To understand the magnitude and ecological impact of predation, we need to know not only predator abundance and feeding rates, but also the area from which the prey are taken. Previous work on amphibious sea snakes (sea kraits Laticauda spp.) in New Caledonia has documented the former parameters, and suggested that these marine snakes may be major predators within coralreef ecosystems. To estimate the area over which these snakes forage, we have developed methods based on detailed assessments of (1) the eel species consumed (and, hence, their habitats of origin), (2) the state of digestion (and, hence, time since capture) of prey items inside snakes returning to their home islands after foraging trips, and (3) the rate of digestion of prey in experimental trials. In combination with data on rates of snake movement, we conclude that one species (Laticauda laticaudata) forages mostly on soft-bottom habitats within 23 km of the home island, whereas the other species (L. saintgironsi) forages on coral substrates within 38 km of the home island. The distribution of estimated foraging ranges was similar between these 2 species (about one-third of prey taken within a few kilometres of the home island; the rest from a wide range of much further sites), despite interspecific divergence in traits such as prey types, prey sizes and rates of digestion. These extensive foraging ranges suggest that sea kraits are significant predators of eels over the entire area of the lagoon; and imply that populations of these top predators can be affected by disturbance to prey resources even many kilometres from the home island.


Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the context of military systems has frequently been portrayed as dangerous, and as leading to humanity being put in danger by an errant AI system, such as the Skynet imagined in the Terminator movie series. At the same time, the benefits of using AI in such systems are numerous. Therefore, we need to develop techniques that will let military systems benefit from the advances in AI, while ensuring that a system like Skynet never turns against humanity. In this paper, we examine the problem from the perspective of device management, a set of intelligent systems that manage themselves and determine their own policies. We discuss mechanisms that could be used to prevent these systems from becoming malignant.


For over a decade, there has been a spirited academic debate over the impact on crime of laws that grant citizens the presumptive right to carry concealed handguns in public – so-called right-to-carry (RTC) laws. In 2005, the National Research Council (NRC) offered a critical evaluation of the "More Guns, Less Crime" hypothesis using county-level crime data for the period 1977-2000. 17 of the 18 NRC panel members essentially concluded that the existing research was inadequate to conclude that RTC laws increased or decreased crime. One member of the panel, though, concluded that the NRC's panel data regressions supported the conclusion that RTC laws decreased murder. We evaluate the NRC evidence, and improve and expand on the report's county data analysis by analyzing an additional six years of county data as well as state panel data for the period 1977-2006. We also present evidence using both a more plausible version of the Lott and Mustard specification, as well as our own preferred specification (which, unlike the Lott and Mustard model used in the NRC report, does control for rates of incarceration and police). While we have considerable sympathy with the NRC's majority view about the difficulty of drawing conclusions from simple panel data models, we disagree with the NRC report's judgment that cluster adjustments to correct for serial correlation are not needed. Our randomization tests show that without such adjustments the Type 1 error soars to 44 – 75 percent. In addition, the conclusion of the dissenting panel member that RTC laws reduce murder has no statistical support. Our paper highlights some important questions to consider when using panel data methods to resolve questions of law and policy effectiveness. Although we agree with the NRC's cautious conclusion regarding the effects of RTC laws, we buttress this conclusion by showing how sensitive the estimated impact of RTC laws is to different data periods, the use of state versus county data, particular specifications, and the decision to control for state trends. Overall, the most consistent, albeit not uniform, finding to emerge from both the state and county panel data models conducted over the entire 1977-2006 period with and without state trends and using three different specifications is that aggravated assault rises when RTC laws are adopted. For every other crime category, there is little or no indication of any consistent RTC impact on crime. It will be worth exploring whether other methodological approaches and/or additional years of data will confirm the results of this panel-data analysis. Abhay Aneja Stanford Law School 559 Nathan Abbott Way Stanford, CA 94305 firstname.lastname@example.com John J. Donohue III Stanford Law School Crown Quadrangle 559 Nathan Abbott Way Stanford, CA 94305 and NBER email@example.com Alexandria Zhang Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland email@example.com


Infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN) has for many years been considered one of the most important restraints to the production of salmonids in European aquaculture. In Norway, the disease is responsible for high losses in post-smolts in the first few weeks after sea transfer. Despite the importance of IPN, there are few epidemiological studies on risk factors and mitigation strategies. In this paper, we present analyses of data from all cohorts put to sea in 2009 to 2012 on Norwegian marine salmonid farms. The data used were obtained from national registers on salmonid production and disease outbreaks. The results showed that the risk of IPN outbreak was higher for spring versus autumn cohorts, Atlantic salmon versus rainbow trout and for cohorts on farms with previous history of IPN. The risk increased with increasing cohort size and infection pressure, whereas increasing temperature and weight at sea transfer decreased the risk. Estimations from a model of cumulative mortality within the first 6 mo after sea transfer showed that mortality in cohorts with IPN increased to approximately 7.2% as compared to a 'baseline' cohort with a mortality of 3.4%. If the cohort had both IPN and pancreas disease (PD), the estimated mortality increased to 12.9%, and cohorts with both IPN, PD and heart and skeletal muscle inflammation (HSMI) had an estimated mortality of 16.6%, when all other significant factors were kept constant (these were cohort type, year, temperature at sea transfer and weight at sea transfer). Our results provide valuable inputs for mitigation strategies and for economic modelling of consequences of disease.


On suitably heat treated samples of float glass, devitrite, Na2Ca3Si6O16, nucleates heterogeneously on the glass surface and grows as thin needles with a distinct [100] growth axis. The needles group together as spherulites and show evidence of low-angle branching in order to fill space. Analysis of the rate of needle growth along [100] between 680°C and 950°C suggests that the activation energy for diffusion governing the transport across the devitrite–glass interface is 260 kJ mol–1, somewhat higher than previous analyses have suggested. The devitrite needles are often twinned, with the twins related to one another by a Type II twinning rotation of 180° about the [100] growth axis direction. The formally irrational twin plane is very close to (010). Molecular dynamics simulations have been undertaken to establish the form of these twin interfaces to understand how and why devitrite twins in this manner.


In this paper we propose and analyze a new parallel SOR method, the PSOR method, formulated by using domain partitioning and interprocessor data communication techniques. We prove that the PSOR method has the same asymptotic rate of convergence as the Red/Black (R/B) SOR method for the five-point stencil on both strip and block partitions, and as the four-color (R/B/G/O) SOR method for the nine-point stencil on strip partitions. We also demonstrate the parallel performance of the PSOR method on four different MIMD multiprocessors (a KSR1, an Intel Delta, a Paragon, and an IBM SP2). Finally, we compare the parallel performance of PSOR, R/B SOR, and R/B/G/O SOR. Numerical results on the Paragon indicate that PSOR is more efficient than R/B SOR and R/B/G/O SOR in both computation and interprocessor data communication.


This article provides a preliminary report on the 2013 excavations carried out by the American Excavations at Morgantina (Sicily): Contrada Agnese Project (CAP). The 2013 season marked the start of this multiyear re-search and excavation project aimed at investigating both the urban planning of the city and the lives of its resi-dents, with a specific focus on the periods of occupation and cultural transformation from the third to first century BCE. During the first season, three trenches were excavated in two parts of the ancient city. Their locations were chosen, in part, based on the results of a geophysical survey, conducted on the archaeological site in the spring of 2012. This preliminary report presents the significant stratigraphic units and material finds encountered in each trench, along with a provisional outline of the phases of activity, setting the developments observed in each trench within the broader historical and archaeological context of the urban center at Morgantina.


The natural environment has restorative and stress reducing benefits. This study analyzes the use of nearby nature by hospital visitors, a group of people who are typically at risk for stress and mental fatigue. Study participants were visitors of the University of Michigan Hospital System (UMHS) who were residing at the Ann Arbor Ronald McDonald House (RMH), a residence for family members of hospitalized children. The study involved suggested walking routes in Nichols Arboretum (Arb) and a series of before and post walk survey instruments to measure mental fatigue and stress. In addition, a survey instrument to measure awareness and perception of the Arb was administered. The results of this study indicate that walking in nature is restorative and stress reducing for hospital visitors. In addition, these results indicate that there is a need to better inform hospital visitors about nearby nature. The results also suggest that longer-term visitors may take more walks in nearby nature and that walk materials, such as short defined routes and guidelines, may be particularly useful for hospital visitors. It should be noted that the results of this study are based on a small sample size. Additional research should be conducted to provide greater statistical evidence. This paper concludes by recommending methods to increase hospital visitor awareness of nearby nature and ways to enhance hospital visitors' experiences in nearby nature.


Entitlement Politics describes partisan attempts to shrink the size of government by targeting two major federal health care entitlements. Efforts to restructure or eliminate entitlements as such, and to privatize and decentralize programs, along with more traditional attempts to amend and reform Medicare and Medicaid have radically transformed policymaking with respect to these programs. However, they have failed to achieve fundamental or lasting reform. Smith combines historical narrative and case studies with descriptions of the technical aspects and dynamics of policymaking to help the consumer understand how the process has changed, evaluate particular policies and outcomes, and anticipate future possibilities. His account intentionally goes at some length into the substance of the programs, the policies that are involved, and the views of different protagonists about the major issues in the dispute. One unhealthy consequence of politicizing Medicare and Medicaid policy has been to separate public debate from the technical and organizational realities underlying issues of cost containment or program structure. Smith considers this development unfortunate, since it leaves even informed citizens unable to evaluate the claims being made. Ironically, strife over Medicare has complicated the political and policy issues in American life. Only a serious and genuine bipartisan effort bringing forth the best efforts of both political parties--and some of the best industry leaders and policy experts in the field--is likely to achieve genuine reform. The more people and parties know about the history, politics, and policies of these programs, the better our prospects for devising workable, equitable, and lasting solutions. This volume leads the way toward that understanding. David G. Smith is Richter Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Swarthmore College and has been a student of health policy since 1965. Among his books is an earlier study of health policy, Paying for Medicare.


