Product matching is a challenging variation of entity resolution to identify representations and offers referring to the same product. Product matching is highly difficult due to the broad spectrum of products, many similar but different products, frequently missing or wrong values, and the textual nature of product titles and descriptions. We propose the use of tailored approaches for product matching based on a preprocessing of product offers to extract and clean new attributes usable for matching. In particular, we propose a new approach to extract and use so-called product codes to identify products and distinguish them from similar product variations. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches with challenging real-life datasets with product offers from online shops. We also show that the UPC information in product offers is often error-prone and can lead to insufficient match decisions.


Whatever else subjects are, they are actors caught up an indefinite number of intersecting performances. This is as evident in the workings of literary texts as it is in the dramas of everyday life. Indeed, the issue of subjectivity as performance in literary texts addresses fundamental semiotic issues pertaining to how literary texts work. None are more fundamental than these three: how do we as readers no less than authors make meaning from signs, how do we relate literary texts to the various worlds in which they are—or simply might be—located, and how do our various modes of engagement with literary texts affect the ways we make meaning in what is often called the life-world? At the outset I will provide a working definition of subjectivity, a manifestly protean term, crafted specifically for the task at hand, which is to explore the relationship in literary texts between subjectivity and performativity. I will then turn to a detailed examination of the various ways in which subjectivity is actually enacted or performed in two contemporary works, Carol Shields' The Stone Diaries and Paul Auster's The Invention of Solitude, particularly focusing on diagrammatic figurations and dramatic positionings.


From the Publisher:
The compression schemes applied for the storage and transmission of digital video data leave content sensitive to transmission errors, information loss and quality degradation. Recent developments in error resilience techniques allow improved quality of service of video communication over a range of network platforms.

Digital video communications, supported by the Internet, ATM networks and Broadband ISDN, have undergone significant development over the past few years. Emerging applications include videoconferencing, tele-medicine and distance learning. This leading edge text addresses the problems associated with the delivery and design of video communication services.
Presents a comprehensive overview of the principles and techniques employed in the improvement of the performance of video codecs in error prone environments Provides a performance evaluation and comparison of video coding standards, MPEG-4, H.261 and H.263 Outlines methods of video communication over mobile networks Provides guidance on quality enhancement and the meeting Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for digital video communications Accompanying CD-ROM containing video clips to illustrate the coding and error resilience technology described within the text
A valuable resource for researchers and postgraduate students working with video communication technology, as well as practising electronic and communications engineers designing and implementing video communication systems and consultants working in the video, television, computing and communications industries.


Munchausen By Proxy Syndrome (MBPS) or Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy as Meadow termed it is one of the current controversial areas of child abuse. Its diagnosis or its very existence generates as much debate as that produced by the diagnosis of sexual abuse in the 1980s.

This book, whose authors are philosophers at the State University of New York, at Stony Brook, sets out to question the assumption on which the syndrome is based. They argue that the syndrome is essentially false and the evidence sustaining it insubstantial and logically flawed. This book is aimed at physicians - adult as well as paediatricians since it also considers Munchausen's Syndrome - and social and cultural theorists. The first part of the book is concerned with arguing that the construction of some disorders for example, witchcraft, hysteria and MBPS have …


Presenting the first complete treatment of MIMO transceiver optimization, this self-contained book provides all the mathematical information needed to understand transceiver optimization in a single volume. It begins with a review of digital communication fundamentals, and then moves on to a detailed study of joint transceiver optimization, starting from simple single-input single-output channels all the way to minimum bit error rate transceivers for MIMO channels. Crucial background material is covered, such as Schur convex functions, matrix calculus, and constrained optimization, together with eight appendices providing further background material on topics such as matrix theory, random processes, and sampling theory. A final ninth appendix provides a grand summary of all the optimization results. With 360 illustrations, over 70 worked examples, and numerous summary tables provided to aid understanding of key concepts, this book is ideal for graduate students, practitioners, and researchers in the fields of communications and signal processing.


The history of plate convergence in southern and southeastern Sundaland recorded subduction of oceanic plate during Jurassic to Late Cretaceous started from Meratus, Bantimala, Luk Ulo, to Ciletuh. The geochronology of subduction is based on subduction-related high pressure to ultra/very high pressure glaucophane schists and eclogites. Subduction chased in Bantimala and Meratus trenches in mid-Cretaceous due to docking of West Sulawesi and Paternoster-Kangean microcontinents, respectively. During the Late Cretaceous, subduction migrated to Paternoster trench resulting in volcanic and magmatic rocks as well as forearc sediments in Meratus and Bantimala. In Paleogene time, Meratus and Bantimala separated by the opening of the Makassar Straits, sitting on Paternoster and West Sulawesi microcontinents. Subduction in Ciletuh and Luk Ulo continued into the Late Cretaceous, but possibly with different characters of subduction compared to that of Early Cretaceous due to the absence of Late Cretaceous subduction-related metamorphic rocks. Jiwo Hills, Bayat which has been considered as the continuation of Luk Ulo, is considered not to compose the subduction zone due to the absence of subduction-related rock assemblage. The midCretaceous glaucophane schist of Bayat may relate with docking of SE Java microcontinent in this area. Eocene shallow marine Wungkal-Gamping carbonate shows that Bayat is different with Luk Ulo and Ciletuh which in Eocene were characterized by slope trench olistostromal deposits of Karangsambung and Ciletuh Formations, respectively. Configuration of plate convergence during the Cretaceous implies petroleum possibilities of southeastern Sundaland related to the presence of * SKK Migas some Australian-origin microcontinents. Newly acquired deep seismic data in south offshore East Java, eastern East Java Sea, and South Makassar Straits show the presence of Mesozoic-Paleozoic bedded horizons typical NW Shelf of Australia which are proven to be productive or other proven prolific Australoid microcontinents like Bintuni, Seram, or Buton. Pre-Tertiary petroleum system may develop in southeastern Sundaland.


This book describes the fundamental scientific principles underlying high quality instrumentation used for environmental measurements. It discusses a wide range of in situ sensors employed in practical environmental monitoring and, in particular, those used in surface based measurement systems. It also considers the use of weather balloons to provide a wealth of upper atmosphere data. To illustrate the technologies in use it includes many examples of real atmospheric measurements in typical and unusual circumstances, with a discussion of the electronic signal conditioning, data acquisition considerations and data processing principles necessary for reliable measurements. This also allows the long history of atmospheric measurements to be placed in the context of the requirements of modern climate science, by building the physical science appreciation of the instrumental record and looking forward to new and emerging sensor and recording technologies.


Scholarships are usually awarded to students who are considered achievers. Only so far the intended or assumed new achievement students are measured from the quantity of GPA Achievement Index (GPA) only, so many students are given to the students, but very few achievements obtained by students who can improve the university index. To achieve the achievements both regionally, nationally, and internationally, then in addition to high GPA, also required creativity and high innovation of students, especially those who get a scholarship. So it is necessary to re-analyze the patterns used as the basis for consideration in the scholarship application, so that the achievement targets achieved by the scholarship recipients both at the regional, national and international levels are increased, by incorporating the components / attributes of creativity and innovation in the components of the scholarship pattern. The method used in the preparation of this scholarship is Moderate Multiple Regression (MMR) as a modeling method in decision support system (Decision Support System), where all components of the achievement are GPA, Student Creativity Program (PKM), and innovations which has been done given weight in accordance with the level of achievement. Then do filtering to result of weighting from each component of achievement by method of MMR so that obtained by compilation variable from moderate multiple regression. After getting some MMR model, it is done by optimizing the pattern by calculating multivariate pla from every existing model. The model with the highest multivariate placement will be the optimal pattern in the provision of scholarships for student learning assistance


In several working environments, production involves repeated executions of certain procedures. A workflow describes the individual tasks performed in these procedures and their interrelationships. Current workflow management systems (WFMSs) use a database management system (DBMS) to store task descriptions, and implement all workflow functionality in modules that run on top of the DBMS. Motivated by scientific workflows, we propose a much more DBMS-centric architecture, in which conventional database technology provides much of the desired scientific WFMS functionality. A key element of our approach is viewing the workflow as a web of data objects interconnected with active links that carry process descriptions. The workflow is fully defined as a database schema, and its execution is the gradual buildup of an instance of this schema through the active object links. For our work, we use the modeling and querying tools of Horse, the object-oriented DBMS that we have developed in the context of the Zoo Desktop Experiment Management Environment.


Background: In India, obesity is highly prevalent in women as compared to men. As the obesity epidemic spreads, there are growing concerns about efficient obesity management. Aims: To compare between circuit training (CT), treadmill (TM) walking and suryanamaskar (SN) training in weight management and physical fitness enhancement in obese females. Settings and Designs: Comparative controlled study conducted in a community setting. Materials and Methods: 119 females of age between 20 and 40 years of body mass index (BMI) between 25.1 and 34.9 kg/m2. 87 participants completed the study. Group 1: CT; group 2: TM walking; group 3: Modified SN; group 4: Control. Outcome Measures: Body composition, cardio-respiratory and muscle endurance, flexibility. Statistical Analysis: Within-group data was analyzed with the paired t-test. P =0.05. Analysis between the groups was done using one way ANOVA test. Analysis between the groups was done using ANCOVA test controlling for baseline differences only for those variables that have significant differences at baseline. For those which do not have significant difference at baseline, RMANOVA was done at end of 8 weeks. Results: Reducation in mean body weight in CT group (2.2%), TM (1.7%) and SN (1.6%), (P < 0.05), BMI in all the three groups (P < 0.01), total body fat % in the CT (5%) and SN (3.7%), (P < 0.01), metabolic age with CT (2%) and TM (2%), (P = 0.001). Improvement in muscle mass in CT (4%, P = 0.009), VO2max in CT group by 17.2%, SN (14%), TM group (8%) (P < 0.05). Upper limb Muscle endurance in CT (51.3%), SN group (51.24%) and in TM group (40%), (P = 0.05), in lower limb TM (21.2%) and SN (24.5%) (P = 0.05), flexibility in SN (12.4%, P = 0.0001). Conclusions: All three methods were effective in weight and physical fitness management. CT and SN were more effective in improving cardio-respiratory fitness and upper limb muscle endurance while only SN was effective in improving body flexibility.


