G.W. Dahlquist's "The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters", the first in the series of adventures of Miss Temple, Cardinal Chang and Dr Svenson and followed by "The Dark Volume" and "The Chemickal Marriage", is a rip-roaring tale like no other. In "The Glass Books of The Dream Eaters" three most unlikely but nevertheless extraordinary heroes become inadvertently involved in the diabolical machinations of a cabal bent upon enslaving thousands through a devilish 'process': Miss Temple is a feisty young woman with corkscrew curls who wishes to learn why her fiance Roger broke off their engagement...Cardinal Chang was asked to kill a man, but finding his quarry already dead he is determined to learn who beat him to it and why...And Dr Svenson is chaperone to a dissolute Prince who has become involved with some most unsavoury individuals...An adventure like no other, in a mysterious city few have travelled to, featuring a heroine and two heroes you will never forget. "Fantastic. Somewhere between Dickens, Sherlock Holmes and Rider Haggard. I was in seventh heaven". (Kate Mosse, author of "Labyrinth"). "A page-turner, a rollicking ride. As stupendous as it is stupefying". (Giles Foden, "Guardian"). "An erotically charged, rip-roaring adventure for adults with scarcely a dull moment to be had, which defies its great length to keep the reader on the edge of his seat". ("Daily Mail"). G.W. Dahlquist fell asleep when trapped by a snowstorm, and "The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters" came to him in his dreams. He is the author of the "The Dark Volume" and "The Chemickal Marriage", the next books in the series.


Social distancing directives across the United States have led to school closures. Some districts are moving towards online instruction but this requires internet access at home. We examine the factors that determine whether school children have access to the internet at home. We document that poor and non-white children still have lower access to the internet. Moreover, in areas where poor and non-white children have relatively lower test scores, such children are more likely to not have access to the internet. However, there is some evidence of positive spillovers from the historic presence of ICT industries in the local area in improving the access of disadvantaged children to the internet. The empirical insights highlight how the digital divide might exacerbate existing educational inequalities in the face of school closures due to social distancing.


As chip multiprocessors with simultaneous multithreaded cores are becoming commonplace, there is a need for simple approaches to exploit thread-level parallelism. In this paper, we consider thread-level speculation as a means to reap thread-level parallelism out of application binaries. We first investigate the tradeoffs between scheduling speculative threads on the same core and on different cores. While threads contend for the same resources using the former approach, the latter approach is plagued by the overhead for inter-core communication. Despite the impact of resource contention, our detailed simulations show that the first approach provides the best performance due to lower inter-thread communication cost. The key contribution of the paper is the proposed design and evaluation of the dual-thread speculation system. This design point has very low complexity and reaps most of the gains of a system supporting eight threads


BACKGROUND
Healthy People 2010 oral health objectives call for an increase in the proportion of adults who use the oral health care system annually. To assess progress toward this goal, the authors evaluated dental care utilization and the extent of unmet dental care needs of U.S. workers and their families.

METHODS
The authors conducted sex-specific analyses by occupation of 135,004 U.S. worker participants in the nationally representative National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) conducted from 1997 to 2003.

RESULTS
The reported lack of oral health care within the preceding year ranged from 18.9 to 57.8 percent among male workers and from 17.6 to 50.0 percent among female workers. Sex-specific occupational groups with the highest rates of reported unmet dental care needs included male health service occupations (17.1 percent) and female construction and extractive trade workers (26.8 percent).

CONCLUSION
There are significant oral health care underutilization and high rates of unmet dental care needs among many U.S. worker groups. Strategies to increase regular dental visits for U.S. worker groups reporting low dental care access and high dental need are paramount.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
Targeting strategic dental care access programs to identified U.S. worker groups reporting dental care access deficits can improve oral health.


Aqueous extract of pericarp of Garcinia was prepared by sonicator for quick extraction of the colorant and has been used for dyeing cotton, silk and wool yarn. 1-2 % of premordanting with metal salts of Al, Sn, Fe, Cr and Cu was done. Fe, cu and Cr are best suited mordants for garcinia. The hue color ranged from camel brown to dark chocolate brown. The color strength K/S has been found to be very good in dyed samples. The fastness properties have also been evaluated and were found to be well above the acceptable limits.


Targeted marketing is an increasing trend in advertising with companies attempting to send heavily customised mail shots to only that subset of customers identified as likely to be interested. This requires detailed demographic data on the target group and, when the customer is identified by virtue of having paid by credit card or ordered by mail, such data may be readily available. When customers are anonymous as, for example, at a supermarket checkout, Phenomenal Data Mining has been proposed as a methodology for making demographic and lifestyle inferences from analysis of captured point-ofsale data~ Planners of Public Transport systems require an understanding of patterns of commuter behaviour. This is traditionally derived by expensive survey or diary methods. We show that there are underlying similarities between EPOS and pre-paid ticket data captured by the on-bus Wayfarer system used by the Dublin Bus company and investigate Phenomenal Data Mining as complementary low-cost methodology for analysing this data, We expect that it will be possible to make statistically valid identifications of commuter trips.


Modern Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems rely on distributed deep learning to for quick training completion. To enable efficient distributed training, it is imperative that the training algorithms can converge with a large mini-batch size. In this work, we discovered that Asynchronous Decentralized Parallel Stochastic Gradient Descent (ADPSGD) can work with much larger batch size than commonly used Synchronous SGD (SSGD) algorithm. On commonly used public SWB-300 and SWB-2000 ASR datasets, ADPSGD can converge with a batch size 3X as large as the one used in SSGD, thus enable training at a much larger scale. Further, we proposed a Hierarchical-ADPSGD (H-ADPSGD) system in which learners on the same computing node construct a super learner via a fast allreduce implementation, and super learners deploy ADPSGD algorithm among themselves. On a 64 Nvidia V100 GPU cluster connected via a 100Gb/s Ethernet network, our system is able to train SWB-2000 to reach a 7.6% WER on the Hub5-2000 Switchboard (SWB) test-set and a 13.2% WER on the Call-home (CH) test-set in 5.2 hours. To the best of our knowledge, this is the fastest ASR training system that attains this level of model accuracy for SWB-2000 task to be ever reported in the literature.


The fast component of the cardiac transient outward current, IKtof, is blocked by a number of drugs. The major molecular bases of IKtof are Kv4.2/Kv4.3 voltage-gated potassium channels. Drugs with similar potencies but different blocking mechanisms have differing effects on action potential duration (APD). We used in silico analysis to determine the effect of IKtof-blocking drugs with different blocking mechanisms on mouse ventricular myocytes. We used our existing mouse model of the action potential, and developed 4 new Markov formulations for IKtof, IKtos, IKur, IKs. We compared effects of theoretical IKtof-specific channel blockers: (1) a closed state, and (2) an open channel blocker. At concentrations lower or close to IC50, the drug which bound to the open state always had a much greater effect on APD than the drug which bound to the closed state. At concentrations much higher than IC50, both mechanisms had similar effects at very low pacing rates. However, an open state binding drug had a greater effect on APD at faster pacing rates, particularly around 10 Hz. In summary, our data indicate that drug effects on APD are strongly dependent not only on IC50, but also on the drug binding state.


This paper aims to investigate companies' environmental, social, governance (ESG), and financial implications of their commitment to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). The focus is placed on companies operating in the three countries with the highest number of UNGC participants: Spain, France, and Japan. The results clearly reveal that adoption of the UNGC often requires an organizational change that fosters stakeholder engagement, ultimately resulting in improvements in companies' ESG performance. Additionally, the results reveal that ESG performance has a significant impact on financial performance for companies that adopted the principles of the UNGC. These findings provide both non-financial and financial incentives to companies to commit to this voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, which will have important implications on companies' strategic management policies that aim to foster sustainable businesses and community development. Finally, the linkages between the UNGC-committed companies' ESG and financial performance may be influenced by geographical spread, mainly due to the appearance of differences in the institutional, societal, and cultural settings.


Stressors play a pivotal role in the occurrence of depressive illnesses. Disorders of monoamine neurotransmitters and their receptors may be the fundamental causes of depression. Additionally, abnormal expression of glutamic acid(Glu) and its receptor may be a major reason for depression. Consequently, the study of the relationship between monoamine and glutamic acid neurotransmitter in stress-induced depression has significances to reveal the profound mechanism of depression. NR2B subunits which are highly expressed in the cortex, hippocampus and olfactory bulb, are one of the key subunits of NMDA receptors. Orbital frontal cortex(orbital frontal cortex, OFC), which plays a significant role in higher brain function, such as emotional and complex behavior, is one of the major sub-regions of prefrontal. This study was to investigate the effect of orbital frontal cortex D1 dopamine receptor on Glu and its receptors, especially on NR2B subunits of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid(NMDA) receptors in depression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress(CUMS). CUMS-induced depression model was established in Sprague-Dawley rats, and intra-orbital frontal cortex microinjections of D1 dopamine receptor agonist SKF38393 and its antagonist SCH23390 were respectively adopted by rat brain stereotaxic coordinates. The behavioral observations were conducted by measurement of sucrose preference test, open-field test and tail suspension test. The concentration of Glu and the expression ofNR2B subunits in orbital frontal cortex were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) and Western blot(WB) respectively. In comparison to control groups, depression-like behavioral changes were observed in CUMS rats, the concentration of dopamine and its D1 receptor were decreased; conversely, the increase of Glu and NR2B subunits of its NMDA receptors were observed in orbital frontal cortex. Depression-like behavioral of CUMS rats was obviously improved after pretreatment with injection of SKF38393, the expression of Glu and NR2B subunits of its NMDA receptors were also decreased. Normal rats showed depression-like behavioral which similar to the CUMS rats after pretreatment with injection of D1 dopamine receptor antagonist SCH23390, meanwhile, in orbital frontal cortex the expression of Glu and NR2B subunits of its NMDA receptors were significantly increased. These results suggest that the lowered dopamine release may be caused by chronic unpredictable mild stress, as the result of insufficient dopamine, orbital frontal cortex releases extra amounts of glutamic acid and its NMDA receptors are over activated. All those above then may lead to depression. Antidepressant effect of dopamine may be functioned by inhibiting the expression of Glu and NR2B subunits of its NMDA receptors.


