The research article critically investigates recent European policy proposals that promote migration as an adaptation strategy to increase the resilience of communities vulnerable to the environmental crisis. Such proposals have been welcomed for breaking with alarmist discourses that framed climate-induced migration as a threat to national or international security. The present article seeks to contribute to this ongoing debate by bringing in a fresh perspective that has so far been neglected: the perspective of gender. Drawing on a poststructuralist perspective on gender the article reveals that policy debates on climate-induced migration take place within highly gendered discourses. Applying this perspective to recent policy reports on climate change, migration and resilience, the article helps to paint a more nuanced picture of the highly criticized notion of resilience. The analysis shows that, on the one hand, resilience thinking helped overcoming a masculinized discourse of security as control. On the other hand, it reproduces a series of 'gender myths' about the role of women in the so-called Global South.


Background Vascular dysfunction in atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus, as observed in the aging population of developed societies, is associated with vascular DNA damage and cell senescence. We hypothesized that cumulative DNA damage during aging contributes to vascular dysfunction. Methods and Results In mice with genomic instability resulting from the defective nucleotide excision repair genes ERCC1 and XPD (Ercc1d/− and XpdTTD mice), we explored age-dependent vascular function compared with that in wild-type mice. Ercc1d/− mice showed increased vascular cell senescence, accelerated development of vasodilator dysfunction, increased vascular stiffness, and elevated blood pressure at a very young age. The vasodilator dysfunction was due to decreased endothelial nitric oxide synthase levels and impaired smooth muscle cell function, which involved phosphodiesterase activity. Similar to Ercc1d/− mice, age-related endothelium-dependent vasodilator dysfunction in XpdTTD animals was increased. To investigate the implications for human vascular disease, we explored associations between single-nucleotide polymorphisms of selected nucleotide excision repair genes and arterial stiffness within the AortaGen Consortium and found a significant association of a single-nucleotide polymorphism (rs2029298) in the putative promoter region of DDB2 gene with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity. Conclusions Mice with genomic instability recapitulate age-dependent vascular dysfunction as observed in animal models and in humans but with an accelerated progression compared with wild-type mice. In addition, we found associations between variations in human DNA repair genes and markers for vascular stiffness, which is associated with aging. Our study supports the concept that genomic instability contributes importantly to the development of cardiovascular disease.


Theoretical and Conceptual Issues.- Evolutionary Psychology and Information Systems Theorizing.- Group-Level Evolution and Information Systems: What Can We Learn From Animal Colonies in Nature?.- Applying Evolutionary Psychology to the Study of Post-adoption Information Technology Use: Reinforcement, Extension, or Revolution?.- The Behavioral Ecology of Human Foraging in an Online Environment: Of Omnivores, Informavores, and Hunter-Gatherers.- Empirical Research Exemplars.- Surprise and Human Evolution: How a Snake Screen Enhanced Knowledge Transfer Through a Web Interface.- How Do e-Learners Participate in Synchronous Online Discussions? Evolutionary and Social Psychological Perspectives.- Who Is in Your Shopping Cart? Expected and Experienced Effects of Choice Abundance in the Online Dating Context.- Cognitive Adaptation and Collective Action: The P2P File-Sharing Phenomenon.- Studying Invisibly: Media Naturalness and Learning.- Using Evolutionary Psychology to Extend Our Understanding of Fit and Human Drives in Information Systems (IS) Utilization Decisions and Performance.- The Interaction of Communication Medium and Management Control Systems in the Processes and Outcomes of Transfer Price Negotiations.- A Research Model for Online Social Behavior Based on an Evolutionary, Social Psychological, and Technological Approach.- Emerging Issues and Debate.- Costly Traits and e-Collaboration: The Importance of Oral Speech in Electronic Knowledge Communication.- Homo Virtualensis: Evolutionary Psychology as a Tool for Studying Video Games.- The Modern Hunter-Gatherer Hunts Aliens and Gathers Power-Ups: The Evolutionary Appeal of Violent Video Games and How They Can Be Beneficial.- Three Roads to Cultural Recurrence.- Evolution as Metaphor: A Critical Review of the Use of Evolutionary Concepts in Information Systems and e-Commerce.


After addressing the issue of reducing power consumption by computing nodes in data centers, in recent years, computer scientists are focusing on reducing cooling cost of the data centers, thereby making the data centers thermal-aware. Due to the dramatic increase in power-density of data centers, thermal-management strategies are gaining more and more significance in the area of high performance computing data centers. Most of the previous studies towards achieving this goal focus on the nodes performing computation-intensive tasks, in which, the processors are the major consumer of the node's power. However, there is a lack of study on the ways of thermal-aware data placement in storage clusters housing thousands of storage nodes, where the disk subsystems are the major power consumer. In this dissertation, we propose thermal-aware file and resource allocation policies to reduce the cooling cost of data centers. We first propose a thermal-aware file assignment policy -TIGERto make file assignments in distributed storage clusters, followed by out resource allocation policyTASH, which addresses the issue of thermal management in specific framework (Hadoop). Our proposed thermal-aware policies utilize nodes' contributions towards heat re-circulation in data centers while making file and resource allocation decisions. The proposed policies make use of cross-interference matrix to calculate node's contribution in heat re-circulation. Our experimental results show that the proposed policies significantly reduce the cooling cost of data centers as compared to existing thermal-aware policies, and at the same time, maintains performance penalties within acceptable margin.


PURPOSE
Advanced radiotherapy treatments require appropriate quality assurance (QA) to verify 3D dose distributions. Moreover, increase in patient numbers demand efficient QA-methods. In this study, a time efficient method that combines model-based QA and measurement-based QA was developed; i.e., the hybrid-QA. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of the model-based QA and to evaluate time efficiency of the hybrid-QA method.

METHODS
Accuracy of the model-based QA was determined by comparison of COMPASS calculated dose with Monte Carlo calculations for heterogeneous media. In total, 330 intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment plans were evaluated based on the mean gamma index (GI) with criteria of 3%∕3mm and classification of PASS (GI ≤ 0.4), EVAL (0.4 < GI > 0.6), and FAIL (GI ≥ 0.6). Agreement between model-based QA and measurement-based QA was determined for 48 treatment plans, and linac stability was verified for 15 months. Finally, time efficiency improvement of the hybrid-QA was quantified for four representative treatment plans.

RESULTS
COMPASS calculated dose was in agreement with Monte Carlo dose, with a maximum error of 3.2% in heterogeneous media with high density (2.4 g∕cm(3)). Hybrid-QA results for IMRT treatment plans showed an excellent PASS rate of 98% for all cases. Model-based QA was in agreement with measurement-based QA, as shown by a minimal difference in GI of 0.03 ± 0.08. Linac stability was high with an average GI of 0.28 ± 0.04. The hybrid-QA method resulted in a time efficiency improvement of 15 min per treatment plan QA compared to measurement-based QA.

CONCLUSIONS
The hybrid-QA method is adequate for efficient and accurate 3D dose verification. It combines time efficiency of model-based QA with reliability of measurement-based QA and is suitable for implementation within any radiotherapy department.


ABSTRACT Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was carried out using the aqueous leaf extract of rare medicinal plant Decaschistia crotonifolia (Dc). The spectral characterization of the biosynthesized Dc-AgNPs was carried out by using different spectral methods viz., ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) showed that Dc-AgNPs have surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak at 437 nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed the role of various functional groups responsible for the synthesis and the stabilization of Dc-AgNPs. In Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies, the Dc-AgNP average size is detected as 13.6 nm and all the nanoparticles are in the range of 12–18 nm with spherical shape and poly-dispersed nature. The stability of Dc-AgNPs was due to its high negative zeta potential value −26.0 mV. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the crystalline nature of Dc-AgNPs. The Dc-AgNPs proved to have effective antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial stains, also revealed excellent antioxidant and catalytic activity. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Now in its 20th edition, The Driving Instructor's Handbook is widely recognized in the driver training industry as the authoritative reference guide for both trainee and qualified instructors and is listed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) as recommend reading for the Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) exams. This best-selling text covers every aspect of the profession, from the role itself, to the characteristics needed to do the job effectively through the preparation for the three ADI exams (theory and hazard perception, driving ability and instructional ability). The Driving Instructor's Handbook also includes detailed guidance on issues such as licences, training, teaching and coaching skills and road traffic law and covers all 2016/17 changes to the ADI examinations and standards checks. This handbook is essential reading for anyone involved in the training of drivers and instructors at all levels and will ensure that new drivers are better able to cope with the increasing demands made on them.


