These are some ideas that we use in the Business and Society course, specifically the sections we teach to INTO Mason students. This particular group of students does not have a background or experience in United States business, and this course is in reality Business in the U. S. society, and our course content is derived from a U.S. textbook. We concluded as a faculty team that students would better understand the complex and dynamic business-societal relationships if we carried our core objectives with historical examples in our curriculum. For example, at the beginning of the semester, one assignment requires each student to research a different prominent U.S. businessman from the past, such as Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Lee Iacocca, who had formative impacts on the current aspects of the relationships U.S. businesses have with society today. Similarly, we build our argument about the history of corporate social responsibility drawing on the comparison between how early U.S. business enterprises operated at their inception with what they do today, focusing on companies such as King Arthur Flour and Jim Beam Bourbon. Specifically, we ask students to track the various business challenges these companies have undergone to meet their customer demand during their hundreds of years of operation and to examine historical shifts in societal values that influence the configuration and power of these US corporations today. In separate assignments, we explore topics ranging from the role of corporations in politics to the consumer rights movement that has evolved during the past century. Within each topic we require our students to compare and contrast how things are done in the U.S. with what is happening in their own country. We could include representative positive exemplars from these assignments to display the sorts of insights our approach generates.


In 2006, a widespread fire in the Bookmark Biosphere Reserve, South Australia, consumed over one-third of the old growth mallee considered to be the prime habitat of the endangered Black-eared Miner Manorina melanotis. Since 2008, the species has been observed foraging and breeding in the fire-altered area. To verify whether food resources can explain the Black-eared Miners' presence in habitat consisting of early seral stages, we examined if a link could be found between the foraging behaviour of the Black-eared Miner and its invertebrate food resources. Foraging behaviour of Black-eared Miners was sampled opportunistically using focal observations. All potential invertebrate food resources were sampled using micro-pitfalls, malaise traps, beating trays, sweep nets and active searches. Black-eared Miners devoted significantly more time to foraging in long unburned (hereafter referred to as unburned) rather than in recently burned habitat. No differences in invertebrate abundance, species richness or diversity were found between burned and unburned habitats. However, differences in community composition between habitats were found. Lerp, which is a sugary protective covering of particular insect larvae, is an important food source for the Black-eared Miners, and was found more in the unburned natural habitat. We found that Black-eared miners may be more adaptable than previously thought when it comes to utilization of burned habitat. Still, this study reaffirms the importance of unburned habitat for Black-eared Miners.


Aim. Neurodynamic tests have been introduced to assess the neural tissue mobility and sensitivity to mechanical stress. Therefore it is important for clinicians to understand neurodynamic tests' normal and abnormal responses, in order to consider a diagnosis of neurogenic disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of the submaximal pain location induced by Median Neurodynamic Test 1 (MNT1) in healthy subjects.

Methods. Three physical therapists (R, M, E) were involved in the study as examiners. Fifteen healthy volunteers were randomly allocated to one of five sessions. The examiners performed the MNT1 twice (t1, t2) on both sides on all the subjects. Examiners and side order were randomized and subjects waited fifteen minutes before receiving a second test on the same side. Subjects were instructed to stop the test at submaximal pain and to record the response on a body chart. In order to analyze the pain location the body charts were split in twenty-eight anatomical areas. Intraexaminer and interexaminer reliability of the painful response were investigated using the Jaccard index (JI). Additionally in each subject left and right painful responses similarity were analyzed.

Results. The mean JI for intraexaminer reliability was 0.67 (SD 0.21) for R, 0.65 (SD 0.26) for M and 0.52 (SD 0.31) for E. The mean JI for inter-examiner reliability was 0.58 (SD 0.25) for M versus R, 0.51 (SD 0.28) for R versus E and 0.49 (SD 0.29) for M versus E. The mean JI for left and right comparison was 0.61 (SD 0.27).
Conclusion. The reliability of submaximal pain location response during MNT1 in healthy subjects seems to be moderate.


Huntingtin regulates post-Golgi trafficking of secreted proteins. Here, we studied the mechanism by which mutant huntingtin impairs this process. Colocalization studies and Western blot analysis of isolated Golgi membranes showed a reduction of huntingtin in the Golgi apparatus of cells expressing mutant huntingtin. These findings correlated with a decrease in the levels of optineurin and Rab8 in the Golgi apparatus that can be reverted by overexpression of full-length wild-type huntingtin. In addition, immunoprecipitation studies showed reduced interaction between mutant huntingtin and optineurin/Rab8. Cells expressing mutant huntingtin produced both an accumulation of clathrin adaptor complex 1 at the Golgi and an increase of clathrin-coated vesicles in the vicinity of Golgi cisternae as revealed by electron microscopy. Furthermore, inverse fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis for lysosomal-associated membrane protein-1 and mannose-6-phosphate receptor showed that the optineurin/Rab8-dependent post-Golgi trafficking to lysosomes was impaired in cells expressing mutant huntingtin or reducing huntingtin levels by small interfering RNA. Accordingly, these cells showed a lower content of cathepsin D in lysosomes, which led to an overall reduction of lysosomal activity. Together, our results indicate that mutant huntingtin perturbs post-Golgi trafficking to lysosomal compartments by delocalizing the optineurin/Rab8 complex, which, in turn, affects the lysosomal function.


Over the last three decades, Mexico has aggressively reformed its economy, opening to foreign trade and investment, achieving fiscal discipline, and privatizing state owned enterprises. Despite these efforts, the country's economic growth has been lackluster, trailing that of many other developing nations. In this paper, I review arguments for why Mexico hasn't sustained higher rates of economic growth. The most prominent suggest that some combination of poorly functioning credit markets, distortions in the supply of non-traded inputs, and perverse incentives for informality creates a drag on productivity growth. These are factors internal to Mexico. One possible external factor is that the country has the bad luck of exporting goods that China sells, rather than goods that China buys. I assess evidence from recent literature on these arguments and suggest directions for future research.


For over two decades, Belgian architect Vincent van Duysen has created a body of work that is at once sublime and rich, minimal yet tactile. This is the complete monograph of Van Duysen's work, including his domestic architecture, office and commercial spaces, as well as furniture and decorative objects for such leading international manufacturers as B&B Italia, Poliform and Swarovski. Over thirty projects are presented in detail, each with a project profile, many accompanied by specially commissioned photographs taken by Alberto Piovano, along with a complete project chronology. Van Duysens architecture is for connoisseurs, and this comprehensive publication reveals to the full why he has become such a celebrated figure in international architecture and design.


Developing high performance GPU code is labor intensive. Ideally, developers could recoup high GPU development costs by generating high-performance programs for CPUs and other architectures from the same source code. However, current OpenCL compilers for non-GPUs do not fully exploit optimizations in well-tuned GPU codes. To address this problem, we develop an OpenCL implementation that efficiently exploits GPU optimizations on multicore CPUs. Our implementation translates SIMT parallelism into SIMD vectorization and SIMT coalescing into cache-efficient access patterns. These translations are especially challenging when control divergence is present. Our system addresses divergence through a multi-tier vectorization approach based on dynamic convergence checking. The proposed approach outperforms existing industry implementations achieving geometric mean speedups of 2.26× and 1.09× over AMD's and Intel's OpenCL implementations respectively.


Abstract. Land models require evaluation in order to understand results and guide future development. Examining functional relationships between model variables can provide insight into the ability of models to capture fundamental processes and aid in minimizing uncertainties or deficiencies in model forcing. This study quantifies the proficiency of land models to appropriately transfer heat from the soil through a snowpack to the atmosphere during the cooling season (Northern Hemisphere: October–March). Using the basic physics of heat diffusion, we investigate the relationship between seasonal amplitudes of soil versus air temperatures due to insulation from seasonal snow. Observations demonstrate the anticipated exponential relationship of attenuated soil temperature amplitude with increasing snow depth and indicate that the marginal influence of snow insulation diminishes beyond an effective snow depth of about 50 cm. A snow and heat transfer metric (SHTM) is developed to quantify model skill compared to observations. Land models within the CMIP5 experiment vary widely in SHTM scores, and deficiencies can often be traced to model structural weaknesses. The SHTM value for individual models is stable over 150 years of climate, 1850–2005, indicating that the metric is insensitive to climate forcing and can be used to evaluate each model's representation of the insulation process.


We present a newly developed, three-dimensional spatial classification method, designed to analyze the spatial distribution of early-type stars within the 1 kpc sphere around the Sun. We propose a distribution model formed by two intersecting disks, the Gould Belt (GB) and the local Galactic disk (LGD), defined by their fundamental geometric parameters. Then, using a sample of about 550 stars of spectral types earlier than B6 and luminosity classes between III and V, with precise photometric distances of less than 1 kpc, we estimate for some spectral groups the parameters of our model, as well as single-membership probabilities of GB and LGD stars, thus drawing a picture of the spatial distribution of young stars in the vicinity of the Sun.