This thesis examines four discrete periods of sovereign default and restructuring over the past 135 years and seeks to explain the observed variation in aggregated bargaining outcomes between debtor states and private creditors. Utilizing a power-based analytical framework borrowed from Barnett and Duvall (2005), the study assesses the relative impact of four principal regime components on distributional results: the private creditor representative body (institutional power); the degree and orientation of creditor country government/IFI intervention (compulsory power); the structure and condition of the capital markets (structural power); and, the discursive practices surrounding sovereign default (productive power). The analysis suggests that the key private creditor institutions - the British Corporation of Foreign Bondholders, the American Foreign Bondholders Protective Council, and The London Club - have only marginally influenced results, and that outcomes were instead driven by the action (or inaction) of creditor governments, the structure of capital access (centralized or decentralized), and the relative condition of the private capital markets (robust or collapsed). The paper concludes that compulsory and structural regime elements are therefore more salient than institutional ones in the sovereign debt bargaining exercise. From a public policy perspective, this study cautions those who seek a newly-constituted, 21st-century bondholder council, since such an institution - like its historical predecessors - would find its impact on the sovereign debt management process highly circumscribed. The thesis also challenges economic theory on the matter of sovereign repayment incentives, arguing that the "either-or" nature of the reputation-sanctions debate (Eaton-Gersovitz (1981) vs. Bulow-Rogoff (1989)) distracts from the fact that these incentives have operated simultaneously over the past 135 years. More specifically, the evidence suggests that structural and compulsory regime elements - the equivalent of reputation and sanctions in the formal models - have largely reinforced one another in the sovereign debt restructuring process, thereby amplifying their impact on negotiating outcomes in each historical period.


Driven by the benefits of elasticity and pay-as-you-go model, cloud computing is emerging as an attractive alternative and addition to in-house clusters and supercomputers for some High Performance Computing (HPC) applications. However, poor interconnect performance, heterogeneous and dynamic environment, and interference by other virtual machines (VMs) are some bottlenecks for efficient HPC in cloud. For tightly-coupled iterative applications, one slow processor slows down the entire application, resulting in poor CPU utilization. In this paper, we present a dynamic load balancer for tightly-coupled iterative HPC applications in cloud. It infers the static hardware heterogeneity in virtualized environments, and also adapts to the dynamic heterogeneity caused by the interference arising due to multi-tenancy. Through continuous live monitoring, instrumentation, and periodic refinement of task distribution to VMs, our load balancer adapts to the dynamic variations in cloud resources. Through experimental evaluation on a private cloud with 64 VMs using benchmarks and a real science application, we demonstrate performance benefits up to 45%. Finally, we analyze the effect of load balancing frequency, problem size, and computational granularity (problem decomposition) on the performance and scalability of our techniques.


Traditional designs for most mid-sized college classrooms discourage 1) face-to-face interaction among students, 2) instructor movement in the classroom, and 3) efficient transitions between different kinds of learning activities. An experimental classroom piloted during Spring Semester 2011 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill uses clusters of stationary desks that swivel 360-degrees and aisle space to address these challenges. The findings from a study involving ten courses taught in the room suggest that there is a need for designs that not only promote quality interactions but also facilitate movement between small group work, class discussion, and lecture.


This research was aimed to find out the effect of work stress against the Islamic performance of nursing employees part Aisyiah Bojonegoro hospital. This research used questionmaires in primary data collection and quantitative approaches. Experiments were done using simple linear regression, where the dependent variable (Y) is islamic performance and the independent variable (X) is job stress. The research sample was taken by probability sampling with simple random sampling method. The research sample was 56 employees of Aisyiah Bojonegoro hospital. Based on the findings, it obtained simple linear regression equation: Y = 5,737 + (-0,640 X). The results of this research showed that the influence of job stress has positive effect and signifficant against the Islamic performance of nursing employees Aisyiah Bojonegoro hospital. The R2 on this research showed the number 0.473, which mean that 47.3% of islamic performance can be explained by the variables of job stress.


Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) are a vital modeling technique that rely on internal states learned indirectly by optimization of a supervised, unsupervised, or reinforcement training loss. RNNs are used to model dynamic processes that are characterized by underlying latent states whose form is often unknown, precluding its analytic representation inside an RNN. In the Predictive-State Representation (PSR) literature, latent state processes are modeled by an internal state representation that directly models the distribution of future observations, and most recent work in this area has relied on explicitly representing and targeting sufficient statistics of this probability distribution. We seek to combine the advantages of RNNs and PSRs by augmenting existing state-of-the-art recurrent neural networks with Predictive-State Decoders (PSDs), which add supervision to the network's internal state representation to target predicting future observations. Predictive-State Decoders are simple to implement and easily incorporated into existing training pipelines via additional loss regularization. We demonstrate the effectiveness of PSDs with experimental results in three different domains: probabilistic filtering, Imitation Learning, and Reinforcement Learning. In each, our method improves statistical performance of state-of-the-art recurrent baselines and does so with fewer iterations and less data.


In all but the most trivial optimization problems, the structure of the solutions exhibit complex interdependencies between the input parameters. Decades of research with stochastic search techniques has shown the benefit of explicitly modeling the interactions between sets of parameters and the overall quality of the solutions discovered. We demonstrate a novel method, based on learning deep networks, to model the global landscapes of optimization problems. To represent the search space concisely and accurately, the deep networks must encode information about the underlying parameter interactions and their contributions to the quality of the solution. Once the networks are trained, the networks are probed to reveal parameter combinations with high expected performance with respect to the optimization task. These estimates are used to initialize fast, randomized, local search algorithms, which in turn expose more information about the search space that is subsequently used to refine the models. We demonstrate the technique on multiple optimization problems that have arisen in a variety of real-world domains, including: packing, graphics, job scheduling, layout and compression. The problems include combinatoric search spaces, discontinuous and highly non-linear spaces, and span binary, higher-cardinality discrete, as well as continuous parameters. Strengths, limitations, and extensions of the approach are extensively discussed and demonstrated.


Science and technology embody a number of key metaphors and at least one central myth, one that was articulated by a founder and champion of scientific method, Francis Bacon. Through the dissection and reconstruction of nature, a new technologically improved nature will be the inevitable result. Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) opens a pathway for students to understand how such a myth came into being and take hold, not so much as a matter of public imagination or belief, but as an unconscious, continuing commitment to science. CLA as pedagogy is not directed towards to establishing the truth or falsity of Baconian propositions, or to proselytise for another version of science or an alternative belief system, but rather to enable students to examine the pervasiveness of such underlying myths in contemporary technological settings (for example the classroom), and to create a critical distance from which to engage with science as myth rather than as a set of unquestionable and therefore unthought assumptions. The project is to create a bridge between the sciences and the humanities, a place where dialogue might occur.


"The headscarf case" is more than just a case. Talking law is often talking cases, but we need to understand law more specifically as a powerful practice of regulation. Law is also not only another discourse, or just text, or politics, with fundamental rights as "an issue," or a promise, or just an idea. Instead, to protect fundamental rights, it is necessary to understand how in reacting to a conflict, we in fact speak rights today—Rechtsprechung—as a form of practice. The German Federal Constitutional Court's decision in the conflict about female teachers wearing headscarves in German public schools may be used to illustrate the pluralities of law—understood here as legal pluralism. This pluralism includes actors and legal arguments as frames to the speaking of law. In addition, it becomes clear that any analytical focus on gender, based on the current state of the art, further illuminates these issues. As such, interdisciplinary legal studies become inherently critical to the protection of fundamental rights.


Raman amplification has enabled dramatic increases in the reach and capacity of lightwave systems. This tutorial explains why, starting with the fundamental properties of gain from stimulated Raman scattering. Next, noise accumulation from amplified spontaneous emission is reviewed, and the merits of distributing Raman gain along a transmission fiber are explained. Other sources of noise that are particularly relevant for Raman amplifiers are summarized. Finally, novel Raman pumping schemes that have recently been developed are highlighted.


