Humic acids are the most commonly reported group of inhibitors in environmental samples. Due to the ubiquity and abundance of humic acids in the environment, they are often co-extracted along with the nucleic acids and interfere with gene amplification required for the real-time PCR assay. In order to overcome the adverse effects of humic acids on typical gene quantification methods, a new method, NanoGene assay, has been developed to quantify the bacterial gene. NanoGene assay differs from current methods by using a combination of magnetic beads (MB), dual quantum dot labels (QD565 and QD655), and a DNA hybridization.
In this research, it was demonstrated that the NanoGene assay was more resistant than the real-time PCR assay to inhibition caused by humic acids spiked. The gene quantification by both assays was targeted at functional eaeA gene for E. coli O157:H7. The range of the humic acids tested was from 0.001 ng/μL to 100 ng/μL, which is the common concentration range of humic acids in the environment. At 10 ng/μL humic acid, real time PCR was inhibited to 0% of its quantification capability whereas NanoGene assay was able to maintain more than 70% of its quantification capability. Subsequently, the inhibitor resistant ability of the NanoGene assay for the humic acdis from soil samples was demonstrated. Three types of soil samples containing different amounts of humic acids were tested. The results showed the successful quantification of eaeA gene with the linear (R2 = 0.90) range of 4 × 104 through 4 × 108 CFU/g soil for both soils as well as the control soil. However, the real-time PCR assay showed complete inhibition for the two soils containing 0.4% and 1.5% humic acids. Interestingly, the real-time PCR assay failed even after additional purification methods were performed. The study demonstrated that the presented gene quantification method is suitable for the quantitative bacteria monitoring in the humic acid laden soils.


Graphs are a useful abstraction of image content. Not only can graphs represent details about individual objects in a scene but they can capture the interactions between pairs of objects. We present a method for training a convolutional neural network such that it takes in an input image and produces a full graph definition. This is done end-to-end in a single stage with the use of associative embeddings. The network learns to simultaneously identify all of the elements that make up a graph and piece them together. We benchmark on the Visual Genome dataset, and demonstrate state-of-the-art performance on the challenging task of scene graph generation.


The integrity of renewable freshwater resources is critical for ensuring sustainable futures for human and more –than-human human life. Developing strategies to mediate and encourage symbiosis between the dominant discourses of sustainable water resources management, the realm of the 'expert', and indigenous knowledges and practices, is essential. This paper argues that informal, biographical storytelling plays a central role in the way that people comprehend and articulate their 'lifeworld': the people, values and actions that make sense to them. Understanding the importance of storytelling is therefore fundamental to connecting sustainability messaging with people's lived experiences. Conversely, indigenous practices can refine and finesse 'expert' methodologies. The author presents the results of empirical fieldwork, undertaken through a series of conversations with residents within three inter-connected riparian communities, which captures performances of storytelling regarding water resources. Cataloguing these community stories reveals the nuanced ways experiential learning and community action form and shape highly individual responses with respect to local water resources management. The community stories detailed here suggest that affirmative action at the catchment level, through investments of time, expertise and funding, help create a sense of communal responsibility, and agency, over local water resources. Policies and processes that fail to intimately connect with these local perspectives are deemed remote, irrelevant and are dismissed. Yet the 'story' of sustainability is still only partial at the riverside; more needs to be done to communicate the urgency and scale of transformative change needed to move towards sustainable futures. The paper suggests that paying closer attention to community stories could enable those operating within the dominant discourses realms – academics, practitioners, technicians, politicians – to not only critically engage with indigenous knowledges and practices, but may also provide opportunities to find ways to seed these stories with the wider 'big history' perspective so essential to supporting sustainable futures, and water resource integrity, over the long term.


Plant diversity varies immensely over large-scale gradients in temperature, precipitation, and seasonality at global and regional scales. This relationship may be driven in part by climatic variation in the relative importance of abiotic and biotic interactions to the diversity and composition of plant communities. In particular, biotic interactions may become stronger and more host specific with increasing precipitation and temperature, resulting in greater plant species richness in wetter and warmer environments. This hypothesis predicts that the many defensive compounds found in plants' metabolomes should increase in richness and decrease in interspecific similarity with precipitation, temperature, and plant diversity. To test this prediction, we compared patterns of chemical and morphological trait diversity of 140 woody plant species among seven temperate forests in North America representing 16.2°C variation in mean annual temperature (MAT), 2,115 mm variation in mean annual precipitation (MAP), and from 10 to 68 co-occurring species. We used untargeted metabolomics methods based on data generated with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to identify, classify, and compare 13,480 unique foliar metabolites and to quantify the metabolomic similarity of species in each community with respect to the whole metabolome and each of five broad classes of metabolites. In addition, we compiled morphological trait data from existing databases and field surveys for three commonly measured traits (specific leaf area [SLA], wood density, and seed mass) for comparison with foliar metabolomes. We found that chemical defense strategies and growth and allocation strategies reflected by these traits largely represented orthogonal axes of variation. In addition, functional dispersion of SLA increased with MAP, whereas functional richness of wood density and seed mass increased with MAT. In contrast, chemical similarity of co-occurring species decreased with both MAT and MAP, and metabolite richness increased with MAT. Variation in metabolite richness among communities was positively correlated with species richness, but variation in mean chemical similarity was not. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that plant metabolomes play a more important role in community assembly in wetter and warmer climates, even at temperate latitudes, and suggest that metabolomic traits can provide unique insight to studies of trait-based community assembly.


The study investigated information needs and seeking behavior of undergraduates in Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo Nigeria. The aim was to determine undergraduate students' academic information needs and seeking behavior, to establish the problems encountered in the process of information seeking, and suggest strategies for developing healthy information seeking behavior. The survey research was carried out, with samples drawn respondents from all the three faculties in the University, namely; faculties of Humanities, Natural sciences, with Social and management sciences. The three faculties have fifteen (15) departments all together. The sample consisted of 145 undergraduates. Questionnaire was used for data collection and data collected was analyzed using percentages. The results gave an insight into the factors that influenced Undergraduates' academic information needs which include: examination, assignment, research and personal development. Also, findings from this study revealed that information needs of undergraduates are gender-based; males like sport and politics-related information, while females like beauty and fashion-based information. The study makes recommendations that could improve Undergraduates' information seeking behavior.


Miniature handheld computers called PDA's are not only bombarding corporate America, but they are also noticeably making their mark on college campuses. The question is, how much impact are they making on the way students learn and instructors teach. These devices were born from a simple calculator and over two decades have transformed into a walking computer complete with Internet access. This paper identifies how PDAs have transformed over the years as well as their benefits and limitations. Although there are many pros and cons to using PDAs, it was clear that they can be used to enhance both learning and teaching if used and accepted in the appropriate manner. With the advancement in technology and data speeds it is evident PDA's will continue to add value to education in the future.


Hybrid generator is one of the renewable energy project that have been developed to solve the problem of accessibility the electricity and its cost. The project can be classified as one of the green technology project as the main resource of this project in producing the electricity comes from the magnetic induction from the solenoid. The force from the magnetic induction of the solenoid will converts into the mechanical energy and then will be converts once again into electrical energy through the generator. Parallel to the development of this hybrid generator projects, it need the controller system to control their input-output power supply and operate as a monitoring system to display all the activities and data in the system. The controller in this project involved with certain parameter which are current, temperature, humidity, speed and capacity of the voltage storage in the system. ACS 712 current sensor is used in measuring the current flow, DHT22 temperature and humidity sensor is used as to identify the temperature of possible heat point in the system, IR module sensor as the revolution per minute rpm counter and Arduino Atmega 2560 is used as a microcontroller of the system. Every details of the parameter will be display on the monitor from the output of each sensor through the platform of an open source which is Node Red. This controller system comprises with the Raspberry Pi as computing device in programming the system. Through this controller system, the hyb rid generator will be easier to be access and user-friendly, thus provide high efficiency and will be a good source of electricity to the society and environment. For the future study, this controller system can be developed with more functioning units and easier to be access corresponding to the development of industry revolution 4.0.


Relatively little effort has been made to develop and validate theories that explain firesetting. In this study, the first offense chain model of firesetting in mentally disordered offenders was developed. Twenty-three mentally disordered firesetters were interviewed about the affective, cognitive, behavioral, and contextual factors leading up to and surrounding one of their recorded firesetting offenses. Offense account interviews were analyzed using grounded theory. The resulting model consists of four main phases: (a) background, (b) early adulthood, (c) pre-offense period, and (d) offense and post-offense period. The model accounts for firesetting by male and female mentally disordered offenders and highlights the importance of early childhood experiences of fire and the onset of mental illness as precursors to firesetting within this population. Furthermore, the model is able to distinguish between different types of mentally disordered firesetters and their offense styles. The clinical implications and utility of the model are also discussed.


