using reference recipients and fully characterised N526K-positive isolates of H. influenzae and H. haemolyticus as donors, were performed to investigate potential inter- and intra-species ftsI recombination events. Both inter- and intra-species recombination of the ftsI gene frequently occurred in H. influenzae and H. haemolyticus isolates, and resulted in the formation of mosaic ftsI genes that carry the N526K-positive resistance genotype. In summary, the major findings of this thesis are that a widely used SNP-based PCR algorithm is unreliable for N526K-positive BLNAR detection because of a previously unrecognized SNP encoding the N526K substitution, and because of ftsI sequence divergence with H. haemolyticus that might mis-identify as H. influenzae. As a result, a new SNP-based PCR algorithm was developed and shown to be 100% sensitive and specific for detection of the N526K substitution. Additionally, this thesis presents for the first time the phenotypic and genotypic β-lactam susceptibility profiles of H. haemolyticus isolates, and highlights the potential role H. haemolyticus plays in the emergence and dissemination of β-lactam resistance determinants in H. influenzae. Finally, this thesis has characterised homologous (inter- and intra-species) recombination events involving the ftsI gene in both in vivo and in vitro models. Such ftsI recombination events were shown to occur frequently between H. influenzae and H. haemolyticus isolates, and frequently resulted in the formation of mosaic ftsI genes that contribute to the dissemination and diversification of the N526K-positive resistance mechanism in Haemophilus species.


The objectives of this study were to assess whether current surveillance capacity is sufficient to fulfill EU and Danish regulations to control a hypothetical foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) epidemic in Denmark, and whether enlarging the protection and/or surveillance zones could minimize economic losses. The stochastic spatial simulation model DTU-DADS was further developed to simulate clinical surveillance of herds within the protection and surveillance zones and used to model spread of FMD between herds. A queuing system was included in the model, and based on daily surveillance capacity, which was 450 herds per day, it was decided whether herds appointed for surveillance would be surveyed on the current day or added to the queue. The model was run with a basic scenario representing the EU and Danish regulations, which includes a 3 km protection and 10 km surveillance zone around detected herds. In alternative scenarios, the protection zone was enlarged to 5 km, the surveillance zone was enlarged to 15 or 20 km, or a combined enlargement of the protection and surveillance zones was modelled. Sensitivity analysis included changing surveillance capacity to 200, 350 or 600 herds per day, frequency of repeated visits for herds in overlapping surveillance zones from every 14 days to every 7, 21 and 30 days, and the size of the zones combined with a surveillance capacity increased to 600 herds per day. The results showed that the default surveillance capacity is sufficient to survey herds on time. Extra resources for surveillance did not improve the situation, but fewer resources could result in larger epidemics and costs. Enlarging the protection zone was a better strategy than the basic scenario. Despite that enlarging the surveillance zone might result in shorter epidemic duration, and lower number of affected herds, it resulted frequently in larger economic losses.


The phenomenon of eutrophication is more irregular in character and less satisfactorily understood for shallow water bodies than for deep lakes. Research, initiated by IIASA, focussed of Lake Balaton, Hungary, as the subject of a case study. Three main considerations promoted the selection of Lake Balaton: 1) a large amount of data was available, due to Hungarian research activities; 2) the lake possesses the "typical" properties of shallow lakes; and 3) serious economic interests are associated to the solution of the eutrophication problem of Lake Balaton and so several "practical" questions had to be answered in addition to the pure "scientific" issues.

The structure of the research was based on a systems analytical approach which allowed the joint study of scientific and practical issues covering a wide range of different disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics, hydrology, mathematics, economics, etc. The mathematical models developed in harmony and interaction with data collection and experimental work played a significant role in the project. Several existing methods were adopted for modeling the ecological and hydrophysical processes as well as water quality management in parallel with establishing new methodologies.

At the completion of the research an expert committee was established in Hungary to elaborate recommendations for the government concerning the revision and modification of existing measures on water quality control and regional development. In January 1983, the Council of Ministers approved the recommendations and made the relevant decisions. Thus, the research results were transferred to decision makers within a very short period, allowing them to bring in scientifically well established new decisions.


