This paper presents a method to teach a robot to play Ping Pong from failed demonstrations in a highly noisy and uncertain setting. To infer useful information from failed demonstrations, we use a MultiDonut Algorithm (Grollman and Billard, 2012) that minimises the probability of repeating a failed demonstration and generates new attempts similar but not quite the same as the demonstration. We compare human demonstrations against a random strategy and show that human demonstrations provide useful information and hence yield faster learning, especially in higher dimensions. We show that learning from observing failed attempts allows the robot to perform the task more reliably than any individual demonstrator did. We also show how this algorithm adapts to gradual deterioration in the system and increases the chances of success when interacting with an unreliable system.


1973 was a period in the history of the Atlantic Alliance when United States and European interests diverged to an unprecedented degree. Kissinger's Year of Europe initiative (1973/74) and the associated proposal, originally for a new Atlantic Charter and later for a less far-reaching declaration of principles, was an American attempt to inspire an explicit restatement of Alliance obligations. The intention was to take account of changes in the Atlantic relationship consequent upon EEC enlargement, economic pressures, and a dwindling of US domestic support for commitments to Europe at a time of detente with the USSR and the Watergate debacle. But the problems which the US sought to resolve were exacerbated by events, by different priorities in Europe, and by the attitude of France, which chose to interpret American proposals as a diplomatic offensive rather than an attempt to address Alliance problems. Closer US-Soviet relations, the eclipse of European interests during the 1973 Middle East war, and different approaches to the energy crisis created real tension between the allies. It increased - temporarily - the rival attractions of greater European cooperation before leading to recriminations within the Nine members of the EEC and eventual French isolation in the face of Paris's continued hostility to Kissinger's prescription for renewed cooperation. This thesis re-evaluates these events. It looks at the background to 1973 and the prevailing wisdom on such concepts as Atlantic partnership and interdependence. It examines the view that the US initiative was misinterpreted because of unwillingness to jeopardise newly-established European objectives for greater cooperation. It describes how the difficulties were resolved by enhancing - albeit only marginally - the importance of consultation within the Alliance and permitting a degree of US influence within European political cooperation on issues affecting US interests. Finally, it touches on possible comparisons with the early 1990s.


Athletics has been a heavily scrutinized aspect of university life. It is often criticized for its nature of exploiting students for their athletic talents and overlooking the importance of the educational mission of the institution. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has responded, as the governing body of intercollegiate athletics, by instituting academic reform legislation designed to ensure that incoming student-athletes are not only prepared for the rigors of college but must meet academic benchmarks to maintain their athletic eligibility. One response to the needs of these students has been the mandatory implementation of academic support services for student-athletes. These programs are relatively new in the past few decades, but have grown to be a significant factor in recruitment and value in helping student-athletes be successful in their academic endeavors. This study looks at the evolutionary development of one such program, the Total Person Program at the University of Missouri, how it has evolved into a successful program for student-athlete academic success. This historical study is a descriptive look at the past forty years, and how the program was implemented and developed. Through documents, interviews and data, this study creates a timeline during which the Total Person Program grew through increases in financial and human resources with a collaborative effort from campus and athletics, utilizing student-athlete Grade Point Averages (GPA) as a benchmark for success.


Abstract A preliminary study was conducted to test the feasibility of using polyurethane foam (PUF) as an adsorbent material for removing toluene diisocyanate (TDI) from PUF production plant exhaust air. Results obtained suggest that a particular grade of PUF (high density, low in TDI) may serve as a reasonably efficient material for TDI removal, provided the air containing TDI is dried before adsorption. This brief study suggests that an increase in humidity decreases PUFs capacity to adsorb TDI. The adsorption work was compared to water scrubbing of TDI. Work on the optimization of our aqueous scrubber indicates that the efficiency of this method to remove TDI may be increased by the addition of a catalyst or surfactant.


These twenty-six papers survey a cross section of current work in modern geometric measure theory and its applications in the calculus of variations. Presently the field consists of a jumble of new ideas, techniques and intuitive hunches; an exchange of information has been hindered, however, by the characteristic length and complexity of formal research papers in higher-dimensional geometric analysis. This volume provides an easier access to the material, including introductions and summaries of many of the authors' much longer works and a section containing 80 open problems in the field.The papers are aimed at analysts and geometers who may use geometric measure-theoretic techniques, and they require a mathematical sophistication at the level of a second year graduate student. The papers included were presented at the 1984 AMS Summer Research Institute held at Humboldt State University. A major theme of this institute was the introduction and application of multiple-valued function techniques as a basic new tool in geometric analysis, highlighted by Almgren's fundamental paper Deformations and multiple-valued functions. Major new results discussed at the conference included the following: Allard's integrality and regularity theorems for surfaces stationary with respect to general elliptic integrands; Scheffer's first example of a singular solution to the Navier-Stokes equations for a fluid flow with opposing force; and, Hutchinson's new definition of the second fundamental form of a general varifold.


The present study endeavors chemical and mineralogical characteristics in Meretrix casta (Bivalve) shells of the Yadayanthittu estuary, Southeast coast of India. In this estuary shell specimens were collected at 100m distance in the sampling stretch. The oxides, the elements and biominerals were measured with the aid of an integrated XRF and XRD instrument. The result of oxides demonstrates that the CaO content is in high percentages (54.47), which is common in organic shells. Apart from CaO, the other reported important oxides are Na2O, (0.697), SiO2, (0.241), Fe2O3, (0.116), MgO, (0.0661) and Al2O3, (0.0587). The elemental concentration shows that Ca with high level of 38.95 wt%. All other reported elements are only in lesser wt %, i.e. Na, (0.517), Si, (0.113) Sr, (0.156) Fe (0.0813), Sx (0.0266), Mg (0.0399) and Al (0.0311). The XRD analysis exhibits that the Meretrix casta shells of the Yadayanthittu estuary is formed by aragonite (98%) and selwynite (2%) biominerals.


The anoxemia theory proposes that an imbalance between the demand for and supply of oxygen in the arterial wall is a key factor in the development of atherosclerosis. There is now substantial evidence that there are regions within the atherosclerotic plaque in which profound hypoxia exists; this may fundamentally change the function, metabolism, and responses of many of the cell types found within the developing plaque and whether the plaque will evolve into a stable or unstable phenotype. Hypoxia is characterized in molecular terms by the stabilization of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) 1α, a subunit of the heterodimeric nuclear transcriptional factor HIF-1 and a master regulator of oxygen homeostasis. The expression of HIF-1 is localized to perivascular tissues, inflammatory macrophages, and smooth muscle cells adjacent to the necrotic core of atherosclerotic lesions and regulates several genes that are important to vascular function including vascular endothelial growth factor, nitric oxide synthase, endothelin-1, and erythropoietin. This review summarizes the effects of hypoxia on the functions of cells involved in atherogenesis and the evidence for its potential importance from experimental models and clinical studies.


Adrenomedullin (AM) is a potent vasodilator peptide highly expressed throughout the brain and originally isolated from pheochromocytoma cells. In addition to its vasoactive properties, AM is considered a neuromodulator that possesses antiapoptotic and antioxidant properties that suggest that this peptide can protect the brain from damage. In a previous study, we found that AM exerts a neuroprotective action in the brain and that this effect may be mediated by regulation of nitric oxide synthases, matrix metalloproteases, and inflammatory mediators. AM upregulation contributes to neuroprotection, but understanding the precise roles played by AM and its receptor (RAMP2) in neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD), awaits further research. In search of Alzheimer's biomarkers, the expression levels of peptides with endothelial vasodilatory action, including AM, were found to be significantly altered in mild AD or during pre-dementia stage of mild cognitive impairment. These studies concluded that ratio of AM or its precursor fragment mid-regional proAM in blood hold promise as diagnostic marker for AD. We are now presenting a study regarding the hypothesis that the AMRAMP2 system might be implicated in the pathophysiology of AD.


Synopsis Explorative multivariate numerical analysis of British Geological Survey historical Biostratigraphy collections from the Carboniferous Hurlet and Index limestones, Ayrshire, yields results capable of palaeoecological interpretation. The faunas are distributed along environmental gradients within carbonate facies that systematically extended out into other sedimentary settings. Clusters of genera in higher taxa plotted on ternary diagrams of trophic structure show both units commonly include epifaunal suspension feeders, although one cluster from the Hurlet Limestone includes epifaunal detritus-suspension feeders and another from the Index Limestone includes vagrant-epifaunal detritus-suspension feeders. All the clusters include the surficial and semi-infaunal tiers, non-motile and suspension feeding categories, but they show trends of increasing ecological complexity. The geographical distribution of the clusters shows the Hurlet Limestone palaeoenvironment was most diverse around Sorn, whereas that for the Index Limestone was diverse in all three main areas of outcrop. This variation is attributed to local fluctuations in depth, sea floor conditions and water quality. An 'embayment' in the palaeoenvironment of the Index Limestone, seen by draping the interpretations over a 3D computer model of the subsurface, was associated with the Kerse Loch Fault, where penecontemporaneous displacement and an inferred palaeotopographical fault scarp influenced marine water flow, environmental distribution and genus diversity.


Standards measures of female ownership and management of firms included in the World Bank Enterprise Survey do not support the existence of a gender gap in access to finance in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Nonetheless, more precise measures show that women-led businesses are more likely to be financially constrained than other comparable firms. The evidence presented herein suggests that this gender gap may be driven by taste-based discrimination. This paper exploits a rich dataset that provides detailed information about female ownership and management in firms, allowing for further understanding of gender gaps in access to finance.


