Electronic noses (EN) or machine olfaction are systems used for the detection and identification of odorous compounds and gas mixtures. The accuracy of such systems is as important as the processing time. Therefore, the choice of the algorithm and the implementation platform are both crucial. In this abstract, a design and implementation of a gas identification system on the Zynq platform which shows promising results is presented. The Zynq-7000 based platforms are increasingly being used in different applications including image and signal processing. The Zynq system on chip (SoC) architecture combines a processing system based on a dual core ARM Cortex processor with a programmable logic (PL) based on a Xilinx 7 series field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Using the Zynq platform, real-time hardware acceleration of classification algorithms can be performed on the PL and controlled by a software running on the ARM-based processing system (PS). The gas identification system is based on a 16-Array SnO2 in-house fabricated gas sensor and k-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) for classification. The KNN algorithm is executed on the PL for hardware acceleration. The implementation takes the form of an IP developed in C and synthesized using Vivado High Level Synthesis (HLS), the synthesis includes the conversion from C to register transfer level (RTL). The implementation requires the creation of a hardware design for the entire system that allows the execution of the IP on the PL and the remaining parts of the identification system on the PS. The hardware design is developed in Vivado using IP Integrator. The communication between the PS and PL is performed using advanced extensible interface protocol (AXI). A software application is written and executed on the ARM processor to control the hardware acceleration on the PL of the previously designed IP core and the board is programmed using Software Development Kit (SDK). An overview of the system architecture can be seen in Figure 1. The system is designed to discriminate five types of gases including C6H6, CH2O, CO, NO2 and SO2 at various concentrations, from 0.25 to 5 parts per million (ppm) for C6H6 and CH2O, from 5 to 200 ppm for CO, from 1 to 10 ppm for NO2 and finally from 1 to 25 ppm for SO2. The experimental setup used in the laboratory to collect the data is shown in Figure 2. It consists of a gas chamber where the sensor array is placed. The gas chamber has two orifices, one to serve as an input for the in-flow of gases and the other one as an exhaust to evacuate the gases. Multiple gases are stored in various cylinders and connected to the gas chamber individually through several Mass Flow Controllers (MFCs). A control unit is connected to the MFCs to control the in-flow of gases and to the sensor array via a Data Acquisition (DAQ) system to collect and sample the response of the sensor array. In total, 192 samples are collected, 50% is used for training and the other 50% is used for testing. Simulations were performed in MATLAB environment prior to the implementation on the hardware where different k values have been used. The Euclidean distance has been used as a metric for the computation of distances between various points. The best results were obtained for k = 1 and k = 2 with a classification accuracy of 97.91% and 98.95% respectively. The system implemented on hardware is based on k = 1 since the accuracies are almost similar while the hardware resources required for k = 2 are much higher than for k = 1. This can be explained by the fact that in the case of k = 2 we need to sort the vector of distances to be able to find the nearest two neighbours while in k = 1 we only need to find the smallest distance. The target hardware implementation platform of the proposed KNN is the heterogeneous Zynq SoC. The implementation is based on the use of Vivado HLS. A summary of the design flow is presented in Figure 3. The starting point is Vivado HLS where the KNN block is converted from C/C++ implementation to a RTL based IP core. This allows a considerable gain in development time without scarifying on high parallelism characteristics because Vivado HLS provides a large number of powerful optimization directives. The generated IP-core is then exported and stored in the Xilinx IP Catalog before being used in Vivado IP Integrator to create the hardware block design with all needed components and interconnections. The next step is to export the generated hardware along with IP drivers to the SDK tool. The SDK tool is used to program the Xilinx ZC702 prototyping board via joint test action group (JTAG) interface and the terminal in SDK is used to communicate with the board via universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) interface. The KNN IP is implemented on the PL of the Zynq SoC and communicates with the PS part via the Xilinx AXI-Interconnect IP. A software is written in C/C++ and executed on the PS to manage the IP present in the PL in terms of sending the input data, waiting for the interrupt and then reading the output data. The block design and the resulting chip layout are shown in Figure 4. It is worth mentioning that the running frequency for the ARM processor is set to the maximum 667MHz while the PL frequency is set to 100 MHz which is the maximum for the KNN IP generated in HLS. The real execution of KNN on the PL side of the ZC702 board shows that one sample can be processed for gas identification in 0.0078 ms while the same sample requires 0.9228 ms if executes on the PS side in the ARM processor in a pure software manner. This means that a speed up of 118 times has been achieved. The main directive in Vivado HLS that helped to reach these performances is the "Loop pipelining" which allows the operations in a loop to be implemented in a concurrent manner. The hardware resources usage can be seen in Figure 5, it shows that 24% of lookup tables (LUT), 12% of flip-flops (FF), 6% of BRAM and 58% DSP have been used. As shown in Figure 6, the total power consumption is 1.895 W, 1.565 W is consumed by the PS and the remaining 0.33W is consumed by the PL.


The Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector, the highest earning foreign currency segment, has had a great influence on GDP (gross domestic product) since 1980. With new technology adaption as well as cheap labor force, this sector has placed the second position of exporting after China. To capture the market position, the management has to give more attention on maintaining Safety, Health, and Environment (SHE) guideline properly. This paper proposes a structured framework for occupational risk assessment by means of quantitative way and also provided remedies of those risks in garments industry in the context of Bangladesh. Here, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is applied for measuring the severity of safety, healthy, and environmental risk factors and QFD to prioritize the possible solutions. Through the literature review and extracting opinions from experts, a total of four evaluation criteria and sixteen risk factors under SHE categories are recognized and examined via AHP approach to measure their importance. The results demonstrate that 'Fire' 'Contagious diseases', and 'Noise' take high priority in safety, health, and environment related risk factors. The findings of this paper may help the garment industry effectively through the proper identification of the most influential risk factors and generating solutions to mitigate this issue.


A rare case of reactive lymphoid hyperplasia (RLH) of the liver in a 75-year-old woman admitted to hospital for surgical treatment of gastric, caecal and colon carcinomas is described here. Two nodular lesions in the left and right lobes of the liver were clinically diagnosed as metastatic tumours by computed tomography of the abdomen. A demarcating grey–white mass of size 1.4 cm was observed in a partially resected liver specimen. On examining the lesion microscopically, it was found to be composed of hyperplastic lymphoid follicles, lymphocytes, plasma cells, other inflammatory cells and interlaced hyalinised fibrous tissues. In the portal tracts around the lesion, chronic inflammatory cell infiltrates were seen, but no interface hepatitis or lymphoid follicle was observed. No evidence of monoclonality was observed by immunohistochemistry for B and T cell markers, in situ hybridisation for κ and λ light chains, and polymerase chain reaction analysis of immunoglobulin heavy chains or T cell receptor β and γ gene rearrangements. Bcl-2 immunoreactivity was not observed in the germinal centre. Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) antigen (latent membrane protein-1) and EBV-encoded small RNAs were not detected. A proliferation neither of myofibroblasts nor of cells positive for follicular dendritic cell markers was observed. RLH, formerly known as pseudolymphoma, has been reported of the liver in only 14 cases and is considered to be a differential diagnosis of small nodular lesions of the liver. That RLH has an inflammatory reactive nature, not a neoplastic disposition, and that EBV does not participate in the pathogenesis of RLH is supported by this case.


PKCα variants in some patients with Alzheimer's disease may mediate the pathological effects of amyloid-β. PKCα variants in Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by neurodegeneration and impaired neuronal function in the brain that lead to progressive cognitive loss. The early-onset form of AD is linked to genetic mutations, and accumulation of a protein called amyloid-β occurs in many patients with both early- and late-onset AD. By examining the genetics of a large cohort of families in which late-onset AD was diagnosed, Alfonso et al. found that activating mutations in protein kinase Cα (PKCα) correlated with the disease. Pharmacologically inhibiting PKCα or deleting the gene encoding it prevented amyloid-β from impairing synaptic activity in hippocampal tissue slices from mice. This study suggests that PKCα variants mediate the pathological effects of amyloid-β in some patients with late-onset AD. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive dementia disorder characterized by synaptic degeneration and amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation in the brain. Through whole-genome sequencing of 1345 individuals from 410 families with late-onset AD (LOAD), we identified three highly penetrant variants in PRKCA, the gene that encodes protein kinase Cα (PKCα), in five of the families. All three variants linked with LOAD displayed increased catalytic activity relative to wild-type PKCα as assessed in live-cell imaging experiments using a genetically encoded PKC activity reporter. Deleting PRKCA in mice or adding PKC antagonists to mouse hippocampal slices infected with a virus expressing the Aβ precursor CT100 revealed that PKCα was required for the reduced synaptic activity caused by Aβ. In PRKCA−/− neurons expressing CT100, introduction of PKCα, but not PKCα lacking a PDZ interaction moiety, rescued synaptic depression, suggesting that a scaffolding interaction bringing PKCα to the synapse is required for its mediation of the effects of Aβ. Thus, enhanced PKCα activity may contribute to AD, possibly by mediating the actions of Aβ on synapses. In contrast, reduced PKCα activity is implicated in cancer. Hence, these findings reinforce the importance of maintaining a careful balance in the activity of this enzyme.