Abstract. Plumes, forming at the plasmapause and released outwards, constitute a well-established mode for plasmaspheric material release to the Earth's magnetosphere. They are associated to active periods and the related electric field change. In 1992, Lemaire and Shunk proposed the existence of an additional mode for plasmaspheric material release to the Earth's magnetosphere: a plasmaspheric wind, steadily transporting cold plasmaspheric plasma outwards across the geomagnetic field lines, even during prolonged periods of quiet geomagnetic conditions. This has been proposed on a theoretical basis. Direct detection of this wind has, however, eluded observation in the past. Analysis of ion measurements, acquired in the outer plasmasphere by the CIS experiment onboard the four Cluster spacecraft, provide now an experimental confirmation of the plasmaspheric wind. This wind has been systematically detected in the outer plasmasphere during quiet and moderately active conditions, and calculations show that it could provide a substantial contribution to the magnetospheric plasma populations outside the Earth's plasmasphere. Similar winds should also exist on other planets, or astrophysical objects, quickly rotating and having an atmosphere and a magnetic field.


High-dimensional data sets are hard to explore using common spreadsheet environments. However, data scientists need to develop appropriate clustering and classification algorithms to make sense of big data repositories. Even sophisticated analysis tools often focus on mathematical tasks and offer only basic data visualization with few interactive features. In order to gain more sophisticated insights and test hypotheses with regards to high-dimensional data sets, we developed an interactive zoomable user interface using glyph-based visualizations. The visualization is based on a two-dimensional plot of the data space using multi-dimensional reduction. The resulting Big Data Landscapes are then explored with various controls, filters, and details on demand.


Contemporary celebrations of interdisciplinary scholarship in the humanities and social sciences often harbor a distrust of traditional disciplines, which are seen as at best narrow and unimaginative, and at worst complicit in larger forms of power and policing. Disciplinarity at the Fin de Siecle questions these assumptions by examining, for the first time, in so sustained a manner, the rise of a select number of academic disciplines in a historical perspective. This collection of twelve essays focuses on the late Victorian era in Great Britain but also on Germany, France, and America in the same formative period. The contributors--James Buzard, Lauren M. E. Goodlad, Liah Greenfeld, John Guillory, Simon Joyce, Henrika Kuklick, Christopher Lane, Jeff Nunokawa, Arkady Plotnitsky, Ivan Strenski, Athena Vrettos, and Gauri Viswanathan--examine the genealogy of various fields including English, sociology, economics, psychology, and quantum physics. Together with the editors' cogent introduction, they challenge the story of disciplinary formation as solely one of consolidation, constraint, and ideological justification. Addressing a broad range of issues--disciplinary formations, disciplinarity and professionalism, disciplines of the self, discipline and the state, and current disciplinary debates--the book aims to dislodge what the editors call the "comfortable pessimism" that too readily assimilates disciplines to techniques of management or control. It advances considerably the effort to more fully comprehend the complex legacy of the human sciences.


The circadian clock system adapts phasic physiological activities, such as sleeping and eating, to environmental cycles. The "master clock" is in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and the principal cue (Zeitgeber) is the light–dark cycle, around which most mammalian (and those of all living organisms) functions have evolved. In our society, with activity 24 h per day, the clock is frequently overridden or does not match the activity schedule, with increased susceptibility to disease (obesity, type 2 diabetes, and their cardiovascular sequelae) resulting.

In the SCN and in other cells, the core molecular clock mechanism consists of specific genes ("clock" genes). These include Clock (and Npas2) , Bmal , the period homologs, Per1 and Per2 , and cryptochrome 1 ( Cry1 ) and Cry2 . The circadian clock mechanism revolves around transcription–translation feedback loops, in which repression and activation of transcriptional activity are dependent on dimerization, posttranslational modification, and degradation rate constants that define the reactions. Kinetically (in conjunction with a secondary feedback loop comprising nuclear receptor genes, Reverbs and Rors ), this system defines an oscillator with a period that is near 24 h (1,2). Photic cues channeled via the SCN fine-tune the period to correspond to that of the environment. Information on this period is then transmitted to the periphery. The same molecular clocks are also found in peripheral cells (e.g., kidney, liver, pancreas). They can function autonomously. However, the master clock in the SCN generally coordinates these peripheral clocks by way of the autonomic or humoral (e.g., corticosteroids, melatonin) routes to generate a synchronized signal that aligns metabolic and other activities with environmental conditions (1,3).

Sleep–waking cycles are clearly set by the light–dark cycle. Disrupted sleep patterns impose alterations in this cycle. As, for example, with jet lag, the circadian clock adapts to these changes (4 …


Palynofacies analysis of marine Jurassic sedimentary successions in France and the United Kingdom demonstrates the pervasiveness of regular cycles in qualitative and quantitative aspects of the microscopic particulate organic content of the rocks, especially that part which is ignored during routine palynology. The cycles are attributed to precession, obliquity, and eccentricity forcing. Most of the palynofacies cycles are independent of lithology, whether it be cyclic, irregular, or uniform. Terrestrially derived organic particles record the effects of orbital cyclicity on land, which may be controlled by orbital cycles different from those controlling marine sediment deposition. The majority of studies on orbital cyclicity in the sedimentary record concentrate on cyclicity in lithology. This study demonstrates that sections lacking regular lithological cycles may still record evidence of orbital forcing of both the depositional environment and sediment source and transport.


In our present work, magnetic cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanoparticles have been successfully synthesised by thermal decomposition of Fe(III) and Co(II) acetylacetonate compounds in organic solvents in the presence of oleic acid (OA)/ oleylamine (OLA) as surfactants and 1,2-hexadecanediol (HDD) or octadecanol (OCD-ol) as an accelerating agent. As a result, CoFe2O4 nanoparticles of different shapes were tightly controlled in size (range of 4-30 nm) and monodispersity (standard deviation only at ca. 5%). Experimental parameters, such as reaction time, temperature, surfactant concentration, solvent, precursor ratio, and accelerating agent, in particular, the role of HDD, OCD-ol, and OA/OLA have been intensively investigated in detail to discover the best conditions for the synthesis of the above magnetic nanoparticles. The obtained nanoparticles have been successfully applied for producing oriented carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and they have potential to be used in biomedical applications.


Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg (1998) reported that participants primed with a category associated with intelligence ("professor") subsequently performed 13% better on a trivia test than participants primed with a category associated with a lack of intelligence ("soccer hooligans"). In two unpublished replications of this study designed to verify the appropriate testing procedures, Dijksterhuis, van Knippenberg, and Holland observed a smaller difference between conditions (2%–3%) as well as a gender difference: Men showed the effect (9.3% and 7.6%), but women did not (0.3% and −0.3%). The procedure used in those replications served as the basis for this multilab Registered Replication Report. A total of 40 laboratories collected data for this project, and 23 of these laboratories met all inclusion criteria. Here we report the meta-analytic results for those 23 direct replications (total N = 4,493), which tested whether performance on a 30-item general-knowledge trivia task differed between these two priming conditions (results of supplementary analyses of the data from all 40 labs, N = 6,454, are also reported). We observed no overall difference in trivia performance between participants primed with the "professor" category and those primed with the "hooligan" category (0.14%) and no moderation by gender.


Motivated by emerging applications to the edge computing paradigm, we introduce a two-layer erasure-coded fault-tolerant distributed storage system offering atomic access for read and write operations. In edge computing, clients interact with an edge-layer of servers that is geographically near; the edge-layer in turn interacts with a back-end layer of servers. The edge-layer provides low latency access and temporary storage for client operations, and uses the back-end layer for persistent storage. Our algorithm, termed Layered Data Storage (LDS) algorithm, offers several features suitable for edge-computing systems, works under asynchronous message-passing environments, supports multiple readers and writers, and can tolerate f1 < n1/2 and f2 < n2/3 crash failures in the two layers having n1 and n2 servers, respectively. We use a class of erasure codes known as regenerating codes for storage of data in the back-end layer. The choice of regenerating codes, instead of popular choices like Reed-Solomon codes, not only optimizes the cost of back-end storage, but also helps in optimizing communication cost of read operations, when the value needs to be recreated all the way from the back-end. The two-layer architecture permits a modular implementation of atomicity and erasure-code protocols; the implementation of erasure-codes is mostly limited to interaction between the two layers. We prove liveness and atomicity of LDS, and also compute performance costs associated with read and write operations. In a system with n1 = Θ(n2), f1 = Θ(n1), f2 = Θ(n2), the write and read costs are respectively given by Θ(n1) and Θ(1) + n1 I(δ > 0). Here δ is a parameter closely related to the number of write operations that are concurrent with the read operation, and I(δ > 0) is 1 if δ > 0, and 0 if δ = 0. The cost of persistent storage in the back-end layer is Θ(1). The impact of temporary storage is minimally felt in a multi-object system running N independent instances of LDS, where only a small fraction of the objects undergo concurrent accesses at any point during the execution. For the multi-object system, we identify a condition on the rate of concurrent writes in the system such that the overall storage cost is dominated by that of persistent storage in the back-end layer, and is given by Θ(N).