The short-wave ✿✿✿✿✿✿✿✿ shortwave infrared (SWIR) spectrometer module of the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), on board the ESA Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite, is used to measure atmospheric CO and methane columns. For this purpose, calibrated radiance measurements are needed that are minimally contaminated by instrumental stray light. Therefore, a method has been developed and applied in an on-ground calibration campaign to characterize stray light in detail using a monochromatic quasi-point light source. The dynamic range of the signal was extended to more than seven orders of magnitude 5 by performing measurements with different exposure times, saturating detector pixels at the longer exposure times. Analysis of the stray light indicates about 4.4 % of the detected light is correctable stray light. An algorithm was then devised and implemented in the operational data processor to correct in-flight SWIR observations in near-real time, based on Van Cittert deconvolution. The stray light is approximated by a far-field kernel independent of position and wavelength and an additional kernel representing the main reflection. Applying this correction significantly reduces the stray-light signal, for example in a 10 simulated dark forest scene close to bright clouds by a factor of about 10. Simulations indicate that this reduces the stray-light error sufficiently for accurate gas-column retrievals. In addition, the instrument contains five SWIR diode lasers that enable long-term, in-flight monitoring of the stray-light distribution.


The use of social media has gained a greater foothold in teen life as they embrace the conversational nature of interactive online media. However, general concerns exist among the public, community, schools, and administration that online social communication may pose more threats than benefits to adolescents. Adolescent Online Social Communication and Behavior: Relationship Formation on the Internet identifies the role and function of shared contact behavior of youth on the Web. With expert international contributions, this publication provides a deep understanding on various issues of adolescent Internet use with an emphasis on diverse aspects of social and cognitive development, communication characteristics, and modes of communication.


Making information understandable and literally graspable is the main goal of tangible interaction research. By giving digital data physical representations (Tangible User Interface Objects, or TUIOs), they can be used and manipulated like everyday objects with the users' natural manipulation skills. Such physical interaction is basically of uni-directional kind, directed from the user to the system, limiting the possible interaction patterns. In other words, the system has no means to actively support the physical interaction. Within the frame of tabletop tangible user interfaces, this problem was addressed by the introduction of actuated TUIOs, that are controllable by the system. Within the frame of this thesis, we present the development of our own actuated TUIOs and address multiple interaction concepts we identified as research gaps in literature on actuated Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs).

Gestural interaction is a natural means for humans to non-verbally communicate using their hands. TUIs should be able to support gestural interaction, since our hands are already heavily involved in the interaction. This has rarely been investigated in literature. For a tangible social network client application, we investigate two methods for collecting user-defined gestures that our system should be able to interpret for triggering actions. Versatile systems often understand a wide palette of commands. Another approach for triggering actions is the use of menus. We explore the design space of menu metaphors used in TUIs and present our own actuated dial-based approach. Rich interaction modalities may support the understandability of the represented data and make the interaction with them more appealing, but also mean high demands on real-time precessing. We highlight new research directions for integrated feature rich and multi-modal interaction, such as graphical display, sound output, tactile feedback, our actuated menu and automatically maintained relations between actuated TUIOs within a remote collaboration application. We also tackle the introduction of further sophisticated measures for the evaluation of TUIs to provide further evidence to the theories on tangible interaction. We tested our enhanced measures within a comparative study. Since one of the key factors in effective manual interaction is speed, we benchmarked both the human hand's manipulation speed and compare it with the capabilities of our own implementation of actuated TUIOs and the systems described in literature.

After briefly discussing applications that lie beyond the scope of this thesis, we conclude with a collection of design guidelines gathered in the course of this work and integrate them together with our findings into a larger frame.


This paper uses a model with a continuum of equilibrium steady state unemployment rates to explore the effectiveness of fiscal policy. The existence of multiple steady state equilibria is explained by the presence of search and recruiting costs. I use the model to explain the current financial crisis as a shift to a high unemployment equilibrium, induced by the self-fulfilling beliefs of market participants about asset prices. I ask two questions. 1) Can fiscal policy help us out of the crisis? 2) Is there an alternative to fiscal policy that is less costly and more effective? The answer to both questions is yes.


The notion that Great Powers fulfill a leadership role in international politics is old, influential, and contested. As the actors in the international system with the greatest capacity for taking action, Great Powers are assumed to think both further ahead and in broader, more systemic terms than other states; they then use their preeminent positions to organize others to promote public goods, reaping benefits along the way thanks to their direction of events. At the core of this understanding is the assumption that Great Power actions are, or ought to be, inspired by something more than simple self-interest and the pursuit of short-term gains. As an organic creation of international practice, Great Power leadership was traditionally the domain of historians and international legists; early students of the topic utilized inductive reasoning to derive general precepts of Great Power sociology from the landmark settlements of the 18th and 19th centuries. The framing of Great Powers as a leadership caste originated in the struggle against Louis XIV, was given tentative institutional form through settlements such as the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), and deepened considerably in both institutionalization and sophistication in the 19th century Concert of Europe. The return of France to full Great Power status, the Congress (1878) and Conference (1884) of Berlin, and the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901) all demonstrated the willingness and ability of the Powers to cooperate in the management of international change. In the early 20th century, the leadership of the Great Powers was both challenged as an unjust agent of catastrophe as well as increasingly formalized through recognition in new international institutions such as the League of Nations and the United Nations. Theorists of international relations began to formulate theories based on Great Power management at the time of the discipline's beginnings in the early 20th century. Realists and liberals frequently utilize Great Power concepts to explain processes of equilibrium, hegemonic competition, and institution building, while approaches influenced by constructivism focus on the role of ideas, statuses, and roles in the formulation of Great Power identities and policies. The doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a 21st-century manifestation of the application of Great Power leadership to international problems; though hailed by some as the future of Great Power management, it provokes controversy among both theorists and practitioners. Similarly, extensive scholarly attention has been devoted to the management and accommodation of "rising powers." These are states that appear likely to obtain the status of Great Power, and there is extensive debate over their orientation toward and potential management of international order. Finally, the position of Russia and China within this literature has provoked deep reflection on the nature of Great Power, the responsibilities of rising and established powers, and the place of Great Power management amidst the globalized challenges of the 21st century.


Anisotropic depth imaging with ver-tical transversely isotropic (VTI) models has become the dominant practice in the industry. However, anisotropic parameters for these models continue to be derived by basic practices without the use of tomography. Hanging a single profile of Thomsen's parameters from the water bottom still remains the most common practice. In a simple structural setting, it is usually possible to focus the data and obtain a good image despite having a simple and unrealistic model for Thomsen's parameters. However, depth positioning of such images is usually suboptimal. Better positioning requires more geologically plausible models. In addition, imaging in complex settings may require tilted transversely isotropic (TTI) models.


While actual failure of a structure is uncommon, many projects have less publicized, detailing-related difficulties involving rework, changes, clarifications, and increased costs. If the drawing doesn't answer the engineer's questions, it isn't complete. Anytime the details leave uncertainties as to how a structure is to be built, they invite problems. They must provide people working in construction and related services with the information they need to do their work. Any missing, conflicting or incorrect information can result in confusion, cost overruns, delays or failure. The details must provide any information not in the specifications, notes on the drawings, the plan drawings, or the column or beam schedules. Unfortunately, no set of contract documents can define entirely what needs to be done; there is a gray zone that constitutes the range of "acceptably complete" documents. There are popular conventions and assumptions, shorthand notations and "common practice" that help define the substance and quality of the finished product. A checklist can serve as a reminder of the kinds of questions which the structural contract documents must answer.


Attempts were made to test the motile functions of bundles of microfilaments found in baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) cells, by using cytochalasin B (CB). It was found that individual cells respond differently to the drug. These differential effects are quite obvious in both light and electron microscope preparations. Some cells contain normal bundles of microfilaments even after 24 hr in CB, and other cells form muscle-like configurations which also contain arrays of microfilaments. These varied effects suggest the existence of several types of microfilaments in BHK-21 cells, and make the interpretation of the motile role of microfilaments difficult to evaluate at the present time.


'Bretton Woods' has become shorthand for the post-war international financial and economic framework. Mindful of the historic 1944 conference and its legacy for the discipline of international economic law, the American Society of International Law's International Economic Law Group (IELG) chose Bretton Woods as the venue for a landmark scholarly meeting. In November of 2006, a diverse group of academics and practitioners gathered to reflect on the past, present and future of international economic law. They sought to survey and advance three particular areas of endeavour: research and scholarship, teaching, and practice/service. This book represents an edited collection of some of the exceptional papers presented at the conference including contributions from Andreas Lowenfeld, Joel Trachtman, Amelia Porges and Andrew Lang. The volume is organised into three parts, each covering one of the three pillars in the discipline of international economic law: research and scholarship; teaching; and practice/service. It begins with an assessment of the state and future of research in the field, including chapters on questions such as: what is international economic law? Is it a branch of international law or of economic law? How do fields outside of law, such as economics and international relations, relate to international economic law? How do research methodologies influence policy outcomes? The second part examines the state and future of teaching in the subject. Chapters cover topics such as: how and where is international economic law taught? Is the training provided in the law schools suitable for future academics, government officials, or practitioners? How might regional shortcomings in academic resources be addressed? The final part of the book focuses on the state and future of international economic law practice in the Bretton Woods era, including institutional reform. The contributors consider issues such as: what is the nature of international economic law practice? What are the needs of practitioners in government, private practice, international and non-governmental organisations? Finally, how have the Bretton Woods institutions adapted to these and other challenges-and how might they better respond in the future? International Economic Law: The State and Future of the Discipline will be of interest to lawyers, economists and other professionals throughout the world-whether in the private, public, academic or non-governmental sectors-seeking both fresh insights and expert assessments in this expanding field. Indeed, the book itself promises to play a role in the next phase of the development of international economic law.


