The Securities Exchange Commission's (SEC's) Regulation AB (Reg AB) went into effect January 1, 2006 in an effort to increase transparency among public asset-backed securities. Item 1105 of Reg AB addresses static pool reporting requirements, providing guidance on materiality decisions and historical performance, the presentation of original deal characteristics, performance data, and the format of the data. Static pool reporting tracks historical information on prior securitized transactions, or from loans originated from the same vintage of similar assets, to assist investors in predicting expected future performance and analyzing credit risk associated with a transaction by providing historical information on delinquencies, charge-offs, and prepayments. This article is an analysis of research on 61 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and home equity sponsors' static pool reporting through their websites, prospectuses (424B5s), and 8-K filings.


Excerpt] Federal employees receive statutory protections that differ from those of the private sector, including more robust limits on when they can be removed or demoted. Although a number of laws apply to various aspects of the federal civil service system, the primary governing framework is the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA), as amended. The CSRA created a comprehensive system for reviewing actions taken by most federal agencies against their employees, and the act provides a variety of legal protections and remedies for federal employees. It also funnels review of agency decisions to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), subject to review by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit). In addition to these statutory protections, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment requires the federal government to observe certain procedures when depriving individuals of life, liberty, or property. The CSRA's requirement that covered employees may not be removed from federal service, except for cause or unacceptable performance, creates a constitutional property interest in continued employment. The government cannot deprive covered employees of this property interest without adhering to due process requirements.


We present an unsteady Hele–Shaw model of the fluid–fluid displacements that take place during primary cementing of an oil well, focusing on the case where one Herschel–Bulkley fluid displaces another along a long uniform section of the annulus. Such unsteady models consist of an advection equation for a fluid concentration field coupled to a third-order non-linear PDE (Partial differential equation) for the stream function, with a free boundary at the boundary of regions of stagnant fluid. These models, although complex, are necessary for the study of interfacial instability and the effects of flow pulsation, and remain considerably simpler and more efficient than computationally solving three-dimensional Navier–Stokes type models. Using methods from gradient flows, we demonstrate that our unsteady evolution equation for the stream function has a unique solution. The solution is continuous with respect to variations in the model physical data and will decay exponentially to a steady-state distribution if the data do not change with time. In the event that density differences between the fluids are small and that the fluids have a yield stress, then if the flow rate is decreased suddenly to zero, the stream function (hence velocity) decays to zero in a finite time. We verify these decay properties, using a numerical solution. We then use the numerical solution to study the effects of pulsating the flow rate on a typical displacement.


Online resources present various possibilities for health promotion, also in the growing older adult population. Tailored online services aiming to support social participation among users could potentially promote older adults' psychosocial health. In the @geing Online project an online application is developed, focusing on access to meaningful social activities among older adults in rural areas in Finland and Sweden. The innovation project (2017-2020) is funded by the Interreg Botnia-Atlantica programme (European Regional Development Fund).

 A collaborative, user-centred design approach is applied when developing the online application, allowing older potential users and personnel groups from the social and health care sector to evaluate application features in a step-wise process. The inclusion of personnel groups allows for the exploration of the feasibility of introducing the tool in home care services and similar relevant contexts from an organizational perspective. Further, the inclusion of regional IT-companies presents opportunities for them to develop their competence regarding eHealth tools and older adults as a target group.

 An advanced prototype of the application and its core features is presented. Promising approaches and outcomes regarding the co-creation methods applied to ensure the involvement of stakeholders in the development process are elaborated upon. Challenging issues related to the project theme, such as stereotypical and negative views of older adults' competences and motivation related to application use are also discussed.

 The project highlights possibilities - but also challenges - when co-creating a social application together with older adults, some of whom have no experience in internet use. The gathered project outcomes will provide lessons on the potential of new technologies for delivering health promotion initiatives among older adults.

 Tailored online services aiming to support social participation among users provide possibilities for promoting psychosocial health in the growing population of older adults. Application development utilizing a user-centered design approach can be implemented even if the end-users are not familiar with the internet or application use.


In this paper we present empirical work detailing the engagement practices of a large FLOSS project, the Digital Business Ecosystem (DBE). In common with many other FLOSS projects, the DBE project focused on the development of infrastructural software components. Infrastructures and FLOSS software exhibit multiplicity: as objects they both change and stay the same. Whilst the implications of multiplicity with respect to infrastructure have been well-documented, with respect to FLOSS, they remain under-explored. Through examining how the DBE engaged new participants we were able to explore the nature of the FLOSS software object by asking the implied question: engagement with what? We draw on recent analysis by Law and Singleton to show how the innovative yet non-existent potentiality of the DBE was as signifi cant to engagement as its steadily growing codebase. We argue that acknowledging the materiality and immateriality of the FLOSS software object has important consequences for management of, and engagement with, FLOSS projects.


This thesis consists of three essays on the discretionary interactions of fiscal and monetary policy authorities when they stabilise a single economy against shocks in the dynamic setting. In the first essay, I investigate the stabilization bias that arises in a model of noncooperative monetary and fiscal policy stabilisation of the economy, when the monetary authority implements price level targeting but fiscal authority remains benevolent. I demonstrate that the gain in welfare depends on the level of steady state debt. If the steady state level of the government debt is relatively low, then the monetary price level targeting unambiguously leads to social welfare gains, even if the fiscal authority acts strategically and faces different objectives and has incentives to pursue its own benefit and therefore may offset some or all of monetary policy actions. Moreover, if the fiscal policymaker is able to conduct itself as an intra-period leader then the social welfare gain of the monetary price level targeting regime can be further improved. However, if the economy has a relatively high steady state debt level, the gain of the price level targeting is outweighed by the loss arising from the conflicts between the policy makers, and such policy leads to a lower social welfare than under the cooperative discretionary inflation targeting. In the second essay I study the macroeconomic effect of the interaction between discretionary monetary policy which re-optimises every period and discretionary fiscal policy which reoptimises less frequently. I demonstrate the existence of two discretionary equilibria if the frequency of fiscal policy re-optimizes annually while monetary policy adjusts quarterly. Following a disturbance to the debt level, the economy can be stabilised either in a 'fast but volatile' or 'slow but smooth' way, where both dynamic paths satisfy the conditions of optimality and time-consistency. I study several delegation regimes and demonstrate that the policy of partial targeting the debt level results in far worse welfare outcomes relative to a strict inflation targeting policy. In the third essay, I extend the framework developed in the second essay to the case with Blanchard-Yaari type of consumers. This brings in two effects. First, an increase in debt results in higher consumption via the wealth effect, the marginal cost is higher so the need for higher interest rate and higher taxation will increase, therefore the dynamic complementarity between actions of the two policymakers become stronger. Second, higher inflation affects consumption via the average propensity to consume and this effect is likely to weaken the dynamic complementarity. I show that when the households are assigned a mortality rate, overall the first effect dominates the second. The transition paths of the economic variables back to the steady state will be more volatile and the multiple equilibria are more likely to arise.


Participatory design is generally regarded as an effective approach in systems development to overcome challenges such as changing contexts, difficulties of capturing users' needs and problems of achieving systems' acceptance. However, user participation is associated with certain contextual assumptions or beliefs from its origin in the West that are not always applicable in the context of Low Income Countries (LICs). The initial technical capability of users, motivation and desire to participate, availability of resources and long-term support mechanisms are often taken for granted in the West, but in many cases not present in the context of LICs. In the Western setting, due to favourable socio-economic and political conditions and the presence of skilled users, an approach to design of systems from scratch with user participation tend to give quality systems. However, in a LIC setting where the intended users have limited computer skills, there is a need to put an extra effort into training and to find alternative approaches to achieve participation in system design. In such a setting, we argue that participatory customisation, a process where the users in collaboration with the developers adapt an already developed or partly developed system to meet the needs of their own workplace, can be a better approach. In this paper we approach participatory customisation in LICs by looking in detail at the customisation of the District Health Information Software (DHIS) in two pilot health districts in Tanzania. The Tanzanian project is part of a global research initiative (the HISP), and in order to put forward more general approaches for LICs, we compare our findings from Tanzania with similar customisation processes in Cuba, India, Mozambique and South Africa.


An integrated geophysical and geomechanical study is proposed for the evaluation of the fracturing condition and the stability of a rock cliff in the cultural heritage site of Ispica (southeastern Sicily).The site comprises several worship constructions such as the Friars Minor Monastery, the oldest construction of the village and a Church. The buildings stand on the edge of a 35 m high calcareous cliff, showing instability conditions related to the presence of deep fracturing and karst features. Due to possible future rockfalls the slope is expected to be subjected to retreat phenomena, which will threat the structures on top.The study of the seismic wave speed and of the environmental noise (microtremors), through active and passive seismic survey, proved useful in highlighting the spatial variation of the degree of fracturing in the rock mass. Moreover, the resonance frequency of the site allowed estimating the frequencies at which the ground motion is amplified by stratigraphic features.The stability analysis pointed out the critical condition of the slope, affected by different potential failure mechanisms with very low safety factors and a high probability of failure.All the considerations are contextualized in the wide Hyblean panorama, where important tectonic structures are responsible of the actual geological setting and of the seismicity of the area, as well as of the geomechanical condition of the slopes.