This exploratory, qualitative study examined risk and protective factors influencing drug and alcohol use and/or resistance of Native youth in the Southwest. Thirty-two Native middle school students participated in 10 focus groups that explored their experiences with alcohol and drugs in their school and reservation communities. The findings indicate a complex interaction of both risk and protective factors related to substance use. Respondents" cousins and siblings, in particular, played a key role in their decisions to use or resist drugs. Implications for social work practice are discussed. Keywords: Native, Indigenous, youth, substance use, family ********** Grounded in resiliency theory (Waller, 2002), this exploratory, qualitative study examined the operative risk and protective factors influencing drug and alcohol use and/or resistance of urban Native seventh graders in the Southwest. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of cultural context on drug use/resistance among Native youth as reflected through their narratives. Particular attention was given to the way in which respondents conceptualized and experienced "family." In this paper, the terms Native, First Nations, and Indigenous are used interchangeably, as contemporary Native scholars prefer them to the linguistic colonialism implied in the terms Indians, American Indians, and Native Americans. Historical Context of Native Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (AODA) The usefulness of research on substance abuse among Indigenous youth is limited when data are decontextualized. Analyses that present quantitative data independent of context may identify problems but present an incomplete picture of these problems and how Indigenous people experience and respond to them (Weaver, 1999). Many researchers have attributed alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA), family violence, and other manifestations of psychosocial distress among Native people to deficits, euphemistically termed cultural or genetic "differences" between Native and non-Native people. Suggested cultural determinants include lax moral codes (Holmes & Antell, 2001) and loss of traditional cultural values and norms (Caetano, Clark, & Tam, 1998). In addition, for many years, researchers believed that Native people had a genetic predisposition to alcoholism. However, repeated clinical studies have demonstrated that no such genetic predisposition exists (Bennion & Li, 1976; Chan, 1986; May, 1994). By contrast, a growing number of researchers maintain that contemporary social problems can only be understood in the context of historical trauma related to colonization. European colonizers, by means of force or deception, have destroyed or appropriated Native people's lives, lands, resources, wealth, cultures, and languages, and have repeatedly violated treaties, and both sovereign and civil rights. Contemporary researchers are examining the relationship between historical trauma related to these human rights abuses and contemporary social problems such as substance abuse and its sequelae in Native communities (Frank, Moore, & Ames, 2000; Beauvais, 1998). Finally, institutionalized oppression of Native people is not just a historical artifact--it persists in contemporary life. Examples include federally-run, Eurocentric Indian health care, education, social service, and criminal justice systems that have always been and continue to be underfunded and poorly administered, resulting in culturally inappropriate and substandard services. Poverty, geographic isolation, and lack of access to needed resources further restrict the range of opportunities available to Native youth (Schaefer, 2000). The Impact of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (ADOA) on Native Youth ADOA is a powerful risk factor impacting the psychosocial well being of Native youth (Ehlers, Wall, Garcia-Andrade, & Phillips, 2001). One intertribal study of 1464 Native high school adolescents found that forty percent of them had used marijuana at least once a month (Novins & Mitchell, 1998). …


Mumbai receives an average annual rainfall of 2100 mm; all of it during the monsoon months from June to September. Mumbai originally consisted of seven individual islands which have been merged through landfill over the past 300 years. The city population has grown to 16.36 million (2001 census) but the city infrastructure has not kept pace with the rate of population growth. Although the water supply has increased, it has been difficult to provide new drainage facilities. This has resulted in local system overloads and causes severe flooding on an average twice a year. This happen when high intensity rainfall (>50 mm/hr) occurs continuously for 2-3 hours coinciding with the occurrence of high tides. Mithi River catchment is the largest catchment in Mumbai. The main objective of this study is to quantify the volume of flows at key points in the Mithi River system and to evaluate alternatives to reduce flooding in the catchment using the Australian urban drainage modeling software DRAINS. The option of detention basin at suitable locations to control flooding in the catchment has been simulated and it is concluded that the provision of detention basin can reduce flooding by 50 to 95% at various points in the catchment.


In August 2020, India announced its vision for the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), a federated national digital health exchange where digitised data generated by healthcare providers will be exported via application programme interfaces to the patient's electronic personal health record. The NDHM architecture is initially expected to be a claims platform for the national health insurance programme 'Ayushman Bharat' that serves 500 million people. Such large-scale digitisation and mobility of health data will have significant ramifications on care delivery, population health planning, as well as on the rights and privacy of individuals. Traditional mechanisms that seek to protect individual autonomy through patient consent will be inadequate in a digitised ecosystem where processed data can travel near instantaneously across various nodes in the system and be combined, aggregated, or even re-identified. In this paper we explore the limitations of 'informed' consent that is sought either when data are collected or when they are ported across the system. We examine the merits and limitations of proposed alternatives like the fiduciary framework that imposes accountability on those that use the data; privacy by design principles that rely on technological safeguards against abuse; or regulations. Our recommendations combine complementary approaches in light of the evolving jurisprudence in India and provide a generalisable framework for health data exchange that balances individual rights with advances in data science.


This is one of the first books dedicated to the creative practice and research of ceramic transfers or decals with a focus on the creative potential for studio-based artists or designer-makers. A ceramic transfer allows pictures, patterns or text to be transferred onto ceramic forms - 2D and 3D. This added layer of meaning might have artistic or commercial ends. Importantly, print can achieve distinct aesthetic effects on ceramics that are not possible by using other decoration methods such as hand painting. Drawing on over twenty years of experience, Kevin Petrie offers a focused analysis of the potential of ceramic transfer printing as a creative medium. He traces the history of the subject and explains the distinctive visual qualities of a range of transfer printing methods. Petrie's research into the specific materials and techniques for making versatile screen-printed ceramic transfers are explained with an emphasis on water-based systems. Other approaches by artist researchers (UK, Netherlands, USA, Canada, Germany) are also brought together for the first time and recent developments with digital transfers appraised. A range of case studies shows the potential and diversity of approach in this area, which extends beyond ceramics to include enamel on metal and glass. During preparation the publishers decided to increase the scale of the book and launch it through a new series, `The new ceramics'. The book was subsequently accepted by The American Ceramic Society, Ohio, for simultaneously publication in the UK and USA. Since publication the book has sold c2000 copies. Aspects of the book have been expanded and published in an article for 'Ceramic Review – The International Magazine of Ceramic Art and Craft'.


The word "biometrics" is derived from the Greek words 'bios' and 'metric' which means life and measurement respectively. This directly translates into "life measurement". Biometrics is the automated recognition of individuals based on their behavioral and biological characteristics. Biometric features are information extracted from biometric samples which can be used for comparison with a biometric reference. Biometrics comprises methods for uniquely recognizing humans based upon one or more intrinsic physical or behavioral traits. In computer science, in particular, biometrics is used as a form of identity access management and access control. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance. Biometrics has fast emerged as a promising technology for authentication and has already found place in most hi-tech security areas. An efficient clustering technique has been proposed for partitioning large biometric database during identification. The system has been tested using bin-miss rate as a performance parameter. As we are still getting a higher bin-miss rate, so this work is based on devising an indexing strategy for identification of large biometric database and with greater accuracy. This technique is based on the modified B+ tree which reduces the disk accesses. It decreases the data retrieval time and also possible error rates. The indexing technique is used to declare a person's identity with lesser number of comparisons rather than searching the entire database. The response time deteriorates, as well as the accuracy of the system degrades as the size of the database increases. Hence for larger applications, the need to reduce the database to a smaller fraction arises to achieve both higher speeds and improved accuracy. The main purpose of indexing is to retrieve a small portion of the database for searching the query. Since applying some traditional clustering schemes does not yield satisfactory results, we go for an indexing strategy based on tree data structures. Index is used to look-up, input and delete data in an ordered manner. Speed and efficiency are the main goals in the different types of indexing. Speed and efficiency include factors like access time, insertion time, deletion time, and space overhead. The main aim is to perform indexing of a database using different trees beginning with Binary Search tree followed by B tree before proceeding to its variations, B+ tree and Modified B+ tree, and subsequently determine their performance based on their respective execution times.


In this thesis, the role of the Widely-Linear processing in the narrowband and wideband systems has been proposed.
With reference to narrowband systems, we analyzed the linear (L) constant modulus (CM) cost function under the general assumptions that improper modulation schemes of practical interest are employed. This study allows one to determine a broad family of undesired minima of the CM cost function, which do not lead to perfect symbol recovery in the absence of noise.
Successively, we applied widely linear (WL) approach to the same context, providing the mathematical conditions assuring perfect symbol recovery in the absence of noise. Furthermore, we enlightened that, similarly to the L-CM equalizer, the performances of WL-CM equalizers suffer from the presence of undesired global minima. To overcome this drawback
we proposed to resort to a constraint WL-CM equalizer.
In the context of wideband systems, with reference to direct-sequence CDMA (DS-CDMA) technique, we developed a performance comparisons among ideal and data-estimated WL- and L-MOE (minimum output energy) receivers.
As regard to the ideal implementation, we investigated the relative performances of the WL-MOE and L-MOE receivers in the high-SNR regime. In such a case, we provided a necessary and sufficient condition on the spreading codes, which allows the WL-MOE receiver to achieve perfect multiple access interference (MAI) suppression. As regard the data-estimated versions of the WL-MOE and L-MOE receivers, we derived easily interpretable formulas, which allow one to obtain clear insights about the effects of different parameters on performances.
In addition, we have extended the previous analysis accounting for the effects of channel-estimation errors. Specifically, we presented a comprehensive performance comparison between different versions of the data-estimate L- and WL-MOE receivers with blind channel estimation. We derived easily interpretable formula that suggest that when considering finite sample-size implementation, the WL-MOE receiver with channel estimation is able to assure a significant performance gain (for low-to-moderate values of the SNR) with respect to its linear counterpart only when it is built by resorting to a more sophisticated implementation. In such a case, for a given channel length, it allows one to work with an increased number of users which makes it a viable choice in heavily-congested DS-CDMA networks.
Finally, in the last part of this thesis, we addressed the problem of deriving mathematical conditions guaranteeing perfect symbol recovery in the absence of noise for either cyclic-prefix (CP) based or zero-padding (ZP) based multicarrier-CDMA (MC-CDMA) downlink transmissions, which employ frequency-domain symbol-spreading. The conditions derived are channel-independent and are expressed in terms of relatively simple system design constraints, regarding the maximum number of allowable users and their spreading sequences. Specifically, it was first shown that, similarly to a ZP-based MC-CDMA downlink, L-zero-forcing (ZF) can be guaranteed for a CP-based MC-CDMA downlink, even when the channel transfer function exhibits nulls on some used subcarriers. On the other hand, when the information-bearing symbols are improper, it was shown that, for both CP- and ZP-based systems, WL-ZF allows one to successfully operate even in overloaded scenarios, by doubling the system capacity, regardless of the channel zero locations. However, such an increased throughput can be achieved as long as appropriate complex-valued spreading codes are used.


