Around the world, large corporations usually have controlling owners, who are usually very wealthy families. Outside the U.S. and the U.K., pyramidal control structures, cross shareholding and super voting rights are common. Using these devices, a family can control corporations without making a commensurate capital investment. In many countries, such families end up controlling considerable proportions of their countries'' economies. Three points emerge. First, at the firm level, these ownership structures vest dominant control rights with families who often have little real capital invested creating agency and entrenchment problem simultaneously. In addition, controlling shareholders can divert corporate resources for private benefits using transactions within the pyramidal group. The result is a poor utilization of resources. At the economy level, extensive control of corporate assets by a few families distorts capital allocation and reduces the rate of innovation. The result is an economy-wide misallocation of resources, and slower economic growth. Second, political influence is plausibly related to what one controls, rather than what one owns. The controlling owners of pyramids thus have greatly amplified political influence relative to their actual wealth. They appear to influence the development of both public policy, such as property rights protection and enforcement, and institutions like capital markets. We denote this phenomenon economic entrenchment. Third, we conceive of a relationship between the distribution of corporate control and institutional development that generates and preserves economic entrenchment as one equilibrium; but not the only one. Based on the literature, we identify key determinants of economic entrenchment. We also identify many gaps where further work exploring the political economy importance of the distribution of corporate control is needed.


Enzyme–metal-ion–phosphate nanoflowers are high-surface area materials which are known to show higher activity than the constituting protein. Although the synthesis of hybrid nanoflowers has been demonstrated with a variety of proteins and reaction conditions, only di-valent metal ions have been tested to date. We expand on previous findings by testing a range of metal ions of different valence in co-presence with lipase from Burkholderia cepacia: Ag(I), Fe(II), Cu(II), Au(III). All metal ions produced colour precipitates, although the type of metal caused different precipitate morphologies under comparable reaction conditions: from nanoflowers to forests of nano-plates and crystal-like precipitates. In contrast, the type of metal ion did not appear to significantly affect the product's specific enzyme activity, which remained greater than that of free lipase. This indicates that the type of metal ion and the macroscopic arrangement of the petals play a secondary role to that of the co-presence of the metal and phosphate ions in determining lipase nanoflower activity. The demonstrated ability to produce metal–phosphate-protein nanoflowers with a selection of different metals also opens the way to producing a wider range of functional, nanostructured, materials.


Over the next ten years, collaboration in software engineering will change in a number of ways and research will need to shift its focus to enable and enhance such collaboration. Specifically, we claim that software in the small will become more popular and even large software will be built by fewer people due to better tools. For large projects, research will need to address the collaboration needs of project members other than just developers, including quality assurance engineers, build engineers, architects, and operations managers. Finally, code reuse and sharing will change as a result of a growing software remix culture, leading to more loosely coupled and indirect collaboration. Author


INTRODUCTION Authors of academic works do not take full advantage of the self-archiving rights that they retain in their publications, though research shows that many academic authors are well-aligned (at least in principle) with open access (OA) principles. This article explains how institutionally-assisted self-archiving in open access repositories can effectively take advantage of retained rights and highlights at least one method of facilitating this process through automated means. METHODS To understand the scope of author-retained rights (including the right to purchase hybrid or other open access options) at some sample universities, author-rights data through the SHERPA/RoMEO API was combined with individual article citations (from Thomson Reuters' Web of Science) for works published over a one-year period (2011) and authored by individuals affiliated with five major U.S. research universities. RESULTS Authors retain significant rights in the articles that they create. Of the 29,322 unique articles authored over the one year period at the five universities, 28.83 percent could be archived in final PDF form and 87.95 percent could be archived as the post-print version. Nearly 43.47 percent also provided authors the choice of purchasing a hybrid paid open access option. DISCUSSION A significant percentage of current published output could be archived with little or no author intervention. With prior approval through an open access policy or otherwise, article manuscripts or final PDFs can be obtained and archived by library staff, and hybrid paid-OA options could be negotiated and exploited by library administrators. CONCLUSION Although mandates, legislation, and other policy tools may be useful to promote open access, many institutions already have the ability to increase the percentage of accessible works by taking advantage of retained author rights and hybrid OA options.


Cytoskeletal and postsynaptic density (PSD) fractions from forebrain contain discrete spherical structures that are immunopositive for Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). Spherical structures viewed by rotary shadow electron microscopy have an average diameter of approximately 100 nm and, in distinction to postsynaptic densities, do not immunolabel for PSD-95. These structures were purified to near homogeneity by extraction with the detergent N-lauryl sarcosinate. Biochemical analysis revealed that CaMKII accounts for virtually all of the protein in the purified preparation, suggesting that spherical structures are clusters of self-associated CaMKII. Exposure of cultured hippocampal neurons to a mitochondrial uncoupler in glucose-free medium promotes the formation of numerous CaMKII-immunopositive structures identical in size and shape to the CaMKII clusters observed in subcellular fractions. Clustering of CaMKII would reduce its kinase function by preventing its access to fixed substrates. On the other hand, clustering would not affect the ability of the large cellular pool of CaMKII to act as a calmodulin sink, as demonstrated by the Ca(2+)-dependent binding of gold-conjugated calmodulin to CaMKII clusters. We propose that the observed clustering of CaMKII into spherical structures is a protective mechanism preventing excessive protein phosphorylation upon loss of Ca(2+) homeostasis, without compromising calmodulin regulation.


We studied the electronic and nuclear dynamics of I-containing organic molecules induced by intense hard X-ray pulses at the XFEL facility SACLA in Japan. The interaction with the intense XFEL pulse causes absorption of multiple X-ray photons by the iodine atom, which results in the creation of many electronic vacancies (positive charges) via the sequential electronic relaxation in the iodine, followed by intramolecular charge redistribution. In a previous study we investigated the subsequent fragmentation by Coulomb explosion of the simplest I-substituted hydrocarbon, iodomethane (CH3I). We carried out three-dimensional momentum correlation measurements of the atomic ions created via Coulomb explosion of the molecule and found that a classical Coulomb explosion model including charge evolution (CCE-CE model), which accounts for the concerted dynamics of nuclear motion and charge creation/charge redistribution, reproduces well the observed momentum correlation maps of fragment ions emitted after XFEL irradiation. Then we extended the study to 5-iodouracil (C4H3IN2O2, 5-IU), which is a more complex molecule of biological relevance, and confirmed that, in both CH3I and 5-IU, the charge build-up takes about 10 fs, while the charge is redistributed among atoms within only a few fs. We also adopted a self-consistent charge density-functional based tight-binding (SCC-DFTB) method to treat the fragmentations of highly charged 5-IU ions created by XFEL pulses. Our SCC-DFTB modeling reproduces well the experimental and CCE-CE results. We have also investigated the influence of the nuclear dynamics on the charge redistribution (charge transfer) using nonadiabatic quantum-mechanical molecular dynamics (NAQMD) simulation. The time scale of the charge transfer from the iodine atomic site to the uracil ring induced by nuclear motion turned out to be only ∼5 fs, indicating that, besides the molecular Auger decay in which molecular orbitals delocalized over the iodine site and the uracil ring are involved, the nuclear dynamics also play a role for ultrafast charge redistribution. The present study illustrates that the CCE-CE model as well as the SCC-DFTB method can be used for reconstructing the positions of atoms in motion, in combination with the momentum correlation measurement of the atomic ions created via XFEL-induced Coulomb explosion of molecules.


Vista Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) is an ESO Public Survey that is performing a variability survey of the Galactic bulge and part of the inner disk using ESO's Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA). The survey covers 520 deg^2 of sky area in the ZYJHK_S filters, for a total observing time of 1929 hours, including ~ 10^9 point sources and an estimated ~ 10^6 variable stars. Here we describe the current status of the VVV Survey, in addition to a variety of new results based on VVV data, including light curves for variable stars, newly discovered globular clusters, open clusters, and associations. A set of reddening-free indices based on the ZYJHK_S system is also introduced. Finally, we provide an overview of the VVV Templates Project, whose main goal is to derive well-defined light curve templates in the near-IR, for the automated classification of VVV light curves.


This paper investigates the determinants of residential mobility of older households (above 50 years old) and the adjustment of housing for those who move employing individual data from the European Community Household Panel. Although homeowners are less likely to move compared to renters, an increase in mobility rates is observed for older age homeowners. Moreover, having an outstanding home loan, retirement, the death of a spouse, and excessive housing costs, are significantly associated with a move in central and northern European countries, but not in the south. Analyzing the transitions from the current tenure choice after a move takes place, based on a competing risk hazard model, an increasing transition out of the current residence for old-age homeowners is found, indicating some dissaving later in life. The direction of the transitions is mostly from ownership to renting. However, especially in countries in central and northern Europe, transitions from ownership to ownership are also observed, which are associated with a reduction in the home size.


The retreat of the southern Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) during the last deglaciation (Termination I: TI) is poorly dated by conventional means; there is even greater uncertainty about the penultimate deglaciation (Termination II: TII), leading to the assumption that the southern GIS has a signifi cant lag in its response to deglacial warming. Here we use geochemical terrestrial sediment proxies ([Fe] and [Ti]) from a well-studied southern Greenland marine sediment sequence to examine the behavior of the southern GIS during TI and TII. Our records show that during TI and TII the southern GIS response was essentially synchronous with deglacial North Atlantic warming, implying greater climate sensitivity than previously assumed. During TI, elevated ablation lasted ~5 k.y., whereas ablation remained elevated for ~12 k.y. during TII, suggesting a reduced southern GIS during TII that contributed a signifi cant fraction of the higher sea level during the subsequent interglacial.