Central to Chomskyan language theory, often seen as a Kuhnian revolution, is the claim that universal grammar (UG) is innate and that it comprises the principles and parameters which constitute and constrain possible human language grammars. In this model, grammar is essentially a programmed fait accompli, and the causes of language change are sought principally in the reanalyses resulting from the language acquisition process. An alternate approach, grammaticalization, would appear to be potentially at odds with this view, depending on the degree of specificity assigned to UG. In studies of grammaticalization, distinct, restricted, and therefore virtually predictable pathways of change (as opposed to random parameter settings) and evolving (as opposed to innate) grammatical categories have been identified as the linguistic/pragmatic outcomes of children's and adult speakers' use of language. In the generative perspective, language change is seen as resulting directly from the acquisition process, rather than from language usage. Evidence from grammaticalization studies makes it clear that understanding the nature of language development and change requires that actual usage, performance, be taken into account– not just competence. In assessing whether these approaches can be brought into alignment, a variety of issues are examined: unidirectionality in grammaticalization, the linguistic views of Antoine Meillet and Michel Breal, the poverty of the stimulus argument and UG, grammaticalization and uniformitarianism, the central role of pragmatics and discourse analysis, the relationship between UG and grammatical categories, evidence from pidgin and creole studies as a challenge to the bioprogram hypothesis, acquisition of ASL as evidence of UG being innate abstract patterning, the loss of expressivity as a factor in grammaticalization, and the emergence of apparently new linguistic categories and their relation to cognition.


College-based Higher Education in England: Who is it for? What is it for?
College-based higher education (CBHE) has accounted for around ten percent of total HE provision in England for many years (Avis and Orr 2016). Though the Government's 2016 White Paper on HE made little reference to CBHE it asserted that "The growth in FE colleges and alternative providers offering higher education has significantly changed the marketplace and how students study" (DBIS 2016: 15). Related to this assertion is that CBHE in England has consistently been tasked by policymakers with addressing perceived local skills gaps, as well as enhancing social mobility (ETF 2016, 22). The same White Paper, however, presents a challenge to colleges offering HE by enabling other HE providers to apply for degree awarding powers. By examining available statistics for the sector this paper critically examines CBHE's current position and argues that the expectations of policymakers need to be clarified and curtailed but that CBHE has much to offer.

Outline
This paper seeks to contribute to the debate around the purpose and position of college-based higher education (CBHE) in England by engaging with the key literature and also through analysing the available statistics that may identify how processes associated with social background interact with CBHE. It attempts to conceptualise the expectations made of the sector to better understand what it can and cannot offer. Though the context here is English, the reshaping of certain elements of HE to meet economic and social policy commitments is reflected globally (Avis and Orr 2016) and so this paper has a wider resonance. Currently around 159,000 students study on higher education courses in further education colleges in England (AoC 2016) and CBHE has accounted for around ten percent of total HE provision for many years. Nevertheless, the Government's 2016 White Paper on HE made little reference to CBHE but it did assert that "The growth in FE colleges and alternative providers offering higher education has significantly changed the marketplace and how students study" (DBIS 2016: 15). This assertion about what has changed echoes how CBHE in England has consistently been tasked by policymakers with addressing perceived skills gaps, especially at a local level, as well as enhancing social mobility in the country (ETF 2016, 22).
The government is committed to doubling the proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds entering HE by 2020 compared with 2009. To that end, there is strong evidence that HE students in colleges are more likely to be older, to study part-time and to come from less advantaged backgrounds than those in universities. Arguably, CBHE has been successful in widening participation in HE, though that does not necessarily imply social mobility for those students, even by limited definitions, never mind enhancing social justice more generally. There is much less evidence, however, for CBHE meeting the other expectation of systematically connecting to the particular needs of local economies (ETF 2016, 23). It may be happening in some regions, but there is as yet little data on which to base a judgement. Associated with this policy of localism are recent moves to devolution of city regions such as Greater Manchester, which will have responsibility for training. Along with the publication of Lord Sainsbury's review on technical and professional education and the government's commitment to higher-level apprenticeships the expectation for CBHE to relate to local economies will continue, however difficult that may be to meet. A further challenge to colleges offering HE is the government's commitment that "any high quality predominantly degree-level provider" can apply for degree awarding powers (DBIS 2016, 29). Quite what "predominantly" entails is as yet unclear, but it is unlikely to include mixed economy further education colleges. Even where those colleges have very substantial HE provision, this does not predominate over other provision.
Within this context of rising expectations and growing challenges, this paper examines official statistics for CBHE to analyse its current role in relation to widening participation and meeting the needs of local economies. It argues that colleges offering HE courses can have a part in promoting social justice at an individual level, but only if there is an emphasis on curriculum and not just method of delivery. CBHE may also contribute to what Hodgson and Spours (2013) have called "local learning ecologies".

Avis, J. & Orr, K. (2016) HE in FE: vocationalism, class and social justice, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 21:1-2, 49-65

DBIS (2016) Success as a Knowledge Economy: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility & Student Choice (White Paper) London: DBIS.

ETF (2016) The Local Impact of College-Based Higher Education, London: ETF.

Hodgson, A. & Spours, K. (2013) Tackling the crisis facing young people: building 'high opportunity progression eco-systems' Oxford Review of Education, 39 (2) 211-228.


Malpractice reforms tend to reduce physicians' liability for harming patients. Because these reforms are passed at the state level, the costs of harming patients vary widely by geographic location. In this paper, I test whether malpractice reforms affect where physicians choose to practice and whether physicians who relocate in response to reforms are particularly prone to commit malpractice. Because a state's own reforms cannot separately distinguish moral hazard from adverse selection, and because those reforms are likely to have direct effects on measures of malpractice via the legal market, I focus attention on neighboring states' reforms. I find that when a state's neighbor passes a cap on noneconomic damages, both the physician-to-population ratio and the malpractice rate fall. This suggests that physicians who relocate in response to noneconomic damages caps are more likely to commit malpractice.


The world has been challenged by the AIDS epidemic for 15 years. In 1985, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, allocated funds to all state departments of education to assist schools in the development of AIDS education policies and programs. Yet, these policies do not ensure that all students receive effective AIDS education. On September 21, 1991, the Arizona Legislature passed Senate Bill 1396, which requires public schools to annually provide AIDS education in grades K-12. The bill was rescinded in 1995. With prohibitive curriculum guidelines, limited teacher training opportunities and tremendous instructional demands, this educational policy was implemented in disparate forms. By examining the perspectives of the Arizona educators (representing three school districts), this qualitative study reveals how teachers ultimately controlled the delivery and nature of AIDS instruction based upon personal values, views of teacher roles, and their interpretation of the mandate itself.


Post-Anesthesia Care Units (PACUs) were introduced in the 1930s to address excessive post-operative morbidity and mortality rates. The PACU provides an area where patients recovering from anesthesia can be observed intensely and treated appropriately until they return to a stable physiological state. Measurement of vital signs has always been a central task of the nurses providing care in the PACU; abnormal vital signs indicate an unstable patient and the possibility of an adverse event. Over time, both hospital policies on conduct of care in the PACU, including documentation of vital signs, and the technology for measuring vital signs have evolved. Measurement of vital signs has been automated, with indicators measured either continuously or at timed intervals. This automation may produce unintended consequences including conflicts between the technology and policy and the tendency for nurses to document vital signs as a matter of routine rather than a means of delivering patient-centered care. This retrospective chart review was conducted to identify the prevalence of non-compliance with hospital policy on frequency of vital sign documentation in adult ASA I and II patients of any gender undergoing general anesthesia for an outpatient procedure. The results of this study showed non-compliance occurred in 18% of the sampled records. Recognizing such gaps in vital sign documentation, will better enable the Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) to facilitate effective discussions about the benefits of appropriate documentation and patient care. The APN can support nurses and their organization by advocating for continued involvement in policy development and staff education.


Against the background of a widely fragmented and diluted international environmental governance architecture, different reform options are currently being discussed. This issue brief considers whether streamlining international environmental regimes by grouping or 'clustering' international agreements could improve effectiveness and efficiency. It outlines the general idea of the clustering approach, draws lessons from the chemicals and waste cluster and examines the implications and potentials of clustering multilateral environmental agreements.


Many publicly debated issues have implications for health, including smoking, pesticides, food additives, seat belts, fluoridation, vaccination and climate change. Campaigners on such issues use a variety of methods, including presenting evidence and arguments, denigrating opponents, lobbying and organising protests. In some cases, campaigners seek to censor opponents, most commonly on the grounds that their views are false and dangerous. To probe rationales for censorship, recent events in the Australian public debate over vaccination are examined. A citizens' group critical of vaccination has come under heavy attack, with pro-vaccination campaigners and politicians trying to shut down the group and restrict its speech. This case study provides a window into arguments about free speech on scientific controversies with implications for public health. It highlights the tension between the alleged dangers of expressing ideas and the value of open debate in a free society.


Based on the comparative analysis methodology in its case study form, this article examines the origins, the design, and the consequences of territorial arrangements in Italy, i.e. a country in which settling the stateness problem coincided with the process of post-authoritarian transformation. This experience - particularly the pacted transition (although it was not explicitly pronounced in Italy despite the fact that the state never witnessed any post-war anti-fascist lustration of bureaucracy) - was later used as an example for the Spanish model of democratic reforms, which in turn became paradigmatic. This article traces the long-lasting impact of the historic bloc between the industrial bourgeoisie of the Italian North and the landlords of the Italian South (Mezzogiorno) that contributed to the conservation of the socioeconomic backwardness of the latter. Special attention is given to the influence of the structural constraints of international bipolarity that laid down the external framework of the so-called "Italian anomaly", that is, the lack for almost half a century left-wing and right-wing political parties' alteration in power. This anomaly delayed Italian regionalization despite its having been envisaged in the constitution. However, the objective socioeconomic demands of a welfare state created possibilities for the birth of regions in the early 1970s. The emergence of the Northern League gave a new dimension to Italian politics by radically reshaping its traditional structures. These developments, taken together with the cleansing of a corrupted Italian political class, the referendum of 1993, and the new electoral law ultimately caused the demise of the First Republic.