Looking at federalism (Belgium), quasi-federalism (Spain) and devolution (United Kingdom), this paper shows that regional autonomy of Flanders, Catalonia and Scotland may be strengthened through a strong empowerment to establish fully-fledged subnational constitutions and through the active use of that empowerment. The author argues that subnational constitutions, whilst not acting as a panacea, may serve as important focal points for regional identification and be part of suitable autonomy arrangements within the State. They may help accommodate centrifugal tendencies, as long as the empowerment stems from a coherent and transparent central constitutional framework which clearly defines and entrenches the subnational constitutional space and its inherent limitations.


We study the effect of apprenticeship programs on firms and welfare, using novel administrative data on the universe Colombian manufacturing firms with at least 10 workers, and a unique reform to apprenticeship regulation. The reform simultaneously establishes apprentice quotas that vary discontinuously in firm size and lowers apprentices' wages. We begin by documenting that the policy is successful in increasing the number of trained apprentices more than threefold. However, the reform also induces significant firm size distortions driven by heterogeneous firm responses. In sectors with high skill requirements, firms avoided hiring apprentices decreasing their size and bunching just below the regulation thresholds. In contrast, firms in low-skilled sectors, increase their size and bunch just above the regulation thresholds in order to be able to hire more apprentices. As a consequence, the regulation results in most apprentices being trained in low-skilled sectors. We develop a simple theoretical model featuring heterogeneous training costs across sectors in order to rationalize and quantify these empirical findings. The key insight of the model is firms that train apprentices incur in an opportunity cost of spending time teaching and not producing. As training in high-skill sectors takes longer than in low-skill sectors, firms in high skilled sectors will avoid apprentices while firms in low-skill sectors try to get as many as possible. Finally, we use the model to analyze the welfare consequences of the regulation and study counterfactual policies.


Appendectomy represents a fundamental step in the training course of a surgeon in so much that for several decades it has been the first surgical operation assigned to a train ing surgeon. Yet, laparoscopic appendectomy has not spread with the same characteris- tics as the operation of cholecystectomy for which laparoscopy has rapidly become the gold standard. We can moreover note that nowadays, in spite of a certain initial distrust, the laparoscopic methodology is fully employed in the treatment of acute appendicitis, even though the use of such technique is controversial in cases of acute complicated appendicitis.


An imaging-based computational framework for simulation of airflow in subject specific breathing human lungs is established. The three-dimensional (3D) airways of up to 9 generations and lobes are segmented and reconstructed from computed tomography (CT) images. Beyond the CT-resolved 3D airways, a volume filling method is applied to generate the one-dimensional (1D) conducting airway tree that bridges the central airway with the lung parenchyma. Through 3D-1D airway coupling, a novel image-registrationbased boundary condition (BC) is proposed to derive physiologically-consistent regional ventilation for the whole lung and provide flow-rate fractions needed for the 3D airway model via the 1D-tree connectivity and the mass conservation. The in-house parallel finite-element large-eddy simulation (LES) code enables to capture genuinely complex airflow characteristics in a computationally-efficient manner. The 3D-1D coupling framework is multiscale because it can not only predict detailed flows in the 3D central airways at a local level, but also yields subject-specific physiologically-consistent regional ventilation at the whole lung level. The framework has been applied to investigate pulmonary airflow and lung physiology. For example, the study of intraand inter-subject variability provides insight into the effect of airway geometry on airflow structure. The relations between airflow structure, energy dissipation, and airway resistance under normal breathing condition have also been studied, showing similarity behaviors for inspiratory and expiratory flows. In the study of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, we have compared counter-flow structures near flow reversal (namely phase change between inspiration and expiration) and quantified associated convective mixing in both idealized and CT-based airway models. Furthermore, the image-registration-derived displacement field is used to deform 3D-1D airway models for breathing lung simulation and estimate diameter changes of 1D airway segments during deformation. In conjunction with an arbitrary Lagrangian


This demo presents the MONROE distributed platform and how it can be used to implement measurement and assessment experiments with operational mobile broadband networks (MBBs). MONROE provides registered experimenters with open access to hundreds of nodes, distributed over several European countries and equipped with multiple MBB connections, and a backend system that collects the measurement results. Experiments are scheduled through a user-friendly web client, with no need to directly access the nodes. The platform further embeds tools for real-time traffic flow analysis and a powerful visualization tool.