Virtual communities potentially provide value to both individuals and organisations by way of developing and transferring knowledge between community members. In this paper the dynamics of interaction in virtual communities is explored and drawing from literature across several disciplines, a framework for investigating the relationship between sociability in virtual communities and the transfer and construction of knowledge is developed. A methodology for exploring these relationships based on "netnography" is proposed and a pilot study is presented to demonstrate its application.


We consider the problem of parsing human poses and recognizing their actions in static images with part-based models. Most previous work in part-based models only considers rigid parts (e.g., torso, head, half limbs) guided by human anatomy. We argue that this representation of parts is not necessarily appropriate. In this paper, we introduce hierarchical poselets--a new representation for modeling the pose configuration of human bodies. Hierarchical poselets can be rigid parts, but they can also be parts that cover large portions of human bodies (e.g., torso + left arm). In the extreme case, they can be the whole bodies. The hierarchical poselets are organized in a hierarchical way via a structured model. Human parsing can be achieved by inferring the optimal labeling of this hierarchical model. The pose information captured by this hierarchical model can also be used as a intermediate representation for other high-level tasks. We demonstrate it in action recognition from static images.


Leptynia specimens were analyzed by karyotype analysis, mitochondrial gene sequencing and SEM of bodies and eggs. Here we describe a new species, Leptynia annaepaulae, and three subspecies of L. attenuata Pantel (L. attenuata attenuata, L. attenuata iberica, L. attenuata algarvica). The phylogeny of the genus Leptynia is congruent with a karyotype trend toward a reduction of chromosome number and the shift from the shared XX/X0 sex chromosome formula to the unusual XX/XY one. Chromosome repatterning appears to occur ahead of genetic differentiation, following a chromosome model of cladogenesis. Chromosome and genetic differentiation, in turn, appears to precede morphological distinction, thus realizing a condition of incipient species for most of the Leptynia taxa. Actually, morphological analyses revealed that, only rarely clear cut differences exist among and between taxa, while, more often, just trends in the differentiating traits occur, since the investigated characters generally suffer from some overlapping: In this study, only the 10th:9th ratio value and the subanal vomer appear to be diagnostic for L. annaepaulae against all other Leptynia taxa. As a consequence, the subanal vomer as well as cercus tooth features with egg chorion traits are not sharply diagnostic for the remaining co-generic taxa; however, comparisons are quite helpful in reducing uncertainties. A likely phylogeographic scenario for the genus supports that Leptynia ancestors spread from Northern Africa into Southern Spain where an ancestral taxon originated L. annaepaulae (2n = 40/39, XX/X0, with 2 large dibrachial pairs). Later on, a northbound colonization, should have originated L. caprai (2n = 40/39, XX/X0, all acrocentrics), from which L. montana (2n = 38, XX/X0) and L. attenuata (2n = 36, XY/XX) originated; supporting instances of chromosome repatterning have been actually observed. In this connection we like to stress that, particularly in stick insects, androgenesis has been a preferential pathway to quickly make homozygous those odd chromosome rearrangements likely responsible for low fitness in the heterozygotes.


In the period of transition following Suharto's resignation as president of Indonesia in 1998, the image of the 50,000Rp bill bearing his face became a visual shorthand for the corruption and abuse of power that had characterized his regime. Accessible, decentralized consumer technologies enabled people to alter money's appearance, transforming it from a fetish of the state into a malleable surface available for popular reinscription. As the medium of money was "remediated"—absorbed into other media, refashioned, and circulated along new pathways—it became a means by which people engaged questions of state power, national integrity, political authenticity, and economic relations opened up by the crisis of Reformasi (Reform). The essay argues that remediations of public forms play a crucial role in times of political transition by enabling people to materialize alternative visions of political authority and authenticity. Moreover, remediated forms have become a characteristic modality of political communication in the post-Suharto period under conditions of democratization and an increasingly diversified media ecology.


Motivated by a model that qualitatively captured the response of vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) pillars in uniaxial compression, we consider the uniaxial tensile response of a class of compressible elastic-viscoplastic solids. In Hutchens et al. ["Analysis of Uniaxial Compression of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes," J. Mech. Phys. Solids, 59, pp. 2227–2237 (2011), Erratum 60, 1753–1756 (2012)] an elastic viscoplastic constitutive relation with plastic compressibility, plastic non-normality, and a hardening-softening-hardening hardness function was used to model experimentally obtained uniaxial compression data of cylindrical VACNT micropillars. Complex deformation modes were found in uniaxial compression, which include a sequential buckling-like collapse of the type seen in experiments. These complex deformation modes led to the overall stress-strain signature of the pillar not being of the same form as the input material hardness function. A fundamental question that motivates exploring the deformation of this class of materials—both experimentally and theoretically—is how to extract the intrinsic material response from simple tests. In this study we explore the relation between the input material response and the overall stress strain behavior in uniaxial tension using the constitutive framework of Hutchens et al. A simple one-dimensional analysis reveals the types of instability modes to be expected. Dynamic, finite deformation finite element calculations are carried out to explore the dependence of diffuse necking, localized necking, and propagating band deformation modes on characteristics of the hardness function. Attention is devoted to uncovering implications for obtaining intrinsic material properties of complex hierarchical structures; for example, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs), from uniaxial tension experiments.


In FTC v. Actavis the Supreme Court held that settlement of a patent infringement suit in which the patentee of a branded pharmaceutical drug pays a generic infringer to stay out of the market may be illegal under the antitrust laws. Justice Breyer's majority opinion was surprisingly broad, in two critical senses. First, he spoke with a generality that reached far beyond the pharmaceutical generic drug disputes that have provoked numerous pay-for-delay settlements. Second was the aggressive approach that the Court chose. The obvious alternatives were the rule that prevailed in most Circuits, that any settlement is immune from antitrust attack if it is facially "within the scope of the patent." Under this approach the court may not second guess the settlement by inquiring into the validity of the patent; the settlement itself shields this query from the court. A second alternative concludes that a very large settlement payment is a sign that something is wrong with the patent, inviting the court to look more closely at the underlying patent to determine whether the settlement is really a good faith attempt to manage litigation and business risk. A third approach is that a large settlement exclusion payment disproportionate to litigation risk can be unlawful under antitrust's rule of reason, without inquiry into whether the patent is actually invalid, and even if the settlement agreement does not go "beyond the scope" of the patent's nominal coverage. Finally, the court might apply a "quick look," or truncated, antitrust analysis in which the plaintiff can enjoy presumptions about market power or anticompetitive effect. The Supreme Court chose the third, or rule of reason, option, but it made clear that the plaintiff need not make a long form rule of reason showing and suggested important shortcuts.Also significant is that both sides, without dissent agreed that consumer welfare should be the goal of antitrust law.Payments whose size correlates with risk are essential to entrepreneurial decision making, but entrepreneurial risk is usually private in the sense that the firm risks the resources of its own shareholders. In the pharmaceutical pay-for-delay setting, however, what is being placed at risk is both the investment of the pioneer and the welfare of consumers, interests that pull in opposite directions. Consumers represent an important externality. They are not participants in this dispute, but they stand to lose the benefits of competition that would otherwise have occurred. Traditional settlements reflect the risk of patent invalidity in their terms. For example, as a patent is perceived by the parties to be weaker, settlement royalties rates will be lower. The Hatch Waxman Act uniquely creates an incentive for the parties to take all risk out of the patent because for the life of the settlement no third party may challenge it. Even a very weak patent can obtain both exclusion against third parties and profits equal to the full cartel value of the patented product.While the Court did not discuss private consumer challenges, its substantial revision of the law applies equally to private actions and it is reasonable to expect that several will emerge. Purchasers seeking antitrust overcharge damages from an anticompetitive pay-for-delay settlement should be able to proceed without proving patent invalidity, although they would be subject to the same rule-of-reason constraints that the Court created for the FTC.Finally, the breadth of the Activis opinion makes it relevant for many situations outside of the Hatch-Waxman context. For example, the Court's dicta severely limited its 1926 GE decision permitting price fixing among a patent and its licensees, and implicitly overruled decisions such as Bement, which permitted product price fixing among the members of a patent pool. A central question was whether the Patent Act, either explicitly or by reasonable implication, authorized the challenged conduct. If the answer is no, ordinary antitrust analysis can proceed.