This COVID-19 (n-CoV) belongs to a large family of viruses known as 'Coronaviruses' that causes respiratory and intestinal illness among animals and human beings The present study attempts to understand the trends in global research in coronavirus related diseases during the last seven decades It thus seeks to provide an informed assessment of research in this area Major areas of research related to this disease on which the research focused, were 'acute respiratory syndrome' and fusion and penetration process of this virus with 'gastroenteritis virus' and 'mouse hepatitis virus' (mhv) The USA and China were the most productive countries and the collaborative researches work in China were largely intra-national whereas in the USA, these tended to be multinational This paper elaborates and illustrates some salient characteristic trends of research on coronavirus related diseases that has taken place in these two most prolific countries Some interesting trends can be observed from citation analysis Although on average, an article received 27 76 citations, wherein 10% of citations came only from the top 56 (0 34%) articles which suggest that only a few articles out of total articles received global attention The weak collaboration link between highly cited authors also suggests that collaborative research team work in this field does not so much exist Research activity in this area can be traced back to early 1950's It is not surprising that in recent years, more intense research in this area is being undertaken now than that was done before when diseases caused by this virus were more localised It gives hope that this well directed research across different countries will provide new pathways for understanding coronavirus generated diseases including the present n-CoV which is an essential pre-requisite for developing measures to control coronavirus associated disease and develop vaccination for its prevention © 2020 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics


The science of consciousness is founded on identifying the minimally sufficient neural correlates of consciousness. However, I have argued that science really seeks identification of the neural constitution of consciousness, and that there are no empirical strategies for distinguishing the correlates and constitution of consciousness. Here I review this correlation/constitution distinction problem, drawing on recording, inhibition, stimulation and combined inhibition/stimulation approaches. I propose the Jenga analogy to explain why the minimally sufficient neural correlates of consciousness should not be considered the ultimate target of consciousness science. I then show how combined inhibition/stimulation strategies might identify some constitutive neural activities but not the whole constitution of consciousness. Clarifications, objections and related issues are also discussed and I propose new foundational claims for consciousness science.


The first comprehensive 'biography' of one of the first celebrity animals who gave us one of our favourite words. Jumbo, Victorian England's favourite elephant, was born in 1861 in French Sudan, imported to a Parisian zoo and later sold on to London, where - for seventeen years - he dutifully gave children rides and ate buns from their hands, all the while being tortured at night to keep him docile. Worldwide fame came when he was bought by the American showman and scam artist P.T. Barnum in 1881, despite letters from 100,000 British schoolchildren who wrote to Queen Victoria begging her to prevent the sale. Barnum went on to transform Jumbo into a lucrative circus act and one of the most loved animals of all time, establishing elephants as a regular feature of funhouses and menageries the world over. Using the heartwrenching story of Jumbo's celebrity life, tragic death in Canada in 1885, and his enduring cultural legacy, Jumbo is personal and fascinating reflection on our cultural elephantiasis by one of our most distinguished literary-critical detectives, which is guaranteed to amuse, stimulate, provoke and delight in equal measure.


High quality Physical Education should instigate and support all learners to develop into a lifelong participant in a way which upkeeps their own health, fitness, and well-being. There are, however, an ever-increasing number of children who drop out of participating in physical activities at the earliest opportunity, leading to an increase in sedentary lifestyles and a rise in childhood obesity. It is evidence such as this which indicates Physical Education, specifically in England, is not currently appropriate for all and requires change. To attempt to make the subject a more positive experience for all and to inspire lifelong involvement, varying the curriculum and including alternative activities for pupils might tap into useful wider cultures. This paper discusses the emergence of alternative sports, the challenges and synergies of implementation, and focuses on what could work and why.


The entrance of JetBlue into the Boston area low-cost carrier market in 2004 is viewed as a direct attack on Major airlines and prompts American Airlines to decide whether or not to respond and if so, how to respond. American, already weakened financially, cannot match JetBlue's prices and remain profitable. It must weigh the importance of Boston market in its overall economic picture and the potential responses of other airlines to whatever action it takes. Thnis case reviews the recent economic conditions affecting the airline industry; the business models of the 3 main types of airlines--Major, Low-Cost Carriers, and Regionals--and their strengths and vulnerabilities in terms of recent competitive market conditions; and the economic role airports play. This case is divided into 3 parts: A, B, C. The B case involves American's counter-attack--a free ticket promotional offer from American on the day JetBlue opens. The C case discusses the responses of other airlines and JetBlue and a preliminary analysis of the fallout: resulting financial and market costs and benefits. See related cases(A case: UVA-S-0116; and B case:UVA-S-0117).


This research investigates the knowledge sharing initiatives in local authorities in Malaysia. It focuses on to what extent knowledge sharing initiatives impact on the planning permission process and how best this impact can be conceptually modelled and presented for the purpose of improving the process. The aim of this research is to establish the significance of knowledge sharing initiatives in the planning permission process and to develop guidance in this regard for local authorities in Malaysia with a view to improving the process. The needs of this research arise due to the importance and the rapid flow of information, which is transforming business processes and procedures, and resulting in the rise of a knowledge-based economy. It also responds to the government's intention to achieve "Developed Nation" status in 2020.
Knowledge sharing initiatives are organisational approaches to manage knowledge in an organisation. In order to exploit effective knowledge sharing; the organisation has to establish the significance of knowledge sharing initiatives approaches. Nevertheless, strong demand and expectation from citizens for efficient service delivery, coupled with global challenges in the knowledge based economy have fuelled the need for government agencies to consider the effectiveness of knowledge sharing as a strategy to improve service delivery. Effective knowledge sharing initiatives have the potential to benefit local authorities in view of their role.
This research, one of the most comprehensive ever undertaken in this area, comprises interviews and distributions of questionnaires to local authorities in Malaysia. The list of local authorities was acquired from the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. The data were obtained from embedded questionnaire surveys, online survey and interviews; 103 (34.56%) data were obtained through the survey method, and 20 interviewees participated.
The research findings of this study have several implications for research into the role of knowledge sharing initiatives concerning the planning permission process. First, the nature of knowledge sharing tools and techniques in local authorities is dependent on the variety of tasks and complexity of the sub-process of the planning permission process. Second, the effectiveness, the use and exploitation of knowledge sharing tools (technologies) and techniques are dependent on the sub-process of the planning permission process and type of local authority and the resources available.
Third, the results show that there is a difference in the impact of organisational structure, culture and motivational construct in the effective sharing of knowledge in local authorities of various sizes.
Developing a model and guidance for improving the planning permission process through knowledge sharing initiatives have enable management to guide towards establishing the significance of knowledge sharing initiatives in the process of planning permission. The guidance in knowledge sharing initiatives includes the following steps: identify knowledge, gathering and finding knowledge, organising, sharing, applying and evaluating. It also gives clear responsibility to various levels of team members including top management, managerial and supporting staff in implementing knowledge sharing initiatives in the planning permission process.
There is extensive scope for more empirical studies to explore and document the issue of knowledge sharing in local authorities in Malaysia. An in-depth investigation into regional culture and its impact on knowledge sharing is needed and would lead to results of practical utility. A study on other local authorities that adopt a similar research methodology to the current study would contribute to the body of knowledge in this area.


Families play an important role in the development of individuals. The experiences that occur in the family can either promote or hinder the development of its members. This study aimed to determine the effects of family conflict on preadolescents' basic psychological needs and externalising behaviour using the Family Environment Scale (FES), Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS), Youth Self-Report (YSR) and Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ). A quantitative cross-sectional correlational design was employed. The sample consisted of 128 preadolescents (MeanAge = 11.15). The findings indicated a significant positive relationship between family conflict, psychological needs and the externalising behaviour of preadolescents.


BACKGROUND
Dedicator of cytokinesis 1 (Dock1 or Dock180), a bipartite guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Rac1, plays critical roles in receptor tyrosine kinase-stimulated cancer growth and invasion. Dock180 activity is required in cell migration cancer tumorigenesis promoted by platelet derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) and epidermal growth factor receptor.

METHODS
To demonstrate whether PDGFRα promotes tumor malignant behavior through protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent serine phosphorylation of Dock180, we performed cell proliferation, viability, migration, immunoprecipitation, immunoblotting, colony formation, and in vivo tumorigenesis assays using established and short-term explant cultures of glioblastoma cell lines.

RESULTS
Stimulation of PDGFRα results in phosphorylation of Dock180 at serine residue 1250 (S1250), whereas PKA inhibitors H-89 and KT5720 oppose this phosphorylation. S1250 locates within the Rac1-binding Dock homology region 2 domain of Dock180, and its phosphorylation activates Rac1, p-Akt, and phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, while promoting cell migration, in vitro. By expressing RNA interference (RNAi)-resistant wild-type Dock180, but not mutant Dock180 S1250L, we were able to rescue PDGFRα-associated signaling and biological activities in cultured glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cells that had been treated with RNAi for suppression of endogenous Dock180. In addition, expression of the same RNAi-resistant Dock180 rescued an invasive phenotype of GBM cells following intracranial engraftment in immunocompromised mice.

CONCLUSION
These data describe an important mechanism by which PDGFRα promotes glioma malignant phenotypes through PKA-dependent serine phosphorylation of Dock180, and the data thereby support targeting the PDGFRα-PKA-Dock180-Rac1 axis for treating GBM with molecular profiles indicating PDGFRα signaling dependency.


Because of the distortions of geometrical optics, image curves and the outlines of the objects that generate them need not have the same topology. New image loops appear when the object curve touches the caustic of the family of (imaginary) rays emitted by the observing eye. Such disruption may be elliptic (loop born from an isolated point) or hyperbolic (loop pinched off from an already existing one). The number of images need not be odd (unlike the number of rays reaching the eye from each object point). Two examples are employed to illustrate caustic touching. The first is the Sun's disk seen in rippled water (as the height of the eye increases, the boundary of all the images becomes a fractal curve with dimension 2). The second is sunset seen through the Earth's atmosphere from near space (when there is an inversion layer) or from the Moon during a lunar eclipse (when there need not be one).