Abstract: The infaunal living clypeasteroid echinoid genus Echinocyamus is considered a model organism for various ecological and paleontological studies since its distribution ranges from the polar regions to the tropics, and from shallow-marine settings to the deep-sea. Deep-sea analyses of this genus are rare, but imperative for the understanding and function of these important ecosystems. During the 2012 Southern Surveyor expedition, 35 seamounts off the east coast of Australia were dredged in depths greater than 800 m. Of these, six dredges contained a total of 18 deep-sea Echinocyamus tests. The tests have been analyzed for taphonomic alterations including abrasion patterns, macro-borings, micro-borings, depressions on the test, test staining, test filling, encrustation, and fragmentation. Findings are interpreted in the context of the deep-sea setting and are compared to Echinocyamus samples from shallow-water environments. Results show that abrasion in deep-sea environments is generally high, especially in ambulacral and genital pores indicating that tests can persist for a long time on the seafloor. This contrasts with shallow-water Echinocyamus that show lower abrasion due to early test destruction. Macro-borings are present as single or paired holes with straight vertical profiles resembling Lithophaga borings. Micro-borings are abundant and most likely the result of sponge or fungal activity. Depressions on the tests, such as scars or pits, are likely the result of trauma or malformation during ontogeny. Test staining is common, but variable, and is associated with FE/Mn oxidation and authigenic clays based on elemental analyses. Test filling occurs as loose or lithified sediment. Encrustation is present in the form of rudimentary crusts and biofilms. No macro-organisms were found on the tests. Biofilm composition differs from shallow-water environments in that organisms captured in the biofilm reflect aphotic conditions or sedimentation of particles from higher in the water column (e.g., coccoliths). Fragmentation is restricted to the apical system and pore regions. Results of this first comparative study on deep-sea Echinocyamus from Australian seamounts show that the minute tests can survive for a long time in these settings and undergo environmental specific taphonomic processes reflected in various taphonomic alterations.


In 1944, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, also known as the World Bank, was established to help restore economic stability to a world devastated by war. Initially, the World Bank provided aid to those countries most affected by the war. Today, the role of the World Bank has expanded significantly and the number of member countries has grown proportionately. Historical Dictionary of the World Bank traces the history of the organization as it examines the influence of its various leaders and member countries. It offers concise, essential information about the World Bank, its structure, who belongs, and how it works. In short, it provides a blueprint for understanding the inner workings of the organization and the effects it has had in shaping the world as we know it today. An essential reference resource for anyone interested or involved in international finance and the global economy, Historical Dictionary of the World Bank also provides an interesting historical perspective on the politics of foreign aid.


Background
Adipose tissue, which can be readily harvested via a number of liposuction techniques, offers an easily accessible and abundant source of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). Consequently, ASCs have become an increasingly popular reconstructive option and a novel means of aesthetic soft tissue augmentation.

Objectives
This paper examines recent advances in the aesthetic surgery field, extending beyond traditional review formats to incorporate a comprehensive analysis of current clinical trials, adoption status, and the commercialization pathway.

Methods
Keyword searches were carried out on clinical trial databases to search for trials using ASCs for aesthetic indications. An intellectual property landscape was created using commercial software (Thomson Reuters Thomson Innovation, New York, NY). Analysis of who is claiming what in respect of ASC use in aesthetic surgery for commercial purposes was analyzed by reviewing the patent landscape in relation to these techniques. Key international regulatory guidelines were also summarized.

Results
Completed clinical trials lacked robust controls, employed small sample sizes, and lacked long-term follow-up data. Ongoing clinical trials still do not address such issues. In recent years, claims to intellectual property ownership have increased in the "aesthetic stem cell" domain, reflecting commercial interest in the area. However, significant translational barriers remain including regulatory challenges and ethical considerations.

Conclusions
Further rigorous randomized controlled trials are required to delineate long-term clinical efficacy and safety. Providers should consider the introduction of patient reported outcome metrics to facilitate clinical adoption. Robust regulatory and ethical policies concerning stem cells and aesthetic surgery should be devised to discourage further growth of "stem cell tourism."


This paper sets out an analytical framework for doing research on the question of how to use agricultural research for innovation and impact. Its focus is the Research Into Use programme sponsored by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID). This is one example of a new type of international development programme that seeks to find better ways of using research for developmental purposes. The main analytical approach draws on contemporary innovation perspectives and focuses on understanding the ways in which the process of research is used, rather than only on how research products are transferred and adopted. It argues that there is a diversity of ways of organising innovation appropriate to different market, social, technological, institutional and policy niches. The framework developed in the paper is used to frame questions that will help RIU in its quest to provide practical policy with selection guidance in choosing the right sort of innovation support strategies for particular requirements of different niches at different points in the innovation trajectory.


Muscle samples (~1 cm3) were obtained from harvested animals in four distinct locations in each state (total sample size = 362). Maine samples were collected during the 1998 deer hunting season (November 1–31, 1998), New Hampshire samples were collected during the 1999 hunt (November 13–19, 1999), and Vermont samples were collected during the 1999 hunt (November 13–19, 1999). DNA was extracted using the QIAmp™ tissue kit (Quiagen, Valencia, CA) as per the manufacturer's instructions (1). One to two µL of extracted DNA was used in a 25 µL multiplex PCR reaction containing 10 mM KCl, 20 mM Tris pH 9.5, 10 mM (NH4)2SO4, 1 mM MgCl, 4 mM dNTP's (Promega, Madison, WI), 0.75 units of Taq DNA Polymerase (GibcoBRL, Grand Island, NY), and 0.3 µM of each primer (Operon, Almeda, CA). Three STR loci were examined: BM1225 [(2), primers: BM1225f ttt ctc aac aga ggt gtc cac BM1225r acc cct atc acc atg ctc tg], RT09 [(3), primers: RT9f tga agt tta att tcc act ct, RT9r cag tca ctt tca tcc cac at] and RT24 [(3), primers: RT24f tgt atc cat ctg gaa gat ttc ag, RT24r cag ttt aac cag tcc tct gtg]. PCR was performed in a HYBAid OMN-E Personal Thermal Cycler™ (HYBAid, Middlesex, UK) for 30 cycles (94°C, 30s; 54°C, 45 s; 70°C, 2 min) and a final extension (72°C, 10 min). PCR products were electrophoresed and analyzed with an ABI 377™ automated DNA sequencer as per the manufacturer's instructions (Applied Biosystems International, Foster City, CA). Electropherograms were interpreted using Genescan™ (ver. 3.1) and Genotyper™ (ver. 2.1) software (Applied Biosystems International, Foster City, CA). Allele frequencies and heterozygosities were calculated with Genepop (ver. 3.1c) (4) and Hardy Weinberg tests were performed with GDA (ver. 1.0d16c) (5).


With the growing trend in many subjects to deliver at least some part of examinations by computer, it is important to know whether there are any differences in the results obtained by candidates sitting examinations taken by computer compared to those obtained by candidates sitting conventional examinations using pen and paper. The purpose of this paper is to describe a pilot project to compare the traditional type of assessment with assessment done by computer in mathematics examinations and in particular to investigate the role of partial credit in these examinations. In paper based examinations full marks are awarded for a completely correct answer. If, however, a student obtains an incorrect answer but gets some parts of the working correct then in mathematics examinations partial credit is normally awarded. In a computer examination an incorrect answer to a question is normally awarded no marks with no consideration of any partial credit. The mechanism for giving partial credit in the computer examinations of this project was to break the question down into Steps. The project compared results of students taking computer tests in three different formats (either no Steps, compulsory Steps or optional Steps) and the partial credit they would have obtained by taking the corresponding examinations on paper. The tests were at the level of Scottish Higher school examinations and were taken by school students who were about to sit their Higher examinations. This level was chosen as it was high enough to test the students on strategy and mathematical working, while the questions were not too long so that a clearer analysis of the results was possible.


This article explores Akwamu understandings of the Volta and other rivers in Ghana - valued for their life-giving qualities - when they become the opposite: the cause of death by drowning. By engaging with customary ideas of the environment as an active player, influenced by deities, I seek to map local Akwamu perspectives of the environment as justice onto international models that posit the environment in need of justice and guardianship through human management. Akwamu traditional authorities have described river environments as a fair and unbiased avenue through which to resolve disputes. By dwelling on drowning, I explore Akwamu and broader Akan notions of 'good' or 'natural' compared to 'bad' or 'unnatural' deaths, the latter thought to reflect human-environment and inter-human social breakdown as well as the moral worth of the drowned victim. Through customary ritual practices, traditional representatives separate the Akwamu state, or society, from an individual's bad, watery death and restore human-environment and inter-human order in social life on land. Stir the waters, however, and Akwamu understandings of rivers highlight a hierarchy in human-environment relations as well as undercurrents of power between humans. By analysing beliefs, interpretations, and ritual behaviours in response to drowning, I reconceptualise Akwamu dynamics of power in reflections on environments as justice.


This paper examines the irregular application of the sound change commonly known as 'Bantu Spirantization (BS)' — a particular type of assibilation — in front of certain common Bantu morphemes. This irregularity can to a large extent be explained as the result of the progressive morphologization (through 'dephonologization') and lexicalization to which the sound shift was exposed across Bantu. The interaction with another common Bantu sound change, i.e. the 7-to-5-vowel merger, created the conditions necessary for the morphologization of BS, while analogy played an important role in its blocking and retraction from certain morphological domains. Differing morpho-prosodic constraints are at the origin of the varying heteromorphemic conditioning of BS. These uneven morphologization patterns, especially before the agentive suffix -i, were entrenched in the lexicon thanks to the lexicalization of agent nouns. The typology of Agent Noun Spirantization (ans) developed in this paper not only contributes to a better understanding of the historical processes underlying the varying patterns of BS morphologization and lexicalization, but also to internal Bantu classification. The different ANS types are geographically distributed in such a way that they allow to distinguish major Bantu subgroups. From a methodological point of view, this article thus shows how differential morphologization and lexicalization patterns can be used as tools for historical classification.