Hitler in the Levant: How Arabs Reacted to the Third Reich in Syria and Lebanon Nazism in Syria and Lebanon. The Ambivalence of the German Option, 1933-1945, by Gotz Nordbruch, Routledge, 2009, 209 pp. Reviewed by Wolfgang G Schwanitz The whole Arab youth is enthused by Adolf Hitler, wrote Kamil Muruwa, the young editor of the Beirut paper An-Nida ', to the German Foreign Minister in Berlin. The year after Hitler came to power, Muruwa translated Mein Kampf from English into Arabic and published it in daily installments in An-Nida \ Now he wants to edit the series as a book. But for this, he explains in his letter, he needs an additional 600 marks. Therefore he is asking the German government for financial support in this endeavor. Thus Gotz Nordbruch catches the spirit of the time in his book about Nazism in Syria and Lebanon. Since both countries were under French occupation, the Berlin-based Islamic scholar has investigated French, Israeli, and Arab sources. He has found root causes as to why youth movements similar to the Hitler Youth sprouted in those Arabs regions, and why the Arab Ba'th party learned a lot from Hitler's National Socialist Party. For the first time we have a solidly researched and comparative study on the Nazi influences in Syria and Lebanon and on the attitude of their populace toward the rising German power in the Middle East. The above mentioned example shows that from the beginning there were points of mutual interest between the Arab world and Nazi Germany. In 1934, Mein Kampf appeared daily for four months "in the francophobe paper of the German friendly SuIh clan." Although the translator Muruwa worked without permission of the Munich Eher publishing house, a German officer went on to explain, the translation is good. For the purpose of propaganda, an Arabic version of Hitler's book would be desirable. Thus, he recommended that the money Muruwa had requested should be granted. Indeed, it was the second translation of this book into Arabic. Yunus as-Sabawi of Bagdad, a Nazi follower, had completed the first in 1933 and published it in the Iraqi paper AlAlom Ai-Arabi, known for its hatred toward Jews. Nordbruch presents such developments as nationalistic reactions to National Socialism. As Muruwa explains in his forword, Mein Kampf reveals the secret of how Hitler gained influence over millions of educated people, how he rose from soldier to dictator, from a friend of the Jews to their strongest enemy. The reader may easily grasp the parallels between the German and Arab situations: both were losers in the First World War; they were allied with each other via the Ottoman Empire; and both were frustrated by the terms which the winners of the war dictated at Versailles. There, the Germans paid a heavy price: they lost large chunks of their homeland, African and other colonies, and parts of their domestic sovereignty - limits on armament and military were imposed on them. After 1918, the Arabs, for their part, were also left unreconciled. Although some Arab nations did soon gain statehood in Iraq, Transjordan, and Syria - as promised as compensation for the revolt in the desert - the League of Nations placed other areas, namely Southern Syria or Palestine, under the Mandatory regime which strengthened British and French power in the region. Subsequently, the Arab nationalists were expected to accept the reconstitution of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The German and Arab cases were placed under the tutelage of the same democracies against which Hitler proclaimed war in his "Germanic dictatorship." When Hitler painted his picture of a larger European unity and his clear hostility toward a Jewish home in Palestine, his views resonated with those of Arab thinkers who were looking for greater unity in a Greater Arab Empire. As Nordbruch shows, it was on this congruence that Nazis on both parts of the German- Arab divide capitalized. Both sides viewed the French, the British, and the Jews as their their enemies. …


Objective To investigate whether the incidence of dementia is related to residential levels of air and noise pollution in London. Design Retrospective cohort study using primary care data. Setting 75 Greater London practices. Participants 130 978 adults aged 50–79 years registered with their general practices on 1 January 2005, with no recorded history of dementia or care home residence. Primary and secondary outcome measures A first recorded diagnosis of dementia and, where specified, subgroups of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia during 2005–2013. The average annual concentrations during 2004 of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter with a median aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) were estimated at 20×20 m resolution from dispersion models. Traffic intensity, distance from major road and night-time noise levels (Lnight) were estimated at the postcode level. All exposure measures were linked anonymously to clinical data via residential postcode. HRs from Cox models were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, smoking and body mass index, with further adjustments explored for area deprivation and comorbidity. Results 2181 subjects (1.7%) received an incident diagnosis of dementia (39% mentioning Alzheimer's disease, 29% vascular dementia). There was a positive exposure response relationship between dementia and all measures of air pollution except O3, which was not readily explained by further adjustment. Adults living in areas with the highest fifth of NO2 concentration (>41.5 µg/m3) versus the lowest fifth (<31.9 µg/m3) were at a higher risk of dementia (HR=1.40, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.74). Increases in dementia risk were also observed with PM2.5, PM2.5 specifically from primary traffic sources only and Lnight, but only NO2 and PM2.5 remained statistically significant in multipollutant models. Associations were more consistent for Alzheimer's disease than vascular dementia. Conclusions We have found evidence of a positive association between residential levels of air pollution across London and being diagnosed with dementia, which is unexplained by known confounding factors.


ABSTRACT . Improvement of production and quality of cocoa can be done through the implementation of appropriate technology adoption and implementation of good cultivation techniques in the field of cocoa farmers. Implementation of pruning, composting, composting with different treatment doses will produce a diverse production. This study aimed to analyze the implementation of the adoption of cultivation techniques performed by cocoa farmers in Pidie district. The research location in District Mila and Padang Tijie, with samples of cocoa farmers and land farmers. The samples were conducted by purposive sampling with descriptive analysis model to examine the application of technology and cultivation techniques. Randomized block design was used to examine the use of compost and trimming of various treatments. The results showed that the application of integrated technologies in cocoa cultivation but not perfectly executed. The absence of treatment replications resulted in farmers forget. Cocoa with a dose of compost 9 kg / plant, has the effect of the dry weight of the cocoa beans tend to be greater in the treatment done trimming. A combination of composting 13.5 kg / plant by pruning showed the highest average at the variable total weight of dried fruit and cocoa beans. Organic fertilizers 15 tons/ha yield the best cocoa.


These two chapters were written for Film and Video Art, the first Tate publication wholly devoted to this subject, featuring essays on gallery projection, video art, television, digital art and the problems of preserving and archiving works in transient or mixed media. Rees's contributions give historical background and outline film experiment in the arts. For non-specialist readers, the essays summarise a range of diverse activities that contribute to a wider understanding of modernist and postmodern cultures.

The chapters are almost unique in the field, where publications are mainly about contemporary practice, with little concern for previous work. By contrast, the essays place film in the framework of the modern movements and their aftermath, and modern and postmodern show how historical context contributes to the understanding of media art today. Other contributors included Ian White, Christopher Eamon, Michael Newman, John Wyver, Christiane Paul and Pip Laurenson. The book introduces a wide readership to artists' film, an increasingly dominant gallery genre.

Both chapters discuss the dominant art movements of their respective periods. The first deals with the period between the world wars, and focuses on Dada, Cubist, Surrealist and Constructivist cinema from the 1920s to the 1930s. It also examines wider interpretations of art in cinema, such as the French narrative avant-garde, and concludes with the rise of the experimental and political documentary before 1939. The second describes the post-war rise of new and diverse independent film movements and groups, such as Beat and Underground films, and new genres of abstract film, multi-screen projection, personal or lyric films, from Maya Deren to Andy Warhol. The essay ends with structural film, the growth of film theory and the birth of video art as an alternative medium. It locates the avant-garde cinema in parallel to other developments in the arts, while exploring its specific concerns.