To save resources and build on private expertise, federal agencies have incorporated privately drafted standards into thousands of federal rules – but only by "reference." These standards range widely, subsuming safety, benefits, and testing standards. An individual who seeks access to this binding law generally cannot freely read it online or in a government depository library, as she can the U.S. Code or Code of Federal Regulations. Instead, she generally must pay a significant fee to the drafting organization or else she must travel to Washington, D.C., to the Office of the Federal Register's reading room.This law is not formally "secret," but it is expensive and difficult to find. It raises the question of what underlies the intuition that law, in a democracy, needs to be readily, publicly available. Previous analyses of the need for publicity have focused almost wholly on the need of regulated entities for notice of their obligations. This article assesses several other considerations, including notice to regulatory beneficiaries, such as Medicare recipients, consumers of dangerous products, and neighbors of natural gas pipelines. Ready public access to the law also is critical to ensure that federal agencies are meaningfully accountable for their decisions, both through internal and external mechanisms, including voting, political oversight, and agency procedures. The need for ready public access is at least as strong in this collaborative governance setting as when agencies act alone. Finally, expressive harm – a message inconsistent with core democratic values – is likely to flow from government adoption of regulatory law that is, in contrast to American law in general, harder to find and costly to access. These considerations should prompt a focus not just upon whether law is public, but how public it is. Full assessment of the importance of public access to law both strengthens the case for reform of access barriers to incorporation-by-reference rules and limits the range of acceptable reform measures.


This paper proposes a set of performance enhancements techniques aiming to improve the perceived performance of video transmission across the IEEE 802.11e network. The proposed mechanism preserves the video Quality of Experience (QoE) by protecting the I-Frames transmitted as part of the Group of Pictures (GoP) during queue congestion. The method is evaluated using the NS-3 simulator with the Evalvid module and the results demonstrate the video flows will have better Peak Signal to Noise ratio (PSNR) and less video frame drops compared to the original IEEE 802.11e queueing. Keywords—IEEE 802.11e; EDCA; QoE; NS-3; Evalvid


In the summer season 2010, a small shallow reflection seismic experiment was carried out on the firn and ice cover of the Colle Gnifetti, Monte Rosa group, Swiss/Italian Alps. At this site, the physical properties of ice are similar to polar regions, wherefore it is widely used for testing. The challenging experiment in 4500 m asl was designed to explore the scope of shallow vibroseis for seismic targets within and below the firn and ice mass. The small ElVIS vibrator system was used to generate shear waves and compression waves for SH-wave and P-wave receiver setups of two profiles. The resulting sections clearly show the boundary from ice to rock and deeper structures. The deepest features are estimated to 150 m for the SH-wave and 220 m for the P-waves. Reflections could be detected within the ice overburden, which are preliminarily interpreted as change of the crystal structure in the ice column. Furthermore, elastic parameters could be derived from seismic velocities, due to the clear basement reflections. The results of this unique experiment enable new insights in the internal structure of ice formations, and open a promising new investigation method for sub-ice structures and properties, such as basal sediments.


High-resolution elevation surveys of deformed late Pleistocene shorelines and new luminescence dating provide improved constraints on spatiotemporal patterns of distributed slip between normal and strike-slip faulting in southern Owens Valley, eastern California. A complex array of five subparallel faults, including the normal Sierra Nevada frontal fault and the oblique-normal Owens Valley fault, collectively form an active pull-apart basin that has developed within a dextral transtensional shear zone. Spatiotemporal patterns of slip are constrained by post–IR-IRSL (post-infrared–infrared stimulated luminescence) dating of a 40.0 ± 5.8 ka highstand beach ridge that is vertically faulted and tilted up to 9.8 ± 1.8 m and an undeformed suite of 11–16 ka beach ridges. The tectono-geomorphic record of deformed beach ridges and alluvial fans indicates that both normal and dextral faulting occurred between the period of ca. 16 and 40 ka, whereas dextral faulting has been the predominant style of slip since ca. 16 ka. A total extension rate of 0.7 ± 0.2 mm/yr resolved in the N72°E direction across all faults in Owens Lake basin is within error of geodetic estimates, suggesting extension has been constant during intervals of 101–104 yr. A new vertical slip rate of 0.13 ± 0.04 m/k.y. on the southern Owens Valley fault from deformed 160 ± 32 ka shoreline features also suggests constant slip for intervals up to 105 yr when compared to paleoseismic vertical slip rates from the same fault segment. This record supports a deformation mechanism characterized by steady slip and long interseismic periods of 8–10 k.y. where the south-central Owens Valley fault and Sierra Nevada frontal fault form a parallel fault system.


Open-circuit voltage deficiency is the key limiting factor in Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin-film solar cells, which is commonly associated with band tails and deep gap states arising from elemental disorder. The introduction of dopants such as Na and Sb has led to improvement in device performance, yet their effects on the optoelectronic properties of CZTS are yet to be fully elucidated. In this Letter, we unraveled the effect of Sb and Na:Sb co-doping on the surface energy landscape of solution-processed CZTS films employing energy-filtered photoelectron emission microscopy. In the absence of the additives, 150 nm resolution photoemission maps reveal oscillations in the local effective work function as well as areas of low photoemission energy threshold. The introduction of dopants substantially reshapes the photoemission maps, which we rationalize in terms of Cu:Zn and Sn disorder. Finally, we establish unprecedented correlations between the photoemission landscape of thin films and the performance of over 200 ...


Ellis et al. (2012) bring an evolutionary perspective to bear on adolescent risky behavioral development, clinical practice, and public policy. The authors offer important insights that (a) some risky behaviors may be adaptive for the individual and the species by being hard-wired due to fitness benefits and (b) interventions might be more successful if they move with, rather than against, the natural tendencies of an adolescent. Ellis and colleagues criticize the field of developmental psychopathology, but we see the 2 fields as complementary. Their position would be enhanced by integrating it with contemporary perspectives on dynamic cascades through which normative behavior turns into genuinely maladaptive outcomes, dual processes in adolescent neural development, and adolescent decision making. Finally, they rightly note that innovation is needed in interventions and policies toward adolescent problem behavior.


A growing literature seeks to identify policies that could reduce intimate partner violence. However, in the absence of reliable administrative records, this violence is often measured using self-reported data from health surveys. In this paper, an experiment is conducted comparing data from such surveys against a methodology that provides greater privacy to the respondent. Non-classical measurement error in health surveys is identified as college-educated women, but not the less educated, underreport physical and sexual violence. The paper provides a low-cost solution to correct the bias in the estimation of causal effects under non-classical measurement error in the dependent variable.


The reactions of soluble and reactive solids with components in the liquid phase are of high relevance in the field of chemical engineering. A mathematical model was recently developed applying an extended film theory, where the reactive solid material dissolves in the liquid phase and diffuses through a dynamic liquid film surrounding the particle. In the present work, this Extended Shrinking Film Model (E.S.F.M.) was applied to a very challenging reaction, the limestone dissolution in an acid environment. The model was applied to experimental data collected under a wide range of operation conditions, i.e., varying temperature, particle size, stirring rate, and type of limestone. A very good fit of the model to experimental data was obtained, and the chemical and physical phenomena were clearly identified, significantly contributing to understanding of the reaction kinetics. The work clearly demonstrates that the data interpretation can be considerably enhanced by rigorously taking into account the physi...


Schizophrenia is a highly heritable psychiatric disorder that is characterized by impairments in the fronto-striatal network underlying cognitive deficits. Subjects who are at increased familial risk such as siblings and offspring of schizophrenia patients, also show cognitive impairments intermediate between patients and controls although these relatives are not (yet) ill. This may very well indicate fronto-striatal network dysfunction in these relatives in the absence of the illness. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to present data on fronto-striatal network function in first-degree relatives. First, fronto-striatal network function in unaffected siblings of schizophrenia patients was investigated. Siblings share on average 50% of their genes with their ill relative, allowing the investigating of genetic vulnerability for schizophrenia in adult state. To measure fronto-striatal function in siblings, a working memory task and a reward task were used during functional MRI scanning. Activation in siblings was compared to that of matched healthy controls. Importantly, task-performance was matched across group in order to eliminate cognitive impairements in siblings from confounding the imaging results. Siblings show fronto-striatal impairements during both tasks. The results during working memory suggest that siblings fail to deactivate the default mode network. Fronto-striatal network abnormalities during reward processing may indicate impaired cue processing. Both results may reflect abnormalities in dopamine transmission in siblings. In addition to measuring task related activation, fronto-striatal white-matters tracts were investigated using DTI in schizophrenia patients and siblings as compared to healthy controls. Patients as well as unaffected siblings showed reduced fractional anisotropy in the tract connecting the left nucleus accumbens and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and this may indicate decreased white matter integrity. Given the notion that abovementioned findings suggest dopamine dysfunction in schizophrenia (siblings), the impact of the strongest dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) schizophrenia-associated polymorphism to date (rs2514218) on striatal activation in siblings was explored, using a stop-signal anticipation task. The findings presented indicate striatal dysfunction during contextual cue-processing to be the functional consequence of carrying the schizophrenia risk allele. Finally, fronto-striatal network dysfunction in adolescent offspring of schizophrenia patients were tested, thereby unravelling the impact of genetic vulnerability on fronto-striatal network development. Activation during working memory in the ventral striatum declined across age in schizophrenia offspring. In addition to functional measurements, fronto-striatal white-matter tracts were investigated in schizophrenia offspring and control adolescents. In schizophrenia offspring, mean fractional anisotropy did not increase across age in the tract that is affected in siblings and patients, i.e. the tract connecting the left nucleus accumbens and left DLPFC. This result may suggest stagnated white matter fiber maturation possibly as a result of genetic vulnerability for schizophrenia. Both functional and structural results in offspring of schizophrenia patients are consistent with the notion that genetic factors, in combination with environmental factors, may be at the base of fronto-striatal deficits.