Among the many scholarly attempts to reckon with the causes and consequences of Donald Trump's rise, few have attracted popular attention on the scale of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt's How Democracies Die. Seldom do books by political scientists make it onto the New York Times best sellers list, but this one has, a testament to its broad influence. Levitsky and Ziblatt situate Trumpism within a broader comparative and historical context in order to assess its similarities to and differences from democratic breakdowns elsewhere, particularly in Europe and Latin America. Their broad argument is that modern slides into authoritarianism are not the result of revolutions or military coups, but rather the consequence of a steady erosion of political norms and the assault on such fundamental democratic institutions as an independent judiciary and a free press. In short, contemporary democracies die not as a result of men with guns attacking from outside the system, but rather because elected leaders from inside that system slowly undermine them. Judged from this standpoint, the authors argue that American democracy is now in real danger, and they offer a range of suggestions for saving it. How convincing is Levitsky and Ziblatt's analysis of democratic breakdown, and how well does it apply to the American case? How useful are the solutions that they offer for rescuing American democracy? We have asked a range of prominent scholars from across the discipline to consider these questions in the present symposium.


Being good structural replacement for other conventional material, the pultruded glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) profiles are being increasingly used in civil engineering structures. The connection between components is considered the most suspect area for failure initiation. The adhesive bonding is preferred for FRP composite structures, rather than the mechanical fastening, due to the brittle failure nature of composite materials. During past decades, many efforts have been made by researchers to better understand the mechanism of adhesive bonding, to analyze the stress distributions and to improve the strength of composite structural joints. However there is still no commonly accepted design code/standard existing for adhesively-bonded joints in civil engineering infrastructures since several important knowledge gaps are to be filled. Besides the joint strength at failure, the characterization and modeling of the progressive failure process, in particular involving the so-called crack initiation and propagation phases, is also an important concern. By employing the strain energy release rate (SERR) as the fracture parameter, the linear-elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) approach is considered an efficient method to model the fracture behavior of structural joints. However, due to the uncontrollable crack initiation and the complex geometric configurations, the crack measurement techniques and the calculation method for the SERR are to be validated. In fracture mechanics, the fracture of a material or component can be described by a single mode or the combinations of the following three basic modes: opening mode (Mode I), shearing mode (Mode II), and tearing mode (Mode III). During the fracture of a structural joint, crack initiation and propagation are driven by combined through-thickness tensile (peeling), and shear stresses, thus resulting in a mixed mode fracture. In order to use the fracture results of structural joints to form the mixed fracture criterion for a specific composite material, a feasible analytical or numerical method are to be developed to determine the Mode I and II components of the SERR during fracture. Although many efforts have been made to better understand the short-term behavior of structural joint under quasi-static loading, the long-term performance under fatigue loading and different environmental conditions is a more demanding task when adhesively-bonded joints are applied in a real structure. Most of structural failures occur due to mechanisms that are driven by fatigue loading and for composite structures, the fatigue produced by the repeated application of live load is more critical due to its lighter self-weight, in other words the lower dead load. Besides the fatigue loading, a structure in practice may also experience the combined environmental effects of two basic factors: temperature and humidity. These environmental conditions may directly affect properties of structural joints, including the failure mechanism, the stiffness and strength, the crack initiation and propagation and etc.. Thus, the missing knowledge and confidences in the long-term behavior under cyclic loading and the durability under different environmental conditions are the main obstacles to the further development of FRP composites in civil engineering infrastructures. In this research, the mechanical and fracture behavior of adhesively-bonded double-lap and stepped-lap joints (DLJs and SLJs) composed of pultruded GFRP laminates and an epoxy adhesive were experimentally and numerically investigated under both quasi-static and fatigue loadings. The crack measurement techniques and the calculation methods for the SERR were validated for DLJs and SLJs. The LEFM approach was successfully applied to characterize and model the progressive failure process of structural joints. The Mode I and II components of the SERR of DLJs and SLJs were determined using the Virtual Crack Closure Technique in finite element analysis. Combining with the results of pure Mode I and II experiments, a mixed mode fracture criterion for pultruded GFRP composite was formed. Under fatigue loading, the fatigue behavior of structural joints was successfully modeled by using the stiffness-based and fracture mechanics approaches, besides the F-N curves. Based on the stiffness degradation, a linear and a sigmoid non-linear model were established and the fatigue live corresponding to the failure and allowable stiffness degradation can be predicted. Concerning fracture mechanics approach, the Fatigue Crack Growth (FCG) curves were formed for DLJs and SLJs and the corresponding fracture parameters were obtained. Similarly to stiffness-based approach, fatigue lives corresponding to the failure and allowable crack length can be predicted. The environmental effects on both short- and long-term performances of structural joints were experimentally evaluated and numerically modeled based on experimental results. The temperature-dependent joint stiffness can be predicted using the finite element analysis based on the thermomechanical properties of constituent materials. A relationship between the equivalent quasi-static joint strength under different environmental conditions and the cyclic stresses and the fatigue life was established.


An analytical solution is discussed for the nadir radiance as measured from a satellite, based on a simplified single-scattering approximation in which the scattered radiation is not subject to extinction. In the solution, terms can be identified as due to a reflection from the vicinity of the object pixel, and, respectively, (1) upward scattering to zenith above the object pixel, and (2) downward scattering from the entire atmosphere to the object pixel. The first term is referred to as the cross radiance, the second as the cross irradiance. The cross radiance is proportional to the forward scattering optical thickness, as defined, and the cross irradiance to the backscattering optical thickness. The cross radiance usually constitutes the predominant effect. The effect, even at low atmospheric turbidity, can be large enough to constitute a significant fraction of the radiance registered at the satellite, thus hampering determination of spectral signature of the object pixel or identification of pixels with inherently the same spectral signature. Explicit expressions and computer solutions for the cross radiance from annular or from rectangular reflecting areas are presented. The effect depends on the height distribution and on the sharpness of the forward peak of the scattering particles.


Criminological studies consistently indicate that a disproportionate percentage of crimes in our society, both violent and non-violent, are committed by those who are impoverished. If we assume that at least some of the poor who commit crimes are poor because they fail to get from society what they "deserve" in terms of economic or political or social rights, the question arises whether this fact should affect the determination of what such people "deserve" from society in terms of punishment. The question is all the more pressing given recent Census Bureau figures indicating that the economic recession that began in 2008 has resulted in a higher percentage of Americans living below the poverty line than at any point since 1997, with figures for 2009 certain to be even worse given rising unemployment rates. Most scholars who have been concerned with this issue have assumed that there is one set of principles that will explain the proper relationship between distributive and retributive justice: The fact that an offender has been denied the basic entitlements of a just society, however defined, is taken to have implications for criminal liability across the board, regardless of the offense charged. The argument that I develop here suggests that a proper analysis of the relationship between distributive and retributive justice should proceed on a case-by-case basis. Such an analysis would take account of three distinct factors: First, it would look to the specific kind of offense with which the offender is charged. The fact that an offender is deeply and unjustly disadvantaged might be relevant to determining his blameworthiness for committing one kind of criminal offense (say, an offense against the person) but not another kind of offense (say, an offense against property or an offense against the administration of justice). Under this approach, we need to consider what it is that makes an offender blameworthy for committing a particular kind of offense in the first place, and then ask whether and how such blameworthiness is affected by his disadvantage. Second, we need to look at the precise form that the offender's disadvantage takes. The fact that an offender has been denied any reasonable opportunity to obtain property, for example, might be relevant to determining his blameworthiness for committing a particular kind of offense in a way that his being denied the opportunity to participate in the political process or the right to certain kinds of basic police protection by the state might not. Third, we need to consider the economic and social circumstances of the crime victim, if any. For example, a criminal act directed by a disadvantaged offender at a similarly disadvantaged victim might be blameworthy in a way that the same crime directed at a privileged member of the political or economic elite would not.


A split-step time-domain model for the analysis of pulse delay characteristics through ring resonator all-pass filters (APF's) is developed and its accuracy is checked. The dependence of the delay time and pulse distortion on the coupling ratios is investigated using the model. It is observed that the bandwidth of the APF's needs to be wide enough to minimize the pulse distortion.


Interest in the quality of university education has grown considerably over the last decade. Higher education institutions are increasingly placing greater emphasis on meeting students' expectations and needs. As universities become more student orientated, student perceptions of higher educational facilities and services are becoming more important. It is apparent that there is a need to measure students' perceptions of service quality at the Durban University of Technology. To investigate students' perceptions of service quality, a study was conducted which was guided by four objectives. These objectives were: firstly, to identify students' expectations in terms of higher educational services provided; secondly, to ascertain the perceptions of students towards the service the Durban University of Technology provides; thirdly, to measure the gaps between the expectations and perceptions, using the SERVQUAL score, and fourthly, to calculate and measure the score of the five SERVQUAL dimensions.