The theory of ecological modernization asserts that economic and environmental goals can
be integrated within a framework of industrial modernity. Its central tenet is that environmental
regulation can stimulate the application of 'clean' technologies or techniques.
Ecological modernization also contends that environmental regulation can offer business
benefits from innovation through improved product design and economic performance.
The EU End of Life Vehicles Directive (ELVD) reflects many of these principles, as it compels
all car manufacturers to 'take back' and dismantle vehicles at the end of their useful lives
and to remove the hazardous substances from the production process. Each component
will then be either reused or recycled. The legislation forces designers to introduce 'clean
design' and 'design for disassembly' practices. In light of this, we examine the impact of
the directive on UK automotive component manufacturers. We find limited evidence that
the EU ELVD Directive has driven product innovation beyond short-term, incremental technological
trajectories. We therefore conclude that a more radical approach, in line with the
'dematerialization' thesis by Dobers and Wolff (1999), is needed to generate more radical,
ecologi cal design solutions within the UK automotive industry. Copyright © 2006 John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.


The progressive development of porosity during subsoil weathering of granodiorite clasts was studied at the Bishop Creek moraine chronosequence in east-central California. Fractures and other pores were examined using two complementary imaging techniques, X-ray computed tomography (XRCT) and a 14C-PMMA (14C-polymethylmethacrylate) method. The well-known XRCT method allows the investigation of three-dimensional (3-D) pore space. 14C-PMMA is a less-known method based on the complete impregnation of pore space with 14C-doped PMMA, and subsequent autoradiograph of a rock section. These imaging methods allow us to decipher the evolution of pore space in the granodiorite during the 120 k.y. weathering period. The 14C-PMMA imaging technique was found to be more suitable for following the evolution of the whole sequence, from "intact" bedrock to saprock, in terms of crack density, porosity, and aperture. Working with hand specimens, this method was adapted to detect both the low-aperture fractures (microcracks) and macrocracks. Only a slight and progressive increase in total fracture density was observed during the whole weathering period. However, this trend does not hold if macrocracks and microcracks are separated: Microcrack density slightly decreases, whereas macrocrack density increases due to a progressive expansion of microcracks. The total porosity of the rock increases during weathering and is correlated to the progressive aperture increase of all types of cracks. This evolution is accompanied by a change of crack morphology and connectivity, and an overall increase in intragranular porosity of biotite and plagioclase aggregates.


In this wide-ranging and stimulating book, a leading authority on the history of medicine and science presents convincing evidence that Dutch commerce--not religion--inspired the rise of science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Harold J. Cook scrutinizes a wealth of historical documents relating to the study of medicine and natural history in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia during this era, and his conclusions are fresh and exciting. He uncovers direct links between the rise of trade and commerce in the Dutch Empire and the flourishing of scientific investigation. Cook argues that engaging in commerce changed the thinking of Dutch citizens, leading to a new emphasis on such values as objectivity, accumulation, and description. The preference for accurate information that accompanied the rise of commerce also laid the groundwork for the rise of science globally, wherever the Dutch engaged in trade. Medicine and natural history were fundamental aspects of this new science, as reflected in the development of gardens for both pleasure and botanical study, anatomical theaters, curiosity cabinets, and richly illustrated books about nature. Sweeping in scope and original in its insights, this book revises previous understandings of the history of science and ideas.


With a new Introduction by Professor Cedric Watts, M.A., Ph.D. This selection of a hundred of O. Henry's succinct tales displays the range, humour and humanity of a perennially popular short-story writer. Here Henry gives a richly colourful and exuberantly entertaining panorama of social life, ranging from thieves to tycoons, from the streets of New York to the prairies of Texas. These stories are famed for their 'trick endings' or 'twists in the tail': repeatedly the plot twirls adroitly, compounding ironies. Indeed, O. Henry's cunning plots surpass those of the ingenious rogues he creates. His style is genial, lively and witty, displaying a virtuoso's command of language and allusion. This great collection offers delights for the mind, imagination and emotions.


This paper examines aspects of strategic interaction and the construction of the social actor in a neo-Austinian
framework of illocutionary acts. The basic premise of the neo-Austinian framework is conventionality, according to which
illocutionary acts depend on social agreement. An important part of the framework is the felicity condition of entitlement,
directly related to the hearer's understanding of the conventions that should hold for an act performance. Two strategies of
challenging and/or rejecting illocutionary acts are then identified tentatively dubbed looping and backfiring, related to the
hearer's perception of when the entitlement felicity condition is flouted. Both strategies can be overtly or covertly
confrontational and demonstrate that in their social quality illocutionary acts serve to construct the social actor and build up
interpersonal relations.


A trichotomic evaluation system for portfolio selection support is proposed through this paper. The methodology works in two phases: First, Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) is used to estimate portfolios' expected return and to identify influence factors and risk origins. ELECTRE TRI method aggregates all the common risk criteria into a unique one, which is more understandable by real investors or portfolio managers. By this way each alternative portfolio is evaluated on three criteria only including return, residual risk and common risk. In the second phase, the MINORA multicriteria interactive system based on preference disaggregation is proposed to select attractive portfolios. The whole methodological framework is illustrated by an application to the French stock market.


Objectives: Active school transport (AST, e.g. the use of non-motorized travel modes such as walking and cycling to travel to/from school) is increasingly promoted as a source of physical activity (PA) in children and youth. This prospective pilot-study assessed the: 1) test-retest reliability of a novel measure of the volume of AST; 2) changes in AST and pedometer-determined PA across the transition from primary to secondary school; and 3) associations between AST and PA at both time points.
Methods: 55 grade 6 students were recruited from 4 primary schools in Ottawa (Canada) in May/June, 2012. They were asked to complete a diary indicating their mode of transport to/from school for 1 week, and wear a SC-StepMX pedometer for 8 consecutive days. 48 study packages were returned at baseline and 29 at follow-up (September/
October 2012). For the test-retest assessment, a separate sample of 22 participants completed the diary during 2 consecutive weeks.
Results: The weekly volume of AST (e.g. number of active trips X distance) showed high test-retest reliability
(ICC=0.87). There were significant decreases in the proportion of children categorized as active travelers (57% to 46%), and in step counts (16,578 ± 3,758 to 14,071 ± 3,680 steps/day) across the school transition. However, in participants reporting at least 1 active trip at both time points (n=11), the volume of AST increased with a moderate effect size (d=0.52), but this change was not statistically significant. While no dose-response association between the volume of AST and PA was evident (probably due to limited statistical power), a gender-adjusted ANOVA indicated that active travelers accumulated an additional 2,207 steps/day at follow-up.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that future research is needed to quantify changes in AST across the school transition, and to determine if AST can attenuate the commonly-observed decline in PA levels from childhood to adolescence.


The present study discusses senses of the Finnish verbless allative-initial construction with particular attention to the allative element. I argue that the construction under investigation cannot be defined as an elliptic structure, but rather is an independent and genuinely verbless construction and that there are at least eight distinct senses for the allative element. These senses are called actor, purchaser, target group, exploiter, receiver, affected, implicated actor , and encounterer . I argue that the first two have agentive features, which is cross-linguistically extraordinary for a goal-marking morpheme, whereas the other six relate to senses which the Finnish allative case is known to have in other constructions as well. For a semantic analysis, both an intuitive categorization and an experimental method, a paraphrase test, have been applied to the data of 500 headlines.


Biratnagar is a medical referral centre with tertiary health care in Eastern Nepal. The city population is 202,061, according to the 2011 census. There are 35 Health Care Facilities (HCFs) in the city as of 2014. There are 7 HCFs, 2 non-governmental HCFs, and 26 private HCFs. In 2014, the District Public Health Office Morang, the Biratnagar municipality, and the private sector collaborated to check Biratnagar's health care waste management. Investigators performed a semi-structured questionnaire and checklists while visiting health care sites. According to the survey results, 10% of HCFs use incinerators. 80% of HCFs separate their garbage, 60% use needle destroyer machines, and 50% use coloured dustbins to separate different sorts of medical waste. The bed occupancy rate is 78%. Every day, one sweeper looks for 6.66 beds. Even 10% of HCFs let their waste out in the open. HCFs do not have enough capacity for waste disposal facilities. Thus, HCFs pay the municipality Rs. 1500- 15000 a month to have the facility's waste removed. In the municipality tractor, they are hauling medical garbage and home rubbish. As a result, the city discharges health care waste with household waste in the Singhiaya River. These actions endanger public health. Biratnagar city generates 118 Kgs of hazardous health care waste daily, necessitating immediate treatment. Biratnagar Municipality should collaborate with partners to develop a short and long-term strategy.


Using same-day diaries from 394 older couples in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), this paper develops and explores several new measures of diary quality. Two overarching questions are explored: 1) How do diary quality measures reflecting the data collection process enhance understanding of time use in later life? and 2) How well do same-day diaries from couples match up in terms of husbands' and wives' reports of time spent (actively engaged) together? We found a summary measure of diary quality indicated only 13.8% of diaries were lower quality. Lower quality diaries were more likely to be obtained from older adults (ages 70+ vs. 50-69) and first (vs. second) interviews. Joint activities from diaries of lower quality were less likely than those from higher quality diaries to be matched to an activity on a spouse's same-day diary. However, such a measure did not predict time spent in common activities nor did its inclusion have any effect on predictors of time use. We also found that among activities described as joint by at least one respondent, up to 76% had a matching record in the spouse's diary. The quality of matches appeared to be quite good, with the majority of matched activities having overlapping times reported by spouses and being described as joint by both spouses. Very similar estimates of joint time were reported by husbands and wives (about 5-5½ hours). Implications of findings for future methodological and substantive investigations are discussed.