The freezing of soil water around a buried chilled pipeline leads to soil heaving, which is affected by the presence of the pipe. This process may eventually cause pipeline failure. The proposed paper attempts to simulate the Canada-France pipeline ground freezing experiment by a numerical method. The results of simulation of the temperature profiles agree well with the experimental measurements. Because of a lack of exact information on the confining conditions of the pipe in the longitudinal sense, it was decided to solve first two extreme pipe-confinement cases, i.e., the case of a free floating pipe and the case of a rigidly fixed pipe. It is considered that the true conditions will be located between these two limited cases.


This thesis sets out to provide a systematic examination of post-acquisition
management in the United Kingdom. In particular we are concerned to know what
changes take place in acquired companies after acquisition and to examine whether
there are significant and robust differences between post-acquisition styles in terms of
the type and volume, of changes made, and their timing. We also examine the patterns
exhibited by different types of managing executive taking charge and seek to link
executive type, volume and timing of change with different post-acquisition styles.
The thesis uses a hybrid method to achieve a cross sectional view of acquisitions in
the UK with in-depth explanation. The responding sample from our survey was
allocated to the different acquisition types of Haspeslagh and Jemison's (1991)
typology and the change data allowed us to test whether the framework is
representative and robust.
The first Chapter of the thesis observes that many acquisitions fail and that greater
attention should be paid to the post-acquisition phase, although, as Chapter two
shows, the post-acquisition literature is highly fragmented. Only Haspeslagh and
Jemison's (1991) typology attempts a unified view although it has limitations. We
draw upon related areas of research to enrich and extend their framework. In Chapter
three we show how data was collected and applied to the framework, and Chapter four
shows the big picture of acquisition types in the UK and their associations with
success. Chapter five uses functional change data to test the framework and interview
material to provide a level of explanation for changes made. The reasons for each type
of acquisition are explored in Chapter six and in Chapter seven we examine the
association between managing executive type and acquisition style. Chapter eight
introduces a time component and looks at the patterns of change for each acquisition
type. The chapter aims to integrate earlier findings and provide an integrated view of
post acquisition change.
The final chapter concludes that for acquisitions in the UK, there are significant
differences in post acquisition styles, in terms of nature and timing of change, and
there are clear associations with different management types.


This paper describes a rapid procedure that allows precise analysis of Mo, Cd, U and Th in sediment samples as small as 10 mg by using a novel approach that utilizes a ''pseudo'' isotope dilution for Th and conventional isotope dilution for Mo, Cd and U by ICP-MS. Long-term reproducibility of the method is between 2.5 and 5% with an advantage of rapid analysis on a single digestion of sediment sample and the potential of adding other elements of interest if so desired. Application of this method to two piston cores collected near the mouth of the Patuxent River in Chesapeake Bay showed that the accumulation of authigenic Mo and Cd varied in response to the changing bottom water redox conditions, with anoxia showing consistent oscillations throughout both pre-industrial and industrial times. Accumulation of authigenic U shows consistent oscillations as well, without any apparent increase in productivity related to anoxic trends. Degrees of Mo and Cd enrichment also inversely correlate to halophilic microfaunal assemblages already established as paleoclimate proxies within the bay indicating that bottom water anoxia is driven in part by the amount of freshwater discharge that the area receives. # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


Organic farming is increasingly recognised, by consumers, farmers, environmentalists and policy-makers, as one of a number of possible models for environmental, social and financial sustainability in agriculture. It has taken a long time to get this far. Organic farming's roots can be traced back more than 100 years, to various individuals and movements concerned about soil conservation, pesticide use, resource use, animal welfare, land stewardship, nature conservation, diet, human health and social justice. Certified organic production dates back nearly 30 years (70 years in the case of Demeter-certified bio-dynamic production), with production standards reflecting the evolving priorities and objectives of organic farming. But the main role of organic production standards and certification has been to define a distinct market for the products, so that consumer willingness to pay for the benefits of organic farming can be harnessed to compensate producers for internalising external costs. As such, the market developed as a means to achieving the ethical objectives of organic farming, not an end in itself.
Recent years have seen very rapid growth in organic farming. In 1985, certified and policy-supported organic production accounted for just 100,000 ha in western Europe (EU and EFTA), or less than 0.1% of the total agricultural area. By the end of 1997, this figure had increased to 2.3 million ha, more than 1.6% of the total agricultural area (Foster and Lampkin, 1999). It is likely that by the end of 1998, nearly 3.0 million ha was managed organically, representing a 30-fold increase in 13 years. These figures hide great variability within and between countries. Several countries have now achieved 5-10% of their agricultural area managed organically, and in some cases more than 30% on a regional basis. Countries like Austria, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, and this year the UK, have seen the fastest rates of growth. But a number of others still languish below the 1% level. Alongside the increase in the supply base, the market for organic produce has also grown, but statistics on the overall size of the market for organic produce in Europe are still very limited. Recent estimates have placed the retail sales value of the European market for organic food at £3-5 billion in 1997.
70% of the expansion in the land area has taken place in the last five years, since the implementation in 1993 of EC Regulation 2092/91 defining organic crop production, and the widespread application of policies to support conversion to and continued organic farming as part of the agri-environment programme (EC Reg. 2078/92). The former has provided a secure basis for the agri-food sector to respond to the rapidly increasing demand for organic food across Europe. The latter has provided the financial basis to overcome perceived and real barriers to conversion.
Despite some obvious successes in terms of consumer demand and supply growth, many policy makers, academics and farming leaders are still uncertain about the potential contribution of organic farming to the future development of mainstream agriculture, and to sustainability issues in particular. Organic farming is considered by some to be too idealistic and restrictive. What is needed, they argue, is an intermediate approach, such as integrated crop management that is not as 'extreme' as organic farming and is therefore more likely to be acceptable to the majority of farmers. Policy-makers face a difficult choice. Should they encourage more organic farming, which may offer more environmental and other benefits than the intermediate approaches, but will only be adopted by a minority of farmers? Or should they encourage the intermediate approaches, which, although the environmental benefits are more limited, may be adopted by more farmers, with possibly greater overall impact? And if, contrary to expectations, organic farming did become widely adopted, how could we feed a growing global population? This paper seeks to address a number of these questions.


Purpose: Accumulating evidence supports the existence of breast cancer stem cells (BCSC), which are characterized by their capacity to self-renew and divide indefinitely and resistance to conventional therapies. The Notch pathway is important for stem cell renewal and is a potential target for BCSC-directed therapy. Experimental Design: Using human breast tumorgraft studies, we evaluated the impact of gamma secretase inhibitors (GSI) on the BCSC population and the efficacy of combining GSI with docetaxel treatment. The mouse experimental therapy paralleled a concurrent clinical trial in patients with advanced breast cancer, designed to determine the maximum-tolerated dose of the GSI, MK-0752, administered sequentially with docetaxel, and to evaluate BCSC markers in serial tumor biopsies. Results: Treatment with GSI reduced BCSCs in MC1 and BCM-2147 tumorgrafts by inhibition of the Notch pathway. GSI enhanced the efficacy of docetaxel in preclinical studies. In the clinical trial, 30 patients with advanced breast cancer were treated with escalating doses of MK-0752 plus docetaxel. Clinically, meaningful doses of both drugs were possible with manageable toxicity and preliminary evidence of efficacy. A decrease in CD44+/CD24−, ALDH+, and mammosphere-forming efficiency were observed in tumors of patients undergoing serial biopsies. Conclusions: These preclinical data show that pharmacologic inhibition of the Notch pathway can reduce BCSCs in breast tumorgraft models. The clinical trial shows feasibility of combination GSI and chemotherapy, and together these results encourage further study of Notch pathway inhibitors in combination with chemotherapy in breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 19(6); 1512–24. ©2012 AACR.


Near InfraRed (NIR) frequency-domain techniques are promising clinical imaging tools, due to their ability in providing metabolic information about healthy and cancerous abnormalities (tumours, cysts, haematomas, etc.) embedded in thick biological highly diffusive tissues. Their main application is breast cancer screening. Detection, localisation and characterisation of heterogeneities are made possible by analysing the diffraction effects undergone by the intensity-modulated NIR signal (called a Diffuse Photon Density Wave (DPDW)) when propagating through the turbid medium. Imaging with DPDWs involves developing an algorithm that allows, on the basis of NIR data, the reconstruction of structural and optical properties of objects embedded in turbid media. This thesis proposes a reconstruction algorithm based on concepts from optical diffraction tomography. Its great advantage over other algorithms is to combine the two crucial characteristics of being non-iterative and of allowing full 3D reconstruction of arbitrarily shaped heterogeneities. This model, valid within the first Born approximation, greatly extends the domain of validity of the existing K-space spectrum analysis model, which provides reliable information only in the heterogeneity centre plane. The model developed in this thesis involves plane wave illumination, but an adaptation to spherical wave illumination is possible as well. The performance of our reconstruction algorithm is illustrated numerically, on the basis of a catalogue of forward data. These data are simulated using an analytical forward DPDW solution for plane wave illumination, derived from the existing spherical wave solution adapted from the Mie scattering theory. Knowledge of these solutions allows one to evaluate numerically the influence of typical structural and optical breast-like parameters on the propagation of DPDWs. This study provides important information about requirements to be fulfilled for optimizing a frequency-domain set-up within the framework of breast cancer screening. Experimental highly-sensitive frequency-domain NIR measurements performed on breast-like phantoms complete this study. By comparing experimental data to data simulated with the Mie spherical wave solution, we demonstrate the possibility of detecting very small optical heterogeneities (5-mm diameter), that induce distortions in DPDWs of 0.5% in amplitude and 0.14° in phase. These are, to our knowledge, the most sensitive frequency-domain measurements ever reported in thick highly diffusive media. Additional information about phantoms structure is provided by x-ray and computed tomography data. The presence of small air-bubble-like artefacts is detected. These objects are shown to have a significant disturbing effect on frequency-domain data. Their impact on the propagation of DPDWs is a crucial study in NIR imaging, since artefacts are also found in biological tissues (cutaneous or tissue lesions, scars, beauty spots, tattoos, etc.).