Particularism on the Back Burner: A Review EssayMarshall Hyatt, Franz Boas -- Social Activist: The Dynamics of Ethnicity (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990); 174 pp.R. Fred Wacker, Ethnicity, Pluralism, and Race: Race Relations Theory in America Before Myrdal (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1981), 114 pp.John H. Stanfield, Philanthropy and Jim Crow in American Social Science (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1985), 216 pp.John Higham, Send These to Me: Immigrants in Urban America: Revised Edition (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), 261 pp.Walter A. Jackson, Gunnar Myrdal and America's Conscience: Social Engineering and Racial Liberalism 1938-1987 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1990), 447 pp.In a presidential address to the American Historical Association in 1985, the distinguished historian, William H. McNeill, announced that since the 1960s "the scope and range of historiography has widened, and that change looks as irreversible...as the widening of physics that occurred when Einstein's equations proved capable of explaining phenomena that Newton's could not." McNeill doubted that African Americans, women, Asians, Africans, and Amerindians would be excluded "from any future mythistory of the world." Although McNeill thought "it impossible not to believe" that the new mythistories represented "an advance on older notions," he nevertheless suggested that "time would settle" the issue of whether or not he was correct.(1)In light of the historiography written during the past decade which deals with the treatment of African Americans in the American social sciences with which we will be concerned in this essay, McNeill was indeed correct. The history of the social sciences, a subfield of American intellectual history, is telling Americans more about themselves on the issue of race -- most of which they are reluctant to hear -- than any other subfield in recent American history. Thus, despite the fact that it is exceedingly difficult for any reflective person not to view the future with a degree of apprehension in these days when the post-1945 liberal orthodoxy has been shattered by both internal and external developments, and Americans become a nation of particularists,(2) it is a pleasant relief to read the scholarship of persons dedicated to addressing themselves to an issue of monumental significance. Seeking to provide guidance to the nation in order for it to persevere the inexorable changes in the new world order, this varied group of persons is searching the years from 1895 until 1945 to find a unifying myth which will bind this multiethnic society in which numerous disparate groups vociferously demand greater status and power.The fundamental question confronting these historians and historically-minded social scientists is whether or not the pre-1945 social scientific scholarship can provide insight and guidance on present-day issues of race in general and African Americans in particular. In answering this complex question, they have focused primarily on the work of Franz Boas and his students at Columbia University in anthropology; the Chicago school of race relations which was dominated by the theories of Robert Ezra Park, and the liberal orthodoxy of moral immediatism, liberal globalism, and social engineering that permeated the work of Gunnat Myrdal. The conclusions of the historians of the social sciences are varied, yet they are a necessary first step in initiating an essential debate concerning the condition and destiny of African Americans in the twenty-first century.During the past four decades several scholars -- men such as Melville J. Herskovits, Thomas F. Gossett, John Higham, George W. Stocking, Jr., Edward H. Beardsley, and Hamilton Cravens -- have celebrated the decisive role that Franz Boas played in eviscerating the racist worldview that prevailed in the newly emerging social sciences (anthropology, psychology, and sociology) during the years before 1930. …


Over the years, actuaries as well as demographers have devoted much time to the construction of mortality models that fit the age pattern of mortality in many countries. However, the emphasis has been on data-rich developed countries with little attention to the special characteristics and challenges associated with rapidly growing populations in developing countries. These include a relative lack of mortality data as well as the need to account for other factors, such as the availability of health care, reporting rate, and type of religion in the area (e.g., Christian or Muslim). In this work, the authors construct a mortality model that directly addresses cases with limited mortality histories and factors that affect mortality reporting. Using a covariate (v) to represent the effect of additional factor permit the authors to compare different mortality categories such as gender and region. When this model is fitted to the 2010 population and housing census mortality data from Ghana, a key finding is that male and female mortality rates for ages above 50 years diverge, indicating that male mortality above the age of 50 years is higher than female mortality. The authors also use the model to show that the Greater Accra region has lower overall mortality rates than the Ashanti region. Finally, by borrowing mortality data from South Africa the authors were able to introduce a time dimension to forecast mortality changes in Ghana during a period of six years. Using this kind of approach will allow researchers and policymakers to get a better picture of developing countries' demographics and to improve the design of health, retirement, business, and other programs calibrated to each country's evolving population characteristics. TOPICS: Retirement, statistical methods


This paper analyzes the importance of taxes on corporate income and production-related tangible infrastructure as determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Central- and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). We operationalize taxes using effective average tax rates on the bilateral level and employ indices derived from principal component analysis as a proxy for the infrastructure endowment. In the empirical analysis we control for a possible interrelation between taxes and infrastructure as determinants of FDI - an issue usually neglected in the literature. Thus, we posit that there are likely to be interaction effects between taxes and infrastructure as determinants of FDI. Specifically, a favorable infrastructure endowment may compensate for relatively high taxes. Hence, higher taxes may not deter FDI. The results from our panel econometric analysis of bilateral outward FDI flows of 7 home in 8 CEECs for the 1995-2004 period in an augmented gravity model setting show that (i) both taxes and infrastructure play a role in the location decisions made by Multinational Enterprises; (ii) telecommunication and transport infrastructure are of special significance to FDI; and (iii) the tax-rate sensitivity of FDI indeed decreases with the level of infrastructure endowment.


There is a great range of graffiti created with variety of intentions and purposes. Graffiti as a significant linguistic event have been viewed as a source of data including linguistic studies of discourse patterns and grammar which have attracted a number linguistics researchers' attention. The study is based on the hypothesis that graffiti, as a linguistic landscape, use specific features of language and seeks to gain an insight into linguistic peculiarities involved into graffiti writing. The data for this article consisted of two hundred written documentations in the context of Iran. In order to determine how many of gleaned data entail the linguistic peculiarities and specify the number of each peculiarity, the researcher has applied Hall's (1980) fifteen processes in defining linguistic features on graffiti. The results revealed abundant linguistic aspects in the collected graffiti. Findings of the present study showed that linguistic features existed in 78 graffiti and in 3 cases, two linguistic features of graffiti were found. Among all graffiti entailing linguistic features, dialogues were the most frequent linguistic peculiarity involved into graffiti writing and punning on re-division of words and implication of questions with no legitimate answers are the least frequent ones.


Excessive loss of dental hard tissues caused by mechanical, chemical or traumatic influences--or a combination of these factors--poses difficulties for subsequent prosthetic tooth restorations. Traditionally reconstructive treatment to restore affected teeth has been provided using rather invasive methods like porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns or ceramic overlays. For patients with a tooth substance loss caused by an acidic diet, where a payment of the costs by the social insurance cannot be expected, a less expensive treatment modality would be of interest. The presented case report describes an alternative treatment modality of vertical tooth substance loss by using direct adhesive composite restorations. To establish a simple and controlled build-up, a mini-plast splint based on an ideal wax-up was used.


Abstract Can we develop a definition of power that is satisfactorily determinate but also enables rather than foreclose important substantive scientific and normative debates about social and political life? I present a broad definition according to which agents have power with respect to a certain outcome (including, inter alia, the shaping of certain social relations) to the extent that they can voluntarily determine whether that outcome occurs. This simple definition generates a surprisingly complex agenda for substantive descriptive and normative inquiry. The proposed definition is partly developed through a critical engagement with Rainer Forst's important recent account of 'noumenal power.'


In conducting model tests of wave transmission through permeable rubble-mound breakwaters, it is impossible to satisfy simultaneously the Froude and Reynolds criteria for dynamic similarity. The common practice has been to scale the wave parameters and breakwater dimensions in accordance with the Froude Number, and to use large models. This study represents an attempt to develop theoretical expressions for the coefficients of reflection and transmission as functions of the effective porosity of the breakwater structure, as influenced by the Reynolds-dependent boundary layer growth an the pores. These expressions use linear wave theory and boundary layer theory to estimate the effective decrease in pore diameter due to growth of the displacement boundary layer thickness in the pore. The theoretical expressions were compared with experimental results from a series of three model tests with breakwaters having vertical faces and using gravel with diameters of 1.37 in., 0.762 in., and 0.324 in. respectively. The prototype to model ratios (using the largest model as the prototype) were 1/1.80 and 1/4.23 respectively. The experimental results show clearly the existence of scale effects in both coefficients of reflection and transmission. The theoretical expressions were found to overestimate the scale effect in reflection and to underestimate it in transmission.


Leadership plays a key role in bringing systems thinking into organizations and can foster or inhibit systems ideas being adopted. When leadership influences people to take a new look at the organization as a system, the people within the organization begin to see their relationships differently. They pay attention to how every thought and action affects everything in the organization and in their lives. Like the natural world, people start to look and think with a broader and deeper vision and realize how they depend on the relationships around them. This paper focuses on the impact leadership is having on systems thinking in organizations, inspired by what the new sciences are finding out about systems and the impact of systems thinking in schools. Thinking systemically is a process that can begin at any point or level in an organization and is a much larger idea than I originally thought. Systems thinking is a natural way to look at the world and all the relationships and interconnectedness that are involved in its functioning. Data were gathered from current practitioners and consultants who have an understanding of systems thinking and the impact it can have on organizations. These individuals bring their own skills and talents in the application of systems thinking to the clients and organizations they work with and show that thinking systemically can bring a new awareness, energy, and vitality to the work.


Prior residence by a species can affect subsequent community assembly. However, previous studies insulated their focal communities from additional sources of variation, and the role of resident species in the context of environmental heterogeneity is rarely considered. If environmental and resident species effects act independently, then each should be broadly predictable, and their contribution to community assembly should be quantifiable in relation to each other. Alternatively, if effects interact, their combination may explain more of the differences in com munities than the additive influence of each alone. We estimated the effects of a common, early-colonising resident (the encrusting bryozoan Hippopodina iririkiensis) on community assembly relative to substrate orientation. Some species showed complex responses in association with orientation, with positive responses in one orientation, negative in the other. Variation in orientation explained the majority of variation in overall community assembly. Variation among the panels holding replicates of our resident species, a blocking factor in the analysis, permitted us to consider small-scale spatial variation. Abundances responded to resident species effects but interacted with spatial variation: the impact of the resident species on community assembly varied with orientation and space. Functional groups showed similarly idiosyncratic responses to the prior resident. Overall, we found that resident species effects were weak relative to the effects of environmental variation on community assembly. Furthermore, those resident species effects that we did detect were inconsistent across environments, suggesting that this species has little predictable influence on community assembly. Environmental variation may be an important contributor and requires more widespread consideration to better understand how resident species effects act in nature.