This is a study into decision making and judgement in the context of radiography. The early part of the study investigated the nature and scope of decisions and judgements made in general radiography and sonography, while the later part focused on the decisions and judgements made by sonographers when breaking bad news to patients. The study is located in a broad interpretative framework, it used an adapted form of phenomenological methodology. A survey and an observational study were used to collect data. In-depth interviews were conducted which used decision analysis (a tool normally used as a decision aid) to elicit participants perceptions and experiences of decision making and judgement.

Decision analysis was used in three different ways to collect data. The technique was found to be particularly useful in enabling participants to reflect on their intuitive processes and hence make them overt.

The data collected during the observational phase of the study was used to formulate a classification of radiographic decision making and judgement. The study found that the predominant style of decision making and judgement in radiography is intuitive with some evidence of peer-aided decision making and judgement. There is little evidence that the participants use systems aided approaches. Participants found the process of decision analysis interesting but could not relate its use to their own professional practice other than as an educational or de-briefing tool.

In sonography it was found that participants had an over-confidence in their diagnostic abilities which influenced their decision making. Sonographers were also found to produce information based on experience, when this information was absent from the decision making scenario provided. On the whole the participants in this study had given little thought to the process of decision making and judgement and the impact of factors such as base rates.


This paper presents a method to leverage mobile interaction design knowledge for low-literacy, moving from falsifiable hypotheses (claims) to actionable solutions (patterns). In prior work, claims and patterns have been used separately for different application areas and in different contexts. This research asserts that the transition from claims to patterns will enhance the design value, leveraging claims for uncertain situations and inexplicit user behavior and patterns for proven solutions for recurrent problems. This paper examines how these two structures can be combined in a claims-to-patterns approach to leverage mobile interaction design for low-literacy. To demonstrate this method, an example that highlights how claims evolve into patterns through research and design is discussed.


Network embedding aims to learn the low-dimensional representations/embeddings of vertices which preserve the structure and inherent properties of the networks. The resultant embeddings are beneficial to downstream tasks such as vertex classification and link prediction. A vast majority of real-world networks are coupled with a rich set of vertex attributes, which could be potentially complementary in learning better embeddings. Existing attributed network embedding models, with shallow or deep architectures, typically seek to match the representations in topology space and attribute space for each individual vertex by assuming that the samples from the two spaces are drawn uniformly. The assumption, however, can hardly be guaranteed in practice. Due to the intrinsic sparsity of sampled vertex sequences and incompleteness in vertex attributes, the discrepancy between the attribute space and the network topology space inevitably exists. Furthermore, the interactions among vertex attributes, a.k.a cross features, have been largely ignored by existing approaches. To address the above issues, in this paper, we propose Nettention, a self-attentive network embedding approach that can efficiently learn vertex embeddings on attributed network. Instead of sample-wise optimization, Nettention aggregates the two types of information through minimizing the difference between the representation distributions in the low-dimensional topology and attribute spaces. The joint inference is encapsulated in a generative adversarial training process, yielding better generalization performance and robustness. The learned distributions consider both locality-preserving and global reconstruction constraints which can be inferred from the learning of the adversarially regularized autoencoders. Additionally, a multi-head self-attention module is developed to explicitly model the attribute interactions. Extensive experiments on benchmark datasets have verified the effectiveness of the proposed Nettention model on a variety of tasks, including vertex classification and link prediction.


Background and Objective: Organisms producing CTX-M �� -lactamases are emerging as a source of resistance to oxyiminocephalosporins such as ceftriaxone and ceftazidime. However, the laboratory detection of these strains is not well defined. In this study, phenotypic assay for screening of extended-spectrum �� -lactamases producing strains and molecular assay for the identification of CTX-M �� -lactamases genes was developed and used to investigate the prevalence of these enzymes among clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae in three general hospitals of Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: Phenotypic detection was used for screening of isolates by agar dilution method. A decrease of •3 doubling dilution in an MIC for either ceftriaxone or ceftazidime tested in combination with 4 mg/l clavulanic acid (prepared from Glasco Smith company) versus its MIC when tested alone, confirmed an ESBL-producing organism. The PCR assay consisted of four primer sets. Results: In initial screening test, 117 (69%) from 168 clinical isolates were positive and 51 isolates (31%) were negative. From the positive isolates, 96 isolates were positive in phenotypic confirmatory test. Using molecular assay, 117 strains potentially producing extended-spectrum-�� -lactamases were examined for the presence of CTX-M enzymes. 88 strains (75.2%) were positive for bla ctx-m group �1 genes, 1 strain (0.85%) was positive for bla ctx-m group �1�1�1 genes , and 2 strains (1.7%) were positive for bla ctx-m group �1 V. Conclusion: The prevalence of extended-spectrum �� -lactamases (ESBLs) are increasing significantly in hospitals of Tehran. In other side, we found that the CTX-M �1 group had the most prevalence than other CTX-M groups.


The increasing volumes of relational data let us find an alternative to cope with them. The Hadoop framework - which is an open source project based on the MapReduce paradigm - is a popular choice for big data analytics. However, the performance gained from Hadoop's features is currently limited by its default block placement policy, which does not take any data characteristics into account. Indeed, the efficiency of many operations can be improved by a careful data placement, including indexing, grouping, aggregation and joins. In this paper we propose a data warehouse placement policy to improve query gain performances on multi nodes clusters, especially Hadoop clusters. We investigate the performance gain for OLAP cube construction query with and without data organization. And this, by varying the number of nodes and data warehouse size. It has been found that, the proposed data placement policy has lowered global execution time for building OLAP data cubes up to 20 percent compared to default data placement.


ABSTRACT This paper presents pollen morphology of 12 native Brazilian species of Rutaceae from forest fragments of São Paulo, Brazil. The aim of this research is to expand the morphological knowledge of the species, thus contributing to taxonomic knowledge and, subsequently, conservation of species and the forest area. The pollen grains were acetolyzed, measured, described qualitatively, and illustrated using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The studied species have differences in polarity, size, shape, aperture and exine ornamentation of the pollen grains, confirming the eurypalynous character of Rutaceae pollen. In particular, species of Zanthoxylum L. also presented significant differences in the pollen grains, confirming the morphological variation within the genus. The quantitative data and multivariate analysis confirm the morphological description; thus, the results reinforce the importance of pollen morphology in the identification and characterization of species of Rutaceae.


Specific gravity (SG), the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a reference material, is a standard indicator of the concentration of an analyte in a given solution. SG is routinely used for product quality assessment in the food industry. However, currently available commercial SG meters, such as hand-held refractometers and density meters, are highly sensitive to humidity and temperature, and do not allow real-time measurements. For these reasons, SG detection is often time-consuming which leads to unwanted interruptions in food manufacturing processes. Therefore, highly sensitive, label-free, and real-time sensors for the detection of SG are urgently needed for food quality control. In this context, we develop a graphene oxide (GO)-coated gold (Au) surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor, for the first time, to measure the SG of food samples in real-time. The SG values of sample solutions are correlated with the refractive indices (RI) of these solutions, which are captured by the SPR measurements, with a sensitivity of 105 SPR response units. Moreover, the use of a GO coating provides a strong enhancement of plasmonic resonances due to its optoelectronic properties, doubling the sensitivity of SPR response units per RI unit (2 × 105) when compared to conventional Au SPR chips (1 × 105). We also validate our sensor performance by measuring the SG in real food samples. Our results demonstrate a highly sensitive, efficient, high throughput, and reproducible approach for SG measurements in food industry settings, and open new opportunities to utilize improved SPR sensor technology for many other label-free analytical sensing applications.


ABSTRACT . The objective of this study is to describe the participation of farmers on the land market. The research method used was a survey method and the PRA method (Participatory Rural Appraisal) were performed on 500 potato farmers in West Java were selected using two-stage stratified sampling technique. Descriptive statistics are used to describe the participation of farmers on the land market. Research results revealed that potato farmers participating in the land market through land leasing (51%), purchase of land (4%), land sales (9%) and farmers who do not actively participate in the land market as much as 36%. Meanwhile, there are exciting things, an increase in tenure of land area to farmers with land area less than 0.5 hectares.


We investigate the structure and mobility of single self-interstitial atom and vacancy defects in body-centered-cubic transition metals forming groups 5B (vanadium, niobium, and tantalum) and 6B (chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten) of the Periodic Table. Density-functional calculations show that in all these metals the axially symmetric self-interstitial atom configuration has the lowest formation energy. In chromium, the difference between the energies of the and the self-interstitial configurations is very small, making the two structures almost degenerate. Local densities of states for the atoms forming the core of crowdion configurations exhibit systematic widening of the "local" d band and an upward shift of the antibonding peak. Using the information provided by electronic structure calculations, we derive a family of Finnis-Sinclair-type interatomic potentials for vanadium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, and tungsten. Using these potentials, we investigate the thermally activated migration of self-interstitial atom defects in tungsten. We rationalize the results of simulations using analytical solutions of the multistring Frenkel-Kontorova model describing nonlinear elastic interactions between a defect and phonon excitations. We find that the discreteness of the crystal lattice plays a dominant part in the picture of mobility of defects. We are also able to explain the origin of the non-Arrhenius diffusion of crowdions and to show that at elevated temperatures the diffusion coefficient varies linearly as a function of absolute temperature.