Character variation was examined in the snake Thamnophis sirta lis. Initially, 187 characters were examined on five populations (OTUs). Only 12% of the characters failed to show geographic variation by ANOVA. A reduced data set o f 72 characters remained after eliminating those that were invariant and correlated. The reduced data set was analyzed for interpopulation variation between 37 OTUs of T. sirtalis. Numbers of significantly differentiated characters between OTUs, determined by ANOVA, were used to generate a UPGMA tree. The tree placed Texas and Chihuahuan populations as sister groups to a ll other OTUs, and grouped OTUs from west of the Continental Divide, southeastern Coastal Plain, Maritim e Provinces, and central Great Plains. A M ANOVA produced four components that explained 47% of the model variance. The second component was the best resolved, and separated most of the OTUs by a line running from Ontario to the southwestern Great Plains. A cladistic (parsimony) analysis was performed after ordering all characters and coding them from 0-4. Two most parsimonious trees were generated (C .I.= 02.07), using Thamnophis degans and T. eques as outgroups. The Texas panhandle OTU was the sister taxon to all other OTUs, and the division discerned by the second component was also resolved by the parsimony analysis. Association of OTUs w ith classic subspecies o f T. sirtalis was not supported. Natural history parameters were correlated with the eastern and western clades. Snakes in the eastern clade fed primarily on earthworms, while western snakes fed prim arily on amphibians; used crypsis vs. flight as a means of capture avoidance; produced large litters of small neonates vs. smaller litters of large neonates. A hypothetical scenario for the history of T. sirta lis suggests the following: 1) T. sirta lis originated in Texas or Mexico; 2) populations reaching the Great Plains evolved red lateral markings, possibly for predator avoidance; 3) populations in forests retained a plesiomorphic color pattern until they invaded woodlands of the southeastern Coastal Plain, where a spotted morph evolved; 4) snakes west of the Continental Divide resulted from a single invasion.


Risk is a pivotal concept in entrepreneurship research, as entrepreneurs constantly face uncertainty, ambiguity, setbacks, and stressful situations. Attitudes toward risk vary contingent upon individual risk preferences and cultural influences. Building resilience is critical for entrepreneurs to overcome obstacles, deal with risk, and grow their ventures. By juxtaposing effectuation theory and resilience literature, we compare the perceptions of risk held by Chinese returnees and local entrepreneurs and their coping strategies in building resilience. Our research reveals two types of coping approaches, namely effectual coping and causal coping . This study contributes to the comparative international entrepreneurship literature by contextualizing the notion of risk held by entrepreneurs influenced by Eastern and Western cultures. Our study further contributes to the nascent literature on resilience in organizations by specifying the entrepreneurial occupational context and exploring the influence of cultures on resilience, and by identifying distinctive resilience-building coping strategies based upon cultural influences and interpretations of risk. Furthermore, we suggest that resilience can constitute one micro-foundation of effectuation theory in the context of entrepreneurship dealing with risk.


Digital libraries play a crucial role in distance learning. Nowadays, they are one of the fundamental information sources for the students enrolled in this learning system. These libraries contain huge amount of instructional data (text, audio and video) offered by the distance learning program. Organization of the digital libraries is therefore very important for easy and fast access to the desired information. Improper categorization of data may mislead the students searching the library. Since manual categorization of huge amount of data might be challenging, an automatic and reliable method is needed. In this sense, this paper proposes an automated categorization scheme for digital libraries in distance learning. The categorization scheme is designed and developed by a pattern recognition approach. Effectiveness of the proposed scheme is evaluated on widely used Reuters database. The results of the experimental study verify that the proposed scheme is a good candidate for categorization of digital libraries in distance learning programs.


We analytically study the collective dynamics of mutually interacting heterogeneous agents evolving in a random environment. Our formal framework consists of a collection of JV scalar drifted Brownian motions (BM) diffusing on R. The mutual interactions are introduced via a ranked-based, real-time mechanism always endowing the laggard (i.e the agent with the leftmost position) with an extra positive drift. The extra drift generates a net tendency for any agents not to remain the laggard of the society. For well chosen individual and extra laggard's drifts, the agents organize with time to flock towards a tight and stable travelling spatial pattern. For a population of (N - 1) identical agents and an atypical fellow (called hereafter the shill), we are able to analytically discuss the dynamics. In particular we exhibit how a single turbulent shill, stylized here by a ballistic diffusion process, can destroy the cohesion of a swarm. Conversely, we also analytically show how a single shill is able to safely pilot a whole swarm to avoid an obstacle, via interactions with its fellows. A series of simulations experiments comfort our analytic findings.


Context. PG 1159-035, a pre-white dwarf with Teff � 140 000 K, is the prototype of both two classes: the PG 1159 spectroscopic class and the DOV pulsating class. Previous studies of PG 1159-035 photometric data obtained with the Whole Earth Telescope (WET) showed a rich frequency spectrum allowing the identification of 122 pulsation modes. Analyzing the periods of pulsation, it is possible to measure the stellar mass, the rotational period and the inclination of the rotation axis, to estimate an upper limit for the magnetic field, and even to obtain information about the inner stratification of the star. Aims. We have three principal aims: to increase the number of detected and identified pulsation modes in PG 1159-035, study trapping of the star's pulsation modes, and to improve or constrain the determination of stellar parameters. Methods. We used all available WET photometric data from 1983, 1985, 1989, 1993 and 2002 to identify the pulsation periods. Results. We identified 76 additional pulsation modes, increasing to 198 the number of known pulsation modes in PG 1159-035, the largest number of modes detected in any star besides the Sun. From the period spacing we estimated a mass M/M� = 0.59 ± 0.02 for PG 1159-035, with the uncertainty dominated by the models, not the observation. Deviations in the regular period spacing suggest that some of the pulsation modes are trapped, even though the star is a pre-white dwarf and the gravitational settling is ongoing. The position of the transition zone that causes the mode trapping was calculated at rc/R� = 0.83 ± 0.05. From the multiplet splitting, we calculated the rotational period Prot = 1.3920 ± 0.0008 days and an upper limit for the magnetic field, B < 2000 G. The total power of the pulsation modes at the stellar surface changed less than 30% for � = 1 modes and less than 50% for � = 2 modes. We find no evidence of linear combinations between the 198 pulsation mode frequencies. PG 1159-035 models have not significative convection zones, supporting the hypothesis that nonlinearity arises in the convection zones in cooler pulsating white dwarf stars.


An international survey to explore current and future trends in Nursing Informatics (NI) was done in 2015. This article explores responses to questions about: what should be done to further develop NI as an independent discipline; existing policies and standards influencing NI; perceived support towards NI as a discipline; and advice from NI specialists to students and emerging professionals.
Nurse and allied health professionals in academia and practice were reached with snowball sampling. Open-ended questions were analysed with thematic content analysis and the mean and standard deviation is reported for the perceived support towards NI (scale ranging from 1 (not at all supportive) to 10 (very supportive)).
A total of 507 respondents from 46 countries responded to the survey. Respondents reported mediocre support towards NI from the environment (M 5.79, SD 2.60). Results showed that NI education needs development to better meet practice demands, that current NI resources seem insufficient, that NI expertise is not used to its full potential in health institutions and the community, and that NI needs to show its value through research and increase visibility to be recognised among stakeholders worldwide.
In conclusion, there is a need to clarify NI as a discipline and a need for strong leadership to impact policy making. An increase in NI teaching at undergraduate level in nursing as well as an increase in postgraduate NI programmes worldwide would better support practice demands. National policies and international white papers in NI are needed to guide resource distribution to better support practice.


Background: The association between Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphism and Coronary Artery diseases risk has been both confirmed and refuted in a number of published studies. The aim of this study was to investigate whether genetic polymorphisms of MTHFR (C677T, A1298C) contributed to the development of myocardial infarction (MI). Material and Methods: The present case-control study consisted of 54 patients with a history of MI and 54 gender-matched normal controls. The SNPs genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Results: No significant association of the MTHFR A1298C with the risk of MI was observed. However, the allele frequencies of C677T SNP differed significantly among patients and controls (0.83 vs. 0.30). A strong positive relationship between the TT genotype and the risk of MI supported with a significant p-value < 0.001 (OR= 11.87, 95% CI: 4.7- 29.9, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The results of the present study show the importance of C677T SNP as a potential biomarker for screening susceptible cases to MI.


Background People prescribed clozapine for treatment-resistant schizophrenia have mandatory haematological monitoring through a case register for identifying reversible neutropenia. Aims To quantify risk factors for agranulocytosis in subjects receiving clozapine. Method Data from 12 760 subjects registered to receive clozapine from January 1990 to April 1997 were analysed. Risk factors for agranulocytosis were quantified using a Cox proportional-hazards regression analysis. Results The risk for agranulocytosis in Asian subjects was 2.4 times that in Caucasians (P=0.03). There was an age-related increase in risk of 53% per decade (P=0.0001). Conclusions The case register yielded valuable information for guiding research into the causes of the haematological reactions.