Volumetric medical image data usually require a vast amount of resources for storage and transmission. With the wide pervasiveness of medical imaging applications in healthcare settings and the increased interest in telemedicine technologies, it has become essential to reduce both storage and transmission bandwidth requirements needed for archival and communication of related data, preferably by employing lossless compression methods to avoid any negative effects of lossy compression on image quality and diagnostic capabilities. The main objective is to present a 3-D medical image compression method with scalability properties, by quality and resolution up to lossless reconstruction and optimized Volume of Interest (VOI) coding at any bit-rate. The proposed method named as "EBCOT with VOI coding" employs a 3-D integer wavelet transform (3D-IWT) and a modified EBCOT with 3-D contexts to compress the 3-D medical imaging data into a layered bit-stream that is scalable by quality and resolution. VOI coding capabilities are attained after compression by employing a bit-stream reordering procedure, which is based on a weight assignment model that incorporates the position of the VOI and the mean energy of the wavelet coefficients. Optimized VOI coding at any bit-rate is attained by an optimization technique that maximizes the reconstruction quality of the VOI, while allowing for the decoding of background information with peripherally increasing quality around the VOI. Performance evaluations based on real 3-D medical imaging data showed that the proposed method achieves a higher reconstruction quality, in terms of the peak signal-to-noise ratio, than that achieved by 3D-JPEG2000 with VOI coding, when using the MAXSHIFT and general scaling-based methods.


This study revisits the Great Canadian Grain Logistics Crisis of 2013-14 to explore the competitiveness of the country's grain exports. An approach to comprehending the dilemmas of the international grain supply chain and trade, and national logistics policy in an era of multinational corporations, draws upon the literature on global value chain analysis. This analysis identifies both the grain industry's global and local dimensions. An important literature on the 'politics' of the supply chain is also called into play to discuss who controls what aspects. This task of interpreting the various steps in Canada's grain logistics chain recognizes the key economic actors producers, grain companies, railway companies, port terminal operators and export buyers and political struggles between them as they each seek to maximize their self-interest. Policy implications for streamlining logistics operations are drawn from identifying where changes in the supply chain arrangements have gained or lost opportunities in export markets, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.


Today, bulk silicon is one of the best studied semiconductors. However, in its different nano-modifications, e.g. as porous silicon, totally new properties are exhibited. Despite the fact, that porous silicon is widely known and has been extensively studied since the 1990s, many unique features of this material are still unexplored. In this work, specific functionalities of porous silicon prepared, utilising both solid (via electrochemical or stain etching processes) and gas phase (from silane) syntheses, were investigated. Since this study was in-part industry oriented, the emphasis has been placed upon the investigation of porous silicon nanostructures, made from low cost metallurgical grade polycrystalline silicon powder. It has been previously demonstrated that porous silicon exhibits a very large, hydrogenated internal surface area (up to 500 m2 g−1). It is verified in this work, that · morphological properties of this material result in a high reductive potential of its internal surface due to hydrogen passivation. Therefore, in this thesis, we would like to show that porous silicon-based reactive templates are promising for their applications in nanometal-supported catalysis. We used salts of platinum, gold, palladium, silver and their mixtures, which were reduced on the silicon nanocrystalline internal surface, resulting in formation of metal nanoparticles embedded into porous silicon matrix. Various experimental techniques were used to evaluate the morphology, size and composition of metal nanoparticles, as well as their growth rates. Hydrogen effusion experiments proved the crucial difference between porous silicon and other chemically inert supporting templates for the process of metal nanoparticles formation. The catalytic activity of the synthesised materials was evaluated in gas phase conversion of CO to CO2. Furthermore, the new porous silicon-based catalysts were tested in gas/liquid phase reactions as well, using hydrogenation, oxidation, dehalogenation and C-C coupling class reactions. Following the trends of "state of the art" current Si technology, we present the design of the developed flow microreactor, based on patterned Si wafer, which can be implemented in future work to catalyse selected reactions. Results obtained in this work suggest that porous silicon matrices are promising supports for metal nanoparticle based catalysis.