Background Cirrhosis is often accompanied by an elevated international normalized ratio (INR) due to a decrease in pro-coagulant factors. An elevated INR in cirrhosis is often interpreted as an increased risk of bleeding. There are a paucity of data in the literature on the use of INR to predict risk of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) following endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in patients with cirrhosis. The aims of the study were to determine if there is a correlation between INR and GIB following ERCP in patients with cirrhosis, and to determine if there is a difference in frequency of post-ERCP complications in patients with and without cirrhosis. Methods A retrospective review of all ERCP procedures was performed at a tertiary care institution between 2012 and 2015. We identified ERCPs performed in patients with cirrhosis and compared them to a randomly selected group without liver cirrhosis. Univariate analysis was performed using Chi-square and ANOVA tests. A multivariable logistic regression model using generalized estimating equations was used to examine the association between INR and GIB. Results There were a total of 1,610 ERCPs performed from 2012 to 2015 with 129 performed in 56 patients with cirrhosis compared with 392 ERCPs performed in 310 patients without cirrhosis. There was no difference in the frequency of GIB following ERCP in both groups (P = 0.117). However, there was a difference in overall complications between both groups (P = 0.007), but no difference observed amongst Child-Turcotte-Pugh classes (P = NS). In a multivariable analysis, sphincterotomy during ERCP (odds ratio (OR) = 3.22; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05 - 9.94; P = 0.042) and cirrhosis (OR = 3.58; 95% CI: 1.22 - 10.47; P = 0.02) were significant for predicting GIB. Anti-coagulation (OR = 2.90; 95% CI: 0.82 - 10.23; P = 0.097) and INR were not significant in the multivariable model (OR = 2.09; 95% CI: 0.85 - 5.12; P = 0.10). Conclusion There was a statistical difference in overall complications between patients with and without cirrhosis but no difference was observed amongst Child-Turcotte-Pugh classes. Overall, INR was not a significant factor in predicting risk of bleeding in patients after ERCP.


Revit Structure 2012 Basics leads users through a series of exercises and tutorials to familiarize them with the structural tools inside of Revit Structure. This text assumes no knowledge of Revit Structure. Users who are familiar with the Revit interface or who want to explore the Revit Structure software will find this book the perfect guide to get them on the road to productivity. Based on a customized training session for a leading structural engineering firm, the tutorials provide information for engineers, designers, drafters, and CAD managers in the structural engineering world. Exercises, such as configuring the Project Browser or setting up documentation sets, are specifically geared towards the structural engineering industry. If you are tired of Revit exercises geared towards architects and space planners, this text has the information you need to learn about framing, trusses, foundations, parking structures, and more. Table of Contents 1. Structural Columns and Walls 2. Framing 3. Boosting Productivity Setting up Your Project 4. Foundations and Slabs 5. Tags, Symbols, Legends, and Schedules 6. Sections, Elevations, Details, and Drafting Views 7. Collaboration 8. Structural Analysis


Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between accelerometer-assessed physical activity behavior and a variety of self-reported sleeping parameters in a sample of U.S. adolescents ages 16 and 17. Methods: Data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was used for the study, with analyses performed in 2012. At the mobile examination center, participants were asked to wear an ActiGraph 7164 accelerometer on the right hip for 7 days following their examination. 23 questions on sleep were asked during the household interview. 293 adolescents between 16 and 17 years of age with sleeping data and sufficient accelerometry data were included in the analyses. Results: After controlling for household income and race-ethnicity, a 1-minute increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with a 44 percent greater odds of having no difficulty remembering when tired (OR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.06-1.96, p = 0.02). Physical activity was not associated with the other evaluated sleeping-related variables. Discussion: In adolescents, accelerometer-assessed physical activity was, among the sleeping-related parameters, associated with difficulty remembering when tired. Future studies are needed to confirm this finding and to determine the extent to which physical activity may improve memory when tired among adolescents.


ABSTRACT Anarchists have been active in the movement for global justice since it began. The influence of anarchism upon the movement consists in large part in the diffusion of egalitarian forms of organisation and actions such as those of the affinity group, an autonomous militant unit of about 5-to-20 individuals. The decision-making process is anarchist, that is to say, it is egalitarian, participatory, deliberative and consensual. After a discussion about the historical origin of the 'affinity group' in anarchist Spain at the end of the nineteenth century, as well as its diffusion via the new social movements of the 1970s through the 1980s until the movement for global justice, the text analyses the political potential of this kind of militant organisation and advances the thesis that it permits a mass movement to function during street actions in a rational, egalitarian and free manner. Key words affinity groups, anti-globalisation, social movement, anarchism, deliberation ANARCHISM AND THE POLITICS OF AFFINITY GROUPS Anarchists have been active in the movement for global justice since it began. We find them in Chiapas at the side of the Zapatistas soon after the insurrection of January 1, 1994. We find them in Geneva in May 1998, amongst members of the Peoples' Global Action celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by shattering the windows of businesses emblematic of global capitalism. Nevertheless, it was not until the Batde of Seatde on November 30, 1999 that the anarchist presence at the heart of the movement was more widely recognised. The 'affinity groups' of the Direct Action Network (DAN) blocked access to the conference centre and, using tactics of non-violent civil disobethence, resisted assaults by the police. Approximately four hours after the first DAN action, members of a 'Black Bloc',1 masked and dressed in black, targeted the windows of MacDonald's restaurants, of Nike and Gap stores, and of banks.2 The diversity and depth of the anarchist influence in the 'anti-globalisation' movement, also known as the movement for global justice or rhe movement of movements, is evident not only in the streets, but also in the global structure of the movement,3 its alternative media,4 its artistic output,5 as well as the autonomous campsites set up alongside social forums and counrer-summits.6 The discourse of the movement for global justice is saturated with references to 'participatory democracy'. Yet it is those who identify themselves as anarchists, as well as other anti-authoritarian activists commonly labelled as 'radicals', who more than anyone else encourage rhe participation and the autonomy of militants. Within the global movement, anarchism expresses itself through horizontal, participatory, deliberative and consensual decision-making processes. The affinity group is one of the organisational structures that allow anarchist principles to be embodied in practices and actions. An affinity group is an autonomous militant unit generally made up of between five-to-twenty individuals who share a sense of the causes worth defending and of the types of actions they prefer to engage in. The decision-making process is anarchist, that is to say, egalitarian, participatory, deliberative and consensual. Political or social organisations can - in principle - adopt and adapt this militant form of organisation. In the context of the end of the late 1990s and the early years of the twenty-first century, it has been used most notably by anti-authoritarian militants - whether selfproclaimed 'anarchists' or not. The spread of this mode of organisation located at the heart of the movement has enlarged the influence of anarchism, even if those who have recourse to it do not necessarily identify themselves as 'anarchists'. In this study, I will first examine the historical origin of the 'affinity group' in anarchist Spain at the end of die nineteenth century, and its diffusion via the new social movements of the 1970s, through to the 1980s and the movement for global justice. …


Clause-linking mechanisms are subject to cross-linguistic variation. As far as non-subordinate clauses are concerned, any combination of two clauses may show two predicates mutually equal or different in terms of finiteness: these are known as co-ranking and clause-chaining structures, respectively ( Longacre 2007 : 375). Clause-chaining constructions show two structural possibilities, namely medial-final and initial-medial chaining, depending on whether the more-finite verb follows or precedes the less-finite one. Clause-chaining constructions are found in unrelated language families scattered across the globe, including Afroasiatic ( Longacre 1990 ). However, the existing typological literature on the topic has totally neglected Berber, another Afroasiatic language. This work focuses on a clause-linking strategy found in Ayt Atta Tamazight (Berber, henceforth AAT) and in other Berber languages, the so-called Chained-Aorist construction (henceforth C-AOR). Stemming from my fieldwork on AAT, this paper provides an innovative typological analysis of C-AOR, analysing it in terms of initial-medial clause chaining.


I. INTRODUCTION In 1996, pharmacists dispensed over 18 million prescriptions for fenfluramine in the United States.' As the more dangerous half of the diet drug combination popularly known as "Fen-Phen," fenfluramine promised overweight Americans something that seemed too good to be true: the body of their dreams as excess flab melted away without hunger.2 The honeymoon, however, was short-lived. Americans' love affair with Fen-Phen came to a bitter end when, in July of 1997, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") published a report linking valvular heart disease to the use of Fen-Phen.3 On September 15, 1997, the FDA announced the withdrawal of fenfluramine from the market.4 Sales ground to a halts stock plummeted,6 and thousands of Fen-Phen consumers lined up at their doctor's offices for echocardiograms. No one was surprised8 when these same consumers found their way en masse into lawyers' offices around the country as a wave of litigation ensued. As of May 2000, "approximately 18,000 individuals" had filed lawsuits against American Home Products, the maker of fenfluramine.9 Although a federal judge recently approved a $3.75 billion class action settlement against American Home Products,' 44,423 plaintiffs exercised their right to opt out," thousands more are challenging the settlement as unfair,12 and many more cases remain pending in state court.13 As the unwitting middlemen caught in a litigation feeding frenzy, pharmacists and the future of their profession are on shaky ground. 14 While courts traditionally have held pharmacists to a duty of clerical accuracy only, some courts recently have shown a willingness to extend this duty to include the duty to warn of the dangers of prescription drugs.ls Kohl v. American Home Products Corporation, the principal case in this Note, purported to apply the traditional rule but nevertheless suggested that a pharmacist could be held liable for failing to second-guess labeling information supplied by the manufacturer of fenfluramine.16 While the holding itself is unimportant (the court eventually dismissed the plaintiffs claims on procedural grounds), the court's rationale is significant because it further muddied the waters of pharmacists' liability. More importantly, as the Kohl court was the only judicial body in the country to address squarely the issue of a pharmacist's duty to warn of the dangers of Fen-Phen, other courts will likely look to the Kohl rationale as the Fen-Phen litigation filters down into the state courts. Part IT of this Note gives a brief synopsis of the Fen-Phen controversy and traces the recent judicial history of pharmacists' liability. Part III gives the facts of Kohl and explains the court's reasoning in suggesting that a pharmacist could be held liable for failure to warn of the dangers of fenfluramine. Part IV analyzes the court's opinion, compares that opinion with other recent decisions involving a pharmacist's duty to warn, and argues that the court improperly expanded and confused the scope of pharmacists' liability. Furthermore, this Note concludes that the modern trend toward expanding pharmacists' liability could displace the physician's role and thereby compromise patient care. 11. BACKGROUND Fenfluramine leapt from relative obscurity in 1992 to become one of the hottest selling diet drugs of the century." Sales were brisk until reports surfaced in 1997 linking fenfluramine to heart disease.18 Although the Mayo Clinic suspected an association between the use of fenfluramine and valvular heart disease in March 1997, the FDA did not make those findings public until July 8, 1997.19 When the FDA did issue a public warning about the use of fenfluramine, it pointed out that the evidence linking fenfluramine to heart disease was not yet conclusive.20 The FDA did not officially withdraw fenfluramine from the market until September 15, 1997, over two months after the initial reports were made public. …