Activity recognition is a process by which the ongoing observed behavior of an agent is tracked and mapped to a given model, explaining the behavior and accounting for hidden or unobservable state (e.g., goals or beliefs of the observed agents). Various methods for activity recognition exist. A popular family of such methods rely on Hidden Markov Models HMMs and variants for recognition. These models, however, do not account for changes in transition probabilities based on the duration an agent has spent in a given state. This paper investigates Markov models that go beyond existing models, to explicitly model the dependency of transition probabilities on state duration. In particular, we propose the use of Non-stationary Hidden Semi Markov Models (NHSMMs) in activity recognition. We present the NHSMM model, and compare its performance in recognizing normal and abnormal behavior, using synthetic data from an industry simulator. We show that for relatively simple activity recognition tasks, both HSMMs and NHSMMs easily and significantly outperform HMMs. In more complex tasks, the NHSMMs also outperform the HSMMs, and allow significantly more accurately recognition.


Introduction: Pemphigus vulgaris is an autoimmune blistering disease of the skin and mucous membrane. Antiphospholipid antibodies are a group of autoantibodies found in patients with autoimmune diseases. Due to the risk for thrombotic events in autoimmune diseases, we decided to evaluate the correlation between pemphigus vulgaris and predictive elements of atherothrombosis including antiphospholipid antibodies and homocysteine. Methods: IgG and IgM anticardiolipin antibodies, IgG anticardiolipinbeta 2 glycoprotein I, lupus anticoagulant and total homocysteine were evaluated in the serum of 39 new cases of pemphigus vulgaris and healthy matched controls. Results: The prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies, lupus anticoagulant and total homocysteine in pemphigus vulgaris patients showed no significant difference with healthy controls. Conclusion: Pemphigus vulgaris seems not to be similar to some other organ specific autoimmune diseases in which there is an increase in atherothrombotic factors including antiphospholipid antibodies and homocysteine. (Iran J Dermatol 2010;13: 67-70)


Should antitrust law ever sanction the accumulation of market power or permit other restraints of trade if such conduct would increase social welfare? This is the challenge raised by intramarket second-best tradeoffs. In the presence of multiple market failures, it is conceivable that mergers or other restraints traditionally viewed as anti-competitive may be welfare-enhancing. A social planner, given the mandate of maximizing total welfare, would permit such restraints. Could an antitrust judge come to the same result under a defensible application (or extension) of existing legal doctrine? This question highlights the tensions between an antitrust policy dedicated to preserving "competition" and an antitrust policy dedicated to maximizing total welfare. This Article argues (1) that antitrust law should recognize a defense for private acts that restrain "competition" under the traditional antitrust analysis but advance total welfare, (2) that courts are competent to administer this defense, and (3) that the framework of existing antitrust statutes permits courts to recognize this defense. I suggest that to rebut a finding of illegality based upon a traditional presumption of anticompetitive effects, defendants should have to establish (1) that the challenged conduct is responsive to an identifiable market failure; (2) that the conduct produces a net increase in total welfare (static efficiency); (3) that the conduct will not substantially impair subsequent efforts to address the underlying market failure (dynamic efficiency); and (4) that there is not a less restrictive course of action consistent with the antitrust laws that could achieve the same static efficiency gain. This defense presupposes a total welfare standard of analysis. Part I examines the theory of intramarket second-best analysis and outlines the parameters of the proposed defense. Part II examines the technical viability of the affirmative defense. Part III explores whether second-best tradeoffs and the total welfare standard underlying them can be reconciled with contemporary understandings of antitrust law and the institutional role of the courts.


This article is concerned with external evidence bearing on the nature of the units stored in the mental lexicons of speakers of Semitic languages. On the basis of aphasic metathesis errors we collected in a single case study, we suggest that roots can be accessed as independent morphological units. We review documented language games and slips of the tongue that lead to the same conclusion. We also discuss evidence for the morphemic status of templates from aphasic errors, language games, and slips of the tongue. We conclude that the available external evidence is best accounted for within a morpheme-based theory of morphology that forms words by combining roots and templates.


Scaling wide-coverage, constraint-based grammars such as Lexical-Functional Grammars (LFG) (Kaplan and Bresnan, 1982; Bresnan, 2001) or Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammars (HPSG) (Pollard and Sag, 1994) from fragments to naturally occurring unrestricted text is knowledge-intensive, time-consuming and (often prohibitively) expensive. A number of researchers have recently presented methods to automatically acquire wide-coverage, probabilistic constraint-based grammatical resources from treebanks (Cahill et al., 2002, Cahill et al., 2003; Cahill et al., 2004; Miyao et al., 2003; Miyao et al., 2004; Hockenmaier and Steedman, 2002; Hockenmaier, 2003), addressing the knowledge acquisition bottleneck in constraint-based grammar development. Research to date has concentrated on English and German. In this paper we report on an experiment to induce wide-coverage, probabilistic LFG grammatical and lexical resources for Chinese from the Penn Chinese Treebank (CTB) (Xue et al., 2002) based on an automatic f-structure annotation algorithm. Currently 96.751% of the CTB trees receive a single, covering and connected f-structure, 0.112% do not receive an fstructure due to feature clashes, while 3.137% are associated with multiple f-structure fragments. From the f-structure-annotated CTB we extract a total of 12975 lexical entries with 20 distinct subcategorisation frame types. Of these 3436 are verbal entries with a total of 11 different frame types. We extract a number of PCFG-based LFG approximations. Currently our best automatically induced grammars achieve an f-score of 81.57% against the trees in unseen articles 301-325; 86.06% f-score (all grammatical functions) and 73.98% (preds-only) against the dependencies derived from the f-structures automatically generated for the original trees in 301-325 and 82.79% (all grammatical functions) and 67.74% (preds-only) against the dependencies derived from the manually annotated gold-standard f-structures for 50 trees randomly selected from articles 301-325.


The widespread distribution of cyanobacteria and their toxic effects on humans has become a major concern for researchers. Cyanobacteria are a group of oxygenic phototrophic bacteria that exhibit an enormous diversity in shapes and arrangements and occupy widespread habitats that include brackish, marine and fresh water. The major concern among these organisms is not so much the cyanobacteria themselves but their toxin production. Under suitable circumstances, cyanobacteria can reach high biomass levels and form toxic algal blooms. These toxins, known as cyanotoxins, are produced as secondary metabolites by several cyanobacterial species. Cyanotoxins affect not only aquatic ecosystems but also impact on human health. The current work focuses on the cyanotoxin cylindrospermopsin that was originally known to be produced by the cyanobacterium species Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii but has since been identified in a number of other cyanobacterial species. Cylindrospermopsin is hepatotoxic and acts as a strong inhibitor of protein synthesis. The increasing occurrence of toxic cyanobacterial blooms is of major concern, particularly within drinking water supply systems. Therefore, the investigation of more effective water treatment technologies is of great importance in order to ensure the removal of these potent toxins. There are many techniques that have been used so far, but the need to use an effective and efficient method to remove the toxicity is paramount. Removal of the toxin by the use of microbial degradation has been evaluated. Experiments with different strains of bacterial isolates showed positive signs in the removal of toxin by Biolog MT2 assay. In addition to that shake flask culture experiments were carried out and did not show any significant removal of the toxin. Studies with natural water sources showed some pronounced effect on the removal of CYN. The use of TiO2 photocatalysis as another potential water treatment strategy was also evaluated. Current study successfully demonstrated the potential degradation of purified cylindrospermopsin using the titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalysis treatment method. TiO2 photocatalysis was performed by using a powder form (Degussa P25) catalyst effectively removing the toxin; however, the powder is difficult to remove from the treated water. TiO2 pellets (Hombikat K01/C) were found to be slower in degradation although they allowed for an easier adaption to a continuous treatment system. As an alternative Photospheresâ"¢ (buoyant glass beads coated in TiO2) was evaluated and showed the same efficacy as that of Degussa P 25. Studies were extended to investigate the application of UV-LEDs in the photocatalysis reaction to show better efficiency.


ABSTRACT While increased attention to menstruation as a significant health issue for women and girls is positive, some menstrual interventions promoted by Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) programmes primarily focus on hygiene, infrastructure, and product provision. This focus fails to challenge the social and cultural stigma surrounding menstruation, as well as interconnected issues of gender discrimination, marginalisation, and inequality. We advocate approaching menstruation as a matter of sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR), which recognises that sexual and reproductive health depends in part upon the realisation of the rights that support it. This requires a holistic approach to menstrual health that includes addressing shame, social stigmas and restrictions, and gender inequality, in addition to providing access to menstrual-friendly toilets. This holistic approach should also include comprehensive and community-driven sustained training and education about sexual and reproductive health and rights. Drawing upon research on four grassroots NGOs in India, Goonj, Barefoot College, Jatan Sansthan, and EcoFemme, we demonstrate that locally based NGOs are well-placed to create community-based educational trainings, provide access to context-specific and culturally appropriate menstrual products, and, perhaps most significantly, to challenge stigma around menstruation.