Objectives: The current study examines whether head injuries suffered earlier in the life course are associated with subsequent changes in self-control and delinquency. Methods: Latent growth curve models and path analysis are used to analyze the developmental trajectories of self-control and delinquency as well as the potential associations between head injury, self-control, and delinquency among a sample of youth offenders from the pathways to desistance study. Results: The results revealed significant associations between head injuries and short-term changes in self-control and subsequent increases in aggressive delinquency. Indirect pathway models revealed that lower levels of self-control significantly mediated the association between head injuries and starting levels in aggressive delinquency. The association between head injuries and changes in aggressive delinquency was also significantly mediated by self-control, but the association was negative, indicating that youth who previously suffered head injuries desisted from aggressive delinquency at a slightly faster rate than their noninjured peers. Additional analyses revealed that, despite accelerated rates of decline, injured youth engaged in significantly higher levels of aggressive delinquency throughout the entire observation period. Conclusion: Head injuries represent one environmental factor that may influence delinquent behaviors through their influence on biological and developmental processes.


This study investigated how different combinations of xanthan gum and rice affect blood sugar levels after rice consumption. The addition of ≥1.0% xanthan gum during rice cooking (XGP-added groups) suppressed blood sugar levels 15 and 30 min after rice consumption. The glycemic index (GI) was significantly lower in all XGPadded groups than in the standard rice group. In all groups where xanthan gum sol was mixed with the cooked rice (XGS-mixed groups), blood sugar levels at 15 _ 60 min were significantly lower and GI was lower than those in the standard rice group. Suppression of blood sugar levels by xanthan gum sol was more effective when consumed concurrently with rice than when consumed before or after consumption. The above findings revealed that blood sugar levels after rice consumption are suppressed most effectively when the rice is coated in xanthan gum sol.


The wear behaviour of a series of chromium containing white irons has been investigated under conditions of high stress grinding abrasion using a specimen on track abrasion testing machine. The measured abrasion resistance of the irons has been explained in terms of microstructure and hardness and with respect to the wear damage observed at and beneath abraded surfaces. During abrasion material removal occurred by cracking and detachment from the matrix of eutectic carbides as well as by penetration and micromachining effects of the abrasive grits being crushed at the wearing surface. Under the particular test conditions used martensitic matrix structures gave higher resistance to abrasion than austenitic or pearlitic. However, no simple relationship was found between general hardness or matrix microhardness at wear surfaces and abrasion resistance, and the test yielded pessimistic results for austenitic irons. The fine structures of the 15% Cr and 30% Cr alloys were studied by thin foil transmission electron microscopy. It was found that both the matrix and carbide constituents could be thinned for examination at 100 Kv using conventional dishing followed by ion beam thinning. Flany of the rodlike eutectic N7C3 carbides were seen to consist of clusters of scalier rods with individual 117C3 crystals quite often containing central cores of matrix constituent. 3oth eutectic and secondary N7C3 carbides were found to contain stacking faults on planes normal to the basal plane. In the eutectic carbides in the 30A Cr iron there was evidence of an in-situ PI7C3 C. transition which had taken place during the hardening heat treatment of this alloy. In the as-cast austenitic matrix iron strain induced martensite was produced at the wear surface contributing to work hardening. The significance of these findings have been discussed in relation to wear performance.


Tilted Ring Fitting Code (TiRiFiC) is a prototype computer program to construct simulated (high-resolution) astronomical spectroscopic 3d-observations (data cubes) of simple kinematical and morphological models of rotating (galactic) disks. It is possible to automatically optimize the parameterizations of constructed model disks to fit spectroscopic (3d-) observations via a χ2 minimization. TiRiFiC is currently implemented as an add-on to the Groningen Image Processing System (GIPSY) software package and attempts to provide a method to automatically fit an extended tilted-ring model directly to a data cube.


Background Previous studies have assessed family quality of life in individual disease areas and specialties. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of disease on family members of patients over a wide range of specialties and identify key impact areas. This information is essential in order to reveal the extent of this impact and to allow strategies to be developed to support the family members of patients with chronic disease. Methods Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 133 family members of mostly chronically ill patients from 26 medical specialties. Family members were invited to discuss all areas of their lives that had been affected by having an unwell relative. Thematic analysis was carried out using NVivo9® software. Results Most family members were female (61%), the partner or spouse of the patient (56%), or the parent (22%). Their mean age was 56.1 years (range: 21–85 years) and the mean duration of the patient's disease was 8.9 years (range: 1 month to 60 years). Ten key themes of family quality of life were identified from interviews. The median number of themes reported by family members was six (range: 1–10). The key themes included: emotional impact (mentioned by 92% of subjects), daily activities (91%), family relationships (69%), sleep and health (67%), holidays (62%), involvement in medical care and support given to family members (61%), work and study (52%), financial impact (51%), social life (37%), and time planning (14%). Relationships between the themes were identified. Conclusion This large scale multi-specialty study has demonstrated the significant, yet similar, impact that illness can have on the quality of life of patients' family members. Family quality of life is a previously neglected area of health care which needs to be addressed in order to provide appropriate support for the patient and the family unit.


The freezing process of keropok lekor (original fish sausage) has been studied
experimentally and by numerical simulation of unsteady heat transfer the viability of
using combined freezing process (called cryomechanical freezing), consisting of a two
consecutive processes, an mime cryogenic freezer (using liquid N2 (LN)) followed by a
continuous mechanical freezer as a preservation method was investigated The core
temperature history of keropok lekor Immersed into cryogenic liquids or placed in the
air-blast freezer was monitered till it reached -20°C The total time taken was 16
minutes for cryomechanical freezing and 21 minutes for mechanical freezing, which is
calIed the freezing time The changes m sensory parameters (color, flavor, texture and
overall accepatability) of keropok lekor as a result of cryomechanical freezing were also
evaluated Keropok lekor made by the mechanization method With 21 ratio of fish meat
to flour was used and were in cylindrical or spherical form The product was first
submerged for 30s m LN2 and then immediately transferred to the air blast freezer for further freezing until the core temperature reached -20°C.


Purity, Sacrifice, and the Temple: Symbolism and Supersessionism in the Study of Ancient Judaism, by Jonathan Klawans. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. 372 pp. $74.00. This thorough and stimulating survey of purity, sacrifice, and the Temple follows upon the author's highly acclaimed Impurity and Sin (Oxford University Press, 2000), and it maintains the same high standard of style, comprehensiveness, methodological rigor, and originality. In his introduction (p. 3), Klawans states that "the thesis of this book is the claim that scholarly understandings of Jewish cultic matters have been unduly influenced by various contemporary biases, religious and cultural." Klawans sets out to correct this "undue influence" and with his trademark historiographical acumen proceeds to survey and critique academic interpretations of "purity and sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible" (part I) and of "ancient Jewish views of the temple cult in Jerusalem" (Part II). In part I, Klawans contrasts the sophistication of biblical scholarship on purity with that on sacrifice, particularly in regard to acknowledgment of symbolism. The title and sub-titles of the book indicate his proposed corrective for this error, which is (1) to treat purity and sacrifice as inter-related phenomena, as does the Hebrew Bible itself and (2) to introduce the significance of symbolism as a means to understanding biblical sacrifice. In this manner, Klawans aims to divert an entrenched academic tendency to denigrate biblical sacrifice and to initiate an alternative trend that aims to explain sacrifice on its own terms. He demonstrates conclusively that prevalent evolutionist debates over theoretical origins of sacrifice have obstructed and overshadowed the search for the meaning of the practice in its biblical context. Following his review of theoretical approaches to sacrifice in chapter 1, Klawans addresses the rituals themselves in chapter 2. His model places two key "organizing principles" at the center of the sacrificial system, the symbolic value of Imitatio Dei and the functional concern for "attracting and maintaining the Divine presence" in the sanctuary. These innovative suggestions are well-argued, but they are rather preliminary. I suspect that the author, as well as this reviewer, awaits interaction from other scholars so that this model can be further developed and modified. In chapter 3, Klawans discusses prophetic critiques of the Temple and cult. He argues effectively that prophetic objections to improper cultic activity should not be equated with rejection of sacrifice. This chapter prepares the reader to recognize how these texts were later used to fuel an anti-sacrificial bias that is not found in the texts themselves. In part II, Klawans surveys attitudes to purity, sacrifice, and Temple in key post-biblical corpora. This part of the book begins in chapter 4 with a general discussion of these concepts in ancient Judaism, continuing the integrated treatment of purity and sacrifice from part I, and interweaving the Temple into this analysis. Specifically, Klawans addresses ancient Jewish descriptions of the Temple as a "representation of the cosmos" or an earthly analog of a "heavenly Temple." He argues that these beliefs do not reflect negative assessments of the Temple, as others have claimed (positing "desacralization of the Temple" or "spiritualization of the cult"), but are rather extensions of the earlier symbolisms that he posited with respect to sacrifice in the Bible: Imitatio Dei and the attraction of the Divine presence. Chapter 5 explores criticism and rejection of the Temple in the Dead Sea Scrolls, arguing that the Community opposed the Jerusalem establishment, but maintained a belief in the value of the Temple cult itself, and anticipated the restoration of proper service. …