In the first four decades of the twentieth century, horse racing was one of America's most popular spectator sports. Members of America's elite took to breeding and racing horses as one of their preferred pastimes. Coinciding with an increase in immigration and the rediscovery of Mendelian genetics, the idea that careful breeding of thoroughbreds would result in improved horses resonated with Americans worried about racial degeneration. Scientists committed to racial ideologies looked to thoroughbreds—whose owners and breeders maintained extensive pedigree records—to understand the science of genetic inheritance. Harry H. Laughlin, superintendent of research at the Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, pored over breeding charts and race results to develop a mathematical model of inheritance that he called the "inheritance coefficient." He believed his careful study of horses would yield findings that he and his fellow eugenicists could apply to humans. Thoroughbred breeders followed trends in genetics while contributing to the production of scientific knowledge. Pedigree charts available to bettors at race tracks helped normalize concepts of biological inheritance for race track attendees of all classes. Horse racing's popularity in the United States contributed to the diffusion of the concept of biological race that originated as an ideological project of the ruling class. This paper analyzes the role of thoroughbred breeding and racing in the formation and popularization of racial ideology by situating breeding farms as sites of knowledge production and racecourses as places that exhibited performances of racial science for large audiences.


Much has been learned about Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, "the great white plague," since the bacterium was isolated and initially characterized by Robert Koch over a century ago. Over the last decade, new genetic tools for manipulation of the bacterium have been developed, its genome has been sequenced, and the search for new vaccines and drug targets has greatly intensified. Yet, surprisingly little is known about which mycobacterial genes are truly important for the organism's ability to persist in the tissues of its human hosts. The metabolic pathways used by the tubercle bacillus to establish and maintain a life-long infection have largely been ignored by researchers, yet they may represent promising new areas for therapeutic intervention. Recently, one enzyme of the glyoxylate shunt of M. tuberculosis, isocitrate lyase (ICL), was shown to be required for virulence in experimental infections of mice. The other enzyme of the glyoxylate shunt, malate synthase (MLS), may also be important for the intracellular survival of the tubercle bacillus; yet, no studies have been done to determine its in vivo role. We present here results of genetic studies of MLS in the saprophyte Mycobacterium smegmatis, and show that MLS, unlike ICL, is dispensable for growth on acetate or fatty acids. We also describe the dglycerate pathway in M. smegmatis, which enables malate synthase-deficient bacteria to utilize acetate and fatty acids as sole carbon sources, and which allows M. smegmatis to grow on glyoxylate. The d-glycerate pathway, however, does not appear to exist in the pathogenic Mycobacterium tuberculosis.


AN INTERACTIVE SYSTEM FOR THE ESTIMATION OF EMISSIVITY OF A WAFER IN A RAPID THERMAL PROCESSING CHAMBER by Maurizio Fulco Rapid thermal processing (RTP) is a method of thermally processing wafers for the manufacture of integrated circuits. During the thermal processing of wafers, it is essential that the wafer temperature follow a pre-specified temperature trajectory and that the temperature across the wafer be uniform especially at high temperatures. To ensure that the above objectives of RTP temperature control be met at any time during the process, the estimation of some parameters of the process is of fundamental importance in the design of the control system. This thesis demonstrates the implementation of an interactive software system in which the emissivity of wafers in a 3-zone RTP station can be estimated on-line. The simulation of the RTP system is performed to ensure the proper performance of the estimator and the closed loop control system. In addition, it is necessary for the control of temperature uniformity of the wafer to implement simulations of the control system and to experiment with new ways to obtain states and parameters estimations. The implementation of the system is carried out on a Pentium based PC using LabVIEW and G Math Toolkit with the full advantages of graphical programming or G. The capabilities of LabVIEW to directly interface with the system using the data acquisition boards provided motivates the utilization of this software system. AN INTERACTIVE SYSTEM FOR THE ESTIMATION OF EMISSIVITY OF A WAFER IN A RAPID THERMAL PROCESSING CHAMBER


In large arrays with equally pumped lasers the out-of-phase-locked state is a combination of several supermodes of the array that are locked to a common frequency. The far-field pattern is four lobed because the out-of-phase supermode is largely dominant. An approximated analytical expression for the locking threshold is found, and saturable dispersion is indicated as the physical mechanism that selects the out-of-phase-locked state.


Farmers are annually faced with critical management decisions that impact the employment of production inputs for various crop enterprises and the combination of crops that will be assembled into a cropping system. The need for reliable information is crucial if sound production decisions are to be made. Planning information plays a pivotal role in the development of 2001 production plans by farmers and is important in supporting their efforts to secure the necessary resources to carry out their plans. In addition, information regarding production alternatives and costs and returns for major crop enterprises is needed by extension personnel, researchers, lending institutions, and others involved in agriculture or agribusiness. This information has become all the more critical with the enactment of Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act in 1996 and the current situation of depressed prices for nearly all agricultural commodities. The purpose of this report is to provide for tenant and owner operator situations 2001 projected cost and return estimates for the following enterprises: rice in Southwest, Central, and Northeast Louisiana and soybean, corn, milo, wheat, and wheat-soybean double crop in Southwest Louisiana.


Calcium "sparks" are small, intense bursts of calcium that occur in cells from cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle, and, as shown in a paper in this issue of Science by Nelson et al. (p. 633), smooth muscle. As discussed by F. Fay, these sparks are of particular interest because in smooth muscle they have a unique and unexpected function: They control vasodilation in small arteries of the brain.


This article argues that if crime prevention policies are to succeed in the political or public spheres they must address some of the deeper emotional or affective dimensions of crime and its place in society. While crime prevention remains a predominantly `rationalist' approach to criminal policy it will fail to compete successfully with the more emotive law and order policies which tend to resonate with the public and which appear to meet deep-seated psychological and affective needs. It suggests that crime prevention can address the three core elements that must make up a response to crime: the instrumental, the emotional and the production of social cohesion. It outlines a range of values and symbols which crime prevention may tap into in order to meet some of the affective dimensions of criminal justice policy.


Gadget geeks and technology buffs, this is the book for you! Leo Laporte's 2006 Gadget Guide is the definitive guide to all of your gadget-buying questions for 2005-06. Leo Laporte, host of TechTVs "Call for Help" and Que Publishing's resident gadget guru, boils down the reams and reams of product specs, slices through the marketing hype, and delivers his best of breed picks for everything from digital cameras to MP3 players. Organized in a sereis of categories, such as "Gadgets for the Ultimate Home Theater," Leo will provide you with the best picks for gadgets and equipment on any kind of budget. This is the ultimate guide for anyone interested in gadgets, gidgets, whos-its and whats-its. Don't go shopping again without it!


With the popularity of outsourcing data to the cloud, it is vital to protect the privacy of data and enable the cloud server to easily manage the data at the same time. Under such demands, reversible data hiding in encrypted images (RDH-EI) attracts more and more researchers' attention. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for RDH-EI based on reversible image transformation (RIT). Different from all previous encryption-based frameworks, in which the ciphertexts may attract the notation of the curious cloud, RIT-based framework allows the user to transform the content of original image into the content of another target image with the same size. The transformed image, that looks like the target image, is used as the "encrypted image," and is outsourced to the cloud. Therefore, the cloud server can easily embed data into the "encrypted image" by any RDH methods for plaintext images. And thus a client-free scheme for RDH-EI can be realized, that is, the data-embedding process executed by the cloud server is irrelevant with the processes of both encryption and decryption. Two RDH methods, including traditional RDH scheme and unified embedding and scrambling scheme, are adopted to embed watermark in the encrypted image, which can satisfy different needs on image quality and large embedding capacity, respectively.


Wireless technologies play an enormously important role in extending access to voice and data communications by hitherto excluded groups in society, especially in the world's most populated region and now the largest mobile market, the Asia-Pacific. The present rates of growth and levels of connectivity could not have been achieved without wireless in the access networks, for mobile as well as for fixed, and in the backbone networks. But the solution is not simply wireless; it is wireless combined with new investment; it is wireless combined with other inputs and systems. Participation in the supply of services to meet pent up demand must be enabled by the removal of barriers to entry to hitherto monopolized markets. More than half the Asia-Pacific countries now allow some form of market entry in basic services (higher in mobile). However, even where entry is allowed, conditions are not optimal for investment. For innovations using wireless, the creation of a better telecom regulatory environment constituted by better policies, regulation, and implementation with regard to market entry, management of scarce resources, interconnection and access, and the enforcement of regulatory and competition rules is essential. In sum, wireless matters, but only when policy and regulatory preconditions allow it to matter.