It is well known that bundle adjustment is the optimal non-linear least-squares formulation of the simultaneous localization and mapping problem, in that its maximum likelihood form matches the definition of the Cramer Rao Lower Bound. Unfortunately, computing the ML solution is often prohibitively expensive – this is especially true during loop closures, which often necessitate adjusting all parameters in a loop. In this paper we note that it is precisely the choice of a single privileged coordinate frame that makes bundle adjustment costly, and that this expense can be avoided by adopting a completely relative approach. We derive a new relative bundle adjustment, which instead of optimizing in a single Euclidean space, works in a metric-space defined by a connected Riemannian manifold. Using an adaptive optimization strategy, we show experimentally that it is possible to solve for the full ML solution incrementally in constant time – even at loop closure. Our system also operates online in real-time using stereo data, with fast appearance-based loop closure detection. We show results for sequences of 23k frames over 1.08km that indicate the accuracy of the approach.


General J.B.M. Hertzog as champion of the Cape rebels, 1902.1903. In this article an attempt was made to shed more light on General J.B.M. Hertzog's endeavours to enforce the rights and reinstate the freedom of the Cape rebels in 1902-1903. The Cape government's proclamation, issued after the peace of Vereeniging, which dealt with the conditions of release of the rebels, greatly upset Hertzog. He saw it as a violation of the undertaking on amnesty which the British government had made to the Boer delegates at the peace. Hertzog felt that this was very unjust towards the rebels. Because of his acute sense of justice and fairplay, Hertzog felt obliged to act on their behalf. He therefore registered his serious objection to the Cape authorities against this injustice. Despite the disappointing and even insulting replies which his representations elicited he persevered in his struggle for the rights of the rebels. During Joseph Chamberlain's visit to Bloemfontein in February 1903, Hertzog earnestly -and as it proved, successfully -appealed to him for justice for the rebels. This post-war action taken by Hertzog was certainly an important training-school for the political struggle he was to conduct for the rights and freedom of the Afrikaner in later years.


This paper is the institutional report written by the author for the Twenty-Third Congress of the FIDE - International Federation for European Law (Federation Internationale pour le Droit Europeen). The biennial FIDE Congresses are widely recognized as the premier forum for discussion of EU law developments. The twenty-third Congress took place in Linz, Austria, 28 to 31 May 2008. This extensive Report reviews the practical experience acquired with operation of Regulation 1/2003, the Modernisation Regulation. This statute introduced Copernican changes in the enforcement system of EU competition law such as the abandonment of the notification system, and the transformation of Article 81(3) into a legal exception directly applicable by all enforcers and national judges. The Regulation also set out mechanisms for cooperation between the Commission and national authorities and courts, provided for new types of decisions, and expanded the Commission's remedial and investigative powers in competition cases. The Report: - outlines the decision-making practice of the Commission in the last four years, and examines the impact of the new procedural arrangements on the Commission's productivity and duration of proceedings; - describes the experiences made by the Commission in cooperating with national competition authorities and national courts; - discusses the Commision's new powers of investigation, such as the power to inspect private homes; - discusses in detail the case law from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) or the Court of First Instance interpreting the new provisions of Regulation 1/2003, including landmark cases such as France Telecom (case allocation) Akzo Nobel (attorney-client privilege), and Alrosa/De Beers (limits of negotiated commitments leading to closure of a case). Although written by an official of the European Commission, the report reflects personal views not attributable to the institution. In relation to individual, identifiable cases, the report refers exclusively to information publicly available. Developments in substantive competition law are outside the scope of the report, which focuses on the procedural and institutional aspects of the enforcement of Articles 81 and 82 EC.


Everyone knows the old real estate adage that the three most important factors in determining the value of a given property are location, location, and location. This is to say that place matters; a neighborhood confers a bundle of amenities to its residents that are specific to that geography. This bundle can include proximity to parks, small-scale retail offerings, high quality schools, and a variety of transportation options, as well as low crime rates and clean air. These amenities are arranged in a variety of configurations across space, and most households determine which aspects are most important to them, and then choose their neighborhood accordingly.