The Ly and Ia phenotypes of T lymphocytes involved in the in vitro generation of helper and suppressor cells were identified. The precursors of both cells are found in adult thymectomized spleen. Helper precursors are Ly-1+2-3-Ia-, while suppressor precursors are Ly- 1-2+3+Ia-, although the suppressor effector is Ia+. In both cases a second 'amplifier' cell is required for differentiation of precursors to occur. This cell is found in anti-lymphocyte serum-treated spleen and has the phenotype Ly-1+2+3+Ia-.


This body of work describes an experimental investigation into coherent structures and aeroacoustic feedback loops in underexpanded supersonic jets. The work includes a study of additional error terms in Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements due to the presence of shock waves within the flow, a detailed campaign of acoustic and time-resolved schlieren measurements as well as planar PIV measurements. An error analysis is conducted for the application of PIV to shock containing flows. The effect of size distribution within a seed material on measured relaxation time is examined, with polydisperse particles of the same median diameter shown to possess a significantly higher relaxation time than their monodisperse counterparts when measured via a PIV algorithm. The influence of a shock wave induced velocity gradient within a PIV interrogation window on the correlation function is also examined using the Noiseless Cross Correlation Function of Soria (2006). The presence of a shock is shown to introduce an artificial fluctuation into the measurement of velocity. This fluctuation is a function of the shock position, shock strength, spatial ratio and particle distribution. When the shock is located at the middle of the window, the magnitude of the fluctuation increases monotonically with increasing spatial ratio, increases asymptotically with shock strength, and decreases for increasing particle polydispersity. When the shock is located at the upstream edge of the window, the magnitude of the artificial fluctuation is highest for intermediate spatial ratios, going to zero at infinitely high and low values. In this instance particle polydispersity acts to increase the magnitude of fluctuations in measured velocity. In both cases particle polydispersity serves to broaden the PDF of measured velocity. For the theoretical cases presented herein, with a shock located within the interrogation window, the root mean square of the artificial velocity fluctuations reaches values in excess of 30% of the freestream velocity. For the specific experiments presented later in the work, the magnitude of the artificial velocity fluctuation is less than 10%. Both the schlieren technique and PIV are applied to the study of the instability modes of screeching axisymmetric jets. Jets at four pressure ratios: NPR = [2.2, 2.6, 3.4, 4.2] are studied, and the dominant modes identified as A2, B, C and C respectively. Three distinct modes at NPR = 2.2 are identified, one axisymmetric and two lateral, with screech Strouhal numbers of 0.71, 0.51 and 0.2 respectively. At NPR = 2.6 a dominant lateral mode is identified with St = 0.42. This mode proves the least amenable to measurement with the PIV technique, as the direction of lateral oscillation precesses around the axis somewhat randomly. Helical modes at NPR = 3.4 and 4.2 are studied, with St = 0.39 and 0.35 respectively. The presence of a large Mach disk at NPR = 4.2 is not shown to qualitatively change the dynamics of the screech process. The production of discrete acoustic tones by the interaction between embedded shocks and convected vortices is directly visualized. The motion of vortices is seen to create a disturbance wave at the shock reflection point of an upstream shock cell, this disturbance convects to the jet core and forms the basis for an evanescent convecting shockwave downstream. The flattening of this shock wave during the passage of the vortex results in a strong acceleration of the shock-tip, which moves in a whip-like manner and generates a strong upstream travelling acoustic wave. Analysis of the skewness and kurtosis of the axial velocity probability density functions is shown to be able to identify locations of intense sound generation. The second, third and fourth shock cells are shown to be the dominant noise sources.


Abstract The seasonal cycle of the global wind field is documented for both a decadal set of analyses from the National Meteorological Center (NMC) and an extended term integration of a research version of the Community Climate Model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Composite eigenvector analysis is used to establish the dominant three dimensional coherent structures characteristic of the datasets while gridpoint harmonic analysis provides evidence of the extent to which these structures describe conventional seasonal modes. These quantitative indicators of spatial and temporal variance form a stringent measure of model performance with respect to seasonal variation. The model appears to be far more successful at capturing the annual harmonic contained in the NMC analyses than the semiannual harmonic. This discrepancy may be related to the absence of the requisite tropical forcings due to either inadequate parameterizations of certain physical processes or the lack of interannual...


A DFT study of the thermal and radical sulfenate–sulfoxide rearrangement of derivatives of 3-propenyl sulfoxide has been carried out. The effect of the substitution and hydrogen bond complexation has been analyzed. The results show that without external factors the radical breakdown path is the one preferred by the alkyl and aromatic derivatives while the unsubstituted system proceeds preferentially through a two-step series of [1,3]- and [2,3]-sigmatropic shifts. The inclusion of a hydrogen bond donor interacting with the oxygen atom increases the stability of all the species except the radical and the final products. Thus, in the dimethyl derivative the radical and two-step processes present similar limiting steps. The analysis of the electron density of the systems provides some relationships between the properties at the bond critical point and the interatomic distances for the S···C and H···O cases. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 110:2391–2397, 2010


While American public education once stood as an example of educational excellence globally, it now exists as only a shell of what it once was. Students from countries across the globe now routinely outperform American children and as each year passes, students filling classrooms in the United States slip farther and farther behind their international peers. American student proficiency rates across all subject areas sit at such low levels that they call into serious the question the creation of a competent and efficient workforce prepared to address and correct the varied problems the nation faces as it begins the 21 st century. While numerous factors have contributed to this eroding of American education, one factor of significant influence is the practice of collective bargaining by teachers' unions with school districts, as it exists today. Though unions and collective bargaining serve an important role in American public education, protecting the interests of teachers and ensuring fair employment standards for these professionals, many aspects of these agreements between unions and school districts give short shrift to their negative implications for the students these teachers hope to educate. The goal of this Note is to demonstrate the negative effects collective bargaining has had and continues to have on student achievement in America's public schools, flesh out the problematic areas within these agreements, and put forth suggestions as to how the practice of collective bargaining might be modified to better


During the 1930s, there were numerous proposals put forth to modify the financial system. The "Chicago Plan," submitted in 1933 by economists at the University of Chicago, recommended abolition of the fractional reserve system and imposition of 100% reserves on demand deposits. Despite the radical nature of this proposal, Phillips argues that it played an important, and hitherto neglected, role in the banking legislation passed during the New Deal. The paper addresses the question of whether our present financial problems might have been avoided had the - "Chicago Plan" been fully implemented during the New Deal. Phillips provides a historical analysis of banking reform during that era, and explores the reasons why the Chicago Plan was not adopted. On the surface, it appears to have been defeated as a matter of pure political expediency. The Banking Act of 1935, by institutionalizing Federal deposit insurance and the separation of commercial and investment banking, successfully restored the public's confidence in the banking system. Moreover, Roosevelt was satisfied since the act permitted enhanced control over monetary policy by a reconstituted Federal Reserve. The Chicago Plan ultimately succumbed to alternative (and less stringent) measures embodied in the Banking Act of 1935, but its principles (e.g. restricting bank assets and limiting taxpayers' liability from Federal deposit insurance) have reemerged in the contemporary debate over banking reform in this country: after all, there has been a rejuvenation of the 100% reserve plan via "narrow banking" or "core banking" proposals. Though the early New Deal legislation must be considered a success since it remained relatively unchanged for almost fifty years, a formidable challenge is posed in devising a financial system that will last well into the twenty-first century.


Weld dilution is an important feature of weld bead geometry that determines the mechanical and chemical properties of a welded joint. For submerged arc welding, several welding process parameters are reported to be controlling the dilution. This paper presents the effect of welding parameters like welding speed, welding current and voltage on penetration over mild steel plates. Three levels and three factors full factorial design method was used for conducting the experimental runs and linear regression models were developed accordingly. Nine experimental runs (L9) based on an orthogonal array Taguchi method were performed. The adequacy of the models was tested by applying S/N ratio and the predicted values from the models were plotted against the observed values through scatter diagram. Results showed that the proposed two level full factorial empirical models could predict the weld dilution with reasonable accuracy and ensure uniform weld quality. By using the Grey Relational Analysis technique, optimization of the complicated multiple process responses can be converted into optimization of a single grey relational grade and Optimization of a factor is the level with the highest grey relational grade.


Background: In this study, the age and cardiac risk factors on mortality, and complications after surgical treatment in lung cancer patients were investigated. Materials and Methods: Between January 2014 and November 2016, 485 patients who underwent lung resections for lung cancer in our clinic, were retrospectively evaluated. Under the age of 70, 412 patients and over 70, 73 patients were grouped as group 1 and 2. Results: Lobectomy was performed in 333 patients (80.8%), pneumonectomy in 43 (10.4%), bilobectomy in 30 (0.7%), segmentectomy in 3 (0.7%) and sleeve lobectomy in 3 (0.7%) in group 1; lobectomy in 65 (89%), pneumonectomy in 4 (5.4%), and sleeve lobectomy in 4 (5.4%) in group 2. Surgical mortality was observed in 5 patients (1.2%) in group 1 and 6 patients (8.2%) in group 2. Complications were observed in 99 patients (24%) in group 1 and 23 patients (17%) in group 2. The mean expected mortality with cardiac risk score in group 1 was 1.24 and 3.5 in group 2. The expected mortality with cardiac risk score and complication rates were tabulated as low, moderate, high and there was no statistically significant difference between score and complication (p = 0.551). Conclusions: According to our study, there were no significant differences in terms of complications, morbidity, mortality and survival rates. There was only a relative increase in surgical mortality over the age of 70, so patients should be carefully treated during and after the surgery. Surgery should be the first treatment to perform in selected patients with lung cancer over the age of 70.