Relatively simple instrumentation has been developed to measure and record rainfall and runoff on small urban areas draining to storm water inlets. The instruments include a tipping bucket rain gage, weirs and head sensing devices installed inside storm water inlets, and a multiple pen recorder. Runoff into as many as six storm water inlets is recorded at a single location. Controls are provided to operate the instruments automatically during storms. The occurrence of rainfall and runoff closes switches, sending pulses to the recording pens, and a synchronous record of the events is compiled on a single continuous chart. A chart speed of 1-1/2 in. per min permits evaluation of the data in small increments of time. Power is obtained from a 12-VDC storage battery. The equipment is designed to be installed with little modification of existing drainage facilities. Field tests and model studies were used to determine discharge characteristics of the inlet weirs.


Global climate change, especially the phenomena of global warming, is expected to increase the intensity of land-falling hurricanes. Societal adaptation is needed to reduce vulnerability from increasingly intense hurricanes. This study quantifies the adaptation effects of potentially policy driven caps on housing densities and agricultural cover in coastal (and adjacent inland) areas vulnerable to hurricane damages in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal regions of the U.S. Time series regressions, especially Prais-Winston and Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) models, are estimated to forecast the economic impacts of hurricanes of varying intensity, given that various patterns of land use emerge in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal states of the U.S. The Prais-Winston and ARMA models use observed time series data from 1900 to 2005 for inflation adjusted hurricane damages and socio-economic and land-use data in the coastal or inland regions where hurricanes caused those damages. The results from this study provide evidence that increases in housing density and agricultural cover cause significant rise in the de-trended inflation-adjusted damages. Further, higher intensity and frequency of land-falling hurricanes also significantly increase the economic damages. The evidence from this study implies that a medium to long term land use adaptation in the form of capping housing density and agricultural cover in the coastal (and adjacent inland) states can significantly reduce economic damages from intense hurricanes. Future studies must compare the benefits of such land use adaptation policies against the costs of development controls implied in housing density caps and agricultural land cover reductions.


Studying the interaction between the interstellar medium and the black hole environment on the parsec scale is of crucial importance in the full understanding of galaxy evolution. Since the Galactic Centre is the closest galactic nucleus, it offers us the unique possibility to observationally study the dynamics of individual stars as well as the properties of the Nuclear Star Cluster as a whole. This thesis deals with the transition region where the complex interstellar medium in the Galactic Centre meets a rather simple object at the very centre -- most probably a black hole of $4\times 10^6$ Solar masses characterized by only three classical parameters: mass, spin, and electric charge. Recently, a NIR-excess object named DSO/G2 was detected that is moving on a highly eccentric orbit, with the pericentre reached in 2014 at $\sim 2000$ Schwarzschild radii. The monitoring, the analysis of NIR data, and the comparison with models have provided an unprecedented opportunity to constrain the properties of previously unexplored region around Sgr~A* as well as to determine the nature of this enigmatic source. In a series of papers, we explored the dynamics of different scenarios for DSO/G2, its interaction with the ambient medium close to the Galactic centre, and the radiative properties of its NIR continuum emission. The main findings include the asymmetry of the stellar bow-shock evolution along the orbit when the outflow from the Galactic centre is present. Subsequently, using polarimetry measurements and 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer, we were able to set up a model of a young star with a non-spherical dusty envelope that can explain its compactness, NIR-excess as well as its linearly polarized emission. Finally, we explore a possibility that the DSO and objects with similar characteristics could be candidates for young neutron stars that should be observable in NIR bands with current and future facilities, which can help to resolve the ``missing pulsar paradox''. Approaching the innermost region of the Galactic Centre, we explore the problem of an electric charge associated with Sgr~A*, which is assumed to be zero in most studies. We found that a stable charge can be maintained by several mechanisms. One of the most promising ones is the charging due to the rotating black hole that is immersed in a uniform magnetic field. Realistic values of the charge that we calculated do not influence space-time metric, but can significantly influence the dynamics of plasma in the vicinity of the Galactic centre. Furthermore, we also propose a novel observational test for detecting the signature of the charge using a bremsstrahlung brightness distribution.


Most Interactive Storytelling systems developed to date have followed a task-based approach to story representation, using planning techniques to drive the story by generating a sequence of actions, which essentially "solve" the task to which the story is equated. One major limitation of this approach has been that it fails to incorporate characters' psychology, and as a consequence important aesthetic aspects of the narrative cannot be easily captured by Interactive Storytelling. In this paper, we introduce a new approach to Interactive Storytelling which aims at reconciling narrative actions with the characters' attributed psychology as stated in the narrative. Our long-term goal is to be able to explore Interactive Storytelling for those narrative genres which are based on the characters' psychology rather than solely on their actions. We used as a starting point the formalisation by Flaubert himself of his novel Madame Bovary, which includes a detailed account of character's desires and feelings. We describe a prototype in which characters' behaviour is driven by a real-time searchbased planning system applying operators whose content is based on a specific inventory of feelings. Furthermore, the actual pattern of evolution of the character's plan, as measured through the variation of the search heuristic, is used to confer a sense of awareness to the characters, which can be used to generate feelings about its overall situation, from feelings of boredom to hope, despair and helplessness.


On May 5, 1998, after 30 h of continuous rainfall (100–180 mm), large areas of the tephra-rich colluvial cover 12–18 km east of Vesuvius volcano (Italy) failed, generating a series of debris flows that killed more than 150 people in the Sarno area. Some 37 basins were affected almost simultaneously by this phenomenon. The Sarno disaster shows that air-fall deposits can create debris-flow hazards that may extend for several decades or even centuries after eruptions. In the Sarno area, the affected basins have the following features: (1) a funnel shape, debouching at the base of the hillslope; (2) an integrated drainage network with a central subrectilinear channel; (3) slopes exceeding 25° on average; and (4) a thin (∼0.5–2.0 m) volcanic-rich colluvial cover related to the past ash fallout of Vesuvius. The stratigraphy of downstream alluvial-fan deposits records the repeated occurrence of large debris flows. On the basis of the 1998 case history, we propose an approach to evaluate hazard potential related to similar debris flows for the neighboring Clanio Valley. This approach is mainly based on morphometric data derived from a digital elevation model and is of potential worldwide application.


The problem of the large-scale quasi-geostrophic anticyclonic vortices is studied in the framework of the baratropic rotating shallow- water equations on the β-plane. A systematic approach based on the multiplescale asymptotic expansions is used leading to a hierarchy of governing equations for the large-scale vortices depending on their characteristic size, velocity and a free surface elevation. Among them are the Charney-Obukhov equation, the intermediate geostrophic model equation, the frontal dynamics equation and some new nonlinear quasi-geostrophic equation. We are looking for steady-drifting axisymmetric anticyclonic solutions and find them in a consistent way only in this last equation. These solutions are soliton-like in the sense that the effects of weak non-linearity and dispersion balance each other. The same regimes on the paraboloidal β-plane are studied, all giving a negative result in what concerns the axisymmetric steady solutions, except for a strong elevation case where any circular profile is found to be steadily propagating within the accuracy of the approximation.


With Moore's law slowing down and Dennard scaling ended, energy-efficient domain-specific accelerators, such as deep neural network (DNN) processors for machine learning and programmable network switches for cloud applications, have become a promising way for hardware designers to continue bringing energy efficiency improvements to data and computation-intensive applications. To ensure the fast exploration of the accelerator design space, architecture-level energy estimators, which perform energy estimations without requiring complete hardware description of the designs, are critical to designers. However, it is difficult to use existing architecture-level energy estimators to obtain accurate estimates for accelerator designs, as accelerator designs are diverse and sensitive to data patterns. This paper presents Accelergy, a generally applicable energy estimation methodology for accelerators that allows design specifications comprised of user-defined high-level compound components and user-defined low-level primitive components, which can be characterized by third-party energy estimation plug-ins. An example with primitive and compound components for DNN accelerator designs is also provided as an application of the proposed methodology. Overall, Accelergy achieves 95% accuracy on Eyeriss, a well-known DNN accelerator design, and can correctly capture the energy breakdown of components at different granularities. The Accelergy code is available at http://accelergy.mit.edu.


For assessment to be equitable, it is central that teachers/raters perceive and apply grade criteria similarly. However, in assessing L2 oral proficiency in paired tests, raters must grade test-takers individually on a joint interaction performance. With a conversation analytic approach, we examine closely one recording from a 9th-grade national test of L2 English with an aim to uncover some aspects that underpin vastly divergent assessments (as assigned by three raters) of one test-taker. Findings pointing to issues such as moral stance, rater experiences, and the interlocutor effect are discussed in light of equity in L2 oral proficiency testing and assessment.


The rapid rise of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) during the last few decades among South Asians has been largely attributed to a major shift in lifestyles including physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary patterns, and an overall pattern of sedentary lifestyle. Genetic predisposition to these cardiometabolic risk factors may have interacted with these obesogenic environments in determining the higher cardiometabolic disease prevalence. Based on the premise that gene-environment interactions cause obesity and cardiometabolic diseases, we systematically searched the literature and considered the knowledge gaps that future studies might fulfill. We identified only seven published studies that focused specifically on gene-environment interactions for cardiometabolic traits in South Asians, most of which were limited by relatively small sample and lack of replication. Some studies reported that the differences in metabolic response to higher physical activity and low caloric diet might be modified by genetic risk related to these cardiometabolic traits. Although studies on gene lifestyle interactions in cardiometabolic traits report significant interactions, future studies must focus on more precise assessment of lifestyle factors, investigation of a larger set of genetic variants and the application of powerful statistical methods to facilitate translatable approaches. Future studies should also be integrated with findings both using mechanistic studies through laboratory settings and randomized clinical trials for clinical outcomes.