A key component of the oxidative biogeochemical sulphur cycle involves the utilization by bacteria of reduced inorganic sulphur compounds as electron donors to photosynthetic or respiratory electron transport chains. The SoxAX protein of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodovulum sulfidophilum is a heterodimeric c-type cytochrome that is involved in the oxidation of thiosulphate and sulphide. The recently solved crystal structure of the SoxAX complex represents the first structurally characterized example of a productive electron transfer complex between haemoproteins where both partners adopt the c-type cytochrome fold. The packing of c-type cytochrome domains both within SoxA and at the interface between the subunits of the complex has been compared with other examples and found to be unique.


Abstract Progress in understanding mineral evolution, Earth's changing near-surface mineralogy through time, depends on the availability of detailed information on mineral localities of known ages and geologic settings. A comprehensive database including this information, employing the mindat.org web site as a platform, is now being implemented. This resource will incorporate software to correlate a range of mineral occurrences and properties vs. time, and it will thus facilitate studies of the changing diversity, distribution, associations, and characteristics of individual minerals as well as mineral groups. The Mineral Evolution Database thus holds the prospect of revealing mineralogical records of important geophysical, geochemical, and biological events in Earth history.


In this thesis, a method to compensate for propagation effects in twisted-pair transmission lines is developed, with a goal of improving the location of impedance discontinuities in the line. There are many methods to locate impedance discontinuities, among them are single-ended measurements using frequency domain reflectometry (FDR), which is the focus of this work. With FDR, one transmits a steady-state tone or tones onto the line, then measures the amplitude and phase difference of the tone at the receiver relative to the transmit tone. Propagation effects of the line, especially damping and dispersion, which are generally unknown, can negatively impact the performance of FDR methods, making identification of impedance discontinuities difficult.A method is presented to compensate for the damping without requiring a priori knowledge of the cable type and length. In the absence of impedance mismatches between the source and the line, the compensation method improves impedance discontinuity location. Performance of the method degrades considerably when there is an impedance mismatch, but a procedure to compensation for this effect is presented. This compensation requires an assumption of the initial cable type and impedance of test equipment's connecting path. Results are presented on simulations and field data to quantify the performance of the method and identify benefits and limitations.


A family of novel unsymmetrical "peri"-substituted perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic acid derivatives (5–10), with 1,6,7,12-tetrachloro-substituents at the bay-positions, has been synthesized. Subsequently, their redox and optical properties have been explored with the intent of unveiling opto-electronic characteristics of these newly synthesized compounds. To synthesize these new compounds, pure 1,6,7,12-tetrachloroperylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic tetra-n-butylester (4) has been employed as the precursor and the structural modifications have been carried out exclusively at the "peri" positions in an efficient manner. The two synthons prepared in this work, 1,6,7,12-tetrachloroperylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic di-n-butylester monoanhydride (5) and 1,6,7,12-tetrachloroperylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic monoimide monoanhydride (8), are extremely valuable and versatile starting materials as they possess free anhydride functionality at the "peri" position in addition to the 1,6,7,12-tetrachloro-bay-substituents. Finally, the conventional methodology for the synthesis of 1,6,7,12-tetraphenoxy-bay-functionalized perylene bisimides and perylene bisbenzimidazoles has been modified to make it faster and more convenient.


The reduced dynamics of two interacting qubits coupled to two independent bosonic baths is investigated. The one-excitation dynamics is derived and compared with that based on the resolution of appropriate non-Markovian master equations. The Nakajima-Zwanzig and the time-convolutionless projection operator techniques are exploited to provide a description of the non-Markovian features of the dynamics of the two-qubit system. The validity of such approximate methods and their range of validity in correspondence to different choices of the parameters describing the system are brought to light.


The title compds., useful in the prodn. of dye intermediates, are prepd. in acid media in an electrolysis cell whose electrodes are sepd. by a membrane. At the cathode, anthraquinones are reductively cyclized with glycerol [56-81-5] to give the corresponding benzanthrones. In the anode chamber the oxidn. state of a transition metal ion is electrochem. increased by 1 and the resulting ion serves as a chem. oxidant for a planar polycyclic arom. compd. Thus, to the cathode chamber contg. 46.8 g anthraquinone [84-65-1] in 1300 g H2SO4, 31.05 g glycerol was added dropwise while the current was running. On the anodic side 10 g MnSO4.H2O was suspended in 130 g 88% H2SO4. benzanthrone [82-05-3] (85%) Was isolated from the cathodic portion, while the anolyte was used to cyclooxidize 10 g 4,4'-bibenzanthrone [116-90-5] to dioxoviolanthrone [64346-54-9] which was reduced with NaHSO3 to dihydroxyviolanthrone (I) [26545-62-0] in 76.4% yield. I was used as an intermediate in the synthesis of vat dyes. [on SciFinder (R)]


Statfjord Formation sandstones (Rhaetian-Sinemurian) form important reservoirs in the North Viking Graben, and are still a target for exploration drilling. Sedimentological analyses from the Tampen Spur and Horda Platform show that the reservoir potential is controlled by the distribution, density and stacking pattern of multistorey/multilateral fluvial channel sandstones within successions of interbedded fluvial and interfluvial deposits. Formation thicknesses vary from about 50 m to more than 500 m within the study area. Empirical relationships linking the sandstone content to succession thickness, show that the proportion of channel deposits varies systematically with thickness, and indicate that the most sandstone-prone reservoirs associate with low to moderately high formation thickness. This suggests that differential subsidence influenced the architecture of the Statfjord Formation. Sandstone body stacking patterns derived from correlation panels show a sequential ordering of multilateral/multistorey sandstone sheets and intervals with a higher portion of mudrock and more isolated sandstone bodies. Sequence stratigraphic boundaries are recognized at the bases of multilateral sandstone sheets, and stacking patterns form a basis for detailed correlations within structural compartments with constant formation thickness. However, the number of recognizable sequences increases with increasing succession thickness, and the correct correlation of sequences across major fault systems pose major problems to stratigraphic studies.


In January 2013, based on Interconnected Economies: Benefiting from Global Value Chains – Synthesis Report Organization, from Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee's, stated that Asia are competing each other to build strong brand and set many records for economic and social achievement. In fact, on year 2014, International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total volume of 1,004.2 million Smartphone's worldwide for one billion units in a single year for the first time. The big picture shows huge gap between 2013 performance, where 284.4 million Smartphone's has been shipped worldwide. This indicates an increment up to 24.2% compared to 55.1% of all mobile phone shipments in 2012. According to (GfK. News, 2014) GfK forecasts the global unit sales of LCD TVs to consumers grow 4 % to 217 million in 2013. Based on Forbes 2013, from Top 100 World's Most Valuable Brands, it was reported SAMSUNG Electronics stands in the rank of 9 among 100 listed valuable brands, while Sony stands on rank of 80 in the same lists. It is an automatic augment the apparent of export oriented growth formula which makes some changes towards giant electronic market leader. This research focuses on rapid rise from South Korea electronics giant SAMSUNG and the slump business from Japan electronics giant, SONY. The current trajectory leads to growing inequality and falling consumption growth. Refers to root of the problem, researcher really interested to study on how SAMSUNG move so fast and SONY becomes dawdling in the market.

Country of Origin Matter to Brand Equity between Two Electronic Giant Companies of Japan and South Korea use to test the Country of Origin Image towards Brand Equity with three factors, which are, Brand Distinctiveness, Brand Loyalty and Brand Awareness/Associations. 103 respondents use to be tested in this research and the results shows Brand Distinctiveness is the most influence factors towards Country of Origin Image that leads to the electronics giant success.


Ongoing education reform litigation arising out of Detroit, Michigan presents an innovative claim: Children have an unenumerated federal constitutional right of access to literacy. On June 29, 2018, the district court granted defendants' motion to dismiss. The case is now on appeal to the Sixth Circuit and is expected to be argued in the first half of 2019. This litigation has already broken new ground and, regardless of the ultimate outcome, it is valuable because it invites us to revisit fundamental questions about rights, remedies, and the role of courts in education reform.


Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) in the constant-height mode was used to image individual gold nanowires (AuNWs, 2–3 mm long and 140 nm diameter). High-resolution negative and positive feedback current images of individual AuNWs immobilized on glass and gold-coated glass slides, respectively, were recorded with a Wollaston-based platinum disk ultramicroelectrode (UME) of radius 300 nm at 0.3 V probe potential using ferrocenemethanol as the mediator. The negative and positive feedback current responses were dependent on the effective recycling of the mediator on the unbiased AuNWs. Furthermore, the AuNWs were covalently linked to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and immobilized on a thin film gold substrate. Positive feedback and localized HRP activity over individual AuNWs were imaged subsequently by switching the probe potential from 0.3 V to 0 V after the addition of H2O2. In this measurement, ferrocenemethanol behaved both as the mediator (feedback response at 0.3 V probe potential) and the electron donor for HRP (in the presence of H2O2 for activity imaging at 0 V).


This thesis proposes three studies that provide novel empirical evidence on how different types of VCs' characteristics signal the quality of an entrepreneurial venture and influence investment strategies of funds subject to self-regulation. In the first study we aim at contributing to the ongoing debate on the different effects of reputation and status on organizational outcomes. We explore the signaling value that these two organizational attributes exert on external parties judging the quality of entrepreneurial ventures under uncertainty. Moreover, we examine whether signaling mechanisms are valuable only if the external parties are affected by high information asymmetry with the valued venture. We test our hypotheses using a sample of 1,339 U.S. clean technology ventures that received the first round of Venture Capital (VC) between the years 1990 and 2012. We look at their ability to gather supplemental financial resources for survival and growth by completing an Initial Public Offering (IPO) or an acquisition by an incumbent firm. The findings indicate that VCs' reputation - an economic attribute based on past performance - can signal a venture's quality externally, while VCs' status - a social-standing attribute - does not have signaling value. The results also show that quality signals are more relevant for public investors at IPOs than for managers of acquiring companies. The second study looks at how inter-organizational ties with reputable VCs affect valuations received by entrepreneurial ventures that go public. I propose that the signaling effect of reputable VC ties is lower when there is misalignment of strategic interests between the venture and the VCs. I consider the amount of shares sold by insiders in the initial public offering (IPO) and investors' enforcement of demand registration rights as elements indicating misalignment of interests with the venture. The hypotheses are tested on using a sample of 86 IPOs in the main U.S. stock exchanges completed by entrepreneurial ventures operating in the Clean Technology sector. The results suggest that affiliation with reputable VCs elicits a positive response by public investors. However, public markets react less favorably to ties with reputable VCs when they sell large amount of their shares in the IPO or resort to demand registration rights to force the public offering of their shares. The third study investigates organizations' use of self-regulation as form of symbolic response to normative pressure that does not necessarily entail compliance in practices. I argue that, when self-regulatory initiatives are not supported by an explicit regulatory environment, opportunistic organizations might reduce their efforts to align with the normative ideals through compliant actions and behaviors. The "walking of the talk", which is the implementation of actions that are aligned with the symbolic response, might also be discouraged by alternative means to obtain organizational legitimacy, such as through an organization's status. The hypotheses are tested on a sample of Venture Capital (VC) funds whose limited or general partners voluntarily decided to join the United Nations' Principles of Responsible Investment (UNPRI, 2006) initiative between 2006 and 2014. The results from a difference-in-differences estimation show that VC funds' likelihood to invest in clean technology companies is lower after funds' stakeholders (i.e. general or limited partners) join the UNPRI initiative. I also find that the likelihood to invest in clean technologies after self-regulation is negatively moderated by the VC fund's status.


The Carnarvon Basin on the North West Shelf of Australia is a world-class hydrocarbon province, with the pace of discoveries significantly accelerating in the last 15 years. The high success rate has been aided by improvements in seismic data quality, hydrocarbon detection techniques, and widespread 3D seismic surveys. This has led to the identification of several new play concepts, an increase in target depths, and an extension into more difficult seismic data areas. New broadband acquisition technologies undoubtedly have delivered a significant enhancement in many parts of the basin, but there is still much to be gained from existing 3D seismic data sets. Broadband seismic data reprocessing, prestack depth migration, and facies-based seismic inversion can offer a cost-efficient exploration tool to maintain the historical success rates. The open-file Willem 3D seismic survey adjacent to the giant Io/Jansz, Wheatstone, and Pluto gas fields is located in an area that has been explored insufficiently. The 2006 seismic data originally were regarded to be of good quality, but with advancements in acquisition and reprocessing techniques, the imaging result is now considered to be poor relative to modern-day seismic data sets. The Urania-1 gas discovery and northern extent of the Pluto field were detected on the original data, but other prospects based on this data set proved to be unsuccessful. The complex overlying Tertiary channels and the presence of shallow strong seismic attenuation caused historical data-imaging limitations. Recent prestack depth-migration reprocessing has improved the data quality, with deghosting providing a significant uplift throughout the processing workflow. A facies-based inversion of the reprocessed data has delineated the known gas accumulations successfully and has predicted the location and dimensions of the recent Woodside Petroleum Pyxis-1 gas discovery.


America is on a path towards a level of both wealth and income inequality unparalleled in recorded history. Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century summarizes and conveys the work of Piketty and many co-authors, over many decades, looking at the structure of income and wealth inequality across many nations and centuries. This review essay builds on Piketty's ambitions as well as his data, in order to put forth a better solution: one that accepts and even embraces the facts of unequal ownership of capital, but changes the social meaning of those facts to avoid the social harms that follow from unfettered private party capitalism. A progressive spending tax does not simply take capital away from the wealthy. It allows the rich to keep and manage their wealth, as they have shown the ability and temperament to do so. But it curtails their ability to spend their capital on themselves and their luxurious wants. The social distinction of holding wealth can continue; the progressive spending tax makes this state of affairs work to the common utility.


Initially offered as a digital public sphere forum, comments sections became the preferred democratic arena for gatekeepers to encourage their readers to engage in constructive dialogue about relevant issues. However, news sites require commenters to remain civil in their interactions, which led users to seek alternative ways of commenting on the news. This article explores in-depth the contents of a sample of 98,426 user-comments collected between February–March 2019 from three major Spanish digital native newspapers: ElDiario.es, ElEspañol.com, and ElConfidencial.com. The main goals were to analyze whether comments in news outlets are deliberative, to assess the quality of the debate that takes place in them, and to describe their specific features. Discourse ethics were explored to determine the discussions' impact, the language used, the acceptance of arguments, and the recognition and civility of participants. Findings reveal that comments sections in news outlets do not have a dialogic nature and that the debates have a low-quality profile. Nonetheless, the degree of mutual respect in interaction is acceptable, with slightly observed levels of incivility. Finally, the data suggest that the focused comments are higher on social media and that memes and emojis represent a new form of digital discourse.


Reef rugosity, the standard index of coral reef physical complexity, has classically been determined as the ratio between a taught rope and a chain draped onto the substrate of a reef. A new method of measuring reef rugosity, termed Digital Reef Rugosity has recently been pioneered by Phillip Dustan. It is believed, as is true with other biological communities, that increased habitat complexity in a coral population will lead to an increased fish species diversity. The Biosphere Foundation carried out a four month expedition to Bali, Indonesia to access the vitality of Menjangan Island's coral reefs. We found that Balinese coral reefs with greater structural complexity (rugosity) contain more fish most probably due to increased niche diversity. Additionally, reefs with more diverse coral communities also tend to have greater fish species diversity. Thus both physical and biological complexity are significant components of coral reef ecological integrity. However, the correlation between coral and fish biodiversity degrades as a function of decreasing coral cover. Weakening coral and fish diversity relationships with decreasing coral cover may indicate a "tipping point" where the coral reef communitiy begins to collapse.


Access to credit remains a farfetched goal to the vast majority of Kenyans. Kenya's National FinAccess Survey, 2009 revealed that 60.4% of Kenya's adult population is totally excluded from the credit market despite concerted government efforts to deepen access. This however marks a slight improvement from the 63.4% figure recorded in 2006. Using multinomial probit models, the study drew a comparative analysis of the role played by individual characteristics on access to credit from various strands in 2006 and 2009. Results indicate that increase in household size reduced access to bank loans and ASCAs while it promoted access to loans from buyers of harvest. Increase in distance to service provider led to a decline in access to credit even though the impact was marginal. On the other hand, increase in age; education and income tend to enhance access to credit but the probability of access drops as one draws close to retirement age. The study recommends that measures geared towards reduction of information asymmetry like assessing the household characteristics, increased sharing of information, increased income need to be enhanced to help deepen access to credit.


The spectrum of the anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) neutralizing immune response has been analyzed by the production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to the viral envelope glycoproteins, gp41 and gp120. Little is known, however, about the neutralization mechanism of these antibodies. Here we show that the binding of a group of neutralizing mAbs that react with regions of the gp120 molecule associated with and including the V2 and V3 loops, the C4 domain and supporting structures, induce the dissociation of gp120 from gp41 on cells infected with the T cell line-adapted HIV-1 molecular clone Hx10. Similar to soluble receptor-induced dissociation of gp120 from gp41, the antibody-induced dissociation is dose- and time- dependent. By contrast, mAbs binding to discontinuous epitopes overlapping the CD4 binding site do not induce gp120 dissociation, implying that mAb induced conformational changes in gp120 are epitope specific, and that HIV neutralization probably involves several mechanisms.