The last decade has seen a growing interest in air quality monitoring using networks of wireless low-cost sensor platforms. One of the unifying characteristics of chemical sensors typically used in real-world deployments is their slow response time. While the impact of sensor dynamics can largely be neglected when considering static scenarios, in mobile applications chemical sensor measurements should not be considered as point measurements (i.e. instantaneous in space and time). In this paper, we study the impact of sensor dynamics on measurement accuracy and locality through systematic experiments in the controlled environment of a wind tunnel. We then propose two methods for dealing with this problem: (i) reducing the effect of the sensor's slow dynamics by using an open active sampler, and (ii) estimating the underlying true signal using a sensor model and a deconvolution technique. We consider two performance metrics for evaluation: localization accuracy of specific field features and root mean squared error in field estimation. Finally, we show that the deconvolution technique results in consistent performance improvement for all the considered scenarios, and for both metrics, while the active sniffer design considered provides an advantage only for feature localization, particularly for the highest sensor movement speed.


In sequence modeling tasks the token order matters, but this information can be partially lost due to the discretization of the sequence into data points. In this paper, we study the imbalance between the way certain token pairs are included in data points and others are not. We denote this a token order imbalance (TOI) and we link the partial sequence information loss to a diminished performance of the system as a whole, both in text and speech processing tasks. We then provide a mechanism to leverage the full token order information—Alleviated TOI—by iteratively overlapping the token composition of data points. For recurrent networks, we use prime numbers for the batch size to avoid redundancies when building batches from overlapped data points. The proposed method achieved state of the art performance in both text and speech related tasks.


Left‐right asymmetry of human brain function has been known for a century, although much of molecular and cellular basis of brain laterality remains to be elusive. Recent studies suggest that hippocampal CA3‐CA1 excitatory synapses are asymmetrically arranged, however, the functional implication of the asymmetrical circuitry has not been studied at the behavioral level. In order to address the left‐right asymmetry of hippocampal function in behaving mice, we analyzed the performance of "split‐brain" mice in the Barnes maze. The "split‐brain" mice received ventral hippocampal commissure and corpus callosum transection in addition to deprivation of visual input from one eye. In such mice, the hippocampus in the side of visual deprivation receives sensory‐driven input. Better spatial task performance was achieved by the mice which were forced to use the right hippocampus than those which were forced to use the left hippocampus. In two‐choice spatial maze, forced usage of left hippocampus resulted in a comparable performance to the right counterpart, suggesting that both hippocampal hemispheres are capable of conducting spatial learning. Therefore, the results obtained from the Barnes maze suggest that the usage of the right hippocampus improves the accuracy of spatial memory. Performance of non‐spatial yet hippocampus‐dependent tasks (e.g. fear conditioning) was not influenced by the laterality of the hippocampus. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The internal structure of a measuring device, which depends on what its components are and how they are organized, determines how it categorizes its inputs. This paper presents a geometric approach to studying the internal structure of measurements performed by distributed systems such as probabilistic cellular automata. It constructs the quale, a family of sections of a suitably defined presheaf, whose elements correspond to the measurements performed by all subsystems of a distributed system. Using the quale we quantify (i) the information generated by a measurement; (ii) the extent to which a measurement is context-dependent; and (iii) whether a measurement is decomposable into independent submeasurements, which turns out to be equivalent to context-dependence. Finally, we show that only indecomposable measurements are more informative than the sum of their submeasurements.


A New Scientist Top Ten Books of 2012. We have long understood black holes to be where the universe as we know it comes to an end - huge bodies so destructive that not even light can escape their deadly power. In Gravity's Engines, however, renowned astrophysicist Caleb Scharf reveals an entirely new, and crucially important, side to these mysterious chasms. The latest research has located super-sized black holes, often billions of times more massive than the Sun, which have the power to rearrange the cosmos and control entire galaxies of stars. Engaging with our deepest questions about our origins, Scharf shows how, without these black holes, life in the universe could not exist. 'This book should be on your shelf if you want to know why our Universe is the way it is.' Focus 'Caleb Scharf is a lively and eloquent writer as well as a fine scientist. Gravity's Engines presents topics at the frontiers of our understanding which have not hitherto been presented so clearly to a general readership.' Sir Martin Rees 'Using rich language and a brilliant command of metaphor, Scharf weaves a wonderfully detailed tapestry of what modern astronomy is all about.' Nature 'Scharf serves as an appealing tour guide to the eerie, infinite corridors of the cosmos in which we reside.' Prospect


In 2014, I received an email out of the blue from Cody Wilson, the founder of Defense Distributed. The previous year, he had achieved international infamy for creating the world's first 3D-printed gun. In response, the State Department ordered him to remove from the internet the files that could be used to make that gun. Cody planned to sue the Federal Government for violating his rights under the First and Second Amendments, and for running afoul of federal export control law. And he wanted me to help.

Initially, I was skeptical. But after some research, I concluded that Cody had a strong case. I soon joined Defense Distributed's legal team, along with Matt Goldstein, an export control specialist, and Alan Gura, a constitutional litigator. We filed suit in 2015 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The next two years of litigation were quite exciting, largely unsuccessful, and mostly formulaic. The District Court denied our preliminary injunction. A divided panel of the Fifth Circuit affirmed. The en banc court split nine to five. And the Supreme Court denied certiorari.

Following the remand, however, the case took a positive turn. The District Court encouraged the parties to consider a settlement. Soon, we reached an agreement with the State Department. The Government would rescind the regulation that prevented Cody, and all Americans, from posting "technical data" about firearms to the internet. Or at least that was the plan.

On the eve of the settlement date, gun control groups and two dozen state attorneys general sought emergency injunctive relief to prevent Defense Distributed from posting the files online. Over the course of five hectic days, I would brief and argue four temporary restraining order (TRO) motions in four courts. I prevailed on the first three. The fourth court, alas, issued a global injunction that blocked our settlement. Prior to that decision, however, the files were available online and downloaded thousands of times. They remain readily available to this day.

This Article, written as the litigation continues apace, has three primary goals. First, it encapsulates the complicated, and somewhat confusing, posture of these cases. Second, this Article illustrates the folly, and indeed irrationality, of trying to censor the internet. Third, this Article explains how the political stigma of guns taints an important free speech issue that would otherwise receive widespread support.


The continuous rise in the number of suicides among Indian rural based farmers is not solely due to lack of funds or failure of crops or huge amount of interests on debts. Many a time the farmers are in daze triggered by the panic and fear both of which are due to lack of information backed by appropriate technologies. Lack of information about the appropriate crop patterns the farmers should choose depending on the market demands and remunerative prices, availability of water, supply of seeds for sowing, proper knowledge of the use of manures and ways to avoid over use of pesticides--did contribute to the ever increasing number of suicides in the regions of Vidharbha and Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Government machinery comprising Agricultural extension officers, backed by the Agricultural programs on Radio and TV could hardly meet the information required for these farmers affected with the compounding problems. Use of convergent mobile technologies with the internet and e-mail facilities is the need of the hour. The latest data drawn from the IMRB survey (The I-Cube 2007) indicated that internet usage in India has grown by more than 11 times over the last seven years. The internet expansion is seen moving down from the metros to towns with population less than half a million with the number of users up by 69 times since 2007. In the last two years, 2005 and 2006, on an average 4.5 million new mobile subscribers were added every month. Convergent mobile technologies with wide range of mobiles and packages being available now hold the promise of offering basic literacy and numeracy skills accessible to the small farmers in India, besides a lot of information concerning the availability of loans at lower interest through banks and self-help groups, crop patterns, remunerative prices for the produce, export norms for the crops, e-marketing and e-commerce, etc, The paper outlines a visualization of such an optimistic design of use of convergent mobile technologies.


Integrating remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) technologies offers tremendous opportunities for farmers to more cost effectively manage the causes of crop stress. Initial soybean cyst nematode (SCN) population densities from 995 2-x-3-m quadrats were obtained from a soybean field near Ames, Iowa, in 2000. The percentage of sunlight reflected from each quadrat was measured weekly using a multispectral radiometer beginning in mid-May and continuing through mid-September. Aerial images were obtained at heights above the field ranging from 45 to 425 m on 12 dates during the soybean growing season. This was accomplished using color film and infrared film in conjunction with a filter to measure reflectance in the near-infrared region (810 nm). Satellite images (Landsat 7) were obtained for five dates during the 2000 growing season. Maps depicting initial SCN population densities, soybean yield, soy oil, and soy protein were generated using the GIS software program ArcView. Percentage reflectance (810 nm), aerial image intensity, and satellite image intensity data then were regressed against soybean yield, soy oil, and soy protein concentrations obtained from each geospatially referenced soybean quadrat. Percentage reflectance measurements explained up to 60% of the variation in initial SCN population densities within soybean quadrats and up to 91% of the variation in soybean yield. Aerial image and satellite image intensities explained up to 80% and 47% of the variation in soybean yield, respectively. Percentage reflectance data also explained 36% and 54% of the variation in oil and protein concentrations of the harvested soybeans, respectively. These results indicate that remote sensing coupled with GIS technologies may provide new tools to detect and quantify SCN population densities and their impacts on the quantity and quality of soybean yield.