This article observes Moroccan newspaper coverage surrounding the February 20 movement and subsequent constitutional reforms. Taking various aspects of the media landscape into account, I examine the similarities and differences in three newspapers' patterns of coverage concerning these two important historical events. The study relies on framing theory and notions of the public sphere to inform a descriptive content analysis of newspaper coverage. Findings indicate that the papers treaded carefully in the early days as the movement coalesced; that there was an oppositional voice developing; and that coverage quickly shifted toward the king's speech, which offered up constitutional reforms ―providing a safer focus for which the newspapers could then offer a forum and which they could more carefully cover. One newspaper associated with the monarchy, Le Matin , never mentioned the February 20 movement in its coverage of events during this historic period.


We present an analysis of bounded-energy low-tension maps between 2-spheres. By deriving sharp estimates for the ratio of length scales on which bubbles of opposite orientation develop, we show that we can establish a 'quantization estimate' which constrains the energy of the map to lie near to a discrete energy spectrum. One application is to the asymptotics of the harmonic map flow; we find uniform exponential convergence in time, in the case under consideration.


The first EMF working group, examining the link between energy and the economy, concentrated on the use of several large macroeconomic models as described in this report. Each model was represented in the working group by a technical team or expert. To compare the results obtained by these models, the working group developed a common set of assumptions and scenarios for analysis. Forecasts of absolute levels of output and energy consumption are not the focus of this study. Rather, the models are compared to uncover the differences or similarities in the estimates of the economic effects of changes in the energy sector, i.e., changes in relative energy prices or relative energy utilization.


This article addresses the contribution of strategic thinking skills in explaining individual entrepreneurial behavior in Croatian IT firms. Strategic thinking skills were assessed according to entrepreneurs' use of systems thinking, reflecting, and reframing. Individual entrepreneurial behavior was measured by their inclination towards risk-taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness. Our study of 136 IT entrepreneurs in Croatia confirmed that entrepreneurs with a more developed use of strategic thinking skills exhibit stronger entrepreneurial behaviors. In fact, proactiveness as an element of IEB had a strong relation to all components of strategic thinking skills. Systems thinking as an element of strategic thinking skills showed to be a predictor of all individual entrepreneurial behavior elements.


Purpose and experimental design: Despite the therapeutic utility of progestin in invasive and preinvasive endometrial neoplasias, the molecular mechanisms through which it exerts inhibitory effects on endometrial epithelial growth are largely unknown. The aim of the study was to clarify the molecular mechanisms of progestin action to endometrial epithelial cells using originally established in vitro and in vivo treatment models for immortalized and transformed endometrial epithelial cell lines that express progesterone receptor. Results: In this model, progestin effectively inhibited the cell growth, inducing G0/G1 arrest rather than apoptosis without p21/WAF-1 induction. Using DNA microarray analysis, we identified 24 genes whose expression increased more than 10-fold on progestin treatment. Of these genes, we paid special attention to forkhead box transcription factor FOXO1, known as a key gene for endometrial decidualization. Progestin markedly induced FOXO1 gene expression mainly in the nuclei in vitro and in vivo. This induction was not due to the canonical activation of FOXO1 via protein dephosphorylation but due to FOXO1 promoter activation and mRNA induction. siRNA inhibition of FOXO1 significantly attenuated the effects of progestin to inhibit endometrial epithelial cell growth. Disrupting Akt activity by the introduction of the dominant negative form of Akt increased nuclear FOXO1 accumulation and enhanced the effect of progestin. Conclusion: These findings suggest that FOXO1 is a direct target of progestin, implicating novel molecular mechanisms of progestin to eradicate endometrial neoplasia. Clin Cancer Res; 17(3); 525–37. ©2010 AACR.


Intellectual disability (ID) and living in residential home settings may be a disadvantage for an active lifestyle and healthy aging. The purpose of this study was to determine physical fitness (PF) levels of women with mild intellectual disabilities (n=31; mean age 22.22±3.11 years), clients of residential homes, and to compare them to the PF levels of their control peers (n=31; 23.16±3.12 years of age). First, cardiovascular disease risk factors (CVD) of the participants were determined based on the information from residential home doctor, participants' health reports, and blood sample analyses. Health-related physical fitness parameters (balance, cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, and flexibility) were measured, and body composition and anaerobic power were assessed. The significant differences were found between the groups (p<.05) in body mass index, muscular endurance, maximum walking distance, peak VO2, balance, flexibility, and power. The results of the study indicated that the PF levels of women with ID were lower than those of their control peers. Women with ID should be encouraged to participate in physical activity programs to improve their physical fitness.


Both biochemical and mechanical cues have been shown to affect stem cell differentiation. Substrate topography and stiffness have been shown to play a critical role in directing differentiation and lineage commitment. By combining two or more of these cues, synergistic stem cell differentiation is also plausible. For adipogenesis, effects of the combination of mechanical and topographical cues remain elusive. This study was designed to evaluate adipogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in response to microfabricated topographical cues with varied stiffness. hMSCs were cultured on patterned silicone substrates containing 50x50 micron posts and a 200 micron pitch that were fabricated using standard soft lithography methods. The pattern was designed to have parameters in the micron and submicron range. Mechanical stiffness of topographical features was altered by varying the cross linker to the silicone polymer base ratio. Young's modulus of the substrates was determined using AFM microindentation. Assessment of adipogenic differentiation was performed at days 4, 7, and 14 of differentiation by Oil Red O staining and fluorescent microscopy. Quantitative analysis of differentiation was determined by measuring optical density at 510 nm of Oil Red O stained samples and image analysis for calculating the relative percent lipid area staining. Image analysis revealed more lipid formation on patterned substrates at early time points (Days 4 and 7) compared to plain substrates. Based on calculation of the percent lipid area formation, varied stiffness of the patterned substrates also altered differentiation. This seems to be consistent with qualitative images of Oil Red O staining. Optical density measurements for the most part support the image analysis of the relative percent area lipid formation. Images of cells show proliferation and differentiation in aggregates that were formed mostly on top of patterned areas. Increased cell-cell contact as a result of aggregate formation on the patterned locations may have played a role in the improved adipogenic differentiation. The results indicate that topographical cues could be used to modulate stem cell adipogenic differentiation. Both mechanical and topographical cues may be introduced to manipulate stem cell responses and therefore assist in strategic design of in vitro models for tissue engineering applications.


In the Intermountain West, aspen (Populus tremuloides) has declined mainly due to a combination of successional processes, fire suppression and long-term use of ungulates which has led to replacement by conifers, sagebrush or other shrub communities. Conifer encroachment is believed to cause critical changes in the ecosystem properties. In order to understand the impacts of conifer encroachment on soil properties such as soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, soil morphology, and soil chemical properties, and the implications of such changes, it is very important to assess the soil properties under the two vegetation types. The objectives of this study were to i) quantify SOC stocks and their variability in pure aspen forests; ii) evaluate the role of various biotic and abiotic site parameters as drivers of this SOC; iii) evaluate the effect of conifer encroachment on SOC storage, soil morphology, soil microclimate and soil chemical properties. The study was conducted in three catchments in Northern Utah in two phases: i) a transect study with 33 sampling points in a pure aspen community; ii) a paired plot study based on comparing six plots in to aspen and nearby conifer plots as representatives of end-member communities. Soils under aspen were mainly Mollisols, whereas the soils associated with conifers were classified as Alfisols, Inceptisols and Entisols. Even under pure aspen there was a significant SOC variability among sampling points and aspects, and SOC was negatively correlated with soil moisture index and average tree diameter and positively correlated with vegetation density. The paired plot comparison showed that SOC in the mineral soil (0-60 cm) was significantly higher under aspen, while O horizon thickness and C content was higher under conifers. The total SOC (O layer + mineral soil) was not significantly different among the vegetation types, suggesting an upward redistribution of SOC in conifer soils. The soil moisture in summer was also higher under aspen compared to conifers. Other chemical properties were not affected by vegetation types. Our study indicates that i) no differences in SOC can be detected in surface soil horizons ( cm); ii) SOC is highly variable and greatly influenced by soil moisture and forest characteristics; iii) conifer encroachment is likely to alter soil microclimatic and SOC amount and distribution.


The end of the decades-old marketing quota system in 2002 required U.S. peanut growers to adapt to a more market-oriented policy structure similar to other major field crops. This development prompted substantial changes in the peanut sector, including lower prices for many peanut producers and major geographical shifts in production. While the sector appears to have adapted quickly to the new policy environment, it faces new uncertainties as Federal budget pressures and the implications of existing and potential new trade agreements loom ahead. Lower prices have fueled exceptionally strong growth in demand since 2002, and yield gains over the same period suggest increases in efficiency. Data from the 2004 USDA Agricultural Resource Management Survey suggest U.S. peanut farmers are relatively strong financially. Peanut farmers have an average household income about 80 percent greater than the average for all U.S. households, and they have higher levels of wealth than other farm and nonfarm households. At the same time, the peanut sector has much at stake as policymakers begin to discuss potential changes to commodity programs. Government outlays constitute a comparatively large share of peanut sector revenues on both a per base acre and a value-of-production basis. Government payments to the peanut sector under the three main commodity programs (marketing loans, direct payments, and countercyclical payments), for example, are projected to average $226 million annually during the 2002 Farm Act (2002-07). During 2003-05, these payments represented only about 2 percent of total payments made to all eligible crops under these programs, but equalled 29 percent of cash receipts from peanut production. Continued strong production growth in 2005 has led to lower peanut prices, which could push government outlays for income support even higher, at least in the short run. In the longer run, international trade agreements, which are gradually opening the U.S. market to increased peanut imports, could put additional pressure on prices, but expanding market access abroad could provide new export opportunities.