Networked, multi-sensor array systems have proven to be advantageous in the sensor world. A large amount of research has been conducted with these systems, with a main interest in data fusion. Intelligently processing the large amounts of data collected by these systems is required in order to fully utilize the benefits of a multi-sensor array system. A robust but flexible simulation environment would provide a platform for accurately comparing current and future data fusion theories. This thesis proposes a simulator model for testing fusion theories for these acoustic multi-sensor networks. An iterative, lossless data fusion algorithm was presented as the model for simulation development. The arrangement and orientation of objects in the simulation environment, as well as most other system parameters are defined by the user before the simulation runs. The sensor data, including noise, is generated at the appropriate time delay and propagation loss before being processed by a delay and sum beamformer and a matched filter. The resulting range-Doppler maps are modified to probability density functions, and translated to a single point of reference. The data is then combined into a single world model. An iterative process is used to filter out false targets and amplify true target detections. Data is fused from each multi-sensor array and from each simulation run. Target amplitudes are gained if they are present in all combined world models, and are otherwise reduced. This thesis presents the results of the fusion algorithm used, including multiple iterations, to prove the algorithms effectiveness.


Circulation anomalies associated with dry summers over northeastern South Africa are considered. Dry summers occurring during El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) episodes are examined separately from those during non-ENSO years, for which a greater mid-latitude influence on South African summer rainfall is evident. During the ENSO dry summers, anomalous upper tropospheric westerlies are dominant over most parts of the subcontinent and make the upper flow unfavourable for rain-bearing disturbances over northeastern South Africa. The barotropic instability criterion is not satisfied over most of tropical southern Africa and the maximum baroclinic shear south of Africa tends to be shifted west into the Southeast Atlantic; thus, conditions are unfavourable for tropical–extratropical cloud-band development and South African rainfall. High-pressure anomalies exist over southern Africa, suppressing convection, while the ascending branch of the Walker Circulation shifts offshore into the western Indian Ocean to lie over anomalously warm sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) there. During the non-ENSO dry summers, there is a less obvious indication of significant warming of SST over the southwest Indian Ocean or coherent offshore shift in the Walker Circulation. Instead, mid-latitude circulation anomalies tend to play a larger role such that increased advection of cool, dry South Atlantic air occurs over South Africa with an increased mid-latitude westerly influence. The location of maximum westerly shear is shifted westwards, and conditions are generally unfavourable for cloud-band occurrence across South Africa; hence, rainfall is reduced.


Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are claimed to provide
businesses with a competitive advantage, to the extent of reshaping entire industries.
In tourism, an information-intensive activity and the impact of ICT has been
extensively documented at the industry, destination and business level.
eTourism Capability refers here to the contribution of ICT to tourism business
performance. Therefore, the work is based within the Tourism domain. However, its
methods are mainly emerging from the adapted combination of previous research in
business and eBusiness.
Previous work has urged for the development of wide-angle studies, assessing the
eTourism Capability of a destination. However, existing research addressing this
issue, tends to place the focus on only one specific aspect of technology adoption, it
is not sector specific and/or does not take into consideration the different levels of
contribution to performance made by systems.
In order to develop an eTourism Capability Assessment Framework for Scotland,
and to provide the baseline for its strategic benchmarking with other tourism
destinations, the work included an extensive literature review of Tourism and
eTourism, developed of a conceptual framework. This supported the selection of key
tourism industry stakeholders, i.e. the accommodation sector within the established
context. An electronic questionnaire enabled the data collection. Through a mix of
statistical techniques, the data treatment provided answers to the research questions,
which related to the most suitable approach for ICT indexing in the accommodation
sector, the level of contribution to performance by the different ICT elements,
patterns describing the impact of business characteristics on ICT uptake, and the
predictive models for this uptake.
The results suggested the suitability of IT-based indexes for assessing the ICT uptake
of this sector. Additionally, the results suggested important differences in the
contribution that each system makes to business performance. This even varies
across systems supporting similar business functions. Furthermore, the results
emphasised the influence of the individual ICT on their own adoption, and suggested
several dimensions to describe systems, which underlie the association between
business characteristics and ICT adoption by the accommodation sector. These are
compatibility observability, physical accessibility, verticality of systems and whether
these support standardisation of processes across branches. Since the influence of
business characteristics on ICT uptake seem to be system-specific, the predictive
models are developed for each individual system. Finally, recommendations for
further research have also been made.


After the Supreme Court invalidated President Bush's original attempt to create military commissions to try alleged terrorists, Congress outlined the basic rules and procedures for a new set of military commissions to try detainees in the Military Commissions Act (M.C.A.), leaving the details of implementation to the Secretary of Defense. The military commissions devised by Congress and the Defense Department are based on the pre-trial, trial, and post-trial rules and procedures for general courts-martial, but there are significant differences. Some of these differences were mandated by the M.C.A., and others are the result of the implementing rules and regulations crafted by the Secretary of Defense in consultation with the Attorney General. With the procedures set forth in the Manual for Military Commissions, the Secretary claims to have struck "a delicate balance" between the rights of the accused, on the one hand, and the requirements of military and intelligence activities, especially the need to protect classified information, on the other. This article evaluates the Secretary's claim by reviewing the procedural differences between military commissions and general courts-martial. This article also addresses several questions. Do the differences satisfy the concerns raised by the Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that the original military commissions procedures violated U.S. statutory law, the U.S. Constitution, and the Geneva Conventions? To the extent the differences were created by the implementing regulations, are those regulations con-sistent with the M.C.A. directive to minimize distinctions between military commission and general court-martial procedures? Are the differences justified by practical military and intelligence considera-tions? Viewing them in their totality, do the military commissions still provide a fair, reasonable, and legitimate forum to try suspected war criminals and terrorists? This article concludes that the M.C.A. and its implementing regulations fail to strike an appropriate balance between military and intelligence considerations and fairness to the accused, and that military commissions may not qualify as "regularly constituted courts" within the meaning of the Geneva Con-ventions. This article recommends changes to the M.C.A. and its implementing regulations which would enhance fairness, decrease the likelihood of successful court challenges, and create greater legitimacy for military commissions with regard to both domestic and international principles of justice. Finally, this article considers possible bases for court challenges against the M.C.A. and its implementing regulations.


THE present popular edition of the PARABLES, with a translation of the notes, carries out an intention which had long been in the Author's mind, but which want of leisure—and, when leisure at last was granted, failing health—prevented him from accomplishing. The text has received the Author's latest emendations, as made by him in his own copy during the last years of his life. The notes are translated so as to bring them within the reach of general readers. In the few cases in which there existed any recognized versions of the original works quoted, these have been followed, so far as was compatible with correctness; but more often, no such version existing, a new translation has been made. The whole of the work, which has been valued by the Church and by scholars for nearly fifty years, is now brought in its entirety within the reach of all, and takes for the first time its final form. The Author never allowed his books to be stereotyped, in order that he might constantly improve them, and permanence has only become possible when his diligent hand can touch the work no more.


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The loss characteristics of two kinds of typical single-HE11 -mode Bragg fibers based on PES/As2Se3 and Si/SiO2- multilayer claddings are analyzed theoretically. The available lowest loss levels and corresponding structure parameters of the two single-HE11-mode Bragg fiber are optimized to show the feasibility of the low-loss single-HE11-mode Bragg fiber design under the two material systems. The influences of structure parameters on the loss characteristics are analyzed in detail. For PES/As2Se3 Bragg fiber, a loss level as high as 10 5-107 dB/km is expected at wavelengths from 0.85 to 2.94 mum due to the large absorption loss. To extend the limitation, lower loss cladding material should be investigated. For Si/SiO2 Bragg fiber, low-loss single- HE11-mode propagation can be achieved by the materials if fabrication improvement can support long fabricated fiber length


The particle capture mechanism in ectoprocts was described, and the pumping rates in 15 species of marine ectoprocts with divergent lophophore morphometry were quantified in order to comprehend and characterize the lophophore as a filter-pump Further, the effects of algal concentration and temperature on clearance were studied. The most characteristic feature of particle capture, apparent from video recordings, was that when the path of a particle was altered from downwards, towards the mouth, to outwards, between the tentacles, the particle was stopped by a tentacle. In most species (but never in Cr~sia eburnea which lacks frontal cilia) some of the trapped particles were seen to move along the tentacle surface towards the mouth. But more frequently, another downward transport mechanism was involved. As a result of the action of tentacle flicking restrained particles were propelled back into the central lophophore current to be carried further downwards, perhaps to be restrained by a tentacle again. These observations, supplemented with theoretical calculations, support the assumption that a mechanical laterofrontal-filter is at work which filters the water while the central current, created by the special lophophore pump-design, together with the flicking action of the tentacles, cleans the filter and transport the particles towards the mouth. Also, the measured particle retention efficiency, expressed as simultaneous clearance of particles of different sizes offered as a mixture of flagellates, supports the assumption of the presence of a mechanical laterofrontal-filter in the ectoprocts. The video recordings of particle trajectories revealed that there is a velocity profile at the lophophore entrance, the highest velocities being found in the central part of the lophophore. Thus, the mean velocity through the central area of the feeding core and the velocity through the outer area was used to estimate the pumping rates of ectoprocts. The pumping rate was found to vary between the 15 species, from 0.14 ml h ' zooid' in C eburnea to 7.5 ml h'l in Flustrellidra hispida. The pumping rates (0, ml h ' zooid"; 20°C of all examined species as a function of the total lophophore tentacle length (NL, cm) was expressed by the equation: Q = 3.390NL 0.704. A linear relationship between tentacle length specific pumping rate and total tentacle length indicates that the ciliary pump in small lophophores such as that of C. eburnea is relatively weak compared to large lophophores as found for example in F. hispida. The maximum zooidal clearance rates (F) of C. hyalina at 10, 15 and 20°C measured after an initial stimulating period, was 0.12, 0.16 and 0.17 ml m i n ' zooid", respectively. The ratio F/Q showed that about 40% of the water pumped through the lophophore entrance may subsequently pass through the laterofrontal filter