On the basis of the lack of measurement tools and the research gap regarding social entrepreneurship, three studies were conducted to develop a new measure of social enterprise (SE) performance that is empirically valid and easy to administer. The purpose of this measure was to examine the relationship between entrepreneurs' personality traits and their perceived SE performance. The results indicated that SE performance can be assessed using four dimensions: personal issues, social aspects, business elements, and service programmes. Extraversion positively influenced service programmes, and openness negatively affected service programmes. Neuroticism and conscientiousness positively predicted personal issues and service programmes, and agreeableness positively predicted all dimensions of perceived SE performance. The results also demonstrated the curvilinear relationship of the U-shaped curve between neuroticism and personal issues and the social aspects of SE performance. Furthermore, the results showed the curvilinear relationship of the inverted U-shaped curve between agreeableness and the four dimensions of SE performance.


Multistrip coupler (MSC) is a component of SAW devices that couples surface acoustic waves (SAWs) propagating in two acoustic channels on piezoelectric substrate. Little is known in SAW literature about simultaneous transmission of bulk waves by MSC; it is beliewed that MSC efficiently suppress bulk wave spurious signals in SAW devices, and this is one of reasons of application of MSC in SAW devices. In this paper we investigate the efficiency of bulk wave transmission by MSC. New theory of MSC is developed that accounts for the fact that MSCs comprise finite number of conducting strips spanning over two acoustic channels. Numerical analysis based on FFT algorithm shows that bulk waves can be quite efficiently transmitted by MSC. This means particularly, that MSC can be applied to couple the surface skimming bulk waves which, having large velocity, are attractive for higher frequency SAW devices. In this case, MSCs would make it possible to shape the device frequency response by two apodized interdigital transducers (IDTs) converting electric signal to ultrasonic surface waves.


Our article explores the cultural politics of public space and the placemaking politics of urban redevelopment in the Atlas District of Washington, DC, a popular commercial district undergoing rapid gentrification. The major questions we address are, how do race and class impact the ways public space is controlled and/or managed in the context of rapid changes in the built, economic and social environments of the neighborhood? What role do those narratives play in justifying changes in and management of public space? We focus on uses of public space and describe how various forms of power are linked to the control of space in the context of gentrification. Our analysis focuses on designated public space in the Atlas District—the Starburst Plaza. By analyzing everyday practices around community control at the Starburst Plaza, this case study focuses on the discrete methods by which the symbolic and material inequities promulgated by the neoliberal state are reconfigured through struggles to define and manage contested public spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


In this paper, a novel MEMS Mach-Zehnder interferometer optical switch is presented. Switching is achieved by tuning the vertical gap between two coupled waveguides through the application of a reverse bias on a p-i-n junction. The switching requires a voltage as low as 4.4V and provides an extinction ratio above 15dB within a 34 nm bandwidth in the C-band. The device also serves as a very efficient optical phase modulator, being able to modify the optical phase by more than 4π with only 6.5V voltage in a 140μm-long waveguide. Our work provides a solution to on-chip optical switching for low-voltage applications. The switch is fabricated on an indiumphosphide membrane on a silicon substrate, which enables the integration with active components (e.g. amplifiers, lasers, detectors) on a single chip.


The target article overestimates the power of money as a motive/incentive in order to justify trying to provide a biological theory. A great deal of the article is spent trying to force-fit other explanations into this course categorization. Lea & Webley's (L&W's) account seems to ignore systematic, individual differences, as well as the literature on many negative affective associations of money and behavioural economics, which is a cognitive account of money motivation.


Activity-related variations in the solar oscillation properties have been known for 30 years. However, the relative importance of the different contributions to the observed variations is not yet fully understood. Our goal is to estimate the relative contribution from sunspots to the observed activity-related variations in the frequencies of the acoustic modes. We use a variational principle to relate the phase differences induced by sunspots on the acoustic waves to the corresponding changes in the frequencies of the global acoustic oscillations. From the sunspot properties (area and latitude as a function of time), we are able to estimate the spot-induced frequency shifts. These are then combined with a smooth frequency shift component, associated with long-term solar-cycle variations, and the results compared with the frequency shifts derived from the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) data. The result of this comparison is consistent with a sunspot contribution to the observed frequency shifts of roughly 30 per cent, with the remaining 70 per cent resulting mostly from a global, non-stochastic variation, possibly related to the changes in the overall magnetic field. Moreover, analysis of the residuals obtained after the subtraction of the model frequency shifts from the observations indicates the presence of a 1.5-yr periodicity in the data in phase with the quasi-biennial variations reported in the literature.


Do we confuse globalization for Americanization? What are the distinctive elements in the interplay of the local and the global?This much needed book is the first full length text to examine globalization from the perspective of both the West and the East. It considers globalization as a general social and economic process, and the challenges it presents for Western social science. The meaning of a global perspective is explored through various concrete examples: religion, migration, medicine, terrorism, global disasters, citizenship, multiculturalism, media and popular culture. Introduced with a forward from Roland Robertson the book is brimming with novel interpretations and fresh insights that will contribute to illuminating the practical realities of globalization.


Background: Puberty is a complex biopsychosocial process that is linked to an array of psychiatric and medical disorders that emerge in adolescence and persist across the lifespan. Although the pubertal process is driven by neuroendocrine changes, few quantitative genetic studies have directly measured puberty-relevant hormones. Hair samples can now be assayed for accumulation of hormones over several months. In contrast to more conventional salivary measures, hair measures are not confounded by diurnal variation or hormonal reactivity. Methods: In an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of 1,286 child and adolescent twins and multiples from 672 unique families, we estimated genetic and environmental influences on concentrations of testosterone, DHEA, and progesterone in hair across the period of 8 to 18 years of age. Results: We identified sex-specific developmental windows of maximal heritability in each hormone. Peak heritability for DHEA occurred at age 9.8 years for males and 10.0 years for females. Peak heritability for testosterone occurred at age 12.5 and 15.2 years for males and females, respectively. Peak heritability for male progesterone occurred at 11.2 years, while the heritability of female progesterone remained uniformly low. Conclusion: This is the first study of genetic influences on pubertal hormone concentrations in human hair and is the largest of the heritability of pubertal hormones in any form. The identification of specific developmental windows when genetic signals for hormones are maximized has critical implications for well-informed models of hormone-behavior associations in childhood and adolescence.


The "filling-in" (FI) of Fraunhofer lines, often referred to as the Ring effect, was examined using measurements of near ultraviolet sunlight scattered from the zenith sky above Boulder, Colorado during July and August 2005. The FI of the 344.1 nm Fe I line was directly determined by comparing direct sun and cloud-free zenith sky spectra recorded on the same day. The results, obtained over solar zenith angles (SZA) from 20° to 70°, are compared to the predictions of a simple rotational Raman Scattering (RRS) spectral model. The measured FI was found to be up to 70% greater than that predicted by first-order molecular scattering with a much stronger SZA dependence. Simultaneously measured aerosol optical depths and Monte Carlo calculations show that the combination of aerosol scattering and second-order molecular scattering can account for these differences, and potentially explain the contradictory SZA dependences in previously published measurements of FI. These two scattering processes also introduce a wavelength dependence to FI that complicates the fitting of diffuse sunlight observations in differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS). A simple correction to improve DOAS retrievals by removing this wavelength dependence is described.


The place of foreign language learning in education has a rich and diverse history since the introduction of compulsory schooling, with some countries including the learning of a foreign language as a compulsory part of the curriculum, whilst in others foreign language learning is seen as an optional subject suited for more academically minded students. In more recent times, the place and role of foreign or second language learning have come under increasing scrutiny, partly in response to world-wide developments in communication technologies, increased and expanded transnational mobility, global security concerns and the emergence of a global lingua franca, English. In this article, I build upon reflections from other scholars to outline the major challenges for university-level language learning in the context of a radically changing language learning environment. The focus of attention is on three key elements of language learning: the learner, the teacher and the curriculum.


Composite halokinetic sequences (CHS) are unconformity-bounded successions of upturned and thinned strata that form due to drape folding of diapir roofs during passive salt rise. Tabular and tapered CHS have narrow (50–200 m) and broad (300–1000 m) zones of folding, respectively. CHS are originally defined as exposed diapirs bounded by shallow-water strata in La Popa Basin, Mexico. This paper tests the concepts of CHS development at the subsurface, deepwater Auger diapir in the northern Gulf of Mexico. We used 3D wide-azimuth seismic data, well and biostratigraphic data, and structural restorations to interpret and analyzed 11 well-imaged Pleistocene CHS that correlate around the diapir. The lower and uppermost flanks are characterized exclusively by tapered CHS, with wide zones of thinning (240–660 m) and broad taper angles (41°–75°). In between are four discrete CHS with mixed tapered and tabular geometries, with the latter displaying narrow zones of thinning (![Formula][1] ) and negligible taper. Three of the intervals switch geometry around the diapir. The CHS-bounding unconformities typically intersect the salt at cusps and are continuous with bright amplitudes in the minibasins that tie to biostratigraphically defined condensed sections. CHS represent 50–500 kyr time spans and correlate well with fourth-order sea-level cycles. We corroborated many aspects of the published model of CHS development, showed that the formation of CHS due to drape folding was independent of depositional environment and related to fluctuations in sea level and sediment input. The style of CHS is generally determined by the interplay between salt-rise and sediment-accumulation rates, but variable CHS geometries around the diapir within the same interval suggested that the ultimate control is the roof thickness. Our results are critical to understanding and predicting aspects of hydrocarbon traps against salt, including trap geometry, and reservoir distribution.