Large data sets are difficult to analyze. Visualization has been proposed to assist exploratory data analysis (EDA) as our visual systems can process signals in parallel to quickly detect patterns. Nonetheless, designing an effective visual analytic tool remains a challenge. This challenge is partly due to our incomplete understanding of how common visualization techniques are used by human operators during analyses, either in laboratory settings or in the workplace. This thesis aims to further understand how visualizations can be used to support EDA. More specifically, we studied techniques that display multiple levels of visual information resolutions (VIRs) for analyses using a range of methods. The first study is a summary synthesis conducted to obtain a snapshot of knowledge in multiple-VIR use and to identify research questions for the thesis: (1) low-VIR use and creation; (2) spatial arrangements of VIRs. The next two studies are laboratory studies to investigate the visual memory cost of image transformations frequently used to create low-VIR displays and overview use with single-level data displayed in multiple-VIR interfaces. For a more well-rounded evaluation, we needed to study these techniques in ecologically-valid settings. We therefore selected the application domain of web session log analysis and applied our knowledge from our first three evaluations to build a tool called Session Viewer. Taking the multiple coordinated view and overview + detail approaches, Session Viewer displays multiple levels of web session log data and multiple views of session populations to facilitate data analysis from the high-level statistical to the low-level detailed session analysis approaches. Our fourth and last study for this thesis is a field evaluation conducted at Google Inc. with seven session analysts using Session Viewer to analyze their own data with their own tasks. Study observations suggested that displaying web session logs at multiple levels using the overview + detail technique helped


Early B cell factor (EBF) is a transcription factor essential for specification and commitment to the B cell fate. In this study, we show downregulation of a developmentally regulated cluster of hoxa genes, notably hoxa9, coincides with induction of EBF at the Pro-B cell stage of B cell differentiation. Analysis of the hematopoietic progenitor compartment in Hoxa9−/− mice revealed significantly reduced frequencies and expression levels of Flt3, a cytokine receptor important for lymphoid priming and the generation of B cell precursors (BCPs). We show that Hoxa9 directly regulates the flt3 gene. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed binding of Hoxa9 to the flt3 promoter in a lymphoid progenitor cell line. Knockdown of Hoxa9 significantly reduced Flt3 transcription and expression. Conversely, forced expression of Hoxa9 increased Flt3 transcription and expression in a Pro-B cell line that expressed low levels of Flt3. Hoxa9 inversely correlated with ebf1 in ex vivo-isolated bone marrow progenitors and BCPs, suggesting that EBF might function to silence a Hoxa9 transcriptional program. Restoration of EBF function in an EBF−/− cell line induced B lineage gene expression but did not directly suppress hoxa9 transcription, revealing alternate mechanisms of Hoxa9 regulation in BCPs. These data provide new insight into Hoxa9 function and regulation during lymphoid and B cell development. Furthermore, they suggest that failure to upregulate Flt3 provides a molecular basis for the lymphoid/early B cell deficiencies in Hoxa9−/− mice.


This study determined local residents' attitudes towards the cultural impact of tourism development on a local community at Dong Hoa Hiep village, Tien Giang Province, Vietnam, by using questionnaires and in depth interviews. According to 400 surveyed respondents and people interviewed, the results indicate positive attitudes towards the cultural impact of tourism. The findings reveal that the residents' heighten pride and appreciation of their community identities and tourism helps the village preserve traditional festivals, and local cuisines. Besides, Tran Van Kiet and Phan Van Duc ancient houses were restored authentically originally by JICA project. Nevertheless, some negative impact should be noted such as the breakdown of the traditional, extended family structure. Due to the high cost of original wood and skilled craftsmen those home owners not involved in tourism often restore buildings using inappropriate materials. Although tourism doesn't have a direct impact on milk crackers (a type of traditional cake handicrafts), this craft is currently vulnerable due to the high price of raw materials and lack of consumer markets and shortage of tourists. The knowledge of how to make milk crackers may be forgotten by young generations.


Cash transfers successfully alleviate poverty in many developing countries. South Africa is a case in point, implementing one of the largest unconditional cash transfer programmes internationally, and with substantial benefits to household well-being along multiple dimensions. Yet, grants discourage formal labour market attachment, creating dependencies on the fiscus. This study uses a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to establish that state-funded Old Age Pensions encourage non-market economic activity (in the form of small-scale farming), and improve the self-reported food security of rural households that farm, vis-a-vis those that do not. However, only non-farming households increase market food expenditure and consume more diverse diets from market-sourced foods: diet quality improves with greater spending, while food sufficiency remains unaffected. Farmers, on the other hand, do not change food spending patterns, but self-rated food sufficiency improves due to greater levels and diversity in home production. The role of small-scale farming is of broader interest in rural development, given the context of the 1913 and 1936 Land Acts that constrained this form of livelihood in former apartheid homelands. This paper's contribution is two-fold: grants are an effective channel to actively promote rural development through small-scale farming, and they improve food security by non-market mechanisms.


Recuperative masculinity politics in education are predicated upon the assumption that boys have fallen behind girls in most if not all subjects. In spite of ongoing and rigorous critique,the alleged "problem with boys" continues to command attention. Positive discrimination to help boys "catch up" is advocated by some as justifiable policy. The solutions put forward commonly include an increase in the number of male teachers on the grounds that boys identify with a same sex role model, "boy friendly" curriculum content, single sex schooling or the setting of certain subjects by sex within a co-educational school. The last of these has proved particularly attractive in those subjects seen as possessing inherent gender bias.
English, for example, can be seen as relatively "feminine", though against this it is an important core subject which boys must master whether they like it or not. Music, on the other hand is relatively "peripheral" with regard to what must be mastered by all students and subject to strong gender biases such as the perception that singing is for girls whilst boys play rock instruments. To encourage boys' willing engagement requires a particular effort to be directed against their perceptions of what is appropriate for their gender. Martin Ashley has been researching boys' participation in singing for a number of years and has encountered every
conceivable strategy in use, including those mentioned above. In this presentation he will share what he has learned about "boy friendly" content, student/teacher gender identity and single sex education through this research, exploring what lessons may be learned for other curriculum areas.


Like most large urban centres in Canada, Toronto is a magnet for two-spirit youth who leave reserve communities and smaller cities and towns seeking safety and a sense of community. The Youth Migration Project was a community-based research project that was formed out of increasing community concern for these youth as well as other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender young people. Despite increasing HIV incidence among two-spirit youth, little is understood about how their migration experiences might heighten their risk for HIV infection. We interviewed thirteen two-spirit youth to better understand how migrating to a large urban centre like Toronto is linked to heightened HIV vulnerability. We also interviewed an additional eight key informants seeking their insights into the same questions. Two-spirit youth spoke of escaping abusive, oppressive and homophobic home communities, and their dreams of a better life in Toronto. Once they arrived in Toronto, however, the illusion of an accepting and welcoming community was shattered. Racism, poverty, unemployment, unstable housing, inaccessible services, and sexual exploitation were commonly experienced by two-spirit youth. Many coped with their new situations by engaging in survival sex to pay the bills, or by using substances to cope with isolation, loss, and emotional pain. These factors can lead to potentially heightened risk situations for HIV among migrant two-spirit youth. In addition to a series of recommendations intended to meet their immediate service needs, we propose numerous strategies for longer-term change to improve quality of life for migrant two-spirit youth.


Discussions of race in the Theosophy of Helena P. Blavatsky and her followers sometimes evinces suggestions of racism. Any consideration of the topic, however, must be prefaced by defining whose Theosophy is being examined. Theosophy, as it is generally discussed by Theosophists, actually was introduced to the public by A. P. Sinnett9s Esoteric Buddhism (1883), which in turn was based upon the letters of the Mahatmas or Masters Koot Hoomi and Morya to Sinnett. The doctrine of the root races and their various subdivisions is part of Theosophical teachings, but the primary source is Blavatsky9s The Secret Doctrine (1888). This article argues that race in Theosophy is understood as not being limited to physical characteristics; rather, the Theosophical discussion of race encompasses both physical and spiritual evolution. Race as interpreted in The Secret Doctrine is not racist in intent, and the races are seen as having one thing in common, the divine spark that ultimately makes all races the same in essence.


In 2009 my work was shown in a solo exhibition at the Third Space Gallery. This exhibition comprised a selection of photographic works that had been produced as part of an AHRC funded research project (£15,000.00), which I was awarded in 2008 for a period of practice-based research (September 2008 - May 2009). This research project, entitled, "Reconsidering Landscape in Contemporary Photography", sought to make new links between the study of European landscape painting of the Romantic period, the consideration of landscape within the disciplines of social history and cultural studies, and contemporary fine art photography. The project asked whether, based on these links, new ways might be developed for landscape to be understood and represented within fine art photography. The photography carried out as part of for this research project, presented contemporary landscapes in response to styles and ideas developed in European, British and Irish landscape painting of the seventeenth - nineteenth centuries. Whilst this imagery made reference to these earlier landscape painting traditions, these works were not intended simply to mimic historical works or approaches, but to investigate and critique the political and social ideas that they present us with, and the contexts in which they were made. By bringing together a broad historical range of stylistic and theoretical approaches to landscape, the project found ways in which these ideas could be made relevant today. Most importantly, it asked how the complex political and historical issues brought up by the study of 'landscape' could be approached through the photography of contemporary landscapes. The works exhibited as part of this exhibition were: The Palace II (2008), Dead Pool (2008), Ridge I & II (2008), Rocks Forest Descending (2008), Later (2005).


The small calcium (Ca2+) binding protein S100A1 is as a critical regulator of cardiomyocyte Ca2+ handling thereby enhancing cardiac performance in vivo and in vitro. Our previous studies demonstrated that the positive inotropic effects of S100A1 are due to enhanced Ca2+ transients and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ load in isolated adult cardiomyocytes. These effects are independent of and in addition to cAMP-dependent positive inotropic mechanisms. However, inotropic interventions come at the risk of arrhythmogenic diastolic Ca2+ leakage when the SR Ca2+ content exceeds the threshold for spontaneous diastolic Ca2+ release. In a more recent study we could demonstrate that enhanced Ca2+ transients after S100A1 overexpression are associated with a reduced incidence of diastolic Ca2+ sparks and Ca2+ waves. These results favor the assumption that S100A1 might reduce the diastolic RyR2 leak, thereby impeding the development of pro-arrhythmogenic events.
Thus, the aim of this work was to investigate the effect of S100A1 on diastolic Ca2+ handling and on the impact of Ca2+-triggered arrhythmias in a multicellular system. For this reason, the 3-dimensional tissue culture model of Engineered Heart Tissue (EHT) was chosen. Due to its syncytial architecture, EHT closely mimics functional alterations, intercellular communication and reverse remodeling of whole hearts in vivo despite eased handling and pharmacological as well as therapeutic manipulations.
Pharmacological stimulation of EHT with endothelin-1 resulted in a heart failure-like phenotype with strong impairment of contractile performance. Adenoviral-mediated S100A1 overexpression was able to rescue failing EHT and resulted in superior contractility in normal EHT. Triggered contraction abnormalities, referred to as after-contractions, were induced by Ca2+ and β-AR stimulation and served as a surrogate of SOICR (store-overload-induced-Ca2+-release). S100A1 overexpression significantly protected against Ca2+ and β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) triggered after-contractions in normal and failing EHT. Despite persistent abnormal phosphorylation-dependent changes at the RyR2 and altered complex formation with accessory proteins, S100A1 overexpression enhanced S100A1/RyR2 stoichiometry, which seems to be key for S100A1's effects, combining inotropic and anti-arrhythmic potency.