The serine proteinase inhibitor alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) is produced principally by the liver from where it is secreted into the circulation and provides an antiprotease protective screen throughout the body. Mutations leading to deficiency in AAT are associated with liver and lung disease. The most notable is the Z mutation, which encodes a misfolded variant of the AAT protein in which the glutamic acid at position 342 is replaced by a lysine. ZAAT is not secreted effectively and accumulates intracellularly in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of hepatocytes and other AAT-producing cells. The ER has evolved a number of elegant mechanisms to manage the accumulation of incorrectly folded proteins; ZAAT interferes with this function and promotes ER stress responses and inflammation. Until recently it was thought that gain of function was the major cause of the liver disease whilst the lung disease was entirely due to loss of antiprotease protection in the lung. This belief is now being challenged with the discovery that ER stress is also activated in bronchial epithelial cells and inflammatory cells normally resident in the lung in ZAAT deficient individuals. Here we describe the gain of function effects of ZAAT. In particular we highlight the signalling pathways that are activated during ER stress in response to accumulation of ZAAT and how these events are linked to inflammation and may contribute to disease pathogenesis.


We derive a delay-differential equation model that describes continuous-wave (cw) or passively Q-switched (PQS) two-frequency solid-state lasers submitted to frequency-shifted feedback (FSF). The study focuses on the locking of the beat note between the two free-running laser frequencies to a reference external frequency. The locking domain is obtained analytically in the cw regime. The PQS regime is treated by adding a saturable absorber population in the model equations. In this case, numerical simulations permit us to evaluate a locking range that is smaller than in the cw case. We find good agreement between the theoretical predictions and experiments carried out with a cw diode-pumped dual-polarization Nd:YAG laser as well as with previously published experimental results obtained with cw Er:Yb:glass [ Opt. Lett. 32, 1099 (2007)] and PQS Nd:YAG [ Opt. Lett. 33, 2524 (2008)] lasers. Applications of the FSF locking technique include the lidar-radar technique, for which a highly coherent beat note is required.


The aim of the current work is to study damage initiation and propagation in fiber- reinforced polymeric composites. A systematic analysis is carried out to analyze the effects of manufacturing induced defects such as random distribution of fibers and presence of voids in matrix on the damage initiation in unidirectional composites under transverse tension. This study focuses on the resin infusion process and the defects hence formed. Upon infusing resin, the initial fiber configuration undergoes perturbation and results in a random distribution with regions of resin rich areas and fiber clusters. In addition, micro-voids (between the fibers in a bundle) and macro- voids (between fiber bundles) are formed. Representative Volume Elements (RVEs) are constructed to capture essential fea- tures of the composite microstructure that determine the local stress fields and hence damage initiation and propagation. Stress analysis of the RVEs is conducted using Abaqus FEA software. A novel methodology is put forward to generate random dis- tributions of fibers that would simulate different levels of perturbations of the fibers from initial (dry bundle) positions during the manufacturing process resulting in dif- ferent configurations of fiber clusters. An embedded RVE approach has been adopted in a finite element model to calculate the stress fields to avoid artificial effects of the RVE boundary. Damage initiation is then monitored using a previously proposed energy based criterion for cavitation induced fiber/matrix debonding in polymers. Subsequent damage in the form of crack formation by coalescence of the debonding cracks is also analyzed by the energy based approach.


This thesis investigates the construction of role models, more specifically literary didactics and constructions of subject positions, in literary works with exemplary stories in Swedish 1400–1750, from the perspective of literature for children and young adults.Childhood concepts, didactic concepts and subject positions presented to the reader are analyzed from the point of view of dominance and dissonance between different characters and messages. A number of themes have been chosen for a comparative study, for example: ideas about identification, the construction of subject positions and ideals for girls, the responsibility of adults, subversive tendencies, obedience or autonomy, the immoral role model as exemplary, conflicts between different childhood concepts, adults and children as role models.A central conclusion is that there is variation when it comes to the subject positions that are constructed for children and young adults, mainly through role models. There are examples of authoritative teachings that demands the subordination and obedience of the reader/recipient, as well as encouragement of questioning and even contra conventional subject positions. One conclusion is that premodern literature for the young does not just have an authoritative tone towards the reader, but the texts also negotiates with the reader. The messages are not just about obedience and religious fidelity, but also about learning, questioning and personal, moral responsibility. A critical perspective on adults is encouraged through critizism of adults and exemplary role models. Subject positions for girls also vary in the texts. Some texts convey conventional, passive gender roles while others present active subject positions, where chastity, wisdom and manliness are presented as ideal virtues for girls.


The application of game-based learning adds play into educational and instructional contexts. Even though there is a lack of standard methodologies or formulaic frameworks to better inform game-based intervention development, there exist scientific and empirical studies that can serve as benchmarks for establishing scientific validity in terms of the efficacy of using games to achieve serious outcomes. The development of these games does not normally follow a specific set of guidelines, which limits replication. There is a need to reflect on such a multidisciplinary process and infuse knowledge from relevant disciplines towards developing a unity of considerations and approaches beyond the disciplinary perspectives. An infused and trans-disciplinary methodological framework could serve as a guideline to inform the development process of a game-based approach. With these perspectives, this paper aims to provide an example of how relevant theories and frameworks can be adopted collectively in order to inform a development process. Based on a digital game intervention aiming to support the delivery of Relationships and Sex Education ( RSE) in the UK, this paper reflects on trans-disciplinary considerations, informed by frameworks such as the Four-Dimensional Framework (4 DF), the Intervention Mapping ( IM) approach, Mechanics Dynamics Aesthetics model ( MDA) and Learning Mechanics-Game Mechanics ( LM-GM) mapping. IM, when infused with the game design considerations of 4 DF, provides a more procedural perspective to game-based intervention development, collectively reflecting a participatory development approach. This subsequently provides the basis upon which other theoretical and methodological frameworks such as the MDA and the LM-GM models can be embedded in order to marry the pedagogical aspects with the entertainment attributes of gameplay. These components, when integrated, may formulate a trans-disciplinary model that can be adopted and adapted by other researchers, designers and developers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


Magnetic models such as CHAOS-4 represent the global field using Spherical Harmonic (SH) functions weighted by a set of numbers known as Gauss coefficients. This representation allows values of the field to be calculated at any location and altitude above the core-mantle boundary, but has limitations when attempting to isolate the contribution to the field from specific areas or regions.

Spherical Slepian functions provide an alternative mathematical basis to represent the field [Ref. 1]. They have the advantage of allowing an area of interest to be optimally described in a spatio-spectral sense. In addition, spherical Slepian functions can also be used to separate and decompose the Gauss coefficients from a SH magnetic field model into the components that represent the contribution to the model from individual regions of the globe [Ref. 2].

We investigate the spectral and spatial changes of the main magnetic field of CHAOS-4q [Ref. 3] at the Earth's surface between spherical harmonic degrees 12-35 in eight different regions across the globe: the Americas; Africa; Australia; Eurasia; Antarctica; the Pacific Ocean; the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean between 1997 and 2011.


Introduction: The purpose of the present research was the study of the causal relationship between teacher affective supports with performance in English using the mediation of sense of belonging, academic enjoy, academic Hopelessness, academic self-efficacy, and academic effort among first grade of high school students in Ahwaz. Methods: The participants were 180 male students of first grade high school in Ahvaz who were selected using multistage random sampling method. The instruments used in the research was teacher affective support, sense of belonging to school, academic effort scale Sakiz's, subscales of academic hopelessness and academic enjoyment of Pekrun's achievement emotions questionnaire, and Patrick, Hix, and Ryan's academic self-efficacy questionnaire. The evaluation of the proposed model was carried out using path analysis method. Bootstrap (Amos-18) was used to examine direct and indirect relationships. Results: The results showed that the exogenous variable of teacher affective support was not directly significant with the endogenous variable performance in English but it was significant with the mediation of academic enjoyment, and academic hopelessness. Also, an indirect significant relationship found between sense of belonging to school and academic effort with the mediation of academic self-efficacy and academic hopelessness. Better evaluation obtained by elimination of insignificant paths of teacher affective support to performance in English, of sense of belonging to academic enjoyment, perceived teacher affective support for academic hopelessness, academic Hopelessness to English performance, and perceived teacher affective support for academic self-efficacy. Conclusion: The findings of this study, emotional structures, motivation and learning are effective in improving academic achievement in English. The Causal Relationship between Teacher Affective Support with Performance in English Using the Mediation of Sense of Belonging, Enjoyment, Hopelessness,


Born in Syria in 1930, Adonis is one of the most celebrated poets of the Arabic-speaking world. His poems have earned international acclaim, and his influence on Arabic literature has been likened to that of T.S. Eliot's on English-language verse. This volume serves as the first comprehensive survey of Adonis' work, allowing English readers to admire the arc of a remarkable literary career through the labours of the poet's own handpicked translator, Khaled Mattawa. Experimental in form and prophetic in tone, Adonis' poetry sings exultantly of both the sweet promise of eros and the lingering problems of the self. Steeped in the anguish of exile and the uncertainty of existence, Adonis demonstrates the poet's profound affection for Arabic and European lyrical traditions even as his poems work to destabilize those very aesthetic and moral sensibilities. This collection positions the work of Adonis within the pantheon of the great poets of exile, including Cesar Vallejo, Joseph Brodsky, and Paul Celan, providing for English readers the most complete vision yet of the work of the man whom the cultural critic Edward Said called "today's most daring and provocative Arab poet".