 [1]: /embed/mml-math-1.gif


Our research explores the intersection of academic, industrial and standardization spheres to enable secure and energy-efficient Internet of Things. We study standards-based security solutions bottom-up and first observe that hardware accelerated cryptography is a necessity for Internet of Things devices, as it leads to reductions in computational time, as much as two orders of magnitude. Overhead of the cryptographic primitives is, however, only one of the factors that influences the overall performance in the networking context. To understand the energy - security tradeoffs, we evaluate the effect of link-layer security features on the performance of Wireless Sensors Networks. We show that for practical applications and implementations, link-layer security features introduce a negligible degradation on the order of a couple of percent, that is often acceptable even for the most energy-constrained systems, such as those based on harvesting.Because link-layer security puts trust on each node on the communication path consisted of multiple, potentially compromised devices, we protect the information flows by end-to-end security mechanisms. We therefore consider Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) protocol, the IETF standard for end-to-end security in the Internet of Things and contribute to the debate in both the standardization and research communities on the applicability of DTLS to constrained environments. We provide a thorough performance evaluation of DTLS in different duty-cycled networks through real-world experimentation, emulation and analysis. Our results demonstrate surprisingly poor performance of DTLS in networks where energy efficiency is paramount. Because a DTLS client and a server exchange many signaling packets, the DTLS handshake takes between a handful of seconds and several tens of seconds, with similar results for different duty cycling protocols.But apart from its performance issues, DTLS was designed for point-to-point communication dominant in the traditional Internet. The novel Constrained Ap- plication Protocol (CoAP) was tailored for constrained devices by facilitating asynchronous application traffic, group communication and absolute need for caching. The security architecture based on DTLS is, however, not able to keep up and advanced features of CoAP simply become futile when used in conjunction with DTLS. We propose an architecture that leverages the security concepts both from content-centric and traditional connection-oriented approaches. We rely on secure channels established by means of DTLS for key exchange, but we get rid of the notion of "state" among communicating entities by leveraging the concept of object security. We provide a mechanism to protect from replay attacks by coupling the capability-based access control with network communication and CoAP header. OSCAR, our object-based security architecture, intrinsically supports caching and multicast, and does not affect the radio duty-cycling operation of constrained devices. Ideas from OSCAR have already found their way towards the Internet standards and are heavily discussed as potential solutions for standardization.


INSTRUCTORS' NOTES CASE DESCRIPTION The primary subject matter of this case concerns business law and statistical analysis. Secondary issues involve negligence vs. negligence per se; duty; breach of duty; causation; contributory vs. comparative negligence; and statistical concepts involving linear regression analysis, probability and expected value. The case also presents strategic thinking and ethical issues related to business conduct and their affects on consumers. The case has a difficulty of level three, appropriate for junior level courses. The case is intended to be taught in three class hours, including a class presentation by student teams. The case is expected to require a minimum of three hours of outside preparation by student teams that present a report. This case is designed for use in an upper division inter-disciplinary business course. The purpose of the course is to enable students to utilize the knowledge they have gained in their lower division core business courses that include one business law course and one statistics course. However, the case can be easily modified for use as an in class or take-home assignment in an introductory business law course by eliminating the Case A Questions on statistics. CASE SYNOPSIS Students are faced with a factual setting that presents practical business and ethical issues. After learning from his doctor that he was a prime candidate for a heart attack, the victim in this case considers a regimen of diet and exercise. The exercise aspect of the plan involved possible membership at a local gym, of which his wife was already a member. Following a discussion with his wife, it was decided that the victim would drive his wife to the gym and return to pick her up when her exercise session was completed. When the victim returned to the gym to pick up his wife, he waited for her in the gym lobby. While waiting for his wife, the victim suffered a cardiac arrest. Although medical assistance was immediately administered by a gym employee, and later by emergency medical technicians and trauma center personnel, the victim did not survive. Following the victim's death, it was learned that he had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Individuals who suffer a sudden cardiac arrest generally survive if heart rhythm is restored using a defibrillator. The gym did not have a defibrillator on the premises. Was the gym negligent in failing to have a defibrillator on the premises? If the gym had had a defibrillator on the premises would the victim have survived? Since the victim was a prime candidate for a heart attack did the victim contribute to his own death? In answering these questions, the case is divided into three major parts. The first part of the case requires students to utilize their understanding of several statistical issues. They are required to: use linear regression to predict age at death given a specific cholesterol level; determine the expected cost of owning a defibrillator; calculate the age at which the average person will experience their first cardiac incident; and estimate the number of lives that are saved if a defibrillator is available for use. The second part requires students to analyze a possible negligence claim against the gym with respect to its failure to have a defibrillator on the premises. Students are required to address the following negligence concepts: duty; breach of duty; negligence per se; actual (cause in fact) causation; damages; and defenses to negligence (i.e., contributory vs. comparative negligence). The last part of the case enables the students to propose strategies regarding settlement and ethical issues raised by the gym's refusal to assume responsibility for its actions. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEACHING APPROACHES This case is designed for use in an upper division inter-disciplinary business course. The purpose of the course is to enable students to utilize knowledge they have gained in their lower division core business courses. …


Abstract Economic growth and convergence remains a topical issue. This study uses a crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis of data from European Union countries in order to establish which conditions could be considered necessary and sufficient to make these countries converge. Based on six different conditions (GDP, secondary education, life expectancy, fertility rate, government consumption and inflation rate), this study finds that the main conditions affecting convergence are government consumption ratio (lower levels will increase convergence), education levels and life expectancy (both with a positive influence on convergence). The first two conditions show quite interesting results: in fact, reduction of government expenditure and budget constraints are an open debate; and the European Union's aim to become a more competitive economy can only be attained with higher levels of education.


A target pattern of concentric rings varying from fine lines to broad bands has been placed in the open face of a desk lamp. This luminous target is useful in the study of the gloss characteristics of the more glossy surfaces. The lines and bands of various sizes in the target provide means for studying surfaces of a wide range of "distinctness-of-reflected-image" gloss. Records may be made of which lines and bands are visible by reflection from different surfaces. Such records serve as permanent gloss values for the different surfaces studied. The dark areas of the target immediately adjacent to the luminous areas provide ideal conditions for the identification of surface "bloom." The best gloss differentiations are made when the lamp is used in a darkened room so that the luminous pattern is the only source of light illuminating the surfaces inspected. Photographic records of gloss and unusual gloss effects are discussed.


"Prime-Time Families" provides a wide-ranging new look at television entertainment in the past four decades. Working within the interdisciplinary framework of cultural studies, Ella Taylor analyzes television as a constellation of social practices. Part popular culture analysis, part sociology, and part American history, "Prime-Time Families" is a rich and insightful work the sheds light on the way television shapes our lives.


INTRODUCTION Former Supreme Court Justice, Lewis Powell described the federal judiciary and the United States Supreme Court as perhaps "the most important instrument for social, economic, and political change" (Lazarus, 2008). The Constitutional origin of the Court is in Article III, [section]1, of the U.S. Constitution and provides that "the judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish" (A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court, 2008). The jurisdiction of the Court, Article III [section]2 of the U.S. Constitution, extends "to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority" (A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court, 2008). The term of the Court begins on the first Monday in October and runs until the first Monday in October of the following year. In recent years, the caseload of the Court has increased dramatically. While there were only 1,460 cases on the docket in the 1945 term, and 2,313 in 1960, recently there has been more than 10,000 cases on the docket per term (A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court, 2008). The court will only grant plenary review with oral arguments in approximately 100 cases per term with formal written opinions being delivered in 80 to 90 cases (A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court, 2008). In the 2007/2008 term, the court heard oral arguments for 70 cases and returned opinions in 69 of those cases (Ross, 2008). In the 2007/2008 term, the Court issued important decisions involving age discrimination and retaliation. These decisions have been characterized as expanding employers' burden of proof in responding to allegations and potentially increasing the cost to defend themselves in responding to allegations of discrimination (Smith, 2008-B & AHI's Employment Law Today, 2008). The purpose of this paper is to examine the Court's decisions in these two areas and to present policy and practice suggestions for organizations to reduce their exposure to litigation and cost in the future. BACKGROUND In recent years, with respect to human resource decision making, the Court has been called on to rule on a number of important issues. Some of those rulings have been viewed as pro-employer and others as pro-employee. From the 2007/2008 term, eleven cases with human resource decision making issues were identified (see Exhibit 1). In those cases, the Court ruled in favor of employees seven times and employers/business four times (Ross, 2008). Exhibit 1 2007/2008 U.S. Supreme Court Decisions with Human Resource Decision Making Implications (Source: Ross, 2008) (NLRA--National Labor Relations Act; ADEA--Age Discrimination in Employment Act; ERISA--Employee Retirement Income Security Act; Constitution--Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution; False Claims--False Claims Act; 1866--1866 Civil Rights Act; Title VII--Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act; Technical--Technical ruling by the court on Federal Rules of Evidence 401 & 403) With respect to the purpose of this study, four cases will be examined. Three cases deal with age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Meacham v. Knolls Atomic Power Lab, and Federal Express v. Holowecki et al., are most relevant. The Gomez-Perez v. Potter case also involved the ADEA, but the key issue in the case was whether discrimination based on age includes retaliation under the ADEA. The CBOCS West, Inc. v. Humphries decision addressed the application of the 1866 Civil Rights Act in retaliation cases. THE RETALIATION ISSUE The Supreme Court first broadened the retaliation issue in 2006 in its Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. White decision. In that case the Court ruled that employees could have a valid retaliation claim even if they did not experience an economic loss or suffer an ultimate employment decision, such as termination or demotion (Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway v. …


Transferring artistic styles onto everyday photographs has become an extremely popular task in both academia and industry. Recently, offline training has replaced online iterative optimization, enabling nearly real-time stylization. When those stylization networks are applied directly to high-resolution images, however, the style of localized regions often appears less similar to the desired artistic style. This is because the transfer process fails to capture small, intricate textures and maintain correct texture scales of the artworks. Here we propose a multimodal convolutional neural network that takes into consideration faithful representations of both color and luminance channels, and performs stylization hierarchically with multiple losses of increasing scales. Compared to state-of-the-art networks, our network can also perform style transfer in nearly realtime by conducting much more sophisticated training offline. By properly handling style and texture cues at multiple scales using several modalities, we can transfer not just large-scale, obvious style cues but also subtle, exquisite ones. That is, our scheme can generate results that are visually pleasing and more similar to multiple desired artistic styles with color and texture cues at multiple scales.