Cisco NAC ApplianceEnforcing Host Security with Clean AccessAuthenticate, inspect, remediate, and authorize end-point devices using Cisco NAC ApplianceJamey Heary, CCIE® No. 7680Contributing authors: Jerry Lin, CCIE No. 6469,Chad Sullivan, CCIE No. 6493, and Alok AgrawalWith today's security challenges and threats growing more sophisticated, perimeter defense alone is no longer sufficient. Few organizations are closed entities with well-defined security perimeters, which has led to the creation of perimeterless networks with ubiquitous access. Organizations need to have internal security systems that are more comprehensive, pervasive, and tightly integrated than in the past.Cisco® Network Admission Control (NAC) Appliance, formerly known as Cisco Clean Access, provides a powerful host security policy inspection, enforcement, and remediation solution that is designed to meet these new challenges. Cisco NAC Appliance allows you to enforce host security policies on all hosts (managed and unmanaged) as they enter the interior of the network, regardless of their access method, ownership, device type, application set, or operating system. Cisco NAC Appliance provides proactive protection at the network entry point.Cisco NAC Appliance provides you with all the information needed to understand, design, configure, deploy, and troubleshoot the Cisco NAC Appliance solution. You will learn about all aspects of the NAC Appliance solution including configuration and best practices for design, implementation, troubleshooting, and creating a host security policy.Jamey Heary, CCIE® No. 7680, is a security consulting systems engineer at Cisco, where he works with its largest customers in the northwest United States. Jamey joined Cisco in 2000 and currently leads its Western Security Asset team and is a field advisor for its U.S. Security Virtual team. His areas of expertise include network and host security design and implementation, security regulatory compliance, and routing and switching. His other certifications include CISSP, CCSP®, and Microsoft MCSE. He is also a Certified HIPAA Security Professional. He has been working in the IT field for 13 years and in IT security for 9 years. Understand why network attacks and intellectual property losses can originate from internal network hosts Examine different NAC Appliance design options Build host security policies and assign the appropriate network access privileges for various user roles Streamline the enforcement of existing security policies with the concrete measures NAC Appliance can provide Set up and configure the NAC Appliance solution Learn best practices for the deployment of NAC Appliance Monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot the Cisco NAC Appliance solutionThis security book is part of the Cisco Press® Networking Technology Series. Security titles from Cisco Press help networking professionals secure critical data and resources, prevent and mitigate network attacks, and build end-to-end self-defending networks.Category: Cisco Pressi¾–SecurityCovers: End-Point Security


Abstract In the absence of long‐term instrumental data, the presence of fragile geologic features near active faults can provide physical limits on the level of ground shaking that could potentially have significant implications for seismic hazards. This paper introduces a multidisciplinary investigation that uses unfractured hoodoos in seismically active regions to constrain the level of ground accelerations at those locations. Although there is a large uncertainty associated with the age of the hoodoos because of their rapidly eroding nature, they can still be useful in providing physical limits on ground motions associated with recent large events. Here, we consider the fragilities of two hoodoos in the Red Rock Canyon region within a few kilometers of the Garlock fault, which is an active strike‐slip fault in a transtensional region with at least a few large earthquakes in the Holocene. The hoodoos at these sites could be evidence of median or relatively low ground motions associated with large transtensional strike‐slip earthquakes. Results of our field and laboratory tests on two hoodoos provide constraints on peak ground accelerations (PGAs) of and . Using the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) probabilistic seismic hazard (PSH) deaggregation, the dominant earthquake contributing to the hazard at the site of the hoodoos for the recurrence intervals of 475, 975, and 2475 years is located at a distance of 4.8 km and has a magnitude of 7.63, consistent with the observed paleoearthquake evidence on the Garlock fault. The PGAs corresponding to these three return periods are 0.26, 0.40, and , respectively. Therefore, the survival of the more fragile hoodoo during a presumably large event on the Garlock fault in the past 550 years would be consistent with the 2008 seismic hazard level if the ground motions during that event were below the median value.


Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems are in constant development and, therefore, it is of great importance to have rapid, efficient and accurate analytical methodology to quantify the encapsulated drugs. Here, simple and fast methods, by reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) and UV spectrophotometry, were developed and validated for the determination of methotrexate (MTX) in pH-sensitive chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs). NPs were prepared using a modified ionotropic complexation process, in which was included a surfactant derived from N α ,N e -dioctanoyl lysine with an inorganic sodium counterion. The RP-LC method was carried out on a Waters XBridge TM C18 column (250 mm x 4.6 mm I.D., 5μm), with mobile phase consisted of potassium phosphate buffer (0.05 M, pH 3.2): acetonitrile (86:14, v/v), and UV detection set at 303 nm. The analyses of MTX content by the UV method were also accomplished at 303 nm, using 0.1 M sodium hydroxide as diluent. The measurements were linearly correlated with concentration for both methods in the 1 - 30 μg/mL range (r > 0.9999). The specificity tests showed that there was no interference of the NP components on the quantitative analyses. Precision (repeatability and intermediate precision) was demonstrated by a relative standard deviation lower than 1.5%, whereas the accuracy was assessed by the recovery of MTX from sample matrices, given mean value of ~99%. The proposed methods were applied for the analyses of MTX in different batches of NPs, and the results showed non-significant differences ( p > 0.05) between the values obtained with both methodologies. Moreover, the RP-LC method was successfully used to determine the drug entrapment efficiency, and to quantify MTX during in vitro release assays and photolytic degradation studies. In conclusion, the validated methods are suitable to assay MTX in pH-sensitive CS-NPs without any interference from the polymer or surfactant.


This paper presents a simple yet effective design solution to facilitate technology scaling for hard disk drives (HDDs) being deployed in data centers. Emerging magnetic recording technologies improve storage areal density mainly through reducing the track pitch, which however makes HDDs subject to higher read retry rates. More frequent HDD read retries could cause intolerable tail latency for large-scale systems such as data centers. To reduce the occurrence of costly read retry, one intuitive solution is to apply erasure coding locally on each HDD or JBOD (just a bunch of disks). To be practically viable, local erasure coding must have very low coding redundancy, which demands very long codeword length (e.g., one codeword spans hundreds of 4kB sectors) and hence large file size. This makes local erasure coding mainly suitable for data center applications. This paper contends that local erasure coding should be implemented transparently within filesystems, and accordingly presents a basic design framework and elaborates on important design issues. Meanwhile, this paper derives the mathematical formulations for estimating its effect on reducing HDD read tail latency. Using Reed-Solomon (RS) based erasure codes as test vehicles, we carried out detailed analysis and experiments to evaluate its implementation feasibility and effectiveness. We integrated the developed design solution into ext4 to further demonstrate its feasibility and quantitatively measure its impact on average speed performance of various big data benchmarks.


Abstract Soil gas surveying is a method gaining in popularity for groundwater chlorinated solvent pollution studies, particularly in the USA. Previously published methods have advocated on-site analysis; this study presents a simple method where samples are transported to a laboratory for analysis, hence minimizing the need for specialized field analytical equipment and trained field personnel. Tests show the method provides reliable results, comparable with those of established on-site analysis methods. The soil gas surveying method has been applied to a contaminated industrial site where it was successful in defining an area of significant chlorinated solvent pollution. Preliminary analyses from investigation boreholes indicate that this area has severe groundwater pollution.


Purpose

This study aims to investigate trade credit as a financing source among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly the influence of short-term debt, long-term debt and profitability on the use of such credit.

Design/methodology/approach

Ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed-effects and generalized method of moments (GMM) system models were used to analyze a large cross-sectional panel data set of 15,897 Swedish SMEs in five industry sectors for the 2009-2012 period.

Findings

The study provides empirical evidence that long-term debt and profitability each significantly and negatively influence trade credit (i.e. accounts payable) and that short-term debt positively influences trade credit. Notably, while trade credit seems to complement other short-term debt, it replaces long-term debt. Moreover, firm size in terms of sales is positively related and firm age is negatively related to accounts payable. Industry affiliation is another significant explanatory variable.

Practical implications

The results provide debt holders, potential investors, policymakers and academic researchers with insights into the relationship between trade credit demand, on the one hand, and external financing (i.e. short- and long-term debt) and internal retained earnings (i.e. profit), on the other. From a manager's perspective, the findings may be important for decision-making regarding trade credit use.