Inuit - sometimes referred to as Eskimo - art is the primary art form of Canada and has a large international following, particularly in the United States, Japan, and Germany. Despite its popularity, the complete history of Inuit art has never been presented. This is the first chronological synthesis of Inuit art, following its development from prehistory, through early American and European exploration, to the recognition of Inuit art as a commercial possibility, and up to the present. There is a particular emphasis on contemporary art and artists, and the years 1950 through 1997 are each given separate, detailed treatment in regard to important shows and events. This history is appropriate both for the beginning admirer of Inuit art and for those already well immersed in it.


There is consensus that payments for biodiversity services are a promising conservation tool, yet the implementation of applied schemes has been lagging behind. This paper explores some reasons why potential biodiversity buyers may hesitate. It describes the case of an unsuccessful attempt to establish a community conservation concession in the village of Setulang (East Kalimantan, Indonesia) to safeguard a biologically valuable area from predatory logging. Potential biodiversity donors did not engage in this payments-for-environmental-services scheme mainly because of their limited time horizon and uneasiness about the conditionality principle. Other complicating factors included overlapping land claims, and the diagnosis of the externality at hand. We conclude that new investment modalities and attitudes are needed if potential biodiversity buyers are to exploit the advantages of this innovative tool. We also provide some tangible recommendations on factors to consider when designing a compensation scheme for conservation at the community level.


Ninety per cent of international courts' (ICs) legal decisions have been issued within the last two decades. This increase in case law - along with other significant changes in the operation of ICs - signals a new form of judicialised international law. This change is best described as a shift from a 'static' regime of contractual relations between sovereign states to a more 'organic' regime of 'living law'. In criminal law, this development is exemplified by the reasoning of the ICTY, the ICTR and the ICC. In examining the institutional undercurrents that accompany these changes important questions arise: through what social processes is legitimacy imputed to ICs? How do ICs handle or avoid crises in legitimacy? In the context of recent critiques of judicial reasoning in international criminal law, the article suggests that the analysis of case law from ICs must become as dynamic and agile as contemporary international law itself.


The Uruguay Round trade negotiations marked a historic turning point in the reform of agricultural trade. The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA) replaced nontariff barriers with bound tariffs, curbed export subsidies, and codified domestic agricultural programs. Unfortunately, the URAA bound many of the tariffs that replaced nontariff barriers too high, it legitimized export subsidies, and it left the domestic farm policies of the major industrial countries largely untouched.Fortunately, regional trade institutions have also begun to grapple with agricultural trade liberalization. Agriculture was featured in the Mercosur agreement, in recent agreements between the European Union and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and in the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA). Plans for broad supraregional trade structures, such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), have also dealt with the inclusion of agricultural trade. Meanwhile, in developing and middle-income countries, unilateral agricultural policy reforms have been part of recent economic policy changes. However, in the industrial countries, agricultural policy reform has languished in the face of much domestic opposition. But the reform of the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 1992 and the 1996 Farm Bill in the United States seems to have ushered in a new era of relations between government and agricultural groups. The author points out ways that multilateral, regional, and unilateral paths could be coordinated to liberalized agricultural trade. He proposes a set of multilateral talks that would benefit from agricultural reform at all levels and complete the job begun at the Uruguay Round.


We describe a simple method for generating sub-20-fs ultraviolet light pulses with useful average powers, using a kilohertz Ti:sapphire laser system. By focusing a 22-fs, 1-mJ laser pulse in air, we obtain ultraviolet pulses with an energy of 1 microJ and at a wavelength of 266 nm and with an average power of 1 mW. The pulse duration of the ultraviolet pulses was measured to be 16 fs with frequency-resolved optical gating.


It is possible to produce beams of high velocity ions, either positively or negatively charged and with a translational energy homogeneous to within 1 part in 104. The currents carried by such beams are typically of the order 10-9A. By using a magnetic field, it is possible to select ions of a particular mass: charge ratio from such beams and to study their fragmentation behaviour in field-free space. Fragmentation may occur unimolecularly or may be induced to occur by causing the ion beam to interact with a collision gas, or in other ways. The fragmentation products of such reactions that also travel with high velocity can be analysed by using a magnetic field (momentum analysis) or an electric field (translational energy analysis). The method provides information concerning the structures of ions and the kinetics, energetics and mechanisms of the reactions; the pattern of translational energy release during the fragmentation provides information on the partitioning of the available energy between internal and translational modes. By selecting reactions that occur over a limited range of rate constants, ions containing a narrow range of internal energies may be selected for study. In collision-induced reactions, part of the translational energy of the ion is converted into electronic excitation. Ions in excited electronic states can also be produced by photo-irradiation of the beam. Ions excited in these ways can be used to give further information concerning energy partitioning during fragmentation. Reactions involving a change in the sign of the ionic charge, or in the number of charges carried, can be induced to occur by interaction with a collision gas. They provide information on ionization energies and electron affinities and on long-lived electronically excited states.


OBJECTIVE
To identify the meeting sites of new sexual partners in two Southern border cities in Mexico.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A descriptive epidemiologic study was carried out in May 2001, by surveying key informants in two border cities. Each reported site was visited to interview a resident subject. Subjects socializing in a subsample of sites were also interviewed.

RESULTS
The key informants of the community reported 134 meeting sites in Chetumal and 111 in Ciudad Hidalgo. Both sites had scarce HIV/AIDS prevention activities. Characteristics were obtained for 89 sites in Chetumal and 42 in Ciudad Hidalgo. Almost 21% of interviewees reportedly met a new sexual partner in these sites in the past four weeks.

CONCLUSIONS
Preventive actions are needed in meeting sites of new sexual partners. This method may provide information to plan for future interventions. The English version of this paper is available too at:http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html.


On the night of December 3rd, 1984, one of the most monumental industrial catastrophes in history took place at a chemical plant located in the heart of Bhopal, India. Around midnight, a leak in one of the tanks that stored toxic chemicals used to produce pesticides triggered a chemical reaction which resulted in a shroud of toxic gas that enveloped the entire city. Thousands of people were killed, orphaned and left homeless. Ironically, the factory's majority owner was a U.S. firm: Union Carbide. Many questions have been raised about how Union Carbide's safety standards and codes of conduct could have averted this disaster. Would as many people have died if this accident occurred at Union Carbide's identical factory at Institute, West Virginia? Although we may never know the answer to this question, the purpose of this article is to provide an evaluation of how recognizing the local culture could have helped minimize the harm in the Bhopal incident. The Bhopal example is employed due to the historical significance of the tragedy and the potential for similar catastrophes in the future as more multinational firms set up manufacturing operations in foreign lands (Hartley, 1993). Additionally, this article addresses the need for the establishment of a corporate code of ethics which should both influence and assist the decision making of expatriate managers in foreign subsidiaries. Although many multinational firms have developed ethical guidelines for expatriate managers, problems have consistently arisen due to cultural misunderstandings of what is perceived as unethical behavior (Donaldson, 1989; Dubinsky and Loken, 1989; Vogel, 1992). Organizations are desirous of more practical information on the interface of culture and ethics, rather than a summary of the fundamental ethical differences which may exist between two different cultures (DeGeorge, 1993; Rest, 1986). In addition, while the notion of the learning organization has received much attention, the emphasis on how firms can learn and adapt to diverse moral and ethical matters has received very little attention (Nonaka, 1994). More executives than ever before are beginning to discover the logical connection that exists between ethical performance and overall corporate performance (Boroughs, 1995; Donaldson, 1989). As a result, researchers continue to place more emphasis on such concepts as corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance (Fritzsche and Becker, 1984; Jones, 1996; Wood, 1991). This article begins with a review of recent cross-cultural studies related to business ethics. A number of important factors surrounding a culture-based code of ethics are then presented. Next, the circumstances leading up to the Bhopal disaster are revisited. The article concludes with an exploration of the steps for developing ethics programs and a conceptual model which delineates culture-based ethical standards is then proposed. An evaluation of each of the steps of the derived framework, as well as a discussion of future research directions and managerial implications, are provided. CROSS-CULTURAL ETHICAL RESEARCH There has been a growing stream of cross-cultural studies which have attempted to interpret the relationship between culture and ethical decision making.(1) As more firms engage in international trade, the interest in this research area appears to be picking up speed. Results from empirical studies that have examined the effect of culture on ethics have consistently shown a strong relationship between these two variables (Robertson, 1993). An understanding of the recent research findings is important in the identification of how cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings of improper behavior and policies across borders. In an early laboratory experiment that analyzed the ethical decision making of graduate business students, nationality was found to be related to ethical decision behavior (Hegarty and Sims, 1979). …


The recent release of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2001, which represents the nation's land cover status based on a nominal date of 2001, is widely used as a baseline for national land cover conditions. To enable the updating of this land cover information in a consistent and continuous manner, a prototype method was developed to update land cover by an individual Landsat path and row. This method updates NLCD 2001 to a nominal date of 2006 by using both Landsat imagery and data from NLCD 2001 as the baseline. Pairs of Landsat scenes in the same season in 2001 and 2006 were acquired according to satellite paths and rows and normalized to allow calculation of change vectors between the two dates. Conservative thresholds based on Anderson Level I land cover classes were used to segregate the change vectors and determine areas of change and no-change. Once change areas had been identi fi ed, land cover classi fi cations at the full NLCD resolution for 2006 areas of change were completed by sampling from NLCD 2001 in unchanged areas. Methods were developed and tested across fi ve Landsat path/row study sites that contain several metropolitan areas including Seattle, Washington; San Diego, California; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Jackson, Mississippi; and Manchester, New Hampshire. Results from the fi ve study areas show that the vast majority of land cover change was captured and updated with overall land cover classi fi cation accuracies of 78.32%, 87.5%, 88.57%, 78.36%, and 83.33% for these areas. The method optimizes mapping ef fi ciency and has the potential to provide users a fl exible method to generate updated land cover at national and regional scales by using NLCD 2001 as the baseline.