Myelomeningocele, or open spina bifida (SBM), is the most common congenital defect of the central nervous system. The brain anomalies described in SBM are varied and contribute to the complex phenotypic outcomes in neurocognition and behaviour. Several factors have an impact on the severity and type of cognitive outcome. The strongest association with cognitive dysfunction is the presence of hydrocephalus and its complications. Hydrocephalus occurs in 80 - 95% of cases and typically results in attenuation of cerebral white matter, particularly in the posterior aspects of the brain, which is important in the development of spatial skills.


The large and systematic negative shifts in the δ 13 C values (>12‰) of carbonate-dominated rocks that preceded Neoproterozoic glacial successions have been interpreted to record a dramatic series of global environmental and evolutionary events. These values are widely considered to be marine rather than diagenetic in origin because stratigraphic patterns of change are systematic and reproducible from basin to basin, distinct in magnitude, and associated with recognizable stratigraphic markers such as glacial deposits. In contrast, diagenetic systems are commonly considered to have a more local and stochastic infl uence on δ 13 C values. Cores taken in Quaternary carbonate platform sediments, however, reveal a curious similarity in magnitude, thickness, and core to core reproducibility where diagenetic alteration has occurred in response to sea-level fall. Sealevel changes produced similar δ 13 C and δ 18 O stratigraphic records at globally disparate locations, which are unrelated to the global marine δ 13 C signal and bear no relation to the global carbon cycle. By analogy with the Pliocene–Pleistocene, we propose that spatial reproducibility of δ 13 C in some Neoproterozoic successions might be attributed to causes other than secular variation of the global carbon cycle, including diagenesis. This observation does not negate the stratigraphic utility of the carbon isotopic values, only the origin of the signal.


Traditional approaches to understanding psychosocial job characteristics and well-being have been quite general in that they explore links between general job characteristics such as workload and control on workers in many different sorts of occupations. One example of a more specific approach can be found in research into emotional labour - the requirement to regulate both feelings and the expression of feelings for organizational goals. Early research into emotional labour focused on customer service workers (CSW) but has more recently also considered human service workers (HSW) such as nurses and social workers. A more specific approach to thinking about the outcomes of demanding psychosocial job characteristics can be found in research on burnout which is thought to have three elements: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (also labelled cynicism), and (low) accomplishment (also called professional efficacy). Much recent research has started to explore the links between emotional demands and burnout. The main aim of this project is therefore to explore the nature of such links through undertaking three distinct tasks. The first is a literature review of evidence and theory while the second two tasks comprise two empirical studies examining several key issues in burnout research.

This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.


AIM
Patients usually suffer significant pain after lumbar laminectomy. Wound infiltration with local anesthetics is a useful method for postoperative pain control. Our aim was to compare the efficacies of preemptive wound infiltration with bupivacaine and levobupivacaine.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
60 patients were randomized three groups as follows: Group L wound infiltration with 20 mL 0.25% levobupivacaine and 40 mg methylprednisolone just before wound closure; Group B wound infiltration with 20 mL 0.25% bupivacaine and 40 mg methylprednisolone before closure; Group C had this region infiltrated with 20 ml physiological saline. Demographic data, vital signs, postoperative pain scores and morphine usage were recorded.

RESULTS
First analgesic requirement time was significantly shorter in the control group compared to other two groups (p < 0.001). Group B had the lowest cumulative morphine consumption at the end of 24 hours within 0-4, 4-12 and 12-24 hours time intervals and the values were not significant when compared with Group L, however the consumption of both groups was significantly lower compared to the control group (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION
Our data suggest that preoperative infiltration of the wound site with bupivacaine or levobupivacaine provides similarly effective pain control with reduced opiate dose after unilateral lumbar laminectomy.


Fast-flux is a redirection technique used by cyber-criminals to hide the actual location of malicious servers. Its purpose is to evade identification and prevent or, at least delay, the shutdown of these illegal servers by law enforcement.
 This paper proposes a framework to geolocalize fast-flux servers, that is, to determine the physical location of the fast-flux networks roots (mothership servers) based on network measurements. We performed an extensive set of measurements on PlanetLab in order to validate and evaluate the performance of our method in a controlled environment. These experimentations showed that, with our framework, fast-flux servers can be localized with similar mean distance errors than non-hidden servers, i.e. approximately 100 km. In the light of these very promising results, we also applied our scheme to several active fast-flux servers and estimated their geographic locations, providing then statistics on the locations of "in the wild" fast-flux services.


Over the last few years, online multimedia exchange platforms have experienced a rapid growth. They allow users to share their own content and access other's in turn and hence form very large public collections of User-Generated Content. While research is mostly looking at photo sharing platforms, such as Flickr, much less is known about online music communities. In this paper we present the results of an observational user study followed by a large-scale online survey, which investigated the behavior and the relevant content generated by the users of Last.fm, one of the most popular music communities. Based on the analysis of the results, we present implications for the usage of UserGenerated Content in online music communities. Then we developed a first prototype based on the implications for improving semantic understanding of collaborative tags. We believe our study gives insights for developing information visualization and recommender systems for online music communities. Author Keywords Online music community, User-Generated Content, user behavior, Last.fm.


This important book comprises insightful papers on lessons learned from some major exchange rate and monetary experiences in Asia, exchange rate crisis management in Asia and choice of exchange rate systems in Asia. Originally published in the Singapore Economic Review, Vol. 52, No. 3, 2007, it deals primarily with the exchange rate systems and policies in the three largest economies in Asia: China, Japan and India. It also contains a paper on Singapore's exchange rate system, whose success could make it a role model for other small open economies. Notable contributors include Ronald McKinnon and John Williamson, among others. The editor is the original designer of China's latest exchange rate system reform.


A classical approach to assess the amplitude of rainfall variations is based on the coeffi- cient of variation. Using worldwide station data for the twentieth century, an alternative method, involving the development of a polynomial fit, was shown to be more relevant to semi-arid climates. The results singularised the tropical and subtropical regions, whose amplitude of interannual rainfall variability was larger than that of the extra-tropical regions, for a given mean rainfall value. How- ever, the tropical belt also showed large contrasts between highly variable climates—corresponding mainly to regions where the sea-surface temperature forcing is strongest—and more steady climates. A separate analysis documented the relationship between the amplitude of rainfall variations and human demography. Population densities did not show any systematic decline with increasing vari- ability. However, in the tropics, there was often a coincidence between reduced demographic growth and high rainfall variability. This smaller demographic growth may result from both reduced natural growth (especially enhanced mortality) and out-migration from regions affected by strong rainfall variations, as evidenced from a number of African cases studies. In contrast, tropical regions with a fast-growing population had on average a lower rainfall variability.


This present study aimed at evaluating the effect of the addition of an emulsifier to diets containing soybean oil, poultry fat or their blend, on the performance, carcass traits, serum lipid levels, pancreatic lipase concentration and nutrient digestibility of broilers. A randomized block design was applied using a 3 x 2 factorial arrangement, with three fat sources (soybean oil, poultry fat, and a blend of 50% soybean oil and 50% poultry fat) and the addition or not of an emulsifier. In experiment I, broiler performance, carcass traits, serum cholesterol, HDL, and triglyceride levels, and pancreatic lipase activity in 42-day-old broilers were evaluated. In experiment II, dry matter (DM), ether extract (EE), crude protein (CP) and crude fiber (CF) coefficients of digestibility were analyzed. Broilers fed the diet containing soybean oil and emulsifier presented higher body weight, weight gain and better feed conversion ratio. When birds were fed poultry fat and the fat blend (soybean oil and poultry fat) and the emulsifier was added to the diets, pancreatic lipase concentration increased. It was concluded that the use of soybean oil, poultry fat and their blend does no in the diet does not influence the performance, carcass traits, or serum cholesterol, HDL and triglyceride levels of 42-day-old broilers. The addition of emulsifiers to diets containing poultry fat improves ether extract digestibility and increases the production and secretion of pancreatic lipase.


Social Work in Mental Health brings together a range of scholarly reflections and writings on the different roles of a social worker in the field of mental health. It provides a holistic picture to introduce readers to the wider issues of social work and mental health practice.

Contexts and Theories for Practice begins with an exploration of the context of social work practice. It offers opportunities to consider global perspectives on mental health, as well as relevant historical, contemporary and emerging trends and ideologies from around the world.

The book provides a detailed discussion on the theoretical and practice frameworks that are based on social justice and human rights perspectives. It not only provides an overview of intervention strategies but also directs readers' attention to an alternative way of addressing mental health issues.

The author presents a cross-cultural and global perspective of mental health, but with specific references to India and Asia. He also addresses some of the recent debates in recovery, partnerships and strengths-based practices. The book has been specially designed for social work students, human service professionals and mental health practitioners and academicians.