Engaging in online sexual activity (OSA) is a growing phenomenon in much of the Western world. It is frequently argued that excessive involvement in such activity can result in a number of negative consequences including increased psychopathology and psychosocial difficulties, however to date there is little empirical research supporting this claim (Daneback, Cooper, & Mansson, 2005). The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the expression of sexuality on the Internet using an online questionnaire that surveyed the psychological characteristics and online behaviours of individuals who engage in online sexual activity (OSA). The anonymous questionnaire was posted on sexually oriented newsgroups yielding a sample of 1325 men and women. Participants were aged 18 to 80 years of age, (M = 42 years), and approximately 60% of participants identified as non-heterosexual. Ninety-two percent were male and most engaged in OSA for at least 12 hours per week. Participants in the current study were older, more likely to be male, identify as non-heterosexual (gay, lesbian, bisexual), and be heavier users of OSA than participants from earlier online studies (e.g., Cooper, MorahanMartin, Mathy, & Meheu, 2002; Cooper, Sheerer, Bois, & Gordon, 1999). Results from the Internet Sex Screening Test (ISST, Delmonico, 1997) indicated that most participants were classified within the At-Risk or High-Risk groups, suggesting that their OSA was likely to be interfering with important aspects of their lives. Participants' sex and their sexual orientation were related to their pattern of OSA and their offline meeting behaviour. Participants' Risk-level on the ISST and their sexual orientation were related to scores on depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness and impulsivity, however this pattern was not the same for males and females. Adult attachment style was also related to participants' OSA. Securely attached participants were more likely to be classified within the Low-Risk group on the ISST and spend less time engaged in OSA. Overall, spending more time engaged in OSA and scoring higher on the ISST was associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress, impulsivity, social loneliness and emotional loneliness. Findings were discussed in terms of methodological implications, suggestions for future research and also implications for clinical psychologists.


The Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne is developing a Web 2.0 social software called eLogbook and designed for sustaining interaction, collaboration, and learning in online communities. This chapter describes the 3A model on which eLogbook is based as well as the main services that the latter provides. The proposed social software has several innovative features that distinguish it from other classical online collaboration solutions. It offers a high-level of flexibility and adaptability so that it can fulfill the requirements of various Communities of Practice. It also provides community members with ubiquitous access and awareness through its different interfaces. Finally, eLogbook strengthens usability and acceptability thanks to its personalization and contextualization mechanisms.


Gradient-based methods for optimisation of objectives in stochastic settings with unknown or intractable dynamics require estimators of derivatives. We derive an objective that, under automatic differentiation, produces low-variance unbiased estimators of derivatives at any order. Our objective is compatible with arbitrary advantage estimators, which allows the control of the bias and variance of any-order derivatives when using function approximation. Furthermore, we propose a method to trade off bias and variance of higher order derivatives by discounting the impact of more distant causal dependencies. We demonstrate the correctness and utility of our estimator in analytically tractable MDPs and in meta-reinforcement-learning for continuous control.


Forest restoration in southwestern ponderosa pine forests often consists of tree thinning and prescribed fire. Understanding the effects of thinning treatments on soil integrity is important due to the potential negative effects on soil properties and plant composition and abundance. We investigated the effects of harvest severity levels (control, low, intermediate, high) and harvest systems (machine, hand, whole-tree) on soil profile disturbance, soil bulk density, and dead woody biomass. There were no significant differences in soil profile disturbance, soil bulk density, or dead woody biomass among harvest severity levels. The whole-tree harvest system produced significantly larger areas with high levels of soil profile disturbance and significantly smaller areas with no soil disturbance than either the machine- or handharvest systems. There were no significant differences in soil bulk density due to insufficient sampling design. Dead woody biomass was significantly lower in the whole-tree harvested areas than the hand- or machine-harvested areas. Dead woody biomass can play an important role in providing microsites for plant reestablishment following disturbance. Our results illustrate that the type of harvest system used in forest restoration treatments is an important factor that needs to be incorporated into forest restoration design to insure compatibility with overall restoration goals.


In this paper, we test the Coase theorem in the context of carbon emissions trading. We investigate whether generating firms were influenced in their operational decisions by the initial amount of grandfathered emissions in the trial period of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS). Theory suggests that under certain assumptions, the initial allocation should not affect production outcomes. We exploit a non-linearity in the allocation rule of CO2 allowances across coal plants in Spain to test for the relevance of the initial allocation to abatement outcomes. The evidence suggests no systematic relationship between the initial endowment and production decisions at the unit level.