This paper is concerned with the estimation of the regression coefficients for a count data model when one of the explanatory variables is subject to heteroscedastic measurement error. The observed values W are related to the true regressor X by the additive error model W=X+U. The errors U are assumed to be normally distributed with zero mean but heteroscedastic variances, which are known or can be estimated from repeated measurements. Inference is done by using quasi likelihood methods, where a model of the observed data is specified only through a mean and a variance function for the response Y given W and other correctly observed covariates. Although this approach weakens the assumption of a parametric regression model, there is still the need to determine the marginal distribution of the unobserved variable X, which is treated as a random variable. Provided appropriate functions for the mean and variance are stated, the regression parameters can be estimated consistently. We illustrate our methods through an analysis of lung cancer rates in Switzerland. One of the covariates, the regional radon averages, cannot be measured exactly due to the strong dependency of radon on geological conditions and various other environmental sources of influence. The distribution of the unobserved true radon measure is modelled as a finite mixture of normals.


A retrospective drug utilisation study of antimicrobials in a private primary health care group The commonest prescribed group of drugs is antimicrobials. Various studies have shown that they are overused globally. Since Primary health care represents the first tier of the health care system, evaluation of antimicrobial use in primary health w e settings is a necessity to ensure rational and cost-effective use of these agents in the treatment of infectious diseases. It has been reported by Hooton and Levy (2001 : 1088) that 20% to 50% of antimicrobials are inappropriately used in developing countries. According to Rebana et al. (1998: 175) the increasing overuse of antimicrobials has resulted in an enormous escalation in the total costs of drugs contributing to 15% to 30 % of the total health budget. Hooton and Levy (2001: 1087) reported in a study that inappropriate use and overuse of antimicrobials are risk fiictors for the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. There is a high incidence of infectious diseases in developing countries that are due to the rapid spread of resistant strains through over-crowding, poor sanitation and unsafe sexual practices (Liu et al., 1999: 540). The general objective of the study was the analysis and interpretation of the usage and related costs of antimicrobial prescriptions in a private primary health w e setting in South Africa. The study is a nonexperimental, quantitative, retrospective drug utilisation review of antimicrobial usage in a private primary health care setting. Data were obtained from the central database of a private primary health care service provider. Data of nine randomly selected clinics, situated in different geographical areas of South Afiica, were extracted for the period 1" January to 31" December 2001. The study population was made of the total patient population of patients using antimicrobials during this one year period. Antimicrobial usage was analysed according to: number of patients, age and gender distribution, diagnosis, pharmacological groups. The total number of patients who visited the nine clinics during the year was 83 655 of which 59.50% were females and 40.22% males. In 0.28% of the cases gender was not indicated. Patients in age groups 6 (20-40 years) and 7 (40-60 years) accounted for the highest number of patients (66.31%, n = 54 964). A total of 515 976 medicine items costing R1 716 318.90 were prescribed, of these, 18.69%, (N=96 423) were antimicrobials costing 60.89%, (R1 045 108.00). Of the total number of patients that visited the nine clinics, 65.34% (N=54 663) were prescribed antimicrobials. The total number of diagnoses (140 723) where antimicrobials were prescribed accounted for 68.52% ( N 4 6 42 1). The highest number of antimicrobial prescriptions according to pharmacological and age groups were: penicillins followed by sulphonamides and tetracyclines. The diagnoses with the highest number of antimicrobial prescrimons were the respiratory tract infections (viral influenza, acute bronchitis and upper respiratory tract infection) and pelvic inflammatory disease The prescribing of antimicrobials in respiratory tract infections could indicate overuse and inappropriate use of these drugs. Because most of these infections are caused by viruses or other non-bacterial agents, are self limiting. Therefore, the use of antibiotics courses is neither necessary nor appropriate in these conditions. The overuse and inappropriate use of such drugs have an effect on the health of the patients needing cure, and the general budget on health care service. It is recommended that further studies are conducted on antimicrobial prescribing and use.


In Contributions to Automorphic Forms, Geometry, and Number Theory, Haruzo Hida, Dinakar Ramakrishnan, and Freydoon Shahidi bring together a distinguished group of experts to explore automorphic forms, principally via the associated L-functions, representation theory, and geometry. Because these themes are at the cutting edge of a central area of modern mathematics, and are related to the philosophical base of Wiles' proof of Fermat's last theorem, this book will be of interest to working mathematicians and students alike. Never previously published, the contributions to this volume expose the reader to a host of difficult and thought-provoking problems. Each of the extraordinary and noteworthy mathematicians in this volume makes a unique contribution to a field that is currently seeing explosive growth. New and powerful results are being proved, radically and continually changing the field's make up. Contributions to Automorphic Forms, Geometry, and Number Theory will likely lead to vital interaction among researchers and also help prepare students and other young mathematicians to enter this exciting area of pure mathematics. Contributors: Jeffrey Adams, Jeffrey D. Adler, James Arthur, Don Blasius, Siegfried Boecherer, Daniel Bump, William Casselmann, Laurent Clozel, James Cogdell, Laurence Corwin, Solomon Friedberg, Masaaki Furusawa, Benedict Gross, Thomas Hales, Joseph Harris, Michael Harris, Jeffrey Hoffstein, Herve Jacquet, Dihua Jiang, Nicholas Katz, Henry Kim, Victor Kreiman, Stephen Kudla, Philip Kutzko, V. Lakshmibai, Robert Langlands, Erez Lapid, Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro, Dipendra Prasad, Stephen Rallis, Dinakar Ramakrishnan, Paul Sally, Freydoon Shahidi, Peter Sarnak, Rainer Schulze-Pillot, Joseph Shalika, David Soudry, Ramin Takloo-Bigash, Yuri Tschinkel, Emmanuel Ullmo, Marie-France Vigneras, Jean-Loup Waldspurger.


In this paper we focus on the relational work when doing PD with children in special education as a hybrid practice, meaning that the designer aims to perform design activities with children in their own environment. Based on the experiences of a three-year project in a special education school, we first present a two-dimensional model for 'who participates with whom in what', describing the agency that the designer may need to both plan and execute design activities in relation to the teachers and the children. Thereafter, we relate those two dimensions to different kinds of authority that the designer might wish to have and avoid to have, and provide examples of the backstage work with children and teaching staff that may occur in order to gain the right kind of authority. Finally, we discuss the designer's relational work to balance the different kinds of authority and what may happen if there are mismatches between the different stakeholders' expectations about authority. While we are aware that it is not possible for a designer to precisely foresee how their presence in a special education school will play out, this paper aims to provide a critical reflection on our participatory practices which may help other designers to be prepared for the situations they may encounter in their own work in special education schools.


The growing importance of English competence in various industries is one of the pull factors of the increasing need of English Language Proficiency (ELP) for university graduates. One of the ways to motivate students' English competence is to set English language proficiency as graduation benchmark. This study aims to describe students' perspectives on such policy and how it affects the students' learning. A descriptive qualitative research is employed. A questionnaire is used to gain the primary data. The research participants are students of Trisakti School of tourism who has experienced such policy. The questionnaires comprise of two parts: demographic data and questions of students' perceptions on various aspects on the usage of English language proficiency tests. Students' perception on various campus program to improve English competence is also asked.  The results reveal that students are familiar with the international standardized tests such as TOEIC, TOEFL and IELTS and they do make various preparation for the tests. As much as 60% of the respondents agree with the campus policy to set TOEIC and TOEFL score for graduation requirements. As for students' perception on campus program, the results reveal that awarding scholarship for the top achiever students and live in program in English speaking program are considered to be the most effective program. The least effective programs are class grouping based on test score. The results can be of a valuable source for policy makers in the institution to develop a more effective program ti improve the students'  English competence.