A novel method is proposed for moving large, pyramid construction size, stone blocks. The method is inspired by a well known introductory physics homework problem, and is implemented by tying 12 identical rods of appropriately chosen radius to the faces of the block. The rods form the corners and new faces that transform the square prism into a dodecagon which can then be moved more easily by rolling than by dragging. Experimental results are presented and compared to independent work by another group which utilized wooden attachments providing a cylindrical shape. It is found that a small scale stone block converted to dodecagons can be moved across level open ground with a dynamic coefficient of friction of the order 0.2. For full scale pyramid blocks, the wooden rods would need to be posts of order 30 cm in diameter, similar in size to those used as masts on ships in the Nile.


A modern industrial robot control system is often only based upon measurements from the motors of the manipulator. To perform good trajectory tracking on the arm side of the robot a very accurate description of the system must therefore be used. A sensor fusion technique is presented to achieve good estimates of the position of the robot using a very simple model. By using information from an accelerometer at the tool of the robot the effect of unmodelled dynamics can be measured. The estimate of the tool position can be improved to enhance accuracy. We formulate the computation of the position as a Bayesian estimation problem and propose two solutions. The first solution uses the extended Kalman filter (EKF) as a fast but linearized estimator. The second uses the particle filter, which can solve the Bayesian estimation problem without linearizations or any Gaussian noise assumptions. Since the aim is to use the positions estimates to improve position with an iterative learning control method, no computational constraints arise. The methods are applied to experimental data from an ABB IRB1400 commercial industrial robot and to data from a simulation of a realistic flexible robot model, showing a significant improvement in position accuracy.


Concern about the use if technical barriers as restrictions to trade has increased since the World Trade Organization Agreement on Agriculture. In this analysis, we quantify the phytosanitary barriers to U.S. apple exports to Japan by calculating tariff-rate equivalents. We examine the trade and welfare impacts of removing phytosanitary barriers and tariffs under two assumptions regarding transmission of the bacterial disease fire blight: first, that transmission via commercial fruit is not possible, and second, that it can occur. The disease losses required to eliminate the grains to trade are estimated to be much larger than those experienced in other countries.


In this article, I argue that the key to achieving greater gender equality in the workplace is finding a way to change the behavior of men with respect to the care of children. Until now, most suggestions have focused on changing the behavior of women or employers, but women continue to face significant disadvantages in the workplace despite substantial changes in their labor force behavior. In the first part of the article, I analyze the latest data and conclude that the gender pay gap reflects both women's actual labor market behavior, which still differs from men's, and employers' exaggerated responses to the expectation that women will leave the workforce to have and to raise children. Through a short empirical analysis, I then demonstrate that the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) falls far short of providing the kind of relief that might improve gender inequality, and in the last section I propose that the leave law be amended with an eye on equality. In particular, I propose that we create a contract set-aside program tied to employers establishing generous and successful leave policies.


Over the last decade, many new opportunities have emerged to support creativity and problem-solving in design by finding inspirational materials via the Internet. Online design communities such as those of Behance and Pinterest showcase portfolios and user-made artwork, and they offer support for d esigners' day -to-day work to find and collect inspirational material. However, very little is known about how these communities affect inspiration-related practices of professional designers and how designers view them. This paper presents new data on the practices designers employ when seeking digital inspiration sources online and reflecting on, tracking, and managing them in today's Web design. Current practice and views on sources of inspiration were described based on responses from 51 professional designers. The results suggest that the Internet has become a prevalent source for ideas in design, yet designers experience mounting issues of trust and relatedness with regard to online sources. Therefore, encouraging both should be considered a guiding principle for tools aimed at supporting designers within the realm of design practice.


Molecular recognition reagents are key tools for understanding biological processes and are used universally by scientists to study protein expression, localisation and interactions. Antibodies remain the most widely used of such reagents and many show excellent performance, although some are poorly characterised or have stability or batch variability issues, supporting the use of alternative binding proteins as complementary reagents for many applications. Here we report on the use of Affimer proteins as research reagents. We selected 12 diverse molecular targets for Affimer selection to exemplify their use in common molecular and cellular applications including the (a) selection against various target molecules; (b) modulation of protein function in vitro and in vivo; (c) labelling of tumour antigens in mouse models; and (d) use in affinity fluorescence and super-resolution microscopy. This work shows that Affimer proteins, as is the case for other alternative binding scaffolds, represent complementary affinity reagents to antibodies for various molecular and cell biology applications. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.24903.001


The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), with 36 bands and 0.25-, 0.5-, and 1.0-km geometric instantaneous-fields-of-view (GIFOVs) at nadir, has completed system level testing and has been integrated onto the Earth Observing System (EOS)-AM1 spacecraft, which is slated for launch in 1998. Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing (SBRS), Goleta, CA, the MODIS developer, has performed extensive characterization and calibration measurements that have demonstrated a system that meets or exceeds most of NASA's demanding requirements. Based on this demonstrated capability, the MODIS Science Team, an international group of 28 land, ocean, atmosphere, and calibration remote-sensing scientists, has commenced delivery of algorithms that will routinely calculate 42 MODIS standard data products postlaunch. These products range from atmospheric aerosols, snow cover, and land and water surface temperature to leaf area index, ocean chlorophyll concentration, and sea ice extent, to name just a few. A description of the Science Team, including members' research interests and descriptions of their MODIS algorithms, can be found at the MODIS homepage (http://ltpwww.gsfc.nasa.gov/MODIS/MODIS.html). The MODIS system level testing included sufficient measurements in both ambient and thermal-vacuum environments to both demonstrate specification compliance and enable postlaunch implementation of radiometric calibration algorithms. The latter will include calculations to account for changes in response versus scan angle, response versus temperature, and response linearity. The system level tests also included performance verification of the onboard calibration systems, including the solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM), the blackbody (BB), and the spectral radiometric calibration assembly (SRCA), which will enahle monitoring of MODIS performance postlaunch. Descriptions of these subsystems are also on the MODIS homepage.


Al-doped ZnO (AZO) is a promising earth-abundant alternative to Sn-doped In2O3 (ITO) as an n-type transparent conductor for electronic and photovoltaic devices; AZO is also more straightforward to deposit by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The workfunction of this material is particularly important for the design of optoelectronic devices. We have deposited AZO films with resistivities as low as 1.1 × 10−3 Ω cm by ALD using the industry-standard precursors trimethylaluminum (TMA), diethylzinc (DEZ), and water at 200◦C. These films were transparent and their elemental compositions showed reasonable agreement with the pulse program ratios. The workfunction of these films was measured using a scanning Kelvin Probe (sKP) to investigate the role of aluminum concentration. In addition, the workfunction of AZO films prepared by two different ALD recipes were compared: a "surface" recipe wherein the TMA was pulsed at the top of each repeating AZO stack, and a interlamellar recipe where the TMA pulse was introduced halfway through the stack. As aluminum doping increases, the surface recipe produces films with a consistently higher workfunction as compared to the interlamellar recipe. The resistivity of the surface recipe films show a minimum at a 1:16 Al:Zn atomic ratio and using an interlamellar recipe, minimum resistivity was seen at 1:19. The film thicknesses were characterized by ellipsometry, chemical composition by EDX, and resistivity by four-point probe.


Each year, the federal government offers billions of dollars in need-based grant aid and loan subsidies to low-income college students. Concern is growing, however, around several system-wide problems that persist despite these federal investments: that many low-income students either 1) fail to take advantage of available aid; 2) are accepted to college but do not enroll; or 3) enroll but end up dropping out before graduating. While each of these decisions is informed by many factors, economists have identified program complexity and student behavioral bias as key variables—in other words, real humans do not always make the rational financial calculations policymakers expect of them when designing aid programs. This article reviews existing research on behavioral economics and student financial aid, examines access and completion barriers through a behavioral lens, and evaluates policy vehicles aimed to reverse students' behavioral biases.


The study focuses on the sources of funding and the relative profitability derived by the microfinance organizations. The study considers three variables, which relate to the profitability (a dependent factor): return-onassets (ROA), operational-self-sufficiency (OSS), and return-on-equity (ROE). The independent factor (financial sources), on the other hand, employs: deposit-to-asset, net-deposits, and lastly debt-to-equity ratio. Moreover, the control variables specified in this study are that of women borrowers, size regulations, and age. The study utilizes cross-sectional (unbalanced) panel data (2004-10) from about seventy countries around the world, covering up to six regions globally. To bring forth estimations for the models used, the random-effect-model has been employed. The results indicated that deposits enhance the levels of debt in ones' capital-structuring, thereby complementing the firm's overall profitability. Whereas, increased amounts of operating costs and relative risks juts down the profitability. As with the variables of control, the t-test leads us to the conclusion that micro-financiers with more women borrowers enjoy a significantly higher profitability, perhaps due to less default-risk brought about by the regular loan repayments.