This ethnographic study analyses the diverse emotions emerging within one teacher professional development workshop that engaged teachers as creative writers. Participating teachers revealed a vibrant range of positive and negative emotions as they worked within institutional discourses that conflicted with their intrinsic beliefs about effective teaching. They revealed their emotional investment in their roles and their desires for meaningful practice in spite of pressures to abide by managerial practices. Researchers documented high levels of vulnerability, engagement and hope as participants engaged in writing as 'praxis' to experience their beliefs about effective pedagogy firsthand. These findings suggest that since teaching and learning is inherently an emotional experience, professional development needs to acknowledge a teacher's complex emotional identity and to cultivate positive emotional growth. This study is relevant to teacher educators, preservice and practising teachers as it explores meaningful learning opportunities as a basis for effective teaching practice.


Abstract It is argued that low-income public housing in Cairo has witnessed shortcomings in responding to its inhabitants' needs. The expert-based, top-down approach in housing processes, widely adopted in most developing countries, including Egypt, is argued to be the main reason for these shortcomings. On the other hand, the limited experimental institutionalized participatory experiences in Cairo, mainly in the form of self-help schemes, were also incapable of meeting many of their goals. As an alternative participatory approach, the research discussed the experiences and approaches of 'user-controlled housing' processes in which it was envisaged that people would build dwellings of types and qualities corresponding to their own social codes and cultural behaviour. A theoretical model for the main concepts of this proposed approach was developed. To test this model, field investigations about the practices and attitudes of the low-income residents in Cairo relevant to the user-controlled housing processes were conducted and thus a new amended theoretical model has been initiated and recommended in terms of proposed low-income housing policies in Cairo.


Although Neo-Pragmatist scholars have long considered Walt Whitman an intellectual and literary forebear to William James and the American Pragmatic tradition, James believed Whitman to be a far more problematic thinker than has been acknowledged. Haunting much of James9s writings, and The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) in particular, is a Whitman who is less a figure for emulation than an embodiment of a particular kind of metaphysical excess, at once unworldly and effeminate. In characterizing Whitman as a paragon of an untrustworthy ""healthy-mindedness"" and a ""queer"" idealism that he wished to excise from his own Transcendental inheritance, James developed a gendered critique of the ""sky-blue"" optimism he recognized as the peculiar legacy of the poet, a critique that took into account Whitman9s roots in Hegelian and Emersonian thought as well as the well-publicized homoeroticism of his life and work. Ambivalent about the sexual and moral ""indifferentism"" that he believed accompanied Whitman9s ""sky-blue"" acceptance of evil and death, James then traced Whitman9s influence——both implicitly and explicitly——through the writings of the leading gay Whitmanites of his era, including the ""mystics"" John Addington Symonds and Edward Carpenter. Thus, in the war for the American soul——a war that James waged on the battlefields of metaphysics, religion, and gender identity as well as within his own person——the father of Pragmatism turned a ""feminine"" and ""unnatural"" Whitman into his chief foil and his main adversary; Whitman became the standard against which his own ""manly"" beliefs and methodologies, particularly with respect to religious experience, were defined.


You can hear it in the hottest clubs in New York, the hippest rooms in New Orleans, Chicago, and San Francisco, and in top concert halls around the world. It's a joyous sound that echoes the past. It's Old World meets New World. It's secular and sacred. It's traditional and experimental. It's played by classical violinist Itzhak Perlman (his all-klezmer album in his all-time best-seller!), the hypno-pop band Yo La Tengo, and avant-gardist John Zorn. It made the late great Benny Goodman's clarinet wail. It's klezmer and it's hot!"The Essential Klezmer" is the definitive introduction to a musical form in the midst of a renaissance. It documents the history of klezmer from its roots in the Jewish communities of medieval Eastern Europe to its current revival in Europe and America. It includes detailed information about the music's social, cultural, and political roots as well as vivid descriptions of the instruments, their unique sounds, and the players who've kept those sounds alive through the ages. Music journalist Seth Rogovoy skillfully conveys the emotional intensity and uplifting power of klezmer and the reasons for its ever widening popularity among Jews and Gentiles, Hasidim and club kids, grandparents and their grandkids. A comprehensive discography presents the "Essential Klezmer Library," extensive lists of recordings, artists, and styles, as well as an up-to-the-minute resource of music retailers, festivals, workshops, and klezmer Web sites."The Essential Klezmer" is as entertaining as it is enlightening.


Abstract Context, connection, and coordination (CCC) describe well where the problems that apply to thought-disordered patients with schizophrenia lie. But they may be part of the experience of those with other symptom constellations. Switching is an important mechanism to allow context to be applied appropriately to changing circumstances. In some cases, NMDA-voltage modulations may be central, but gain and shift are also functions that monoaminergic systems express in CCC.


A major problem for patients after bariatric surgery is the excess skin in the gluteal and lumbar regions. In addition, there is a lack of available tissue to fill the gluteal region, which can be overcome by various methods, including fat grafting or even prosthesis implantation alone, in cases where no ptosis is noted. However, if this is not the case, the options beco me very limited and those available are not very effective. The use of a buttock lift with a fasciocutaneous flap solves the problems of sagging and excess skin with ptosis. In the present article, we aimed to demonstrate the ease of preparation and the versatility of use of the gluteal flap to correct sagging of the lumbar and gluteal regions. One patient underwent a buttock lift using a de-epidermized fasciocutaneous flap to overcome the lack of local filling. Marked improvement of the gluteal and lumbar regions was noted after removal of the excess tissue, construction of an inferior fasciocutaneous flap, and use of skin traction. In addition, rotation of the flap and its attachment to the gluteal muscle markedly improved the patient's posterior contour and postoperative comfort. With minimal morbidity, excess skin was removed and the gluteal region was concomitantly increased using an autologous flap that is neglected in many techniques; this resulted in an improved contour and a discreet scar that could be hidden by the patient's underwear.


The seal harvest has played a major role in the cultural and economic development of Newfoundland for hundreds of years. Despite these benefits, the future of the harvest is conditional on the international communities' support or condemnation. In continuing efforts to do what they think is right for seals, and/or the sealing industry, animal rights groups, sealers, and provincial and federal governments argue their cases based on some mix of moral rights, ethnic survival, economic value or scientific evidence. – This report examines the history and ideology of both pro- and anti-sealing groups in an attempt to comprehend the many issues currently facing the Newfoundland sealing industry. The role of other stakeholders, especially fisheries scientists, is explored to clarity the positions taken by both sides and to identify what is required to allow the Newfoundland seal harvest to continue. – The Newfoundland sealing industry continues to provide incomes for harvesters and processing employees in the season where few, if any, alternative sources of employment are available. Deeply rooted in the heritage and culture of its people, the sealing industry plays a key role in preserving outport Newfoundland. While animal rights groups threaten to remove this integral part of native Newfoundlanders lives, it is important to understand the humane and conservation concerns advanced by these groups. While those opposed to the hunt are physically removed from it, they have the power to influence the international community and markets which determine much of the industry's future. The condemnation and arrest of those who break the regulations appear to be effective in changing the conduct of the harvest. Initiatives to professionalize the fishery through education and training have helped to address these concerns. The Canadian Sealers Association and the sealers themselves are crucial to ensuring the success of these initiatives. Fisheries science continues to develop management and harvesting policies that address the concerns of all interested parties. Seal population sustainability continues to be based on management objectives and market considerations. This direction is both biologically wise and widely supported in the international community, while locally there are mixed feelings. The request for additional funding from industry and government is critical to maintain and improve fisheries science for seals so that their future sustainability is protected with the use of new measures such as individual quotas, as one means to avoid exceeding catch limits. International cooperation continues in the management of seal populations that cross international boundaries. In addition to this informed management process, the international community must be provided with clear and accurate information. The continuation of educational programs promoted on a national level may assist in improving relationships with those who oppose the hunt. A consensus on the economic value of the sealing industry by animal rights groups and both levels of the Newfoundland and Canadian governments is required if the public is to be accurately informed. At this point the Newfoundland sealing industry appears to have developed to a stage where the harvest can be justified based on its dedication to sound fisheries management and scientific advice.