pieces were demolishing castle walls with projectiles the weight of an upright piano. The trebuchet, invented in China between the Þfth and third centuries B.C.E., reached the Mediterranean by the sixth century C.E. It displaced other forms of artillery and held its own until well after the coming of gunpowder. The trebuchet was instrumental in the rapid expansion of both the Islamic and the Mongol empires. It also played a part in the transmission of the Black Death, the epidemic of plague that swept Eurasia and North Africa during the 14th century. Along the way it seems to have inßuenced both the development of clockwork and theoretical analyses of motion. The trebuchet succeeded the catapult, which in turn was a mechanization of the bow [see ÒAncient Catapults,Ó by Werner Soedel and Vernard Foley; SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, March 1979]. Catapults drew their energy from the elastic deformation of twisted ropes or sinews, whereas trebuchets relied on gravity or direct human power, which proved vastly more eÝective. The average catapult launched a missile weighing between 13 and 18 kiloThe Trebuchet


In this paper, we describe area and power reduction techniques for a low-latency adaptive finite-impulse response filter for magnetic recording read channel applications. Various techniques are used to reduce area and power dissipation while speed remains as the main performance criterion for the target application. A parallel transposed direct form architecture operates on real-time input data samples and employs a fast, low-area multiplier based on selection of radix-8 pre-multiplied coefficients in conjunction with one-hot encoded bus leading to a very compact layout and reduced power dissipation. Area, speed and power comparisons with other low-power implementation options are also shown. The proposed filter has been fabricated using a 0.18 /spl mu/m L-effective CMOS technology and operates at 550 MSamples/s.


Reverberation is an effect caused by echoes from objects when an audio wave travels from an audio source to a listener. This channel effect can be modeled by a finite impulse response lter which is called a room impulse response (RIR) in case of speech recordings in a room. Reverberation especially with a long filter causes high degradation in recorded speech signals and may affect applications such as Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), hands-free teleconferencing and many others significantly. It may even cause ASR performance to decrease even in a system trained using a database with reverberated speech. If the reverberation environment is known, the echoes can be removed using simple methods. However, in most of the cases, it is unknown and the process needs to be done blind, without knowing the reverberation environment. In the literature, this problem is called the blind dereverberation problem. Although, there are several methods proposed to solve the blind dereverberation problem, due to the difficulty caused by not knowing the signal and the filter, the echoes are hard to remove completely from speech signals. This thesis aims to compare some of these existing methods such as Laplacian based weighted prediction error (L-WPE), Gaussian weighted prediction error (G-WPE), NMF based temporal spectral modeling (NMF+N-CTF), delayed linear prediction (DLP) and proposes a new method that we call sparsity penalized weighted least squares (SPWLS). In our experiments, we obtained the best results with L-WPE followed by G-WPE methods, whereas the new SPWLS method initialized with G-WPE method obtained slightly better signal-to-noise ratio and perceptual quality values when the room impulse responses are long.


The structure of liquid water at ambient conditions is studied in ab initio molecular dynamics simulations in the NVE ensemble using van der Waals (vdW) density-functional theory, i.e., using the new exchange-correlation functionals optPBE-vdW and vdW-DF2, where the latter has softer nonlocal correlation terms. Inclusion of the more isotropic vdW interactions counteracts highly directional hydrogen bonds, which are enhanced by standard functionals. This brings about a softening of the microscopic structure of water, as seen from the broadening of angular distribution functions and, in particular, from the much lower and broader first peak in the oxygen-oxygen pair-correlation function (PCF) and loss of structure in the outer hydration shells. Inclusion of vdW interactions is shown to shift the balance of resulting structures from open tetrahedral to more close-packed. The resulting O-O PCF shows some resemblance with experiment for high-density water (Soper, A. K. and Ricci, M. A. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2000, 84, 2881), but not directly with experiment for ambient water. Considering the accuracy of the new functionals for interaction energies, we investigate whether the simulation protocol could cause the deviation. An O-O PCF consisting of a linear combination of 70% from vdW-DF2 and 30% from low-density liquid water, as extrapolated from experiments, reproduces near-quantitatively the experimental O-O PCF for ambient water. This suggests the possibility that the new functionals may be reliable and that instead larger-scale simulations in the NPT ensemble, where the density is allowed to fluctuate in accordance with proposals for supercooled water, could resolve the apparent discrepancy with the measured PCF.


This thesis describes the design and modification of existing biomaterials to assist neural regeneration in the damaged adult brain. A novel aspect of this work is the targeting of implants towards the subventricular zone (SVZ), a stem cell niche within the adult mammalian brain, enabling the use of endogenous neural precursor cells (NPCs) as a source of cell replacement. Implant performance was assessed in terms of the inflammatory response elicited upon implantation, and the ability to re-direct the migration and support the survival of NPCs in and around the implant. The utility of an injectable form of a gelatin-based hydrogel (Gtn-HPA) for implantation into the brain was assessed. An investigation of the in vivo biocompatibility of this material within the caudate putamen of adult rats over 60 days revealed an astrocyte response that was typical of a stab wound injury incurred during implantation. Reactive astrogliosis in the surrounding tissue reached a maximum after 7 days, which coincided with the formation of a glial scar surrounding the implant. Thereafter, reactive astrogliosis became localized at the tissue-implant interface with the consolidation of the glial scar. The gelatin hydrogel degraded relatively slowly, with some material remaining at 60 days. Although Gtn-HPA hydrogels did not exacerbate the astrogliosis typically associated with surgical trauma, the presence of a glial scar can act as a barrier to tissue-implant integration. In order to modulate the astrocyte response, porosity was introduced into the Gtn-HPA hydrogels (pGtn) by the addition of a second polymer component. These hydrogels were implanted towards the SVZ as a means of attracting endogenous neuroblasts towards the implant. In order to promote the survival of neuroblasts that have been re-directed to the implant, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) was incorporated into the hydrogel. The presence of porosity and/or GDNF within the hydrogel effectively attenuated reactive astrogliosis, and prevented glial scar formation at both 7 and 21 days post implantation (dpi). Some neuroblasts were diverted away from their natural migratory pathway and were present at the boundary of all Gtn-based implants at 7 dpi, but not in lesion only animals. However, no neuroblasts were present at the implant boundary at 21 dpi, indicating that additional signaling is required to maintain neuroblasts at the implant site. Electrospun PCL scaffolds have already been shown to be biocompatible in the brain and can support infiltration of parenchymal neurites and exogenous neural progenitors. Therefore, the ability of PCL scaffolds with partially aligned nanofibers to support endogenous neuroblasts was investigated. A synthetic, small molecule non-peptide ligand has been reported to mimic the trophic effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This BDNF-mimetic was incorporated into electrospun PCL scaffolds (PCL+mB) as a means of enhancing neuroblast migration towards the implant and potentially improving neuroblast survival. Neuroblasts were able to infiltrate both PCL and PCL+mB implants at 8 dpi, but were only present in PCL+mB scaffolds at 21 dpi. In vitro release studies showed that only negligible amounts of the BDNF-mimetic were released from the scaffolds after 14 days, which would indicate that BDNF-mimetic was not directly responsible for the persistence of neuroblasts at 21 dpi. There was a significant reduction in the amount of astrocyte infiltration into PCL+mB scaffolds, suggesting that the maintenance of neuroblasts up to 21 dpi may be mediated by a modulated glial response. The ability of implanted PCL+mB scaffolds to support robust endogenous neuroblast infiltration up to 21 dpi is highly significant for neural regeneration. However, the ability to control the behavior of infiltrated cells will require the presentation of biological cues in a more sophisticated manner, for example, in the form of an immobilized gradient to guide neurite outgrowth and/or cell migration via chemotaxis. The final study was an examination of the ability to co-opt existing inkjet printing technology to deposit biomolecular gradients onto solid-state porous substrates such as electrospun PCL scaffolds. Although commercially available desktop inkjet printers can be modified for printing biomolecules, it suffered from poor process reliability and printed gradients were often highly pixelated. Therefore, a laboratory-scale, piezoelectric-driven, fluid deposition system (Dimatix Materials Printer, DMP) was employed to deposit biomolecular gradients onto electrospun scaffolds. The DMP offered user control over jetting parameters, which allowed bio-inks to be more reliably printed. This system also enabled user-control over the positioning of individual droplets. The generation of a continuous biomolecular gradient also depended on adequate ink-substrate interactions. This interaction was optimized by subjecting scaffolds to air plasma treatment, to increase surface hydrophilicity and improved the ability of printed bio-ink to penetrate and spread into the scaffold, creating more continuous features. The use of increasing number of overprints was used as to further increase feature continuity through increased bio-ink surface coverage, as well as reliably control the amount of biomolecules deposited. The application of these strategies enabled the successful deposition of a continuous gradient of poly-L-lysine onto electrospun PCL scaffolds.