Objective: Intimate partner aggression (IPA) is a serious problem among dating couples. The present study examined dyadic and situational processes that may lead to IPA perpetration among a sample of 59 heterosexual couples (total n 118), within the framework of Finkel's I 3 model. Method: IPA was assessed using an in vivo aggression task, in the context of a weak inhibiting factor (self-control depletion) and a strong impellance factor (negative emotion) generated during in vivo verbal conflict between partners (functioning as an instigating trigger). Results: Actor–partner interdependence model analyses demonstrated that negative emotion (prediscussion and reactivity) positively predicted men's aggression and the interaction between emotion reactivity and self-control depletion predicted women's partner aggression. Several partner effects emerged as well. Conclusion: These findings provide support for the I 3 model and suggest that during conflictual encounters both partners may recognize and respond to each other's negative mood and depletion states in ways that escalate aggression. The current study contributes to our understanding of the individual and dyadic processes leading to IPA perpetration.


This article explores three central figures that recur in Gabriel Josipovici's critical writing.
All three are essentially solitary. First, there is the creative figure – the artist, the
composer, the writer – alone in their study or studio. Second, there is a curiously impersonal
figure, more elusive, harder to pin down. Not the writer or artist but an anonymous
figure walking down the road, Wordsworth's solitaries in The Prelude and Paul
Klee's Wander-Artist. And, finally, there are Jewish figures, especially from Kafka and
the Hebrew Bible. What are these bare, elusive anonymous figures doing in Josipovici's
writing? Why do they come up so often, throughout his work, from the mid 1970s to
the present? And are they lifeless or are they full of life, deeply human, rooted in history
and literature?


As in most low-income countries, the majority of the poor population in Viet Nam is found in rural areas, where agriculture provides the primary means of livelihood. It has been argued that an agriculture-based development (ABD) strategy is more appropriate for Viet Nam at the present time than both import-substitution and export-led industrialization, considering its effectiveness in generating income opportunities, directly and indirectly, for the rural population. Under the ABD strategy, increased public resources allocated to agriculture and the rural sector would lead to rising agricultural productivity and rural income that in turn would create a strong demand for increased nonagricultural production in the local economy, especially of labor-intensive industrial goods and services. It is in effect a decentralized, employment-generating industrialization strategy that can lead to favorable outcomes in overall income growth and distribution. The Central Region in Viet Nam is the least developed among the three macroregions, the rapid economic expansion during the 1990s having been concentrated in the southern and northern areas. Because Central Viet Nam is even more heavily agricultural than the rest of the country, the argument for adopting an ABD strategy would seem to apply with greater force. In this paper we make use of SAM (social accounting matrix) multiplier analysis in examining quantitatively the comparative economy-wide repercussions of exogenous income increases in agriculture (such as that arising from productivity growth) in Central Viet Nam, paying particular attention to the effects on overall income growth and equity. The equity impact is evaluated in terms of the induced relative changes on the incomes of four households groups distinguished in the study. Some policy implications of the results are discussed, emphasizing the role of macroeconomic policies in helping promote equitable growth in Central Viet Nam. TABLE OF CONTENTS


The medical services market is rapidly expanding around the world, following the experience of the industrialized Western economies. Cultural differences make existing assumptions about health care quality risky to export, leading to an increasing interest in understanding patient satisfaction with care within non-Western contexts. Within the Greater China region, both Western and traditional Chinese medicine coexist, yet there is a lack of research instruments that include distinct values of Chinese patients. This article reports the development of a measure of Chinese patient satisfaction with outpatient care. We describe the foundation of the scale in a qualitative report that includes 8 dimensions of Chinese patient satisfaction. A sample of 400 Chinese patients completed the final instrument. A quantitative analytical procedure leads to a 6-dimension and 27-item instrument to measure Chinese patients' satisfaction with outpatient care. Our proposed instrument has good internal consistency supporting the use of the instrument in contexts where Chinese patients are being treated.


We present a method for learning nonlinear systems, echo state networks (ESNs). ESNs employ artificial recurrent neural networks in a way that has recently been proposed independently as a learning mechanism in biological brains. The learning method is computationally efficient and easy to use. On a benchmark task of predicting a chaotic time series, accuracy is improved by a factor of 2400 over previous techniques. The potential for engineering applications is illustrated by equalizing a communication channel, where the signal error rate is improved by two orders of magnitude.


Vacuum-packaged (VP) beef produced and packaged in Australia can have an unusually long shelf-life. This observation has been attributed, in part, to superior abattoir hygiene, but there is an absence of robust scientific evidence to support this claim. While plant hygiene may be an important factor in extending VP beef shelf-life, there are likely other contributing factors.
Bacteria rarely exist in isolation and occur as members of a microbial niche. Numerous published studies have described the composition of bacterial species within food, including the influence of the environment; however, limited attention has been given to understanding how bacteria interact within foods, and how this contributes to the overall formation of a microbial community. The aim of the present study was to define how specific environmental factors, relevant to Australian VP beef, influence the interactions among bacteria.
Interactions among representative species of bacteria isolated from Australian VP beef primals were investigated. From a set of strains, 39 isolates inhibiting (effectors) other bacteria, and 20 isolates actively inhibited (targets) by effectors, were selected for further study. These isolates represented ten bacterial genera; including Carnobacterium, Pseudomonas, Hafnia, Serratia, Yersinia, Rahnella, Brochothrix, Bacillus, Leuconostoc, and Staphylococcus. A number of interactions were observed, with 28.6% inhibiting and 4.2% promoting target isolate growth. All lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inhibited other species, especially Carnobacterium maltaromaticum, which inhibited the growth of a wider range of target isolates, compared to other LAB. The majority of Pseudomonas isolates antagonised growth of approximately one-half of target isolates. Two Bacillus spp. each inhibited the growth of 16 target bacteria. The majority of effector isolates that enhanced target isolate growth were Gram-negative bacteria, including Pseudomonas spp. and Enterobacteriaceae. The mechanisms of interactions were partially characterised for eight effector-target isolate combinations. The inhibitory effects of two isolates of C. maltaromaticum and one isolate of Bacillus subtilis was mediated by heat-stable, pH-stable, proteinaceous substances found in cell-free supernatants (CFS). In contrast, live cells were required for the inhibitory activity of three isolates of Bacillus sp., Pseudomonas putida, and a Pseudomonas sp. against corresponding isolates of Yersinia enterocolitica, C. maltaromaticum and B. subtilis, yet this inhibitory effect did not require direct contact between effector and target cells. Compounds produced by B. subtilis and Serratia sp. that promoted the growth of Pseudomonas lundensis were non-proteinaceous and were heat- and pH-stable.
The next phases of the thesis quantified the effect of simulated intrinsic VP beef factors and associated extrinsic storage conditions (i.e. pH, temperature, atmosphere, glucose, and lactic acid) on: 1) the sensitivity of target isolate C. maltaromaticum strain D8c to inhibition caused by effector strain C. maltaromaticum D0h and, 2) the production of inhibitory factor(s) by C. maltaromaticum D0h. In the former study, all five environmental factors significantly (P < 0.05) affected sensitivity of C. maltaromaticum D8c to D0h CFS inhibitory activity. Inhibition sensitivity was relatively higher at low pH (5.5), at higher concentrations of glucose (5.55 mM) and lactic acid (50 mM), and under aerobic conditions. The sensitivity of strain D8c did not correlate linearly with temperature; since inhibition was greatest at 15°C, followed by 7, -1, and 25°C. Preliminary models were produced to describe D8c sensitivity.
Furthermore, the influence of pH, atmosphere, glucose, and lactic acid on production of inhibitory compounds by D0h was studied at 25°C. It was found pH produced the greatest influence on inhibitor production, compared to atmosphere, glucose, and lactic acid. The lowest amount of inhibitor was produced at an initial medium pH of 5.5. Lactic acid significantly reduced production, but only at an initial pH of 5.5. A two-factor interaction was observed between glucose and pH; relatively high concentrations of glucose (5.55 mM) enhanced the production at pH 6.5, whereas production decreased at pH 5.5. Atmosphere did not significantly affect inhibitory activity.
In conclusion, numerous interactions among the bacterial community of VP beef were described, and potentially drive formation of the microbial spoilage community, as influenced by environment. Intraspecific interactions between two C. maltaromaticum isolates were significantly affected by pH, atmosphere, lactic acid, glucose, and temperature. These findings, and the resulting models, may improve the understanding of putative interactions among spoilage bacteria in meat, in particular C. maltaromaticum, one of the most dominant bacterial species on chilled VP beef.


This book presents: • The results of an empirical analysis of the new phenomenon of virtual clusters (VCs), which highlight the dynamics of these emerging innovation networks in the digital economy; the challenges that this dynamics represents for the conventional theories, which are unable to define a comprehensive framework that supports the development of these networks. • An overview of the most significant theoretical approaches to innovation networks, and their rethinking in the digital economy scenario. Following a neo-Schumpeterian approach, a particular focus is on the opportunity to integrate the economic benefits coming from the geographical proximity, with the advantages related to the "organisational proximity" allowed by the ICT networks. • The constituent points of a strategy aimed at sustaining the developing processes of a VC in a drawback region, and a description of the e-Salento project, an application of this strategy to an Italian drawback region, the Salento. Some general implications of the project for theory and practice are also discussed. • The architecture and the master plan of two initiatives within the e-Salento project, concerning the agribusiness and tourism sectors. • A model of leadership, to guide innovation in an organisation competing in the digital economy, including both firms and regions. The perspective advanced in this book addresses issues concerned with VC growth and regions' economic development processes that are common to both the regional studies and the innovation management literature; the book represents an important empirically grounded contribution to them. Furthermore, several scholars argue that new development models are emerging for firms and regions. There is a lack of published work that provides empirical grounding and/or analytical models of firms' and regions' development processes in the Net Economy.