The relationship between Greenland and the EU can best be understood by exploring the development from Danish colonialism to a future independent Greenlandic state. In 1985, Greenland became the first territory ever to leave the EEC when it opted for status as an 'overseas country or territory'. The manner in which Greenland had to follow Denmark into the EEC in 1973 – whereby Greenlanders saw control over their fisheries move from distant Copenhagen to even-more-distant Brussels – was pivotal for the Greenlandic demands for home rule which succeeded in 1979 and made the 1985 withdrawal possible. On 25 November 2008, a majority of the people of Greenland voted in favour of enhanced home rule – 'self-government' – still within formal Danish sovereignty. Denmark and Greenland alike are preparing for a future envisioned as involving climate change, intensive raw material extraction, new transportation corridors and new claims to sovereignty over the Arctic. Greenland uses this imagined future as a way of enhancing its subjectivity, not the least when dealing with the EU. This article analyses how the Greenlandic self-understanding as being on the way to sovereignty – and the tensions involved – structure the triangular relationship between the EU, Greenland and Denmark. The article concludes that the visions of sovereign equality might, on the one hand, create greater expectations than Greenland will immediately be able to live up to – at home and in the EU. On the other hand, the representation of the Greenland‒EU relationship as one of sovereign equality – present and future – might just be able to provoke the resources necessary to make the dream come true.


Modern life throws a variety of stressful situations at us. This book aims to show stress in a different light - as a natural bodily reaction to help us through certain situations. Although our bodies produce the "fight or flight" reaction when subjected to stress, it often seems inappropriate - our increased heart and lung rate and the chemicals injected into system by the brain can cause illnesses such as asthma and diabetes. This text invites us to improve our brain-body connections in an approach to healthy living based on science. It aims to encourage us to use our natural abilities to cope with stress, rather than falling victim to it.


Netnography uses a mix of unobtrusive as well as interactive methods of research to study consumer behaviour online. The evolving technology has created greater avenues for researchers to apply different ethnographic methods online. However, it has also posed a number of ethical debates. This paper provides a reflective account of ethical dilemmas that were faced by me (researcher) while working on an ethics application using the methods of Netnography. It uses the context of the researcher's PhD research ethics application, to highlight the issues of domain, consent and privacy encountered while working on the ethics application. This paper contributes through the use of reflexivity to highlight the processual dilemmas faced in detailing the Netnographic methodology.


Taking as a starting point the assumption that justice is the first virtue of the family, my main aim in this dissertation is to offer an account of what justice requires of parents. Grappling with this issue, however, sheds some light on related questions that are wider in scope: How should we think about justice in general? What is the distinctive value of the family? What would a society of just families look like? In answering these questions, the following thesis is advanced: Demands of justice are best understood contextually. They arise from the characteristics of the specific relationship in the context within which they are meant to apply. An account of justice in the family should thus appeal to the parent–child relationship itself. This is an intimate fiduciary relationship that normally constitutes the primary site of upbringing. Yet what makes it distinctively valuable is its element of identity, i.e., a sense of interconnectedness and continuity generated through the transmission of beliefs, practices and more
idiosyncratic attributes from parent to child. Corresponding to this understanding of the parent–child relationship, justice requires parents to provide their children with the
conditions to achieve a set of functionings up to the level that allows them to lead a decent life in terms of the parents' social and cultural context. As this account of justice in the family is not strictly political, it gives rise to a complex interplay along the axis of citizens–parents–children, displaying formulae of both integration and separation of family and state. A society of perfectly just families might not be perfectly just as a whole. Yet it may be interpreted as particularly liberal; characterized by multiplication and separation of authorities, reflecting rather than resolving the tensions between the individual and society and between different individuals and groups within society.


The treatment for xerosis (dry skin) is the repeated use of moisturizers to hydrate the skin. Their use is based on sound evidence of the importance of maintaining the skin's water content. Although the skin on the plantar surface of the foot is very thick, it is highly visco-elastic and copes with high levels of frictional, compressive and shear stresses applied to it by being supple and well hydrated. Problems arise when the skin becomes dry and loses its elastic properties. Fissures can occur which are often painful and can act as portals for infection. This article describes a double-blind clinical study to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two commonly used moisturizers and to see if one was significantly better than the other at hydrating the skin of the feet. The two creams used were Aqueous Cream BP and CCS Foot Care Cream. Skin hydration levels were measured before any application of moisturizer and again after two weeks of twice daily application. Results showed that the regular use of both moisturizers had a significant hydrating effect on the skin. However, CCS Foot Care Cream had a significantly greater hydrating effect than Aqueous Cream BP.


Providing a case study of relations between France and the Netherlands throughout the Revolutionary Wars, this book offers a contribution to the debates on the relation between law and politics at the international level and on state-centrism in international relations.


International criminal tribunals have focused exclusively on crimes arising from crisis situations - war crimes and mass atrocities. International criminal law scholarship has generally taken this crisis focus for granted, emphasizing the objectives of transitional justice in the wake of extraordinary social upheaval. Meanwhile, extremely serious crimes committed on a longer-term, daily basis have been excluded from the agenda of international criminal law. This article examines the history and impact of this crisis emphasis and explores alternative approaches in light of tribunals' institutional capacities and resource constraints. Using the principal example of catastrophic grand governmental corruption, it makes a practical, theoretical, and doctrinal case for international prosecution of some non-crisis-linked crimes, and concludes that tribunals' exclusive crisis focus is indefensible as a permanent condition. However, for reasons of legitimacy and political strategy, it recommends a gradual approach toward expanding that focus, taking advantage of the transformative effect of crises in building acceptance of legal principles that can then be applied in other situations.


We present a spectral-element discontinuous Galerkin lattice Boltzmann method for solving single-phase incompressible flows. Decoupling the collision step from the streaming step offers numerical stability at high Reynolds numbers. In the streaming step, we employ high-order spectral-element discretizations using a tensor product basis of one-dimensional Lagrange interpolation polynomials based on GaussLobatto-Legendre grids. Our scheme is cost-effective with a fully diagonal mass matrix, advancing time integration with the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. We present a consistent boundary treatment allowing us to use both central and LaxFriedrichs fluxes for the numerical flux in the discontinuous Galerkin approach. We present two benchmark cases: lid-driven cavity flows for Re=400–5000 and flows around an impulsively started cylinder for Re=550–9500. Computational results are compared with those of other theoretical, experimental, and computational work that used a multigrid method, a vortex method, and a spectral element model.


In this study three classes of ligands are explored for ethylene tri-/tetramerisation in conjunction with chromium and both triethylaluminium (AlEt3) and methylaluminoxane (MAO) co-catalysts. Hydrazine based ligands containing an N–H functionality [PN(NH)P], analogous to Rosenthal's previously reported PNPNH system, show selectivity towards 1-hexene and 1-octene formation in conjunction with AlEt3, and act as PNP tetramerisation analogues when MAO is employed. PNP ligands containing non-protic pendant donor moieties generally show poor activity and selectivity when AlEt3 is employed as an activator, however when MAO is used good activities and selectivities are achieved. n-Propylcyclopentane and 2-propenylcyclopentane, and higher homologues, are produced during catalysis when oxygen is the donor atom. The formation of such products is discussed with respect to the generation of methylenecyclopentane and methylcyclopentane by PNP based tetramerisation catalysts. Simple phosphine ligands containing O–H functionalisation are also explored and it was shown that the catalyst selectivity is highly dependent on both the activator and structural features of the ligand employed.


Regional economist Benjamin Chinitz was one of the most successful proponents of the idea that regional industrial structure is an important determinant of economic performance. His influential article in the American Economic Review in 1961 prompted substantial research measuring industrial structure at the regional scale and examining its relationships to economic outcomes. A considerable portion of this work operationalized the concept of regional industrial structure as sectoral diversity, the degree to which the composition of an economy is spread across heterogeneous activities. Diversity is a relatively simple construct to measure and interpret, but does not capture the implications of Chinitz's ideas fully. The structure within regional industries may also influence the performance of business enterprises. In particular, regional intra-industry concentration—the extent to which an industry is dominated by a few relatively large firms in a locality—has not appeared in empirical work studying economic performance apart from individual case studies, principally because accurately measuring concentration within a regional industry requires firm-level information. Multiple establishments of varying sizes in a given locality may be part of the same firm. Therefore, secondary data sources on establishment size distributions (such as County Business Patterns or aggregated information from the Census of Manufactures) can yield only deceptive portrayals of the level of regional industrial concentration. This paper uses the Longitudinal Research Database, a confidential establishment-level dataset compiled by the United States Census Bureau, to compare the influences of industrial diversity and intra-industry concentration upon regional and firm-level economic outcomes. Manufacturing establishments are aggregated into firms and several indicators of regional industrial concentration are calculated at multiple levels of industrial aggregation. These concentration indicators, along with a regional sectoral diversity measure, are related to employment change over time and incorporated into plant productivity estimations, in order to examine and distinguish the relationships between the differing aspects of regional industrial structure and economic performance. A better understanding of the particular links between regional industrial structure and economic performance can be used to improve economic development planning efforts. With continuing economic restructuring and associated workforce dislocation in the United States and worldwide, industrial concentration and over-specialization are separate mechanisms by which regions may "lock in" to particular competencies and limit the capacity to adjust quickly and efficiently to changing markets and technologies. The most appropriate and effective policies for improving economic adaptability should reflect the structural characteristics that limit flexibility. This paper gauges the consequences of distinct facets of regional industrial structure, adding new depth to the study of regional industries by economic development planners and researchers.