Originality/value

When investigating trade credit determinants, the literature has seldom distinguished between short- and long-term debt and considered that they may influence the use of trade credit in different ways. The present study adds to the literature by using OLS, fixed-effects and GMM system models to analyze a large cross-sectoral sample in a high-tax country where both bank loans and trade credit are considered important financing instruments.


The past decade has witnessed a groundbreaking rise of machine learning for human language analysis, with current methods capable of automatically accurately recovering various aspects of syntax and semantics - including sentence structure and grounded word meaning - from large data collections. Recent research showed the promise of such tools for analyzing acoustic communication in nonhuman species. We posit that machine learning will be the cornerstone of future collection, processing, and analysis of multimodal streams of data in animal communication studies, including bioacoustic, behavioral, biological, and environmental data. Cetaceans are unique non-human model species as they possess sophisticated acoustic communications, but utilize a very different encoding system that evolved in an aquatic rather than terrestrial medium. Sperm whales, in particular, with their highly-developed neuroanatomical features, cognitive abilities, social structures, and discrete click-based encoding make for an excellent starting point for advanced machine learning tools that can be applied to other animals in the future. This paper details a roadmap toward this goal based on currently existing technology and multidisciplinary scientific community effort. We outline the key elements required for the collection and processing of massive bioacoustic data of sperm whales, detecting their basic communication units and language-like higher-level structures, and validating these models through interactive playback experiments. The technological capabilities developed by such an undertaking are likely to yield cross-applications and advancements in broader communities investigating non-human communication and animal behavioral research.


The well documented US excess returns on its net foreign assets is no exception at the world level. Excess returns on foreign assets owe largely to yield differential within the FDI asset class and are correlated to the corporate tax rate for a large sample of countries, consistently with tax motivated profit shifting by multinational corporations. Using French firm level data on dividends and reinvested earnings from foreign affiliates, I provide evidence and quantify the impact of corporate tax avoidance on international asset returns. Profit shifting inflates the investment income balance and accounts for the average 2 percentage points return differential between French FDI assets and liabilities. Missing profts in France, estimated at €36 billions or 1.6% of GDP in 2015, are mostly shifted to EU countries.


Dalton is a powerful general‐purpose program system for the study of molecular electronic structure at the Hartree–Fock, Kohn–Sham, multiconfigurational self‐consistent‐field, Møller–Plesset, configuration‐interaction, and coupled‐cluster levels of theory. Apart from the total energy, a wide variety of molecular properties may be calculated using these electronic‐structure models. Molecular gradients and Hessians are available for geometry optimizations, molecular dynamics, and vibrational studies, whereas magnetic resonance and optical activity can be studied in a gauge‐origin‐invariant manner. Frequency‐dependent molecular properties can be calculated using linear, quadratic, and cubic response theory. A large number of singlet and triplet perturbation operators are available for the study of one‐, two‐, and three‐photon processes. Environmental effects may be included using various dielectric‐medium and quantum‐mechanics/molecular‐mechanics models. Large molecules may be studied using linear‐scaling and massively parallel algorithms. Dalton is distributed at no cost from http://www.daltonprogram.org for a number of UNIX platforms.


Abstract. Satellite cloud detection over snow and ice has been difficult for passive
remote sensing instruments due to the lack of contrast between clouds and
cold/bright surfaces; cloud mask algorithms often heavily rely on shortwave
infrared (IR) channels over such surfaces. The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera
(EPIC) on board the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) does not have
infrared channels, which makes cloud detection over snow and ice surfaces
even more challenging. This study investigates the methodology of applying
EPIC's two oxygen absorption band pair ratios in the A band (764, 780 nm) and
B band (688, 680 nm) for cloud detection over the snow and ice surfaces.
We develop a novel elevation and zenith-angle-dependent threshold scheme
based on radiative transfer model simulations that achieves significant
improvements over the existing algorithm. When compared against a composite
cloud mask based on geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) and low Earth orbit
(LEO) sensors, the positive detection rate over snow and ice surfaces
increased from around 36 % to 65 % while the false detection rate
dropped from 50 % to 10 % for observations of January 2016 and 2017. The
improvement in July is less substantial due to relatively better performance
in the current algorithm. The new algorithm is applicable for all snow and
ice surfaces including Antarctic, sea ice, high-latitude snow, and
high-altitude glacier regions. This method is less reliable when clouds are
optically thin or below 3 km because the sensitivity is low in oxygen band
ratios for these cases.


In order to better address energy and indoor air quality issues, ventilation needs to become smarter. A key smart ventilation concept is to use controls to ventilate more at times it provides either an energy or IAQ advantage (or both) and less when it provides a disadvantage. This would be done in a manner that provides improved home energy and IAQ performance, relative to a "dumb" base case. A favorable context exists in many countries to develop smart ventilation strategies. As a result, DCV systems are largely and easily available on the market, with more than 20-30 DCV systems approved and available in countries such as Belgium, France and the Netherlands. This paper proposes a literature review on smart ventilation used in residential buildings, developing the energy and indoor air quality performances. Analysis of 38 studies with various smart ventilation systems based on CO2-, humidity-, combined CO2- and TVOC-, occupancy-, outdoor temperature-controlled ventilation and smart ventilation strategies, shows that ventilation energy savings up to 60% could be obtained without compromising, and sometimes improving, IAQ. But that sometimes worst performances were obtained with an order of magnitude of energy savings between -26% and +60%.


The amount of interplanetary dust impacting the Earth's atmosphere is still not well estimated, in terms of
total mass, size distribution, and concentration of particles. We propose to apply the counting techniques used
in the Earth's atmosphere for determining the concentration of liquid and solid aerosols, to the detection of
these interplanetary particles. The main differences with the Earth's atmosphere measurements are the very low
concentrations, the high speed of the particles (at least several km/s) and the space conditions.
We have developed recently an innovative design of aerosols counter, called LOAC, which provides the concen-
trations for 19 size classes of particles in the 0.2-50 micrometer range, and also an estimate of their typology (or
their light absorbing properties). The particles are injected through a laser beam via a pumping system, and two
photodiodes record the light scattered. This instrument combines the measurements at two different angles, the
first at around 15° being insensitive to the refractive index and porosity of the particles, and the second one around
60° being very sensitive to the nature of the particles. LOAC is used in routine since 5 years on the ground and
from all kinds of balloons for the troposphere (mainly pollution) and stratosphere monitoring, and is also involved
in various international campaigns.
An updated version of LOAC is in development for space applications, essentially for in situ measurements
planetary atmospheres. LOAC can also be modified for the detection of high velocity particles, by using a light
source of several cm long instead of a laser beam. No pump is needed, since the particles will cross an open cell
oriented at a constant angle from the motion of the instrument. This instrument could perform measurements in
Earth orbit, onboard a micro-satellite or on the International Space Station.
We will present this new concept of instrument, and how the measurements can be used to better constrain the
nature and flux of the incoming interplanetary materia


This practical guide covers the essential tasks in statistical data analysis encountered in high energy physics and provides comprehensive advice for typical questions and problems. The basic methods for inferring results from data are presented as well as tools for advanced tasks such as improving the signal-to-background ratio, correcting detector effects, determining systematics and many others. Concrete applications are discussed in analysis walkthroughs. Each chapter is supplemented by numerous examples and exercises and by a list of literature and relevant links. The book targets a broad readership at all career levels - from students to senior researchers. An accompanying website provides more algorithms as well as up-to-date information and links.* Free solutions manual available for lecturers at www.wiley-vch.de/supplements/


As a consequence of the sustainable politics demanding regulations that allow the use of more efficient ventilation systems, the IAQ Spanish regulations were modified and enforced in 2017. The new regulations became performance-based in order to accommodate the use of systems which are capable of adapting required ventilation rates to real needs. The new requirement is based on both CO2 concentration and a minimum ventilation rate. The new IAQ requirement is able to keep acceptable IAQ values and to reduce energy demand in relation to the previous IAQ requirement.


Automated specification, generation and execution of high level missions involving one or more heterogeneous unmanned aircraft systems is in its infancy. Much previous effort has been focused on the development of air vehicle platforms themselves together with the avionics and sensor subsystems that implement basic navigational skills. In order to increase the degree of autonomy in such systems so they can successfully participate in more complex mission scenarios such as those considered in emergency rescue that also include ongoing interactions with human operators, new architectural components and functionalities will be required to aid not only human operators in mission planning, but also the unmanned aircraft systems themselves in the automatic generation, execution and partial verification of mission plans to achieve mission goals. This article proposes a formal framework and architecture based on the unifying concept of delegation that can be used for the automated specification, generation and execution of high-level collaborative missions involving one or more air vehicles platforms and human operators. We describe an agent-based software architecture, a temporal logic-based mission specification language, a distributed temporal planner and a task specification language that when integrated provide a basis for the generation, instantiation and execution of complex collaborative missions on heterogeneous air vehicle systems. A prototype of the framework is operational in a number of autonomous unmanned aircraft systems developed in our research lab.


Background: Evidence-based guidelines are needed for effective delivery of home oxygen therapy to appropriate patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung disease (ILD). Methods: The multidisciplinary panel created six research questions using a modified Delphi approach. A systematic review of the literature was completed, and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was used to formulate clinical recommendations. Recommendations: The panel found varying quality and availability of evidence and made the following judgments: 1) strong recommendations for long-term oxygen use in patients with COPD (moderate-quality evidence) or ILD (low-quality evidence) with severe chronic resting hypoxemia, 2) a conditional recommendation against long-term oxygen use in patients with COPD with moderate chronic resting hypoxemia, 3) conditional recommendations for ambulatory oxygen use in patients with COPD (moderate-quality evidence) or ILD (low-quality evidence) with severe exertional hypoxemia, 4) a conditional recommendation for ambulatory liquid-oxygen use in patients who are mobile outside the home and require >3 L/min of continuous-flow oxygen during exertion (very-low-quality evidence), and 5) a recommendation that patients and their caregivers receive education on oxygen equipment and safety (best-practice statement). Conclusions: These guidelines provide the basis for evidence-based use of home oxygen therapy in adults with COPD or ILD but also highlight the need for additional research to guide clinical practice.