This thesis examines the relationship between national culture and state security in mid-twentieth century Canada. Using records opened through Access to Information it challenges received interpretations regarding the origins of official multiculturalism and federal cultural institutions. Drawing a distinction between nationalism and nationality, it argues that Canada's 'national culture' evolved continuously with the grid of national security states. The argument proceeds by way of micronarratives and close archival readings of textual and audio-visual sources. Part 1 asks how landscape was inhabited, culturally? Aboriginal artforms and European landscape art are juxtaposed with military reconaissance and 'remote sensing' to trace the formation of a 'citizen-observer' attuned to the nation's need for protective sentience. Painter A. Y. Jackson's 1927 Arctic Patrol marked a limit in that subjective construction; Grey Owl's residencies in National Parks gestured towards an alternative cultural inhabitation of landscape, questing beyond aboriginal or settler stereotypes for a hybrid mode of observation. Part 2 argues that multicultural states are, of necessity, security states. Political theory grounds special rights in cultural specificity but it disavows concomitant security measures directed towards ethnocultural minorities. Liberal and poststructuralist theories are counterposed to inquire why there was no right not to be a citizen. Culture and security formed a conceptual device, sensing and regulating 'alien' phenomena, but also producing a 'state' of anxiety marked by official secrecy and compromised civil liberties. Canadian Multiculturalism derives from wartime security concerns. Idiosyncratic British Intelligence veteran Tracy Philipps embarrasses nationalist historiography by connecting Canada's early multiculturalism policies to an anglomorphic censorship-propaganda-intelligence complex. During the National Film Board's 'red scare' (1948-53), the RCMP misrecognized the NFB's security dimension even as Norman McLaren's 1952 Oscar-winning Neighbours obliquely pointed it out. Whenever culture and security intersect, citizens 'remember-to-forget'. In Part 3, counterintelligence expert Peter Dwyer's amateur play delineates two forms of secrecy and solves a riddle concerning suspected spy Harry Dexter White. Dwyer drafted legislation to found the Canada Council even as he shaped the emerging security state. His role in the 1945-46 Gouzenko Affair suggests that, contrary to prevailing accounts, the defection was a propaganda coup inspired by British Intelligence. Despite catastrophic consequences of Cold War for 'progressivism', the Canadian activities of performer/activist Paul Robeson opened a "third space" between nationality and nationalism.


Businesses may be missing opportunities to account for ecosystem services in their decisions, because they do not have methods to quantify and value ecosystem services. We developed a method to quantify and value coastal protection and other ecosystem services in the context of a cost‐benefit analysis of hurricane risk mitigation options for a business. We first analyze linked biophysical and economic models to examine the potential protection provided by marshes. We then applied this method to The Dow Chemical Company's Freeport, Texas facility to evaluate natural (marshes), built (levee), and hybrid (marshes and a levee designed for marshes) defenses against a 100‐y hurricane. Model analysis shows that future sea‐level rise decreases marsh area, increases flood heights, and increases the required levee height (12%) and cost (8%). In this context, marshes do not provide sufficient protection to the facility, located 12 km inland, to warrant a change in levee design for a 100‐y hurricane. Marshes do provide some protection near shore and under smaller storm conditions, which may help maintain the coastline and levee performance in the face of sea‐level rise. In sum, the net present value to the business of built defenses ($217 million [2010 US$]) is greater than natural defenses ($15 million [2010 US$]) and similar to the hybrid defense scenario ($229 million [2010 US$]). Examination of a sample of public benefits from the marshes shows they provide at least $117 million (2010 US$) in coastal protection, recreational value, and C sequestration to the public, while supporting 12 fisheries and more than 300 wildlife species. This study provides information on where natural defenses may be effective and a replicable approach that businesses can use to incorporate private, as well as public, ecosystem service values into hurricane risk management at other sites. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:328–344. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.


In permafrost areas, seasonal freeze-thaw cycles result in upward and downward movements of the ground. For some permafrost areas, long-term downward movements were reported during the last decade. We measured seasonal and multi-year ground movements in a yedoma region of the Lena River Delta, Siberia, in 2013–2017, using reference rods installed deep in the permafrost. The seasonal subsidence was 1.7 ± 1.5 cm in the cold summer of 2013 and 4.8 ± 2 cm in the warm summer of 2014. Furthermore, we measured a pronounced multi-year net subsidence of 9.3 ± 5.7 cm from spring 2013 to the end of summer 2017. Importantly, we observed a high spatial variability of subsidence of up to 6 cm across a sub-meter horizontal scale. In summer 2013, we accompanied our field measurements with Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR) on repeat-pass TerraSAR-X (TSX) data from the summer of 2013 to detect summer thaw subsidence over the same study area. Interferometry was strongly affected by a fast phase coherence loss, atmospheric artifacts, and possibly the choice of reference point. A cumulative ground movement map, built from a continuous interferogram stack, did not reveal a subsidence on the upland but showed a distinct subsidence of up to 2 cm in most of the thermokarst basins. There, the spatial pattern of DInSAR-measured subsidence corresponded well with relative surface wetness identified with the near infra-red band of a high-resolution optical image. Our study suggests that (i) although X-band SAR has serious limitations for ground movement monitoring in permafrost landscapes, it can provide valuable information for specific environments like thermokarst basins, and (ii) due to the high sub-pixel spatial variability of ground movements, a validation scheme needs to be developed and implemented for future DInSAR studies in permafrost environments.


This thesis is about performance measurement in higher education. It brings in
different stakeholders' perspectives on performance measurement, in UK universities
using data envelopment analysis. The introduction gives the background of the higher
education sector in the UK at present and its history. It introduces the drive for
performance measurement in higher education, and the motivation for the dissertation.
The method data envelopment analysis is then described.
The traditional use of performance indicators and peer assessment is reviewed and
the use of DEA, instead of parametric techniques, is justified. The opportunity to use
DEA in a somewhat different way than previously is identified.
The novel proposed framework integrates in the same analysis the perspectives of
three different levels of stakeholders. Firstly, the perspective of the applicant in the
process of choosing a university to apply to; secondly, the perspective of the State that
funds and evaluates university performance; and finally the institutional perspective. In
the applicant's perspective, the use of DEA in university selection is compared to
existing methods. The new approach devised recognises the different values of students
and is empirically tested in a case study at a comprehensive school. This chapter clearly
deals with a choice problem, and the link with MCDM is first approached. Finally, a
comprehensive decision support system that includes DEA for university selection is
arrived at.
Then the relationship between the State and higher education over time is described,
the current operational model explained and the future trends outlined. In order to
measure performance, according to the mission and objectives of the state/ funding
councils, a review of their three main remits is undertaken. The contribution of DEA to
inform the State/ funding councils in their remit is then discussed. The problem of
taking account of subject mix factor in the measurement of performance is dealt with,
by linking the input/ output divide by means of virtual weights restrictions.
It is shown how institutions can turn performance measurement to their own benefit,
by using it as a formative exercise to understand the different expectations of them, by
the two previous external evaluations. A methodology for institutional performance
management is proposed that takes into account the external/ internal interfaces: the
applicant/ institution, and state/ institution interfaces. The methodology is illustrated
with an application to the University of Warwick.
Virtual weights restrictions are widely used in this thesis, a reflection on its uses is
offered. The reasons for mainly using virtual weights restrictions instead of absolute
weights restrictions are explained. The use of proportional weights restrictions is
reviewed, and the reasons for using simple virtual weights and virtual assurance regions
in this thesis is ascertained. Alternatives to using virtual weights restrictions are
considered, namely using absolute weights restrictions with a virtual meaning. The
relationship between DEA and MCDM in this domain is elaborated upon.
Several conclusions are arrived at and novel contributions are made to the
knowledge of the subject treated: the importance of bringing in the perspectives of
different stakeholders in an integrated approach; the contribution of DEA in choice
problems; handling subject mix by means of virtual assurance regions; data availability
policy is found to be inadequate; a more appropriate way of comparing departments
within a university; and the superiority of virtual assurance regions to represent
preference structures and link the input-output divide.


I show that stock market shocks have important and lasting effects on the careers of MBAs. Stock market conditions while MBA students are in school have a large effect on whether they go directly to Wall Street upon graduation. Further, starting on Wall Street immediately upon graduation causes a person to be more likely to work there later and to earn, on average, substantially more money. The empirical results suggest that investment bankers are largely "made" by circumstance rather than "born" to work on Wall Street.


Dissonance turned my project on its head and this paper is one result. True to the brief of this volume, dissonance led me to face certain issues in tourism planning, namely the foregrounding of 'locals' in policy, planning, development, marketing and delivery of tourism as a sustainable development strategy. The philosophy underlying this foregrounding derives from a non-economic rationalist perspective and from a key aspect of sustainable development, the maintenance of local control. I argue that 'locals' have a right to set the parameters of development options, notwithstanding the (vested) interests of governments and private organisations, and a right to protect their own cultural interests, a right to consider the costs and benefits of tourism. The paradox? The contemporary literature on tourism planning, while asserting the need for community participation, tends to transform that participation into consultation, transform it from being potentially proactive to being simply reactive. In the language of power, the tourism development agenda is set elsewhere.