Electricity is a vital instrument for economic growth and human development. The measure of growth in developing countries like Bangladesh is synonymous with the level of electricity use. Energy (oil) price shocks are often identified as a source of macroeconomic fluctuations since they affect economic development as well as business cycle. Accordingly, it has been argued that electricity market reforms are a possible tool to improve economic performance, efficiency, welfare and overall economic development. The Bangladesh economy is vulnerable to energy (oil) price shocks and the government has adopted different electricity reform policies in the past few years. However, there is a real gap in the energy literature with regard to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the consequences of energy (oil) price shocks and electricity market reforms towards the Bangladesh economy.
This thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part contains two chapters titled, "A Survey of Literature" and "Energy Scenario in Bangladesh" which extensively review the related literature and underline the research gaps that this thesis intends to address. The second part of this thesis includes three novel papers in the literature on energy (oil) prices, electricity market reforms and the macro economy, all applied to the case of Bangladesh: "Energy Price Shocks and Real Business Cycle", "A DSGE Analysis of Oil Price Shocks" and "A DSGE Analysis of the Welfare Effects of Alternative Electricity Pricing Schemes". The following research questions are addressed:
1. How important aggregate energy price shocks are to explain business cycle fluctuations for the Bangladesh economy?
2. How would oil price shocks affect the macro economy of a small, oil importing, developing country like Bangladesh?
3. How would electricity market reforms affect the Bangladesh Economy?
To answer these questions we develop a Real Business Cycle (RBC) model and a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model for Bangladesh, the latter including a detailed model of the energy (electricity) sector which has not been attempted before in the literature. We conclude that the RBC model does a reasonable job in capturing the qualitative changes of selected endogenous variables considering the energy and productivity shocks. We find that oil price shocks have a negative welfare effect on consumers and GDP. However, industry expands to produce more exportable goods as higher oil price makes the country worse off with regard to Terms of Trade (TOT). Lower wage and capital interest rate allow industry to employ more labour and capital and increase production. Our results also reveal that electricity reform policies (restructuring of prices and subsidy arrangements) increase household welfare and GDP in Bangladesh. Given our results, it is advisable that policymakers carefully assess the overall welfare effect of oil price shocks and electricity market reforms and when appropriate take some measures to redistribute welfare across sectors. The heterogeneity nature of the households would be more appropriate for policy analysis and the analysis of these redistribution policies is left for future research. As some other developing countries face the same issues as Bangladesh, the novel framework and results of this thesis are of relevance not only for Bangladesh but also for developing countries in general.


Executive Summary

This Working Paper has three purposes, represented by three Parts:

- to explain the principles of the Taktfahrplan approach to railway timetabling;

- to summarise the implications of the background research on the structure of the network; and

- to describe the exercise of constructing a Taktfahrplan for the East Coast Main Line that formed the case-study of the potential benefits of such a scheme compared with the existing timetable.

In Part I the broad principles and objectives are first outlined, and the advantages and disadvantages discussed [§ 1.1,1.2]. A Taktfahrplan is based on standard hours and the careful, network-wide coordination of sewices. It is recognised that ultimately the choice between this and conventional timetabling methods must depend on an evaluation of the loss of present flexibility to adjust to time-specific market demands against the gains from enhanced connectivity and from the fact of regularity. Issues concerning resources and the management of peak periods are also explained.

Terminology is then dealt with because words and phrases are being used with imprecise and various meanings [§1.3]. There follows a detailed account of the arithmetic rules through which the ideal relationships between train (and bus) sewices can be attained, together with an explanation of the measures that can be taken to make the best compromises in the face of the characteristics of the real network - or to adjust it over time [§ 1.4].

In Part 2 the research to highlight features of the underlying demand for travel is described. This is not a necessary component of strategic timetable planning, but it is argued that it is desirable in order both to break free from the historical baggage and to seize the business, environmental and social-policy opportunities that a 'clean- sheet' timetable would present [§2.1]. The provisional findings from this work (it was left incomplete for reasons that are explained) are then deployed to form the skeleton of a national network connecting 100 important centres with 158 links.

This is followed by an analysis of the very variable standards of the rail timetable on those links and of the road competition and by an account of some first thoughts as to how a full-scale Taktfahrplan might start to be developed on this network [§2.2]. This emphasises the inter-relationships between sewices and the inescapable consequences for pathing trains, once it is accepted that sensible spacing of services and striving for good connectivity are more important than optimising routes on a self-contained basis. It was thought appropriate to include a summary of the findings regarding the low-density end of the current rail system in order to indicate the issues that Taktfahrplan might raise in this respect [§2.3].

The East Coast case-study is presented in Part 3. Some technical matters are explained first, including the key point that the exercise used the Viriato timetabling software employed by the Swiss Federal Railways (and many other systems) to construct Taktfahrpliine [§3.1]. Successive sub-parts then describe groups of services: long-distance [§3.2], services within Scotland [§3.3], services in North East England [§3.4], the trans-Pennine network [§3.5] and some of the Yorkshire services [§3.6].


Over the last decade the social services sector in Macedonia has been involved in a reform processes in line with the strategic paths towards decentralization, deinstitutionalization and pluralization of social welfare. Children are in the main focus of the reform processes through twofold policy interventions: reduction of child poverty with incentives for improving range and amount of child benefits and advancement of social services for children facing social problems. Additionally, the reform processes were instigated by substantial budgetary allocations for administration of child benefits and delivery of social services for children followed by a critique for inappropriate targeting of children, undeveloped, low quality and expensive services for children mainly organized in massive residential institutions. Whereas, several researches had been carried out with focus on the quality of social services for children and coverage gaps, there is an insufficient evidence and analysis of the costs of services and their budgeting. This analysis is to serve the purpose of filling in the existing data gap through: (1) to map the existing social protection measures for children in Macedonia executed by state, non-governmental organizations and private service providers; (2) to identify the main mechanisms for financing social services for children and to provide clear insight into state financial support in the social services delivery and alternative child care support arrangements.


To attract more customers and compete with other modes of transportation, railway transport needs to ensure safety, punctuality, high comfort, and low cost; wheel–rail adhesion, i.e., the transmitted tangential force in the longitudinal direction during driving and braking, plays an important role in all these aspects. Adhesion needs to be kept at a certain level for railway operation and maintenance. However, wheel−rail contact is an open system contact. Different contaminants can present between the wheel and rail surfaces, forming a third-body layer that affects the adhesion. Prediction of wheel–rail adhesion is important for railway operations and research into vehicle dynamics; however, this prediction is difficult because of the presence of contaminants. This thesis deals with wheel–rail adhesion from a tribological perspective. The five appended papers discuss wheel–rail adhesion in terms of dry conditions, lubricated conditions, leaf contamination, iron oxides, and environmental conditions. The research methodologies used are numerical modelling, scaled laboratory experiments, and field tests. The research objective is to understand the mechanisms of the adhesion loss phenomenon. A numerical model was developed to predict wheel–rail adhesion based on real measured 3D surfaces. Computer simulation indicates that surface topography has a larger impact on lubricated than on dry contacts. Plastic deformation in asperities is found to be very important in the model. Ball-on-disc tests indicate that water can give an extremely low adhesion coefficient on smooth surfaces, possibly due to surface oxidation. Investigation of lubricated contacts at low speed indicates that oil reduces the adhesion coefficient by carrying a normal load, while adhesion loss due to water depends on the surface topography, water temperature, and surface oxidation. A field investigation indicates that leaves reduce the friction coefficient because of the chemical reaction between leaves and bulk materials. The thickness of the surface oxide layer was found to be an essential factor determining adhesion reduction. Pin-on-disc experiments found a transition in the friction coefficient with regard to the relative humidity, due to a trade-off between the water molecule film and the hematite on the surface.


This research aims to add to the current knowledge available for miniemulsion polymerization reactions and to use this knowledge to synthesize multifunctional nanosized latex particles that have the potential to be used in catalysis. The physical properties of the latex can be adjusted to suit various environments due to the multiple functional groups present. For this research, styrene, pentafluorostyrene, azidomethyl styrene, pentafluorostyrene with azidomethyl styrene and pentafluorostyrene with styrene latexes were produced, and analyzed by dynamic light scattering. The latexes were synthesized using a miniemulsion polymerization technique found through this research. Potassium oleate and potassium 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluorobutane-1-sulfonate were used as surfactants during the miniemulsion polymerization reaction to synthesize pentafluorostyrene with azidomethyl styrene latex. Transmission electron microscopy data and dynamic light scattering data have been collected to analyze the structure of this latex, and it has been synthesized using a number of conditions, differing in reaction time, surfactant amount and sonication methods. We have also improved the solubility of the latex through a copper(I) catalyzed 1,3-dipolar azide-alkyne reaction, by clicking (polyethylene glycol)5000 onto the azide functional groups.