Preservation of the morphological integrity of demineralized dentin collagen in its hydrated state may account for the success observed in wet-bonding procedures. This study investigated the micromorphological differences between moist- and dry-bonding techniques with the use of: (a) Aelitebond, an alcohol-based, water-free, single-component dentin adhesive primer system; and (b) a water-free, acetone-based experimental primer similar to the acetone-based, water-containing All-Bond 2, a two-component primer system. In the wet groups, acid-conditioned dentin surfaces were blotted so that they remained visibly moist prior to bonding. In the dry groups, dentin surfaces were air-dried for 30 sec. Following the bonding procedures, dentin discs in each group were laminated together by means of a chemical-cure resin and processed for scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) examination. Conditioning with 10% H3PO4 for 20 sec. produced complete demineralization of the outer dentin. In the wet groups, banded collagen and interfibrillar spaces could be observed at the surface of the acid-conditioned dentin. Complete wetting of the loosely arranged collagen fibrils by the resin resulted in the formation of a hybrid layer. In the dry groups, only a very thin hybrid layer was observed on the dentin surface, along the walls of the tubules, and along the course of their lateral branches. The absence of banded collagen and interfibrillar spaces within these areas suggested the existence of a collapsed dentin matrix along various liquid-vapor boundaries that restricted resin permeation into the subsurface intertubular matrix, producing an incompletely infiltrated "hybridoid region".


The policy of hospital autonomy has been discussed for some time in Uganda. There is little evidence from Uganda or elsewhere that increased autonomy will improve hospital performance. This article compares the performance of three private not-for-profit (PNFP) and public hospital pairs to address this question. PNFP and public hospitals have similar management structures but PNFP hospitals had better trained managers and a church affiliated chair in the hospital management committee. Both types have problems with personnel management but these appear more pronounced in public hospitals. Drug supply management appears better in PNFP hospitals. Overall, workloads are similar, but analysis of patterns of utilisation and prices across services suggest that patient choice of facilities is influenced by relative price levels, and that willingness to pay is higher for PNFP services. PNFP hospitals are more successful at generating revenue. There are no clear differences in efficiency between PNFP and public hospitals but there is some evidence of higher quality levels in PNFP hospitals. PNFP hospitals' performance is plausibly related to three areas of managerial autonomy. First, better management of drug supply is facilitated by their freedom to purchase drugs from the open market. Second, greater success with personnel management is plausibly related to their greater autonomy over staffing. Third, higher levels of cost recovery are enabled by their freedom to set fees. However, differences in accountability and competence of hospital management, and population willingness to pay for services may also help to explain differences. Further, the use of PNFP financing strategy by public hospitals has implications for universal access to hospital services. Although there appear to be potential advantages from greater public hospital autonomy, the Ugandan government should ensure it has developed strategies to enhance public hospital management and to protect access to public hospitals before advancing further with hospital autonomy policy. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A matched case-control study of infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) risk factors in Norwegian salmonid sea sites was performed in 1993. The distribution of potential exposure factors associated with the site management and location was compared in 2 paired groups of sea sites, one group comprising 37 ISA-positive sites and the other 37 1SA-negative sites. The risk of ISA was found to be significantly associated with the location of the site. Location within 5 km from a salmonid slaughterhouse gave an ISA odds ratio of 13.0 compared to location further away. The risk of infection increased by 8.0 if the site was situated closer than 5 km to another ISA-positive site as compared to the risk when the site was more than 5 km away. Disinfecting the waste water from the slaughtering and processing plants seemed to prevent transmission of ISA. The density of fish markets for sea-caught fish was higher in the vicinity of cases than of controls. The risk of ISA was associated with the number of hatcheries delivering smolt to the sea sites, and the risk increased if the hatcheries were located outside the site's home county. The overall results from the present study indlcate that 1SA is mainly transmitted from infected salmonid sources to clean sites through sea water Further disease control measures should concentrate on minimising the risk of transmission through sea water by shortening the time period between the diagnosis of ISA and the elimination of posltive sites, and should work towards the establishment of 5 km as a minimum distance between sea sites In addition, decontamination systenls must be systematically introduced into the fish processing industry. The implementation of good sanitary practices by fish farmers may also reduce the nsk of ISA.


Despite the ubiquitous use of videos in online learning and enormous literature on designing online learning, there has been relatively little research on what pedagogical strategies should be used to make the most of video lessons and what constitutes an effective video for student learning. We experimented with a model of incorporating four pedagogical strategies, four instructional phases, and four production guidelines-in designing and developing video lessons for an online graduate course. In this paper, we share our experience as well as students' perceptions of their effectiveness. We also discuss what needs to be done for future research.


Hierarchical structures found in nature exhibit specific properties such as low wettability or low reflectance. The aim of this initial study is to present the behaviour of a synthetic hierarchical structure prepared by the replication of plant surfaces, such as from the pansy flower. Natural materials serve their purpose for the necessary time. Synthetic hierarchical structures should be used in technical practice in the long term, for precisely required purposes. However, they do not have self-repairing capabilities, since they are not dynamic but static systems. The polyethylene used to replicate the selected natural structure shows very good results and the prepared replicas match the natural patterns very well. In addition, polyethylene is a commercially available, easy-to-process material with satisfactory mechanical properties. Its disadvantage is easy scratching of the surface. Depending on the material used and the specific nature of the surface structure, different pH environments (pH 5, pH 9) were selected for the evaluation of degradation. Circulating water with quartz sand particles of 20 to 60 microns were selected for surface abrasion simulation. Furthermore, the degradation test of samples in an outdoor environment and evaluation of selected substances adsorption on the sample surface was performed. The degradation processes were monitored and evaluated for 1 month in this initial study. Scanning electron microscopy was used as a basic method for characterization of polymer replicas surface changes.


Energy and environmental issues are among the major concerns facing the global community today. Transportation fuel represents a large proportion of energy consumption, not only in the US, but also world-wide. As fossil fuel is being depleted, new substitutes are needed to provide energy. Ethanol, which has been produced mainly from the fermentation of corn starch in the US, has been regarded as one of the main liquid transportation fuels that can take the place of fossil fuel. However, limitations in the supply of starch are creating a need for different substrates. Forest biomass is believed to be one of the most abundant sources of sugars, although much research has been reported on herbaceous grass, agricultural residue, and municipal waste. The use of biomass sugars entails pretreatment to disrupt the lignin-carbohydrate complex and expose carbohydrates to enzymes. This paper reviews pretreatment technologies from the perspective of their potential use with wood, bark, and forest residues. Acetic acid catalysis is suggested for the first time to be used in steam explosion pretreatment. Its pretreat-ment economics, as well as that for ammonia fiber explosion pretreatment, is estimated. This analysis suggests that both are promising techniques worthy of further exploration or optimization for commercialization.


ABSTRACT: In a world filled with poverty, environmental degradation, and moral injustice, social enterprises offer a ray of hope. These organizations seek to achieve social missions through business ventures. Yet social missions and business ventures are associated with divergent goals, values, norms, and identities. Attending to them simultaneously creates tensions, competing demands, and ethical dilemmas. Effectively understanding social enterprises therefore depends on insight into the nature and management of these tensions. While existing research recognizes tensions between social missions and business ventures, we lack any systematic analysis. Our paper addresses this issue. We first categorize the types of tensions that arise between social missions and business ventures, emphasizing their prevalence and variety. We then explore how four different organizational theories offer insight into these tensions, and we develop an agenda for future research. We end by arguing that a focus on social-business tensions not only expands insight into social enterprises, but also provides an opportunity for research on social enterprises to inform traditional organizational theories. Taken together, our analysis of tensions in social enterprises integrates and seeks to energize research on this expanding phenomenon.


First description of reproductive behavior of the Amazonian damselfly Chalcopteryx rutilans (Rambur) (Odonata, Polythoridae). Polythoridae comprise a widespread group of species in the New World tropics, but little is known about their behavior or life history. Here, we described the reproductive behavior of Amazonian Chalchopteryx rutilans, using mark-recapture techniques. Males were resident and territorial, though we found disputes (complex flight manoeuvres) to be rare. Trunks (rotting wood) were important to male persistence in sites, as these are the locations preferred by females for oviposition. The mating system of C. rutilans may be comparable to the resource limitation category, described by Conrad & Pritchard (1992), where males cannot control female access to oviposition sites. So, female choice becomes important and apparently, the observed displays (in which males flash the coppery coloration of their hind wings) may be related to attraction of females to territories, as in a lek system.