This book represents the first comprehensive overview over the history of negation in German. It addresses both the development of the negation particles as well as the diachrony of indefinites in the scope of negation and the phenomenon of Negative Concord. Being based on a corpus study of several Old and Middle High German texts, it comprises a wealth of historical examples with additional comparison to Modern Standard German and dialects, as well as crosslinguistic data from a variety of languages. The findings are placed in the context of typological research and are analysed in terms of current syntactic and semantic theory of negation arguing for an unchanged underlying syntactic structure, with changes in the lexical filling of NegP and in the lexical features of indefinites resulting in crucial changes in the syntactic patterns of negation. This book is of interest to scholars of German linguistics, historical linguists, as well as anyone working in the field of negation.


Treatment of highly purified preparations of the third component of complement (C3) with 0.5M hydroxylamine at 20�C for 15 to 30 minutes, followed by acidification, resulted in dissociation of a peptide from the C3 molecule. The isolated fragment (molecular weight, 7600) resembled enzymatically liberated anaphylatoxin (C3a) with respect to size, charge, amino acid composition, and biological activity. Its capacity to contract smooth muscle was inhibitable by antihistamines; it also produced tachyphylaxis and desensitization of the guinea pig ileum to C3a. Thus native C3 probably contains an esterlike bond and hydroxylamine-liberated anaphylatoxin may represent one of the polypeptide chains of the C3 molecule.


Protein acetylation promotes autophagy in mammalian and yeast cells. Autophagy allows cells to digest their own components when necessary to survive stressful conditions. Lin et al. and Yi et al. describe signaling mechanisms in mammalian cells and yeast, respectively, by which autophagy is regulated by protein acetylation. In mammalian cells deprived of serum, the acetyltransferase TIP60 was activated by phosphorylation by the protein kinase GSK3 (glycogen synthase kinase 3). TIP60's target appeared to be a protein kinase central to autophagy regulation, ULK1. This activating pathway was required for autophagy in the absence of serum but was not needed for autophagy in cells deprived of glucose. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, starved of nitrogen, another acetylation mechanism was uncovered. Starvation led to activation of the histone acetyltransferase Esa1, which acetylated the protein Atg3, a key component of the autophagy machinery, thus increasing its interaction with another autophagy protein, Atg8. S.-Y. Lin, T. Y. Li, Q. Liu, C. Zhang, X. Li, Y. Chen, S.-M. Zhang, G. Lian, Q. Liu, K. Ruan, Z. Wang, C.-S. Zhang, K.-Y. Chien, J. Wu, Q. Li, J. Han, S.-C. Lin, GSK3-TIP60-ULK1 signaling pathway links growth factor deprivation to autophagy. Science 336, 477–481 (2012). [Abstract] [Full Text] C. Yi, M. Ma, L. Ran, J. Zheng, J. Tong, J. Zhu, C. Ma, Y. Sun, S. Zhang, W. Feng, L. Zhu, Y. Le, X. Gong, X. Yan, B. Hong, F.-J. Jiang, Z. Xie, D. Miao, H. Deng, L. Yu, Function and molecular mechanism of acetylation in autophagy regulation. Science 336, 474–477 (2012). [Abstract] [Full Text]


In this study, a total of twenty chalcones were synthesized via Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction and evaluated for their in vitro acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities using Ellman's method. Molecular docking studies on acetylcholinesterase were performed to elucidate the interactions between these chalcone derivatives and acetylcholinesterase active site at the molecular level. From the series, six compounds (S1-5 and S17) exhibited strong acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities with IC50 values below 100 µM compared to the parent unsubstituted chalcone. Compound S17 (4'-amino-2-chlorochalcone) showed the strongest acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity in the investigated group with IC50 value of 36.10 µM. Molecular modeling studies were consistent with the results of in vitro acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities, and chalcone S17 could be considered as a potential lead compound for the development of new acetylcholinesterase inhibitors.


There are significant differences in the water chemistry of the Himalayan and southern peninsular rivers. Large and small rivers also show different types of water quality. Liquid and solid waste definitely contribute to water quality in urban centres such as Delhi and even coastal regions, as near Mumbai, are affected by waste discharges. The sub-continent also suffers from problems associated with floride and also arsenic in different parts. Even drinking water shows contamination with metals and POP. Thus over one billion people, both qualitatively and quantitatively, are at water risk. Water quality studies in such aspects as POP, heavy metals and microbiology are urgently neededoparticularly in regions such as Nepal and Bhutan where data base is scanty. The intensive agricultural activity in the sub- continent is reflected in enhanced levels of nutrients in various water bodies in many parts of the region. Thus, water in south Asia may be thought no longer to represent natural water quality but shows impact of different types of human activities practically in every part of the sub-continent.


The research study examines the implementation of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) within small and medium enterprises. NVQs have been in existence for ten years yet they continue to receive criticism from academic circles and implementation by employers has been slow.

The small residential care sector was selected because it has many characteristics in common with small businesses in general: the sector has grown because of recent care legislation; it is dependent on larger local authorities for client referrals; it employs mainly women on a part-time basis; and it lacks a traditional training pathway for unqualified staff.

Using a qualitative, case study approach, seven workplaces were visited over the period of a year. Candidates, assessors and managers were interviewed regularly to assess their feelings and progress and to determine the factors which affected their experiences of NVQ implementation. Four main areas were explored using a theme analysis framework - progress, progression, standardisation and financial issues.

The findings indicated that implementation in small workplaces was problematic for all involved. Unless a training culture was already in existence, insufficient resources were provided to support and facilitate progress both physically and emotionally. Consequently, assessors and candidates involved with NVQs were quite negative about their experiences which reduced the value placed on the qualification by the participants and their managers. Despite being a 'national' qualification, the growing deregulation in both care and training has resulted in market place competition which has had consequences for the standardisation and costs of training programmes. The voluntaristic nature of employer investment in training, and the lack of care legislation to make training an obligatory aspect of home registration, has resulted in a low uptake of NVQs in small businesses because of the costs involved in assessment time.


This article speaks to the special issue's goal of disrupting the deserving/undeserving immigrant narrative by critically examining eligibility criteria available under two arenas of relief for undocumented immigrants: 1) the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides temporary deportation relief and work authorization for young adults who meet an educational requirement and other criteria, and 2) current and proposed pathways to legal status for those unauthorized immigrants who come forward to denounce workplace injustice, among other crimes. For each of these categories of "deserving migrants," I illuminate the exclusionary nature each of these requirements, which pose challenges especially for those workers who have limited education. As such, I argue for the importance of an institutional perspective on youth. Specifically, I demonstrate how the educational criteria required by DACA privileges a select few individuals who have access to formal educational institutions as deserving, while ignoring other empowering but non-traditional models of worker education. I also examine those mechanisms that reward workers who come forward to contest employer abuse. These include the current U-Visa program, which opens a path to legal status for those select claimants who have been harmed by employer abuse and aid criminal investigations (e.g. Saucedo, 2010). In a similar vein, some advocates and legal scholars have proposed a pathway to citizenship for those workers involved in collective organizing (e.g. Gordon, 2007, 2011). I weigh the benefits and exclusivity of each pathway for addressing the precarity of the millions of undocumented immigrants currently in the United States. In doing so, I highlight how institutions have unevenly incorporated immigrant workers, creating wide categories of vulnerability that go ignored. That is, demographically young immigrants are often privileged as deserving, as are those institutionally mature workers who have been successfully incorporated by civic organizations and legal bureaucracies. Meanwhile, institutionally young immigrants—those who have been excluded from these spaces—are framed as undeserving. As a result, rather than to see legal status as a pathway to incorporation, it is extended as a reward for those who have surpassed longstanding barriers.


ABSTRACT There is significant policy interest in refugee migration, particularly in relation to 'secondary movements' – the movement of refugees from the first country in which they arrive. Yet, there is very little theoretical or empirical research on refugee mobilities in the Global South, where the overwhelming majority of refugees reside. Existing literature on refugee migration focuses mainly on people who have already selected onward migration to the Global North. This leaves a gap in terms of describing, understanding, and explaining refugee migration patterns within and from low and middle-income regions of the world. Drawing upon cross-sectional data for Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda, we describe aspirations relating to mobility; and drawing upon panel data for refugees based in Kenya, we describe actual patterns of mobility. While a majority of refugees 'hope' to migrate inter-regionally and a smaller majority 'expect' to migrate inter-regionally, actual mobility patterns are very different. Whereas refugees are highly mobile, the overwhelming majority of their mobility is internal and most international migration is intra-regional. By describing these patterns for one region, the article challenges policy assumptions relating to secondary movement and offers a starting point for further comparative research on refugee mobilities.