Without a doubt the Harry Potter series has had a powerful effect on the Millennial Generation. Millions of children grew up immersed in the world of the boy wizard-reading the books, dressing up in costume to attend midnight book release parties, watching the movies, and even creating and competing in Quidditch tournaments. Beyond what we know of the popularity of the series, however, nothing has been published on the question of the Harry Potter effect on the politics of its young readers - now voting adults. Looking to engage his students in exploring the connections between political opinion and popular culture, Anthony Gierzynski conducted a national survey of more than 1,100 college students and examined these connections as well as Millennial politics. Harry Potter and the Millennials tells the fascinating story of how the team designed the study and gathered results, explains what conclusions can and cannot be drawn, and reveals the challenges social scientists face in studying political science, sociology, and mass communication. Specifically, the evidence indicates that Harry Potter fans are more open to diversity and are more politically tolerant than nonfans; fans are also less authoritarian, less likely to support the use of deadly force or torture, more politically active, and more likely to have had a negative view of the Bush administration. Furthermore, these differences do not disappear when controlling for other important predictors of these perspectives, lending support to the argument that the series indeed had an independent effect on its audience. In this clear and cogent account, Gierzynski demonstrates how social scientists develop and design research questions and studies. An appendix of questions and resulting data, including graphs and diagrams, will appeal especially to instructors seeking to explain the nuances of political socialization. Gierzynski's captivating analysis of media's impact on political views, combined with the enjoyable Potter story details, makes for an irresistible project that social scientists can use to work a little magic in their classrooms.


High-bandwidth poly (methyl methacrylate) PMMA base graded-index polymer optical fiber (GI POF) with high thermal stability is proposed. No distortion of bandwidth was observed even after more than 10000 hours aging at 85/spl deg/C by selecting the large sized aromatic dopant which has a stable secondary interaction with PMMA matrix and maintains the high glass transition temperature (Tg) of the core of GI POF. The relationship between the heat-drawing condition from the GI preform to the fiber and the thermal stability in the attenuation was investigated. It was clarified that the length shrinkage of the fiber during the aging at high temperature caused large attenuation increase. On the other hand, the degree of shrinkage could be tightly controlled by changing the heat-drawing tension. It was confirmed that the GI POF drawn with optimized heat-drawing tension had no shrinkage of the fiber during aging at 70/spl deg/C and no attenuation increase was observed.


This article deals with the question of enunciation and corpus linguistics in the perspective of the linguistic theory of common sense (Topics pragmatics). According to the later, a discourse have to be understood in connection with a specific social practice. In that view, each kind of discourse has its own dynamics that includes a "canon", a "vulgate" and a "doxa". This conception of discourse renews the concept of "corpus", since it shows that corpus linguistics have to take into account those three levels of dynamic structuration. This paper is an attempt to demonstrates the relevance of this pragmatics conception: it takes as an example the caracterization of the "cartesian corpus".


The sentiment that the euro is now in real danger is based in large part on the widespread conviction that interest rates of 6-7% are simply unsustainable for both Italy and Spain., After taking a closer look at the fundamentals, however, Daniel Gros concludes in this new Policy Brief that both countries should be able to live with this level of interest rates for quite some time, but only if they mobilize domestic savings, which remain strong in both countries. For Spain, some debt/equity swaps are also needed.


Introduction Information in the modern context is considered as a strategic resource parallel in importance to land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship - the traditional economic resources which are vital inputs for national development at all levels. Without information, the very functioning of society would come to a standstill. One institution which plays a vital role in the collection, processing, storage and dissemination of information is the library. Libraries of all types serve as information providers and aim at satisfying the information needs of their clientele. In the present era new information technologies are used to perform library functions. The librarian of today is seen as an information resource provider, a resource centre manager, a human gateway to electronic resources, and a walking encyclopedia of quick reference sources (Asamoah-Hassan, 2003). This transformation is due to the fact that the librarian is able to use sophisticated gadgets; he/she operates in a modern era where libraries are not limited by walls; and where, with the touch of a mouse, he/she can access necessary information from anywhere in the world. Adeya (2002) in a United Nations Economic Commission (ECA) report, states that ICTs cover Internet service provision, telecommunications equipment and services, information technology equipment and services, media and broadcasting, libraries and documentation centres, commercial information providers, network-based information services, and other related information and communication activities. He simplified the definition by describing ICT as an 'electronic means of capturing, processing, storing and disseminating information'. Alemna and Sam (2006) quoting Bartlett (2002), state that 'ICT refers to systems for producing, storing, sending and retrieving digital files'. ICT can thus be described as a diverse set of technological tools and resources used for creating, storing, managing and communicating information electronically. Generally, ICT is a tool that any sector can use to deliver its services. The ICT revolution has turned the whole planet into a 'Global Village' where communication among people has become independent of physical distance and time. ICTs, especially the Internet in which they all converge as a huge network, are transforming all human activities that depend on information, including library services. In this digital era therefore, the most appropriate technology used by libraries to enhance information provision is ICT. In the library set-up, ICT has brought about considerable improvement in information provision. It has become cheaper to digitally store, process and access large amounts of information at greater speed. ICT has controlled the information explosion 'bomb' to such an extent that it is now possible to obtain information from any library anywhere in the world regardless of the geographical position of the user and the library. There is no need for any library to attempt to acquire all publications. This is because, with suitable computer software, telecommunication equipment, memory facilities and input-output devices, a researcher in a remote outpost of civilization would be able to search the comprehensive electronic databases in the advanced developed economies, and be able to obtain needed information in electronic or hard copy format (Effah, 2002). ICT facilities and services available in libraries include computers, access to the Internet and its resources, Local Area Networks (LANs), Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) databases, online databases, Online Public Access Catalogues (OPACs), fax machines, photocopiers, Inter Library Lending and Document Delivery (ILL/DD) services, computer laboratories, scanners, printers, micro-fiche readers and telephones, among many others. Purpose of Study This study examined the impact of ICT on information provision in six selected institutes of CSIR. …


Emigrating from Scotland as an eleven-year-old in 1849, John Muir spent a harsh boyhood working on his family's farm in Wisconsin. After a factory accident in his early twenties left him temporarily blind, Muir left behind what he saw as the degradations of cities and farms and set out for unspoiled territory. And the rest, as they say, is ecological and conservation history.The untouched lands of the Sierra Nevada, which he christened the "Range of Light", became Muir's lifelong passion. As the nation's most revered spokesman for the wilderness and a founder of the Sierra Club, Muir made immeasurable contributions to the beauty and preservation of our continent. And this exquisite book captures as never before the extraordinary nature of his life. Prize-winning photographer Lynn Johnson brings the matchless vitality of this bearded warrior to thrilling life. The visual odyssey is further enriched by reproductions of Muir's own drawings as well as the rarely seen and recently rediscovered images of Carleton Watkins. Showcasing its legendary subject's own rhapsodic writings, John Muir: Nature's Visionary bears powerful witness to Muir's enduring contributions to the American landscape.


An efficient procedure for the lipase-catalyzed esterification of starch has been established in a solvent-free medium. Corn starch was used as the acyl acceptor and oleic acid was used as the acyl donor. In order to improve the reactivity of native starch (NS), it was pretreated with NaOH/Urea hybrid solution at cool temperature below -10 °C. The esterification of starchwas carried out at different initial aw, temperatures for different times. The amount of lipase and the ratio of starch to oleic acid also had been studied. The maximum degree of substitution of starch oleate 0.229 was obtained by the presented method. The NS, pretreatment starch (PS) and starch oleate (SO) were analyzed bymeans of SEMtechniques, FT-IR and 1HNMR.


Abstract Insect carrion communities vary among habitats and over time. Concerning the dipteran early colonizers of carrion, the use of small bait traps should be accurate because the odors emitted from meat baits should contain many of the volatile organic compounds emitted from the freshly dead mammals. In addition, this kind of trap is easy to replicate and set in position in a given habitat. In the present study, small bait preferences of early Diptera carrion colonizers were examined in an urban biotope. Specifically, three baits were compared (pork muscle, pork liver, and fish flavored cat food) in respect to the number of specimens and species captured and the presence or absence of oviposition at high and low environmental temperatures. A total of 2371 specimens were trapped, primarily belonging to three insect orders, Diptera, Coleoptera, and Hymenoptera. Diptera was the predominant order, with blowflies (Calliphoridae) being the most representative family, followed by filth flies (Muscidae). The pork muscle bait was responsible for the highest number of captures and the highest diversity. The community of Diptera collected with the most efficient bait, pork muscle, was compared with the carrion communities reported in the literature from the Iberian Peninsula. Similar taxonomic species composition was found regarding Calliphoridae species. A specimen from all species morphologically identified were also identified at a molecular level using the cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) barcode region, and the sequences were submitted to online databases.


AISI D6 is a high-carbon high-chromium cold-work tool steel. It has excellent resistance to wear and abrasion, high compressive strength, and good edge holding quality and dimensional stability. These properties make it an ideal choice for use as a tool for blanking, punching, cropping, shearing, trimming and clipping. One of its most promising and important applications is in the form of conical mandrel for expansion of steel tubulars used in oil and gas exploration. Solid Expandable Tubular (SET) technology is being successfully employed for various downhole applications such as slimming of oil and gas wells, and isolation of water-producing zones. The mandrel, made from a special material (generally D6 steel), is hydraulically pushed (or mechanically pulled) through a steel tubular. This cold work expands the tubular beyond its elastic region, causing permanent deformation. To withstand the high level of repeated thermo-mechanical stresses, cone material must have certain specific properties. The work reported in this paper covers heat treatment and mechanical testing of tensile and impact specimens of D6 tool steel. The heat treatment process consists of annealing, hardening/austenitizing, air or oil quenching, and single or double tempering. Mechanical testing includes hardness, tensile properties (elastic modulus, yield strength, ultimate strength, and ductility), and impact strength. Analysis of the test results leads to the identification of an optimal heat treatment sequence for D6 steel that would yield the best combination of desired properties for the expansion mandrel. Optimum material properties would ensure dimensional accuracy of the expanded tubulars and a longer mandrel life.