65 years ago, Ronald Coase (1937) asked what determines whether production will be organized in a firm or through the market, later coined the "make-or-buy" decision. This question was put center stage by Oliver Williamson (1975, 1985) who further developed Transaction Costs Economics(TCE), arguing that incomplete contracts and specific relationships overshadowed by opportunism, asymmetric information and bounded rationality, will lead vertical processes to integrate. Benjamin Klein et al. (1978) enhanced TCE with the "hold-up" problem: in the face of incomplete contracts, specificity and opportunistic behavior, integration can help promote ex ante investment incentives. Sanford Grossman and Oliver Hart (1986) (followed by Hart and John Moore (1990)) developed the Property Rights Theory (PRT) of the firm (See Hart, 1995). PRT formally model the hold-up problem, offered a precise definition of integration via ownership and residual control rights, and analyzed the costs and benefits of integration in a unified manner. However, PRT narrowed the focus of the make-or-buy question on one type of transaction cost - the hold up problem. This paper focuses attention on a different kind of transaction cost: haggling and friction due to ex post changes and adaptations when contracts are incomplete. The level of a transaction's complexity, which is associated with contractual incompleteness, will be the shifting parameter that determines both incentive schemes and integration decisions. This focus is motivated by a careful examination of procurement decisions in industry, and has strong empirical content since the exogenous shifter (complexity) seems easier to measure than specificity.


Mission critical data dissemination in massive Internet of things (IoT) networks imposes constraints on the message transfer delay between devices. Due to low power and communication range of IoT devices, data is foreseen to be relayed over multiple device-to-device (D2D) links before reaching the destination. The coexistence of a massive number of IoT devices poses a challenge in maximizing the successful transmission capacity of the overall network alongside reducing the multi-hop transmission delay in order to support mission critical applications. There is a delicate interplay between the carrier sensing threshold of the contention based medium access protocol and the choice of packet forwarding strategy selected at each hop by the devices. The fundamental problem in optimizing the performance of such networks is to balance the tradeoff between conflicting performance objectives such as the spatial frequency reuse, transmission quality, and packet progress towards the destination. In this paper, we use a stochastic geometry approach to quantify the performance of multi-hop massive IoT networks in terms of the spatial frequency reuse and the transmission quality under different packet forwarding schemes. We also develop a comprehensive performance metric that can be used to optimize the system to achieve the best performance. The results can be used to select the best forwarding scheme and tune the carrier sensing threshold to optimize the performance of the network according to the delay constraints and transmission quality requirements.


This article seeks to identify whether the current model of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) implementation has been successful and concludes that it has been partially successful but could not be improved. It takes a view that enhancing the framework within which the public and private sectors interact and developing a formula that maximizes the best of public-and-private-sector skills could minimize the disparity in institutional objectives and result in more effective implementation. Moreover, addressing the implementation at a sector level as opposed to a project level, and defining the roles and responsibilities of each party is an integral part of effective implementation/ the article ends with proposing an alternative model for improving the implementation process.


Private equity investors are edging into a new investment class: power generation plants. These facilities may offer higher returns with lower risks than other types of asset plays. Power plants found their way into many funds' portfolios through their acquisition of distressed debt or equity securities. Gradually the funds overcame problems in selling existing facilities at a profit, and some are now investing in new plants and power plant developers. Although the market for power is very dynamic, subject to extremes in its ebb and flow, attractive opportunities exist for investors who can understand and price the risks inherent in such investments.


In this thesis, patterns of variation in plant metabolomes and insect communities were described in GM and non-GM potato plants in both laboratory and field experiments. Differences between plant genotypes in insect abundances were small when compared to year-to-year differences, location effects and differences between developmental stages of plants. Standardized effect sizes are discussed as an alternative scale for measuring effects. Leaf age, aphid infestation and virus infection were found to cause significant alterations in leaf metabolism in a laboratory study as measured by 1H NMR. However, these changes were similar in quantity and quality in both GM and non-GM plants. Furthermore, 1H NMR metabolomic profiles of potato plants were measured in a 2-year field study. Large changes in metabolomic profiles occurred across years and locations, and throughout the growth period of plants within years. Only weak relationships were found between metabolomics data and insect abundances on the same experimental fields. GxE interactions imply that conclusions from field trials are not valid outside the range of tested environments. This emphasizes the need for a careful choice of representative geographical zones for risk assessment studies. However, it also shows that a residual level of uncertainty in NTO safety is unavoidable.


A mathematical model is proposed to account for the interactions between Ca2+ and cyclic AMP in the process of glucose-induced insulin release. This model allows simulation of experimental findings such as the glucose-induced accumulation of cyclic AMP in islet cells, the calcium dependency of the latter accumulation, the time course of 45Ca net uptake by the islets exposed to glucose and/or a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, the stimulation of insulin release by glucose, the suppression of such a release at low extracellular Ca2+ concentration and its amplification by phosphodiesterase inhibitors, the restoration of a significant secretory response to glucose in islets deprived of Ca2+ but exposed to a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, and the usual relationship between 45Ca net uptake and insulin release. All these data refer to studies performed over a 90-min incubation. The model is not suitable, however, to simulate the rapid response of the islet cells during the first few minutes that follow a change in the environment of the islets.


Many important problems involve decision making under uncertainty -- that is, choosing actions based on often imperfect observations, with unknown outcomes. Designers of automated decision support systems must take into account the various sources of uncertainty while balancing the multiple objectives of the system. This book provides an introduction to the challenges of decision making under uncertainty from a computational perspective. It presents both the theory behind decision making models and algorithms and a collection of example applications that range from speech recognition to aircraft collision avoidance. Focusing on two methods for designing decision agents, planning and reinforcement learning, the book covers probabilistic models, introducing Bayesian networks as a graphical model that captures probabilistic relationships between variables; utility theory as a framework for understanding optimal decision making under uncertainty; Markov decision processes as a method for modeling sequential problems; model uncertainty; state uncertainty; and cooperative decision making involving multiple interacting agents. A series of applications shows how the theoretical concepts can be applied to systems for attribute-based person search, speech applications, collision avoidance, and unmanned aircraft persistent surveillance. Decision Making Under Uncertainty unifies research from different communities using consistent notation, and is accessible to students and researchers across engineering disciplines who have some prior exposure to probability theory and calculus. It can be used as a text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in fields including computer science, aerospace and electrical engineering, and management science. It will also be a valuable professional reference for researchers in a variety of disciplines.


OBJECTIVE
To present a clinical version of the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts and to compare them with the previous version, the 1977 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) growth charts.

METHODS
The 2000 CDC percentile curves were developed in 2 stages. In the first stage, the empirical percentiles were smoothed by a variety of parametric and nonparametric procedures. To obtain corresponding percentiles and z scores, we approximated the smoothed percentiles using a modified LMS estimation procedure in the second stage. The charts include of a set of curves for infants, birth to 36 months of age, and a set for children and adolescents, 2 to 20 years of age.

RESULTS
The charts represent a cross-section of children who live in the United States; breastfed infants are represented on the basis of their distribution in the US population. The 2000 CDC growth charts more closely match the national distribution of birth weights than did the 1977 NCHS growth charts, and the disjunction between weight-for-length and weight-for-stature or length-for-age and stature-for-age found in the 1977 charts has been corrected. Moreover, the 2000 CDC growth charts can be used to obtain both percentiles and z scores. Finally, body mass index-for-age charts are available for children and adolescents 2 to 20 years of age.

CONCLUSION
The 2000 CDC growth charts are recommended for use in the United States. Pediatric clinics should make the transition from the 1977 NCHS to the 2000 CDC charts for routine monitoring of growth in infants, children, and adolescents.


Superconductivity in iron selenides has experienced a rapid growth, but not without major inconsistencies in the reported properties. For alkali-intercalated iron selenides, even the structure of the superconducting phase is a subject of debate, in part because the onset of superconductivity is affected much more delicately by stoichiometry and preparation than in cuprate or pnictide superconductors. If high-quality, pure, superconducting intercalated iron selenides are ever to be made, the intertwined physics and chemistry must be explained by systematic studies of how these materials form and by and identifying the many coexisting phases. To that end, we prepared pure K${}_{2}$Fe${}_{4}$Se${}_{5}$ powder and superconductors in the K${}_{x}$Fe${}_{2\ensuremath{-}y}$Se${}_{2}$ system, and examined differences in their structures by high-resolution synchrotron and single-crystal x-ray diffraction. We found four distinct phases: semiconducting K${}_{2}$Fe${}_{4}$Se${}_{5}$, a metallic superconducting phase K${}_{x}$Fe${}_{2}$Se${}_{2}$ with $x$ ranging from 0.38 to 0.58, the phase KFe${}_{1.6}$Se${}_{2}$ with full K occupancy and no Fe vacancy ordering, and a oxidized phase K${}_{0.51(5)}$Fe${}_{0.70(2)}$Se that forms the PbClF structure upon exposure to moisture. We find that the vacancy-ordered phase K${}_{2}$Fe${}_{4}$Se${}_{5}$ does not become superconducting by doping, but the distinct iron-rich minority phase K${}_{x}$Fe${}_{2}$Se${}_{2}$ precipitates from single crystals upon cooling from above the vacancy ordering temperature. This coexistence of separate metallic and semiconducting phases explains a broad maximum in resistivity around 100 K. Further studies to understand the solubility of excess Fe in the K${}_{x}$Fe${}_{2\ensuremath{-}y}$Se${}_{2}$ structure will shed light on the maximum fraction of superconducting K${}_{x}$Fe${}_{2}$Se${}_{2}$ that can be obtained by solid state synthesis.


We present a method of using one-dimensional dielectric multilayer structures for designing terahertz frequency spreading filters. The interference of terahertz pulses in these structures composed of alternating weak and strong refractive materials allows design of well-separated THz frequency components within a modulation-limited THz spectral envelope. The design characteristics of these coarse THz combs are limited by the saturation effect and also by the deformation of the THz pulse time-traveling within the structure. The details of the designed THz waveform synthesis from these THz multilayer spectral filters are verified by experiments using time-domain terahertz pulsed spectroscopy.