The wake of a freely flying common swift (Apus apus L.) is examined in a wind tunnel at three different flight speeds, 5.7, 7.7 and 9.9 m s−1. The wake of the bird is visualized using high-speed stereo digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV). Wake images are recorded in the transverse plane, perpendicular to the airflow. The wake of a swift has been studied previously using DPIV and recording wake images in the longitudinal plane, parallel to the airflow. The high-speed DPIV system allows for time-resolved wake sampling and the result shows features that were not discovered in the previous study, but there was approximately a 40 per cent vertical force deficit. As the earlier study also revealed, a pair of wingtip vortices are trailing behind the wingtips, but in addition, a pair of tail vortices and a pair of 'wing root vortices' are found that appear to originate from the wing/body junction. The existence of wing root vortices suggests that the two wings are not acting as a single wing, but are to some extent aerodynamically detached from each other. It is proposed that this is due to the body disrupting the lift distribution over the wing by generating less lift than the wings.


Since the implementation of self assessment in Malaysia almost a decade ago, taxpayers' compliance behaviour has attracted considerable attention. Tax compliance research in Malaysia has predominantly been in the context of income tax and personal taxpayers, and has been conducted using survey methods and experimental approaches. Access to taxpayers' data is rarely made available to academic researchers by the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRB), thus studies have tended to rely on self-reported behaviour and convenience sampling which have limited the extent to which findings can be generalised. Further, most studies have considered only a limited range of variables that may or may not influence compliance behaviour which is widely recognised as being a complex phenomenon. Based on studies to date, it appears that Malaysian taxpayers have high ethics and that individuals' tax knowledge is a key influence on their compliance behaviour. Scope exists for further research using a range of methodologies, studies that are more comprehensive and longitudinal, and using a wider range of taxes, taxpayers, and compliance obligations.


Grating Coupled Interferometry (GCI) using high quality waveguides with two incoupling and one outcoupling grating areas is introduced to increase and precisely control the sensing length of the device; and to make the sensor design suitable for plate-based multiplexing. In contrast to other interferometric arrangements, the sensor chips are interrogated with a single expanded laser beam illuminating both incoupling gratings simultaneously. In order to obtain the interference signal, only half of the beam is phase modulated using a laterally divided two-cell liquid crystal modulator. The developed highly symmetrical arrangement of the interferometric arms increases the stability and at the same time offers straightforward integration of parallel sensing channels. The device characteristics are demonstrated for both TE and TM polarized modes.


The complexity of development processes makes it difficult to observe and interpret the impacts of policies. The authors demonstrate the use and benefits of system dynamics modelling (SDM) in impact evaluation of private sector development programmes. A system dynamics model was hereby specifically used to compare the observed post-intervention situation with a hypothetical non-intervention scenario. They used the model to construct an optimal mix of interventions that supports sustainable private sector development. They found that developing a system dynamics model and 'gaming' with it is an appropriate means to link the behaviour of the industrial system we observe to its structural elements. This supports the understanding of the impact of complex interventions in industrial systems and can be further useful to convey lessons learned from the evaluations of complex systemic interventions.


In this article an account is given of research concerning vocabulary acquisition in a foreign language and its provisional didactic implications.Until recently, word learning was a neglected aspect of foreign language acquisition. Now, the importance of vocabulary acquisition for high level competence of the foreign language has been recognized and in research growing attention is paid to this aspect. Such research aims at developing a systematically worked-out strategy for teaching and learning words, thereby taking into account insights based on linguistics and on cognitive psychology.More and more linguistic theories no longer consider the lexicon as a collection of individual items, but as a system in which the elements are interrelated and from which they derive their values. The learner will have to be informed about the structure of the lexicon at the syntactic level as well as at the semantic level and about how words function in the foreign language.Vocabulary acquisition research in cognitive psychology mainly focused on mnemonics which are required for paired associative learning. Of greater importance to vocabulary acquisition, however, is research on how the memory functions. In this connection the most important memory theories will be discussed.In discussing the didactic applications of these often speculative insights a distinction is made between techniques which base their approach of vocabulary acquisition on linguistics principles, techniques which make an expUcit difference between a receptive and a productive knowledge of vocabulary and techniques which include presenting words in context.Although it is a step in the right direction in that growing attention is paid to the teaching and learning of foreign vocabulary, there still remains much research to be done, especially at the empirical level.


This paper reports on the initial outcomes of a postgraduate research about user
involvement in healthcare design. The purpose is to highlight the importance of
involving healthcare professionals in the design of healthcare buildings, to ensure
efficiency in the delivery of care services and to meet user requirements. It is believed
that participatory approaches can help to increase value generation for users.
A case study is used to describe the user involvement in the early stages of the
refurbishment process of a Hospital in Brazil. Data was collected through six
interviews, documental analysis, archival record analysis and direct observations.
Results suggest that user requirements are better considered in design through
participatory approaches. Furthermore, the necessary time to perform healthcare
services can be reduced due to more appropriate building reconfiguration. Findings
also emphasize the importance of effective management, both by the design team and
by users' representatives, to minimize conflicting requirements and to avoid delays in
the design process


Abstract:A new model for thinking about the socioracial categories depicted in casta paintings (remarkable eighteenth-century Spanish American images representing the outcome of "racial mixing") takes seriously both their fluidity and their genealogical character. Approaching classification, and casta paintings, from this direction clarifies the underlying epistemologies that structured colonial society and helps connect the paintings more explicitly to the debates about human difference that captivated Enlightenment thinkers. Ultimately, however, these paintings were produced and collected in the hundreds not simply because they visualized Atlantic debates about classification and human difference but because these visualizations were interesting and pleasant to contemplate. They agreeably roused the pleasures of the imagination via their taxonomic as well as their narrative power. Linking casta paintings to the importance accorded to pleasure in both the scientific and the colonial imagination helps explain their fascination, which derived from their ability to condense the complex interconnections of classification, colonialism, and sexuality into appealing images.


Information has long been considered a commodity, something that organizations and individuals can trade for financial gain (Chandler, 1993). And, the networks via which information flowed have long had a conflictual relationship with power and control, business and ideology. In our current Information Age, the complexity of these relationships has been amplified, in part because the network information now flows over is more complex and farther reaching than prior networks. What we are currently seeing is the rise of new forms of organizations as the harbingers of information based power and influence brokers. Yet, the role and impact of these organizations should be framed and studied considering the shifting articulations of function, form, and matter, as pointed out by Kallinikos (2012), which underlies technological evolution and the preeminence that function has reached with advance in computing and information (see also The Economist, 2010, 2014; Yoo, Henfridsson, & Lyytinen, 2010). Furthermore, these information related changes also present challenges at the institutional level. It is worth investigating the implications of the growing relevance of technological information and the loose decoupling of digital content from the software producing it and acting it (Kallinikos, 2012) and infrastructures such as TED, the subject of the present article, especially when considering the issue of the recognition of research institutions.


This study investigated the relationship between psychological factors and
students' academic achievement among foreign students in an international
school in Kuala Lumpur. The academic achievement of the students in the
target international school was unevenly distributed among the students.
This uneven distribution was studied to identify the psychological factors
that best predicted the students' academic achievement. The research
employed an ex post facto design and the data was collected through a set of
questionnaires. One hundred and fifty subjects were randomly selected out
of seven classes based on Kerlinger and Pedhazur (1973); Cohen's (1988)
principles and formula respectively Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data in the
study using SPSS. The statistical techniques used were Descriptive Statistics,
Independent-Sample t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Pearson Product
Moment Correlation (r), and Multiple Linear Regression.
The research findings showed that there was no statistical sigruficant
difference between female and male students on psychological factors
(adjustment, motivation, attitude, locus of control, self-efficacy, and
attribution). The findings also revealed that the primary and secondary
levels were significantly different only on locus of control. A positive and
significant relationship was also found between psychological factors and
academic achievement with strengths ranging between moderate and low.
The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that attribution,
adjustment, self-efficacy, and attitude were signhcant predictors of
academic achievement. The R2 .547 implies that the four predictor variables
explain about 54.7% of the variance in academic achievement. On the other
hand, Locus of control and motivation were not significant but positively
related to academic achievement. Generally, the findings indicated that the
four psychological factors were the most significant factors in explaining the
variance of academic achievement.


Between 1860 and 1911, a total of 152,641 Indian indentured workers arrived in the then British Colony of Natal. The first group of workers who returned home in 1871 complained of ill-treatment and abuse by employers and the Indian government refused to sanction further allotments of labourers until the Natal government investigated their complaints. The ensuing Coolie Commission of 1872 called for the appointment of a Protector of Indian Immigrants, as one of several recommendations. The Natal Government duly complied as the Colony was desperate for labour. Such officials were also appointed in other colonial contexts around this time. Instances of worker abuse, however, continued throughout the period of indenture in Natal, notwithstanding some observers' claim that the appointment of a Protector was a watershed moment for bonded labour. It appears that the vastness of the area under the Protector's jurisdiction and the enormous power of planters made it difficult for Protectors to balance the needs of workers and employers. But workers found creative ways to use the office of the Protector to resist the system; and, on occasion, the abuse was so great that the Protector was forced to intervene publicly to safeguard the rights of workers and the integrity of his office. In focusing on the Protector, this article makes a contribution to the emerging literature on empire that focuses on connections and networks across colonies and the agency and actions of ordinary people.