The paper presents the results of the application of an Input-Output-based approach for the estimation of direct, indirect and induced effects of tourist spending on local economies, in a static partial equilibrium setting. The methodology has been successfully applied in three case studies – Bergen (Norway), Elche (Spain), Syracuse (Italy) –, in the framework of the 6th FP project PICTURE (Pro-active management of the Impact of Cultural Tourism upon Urban Resources and Economies), in order to quantify the monetary impact of cultural tourism upon urban economies. The analysis was carried out in two major steps: firstly, interviews to tourists in each case study city, in order to estimate the scale and variability of the spending patterns of different profiles of visitors (e.g., culture-driven vs. leisure tourists); secondly, application of the Input-Output model of the economy of concern (eventually re-scaling the matrix at the Region or County level) to quantify the effects of tourist expenditure on sales, income and employment for the several impacted economic sectors. Tourists driven by cultural interest are often assumed, in literature, to have a higher than average income and to spend more on holiday. The paper reports the main findings of the analysis, discussing them against the "cultural tourist" stereotype. The analysis aims at assisting local decision makers in identifying the value of different tourist typologies to their region, in understanding how different sectors of local economy and society can benefit from tourism and in determining how to maximise, or more equally redistribute, the positive impact.


By any measure, Google is one of America's most innovative companies of the last decade. Its search engine has literally changed the way people all around the world access information and conduct research. Google's ability to continue innovating, as well as the ability of other companies to do the same, is threatened by the potential application of an untested and unbounded legal theory now being considered by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC appears to be investigating theories that Google's evolution from only offering traditional web search results into now providing specialized search results (such as flight, shopping or map results) — a relatively recent innovation in its business model and its services to users — somehow constitutes an unfair method of competition within the meaning of Section 5 of the FTC Act. In this paper, we critique such a basis for intervention in several ways. First, we will review the thin case law on Section 5 cases, and show the potential dangers to innovation broadly that such standalone investigations can pose. Second, although it is well established that the antitrust laws are designed to protect competition and not particular competitors, no equivalent doctrine has yet been articulated under the FTC's unfair method of competition mandate. Third, to the extent that the FTC were to base its case — and courts were to accept any unfair trade practice or deception claim — on a claim that Google somehow reneged on a prior implicit or explicit promise not to offer specialized search results or to rank them in search results in accordance with the algorithms used for other web pages, then that result also would deeply impair the innovative process. We conclude by highlighting the potential threat to innovation posed to other companies, both inside and outside the technology sector, by the theories now apparently being pursued against Google. In sum, there is no basis in law or in fact for the FTC to proceed against Google under Section 5 of the FTC Act on the theories reviewed in this paper.


Background Graduated driver licensing (GDL) laws are associated with reduced crash rates per person-year among adolescents. It is unknown whether adolescents crash less per miles driven or drive less under GDL policies. Methods We used data from the US National Household Travel Survey and Fatality Analysis Reporting System for 1995–1996, 2001–2002 and 2008–2009. We compared adolescents subject to GDL laws with those not by estimating adjusted IRRs for being a driver in a crash with a death per person-year (aIRRpy) and per miles driven (aIRRm), and adjusted miles driven ratios (aMR) controlling for changes in rates over time. Results Comparing persons subject to GDL policies with those not, 16 year olds had fewer fatal crashes per person-year (aIRRpy 0.63, 95% CI 0.47 to 0.91), drove fewer miles (aMR 0.79, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.98) and had lower crash rates per miles driven (aIRRm 0.83, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.06). For age 17, the aIRRpy was 0.83 (95% CI 0.60 to 1.17), the aMR 0.80 (95% CI 0.63 to 1.03) and the aIRRm 1.03 (95% CI 0.80 to 1.35). For age 18, the aIRRpy was 0.93 (95% CI 0.72 to 1.19), the aMR 0.92 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.09) and the aIRRm 1.01 (95% CI 0.84 to 1.23). Conclusions If these associations are causal, GDL laws reduced crashes per person-year by about one-third among 16 year olds; half the reduction was due to fewer crashes per miles driven and half to less driving. For ages 17 and 18, there was no evidence of reduced crash rates per miles driven.


"Los Petenes" Biosphere Reserve (RBLP) is a critical habitat for many aquatic and terrestrial species. It has the biggest and better conserved seagrass beds, and it represents an important habitat for food, protection and breeding of aquatic organisms, and a temporal refuge for migratory species. The objective of this study was to describe the ichthyofauna diversity in the littoral coastal area of the RBLP, to identify the ecological dominant species, and to analyze the abundance of the fish community and its temporal and spatial changes, and their relationship with some environmental variables. Monthly fish samples were obtained with the aid of trawl nets, from 24 samplings sites distributed along the reserve, between May 2009 and April 2010. The trawl net was operated 288 times and 21 795 individuals with 279.5kg of weight were collected. A total of 46 fish species grouped in 34 genera and 23 families were identified. In a spatial scale, the abundance showed the next ranges: 0.018-0.094ind./m2; 0.249-1.072 g/m2 and 9.75-19.32g/ind.; the diversity indexes obtained were: H'n=1.46-2.15, J'=0.45-0.71 and D'=2.08-3.92. In a temporal scale, the abundance and diversity ranged between: 0.026-0.066ind./m2; 0.342-0.764g/m2 and 6.49-22.98g/ind.; H'n=1.76-2.08; J'=0.52-0.64 and D'=3.07-4.18. Eleven dominant species were identified with a representation of the 94.39% in number of individuals, and 89.66% in weight of the total catch. From the total, eight species had economic or commercial importance, especially Lagodon rhomboides and Haemulon plumierii. The cluster analyses identified four fish associations; these results are discussed in order to identify relationships between habitat-species. Finally, the canonical correspondence analysis evidenced an association between H. plumierii with salinity and dissolved solids. The RBLP has high habitat diversity and its fish community has developed strategies to use all the spatial and temporal conditions and to satisfy the needs of their life cycles.


This open access book introduces the human development model to define disability and map its links with health and wellbeing, based on Sen's capability approach. The author uses panel survey data with internationally comparable questions on disability for Ethiopia, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. It presents evidence on the prevalence of disability and its strong and consistent association with multidimensional poverty, mortality, economic insecurity and deprivations in education, morbidity and employment. It shows that disability needs to be considered from multiple angles including aging, gender, health and poverty. Ultimately, this study makes a call for inclusion and prevention interventions as solutions to the deprivations associated with impairments and health conditions.


The word "UNESCO" was created by being taken the initials of "United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization". UNESCO has undertaken two main objectives as it can be understood from the name of the organization. This organization is an international organization that works for the expedience of the world in long term and as a whole aims to serve to the aims of United Nations including humanitarian purposes. Moreover, the organization aims to support and develop all aspects of the concepts of education, science and culture. Based on these purposes, UNESCO has provided the preparation of many publications as book, journal, report, and article etc. in the field of education. It is seen that some of these publications are related with mathematics education. The aim of this study is to examine the publications of mathematics education published by UNESCO from "Standards and Principles for School Mathematics" document of NCTM issued in 1989 to present. These publications are comprised of article, book, report and documents placed in the publications of education in the web site of the organization. 272 publications of UNESCO were examined with document analysis.  In the study, document analysis method, one of qualitative research methods, was used. Investigated publications were analyzed in terms of publication years, publication types, subject areas, contents and related countries. Descriptive analysis method was used in the process of analysis of publications. As the result of investigation of these publications of UNESCO about mathematics education, it is revealed that the publications focused especially on mathematics education programs of countries, international measurement and assessment exams as TIMMS, PISA and subjects about teaching and learning mathematics.


The ability to adjust to structural change is vital to economic development, and entries can be active participants in this process. While the importance of factor reallocations for growth is widely accepted, the role of entrepreneurs in managing these reallocations is rarely, if ever, mentioned in the empirical growth literature. This paper analyzes the role of entrepreneurial activity for adjustments of the sectoral structure and its relevance for regional economic development. The historical framework is the accelerated economic transformation that occurred in industrialized countries during the mid 1970s, resulting in an increasing need to adjust. Based on German data from 1975 to 2002, evidence is presented that sectoral reallocations are an important means for transforming entrepreneurial activity into growth.


Abstract Recent advances in computer simulation at the atomic scale have made it possible to probe the structure and behaviour of the cores of dislocations in minerals. Such simulation offers the possibility to understand and predict the dislocation-mediated properties of minerals such as mechanisms of plastic deformation, pipe diffusion and crystal growth. In this review the three major methods available for the simulation of dislocation cores are described and compared. The methods are: (1) cluster-based models which combine continuum elastic theory of the extended crystal with an atomistic model of the core; (2) dipole models which seek to cancel the long-range elastic displacement caused by the dislocation by arranging for the simulation to contain several dislocations with zero net Burgers vector, thus allowing a fully periodic super-cell calculation; and (3) the Peierls-Nabarro approach which attempts to recast the problem so that it can be solved using only continuum-based methods, but parameterizes the model using results from atomic-scale calculations. The strengths of these methods are compared and illustrated by some of the recent studies of dislocations in mantle silicate minerals. Some of the unresolved problems in the field are discussed.