International Journal of Exercise Science 8(1) : 65-74, 2015. The current popularity of high intensity anaerobic training has caused concerns over the safety and prevalence of conditions such as rhabdomyolysis; thus it is important to understand the possible risks of participating in this type of activity. The purpose of this study was to determine the magnitude of muscle damage associated with a single high intensity anaerobic training session, and the relationship of this response to markers of fitness. Fifteen recreationally trained male participants (age 22.9 ± 4.3 y, mass 87.3 ± 15.6 kg, body fat 16.8 ± 6.4%, VO2 peak 50.1 ± 7.2 ml · kg-1 · min -1 ) completed a single anaerobic training session consisting of high intensity plyometrics and calisthenics. Prior to the exercise session, participants completed a maximal aerobic capacity test, body composition analysis, and a military physical fitness test (1 min push-ups, 54 ± 14; 1 min sit-ups, 45 ± 11; 1.5 mile run, 12:17 ± 0.067 min). Serum creatine kinase (CK) was measured prior to and 48 h following the exercise session. CK at 48 h (126.3 ± 68.9 U· L -1 ) did not reach the limits indicating rhabdomyolysis (~881-1479 U/L) but was elevated above resting (CK resting 90.5 ± 53.4). VO2 peak (L · m -1 ) had a positive correlation with CK levels (r = .51; p < 0.05) but body mass or any other indicator of fitness did not correlate. An increase in serum CK levels occurred, but did not reach levels of rhabdomyolysis, suggesting that a single high intensity exercise session is safe for healthy individuals who exercise regularly.


Abstract The present study aimed at developing a small animal transplantation model of accelerated calcifying degeneration, in order to evaluate degenerative in vivo processes in biological heart valves and vascular implants. Male Wistar rats (recipients) with an interventionally induced aortic insufficiency grade II – III (AI; day -14) were fed with a diet containing high-dose vitamin D, cholesterol and calciumphosphate. Aortic conduits of Sprague-Dawley rats (donors) were decellularized according to a detergent-based protocol and infrarenally implanted (day 0) in an end-to-side manner in the recipients (group A; n = 6). Cryopreserved implants served as controls (group B; n = 6). Doppler sonography was conducted at days -14, 0, 28 and 84. Graft explantation, histological and immunohistochemical analyses were performed at days 28 and 84. In all recipients AI grade II – III with subsequent reversed diastolic flow in the abdominal aorta was confirmed. Sonographic competence of the conduit perfusion and overall survival were 100%. After 12 weeks severe calcification of the native aortic media as well as of the aortic conduit implants was observed (vKossa staining), however, in group A diet-induced calcification was significantly lower as compared to group B (p <0.01). Histological evaluation of the conduit implants revealed an intimal hyperplasia, involving α-smooth muscle actin expressing cells, with an increased intima-to-media ratio (p < 0.001) and inflammatory activity (CD3+) in group B versus group A. During the later follow-up, intimal hyperplasia and severe calcification aggravated. After 12 weeks, in opposite to group A explants, all grafts of group B contained Syndecan-3-expressing cells with a chondroid phenotype. Our rapidly calcifying rat transplantation model enables detailed evaluation of native and tissue-engineered aortic conduits, especially in terms of degenerative processes. Compared to cryopreserved grafts, decellularization significantly diminished the calcifying degeneration and intimal hyperplasia of aortic conduit implants. Further work will focus on the characterization of the de novo interstitial repopulation, particularly on the nature of the chondroid cells and their role in graft degeneration.


Over the past three years PHP has evolved from being a niche language used to add dynamic functionality to small sites to a powerful tool making strong inroads into large-scale, business-critical Web systems.The rapid maturation of PHP has created a skeptical population of users from more traditional "enterprise" languages who question the readiness and ability of PHP to scale, as well as a large population of PHP developers without formal computer science backgrounds who have learned through the hands-on experimentation while developing small and midsize applications in PHP.While there are many books on learning PHP and developing small applications with it, there is a serious lack of information on "scaling" PHP for large-scale, business-critical systems. Schlossnagle's Advanced PHP Programming fills that void, demonstrating that PHP is ready for enterprise Web applications by showing the reader how to develop PHP-based applications for maximum performance, stability, and extensibility.


Abstract. Nitrate (N-NO3) concentration in groundwater, the sole source of potable water in Prince Edward Island (PEI, Canada), currently exceeds the 10 mg L−1 (N-NO3) health threshold for drinking water in 6 % of domestic wells. Increasing climatic and socio-economic pressures on PEI agriculture may further deteriorate groundwater quality. This study assesses how groundwater nitrate concentration could evolve due to the forecasted climate change and its related potential changes in agricultural practices. For this purpose, a tridimensional numerical groundwater flow and mass transport model was developed for the aquifer system of the entire Island (5660 km2). A number of different groundwater flow and mass transport simulations were made to evaluate the potential impact of the projected climate change and agricultural adaptation. According to the simulations for year 2050, N-NO3 concentration would increase due to two main causes: (1) the progressive attainment of steady-state conditions related to present-day nitrogen loadings, and (2) the increase in nitrogen loadings due to changes in agricultural practices provoked by future climatic conditions. The combined effects of equilibration with loadings, climate and agricultural adaptation would lead to a 25 to 32 % increase in N-NO3 concentration over the Island aquifer system. The change in groundwater recharge regime induced by climate change (with current agricultural practices) would only contribute 0 to 6 % of that increase for the various climate scenarios. Moreover, simulated trends in groundwater N-NO3 concentration suggest that an increased number of domestic wells (more than doubling) would exceed the nitrate drinking water criteria. This study underlines the need to develop and apply better agricultural management practices to ensure sustainability of long-term groundwater resources. The simulations also show that observable benefits from positive changes in agricultural practices would be delayed in time due to the slow dynamics of nitrate transport within the aquifer system.


We study the contextual bandit problem with linear payo functions, which is a generalization of the traditional multi-armed bandit problem. In the contextual bandit problem, the learner needs to iteratively select an action based on an observed context, and receives a linear score on only the selected action as the reward feedback. Motivated by the observation that better performance is achievable if the other rewards on the non-selected actions can also be revealed to the learner, we propose a new framework that feeds the learner with pseudo-rewards, which are estimates of the rewards on the non-selected actions. We argue that the pseudo-rewards should better contain over-estimates of the true rewards, and propose a forgetting mechanism to decrease the negative inuence of the over-estimation in the long run. Then, we couple the two key ideas above with the linear upper condence bound (LinUCB) algorithm to design a novel algorithm called linear pseudo-reward upper condence bound (LinPRUCB). We prove that LinPRUCB shares the same order of regret bound to LinUCB, while enjoying the practical observation of faster reward-gathering in the earlier iterations. Experiments on articial and real-world data sets justify that LinPRUCB is competitive to and sometimes even better than LinUCB. Furthermore, we couple LinPRUCB with a special parameter to formalize a new algorithm that yields faster computation in updating the internal models while keeping the promising practical performance. The two properties match the real-world needs of the contextual bandit problem and make the new algorithm a favorable choice in practice.


The enzymatic degradation of cellulose is an important process, both ecologically and commercially. The three-dimensional structure of a cellulase, the enzymatic core of CBHII from the fungus Trichoderma reesei reveals an alpha-beta protein with a fold similar to but different from the widely occurring barrel topology first observed in triose phosphate isomerase. The active site of CBHII is located at the carboxyl-terminal end of a parallel beta barrel, in an enclosed tunnel through which the cellulose threads. Two aspartic acid residues, located in the center of the tunnel are the probable catalytic residues.


X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS or ESCA) has been employed to investigate the changes in the surface chemistry of polymers produced by their exposure to plasmas and ion beams and the chemistry of thin polymeric films produced by the ion beam irradiation of films of condensed organic material. Modification by hydrogen plasmas of fluoropolymers is shown to result in extensive defluorination and hydrogenation of the surface regions of the polymer to a depth of ~20A. In the initial stages of the reaction ESCA analysis reveals the presence of a smooth reaction gradient within the ESCA sampling depth. The modification is accompanied by extensive crosslinking of the polymer surface. A model is also proposed to account for these observations. In order to try and gain an insight into the contributions of the various components of a plasma with polymer surfaces the interaction of low energy (l-5keV) argon ions with fluoropolymer and polymers containing cajbon hydrogen and oxygen were studied. The reaction leads to the depletion of the surface region in the most electronegative components of the polymer. The modification, irrespective of the beam energy used, is homogeneous within the ESCA sampling depth using Mg(_ka1,2) radiation. The polymers all lead to the formation of a highly crosslinked, unsaturated carbonaceous surface layer on bombardment. This defunctionalisation is marked in the ESCA spectra by modifications in the lineshape of the C(_1s) photoionisation peak, the asymmetry of which has been found to, in a qualitative sense at least, reflect the presence of unsaturation in the systems. The exposure of condensed films of hexafluorobonzene to relatively low doses of argon ions has been shown to result in the formation of a thin film of an involatile polymeric residue. The product bears a striking resemblance in its chemistry to that of plasma polymerised films of hexafluorobenzene. Apart from the potential ability of such films, e.g. as dielectric films in microelectronics fabrication, they also illustrate the link between the interactions of ion beams with organic materials and plasmolysis of such materials. The thermal stability of films produced by the ion beam induced polymerisation and plasma polymerisation of hexafluorobenzene is also investigated.