Four years have passed since the G20 Leaders tolled the bell to the shadow banking system at the Seoul Summit of 2010. The war against shadow banking, however, has just started on a global scale and there is still a long way to go for the international community to develop an effective regulatory framework of use for different countries. One of the first steps of the long journey would be the conduct of comparative studies of shadow banking in major jurisdictions, such as the U.S. and China, which offer good examples of shadow banking in the advanced and emerging markets. This article presents such a study of shadow banking and its regulation in these two countries, with a view to providing findings to facilitate the international community's policy making in this area. It is found that while shadow banking varies in the U.S. and China in terms of its definitions, scopes, risks, legal origins and regulations, there are a number of similarities in order to create credit beyond the heavy regulated section, which can be viewed via the lens of the Theory of Money and Credit and the Endogenous Money Supply Theory. The authors believe that their findings would encourage the regulators to solve shadow banking problems from the monetary perspective instead of merely an institutional one.


The intensity and the state of coherence are examined in the focal region of a converging, partially coherent wave field. In particular, Bessel-correlated fields are studied in detail. It is found that it is possible to change the intensity distribution and even to produce a local minimum of intensity at the geometrical focus by altering the coherence length. It is also shown that, even though the original field is partially coherent, in the focal region there are pairs of points at which the field is fully correlated and pairs of points at which the field is completely incoherent. The relevance of this work to applications such as optical trapping and beam shaping is discussed.


Parameterized complexity is a well recognized vehicle for understanding the multitude of complexity AI problems typically exhibit. However, the prominent problem of belief revision has not undergone a systematic investigation in this direction yet. This is somewhat surprising, since by its very nature of involving a knowledge base and a revision formula, this problem provides a perfect playground for investigating novel parameters. Among our results on the parameterized complexity of revision is thus a versatile fpt algorithm which is based on the parameter of the number of atoms shared by the knowledge base and the revision formula. Towards identifying the frontier between parameterized tractability and intractability, we also give hardness results for classes such as co-W[1], para-Θ2P, and FPTNP[f(k)].


The CMS trigger system has been designed to cope with unprecedented luminosities and accelerator bunch-crossing rates of up to 40 MHz at LHC. The High-Level-Trigger (HLT) combines in a novel way the traditional L2 and L3 trigger components which are implemented in a commercial Filter Farm with thousands of CPUs. The flexibility of a contiguous software environment allows the coherent tuning of the HLT algorithms to accommodate multiple physics channels and enhance the CMS physics reach. We will report on the trigger commissioning of the HLT with the first LHC pp collisions at 900 GeV, 2.36 TeV and 7 TeV and discuss the first results on the trigger performance.


The FFC Cambridge process is a direct electrodeoxidation process used to reduce metal oxides to their constituent metals in a molten CaCl2 salt bath. NiTiO3 was used as a precursor (the first stable oxide to form upon blending and sintering NiO and TiO2 powders) and was successfully reduced using the FFC Cambridge process at 1173 K and a constant cell voltage of -3.1 V to produce a NiTi alloy. This work builds on the literature work [Chinese Science Bulletin, 51, 2535 (2006)] through: (i) a predominance diagram calculated to show the regions of phase stability throughout the usable potential window of the CaCl2 salt; (ii) the investigation of a wide range of reduction times for a fixed cell voltage, elucidating several additional stable phases, to yield a complete and detailed reduction pathway. The reduction pathway for NiTiO3 was identified through the analysis of a series of partial reductions, with fully reduced NiTi formed after a period of 24 h. The first stage of the reaction involved the rapid formation of Ni and CaTiO3. The reduction then proceeded via the formation of the intermediate compounds Ni3Ti and Ni2Ti4O. All the NiTiO3 and Ni were consumed after a period of 6 h, while the intermediate compounds remained until the reaction was near completion. The experimental results related well to the thermodynamic predictions of the predominance diagram. A small variation in stoichiometry of the produced NiTi observed from the edge to the core of the samples was attributed to redeposition of Ti on the sample surface from the salt and a slightly Ti-rich NiTiO3 precursor material. (c) 2008 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.2987739] All rights reserved.


Sampling multiband radar signals is an essential issue of multiband/multifunction radar. This paper proposes a multiband quadrature compressive sampling (MQCS) system to perform the sampling at sub-Landau rate. The MQCS system randomly projects the multiband signal into a compressive multiband one by modulating each subband signal with a low-pass signal and then samples the compressive multiband signal at Landau-rate with output of compressive measurements. The compressive inphase and quadrature (I/Q) components of each subband are extracted from the compressive measurements respectively and are exploited to recover the baseband I/Q components. As effective bandwidth of the compressive multiband signal is much less than that of the received multiband one, the sampling rate is much less than Landau rate of the received signal. Simulation results validate that the proposed MQCS system can effectively acquire and reconstruct the baseband I/Q components of the multiband signals.


What role do religious communities, groups, and associations play - and, what role should they play - in our thinking and conversations about religious freedom and church-state relations? These and related questions - that is, questions about the rights and responsibilities of religious institutions - are timely, difficult, and important. And yet, they are often neglected. It is not new to observe that American judicial decisions and public conversations about religious freedom tend to focus on matters of individuals' rights, beliefs, consciences, and practices. The special place, role, and freedoms of groups, associations, and institutions are often overlooked. However, if we want to understand well, and to appreciate, the content and implications of our constitutional commitment to religious liberty, we need to broaden our focus, and to ask, as Professors Lupu and Tuttle have put it, about the "distinctive place of religious entities in our constitutional order." Are religious institutions special? May and should they be treated specially? If so, how? Why?


The verbal activation of mental images in security discourse is a most elusive dimension of the political use of images, The 'productive' effects of security discourse concern the sense of collective safety and the re-orientation of fear and aggressiveness from 'us' to 'them'. The anamorphic analysis of the mental imagery of the 'war on terror' is the analytical ground or the 'oblique perspective' from which questions concerning who gets what when and now can be addressed. The political role of visual communication goes beyond the morphological characteristics of the images and the processes of material production, distribution and consumption, but reaches deep into the human mind as a form of 'invisible technology' capable of subverting the perception of the social world.


From the early 1940s, the Mochudi Homecraft Centre (MHC) came to symbolise an idealistic form of women' s education that had long been called for by missionaries and the colonial government, which was endorsed by Batswana dikgosi. ln its operation, the institution embodied the wishes of the Dutch Reformed Mission (DRM), the colonial government and Bakgatla leadership. For the government, an institution specialising in domestic training in an exclusively female school was a crucial aspect of the 'Jeanes' philosophy to which it and the missionary society subscribed. Hitherto, women' seducation had not been adequately provided for, in either the territory's elementary schools or in the 'industrial' course at Tiger Kloof. There was an expressed need for well-trained domestic science teachers to facilitate domestic training in schools. Although the Mochudi Homecraft Centre was built amongst the Bakgatla, its activities were more widespread, and its impact was felt throughout the territory.


Ericsson in Linkoping houses one of the largest test laboratories within thewhole Ericsson Company. Mainly, the laboratories contain equipment forGSM, WCDMA and LTE. To test these systems, a quite large number ofRadio Base Stations are needed. The RBS's are housed in a proportionatelysmall area. Instead of sending signals through the air, cables are used totransfer the RF signals. In this way the equipment communicating witheach other are well speci ed. However this may not be the case if leakageoccur.This thesis work is about developing a system for monitoring the radioenvironment and detect leakages in the test site. There is a need to de newhat a leakage really is and measurements needs to be performed in order toaccomplish this. This report describes how the work has proceeded towardsthe nal implemented solution.


Emodin was isolated from Rheum palmatum L. and exhibits an anticancer effect on human cancer cell lines, however, the molecular mechanisms of emodin-mediated apoptosis in human tongue cancer cells have not been fully investigated. In this study, treatment of human tongue cancer SCC-4 cells with various concentrations of emodin led to G2/M arrest through promoted p21 and Chk2 expression but inhibited cyclin B1 and cdc2; it also induced apoptosis through the pronounced release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and activations of caspase-9 and caspase-3. These events were accompanied by the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential (delta psi(m)) and a decrease in the ratio of mitochondrial Bcl-2 and Bax content; emodin also promoted the levels of GADD153 and GRP78. The free radical scavenger N-acetylcysteine and caspase inhibitors markedly blocked emodin-induced apoptosis. Taken together, these findings suggest that emodin mediated oxidative injury (DNA damage) based on ROS production and ER stress based on the levels of GADD153 and GRP78 that acts as an early and upstream change in the cell death cascade to caspase- and mitochondria-dependent signaling pathways, triggers mitochondrial dysfunction from Bcl-2 and Bax modulation, mitochondrial cytochrome c release and caspase activation, consequently leading to apoptosis in SCC-4 cells.


Mass customization is a business strategy that aims at satisfying an individual customer's needs with near mass production efficiency. Mass Customization Information Systems in Business provides original and innovative research on IT systems for mass customization. It is a wide-ranging reference collection of chapters describing the solutions, tools, and concepts needed for successful realization of these systems. Mass customized markets, product modeling, and supply chain management are explored in precise detail. This Premier Reference Source provides a comprehensive investigation of the business processes required for manufacturing individualized products.