Portfolio traders may split large orders into smaller orders scheduled over time to reduce price impact. Since handling many orders is cumbersome, these smaller orders are often traded in an automated ("algorithmic") manner. We propose metrics using these orders to help measure various trading-related skills with low noise. Managers may use these metrics to assess how separate parts of the trading process contribute execution, market timing, and order scheduling skills versus luck. These metrics could save 4 basis points in cost per trade yielding a 15% reduction in expenses and saving $7.3 billion annually for USdomiciled equity mutual funds alone. The metrics also allow recovery of parameters for a price impact model with lasting and ephemeral effects. Some metrics may help evaluate external intermediaries, test for possible front-running, and indicate sloppy or overly passive trading. JEL: G12, G14, G23, G24


This report synthesizes knowledge derived from our literature review and consultation with other researchers and practitioners about factors that may affect a community's ability to organize, mobilize, and build capacity to serve as an active partner with criminal justice agencies. Time and time again, evaluations of crime prevention and intervention programs have concluded with the same lessons learned: community organizations need to be able to leverage outside resources, collaboration among organizations is key to program success, and lead agencies must recognize and articulate the community's needs and be able to act cohesively for the good of the community. This report seeks to go beyond lessons learned and begin to break down the components of capacity for effective partnerships in community justice initiatives.


Cell-cell contacts in multicellular organisms are intricately regulated, and their stability is partly controlled by protein kinases and phosphatases that tune the level of tyrosine phosphorylation. Type II B receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) have both adhesive and catalytic properties. Aricescu et al. determined the crystal structure of the full-length extracellular region of an RPTP, which forms a homophilic trans dimer that is rigid and has dimensions that match the intercellular distance at cadherin-mediated junctions. The trans interaction may act as a spacer clamp that localizes phosphatase activity near its target substrates. A. R. Aricescu, C. Siebold, K. Choudhuri, V. T. Chang, W. Lu, S. J. Davis, P. A. van der Merwe, E. Y. Jones, Structure of a tyrosine phosphatase adhesive interaction reveals a spacer-clamp mechanism. Science 317, 1217-1220 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Most existing studies on the fertility transition focus either on macro-level trends or on micro-level patterns with limited geographic scope. Much less attention has been given to the interplay between individual characteristics and contextual conditions, including geographic location. This paper contributes to closing this research gap. We investigate the relevance of geography and socioeconomic status (SES) for understanding fertility variation in the initial phase of the fertility decline in Sweden. Spatially-sensitive multi-level analyses are applied to study fertility trends by SES and parish, using full-count individual-level census data for 1880, 1890, and 1900. Our results show that the elite not only constituted the vanguard group in the fertility decline, but that the shift in fertility behavior occurred quickly among this social class in virtually all parts of Sweden. Other social classes experienced the decline with some delay in both central and peripheral areas, and their patterns of decline were more clustered in and around the early centers of the decline compared to the pattern of the elite. Long-distance migrants, who were disproportionately represented among the elite and who initially had higher fertility, were among the pioneers in the process. This suggests that factors such as social connectedness through space and local social embeddedness were important in determining the early adoption of changes in fertility behavior. Our results confirm the view that social status and social class boundaries were of considerable relevance in structuring the fertility transition. The importance of space for understanding variation in the fertility decline seems to be negatively correlated with social status, with the pattern of decline among the elite showing the lowest degree of spatial variation.


The educational achievements of South Asians have been shaped by economic, social and political developments in the post war history of British race relations. Social class background of individual students and the school effect have been shown to be the major determinants of achievement but the precise characteristics of differences at the ethnic minority sub-group level have remained uncharted. In addition, past research has primarily relied on large-scale quantitative methods to develop comparative knowledge of South Asian educational performance.
This research is an attempt to understand wider variations of difference in the educational achievement of South Asians. The research is unique as it explores differences between Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani groups, additionally distinguished along lines of social class, ethnicity and gender. Six schools, three of which were selective and three comprehensive, and three further education colleges, were used to obtain samples of South Asian pupils and students. The methods used in this study were principally qualitative. Face-to-face in-depth interviews with school pupils, parents and teachers accounted for the main part of the empirical research, which was also supplemented by a survey of college students and a survey of teachers.
The research explored the achievements, aspirations and motivations of pupils, students and parents to analyse educational life histories, interpreting and evaluating differences between South Asian groups by social class, ethnicity and gender, as well as religion and culture. Teachers were interviewed and surveyed in order to determine their perceptions of and actions in relation to South Asians in education. Altogether, 137 respondents (89 school pupils, 25 parents and 23 teachers) were interviewed by the researcher and 176 respondents (109 college students and 67 teachers) participated in the two postal surveys (313 altogether). Questions asked were about secondary school entry, 13-plus subject choices, GCSE and A level achievements, and potential higher education entry. It was found that all South Asians that entered `effective' schools performed competently.
Furthermore, the factors which led to the positive educational outcomes for Indian (Hindu and Sikh) groups were oppositional to those which led to the educational underachievement of South Asian Muslim groups and, here, rather more Pakistanis than Bangladeshis. The educational success of Indian groups was attributable to educational norms and values relative to social class. The educational experiences of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis were problematic, largely because of factors in their lives outside of school: such as the limited education and occupational levels of parents, parents' inadequate understanding of the education, and insufficient use of English within the home. Teachers interviewed from the sampled schools and colleges were inclined to advocate positive approaches for managing issues relating to South Asians in education.
In conclusion, therefore, it is argued that the educational achievements of South Asians in schools and colleges in Birmingham are closely related to social class background and the school effect. Factors associated with religion and culture are more likely to affect South Asian Muslims. The increasingly competitive nature of the education system has led to a divergence between South Asian groups: with Hindu and Sikh Indians (including some East African Asians) firmly established as educational `successes' and Pakistani and Bangladeshi South Asian Muslims, in contrast, routinely considered as educational `failures'.


Abstract A detailed morphometric approach applied to the diversity (interspecific variation)/disparity (intraspecific range of variation) was developed. It was based on outline analysis, and it was applied to 41 cross sections of Kosmoceras from the Upper Callovian of eastern France (Prusly). The cross sections represent an excellent basis for evaluation of the global shape of the shell: the main morphologic descriptors include the proportion of umbilical diameter/conch diameter and the thickness of the whorl; they also indirectly describe the ornament that influences the aspect of the whorl section. This analysis was conducted to quantify the size and shape variations and to determine the relations among some of the 'morphological species' defined by Tintant: K. bizeti, K. fibuliferum, K. phaienum? and K. interpositum? Numerous analyzed individuals may not belong to these categories. The results suggest that despite a wide range of variability four main morphotypes can be ascribed a probable taxonomic status, whose mean representatives can be properly assigned to Tintant's four 'species.' Moreover, three of them could constitute a morphological series, continuously related through ontogeny. The fourth (K. interpositum) may be an independent species, rarely recovered in the studied area.


This paper contributes to understanding the physical and economic effects of salinity diffusion and planning for appropriate adaptation for managing the Sundarbans in a changing climate, with a focus on the West Bengal portion of the tidal-wetland forest delta. A five-step analysis, using high-resolution spatial assessments, was conducted to get a broader picture of the migration of mangrove species with progressive aquatic salinization in a changing climate. A current (2015) basemap, with overlays of salinity tolerance for various mangrove species, and projected location-specific aquatic salinity for 2050 were used to predict the impacts of salinization on mangrove species by 2050. The results indicate patterns of gains and losses, with dominance of salt-tolerant species at the expense of freshwater species. Overall, the impact of salinity-induced mangrove migration will have an adverse effect on the flow of ecosystem services, ultimately impacting the livelihood options of poor households. Resources should be directed to developing alternative livelihoods for mangrove-dependent households. In addition, efforts are needed to develop sustainable policies that incorporate rising salinity, changes in mangrove dynamics, and the welfare impacts on poor communities.


We developed a photochemical method for the simultaneous reduction and doping of graphene oxide (GO) layers through ultraviolet laser irradiation in the presence of a dopant precursor gas. It is shown that a few seconds of irradiation is sufficient to dope the GO lattice, while the doping and reduction levels can be readily controlled upon variation of the irradiation time. Using this method, the simultaneous reduction and doping of GO with chlorine or nitrogen atoms is achieved and confirmed by Raman, FTIR and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopy measurements. To demonstrate the potential of the approach for practical applications, the photochemical method was successfully employed for the in situ laser induced modification of prefabricated GO field effect transistors. Real time monitoring of the evolution of charge transport as a function of irradiation time reveals significant changes, a result attributed to the chemical modification of the GO lattice. The facile, rapid and room temperature nature of the photo-induced method proposed here provides unique opportunities for the cost-effective synthesis of bulk amounts of chemically modified GO for a wide range of applications spanning from transistors and sensors to transparent electrodes for lighting and photovoltaic cells.