A novel generation of flexible opto-electronic smart applications is now emerging, incorporating photovoltaic and sensing devices driven by the desire to extend and integrate such technologies into a broad range of low cost and disposable consumer products of our everyday life and as a tool to bring together the digital and physical worlds. Several flexible polymeric materials are now under investigation to be used as mechanical supports for such applications. Among them, cellulose, the most abundant organic polymer on the Earth, commonly used in the form of paper, has attracted much research interest due to the advantages of being recyclable, flexible, lightweight, biocompatible and extremely low-cost, when compared to other materials. Cellulose substrates can be found in many forms, from the traditional micro-cellulose paper used for writing, printing and food/beverage packaging (e.g. liquid packaging cardboard), to the nano-cellulose paper which has distinct structural, optical, thermal and mechanical properties that can be tailored to its end use. The present article reviews the state-of-the-art related to the integration and optimization of photonic structures and light harvesting technologies on paper-based platforms, for applications such as Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS), supporting remarkable 107 signal enhancement, and photovoltaic solar cells reaching ∼5% efficiency, for power supply in standalone applications. Such paper-supported technologies are now possible due to innovative coatings that functionalize the paper surfaces, together with advanced light management solutions (e.g. wave-optical light trapping structures and NIR-to-visible up-converters). These breakthroughs open the way for an innovative class of disposable opto-electronic products that can find widespread use and bring important added value to existing commercial products. By making these devices ubiquitous, flexible and conformable to any object or surface, will also allow them to become part of the core of the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution, which demands systems' mobility and self-powering functionalities to satisfy the requirements of comfort and healthcare of the users.


Towards the end of the twentieth century academic debates in social policy have increasingly focused on social exclusion. Housing, especially housing tenure, has become of central concern to policymakers, planners and academics alike when contemplating mechanisms for the alleviation of social exclusion at the local level. In particular, the development of multi-tenure housing estates have been seen as strategy for tackling the detachment of local neighbourhoods from the mainstream by the current Labour Administration and its advisors (see Urban Task Force Report, 1999).The research, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, undertaken in this thesis predates the current enthusiasm for such developments and attempts to trace the evolution of the multi-tenure housing estate in the British housing system. It highlights both the potential possibilities and limitations of multi-tenure estates, and housing tenure, as a tool for aiding social inclusion. It finds that these estates marginally influence the social networks and behaviour of its residents, but fail to significantly alter the stigma attached to social housing. Therefore, indicating that the geographical proximity of different tenures does not necessarily lead to integration. It cautions against the belief that these estates will 'solve' the problem of social exclusion, but rather should be seen as one of many measures at the Government's disposal.


Numerous published economic models of tropical deforestation are reviewed, in four categories: - a Neo-Malthusian approach, often nebulous and imprecise in terms of causal processes, which sees population pressure as the underlying cause of tropical deforestation; - those focusing on government failures - particularly on misdirected government policies in other sectors that result in excessive and inappropriate deforestation; sectoral (e.g. log export ban) policies; and the general failure of supervisory institutions of governance, including corruption. This approach puts great emphasis on the effects of government interventions; - a microeconomic approach which considers the economic rationality of forest clearance from a farmer's perspective, and explains how various forms of market failure, e.g. poorly defined property rights, poorly-designed logging contracts and undervaluation of forest benefits at the local, regional or global level, all contribute to deforestation; and - a macroeconomic emphasis which explores the alleged links between debt and deforestation, leading to debt-for-nature swaps being proposed as a means for reducing deforestation rate in developing countries. The authors conclude that both the government failures and micro-economic analyses are particularly relevant to understanding current deforestation processes and policy options in Indonesia.


Due to globalization and digitalization of industrial systems, standard compliance is gaining more attention. In order to stay competitive and remain in business, different sectors within industry are required to comply with multiple regulations. Compliance aims to fulfill regulations by including all measures imposed by laws and standards. Every device, application, or service implements several technologies at many levels, and standards support interoperability across them. They help to create global markets for industries and enable networked development in order to be successful and sustainable. This work highlights the importance of standard compliance and continuous verification in industrial Internet of Things and implements an automatic monitoring and standard compliance verification framework. In this work, we focus on security, safety, and organizational aspects of industrial Internet of Things. We identify a number of standards and best practice guidelines, which are used to extract security, safety, and organizational measurable indicator points. In addition, a metric model is provided that forms the basis for the necessary information needed for compliance verification, including requirements, standards, and metrics. Also, we present the prototype of the monitoring and standard compliance verification framework used to show the security compliance of an industrial Internet of Things use case.


Purpose: Simulation in physiotherapy education is increasing, but a standardised assessment tool for student performance in simulation has not been developed. The Assessment of Physiotherapy Practice (APP) is a validated tool for student performance in the clinical workplace, and has been used recently for simulation despite its relevance for this context being unknown. The purpose of the study was to gain consensus about which APP items should be included in a tool to assess physiotherapy students' performance in simulation. The relevance of items was considered for both single patient encounters, and longitudinal (multiple) encounters. Methods: An online Delphi approach used a custom designed survey. A purposive sample of physiotherapists with simulation experience was recruited via email. Two rounds were undertaken with consensus being reached when at least 80% of the panel agreed on inclusion or exclusion of an item. Results: Twenty participants responded in the first round and fourteen in the second (70% retention). For longitudinal simulations, all APP items reached consensus in the first round. For single patient simulation encounters, consensus was not reached in the first round for the following items: commitment to learning (61%), teamwork (76%) and discharge planning (72%). In the second round, consensus for 'teamwork' remained the only item below eighty percent agreement (78.6%). Conclusions: The APP was deemed to be an appropriate measure for longitudinal clinical simulations, and with the exclusion of teamwork, for a single patient simulation encounter.


Advances in next-generation SONET/SDH along with GMPLS control architectures have
 enabled many new service provisioning capabilities. In particular, a key services
 paradigm is the emergent Layer 1 virtual private network (L1 VPN) framework, which
 allows multiple clients to utilize a common physical infrastructure and provision their
 own 'virtualized' circuit-switched networks. This precludes expensive infrastructure
 builds and increases resource utilization for carriers. Along these lines, a novel L1
 VPN services resource management scheme for next-generation SONET/SDH networks is
 proposed that fully leverages advanced virtual concatenation and inverse multiplexing
 features. Additionally, both centralized and distributed GMPLS-based implementations are
 also tabled to support the proposed L1 VPN services model. Detailed performance analysis
 results are presented along with avenues for future research.


Primitive types are fundamental components available in any programming language, which serve as the building blocks of data manipulation. Understanding the role of these types in source code is essential to write software. Little work has been conducted on how often these variables are documented in code comments and what types of knowledge the comments provide about variables of primitive types. In this paper, we present an approach for detecting primitive variables and their description in comments using lexical matching and advanced matching. We evaluate our approaches by comparing the lexical and advanced matching performance in terms of recall, precision, and F-score, against 600 manually annotated variables from a sample of GitHub projects. The performance of our advanced approach based on F-score was superior compared to lexical matching, 0.986 and 0.942, respectively. We then create a taxonomy of the types of knowledge contained in these comments about variables of primitive types. Our study showed that developers usually documented the variables' identifiers of a numeric data type with their purpose (69.16%) and concept (72.75%) more than the variables' identifiers of type String which were less documented with purpose (61.14%) and concept (55.46%). Our findings characterise the current state of the practice of documenting primitive variables and point at areas that are often not well documented, such as the meaning of boolean variables or the purpose of fields and local variables.


ABSTRACT Focusing on the London 2012 Olympics, we investigate the impact of mega-sport events' spatial transformations on visitor mobility, local leisure consumption and resulting small business trade. Our case study draws on 43 in-depth interviews with local authorities, governmental and non-governmental project actors, and small-local leisure and visitor economy businesses (retail and hospitality) located at the heart of a 'Host Event Zone' in Greenwich, London. We supplement subjective accounts with a documentary analysis of policy reports, media, and archival material as the basis for our empirical analysis. Our findings reveal a major dichotomy between the 'rhetoric' of inclusion and local 'realities' of exclusion as security planning and spatial controls served to close off public spaces and local attractions: diverting visitor flows and leisure consumption towards official event sites, away from local businesses. We illustrate how such urban processes effectively render a vibrant business community invisible and visitors immobile to explore local community spaces during the live staging periods. We close with implications for event organisers, managers and policymakers focused on re-configuring the socio-spatial elements of Olympic organisation and re-direct and mobilise visitor economy flows towards more open civic and leisure spaces in the hope of better (re)distributing consumption into host communities.


SUMMARY Spores of the bacterium Pasteuria penetrans adhered to second-stage juveniles of both Meloidogyne incognita and M. arenaria, but in standard attachment assays far fewer adhered to the latter species. Similarly, a polyclonal antibody was shown not to recognize the surface coat of M. arenaria but did recognize the surface coat of M. incognita. Although the incubation of whole, intact 2nd-stage juveniles of M. incognita in a series of detergents and protein-denaturing agents at room temperature did not reduce the number of spores adhering after exposure to the bacterium, incubation in buffer (PBS) alone at 100 °C for 2 min did. Immunoblotting of cuticle extracts onto nitrocellulose and probing the blots with antibody showed that the antibody recognized a large protein of Mr 80 kDa and a series of smaller proteins of approximately 43 kDa on M. incognita which were not recognized in extracts from M. arenaria. As incubation of the 2nd-stage juveniles in antibody prohibited spore attachment it is suggested that these proteins may be involved in spore adhesion. Large differences exist between M. incognita and M. arenaria in the amounts of surface-associated proteins on the 2nd-stage juvenile cuticle.