This work considers the use of Holographic Optical Elements (HOEs) to shape the weld beam and control the microstructure of the weld bead. The beam profiles investigated are a standard Gaussian and an Offset Rugby Post produced by a HOE. Autogenous welds have been produced on plain carbon steel with the introduction of a nickel alloy filler powder, using different energy densities. Cross sections of the welds have been analysed in terms of the weld profile, weld pool shape, HAZ and the extent of the deposit/substrate mixing. Electron BackScatter Diffraction (EBSD) coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) has been used to study the microstructures developed. The results have shown that by utilising HOE's the weld pool shape can be modified so that a squarer profile can be obtained. The grain structure within the weld pool can be controlled such that a finer more equiaxed grain structure can be developed when compared with the coarse columnar grains seen with a Gaussian beam with a marked difference in the microstructures in the HAZ.


The southwest slope of Ben Attow (NH 010180) features numerous obsequent (uphill-facing) scarplets which are up to 10 m high and 800 m long (Figs 1 and 2). de Freitas and Watters (1973) discussed similar features at Glen Pean, Scotland, invoking obsequent-scarplet formation by toppling. The Ben Attow slope exhibits the largest extent of obsequent-scarplets in Scotland known to the authors. This note examines its mode of instability and the formation of obsequent-scarps. The slope is composed of coarse Moinian psammites of locally varying metamorphic grade. Joint surveys revealed the presence of four joint sets (Fig. 3): one parallel to the foliation (F), one striking parallel to and dipping into the slope (J1) and two sets that dip gently west (J2 and J3). The scarplets strike subparallel to J1 and terminate westwards at a 1 to 2 m high step-like feature. Watters (1972) undertook a reconnaisance investigation of the slope and hypothesized that the scarplets were formed by sequential upslope separation and translation of blocks on a failure plane at depth. This was followed by erosion upslope of the tension cracks between displaced blocks and their later infilling with slope debris. However, no slide toe exists at the base of the slope, nor is it likely that there ever was one, since any erosion of a toe would have removed the essentially delicate obsequent-scarplets as well. Further, in situ rock crops out across the base of the slope. The scarplets are less than 30 m apart in places and translation


Network Management: Accounting and Performance StrategiesThe definitive guide to collecting usage information from Cisco networksBenoit Claise, CCIE® No. 2868Ralf WolterUnderstanding network performance and effectiveness is now crucial to business success. To ensure user satisfaction, both service providers and enterprise IT teams must provide service-level agreements (SLA) to the users of their networksi??and then consistently deliver on those commitments. Now, two of the Cisco® leading network performance and accounting experts bring together all the knowledge network professionals need to do so.Network Management: Accounting and Performance Strategies imparts a deep understanding of Cisco IOS® embedded management for monitoring and optimizing performance, together with proven best strategies for both accounting and performance management.Benoit Claise and Ralf Wolter begin by introducing the role of accounting and performance management in today's large-scale data and voice networks. They present widely accepted performance standards and definitions, along with today's best practice methodologies for data collection.Next, they turn to Cisco devices and the Cisco IOS Software, illuminating embedded management and device instrumentation features that enable you to thoroughly characterize performance, plan network enhancements, and anticipate potential problems and prevent them. Network standards, technologies, and Cisco solutions covered in depth include Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and Management Information Bases (MIB), Remote Monitoring (RMON), IP accounting, NetFlow, BGP policy accounting, AAA Accounting, Network Based Application Recognition (NBAR), and IP SLA (formerly known as SAA). For each, the authors present practical examples and hands-on techniques.The book concludes with chapter-length scenarios that walk you through accounting and performance management for five different applications: data network monitoring, capacity planning, billing, security, and voice network performance.Network Management: Accounting and Performance Strategies will be indispensable to every professional concerned with network performance, effectiveness, or profitability, especially NMS/OSS architects, network and service designers, network administrators, and anyone responsible for network accounting or billing.Benoit Claise, CCIE® No. 2868, is a Cisco Distinguished Engineer working as an architect for embedded management and device instrumentation. His area of expertise includes accounting, performance, and fault management. Claise is a contributor to the NetFlow standardization at the IETF in the IPFIX and PSAMP Working Groups. He joined Cisco in 1996 as a customer support engineer in the Technical Assistance Center network management team and became an escalation engineer before joining the engineering team.Ralf Wolter is a senior manager, consulting engineering at Cisco. He leads the Cisco Core and NMS/OSS consulting team for Europe, works closely with corporate engineering, and supports large-scale customer projects. He specializes in device instrumentation related to accounting and performance management. Compare accounting methods and choose the best approach for you Apply network performance best practices to your network Leverage built-in Cisco IOS network management system components to quantify performance Uncover trends in performance statistics to help avoid service degradation before it occurs Identify under use of network paths, so you can improve overall network efficiency Walk through hands-on case studies that address monitoring, capacity planning, billing, security, and voice networks Understand Cisco network performance, deliver on your SLAs, and improve accounting and billingThis book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press®, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.


The present study was designed to explore the factors that responsible for the relapse into basic literacy skills of adult neo-literates. This qualitative study utilized strategies, including: a survey, interviews, focused group discussions, artifacts, and observations. Random and criterion sampling techniques were applied. The data was analyzed by sorting, coding, and categorizing the views of the respondents. The study explored these three problems areas: the implementation of a literacy program, addressing the needs and aspirations of adult female neo-literates and the teachers' delivery of the courses. The results of this inquiry identified key factors tied to the three problem areas: the teachers were inadequately trained and failed to observe the basic standards of courtesy and respect for the learners. The courses ran at inappropriate times, were too short and used inadequate accommodation. While not excessively difficult, the materials used were not related to the real needs of the learners who wished, in the main, for literacy skills in relation to income generating activities. There was a need for increased opportunities to practise the skills taught and follow up courses were required.


After being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2009, Herta Muller attained great prominence around the world. Commentators, especially in English-speaking countries, seemed shocked by the decision. One of the primary concerns was that Muller was relatively unknown. This work seeks to address this and other concerns by looking at reviews of her works in German- and English-language publications both before and after the Nobel Prize was awarded. This thesis analyses chronologically the reception of her books beginning with Niederungen in 1982 and ending with the reception of her novel Atemschaukel in 2009. It compares the reception of the original German text to that of the English translation; therefore only works which have been translated and published in English are discussed. While Muller's work did not top the bestseller charts, at least before the Nobel Prize, she was hardly the completely unknown author that some in the English-language media believed. This work seeks to present trends in the reception as well as provide a basis for further study of the reception of Herta Muller.


BACKGROUND
Hypernatremic dehydration in neonates is a potentially devastating condition. Recent reports have identified breast-feeding malnutrition as a key factor in its pathophysiology.

METHODS
Using a theoretical framework for breast-feeding kinetics, a retrospective chart review of all neonates less than 28 days of age who were seen at either British Columbia's Children's Hospital or the Vancouver Breastfeeding Centre between 1991-1994 was conducted to identify and classify possible causes of breast-feeding malnutrition among neonates who developed hypernatremic dehydration.

RESULTS
Twenty-one cases hypernatremic dehydration were identified. Infant weight loss ranged from 8% to 30% of birth weight, and serum sodium levels ranged from 146 mmol/L to 207 mmol/L. In each case, maternal or infant factors (e.g., poor breast-feeding technique, lactation failure following postpartum hemorrhage and infant suckling disorders associated with cleft palate or ankyloglossia) that could interfere with either lactation or breast-feeding dynamics and account for insufficient breast milk intake were identified.

INTERPRETATION
Prenatal and in-hospital screening for maternal and infant risk factors for breast-feeding malnutrition combined with early postpartum follow-up to detect excessive infant weight loss are important for the prevention of neonatal hypernatremic dehydration.


In this work we investigate under what circumstances a TV campaign should be complemented with online advertising to increase combined reach. First, we use probabilistic models to derive necessary and sufficient conditions. We then test these optimality conditions on empirical findings of a large collection of TV campaigns to answer two important questions: i) which characteristics of a TV campaign make it favorable to shift part of its budget to online advertising?; and ii) if it should shift, how much cost savings and additional reach can advertisers expect? First, we use classification methods such as linear discriminant analysis, logistic regression, and decision trees to decide whether a TV campaign should add online advertising; secondly, we train linear and support vector regression models to predict optimal budget allocation, cost savings, or additional reach. To train these models we use optimization results on roughly 26, 000 campaigns. We do not only achieve excellent out-of-sample predictive power, but also obtain simple, interpretable, and actionable rules that improve the understanding of media mix advertising.