This paper investigates the stability properties of a class of switched systems possessing several linear time-invariant parameterizations (or configurations) which are governed by a switching law. It is assumed that the parameterizations are stabilized individually via an appropriate linear state or output feedback stabilizing controller whose existence is first discussed. A main novelty with respect to previous research is that the various individual parameterizations might be continuous-time, discrete-time, or mixed so that the whole switched system is a hybrid continuous/discrete dynamic system. The switching rule governs the choice of the parameterization which is active at each time interval in the switched system. Global asymptotic stability of the switched system is guaranteed for the case when a common Lyapunov function exists for all the individual parameterizations and the sampling period of the eventual discretized parameterizations taking part of the switched system is small enough. Some extensions are also investigated for controlled systems under decentralized or mixed centralized/decentralized control laws which stabilize each individual active parameterization.


Design is the single most important factor in creating a successful photograph. The ability to see the potential for a strong picture and then organize the graphic elements into an effective, compelling composition has always been one of the key skills in making photographs. Digital photography has brought a new, exciting aspect to design - first because the instant feedback from a digital camera allows immediate appraisal and improvement; and second because image-editing tools make it possible to alter and enhance the design after the shutter has been pressed. This has had a profound effect on the way digital photographers take pictures. The Photographer's Eye shows how anyone can develop the ability to see and shoot great digital photographs. The book explores all the traditional approaches to composition and design, but crucially, it also addresses the new digital technique of shooting in the knowledge that a picture will later be edited, manipulated, or montaged to result in a final image that may be very different from the one seen in the viewfinder. Features*Covers both traditional in-camera composition and the new opportunities for picture-making made possible by digital imaging editing *Shows how to explore situations and locations in order to find the best possible photographic possibilities *Uses clear examples from real photographic assignments, with schematic illustrations of how and why the pictures work


Recently much attention has been given to the approaches insurers undertake in valuing their liabilities and assets. For example, in 1994 the American Academy of Actuaries created a Fair Valuation of Liabilities Task Force to address the issue. In 1997, the Academy established a Valuation Law Task Force and a Valuation Tools Working Group to investigate the various valuation approaches extant and to make recommendations on which models are best suited to the task. Much of the published work has focused on attributes of the various models, their strengths and shortcomings. Some of the work has addressed the larger questions, but in our view, it is useful and necessary to provide a taxonomy of approaches and evaluate them in a systematic way in accordance with how well they achieve their aims. In this paper we focus primarily on the economic valuation of insurance liabilities, although we do address some valuation issues for assets. We begin in Section I by defining insurance liabilities. Next, in Section II, we discuss the criteria for a good economic valuation model. This is followed by a taxonomy of valuation models in Section III. In Section IV, we examine insurance liabilities in the context of this taxonomy and identify the minimum requirements of an economic valuation approach that purports to value them adequately. An illustration of the application of a modern valuation model is given in Section V. We conclude in Section VI by discussing some limitations of our analysis, and offer some recommendations for implementation.


Abstract In this paper, the authors investigate the determinants of weight for leisure in preferences. First, using a dynamic general equilibrium model, they back out the weight for leisure for an unbalanced panel of 52 countries over the period from 1950 to 2009. Then, the authors perform several panel data regressions using the backed-out values of the preference for leisure as the dependent variable. Estimation results imply that trade openness, GDP per-capita and average temperature positively affect the weight for leisure in preferences in a robust manner. They also find some evidence about the effect of unionization and unemployment.


Objective The aim of this study was to compare the early systemic inflammatory response of the Resting Heart System (RHS; Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN USA), a miniaturized cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) system, with two groups using a standard extracorporeal circulation system during on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. Methods A total of 60 consecutive patients requiring CABG were prospectively randomized to undergo on-pump CABG using conventional CPB without cardiotomy suction (group A), conventional CPB with cardiotomy suction (group B), or the RHS (group C). Blood samples were collected at five time points: immediately before CPB, 30 minutes into CPB, immediately at the end of CPB, 30 minutes post-CPB, and 1 hour post-CPB. Inflammation was analyzed by changes in (a) levels of plasma proteins, including inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-6 [IL-6], IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-α), chemokines (IL-8, monokine induced by interferon-γ, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted, and interferon-inducible protein-10), and acute phase proteins (C-reactive protein and complement protein 3); (b) biochemical variables (cardiac troponin I, hematocrit, and immunoglobulin G); and (c) cell numbers (leukocytes, neutrophils, and thrombocytes). Results The RHS showed more delayed secretion of the cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-10, chemokines monokine induced by interferon-γ (P < 0.001); IL-8, and interferon-inducible protein-10; and complement protein 3 than conventional CPB systems did. Median thrombocyte numbers were higher in the RHS group. Levels of cardiac troponin I, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, and IL-6 were lower in both the RHS and conventional CPB without suction than with suction. Levels of C-reactive protein and regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted, plus leukocyte and neutrophil numbers, were similar in all groups. Conclusions The Medtronic RHS may induce less systemic inflammation than conventional CPB systems, particularly when cardiotomy suction was used, but it did not result in improved clinical benefit.


Early embryonic development, implantation, and maintenance of a pregnancy are critically dependent upon a precisely orchestrated embryo-maternal interaction leading to a receptive uterine environment. The embryo has to signal its presence to the dam in order for estrous cyclicity to subside; however, the horse is one of the few domestic species in which the conceptus-derived pregnancy recognition signal has not been identified. To gain new insights into molecular mechanisms underlying this complex process in the horse, transcriptional profiling of Day 13.5 pregnant and cyclic endometrial tissue samples was carried using custom-designed 2-color microarrays. Endometrial tissue samples collected from 4 pregnant and cyclic mares each were labeled with either Cy3 or Cy5, paired, and analyzed on 4 individual arrays. Transcripts showing a difference in signal intensity of at least 1.3 and a P-value of 0.01 or less in a mixed model analysis were considered differentially expressed. Array data were validated performing quantitative RT-PCR and changes in relative gene expression between pregnant and non-pregnant mares were determined using the delta delta cycle threshold method. Proteins of interest were localized using immunohistochemistry. One hundred six transcripts were up-regulated, whereas 47 transcripts showed lower expression levels in pregnant mares. Quantitative RT-PCR for five up- and down-regulated transcripts each confirmed expression data obtained by microarray with a validation rate of 100%. Half of the genes with known or inferred function have previously been described as regulated by estrogens. Given the large quantities of estrogen synthesized by the equine conceptus, this finding confirms validity of the data. Elevated transcript levels were found for genes involved in cell-cell signaling, heat shock response, and secretory proteins among others. Solute carrier 36 member 2, SLC36A2, was the most highly up-regulated gene, reflecting the nutritional needs of the rapidly developing embryo. The beta subunit of luteinizing hormone (LHB) showed higher expression levels in pregnant mares. It is likely that the observed up-regulation of LHB leads to increased release of bioactive LH/CG into the uterine environment during early pregnancy where we hypothesize it to exert paracrine effects preparing the uterus for conceptus implantation. Among the down-regulated genes, estrogen receptor 1 was of particular interest because of its potential involvement in the initiation of luteolysis in cyclic mares. We hypothesize that either embryonic estrogen or uterine-derived choriogonadotropin is involved in the observed down-regulation of estrogen receptor 1, which may be the key to maternal recognition of pregnancy. Several of the genes identified in the current study are known to play a role in early pregnancy in species other than the horse. We thus hypothesize that a subset of genes crucial to endometrial receptivity does not differ between species, representing a common pattern during early pregnancy, whereas each species has a distinct mechanism ensuring ongoing corpus luteum function.


OBJECTIVE
To develop new and improved reference birthweights for the Argentine population as a whole with a breakdown by gestational age (GA), sex and multiplicity of birth.

METHODS
The population studied included all live births resulting from single (n = 3,478,286) and double (n = 57,654) births in Argentina during the period 2003- 2007. The probable errors in classifying GA on the basis of last menstruation were corrected using normal mixture models. The percentiles were obtained by quantile regression, which also made it possible to smooth out the curves.

RESULTS
Birthweight curves for single births were obtained between weeks 22 and 43 of gestation, and curves for double births between weeks 24 and 41, with a breakdown by the sex of the neonate. Compared with those of previous studies, these reference birthweights do not overestimate the proportion of live births large for their GA. An increase in birthweight was also observed during the period of study.

CONCLUSIONS
The proposed curves have the advantages of being based on large numbers, of being representative of the most recent Argentine births, of distinguishing the number of births and the sex of the neonates, and of minimizing GA classification errors. They are therefore a useful tool for measuring inequalities and thus identifying population groups at higher risk of adverse perinatal events.


Extensive networking led to a high division of labor among the business partners and to an optimization of cost structures in most sectors of western economies. In competitive parts of the health care markets, the first signs of a similar development are beginning to crystallize. As a consequence, networkability, that is the ability to link up with other players (e.g. specialized health service providers, home care institutions) on the basis of commonly agreed standards for the joint provisioning of patient-centered and cost-efficient health services, will emerge to a key concept for future health service delivery. It is therefore the aim of this contribution to give a first overview of potential enablers for the networkability of health care organizations. In doing so, the discussion of the subject matter is carried out from an interdisciplinary point of view, basing on constituent knowledge of the fields of health services research, organization theory and information systems, and is further substantiated with initial empirical findings from the Swiss health care market.