In a magnetized plasma, naturally occurring pressure anisotropies facilitate instabilities that are expected to modify the transport properties of the system. In this thesis we examine two such instabilities and, where appropriate, their effects on transport. First we consider the collisional (fluid) magnetized magnetorotational instability (MRI) in the presence of the Braginskii viscosity. We conduct a global linear analysis of the instability in a galactic rotation profile for three magnetic field configurations: purely azimuthal, purely vertical and slightly pitched. Our analysis, numerical and asymptotic, shows that the first two represent singular configurations where the Braginskii viscosity's primary role is dissipative and the maximum growth rate is proportional to the Reynolds number when this is small. For a weak pitched field, the Braginskii viscosity is destabilising and when its effects dominate over the Lorentz force, the growth rate of the MRI can be up to 2 √ 2 times faster than the inviscid limit. If the field is strong, an over-stability develops and both the real and imaginary parts of the frequency increase with the coefficient of the viscosity. Second, in the context of the ICM of galaxy clusters, we consider the pressureanisotropy-driven firehose instability. The linear instability is fast (∼ ion cyclotron period) and small-scale (ion Larmor radius ρi) and so fluid theory is inapplicable. We determine its nonlinear evolution in an ab initio kinetic calculation (for parallel gradients only). We use a particular physical asymptotic ordering to derive a closed nonlinear equation for the firehose turbulence, which we solve. We find secular (∝ t) growth of magnetic fluctuations and a k−3 ‖ spectrum, starting at scales & ρi. When a parallel ion heat flux is present, the parallel firehose instability mutates into the new gyrothermal instability. Its nonlinear evolution also involves secular magnetic energy growth, but its spectrum is eventually dominated by modes with a maximal scale ∼ ρilT/λmfp, (lT is the parallel temperature gradient scale). Throughout we discuss implications for modelling, transport and other areas of magnetized plasma physics.


The aim of the present study was to characterize surgery-induced changes in distribution and immune function of ab and gd T cells. Presented data shows distinct changes in distribution pattern of both T cell populations after partial gastrectomy. There was significant decrease in percentage of ab T cells in mesenteric lymph nodes, Peyer's patches and peripheral blood on the third day after partial gastrectomy. At the same time there were no significant changes in distribution of ab T cells in peripheral lymph nodes and in the spleen. In contrast the percentage of gd T cells in mesenteric lymph nodes, Peyer's patches and peripheral lymph nodes was significantly increased on day 3. Simultaneously the percentage of gd T cells in peripheral blood was decreased, whereas no changes were observed in the spleen. The gastrectomy-induced changes in distribution of both T cells populations were most pronounced at day 3 after the surgery, whereas they disappeared almost completely on day 7. Laparotomy alone (sham operation) had no or a little effect on T cell numbers in all tested lymph organs. Hence the severity of the trauma may be of great importance. The data obtained from in vitro experiments showed suppressor activity of gd T lymphocytes isolated from MLN of gastrectomized mice. The gastrectomy-induced regulatory gd T cells suppressed proliferation of T effector lymphocytes in vitro via released TGF-b. The regulatory T cells were not induced in mesenteric lymph nodes of sham-operated mice.


We analyze the equilibrium properties of a weakly interacting, trapped quasi-one-dimensional Bose gas at finite temperatures and compare different theoretical approaches. We focus in particular on two stochastic theories: a number-conserving Bogoliubov (NCB) approach and a stochastic Gross-Pitaevskii equation (SGPE) that have been extensively used in numerical simulations. Equilibrium properties like density profiles, correlation functions, and the condensate statistics are compared to predictions based upon a number of alternative theories. We find that due to thermal phase fluctuations, and the corresponding condensate depletion, the NCB approach loses its validity at relatively low temperatures. This can be attributed to the change in the Bogoliubov spectrum, as the condensate gets thermally depleted, and to large fluctuations beyond perturbation theory. Although the two stochastic theories are built on different thermodynamic ensembles (NCB, canonical; SGPE, grand-canonical), they yield the correct condensate statistics in a large Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) (strong enough particle interactions). For smaller systems, the SGPE results are prone to anomalously large number fluctuations, well known for the grand-canonical, ideal Bose gas. Based on the comparison of the above theories to the modified Popov approach, we propose a simple procedure for approximately extracting the Penrose-Onsager condensate from first- and second-order correlation functions that more » is both computationally convenient and of potential use to experimentalists. This also clarifies the link between condensate and quasicondensate in the Popov theory of low-dimensional systems. « less


The solution time of the online optimization problems inherent to Model Predictive Control (MPC) can become a critical limitation when working in embedded systems. One proposed approach to reduce the solution time is to split the optimization problem into a number of reduced order problems, solve such reduced order problems in parallel and selecting the solution which minimises a global cost function. This approach is known as Parallel MPC. The potential capabilities of disturbance rejection are introduced using a simulation example. The algorithm is implemented in a linearised model of a Boeing 747-200 under nominal flight conditions and with an induced wind disturbance. Under significant output disturbances Parallel MPC provides a significant improvement in performance when compared to Multiplexed MPC (MMPC) and Linear Quadratic Synchronous MPC (SMPC).


CONTEXT
Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of many cannabinoid compounds found in cannabis. It does not appear to alter consciousness or trigger a "high." A recent surge in scientific publications has found preclinical and clinical evidence documenting value for CBD in some neuropsychiatric disorders, including epilepsy, anxiety, and schizophrenia. Evidence points toward a calming effect for CBD in the central nervous system. Interest in CBD as a treatment of a wide range of disorders has exploded, yet few clinical studies of CBD exist in the psychiatric literature.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether CBD helps improve sleep and/or anxiety in a clinical population.

DESIGN
A large retrospective case series at a psychiatric clinic involving clinical application of CBD for anxiety and sleep complaints as an adjunct to usual treatment. The retrospective chart review included monthly documentation of anxiety and sleep quality in 103 adult patients.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Sleep and anxiety scores, using validated instruments, at baseline and after CBD treatment.

RESULTS
The final sample consisted of 72 adults presenting with primary concerns of anxiety (n = 47) or poor sleep (n = 25). Anxiety scores decreased within the first month in 57 patients (79.2%) and remained decreased during the study duration. Sleep scores improved within the first month in 48 patients (66.7%) but fluctuated over time. In this chart review, CBD was well tolerated in all but 3 patients.

CONCLUSION
Cannabidiol may hold benefit for anxiety-related disorders. Controlled clinical studies are needed.


Integrated weed management (IWM) is one of the most commonly referred to approaches for sustainable and effective weed control in agriculture, yet it is not widely practiced, likely because current IWM systems fail to meet performance expectations of growers. The effectiveness and value of IWM systems should increase with increasing application specificity and true integration made possible with contemporary advances in technology, information systems and decision support. IWM systems can be classified based on their degree of application specificity and level of integration of tactics. In the application specificity pathway, a tactic is applied at a range of scales, from subfield to plant specific. In the integration pathway, multiple weed control tactics are combined in a synergistic manner. We hypothesise that the full value of IWM can and will be realised only when current and emerging technological innovations, information systems and decision tools are synergistically combined for use in real time. The True IWM system we envision requires automation and robotic technologies, coupled with information and decision support systems that are available or emerging but not yet enabled, in a proven integrated platform. Examples of low-level, traditional and precision IWM systems are discussed, and research needs for a True IWM system are presented. We conclude that the immediate call should be for a long-term investment in R&D and education (both theoretical and empirical) to develop and implement True IWM systems, an effort best accomplished in a public–private partnership where all essential entities are fully engaged and adequately resourced, including growers from all countries who will utilise IWM.


Many studies investigate the relationship between R&D expenditures as an input and patents as an intermediate product or output of a knowledge production function. We suggest that the productivity of research in patent production functions has been underestimated in the literature, as scholars typically use information about R&D, i.e. the sum of research expenditure and development expenditure, due to data availability. However, in most industries only (applied) research will lead to patentable knowledge, and development happens after the initial research phase that may have led to a patent. Instead of using data on R&D, we separate the knowledge creating process into 'R' and 'D'. This data stems from R&D surveys of Belgian firms. It turns out that only the 'R' part of R&D expenditure has a significant effect on patents and that development expenditure are insignificant. Thus previous literature relying on R&D expenditure suffers from a measurement error, such that the coefficient of R&D is biased towards zero, as R&D includes a large fraction of irrelevant expenditure, i.e. development expenditure, with respect to patenting.


Objective: The primary purpose of the present community-based study was to investigate early changes in cardiac autonomic function in obese children. Materials and Methods: A survey of juvenile obesity in Hualien in eastern Taiwan was performed in 2002. A total of 1,724 adolescents who were 12 or 13 years old were recruited. The overall prevalences of normal weight, overweight and obese adolescents were 71.5% 13.1%, and 15.4%, respectively. A stratified random sampling scheme was performed. We selected 100, 50 and 75 subjects from the above-mentioned three groups, and invited them to join this study. Totally, 170 students (normal-weight: overweight: obese=81:34:55) participated in this study. They received blood checks and a heart rate variability (HRV) examination. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was used to evaluate insulin sensitivity. Results: Compared with the normal-weight group, the obese children had significantly elevated body mass indexes (BMI), HOMA-IR, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels. In addition, compared to their normal weight counterparts, obese children had significantly reduced high-frequency power (HF) but elevated low-frequency power in normalized units (LF%), and elevated ratios of low-frequency power to high-frequency power (LF/HF ratio). Further analyses revealed that compared with the normal weight counterparts; obese boys had significantly reduced HF but elevated LF % and LF/HF ratios. Among obese girls, the HF was reduced significantly, and LF% and the LF/HF ratio were increased, though not significantly. In stepwise multiple regression analysis, the BMI and heart rate were negatively associated with the HF component and positively associated with the LF/HF ratio and LF%. For every 1kg/m^2 increment in the BMI, the LF/HF ratio and LF% components of HRV increased ln(0.02) and 0.42% respectively, while HF decreased 0.03 ln(ms^2). Boys had a higher LF/HF ratio and LF% than girls. Conclusions: The obese boys and girls had increased insulin resistance and changes in autonomic nervous function that included reduced parasympathetic control and obese boys had elevated sympathovagal modulation. Gender-related autonomic differences, such as girls having lower sympathetic modulations of HRV, were also noted.