This book uses the nineteenth-century legend of Spring-Heeled Jack to analyse and challenge current notions of Victorian popular cultures. Starting as oral rumours, this supposedly supernatural entity moved from rural folklore to metropolitan press sensation, co-existing in literary and theatrical forms before finally degenerating into a nursery lore bogeyman to frighten children. A mercurial and unfixed cultural phenomenon, Spring-Heeled Jack found purchase in both older folkloric traditions and emerging forms of entertainment. Through this intriguing study of a unique and unsettling figure, Karl Bell complicates our appreciation of the differences, interactions and similarities between various types of popular culture between 1837 and 1904. The book draws upon a rich variety of primary source material including folklorist accounts, street ballads, several series of 'penny dreadful' stories (and illustrations), journals, magazines, newspapers, comics, court accounts, autobiographies and published reminiscences. The Legend of Spring-Heeled Jack is impressively researched social history and provides a fascinating insight into Victorian cultures. It will appeal to anyone with an interest in nineteenth-century English social and cultural history, folklore or literature. Karl Bell is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Portsmouth.


In 2010 the Japanese Government made substantial commitments to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. In particular it proposed a 25% reduction on 1990 levels by 2020 and an 80% reduction by 2050. At the forefront of this policy was to be an additional (carbon) tax on fossil fuels, strategies to promote renewable energy (in particular a feed-in tariff) and an emissions trading scheme. Notoriously there was to be greater reliance on nuclear energy. Subsequent events conspired to derail these plans. The Fukushima power station disaster forced the Government to reconsider nuclear power. Continued global economic uncertainty, together with the damage to the economy caused by the March 2011 tsunami, resulted in the deferral of the introduction of the emissions trading scheme.Meanwhile on July 1, 2012 the Australian Government introduced a hybrid carbon tax/emissions trading scheme putting it at the cutting edge of climate change response using fiscal measures. However the path to the introduction of this regime was not easy and its future is not assured. Whilst Australia had been active in negotiating the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and an early signatory, during the subsequent decade the Liberal coalition Government refused to embrace a price on carbon, the centerpiece of the Protocol, even questioning the science on climate change. With the election of a Labor Government in 2007 the Kyoto Protocol was promptly ratified and an emissions trading scheme proposed. However the proposal met neither the expectations of environmentalists nor industry and in 2010 it was shelved upon failing to pass through Parliament for a third time. Although it seemed that the impetus had been lost, with the toppling of a Prime Minister later that year and a Federal election resulting in Labor forming a coalition with the Greens, momentum again swung in favour of an emissions trading scheme.Meanwhile the Liberal coalition Opposition remains divided as to the approach it would adopt if it wins government in the elections scheduled for late 2013. Having dismissed one party leader for promoting an emissions trading scheme, the current policy of the party is that it would repeal the Government's scheme and focus on emissions reduction strategies requiring other than a fiscal response. There may be political economy lessons for the rest of the world, including Japan, in how the carbon tax / emissions trading scheme was designed and implemented in Australia. This paper explores the developments in Australia. It is hoped that Japanese policy analysts might find the Australian experience informative.


In the present work, a simple convenient and high yielding synthetic route has been employed for the synthesis of targeted molecules (2-propylbenzoimidazol- 1-yl)-acetic acid benzylidene-hydrazid (1a-d) and 4-(Benzylidene-amino)-5-(2-propyl-benzoimidazol-1-ylmethyl)-4H- [1,2,4]triazole-3-thiol(2a-d). The structures were confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (H1NMR) and physical properties. The synthesized compounds were screened for anti-microbial analysis against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans and Escherichia coli, Aspergillus niger. The compounds are found to be highly active, hence forth, could be attractive lead molecules for developing new therapeutics against tested microorganisms.


The plasma environment of Mars has been studied by a small handful of spacecraft. From the sparse observations that exist, one may conclude that the solar wind-Martian "magnetosphere" interaction is different in significant ways from the solar wind's interaction with Earth's magnetosphere. Mars offers an opportunity to make significant advances in our understanding of the fundamentals of the solar wind's interaction with cold celestial bodies, with suitable plasma instrumentation orbiting the planet. We briefly review what is known about Mars' plasma environment and address some scientific topics that can be studied by proper plasma instrumentation in Mars' vicinity, in particular the scientific potential of Langmuir probe measurements. Finally, we exemplify how the studies may contribute to an enhanced understanding not only of the plasma surrounding Mars, but also of the planet itself and its neutral atmosphere.


We introduce a method for learning to grammatically categorize and organize the contexts of a given query. In our approach, grammatical descriptions, from general word groups to specific lexical phrases, are imposed on the query's contexts aimed at accelerating lexicographers' and language learners' navigation through and GRASP upon the word usages. The method involves lemmatizing, part-of-speech tagging and shallowly parsing a general corpus and constructing its inverted files for monolingual queries, and word-aligning parallel texts and extracting and pruning translation equivalents for cross-lingual ones. At run-time, grammar-like patterns are generated, organized to form a thesaurus index structure on query words' contexts, and presented to users along with their instantiations. Experimental results show that the extracted predominant patterns resemble phrases in grammar books and that the abstract-to-concrete context hierarchy of querying words effectively assists the process of language learning, especially in sentence translation or composition.


Kinase suppressor of Ras (KSR) is a conserved component of the Ras pathway that acts as a molecular scaffold to promote signal transmission from Raf-1 to MEK and MAPK. All KSR proteins contain a conserved cysteine-rich C1 domain, and studies have implicated this domain in the regulation of KSR1 subcellular localization and function. To further elucidate the biological role of the KSR1 C1 domain, we have determined its three-dimensional solution structure using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). We find that while the overall topology of the KSR1 C1 domain is similar to the C1 domains of Raf-1 and PKCgamma, the predicted ligand-binding region and the surface charge distribution are unique. Moreover, by generating chimeric proteins in which these domains have been swapped, we find that the C1 domains of Raf-1, PKCgamma, and KSR1 are not functionally interchangeable. The KSR1 C1 domain does not bind with high affinity or respond biologically to phorbol esters or ceramide, and it does not interact directly with Ras, indicating that the putative ligand(s) for the KSR1 C1 domain are distinct from those that interact with PKCgamma and Raf-1. In addition, our analysis of the chimeric proteins supports the model that Raf-1 is a ceramide-activated kinase and that its C1 domain is involved in the ceramide-mediated response. Finally, our findings demonstrate an absolute requirement of the KSR1 C1 domain in mediating the membrane localization of KSR1, a crucial feature of its scaffolding activity. Together, these results underscore the functional specificity of these important regulatory domains and demonstrate that the structural features of the C1 domains can provide valuable insight into their ligand-binding properties.


Cannabis sativa (Family Cannabaceae, L.) has been used in China and India for thousands of years as a medicine. The main active constituents of cannabis are Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabinol (CBN) and cannabidiol (CBD). Currently, THC and CBD are being carefully used in conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, cancer pain, and chemotherapy associated emesis. The cannabinoid 1 receptor (CB1R) is considered responsible for most THC effects involving sedation, analgesia, hypothermia, catalepsy, and euphoria . CB1Rs are abundantly distributed in the basal ganglia , where they are co-localized with both dopamine (D)1 and 2 receptors on striatonigral dynorphin/substance P and striatopallidal enkephalinergic neuron. In striatum, CB1R is highly expressed in γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic and glutamatergic presynaptic terminals, where it mediates retrograde endocannabinoid signalling . The inhibition of GABA and glutamate systems in basal ganglia, in turn suppresses D1-mediated effects to exert an anti-dyskinetic action. Additionally, the basal ganglia expresses the cannabinoid 2 receptor (CB2R), particularly in glial cells entailing a role for CB2R-agonists in reducing microglia toxic effects and inflammatory reactions.


An internal Brewster guided-mode resonance (GMR) filter is designed. For this kind of GMR filter, the Brewster reflection occurs at the interface of grating/waveguide layers rather than at the interface of air/grating layers. At Brewster angle of 60\circ the GMR filter owns almost 100% reflection at the resonance wavelength of 800 nm with the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 0.2 nm. Its angle response changing with the fabrication deviation is also discussed.


ABSTRACT The Finnish HPV Family Study is a prospective cohort study assessing the dynamics of human papillomavirus (HPV) transmission between parents and infant. Serial genital and oral scrapings from 76 families, including mother, father, and infant, and semen samples were collected over 2 years of follow-up, analyzed by nested PCR, and confirmed by hybridization with 12 high-risk (HR) HPV types. The most common HPV profile was HR HPV in all family members (29%), followed by HPV-positive mother-infant pairs (26%). HPV-positive father-infant pairs were less frequent (11%), and in six (8%) families, only the infant was HR HPV positive. The prevalence of genital HR HPV in the parents ranged from 13 to 25%, and that of oral HPV ranged from 8 to 34%. In the infants, HPV DNA was detected in 15% of the genital and 10% of the oral samples at birth, reaching peaks of 18 and 21%, respectively, at 6 months, and declining to 10% at 24 months. Persistent HPV in the mother was a risk factor for oral HPV in the infant (odds ratio [OR], 5.69; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.5 to 21.3), while oral HPV in the mother at 6 months was a risk factor for genital HR HPV (OR, 6.38; 95% CI, 1.15 to 35.32). No such independent risk could be attributed to subclinical HPV in the father. Persistent maternal cervical HPV and subclinical oral HPV affect the risk of infant HPV. The age of 6 months is a critical point for the infant to acquire or be free of HR HPV DNA.