Bio-nanotechnology comprises the synthesis of nanoparticles through a reliable and eco-friendly process suitable for a necessary application such as a Green synthesis process, which is executed by the biological molecules in plant, extracts that. A versatile technique was implemented for the synthesis of Copper nanoparticle using an ethanol extract of Coriandrum sativum L. seeds. The reduction of cupper in aqueous solution of CuSO4•5H2O (2 mM) was confirmed by UV Vis spectrophotometer showing a typical resonance SPR (Surface Plasmon Resonance) at about 400-500 nm which is specific for the synthesis of nanoparticles (CuNPs). The formations of Copper nanoparticles from the Coriandrum sativum L. seed extract was identified first by observing the color changes, the color was changed from greenish brown to blue-brown color. The optimization of the various conditions, including, pH, time, the concentration of cupper sulfate pentagonal water CuSO4•5H2O, temperature and the mixing ratios of reactants to prepare the cupper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were studied also. Temperature 70oC, and pH was 9.8, incubation time 30 min and the ratio of ethanolic extract 70% and cupper sulfate pentagonal water 25:75. X-ray Diffraction & Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis of cupper nanoparticles indicated that they exist in amorphous nature and the size of the particle lies in the range of 30-89 nm.


Prostate cancer is the most frequent cancer affecting men in most Western countries. Certain risk factors have been identified (age, family history, ethnic origin), but the aetiology of this cancer remains largely unknown. However, a role for environmental factors is strongly suspected. Questions have been raised concerning the role of the chemical substances generated by human activities in the occurrence of this disease. Diverse studies have consistently demonstrated a higher risk of prostate cancer in agricultural populations than in the general population. The hypothesis that this higher risk is linked to the use of pesticides has been tested in a number of studies, mostly in North America and Europe. However, to date, with a few possible exceptions, it has been impossible to demonstrate a significant association between exposure to pesticides or a chemical family of pesticides and prostate cancer. In the face of these uncertainties, rigorous studies are required, with objective measurements of exposure, taking into account confounding factors and individual risk factors, making it possible to assess gene-environment interactions.


San Francisco-based Swensen's ice cream is one of many American fast food joints that has proliferated across Asia's expanding markets in the past decade, gaining popularity among a young generation in the East even as these outlets retreat from their home territory in the West. American ice cream parlors and diner-style cuisine have established a foothold across the Pacific, carrying with them tastes and images evocative of a bygone era. Fragments of nostalgia for the California Dream seep to the surface in Bangalore, India, a city filled with echoes of the long vanished past.


The progress of physical understanding as well as parameter improvement of net-current-free helical plasma is reported for the Large Helical Device since the last Fusion Energy Conference in Daejeon in 2010. The second low-energy neutral beam line was installed, and the central ion temperature has exceeded 7 keV, which was obtained by carbon pellet injection. Transport analysis of the high-Ti plasmas shows that the ion-thermal conductivity and viscosity decreased after the pellet injection although the improvement does not last long. The effort has been focused on the optimization of plasma edge conditions to extend the operation regime towards higher ion temperature and more stable high density and high beta. For this purpose a portion of the open helical divertors are being modified to the baffle-structured closed ones aimed at active control of the edge plasma. It is compared with the open case that the neutral pressure in the closed helical divertor increased by ten times as predicted by modelling. Studies of physics in a three-dimensional geometry are highlighted in the topics related to the response to a resonant magnetic perturbation at the plasma periphery such as edge-localized-mode mitigation and divertor detachment. Novel approaches of non-local and non-diffusive transport have also been advanced.


Despite the government's recognition of the importance to our economy of this business sector, there has been relatively little research commissioned regarding the importance of the educational level of managers employed to manage this business sector, alongside outlining the challenges facing SMEs that are committed to a strategic path of growth. This thesis sets out to explore the complex characteristics surrounding UK manufacturing SME growth, with specific focus on education with particular focus on managers who hold a Post-Graduate Business qualification (PGB). A quantitative survey and qualitative interviews converge to explore characteristics surrounding the businesses under investigation. Educational qualifications differentiated the two management groups explored, one management group hold a PGB qualification the other does not. Purposeful sampling was utilised to ensure the sample businesses met specific criteria, based on location, business size and trading sector. Statistical and thematic analysis are utilised to examine the collated data. Results highlight that the PGB qualification holders achieve improved business results when results are measured using typical growth measures; revenue generation, profit and numbers employed. The results demonstrate that the theoretical under-pinning of this thesis is strong. The PGB holders realise improved results. The conclusions focus on several key areas; improved business results, access to education, staff retention, educational clubs, subsidiary businesses, key performance indicators, enhanced self-esteem and confidence, reflective learning alongside the need, or not, to generate profits. The research identifies that managers who do not hold a PGB qualification can lack confidence. Employees that attain PGB qualifications often advance their careers and find new employment. PGB appear to be valued to those that hold them but not necessarily to those that do not. SME managers are fully conversed with the deployment of a vast array of strategic business tools, irrespective of the qualifications they hold.This research contributes to knowledge in several ways, to include; adding weight to the debate surrounding the appropriateness of the current PGB curriculum, the relevance of management experience prior to undertaking a PGB qualification, family businesses and their employment strategies, and finally the researcher's personal knowledge and understanding about UK manufacturing SMEs. The outcomes of the research combine to form a creative framework, referred to as the "Grafton Gearbox" the functionality of the gearbox is detailed in chapter five. The research concludes by recommending improved training routes for governments to explore, these new routes engage business owners more favourably to realise improved performance from our nation's SMEs.


Summary We propose a novel method for velocity estimation that leverages the newest advances in Deep Learning (DL) technology. This method is fully automatic and maps seismic shot-domain data to corresponding depth-domain velocity fields via two neural networks. Our new method is conceptually different from conventional methods such as seismic tomography or Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) that minimize a fixed objective function. Here, a system of neural networks automatically and continuously learns an objective function while training the seismic-to-velocity mapping. The newly introduced method avoids many of the drawbacks of conventional velocity estimation techniques, such as dependence on initial models or cycle-skipping. It uses the full seismic wavefield and avoids picking of first-arrival traveltimes. The system needs to be trained with hundreds or thousands of examples of seismic data paired with their corresponding velocity models relevant for the current project. Training the system is the main computationally demanding step and produces a mapping function that contains the seismic "know-how" for the presumed geologic setting. The computational cost of the subsequent estimation of velocity from new seismic data is negligent. Our first tests on complex two-dimensional synthetic data produce impressive results, underlining the potential of DL for velocity analysis.


The Effects of Inhibiting Wnt Secretion and Activity on Cranial and Neural Development Julie Louise Hulet Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology, BYU Master of Science Wnt signaling has been shown to have several roles in the development of sensory neurons, particularly in the ophthalmic portion of the trigeminal nerve. Many of these studies have relied on the conclusion that Wnt is necessary but not sufficient for the induction and maintenance of the neural precursor cells that develop in the ophthalmic placode. Wnt had been inhibited in the ophthalmic placode using a dominant negative t-cell factor (TCF) and resulted in the loss of Pax3 expression (indicative of undifferentiated placode cells) in all targeted cells, suggesting a loss of specification/commitment of these cells to the sensory neuron fate. This study aimed to build on that conclusion by identifying the source of Wnt signaling that allowed for the maintenance of these placode cells. To investigate this, chick embryo ex ovo cultures were used and treated with small molecule chemical Wnt inhibitors to globally knock out Wnt signaling. The embryos were then sectioned and stained for cell markers of undifferentiated placode and differentiated neural cells (Pax3 and Islet1, respectively). Also used was a conditional knockout of Porcn, a gene critical to post-transcriptional modification of the Wnt ligand, using Wnt1-cre as a driver; this allowed for the knockout of Wnt secretion from the dorsal neural tube as well as neural crest cells. The data showed a decrease in placode cell differentiation but did not indicate a necessity for Wnt in maintenance of the ophthalmic placode cells—there was no loss of Pax3 expressing cells in the ectoderm. This suggested that maintenance of the ophthalmic placode could be through alternate pathways. Data is also presented describing how loss of Porcn in Wnt1 expressing cells impacts craniofacial development, where the mouse mutant used in this study displayed the absence and underdevelopment of cranial neural crest structures.


Population status and ecological preferences of the New Guinean endemic palm Sommieria leucophylla in a lowland forest of the North Salawati Island Nature Reserve were documented at six different habitat types: river bank, hill slope, hill top, intact, disturbed, and converted forests. Population sizes varied spatially and were dominated by seedlings and juveniles, indicating a growing population. Individuals with stem heights of 0-100 cm and stem diameters of 2-3 cm dominated. The stem height class distribution showed a preponderance of individuals in the juvenile stage class and a strong right hand skew typical of populations in which recruitment and mortality were continuous and density dependent, rather than episodic. S. leucopylla preferred specific habitats with river bank and intact forest being the most suitable habitat. Although the palm tolerated hill slopes, the populations were low and even suppressed at hill tops, and seemed to be sensitive to disturbance and changes in water table. Mortality was higher among the early stages but very low in adults. There was little recruitment in disturbed sites and no establishment in converted forests. To conserve the most important remaining populations, it is crucial to protect the most suitable sites in the reserve.


The influence of gravity on anti-hydrogen dynamics in magnetic traps is studied. The advantages and disadvantages of various techniques for measuring the ratio of the gravitational mass to the inertial mass of anti-hydrogen are discussed. Theoretical considerations and numerical simulations indicate that stochasticity may be especially important for some experimental techniques in vertically oriented traps.