HOP-LIMITED ROUTING FOR MULTIHOP CELLULAR NETWORKS by Cem Dincer In recent years, conventional cellular systems have experienced evolution in fields of data oriented services. During this period, the requirement for high data-rate stimulated new research proposals, which resulted in a new architecture: Multihop Cellular Networks (MCN), where multihop structure enables mobile stations to forward packets from other mobile stations to the base station on the uplink, and in turn, forward packets to other mobile stations from the base station on the downlink. In this thesis, a new routing algorithm is introduced for MCNs in order to limit the number of hops between the base station and the mobile stations with given delay constraints. The capacity of MCNs is restricted due to intensive traffic in the network since all nodes has the capability of sending packets simultaneously. The analysis of average end-to-end delay in high bit-rate data transmission reveals that minimizing end-to-end delay with a proper scheduling scheme guarantees the aim of limiting number of hops in MCNs. The proposed algorithm showed that the intensive traffic can be absorbed by the base station by limiting the number of hops between the base station and the mobile stations. HOP-LIMITED ROUTING FOR MULTIHOP CELLULAR NETWORKS


Abstract A projectile penetrates with high velocity the lid of a gas receptacle, compresses and heats a statically precompressed volume of a gaseous deuterium-tritium mixture, and may possibly start fusion reactions by releasing and focusing a shock wave. A high amount of energy is delivered to a small volume in a very short time. The wall of the receptacle and the high density of projectile and receptacle material act as confinement. For the acceleration of projectile and receptacle, a series of interconnected (cascaded) and modified light gas guns is used. In the first part of this note, technical aspects are outlined. By a synchronized operation of the light gas guns, projectile and receptacle hit each other in the center of a reaction chamber. If fusion reactions can be started, a gas-cooled high-temperature moderator, containing breeding material for tritium, will surround the reaction chamber. In the second part the shock wave propagation and focusing is described in approximation. The results should encourage a precise theoretical treatment of the problem.


This report documents modifications to the Streamflow-Routing Package (SFR2) to route streamflow through grids constructed using the multiple-refined-areas capability of shared node Local Grid Refinement (LGR) of MODFLOW-2005. MODFLOW-2005 is the U.S. Geological Survey modular, three-dimensional, finite-difference groundwater-flow model. LGR provides the capability to simulate groundwater flow by using one or more block-shaped, higher resolution local grids (child model) within a coarser grid (parent model). LGR accomplishes this by iteratively coupling separate MODFLOW-2005 models such that heads and fluxes are balanced across the shared interfacing boundaries. Compatibility with SFR2 allows for streamflow routing across grids. LGR can be used in twoand three-dimensional, steady-state and transient simulations and for simulations of confined and unconfined groundwater systems.


This Discussion Paper is issued within the framework of IZA's research area Mobility and Flexibility of Labor Markets. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the institute. Research disseminated by IZA may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent, nonprofit limited liability company (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) supported by the Deutsche Post AG. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its research networks, research support, and visitors and doctoral programs. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. The current research program deals with (1) mobility and flexibility of labor markets, (2) internationalization of labor markets and European integration, (3) the welfare state and labor markets, (4) labor markets in transition, (5) the future of work, (6) project evaluation and (7) general labor economics. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. This paper presents a test of the educational signaling hypothesis. If employers use education as a signal in the hiring process, they will rely more on education when less is otherwise known about applicants. We find that employers are more likely to lower educational standards when an informal, more informative recruitment channel is used, so we conclude that education is used as a signal in the hiring process.


Continuing the series of contributions from the speakers at the 6-7 February Egmont – Raytheon event on « The European Defence of Europe », Egmont publishes a policy brief by our Clingendael colleague Dick Zandee.
European countries continue to have different political views on the use of military force. Their armed forces also show a wide variety in terms of capabilities for operations low to high in the spectrum. Thus, European strategic autonomy in deploying armed forces for military operations requires a new approach. Rather than pursuing the impossible – acting at 28 – European countries should form core groups of partners with comparable intent, willingness and capabilities. France and the UK can provide the core for a European intervention force while Germany and Poland could constitute the core of a heavy land force formation. All core groups should support each other in a network, to be developed under the overarching umbrella's of the EU and NATO.


The common statement of the principle of conservation of energy fails to take into account the energy of the vacuum, the zero-point energy. What happens for example when a body of matter displaces the local vacuum and reduces the local zero-point energy? In a prior paper the author determined that the mass-energy of electron and proton is equivalent to the zero-point energy they displace.1 This opens up the intriguing possibility that the principle of conservation of energy should be restated, the total amount of energy including zero-point energy is constant. This paper will include investigations of how different forms of energy can be seen as a displacement of zero-point energy thus confirming the modified principle of conservation of energy. This principle of conservation of energy can also be stated as; the net energy of space is always zero after the baseline zero-point energy is subtracted. In terms of classical forms of energy, there is no net energy in the universe. That leads to the interesting observation that there is no energy beyond the ever-present zero-point energy and thus no problem with regard to the origin of energy.


The dependence of Cd(II) and Cu(II) uptake by yeast cells on the age and temperature of cell culture was studied. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Kluyveromyces marxianus and Debaromyces Hansenii were chosen as typical yeasts, while Cd(II) and Cu(II) as typical metal pollutants. Our results revealed that higher metal uptake was obtained by cells grown at the optimum temperature (30 o C) of cell culture. It was also found that the exponential phase cells resulted in a higher metal uptake than the stationary ones. A first interpretation of relevant bibliographic data concerning the effect of growth phase on metal uptake is proposed, assuming that limited qualitative changes in the cell wall structure take place as the cells pass from exponential to stationary phase, in addition to quantitative modifications, which have been reported in the literature. According to our interpretation the relative abundance among quantitative and qualitative alterations of cell wall, determines if stationary or exponential cells attain the higher metal binding capacity. An indication supporting our approach may be the fact that our hypothesis implies a decrease of pKa values of cell wall carboxyl groups with the age of cells, which is consistent with data reported by other authors.


The following case presentation is of a 75-year-old male who presented to the emergency department with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation, secondary to pneumonia, and a history of a congenital left lung abnormality with non-development. Since the first report by de Pozzis in 1673, more than 200 cases of lung abnormalities with non-development have been recorded.1,2 The first proposed classification of underdevelopment of the lung was introduced by Schneider in 1912: Class I Agenesis - total absence of bronchus and lung, Class II Aplasia - rudimentary bronchus without lung tissue, and Class III Hypoplasia - bronchial hypoplasia and variable but reduced amount of lung tissue.1,2 The rarity of reports and applicable literature involving congenital lung abnormalities with non-development in the elderly, such as pulmonary aplasia, prompted this case presentation.


This editorial refers to 'Disease profile and differential diagnosis of hereditary transthyretin-related amyloidosis with exclusively cardiac phenotype: an Italian perspective', by C. Rapezzi et al. , doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehs123

Transthyretin-related amyloidosis (ATTR) was originally called familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) by Andrade based on the predominant features of a length-dependent axonal neuropathy seen in affected Portuguese patients.1 With positive identification of transthyretin (TTR) as the precursor protein, and a growing number of new forms of systemic amyloidosis identified, the name was subsequently changed to ATTR.2 Despite the name change, the disease itself continues to be regarded predominantly as a form of hereditary peripheral neuropathy. The phenotype of cardiac involvement, either as a solitary manifestation of the disease or in association with neuropathy, is probably underdiagnosed due to a lack of awareness of ATTR. As a result, patients who present with cardiac symptoms of ATTR may not gain access to current diagnostic tests or emerging therapies.

Factors that probably contribute to low disease recognition include the overall rarity of ATTR and the regional variation in incidence. For example, most of the data on the typical pattern of disease in ATTR patients who have the …


We present measurements of an optomechanical system in which the mechanical element is inside the cavity, and couples dispersively to the intracavity field. This geometry makes it easier to simultaneously achieve high optical finesse and high mechanical quality factor in an optomechanical device. We measured the linear optical properties of a such a device in which the mechanical element is a 50 nm thick silicon nitride membrane. We find that the device's finesse, resonant transmission and resonant reflection can be explained with a simple model which allows us to extract the membrane's optical loss. Our results indicate that it should be possible to increase the finesse of these devices to 5 × 105 or higher.