After dropping significantly in the Great Recession, inflation-adjusted U.S. manufacturing output has continued to decline as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), down 3.5 percent between 2009 and 2019 (0.41 percentage points), even with the strong cyclical rebound in the motor vehicle sector. While U.S. manufacturing performs adequately in a few sectors—such as primary metals, chemicals, computers and electronic products (including semiconductors)—most other sectors are smaller as share of the U.S. economy than they were a decade ago.1 To boost U.S. manufacturing output and innovation, effective manufacturing strategies—articulated at both the federal and state levels and underpinned by a suite of effective, specific policies—will be needed. This report first examines the underperformance of American manufacturing and then examines how a concerted suite of policies—focused on addressing strategy and analysis, technology development and diffusion, finance, tax, and talent challenges and opportunities—could be implemented to revitalize America's manufacturing economy.


Synopsis Remapping of a quartzofeldspathic gneiss-dominated part of the Lewisian Complex in the NW Highlands of Scotland, originally mapped by the Geological Survey in the latter part of the nineteenth century, has added new information about the lithologies and their distribution, and established a tectonothermal–igneous history. Linking new data for the gneisses of Strath Dionard–Rhiconich to the results of isotopic studies points to the development of their protolith in late Archaean times as the result of arc magmatism similar to that at a modern ocean–continent margin. Compositionally, most of the gneisses, and those southwards towards Laxford, correspond to granodiorite with adakitic affinities. Using a comparison with a well-substantiated model for coeval late Archaean crust formation of part of the Wyoming Craton, they are interpreted as representing a stage in a tectonomagmatic cycle when the products of metasomatism and melting in the mantle were emplaced as sheet-like banded plutons at middle crustal levels. Less common granitic gneisses represent products of further melting in the thickened middle crust. Xenolithic blocks of subducted older sedimentary rocks, carried upwards by the magmas, are now seen as elongate lensoid masses of calc-silicate rock and quartzite that are grossly concordant with the banding in the gneisses. Also generally concordant with this banding are elongate lensoid masses of amphibolite, the protolith of which is considered to have been the product of mafic magmatism during the convergent margin arc activity. In early Proterozoic times the late Archaean assemblage was extensively reworked. The development of penetrative foliation in both gneisses and amphibolites was associated with isotopic homogenization that, in the southerly continuation of the domain towards the type locality of the Laxfordian orogenic belt at Laxford, has been dated at c. 1860 Ma. This preceded the imposition of the current major structural pattern that included the formation of the Strath Dionard antiform and the parasitic Gharbh Mhòr folds. Abundant granites and pegmatites, subsequently emplaced in an injection complex at Strath Dionard, are linked with the c. 1855 Ma suite of acidic intrusions that are prominent at Laxford. The rock assemblage and sequence of development are like those of other early Proterozoic mobile belts formed as the result of extensive reworking of late Archaean cratons. Limited mineralogical and structural modification of the ≥1850 Ma gneiss–amphibolite–granite assemblage, and pegmatite emplacement associated with (micro)-plate collision, took place during the development of the c. 1750 Ma Calvian orogenic belt. Further limited modification and pegmatite emplacement was at c. 1670 Ma. The structural–metamorphic–igneous histories described, integrated with isotopic data, do not support interpretations proposing a transition between the Strath Dionard–Rhiconich (–Laxford) gneiss–amphibolite domain and the adjacent granulite–dolerite dyke domain; or that the quartzofeldspathic gneiss–amphibolite domains in some other parts of the NW Highlands can be correlated with the type area of the Laxfordian orogenic belt.


We propose a framework for collaborative filtering based on Restricted Boltzmann Machines (RBM), which extends previous RBM-based approaches in several important directions. First, while previous RBM research has focused on modeling the correlation between item ratings, we model both user-user and item-item correlations in a unified hybrid non-IID framework. We further use real values in the visible layer as opposed to multinomial variables, thus taking advantage of the natural order between user-item ratings. Finally, we explore the potential of combining the original training data with data generated by the RBM-based model itself in a bootstrapping fashion. The evaluation on two MovieLens datasets (with 100K and 1M user-item ratings, respectively), shows that our RBM model rivals the best previously-proposed approaches.


GSAT is a randomized local search procedure for solving propositional satisfiability problems. GSAT can solve hard, randomly generated problems that are an order of magnitude larger than those that can be handled by more traditional approaches, such as the Davis-Putnam procedure. This paper presents the results of numerous experiments we have performed with GSAT, in order to improve our understanding of its capabilities and limitations. We first characterize the space traversed by GSAT. We will see that for nearly all problem classes we have encountered, the space consists of a steep descent followed by broad flat plateaus. We then compare GSAT with simulated annealing, and show how GSAT can be viewed as an efficient method for executing the low-temperature tail of an annealing schedule. Finally, we report on extensions to the basic GSAT procedure. We discuss two general, domain-independent extensions that dramatically improve GSAT's performance on structured problems: the use of clause weights, and a way to average in near-solutions when initializing the procedure before each try.


This memo defines a Real Time Transport Protocol (RTP) payload format
for use when probing for congestion using Explicit Congestion
Detection (ECN). This payload format is intended for use with the
probing mechanisms described in draft "Real-time ECN Use Cases". While
defined in terms of the specific application of admission control, it
is desirable to overlay this format with other probing mechanisms so
as to reduce the number of probing packet formats.


ABSTRACT Sedimentation occurs in 4 environments in the Bay of Fundy intertidal zone. These environments are (1) wave-cut benches, (2) estuarine clay flats, (3) tidal flats in lee of bedrock islands, and (4) salt marshes. Thin sediment veneers deposited on a wave-cut bench comprise 75 percent of the intertidal zone sediments of the Bay of Fundy. Such sediments are characterized by texture and composition which is similar to that of the underlying bedrock from which it was derived. Wave action and braided streams rework the sediments and leave the following combination of primary structures: lenticular cross-stratification; flutes; grooves; flat-topped, scoured, current, oscillation and interference ripple marks; current lineation; megaripples, and scour pits on the lee side of pebbles. Estuarine clay flats are underlain by unstratified silt and clay which is drained by meandering creeks. Tidal marsh sediments consist of a silt and clay bank overlain by a thin zone of decayed plant debris. Tidal flats in the lee of bedrock islands were subdivided into a higher tidal flat characterized by gravel and sand, and a lower tidal flat characterized by gravel, sand, silt and clay. The higher tidal flats are drained by braided streams. Meandering creeks drain the lower tidal flats and develop a lag concentrate of gravel, sand, and clam shells at the channel bottoms by the process of lateral sedimentation. Comparison of Bay of Fundy intertidal zone sediments and Triassic redbeds of the Canadian Maritime Provinces showed that both are characterized by the same color, texture, and mineral composition because the modern sediments were derived from Triassic bedrock. However, the Triassic redbeds are of different origin as their characteristic combinations of primary structures suggests fluvial and lacustrine conditions.


The present article reviews poverty studies in Spanish Autonomous Communities using a new methodological approach. One of the main concerns in those studies is poverty concentration in specific Spanish Autonomous Communities. This can be the result of a bias due to use a unique national poverty line, since the circumstances of every family unit, specifically if it is poor or not, could be different depending on the Region it inhabited. In order to test this assertion we estimate a CHAID algorithm and CATPCA. The main conclusion of this analysis is that Spanish poverty is strongly influenced by regional differences. To correct this effect we define as Spanish poor households those that are, at the same time, under the national and regional poverty line. We call this group Real poverty. Finally, we calculate ten poverty indexes for this real poor population. The results show that it is no possible to categorize Spanish Autonomous Communities depending on poverty indexes, since they do not configure a specific distribution of those regions. On the contrary, every index establishes its own regional ordering. Therefore, we should introduce regional adjustments in data and focus in household characteristics –size, type, age, level of education…- to explain Spanish poverty. The information comes from the Spanish Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) in 2008.


The first collection of American civil rights speeches-including a never-before-published speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.-from the entire range of U.S. history.. Ripples of Hope brings together the most influential and important civil rights speeches from the entire range of American history-from the colonial period to the present. Gathered from the great speeches of the civil rights movement of African Americans, Asian Americans, gays, Hispanic Americans, and women, Ripples of Hope includes voices as diverse as Sister Souljah, Spark Matsui, and Harvey Milk, which, taken as a whole, constitute a unique chronicle of the modern civil rights movement.Featuring a foreword by President Bill Clinton and an afterword by Mary Frances Berry, this collection represents not just a historical first but also an indispensable resource for readers searching for an alternative history of American rhetoric. Edited and with an introduction by former Clinton speechwriter Josh Gottheimer, the stirring speeches that make up this volume provide an important perspective on our nation's development, and will inform the future debate on civil rights.


Biometrics have become important for mobile authentication, e.g., to unlock devices before using them. One way to protect biometric information stored on mobile devices from disclosure is using embedded smart cards (SCs) with biometric match-on-card (MOC) approaches. However, computational restrictions of SCs also limit biometric matching procedures. We present a mobile MOC approach that uses offline training to obtain authentication models with a simplistic internal representation in the final trained state, where we adapt features and model representation to enable their usage on SCs. The pre-trained model can be shipped with SCs on mobile devices without requiring retraining to enroll users. We apply our approach to acceleration based mobile gait authentication as well as face authentication and compare authentication accuracy and computation time of 16 and 32 bit Java Card SCs. Using 16 instead of 32 bit SCs has little impact on authentication performance and is faster due to less data transfer and computations on the SC. Results indicate 11.4 and 2.4-5.4 percent EER for gait respectively face authentication, with transmission and computation durations on SCs in the range of 2 s respectively 1 s. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first practical approach towards acceleration based gait MOC authentication.