Poly(arylene ether sulfone)s with dendritic terminal groups were synthesized by step-growth polymerization of two difunctional monomers in the presence of preformed dendritic end-cappers. These polymers were characterized by NMR, SEC, DSC, TGA, melt rheology and tensile tests. The melt viscosities of these polymers in the high frequency region were lower than the control while the stress-strain properties were comparable to those of the control, suggesting that it is possible to reduce the high shear melt viscosities of this type of polymers without affecting the stress-strain properties by introducing bulky dendritic terminal groups. Poly(arylene ether sulfone)s with hyperbranched terminal groups were also synthesized. These polymers were synthesized by reacting fluoro-terminated poly(arylene ether sulfone) chains with an arylene ether ketone AB2 monomer. The terminal groups of these polymers were capped by tert-butylphenol. The results from NMR and SEC showed that multiple tert-butyl units were successfully introduced onto the polymer chains, suggesting that this synthetic method could be useful for introducing multiple functional groups onto the polymer chain ends in fewer synthetic steps than an analogous method using preformed dendritic end-cappers. It was also demonstrated that multiple sulfonated phenols were attached to the terminal groups of polysulfones by this method. A novel cyclohexyl-containing difunctional monomer was prepared and successfully incorporated into poly(arylene ether sulfone) backbones. These polymers were characterized by NMR, SEC, DSC, TGA, DMA and tensile tests and compared to terephthaloyl analogs. Tensile tests and DMA showed the cyclohexyl units impart a higher magnitude of secondary relaxation than the terephthaloyl units while maintaining high modulus, suggesting that these polymers may have higher impact strength than the ones with no cyclohexyl units.


Objective. Appropriate regional transport protocol for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients is important for achieving favorable outcomes in a certain community. This study aimed to investigate the effect of transported hospital resources on the neurologic outcome after OHCA. Methods. We categorized cardiac receiving centers (CRC) in our community into two levels (primary [P-CRC] and definite CRC [D-CRC]) according to the hospital resources that were identified by the Hospital Assessment Survey in 2015. OHCA patients with presumed cardiac etiology resuscitated by emergency medical service providers between 2012 and 2014, were enrolled in the study. The main exposure was the level of CRC. The primary endpoint was discharge with good neurologic outcomes. We compared outcomes between CRCs after adjusting for potential confounders. Results. Among the 9,912 patients, 5,876 were transported to P-CRC and 4,036 to D-CRC from 2012 to 2014. Patients admitted to D-CRC showed better neurologic outcome than those admitted to P-CRC (6.2% vs 1.5%, p<0.001). With regard to patients who survived to admission, the neurologic outcome of patients in D-CRC was better than those in P-CRC (11.3% vs 3.3%, p<0.001). In the multivariable logistic model, the adjusted odds ratio for all OHCA patients was 2.10 (95% confidence interval, 1.51–2.95). Conclusion. Transportation of OHCA patients to the D-CRC resulted in significantly good neurologic outcome than those transported to P-CRC. Further research is needed to establish a regional OHCA transport protocol.


Elinore Pruitt, a widow and mother who washed clothes for a living in Denver, planned to work as a housekeeper for some rancher while learning all she would need to know about homesteading a place for herself. In 1909 she went to work for Clyde Stewart, whose ranch was near Burnt Fork, Wyoming, and within six weeks she married him. "Ranch work seemed to require that we be married first and do our sparking afterward," she wrote Juliet Coney, her former employer. She maintained her independence by filing on a quarter section adjacent to her husband's land and proving it up herself. Her delightful letters, written from the time of her arrival until 1913, authentically depict an Old West that, as Jessamyn West notes in her foreword, has been "progressively obscured by those who portray it most often." The critically acclaimed 1980 film Heartland was based on Elinore Pruitt Stewart's letters and journals.


Background and purpose: Many holistic anti-bullying interventions have been attempted, with mixed success, while little work has been done to promote a 'self-help' approach to victimisation. The rise of the ICT curriculum and computer support in schools now allows for approaches that benefit from technology to be implemented. This study evaluates the cross-cultural effects of a computer-based anti-bullying intervention on primary school-aged children's knowledge about bullying and relevant coping strategies. Programme description: FearNot! is an interactive computer-based virtual learning environment designed for use as an anti-bullying intervention. It includes interactive virtual agents who assume the most common participant roles found in episodes of bullying. FearNot! was used by children over three consecutive weeks to allow its effectiveness to be evaluated in a longitudinal in situ programme. Sample: Two comparable samples were drawn from the UK and Germany. In the UK, 651 participants (aged 8–11) were recruited from primary schools in Hertfordshire, Coventry and Warwickshire, whereas the 535 German participants (aged 7–10) were sourced from Grundschulen in the Bayern and Hessen regions. Because of lack of parental consent, late joiners and absences/missing responses, data from 908 participants (UK 493; Germany 415) were analysed. Design and methods: A quasi-experimental, pre/post-tests control group design employed pre-published and bespoke questionnaires to collect data. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted. Results: UK students possessed higher coping strategy knowledge scores than German participants, but German children's scores improved over time and as a result of the FearNot! intervention. Conclusions: Overall, while not effective at increasing children's coping strategy knowledge in this study, the FearNot! intervention could prove a useful classroom tool to approach the issue of bullying as part of a wider initiative. Cultural differences at baseline and reactions to the intervention are discussed.


Background: Quality control (QC) in diagnostic microbiology is a matter of effective, efficient, accurate reporting in the expected turnaround time. Major stages of the analytical "standard operational procedures" where QC could be easily affected include organism identification and antibacterial susceptibility testing. Aim: The objective of this experiential technical note is to provide an evidence base to highlight the value of internal QC program in evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of a laboratory's standard operational procedures; and the competences of individual scientific/technical staff. Materials and Methods: This report is based on four different scenarios requiring internal QC, including cases that are not reported within the turnaround time of standard operational procedures. Small-scale evaluations of (i) internal QC program, (ii) ciprofloxacin vs. moxifloxacin susceptibilities, and (iii) calibrated dichotomous susceptibility vs. directed susceptibility testing were performed. Results: The internal QC program identified sources of discrepancies in laboratory results. Evidence base for decision on new methodology and antibiotic testing were developed. For instance, it is observed that calibrated dichotomous susceptibility gives greater annular radius than directed susceptibility (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Internal QC program continues to be valuable means of identifying discrepancies, and vetting new ideas. This report presents evidence base to reaffirm that the need for internal QC is ever present.


This article deals with the cultural development and general perception of the concept of "intelligence" and "economic intelligence" in France. After the Cold War, finance and markets assumed a greater importance in determining the relations between countries; however, it took a long time for the French elite to be convinced of the existence of "economic warfare" and to define a culture of its own in the field of intelligence. Still, when all the international analyses were strongly related to the Cold War ideology and talking about economic warfare seemed like an abuse of language, C. Harbulot and P. Baumard urged the need to reconsider intelligence activities and to apply them in the national economy, overcoming the negative connotation that "renseignement" had. Researching, processing and spreading any piece of information that can be considered strategic is the only formula we can rely on in order to face the last challenges posed by globalization. Between 1992 and 1994, the expression "economic intelligence" officially entered the French public debate on national competiveness, together with the request for public intervention in the national economy. Harbulot and Baumard kept recommending the systematic search and interpretation of the information available to everyone, showing a new way to interpret the markets. The new approach is different from traditional intelligence by the nature of its field of application (open information); the nature of its actors (inserted in a collective information culture context), and its cultural specificities (each nation's economy generates its own specific model of economic intelligence).


For many years past, and even to the present time, grave
doubts have existed in the minds of many as to the mode of
breeding in connection with the Platypus and the Echidna. To
the scientific world Mr. Caldwell, in 1883, set at rest any doubt
as to the question whether this peculiar order of animals was
viviparous or oviviparous, by securing a, large number of
specimens of the Echidna and the Platypus in various stages
of development. It is not recorded, however, that the egg
of the Echidna had ever been found in Tasmania, and, therefore
the specimen I have much pleasure in submitting to the
Fellows- this evening will doubtless be of great interest.
Includes illustrative plate.


The performance of RNA-Seq aligners and assemblers varies greatly across different organisms and experiments, and often the optimal approach is not known beforehand. Here we show that the accuracy of transcript reconstruction can be boosted by combining multiple methods, and we present a novel algorithm to integrate multiple RNA-Seq assemblies into a coherent transcript annotation. Our algorithm can remove redundancies and select the best transcript models according to user-specified metrics, while solving common artefacts such as erroneous transcript chimerisms. We have implemented this method in an open-source Python3 and Cython program, Mikado, available at https://github.com/lucventurini/Mikado.


The last decade has changed again the face of electronic world: from Web 2.0 to open source software; from e-(electronic) to m-(mobile) and now to touch. For Web developers is a real challenge to make compatible interfaces to all existing Internet browsers. This proves to be even more expensive than the application itself (Softnet; 2012; SIVECO, 2012). From the point of view of the big software development companies these events are just new challenges because they afford to have many employees with different skills and by that being able to cope with market demands. But what happens with the e-government projects at the local level? Budgets are small, so hiring a company specialized in Web application development is sometimes too expensive, this responsibility usually falls in many cases on the employees of the IT department (Vrabie, 2011). If we add to this software component the hardware required for hosting the Web page inside, the budgets are already completely exceeded (or obviously they can choose some other cheap solution but whose reliability is very poor – reason for dissatisfaction among citizens). The importance of the Web platforms for interacting with citizens is very well known (Friedman, 2005; Craig; 2006; Baltac, 2011). In this context, this paper aims to examine in terms of costs, the investments in open-source applications in parallel with the use of social networks as used today. The research methodology is using for the first time an adapted version of cost-effectiveness analysis. Empirical research will be carried out on two platforms of e- Government – one of them developed inside on an open-source solution – used to support a complete interaction with the citizens. The working hypothesis starts from the fact that open source software is cheaper than those developed inside – but of course this is a question to debate at.