I INTRODUCTION The source of our difficulties with "conventions in law and science" is related to images. Practice as experienced in the law contrasts with conventions accepted in science. The difficulties in applying science in the law are commonly explained in terms of the differences in conventions, (1) but to some significant extent they are the result of the images by which those differences are identified. By clarifying these differences, we can perhaps leave aside those places where the differences are only apparent and concentrate instead on those where real differences do exist and cause real difficulties. II IMAGES OF SCIENCE The image of forensic practice described in the Guidelines is no doubt broadly correct. (2) After all, the Guidelines image is related directly to the difficulties experienced in the ordinary work of the courts. But the image of science invoked here is quite otherwise. It is derived from a certain portrait of science as an essentially gentlemanly, honorable pursuit, whose conventions ensure unfailing courtesy and goodwill. Now, that portrait, which is derived from a traditional self-image of science, is also born of experience. But that traditional self-image of science was not the outcome of an empirical social science enquiry. It resulted rather more from an exercise analogous to propaganda that arose largely from what was once eloquently described as "the warfare of science with theology in Christendom." (3) In the opening line of the classic radical analysis of scientific practice, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn spoke of the "image of science by which we are now possessed." (4) For him, this image was largely a fabrication for which previous generations of historians were responsible. (5) This is not the place to analyze that image, its history, and its consequences. But it does recall the image of classical Athenian society (democratic, open, and engaged) as portrayed in Pericles' 431 B.C. funeral orations. (6) That Periclean image, too, was rooted in genuine, lived experience and it also served as a source of idealism, both for Pericles' contemporaries and then for those born millennia later. But when taken as an objective description of Athenian society for the purpose of later scholarly analysis, that image was seriously defective and misleading. This revealing history of an image is relevant here. It can perhaps help sort out some of the difficulties of science in legal settings that have brought us to the discussion addressed in this symposium and that will require adjusting and modernizing the image of science and its conventions. By examining some of the varieties of scientific practice, defined in terms of the function of their products, we can place the forensic practice--its context and functions--as just one among many. Of course, it has its characteristic features and its points of tension and conflict with the others. But by means of such an analysis we can escape from the supposedly unbridgeable chasm between two utterly different sorts of conventions and forms of practice. A. Varieties of Scientific Experience This analysis is not intended to be at all definitive or refined. Its goal is only to establish a useful point. The analysis starts with the "iconic" sort of science--pure or basic research. Just to be clear about fundamentals: even this sort of research does not consist of "discovering facts" as if they were the pebbles that Sir Isaac Newton famously imagined himself picking up on the beach. (7) Of course, discovery is there, and indeed is at the core. But the actual work consists of setting and investigating problems, in the form of hypotheses that are more or less formalized, about some aspect of the workings of the world out there under study. Now, what makes this sort of work "pure" is that, in an important sense, its productions do not matter. That is, the function of the activity is internally oriented. …


In 1563, the Catholic Church responded to the Protestant challenge to the religious life as the most holy feminine state with the maxim aut maritus aut murus (wife or wall). The navigation of that dictum by early modern women across Catholic Europe has arguably been one of the dominant themes in the scholarship over the last thirty years. Certainly, there had always been the opportunity for women to lead a religious life outside of marriage and the cloister as beatas, tertiaries and beguines. Yet it was after the Council of Trent (1545–1563) that women had to renegotiate a space in the world in which they could lead spiritually-fulfilling devotional lives. If this was one unintended legacy of 1517, then the quincentenary of the Reformation seems a timely moment to reflect on new directions in the now burgeoning historiography on lay women in Counter-Reformation Europe.


The history of infectious disease modelling essentially begins with the papers by Ross on malaria [1–5]. These models assume that the dynamics of malaria can most simply be characterized by two equations that describe the prevalence of malaria in the human and mosquito hosts. This structure has formed the central core of models for malaria and most other vector-borne diseases for the last century with occasional additions acknowledging important aetiological details. We partially add to this tradition by describing a malaria model that provides for vital dynamics in the vector and the possibility of super-infection in the human host; reinfection of asymptomatic hosts before they have cleared a prior infection. These key features of malaria aetiology create the potential for break points in the prevalence of infected hosts, sudden transitions that seem to characterize malaria's response to control in different locations. We show that this potential for critical transitions is a general and underappreciated feature of any model for vector borne diseases with incomplete immunity and asymptomatic patients, including the canonical Ross-McDonald model. Ignoring these details of the host's immune response to infection can potentially lead to serious misunderstanding in the interpretation of malaria distribution patterns and the design of control schemes for other vector-borne diseases.


Rice is grown in diverse environmental conditions. In this study, genetic variation
among thirteen Iranian and thirteen Malaysian rice cultivars was determined using
Microsatellite markers. Microsatellites are polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based and
dbla ceelcuoobeoy xoed (DNA) markers which are abundant, co-dominant and widely
used in various organisms. This study consisted of two parts, the first part was DNA
extraction, which consisted of comparing between four different DNA extraction
methods, namely the Dellaporta and CTAB as conventional methods also, Promega and
Axyprep as commercial protocols kits. Comparison was also made on the effect of
different leaf age as well as leaf position on different quality and yield of DNA obtained.
The results of the study showed significant difference (P<0.05) between different
extraction methods in relation to optical density OD 260/280 nm and DNA yield from each
method. The Dellaporta method (OD260/280=2±0.07nm and DNA yield 2073±196 ng) gave
the best results. The positions of different leafs (from top to bottom leaf number 4 to 1) and the ages of leafs (2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks) were also monitored for optimum DNA
extraction. The results of the Duncan test showed that there was no significant difference
(P>0.05) between leaf positions for 2 to 4 weeks old leaf. However, the age of leaves in
young and fresh stages of tissue showed significant difference (P<0.05) in ratio of
OD260/280 2±0.03 and DNA yield (1373±70 ng). The results (based on method of
extraction, leaf age and position) were used for subsequent DNA extraction of the 26
rice cultivars. The second part consisted of molecular work using twenty one
microsatellite primer pairs which were selected from the Gene Bank. The estimation of
genetic diversity among two rice groups (Iranian and Malaysian cultivars) were done
with the assistance of two softwares UVIdoc (ver.98) and POPGENE (ver.1.31). A total
of 21 loci (75 alleles) were observed, of which 20 loci (95.24 %) were polymorphic,
except RM338. Microsatellite loci RM1 and RM271 showed the highest polymorphism
(between 94 to 136 bp in size). The Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) value was
(0.578±0.170). The dendogram constructed based on genetic distance values (UPGMA)
grouped the cultivars into five clusters. All of the Iranian rice cultivars were placed in
cluster I and III while Malaysian rice cultivars were in clusters IV and V. However
cluster II consisted of both Iranian and Malaysian rice cultivars. The results of genetic
diversity among selected cultivars in this study can be used for screening of the high
grain quality rice accession for backcrossing and breeding programs.


[C]ongress has a wonderful power that only judges and lawyers know about. Congress has a power to keep silent. . . . Of course, when [C]ongress keeps silent, it takes an expert to know what it means. But the judges are experts. They say that [C]ongress by keeping silent sometimes means that it is keeping silent and sometimes means that it is speaking.1 I. INTRODUCTION In simplistic constitutional terms, Congress makes law that the President enforces. More specifically, Congress makes law by enacting statutes through a series of specific requirements outlined in Article I, Section 7, and, unless acting under his own constitutionally assigned power, the President is bound by that law. To the formalist, who believes in strict adherence to the constitutionally prescribed boundaries between law enactment and law enforcement, that is the end of the story.2 The Supreme Court recognized the importance of formal requirements and their impact on the separation of powers when it struck down the legislative veto because it failed to follow the constitutional rules.3 On the other hand, to the functionalist, who values greater flexibility, there is more to the story.4 And, in fact, other Supreme Court decisions indicate that on occasion Congress effectively asserts its own authority, or constrains the authority of the President, not by formal enactment of law, but by doing nothing at all.5 As the epigraph above adroidy observes, the judiciary alone decides whether Congress has spoken through silence. Courts wield significant power in determining whether the President has acted appropriately in the face of congressional inaction, and they should tread lightly as their judgments trace the boundaries between legislative and executive power. Where Congress has failed to act or purposely chosen not to act, a gap in authority or power remains, which the President often feels compelled to fill.6 Executive action in such situations would appear to fall within the second category described by Justice Jackson in his Toungstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer concurrence: When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of autiiority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority, or in which its distribution is uncertain. Therefore, congressional inertia, indifference or quiescence may sometimes, at least as a practical matter, enable, if not invite, measures on independent presidential responsibility. In this area, any actual test of power is likely to depend on the imperatives of events and contemporary imponderables rather than on abstract theories of law.7 Where congressional intention is difficult to discern, as in the case of inaction, this "zone of twilight" provides judges with crucial wiggle room to navigate their way to an outcome that maintains proper balance between the powers of the Executive and Legislative Branches. However, when judges find implied meaning in congressional inaction this wiggle room disappears, creating an analytical paradox in that an adaptable, functionalistic approach to what constitutes congressional will leads to a clearer, more determinate conclusion on the validity of the executive action.8 Depending on the result of such judicial determination, the executive action either falls into Jackson's first category, where executive "authority is at its maximum" because "the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress";9 or the third category, where executive authority "is at its lowest ebb" because "the President takes measures incompatible with the expressed or implied will of Congress."10 The validity of executive actions thus depends to a large degree on whether courts hear the implied will of Congress in silence. Given the tremendous authority of the judiciary to shape the separation of powers in our constitutional system, it is essential that the judicial branch play a measured role as referee and avoid the pitfalls of giving too much voice to congressional silence. …