James Connolly, Irish Socialist Republican and greatest of all Irish labour leaders, was shot - strapped to a chair because his wounds forbade him to stand - by a British firing squad on May 12, 1916. Connolly's work and ideas left their mark not only in Ireland but on American and British labour movements. As a young man he was one of the pioneers of the modern labour movement in Edinburgh, the city of his birth. The scene then shifted to Dublin, where Connolly founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party, whose programme declared: " The national and economic freedom of the Irish people must be sought in...the establishment of an Irish Socialist Republic". Then came a period of seven years in the USA where he worked with Daniel De Leon's Socialist Labor Party. In 1910 Connolly returned to Ireland and played a leading part in the working-class struggles in Belfast, and in the Great Dublin lock-out-the highest point reached by the class struggle in Europe in the period leading up to the 1914 war. On the outbreak of war with Germany, Connolly declared: "We have no foreign enemy except the Government of England...We serve neither King nor Kaiser, but Ireland." Thus he set out on the path which led to the Easter Rising of 1916. C. Desmond Greaves's The Life and Times of James Connolly, first published in 1961, is a major contribution to the history of Irelands fight for freedom and is widely recognised as the definitive biography of the greatest of all Irish Labour leaders.


Chemotherapy is a very frequently used therapy in patients with advanced tumors with or without central nervous system (CNS) metastases or primary brain tumors. Despite the significant progress in drug development, the survival of patients is limited with an unmet need for more effective chemotherapeutics that have an acceptable safety profile. This thesis presents I/II clinical phase studies with an aim to investigate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics (PD) and the preliminary anti-tumor activity of novel anti-cancer drugs or new combinations of drugs already in use. During the research we were able to recommend dosing schedules and dose-levels of the (combination of) drug(s) for further clinical studies and confirmed drug-drug interactions or food-effects. The second part of this thesis presents pharmaceutical/nanomedicine strategies and laboratory assays in the treatment, diagnosis and drug-monitoring of central nervous system (CNS) tumors. We represent the review of the literature that discusses new drug strategies of targeting blood-brain barrier (BBB) by active chemo- and immunotherapies. Due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) only few systemic drugs can be used to treat brain tumors. As treatment of systemically metastasized cancer patients becomes more effective and prolongs patient's survival, CNS metastases are more frequently observed. Recently, using nanotechnology active chemotherapeutics can be safely transported across the barriers (BBB and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB)) and target brain and CSF, respectively. Further studies on improving the brain-penetration of potentially effective drugs for brain tumors is warranted. In the line with this we describe two clinical studies with a novel strategy consisting of administration of glutathione liposomal PEGylated doxorubicin (2B3-101) as a treatment of patients with solid tumors and brain metastases or recurrent malignant glioma and leptomeningeal metastases from breast cancer. Doxorubicin is a well- known, frequently used chemotherapeutic agent in various tumor types, such as breast cancer and lung cancer. Glioblastoma cell lines showed to be sensitive to doxorubicin, however, without the carrier, doxorubicin cannot pass the BBB. The first study with 2B3-101 demonstrated that treatment of patients with solid tumors and brain metastases or malignant gliomas with 2B3-101 showed a dose-dependent PK profile and is safe and relatively well tolerated with both as single agent and with trastuzumab co-administration. Intracranial and extracranial preliminary anti-tumor activity was observed in patients with (HER2+) breast cancer with brain metastases and malignant glioma. In the second study using 2B3-101 in patients with leptomeningeal metastases (LM) from breast cancer, doxorubicin concentrations in the CSF were within the reported IC50, a measure of effectiveness in-vitro in two out of three patients. One of the three treated patients with LM showed stable disease for 10 cycles and progression free survival for more than six months. Further we demonstrate the clinical application of the circulating tumor cell assay (CTC) for EPCAM-positive cells (an epithelial tumor cell marker) to be more sensitive in diagnosing leptomeningeal metastases in CSF (100%), than the standard CSF cytology method (71%) in patients with clinically suspected LM or with already diagnosed LM, while both methods showed a very high specificity (100%).


Abstract Asians are reported to have poorer healthcare experience than non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs), but the sources of the differences are not understood. One explanation is Asian's reluctance to choose extreme responses in survey. We thus sought to compare NHW-Asian differences in responses to healthcare experience surveys when asked to report versus rate their experiences. Patients of an outpatient care system in 2013 to 2014 in the United States were studied. Patient experience surveys were sent after randomly selected clinic visits. Responses from 6 major Asian subgroups and NHWs were included (N = 61,115). The surveys used a combined questionnaire of Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG-CAHPS) and Press Ganey surveys. CG-CAHPS questions are framed as "reporting" and Press Ganey questions as "rating" of experiences. We compared the proportion of favorable (or top box) responses to 2 related questions, one from CG-CAHPS and another from Press Ganey, and assessed racial/ethnic differences when using each of the 2 related questions, using a Pearson chi-squared test for independence. All Asian subgroups were less likely to select top box than NHWs for all questions. The Asian-NHW differences in "rating" questions were larger than the difference in related "reporting" questions. Of those who chose top box to CG-CAHPS questions (e.g., "Yes" on a question asking "Waited < 15 minutes"), their responses to related Press Ganey questions varied widely: 47% to 57% of Asian subgroups versus 67% of NHWs rated wait time as "Very good." The extent of racial/ethnic differences in patient-reported experiences varies based on how questions are framed. The observed poorer experiences by Asians are in part explained by their worse rating of similar objectively measurable experiences.


Spain entered the Age of Atlantic Revolutions (1775–1825) motivated by a desire to re-establish its traditional status as a major European power, a position that its Habsburg monarchs gradually had relinquished over the course of the 17th century and that was lost in dramatic fashion during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1713). Over the first six decades of the 18th century, the newly installed Bourbon dynasty launched a series of administrative, military, clerical, and economic reforms designed to spark and then protect an imperial revival. As a regular participant in the colonial wars of the period, the Spanish crown relied heavily on military strength to signify its renewed standing vis-à-vis its international adversaries. Any gains won by force of arms also needed to be confirmed by treaty and reinforced by positive peacetime relationships with these same rivals. As a result, an assertive diplomacy played an important role in promoting Spanish interests during a tumultuous era that began with great hopes for the restoration of Spain's historic preeminence in the Atlantic World but ended with the collapse of its American empire.


ABSTRACT Concept inventories have become increasingly common in STEM disciplines as a means of assessing student conceptual understanding on a given topic, and overall they have led to significant reform in the teaching and learning of content in their respective disciplines. In mathematics, the use of the Calculus Concept Inventory seems, anecdotally and based on a review of the literature, to be growing. Yet peer-reviewed literature on its development and psychometric properties is lacking. Using data from approximately 1800 students across four institutions, we analysed its content validity, internal structure validity, and reliability. We conclude that the data is consistent with a unidimensional model and that the instrument lacks sufficiently strong validity and reliability for its intended use. We therefore recommend the development of a new instrument to better measure conceptual understanding of calculus concepts based on a stronger theoretical framework.


An agent-based tool for micro-level simulation of transport chains (TAPAS) is described. It is more powerful than traditional approaches as it is able to capture the interactions between individual actors of a transport chain, as well as their heterogeneity and decision making processes. Whereas traditional approaches rely on assumed statistical correlation between different parameters, TAPAS relies on causality, i.e., the decisions and negotiations that lead to the transports being performed. An additional advantage is that TAPAS is able to capture time aspects, such as, the influence of timetables, arrival times, and time-differentiated taxes and fees. TAPAS is composed of two layers, one layer simulating the physical activities taking place in the transport chain, e.g., production, storage, and transports of goods, and another layer simulating the different actors' decision making processes and interaction. The decision layer is implemented as a multi-agent system using the JADE platform, where each agent corresponds to a particular actor. We demonstrate the use of TAPAS by investigating how the actors in a transport chain are expected to act when different types of governmental control policies are applied, such as, fuel taxes, road tolls, and vehicle taxes. By analyzing the costs and environmental effects, TAPAS provides guidance in decision making regarding such control policies. We argue that TAPAS may also complement existing approaches in different ways, for instance by generating input data such as transport demand. Since TAPAS models a larger part of the supply chain, the transport demand is a natural part of the output. Studies may concern operational decisions like choice of consignment size and frequency of deliveries, as well as strategic decisions like where to locate storages, terminals, etc., choice of producer, and adaptation of vehicle fleets.


The objective of this research is to assess the extent to which export processing zones in Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe integrate the Sustainable Development Goals in their implementation and operations. We focused on four Sustainable Development Goals—gender equality, decent work, industry, and climate action. We interviewed four zone authorities, one in each country. A total of 12 firms in the agro-processing, textiles and garments, construction, and real estate sectors were also interviewed. All four zone authorities demonstrate a measure of environmental inclusiveness in their zone programmes. We found that firms in Kenya and Zimbabwe have a higher number of male than female employees, while zones in Tanzania employ more women. We propose that to promote sustainable development in these zones, policy action should concentrate on attracting firms that (are willing and able to) align with the particular Sustainable Development Goal that zone programmes are intended to achieve.