We propose a method for accurate 3D shape reconstruction using uncalibrated multiview photometric stereo. A coarse mesh reconstructed using multiview stereo is first parameterized using a planar mesh parameterization technique. Subsequently, multiview photometric stereo is performed in the 2D parameter domain of the mesh, where all geometric and photometric cues from multiple images can be treated uniformly. Unlike traditional methods, there is no need for merging view-dependent surface normal maps. Our key contribution is a new photometric stereo based mesh refinement technique that can efficiently reconstruct meshes with extremely fine geometric details by directly estimating a displacement texture map in the 2D parameter domain. We demonstrate that intricate surface geometry can be reconstructed using several challenging datasets containing surfaces with specular reflections, multiple albedos and complex topologies.


The aim of this study is the derivation of optimal forming parameters for a realistic simulation of the forming processes using fibre reinforced thermoplastics. To do this, at first, existing solutions for the thermoplastic prepreg forming simulation are introduced and compared with the results obtained by the PAM-FORM software used for these studies. In the second step, modelling and simulation are demonstrated for a side impact protection beam. The derivation of the geometry variants from the available forming die is described, and the simulation modelling approach is defined. Additional simulation models are subjected to a sensitivity analysis, and the influence of individual parameters, such as the meshing type and the material properties, is determined. The results of the sensitivity analysis demonstrate that the simulation of the shear angle is very robust due to the variation of all parameters. So the accuracy of the simulated shear angle is not strongly affected by the choice of the forming parameters, whereby an adequate information about the formability of the blank onto the die geometry can be obtained. However, the type of die meshing and the choice of the friction coefficient has a huge influence on the stresses within the blank as well as the thickness of the blank.


In this article, the authors describe a mixed-methods study designed to explore perceived family support, acculturation, and life satisfaction among 266 Mexican American adolescents. Specifically, the authors conducted a thematic analysis of open-ended responses to a question about life satisfaction to understand participants' perceptions of factors that contributed to their overall satisfaction with life. The authors also conducted hierarchical regression analyses to investigate the independent and interactive contributions of perceived support from family and Mexican and Anglo acculturation orientations on life satisfaction. Convergence of mixed-methods findings demonstrated that perceived family support and Mexican orientation were significant predictors of life satisfaction in these adolescents. Implications, limitations, and directions for further research are discussed.


Research can fall short of having societal impact due to traditions of the research enterprise as well as the perceptions of researchers about their appropriate role. What if researchers saw their work as part of a social movement to make change, and the research enterprise was designed to encourage that view and to facilitate relevance, rigor, activation of research, and a collaborative approach to address research questions aligned with a common goal? What would such a research enterprise look like? In this article, we describe the application of "network leadership strategies" to develop a "generative, social-impact network" to support the efforts of a nature-based learning research network to advance knowledge of the natural environment's impact on children's learning and educational outcomes. The activities and achievements of the nature-based learning research network are examined through the lens of network-building approaches aiming to create social impact. Though inspired by and grounded in these approaches, the reality is that certain constraints influenced our ability to function collaboratively as a generative, social-impact network and to fully realize the potential of this approach. We describe these challenges and offer recommendations for other researchers interested in enhancing the social impact of research.


Cropland fallows are the next best-bet for intensification and extensification, leading to increased food production and adding to the nutritional basket. The agronomical suitability of these lands can decide the extent of usage of these lands. Myanmar's agricultural land (over 13.8 Mha) has the potential to expand by another 50% into additional fallow areas. These areas may be used to grow short-duration pulses, which are economically important and nutritionally rich, and constitute the diets of millions of people as well as provide an important source of livestock feed throughout Asia. Intensifying rice fallows will not only improve the productivity of the land but also increase the income of the smallholder farmers. The enhanced cultivation of pulses will help improve nutritional security in Myanmar and also help conserve natural resources and reduce environmental degradation. The objectives of this study was to use remote sensing methods to identify croplands in Myanmar and cropland fallow areas in two important agro-ecological regions, delta and coastal region and the dry zone. The study used moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250-m, 16-day normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) maximum value composite (MVC), and land surface water index (LSWI) for one 1 year (1 June 2012–31 May 2013) along with seasonal field-plot level information and spectral matching techniques to derive croplands versus cropland fallows for each of the three seasons: the monsoon period between June and October; winter period between November and February; and summer period between March and May. The study showed that Myanmar had total net cropland area (TNCA) of 13.8 Mha. Cropland fallows during the monsoon season account for a meagre 2.4% of TNCA. However, in the winter season, 56.5% of TNCA (or 7.8 Mha) were classified as cropland fallows and during the summer season, 82.7% of TNCA (11.4 Mha) were cropland fallows. The producer's accuracy of the cropland fallow class varied between 92 and 98% (errors of omission of 2 to 8%) and user's accuracy varied between 82 and 92% (errors of commission of 8 to 18%) for winter and summer, respectively. Overall, the study estimated 19.2 Mha cropland fallows from the two major seasons (winter and summer). Out of this, 10.08 Mha has sufficient moisture (either from rainfall or stored soil water content) to grow short-season pulse crops. This potential with an estimated income of US$ 300 per hectare, if exploited sustainably, is estimated to bring an additional net income of about US$ 1.5 billion to Myanmar per year if at least half (5.04 Mha) of the total cropland fallows (10.08 Mha) is covered with short season pulses.


This paper studies the effect of word†of†mouth communication on the optimal pricing strategy for new experience goods. I consider a dynamic monopoly model with asymmetric information about product quality, in which consumers learn in equilibrium from both prices and other consumers. The main result is that word†of†mouth communication is essential for the existence of separating equilibria, wherein the high†quality monopolist signals high quality through a low introductory price (lower than the monopoly price), and the low†quality one charges the monopoly price. The intuition is simple: low prices are costly, and will only be used by firms confident enough that increased experimentation (and therefore communication among consumers) will yield good news about quality and increased future profits. Additional results are the following: for the high†quality seller, the expected price (quantity) is increasing (decreasing) over time; whereas for the low†quality one, the opposite is true. Moreover, signaling becomes more difficult when consumers pay less attention to their peers' reports and more attention to past prices. Finally, word†of†mouth communication improves consumer welfare.


Extracted text; The primary claim of this analytic paper is that the U.S. government and private food corporations have committed acts of structural violence which have perpetuated declines in Americans' nutritional status. This paper will show this through analysis of marketing practices, attempts at corporate self-regulation, social responsibility initiatives as well as food corporations' influence over the political process. According to Paul Farmer, structural violence refers to "historically and economically driven processes [that] conspire to constrain individual agency." Structural violence specifically denotes systematic characteristics of existing societies that create an unfair disadvantage for certain populations. Drawing on the concept of regulatory capture, the paper demonstrates the strong associations between the structure of relationships that food corporations negotiate with the state and health inequalities related to food policy. The paper concludes by offering recommendations for food policy that are more likely to compress nutrition-related health inequalities than existing policies that perpetuate structural violence.


This paper examines the stock price impact of 163 announcements of Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) investments. We document an average positive risk-adjusted return of 2.1 percent for target firms during two days surrounding SWF acquisition announcements. The announcement effect is both statistically and economically significant. A multivariate analysis shows that the degree of transparency of SWF activities is an important determinant of the market reaction, and both the SWF and the existing shareholders of the target firm benefit from improved SWF disclosure. In addition, target firms' profitability, growth, and governance do not change significantly in the three-year period following the SWF investment relative to a control sample. These results are robust to a battery of tests. Overall, our findings suggest that SWF investments convey a positive signal to market participants about the target firm, increased SWF transparency is enjoyed by both the SWF and existing shareholders, and SWFs are passive investors.


We introduce an extensible multi-fluid moment model in the context of collisionless magnetic reconnection. This model evolves full Maxwell equations, and simultaneously moments of the Vlasov-Maxwell equation for each species in the plasma. Effects like electron inertia and pressure gradient are self-consistently embedded in the resulting multi-fluid moment equations, without the need to explicitly solving a generalized Ohms's law. Two limits of the multi-fluid moment model are discussed, namely, the five-moment limit that evolves a scalar pressures for each species, and the ten-moment limit that evolves the full anisotropic, non-gyrotropic pressure tensor for each species. We first demonstrate, analytically and numerically, that the five-moment model reduces to the widely used Hall Magnetohydrodynamics (Hall MHD) model under the assumptions of vanishing electron inertia, infinite speed of light, and quasi-neutrality. Then, we compare ten-moment and fully kinetic Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations of a large scale Harris sheet reconnection problem, where the ten-moment equations are closed with a local linear collisionless approximation for the heat flux. The ten-moment simulation gives reasonable agreement with the PIC results regarding the structures and magnitudes of the electron flows, the polarities and magnitudes of elements of the electron pressure tensor, and the decomposition of the generalized Ohm's law. Possible ways to improve the simple local closure towards a nonlocal fully three-dimensional closure are also discussed.