BACKGROUND--Women appear to be increasingly susceptible to snoring and sleep disordered breathing after the menopause. This observation, coupled with the considerable sex difference in sleep apnoea, may be explained on the basis of a protective effect of female hormones. This study was carried out to determine whether hormone replacement therapy has a role in the management of obstructive sleep apnoea in postmenopausal women. METHODS--The effect of short-term (mean (SE) 50 (3) days) hormone replacement therapy with either oestrogen alone or in combination with progesterone on sleep disordered breathing was investigated in 15 postmenopausal women with moderate obstructive sleep apnoea. The effect of treatment on the ventilatory response to hypoxia and hypercapnia was assessed in 10 patients. RESULTS--There was no reduction in the clinical severity of obstructive sleep apnoea after hormone treatment despite an increase in the serum oestrogen level from 172 (23) to 322 (33) pmol/l. There was a small but clinically insignificant reduction in the apnoea/hypopnoea index during REM sleep from 58 (6) to 47 (7). There was no difference in response between the oestrogen only group and the oestrogen plus progesterone group. Hypercapnic ventilatory responsiveness did not change with hormone treatment, but an change with hormone treatment, but an increase in hypoxic ventilatory responsiveness was observed. CONCLUSIONS--These data indicate that short-term hormone replacement is unlikely to have an effective role in the clinical management of postmenopausal women with obstructive sleep apnoea. The observed reduction in the apnoea/hypopnoea index during REM sleep, however, suggests that longer term treatment, or the use of higher doses, may have an effect.


The article is dedicated to Heorhiy H. Shevel, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Soviet Ukraine from August of 1970 to November of 1980.The authors presented sincere recollections about this well known person, under whose leadership they began their diplomatic service that lasted for several decades.
The decision to share those memories with readers of Diplomatic Ukraine was prompted by the fact that on May 9 this year was Mr. Shevel`s 100 anniversary. Unfortunately, neither the researchers of the history of Ukrainian diplomacy, nor those in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diplomatic Academy paid the necessary tribute to this event.
The authors of the article focus on the fact that with no previous experience in foreign policy matters Mr. Shevel managed in the conditions of a totalitarian Soviet system to realize important ideas in the interests of the Ukrainian diplomatic service and its development.
From the very start of his duties as Minister of Foreign Affairs he undertook many practical steps to promote and improve the professional skills of his subordinates, to ensure their perfect command of foreign languages and to provide the Ministry`s staff and Ukraine`s permanent missions at the United Nations in New York, UNESCO in Paris and at other international organizations with a skilled personnel. Moreover, despite essential dependence on the policy of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Shevel also succeeded in ensuring more visible results of participation of the Ukrainian SSR in the activities of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and in the International Labour Organization.
During his term as Minister for Foreign Affairs, representatives of the Ukrainian SSR were elected 37 times to the governing bodies of various international organizations, their sessions and conferences. As an evidence of substantial resurgence of Ukrainian diplomacy of the said period is the fact that the Ukrainian SSR also signed and ratified 64 multilateral international documents.
Minister Shevel also paid particular attention to establishing Ukraine`s image abroad as one of the original members of the United Nations, by promoting its achievements in scientific, cultural and humanitarian fields, as well as to strengthening ties with Ukrainian communities in various foreign countries. This very important component of its work the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accomplished in close cooperation with two public organizations – the Society for ties with Ukrainians abroad (Society Ukraina) and the Ukrainian Society for friendship and cultural relations with foreign countries.
Minister H. Shevel was also the initiator of the construction in Kyiv of several buildings to locate Consulates–General of Eastern-European states. Nowadays, these buildings are used by diplomatic missions of respective foreign states accredited in independent Ukraine.
The authors of the reviewed article are confident that despite various fabricated and often unfounded conclusions about the Ukrainian diplomacy of the Soviet period the irrefutable fact is that during Minister Shevel`s years it acquired and strengthened the necessary practical experience and professional diplomatic skills.
Therefore, they support as indisputable the conclusion made several years ago by one of the researchers of the history of National diplomacy that "it would be incorrect to consider the 1970s of the past century as such that passed off in vain for the Ukrainian foreign-policy office".30 years have passed since the untimely death of Heorhiy H. Shevel on July 17, 1989. Being a man of his times and performing highly responsible duties of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in actually limited framework, he was at the same time a peculiar and extraordinary personality. And as such a figure he will always remain in the memory of all who knew him well and had the opportunity to work under his management. Because memory, emphasize the authors of the noted article, means first and foremost the ability not to forget the past. And this, they remark, is what the present generation of Ukrainian diplomats must keep in view and never forget.
Keywords: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukrainian diplomacy, foreign policy, international organizations, diplomatic service, memory.


Inflation is regarded as one of the most chronic problems in Pakistan and the recent surge of inflation (10.8) in consumer price index is a matter of serious concern in the economy [1]. Inflation imposes high cost on economies and societies; disproportionately hurts the poor and fixed income groups, creates uncertainty throughout the economy and undermines macroeconomic stability. It also results in inefficient resource allocation and hence reduces potential economic growth. High inflation has always penalized the poor. Lowering inflation therefore, directly benefits the low and fixed income groups. The present study focuses to examine the impact of various macroeconomic variables on inflation in Pakistan and to find their correlation and causal relationship with economic and econometric criterion by using time series data over the period of 1990 to 2012. To achieve this objective, regression analysis, correlation coefficient and granger causality test are used. Results from regression analysis indicate that money supply, government expenditure, government revenue, foreign direct investment and gross domestic product have positive impact on inflation in Pakistan, while interest rate shows negative impact. Correlation analysis confirms that there exists a positive association of inflation with money supply, government revenue, interest rate, foreign direct investment, gross domestic product, exchange rate and trade openness. The findings of the study also reveal that money supply as well as balance of trade granger causes inflation in the selected time period. I recommend that monetary and fiscal measures should be wisely coordinated in order to control the consistent increase in prices. The government should curtail expenditure and reduce money supply. Similarly, domestic production should be encouraged and trade deficit should be narrowed by increasing exports in the country.


The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei has a complex life cycle with stages in mammalian hosts, where it is the causative agent of sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in cattle, and in the tsetse fly vector. In order to evade the host immune system, T. brucei undergoes a process called antigenic variation in the mammalian bloodstream. In this process, a single Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG) is expressed on the cell surface, acting as a protective coat. The molecular identity of the VSG coat is periodically and spontaneously changed by a number of different switching mechanisms. T. brucei is known to have conserved DNA repair pathways, including homologous recombination (HR) and mismatch repair (MMR). While the central recombination factor RAD51 and its paralogue RAD51-3 have been shown to be important, but not essential, in VSG switching, a number of other factors, including the MMR proteins MSH2 and MLH1, seem not to be involved. Work in this thesis sought to examine several aspects of MMR function in T. brucei, and concentrated on homologues of the bacterial MutS protein. The requirements for substrate length and sequence homology in T. brucei HR were studied using a DNA transformation assay. It was shown that reduction in either the length or the sequence identity of recombination substrates causes a significant reduction in the transformation efficiency of linear DNA, at least at an interstitial site. Genetic disruption of the MSH2 gene only seemed to affect HR using substrates over 100 bp in length and with 5% divergence from the target sequence; shorter sequences and sequences with either 0% or 11% mismatches apparently remained unaffected. A number of transformants from all classes of transformation retained an undisturbed copy of the target locus, hypothesised to be due to low-level trisomy within the population. In addition, and at a very low rate, distinct recombination events, resulting in observable changes in the T. brucei chromosomes, were observed. This work reveals some of the factors which influence the pathways of recombination used by T. brucei. A potential role for T. brucei homologues of the meiosis-specific MutS homologues MSH4 and MSH5 was also examined. Sequence comparisons show that these genes are present in T. brucei and the related kinetoplastids, T. cruzi and L. major. Like their orthologues in other organisms, T. brucei MSH4 and MSH5 lack a detectably functional mismatch interaction domain. Although MSH4 and MSH5 would only be expected to be required at the epimastigote life cycle stage, expression of MSH5 can be detected by northern blot in procyclic form and bloodstream stage cells. Although creating genetic knockouts of these genes was not successful, attempts were made to force expression of MSH4 and MSH5 ORFs from an ectopic locus, though this did not disrupt MMR function, nor reveal other observable phenotypes. Finally, potential variation in MMR gene sequence and MMR functions in different T. brucei strains and subspecies was investigated. Many bacterial strains, known as mutators, have mutations in MMR genes, causing impaired MMR function and therefore increased variability in the population. It has recently been reported that this phenomenon is also observed in T. cruzi. MSH2 and RAD51 nucleotide and protein sequences were compared between nine T. brucei strains, and showed extremely low levels of polymorphism. However, four T. brucei strains were found to vary in their tolerance to the DNA damaging agents MNNG, H2O2 and MMS; whether this is due to differences in MMR, another DNA repair pathway, or drug uptake, is yet to be determined.


Workplace safety is an important issue in global public policy. Given the failure of many governments to enforce their workplace safety laws, might voluntary programs help in this regard? Most studies on the effectiveness of voluntary programs focus on their first-order effects reflecting program goals. Yet, well-designed programs that focus on firms' internal practices and policies can have significant spillover effects beyond the program objectives. This insight motivates our study of the second-order effect on occupational safety of ISO 9001, the most widely adopted voluntary standard in the world. While ISO 9001 is a quality management standard, the internal systems that ISO certified firms establish can improve workplace safety. This is because some workplace practices that lead to poor product quality also contribute to an unsafe working environment. Our empirical analysis covering 92 countries for the period 1993–2012 supports our argument. We find that 1 per cent increase in country-level ISO 9001 certification count is associated with 0.04 per cent decline in occupational injury rate (injury per 10,000 working population). Importantly, our finding is more pronounced where public law regarding workers' rights is weak, suggesting that voluntary programs can fill in the governance gaps.