ABSTRACT The group known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has demonstrated remarkable appeal and ability to recruit Muslims from around the world, including the West. ISIS has effectively used Islamist narratives and selectively appropriated aspects of Islam to recruit to its cause in pursuit of its political goals, which raises important questions concerning the role of Islamism among Muslim extremists and in the process of radicalisation. This article examines the core narratives that characterise ISIS propaganda disseminated through its media productions. ISIS recruitment propaganda not only reflects the group's selective manipulation and extreme interpretations of Islam as well as the war-ravaged social, economic and political conditions from which it emerges but also that it is a contemporary manifestation of the Islamist political ideology (referred to in this article as Islamism). These factors resonate in ISIS's selective use of Islamist narratives, images and sounds in its media content and in its descriptions of self and others. Understanding how ISIS is able to exploit the prevalence of Islamism among Muslims is critical for developing an effective counter to its appeal and influence.


Catastrophic forgetting continues to severely restrict the learnability of controllers suitable for multiple task environments. Efforts to combat catastrophic forgetting reported in the literature to date have focused on how control systems can be updated more rapidly, hastening their adjustment from good initial settings to new environments, or more circumspectly, suppressing their ability to overfit to any one environment. When using robots, the environment includes the robot's own body, its shape and material properties, and how its actuators and sensors are distributed along its mechanical structure. Here we demonstrate for the first time how one such design decision (sensor placement) can alter the landscape of the loss function itself, either expanding or shrinking the weight manifolds containing suitable controllers for each individual task, thus increasing or decreasing their probability of overlap across tasks, and thus reducing or inducing the potential for catastrophic forgetting.


Background/aim Organophosphorus compounds are the most commonly used pesticides as a result of their easy availability. They are highly toxic compounds for human beings. The study aimed to evaluate the potential cardiotoxic effects in acute organophosphate toxicity as a prognostic factor. Patients and methods This study was carried out on 48 organophosphate acutely intoxicated adult patients. All participants were subjected to the following: sociodemographic study, patient's history, clinical examination, laboratory investigations, ECG (ECG changes were graded as minor, moderate, and severe), and echocardiography. Results Regarding acute organophosphorus poisoning (OPP) severity, patients with mild, moderate, and severe intoxication represented 18.6, 35.4, and 45.8 of the studied patients, respectively. Of acute OPP patients, 81.25% had abnormal ECG with ischemic changes in 66.7% of patients and arrhythmia in 43.6%. Inverted T-wave and elevated ST segment were the most frequent among ischemic findings while atrial fibrillation was the most frequent arrhythmic finding. The ECG changes induced by acute OPP were graded as moderate in 68.75% of patients and severe in 12.5%. Only one case of acute OPP was diagnosed as acute myocardial infarction. No cases with minor ECG grading were recorded. There was a statistically significant difference between acute OPP severity and ECG grading. Patients with acute OPP have shown a mean QTc interval of 0.46±0.062 s. In all, 47.9% of patients reported prolonged QTc interval. QTc interval was significantly more prolonged in severely intoxicated patients. Conclusion ECG grading and corrected QT interval are a predictor for both primary and major outcome in patients with acute OPP.


Temperate forests are an important carbon sink, yet there is uncertainty regarding land-use history effects on biomass accumulation and carbon storage potential in secondary forests. Understanding long-term biomass dynamics is important for managing forests as carbon sinks and for co-benefits such as watershed protection and biodiversity. However there are many unanswered questions regarding these dynamics in northeastern U.S. forests: How have secondary forests of the U.S. Northeast recovered post nineteenth century agricultural abandonment? How has the region's extensive land-use history influenced long-term structural development and aboveground carbon storage? To answer these questions, we employed a longitudinal study based on twelve years of empirical data (2001-2013) from the Marsh-BillingsRockefeller (MBR) National Historical Park in Woodstock, VT. MBR Park was the first parcel of land to actively be reforested in the eastern U.S., and as such, its diverse forest mosaic reflects a history of alternate reforestation approaches and varied successional trajectories indicative of secondary forest recovery occurring across the broader northeastern forest landscape. We also used 150 years of documentary data from park management records. This research evaluates the effects of reforestation approaches (planting vs. natural regeneration), management regimes (long-term low-to-intermediate harvest intensities at varied harvest frequencies), and stand development pathways on biomass outcomes. We generated biometrics representative of stand structural complexity, including the H' structural diversity index, and aboveground biomass (live trees, snags, and downed coarse woody debris pools) estimates. Multivariate analyses evaluated the predictive strength of reforestation approach, management history, and site characteristics relative to aboveground carbon pools and stand structural complexity. Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis ranked reforestation approach (plantation or natural regeneration) as the strongest predictor of long-term mean total aboveground carbon storage, while harvest frequency, and stand age were selected as secondary variables. CART ranked forest percent conifer (a metric closely associated with reforestation approach) as the strongest predictor of H' index, while harvest intensity, and harvest frequency were selected as secondary variables. Increases in harvest intensity can significantly reduce aboveground carbon storage. Our results suggest that a variety of long-term recovery pathways converge on high levels of aboveground carbon storage, including both conifer plantations and naturally regenerated hardwood stands, but choice of silvicultural management approach can dramatically alter those trajectories. Importantly, total aboveground biomass (i.e., carbon) co-varied with H' (r = 0.25), and thus, our dataset showed a positive relationship between forest carbon storage and structural complexity, supporting the concept of multifunctional forestry emphasizing late-successional habitats.


The performance analysis of Emergency Room episodes is aimed at providing decision makers with knowledge that allows them to decrease waiting times, reduce patient congestion, and improve the quality of care provided. In this case study, Process Mining is used to determine which activities, sub-processes, interactions, and characteristics of episodes explain why some episodes have a longer duration. The employed method and the results obtained are described in detail to serve as a guide for future performance analysis in this domain. It was discovered that the main cause of the increment in the episode duration is the occurrence of a loop between the Examination and Treatment sub-processes. It was also found out that as the episode severity increases, the number of repetitions of the Examination–Treatment loop increases as well. Moreover, the episodes in which this loop is more common are those that lead to Hospitalization as discharge destination. These findings might help to reduce the occurrence of this loop, in turn lowering the episode duration and, consequently, providing faster attention to more patients.


Vision-language representation learning largely benefits from image-text alignment through contrastive losses (e.g., InfoNCE loss). The success of this alignment strategy is attributed to its capability in maximizing the mutual information (MI) between an image and its matched text. However, simply performing cross-modal alignment (CMA) ignores data potential within each modality, which may result in degraded representations. For instance, although CMA-based models are able to map image-text pairs close together in the embedding space, they fail to ensure that similar inputs from the same modality stay close by. This problem can get even worse when the pre-training data is noisy. In this paper, we propose triple contrastive learning (TCL) for vision-language pre-training by leveraging both cross-modal and intra-modal self-supervision. Besides CMA, TCL introduces an intra-modal contrastive objective to provide complementary benefits in representation learning. To take advantage of localized and structural information from image and text input, TCL further maximizes the average MI between local regions of image/text and their global summary. To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first work that takes into account local structure information for multi-modality representation learning. Experimental evaluations show that our approach is competitive and achieves the new state of the art on various common downstream vision-language tasks such as image-text retrieval and visual question answering.


The growing level of interest displayed in LNG as a marine fuel, driven by both environmental restrictions and economic attractiveness means usage is certain to grow. There is, however, less certainty over the pace and scale of demand growth. This in part is due to the relatively poor data quality on marine fuel usage but primarily a reflection on the still early nature of market development and uncertainties over alternative fuel options. This paper, which is a follow up to an earler study published in 2013, aims: To assess the most promising sectors for LNG in marine transportation in global shipping markets. To derive a set of metrics that could be used to generate forecasts of LNG demand in the marine sector and to assess the validity of current forecasts To assess the current state and planned state of LNG refuelling infrastructure and its impact on market development To briefly mention the comparative prospects for LNG in land-based transport. The paper concludes that the shipping sectors that are likely to be more promising for LNG include ro–ro ferries, cruise ships, bulk carriers, large container vessels, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, LNG tankers. It would also appear that because of the costs of retrofitting, most LNG-fuelled ships will be newly built and owners/operators are unlikely to commit without concluding a long-term supply contract covering both pricing and physical delivery. LNG suppliers which are prepared to conclude such contracts will provide an important stimulus to the market. The lead times involved and the relatively low capital cost of infrastructure suggest that refuelling capacity is unlikely to be a constraint. A review of recent forecasts suggest that global demand will be in the range of 25 to 30 mtpa of LNG by 2030. The paper describes how many new or converted vessels fuelled by LNG would be required to reach this level, how it might be achieved and where the main obstacles to uptake are likely to occur. It concludes, that on balance, a demand level of around 15 mtpa (excluding LNG tankers) by 2030 is a more realistic prospect at present.