MBOYA MARYGORETTY ODHOCH (M.P.H.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------Most communities have developed a wide range of complex and innovative strategies to survive the adverse impacts of HIV. They have spontaneously joined to support and assist families and children affected by HIV and AIDS. Whereas these strategies are the least visible, they may be the most cost-effective and farreaching. The aim of the study was to identify HIV and AIDS coping strategies among communities especially those with heavier burden; and to determine factors that hinder or enhance these strategies. A cross-sectional survey in Asego and Rangwe Divisions of Homabay District was undertaken and data collected from 302 respondents, a section of leaders, and small groups of community members; using interview schedules, focus group discussions (FGDs), and observation checklists. Homabay District has six Divisions; the Divisions of Asego and Rangwe were selected purposively. The Divisions were divided into four clusters, and Sub-locations or Locations selected by simple random sampling; and households selected by systematic random sampling. Data gathered was summarized using EpiData; then analyzed and presented using SPSS and Microsoft Excel in that order. The study identified coping strategies that communities of Homabay had adopted in the midst of the HIV outbreak as: treatment and care of the sick, orphans support, social groups, Income Generating Activities (IGAs), protection of property rights, changes in cultural practices, voluntary labour services, and uptake of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) services. Treatment and care of the sick was widespread. The findings showed that large proportion of respondents 248(82%) had cared for relative with prolonged illness. Orphans were many in the community, and a very large proportion of respondents 284(94%) had an orphan related to them. Programme activities of external agencies working in the communities and bolstering their coping strategies included: advocacy, infrastructure improvement, support to community initiatives and capacity building through training and seminars. Support to community initiatives and infrastructure improvement were the programme activities ranked first 92(37.5%) and second 83(33.5%) respectively by the respondents. They were endeared because their components tackled critical issues of the community such as health, water and education in a more direct and far-reaching manner. Almost all the coping strategies were influenced by perceptions. These included readiness to volunteer labour, discard certain cultural practices or participate in IGAs. This is a clear indication that communities in Homabay generally had respect and positive regard for their coping strategies. Certain coping strategies were influenced by socioeconomic factors such as education and source of income. It appeared that addressing broad social issues in communities would reduce the HIV burden. Recommendations from the study were that: the Ministry of Health should continue expanding or strengthening community home-based care services including addressing issues of sustainability, and that providing for physical and educational needs of orphans is best addressed by the government and partners through financial support to communities or households fostering orphans as opposed to setting up orphanages. These findings will inform policy on mitigation against socio-economic impact of HIV and AIDS in Kenya.


Cultivating microalgae has the potential to produce biofuels and bioproducts from solar energy with low land use and without competing with food crops. However, despite these key advantages, barriers remain to widespread, economical production from microalgae including: the relatively low solar energy conversion efficiency of photosynthesis, unknown optimal cultivation conditions, and the high energy and economic costs of cultivation and processing microalgal biomass. Thus, recent technological developments seek to address these barriers. To optimize cultivation conditions, devices taking advantage of advanced fluid and light handling techniques are being developed. These approaches drastically increase experimental throughput to find the ideal cultivation parameters. To apply optimal conditions, a range of cultivation approaches are being developed to deliver light and nutrients to microalgae to achieve high productivities. Finally, to extract maximal value out of microalgal biomass, downstream processing technology, such as hydrothermal liquefaction, is replacing costly conventional processes to produce fuels and high-value products from microalgae. Taken together, these technologies can allow microalgae to become competitive in the sustainable energy landscape – particularly to produce complex, high-value molecules.


Summary
The difficulties confronting malaria eradication may originate either in epidemiological problems, in the stage of development of the country concerned, or in conditions that involve the program.
Physiological resistance and intense exophilism are the main problems connected with the vector. Human behavior constitutes an important obstacle more often than expected. In the Americas all countries are sufficiently developed for a malaria eradication program. But frequently difficulties due to human factors involving the programs are present. High health authorities, regular public health administrators, health planners and even ordinary epidemiologists, quite often misinterpret the natural history of malaria and cannot make the decisions needed for an efficient eradication program. Furthermore, younger malariologists feel that their profession may be a temporary one, and do not have the courage required for superior field work. The personnel policy may be at fault in not taking into consideration the hardships of work under rough field conditions.


In this article, I explore the subject of supporting clients living with illness in the context of my counselling practice. I weave this approach to clinical practice, informed by response-based practice and the use of metaphor, together with my personal story of illness and recovery. I contextualise my own history as a Metis woman and therapist into the life of my family, living in Canada's north. There, my maternal family lived in the midst of uranium extraction, a form of mining that resourced the Cold War and fueled the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Canada's implication in militarism had devastating effects on Indigenous community members. I explore the use of metaphor as a form of co-constructed meaning in therapy. I present my own symbolic journey through cancer and treatment as a sacred pilgrimage in Spain. The various key points in treatment parallel significant stops along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. As well, I explore how clients negotiate medical systems, impositions and negative social responses, as well as how they resource love, strength and care from family and friends. I apply a framework of response-based practice, seeking to understand the ways in which people preserve dignity and try to maximize safety and well-being. This includes the ways in which patients manage unsolicited advice and undesirable procedures with courage and grace.


In this paper we present thread flux (TFlux), a complete system that supports the data-driven multithreading (DDM) model of execution. TFlux virtualizes any details of the underlying system therefore offering the same programming model independently of the architecture. To achieve this goal, TFlux has a runtime support that is built on top of a commodity operating system. Scheduling of threads is performed by the thread synchronization unit (TSU), which can be implemented either as a hardware or a software module. In addition, TFlux includes a preprocessor that, along with a set of simple compiler directives, allows the user to easily develop DDM programs. The preprocessor then automatically produces the TFlux code, which can be compiled using any commodity C compiler, therefore automatically producing code to any ISA. TFlux has been validated on three platforms. A Simics-based multicore system with a TSU hardware module (TFluxHard), a commodity 8-core Intel Core2 QuadCore-based system with a software TSU module (TFluxSoft), and a Cell/BE system with a software TSU module (TFluxCell). The experimental results show that the performance achieved is close to linear speedup, on average 21x for the 27 nodes TFluxHard, and 4.4x on a 6 nodes TFluxSoft and TFluxCell. Most importantly, the observed speedup is stable across the different platforms thus allowing the benefits of DDM to be exploited on different commodity systems.


We studied and investigated the problem of diffraction by finite grating using a rigorous hybrid FEM-based method. The method is based on analyzing only one grating cell and then combining the results with the geometry arrangements of the whole structure to determine the diffracted fields. The method is very fast, rigorous and robust and can be applied to general incident field on any general grating profile: dielectric or metallic.


Surfaces offers over 1,200 outstanding, vibrantly colorful visual images of surface textures--wood, stone, marble, brick, plaster, stucco, aggregates, metal, tile, and glass--ready to be used in your designs, presentations, or comps, as backgrounds or for general visual information. Photographed by a designer for designers, these pictures show specific materials and how they change with time, weather, wear, and different lighting. Each section offers general views of the material, a gallery of commonly used or manufactured samples, and hundreds of specimens showing types and finishes in architectural settings. Captions provide information about the physical properties, dimensions, construction techniques, specific varieties of the material, and types and styles of treatments. Interviews with eight design professionals provide practical advice on how they approach visual research, and a comprehensive glossary of visual and technical terms offers a vocabulary for professional communication. An index of subject matter and materials makes it easy to find just the image you need.


IL-22–IL-22R signaling plays a crucial role in regulating host defenses against extracellular pathogens, particularly in the intestine, through the induction of antimicrobial peptides and chemotactic genes. However, the role of IL-22–IL-22R is understudied in Streptococcus pneumoniae lung infection, a prevalent pathogen of pneumonia. This paper presents the findings of IL-22 signaling during a murine model of pneumococcal pneumonia and improvement of bacterial burden upon IL-22 administration. IL-22 was rapidly induced in the lung during pneumococcal infection in wild-type mice, and Il22−/− mice had higher pneumococcal burdens compared with controls. Additionally, mice with hepatic-specific deletion of Il22ra1 also had higher bacterial burdens in lungs compared with littermate controls after intrapulmonary pneumococcal infection, suggesting that IL-22 signaling in the liver is important to control pneumococcal pneumonia. Thus, we hypothesized that enhancement of IL-22 signaling would control pneumococcal burden in lung tissues in an experimental pneumonia model. Administration of rIL-22 systemically to infected wild-type mice decreased bacterial burden in lung and liver at 24 h postinfection. Our in vitro studies also showed that mice treated with IL-22 had increased C3 expression in the liver compared with the isotype control group. Furthermore, serum from mice treated with IL-22 had improved opsonic capacity by increasing C3 binding on S. pneumoniae. Taken together, endogenous IL-22 and hepatic IL-22R signaling play critical roles in controlling pneumococcal lung burden, and systemic IL-22 decreases bacterial burden in the lungs and peripheral organs by potentiating C3 opsonization on bacterial surfaces, through the increase of hepatic C3 expression.