Design calculations indicated that the Stoke Lane and Frankwell footbridges might often vibrate uncomfortably in normal use. To avoid this possibility, vibration absorbers were fitted to both structures. The type of vibration absorber in question is a free standing device, about the size of a small beer barrel, consisting of a sprung mass and a viscous damper. When inserted into the footbridge near to the principal antinode it raises the apparent damping considerably. Bridge response under controlled loading by a pedestrian was reduced to about a quarter in both structures. The effectiveness of the absorbers was checked regularly over a three-year period. Little change occurred at the Stoke Lane site but at Frankwell modifications had to be made to the absorber to ensure that it stayed in full working order. Subsequently its performance has proved satisfactory. The experiences have shown that the absorber is a practical device that can be constructed and installed without a great deal of specialist knowledge using fairly simple equipment. (Author/TRRL)


Determining the allowable use of key species in rangelands of Iran is necessary to range management. Despite of the importance of the subject, little information is available in this regard. The aim of this study was to investigate the response of plants to harvest intensities in order to determine the allowable use of the key species of steppe rangelands. Two key species, Artemisia sieberi and Eurotia ceratoides, were studied in Nodushan rangelands of Yazd province in this research. Study was performed in an enclosure area of rangeland in Nadoushan which is known an important pole ranch of Yazd province. Four different harvesting intensities, 0, 25, 50, 75%, were implemented for 4 years in this study. The results showed the tangible effect of year on the production of the studied species.In case of E. ceratoides, different harvest intensities had significant effect on the production where the removal treatments of 0 and 25% were obviously different from those of 50 and 75%. Then the allowable use for the E. ceratoides was established 25%. No significant effect of harvesting on A. sieberi was determined in this study suggesting the A. sieberi species is resistant to pressure of grazing and intense harvesting, at least in short term. This characteristic may be a major reason for the undisputed presence of this species in desert, arid and semi-arid areas of the country.


This manual will help field staff to mainstream HIV and AIDS in humanitarian emergencies. It assumes some knowledge of humanitarian programming, and is intended to build staff skills in addressing the underlying causes of vulnerability to HIV infection and the consequences of HIV and AIDS, particularly in rapid-onset emergencies. The authors draw on experience in the field and offer practical recommendations on how to make sure that HIV and AIDS is considered when responding to humanitarian crises. The book explains both how HIV affects emergencies and how emergencies affect HIV, as well as identifying the particular needs of potential vulnerable groups. There is guidance particularly for managers in the planning stage, but the book also suggests how to mainstream HIV and AIDS throughout the emergency project cycle. It includes useful checklists and planning tools, with examples of inductions, trainings, and awareness-raising sessions both for staff and for community members.


Background 'CODE' is a 40-item self-completion post-bereavement questionnaire, focused on the last days of life and based on key components of best practice for care of the dying. CODE is a shortened, more user-friendly version of an original validated instrument, 'Evaluating Care and Health Outcomes–for the Dying' (ECHO-D). Aim To assess the validity and reliability of CODE by conducting: cognitive 'think aloud' interviews; test-retest analysis; and assessing internal consistency and construct validity of three key composite sub-scales–'CARE'; 'ENVIRONMENT'; and 'COMMUNICATION'. Methods A post-bereavement survey was conducted with 291 next-of-kin (NOK) to patients who died at home in Northwest England from advanced incurable illness. All NOK were invited to complete the CODE questionnaire and also asked if willing to undertake a cognitive interview and/or complete CODE for a second time a month later. Test-retest reliability was assessed using: percentage agreement; Kappa statistic and Spearman's correlation co-efficient. For each sub-scale, Cronbach's alpha and item-total correlations were used to assess internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess construct validity. Results 72 bereaved relatives (24.7% response rate) returned the completed CODE questionnaire, and 25 completed CODE for a second time. 15 cognitive interviews were undertaken. All interviewees found CODE sensitively worded and easy to understand. Minor revisions were suggested to provide additional clarity. Test-retest analysis showed all except two questions had moderate or good stability. Although the ENVIRONMENT scale was not perceived as relevant within the home setting, all three sub-scales scales showed good construct validity and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha>0.79). Conclusions 'CODE' represents a user-friendly, comprehensive outcome measure for care of the dying. This preliminary data, despite small numbers, builds on previous work with ECHO-D and provides support for CODE's validity and reliability. CODE could potentially be used to benchmark individual organisations and identify areas for improvement.


Abstract. The photocatalytic ability of airborne mineral dust particles is known to heterogeneously promote SO2 oxidation, but prediction of this phenomenon is not fully taken into account by current models. In this study, the Atmospheric Mineral Aerosol Reaction (AMAR) model was developed to capture the influence of air-suspended mineral dust particles on sulfate formation in various environments. In the model, SO2 oxidation proceeds in three phases including the gas phase, the inorganic-salted aqueous phase (non-dust phase), and the dust phase. Dust chemistry is described as the absorption–desorption kinetics of SO2 and NOx (partitioning between the gas phase and the multilayer coated dust). The reaction of absorbed SO2 on dust particles occurs via two major paths: autoxidation of SO2 in open air and photocatalytic mechanisms under UV light. The kinetic mechanism of autoxidation was first leveraged using controlled indoor chamber data in the presence of Arizona Test Dust (ATD) particles without UV light, and then extended to photochemistry. With UV light, SO2 photooxidation was promoted by surface oxidants (OH radicals) that are generated via the photocatalysis of semiconducting metal oxides (electron–hole theory) of ATD particles. This photocatalytic rate constant was derived from the integration of the combinational product of the dust absorbance spectrum and wave-dependent actinic flux for the full range of wavelengths of the light source. The predicted concentrations of sulfate and nitrate using the AMAR model agreed well with outdoor chamber data that were produced under natural sunlight. For seven consecutive hours of photooxidation of SO2 in an outdoor chamber, dust chemistry at the low NOx level was attributed to 55 % of total sulfate (56 ppb SO2, 290 µg m−3 ATD, and NOx less than 5 ppb). At high NOx ( >  50 ppb of NOx with low hydrocarbons), sulfate formation was also greatly promoted by dust chemistry, but it was suppressed by the competition between NO2 and SO2, which both consume the dust-surface oxidants (OH radicals or ozone).


Background: Acne vulgaris is a common skin condition which affects most adolescents. It has a major impact on quality of life and psychosocial well-being. Aims: The aims of the study were to examine the psychosocial effects of acne on adolescents and changes in quality of life, and to reveal any difference in the possible effect between genders. In addition, an investigation of the association between acne severity and quality of life as well as psychosocial stress was conducted. Materials and Methods: The present study included 164 adolescents with a mean age of 12–18 years and was diagnosed with acne vulgaris without any previous treatment. The control group consisted of 188 healthy volunteers. Acne severity was evaluated by the global acne grading system. All patients filled in a Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index, Pediatric Quality of Life Questionnaire (PedsQL), and a Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Results: The scores of SDQ and PedsQL were significantly lower in the case group. There was no significant correlation found between the genders in the control group for acne severity and scale scores. No significant correlation was found between acne severity and psychosocial challenges. Conclusions: The results of the present study show that acne has a significant effect on quality of life for adolescents, and this has an impact on their psychosocial life. Another important finding of the present study is that worsening in quality of life is not affected by some factors such as duration, severity of acne and age.


Percutaneous placement of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) cannulas has many benefits. However, limb ischaemia still remains as an unresolved problem. We experienced an interesting case of limb ischaemia that was caused by external compression of the superficial femoral artery by the venous cannula. A 73-year old woman underwent veno-arterial ECMO due to sudden cardiac arrest with percutaneous femoral cannulations at the right common femoral vein and the left common femoral artery. Three hours after cannulation, the patient's right lower extremity was cool and pale, and the arterial pulses of dorsalis pedis artery and posterior tibial artery were not palpable. After confirming the absence of blood flow at the peripheral arteries of the lower extremity through colour Doppler ultrasonography, we explored the right femoral cannulation area. The venous cannula, which was approaching the common femoral vein from the lateral side, was passing between the bifurcation area of the superficial and deep femoral arteries, directly compressing the superficial femoral artery from beneath. We rapidly removed the inappropriately placed venous cannula, and then re-inserted it at another location of the femoral vein. Although it was an unusual case where arterial occlusion was due to external compression of the venous cannula, successful limb reperfusion could be obtained through rapid identification and correction.


God presented each of us with the gift of human life, for which we each have a duty of stewardship. The complementary principles of totality and integrity provide moral guidance for decisions on whether specific acts are consistent with this obligation. Totality directs that anatomical completeness must not be sacrificed without proportional justification. Integrity focuses on maintaining basic human capacities and provides a hierarchical ordering of higher functions over lower functions for use in decision making. The decisions of secular American courts rely heavily on statutory authority and case precedent. This essay explores whether the moral principle of totality and integrity is reflected in judicial opinions. The first part examines judicial decisions in cases in which the plaintiff's desired outcome was consistent with the principle of totality and integrity. The second part analyzes judicial decisions in which the desired outcome was not consistent with this moral principle.


Pen-based interactions are becoming mainstream and are widely popular on a variety of devices, including tabletPCs, mobile devices and tabletop systems. The digital pen has witnessed a number of incarnations as a result of catering to users in creative industries, such as designers, artists and architects. New innovations include the provision of various auxiliary input streams, such as tilt, pressure and roll by means of embedded sensors. Researchers have explored different properties of each channel in isolation of one another. Since the human wrist and fingers can operate two or more of these input channels in conjunction (i.e. pressing and rolling to paint) a natural progression warrants a closer examination of controllability when these channels are operated simultaneously. In this thesis, I explore a class of interaction techniques I refer to as a-coord input which requires users to control two auxiliary channels simultaneously. Through experiments, I explore the design space of a-coord input and investigate the effect of changing the order in which the channels are combined. Furthermore, I investigate its effectiveness for discrete-item selection, and multi-parameter selection and manipulation tasks. Finally, this thesis shows the value of a-coord input through several applications. D E PA R T M E N T O F C O M P U T E R S C IE N C E