Question: Is the withdrawal of antipsychotic medication in older people with dementia and neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) feasible, safe and effective?

Outcomes: Primary outcomes: success of withdrawal strategy, defined as remaining in the trial off antipsychotic medication (no dropout due to worsening NPS or relapse to antipsychotic use during the trial); behavioural and psychological symptoms, especially agitation, aggression and psychotic symptoms; withdrawal symptoms (including autonomic and behavioural symptoms) and adverse effects of antipsychotics. Secondary outcomes: cognitive function; quality of life (participants and carers); use of physical restraint; and mortality.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data sources: The Specialised Register of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group (CDCIG) and ALOIS, which is maintained by the Dementia Group and includes studies identified from CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, LILACS, clinical trials registries and grey literature sources; search dates February 2009 to November 2012.

Study selection and analysis: Inclusions: Randomised placebo-controlled trials comparing an antipsychotic withdrawal strategy (either abrupt or tapered) with medication continuation, in older people (≥65 years) with dementia under primary care or …


Multi-sourcing, the blending of services from multiple external and internal providers, has gradually become the standard mode of operation in IT outsourcing. It allows companies to assemble a best-ofbreed provider portfolio and to reduce costs. A key difference between singleand multi-sourcing is the potential interdependence between services delivered by multiple providers. To deliver a seamless service to the client's business units, various services often need to be integrated and managed as an end-to-end service. This activity is denoted as service integration and management. Many clients, however, are having difficulties implementing and performing this important task. Therefore, we explore which IT capabilities organizations need to build for performing service integration and management. After deriving challenges from literature, we perform a multi-stage qualitative study based on a series of focus group sessions and expert interviews. In a qualitative content analysis, we develop a framework of IT capabilities, which enable successful service integration and management by addressing the key challenges. We, thus, aim to contribute to more effective multi-sourcing solutions in practice and to lay the groundwork for future research in this important field.


Enzymes that catalyze synthesis of ceramide lipids influence survival of worms during anoxia. Lack of oxygen rapidly leads to the demise of most animals. Menuz et al. (see the Perspective by Crowder) conducted a screen for mutants of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans that are particularly sensitive to the effects of anoxia. The gene Hyl-2, which encodes a ceramide synthase, is a member of a family of genes that influence life span in yeast. Worms have another gene, hyl-1, that also encodes a related ceramide synthase, whose mutants are instead more resistant to anoxia than normal animals. The two ceramide synthases have different specificities for fatty acyl chains, with HYL-2 preferentially producing ceramide molecules with shorter fatty acyl chains. Thus, the abundance of particular ceramides can influence cell survival mechanisms. V. Menuz, K. S. Howell, S. Gentina, S. Epstein, I. Riezman, M. Fornallaz-Mulhauser, M. O. Hengartner, M. Gomez, H. Riezman, J.-C. Martinou, Protection of C. elegans from anoxia by HYL-2 ceramide synthase. Science 324, 381–384 (2009). [Abstract] [Full Text] C. M. Crowder, Ceramides—Friend or foe in hypoxia? Science 324, 343–344 (2009). [Summary] [Full Text]


Seizures can occur spontaneously and in a recurrent manner, which defines epilepsy; or they can be induced in a normal brain under a variety of conditions in most neuronal networks and species from flies to humans. Such universality raises the possibility that invariant properties exist that characterize seizures under different physiological and pathological conditions. Here, we analysed seizure dynamics mathematically and established a taxonomy of seizures based on first principles. For the predominant seizure class we developed a generic model called Epileptor. As an experimental model system, we used ictal-like discharges induced in vitro in mouse hippocampi. We show that only five state variables linked by integral-differential equations are sufficient to describe the onset, time course and offset of ictal-like discharges as well as their recurrence. Two state variables are responsible for generating rapid discharges (fast time scale), two for spike and wave events (intermediate time scale) and one for the control of time course, including the alternation between 'normal' and ictal periods (slow time scale). We propose that normal and ictal activities coexist: a separatrix acts as a barrier (or seizure threshold) between these states. Seizure onset is reached upon the collision of normal brain trajectories with the separatrix. We show theoretically and experimentally how a system can be pushed toward seizure under a wide variety of conditions. Within our experimental model, the onset and offset of ictal-like discharges are well-defined mathematical events: a saddle-node and homoclinic bifurcation, respectively. These bifurcations necessitate a baseline shift at onset and a logarithmic scaling of interspike intervals at offset. These predictions were not only confirmed in our in vitro experiments, but also for focal seizures recorded in different syndromes, brain regions and species (humans and zebrafish). Finally, we identified several possible biophysical parameters contributing to the five state variables in our model system. We show that these parameters apply to specific experimental conditions and propose that there exists a wide array of possible biophysical mechanisms for seizure genesis, while preserving central invariant properties. Epileptor and the seizure taxonomy will guide future modeling and translational research by identifying universal rules governing the initiation and termination of seizures and predicting the conditions necessary for those transitions.


To oppose sexual harassment, it is useful to understand tactics commonly used by perpetrators. A useful approach to tactics is through the concept of backfire: if an action is perceived as unjust and information about it is communicated to receptive audiences, it has the capacity to cause outrage and consequently backfire on the perpetrator. Perpetrators regularly use five types of tactics to inhibit outrage: (1) cover-up of the action; (2) devaluation of the target; (3) reinterpretation of the events; (4) use of official channels to give the appearance of justice; and (5) intimidation and bribery of targets, witnesses and others. These tactics are regularly used against targets of sexual harassment. The deployment of these tactics is illustrated through the case of Anita Hill, who in 1991 accused US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. An analysis using the backfire framework offers guidance on effective ways of deterring and countering sexual harassment.


In the past two decades, technology has become an important part of the educational system. However, there are many evidences that indicate teacher deficiency in the use technology in teaching. In order to effectively use technology in teaching, researchers have identified the need to possess Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK)a complex knowledge that enables teachers to select appropriate technology tools for teaching a particular content through a particular method of teaching. Thus, the present research aimed to measure teachers' knowledge for technology integration through the lens of TPCK. 236 pre-service and in-service teachers in five fields participated in this survey. An examination of the participants' TPCK showed that Pedagogy Knowledge (PK) was highest and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) was lowest among participants. Furthermore, statistical analysis using MANOVA indicated that there was no significant relationship between the demographic variables of age and gender with TPCK and its components while the participants' field of study and teaching experience were significantly related to their TPCK. Moreover, the correlation between participants' attitude toward using technology and TPCK was not found to be significant.


This study investigates firm characteristic determinants of export intensity in small firms. The originality of our approach is a comparative analysis of export intensity between firms in the computer software and manufacturing sectors, using a quasi-maximum likelihood estimation to test for the correct specification of the conditional mean model. Results indicate that larger, younger firms have greater export intensity in the computer software sector than in manufacturing. Research and development expenditure is equally important for export intensity in both sectors, but patent income is not significant. Sourcing managerial advice and expertise from the national development agency is important for firms in the manufacturing industry, but not for computer software firms. It is therefore important for export promotion organisations to publicise supports, as few small firms are aware of their availability. Our findings are especially valuable for policy makers concerned with low levels of export intensity among small firms.


Leaders can find plenty of resources explaining how to give advice. But what about how to take advice? According to Dan Ciampa, too many leaders overlook this "demand side" of advice. In Taking Advice, Ciampa explains that more outside advisors than ever are offering leaders advice in increasingly costly projects. Yet as advice has become more ubiquitous, leaders have grown less satisfied with it--especially when dealing with high-stakes, unfamiliar situations that require assertive action and speed but also wise judgment. Also, leaders too often overlook help from colleagues, board members, subordinates, friends, and spouses. Good advice bridges the gap between a leader's vision and realization of that vision. When leaders fail to solicit advice or obtain it from the wrong sources, the leader and his vision suffer. By offering the broadest perspective on advice to date, Ciampa helps you avoid this scenario. He provides a topology of advice (strategic, operational, political, personal) and defines four types of advisors (expert, experienced, sounding board, partner). He also identifies the defining characteristics of effective advice takers--illustrating them with a wealth of examples from business, the public sector, and history.


Understanding the population demography, species distribution and biogeography of Australia's megafauna is essential for understanding their extinction. This process is only just beginning, and this article discusses these aspects while concentrating on a particular region; the southern Lake Eyre Basin (SLEB). It is also the first detailed description of the distribution of megafauna across that region of central Australia. The data are based on an extensive longitudinal study of 41 palaeontological sites spread across 250 000 km2. Megafauna adaptation and response to extensive environmental change during the late Quaternary is reflected in the composition and distribution of 21 megafauna species found across the region. A flexible migration strategy in response to wet/arid cycles saw occupation focusing on riverine and lacustrine environments formed by episodes of southerly monsoon incursion into the northern Lake Eyre basin. The supply of animals to the area was largely derived from endemic populations inhabiting western parts of southeastern Australia, where the majority of SLEB species are also found. Diprotodon reflects the adaptive flexibility of some species owing to its particular continental distribution, with a number of semi‐arid regions across the continent. A picture of how and when the last of the region's megafauna disappeared is closer to being understood, with likely terminal dates for Genyornis and Diprotodon now available.