This study explored the potential of digital games as learning environments to develop mindsets capable of dealing with complexity in the domain of sustainability. Building sustainable futures requires the ability to deal with the complex dynamics that characterize the world in which we live. As central elements in this system, we must develop the ability of constantly assessing the environment that surrounds us, operating in it and adapting to it through a continuous and iterative individual and interpersonal process of revision of our frames of reference. We must focus on our world as a whole, considering both immediate problems and long-term consequences that decision making processes could generate. Educating for sustainability demands learning approaches and environments that require the development of systems thinking and problem-solving, rather than solely the acquisition of factual knowledge. Due to their characteristics, digital games present a high potential for "learning for complexity". Although they can be very different from one another, digital games can indeed be proper complex systems. In fact, many modern games are set in sophisticated cyberworlds, requiring players to engage in cognitively demanding tasks relying on problem-solving and decision-making skills, dealing with ill-structured problems, unpredictable circumstances, emerging system properties and behaviours, and non-linear development of events. Furthermore, these environments support remote interactions across large numbers of players, often requiring collective engagement in the pursuit of common goals. To understand how games are currently used for "learning for sustainability", we analysed twenty games. The games were selected based on their visibility on an online search engine. The analysis showed that there is an emphasis on using single-player games to educate children and to foster the acquisition of factual knowledge. Furthermore, our results show that sustainability games often do not leverage the usage of complex systems as gaming environments, hence not fully exploiting the potential of games as learning environments to develop "thinking for complexity".


Anna M. Grant The Effectiveness of Teaching Moral Development on the Ethical Decisions of First and Second Grade Children 2001/02 Dr. Stanley Urban Learning Disabilities/Teacher Consultant The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a program of character education administered to a group of first and second grade children over a sixmonth period. The subjects for this study attended or are presently attending Atlantis Elementary School, located on McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. This information can help determine whether or not an unstructured character education curriculum can lead to improvement in moral and ethical decisions. Participants were administered two forms of an assessment over a six-month period. The first assessment was executed in September of 2001. The participants were then introduced to one supplementary term per month. They received prescribed lessons one day per week. At the culmination of the sixth month, the participants were administered a final assessment. The results of the two assessments were then examined for changes in moral decision making. The data reveals that there is a significant contrast between the pre-test and post-test to demonstrate improvement in judgements.


This paper examines household asset dynamics and gender-differentiated asset inequality over a 20-year period (1988–2008) in northern Nigeria. We show that the initial endowments of both household capital and livestock holdings are inconsistent with the poverty trap hypothesis but that tracking rules for households in panel surveys may lead to differences in empirical results on poverty traps. We also investigate whether initial household endowments contributed to gender-differentiated future asset levels and asset inequality. Initial livestock holdings have an effect on women's future livestock holdings but not on their livestock shares within the household, as the effect of initial livestock holdings on men's future livestock levels was much greater than its effect on women's levels. The mechanism through which asset levels differed was related to the relative prices of the assets in gender-differentiated asset portfolios. Men, who primarily held larger livestock with larger unit values, benefited from large price increases in high-value livestock, while women held lower-value livestock. These price fluctuations reinforced gender asset inequality within households for both types of assets considered.


Quantum antiferromagnets have proven to be some of the cleanest realizations available for theoretical, numerical, and experimental studies of quantum fluctuation effects. At finite temperatures, however, the additional effects of thermal fluctuations in the restricted phase space of a low-dimensional system have received much less attention, particularly the situation in frustrated quantum magnets, where the excitations may be complex collective (bound or even fractionalized) modes. We investigate this problem by studying the thermodynamic properties of the frustrated two-leg $S=\frac{1}{2}$ spin ladder, with particular emphasis on the fully frustrated case. We present numerical results for the magnetic specific heat and susceptibility, obtained from exact diagonalization and quantum Monte Carlo studies, which we show can be rendered free of the sign problem even in a strongly frustrated system and which allow us to reach unprecedented sizes of $L=200$ ladder rungs. We find that frustration effects cause an unconventional evolution of the thermodynamic response across the full parameter regime of the model. However, close to the first-order transition they cause a highly anomalous reduction in temperature scales with no concomitant changes in the gap; the specific heat shows a very narrow peak at very low energies and the susceptibility rises abruptly at extremely low temperatures. Unusually, the two quantities have different gaps over an extended region of the parameter space. We demonstrate that these results reflect the presence of large numbers of multiparticle bound-state excitations, whose energies fall below the one-triplon gap in the transition region.


We recast the reconstruction problem of diffuse optical tomography (DOT) in a pseudo-dynamical framework and develop a method to recover the optical parameters using particle filters, i.e., stochastic filters based on Monte Carlo simulations. In particular, we have implemented two such filters, viz., the bootstrap (BS) filter and the Gaussian-sum (GS) filter and employed them to recover optical absorption coefficient distribution from both numerically simulated and experimentally generated photon fluence data. Using either indicator functions or compactly supported continuous kernels to represent the unknown property distribution within the inhomogeneous inclusions, we have drastically reduced the number of parameters to be recovered and thus brought the overall computation time to within reasonable limits. Even though the GS filter outperformed the BS filter in terms of accuracy of reconstruction, both gave fairly accurate recovery of the height, radius, and location of the inclusions. Since the present filtering algorithms do not use derivatives, we could demonstrate accurate contrast recovery even in the middle of the object where the usual deterministic algorithms perform poorly owing to the poor sensitivity of measurement of the parameters. Consistent with the fact that the DOT recovery, being ill posed, admits multiple solutions, both the filters gave solutions that were verified to be admissible by the closeness of the data computed through them to the data used in the filtering step (either numerically simulated or experimentally generated).


Abstract Bakground: The goal of our study was to test the relative stability of urine, unconjugated, free catecholamines and the methyl derivatives. We measured the change in concentrations in commercially available urines after storage at various pH values, temperatures and time, from days up to 10 weeks. Methods: Samples of commercial control urines were adjusted to pH 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0 and aliquots stored at ambient temperature (20–26°C), 4°C and –18oC. The free catecholamines (cats) and the free methyl derivatives (mets) were measured after 1, 2, 3 and 6 days and 1, 2, 3 and 10 weeks using the automated sample trace enrichment dialysis (ASTED) procedure with reversed phase ion pair high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and coulometric detection. Results: Free catecholamines were relatively stable, with <15% loss of concentration, when stored at pH 6.0 or less for at least 4 days and up to 10 weeks at pH 2.0 at either 4oC or –18oC. At pH 8.0, the concentration fell to <60% after 48 h and at a pH of 6.0 or 8.0, up to 90% was lost within the first week at 4oC and 25oC. More than 40% of free normetadrenaline and metadrenaline were lost after 1–2 weeks when stored at 20–25oC and pH 8.0. After 10 weeks at pH 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0, up to 90% loss was observed at 25oC. Free cats were stable at pH 2.0 and 4.0 at –18oC and the free mets were stable at –18oC over the entire time period studied and at all pHs. Conclusions: In the analysis of free catecholamine and the free methyl derivatives, urine samples should be acidified to a pH range 2.0–3.0 to ensure stability and hence the correct analysis. Clin Chem Lab Med 2010;48:81–7.


Every organization must have a different climate, although largely in part companies have a common form of organization such as corporate climate engaged in insurance, corporate communications, and government organizations also have least common in the atmosphere organizational climate. Organizational climate is a form of
perception of the quality of internal environment in the organization who are relatively settled and influence the behavior of organizational members associated with the values contained in characteristics of organizational unity. This study aims to determine the climatic conditions
the organization on Telkom Employees Cooperative (Kopegtel) Kediri. This research was conducted with using a quantitative approach that is descriptive and hypothesis testing relies conclusion results in an error probability of rejection of the hypothesis that aims nil systematically and accurately describe the facts and characteristics of the population or about a particular field, making it easier to understand and to be concluded.
The subjects in this study were employees of cooperative employees telecoms (KOPEGTEL). Subject samples taken through engineering research and data collection methods proportional using a Likert scale, namely organizational climate scale. Data analysis was performed with T-Score techniques and computer SPSS (Statistics Programme For Social Science) version 13.0.
In this study, climate data description KOPEGTEL employee organization which conducive in the following order: (1). Standards (66%), (2). Awards (61.9%), (3). Responsibility (58.8%), (4). Support (50.5%), (5). Structure (44.3%), (6). Commitment (42.3%).
From the research and analysis can be concluded that organizational climate is a concept that describes the subjective nature or quality of the organization's environmental and climate organization can be perceived in the same way by the employees but they may react to the climate in different ways. This is due to motives that underlie the emergence of differences in the behavior of employees. Climate organization that is conducive to the self-made individual employees have a high work output. This
formed because no escape from the interaction of individuals with the condition of the work environment.
Work ethic will form a strong, if employees feel the working atmosphere accommodating to their needs and conducive to career development and employee welfare.


This paper presents further work on the development of the Australian Multi-attribute Utility (AMAU) instrument, the first steps of which were described in Hawthorne and Richardson (1996). The purpose of the instrument is to assist with the measurement of health-related quality of life (HRQoL); that is, it is designed for use in cost-utility analysis. The present paper reports the survey and statistical methods adopted for the construction of the descriptive system. It presents a descriptive system which consists of five dimensions and 15 items. This structure is consistent with the hypothesised structure and dimensions of HRQoL. The psychometric properties of the instrument are reported, including preliminary indicators of its capabilities. The results suggest the AMAU has the ability to distinguish levels of health evident in hospital and community cases, between age groups and educational achievement. In addition, interviews with subjects show it is very easy to understand and complete with minimal difficulty. The AMAU is thus a short and convenient measure of HRQoL. In summary, the descriptive system outlined in this paper appears suitable for assessing HRQoL in Australian populations; and as a MAU instrument for calculating QALYs for economic and health program evaluation.